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4. 3 Meditation

3  Meditation

INTRODUCTION

The Lord is permanent and eternal. He is birthless and deathless. Those who remember Him and continually think of Him will also become immortal. They will end the cycle of births and deaths. We should, therefore, focus our attention between and behind the eyes by constantly repeating the Lord’s Name, and should keep it there by turning our outward mental tendencies inward.

This practice is so simple and easy that a child of five or a man of hundred years old can do it without difficulty. We have a natural habit of doing simran, or repetition. We have merely to change it from simran of the world and its objects to simran of the Lord – from the transient to the Eternal. As a result, our thought currents are reversed and become concentrated at the third eye. But at first they will not stay there, because they are in the habit of dropping down and wandering out into the world through the nine apertures. It is difficult to keep the mind still in darkness and in emptiness, unless we give it some form upon which to contemplate.

But on what form should it contemplate? We become strongly attached to whatever form the mind contemplates on. Bound by love for that form, the mind will go wherever that form goes. Therefore, the object or form that is most worthy of our worship and contemplation is one whose body is on earth, but whose soul is in heaven and is constantly in communion with the Lord. Such a God-man we find in the Master. Only he is worthy of our worship.

Through contemplation, the mind develops the habit of staying at the eye focus, or third eye. By contemplating on the form of the Master who initiates us, by loving him, we become attached to him. We imbibe his spiritual power and ultimately merge in the Lord. The drop, once separate, joins the ocean and becomes the ocean.

The real purpose, then, of dhyan, or contemplation on the form of the Master, is to assimilate the universal, timeless, and eternal teaching; namely, to join the soul with the immanent powers of the Shabd and Nam, the Light and Sound within. When we become concentrated and one-pointed at the eye focus, we discover for ourselves, through bhajan, or listening to the Sound within, that there is a Divine Melody, an Inner Music, which emanates from the house of the Lord.

This immanent Power recognizes no caste, creed or color, nor any geographical boundaries. It is the heritage of all mankind, whether they are rich or poor, young or old, man or woman. Everyone has an equal right to it. Whether one is Hindu, Muslim, Christian or Sikh, he alone is on the right Path who focuses his attention at the third eye and contacts this Holy Spirit, the Shabd and Nam within.

The Saints and Masters call this practice “dying while living.” By withdrawing our consciousness to the third eye and listening to the Music of the Sound Current, the Audible Life Stream, our mind and soul together rise out of the tomb of this body and become free from it. By the grace of the Master, we cut asunder our attachments with the world and forget its troubles and miseries. Daily, through the practice of meditation, we die. We die to live, to enjoy the eternal bliss and peace of our True Home, and live forever.

CONCENTRATION

89. Q. Master, would you briefly explain how to meditate?

A. How to meditate? You have to close the eyes, so that your attention doesn’t go out. And when you close the eyes, automatically you are where you should be. You close the eyes, and you are just at the eye center. Then, keeping your attention there, you should try to do simran. The idea is that your attention shouldn’t scatter outside, it should be here at the eye center.

90. Q. Maharaj Ji, if the higher regions are above the eye focus, then why couldn’t we concentrate above the eye focus instead of starting here?

A. Well, brother, when you are sitting midway up a hill, you just can’t start your journey from the top, nor would you like to go back down to the bottom in order to climb up to the top. We are all sitting here at the eye center, which is the natural seat of the soul and mind knotted together in the conscious state.

Whenever you are thinking about anything, or you have forgotten something and you wish to recall it, your hand automatically goes to your forehead. You will never put your hand to any other part of your head or your leg. This is a natural habit. When you want to remember something, or think deeply, you automatically concentrate here, because the seat of the soul and mind is here at the eye center.

Hence, we want to start from where we are. Neither do we want to come down to the lower chakras, the lower centers, and start up, nor can we start from higher up. So we have to start from the eye center.

91. Q. Previously I once heard that our third eye is open while we’re in the womb, and later on after we become initiated, we then become aware of its state of openness. Is this true, or is it that the third eye is not opened until after we’re initiated?

A. The opening of the third eye means that we start seeing the visions or we have spiritual progress within. When you see the Light, the colors, the moon and all those things inside, there is something which sees all that inside, and that we call the third eye.

The third eye is known as such because we’re in the habit of seeing through the eyes, but these physical eyes are not required inside. Some other perception is required, so we call it a third eye, but there’s no eye at all which you have to find inside. Christ calls it the door of the house,¹ but then there’s no door there either. These are just ways of explaining things. When you enter a house you need a door to go in. Without a door you cannot get in, and without the veil being removed, you cannot see anything inside. That is why it has been called the third eye or the door of the house.

92. Q. Maharaj Ji, you’ve written that the door at which we have to knock is the center between and behind the eyes. My question is, if the attention is kept in the darkness which is seen when the eyes are closed, will that attention at some stage of concentration automatically go behind the eyes?

A. You are automatically there. When you close your eyes, you are nowhere else but there behind the eyes in the darkness. Just close your eyes and forget where you’re concentrating. You don’t have to find that spot at all. Whenever you’re thinking, you’re automatically there at the eye center, so you close your eyes and you see the darkness, and being there in the darkness, do the simran. That is the point which is referred to. You’re automatically there.

• Q. So, during meditation one shouldn’t make a constant effort to feel that he is located at the eye center, but should just look into the darkness and let that feeling of “being there” come automatically?

A. That’s right. When you close your eyes, you are normally automatically here at the eye center, because the seat of the soul and mind knotted together is at the eye center. When you close your eyes, you are here in the center of the darkness in the forehead, and being there, you do the simran. You also feel that your Master is there and that you are there in the darkness and you are doing simran in the presence of the Master, if you can’t visualize his form. So be there and also feel your Master is there, and that will hold your attention there in the darkness.

93. Q. I have read that at the time of meditation we should imagine that we are sitting at the eye focus. Should we do that rather than just try to be at the eye focus?

A. They’re the same thing, brother. Just be at the eye focus, which means to try to concentrate at the eye focus or to think that you’re at the eye focus. They are the same thing. It is a way of explaining.

• Q. I thought it was different in that we’re actually picturing ourselves in our mind’s eye as being at the eye focus.

A. No, you be at the eye focus, which means to be in that darkness. When you close the eyes, you are there where you should be. Being there, you should do simran. Whenever you close your eyes, you are where you should be. Be there and do simran.

94. Q. What do you mean when you say to look in to the darkness?

A. You close your eyes; you see nothing but darkness. Be there and do simran. Being in the darkness, do simran. That is what I mean by looking at the darkness.

95. Q. When you’re looking at the darkness while you’re doing your simran, as long as you can see that darkness, can you be sure that you’re at the eye center, that you have not dropped to the lower centers?

A. As long as your attention is there in the darkness, you are there, but when you start thinking about all the problems of the world, you are not there, whether you see the darkness or something else. When your attention is there, you are there. If your attention is not there, you are not there.

96. Q. Is it difficult to hold the attention there when we’re sick? It seems that the mind becomes more imaginative when we’re a bit ill.

A. Probably because you don’t have anything else to do. When your mind is absolutely free, then it starts imagining all sorts of things, but when it is busy, then naturally it doesn’t imagine so many things. That is why they say that a vacant mind is a devil’s workshop. The mind is never still, even if you close yourself in a dark room and lock it from outside. Your mind is never there. It is always running about in the world imagining all sorts of things.

97. Q. Master, when I try to concentrate in the darkness, my mind flits about. I’m wondering then if the attention can be in two places at once?

A. Not only two places – the mind can run to a thousand places. While you’re talking, even if you’re giving a lecture, your mind is thinking about something else. The mind has the faculty to think about many things at a time. You’re doing simran and your mind is wandering in the whole world, thinking of all the worldly problems – that also is the mind. So the mind can be not only in two places, but in many places at a time.

98. Q. I read that we should hold the mind still in meditation, but that we shouldn’t concentrate on a physical point for the eye focus. You have said that it’s a mental position. Then how do we know what to concentrate on if it’s in the mind?

A. When you close your eyes, you are there where you should be. Being there, do simran, concentrate. When you close your eyes, you are nowhere outside. You are just here at the eye center, unless your mind is scattered somewhere outside. When you close your eyes, don’t try to find any particular point. Don’t try to invert your eyes physically and focus at any particular point or try to search physically by inverting your eyes. The eyes should not be strained physically at all. When you close your eyes, you are automatically there where you should be, so being there, you should try to concentrate.

99. Q. Is it wrong for the eyes to turn upward?

A. You don’t have to invert the eyes physically in order to find any particular object within, because these physical eyes have nothing to do with what you are going to see inside. These eyes are meant only for the outside, so you don’t have to invert your eyes physically, nor do you have to focus them at any particular point, because you will then strain your eyes. Just close your eyes and forget about them, and being at the eye center, do simran, with the attention there. Only when you are able to hold your attention at the eye center will you be able to catch the Sound. Rather, the Sound will pull you upward, and you will be in the Light.

100. Q. When doing dhyan, if the physical eyes want to go together and it’s not a strain, is that all right, or should we make an attempt to not let them go to the third eye?

A. You should not be conscious of your eyes at all, no question of not letting them go or trying to bring them together. Close your eyes and forget about them. There should be no strain on the eyes from any point of view. Just forget about them. When you sleep, you don’t strain your eyes to sleep. You just close them and then you sleep. So just close your eyes and do simran.

• Q. And another thing is that when I try, my concentration drops down and I feel that my attention has dropped, and that’s why they say to make an effortless effort. And I didn’t know whether to insist, even if there is a little strain.

A. Yes, a little strain will be at the forehead. That is why we are advised that after meditation, we can rub our forehead and our eyelids lightly to relieve any little strain there might be. But the strain is insignificant.

101. Q. When we make an effort to hold our attention inside, does that mean that we are allowing the mind to scatter away from the eye center?

A. No, you have not followed my point. I didn’t say that when we make an effort we are not at the eye center. I said, if you make an effort trying to find a particular point, then your mind will wander out.

Effort we have to put forth to concentrate, to do simran. Doing simran is an effort you are putting forth, for when we do simran, we have to forget the whole world. We are concerned only with the darkness in our forehead. We close our eyes and we see nothing but darkness, and when you close your eyes, you are there where you should be. Keeping your mind in that darkness, do simran.

Don’t try to find any particular point in that darkness such as two or three inches up in the darkness, two or three inches down. Then you are lost in that. You are always conscious of finding a point, and you don’t concentrate. Just forget your eyes, even forget your body. Close your eyes – you are automatically there where you should be, and then do simran.

What I was trying to say was that we generally think that the center is in the forehead physically and that we must try to find that physical center within, but then we are lost in that. The center automatically will come with our concentration.

102. Q. Master, in the journey from the eye center to the top of the head, which you often talk about, during the course of that journey, does anything chemically or physically happen in that section of the head as a reflection of what happens spiritually?

A. Yes, there are physical symptoms of withdrawal, and these are explained at the time of initiation.

103. Q. But Master, up till that point the current is withdrawn to the eye center, right?

A. That’s right.

• Q. And then does it leave the body there, or –

A. No. Everything is within the body. Your consciousness comes to that level.

• Q. But does it rise higher then? Does the consciousness rise to the top of the head also?

A. You can say it is rising higher, but where is the beginning and where is the end? Consciousness doesn’t physically start from the eyes and physically end at the top of the head. We mean that from a lower level of consciousness you go to the higher level of consciousness. From wherever the level of consciousness starts, from there now you are going upwards in your level of consciousness. That’s what is meant.

104. Q. I think the books also say that the head is the laboratory of the whole creation.

A. Yes, because without having your concentration at the eye center, you won’t understand anything about the creation, so everything comes from the head. Your whole mind is scattered, being pulled down from the eye center through the nine apertures. If you forget anything and you want to recall it, automatically you will put your hand to your forehead. You won’t touch your legs or any other part of the body. This place has something to do with our thinking center, and we have to withdraw our consciousness to that very thinking center. From there your level of consciousness will move upwards.

105. Q. Maharaj Ji, are there centers at the top of the head which are affected by one’s meditation other than just the third eye?

A. Sometimes we do feel some sensations in the head at the time of meditation. This is because unconsciously, unintentionally, we are straining our eyes. We feel warmth or a tingling sensation there, but there’s nothing to worry about.

106. Q. Maharaj Ji, some of us were discussing earlier the sensation when one begins to meditate of sometimes feeling nauseous. Could you explain something about this?

A. I don’t know what exactly you mean by a nauseous feeling, but when you are withdrawing the soul current upwards from the throat center, you have a certain choking sensation in the throat to begin with, and you feel as if your throat has become dry or parched by too much speaking. If you have a little sip of water, or you swallow, or if you gently rub the throat with the hand once or twice, the feeling goes.

And then also, when we try to concentrate here at the eye center, there’s a little, insignificant pressure on our eyes, because unconsciously the eyes start inverting inside, but one can easily remove it by rubbing the eyes once or twice lightly. And there is also insignificant pressure in the forehead, which one can relieve too.

A feeling of nausea can come if you have eaten something that doesn’t suit you, or if you are sitting in a closed room and the air is not fresh, or if you are synchronizing your simran with breathing. Then a nauseous feeling will definitely come. But we should never think about breathing at the time of simran. Now you are listening and I am talking; neither you are conscious of your breathing, nor I am conscious of my breathing. It is a normal function of the body, and we should never give any attention to it at all.

107. Q. Maharaj Ji, during meditation suppose several times you experience one of these sensations of say, the parchness of the throat, and then for a long period after that you never experience this again. Does it mean that you haven’t achieved that real concentration again?

A. No, sometimes we feel it, sometimes we don’t feel it. If now you have been able to overcome it, you may get it again sometime. But whenever you are confronted with such a situation, you can always help yourself just by rubbing the throat a little or by swallowing a few times, or by sipping a little water.

108. Q. Some people, at the time of meditation, become hot or cold. What is the reason for changes in temperature of the body during meditation?

A. I don’t think you feel any heat or cold. Sometimes we feel a little cold when we withdraw to the eye center. Then there is a little difference in temperature, but it’s not so much that you start shivering. Otherwise, the normal temperature remains the same.

109. Q. Master, sometimes during meditation there’s a sort of sensation, like someone taking their hand and rubbing it up the center of your spine. Is this something to worry about?

A. We start feeling many types of activities and sensations in the body. Sometimes you feel that type of sensation at the backbone, but just ignore it.

110. Q. Sometimes the body jerks when we’re in meditation. Could you explain that?

A. Sister, we do jerk sometimes. Sometimes with emotions or devotion we try to hold our attention, and we do succeed in concentration, but we are spread out so much into the body that we find it difficult for the soul to pull up, so sometimes we start jerking and some people even fall unconscious.

But there’s nothing to worry about in the least. No damage comes to the body. You will again get up. If you feel such jerks, you can lean against something hard or sit in a comfortable chair with some support, and then you can attend to simran. Sometimes these jerks do come, but they will ultimately leave you.

111. Q. Maharaj Ji, I have heard that after ten minutes of sitting, you should make a habit of then adjusting your posture, and then you’ll sit longer.

A. You are not even to be conscious of that changing of the posture or of that adjustment. Sometimes when you’re thinking about some serious problem, you are not conscious of whether a fly has come to your nose or even that you have removed it with your hand. You’re not conscious of who has come to your room or who has gone from your room. You’re not conscious of anybody, because you’re so much absorbed in that thinking. So similarly, we should get so much concentration with the simran that we’re not even conscious of a little change in the posture – that from this leg you have moved the other leg. You don’t even know if the body has moved. You’re not even conscious of it.

When I become conscious of the posture – that now I am keeping my one leg here and I am feeling very uncomfortable and I say I’m not going to change it whatever may happen – I may be able to retain that posture for one hour, but I’m fighting to retain it. My concentration is not there, I’m not in the simran at all. From that point of view it’s better to change the posture rather than to lose your concentration.

112. Q. This question pertains to numbness of the limbs, Maharaj Ji. There is a physical cause, as I understand it, such as pressure on the limbs or lack of circulation of the blood, and this is a numbness; and secondly there is withdrawal of the soul currents through concentration, and this produces a numbness in the limbs. My question is, is there a difference between the two types of numbness? Do both assist in concentration?

A. There is a little difference. The type of numbness we need is the withdrawal numbness, when the soul withdraws from the nine apertures and comes upwards.

Numbness means that you are not aware of that part of the body. Sometimes when you are absorbed in your own thoughts, thinking about some problem, and somebody comes to the room or goes away, you don’t even notice who has come and who has gone. If anything crawls on your leg, you don’t even feel it, because you are so much absorbed in your own thinking. That is numbness of the body – you become completely unconscious of the body. You’re not concerned in what position you’re sitting. Your absolute withdrawal is there; your concentration is complete at the eye center. That is withdrawing your consciousness from the body.

It may not be physical numbness at all. You are not aware of your body, you are not even aware of the way you are sitting, you’re not aware of yourself. You’re so much concentrated and so much one with that Shabd or Nam within that you’re not even aware of any part of the body. If you are aware that this part has become numb and you have withdrawn from this, then that is not right concentration. Numbness means you’re absolutely not aware of the body.

Physical numbness naturally is all right, but that is not the end-all and be-all. The real numbness is withdrawal of the soul currents. Then you’re not even aware of the body.

113. Q. Is there a length of time in meditation, sitting absolutely still, before this will start to happen?

A. You can’t say that there is a certain length of time. It may take you two minutes to withdraw the soul current to the eye center, or it may take you a very long time, so you can’t fix it by the length of the period. This is true even in the worldly sense. Sometimes our mind is so scattered that a very minor problem takes us hours and hours to solve. Sometimes we are so concentrated that it hardly takes us a second to make a decision on that point. It’s not a question of the time limit; it’s your concentration. Sometimes you’re upset, your mind is absolutely scattered, and you just can’t solve that problem.

114. Q. Many times when I feel that I’m just starting to get somewhat concentrated and the breathing is slowing down, I find I have to just suddenly take a deep breath. It’s almost involuntary, like a gasp or a sigh. When that happens, am I sending the consciousness back down into the lower parts?

A. No, you don’t send any consciousness down, but this deep breath definitely happens sometimes. While we are trying to concentrate, sometimes unconsciously we take a very deep breath.

• Q. Yes, it seems unconscious. Should we try to control it?

A. I don’t think you can help it. You should try not to be conscious about that deep breathing. It’s just a normal function of breathing, and if there’s sometimes a deep breath, just forget about it. Don’t be conscious of it at all. This won’t spoil your concentration. But if you’re conscious about the deep breathing, then of course your concentration goes.

• Q. Well, sometimes it surprises me. I take a deep breath and I’m surprised that I do it.

A. That’s right. Just be unconscious about it. Just forget about it. Sometimes when you are talking to somebody and you are attentive, you may take a deep breath, but you are hardly aware of it. In meditation, if you pay attention to it and think, “Why have I taken a deep breath? What is wrong with me?” then of course you lose the simran and concentration. It’s the normal function of the body, and sometimes it does happen. Even when you are doing nothing, you are just sitting, sometimes you take a deep breath without meaning anything.

115. Q. When we are at the eye focus, is it possible that the body becomes completely lifeless and that the heart may stop beating?

A. No. The heart doesn’t stop beating, but you feel the withdrawal in the body, that something is missing from your lower limbs. And sometimes some people have a feeling of nausea, something like fainting, but actually it is not fainting or nausea – nothing of the sort. If you go on practicing meditation every day, eventually you won’t have that feeling. You will be able to overcome such feelings. But the heart will be functioning, and you are connected with the body in the same way during meditation.

116. Q. But does this phenomenon of the heart stopping beating happen with certain yogis?

A. They have a different technique. They try to slow their breathing. A very feeble breathing remains, and maybe for a second you feel that he is not breathing at all or the heart has stopped working. That is in pranayam and hatha yoga and all that. With those techniques people may be able to slow the heart beat, but we should not try to synchronize the breathing with simran or be the least bit conscious of the breathing or the heart beating or anything about the body. We have to forget about the body altogether.

117. Q. Master, in meditation, can you tell the mind to ignore the body?

A. What do you mean by telling the mind to ignore the body? Meditation itself is explaining to the mind to rise above the body. Meditation, simran, is the means to withdraw your mind from the nine portals and to concentrate at the eye center. You are training the mind to leave the body and to come to the eye center. That is the purpose of meditation.

118. Q. Should we have a desire to go within during meditation?

A. If you’re always thinking about that, you may not be able to concentrate. You should sit in meditation with an absolutely relaxed mind, with a calm mind. When we are sitting in meditation, naturally the desire to go within is there. That is why we’re sitting in meditation. Otherwise, why should we sit in meditation if that desire is not there? That desire is forcing us to sit in meditation, but we shouldn’t feel excited and start discussing with our own self, “What am I going to see now?” and “It hasn’t come yet.”

119. Q. What is the difference between expectancy and desire? Should we have no desire to see any visions inside?

A. No, we have a desire, but if we are always feeling excited – “Now I’m going to see light; now I’m going to see colors; now I’m going to see this thing” – we’re not concentrating at all. What I mean to say is that we should have absolute concentration. Those things will automatically come, whether you desire them or you don’t desire them. They will automatically come with concentration.

• Q. But desire puts earnestness and zeal into our meditation.

A. There should be a desire and earnestness to meditate, but at the time of meditation when we sit, the mind should be absolutely relaxed, because one’s mind can also start feeling frustrated: “I have been sitting for three hours and I haven’t seen anything, so why should I sit?” If you sit with that idea, then there are chances of frustration. But if you just sit and try to concentrate instead of thinking about all those things, then even the slightest sign of progress will make you happy.

120. Q. Then, there’s not only no expectancy, but would you say you’ve got to have an absence of any attitude?

A. No. There should be the attitude of love and devotion and faith when we sit for meditation.

• Q. But how can there be an attitude without imagery and without various accompanying body tensions and the current running downwards?

A. The mind is always running up and down. That is different. I’m not trying to say that the mind doesn’t expect all that, but what I mean to say is that generally we should try to sit with a relaxed mind. Excitement, however, is always there if you see anything, but if we have less excitement over what we see, it will be better.

121. Q. When I try to feel love or think of love and devotion, my attention drops. I want to do my meditation with feeling, and when I put a little effort in, I feel that my attention drops.

A. Actually, these things you can’t analyze or discuss. It’s very hard to analyze these small things. We have to sit in meditation for the love of meditation, for the love of the Father. When we do our daily routine work, we sometimes work with love for the whole day. Sometimes we feel that the work is just a duty, and without our mind in it, we just go on working. When we are meditating, we should feel that the mind is there. The mind should be absorbed in meditation. If the mind is running away, then it is mechanical meditation. It should not be just mechanical meditation. But when the mind is absorbed in meditation, then naturally there is love and devotion in the mind for meditation.

122. Q. When you’re meditating, you may get a feeling of elation; you may get a feeling of going up or whatever. If this takes place and excitement comes in just from the slightest change in the meditation, how do you control the excitement, because the excitement would tend, like you say, to scatter the mind. All of a sudden you’re caught in the excitement instead of in the simran. How do you prevent this from happening?

A. With those experiences within you get just bliss and peace. You may be excited in that bliss and peace, but you are not so excited as to have your attention outside.

• Q. So that excitement in itself isn’t actually going to pull you outside?

A. It may be everybody’s experience that if at night you’re very excited, you don’t get any sleep. Sleep comes with concentration, and if we can’t concentrate, if we are angry or worried, we don’t get any sleep. If we are excited and happy, to some extent we are also excited about that happiness, we cannot sleep because concentration is not there. With too much excitement, there is no concentration, which is why we should sit in meditation with a calm and relaxed mind.

123. Q. Maharaj Ji, you’ve said not to sit in meditation with any expectation, and that we cannot judge what is bad meditation or good meditation. But I believe you have said that when we eventually do go inside, it will happen when we least expect it. Could you explain that?

A. I don’t know what there is to explain. What I mean is that you shouldn’t sit in meditation with excitement, excitement to see or to achieve. Then your mind is always running in excitement and it’s not steady or still, and unless the mind is still and steady at the eye center, it doesn’t get any results. If you are always excited to achieve or to see or to visualize something – always anticipating that now you are going to see, now you are going to see – then your mind is running out. You should relax, and without any tension, try to concentrate here at the eye center. When it comes, it just comes. Sometimes you get visions when you least expect them, and sometimes when you want them, you are just blank; so that you leave to Him. We should attend to our meditation without any tension and excitement.

124. Q. In some of his letters, Baba Ji says that we must strive hard, work hard in our meditation, meaning with effort. The word strive is used, I think, two or three times, and yet we should also approach meditation in a relaxed manner and in a relaxed position.

A. “Strive” means every day you must sit. You must give time. You must work hard for meditation. Give as much time as you can. You must strive to sit every day. But sit with a relaxed mind.

125. Q. Once I had a breakdown due to under-nourishment, and before that major breakdown I sometimes saw a little white light in front of me. I would like to know if that white light was due to meditation or if it was a warning of that mental breakdown.

A. Light is within every one of us, irrespective of whether one is initiated or not. It is at the eye center, within, and the moment we have the least bit of concentration, we will see it. Concentration may be by reading; concentration may be by emotions; concentration may be by any other means, by meditation. The moment we are able to concentrate at the eye center, we will see that Light, and sometimes we see the Light due to our past associations with the Path, our associations with spirituality in past births.

