‘Go jolly!’

A Story of Master’s Love by Michael Grayson

Each mile of the flight over, the radiation got stronger and stronger; it was about a 24-hour flight, and by the time we got there we were really charged. When we got to the airport, the inspector started looking through our luggage, and he asked,

Where are you boys going?

So we told him that we had come only to be with the Great Master, and he said,

Well, you must mean Sawan Ashram; go right through.

We were met at the airport by some of the devotees of the Master. And we got in a cab, and I just closed my eyes, and when I opened them, we were at the Ashram. There was quite a charging of the atmosphere. We didn’t know yet whether Master was on tour, or whether He was physically there or not. So we got out – it is a beautiful paradise spot. The ground is holy; the Master has walked there so many times. We saw the main gate of the Ashram, so we walked in. And there a chair was sitting, just a very simple chair. You could tell that was the chair that the Master used to sit in. I just felt drawn to go over there. This was on the porch of the Ashram. And inside, Master was sitting right in there, but we didn’t know it. I felt an overwhelming urge to sort of just bend down and kiss the ground where the Master’s feet had been by that chair.

On my way down, someone said,

Go right on in, the Master wants to see you.

We walked through the entrance way, and there was the Master. And what happened after that is really hard to describe, because that first meeting is really incredible. We didn’t know if we had floated in there or what. So the next thing we knew, we were sitting at the Master’s feet. Someone that was there said later that the Master had held out His hand to shake hands with us, but no one did, no one knew what was happening. We were just looking into His yes. And He looked into each one of our eyes right away. Then we sat down, and He started asking us,

How are you? How was your trip?

Then after a few minutes, Master said,

All right, you can go if you like and refresh yourselves.

I remember Him saying, ‘If you like,’ so I was just sitting there, and He looked at me and said

You, follow him.

Later that night, we all gathered round and Master gave us darshan. And He gave a little talk. One of the things He said was that it is so nice to feel all One. Just when He said that, the atmosphere was resounding, and everyone felt so intoxicated just sitting there with the Master. One time we were at Manav Kendra, which is all a labour of Love; hundreds of disciples are there, they work all day and most of the night. It’s a labour of Love. So the Master was there, and one disciple was telling the Master how there’s so much Love in the air, it’s really amazing. The Master said it was all the Grace of God.

And He said,

I’m just a mere pipe. I know my own true worth – what good is a pipe unless something is flowing through it? Unless my Master sends His Grace, then?

Just imagine the humility. So many times the Master sat down right on the floor with us. No ceremony, no nothing; He just sits right down and talks things over. And there’s so much Love. There was one disciple who wasn’t having much Inner Experience. So the Master told him,

There must be something wrong somewhere, you have to get,

and He explained to him the correct method of meditation. He wasn’t doing it right, so the Master said,

Sit down,

and put him into meditation. So this devotee was just sitting there, and the Master was giving us a talk, and about an hour later we had completely forgotten about him. Then the Master said,

That’s right,

and got up and walked over – and the fellow was completely gone. So the Master walked over and knocked on his head – you know, knock, knock. The fellow looks up and smiles, and here’s the Master, and He says,

Any news?

He used to do that all the time. We would be meditating, and all of a sudden, you would feel a knock on your head, you would look up and there would be the beautiful face of the Master, streaming with Light, and He would say,

Any news for me today?

It’s a Great Blessing. Then the Master would give the many practical aspects of what we should be doing if we want to make progress. I’ll share some of those.

One person asked,

How much should we meditate a day when we get back to the U.S.? What should be our goal?

In the past the Master has enjoined to put in one tenth of our time. But He told us in no uncertain terms that we should put in a minimum of five hours a day. But He said that Master’s work should not be ignored; in other words, if you have no selfless service to do, you put in the five hours minimum total; but if you do have some service, then a minimum of two hours in meditation, and the remainder of the time in helping out. This is the minimum – the more meditation, the better! He told us that it was very important that we remember the Master all the time, no matter what we are doing. Someone asked about sleep. He said that the definition of a Saint is Someone Who never sleeps. He explained that at the time of sleep the soul goes down, and at the time of meditation the soul goes up, and is it not better to do that? Then He said that gradually, as time goes on, we will need less and less sleep, until ultimately we will be able to spend all night in remembrance of the Lord. And He told us how we should never go to sleep with the intention of going to sleep; we should meditate and thus make the best use of the night. He said not to force anything, but that gradually that will come, with regular practice.

