LMOIS student trip to Satkhol with Revered Master
The much awaited journey of the Omega School students with their Beloved Master began on 27th May, when Revered Master arrived in Delhi early evening and students from various parts of the country assembled at the R K Puram Ashram . The first class to graduate from Omega School, having passed their Class XII board examinations, there were about twenty-five girls and thirty-five boys to be blessed with this trip to Satkhol.
The next day (28th May) after breakfast, Master left to see the proposed land site for the Delhi Ashram. He really liked the place and found it to be abundantly supplied with water and in an accessible location right in the city. Master's grace overflowed and one felt the foundation had already been laid by him. After returning, he took his lunch and rested during the afternoon.
The following day was Sunday and Master went to the Gurgaon Ashram to conduct satsangh. The hearts of all abhyasis present were illuminated with the divine presence of their Beloved. After satsangh, a few melodious bhajans touched the hearts of everyone. In the evening Master went to the R K Puram Ashram.
On 30th May, all were ready to move to Muradabad. Master's convoy started at 8:00 a.m and arrived at 11:00 a.m. The students were travelling in different buses, and Master was eagerly waiting for all of them to arrive. He asked at regular intervals about their arrival while he sat in the open area along with the assembled abhyasis. He explained the difference between akalmandi and chalaki. Akalmandi does not have choices and is free from selfishness (swarth), whereas in chalaki there are various choices which have selfish ends. In akalmandi we just have one choice and we follow it rightly. After awhile all the students arrived, and the delight on Master's face shone as bright as the sunlight. He asked all to proceed for lunch and take some rest before moving to Rudrapur. Master left for Rudrapur around 3:00 p.m. and arrived at about 6:45 p.m.
The next day, Master conducted the morning satsangh. He sat with the students and then later decided to go to the dining area to have lunch with all the students and other abhyasis. The atmosphere was divine and it was amazing to watch all the students quietly sitting in front of him with their food. After lunch, Master continued to spend time with them answering their questions, offering guidance for their future and occasionally narrating small stories. On being asked, "How should one do the Mission work?" Master replied, "We should not consider any work as our work and differentiate it from Mission work." He said he has never thought any work to be small. "It's like a man while shaving never thinks whether he should shave from the left first or the right. It's natural." He added that we should do what our heart tells us to do. There are four forces pulling us from four different corners – family, society, religion and our desires. We need to cut these forces one by one and then be at the centre following our heart. On being asked, "How do we develop love for the Master?" he replied, "Newly married couples start loving each other immediately after marriage, even though they are born to different parents, not knowing each other before marriage; how is it possible? It's natural. They are not taught."
The next day Master conducted satsangh and then left for Satkhol at 10:00 a.m., arrriving in the afternoon. The weather was very pleasant and serene. In the evening Master sat in the open with abhyasis, answering their questions. He said, "This world is not for enjoyment; we have been given the five indriyas, or senses, to use them to learn, to get information, that is to see, to hear, to feel, to taste and to smell. But instead we use them for our pleasure. Just like we go to school to learn something; how will a child be if he goes for pleasure and not learning? God has given us intellect to show us the direction, and heart to give us the will power to move in the right direction." He continued, "We have come here because we do not have certain qualities which we have come to develop and learn, such as loving, giving and caring. We are born as human beings, but we behave wrongly and then blame the animals, saying things like, "He is barking like a dog." The animals behave in their natural way; that's the way they are. But we blame them by not behaving properly ourselves."
Time and again Master emphasised the need for being disciplined. During informal conversations he said, "There's only one thing in which India is different than the rest of the countries, that is it lacks discipline."
The next day Master conducted the morning satsangh. As the day progressed, the sky opened up, revealing the panoramic view of the Himalayas and attracting all who were gathered there.
The following day, Master solemnized five wedding ceremonies after the morning satsangh. On arriving early in the meditation hall, he modestly said, "This is my work, which I have to do, so I get impatient and come early to the meditation hall." This steered right to our hearts, where we don't even feel the need to be present early enough to welcome our Beloved Master; on the contrary he has to wait for us.
During lunch, Master interacted with abhyasis, laying emphasis on being focused on what we want to achieve. He said, "Even the Vedas are divided into two parts, the Karma Kanda dealing with Bhoutik Jeevan and the Jnana Kanda dealing with higher life, but we need to leave the former to accept the latter. Just like in marriage, a girl leaves her own parents' house to go to her in-laws' house. He said that a man cannot get into the car if he continues to hold the lamp-post with one hand. We have to leave something to get something. Here also, parents should be natural, ahead of their children, and honest so that their children can be something and not have something. Nowadays, parents are always expecting their children to be like their father just because of what he has achieved in his life and not because of what he is. Master insisted on being simple, in tune with nature, that is getting up early, eating simple food and so forth.
The next day Master conducted satsangh and again had to wait for abhyasis to come and get seated. He remarked that we all go for movies half an hour before the show begins, we go to restaurants early, but to satsangh we give the last priority.
In the afternoon, Master left for Rudrapur and on his way he stopped at the Haldwani ashram. The next day Master conducted the morning satsangh and then started for Muradabad mid-afternoon. He stayed there overnight, and the following day after morning meditation and breakfast, he left for Delhi and reached there by 12:30 p.m.