• Q. Maharaj Ji, what is strange is that since this breakdown, I have not seen that Light.

A. Naturally. This is because you have not earned to be there to see that Light. You have not worked to be at the eye center to see that Light.

126. Q. Regarding concentration, during the daytime when one is in their worldly work, does the feeling that the Sound is coming and going depend on the concentration one has?

A. The Sound is always there; it makes no difference whether it is day or night. The Sound is always there, and when our mind is attentive, we hear it. When our mind is not attentive, we don’t hear it. With the help of simran, we make our mind attentive to listen to that Sound.

127. Q. Can we also get that inner concentration by reading a book or other means?

A. No, that is not our concentration. Our concentration is here at the eye center. Otherwise there is no concentration, from a meditation point of view. Concentration means withdrawing your consciousness up to the eye level. That is concentration within.

• Q. But if you sit still in any position for two hours, maybe reading a book, you’ll withdraw.

A. You would not withdraw here to the eye center. You would withdraw to the book. You have taken your attention from everywhere else and concentrated on reading the book. That is also concentration, but not at the eye center. Without concentration you can never follow what you are reading. Sometimes you read three or four pages without concentrating and then you feel that you have skipped over four pages, and you don’t know what you have read.

128. Q. Master, as a Catholic I used to say the rosary, and with a rosary you can concentrate at the eye center.

A. You can concentrate with a rosary, provided you keep your attention at the eye center. But if you keep your attention in the rosary, how can you concentrate at the eye center? Then you concentrate on the rosary. If you are always conscious of how many times you have taken the round of the rosary, how can you concentrate here? You are always counting.

129. Q. Maharaj Ji, I heard someone talking about sitting in meditation and looking at his watch. How can one sit in meditation and avoid looking to see how much time has passed?

A. Actually, what is meant is that when you are sitting in meditation, you should concentrate all your thoughts in meditation and not always be conscious of how much time you have been sitting, wondering when it is going to be one hour and when it is going to be two hours. You may not always be looking at your watch, but you are always wondering whether or not you have sat more than your allotted time. When your mind is thinking of how much time you have to sit and how much time has already passed, then you are not concentrating. You are always thinking about that. Therefore, you should eliminate all thoughts of the world and just put your mind in simran.

It is the quality in the meditation that is important, not the quantity. If you are sitting with love and devotion and full concentration even for one hour, that is much better than sitting for five hours with your mind always wandering or running about, thinking about all the worldly problems or pleasures. So we should try to get into the habit of concentrating fully, eliminating all thoughts.

130. Q. Maharaj Ji, would you say that it would be more beneficial to, say, do three hours in one sitting than, say, five hours spread out a little throughout the day, to attain concentration?

A. Well, brother, ten minutes of concentrated meditation with full attention and devotion may be of more value than five hours of meditation with scattered attention. It is the quality that is important, with what devotion and love you are able to concentrate and be one there in the Shabd. That’s more important than sitting for even ten hours and thinking about all the worldly problems.

But when you are sitting and giving so much time, naturally you will get something out of it: quality will come from quantity. After all, how long will you sit without doing anything? Then you will try to concentrate, you will try to be at the eye center.

It’s a constant struggle with the mind. Don’t take it from the point of view that five hours of scattered meditation will be more beneficial than three hours at one stretch. One should try to give one’s time to meditation and not think about these things.

Give as much time as you can, and as much as you can conveniently arrange. But it should be done with love – you feel like sitting and you want to be there. You feel the bliss of sitting. Just bolting the door from inside and forcing yourself not to go outside, with the mind running out every second, is not of much use. Even one hour, one and a half hours, with devotion and concentration and being there in meditation is more useful.

131. Q. But I was under the impression that our two and one-half hours meditation only clears off the karma that we build during the day. So to go beyond the realm of mind and Maya we must either meditate for many, many hours more than two and a half, or –

A. Who told you that?

• Q. I’ve considered all the possibilities, Master.

A. No. Two and one-half hours of deep meditation.

• Q. Deep?

A. Yes. “Deep” means with love and devotion, with concentration. Devotion clears much of our karmic load. It goes a long way in lightening our karmic burden.

DYING WHILE LIVING

132. Q. Master, would you explain what it means to die daily the living death?

A. Saint Paul said, “I die daily.”² In meditation, we withdraw our consciousness to the eye center in the same way that we all die when death comes. First the feet become numb, then the legs, and slowly and slowly the whole body becomes numb. When the soul withdraws from the nine apertures and comes to the eye center, it leaves the body. To die daily means to practice the withdrawal of the consciousness to the eye center every day. That is why meditation is known as dying daily.

As you have read in The Book of Mirdad,^* Mirdad said, die to live. You must withdraw to the eye center, and then you will live forever. Otherwise, you are just living to die. Every time you live, you have to die, so die to live. Learn to die so that you may begin to live, and live forever.

133. Q. Master, when we die daily in our meditation, do we really die as far as the body is concerned?

A. The silver cord is the last link with the body. When you draw your consciousness up to the eye center in meditation, you don’t cut the silver cord. Otherwise you would be dead. Those people who withdraw their consciousness to the eye center and are in touch with the Shabd don’t die. They still breathe. The pulse is beating, and they are still in touch with the body. Only at the time of death are you completely detached from the body. Then you have no contact with the body at all.

134. Q. When one dies like this and withdraws to the higher state of consciousness, can one come up and down at will, or can one stay up there without control, perhaps for days or weeks?

A. No, you go up and down at will. As Christ said: I can take the body when I want to and I can leave the body when I want to.³ He does not mean death. He actually means, I can be in the body whenever I want to; I can leave the body and be with the Father when I want to.

135. Q. Sometimes during the day, a focusing feeling overcomes me, and I have to meditate, even in the middle of a conversation or while being alone. What is the meaning of this? It’s a magnetic, pulling feeling. Sometimes that feeling comes by itself, very frequently.

A. You mean something’s pulling you upward?

• Q. Yes.

A. Then give yourself to it. Just submit yourself to it.

136. Q. I’d like to know more about death, real death. When the soul leaves the body, how can one be sure that he’ll go to the same regions, the same places, where he went during his meditation?

A. This meditation is nothing but a way to be sure about that. Actually, this meditation is a process of dying daily. Meditation is nothing but a preparation to leave the body. That is the real purpose of meditation. Before you play your part on a stage, you rehearse the part so many times, just to be perfect. Similarly, this meditation is a daily rehearsal to die, so that we become perfect at how to die and when to die. Meditation is nothing but a preparation to die.

137. Q. Master, we were told after we were initiated that nobody ever dies in meditation.^*

A. We die daily in meditation.

• Q. But not the real death.

A. Are you frightened of sitting in meditation for that? Who wouldn’t like to die in meditation? Meditation is actually a practice of rehearsing during the whole of life to die. Meditation is nothing but a rehearsal during one’s whole life for that end – death. We are practicing how to die every day, and that is meditation.

When you go up, don’t be frightened that you’ll never come back to the body. Then nobody would sit in meditation. This whole Sant Mat way of life and attending to our meditation is nothing but a preparation for that particular time, and it’s good if one dies like that. It’s a daily death. Meditation is nothing but dying daily, and now he won’t have to die daily any longer.

It is very strange. Every day we sit in meditation and prepare ourselves for death, but when that particular time comes, those who have not died while living start crying and protesting and weeping, and say they don’t want to die. The purpose of meditating every day is to prepare for that time, to meet that eventuality, to go back Home. It is all a preparation, nothing else. When the Lord gives the opportunity now to leave the body and to materialize the effect of meditation, then we should make use of it.

138. Q. If we have been doing our meditation every day throughout the years, is death still terrible for us?

A. Death should not be terrible. Why should death be terrible when we are trying to experience that same death every day? Unless we start preparing ourselves for that time, death is terrible and painful. But when we sit in meditation every day, it means we are preparing ourselves. Even though we have no experience to our credit, we are preparing ourselves every day to leave the body, and when that achievement finally comes, then why should we be frightened? What is there to lament and weep about? At death, we are getting what we have been trying for our whole life. That is rather a happy moment.

SIMRAN–REPETITION

139. Q. Are the five holy names the names of the Supreme Lord or are they names of different lords of different regions?

A. We are told at the time of initiation that according to the attributes and qualities of those rulers, Mystics have given them these names. A Mystic may give you any name to repeat. It is immaterial. It will have the same effect for you. We’re not to worry whether these are the right names or not. That is for the Mystic to select for you, and whatever name he gives you to repeat will have the power and the effect for you, whether it has any meaning or whether it has no meaning at all. That is for him to consider. We shouldn’t try to dabble in the meaning of these things.

140. Q. Maharaj Ji, if somebody finds out the names by himself and tries to use them to meditate, will he get any benefit out of them?

A. A man with a little intelligence can find all the names from our books. There’s no problem in finding them, but that is not going to help him at all. A bullet kills only when it comes through the gun barrel. It is the same bullet if you throw it, but it is not effective unless it comes through the gun. Similarly, it is only when the names are given to us by a Mystic that they have any power behind them – power to eliminate the ego, to purify our mind, to bring our entire attention to the eye center. Otherwise, the words in themselves have no power.

I’ll tell you a little example. Some king went to a Mystic for initiation, and the Mystic told him to say a word, to repeat a name of the Lord.

The Mystic told the king, “You can repeat the word Ram.”

The king said, “I haven’t come all this way just to hear this word, just to repeat Ram. I have read this so many times and everybody knows this word. What is the purpose of my coming all the way to you?”

The Mystic said, “Because it has come from me, you had better repeat it.”

“But if I hear this word from somewhere else, won’t it have the same effect?”

The Mystic told him, “I’ll tell you some other time.”

So one day the Mystic went to the king’s court, and the king had all his generals and bodyguards and courtiers standing around him. The Mystic said, “Arrest this king!” but nobody obeyed his order. He repeated, “I say, arrest this man! Put him in jail!” Nobody bothered about him.

Then the king said, “This man is overstepping his limits. Arrest this man!” and the Mystic was arrested.

Then the Mystic told the king, “You and I have said the same thing, but there was no effect in what I said. Yet the words are the same. We both used the same words, but you yourself can see the difference. So now you know the difference between words that come from me and words that come from you.”

The words have to come from a Mystic. The names by themselves don’t carry any meaning, any power, at all.

141. Q. Master, we are told in the books that Kal practices the great deception and that he is doing everything he can to keep us from returning to our true Home. Now as I understand it, the first name we are told to repeat is just another name for Kal. How can I repeat that name with reverence?

A. You are not repeating the names of any agent of Kal. You are repeating only the names of the Master. The Master has given you those names to repeat, and you will not even see those rulers inside. For you, the Master is there, everywhere, so you are concerned only with the Master and not with any ruler of any region. Your Master is the ruler of whichever region you are passing through. Actually, you’re repeating the name of the Master and of nobody else.

142. Q. Do all the Perfect Masters teach the same simran to their disciples?

A. They teach the course of simran. The words may be different according to the language or to whatever they think best. The words can be different, but they will tell you of the same process for concentration.

There may be many schools of thought for concentrating at the eye center, but from the eye center upward there is only one path: Shabd, Sound Current, Spirit. For withdrawing the consciousness to the eye center, some people may have used different methods, but above the eye center there are no two ways. There’s only one way, that of the Holy Ghost or Spirit.

This is how idol worship came about in India. People used to bring all their focus of attention on an image. When they were able to give their full attention to that idol, then they would forget about the statue and try to bring all that concentration to the eye center. Originally, they may have been able to do it, but now they have forgotten how to detach from that statue and bring the attention to the eye center, so they have started worshipping the statue.

All this was nothing but a process of dhyan. We visualize the form of the Master along with simran, but since the Masters were not present, people started contemplating on the form of statues or pictures. They got involved in it so much that they couldn’t get rid of the image of that particular statue or picture. Then they couldn’t bring their attention back to the eye center and they always remained outside. So there may be different schools of thinking for withdrawing to the eye center, but beyond that, there is no other way – only one: the Spirit.

143. Q. Master, what association should we have when we repeat the five names you’ve given us at initiation?

A. You should not try to associate them with anything. You should just keep your mind in those words and be at the eye center and still your mind. Don’t try to think about the stages or about the forms of those rulers of the regions. We shouldn’t get lost in those things.

For us, the only association is with the Master and the repetition of the words. Keeping the Master’s form in view and repeating those names, we have to concentrate at the eye center, and we shouldn’t let our mind think about anything else.

144. Q. Is it wrong to see the words when you’re trying to do simran? If we can’t contemplate on the Master, is it okay to see the words inside?

A. See those words in which language? After all, if you’re going to see them, you must also think about some language in which the five words are written. Which language would you like to see?

You shouldn’t worry about the words or the language in which they are written. Then your mind is slipping out. Don’t worry about the words or the language or anything, for it won’t help. You have to be mentally at the eye center, mentally concentrated in simran, not visualizing the words or the forms of the words or the meaning of the words. These things don’t help.

145. Q. How can we do simran with the attention without using the tongue?

A. Mentally. During the whole day we are thinking about something or another and we never use our tongue. We always think mentally, so do simran mentally.

• Q. It has to start from the tongue and throat.

A. The tongue is required only if you speak, but when you are thinking about some worldly problem, the tongue doesn’t move, does it? In the same way, you have to do simran mentally.

146. Q. Sometimes you find that your simran is stuck at another center, like the throat center or the tongue. Should you try to force it up to the eye center? Do you try to find the eye center?

A. Sister, the throat center has nothing to do with the simran. You are to do simran mentally, not with the tongue. Try to keep your attention at the eye center while doing simran. It is the attention that has to do the simran.

147. Q. Master, sometimes when we’re meditating, although the attention is up there at the forehead, the words sometimes seem to stay behind and the attention is broken. Is it best to bring the words in front?

A. No, no. You shouldn’t be conscious about the words. Just be conscious that you are at the eye center and your attention, your thinking is occupied by simran. Just repeat the words and be in the darkness. Don’t worry about whether the words are in the back or in the front, or what their pronunciation is and what the speed of your speaking is. You shouldn’t be conscious of these things.

148. Q. I have a question about simran. I believe you said that paying attention to the pronunciation or to the speed would not help you to gain concentration, and then I was reading that Great Master said that the devotee should repeat the names as if one is calling out for the Beloved. And I’m just confused, because sometimes it seems to course through the mind very quickly so that all trace of clear pronunciation is gone.

A. We should do simran in a normal way, being neither conscious of our speed, nor of our pronunciation – whether it is right or wrong – nor should we become conscious of the frequency of simran, that we have repeated the names so many times in such a short while. In a normal way, you simply go on repeating these words, keeping your attention at the eye center, feeling and thinking that you are sitting in the presence of the Master, and that you are calling him by these names. That is what the Great Master has written.

149. Q. What if all the words tend to merge into each other until they’re almost indistinguishable?

A. Your mind should merge into the words. Your mind should become part and parcel of that simran, so that the words you repeat are not different from your mind. Then only can concentration come. If you are repeating those words, and your mind is thinking about all the problems and activities of the world, concentration will not be there. It must merge along with the words. You should be in those words, not somewhere away from them.

150. Q. Maharaj Ji, I once understood from a satsangi that during meditation, the simran part, if an image of a person or group or something comes into your mind, you can make that image do simran. For example, if my child comes into my mind while I’m trying to concentrate, I can just transform the child and imagine the child doing simran; or if my mother comes into my mind, I can imagine my mother doing simran, so that I have every image in my mind just doing simran. Is this all right?

A. That is what we want to eliminate, sister. When we are doing simran, all the worldly forms come before us. We are always thinking about them, about our attachments, and the purpose of simran is to eliminate all those thoughts. The purpose of simran is not to bring in those thoughts but to eliminate those forms, eliminate those thoughts. It’s just the reverse.

• Q. So we should try to keep them away rather than have them disappear by themselves?

A. Even if we don’t do simran, those faces are constantly with us, because our attachments always project those faces before us. We want to get rid of those forms, those attachments, with the help of simran and dhyan. But if we go on contemplating on their faces and doing simran, we are creating a stronger bond with them rather than eliminating them.

You find statues and idols in the temples and other places being worshipped because there was a school of thinking that believed in contemplating on those forms while doing simran. But with that practice, you get so much attached to that particular idol or statue that you find it difficult to detach yourself from it and then attach yourself to the Shabd and Nam within. You become part and parcel of those idols, so it becomes difficult to detach yourself from them. You are able to hold your attention by contemplating on them, but then that concentration doesn’t take you up, because you get so attached to them that you can’t detach your thoughts from the idols and attach yourself to the Sound Current.

We contemplate on the form of the Master, and the Master automatically takes the form of the Shabd. We don’t have to detach our mind from the Master’s form, because the Master is going to merge into the Shabd, into the Light and Sound within. Master is Shabd and is going to become Shabd, so our attachment to him rather helps us, whereas attachment to statues and other forms pulls us down and doesn’t let us go ahead. But that school of thinking was to hold the attention by contemplation, then to detach it from the statues, and then try to attach it to something else, which is very difficult to do. And even if you succeed with that method, it does not take you beyond the realm of mind.

151. Q. In the books it is written that several methods for concentration are recommended, but that simran is the easiest. Does this mean emptying the mind would be one of the methods?

A. Many people try to hold their mind by analyzing themselves, by not thinking about anything else. They try to adopt such methods, but it’s very difficult. The mind cannot cease working. It’s always thinking about something, so that is why the Saints say simran is the easiest method.

152. Q. Some often have difficulty to do simran right without being side-tracked by the mind, but when the mind is occupied with a beautiful thing, or what I think is a beautiful thing, like listening to concert music, it seems to be easy to do simran and rise to beautiful heights. Now, is this a good idea?

A. Brother, your mind is the same; when it is occupied with the music, how can you be attentive to simran? Because the mind enjoys that music, so you align yourself with the music, rather than with simran. No, simran is independent of music. The mind definitely enjoys music, and music gives us some sort of concentration, too, but it doesn’t lead us anywhere. It’s food for the mind but not for the soul.

• Q. But I was side-tracking the mind so that the soul would go up.

A. No. It won’t. The mind will just revolve with the music. It will remain with the music. The moment the music stops, you will be where you were before.

• Q. No, it continued for quite a while.

A. There may be a little effect because you may be liking the music. Simran is very different. The purpose of simran is to still the mind, even to withdraw from such music and to be in touch with the inner Music. If the outside music is so fascinating, you can imagine how much better would be the melodious Music within, that silent Music within.

Our purpose is to hear that silent Music. These outer sounds are all poor copies of that inner Music. If we involve ourselves in this outer music, then we may not be able to reach that inner type of music. The purpose of simran is to hold the attention at the eye center and then to be one with the internal Music, which is the real music. You forget all these outer forms of music when you’re in touch with that inner Music.

153. Q. If you’re meditating in a place that is noisy, such as almost any city, is there anything wrong with doing the simran in the posture in which one listens to the Sound?

A. But what’s the advantage of that?

• Q. You can’t hear the trains, for instance.

A. Yes, we should try to cut down outside noises wherever we sit. We need a lonely, quiet corner.

• Q. So it’s all right to do the whole meditation, if it’s two and one-half hours, in the same bhajan position?

A. It’s very difficult to sit in the bhajan position and do simran for so long. But actually, we should not be conscious of the posture or of outside sounds while doing simran, or even while hearing the Sound.

154. Q. Then can we take measures to use ear plugs and things like that when doing simran?

A. Well, if there’s no alternative, then you may use these things. But after all, they are artificial things and we should not depend on them. There’s nothing like natural surroundings.

155. Q. It has been suggested that one of the reasons for doing simran with ears open is to become accustomed to doing it within the world, and to be able to concentrate on simran but at the same time be sufficiently aware of those worldly noises that we have to concentrate to rise above them.

A. The object of doing simran without closing the ears is that we should eventually attune to the simran and concentrate at the eye center so much that even if drums are beating by our side, we won’t be conscious of them. We have to practice so much that even if there is any loud noise around us, our concentration is not disturbed. But still, in the beginning we need a lonely, quiet place so we won’t be distracted, because after all we have to work for that stage of concentration. We can’t just begin with it.

156. Q. Master, when someone is meditating and he’s doing his simran and all of a sudden he hears the Sound too and it’s very strong, should he stop doing simran? He wants to avoid the Sound but he just can’t, it’s there.

A. Naturally when you’re doing simran, the Sound will be there. If you are in touch with the Sound once, then whenever you do simran, the Sound will always be there. But if the Sound is not pulling you upward, then you should continue doing simran. If the Sound is very distinct and clear and it is pulling you upward, then you can switch from simran to hearing the Sound. Then you shouldn’t resist that Sound. When the Sound is pulling you, you should give yourself to the Sound, submit yourself to the Sound, rather than resist it by keeping your mind in simran.

157. Q. Maharaj Ji, you say not to do simran at the time of Sound, but if one starts having visions of the Master or something of that nature during Sound, then we are told we should say our simran. But if the Sound is strong and the Master is there, then why say the simran? This point I’ve never understood.

A. You can listen to the Sound, but you should also repeat the simran, only as a test, just to be sure where you stand at that time, because the Sound can be misleading at times. If the sound is from the left side or if it is an imitation, it can be misleading, but with the simran you are never wrong. If you are seeing somebody and you use the sound as a test, you can be wrong. If the sound is coming from the left side and you are seeing some form within and you think that the sound is the test of that form, you can be misled.

158. Q. Can the Master be tested with the five names in a dream?

A. You can’t. That form can be the mind. It can be anybody. In any way, it is not in your power to choose to do simran in dreams. How can you trust the mind? If you have already formed the habit of doing simran at every moment, then naturally, you will automatically do simran even during a dream. That is a different thing. But until that stage is reached, it’s not in your power to do simran in dreams. If it’s there, it’s just there. So good dreams are good dreams, but don’t try to give any meaning to them.

159. Q. Maharaj Ji, the instructions are to do approximately two hours of simran and to spend the rest of the time listening to the Sound during meditation. If you can hear the Sound quite plainly, is it in order to listen to the Sound all the time and ignore simran?

A. There is no fixed timing as to how much time is to be given to simran and how much time to Shabd. Generally, what I advise is that three-fourths of the time should go to simran and one-fourth of the time should go to Shabd, hearing of the Sound. But when with the help of simran, the Sound becomes very distinct and clear and pulls you upward, you may switch from simran to the Shabd. You yourself will be able to decide when to lessen your time in simran and when to increase your time in Shabd.

But simran should be continued until a very late stage. You can’t say that since you’ve started hearing the Sound, you should stop simran. Even then, simran should be continued. It may be only for half an hour or one hour, but it should be continued until a very late stage, until the second stage. Until you cross the second stage, simran should not be ignored. Simran should be kept, because you never know when the mind may slip out. Concentration is essential for hearing the Sound, so simran should be carried on.

160. Q. Master, when one is doing simran very poorly, what can one do? When one finds it very difficult to do simran, what can one do about it?

A. Brother, one should do simran! You can collect the wandering mind, which has become so wild, only by simran. Simran, though dry, is an essential part of meditation. It’s only with the help of simran that we are able to concentrate at the eye center, and then we can be in touch with that Sound within which pulls us upward. Simran is an essential part of meditation, very essential.

• Q. But Maharaj Ji, what if you can’t hold onto the simran? What if you start the simran and it just goes away from you, it just disappears, and about an hour later you realize you should have been doing simran?

A. Then after an hour, again start. When you realize that you have forgotten the simran, that you are doing something else, again start. This is the habit of the mind: when you are doing simran, it will run away, it will start thinking about worldly things. Bring it back again and again. That is knocking. Slowly and slowly you’re able to get into that simran and into that concentration.

161. Q. Maharaj Ji, if you sit there for two hours and about four times you’ve been able to repeat those words, you still can’t call that two hours of meditation.

A. Well, if you give two hours to meditation every day and on the first day you’re able to do simran for half an hour out of two hours, then the next day you may be able to increase that simran by five minutes or ten minutes. The mind gradually gets into the habit of doing simran, and there may come a time when the whole two hours will be spent in meditation.

162. Q. Even when sitting and meditating without concentrating – the mind may be wandering – does even that have its own value?

A. That has its own value. If we are always frightened that we will never be able to walk, then we will never be able to walk. Even if out of two hours you get only ten minutes of real concentration to your credit, it’s worth having. The next day you may be able to get fifteen minutes of concentration; the third day you may be able to add another ten minutes. Slowly and slowly you will be able to increase your time. If during the first day you sit for two hours and you say, “I don’t concentrate at all,” and from then on you don’t sit in meditation, that is no good. We must give our proper time to simran and meditation, every day.

163. Q. Then to not let the mind slip out, should we wrestle with our mind by doing the dhyan and simran forcefully and powerfully?

A. Simran and dhyan should be attended to with love and devotion. How fast you are doing simran or how loudly you are doing simran won’t make any difference. With how much love and devotion you are attending to simran and dhyan – that is more important.

When you’re doing simran, if your mind forgets simran and starts thinking about worldly affairs, worldly things, again bring it back, again pull your mind back to simran. Pull it back again and again. That is doing simran vigorously – not that you have to use any physical force. You have to fight with the mind to keep it in simran and dhyan.

But how fast a repetition you are doing or how loudly a repetition you are doing won’t make any difference. With how much love and devotion you are doing simran – that is more important.

