Today is the best time to embrace each other. We are all brothers and sisters in God. So welcome you are to Sant Bani Ashram!

They say that two kings cannot live together in one country, but hundreds of beggars can. All right. You have come to Sant Bani Ashram - simply hear; just look to the purpose for which you have come. That's the main thing.

When Masters come, They look to the world in its right perspective. We also come and see what is going on here, but the level from which They see is quite different from ours. He sees that some are being born, some die young, some die old. This is going on. What is all this? How does this body work? It is all laid down as if it were a machine without any mover!

So They solved the mystery: there is some Power which is working in the body and is withdrawn; the body works as long as the indweller of the body is there. And wonderful it is that this body which has so many holes - eyes open, mouth open, nostrils, ears - with all that, the indweller cannot run out of it.

So body works as long as we are in the body. Who are we? We are conscious beings, conscious entities. But we are also in the body as long as we are controlled in the body; otherwise, we could have run away out of it at our own will and pleasure. That we cannot do. So that Power which controls us in the body, that is called the God-into-Expression Power.

So this body, the human body, is considered to be the highest in all creation, next to God. Mohammedan literature tells us that when the man-body was made, God ordered the angels to bow down to it. So great is man, you see. Only in the human form can we do something which we cannot do in any other form of life. Except for the man-body, all bodies are bound. They have got no free will. In the man-body we are bound to some extent and also free to some extent. When the railroad lines are laid down, the train will run over them. It is for you to lay down the lines whichever way you like.

So Masters found that there is a golden opportunity, if we just finish off the reactions from the past which we have done ourselves. And we have got some free will also - and that free will is: we can go to our Home. This world is not our Home. We are conscious entities, and our Home can only be All-Consciousness.

Kabir and others say that we are of the same essence as that of God. God is All-Consciousness, and we are drops in the Ocean of All-Consciousness embodied in the human body, which is the highest in all creation, and in which we can have our way back to God.

So when Masters come, They see that we have got so many labels on our bodies. Someone calls himself a Hindu, someone else a Muslim, someone else Christian, Jewish, and so on. But the Master says that God made man only man. Labels were not put on when he was born; we put them on later. When? When the Masters Who solved the mystery of life - and those who met Them also solved the mystery of life - left the scene, these labels of various social bodies came up to keep Their teachings alive. They are the schools of thought which we have joined. The purpose of these schools was for many people to derive benefit from them. So long as there were practical people, the people were also able to solve the mystery of life.

And what was that? That we are conscious beings, drops in the Ocean of All-Consciousness, brothers and sisters in God - embodied in the human form. And we are bound to some extent as a reaction of the past - what we have done in our past lives. "As you sow, so shall you reap." But after we have passed beyond that, we can know ourselves and know God. And as long as there were practical people, benefit was derived that way. But for want of practical people, the same formations began to stagnate and deterioration came up.

So Masters have been sent here. God has been sending Men, Whomsoever He chooses; that is His job. It is not by votes that He is chosen, like a Prime Minister or President or anything. From Whomsoever He has to take work, He sends such-like People to guide us back Home, to take us out of the delusion we are under. And when Masters come, you see, They don't address the "isms" or the labels. The don't say, "Hindu, Mohammedan, Christian, come on, hear me now."... Either They address the soul or the human body.

What do They say? Well, They say the self evident Truth: This body is not your permanent Home. You have to leave the body. All have left the body - kings or subjects, philosophers, Saints, incarnations - whoever took the body had to leave the body. So similarly, you have to leave the body. We are conscious entities, and this body is made of matter. And They say what connection can there be with that? You are a conscious entity. You are living in a man-body which is material, which is changing at every moment of life; and you are being dragged along with it. But this body is the only opportunity given to you to make the best use of it. And that best use is what? "O Man, know thyself."

Are you the man-body? You say, "No," because you will leave it. We say, "It is my body." We never say, "I am body." Just as we say, "It is my watch, it is my coat," similarly we say, "My intellect says so; my eyes see so, my ears hear so." Every day we use these expressions that it is not "you," but "yours." But when Masters come, They see that we have identified ourselves with body and outgoing faculties so much so that we have forgotten ourselves. We say, "my," but we don't mean "my." You simply say you work at the level of the man-body, but it is changing. And the world around us is changing - being made of matter - at the same speed at which the body is changing, and we are identified with it.

