Finding the Treasure
When we were children we were enthralled by stories of treasure: perhaps the exciting pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, or the black pearl in the forehead of a temple idol. Even in adulthood, the movie hero Indiana Jones thrills us with his adventures, involving treasure chests, ancient tattered maps, jungles with wild beasts and evil forces protecting the hoard of precious jewels that an Indian Rajah might have owned. Exciting stuff.
In truth we have never lost our sense of excitement and challenge that the thought of seeking a treasure brought us as children. The only change now is in the nature and value of the treasure we seek. Our seeking is for the treasure of truth, and our search might even lead us through many old books and ancient texts, cryptic messages and notes written by persecuted monks or timeworn scrolls found in earthen-ware jars. Here a clue and there a clue, and there’s great excitement in piecing all this together to try to make sense of it. And then, on an unforgettable day, we come across a Sant Mat book or someone tells us about a perfect living Master in India. ‘When the chela is ready, the Guru appears,’ is a common saying in India. At last we have found the map that leads to the treasure, and the first part of our search is over.
We all come to the path from different directions. Some of us almost fall into Sant Mat in spite of ourselves, while others, like Dr Julian Johnson, may have spent years searching. But we all relate to his feelings of elation at finding a true spiritual Master. Receiving the Master’s initiation is the culmination of all the searching that has gone on before. It is the huge cross on the treasure map indicating the very spot where the treasure is buried. It now only remains for us to dig deep to uncover it.
But what is it that convinces us that our map is accurate and true? The effort we put in will bring the results we want - finding the ultimate truth which leads to God himself. And it is our association with the living Master, and the love that grows in us for him, that convinces us that we are on the right track.
In Legacy of Love there is a beautiful description of the Master:
No book can provide more than a sketch of who and what the Master really is. No photograph can show the nature of a glance from his eyes, the sweet sound of his voice, the power of his presence, the infectious quality of his laugh and smile.
Today, when Baba Ji is reaching out to us as a friend, perhaps we become a little familiar with him and forget his true identify. We see the man, taking part in worldly activities and fun, and perhaps, we sometimes forget to look past the man and remember his inner form, the Shabd.
Probably, most of us know very little about the Master, about who he truly is, for his real form is beyond our scope of experience. And all we know of his physical life are the snippets we glean from his trips around the world and our occasional visits to Dera.
We all have the same general idea, but small nuances that we pick up in the Master’s talks, different items we read, little interactions we are sometimes lucky enough to have with him and, most importantly, our meditation open different doors in our understanding - which allow the rays of his light to pierce our hearts.
Irrespective of what form or action he chooses, he meets us at our own level so that he can interact with us at our degree of understanding. We should therefore never lose sight of who he really is or allow complacency and doubt to rob us of this most important thing in our lives - the Master and his spiritual path. Having found the Master and accepted his teachings and initiation, it is now up to us to put in the effort to reach the X point on the map of truth and dig to uncover the inner treasure - divine love within our own self.
The Great Master tells us that the single most important factor in developing spirituality is the cultivation of love for the true Beloved. He says:
By the currents of love the entire atmosphere is charged with joy, and the spark of God’s light is visible in love. Love, indeed, represents the very essence of God.
The Dawn of Light
Through our meditation we are undertaking an inward journey through successive planes of consciousness to hunt for the most precious treasure of all: a slow blossoming in our consciousness of the bliss and perfect joy that will come through our growing contact with the Shabd. This is a journey that will eventually bring us to the feet of our inner Master, whose form will dazzle us with a lustre and radiance greater than that of the most exquisite diamonds and pearls. As we sit, enraptured by his magnificence and drenched in his love, our souls will lose their desire for any earthly treasure because they will have found a spiritual wealth beyond all imagining.
Slowly, slowly, little by little as we keep digging, the wrappings of individuality will be removed until only the pristine kernel is left. When we unwrap that gem we experience the final and greatest of all treasures – the merging of our soul back into its source, and the restlessness in our hearts finally finds its rest in oneness with God himself.
What we search for is a treasure we already possess. The ultimate reality that God is within us, as is the radiant form of our Master who waits at the eye focus within. Could there be any greater treasure than this?