164. Q. Maharaj Ji, at first are meditation and simran generally mechanical until we get love? We’re told to have love when we do our simran and do our meditation.

A. If we can’t attend to meditation with love and devotion, it may be attended to even mechanically. Slowly and slowly that love and devotion will be built. To begin with we have to fight with the mind. We have to put the mind in meditation, and then automatically love develops with effort, and faith also comes. Some people are lucky, and start with faith and devotion; others have to build faith and devotion. That is due to the sanskaras of our past births, our past association with the Path.

165. Q. Master, could you please tell us about the course of simran that’s given to every disciple at the time of his initiation? Does this mean you have to say your words so many times, a set number of times, until you see the inner Master?

A. It is not a question of the quantity of simran, but the concentration which simran is to give to you. It is not how many times you have to repeat these words before you can achieve your destination. That’s wrong.

Simran is just to occupy our mind so that our consciousness withdraws to the eye center. That is why we’re advised to do it with love and devotion. It should not be just mechanical. Simran with love and devotion will help you to withdraw to the eye center and will give you concentration. You cannot think, “Since I am repeating day and night mechanically, I’ll withdraw,” for then you could as well turn on a tape recorder. That will not help you because you have to concentrate here at the eye center. It is the concentration which is important.

Whether you withdraw your consciousness with your devotion or emotion or with the help of simran, ultimately it comes to the same thing. Some people can withdraw just with the help of dhyan. They’re so much in love with the Master that they withdraw their consciousness with the help of dhyan and come up to the eye center, but then they cannot stand that Light because they’re not in the habit of withdrawing slowly and slowly.

Simran is a process where you slowly withdraw upwards. It is constant and practical and permanent. Many times in the satsang you have seen people, especially ladies, who hear the satsang and faint because they are very emotional. They become so emotional and full of devotion by hearing the satsang or having the darshan of the Master that they are able to concentrate and withdraw. But still, when they see a little flash of Light they faint, because they’re not in the habit of seeing that Light.

166. Q. At the Dera people have withdrawn, falling over and lying down. Is this natural? If one goes within to this point here (the eye center), will the body keep falling over?

A. No. It happens only sometimes, especially with ladies. They reach to a certain stage with emotion, not with simran. If you were to throw a fine muslin cloth onto a thorny bush and then pull it up at once, very quickly, you would only give it a shock, and the whole cloth might be torn. But if you remove it from the thorns one by one, one by one, the whole cloth can be safely removed. When these ladies hear the satsang or talk about the Master, they become so filled with love and devotion for the Master that they at once concentrate through their emotions. They’re not in the habit of slowly and slowly withdrawing upwards, so when they see Light suddenly or hear the Sound, they can’t stand it. Sometimes they start shivering or crying, and sometimes they faint.

Just as if a thousand-candle lamp were suddenly put in front of your eyes, you’d at once faint. You’d be dazzled. You wouldn’t be able to see anything. But if we start with one candle and slowly go on increasing the light, our eyes go on adjusting to the light. Then we can eventually see even a thousand-candle light without any strain on our eyes.

167. Q. In slow withdrawal, does the body become numb, actually stiff?

A. In slow withdrawal, the body becomes used to withdrawing from the nine apertures, so then there is no shivering or fainting. You go up and come down, ascend and descend at will. Otherwise, if the soul leaves the body suddenly and you’re not prepared to face all that Light within, then you can’t control it and you faint.

168. Q. When one has fainted, does that mean the soul has actually gone within?

A. The soul goes there, sees the Light, and then the person just becomes unconscious. Still the soul is in the body, of course. It has seen the Light, but as I said, if a dazzling light is placed before your eyes all at once, you can’t stand it. Similarly, when the soul goes inside through emotion, it can’t stay there. The person becomes unconscious, and then slowly regains consciousness again.

There’s nothing dangerous about it. But sometimes people become so frightened of that Light that they don’t even sit for meditation, because they’re not used to seeing so much Light.

169. Q. I have been told that we do need emotion to get to the eye center, and I don’t quite understand. If emotion like that –

A. Not just by mere emotion, but by emotion converted into simran. With emotion you attend to your simran and dhyan – with love and devotion. Sudden, built-up emotion may make you faint.

Now we have all adjusted to these candles,^* but if suddenly a bright light is brought before us, it will take a little time to adjust to that light. That is why the whole process of meditation is very slow. First we see flashes of Light, and then the Light stays a little longer, and little by little it becomes brighter, and then we are able to see more and more of it.

170. Q. Maharaj Ji, getting back to the idea of a special course of simran, I’ve heard that we each have a certain amount of simran to do in this life, say, a couple of million times to say simran.

A. Well, brother, I have never tried to calculate simran mathematically, but if you can count how many times your mind has run out, then you can also count how many times you should do simran within, because it should take at least ten times more simran than the mind has run out. If you can count how many times the mind has run out, then you can accordingly add ten times more simran.

Mathematical calculation won’t do. We should devote our time to simran. Concentration is the main thing.

• Q. Nothing mathematical, but I’ve heard somewhere that we have a certain amount to do, and the quicker we do it, the better for us.

A. There’s no set amount. It’s a whole life of struggle – that’s the amount. A whole life of struggle. We have to withdraw our consciousness to the eye center, and then we have to hold our consciousness there, that it may not slip down again. That is why it is a lifelong struggle. Whenever the mind runs out, we have to withdraw the consciousness to the eye center again. And that naturally needs practice. Then we have to hold the attention at the eye center, we have to see that it doesn’t drop again. So constant simran is required to hold the mind at the eye center, to be in touch with the Sound within.

171. Q. Great Master once said that you cannot rend the veil inside unless there is grace, longing and love. Does constant simran have the power to do that, or will simran develop the love to rend the veil to pierce within? Is it the power of simran alone, or will that just develop the love?

A. Simran or meditation without love doesn’t yield much result. Simran and meditation with devotion yields results. That’s why the Great Master says that if you just mechanically do simran and your love is not there, your faith is not there, your mind is not there in it, then you don’t get much result. You have to attend to simran and to the whole meditation with love and devotion.

172. Q. What does Master Jagat Singh mean when he says that when we are repeating simran, we should do it as if we were putting precious things into a safe?

A. That’s right. When you are doing simran, think that you are at the eye center and you are repeating the names as if you were putting some precious jewels in a safe. Your whole attention is here in the eye center and you are just doing simran, which is your precious treasure. That’s what he means.

• Q. Is that similar, then, to the story Great Master relates of how King Janak told a seeker that he always acted as if he had a bowl full of milk in his hands and he didn’t want any of it to drop?

A. Same thing. Sukh Dev’s whole attention was in that bowl of milk. He was not conscious of the drums, the parades, and the merrymaking of the children that were going on. He said, “I have noticed nothing at all. I have seen only this bowl.” His whole concentration was on that bowl. That means his concentration was one-pointed. When that type of concentration comes, when that type of love comes, only then we see the Radiant Form of the Master. Everything was there, but he wasn’t conscious of anything but the bowl full of milk, lest he spill even a drop.^*

173. Q. Master, they say that when Sardar Bahadur said his simran he used to savor each word like it was nectar, and I think that, for myself anyway, when there’s less love and devotion in the simran, it becomes very difficult to hold your attention. For most of us it is still a dry process. What is the way we can make the simran like nectar? They say that Sardar Bahadur Ji savored every word. He was so intoxicated with the love of simran that he could just go right to the eye center. You’ve said many times that if we don’t have love and devotion for the simran, if it’s just dry, it doesn’t do us much good. We have to develop the love for it.

A. First you may start with a dry simran, and then ultimately you may end with a love simran. When a child is sent to school to learn the ABC, it’s very dry for him. He is made to repeat it over and over. It’s only later he loves to read, and enjoys pronouncing words. Simran is the same thing.

174. Q. Can the mind be conditioned so that simran doesn’t have an effect on it? If a doctor is giving medicine to somebody to destroy bacteria, and after a while those bacteria become resistant to that medicine, could the same thing happen with simran – that the simran doesn’t have an effect, that after a time the mind doesn’t –

A. You mean simran won’t have the same effect on the mind? No. Rather, the simran will have a greater effect on the mind. The more time you give to simran, the more effect you will find it has on the mind. It’s not that the mind will become immune to simran.

175. Q. Maharaj Ji, I read a beautiful article on simran which mentioned that just simran – forgetting everything else for the moment – can bring great sweetness if it’s done properly, and I’m wondering, some of your remarks have said so much about simran, and for most of us that’s the main path right now. Can you give us any suggestions on how to increase love and devotion in simran so they’re not just words?

A. Simran looks dry, but the concentration that you get with simran alone gives you peace and bliss and happiness. The more your mind is concentrated, the more happy you are; the more your mind is scattered, the more frustrated you are. As long as the mind is below the eye center towards the senses, you can never be happy – there’s nothing but frustration and agony. But when you’re able to withdraw your consciousness to the eye center and still your mind, you feel bliss and contentment and happiness. And simran is the only way that you can withdraw your consciousness to the eye center.

176. Q. Master, when a person is unconsciously saying simran – like if you’ve spent two or three hours saying simran and then you have your duties to perform, and you get up and you may have to go to the grocery market or down the street or something, and suddenly you realize that at the back of your head somewhere simran is going on automatically – is that of any real value to you, when it’s just going on automatically?

A. Sister, the stage will come when it will go on automatically. Even if you are talking to people you will feel that you’re doing simran; and we should get into that habit, because only then are we able to concentrate at the eye center. Only that will help us to become unconscious of the world, of what is going on around us. Then we will just move as actors move on a stage.

In this state we will feel that there is no reality. Sometimes you will be talking to a person and you will feel that you are not you, someone else is walking and talking with the other person. Simran helps to separate your individuality from yourself. Then the whole day you will see the world as a stage, as if somebody else is acting, talking, doing a husband’s duty, a wife’s duty, a child’s duty, and you are someone different from yourself. And that helps. That is the effect of simran, and that is ultimately what we want to achieve. We want to separate our real self from this world.

Sometimes you may feel that somebody else is sitting in meditation and you are watching somebody sitting in meditation, you are separate from the person who is meditating. That feeling does come.

DHYAN–CONTEMPLATION

177. Q. Would you speak about dhyan?

A. The purpose of simran is to withdraw your consciousness to the eye center, and the purpose of dhyan is to hold your attention at the eye center, because it is very difficult to hold your attention in a vacuum. The mind has the faculty both to think and to visualize. Whatever you are thinking about you are also contemplating on. If you are thinking about your friend, his form will appear before you.

These are the natural faculties of the mind, and we have to occupy both tendencies: thinking and visualizing. By thinking and visualizing we have all become attached to this creation, so Saints advise us that by the same process we have to withdraw our consciousness from worldly attachments and bring it back to the eye center by thinking about the Father – repeating His Name, doing simran – and by contemplating on the form of the Master.

Why the Master? Because we want to contemplate only on that form which will not pull us back to this creation again. If we contemplate on flowers or on friends or on some statue or on some worldly thing, we will be pulled back down to this creation again, because these forms are all perishable. We contemplate on the form of the Master because his real form is Shabd, he is the Word made flesh, and by contemplating on his form we are getting attached to the Shabd inside, to the Audible Life Stream of which the Master is the embodiment.

Physical darshan of the Master is very helpful for the purpose of dhyan. The ancient Saints attached great importance to having the darshan of Saints and Masters, who are the source and flow of love and light. Darshan makes an irresistible appeal to the inner being of the satsangi, even when he receives no verbal instructions.

The effect of darshan is dependent upon the receptivity of the seeker, whose reaction is determined by his own sanskaras and past connections. Often the seeker is satisfied with the darshan of the Master and has no desire for anything else from him. To derive bliss from the mere darshan of the Master is a great thing, because it indicates that the seeker has love – very essential for spiritual life. Having had the darshan of the Beloved, the devotee naturally desires nothing except to have as much darshan of the Master as possible, which results in drawing the devotee closer to the Master on the inner plane.

Thus, with the help of contemplation, our tendency becomes upward and we are able to hold our attention at the eye center. That is why contemplation is important in meditation, and it should be done along with simran. When we’re doing simran, we should also try to contemplate on the form of the Master. Otherwise, if we occupy only the faculty of thinking, our mind will be contemplating on the forms of worldly persons, places and things.

Those who are fortunate enough to have seen the Master should try to contemplate on the form of the Master while doing simran. And those who have not seen him should not try to contemplate on his photo or on any imaginary figure, because then they will become attached to that photo, which is lifeless. We generally advise them to try to hold the attention in the darkness of the forehead, thinking that the Master is here in the darkness, while they go on repeating the five holy names. But those who have seen the Master can contemplate on the form of the Master. With that contemplation we are able to withdraw our consciousness to the eye center and are able to hold it there. And when we are at the eye center, automatically we will be in touch with the Sound and Light within, which will pull us upwards. That is the purpose of contemplation or dhyan.

178. Q. Master, in contemplation we develop love and devotion for the Master; we try to keep the physical form of the Master in our mind. We’re attaching ourselves to something that is also perishable, aren’t we?

A. By attaching ourselves to the form of the Master, we’re attaching ourselves to the Power which is in the Master – that is the Shabd and Nam within. The danger of our physical attachment with anybody is that we are bound by that attachment, and we may have to come back to this creation due to that attachment. But since the Master does not have to come back to this creation, and his real form is Shabd and Nam, the Light and Sound, and he is to merge back into the Father, that attachment to him automatically takes our mind in that direction.

The purpose of the Master’s physical form is to create love and desire for the Father within us, to put us on the Path, and to create that longing to be one with the Shabd and Nam within. That is why Christ said in the Bible: it is expedient for you that I leave you now, because then you will give more attention to the Holy Ghost within.⁴ Now you are so much attached to my physical outside form that you’re always running after me and you’re not giving proper attention to the Spirit or Holy Ghost within. But when we can’t find the Master outside, and we know how to find him within, naturally we will try to find him within. We know the way, we know the Path, so automatically we will go within to the Holy Spirit, the real form of the Master.

179. Q. Maharaj Ji, should simran continue during dhyan?

A. Dhyan and simran should go on together, simultaneously. You must synchronize dhyan along with simran.

180. Q. The Great Master once wrote or said to sit in dhyan for a few minutes before beginning the simran. Can you explain something further on that?

A. Dhyan means thinking about the Master, visualizing his form before you, feeling that you are now in his presence. And the purpose of all this is to create that atmosphere of bliss and peace in which we have to attend to our meditation. Our mind is intensely pulled in all directions; therefore, when we sit for meditation, we need some time to compose it, to push it on the Path, so to say, before we can start. So it will just create that atmosphere, and then to attend to meditation, you do simran and dhyan.

181. Q. Maharaj Ji, when doing dhyan, is there effort involved in trying to visualize the Master, or is it something that if it comes naturally, then hold onto it? Or must one try? Is there a certain amount of trying to visualize?

A. We have to try. In order to visualize the form, in order to hold the attention there, we have to try. Trying is always there. The mind even revolts against doing simran, but we have to make an effort to do it again and again. Similarly, we have to make an effort to contemplate on the form of the Master, again and again. Try to visualize; otherwise, you should feel that you are doing simran in the presence of the Master.

182. Q. The mind has a tendency to go to all the worldly forms, like beauties of nature, and it does everything it can to keep the attention away from the Master, because that’s its duty. It doesn’t go quite so naturally to the Master’s form, even though the soul wants it to go to the Master’s form. So, we have something against us right from the start. It’s very easy to pick up forms of the world which you have no interest in or don’t even care about. They come so easily and completely, but not the Master’s physical form.

A. Well, no doubt it’s difficult. I don’t deny that. The form which you try to visualize generally never comes. The form which you try to eliminate is always there before you. But if you will gain a little concentration at the eye center, then it won’t be difficult to visualize the Master’s form. With concentration you are able to hold it. And for concentration, simran is the only method, the only way. Dhyan is not a “must,” but it is a help to keep the mind in concentration. Simran leads the mind to concentrate, and dhyan holds it there, at the eye center.

183. Q. Master, why is it very difficult to visualize the form of the Master? It is the most difficult part of meditation. You may think of any other person or figure, but the Master is the most difficult.

A. It depends upon our attachments and love. We always easily visualize the forms of the people we love. We don’t love the Master, so it becomes difficult to visualize him.

184. Q. Will that dhyan come as more and more we practice trying? Will that ability to visualize the Master come?

A. Yes, it comes with practice also, it comes with devotion also. Both are essential: devotion and practice.

185. Q. You have said that in doing simran, to visualize the form of the Master helps you to concentrate, but sometimes it seems to work just the reverse. The mind has two things to focus the attention on instead of one: one is the words, and one is the form of the Master, and this seems to divide the attention.

A. No, brother, actually they are not two things at all. It is in the nature of our mind that whenever we are thinking about anything, we are also consciously or unconsciously visualizing that thing. If you think about your friend, you will also think about the form of your friend. You can’t help it. That’s the nature of the mind. So, just to occupy these two faculties of the mind, it is advised that we repeat the five holy names and also try to visualize the form of the Master, just to hold the attention.

But if you personally feel distracted by dhyan, you can leave dhyan and keep on doing simran. But it is a little easier to hold the mind at the eye center with the help of dhyan. Otherwise, simran alone will help you to concentrate at the eye center.

It is difficult to hold the attention in a vacuum, unless you see some Light. When you start seeing the Light, then it is all right. Then you needn’t do any dhyan, because you are occupied in seeing the Light and doing simran. There is something to hold your attention there. But when we are in a vacuum and void, it is preferable to contemplate on the form of the Master, because it is a little difficult to be there in the void and in the darkness. But if dhyan distracts you, you can just continue with simran. It’s perfectly all right.

186. Q. It seems the attention jumps from simran to dhyan and from dhyan to simran, because to do it simultaneously is not so easy.

A. At the time of dhyan the distraction is in trying to associate the Master with outside activities. But if we just contemplate on the face of the Master, cutting down all outside associations, then it is not a distraction, it’s a help.

The object of simran is to withdraw the consciousness to the eye center. The object of dhyan is to hold the attention there, and love holds the attention there. When we love somebody, our attention is automatically held by that person. We don’t look anywhere else. We just still our mind, focus our mind on that particular face. We’re not conscious of anything around the person whatsoever. That is dhyan, and only love can create that. Then dhyan is no distraction.

But when you associate the Master with outside activities in the world, there’s a distraction in simran and dhyan because it is not the Master you are contemplating. Then you are also concerned with associations which distract your attention, and that dhyan is not a complete dhyan.

187. Q. Maharaj Ji, I’m still confused. During meditation if it isn’t possible to have dhyan, if the form of the Master isn’t coming to us mentally, should we try to force the attention to focus on something of the Master or should we just continue looking in the darkness?

A. If you can visualize the form of the Master, it is a very happy state. Otherwise, just keep your attention in the darkness and go on doing simran. Automatically the form will appear. If you struggle too much to bring the form, your mind will run out. As I have told you this dhyan is actually the outcome of love, the effect of love. With worldly people, you can just close your eyes and at once start visualizing them, because you’re so much attached to them.

• Q. So in simran you only repeat the simran without trying to see the image of the Master?

A. No, no, you try to visualize the face of the Master but don’t fight to locate him somewhere. To project his form takes constant effort. Otherwise, if you can’t visualize the form, just feel that your Master is before you and you are sitting in the presence of the Master and doing simran.

188. Q. I’ve heard it said that when we do dhyan, we should try to contemplate on the face of the Master as it is in satsang. I was just wondering, when we try to contemplate on the form of the Master, should we just try to sit there and think that we are sitting in front of the Master and then let the form come before us, or should we actually try to visualize the Master in a certain situation?

A. You should try to visualize the face of the Master and you should not be concerned with his surroundings. If you can’t visualize the face, then think that the Master is sitting before you as he sits in the satsang, that you’re sitting in his presence, and go on doing your simran in his presence.

• Q. So we visualize the form of the Master while he’s smiling or what?

A. No, don’t try to do that. Just as you see his face in the satsang – try to visualize that face and go on doing simran. Otherwise you will connect the Master with outside activities and your mind will run out.

189. Q. Maharaj Ji, in dhyan, should we struggle to bring the image of the Master into our mind, or can we picture ourselves in the situation where we receive darshan?

A. It’s always better to contemplate on the face of the Master rather than to try to have some association of the Master with those surroundings or events. Your mind is likely to run to those events and associations and to forget the Master. At the most, you can visualize him sitting in satsang. And if you are not successful in contemplating on the form, the best way is to feel that you are in the presence of the Master and doing your simran, that your Master is before you and you are sitting before the Master and doing simran in his presence.

190. Q. Master, sometimes when we close our eyes, we can visualize with our mind’s eye the image of the person that we love. Then if we haven’t seen that person for a long time, after a while the image starts to fade and blur and we just can’t get a clear image of that person’s features. When we close our eyes after we’ve been away from your physical presence for a long time, will the same thing happen?

A. The image of that person starts fading when love starts fading from your heart. If you think that by going away from the Dera your love will start fading, then of course you won’t get the image. If you think the image will still be fresh and that the love will grow, then of course, it will always be there. It depends upon you.

191. Q. If your memory grows weak, can you refresh the Master’s face from a photo to do dhyan?

A. How can we achieve contemplation? How can we achieve real dhyan of the Master? Without love you cannot contemplate on the form of the Master. The form of whomsoever you love automatically appears before you. You love your friend, you love your wife, you love your child. Whenever you think about the wife and child, at once their forms appear before you. But for that love, they won’t come before you.

That is why they say, attend to your meditation with love and devotion. When you love the Master, his form automatically appears before you, and keeping that form there, you have to do simran. Minus that, you should try to think about the Master and do simran, which will automatically create love and dhyan in you. Memory means love. If love is there, the form is there. Otherwise, we can create love by meditation, and then the form will be there.

• Q. So as long as you have love, the form will never go away from your memory?

A. It won’t. It can’t. You won’t be able to get rid of it. You are obsessed by the love. When you love anyone in this world, you are obsessed by that love. You can’t get rid of that idea, or stop thinking about that person. You’re always thinking and talking about that person. The same applies with the Sant Mat teachings.

192. Q. Master, in this connection, I often feel that it is regrettable that because of modern conditions of life and perhaps because of the expansion of Sant Mat, it is so difficult to have any personal, lasting relation with the Master. The Master is a symbol who is so far away from us that we can only try to kindle that love in our hearts for him, but we cannot sit at his feet as the disciples of Christ used to sit at their Master’s feet.

A. I understand. That is right. That is why we are advised to keep the attention in the darkness and do simran. That will automatically create that type of love. With the help of simran, that love will automatically be generated in you.

In the past, there were only a few people following the Saints. They had personal contact with the Saints, and the Saints gave their writings mostly from that point of view. That is why the Saints have given so much emphasis to love and devotion, which can be created through that atmosphere. But we can create the same love and devotion from within by attending to meditation.

193. Q. Maharaj Ji, I think I’ve heard you say before that a satsangi who has been initiated by a past Master cannot do dhyan of the present Master. Is it true?

A. A disciple must visualize only the form of that particular Master who initiated him, even if that Master leaves the body.

• Q. There are so many who have been initiated by Great Master –

A. They must do dhyan of the Great Master. It is a “must.” They can’t shift to another Master. For them, he is their Master. Anybody else may appear within; anybody else may come along with their Master within, but a disciple has to look only to his own Master.

194. Q. Then on the same subject, there are those who have been initiated by the Great Master, who see the Great Master’s face in the present Master, and therefore they feel that they can engage with that special dhyan.

A. Ultimately it will come to the same thing. Christ said: I have not only to look to my own sheep, but I have also to look to some other sheep,⁵ which means the initiates of my own Master. I have also to look after them, those initiated by my predecessor. He is responsible to look after those sheep also.

• Q. In what way, Sir?

A. In every way. But ultimately, he says, there will be one shepherd and one fold, because all Masters are one.

• Q. Then in a very subtle way, they can look upon the present Master for getting that devotion and getting that urge for meditation.

A. Actually, even if disciples keep the company of their Master’s successor and they love him, automatically that love will generate love in them for their own Master. Automatically the successor will generate love in them for their own Master.

195. Q. Master, you said the other night that once we are initiated and if we come back, we have got to be initiated again. At that time if we reach the Radiant Form, do we see two Masters there?

A. Sister, no. You probably have not followed my point. The Master is only one – Shabd – and whosoever initiates you will project himself from that Shabd, because the source is one. All Masters are one, which means the Shabd is the Master. That Word, that Spirit, that Holy Ghost is our actual Master, and whosoever initiates, projects himself before us from that Shabd. So the source of all Masters is the same.

You won’t even know who your past Master was until after a very high stage is reached. But sometimes the past associations with the Path and with the Master are so strong that along with your own Master, that previous Master also appears within. Then you will know that you had an association with that past Master, who ultimately merges into your own Master, the present Master, because they’re all one.

196. Q. Why does the Radiant form have to be projected out of the Shabd?

A. Otherwise we won’t recognize whom we are in touch with.

• Q. And this is done consciously by the Master?

A. Yes, that’s right, so that the disciple knows where he is and with whom he is dealing. But ultimately the Radiant Form becomes the Shabd and you become pure soul, without form and shape, and the soul just merges into the Shabd.

197. Q. Master, when we’re doing dhyan and we get to a point when we do see Light within, Great Master says that we should concentrate on the Light, and the Light, that faculty of seeing, will lead the soul forward.

