5. Sri. I.Chalapathi Rao

Manifestation is a Divine Play - an introduction: As we observe our immediate surrounding we find various animate life forms exhibiting activity while the inanimate forms exhibiting inactivity. If Divinity is the play, then everything both animate and inanimate should be Divine. Master, in this message, talks about the universal pervasiveness of the Divine. In order to understand this, it is necessary to bring in the concept of Consciousness. A stone is a grossened state of consciousness while the animated beings are the non grossened state of consciousness. This obviously leads a premise that there are numerous states of consciousness, the subtlest being called as God or centre. There is no limit to the subtleness and verily the path to Divinity is a journey towards infinity.

Center / Base of Divine Play: Master Defines God as Zero or centre of all creation, it is the Base from which everything has proceeded out. To quote in His own words from Dawn of Reality “Just as every circle must have a centre, so must this vast circle of manifestation have a centre or base. If we are able to discover it we may possibly find a clue for the solution of our problem. The whole of the science of mathematics rests upon the little base, the zero. Now for this limitless universe we have to trace out a zero or base from which all planes of existence have started. Again the centre of a circle, if observed minutely, is in itself another smaller finer circle. As such it must have another still finer centre for it. The same process continues up to infinity. In other words each of the finer or smaller circles serves as centre of a bigger external circle. Reason or imagination fails to trace out an origin or end. (Dawn of Reality - 100)

Intuitive Perception is the only way to trace out our origin: Different laws govern life at different levels. A micron is a big number in the atomic worlds whereas a light year is the smallest measuring unit in the Astronomical worlds. Similarly, different life forms are governed by different laws. In human conception both the units of measurement are beyond the imagination of a rational mind. One of the traditional definitions of God is “Aneero Aneeyaan Mahato Maheeyan” i.e. God is one who is smallest than the small and also Largest than the Large. What a wonderful way of Defining the Domain of God with respect to a human being. By this very definition, they have conveyed without telling explicitly the insignificance of our existence in the whole creation and defining our status to be one of utter humility. Secondly to grasp this Reality, It also simultaneously calls for an intuitive perception – A pramana put forward by Sri Ramchandra ji, the propounder of PAM as “DO AND FEEL”. Do and Feel is a Yogic Pramana requiring meditation to be a basic means or Upaya. Dhyana has always been the highest form of worship requiring rational mind to begin with leading to intuitive-ness in the end. Intuition is a direct perception of Reality when one is One with the object of Meditation (IT) or in Yoga with IT. The development of intuitive perception takes place with dedicated practice or sadhana. The need to develop this diksa was told very beautifully by Rev Dr KCV in New Darshana as “The preparation to connect oneself with Reality in its vastest and minutest forms is itself Yoga. It is the yoking of oneself to the task of realising, visioning, Reality. It is to shut out all other aims and goals. In one word it is dedication (diksa).” (Complete works of Dr KCV Vol 1 – pg 283)

World Views: Yogi is one who starts looking at the laws governing the creation with a sense of awe and wonder, because he basically understands his inherent dependency on Divinity, while others who also try to unravel the mysteries of Nature and know the laws governing them are scientists. Both get a glimpse of the Divine play, the yogi from the Divine standpoint and the scientist from the standpoint of the Man. However both endeavour to make life on this planet more happy and happier and free of misery and troubles. But the very existence of the misery has made some people (can be called as Sceptics) who keep posing questions to themselves and to others like why God created this world? What will happen in the future? Why there are so many problems in this world? etc etc. For them the word Divine Play is meaningless for any play always entails happiness and they don’t see such happiness.

The Spiritual Master, Sri Ramchandra Ji Maharaj of Shahjahanpur, answers to some of the metaphysical questions about God, Man, creation etc in His characteristic Yogic Parlance in this manner, “It is very easy to talk about the creation but as to what part we have to play in it remains always silent. They look to others and blame that they are not doing their duty well, but they do not peep into themselves to realise what they have to do to others. They are mostly prepared to blame the Divinity as to why there are so many miseries and troubles in the world. They do not think what part they have played for the good of the world (Showers of Divine Grace 125)

Spirituality demands for an understanding of our meaningful role and Yoga enables one to fulfil it. Obviously one cannot remain in their cosy shells of individuality, the growth of consciousness / awareness is the only way to recognize our position in the whole of creation and play our part, this requires the desire to move from the existing state, which calls for sacrifice of some personal goals.

