He came to make us Satsangis

IV

Bharat, India, is named after King Bharata. He was an ascetic himself. He renounced everything and lived in seclusion for mediation. There he reared a little deer after the mother deer had died. By constant companionship, Bharata developed affectionate love for his pet, so much so that he used to think of him all the time. One day the young deer disappeared. Bharata could not bear the pangs of separation and died soon thereafter. Consequently, he had to be reincarnated as a deer and is known as Jar Bharata. As you think, so you become.

The idea of self-introspection or keeping a diary is to judge your own actions. I have prescribed it after very careful consideration. I, too, kept a diary in my early life. If a dacoit like Valmik can become a Mahatma, so can you. A bandit named Udham Singh came under Hazur’s influence and was completely transformed. Some bandits are being initiated even now. Naam is a Great Blessing. Mere intellectual accomplishments are futile as far as attaining salvation is concerned.

Kabir says very definitely:

Do not be carried away by chanting of the Scriptures, singing of Holy Verses, or listening to sermons. The Way of the Saints is something different. It can be found only through self-analysis.

King Ravana was a scholar of all the Vedas and Shastras. But, despite that, he is known for his wickedness. And, what are we doing? Acting, posing, and false propaganda will not take us anywhere near our Real Goal. We can dupe all, but not God. He is Omnipresent. From the time of initiation on, the Master remains a constant invisible companion of the initiate and watches all his actions. The Master knows everything about His disciples.

So, it is futile to conceal anything from the Master. Hazur used to give us simple examples to make us understand the various aspects of Spirituality. Once Yusuf went to Queen Zulakhan, who wanted to fulfil her sensual desire. She first covered the idol she worshipped. When Yusuf asked her why she did that, she said she didn’t want her deity to see their unholy act. Yusuf exclaimed, My Lord is Omnipresent and no actions of ours are hidden from Him.

Hazur used to say,

We hesitate to do a wrong thing in the presence of a child. Do we not realise that God within us is watching all our actions?

Once initiated by a Competent Master, a Spiritual Aspirant is never forsaken by the Master until he is taken to the Kingdom of God.

So, we are here in obeisance to Hazur and to realise the Truth. He is ever with us and is showering His abundant Grace. However, to realise Him, it is essential to have a pure heart. Can you ever expect the Lord to manifest Himself until our hearts are spotlessly clean? The Lord cannot be realised as long as our hearts remain littered with lust, anger, jealously, recrimination, etc. Our soul lies dormant and defiled by these vices. Just as a magnet will not attract iron that is all covered with dirt, God within us will not pull the soul up until it is free of all blemishes. In such a hopeless state, only a Competent Master can come to our rescue. This, in fact, is the greatness of a Master-Soul. If a loaded donkey is stuck in the mud, it cannot come out by its own efforts. Someone out of sheer compassion will have to remove the load and then pull the donkey out of the mud.

We are all loaded with heaps of impressions of thousands of lifetimes and, in addition, are trapped in the net of sensual pleasures. There is hardly any difference between us as we are and the loaded donkey. We, too, need a compassionate Soul, Who Himself is absolutely free to unburden us and to pull us out of our misery. Only then will we be able to see the Reality. The greatness of such a Master-Soul is beyond description. Such a Competent Master enables us to see the Truth after freeing us from the effect of past impressions and bringing our attention above body consciousness.

Hazur used to say that the Master will definitely take His initiate to the Ultimate Goal, but only after properly cleaning him of all blemishes. For nobody wants to keep dirty clothes unless they are washed and pressed! Hazur often gave the example of a washer man who never refuses to wash even the dirtiest clothes, because he knows his own competency; sometimes he may have to put in a little extra effort. Soul in its present state is like pure gold mixed with dust. Remove the dust from it and it will be pure gold again. It is only a matter of removing the dust.

Hazur came to transform us into Satsangis in the real sense.

He often emphasised that the human body is the temple of God and the Eternal Light is illuminating it. But, we are polluting this temple with all kinds of rubbish: bad diet, unfair and dishonest earnings, falsehood, deceit, recrimination, egotism, and hypocrisy. To partake of flesh, eggs, and intoxicants is to defile this temple. Such food habits are not conducive to one’s Spiritual Growth. Therefore, our diet should be pure and vegetarian. Even more: it should be prepared in a clean place and with a clean heart. In India there is still a practice in orthodox families that no one other than the lady preparing food is allowed in the kitchen. That helps in maintaining cleanliness. Nowadays, food is prepared generally by people who indulge in all sorts of loose talk while preparing the meals. Mind is affected by the food you take.

I may tell you my own personal experience. In 1921 I was posted in the Accounts Branch of an Indian Army Regiment. An army orderly used to cook my food. I had given him strict instructions not to allow anyone to enter the kitchen, and also told him to recite Holy Verses while preparing the food. It was my practice to sit for meditation daily in the dead of night. One night I noticed negative thoughts disturbing my meditation. I woke the orderly up and asked him if there was anyone with him in the kitchen that night. He said no, but he was telling a lie. Later he admitted it. Where the dirt is already there in tons, a little more doesn’t make much difference. But, even a grain of dirt will be visible on an otherwise clean surface.

Ethical conduct and pure diet are thus stepping stones to God-Realisation. The main reason I attach so much importance to keeping a diary is to make us conscious of our shortcomings. We only talk of non-violence as the True Religion; we never observe it in spirit. The result is that we try to deceive He Who is All-Seeing! How can we expect His Grace?

Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

A pure heart is a necessity if we are to realise God.