Krishna tells Arjuna, “Few among thousands of men & women strive for perfection and a fewer among the blessed ones striving thus, know Me in reality”. Too many of us are preoccupied with unearthing details of when Krishna was born & when he actually delivered Gita, etc. We tend to get snarled in irrelevant details and lose sight of the wood for the trees.

Few love God unconditionally. Ramakrishna tells the story of some men who went to mango orchard. They began comparing which tree is bigger and so started counting the leaves and branches and comparing their size. They started then

arguing as to who was right. The most sensible among them began eating the fruit. Similarly a truly spiritual person is not bothered about the history of God, he simply yearns for God and he is not keen to memorise the Gita’s verses, as he is to follow its teachings.

Ramakrishna did not spend time reading the scriptures. He advised everyone to ‘eat the mangoes’ leaving it to the learned to pour over the details. He knew from personal experience that the God could be reached via any path. At the end of each path God was there waiting for his beloved devotee. The only qualification needed was Pure Love. A true devotee goes thru the equivalent of crucifixion. Jesus was crucified. Meera was tortured by in-laws. Prahlad was terrorised by his father. Namdeva was labelled mad. Socrates was given poison to drink. None was spared. The Lord demands COMPLETE surrender. He resides in our hearts, and only those with pure love are allowed in this sacred space.

Loving an earthly being means possessiveness and that is restrictive. That’s why one falls in love. Loving God, results in ‘rising’ in love. One’ vision begins to gradually encompass entire humankind. This way one can achieve ultimate oneness with Brahmn. Hence we need to self-examine our Love for God or Sadguru, how deep it is – Is there complete surrender? Are we willing to sacrifice everything to meet our beloved God in any form?