Evolution of Love 2

Mother Devotees

On another occasion I said to my wife, “Please prepare some sati food for Mother.” It was done reluctantly and sent to Mother. We came to learn afterwards that She did not touch a particle of it.
It has been frequently observed that people who with great devotion and love for Mother waited at a distance silently offering all their best sentiments to Her, felt Mother’s blessings in the inmost depths of their souls while there were others who brought heaps of offerings, prayed and shed tears to obtain Her grace, but neither received neither Her instructions nor blessings. Everybody gets a response from Her according to the sincerity and intensity of his devotion; Her blessings do not depend upon the nature of any material thing offered to Her.
All people, men of piety as well as atheists, rich or poor, young or old, male or female, even infants have free access to Her. She is often heard to utter with a laugh, “Why do you bother about the time and opportunity to see me ? Don’t you find that my doors are always open?” Although owing to the illusory attractions of the world, you often forget this little daughter of yours, you may rest assured that your worries and tribulations are ever before my eyes.
Nothing appears strange to Mother who watches all things without the help of the physical eye, who can read all thoughts without the assistance of the spoken word, who seeing and hearing, moves about like one soaring far above, totally unconcerned with the affairs of this world and yet in live touch with them. Day and night, unconcerned with Her personal comfort or fatigue, She appears to be waiting for all men, be they in distress or at ease.
People flock round Her from early morning till late at night. Some are painting her forehead with vermilion drops, others dressing Her hair, yet others offering to give Her a bath, or to wash Her face and mouth, or to clean Her teeth with tooth paste. Some may request Her permission to change Her sari, others express a desire to put some sweets or a slice of fruit into Her mouth, some whisper their secret requests into Her ear, others are eager to have a private interview with Her. Some may even be bold enough to disperse the crowd surrounding Her, saying:—”Please move away, don’t trouble Mother in this manner.”
But think of Mother! She sits up, hour after hour, day after day, in Her exquisitely peaceful manner in the midst of all this noise and bustle, rush and tussle; She remains steady and firm with a face brimming over with cheerfulness, meeting all the various demands or prayers with such loving grace that the whole atmosphere appears to be over-flowing with heavenly joy and happiness. The hearts of the people assembled may not all be equally attracted by Her dignity, but Her sweet and compassionate glances fall with equal tenderness upon all human beings like the golden rays of the sun at dawn. Nobody has yet been found to come away from Her presence in despair or dejection.
Mother says ,—“God’s world is made up of both, people who understand its nature and who do not. They have to be kept satisfied with just the toys they want.” For this very reason nobody has yet been able to say, “Mother is not mine, but yours”; whoever has the good fortune to be in intimate touch with Her, must have felt, “Mother is mine and mine only”. All have opened their innermost hearts to Her and have found new hope and peace in return.
It is beyond our power to realise how Mother plays with Her devotees. We have found Her responding to the two conflicting emotions- of joy at the birth of a son and of sorrow over a child’s death- at the same time, with equal warmth. We have also seen Her weeping with a lady mourning over the loss of her son and laughing joyously with a happy person. Such contradictory impulses find a wonderful synthesis in Her. We have found Her using sweet, soothing words of comfort to the distressed imploring Her blessings, while withdrawing Her feet from their grasp. She appeared to be quite unconcerned at another lying prostrate at Her feet for a pretty long time. One day a lady who had lost her son fell at Her feet wailing bitterly. Mother began to weep and shed tears so profusely with the bereaved mother, held close in Her embrace, that the latter came to forget all her woes; on the hand exclaimed, “Mother, be comforted, I shall not weep over my son’s death anymore.”
Many of us have found immense joy simply looking at Her, touching the dust of Her feet or hearing Her sweet words, which cause an influx of pure thoughts and sentiments in our hearts.
Once a friend of mine who had lately returned from England with a mind soaked with Western ideas, came at my request to see Mother - He said that at the sight of Mother, the mantra which he had received from his Guru long, long ago before sailing abroad, and which he had almost forgotten, revived in his memory. There are many instances showing how by sitting at Her feet people acquired the power of concentration and devotion to enable them to worship God and to contemplate the Divine.