Daily Offerings from Alokda

The Master was taking a stroll in the garden. The group of disciples surrounded him like bees around a flower that had turned the Light and Power of the sun into a sweet and strengthening nectar for their thirsty struggling souls.

Feeling the mood of the moment, one among them asked as to how come in this world of beauty there came to dwell evil and suffering. The Master became pensive and took them to a nearby place where the gardener had just thrown some seeds into the ground. Pointing to the soil and the seed below it he asked them why must the seed of this beautiful flower destined to partake of the sun be put underneath the soil into a dark space and breath the waste and the mire and rot on the surface and struggle to reach the top against the heavy resistance of the earth.

‘To throw its roots deep’, said one. ‘To cast off its hard shell’ said another.

The Master smiled and exclaimed ‘That’s the answer to your question. Suffering is like the waste and the mire and Evil like the darkness and the resistance that man’s soul must face so that it can also throw its roots deep into the earth and its surface crust soften in due time. The surface crust is the ego-self, that source of all evil and suffering. When inner being is ready by the pressure of the world forces, when it has cast its roots deep and strong, then the ego-self slowly dissolves and the deeper soul emerges into Light and Freedom. It is delivered out of the womb of darkness and is ready for a new adventure into Light and its climb towards the sun. But if the seed is stripped bare of its hard crust prematurely and exposed too early to the light of the sun and the immense freedom of space then it may simply burn off and be blown away by the strong winds before its roots have steadied it. So also what we call error and evil and suffering are simply necessary intermediary steps and stages in man’s ascending growth towards Light and Freedom.’

‘What then is sin and what then is virtue and good’, enquired another.

The Master observed as he moved from one flowering tree to another: ‘Look at the buds, their petals closed upon each other, their fragrance trapped inside. That is the first stage of the flower. It is as if it was trying to not only feel and hold but also to capture and possess the light it so badly needs and to keep the fragrance to its solitary self that is meant to be its gift to the world. So also with man. Selfishness is the only sin since it induces man to try and appropriate things for its solitary self and give out nothing in return to the world. The result is that it remains dark inside and closed outside. But a time comes when the bud begins to trust the Light that it feels and opens out to it and all that surrounds it in a spontaneous gesture of self-giving. And, lo and behold! – its self-giving is instantly rewarded by the fullness of its bloom and its generous uncalculating gift of fragrance turns into sweet nectar inside. Man is selfish in his early stages of growth but soon he must realise that selfishness is a trap since it prevents him from getting the very thing that he most needs and wants. With this awakening and the pressure of Light and its own secret nature there comes in him the trust and the confidence to open out and reach out and give itself first to the world around it which alone he sees with his half open eyes and then to the sun that it begins to perceive as its eternal source, the secret master of its journey, the fosterer who turns all things to honey within him. Then man becomes a link between the earth and the heaven.’ Then with a mystic pause he added, ‘Selfishness too, that origin of all sin, is a preliminary stage in human growth. This too must pass away as man begins to trust God within and His play around and gives himself freely to both or rather to God and His play in the world.’

The Master sat down quietly on a little rocky promontary in the garden, his gaze as if fixed into infinity, his look encompassing the whole of space in a single glance, his heart one with all things in their eternal essence. And the disciples sat around him wondering whom to admire, the sweet fragrance of the flowers that gave themselves generously to everything around them or like the earth that shared the joy and the struggle and the sorrow of all things giving shelter and place to each thing that must wait for its season to turn ripe and to blossom emerging out of the darkness into the Light, or like the sun that gave itself to the creation and though far and high beyond the reach of earth and its creatures yet was the secret source and support of all. And as they thus contemplated their inner and outer gaze was fixed upon the Master who was to earth and men, at once the flower and the earth and the sun.

Alok Pandey

The Master had the deepest love and compassion for the struggling soul of man upon earth but his compassion was not blinded and he seldom seemed to encourage acts of charity and philanthropy of the kind practiced by rich men. He neither discouraged nor encouraged it. But in general he observed that it had little to do with true spiritual growth and did not want people to confuse one for the other.

On being asked he would simply reply, – “What does humanity needs most, – food and comfort for the body or release from the bondage of Ignorance by the growing Light of his soul?”

When questioned whether a poor man can think of God, he would laugh and say with the ring of experience that it is often the poor whose hearts are more open to God than the rich ones. Too much money was not necessarily a sign of some special Grace. Rather it was often a curse, for it put the man into so many traps and bonds that made it even more difficult to break than if he were less privileged materially.” But he agreed that spirituality had little do with riches or poverty and a rich man as well as a poor one may be deeply spiritual if they have arrived at the inner readiness. Only it made it more difficult for the rich to turn to God.

