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CRISES AND THE COMMANDMENTS

  

- Dr. S.V.Raghavan

Many a time it happens that we go through crises in life minor and major. As the Master has said even the Avatars are not spared from sufferings. What should be the attitude of the confirmed traveller on the path given by Sri Ram Chandraji Maharaj?

It is the felt experience of the committed devotees on the path that the degree of transformation one has undergone can be checked by the level of adherence to the Ten Commandments which have been revealed by the Rev. Master for the first time to humanity. When a person is moving on the natural path towards Realisation he develops close conformity with nature as a result of the transmitted impulse from the Great Master all of whose senses and faculties have been thoroughly moderated and regulated. Balance, harmony and regulation are the hallmarks of nature. Search for laws governing various phenomena in nature has itself originated from their observed regularity from time immemorial; thus we are impelled to contend that transformation of man implies all his senses, sensibilities and faculties have been purified and brought to a state of perfect moderation and balance so that he can attain oneness with nature. Participation in Nature's works in a harmonious manner befitting our destiny is otherwise an impossibility. Friction and creation of obstacles in the path and way of Nature will be the result as see today in the display of human disposition which is totally estranged from what nature intended.

The relevant Commandments for our chosen topic are the Fifth and the Seventh.

The fifth one asks us to be truthful and treat miseries as divine blessings. While explaining the commandment the Rev. Master dwells a great deal on what is meant by "truthful". The ordinary conception of "Truth" as corresponding to fact and our adherence to the factual situation while giving utterance is not what is meant here. Truth consciousness itself is quite far removed from the Reality of which it is but a faint reflection. Truth, of course, has its basis in Reality. The Master says one has to present himself as he is. Ideas of existence, negation, a state in which all the powers are withdrawn are not able to indicate the nature of the state which can hardly be described in words. We can at best say perhaps that it refers to the naked condition of oneself as and when he originated from the Base at the time of creation. The Master says one should be away from all concepts of 'Self' so that one does not add to oneself anything what will be derived or artificial.

It is easy to see that distortions and complexities have entered into us after the birth of buddhi, chitta and crude forms of ahankar and their coming into interactive play in our actions. The genesis of misery can be traced to desire and attachment. Action with the sense of doership and ownership create impressions. Gradual development of likes and dislikes depending upon feelings of comfort and discomfort add to the complexity. We respond to the sensory data perceived identifying with them with a sense of enjoyership; the faculty of memory also contributes its share whereby we tend to brood over the recalled experiences and strengthen the impressions driving them deeper down and potentiating them as samskar. All these add to the impurities in us and our origin being the purest of the pure the field is created for the Bhog of the samskars. Without Bhog it is not possible for us to free ourselves of the complexities and impurities. And miseries merely refer to the experience of negative feelings arising out as a consequence of Bhog.

Since both the positive and the negative are to be transcended in experience the experiencer can at least reconcile himself to the fact that these are after all for his ultimate good. We come out of the origin without any burden and we will be in a fit condition to return to it on only when there are no burdens. For a person in whose heart attaining to the goal had been well entrenched, it should not be much of a problem to achieve the state of reconciliation mentioned above.

But the Master would like us to go one step fu her. He would like us to create a positive attitude of welcoming the miseries as divine blessings. This may be perceived as a very strange and contrived attitude by common folk. The Master's logic is truly revelationary as well as revolutionary in this regard. The truly goal oriented person would like to get rid of every thing at the earliest possible opportunity and each occasion for Bhog will therefore be treated by him as one more step taken towards his homeland. This naturally assumes that the sadhak is already in a condition where fresh impressions are not formed by him. He will thus see in the situation described above the graceful hand of the Master who has taken over his charge and is engaged in his thorough purification. Even as the patient needing surgical care has handed over himself completely to the surgeon, the sadhak who has truly surrendered to his Master would submit himself with a grateful attitude to the Master's service which consists in this case of creating field for the Bhog. It is also to be noted here that the Master also endows the aspirant with the necessary strength and fortitude to go through the Bhog with minimum amount of suffering.

