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tuning into this immortal stream of which my father was a part. May thisflow never run dry in my heart; may it gather momen-tum as it moves into eternity.
Fragrance
For Gurudev, the reward of all his years of contemplation and self-discipline was to fall in love with life itself. He gave from his life to life out of the plenitude of his joy, and this, to him, was itself a daily experience of freedom-infinite energy, awareness, balance, and bliss. Gurudev saw the pinnacle of SelfRealization as an occasion to celebrate the journey into evolution as if he were starting out freshly, in newness:
“The time comes in the life of each of us when we are ready to put our practice to the test. Monks can no longer ignore the plight of the working world by wandering the countryside or living in a cave or contemplating on top of a mountain. That has its own time period. Once we feel the resultant peace, then we have a challenge to accept—to share with others and help alleviate the suffering of living beings. Our strength emerges only when we are able to synthesize the contemplative life and the life of action.”
In his first year in Bombay, Gurudev walked through the suburbs to feel the tenor of the people. He observed people in misery, whether in poverty or luxury. He felt the plight of those victimized by discrimination, prejudice, or exploitation, whether they were humans or animals. It was the nature of his compassion to feel the pain of others as vividly as if it were his own.
The little fish he had rescued continued to dance in his mind. The impact of the slaughterhouse was fresh in his heart. He knew that before he could have an effect on saving these victims of man, he had to go to the root of man's own
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