“So should one discard one’s wealth if it comes in the way of our spiritual progress?”

“How about using it divinely”, the Master would say. “It is easier to discard a difficulty rather than transform it and turn it into an opportunity to serve God’s purpose in the world. If God has given us wealth we should turn it for the good of the world, but not through blind pity but as guided by the Divine Vision.”

“By distributing it to the poor,” asked one unable to get the true import of the Master’s statement.

“No that is the worst way since it would encourage lethargy and stifle the heart and soul of another who receives money as charity. Wealth that is received without any effort often leads to its misuse except in the rare few.” The Master replied.

“So should one build hospitals and schools for free and for the poor?” asked another.

“And increase diseases and the ills that modern education brings with its almost exclusive emphasis on man as a biological entity whose only goal is to survive!” quipped the Master. He went on to add, – “there is no use repeating the past follies blindly. What humanity needs most is a new vision in the mind, a new hope and faith in his heart, a new impulse and will to live for greater aims and deeper goals. Instead of opening hospitals and multiplying diseases why not find out the root cause of human maladies and the master remedy. We need educational institutions that can embody the new Light.”

“But that is a vision,” complained another. “How can I use my wealth to further a vision?” he asked.

“Surely wealth will not give you the new vision for that can only come through personal growth,” the Master responded. “But if you have sympathy for the new vision and one has wealth then it can be put at its service. For to express this new vision upon earth and reach it out to the many who are still blind, you need both, men of vision who can carry it afar and also men of action to organize it. So also you need men of wealth to create new institutions and support old ones that would embody this new Light. That indeed is the best service that one can render for earth through wealth.”

A rich man proud of his philanthropy asked what the Master thought about those rich people who spent a lot of money on charity.

The Master had a hearty laugh and remarked, – “It is often like the case of a robber sharing a little of his loot with those whom he has looted and thereby assuage his guilt and flatter his ego.” But then not wanting to disappoint the man he added, – “Well if a rich man wants to distribute money or open hospitals that is his business and if he has nothing more to give and no other vision to uphold, then let him do that especially if that be his calling. But he should not think that he is doing something very great to solve the problem of humanity or that what he is doing is greater than the poor man is quietly seeking God in his hermitage.”

“But don’t the hermitage and the ashrams also need money? And is it not a waste of life for a young man to spend the prime of his youth doing nothing except seeking God and live on the wealth of others when he could earn that wealth for himself and be independent,” asked the rich man again unwilling to give up.
“And what makes you feel that the young man seeking God is doing nothing. Try doing it and you will understand that it is far more difficult to seek God than to earn bagfuls of money.” The Master calmly replied.

The rich man would not concede, – “But why should others support his quest, to whose benefit when he could easily earn.”

The Master became serious to see the degree of human resistance to Light. He responded: “The young man seeking God is doing a great benefit to the society. Firstly, he is earning spiritual wealth that the others are not ready to earn. Once he earns it he to shares this inner wealth with others as the great Masters and their erstwhile disciples do. In fact their gift is much more than the money that you give for their needs. You look after their physical needs while they look after your spiritual needs. So who is the gainer?”

“But such disciples and such Masters are few ad far between, what about the others. Are they not parasites upon society,” he argued one last time.

“On the contrary even the failures in the spiritual path do a service to mankind for they at least keep the fire of the soul alive by their sheer effort. And when even one succeeds he makes it easier for many others to follow. Even if he does not speak about it his mere presence brings the earth in contact with forces of Harmony and Peace and Light. He is like a silent dynamo that energises the earth and rejuvenates its sick body by digging out from our nature’s deeps the streams that sooth and heal man’s mind and heart and soul. They are like beacon Lights if not Lighthouses for man to follow on the dangerous roads of destiny to the great discovery that awaits us all one day. The seeker of Light is the spearhead in this eternal collective quest of man who makes the way for others to follow and even if he falls he becomes a brick to bridge the way towards the future. Do you then still feel with the superficial thinkers that the spiritual man is simply a do-nothing or is it simply that his great contribution goes unnoticed and he cares little for it either.” The words of the Master fell upon listening ears and the earth suddenly woke up to fresh and sublime memories that stirred in its silent deeps, memories of spiritual heroes and martyrs whose life was a burning example and without whom this world would long have sunk to perdition or gone to blazes.

The Master had trod many a ways. So a disciple asked him once as to how many spiritual paths were there?

“As many as there are human beings” replied the Master rather laconically, and then added after a pause, “there are as many paths as there are aspiring souls and yet in reality there is only one path.”

“And which path is that?” asked one who had a special liking for a particular way hoping to get approval of his methods.

