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“God is constantly with us and ready to take us up
at the slightest sign on our part of accepting Him.”
Sri. K.C.Narayana
While dealing with the subject of Surrender Dr.K.C.V.
asserts that God is constantly with us and ready to
help us provided we express our desire for such an
assistance. The immediate question that would arise
in any aspirant would be if that is so why is it we
do not seem to be progressing in the path as fast as
we would like to? This statement of assurance
however welcome has certain conditions which he
states later in the article. He states that ‘The
most important thing in this matter is, we are
willing to seek God or Master. That is an act of
"will" not of "inclination" alone. If we have
decided that we want the Master's help for our own
higher evolution, or to reach the Ultimate, we will
find that God is very near.” It is not seeking help
of the Master for petty desires and wishes that gets
us the help of God. When we realise that we are
slaves of our wishes and are determined to get over
them and seek Him for His sake we find Him closest
to our heart. To come to that condition we have to
move sufficiently in the path. Dr. K.C.V. states
that “Virtues such as Satya, ahimsa, aparigraha,
asteya, brahmacharya, sauca, Dana, daya etc., and
also austerities such as observing vows and fasting,
reveals the training that is being given to the
sense and motor organs, and the mind itself, in
order to prepare one for the receipt of Divine Grace
or power.” (Reference: Vol 1 - 376)
2.
He quotes from Isa Upanishad the following mantra
and gives its meaning.
“Om Krato smara Krtham smara;
Krato smara Krtham smara".
"O
lord of Sacrifice or Surrender! Remember what I
have done and the second statement "Remember what I
have done" means God will have to complete the act
of surrender Himself.” After sufficient sadhana
which includes hearing the Masters of the Order and
also after sufficient mentation we gain a fairly
gross understanding of our true status and are
realised to that extent. We realise the importance
of prayer and feel breathless without the same even
for a minute or less than that time. The Upanishad
continues after the above mantra and states the
importance of prayer in order to attain liberation.
With this intent in mind, the Supreme as present in
Agni is worshipped --
“Agne naya supatha raye asman visvani deva vayunani
vidvan:
yuyodhyasmajjuhuranameno bhuyistam te nama uktim
vidhema.
The meaning of the prayer is “O Lord, as `Agni', you
are verily the controller of the body, and even of
the whole universe; lead us by the highest path to
the wealth of liberation; you fully know all that we
know, all the efforts we have made; remove from us
the effects of past sinful acts that are causing
bondage, thus we pray unto you with our fullest
knowledge and devotion.”
3.
Dr. K.C.V. states that “Now this is a very difficult
point to explain and many people want to be lazy
enough to say "let Master surrender. Why should I
surrender, let Master do everything and I shall be
the recipient". I do not think that is the meaning.
If we go a little way, God takes us a long way. If
we make total surrender, He will complete the
surrender by taking us up. That is, we are enabled
to surrender more and more willingly to His
treatment and training without any protest, without
resistance and without egoistic self assertions that
we have done the surrender and that He has not done
it. The whole point therefore is that our devotion
will develop when we observe that not only our
physical body is prostrated before the Master every
day or every hour, but our vital bodies which are
full of desires, cravings and other tendencies, get
controlled. "Sama" and "Dama" equally follow it.
Then, the mind also ceases to wander and we find
constant remembrance and our spiritual faculties
begin to develop. In other words, we find that we
are more and more absorbed even without our being
conscious that we are in God or the Master. This is
devotion. Once this occurs we recognize at once that
God's Grace is flowing through us. And I hold the
view that God's grace has begun to flow through us
the moment we surrender either mentally or
physically or vitally. Now all these things show
that God is constantly with us and ready to take us
up at the slightest sign on our part of accepting
Him.”
4.
After discussing the states of consciousness Master
says ‘Once the attainment has set in, you would have
achieved divine attributes.’ He continues stating
that “Now having reached the attribute, say, you
have come into the Sunshine. Prior to it we were
aware of only our own attributes.” (SDG P.42) That
means we know only ourself and our attention to the
divine is subject to the condition of our self. Rev.
Master continues “Now your swimming started in what
lies just beyond God i.e. just after it.” This is
really blasphemous! Going beyond God when we are
talking of surrendering to Him? But in fact for
those who have experienced this condition the idea
of God is off and the journey is on. Master states
further that “Having come up to here we now get
tidings of going still ahead. When remembrance has
progressed to the extent that the awareness of
remembrance itself is lost, then the form of
remembrance gets changed and this we know on moving
beyond it. “One is unaware to the extent that he is
aware. (JISKO JITHNA HOSH HAI UTNA HI BEHOSH HAI) It
will be premature to reveal it. The tidings of this,
on arriving at that state, will come when one
automatically starts trying to reach it, by one
self.” (SDG 42-43) I humbly submit to all the
aspirants to note that the condition here is had
only when one tries to reach it automatically at
that stage and the role of the Master is minimal
here. Master makes a remarkable statement when he
said “The sages of yore have regarded the state of
acceptance of and happiness in Lords’ will as
surrender. Now, I give a prescription. “Yearning
pure and simple to reach Him and Him alone!” But we
should remember this yearning is not the same as the
yearning we start with, it is a condition after
crossing the limits of divine attributes and even
God. This surrender is entirely different from the
surrender we have in the Fourth knot.
