Nothing Else Matters

It’s a common human failing to become so absorbed in the dramas and crises of life that we neglect what’s most important. As seekers of spirituality, what is our true priority? In Spiritual Perspectives, Vol. II, Maharaj Charan Singh makes it clear:

We always try to give that time to the Father which is of no use to us at all. When we are rejected by society, by our children, by our friends, then we want to devote our time to the Father. But we have to give the best time of our life to the Father.… The main purpose of this human birth is to go back to the Father, so that should always be kept in view. Keeping that view, other things should fall in line.

We may spend our whole lives waiting for the time to be just right to attend to spirituality. Maybe we believe that at some point in our lives we will have the right conditions to accomplish our spiritual goals. But such an attitude leads only to procrastination.

We spend so much time dealing with the things that are less significant, but which have to be done – such as our duties and obligations – that meditation becomes our last priority. We think we’ll enjoy it when we’ve got everything else out of the way, but our duties, obligations and worldly pleasures have a tendency to consume all our time, so at the end of the day we may realize that we have not found the time to attend to our meditation. But, actually, nothing else matters more than our meditation.

All our Masters have stressed the importance of meditation in the life of a satsangi, above all else. It has to be our top priority. All other considerations have to become secondary. Things that matter most should not be at the mercy of things that matter less. We need to realize that every time we sit for meditation, we are doing the most important thing a human being can do. Without meditation we will remain part of the cycle of birth and death. Once a true living master has initiated us, there is nothing more important than meditation.

We all know that a life of meditation is not easy. There are phases of struggle and dryness. Year after year we trudge on and see no apparent progress. We may even come close to giving up. Yet behind the scenes our daily effort is not in vain, because the Master constantly showers his grace on us in return for our effort.

We should not let ourselves become unduly distressed by these phases of struggle and dryness. Perceived feelings of spiritual elation may not be indications of spiritual progress. We might even make more progress when our mind is restless, and when, in that distracted mindset, we still sit for meditation. Our best approach is simply to place firm faith in the Master, and in ourselves, that we will be successful. If we couldn’t do it, he would not have initiated us.

In any event, we don’t know what progress we are making. In Spiritual Gems, the Great Master tells a disciple:

The soul of every true follower is progressing internally even when he is not aware of the progress. Yes, the soul can enter Brahmand when he is unconscious of it.

The Master tells us to have a positive attitude. What impact does our attitude have on our spiritual lives? After many years of apparently limited success in meditation we may come to believe that it’s not possible to succeed in this task. However, we must understand that our attitude to meditation is a determining factor in the way our meditation will unfold. When we sit in meditation we are training ourselves to operate from a perspective of accepting, letting go and being free. It is an attitude of obedience to a power we have accepted as being greater than ‘I’.

Meditation transforms us on the inside. Most important, when meditating we should keep focused on the process. Then, whatever happens, we remain balanced and unaffected by the storms that are an inescapable part of the experience of being human. We must never give up trying, because the gradual change on the inside produces a total transformation on the outside.

If we have been initiated and we haven’t meditated, or if we started to meditate but stopped doing it, then we must adopt a positive and practical approach, to renew our commitment to sit for our meditation. The important thing is to at least begin with what time we can. Then gradually and persistently we can increase that time, rather than jumping straight into two and a half hours for one or two days, then falling away to ten minutes or nothing at all. That is not the way. The way is slow and steady and increase the time gradually.

There may be days when it is physically impossible for us to meditate according to our plan. On those days, we should at least try to sit for some time. We shouldn’t let a day go by in which we don’t meditate. On the next day we should resume our programme as usual. Otherwise, we might find that days, weeks, months or even years slip by without us meditating at all. It is crucial to create the habit.

During our meditation we may not be able to achieve much concentration and our mind may relentlessly distract us, but what is important is that we have incorporated meditation into our lifestyle. Out of quantity quality will come. Maharaj Ji encourages us to do the best we can, even if it is not concentrated and one-pointed. If concentration is not attained and the mind wanders, we should not be discouraged.

In our present level of consciousness, our acknowledgement that our Master is in control of everything is just a concept. When we go within and are in touch with his inner form, then we will know with certainty that he is in control of everything. We will know that this life we are living is not about us. It’s about God experiencing himself through us. God is more interested in our potential than in our mistakes. He is more interested in us recognizing our true selves.

Our ego is one of the barriers keeping us from experiencing true love and oneness with God. When we think of ourselves as something separate from him, there is duality. Where there is duality, there is ego, and ego is the ignorance of who we really are. Ours is a case of mistaken identity. Our ego is a mask – a personality of self we have created to cover our true self. We will never become receptive to the truth of our own being until we eliminate the mask of the ego.

We don’t lose the sense of who we are by merging with the ocean of consciousness. On the contrary, we discover who we really are: pure consciousness, perfect happiness, limitless love. What is this personality that we are so afraid to lose? What sense does it make that we remain satisfied with this dark world, separated from our true essence, when our possibilities are infinite?

By replacing self-centred thoughts with simran, by offering our ego in meditation to the Master, the wall of duality will one day crumble. The imposter will be unmasked, and we will gain experience of who we truly are. By remembering the Beloved continuously, attachment and love for him are awakened within, and the ego or self is destroyed. Then we will know that he is doing everything.

To lose one’s self in another is the fundamental principle of love. All the desires of a lover narrow down to the will of the Beloved. The lover’s whole self is dissolved into the Beloved. When there is no self, then where are the desires?

To find our way to the Lord we simply have to make the effort to reach the eye centre. Then, we’re told, the Lord will do the rest. He will fill us with such longing and pangs of separation, and he will shower such grace upon us that the soul will have no choice but to be pulled by the Lord. Regarding the importance of meditation – the process of losing our identity to become one with him – let us remember the words of Maharaj Ji:

Just change your way of life according to the teachings and attend to meditation. That is all that is required. From meditation, love will come, submission will come, humility will come. Everything will come.
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