Dear Sirs, brothers and sisters, Pranamams,
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Let me venture and have the privilege to
talk to you with all humility about Rev. Babuji’s Natural Path and
Commandments 8,9 and 10 from Pujya Babuji’s Ten Commandments.
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Before I proceed with the subject proper, I
would like to share with you the grim situation prevailing in this world.
The chaotic conditions prevailing in this universe due to natural calamities
such as floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes due to indiscriminate
exploitation of Nature by man on one side and the untold miseries and terror
perpetuated by the terrorists throughput the world on the other side is
plaguing the earth. Everywhere there is anguish, fear, expectation and the
question is “what is going to happen?”
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What is the remedy that it does not become
necessary to pass once more through one of these terrible, gigantic
destructions which will plunge the entire civilization into darkness?
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There is only one hope and solution to
remedy the situation (ie) “if only man could consent to be spiritualized?”
If so, there are fair chances of restoring balance all-round (i.e.) in
Nature and as well in us to stop further deterioration.
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It is opined that during such conditions
when spirituality is tottering helplessly and solid materialism has usurped
the position of spiritualism in human life and yogic transmission has become
obsolete, a great soul / guide descends down to earth to cleanse the human
spirit of its accumulated impurity and turn its look once again inward, so
as to realize its deepest need. That is how a great soul in the form of
Samartha guru Shri Ram Chandraji Maharaj of Fatehgarh descended down to
earth. His life marks the advent of a new era in spirituality. As observed
by Rev Babuji Maharaj, He was in fact the Nature’s Prodigy and His work in
spiritual field is beyond common conception. He had practically modified
the system of Raja Yoga so as to suit the need of time and the capacity of
the people in general. He made wonderful researches in this science and had
made human approach up to the farthest limit possible and practicable for a
man in the least possible time. Pranahuti or Yogic transmission is the
chief instrument, which was lost to humanity for a very long time, was
revised by Him. Wonder of wonders achieved during His life time was to
mould Rev Shri Ram Chandraji Maharaj of Shahjahanpur, U.P. as a Special
Personality to continue His stupendous spiritual work to benefit the
humanity at large (i.e.) to achieve the goal of life in one’s life time
itself, nay even in a much shorter time, if only the abhyasi is sincere in
his abhyas and meticulously observers other spiritual aspects enancipated by
Him. It is He who founded the Mission known as “Natural Path” duly
introducing further aspects in spirituality backed by His researches, making
the path much easier. Thus, He perfected the system further. How very
fortunate we are who have been associated with Revered Babuji Maharaj and
also those who joined the Mission thereafter when we understand the
following. “The Teachers of mankind are few. A thousand years may pass by
without the advent of such a one; but when the true teacher does appear, the
distinguishing feature by which he is known is his life. His conduct is
different from that of other men and his teaching is never derived from any
man or book, but from his own life. The teacher first lives and then
teaches others how they may live. The proof and witness of his teaching is
in himself, his life. Out of millions of preachers, only one is ultimately
accepted by mankind as the true teacher, and the one who is thus accepted
and enacted is he who lives. All the others are disquisitionaries (a formal
discussion of some subject or treatise) and commentator and as such they
rapidly pass out of human ken (range of knowledge; understanding).” Now
coming back, Rev Babuji’s guidance continues to be available for thousand
years to come even though He shed His mortal coil during April 1983 (i.e.)
the great stream of spiritual energy let loose in and through Him will long
remain, watering the arid lands of human ignorance and duly transmuting our
quick impulsiveness and emotional restlessness into the peace of the
Eternal. Further to illumine us from within to get an inkling into the
mystery at the bottom. From the ceaseless chain of mere events we get to
the back of the veil and realize that our life is rooted in Eternity.
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The unique features of the Natural Path
System of sadhana is the awakening of the spiritual force that is within
each individual by transmitting into his heart that ultimate Highest force
for the transformation of the individual, duly erasing all the past
samskaras in him. In one sense we are dead to the past and awakened to our
Divine Nature. It is only the Natural Path which ensures our spiritual
elevation (evolution) on top speed (i.e.) in worldly parlance it is
like travel by plane. It is only the Natural Path which will ensure the
supreme aim of all beings (i.e.) the perpetual approach to the absolute
perfection and Divine Happiness.
Next I come to the Commandment
part of the talk.
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We must have heard any number of speakers
talking to us about Pujya Babuji’s Ten Commandments. Still I would like to
reiterate them since they form a vital part in the sadhana of Natural Path
of Rev Shri Ram Chandraji Maharaj.
