"A Few are so born who confuse dhal for boiled rice and take great pleasure in this confusion"

-- Smt. Bh.Devasena

My dear brothers and sisters, Namaste
The above statement of Revered .Master is an extract from the article "They have lost the ocean" A Few are so born who confuse dhal for boiled rice and take great pleasure in this confusion"
From the above message, I understand that Revered .Master is talking about two categories of persons :-
1. People who have come to the Natural Path but not willing to change themselves and co-operate with Master despite his efforts to help them. About such people Revered .Master says "It will have to be said of them that, by the grace of the Sadguru they get the ocean, but by their ignorance they lost the ocean".
2. Other category persons are those who have strayed away from the path and about them Revered Master says, "To bring them back to the path has become near impossible due to their gone away from their dharma their duty”.(Page180-SDG)
There is lot of confusion among people in the present day world about the concept of God. Our beloved Master Shri Ramchandra says, "God is not to be found within the fold of a particular religion or sect. He is not confined within certain forms or rituals nor is He to be traced out from within the scriptures. Him we have to seek for in the inner most core of our heart". (Page 4 Dawn of Reality)
Based on the above reality, Revered. Master had given a method called PAM. As one of the meditational methods, it is prescribed to practice "Meditation in the heart with a mere supposition that Divine light without luminosity is present in the heart". This practice enables us to gradually discipline and regulate the mind and live in higher planes of consciousness, which is presently lacking in the individuals. The purpose of this practice is to feel the presence of Divine within and remain in its company.
Our Dharma is to realise God, who is in our hearts and express Him fully as a bandha. This is possible only when we can lead a life of materiality and spirituality side by side with balance and moderation. The Natural Path blessed to humanity by Revered. Shri Ramchandra enables us to live such a life.
following this path with sincerity removes confusion of mistaking dhal for boiled rice. One way of interpreting this statement of Revered. Master is :
a) Dhal is a side dish and rice is the main dish. We cannot have one without the other. Dhal cannot be confused with boiled rice. Similarly boiled rice alone cannot be taken without dhal. Our limited conception of God leaving the real spirit behind it had lead to this confusion. Persons with limited understanding of GOD always confuse themselves and also others with their notions and beliefs.
If we take dhal (color) as power of a person which has developed into ego (Ahankar), boiled rice which represents purity, simplicity, plainness and humbleness etc. some of the qualities of the Divine are not even thought of by some persons out of ego. Their achievements and success in their mundane life made them egoistic forgetting that their is a power which is higher. They also derive pleasure in this false enjoyment. In this connection, Revered Master mentions "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." (Page 180 SDG).
Revered Master taught us in this system that power is only to help others. Having power is an opportunity given by God to assist/serve others for their welfare or benefit.
Knowledge also makes a person egoistic. In this regard our Rev Master mentions that “It must well be borne in mind that it is not learning or knowledge that makes a man perfect but it is only realization in the right sense that makes a true yogi or saint. It is just possible that the man who has thus impressed you with his outward form, learning or eloquence, may be at the lowest level as regards practical attainments. Knowledge, therefore is no criterion of a true Mahatma or a yogi Knowledge is only an achievement of brain where as realization is the awakening of soul hence far beyond its scope.” (DR Page 50-51)”
Revered. Master cautions the abhyasis and trainers who are already on the path to change themselves and extend their co-operation, otherwise they may loose the ocean of spirituality which they got by the grace of Sadguru.
In spite of a clear cut laid down method given by Revered. Master and His continuous support, still there is confusion in the understanding of the system and there is ignorance on our part. This attitude of some of the abhyasis and trainers is disappointing Revered. Master and that is what He expresses in the above message.

