"Sow an Act, you reap a Habit; Sow a Habit, you reap a Character; Sow a Character, you reap a Destiny".

- PUJYA BABUJI MAHARAJ

In our system of Sri Ram Chandra's Rajayoga, the aim is God Realisationby attaining a state of similar subtleness to the last humanly possible extent. This new system of yogic sadhana (abhyas) was offered to thehumanity by Lalaji Maharaj and Babuji Maharaj specially with a view to enable large segments of population who are otherwise engaged intheir worldly living and were hithertofore scared away from God - to endeavour and attain the spiritual goal of human life: Oneness with the Master, God or Absolute. In our view, an abhyasi is one who has three principle characteristics: Total surrender to the Master; Absolute faith in the system of Sri Ram Chandra's Rajayoga and above all an iron will for abhyas or sadhana or practice to achieve the goal. Though the role of an abhyasi is overtly to strictly carry on the abhyas or practice, in our system Sadhana is not merely formal and mechanical but has a definite object, a purpose and an end. The practices are dynamic and 'living' methods always aiming at constant spiritual progress and development with the Infinite in view. There are two aspects of it; one is abhyas and the other Master's support through Pranahuti which accelerates abhyasi's progress by removing complexities and obstructions on his part. Pranahuti is the most unique feature of the system of the Rajayoga of Sri Ram Chandra. This power of transmission, Pranahuti, is a high yogic attainment, revived by the Divine Master Revered Lalaji Maharaj and remodelled by our Divine Master Revered Babuji Maharaj for the diversion of mental tendencies of abhyasis from baser stages to Divine levels of consciousness that humanity is capable of. This subject will, however, be presented separately. The Divine Master has unequivocally declared that "Spirituality is my responsibility as practice is your responsibility". Abhyas is meant mainly for creating inner condition which will be helpful to the abhyasi in attracting the flow of the Divine Grace; this involves dedicated and devoted self effort. The most important feature of Sri Ram Chandra's Rajayoga system of sadhana is that it goes on in conjunction with the normal Grihastha living of the common man with due regards to his duties and responsibilities of life so that both the phases of life - the worldly and the Divine may develop equally bright. We do not mean merely to preach these ideas, but to put them into practice and apply them in day-to-day life pattern.

Some questions invariably crop up in our minds that under the system what are the true and important role(s) of an abhyasi? What is to be done to become deserving to receive the Divine Grace of the Master? What are the major ingredients of worldly conduct so that we can carry out both spiritual and worldly phases of life with equanimity and balance? Answers to these may reflect in us and indicate the broad parameters of the role of an abhyasi in our system. In fact, Babuji Maharaj after 25 years of the introduction of the system thought about issuing a hand-out outlining the role of an abhyasi during 1981. The need arose mainly because of lack of proper understanding of the system and its practices as such. It will therefore, be our endeavour to put across various aspects on the subject as compiled from the works of the Divine Master. It is proposed to analyse each factor relevant to the issue separately so that we can gauge them in correct perspective and "Mould our living so as to rouse a feeling of love and piety in others". That will be the "Essence of the Sadhana" of an abhyasi which will lead to the fulfilment of the spiritual goal and conduct of ourselves as a discIplined soldier of the system of Sri Ram Chandra's Rajayoga.

Spiritual perfection

Lalaji Maharaj considered that spiritual perfection is based on three things. "Love for the Master" is the first cardinal principle for spiritual enlightenment. When the abhyasi has become devoted to the object of meditation, it, then, ceases to be "dry abhyas" and becomes a luscious "all-absorbing engagement". Devotion and love, of course, remain so easy and yet so difficult of achievement at once. Real love for the object - the Master - will automatically lead to restlessness - impatient to secure nearness to the loved One. Divine love for the Master develops through constant remembrance also. A man of heart can be discovered only by one who is inspired with a feeling of true love. "Satsangh with the Master" is the second step for spiritual excellence. Association with Reality is called Satsangh. The mysterious interior of a man can actually be known through Satsangh (Close association) and sadhana (practice). They are absolutely essential. Babuji Maharaj introduced in our Satsangh the Universal Prayer at 9 P.M. every day. At this time, every abhyasi wherever he might happen to be, should meditate for 15 minutes thinking that all brothers and sisters are being filled with love and devotion and real faith in the Master is growing stronger in them. Besides being highly effective for checking the indulgences of the mind and improprieties of the conduct, this Universal Satsangh gives an impetus to individual practice like weekly and special Satsanghs. Group meditation and inter action with brother abhyasis would create a conducive environment of fraternity and greatly assist us in developing correct mental framework for meditation. Association with the thoughts of the Master and experiences of brother abhyasis will naturally brighten our Yatra (journey) to the goal. "Obedience to the Master" is the last maxim for spiritual perfection. Here is a Master who do NOT ask for any material offerings nor construction of Abodes nor performance of rituals nor physical and mental mortifications nor any processions. Therefore how and what to obey? How to offer our obedience to Him? What are we to do? While categorising disciples into five, Babuji Maharaj said that a devout disciple - Murad - is one who has become the object of love of His Guru - the Master. Similarly, obedience to the Master must be of such nature that while Master is the object of one's Meditation, we should also qualify to be Master's object of love, attention and blessings. How is it possible? The real cry of the pangful heart of a true seeker brings the Master to his door. The quintessence of obedience centres around mental, physical and spiritual disciplines. Obedience to the Master should become a natural habit or spontaneous response. It is a matter of discipline. Our Divine Master wants to take us up to the farthest limits of Reality possible to any life and prescribed certain simple modalities and practices. The preliminaries to meditation, non- attachment in terms of due attachment, meditation proper, regular cleaning and prayer form the nucleus of these practices. The Master's support is ever flowing in torrents to inundate us in the spiritual Bliss and Reality. The aim of the Master and the system of Sadhana is the transformation of every individual for a better and harmonious World Order. Yet, we are hesitant, lax and irregular. Our obedience to the Master should, therefore, reflect in three spheres. Regular meditation, proper cleaning and the most important and unfailing means to success - Prayer. In effect, we must boldly take the preliminary and trail blazing steps of making one deserving to receive the Divine Grace of the Master. This is what obedience to the Master would require us to do. The more we are efficient, effective and successful in these areas of sadhana, the nearer we will be to the Master and quicker will be the chances of reaching the goal.

