Feeding the poor, service to those in jails, the blind, leprasariums, mental hospitals, the deaf and the dumb; all those have been laid down by Him as the highest Sadhana. When you sit for Japam or Dhyana, if you hear one groan, rise and investigate. Helping the person to get rid of the pain gives you more spiritual merit than the dhyana you miss. (SSSm Vol.3, p. 277)

Any individual may offer worship and engage in spiritual activities according to his preferences. But, in my view, the merit to be gained through service is greater than what can be got through these religious observances. Na tapamsi Na theertanam Na shastranam Na japanapi Samsara Sagarotharam Sajjanasevanam Vina. (Neither by penances nor baths in sacred waters, the study of scriptures nor through meditation can the ocean of samsara be crossed without rendering service to the good.) (SSS Vol.20, pp. 210-211)

You have a chance to see, experience and be sanctified by the incarnation of the Lord. This chance is the result of the accumulation of merit in many previous lives. That merit has brought you here when I have come down. For this chance, (rishis) sages and (devas) demi-gods have prayed long in the past. Having won this chance, strive to taste the sweetness and achieve the bliss of merging without wasting even a single moment. (SSS Vol.2, p. 113)