12. Sri. N V Raghava Rao

Namasthe.

Demolition of the past is a chapter in the natural path, a very important chapter in our spiritual journey. For any journey, travel-light is advised and this is quite applicable in our spiritual journey too. In our journey to infinity, within the limited time span we have in this life, it is wisdom to be restless and act in such a way that the load of the samskaras of the past go on reducing as fast as possible; the present deeds of ours does not add any further samskaras; and we move towards the Goal. This is, in short, is what we need to do, to satisfy the craving of the soul.

The reason I am here is only due to my past. I am grateful to God and I thank my forefathers and my previous Gurus who have brought me to the fold of this system. The past seems to have done its job and it is time to move on. The present time is the result of the past and the seed for the future. We have to act in such a way that there is more focus on the future and the past too fades off.

The daily transactions we do in our life, which unless cleared off by the end of the day may add to the pile of samskaras. Babuji Maharaj has advised us the evening Purification process, which we should practice to take care of this aspect to a large extent. At bedtime, we beg forgiveness for the wrongs committed; make a resolution to NOT repeat the wrongs committed and pray for strength to undergo the results of the wrongs committed.

The master has advised us to follow the trustee-ship concept to get out of the undue attachments (the Eshana-triya that Rev KC Narayana garu talks about). We should practice dedicating everything to the Master to get out of the feelings of doership, knowership and enjoyership. These are easier said than done. When we do a bad deed, we can conveniently attribute it to the Master using this concept. When we do a good deed, it becomes very difficult to attribute it to the master. In the name of ‘acquiring Divine qualitites’, we feel happy about it, we feel that we have done something great and take pride in it. This boosts our ego and adds to our impressions. It is surely an impression that people in the society appreciate. When we talk of travel-light concept, any weight is a weight. It doesn’t matter whether we carry dirt (bad samskaras) or gold (good samskaras). It is worldly wisdom to get rid of the dirt and cling on to the gold. But in spirituality, good and bad samskaras could have a different meaning and the worst is, we do not know what is good and what is bad. We also do not know how much weight we are carrying. In such a situation, we are not left with any options other than yielding to the master. The bhog is undergone in real-life, in dreams and during meditation. We should be willing to get rid of the samskaras; yield to the master and accept his wisdom in the way he plans to remove the samskaras. We could undergo the bhog of enjoyable samskaras in dreams and painful samskaras in real-life or vice-versa or in any combination.

From our side, as an abhyasi

1. We yield to the master, with the faith and conviction that he knows what is best for me; that whatever happens, happens for my good; and the master is always with me. When Babuji Maharaj said that we should offer our heart as a gift to the master, I understand that we shouldn’t spoil it further; we leave it to the master to clean it in the way he wants and later use it the way he deems fit.

2. We pray to the master to give us the strength to undergo the bhog. As this happens, our courage and confidence increases and we can face any adversity in life. When Babuji Maharaj says that he wants lion-hearted people, I understand that he is demanding us to be bold and strong to accept our past however good, bad or ugly it is and undergo the bhog with patience, tolerance and endurance. The more serious the sadhaka is, the faster he wants to progress which means the more he is willing to endure. He wants to get rid of bigger loads quickly and is willing to endure the extra pain. A not so serious abhyasi wants to take smaller steps and is willing to spend the extra time. It is purely our choice to take the extra pain or the extra time.

3. We follow the 10 commandments, especially the 5th, 6th and 7th in letter and spirit to understand this chapter of demolition of the past, and be convinced that we are progressing spiritually.

4. Depending upon our past: we have come into the family we are in, we have the friends’ circle we are in, and we are in the environment we live in. Meditation on points A and B helps us to change the way we think and reduces the desires and urges. This too helps us in our endeavour.

5. In our morning meditation too, sometimes we get into deep sleep states and go through some dream-like situations. We undergo bhog in this manner too.

In our system of sadhana, we have the abhyasi’s role and more importantly the master’s support. In this chapter of demolition of the past, the master has a bigger role and a vital role. The master’s support is through Pranahuti. As we know, Pranahuti is received in individual sittings and group meditations. In a group meditation, cleaning of the heart in general, to the extent the abhyasi can take it happens. Each abhyasi who is participating receives pranahuti to the extent he or she can take it and cleaning too happens to that extent. In individual sittings, the major portion of it is undertaken. Apart from cleaning, other tasks are also performed during Pranahuti but are not discussed here.

