Devotee is God

Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj

4-12-1934 Evening

The devotee himself is God. Never think that God is different from his devotee. It is not correct to imagine that someone will come to you, and he will do something to turn you into God. Whatever you have done is simply only what has been done, that much is true. However, do not suppose that you can by some effort, somehow become God. Illusion will try to unsettle you in your decisions, but you never presume that Illusion will give you the status of God. The individual has come into existence by your own free will, and you will be able to be God, by your own free will. Your decision will be final and you will be successful if you put forth the effort. If you yourself do not say that you are God, how will others say so?

When you feel that when you are taking yourself to be a human being you are committing a great sin and creating a big chaos, then you will be as God. When you feel like that, you should understand that you are becoming like God, and that "godliness" is developing. Truly, you were already God. Just as a man does not like wearing a sari (an Indian woman's dress), similarly, when one becomes God, he does not like to lead a worldly life. The devotee must have the conviction that he is Pure, he is Truth, and he is Free. You should be ashamed of being an individual. You must develop the attitude that, "I am not the body. I am Brahman. What need do I have for the object of the senses?" Take note of all the thoughts that come into the mind. These should be examined everyday. You should observe how the feeling of your own nature has changed from that which you were experiencing before coming into contact with a Saint. You should observe in what way you were behaving before, and how your consciousness has changed while you are working throughout your day. 

What did the mind like before? And what kind of satisfaction did it give to you, prior to this contact? What does it like now? What is the meaning of your life? What is its nature? What is its quality? Gradually as you develop understanding of your True Nature, the faculties like eating, protection, development, and the desire for things conducive to realizing that True Nature will change, and your actions will be such that they will be helpful for fulfilling those needs. All beings act according to their nature and species. The knowledge of our nature and our species, causes us to collect things, or to give up things, accordingly. Our mind, our intellect, our consciousness, our ego with the sense of its rights, all function in accordance with our nature, our species, our position, and our circumstances. To know Reality is to look and to be sure about our True Nature. When you are sure about that, it is called steady Self-Knowledge. Only when we definitely know how and what our life is, can we decide what we need, and what we do not need.