Sadgurudev Shri Satpal Ji Maharaj
In the same way, the Master doesn't say, “Okay, this is a class and I am the Master!” There is nothing of the sort. There is a love that is generated and automatically this love encompasses the Master and the disciple. Then they have a communion and with this communion there is an exchange of ideas. Automatically a disciple understands the inspiration and with that inspiration he begins to meditate.
May be in the world everybody is greedy, grasping, devouring everything, chasing money, but in spirituality there is still purity and ethical principles and with that, motivated by that, the Master comes. St Kabir says, “Trees do not eat fruit, rivers do not drink water. Motivated by his compassionate awareness, the Master comes into the world for the sake of devotees.” This is true, even though people do not understand him. I'll tell you a short story.
Once upon a time, a saint was trying to save a scorpion from getting drowned in the river by reaching down and picking it up. As soon as he lifted the scorpion, it stung him and again fell into the water. The saint lifted it again, but again it stung him and fell over. In this way, as often as the scorpion stung the saint, he lifted it from the water to save it.
A passer-by noticed this and remarked, “Why do you keep taking this creature out of the water when all it does is sting you? Let it die.” The saint replied, “No, I can't. Just as the scorpion's nature is to sting, it is my nature to rescue. So if it cannot change its nature, why should I abandon my habit of serving and saving?”
In India there was a king whose name was Ranjit Singh. He was very famous. He was a very pious man. Once he was travelling on his elephant. He entered a village. In that village stood a huge fig tree with a lot of fruit, and a child was throwing stones at the tree. Just as the king was entering that village, a stone hit his eye and blood poured down.
He said, “Find the kid who did this and bring him to me!” Everybody panicked and said to each other, “This is it, he's going to kill us all now.” Finally the child was brought there. The king said, “You know, people throw stones at that tree and what does the tree do? It gives them fruit! So, even though he hit me, I should reward this child.” He then took off his expensive necklace and gave it to the child.
In the same way, people say a lot of things, but a true spiritual Master doesn't pay any attention to it, he simply gives back inspiration, peace and tranquility. It doesn't matter what kind of dirt you throw towards the sun – that dirt will fall back on your face.
But now-a-days what happens is, that many people wear the garb of spirituality, they say that they are very spiritual, they have this knowledge and they are the Incarnated One, then they start doing things that even non-religious people wouldn't do. And people accept it because they hope, they simply have blind faith, but this will not help you. Because if you do not practise and understand Knowledge, then Knowledge will not know you!
So how can we recognise the Truth? How can we know the true Master? When the Master of Guru Teg Bahadur was dying, he was heard to say, “Bakala, Bakala.” So people took this to mean that his successor would be found in Bakala. Soon there was a self-proclaimed guru on every street corner! Temples were being built and each guru was claiming to be the only true one. But Truth cannot be concealed by lies.
At that time the real Guru, Teg Bahadur, was also living in Bakala, but most people thought he was crazy and a good-for-nothing. However there was a merchant there who called out from the depths of his heart to the real Guru and he found him. So we should know how a disciple should be, but at the same time we should also understand how a Guru should be.
Before you buy pots and pans in the market, you tap them to test their quality. Similarly, you also have to examine the Master. Only when you are fully satisfied, when you feel that he knows the inner meaning of the scriptures and can give you the practical experience of the Truth, do you have to approach him with a humble and surrendered attitude, because he is your doorway to liberation.
There are a lot of people who claim to be avatars, or divine masters. But it is said, “singhon ki lahandey nahin, hanso ki nahin pant, lalon ki nahin boriyan, sadhu na chaley jamat.” Lions don't travel in herds. Each lion has his own territory, extending to the distance that his roar can be heard. People stand in line to buy milk or to board a bus, but you will not see a queue of swans! The verse then says, “Rubies don't come by the sackful”. India had the unique Kohinoor diamond. There has not been another like it.
In the same way the true saints are few and far between. Only the one whose mind is totally under control, whose character and life are truly righteous, deserves to be called a ‘great soul'.
