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You can have Darshan of Lord Siva in this very life. Many have realised. You can also realise. What another has achieved can be achieved by you also. There is no doubt of this. Ask not for any boon from Him. Whenever there is asking for boon there is no real devotion. It becomes mercenary. It becomes shop-keeping or business. You should not trade with God. Love Him for love's sake. Have absolute Nishkamya, Ananya Bhakti. Do not ask for Mukti even. Mukti is maid-servant of Queen-devotion. It comes by itself.

Mere Darshan alone of the tutelary deity will not suffice. Knowledge of the Self is also necessary. Nam Dev had Darshan of Lord Krishna several times and yet he was not a fully developed sage. Once Gora, a saintly potter tapped the head of Nam Dev in a gathering of devotees and pronounced that he was Kaccha or half-baked. Then Nam Dev approached a Vedantin, Vishoba Khesar in the temple of Mallikarjun for initiation into the mysteries of Kaivalya. Nam Dev found Vishoba Khesar in the temple in a strange posture. Khesar was in a meditative mood. He was lying down and stretching his feet on the Siva Lingam. Nam Dev said: "O venerable Swamiji, why dost thou lie with thy feet on the Siva Lingam?" Khesar replied: "Please place my feet on that place where there is no Siva Lingam." Nam Dev tried to keep the feet in several places but he found a Siva Lingam wherever he took the feet. Nam Dev was struck with wonder. He prostrated at the feet of Khesar and beseeched him to initiate him into the mysteries of Atman. Nam Dev returned to Pandharpur with the knowledge of the Self. Now only he became Pukka or fully-baked, i.e., attained perfection or highest knowledge.

God, the individual soul, and world are really a unity. Their seeming separateness is but an illusion. Melt all illusory differences. Remove all barriers that separate man from man. Realise the underlying unity and be free.

Prahlada prays to Lord Hari from the bottom of his heart: "O Lord, in whatever birth I may pass, let me have unswerving devotion to Thy lotus-feet." The world needs today such devotees to disseminate Bhakti throughout the length and breadth of the land.

When the heart is purified, the mind is naturally turned towards God. The aspirant is attracted towards God. Eventually he is absorbed in the Lord, through pure love, self-surrender and worship. The Bhakta now becomes a cosmic entity. He has cosmic life. He has one continuous life. The individuality becomes a cosmic entity.

~~Para Bhakti by Swami Sivananda