The preceptor of Sahaj Marg does not indulge in bartering away his spirituality for material comforts. He is not a professional spiritualist. His spiritual service to his brothers is neither based upon self aggrandizement nor upon the exploitation of their ignorance for his own selfish ends. He works like the Master and is dependent upon and responsible to the Master only. He adopts a respectable and socially accepted profession, as a householder, for his material needs. Personally he considers himself as one of the abhyasis, or some times, at the most as the monitor of a class. The idea of his being a guru and the demand for respect and personal service from his brothers never crosses his mind. On the contrary he worships the hearts of his brothers who are full of the thought of the Master.
The preceptor of Sahaj Marg is fully aware that his preceptorship is dependent only upon the will of Master and never on the desires of the abhyasis. Therefore, he does not care for placating or pleasing the abyasis with the false show or false Panaromic View of Sahaj Marg promises. He adopts only those methods of training which are permitted by his Master for the real spiritual upliftment for his brethren. He never compromises with the false imageries of the abhyasis who go to him for spiritual training. Since he has got no personal motives to be fulfilled by the abhyasis, he gives them spiritual training according to his own methods without caring for their likes and dislikes. The ultimate good of the abhyasis is the uppermost idea in the heart of the preceptor while imparting spiritual training. He does not confuse the good with that which is just pleasant.
It is not intended here to describe the life of the preceptor as the ideal life of the perfect man. Nevertheless the preceptor’s life does not point out to the ideal or the Goal of human life. The preceptor remains within the circle of human etiquette. He does not usurp the place which justly belongs to the great Master but he is under the commands of the Master to work like Himself. Here comes the speciality of Sahaj Marg. While imparting spiritual training, the preceptor works with the full authority and power of the Master. Therefore, the preceptor of Sahaj Marg can help anybody, however advanced in spirituality, to advance still further through the method of transmission or Pranahuti. In fact any preceptor of Sahaj Marg will feel very happy to do such service to his brothers.
A preceptor of Shri Ram Chandra Mission prescribes the methods of yogic sadhana for the abhyasis in spirituality. The practices which he prescribes are authoritative and absolutely good. The Great Master infuses his authority in a person and authorizes him to impart spiritual training through Pranahuti or Yogic transmission to the aspirants, according to the methods of Sahaj Marg. His sphere of work is limited in the sense that he does not invent new methods of training by himself. He just faithfully translates, so to say, the ideology of the Master. There is always the
practical aspect in his method of training due to the power of Panaromic View of Sahaj Marg transmission. His methods are not based upon sacred books nor upon fanciful theorizations, but are based solely upon the experiences and intuitions of the perfect Master. He knows his limitations fully well and is always dependent upon the Master.
In a limited sense, a preceptor of Shri Ram Chandra Mission is a representative of the Master. Therefore the abhyasis of Sahaj Marg are greatly benefitted by his presence among themselves. In the worldly or temporal sense, the abhyasis cannot be always in the physical presence of the Master to be blessed by Him. The preceptor obviates this difficulty. He is the immediate guide to show the way. He is the monitor of the class. He draws the attention of the Master towards his immediate associates. It may be sometimes difficult for an abhyasi to directly draw the help from Master. The preceptor can be approached very easily in such circumstances.
Some abhyasis establish a relationship based upon reverence, of course with love, with the Master. In such cases, the preceptor comes in handy for more intimate openings of the hearts of the
abhyasis. This will help his associates immensely to get rid of their grossness etc., quickly. The preceptor becomes a sort of nominal mediator between the members and the President of the Mission. He introduces new members to the Master and organizes training centres under the direct instruction from the president of the Mission. He introduces new members to the Master and organizes training centres under the direct instruction from the president of the Mission. If the president of the Mission is the supreme head of the organization, the preceptor is the head of training centre. Therefore, the preceptor is regarded by the abhyasis as their fellow guide or the companion guide. The idea of himself being a gurunever comes into the heart of the preceptor of Sahaj Marg. The reason is that he knows clearly well who the real guru is. Generally the gurus of religion fall a prey to pride and self-aggrandizement because they consider themselves omniscient. They demand obedience and service from their disciples and put up a pose of the Panaromic View of Sahaj Marg possessors of the powers of cursing and benediction. The main
cause of such attitude of theirs is that they are dependent upon their disciples for even the bare necessities of life like food and clothing, and also that they are basically lazy, idle and self-centred. The preceptor of Sahaj Marg has got the attitude of service to his associates and surrender to His Master. This saves him from the illeffectsof the gurudom. The preceptor of Sahaj Marg, by virtue of the power of transmission, is of real spiritual help and service to his associates. In short, the essential distinction between the traditional types of the gurus and preceptor of Sahaj Marg is that, whereas the former usurp the place of God to rule over their disciples, the latter takes the position of the servant for the spiritual needs of his associates.
