The Master Answers
A selection of questions and answers with Maharaj Charan Singh
Q: How can we tell the difference between love that comes from the soul and love that comes from the mind in regard to spirituality?
A: Well, first, the mind will feel love. Actually, it is that love of the mind which is the love and devotion you feel for the Lord in the beginning. It comes in the mind and ultimately, when the soul leaves the mind, then it is the real love of soul for the Lord. So when you are able to withdraw your consciousness to the eye centre and be in touch with the spirit, then your mind will be filled with love and devotion for the Father. And that love and devotion for the Father, in the mind, helps the soul to get released from the mind, and that will be the real love and the real devotion of the soul. Real love and devotion of the soul means that the soul is able to merge back into the Creator. The characteristic of love is to lose one’s own identity and to become one with the being that is loved. So the soul merges into the Father, becomes one with the Father. That is the real love of the soul. But it has to start with the mind.
Spiritual Perspectives, Vol. I
Q: Can we visibly ascertain whether we’re ready or not for initiation? Some of us seem to be in such terrible disrepair when we come to the Master.
A: Nobody is initiated unless he has to be initiated. Neither the disciple has any choice, nor the Master has any choice. All souls belong to the Father, and the Master is engaged only to collect those souls, to bring them back to the Father. They don’t belong to the Master. They belong to him who has marked them for a particular shepherd. So when the shepherd whistles, all who are marked for him automatically flock around him.
Spiritual Perspectives, Vol. I
Q: I want myself to surrender absolutely and unconditionally to the Master, but I do not know how to develop this absolute love and devotion for the Master, because I find that sometimes I am not as much devoted to the Master as I ought to be, although I want to be exclusively devoted to the Master. What should I do for that?
A: Well, brother, the main question is: how to strengthen our love. The only way to strengthen love is by meditation. There’s no other way, because the love which we get by experience cannot be compared to any other type of love. Intellectual love is all right. Emotional love, which is influenced by other people, is all right. Any type of love is all right, but nothing can surpass the love of your own experience; and for that experience, meditation is necessary. You can build love and devotion only through meditation, not otherwise. Meditation builds everlasting love, and that is building on a rock, and not on sand.
Die to Live
Q: If a disciple has made very little progress but has definite faith that his Master is perfect…
A: Well, brother, this faith does not come without meditation. If you are trying to find a solution, that without meditation you can get all these things, it is impossible. Real faith you can never build without meditation. This intellectual faith many times you build, and many times it is destroyed. But once you see the Radiant Form of the Master within and you make spiritual progress, then even if the whole world tries to dissuade you from the path, you will not leave the path. That is faith. Faith does not mean the intellectual faith that we generally try to build and think that there is no need for meditation. Without meditation you cannot get real faith. Intellectual faith can be deceptive. Faith gained from experience is the main thing. Then if the whole world is against you, you are not shaken. You do not bother about public opinion. This faith you can get only through experience, not through the intellect.
Light on Saint John