In this connection, I feel, that
it may not be out place to mention the following words of Shri Ravindranath
Tagore. “The meaning of the living words that come out of the experiences of
great hearts can never be exhausted by any one system of logical
interpretation. They have to be endlessly explained by the commentaries of
individual lives and they gain an added mystery in each new revelation. These
have been things of the spirit and therefore endowed with boundless vital
growth”(Sadhana).
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Rev Babuji Maharaj had expounded Moral /
Ethical disciplines as the Ten Commandments with commentaries thereon of the
Natural Path which are free from grossness, ambiguity and casuistry.
The greatness of this work can well be understood as explained by Rev Babuji
Himself. “It has been written from a very high state of super consciousness
where Reality is revealed only through vibration. In it you will find
originality right from the beginning till the end. This is my masterpiece.
Read it again and again. You will find each word and each sentence
commendable and when you begin to understand, I am sure you will be greatly
pleased.”
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From the above, we can well understand that
Rev Babuji attached greatest importance for ethical and moral purity since
purity is the foundation for spiritual life. So it is imperative that we
cultivate the flowers of Divine virtues in the garden of our hearts. It is
from virtue, one rises to holiness, from holiness to Godliness and from
Godliness to God consciousness. From impurity one rises to purity and from
purity to sanctity and from sanctity into sublime spiritual experience.
Morality by itself is not
spirituality, it only aids spirituality. Sense of morality is an index of the
evolute stage of man whereas spirituality at best can be defined as a
means to make us remember our original Home and also shows the way to get back.
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With the above short and humble introduction
to Rev Babuji’s monumental, unparallel and inimitable work, I come back to
the subject I propose to place before you.
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Commandment No.8: It states, as you all know
“Be Happy to eat in constant Divine thought whatever you get with due regard
to honest and pious earnings”.
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I now lay down before you the principal
features of this Commandment as explained by I.S.R.C.
(a)
A happy disposition
is a state which may aptly be taken as that next to the Divine.
(b)
While taking food,
we fix our thought upon the Ultimate (Balance) which we have finally to attain,
in order to take in its effect too and increase our purity all the more.
(c)
The impulse of
thought created thereby combines with the food and helps to promote our physical
and spiritual health.
(d)
The thing got from
Nature is pure because its basis is purity. The thing earned by man can also
remain in a pure state when that is got through pure and pious means.
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Let me venture to explain about this
Commandment in a humble way covering all the salient features detailed
above. As already mentioned the works of Rev Babuji are unique and
monumental. He expressed them in a simple way pregnant with oceans of
spiritual wealth.
Rev Babuji created a science to
help humanity more into the unknown way towards the unknowable without falling,
without going astray. It is difficult because He had to use words and words are
very small and what He had expressed through them is so vast, it cannot be
contained in them. He had tried to contain oceans in drops. But the miracle is
that He had done it and they are before us. Nothing could be impossible to Him.
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Pardon me for the deviation and now I come
back to the subject.
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Before I proceed further, I place before you
in a concise form what Rev Babuji had to say about this Commandment.
“The philosophy involved in
it starts from materiality and ends in the final state we all are to arrive at.
A happy disposition is a state which may aptly be taken as that next to the
Divine. Fixing our thought on it means taking into account that which is our
final goal. In other words, we begin from the point beyond which remains but
That only. Since we fix up our thought on the Divine, while taking our food,
the effect taken by it enters our body and begins to spread all through our
veins and arteries. In other words, we have utilized to our best purpose the
thing which we take in from outside. The particles and atoms of the body begin
to get purified. The impulse of thought created thereby combines with the food
and helps to promote our physical health.
The thing got from Nature is very
pure because its basis is purity. The thing earned by man can also remain in a
pure state when that is got through pure and pious means. The influence thereof
will affect the nearest layers and help to purify the human web. This is the
reason why sages have laid so much stress upon honest and pious earnings”.
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And now let me elaborate further. All the
food in the world is Divine – made edible. Mother nature prepares the best
for the human bodies. Divine has created these powerful and natural foods.
Being natural, eating simple and common man’s diet is good, avoiding
packaged and canned foods which rob us of our natural vibrant health though
they might taste good.
The food that we eat must be
firstly, piously and honestly earned. Unrighteously earned food is like poison
to the very system. The spiritual experiences often go wrong by taking food not
honestly earned. Further eating must be done in the consciousness of God, the
giver being God and in fact it is for God that one ultimately lives and eats to
live.
