Mind: How to control it

V

Patanjali goes on to the extent of saying that a yogin, if he so desires, can create a world of his own. What is, after all, this world? It is a mere projection of the Divine Will. By communing with it one would become His Conscious Co-Worker. A thought has a tremendous force. As you think, so you become. On the one hand there is Divine Bliss, while on the other are sensual pleasures. We have to choose between the two. We are ignorant of the laws of nature. There is an Elixir of Life in it. 

I was a lowly person, and it is through the Grace of my Master that I have attained this status.

Guru Amar Das says that at one time, He, too, was working at the plane of senses; but now He has attained the zenith of Spirituality with the Grace of His Master. He admits of a great change in Him – a change that even a ruffian would admit if he followed the Path. That is why Guru Amar Das pays a high tribute to His Master. God-Power is extremely subtle and always chooses a Human Pole to work in the world. You may call Him polarised God or the Word made flesh. 

The greatness of the Master lies in rescuing us from the mighty maze of mind and matter.

The Master’s hand is God’s hand, though seemingly He may appear to be a human being, because God-Power is working in Him in fullness. Before one finds a Master, one is steeped in worldly pleasures. It is the Master Who, by infusing His own Life-Impulse, makes one rise above body consciousness. Wherein lies the greatness of a Great Soul? He is a liberated being and can liberate us. He is not affected by the world’s glamour. By practising the Word made manifest by Him, one can rise to any heights. The great Sage, Balmik, the author of the epic Ramayana, was once a highway man. What a man has done, another can do, of course, with proper help and guidance. Every Saint has His past and every sinner a future. One does not become a Saint overnight. 

Having merged with the Absolute, Saints are granted Divine Commission and sent into the world to help the world-weary souls. Some are awakened by birth, while others attain perfection over here. There is no difference between the two, as the same God-Power works in both. They manifest Themselves in various forms according to the needs of the time and clime. 

Freed from the prison of the mind, I have now grown wise.

Guru Amar Das says that at one time He was completely lost in the world of senses; but with the Grace of His Master, He was now enjoying Life Eternal. By practising the Word, He was no longer swayed by feelings and emotions. Ganka, a prostitute, was transformed in a moment by a single glance of Grace from a Godman Who came to take shelter, just to escape a heavy downpour of rain that overtook Him on the way. A spiritually charged person is far above the world of senses. He radiates rays of Spirituality; and whosoever comes within His aura, automatically imbibes His spirit currents. A very sight of such a Person purifies the mind, and one begins to see things in their right perspective. A change like this was brought in the life of Guru Amar Das when He came into contact with His Master; and He, therefore, testifies to this and glorifies His Master for His greatness. Whosoever came by Spiritual Riches, he did so only when he came into contact with a Great Soul; whether we may know of it or not is a matter of fact. But it is certain that a change like this could not come without the magnetic influence of such a Personality, for that is the law of nature. 

God Himself ordained that no one could even conceive of Him except through a Satguru.

None can realise Him save through a Perfect Master. This is a fundamental principle. How can one, grovelling in dust on his own, trans-humanise the human in him? 

Further, Guru Amar Das explains: 

From hemlock I have grown into a sandalwood.

He says that He was an abode of all kinds of wild desires that had now left Him altogether; instead He was now full of fragrance. Every thought has its own colour and smell. A lustful man, for instance, emits a foul smell like the one from a herd of unclean sheep. Similarly, one who is swayed by anger smells like a smoldering fire of dirty rags. A Godly man radiates a gentle aroma like jasmine without the use of any scent. All beauty and glory lie within. A mere touch with the hem of a Godman is enough to transform a person. Many persons were cured of their physical ailments by touching the garment of Jesus. The scriptures all the world over have glorified Real Masters and not the so-called teachers. One may succeed in deceiving one’s own self for all his life and others for sometime, but the All-Seeing God cannot be deceived. 

The Power within, 

my Master used to say, 

is infallible.

Guru-Power is All-Knowing and does not grant Inner Access unless one is found fit. One cannot by wisdom and cunningness deceive that Power. One may talk as much as one may like and make a show of practising rites and rituals, but one cannot without purity of heart enter within.