Come to the Master’s Country

Soami Ji tells us that we don’t really belong in this world. He calls it an alien world. The things that seem so real and familiar to us here are illusory. He invites the soul to come rather to the Master’s country:

Come now, dear soul, to the Master’s country,
  where there is neither body, nor karma, nor conflict.
This world, this alien land,
  is a game of body, mind and senses.
Discard these coverings,
  these extraneous fragments of your Self.
Listen to the Guru’s message with full attention,
  through Surat Shabd practice head for your home.
_{Sar Bachan Poetry}

Soami Ji tells us that body, mind and senses are not who we truly are. They are part of a game in which we are caught up. This game is vast and complex: it is played by the soul, assuming different life forms and in varying circumstances. It takes place in the arena of space and time, governed by strict rules or laws. We believe that the game is real but the mystics teach us that it is all an illusion.

We don’t belong here. We come from the highest source, a place where even gods cannot gain access – a region where Kal, the ruler of the physical, astral and causal universes, has no power or influence.

The soul has been moving from life to life, body to body, for aeons, driven by the consequences of the mind’s actions and desires, in an endless cycle of transmigration. In this process, the soul accumulates an ever-increasing load of karmas, desires and attachments, all of which keep it locked in the game until it knows neither its true self nor its source.

Mystics teach that our true life force is the soul. The mind has usurped the soul’s power in order to pursue its own ends and it, in turn, is trapped by the distractions of this phenomenal world. We have become entangled in the creation through the senses and the desires they engender. Mind has thus become a slave to the senses and we have lost touch with the soul. We have become blind to true reality. Driven by our karmas, we are the puppets of our destiny.

The mind, body and senses present formidable challenges to us, and the process of discarding them could take an entire lifetime. The influence of the mind is extremely difficult to overcome. We hear the teachings of the masters and we accept them. We tell ourselves how blessed we are, yet the mind still runs its own way; we still find ourselves caught up in greed, anger, jealousy, ambition and our various attachments.

To enter the spiritual realms within we must raise our level of consciousness as directed by the saints. This is probably the hardest task anyone could undertake. This practice is the very essence of the path we follow. It is the process of reuniting the soul with the Lord by immersing ourselves in the Shabd, the audible life stream. Without merging with the Shabd, we will not be able to rise above the realm of mind and maya and return to our true home.

Saints teach that this Shabd is the source of all creation. It is in fact the dynamic aspect of the Divine, and if we immerse ourselves in it, we will ultimately merge in the true Lord. Before we can effectively hear the Shabd, however, we need to be able to withdraw our attention from the world of external phenomena to the eye focus, where the mind and soul are knotted together.

Sadly, most of us don’t know the soul: it is so buried under the weight of karma, desires and attachments that we are unaware of its existence. This path is for the liberation of the soul, but the practice has to be done by the mind, through our attention and our will. So, our task is to awaken our mind to the reality of our soul, and to do this requires commitment, discipline, obedience and devotion. As Great Master wrote in a letter to one of his disciples:

Stilling the wild mind and withdrawing the attention from the body and concentrating it in the eye focus is a slow affair. A Sufi says: “A life period is required to win and hold the beloved in one’s arms.” Concentrating the attention in the eye focus is like the crawl of an ant on a wall. It climbs to fall and falls to rise and to climb again. With perseverance it succeeds and does not fall again. … But one should do simran and bhajan, not as a matter of routine with a heavy heart or as a task, but should take to it with love and eagerness.
_{Spiritual Gems}

Great Master explained in another letter to a disciple that our lack of success on the path is because we see our spiritual work as secondary – the world and its objects are more important to us than spiritual matters. Success even in the material world only comes when we put ourselves wholeheartedly into the work. He says that our minds have too many worldly cravings and we allow it too much freedom.

The only way we have of overcoming the weaknesses of the mind is by rising above them, and the only way we can do that is by committing ourselves to our spiritual practice. Daily we brush our teeth, wash our clothes, clean our houses, and wash and feed our bodies – these tasks are necessary for our physical well-being. But we are not just physical beings – we must also take care of our spiritual needs. Meditation fulfils those needs. We need to care enough for our soul to cleanse, nurture and feed it.

We need to recognize the profound importance of our meditation and persevere with faith and love. Initially it may be a struggle, but as we persist, we realize that we cannot do anything without the grace and help of the Master.

As long as we remain in bondage to our mind and senses the pain of the separated soul continues. Our Master is waiting for us to come home. He is ready, willing and able to help. He makes everything possible. When he graces us with love, then we apply ourselves to this work with love and devotion. Without love for the Master, our spirituality is likely to remain conceptual. His presence in our life makes this path real to us. We are irrevocably changed by our association with a true living master.

We cannot accomplish this journey through our own efforts – we have embarked upon it because it is his will. We are on our way home after aeons of separation. This is an indescribable blessing. What grace and good fortune! This time round we get to go home. For how many lives have we been bound to the cycle of birth and death, our soul concealed under layers of causal, astral and physical forms, and everything that goes with them. Even though beset by past impressions, desires and attachments, the soul always yearns for its source.

Over time we begin to realize that our very perseverance is in itself a clear sign of grace. And sooner or later, when the Lord wills it, we will rise within and be transformed. Then all our doubts will dissolve. As Eknath says in Many Voices, One Song:

I saw the Light of the three worlds,
  and I saw the Master within my heart.
The wick of a lamp and its flame –
  I’m illumined inside by this blossom of light.
Full of life, this flame is my very soul.
Now, says Eknath, my doubts are gone.

We begin to trust the teachings more, trusting that the Master will help us. Our love begins to mature, and we devote ourselves to deep practice with devoted attention. The time will come when we will traverse the vast inner regions and eventually arrive in the Master’s country.