Goal consciousness

Our goal of life is the final stage when we are nearest to the super active Centre or Zero, which is the primeval cause of the entire manifestation and to which every soul ultimately returns after Maha Pralaya. To obviate the series of births and save ourselves from the miseries of innumerable lives, we want to create our own individual Pralaya and acquire a state of complete dissolution of all things of our own making. We have to be free from all Samskaras acquired throughout the existence and assume the same pure form in which we were at the time of creation. This is what will be achieved when we say "O Master! Thou art the real goal of human life". It is oneness with the Master. It remains for us to play the part of a true seeker and adopt means helpful in attaining the goal. There are three signs which indicate our approach nearing the goal. They are Divine Action, Divine Wisdom and Divine Thought. We must try to develop these in us. This is what is Divinisation. All senses and faculties are in total harmony assuming their original state and are merged in the real. The final state of Divinisation comes when every atom of the body becomes one with the Master - the Ultimate. "Oneness with the God". We need to be crystal clear of the goal and keep it always in sight when carrying out meditational practices and conducting our world affairs. Then only it becomes relevant to a common man and that is the beginning of the Divinity expressing itself in us.

The composition of a man is exactly the same as that of the Universe. Just as behind this solid external universe, there are innumerable others of the finer and still finer type, so behind this gross physical form of a man, there are numerous finer and still finer forms of existence. The outermost form is the Gross body (Sthool Sharir) behind which there exists the astral body (Sookshma Sharir) and the causal body (Karan Sharir). Besides there are several others which are so subtle and fine, the thinkers do not call them bodies but only as fine coverings round the soul. With all these innumerable forms, from the finest to the grossest, the man is in existence in the material world as a true copy of the universe or the entire manifestation of God represented by a complete circle from the outermost circumference to the inner most Centre or Zero. The concentric circles drawn round the Centre include - in the following order - Five stages of Maya, Eleven stages of Egoism, Seven Rings of Splendour as an initial approach to the Central Region and the Central Region itself. Now the inner most Centre or Zero of a man's existence and of God's manifestation is really the same. In human form, these are represented by Shat Chakras (seven centres - Muladhara, Swadhishtana, Manipura, Anahata, Visuddha, Ajna and Sahasrara), thirteen knots (grandhis), seven rings of splendour and the Central Region (Zero). Therefore, Realisation of God means the same as the realisation of Self and vice versa. All the universe came into existence from the same point - the Zero, or the Base through a process of evolution. Similarly, the man's existence too developed from the same Ultimate or Base.

It is also very essential for every one to fix his thought at the out-set itself, upon the goal which is to be attained so that one's thought and will may pave way up to it. The goal must therefore be the highest. Those who did not fix that final state of 'Oneness with Master' for their goal remained short of the mark because before arrival at the final point, they mistook one or the other intermediate state as the Reality (goal) and stopped there for ever. They suffered merely for not having fixed their goal. Since our eye is fixed on spirituality, we take up the ideal which is the highest and which can be nothing but that associated directly with the Absolute. This fixation in thought will accelerate our effort leading to a feeling of restlessness, strong craving and extreme impatience and tendencies of the mind will resultantly get diverted towards the goal with full vigour. It is, therefore, clear that firmness of will and determination to reach the goal help us in reaching the destination. There should be an awareness of the goal in our heart all the time. We must be conscious of what we are trying for; we must know that the goal is something that is accessible to us and that we are moving towards it. This constant goal consciousness will also stabilise us in a state of what is called constant remembrance. This has overriding importance in the abhyas of an abhyasi and his role of sadhana.