That is an optical illusion that it appears to be stationary. But when Masters come, They are good observers; They see what is going on. The Master is a conscious Man, a conscious Entity. He is not deluded so that He considers that this world is His Home, or that He will never die.... It is true that soul will never die. But as we are identified with the body, we say, "My body won't die." That is the great delusion in which we are all going.

So the first thing that They tell us is this: that this world is not our Home. Also, that this human body which has been given to us, although all scriptures say it is the golden opportunity, still it is not our permanent Home. It is temporary, but it is the highest form in all creation. The Rishis of old and others who have left the body and enjoyed the bliss of higher planes, when they returned, they selected the man-body to enter. But now, you see, we are working on the level of man-body. So we are under a great delusion. The reason is that our souls are under the control of mind, mind is under the control of outgoing faculties, and they are dragged like anything toward the outward enjoyments. So we are identified with this; we cannot differentiate our Selves in a practical way. Intellectually we do say, "I am not the body; I am not the intellect; I have the outgoing faculties."

So this is the delusion under which we are going. Every day, every hour, every minute is bringing us closer to the great final change which is called death. That is awaiting us, each one of us. Guru Nanak said that the body has been betrothed to the Negative Power: She will take it away sooner or later. So this is not the place where we are to live. Then what to do? Wake up. You are conscious entities, you see? You are drops in the Ocean of All-Consciousness. That All-Consciousness is All-Wisdom; It is All-Permanent, Eternal, and It is All-Joy and Peace. That reflection you have got in you. That is the reflection; but you are under the wrong impression, being identified with the human body and outgoing faculties.

When a child talks, you see, he says, "Oh, I am the best - nobody can know more than I!" That is the reflection of that conscious God Power which is working there, which is All-Consciousness. Similarly, we have identified with our body, so that reflection in our soul, we take it as from the body. That is All-Bliss, and we are after bliss. Ever since we were born, we have wanted some happiness - some joy. We earn money. For what? To have happiness. We have families. For What? For happiness. We want possessions. For what? For happiness. But this is a changing panorama: you are attached to the body, but body will have to leave you! You are under orders. You are imprisoned in the man-body as a reaction of the past, according to the flowing pen of God which writes according to our own past actions.

So this is the first thing: the grand delusion is; but as you are identified with it, how can you come out of it? That's the point. So Masters have pity on us. We ourselves cannot know ourselves, because we are identified with the body and outside things and have forgotten ourselves. Yet all methods and practices we take up for knowing ourselves and knowing God are related to these very things. How then can we rise above them?

So Masters give us a demonstration. First, They give out: Man, know thyself - who you are and what you are. You are not the body; you are not the intellect; you have got outer possessions only, which will leave you when you leave the body. If the body does not go along with you, how can other things which are possessed on account of it? This is the first thing They come up and tell us, but we do not believe. "How are we separate from the body? How can we know that?" So, He gives us a demonstration: "All right, sit down" - He says that the outward expression of our soul is attention. God is All-Attention and it is that attention which works and is identified with the outside. We have to withdraw that attention from all outside and from all the body below. It is the attention which gives strength to the body; it is the attention which gives strength to the mind; it is the attention which gives strength to the intellect and to the outgoing faculties also.

You must have experienced in your life sometime that somebody calls you, but you do not hear; some man passes by you, you don't recognize him; somebody comes and sits down by you, but you are not aware of it. They complain, "Look here, we called; you didn't reply. Why? I have passed by you, why did you not see me?" You can only reply that your attention was absorbed in something - which apparently means that unless the attention is with the outgoing faculties, they do not work.

So the Rishis had recourse to that. They developed very long methods involving the physical body, pranas, heart, intellect, and everything. But it took hundreds of years to rise above body consciousness that way - hundreds of years - because they took pranas along with the attention. So They simply said, "Well, look here: you have all these things, but you are attention. It is on account of your attention that everything works. If your attention is absorbed in your own Self, there is no world for you. The world is created when you see." (It is already there, of course, but you become conscious of it when you see.)

I am looking toward you, not at my back; so I can't see who is sitting there. Unless I look at them, I can't see them. They are there, of course; but we don't become aware of it unless we direct our attention there. This is the main thing to be learned.

So we are conscious entities; we are All-Attention. If we control our attention, then we can know the Overself. If we know our Self, we are able to know the Overself. The difficulty lies where? The pity of it is that we do not know how to know our Selves.

