“They are mostly dogmatic instead of Godmatic” (Event Horizon P. 439)

Sri. I. Chalapathi Rao

In this message Master is referring to people in general in reference to the subject of spiritual training for the Divinisation of Man. The system of Natural path propounded by our Revered Master Mahatma Sri Ramchandraji Maharaj, Shahjahanpur, U.P., India seeks to lift the man living at selfish consciousness to the levels of human and Divine consciousness. The seekers are given the methods of meditation coupled with the support of the Master through Pranahuti to follow the Ten commandments which when get imbibed into our way of living enable or lift us to live as a Real Man. Master, here has used the word Godmatic to probably mean for persons who are on the Godly Path while the use of word Dogmatic is to mean one who entrenched in the maze of Dogmas.
The word God, Godliness etc have been and are being used by many persons belonging several religious paths in several ways, but the common denominator of all of them is, Godly life is one which is imbued with piety, morality, selflessness, harmony etc. However, the yogic definition of God / Godliness are experiential oriented attainable through practice or sadhana like oneness with God or Godly consciousness. But still, the definition of God remains unclear and also quite enigmatic. However, in the present age of scientific temper, the psyches are trained to think and explore the causative nature of all things and these psyches abhor accepting anything that is enigmatic. For them all enigmas are treated in the domain of irrationality.
When we hold on to ideas especially related to religion or God , which do not stand the rigor of rationality are generally called as Dogmas. Babuji Maharaj, in one of the answers to a question ,” what is religion?” as quoted in Sparkles and Flashes says, “Certain dogmas collected at one place is religion”. Since religion is a personal faith for any individual, so the attachment is more of an emotional nature than having much rational basis and as a result one becomes dogmatic or close chested. However, the dogmacity graduates into bigotry when one starts insisting ultimacy or finality to one’s dogmas.
In the common parlance, the word dogmatic would mean rigid, inflexible, unbending, strict, assertive, narrow, doctrinaire, fixed etc. As discussed earlier, religion is a set or a body of beliefs that one has w.r.t to God, Man and Nature interrelationships. When the beliefs are given immunity to the rigor of logic or rationality, we enter into the sphere of Dogma, a kind of a blind alley and finally culminating into a dead end, then it is called as superstition. While discussing about superstition, Master gives the following examples which are quite illustrative, “`Since I tamed this cow I began to get enough money, I tamed a horse and I have a grandson'. So such ideas are nurtured. Such conditions when observed for some time breed so many other ideas which we call superstitions which themselves denote they have no meaning. But this is the result of only gross thinking. When we take the finer aspect of grossness we begin to think ourselves spiritual. That is also a superstition. They think of what they are not really. If milk is adulterated in wine it remains no more milk.”
Belief leads us to faith. Faith has always been considered an important aspect of one’s religious life, But in spiritual life, Master states that faith is the foundation, about which he has discussed at several occasions quite elaborately. The main theme in this regard is, “The burning desire for Realisation brings the goal nearer. If anybody wants that he should get benefited, he should encourage himself to cultivate right faith, right cognition, and right morals. SDG – Easiest way”. From here we can understand that it is not the blind faith , the one which is beyond the sense of logic but can understood as the courage, confidence in one’s ability and the wisdom to reach the goal. Firm faith strengthens our will while self-doubt weakens our will. We need not be dogmatic about the faith in the system or the Master but understand the above mentioned three factors as important in our progress on the path as indicated in commandment-3.
Pujya Babuji Maharaj , in the context of Realisation of one’s Goal as stated and promised by the system of the Natural path laments at the resistance of persons to mould themselves for the attainment of the same. I feel, one of the main reasons for resistance to mould oneself is the lack of Goal clarity. It is my practical experience that Goal clarity emerges as one practices but that is only when one has the real craving for the Goal. Without real craving for the goal, one gets stuck in one’s own thoughts about the goal.
The importance of fixing up of the goal has been very clearly stated in the commandment-3 by the Master, “ It has been observed that those on the path of spirituality who did not fix that final state for their goal have definitely remained short of the mark, because, before arriving at the final point, they mistook one or the other of the intermediate states to be the final point or the Reality, and stopped there. Thus they suffered merely for not having fixed their goal.”
