Part II / I – II
Social Conduct and Ethical Life
To forgive and forget is what one must practise in thoughts, words and in deeds so that they may become a part and parcel of daily living from day to day. Love knows no criticism, no imposition, no boasting, no reflection on other's shortcomings, but works in a constructive way to cement all in one loving fold of the Master. Love beautifies everything.
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Do not concern yourself with the fruits of your deeds. Leave that to the Master. Make your love for Him so complete that, beholding His hand in everything, you may rise above all feelings of enmity, rivalry and resentment.
See Him present in every experience and remember He is always with you, ready to assist whenever you turn your thoughts to Him.
And above all, remember He is not to be won by words, but by deeds –
if you love me, keep my commandments.
If you can do this; if you can conquer the self and surrender it at the Feet of the Master, you can learn to see Him working through all things.
If you can accept the fact of your own limited vision; if you can undertake a ceaseless and zealous watch over your thoughts and deeds, weeding out all evil and all imperfection, you shall not only win Salvation for yourself, but you will be an example for others to do likewise.
Your example will shine like a torch in the darkness and men, even those who may first oppose you, will turn to you for guidance and help.
You will find a new sense of peace surging through you, a peace that does not depend on the absence of outer disturbances, but is an inner state of mind that stands unshaken even in the most tempting situations. And the same quality shall enter not only your individual life, but the larger life of the great spiritual movement of which you are a part.
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It is so good that you enjoy the Satsangs and that the dear ones help you with transportation. It is a rare bliss to be amidst the sacred circle of devoted disciples of the Master where loving devotion for His Holy Feet is fostered with His Grace.
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We must reform ourselves before we can reform others, but unfortunately we are always anxious to reform others. We should weed out all imperfections, one by one, by self-introspection and this will bring peace all around. *Love beautifies everything and if we learn to love everyone, all our imperfections can be washed away, especially by loving kind words.
If two drunkards can sit together in a tavern, why can’t two devotees of God and Master sit together in Love for each other? If we find this difficult, it is because we have not yet tasted the exhilarating elixir of Divine Love. (* This section is adjusted to the First Edition of 1967; Editor’s Note 2011.) The reading of the scriptures and the wisdom given out by the Masters cannot give us an ounce of love for God or man. The food that is digested will give you strength and that which is not digested, will result in indigestion, leading to diverse ailments. We know so much about scriptures and the wisdom given to us by our Masters, but we have not made that a part and parcel of our living, with the result that may better be seen than described. Individual failures do retard our progress and also defame the cause of the Masters by setting a bad example to others.
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A disciple's foremost job is to develop spiritually and be with his or her Master. An overwhelming and prayerful desire when aroused in an initiate, bears fruit. The Satsang meetings are places where His Grace blooms to saturate the participants through and through.
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It is a serene attitude that you have compassion for the down-trodden, but you should not worry or try to reform them, as their outlook is limited and they cannot comprehend your helping attitude. The Law of Karma is inexorable and everybody will have his or her turn in due course to be benefited spiritually through the gracious Master-Power working overhead. The maximum you should do is to point out to them that they benefit from Satsang and the Living Master. The rest is for them to follow. The ready ones will come up with His Grace.
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Selfless service is a great virtue and accordingly means some extra labour and sacrifice. It is the manifestation of love and goodness. Mind and body become sanctified through selfless service, provided it is undertaken without ego or vanity. Love knows service and sacrifice. A humble person knows best how to serve the holy cause, under the protective guidance of the Living Master. The climax of selfless service is the annihilation of the ego, considering oneself to be a humble servant of the Lord-Master, entrusted with certain duties to be carried out through him or her and deeming it be a fortune of the highest order.
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The Path of the Masters is not a path of blind faith, but one of seeing things for oneself. The souls who are ready will be drawn to the holy Path. To those who are already on the Way, Satsang is important and is an aid for receiving and enjoying the loving Grace of the Master.
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Remembrance of God is the main thing before us to find the way to Him. The purpose of all devotional exercises, places of worship and pilgrimages is the same. The human body is the veritable temple of God.
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When the disciple lives an ethical life, this provides a fertile ground for the spiritual seed to grow quickly. All children are equally dear to the Master and He wants them to blossom into beautiful, loving flowers emitting the deep fragrance of God's love. And Master's love for His children surpasses all things whether they are jewelry, gold or pearls. He wants His children to receive such gifts of a spiritual nature, so that by comparison the millions of other gifts made of gold and diamonds just fade into insignificance.
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It is His rare Divine Grace that you are blessed with the great boon of right understanding so that you see everything in its right perspective. The gracious protection being extended to you by the rare presence of the Master and His Master within the eye-focus is the climax of Divine Grace. He is invariably with you and you are fortunate in bearing testimony for sacred Truth.
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The diary is planned to be a personal thing for the information of the Master and a helpful and sweet reminder for the initiate not to deflect from the right Path, and also to help him to progress from day to day by improving, and if there is no improvement, to ponder and reflect why this is so. It is a very useful thing.
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A spiritually developed person would be obliged to be more sober and tolerant in his dealings as he is enriched with the firm conviction of temporary aspects of this world and knows that he is bound for his holy voyage to the True Home of the Father.
God is Love and Master is Love Personified, and anyone coming His way is blessed with His loving care and guidance. You are fortunate enough to bear testimony to this Truth and may in turn prove helpful to the weary and forlorn souls struggling hard for emancipation.
