Protector and Protection

II

Guru Nanak has said on the subject,

Oh Nanak, break off all connections with the imperfect, and search for a Perfect Master; they will abandon you even while you live, but He will never leave you even after death.

Maulana Rumi has also said that one should grasp the coat-tails of a man Who knows the secrets of this world and the beyond. The protection of such a personage cannot be described, but the individuals who experience it hold the knowledge close in their hearts. His single thought is very powerful, for God is Super-Consciousness. He is a part of the Creator – a drop of the Ocean of All Light. Remember, with one thought God created the world – from One, many came into creation. If we, the soul, become the mouthpiece of the Oversoul, then how powerful will we be! Our soul, though it is the same as the Oversoul, is surrounded by the mind and the senses, and is enclosed in the carcass of the physical form. The Masters come like motherly hens to foster the children, which is very necessary, for unless they sit at some Master’s feet and absorb His words they cannot be reborn – remember that – though in the beginning it may be by mere words that the facts of life are conveyed, of a new world more beautiful than this, viz.: And, Brahmand, Par Brahmand, and Sat Lok or Sach Khand. Oh Soul, you are the dweller of that land – why have you allowed yourself to be captivated here?

On hearing the words of the Masters we slowly start thinking, and want to know what else there is. When the Master gives the soul a connection with the beyond, it hears it, and responds.

There is no way without the Shabd to leave this pot of clay.

With repetition or Simran, you can achieve single-pointed concentration, and with concentrated attention – Dhyan – you will come to a standstill; but Shabd is the only power to take you up into the beyond. The Master is that consciousness which has become the mouthpiece of the All-Consciousness and His single penetrating glance can lift the consciousness of not only one but hundreds at one sitting, if necessary. To be connected to such a personage is the True Raksha Bandan, otherwise it is merely a worldly custom.

What are a Guru’s responsibilities, and what does He do? When one gives real thought to this, one’s soul shivers to realise the extent of His protection. People do not understand that the Guru’s responsibilities are vast. They are overjoyed with the prospects of becoming Masters themselves; forgive me for saying this. Each one’s desire is to be a Guru, Sadhu or Sant, and spellbound with these thoughts he forgets his duty towards himself and what he has to become in reality, thereby spending his precious time in leisure and wasting away whatever he has got. But the Master, with each breath, goes on saving the disciples all the time. Whenever He initiates, He sows a seed for a new life; like the seed enters the mother’s womb and then develops.

Howsoever God’s words come, He brings them into outer knowledge.

He is a Perfect Being – the mouthpiece of God, the Conscious Co-Worker – Who sees that it is God sitting within Him Who is doing everything. This kind of Master sows the seed of attention and gives a Way up into the beyond, which is a new experience.

In India some time ago, the Masters Who gave initiation into the beyond were termed Brahmins – the supreme caste – but today only the caste remains, and initiation is but a mantra; mere words, that is all. The raksha or protection is a question mark. You are in the custody of a True Master from the very day He gives initiation. He becomes the very breath of the disciple. Baba Sawan Singh Ji used to say that from the day the Master gives the blessing of Naam, the Guru becomes the indweller, along with the soul. From that very moment, He starts forming the child, with Love and protection, until ultimately He takes him into the lap of the Oversoul. Until that time, He does not leave Him for one minute. This advancement may take one, two, or three lifetimes. Masters have mentioned up to four, but if we become receptive it can happen in one lifetime.

God is working in the Master, and if you think of Him in this way, then whatever you desire will be given. In physique He looks the same as other men, but He is not man alone; He became a man to dispense the treasure of God to the souls. 

He is not in birth and death. The benefactor came for the souls, to give them the treasure of devotion and join them back to God.

Like a father gives the germinal seed of life, the Guru bestows the Life Force – the incomparable gift. There are many kinds of gifts, but the gift of Naam is above all others, and having given It, the Master then develops It within you, because He wants you to reach the same stage as Himself. He wants you to enjoy the bliss that He enjoys. The Master goes on protecting and giving, whether the disciple knows it or not; for he is like a small child which never realises how much worry and trouble it is to its mother. The child may turn out to have a bad character, and perhaps become a gambler, but the mother will continue to concern herself with his needs, that he may not starve and so on.

A child thinks that he knows his mother very well, but what child understands about a mother’s heart? We also think that we know our Master, but we can know only as much as He wishes to reveal to us. Eye can see only as much as our eye is developed. To convince us of the Truth, He will approach us in various ways: as a brother, or a friend, and will sometimes appear to be inferior in knowledge or intellect. He acts in whatever way will help the disciple to gain confidence in his Master. In this depth of humility, His greatness is revealed. Thus, this Great Personage gives rebirth to the soul, and gradually makes us as great as He is. Truly, it is a profound blessing to have a Living Master, Who has come to give new life.