After taking birth, when a man embarks upon the journey of life, he is nearly always busy in fulfilling his desires. Life comes to an end gradually but there is no end to his desires. Throughout his life man is busy searching as to how, where, and in whose company, he will be fulfilling his desires and making himself happy. Therefore, man is busy in all activities aimed at providing him happiness and convenience. He devotes all his time and energy in organizing his security, rest and peace. Man is constantly active and is collecting resources for his life. Resources are for life but what for is this life? If this question is asked, then the man does not find a clear answer for it.

A person wears a wristwatch to keep track of the time, hours and minutes. But how has life passed? He is not prepared to keep that count. Our days, months and years of life are passing, but we are not ready to keep their account. We will account for our property, take into consideration our own and others’ success and joys but we shall not keep track of our own life. Since man is incomplete, since no one is complete, man has love, peace, pain, sorrow and joy in his life. Man knows a lot, but he does not know all. Likewise, man possesses a lot of things, but he does not have everything. Man’s actions may be the best, or of the highest order, but they are not always free from blemishes. The reason is: God alone is complete; He alone enjoys completeness, wholeness. Man does not have wholeness. He has always some deficiency, somewhere.

Howsoever more a man may know, but for him, there will still be a lot to know. He is not omniscient. He knows very little. He is always making efforts to know more, like the drop of water which runs to reach its destination. Its aim is the ocean, the bottom of the ocean; and it will remain active until it reaches there. Therefore, remember, that we too will remain active, will go on working restlessly until we reach God, our repository, the ocean of our fulfillment and joy because we will attain our completeness after reaching there.

Therefore, every unsatisfied person is in search of satisfaction. Every unhappy person is seeking happiness. Man is looking for that completeness, that rest and peace, which will be steady, and which no one will snatch away from him, a peace which is never disturbed. Only God possesses that totality, that wholeness. Therefore, the mortal man
is smarting for immortality. All living beings having a body are mortals. Our life and our body will see the pain and sickness because the shadow of death looms large. All of us want to be free from disease. We always want to be peaceful, happy, and satisfied. There is an airless space that creates an area of depression and due to this, the winds rush to occupy that space. Currents of pain enter man’s consciousness and create restlessness instead of happiness. It is said that God is the highest manifestation of Love. There is no other bigger halo of deep love than Him. You are the dearest of dear, O Parmatman! All the loving and attractive things of the world have Your attraction only. There is none dearer than Thou. There is none sweeter

than Thou. There is no other point of attraction better than You. Therefore, we call You for Your love. Having been tortured by indifference, hatred, and insult by the world we have come to Your door for love. The cuckoo bird (Chatak) quenches its thirst only with raindrops that fall during the Swati nakshatra. It does not raise its beak to the skies for any other rain but waits patiently. May our heart also yearn for God in the same manner as the Chatak yearns for the Swati star drop of water! Just as the sunflower keeps its face towards the sun and smiles, waves and blossoms forth after seeing it and passes its entire life looking at the sun; in the same way we wish and pray to God that our life, too, should pass in Your love, singing Your songs and hymns and working for You. We do not want anything else. Therefore, O God in the form of Love, we invoke You, we invite You; we call You to come to us and shower Your grace in our hearts. It is said that God comes to those who long for Him. Fill your hearts with love and offer the flowers of prayer at His feet. A man does not relish his food if he is not hungry. The food presented to you or placed before you is of no use if you do not have an appetite. You will, however, feel uneasy if you are hungry and have no food. God or God’s Name is food for our soul. He is available but both appear tasteless because we do not have the appetite. God will appear tasteless to a person whose being does not have a hunger for Him. God comes to him whose being is hungry for Him; who is hungry for God’s love; and who is crying restlessly and desperately for Him. God is ready, always prepared to be bound in attraction and charm for the devotee.