Non-attachment

The cultivation of non-attachment is the only way for self realisation. This is known to all the saints and common men alike. This has been so wildly twisted and greatly distorted since ages that it has come to be meant discarding all worldly ties, getting away from hearth and home and retiring to the forest as a Sanyasi, or recluse so as to practice spiritual pursuits. Scaring away common folk, some peripheral rituals were prescribed to their fate precluding them any access to God, the Absolute. Babuji Maharaj in His Raja Yoga philosophy emphasises that though non-attachment is essential and is a first thing to be developed by an abhyasi, the Grihastha life is the best training ground for the practice of spirituality. Saint Kabir has aptly remarked: "God remains twenty paces off from a Brahmachari and thirty paces from a Sanyasi; whereas he resides within a Grihastha who entertains Him in his heart". Renunciation or non- attachment is no doubt an essential stage in realisation but it does not mean severing all worldly connections of family, home and the like. Renunciation effected by such unnatural and forced means is seldom genuine for it is just possible that in spite of their apparent detachment physically, mostof them still inwardly cling to the worldly concerns. Besides, God has created us to live as a part of Grand Scheme of His Divine Lila and be fruitful to the earth. Divinity wants to express ourselves as useful personalities. We have to exhibit Divinity not us. The Divine and social relevance of our existence and the purpose of creation according to which we should live in harmony with others underscore the dynamic approach of Sri Ram Chandraji Maharaj and not that of a sanyasi or religious recluse.

Babuji declared that renunciation truly means non-attachment with worldly objects and not the non-possession of things. This is a very significant revelation by Him. A house-holder's life in which possession of things and worldly ties are indispensable is no impediment in the way of renunciation and consequently of Realisation; only if one is not unduly attached to the objects he is connected with. Renunciation is in fact a condition or inner state of mind which brings to view the transitory and changing character of things and create a feeling of non-attachment to such objects. Once our eyes are fixed every moment on Reality - which is unchanging and eternal, we will automatically be free from both attraction and repulsion. This is Vairagya (renunciation) in true sense of the term. All our problems arise out of undue attachment to things. Babuji talks about due attachment or non-attachment. There are certain practices which are given to us by Him to attain this particular state of Vairagya. Firstly, we have to study the nature, structure and purification of Knots 1 and 2 (Granthis) and attain Laya Avastha (Free movement). The state of mind at Knot 1 and 1(b) is an unperturbed one with an awareness of Omnipresence of Divinity making one realise that there is nothing which one can call his and thus the seeds of vairagya are sown. Besides, development of love towards the Master and devotion to the Divine enables one to move to Knot 2, which is called the Spiritual Heart. Here the outermost covering of the soul - the Annamaya Kosa - is loosened and the spirit is allowed to move out of its shackles consciously. The compassion to fellow beings grows and love and concern for others develop; we then discern the true sense of attachment to God and non-attachment in its correct perspective. The first Knot has to be kept as pure as we can so that the attitude of yielding to Master develops. Though the desire to have the company of similar Divine seeking souls becomes somewhat dominant, but undue attachment towards any of them would detract us from the main goal. This needs to be watched by the abhyasi himself. The Master would always ensure this.

Secondly, a principle of trusteeship has been emphasised by Babuji Maharaj to develop the attitude of due-attachment. By thinking that everything is that of the Master and Master Himself is the doer of all actions, we are trying to hand over everything back to the Master. We are only trustees of wife, children, parents etc. and we are doing all things to protect them on behalf of the Master. This is applicable to property owned by us as well, which are to be kept and utilised as a custodian of the Master. If we take it as something of our own, we will develop an undue attachment and get involved in it. If we take it as trustees, the undue attachment is not there and only due-attachment develops. In our system, Master's support is always with us. When that flow of consciousness, which naturally flows down to the baser levels of our existence is diverted to higher levels by the Force and will of the Master or His Grace, then it becomes possible for us to experience detachment, non-attachment and due-attachment according to our spiritual needs. In this Saga of vairagya, the role of the abhyasi is to practice meditation, when Master's support to divert the flow of consciousness from the heart to the Atman will automatically manifest. When these two things go systematically, then development of Vairagya which seems to be a life time affair elsewhere becomes a matter of few days of sadhana in our system. Thus, non-attachment can be attained only when one is wholly diverted towards the Divine. The Institute of Sri Ram Chandra Consciousness demands that we should do our duty - meditation earnestly, devotedly and consciously. This is the first stepping stone towards spiritual progress.

Meditation

With a view to bring the mind to a perfectly self-contained state free from complexities and disturbances, our ancient sages have generally advised Patanjali Yoga - known as Ashtanga Yoga (i.e. Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi). Under our Sri Ram Chandra's Raja Yoga training, we start from the seventh step Dhyana fixing our mind on Godly Light in our heart in order to practice meditation. The previous steps are not taken up separately but they automatically come into practice as we progress in our meditational practices. Thus much of our time and labour is saved facilitating attainment of the goal within one's life span itself. In short, we start our practice from third Sadhana (Shat Sampatti - six forms of spiritual attainments) of Sadhana Chatushtaya (four elementary means) - Viveka (discrimination), Vairagya (renunciation), Shat Sampatti and Mumuksha (actual merging in the state of non-entity). The six sampattis of third sadhana are Sham (peaceful condition of mind), Dam (control of senses and indriyas), Uparati (self-withdrawal), Titiksha (state of fortitude), Shraddha (faith) and Samadhan (state of self settledness to the will of the Master). With the practice of Dhyana (meditation), all other states naturally fall in line as the mind gets disciplined and senses begin to come under control through the assistance taken from the Ultimate Thought force - the psychic energy. To achieve best results, the nature of thought - which is common between God and Man - for meditation should be such that it is in consonance with the nature of mind itself. Based on this theory and logic, the Master has stipulated that we should meditate on the Divine Light in the heart; not bothering about the nature of light or luminosity. As this thought - a supposition only - is accepted by the mind and heart getting into a state of absorption becomes natural, smooth and easy. The thought of Divine light gets absorbed in the mind as it is approximately near to the Original Thought.

