The annual celebration of the Birth Anniversary of our Adi Guru, Parmpujya Lalaji Maharaj, represents the passing of yet another 'year-stone' in our existence. It dramatises the passing of yet another year. While we are gathering to celebrate the auspicious occasion of His Birth Anniversary, it is also necessary to take stock of one's own spiritual progress and evolution, and to see whether a mile-stone has also been passed on the spiritual path which we are treading towards our goal. Year-stones inevitably pass by because the passage of time is inexorable. Passing mile-stones depends on the speed with which we progress on the path towards the goal. It is a common human failing to mistake year-stones for mile- stones, and to rest content with the feeling that all is well, imagining that one more Basant has been celebrated, one more celebration of my Revered Master's birth anniversary has been celebrated, and to think that therefore we have been recipients of the Divine flow of Grace. It is true that Grace is available to all who seek it. To seek means to search. And to search in the Sahaj Marg tradition is to go within. How successful have we been in going inwards towards the destination which, after all, lies deep within ourselves? It is pertinent to ponder over this question because it one is going outwards all the time in his or her normal existence, then even if such a person is meditating for the stipulated period of time, it may possibly be that he has not been successful in going inwards in this spiritual tradition. The essence, indeed the crux of the matter, is this internal voyage, and it can be successful only to the extent that we stop external probing in the sensory and other aspects of our day to day lives. There is much talk of God, the Master, etc. among the abhyasis. I am of the opinion that when normally God or the Master is referred to, by and large the abhyasis are still in the same frame of mind as when they were following the religious tradition or other traditions-i.e. they think of God or the Master as being somewhere far away, towards whom they have to physically move to achieve the goal that is offered in Sahaj Marg. It is my experience, and my conviction arising out of my experience, that God or the Master-both terms are synonymous to me-have no location in space and no existence in time, because the Master is not, and cannot be, bound by either space or by time. It is a well-known truth that anything which has spatial dimensions must cease to exist at some point in time. This only means that anything having a spatial existence is automatically bound also by the time dimension-that is, it has a definite life period. It is, therefore, obvious that to possess the attribute of Eternity one must be non-space-bound and non-time-bound. One cannot conceive of such a situation with the normal, rational apparatus of the intellect. But by meditation, which teaches us to look inwards within ourselves, one is able to internally intuit at what the Master or God must be. Such a person, or such an individual, must have transcended both the space and time dimensions because Eternity is not an extension in time. It is not even infinite time, but time is an aspect of Eternity. As one cannot conquer space, or transcend space, by traversing the vast physical reaches of this Universe, which in any case is impossible within the lifetime of a human being, similarly Eternity cannot be thought of as an infinite extension of the time dimension. I believe that as we exist in space and all space is the same, the only way of transcending space is to go beyond space. Similarly, existing in time we have to transcend time and get approach to the Infinite which we call Eternity. I personally believe that this is possible only by going inwards and inwards, and yet inwards, until we become the Being with no space dimension and therefore no time dimension too. Because, after all time and space are mutually inter-dependent. It is for this reason that the Master cannot be located in physical space nor in temporal time but, being beyond both, having transcended both, is one having His existence in a timeless, spaceless Eternity. Of such a Being alone can it be said, "He neither exists nor is He non- existent!" Such a person is invulnerable, precisely for this reason that He cannot be located either in space or in time. The only way to approach such a One is for us similarly to follow the path that He has trod, and to achieve the same state of Being as His. In this process we will become endowed with the Eternal Existence and then, the two being One, there is a fusionless fusion, which we call the Layavastha in Sahaj Marg terminology. To go inwards is the sole purpose of our being because this alone can endow us with the spiritual being which is our goal. Meditation is the only way. Co-operation by way of not allowing ourselves to spread outwards in the external aspects of life is the essential aspect of sadhana. Then the operation of these two factors will bless the abhyasi with approach to the Goal. Otherwise success will surely elude a sadhak, though by the Master's Grace, he may have some crumbs failing to his share from the Master's table. I pray that all may develop the wisdom and the fortitude necessary to pursue the path of evolution with single-minded purpose in this way, so that the goal can be easily achieved. May it be so, by His Grace and Blessings. (Rev. Master's Message given at Basant Utsav - 1990 in Bombay ) |
