Our Mission Statement

What I hear, I forget. What I see, I remember.
  What I do, I understand.
_Confucius

A mission statement has become an integral part of the corporate identity. The statement might include what a company stands for, its values and its vision. From the time of King Arthur, when shields carried by the knights were ingrained with mission statements by way of symbols and insignias, to the present day business world, the mission statement acts as a beacon to keep us focused in the right direction.

Most of us, at some point in time, have probably tried to script a mission statement. A typical corporate mission statement might include the following: to be the best in our field; to provide first-class service to our customers; to increase company profits.

In Sant Mat, we can also make use of this concept to reach our spiritual goal. Not simply by putting our aims down on paper, but by keeping a mental focus on our purpose and objective. We might begin by asking questions like the following: What is the purpose of my existence? What am I going to accomplish with my life? What is my mission?

The declaration of our mission is not a mental act of conception; it is a mental elevation from which we are able to recognize if our lives are on a trajectory aligned with the greatest power of all – the universal truth. Just as a game of chess would be meaningless if there were no rules, so would our lives be meaningless if there were no laws that guided our true selves.

The Masters explain that the purpose of our existence is to realize ourselves and ultimately connect back to God. As Maharaj Jagat Singh has stated:

This life is but a link in an infinite chain of existence. The body perishes but the soul lives on – immortal, treading the path back from its painful separation and prodigality to its blissful return to the mansions of the Lord.
_{The Science of the Soul}

Mystics tell us that although we are in a body, we are not the body – we are spiritual beings going through the experience of being human. From this encouraging point of view, we are pure beings of a spiritual nature already, but whose purity has been temporarily obscured by our mind and senses.

The Master comes here on a mission of mercy. He comes to initiate us, to put us in contact with the universal truth within us. His task is to teach, guide and protect us, as he leads us on our journey homeward. However, even as he sets us on the path, our wayward mind pulls us into seemingly harmless detours that take us off track.

The Sufi mystic, Rumi, likens our situation to that of a servant who was sent by a king to a country to accomplish a specific task. The servant went to that country and did many amazing and wonderful things, and eventually returned back to the king’s court. The king asked him, “Did you complete the task that I sent you for?” The servant answered, “My Lord, please, first let me thank you. The place you sent me was a magnificent place. I met a beautiful lady and married her. We had children and so, to support my family, I went to work and …” The king interrupted, “But what about the task that you were sent for? Did you accomplish it? I did not send you to make money or to get entangled with the people there.” The subject bent his head in shame and quietly admitted, “My Lord, I forgot …”

And so it is with us – we tend to forget our purpose. We easily get sidetracked and lured by the mind and senses. We forget our true nature. In the physical world, living forms are like pieces of pottery. Obviously, they are useful and necessary if the soul must exist here. But consciousness or life itself does not depend upon these transient objects – they are external shells that can be changed or broken or disintegrated by time, leaving only a few mournful remains for the archaeologist; they are made of matter that ‘moth and rust doth corrupt’. A true mystic is only concerned with the release from the forms and cycles that imprison our soul.

We need to focus on our target, keeping our mission in view, as an archer might take aim with a bow and arrow. Our mission is to recognize and acknowledge the universal truth. To attain it, submerge in it, be enveloped by it, to the point where we ourselves become the walking truth.

Each of us has a mission to fulfil: a mission of love.
At the hour of death, when we come face-to-face with God,
we are going to be judged on love; not on how much we have done,
but on how much love we have put into our actions.
_{Mother Teresa, Living in Love}