Agriculture Tills the Soil - Spirituality Cultivates the Mind

My purpose in being here is to talk about our spiritual evolution in a manner that is simple and natural. In so doing, I would like to mention some similarities between the growth of food grains and the growth of man from an untamed animal into a divine being.

When we want to grow grain, we must begin with a suitable field for its growth. That is, the land we intend to use must contain the proper soil conditions for grain. Similarly, when we want to grow into divine beings we must have a suitable field for our growth. The field of divinity within the human being is the heart, so we must have a heart which is suitable for the growth of divinity. If the heart is hard like bedrock or barren like the desert, it will only sprout selfishness and loneliness. Instead, we need a heart that is soft and warm like the soft warm soil of a fertile plain, waiting for the seeds of divinity to be sown and cherished within. But in almost every one of us there has developed some coldness and hardness in the heart.

How can this field be made more suitable for growth? What is the instrument that could perform such a task? It is the mind that will accomplish this transformation, but only a mind that is in a state of balance. One that has the will power to shatter the boulders, and the sensitivity to awaken the love in our hearts! For such a mind we must seek a capable Master who is able to properly prepare this field of the heart to receive the seeds of divinity. By his will power, he pulls out the grossness and impurities from our hearts, and by his love he softens and warms our hearts, thereby creating a perfect environment for the growth and blossoming of divinity. After preparing the field of the heart, he sows the seeds of divinity within by the process of yogic transmission, or pranahuti.

When you grow wheat, you must choose seeds of a variety that will suit the soil, climatic conditions, and growing season, and that will give you the largest harvest possible. Similarly, with your evolution, you must choose the type of seeds that you want to take into your heart and nourish there. In the West, we have the example of people taking in the seeds of materialism and nourishing these seeds with their thoughts and actions. What is the outcome? Materialism has led to greediness and selfishness, with everyone wanting more than their neighbours. To get more wealth, fame, and power, people have begun to lie and cheat each other, until the idea of sharing and loving has become quite foreign to most. They are continually dissatisfied. Their wants are never fully met because their wants are unlimited, while supplies are limited. Their lives become full of frustration at not getting what they want and fear that someone will take what they already have.

Here, in India, we find people still nurturing the seeds of caste prejudice and wondering why they have so few friends, or so few possibilities for employment when, by adhering to their caste prejudice, they are eliminating ninety-five percent of the population from their fellowship. We also find people nurturing the seeds of siddhis (powers), spending the productive years of their lives performing rigid austerities and rituals so they can develop some miracle-working capacity to please their egos and take them to the position of guru-dom, thus ensuring their wealth and fame. Instead of coming closer to God, they are turning their backs on Him and worshipping the 'I' that has developed those powers.

The seeds we need to nourish are the seeds of Universal Love, the seeds of Divinity, free from all materialism and intellectualism, prejudice and egoism. Where do we find such seeds? We find them in the hearts of Saints who have themselves risen high above the bondages of this world and who have the ability to plant these seeds in our hearts by the process of transmission. The company of Saints-satsangh, as it is called-is therefore a prime requisite for our spiritual development. Such great souls divert the flow of pious and selfless atoms or divinity of divinity into our hearts, filling us with peace and quieting the overactive, restless mind. Their continued company nourishes the seeds they have planted within us until we blossom into divine beings, in complete harmony with nature, displaying God in every word and deed.

Our practice is called Sahaj Marg, or the natural path. Through the process of transmission, or pranahuti, we are continually being fed with prana-the very life force which vitalizes and divinizes our whole system. This transmission not only plants the seeds of divinity and nourishes them to fruition, but pulls out the weeds by their roots and protects the field from being over-run with mutant strains, such as unnatural miracle-working abilities.

The nourishment of a wheat crop is left to God, using the instruments of the sun and rain. In spirituality, God also nourishes the crop, using the instrument of the Master who is one with the Almighty: A capable Master prepares the field, plants the seeds, and then nourishes and protects them until we reap the harvest of Realisation. Before we accept someone as our Master, we should listen carefully to the judicious opinion of Swami Vivekananda: "It is raja yoga alone that can successfully lead a man up to the highest level of approach, and none but one having the capacity to apply his own internal powers through pranahuti is fit for being a guide or Master."

I would like to point out a basic difference between agricultural practices and spiritual development. What happens when we till the soil? The blades of the tiller dig deep into the earth so that the organic material on top is buried underneath, thus becoming humus, which rots and provides food for the crop to be seeded. Foliage and stubble give their nutrients back to the field to feed the next crop in the cycle. What happens when a similar practice is applied to the mind, as it often is in Western psychology and psychiatry? Vicious thoughts, fears, and desires are buried within by defence mechanisms or by sense-numbing tranquillisers. There they vegetate for a while, becoming more tenacious in their hold on the individual, and once again come to the surface of the waking consciousness, trying to overpower the individual, who has become weaker by the strain of keeping them repressed for some time. What we need is a method to let these thoughts and fears leave without making any impression on us.

The spiritual practice of Sahaj Marg offers a natural way of cultivating the mind to its proper state of balance. When we cultivate a field, the forks of the cultivator scratch the soil only deep enough to pull out the weeds and expose their roots to the heat of the sun, which fries them. We then harrow the field to rake off the charred remnants. In our practice of Sahaj Marg, the mind is not overturned, but instead, the surface is touched just enough to pull out the weeds of desires and fears so the divine force in the transmission can fry their roots. Afterwards, the impotent remnants leave on their own accord during meditation and cleaning, having lost their ability to hold on to us. In this way, the mind is purified, as is the heart, and the two begin to work together in harmony with the divine will. We feel lighter all over, and the problems and vexations we meet in our daily affairs are no longer a burden to us but are forgotten as quickly as they are dealt with. The intellect awakens, the heart fills with love, and we see and feel Divinity pervading all over.

The Sahaj Marg practice of raja yoga under the guidance of the living Master will give you the highest approach, in the most natural way, in the shortest time. It is doing so for me and for all other sincere seekers of reality who are applying themselves with will, faith, and confidence.

I pray that these words may sufficiently awaken your interest so that you will want to try the practice for a month or two. I am confident that your own experiences on the path will prove to you the efficacy of our system. For, as the Masters of Sahaj Marg teach us, we can only evaluate a system by the personal experience of its practical application. How can you describe the taste of wheat to someone who has not tasted it, except to say that it is sweet? To know its taste, you must eat it yourself.

Don Sabourin began Sahaj Marg meditation in Vancouver, Canada in 1973. He visited Babuji several times over the next ten years, even acting as his nurse when Babuji fell ill in 1974. He was very active in the Mission: as Centre-in-Charge for Canada for several years, as part of the Publishing Committee producing several Mission books, and giving many talks and writing articles on the Sahaj Marg system.

When not in India, Don was a naturopathic physician with a practice in Vancouver. In 1994, he and his wife moved to Manapakkam, next to the Headquarters Ashram, to be with the living Master, Chariji. He lived there until his death in 1997.