Do not cast your looks upon the face of a person who is unaffected by the sorrows of his friend merely to win some temporary gain, or to satisfy some urgent desire, or to plunge into some foul behaviour. Friends must have deep love towards each other; he who has no love filling his heart moving his mind or lighting up his face can only be a bad undesirable ‘friend’. The hearts of such false friends will be crooked and contaminated. (RKRV Part II, p. 356)
Today in the world, friends turn into enemies overnight. This is not right at all. Friendship should be enduring and last for all time. Normally it lasts as long as one has wealth and strength. But God s friendship is not like that. God is always with you, in you, behind you, around you. This is the kind of friendship that every man should experience. (SSS Vol.27)
Friendship based on altruism adopts the motto, love for all and malice towards none, keeping in view the well being of others overlooking personal interest. Such an attitude makes life enjoyable and helps also to set right the world. (SSB 1973, p. 258)
The feeling of friendship must activate every nerve, permeate every blood cell and purify every emotional wave. It has no place for the slightest trace of egoism. You cannot elevate the companionship which seeks to exploit or fleece for personal benefit, into the noble quality of friendship. Perhaps, that any friend who can pass this rigorous test is God. (DM, p. 193)
Maitri is regarded as mere friendliness. What is friendship? Whom should you befriend? How is one to be friendly? These aspects have to be understood. One should not cultivate friendship with all and sundry. Friendship should be cultivated only towards. those who are one’s equals in age, status, culture etc. Friendships with those above or below one should be avoided. This is the true meaning of friendship. When you try to befriend those above you in status etc., they may try to patronise you. When you do not like to be lorded over, the friendship will break. When you develop friendship with those below you, you may attempt to boss over them. When they do not acquiesce in this, the friendship will break up, therefore friendship will be enduring only when it is between equals in age, wealth and status etc. (D3 , p. 42)
Who is a real friend? It is said that a friend is one who helps you when you are in need. What is real help? Is it to help you go to the cinema? There are two qualities that a friend should possess. He should be like the sandals that protect the feet and the eyelids that protect the eyes. The eyelids are always guarding the eyes. A true friend is one who always protects you from danger and keeps you safe from evil. The kind of pal who tells you how to get away from the police is not he real friend. A real friend is one who sees to it that right from the beginning you don’t get into any kind of trouble by entering into evil company and getting lured into committing wrong deeds. You cannot find such a friend in this world, no matter how much you seek. The worldly kind of friendship is mostly selfish where each person has primarily his or her self-interest at heart. Only God is totally devoid of selfishness and self-interest. God can be called the selfless Self. In the various worldly relationships there may be love present but it is not real love because it is tinged with selfishness. (SSE, p. 94)
Be as close as is required and no more. Friendship must be within limits. Friendship beyond limits must be with God alone for He will not let go at any time. (SSB 1996, p. 127)
The world is full of selfishness. Each person thinks of his own path. One day he is a friend another day he is an enemy. Friend is a sort of ship-that is friendship. This ship is immersed in the sea. As it has got holes of desires, the water of family life enters and the ship sinks. The true friend is not a ship. If one’s friend goes on changing, he becomes only sheep. So never change your friend. Who is the true friend? In this age there is no real friend. Inquire well. Whom you consider as a friend will not come to your rescue in times of difficulties and troubles. At all times the one who is after you is only God. Therefore develop friendship with God. He is the permanent friend. Other friends are passing clouds. (M, p. 74)
True friends are those who help in uplifting your life by cleansing your ideals and emotions. Those who drag you into pomp, pedantry, paltry entertainment and petty pranks are enemies, not friends. True friends cannot be won by social status, external scintillation or verbal assertions. A friendship knit by monetary bonds ...is disrupted as soon as you ask the loan to be repaid. So, when you oblige your friend with a loan, the friendship too is broken at that very moment. How can friendship be cemented by words or by coins? The feeling of friendship must activate every nerve, permeate every blood-cell, and purify every emotional wave; it has no place for the slightest trace of egotism. The companionship which seeks to exploit or fleece for personal benefit cannot be elevated into the noble quality of friendship. Perhaps, the only friend who can pass this rigorous test, is God. – (DD on 24-05-1973 , 24-05-1973 )
Make God your friend
On the journey of earthly life, people take some wealth for expenses and when they finish the journey and reach the goal, they hand over the balance to some trustworthy friend and sleep soundly. Everyone brings the wealth of love from the moment of his birth. In this Karmakshetra (field of activity) that is the world, it is difficult to safeguard the treasure of Prema (love). Therefore, everyone should look for a faithful friend. To-day, the only true friend is God. When you hand over the wealth of love to God, it will be easy for you to carry on a life of security and peace. There is no greater teacher than your heart. Time is a great preacher. The world is a scriptural text. God is the great friend. With full faith in these four entities, one should lead his life on this earth. Prema (love) is the natural possession of every human being. It is the fruit of the tree of life. There are certain impediments in your enjoyment of the fruit. But, before tasting a fruit, you have to remove the skin and rind covering the pulp inside and also cast off the seed. The fruit of love is covered by the thick skin of ego. You have m peel off this skin of mine and thine. Then only you can taste the sweet juice. That is why the Vedas describe God as Raso Vai Saha (Supreme sweet essence).
By pure love, you should establish unity with the Divine. The path of Prema (love) is the straightforward road to realise the Divine. The human life is a journey from I to We . It is also progressing from Sva to Soham (individual self to the state of merger with the divine). (SSS Vol.30)