"If you want total transformation,
without surrender it is not going to be possible."

Sahaj Marg has a revolutionary concept that the individual change alone can ensure the social change of a lasting nature, lasting structure; because ultimately if man's character as the individual is not changed, he is not moralized, made more moral, made an ethical human being, no amount of cosmic clearing by the Mahapurushas (Saints) of the world is going to have any lasting effect. It will be there for the nonce. So let us remember that in the hands of an individual, in the process of self development, in the achievement of his individual goal lies the sole, according to us souls of society, possibility of a future where, even children can walk erect, proud, without being molested.

My Master has taught us that if we are serious about bringing about lasting changes in society, we must apply all our efforts to changing the individuals of which society is after all composed. Society is only an agglomeration of individuals. If one wishes to feed a hundred persons, or a thousand - what goes by the name of mass feeding - one has to feed all of them individually. In the same way, if society is to be transformed, the individuals must first be transformed.

My Master has stated emphatically that there is no other way of bringing about lasting change. All other efforts may bring about some temporary palliation of a situation, but nothing more than that. His clarion call to humanity is that if we want external harmony, we must work upon ourselves to bring about inner harmony within. If we want to live in a nonviolent world where anyone can walk about any time of the day or night without fear of being molested, then we must work upon ourselves and eradicate all the violent tendencies lying buried within us. If we want peace outside, we must first create peace within ourselves, and the more we are able to do this successfully within, the more we see that success mirrored in the external world. The external world is nothing but a mirror image of our inner world. Create within, what you desire to have in the external world. There is no other way. Therefore self-transformation holds the key to social transformation, whether at the level of the small village or of the whole world.

THE PROCESS OF TRANSFORMATION:
It is easy to mistake. For a cowherd to mistake the cows for his own. It is very easy for a mali to think that the garden is his because he is tending them and watering them and cutting them and planting them. The garden belongs to the Master, not to the gardener. The cattle belong to the owner, not to the cowherd. The children belong to God, not to the parents.

When we are able to realise all this with our heart and accept this with our heart, the beginning of humility will come, "I own nothing. I possess nothing. It is all His. Being His, I must look after it as if I am an honest, sincere trustee." Not the modern-day trustee, who only pander to their own, you know, pride and arrogance and ego. "Being a trustee, I must administer this trust faithfully. I must cultivate this garden to perfection. I must look after His children to perfection. Not my perfection, but their perfection. With Love." Then we will see a society, a world which is transformed, because right down the line, from God to the lowermost inhabitant of the nether world, there will be this love pervading through the saptalokas - the seven worlds of creation - and there will be an instant of transformation. In one instant, the whole thing will be transformed.

Spirituality says, "Become men first." Unfortunately today all negative characters of human beings are described as animal tendencies. We should remove from our minds that we have animal tendencies. We have tendencies which are not to be expected of a human being. They should be removed. In spirituality, we call it 'cleaning' - removing the lower tendencies, making a human being into a human being first, cleaning of all his negative tendencies and then putting in that which we must put in, to Divinise him. When all these tendencies are removed from him, the body is still the same old body, there is no change, biological changes don't occur like that - and you put the divine spirit into him, it is as simple as a woman cleaning a kerosene bottle with detergent, making it pure and then using it to buy milk with. A kerosene bottle has been transformed into a milk bottle.

"Upanishad" means - to sit at the feet of the Master. "Just sit at my feet, everything else I do for you." And sit at the feet does not mean physically, but it is an act of surrender - "Master, I am eternally with you. Though physically we are to be separated - we have been separated too." If that closeness to the Master we feel with every core of our being, every moment of our existence, then we find this miraculous transformation, that the pain-filled existence, even in this mortal world, becomes an existence of bliss. Failure becomes a success, misery becomes a transcendental glory and joy, and that which we are seeking and never finding, already exists with us because we are existing with Him, the Giver of all the beneficence.

The ultimate verity of spirituality is, not to do and to achieve and to get and to barter and to give but be with Him. This is the message of the Master. It has always been the message, and we have to only try to put it in practice, not by physical jumping around and by gymnastics, but in our consciousness, we are never separated from the Master. I am always with Him wherever He may be or wherever I may be. And that oneness produces the oneness of being which is His.

If a human being wants to transform himself or herself, he or she has to work upon himself or herself. Therefore we become, number one, the experimenter. We become the person operating the experiment. We are the object of the experiment ourselves. And when we change, we again see ourselves as the changed person that we have become.

What transmission really does? Master said, "It is the utilization of the Divine energy for the transformation of man." The important thing even prior to receiving the transmission seems to be the need to accept the Master. One who does not accept the Master does not seem capable of receiving the very transmission which is designed to transform him. And when does this acceptance of the Master begin? When we see Him, when we move with Him, when we are associated with Him, we grow to love Him, to cherish Him, to adore Him, and the desire comes to be like Him. "In every aspect of His existence I want to be like Him." - this sort of attitude. There seems to be a progressively increasing ability in the transmission of Master to transform us as we go further and further ahead on our spiritual path. In the beginning, it is difficult; In the later stages very easy; at the final stages, as Master said, it is like taking something from here and putting it there; it is so easy.

