This is the second seminar on the message given by Rev. Babuji at Bangalore delivered in December 1964. The first one had the topic "We should attempt the finite for the infinite". Rev. Babuji we know endeavours to cover all important and fundamental truths in his messages. In this message he, while discussing the nature of real craving talks about constant restlessness to gain the real goal. He is actually dealing with the subject of the importance of finding out what really motivates us. Simply put, motivation is that driving force which allows us to achieve our goals and go after what we want in life. It is obvious things or objectives can be achieved or accomplished if we are properly motivated. As long as we have a strong personal motivation, we can achieve almost anything that we want in life. However we should remember that there are no short-cuts to achieve our goals. It is true that the Natural Path is not a short cut and in fact it is a long and winding road to achieve our goal: only the helping hand of the Master is there with us always.

Master talks of real craving and the point for us to consider is how can we develop such a craving in life? It is not enough to wish for the goal. There are certain essentials to remember:

      i) Focus on the one and only one goal all the time. This should be partnered with the fact that we should make sure that all our short-term goals are indeed structured to help in achieving our real goal. One of the best ways for us to focus on the one goal all the time is to make a diary of our goals so that we will have a visual representation of the things that we want to achieve rather than letting it all get lost in our head.

      ii) We should get rid of all the distractions which might prevent us from achieving our goal. Suppose I intend to write a book. How can I type a chapter after another if there are many distractions like children playing around, the television blaring some god forsaken play, elders chattering and there is the lure of aimlessly browsing through the Internet. In order for me to stay properly motivated and write the book I have to steer clear of every distraction.

      iii) We have to block out all negative influences. This, the ancient seers have called 'pratikoolyasya varjanam'. That is we are to make sure that we are completely blocking out all negative influences which affect our reaching the goal in our life. If we feel that we are being distracted from our goal by a problem which does not seem to go away, we have to ask ourselves what we can do to eliminate such a challenge and distraction in our life. It may be we are being sidetracked by negative thoughts and feelings because we have no faith in our 'self'.

      iv) Lack of faith in one's self is most of the time the main blocking out or negative distraction. Addressing the root of the problem, completely blocking out any negative distractions and thinking purely positive thoughts is the best way for us to develop deep motivation amounting to restlessness to achieve the real goal of life. However desperate resolve to achieve the goal does not start unless we are shaken to our roots.

In early nineteen sixties I joined my first Government job. As events happen without much of our intention I got a telegram one day while I was in office that my close friend died in a lorry road accident. He was an intimate one and his loss is something that took quite some time for me to accept. A few days later, I got another telegram informing that my sister died. We were very dear to each other and I knew that she wanted to marry someone the family may not approve. I cannot say that I hated God at that moment but surely I had to revise my opinions about the person whom we dearly call Babuji Maharaj. How could a loving God allow this to happen to such wonderful persons? Is God really Just?

In pain I sought for answers but the answers rang empty, hollow, unsatisfying. I can say at that moment my internal journey or spiritual journey started. Quite a lot of correspondence with my revered father and the Master took place and I visited Master more than once during that year. I tried to find answers reading from Buddhism, Zen etcetera and none could give me the answers to the pain in heart. I did not reject God but became agnostic. Then I could not offer anything but a listening ear and a word of prayer. Even in my pain I was drawn to find answers outside of the physical world and I think this is because Master has set the goal of eternity in my heart and I was seeking more and more within. I came to know that man's heart is inexplicably drawn to the spiritual (aprthak siddha sambandha or inexplicable inter relationship between God and souls). Though we may ignore this longing when everything is going well, when life falls apart we seek answers in the spiritual.

After the independence of India lot of stress has been given to science and technology and soon everyone was getting accustomed to the newly found means and ways of becoming prosperous. Through this new found liberation and the onset of industrial proliferation the answer to the ills of the human condition were thought to be found in science. Education it was thought would bring us the answers and man would rise above his personal problems and utopia was right around the corner. Humanism grasped the imagination of a young generation and they sought to throw off the traditionalism and reject their parent's spirituality for the 'proven truth' of science. But euphoria did not last long; soon the scientific generation became disillusioned, angry, and though they relished the advances of science found that it did not, could not, answer the deep cravings of their soul. Some would return to the spirituality of their parents but most sought spirituality without restraints. They wanted to be spiritual but they did not want rules. They wanted what they considered the best of both worlds. This legacy has been passed down to the present generation.

The following are a few of the definitions of spirituality given by today's young people:

      a. Spirituality: The human impulse to seek and unite with a reality beyond the appearances of the world, fulfilling the need for a meaning.

      b. Spirituality is subjectively experiencing life both inside and outside of self.

      c. Spirituality is an awareness of a natural order in the universe and of the exquisite checks and balances found in life forms at various levels.

