Preface

In our philosophy, love, devotion and surrender play a most significant role. When I say love, I mean divine love. When I speak of devotion, I am referring to divine devotion and not to human attachment. And the surrender I speak of is not human surrender to a superior power, which is done out of fear, but divine surrender, which is offered out of pure love and devotion.

I wanted our journey to start with love and then continue. While continuing, I thought that devotion would develop and further down the road surrender would come. But now I see that before love even enters into the picture, there should be something else. That something else is called obedience.

At one time I thought that if you loved someone, then automatically devotion and surrender would come. But now I see that even to love someone is the most difficult thing on earth. Permanent love is extremely difficult, while unconditional love is out of the question. Nobody can love somebody else unconditionally unless he or she is God-realised.

So now I am saying that obedience has to come first. I am starting our philosophy with one more step. If there is cheerful obedience, then love, devotion and surrender will follow.

Guru Nanak's best disciple

The founder of Sikhism was Guru Nanak, a very great spiritual Master. Nanak accepted the world and became part and parcel of the world, but he was never bound by the world. He was in the world and for the world, but not of the world.

Guru Nanak had quite a few disciples. Some of them were obedient to him to some extent, while others were completely disobedient. Guru Nanak also had two sons and a daughter. The two sons were disobedient to the extreme. What a wonderful fate he had!

Guru Nanak had a vast plot of land where he performed the work of a farmer. One day he cut some grass and arranged it into four or five bundles. Since he was very advanced in years, he asked his sons to carry the bundles of grass to his house.

Both of his sons simply refused. They said, "No! We are your sons. It is beneath our dignity to do that kind of labour. We will not do it." Guru Nanak then turned to one of his disciples and asked him to carry the bundles. This particular disciple had once upon a time been very, very rich. At one time, he had also been married with children. He had given up everything — his family and his material life — in order to practise the spiritual life.

This particular disciple was so happy that his Guru was asking him to carry the bundles of grass. Very cheerfully, he put them on his shoulders and began walking to his Guru's house.

When Guru Nanak's sons saw this, they said, "You came from a rich family. Why do you have to work like a coolie? It is beneath your dignity."

The disciple replied, "No! If I want to please God, if I want to achieve something for God on earth, then obedience to my Guru must come first. At one time I had everything on the material plane, but I didn't have my Guru's blessings and love. That is what I need most. I don't need anything else."

He continued on his way, cheerfully carrying the bundles of grass to Guru Nanak's house, and Guru Nanak was very, very pleased with him.

On another occasion, in the middle of the night, it started raining heavily. The village was struck by a very severe hurricane, and one of the walls of Guru Nanak's house was completely blown away. That wall happened to be part of the room where Guru Nanak was staying. He had a few rooms in his house, but for some reason he wanted to stay in this particular room. So he immediately woke up his sons and asked them to come to his room and fix the wall.

They both said, "You are crazy to ask us to come at this hour! It is raining heavily and the storm is still raging. Besides, it is not our job to fix walls. We know nothing about it. Tomorrow morning, we shall ask the masons to come and do it."

Guru Nanak thought of the disciple who had carried the bundles of grass. He sent for him and asked him to fix the wall. This disciple knew nothing about fixing walls because he had been wealthy for most of his life, but he said to himself, "My Guru has asked me to fix his wall. I have to do it!"

The poor fellow started fixing the wall. It took him some time, but finally it was done. When Guru Nanak inspected the wall, he said to the disciple, "It is not done to my satisfaction. Break it and try again!"

Without any hesitation, the disciple broke the wall and tried again. Meanwhile, Guru Nanak's two sons were watching the scene. When the disciple had finished fixing the wall for the second time, Guru Nanak again found fault with it: "Here is a mistake; there is a mistake. I don't like it at all. Break it and start again!"

So the disciple broke it and started again. Like this, three or four times the disciple built the wall, and each time his Guru said he was not satisfied.

