Na m b iya n d a r Na m b i ' s e x t re m e devotion!
The Kathopanishad beautifully says Shraddha vivechah (authenticity) happens when you are possessed by a certain truth. The Upanishad describes Nachiketa, the hero of the Upanishad, who confronted Death itself, possessed by shraddha authenticity, the Truth.
Sometimes, when you face a difficult time in life, you suddenly decide, "I will be very straight, honest and dharmic. I will not bend." You might know that if you adjust a little bit, or tell one lie or alter one word, you can escape from the situation, but you suddenly feel, "No, I am going to be very straight, come what may." In those few moments, you are possessed by shraddha authenticity, the Truth.
So, shraddha vivechah happened to Nambiyandar Nambi. Suddenly, he felt, "Ganesha has to eat!" He started weeping. He said, "Till you eat, I am not going to leave this place." Five to six hours went by, but the food was still there. Ganesha was just sitting there. Then he went to the extreme: a suicide threat! He said, "I will bang my head on these temple steps and die if you don't eat!" And he really started banging his head on the steps!
At that time, he just knew that Ganesha was going to eat; even a slight doubt did not exist in him. He started banging his head on the steps - and the story says, suddenly Ganesha appeared and ate the food and blessed him!
You will find hundreds of such stories about saints. It is not a story; it is history, truth!
When the boy went back to his father, his father asked, "What happened? Where is the food offering?" Nambiyandar Nambi said, "Ganesha ate it." The father could not believe it. He asked, "Did Ganesha eat it, or did you eat it?" The son responded, "No, Ganesha ate it! If you come with me, I will show you."
So he took his father to the temple who stood outside and saw with his own eyes, Ganesha emerging and eating the food served by his son!
When I heard this story, I was shocked. The whole story became part of My inner space, part of My bio-energy. Something in My bio-energy got kindled. Whatever is inside you will be kindled by even a spark from outside. It awakened something in Me so strongly! It is like when kids go to Disneyland, they literally feel that all the characters they see on TV – like Tom and Jerry – actually live in Disneyland!
Something happened in My inner space because of that story. I thought, "Then why is My Ganesha not eating? I am giving him food every day, but he is not eating! Then what am I doing?" I ran back home. In those days, there were not many four-wheelers on the road. Now it has become a big town. There were mostly only two-wheelers and cycles at that time. I still remember, I hit two cycles that day when I ran home to feed Ganesha!
Understand: when you are in integrity, you will respect every person's words, even if they are non-integrated! You will trust that the word is out of integrity, because you don't know anything other than integrity! If you are established in integrity, not only will you have the power to make your words into reality, you can make even others' words into reality, even if the other person is non-integrated.