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Talk Delivered at the Seminar on 21st
October 2007
The topic of the seminar is a sentence which forms a
part of the message given by the beloved Master in
January 1970 on the occasion of starting an ashram
building at Raichur, Karnataka, India.
Master states in this message that majority of the
people think of God to be just as they are (in the human
form having human emotions and feelings) and resort to
gross methods to attain the subtlest. He adds that a bit
advanced persons ask the same typical questions just to
exhibit their capacity for putting such questions.
Master gives a very interesting answer to prove the
purpose of God’s creation stating that otherwise He will
be frozen. After such amusing sentences he comes to the
crux of the problem saying that “A number of people
merely ask questions pertaining to Divinity. But how to
attain it is not generally found in the minds of such
people. If we go on talking about the taste of mango it
will not help us unless we eat it and know for ourselves
its taste. I may say here that Reality is not the field
for cowards. Lion hearted men alone can dare approach
Reality and men are made so by Natural Path.” The claim
of the Master is not just to show the mango but to
enable us taste it and all that is required to achieve
this is the courage, confidence and unflinching faith in
the Master and our self.
Lack of courage means essentially that we are half
hearted in our attempts. It is obvious that all
half-hearted actions are the children of fear; this
explains not only why such attempts fail us as they do
but also how they sow the seeds of indecision that, in
turn, completes the dark cycle of self-compromise. We
need to have the courage and if necessary roar at
persons who try to ridicule and repress our efforts at
realisation of our true nature. This is some what easy
but the real problem is our own mental tendencies.
Brushing aside all irrelevant ideas with courage and
confidence we should during meditation look closely for
all of the inner wisdom and efforts to pay us
handsomely. If we cannot see some thought or feeling as
it goes through us, then we do not have the choice
whether to be that thought or feeling or not.
So, before we can choose not to compromise ourselves,
we must first become acutely and intensely aware of
those thoughts of ours that may be holding some secret
seed of self-defeat. If we do not know that we are doing
this kind of compromised thinking or acting out the
emotional counterparts what else can follow but defeat
in our endeavour. For example, the lower mind through
its harmful inner voices and emotional forces may tell
us to resent someone or to hate our life; or to give up,
and accept fear as a way of life. Our own thoughts may
instruct us, without our ever knowing it, to cling to
doubts; or to jump headlong into pools of self-pity. And
because we do not know that there are alternatives, we
do as we are instructed by our lower mind.
With firm faith in the Master which is the first seed
to bring out the Courage that is within us we learn
during meditation and individual sitting sessions that
we can and in fact do wake up to the right path in the
middle of these negative states of mind. Working with
self-observation, we can actually see, for ourselves,
that these self-compromising thoughts are all due to
impurities and gross we have collected and stored in our
mind. In fact these thoughts have no reality content and
absolutely unauthentic. This means it is not our destiny
to move in the direction of these lower order states of
mind.
The more we interfere with these thoughts the more
they play and the duel never ends. It is the experience
of the sadhakas that they have few moments of being
aware of their own thoughts, but they feel that there is
nothing happening when they watch so. And there have
been other times when they felt very uncomfortable with
what they saw within themselves. And they find
themselves confused as to what is happening.
Master’s instruction is that we just keep going with
our meditation not minding these thoughts. There is no
point in denying that there is a persistent wish to
silently watch our own thoughts and feelings- the
internal drama we all cherish and enjoy most. We should
not have much concern with our initial efforts to be
self observant as it may not reveal much about our real
nature but only entertain with our own creative and
fictitious dramas. An important point to note here is
that we should never mistake any discovery about ourself
as our true nature. In other words, we need not look at
our present level of insight, whatever it may be, as it
is likely to be the product of our being in a negative
state of mind.
Instead we may observe all our thoughts to be facts
of our existence and infact are the results of the
previous samskaras good and bad. While they inform us of
our lapses and successes they are not against us.
Patient investigation of any temporary truth about us
can only bring more light into our inner world. Greater
and greater inner vision arises, but for that we must
grow accustomed to this self-illumination. And this
includes what happens within us as the light of
self-observation sharpens.
