There are three types of approaches towards the Lord:

• the Eagle type, which swaps down on the target whith a greedy swiftness and suddenness which, by its very impact, fails to secure the object coveted;
• the Monkey type, which flits hither and thither, from one fruit to another, unable to decide which is tasty; and
• the Ant type, which moves steadily, though slowly, towards the object which it has decided is desirable. The ant does not hit the fruit hard and make it fall away; it does not pluck all the fruits it sees; it appropriates just as much as it can assimilate and no more. 

When are you to walk indoors into the warmth and quiet of your own interior? Retire into solitude and silence now and then; experience the joy derivable only from them.

Since you cannot swim across the flooded stream, you board a raft. So also, since you cannot master the Nirguna (Formless), you resort to the Saguna (Form with attributes) and struggle to swim across to the Nirguna through Aradhana and Upasana (worship and contemplation). But it is not advisable to remain ever on the raft, amidst the currents and whirlpools, is it not? You must died this conventional Aradhana some day and reach higher. Patram, pushpam, phalam, toyam (leaf, flower, fruit, water)---are all primers for the initial stages when children join schools. Clean the mind of all the animal and primitive impulses which has shaped it from birth to birth. Otherwise, just as milk poured into a pot used for keeping buttermilk curdles quickly, all the finer experiences of truth, beauty and goodness will get tarnished beyond recognition. Do not postpone this duty to yourself, especially now when you have the chance of contacting Me. I do not find you offering Me the thing I look for; you bring things which are unworthy and impure. I feel very much when I find you so agitated and troubled with the cure so near at hand.

Reduce your wants; minimise your desires. All these material knick-knacks are short-lived. When death deprives you of resistance, your kith and kin take off the nose-stud and in their haste they may even cut the nose to retrieve it! If you go on heaping desire upon desire, it will be impossible to depart gladly when the call comes. Become rich rather in virtue, in the spirit of
service, in devotion to the Higher Power. That is what pleases Me and saves you. (SSS Vol.2)