Guru Nanak's sons began to laugh at the disciple: "How many times are you going to do this? Our father is crazy for asking you to do this kind of thing, and you are crazy for listening to him. It is not your job. Tomorrow morning we will send for the masons and they will fix it to our father's satisfaction. We are giving you sound advice."

The disciple patiently answered them, "No matter how many times it takes, I will keep on trying to please my Master, my Guru."

The disciple was prepared to build the wall again and again, but after he had completed the wall for the seventh time, his Master said, "Now I am satisfied. You have really pleased me with your obedience. You could have been annoyed at me. But no, you kept on sincerely trying to please me. You are truly my best disciple by virtue of your obedience."

Commentary

Obedience is of paramount importance. In the beginning, we call it obedience. But when our inner being comes to the fore, when our mind, vital and entire physical consciousness are awakened to the Light — at that time we see that obedience is nothing other than our complete oneness with our own highest Self. Our lower self is ignorant; it knows only disobedience and revolt. But once our lower self is awakened to the Light, then there is no longer any question of higher or lower. At that time, there is only oneness. The unillumined self becomes one with the illumined Self and is no longer unillumined.

It is like the mind and the feet. Let us say the mind represents our higher part and the feet represent our lower part. When our mind asks our feet to help us walk and the feet obey the mind, at that time there is no separation between the two. We do not see our mind as higher than our feet. We see both of them as integral parts of our body, and we see both of them playing their respective roles in making it possible for us to walk.

Unfortunately, when people hear the word "obedience", immediately they revolt. When your Master asks you to do something, he is only bringing you messages from your own soul. If those who call themselves my disciples can have obedience to their own souls, then all their problems and all my problems will be solved.

The scholar and the thief

A great scholar, an intellectual giant, read in a book that one can achieve happiness and perfection in life only if one has a genuine, living spiritual Master. The scholar said, "I have read so many books, but I have not been able to become happy. So let me look for a spiritual Master."

He wanted to find a spiritual Master who would be absolutely perfect in every way. He went to one spiritual Master, but saw that the spiritual Master was wearing glasses. The scholar said to himself, "Look at this! I don't need glasses and he does. What kind of perfection is that? I don't need this spiritual Master!"

He went to another spiritual Master and asked the Master something. The Master bent over and cupped his ear. The scholar thought, "O my God, that means his hearing is bad. I don't need this Master either!"

Then he went to see another spiritual Master, but this one he felt was too old. He said, "This spiritual Master is so old he can't even move. How can I accept him as my Master?"

Like this, he went from one Master to another. People would tell him that this Master or that Master had reached the highest height. But because he was using his mind, he saw only imperfection in them. Each time he came to the conclusion that he was more perfect than the Master he was visiting. He was feeling very miserable because he could not find a suitable Master.

One day, after he had eaten his evening meal, his wife said to him, "Why are you so sad?"

He replied, "I have read that you can be happy only if you have a spiritual Master. I have visited so many Masters whose disciples have said they were great, greater, greatest. But each one has such deplorable defects. I feel I have more perfection than they do! I don't think I will ever find a Guru. That means I will never have happiness in this life. What am I going to do?"

His wife asked, "Does it make you happy to feel you are more perfect than these Masters?"

The scholar said, "No, I am not happy. I go to them for happiness, but when I see them, I just become more miserable."

His wife said, "It is because you are looking for perfection in your own way. All right, I have an idea. Tomorrow night after our evening meal, let us go to the edge of the forest and wait. The first person you see is the one whom you have to accept as your Master."

The scholar said, "I have failed in all my efforts to find a Master. So I will try your way. Whomever I see first, I will take as my Master."

His wife said, "You have to keep your promise. Otherwise, you will spend the rest of your life looking for a Master and you will never get one. It will just go on and on."

The husband agreed. So the following evening they went to the edge of the forest and waited. After some time, they saw a man passing by. He seemed to be in a terrible rush. The wife pointed to him and said, "There is the one you have to accept! He is your Guru!"

