On Tour with the Master

by Arran B. Stephens

When Maharaj Ji (the Master) and His caravan left Delhi early in the morning, bound towards Agra, Indore, Baroda and Ajmer, I was unfortunately left behind due to weakness following about with dysentery. Just before leaving, Master unexpectedly called me to Him and consoled me, saying,

If you feel better by this afternoon, you may come to Indore with Pratap Singh by train.

(Pratap Singh is the Master’s always cheerful, long-bearded pothi, or chanter of hymns. Because he is a Music Master, he is affectionately known as Master Ji.) Then Master left for Agra. Against the advice of the Ashram doctor and other well-wishing brothers, I decided at all costs to be with my Beloved, for the discomfort of illness was mild against the agony of separation. Right up to reaching the railway station, I was plagued with digestive disorders, but form the very moment Pratap Singh and I boarded the train bound for Indore, some five hundred miles away, all the troubles miraculously ceased.

We travelled by Gandhi class – third class – which was an experience not easy to forget. Apart from being crammed with sixteen others into a compartment meant for six, and getting covered with soot and cinders from the smoke of the steam engine, it was the most spiritually uplifting train ride of my life. After twenty-five hours of journey through the timeless plains of Madhya Pradesh, we arrived in the beautiful city of Indore, to the hospitable greetings of the local Satsangis. As the Great Master was expected to arrive very shortly, the currents of expectancy and longing were plainly visibly, and as He had become so much a part of me, I too yearned to have His blessed darshan once again.

After the exhausting journey, Master was shown to His room where He was expected to take rest; but several minutes later He emerged refreshed and recharged from a brief dip in the reservoir of pure spirit. He buoyantly met the loving crowds until late in the night, far surpassing the endurance of those half or one-fourth His age. The following evening the great Master spoke before thousands of citizens of Indore, including many of her high-ranking officials, who sat alongside those of more humble rank on the ground. While the pothi chanted bhajans of Kabir and Guru Arjan, the Master cast handfuls of marigold flowers into the delighted audience, who eagerly picked up this parshad.

In the presence of the Master, musical silence reigns supreme. Except for His deep, gentle voice, stillness prevails, even though thousands of listeners may be present. Everyone feels that the Master is talking personally to him. The Master’s every gesture and expression reacts upon His receptive audience as though they were part of Him, similar to a master conductor before his orchestra, coaxing forth the sweetest and inspiring tones of harmony and rhythm.

Every evening, prior to the Satsang at the Gandhi Ground, an elegant silken cushion was placed on the platform for the Master to sit on. And every evening He would gently place it to one side before seating Himself on the plain white sheet. Master has little regard for finery or comfort.

It was the remarkable experience of nearly everyone in the congregation who attentively observed the Holy One this evening, to witness Him physically changing into the form of His Master and back again.

While riding back from the Satsang with Guru Dev, I asked Him about this wonderful noumenal manifestation. Self-denyingly and humorously He replied,

What’s that? There must have been something wrong with your eyes.

Yes, thank God!

God is One, and His Saints are One in Him. No difference exists between one and another who have attained the Universal Lord. If we wish to meet the Great Ones of the past, we can do so through the Living Master of the present. We have great respect for Those Who have come and gone, but the only way to complete at-one-moment with our unseen Maker is through the Living Father, Who alone fathers the Light. Not only Father is He, but Mother too, and He gives us milk. That milk of Life is the pure White Light.

Who can describe His magic? All creation is the raw material of the Master-Saint. When He is One with the Source of All-Life, what is not possible for Him?

Obstacles in the Search

The True Seeker must find his way through the confusing maze of conflicting statements of friends, books, priests, false prophets, religious narrow-mindedness, dietary fanaticism, psychic phenomena, fortune telling, and whole legion of other subtle meshes, before reaching the feet of the Satguru and accepting Him as guide. Such searching is painful, no doubt, but it is necessary step. Eventually he will find the Master, provided there is sufficient earnestness and humility.

Christ, in the Essene Gospel of John, said that His Lord was

a thousand times brighter than the brightness of a thousand suns.

Similarly other Masters have spoken of the Lord Almighty in such glowing terms:

Billions of suns and moons cannot compare to the luster of one of His hairs.

The Masters, when speaking of the intoxication They enjoy, state that

A single draught of the Water of Life is more exhilarating than two thousand barrels of wine!

We must practise honest self-introspection to see how far we have travelled on the Inner Path and attained mastery over the mind and senses. We can use the mystical experiences of the past Masters in all religions, as well as lessons from Their practical lives, to determine whether we have actually risen to such supreme heights. If not, then we can humbly approach One Who has, and accept His assistance.

On the morning of departure from Indore, over a hundred men and women were initiated into the practical experience of Light and Sound and started on their homeward journey.