Pranahuti by definition is the offering of the thought for the spiritual betterment of the abhyasi and the trainer does this work. When the trainer is giving a sitting to the abhyasi, he cleans the abhyasi’s heart by following one of the methods suggested by Babuji Maharaj. This is more effective than the abhyasi cleaning himself because the trainer’s will is more effective and the trainer can remove deeper layers of the samskaras which the abhyasi by himself will take longer to remove. Apart from this, the trainer attends to the cleaning of the various knots.

The trainer sees some obstruction to the flow, or he sees some darkness or impurity and applies his will for its removal. When the abhyasi starts his sadhana and goes to a trainer for a sitting, the abhyasi doesn’t see any relationship with the trainer and he goes for the sitting as one of the requirements of sadhana. As wisdom dawns on him, he sees the role of the trainer and the relationship starts building from his side. From the trainer’s side, the relationship starts from the beginning. Some see the master as the brother, some see the master as the mother, father, teacher, guru or friend or any other way.

Relationship helps in sharing our feelings better. It is only when we share our feelings, we reduce its effect on our heart. For eg, we have some good news or we had success, our heart is excited and there is more load on the heart. We share the good news with our well-wishers who share our feelings. They too are happy about it. When we do that, we feel that our heart has become calm, light and happy. When there is bad news, the heart becomes heavy. When this is shared with our well-wishers, our heart becomes light. The point to observe is that when the well-wishers share our feelings, when they empathise with us, our heart becomes light. I feel that when a person empathises with others, he shares the same feelings, he undergoes the other person’s effect of the feelings to some extent. I think that this can be termed as sharing the bhog to a certain extent. A person is granted permission to be a trainer when he can empathise with the other person without any selfish reason; when he can work for the betterment of the other person thinking that they are connected spiritually. It is with the feelings of empathy; the trainer can do an effective job of offering Pranahuti. Extending the same logic, the trainer shares the bhog with the abhyasi. This is my own understanding and I have not read this at all in the literature of our system directly. It is an inferential knowledge and I have no direct experience of it myself but have observed this happening to me as an abhyasi during the training under my master.

When the abhyasi understands the sincerity and earnestness of the trainer’s purpose, slowly the abhyasi starts sharing his problems with the trainer. This makes the job of the trainer easier to that extent. Otherwise the trainer has to work with his limited understanding of the case. Many times, the abhyasi too doesn’t know the problem and it is through prayer, the solution or relief is sought. Also in cases, when the abhyasi is undergoing the bhog, which the trainer hasn’t undergone before or has no idea of how to deal with such a situation, the solution or relief is sought through prayer only.

Depending upon the condition of the abhyasi, the trainer has to give suggestions, keeping in mind the repercussion of the suggestion. For instance, the trainer is giving a suggestion of ‘Total surrender to the Master’; then the abhyasi’s surrender to the master gets unfolded. Situations in the abhyasi’s life will be created such that this characteristic can be exhibited. This could result in severe bhog. Due to this, the abhyasi should not get into a state of shock. He should have the strength to endure the consequences and take it positively. The trainer has to ensure that endurance, forbearance and fortitude have developed sufficiently before he gives the suggestion of ‘total surrender to the master’. These suggestions are given when the abhyasi has moved up to the fourth knot by which time the knots 1, 2 and 3 would have been sufficiently cleaned. Imagine an abhyasi who doesn’t believe this system fully and is not regular in sadhana and if the trainer gives the suggestion of ‘total surrender to the master’ and if it comes into effect; the abhyasi might leave the system which defeats the whole purpose. The journey is undertaken in the way Babuji Maharaj has prescribed keeping in mind the condition of the abhyasi with respect to his strength, courage, conviction, faith, yielding and so many other attitudes and attributes.

When the abhyasi is yielding to the master in toto and believes that the master will take care of him, I think, this is what is expected from the trainer. It is the trainer’s responsibility to do so. I can say that by offering prayer to the master, when I seek guidance for a sitting, I have been able to see the path of the abhyasi getting unfolded and suggestions coming to me when it is appropriate.

Demolition of my past makes sense in life, helping others in this act gives meaning to life and working for the master, the way he wants forever and beyond is the goal of life.

Thank You.