Knock and It Will Be Opened

Whatever you do in life, always remember that meditation should never be sacrificed for anything in this world. The wealth of meditation is permanent and lasting and is yours, whereas everything of this world is perishable and transitory.
_{Maharaj Charan Singh, Quest for Light}

It will be time well spent if we remember the words of the Master and act upon them. Masters do not speak idly; they don’t waste words, and they don’t speak anything but absolute truth. Hazur’s advice here is urgent and essential. However, since we have heard this advice so often and for so many years, we may have become jaded; the precious message may fall on deaf ears and not have as great an effect as it should have upon the mind.

When we are first initiated we are like small fires that Master has kindled – flaming brightly and enthusiastically by his grace, love, and mercy. After a few years Master seems to step back and say, “Okay, now let’s see you put in some good, hard work on your own.” The honeymoon is over, but he promises to be near, watching and helping us along the way. We might work feverishly for some time, but sooner or later our enthusiasm may start to wane. In some cases, the fire may burn down to mere glowing coals. The mind with its worldly concerns covers these coals with the ashes of distraction, discouragement, or even indifference. However, if we approach satsang with the right attitude, it may encourage and help motivate us by blowing away a few of those ashes, so that the coals may burn a little brighter. Satsang may even figuratively toss a few dry twigs onto our embers, causing them to become little fires again. One day, Master will pile on more dry twigs, then small branches, then heavier logs until we become blazing infernos of all-consuming love for him.

One who achieved this state was saint Mirabai, who sings in Mira: The Divine Lover:

O Lord of the forlorn, open your eyes;
For long have I stood
Awaiting your one loving look.
Friends and family have turned into enemies;
They shun me like poison.
Except you, in this world,
Dear Lord, I have no friend;
My boat is tossing in the sea.
Restlessly I pass my days;
Without sleep I pass my nights.
I wither as I stand and stand
Awaiting you, dear Lord.
Like an arrow the pangs of separation
Rankle within my heart;
Never for a moment can I forget you.

Mira was ablaze with the fire of love. We, perhaps, are not yet in this condition, owing to our karma and attachments to the creation. We are not yet eloquent in our cries of love, but are perhaps more like the inarticulate, helpless babes who can only cry and plead dumbly for the Master’s grace and mercy.

The Masters have indicated that the characteristic of love is to become another being. We do not become the Master or the Lord until we first become devoted to him to the exclusion of all else. It is said that complete devotion to the Master becomes love and love of the Master becomes consecrated love. This is what Sant Mat is all about: Undiluted, undistracted, one-pointed, no-nonsense love!

How do we get this kind of love? First of all, we don’t get it. It is purely his gift.

Maharaj Charan Singh writes here to a struggling disciple:

It is inconceivable to think of progress on the path without the grace of the Supreme Father. It was that grace that brought us on the path and it is grace that will enable us to advance. When and where, and how much, are all in the hands of the Supreme Father. Whenever he is pleased to bestow that grace, we move along the path….
_{Unpublished letter to a satsangi}

What, if anything, can we poor struggling ones do to invoke it, to provoke his grace, so to say? His response is always the same: we should put in the effort to do our meditation. He promises that he will do the rest. We need to make the effort to please him, to obey him by following the four vows taken at initiation, and to never neglect our meditation. We need to ‘knock at his door,’ so that someday it will be opened by the Lord himself.

We know why we should knock, we know where we should knock, and we know how we should knock. Nothing remains except for us to just do it. Our job is to do our spiritual practice with as much dedication, love and devotion, patience, and perseverance as we can muster. He does the rest.