Lost in Baroda

Leaving Indore, Pratap Singh and I boarded the crowded bus bound for Baroda, towards the south-west of India with its famous midday heat. When we arrived in that large and populous city, it was past nine in the sultry evening. We discovered that we had neglected to take the address where the Master would be staying. But as the Master is within, we felt no consternation and by rickshaw proceeded to a Sikh gurdawara where we were put up for the night. (Five hundred years ago Guru Nanak also spent the night there.) In the morning while I was being shown by the Sikh priest how to pick out a few notes on the stringed vina, dear Pratap Singh returned with Kartar Singh, a big, hefty, smiling Sikh, and old Satsangi, whom he had bumped into the bazaar while out for a stroll. Kartar Singh kindly drove us straight to the palatial residence where Master was accommodated.

As we were ushered into His bedroom, the Beloved sat up from a prone position and swung His feet down to the floor. It was impossible not to bow down before the majesty of the Master. He asked after our welfare and said that in His concern, He had sent people out to look for us until after 1 a.m.

He added with a smile,

I was not worried, you see, but others were.

That evening, Satsang was held in the city with about five thousand people in attendance. Below are given a few of the Master’s sublime thoughts.

Baroda Satsang

During your lifetime you can raise yourself so high that death will be overcome and no fear of death will remain. During your life you can see the Light, but it comes as a gift of Grace through a Guru or Master.

If a boat has holes in the bottom, there is a great danger of its sinking. Similarly, man has nine holes in his body, and if he is not careful, he cannot cross the ocean of the world nor reach his goal.

The feeling of I-ness, ego, is what separates us from God. Only God or Godman can unite with God.

Unless we lead a life of purity, how can we expect God Who is all purity to enter our live? There should be no other thought except the constant sweet remembrance of God. When performing any work in the world, do not forget the Lord.

Philosophy deals with theories, while mysticism deals in contact with reality direct.

The Master teaches us that this body is the True Temple of God. All the external temples are only imitations. God resides within this body. That is why it is the True Temple of God. You are not the body, you only reside in it. God is outside and inside the body, but why can’t we see Him? I-ness separates us from Him. Because we cannot see anything in the air, does it mean nothing is there? A microscope will reveal countless living organisms in the air. If we cannot see God, it does not mean there is no God. Who can see God? A Man of Realisation and a True Disciple of the Master.

We derive only false pleasures from material objects. The real pleasure comes from within. The objects themselves have no pleasure.

On the morning of the Initiation, only one man out of sixty could not hear the Sound Current. Even when the Master put him to one side to sit again, he could not catch the heavenly strains. Only when the Master touched the man’s head with His own hands could he hear the sound of clear ringing bells from the right side.

It was nearly noon when we took leave of Baroda and set forth again upon the open road northward towards Ajmer.

In the afternoon we stopped for a delightful picnic lunch by the roadside. We sat midst green wheat fields and sugar cane, fenced by blooming cactus hedges, under the cooling shade of a huge banyan tree, which spread its protecting arms overhead.

We sat near the Great Master and received cantaloupe cut and sliced by Him. There are no words to describe the wonderful feeling of being physically near Him. He is truly the fountain from which we drink the Water of Life.

Chittor, the Town of Mira Bai

In the evening our caravan paused in the township of Chittor to have a refreshing cup of tea, and as Master dropped parshad of sweets into my hands, He lovingly explained that Chittor was the town in which the famous woman Saint, Mira Bai, had lived. Although Mira Bai was the Princess of the vast state of Rajasthan, she received complete enlightenment at the feet of her Master, Ravi Das, and a lowly cobbler by profession.

Mira’s beautiful and soul-stirring hymns in praise of her Master and the Spiritual Life are today sung in every province of India. Master explained that because of her great Spiritual Devotion and indifference towards worldly affairs many people in her court and family thought evil of her and sought to get rid of her by any means, fair or foul.

Her sister once put a fatally poisonous snake in a basket of flowers with the intention of its biting Mira as she took the flowers. When the snake saw Mira it is said that it bowed down, saying in its animal language,

How happy I am to meet a True Lover of God.

Her brother imprisoned and starved a vicious lion and let it loose upon Mira as she was walking to the temple for her daily devotions. But when the lion saw Mira, instead of killing her, he laid his head at her feet saying,

At last I have found a True Devotee of the Lord … Now I have gained much Spiritual Benefit from having your darshan.

The Master lovingly concluded this mystic tale with the words,

This is the outcome of True Love for God. Such Love has great power, you see. Such Love can perform wonders!