Meditation is the foundation of spirituality. In our system preliminaries to meditation, meditation proper, cleaning process and above all prayer form the core of Raja Yoga of Sri Ram Chandra. Regularity in practice, fixity in posture, place and time, efficacy of daily cleaning process and offering of prayer with heart full of love and devotion - all these four essential practices, therefore, constitute the basic role of an abhyasi in our system. During meditation, if we entertain the idea that not we but the Master Himself is meditating on His Own Form, it shall bring excellent results. Meditation on the point in the heart where one feels its beats is the practice. We should meditate on the heart supposing Divine Light there. The abhyasi should turn his attention gently towards the heart and suppose the presence of Divine light there. Any effort to localize the position in the heart or visualize the light in any form must be avoided. As we develop higher stages of absorbency, we become unmindful of various thoughts that come up during the meditation. Most of these thoughts would be taken care of by meditation on Points 'A' and 'B'. These two points should be attended to regularly to enhance the quality as well as the efficacy of our meditation. Three point Japa or Four point Japa can be taken up, if some thoughts still persist, on the advice of the Trainer only. What is important is not only regularity of meditation but the quality as well. We have known abhyasis who just sit for meditation with mind fully occupied with their worldly problems and affairs. Naturally, there will be no progress nor will one benefit from such type of meditation. In our system, the progress of an abhyasi can be intuitively felt and experienced. With the Master's support one is not allowed to stay at any level for any longer than necessary before he is pushed to the next stage. This is the Grace of the Master and splendour of the system. We can, however, profit from this Divine Benevolence fully if we continue our practice steadfastly. We must start our meditation with a pious attitude towards the Master, a yielding attitude towards Him. When we are able to create a state of vacuity in us then only, the Grace of the Master will flow into our heart incessantly. This is the most important thing an abhyasi has to do. It is his role in essence.

The observance of preliminaries is important in more than one way and enhances the efficacy of the meditation itself. The meditation posture, place and time prepare one to receive His Grace. An easy natural asana (posture) reflecting a form of contraction or withdrawal similar to that at the time of Pralaya would pave the way to the Ultimate and similarity of posture allows us to continue meditation for long time in association with the Great Power - the very thing one takes up in the beginning for the attainment of the goal. Fixity of time for meditation may have different connotations at different levels. For an abhyasi, adherence to specified timings specially before sunrise will put one in the state similar to that which existed at the time of creation. We should complete our morning meditation before sunrise. Thus we do meditation in close conformity with the Original state, the Ultimate we have to finally arrive at. This is essential. A fixed place has two inter related aspects. One - if we do puja from the same fixed place, it reverberates with the Divine consciousness. That particular place gets charged with Sri Ram Chandra's consciousness and it is the place where you find yourself always calm and peaceful. The second aspect of meditation place is offering of a separate seat for the Master while one meditates. While meditating we invoke the Divine presence of the Master to that seat and take a sitting from Him. This inculcates a spirit of humility and obedience to the Master. While fixity of time, place and posture are aids for effective meditation, what is needed in the abhyasi is the iron will to follow the directions of the Master and confidence in his capability of carrying them out under all circumstances, as far as one's physical and mental conditions permit. Many excuses are offered seeking deviation and dilution of these elementary preliminaries. We can satisfy our mind by several pleas. When we cannot carry out simple and easy basic requirements, it reflects on our inadequate and incomplete understanding of the System as such; our faith in spiritual upliftment itself becomes questionable. We need to make up our mind with a firm Sankalpa, then we can easily undertake these simple acts with greater understanding, willingness and regularity. This is the role we must set for ourselves.

As long as we do not remove grossness settled in our Spiritual Centres, the grace or effect of higher centres remains far apart due to the grossness and complexities we have accumulated. Our system of sadhana recommends the modalities and methods for cleaning of the Centres and the entire spiritual system itself. Though the Master Himself attends to this through the process of Transmission, each abhyasi has dynamic and particularised role in effecting this cleaning. The Master's support in this regard is comprehensive, but the role of the abhyasi is pivotal. Aspirants do not evince interest in 'cleaning process', probably because of their lingering attachment to what is being cleaned, nor do they feel much interested in meditation when the cleaning process is being effected and impressions and bondages are being loosened by the Master. As this is the only effective course for getting subtler, lighter and "Sookshma" day by day to secure Union with the subtlest, we have to pay utmost attention and ensure regular cleaning. The process of cleaning uses the Original Power of Thought in the form of human will for the refinement of the individual soul to enable it to ascend the steep and slippery path of realisation of the Subtlest Essence of Identity. There are five processes prescribed and one of these methods - as advised - only should be followed at a time. It is absolutely necessary to apply the force of the will to throw out impurities and to end the sadhana with a feeling of confidence that it has been done efficiently and impurities have been driven out. Thus, we can see the central role of individual abhyasi in this process. We should resort to cleaning process for about five minutes before meditation in the morning. In the evening, we should sit in the normal posture, at least for half an hour and think that complexities, the network of previous thoughts and grossness or solidity in the constitution are all melting away or evaporating in the form of smoke from the back side. Since this process purges the mind and heart, we will be far better receptive for the efficacious flow of Master's Grace. Abhyasi has, therefore, a great responsibility in the practice of regular cleaning, which paves the way for spiritual growth.

