Talks Excerpt 717. Swamiji tells the delightful story of a bitter gourd [Karela] going on pilgrimage.
From Mother Radha’s recordings of Swamiji.
God finds Himself at home in the whole universe. He is not a restless creature. Even when sannyasis [renunciates] go on pilgrimage, they go because the mind is restless. They feel their mind will not be restful in one place; so they keep going from holy place to holy place to holy place.
When realised souls go on pilgrimage, it is for a different reason. They go to re-awaken the Consciousness that is already in that particular place of pilgrimage.
Someone went to a guru and said, ‘I want to go on pilgrimage.’ The guru asked, ‘Why?’ He said, ‘Because one becomes holy by going on pilgrimage.’ So the guru gave him a bitter gourd. (It’s a kind of vegetable called karela in Hindi. It is very bitter.) Giving it to him the guru said, ‘Take this with you on pilgrimage and please bring it back.’
After two years the disciple returned and the guru asked, ‘How are you? Did you enjoy your pilgrimage?’ ‘Yes. Very, very good,’ came the reply. ‘Did it have the desired effect?’ asked the guru. ‘I think so,’ answered the disciple. However, the Guru noticed that his nature or personality had not changed.
Then the guru said, ‘Let me see the bitter gourd. Bring it here.’ He took it and ate a bit. It was still bitter, so he said, ‘If the nature of this vegetable cannot change, I do not know how your nature has changed.’ [Laughter] If your devotion to God has increased, then it would be fruitful. There must be inner transformation, then it is good. Otherwise, our ego gets bigger.’
This is why Christ says, ‘You must worship God behind locked doors.’
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These recordings or the excerpts from them, were made from the early 1970s onward, by Mother Radha, a close devotee of Swamiji’s and edited for uploading here by our gurubhai and her son, Brother Tim. Please be mindful that what Swamiji was saying may have been with him at the time.