We simply know ourselves at the level of feelings, or through drawing inferences, or through emotions. Really, you have not known your Self by Self analysis. Just as: This is my watch, I can take it off; this is my handkerchief, I can put it off; these are my spectacles, I can take them off. Can we take off our body? our outgoing faculties? Masters say, "Yes"; and They are competent to give you some demonstration of that. How can you withdraw your attention from all outside? When you completely withdraw from all outside and from the body below, you will see. You will feel that there is no world and no body below. And the further way up, that Controlling Power, that you can know. But this only happens when you know your Self.

So Masters come and They give out: "Look here, Man, this body, this world, is not your Home." If only we keep that motto before us always, our angle of vision will change; then all our actions will change; our whole way of living will change. For instance, you have come here for four or five days. You know it is not your home; you are here only five days. After that we have to leave. So what will you do? Build buildings here? Are you possessing, fighting with one another - "This is mine, this is yours" - are you going to do that? No, because you know you have to leave - this is not your place. And this is the first thing that Masters try to bring home: This place is not your Home.

What do They say then? Are you fully convinced it is not your Home? We say, "Yes, yes," but really we are not convinced. Our lips say so. Our brain says, "Yes, it appears so. " But actually we don't consider it that way, because these things become as our home; and naturally that affects our whole angle of vision.

So Masters say, "If this is not your Home, why not go back to your Home? You are conscious entities; your Home can only be All-Consciousness. You have been sent down here by God; why don't you go back Home?" So God sends His Messengers to tell people, "Come on, make way, back Home please.... Man-body is the highest rung in creation, which you have already got.... You are very fortunate - now this is the golden opportunity; you can come back" - and They demonstrate to you how to come back. This meditation is for that purpose: how to withdraw your attention from outside. So if you are convinced at heart, your whole life will change.

Why don't you go back Home? There is a hitch about it.... You have to go, after all, after a month or two months or ten days or five days. If the time is fixed, then? If there is a student whose examination is coming up, the date is fixed for that. If a month is left, then he just eliminates going out for work to save time for study so that he may be ready for his examination. When there is only a week left, what does he do? When he goes to the bathroom, even then he takes his books because the time is overhead.

So we know our time is fixed, of course; but we do not know when. That's the pity. How much more should we be ready to go? Just think for a moment. Take this home, you see: This one lesson will change your whole angle of life. Because we have forgotten ourselves, the pity is we simply see the world from the physical level. We say, "This is heaven - if at all there is any heaven." Some people say those who are too much given up to these things, "Well, what is heaven? This is heaven; why should we care?" The reason is, you see, Masters do come. They give out this thing; we don't believe Them. But with our own eyes we see people going to the cremation place or burial ground daily. One is coming burying the other, another is coming, third man is coming - five, ten, twenty are coming. What is all this going on? Will not your body be taken away someday? Now you are taking the bodies of those who have left; somebody will also take your body too, is it not so?

So if this world is not our Home, then naturally the question follows: where is our Home? If we are conscious entities, our Home only can be All-Consciousness. How can we go back Home? That is our true work. So Masters give out (in few words, Masters' words are few and simple; and they are pregnant with meaning), "Look here, this is not your Home."

The human body is a temple given to you as a golden opportunity to go back to your Home. What can that Home be? That is the question. It only can be All-Consciousness because we are conscious. So They say, "Well, go back to your Home." How long will you continue to live in this world? After all, everybody has gone! The last enemy that we have to conquer is death; there is no escape from death. What is death? Death is leaving the body, but we do not know how to leave the body. That is one thing that makes us afraid. The other is what will be our fate? So death appears to be a bugbear. Everybody is afraid of it; we want to have endless life here. But after all, whether you want it or not, you will be dragged away from this body.

If a pigeon sees there is a cat coming and he closes his eyes, do you think the cat won't eat him up? Closing eyes won't do. You have got discrimination; you have got foresight. Make the best use of them. This is the only thing I am telling you. If you take it as your motto, if you are convinced of it, your whole life will change - then you will do something. You will think, Well, if it is not my Home, then where is my Home?

So Masters say if you are conscious entities, and your Home is no other than All-Consciousness, and in the man-body you have got the golden opportunity, what is your real work? most personal work? To find the way back Home. All other work is only action or reaction: you have to pay off debts to those to whom you have been connected - brothers, sisters, wives, husbands, mothers, children. When that is paid off then? If we are again attached to the world, then naturally we will again go where we are attached, that's all. If we are attached to our Home, if we want to go to our Home and love that Home, and have some contact with it through the grace of some Master, then naturally we will go where we are attached - back Home.