The most important and unfailing means of success is the prayer offered in a most suppliant and humble manner completely resigning to the Master's will. It connects our link with God to whom we surrender ourselves with love and devotion. The reason why prayer should be offered with a heart full of love and devotion is that one should create within oneself a state of vacuity so that the flow of Divine Grace is diverted towards him. A man has Bipolar existence. While our root lies nearest to the Base, Ultimate, Bhuma or God - which is spiritual, we have the worldly existence at the other end. It is an extension from the Base. This connection between these two has been mostly obliterated and blocked by grossness and complexities. It is only through Prayer - as a part of our meditational practices - we will be able to seek Divine Master's support to clear the path to our Base and restore our linkage through His Grace. Then only our understanding that "Man is made in the image of God" will attain Divine fruition. If somehow, the individual mind gets moulded towards the Cosmic mind, it begins to appear in its true colours. The individual mind is a part and similar to the Godly mind - the Kshobha, which set into motion the forces of Nature to bring into existence the creation. If somehow we turn its downward trend towards the base, it will become quite calm and peaceful. It is only the help of the Dynamic Personality - the Special Personality - that can turn it towards the Base. The aim of our prayer is to seek His intervention - in the form of Master's support. When man creates in himself a strong craving for the Absolute, he is indeed in a state of prayer and it is for every one to strive for. When a man enters into that state even for a moment, his prayer is granted. In prayer we stand before him as a humble supplicant and completely resigning ourselves to His will. It is a folly to pray to God for petty worldly ends except in most exceptional cases when the peace of mind is greatly disturbed for want of bare basic necessities. We should always pray to the Supreme Master - the Omnipotent and Omniscient alone with a mind totally absorbed in love and submission to His will, forgetting even ourselves altogether. Constant practice brings a man to a state in which he begins to feel himself in prayer all through - even while discharging worldly duties and the same state prevails during all worldly engagements without least disturbance or interruption. A permanent link of devotion is established with the Master. The prayer is to be offered in the most suppliant mood with a heart overflowing with Divine Love. The prayer must be offered in a way as if some most miserable man is laying down his miseries with a deeply afflicted heart before the Supreme Master imploring for His Mercy and Grace with tearful eyes. Then alone can one become a deserving aspirant. The prayer :-

"O, Master! Thou art the real goal of human life, We are yet but slaves of wishes Putting bar to our advancement, Thou art the only God and Power To bring us up to that stage".

Master's Support

The most significant aspect of Sri Ram Chandra's Raja Yoga is the support of the Master which He Himself called as the "Essence of Raja Yoga". As discussed earlier, sadhana has two aspects - one the abhyas and the other 'the Master's Support'. Unless we conduct and carry out abhyas in such a way as to attract the flow of the Divine Grace, sadhana will never be complete nor can we attain the Ultimate. A comprehensive understanding alone will lead to goal clarity and build up our confidence in our capability to achieve the goal with Master's help. In our system, Master's support is available right from the beginning. The most unique feature of this support is through Pranahuti - the power of transmission. Pranahuti is effected through the power of the will and with this power of yogic transmission, the Master through the trainer weakens the lower and baser tendencies of the mind of the abhyasi and more importantly sows the seeds of Divine light in the inner most core of his heart. Since the power of Pranahuti is a Divine power working through the channels of pure mind, the Master awakens and accelerates the dormant forces in the abhyasi to action and diverts the flow of the Divine currents towards the heart and of consciousness from the heart to the Atman Point. This is the Master's Divine role and spiritual responsibility. When we know our role, we need to be fully aware of Master's support and make preparations to receive his Grace by being deserving as well as spiritually attracting. By connecting ourselves with Him with obedience, love and devotion, we also begin to transform accordingly. In addition, the Master attends to the cleaning of the System by removing Mal (grossness), Vikshep (fickleness), and Avaran (covering) of the body, mind and the soul - in our march from gross to subtler levels. It depends on the abhyasi to extract from the Master as much as he can through love and devotion. The greater the intensity of devotion and surrender, the stronger will be the force flowing into him. The abhyasi has only to prepare himself to receive His Grace by making himself capable and deserving of it. This is the role of the abhyasi. Spiritual training for the attainment of higher stages is only possible by the process of Yogic Transmission and by no other means. Sri Ram Chandra's Raja Yoga is the only means presently available for the attainment of the highest - the Ultimate. Without Master's support, therefore, one cannot achieve the goal. Here, by the grace of God, the Master's power alone works all through and there can be no possibility of any harm in it at all. If you find any difficulty or entanglement or unbearable excitement of emotion during your spiritual journey, just refer that to Him through prayer at any time or from any place, it shall be answered and attended to at once. That is the type of responsive, parental support always at our beck and call. Babuji Maharaj often used to say that "the true cry of the aspirant brings the Master to his door". We have come down, now we are going up so as to arrive at the subtle forces of the Nature and to get at them is not an easy job for the sadhaka. The Master is invariably needed there. If a man somehow, reached a certain stage by self effort and he is unable to go up, a sort of grossness or curvature is formed. There are numerous different states which are acquired one after the other during the course of our spiritual march. But the condition that exists there is such that if an abhyasi attempts to cross over to the next level by self effort only, he is unable to bear the strong flow of the Divine energy and instantly slips down. It is only the power of the Master which can enable us not only to move on to next stages but also experience Laya Avastha for the required time at each point. In our system, the Master takes total responsibility for spiritual progress of the practicant and attainment of the Ultimate - Oneness with God, which is known to take innumerable life spans to achieve - is possible within one's life itself. From the very beginning, an abhyasi should devote himself to abhyas with diligence and persistency. We must have full trust upon the Master and must fully cooperate with Him in His effort to transform each individual. Unfortunately, there appears to be a growing trend in some of the abhyasis that since there is ever magnanimous Master's support available to them at all times, there is nothing much to be done by them specially in terms of their constant efforts. They think that just attending weekly Satsanghs and occasional individual meditation will meet the bill for attainment of the goal. Nothing can be more far from truth than this willful and wishful thinking. There is no denying of the fact of the availability of Master's support, but the role of the abhyasi is not only central but is the fulcrum for an individual's progress. The crux of our system and its principles are reflected in the Ten Commandments which Babuji Maharaj has postulated. A perusal of these Ten Commandments would reveal that they require unflinching faith, strong will and great determination followed by constant meditational practices in their entirety on the part of the abhyasi to reach the goal. What is so spectacular of our system is the certainty of achieving the goal of Oneness with God with ever flowing Master's support PROVIDED an abhyasi makes himself deserving by love, devotion, sharing and sacrifice in addition to the adherence to the Ten Commandments. These are the practical aspects of abhyas and inter se relationship between the Master's support and the role of an abhyasi.

