| |
in Siddharth's mind; it was: 'I shall extinguish the fires of desire, and, know that which is the Truth. Getting out from any slumber of momentary existence, I shall realise that which is eternal.' Thus 'thinking', he removed a valuable necklace from round his neck and gave it to Gautami as a Guru-dakshina. Such 'thinking' leads to turning-points in life -- even to revolutionary changes in life. Now search within yourself; do you really think?
[Once visited a jail, and talked to its inmates.]
Brethren! Do not be under the delusion that you alone are in fetters; those outside this prison, who are apparently free, are also in chains, though their shackles are of a different kind. Their desires are their chains; their ignorance is their imprisonment. Man's bondage is of man's own making. Man himself labours at making the walls and bars for his prison. Though what I say may surprise you, the truth is that most of us spend our lives creating prison-houses for ourselves.
Thinking from another angle about this, I would say, lack of religion means lack of freedom. Most of us do not live in religion means lack of freedom. Most of us do not live in religion, but in the lack of it; of course, we are not conscious of this fact. Those that do not travel in the direction of self-enlightenment, gradually go deeper and deeper in the abyss of darkness, and this darkness can be destructive.
He who has no thirst for the Truth can not be free. Truth leads to freedom; nay, more correctly, Truth is freedom. And please remember that he who is not free is not for, but against. God. In the soil of consciousness that is not free, the plants of divinity can not grow. For these plants to grow, to bloom and to bear fruits, the soil needed is of freedom; the manure needed is of a simple, unpretentious life, the water needed is of purity; and the seed required is of living silence. But above all, there should be the care of the gardener by the name of Awareness.
He who shows the courage to fulfil the above conditions, finds himself free of all bondage. From within his self, the latent fire of God burns bright, because the ashes of dependence have been blown
|
|
|