If you cannot find God within you, then you will not find God in the temple.
And if you are able to find God within you, then no matter where you go, you will find God everywhere.
If you are worshipping a plain black stone with utmost devotion, then time would come, a day would come, when the same black stone would transform into a miraculous stone—into the greatest idol.
The source is not on the outside. The source is within you.
And that is exactly what Jesus Christ has said:
“The kingdom of God is within you and all around you, and not in mansions of wood and stone. Split up a piece of wood and I am there. Lift a stone and you will find me.”
Jesus says: The kingdom of God is within you.
Everything is within you.
God is within you.
Devil is also within you.
Hell is also within you.
Heaven is also within you.
And every day, every moment, you experience hell and heaven.
The Emperor and the Zen Master
Once the Emperor of Japan asked a Zen master,
“What is hell and what is heaven?”
The Zen master looked at the Emperor and said,
“You son of a… Have you looked at your face in the mirror lately? I have never seen such a dirty-looking fellow before.”
The Emperor was enraged. He had not expected such a thing from such a great saint.
You don’t know great saints. You know only small panny saints.
A real saint is not a cat. He is a tiger. He is fearless.
The Emperor was so enraged that he pulled his sword out of its sheath. He was going to cut the head of the master.
Just as the sword was coming closer, the master said:
“Wait. You are entering Hell. This is the gate to hell.”
The way the master said “wait” was so powerful that the Emperor’s hand was stopped in the middle.
And he understood. True.
He threw the sword away, fell at the feet of the master, and the master laughed and said:
“This is the way to Heaven.”
You have already experienced both within a single moment.
The distance is not far.
Whenever you are surrendered to existence, whenever you live in trust, in love, prayers, joy, celebration,
you are in Heaven.
Love is the way to Heaven. Only Love.
The Little Girl and Buddha
That reminds me of a very old incident. It happened when Buddha was alive.
There was a little girl, and she lived in a small village.
Buddha came to her village, and the whole village gathered around him.
People waited to hear the golden words of Buddha.
Buddha spoke, and people listened.
Amongst those people, this little girl was also present.
She could see Buddha—his glowing face, his compassionate eyes.
She could hear his soft voice.
So much was she engrossed in his words, that when his discourse was over, people started to leave for their homes.
But only this little girl remained.
Nobody came ahead—but this little girl stepped ahead.
She rushed towards Buddha’s feet.
With her flowing tears, she washed the feet of the Master.
Then she said:
“Initiate me, O Master, initiate me. I have been waiting for you for many months and years. I have been praying to God to have a glimpse of you. And finally, you have come. I am truly touched by your omnipresence. Please take me with you now. I cannot live without you.”
Buddha smiled. He raised her up, kissed her on the forehead, and said:
“The road is long and I am getting old.
I have come to this village because I had been receiving your prayers.
I could feel your love, your devotion.
I have come for you, but I cannot take you with me.
I need not be with you in physical form.
This physical form is just a dream.
Do not worry, I am with you.”
That night, when Buddha reached another village, Ananda, his closest disciple, asked:
“Master, how do you decide your journeys?”
And Buddha looked into Ananda’s eyes and said:
“My feet move towards that man and that woman who are thirsty for my love.
To me, it doesn’t matter whether that man or woman is a king or a beggar.
What matters to me is his love, his devotion, his faith.
That is how my journeys happen.
It is not me. It is my devotees that decide the course of my journeys.”
The Power of Love and Consciousness
My fellows, there is nothing as high as love.
Love is a rose flower in your being.
But prepare your being.
Dispel the darkness and the unconsciousness.
Become more and more alert and aware.
And love will come in its own accord, in its own time.
You need not worry about it.
And whenever it comes, it is always perfect.
Awareness and consciousness grow when love grows.
And love grows when awareness and consciousness grow.
It is all interlinked.
This consciousness is God.
In the West, they call it God Consciousness.
In the East, they call it Krishna Consciousness.
The essence is the same, just the labeling is different.
God is the ultimate fragrance of your consciousness.
Remember, the universal consciousness that some may call God is not a separate, superior, and condemning entity as most religious institutions claim.
It is, in fact, the core essence of who we really are—an all-knowing source of unconditional love.
Jai Sri Ganesha. Jai Guru.
