Pleasure and Pain

We often hear it said that our Master asks very little of us in return for all that he does. Some of what he asks of us is fairly easy – what we eat and drink, for instance. There is, however, one request that is not so easy: we are asked not to distinguish between pleasure and pain, but regard them both as equal.

We can accept all the good things that come to us very happily. It can also become possible to accept unpleasant things if we start thinking of them in the context of Sant Mat. Our ultimate goal is release from the cycle of birth and rebirth in order to return to our original home.

If we are initiated, it is by the grace of the Supreme Lord who has seen the hunger in our souls. The Master has taken control of our karma and is allocating it to us in packages that we can handle because he loves us and is busy mapping out our return to him. Our Master will steer us through this life exactly as he wishes, and when we accept the Lord’s will, we will also cheerfully accept whatever comes to us.

In The Dawn of Light, Maharaj Sawan Singh wrote:

Take for granted that all that has happened, is happening or will happen is with his will. So whatever circumstances we find ourselves in, we should remain contented. If he sends us misery, we should accept it with pleasure, and if he keeps us happy we should take it as his children. So do not consider that your life is not a bed of roses. Take it as his gift and be happy in it.

As human beings our karmic debt is twofold. Our destiny is the payment of our current debt. Simultaneously, we create new debt with virtually every breath and action we take. All karmas must be settled which is why we have to be careful about the choices we make. Without divine intervention there could never be full repayment of all our karmic debts but with our Masters help, our debt can be reduced, if not paid in full.

Again, in The Dawn of Light, Great Master tells us:

Whatever good or bad happens to you, through whatever person or object, directly proceeds from our loving Father. All persons and objects are but tools in his hands. If an evil befalls you, think it to be his greatest mercy.… Our Master, by taking us through this suffering speedily, intends to relieve us of our burden earlier. And by this early payment of debt – because debt it is – the amount of the suffering is very much lessened. If we had to pay one ton at first, now we are released by paying one pound only.

Our Master is doing all this because he loves us, and we learn to love him in response to the love he gives us. Love for the Master is necessary because if we love him, we will want to obey and please him. And that love also cuts us loose from our many attachments to the world and it lessens, or even eliminates our desires for the objects of this world.

We are warned that every desire will have to be fulfilled. It is these desires that bring humans back into one life after another. What we are aiming for now is to get off the wheel of reincarnation. Our souls have become weary of this endless coming and going; therefore, we want to do what our Master asks of us.

Even though our meditation may sometimes be more a source of frustration for us than a pleasure, we still need to do it. We have been told that it is our meditation that is going to free us from our entrapment in this world, as Great Master explains:

If one’s faith is firm and unshakeable, and one daily gives time to the practices, and has no worldly desires, then there is no power which can bring one back to this plane. There is no rebirth for such souls. Birth is for those who die weeping with desires unfulfilled.
_{Spiritual Gems}

Maharaj Charan Singh has echoed this, explaining that our desires become the karma for our next birth. The very fact that we are here now is proof of our past desires. Our desires helped to shape the lives we are now going through. We need to keep reminding ourselves that we must be careful what we wish for, because every desire will be satisfied, in this life or in the next.

All desires are fulfilled, but they may not be fulfilled in this life.… Whatever you want from him, whatever you ask him for, he will give you. He will never be tired of giving to you, but you have to come back again and again and again and again to get all that you want.
_{Spiritual Perspectives, Vol. I}

Even now, we are learning to be content with our destiny. If we look within ourselves, we find that we have no passionate desire for any other kind of life than the one we are living. When we take initiation from our Master, we accept that we are totally in his hands. We also accept that from the moment of our birth nothing can happen that is not in line with the Lord’s will. In Spiritual Letters, Baba Jaimal Singh told us:

Whatever is to happen, happens according to the will of the Supreme Lord, Radha Soami. Without him no one can do anything. Have firm faith in this, my son. Man can do nothing: he can neither increase nor decrease anything.… The Supreme Lord, has assumed the human form to direct worldly affairs on the material plane. This is the divine law.

That means that even our long struggle on the path is in accordance with his will. There may be times when we feel impatient or upset about the difficulty and length of our struggle. We make the effort and would like to experience the results of our effort. However, we learn to accept that results are in the Master’s hands, and he tells us that he is happy with our poor attempts at meditation. Even these have a purpose.

Perhaps we should try to see our efforts in a different light. We are meditating not for success but because he has asked us to do this and because we want to please him. We trust that every meditation, no matter how good or bad it seems to be, is being used by our Master to clear our karmas and cut our attachments.

So we meditate as an act of humble obedience, without making any demands or requests. Even if our meditation does not appear to bring results, we should sit there in simple acceptance of his will.

If nothing else, at least our meditation is helping to crush our ego. There is probably nothing more humbling than meditation! And eventually we do learn that we should have no expectation attached to it.

In Die to Live Maharaj Ji shows that even with our poor meditation, we are in the process of becoming something more than we are now. Through our meditation, and living in his will, we are slowly becoming a more spiritual being. We will continue growing until we are ready to merge with his Radiant Form.

Just give yourself to him. To love somebody means to give yourself without expecting anything in return. To give yourself, to submit yourself, to resign to him is all meditation.… In love you don’t exist. You just lose yourself, you just submit yourself, you just resign to his will.… The more we give, the more it grows, the more we lose ourselves, the more we become another being.
_{Die to Live}