So two things come up. One: This world is not ours. If you take that as a daily lesson you will go back like an awakened man, and then you will have to be put on the Way. Second: If it is not ours, then what to do to know where our Home is? How can we reach it? This body cannot help us; it will have to be left. So this is what comes next. So Masters say, "All right, go on; do your own work. Why are you entangled in the work of others?" Mind your own business. You see? If you become happy, all are happy; if you become conscious, have permanent peace, naturally the whole thing changes, you see? That's the point.

Masters tell us what to do then. They tell us, "Well look here, meet some Master, some Guru, Who will first enable you to solve the mystery of this human body. By analysis you will know who you are, what you are. This is the first thing to be learned. You say it sometimes; you hear it also; but you are not convinced.

You are convinced only when you see that you are not the body when you rise above body consciousness for a while. And this is the first thing that He gives us. Who gives? The Messenger of God. God resides in every heart; but that man, where He is manifest, has risen above body consciousness and makes others rise too. He gives a demonstration of that. He says the way back to your Home is within you....God Absolute cannot be known by anybody; nobody has seen God at any time. But the God-into- Expression Power, which is the cause of all this creation, which is controlling all creation, which is also controlling your soul in the body - if you come in contact with that, He leads you to the Absolute God. It is like the sun: if you could catch a ray of the sun, where would it lead you? To the sun.

You ask what to do? Meet some Guru, some Master. Guru also means that God is within you. The two outer expressions of God are Light and Sound. We are the sparks of the Great Light. They say, Take heed that the Light which is within you is not darkness. It is already Light but covered by so many covers - physical, astral, causal.... They say, Take these covers. If a lamp is burning, you see, one, two, three, four covers are there, you will find no light. But if you take a cover off, there will be some light. You take others off, there is still more light. If you take off all the covers, it is all light.

So He says meet some Guru, some Master, Who will take you back first, Who will draw your attention from outside and take you to the eye level - to the seat of the soul at the back of the eyes - and there He contacts you with the God-into-Expression Power; you progress from day to day. And that is the direct way back to God.

So your true work is what? The others are secondary things which you have to pay off as the result of your actions of the past: What you have sown, you must reap. Pay them off and incur no further debts, and nobody will catch you. If you incur further debts, then you will also have to reap that result. So Masters say, Well, pay off these debts and attach your soul to God within you. And when these things are paid off, if you have a contact with that Power within you, naturally you will go back Home. But all this will be done by whom? That's the point. By some Messenger of God, through Whom He works - His Grace is working. He never says, "I work"; He says, "His Grace is working." He takes you under His charge and won't let you go until the end of the world. Of whomsoever He takes charge, no Negative Power can take control of him, can snatch him from Him - from God.

So day to day you must realize this thing. This Naam or Word - what is it? The God-into-Expression Power, which expresses Itself in two ways: Light and Sound. This is your real work, done through the Grace of a Master. And Whoever takes charge of you, He also takes your future. He takes the responsibility to take you back to your true Home. This is why Christ said, I shall never leave thee nor forsake thee; lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. So whatever Messenger, at whatever pole He is working, His responsibility is to take you back Home. He will never leave you; you may leave Him. He will never let you go.

You know when Christ came, people asked Him, "Well, what are You after?" He said, "Many sheep are lost; I have to look after them; I have come to find them out."

So we are sheep of God, you see. Our soul is of the same essence as that of God. As such, we are all brothers and sisters in God. The first thing is, we have to know we have to leave the body. Then our whole life will be pure, honest, with no enmity... true to God just like a child, innocent.

Already we have got so many impressions of the world outside through the past births. Here we have to shake off all these impressions, wipe off these impressions, wash away all these impressions. Who does the washing? If a cloth is very dirty, we send it to a washerman. Does the washerman ever refuse it? Never. He says, "This is my job. I will do it." So similarly ,when the Masters take on someone, They know he is soul. The dirt is only the impressions received through the outgoing faculties. He knows that it is pure gold besmeared with filth. He will try to wash away this filth and then - you are gold. This washing away can be done by a Master only. If we simply surrender to Him, the quicker He will do it. If a child is besmeared with filth, you see, and the mother wants to wash him, and the child fights her with arms and legs, does the mother let him go? She catches him and washes him. Similarly, you see, it is not you that can wash away all these things - simply allow Him at Whose feet you are sitting.... God has got to do that.

