Shree Mataji said:

Today I am going to tell you something about the sea, because we are next to the sea here, and must understand the feelings of a sea. Sea is your grandfather in a way, because he gave birth to Lakshmi, who becomes Mahalakshmi later on. So this sea which is the grandfather, we have to show all respect to him. Normally the way people are living, in the West specially, also in India, people go and use it for bathrooms. But also in the West they use it in a very funny way, that they use it for swimming and all kinds of things, by which they wear funny dresses and lead a very licentious life. This is an insult to the sea. We must respect the sea. In India we worship the sea. We have to worship the sea. And in the Greek mythology also they had a, as we have Varuna, they too had a God for sea.

Shree Lakshmi Puja, Alibaug, 29.12.1991  (Speech on Amruta.org)