Importance of Celebrations
My Master has said, "A memory, even of reality, is only a memory. It
cannot be reality itself." And if history teaches us anything, it is only
that history itself is a memory of the past. And what we have to do is to
create the future by living correctly in the present. The purpose of spiritual
gatherings is precisely that we meet to bring into the present what should
be in the present, and that is work, work and work. In my understanding of
the spiritual life, there is neither a place for memory nor a place for expectation
of the future. This is the teaching of the Master, who said that we tend to
live in the past or live in the future, but we don't live in the present.
If we wish to honour the memory of the Master, the only possible way is to
live the life as he wanted us to live it, reach the goal which he wanted us
to reach, by practicing the method which he taught us.
I have attended the Basant Panchami celebration at Shahjahanpur as often
as I could. It is the birthday of Lalaji, and the celebration is spread
over three days. I have found that the atmosphere in Shahjahanpur is something
out of this world during those three days. It is quite different from the
normal atmosphere. Master confirmed this. He said, "You will not find this
atmosphere when the Utsav is over. I tell you, during those three
days it is as if a blanket or covering is put over this house. And at the
end of the celebration, Lalaji seems to catch one corner of the blanket
and whisk it off. It is a divine atmosphere during those three days. It
is Lalaji's grace. It is so pure and so highly spiritual, it is like living
in another world."
My Master said it is like bathing in the most fragrant and cool waters
of a sarovar(lake), which makes possible a spiritual renewal of the
abhyasi bathing in it, indeed drowning in it, if that can be made possible.
"What is the use of coming out of such a sarovar? One who comes out
of it may be definitely cleaner and cooler too. But it is the one who drowns
in it, who continues to enjoy the bliss of immersion in it!"
This Utsav is one such sarovar for us, and those who come
to participate in it must not go back. Their bodies may play their part
in continuing the stream of existence which is mundanely called 'life,'
but the inner being must remain ever immersed in the bliss, the purity,
the eternity of the sarovar which is what the spiritual bhandaras,
the spiritual gatherings, should be.
We are coming to the concluding part of a most auspicious, most spiritually significant and what is most important, a most spiritually elevating and ennobling experience that has been the substance and the essence of these three days that we have been together here, where we have tried to offer our humble homage at the Holy feet of our Divine Master by celebrating his birthday. Such occasions are extremely important: and when we come to such celebrations of unbelievable spiritual magnitude, importance and value, it is essential that we understand how we should comport ourselves, how we should behave generally, what should be the way of life that we should adopt not only during these three days but throughout the rest of the year so as to draw from the Master, the very essence of existence itself which Master calls 'Life in Life!'
So I personally consider these celebrations as something of a retreat into
ourselves where we establish contact, through Master with the inner essence,
with His own inner essence which he has implanted in us and thereby seek
and receive the spiritual revival, the Grace. His wisdom-filled illuminating
words help us to carry on for the rest of the year till we come again for
the next Utsav.
Such auspicious celebrations are therefore designed to expose the abhyasis to the divine atmosphere of His presence, so that we immerse ourselves in it, never to come out of it again. I pray to my Divine Master, Babuji Maharaj, to bless one and all with such a consummation. |
