We are all assembled here with the sole purpose, and only this one purpose, in our minds--that of spiritual elevation to the highest possible limits of human growth. This is a solemn and worthwhile goal to pursue, but it demands a total dedication to the pursuit, and a one-pointed approach which can nevertheless be cultivated by the assiduous pursuit of our purpose. For this, one has to clearly define the goal, and thereafter devote the necessary time and effort to the ceaseless pursuit of our purpose. In this lies the wisdom of the human being. Those who have the necessary strength of purpose and determination to reach the goal, for them the final victory can be assumed to be definitely achievable. There need be no doubt on this point, for it is the generosity and the mercy of my great and benevolent Master that gives us the assurance that success on this path is surely and easily achievable within the life span of the average human being. Such being the situation, one who is seriously interested in this all-important purpose of achieving the perfect human condition, which is the same as the divine condition, must not tarry on the way, but must tread the path with a single-minded devotion and fixity of purpose which characterize the true abhyasi, and which alone can guarantee our achieving the goal.
There are pitfalls on the way which are all of our own creation. It is fallacious to think that some outer agency interposes obstructions on our path. All the obstructions are self-created, and therefore we ourselves have to remove them by the application of our will. It is a common human failing to be diverted from the path because of the merely mundane considerations of power, prestige, name and fame, and so forth. One has to be careful to avoid all such pitfalls, especially those created by the craze for friendship, and the consequent misplaced loyalties that bind the unwary sadhaka . Loyalty must be only to the ONE who guides us on the path. He, and He alone, is worthy of our love. When loyalty and love are diverted from Him to others, such as friends and associates, then begins the fall from the spiritual states that He, our Master, is constantly bestowing upon us. The sadhaka has therefore to be extremely careful to form no associations which can distract him from the path. The serious abhyasi must remember that He, the Master, is the only friend, and it is to Him that we must look up to for all our needs. Any diversion of our attention from Him to so-called friends and associates will possibly lead to disaster on this path....
Tirupati, November 10, 1990, Message, p. 31
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It is true that Grace is available to all who seek it. To seek means to search. And to search in the Sahaj Marg tradition is to go within. How successful have we been in going inwards towards the destination which, after all, lies deep within ourselves? It is pertinent to ponder over this question because if one is going outwards all the time in his or her normal existence, then even if such a person is meditating for the stipulated period of time, it may possibly be that he has not been successful in going inwards in this spiritual tradition. The essence, indeed the crux of the matter, is this internal voyage, and it can be successful only to the extent that we stop external probing in the sensory and other aspects of our day to day lives.
Message for Basant, Bombay, January 31, 1990, p. 28
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My Master, our Beloved Babuji Maharaj, has given a clarion call that no abhyasi should rest until the goal is reached. The wisdom of this will be apparent when it is realized that each moment in time is pregnant with opportunity. It is wisdom to make use of this opportunity so generously provided by Nature, moment by moment, using them as steps on the ladder of spiritual progress. This is the way of progress towards the goal. How are we to grasp such opportunity? By being alert! It we miss the opportunity, progress may be set back and here is also the ever-present danger of losing the way. Once the way is lost, it may be not possible to find it again, even after many lives. Therefore, the need for permanent alertness is paramount.
Message for Basant Panchami: Shahjahanpur, February 13, 1986
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Many questions keep coming up. The same questions from different people, different questions from the same people. We seem to be having so many problems—personal problems, world problems, cosmic problems. Babuji Maharaj said, “One who has one goal has only one problem—how to get there.” But people have many goals, so they have many problems. I mean, this is a matter for common sense, that if I want to go at the same time to Boston and Berkeley I can't. If also I want to go to Chicago I have three problems now: Where to go? How to get there? So the one way, the one infallible way, of reducing our problems is to reduce our aspirations to just the one single aspiration of evolution to the highest. When you are not able to do that you have to struggle, because you give equal importance to all goals, or sometimes foolishly, you give more importance to lesser goals and less importance to the higher goals.
Religion and Spirituality, p. 117 |
