The Union of Love
We are told at the time of initiation that it is not essential to sit in the lotus position when doing our meditation, we simply need to sit in a comfortable chair, and keep our backs as upright as possible. Then while repeating our simran, bring our mind to a state of stillness.
Our mind is often likened to a pool of water – as long as there are ripples and movements on the water there cannot be clear reflections. However, when the water is motionless and still, the reflection is clear. Likewise with the mind – as long as the body moves, the mind cannot become still.
Simran, dhyan and bhajan are what we do when we say we meditate. To all intents and purposes we have won the jackpot and have a ticket to a better life. To a certain extent, it is up to us what we do: but we should act as if we have free will and attempt to do our meditation.
The most important aspect of our meditation is love. Love is not something that can be practised or summoned at will. We cannot make ourselves love the Master, or even more difficult, love God. Love is the unseen force behind our meditation. It is love that helps us to sit in meditation, that brings us to satsang, and that softens our hearts.
None of us, however hard-hearted we may feel ourselves to be, are without love. We would not be following the path if the spark of love had not been lit within us. Meditation nurtures this love and helps it grow. In fact, it is the only way to increase our love for our Master. It is through his grace that we are on the path, it is through his grace that we start to love him, and it is through his grace that we make the effort to meditate, as slowly and slowly our love begins to grow.
On our path of Sant Mat, love and the Master are virtually synonymous. The path cannot exist without the Master. The physical body of the Master is our physical connection or interface with the Shabd – with God. Without both the Master and the disciple being in the physical form, at the same point in time, no connection can be made with the Shabd, and we cannot start the journey home.
We may be some way away from the perfect love of which the Masters speak, but even so, the Master says that the veil that separates us from his love is very thin and can be pierced. Every morning that we get up and meditate, that love will grow. Just as an ant slowly inches up the wall, so too will this love eventually lead us to the Master’s Radiant Form.
The end result of our journey can only be one thing – unity. However, the step before that is self-realization – to know and understand ourselves, to know who we truly are. As the poet (thought to have been the Syrian mystic Bar Dasain), says in The Robe of Glory: ‘and I remembered that I was the son of kings.’ We will look at the Radiant Form and we will experience who we really are. We will be at the end point of our journey. Then nothing can hold us back. The Master says that self-realization is difficult, but God-realization is easy. It is like spending many hours to solve a difficult problem, and then suddenly, you just get it, you see the pattern, you see the solution.
This path that the mystics teach is the path of love and union. We do not need to concern ourselves with complicated explanations of the path. In essence it is very simple. We need to give importance only to its practice – to focus on the meditation, our simran, dhyan and bhajan; and whenever possible do seva and attend satsang. What we need to learn from the path is the lesson of love, and the practice that will lead to one thing − divine union.