So happy Christmas Day to you all. We should rejoice in the birthdays of all Godmen who came to earth from time to time to guide the child humanity. We have respect for all. The best way of celebrating a great man's life is not by singing, eating or drinking; the best way is to follow the teachings they gave. First of all, they say that there is God. There is "my Father" -- They have seen and They say so. Saints speak of what They see, not as a matter of feelings or drawing inferences. They say, "We Have Seen." They have not only Seen but They also profess that, "I and my Father are One. He is in me and I am in Him." People asked Christ to just show them the Father. What did He say? "Who has seen Me has seen My Father." Who has seen Me has seen My Father. If you can't believe Whom you see, then how can you believe in Him Whom you have not seen. Do you follow Me?
    So God manifests--He resides in every heart of course, but He fully manifests in some human body; we respect that body. Masters never say, "I am Father." They may say, "I and my Father are One. He is working through me," but They never forget the Father. Some so-called great men never talked of Father. I am giving you a delicate point now, very delicate.
    Tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, was one of the Saints who gave the clue to where He was in the last birth. Very few Saints have done this. He said, "I was at such and such a place, I was there, I was doing penances, so much so that I and My Father became One. So God ordered me to go to the world." He did not like to come and give up that bliss, you see. But God persuaded, "You go, You have to go." "All right, what should I do?" And God said, "I have sent so many men but they have preached in their own names and not mine. You'll find, Lord Rama came and everyone said, "Ram, Ram, Ram." Lord Krishna came and they said, "Krishna, Krishna, Krishna." Although in their teachings they have said very clear cut things, they somehow or other gave the wrong impression, I would say. The people began to worship them and not God. In Gita, which is the sum total of the teachings of Lord Krishna, He has referred to this point.
    One man came to me who was very much adept in the Gita. He told me that he could not differentiate what Lord Krishna meant when sometimes he said, "Come to me--think of me," and sometimes he said, "Think of Him." I told him this is the very point that you have to follow. He has referred to Him in an ambiguous way, I would say. Krishna was here as an incarnation to carry out a mission to have the peaceful Kingdom on earth, where they could dwell. But the Avatars did not speak directly of God. Christ did say, "My Father has sent Me." That is His greatness. Tenth Guru very clearly said: Kabir also said the same thing. Kabir says, "I have been sent by God to convey His message to you." You see? So you'll find the majority of people are following only these gods. So Masters never give the misconception that They are God. Master may say God is in him, it is He Who works through him: It is His Grace. All the same, we respect him because he is the very blessing from God in human form. He resides in every heart, but somewhere He is working: He is manifest. God already resides in you all, but as you are identified with the physical body and outward things so much so, you have forgotten your own Selves. His work is just to withdraw you from outside, raise you up and give you a glimpse of God. You see what the greatness of these real, note the word I am using, 'real' Masters? Other saints do come for the time being to meet with the times. I'll give you an example. There is a King. He appoints a commander-in-chief. He also appoints Viceroys. The appointing authority of both is the same God or King, but their functions are different. Commander-in-Chief fully knows that he has been appointed by the King, to carry out what? When there are any disorders, to set them right, punish the wicked and to give the virtuous a boost. That is his job: To set the world in order. What is the Viceroy's work? A Viceroy says, "The King has ordered, I am conveying the orders of the King." The Commander in Chief says, "I order." "Fire, control, seize." He gives these orders, you see? You follow my point now? Kabir said, "I have come only to convey the word of my Master, of my Father." Christ also speaks like that. Tenth Guru has also clearly referred to His past birth. It is rarely that Saints do this. They might have given a very hazy view of their past life but not so clear as the tenth Guru gave it. That place has been found, marked with a card. There is a valley of flowers, very perfumed outer atmosphere. There are four scenic hills. So they have found that place now. I was there--He came up.
