Our Swan Song
The Master often speaks of the importance of building a relationship with the Lord. Normally, there are two parties in any relationship. In the relationship of love for the Lord, the two parties would be the beloved and the lover. Our initial perspective is that the Lord is the beloved and we are the lovers. On this premise, we cultivate our love with him – initially through the living Master and then the Shabd Master. The question is: who is the real lover and who is the beloved?
Once the mind returns to its home in Trikuti, the soul is released from the clutches of the mind and realizes that the lover and the beloved are one and the same. The beloved sowed the seed of love in the seeker, who responded thinking that he was the lover. Without the beloved, there would be no love, no lover and no beloved.
Maharaj Charan Singh often said that the Lord worships himself through us. Initially, this may make little or no sense, but when the soul loses its separate identity and merges with the Lord, we realize that the lover and the beloved are one and that he worships himself through the soul and is therefore, both lover and beloved.
Being one, the lover and the beloved must have the same role, which is to love. The Lord is pure love and can, therefore, only love. Our dilemma is to identify the role of the seeker in this mystery. If the Lord worships himself through us, we are merely the conduit or channel that can either allow or restrict that love to flow freely. So, the seeker’s role is to cooperate with the Lord and allow love to flow between them. Since the seeker comprises soul, mind and body, how do the mind and body affect this cooperation?
Cholesterol or arterial plaque in our bodies can clog the arteries and restrict the flow of blood. Similarly, the mind creates a very effective blockage by using the senses, desires and passions to restrict the flow of love. For love to flow freely, the mind must be focused at the eye centre and this enables the soul currents to temporarily withdraw from the body. The withdrawal of the soul currents to the eye centre mimics death and is called dying while living. Our challenge is to enable the withdrawal of the soul currents.
As a conduit for the flow of love, we can cooperate with the Master to prevent the accumulation of ‘plaque’ created by our mind, senses and passions. The simplest way is to follow his instructions, and diligently and conscientiously focus our attention at the eye centre through meditation.
The Masters acknowledge that their teachings are very simple to understand but not so easy to practise. Maharaj Ji explains:
Sant Mat teaching is very simple, but to follow it is much more difficult than it looks. It’s a constant struggle with the mind, and one has to change one’s entire way of life and one’s attitude towards life. To follow Sant Mat requires a complete transformation, so it’s not easy. One has to sacrifice a lot in life.
Die to Live
Most religions speak of the Lord’s all-pervading, omniscient creative energy, which is known by different names, including: Holy Spirit, Word, Logos, Nam, Shabd and many more. Sant Mat emphasizes the importance of developing an awareness of this Shabd, without which nothing can exist. It is the creative and sustaining energy that animates all creation, and our soul is a drop of Shabd.
Experience of the Shabd is only possible with the help of a true living master, which is not a novel concept. There have always been living masters, saviours, prophets, saints, or mystics upon whose teachings all religions are founded. Only a living master can teach us the correct way to experience the Shabd within us without the distractions of external religious rites and rituals. Once we are initiated by a living master it is incumbent on us to follow his teachings diligently and without compromise.
Although the Master’s teachings are all-encompassing, two aspects are worthy of special attention – a positive attitude, and living in the will of the Lord. A positive attitude is beneficial for a happy and contented life. How does one maintain a positive attitude amidst the drama of life? The key lies in our perspective. A perspective of gratitude will improve our attitude. Maharaj Charan Singh is quoted in Treasure Beyond Measure:
Maharaj Ji always says that we should be grateful to the Lord for whatever He gives us. At every step in our lives we should feel gratitude; whether the turn of events appears to us to be good or bad should be no concern of ours. We do not know the spiritual good which may be hidden behind the apparently bad – and vice versa. So we should make our best efforts to live in His will, and be thankful to Him for whatever He has arranged in our destiny.
A positive attitude is a product of clear thinking, whereas our mind is often prone to negative and confused thinking, born out of worry, analysis and overthinking. On the spiritual path, this attitude is developed by living in the Master’s will and by accepting that the law of karma and our destiny cannot be altered. Such an attitude helps us accept the fact that protesting cannot change the events of life and that, in time, everything will unfold according to our destiny.
Ultimately, acceptance is the best attitude towards life. The ability to accept our destiny without the desire for change results in contentment and happiness. We can accept anything when we accept that it is happening in accordance with the will of the Lord. Initially, it may seem impossible to live in his will, but with clear thinking we realize that there is only one way to live – in his will. The sooner we realize that the Lord’s will is supreme, the sooner we will learn to accept our destiny.
In Divine Light, Maharaj Ji said:
We should leave everything to the Will of the Master and try to live in the circumstances in which He wants to keep us. Our wishes and desires are the outcome of our mind’s longings and we want them to be fulfilled by God on the basis of our devotion. This is a wrong attitude and should be avoided. Rather, we should try to adjust ourselves to the Will of the Lord.
The only way we can live in the will of the Lord is through meditation. Maharaj Ji explained in Spiritual Perspectives, Vol. II:
In prayer, we speak to God. We expect something from him to fulfil our desires. In meditation we hear God, we submit to his will. In meditation, you hear the voice of God, and you submit your will to him. You live in his will.
Meditation is the key to living in the Lord’s will. Every action has a consequence, and meditation is the action that grants us the best consequence.
After millions of lives in various life forms, we are now blessed with a human birth and the unique opportunity to make this life our swan song – our final performance. According to folklore, swans are normally mute but burst into beautiful song moments before they die. The swan song is therefore a metaphor for a final gesture, effort or performance, given before the end.
Our Master always gives his best in everything he does. Unless we want to reincarnate in another body, this life must be our final and best performance – our swan song to our beloved Master. It is our gesture to him in gratitude for the treasure that awaits us, which will be beyond our imagination.