There are many mistaken notions dwelling there in the
darkness of the unawakened mind. To think they would not
squeal as we bring this light to bear on them would be
naive on our part. But, with the persistent practice of
self-observation, we can even learn to use the mind's
howling to live thought-free. To begin with, we should
always take a conscious step back from anything which
howls at us from within. This requires moral stamina and
courage. Once removed, in this special fashion and we
learn to observe in a detached manner we can see that
any shriek of discomfort, worry, anxiety, or shame, can
never be a part of who we really are. This is the first
step in realizing our true nature as freedom. We begin
to feel the breeze of freedom from our desires and
passion.
Once this courage is developed in us and we start
feeling our freedom however preliminary it is, the
higher mind or the upper mind quietly receives us. The
five pillars of spiritual life namely, Truth,
Non-Injury, Contentment, Non-jealousy and celibacy
become possible to be implemented in our life only
because of this courage. Without courage none of these
can be practiced. This is the stage we gain early in our
sadhana and is experienced as a thoughtless condition.
We should then step up into this thought-free realm by
allowing the following higher facets of spirituality to
help us develop our practice of meditation.
i) We should naturally but definitely, consciously
defy any feeling that tells us that we are stuck with
the thought process. The practice of ignoring the
thoughts that arise during meditation suggested by the
Master is a very important step in our progress. It may
be noted that stepping back from our own thoughts and
learning to watch them is the same as stepping up to a
free mind. Being receptive to higher facets about
ourself grants us the insight that the facets once
feared are no longer facets that frighten us.
ii) We should stop digging up things that are over
and gone. We should learn to stop chasing after our
"bones of contention". Holding grudges is not going to
help us move forward to happiness. Being a
palaeontologist will result in a handful of useless
bones for which no museum authority would pay a pie. We
should give up the grudges. This is the essence of the 7th
Commandment. Our concern is to look ahead, to move
forward, and to build our own happiness and that of
those around us.
We know we are spiritual beings. It is the common
averment of all spiritual traditions that our spiritual
nature was perfect in the beginning. It is only when we
left the Homeland the problem of impurities and
attachments developed and we became enmeshed in the
cocoon of our own making. Our original condition has
been described by the masters and mystics in many ways,
such as a state of enlightenment, luminous,
unconditional love, unborn, Godlike etc., Master called
our original condition as that of Nothingness. In this
natural state, we were free from fear, doubt,
insecurity, needs or wants. We lacked nothing. In fact,
this nature was complete and all-embracing.
We are told that we are now unable to experience this
pure state because of the imprints, defilements,
unwholesome habits and patterns of thoughts that we have
accumulated over and over again. These imprints or
defilements lead to tendencies that obstruct our
awareness of our true nature. Diseases and illnesses,
whether physical, emotional or mental, are a reflection
of the disruption to our natural state.
It is obvious that to heal ourselves, we must realise
our true nature. To re-experience our natural state, we
must purify ourselves through removing all our
defilements in thoughts, words and actions. The more we
purify, the more we can re-experience our true nature.
Admittedly, all these beliefs are not new beliefs. There
are many masters who have written truck loads of books
about these. But the singular contribution of the Master
Sri Ramchandraji Maharaj Shahjahanpur is to suggest ways
and means by which we can cross over the strands of our
own making easily and feel our true nature every day
during meditation. We are on the throes of new
civilization based on spirituality and awareness of this
makes us work hard to make it possible earlier. We are
in the midst of a spiritual explosion and I believe we
are in the exciting transition to become more
spiritually aware. We will continue to gain more
spiritual awareness as more and more people evolve
spiritually.
Our Master has given humanity very many practical
methods and infact laid a new spiritual path that leads
to a state of joy and lasting happiness, yet most of us
do not follow his advice or follow his methods half
heartedly. I think there are two main reasons for this
state of affairs.
iii) We do not have enough faith or courage that we
can achieve the ultimate liberation from our desires and
wants and cravings and drives, the Master speaks of. It
seems so far-fetched and impossible to achieve.
