Little Little Things
November 1, 1972, Chicago Ill.
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DEAR BROTHERS AND SISTERS: You are all fortunate, because you have got the
man body, the highest in all creation, which is next to God. The highest
aim in the man body is to know Self and to know God. The ultimate goal of
all knowledge is the knowledge of the Self. The Upanishads ask us. What is
that by knowing which everything else is known? For that, God makes an
arrangement to bring those who have got a real yearning to search for this
ideal, in contact somewhere where they can be put on the way back to God,
which is within you.

So body is the true temple of God But we find the best thing is, if a man
is put on the Way, he should keep the commandments literally. But it is
mind, you know, that defiles everything. Even if we are putting in time for
meditation, we find difficulty, so that we cannot go on with it. And there
are some things that are impediments on the Way, the spiritual way. That we
know; everybody knows; but I am going to enumerate them as the subject of
this talk.

First of all, you see: We should stand on our own legs. Don't be dependent
on anybody. One Saint prays, 0 God, give me this: That I may stand on my
own legs. If I have to be dependent on others, it is better that You take
my soul from the body. To be dependent on others is a heinous crime; all
evils creep in. So we must have honest earning. All Masters have referred
to it; Guru Nanak said, He who earns his money in the honest way and shares
with others, such a man alone can know God. Whatever money we receive
through dishonest means, naturally, we have got that dishonesty creeping up
within ourselves. If money is earned by honest means, then you will find
some restsome peace.

Further, whatever we eat and drink has its own effect. If a dog is kept on
vegetable food, he is very amiable. If he is kept on meat, etc., he will be
howling and growling. So it is a satvic [i.e., strict vegetarian] diet that
we have to take.

And even if we take that kind of diet, we have to watch the hands through
which the food passes: by whom it is cooked, and by whom it is served. That
diet also carries the effect of those through whose hands the food has been
prepared and served. All these things affect the man who eats it. If the
food is earned by honest means, and those who prepare the food have been in
the sweet remembrance of God, with chaste thoughtsthen you will find that
when you eat, that will give you calmness within.

And one more thing: If such food is prepared this way, that will have its
effect; but if you eat too much, more than what is wanted, then what is the
result? Diet which is digested will give you strength; that which is not
digested? So diet has a great effect, you see. Eat one morsel less than you
need. There was an incident with the Prophet Mohammed, who had about forty
followers with him at one time, and somebody attached a doctor to him, so
that if anybody went sick, he might be treated then and there. The doctor
remained with the party for six months; but nobody got sick. He went to
Prophet Mohammed and said, "Well, I have been here six months; nobody has
been sick, so there is no need of my being here." The Prophet said, "Yes,
so long as they do what I have ordered: have a good character, chaste
thoughts, and hard work; and take one morsel less than they really need,
there can be no sickness. You better go."

So our earnings should be honest; that is the first step. It should not be
blood squeezed from others. What is yours, is yours; what is others is for
the others. Don't usurp the rights of others; that is the first thing
required. Otherwise many evil thoughts will creep up in you.

There was one Maharishi Shivbrat Lal. One man came to him and said, "My
head aches, I cannot sit in meditation for long." He said, "Look to your
stomach." Then another man came the same day and said, "My mind wanders
away." "Well, look to your stomach." Then another man said, "I cannot sit
in meditation; my mind rebels." He said, "Look to your stomach." So this is
the first elementary thing which stands as an impediment on the Way you
have been put on.

Second thing: God has given rightsequal rightsto everybody. We are born
the same way; outer and inner construction is the same. And we are ensouled
bodies. Soul is of the same essence as that of God, and God also resides in
everybody. We should have no hatred for anybody. One may be standing,
waiting on the table; another one is sitting in the chair. This is due to
as we have sown, so we have reaped. Higher position or lower position,
richness or poornessall these things depend on that. Sometimes a man
thinks, "I am in power." Or, "I am a very learned man." You hate others for
these reasons: because you are very rich, because you are very learned,
because you are a man of position. Humility is the only remedy for that; we
are all equal, you see. If you hate them, then how do you think the God
within you will receive you? So we are all equal. We are all brothers and
sisters in God. Generally we feel, "Oh, I know much better." These are the
little little things that affect the reservoir of our subconscious mind.
And they react.

