My Hearty pranams to all of you. Today’s topic of the seminar is very thought provoking. I was contemplating as to why Master had said that we have to be lion hearted if we want to approach Reality. Then the understanding was coming slowly that unless we are bold and courageous like a lion we cannot proceed on the Natural path and achieve our Goal. Like a warrior who fights in the war field with courage keeping his goal in view inspite of all the obstacles coming in the way, Similarly an aspirant in the path of spirituality should also be like a warrior with lion hearted to approach reality. A coward cannot sustain in the path for a longer period. Generally what are the aspects and conditions which an aspirant has to face with courage in the process of achieving its goal like that of a lion? The following points were coming to my understanding?
1. Firstly he should be prepared to get transformed. To become a real man is the purpose of human life. To be called as a human being a person should possess qualities of satya, ahimsa, asteya, aparigraha and brahmacharya. One may have to face lot of difficulties to speak truth in this world which is dominated by asatya. By speaking truth we may become enemies to some persons we may be hurting their feelings we may not be liked by many. But inspite of all these can we speak truth? It requires courage. However it is possible for the practicants of PAM to live a truthful life, because Master is with us always as our strength.
2. As we can see from the Emblem of our Institute the arrow mark near the bottom of the emblem is the present place of existence. It is the sphere of forms, rituals, and practices of various types. When we have to proceed on the Natural path we have to come out from this sphere of forms and rituals. One has to be lionhearted to come out of these attachments since these are being followed since several years. On some occasions people try to influence us by their emotions and sentiments and try to divert our attention by telling us that something untoward may happen if we are stopping idol worship stop following rituals etc., Even during such occasions we should be bold in taking decisions and say ‘NO’ to things that come in our spiritual way. In the bargain we may loose our relationships, friends etc., But we should remember that our Master is more than any one.
3. Generally the understanding of the common folk is that God is worshiped for fulfillment of their mundane desires and he is worshiped for protecting us from miseries and pains. When it happens in contrary the faith is likely to be shaken. In the system of Natural path our Master clearly explains that miseries, sufferings, pain and afflictions are the results of our own making. Our true condition is to be an absolute dependent expression of the Divine. Only when this is understood correctly we can easily accept miseries since whatever we get it is for our good. This understanding comes to the practicants of PAM gradually and they also acquire required courage to face such situations with Master as our strength. In the above message Master has said that ‘men are made so in Natural path’.
4. In a war field the warrior fights with enemies to achieve success. In spiritual field our enemies are our ego, pride, jealousy, prejudice, self centeredness and many such. To fight and get rid of these enemies is a continuous struggle within. In the process we may have to face lot of humiliation, frustration etc. To present our self truly to our trainers also requires lot of courage. But until we come out of these lower tendencies we cannot progress on the path. Our Revered Sir many times mentioned to us that we should explain our problems to our trainers clearly so that he can do the required help. But many a times it is found that we are lacking courage in this respect.
5. In the aspect of attachments. We are so much attached to our family friends and many other persons in the society that we find it difficult to get rid of these attachments. Master had explained to us that we have to be like a trustee with due attachment. The problem is we are many times unduly attached not only to persons but also to the possessions we have acquired. For the progress on the spiritual path one has to get rid of all undue attachments and get attached to Master only since one cannot move on with all his belongings. A lion’s heart is surely required in this regard.
6. As a part of spiritual training many times we are corrected by our trainers and guide in harsh ways. We are totally shaken and perturbed. In this aspect I have understood that though it is difficult to face such situations we have to accept them because it is for our good it happens otherwise what can be the reason for them to be harsh. Hence one has be lion hearted and should not get withdrawn and slowdown in sadhana.
7. We should have our goal clearly in our view. Till such time we reach we should not rest or mind any difficulties, obstacles coming in the way. Problems or difficulties we have in different situations come and go. This is an experience of every one of us. But still we have to move on with a lion heart. Life stories of our beloved Masters are the standing examples for us to follow. In spite of so many difficulties they have faced they have sacrificed their lifes for the spiritual wellbeing of the coming generations by blessing us with a system like PAM which is suitable for a modern man to practice. In this connection we should recollect Masters words in the above message “The Natural Path did not arise accidentally. It was given graciously to mankind waiting in eager expectations. The Natural Path adopts natural ways for God realization”(page 22 of SDG).
8. Our system is a scientific system. We all should be confident and courageous to speak about the system to others. However we should equip ourselves by practice and reading the literature published by our Institute.
In the message’ Craving of the soul’ (page 136 SDG) last paragraph, Master mentions that” one lion is better than hundred sheep”. From this sentence also it is clear that Master wants lions in His organization.
These are some of the ideas that have come to me on contemplating on the topic of the seminar. Kindly pardon me for any mistakes.
