4. Sri. M Radhakrishna Murthy

“The remembrance of every thing should merge into the remembrance of one- the Ultimate, resounding all through in every particle of his being.” So says Babuji Maharaj, while dealing with the Commandment 2. He further says that one who develops this state may be considered as an embodiment of prayer, which state is known as complete annihilation of self.

The Commandment to sadhaka is to commence Puja (worship) with a prayer for spiritual elevation with a heart full of love and devotion. Creation of a state of vacuity is a technique which is possible only by a prayer with a heart of full of love and devotion which enables Master to divert the flow of Divine Grace into the serf, connecting a permanent channel between the two, securing the utmost nearness to God, constituting a first step in ladder for reaching the ultimate, embedding there in all stages and states of spiritual advancement, but it should be strengthened by love and affinity enabling his (serf’s) mind constantly in a state of prayer, abiding him in a state of supplication permanently.

Babuji gives an idea of the state of the absolute Reality, the source of everything which has to be arrived at finally stating that there is extreme simplicity with perfect calmness despite vibrations and emotional excitations; it can neither be described as ‘light’ nor ‘darkness’. It is possible only when the rule of true etiquette is followed in praying for only that which is ordained, accepting ‘HIM’ as the Master, surrendering every thing to HIM, withdrawing his self from all sides, losing all worldly charms and turning completely towards HIM, when he acquires a will always directed to Master’s command.

Babuji compares the few drops of water trickling down from a mountain crevice, flows down to assume the form of a spring, rivulet, river and finally the mighty ocean, to the development of a baby to full blown youth passing through various stages and phases of development, coming in touch with the world around, dealings and association with people and environment, desires creeping in his mind, polluting his thought and causing colored vision, the pollutants drawing more power from nature, making him assuming a full form of grossness similar to an ocean. The ripples present in the ocean are akin to the results of actions (karmas) acquired by him in course of his attaining the final form.

Babuji explains the state of negation- the very reality itself. A thing when observed continuously fades away from sight, even its reflection melting away as matter has capacity to see matter alone. Finer power is required to see beyond matter, which goes on till the very power of seeing becomes extinct. Still, something remaining beyond coming in the form of consciousness, which too becomes extinct and fading even the feeling of existence. It is difficult to understand the condition unless one is submerged in that state. “Continued practice of doing everything with our thought resting all the while on the real point which forms the very basis of existence can be a means of achievement of this state. This pointed attention upon the real may be taken as the essence of the prayer.” This is the starting point for removal of superfluities and it is a state of higher consciousness.

Remembrance is given prominence in the topic of today’s seminar. Babuji opines that Realization is very easy provided the aspirant has a deep impression of it upon his heart. In His view “Taking in of this impression means imbibing the very thing that one aspires for. In that case the Divine thought will continuously remain alive in his heart, and his attention will remain drawn towards it all the while. This is what Constant Remembrance exactly means.” Deep thought is a means of tearing off more coverings (of subtler nature) bringing the original to view for being blessed with Divine grace.

When the ultimate state of being is in view constant looking at it results in state-less-ness, the basic property of the Real, giving a feeling of sameness. Charged with this effect and idea of His greatness in the background, nothing but remembrance alone remains then. It begins to appear at this stage that He Himself is absorbed in our remembrance. Feeling of this condition, as Saint Kabirdas described is “My mind can be at rest only when the Lord gets busy with the remembrance of me.”

Short prayer is prescribed by Babuji as essential for an abhyasi. The central point being a part of the Supreme is rooted deep in all the beings on the emerging of the world. Our prayer is the practice to turn our attention towards the source by resigning ourselves to the Divine will which is absolutely simple and tranquil. When we create a strong craving for the absolute, we are indeed in a state of Prayer, that is why no particular time is fixed for the prayer.

Commandment 2 specifically gives prominence to prayer since the commencement of puja shall be preceded by prayer for spiritual elevation with a heart full of love and devotion. We dealt with the views of Babuji Maharaj earlier in this paper. Dr K C V garu, Master in our line, has given us his considered views on prayer in volume-I of complete works. To the extent of my understanding, I attempted to present his view at my own level, which may be thoroughly inadequate, but I felt it essential to include the same as it forms the core of the topic for the seminar.