The third thing is: Forgive and forget. I am giving you practical
difficulties. If anybody has done anything wrong to you, you say, "All
right, I forgive"; but you have not forgiven at heart. You are in the
watch"when can I retaliate?" Forgive and forget. If you remember somebody
who has done this wrong or that wrong, then naturally that element of your
retribution won't go. If a child has done anything wrong, do you not
forgive?

And one thing, you see: Each man has to work at his own level. Suppose a
man with a primary grades education is there, and a college man is there.
Can you expect the primary man to talk up to the level of the college man?
Make some allowance; try to understand what he says.

So as I told you, one thing is honest earning; and pure diet passed
through, cooked by, served by, people of good character in sweet
remembrance of God. In the old days, a mother would not let anyone enter
the kitchen when she was preparing the food; nobody entered there. I think
I mentioned to you that when I was a military accounts officer attached to
a regiment in the field, one orderly was given to me to cook my food. So I
told him, "Well look here: So long as you are in the kitchen, you should go
on reciting some scripture or have the sweet remembrance of God. No other
thought should enter your mind." He said, "All right." Well, for three days
he obeyed. On the fourth day I was sitting in meditation at about 12 or 1
in the night; something was wrong in my mind. I called that manat 1 at
night: "Well, come on, who was it in your kitchen today?" He said, "No,
sir, nobody was there." "Don't lie!" Then he said, "Yes, there was, we were
talking about such-and-such." Why don't we notice these things? Because we
are already so filthy; if an ounce is added, we don't notice. But those who
have got no filth, little things affect them; one gram affects them. So
these are the first things, you see; just see how far we have gone.

The second thing was, as I told you, on account of our being rich or
learned or a man of position or a man of possessions, we hate others. We
think they are not men of our own status; that they are not fit for our
society. This hatred of the heart affects your mind.

The third thing was. Forgive and forget. After all, men are not of the same
stature; each man works according to his own level of thinking or
development. Make him understand politely, but once it has been done,
thenforget. Forget all. If you don't forget, again and again the thought
goes on"he has done that, he has done that"that also poisons the mind and
affects you.

The fourth thing is chastity: of thought, word and deed. Even if any
unchaste thoughts enter your mind, you think of them, your whole body is
poisoned from head down to foot. Others do not know; you know. Sometimes
people say, "We do not do anything, we simply enjoythey are talking of
suchlike things, you see, unchaste thoughts. But those very things affect
you. As I explained to you the other day, every thought has its effect. As
you sow, so it is sown; whether it is done in a frivolous way, for
enjoyment's sake it affects.

So there is chastity of eyes: Don't look to others with lustful thoughts or
any rancor rankling in your mind, or any enmity, or thinking that the other
man, he is no good. And for the ears: don't hear anything evil about
others because a little thought comes to you, and that awakens doubt; and
we begin to doubt that man about which we have heard. But he may be all
right. So for that reason, don't believe anything anyone tells you"I have
heard" or "I have seen"unless you hear for your own self with your ears
and see with your own eyes.

Then comes chastity of tongue: Anything which is not of satvic character,
you will become fond of it; you will think, "it is very delicious"; then
that will affect your stomach. So what is wanted is chastity of
everythingeyes, ears, tongueskin also. In these little little things, we
receive infection from others. That is the main thing.