This filth can be washed away, past impressions of births...how many births? This man-body has been given to us just to relieve us of the burdens of our reactions from the past. And that can happen only if we know our Self and know God, at the feet of some Master, by God's Grace. When you become a conscious coworker with the Divine Plan, your ego is lost. When you see "He is the doer, I am not the doer. " The result of that is, who will reap what you have sown? You are not there; your ego is gone. You reap it only when you are there - when you are the doer.

So we have to wash away all the sins of the past while in the human body - if we have got, with God's Grace, some living Master. It is a great blessing to have a living Master. He meets you; He takes you out of this delusion. He tells you that you are soul, that this body is not your Home, that the way back is to know God. And, He gives you a demonstration of it, how to know your Self, and gives you a contact with the God-into-Expression Power which leads you back to God.

And He is guiding you, always looking after your welfare, how you progress. The more you are obedient, the quicker you will go back. That is why Christ said, If you love me, keep my commandments. You see?

So the two things required to wash away all our dirt of the past and the present are: to come to the feet of a Master and to obey Him. This is what we have to do. Now, you see, the whole thing hinges on this: If you are convinced you have to leave the body, all outer attractions leave you. Now we are dragged by the outward enjoyments. Five passions are very strong - lust, anger, I greed, attachment, ego - which attack us through the outgoing faculties. How far will you continue with these after you have left the body? Then? If you have to leave the body, why not learn from today onward how to leave the body? A wise man will do it; he who has foresight. Whenever you have work to do, you know that if you do such and such, this will happen; you go on working for that.

Similarly, you know that you have to leave; you know it is definite; you know whether or not it is self evident Truth. You have to leave the body. All have left; you have to leave; I have to leave. You can work in the daytime only, not when the night comes, you see. What did Christ say? "I must work the works of Him that sent me, while it is day (when I am alive); the night cometh when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

You follow me? Very simple things I have shown you. One: This world is not our Home. Then: If it is not our Home, then where is our Home? Who are we? We are conscious entities. Not the labels we are carrying, not Mr. Singh, Mr. Smith, Mr. Khan, you see? Those are names given to the body. You are ensouled bodies.

So this thing is brought home, you see. These outward enjoyments, all outer attachments, outer connections, are only until you leave the body; and we all have to leave the body. If we are convinced that we have to leave the body, is it not honest to begin to leave just now? Slowly? Suppose there is a silken cloth spread over a thorny bush. You have to take that cloth off the thorny bush; you can take it all at once only by dragging it. If you drag it, do you think that it will not be torn? If you try to take it off every day, you will at first do it only after some time, then in an hour, half an hour, few minutes.

So these are the self-evident facts. It is no new philosophy I am putting before you; it is a common sense talk. So He says: "From today on, sir, start to leave the body. Leave all these connections." If you have to leave some place, and somebody fights you, you say, "All right, I have to go tomorrow; why bother myself with it?" Is it not your attitude? This is the attitude you may have. And Masters come to give us like that - to tell us: Do your work. You will say, Are all other works not yours? They are yours, of course, given to you as a reaction of the past: connected with you as son, some as father, some as brother. But it is God Who has connected you. Have respect for them, and pay them off jolly.

The man who is under debt, the sooner he pays off that debt, it is better is it not? He will become quite buoyant and fresh. As long as he is under debt, he is afraid to look others in the eye; they may want money....So pay off first thing. Then: This is not your place.

Now, Masters tell us what to do and how to do it. They say that your attention is the outward expression of the soul, that your attention is driven by the mind, that mind is driven by the outgoing faculties. It comes again and again, and outward enjoyments drag it like anything. They say that mind can work only as long as you are with the mind. Withdraw it from outside; but mind won't withdraw from outside unless it gets something more blissful, more joyful, more attractive than the outside things. So the first thing is: what to do with your mind? How to give it more bliss?

The way is to give it the bliss of the Water of Life or Naam - the Nectar of Life. That is within you. Now, unless you bring the mind within - you can bring the horse to the water, but you cannot make him drink. Masters give you a sitting, withdraw your soul - because soul gives strength to the body, mind that; soul gives strength to the mind - otherwise, mind cannot work; it is our attention that gives strength to the outgoing faculties; they cannot work independently.