In Another context, he refers to the selection of the Guru by the virtue of one’s real seeking of the ultimate in this manner, “We now began to seek the method to revive our original condition. We searched for a proper man. If the thought deeply touched the core of the centre which is ultimately found in all centres, in other words, if somehow we touched the spirituality, the basic substance of all the centres, it produced a kind of trembling, and as every action has some result, it had its own, i.e., it would lead us to the proper man who is really spiritual. If we fall short of it, will move towards the person who has formed a personality, gross, in the garb of spirituality. We will always get the right person if the craving is for the realisation alone.” SDG- Method of training.
From the above, it can be seen that it has been very difficult for the Master to train people in the Natural path who either do not have Goal clarity or those who do not have real craving for the highest. It is essential for every sadhaka to know the two most important things about themselves:
a) Goal clarity
b) Real craving for the Goal
If we are sure about the above two aspects, then the next step is the self evaluation of our progress w.r.t the goal. At this point, I would like to bring to your notice that, we are being educated and trained by our beloved Guide Pujya KC Narayana garu in our institute - the ISRC that one needs to be accountable to oneself in sadhana i.e. one has to strive constantly and mould oneself to attain the goal. We do not notice that the same kind of accountability as expected in most of the prevalent religious and spiritual organizations. They may not have felt the need for the same for Divinisation is an event happens all of a sudden by the grace of their Lord or Guru.
But in the Natural path propounded by Sri RamchandraJi Maharaj, Moulding oneself is a very important aspect of sadhana. It is not only the primary responsibility of the practicant but in this one is very ably assisted by the trainer through Pranahuti. Master says, moulding is the business of the trainers and to get moulded is the duty of the abhyasi. All this connotes the fact that divinization is a gradual process of changing and improving one’s thoughts and feelings from bestial/selfish level to one of Universal character. If the sum of all thoughts and feelings can be taken as consciousness of the person, then the change of character of the consciousness into Divine consciousness is what can be understood as Godliness.
Persons, who are Godmatic are the one’s who are striving willingly to change the nature of their consciousness. Here it would be pertinent to recall the fact that Master defines the progress of divinization of the consciousness at several stages through several levels of super-conscious states like D, D1, D2 etc. in his book efficacy of Rajayoga. No doubt that these states are blessed by the Master but before being blessed what is the moulding that is required from our side to become deserving for the same is an important factor for any sadhaka to understand. Self effort is a long drawn process requiring hard work and labour and to supplement it we need to be accountable through self evaluation.
The accountability to one’s sadhana is put into practice through self evaluation. Evaluation means that we are not taking recourse to any dogmatic approach. So, self evaluation is one of the basic methods to progress on the Godmatic path. For any evaluation three things are important, namely
a) what is the present condition
b) What is the final condition/goal
c) What are the Means adopted for achieving the goal from the present condition.
The prayer given by the Master precisely addresses the above three issues and is not dogmatic in any sense. That is the reason, masters of our spiritual order several times explained that our prayer is not only very unique but also quite significant, for it differs from other kind of prevalent prayers that it is neither a set of praises about the glory and greatness of the God nor it is an exercise of petitioning. It is more yogic in nature for yogi always see himself in relation to the God/Goal and seeks to bridge the gap. If the prayer is viewed from the Ontological sense it clearly states the relationship of dependency of man on God, which can be also be viewed as a qualified interdependency – a philosophers angle. But from the scientist’s viewpoint, the principle of interdependence of man and Nature is also quite acceptable for they are also exploring the very relationship between and Nature/God in their own way.