You may have a very knowledgeable and wise person close to you, a man who has realized God may be before you, you will not come closer to him if you do not have yearning for him. However, if you have a yearning, a real hunger for the knowledge you will go to any corner of the world searching for one who will satisfy your queries and as you
advance, you will feel that every step is taking you close to Him. You are coming close to your Guru. It is natural with man that he is indifferent to what he has and is lost in the attraction of what is not available to him. Many persons, though they are close to a Guru, fail to derive benefit from him. We seek convenience in gaining knowledge in Satsang. Since we are convenience-oriented, we look forward to what would add to our convenience. We see many activities to be performed but God is not our priority. We will search for Him when we do not have anything else to do; when we have some spare time. We will recite His name later or discuss Him at some more convenient time. One who comes to his Guru or Satsang as per his convenience then you can take that real hunger has not awakened in him.

One, in whose heart love is calling for God, who has a real hunger for him, is a person who does not see any obstacles or problems. For him, the environment is never hostile. He will cross all hurdles, overcome all difficulties and reach his Guru and God. A devotee is the one who is hungry and truly famished – one for whom God is the priority and everything else comes later. There is a prayer in the Vedas: “O God! Let me not bargain against You in the face of worldly attractions or temptations. I have earmarked time for You. That time is Yours. It will not be assigned to anything or anybody else.

May I not compromise with anyone else during the time which I have assigned for You. May I come to You, crossing all hurdles. Since You invite me I am ready and always prepared to come to You. You reside in me and I want to fill every cell of my body with Your love. I want You to pour your Grace and drench me deep within, right up to my
soul with Your love.” That is why people sing ― let Thy grace pour down upon as:
Maiya! Baras- baras rasavari;Nadi, sarovar sagar barse lage jharia bhari
Mere angana kyo na barse mein kya baat bigari;Maiya! Baras- baras rasavari
Tum barso mein ji bhar nahuon donon bhuja pasari;Maiya! Baras- baras rasavari

Since ancient times many have been inspired by the love story of the ‘chand and chakor’. It is believed that the gaze of the partridge bird (Chakor) is relentlessly fixed on the moon (chand). As soon as it looks at the moon it takes flight because it is charmed by the moon. It is said that the longing to be one with the moon is so strong that sometimes it goes mad out of exhaustion and then dies. Those who are enamored by God also say, “So many lives have passed away, yet I am far from You. It does not matter if I handover this life to You, if I sacrifice myself to You. I am prepared to put everything at stake for You.” They are really blessed who have awakened such a pang of hunger in them in this world, whose being is itself always craving for God. Some such people became Meera, Kabir, Dadu Dayal and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Bearing all the sarcasm of the world, Meera went on singing the praise of her Lord: Mere to Giridhar Gopal! Dusro Na Koi – My only succor is Krishna and no one else.

Once, the hut of Namdev was on fire. A few belongings were left; he placed them as well in the fire and requested God, “Accept this as the Purnahuti (final offering). Namdev did not complain. Whatever he possessed was put to flames. If he had not given, he might have enjoyed them. But he said that he wanted to see all Leela (drama) of God -“It is up to you that you make me a king or a beggar. Give me prosperity or adversity as per Your wish. Maintain me, as You please, in prosperity or adversity. Keep me the way You want. But, O Master of the world! Keep me near Your feet. Not far from them,” said he.

As Adi Shankaracharya said in one of his prayers, O Man! Enmeshed in the foolishness of the world, in the attachment to the world, in the vortex of the desires for the world, do not go around and around. Do not tie yourself with the strings of worldly affections. Only one name, the name of God is worth calling, worth worshipping, and you should call out His name. Utter that name which leads you to salvation. Desire Him who is the most desirable and is the end of all desires. Desire Him and move in His direction. You should traverse the path that leads to the ultimate destination, God. Thus, plan to embark on the journey that leads to the treasure-trove which will wipe out the poverty of innumerable previous lives. Everlasting happiness lies in God.