Making the Teachings Real
When we listen to the teachings of this path we follow, do we make the connection in our minds that what is being said is actually about us – you and me? That we are, as Maharaj Sawan Singh (known as the Great Master) says in Spiritual Gems, one of the “souls wandering in the world”? And as such, we have been here for uncountable millions of lifetimes, the same soul knotted together with the same mind?
Not only that, but our soul and mind have been born in pretty much every kind of creature in the 8.4 million species of life that exist, including vegetables, insects, and even angels. It is a little difficult to identify with statements like that because they seem so remote from the lives we lead, and there is no way to verify them. We have never seen our soul; we don’t remember our past lives; and until we go within through the process of our meditation, very little that we hear in satsang can be verified.
And yet, it is important for the teachings to be real to us, because if they are not, how will we commit ourselves to them? How will we be able to stay on the path, doing our daily two-and-one-half hours of meditation every day, following the vows we took when our Master initiated us?
In Sar Bachan Prose, Soami Ji Maharaj addresses the importance of truly grasping the meaning of the teachings as given in satsang:
It is very difficult to keep in the satsang of the Saints. Some attend the satsang but are really inattentive; that is, they seem to be sitting and listening to what is said but do not listen to accept it. What good will satsang then do for them? They alone truly hear and understand whose minds are affected and also their conduct, more or less.
Soami Ji is telling us that satsang is valuable to us to the extent that we are attentive in satsang, our minds are affected by what we hear, and our behaviour begins to change. Only then, when we have understood what we have heard and we believe the teachings are relevant to us, will we try to put the teachings into practice.
How can we make the teachings more real, more relevant to us? Perhaps if we personalize the teachings to being about us and not about mankind in general, we will be able to put our understanding into action.
For example, when we read the following words about who the Master is and what he does for us, if we mentally change the pronouns into “I, me, and my” to make the statement about ourselves and not some impersonal third person, then the message may affect us to the point that we commit to making changes in our lives. Great Master tells us:
The Master takes on this [physical] form for man’s guidance – to talk to him, to sympathize with him, to make friends with him, to develop confidence and faith in him, to induce him to seek peace and happiness within himself, to show him the way to it, to teach him by becoming an example, to develop in him godlike attributes, and to pull him up out of his physical form to his astral form.
Spiritual Gems
If we change “The Master takes on this form for man’s guidance” to “My Master took on this form for my guidance” – it personalizes that statement.
We could each say to ourselves that Maharaj Charan Singh and Baba Ji were born for the purpose of guiding me. My Master came here for me. That’s incredible. That is exactly what Great Master is saying. This path is personal. We have a personal relationship with our Master.
Continuing to personalize the quotation, we learn that the Master was born into this physical creation to talk to me, to sympathize with me, to make friends with me, to develop confidence and faith in me. This means that he understands our struggles. Haven’t we felt that in our lives – that he knows what we are going through? We don’t even have to go up to a microphone and ask him a question or have a personal interview to feel that he knows us, he understands us, he loves us. We don’t need to talk to him to get the answers that are troubling our mind. We somehow know that he is our friend, and he shows this in myriad ways.
Maharaj Charan Singh says in Spiritual Perspectives, Vol. I: “Our real master is shabd, which is within each one of us, and there is nothing which is hidden from the shabd.”
The Master is omniscient. He knows everything about us – you and me both – inside and out.
What else is our Master doing? According to Great Master, he has come to induce me to seek peace and happiness within myself, to show me the way to it, to teach me by becoming an example. Our Master wants us to be happy; but he tells us that there is no happiness in this world. We are all just going through our karmas: Sometimes we may feel at peace and contented, while at other times we feel on fire with the pain of just being alive in this creation. “How can I be happy continuously?” we ask. He tells us that no matter what’s going on in our lives, we should keep doing our meditation, and go within to experience eternal happiness.
Our Master is a perfect role model of how this works in the world because he has had his own personal and health problems while still performing his duties as a master, with a smile on his face. He invites us to do the same and shows us how to find that peace and happiness within.
Continuing Great Master’s comment: He is here in this physical form to develop in me godlike attributes and to pull me out of my physical form to my astral form.
He is going to develop godlike attributes in me? Who, me? Loving, patient, compassionate, contented, humble? Yes – even me. We will all become more and more godlike as we follow the path and go within to meet our Master’s Shabd form. This is the goal of the path and of everything the Master does for us: he induces us to become like him, and then to become one with him, where there is no I, me, and my; no you and yours.
But at our level, here in the creation, before we have reached the eye centre, when we personalize a quotation like this one of Great Master’s, what we hear and understand is that this Master is our one true friend. The only reason he is here in this creation is for us – for you and for me; he was born into a physical form to find us, to draw us to him, to initiate us, to build a relationship with us, to help each one of us return to our source, to everlasting happiness.
When we realize that our Master is doing everything for each of us personally, then our actions must change to demonstrate our gratitude for this unbelievable gift of a personal friend and guide in the world and the inner realms.
The proof of our gratitude will be when we go home after satsang with our minds affected and our conduct improved, more or less – hopefully more. More effort in meditation; more love and devotion; more surrender.