Then He talked about food. He said that it is better to eat alone if you can, so that you can remember the Lord with each mouthful. – But He said that people of like mind could have a picnic together! And that those who prepare the food should prepare it with the sweet remembrance of God; then those who eat it will be blessed. And He told us that whatever we mix parshad with, will also become parshad.

Then someone asked Him,

When are You coming to the United States?

One person said,

You know, they’re very anxious to meet You.

And Master smiled and said,

They’re anxious, but I’m over-anxious.

Someone else said,

Maybe You shouldn’t come, there is so much trouble in the country.

So Master said,

I have to come.

Then someone asked,

What type of facilities should we set up for You and arrange?

Master said,

Very simple – I can live in a hut. That’s all I need.

So He doesn’t want any fancy decorations; the main thing He wants is for us to be ready so that we can benefit the most.

Be simple in all aspects of life,

He said. One time He took us to see the cremation of a 115-year old yogi, Raghuvacharya, whose picture is in ‘The Crown of Life.’ He had left the body, and Master told us how he was a True Yogi, who could leave the body at will. He pointed to him – there was Raghuvacharya’s body, just sitting in the chair relaxed where he had left for the final time.

And Master said,

The house is now empty.

So they carried the body off and burned it. The Master was always so gracious; He would hand out so much blessed parshad-sweets, rice, everything. One time there were thirty or so disciples from the West gathered around His feet. So rather than get up, Master used to throw it. Sometimes He would get these big balls of Indian sweets, and He would be throwing them to us, and everybody would be laughing …

On Diwali Day, which is sort of a cross between Christmas and the Fourth of July, it is a tradition to bring sweets to Master to be blessed. So He was giving out so many sweets, and you could see that He would like some, because He also likes. And there was none left, so He bent down on the carpet and picked up a little crumb and ate that. Just imagine. He’s so humble – no pretence whatever.

They have Satsang at Sawan Ashram every month. The Master comes down from the Manav Kendra project – at Dehra Dun in the Himalayas – and holds Satsang, which about five thousand or more people attend. And one woman was there, and she was so intoxicated from just looking at the Master, that when the Satsang was over, she was still sitting there, she had left the body – just from looking at the Master. She was there for a couple of hours. Meanwhile, because of all those five thousand people, there’s a lot of confusion and milling about. There was danger that she could be trampled. I didn’t know what was going on – by the Grace of the Master, I was at His Holy Feet, while He was answering questions. All of a sudden, He got up to go out, so we followed. They were carrying through the crowd what looked like the dead body of a woman. – Afterwards I found out what the story behind it was.

As soon as the Master appears, out of the house, someone says,

The Master is coming!

And everyone tries like crazy to get a look and receive His darshan. So you can imagine, this woman was really getting knocked about and still she was gone. So Master came up and He lovingly put His hand on her shoulder. And she came right back into the body, but so beautifully. Her eyes were closed, and she was standing up against the men who were supporting her, and her hands were clasped towards the Master with her head bowed. It was such a beautiful sight.

Then the Master said,

Go jolly.

Then He walked off to attend to the thousand other things He had to do. The Master never stops serving and giving, giving and more giving. And little children would come up to the Master, and He would tickle their toes. He would put a piece of parshad in the little baby’s mouth. The parents would come up and they would just put the babies at the Master’s feet.

Then the Master would look down and go,

Hello, baby,

and put parshad in his mouth. He wants us all to come to Him as loving children in complete Love and surrender. When the Master holds a Satsang, He sits on the platform and talks very softly, calmly and quietly – and the radiation flows all over the crowd. His eyes dart about really quickly, so you have to make sure you are always looking at His eyes, so when He looks your way, you will get the Great Blessing. It is important, because you never know when He will look around and look at you. But even if you do not look into His eyes, there are waves of Love surging.

One time we were sitting in the garden at Rajpur, and the Master was talking about Love. And one disciple was leaving.

The Master said,

Make sure you convey my Love to all of them in the West. If you knew how much I love you, you would be dancing all around.

And many were crying, and even the Master – some saw tears flowing from His eyes, too. Just imagine. And He said,

Sometimes tears flow down from the eyes – those are the tears of Love for you all.

