Love Reigns Supreme

Daily broadcasts continue to report numbers soaring in the millions of infected people around the world by the coronavirus pandemic. Every number represents a brother or sister in our global family. For many of us, our initial shock and disbelief have now been transformed into a silent grief.

We should accept that grieving is natural, a consequential response to the suffering or loss of someone we love. By delving deep into our faith and our human spirit, we may be able to identify the nature of our love and the ensuing grief. Reaching beyond love of self and grieving out of love and compassion for ‘the other’ defines us as spiritual beings. It has within it the seed that propels our heart to love of all humanity, which is at the core of universal and divine love. Compassion for others makes us human. It’s who we are.

And yet a wise man said:
You mourn because the world is fading; be wakeful
And lament not, for God never fails.
With Him is all that is worthy of love,
And that returns in new radiance –
Yes, all beauty’s deepest melody.
And know: all good that passes away
Is so made that it rises again.”¹

Viewing all human experiences through the lens of a ‘spiritual traveler’ brings to light that grief and suffering – like joy and happiness – are part of the soul’s temporary journey and experience as a human being in this physical creation. During challenging times, we can revert to our faith for hope and answers when we lose our focus, by remembering the beloved satguru Baba Ji’s words that “love is the core. We can find comfort and solace in his timeless message which is shared by all true mystics: that all of creation, and all beings in it, are expressions of God’s love. This truth can be directly perceived once we experience the Shabd, the voice of God, the divine presence found within our innermost core. Thus, we are reminded that, as spiritual beings, we are all intrinsically linked to one another by the same bond of love that unites all of us to our master and the Lord.

From a spiritual perspective, this life is a stopover on our long journey to our true Home ‘where love reigns supreme.’ Our journey leads us through physical, mental and spiritual stages, each with their valleys and peaks, of trials and tribulations, as we ascend on the way, experiencing ever increasing indescribable joy. While all human experiences in this creation will come to an end one day, the bond of love we nurture for the living master and the Lord, will never end, nor can it be lost or broken. The master reveals the method whereby all human emotions are sublimated in the experience of inner prayer or meditation on God’s love within. Through our meditation we align our soul in loving devotion with the inner master, the Shabd, the divine melody emanating from the Supreme Being, the ocean of all love, compassion and bliss.

In recent weeks, we witnessed once again Baba Ji’s boundless love-in-action and never-ending compassion, while directing and inspiring thousands of volunteers / sevadars to provide shelter, food, medical assistance, and comfort to so many of our vulnerable brothers and sisters in India. By showing us the example set by these wonderful sevadars, he is reaching out and inspiring us to rise above our personal grief and discomfort during these times and lend a hand to help others in our own communities and reach out to those we know are vulnerable. In so doing, he encourages us to rediscover our own inner strength, love and compassion, and humanity.

We cannot choose the tragedies and challenges that come our way but we can choose how we react to them. Soon, within a relatively short time, we will look back at these recent experiences with a different perspective. And if through it all, we were able to lend a hand, extend a kindness to someone in need, while staying focused on our ‘real work’, we would have pleased our master very, very much. If we face the future with hope and with faith in his love for us, we can “bring ourselves to that level where we can always be with our master.”²

The master is holding our hand. His love will carry us through this. As Hazur Maharaj Ji said:

The more the mind is one-pointed at the eye centre, the happier we are. The more it is scattered outside, the more unhappy we are. So we have to see that our mind doesn’t scatter out into the world. The more it is concentrated at the eye centre, the more happiness and bliss you will feel. No matter what situation you are going through, you will feel that bliss and happiness within yourself.³