To understand the unity of creation is indeed a blessing of God. In PAM this blessing of God is had through the grace of our beloved Master through Pranahuti. Due to this, we come out of our house / shells of individuality and start realizing the awesomeness of Nature. The expansion of consciousness grants us the vision of observation of life force bubbling in every creature. The consciousness also tends to the condition of being one with the Nature in every sense of the term. Rtam governs the life as one progress on the path.

Samskaras are the cause of our Individual play: For most of us, our physical body is the centre of our existence. All actions are centered and catering to it. But we also know that the Life force or Prana is supporting the physical. Behind our physical, there is an astral body and behind it there is a causal body, which has its basis from our past samskaras. This is the play, the individual has created and also enacting it. But behind this individual play, there is also the Divine Play i.e. there is a basic causation to all our existences which is also called as Maha Karan. Infact our individual life that is governed by our samskaras is a sub-play within the Major play. The miseries (both Joys & Sufferings) in life are a tell tale of the our play. We do not know for how long we have been playing and we still continue to play as the Master puts it,” In our present state of existence we are revolving round and round within the sphere of grossness. Our only hope lies in pushing our way right across towards the centre or the root cause crossing the finer regions one after the other. (Dawn of Reality 100)

The push to move right across happens in everyone’s life when one had played enough resulting in monotony and exhaustion, with this the heart starts seeking something beyond this play.

When do we decide to go back? Rev Grand Master, Lalaji Maharaj describes one of the conditions of heart as Upram, which is a state of desirelessness in spite of desires. This is due to exhaustion or satisfaction, He says “While doing any thing the heart becomes monotonous in end i.e. it becomes subject to Upram. If it is for the reality, well and good. If it is worldly even then it is heartening because once again the period of ascension starts after it. This is the practice of the travelers on the divine path.” (Path To Perfection 209 Letter dated 10th March 1931 from the Revered Mahatma Ram Chandra Ji of Fatehgarh.) But for some others, a rude jolt is felt in life which will turn the vision from world, which may be from a loss of a dear one or a treachery by a friend or a sudden physical dysfunctionality etc to name a few incidents. When the unreal world that we so carefully build around ourselves gets shattered, one starts looking for the Real behind this life. This is called as Viveka or traditionally sat asat viveka. The viveka developed in such circumstances definitely puts one on the spiritual path but the condition of Upram alone carries one forward in the path. The onset of Viveka is starting point of our backward journey to our homeland. In PAM the diversion of flow towards the base initiates this journey backwards.

There is only one and one path and that is a perpendicular path: Our evolution has been an expanding spiral and we have been moving away and away from the centre. This was stated by the Master as, “This vast circle of material manifestation, the direct result of Maya, is unlimited. In it we go round and round with ceaseless motion like the rim of a wheel, ever farther and farther away from the pivot. (Dawn of Reality 100).” That means we have descended on an expanding spiral. If our descent has taken a millions of lives and ascent through the same path would not only take much longer time but it is tedious.

At this juncture, it would be very apt to recall the statement of Master that now the centre is yawning towards the circumference. That means we have been given an access to get connected to the centre. In Pam this happens through Pranahuti. On any circular path, the shortest distance to the origin is the radius, the one connecting to the centre. Therefore, the system of PAM given graciously to Mankind which includes in it self the process of Pranahuti is undoubtedly the shortest path.

WHY PAM is the shortest path? The component factor of Pranahuti, a process where one is connected to the center has made the path of PAM as the shortest and perpendicular path. In this message the Master asserts that going back on the spiral is the not the right way of getting back but to get connected to the centre is the only way. Secondly he is also making it clear that through self effort alone, it is impossible to reach the origin as it is going against the flow. The help from a Guru is a must is what has to be understood from this message.

