Finding Unseen Reality

All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances.
_{William Shakespeare, As You Like It}

In the play As You Like It, Shakespeare compares the world to a stage and life to a play. The mystics use a similar analogy to reveal the reality of the human condition. However, unlike Shakespeare’s monologue, which ends with an image of an old man who is left with nothing at the end of his life and descends into oblivion, the saints remind us of a life, a home, and a Father waiting to give us everything. Moreover, whereas Shakespeare uses the metaphor symbolically, the saints use it to pierce the illusion we live in. They point out that the moment a show ends, actors cease performing their roles, leave the stage and go home because neither their characters nor the story that they’re enacting are real. The idea of actors associating with their roles to such an extent that they forget their identity sounds absurd. Yet such absurdity typifies our current condition. In the book, Awareness of the Divine it is written:

But for the most part, human beings remain caught up in the play of life, giving scarcely a thought to the unseen Reality that affords us our existence. And then comes death – a mystery as profound as birth. These two great events that mark our coming and going are beyond our understanding. Our way in and our way out of this world are shrouded in the same essential ignorance that accompanies our life.

The ignorance accompanying our lives is dispelled by interacting with mystics whose sole purpose is to shatter our illusion about what is real. Descending from the highest spiritual region, they inform us that we’ve lived in the theatre of creation for far too long. Bewitched by the magnificent set and the allure of its lights, we’ve fallen in love with the roles we perform, identifying with them so totally that we believe our identity is that of the person inhabiting one’s physical body. Engrossed in this illusion, we fail to see that our essence is Shabd or feel its presence within and around us. Urging us to turn away from our make-believe world, the saints teach us how to find the “unseen Reality” within each of us. In the following verse from Sar Bachan Poetry, Soami Ji Maharaj identifies how we can access the “unseen Reality” while also hinting at the relationship between effort and grace:

Listen, dear soul, and let me explain:
  Unique and wondrous is my real form,
  which no one can perceive until I lend a hand.
Practise meditation and subdue your mind
  by holding your sense impulses in check.
_{Bachan 33, Shabd 15}

Soami Ji Maharaj is gently cajoling the soul to practise meditation because this affords the inner Master an opportunity to “lend a hand” to subdue the mind. In other words, our role extends as far as practising meditation with love, devotion and, above all, sincerity. The Master takes care of everything else, including taming the mind. But to benefit from a master’s helping hand, we must practise meditation with as much effort as we can muster over a sustained period. Without a master’s help, it’s impossible to subdue the mind; to invoke his help, however, we must take the first step.

The importance of our effort must not be underestimated. Masters connect us with the Shabd, but we will only become aware of it once we take action. Baba Ji reminds us that our desire for unity with Shabd must be reflected in our actions; if it isn’t, we are confused or do not want God-realization. Similarly, in Light on Sant Mat, Hazur Maharaj Charan Singh reminds us that the Lord never withholds his grace when our efforts to meditate are sincere and that the more effort we make, the greater his grace:

The more effort we make, the more grace he extends to us to be able to make more effort until we have reached our goal. So with love and faith, continue the practice and he will take care of the results. No amount of effort is wasted. He is ever loving and merciful.

Walking the path of the saints is one of effort and grace – both are necessary.

However, let’s not become confused about what is meant by effort. Compared to the task before us, our effort is bound to be feeble, and that’s okay because the masters don’t judge; they accept our paltry attempts with pleasure, and there is comfort in knowing that.

To quiet the mind, the masters give us the tool of simran. By consistently repeating five simple words, with love and devotion if possible, we can silence the mind. But the other great benefit of simran is that it helps us remember Master’s physical presence even when he has gone away. It’s impossible to describe what it feels like when Baba Ji is with us physically – everyone has their own experience. As he also enjoys being with us, he wants us to reach out to him; therefore, he gives us simran. Whenever we consciously repeat simran – irrespective of what thoughts are flying in the background – the Master is as close, if not closer, than if we were in his presence. The more we do this, the stronger our relationship becomes with him.

Quieting the mind takes effort, and years and years of hard work, so it’s easy to lose heart. However, in the following verses, Soami Ji Maharaj expresses the Shabd’s unconditional love for us, reassuring us that the Master “will not rest” until he has shown us his Radiant Form:

Have patience, keep the company of the saints
  and I shall purify you through my grace.
I shall not rest till I show you that form –
  why are you in such a hurry?

I carry your burdens in my own heart
  so that you may be free of worries
  and nurture my love in your heart.

Radha Soami is the supreme doer; we are the vessel for his love. To experience the love of the Shabd, we need to keep our vessel clean; otherwise, the Shabd will stay buried inside us, hidden under layers and layers of ego, doubts, anxieties and worries. These have no power or permanence except what we give them. Our only means of controlling them is simran. If we are drowning, we call for help – as loudly as possible. But just screaming for help doesn’t save us; we are saved when someone hears us and throws us a lifeline. Simran is calling the Master, and Soami Ji reassures us that when we repeat the names the Master will carry our burdens himself, allowing us to focus on our true work. If we give him our worries and focus on simran, all that is left within us is the Shabd. He is calling us, wanting us to meet him within. He lightens our days and softens the blows of fate. But above all, he yearns for us to turn inward to him.

We don’t know for how many lives we have longed to come into contact with a true master. It’s our great good fortune that he has accepted us. The depth of this spiritual relationship is such that it gradually transforms our entire focus from outside to inside. Slowly, gradually, simran becomes our companion; our awareness of the Shabd increases; accepting his will takes precedence; and a profound sense of contentment and gratitude engulfs us. Life goes on, but now we see everything we do through the prism of spirituality. Worldly attractions lose their shine, and the eye centre becomes a place of refuge.

Maharaj Charan Singh assured us that by making an effort, everything will happen automatically. He advised us to let go of our thinking and planning and trust the Lord. If we fail, it’s because we’re trying; our failures are a necessary part of our spiritual development. He sees our true self, our soul, which wants to be free of this realm of duality and experience its essence – love. So, we should keep the Master in our thoughts by making him our companion in all that we do.

Our meditation becomes a refuge of stillness, our channel of silence. And into this comes Shabd, when it so wills. The Shabd is ringing and calling inside every one of us; it is resounding throughout creation, forming and re-forming worlds, galaxies, and universes. We need that slight shift of attention from outward to inward to hear it. The physical form of the Master is helping us on this physical plane and the inner Master is pulling us from within. The experience of listening to the sound current helps us escape the world of impermanence and leads us to our true home. Baba Ji often says that the Guru’s true form is Shabd, and the true form of the disciple is the soul. It is a relationship of pure love, and that love will grow and grow until there is no difference between them.