Chastity in itself is a blessing. As I told you, married life in accordance
with the scriptures is no bar to spirituality. It is companionship; a
sacrament, not a contract. God has given you a companion to help each other
on the earthly sojourn, in weal or woe, and to help each other to know God.
And then for begetting children, whenever they are wanted. So a life of
self-restraint is a blessing, you see; those who keep it, they will feel
blessings in their body. And that chastity has its own thought by
radiation. I am telling you, each thought has its own color and it's own
fragrance; so beware! Thoughts are very potent. This is the fourth thing:
Where there is chastity, all virtues will find an abode in you; your mind
will be at rest; whenever you sit, you will progress wonderfully.

Then the fifth thing is: Don't work as the unpaid apprentices of the C.I.D.
of God. ("C.I.D." means "Confidential Investigation Department.") "He is
like thathe is like thathe is like that" you are always looking after
that. God is there too; He will look after it. If you have got any friend
who is clearly doing something wrong, you may tell him privately, politely,
"this is no good; don't spoil your life; I have love for you." But don't
broadcast it like a plague rabbit, going around everywhere.

Sometimes we say, "You know how wonderful I am?" If you want, let others
say you are wonderful. These things are based on what is lying in the
depths of your hearts. Out of the abundance of his heart a man speaks.

So for this reason, don't think evil of anybody: because as you think, so
you become. If you are always thinking, he is bad, he is bad, you will get
infected with that. I read a book once when I was in school, that said that
some missionaries went to Japan and preached one commandment of Moses:
Don't strike your woman. The people were leading very innocent lives; they
asked, "Is it in your country that they beat women?" The result was, after
a year's preaching, they began to beat women. I have seen men, foremost
preachers in society, who preach, "Don't drink, don't drink," but
privately, they do drink. I have seen, I tell you. "Don't drink, don't
drink" and all the time they are thinking of drinking, are they not? Maybe
the word "don't" is there, but drinking is also there. Then you say, "all
right, let's see what it's all about." So as you think, so you become.

Further: we criticize others. We should criticize ourselves as we criticize
others. Mind your own business. If you have a friend whom you love, tell
him privately, "please don't do it." What more can you do? Unless a man in
his heart of hearts feels that he has done wrong, he won't follow you. Man
will go by the dictates of his mind. If he is convinced that what he is
doing is really wrong, then he will listen to you, otherwise not.
SoWanted: ReformersNot of others, but of themselves. REFORM YOUR OWN
SELF: you will reform many men around you. People judge by what they see,
not by the words you express or preach. So example is better than precept.
You see, you have been given a diary for that. Criticize yourself as you
would criticize others; put down your failures and weed them out. Don't
simply say, "I am a sinner, I am a sinner"; you will become a sinner, God
knows. If you weed them out, then it is all right; and for that, you have
to keep diaries.

These are six things which stand in the way of our progress on the
spiritual way. And there are some constructive points which help us on the
Way. Both things should be known. You know, mind defiles, everything: a
thought of lust defiles the whole body from head down to foot; a good
thought, a thought of love, permeates your whole body. So don't let the
mind be vacant. A vacant mind is the home of the devil. Keep it occupied,
either in your work or in the sweet remembrance of God. There is one thing
that helps us with this: Do one thing at a time, wholly and solely. There
is a table there with so many drawers; open one drawer and attend to it
fully; then close down that drawer. Then open the next drawer, attend to it
fully; then open the third drawer. Then you won't have two or three things
hovering over your mind.

If you read the lives of great men, you will learn many things. Napoleon
Bonaparte, for example: The night before the Battle of Waterloo, at 1 a.m.,
he was writing the proceedings of a primary school. You see how
self-composed he was? There is something in some men which makes them
great, you see. At eight o'clock in the morning of the Battle of Waterloo,
he was strolling in the compound where he was living. A minister was there,
hovering around. "What are you after?" "Sir, the battle is to be fought at
nine." "That is at nine o'clock; it is eight o'clock now."