The two great Illusions of Life - Possessiveness (Lobha) & Attachments (Moha)

Possessiveness: The illusion of separate entity due to individuation process has led men to possess and enjoy. That governs life nay the play. Possessiveness and Attachment are the main ingredients of the potboiler. Possessiveness or grabbing is an impulsive tendency exhibited by animals. We also exhibit them to varying degrees. Of course the child exhibits this more than the adult. In the words of Freud - the Id psychology. The term possessiveness is most of the times used with respect to the physical objects i.e. things that can be grabbed. This aspect has been dealt at length in the Isa Upanishad where it is told that everything belongs to the Divine and we should learn to renounce and enjoy rather than possess and enjoy. Instead of understanding the omni pervasiveness of the Divine, we tend to cling on to the objects of the world though we very well know that we do not carry anything when we depart this body. However this knowledge is no child’s play as that is play of Divine or Maya. Master refers to this aspect of Maya in Dawn of Reality,

“It (Maya) is really a Godly power which has brought into existence the entire creation in its different forms and shapes and which regulates its entire working. We are all the while surrounded by this great power and its effect is visible in all phases of our activity. We are whirling round within the glossy sphere of Maya, clinging at times to one or the other of the objects in view thinking it to be Reality. (Dawn of Reality 99)

We require the help of Divinity itself to get to know its play. It is the way. Since it is difficult to get help from Divinity directly, we require the help of Guru who has established his link with Divinity. This was also stated very clearly by Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita as: “… Mama Maya Duratyaya..” [This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it. ( B.G Chap 7.14)] It is He, who is beyond this Maya can enable others to cross it. Lord Krishna talks of surrender whereas Babuji Maharaj has graciously given us the gift of Pranahuti by which we are given a dip into the non personal aspect of our Consciousness where we understand that our life is not bounded by this physical body and it is something beyond also. All the practicants of PAM know very well the importance of Yielding and submission to the process of Pranahuti for deriving fuller benefit. It is also clear that through individual efforts one cannot cross this circle of Heart region (rings of Maya) and it is Guru Krpa alone that makes it possible. In PAM it all starts with the diversion of flow of consciousness from L to U.

Diversion of Flow through Pranahuti: Babuji Maharaj says, “We remain entangled within the snare of Maya, without any hope of emancipation until we divert our attention towards the unchanging Reality at the root (Dawn of Reality 100). The power of attention that we have towards the world is due to our thought energy or life force. To divert its attention towards the root or base, we require a force which is no less than the Root force. In the system of PAM, the diversion of flow is enabled through the process of Pranahuti. The very act of diversion brings in a sense of calmness and also awakens the aspiration to get back.

How do we understand that the flow of thought is diverted to the base? All outward flows tend to expand. Expansion always leads to various twists and turns (inversions) which tend to slow down the flow. As it slows down it also becomes turbulent leading to dissipation of energy, this kind of flow is called as foaming and also disturbing. This is the Rajasic state of mind. With this state of mind, it is difficult to meditate. As we meditate, the mind, which is active, becomes balanced and regains its steadiness over a period of time. This is due to the diversion to the Upper heart. The meditators of PAM do express the profound calmness of mind on diversion of flow. When the thought is in the lower plane, which is a state of impulsiveness, it is usually felt as restless feeling and disturbing thoughts during meditation.

We know that the mind, which usually tends to flow outwards even as the sense organs and motor organs, it refuses to stay at one point – the heart. Dharana is quite difficult. As the diversion take place, we find the restraint coming back. The ability to stay on the thought of Divine Light without luminosity improves, all these are palpable signs of purification of lower heart and diversion to the upper heart.

Due to the diversion of flow to the upper, we not only find the mind calm but we also feel happy because we not only feel the flow but also become one with it., there is a feeling of self forgetfulness and it is invariably expressed as Lightness. One also feels vibrations in the heart. And after meditation, there is also feeling of freshness because of the regulation of the mind and it should be noted that in our system control of mind is not through suppression of the thoughts. Regulation can be understood as flow with a purpose. The common experience of many of us feeling fresh after solving a particular maths problem or any activity where the mind has worked in a very regulated manner is synonymous to what we do in meditation. The thought flow in lower portion of heart is turbulent or disturbed while the thought flow in upper heart is steady, calm and regulated. Here it is quite important to understand that the Pranahuti that we receive is in fact the Love of the Master or Sri Ramchandra Consciousness perse through an act of will. The unique characteristic of this flow as described by Rev KCN in the message titled Sri Ramchandra Consciousness as,” The Flow is observed in the supra cosmic, cosmic planes and it travels in its purity even in the worlds of space, time, energy and matter.” (Sri Ramchandra Consciousness).

