Chapter THIRTEEN at Cincinnatti, Ohio

Dadaji, travelling York City the pilot Abhi, Roma, and Harvey were via American Airlines from New to Cincinnati. 0 ver Cincinnati announced that the airport was socked in with a very low visibility. He said that we would circle for an hour, and if the condition remained, then we would land in a different city.

Dadaji looked over at me, smiled and said it would be more than alright. He put his forehead against the window, shook His hand slightly and closed His eyes. In what seemed an instant, the clouds parted and the ground was visible. The pilot immediately announced that there was an unexpected clearing and that we were going in for a landing. After we landed, the previous weather condition resumed.

We then went to the beautiful home of an executive of General Electric. He was of Indian heritage and was married to a lovely American lady who embraced the Christian Baptist faith. She felt uncomfortable to be present during Dadaji' s stay, so had arranged to take the children on a holiday the next morning.

She greeted Dadaji and told Him she would be leaving at 5 a.m. the next morning. He replied that she would not leave until 8 a.m. and He went up to his room. She became somewhat ruffled that a stranger, whom she had just met, would be issuing orders to her about changing her schedule. She turned to me and asked, "What is this all about?" I told her that He sees and feels things for our good, beyond what we can realize. And, that if she were my wife, I would do everything in my power to delay her departure until eight o'clock the next morning.

As it turned out, many unforeseen happenings of the morning caused her to depart at exactly 8 a.m. At 4:40 p.m., that same day, she phoned to tell her husband that although she left three hours later than usual, by some miracle, she arrived at the same time she normally would have, had she left at 5 a.m. She is now very comfortable in Dadaji's presence and feels no need to leave when He stays in her home. That evening as we were gathered to sit with Dadaji, and were waiting for him to speak, someone asked a blunt question.

"Is money the root of all evil?" At all these informal gatherings, nothing is prepared. Dadaji does not deliver lectures, or teach classes. All that happens is spontaneous. Dadaji spoke in response to the question saying, "No question of money or eviL. That is a mind function. Money can never bring peace or love. Money is a part of the life we live. It is not good, it is not evil.

"Some have little and feel content, some have so much and are miserable. Some

have little money and feel miserable, some have so much and feel content. It is a question of whether you have the money or the money has you. Beyond this you must understand that nothing belongs to you. You can enjoy and caretake and share what you are given by God. Or you can hoard it, thinking that it is some type of security.

"There is no such thing as luxury. One person is born with the destiny to have a

great deal of rna terial things and money. This should not alter their faith in God.

Another person is born with the destiny to have few material things and little money. Again, this should not alter their a faith and love for God. God has created us to learn to be faithful, not successful.

HANKER ONLY AFTER GOD.

More can never be enough. Enough will aways be more. Jesus said, "'seek ye first the kingdom of Truth and all else will be added unto you.' This is the way it works. You cannot hanker after things and realize God.

"It is possible to have so much money, and not be caught up in it, and it is even possible to walk away from it. Most people today want to do as little work as possible, for as much money as possible. Always the ones who know God want to do as much service as possible, with personal gain unimportant."

Dadaji travels around the world, at very great personal expense. He has no thought of personal gain. He accepts no money or gifts in exchange or gratitude for his visits. He accepts nothing for anything that occurs during these gatherings or later in the lives of those people who are touched by His Grace.

"You think you will become happy by receiving so many material things of life.

Later you find it does not bring real happiness as you expected. To safeguard against such recurrences of unhappy situations in life, the all merciful Lord helps you withstand the unforeseen jolts, when you continue repeating Mahanam with

full devotion. You can do nothing, you have no power of your own and cannot

always get things according to your expectations.

"Calcutta is very hot. But it does not matter, one becomes accustomed to it. There is no question of tolerance or forbearance. You actually become seasoned when you realize that One Supreme Truth permeates the Universe, manifesting different colors, forms, tastes, and even weather conditions."

"True security can only come when you give up all thought of security. People feel insecure because of the fear that what they have will be taken away. But they also feel insecure for fear they may not get what they desire to have. I am telling you this is not possible. You will get everything that is coming to you, do not worry. Also everything that is to be given up, will fall away naturally."

WANT NOTHING, GET EVERYTHING. HAVE GOD, HAVE EVERYTHING. HAVE EVERYTHING AND NOT GOD, YOU HAVE NOTHING

You do not have to worry about material or spiritual progress. God is willing to provide all that is necessary when you only think on God. When you let go of all mental thought of security and actually die to it, that is the moment of Divine Grace.

Be careful of any worldly Gurus who tell you to sell your worldly possessions and give them the money. You must learn to live properly, to care for your material environment.

"Be careful you are not saying, 'I love my car, I love my television, I love my new career, I love my children.' This categorizes them all as things. Thin~s are made to enjoy and help you to do the work of life. They are not objects of love. Some turn around and rather than love their brothers and sisters, they use them. Use things and love people. Use things and love God. Do not use God, use people, and love things and money. In this way money will turn out to be evil, for you have turned your natural living around. You are doing it backwards: LIVE reverses to EVIL.

