Nothing Can Prevent You

The first essential thing, therefore, is to enter this laboratory within ourselves, by bringing our scattered attention inside of the eye focus. This is a slow process. But we are not justified in saying that we cannot do it, or that it is impossible, or that it is useless. … It is our job and we must do it; and we must do it now, in this very lifetime.
_{Spiritual Gems}

This message from Great Master is like a blueprint for what we have to do on this path. The first important thing he tells us is that to successfully tackle the task, we must enter our own “laboratory” – which is within us. Now this may not be the most encouraging image for some of us unscientific types. But actually, if one thinks back to those early days in the science lab at school, it was all quite a lot of fun. Powders, test-tubes, bubbling concoctions and the odd explosion or two.

And we can remember being given an exact formula to follow, having a teacher’s perfect example in front of us, and still never quite being able to deliver the goods. But the truly remarkable thing was that the teacher didn’t seem to mind the repeated failures and only very limited successes that most of us could produce. In fact, the teacher seemed to expect disasters, and often said that they were a necessary and enriching part of the experiment. And, provided we pitched up to class and participated with enthusiasm and good will, we all passed – despite our failures.

How pertinent for Great Master to use this anology as we attempt to walk the path of Sant Mat. The obvious inference is that this, too, is going to be like the laboratory, where there is a formula, but the route to the end product is bound to be littered with experiments – most of which will seem like complete failures – but all of which will be necessary to the process.

Then Great Master goes on to explain the nature of the experiment and what we should be aiming for. Within our own laboratory – our bodies – we are to attempt to gather our scattered attention and bring it to the eye centre, the point between and behind the two physical eyes. If we can bring our attention to this point and keep it there, in a concentrated focused beam, we can go through that centre, as through a gate or portal, and enter into the finer, spiritual regions.

He describes this in more detail, saying that once the soul has gone inward, in that centre between the eyes, a star will become visible, and then the sun and the moon, and then our Master, in his Radiant Form, will be seen in the third eye. It is at the eye centre that we will begin to get a glimpse of his real beauty and power. It is this form of the Master which is always with the disciple, always watching and guiding, and which will take the soul upwards. This is where the true spiritual journey of the soul starts and is where the Master anxiously awaits us.

Then also the sound of the Shabd, God’s creative and sustaining power, will be heard and will begin to attract and pull the soul upward. Shabd has the qualities of sound and light that the soul can recognize and follow. So, the big question is how to get there. Great Master said it must be done by gathering our attention at the eye centre, and this is done through meditation.

Many of us have had hobbies or professions that required intense, prolonged periods of concentration and practice, which we have given gladly – driven by love for the activity and a desire to improve. And mostly those hours have yielded improvements, successes and even rewards. This should encourage us to have the confidence to follow the path under the guidance of the Master.

Consciously or subconsciously we bring this attitude of reward and success with us when we receive initiation, and we apply it when we approach our meditation. How can we not? It is natural that we should approach meditation from this perspective because we have only worldly experience to draw on. And the Masters know this and understand where we are coming from.

In Spiritual Gems we get these inspirational and reassuring words from the Great Master:

Let nothing discourage you. This is no light proposition, but your getting Nam means more than if you had inherited a million dollars, or many millions. You are one of the lucky sons of Sat Purush, and he has chosen you to get Nam and go with the Master to Sach Khand. You must reach there. Nothing can prevent you.

We all want to do our best in our meditation. We want to please our Master, be obedient, and hopefuly reach the eye centre. But, some of us may feel that we have achieved very little, particularly when we do the human thing and compare meditation with our worldly endeavours. We didn’t become saints when we were initiated – we brought our mind’s patterns and our egos with us. But the journey through the eye centre is not a worldly human activity. This is a spiritual endeavour for which we have no comparison.

We are told that this all takes place in our own inner laboratory. So where are the results, where are the tangible end products? We cannot be blamed for thinking like this. We mustn’t think these thoughts are ridiculous, unique or unnatural. Remember, the science teacher expected and accepted all the mangled experiments. So does the Master, who is the embodiment of love. He wants what the science teacher wanted – that we should pitch up and participate with energy and enthusiasm – even though we know by now that it is really Master pulling our strings who gets us there. But still, we do seem to do the rolling out of bed ourselves!

And this in itself is no small thing. Master asks this of us and we do it, out of love, gratitude, obedience – the reason doesn’t actually matter. Pitching up is what matters. The Master knows we are there and loves us for reponding to his pull. Is this not success and reward on a daily basis? Does this not represent progress? No matter how we personally feel, we still pitch up. This is what counts because it is enough to stave off negativity and feeling a failure.

Somewhere along the line, during our many years of attempted meditation, the penny will drop. This is when we finally realize that our efforts don’t necessarily produce the results we may be seeking. This is because we are either totally and utterly useless and untalented in this sphere, or because results come only from Master’s grace and loving discretion, or both! We need to throw ourselves at Master’s feet and rely on his mercy and love to move us forward. We must put in the effort, but actually even this is in our Master’s hands.

From our limited, human, worldly perspective, we think: no sound, no light – equals no progress, no results. We are probably very wrong in this assumption. Great Master asked his disciples to bring him their failures. Why? Because he could do something with even them. An apparently failed effort is still an effort and is a hundred times better than no effort.

Great Master said in Spiritual Gems: “There are no failures in Sant Mat.” We must reach there in the long term. Every time we fall he lifts us back up, dusts us off and gives us the courage and desire to try again. These are his love gifts, all day, every day, being showered upon us – the rewards for our effort, his amazing grace. We can reach out for his grace with open hands and upturned faces, through our simran and our meditation.

Nothing must daunt us on this journey as the Master awaits us eagerly and anxiously at the eye centre. It is a glorious path, with glorious outcomes, even on a daily basis, if we choose to see things through a wider lens. The Master has given us a direct link to him through our simran. Let’s keep the channel open and flowing as he hears and answers in his own unique masterly way. Let’s trust in his love and his promises and simply do our best, leaving the rest to him.