To gain His Pleasure

VIII

How can there be another like the Satguru? Only a Satguru can be the same as a Satguru.

Do you know the story of Sukhdev, son of Maharishi Ved Vyas?

When Sukhdev wanted a Perfect Guru, his father told him that King Janaka was the Enlightened Soul of that age. After that, Sukhdev went to King Janaka’s kingdom several times but always returned without having seen the king, for he had the doubt in his heart that this king enjoys the pleasures of palace life with all His queens, etc., how can He possibly give any enlightenment? 

Now Narad Muni, a powerful devotee of Lord Shiva, saw that this man was losing all his progress with each doubt he had about King Janaka, the Great Soul. To save what little he had left, Narad Muni turned himself into a very old man, filled a basket full of mud and began to pour the mud into a fast-flowing river, just as Sukhdev was passing on his way once again to King Janaka’s kingdom. He saw the old man and asked him what he was doing. The old man replied, I am building a dam. Sukhdev laughed and said, Have you no sense, you fool? Can you build a dam by just pouring mud into fast flowing water? First put some foundation of wood or rocks, and then put the mud. The old man replied, I might be a fool, but I have only wasted one day. The biggest fool is Sukhdev who had finished nine of his merits of progress, and the tenth and last he is about to destroy by again doubting a Perfect Master.

This encounter with Narad Muni shocked Sukdev to his senses, and he went straight to King Janaka’s palace. He stood near the stables and sent a man to tell the King that Sukhdev has arrived. The king said, Tell him to wait there until I call him. In strict obedience to the Master’s orders, Sukhdev stood on the same spot, first for a whole day, and then all the next day. Sometime on the third day he was called into the palace. Having stood obediently in one place for so long, he had become covered in horses’ dung up to his waist, for the groom had been shovelling it into the corner where he stood. So he took a bath and changed his clothes, and then presented himself to the king. As he came near the king, he saw that He was reclining on a couch, with one foot resting on a red-hot iron plate. The other leg was being massaged with cool sandalwood paste by some of His beautiful queens. It was very revealing to Sukhdev, and he gazed in amazement, a man came running into the court and cried, Your majesty, the city is on fire! The king said, It is God’s will, and did not move an inch. After some time another man entered the court and said, Your majesty, the palace is on fire now, and the flames are coming towards this room. The king replied, It is God’s will.

When the Sukhdev saw the flames and felt the heat, he picked up his stick and small bundle of belongings and prepared to rush out, but the king caught hold of him, saying, You are a fine kind of world-renouncer! My hole city has burned away, the flames have consumed my place, and I merely said that it was all God’s will; but you in your panic are trying to save a stick and a bundle of cloths! He then talked to Sukhdev for a long time, telling him, You are a Brahmin and full of ego about it. You are also very proud of being the son of Ved Vyas. 

Doctors operate to remove morbid matters, and in this way King Janaka was removing the doubt and faults in the mind of Sukhdev. When Sukhdev Swami returned home after his initiation, his father asked him, What is the Guru like? Sukhdev replied, In brightness He is like the sun, although the sun has got heat and he has not. He has got the coolness of the moon, though the moon has shadows on it and my Guru has no shadow.

A Guru is a Guru. The stories of the Great Masters are for people whose eyes are opened. Otherwise … for instance, Guru Nanak was not permitted to enter the city of Kasur because the people, blinded by lack of understanding, declared He was an atheist and a bad influence. Wherever the Truth works in full power, the Negative Power will also work in full force against it. He does not want his prisoners to escape his clutches, but regardless, the Satguru goes on distributing the wealth without concern. 

When I was small, about twelve or thirteen, I remember clearly that one day I read the life of Ramanuja – I was very fond of reading biographies.

Now when Ramanuja was initiated by his Guru he immediately went and stood on a platform and collected a huge crowd around him. He shouted to them, Today I have been initiated by my Guru and I am going to tell you all about it. Some of the people were shocked and warned him, Are you mad? You will go straight to hell for disobeying your Guru! I was deeply impressed by his answer. He said, I alone will go to hell, but so many of you will get salvation! 

Reading this, I vowed that, if ever I get any Spiritual Wealth, I will give and give without hesitation.

My Master saw that I was a spendthrift, and that is why He gave me the work. It is all His Grace.

One of the initiates, an English lady, once met a Christian friar and she asked him,

Have you ever seen the Inner Light?

He replied,

Yes, after nineteen years of hard penance on Mount Sinai, on one occasion I saw some cloudy Light, but very dim.

She said,

Why, I see bright Light daily.

What value can we place on such treasure as Naam? We do not seem to know how to respect It even. We get this precious thing and, having no value for It, do not keep It carefully. It is gained too easily and freely.

The western people have more respect for It. My first western tour was for four or five months only, and in this short time there was a grand awakening all over the western hemisphere. There was a genuine surge of seeking for Truth, and when they got it, there was more respect for what they had been given. In India we take it for granted. 

Christ said,

Take heed therefore that the Light which is in you be not darkness.

St Luke 11:35

Introspect your deeds daily, with the help of the Spiritual Diary – and do not allow anything to cause you to forgo your meditation. If you live like this, there will never be darkness within. Tragically, we do not care – we have no time for the most important work. If you had to die today, what would you do? Do not live in the illusion of thinking or believing that after death you will get something. If you have not made Spiritual Progress in this life, you will not be a Spiritual Person merely by going through the death-change. Believe in the salvation of Life. Do, and see for yourself. If you do nothing, then how can your condition be helped?

“Each place is permeated with You; oh Nanak, only True Bhakti will make this apparent.”

The name of Prahalad is well-known in the history of True Devotees.

He was ordered to wrap his arms around a red-hot iron column, to test his faith in what he believed. Even the large crowed present at teaching time murmured Oh God as he approached the column. But what did God do, to preserve the faith of young Prince Prahlad? The prince saw a small ant running up the fiery column, and with joy in his heart he leaned forward and clasped his arms around it. The column immediately split open and out of it stepped the Avatar, Narsing.

I am illustrating that God is everywhere, but only those whose eye is open can see His Glory in all things. True Devotees have got His sustaining protection; standing in the midst of the thousands, they can be pillars of the strength and faith. 

In the West, many intellectual people came to hear my talks, and not for one moment did I ever stop and wondered how they would receive my words; with Great Power I would emphasise the teachings. It is all His Grace, and He Himself prepares everything. The trouble is that we forget that He is the Doer, and not ‘I,’ and we do not keep our face turned towards Him. Rather we go on finding fault with Him, and are full of doubts. Like this, how will we grasp the help offered to us?