The concept of one God who can give all four ‘Purushardhas’ (Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha), regulated by the fundamental principle of liberation became the cardinal principle of our Hindu religion and tradition. (Vol I 26)

Lord Krishna says that the virtuous ones who worship HIM are of four kinds (the man in distress, the seeker for knowledge, the seeker for wealth and the man of wisdom) (Bhagvadgita VII 16). The former three may perhaps be anxious to ask for the lower to get deliverance from distress, acquire wealth and knowledge rather than the higher one seeking of liberation.

In our system, which is natural to one who seeks the Divine light, we offer prayer to the Ultimate being with only one wish that we should be gradually taken to that condition or Divine life. The prayer is simple. The Divine is the Master, He is the guru. He is the goal to be attained. The goal is a state of being. It is not to get his form but to get that state of being that gives you the essence of an existence and also meaning to our very existence.

Most of us identify our existence because of our office, property and other possessions or acquisitions, conveying thereby our dependence on them. We ourselves are nothing and by ourselves are nothing. Then the question arises as to who exactly is the one getting or trying to get identified. It is ‘I’. Who is this ‘I’? ‘I’ itself is the being. We are trying to be and in trying to be, we are not being ourselves, hence we become restless. We are always engaged in acquiring name, fame and objects or properties which we suppose are to give us happiness and pleasure, knowing fully well of their fleeting nature and also knowing our temporary existence on earth. In this world every thing is insecure, is in a state of slipping from us making us lose what we hold causing restlessness and untold misery. Losing near and dear, and wailing for their loss is a glaring example of temporary philosophic attitude to the impermanence here, though this attitude evaporates very quickly in thin air, engulfing us again in our attachments making us forget the inevitable truth that it is certain that we will also follow them sooner or later. All this chaos is due to our not having a sense of being. Hence it all boils down to the fact that we are struggling to have a sense of being. How to obtain the sense of being? We need ‘God’ who can free this sense of being. One who creates a sense of being in us is God. The ultimate is Reality- SAT.

While dealing with Prayer Dr K C V garu said finally: “Firstly we must earn the sense of reality of being. And that is the Goal to which we are moving. Now this sense of Being, therefore, firstly announces the essence of our prayer- the goal of my being, of my existence, of my life, is Being.”

Our spiritual guide, Pujya Sri KCN garu has given a Monograph on Prayer. He is forth right in saying that the goal of life as set forth in the first line of our prayer is to be adopted as the goal since it is our very purpose of existence and means to serve others by moderating our needs of Kama and Artha by means of Dharma and not Adharma, to maintain ecological balance in Dharma, respecting all beings, maintaining harmony, avoiding conflict and disharmony. Fraternal love is one such; Avoiding separation from the universe, which is a material manifestation of the Divine, requiring love to be extended to all, thus knowing existence with interdependence of all His progeny, is a means of enjoying immense happiness and bliss. While dealing with the 2nd line of prayer, Sri KCN garu states that our self-centeredness and concern for ourselves alone weighs most in our conduct in life, especially in non-sublimation and non-moderation of baser instincts relating to Kama and Krodha, and we fail in reasonable control of other spoiling agents- Lobha, Moha and Ahankar, thus we beg pardon of our Master stating that we are slaves of our wishes, but, yet, giving a hope to ourselves, that we may, with serious practice, on any day get over these wishes, of course, in the direction of moderation, though not total annihilation. We are plain enough to tell Babuji that these vices (wishes) are putting a bar to our advancement. The next and the ultimate course of action, left to us is to sincerely pray feeling HIM in the core of our heart as Divine Light. It is light without luminosity. In a state of total surrender, we pray to HIM asserting that He is the only means being the God, ultimate or Reality having power to lift us to that ultimate stage of realizing nothingness of our self; He summarizes in one sentence that the stage of the Master as the goal in the first line and this stage of surrender to HIM in the last line of prayer encompasses the entire sadhana.

Dear brothers and sisters, I intend closing the paper with a mention of a ‘Jewel’ picked up by me from out of the spiritual treasure, which he has taken pains to create for over decades of serious sadhana, for the benefit of all of us, keeping up his commitment to Babuji that he would spread the message of Babuji in its purity and content. It is in his words: “Pray (beg) that you pray (be submissive) and continue to pray (constant remembrance) so that prayer (yielding) may continue.” (from Monograph on Prayer).

It is worth committing, this description of prayer to memory and keeping in constant remembrance of Babuji, as our Babuji forms the “Nucleus” of this prayer.

Pranamams to you all.