God is one

God is one   Once, a saint went to a village.  Some of the villagers came to him and asked, “Oh revered saint, you are a devotee of which God or Goddess?”   The saint said, “The God is one and identical. So, it really does not make a difference whom you worship.”   One of the villagers said, “But, Gods and Goddesses exist in different names. It also so happens that discussions and debates take place to decide who is the best among them.”   The saint said, “Listen to a story. My teacher had told me this from his real experience in life.   There was village like this village of yours. A river was flowing down by the side of the village. Once, some type of germs came flowing in the water of the river as a result of which the villagers fell sick of a peculiar disease. Slowly, their memory started failing. Gradually they realized that their memory will be lost completely. A clever man advised – ‘Brothers, before we forget everything and get completely detached from this world, let us come forward and write on everything their names.’ Everybody started doing that. Names were written on everything. Gradually a time came when people started forgetting the use of things though names were written on them. Therefore, they started writing on everything briefly about their use.   But, before their memory was completely lost, my teacher reached there one day. Seeing this situation, he put a drop of magic water in everybody’s mouth as a result of which all of them got back their memory. After getting back their memory, they were surprised at first for a moment to find the name and its use written on everything. Thereafter, when they came to realize the actual thing, the whole village burst out with laughter.   The saint said, “When man under the worldly illusion started losing its consciousness, he started calling the God in different names. The man without consciousness is dependant on name. One who does not lose consciousness, he understands that God is one and identical. Therefore, why should one give different names to the God? Why not immerse oneself in the state of oneness of the almighty?”        * *  *