- Vidyadhar Joshi

Dear Beloved Sir and my Brethren,

On the 7^th Samarvarti, Lalaji Era, my humble pranaams to you. On the happy occasion of Pujya Lalaji Maharaj’s Birthday Celebrations, I feel it is important to recall with gratitude and indebtness that it was Pujya Lalaji Maharaj who prayed for humanity and gifted humanity not only remodeled Rajyoga for the modern times but also The Supreme Personality in the form of Pujya Babuji Maharaj. Pujya Babuji Maharaj, in His first message introduces the practice we call universal prayer. I would like to share some thoughts on the spirit of Universal Prayer and its importance.

He mentions in the First Message

“One thing which I like to introduce in our satsangh  is that at 9.00 p.m. sharp every abhyasi, wherever he might happen to be at the time, should stop his work and meditate for 15 minutes, thinking that all brothers and sisters are being filled up with love and devotion and that real faith is growing stronger in them. It shall be of immense value to them, which their practical experience only shall reveal.” Extract from First Message, Showers of Divine Grace.

It is significant to note to that 9 PM prayer finds a direct mention in the ‘First Message’. I feel it is so because the result of our sadhana should be universal good. In fact purport of sadhana is to mould one’s life for the universal good. Then life gains real purpose and meaning.

I hereby bring to your kind attention few extracts from messages of the Masters that underlie the need for us to grow in the universal consciousness and give purpose to our life through co-operation and service to humanity. At its simplest best, every aspirant should offer the 9 prayer in its true spirit and thus practice to grow in the higher realms of consciousness. Of course to offer the prayer in its true spirit, it is necessary that we prepare ourselves through the specific methods of meditation on Pts A & B, meditation on Divine Light, Cleaning and following of Commandments. Not to mention, taking support of Pranahuti is of paramount importance.

In the message “Tasteless Taste of Mergence”, SDG, Master says: “Everywhere I find the people poor in spirituality. All of us should try to make up the deficiency. In spite of our labour, the flower is still in the bud. It is not that we are lacking in our efforts, but people are not co-operating as they should. Power we have got, but the welcoming attitude is not there. It will also grow in course of time. When sound of the Mission resounds, it falls almost everywhere, and produces its effects sooner or later. So our efforts never go in vain. If drops continually fall, river is the result.

We should have good heart for all human beings. Then the Power will run to them automatically. I think this is the first step of spiritual regeneration. The edifice of spirituality is to be erected on this foundation. When you have a mind to do the work for the good of humanity, you will naturally get it. But our duty is to educate the minds of the people so that they may take the right step. If you do something good to humanity, it is not desire but duty. I have got such a broad heart given by the Master that I want to cover all humanity. The helping hand of my Master is at back.”

Master’s call is clarion and suggests His deep love for humanity. If we are to be befitting disciples, we should also develop such a love for humanity, something we cannot avoid if we have to keep Him in our heart.

If we promote peace in our individual self, we will then be not lacking in internal peace. Only such minds that have developed to a peaceful state can be helpful in bringing about world peace. Not only does our individual mind contribute to the cosmos in the most positive way, we are also enabled to influence the cosmos with the universal prayer. This is what I understand, when Master says, Individual transformation will lead to world transformation.

This is one of the unique features of practice of PAM that a practice for the selfless service of others, has been blended as part one’s individual sadhana.

In the Paris Declaration of 1982, taken from SDG, He says,

“We are all one. Natural Path is for integration. When we have studied the pros and cons of the system, we hope to read the real sense of discipline necessary. Both sides are visible but there is some flaw and that can be easily removed provided we have the Mission in the heart and not in mind alone and that people are having. What remains is the thought to be manifested before the general view. There are many curvatures coming in the way as obstacles like bubbles in the water which can be removed very easily because power is working behind you, of which we have the least knowledge.

Co-operation is the life of coming events also but if they are wavering they will be wasting power. We are united in the common cause keeping towards proper order the good of man and humanity. Keeping the ideal that service is better than served, the Shri Ram Chandra Mission, Shahjahanpur, is there to serve the humanity in which we are all going to be woven in uniform pattern and discipline.”

He exhorts in the message on Spiritual Destiny: "We are all brethren connected intellectually, morally and spiritually the main goal of human life. This and that have gone now. There remains the purity alone in all His work and environment which weaves the spiritual destiny of the persons with the Ultimate."

Pondering on the words “pros & cons”, pros, we all know but what could be the cons of Natural Path? I feel that if we make our practice entirely self centered without having any concern for others, then it is one of the cons of our practice and not that of Natural Path. Perhaps this comes from the fact that many systems hitherto have exclusively dealt with individual liberation or realization. Pujya Dr KC Vardachari has articulated wonderfully on how the system of Natural Path differs from others, calling it a “New Darshana”.

