When the Master Answers

If the entire world stands on one side and I am on the other, I will answer all their questions and difficulties. I will not change or convert the talk nor hop from branch to branch. My words will contain answers within answers and conditions within conditions. Every question will have ten answers and proofs, with such grace and sweetness as is yet unwritten in any book.
_{Shams-e-Tabrizi}

The Master travels extensively around the world holding satsangs and question-and-answer sessions for the benefit of spiritual seekers everywhere. Many of us also take the opportunity to seek his guidance about worldly aspects of our lives. We find his answers full of wisdom and insight. Through these sessions, we feel inspired to pursue both our spiritual and worldly endeavours. Our interaction with him gives us strength and support.

We need somebody to put life in us. We definitely need a teacher to know that science of spirituality. And inside it is impossible to travel at all on the right path without a teacher.
_{Maharaj Charan Singh, Spiritual Perspectives, Vol. I}

The physical form of the Master is our starting point in understanding spirituality. He explains the teachings to us and then sets us on the path to following them. Our love for a true living Master is meant to transform into love for the Father. Through our meditation, we cultivate devotion for the Shabd, or the divine sound current, which is within us and will ultimately pull us back to the level of the Father.

With seven veils has Mirdad veiled his face, that he may teach you and the world, when you are ripe for teaching, how to unseal your lips and to unveil your eyes, and thus reveal yourselves to yourselves in fullness of the glory which is yours.
_{The Book of Mirdad}

If we are content to just see the physical form of the Master and make no attempt to go within where we can develop a constant companionship with the inner Master, we are missing the point of the spiritual path. The real intimacy comes through meditation. That is the technique by which we can establish a true and eternal bond with the Master. The practice will reach a stage when the effort to withdraw our attention will be easier than the journey we sometimes have to make to see the physical form of the Master.

Once a seeker asked his Master why we keep coming back to see him. The Master replied that he did not know why, because for the one who is meant to understand, one look from the Master is enough.

A thousand miles away is my Master’s abode,
But I always see him nearby.
It’s of little consequence if he’s physically out of sight;
My heart is his real home.
_{Sultan Bahu}

Does our inspiration to follow the teachings continue beyond the presence of the physical Master? When we hear him speak, to what extent do we follow his guidance, and to what extent do we bend the teachings to do what is convenient? We will find that our spiritual maturity is reflected in the relationship we enjoy with the Master when he is physically not around. Moreover, our spiritual courage and stamina is reflected in how we mould our lifestyle and steer our efforts in line with his teachings.

May the longing to grow in grace not remain dormant in you, who have been privileged to witness so many examples of the holy life.
_{Thomas á Kempis, The Imitation of Christ}

The Master assures us that our initiation is an indication of our ability to complete the spiritual journey. We have been empowered to meditate. The answer within all his answers is meditation. His condition for our spiritual attainment is meditation. The proof of the teachings lies within the practice of meditation. For when the Master answers with such grace and sweetness, the true disciple shows obedience through meditation.

Upon meeting a Zen master, a psychiatrist asked him a question that had been on his mind. “Exactly how do you help people?” he asked. The Master answered, “I get them to where they can’t ask any more questions.”