Your Life should show Criteria

I

From the time of man’s birth, his eyes and ears being open, he is drawn by the impressions which come through them. From the very onset, we have been receiving these impressions from outside to such an extent that we have formed a superficial way of living which is not what we truly are, but is only a collection of the impressions received from outside. We are so much absorbed in these outer impressions, we fail to see that which we should be seeing – and that is? 

In Christ’s words:

Take heed therefore that the Light which is within thee be not darkness.

In the mother’s womb the child is maintained by two things: Light and Sound. If, after birth, he begins to cry, simply show him a lighted lamp or ring a small bell and he becomes quiet. As he continues through life, man is no longer aware of the Inner Light and Sound, but is solely absorbed in receiving impressions from outside of himself: scenery, etc., through the eyes, and voices, etc., through the ears – the two chief faculties for receiving outer impression. Living a life of superficial existence, we have forgotten ourselves, the Inner Light, and the Inner Sound. Through all our outgoing faculties, the five dacoits or bandits are attacking: lust, anger, greed, ego and attachment. Lust attacks us through the eyes or the touch, anger through the ears, and the more you hear the more anger you bolster up. Attachment comes when you cling to the environment around you. 

As a result, of those born on earth, Kabir Sahib says,

We have seen no man happy on earth.

You may be a millionaire; even then you are a prey to five dacoits. King or pauper, the worldly man, the cynic – all are victims, through the outgoing faculties. Do you follow this? No man can save you from them; no brother, father, or other, for all are in the same plight as you. We are so much intoxicated with our condition that we cannot even think of anything else; we are quite pleased with ourselves.

The basic factor or crucial point in all this is the attention – our awareness. If one’s attention is with the ears, one hears; and if it is with eyes, one sees; and so on. The more you are attracted by things outside, the more you are involved; you cannot be saved from onslaughts. You may perform any number of penances or practices; but as they are all at the level of mind and intellect, they are all related to the five outgoing faculties. As you are already leading this superficial life, and are fully identified with it, how can you rise above it? There is but one Way out, and that is to come to the feet of some Competent Master. The Master is also a man like you, born in the same way; He has two eyes, two hands, two feet; but the big difference is that He has solved the mystery of life: He has rent the veil of ignorance.

The Master says,

I am not the body – I am the driving force of the human body, of the machinery of the human body. There is a Higher Power controlling me, and I am conscious of that.

There is nothing and no one in this world that can save us from the onslaughts of the five deadly enemies; no worldly authority or ruling power can help, for everyone is in the same plight. For example, you may go to meet someone who lives in a bungalow, but he has five dogs guarding the place – people do keep dogs to avoid be attacked by thieves, etc. Now you want to go inside and meet the man within, but the dogs will not allow you to enter. One will bite your leg, another will tear you clothes; if you offer them something to eat or money even, yet they will not allow you to go into the bungalow. There is but one way out, and that is to call the one that you want to meet; and when that voice reaches him, he will come out and the dogs will disappear.

When you have met the Master, He has two ways of saving you from the onslaughts of the five dacoits. One is his gracious glance, for as long as you sit attentive and absorbed in the Master, no harm can come to you; you are safeguarded by His radiation. The reason for this is that all outgoing faculties derive their strength from the soul – the outer expression of which is called the attention. When you have learned how to control the attention by the soul’s radiation gathered from all over the body and concentrated at the seat of the soul behind the eyes – then you become attentive. When the attention is, attentive for a little while, the outgoing faculties do not work; therefore you cannot be affected by any attacks from outside.

His other way of saving you is the very science that this teaches, for as long as you are above the eyes, all the faculties are below. There are two parts of man – one here, and one in the beyond. While you are receiving impressions from outside yourself, you are subject to the onslaughts; but He gives you a way up. When a man dies, his eyes are upturned, towards the seat of the soul in the body. The Master demonstrates this for you at initiation, for a while. While you are concentrated at that seat, you see Light, which is the outward expression of the God-into-Expression-Power, and that has two aspects: Light and Sound. By daily practice of controlling your attention, you will find you can work through any particular faculty you wish; it will be at your command.

What is happening at present? We are being dragged like anything by the outgoing faculties, which are in turn being dragged by the outer enjoyments and attractions. How then can the Master be met while these five dogs are surrounding you? He will hear the true cry or urge from the heart.

