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Aspects of Faith (Cont'd)
Faith in yourself: Master has said time and again that
when you do something right, you cannot have a wrong result. That is
against the Laws of Nature. So right action must be followed by right
results: right action must be preceded by right thought: right thought
must result in right endeavours to the proper orientation of the Goal
and in such a person, with such powers, with a marga (way) like
this, which our Master has given us tailor-made - everything has been
made for us - He has left the way for us. He has tailor-made the system
for us, the literature exists for us, the preceptors are there for our
service. Therefore the word failure should be erased from the dictionary
of spirituality, at least as far as Sahaj Marg goes. The very idea of
failure is repugnant. It cannot be, because it casts aspersions for
the effectiveness of the way, the abilities of the Master and the effectiveness
of the powers that He has used in creating these things for us.
So, any lack of faith is only a lack of faith in ourselves. We cannot
by any means, by any stretch of imagination, have lack of faith in the
Master. It only means we have no faith in ourselves; and essentially
it is also the same spiritually, because when you say 'He is in my heart'
and I don't believe in myself, I don't believe in Him too. So this is
another aspect of the situation and that I would like to place before
you all, that whenever we doubt somebody else, we are really doubting
ourselves. So let us make up our minds that, this way shall exist for
ever. It is for the Master to promise: it is for us to make that promise
come true. As every seed has within it the promise of life, of unfoldment
of that life, of fruition of the possibilities contained in that seed,
but yet if that seed is not planted, well watered and looked after until
it is a tree and it can give fruit, the promise remains a mere promise.
So I don't believe in some of the sententious statements that Master
has said so and therefore it will be. Master has said so… therefore
it can be. The realisation of these possibilities, the actualisation
of Master's promise to us, the achievement of the goals, of the levels
of 'being' that He has outlined for us, is very much in our hands. Please
don't misunderstand me as saying that there is something lacking in
the Master's efforts.
Faith in the Master: The important factor of a spiritual
life is faith in the Master, for the help of a capable master is indispensable
for higher spiritual attainments. He is the only medium through whom
the divine impulse comes to an aspirant. It is, therefore, but essential
that the guide we select should be one of highest capability and practical
attainments. To judge the real worth of the guide we must associate
with him for some time trying and testing him by all means in our power.
When we are thus convinced of his capabilities through reason and experience
we may accept him as our Master and submit to his guidance. If we disregard
this principle we are likely to be deceived in our judgement. We must
never follow any one blindly having been attracted towards him by his
outward imposition and display of knowledge. For proper judgement of
the true merits of a man we must take into account his practical attainments
in the spiritual field. We must seek in him the real thing, we crave
for.
When we are thus convinced, we naturally begin to feel an inward attraction
for him and think him to be the very person who can shape our destiny.
The feeling gradually develops into faith and we begin to love him.
We submit to his views with due regard to his personality and proceed
along the path under his guidance. The experience of achievements gained
during the course convinces us further of the extraordinary capacities
of the master and we begin to look upon him as a superhuman being. Our
faith now is greatly helpful to us in our spiritual progress. It dispels
clouds of doubt and uncertainty and removes difficulties and obstructions
from our path.
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