So They say withdraw your attention. The mind, which is just given up to the outward enjoyments, will go along and will get more bliss inside. If you withdraw your attention, naturally the mind will follow because it cannot work independently. The Master says to control your attention within yourself. Where? To the seat of the soul in the body at the back of the eyes. If your whole attention is there, naturally the mind will be there along with it. It is only when you give your attention to it that it works! When you come there, that Naam Power or Word Power is there. You open the inner eye or the single eye, then you will see the Light of God.

Mind is enamored outside on account of two things: beautiful sights and very attractive music. So God-into-Expression Power expresses Itself in these two ways - only more blissfully, more attractively, more enchantingly. When mind gets that bliss, naturally it wants more. As compared to that bliss, outward things - the mind leaves them. And the Masters give you a demonstration of that - because you yourself cannot leave these outward things. As I already submitted, we - our "I," our selves - are already identified with the outgoing faculties, mind, and body. But somebody else can take you up; so it is the Master Who takes you up, drags you up. He is higher attention, with a little attention dragging. He says, "All right - sit down. Don't move."

Then it will work if the Master gives a boost....So when mind gets that strength, then it does not leave and does not get attached outside.

So Masters always say there is no other way for you to come out of this net of outgoing faculties. You are being dragged; you cannot do it; only some Power can take you up, drag you up. You are in a prison house; all the doors are locked; you cannot run out of it. The only way is to break the lock and go out. This is what Masters help you to do; this is your real work.

Their main purpose is to bring you back Home. They say you have been wandering away from your Father's Home for so long. Hear me with full attention: lend me your ears; listen to what I say - what Masters say: THIS IS YOUR WORK, clearly; and this is the only way you can go back. Otherwise, you are very much stuck fast in the world; you cannot come out.

Ultimately you will come up to the level of your eyes. You will be withdrawn from the lower portion; your attention may be withdrawn fully from outside and from the body below. Then you'll become the Eye itself. Then the body is forgotten and you find the tenth door there, from where He gives you a contact with the God-into-Expression Power. And Who is He? The Master in Him can give you this contact, the God in Him. Nobody can give you a contact with God, you see; only God manifesting somewhere. So They are the Messengers of God. They come, and Their main purpose is to take you back Home - somehow or other.

If you just follow Their instructions implicitly - 100 percent - you'll go quicker. Otherwise you'll delay your progress. You'll put off until tomorrow and start from tomorrow and not from today - "I must finish this work first and then I'll see!" This putting off until tomorrow is a heinous crime, the Vedas say. Procrastination is the thief of time. If we do every day's work and finish it off then how much work we could do! This then is the work we must follow. This is not your Home. If you are not convinced - then what is your work? Where will you go? Who are you? You are conscious entities; you are environed by mind and matter - identified with it. You are under a great delusion: come out of it - know thyself . How to know thyself? We are already imprisoned, you see. Bound on all sides we cannot go up; so God sends you some help. He brings you in contact with Someone Who can take you up.

So the greatest feat of the Master, by which it can be known that He is something, is His giving you a demonstration of how to rise above body consciousness. And this is your work. How can this be done? By controlling your attention, bringing it to the seat of the soul at the back of the eyes. And there, you see, you will know that Power which is controlling you in the body. We live in this body, and that Power also lives in the same body. Why can't we see Him? Because we are identified with the world out side. I can see you only when I am looking at you; I can't see in back.... Do you know why you are entangled, imprisoned? How He can take you out of the prison? Who you are, and what is your true Home? Who can help you to do that? How you can wash away all the sins of the past births?

The human body is the only golden opportunity in which you could have done all that - and that body you have got. Can you do it of your own self? No? When a cloth , is very dirty, naturally you take it to some washerman or washing machine. Take it there! Even the most dirty cloth will be cleaned. What is dirt? All outward expression - excuse me - whether good or bad. Handcuffs may be made of gold or iron; will they not handcuff you? So long as you are the doer, you will have to reap what you sow.