I will tell you a story about how it goes with things. 0 nee a man decided to give away all his worldly possessions and leave his family, at 'his Guru's suggestion. He was sent to a hill, given a loin cloth and a begging bowl, and told to meditate on God.

0ne day, he washed and laid his loin cloth to dry in the sun. A rat came and chewed holes in it. He then, along with his food, had to beg another cloth. This occurred repeatedly. The villagers gave him a cat to chase away the rats. He then needed milk to feed the cat. The villagers got tired of giving him milk and gave him a cow to milk. He then needed grain for the cow. The villagers gave him seed and suggested he plant a patch of land. Soon, he had no time for his meditation, so they suggested he take a wife to help him with the land and milk the cow.

Some years passed, and the Guru came to see how the Sadhu was doing. He came to a large house, with wife and children, and could not believe this had grown from the original. The Sadhu turned to the Guru and said, "See, all this for the sake of

preserving one loin cloth."

Do not run away, do not give up anything unless you are ready. Do not force anything. Money is fine, material things are fine, how ever, try to keep your life a simple one.

People are hungry for Love, for God, for Peace, for Truth. They do not know how to feed this hunger. So they overeat, drink too much, and load themselves down with material things. "Our needs, in reality, are very little. Billions of dollars are spent each year on advertising programs to get people to buy what they do not need, and even borrow money to do so. America produces more and more goods, and has less and less economic security.

You must change your values in order to satisfy your hunger. Buying, selling, owning, saving, building, keeping, hoarding, investing, all are outward expressions of an inner need. Buying and owning things are like a treatment for disappointment, frustration, and failure.

"You must not covet what your neighbor has. When you are free of this, you will lack for nothing, and be the richest person in the world. The greatest treasure, the pearl of great price, where is it? A great poet once wrote:

I laugh when I hear the fish in the water is thirsty.

You wander restlessly from forest to forest, while the Reality is within your own dwellrng. The Truth is here! Go where you will to Benares or to Mathura; until you have found God in your Soul, the whole world will seem meaningless to you.

Your wealth lies within. When you accept this, you may be the poorest in the world with respect to money, but the richest still.

People are constantly led into frustration by their constant wants. You need not be overexcited in profit, nor be depressed in loss, both are God's gifts.

Human beings are born in the body, with God, to experience ecstasy by the taste of

God's Love, in this material, mortal world. Your superstitions, human involvements and your irresponsible attitude towards God, in your ignorance do not allow you to come near God.

You waste these precious human births given to you. Even when God comes near, you ignore Him in pursuit of worldly pleasures and profits, which give you pleasure one moment and pain the next.

WITH DEVOTION, YOU CAN HAVE ANYTING YOU

WANT AS LONG AS GOD WANTS YOU TO HAVE IT:

THIS IS GRACE.

WITHOUT DEVOTION, YOU CAN HAVE ANYTHING YOU WANT,

WHETHER IT IS GOOD FOR YOU OR NOT

Some people these days are teaching that you can use God to get whatever you want. They say that money is God in action. This is foolishness. Can't you see the Truth that we were created to be used by God? You pray to God, to some external object or image created of the mind. You bring flowers, money and ask for only one more small favor or blessing, saying you will not bother God anymore if only your prayer is answered.

Well, God is all knowing. You get what you paid for, there is no cheating with God.

There is a story about asking for just one more favor. When you laugh at it, you

are laughing at yourself, at the foolishness of your ways.

A mother was caring for her two year old child at the edge of the seashore.

The child was playing with her pail and shovel by the edge of the water, when a big wave came and swept th'e child, pail, and shovel, all out to sea. The mother started screaming and looking up to the sky, saying, "God, please bring my child back!" No sooner than the words fell from her mouth, than another wave deposited the child, intact at her feet. She looked down and then looked up again and asked, "What about the pail and shovel?"

Why try to complicate your lives with so many things? Do your work, Remember God, chant 'Ram, Ram,' when you feel a hunger that needs to be fed, Dadaji will never say not to enjoy your lives, or not to make money, or not to be successful. Just do it with remembrance and you will be satisfied, beyond satisfaction. Just knowing God Almighty is with you is already more than enough. You have an inner power much greater than any power that external, material things may bring you.

The relationship you should have with God is Oneness not based on fear or reward and punishment. God is your best, nearest, and dearest friend. The Almighty is just, merciful, and loving. God created everything. When this relationship is realized, you will never have to ask for anything, no matter what

the circumstances, you · will always have peace of mind.

No need to store up things. Were Buddha, Jesus, and Krishna liars and fools? They directed us to live simple lives and not suffer in the pursuit of worldly goods. Beware of anyone who tells you that you must give up everything, or that you must acquire anything to find God. In Truth, there is neither vice nor virtue.

"We have come to measure the worth of one another by outward success. Society judges not by the love one shares, but by money and power. 'By their fruits ye

shall know them,' does not mean things. A person's real worth can only be determined by the inner worth. When God created you and breathed Spirit into you, you were entrusted with the greatest of all inner wealth. You must honor this each day by assessing your true treasure, Mahanam chanting within you. And remember each day, your life, your existence is a gift from God."

BETTER THAN PRAISING THE GOOD

AND CONDEMNING THE EVIL, IS TO SEEK GOD.