Intense sinners do not even desire to see a saint. Only they, whose sins have been washed away, are able to develop unwavering faith in saints. If one does evil deeds, then his sins become predominant, and as a result he becomes anti-saints.

If one wants to predict whether the family of a person will progress or degrade down the lane, then one must see whether that person believes in the words of saints or criticizes them, whether his thoughts are pure & rational or petty.

Whether I would get happiness or grief in the future - I can know that now. If I'm getting thoughts of evil actions, I'm finding faults in others, I want to rise high by hurting & betraying others, then the future holds pain & lack of peace for me. If I want the welfare of all, I want good things to happen to others, I try to help others even when I have to go through troubles, then my future is very bright.

Whenever bad thoughts come to our mind, we should cut them off. Until when will the God-Men take care of the person who does not take care of himself? Until when will God take care of him?

One should make bold steps to do good. The mind will keep on resisting by saying, "How does it matter to me?" Even the dog makes arrangement to get food for it's family, but those who live for God, for the spiritual upliftment of the society, salutation to their life!

Raman Lal was a great soul like this. He used to invite saints in his village & give them due respect. Sometimes he used to go to Ashrams of the saints & offer his services anonymously.

The nature of saints is such that they generally do not take the services of others but if they accept it, they do it for the welfare of those people. One saint can make thousand saints out of common people, but even when a group of thousand persons get together, they cannot make one saint. One saint can transform several sinners into divine beings, atheists into ascetics, revolutionaries into devotees. Only one saint can save the drowning boats of many, change the fates of many unfortunates, bring peace to many restless minds, and by making the supreme bliss evolve in the peaceful people, transform them to great self-realized souls.

The king named Sushen was travelling by a boat with his wife & only son. Their boat got caught in a dangerous storm. There was a great saint also travelling by the same boat. Seeing this situation the king called for help. He did not ask for saving himself or his family but he called for help to save the great saint. He kept on saying, "Save the saint!"

After a lot of difficulties the boat reached the shore of the river. The boatman surprisingly asked the king why he prayed to save the saint & not anybody else, not even his only son.

King: "A son of this kind may be born again, more of such queens may also come, there are many kings like me. When I die another peroson can easily sit on the throne, but the saints who make the seating of God possible on the thrones of thousands of people's heart are rarely born. Therefore if the saint is saved, then all are saved. If they are served that means everybody else is also served."

Raman Lal also used to donate his wealth in the service of saints with this kind of attitude. When people requested him to accept some money from them also, then he would say:

"Oh Brother! Not now. If one makes good used of donated money, then several generations of the family benefits out of it, but if donated money is misused, then seven generations of the family has to face scarcity. I'll ask of you whenever it is required. For now, I will use my money."

Donation initiates from ones home itself, social-service initiates from ones own body, devotion initiates from ones own mind, and the Knowledge of Real Self begins from ones own pure subconscious mind.

Raman Lal had developed a very sharp mind because of listening to spiritual discourses on a regular basis. One may be a follower of saints or a follower of materialistic ideals, one may be good or bad, life of everyone comprises of ups & downs. Shri Rama faced these circumstances & also Ravana. Shri Rama remained happy & contented with the falling tide and also remained humble with the rising tide. On the other hand, a sinner gets bloated with pride during the rising phase of life & feels grief during the falling phase of life.

It was around the years 1950-52. Raman Lal came across down-side of his life. The whole village of Petalad was astonished & grieved to know that such a religious minded person was also facing financial crisis. Raman Lal himself also got worried. People started saying that inspite of devoting so much for the service of saints, he is so troubled...

In reality, Raman Lal's business was not getting ruined because of listening to spiritual discourses, but it was the decline in the market that caused the destitution. Raman Lal was being able to handle the situation more positively due to Satsang (spiritual discourses). Therefore he went to a saint named Narayan Muni & said:

"Maharaj! To tell you the truth some of my servants did something wrong & moreover the market was going down, as a result, all those who had kept their deposits with me came all together to get their money back. Therefore I cannot think of anything else except auctioning out all my belongings tonight. Since I've done Satsang all through my life, therefore my mind inspired me to take advice from a saint."

Narayan Muni: "I'm sure that you'll be able to save some money for yourself too after selling out your assets. Tell me the truth, how much can you save for yourself?"

Raman Lal: "Maharaj! I'll be able to take out about 1.25 lacs of Rupees for myself."

Narayan Muni: "Do one thing, give that money to me. I shall open a school with that money & God shall take care of you."

Raman Lal: "As you command, Maharaj!"

Raman Lal is ready to donate the little money that he shall be left with even in a state of destitution. Such faith on the words of saints! What a supreme understanding!

Narayan Muni announced that he is opening a school sponsered by Raman Lal.

When the people who had come to ask for their deposits from Raman Lal heard this, they thought that how can such a person be destitute. Lets give our deposits to Raman Lal only!

All the deposits came back to Raman Lal & his destiny changed its orientation for good. Later on Raman Lal did more social-service & offered himself more at the lotus feet of saints. Even now 'Raman Lal Dispensary', 'Narayan Muni School' etc. are denoting his benignity... Work done for the welfare of all can make a great man even out of a small man.

Did Shabri Bheelan know this? Did Dhanna Jat know this? Did Bala Mardana know that people will remember them? No, they just surrendered themselves to their Guru... The Guru would not have praised them always, the Guru must have scolded them badly many a times.

He who does religious work with a desire to get appreciation will lose faith in the Guru, when scolded by the Guru or not praised upto his satisfaction. But he who is not bothered about praises, who does the work of God for the God, does the work of Guru for the Guru, who does social service to uplift the society, he shall not leave the door of Guru, God or saints even if he is scolded thousand times.

There are three types of people: Some have Tamasik faith, some have Rajasik faith & others have Satvik faith.

The one with Tamasik faith will donate only if he gets immediate returns. He will donate more only if he gets desired returns.

The faith of the person with Rajasik faith will not be stable. Sometimes it will increase & at other times it will decrease. While going through these ups & downs, if his good karma increases, then he shall develop Satvik faith. Once this faith is developed, then no matter how many obstacles come on the way, such a person is able to go beyond the cycle of life & death.

Therefore Satvik people always pray: "Oh Lord! If you want to hurt me then take away two sets of clothes from me, take away some jewellery from me, take away some money from me, but please do not take away my faith towards God & the reverend feet of saints."

Faith may increase sometimes & decrease at other times, but he who is able to make his way through all this wavering, reaches the ultimate goal of self-realization. His life becomes worth saluting...

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