Constant Remembrance

Constant remembrance of God is, of course, a special feature in spirituality. The method for cultivating constant remembrance is to think with firm conviction during your leisure hours, whether in office or at home, in the street or in the market, that God is pervading all over and everywhere, and that you are always thinking of Him. This thought should be maintained as long as possible until all worldly responses are influenced by such consciousness. Unfortunately, the issue of constant remembrance is misunderstood in our system. It is not that we go on repeating the name of Babuji Maharaj, as if it is some sort of a mantra. If we are going to repeat His name several times just like a mantra, grossness will be developed. This grossness is of a peculiar variety which is of a finer nature. Both the abhyasi and trainer will not generally have any inclination to remove such grossness of superfine nature. A thin barrier will be in place making further spiritual progress difficult, if not impossible. What we should have in our thought is the consciousness of Babuji Maharaj rather than His form and name. We should always be aware that we are the instruments of the Divine in the personality of Sri Ram Chandraji Maharaj rather than people who are just seeking His blessings.

Frequent remembrance of God though greatly helpful, is not all that we need for our final success in Realisation. 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 spiritual 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 day-to-day activities. It can be easily accomplished if we treat all our actions and work to be a part of Divine duty, entrusted by the Great Master whom we have to serve as best as we can. Babuji Maharaj emphasised the principle of 'Trusteeship' in this regard. We need to develop total faith in being instruments in the hands of the Divine and Master being the doer - both in letter and spirit. While doing a thing, think you are not doing it for yourself but for the Master; rather think that the Master Himself is doing it for Himself. This should be in thought form while performing all and every activity. There should be no exception; then only the fact of constant remembrance will become a reality in practice.

During meditation, if we develop and entertain the idea that not we but the Master Himself is meditating on His own form, it shall bring about excellent results. The progress will be by leaps and bounds and we shall reach the Destination in quickest possible time frame. The intensity of our thought force will punctuate our progress towards the goal. Similarly we should modulate all our routine functions accordingly. Besides, constant prayerful orientation and constant remembrance have close linkages and inter se relationship. When you are in a prayerful attitude, you are in spiritual contact with the Divine and continuation of this thought is constant remembrance. If we cultivate this feeling and maintain the outlook that the Master is doing everything in our place, we shall not only be in constant remembrance all the while, but our actions will not cause any impressions whatsoever and so we will cease to form further Samskaras. This is the mystery as well as efficacy of constant remembrance. The moment formation of Samskaras ceases, the freedom from bondages is in sight and realisation is not far away. To achieve perfection and excellence in our abhyas, the most important and efficacious role is "Constant Remembrance".

Devotion

Constant remembrance, in fact, is a natural development of meditational practices and it requires efficiency when the abhyasi has become devoted to the object of meditation or constant prayer. It then ceases to be dry abhyas and becomes a stimulating and all absorbing engagement. The fire of love and devotion alone burns down trivial trash and wins the gold from the dross. The burning of love may, however, have three stages. The first is the suppressed smouldering giving thick smoke. The second has occasional sparks in it; and the last one gives the bright burning flame capable of reducing every thing to ashes in a moment's time. The first two stages are subject to their exposure to the combustible matter in the air. When the solidity which hampers combustion is removed by the effect of inner heating, the final action starts with full force. But, then, there is the Electric fire as well which by passes the first two stages, and appears only in the final state, free from smoke and vapour. If you can light up such a fire within you, your progress shall be by leaps and bounds.