5.
Without a doubt, instinctively the most profound
desire and yearning of each human being is to unite
with God - in other words, to find God within
himself. Some seek this through mysticism and the
domination of their desires, and others choose the
terrible path of sensual and material rapture which
leads the aspirants in that path to almost insanity.
The only wise way to find God is through the
practice of the highest spiritual virtues and with
the direct help and guidance of the divine itself.
As practicants of the path of PAM we are blessed
with the direct awareness of the presence of the
Divine through the imperience of the divine
attributes of peace, calmness and deep quiet. During
meditations it appears to us as though the heart is
emptied of all thoughts and feelings. Actually,
emptiness of mind is not even a state of mind, but
the original essence of mind which we imperience by
the grace of our beloved Master. "Essence of mind,"
"original mind," "original face," "emptiness"--all
these words mean the absolute calmness of our mind.
6.
Many aspirants inspite of the imperience they have
express their desire to stop sadhana as they find
the call for the necessary discipline being beyond
their capacity. It is no wonder that persons who are
accustomed to instant food and instant coffee etc.,
lack the patience and perseverance necessary for
sadhana. For them the words of Lord Krishna in the
Bhagavad Gita may appeal better.
“Listen to the principles of yoga. By practicing
these you can break through the bonds of karma. On
this path effort never goes to waste, and there is
not failure. Even a little effort toward spiritual
awareness will protect you from the greatest fear.
Those who follow this path, resolving deep within
themselves to seek Me alone, attain singleness of
purpose. For those who lack resolution, the
decisions of life are many--branched and endless."
-Bhagavad Gita 2:39-41
7.
Not withstanding the presence of the divine and the
imperience of the divine attributes during our
sadhana we tend to doubt the presence of the divine.
This is essentially due to the pull of our thoughts
by the lower mind which moves more in the realm of
pleasure rather than happiness. Many a time we are
afraid to follow what is right and good for us and
to humanity because of the consequences of social
and relational threats. If we are aware of the
divine in our heart and can only yield to that we
will understand that security is not the absence of
danger, but the awareness of the presence of Master,
no matter what the danger is. If only we can say to
God who is with us always that ‘we are Thine’, the
promise of the Srimad Ramayana i.e. “Sakrdeva
prapannaya tava asmi iti yachate
Abhyam sarvabhootebhyo dadami etad vrtam mama” will
be experienced as true.
8.
The topic of the seminar is clarifying 1. That God
is with us constantly and 2. That we are to be ready
to accept Him and 3. That He would readily accept us
on such intimation. It is obvious that we meditate
on the heart. It is our experience that as great as
the infinite space beyond is the space within our
little heart that is consecrated with the presence
of God. We find that both the divine and mundane are
contained in the chambers of the heart marked as U
and L by our great Master. Brahman resides in the
space within the heart and within that space is the
cessation of all our desires and it is that space we
are longing for realisation. Realisation we know is
a state of mind where the non dual Love is
imperienced. Love is unconditional acceptance. It is
love of parents for child; also the non-possessive
love of partners; also the caring love between all
people that enables forgiveness. It is above energy,
though it may be expressed energetically. It is the
Universal consciousness and it is the binding force
of the Universe, inherent in all that is. If we can
love one selflessly we cannot help loving all. If
that one is the Master the results will be splendid.
Then the following of the commandments become easy.
For truly loving another means letting go of all
expectations. It means full acceptance, even
celebration of another's personhood. When we
practice and live such a type of love we will be
inwardly free of all hopes and desires, but
outwardly do what needs to be done. Without hopes in
our heart we live as if we were full of hopes.
Giving up the idea of being a doer becomes easy when
we love others and all our acts then take the status
of being service and sacrifice. We can then live
with our heart now cool and now warm just as
everyone else. Having thus been embraced by the
divine this is how we live in the world, completely
free from the least trace of ego. Further having
emptied ourself we find experiencing emptiness is
also experiencing peace, and the potential of peace
is it’s unfolding as harmony among all people,
animals, plants, and things. The conditions of
uparati, upeksha, Atma nivedana and sthirachittamu
then get matured and transformed into the condition
of surrender and the individual will is totally
negated and the will of the Master takes over the
governance of the individual. The commandments of
the Master formulate this harmony.
9.