The thought that is offered is not the one that has descended through the normal creative descent undergoing various twists and turns as found in all creatures but the one which is emanating from the centre and descending directly into the heart of the aspirant. Hence it is not only pure in the sense that it has no inversions but it connects one directly to the centre. Hence PAM is the perpendicular path and therefore the shortest. In PAM the diversion of the thought is a fact experienced by many sadhakas.

Illusions of Attachment (Moha)

The knotty condition of mind that we experience during meditation is chiefly due to thoughts pertaining to our attachments. Most of the troubling thoughts pertain to worries, concerns and issues pertaining to attachments. Attachments are exhibited chiefly by human beings who are governed by emotions / affection, an aspect of heart. Attachments are usually attributed to Moha which by definition means attachment to the unreal. Your wife is a wife in this life, similarly with regard to children, parents, friends, enemies etc. We live in a small world of our relationships, which we created for ourselves and which is woven in an intricate web of Lust, Desire, and emotion etc. But the Reality is we all are brethren having the commonness of origin. The methods PAM enables the sadhakas realise this truth of interdependency and abide in it.

Though propagation of the race is the Dharma /duty one is enjoined to perform, but to the tragedy is we stuck there. Relationships rule the roost. Our creation is as powerful as the Divine creation because we brought the same share of the real power as referred to by the Master in the Fourth commandment, Since all created things had brought with them a reflection of the real power, their actions were also similar to those of the cosmic powers which were set into motion by the effect of the Stir. Thus a spider’s web began to be formed. (Imperience Beckons 33)

This is another aspect of the individual play, again a subset of the Divine play. The only way to come out of this to regain the simplicity and plainness and be in tune with Nature.

Kama & Krodha: Normally the matrix of kama , krodha, lobha and moha are very intricately connected. Lobha and Moha should be got rid off totally but with regard to kama and krodha, Master brings in the concept of moderation. Also he talks of moderation with respect to senses and faculties. Now the senses and faculties are so much active and immoderate that they have started over ruling the mind.

To quote again from the 4th Commandment, “.. All his faculties being thus animated grew strong and restive and his mind and thought began to co-operate with them. This resulted in the creation of a world of thoughts.”(Imperience Beckons 35)

To be in tune with Nature means to participate in the Divine Play as ordained by Divinity.

How to know what role we have to play? For this we need to maintain the close association with line of Divinity. The line of humanity is supported by the line of Divinity as told by the Master in the Theory of Parallelism. It is a well known paradigm in the physical sciences that when two waves are in harmony at their natural frequencies, the motion of the carrier wave goes on for almost eternity and the energy transfer from the source to the receiver takes place in the least resistant path. We know from our daily observations that when a swing is swinging in its natural frequency, then to continue its motion it requires a minimum effort. But that has to be in tune with the motion of the swing. This harmony leads to resonance.

In spirituality, the phenomenon of resonance is called as laya. All meditators of PAM experience the moments of self forgetfulness, stillness, silence which give enormous happiness to begin with and through Imperience we understand it as omni pervasiveness of Divinity and our oneness with it.

