Unlearning

Published as ‘Darshan at Manav Kendra’ in April 1974 Sat Sandesh

Sunday morning, 24 February, 1974

Master arrived to give us a meditation sitting at 9:15 a.m. It was held inside the Meeting Hall at His suggestion because the sun on the porch outside, even at this early hour, had been too fierce the day before. His first words on climbing onto the low bed which had been prepared as a platform were,

Are you all going strong?

He then supervised the placing of some of His children who had been waiting for Him on the grass outside, and now couldn’t find room on the crowded floor:

You can sit on the chair, no ticket. One man can sit here, this side. Make room for one there. That’s all right. One or two can come here. Anybody else want a chair?

He started the meditation instructions by saying,

Now be ready to die! Everybody wants to be alive, is it not? This is quite the reverse. Men who come here, they want to die. Learn how to die! Meditation means die. Are you ready to die? Then be joyful, you see.

One and a half hours later He broke us off by saying,

Leave off please,

and asked for the count. We raised our hands to show what we had seen inside, by His Grace; and as is his custom, he jotted the numbers down on a scrap of paper – this morning on the back of a small business card.

It was during this count that Master turned to this Satsangi and asked,

Why are you putting this down?

He managed to reply,

For historical accuracy,

which did not seem to impress the Master. But seen from our level of understanding, we are so filled with amazement and deep gratitude for the gift of Inner Light and Sound, that we wish to keep a record of the count as a living tribute to the greatness and compassion of our Beloved Master.

The count was as follows:

10 saw the Master’s Form

19 saw strong red sunlight

70 saw ordinary red or purple Light

35 saw strong moonlight

42 saw ordinary white Light or white clouds

51 saw pale light or golden light

79 saw blue sky and stars

25 saw the big star, the big moon or small moon

7 crossed the moon or it burst

8 saw only flashes of Light

2 saw no Light

Out of the 140 Western Satsangis sitting, most of them had stayed on from the Unity of Man Conference which had been held three weeks earlier. – By far the largest proportion were Americans; there were also Canadians, Germans, Greeks, Frenchmen, Africans, South Americans, and Englishmen.

The count was followed by further meditation instructions emphasising the importance of accuracy and not wasting our time while we are with the Master in idle talk and gossip. He emphasised once again that what we are receiving inside is the Bread and Water of Life.

Master then gave us a short talk:

A tree which bears no fruit, what is its fate? It is used for burning. A tree is known by the fruit it bears. So this is the Bread and Water of Life; the diet of the soul. All Masters have made reference to it in Their scriptures.

Maulana Rumi says,

Well look here, just rise above the turret of the body, and catch hold of the Sound that is coming from above; the Voice of God calling you back Home – ‘Come back Home, children!’

Do you know how to concentrate? How much time do you need? It is very simple. The learned and unlearned both have to do the same thing.

Two men went to a teacher: Sir, we have come to learn. One was unlearned and the other was learned. To the unlearned man he said, Well, look here, here are the stairs – one hundred steps; it will take you to the roof of the building and when you reach it, you’ll see the full sun rising. The unlearned man started right up.

To the learned man, the teacher said, Well, dear friend, I’ll charge you double fee. – But I’m a learned man! Why? – Because I have to make you unlearned first. – But, says the learned man, where is the proof I’ll see the light above? First question: is there proof? He wants proof; he doesn’t go by the word of the teacher. Then the teacher has to quote from scriptures – such and such Master says this, and such and such Master says that, and such and such scripture says something else.

All right, if I go up and my foot slips, then what happens? More questions. Finally he tries going up. Then he says, It is all dark. One day, two, three, four, five days pass; he goes up one step. He says, It is still dark, because he has not reached the roof. His attention is still on the way, you see. You have to come to the seat of the soul in the body, that’s at the back of the eyes.

I also find learned people like that. One says, ‘When I sit in the sun I see light, but not at nighttime.’ So when he is sitting and the sun is out, he is thinking of the sun outside; how can he see Light within? At night when it is all darkness outside, he sits, he says it is all darkness. His whole attention is on the darkness outside. How can he see Light at night? You follow? These are the theories of learned people.

So learning is a garland of flowers around the neck of a practical man. He will explain to you in so many ways; but the work that has to be done is to be done the same by the learned or unlearned, the young or old.

The teachings of all the Masters are the same for all – the Inner Way. If you are learned or not, rich or poor, you are a human being first. And God happily resides in the same building you are in. Had it been anywhere else it would have been very difficult to find Him. Spirituality is not so difficult as we have made it; even a little child understands it. The more a man becomes learned, the more it appears difficult. All you have to do is bring your whole attention towards it. That gives you more consciousness – your own consciousness brought in at one place. When you come in contact with higher consciousness, then you become all-wise. God is all wisdom. Don’t you see this is so simple? Is it difficult? You can do it in one day, ten days, ten months, ten years, ten births. Why not do it all at once and finish it off? Don’t you want to sleep in the lap of the Father? How long will you be frittering away time in idle talk or idle pursuits?

As you see, the very atmosphere of this place (Manav Kendra) is calm, quite cut off from the hubbub of the town. But the best solitude is within your own self. Keep your attention all within your own self. Emerson, when he wanted to find a refuge, a separate place all alone, went to an inn, where hundreds come and hundreds go, where nobody cares; you care for nobody and they care for nobody. You are left alone to your own self. In restaurants or hotels hundreds are coming and going, coming and going. You can sit down and enjoy your Inner Peace. So the best solitude is within your own self.

If you find God in this body, this temple, won’t you kiss it? If you meet God will you not kiss Him? If you find He’s in this building you will kiss even the walls.

So sit in such a company that gives you – what you say – radiation. Yesterday in the school here you saw the little children. One was Mohammedan, he prayed in Arabic. Well, speak of God in any language you know, that makes no difference. English or Latin or Greek or Arabic or Hindi or Punjabi, it’s all right.

You get it? When you laugh, don’t you laugh alike, whether you are German, Greek, Russian, or Chinese? Your eyes flash. When you have joy within, naturally your eyes will be radiating Light.

In this atmosphere you will find no poisons of the world. This is Manav Kendra – you see now?

Would you not like to go now? Put in as much time as you possibly can. Quite buoyant, quite fresh, at all times. When you close your eyes, see Him. See Him when you cut off from the outside; we have our living and being in Him.

God bless you all.