To keep playing on the stepping stone, however polished and shining it may be, is like sitting tight over an idle heap of hoarded wealth.
Like everything else, intellect can also be used as much as misused or abused. The deeper the intelligence, the greater the responsibility for discrimination between essentials and nonessentials, service and disservice, going forward or backward.
May you succeed in transcending the limitations of understanding and crossing into the domain of Real Knowledge, where nothing remains as unknown, unseen and unheard of; nay, everything becomes self-identified.
My blessings to all.
A large throng gathered at Meher Bhavan for Baba's darshan on the night of 3 April. Two of the mandali were posted at the gate to instruct people not to touch Baba's feet or bow to him, but simply to take his darshan from a distance with folded hands for a few seconds and leave without asking questions. Garlands and other offerings were to be placed on the floor. Since this was the first time Baba was giving darshan there in many years, there was naturally a great excitement. A specially decorated chair had been made for Baba, above which were five cobras (representing the mind), reminiscent of how Lord Vishnu is often portrayed.
Babadas and Vibhuti had come to Madras in advance to publicize the event; but when Baba reached Madras, Vibhuti was not to be seen. There had been another heated quarrel between Babadas and Vibhuti, and Vibhuti had left.
Baba gave this message to the congregation:
What is wrong with the world today and with India in particular? Such, and allied, questions are bound to arise in thinking minds, but the answers are not altogether honest and straight. The diagnosis given and the remedies adopted have all been biased and one-sided; the whole situation stands hopelessly vague and undetermined.
The crux of the situation lies in the correct understanding and reinterpreting of the ancient word "religion." The West has very little of religion, and whenever we hear of it, it is subservient to politics, or at best a handmaid of material life.
The East is suffering from an overdose of religion, and, consequently, it is desperately hankering for a material antidote thereto. Religion in the West is synonymous with scientific progress, which is destructive in its manifestation. In the East, and particularly in India, religion, instead of establishing the Kingdom of God on Earth, has gone underground in the guise of crude ceremonies, rude rituals and dead dogmas.
Instead of engendering the seeds of peace and plenty, the under-driven religion tries to shoot out communalism, fanaticism, nationalism and patriotism, which have become bywords for leadership and greatness, suffering and sanctity.