Therefore, we do not even try.
iv) We are lazy and indolent and governed by the
Tamasic nature. We fully realise that to achieve what
the Masters have achieved require that we spend
considerable time and effort training our mind, and this
is much harder than just doing what we have been doing
everyday. This is inspite of the fact the methods given
by the Master does not take more than a few hours a day.
Yet if we do not try, how can we realise? If we want
to achieve lasting happiness, we must give it a try and
try with full honesty, persistency and courage. And all
those who have seriously treaded the spiritual path have
achieved a higher level of self awareness and
contentment though it may not be the ultimate state and
stage. In fact, I believed so strongly that the Masters’
path is the only path worth following and I consider
myself duly rewarded. The courage with which we put the
first step shall be the same courage with which we move,
ignoring difficulties in the various situations that
arise in the path. We should remember the old adage that
"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single
step."
It is clear to all the serious aspirants that we are
not able to realize our true nature of unconditional
love and oneness because our inner Essence is covered by
layers upon layers of negative as well as positive
mental and emotional imprints which in our tradition are
called Kosas. The traditional notion of peeling of layer
of consciousness comparing the same with either the corn
or the onion is a painful process. In our system we have
the courage to retain them and moderate all of them and
to use them for the purposes of the divine as the divine
wills.
Many of the aspirants feel that the advice given to
‘ignore the thoughts during meditation’ would mean that
we should be unaware of the thoughts. If we are unaware
of our thoughts and ideas precious little can be
achieved to balance them. Self-awareness or mindfulness
is the ability to be consciously aware of one's
thoughts, feelings and actions. This skill is the key to
our spiritual development. From the moment we wake up
until the moment we sleep, our thoughts move from one
subject to another without pause. If we are hardly ever
consciously aware of them, we will be functioning like a
robot allowing our habits and tendencies to drive our
thoughts, feelings and behaviour. If we are to clear our
existing negative mental and emotional imprints, we must
first be aware of them before we can even do anything
about it. That is why self-awareness is fundamental to
spiritual progress. The tools of evaluation so kindly
given to us by Imperience actually aim to assist us in
this process.
The ability to let go of all our clinging and
attachments, or as Master puts ‘ignoring them as
uninvited guests’ is another skill that is equally
important in our spiritual transformation. We collect
and carry too much garbage with us in our lives. It is
only by letting go of this unnecessary burden that cloud
our Essence that we can eventually experience the
Essence in its natural and pure state. It is important
to note that these two skills that a true aspirant
develops, namely self-awareness and letting go may
appear simple, yet they are the hardest skills to
cultivate. That is because in our daily lives, we hardly
ever sharpen these skills.
There is an old story of a man who had four wives.
The man had become ill and was about to die. At the end
of his life, he felt very lonely and so asked the first
wife to accompany him to the other world thinking that
she will do so because he treated her very well. She
however declined stating that though she knows he
treated her very well since it is the time of separation
she will leave him and go on her own.
Then he called his second wife to his sickbed and
begged her to follow him in death. She expressed herself
rather coldly stating that since your first wife refused
you are asking me and so far loved me only for your own
selfish sake and she will not go with him.
Then he called his third wife, and asked her to
follow him. The third wife replied that she pitied his
condition and felt sad for herself too and that she
would accompany him till the graveyard as that is her
last duty to him.
Now he recalled that there was his fourth wife, for
whom he did not care very much. He had treated her like
a slave and had always showed much displeasure with her.
He now thought that if he asked her to follow him to
death, she certainly would say no. But his loneliness
and fear were so severe that he made the effort to ask
her to accompany him to the other world. The fourth wife
gladly accepted her husband's request stating that
whatever happens she is determined to stay with him and
that she cannot be separated from him.
The story is philosophical and is explained generally
as follows. The first 'wife' is our body. We love our
body day and night. In the morning, we wash our face,
put on clothing and shoes. We give food to our body. We
take care of our body like the first wife in this story.
But unfortunately, at the end of our life, the body, the
first 'wife' cannot follow us to the next world. The
second 'wife' stands for our fortune, our material
things, money, property, fame, position, and job that we
worked hard to attain. We are attached to these material
possessions. We are afraid to lose these material things
and wish to possess much more. There is no limit. At the
end of our life these things cannot follow us to death.