A. That is right. When you see the Light, then you have something to hold your attention there. Both faculties have to be occupied: thinking and seeing. Now, when you are seeing the Light and the Light is becoming brighter and brighter, your faculty of seeing is being occupied. You may not try to contemplate on the form of the Master then, but automatically you will feel his presence throughout. You will feel the form of the Master in that Light, whether you think about him or not.

198. Q. Maharaj Ji, in meditation, where does dhyan end and nirat begin?

A. With dhyan we try to contemplate on the face of the Master while we do simran. We begin with dhyan, and then nirat means when the third eye opens and we start seeing the Light. Nirat begins when we start seeing the Light. Then it is better to concentrate on the Light, because there is something substantial to catch your attention. The purpose of dhyan is only to hold your attention at the eye center so that the attention may not drop down. But if you are seeing the Light, if you are enjoying the Light, you can look into the light and do simran, and that will absorb your attention. That is nirat.

199. Q. Master, if during meditation we put a little bit of pressure on the eyes with our hands, not heavy pressure but light pressure, will that cause light to –

A. This is a physical light. You should not put any pressure on the eyes at all.

• Q. Shouldn’t you touch the eyes?

A. No. When you are sitting in simran, you don’t have to put your hands to your face. Even when you are hearing the Sound, you should not touch the eyes at all. Otherwise, just by pressing the eyes, you see some light. This is all physical, of these eyes, but that is not spiritual Light.

One should neither keep the hands on the eyes, nor on the nose, because if you keep the hands on the nose, there’s difficulty in breathing. If you keep them on the eyes, you will strain your eyes. And neither should you block your face just in front of your mouth, or you may feel some discomfort in breathing. Your hands must be positioned in such a way that fresh air goes to your eyes and nose, and you breathe freely. Then there’ll be no difficulty with your physical breathing.

200. Q. Where does the Light come from?

A. The Light is already inside. It doesn’t come from anywhere. Christ said: if thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be filled with Light.⁶

• Q. So do we see Light within ourselves or do we see Light outside?

A. We see the Light within ourselves. When we open the third eye, when we become single-eyed, then we see that Light. Now our attention is downward and we don’t see the Light. When the attention is downward, the Light is still there. The Light doesn’t go anywhere, it is always there; but the mind has to see the Light, and it cannot do so when its tendency is downward towards the senses. When we withdraw all our attention to the eye center, then we see the Light, because it is there.

201. Q. Probably that is the “fire” that Moses saw when he fainted, Sir?

A. I was reading in the Bible – in Matthew – that the disciples of Christ fell flat when they heard the thundering of the clouds and saw the dazzling light.⁷ All the disciples fell flat. Actually, this is an inner experience, it’s not the outside light. And because they were not prepared, they fainted.

Moses also saw the same thing when that mountain was burning and there was the sound of trumpets and thundering of clouds.⁸ Actually, that was all inside. Light was not on the mountain – Light was within him. He saw that reddish Light within himself, which must have been the Light of the second stage, and he heard that Sound which resembled the thundering of clouds. Then he became unconscious. From the worldly point of view, the man had fainted, but he may have been in a trance, in a state of bliss there.

202. Q. Maharaj Ji, is this Light always a white light, or is it sometimes a blue light?

A. Now this depends upon what stage our consciousness is at. Light is always the same, but when you see the Light from a distance, it will appear one way to you. When you go nearer, it will become different to you. When you are in the Light, it will become still different to you. The sun always has the same light, but from different angles and at different distances, it looks different to us. The light of the sun is sometimes reddish and golden, and so many other colors come, but actually the light of the sun is the same always. It never differs.

When we see the inner Light in the beginning, we just see flashes. It comes and goes; but actually the Light doesn’t come and go. It is the attention which falls down and the attention which comes back. When the attention is there, it sees the Light, and when it drops down, it sees the darkness, so we think flashes of light are coming. Actually the attention is coming and going. And then we see shimmering types of light. It is the mind that is not steady, but we think the Light is not steady, that the Light is shaking. It is the mind which is shaky, so we get a shimmering effect of that Light. Therefore, what we see all depends on the stage of concentration of the mind.

203. Q. When the consciousness is withdrawn from the body and the disciple is perhaps seeing things like the starry skies inside, when does the disciple stop doing simran and dhyan and start attending to those things?

A. You should continue doing simran until you reach the second stage.

• Q. And dhyan ?

A. Dhyan automatically will be there when you will see the Radiant Form of the Master within. You can’t get rid of that. When you reach to that level of consciousness, dhyan is bound to be there because you see the Radiant Form of the Master.

• Q. So then you should never really attend to those inner experiences? You should always keep your attention in simran and dhyan?

A. What do you mean by attending to the experiences? They will be there. You will go on looking at them, but you will keep your mind in simran.

• Q. And dhyan?

A. Of course, automatically it has to be there. Dhyan means you are seeing those objects, you are seeing those things. That is dhyan.

• Q. Dhyan of the Master?

A. Certainly. When you see the Radiant Form of the Master, it will definitely catch your attention. The purpose of seeing the Radiant Form or the purpose of the appearance of the Radiant Form is only this: that we concentrate, that the Radiant Form catches our attention and doesn’t let it go to the right or left, because if with our mind we go to the right and left, we can go astray. The Radiant Form catches our attention so much that we are not allowed to go astray. Otherwise you will be lost in those mansions – there are so many attractions, so many attractions.

204. Q. But is there a stage inside where you do not have any experiences of the Radiant Form and you’re having other experiences?

A. That you will also have along with the Radiant Form. Before that you will have visions here and there.

You should look at them disinterestedly and keep your mind in simran. For example, you see light or color or other things, views or scenery. Look at them but keep your mind in simran.

205. Q. Is it correct to see colors, very nice colors, while we are meditating, or should we stop seeing colors? I have been told we have to stop seeing the colors.

A. You will see many types of colors inside. You just look at them, but keep your mind in simran. They will come and fade out. They will automatically be left behind. You can’t close your eyes to them because they are there. You can look at them, you can see them, but keep your mind in simran, and you will gradually pass them by.

206. Q. Maharaj Ji, in Divine Light you have written that we should not pay too much attention to the Light that we see, but we should keep the attention at the eye center. And at other places you have written that we should put all the attention into the Light and pierce that Light.

A. My letters are always with reference to the particular person who’s writing me. There must be some particular problem which I’m answering. The writer may be confused with the Light, or there may be flashes of Light, or some Light may be disturbing him too much in the eyes. I don’t know what his problem is unless his letter is before me. You can’t always generalize my answers, but there’s no contradiction, because everybody has an individual problem in meditation.

• Q. My question is, when does a person know when to concentrate on that Light, or not?

A. The Light will automatically catch your attention. When you see the Light, it will catch your attention and it won’t let your attention go out. It’s so blissful and peaceful and enchanting and pulling that it will automatically hold your attention. You can’t help looking at that Light and eventually penetrating it.

207. Q. Maharaj Ji, in the inner regions, is the Radiant Form of the Satguru always visible to the disciple, or are there times when he just does not see his Satguru before him?

A. Generally it is, but sometimes it’s not. After the second stage it is always visible but till the second stage, sometimes it is and sometimes it may not be visible to you.

208. Q. Maharaj Ji. when we reach the Master inside, are there big groups of souls with the Master?

A. Do you want to be with people there? If your way of thinking is in that state, you will never see the Radiant Form of the Master. You will see the Radiant Form of the Master when you are concerned only with yourself and with the Master, and with nobody else in the world.

When you see the Master within, the whole creation ceases to exist for you. You exist and the Master exists. You’re not aware of anyone else. You’re so much in love that you’re not aware of anyone else around you. You have seen moths. The moth is in love with the light, and there are a thousand moths on that light. Ask that moth if he knows any other moth there. He knows only one thing: the light he’s in love with. He’s not conscious of any other moth – and if he’s conscious of the other moths, he is not a moth at all.

BHAJAN–LISTENING TO THE DIVINE SOUND

209. Q. Before you come to the eye center, you haven’t heard the Shabd. You’ve just heard the local sound or something, and –

A. You hear the Shabd, but it will not pull you upward. You enjoy it, you hear it, you feel its bliss and peace, but it will not pull your consciousness upward unless you’re able to concentrate here at the eye center.

• Q. Then it’s the simran that will make you go up there.

A. That’s right.

• Q. Well then, isn’t it a waste of time listening to that Sound?

A. It’s not a waste of time because we also have to inculcate the habit of listening to the Sound. Even if we don’t hear anything, we must devote time to listening for the Sound, to create a habit in us to be attentive to that Sound which is within every one of us. Both simran and bhajan are essential. You can’t do one at the cost of the other.

210. Q. In the beginning when you’re devoting most of your time to simran, is it necessary in every sitting to devote at least some time to bhajan no matter what may be heard or not heard?

A. When you give the proper time for sitting, then it is always better to start with simran and to end with bhajan. You may give more time to simran and less time to hearing of the Sound, but it’s always better to attend to both of them in the same sitting. But sometimes if you can’t do both and you just want to do simran, it is all right. There is nothing wrong with this. Sometimes if you feel like just attending to the Sound, just attend to the Sound.

211. Q. Master, if when you switch from simran to bhajan you should not catch hold of the Sound, your attention will come out of the eye center very fast. You advise in initiation that we spend approximately three-quarters of the time in simran and one-quarter in bhajan, but that must be about an hour of bhajan. If the disciple finds that his consciousness goes out very fast, would it be more advisable to spend ninety, ninety-five per cent of the time in simran?

A. Even a hundred per cent I don’t mind. Sometimes when you are not very attentive to the Sound and your mind is running out, you can switch onto the simran again. There is no hard and fast rule, that this much time must be given to simran or this much time to Sound. It is a general division so that we get into the habit of listening for the Sound and not only attending to simran. It’s always better to attend to both, a little to the Sound and more to simran to begin with, but if sometimes the mind is very rebellious, you can give more time to simran. You can give even one hundred per cent of the time to simran. We are not very rigid about these things.

At times the Sound is really pulling you and you are being attracted towards the Sound, then you can get out of simran and attend to the Sound. It’s all right. There’s no hard and fast rule, but generally we should attend to both.

212. Q. After we change positions and start listening to the Sound, for the first few minutes of bhajan should we continue doing simran to make the changeover gradual?

A. No. First you should attend to simran; then you should switch on to the sound.

213. Q. When a person is doing simran during the time of meditation, what happens if the soul has gone up but still not to the eye center? Is it possible to hear the Sound before the soul has been withdrawn to the eye center?

A. Yes, without proper concentration, proper withdrawal, you do hear the Sound, but that Sound won’t pull you much. You will enjoy the Sound, you will hear the Sound, you will relish it, and your mind will be absorbed in it. You will be very happy and feel quite peaceful and blissful, but it won’t pull you much without proper concentration.

214. Q. It is said that the Sound that one is supposed to hear in the beginning stages does not have much of a withdrawal effect. But does it have a purifying effect?

A. Yes, any Sound that you hear in the beginning always has a purifying effect on the soul. Even the echo of the Sound has a purifying effect on the soul. Every internal Sound of any stage has a purifying effect on the soul.

215. Q. Is there any Sound that we might hear before reaching the Radiant Form? I understood these would not have any real pulling power.

A. No, any Sound which you hear within yourself has some pulling power, but its pulling power increases with the help of concentration. The pulling power is always there because the Sound holds our attention, it catches our attention, whatever Sound we may hear. But when the Sound becomes very distinct and clear, then it pulls us more and more, and we are able to attach ourselves to it more and more.

216. Q. Does listening to the Sound help the concentration, though, before the attention has gone up?

A. You mean when we hear the Sound, will it help concentration? That’s also right, because when you are fully concentrated, when you have fully attached yourself to the Sound and you’ve eliminated all other thoughts from your mind, that helps concentration also. But simran helps concentration more. With the help of simran, other sounds fade out; only the real Sound stays. Your mind is taken out from the other sounds which are distracting you, they fade away, and the real Sound becomes distinct and clear.

217. Q. I think it is said that there are ten sounds at the third eye, and we’re told to listen to either of three, and –

A. No, I’ve never confused anybody by saying that there are ten sounds and you have to listen to only three. Whatever sound you hear can be compared to about ten examples of sounds, not that there are exactly ten sounds. So, listen to whatever sound you hear. With the help of simran and concentration, other sounds will fade out, and the real Sound will become distinct and clear, and will start pulling you and catching your attention.

Don’t try to differentiate one sound from another. Then you will be lost in deciding which sound you should hear and which you should not hear, and your mind will run away because it becomes difficult for you to discriminate one sound from another. It is always better and more practical just to give your attention to the sound, whatever sound you are hearing. With the help of simran, the real Sound will become more distinct and clear, and other sounds will fade out. Automatically you will be in touch with that real Sound.

218. Q. Very much importance is put upon stilling the body for meditation to begin with.

A. Stilling the mind. The body automatically becomes still. The effect of meditation will be that the body becomes numb to some extent, but the purpose is to still the mind, not the body.

• Q. My question is, why do you reactivate the body for bhajan? Why is the body moved, restimulated, for bhajan from simran?

A. By changing the position, you don’t lose anything. We change the position because it would be difficult to stay in the bhajan posture for the entire sitting; it wouldn’t be practical, and in order to hear the Sound we want the bhajan posture. But even if you’re not in the bhajan posture and you’re hearing the Sound, you can continue in the same posture. It’s not essential to change to the bhajan posture.

If by doing simran your concentration is fair and your mind is still and you are in touch with the Sound, then you can listen to the Sound right in the same posture for simran; you can be one with the Sound. People do that. But even if you change the posture, your concentration is not scattered. Concentration is of the mind, not of the body.

219. Q. Is it necessary, Maharaj Ji, to do bhajan with your hands up to your ears? What if you just can’t quite get to it?

A. I think that to begin with, it is very essential. It is always better to use the hands, but when the Sound is very audible, distinct and clear, and it is pulling you upwards the moment you are able to concentrate here at the eye center, then you don’t have to use your hands.

• Q. In the plugging of the ears, must this be done manually or can ear plugs be used?

A. I think we should try to avoid ear plugs, artificial things. The Lord has given us beautiful hands, and let us make use of them.

220. Q. Maharaj Ji, is the purpose of putting the thumbs in the ears to exclude the noise of any other person?

A. Well, brother, there are two reasons: one is to exclude the outside noise, and another is, we have to become conscious of hearing the Sound from the right side. That is why it’s always the right side that’s closed, because we are to become conscious of the right side, of the Sound coming from the right side.

221. Q. Master, if you’re living in a very quiet place where nothing will disturb you, is it still then necessary to put your thumbs in the ears? Even if there is no sound outside?

A. Yes, even if there is no sound outside, you should sit in the posture.

222. Q. Master, should both the ears be closed when you’re listening to the Sound? I saw in one of your letters that you advised someone to take the thumb out of the left ear.

A. Actually, the Sound that we hear has nothing to do with the ears at all. These ears don’t hear that Sound – our consciousness must be at that particular spot (the eye center) to hear the Sound. Whether we have ears or not is immaterial in hearing the inner Sound, but we are so used to hearing sounds through the ears that in the early stages we try to hear the inner Sound also with the help of the ears.

And why do we close the right side and not the left side? It’s just to get into the habit of giving a little attention to the right side, because ultimately we have to catch the Sound coming from the right side and not the left. Eventually, when the Sound becomes distinct and clear with the help of simran, you will know whether the Sound is coming from the right or the left, and then, since you’ll be conscious of the Sound from the right side, you’ll be attached to the Sound at once. But before you are sure whether the Sound is coming from the right or from the left, you can listen to whatever Sound is coming from within.

When the Sound becomes distinct and clear, you don’t need the hand or ears at all. Then the moment you close your eyes and you draw your attention up to the eye center, automatically you will be in touch with the Sound.

223. Q. So that’s why you hear it sometimes when you’re just concentrated or quiet?

A. That’s right. Sometimes you’re studying or you’re thinking deeply about some problem and you start hearing the Sound, because concentration comes with deep thinking.

224. Q. I’ve heard that people, non-satsangi people, have mentioned at the time of their death, perhaps in the semi-conscious state, that they can hear music. Could this be the Sound?

A. Not only at the time of death, but even while living they may hear the Music. The moment they concentrate at the eye center, to whatever little extent it may be, they at once hear the Sound. Sometimes if someone is reading a book in a quiet place and he is absolutely concentrated in reading, he may start hearing all these Sounds. He probably thinks some music is going on in the room and he doesn’t know what it is. It happens with people – even non-satsangis. But they’re not conscious of that Music, so they don’t pay much attention to it. Some even run to the doctors, thinking that there is something wrong with their ears.

With a little attention at the eye center, you hear that Music, so naturally when the soul withdraws at the time of death, concentration is there, and some people definitely hear it. It’s of no use to them, however; that Sound won’t pull them upwards. The Sound is always at the eye center, but since they are not connected with it, they are not initiated, the Sound won’t pull them up.

225. Q. Let us say a person is moving about in a crowd or you are at odd places where you haven’t the least idea of the Sound and you’re not doing simran and you’re not doing bhajan and you’re not at all thinking of hearing the Sound. Is it possible to hear the Sound on such occasions, or is it just during meditation?

A. It’s certainly possible, and rather sometimes at very odd places you hear it quite plainly. That Sound is sometimes a warning to you also, and also the Lord’s grace to keep you away from something negative so that you may attend to the Sound and can escape from that negative atmosphere.

226. Q. Maharaj Ji, in Divine Light there was a letter from you to a lady, and she heard the bell Sound and thought that was encouragement to go along with a certain action, and in your reply you said that wasn’t encouragement, it was a warning not to do that action,⁹ and I was wondering –

A. Sister, it may be in reference to her letter. You don’t know what else she has written. These letters are always in reference to their questions, their problems, so you can’t generalize them.

• Q. But would it be possible for you to talk about what happens if a disciple hears the preparatory sounds before the bell Sound in some situation or talking to certain people? Is it possible to use that as a way of discriminating between a good action or a bad action?

A. You can’t analyze these things. Even if you hear a Sound, you can’t confirm your action, neither can you disapprove your action. You can’t analyze or judge that since you are hearing the Sound, so whatever you are going to do is perfectly all right. You shouldn’t think like that. Just use your own conscience, which always becomes better and better, finer and finer, with the help of meditation. You get right answers from your own conscience if you continue meditation and attend to the Sound. The Sound is meant to be heard. But if we try to analyze the meaning of the Sound at a particular time, we can be misled, we can be wrong. Then we start justifying actions which may not be right.

227. Q. Christ has said that the wind bloweth, but you cannot tell where the Sound comes from.¹⁰ Could you discuss that, please?

A. Christ meant that the Sound can be compared to the noise of the wind. If you are inside a room and you are hearing the sound of the wind blowing outside, you don’t know from which direction it is coming, nor where it is going. Similarly, when you go within you hear that Sound, but you don’t know its source, from where it is coming. You have never been to its source. Christ says that you will hear the Sound without knowing its source, without knowing whether it is coming from below or above or the right or the left. You will just be hearing the Sound.

Christ compared the inner Sound only to the rushing of the wind, but we compare it with so many other sounds also, like the humming noise in a telephone post, the sound of a train passing over a bridge, or dry leaves rustling in the autumn season. Christ was just giving an example to explain about that Sound.

228. Q. What should one do to prevent the sound coming from the left ear?

A. You can’t do anything at all. We are unnecessarily confused with the sound of the left. Normally, we are not allowed to go to the left. The left sound is explained only so that we know that there is also a deceptive sound which can mislead us, but Master generally does not allow you to go to the left side at all.

In the beginning we can never be sure whether the sound is coming from the right or the left. Sometimes we feel that it is coming from the left, sometimes we feel that it is coming from the right, and sometimes we feel that perhaps it is in the center. It is always best to keep our attention in the center and to hear that Sound from whichever direction it may be coming. With the help of concentration it will become distinct and clear, and then you will know whether it is coming from the right or the left – not before that. And then if at all it comes from the left, you can ignore it; you can attend to simran.

229. Q. When the Sound is very fickle or it’s not very well marked, then along with listening to the Sound, should one also try to inwardly pray to the Master?

A. No thoughts should come when you’re trying to hear the Sound. Your whole attention should be in the Sound. It should not be that you’re talking to your mind, for then the mind will start thinking of a hundred and one things. You have to still your mind and try to be attentive to the Sound.

Whatever time you’re devoting to meditation is in itself a prayer. Rather than shouting, whatever knocks you are giving on the door are a sufficient invitation for the person within to open the door. Whatever time we’re devoting to simran and to hearing of the Sound itself is a prayer; we are knocking on that door. So we shouldn’t try to pray along with hearing the Sound.

230. Q. Should we do dhyan also while listening to the Sound?

A. To begin with you shouldn’t, but when you see the Light or the Radiant Form of the Master, then you will see that while also hearing the Sound. But to begin with, dhyan should be done only when you are doing simran.

Simran takes us up only to some extent. Ultimately you have to leave the simran. When you see the Radiant Form of the Master, you start merging into the Master and you lose the simran. Then you don’t do simran because you’re not conscious of anything except the Master, who is all Sound and Light. You forget simran, you are not bothered with it, and there is no need for it. But to begin with, to reach to that stage, we have to do simran along with dhyan.

At the time of hearing the Sound we shouldn’t worry about simran and dhyan, because if we try to think about the Master, then we are not concentrated enough to be one with the Sound. When we try to contemplate on the form of the Master, the tendency of the mind is to run out, sometimes thinking of him sitting in satsang, sitting in seva, walking, talking, meeting, and then you become unconcerned with the Sound. Just be here, at the eye center, and try to hear whatever Sound you are able to hear.

231. Q. Master, the Great Master in Spiritual Gems says that we can go on hearing the Sound all our lives, but this won’t help unless we develop the nirat.¹¹

A. Our soul has two faculties: the faculty to hear and the faculty to see – the power to hear and the power to see. The power to see is nirat; the power to hear is surat. Surat will hear the Sound and nirat will see the Light, but both come from the same Source. The Light comes from the Sound, and the Sound comes from the Light. Ultimately they become one. We know the direction of our home with the help of that Sound and we follow the spiritual Path within through the help of that Light. Both have to go side by side.

• Q. What does he mean by saying to develop the nirat?

A. To develop the nirat means to give more time to concentration, more time to simran. Generally, we give more attention to the Sound, to hearing the Shabd, because we enjoy the Sound. But when we ignore the simran side, nirat is not awakened and concentration is not complete.

The moment concentration is complete, the Light is there, nirat is there, and the Sound is very pulling. If you don’t try to awaken nirat, which means that you don’t try to concentrate with the help of simran, then you will hear the Sound, but it will not pull you. The Sound will pull you only when the concentration is complete, and the moment concentration is complete, you will also see the Light.

232. Q. Maharaj Ji, in Spiritual Letters I read that Baba Ji said that when listening to the Sound, the nirat should be concentrated upwards.¹² What does this mean?

A. The faculty to hear is to catch the Sound; the faculty to see is to be one with the Light. When you are seeing the Light and also hearing the Sound, then you should try to keep your nirat upwards along with that Sound. Don’t hold your attention in that Light without trying to go along with the Sound, upwards. You should keep your nirat upwards, which means to go along with the Light and also hear the Sound. Sometimes one is absorbed too much in the Light and doesn’t want to follow the Sound, but we have to follow both the Sound and the Light.

233. Q. Some yogis who do yoga exercises make all the chakras work, and they know about Nam, but they can’t get there.

A. As you have read in the life history of many yogis, they see the Light, they believe in the Light, they try to travel by the Light, but they think that the Sound is disturbing them. They don’t understand the Sound and they think that the Sound is taking them astray from the Light. Actually, they have to go up by the Sound. The Light is coming from the Sound and from nowhere else, but they know only about the Light and not about the Sound. So they try to withhold themselves from the Sound, they don’t try to become receptive to it, because they think the Sound will not let them make progress.

INNER GUIDANCE

234. Q. Master, I have a question about inner guidance, Master’s guidance. When we’re trying to make a decision or arrive at a decision, we try to listen inside for Master’s voice, but sometimes it seems to be very faint. Should we try to do our best to listen to the Master’s voice inside of us in making a decision, or should we just try to use our reason and intellect to the best of our ability?

A. Whenever we make a decision, we should keep the teachings in view and our Master in view, and by meditation our level of consciousness is also developed to the extent that we make the decision. Still it can happen otherwise, but then we have to go through our fate karma too. So we should try to do our best.

235. Q. Should we consciously seek Master’s guidance in making our decisions or just do our best?

A. Do your best. How can you seek Master’s guidance? Un- less you come face to face and talk to him and tell him the problem within, how would you get the right guidance? You have to do your best, until you reach to that level of consciousness where you can put your problem to the Master and get the solution. But merely hearing certain voices can be deceptive also.

236. Q. Master, is it true that the Master will never give advice through only a voice, that he will come before the disciple inside?

A. I say that by meditation your consciousness is developed to the extent that you can make your own decision rightly. Whether you hear a voice or not is immaterial. A voice can even be deceptive. You can hear the voice without seeing the Master, but then how can you be sure that it is the Master’s voice?

You may get the right solution in the beginning. Your mind may win your confidence in this way, and then it may deceive you later on. One or two problems it will rightly analyze and give you the right advice. After having won your confidence, the mind can misguide you.

