" Many people describe God in many ways. They love him in different ways. 'Ekam sat viprah bahudha vadanthi' Some call him Bhagawan; some call him Parasatya (the highest truth), some address him as Paramathma and some others as Narayana. Whatever be the name, that highest truth is only one. We must never forget this fact. We must attain that path of truth. Can we? Is it in our reach? Is the path easy or difficult to move in? "

" Let us see what the scriptures say! The Vedas say 'Yatho vacho nivarthanthe aprapya manasa saha' everybody desires to attain the para tattwa, the divine tattwa form but it cannot be attained by mind or by words. Neither can we describe it in words nor can we comprehend with the mind. Then how to hold something which is beyond reach? How to experience it? The Upanishads, a part of the Vedas say 'Nayamathma pravachena labhyah' You are giving lectures on Hare Rama Hare Krishna or Radhe Radhe or something else but God cannot be attained with these lectures. 'Na medhayah' - we have the intellect to decipher the hidden meaning of Vedas but God cannot be attained with such intellect also. 'Na Bahunam Sruthena' - Many great scholars give commentary about the highest truth. We listen to such speeches in search of God but you cannot attain the truth by listening to such talks. How strange! The Vedas and Upanishads say it is not possible to reach God. "

" The Bhagawad Gita shows the way to reach God but only when conditions are fulfilled. 'Sarva dharman..' You must give up all dharmas and surrender to the Lord. It is very difficult to give up all dharmas. Sri sankaracharya preached 'Mata nasti pita nasti bandhu sahodara artham nasti grutham nasti tasmat jagrata jagrata' when this body itself is not yours, then who is your mother or father? Remember that this body is not the real you. You might have earned a lot of wealth and property but you will not take anything with you when you die. This is the truth taught by Gita. "

" Vivekananda wrote a letter to Swami Turieeyananda two months before he left the body citing some of his experiences. 'Don't think you can obtain God in exchange of japa or thapas that you may perform just as you can obtain vegetables in exchange for the money you pay.' Some people may lure you that you can attain God by doing some rituals, some japa or tapa. That is not right. Don't believe them. Even if you give up your entire wealth, God will not come to you. He is not someone who you can bargain and buy like a vegetable!! 'Remember that none can attain him except by His grace.' Everybody must remember one point. You can attain him only with this grace. He must hold you by the hand and take you towards him. That is the only way to reach him. He will lift only those on whom he showers his grace. Without his will, nobody can go near him. He must grant permission; he must accept you. This is the way the Upanishads preach and Vivekananda stressed. "

" 'Always put in your heart that the attainment of God depends not on your japa or thapas but only on His grace.' Even in your dream, don't be in the illusion that you can attain him with your efforts. He cannot be attained by you. Your japa and tapa is not enough. You may be able to reach smaller Gods with your ritual practice. You may have darshan of some Gods by chanting their mantra - Fire God, Wind God, Rain God or Lord Hanuman but not the supreme Lord. This is the real spiritual secret. "

" 'Always put in your heart that the attainment of God depends not on your japa or thapas but only on His grace.' Even in your dream, don't be in the illusion that you can attain him with your efforts. He cannot be attained by you. Your japa and tapa is not enough. You may be able to reach smaller Gods with your ritual practice. You may have darshan of some Gods by chanting their mantra - Fire God, Wind God, Rain God or Lord Hanuman but not the supreme Lord. This is the real spiritual secret. "

" 'God belongs to Bhavajagath.' The world of bhava is beyond prakriti made up of three gunas and also chinmaya world. Prakriti is manifested world. Beyond this is the un manifested world. Even beyond that, 'Para' world is present. 'Avyaktho Vyakthathpara' you must go beyond the manifested and unmanifested worlds to the world of bhava. That is our goal. It is difficult to move beyond this manifested world. When a seed is sown, it grows into a tree. The manifested world is like the tree which was in a state of seed, unmanifested form of tree! We must reach that Para state. It is very difficult. We must understand about that world, its existence, qualities, sweetness etc. "

" 'God belongs to Bhavajagath.' The world of bhava is beyond prakriti made up of three gunas and also chinmaya world. Prakriti is manifested world. Beyond this is the un manifested world. Even beyond that, 'Para' world is present. 'Avyaktho Vyakthathpara' you must go beyond the manifested and unmanifested worlds to the world of bhava. That is our goal. It is difficult to move beyond this manifested world. When a seed is sown, it grows into a tree. The manifested world is like the tree which was in a state of seed, unmanifested form of tree! We must reach that Para state. It is very difficult. We must understand about that world, its existence, qualities, sweetness etc. "

" People migrate to America in search of jobs because money exists there! Similarly, we must go near that supreme light because a nectarine flow of bliss is present there. "

" 'Without possessing bhava, none can attain him. He himself showers bhava on us'. God is in the bhava world, which is above prakriti and chinmaya worlds. This prakriti world is made of the three base gunas. We belong to this world. We must go beyond this world. That is the greatest difficulty. Even Brahma and other Gods faced this hurdle. Brahma lusted for the girl created by himself, his own child and fell. Many Rishis descended from their elevated state. We must go beyond prakriti world and chinmaya world to reach bhava world. "

" We can enter bhava loka only with bhava deha. One who has no bhava; one who does not attain bhava deha is not permitted to enter bhava loka.Bhava is the VISA to enter that world. Only if you have bhava, you have a chance. Without bhava deha, you have no chance. Well, there is no sadhana for bhava deha but you cannot enter Her world without bhava deha. See the critical situation we are in! This is exactly what Vivekananda emphasizes. You cannot do sadhana. If he showers his grace on you, he will grant bhava. The jeeva is like the person who fell into the well and ready to die. Unless somebody throws a rope down and pulls him up, he cannot come out on his own. That is our state spiritually also. "

