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    Real worship of Shiv

    Synopsis

    He who sees Shiv in the poor, in the weak and in the diseased, really worships Shiv; and if he sees Shiv only in the image, his worship is but preliminary. He who has served and helped one poor man seeing Shiv in him, without thinking of his caste, creed, race or anything else, with him, Shiv is more pleased than with the man who sees Him only in temples.

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    It is in love that religion exists and not in ceremony, in the pure and sincere love in the heart. Unless a man is pure in body and mind, his coming into a temple and worshipping Shiv is useless. The prayers of those that are pure in mind and body will be answered by Shiv, and those that are impure and yet try to teach religion to others will fail in the end. External worship is only a symbol of internal worship; but internal worship and purity are the real things. Without them, external worship is of no avail. Therefore, you must all remember this.

    People... think they can do anything, and then they can go to a holy place, and their sins will be forgiven. If a man goes with an impure mind into a temple, he adds to the sins that he had already, and goes home a worse man than when he left it.... It is most difficult to live in a tirtha; for, if sin is committed in any ordinary place, it can easily be removed, but sin committed in a tirtha cannot be removed. This is the gist of all worship - to be pure and to do good to others.

    He who sees Shiv in the poor, in the weak and in the diseased, really worships Shiv; and if he sees Shiv only in the image, his worship is but preliminary. He who has served and helped one poor man seeing Shiv in him, without thinking of his caste, creed, race or anything else, with him, Shiv is more pleased than with the man who sees Him only in temples.

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