Thought for the day

In the young-of-the-monkey type of devotion, the child must rely on its own strength to protect itself —wherever the mother jumps, the child must attach itself to its mother's belly and hold on, even if pulled apart! So too, the devotee must stand the tests of the Lord and hold on to His name under all conditions, tirelessly, without the slightest trace of dislike or disgust, bearing the criticism and ridicule of the world and conquering the feelings of shame and defeat. An exemplary example of this type of devotion is Prahlada. In the second path, just as the kitten simply places all its burdens on the mother cat, so too, the devotee completely trusts the Lord and surrenders to Him. The mother cat holds the kitten in its mouth and transports it safely through even very narrow passages. Lakshmana is the example of this path. These two are sometimes referred to as devotion with effort (bhakthi) and self-surrender (prapatti). The former a hard path, while the latter a simple or safe path.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba