Dr.S.V.Raghavan

This article is based upon the first line of our prayer. An attempt has been made to explain the import of the principal terms of the statement using mostly His words. Our prayer is indeed a very simple one. But the simple is also very profound. The vast amount of literature on the subject of God from the very dawn of the spoken and later written through the millennia is a case in point. Simplicity itself is a veil to God or Supreme Reality as Master puts it. God has expressed Himself in and through creation and has hidden Himself too challenging the seeker after Reality to discover and realize Him. In trying to elaborate upon in explaining the simple we tie ourselves into knots.

Master says that Reality can never be revealed through mere interpretations because that would be far away from mental grasp. So we realize the insurmountable difficulty in talking about reality in particular its true nature. The failure and even absurdity of language is felt when we try to convey the higher/subtler states of consciousness imperienced. Reality is grasped in and through silence. Let us consider the key words forming the line of prayer referred to in turn.

Master 

Just like the word God Master (the real Master/Sadguru such as our Master) cannot be defined as any definition would limit that which is beyond limits. We cannot know Master as He is in the usual sense of knowledge, the object for a subject. The only way open to us is by being one with Him through a complete negation of our selves, the feeling of separateness, dissolution of individuality through love. Master is unfathomable infinite Ocean. However in our path we can have some idea of it due to the experience or better imperience of Pranahuti the divine prana which is felt in the heart.

Master has said that divine grace is diverted to the heart of the abhyasi through the process of Pranahuti. God is the Adhiguru. Grace and God are inseparable. The gracious side of God is the Divine Master who enlightens and enlivens our hearts through Pranahuti.

The Master totally merged in God by extinguishing himself absolutely in God is Void on one side if we may call Him as a coin with two sides. The other side is the kshob or the divine prana which is the underlying force behind all creation. The creative is positive and I would say that this positive side is the one filling us with hope, faith and the confidence that the Divine/ Master is always with us, behind us as the base and support. The flow, the vibrations, the activity of life force, the release of tensions, sense of freedom, expansion, balance and aspiration, all aspects of the divine prana are felt unmistakably by every abhyasi and those who experience it for the first time during the guided meditations of the training programmes. So an operational definition of Master is that He is the very kshob, the pranahuti wherein He pours Himself into our hearts as the supreme ahuti or life-offering.

Master is the Goal vivified, brought to life awakening man from his sleeping condition as this very breath of breath, the elixir of life. It is due to the benevolent grace of Master that we continue to have access to the Pranahuti through the system of trainers and the circle of humanity benefitting from His grace is ever widening.

It is the heart which feels the presence of Master with certitude as that ineffable peace, calmness, the stillness, silence and stages of absorption with awareness. The heart scores where the intellect fails. The Master is also the state of the perfected human being, the Real Man, the man behind man as he ought to be and can be, that is, having the potential to be such. Our Master has exhibited during His physical sojourn how such a person lives and acts in tune with the Highest. We also feel the Master and His environment in the company of those who live in laya avastha with Him.

The Goal

Master says it is our bounden duty to realize the goal of life. Therefore one should aspire for the Highest, peace and other things should be secondary. Only the abhyasi aspiring for the Highest can be said to be the true member of His mission. Anything short of liberation cannot be taken as the goal though there remains still a lot beyond it.

Liberation is the lowest rung in the spiritual ladder. If we remain below this level the problem of life remains totally unsolved. In this context we note master saying that the natural yearning of the soul is freedom from bondage. If there is one who does not like to free himself from entanglements there is no solution for him. Again the problem of life is not mere deliverance from pain and misery. We need to recognize that bondage due to undue attachment is the ultimate cause of pain and misery.

The goal of life means nothing but the final pint we have to arrive at, the primeval state of our present solid existence. It is a state where every kind of force, activity or stimulus disappears and man enters a state of complete negation, nothingness or zero. It is only the idea of destination we keep alive in our hearts and for that we practice devotion as duty.

Another practical way of defining the goal is to say that it is balance and happiness. We can see the two states are intimately connected. The unhappy person cannot be balanced and similarly the unbalanced person cannot be happy. In His commentary on the 8^th commandment He says, ‘The philosophy involved in it starts from materiality (food) and ends in the final state we all have to arrive at. A happy disposition is a state which percolates its effect upon the lower layers and purifies them. This is a state which may be aptly 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 that point beyond which remains but That alone.’

He says further that we should try to be happy even in unhappy life. Happiest man is he who is happy under all circumstances and that is the part of a saint. A practical clue is given by Master for dealing with worldly tangles which are a cause of worry but only to those who attach undue importance to them. We should learn to turn our attention away from miseries and afflictions which will considerably reduce their painful effect. Then alone we can be contented and happy under all circumstances.

Considering balance we see in His message (SDG p. 118) where the term ‘irony of fate’ is used.

He says that this presents to our memory unbalanced character. So long there was the balanced state we had no form of our own. We have simply to unfold ourselves and restore our own balance which we had lost. The article ‘Restoring our balance’ (p.230 BP V9) by our guide discusses in depth the practical ways of doing it. Master says we should abide by Nature and not try to beat Nature. If all things are changed to cooperate with Nature balance develops and that is what we want. It is crucial to ponder here whether or not we desire intensely this change and are willing to work upon ourselves for the desired change with the active assistance of Pranahuti offered by our trainers. It is our lethargy inertia to change and mould ourselves mould our living as called for in the 9^th commandment which delays and even denies our attaining what the Master promises and is committed in every way to help us in this regard. It is our work and our responsibility. Master reinforces the need of our effort when He says that this balance is developed by abhyas.

An indication is given of the balanced state to be recognized in a practical way by the Master (BWS p.198) ‘ If our mind comes to a harmonious state, circumstances and environments will have no effect on it and there will be no disturbances within; peace and tranquility shall reign all through under all circumstances. Passions excitements and desires will lose their intensity and sorrow joy or misery will disappear from the view.’ We must note in this context that cultivating moderation in all aspects of living which is an essential feature in the moulding of ourselves as required. It helps in attaining and preserving the balance (ref. commentary on the 9^th commandment -IB).

The 3^rd commandment says the goal should be complete oneness with God. This is achievable by developing laya avastha in Master. We do not know God as He is; the Master is our link that ultimate Source. We find Master has already connected Himself with all of us as He declares in the message (SDG p.136), ‘It is due to my profound attachment with humanity I lay down the feelings of my heart to be bubbled up in the heart of my fellow beings, the very part and parcel of my own being in order to make every heart to over-flooded with peace and bliss.

He says that His heart remains connected with all of us giving impulse in unbroken silence to affect the hearts naturally in due course. But it is for every living soul to wake up to his spiritual needs for the realization of the Ultimate. The Master makes it abundantly clear the aspirant’s duty, becoming aware of his spiritual needs in the realization of the goal and doing the practice as instructed by Him. He has said, ‘practice is your responsibility and spirituality is my responsibility.’

When we think of ‘oneneness’, the first idea we get is commonality. We are all one in respect of common origin, common goal, common Master, common aspiration and a common path. We can be one with God or Matser when we develop divine attributes like Him and exhibit them in thought, feeling and action consistently. Some divine attributes are sharing, service and sacrifice. By studying closely the Masters, their lives, we get an understanding of the divine attributes displayed by them; our practice combined with regular influx of Pranahuti, our diligent moulding of our lives in tune with the Master’s example will take us further in developing the desired oneness. As our Grand Master says we shall hide ourselves and display Him.

Human life

When we consider man in his unrefined state it is that of an upright bipedal animal. We become human when we are established in the five- fold virtues characterizing the altruistic, parahita or ‘U’ plane consciousness. Then only we are fit to be called human. Master says humanity remains even if one be at the apex of realization.

When we look at ‘life’, we wonder about the purpose of life. As Master puts it most take a narrow view of it. We are preoccupied with the problem of life. People think they can solve the problem of life if only they can secure a decent living well provided with the desired comforts and acquire prominence in the world. If these are achieved they feel it is a successful life. Some regard the purpose of life as enjoyment of all the sensory pleasures; some feel it monotonous.

Master defines life as, ‘a state of being which should remain connected permanently as long as we live thoroughly in contact with the Being smelling the fragrance of Being at each step.’

This is a very pregnant definition and needs to be contemplated with reverence to Master with an attitude of surrender for realizing its practical import. The import has to be realized in a practical way with His blessings and support.

Master exhorts us not to hold life to be meaningless. That will be a suicidal idea. He says accepting and turning towards spiritual life is the beginning of life. The highest state of life is the Life in life which lies hidden in it. We can connect this statement to the earlier one of being connected to the Being smelling the fragrance of Being at every step. For us Being is Master. Living in Master, His consciousness is the real life which is rooted in the Reality all the while. The state of Sahaj Samadhi as expressed by Him- The real state of Samadhi is that in which we remain attached with Reality pure and simple every moment, no matter if we are busy all the time with our worldly duties- may be taken as the meaning of Life in life. Master says the merits of Sahaj Samadhi cannot be described in words but can be realized by one who abides in it. All our abhyas is only for this sort of life. We are confident of attaining such a noble state of leading such a life by sincere practice and the continuous support of Master.

Master gives us the way by which we can lead such a life. As He puts it simply, ‘Give your heart to another’; He says what remains (after such a gift) is the real life. We should take the word ‘another’ as Master Himself. In the message referred to earlier (SDG p.136), He says, ‘On the basis of my personal experience I suggest a simple means which can be followed by all quite easily. If one can sell his heart i.e, make a gift of it to the Divine Master, hardly anything more remains to be done. This shall naturally lead him to the state of absorbency in the Infinite Reality.’

When we examine the above critically, we see our own shortcomings. Master says it is simple, it was possible for Him and He expects it to be equally simple and possible for all.

The question arises naturally, whether we really want to develop this absorbency in the Reality and we take this to be the purpose and meaning of life. We see our tremendous attachments to persons, events and things, all the networked connections relationships to family and friends as the greatest limiting factor in this regard. We want to go to God with all our belongings paradoxically.

Though Pranahuti does a lot for us in giving up undue attachments and developing the restlessness for attaining the Goal, we do not move as much on the path as we really could. The reason lies in our inability to  develop the required nonattachment. Nonattachment according to Master is the first essential pre-requisite on the way to realization. Though family life remains the better solution compared to the forced physical renunciation it is a challenge to the real seeker as attachments do not leave so easily- really because we hold on to them and refuse to simply let go. While discussing the role of abhyasi, Master defines the state of renunciation as the state of mind which brings to view the changing and transitory nature of things creating a feeling of nonattachment. The eyes should remain always fixed on Reality unchanging and eternal. We have to do everything with a sense of duty without feeling of attraction or repulsion. We possess and make use of things which we feel to be a sacred trust from the Supreme. The best way to develop nonattachment is being diverted to the Divine totally to whom we develop loving attachment. Thus it is the question of Viveka and Vairagya which should never be allowed to be dimmed. Our vigil, introspection and close examination of our thoughts and feelings attitudes and actions in the true light will show up the deficiencies in this respect. Every seeker of the Real will be alive to this paramount need for achieving the final success.