One morning Shri Babaji Maharaj was going to the office when a large group of his admirers came to him. An earthquake had shaken the district of Kangra. The year was 1904 A.D.They said to him: “Maharaj! Please pray that such an earthquake may never come again! It was a horrible day! People were afraid for their lives. Every nook and corner of the area was shaking. The houses were bowing low as if in prostration. The mountains were looking askance at the sky and appeared to be calling out to God to have mercy upon the land. The sight was unbearable. The entire district of Kangra was shaken by the earthquake. Even now the very thought of the earthquake fills our hearts with fear!
“Yes, but it was a strange scene. Yesterday when the earthquake was in progress, people were calling out to their gods to come and save them. The Hindus were saying ‘Ram! Ram!’ The Muslims were saying ‘Allah! Allah!’ and the Sikhs were saying ‘Wahguru! Wahguru!’ The Christians were saying ‘Christ! Christ!’ But now that the earthquake is over, the name of God has vanished, people are once again talking about the usual petty things of the world!
Shri Babaji Maharaj listened patiently to the group and then said:
Let us all come together and pray to God: ‘O Lord! Please let this earthquake remain forever!
The people were astounded to hear these words.
Maharaj! What are you saying! We could not bear even one moment of the earthquake, how will we be able to bear an earthquake that lasts forever!
Shri Babaji Maharaj said:
We have not to see what is bearable and what is unbearable, we have not to see what brings life and what brings death; we have only to accept that, which keeps His remembrance always alive in our hearts!
You have just been saying that for as long as the earthquake lasted, people were calling out to God–the Hindus to Ram the Muslims to Allah, the Sikhs to Wahguru, and the Christians to Christ–and the moment the earthquake subsided, people forgot God altogether and began focussing their attention once again on the things of the world.
“Iss liye main to kahoongaa ke aisaa bhoochaal roz aayaa kare! I would therefore welcome such an earthquake everyday if it serves to keep the remembrance of God alive in our hearts!