Let not appearances deceive you
Let not appearances deceive you. There goes the devotee, chanting the sacred name of Narayana. He sings in ecstasy and dances in rapture for an hour or two. He is vehement in asserting that all indeed is Narayana. Here is a great monist who would not stop repeating: ‘I am God’, ‘I am God’, ‘I am God’. Profound is his learning and mighty his swordsmanship in argument. Tarry a while, friend.
Watch them under three conditions: when desperately hungry, when bitterly provoked and insulted, and when another man is pathetically distressed.
Now if they fulfil their former assertions, all hail to them, veritable God on earth are they; if they do not, keep yourself aloof from them lest you should be infected.
~ Swami Sivananda