So we shouldn’t give any thought to the voices within at all unless the Radiant Form of the Master is before us and we know it is the Radiant Form and we can have communication with the Master. Then only can we depend on that voice. Otherwise, we can’t depend upon these voices, glimpses or visions. We can’t make an analysis of all these things – “This could mean this, this could mean that.” You can only do your best to make your own decisions.

237. Q. Isn’t that what simran is for, to help us decide whether the voices are true or the vision is true?

A. Well, a vision still can stay for some time even in spite of your simran because your simran may not be concentrated much. Concentration may not be there, simran may be mechanical. You shouldn’t rely on those visions unless you see the Radiant Form of the Master and you are sure that it is the Radiant Form of the Master. Then you can put your problem to him and get the decision. That will be foolproof. Otherwise, there can be a mistake.

• Q. I always thought that the simran we have to repeat was more or less our guarantee.

A. Yes, simran is the guarantee to know whether what we see is the Radiant Form of the Master or not. That is the guarantee.

• Q. So it doesn’t apply to voices?

A. Unless someone is before you, you should not give any attention to voices at all. You are never instructed at the time of initiation that you have to check the voices by simran. You should only test the form of the Master by simran, but not the voices.

Master never hides his face and talks to you. Whenever he wants to say anything, he comes face to face. He must come face to face, for only then will you be sure that he is the Master. Voices can be deceptive. Sometimes our own mind starts speaking to us, and a lot of other things also come from our own mind. We see our own face within ourselves and we start thinking, “I am God. I am seeing my own self. There is nobody else in the world besides me.” These are all deceptions of the mind.

And then we always try to interpret these visions and voices according to our own way of thinking. We interpret these things according to what we want, because our mind is already conditioned by what we want. It’s always better not to give much attention to these things and not to ana-lyze these visions or these voices. Instead, reach the Radiant Form of the Master and be sure that it is the Radiant Form of the Master. Then you can put your problem to him and you can have direct communication, and there’s no deception in that.

238. Q. Master, can fear hinder one’s progress in medi- tation?

A. Fear of what?

• Q. Fear of possibly being led astray before we meet the Radiant Form.

A. In our subconscious, we have so many hidden fears. They are all our past associations, our past attachments, our past suppressions, not only of this birth but even of previous births. Those fears are suppressed within us, and they appear before us at the time of meditation. We shouldn’t try to analyze them or give much importance to these things. With the help of meditation you are able to rise above these fears and you are able to shed them all. Otherwise, in one way or another you are always frightened of something or other.

We must attend to our meditation, and slowly and slowly we are able to shed all those fears, and we become fearless. Then we’re not frightened of anything, whatever may happen in this creation. Meditation makes us fearless, and it is the only remedy for fear.

Christ has said in the Bible: at the most they can kill your body, but they cannot kill your soul.¹³ The worst fear is that you will be deprived of this body. He says, so what? They can’t kill your soul. You are concerned with your soul, more than with your body, and we should feel more concerned with the development of the soul rather than with fears.

239. Q. If you experience any form, whether the Master’s or the Negative Power’s, and you feel fear and not love, what does this mean?

A. You mean when you see some form of the Master, you feel frightened? Frightened of what? Do you feel frightened when you look at the face of a person with whom you are in love? You are not in love if you are always frightened to look at him. When love is there, the question of being frightened doesn’t arise. You’re happy.

One should never feel frightened. There is nothing to fear, nothing to lose. It’s only the mind that creates such feelings in us. It tries to deceive us by such concepts. There’s nothing to feel frightened of at all.

Sometimes people get frightened when they see the Light. They see flashes of Light and they get frightened, and they don’t sit in meditation. For what are they giving their time? If they don’t want to see that Light, why do they sit in meditation? This is a weakness of the mind. There’s nothing wrong with it. You’ll be able to overcome it.

Some people do feel fear. They are a little scared because their background is such that there is something in their subconscious which comes to the surface sometimes, and they start feeling frightened of these things. They have some sort of guilty conscience or something weighing on their heart. They feel frightened even to face the Master outside, and then the same feeling they carry within. We should not feel frightened even outside, despite all the guilt in our mind. Then that feeling of fear will not come inside either.

240. Q. Can’t someone be frightened to venture into some unknown place, because I’ve heard that before we come to the Radiant Form of the Master, we have to cross the stars and moon.

A. That’s right.

• Q. I mean, there we have nobody with us until we reach the Radiant Form of the Master. Can that sort of hold a person from being pulled by the Sound, when a person’s frightened to allow his –

A. Whenever a disciple sits in meditation, he’s never alone. He’s never alone, and he’s never allowed to go astray within. There is always a guiding hand, a guiding force, to lead the disciple within. There is no danger of the disciple going astray, so one should have absolutely no fear. The one for whom we are meditating is always there with us to guide us, and we shouldn’t ever worry or feel fear at all.

241. Q. Does the Master protect the disciple from falling for temptations inside?

A. The greatest protection the Master has given us to save ourselves from these temptations is meditation, and we should try to make use of it. If you have to fight an enemy, and you have been given a sword or pistol but you don’t use it, then it is your fault. The Master has armed you with a “sword” and a “pistol” (meditation) to face the enemy, and now you should be prepared to face the enemy with these weapons. Attend to your meditation and you will be able to face these enemies.

242. Q. I was once told by someone that there are times when an evil form appearing inside will not leave when the five names are said. Are there exceptions to the five names making anything negative run away?

A. No evil entity can come near the disciple. Christ said: when I whistle, my sheep recognize my voice, because they know me and I know them, and robbers and thieves will run away. Robbers and thieves cannot deceive the disciple.¹⁴ If anybody appears to you inside except your Master, it is nothing but a robber and a thief, which means that his purpose is to destroy you or to lead you astray. If you are doing simran and you are in touch with the Sound, no robber or thief will come near you. You’re always protected, and Master is always there. Whether you’re conscious inside and you see him or not, he’s always there. He’s always there to protect you, and nobody can harm or misguide you.

243. Q. Master, why are some people troubled by spirits? Can’t anything be done about it?

A. Sister, it is their association with those spirits in past lives. Their unconscious attachments still exist with those particular spirits, and sometimes people are troubled, definitely. Continue to meditate; they won’t bother you then. No spirit comes near meditation. If you meditate, you won’t be affected by them or bothered by them, and you will just forget about them. They can do no harm in any way.

244. Q. Maharaj Ji, if we ever see frightening or evil faces inside, are these purely projections of our own individual mind, or are they actually spirits?

A. Well, brother, there can be many reasons for it. It can be something in your subconscious mind. The mind starts projecting all those things. It can be certain entities which are trying to lead you astray. Whatever it is, keep your attention in simran and don’t give any attention to anything.

245. Q. I had also heard that sometimes the form of a certain individual will appear, and it will not leave until our karma with that individual is over.

A. Karma of what type? No, this is not like karma. Sometimes we have very strong attachments, past strong attachments with certain people, and our own mind projects their forms before us. They are our past associations, our past relations, our past attachments. If you give too much attention to them, there is always a danger of reviving those attachments and of your attention, your consciousness, falling down.

But if you keep to simran, if you keep your whole attention in your meditation, those forms will automatically fade out. You will just rise above them and they will disappear forever. That is why it is explained at the time of initiation that many forms may appear before us. Even if you are doing simran, they may appear before you for some time.

You are not to give any attention to anyone within except to your own Master. Even if you’re interested in the past Mystics, you should not give any recognition to them unless they are being accompanied by your own Master. Your Master is the real guide within. You have not to give any recognition to anyone else.

246. Q. I remember reading a letter in, I think, Spiritual Gems, in which the Great Master told a disciple that they had done very well to go so far in that they had made contact with Christ, with Jesus, and that they should go in again and go further and do better than that.¹⁵ What did he mean? How could he do better if Christ, indeed, according to Saint John, is a Master?

A. The question is whether the disciple actually saw Christ or he saw only his own conception of Christ. Master will not discourage you on the Path. It is just possible that the disciple was so much attached to Christ, through his religious background before coming to the Path, that he wanted to follow the Path only from one point of view: to see Christ. The disciple may have seen only his own mental concept of Christ. He may have been at a much lower stage, and he may not have actually seen Christ at all. Yet that idea, that mental attachment for Christ, may have gone out of him after he had “seen Christ” inside. Even if you want to see previous Saints, your Master must come with the other Saints and introduce you. Otherwise you’re liable to be deceived or misled. For you don’t know who Christ is, you have not seen him in this life.

I often receive letters of that type. You may not like to discourage the disciple from meditation by telling him that what he has seen is not the Christ, because that vision creates longing in him to go ahead with his meditation. Gradually, he himself will grow spiritually to know where he was and where he is supposed to go.

247. Q. Maharaj Ji, I’m afraid there’s something I didn’t quite understand. I was told at initiation that when one does meet other souls inside and one continues doing the simran, then if these beings remain, one can talk to these beings. But you have said that one wouldn’t be interested in doing that. Could you just clarify that? That’s what I was told at initiation.

A. What is explained at the time of initiation is that if we are interested in anybody else besides our Master, then our own Master will bring those souls along with him, so that desire will no longer be a hindrance to us. Then we can talk. But who would like to talk to anybody else in the presence of the Master? I don’t understand. Except for the Master, we should not recognize anybody within. If we are interested in the past Masters or anybody else, our own Master will bring them and then we can talk to them – but nobody would be interested in that.

248. Q. Speaking about the Radiant Form of the Master, I’ve heard that the Negative Power can take on the form of the Master’s face –

A. That’s right.

• Q.  – but not the feet of the Master.

A. Why should you look at the feet of the Master?

• Q. I’ve heard this.

A. Did you read this anywhere in the Sant Mat books?

• Q. No, I didn’t read it.

A. Don’t listen to gossip. Always depend upon the books, and you can point out anything questionable in them to me. Never listen to people’s gossip. That is why so many books have been printed, just to give authentic information.

249. Q. Sir, if the sound from the left side persists loudly and it doesn’t stop, how can one cure it?

A. More simran. More simran. With the help of simran we are able to eliminate the sound from the left.

We should give more attention to simran. Generally we are not allowed to go to the left side. The left side is just a reflection of whatever we have to the right side, a deception by Kal so that the soul may not be able to escape from his clutches. But the Master is always there to guide the disciple to the right side. At the time of initiation, the left sound is explained so that the disciple may know about it, but it’s very rare indeed that an initiate will go to the left side.

250. Q. Master, does the form of the Master stay with the disciple all the way back Home?

A. Absolutely. Without that form, no soul can go back to the Father. As you have read in the Bible, Christ said: I am going to prepare a place for you according to your spiritual development, and there are many mansions in my Lord’s house. Then after that he says: you will merge into me, and you will become me and I will become you.¹⁶ You will merge into me and I will merge into you, and only then can you merge into the Father. When we lose our own identity, we become the Master, we merge into the Master, and then through the Master we merge into the Father. It is the same thing. There’s no difference. With the heat, water evaporates from the mud. It merges into the clouds, and through the clouds it merges into the sea. There’s no difference between the water in the dirt and the water in the clouds and the water in the sea.

251. Q. Master, aside from meditation, it seems that sometimes when we’re with you and you leave, it’s like taking a fish out of water for us. It’s the feeling of this love that it seems that the Master’s putting within us, it is sometimes so painful, and just when you walk away –

A. You mean to suggest that Master should always take all the disciples with him everywhere he goes? They’ll all become miserable. They also want rest, they also want to relax. The sun comes and the light is there, the light shines, but then night is also required for sleep and rest. We say the sun has set – the sun never sets; it is always there, giving light somewhere. But we need the night to rest and sleep. When night is here now and we are sleeping and resting, the sun is still there. The sun doesn’t go anywhere. Master is always with us. He doesn’t go anywhere at all, but probably we need the night, to rest and sleep and relax.

THE EFFECT OF MEDITATION

Meditation is a way of life. You do not merely close yourself in a room for a few hours, then forget about meditation for the rest of the day. It must take on a practical form, reflecting in every daily action and in your whole routine. That itself is an effect of meditation. To live in the teachings, to live in that atmosphere is itself a meditation. You are building that atmosphere every moment for your daily meditation. Everything you do must consciously prepare you for the next meditation. So meditation becomes a way of life, as we live in the atmosphere we build with meditation.

To live in that atmosphere is to live a simple, happy and relaxed life. The effect of that peace and bliss of meditation enables you to adjust according to the weather of life while retaining your equanimity and balance. You contentedly face your karmas, both good and bad, by continually adjusting to their everchanging pattern. You can’t change the course of events dictated by your destiny. But by obedience to the Master and by attending to meditation you remain happy and relaxed as you go through it. You accept whatever comes your way as the grace of the Master. He is the helmsman of your life now, and he has only your happiness and best interest at heart. By his mercy, he is bringing you to Him as swiftly as possible to give you all He has. So worry has no place in a disciple’s heart.

Through meditation we fulfill the very purpose of human life. Meditation is the only worship that pleases the Father. Through meditation we become worthy of His grace and receptive to His love. We build and grow the love and devotion which He gives us to carry us speedily towards our goal. So attending to meditation is submitting to the Will of the Father; it is being obedient to our Lord and Master. It is through meditation, by His grace, that we develop an intense longing to return to our Source. The effect is truly a miracle! We turn from the world, and with the same intensity that we once ran towards it, we now run towards the Father. We experience that bliss and joy of real love and real devotion, as we ultimately merge with our Master to be transformed from the drop into the Divine Ocean itself.

252. Q. Maharaj Ji, in Science of the Soul it says that if you want results, you must put in two and a half hours of meditation daily. Then at another place it says that with only three hours of bhajan, the scale will always weigh heavily on the worldly side.

A. This is just a way of explaining. Sardar Bahadur Ji^* may have explained to some other people in a different way, but the main thing is not whether we attend to our meditation for two and a half hours or three hours. That is meditation, no doubt, but real meditation means living the way of life throughout the day.

We live in the atmosphere which we build by meditation for the whole day. We don’t forget meditation even in a dream, even in our worldly activities, and we try to deal with people in the light of that meditation. Our dealings should be straight, in fact our whole way of life should be straight. That is real meditation. Merely closing ourselves in a room for a couple of hours and then forgetting the Path for the rest of the day is not real meditation. Its effect should be with us all the time. It is a very hard struggle, but we have to retain the atmosphere that we build in meditation.

253. Q. Maharaj Ji, is it better to do a lot of meditation, or less meditation but better done?

A. You mean should we worry about the quality or the quantity?

You will get quality from quantity. Meditating a lot depends upon the individual circumstances. If one is regular and punctual, then two to three hours is enough. If we have to make up for the past – sometimes we skip meditation, and then suddenly we think of meditation and of making the bank balance complete – then it is different.

The only danger in giving too much time to meditation is that sometimes the mind becomes frustrated, because you expect that when you give four hours or five hours to meditation, you will get something, you will reach somewhere – and when you don’t, you feel frustrated. Then you leave meditation, which is wrong. If you continue giving regular, punctual time every day to meditation, fitting it in with your other daily engagements, then you are never frustrated. You enjoy the bliss slowly and slowly and you continue your meditation. But if you suddenly give more time, and then suddenly you leave it, that is not right.

To live the teachings of Sant Mat, to live in that atmosphere, is also meditation. Meditation is not just closing yourself in a room for a couple of hours and forgetting about it. You have to give it a practical shape in your daily routine, in your daily dealings with people. If you just give two to three hours and then forget about it and start cheating people, hurting people, abusing people and trying to be clever with them, black-mailing them, then what is the use of that meditation? Its effect should reflect in all your actions. That is also a part of meditation, because you are building an atmosphere all day for the next meditation. So meditation is a way of life. Of course we have to give proper time to meditation, but it should also be our whole way of life.

254. Q. While having the consciousness of the Lord, one is busy with social obligations and obligations with the family. Now, which takes more priority – the simran or the obligations to your –

A. These are all karmic obligations. We have to discharge all these karmic obligations, but our real obligation is to the Creator, though He has given us all these other obligations. We must reach Him. We must find Him. We cannot discharge these worldly obligations at the cost of that obligation to the Creator. That duty to Him is first and foremost, but Saints don’t advise us to run away from worldly obligations. You will be able to discharge them in a much better way if you keep your destination in view. If you travel on the Path, you will be a better husband, a better citizen, a better friend, and a better associate, which means you will be discharging your obligations in a much better way.

255. Q. When we are discharging these obligations at home and with friends, and especially when we are with people we work with, should we try to create love for the Lord in them by just being an example of love and understanding, or should we also talk about the Path?

A. Example is always better. You always influence people much more by example. That is, as Christ said, putting a light on a high place, on a rock, and people see the light from a distance.¹⁷ You have to set an example, and then people will naturally want to know how you have changed, what has made you like this. Then if they are sincere seekers, automatically the subject matter will be discussed.

256. Q. When a strong desire to do service awakens in a disciple’s heart, should he think only of turning that service to simran and bhajan?

A. No, whatever service he’s capable of doing he can do. Of course the best service is bhajan, but there are other services also which are strong means leading to bhajan. To train the mind to live in the Will of the Father is also a service.

• Q. How do you do that day by day?

A. We have to face situations at every step in this life, and at every step in this life we have to explain to our mind, “You have to accept whatever comes in your fate and accept it smilingly, cheerfully. Why grumble?” It’s a constant training of the mind.

This is also doing service, because that will help us in meditation. If we always feel perturbed with every little thing, then how can we concentrate, how can we meditate? If we make every little thing an issue the size of the Himalayas, then how can we concentrate? We have to forget; we have to forgive; we have to train our mind to take things easily, lightly, to laugh them away, ignore them. This is all training the mind.

257. Q. Master, can one be too serious about Sant Mat? I find it difficult at times to laugh at certain things where other people can laugh at them.

A. We should be serious about following Sant Mat, but that doesn’t mean that we should disregard the cheerful side of life altogether. Rather, we should feel more relaxed because we are following the Path. Concentration helps you to get rid of your tensions. Meditation helps you to rise above your problems, and when you are able to rise above the problems, naturally you are more relaxed, you’re not so tense. Meditation will help you to rise above this feeling of tension or remorse, or any miserable feeling.

258. Q. Maharaj Ji, could you speak to us about the need to lead a more relaxed life, not to take ourselves and others so seriously – the idea that we say, sometimes, to “just take it easy”?

A. Meditation is the only factor which can make you relaxed, actually. When something happens against our wishes, against our desires, we become tense, and when something happens according to our wishes or we adjust according to the situation, we are relaxed. Therefore, Mystics say that we should always try to adjust to the situation. The situation will never adjust to us, so there is no sense in becoming tense. We should adjust to the situation; happiness lies in that.

Even if we say winter should not come, winter will come, it has to come. By preparing ourselves to face the winter, we are not changing the course of winter. Winter has to come, but we can prepare ourselves to face the winter. If we have warm clothes, we have a heater, we are happy in that winter. If we don’t prepare ourselves to adjust to the cold, we will be miserable. But if we adjust, then we are happy. Similarly, when summer comes, if you insist that summer should not come, you are not going to change the course of summer, for summer must come. But if you adjust to the summer – you have light clothes, you have an air conditioner, a fan, shade, cool water – then you are happy, because you have adjusted to the situation.

In the same way, we have to face in this body the “weather” of life, the effect of good karmas and bad karmas. We can’t always have the effect of good karmas, nor do we always have the effect of bad karmas. We have to change according to the effect of those karmas, and then we are happy, then we are relaxed. But if you say, “The tragedy should not happen in my house,” that person still has to die, and he will die. If you adjust according to the situation, you will be happy. If you refuse to adjust to that tragedy, you will be miserable – but he still has to go. Happiness or relaxation lies in adjusting according to the situation. If we refuse to adjust to the situation, we are miserable. That is why I say that we should take it easy, we should try to feel relaxed and adjust to situations.

259. Q. Could you explain a little bit how we can learn to carry that atmosphere of our meditation with us through the day?

A. By attending to meditation. If you attend to meditation, you will naturally build a certain atmosphere around you, and you will build that bliss and peace within you. In our daily lives, in our daily activities, in our daily dealings with people, we should try to live within that atmosphere of peace and bliss, by always remembering the principles of Sant Mat, the teachings, the meditation, the whole pattern of our life. This is how we can carry the atmosphere of meditation with us.

• Q. If it isn’t happening, does it mean perhaps you’re doing something wrong in meditation?

A. There’s nothing wrong with meditation; there is something wrong with our karmas. Meditation will help you to deal with the karmas and to build that atmosphere of peace and bliss, but if we are not happy, it means there is something wrong with our karmas, our approach to life.

260. Q. Even if we might not see anything in meditation, do we get to know its result through our everyday life? Through someone’s contact or during satsang –

A. I follow your question. You will experience the effect of meditation. You may not have experiences within, but definitely you will feel the effect of meditation. You will enjoy that bliss and happiness and contentment within yourself, and your whole attitude towards life will change. That effect of meditation will be there always whether you experience anything or not.

• Q. The sword thrust will become a pinprick – is that what is meant?

A. No, he means to say that if we don’t experience anything within, if we don’t know what we experience within, then what other advantage do we get from meditation. I said the effect of meditation will be there: you will feel contented and happy within yourself; you will feel that peace and bliss, and your attitude towards people and towards life will change. You are becoming a better person. That effect will be there.

261. Q. Master, if we have circumstances which make meditation difficult, an environment or responsibilities which make it hard to find time, and we really want to meditate, then will Master fix it so the circumstances and the environment change so that we can?

A. It’s not that the environments change, but you will not be affected by those environments if you attend to meditation. You can’t change the environments. You can’t change the course of events. You can’t change the situations. Your destiny has brought you into a certain atmosphere, into a certain situation, and you have to face all that. But you are given strength so as not to be affected by all those situations; you won’t be bothered by them. Just attend to your meditation.

262. Q. Maharaj Ji, will you please put these two points of view in perspective for me: we have the saying that it is a satsangi’s duty to be happy under all circumstances. I’ve also heard it said that in the world, a satsangi cannot find the Lord while he is happy or joyful.

A. Both things look contradictory, but they are the same thing. We should be happy under all circumstances, means if you adjust to a situation, you will be happy whatever the circumstances. If you adjust to the winter when it comes, you are happy. If when summer comes you adjust to the climate, you are happy. In this way under all circumstances you are happy.

The other means that if you give yourself to merry-making and try to enjoy the sensual pleasures but you also want to meet God, the two things are not possible. That second type of happiness is very different from the first type. You cannot do both things – be lost in the senses and go back to God. You have to rise above sensual pleasures, and only then you can go back to the Father. So they are not contradictory points of view.

263. Q. In The Book of Mirdad it says either every thought or every word should be a prayer, and every deed should be a sacrifice, and I would like to understand what is meant by that – every deed should be a sacrifice.

A. Actually, what Mirdad means is that our whole life should be a prayer. There’s no question of devoting half an hour or an hour of praying to the Lord – our whole day should be passed in prayer, in devotion and love for the Father. Prayer means just to live in love and devotion for the Father. That’s constant prayer. No particular words are required; no set prayers are required to be repeated. It should be a prayer from the heart.

We should also live a life of sacrifice. We should abstain from those things which do not please the Lord and try to follow the Path which pleases Him. That’s a life of sacrifice. Sacrifice doesn’t mean that you have to leave your children and family members and run to the forest. Sacrifice is to detach yourself from everything and to live with people without being attached to them. That is what Mirdad means by a life of sacrifice.

264. Q. Maharaj Ji, you have said that Sardar Bahadur Ji always lived at the eye center, and I wondered if you could comment on this. I guess a satsangi can reach the stage where he is always at the eye center, even when he’s walking around during the day?

A. What is meant by being at the eye center? It means you don’t let your mind scatter into the world. You don’t lose your balance. Your mind is absolutely still, and you’re always contented and feel happiness, and radiate happiness. That will be the effect of stilling the mind: you’re always happy, nothing bothers you.

• Q. Master, does that effect come from the concentration which we develop from just coming to the eye center, or is that from the meditation itself?

A. Meditation is all one thing. You may split it in any way, but meditation means meditation.

LOVE AND DEVOTION

265. Q. Maharaj Ji, would you tell us what is love?

A. Love is losing your own identity and becoming another person. That is love. There’s no ego left. To become another being and to just lose your own identity; you don’t exist; only the other being exists. That craving to become another one and lose your own identity, to eliminate your ego and be in the will of another being, that is love. But how far we succeed is something different.

266. Q. Master, wanting to love the Master, is that beginning to love him?

A. I don’t know what the difference is. How can you intellectually want to love?

Unless there is a feeling of love for the Master, the question of wanting to love doesn’t arise. You will not want to love unless there is love for the Master. You can say that you want to grow that love, but the seed is already there, otherwise you wouldn’t be wanting to grow the seed. Without having a seed, you can’t grow it. The seed is there. What you want is only to grow it, more and more. The more you love, the more it grows, and the more you want more. But for that seed, you wouldn’t have that feeling. So wanting to love can’t come without love.

• Q. Then we do have a tiny, little bit of love?

A. Yes, we have a little bit of love, no doubt. Otherwise, why should we think about the Father and meditate and try to conquer our senses if He has not given us that instinct of love. The fact that we are fighting to overcome our senses is proof that He has given us the instinct of love. But we should be more receptive to what He is giving us.

