Equalizer

Material goals are wonderful, but not everybody can achieve everything in a material existence - not even those who are endowed with certain values, certain, what shall we say, qualities, because the world is full of wise people, of wise people who have no jobs, for instance. But spirituality is a field which is the ultimate equalizer of all human beings, where any human being, irrespective of sex, race, nationality, religion, can achieve this goal of spiritual endeavour. Therefore, it is not only the great equalizer of humanity, it is also the integrator of humanity, because in a real spiritual pursuit we forget our mutual differences, and therefore it brings about an integration of human beings which has not been possible hitherto on this earth of ours. It is certainly not a dream. It is possible, it has been possible, and it will continue to be possible – provided we co-operate.

Guilt

When we come to Sahaj Marg, and we are taught and we believe and we accept the teaching that it is our samskaras which make us responsible for our existence, then we have to face the blame very squarely for the first time ourselves. Therefore, the feelings of guilt are much more terrible in a spiritual system. Why? Because we cannot possibly run away from ourselves. It is easy to run away from the home or from the church or even from your country, but where can you run away from yourself? So, that is as far as the situation is concerned. How to change it? We know very well, you see. Do the cleaning better, forget the feeling of guilt and deposit even that feeling with the Master. And then take the next very important, but more difficult step of changing your way of life, so that in the future there should be no guilt. The way is: right thought, leading to right action, leading to feelings of satisfaction, achievement and ability to face the self and say, "Yes, you are good," and then progress.

Devolution

So you see, the essence of spiritual existence is this: the ability, or acquiring the ability, to erase, to efface myself, so that that which is within me shall flow out of me in all its effulgence, in its divinity. So what is it that you are talking of becoming and achieving and getting and grasping? All this becomes senseless, you see. That is why, perhaps, in one of my talks in Vorauf I said, "Evolution, it has no meaning, you see, I am not evolving into something." Perhaps I should say, "I am devolving from that which I have become into that which I was." That would be a greater truth, a more acceptable truth. So this is what we try to do.

Self Anew

So, the only way of creating the ability to love the Master is to create the ability to love your Self. That means creating your Self anew in such a way that you can look at yourself and say, "Thank heavens. Now I can begin to love this, what I see before me." It also brings before us the possibility of separating ourselves into the two, you see, the observer Self and the observed lesser self. It is the lesser self, the lower self, that puts obstacles before us, not the Master, The Master is not interested in putting obstacles before us. He is not interested in testing us. Babuji Maharaj said so many times that, "I don't have to test, I know. Only he who does not know has to test. One who knows doesn't need to test."

Two Existences

"The reality," my Master said when I first met him, "is that we have two lives, two existences - the inner and the outer." All our aspirations, our longings, our idealisms come from inside. All our ambitions for success, for growth, for development in whatever sphere we are in come from outside. So, we have to balance our aspiration with our ambition. One is related to my life outside myself, with growth in the material sense, success reflected in possessions, in ownership, in acquisitions, to be balanced with an inner aspiration which longs to be perfect, ideal.

Guru

I think this is the most important aspect of the Sahaj Marg teaching, that to have no guru at all is better than having an unevolved or inappropriate guru. When we connect ourselves to the wrong source, the very process of vacuuming ourselves can lead to our degradation - I don't mean in moral values, I mean in the sense of evolutionary degradation - rather than to the uplift that we are so earnestly trying for.

No Demands

He [Rev. Babuji] has told me, "Abhyasis should not compel the Master. All that the Master possesses is only for the abhyasis. So compulsion should not be there. I may also say it is wrong etiquette. Can the Master ever deny anything to his associates? But see how foolish people are. They make demands and thus curtail the freedom of the Master. The Master must be made totally free to do anything that he wants. Then see the splendour of his work!"

Silence

Such silent sessions with the Master are incomparably valuable. Many abhyasis make the mistake of breaking the silence by asking unimportant questions, or by idle chatter among themselves. It is in the silent assembly that a spiritual rapport is established, and in which true communion takes place. In such a silent assembly Master is at peace, totally relaxed, and works on us in an uninhibited manner. No demands are made upon him, verbal or otherwise. He is left free to do what he pleases. In essence, he is given his freedom.

Spiritual work

In truly spiritual work, the very concept of planning may be a redundant one. How does one plan for an activity in a field where thought and action are simultaneous, are really one? In the spiritual field they are not two separate things. Master has often told me, "Think that such and such a thing shall happen, and it will happen. All that is necessary is an unfailing will."

Master's Work

I have seen Master taking up work in such a fashion that by no stretch of imagination can one say that it was pre-planned. Occasionally he comes across an abhyasi whose spiritual condition leaves him radiant with joy and wonder. He then takes up the case of that particular abhyasi, and one sees the grand and sometimes rapturous miracle of not only the abhyasi blooming under the splendour of Master's love, but one also sees the very rare but magnificent spectacle of the Master himself blooming with the effulgence of the miracle of his own discovery and work.

To SEE

Darshan in its true meaning means 'to see.' Master told me several years ago that many people come to see him, but few people really see him. Now what is this real seeing which constitutes true darshan? Our Master is able to look inside us, to analyze us spiritually, find out our shortcomings, find out our strength, find out what we lack and fulfil those lapses and thus develop us spiritually into something approximating to his own stature. We on our part should be able to look into him, going beyond the physical form which is a very big limitation for most of us. We just look at this form and think we have seen him. We evaluate him by what we see with our physical eyes.

Physical Presence

In Sahaj Marg at least, this great innovation, spiritual innovation of transmission, makes barriers of space, barriers of time, non-existent. But yet when he comes in the immediate presence of his own disciples, he is able to look into us with a much more detailed vision, and thereby diagnose our spiritual condition in a much closer, much more evocative fashion and deal with us adequately. He can do everything from wherever he is, but when he is with us he can do it with greater precision.

Vacuum Cleaners

As Master says, great saints are like vacuum cleaners. They do not draw just the dirt or the uncleanliness or the grossness from individuals. They draw it from the very atmosphere itself. Therefore it is said that if the world has one saint of caliber, it is more than enough, because he sucks into himself all the rubbish that we are throwing out from our lives.

Physical form

We always try to see God in some abstruse, abstract way, not realising that most often, or perhaps always, God presents himself to us only in a form in which we can recognize Him. That is the human form. So when Masters come to us, it is the Almighty Himself who comes to us. It is in a form which we can recognize, in a form which we can learn to love, from which we can receive our teachings. So, that is another great function of Masters when they come to us in their physical form.

Lalaji

Master [Rev. Babuji] said that a preceptor should be a model person and should try to model himself upon the ideal of the Master. He laughingly added, "That does not mean they should all start smoking just because I smoke the hookah. I mean in character, in behaviour, in approach to persons, in these things they should try for higher and higher refinements. One cannot find a Master like Lalaji. He had the greatest qualities in him which I have known in no one else. You know he was not materially well off. But he never refused help to anyone. Such a soft heart we must have."

Blossom in the Night

A special person like my Master is described in the Vedas as a flower of the tree which blooms in the night. It is there, but one cannot see it. One does not even see the tree on which it is blooming. But if you have a sensitive nose, and you follow that nose, inevitably you come to the tree and to the flower.