So do one thing at a time, completely, wholly, and solely, and you will
find you will save many troubles. One man comes to you to talk, you attend
only a little and leave him not fully attended; another man comes, you
attend him only a little; then a third man, a fourth man, and you do the
same; the result is that they are all hovering around you, you see, they
won't leave unless you satisfy them. So whatever thought strikes you,
attend to it fully: decide one way or the other finally. How many problems
do you have daily? I don't think one or two! So many problems are heaped
together. Sometimes you think of that, sometimes of thisthey are hovering
around you. So this you can learn from Bonaparte's life, you see: Do one
thing at a time.

John Bunyan wrote "The Pilgrim's Progress"; you might have seen that book.
His motto was, Write something daily; and he wrote "The Pilgrim's
Progress". There was another man, Stanley by name; his motto was. Finish
something daily. That I took to be my guide, you seeFinish something
daily. Whatever you take, finish it; it may take one hour, two hours, three
hours. Then you will go to bed quite buoyant and fresh, and awake the same
way. Otherwise, the work which is left incomplete is hovering in your mind
throughout the night. Then you worry, "I must attend to this and that
thing"; you see? These are very little things that will help us.

Keep your mind occupied always. When you are at work, be fully occupied in
work: Work is worship. When you eat, be fully in your eating, because that
is a gift from God. Thank God. If your attention is in eating, that eating
will give you good results. Sometimes you have taken the morsel, but your
thought is somewhere else; you don't know how much you have eaten, you see.
So when you are at your practice, be fully at practice. These are the
things that affect us; I am telling you what constructive things help us.

Now, one thing more: Man is the highest in all creation. All creation has
been made subservient to you; all are lower than you areanimals, birds,
reptiles. The laws of Nature you are controlling. Man is next to God. So
have reverence for all. God resides in every body, whether high or low;
have reverence for all who are over you, above you; reverence for all who
are around you; and reverence for all who are beneath you, under you. If
you are the head of a department, love your subordinates. When I was in
office, I was a superintendent; superior officers are only pleased if you
have turned out more workit may be at the sacrifice of those working under
you; they are after the subordinates. In my case, the subordinates were
pleased and the officers were also pleased. Why? I treated them alike as
brothersreverence for them. And they turned out twice the amount of the
work which others didand quietly and friendly. These are the practical
things which help us.

So you are the head of all creation, excuse me, next to God: great is man.
And you must have reverence for all. All are our brothers; our younger
brothers in the family of God, whether they are round you, above you, or
below you.

And one more thing: Be true to your own self. We deceive our own self
first, then we deceive others: telling lies, usurping others' rights. Then
we say something, but we mean something else. What your heart means, let
your brain think and your mouth say. When these three agree, then that is
true.

So as I have told you, Wanted: Reformersnot of others, but of themselves.
God is within you; the Master Power is within you. When Baba Jaimal Singh
initiated somebody, he used to say, "Look here: now I am residing within
you. Take care; I am looking after you now." Do we think like that? If you
think somebody is watching you, can you do anything wrong? No. So be true
to your own Self, then you will fear nothing in the world.

The man who is not true to himself, he will have to tell lies, excuse me;
why? Because he is afraid the secret will be out. He will speak to one man
a few words, and he will talk to another, because at heart of hearts he is
in fear. Then you will find, after a month or two the whole statement will
change. So the man who betrays his own Self, is not true to his own Self,
he has to tell hundreds of lies. To keep one thing secret he has to tell
hundreds of lies. But a secret is never a secret! The cat must be out of
the bag. If you don't watch it, others do see it. So be true to your own
Self; these are simple words, but they carry great meaningthey provide you
with greatness of culture, I would say. And ultimately you will learn
humility.

So knowledge means what? Knowledge means service. God resides in every
heart, and a man is one who is of service to others, not to his own self
only. Then further, knowledge means what? Fellowship. We are all brothers
and sisters in God; we all go together; we are all reading in one class to
pass the same examination: to control our mind, to know our higher Self,
and to know God. So these are the things which help us.