A cursory observation of the world suggests that spirituality is extremely important in guiding people in how they live. Growing up in a religious family and coming under the influence of revered Sri Ramchandraji Maharaj and under guidance from my revered father, I too was drawn to the mysterious exploration of spirituality. I was then introduced to a person who was considered a saint in the satsangh. She was an interesting person who practiced meditation and was able to get in touch with her inner self and become one with the universe and Master. As an impressionable new entrant to the system I craved for something more, I was interested in experiencing this new phenomenon. Master obviously sensing my interest called me near and gave a sitting offering Pranahuti. It was an unusual experience where I felt that the entire system was vibrating with the divine impulse and making me feel the Oneness. With this experience I had at that time I was sure of a Just God and my heart was drawn deep inside and I felt that all crave a spiritual experience - a touch of the divine. I then felt that the prayer suggested at 9 P.M. where we seek that all in the universe in fraternal unity seek the divine gaining roots in my heart.

We may ask whether such experiences are necessary to develop true craving. It is also natural that we should ask does any spiritual experience count. If we all crave a spiritual experience will any spiritual experience do, and if not which experience is true. Master affirmed that spiritual experiences allegedly caused by inner conscience can be wrong as they are likely to be the play of mind. One of the main culprits in having foul and untrue spiritual experiences is our ego. Ego is the replica of Satan in our psyche. Who is Satan and what is his purpose? Where does the concept come from? We all sense a craving towards spirituality and meaning, and at the same time we share a desire to do the wrong thing, cheat, beat or even kill and steal, to insult and eat fatty foods. We intuitively know there is a dichotomy in the world and in ourselves. Master has asserted that Kama and Krodha are God given gifts and we have to use them wisely with moderation and restraint. But whenever we do something that is not conducive to reach our real we tend to excuse ourselves by saying that the Kama or Krodha has done it. What we should note is, these forces do not do anything, they only tempt us to do the wrong. Life's circumstances can be tempting from the outside, and we can have desires on the inside. In fact, I feel these two forces are put in us to test our real craving for the divine. That seems to be the divine purpose.

But if these words of the Master are kept in mind "The real craving of man keeps him in constant restlessness, and he works only to gain his real goal" we will be keeping the helm straight and we will be moving in the path laid out before us. These forces which appear to be anti-God are in fact our best aids in the path and play great role in our spiritual progress. They strengthen our intention and drive the engine of our consciousness in the meaningful direction.

We know that pure consciousness is an invisible field of energy of infinite dimension and potential. This field is the substrate of all that exists independent of time and space. A point which needs to be noted carefully is that because the field of consciousness encompasses all that exists beyond all limitations and dimensions of space and time, it registers all the events no matter how so ever seemingly insignificant or trivial or miniscule, such as even a fleeting thought.

Consciousness is the irreducible substrate of the human capacity to narrow or experience, to perceive or witness, and it is the essence of the capacity for awareness itself. The field of Consciousness exist independently of man, and yet it is included within his experience. It is the Absolute and, in comparison with which all that exists is relative. The presence of the field of Consciousness is known by all sentient beings as the subject of awareness of existence of the self. Thus, the awareness of the presence of Consciousness is the primordial subjective reality underlying all possible human experience.

The entire universe exists independently of human description and is essentially one unified, total field within which are varying levels of vibrational frequencies that appear as the observable Universe. The higher the frequency of the vibrational energy, the greater the Power even as it is in the physical domain. The Consciousness is life itself. Anywhere there's life, there is Consciousness, whether it is the incredibly simple Consciousness of an amoeba, or the complex Consciousness of Humans. Consciousness is everywhere; it is the light with which we illumine the world- it is the light without luminosity or divine light. Compare both laws of the conservation of energy or conservation of matter; the law of the conservation of life prevails. Life itself is not capable of being destroyed, there can only be change form by shifting to a different frequency. A serious study of the 'Game of Life' prepared by Imperience would throw more light on this.

Satchitananda is the word for such consciousness. In fact in the path of Rev. Babuji we move farther from that level of consciousness. It is not a concept or idea to be in the consciousness of Satchitananda. It is a reality we experience often in our sadhana. But our Master leads us on to the level of void. But then that is subject to our relinquishing all other desires and cravings and seek only the end state whatever it might be. Master states that "The real state of enlightenment comes when we get into full consciousness of the condition of enlivenment and after imbibing its effect, secure merging in it. (Reference: BWS 307). This mergence happens in all the knots and in fact after moving through the various knots and mergence therein, we move through expansion and enlivenment. The realm of knots is too small compared to the realms of splendour and the movement in central region. Any attachment to anything in the sphere of manifestation is a limitation. The price may appear to be very high but that is for cowards and seekers of toys. To crave for the Real is the option that is chosen by lion hearted men. Our beloved Master said his system makes the aspirants so and let us live up to His expectation of us.

Pranam