In Every Heart, Lord Resides

You know, when I was in school, there were so many intelligent boys and girls in my class. And all of them thought, “I am going to be somebody.” Do you know, the dull students have done much better than them. They are doing very well in their lives, better than all the intelligent students. Nature has its own plans. In every heart, the Lord resides. Honour everyone, respect everyone - humility will bring that in you. Your good deeds, your Knowledge, skills, can all give you such pride, that you are somebody. The best Knowledge can bring you an awareness that you are nobody. So many people say that only through Knowledge can you cultivate humility - no, not cultivate, only through knowledge can you enliven that humility. But some other people say that they depend on each other - love and humility. Love and Knowledge go hand in hand.

Others say it depends on each other. Knowledge and love, they go together. Only when you have love, do you take interest in Knowledge, you like to know about it. Suppose you have no love for astronomy, would you ever become an astronomer? Can you be a good astronomer? Not possible. If you love physics, then you can be a good physicist. So because of love, you gain knowledge; because there is knowledge, then you grow more in it. So they complement each other. But, again I tell you -

Love is the final. Love is the fruit. Love is the end. Any amount of Knowledge you may have got, all the Knowledge leads you to love. You may go to a swimming pool, you may go onto a diving board, but you have to let go of the diving board, you have to jump into the water. Whether you jump on this side or that side, any corner, but you have to jump. If you go to a swimming pool and you hold onto the board, can you swim? If you hold onto the railing, can you jump into the water? No!

Just by reading the menu card, your hunger cannot be satisfied, can it? Similarly, just by looking at the architectural plan of a home, can you relax in your home? Just with the plans there? Same way, simply having Knowledge is not sufficient. Love is needed, the experience is needed. Simply reading is not sufficient, but the experience alone will quench. Knowledge is like reading the menu card, love is experiencing it.

And so, those who are desirous of liberation or freedom should only go for Divine Love. What does that mean? Have Knowledge, but immerse in Love. Just sing, dance, be drawn in ecstasy. Now how to do that? “Okay, I am ready to walk on the path of love. But what is it? How to do it?”

The great teachers have sung the means for this. That is why these are called Sutras, hints, to you. They never give you advice that cannot be fruitful, which cannot be looked into, which cannot be attended to. The Rishis have never left you hanging in space; they have always understood where you come from, where you are, and how to guide you in the next step.

Source: The New Indian Express