Master emphasizes the fact that spirituality is a science. To quote, “The knowledge of the Divine is a science.” SDG - Message of my Master. I understand the word science referred here to mean that Divine(ity) can be experienced or felt. The experiences have been described by the Master in His masterpiece work - The commentary on the Ten commandments, which is the most valuable book. He says in commandment-1, “The third phase of manifestation relates to the material exposition of the objects of Nature. People remain entangled in it, forming numerous ideas and desires. Generally our eye is attracted by anything bright and glaring, which we commonly misunderstand as Sat. This bright object is nothing except Maya and those who talk so highly about it are in fact far away from the sphere of spirituality even, not to say of Reality. But people have developed such a state of torpidity that they are neither prone to hear nor perceive anything in this connection. They have lost sight of the true Reality which is beyond both light and darkness. This is what has been shown in the emblem of the Mission and which is in a true sense the real state of man’s perfection, from which no decline or fall is possible. This is a very delicate point of philosophy. The saints have generally called this state – of neither light nor darkness – as Satpad which is not correct, for this state is much beyond that. That is in fact the reflection of the Reality which in itself is still beyond. This may be astonishing to most of the readers but I have written this only for those who are well advanced in spirituality and who have thorough knowledge of this science. It can only be experienced in a practical way and is not to be found within the bounds of religion. It is an entirely different path. It is itself a science for which one may not be well fitted unless he develops the capacity to perceive Nature with his inner eyes.” Imperience beckons –page 6
Our ideas, ideations, notions, dogmas about the goal have no relevance at all, we need to throw them out lock stock and barrel lest one can never strive to have the real experience of it as ‘as it is’. The institute of Sri Ramchandra Consciousness is encouraging the practicants to evaluate themselves against the implementation of the ten commandments as a primary index of progress on the Natural path. It is not only from a regularity of practice angle but also from the owning up of the conditions of Viveka, Vairagya, interdependency, devotion, surrender and balance condition which enable one to adhere these commandments naturally – i.e, to the extent of Godmaticness. Some view these commandments from the ethical point of view which is not correct and miss the point and that is the dogmatic approach so to say. It really takes quite a bit of sadhana to understand the importance of following the commandments as fundamental to our progress or life itself.
From this perspective, it is important to understand that Goal of being a Real Man i.e. one who adheres to the Natural Path is essentially to mean, that one to be Godmatic. i.e. live and move in the consciousness of God. When one is Godmatic then one is always in touch with the Reality experienced as constant remembrance. The experience of seekers on the Natural path is that one naturally and firmly gets established in the state of constant remembrance, in this state one is not only happy and balanced and also concurrently feels ever restless for more and more intimate and complete union with the Master. To the extent one’s progress on the path one feels lively, balanced, energetic, positive, hopeful, confident, fearless etc.
It has also been our experience that there is constant restlessness to have more and more purity of the consciousness. This restlessness indeed is our fortune due to our link with our beloved Master by virtue of it we feel inclined to seek such purity. For persons who are not fortunate to have association with such a Master of highest spiritual caliber will get stuck at some stage or other and tend to be dogmatic to extent of their purity. If we maintain proper orientation and link with the Master, it is almost impossible to become dogmatic in this path.
From this we can understand that our craving should be for realization alone then only we can always be Godmatic else we can tend to be dogmatic. At this point of time I would feel happy to state that ISRC has been consistently endeavouring to educate the people with respect to the Goal promised by the Natural path through systematic training programs and this is ensuring that the practicants are getting oriented to the Goal in its correct perspective and are able to practice with regularity and diligence.
When we do not see the need to have proper spiritual training and education it may mean that we are trying to understand the system without having practical experience and in the process our imaginations gain ground replacing the reality. That is when we are tending to be Dogmatic rather than Godmatic.
Even in spite of doing regular practice, yet we can form our own ideas about the Goal, methods and the support i.e. Pranahuti at various stages depending upon the various notions that we have been carrying with us from our past lives or training. The resistance to understand the path as defined by the masters of the path is an enough indication of our clinging to the past dogmatic notions. This could be the toughest phases in our sadhana but if we relate our thoughts, feelings and ideas in relation to the Goal, then we can surely get over our notions which are mostly related to the manomaya kosa or ego based.
Usually we commit a mistake of not taking our present condition vis a vis the Goal promised by the system in view and that is the reason we hold tight to our views. I fervently remember the words of the Master which were stated in relation to develop deservancy but also applicable in this context also, “For making one-self deserving one must have his goal and his present position clearly in his view. Afterwards one should adopt the means which should be conducive to the spiritual growth, and guard against the retarding things which may prevent one from attaining the objective. These should be the basic lines which will constitute the search for Reality. There are so many among us who have the idea that simply knowing of God is enough. This is their wrong conception. Having God is the real subject of spirituality. “ SDG – Path of righteousness.