It was stated by a wit that the test to find whether
our mission on earth is finished is to ask if we are
alive and if yes we should think the mission is not
finished. This is a great truth expressed simply. As
long as God is not living in us our mission in life
is not satisfactorily completed. We have to die and
die in the divine consciousness terminating our
petty individual consciousness. As Master has said
it requires courage to say so and live in such a way
that others say so. A suffering heart cannot have
such courage. We should realise that nothing brings
suffering as does an untamed, uncontrolled,
unattended and unrestrained heart. Such a heart
brings suffering. The temple of God need not be put
to such a condition and we have the option to
totally dedicate the same to the divine. That brings
happiness in the real sense and grants happiness to
others. Such a heart always radiates and transmits
the divine force which grants the persons in and
around him peace and calmness and in some fortunate
cases bliss too. We should know that our heart and
mind are sacred enclosures given in trust to us and
nothing harmful can enter it except by our
permission and promotion.
10. The Master or God who is said to be ready to
respond the moment we call him is what we seek
during meditation. An act of meditation is actually
an act of faith, a faith in our spirit, in our own
potential. Faith is the basis of meditation. It is
not so much a faith in something outside us, a
metaphysical God, an unattainable ideal, or someone
else's words. The faith is in us, in our own
"Master-nature." We too can be a Master, an awakened
being that lives and responds in a wise, creative,
and compassionate way.
When we say we are Masters in spiritual life we are
only saying that we live in a non personal
consciousness. The more generous we are, the more
joyous we become. The more cooperative we are, the
more valuable we become. The more enthusiastic we
are, the more productive we become. The more serving
we are, the more prosperous we become. Such is the
possibility in following the Natural Path of our
beloved Master Sri Ramchandraji Maharaj of
Shahjahanpur.
11. It is necessary that we translate the feelings
of embrace of the Master who holds us in close
intimacy and many times chocking us with His love
infinite, into our daily life activities. We should
not forget to bring the good experiences of
meditation into our daily activities. Instead of
acting and reacting impulsively and following our
thoughts and feelings here and there, we should keep
close watch our mind carefully, and be aware, and
try to deal skilfully with problems as they arise.
We have to take heed that when effort is too
strenuous it leads to strain and when too slack to
laziness. In adversities we should have the wisdom
to realise that when our heart grieves over what it
has lost, the spirit rejoices over what it has left.
So we have to make a firm determination that we will
adopt the middle way, not allowing ourself to
struggle or to slacken, but recognizing that faith,
energy, meditation, concentration, wisdom are the
blessings of the Master and are the fruits of a
calm and equitable Natural Path which we follow. It
is then we can say we have moulded our life to serve
the divine purpose and mission
12. By the order and blessings of my Master I have
been in the service of aspirants who seek to enter
as well as those who are in the system of Natural
Path. But the acceptance of the Master being close
by is something that is not always acceptable to
them.
It
is my experience that instead of accepting totally
the divine who is close by they tend to search for
solutions for their dark and depressing states of
consciousness on their own. While they profess a
love for the Divine light within, whenever an
unwanted moment appears they look into the dark
abyss where they think the roots of the problems
lie. But they see no Light there and it is only
total darkness. Then comes an immediate resistance
to it and instead of yielding to the Master within
they look more into the darkness and naturally the
darkness and depression rules the day. Let me shed
some light on this problem. Things are not always as
they are seen.
I
am not in the habit of seeing cinemas. But I read a
review of a film called ‘The Wizard of Oz’. The
story was woven around one Dorothy who was trying to
find her way back home. She had three odd companions
on the path. Firstly there was the scarecrow, then
tin man, and thirdly a cowardly lion. They were all
going to see the great wizard who would grant each
of them their most fervent wish. The scarecrow
wanted a brain, a mind with which to reason and know
the truth of things. The tin man hoped for a heart
to beat in his hollow tin chest, so that by its
warmth and rhythmic beating he would know the
presence of the love for which he longed; and the
cowardly lion wanted courage to face his fears, to
meet any form of darkness with what it takes to
defeat it. By the end of the story, largely as a
result of what they go through because of their love
for Dorothy, each makes this glad discovery: the
very quality of character for which they had gone
out searching was already living within them!
13. Even so we have forgotten that our true nature
cannot be made a captive of any dark condition any
more than a sunbeam can be caught and held in a
bottle. Our True Self is Union with Master itself,
in every meaning of the word, because Master by His
very presence in our heart as divine light fulfils
and liberates all that He touches. If we have the
determination we will not mind all the voices that
no doubt we hear shouting at us when we decide to be
with the Master consciously. That which is dark does
go gently through being made new and bright. So
there is hard work involved. But the Light we
realize within us never fails, it literally carries
us above whatever mountain is before us by revealing
it to be nothing other than what we are determined
to reach. We cannot control the way the world turns,
we cannot change day into night, we cannot keep what
is not ours and we cannot hide these facts from
ourselves, no matter how hard we try. But what we
are given to do and that turns out to be the one
power of ours truly capable of transforming the
whole of life, is that we can choose, moment to
moment to be with the Master in whom we are
intertwined.
Pranams. |