Following is an extract from “Complete works of Dr KCV”, Vol 1, article “Human destiny in Sri Ramchandra’s Rajyoga” which is worth reading.

“The need for another Darshana or system of spirituality can be justified only if we accept the goal of Divinisation of Man. If this system is to be one more method of attaining "liberation" - then it is just one more. But the call of the Master is not to liberate a few souls, who come to his fold.

The cry of Nature to make Man live at peace with his fellow beings and other species, has been there for over few millennia. But the concept of brotherhood and peaceful co-existence has been only voiced from all floors and rarely do we find it practiced.

Liberty, Equality and Fraternity are the three basic spiritual values aspiring to become secular. In the process we find the deep rooted "selfishness" in Man, the sworn enemy of all spiritual values using these three concepts for its own purposes, resulting in all round hypocrisy. While every leader, political or spiritual voices these values, they neither believe in them nor really want them to find any place in our life. The vocal transmission given to these values have sufficiently grossened them and solidified them - that we finally find these today as "idols" used to deceive the mankind. Poor souls are not aware that Nature has its own design to meet the situation!

The values of Liberty and Equality are more spiritual and perhaps need more time to find expression in mundane matters; life being what it is, variance and difference are in built. Except for the feature all came from the Primordial one, equality is hard to accept. Liberty or Freedom is bound by responsibilities. But Fraternity has no restraints. It can be expressed by one and all. It is possible to behave in a brotherly way with all. Yet we have failed God for so many years, with our properties, nations, races, sexes and other distinctions. NATURE DEMANDS THAT UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD BECOMES A FACT BEFORE IT TAKES UP THE WORK OF DIVINISATION OF MAN. (Capitals not in original). The thought of brotherhood, which was one of essential sharing in the tribal cultures to the concept of tolerance of others views in the modern world is by itself an interesting study in the evolution of Man. But his destiny is far beyond; almost a journey to the Infinite. The Divine Will to find expression of its Glory in Nature has but found so far little success. Human being with its meal of "selfishness" has been obstructing the expression of Divinity in him and so of nature. NATURE IS JUST IMPATIENT AND THE DIVINE PERSONALITY (REV. BABUJI - editor) IS EQUALLY INTERESTED TO EXPEDITE THE DIVINISATION OF MAN - THE HOPE OF GOD - WHO CREATED him IN HIS IMAGE - meaning thereby that he is granted the original thought - the kingly aspect in Man and Nature.

The New Darshana is for those who participate in the Divine Work of Divinising Man - rather than those who seek individual transformation. The assurance of Master that He is taking care of every abhyasi and that every abhyasi should spread the message means that every one should actively participate in bringing about simplicity, purity and fraternal feeling in all, not worrying about his own realization. It is not therefore meant that one should not have the craving. It is a must, it is the promise and it is the beginning. But that is not the work of the Master nor is it His mission.

Those saints who seek individual salvation only are comparable to those who are selected to play a cricket match, seeing the strong opponent side (evils in life) walk back to the Manager praying to Him to allow them sit in the pavillion due to their inadequate capacities, or more appropriately to Uttara Kumara who having started for the battle with Kauravas seeing their might wanted to flee. The uniform worn by him (the abhyas of Ten Commandments etc.,), the refuge he has in Brhannala (the veiled Master) not withstanding he wanted to flee (so are those who seek liberation from life and who do not want to better the lot of man.). The Ten Commandments, the practice of meditation are but uniforms that the sadhaka has to wear. No doubt they are to be pure and perfectly ironed. But that is only a preparation. The individual elevation in consciousness is but a step in the greater task of Divinisation of Man. If every abhyasi really believes in the Master, he has the onerous responsibility of shedding through his actions and behaviour the Radiance of the Divine Personality deeply imbedded in him. He should be conscious of the fact that he is walking temple, in as much as Master is present in his heart.”

Mark the words “The individual elevation in consciousness is but a step in the greater task of Divinisation of Man. “

While explaining strands of consciousness in the human psyche, Revered Sri KC Narayana explains the holistic super conscious men in the article “Moulding is the preceptors business”, Bodhyanti Parasaparam Vol 4

“The holistic super conscious men: These are very few in the human population who through their relentless struggle in their inner selves seek to generate harmony and good will amongst all the human beings and enable them develop true love amongst all sentient beings and devotion to the Supreme Consciousness that rules the Universe. Apart from abiding by Truth and Reality in all its aspects these persons enjoy a tranquility of the most superior type which bridges the gulf and the possible perceived differences and lives and moves in the sphere of harmony, understanding, compassion, co-operation, co-existence of all beings, love and direct non interfered one ness which helps them share and make the words of sacrifice meaningless in as much as it is only a service to ones' own very Being. They experience the inner oneness of all and find there is no disharmony essentially in nature. Disharmony and dichotomy are the products of thinking patterns that do not seek the good of all but only of a few to the detriment of others interests. For these persons there is no individual self and therefore no individual interest. They cross the borders of Egoism and naturally their performance is always marked by a fragrance of natural perfection, unifying all others efforts and exhibits a coordination that is better expressed as cohesion. The self in these cases can be taken as expanded and the bonds of animal and human realms and regions are broken and they are free moving and having their being in the realm of pure consciousness.