A lot of people wonder why we should concern ourselves with a Master's character. Surely all we have to do is follow his teachings! There are such people who say that we should just do what the guru teaches and not care about how he lives. For example, a professor teaches chemistry. He may be an addict, but nobody cares about that because it has no bearing on what he teaches. His personal life and his professional life are two different things. He does not have to use his character to prove what he teaches. He can use formulas and laboratory experiments to prove what he teaches. If he is a good teacher his students will get good marks and his character has nothing to do with it. It's not essential for the students to know what kind of a person he is. All they need is someone who can teach them properly. They are only concerned with his intellectual ability and with his mastery of the subject. Character is not a factor here, because what he teaches is not proven by character, but is based on textbooks, formulas and theories.
But spirituality is not merely reading books. It's a way of life. Its ‘principles', ‘formulas' and ‘theories' are meditation on the Holy Name, achieving the state of samadhi and merging the mind in God. If you don't meditate on the Holy Name now in this life, then when and where will you do so? If you don't achieve perfection in this life, when will you? So for this, a spiritual life is necessary, purity is necessary, love is necessary. If a person is really a spiritual Master, then he should have meditation and self-discipline and dedication in his life; he must be an Enlightened One.
Spiritual development does not take place in a laboratory, it is not simply a matter of chemicals, test tubes and theories. If a person is teaching meditation on the Holy Name, if he claims to teach purity and truth, how can his personal life not reflect this? Can spirituality be different to how one lives his life?” How can one's spirituality be proven except in the laboratory of his own life? Where can meditation take place other than in one's own life? The path of Knowledge is something you practise in your own life. So for a spiritual man, there should be no discrepancy between what he teaches and what he is. Because he walks the path of dharma, because he upholds morality and ethical principles, because his spirituality is expressed in his way of life, he is a role model for others.
So it is essential that someone who calls himself a spiritual teacher should radiate spirituality in his own life. This is absolutely vital. If a perfume has scent, we will experience it when we sniff it. A bottle does not have the ‘scent' label if it smells bad when you open it. In a spiritual person's life there is no discrepancy between what he teaches and how he lives – they are two sides of the same coin. It's wrong to say that we don't have to examine the master's character, we only have to listen to his teachings. If that is the case, then there was no reason for the criminal Ratnakar to change into the great saint Valmiki, or for the murderer Angulimal to become a disciple of Lord Buddha. If all they had to do was fill their minds with intellectual knowledge, then why did they meditate and transform themselves?
“When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; but when character is lost, everything is lost”. If a person loses money, he can work and earn it again. If his health is poor, he has lost something because it will take time and effort to regain. But if he loses his character, he has lost everything. Good character is a person's most valuable asset. The body is the temple of God . Within this living temple God dwells and it is where real worship takes place. Other temples are man-made, but this temple has been made by God, so it is our duty to keep it pure.
The sage Patanjali wrote in his ‘Yoga Sutra', chittvritti nirodhshchay yogah: - prevention of fluctations arising in the mind is yoga. Having perfect control of one's mind is yoga. This is the only way to keep the mind pure. I believe that if someone is a perfected soul, he will act in accordance with divine law, his actions will be conscious and ethical. Being perfect means that one's mind is totally under control, that everything he does is in accordance with the laws of dharma, and if his behaviour doesn't reflect this, then he is not perfect.
St Kabir said, “Satguru makes you like himself”. There is only one sun in our solar system. Why don't we say that Mars and Jupiter are suns? It is because the sun is radiant, it is self-luminous. Planets shine, but only with the reflected light of the sun, they do not have the capacity to shine by themselves. In the same way, the true master radiates the glory of Knowledge himself and makes others shine with the light of Knowledge too. He has the ability to elevate others.
So, only a title will not do. We have to look for the quality of a great soul and that quality is that he is enlightened with Self-Knowledge and enlightens others, too. The great saints and Masters didn't preach a complicated philosophy. They taught the way to salvation in a very simple fashion. So many commentaries have been written on the Gita. There is only one Gita but thousands of commentaries! Still people are far from the Knowledge which Krishna gave to Arjuna. Only a person who is pure in himself, who is spiritual in himself, whose only motivation is to uplift humanity, whose heart is full of love, can give Knowledge and love to others.
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