The Four Instructions: Love, Serve, Remember, Truth

Love everyone.
Serve everyone.
Remember God.
Tell the truth.

— Neem Karoli Baba (Maharaj-ji)

In just four simple instructions, Maharaj-ji gave a complete path for the heart. These are not abstract ideas for philosophers; they are living teachings meant to be practiced in kitchens and buses, at office desks and hospital beds, in the middle of our messy, beautiful lives. To love everyone, to serve everyone, to remember God, and to tell the truth is to let every corner of our day become an ashram, every breath a chance to move closer to the One who is already closer to us than we are to ourselves.

Each of these four instructions is simple enough for a child to understand and yet inexhaustible in depth. We can spend a lifetime entering more fully into what they mean. On the path of bhakti, they are like four doors that all open into the same room: the presence of God shining through all beings. As we walk with Maharaj-ji in these teachings, we discover that spiritual life is not somewhere else; it is this very moment, met with love, service, remembrance, and truth.

Love Everyone

When Maharaj-ji said, “Love everyone,” he was not giving us a sentimental slogan. He was pointing to the very nature of Reality. In his presence, people felt a love that did not measure, compare, or ask whether they were worthy. It embraced the saint and the sinner, the devotee and the skeptic, the one who bowed and the one who argued. This love did not ignore our weakness; it simply saw something deeper than our weakness — the light of God shining within.

To love everyone does not mean liking everyone’s behavior or agreeing with all that people do. It means training the heart to look past the outer appearances and stories and to rest in the divine core of each being. Maharaj-ji looked at people and saw only God. Even when he scolded, the scolding was just another form of grace. For him, love was not a feeling that came and went; it was the natural fragrance of being absorbed in Ram.

In our own lives, this instruction invites us into countless small practices. We can silently bless the people we pass on the street. We can listen more deeply when someone speaks, letting go of the need to be right or to win. We can notice when the heart closes in judgment and gently repeat the Name: “Ram, Ram,” asking for help to see as Maharaj-ji saw. Loving everyone begins with the willingness to let God expand our limited hearts into something wider, softer, and more inclusive.

Sometimes, “everyone” includes the one person we forget most easily: ourselves. To love everyone is also to allow Maharaj-ji’s gaze to fall on our own heart with the same compassion he had for others. Self-hatred and harsh self-judgment close the door to the flow of love. When we sit quietly and feel his presence, we can whisper, “Maharaj-ji, help me to see myself as you see me.” This too is part of loving everyone.

Serve Everyone

For Maharaj-ji, love and service were inseparable. “Love everyone, serve everyone” was a single movement of the heart. Seva is love in action — not service from above, as if we are the helper and others are the helped, but the humble offering of our hands at the feet of God who comes disguised as the person in front of us. When we bring a glass of water, sweep a floor, answer an email with patience, we are given the chance to serve God directly.

Those who sat with Maharaj-ji remember how eager he was to attend to the basic needs of others. He would fuss over whether someone had eaten, whether they were warm enough, whether they had a place to rest. He would insist on feeding people until they protested, and then he would feed them a little more. These were not small gestures; they were teachings. By caring for bodies, he was caring for souls, and by caring for souls, he was honoring Ram in every form.

In our daily lives, we may not have an ashram or a temple, but we have kitchens, offices, streets, and screens. Each of these places can become a field of seva. We serve when we wash dishes with awareness, when we show up fully for our work, when we offer kind words to someone who is struggling, when we silently send blessings to those who irritate us. The question is not, “What great thing can I do?” but rather, “How can this very moment become an offering?”

As we serve, the sense of “I am the doer” slowly softens. We begin to feel that Maharaj-ji is the one working through our hands, pouring his compassion through us. Then seva becomes light, even joyful. It is no longer a burden we carry but a river we allow to flow. To serve everyone in this way is to live in continual relationship with the Beloved.

Remember God

All of Maharaj-ji’s teachings lead back to remembrance. “Remember God” is the heartbeat beneath “love everyone” and “serve everyone.” When the mind wanders into fear, resentment, or distraction, remembrance brings it home. For devotees of Maharaj-ji, this remembrance often takes the form of Ram Nam: the continual repetition of the Name of God, silently or aloud, in the middle of all the movements of life.

Japa — the repetition of the divine Name — is a simple practice, but its effect is profound. When we repeat “Ram, Ram, Ram,” we are not just saying a word; we are placing the mind in the current of grace. Over time, the Name begins to repeat itself in the heart, even when we are busy. Maharaj-ji said that the Name of God is greater than God, because through the Name, God becomes accessible in every moment. The mind cannot always hold on to subtle concepts, but it can always return to a single, loving Name.

Remembering God does not require a special mood or perfect concentration. We can remember in traffic, in line at the store, in a hospital waiting room, in the middle of a difficult conversation. A single inward “Ram” can shift the whole atmosphere of the heart. Over and over, we bring the mind back, not with harshness, but with the gentleness of a parent calling a child home. This is how the ordinary hours of our day slowly become saturated with presence.

As remembrance deepens, it begins to color everything. The separation between “spiritual practice” and “daily life” grows thinner. Work becomes worship. Relationships become altars. Sorrow becomes a doorway into deeper surrender. To remember God is to allow the truth of who we are — already held, already loved — to shine through the changing scenes of our lives.

Tell the Truth

The fourth instruction, “Tell the truth,” may seem simple, but it is deeply demanding. Truth in Maharaj-ji’s sense is more than just factual accuracy; it is alignment with what is real, with what is of God. When we speak truth, we stop using words to manipulate, impress, or protect the small self. Our speech becomes a form of worship. In this way, honesty itself becomes devotion.

Stories from Maharaj-ji’s life show how much he valued truthfulness. He could see through the slightest deception, even when it was kindly meant. When someone lied in his presence, they would often feel exposed, not because he shamed them, but because his love made falsehood impossible to hide. At the same time, he was endlessly compassionate with our human weakness. In his presence, people felt both completely known and completely accepted, which made it safer to drop their masks.

To tell the truth means first to be truthful with ourselves. Can we honestly acknowledge our motives, our attachments, our fears, our longing for God? When we stop pretending, even privately, something relaxes. There is room for grace to move. Then, in our conversations with others, we can speak simply and clearly, without unnecessary spin. Telling the truth does not mean being harsh; truth and kindness are not opposites. We can ask, “What is real here, and how can I express it with love?”

As we live with these four instructions, we begin to see how they support each other. Love softens the heart so that we can serve. Service keeps us humble and open, which makes it easier to remember God. Remembrance gives us the strength to tell the truth. And truth keeps our love, service, and remembrance from becoming mere performance. Slowly, through the blessings of Maharaj-ji, an integrated life of devotion takes shape within us.

From the heart of BNK Believer, may these four instructions become living realities in your day: may you feel Maharaj-ji’s love surrounding you, guiding you, and working through you in ways you can see and in ways you cannot. May your home, your work, your joys, and your sorrows all become places where these teachings take flesh.

Jai Siyaram 🙏