Last of all, there are two or three more constructive things which I have
found, and will put before you. One is: Cleanliness is next to Godliness.
Body is the temple of Godkeep it clean and tidy. Not that you should wear
rich clothes, valuable clothes, silken clothes; but keep it tidy. That will
help your health, too. And when you will sit, you will be wide awake. For
meditation or any work, you will be buoyant and fresh.

And not only cleanliness outside, but inside too. This is the temple of
God. Outer temples, which are the models of the man body, we keep clean and
tidy. But outside they are not so clean as inside, I tell you. But this
bodywe keep it clean outside but not inside, that's the pity. We spend
thousands of dollars for the outer cleanliness, outer beauty; but what
about the inside? It is mind that denies the whole thing, as I submitted
earlier. Whatever thought comes up, that has its own color, its own odor;
and by radiation, that affects others. If a filthy cloth with a bad odor is
lying in a room, the whole room becomes full of that odor. If flowers are
put in the room, then it is full of perfume, is it not? Why do we not find
this? Because we are already filled with lies and filth, one or two pounds
added to it, what difference does it make? But those who are pure in heart,
naturally, little little things will affect them.

Guard your outgoing faculties. Seeing is not bad, but seeing something
wrong is bad. Eyes are the windows of the soul. When you wear spectacles of
a certain color, then you see the whole world in that color. Smile and the
world will smile with you; torment others and you will be tormented. If you
think evil of others, others will think evil of you; thoughts are very
potent.

Think twice before you speak. Think twice! What should you think? One: Is
it necessary to say anything? Two: How will it affect others? Is it in
their interest or will it hurt them? Is it good? Is it necessary to say
something? If not, keep quiet. Mind your own business. And what effect will
they carry, your words? These are the two things. Do you remember to do
that?

Be very much on guard, you see: Guard your eyes, guard your ears, guard
your tongue. The remedy for these things is usually: Kind words imbued with
humility. That doesn't cost anything. Kind words imbued with humility.
Sometimes we become bosses; we use any language we like. But even a very
frivolous thought carries its effect. Karma is very exorbitant, you see: as
you think, so you become.

Another thing: Forget the past and forget the future. What has happened
already, that cannot be mended; you may have a lesson from that, that's
all. Forget the future"we'll do this, we'll do that"like that. These are
two spikes, I would say, eating into the veins of our lives. Live in the
living present. Whatever stones you lay, that building will come up. As you
sow, so shall you reap. What you have sown already, that must be reaped. So
live in the living present.You will have no burdens; your mind will be
free. Now our mind is overburdened with thoughts of the past and of the
futurewhat we will do. Thank God we have what we have. We have earned it,
by sowing the seeds thereof, and we are still earning. Whether you are
happy with whatever comes up or not, finish it. Those seeds were sown by
your own self in the past, about which you do not know. So do your best and
leave the rest to God overhead.

And one thing more I will tell you: If you have got a watch, you wind it up
every morning, do you not? Then it goes for 24 hoursgoing on, going
onwith no interruption. So every morning, wind up the watch of your mind.
Sit and devote time to your practices. Come in contact with the Light and
Sound within. Then you will get strength; because that is the Bread of Life
and the Water of Life; That will give you freshness, vigor, strength, to
work with all through the day; you will be quite buoyant and fresh. And at
night before going to sleep also: wind up the watch. These are the
constructive things that will help you. The other things, which stand as
impediments on the way, I have also put before you. But these things I have
spoken of, they are no new things.

Well, dear friends, what I have submitted, does it appeal to you? Do you
want to be fresh and buoyant, not brooding over anything? Then wind your
watch daily every morning. You will get strength; the Water of Life and
Bread of Life will give strength to your soul. And when the soul is strong,
all other things get strength, you see: your mind, your outgoing faculties,
your body also. You will find that when wrestlers do exercises, they put
their whole attention on the body; that attention gives them strength. One
example I may submit to you (you may have seen this point): When you are
very tired and hungry, you take a morsel of food and drink water, you get
strength. Where does that strength come from? Strength from the food comes
only after it is digested; not all at once. It is your soulyour own Self.
Soul has great curative power. You are soul. You are sons of God. Great is
man.

