CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

 

THE SOLICITUDE OF THE MASTER

 

 

THE RELATIONSHIP of the Master and the disciple is

unique in character and we find no parallel to it on

earth. Still, Saints have tried to make us understand

something of it. While all worldly connections and ties

are more or less tainted by selfishness, the relation

between the Master and the disciple is purely one of

selfless love.

 

Just for the sake of analogy, we may consider the love

of a mother for her child. An infant at birth is just a

mere helpless mass of tender flesh and bones. He cannot

express himself and his needs, nor can he look after

himself, but the mother takes tender care of the tiny piece

of humanity. She attends to his every need and looks

after his comforts. In his happiness lies her happiness

and in his sorrow she feels distressed. Day and night she

tirelessly works for the child's welfare and does not

consider any sacrifice too great. She denies herself

everything so that her child may have all that she can

afford to give and is ready even to lay down her life for

his sake.

 

As the infant grows, he begins to imbibe his mother's

love. The kindly rays of love pass from eyes to eyes. In

mute language he begins his first lessons in love.

Gradually, the toddler is taught to speak, at first in

broken syllables, and the mother's delight knows no

bounds at every success in her endeavors, until he grows

big enough to look after himself.

 

In exactly the same way, when a person is accepted

by the Master he takes a second birth, as it were, into the

Master's house. He comes into the Master's fold full of

worldly attachments and dyed deep in the darkest shades

of mind and matter. He is so identified with his body

and bodily relations that he can never think that he is

something apart from them.

 

With all his worldly wisdom, whatever riches, name

and fame he may have, he is blank in matters spiritual.

Having lived all his life on a sensual plane, he is

conscious of nothing but sense pleasures which are the end

and all for him.

 

With his birth in the Master's house, the Master takes

upon himself an immense load of responsibility. By

individual instructions and attention, he gradually weans

the jiva from sense pleasures. He tells the disciple that he

is neither body nor mind nor intellect, but something more

glorious - soul or spirit - and has been endowed by Nature

with various faculties to serve a high purpose in life.

By spiritual discipline, the Master enables him to free his

mind of mental oscillations. Now he develops a state of

equipoise, and with it he begins to evaluate life from a

different angle. His entire outlook is changed and a

consciousness of spirit dawns in him.

 

He is no longer a slave of his senses engaged in sensual

pursuits, but finds an inner satisfaction, peace and

serenity which keeps him engrossed all the time at the seat

of the very Self. All this is the work of the Master, and

much more besides. To wash clean a jiva from the impurities

of the world is no mean task, but it is absolutely necessary

for a spiritual life.

 

He has to be pulled up from his senses, mind and intellect,

and this no one but a Master can achieve.

 

To stop the course of the mighty rush of sensory currents

flowing headlong into the world, and to hold them at one

center, is a gigantic task in itself. The next job of the

Master is even more important than this.

 

After the preliminary cleansing process, he pulls scales

from the inner eye and gives it vision and Light; and he

breaks the seal on the inner ear, making the jiva hear

the inner music of the soul. By his individual attention

and care he makes an adept out of trash and scrap  -

capable of understanding and enjoying the unspoken

language and unwritten law of God, and of doing actions

without the aid of outer organs and faculties.

 

The Master takes care of the disciple with his own

life impulse.

 

Blessed indeed is the Master, who by his

instructions purifies us through and through.

Satguru cuts asunder all the shackles of the

disciples.

 

As Wordsworth sang of his sister, so a disciple sings of

his Master:

 

She gave me eyes; she gave me ears;

and humble cares and delicate fears;

A heart the fountain of sweet tears,

and love and thought and joy.

 

The Master always saves his disciples, no matter how

dangerous a situation they may be in. His protecting

arms serve as a shield and buckler, and the disciple leads

a charmed life, as it were. The Master does all this

simply because he has taken charge of a jiva; there is no

obligation on the disciple's part, nor does he necessarily

know about it.

 

Again, the Master takes upon himself the burden of

his disciples' sins and iniquities.

 

All thy misdeeds to Him imputed be

And all His righteousness devolved on thee.

DRYDEN

 

He takes in his own hands the entire process of winding

up the karmic impressions of the jiva. Having freed him

from the sensual plane by reversing his sensory current

so that it flows upward, the Master renders him incapable

of sowing any more karmic seeds for future harvesting;

and whatever trespasses he may still commit through

weakness of the flesh, the Master himself gently and

firmly deals with here on earth, leaving no debit balance

to be carried forward. In this way, the account of Kriyaman

karma (present deeds) is settled and squared.

 

Next come the Pralabdha karmas, which determine

what we call fate or destiny, and because of which we

come into the world. The Master does not touch them

and happily the disciple weaves his way through their

spell.

 

Through the compassion of the Lord all trials

and tribulations fly;

Satguru himself saves a jiva from all harm.

 

Last but not least, the Master feeds the jiva with the

Bread of Life and quenches his thirst with the Water of

Life (Naam) until he grows into spiritual adolescence

and is capable of a certain amount of self-reliance. The

touch of the spark of Naam (God-in-Action or the

controlling power of God) burns out the storehouse of

unfructified karma of ages upon ages (Sanchit or

store-house), thus rendering them incapable of germinating

in the future.

 

Satguru keeps his sikh (disciple) on manna

and elixir;

So very kind is the Master to his disciple.

 

I am the bread of life; he that cometh to me

shall never hunger; and he that believeth on

me shall never thirst.