Simple food, food that has
not been got by ill means, food that is wholesome and satvik, food that will
promote spiritual thoughts, moderate, sweet and pleasant rather pleasure
provoking and passion and desire increasing is basic to the proper maintenance
of our bodies. It will not accumulate darkness within and make all our organs
obey the Supreme Consciousness and unknot the whole and link us up with the
Divine.
The subtler and
spiritual the food that one eats, the more perfect becomes his capacity to
respond to the Divine Force that is always flowing into him. Indeed in a sense
it is that which gives such power to spiritual man.
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Next we come to Commandment No.9. It
states, “Mould your living so as to rouse a feeling of love and piety in
others”.
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Now I lay down before you the principal
features of this Commandment as explained by I.S.R.C.
(a)
Nature is uniform
(just) in its dealings. This dealing of Nature is to be copied and applied in
our daily life.
(b)
Individual dealings
must be moulded with due regard to proper needs and fair rights of everyone.
(c)
This is possible
when we become Divine in expression (Real man)
(d)
Becoming a Real Man
is possible by following all the Commandments.
(e)
Moulding our speech,
moderation and balanced existence, piety and devotion being our approaches, love
being our expression, it should be possible for us to make others think in terms
of Divinity.
(f)
Allow only Divinity
to express itself rather than allowing our creation to be expressed.
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Before I proceed further, I place before you
in a concise form what Rev Babuji had to say about this Commandment.
“We get power from our thought.
It happens only when we create perfect harmony between things of our making and
those of the Divine. The vyavahara – covers the entire sphere which falls next
to the ultimate. There is uniformity in Divine dealings, only in a particular
sense. For example, He gives light to all. He has created air for all to
breathe in and so also many other things which foster the growth of life and
sustain our very existence. This can be interpreted as the uniformity of all
Nature’s dealings. (A little deviation: It can as well be said that God does
not offer different opportunities to different people).
When a thing made of clay
comes before us we take a different view of it, and our liking is increased in
comparison to the mass of clay which it is made up of. Similarly when a man
approaches God after proper making of himself, He takes different view of Him.
This goes to explain that we should effect such a making of ourselves as may
help us to become the cynosure of His eyes.
The example of Nature
which deals in Her own particular way, must be kept in view and all our dealings
must be moulded with due regard to proper needs and fair right of everyone and
bring them in close conformity with those of Nature. This will add further
force to its effectiveness and the people will be attracted towards you. It
will create a feeling of love in their hearts and they will begin to behave with
you in a manner which you duly deserve”.
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Now let me elaborate further.
Really speaking he alone is lovable who has a loving heart, whose
heart is full of noble ideas, sentiments and virtues like aversion to the
pleasures of senses, self abnegation, harmlessness, love, tenderness,
susceptibility to others’ sufferings, humility, compassion, modesty,
forbearance, the spirit of service, self control, even mindedness and serenity.
The effulgence of these noble sentiments and virtues of the heart is reflected
as a matter of course in the countenance the eyes, nay, in every limb of man
possessing such a heart and that effulgence unfold these virtues in the heart of
an onlooker according to the degree of intensity of his sentiments.
Lovable is he whose very sight suppresses and
disperses our sinful thoughts and awakens and activates the angel in us and
suppresses and knocks down the devil.
That comeliness alone is real which is accompanied by
unimpeachability of character, sublimity or sentiments and purity of conduct.
Money, house and holdings do not constitute real
wealth. The true wealth of man consists in an ideal life full of goodness and
goodness alone. A truly rich man is he who is rich in the wealth of character.
His conduct itself urges all to mould their lives after the pattern of his life.
Everyone is ever benefited as a matter of course by
such men leading an ideal life which they transmit to others. A sweet tongue,
humility, truthfulness, service, beneficence, forgiveness, self-denial, peace
and joy, these are the inherent and intrinsic virtues of their lives.
Men leading such an ideal life are an ocean of peace,
inexhaustible store of love and immeasurable fount of happiness. Even he who
comes into contact with them attains peace and happiness and develops love.
If we follow in the footsteps of such ideal men,
looking upon their life as our model of excellence we too will be able to do
good to ourselves as well as to other numberless beings.
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Now we come to Commandment No.10. It states
“At bed time, feeling the presence of God, repent for the wrongs committed.
Beg forgiveness in a supplicant mood, resolving not to allow repetition of
the same”.
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Following are the salient features of the
above commandment as explained by I.S.R.C.
