8 IN THE VISION OF GOD
of heaven is nothing but a blissful consciousness which is
bora of everlasting life. He reveals the secret of this
kingdom when he says: "The kingdom of heaven is within
you." The Father and the Son are one. Identification with
the Son is identification with the Father. Father is eternal
peace manifest as the Son—the infinite love. So your life
should be ruled l)y Chirst, that is love. Then he leads yon to
the realm of the Father, the absolute peace. Do not think
that Christ is the only way to salvation. Great souls have
been, long before Christ, holding aloft the torch of divine
knowledge for the illumination of the world. Christ held
humility as the highest virtue; love and sympathy for all
alike as the criterion of conduct; and resignation to the
will of Q-od as the means for the attainment of the kingdom
of heaven or everlasting life and peace.
Ramdas does not helong to any particular creed. Ho
firmly believes that all creeds, faiths and religions are differ-
ent paths which ultimately converge to the same goal. The
very sight of a Muhamniadan reminds him of Muhammad ;
of a Christian, Jesus Christ; of a Hindu, Rama, Krishna or
Shiva; and of a Thiddhist, Buddha; of a Parsee, Zoroaster.
All the great teachers of the world are from one God—the
first eternal cause oi all existence. Whether it be in the Gita
or the Bible or the Koran or the Zend Avesta, we find the
same note insistently ringing, viz. self-surrender is the
supreme way to liberation or salvation.
(ii) Service of God
Reverting to the mode of life Bamdas was leading in
the cave, he would rise at about three o'clock early morn-
ing and run down, directly to the water tanks for bath.
Though the path to the tanks was rough and risky, he
would not forgo his morning dip even in the darkest night.
After bath he would sit in asan for meditation till day-
break. For some clays his meditation consisted of only the
mental repetition of Ram-mantram. Then the mantram