From Illusive Complexity to Simple Reality
We have spent aeons and various lifetimes in this world – an illusionary realm. Even though we are aware that the environment we live in influences and conditions us, we have developed a remarkable ability to create concepts to suit our desires. Being part of this fantasy, we tend to weave our own web of fallacies.
Caught in the talons of delusion
The world continues to come and go.
You are blessed with the human birth,
O man, why deceive yourself?
Kabir, The Weaver of God’s Name
Unfortunately, this also overlaps into our spiritual lives, making it difficult for us to comprehend the simplicity of the Sant Mat teachings, entangling us further in maya or illusion.
Truth is simple, illusion makes it infinitely intricate.
Meher Baba, as quoted in Concepts & Illusions: A Perspective
In a story recounted in The Book of Mirdad, a saint ended his sermon and looked at his disciples to see if they had any questions to ask or doubts to clarify. One of the disciples arose from the gathering and courageously said, “Master, whatever you say always puzzles us because you speak to us like no other person or book.” The other disciples added to this saying, “At least, give us some proof of what you say, so it’s easy for us to believe and practise.”
In response the saint lovingly answered, “Well said, friend! You have too many ears; therefore, you cannot hear. If you had but one to hear and understand, you would need no proof.”
Confucius wisely said:
Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.
as quoted in Life’s Too Short to Fold Fitted Sheets
If life is simple, then shouldn’t unlocking the mystery of the spiritual life also be simple?
Here are the principles of spirituality, the path to the ultimate reality:
- Divine grace, which leads one to the Master;
- Master, who leads one to Nam;
- Nam, the word of God, the Shabd.
Devotion to true Nam brings true honour –
without the Name no one can find salvation.
Without the true Guru no one can find the Name,
the Lord has so planned it.
Guru Amar Das, as quoted in Jap Ji
A true master helps us unlock the mystery of Nam. He shows us the way, the door to liberation from this illusive world and the simple technique to unlock it.
Closing the nine doors and restraining the wandering mind,
in the tenth, one finds one’s true abode.
There the unending music of the Word plays day and night.
Through the Guru’s guidance, the celestial Word is heard.
Adi Granth, M3
The Master teaches us that truth and real bliss can be attained at the tenth door – the eye centre. No lasting happiness can ever be attained below the eyes unless we withdraw our attention within at the eye centre, where we can access the divine sound and light. With concentration, we (the soul) begin to hear the divine melody (Nam, the Word), which leads us to our true home (through the hearing power of the soul – surat). Gradually, we begin to see the light that further illuminates the path (with the seeing power of the soul –nirat). And once we reach our destination, uniting with the divine, we are in the realm of ineffable peace and everlasting happiness. Then, there is no coming back to this realm of illusion since now the soul has been liberated from death and rebirth. The following quote by Guru Nanak Dev conveys the essence of the teachings:
Except Nam, you have no friend or companion. You will attain salvation only through the practice of Nam.
Spiritual Discourses, Vol. II
Masters repeatedly advise us to meditate regularly, yet we interpret this guidance as being about enlightenment. We then assume that our inability to attain instant enlightenment is equivalent to failing in meditation.
Once a master asked his devotee to push a boulder. As a dedicated disciple, he quickly took up the task. He tried pushing the boulder, but it didn’t move. He tried harder and harder for hours – but he failed to move the boulder by even an inch.
He went back to his master and shared his disappointment of failing to move the boulder. However, the master, pleased with his disciple’s devoted effort said, “My child! I didn’t ask you to move the boulder but simply to push it!”
The masters always emphasize first that there are no failures on this path, and second, that attaining divine union involves obedience to the Master’s instructions and purification of the mind through our spiritual practice. They say that meditation is an essential step in our spiritual journey. We have to simply sit for our meditative practice and keep our vessel (mind) clean. Our responsibility is the effort and appreciating wherever we are in our journey, which invariably means being receptive to his will.
The masters assure us that regular practice with love and devotion will invoke the Lord’s grace and lead us to our ultimate goal. Maharaj Charan Singh always encouraged us to take that first step by saying:
Our roots have gone so deep into this creation that it is not so easy to uproot them. So even our one step is a great step…. Our one step is sufficient for him to pull us.
Spiritual Perspectives, Vol. II
The spiritual path is a path of action and not just mere words. A Chinese proverb encapsulates this aptly: “I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand.”
Truth will be attained when we break down the walls of ignorance and illusion with implicit faith and love. Diligent and relentless effort in our meditation will eventually lift us from the complex illusion to the simple realization of the truth, as the following Zen story from the book Concepts & Illusions: A Perspective explains. A disciple asked his master: “Isn’t the end-point of man’s journey his union with God?” The master replied: “The end-point of man’s journey is not union with God because there has never been a separation. All that is needed is the flash of insight that makes one see it.”