Recognise the Greatness of Saints

(Enlightening experiential discourses of world-revered Sant Shri

Asharamji Bapu)
The Self realised men, freed from attachment, hatred, and egotism are equal
in pains and pleasures i.e. neither favourable circumstances make them happy,
nor do unfavourable ones make them unhappy. For them, all is Brahman, all is
bliss. One who serves them crosses the ocean of samsara. Anyone who thinks ill
of such a one, (the saintly man may not say anything) faces the wrath of Nature
sooner or later because it is always ready to serve the saints. One makes his
fortune by serving such a Self-realised man, who is attended on by the whole
Creation.
If we look at the history, we shall find that the detractors of true saints have
always suffered untold misery; they have become living corpses and have been
consigned to the most terrible hells. Therefore prudence demands that if we
cannot praise the saints and cannot profit from adopting their ideals, we should
at the least not destroy our religious merit and peace of mind by slandering
them.
Anybody praising or slandering the saints makes no difference to the
kingdom of Self-Bliss, saints live in. It is the slanderer who not only harms
himself but also ruins his life by committing the sin of depriving society of the
opportunity to benefit from the saints.
If one wants to be agitated, if one wants to become distressed, one should
try speaking ill about a Self realized (Brahmajnani) saint. If you want to destroy
your religious merit, start criticising a God-Realized saint and see how quickly
you achieve your objective. Agitation will be experienced instantly. If you want
to destroy sins, start listening to the satsanga of any Brahmajnani saint to
develop spiritual mind. All ones sins are destroyed, and get replaced by virtuous
merits to such an extent that one succeeds in attaining Self-realisation, the state
of Jivanmukti.
In my Gurus Ashram, all the other inmates would collectively plot devious
schemes against me. It looked as if I was at the receiving end being lonesome
and isolated. Height of stupidity! One with devotion to the Guru in his heart may
look to be lonely, but has the whole universe by his side. Was I lonely?
Nonsense! Was Jesus lonely? Was Socrates lonely? Was Buddha lonely? Buddha
was trapped and maligned by his detractors so much, that anybody admitting to
be Buddhas disciple was stoned by the people. So strong was the malicious
propaganda against Buddha. Was Buddha lonely? Even today, there are millions
of Buddhists or followers of Buddhism. A similar smear campaign was carried
out against Kabir against Mahavira and still, take a look at these great
saints
Throughout their whole life, great saints are wronged, but it is only those
who act inimical to them that slide down into the quagmire of sin. The saints
have nothing to lose. The great Sai Baba of Shirdi became so lonely that people
would not spare wick and oil for him to light a lamp. Now his idols and thrones
are made spending tens of crores of rupees.
If one recognises saints who have attained the Supreme State of Brahman,
one can easily cross the ocean of samsara. If one fails to do so, one only paves
ones way to hell. It makes no difference to the saints.

The benefit that those who recognised Sai Baba in His lifetime attained
cannot be attained now. The same applies to Buddha. The benefit I attained
from my Gurudev while he was alive could I have taken the same benefit from
Gurujis idol now? In the lifetime of saints, society falls prey to rumours spread
by vested interests, and after their departure, they prostrate themselves before
their idols. This is a grave mistake.
The real benefit from Self-Realised saints is enjoyed by some people in their
lifetime. There is no way to get the same benefit after their departure, either by
reading their literature, listening to cassettes, praying before their idols. This is
not that beneficial.
Satsanga, by way of reading satsanga books is very good, but stands in no
comparison to listening to satsanga in the presence of the saint.
A living saint is like a sacrificial fire. Offer your ego and desires as an
oblation and see what happens. They are the best oarsmen in the world. Just
embark upon their boat. You will certainly be rid of sorrows and adversities of
the world, and you will cross the ocean of trans-migratory existence.