The hard and miserable life of most of the people, engaged in
different worldly pursuits keeps them so much occupied with their problems of
life that they are often led to believe that they can hardly spare time for
devotion and worship except at the cost of some vital interest or pecuniary
gain, which they cannot safely afford to ignore. This notion keeps them away
from the path of duty although sometimes they become seemingly conscious of it.
Their minds are absorbed every moment in thinking about the various problems of
their material life and are seldom directed towards God except when they are in
deep distress, or misery. The reason is that they attach primary importance to
their worldly interest alone which constantly remains in their view. Thus they
remain entangled with the Maya without ever thinking of getting out of it at any
stage. If we divert our attention towards God and feel realization as the
primary object of life, naturally we shall begin to look upon it as the first
and the foremost thing in comparison to everything else in the world. It does
not mean that we should become unmindful of our worldly responsibilities and
neglect our duty in that respect, causing trouble and misery to those depending
upon us for support. We must remain alive to our sense of duty to them as much
as to God but without any undue attachment. For this, we must snatch a few
minutes from our hours of rest (preferably at bed-time) and pray to God with a
sincere heart for His guidance and support on the path of duty. If we do it
regularly with a heart full of love and devotion, the prayer shall never go
unheard.
When we thus get awakened to the sense of duty and the idea of God becomes
prominent in our hearts, we begin to treat realization as the primary object of
life. Naturally our craving for it begins to grow stronger and we are thus led
to frequent remembrance of God during our routine of daily work in spite of all
our engagements and worries. Diversion from the path of duty is in fact not due
to circumstances or outside engagements, but only due to the misdirected
activities of the indiscipline mind. Mere consciousness of God cures many of the
evils of the mind and removes difficulties from our path. We have thus to become
conscious of God for the most part of the day during all our worldly activities.
Frequent remembrance of God, though greatly helpful is not all that we need for
final success in realization. We generally begin an important thing in the name
of God and it is customary almost in every religion to do so. But that is only a
matter of formality and has no real significance. We never dedicate the thing to
God in the real sense and at heart we are in fact quite away from the idea of
God. Remembrance of God thus is of no avail. The real significance of the custom
is that we must remain in touch with the idea of God in all phases of our mental
and physical activities. We must feel ourselves connected with the Supreme Power
every moment with an unbroken chain of thought during all our activities. It can
be easily accomplished if we treat all our action and work to be a part of
Divine duty, entrusted to us by the Great Master whom we are to serve as best as
we can. Service and sacrifice are the two main instruments with which we build
the temple of spirituality, love of course being the fundamental basis. Any kind
of service, if done selflessly, is helpful. Service to fellow beings is service
to God in the real sense, if it is not done out of any selfish motive. Whatever
we do in our daily routine of work, is in relation with some of our fellow
beings, be they our children, friends or relations. If we think that while doing
a work we are really serving one or the other of the God's creatures and not our
own purpose, we are all along following the path of service, although we are
outwardly busy with our usual routine of work. Almost all our activities in life
are connected with providing means of livelihood for our children and dear ones.
