On seeing a beautiful flower, it is but natural to exclaim 'how beautiful!' However, we will not acknowledge God who created it. The desire to possess a beautiful object of the nature is a sign of sheer selfishness. With this egoistic view, a person cannot identify his relationship with God. Thus, Baba would at first fulfil the material desires of His devotees in order to slowly kindle the spark of devotion. A person with a spiritual bent of mind would long for a glimpse of God. Narendranath used to meet every saint and would ask 'have you seen God? Can you show me God?' Thus, concentration and longing would increase in a person who yearns to see God. In fact, the sages who realized God told Narendranath, 'You are the other form of God'.
In the Bhagavad Geeta, Lord Krishna proclaimed 'I shall dwell as fire in the living beings'. But, the devotee would be agitated before he acquires perfection in practice to see God who dwells within him. The musk deer would search for the musk in the entire forest unaware of the fragrance oozing out from its navel. Likewise, the practicing devotee would wander in the path of knowledge and devotion in search of God. The moment he comes across a spiritual teacher, who lights the lamp of wisdom, he will get self-realization and experience the ever-new joy by seeing the Blissful Sai within His own being.