A reading from "Madhur - Shri Hanuman Prasad Ji Poddar" - 25th May 2025

So, sounds like him. Yes. So, Bhaiji is saying that when we let go of attachments, when we let go of things, we can do it in two different ways. One is that I'm attached because I find pleasure in it, so I'm giving it up because I've heard it's good to give it up, or my masters told me, or in spirituality they told me to give it up. So I'm giving it up even though it gives me pleasure; I'm letting go of that dog and I'm giving it up. The second is that it comes organically because there's so much love for God that there's a natural letting go of attachments of the world.

So he's saying the true letting go, the true sacrifice, the true letting go for God is when there's so much love for Him that we want to be in—I'm paraphrasing now—you want to be in the heart temple rather than get caught up in the things of the world so much. So it becomes very natural, and when it is natural, there is no pride. Have you seen a lot of renunciates otherwise? 'I'm a Sadhu, I'm a Sadhu, I'm a Sadhu, you know, give me respect because I had a big job and I left it, you see. I had this and I left it, you see.' So this kind of pride comes when we let go of things; it becomes a badge of honor that I have let go of things for God. But when it's love, then it is so organic we don't think 'I did something.' It's more like 'I was in love, I didn't have the choice.' So the pride doesn't come. We are not keeping score of the things that 'I did this, I did this,' you see.

And there's no expectation of reciprocation. There's no expectation of 'I did this, now I have renounced, what have you done? What have you given me in return?' So this kind of thing is no longer a business deal because it is out of love. He says a lot more beautiful points and we can repeat them if you want, but he's taken an example—and this is true in the villages of India—way before pampers and all were invented. So on a cold night, a child, a small baby, has wet his bed or her bed. So what does the mother do? The mother puts the baby in her side of the bed and sleeps on the baby's side without any feeling of 'it is dirty' or 'I've done something for my baby' or 'what is this life?' It is just very naturally out of the love for the child. She wants the baby to sleep on a dry bed and for herself, she doesn't feel like it's any big deal to sleep on the wet bed that the baby has wet on a cold night.

So that kind of love is a beautiful illustration of the kind of love without expectation, without wanting anything else in return. What are some important things that I missed? What are all the points about? So pride is not there. You're not doing a favor to anyone, you know, or to God, saying 'See, I'm doing a favor, I've given up on my life.' You're not trying to get God obliged to us saying, 'See, I'm doing this now. You better take care of me.' It is not natural. It doesn't feel like I'm doing something special or difficult. Yeah.

Even in the letting go, we find a sense of peace, contentment in the letting go, in the sacrifice rather than in the grasping of things because we have love. When love is there, we cannot feel frustrated or angry. Yeah. We are not showing off, 'See, I have given up this.' You're not looking for reciprocation. We're not finding a sense of meaning out of the fact that we have sacrificed. We are not making a new position about ourselves: 'I am a renunciator, I'm a renunciator.' Simplicity. It just remains like a simplicity. A natural way of being remains. That's what it is, no? Am I doing it right? Very beautiful. Just like see what one page of a sage like that just teaches us. Just one.