Japa and tapa [repetition of God's name and penance or austerities] are also a dream. All these [acts] create bindings. Fasting, too, is a binding. To eat is a binding. To escape from this bondage, leave everything to Baba and dedicate to him, in all honesty and with full sincerity, your everything. The meaning of dedication is that whatever good or bad you do during the 24 hours, attribute them to me. The meaning of this is that you must have full and firm faith that Baba is the sole doer, and you do nothing. You should not even have a thought of doing anything, and the belief that I do everything should be so rocklike and natural that you truly feel that Baba does all. But, it is extremely difficult to follow this.
All my discourses and other spiritual literature have no meaning. They have no substance in them. My present State is due to one kiss from Babajan. Never will this State be realized by studying any literature — religious or spiritual!
Wagh said, "But, for the grace of the Master, there must be some preparedness. Something has to be done to prepare the ground."
In reply, Baba dictated:
Carry out Maharaj's orders with all honesty and faith. Whatever he has ordered you about the rites and ceremonies, do accordingly; but, don't attach any importance to them. Do them to keep Maharaj's wish, but not mechanically or as part of the routine. Do them with all your heart.
Occasionally, I order the mandali to fast without water for 24 hours. Every one of the mandali, at the time, keeps count of the time — one hour has passed, five hours have passed, now only two hours are left! And, no sooner 24 hours are over, they rush to drink water, and they take so much water that their stomach is full and they forget about their appetite. They have no hunger left, although during the course of the fast they were counting every minute. So such a fast turns out to be a mechanical fast and they cannot even relish the food which they were looking forward to every moment during the fast.
So these rites and rituals should not be mechanical, but quite natural.