Where is He? He is already within you, controlling you in the body, and the body is truly the temple of God. When that true cry reaches the Lord, He makes the arrangements to bring you in contact with Someone in Whom He is working, and through Whom you may have the great concession, the privilege, you can say. No one else can help you in this subject – no relative, no friend, no king or queen or millionaire. It only happens when God condescends; and when He condescends there is pity; and then He brings you in contact with the One in Whom He is working. This is the best way, the most Competent Way, and the Master is met through the Grace of God. That Grace descends on whom? On whosoever cries out from his heart of hearts. Some people have got some background, and that is all right, but they do no know what to do further. Such a person needs further guidance; God’s Grace must descend, to bring him in contact with Someone Who will take him further.

The Master is a man like you, eating and walking like you – earning his livelihood too. If you want to cut down a tree it is better if you first cut off the branches, and then the trunk afterwards. Your trunk will be cut only when the ego is not there, and that happens only when you are a Conscious Co-Worker of the Divine Plan and you see that He is the Doer and not you. The Master gives you a contact with the God-into-Expression-Power, the Word, the Naam, the Kalma, the Shabd; and the two aspects of that are Light and Sound. The more you come into contact with that, the more you will see that He is the Doer. This is achieved when you become a Gurumukh and sit face to face with the Master.

To meet the Master means something that most people do not understand. There is seeing the Master; people saw Christ also. Those very people who placed a crown of thorns upon His head and nailed Him to the cross also saw Christ. Many people saw Guru Nanak, but He was persecuted and banned from a certain town called Kasur, being accused of bewildering the people and spoiling their lives. Some Masters were put to the stake, others were stripped of Their skin, or burnt alive, by the people who saw Them. But seeing a Master means something far deeper than just seeing. There is seeing, and in Punjabi there is a word called bhetna, which means when two souls meet together – through the eyes. The eyes are the windows of the soul, and when one is absorbed through the eyes the power working in the higher soul has a radiation which helps one to rise into the beyond. This is what is meant by meeting a Master.

There are three criteria which show that you have met the Master; I will tell you.

First, one is put on the way, but that is not the only thing. There are three criteria to judge whether you are following the Master. If you daily put in time for meditation and rise above the body consciousness, above the level of all your faculties, to enjoy the higher bliss of the God-into-Expression-Power of Light and Sound, to the extent that the outer bliss has less and less fascination, you will lose your outer attachment. What is that? That means, if someone dies, perhaps your friend, you do not feel it; or if someone is born you are not unduly overjoyed. These are all results of give and take – reactions of the past – and when you are not affected by them it shows a way of living; it shows that you have met the Master.

During the time of the ten Sikh Gurus, a man came to the Master and asked him, Can You show me one of your followers whom you consider to be on the way? The Master agreed, and gave the man a chit (letter), and the man went off to the town where the follower, by the name of Bhikari, was living. He showed Bhikari the letter from the Master, and was in turn welcomed and invited to stay. Bhikari was busy at that time, preparing a bier and other items that are used in the funeral rites. The visitor asked about them, and Bhikari replied, Oh, they will come in use.

After a few days the marriage of Bhikari’s son was celebrated with very jolly arrangements, and throughout all the festivities Bhikari was completely calm and quiet; unaffected by it all. The marriage was performed, and they were bringing the bride home; but on the way the bridegroom developed a colic and died. When they arrived at the house with the dead body of the boy, Bhikari brought out those very things which he had already prepared, still with a calm, quiet and unaffected manner. The visitor, observing all this, said, Look here, this is strange; you must have known your son would die – why else would you prepare all these things? – but knowing it, why did you arrange his wedding? Bhikari replied, Yes, I did know of my son’s approaching death, and made everything ready beforehand; but I could not change that which had to happen.

Do you follow this? When you find God you develop an attitude of mind. Judge for yourselves – simply meeting the Master will not do. He has given you a contact – to rise above the body consciousness daily. Take up the cross daily. Christ implied that those who did not take up the cross daily were not His disciples. All Masters say this. At least one tenth of one’s time should be given, although we have made a concession of two hours.

Now there is a second criterion. Things happen in life; sometimes one is rich, sometimes poor, sometimes one is bankrupt and one pays, sometimes one has a golden or silver spoon in the mouth. They are all enjoyments and should make no difference because you are not attached to them. This indicates the second criterion. If you are sick, you are not worried or upset. Outer things do no pinch you, for you are air conditioned. The air conditioned rooms, do they not help you to get away from the heat? So nothing affects you.

The third criterion is this: if for instance a bomb fell and there was danger of your losing your life, you would say, ‘All right, let’s go,’ without any worry or attachment – quite jolly about it. Now see where you stand; for these are the criteria which show that you have met a Master. If you leave everything to the Master, He takes care of all your affairs.