Whatever fortune we have piled up, we must leave it. We
came into this world with empty hands. During our life
in this world, we have the illusion that we obtained a
fortune. At death, our hands are empty. We cannot hold
our fortune after our death. The third wife stands for
the relationships of our parents, sister and brother,
all relatives, friends, and society. They will go as far
as the graveyard, with tears in their eyes. They are
sympathetic and saddened... Thus, we cannot depend on
our physical body, our fortune, and our society. We are
born alone and we die alone. No one will accompany us
after our death. The fourth 'wife' is our mind. When we
deeply observe and recognize that our minds are filled
with anger, greed, and dissatisfaction, we are having a
true look at our lives. The anger, greed, and
dissatisfaction are karma. We cannot be separated from
our own karma.
The lesson in this story is that we often focus
erroneously on our body, material possessions and
relationships when we should be focusing our energy on
cultivating our mind. When we focus on our body,
possessions and relationships, we distract ourselves
from cultivating our mind. A neglected mind is like a
garden that is unattended to. It grows weeds. When we
focus on the material world, life can seem like a big
struggle. The moment we decide to live a spiritual life,
something magical happens. By changing a single belief,
we can entirely transform our lives.
However that demands courage and confidence in our
part. Fear prevents us from doing what we know we should
be doing. We lack courage and faith. If we truly have
faith in our spirituality and the courage to live it,
then we will experience the transformation. For this we
need to consciously make the aspiration to live a
spiritual life, and to make sure that our actions,
feelings and thoughts reflect that aspiration. This is
what it means when we practice the Ten Commandments of
the Master. It takes ofcourse Courage and the effort to
have a great leap of faith. A faith greater than that of
Lord Hanuman who did the great leap to Sri Lanka with
his great faith.
We are told and many of us experience that the world
is at a crossroads in evolution once again. There is a
new consciousness emerging in the world that's beyond
the scope of the mind and much closer to the nature of
our true selves similar to the time when Man originally
evolved his consciousness from the instinctive animal
one. Because of the minds' linear nature it's fixated
with imaginary past and future events and focuses large
amounts of mental, emotional and physical energy in this
direction. It is necessary therefore to go beyond the
everyday focus in order to help facilitate the emergence
of this new, higher consciousness. The Great Master
developed ways of transcending the mind's limitations.
By the quietening of our internal mental dialogue we are
enabled to gradually awaken more and more to this new
consciousness.
Master asks “What is the call of the present day?
Nothing but the energy issuing forth from the centre.
Either it should burn us or it should embrace us. That
should be our thought if we really want our
transformation, for which we should come forward like a
warrior in the field to test our own bravery for the
task.” (SDG-112) He also states that “If you want to
taste the real nectar of life, come forward into the
field with undaunted courage, not minding the ups and
downs of fortune. That is the thing needed for our life,
not charity and alms.” (SS-329-30) He affirms that “The
courage starts when confidence is there; and confidence
is there when you have willed to reach the
destination.”(SDG-31) He bemoans that “Firm resolve and
dauntless courage are the essential features of manly
character. That is what is required for the final
success. My advice in this respect usually goes
unheeded.” (SS -264)
I do hope the sincere followers of the system of Rev.
Babuji Maharaj do not fall into this unfortunate
category of unheeding disciples. We are conscious that
our fears are not walls, but only hurdles. We also know
that courage is not the absence of fear, but the
conquering of it and we are determined to conquer the
same with love and devotion to the Master. We expect
trouble as an inevitable part of life, and when it
comes, hold our head high and squarely looking in its
eye say “The Master is greater than you and you cannot
defeat me”. One small truth before I end this paper,
courage is not absence of fear as stated earlier but it
is fear that has said its prayer. The strength of
courage is proportional to the intensity of the prayer
of the competent. Those who are surrendered are not
incompetent but are those who are brave and humble
simultaneously and they are courage personified like
Hanuman or Arjuna. They are the Prapanna Prabhus. The
claim of the Master that his system makes us such is
evident to those who have the ability and humility to
observe.
Pranams. |
