Protector and Protection

VI

I will tell you of another instance.

There was a man in America, named Walter Kirel. When I initiated him, he had a very good experience, but after some time he fell ill. When a man is in a helpless condition, he gets restless and worried. He wrote and told me that the doctors were pressing him to eat meat and drink wine. Each time he wrote I tried to make him understand that the non-vegetarian diet would not help him, and he should remain on the vegetarian diet. After a few months he wrote that he could not fight any more, that he had become helpless and could not breathe, and that the doctors were insisting on a meat diet. I replied, All right, do whatever you feel like.

When I visited America and reached Santa Barbara, the doctors had then given up hope for him, and he was at the door of death. Violet Gilbert, one of the hospital nurses, was a Satsangi, and she met me and told me about Walter Kirel who was dying in the hospital: He cries a lot and goes on saying that he has disobeyed his Guru who is now in America but will not want to see his face. Do you think you could visit him, Master? I said, Of course I will.

When I arrived in his room, Nurse Gilbert told him, The Master has come. He opened his eyes and saw me, and the tears started flowing down his cheeks. I put my hand on his forehead, and said, Do not worry – whatever has happened has happened, and it is finished. Do you hear the Sound? He said, No. – Do you see the Light? Again he said, No. I put my hand on his head and told him to close his eyes and forget all outer things. When he did so, not only the Light came, but the Radiant Form of the Master too. His ears were closed for him and he heard the Sound clearly. I told him, Now go, with rejoicing. His wife was there, and she was a non-initiate. She said, Master, I know that he has been forgiven and saved, but I wish he would speak to me before he goes. I again put my hand on his head and said, Your wife wants you to say something to her before you go. He opened his eyes, and said, All right, and turning to his wife, he smiled and said, I am going now. This is what is called protection; it is not a story but a true incident.

I feel sorry for those who get this valuable gift and do not live up to it.

Nanak says,

He who has met the Satguru – whatever is written in his destiny is finished.

It is true that the Master winds up the karmas, but not just like that; He adjusts them to further the man-making of the disciples. He takes the children in His charge, but He will make them into something worthwhile before taking them Home. It is His duty to clean them first; nobody packs dirty clothes away in storage.

When people are initiated, they rejoice and say,

We have got a Master; we have got salvation.

When meeting the Satguru, you will get salvation if you obey his words.

Satguru cuts the bonds of the disciple, if the disciple withdraws from wrong deeds.

Obey the Master. As I have said before, dirty clothes cannot be packed away in storage, and no one wants to wear dirty clothes. The Father wants to embrace you – if you have got clean clothes on. But this kind of cleanliness means having no other thought but of Him.

Clean the core of your heart for He Who is coming; take the thoughts of others away, so that He can sit there.

This is what is meant by cleanliness. At times we try to do business with the Master and say, ‘If our wishes are fulfilled, only then we consider him a Guru, otherwise not. If the Master shows love and affection then it’s all right, but if not, he is no Master.’ This is the sad condition we are in. A Guru is a Guru and will never leave you – even if you leave Him. It is a wonderful protection and a great, great blessing. The volumes of praises for the Guru which are written in the Ved Shastras¹ have not been written idly. They also state that the Guru is greater than God. In the Guru, God Himself is working and there is no difference between the two. For example, here is my watch. That which is holding the watch is my hand, and if the watch could see and think, it would consider that it is just a hand; but who is in the hand? I. God is working through the Human Pole, and the Pole says, I am not the doer, but He Who is in me. God is working from within the Guru, and they are One and the same.

First, the Guru works like a teacher. He shows sympathy, and even allows tears to flow from His eyes for you – sometimes He rebukes, and sometimes He shows Love. In fact, He does everything.

Then He says,

I am not the body, and neither are you; come, let us go up.

He does everything to teach the disciple to break his outer attachments and concentrate within; He has no other motive. He has no desire for people’s Love. His own Love is connected with God and His Guru; there is no place for anyone else. So become receptive to Him, and through receptivity, become the image of Him. A child grows on milk; and to love the Guru and be receptive to Him is the food of life to the soul.

One Master said that though there be thirty or more teeth in the mouth, yet the tongue is not harmed by them. Similarly, the Master is protecting the disciple from all the perils of the world around him.

When difficult times come, no one helps – both enemies and friends forsake; all hopes fade away – life becomes hopeless, but if God is in the heart, the flames of misery will not be felt.

When a man gets disheartened and there seems to be no chance of hope from any direction, then the Satguru comes and takes him across all his tribulations. He first waits patiently until we remove all intellect, worries, attachments and ego from our Path, and then when we have fully reposed ourselves in Him, then we come under His complete protection. If the disciple falls, the Guru will lift him up, for in this world who is free from difficulties? One cannot find even one man without problems in his life. But if a man has a Perfect Master, he is fearless even when confronted by enemies.

Kabir Sahib says,

He who lives in constant remembrance of his Master and keeps his Master’s words, will be fearless in all three worlds.

Why should he be afraid of anything? After all, his Master is not merely a man. Understand this also: it often happens that the disciple is due for heavy suffering, due to the karmic reactions from the past, but through the Guru’s protection it can be reduced to perhaps a slight prick from a thorn.

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Explanation: 1) Ancient Hindu-Scriptures.