Dear associates in the Path,

I offer my humble pranams at the holy feet of all the co aspirants in the Path assembled here today to celebrate the birthday of our beloved Master Sri Ramchandraji Maharaj of Shahjahanpur, India. We were meditating for the past one hour and were drenched in the showers of divine grace as well as tears of joy in our hearts. In one word we may say we were in a state of prayer.

Master said "If a person develops that state of mind he is constantly in a state of prayer, which implies he has realized his own serfdom and with the Lord's Mastership he has established a permanent link of devotion. Everyone can attain this state but only after sufficient practice. He who acquires it abides in the state of supplication permanently. He is at liberty to put up humbly before the Master anything he likes. Everyone has to assume that state at the time of prayer; then alone is the prayer accepted. This is the relationship of love which having been established in the sphere of self extends up to that of the Master. This is the link which once established is never severed. But still the final destination is far off, though the power of thought, which is enormously great, makes it easily accessible. Remembrance brings a lover close to the beloved. There is no limit to this closeness. The greater the love or affinity, the more does one advance towards Him. This relationship comes to us by inheritance. Now it is up to us to develop it as far as to secure utmost nearness to Him. The state of prayer is that of a devotee and it is strengthened by love. This constitutes the first step in the ladder which helps us to climb up to the Ultimate. All stages or states of spiritual advancement are within it."

The law of equivalence of form (in our language Sarupyata) determines that being close to something means being similar to it. To be close to the Master, we need only make our qualities similar to His own. I seek your indulgence to meditate on this thought during the period of celebration and take such decisions as you would consider necessary to put into action your understanding.

It is an interesting world we live in. We may be just one yard apart, speaking to each other, seeing, hearing, and perhaps even smelling each other. Yet, we have no idea what each of us is thinking and what we really want. Perhaps in this very minute we are thinking about someone living in a different place, or even at a different time. We all say we love the Master. It is for certain that we all know that people in love are the most boring people to talk to. They may be standing right in front of us, but their minds are constantly on their charming/lovely/wonderful/smart loved one. We should all naturally agree that this should be our state of mind if we really mean our love to our Master. Whether it is so let the lovers of the Master answer for themselves.

Further we all say we love each other dearly as all of us are dearly seeking the same Master. Yet if we are asked as to who was sitting by our side during the meditation it is doubtful whether we would come forward to answer. If there were to be answer it is obvious that the object of Love was not the One. But we know there are lovers of the Master who say that their meditation was affected because of the person who was before him throwing out that entire person's dirt on them. So many other judgements of others are made by these types of persons and they wail, their love of the Master could not be expressed fully. But it must be clearly understood that during our deep mergence in the thought or consciousness of our beloved Master we recognize none but Him.

It is thus clear that we think, feel, and imagine what we feel close to and what we really want. This is our internal life.

Sarupyata or the law of equivalence of form is not a new discovery in spirituality. It is obvious that we can only detect what our senses can perceive. The eye, for example, can perceive images by receiving specific wavelengths between the colours purple and red. This is why we cannot see shorter wavelengths than purple, such as ultraviolet, with a naked eye. A bee, on the other hand, does see ultraviolet, and this enables it to detect different kinds of flowers that we humans would not be able to distinguish. We all know that our world contains many frequencies, most of which we cannot receive, although they do affect us like the radio or x-ray waves. With the right instrument that can translate these waves to a length our sense organs can perceive we will be able to detect those waves in the space around us. If we were asked what is being broadcast right now on our favourite radio station, we would most likely say that we do not know. But if we turned on the radio and switched to the frequency of our favourite station, we would immediately answer. This is due to the fact that the radio fixes itself to work on a frequency that existed in the air before we turned it on. It helps us transform the message created in the radio station from an undetectable wavelength to one our ears can detect.

The law of equivalence of form works in the spiritual world also. But in spirituality, it is about similarity and dissimilarity of intentions, not about equivalence of frequencies. All that is measured in the spiritual world are intentional thoughts. The intention of the Pranasya Pranah that governs the whole of reality, including our lives, is only to bestow, to give. It acts out of love. If we want to know and understand how the world is ruled, we should also acquire the intention to bestow. If we concentrate on ourselves and on our personal benefit, we will not know the reasons for everything that happens around and within us, since we will remain detached from the superior force of Pranasya Pranah. It is only when our consciousness equalizes with the Divine we discover the true nature of all things and how all are intertwined and in the process find happiness and peace.

No one other than the Master stated this principle of equivalence better. By being in complete oneness with the Master it follows that if Master is 'Merciful' we should also become 'Merciful'. As He is called 'Gracious,' we are also to be gracious. As He is called 'Holy,' we too shall be holy. The importance of complying with the Ten Commandments of the Master can be easily understood when we know these implications. We then shall become personifications of the 'Forbearing', 'Compassionate' 'Righteous' and all such good, noble and godly qualities. Oneness with the Master or God shall lie in conducting ourselves in such a way to resemble Him as much as one can. I request all to study in depth the lives of the Masters and educate the children in this regard. That is our duty and should be our way of loving the Master. Master said Love Him who Loves All, I would prefer to appeal Live in such a manner that He would live in us.

It is a great pleasure to be with the persons who love the Master, heart, mind and soul. Surely amongst us there are persons who have if I can use the phrase 'perfected their insignificance' to merit being with the Master always. All are in fact with Him alone but there are some who are not seen as different from the Master. Travelling together over a period of 4 decades has a sentiment of its own. Such a sentiment carries along with it the scent of the divine. My being swells in joy and freedom to be deserving such a company and it is all His play. Constant remembrance is a means and is also the end. That is the beginning of sadhana and that is also the nature of the first ring of splendour. We lived in such a state now and let us continue to live in that state and that is not difficult if we keep Him in our heart.

Pranam