So, Masters help you to draw back your attention from all outside and from the body below, and give you a demonstration of it. They give you also some contact with that God-into-Expression Power which is the direct way back to the Absolute God. Will all these isms, all these labels, go up to that? But the purpose of joining any school of thought is to do that. And Masters give a boost just to spur you on the way, and They tell you that this world is not your Home. If you have that for a motto, you will change. It does not mean you do not have to do work, but at the same time have respect for all those who have been connected with you with the flowing pen of God as a reaction of what you have sown. Pay them off gladly, and find your way back Home. That way is within you. "Tap inside," Emerson said; all scriptures bear it out.

All these things are explained the same in one way or another, so as to bring home what is what.

So what have you learned today? This world is not your Home - have you learned it? Try to bring home this question: This world is not your Home. You have to go! When? That you don't know, but the time is fixed. So if we don't know what time is fixed for the examination, we should be ready every moment. That's right; we should have foresight. We have it, you see; we have discrimination; we should make the best use of them.

Masters don't care what label you are carrying. They see you are Man - conscious entities. You reside in the human body, and He also resides there. He loves you all. But He says, All right, how long will you continue to be just wandering away, from your Home?

You know the parable given by Christ? Masters sometimes give parables, sometimes straight talks. This is a straight talk being I given to you. If you would like a parable, let us go to this one s Christ gave: He says that a man had some sons. He was a very rich man. One son was very naughty. He said, "Father, give me my portion of the wealth. I am your son, give me!" His father said, "All right; you have it." He gave it to him - this is the beauty - whatever his share was. He went away, enjoyed, spent all that he had in frivolous enjoyment. The result was that he had nothing left - no food to eat or clothes to wear. He was in very much trouble...agony.... "What to do now? There is no hope."

Then one night he said, "My father has so many servants in his home; let me go there; at least if he hires me I will get something to eat." He turned his way back to his father. So his father came to know that his son had come. He was overjoyed. When the lost son is found, will not the father rejoice? He said, "All right, bring him in; give him a bath; give him good clothes to wear" - he began festivities in the house. The other sons said, "Father, we have been so obedient to you; you never were overjoyed so much. Here you have this son who has spoiled all your wealth, and you are rejoicing!" The father said, "He has returned; he has come back."

So God also, you see, rejoices when you come back to Him. Therefore, He sends from time to time His Messengers to bring you Home.

Guru Nanak gives an example: He says if a wife is driven away from her husband and she goes to her parents or somewhere, if she is still in sweet remembrance of her husband and does not do anything unbecoming, then there is some hope that that might have some effect. If she began taking up the frivolous way, given up to all enjoyments, do you think her husband would ever want her to come back? So if the prayer goes out from her heart of hearts, thoughts are very potent, and the husband sends a man - "All right, bring her back."

And when he comes, what should she do? She should not care to listen to her parents; she should go straight home, because her husband wants her. So the Master has given us this parable; He says we have been driven away from our Homes. God is our True Master; He has sent a Messenger to bring us Home - "Don't care what the world says; go back Home please," because He has sent Him. You will find that there are eggs laid under ducks and under hens, too. And when the children come out, then they go to the side of water just like this pond. The duck children plunge into the water. The chickens and hens begin to cry, "Oh! Drown! Drown!" But really they are not drowning; they have gone back to the nature of ducks.

Similarly, Masters do come. Those who follow Them, some people say, "Oh, they are drowning!" So don't care what people say: when you see what is what and you testify what is before you and you see for yourself, why be led away by others?

So please - the time you have got here, make the best use of it. This is the first talk here. I think I have told you all you have to do. We may talk on this very subject further, by one phase or another. We have to go Home; so we must prepare.

Yes? Any questions after that?

QUESTION: Do you want to take questions, Master?

THE MASTER: If they have any. I don't want any; (laughing) I only enjoy them. I am glad to see so many. God has sent them to me. And I am sent by Him here. If they have any ,' questions, they are welcome, what little I know...

QUESTION: You say that the whole thing hinges on the conviction of death; but to many of the young people, death - we understand it - but it is like it is very far away and it does not come home because we are young.

THE MASTER: That's all right. You see, young or old everybody has to leave the body. "This is our permanent Home" - that is stuck fast into our hearts; yet it is not so. We have to change our angle of vision. So for the time we are here, what is the duty of man, do you know? It is to be a help to others. He is not born for his own self. Animals are born for their own selves and their children, but man is one who lives for his own self and also for others. Man is not man if he does not live for others. So he has to prove himself by being of use to others. He should work hard in that limited time which comes to us, so that we are more use to others.... So it will follow. You people have to take our places. Come on!