It was so beautiful. And the Master talked about the world situation, and He told us how it is already out of the hands of the son of man – only God can help now. Those that turn their faces towards the Master will be saved. There is nothing to worry about.

Someone asked,

Well, what if there are bombings, this, that, and the other.

The Master never let on that it would be, but He never said it would not be. He said to just keep all your thoughts in the Master and you will be upheld. Then He began to speak about selfless service. He even said at one point that it was good to die in the service of others if need be, even sacrifice your life for the sake of others. Because, He said, we have to die sometime, we have to leave the body sometime, why not leave it in the service of others? He told us that no sacrifice was too great for helping the God in each, and to serve in the cause of the Master.

To give you an idea of some of the physical beauty of the Master: One night we were sitting there and the Master was asking us what we were seeing inside. Each night the Master would come in and ask us how our meditations were, how we were progressing; then He would give us help. Also, some of the disciples would volunteer how beautiful the Master looked tonight. So this night, one lady was telling us how as the Master was speaking, roses were coming out of His mouth. Another dear one described the beautiful, brilliant golden aura that could be seen around the Master’s head. Another told us of the wondrous Light coming from the Master. The Master just sat smiling – just radiating. Once in the night at Manav Kendra – it was cold out – Master was sitting and supervising the work on the big pool.

The devotees were working by the lanterns and one of the lanterns was near our Beloved. It was cool enough to see the silken breath of our dear Master – intoxicating and shining – flowing from Him in puffs of lovely blessing. One person said they were having some trouble with chastity. So the Master said,

That’s because of the impressions that you take in during the day.

Then He said,

Don’t look into the eyes of others.

So the person asked,

How can we avoid looking into the eyes of others?

So Master said,

Well, don’t look, that’s all. If you have to look in someone’s eyes, look into the eyes of the Master.

About touching others or others touching you, the best thing is to have sweet remembrance of the Master, and if it cannot be avoided, the worst thing is to hurt someone else’s feelings. Master says we should mix up with others as little as possible.

Often times there would be just a few of us there, and we would take a walk with the Master through the Manav Kendra, just with the Master, all by ourselves. Just imagine. He would be pointing out,

Over here’s the water tower,

and we would just be looking at Him. Sometimes Master was so gracious as to give us the opportunity to do some work at Manav Kendra. So this unworthy one used to ride on the back of a tractor at times. It was a job to do there. And one time the Master came over and He was smiling, and He motioned for me to come over. So I ran to Him, and He said,

Don’t ride on that tractor, it’s very dangerous.

I had been riding it for over a month and a half, and every day He would be watching and smiling – He never said anything. But this day He said,

Don’t ride it, it’s very dangerous.

So, the commandments of the Master, you know. I did not go back up. And the next day that tractor was working on a high part and it fell off a high ledge, and the driver jumped to safety. The whole thing was wrecked. And the same Master will ask you a question like,

What should we do here?

He is so humble, it is amazing. He will ask your advice on something like,

Should we dig it this way?

He once said,

Make sure you tell them the Love I have for each and every one. Convey my Love to each and every one individually.

Then He told us how, when we listen to the Sound Current, It will become audible all during the day. You will be blessed with just perpetual intoxication. When you sit in front of the Master, you learn things that you never even dreamed you would learn. You do not have to ask any questions at all. If you had a question, either the person next to you would ask it, or the Mater would start talking about it.

When questioned about more ashrams all over, Master told us that every home should be a little ashram. He said it would be better to have one room only for the purpose of meditation, or even just one particular area, specifically for remembering the Lord. In this way, the atmosphere of that place will become charged with the Grace of God.

Thousands upon thousands come to see the Master, and they are all so devoted. The know they would be absolutely nothing without Him; He is their very life. And the Master never makes any claims – He is so simple. He is so willing to please; for instance, if He is riding in His car, and you wanted to go some- where, He would rather walk so that you could ride. You have to be very careful – lots of times when we are with the Master, we impose on Him. But He will never let on; He will just give everything. He is a complete selfless servant.