(a)
Human perfection
lies in realizing the Master as Master in true sense and oneself as His slave
devoted entirely to His service.
(b)
A devotee is
concerned nothing but Master’s close attention towards him and his own nearness
to Him.
(c)
When one has
accepted Him as the Master he can lay before Him every wrong committed by him
and anything that might be against the principle, in the capacity of one
feeling guilty.
(d)
Thinking of Master
as epitome of forgiveness enables to feel the presence of God.
(e)
Repentance is
nothing but a jerk to the thought waves which creates to a certain extent a
state of vaccum within.
(f)
Repentance for
having committed the mistake of jumping out of the home-land, diverts the
attention of Master towards oneself.
(g)
When the wrongs
committed are presented with a feeling of supplicancy, the mistake no longer
remains a mistake since it has been washed off completely.
(h)
The next phase of
devotion now comes in which cautions him against the repetition of the wrong.
(i)
This takes the form
of repeated prayers to the great Master for granting him a state of contentment
to serve as a safeguard against repetition.
(j)
At bedtime one is
free from all engagements and is in a comparatively free state.
(k)
This freedom may
also be interpreted as Nature’s state of contentment.
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Let me now place before you in a nutshell
what Rev Babuji had to say about this commandment.
“Human perfection lies in
realizing the Master as Master in true sense, oneself as His slave devoted
entirely to His service. By doing so one creates in himself a state of negation
which attracts. His direct attention and establishes a link with Him. Now it
becomes incumbent on one to discharge his duties in like manner, keeping the
link intact, so that the Master’s greatness be engrossed upon his heart and he
be in His direct view.
A devotee is concerned
with nothing but Master’s close attention towards him, and his own nearness to
Him. When one has accepted Him as the Master, he can lay before Him every wrong
committed unknowingly by him or anything that might be against the principle, in
the capacity of one feeling guilty. In this way one impresses his own meekness
upon the Master who also begins to think that the wrong committed by the devotee
is really pardonable since the feeling of supplication is present in his heart,
for which he has presented it to the Master.
The feeling of
humility which as well may be expressed as a state of supplicancy, covers within
it condition of innocence. One who attains it has in a way attained all, though
apparently it may not be seen to be so. In that case the mistake no longer
remains a mistake, since it has been washed off completely.
The Next phase of
devotee now comes in, which cautions him against the repetition of wrong. It
appears in the form of repeated prayers to the Great Master for granting him a
state of contentment to serve as a safeguard against repetition. As we have
entered the sphere in the capacity of a supplicant it becomes incumbent upon us
to abide by the rules of duty, avoiding everything that is forbidden when one
shortens the distance between oneself and the Master. Hence the method for that
would be to maintain in our thought a constant feeling of His presence.
It is also considered
to be better to do this at bed time, because one is then free from all
engagements and the only point in one’s view is that of rest and repose, in
other words, one finds himself in a comparatively free state. This freedom may
also be interpreted as Nature’s state of contentment. Thus in a way we acquire
conformity with at least one of the aspects of Nature. This is the reason why
prayer at bed time is more effective and actions done accordingly are all well
adjusted. We must therefore derive greatest benefit from time and take up work
suited for the hour”.
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Rev Dr.K.C.Varadacharigaru in his talks on
the Ten Commandments of Rev Babuji Maharaj observed as follows with regard
to the 10th Commandment.
“The bedtime, as has been
spoken of under the commandment 10 is the time of rest and contentment, of
recuperation and remembrance and quiet recollection is possible. This is the
best time prescribed by Nature for recollection and reviewing and linking
oneself with the Master. This commandment is thus very important as it preaches
the practice of constant remembrance of the Divine through day and night and
always.
Engaged as we are with
the world, our activities are imperfection. Imperfection is the cause of our
wrong doings and impaction results from our not being full of negation of
ourselves or being nothing in ourselves. Thus wrong thoughts, deeds and speech
arise. To recognize them as such is necessary. Thus one reviews one’s whole
day’s thoughts, talks and actions and begins to discover imperfect (way) manner
of doing them. The keeping of diary is helpful not merely for the purpose of
noting our spiritual experiences but also our doings done on our own initiative
and without the practice of God’s and Master’s presence and direction. It is
necessary to review these and note them so that the mere entry of it in our
diary will automatically draw the attention of the Master and speed up the
process of rectification and purification. Repentance is for the loss of
practice of nothingness and of the presence of the Master”.