The scholar called out to the stranger, "Stop, stop! I have to ask you something!" But the man had no time to speak to the scholar, and he started running away. The scholar, who was very strong, just grabbed him. The man shouted, "I can't wait. I have to go!" He was in a great rush because he happened to be a thief and he was running away from a robbery. But the scholar was stronger than the thief was, and the thief thought that he had been caught for his crime.

The scholar said, "I want you to be my Guru."

The thief could not believe his ears. He said, "No, no, I cannot be your Guru. I am such a bad person. I am a thief. I am running away from a robbery I committed. When you stopped me, I was afraid that you were going to take me to the police. So please, please allow me to go away from here!"

The scholar begged him, "No, you have to be my Guru!"

The thief thought for a few moments and then said, "If I become your Master, then are you going to obey me?"

The scholar immediately said, "Yes, I will obey you at any cost."

The thief said, "In that case, I will be your Master. Now what I want you to do first is to close your eyes."

The scholar closed his eyes.

"Now grab your ears and hold them firm — like this." Again the scholar obeyed.

"Now I want you to kneel down and stay like this until I come back. Since I am your Master, you have to listen to me. For the disciple, obedience comes first!" Then the thief ran away.

The wife was so miserable, but what could she do? The Guru had said that her husband had to kneel down, keep his eyes closed and hold onto his ears until the Guru came back. So the man remained there all night in the same position.

Meanwhile, the thief had forgotten all about the man and was leading his own life. The following day he went out to steal again, but this time he was caught by the police and the judge sentenced him to jail. So the thief was feeling very miserable.

The great scholar was also feeling miserable. He was suffering like anything, but he would not disobey his Master by getting off his knees or leaving that place.

In Heaven, Lord Vishnu was feeling miserable that this was happening. So he appeared in front of the scholar with all his luminosity and said, "I am the Lord; I am everybody's Guru. Now I am asking you to let go of your ears and open your eyes so you can see who I am. You don't have to go through any more austerities." The scholar said, "Oh no, I am not going to listen to you. My Guru has asked me to stay like this until he returns. So that is what I am going to do."

Lord Vishnu said, "But I am God! I am your Guru; I am your Guru's Guru; I am everybody's Guru."

The intellectual giant repeated, "I am not going to listen to you!"

"But you are suffering!" Lord Vishnu said.

The man replied, "I am suffering, true. But still I have to wait for my Guru to come."

Since the man would not listen, Lord Vishnu appeared to the court judge that night in a dream. The judge was very happy that such a beautiful, luminous Being had come to him. The luminous Being said, "I have given you so much joy, so much light. Now, can you not do something for me? Can you not release this particular thief whom you have just put in jail?"

The judge said, "You have given me so much joy. Definitely I will do it."

The following day the judge released the thief. He said to the thief, "You may go free, but don't steal anymore." Then Lord Vishnu himself appeared before the thief and said, "That disciple of yours is not listening to Me. Please go and stand in front of him and release him. I will give you joy and illumination."

The thief went to the edge of the forest, where the disciple was still kneeling, and said to him, "Your Guru has come. Look, I am here! Open your eyes and release your hands!"

By that time Lord Vishnu had illumined the thief. The intellectual giant, who was now also a spiritual giant, opened his eyes and fell at his Master's feet. Then he too received illumination.

Commentary

God is in everybody. No matter whom you have faith in, God will be able to help you in and through that person. In this case, the disciple received illumination from a thief. God in His own transcendental Form, as Lord Vishnu, could not illumine this fellow, but God was able to offer him illumination in and through a thief. God was not jealous that He could not illumine the scholar; He did not feel sad or miserable. All God cares for is our illumination. If He can illumine us in and through this person or that person, then He is happy.

This story shows us that obedience is of paramount importance. If you obey your Master, no matter how imperfect he may be, then the Absolute Lord Supreme will be able to illumine you and fulfil you in His own Way. Start your spiritual journey with obedience. If you have obedience, then the day will come when inside your obedience you will also find divine love. And if you have divine love, then devotion and surrender to the Supreme will also follow.

