There are many different paths: the intellectual path, by which one studies and attains to spiritual perfection, the meditative path, in which one develops spiritually; the path of good action, which is sure to lead to a high attainment. But in spite of all these paths, the path of devotion is great. It is most easy and most difficult. It is easy because it is natural; it is difficult because one looks for other paths rather than this. In the history of the great and holy beings of the world the greatest and the most blessed have been the devotees. There have been great scientists and philosophers, but they have not been saints and masters for the very reason that the power and inspiration devotion gives is much greater than that obtained by any other way. Besides, devotion teaches one virtue; sincerity, earnestness, the sense of duty: all different virtues come by devotion. A person who is devoted to anyone in the world, to one's father or mother or brother or sister or children or friend, has taken the first step in devotion. But the one who shows his devotion in the spiritual path to his teacher he has taken his second step. He has only to take one more step and he will be there. And that will be the devotion to his ideal.

There is a story of a mureed who was known to be a great devotee of his murshid. After the death of his teacher a great sage came to that village where he lived, and people began to talk all around the village, saying that so great is the power of this sage that coming into his presence would make a person liberated from all his sins. This man who was most spiritually inclined was the first expected to visit this sage. But everybody from the village come to greet the sage except this one. They are all wondering why it is so, that the man who is really deep in the idea is the very man who has not come. So the sage went himself there, and asked this young man; "What was the matter that you did not come to see me? Everyone talked about you, and I was eager to make your acquaintance. Is there any antipathy you have for me, or what is it?"

He said, "No, I would be the last person to have an antipathy towards a spiritual soul like you. But there was one thing that kept me back. " In his simple way he said, "People told me that by seeing Your Holiness I would be liberated from all sins. But I do not know yet where my murshid is going to be, in Heaven or in the other place. If by being liberated I went to Heaven and if I found that my murshid was in the other place, then that Heaven would be hell for me. I would rather be where my murshid is. Even if it were hell, it would become Heaven for me."

It is that attitude really which makes a mureed a mureed. There he begins on the path.