Devotion and love, of course, remain so easy and yet so difficult of achievement at once. Real devotion has no tinge of affectation in it and goes hand in glove with enlightenment. In the initial stages, the devotee may be conscious of his feelings towards the object of his love; but at higher stages the foam and fury is dimmed to the extent of an almost total loss of its awareness at the Ultimate stage. The superfine level of devotion may be spoken of as total self surrender, from which the awareness of surrender has been entirely withdrawn by the Grace of the Supreme Master Himself.

The problem of practising devotion, surrender, etc. in a natural way is there. For this purpose, it is said that one can love another person of his own species best, for Babuji Maharaj, Lalaji Maharaj was an object of meditation and love. The Adi Guru was no doubt worthy of it, being the fittest man to be meditated upon and be devoted to. He was a Divine Personality - an embodiment of moderation, toleration and devotion. He was altogether free from egoistic feelings, desires and worldly entanglements and devoted wholly to his "Own Self". This phrase refers to a spiritual state of a high order not commonly bestowed upon man. In the system of Sri Ram Chandra's Raja Yoga, the Master is the object of our love and devotion. We have to develop feelings of perpetual love towards Him; then only we can achieve our goal.

Surrender

The easiest and surest means to achieve the goal is to surrender ourselves to the great Master and become a 'Living Dead' ourselves. This feeling of surrender, if cultivated by force or mechanical means seldom proves to be genuine. It must develop automatically within us without the least strain or pressure upon the mind. If the knowledge of self is retained, it is not true surrender. What remains to be done when we have surrendered ourselves in the true sense? Nothing. In this state, an abhyasi will be in close touch with Reality all the time, and the current of Divine effulgence will continue its flow to him without any break. In this way, we can solve our problem of life in the easiest and most efficacious way in the shortest possible time.

We have to develop an attitude of absolute surrender to the Master. Most of the time we can satisfy ourselves that we have surrendered to the Master while in fact we have surrendered to our own wishes which we expect the Master to fulfil. We do not accept whatever the Will of the Master might be but expect our wishes to be satisfied. This we call surrender to Master. Thus it is clear that yielding attitude is bit different from the self surrender that we think we have got. This self surrender that many people claim is not surrender to Master but surrender to their own self. Further it has been our bitter experience that many people who think that they have surrendered to the Master are the people who are suffering from an extraordinary sense of egoism. They think they have done a very great thing by surrendering themselves to the Master. This is an unfortunate situation, where the psyche is playing a big joke on the person. He does not think that self surrender demands a surrender of the consciousness of the self itself. Somewhere in between he gets stuck up and he thinks that he has surrendered and therefore, it is the Master and the Master alone who has to attend to the appropriate action. So this shifting of responsibility of our sadhana towards the Master arises out of this peculiar clique of self surrender. It leads to lazy habits; it leads to extraordinary egotism, Ahankar and then arrogance and all such sort of things. But, if we have really surrendered ourselves to the Master, these things do not arise. At times, personalities at higher levels suffer from this misconception. This is mainly because that people do not do their sadhana.

Self surrender is nothing but a state of complete resignation to the will of the Master with total disregard of the self. A permanent stay in this condition leads to the beginning of the state of negation. When we surrender ourselves to the great Master, we begin to attract a constant flow of highest Divine Force from Him. In this state, a man thinks or does only that which his Master's will ordains. He feels nothing in the world to be his belonging, but feels everything as a sacred trust from the Master, and he does every thing thinking it to be his Master's bidding. His will becomes completely subservient to the will of the Master. Surrender is not an ordinary thing to be achieved easily. It begins after complete negation of all senses and faculties for which we proceed by elementary rules of devotion. We submit to our Master, thinking Him to be a Super Human Being. We love Him with devotion and faith and reverence, trying by all means to attract His attention and favour.

As far as surrender is concerned, there are two examples of surrender. One - Markata Kishora Nyaya and Marjala Kishora Nyaya. In the case of former, a baby monkey clings to its mother under all circumstances and is thus saved. In the latter case, kitten completely leave it to their mother for safety of their lives. An individual has to choose himself the methodology and means of his surrender to the Supreme Personality. Whatever method or way one wants to follow, the most important thing is total faith, love and devotion. In either of these means there is liberation and realisation.

Spread of Sri Ram Chandra's Raja Yoga

The timeliness of the introduction of Raja Yoga System in the present Yuga or Age by the Supreme Personality Rev. Sri Ram Chandraji Maharaj has its cosmic relevance to the restoration of spiritual and harmonious living of human life on the earth. We have the grace of Babuji Maharaj and are the most fortunate ones in the world today. This one factor of Divine Grace has totally changed the very complexion of our lives. The feeling of calmness, of balancedness, of pious attitude and of total absorption even for a few minutes is something that every saint has craved for ages. Even a glimpse of This State is known to release us from the bondages and enable one to attain liberation. In our system, we secure this state of spirituality all the time, day in and day out. It is only under this system a human being can reach the farthest limit of spiritual approach possible for any one. Our Masters secured It; some of the reverend disciples attained it; it is possible for any body to reach it and all are welcome to seek and experience this state during this very life itself.