These are little little things we have never cared for, you see? But with
them we can make our life sublime. But there should be some ideal before
us. We are adriftaimlessly adriftthat's the pity. We dig pits here,
there, everywheresome five feet deep, some seven feet deep, some six feet
deep, and water nowhere. So I submit to each one of you that you must
decide your aim. It may cost you a day, three days, seven days; never mind.
Once you have decided, then you are going step by step to your goal. Some
go one foot ahead, then go back, then go ahead, then go back; that takes
time, of course. When I entered the world, I had great ambition also:
ambition of life, etc. But I had to decide; and with the grace of God, it
was decided: "God first, world next." Then everything goes in a
constructive way to help you.

So we are aimlessly adrift; these are the things that we don't observe. We
follow with eyes closed, I would say: headlong down without caring what the
result will be. Man can change, you see. This is your right as man because
you have got discrimination. Not animals. Animals can also be very helpful
when you train them, but man is free, you see, within certain limits.

So as I told you, wind your watch daily, quietly. You will be fresh every
day. You may have too much to do, but still, when you are set, you are
fresh. So these are some of the impediments on the Way, and some
constructive things which will help youin all your affairs of life,
outside, and inner tooin the spiritual Way, too. What will you get if you
reform your own self? Godheadwhich is your hereditary right.

These little little things make men great. Ultimately, greatness lies with
that which you have been put on. You are very fortunate, that you have been
put on the Way, and given something to start with. Why not wind up daily?
Come in contact with thatand that is the Bread of Life and the Water of
Life that has fortunately been given to you. You are more fortunatethose
who have been put on the waythan others in the world. Christ said. Those
who follow my words, they are my disciples; those who take cross daily,
they are my disciples. "Taking cross" means rising above body
consciousness. So every day morning, wind up your watch.

These are the helping factors, and these are the impediments on the way.
This is why it is said. Truth is above all and true living is still above
Truth. We care little about the true life; even if we do something, it does
not give us full fruit.

So pleaseyou have been put on the Way with the grace of God, working as a
result of the greatness of our Master, Baba Sawan Singh; it is His grace
that is working. You know it is raining outside; ever since I have come it
has been raining. The word Sawan means the rainy month; in the month of
Sawan it always rainsand generally, wherever I go, the rains come first.
That is His grace working; all credit goes to Him. What little I have come
to know, I have put before you in a few words.

So don't give food to your body until you give food to your soulfirst
thing; make it a point. And, to enable you to progress on the Way, you must
go by these things. True living is above Truth.

Tomorrow I might be leaving physically, because I am going round as my
Master wishesthe God in him; I may not be physically with you, but my
thoughts are with you. That Christ Power or God Power is always in you,
working always for your best interests, and extending all feasible help and
assistance and protection. So remain in contact; go by what I have given
you in these few words. God will bless you all. That is all I can say.
Remain in contact; don't be led away by what you hear outside, unless you
hear for your own self or see with your own eyes.

So you are all children of God; children are always dear to the Father, you
see. You are all dear to the God who is also residing within us. You are
dear to me as well. And you should progress from day to day; I wish you all
to become ambassadorsbetter than me, I would say. Every father wants his
children to be more competent, more able, than himself.

So these are my few words. Tomorrow I will be leaving physicallyonly. That
Power within you will be helping you and extending all protection. Remain
in contact. This is all I have to say.

So, you see, you are fortunate to see me, but I am more fortunate than you.
Because you have seen only one; but I have seen all of you. Am I not more
fortunate? So love beautifies everything. And thanks to those who are
crusading with me, conveying this message to the people at large. It is His
work: credit goes to God and to our Master.

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