Dantal: Village of Initiates

The Master was expected in a small farming village named Dantal, some sixty miles from the highway across an inconceivably tortuous dirt path through the farmland. The dust plumes picked up along the old road by our rapidly moving car rose high into the air signaling the countryside that the Master was fast approaching. Dust covered the car and as it shook from the windows we had glimpses of the beautiful farmland. New wheat covered the fields with a rich green. Hardy farmers could be seen behind their plows, working their faithful oxen and camels, while other men and women, dressed in vivid robes, toiled side by side. The deeper we plunged into the countryside, the more the peasant folk, seeing the Master’s car, would drop their plows in the fields and run as fast as their legs would carry them in His direction, as it dawned upon them that at last He had come! Turning to peer through the dust-covered rear window, we could see a whole flock of men, women and children running after the Master’s car, great smiles on their healthy faces. After passing through several hamlets, we arrived at a beautiful village nestled at the foot of a timeless mountain. Almost instantly, the car was surrounded by hundreds of eager ones bowing low in reverence before the Master. Mohan, Master’s always cheerful driver, announced that the whole village, except for a very few, were all initiates of the Master – some five hundred. Manoeuvring between the old brick buildings along the narrow streets, shaded by banyan and mango trees, the car narrowly avoided collisions with inquisitive villagers and occasional slow moving white cows. Finally, the car came to a halt where the narrowness and incline proved too difficult for further passage. Master got out of the car to meet His beloved children, many of whom tried to take the dust from His feet, applying it to their foreheads. The crowds were so thick that it was necessary to push to keep up with the Master, in order not to be swept away by the river-like human mass. We followed in His footsteps up the steep rocky lane between narrow corridors of buildings, with the mountain towering directly overhead. A solitary whitewashed temple high up on one crag caught my attention for a brief moment.

At the summit of the foothill Master paused and mounted a flight of dilapidated stairs, entering a tiny, darkened dwelling. Leaving my shoes at the door, I managed to squeeze through the compacted crowd into the cool dark room, where Master was speaking endearingly to a man lying prone under a mosquito netting. The veil was drawn back and the invalid smiled through his black beard with deep Love for the Master glistening in his eyes.

Master turned and said in English,

See his rosy cheeks? See how robust he looks? You would never suspect that he has been bedridden for fourteen years. You see, he is paralysed from the waist down.

As a silent interchange of loving glances passed amongst us, the man exclaimed in Hindi,

It is because of my bad karma that I am bedridden, but through my good karma the Master has come!

This disciple, Pundit Danshan Das, is very learned in the ancient Hindu religious lore and well known for his exemplary humility and devotion, revealing his Inner Greatness. Before we took leave of our dear brother, lying there physically helpless but spiritually awakened, Master said,

It is for his sake that I have come all the way here.

We followed the Master as He descended the hill to the Satsang grounds. The dais was draped with vivid cloth and garlands of flowers, and gathered before it were a thousand chanting devotees.

The Master expounded on the devotional hymns of Mira Bai, chanted in sweet refrains by the pothi. The bhaktas drank each word, each gesture, and each glance with rapture. Sitting amongst the Sangat, I too was swept away in the Divine Love between the Master and these long-awaiting ones. One man was wholly lost in his inebriating vision. With his healthy countenance wreathed in a bright smile, he shook his head back and forth in abandoned approval of his Beloved, tears streaming down his cheeks. Glancing around, I saw and felt the contagion of Divine Love and Ecstasy sweeping through the crowd, more consuming than wildfire.

Late in the day as we took leave of the village of Initiates, Master’s car was again pursued by the love-smitten villagers. Turning around in His front seat, Master said,

These people are simple; God is simple; and He (the Master) is simple, too!

As we drove along, I ventured to ask the Master how many of these simple villagers saw the Radiant Form of the Master at initiation.

He replied,

Ninety one out of a hundred. There was only one man who could not see.

Astounded, I asked again,

The Radiant Form?

He answered,

Yes.

In the life of these villagers, newspapers, cinemas, radios, lewd billboards, rushing and pushing pace, are unknown. Simple, honest living, healthy farm labour, deeply ingrained moral life and devotion to God since childhood had prepared a fertile ground for the sowing of Naam. When the Great Master last came to this village He conveyed the initiation instructions to several hundred aspirants; meanwhile another group of about seventy-five had accumulated and begged to be initiated also. In His kindness, the Master interrupted the initiation of the first group and had the new group sit in a separate section, whereupon He began imparting the Sacred Instructions to them. Meanwhile, in a steady stream more villagers from outlying districts appeared and also begged to be initiated. Again interrupting the initiation, he had the third group sit for instructions. Then he went to the first group and completed the first part of instructions and put them in meditation, and went on to the second group, and the third, and so on. It so happened that a fourth group of considerable size began to collect, but unfortunately they had to be turned away, as it was simply too late in the day. Time, which bears heavily on modern society, means little to these folk of the simple and natural life.

It had often been the practice of the Masters of antiquity to give the Sacred Initiation experience and competent instruction to a selected circle of disciples who were first put through unimaginable difficulties as tests of their sincerity and faith in the Guru. But in the present age, Kali Yuga, man is very weak, and the Master is all the more kind; He gives liberally to all who are thirsting for a glimpse of the Truth, which liberates.

The Master says in a letter to a disciple:

When morality deteriorates, Divine Grace grows in greater abundance for the general benefit of the masses. The granting of first-hand Inner Experience is perhaps the only tried criterion for distinguishing the grain from the chaff; the true from the imperfect masters which abound the earth.