    So they do come. What for? So that the people may not forget God. There is God, they have seen Him. They give testimony that they have seen Him. And people asked, "Where have you seen Him?" And He said, "Within this man body I have seen Him." Why can't we see? Because our soul is under control of mind, mind is under the control of outgoing faculties and outgoing faculties are driven by the outward enjoyments. So Master, the God in man's work, is to withdraw your attention from outside for awhile, raise you above the outgoing faculties, and give you a glimpse of God. So that is why Christ said, "Those who have seen Me have seen My Father." Is it not so? Once He further said, "If you pray to God, He might give you, might give you or not. If you pray to God in My name, He may give you." These are His Words. "But if you ask Me, you will surely have it." You follow what is meant by that? We have not seen God. We have not been fully convinced whether there is God or not. We pray. "Oh God." We don't know to whom we are praying. We are not definite. If you pray to God in the name of the Saints, then you have some conviction that there is a God because Masters say so. But if you see God in Him, then you will surely have it. So follow the difference. Mark the difference of every word uttered by a Saint. They say something, with something definite in view. All the same, those who realize; "I and My Father are One," don't forget that there is a God. Can a drop of water say, "I am the Ocean?" It can say, "We are part of the ocean: He is in us, we are in Him." Do you follow me? On this day we celebrate the birth of such a great Saint, and the best way of celebration would be to be in tune with Him, to the God Power that is one. I gave a talk in America on 25th December, 1962. Master Power, God Power, or Guru Power is the same Power that works on human poles at different times. Those poles are blessed through which It works from time to time, but that Power, the Christ Power never dies. He never leaves you till the end of the world. When I first went to America, the people asked, "Well, when is Christ returning?'' They said that He will return. So I put the question to them: "Has He ever left you?" He said: "I shall never leave thee nor forsake thee until the end of the world," did He not? Then what is the question of returning? That Power works at different human poles from time to time, to guide the child humanity. Is this not so? Guru Arjan collected the sayings of every Saint on which he could lay His hands, collected them all together to form the Sikh Scriptures. They are all brothers in God, you see? We respect everybody. Those who come in the past, those who are now working and those who may come in the future. After all, that very Power works, does it not? So have respect for all. I have respect for all. There is a God. You have at least seen some manifestations of the God into Expression Power. And that leads to where? From where that God came into
expression. There was a vibration and vibration resulted in Light and Sound. So blessed you are, you see. Happy Birthday. Happy Christmas Day. But the best way to celebrate is to live in contact. There is a God, definitely. Saints say they have seen: you can see. And what is the criterion of such a Saint? He can give you some demonstration. Lectures, long, tall talks, are quite a different thing. That is speaking of the bread, not giving the bread itself. He must be able to give you something, little capital to start with. Where? Within you. Not telling you to wait, that you will have in due course after years, or after death. Who can give you some glimpse of it, more or less, according to each man's background, take Him as a Saint: you won't be deceived. So blessed you are, you are following the same teachings that were given by all Masters. In the book Naam or Word, I have given excerpts, quotations from the scriptures saying that Light and Sound is the only way back to absolute God. Other yogas have their own scope but this is direct contact. You have not to make any hypothesis nor infer that you see something. See and then say. Now we say something when we have not seen. Excuse me if I use the word blind. It is like a blind man who has never seen the sun saying, "The sun is very much ablaze, very beautiful." This is what we do. So Masters enjoin you to see and then say. Their company gives you a direct radiation that you can enjoy even at thousands of miles away when you have developed receptivity, when nothing remains between you and Him--not your body, not you, not any of your outward thoughts, and you direct your attention to Him, you'll develop receptivity. That is why Kabir says, "The initiate might be living this side of the world, and your Master is residing on the other side of the world, say America or India. Direct your attention to Him, that's all. You'll have all that bliss. It takes time to develop receptivity; and how is receptivity developed? You might have read one circular I issued for only a bird's eye view. If you have gone through it, you'll find how receptivity is developed; the first step is sweet remembrance. Sweet remembrance comes when? When you have seen somebody; you have enjoyed somebody; you can not forget. Whom you have not seen, you might be in doubt. So physical presence can not be underrated. That can be developed from even thousands of miles by developing receptivity. So with these words I may again wish you Happy Christmas Day. Enjoy it in the sense I am putting before you.
    There was one pundit who was a follower of Swami Dayananda of Arya Samaj. He had an M.A. in chemistry. People asked him to write his Guru's life. All right, he was a learned man. Three or four months later they asked him, "Have you written something? .... I am writing hard." Again, after six months, "Have you completed the book, the life of Swami Dayananda? .... Yes, I am writing very hard, day and night." In a year or two after, they again said, "Have you finished that book?" "I am still writing very hard." "Oh, what a book you must be writing. This is two, three, four years now." "The best thing to write is just to become what He is," was his reply. This is what we should do. You see, we should have the same qualities developed in us as in the Master or the God in man. This is the best way of writing; an example is better than precept. You may write hundreds of books, but if your life does not prove it, you have the same tendencies as stated before, then?
    So this is why I am telling you the best way to celebrate. That God Power worked through Jesus and others. In the books you will find what I have given is dedicated to my Master Baba Sawan Singh. Have you read my books? Well, if you have got any book, I'll just read out, to bring home to you what I have written. We simply ruminate over books, I would say. On each book you will find, you see, "Dedicated to the Almighty God, working through all Masters who have come, and Baba Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj, at whose Lotus Feet the author imbibed the sweet elixir of Holy Naam." To all Masters, past and present, with whom I came in contact. So we have love for all Masters, you see, the God in them. They are not Jesus or Singh or Kahan or Kabir or anybody, but that Power that worked through Them. This bulb is only giving off the light sent through it. For the light it gives this bulb is respected, is it not? So have respect for all. I have respect for all; what I have come to and I think all Masters have come to. So I had the good fortune to sit at the feet of my Master to imbibe this little understanding that I am putting before you. Live by it. Your best devotion lies in the fact that you live up to what you are told. What did Christ say, "Keep my commandments," that's all. If they never told you more than that [it would be sufficient]. So become a true Christian, true Hindu, true Sikh, true Mohammedan; the basic teachings have been the same. Outer differences are due only to outward climatic differences or customs prevailing. Outer ways of living may change. This is what we have in the social religions. So we have to live in some social body. Even if we don't like to have any society and so many thousands of people come up to your own way of thinking, then you'll again form a society. You cannot escape it. So it is better to remain where you are. Those are the outward symbols we are carrying. We are men first, then souls, conscious entities. A drop of the ocean of all consciousness and the same God overhead, called by so many names. So this is what I have to tell you in a few words, heart to heart talk. Happy Christmas to all.