So it is the duty of every abhyasi of the Mission to create an example, by his actions, by his thoughts, by his deeds, by the way he behaves in society, in his house. So the first need of all of us who are abhyasis of the Mission, is to become living examples of the Master's teachings, even before this transformation can take place; by acquiring this craving; by creating in ourselves this craving to be like Him; because that is the first step in becoming like Him.

MAKE THE INNER TRANSFORMATION MANIFEST:
I don't think any human individual can codify or give rules for conduct; they are so simple to be followed. What is the missing one? Our willingness. Our acceptance of the fact that we have to change. Transformation means total transformation. It doesn't mean only the inner transformation. This is a very convenient way of interpreting transformation, by saying that if the inside is transformed, it is good enough. The outside need not conform to it. Inside transformation benefits us. Outside transformation may perhaps not benefit us, which is a lurking fear in us. We don't want to be straight, we don't want to be moral, we don't want to be above corruption, because we are afraid we may lose our income, we may lose our position in society.

When Master has assured inner transformation and in His benign grace He is prepared to forgive our sins of commission and omission, day after day, why on earth should I be moral? Why on earth should I not be corrupt? This is the question each man is asking himself and finds a very convenient answer in saying, "Yes, my dear friend, go on. Babuji is ever forgiving." Let us no longer live in this fool's paradise. Lalaji was bold enough to write that however high a man may have reached in spirituality, whatever elevation he may have achieved, even to the highest possible extent, if he was immoral, even the breath of spirituality has not touched him. This is the statement of the Grand Master.

So Master expected of us that we would grow out of the childish innocence and become responsible adults to whom the Mission could be entrusted, to whom their personal spiritual growth could be entrusted, to whom the transformation of the external self could be entrusted, because Babuji said, "The inner change I can bring about. The outer is your responsibility." He never undertook the responsibility of outer change. He said, "Behaviour you have to correct; morals and ethics you have to develop. This is your work upon yourself; you know what to do. There is nothing difficult about it." Changing the inner, nobody else can do; it needs a Master.

EXTERNAL CHANGE - OUR RESPONSIBILITY:

This external change, preceptors cannot help you. You have to make up your mind that you will change; you have to make up your mind that you will speak gently; that you develop love in your heart; that you will become soft in nature; that you will be compassionate, friendly, loving. Without these qualities - love, compassion, charity; there is no human being. Otherwise we are subhuman beings. We are only bipedals - two legged animals. So if you want to be known and recognised as human beings, you have to manifest human qualities of love, charity, compassion.

And I cannot afford now to postpone human change, because people are not cooperating with my Master's wish. This is not a warning; this is a request. This is an appeal to women because, without women changing, men will not change. Without women changing, society will not change. Without women changing, India will not change. Without women changing, the world will not change.

So you see, if you want change, don't think government is going to bring about change. No government in this world can change human nature. They can only bring you more drainage, more electricity, a metro and something like amusement parks called science city - that much. Nothing more government can give you. If you want social security, social harmony social peace, you have to create it.

So without this external change, we are doing a big disservice to the Mission, to my Master. Because you are exposing the Master, the Mission, the Method to stupid criticism from people who don't know what spirituality means and to look at the people, how they have changed - the liar is still telling lie; the cheater is still cheating; the money maker is only making money, nothing else. Like a chicken which goes on laying eggs, it does not know why? And if you do not change, we will have less and less abhyasis and more and more critics. Therefore less abhyasis, therefore more critics and ultimately we will end up with only the Master sitting in the easy chair and brooding over. "What is wrong? What have I done wrong? Why is that nobody is here?"

So we have to change. We must be wealthy. There is nothing wrong in wealth. We must be attractive; everything; it is O.K. Nature made us like that. But without inner beauty this will fail. I want to see the inner beauty. And inner beauty must shine in your eyes. The eyes are the windows of the soul; that I wish to see, that you must wish to see.

BEHAVIOUR - THE PARAMOUNT NEED:

The ultimate test of Sahaj Marg and our capacity to use Sahaj Marg, is not in balanced behaviour and all these things, but whether we are able to balance the inner with the outer and create a person who inside and out is the same.

This hiatus between the inside and outside is causing too much anguish to many people who trust the situation, who trust the system, who trust the Master, and yet say, "What is it doing for these people? This man has been practicing for twenty years. This woman has been practicing for fifteen years. All right, because I know the Master and He is a truthful person, I accept what He says about the inner self, but what about the external? The husband is still beating the wife after 20 years of sadhana, he is misbehaving, he is angry, he throws things around, he beats his children. There is no change."