He would actually go out and help with the physical labour at Manav Kendra. And those who had eyes to see, would know that He was actually enlivening every single person there. Because when you are working at Manav Kendra you can be very, very tired. You can either stop, in which case you remain tired, or you can say. Well, Master, I love to do this. And all of a sudden, tremendous Grace flows over, and you feel completely rejuvenated. People work there sometimes 18 hours a day with no problem. And the Master gives the workers each meal by hand. Then after He is through, He comes back and gives us a talk. And then He gives us a boost. Then He goes in and attends to correspondence from the West. He has tremendous stacks of correspondence, big piles. And every letter that comes in, first Master goes over it, then He has the letter typed, then He checks the letter and makes additions. Then it is retyped. Then He again checks that retyped copy and signs it; He makes sure everything is right before He sends it.

So you can imagine what Love and devotion He puts into the letters.

Disciples come, and they say,

I’ve been waiting so long to be with You,

and He says.

Well, I’ve been waiting so long to see you.

One time when some devotees were sitting in the garden, the Master came down to where they were waiting and asked them,

What are you waiting for?

They said,

We’re waiting for Your darshan.

Master said,

Well, I came down for your darshan.

So humble.

He told us that the definition of a man is one who has Love for all – even the birds and trees. And when Master eats, the little birds come and sit on His shoulder. Just imagine. The little sparrows sit there. And I have seen little frogs hop up to get the blessed darshan of the Master – and they turn sideways so they can see.

One night the Master was giving us a talk on controlling the attention and while He was speaking, this huge sort of a beetle-type fly came and sat right on His eyebrow. So the Master did not even blink – and it was a huge beetle-type thing, a big heavy bug. He gave the whole talk, and He did not pay any attention to it. So we must control our attention. The bug flew away, and the Master did not even give any notice. He is so gracious. Master told us how an airplane leaves only from an airport – not in the streets. And with such twinkling joy He pointed to His forehead and said,

This is the airport. You may please enplane yourselves!

He gave us an example that so much money has been deposited in our account; why do we not go to the window and draw on it? Again He lovingly told us,

This is the window,

and pointed to the region of the Inner Eye.

Master told us how we should be like the moth, who has such Love for the Light that it flies right into the candle flame and dies without uttering a sound. Such should be our Love and devotion for the Beloved. He told us how, now that we are initiated, we have to take pity on our own selves, have grace on ourselves, by coming into contact with that God-Power within us which is the panacea for all our ills.

And how the Beloved is anxiously awaiting us within –

Would you keep Him waiting? –

and how we have nothing to fear; He is always with us. And how we should pitch in and help in Master’s work – always knowing that any good that comes out of us is His Grace.

And the importance of the diary.

Don’t spare yourself. You may find hundreds for each heading.

Master in His Grace told us that every sin we record in the diary which we sincerely repent, and pray for forgiveness for, and promise to do better, will be forgiven.

What a blessing!

And how now is the time to spread the message of Truth and Love to every nook and corner, that all the dear ones may avail themselves of the wonderful opportunity that is theirs as best they can. And He told us that when Master comes physically to the West, those who come to His feet will have an experience no less rewarding than if they had gone to be with Him in India. But mainly He talked of how each one of us should reform ourselves and become a living embodiment of Truth and Love – and how this fate awaits us all, but we should hurry up and make the best use of our time so as to contact Master’s Radiant Form within and enter the Kingdom of God.

*****

When we first arrived, the first thing He said was,

Go jolly.

And when we left, we left on Christmas Day, and the last thing He said was,

Go jolly.

So on Christmas Day He gave all the Westerners a Christmas dinner. And He came around and served each of us with His own hands, about four or five times. Then He sat down and ate with us, the same food we were eating. He gave out Christmas flowers. My oh my.

There were one or two days when we were separated from Him, and it was really unbearable; because you get addicted to His presence – you cannot stand to be away. Leaving was really incredible.

The Master asked,

Are you leaving?

So we said,

No, we’ll never leave You.

And He said,

That’s good, you’ll always remain with me here.

We could not believe it – we were crying. So Master saw us off; we had to take the bus from Manav Kendra back to Delhi. So we stayed all that day – Christmas Day. He was giving us more and more blessings. After the Christmas dinner, then we had tea with Him, then He gave us some left-overs from the dinner. He was continually showering Grace on us.

All wishes that we had stored up, He fulfilled. If we had any more desires, it was just to be with Him. Finally the time came – we had to leave, but we could not leave, but we left – and when we arrived at the bus station, who was there to greet us but the Master, to see us off again. We could not believe it – He is so gracious. He held our hands, and no one said anything.

The main message that He wanted us to give out was the Love that He had for all of us.