" Without bhava, you cannot enter bhava jagath or bhava world. He must shower his grace, grant bhava and then we can enter. Do we hava a chance at all? You must form an idea of how difficult and great our journey is. Bhava loka is our goal. We must reach there. There is no sadhana. Divine grace! We must do sadhana to attain divine grace! Our body made up of the three gunas is the biggest enemy. Rajoguna consists of anger and desire. Every atom of our body is filled with rajoguna. With such a body, how can we go beyond this world? Without overcoming the three gunas, we cannot reach the unmanifested world! We have accrued rajoguna from so many past lives. "

" Even Brahma, rishis and maharshis failed to go beyond this world because rajoguna came in their way. Our body is the biggest hurdle. We face many more obstacles in this manifested world. The nature is such that male and female are attracted towards each other. This is applicable not only to human beings but magnets, metals, flowers. opposite poles of the magnet attract. When the insect transfers the pollen grans of male flower to the female flowers, it reproduces to form seed and fruit. This is the wonder of this creation. We must cross each hurdle and move forward. How many boons would we need? How much penance should we do? Whatever we do, divine grace is indispensable. Without divine grace, jeeva cannot ascend to the upper world. Hence we must seek divine grace from our deity. You must realize whose divine grace is inevitable . "

" You must cross the maya in this world. 'Daivi hyesha gunamayi mama maya durutyaya'. Lord Krishna said 'This is my maya.' So maya is also divine! It is his power, Krishna's power! Krishnasthu Bhagawan swayam. He is the supreme divinity! His power is obstructing us! It is very difficult to overcome his power even with all our efforts. We must cross such a hurdle, maya. "

" You can understand the importance of maya from this example. Once, Narada went near Lord Vishnu. Goddess Lakshmi was seated in his lap and his hands were around her. When Narada entered, Goddess Lakshmi felt shy and left the place. Now the divine leela begins! Narada asked 'My Lord. I am your son. Why does a mother feel shy before her child? The parents can be together before their children. I am not affected by maya. I conquered maya. I came with the pure intention of paying respect to my parents but mother left the place. Why? Did I commit a sin? Do you think I have maya within me?' Lord Vishnu laughed. 'she left the place, not me. May be she saw maya in you. You are chanting my name all the time; you helped the ascent of many maharshis; you converted a dacoit into Valmiki maharshi. Still I feel that Lakshmi saw maya in you otherwise she would not leave the place? "

" Narada became very sad. 'My Lord, please show me that maya. I want to see its form. Please accept my request.' 'Narada, why do you want to get into the tangles of maya' You are happily chanting God's name. why do you want to lose this peace by entering into maya?' 'My Lord, I never knew that maya existed inside me. I must understand that maya' It is very difficult to see the maya in our mind. Tukaram said 'You can see the feet of the black ant walking on a black boulder in the pitch dark night but you cannot see maya' It is so invisible and works continuously. That is maya! You must cross such a maya. "

" You may wonder why the Lord told Narada about maya but each one must understand how difficult it is to overcome maya and how essential divine grace is! Going to pilgrimages and temples is of no use. You must attain his grace. You must concentrate all your attention only on divine grace. It is unavoidable and inevitable. This first step is to learn what penance, what sadhana we must do to attain his grace. "

"What are the qualities of the person who attains divine grace? A real devotee of Mother will not have any external indications. We must see internally. We must recognize them as those who attained divine grace and follow them. They will guide us what to do. Now, the next question arises. How to recognize the divine grace? Divine grace has no self effort, no sadhana. "

" I told you about Rehman, the 9 year old muslim boy. Divine grace showered on him. When his sight was drawn towards Shyama, he felt as if She was calling him. That very moment, Mother entered his heart. That his how divine grace is! He may be muslim in this birth but he was a great person in the previous births. He is not an ordinary person! He experienced ecstasy in chanting Shyama's name. He was immersed in that sweetness and joy. In the state of this sweet bhava, no thoughts remain in the mind. One who experiences the bliss of Her name cannot control himself. All bhavas, all thoughts are pushed aside. He thinks of Mother and weeps, Ramakrishna wept like that. He took a sword to kill himself. 'I cannot live in this mundane, trash world. I want to leave this world and go near mother' A delicate hand held him and stopped him. 'Why are you in haste?' I will not go back on my word. I will fulfill my word even after innumerable ages. I am with you all the time, even without a moment's gap. Though I cannot be seen by you, remember that I am always with you.' "

" You will face all these hurdles in your sadhana. Remember them always. Even if you drown in maya and leave Mother, She will not leave us. We are bound to fall in the clutches of maya. When Narada could not escape, what about us? Our journey is with maya - inside, outside and all around us. We must cross the ocean of maya. There are dangers at every step. Unless Mother is with us at every step, we cannot cross maya. That is how, She showers Her grace on us at every step. Just as a mother needs to feed the newly born child, a year old child and also when the child grows up, Mother also looks after us like that only. It is not a momentary phase. Mother is with you each and every moment. I have experienced this. It is the truth. I am never away from Mother. Mother never leaves me. If Mother is really in your heart, She will be with you every second. Many thoughts will invade your mind depending on the karma of your previous births. All of them will be lost. She said 'Whoever contemplates on Me incessantly without any gap; whoever thinks only about Me; I will remove the karmas of all their previous births' 'Karmanam bogatho nasyeth' Karma is dissolved when you experience its results. Even Pareekshit had to face karma and died. In such a condition, we must attain Mother's grace. If we leave Her ever for a second, maya will take us into its grip. This is the real divine secret. It is not like something comes and something leaves. Mother told me Herself. 'I will not leave you till eternity' Ah! Till eternity, Mother " "