Moderation is one of the key factors in sadhana; Moderation is applicable to things of Divine creation like Kama, Krodha, sensory faculties etc. When we are moderate in our dealings, we enable ourselves to establish the link with Divinity. To quote our Master from the message “Thus our ultimate purpose can be served only when we keep pace with the Divinity and link it with our line of humanity. Now since both have come down from the one great God — The Absolute — the humanity too, like Divinity, was in purest state. …….All that we have now to do is, to bring them back again into their original state or in other words, to restore them to a state of poise and tranquility, so as to keep up the link with Divinity. The only way to accomplish it is, by introducing proper moderation into them and we do the same in Natural path, the Natural path of Realisation. (Showers of Divine Grace 13)

Need for Moderation: Master says, “The next thing most essential for spirituality is moderation. The word carries a vast sense. It does not pertain only to the mending of our external ways of living so as to make them agreeable to others, but it is something which covers the entire sphere of our mental and physical activities…… Moderation really means that we have entered the sphere where our restless tendencies have subsided to a great extent. Whatever remains of it then relates, however, to the condition of the region we are wandering in. (Showers of Divine Grace 63)

The working concept of moderation can be understood more clearly from this passage of Master,” It means balance in all senses and faculties, nothing more or less than what is naturally required at the time for any specific purpose without its slightest impression on the mind. (Dawn of Reality 40) and He continues saying that,” Generally, today, we find moderation disturbed in almost all cases. The reason mainly is that we attach undue importance to whatever thing comes to our view and we strengthen it by the force of our thought with the result that it grows stronger over all others.” (Dawn of Reality 40)

How do we get this moderation is the key question?

Practically speaking through cleaning, meditations on point A &B and through Pranahuti.

a) Through Cleaning:

Giving undue importance is primarily due to lack of Vairagya & Viveka. Both are the stages on the path as one proceeds with sadhana. The feeling of Vairagya in the real sense and with the lasting results can only be developed after thorough cleaning and due moderation (Dawn of Reality 105), says our Master. In this condition, the trifles do not attract the heart nor there is a feeling of inclination to enjoy the mundane things. But more importantly, the attention to the Divine takes a deeper root in the heart accompanied by a feeling of reconciliation to the will of Master leading to a state of contentment. Contentment and moderation, I feel are the two sides of the same coin.

b) Through Point A & B Meditation: We also get moderation of senses and faculties through the meditations on Point A & B, which are the foundations of practice to move on the path.. The varied benefits are:

- Development of restraint or Nigraha due to reduction of impulsiveness.

- By assiduous practice of these meditations, the aspirant enables himself to stay and stabilize at the upper heart.

- Development of Fraternal consciousness leading to expansion of consciousness.

- Point B meditation helps developing non attachment with regard to desires concerning lobha and moha.

- The meditation on Point A is one of the sure sadhana method to develop due attachments with regard to wife, parents, children etc.

- It enables one have greater depths in silence as one progresses in meditation due to moderation in senses and faculties. It also develops a sense of poise.

- As one progresses one feels the need to develop silence and poise while linking himself to the Master during Prayer because silence is the language of Master.

c) Through Pranahuti: By transmitting the essence of various conditions, we imbibe those qualities in proper proportion. In this message, the Master talks about the need of the Master in the context of the present day status about the ocean of spirituality, which is foaming and disturbing. By which He means that innumerable methods are available today offered by innumerable Gurus making the ocean foam, i.e. no real help is offered and it is also disturbing i.e., misleading the people by wrong practices. In this situation, we require a Master who can breathe in the Real essence. I.e. who is connected himself to the source and has the capability to give the essence. In which case there can be neither foam nor the method be incorrect. This can be done by one who is all spiritual, any material tinge will generate foam. That is there is no residue. We are fortunate to have such Master. All Glory unto HIM. The method of PAM which is universal in nature and scope is the scientific system given by the Spiritual Master Sri Ramchandra ji which is getting established as a way of living for the posterity.

Conclusion: The Master Sri Ramchandraji Maharaj, the profounder of PAM gives the world view of His system in a very cryptic and pithy manner saying that all we see, the Creation, is the Play of the Divine and it is supported by Divine only. In one sense, it can be called as epistemology of PAM. Master here is talking about Divinity in expression – the play and the Divinity in essence – the way.

Divinity is the play and Divine is the way may be are axiomatic statements. For ordinary man, this does not emancipate him from the day to day problems of life. But the Master asserts that everyone should not only realise one’s true Nature but express as such. For this we need a method that will meet the innate aspirations of the individual and that is the PRANAHUTI AIDED MEDITATION.