It is therefore obvious for us that we should tend to strengthen this last strand more and more. It is in this context the Prayer at 9 P.M. gains importance. It is now positively proved that the thinking of groups of people located in different parts of the world does influence others and its influence is felt even in inanimate objects of experimentation. This one task of moulding our selves and thereby others appears to be of paramount importance.”

 Where does our sadhana find its expression? It finds it in the prayer for universal good. Though we call it a prayer, it is clear that it is a matter of will. It is not a wish. Coming to the practice aspect, more often than not, 9 PM prayer becomes a casualty for several reasons

1.    One may not find meaning in it.

2.    One may be inclined but does not have the right priorities to sit at the right time

3.    One may lack conviction to do it:

A proper understanding of the system and inspiration from messages of the Master will help develop the conviction in prayer.

There is a certain amount of earnestness to do the practice in right spirit. Through the cherished imperience we get in our Pranahuti sessions, we intuit our oneness with others. In the initial states we find that our state of mind could just be one of the following

1.    Mechanical and ritualistic

2.    Self oriented thoughts. Quickly thoughts drift and one starts thinking about our own problems.

3.    Praying only for our people (Raaga or positive attachments)

4.    Not praying for those whom we have a grudge against. These thoughts occur during 9 PM prayer and sort of denial is felt in the flow of love towards some people (These are people we have dwesha or negative attachments).

We cannot duck or hoodwink ourselves really but the positive side is our earnestness propels us to overcome both positive and negative attachments to people. Earnestness here means yielding to the higher self. This awareness of the higher self is brought about by Pranahuti.

Not minding any of these difficulties, we must still persevere in the practice with determination even if seems to be a mechanical practice. The reason is, our will improves as we continually do sadhana properly. Sadhana is an inner struggle but every little success we get in this struggle, it builds our will. It has been explained very well in the article “Wishing and Willing” in Bodhayanti Parasparam vol 3, how every abhyasi’s own special will develops.

Sadhana increases our will to do “good” to others. As our sadhana matures and we become more receptive to Master’s Grace we reckon that we are given a wonderful opportunity to get over our raga & dwesha. We become courageous to offer the prayer for one and all, including our so called enemies. It is through the prayer we grow. We overcome our grudges however slightest they are. So as we grow in our sadhana, the special will we develop as a result of our sadhana finds its fruition through the 9 PM prayer for the good of humanity. It is our will that works and it works indeed. It matters little to what extent it works or not. Consider it an insignificant service to Master just like the puny squirrel that tried to help Lord Rama in building the bridge. As an act of devotion, duty and love towards Master who cares even for the slightest act we do, our inspiration must be just this that He cares for such a service.

9 PM Prayer is a bootstrapping practice to grow into higher realms of consciousness.  Master says, just remove the brokenness and universal love is there. If we want to accommodate Master in our heart, we have to be brave enough to love unconditionally all.  Barriers and prejudices have to be broken and universal prayer helps us overcome that. OK, we will fail when we attempt to jump this barrier once, twice, thrice, but with earnest and sincerity no hurdle is big enough. Perseverance eventually pays and we will find that we are getting rooted in the prayer more firmly. There is no limit to this selfless service (Parahita). This is where we grow. Hence it should be offered always in the right spirit.

A short anecdote before I end my talk. A small kingdom once had shortage of milk. Children were not having milk. The king summoned his subjects and mandated that all should contribute one glass in a container that was kept at a common place. At the end of the day, the milk would be distributed to the needy. The container starts getting filled. One person thought it fit to stealthily contribute a glass of water, thinking that a glass of water in a big container of milk will go un-noticed. At the end of the day, the container was opened and it was found that it was full of only water and no milk.

Point is we should not be the ones contributing water.  In the new era, we need people who would earnestly contribute milk when milk is demanded by the Master. Our offering of 9 PM prayer is akin to such milk. Offer the prayer with sincerity, conviction and confidence in Master in the humble capacity we can. Involve family members especially children. Let’s have the courage to share the thought of the prayer with all who come in our way. Let us do our little bit when we have the Grace of Master working at our back. Let us surrender to His call.

Pranaams