During these days here we have had several talks on the different aspects of spirituality. Our purpose is to progress on the way and for that there are certain things that are very essential. If they are not there, progress won't be there. First of all is regularity. As you take food for the body daily, two, three times a day, similarly, you are here for the main purpose of giving food to the soul, the Bread of Life and the Water of Life, the capital of which each one of you has had. So the first thing is regularity. Regularity will give you better progress if you maintain the diary for self-introspection accurately. Generally we don't care about the maintenance of the diary in respect to self-introspection. The result is, no substantial progress on the way; sometimes we progress, sometimes we recede.
    The diaries prescribe to have no ill will for anybody, even in thought, word and deed. Thoughts are very potent. You ask, "If somebody says something against me, what should I do?" Blood cannot be washed away by blood. The Water of Life is required to wash it away. If anybody speaks ill of you, consider calmly for a while whether there is any truth in what he speaks. Examine your own self. If there is any truth in what he says, be thankful to him. Either your enemy will tell you something which is not right with you, or sometimes a close friend as a matter of counsel and advice, because he has full love for the party concerned. If what he says is not true, then forgive him. Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. Pray for him; that is the only way. Otherwise this thought will be rankling in your mind; you will have no rest. Whenever you sit, that thing will creep up.
    The second thing is truthfulness, no acting or posing. Your heart, your speech, your brain should be in unison. When these three things agree, only then there is truth. We simply say something for outer show. Our heart thinks one thing and our brain is thinking something else. These are the things to be watched very carefully. Nobody can watch you as well as you can watch yourself; you know best. If we do this, first we deceive our own self. Not only do we deceive our own self, but the God in us too. He is there watching our every action. He even knows the very tendencies of our mind.
    Then comes the chastity of life. They say, "Chastity is life, sexuality is Death." The more chaste you become, the better. That will pay; you will have blessedness in you.
    When something wrong is done, we lie, act, or pose. Or we act and pose to show something that we are not. The result is we feel a big wall between us and the God within us; the curtain thickens. So always be true to your own self. Don't spare yourself if you want to progress on the spiritual way.
    We are all of the same essence as that of God. We are drops of the Ocean of All-consciousness. We are all brothers and sisters in God, no high, no low. According to the reactions of the past we have our own positions in life, we have some difficulties in life. But all the same, God has given us equal privileges - as physical bodies, as souls, as worshippers of the same Power which controls all creation and controls us in the body. So man is one who lives for others.
    Truth is above all and true living is still above truth. If there is light in the bulb and the bulb is besmeared with black dust, how much light will you get? Light is within you. Take heed that the light within you is not darkness. This you have to watch; nobody else can watch it for you. Other things may come to somebody's notice; they may point it out to you either out of enmity to defame you, or out of a hearty love for you so that you may not be misled. So these are the three most necessary factors. If money is lost, nothing is lost; if health is lost, something is lost; but if character is lost, everything is lost.
    As I told you, these are the helping factors to have success on the spiritual Way. These things that I am putting before you are not new. Each one of you knows these things. If you have to give a talk I think you will speak more vehemently, with bombastic words and with all the force at your command. But the only thing is, we should be true to our own selves. If a man has a lamp in his hand and falls in the pit, what should he do? So we want progress. That Power is within you, always watching your every action. Be true to Him, that is all. That is the only farewell talk which I can give to you, which should stand forever.
    If you take one step that way, He will come one hundred steps. Otherwise, how long will you conceal your failures in life? When you conceal them from the One who is within you He puts a thick curtain between you and Himself. So that is why the prayer is said, I thank thee, O father, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. What does this prayer mean? To the innocents - innocent life. An innocent life has none of these failures on the diary. So I wish you all progress.
    That God Power, Christ Power, Master Power is within you, sometimes He speaks through the human pole to guide you, because you do not listen to the dictates given by Him inside. Inside, He gives advice once, twice, thrice, but if you don't listen He stops. You might call that the voice of conscience. If you are true to your own self you will not even be afraid of God, I would say. Be true to the God within you. God does not reside in heaven; He is permeating, controlling all creation, and controlling you in the body. He is nearer to you than your own hands and feet.
    So keep your diary strictly; don't spare yourself. If any fault comes to you, weed out please. If you have pain in your stomach, how far will you be acting and posing? If you have taken poison, how long would you keep quiet, act and pose? You will cry. This is a most necessary factor which goes to help your progress on the way. God within you is watching everything; He is watching the very tendencies of your mind.
    The only thing is, we are not true to our own selves. Our mouth should speak what is in our heart, and our brain should think what we have in our heart. We have progressed with our head, but not with the heart. That is the whole trouble. The brain thinks, we become selfish-hearted and narrowminded. We become the boss and want to control everybody. We would like to surpass everybody, even at the sacrifice of all others. You will find that the troubles going on in the world today are all a result of this. What is the reason? Their hearts are not with them. If your brain thinks, does your heart agree with it? I don't think so. If you would think about killing somebody, would your heart say, "Yes, do it?" No! Heart is the seat of the soul of God within you. Progress with your head, but let your heart be with you, then you will be saved from many things. All atrocities, all these things coming before us in the world today will end. Why has all this come up? Because we have only progressed with our head, not with our head and heart. If those two would have come together do you think that shooting would still go on?
