1. When we assemble to celebrate the birthday of our Master, it is obvious that Master is the centre of our attention. His method has enabled all of us to have him in our hearts and it is he who is perceived through us all. This is made possible by his method of training through Pranahuti. The method in its essence means that a qualified and authorised person who knows the contours of the path assists us in the spiritual path.
2. In traditional methods of training in yoga we observe that after the mantropadesa the aspirant is on his own to move in the path. But in fact self effort does not lead us to higher levels and we end up performing ritualistic worship. Persons who are more unfortunate end up in delusions and illusions of varieties. It should be borne in mind that we should never enter our soul journey unescorted, not because we will lose our way. We need an escort because this journey changes how we perceive our world, how we understand ourself, how we view our own boundary when it comes to love, fear, forgiveness, compassion, and even the size and shape of our reality. We will require at some point a person with whom we can share what it feels like to have familiar illusions evaporate, replaced by sharper drives and instincts. Some days during meditations and in general everything presents as a crisis and on other days we observe it all to be sheer joy and pure ecstasy. In our system our beloved Master asserts that ‘the teacher takes out the hurdles in the progress of the seeker and side by side imparts the divine effulgence in him.’ Thus with such a support we find in the path a spiritual Trainer is an escort on this profound journey into the fearless, mystical domain of our soul.
3. Our spiritual journey progresses from the initial stages of examining who we are through our experiences and personal history to exploring the spiritual possibilities of all that we can become in our lifetime. This is the stage generally called viveka in yoga psychology. We, the content of all we are and all we can be, is the direction we go next on our spiritual path. This is the stage of Atma Jnana. One of the most beautiful ways to understand the essence of Spiritual training is that we enter into a dialogue with the intent of letting our spirit reveal to us the story we are living that is our life.
4. No one is born knowing who they are or what they are meant to do in every moment of their lives. What we are meant to do is search. We must each find our way and along the way, discover who we are, what we believe, what we value, what holds meaning for us and what does not, how to love and whom to love, and whom to love not. We are our own mystery. The journey is a never ending one- amazingly the path is the goal and the goal the path itself. Anant ki Or!
5. Every single experience in life, indeed every moment, is filled with some way to learn yet one more thing about ourselves, to see who we are and how we act or react to the world around us just a bit more clearly. But one of the richest ways we truly come to understand who we are and all that we are is from the darkness of our struggles to the fullness of our gifts. It is through sharing our inner self with another person whose personal calling in life is to serve in the trusted position of a Spiritual trainer. A Spiritual teacher knows what it means to be a sacred witness to another person's life story and to ask the right questions that inspire self-reflection. And a Spiritual trainer knows how to assist you in illuminating the dark night passages that visit everyone's life somewhere along the line.
6. in the system of Rev. Babuji the work gets done through Pranahuti when maximum work is done with minimum words. When proper yielding is there it does not take more than a few minutes for the heart to gain a firm, irrevocable and strong connection with the Master. The introduction in the path is essentially to create an atmosphere of trust and intimacy with the trainer in which we can participate in a quality of silent sharing and stoic spiritual exploration that result in our orienting our spiritual direction and understanding. Our challenges then take a shape not so overwhelming and fearsome and our problems and difficulties are not beyond our inner resources. This is the real viveka that we discern. Or we may find the beginning threads to a quality of faith and prayer we have been seeking for years. That is real devotion that develops. All this is blessings.
7. The spiritual path is not only a winding path where the path ahead is but dimly perceived, it is also a steep path. Further the roads ahead are bumpy and give occasions to fall and falter. The spiritual path is also compared with a stream- a stream of consciousness and the more we try to forge ahead the more we get pushed down. We seek finer states of consciousness and we find ourselves fallen into a deep pit of forgotten stages of consciousness. We think we have crawled above into the stage of utter dependency or Prapatti and we start slipping into the stage of devotion while we are unable to perceive the difference between these states. Traditional lore and revered saints and musicians of the past and present aid us greatly in this confusion. We need, not only a push from below but a pull from above too. To the sensitive aspirant the anguish is far too great and the urgency to come out of the stage categorical imperative. Master states that 'the subtle force is very strong and if an abhyasi tries to go further by his own effort, he is pushed down because he cannot get at the subtle force.’ The trainer alone who knows the path and is always dwelling in the consciousness of Master and who is not in any way different from the Master is the refuge.
8. While the need for a trainer is obvious it is necessary to select the trainer or guide carefully. Master classifies the trainers or gurus into five broad categories: Guru Sifli, Guru Kitabi, Guru Azli, Guru Fazli and Guru Azli Fazli. Therefore in our selection of a trainer or guide or guru we have to be very cautious and highly careful lest we are fooled to the core. We have had occasions to discuss in depth about the gurus and I do not wish to stand in between you and the Master whose precious presence is a matter of our pious and undisturbed attention.
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