The day you accept your Guru, something inside you tells you to obey him, to love him and to fulfil him. On that day you become one with your soul and you make a promise to yourself that you will listen to your Master. Your Master does not promise that he will listen to you. No, no! When the student accepts a teacher, the student agrees to listen to the teacher. It is not the other way around.

Some disciples want to change the story. Some disciples are constantly expecting and demanding things from their Master. They feel that they know more than he does. Because of this, they think that the Master is obliged to listen to them. But God Himself does not want to change the story. He wants the story to continue just as He began it. God wants the spiritual Master to teach the disciples, because the Master does know a little more than his disciples do.

If you have the inner strength to obey your Master, you will be the happiest person. When your Master asks you to obey him, he is not asking you to listen to the human in him. Far from it! He is not like a football player who wants to kick the ball to this side or that side. He is only offering you the messages that he is getting from Above, from our Beloved Supreme, who is my Guru, your Guru, everybody's Guru.

When we speak of obedience, what we actually mean is that our own higher existence, which the spiritual Master represents, has to illumine our lower existence, our doubting mind and rebellious vital. The owner of the house comes down from the third floor to the basement, and while descending he turns on the light switch on each floor. Then the whole house becomes illumined. This is how our spiritual illumination takes place.

King Shivaji returns to his fort

You have heard about the Taj Mahal, which was built by King Sajahan. Sajahan's son was Aurangazeb. Aurangazeb was very bad. He killed all his brothers, put his father into prison and did many other terrible things. Then, towards the end of his life, he repented.

Once Aurangazeb invited King Shivaji, the great King of Maharastra, to come to his palace. King Shivaji accepted because he did not want to appear to be afraid of Aurangazeb. When he arrived with his son, the two of them were arrested and put into prison. King Shivaji and his son escaped in a fruit basket and began making their way back to their own kingdom disguised as religious mendicants.

After quite a few days of walking, they reached a fort that belonged to King Shivaji. It was King Shivaji's order that the fort remain closed from sunset to dawn. No matter who came to the fort, the guard was not allowed to open the gate.

When King Shivaji and his son reached the fort, the guard knew perfectly well that it was King Shivaji and his son, who had come back after so many months, and he knew what kind of ordeal they had gone through. Still he would not open the gate.

The guard went to the roof of the fort and tied one end of a rope to a post. Then he climbed down the rope to the ground. As soon as he touched the ground, he fell at King Shivaji's feet, crying and embracing him.

King Shivaji was also crying because he was so proud that the guard was carrying out his order not to open the gate. King Shivaji and his son waited outside the fort until daybreak, even though the guard had the key.

The disciple proves his obedience

'Yoga' is a Sanskrit word that means union. A Yogi is one who has established his union with God, who has united his will with God's Will. Once you establish your oneness with God's Will, you automatically acquire certain powers. These powers can be either occult powers or spiritual powers. Usually occult powers you get before you get spiritual powers.

There was once a great Yogi. This particular Yogi had the capacity to fly in the sky, to walk on water and to live on practically no food. Every day he used to go from door to door, begging for food. When he saw that the amount was quite sufficient for him for the day, he would stop begging. This went on for years. At that time he did not care to have disciples.

One day he came to the house of a rich family to ask for food. He did not have the slightest idea whether the owners of the house were rich or poor. The lady of the house gave him most delicious food, which she had prepared herself.

He saw that the lady was very sad and depressed, so he asked, "Mother, why are you so sad today?"

She answered, "I am not sad only today. I have been sad for a long, long time."

"Why?" the Yogi asked.

The lady told him, "I am not being blessed with a child, and I desperately would like to have at least one child."

He said, "It is such a simple matter."

"Simple?" the lady asked.

"Yes," answered the Yogi. "I will give you a small quantity of ashes. Just swallow them, and in the course of time you will have a child."

