You now have multitudes of claimants for the status and benefits of a person with devotion; you can see them on the roads to holy rivers or cities, or singing spiritual songs wearing all the paraphernalia of devotion. But the claim to be a devotee of the Lord, a votary of the Highest, can be admitted only if the passions and emotions are pure and if the character is virtuous. The tongue may utter the Name of the Lord, the ear may be open when the Lord’s glory is recited, and the hand may scatter flowers on the image of God, but the tongue may not know or relish the taste, the ear may not pine, or the hand may not yearn. These can happen only when the heart is aware of the Supreme, and when the mind is thrilled recollecting the glory of God. Otherwise one is like the spoon which dips into sour and sweet with equal alacrity and insensitivity. It does not refuse or relish any of the tastes.

- Divine Discourse, Mar 23, 1966.