3. Dr. K. Madhava

Divinity has created the world and also human beings parallelly. We do not know why He created, but the fact is He has created it. It might be for His recreation or a play for Him.

But the world with its rich tapestry of myriad forms and enchantingly beautiful creations attracts human beings with its sensuousness. Thus he gets entangled in the web or gets ensnared by the Satan. The entanglements which keep on spiraling downwards or to put it in another way goes on gathering exponentially causes disturbance or misery. No person however rich or famous will ever have true peace or rest in his adventure in this ocean of samsara which is foaming and disturbing.

The only way which leads to true peace or rest is the one which takes one to his Homeland or where Almighty resides. Here Master categorically says there can only be one correct path which is perpendicular.

This game of life or Divine play is very very tough and the amount or numbers of hurdles on the path are insurmountable.

Firstly the vicious attacks from the Satan will break the spirit of any brave soldier.

I quote from “Bodhayanthi Parasparam” (p 109) which will give an idea of how powerful the influence of dark forces are. “These forces are what the spiritual seeker starts being aware of, as he moves in sadhana upwards with a determination undeterred by these instinctual forces. These forces are in and all around him, all the time and one has to incessantly combat to get rid off their grip and dislodge their long entrenched hold over him and over the environment of human existence. The difficulty is very great as their hold is very strong and apparently invincible that even great Saints have given up the idea of changing them and accepted the disdainful dictum which compares human nature to a dog’s tail as they have defied change by force of Ethics, Reason or Religion or any other redemptive effort. They returned always to the crooked curl of Vital Nature. As one great Saint oft quoted by my revered father Dr K.C.Vardachari in whose order we have all met today said “so great is the whim, the clutch of that more agitated Life-will, so immense the peril of its passions and errors, so subtly insistent or persistently invasive, so obscure up to the very gates of Heaven the fury of its attack or the tedious obstructions of its obstacles, that even the saint and Yogi cannot be sure of their liberated purity or their trained self-mastery against its intrigue or its violence.”

I myself on innumerable occasions even after I started practicing sincerely found myself thrown in to mundane lower level consciousness from the rarefied, spiritual conditions which Pranahuti enables us to feel . The atmosphere and thoughts of various people which contribute to the whole firmament of thought environment is so polluting and suffocating that unless you make a firm decision to remain in a state of prayer, fall to lower levels is inevitable and invariable.

Only since the past few days when I finally gave up reading news and seeing TV including news and cricket and stopped talking unnecessarily that I find myself able to be in the consciousness of Master.

Secondly, apart from the problems posed by the devil, the way itself is too steep and difficult, seems to be like climbing Mount Everest. The crossing of the Knots and the intervening buffers are impossible to negotiate by our own efforts. This point has to be pondered over very deeply by all of us to understand clearly in the depths of our hearts so that the true value of the service rendered by the Great Master comes to our awareness.

When I observe myself and many other travelers on the path I have a feeling that we behave as if Rev Babuji Maharaj is indebted to us and we seem to demand higher conditions and other favors like a demanding son-in-law without contemplating on whether we deserve it or not, without considering whether we are fit to travel on the path or not, without considering whether we have kept our part of the bargain like doing meditation regularly as prescribed , following Ten commandments sincerely, developing proper attitudes etc.

The only correct path is the Satyapad Marg which Rev Master has found it and is asking us to tread. He is ready to guide us to the destination. But we have to practice Satya, practice Cooperation and Interdependency, practice Dana, practice sacrifice and serve our fellow beings. These are necessary skills without which we cannot embark on our journey on the way. It is like a mountaineer who has to learn rock climbing, learn to pass over crevices in the glaciers, learn to rappel down slopes, learn navigation in the blizzard like conditions, and learn communication with his buddies to successfully scale the peak.

Practising the method sincerely and having proper skills or attitudes for the way is not enough. We require a guide or coach who will help us win this game or play. The coach or guide is the link between us and God. He is always in contact with the Divine consciousness and through his will focuses the Divine consciousness into our hearts removing complexities and lifts us through the knots and intervening buffers.

If you observe in the mundane plane and examine the methods employed by successful coaches in various sporting disciplines the successful team is one where the coach is able, efficient and inspirational and members follow the plan correctly. His methods may be hard and unconventional, but he ensures the win. In a similar fashion our Master knows the degraded condition of the human mind and has come up with a training programme for a person leading a house hold life.

Unlike in education or physical discipline, in spiritual training the role of guide becomes more and more important because at higher planes of consciousness the Divine force pushes you down and only the guide’s support allows you to stay there and his push and pull alone makes you move further up the path. Any slightest disinclination not to follow the guide’s instructions causes arrest of further movement. We are extremely blessed in having a guide who is determined to win the game for us. Only we have to follow his plan and cooperate 100%. Anything less will not do.

So a perfect Master is one who will deliver us at the destination and hence he becomes the way. (This is my understanding of the second part of today’s topic- Divine is the way). He has to maintain himself so pure and completely dependant on the Master that His will becomes unfailing.

So God for His recreation creates the world as our play ground and we undergo suffering and misery as we have not learned to play and when He realizes that we will never learn properly on our own, sends us a real Master who coaches us to play properly and enjoy the game and lead a life of balance and happiness which is the purpose or meaning of His play.