Another important aspect of our spiritual training in the Natural path is that our thoughts and feelings keep on getting more and more refined. Even to start with the path, we should have fine type of thinking then only our grasp of the system and progress in the path is quick and rapid. So in general we should be amenable to fine and finer thinking as we progress through several stages like pind, bramhand, parabramhand etc. We should be willing, open and yield to the Master to progress on the path. The attitude while receiving pranahuti should be right and proper. Even to start sadhana one should have finer thinking. Good and fine are two different things, good people need not have fine thinking but the converse is not true as fine people will always be good. Dogmas can dodge even good people if their thinking is not fine. Finer type of thinking is meant here to state the following:
- Understand or able to conceive that everything in this world is consciousness.
- Understand /conceive that Master is Samavarti and Samadarshi
- Moderation and balanced existence of life
- Understand /conceive about universal fraternity, harmony and interconnectedness.
- Understand /conceive the need to share and sacrifice
- Understand /conceive the cause and effect theory not only from the karma phala principle or justness of the Divine but also in relation to the rationality and supra rationality aspects of life.
- Understand /conceive the principle of Rtam or order of the Nature and be in tune with as we are a part of it.
Many more such clauses can be added further, but the point to note is that we need to evolve or grow into finer and finer levels of consciousness.
If we are to understand the Goal as an object to be achieved or a stage to be reached then it does not constitute finer type of thinking. This is a result of grosser kind of worships leading to grosser thinking or mentality. In this regard Master says, “Now there remains only the problem of Realisation. Generally people take it to mean a mental vision of the physical form of Vishnu with four hands holding a conch, a discus, a mace and a lotus respectively. But in my opinion such a type of darshana is only the result of the grosser mentality of the worshipper, for the reason that his own subtler self appears to him in that form, because he had taken up that very form for meditation. In Raja Yoga the state of mind which develops by the effect of Sadhana is quite a different one. In that condition he feels the presence of a Divine Force everywhere and in all things, and that brings him into a state of ecstasy. Such is really the true state of darshana, or Divine vision. Let people peep into it and experience it for themselves- SDG Message of my Master “
The type of notions about various visions or experiences are so deeply imbedded in most the persons who have some kind or other of traditional background that it becomes very difficult to accept or appreciate the worth of balanced condition that is bestowed to us by our Master. The restless tendencies of mind are ever eager to have an experience of some sort rather than settle comfortably in balanced condition. In this regard it is worth mentioning that the silencing of mental vrittis that happens because of our practice need to be made as a base for our progress into the realms of Nothingness. It is dogmatic to think and believe that we can get into a stage of non- awareness per se even in spite of our sensual and sensory indulgences. The Godmatic condition in relation to this is the silence that is experienced by most of the practicants in a most profound manner. The participation in chit lake programs conducted by our institute –Imperience will help strengthen our base of silence. There is nothing dogmatic about silence, either your vrittis are silent or they are restless. Elaborating on silence, Master in the message- Easiest way says, “Silence is a part of a few grains of Spirituality and not the Reality itself. For explaining it, I can only say that silence is nearer to God. That means Silence is itself the seat on which silence stands. There are many worms outside, which our naked eye cannot see, but they are there. So, silence is there in abstract form, even though we may not be able to see it. It can be seen by constant practice, which ` The Natural Path' provides. Our prayer, in this regard is also very important. By the prayer we go from outside noise to outside Silence. By cleaning, we go from outside silence to inside silence. By prayer, we come nearer to our goal because we come in contact with the Being.”
I would like to conclude that in order to attain the goal promised by the system, one need to practice with sincerity and diligence and concurrently take help through Pranahuti, which when coupled with self evaluation our progress becomes assured and we become beacons for the coming generation travelers on the path of Satyapad. Else we will be shrouding our journey with mysticism which may lead to dogmatic approaches by others in the coming times. So I pray to Master to bless us all so that by the virtue of His connection all may reach the cherished destinations – our homeland.
Thanking the institute for this opportunity.
Pranams.