One Move

There was a boy who lost his left arm in a tragic accident. The boy struggled with depression and rarely left his house. One day the boy told his father that he would like to take judo lessons because he heard it was possible to learn judo with only one arm. The father, eager to do anything to cheer up his son, quickly agreed, and found a sensei to train him. While the boy learned some basic judo movements, most of the time his training sessions focused on one specific move which the judo teacher insisted that the boy learn perfectly.

After a couple of months, the judo teacher told the boy that he was going to be entered into a tournament. The boy responded with surprise. “Sensei, I don’t think I’m ready for a tournament.” But the sensei insisted. The day of the tournament came, and to the young man’s surprise he passed the first round and then the second. He passed the third round and couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t believe he made it to the finals and was about to face the state champion. At this point, he was sure that with only one arm and one move, he was going to be defeated, but again, to his surprise, he won! The boy turned to his instructor and said, “I don’t understand, Sensei; I have only been learning judo for a couple of months. I only know one move, and I only have one arm. Yet I beat the state champion. I won the tournament! Sensei, how is this possible?” The sensei turned and looked at the boy and said, “You won because of two reasons. First, the one move that you perfected is the most effective move in all of judo. The second reason is the only defence against that move is to grab the opponent’s left arm.”

In our spiritual training, the equivalent of our one-arm handicap is our karmic account. Our other basic movements such as seva and satsang can support us in our journey, but mastering our meditation practice is that single indefensible move that can help us reduce our karmic burden.

The object of meditation is to destroy those karmas, to clear those karmas. Kabir says that if you have a big stack of hay, it takes only one match to burn the whole lot. Similarly, one little portion of Nam or Shabd, an atom of it, burns thousands and millions of our karmas. We actually burn or destroy and rise above them, and do not make new ones in the process. These old karmas have relations with our mind. When, with the help of Nam or Shabd, our mind goes back to its origin, these karmas just drop down.
_{Maharaj Charan Singh, Spiritual Perspectives, Vol. II}

Human life has many ups and downs, and every phase has its own challenges and difficulties. At our current level of consciousness, we employ physical and mental strength to navigate every challenge. 
Yet true Masters offer us a single-move solution to weather any storm by inviting us to rise above the limitations of mind and matter. The Masters explain that by meditating our mind becomes refined, matured, and we advance spiritually.

How long it takes to master that one move of meditation depends on our effort, which is determined by regularity and focus in our practice. The Masters remind us that we wouldn’t have received the gift of initiation if we didn’t have the capacity to engage in spiritual practice. Even if it’s a lifelong struggle, our time horizon is the culmination of countless lifetimes. Given that we need to prioritize only that one move of meditation in our spiritual training and that we will receive the Lord’s grace in proportion to our effort, if we persist in our practice, our success is assured.

When a child starts running, how many times does he fall? How many times does he get bruises? But he rises again, gets up again, again starts running. We have all passed through that same phase, and now walking or running is no problem for us. So in the same way, we are tempted, and we do fall, we do become a victim of human failings. But that doesn’t mean that we have to submit to the mind, that we have to lose the battle. We have to carry on. Ultimately, success is ours if we just struggle, just carry on.
_{Maharaj Charan Singh, Spiritual Perspectives, Vol. II}

Like the judo student, we can surrender to our Master who teaches from his own experience that meditation is the only move required to progress and achieve success in our spiritual life. He knows from his own experience that this is the winning strategy for the tournament of life.

The mind may convince us otherwise and keep us busy in overthinking, but there’s no other way to conquer the mind. As our soul is slowly released from the influence of the mind, it unlocks its greatest source of strength – love.

There is one very special process. And that is the very special process. That is meditation. You see, meditation creates love. It strengthens love. It deepens love. It grows love. Ultimately, it illuminates you and it makes you God. That’s all meditation. I can’t suggest to you any bypass. There is no short cut or bypass. That is the only way.
_{Maharaj Charan Singh, Spiritual Perspectives, Vol. II}