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Further Rev Brother K.C.Narayana garu has
put the gist of the commandment 10 in a nutshell as follows:
“To practice this, one has
to know his humble status before the Divine. Humility is a virtue that develops
only when one becomes conscious of the limitations of existence and the
infinitesimal proposition of existence over which he deludes himself as having
control”.
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Further it can be said that repentance
brings about a change of heart. When the heart changes, man becomes new.
He longs to dedicate his life to God. He becomes innocent as a child. The
ideal thing is not to commit a sin. But having committed it, repentance is
infinitely better than not asking for forgiveness. God, in His mercy, can
transform sin into strength. Now coming to the prayer aspect the following
depicts our casual manner and the hollowness we attach to the prayers we
make.
If the words we use are
not made real by the way we live, they will still be meaningless and lead
nowhere, because they will be like a bow that we cannot shoot for lack of
string. It is absolutely pointless to ask god for something which we ourselves
are prepared to do. If we say “ O God! Make me free from this or that
temptation” while at the same time seeking every possible way of falling to just
such a temptation, hoping that God is in control, that He will get us out of it,
then we do not stand any chance. God gives strength but we must use it.
When we ask for something
in our prayers, we undertake by implication to do it with all our strength, all
our intelligence, all the enthusiasm we can put into our action and will, all
the courage and energy we have. In addition, we do it with all the power which
God will give us. If we do not do this, we are wasting our time praying. Our
mind must be formed, moulded to the words, filled and harmonized with them. Our
heart must accept them with complete conviction and express them with all the
strength of which we are capable and our will must take over them and transform
them into action. Therefore, prayer and action should become two expressions of
the same situation vis-à-vis God and ourselves and everything around us. Short
of that we are wasting our time.
Words of prayer have the
quality of always being words of commitment. We cannot simply say words of
prayer without implying “If I say that, then that is what I am going to do when
the occasion lends itself”.
Prayer does not imply
dictation or enforcement of our will upon God, but submission to His will,
laying down our sorrows and ills before Him.
Hitherto we had to readily
be prepared to pay a high price for spiritual freedom. Now with the advent of
Rev Shri Ram Chandraji’s Natural Path system of sadhana where Master’s help is
assured till we reach the goal of human life, it has come as a boon to the
householders while carrying out their duties and responsibilities as
householders which do not interfere with their routine worldly duties. On the
other hand they grow more efficient in their work, the earlier drudgery getting
reduced.
Rev Babuji Maharaj in all
His compassion for the suffering humanity founded a method and Mission
(presently known as the Institute of Shri Ram Chandra Consciousness) for the
spiritual emancipitation of all.
Now that we have a Master,
method and Mission we must make the best use of the opportunity thrown open to
us with no worldly commitment, but assured of achieving the goal. But so
perverse are we that we postpone our efforts and continue to derive intellectual
enjoyment from some fine ideas without bothering to realize the Truth ourselves.
We go on dreaming our miserable, contemptible, petty little dreams of love,
greed and self gratification, clinging onto them until they are torn away from
our clutches.
After several years we ask
ourselves “what have I achieved? What have I got out of this life?” We should
all live in such a way that we get something concrete from our spiritual life.
We should get at least some glimpses of Divine Light within us. No one who
practices spiritual discipline sincerely and methodically, leading a pure life
and prays to God intensely will be disappointed. World is the training ground
and we should make best use of the short span of time given to us.
If we perceive our fortune
in having attained a human birth but do nothing about it, we are like a miser
who knowing the value of his gold, counts it but does not use it. If we pride
ourselves on having the qualities of leisure and practice, we are wasting our
wealth (ie) life.
If we do not have the time
now, what makes us think we will have it later. Life is extremely short, we
grossly underestimate how quickly time passes and thus do not know how soon our
opportunity for practice will be ruined. We need to be taught that an
opportunity to practice is infinitely valuable, for unless we learn to recognize
this situation, for the jewel that it is (life) we may neglect to use it.
Our sincerity will make us
steadfast, our steadfastness will bring us to the goal. Our sincerity will also
make us resolute and our resolutions will make us overcome all obstacles. All
our illusions will have to be burnt and turned into illuminations of joy, all
our desires should ripen into fruits of love.
Brothers and sisters human
life itself is a gracious gift of great value. Not a day therefore, not an hour
not a minute thereof should be wasted on things unworthy of that gracious gift.
That there is a Divinity that shapes our ends is the supreme truth.
May the Natural Path lead
one and all from despair and bondage to real peace, freedom and to the Ultimate!
Amen.
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