Love & Devotion
Love & Devotion
My prayer on this auspicious day, on which the inauguration of the meditation hall at the Tinsukia Centre of the Mission, should prove the harbinger of good fortune to all abhyasis of the Mission, in India and abroad, and in particular to those of Tinsukia Centre.
The general idea that fills abhyasis is the items of practice taught to them are all, that is needed to take them up to the final state of evolution. Their thought does not run beyond this at all. We indicate Raj Yog as our foundation and it is so, in fact, their ideation does not reach down to its depths and it just stops short with the observance of the rules. But it is certain that in Sahaj Marg, the Fragrance of Pranahuti dwells in, but still the factors that get left behind are love and devotion. Along with the act of meditation, it is essential that these should also be therein. It has been necessary for me to stress the mingling of the facets together, since by doing this a sadhak may be able to reach his goal very soon. It is your responsibility to engender these factors in yourselves. The means consists in endeavouring to maintain the remembrance of principle, that is, Ishwar (God). Even here, the objection can be put forward by some that, by this effort, the mind gets so tired, that perhaps it can retain this only for a half a day.
Whatever act you do, do it in the thought "it is the Divine's command and, therefore it is my duty to do so," so that the state of remembrance should continue steadfast, and one special benefit that accrues is the Creation of samskars (impressions) ceases. Retaining the Remembrance of God at all times engenders in us a deep attachment to the Divine and leads to the state in which love for Him develops and overflows. Gradually, through this, devotion attains its full form. It is therefore very essential to adopt this procedure.
The second need is good behaviour and conduct; that is, we should never act in such a way that anyone can lift a finger against us. The rules of our daily life and of behaviour towards all should be very good and straightforward. By acting so, you derive pleasure and happiness and a state of peace will, of itself, begin to blossom inside you. Through thinking of the Divine, devotion and love develop. I will certainly say this development of attachment is your job and your very important duty. If you do not do this, you do not carry out the duty imposed on every service minded abhyasi, and the characteristic of a fakir and of man consists in this, that your duty discharge gets completed. Truth lies in this, that we keep turning our vision inward; if you do this, your condition will stay there, wherefrom the "Substance" came to us; that is, we make a mark on the true "Treasure House". Now, it is left to us just to develop the form of expansion. This form of expansion takes birth when, along with practising meditation on the Divine, the endeavour is maintained to keep our vision more and more turning inward. If the true craving for attainment of the Divine is developed in you, it takes no time to achieve success. You are reaching out for bliss and I am talking of craving and restlessness. But, brother, the happiness that this craving and restlessness brings, is never obtained in peace. When restlessness increases and reaches the limit, crosses the limit of strength, then the beginning of real peace starts.
My strong desire is that I should give people an inkling of the final state of spiritual evolution. Teachings of Sahaj Marg are highest, because it teaches the maintenance in view of one's final goal. It is necessary for any teaching, which aims at the attainment assist in the attainment of the highest, to be of the highest order. My restlessness lies in this, that you should continue to be restless to achieve the goal of attainment of the Divine, which alone can give me real peace. To the extent that you are restless in this manner, to that extent peace will accrue to me. If you believe and remember this that, for all the service rendered by me to people, the return that comes to me is peace, then the only method for you is to remain restless. Let us get so deeply involved in the thought of "This", that no thought arises at all of "That".
On the opening of Satsang Bhavan in Tinsukhia on November 25th 1977