267. Q. Maharaj Ji, is love for the Master something that grows slowly and slowly as you do your bhajan and simran, or is love for the Master something that comes suddenly when you reach a certain stage, say when you see the Radiant Form of the Master within?

A. Well, brother, both ways can be right. Love can grow slowly and slowly, and you can also have it suddenly. You can’t differentiate between the two of them. They are practically the same thing. When you say you get love suddenly, you don’t know when it started. It may have been growing in you since long ago and now you suddenly realize it.

“A needle” has a natural pull towards the magnet. But if we put some weight over the needle, it will not be able to move towards the magnet. There is a natural pull, natural love in the soul towards the Lord. But it is weighed down by the heavy load of karmas, and is, therefore, unable to experience that love. Meditation gradually removes this weight of karmas. When the weight begins to reduce, the soul gradually experiences that love, that pull from within. Although that love is always there, we have to experience and develop it through regular meditation.

268. Q. Maharaj Ji, doesn’t that love first come through attachment? First we become attached to the Master?

A. Call it anything, but our general concept of love is that another person should lose his identity and become us. We always want another person to lose his own identity and dance to our tune and become one with us. That is not love at all. To lose our own identity and become another being is love. There’s no instinct of possessiveness in love. It is the instinct of surrender.

269. Q. How can we love everybody?

A. Loving everybody means loving the One who is in everybody, but not being attached to any particular person. And we can only love that One after we have merged our identity into His. Through meditation, by His grace, we become perfect and pure so that we can merge into the perfect and pure One. Only then do we truly see Him in everybody; only then do we see just the Creator in the whole creation, and only then can we love everybody, because then there is only One in every being, in everyone.

Loving everybody means to have a loving nature, a kind nature, a very kind heart. That is loving everyone. But our modern concept of love is something very different. We think that when we possess someone, we love him. Possession is not love at all.

270. Q. Master, is it possible to learn to love the Lord by trying to love the creation?

A. No. To think that by loving the creation we will be able to love the Creator would be a negative approach. You may become so much involved in the creation and its attachments that you may absolutely forget the Creator. That concept has come in many organized religions – to serve humanity, while forgetting the Lord.

To serve humanity is a good thing; you are cleaning the “vessel.” But our approach is that if you love the Lord, all good qualities come in you like cream upon milk. If you love the Lord, you become kind, loving, generous and helpful to all humanity. But if you eliminate the Lord and try to help the creation, then you just involve yourself and become attached to the creation, which does not help you love the Creator at all.

271. Q. I think it’s possible to be loving or to act loving without feeling loving. And sometimes I’m not sure where it’s coming from, whether it’s a real loving feel- ing or not.

A. At least behave in a loving way, and then you may also feel the love within. If you try to develop the habit of acting lovingly, then you may also begin to have a genuine loving feeling for others. At least start by behaving like that.

272. Q. Maharaj Ji, you were saying that love exists only when you give up your ego. Does that mean we feel no love while we’re still below the second region? No love at all?

A. No, the ego starts lessening right from the third eye. I didn’t mean that the ego leaves us only at the second stage. We start losing the ego right from the beginning, even with our emotion and devotion. Ego is a very big load!

273. Q. I was just reading that in order to go through your karmas cheerfully you need love and devotion, and it also said in the same spot that we don’t get this love and devotion until after we’re in touch with the Sound. We get the love and devotion only after we reach the eye center.

A. The more you attend to meditation, the more this love and devotion grows. You start with love and devotion, and then with the help of meditation, it grows and grows. The more you give, the more it grows.

274. Q. Maharaj Ji, there’s something I don’t understand. I’ve read in Sant Mat literature that you can do meditation, and if you’re void of love and devotion, you will get no fruit. But I’ve also heard it said that the only way to get love and devotion is through meditation, and it seems to be a bit of a paradox, and I was wondering if you would explain it.

A. There’s no paradox here. Attending to meditation will automatically generate love and devotion in you, and when you attend to your meditation with that love and devotion, naturally you will get results.

275. Q. Master, what does one have to do to try and get over the frustration that one feels of wanting to make more progress than one actually feels one is making?

A. We should never attend to our meditation with frustration or with any excitement. We should just attend to it as our duty, and when results have to come, they just come. Meditation is a lifelong struggle. It’s a way of life which we’re trying to mold, which we’re trying to live. The question of frustration shouldn’t arise. One shouldn’t feel that. There’s a difference between frustration and bireh – that feeling of separation and longing. There can be a deep longing in our mind to achieve that object, and that longing should be there always, but frustration is something different.

• Q. Would frustration come from that deep longing?

A. It shouldn’t. If there’s really a deep longing, then frustration has no place. Frustration comes when we expect too much and we don’t get it. Then naturally there is frustration.

276. Q. What can one expect? We know we are nothing and we shouldn’t expect anything, but –

A. 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. We are losing our own identity and our individuality and just merging into another being. We have no expectation then. Expectation comes only when there is ‘I-ness’, that I exist and I want this. When I don’t exist, what do I want? In love you don’t exist. You just lose yourself, you just submit yourself, you just resign to His Will. There’s no question of expectation or frustration. The more we give, the more it grows, the more we lose ourselves, the more we become another being.

277. Q. Does the concept of surrender involve giving up even the wish to go within?

A. You can’t surrender without going in. You can’t surrender your ego without meditation. These are all intellectual surrenderings. “I have given my ego to you; I have surrendered my mind to you; I live in the Will of the Father; I don’t do anything without Master’s permission” – and the next moment you will dance to the tune of the mind. This is no surrender. It may be good to think like that, but real surrender comes only by meditation.

Resignation or surrender or living in His Will – they are practically one and the same – you can achieve only when you go beyond Trikuti. As long as the mind is dominant there’s no surrender, there’s no living in the Will of the Father, there’s no elimination of the ego. You can achieve real surrender only when all coverings are removed from the soul. Then the soul shines, it becomes perfect, and then it is capable of merging into the Perfect Being. That is real surrender. That is real love. That is real devotion.

278. Q. Maharaj Ji, one thing I wondered about – they say that when a person is meditating and growing on the Path, I guess you could say there seem to be two different attitudes one develops: one is, he develops an intense longing or yearning to go Home, and the other is, he attains a sense of bliss and peace within. Those two seem to be kind of contradictory.

A. No, they’re both the same. What is the difference between longing to go back to the Father and having that peace and bliss within yourself?

Those who are filled with love and devotion for the Father are in great agony, no doubt, but they would not like to exchange that agony for anything else in the world. They would rather live with that agony than have the whole world at their disposal. They don’t want to part with that feeling of separation from the Father, of longing and devotion for the Father. They want to live in that love, whatever sacrifice they may have to make.

It means that there is some peace, some solace, some happiness, even in that pain of longing and devotion, which they don’t want to part with at any cost. If you are in love with a girl and someone says, “I will give you anything if you will forget her,” you still don’t want to forget her. Even though you never see her or meet her, you are happy in your love. Though you feel tortured in separation, you still don’t want to forget her. Something is in that love which you can’t part with. That is why the Saints chose to be crucified, to sit on hot plates, and to sacrifice their lives, instead of leaving their love and devotion for the Father. They were happy; even in persecution they were happy.

279. Q. Master, even though we sometimes try to have this kind of devotion and love, all that we seem to be able to bring to you is our failures. When we’re in your physical presence it’s easy to be happy, but being away sometimes makes us discouraged and unhappy. Sometimes there seems to be no happiness on this Path of meditation. We read Kabir; we read Mira Bai. They say it is a path of tears and sleeplessness. It’s not a path of happiness. But I know we should try to be happy. Can you talk about being happy on this Path before being able to bring any successes to you?

A. Christ gives a very beautiful example of this pain and pleasure. He gives the example of the birth of a child.¹⁸ If the woman is frightened of the pain of childbirth, she can never have the pleasure of delivering a child, because that pain carries that pleasure. Without that pain she can never be happy. So there is a hidden pleasure in her pain, for she’s the happiest person in the world when she delivers a child – but she must first pass through all that agony.

And it is the same way with us. We have to pass through that agony of separation from the Father before we can achieve the happiness of union. But there is a pleasure in this pain. If you tell a lover or a devotee, “I would like to take this love away from you,” he will never let you take it away. If it is so painful, why don’t they leave it? But they can’t. They don’t. They find pleasure in that pain. Call it pleasure, call it pain – it is very difficult to describe all these things. The lover will never like to leave that pain. He wants to be part of that pain, finds pleasure in that pain. It’s just a way of expressing their love for the Father.

280. Q. Maharaj Ji, do we all eventually, before merging back to the Father, have this sort of intense longing like Mira Bai^* and the other Saints?

A. Whenever you lift a weight from a needle, the needle will automatically be drawn to the magnet. Whether there are one thousand needles or there is one needle, they all have the same tendency to go to the magnet. That longing is bound to be in every soul that shines or becomes whole and rises above the load of karma, the effect of karma. It is bound to be in every soul, whether it is Mira Bai or anybody else. We know about Mira Bai because she has expressed herself. Others may not be able to express that longing, but every soul definitely feels the same longing at that level of consciousness.

• Q. Maharaj Ji, to continue with that, once the needle has reached the magnet there is no longer any longing. So how long is that period in between its reaching the magnet and its wanting to reach the magnet, after its load has been taken off? In other words, does every soul have to go through a period of intense longing before it reaches the Father?

A. It’s not a question of having to – that feeling is always there. The soul is always yearning to go back to its own Source, to the Father. But we don’t feel that longing now due to our load of karmas and our tendency towards the senses.

Take, for example, a one thousand-candle bulb – whether there is one or there are a thousand bulbs, they each have the same light. On one bulb you have thirty or forty black wrappings, so you don’t see the light and you can’t make use of it. If you go on removing the coverings, the light will start penetrating and ultimately you will see the full light. The light was always there – to give light is the characteristic of an electric bulb – but we could not make use of the light due to the black wrappings. Similarly, every soul, without exception, is yearning to go back to the Father, but owing to the wrappings of karmas, of the mind, of the sensual pleasures, of all worldly attachments and entanglements, it doesn’t feel that longing. The more we remove those wrappings, the more we start feeling that longing, and ultimately the soul shines and goes back to the Father.

281. Q. Then what about this longing that we think we feel at this level?

A. This intellectual longing develops into the real longing. What we call intellectual longing is the longing of the mind. The intellect is connected with the mind, and devotion is also a part of the mind. To begin with, the mind is filled with devotion and longing, but the real longing that the Mystics talk about comes after you go to Trikuti. That longing is in the soul. The mind’s longing is only for its own origin, Trikuti, but the real longing is the longing of the soul for its own Origin with the Father, which we call everlasting life. The real longing starts with the soul, but the soul cannot feel that real longing unless the mind develops longing for its own place. So we begin with the longing of the mind, and naturally we end with the longing of the soul.

282. Q. Master, you said, “Is there anything beyond longing?” Please could you explain?

A. What I meant to say was, does a seeker need anything else besides longing? If he has a longing or desire to go back to the Father, love for the Father, yearning for the Father, then is there anything else to be done? But we have only an intellectual longing. Actually, our longing is for worldly possessions, worldly things, worldly achievements. We are desiring worldly things, and we think that we are longing for the Father. We don’t have any longing for the Father at all. If we had longing for the Father, then we could have no longing for anything of the world. For when we are attached to Him, then we are not attached to this creation. That is what was meant when I said, “Is there anything beyond longing?”

Is there anything else for a seeker to do if he gets that bliss, that boon from the Father – that longing to become one with Him. Then all desires leave you, and your mind is no longer attached to the creation. That is why Christ said: “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.”¹⁹ Those who feel the separation from the Father, those who have longing and intense desire to become one with Him are the blessed ones, the fortunate ones, because they will ultimately get rest in His lap. Longing will eliminate ego and will make you merge into the Being. You will lose your identity and become one with the Father by longing. But this longing, this intense longing, doesn’t come without Shabd, because the mind refuses to leave the sensual pleasures until it tastes something better.

283. Q. I was reading in Baba Ji’s letters^* that Huzur Maharaj Ji had a longing for darshan, and then Baba Ji said because of that longing you received the merit of darshan. I was just wondering, was that just for the Great Master?

A. Definitely it was for the Great Master, and we can generalize it also to some extent. If we have so much longing and desire for the darshan of the Master, we are having its benefit. Where will that desire and longing lead us? To meditation, where the Master always is. When you won’t be able to find the Master outside, what will you do to find him? You will try to find him within. That love and desire for darshan should lead us on the Path within and bring us to that level of consciousness where our Master is always with us. That is how we get the benefit of longing for darshan.

Those letters were written to Maharaj Ji, and Baba Ji Maharaj knew the intensity and love of Maharaj Ji. This is a particular letter to a particular person, keeping in view the desire, the longing of the Great Master for Baba Ji Maharaj. So you and I can’t generalize these letters entirely. We can only try to take advantage of them. We also want to become like that, no doubt, but then their relationship was something very different. One Master was preparing another Master.

284. Q. Would you agree that while we are sitting for meditation, that perhaps the strongest motivation we should have is that of longing for darshan while we’re sitting?

A. It’s not a question of what we should have. “Should” doesn’t come in love. Love is something which you can’t help; it is just there. It’s not something which you are calculating to have or you are contemplating or you are trying to have. It’s something which makes you helpless, and if that helplessness is already there at the time of meditation, it helps.

If love is there, it is there. If it comes, it just comes. But by meditation everybody can grow that love. If the Lord has given certain grace to somebody, that’s a different thing. That may be for a rare few. If somebody inherits riches, that is the grace of the donor, but everybody can become rich by hard work. Everybody can grow that feeling, that love, that intensity, by meditation.

285. Q. Master, would you explain what this means from Spiritual Letters: “Longing for Master’s darshan is equal to or better than just doing bhajan” [meditation].

A. Longing for darshan is equal to meditation? But how can you have darshan without meditation? By darshan Baba Ji Maharaj meant the inner darshan of the Radiant Form of the Master.

But longing to be one with the Radiant Form of the Master you can’t obtain without meditation. The purpose of physical darshan is to create longing for that inner darshan, and then meditation naturally takes us to that level of consciousness where we can see the Radiant Form of the Master. Then the purpose of darshan and of meditation is achieved.

286. Q. Master, would you tell us the meaning of outer darshan and the meaning of inner darshan?

A. Outer darshan is when you see the Master outside; inner darshan is when you see the Master inside. But you can’t have inner darshan without the outside love and faith and practice, for they lead to that inner darshan.

287. Q. The tears that satsangis experience when being aware of the presence of Master inside would appear not to be a perception of love, Maharaj Ji, because love, I take it, would be a joyous experience. Would it be a sense of realization of one’s separation from the Lord that brings the tears?

A. No, there can be tears of love. Why not? When you meet a friend after some time and you’re happy to see him, naturally tears flow. Tears can be of happiness and joy. A tear is not always of sadness.

288. Q. Maharaj Ji, there are two quotations from letter 18 in Spiritual Letters that I would like to ask about. The first is, “True longing for darshan is the principal means of God-realization,” and the next: “Even after one hundred years of bhajan one does not get so purified as by an intense longing for darshan, provided that longing is real and true.” My question is, does this mean inner darshan or outer, physical darshan, and how is this true longing engendered?

A. It means longing to merge back into the Father, longing for the inner darshan of the Master. But you will get the inner darshan only when you have longing for the outer darshan. The outer darshan is a means to an end, because longing for the outer darshan will lead you to longing for the inner darshan. Christ says that they are the blessed ones who mourn, they will be comforted²⁰ – which is exactly what you have asked about. We mourn when we can’t bear the separation from the beloved. They are the fortunate ones or blessed ones who mourn, who feel the separation from the Father, and who have that real longing to go back to the Father: they will be comforted. Ultimately, they will be able to reach back to the Father.

Christ referred to the inner and outer darshan in an indirect way when he said: it is expedient, it is in your interest, that I leave you now, for then I’ll be able to send you the Comforter.²¹ How can it be in the interest of a disciple for the Master to leave him physically? The Master, by his physical presence, creates love and devotion in the heart of the disciple, but the Master cannot stay physically with the disciple forever. He eventually separates himself from the disciple, who then has no option but to seek his Master within.

In separation, the disciple will direct all his devotion and longing within to find the Master, and ultimately he will find the Comforter. That is why it is in the interest of the disciple for the Master to leave him. No doubt the disciples are in love with the Master’s physical form, they are running after him – but how long can the disciples be with the physical form of the Master? When the Master leaves the disciples and they want to be with the Master, they have no option but to turn within to find him. The purpose of the physical presence of the Master is to create that love and devotion in us, and ultimately to convert it into the real inner darshan, which is the end, which is the real love, the real devotion.

289. Q. Maharaj Ji, regarding the outer darshan, we are told that we should look at the physical Master with the physical eyes and the mind.

A. Do the eyes see without the mind? When do we really look at somebody? When the mind is there, when emotions are there, when devotion is there, when love is there, then we can’t help looking. So the mind is playing its own part and the eyes are only an instrument. Actually, the mind wants to look because the mind is filled with love and devotion for its object of love. Eyes are mere instruments through which the mind works. Otherwise it’s just looking without seeing, when the mind is not there. Whenever you look at anybody you like, you don’t look without the mind, naturally, because your mind is full with devotion and emotions for that person. So you want to look, you can’t help looking.

290. Q. Then can this be explained by saying you look with the mind while having the attention here, at the eye center?

A. That is for within – that is in meditation. How can you have the attention here? Either you have your attention on the Master or your attention at the eye center. If physically you look at your object of love, then your whole concentration should be on the object, not on anything else. “With the mind” means that your attention is concentrated towards your object.

291. Q. Then you don’t do simran while looking at the Master’s physical form?

A. Well, do it if you feel like, if you are still there. But if your mind is so absorbed and occupied, then who will do simran? If your mind is still running out then definitely it is better to do simran. But if it is no longer there, then who will do simran?

292. Q. Sometimes when we’re looking at you, we feel automatically attracted and we feel this something pulling, and yet we feel so far at the same time. We feel close to you, but yet so far.

A. When we look at the one with whom we are in love, we are never far. We are always near him. Far in what sense? We’re not far away from our own love. Our love is within us; we’re carrying it with us. So from where are we far?

• Q. Well, I don’t know. Our thoughts seem to wander, and it’s painful because we know where they should be, and we know we should be steeped in that love and devotion, but sometimes the mind just seems to drift, and drift, and drift.

A. So you have to pull it back, pull it back, and pull it back. That’s the only way. If there’s real love and devotion, the mind doesn’t drift. Love doesn’t let it drift.

293. Q. What if we as satsangis reach a point where we actually deny the Master? Can that evoke a punishment? Does the Master punish us for that?

A. Master doesn’t ever turn his back on us. We are punished only if the Master turns his back on us. If a child disobeys his father, is rude to the father, or hurts the father, he will set the child right. He will discipline the child to make him a loving, obedient son and a good citizen. But he will never hand over the child to the police, he will never send him to jail, because he loves the child.

In the same way, the Master is constantly helping us to rise above the weaknesses which are torturing us and making us miserable in this world. The Master does not punish us. It is our own karmas that punish us. Christ said: I have not come to condemn you, I have come to save you.²² Masters come only to save us. They don’t come to punish us. If they start punishing us, then we have no escape at all.

We should attend to meditation not from any fear of the Father, but with love for the Father. We should base our meditation on love, not fear. And when that love is there, then we don’t worry about punishments and we are not bothered by anything. Also, when we have love for the Father, we don’t carry much of a sense of guilt if we fall here and there. But our approach should be that of love: we must base our meditation on love for the Father, and not on the fear that, “If I don’t sit in meditation, I’ll be punished.” The basis of religion is love, not fear.

294. Q. While looking at the Master, I often feel frightened. How should one look at the physical form of the Master?

A. Is Master so frightening? Why should we fear him with whom we are going to stay forever and from whom we will never separate? Why fear him? Why not love him!

We fear our own self actually. We don’t fear the Master. We fear our own shortcomings, our own conscious guilts. There is nothing to fear in the Master. There is no punishment in the love of the Master, so that fear should not be there at all. But we should be concerned whether we are on the Path, whether we are steadfast or not, whether we are attending to our meditation or not. Our own guilty conscience frightens us. Master doesn’t frighten us.

295. Q. Maharaj Ji, how can love be described in words? Doesn’t it have to be felt and experienced?

A. Love is to be experienced. Great Master used to give a very beautiful example: if a dumb person eats candy, how will he describe it if you ask him, “What is the taste of the candy?” He will just smile. He won’t be able to say anything at all. Words can’t describe love. Love is to be experienced, love is to be gone through, and language is a very poor expression of love.

DIVINE GRACE

Only those who reach their True Home obtain everlasting joy and peace. They break out of the cycle of birth and death forever and return at last to the Father, thereby escaping the repeated tortures of the messengers of Death.

With whose grace do we gain admission to the Court of the Lord? Surely not by our own efforts. Alone, we can do nothing. We can never, by ourselves, traverse the uncharted terrain of the inner Path. We owe everything to the immeasurable grace of the Master. He showers his blessings on us by joining us with the Shabd and Nam, removing all our doubts, and pulling us out of this quagmire of illusion. It is our Master who puts us on the right Path and awakens in our mind abiding love and devotion for the Lord. Blessed with His infinite grace, through meditation, we seek the door, we find it, and we knock.

All beings in the world are helpless puppets in the hands of destiny. There is nothing that they can accomplish by their own efforts. Those on whom the Lord wishes to shower His mercy and grace are given the gift of the human form. Out of these fortunate souls, He draws the attention of the marked ones to Himself. These are the souls whom He, in His supreme bounty, wishes to deliver from doubt and delusion, whom He wishes to call back to His mansion by joining them with the Light and Sound.

It is the Lord’s Will which is supreme. It is His Will that is “done on earth as it is in heaven.” Man is helpless. Not till He Himself showers His blessings, are we put on this Path. Not till He Himself wants to lift us out of the mire of doubts, are our minds made pure and clean. Not till He Himself takes us into His fold, are we redeemed through the Master’s grace. And that grace is showered on us through His gift of devotion and love, which eventually tunes us to Him and draws us to our Home to merge with the Lord forever.

296. Q. Maharaj Ji, is there a difficult way – not a short cut – besides meditation to achieve your goal?

A. Meditation is itself a difficult way. I don’t think there is anything more difficult than meditation. Meditation is the most difficult. It looks simple, and yet it is so difficult to attend to it. It’s easy to understand Sant Mat because the whole philosophy is very simple, but when we put it into practice, many obstacles come in the way. To live Sant Mat, to live the teachings, means a constant struggle with the mind.

• Q. Then a short cut may lead you to the wrong direction?

A. There’s no short cut at all. In this modern age, we are so used to saving time by trying to find short cuts, trying to save money and energy by putting in less money and less time and getting better results and more achievements. But no, not in Sant Mat.

297. Q. Master, what is meant when people say that Sant Mat is like walking on the edge of a sword?

A. It means it is not easy to follow this Path. One has to sacrifice a lot in life to achieve the end. You constantly have to be alert with your mind as if you were on a razor’s edge. Christ himself has said: it is easy to fall, and the road to destruction is wide, but strait and narrow is the way to everlasting life.²³

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.

And then to be filled with love and devotion and to yearn to become one with the Being is not a very pleasant feeling. You always live in the agony of separation because you’re filled so much with love and devotion. But you love that agony. You don’t want to part with it. Still, it’s not a very pleasant feeling.

298. Q. I’ve heard often that there is no gain without pain.

A. Pain means sacrifice. Read the Bible – Christ’s teachings are filled with that. He says: unless you are prepared to face hardships for my sake, unless you are prepared to sacrifice the sensual pleasures for my sake, to detach yourself from worldly possessions for my sake, you will not reach back to the Father.²⁴ That’s pain. To ask someone to leave the temptations of the senses, to sacrifice all these worldly pleasures and worldly ambitions for the Master’s sake, is a pain to one who is a slave of the senses. That doesn’t mean there has to be physical pain. It’s a mental pain. Christ told that rich person: go and give away your wealth if you want to follow my teachings, and the rich man wasn’t happy to hear that. It was mentally painful to him.²⁵

299. Q. At Dera we’re living a very sheltered life in which our whole object is, of course, the Path. For those of us who are visiting here for the first time, what would your advice be to us when we go back to our normal, everyday lives? I’m thinking now of our communal life, not our meditation. What sort of mental approach?

A. I have not followed your question exactly. You mean how should we conduct ourselves in the world?

• Q. To just fit into our normal lives when we go back, because for many of us, or myself at any rate, the visit here has been a complete sort of rebirth, and when we go back to our homes and our normal surroundings –

A. Live in this atmosphere which you have built within yourself. That struggle with the mind is always there with everyone. And we must struggle. We should be bold enough to struggle and try to keep up that atmosphere in which we have to live. We must build up that atmosphere of love and devotion and live in that. We have to struggle to live in that, no doubt. It’s not so easy. It’s difficult, I know.

But we can read the books, we can mix with good satsangis, we can attend group meetings. We should try to keep that atmosphere of love and devotion around us, in which we have to live. If we go away from this atmosphere, then the mind pulls us back to worldly thoughts. To build that atmosphere is essential for meditation. Great Master used to call this atmosphere of meditation a fence around the crop. Crops can grow without a fence, but there is always a danger of somebody ruining your crop if it has no protection. So we need to protect whatever meditation we do by keeping up that atmosphere of love and devotion around us. It’s not so easy, I know. It can be a struggle for a lifetime.