    So be true to your own selves. Remain where you are; these are schools of thought in which we believe. The basic teachings for all are the same. God has created you with equal privileges: you have got body, soul, and Controlling Power. All are equal. So we have joined different schools of thought just to realize that unit which already exists. If we had stuck to the rules which were meant to give you development and progress, you would have understood these principles for which God made man, and for which all these schools of thought were formed.
    So that Power is within you, always watching your every action; if you are true to Him, you are true to God. Be regular; this is the Bread of Life and the Water of Life. If your soul becomes strong, your horse is strong - that will be able to carry even a broken carriage. The difficulty is that our bodies are strong, our intellects are strong, and spiritually we are very feeble, very frail. Be regular in your meditation; that is the Bread of Life. We should develop all around. We have developed physically, intellectually, and we should also develop spiritually. Then thrice blessed is man.
    Remain in contact physically too, through correspondence - that is when you send your diaries, true diaries. What do I mean by true diaries? That diary which truly interprets what you are thinking, saying, and doing; in mind, word, and deed. Sometimes the diaries are almost all full of blanks, and the result is said that, "I am putting in two hours and there is no progress." Should I believe him? You can deceive outside people, not the One within you who is watching you. If your diaries are all right, and you are putting in regular time, accurately, there is no reason why you should not progress. The Master Power works. It is the Holy Ghost, that works from time to time to guide you back to God. Listen to this point and remain in contact - that is all I can say.
    You have been having meditation hours and I hope that each one of you feels better. If you go on like that, with due respect to your self-introspection, and if you weed out all failures under these headings that I have put before you in the diaries, God will help you more from day to day. So as I told you in my talks, every Saint has His past and every sinner a future. There is hope for everybody. Don't be disheartened. You have some Power over your head to help you, especially those who have been initiated on the Way. You are not all alone. Listen to Him - His words are within you, and so long as you are not in conscious contact with that Power, remain in contact outside, physically. I think that what I am telling you must appeal to each one of you. I am just talking to you from the level of man, as a man to man.
    So a simple life and high thinking is what is wanted: a loving heart, no high and no low. He is most beautiful who has the Light of God effulgent within him. That house is very beautiful in which electric bulbs are giving light. When there are no bulbs there? Then even the most magnificent house looks dark. So this is what is required. I think if you take these things to heart and live up to them, God will help you. All my wishes will always be with you here, there, anywhere, because the astral form of the Master is with you always. And until you contact Him consciously face to face within, guidance from the outside, from that Power working at the human pole, is necessary.
    So the minimum meditation time given to you is two hours. At least this is binding. If you can do more that will earn His pleasure. I remember in 1912, I had a Mohammedan professor. Men of the same views have love for each other. He would meet me and I also used to meet him. I am talking about sixty years back. He had put a sign on his house, "No admission without permission." But I was free to go to see him anytime. Sometimes when I went to see him he was saying prayers in his own Mohammedan way. The general rule for Mohammedans is that they sit in prayer five times a day. They bow down and then stand. When I went to him he used to say his prayers for hours - one hour, two hours, three hours; I would simply watch him.
    I once asked him, "Well dear friend, Mohammedans have only five sittings and you go on for hours."
    He said, "Five sittings are binding if you are a Mohammedan; and this I do to earn His pleasure."
    So to put in two hours tithe is binding on each one of you. And if you do more it will earn His pleasure. This is your work, you have to do it. Just like a thief who wants to grab money anytime of the day or night, if you are really after your spiritual progress, snatch away time any time you can. Where there is a will, there is a way. The pity is that we have no will. That is why we are not able to give full deference to the work. The human-body is the highest rung in all creation and this is the golden opportunity we have got in which we can do this. Nobody else will do it for you; it is you who have to do it.
    So my best wishes are with you. That is all I can say. That Power is within you, watching you - your every tendency, every thought - and is extending all feasible help and protection without your asking for it. So it is a great blessing to have Somebody living on earth like this to guide us. You are all dear to me. Why? Because you have been put on the Path, and as such we are all brothers and sisters, real relatives. This is such a relation which cannot be broken even after death. How fortunate you are. So that is all I can say. This is the sum total of all the teachings in a few words. If you will live by them you will progress even more than me. I pray that you all become ambassadors. But we should be sincere in word, thought, and deed.
    Do you follow my point now? Be regular in your meditation, no ill will for anybody. Be truthful, be chaste, and have love for all. You are not born to live for your own selves. You are man. Man is one who lives for others, not only for his own self. Be regular in devoting your time to coming in contact with the All-consciousness within you, which is controlling all creation and permeating all creation. Remain in any social group you like, that makes no difference; the purpose of all of them is to reach God. The purpose of marriage is to have a companion to help each other to know God. That will give you permanent joy and peace.
    Consider these points which I have placed before you. Take it to your heart and live up to them. If you live up to them, your face will be shining in glory, your eyes will be open and bright. That is all I can say.