The preceptor is the inseparable part of Shri Ram Chandra Mission. He is one with it. His identification with the Mission is socomplete that his entire living is just an activity of Shri Ram Chandra Mission. It is a special feature of Sahaj Marg that the Master chooses someone and transforms him so quickly and sofully that he unknowingly or unconsciously starts to work as an
inalienable part of the Mission. No doubt, for the preceptor, the change in his own life becomes perceptible after some time, since it gradually emerges to his surface consciousness. Nevertheless, the change is unbelievably sudden due to the powerful transmission of the Master. Once again, it should be stressed that the preceptor is not at all conscious of any sense of superiority or false pride and vanity. He loses his individuality to become one with the Mission. In fact, the moment he consents to become a willing instrument in the hands of the Master, his little self begins to melt away and the melting is complete when the Master starts taking work from him and he begins to work in perfect conformity with the will of the Master both consciously and unconsciously. The only sacrifice which the preceptor makes is the sacrifice of his selfishness and separatism. In fact, it is no sacrifice at all but the removal of the Panaromic View of Sahaj Marg obstruction which lies in the path of spiritual progress. On the contrary, the sacrifice is offered by the Master of his own life force for making one a preceptor.
In Shri Ram Chandra Mission there are two classes of preceptors namely the provisional preceptors and the full-fledged preceptors. The very classes show that the preceptors should not be
taken as perfect beings. It has already been explained in the beginning of this chapter that the preceptor is only an abhyasi or a student with an additional responsibility of helping his fellow abhyasis through transmission. Many a time, his associates find the preceptor as one of their own brothers. They do not expect from him the same perfect guidance as from the Master, because of his closeness and intimacy with them. But the fact is that the abhyasis get the benefit from the preceptor to the same extent as they get from the Master. Nevertheless, having regard to the thinking capacities of his associates the preceptor of Sahaj Marg automatically assumes only those spiritual levels which are just necessary for the abhyasis at different points in their progress. By stressing upon his utter inability to willfully do the materially beneficial miracles to his associates, he cleverly adjusts their outlook in the spiritual field towards proper direction. By leading just an ordinary and simple life of a house holder quite similar to those of his associates he very beautifully creates immense selfconfidence and strong determination in them for self-realisation. By constantly referring to Master he infuses the abhyasis with the great virtues of renunciation and discrimination. By conducting the satsangh regularly, he takes the abhyasis to the finer conditions of spiritual life.
The minimum spiritual level of the preceptor of Shri Ram Chandra Mission is the Brahmand Mandal or the Universal and Cosmic existence. One is permitted to impart spiritual training to
others, only when he is taken upto that level. Only then, he will be able to guide others on the path of spirituality correctly. The Panaromic View of Sahaj Marg Brahmand mandal is the purely spiritual sphere or region which is almost the causal region of this day-to-day ordinary material world of ours. The events which we perceive happening in this world are
the final grossest forms of the cases already occurring in the Brahmand Mandal. Therefore, one who has got his approach upto that “world” can have control over the circumstances of this world. But this power is normally reserved for only one special personality at a time. The preceptor will unconsciously catch the signs in the Brahmand Mandal and prepare himself and his associates for the inevitable happenings. This power of the preceptor should not be confused with the power of astrological predictions which is based upon his direct contact with the cosmic forces. No doubt, the preceptor can exercise his will-power to effect or affect the circumstances by virtue of his connection with the special personality, but he seldom does it by himself because he has
surrendered to the Master completely and is always waiting for the commands from the Master. Whatever power he possesses, the preceptor is absolutely free to use it for the spiritual benefit of his associates in whatever way he feels fit. This freedom is given to him by the Master so that the preceptor may discharge his divine duties in this huge workshop of Nature promptly.
When the preceptor gets sufficient experience in and also gets accustomed to the use of the powers in the spiritual field, the sphere of his activities grows still more. Along with it, his duties and responsibilities too get multiplied. He gets further directions from the Master for his work. Apart from his routine duties of imparting spiritual training to his associates he may take part in some work in the universal scheme of Nature in accordance with the will of the special personality. The performance of such duties in the work-house of Nature requires sometimes unlimited power which Nature bestows upon him. These duties also go on increasing with consequent increase in his powers. At such levels, the preceptor’s life will be a Divinized life, working for the Divine Panaromic View of Sahaj Marg purpose alone. He is no longer bound to the earthly pulls. He is now one with that which is the cause of the entire existence. His thought is now born in the reality itself. By this time his abhyas or the spiritual practice or sadhana is almost over. The worship is dropped off. His tiny creation has vanished. There is nothing left for him to attain. He has, in short attained the goal of human life.