So, if we treat them as children of God, who are entrusted to our care and whom
we have to provide for and look after as if duty bound, we are then serving His
children, and thereby God Himself. We shall thereby get rid of undue attachment
too and shall thus remove one of the greatest obstacles from our path. The
process, though easy and simple, will lead you also to constant thought of the
Supreme Master in all your activities. If this thing gets rooted deep in your
heart, every action of yours will then seem to be a duty merely for duty's sake,
in accordance with the divine dictate without any selfish interest or personal
attachment. Universal love then becomes predominant and we begin to love every
being of the God's creation without any feeling of attachment with it. It leads
us to devotion and sacrifice. Devotion makes our passage smooth and creates a
channel for the Godly current to flow into our heart. It removes dirt and refuse
from our way and facilitates our march along the path. The refuse is really the
effect of the conflicting ideas, which create disturbances and worries in our
minds. By meditation we create a temporary lull in our mind and calmness
prevails for the time during which we are in touch with the divine force. But
meditation only at a certain fixed hour is not enough, for we are thus in touch
with the sacred thought only for a while after which we have no idea of God
whatsoever and are for most part of the day away from the path of service and
devotion. This is the reason why often after years of practice we still find
ourselves at the lowest level of spiritual attainment. What, in fact, we feel
during meditation is only simplicity and calmness, if we are rightly guided by a
capable master. But an aspirant is generally unable to understand it, for it is
beyond his conception at the early stages. The effect thus being imperceptible
he often complains that he feels nothing during mediation. This is chiefly due
to the fact that he remains in touch with the divine force only for a few
minutes of practice. Thus the real thing gained during meditation remains with
him only for a while. On the other hand, there is a man who tries to retain the
effect gained by meditation for the most part of the day, and abides in the same
state for as long as he can. He is, in a way, in constant remembrance of God and
his progress is easy and rapid.
Some people think that constant or even frequent remembrance of God is not
practicable when a man in life is surrounded by numerous worries and anxieties
caused by worldly attachment and responsi-bilities. But practice and experience
will prove to them that it is a very easy process and can be followed by any and
every one in spite of all worries and engagements only if they divert their
attention towards God in the real sense.
The idea of Guru as the Supreme Divine force is very helpful in spiritual
pursuit. You depend upon his guidance thinking him to be a superhuman being. If
you go on with your busy routine of life, dedicating everything to your Master,
imagine what good it will bring to you in the long run. While doing a thing,
think that you are not doing it for yourself, but for your Master, or rather
think that your Master himself is doing it for himself. While at the breakfast
table you must think that your Master is breaking his fast. When you go to the
office, think that your Master is doing all this. While returning from the
office, suppose you see an attractive dance on the way. Your eyes are caught by
the charming appearance of the dancer. Your thoughts seem to be diverted for a
while. Then also think that your Master and not you, is seeing the dance. You
will at once lose curiosity for it, because your Master's power will begin to
flow in to relieve you of the temptation. When you come back from office your
children rejoice to see you after so many hours. You too enjoy their merriments
and it is but natural. Your attention is, for a while, diverted towards them and
you feel a bit away from the sacred thought. What you are to do then is to think
that your Master within is himself enjoying and you shall be in touch with the
same sacred thought again. If you are chatting with your friend, think that your
Master, not you, is talking to him. While walking, think that your Master
himself is walking. During meditation, if you entertain the idea that not you
but your Master himself is meditating on his own form, it shall bring about
excellent results. Similarly, you can adjust yourself in all your routine of
work. If you cultivate this feeling and maintain the outlook that your Master is
doing everything in your place, you shall not only be in constant remembrance
all the while, but your action will cause no impression whatsoever and very soon
you will cease making further Samskaras.
The process, if earnestly followed, will constantly keep the Master's form in
your vision and you will feel his presence within and all about. Though, in
fact, the real Master is not merely his outward physical form, but his inner
self, still it is almost impossible to ignore the form altogether. But those who
stick to the idea of the physical form alone as the Master, create for
themselves the grossest entanglements and complications. Kabirdas has rightly
termed such persons as Guru Pashu. But if the Master is a great divine soul who
has secured his merger in absolute Reality, meditation on his form is, by far,
of greatest advantage to the disciples. His body, though gross in outward
appearance is really as fine and subtle in character as his inner self. If you
meditate on the form of such a Master, you not only begin to lose your own
grossness but also begin to imbibe within you the finest condition of his inner
self. The form taken up in view will after some time disappear from the sight
and you will gradually embark on the plane of pure Reality. I have discussed in
my book Commentary on Ten Commandments of Sahaj Marg, how the form disappears
from view when you look at a thing constantly for some time. Thus automatically
from the outward form, we travel inwards and then to the real point, where
everything disappears. |