Page 9 - All India Magazine Sep-2026

Japa as a means of serving the Divine
In the course of my observation, I also saw the position of
X and people like him, who practically spend their lives doing
japa, plus meditation, puja, ceremonies (I am talking only about
sincere people, not fakers). Well, that's their way of working
for the world, of serving the Divine, and it seems the best way
to them — perhaps even the only way — but it's a question of
mental belief. In any case, it's obvious that even a bit of... not
exactly puja, but some sort of ceremony that you set yourself
to do — habitual gestures symbolising and expressing a par-
ticular inner state — can also be a help and a way of offering
yourself and relating to the Divine and thus serving the Divine.
I feel it's important looked at in this way — not from the tra-
ditional view-point, I can't stand that traditional viewpoint; I
understand it, but it seems to me like putting a brake on true
self-giving to the Divine. I am speaking of self-imposed japa
and rules (or, if someone gives you the japa, rules you accept
with all your heart and adhere to). These self-imposed rules
should be followed as a gesture of love, as a way of saying to
the Divine, "I love You." Do you see what I mean? Like arranging
flowers in a certain way, burning incense, dozens of little things
like that, made beautiful because of what is put into them — it
is a form of self-giving.
The Mother: Conversation with a disciple, February 3, 1962

Doing Japa for seeking favours
Now, I think that doing japa with the will and the idea of
getting something out of it spoils it a little. You spoil it. I don't
much like it when somebody says, "Do this and you will get
that." It's true — it's true, but it's a bit like baiting a fish. I don't
much like it.
Let it be your own manner of serving the Divine, of relat-

All India Magazine, September 2026 9