Craving the Ultimate - Marie Teresa McDaid

Craving the Ultimate

Marie Teresa McDaid

Craving: to long for; want greatly; to require; to need; to yearn for

The Ultimate: the absolute: the concept of an unconditional reality which transcends limited, conditional, everyday existence.

 –thefreedictionary.com

Love

We are making our way back home to the Beloved within all of us. The seeds of love were sown in our hearts from the time of creation. God gave us free will when we came to live these lives. We lived and experienced our lives in form and in the exterior places that we have found hold little value, and now we are trying to find our way back to the ultimate place within.

Throughout my life I had felt a sense of separation, of something missing. Once I started Heartfulness, I realised that what I was feeling was separation from inner self; that I was missing my ultimate home. That is when my yatra (journey) started.

The feeling of separation from our Beloved can be a difficult thing to put into mere words. We yearn so deeply to be with Him. This yearning drives every particle of our being to get closer to Him. It vibrates the pulse and radiates from the heart. We long to feel the flow of His love pulling us towards Him.

Prayer

This love is so subtle, it assists in taking us there, pulling from ahead and pushing from behind. When this begins, there is no going back; what is there to go back to? It becomes almost unbearable to be within this surge of separation whilst journeying but how beautiful it is to bear!

We must keep moving forward and not slow down as we move through the different points along the path. Once the momentum has begun, this stream of love must be kept at a level to keep taking us to higher states of infinite awareness. It is so beautiful to feel the love proliferate and all around us benefit too.

To remain in a condition of love is the key to moving forward continuously. Love will attract love, so the lover and the Beloved will be drawn to each other.

Keep this condition not just in meditation but in the waking and sleeping states. We can keep generating love through regular, pure intention – prayer and constant remembrance.

Constant Remembrance

What has helped me on this journey of love has been prayer and staying in constant remembrance. The impetus for this was a talk given by Daaji, which I came across in 2015 when I had been a few months in this beautiful Heartfulness practice. In it he suggested that we “think that everything surrounding us – the air particles, people, the birds, the trees, the flowers, the ceiling, the wall, the paintings – everything – is absorbed in Godly remembrance.”

I seemed to absorb this within and it became part of my daily life.

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What is real love for God?

“It is a state when the trinity of the lover, the beloved and love itself disappear.”

–Lalaji

Food – through the Sahaj Marg Lens: Dr. Kannan

Many people are not serious about the consequences of eating at random. It not only affects the body but also the psychological, intellectual and spiritual progress of a person.  That is why Vedas, Upanishads,  Bhagavad Gita and many texts on Yoga, especially Hatha Yoga and also Ayurveda emphasise the need for proper diet.

The CHANDOGYA UPANISHAD, for example says that purity of food is essential for one's conduct and also good memory. The TAITTIRIYA UPANISHAD mentions about the importance of food.

In Bhagavad Gita,  Lord Krishna categorises Food into three varieties,  viz. SATTVA, RAJAS and TAMAS and names some food varieties under each category.

The SATTVIK food gives happiness, it is pleasing, lighter, makes one’s mind calm and nourishes the body and gives long life.

The RAJASIK food gives vigour, virility and induces one to indulge in action and promotes desire.

The TAMASIK food is generally not recommended as it makes one dull, lazy and sluggish.

The text on HATHA YOGA gives the list of food, vegetables, fruits etc., which have to be partaken and those to be avoided. It applies to people of different strata.

Apart from the quality of food, the quantity is also important.  The proper moderate diet is: one should fill half the stomach with SATTVIK food, one quarter with water and leave the rest quarter empty for the movement of air. This is known as Mitaahaara.

Lord Krishna says that one should have moderation in food, sleep and activities. I asked Rev. Chariji Maharaj about the importance of food.  He told me that it is important as one progresses in spirituality. He gave the wonderful example of using Petrol for the bikes and cars, but the same cannot be used for aeroplane.

Rev. Babuji Maharaj says in the 8th Maxim that the food should be earned with honest means and should be taken in the remembrance of God. In the book, EFFICACY OF RAJA YOGA IN THE LIGHT OF SAHAJ MARG, he says that if the food is prepared in divine consciousness or in the remembrance of God and partaken in the same condition,  it would remove spiritual diseases.

Rev. Lalaji Maharaj summarises entire mode of life in just two words, which include Food also: Balance and Moderation.

It is really wonderful to see Rev. Master, Shri Kamlesh D Patel, President of Shri Ram Chandra Mission also gives importance to this aspect of Food in spirituality. He has talked about how different types of food affects the consciousness. In one of Kamleshji's recent talks, he has quoted this, "Someone asked Babuji if they could eat non-vegetarian food. Babuji said, ‘I allow you to eat it until you can stop it by yourself.’ What a profound answer you see!" And then, Shri Kamlesh D Patel went on to explain further that it is a matter of the subtle bodies. Anything that can harm and hurt creates vibrations and when we consume such food, such vibrations will have an impact on our consciousness.