We have been bestowed with His Grace by sheer fortune; not that all of us are deserving but He is always to bless any and every seeker. As an abhyasi, we should, therefore, see that He alone exhibits Himself through us. It is He alone who should express Himself in us. Babuji Maharaj said, "On seeing an abhyasi, one should ask who is your Master?" People should interestingly seek and ask what is the System you follow? How is it you could say or do like this without fear or favour and conduct yourself in such an upright and righteous manner? This is possible because we know that there is Divinity in our hearts, there is commonness in our Origin, there is a feeling of fraternity amongst us and love, devotion, sharing, sacrifice and concern govern our relations with each other. If this path of Sri Ram Chandra's Raja Yoga is any value, it is in this harmonious living, that is Divine. This is possible; this is our experience. To make it work and condition our life in its totality with the System is the role of an abhyasi. Babuji Maharaj never called upon us to just do meditation, sit at home looking after our own respective families most selfishly and do not care about other people, the society and the world. That is not our understanding. The underlying philosophy is that we should live together and for others as well. Then only we can play a meaningful and purposeful role destined to each of us in the Divine Lila or Scheme of Nature. The tolerance and respect towards all can never develop unless we have assimilated the fundamental understanding of fraternity. This fraternity is possible because of our common cosmic parenthood and Origin. If we comprehend the common spiritual source from which we have evolved and feel the commonness in our hearts, then it will become natural for us. Otherwise it is artificial, remains a catch word and will just be a lip service as is generally the case with most of us. Everybody - the politician, the social worker and the religious teacher - has talked about this; nothing is new about the idea itself. But to live with that idea as an integral part of our life itself and practice it as such, we require sadhana and this is what Sri Ram Chandra's Raja Yoga aims at. This sadhana must be underlined with total love and Message of the Master.

When every one of us lives his life in unison, in cooperation and in conformity with the Nature as well as all other people, then, that alone becomes Divine life. Whatever little we have, let us share with somebody else including some agony. In case, it comes to us we should not say that our need is not taken care of. This concept of sharing is lost mainly because we have understood our needs to be absolutely individual and as not something that is shared by all of us. An analysis of rapidly declining joint family system and its subsequent degeneration into nuclear and individual families would tell us how united we were and how we got separated now. Common concern was basic to our group living specially in rural areas. It has become almost extinct now; thanks to the materialistic society now - even old parents have become burden to their children. This cultural and spiritual degradation mainly due to evil influences of the Western based life -concepts have eaten the very vitals of our great civilisation. It is only individual transformation that can rejuvenate our life-system as a whole. The only answer lies in proper understanding and spread of the message of harmony, love, sharing and sacrifice of Sri Ram Chandraji Maharaj of Shahjahanpur. All of us are united that we should spread His message and it is our duty. But, then that is the basic role for which we should get an eligibility, authority and arhata. For that we have to do sadhana. This sadhana is a comprehensive exercise system we carry out in order that we express Him to others. Divinity wants us to be harmonious, Divinity wants us to be united. It wants all His manifestations to live together with all the diversities. Unity in diversity is not a mere slogan, but it is (or it was!) the Indian way of life. It got afflicted. Our sadhana must lead us to be imbued with the Divine qualities of Sri Ram Chandra's Raja Yoga, then only its relevance will be fully established. That is the role which Master expects; that is what we have to do in our life. Such propagation and spread of His Message is the bounden duty of all of us.

It is our firm conviction that the Sun has already risen and is very much engaged in His Mission. He is Sri Ram Chandraji Maharaj of Shahjahanpur - reverentially addressed as Babuji Maharaj. This is very clear way of putting our point of view, where we feel His presence so much. While several lines are there towards the Divinity and the Ultimate, all have to channel themselves through the Controlling Spiritual Centre in the Cosmic phenomena in the Special Personality of Babuji Maharaj and His Divine Consciousness. He is the Master of the Universe and the Supreme Personality who is deciding the destinies in spirituality. We have no doubt. Somehow, if we can bring about the awareness of Ram Chandra Consciousness, people will automatically gravitate towards Him. There is no other way; there is no other path; there is no other go. He is the Way; He is the Means and He is the Goal. We, the abhyasis have to do certain things as a part of our Sadhana - invoke in others the feeling of piety and a propensity of devotion towards the Master. The relevance as well as the spiritual inevitability of Babuji Maharaj and Sri Ram Chandra's Raja Yoga in our life should be spontaneously felt by one and all and be the cause to "foment" and "kindle" the Divine Consciousness of the Master. This is the only Divine Mission not only for individual redemption but to the world harmony as well; We will have to play our role in this greatest and unique spiritual "Yagna" for the upliftment of the mankind. It is, therefore, the duty of every abhyasi to pass on this "Way of Life" - Sri Ram Chandra's Raja Yoga System; His message; that is the most important role and Service to the humanity.