You must develop the urge and engage yourself in tasks that will take you nearer to God. All spiritual endeavor has as its aim the attraction of the grace of God on oneself. That is why when you go to a temple and stand before the main shrine, you ring the bell hung there; the sound will draw the attention of the Lord to the supplicant just arrived. The ringing must be accompanied by a sincere prayer from the heart. Spiritual effort should not become mechanical repetition of a set formulae or execution of dry formalities. It is maya (illusion) that makes you take the name and the form as real. Attachment is born out of this illusion only. It acts like a veil to hide the reality behind all this multiplicity. The one who wears maya as the vesture is Madhava (God); one who believes it to be true is Manava (human). By Sadhana, one can escape from the enticement of maya and realise that it is all false, for it does not subsist for all time.

- Divine Discourse, Jan 14, 1967.