The lady was deeply impressed. After the Yogi had taken her food and left, she went to her neighbours and told them what the Yogi had said.

Her friends all laughed and laughed at her, saying, "These Yogis are nothing but rogues. How can you trust this man?"

The neighbours threw doubt into her, and she lost faith in the Yogi. So instead of swallowing the ashes, she threw them into a huge pile of hay. Twelve years later the same Yogi came to that particular house and once again asked for food. When the same lady came to give him food, the Yogi said to her, "Mother, how is your child doing?"

She replied, "My child? When did I have a child?"

He said, "You wanted to have a child, and I gave you some ashes to swallow."

The lady explained, "Oh, my neighbours said you Yogis are all rogues, so I didn't swallow the ashes."

The Yogi started laughing: "What did you do with them?"

"I threw them away." Then she showed him the huge pile of hay where she had thrown the ashes. The Yogi went there and lifted up the hay. Underneath the hay was a very beautiful 12-year-old boy seated in a meditative posture. He was meditating and breathing quite normally.

The stupid lady wanted to claim the boy as her own, but the Yogi said, "No!" The little boy followed the Yogi and went to live with him.

The Yogi trained the young boy in the spiritual life. When the boy was still of a very tender age, the Master was able to give him occult and spiritual powers. The Master was very pleased with the boy, but he wanted to see how much devotion and obedience the boy had. If you have pure devotion, then to have obedience is as easy as drinking water. But when devotion is missing, it is extremely difficult to have obedience.

One day the Master took his young disciple with him to beg for food. At one house a family was holding a festival and had made a most delicious meal. Hundreds of people were eating. The Master and the disciple were quite hungry and they ate voraciously; they were very, very pleased with the food.

The following day the Master sent the young boy to the same house, telling him, "Go and bring from that family the same kind of food that they gave us yesterday; it has to taste most delicious."

The young man went to the house and said to the lady, "Please, my Master has sent me to get the same kind of food as yesterday. It has to be extremely delicious."

The lady said, "How can you expect the same kind of food? Yesterday we had a festival here. Today there is nothing. There is nobody here. Can you not see? For yesterday's meal we hired a cook; that is why it was excellent. Today it will be my preparation, and I am not accustomed to cooking. I have so many maids and servants to do that. How do you expect me to make the same kind of delicious meal?"

He said, "My Master has sent me to get most delicious food from you. I have to get it."

She said, "How can you obey your Master? It is impossible; you can't do it."

The young boy said, "I am not going away from your house until you give me most delicious food. It is my Master's command."

The lady said, "Are you going to listen to this stupid Master if he asks you to do something that is impossible?"

"There is nothing impossible," replied the boy. "If my Master tells me to do something, I will be able to do it."

Finally the lady said, "All right, I am ready to bring back the cook that I hired and give you the same kind of delicious food for your Master, but only if you do something impossible."

He said, "What is impossible?"

She said, "Right in front of me I want you to take your eye out."

The young boy said, "Oh, that is so easy."

The boy put his fingers around his eyeball and started taking it out. His eye started bleeding profusely.

The lady cried, "Stop, stop, stop! I can't let you do this."

Then she immediately sent for the cook and said, "The cook will make the same food as yesterday."

The young man waited while the food was prepared. It was extremely delicious. He brought the food to his Master, and the Master again ate voraciously. Then the Master asked, "What is wrong with your right eye? Why is it bleeding?"

The young boy told his Master the whole story: "The lady said she would not give me the food unless I gave her my eye. I was taking it out for her, but she stopped me."

The Master said, "My child, this is called obedience! This is called devotion! This is called love for me! I wanted you to prove that you have such love, such devotion and such surrender."

That particular young man eventually became a very great Yogi himself, and he was endowed with all kinds of occult and spiritual powers.

This particular Yogi was born in Bengal, but he became very well known in Nepal. Quite a few temples in Nepal are dedicated to him. His name was Gorakshanath, and his Master's name was Matsyendranath.