After a particular stage in the practice all this becomes automatic and natural. There is no conscious perception of the beginning of the Bhog, its duration and cessation. One can even anticipate that when one is all the time immersed in the loving presence of his Beloved where could the misery be felt and by whom. The Master has given the method to us for shaping our attitude for those occasions when we are conscious of the Bhog first and it is perceived as 'miserable'. This is a very realistic perception from the Master's side as rarely is a person born who can dwell all the time in the condition of the living dead even as our Master was during his earthly sojourn always alive to Him and dead to all else all the time.

As to the seventh commandment, we find the reference to the classification of the deed done to us as wrong by 'others' and we are directed not to feel 'revengeful' and to take these as 'heavenly gifts'. It is commonly noted in our experience that we seldom acknowledge the good which has been done to us but choose to remember and revengefully retaliate to what we consider, most often erroneously, as wrong done to us by others.

It is 'natural' that we are in a miserable frame of mind when we undergo 'suffering' and start apportioning blame to 'X', 'Y' and 'Z' and rarely to ourselves. Subsequently we judge what the wrongdoer deserves and try to execute the judgement. This also engenders the cultivation of hatred. Master calls it somewhere as negative attachment, a very nice way of deflating the potential mischief which can be wrought more so to the bearer of hatred than to whom the feeling is directed. The Master would consider this holding of hatred towards others as amounting to sin and casting aspersion on the just ways of Nature which always metes out to us only what we truly deserve. It also reflects conceit on our part, a self righteous one at that for we feel that we can do no wrong and we deserve the very best all the time. Especially for the pious ones amongst us who in addition feel that they have surrendered to their Master the above reaction is not only ill- fitting but is derogatory to their status.

It is to be noted that the earlier commandment, namely the sixth, has directed us to know all men as our brethren and treat them as such. The fulfilment of this commandment can happen only when one is firmly settled in Brahmanda consciousness. If all are brothers and are being treated as such, the vengeful attitude cannot form though it is to be conceded that a feeling of wrong having been committed to one self can arise under certain genuinely critical circumstances where the feeling of having been wronged could even be justifiable. But the situation demands that the dedicated aspirant forms the right attitude despite the provocating circumstances and eventually he finds that his personality has been further honed. If a person is unable to see every one as his own brother under all circumstances, we admit that some will be 'friends' some 'enemies' and the large majority 'neutrals'. Even when circumstances point to the willful commitment by the perceived 'enemy' the attitude demanded of us is one of gratitude towards the agent and God for the gift bestowed on us by virtue of the occasioning of the Bhog.

It also can be easily seen that if we are not able to come up to the level demanded by this commandment we will be forever bound by the circumstances created by action and reaction. Liberation is far far from us and we need not even

venture to think of realization. On the contrary, if we are able to live according to it, we are put in a joyful frame of mind, the condition which is next only to where we have to finally land. This is indicated by the Master when he explains the word "Be Happy" in the next or eighth commandment.

The Master's whole approach in all the above is governed by only one thing that is how we can cover the entire distance to the Ultimate in a fraction of one's life time. Thus His concern regarding the unending formation of impressions due to the never ending action and reaction with the sense of doership and enjoyership. The entire practice of Sri Ram Chandra's Raja Yoga is directed towards the stopping of the formation of samskars as early as possible during the course of one's march. That is also the burden of the Gita's message and injunction regarding Nishkamakarm.

It is the author's own personal experience which can certify as to the effectiveness of the Master's method and His benign blessings which continue to help us all to tide over the crises we face in life with dignity and grace. It will be very prudent on the part of all serious sadhakas on the path to take the Ten Commandments with the seriousness they deserve and make earnest efforts to live up to each one and all of them reaping in the process handsome benefits on their march towards Infinity.