300. Q. But Master, can’t the mental atmosphere of the world outside be so strong that it would make us do things that we would not dream of doing in our normal daily lives?

A. The worldly atmosphere may not be that strong, but we are so weak that we are easily influenced by it. We should be so strong within ourselves that no atmosphere can influence us. We have to be strong within ourselves and not be led away by anyone.

• Q. In the meantime?

A. In the meantime, try to be strong.

301. Q. Maharaj Ji, it says often in the writings that the Shabd will eliminate the negative tendencies, and my understanding is that you have to eliminate the negative tendencies before you can hear the Shabd.

A. Both are right. To some extent you have to abstain from these negative things in order to withdraw to the eye center, but you can escape from them permanently only when your mind is attached to the Shabd and Nam within and the Shabd pulls you upwards. But you have to fight before that, to some extent, in order to withdraw your consciousness to the eye center – with the help of simran and dhyan, and by abstaining from these negative tendencies. But that is not a permanent cure. Again your mind will come back to the senses. When the mind is attached to a better pleasure than the sensual pleasures, only then is it permanently detached from the senses.

Let me give you an example: if you put a dam across a flowing river, you will be able to hold the water for some time, but not permanently. When the water rises too high in the catchment area, it will break the dam and overflow the banks. But if you make another channel for the river to flow in a different direction, the dam will stay there permanently and the river will also start flowing in a different direction. Without the second channel, the dam could hold the water for some time but not forever.

Similarly, mere simran and dhyan is holding your attention at the eye center, which is suppressing your instincts, and that even makes you wild sometimes. But if you are able to attach the attention to the Shabd, the whole direction of our attention is changed, and the “dam” is permanent.

Though we have to fight with the negative tendencies for some time in order to withdraw the consciousness to the eye center, that’s not a permanent cure. When there is too much suppression, the mind will again make you dance to its tune. But when by withdrawing to the eye center, the mind is attached to the Sound and Light within, it is permanently cured, because then the mind is diverted and it flows in a new channel, upwards. And as long as the tendency of the mind is not upward towards that Sound or Spirit and Light, it refuses to abstain permanently from the lower senses.

302. Q. Master, is there apt to be any trouble with withdrawal of soul currents from the body if during our life our concentration has been at the lower centers?

A. I don’t know what you mean by concentration centered at the lower centers. The mind is always running towards the lower centers. One person may have one weakness, someone else may have another weakness. The mind is always running outside through these nine apertures, hence we always remain slaves of the senses. So when you try to withdraw your consciousness from any of these sense pleasures, there’s always trouble, there’s always a fight, and we have to fight for that.

303. Q. If the lower chakras are developed, is that good?

A. If you try to withdraw from the lower chakras, sometimes they become very active. When the candle is going to be extinguished, it at once burns brighter and creates more light. Similarly, when you begin to withdraw from those lower chakras, sometimes they become very active.

304. Q. The struggle from here to Sach Khand – is the worst part of it while we’re living on this plane at this level?

A. That’s right. The most difficult part of our struggle is to withdraw the consciousness to the eye center and to hold the attention there. That’s the most difficult part of our struggle.

• Q. And then once inside is it easier?

A. Then it becomes easier. We have all sorts of obstacles and difficulties inside, but they are easier to overcome.

305. Q. Why is it difficult for some of us to contemplate on your physical form when we’re meditating?

A. Well, brother, the whole of meditation is very difficult. The mind is in the habit of wandering out so much. It’s very difficult to still the mind. I have read from the Bible that wide is the road to failure, and very narrow and strait is the road to success.²⁶ That’s what Christ was trying to prepare us for. The way to destruction is easy, but the way to go up, to have spiritual uplift, is very difficult.

306. Q. Maharaj Ji, what can we do to increase the desire for meditation? Say, if we’re having trouble meditating or wanting to meditate. What can we do to increase that desire?

A. We have to fight with the mind to attend to meditation. We have to force the mind to attend to meditation, and meditation will automatically create the desire in us to increase our meditation, to improve our meditation. The mind always rebels. It doesn’t want to sit in meditation. But we have to fight with it. That’s the only way. Also, we are generally influenced by good company, meetings, satsangs, by good Sant Mat books. These also create the atmosphere in which we feel like sitting in meditation, so they are a great help.

307. Q. Master, what is the remedy when the mind rebels too much against meditation?

A. The remedy is only one: to attend to meditation again, to persist and not to give up. There’s no other remedy. Only the medicine eliminates a disease from the body, but what use is the remedy if we don’t take that medicine? The doctor has to force that medicine down us. You force a tablet into a child’s mouth if he doesn’t take that medicine because you know that unless the medicine gets in, the disease won’t go. You have to force yourself to take that medicine, then automatically this disease of ego will go. If the mind takes it willingly, it’s good. Otherwise, you have to force it.

308. Q. Master, will this forced meditation bring about good meditation?

A. Yes, naturally. When one is not in the habit of sitting at all, the first step is that one has to force oneself to sit at least. To sit still is a great credit, and when you learn to sit still, then you learn also to still your mind. The first problem is to still the body. It doesn’t want to sit in one place even for twenty minutes. So first you get into the habit of stilling the body, then you get into the habit of stilling the mind.

309. Q. I just think we all are able to still our body a little bit, and then instead of doing the next step of stilling the mind, we want to jump ahead and start stilling our body for more hours. But the stilling of the mind never takes place in the first instance, so we’re worried about six or seven hours of sitting still and our mind never learns to still itself.

A. It will learn, gradually. What will the mind do when it knows it will not be permitted to go out of the room, and that the body will not move out of the room? Slowly and slowly, it will start concentrating at the time of meditation. But at first, the mind runs out towards worldly pleasures and activities, and you have to deprive yourself of these by force. You have to tell your mind, “I will not let you go,” and ultimately, the mind will turn to meditation. If you yield, then you have lost. If you fight with the mind, slowly and slowly you may be able to win.

310. Q. One level of the mind is repeating the names, and another level of the mind is thinking about satsangis that we have met during the day or all kinds of things.

A. You know your mind is very faithful to its own master, to Kal, the Negative Power. The mind is always running out. It is a constant struggle with the mind to bring it to the eye center. The mind will run away, again you have to bring it back; it will run away, again you have to bring it back. In the same way that we form habits in this world by repeating something again and again, we also have to create a habit of concentration with the mind by regularly and constantly and punctually attending to meditation. We have to create in our mind the habit of concentrating, and slowly and slowly, we will succeed. Of course it’s very difficult. It’s a struggle for a whole lifetime, not just for a day or two. It’s a constant struggle with the mind – but it’s worth it.

311. Q. Maharaj Ji, during the course of simran, is it better to try and fight the mind and keep bringing it back to the center, or to not fight the mind and just continue with simran and try not to fight with the mind?

A. What is the difference? When you’re continuing in simran, you’re fighting the mind. You’ve not to physically fight with it. You’re mentally fighting the mind because the mind wants to start thinking of something else, and you’re trying to keep the mind in simran. While doing simran, you forget simran and you start thinking about worldly things. Then again you bring your mind in simran, again you bring your mind in simran. It’s a constant struggle with the mind.

312. Q. Master, is the very moment we’re supposed to go inside destined?

A. Do you want to wait for that moment without doing anything? It may also be destined for you to work hard for that moment, so one shouldn’t try to find excuses. You’re worried only about the coming of that moment; you’re not worried about the destiny of working hard.

313. Q. When a person has been initiated, does he have essentially so long, so much time in meditation to work and to live in the world before it is possible for him to see the Radiant Form?

A. Well, brother there is no difference between what we are doing and what is destined, because everybody is born with karmas. Without karmas we won’t be here, and we have to clear certain layers of karmas before we can reach the Radiant Form of the Master. Everybody has an individual load of karma, and that is why no time limit can be fixed for how long it will take. If the load of karma is the same for everybody, then you can fix a time limit that, “You can clear this much load in this length of time.” But you can’t say how much time it will take you to reach that level of consciousness, because everybody has a different load of karmas.

And then the length of time depends upon how much karma you burn. The time it takes to burn a big heap of rubbish depends upon whether it is wet or dry, whether, while you are burning it, the rain is falling. So to burn that heap of rubbish depends upon many things.

314. Q. When an individual is initiated, could it be said that it must take him a certain amount of time to burn this rubbish?

A. It depends upon how much effort he is putting forth, how much the grace of the Lord is there, and the type of environment he has been brought up in and he is living in. There are so many factors to burning that load of karma. Suppose he has even a small load but doesn’t attend to his meditation, then how would he burn it? If he is putting in all his effort to attend to meditation but his environment is such that his mind is not there in meditation, or if he has such worldly activities that he can hardly snatch any time for meditation or he’s hardly in a mood to meditate, or if he is a victim of certain weaknesses which he can’t get rid of, then how can he burn that karma?

There are many factors which affect the burning of that load. That is why Christ said: the first may be the last and the last may be the first.²⁷ He said the first may be the last and the last may be the first on the Path to reach back to the Father. It doesn’t mean that if one is initiated today, he will go there after others initiated before him. There’s no seniority on the Path, because everybody has an individual load of karma, and this load is not simply what we’ve collected here in this life. This load is mainly our sinchit karmas, the store of karmas from our previous births, which everybody has to burn.

315. Q. Why does meditation have to be so long?

A. Sister, the reason is very clear. Can you know when this creation came into being? Can we calculate when this creation started? Since then, we have been here in this creation. We can’t even extend our imagination to grasp how long we have been here in this world and how many karmas we have been collecting in every life and how much of a load of that dirt we have collected – and we want to burn it just in a second, comparatively? Naturally it has to take time. The bigger the heap, the more the time, so that is why meditation takes so long. It is not so easy.

316. Q. Master, throughout our life, although we’re on the Path and we’re thinking about the Master and doing our meditation, often times a period comes where we can’t seem to meditate or we can’t seem to think of the Master or it seems like a very dry spot. But then we come back to the Path again. Is this due to our karmas where such a cycle comes not of going astray, but yet not being able to achieve the concentration –

A. As I often say, this is a way of life. It is a constant struggle with the mind. We are all struggling souls on the Path, and it is a way of life which we have to adopt. Constantly we have to watch our mind.

• Q. Well what advice would you give to us, to a satsangi who all of a sudden finds himself in a dry period where he just can’t seem to meditate? What should he do?

A. Definitely sometimes we feel that vacuum, that dryness, that loneliness. That often happens with satsangis because the things in life which once interested them no longer interest them. Before they were satsangis they were attached to worldly things. In the morning they would get up and think about their wife and children, their daily work, their wealth and position, and their mind would be happy in all those things. But now those worldly things don’t attract them any more, and inside they’re not getting what they want, so they feel as though they’re stagnating in a vacuum.

That vacuum period definitely comes in everybody’s life, and it is to our advantage. It’s not that we are not making progress within, but nothing else attracts us in this world. We will get what we want from within, but we have to pass through such periods. The sun is shining, and then a thick, dark layer of cloud comes and you cannot see the sun, but the sun is always there. The cloud passes and again the light starts shining. It happens.

317. Q. What about those periods where you do get attracted to things in the world to the point where you neglect your meditation? Do you have to try to actually subdue your attachment or your desires for these things or –

A. Dark, thick clouds come before you and you are absorbed in that darkness and you don’t see the light, but they will pass if you continue meditation. That is why Christ emphasized that to sin against the Holy Ghost cannot be forgiven,²⁸ meaning that you should not turn your back to meditation. Meditation is a “must” and all these periods will pass.

318. Q. Could Master explain why a disciple who is hearing the Sound while meditating can become unable to hear it, despite regularly sitting in meditation? Why do we go through a period of time where we just don’t hear the Sound at all?

A. At some other time you were hearing it, and now you don’t hear it? The sun is shining every day, but you don’t see that light and feel the warmth of the sun every day. Sometimes clouds also come; then you cannot feel the warmth of the sun’s heat or even see the light of the sun, at times. We have to pass through so many phases of our karmas. Sometimes layers of strong karmas come in the way and we are absolutely thrown off balance, we feel lost. Then we don’t hear anything and we don’t even take an interest in meditation, and we may not even feel like sitting in meditation. But again we come back, again we are filled with the same love and devotion, again we start. The Sound is always there. Sometimes we are receptive; sometimes we are not. We pass through so many phases of karma, and sometimes a layer of karma temporarily puts us off the Path, shakes us up.

319. Q. Sir, having seen the Radiant Form of the Master, could there be a pralabdh karma that could cause a person to lose the Radiant Form?

A. One reason can be that a layer of pralabdh karma comes, and then you’re also off the track sometimes. But the vision of the Radiant Form will be permanent only when you go beyond the second stage, beyond the realm of Mind and Maya. Before that, many times it will come and many times it will go. But after the second stage, it’s constant. Then the effects of karmas are lost, and then the grace is always there. But before that, many times you see the Radiant Form, many times it disappears, many times it’s not clear, it’s hazy; and there can be many reasons for all that.

Sometimes with the grace of the Lord or the Master we get a glimpse of the Radiant Form even before we have earned it so that we may continue on the Path. This is to give us a little faith here and there, a little encouragement. That does happen. For then it becomes a bit easier for us to put forth an effort. But we have not earned that vision.

320. Q. An initiated soul sees the Master when meditating, and all of a sudden the vision stops, and that soul realizes that it has done something terrible. What should he do then?

A. He should attend to meditation, and naturally if the grace was there before, it will come again. There can be so many factors to darshan being stopped. Sometimes some strong layer of karmas comes; sometimes ego comes in our mind; sometimes attachments come in our mind; sometimes our mind is pulled to the senses. We can be deprived of that privilege due to a hundred and one things. But we should keep on attending to meditation, and again we will have the same grace.

321. Q. I read in Philosophy of the Masters that only one in several million might reach that level to drink the Divine Nectar, the Name. What did the Great Master really mean by that?

A. What he meant is that very rare are the people who are able to drink that Nectar.

• Q. It’s not very comforting.

A. No, no, even if it’s one in a million, even then it’s a good ratio, I must say, compared to the population of the whole world. Very few people are able to go to that stage and drink that Nectar.

Everybody has a natural inclination towards devotion for the Lord, but hardly any knows how to really worship. People worship Him according to the dictates of their own mind, which leads them towards external practices. Very rare, fortunate ones seek a Master, obtain Nam from him and engage in devotion to the Father.

People mostly worship the Lord not for His sake, but for the sake of His gifts. They love the world and its objects and want the Lord to fulfill their desires, to give them material benefits. Very few worship the Father with a longing to become one with Him. People think that if they do not worship Him, they would lose in business, litigation or love; or they fear that if they do not worship the Lord they would lose a son or some near and dear one or lose health, fame, honor and wealth. Even Satsangis sometimes worship Him with some worldly desire, or out of fear of punishment. But we should worship the Lord because we love Him, because we long to go back and merge into Him.

I often say, the basis of religion is love, not fear. But out of millions only a rare few worship the Lord for His sake, for the sake of His love.

322. Q. When you begin to approach that level and the wrappings of the soul are being removed, how do you feel?

A. When the wrappings are being removed, you first see that Light and all those things inside your own self, and you know that the wrappings are being removed. Then you become nobler, more loving, and more and more devotion for the Father comes in you. When the clouds start disappearing, then the light of the sun starts shining. You always know when the clouds disperse and light comes. Similarly, you also know about yourself. When the mind becomes better or purer or nobler, that Light penetrates you and your whole attitude in life changes, your characteristics and approach to life change.

323. Q. When one reaches that vantage point, doesn’t one have a clearer insight as to the happenings on this level?

A. When you go within, at the second stage, you can consciously know everything that has happened anywhere in this world. Even at the lower stages, you unconsciously know about coming events, you know what is happening all around. You feel that “this is like this,” and often the feeling turns out to be right. But consciously you know everything that is happening in this world and can see it if you reach the second stage. You’re not interested in those things, however, because you’re so much absorbed in that Melody and Light that nothing else pleases you. Then there’s no curiosity left within you about anything.

324. Q. To reach that stage I understand that we must go through the tunnel of Bunk Nal. Is it possible to go through the tunnel without having first seen the Light of the prior stage?

A. No. You have to go stage by stage.

• Q. Yes, but is it possible to get there without having seen the Light? Is it possible to have gone through?

A. No, first you will see flashes of Light, then a dazzling Light, and you will also hear the Sound, and slowly and slowly you will make progress. You may have visions here and there, but that is not progress. Progress is something very different. Sometimes we do get visions just to keep us going straight on the Path or to build our faith that we are on the right Path.

• Q. So if anything is experienced or seen in the early stages, is this just given to one as a form of inspiration or encouragement?

A. No. When we start with meditation – even otherwise, in the later stages also – sometimes just to keep us going and to encourage us on the Path, we do get experiences. But we have to earn them by meditation; they are only an encouragement.

• Q. Nothing is lost?

A. No, nothing is lost. You never lose anything in meditation.

325. Q. Having dreams of Master – is that a sign of encouragement for progressing on the Path?

A. Sister, dreams are just dreams. You can’t depend upon those dreams because they’re not under your control. Neither can you analyze those dreams nor draw any meaning from them, because they are gone when you get up from sleep – half you remember, half you forget. They may be due to your associations with the Master during the day. We shouldn’t give much importance to these dreams. Good dreams are just good dreams, that’s all. But the main thing is our own spiritual progress, our meditation, and not just depending upon dreams.

• Q. Sometimes they seem more like visions than dreams.

A. They are almost like visions at times. Especially if while sitting in meditation one falls asleep, which often happens. Then those dreams are almost visions.

326. Q. Does the Master ever give a disciple advice in dreams?

A. It is a very risky thing to try to find meanings in those dreams. It’s better to ignore them. Happy dreams mean happy dreams. Don’t try to give any meaning to them or try to ana- lyze them.

327. Q. The karmas that hold your consciousness down and keep you from progressing or breaking through and reaching the eye center to get the vision of the Radiant Form are sinchit karmas. And we burn these off through meditation. But I’ve read in the teachings that when you get to the top of Trikuti and contact the real Shabd, you burn off the seeds of the sinchit karmas. So I don’t understand what we are burning off of these sinchit karmas at this time in our meditation. Is it the effect of the sinchit karmas?

A. Brother, whatever time we give to meditation, we are burning karmas. When you collect a heap of rubbish and you want to burn it, you need a matchstick. You know how much preparation is needed to make a matchstick, but when it is ready, it takes just a moment to light it and set the whole pile of rubbish on fire. The preparation to make that matchstick is also part of burning the rubbish; in the same way, whatever time we devote to meditation is to our credit. We are burning sinchit karmas, even now.

328. Q. Master, is concentration during meditation the part that’s burning off the karma, or is it the fact that we’re sitting with the intent of –

A. Any minute we devote to meditation is to our credit, and we definitely have the effect of that meditation in one way or another. For example, when a child starts learning to run, he has to pass through so many stages, but every stage is a step forward in his learning to run. Similarly, every effort that we put in meditation is a step forward. Definitely we get its advantage, and we have its effect. Even if we devote five minutes, it is to our credit.

• Q. Master, who is counting the time?

A. Your own mind. Everything is recorded on your mind, impressed on your mind.

329. Q. So your time of meditation is taken into account by your mind like all else is?

A. Yes. Meditation makes a groove on your mind. It makes an impression on your mind which can never go away. There’s no register that counts how many hours are to your credit. If you scratch a stone, you make an impression on the stone, howsoever little you may have scratched. And if you scratch steel, howsoever hard the steel may be, you make a groove or an impression on it. So we are rubbing our mind against the Shabd and Nam. We are making an impression on our mind, and that is to our credit, that is “counted,” you can say. It’s just a way of expression.

330. Q. When we do simran during the day while attending to different things and it becomes sometimes automatic in our head, is that any credit?

A. Yes. Everything is to our credit. Whatever time you give to simran – whether moving, walking, sitting – and whatever books you read on Sant Mat, or satsangs you hear, they are all to your credit. All these are preparations. When you want to fill a vessel with milk, you have to prepare that vessel for keeping the milk. You have to go through so many processes for thoroughly cleaning that vessel. But when you’re cleaning it, you’re also preparing to fill it – the cleaning is a part of filling the vessel. These preparations strengthen our love and devotion, and create that desire in us for meditation. They are all a means to a certain end, and any means to achieve that end is to our credit.

331. Q. In Spiritual Gems it says that grief resulting from failure in bhajan is also a form of bhajan. Would you explain that a little bit?

A. Whatever time you devote to meditation, whether you achieve any results by it or not, is added to your meditation. That’s what it means. Even your attempt, your “failures” are added to your credit, because only that man will fall who tries to learn to walk or run. There’s no chance of falling for someone who doesn’t try to run, so failures will come only when we are trying to meditate. That is “failure in bhajan.” We are trying to attend to meditation, but we’re not achieving any results within, so we are failing in our meditation – that’s what we start thinking – but that is also added to our credit. Whatever attempt you make towards your meditation, whatever time you give to your meditation, whether you make any apparent progress or not, is added to your credit. You definitely get its effect and its results.

Before we start learning to run, we have to pass through so many stages. You know that when a child takes birth, it is difficult for the child even to lie down properly. Then he has to learn how to sit, and he has to pass through so many processes, so many failures, before he learns to stand on his own legs. After that, he learns to walk, and so many times he falls. Then, slowly and slowly, he picks himself up and learns to run, and does not fall. This whole process is essential before he can run.

Similarly, all these failures are part of our ultimate success. They should be a source of strength to us, provided we continue with our “failures,” we continue giving our time to meditation, and do not become disgusted and leave meditation. We should go on making attempt after attempt – that is what it means.

Great Master used to say, “If you can’t bring your success to me, bring your failures.” It means, assure me that you have at least been giving your time to meditation. Whether you have achieved any results or not is a different question, but you bring me at least your failures, because that means you have been attempting to meditate, you have been doing your best. And if you haven’t noticed any results, that is entirely for Him to see about. We should do our best. Whether we succeed or fail in meditation is a different thing.

332. Q. If one is sitting down for a long time but not necessarily concentrating, and a leg falls asleep or feels painful just from sitting for a long time, is this the same thing that happens in the withdrawal of consciousness from the body? Is that the same, or is there a difference?

A. Sister, it can’t be the same. It’s not so easy to withdraw the consciousness to the eye center. We have to pass through so many stages before we learn to concentrate and be in touch with the Divine Melody within. First, the mind refuses to sit; you have to force the mind to sit, you have to create that habit in the mind to sit. Then if you succeed in that, sleep overpowers you; and then sometimes there is so much uneasiness in the body that you feel like running out of the room.

These are all steps towards progress. You have to pass through all these stages before you can concentrate and be one with the Sound. You can’t just say that right from the first day you will be able to concentrate and be one with the Sound. It’s a constant struggle with the mind, and every step is a step forward.

333. Q. If a man sits for three hours in meditation and at the end of that time he finds that his mind has not concentrated for a single second, will that time be taken by the Lord as sitting in meditation’?

A. If on that day he has been able to achieve one second of concentration, the second day with that fight he will be able to achieve two seconds, the third day he may achieve ten seconds, and the fourth day he may be able to achieve half an hour. But if on the very first day he thinks, “Because I couldn’t succeed for even one second, I’m not going to sit tomorrow,” he will never be able to achieve anything. So every step is progress forward.

Naturally it will be only a degree of success, but you can’t just skip all that and come to complete success at once. You have to pass through those phases. When you try to learn cycling, how much difficulty you have to face! You can’t even walk on the road along with the cycle, what to say of riding it, and then you fall along with the cycle. There are so many stages to cross before you’re so expert that you can even ride the cycle without hands. You can’t ride the cycle without hands the very first day. So you have to practice meditation every day, and ultimately you succeed.

334. Q. Last night I went for a walk by myself, and I was trying to repeat the holy names constantly while walking. Perhaps I was walking and doing simran for about forty minutes. Then I returned to my room and I did bhajan for perhaps twenty minutes. Now would this be an hour of meditation or twenty minutes of meditation? To qualify as the practice of meditation, should I have been in my room with my eyes closed for the whole hour?

A. I said whatever time you devote to your meditation is to your credit in one way or another.

Whatever time you devote to meditation, is to some extent to your credit. It is saving you from worldly thoughts. It is keeping your mind in the right direction and giving you its effect, and it will be to your credit.

• Q. You don’t have to sit down then with your eyes closed and close the door of the room?

A. It is comparative; there is a degree of advantage. Naturally the advantage you get while sitting in meditation is much greater, but you can’t always sit. You also want to walk, so make the best use of that time also if you can.

335. Q. Maharaj Ji, it has been said that a great deal of our supposed meditation is only practicing meditation. At what point can we feel that our efforts are really meditation?

A. Sister, whether you are knocking very softly at the door, whether you are knocking very hard at the door, or whether you are frightened to knock and are only shouting, you are at the door, and you want the door to be opened to you. Even if we are nervous to knock, our intention is that the door should open and we should get admission. All efforts are there. Everybody has a different approach, but everybody who is on the Path wants the door to be opened. When we are sitting in meditation, whether we are knocking or whether we are too nervous to knock, we want the door to be opened. That is why we are giving time to meditation.