The following are the points mentioned by Revered. Master which requires improvement on the part of the abhyasis/Trainers:-
• Character development : Revered. Master mentions that every abhyasi should have good character which has a special importance in the area of spiritual development. He further advises in this connection that "No word should leave the mouth which is likely to be objectionable to any one nor any such act be indulged in as likely to be unpleasant to others”(Page-175SDG). Words/acts of persons which cause objection to others come only out of ego or arrogance. Eg: when a person follows a system he tries to criticize or pass unnecessary comments on other systems. We think we can convince others with our words or debate. It will only be a failure causing negative impact on others. But when we are able to communicate to others with humility and soft words it touches their hearts. That too only when we practice, we can convince others. Our behavior also should not be unpleasant to others. For improvement in the character, regular practice of meditation on points 'A' before bedtime prayer helps to check/get out of improprieties of conduct & indulgences of mind and moulding of behavior in day to day life according to the commandments given by Master will help.
• Co-operation: Revered. Master mentions co-operation can be extended by making slight changes in our lifestyle and habits. Eg: An abhyasi who has the habit of watching TV till late night and unable to do bedtime prayer and do morning meditation before dawn has to determine to sleep early and gradually reduce the habit of watching TV. Determination to do 9.00PM prayer should be made or otherwise there will be some or the other excuse to miss the prayer.
• Acceptance and absorption of spiritual conditions: Unless there is restlessness and craving to reach the goal one cannot accept and absorb the spiritual conditions given by Master. For becoming restless we should understand our transient life and the short time available at our reach since we do not know what would happen tomorrow or the next moment.
• To make effort for success: Revered .Master desires that everyone's work should be completed successfully. Effort of any one never goes waste, but it seems to be very difficult for anyone to do any effort. When we understand that this life of ours is very precious wherein we fortunately got a Special Personality like Shri. Ramchandra who is guiding us on the Natural Path then we would definitely make effort to do sadhana seriously and make use of the services rendered by our Master for our spiritual growth and also in assisting others in their spiritual growth.
• To reduce selfishness and egoism: Yielding to Revered .Master helps us in reducing ego. We should cry before the Master during the bedtime prayer for not being able to come out from the clutches of ego and also bringing it to the notice of our trainers as well. Regular meditation on points 'A'&'B' and attending 9.00PM prayer helps us in growing out of self and develop Fraternity. Regular individual sittings and participating in satsanghs also helps in this regard
• To remember that trainers are also abhyasis. This point has been several times stressed by our spiritual guide Sri K.C.Narayana garu also. Unless a trainer does the abhyas he does not become eligible to impart training to others.
• No personal ideas should be injected into the detailed rules and methods of meditational practices prescribed by Revered .Master. This point is been stressed by our institute, ISRC for the trainers for training abhyasis and also while conducting training to the freshers..
• All trainers should rightly teach the method in a uniform manner. In this connection Revered Master mentions "Some preceptors teach something and some other others some other way. It does not occur to them that in the very fine (sookhsma) rules of practice achieving the infinite, even the slightest variation of change can have the dire consequences".(Page 179 SDG).
• Power given to trainers is to help others: Revered .Master mentions that power exists for achieving the Divine and for benefiting others.(Page 179 SDG)Many a times Sri K.C.N Sir had mentioned that trainers are the humble servants of Master and they should be thankful to those who had given an opportunity to serve them. This attitude helps in developing humility and understand the role of a trainer in the right manner.
In the above message Revered. Master mentions that, "My heart is ever intent and keen to ensure that the largest part of them should achieve at least 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 large number of preceptors to do the job of awakening the public so that their work can be done, and their character, conduct and behavior can be remodeled and straitened out". (Page177 SDG)
In order to fulfill the goal of our Revered .Master sincere efforts have to be made by the abhyasis/trainers to improve upon the above points of sadhana with determination and assiduous practice. The system should be understood clearly to practice correctly there by one develops clarity not only for him but also while imparting it to others. This clarity emerges out of purity. Only then it is possible to pass on the message of our Revered .Master to others in its purity content and practice.
Thank you.
My pranams to all of you.