Maharaj is sitting talking with his very close disciple, Swaranjit Singh, who is CEO of Escorts Tractors and other businesses. He says to Swaranjit,

                In the discipline of meditation, one attempts not to be late by even ten minutes. When you do paath (read scripture) regularly, God’s gifts surely come. When we sit in meditation or do path, we are taking God’s gifts. It can be seen as a responsibility, which is being upheld by perhaps only one lakh people and not by the others.

                What is the sign of good or bad karma? Lord Krishna says to always do good karma but don’t desire its fruits. The sign is that you are always focusing on that programme, even in sleep. This means you will surely succeed. If it slips from your mind, it is bad karma. Vivekananda said that a person eats and sleeps but his inner goal is always in his eating and sleeping. When we are eating, our hand finds our mouth even in the dark. If the goal is straight, darkness means nothing.

                It is all a matter of thought. A person who makes a goal and keeps thinking of it night and day will surely succeed. A person who keeps forgetting it will not. When Mary came, she came with an idea. I had been speaking ever since we were in Sarawan Bodla (his childhood home). But now that is going to one hundred countries. She sets this tape recorder here and understands it as carrying the voice to one hundred countries. Responsibility is a very great thing.

                This is no theory. You have seen this your whole life in your factories. Never give one person’s responsibility to another. There will be great losses, because they don’t know or care about the machinery. It is not their subject. First give people responsibility for what is their subject, and then don’t interfere. Untrained people bring breaks. For those who don’t take responsibility, give them tapasya.

                To be responsible, it is necessary to control the mind. If you lose your temper, you can’t carry out responsibilities. It needs great relaxation. When a person is high, so many people will get angry with him. But never be discouraged. Look at everything with inner courage. Guru Gobind Singh said to God, “There are difficulties whenever I lose faith in You, and You lose faith in me.”

                Keep faithful people. They are rare.

                Whenever Jesus healed people, he said, “Your faith has healed you.” When they brought a cripple to him, they asked, “Is it his parents’ karma, his, or what?” When the man got up and walked, it was clearly God’s Power, not a matter of karma. Jesus said, “Go! Your faith has healed you.” The same thing happened when he healed the blind person. It was always his goal to show that faith in God was healing.

 There was also the woman who said that he could heal her brother. It is important to know that all prophets took hukam from God before healing. Eyes closed, Jesus said to God, “Her faith is great. What do You want?” The answer came, “There is no difference. What you want, I want.” The woman proclaimed that Jesus could raise the dead to life.

Faith, love and willingness to serve: Jesus spoke of these three again and again. So did Guru Nanak. At his time, there were lakhs of pandits doing no work. He said to them, “Get up and do worldly work.” He also said, “Work hard and from what you earn give to others.” Everyone could sit in meditation, but he emphasized the necessity of working.

                I am also against people’s sitting idle. If you have a goal and your mind is firm, you will succeed.

                Many more guests come in, filling the room. Maharaj speaks to them of the great spiritual treasure that lies inside everyone and encourages them to find the Creator there. One of them says he wants to set up an ashram. Maharaj tells him,

                Use only the earning of your own hands for that. All else is poisonous, business. Vivekananda said to stop using charity to convert people. Just help and don’t seek the fruits of your actions. Don’t make it a business.

                It is one thing to go to look at that drama and another to play it. For that, you must keep in mind that God is the greatest. You will be under great pressure to take care of electric bills for them all, and so on. Think: Do you want a big family or a small one? House is a great responsibility.

                In addition to starting an ashram, the guest wants to put on the dress of a sadhu. Maharaj says to him,

                The important dress is inside you. What you wear outside is your choice.

                After the guests leave, Maharaj ji says to us confidentially,

                When self-interest comes into play, doubt that there is vision. What comes from vision cannot lead to conflicts. That man wanted to go to the United States just to gather money “for this ashram.” The egret appears to be in samadhi, but he is concentrating on a frog. When the frog makes the slightest move, the egret grabs it and then sits in “samadhi” again. These people go over there and get involved with women. They confuse others and themselves. Both are nervous. This business of building up power is not a matter of enlightenment.