QUESTION: When I see You I see light coming out of Your mouth, Your eyes, Your arms, everywhere, in a big aura.

THE MASTER: That's all right. Your yogic eye sees it; that is radiation; it's all right.

QUESTION: Is it all right to tell other people about it when you get back to your regular Satsang?

THE MASTER: Why do you tell them? You mind your own business. They will not believe you. They will say you have been hired for that purpose (laughter). This is a fact: by radiation, you see everyone's personal aura; it is radiated from them. Those who have got the yogic eye developed can see it. Our Master used to say that when any man comes, they see what is in there, just as a glass jar - whether it is pickles or candy.

QUESTION: Master, why did we leave God in the first place?

THE MASTER: I think the best way to find that out is to go to Him and ask Him. He knows best why He has sent us. May I put a question to you? Why did you beget children? Because you wanted to, you see. It is His Will. But He is the best person to reply to that.

(Aside) So many people standing outside in the cold - can't you accommodate them?

(At this point, despite the fact that it seemed as though the Hall was already as full as it could possibly be, by God's Grace more room was somehow made, and most of the people who had been standing outside were brought in.)

QUESTION: I don't have a yearning to go Home. I came on the Path because I wanted to be a better human being, and I knew You could help. I still don't feel the yearning to go Home. I just want to be a better human being. What is the best way to develop?

THE MASTER: That's all right. Man is one, as I submitted, who is of use to others. So you obey God's order: "Who serves My humanity, he serves Me." That's the first step; that is a good idea.

You see, there is a parable in the Upanishads. It says that there was one man who was very fond of helping others - selfless service. He was so fond of serving others because he saw that God-into-Expression Power in the human body. Christ said that if we do not love our brother whom we see, how can we love That Whom we don't see? So human body is the expression of That. He also resides in the human body, and those whose yogic eye is developed, they see God in the human body. Outward temples are made in the model of man; they put symbols of light and sound in there. In churches, in temples, in mosques, the same symbols are there. Which is the best of all? The man-body in which those symbols are manifest is the best of all of them.

So only he will serve mankind who sees God in them. The more devoted he is, the more he will serve others. The parable says that that man who was very fond of serving others, naturally he was a man - because he was considered to be of use to others. Love knows service and sacrifice, you see? And he prayed to God, and God was very pleased with him, and asked him, Well, will you come back Home?" (I am replying to your question.) He said, "Lord, I want to serve others; if I come to You, that would be no addition to You - I am merely a drop of the Ocean of Your Consciousness. So give me more time to serve others." That's all right! That's a good idea.

QUESTION: What did we do to have to come down and suffer as man?

THE MASTER: That is evolution. Man is developing, you see. Man feels unhappy; he is driven from all sides; naturally he turns to something higher which he has not seen. There was a man who was a Communist; he did not believe in God; he only believed in atoms. He was going to die. At the time of death - "O mighty atom!" (laughter) That is but natural....It is a natural instinct in each man that there is some Power, whether he has seen it or not.

QUESTION: What is our original sin? What did we do then to deserve this?

THE MASTER: We are here, that much you know. Whether God is or not, never mind. You want to be happy or not? (Yes.) You want to be happy? Then permanent happiness will come when? As long as you are attached to this world, it is only a passing panorama - changing panorama of life. Once you are attached you feel happy; when you are withdrawn, you feel unhappy. Why don't you attach yourself to some Power which remains permanent and that will never be withdrawn from you, and you cannot be withdrawn from that Power? You will have permanent peace.

QUESTION: When we are in the world, should we try to do Simran all the time to keep our attention on God?

THE MASTER: To have sweet remembrance of God while you are in the world - when doing other duties, while your hands are working let your mind be in sweet remembrance of God. We have to develop that, you see, by sweet remembrance. Where there is love, there is constant remembrance. So we have to do the worldly things too - pay off all debts - that is also worship. Work is worship. Do that and this also. When brain work is required, in the beginning you might for a while have to do it separately. But those who are already in contact with that, they always go on with it, even while thinking. That is a state of mind that develops.

(To everyone) Would it not be better to sit down in meditation? Why not make the best use of your time? Have you anything to do now? Any work? Better to utilize the time for meditation.

As I submitted to you this morning: Make the best use of your time while here.

This is work that we have to do - nobody else will do this work for us. Performance of outer rituals, etc., you can have done by others for payment; but this can only be done by your own self.

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