surrender

Swami Sambuddhananda of the Ramakrishna Mission remarked, “The bhakta requires a God to whom he can do bhakti. Is he to be taught that there is only the Self, not a worshipper and the worshipped?”

Bhagavan: Of course, God is required for sadhana. But the end of the sadhana, even in bhakti marga, is attained only after complete surrender. What does it mean, except that effacement of ego results in Self remaining as it always has been? Whatever path one may choose, the ‘I’ is inescapable, the ‘I’ that does the nishkama karma, the ‘I’ that pines for joining the Lord from whom it feels it has been separated, the ‘I’ that feels it has slipped from its real nature, and so on. The source of this ‘I’ must be found out. Then all questions will be solved. Whereas all paths are approved in the Bhagavad Gita, it says that the jnani is the best karma yogi, the best devotee or bhakta, the highest yogi and so on.”

The Swami still persisted, “It is all right to say Selfanalysis is the best thing to do. But in practice, we find a God is necessary for most people.”

Bhagavan: God is of course necessary, for most people. They can go on with one, till they find out that they and God are not different.