JOHN 6:35

 

The protective care of the Master is much more than

that of a mother for her child. He ever keeps his loving

eyes on his disciple and guards him from all that is

harmful, for his love knows no bounds.

 

As a mother tends her child and ever looks after

him;

Gives him food and nourishment for growth all

around;

So does the Master look after his beloved with

Godly love.

As mother loves the child, and fish the water,

so does Master love his own man.

 

In this respect, distance is of no consequence and it does

not count with the Master. His long and strong arm can

reach everywhere, and his penetrating gaze can pierce

through all space.

 

His hand is the hand of God, and the power of

God works through him.

MAULANA RUMI

 

Wherever a disciple may be, however extreme his outer

circumstances, the Master is always with him and guides

him at every step, for that is his eternal promise:

 

Everyman, I will go with thee and be thy

guide;

In thy most need to go by thy side.

 

A skylark is a pilgrim of the skies, and yet she hatches

her eggs by giving them her whole attention. Similarly,

the Master always keeps his disciple within his gaze,

nurtures him with the Water of Life - the seed of Naam

sown in the seeker's soul - until the spirit is able to

break through the triple-shelled egg (physical, astral and

causal sheaths) and shines forth in her own self-radiance.

 

O Nanak! Master takes care of the disciple

with his, very life impulse;

He keeps him safe in his own hands and looks

after him all the time.

 

Love alone is the cementing force that binds the Master

and the disciple. Through unbounded compassion he

delivers God's message to suffering humanity and prays

that they may be saved from the imperceptible fire in

which all are being consumed.

 

Maulana Rumi says:

 

He calls the people toward the Kingdom of

God;

He prays to God for their forgiveness and

salvation.

 

Satguru is the real friend of the disciple. He saves him

from tense and hopeless situations. He comes to his aid

when he has despaired of all hope and relief, and is

surrounded by seemingly powerful forces arrayed against

him, From time to time the disciple feels the overpowering

influence of the Master working for his good. At times he

works in ways that are difficult for the disciple to

understand. just as a mother waits in the early morning

hours for her sleeping child to awaken, in the same

way, even more anxiously, the Master looks forward

wistfully to the time when his disciple, steeped in deep

ignorance born of matter and mind, will raise his head,

look toward him and gladden his heart.

 

The loving care of the Master becomes more manifest

at the time of the disciple's final leave-taking from the

world. While all his relatives and friends helplessly

wait beside the sickbed, and the doctors declare the case

hopeless, the Luminous Form of the Master appears to

take charge of the departing spirit and guide it to the

new world, to the judgment seat of God.

 

After that, he takes it to whatever region he thinks

best, for further discipline and advancement on the path.

 

Serve the real Satguru and secure tightly the

riches of Truth;

At the last moment he shall come to thy rescue.

He alone is a friend who accompanies me on

my last journey, and stands by me before the

judgment seat of God.

My Master is all in all and the source of all

comforts.

He links me with the transcendent Brahma and

comes to my aid at the last.

 

Maulana Rumi says:

 

O ignorant fool! Quickly take hold of a guide;

for then wilt thou be saved from the horrors

of the beyond.

 

All our worldly ties and connections are of an ephemeral

character. Some leave us in poverty, some in adversity,

some in illness. A few may stay beside us all through

life, but they too fall away at the time of death. But

Satguru is the real friend, who always overshadows the

disciple and keeps his protecting arms around him

wherever he may be. He stands by him at the time of his

death and even goes along with his spirit as a guide to

the other worlds.

 

O Nanak! Snap asunder all ties of the world,

and find some friendly Saint;

World attachments shall leave thee even in life,

while the Other shall stand steadfast unto

death and beyond.

 

A soul awakened to Reality by a Satguru cannot be a

prey to the messengers of death but must go with the

Radiant Form of the Master, which comes to receive it

when it casts off its physical raiment.

 

Kabir Sahib tells us that gold does not rust, nor steel

eaten by worms; so a disciple of the Master, no matter

how good or bad, never goes to hell.

 

Gold attracts not rust nor steel the worms;

The disciple of the Master will never go to hell.

 

The Master is the Master indeed, both in this world and

the next, and helps a jiva in both the worlds. There is

no greater friend.

 

I have taken hold of my Hari; He is my

sustainer and is ever with me.

He is a guardian angel in both the worlds; for

almighty and ever merciful is the Satguru.

I have with me Satguru, who helps me in all

my needs; blessed is the Satguru, who reveals

God to me.

There is no friend greater than Satguru; he is

the Protector, here and everywhere.

 

If and when a jiva comes across a Satguru, he may thank

his God, for the Guru underwrites life eternal for him.

Full of compassion as he is, he unhesitatingly helps him

through difficult situations, and without the least thought

of obligation.

 

Maulana Rumi says of him:

 

Kind hearted and selfless is the friend;

He helps in dire difficulties and hard times.

 

The Guru is pledged to help the helpless. Through sheer

compassion he extends his saving grace to all humanity.

His company is the most beneficial; with Guru by his

side, one may successfully defy millions of enemies.

 

When Guru is thy shield and buckler, millions

of hands cannot strike thee down.

 

Truly blessed are the jivas who have had access to the

charmed precincts of the Satguru, for they have nothing

to worry about here or hereafter.

 

The world bows to him in adoration; regions

divine anxiously await his advent;

For perfect is he who is in touch with the

Perfect.

How very very fortunate are the disciples

who are under the shadow of his holy wings;

in their lifetime and beyond they march

with leaps and bounds on the grand

trunk road of spirituality.