336. Q. Master, I’ve heard it said that in the beginning we can do too much meditation, that a long period of meditation would stir up old seeds that you couldn’t handle.

A. The problem, brother, is only that sometimes we try to give a very long time to meditation, and when we don’t get apparent results from it, we become frustrated and leave meditation altogether. That is why we are always warned that we should try to give that particular time of two to three hours for meditation and not worry much about progress. Then there’s no frustration or reaction over the time spent in meditation.

If we enjoy meditation within ourselves, we can give more time to it. It is all right. But the mind shouldn’t revolt. Sometimes it’s filled with love and devotion; it wants to give a lot of time. At other times it feels blank and absolutely void; it doesn’t want to sit at all. That is not right. Meditation should become a habit, a part of our daily routine, and we should be regular and punctual as far as possible. Then we won’t feel frustrated.

337. Q. Is it ever possible for a disciple to try and meditate too much?

A. I don’t know what you mean by too much. “Too much” is comparative. You may call half an hour too much, or you may call four or five hours very little.

Generally we are advised that while continuing our daily routine, our activities in life, we should try to devote a couple of hours or two and a half hours to meditation. That is the general pattern. But if you enjoy the bliss within and you have more spare time to give, there’s no harm in giving more time. It’s always to your advantage.

Those people, however, who fight with themselves to give much more time than two and a half hours to begin with, and don’t find progress to their satisfaction, often leave after giving half an hour. It should never be that way. If you continue giving the proper time regularly, you will be able to keep to that time. Then slowly and slowly you will go on making progress, and you may be able to devote more and more time as the bliss grows within. That is why we are generally advised to meditate for about one tenth of our time, which is two and a half hours.

This does not mean that from the very day of initiation you must start sitting that long at one stretch, because the mind may rebel. We’re not in the habit of sitting still in a room for even ten minutes. Nor are we in the habit of closing ourselves in a room for an hour or so, let alone sitting quietly.

So we are advised, depending upon the individual, that we can start with half an hour and slowly and slowly try to increase our time. You can have two sittings, you can have three sittings, to begin with, and then try to increase your first sitting so that eventually you are giving two hours and thirty minutes at a stretch in one sitting. If you enjoy the bliss within, if you’re fortunate enough to be at peace in that bliss within, then naturally you would like to enjoy it more and more – of course, keeping up your other activities in life.

338. Q. Will more meditation enable us to make quicker progress?

A. Some people make progress even with a little time. Some people may not be able to make apparent progress even with much more time. It depends upon the individual’s load of karmas. We’re not conscious of the load of karmas we have collected in past lives and so we do not know how much has to be cleared before we see our progress. For example, you are sitting on one side of a wall and you are boring from this side, trying to make a hole to the other side, but you don’t know how thick the wall is. It may be one inch thick, it may be two feet, it may be three feet, or it may be just a little curtain. The thickness of the wall depends upon our karmas. Unless the hole is drilled all the way through, you won’t be able to see any light from the other side of the wall. Everybody has an individual thickness of karmas through which he has to pierce with meditation. You can’t fix any time limit, that since this person has given four hours a day he should make more progress, or that person has given only half an hour, he should make less progress – because you don’t know the thickness of the wall that you have to pierce.

339. Q. Master, in the United States I’ve heard a lot of discussion between disciples about whether or not they should do more than two and a half hours of meditation a day. Some say their worldly work and family obligations are so strong they have enough time to do just their two and a half. Other people say they could do more, and someone said that if you don’t do more than two and a half hours a day, then you won’t reach the Radiant Form in this life.

A. Brother, generally we are advised to give two and a half hours, because we have to give one tenth of our time. That is the general, normal advice. But if one is fortunate enough, and his circumstances permit him to give more time, naturally he would like to give more time. But if at least this much time is given, it is enough because then automatically you will increase your time when you feel the pull from within, when you experience that bliss within.

When you fall in love with somebody, you automatically want to remain in the company of that person, but before falling in love, you don’t plan to spend much time in the company of that person. Similarly, when you fall in love with meditation and you feel peace and bliss within, then whatever little time you can manage, you would at once like to attend to meditation, because you want to be there in that peace, in that bliss. It will increase by itself. You don’t have to put forth an effort then at all.

340. Q. Is it possible that although someone is steadfast on the Path, attending to their meditation, that due to their heavy load of karma they’re not conscious of any progress whatsoever during their whole lifetime, but then at the time of death they have actually made enough progress to not have to come back, but never to have realized it before that time?

A. Well, brother, if there is a wall ten feet in width and you start making a hole from one side, a man sitting on the other side does not know how deep you have been able to make the hole until the last brick is pierced. Then he knows how much progress you have made. Even if the hole has gone nine feet through the wall, still the man sitting on the other side doesn’t know till the last layer is broken. In the same way, with whatever time we give to meditation, we are definitely making progress, but we do not know how thick the wall of karmas is that we have to pierce through. Not a single moment of meditation goes waste. It is taking care of thousands and thousands of karmas which we have been committing in our past lives.

And as far as coming back to this world is concerned, it’s not so much your spiritual progress which determines that, but your attachments. If you are not attached to this creation, if you are not attached to people in this world, although you have not made much progress within spiritually, you may not come back to this world at all. On the other hand, even if you have made spiritual progress, but there are certain strong attachments left in you – your mind has made certain grooves which you cannot get rid of – those attachments can definitely pull you back to this creation again. Then when you come back to this world, again you will make progress and get rid of those attachments through meditation, and you can go back Home. Whatever progress you have made does not go to waste when you leave the body. In the next birth you will just pick up from where you left off.

So actually, it is our attachments which are pulling us back to this creation. Meditation is the only way to detach ourselves from all these attachments. With the help of meditation, we are able to detach ourselves from all these bondages in this world by attaching our mind to the Shabd and Nam, to the Light and Sound within, which pulls us to its own level.

341. Q. Are we usually conscious of our strongest attachments, or are they sometimes so subtle that even if we’re as honest as possible within ourselves we still don’t really know how attached we are to something?

A. There are many types of attachments. Some attachments fade out after some time, and they don’t leave any mark on your mind. There are other attachments which go with you right till the end of your life. You can’t get rid of them, and even if you try to forget, they remain in your subconscious mind, and they spring up whenever they get the chance.

Suppose a person has a strong desire to become rich, but he has been able intellectually to convince himself, “I don’t need so much money. What would I do with it? Why am I bothering about it?” But still the desire to become rich remains in his consciousness, and he can’t get rid of the idea. That impression remains on his mind, and at the time of his death, it may be there before him, and it can pull him back to the riches of this world.

This is just a crude way of explaining, but certainly in this way, sometimes attachments which you can’t get rid of remain in your subconscious. Our desires are attachments. When you can’t fulfill certain desires, slowly and slowly they make a groove on the mind, and after death, they may pull you back to this creation.

342. Q. So is it a good idea, then, to try and go with your desires, and if you want something, to let yourself have it?

A. No. It doesn’t mean that by fulfilling a desire you have been able to get rid of that desire. By fulfilling it, you have created karma; for that also you have to pay. Moreover, if you satisfy one desire, the mind will bring up many more. And once you have sown a seed, you may have to come back to the world to reap its fruit.

If there’s only one desire and you don’t stoop to its level of fulfillment, there’s a possibility that you can get rid of it by meditation, that it will fade out in time. But if you have already fulfilled a desire and sown the seed of further karma, then it is not in your hand not to reap the results of that seed. There are many desires that sometimes we feel are very strong in us, but the next moment they just become meaningless.

343. Q. Maharaj Ji, how can you become detached if you don’t make progress within? I thought that’s the only way you can become detached.

A. Of course, by your meditating. Visible results are not there within, but the meditation which you are doing is detaching you from this world. These attachments become meaningless to you when you are meditating. You have a sense of detachment even without any visible progress within.

344. Q. Master, if you feel in meditation that you’re not making any progress but yet in life you feel that there is a higher power helping you, can you look forward to that, or must you just ignore it?

A. Well, brother, Master’s protecting hand is always there, whether you ignore it or accept it. By attending to meditation, even if we don’t feel any progress within, we will definitely feel the effect of meditation in our life. Progress we may not see within, but we will feel the effect of meditation in our nature, in our dealings with people, in the way our whole attitude towards life changes. We should not feel much concerned about progress, because progress is always there. The effect of meditation can never be removed, and nobody can escape that effect.

345. Q. Master, why do so many of us come here – I’ll speak for myself – why do I come here and why do I struggle with meditation day after day, and yet I feel so empty of love and devotion?

A. Because we analyze ourselves too much, or our ideal seems to be very high, or we want to know that we are in love. We want to be sure that we are in love, so we’re always trying to analyze whether we are really in love or not. Without that pull from within, how can anybody come here?

But then it depends upon the seed: whether it has just been sown in the ground, or it has sprouted, or it has taken roots, or it has become a tree. But the seed is the same. Some seeds have become trees, some seeds are still in the ground fighting to come out of the earth; but the seed has to sprout.

346. Q. Why does meditation get harder instead of easier? At first you can do two and a half hours when you start, but it seems to get more and more difficult. Initiates, when new, seem to do better than those who have struggled for a long time. Many satsangis find meditation increasingly difficult.

A. That is what they feel, that it is becoming increasingly difficult, because they become so anxious to achieve what they want to achieve, that when they don’t achieve it, they think their meditation is becoming difficult. Actually, it is becoming easier and easier. The very fact that they feel it is becoming difficult is because of the longing, the desire in their heart and their mind to go back to the Lord. And that is His love. More longing and love is coming in them, and they’re becoming more anxious and more desperate to go back to Him. They’re achieving the result of meditation without their even realizing it. For the devotion, the love, and the earnestness that is coming in us every day to go back to the Father paves our way ahead.

We had faults even before coming to the Path, but now we have become conscious of our faults and they appear magnified, or they have become clearer to us since we are on the Path. This also may make us feel that things are becoming harder. Before, we used to take pride in those very weaknesses; we never thought that they were weaknesses. But now we realize what they are, we become conscious of those weaknesses – not that we are falling, we are coming up, and we will get rid of them, too.

347. Q. Maharaj Ji, I asked a satsangi once about what seemed to be an increase or an intensification of the negative emotions occurring along with increased concentration, and he said that it’s more like they have not increased, just your awareness of their existence has become –

A. When you’re on the Path and meditating, you don’t become worse than before; you become more aware of your weaknesses. I often give an example also: you are in a closed room and it’s absolutely dark; a little ray of light comes from the ventilator and suddenly you can see so much in the room. You see dust particles and so many things that are moving about. But until that ray of light came, you were not conscious of all that was in that room. So with meditation, that ray of light comes in us, and those very things of which we used to feel proud, which we blindly thought were achievements, now we feel ashamed of them.

It doesn’t mean that we have fallen or we have become worse by meditation. We have just become conscious of those weaknesses. And when you become conscious of them, naturally you are ashamed of them, and that makes you want to get rid of them.

348. Q. Maharaj Ji, some satsangis attend to their meditation regularly and with full time but over the years seem to make very little progress. How can they overcome the discouragement that naturally occurs as a result?

A. You mean, how should they overcome their discouragement? By meditation. When we are discouraged, it means we need more effort in meditation. We shouldn’t worry much about progress or anything. We should go on giving our time to meditation, and attend to meditation with an absolutely relaxed mind, without any tension, without any excitement, and progress automatically goes on.

Discouragement can be interpreted in another way, too. When you have been able to build up love and devotion for the Father and you have not been able to meet the Father, you can’t call that feeling discouragement. You are discouraged if you’re not satisfied with your love and devotion and you don’t want this love and devotion. But you don’t want to lose that love and devotion which you have been able to build for the Father, and by meditation, you are able to build up that love and devotion even more within yourself. You feel the separation from the Father, and you are all the time thinking about the Father, and at no cost would you like to get rid of that. So it’s not a question of discouragement at all.

A lover is never discouraged! It means there is some deficiency in our love. A lover is never discouraged because he’s in love with the Being, and he’s concerned only with his love. He’s never discouraged that he has not been able to meet the Beloved, if it’s real love.

349. Q. Maharaj Ji, we’re told that we’re supposed to be patient on this Path, but how do you reconcile patience with longing?

A. It is the same question in another way. I think we have a lot of patience. Right from the beginning of the creation we have been separated from the Father. Is that not the height of patience? We have no alternative but to have patience, because nothing is in our hands. If it were in our hands, we wouldn’t remain separated from the Father. Guru Nanak says: “If it were in my hands to come back to You, do You think I would keep myself separated from You? I weep and cry in separation because it’s not in my hands, it is in Your hands.” So when it is in His hands, then the question of impatience doesn’t arise. Then all that we need is patience and more patience, because it is not in our hands. We can only put forth an effort and do our best, and then leave everything to Him.

350. Q. There’s an emphasis on patience on the Path, and also there seems to be an emphasis on a kind of urgency, that we should really work and get to the eye center. How can we reconcile those two?

A. Urgency means that we should attend to meditation. Patience means we should wait for the results with patience.

351. Q. Master, we wait so long to come to the Dera. Then when we’re here we spend a lot of time waiting to see you, and during the whole time we’re waiting in our meditation; and the Master is always waiting at the third eye for us. Why is there all this waiting?

A. Why all this waiting? Because we are separated. We are separated from our focus and we are not at the door of our house. The Master is there at the door of our house, and we are waiting to go to the door. Let us go to the door of the house; then there is no more waiting.

352. Q. I read, I believe it was in Light on Sant Mat, that you said that the best prayer that a disciple could offer would be to help him to be able to accept whatever came his way as the Will of the Lord. Would a disciple be wrong, then, in praying earnestly to be able to be merged in the Master, or should he try and be more patient and wait?

A. I can tell you one thing: just attend to your meditation. There’s no other way; there’s no other short cut. By attending to meditation you are automatically progressing towards your destination, and you will become another being and lose your identity. Meditation is the only remedy. There’s no other way to lose your identity. When there is so much rust on a knife, the only way to remove it is to rub the knife against the sandstone. Otherwise, the rust won’t go, the knife won’t shine. Mere talk won’t solve your problem; intellectual discussion won’t lead you anywhere. The main thing is practice.

The Lord gives us hunger; the more we attend to meditation, the more hungry we become. When we become hungry, He provides us with food. As Christ said, the harvest is ready. The harvest is always ready, but we have to lift our consciousness to that level where we can collect that harvest.²⁹

• Q. Then it seems like it boils down to just wanting the desire to sit and serve. Is that wrong to ask for that? Just to be able to want to want to sit?

A. 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.

LOVE IS HIS GIFT

353. Q. Master, we hear sometimes that if the disciple stills the mind, he must see Light inside. What I want to know is, does a disciple who goes into meditation and still doesn’t see any Light, require a detached attitude or should he be desirous to go inside?

A. I think we should go on attending to our meditation. When He gives, we will receive. He is more anxious to give than we are anxious to receive, but we should attend to our meditation. He doesn’t withhold what we want if we are attending to meditation, because He has created that desire in us to meditate.

He wouldn’t create that desire in us to meditate if He were not anxious to give to us. He’s anxious to give to us, so we should go on attending to our meditation. That shows He is very desirous to pull us to His own level. Otherwise He wouldn’t put that instinct in us to meditate. He wouldn’t give us the facilities, opportunities and environment to meditate if He were not anxious to pull us out of the creation.

Guru Arjan Dev says, “The One who has sent you to this creation, He is calling you. He is calling, ‘Come with me. Let’s go back to the Father.’” Only they will hear the call who have to go back to the Father. Other people won’t hear the call at all. So when He calls, we will hear the call. When we are hearing the call, it means He is calling us. He is anxious to give if He has created that desire in us to meditate, and we should make use of that desire.

354. Q. What if you don’t get very far in meditation? Then when you die, does that mean you’ll go into darkness?

A. Well, if you are in darkness now, then what else can you expect after death? But then, as we discussed, we can always depend upon His grace. If the student is very obedient in the class, and very disciplined, the professor is always anxious to help him, with one excuse or another. If we are not intelligent enough to secure that high standard of marking, let us be at least disciplined and good and obedient so that we can invoke His grace to get through. But the One who has pulled us to the Path, the One who is pushing us on the Path, He doesn’t forget us after death.

355. Q. This may sound a little silly, but what happens when you give a blessing, not necessarily making something parshad, but a shawl or robe or anything?

A. Just attend to your meditation. That purifies the mind, that does everything. You can’t find any short cut by wearing that blessed shawl or using that mat – nothing. Meditation makes everything blessed, and there cannot be a better parshad than the initiation which a disciple gets. That is why Christ said that it’s a new birth.³⁰ Just as a child grows under the care and protection of the parents after birth, similarly the disciple also grows under the care and protection of the Master. That’s a new birth for that disciple, and that is real parshad, real grace.

356. Q. Master, Baba Ji wrote in one of his letters that one does not get purified by a hundred years of bhajan so much as by a moment of intense yearning. Does that mean then –

A. Baba Ji means to say that we must attend to our meditation with love and devotion for the Father. There must be love and devotion for the Father or for the Master, which means that we are attending to meditation because our Master wants us to attend to meditation, and we are obeying him because we love him. That type of meditation is required. Mechanical meditation without devotion does not give us much results. But just by attending to meditation, the love will grow, the longing will grow. So that meditation will eventually give us the intense yearning that Baba Ji is talking about.

357. Q. I’ve read in the books that simran and bhajan don’t really do too much good unless we have an attitude of submission and love and devotion and faith. On the other hand if we ask Master, “I don’t have any of this love and submission, what can I do? My meditation doesn’t seem to be producing any results,” the only answer usually is simran and bhajan, and so this is kind of a paradox.

A. Is there any alternative to bhajan and simran? Why do you ask for one when you don’t see anything except bhajan and simran? Master of course will give you the advice to do bhajan and simran, but you will not follow the advice unless there is something within you that is forcing you to follow the advice. You will take credit that you have followed Master’s advice and you are sitting in meditation, but there is something in you which is forcing you to follow the advice and is making you sit in meditation. That part you ignore. You’ll feel miserable if you won’t give your time to meditation. You will not feel that you are true to yourself if you don’t devote time to meditation. There is something within you which you are not conscious of which is forcing you to follow that advice.

Meditation always does good. Sincere effort in meditation will also create that submission, it will create that love.

358. Q. Then we have to do one of two things: either submit to the Master or do bhajan and simran.

A. Eliminating your own self and becoming another being is submission, is surrendering. You have no will of your own then. You have surrendered your will to the Will of the Master. If he says bhajan and simran, then why do you bring in your mind to think otherwise? Automatically bhajan and simran will give you love and devotion. That is submission. And if he advises you to do bhajan and simran, he will also create that atmosphere in you for bhajan and simran, he will also create that pull in you for bhajan and simran, and he will also make you sit for bhajan and simran.

There’s no other answer. There’s no short cut. Whether the answer to your question is in six pages or in a book or in one line, the answer is the same: bhajan and simran! It depends upon how much time you want to take to understand that answer – whether by reading the whole book or by understanding only one or two words. It depends upon your approach.

359. Q. On this level here, on the earth level, how do we develop love for the Lord?

A. Well, without developing love for the Lord, nobody can reach the third eye. Unless we feel the pull of the Lord from within, we won’t even think of reaching the third eye. He creates the desire. He creates the love. He is the One who is pulling us from within. He is instigating us to come to the third eye. He is giving us the facilities, the opportunities, the right atmosphere, and such good environment, just for us to come to Him, and to create that desire in us to come to the third eye. He is the One who’s doing all this drama from within. By our own effort, we will never even think about the Father. The mind is so fond of worldly pleasures and so attached to the senses that it will never think about the Father unless He starts pulling from within.

360. Q. Maharaj Ji, a great many of the Saints who wrote mystical poetry speak about the longing for the Lord in the early parts of their works, it seems, and then later they speak of the realization of the Lord, and they seem to just be on fire with that longing. I was just wondering, who does that, where does that come from? Is that strictly just a gift from the Lord, that longing?

A. It is a gift from the Lord. You can’t create it. He creates His own longing, the longing for Himself. I don’t think there is any way to create that longing at all. He is the One who created that yearning and longing within the Saints. Meditation strengthens that longing and helps us to rise to the level where we can experience that longing, and ultimately merge into that Being.

361. Q. Does the seed of love grow independently of anything we can do except simran and bhajan?

A. To be very frank, we can’t do anything at all. When love comes, it just comes from within. The Lord may have His own ways and means to create that feeling within us, but it comes from within. All that we can do is to attend to meditation and leave it to His grace.

362. Q. Maharaj Ji, I know that the disciple must struggle to learn to develop the proper love for the Master. Can you speak about the nature of the Master’s love for the disciple?

A. Master’s love for the disciple? The disciple only thinks that he loves the Master. Actually, it is the Master who creates that love in him. We only think that we worship the Father. Actually, He is the One who is pulling us from within to make us worship Him. He is the One who is behind the screen, and the string is absolutely in His hands. He makes us dance in His love and devotion, and we are just puppets. So we take pleasure of course, and pride too, sometimes, that we love the Master, that we love the Father. Actually, He is responsible for it rather than we.

363. Q. Master, if we have no love and we have no devotion and we have no desire to meditate, how do we come to the Master?

A. If we had no devotion, no desire for meditation, we would not have come to the Path at all. The One who has pulled us to the Path will also give us all those things. He has not forgotten us after pulling us to the Path. He is still there within us.

364. Q. When we are attending to meditation, can it be a problem to feel that we are putting in an effort in meditation, in that we are feeding our own ego? In other words, who makes the effort in meditation? Is it really we or is it the Master who is actually doing the meditation?

A. Well, from a higher point of view it is all the Lord’s grace that we are attending to meditation. But here, at this level, we feel as though we are putting in effort to achieve our object. He’s the One who is pulling us from within. He’s the One who is creating that desire in us to meditate. He’s the One who is giving us that atmosphere and those circumstances and environments in which we can build our meditation. He worships Himself in us.

So you can say, “I am doing the meditation,” provided you are doing it. But when you really do it, then you won’t say, “I am doing it.” “I” only comes when we don’t do it. When we truly meditate, then “I” just disappears. Then we realize His grace, that but for Him how could we ever think or even attend to it. Then there is no “I,” there is nothing but gratefulness – everything in gratitude. Then we know our insignificance. The more we attend to our meditation, the nearer we are to the goal, the more we realize our insignificance.

365. Q. Why doesn’t the Master just take us up? Why do we have to go through all this meditation?

A. How do you know the Master is not taking you up? Do you think your meditation is taking you up? Nobody’s meditation is taking him up to the Father. It’s absolutely wrong. It’s only the Lord and the Master who are uprooting us from here and taking us to that level. If anybody says, “I can reach back to the Father by my effort, by my meditation,” he’s wrong.

I try to explain every day that the Lord Himself creates His own love and desire within us. But for that seed of His love and devotion which He sows within us, we would never think about the Father. He sows that seed. Then He gives us those environments, that atmosphere, the circumstances in which our love and devotion in the Father are being strengthened. Then we come to know about the technique and the Path which takes us back to the Father, and we meet the Guide who can lead us back to Him.

Everything the Lord is doing Himself. What are we doing? Leaving all these things to one’s own effort, one could never go back to the Father. The question of going back wouldn’t ever arise. One could never even think about the Father. So it is not the meditation which is taking us back to the Father. It is the Father Himself, through the Master, who is taking us back to the Father.

You read St. John where Christ says that there was a man who was with God, who came from God, whose name was John the Baptist. First he explains the darkness within, that there is a Light within every one of us, but due to that darkness, we do not comprehend that Light. That is the condition of every one of us. And how do we eliminate that darkness? Christ says there was a man sent by God, and at that time it was John the Baptist. He sent somebody from His level to our level to tell us how to eliminate that veil of darkness and how to see that Light which is within every one of us.³¹ Unless that man is sent to our level, unless he tells us how to eliminate that darkness, how can we see that Light? So what have we done?

When you fall in love with somebody, you automatically run after that person. But who makes you fall in love? You say, “I don’t know, I have just fallen in love.” You never calculate to fall in love. After falling in love, running after the beloved becomes natural. You don’t have to put forth an effort to run after the beloved, neither did you have to put forth an effort to fall in love. There’s something within you which prompted you to love that person. You found yourself helplessly in love, and now there is something within you which is making you run after the person. What are you doing? If you want to take the credit that you are running after the beloved, you are wrong. But for that love, you would never run after the beloved.

So if we are meditating, there is something within us which is urging us to meditate. There is something within us which is giving us that atmosphere, that environment, those circumstances, and creating that yearning, that feeling of separation. As Christ said, blessed are those who mourn for the Father.³² The Father creates that feeling of separation in us, and when we feel that separation we long to become one with Him.

Who makes us yearn? It’s not our meditation. It is the Father Himself. He uproots us from here and takes us to His own level. Practically, we do nothing. You can take credit that you sit for two hours or three hours, but there is something which makes you sit. It’s not you. Left to you, you would never even sit for five minutes. So if you see this from the higher point of view, it’s definitely the Father who is pulling us up to His own level. It’s not our efforts at all.

366. Q. Maharaj Ji, Dr. Johnson, I think mentioned in The Path of the Masters that there might be a Golden Age coming up. Is there any hope?

A. Sister, don’t you think this is a Golden Age when we are on the Path, we are meditating, and we are doing our best to go back to the Father and lose our own identity? Isn’t this a Golden Age?

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