COOLEST OF THE COOL
A backward glance at history reveals that the world has always had its spiritual teachers. They have been present in probably every country and religion. But like all teachers, some are going to be more knowledgable and proficient than others. In the world of human education, some teach kindergarten, some primary school, some secondary, and some are university professors. In the realm of spirituality, the best kind of teacher or spiritual master is someone who has fully realized the One Being within himself. For him, no mysteries remain. He has his mind under complete control. He has contacted the creative Music, and has ascended in spirit to the One. Other masters and mystics may have travelled some distance on the Way, but have not yet reached the final goal.
Some folk have therefore called this highest of beings a perfect master; for he is a perfect man, a perfect human being, and having reached his destination, he is able to show others how to follow the path that he has trod. Some masters, it is said, have actually been sent from the One without ever having had to go through the travails of repeated birth and death. Others have seen it all, and have finally risen above it. Either way, all masters live in this world, and suffer its troubles and turmoil like the rest of us. But it doesn’t bother them, because they can see it all for what it truly is. Nothing gets to them. Masters are the coolest of the cool. “Cool as sandalwood, serene as the moon are saints.”
A master is an extraordinary, yet completely natural human being. To be around him can be so spiritually uplifting that people know intuitively that they are in the presence of someone very special. The way he speaks, the way he laughs, the way he does everything is unique. It reflects his inner condition. He can, in turn, be wise and perceptive, loving and affectionate, kind and gentle, humorous and witty, strong and masterful. He does fierce, tough and scolding, pretty well, too, and much else besides.
Every moment, within himself, he is totally present in the presence of the One. He carries no baggage with him from the past, and no concerns for the future. “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” This means that he is totally aware, and totally free to live his life and to be loving in an entirely selfless manner. The best of human qualities are therefore manifest in him.
His mission is to teach those human beings who come to him how to contact and hear the creative Music he knows so well. He initiates them (baptizes them in the Holy Spirit, as some have called it). He tunes them inwardly to the creative Music, so that in time they too can come to hear it. He teaches them the practical details of meditation, and guides them every step of the Way. He is not a theorist, but someone who has learnt to control his own mind. He knows all the ramifications of the spiritual path, and all its pitfalls.
He is always the giver, too, one with the supreme Giver. He has arranged his life in such a way that he never needs to charge a penny for all he does. He gives materially, emotionally and mentally, and most of all, spiritually. He is a never-ending source of grace and divine inspiration.
His reality is the conscious creative Music, the Sound of creation, the creative Word, and as such he is with everyone at all times. But he takes personal care, so to speak, of those he has initiated. He teaches them how to live a pure and unsullied existence in this world, so that it can no longer exercise control over them, and drag them back. He is the door that leads the soul out of this world, so that it never has to return to live again in a physical body. Truly, he is a saviour.