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In the Vision of God, Volume 1, by Swami Ramdas, pp 118-119
 

THE SUPREME PURPOSE OF LIFE


The train arrived but it was overcrowded. There was no room in the third-class carriages. Wherever they sought entrance into the carriage, they were repulsed by the passengers. Observing their struggle two policemen came to the rescue. They rushed forward and, opening the door of a carriage, provided sitting accommodation for the trio. The policemen were full of love and kindness. Why this? - because God is in all.

The train started. It might have just passed out of the station when a stout Irani (Persian), who was occupying an upper berth, jumped down and requested Ramdas to climb up and have his berth, upon which a thick quilt had been spread so that one could lie on it comfortably. Ramdas declined his kind offer and said that he preferred to remain where he was.

"May I be permitted to sit by your side for a few minutes?" he asked Ramdas.

"By all means," answered Ramdas, and made room for him. He wedged himself between Ramdas and Ramcharandas.

"Do advise me," he urged, "as to how I can remove the illusions of the mind and free it from the turmoil to which it is always subjected, and realize God. I am simply caught up in the attachment to wife, house, money and property."

"You have diagnosed," Ramdas replied, "the disease aright and also have a clear understanding of the remedy for it. Know in the first place that the God you seek is within yourself. He is the life and soul of the universe and to attain Him is the supreme purpose of life. Evil and sorrow are due to your belief that you are separate from this universal Truth. The ego has set up this wall of separation. Have a strong and intense longing to realize Him, that is, to know that your life is one with the life of the universe. Then surrender up the ego by constant identification with Him through prayer, meditation and performance of all action without desiring their fruit. As you progress on this path, which is the path of devotion, knowledge and self-surrender, your attachment to the unrealities of life will slacken, and the illusions of the mind will be dispelled. Now your heart will be filled with divine love, and your vision purified and equalized, and your actions will become the spontaneous outflow of your immortal being, yielding you the experience of true joy and peace. This is the culmination of human endeavor and fulfillment of the purpose of life."

 

     In the Vision of God, Vol I - The Continuing Saga of an Extraordinary Pilgrimage