Those who are doing the Master's work selflessly and in a spirit of love, will surely receive help and an uplift. Those who are feeling vain are damaging their own interests. I wish everyone would try to appreciate the others' point of view and to act lovingly.
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I am glad to know you are enjoying success in holding the Satsang. It is a service of the highest order and fortunate are the chosen few who are made instrumental in the Divine Set-Up for bearing the Torch. You may rest assured that the more you will be reposing your efforts in Him with deep faith and humility, more of serene bliss and harmony will fall to your lot. The sacred importance of the holy meditations and complete surrender to the Master-Power should be stressed on the initiates.
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You say disciples are very important people to you. This is natural. There is an affinity between travellers on the same road, and more so in the case of initiates as they walk on the holy Path. They are destined to go to the same place, which is their True Home.
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I find you heard Billy Graham's message of – 'Love your neighbour.' It is good. All initiates have been put on the practical path to achieve what he has said – 'Love comes from within.' You are on the Way. The more the initiates progress inwardly, the more they will develop love for their neighbour and for everyone else.
Floods or no floods, an initiate's way is clear. He goes on peacefully, his work undisturbed, because of inner comfort and the Master-Power working overhead. The help in such cases can only be extended by the Master. He has His own way of doing His work. The disciple's benefit is always foremost to Him.
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I expect everyone to behave lovingly and to be tolerant and to exhibit in all matters a spirit of humility and self-discipline. It will give them serenity and peace. The teachings of the Masters are based on plain and simple Truth and Love. It may be lived and enjoyed.
How does the Master wish everyone to come up to Him within so that they may have a glimpse of True Peace and Tranquility, and to enjoy in ever-increasing measure His loving Grace and blessings?
I am sorry for the family disruption caused by a misunderstanding on the part of your dear mother and dear husband. Such things do happen sometimes for testing the integrity of spiritual aspirants. I appreciate your calm attitude in the face of provocation which will have a salutary effect on their strained nerves. The golden principle to be applied in such a situation is to leave the place and allow the atmosphere to become more favourable for weighing the sequences and the consequences. A tumbler full of cold water when taken very often help to bring down the temper and should be resorted to and astute silence be observed. This is a tried medicine for your guidance, which may be communicated to both of them.
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No initiate should worry about his or her past life nor be anxious about the future. The present is in their hands and they should make the most of it. Their action lies in kind thoughts, kind acts and kind deeds. The more they live up to the teachings of the Masters, the more they will be given the treasures of Divinity.
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Love is the only remedy for the discord of which you write. Love is the beginning and the end of spirituality. Love knows selfless service, sacrifice and self-surrender. Let no one interested in spiritual advancement perform such selfless service for the sake of appreciation. Selfless service is a great reward in itself. Love, such as the Masters speak of, is a Love that must be completely purified of the self. The seeker who, having found a True Master, has developed such absolute love for Him, steadily purifies himself of all imperfections and makes himself a fit recipient of Divine Grace.
Without absolute surrender of all traces of ego and selfhood, the disciple cannot attain that unwavering concentration of all one's faculties which is the prerequisite of inner progress.
Besides, the goal of the spiritual aspirant lies far beyond the limits of individuality. His goal is union with the Absolute and such union must necessarily be a denial of the limits that separate us from each other.
He who cannot rise above the ego, the faculty which creates these very limits, cannot hope to attain that station which is the denial of all individuality and a realization of the oneness of all life.
Such love and self-surrender to the Will of the Lord embodied in the Master, has been the keystone of the teachings of all mystics and especially so of the Sant Mat. Your main task as a disciple and as an initiate is to cultivate these qualities to the very utmost and leave the rest to the Master.
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The Master always teaches love and tolerance, kind words and kind thoughts. Kind deeds cost nothing, but they create a potential energy which blesses everyone coming in contact with the dear One. To help one in need is the ethical part of one's love and should be adhered to whenever possible.
Satsang is a great factor in helping the disciple toward the spiritual Goal. Here one may imbibe the sacred teachings in their right perspective. Satsang also fosters inner devotion for the gracious Master-Power working overhead. Besides you will be able to enjoy the rare and loving life-impulse radiated in such holy congregations by the Master-Power for the spiritual benefit of the dear ones.
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We often have to face the ridicule of our fellowmen and the organized opposition of orthodox institutions. But if we have anchored ourselves in such a love of complete self-surrender, nothing can disturb the peace of our minds or distract the spiritual harmony that is ours. Initially perhaps, it is easier in the East to take to the mystic path than it is in the West. There is in India, for example, a long standing tradition of seeking and following a Living Master; a tradition that is foreign to those to whom religion has been taught in terms of a closed revelation. Nevertheless, this initial advantage is not as great as it might first appear, for the essential advantage in the field of spirituality is to be found not without but within. It lies not in the absence of outer opposition but in one's inner capacity for complete self-surrender and love; and outward obstacles may, in fact, act as tests and stimuli for the development of this capacity. This ability to conquer the ego and to submit oneself to the higher Will is as rare in the East as in the West, and wherever it can be found, there you will observe the true grand mark of spirituality.
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The more one aspires to weed out the imperfections by daily introspection, the more of serene bliss and Grace come from above. Patience and selflessness are ennobling virtues. Right understanding is the basis of all happiness.