The children say "we are not bothered about the inside. That is his or her problem. If my mother is in Sahaj Marg, it is for her spiritual evolution. Granted that she is having it, but I as a child of the family, expect some change in my mother and some change in my father, but if they are still going to hammer each other, and hammer me in the bargain, what is Sahaj Marg doing really for us?"

Once the children revolt against this system because they don't see any apparent change in their parents, we have lost potential abhyasis and we have lost the ability to serve the next generation. It is very important that those of you who are parents should remember that love is to be also shown in your behaviour. When we speak of love, we want it expressed in some perceptible, tangible form, at least in changed behaviour, in more affection, in more under- standing. And when the parents don't realise this, the responsibility that they have to their children, to show themselves as really transformed persons, not only inside but outside, they are betraying the trust of the younger generation in them.

SUBLIMATE YOUR EGO:

The personal qualities, relate the character formation. If you think it is difficult, it will be difficult. Babuji always said that as long as the ego is strong, it does not let go of the particular character configuration that it has created for its display. In essence, I would suggest that the personality that everyone of us has, is created by the ego. We should not confuse it as something from our samskara.

It is very much like an actor on the stage putting on the clothes, and acting the part of a particular part he has to play. There we know it, there we know we have to act a part for a certain number of hours and then we take off the dress and become our normal selves. Here it is something which is progressively being changed to suit our ego function.

You can see children, when they are born, by the time they are three, they develop a certain pattern of behaviour. Some are soft, some are aggressive, some are supple. At that stage, it is right to say that there is some samskaric background which leads to the aggressiveness of the child. But if it gets reinforced by interaction with its family, with its society, and this sort of personality which we call character, becomes hard, established because the ego finds satisfaction in behaving in such ways.

That is why, character formation, for two reasons, is our business. One because, except for the rudimentary base we bring with us from the past life as a samskara, all the rest is the creation of the ego, which means ourselves. So when we have created, we have to work upon ourselves to destroy it. The second is, not being part of the samskaric pattern, it is not really amenable to removal by the cleaning process.

That is why you find there is a peculiar confusion that people are being cleaned, they receive transmission, the inner change is going on, but outwardly there is no transformation. So our friends do not accept Sahaj Marg. Our relatives do not accept Sahaj Marg. Society does not accept. It is all right for Babuji to say that if you look inside you will find there is almost a saint, but they say, "what of outside? Why is there no change? Should there not be a change outside, patterned on the change within?" It is a legitimate question and a legitimate expectation also, that we should also change in external manifestation of ourselves. That is our responsibility as abhyasis.

SOCIETY EXPECTS TRANSFORMATION :

Our children, our families, our parents, our society has a definite right to expect to see the results of your transformation. After all, when you cook a potato, you expect it to be soft when you touch it. So, should not our society and our families test us also by the progressive softness that we are able to develop as a result of the cooking process in the Sahaj Marg system? I don't think anybody can have a quarrel with this expectation. It only shows that we have not worked upon ourselves sufficiently, perhaps not at all, imagining that because Sahaj Marg tradition gives spiritual benefit inside, change inside, we need not change in our external behaviour. This is a very faulty understanding of the system.

As long as you retain your overt personalities unchanged, untransformed, to parallel or match the inner change, your behaviour continues to be the same. Therefore, the traps of temptation, divergence, deviation, they remain potentially present before us, because we have not changed. We are susceptible precisely because, the behaviour is the same, and it responds to the environment in the same way. What happens is, that you are reinforcing the samskaras, which are being cleaned away by the Master in his immense humility, generosity, kindness, love for us and His problem becomes not out of choice but out of a senseless repetition of the same behaviour because we have not bothered to change our personalities.

So, how to get rid of everything in our personality - good, bad, indifferent? Throw the ego out, and this is what we say in Sahaj Marg, surrender. So, if you want to change your character, transform your personality, become a new person outside, without which there is no success for Sahaj Marg in the external world.

So you see, if there is one way of changing our character, transforming ourselves - inside He does, that is His eternal Grace and we should be eternally grateful to HIM for that - but outside we have to change. God makes a potato but we have to cook it.

So, obedience is a perfect discipline towards perfection of ourselves. He who obeys is the perfect person. Obedience, in the beginning is a very difficult thing because it means subservience of our ego, subjugation of our ego, to a superior person. Therefore the ego rebels. Disobedience always comes by a rebellion of the ego. But people forget that when you are obedient, you have no more responsibility for anything to do or don't do, under His orders. It is the liberation from the world. When I can live and exist and do and not do, according to His wishes and be totally free of every atom of responsibility, what more can you expect by way of liberation? This is the liberation while I am alive. And I am convinced in myself that this is 'Jivan Mukthi.'

"If transformation does not occur in us,
merger is an impossibility."