Our Relationship with the Master

Our relationship with the Master is the greatest gift that the Lord has bestowed upon us. Although we have not earned it, we have it. There are no words to describe what an honour and a privilege it is to forge a relationship with a true living mystic. Irrespective of our doubts and worries, the Master, looking at our potential, still gives us the gift of Nam so that we too may experience the divine. Initiation changes our direction. After lifetimes of coming and going, we now stand on the threshold of eternal freedom, ready to merge in the ocean of Shabd. Maharaj Charan Singh explains in Light on Sant Mat just how rare our human birth is:

I cannot send you a better message than to remind you of what the Master told you at the time of initiation: Life is precious and it is only after thousands of years that you got your turn to be born as a human being. This opportunity should not be lost, and every minute that you can spare from your duties should be devoted to simran and bhajan so that you may soon go in and thus finish your round of births and deaths.

We’re so conditioned to experience life through the vehicle of our individuality that we find it hard to understand the essential nature of the Shabd. It is inseparable from our essential selves. It’s the power of Shabd which is working intelligently through the organs of the body: the conversion of oxygen and food into energy, the heartbeat and circulation of the blood, the immune system that protects the body from invaders, the sensory impulses that are translated by the brain to form a picture of our outer reality.

So effective is the creative power in synchronizing the thousands of simultaneously occurring processes keeping us alive, that we take it all for granted, mistakenly believing that the body functions of its own accord, independently, almost as if by magic. If we care to look, we can see the creative power at work everywhere, across all life forms. The Shabd that brought the plant into physical form manifests itself as the flower that grows on the plant, and it’s Shabd that opens the petals of the flower in the morning to receive the sun’s rays and which closes them at night. Ancient Greeks called the complex living being that is planet Earth – and the galaxies and stars surrounding it – Gaia. But Shabd is far more than just the manifestation of physical phenomena.

In the following verse from Sar Bachan Poetry, Soami Ji implores us to experience the Shabd and get a new insight into the world through rising to the spiritual planes within us:

Understand the mystery of Shabd, O ignorant one –
  why wander around, beguiled by the mind?
Raise your consciousness and find
  the opening at the third eye
  and the current of Shabd flowing on the right side.

Soami Ji suggests we experience genuine reality, not the one we understand through the prism of our mind. If we let the mind wander, we live in a constant flux of action and reaction since the undisciplined mind reacts to whatever is happening. Each time the mind reacts, new karma is created, and the chain of action, reaction, and suffering continues.

The mind has limited capacity to experience divinity because it is full of the noise of desires, worries, expectations and disappointments. Our every thought is centred on some form of longing. Our mind is so crowded that there’s no room for the Lord. The more we identify ourselves with thinking, the farther away we are from the Shabd within. We have become so used to the world and so comfortable in our suffering that the truths which the mystics describe seem fantastical.

We are constantly reflecting on our thoughts, desires, and goals. If we can create a space between ourselves and our thoughts, we will experience stillness. In this stillness, we will realize that we are not our thoughts. Achieving stillness in meditation will reveal the reality behind our illusionary world. Realization of the self lies behind the veil of the mind; only when the mind has been made still can we be aware of what lies behind the veil. The saints advise us to empty our minds to reach this state. Baba Ji says that at the core of our being is a spiritual dimension, which we should strive to reach through meditation and the stillness that follows. The practice will make us more content, more serene, more efficient, and more giving in everything that we do.

In from self to Shabd, the author writes, “Our transformation begins when we become aware of where we keep our attention.” It’s a good habit to constantly ask ourselves, “What’s going on inside me at this moment?” Questioning ourselves in this way redirects our focus to simran – as simran is, after all, the hook by which we catch the Shabd. When there are no thoughts, our attention can feel the energy of the Shabd. Even brief moments of stillness are helpful, not least because brief moments grow longer. The more stillness we experience, the more peace we feel. This is the beginning of our natural state of experiencing oneness with the Shabd. With practice of simran and bhajan, the sense of stillness develops and the peace deepens. In fact, there is no end to its depth.

Baba Ji was once asked how it feels when the soul traverses the higher stages. Does one feel ecstatic, full of love for everyone? Baba Ji replied that it is indescribable and needs to be experienced, but that being at peace with oneself is probably the closest descriptor. He went on to talk about the importance of keeping the vessel clean, as this will lead to focus, which in turn will lead to experience.

To achieve the type of focus Baba Ji mentions requires us to consciously direct our mind to simran. Simran changes our perception and allows us to be more positive. All efforts to do simran are worth the effort. The script of our life is not going to change, but if we can develop the habit of keeping our attention at the eye centre and carry on with simran at every opportunity, then the difficult phases in our life will resolve themselves and things will work out of their own accord.

When we are present at the eye centre, we become free of the ego, free of the self. We will be present in the world, doing our work, but our consciousness will be more aware. Simran disrupts our connection to our attachments, anxieties, and dilemmas, thereby slowly helping us to detach from the world. The character we are playing in the script of our life gets a break and the external world, the physical body, the emotions, the thinking become relatively insignificant.

The Master assures us there are no failures in Sant Mat. No matter what our circumstances, he asks that we do our best to follow his teachings and live the Sant Mat way of life. His loving presence is always near, and his guidance close at hand. In Quest for Light, Hazur Maharaj Ji inspires us with the following counsel:

Give up all feeling of depression and live a joyous life, fully relaxed and thanking the Lord for the great gift he has conferred on you. Keep your thoughts in simran and bhajan and see what happiness you will find within yourself. Do not worry about anything in this life, which is all an unpleasant dream. The real life lies beyond, where your Master awaits you.

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The mind is a very powerful opponent and its attempt every moment is to keep us away from the Lord. In its present state it does not want to turn its face inwards and likes to stay in the unclean and filthy sense pleasures. It is therefore going to be a great struggle between us and the mind, and we always have to be on our guard.

Unless the mind starts taking interest in the melody within, the soul is helpless, as the two are tied up in an inextricable knot. All effort is to be directed to forcing this mind to take interest in the sound within. Perseverance will ultimately bring its reward. For obvious reasons the progress has to be slow and we should never feel disheartened on this path. The burden we have collected during millions of lives will take time to clear off. Simran and bhajan with love and devotion will do this. One day you will ultimately reach your home if you continue to do your best. The more effort you put in, the more grace will the Lord shower on you.
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