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If You Love, You Obey
If you ask the several thousand abhyasis of this Mission why they follow
Babuji Maharaj, few will tell you that they wanted spiritual growth.
In fact, the true abhyasi never went to him for spiritual growth. It
was the love for him that made them continue with him, which made it
possible for them to follow him, and what is most important, obey him.
Following and obeying are not synonymous. Many are the followers but
few are obedient. Unthinking, automatic obedience comes only from love.
Without love for the Master, there cannot be this obedience.
Because then we start thinking, "What is he saying?" Why is
he saying it? Should he say it? Should I obey it? And my humble suggestion
is, such abhyasis will soon lose their way.
So it is my growing conviction that the process is given to us as a
matter of discipline, to make us obedient. And as we grow more and more
obedient, it shows an increasing love for the Master. We don't love
Him or obey Him because of authoritarian domination by Him, but because
we love the man. And when we love Him absolutely, we obey Him absolutely.
So one sure index of your love for the Master is the degree of your
obedience, there must be absolute love behind it. With absolute love,
there is absolute dependence. With absolute dependence, there is absolute
surrender. Then it is His problem, you see, what to do with this
guy. He won't leave him alone.
I am tired of hearing people say they love the Master. If it was so
easy, we would all have been saints. When is that possibility going
to come, I do not know. But surely He will bless us with that. So what
is the other way? Obedience. When we obey Him we work for Him, He has
to love us. It is not important whether I love the Master or not. The
important thing is whether my Master loves me. You see, no child, when
it is born, loves the mother. Its existence is ensured because the mother
loves the child. Later on, the child learns to love its mother. The
mother loves naturally; the children have to learn to love by association.
Similarly the Master loves us naturally; we have to learn to love the
Master. And when we obey Him without question, then we find the miraculous
unfoldment of His powers. Because I, being nothing, can yet do everything
He says, because it is His order! You see, how being nothing, He makes
us everything, by the simple act of obedience? And the more we see this
miracle, that we are what we are, but we can do more what the Master
is doing, the more the humility comes, the more the wonder of the Master
comes. Then only love begins. No longer is the self important - He alone
is important.
It is love which is praised beyond even effort, beyond even everything
else, because love for the Master alone can give you obedience to the
Master. One who loves, obeys. That one who obeys need not love. There
are servants, policemen, there are military officers who obey rules
without having to love the people who give those rules. But when you
love totally, your obedience is total, that means it is surrender. So
love alone can make surrender possible. Love alone is the ticket from
here to eternity. Carry it in your hearts, because that is the safest
place, as pockets can be picked, purses can be stolen, hand bags can
be lost. After all, one loves with the heart, not with the stomach or
with the head.
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