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In the sphere of Spirituality, Character development has a special place, the importance of which is in no way less than that of Spiritual Welfare itself. Our Revered Lalaji Maharaj always laid emphasis on the special importance of character in the area of spiritual development. In one place he has written 'I tell every human being, every seeker from the very beginning try his best to maintain and improve the condition of his personal character. No word should leave the mouth which is likely to be objectionable to anyone. Nor should any such act be indulged in as likely to be unpleasant to others. I am not as much a lover of spirituality as of character. If a seeker has achieved the Dhruv Padh but character weakness still exists in him, my understanding is that he has not understood the True Philosophy.'
I also desire that there should be no weakness of character among the abhyasis of our Mission; but what use is it that I desire it so! People are defective is the oneness with all. They do not wish to do anything themselves. They wish that I alone should do all that is necessary for achieving their uplift, through the use of my inner powers - I should give them the desire to engage in meditation practice, get them to do their daily practice, give them improvement, progress and promotion and get them interested in all this activity through my own powers so that they do not have to do anything themselves. They do not wish to make the slightest change in any detail of their life or habits, nor do any type of practice etc., that has been taught to them. But when any defect is found in any of them or when any disorder arises in the matter of the spiritual progress of any of them, the responsibility and the blame, all are mine! I experience another difficulty too. Even without the cooperation of the people, my sympathies are with them and I am always interested to help them. Therefore on their expressed request, I become ready to do everything for them even when the request is made only as a mere formality born of bare regard for me. What else can I do when it is my intense desire to pour all my spirituality in them in larger and larger ladlefuls, irrespective of whether they are ready to accept and absorb it or not? When I look into them to see how much more feed I have to put in, my senses fly away and I wish that I could dissolve it all and give to them to drink up. But even of persons capable of drinking it up, only one or two can be found. This is my fortune, my lot - in life! My intense desire is that everyone's work should be completed successfully. Effort of anyone never goes waste, but it seems to be very difficult for anyone to do any effort. All this being told they do not 'get' it. Lakhs of rebirths have gone by without achieving their return to their homeland; and the sorrow that even now, its necessity does not show itself in them. It does not occur to me what I can or should do, when no one desires even to start moving.
My heart is filled to the brim with love for my associates. Whatever service I am able to render to them, all that does not give me satisfaction. My heart is ever intent and keen to ensure that the largest part of them should achieve atleast my own spiritual condition in the shortest possible period of time. In order to expedite this and to ensure the message reaching the largest number quickly and in good measure, I appointed a large number of preceptors to do the job of awakening the public so that their work can be done, and their character, conduct and behaviour can be remodelled and straitened out.
In the beginning, in ancient India, this system was kept in close preserve, without publicity. In consequence, in times past Rishis just imparted it to a few of their own disciples. Among them, some could not even impart it. Changing times and conditions had their effect. Gradually the method got lost. The Truth vanished and all its opposites were born. Ideas of differences of greatness and smallness were born and people began to be satisfied with microscopic successes, in the belief that the success was complete. The boat had sunk to hide itself in the lake. Even to the onlookers it seemed that this was all. All saw the lake and became so much attracted to it that none had a single thought for the Ocean. Thus they got themselves limited and soon its grosser aspects began to surface, concern for the body and concern for the concern began to assume tremendous importance and proportions.
Then the bondage of egoism came in and got firmly established and people started thinking very highly of themselves though they were not so in truth. Ideas similar to this began to arise in some of our preceptors; and the disease is spreading instead of dying down. Endowing them with power has become risky for me. Power exists for achieving the Divine and for benefiting others; but in such persons it started inducing intentions of selfish profit. In addition to teaching others incorrectly they started debating even their own practice. They forgot that along with becoming preceptors, they continue to be abhyasis. They started injecting their own personal ideas into the detailed rules and methods of meditation practice decided and laid down originally and started teaching abhyasis the considerably altered methods of their own practice. Some preceptors teach something and some others some other way. It does not occur to them that in the very fine (sookhsma) rules of practice for achieving the Infinite, even the slightest variation or change can have the dire consequences. Can anyone claim to have achieved all Infinity? If a grain of Reality be gained; it is so invaluable that the entire riches of the world can not be its ransom. It is true that power too was given to them, but they desired to use it, buried as they are in their selfishness and egoism. They never could think that this puts twofold burden on me. (One to progress their advance towards spiritual welfare and the other, to separate them from their self-created and developed ego.) Because of this small but wrong doing of theirs; how much work for me gets increased, never occurs to them - perhaps they are not in a condition to be able to appreciate it at all. They began to believe that their faith in their ego is their Power and became entangled in it. It is quite possible that they become so immersed in their condition that any effort to free them from it is like making pulse grains out of steel. They just learnt the word 'Power', but they did not know, did not attempt to understand, what Power is, and how to use it to help others. A few are so born who confuse dhal for boiled rice and take great pleasure in this confusion. This alone can be said about them that they have strayed away from the path; and to bring them back to the path has become near impossible due to their having gone away from their dharma their duty. This is the reward I get for all my labour. What can I tell such persons? Only this, that such is my fate, my fortune!
All the Centres of the Mission are Lalaji Maharaj's not any particular person's, and we are working according to his orders and instructions. If even now these persons do not change themselves and do not extend their co-operation despite my concerted efforts to help them, it will have to be said of them that by the Grace of the Sadguru they did get the Ocean, but by their ignorance they lost the Ocean. The Mission's abhyasis and preceptors should put into practice the ancient teaching.
"There is nothing for me that is 'mine'; What little there is, is 'Yours'.
Herein lies all that is good for all of us."
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