A Thousand Little Incidents

When we come to Sant Mat, the Master makes it clear that the path will not give us any of the material things we may desire, like a big house, a nice car, wealth or fame. However, provided we keep the four promises made at the time of initiation, we are assured of finding an eternal, uplifting spiritual love that is, literally, beyond description. Sometimes though, it seems like our journey is taking far too long. One day we feel very spiritual and on the next, we are consumed by materialism, unable to achieve a state of peace. Neither our desires nor unhappiness will come to an end unless we do something about it. As the Master remarked during a question and answer session, many people express their dissatisfaction about the world but few of us do anything to get out of it – permanently.

Our main issue centres on subduing our mind. Inexplicably, we resist delving deep into the beauty and joy of spirituality, hanging on like crazy to our individuality and the things we want from the world. Fortunately for us, the Master loves our soul more intensely than we can ever understand and offers us a way out of our predicament. Drawing us close to him, he gives us a taste of the love that lies within and weans us away from the illusory loves of the world. In fact, the Master is always working to extricate us from the fire of the world and to return us to the peaceful embrace of the Lord. Our duty is to help the Master. Even though our mind may struggle like a wild animal, snarling, snapping and frightening us, we possess the ultimate weapon - simran. We have only to pick it up and use it to become free.

No doubt, from the Master’s perspective, there is nothing to worry about. The soul is already on its way to freedom. There are no failures in Sant Mat. Each soul has to take the necessary steps towards the light and no single step is ever really beyond us. Perhaps, when things get hard, that is when we are closest to him as he instils the strength and courage in us to carry on even when we feel the most weak and miserable.

One by one, a thousand little incidents help grow our faith: the moments of darshan, our thoughts of the Master, our efforts to do things right and even our failures. Above all else though, real inner love and faith is built on the little nudges of encouragement that he keeps giving us. A wonderful, loving presence is continuously working on us and we will not be able to resist forever. One day we will surrender. In the meantime, we can behave like a real lover. We can stop to think of him and thank him throughout the day. We can trust him and turn to him. We have loved so many people in this world. We know how to be loving. We should just make him the One. He has already made his choice as far as we are concerned.

The programme for the day was a reception to welcome overseas guests… Maharaj Ji was not expected to attend. But I believe he wanted to have darshan of his sangat as much as the sangat wanted to have his darshan. A Muslim mystic has said, “God is love, God is the lover, and God is the Beloved.” It is all his play – beyond human understanding. So he entered the hall, joy written on his face, and when the sangat had his darshan they too were immensely happy. It was a bonus for them.
_{Legacy of Love}

Wait constantly at this door, for the king may unexpectedly distinguish thee with his presence. The main thing is for thee to be present, and nothing else; thou must be present – nothing else matters. If thou standest ready at the door, thou wilt be favoured by the king’s presence.
_{Farid al-Din ‘Attar, Ilahi-Nama}