But the Master responded rather quizzically, – “well, it is the path that is no path!”

Seeing the puzzled look on the faces of the disciples he explained by taking them to the sea shore where the sun was just beginning to rise and its first reflections fell upon the waters. A small section of the sea was lit up by the sun as its rays fell upon it. He asked one of them if he saw a path of light over the waters? “Yes, of course, right in front of me.” The eager disciple noted.
Bidding him to stay there, the Master took another a few steps further and asked if he also saw a path of light upon the sea in front of him.

“Yes of course, it is there right in front,” said the second. And so on and so forth as they moved ahead each one noted a path of light upon the sea right in front irrespective of how much ever far they went.

“There you are,” said the Master, “see how the one path becomes the many depending upon the angle of your vision, the starting point of your journey, the route you take and the goal you set in front of you. In fact there is only one path and that is the universal path of the sun through whose help we climb to the Light and Force that governs the world. It is the sunlit path. But men are not yet wide and their vision too narrow, so they break the path into several streams and oppose it to each other.”

Alok Pandey

“Master, what is truth?” asked a disciple who for years had been struggling to understand this.

As was his method of instruction, the Master pointed towards a glass of water that was lying on the table and asked of the disciple, “What is that?”

“The water of course!” replied the disciple, somewhat  surprised at the suddenness and the simplicity of the question, but wondering what depth lay behind this simplicity that the Master would disclose.

“And what is water? Can someone tell me that?” The Master seemingly inquired.

One went on to describe its properties, its colour, taste, smell etc.

And the Master…”But that is only what your senses perceive or report to you. That tells us about how human beings experience contact with water. So it is a relative truth and not the reality of water.”

Another ventured who seemed like a scientist: “well, scientists have analysed the structure of water molecules and it is made up of a certain combination of hydrogen and oxygen atoms.” He confidently spoke.

The Master smiled and asked him: “That is only its structure as you perceive it through your mathematical models. It tells us what constitutes the material aspect of water. But this does not tell us why this combination has certain properties and not others. It still does not explain about the truth of water.”

The scientist nodded in approval and added: “But this is as far as science has gone and perhaps can go.”

“But not art and aesthetics, not the poet and the mystic.” The Master observed turning to the rest of his disciples.

One spoke, an artist and a poet perhaps: ”Well, water is the giver of life because it is itself a symbol of life, ever flowing, ever moving, ever changing its course though ever the same in its depths.”

The Master seemed happy with this answer, but turned to a mystic who was quite indrawn as if in a silent contemplation. Gathering himself outward, the mystic spoke: “It is a symbol of our mind that reflects the Self. If it is still, it reflects the inner truth; if it is moving and restless, it distorts it.”

And another, who had developed the occult vision responded: “Water is Consciousness limiting itself in certain form and functions. It is the gross representation of a subtle reality. The force of consciousness that makes things flow is the inner truth of water.”

The Master smiled and even as the disciples were wondering at the many ways of looking at, perceiving and understanding water, he spoke with the authority of someone who knows something because he has made it: ”All these are so many facets of the reality of water, depth upon depth, each complementing the other. Yet, even if we were to sum up all these things we would still miss out the essential as well as the total truth of water. And that cannot be described in words but known only through an experience of identifying with it.”

The Master fell silent and the disciples fell into a contemplative mood reflecting upon the meaning of those strange but powerful words. And as their meditation grew deeper and profound, one began to enter deeper and deeper into the truth of what is known and recognised as water. He entered past the truth of the senses. He entered deeper and went past the truth of the atomic void and its mysterious magic that lends shape and form to apparent nothingness. Further he pressed and saw the world of symbol figures and the flow of energy and all nature through the shape and form of water. He went on till he met the very being of water appear before him as the godhead who stands behind the flux and flow of the vast current of life. For a while he felt that this was the last bedrock, the inner foundation of water. But prompted by an inner something he concentrated till his whole being became one with the great godhead of his vision. And he felt himself flow everywhere and become the movement of the cosmic whorl. In the being of water, he saw all other beings grow one in unity. He saw the Light of the stars and the dust of the planets, he saw the splendour of the sun and the heat and fire that built the worlds. He saw the winds raising the dead to life and again contracting them till they collapse and die. And he saw behind these godheads and their wonderful artistry, the work of a great cosmic Intelligence weaving the dance of creation. He slipped past the world of forms as if carried by some giant wave of bliss. And past that vast stupendous dance of creation, at its center and core, he beheld the deathless One from whom all emerges and issues forth as if from an unseen womb, by whom all sustains as if by a fixed unalterable law, to whom all returns undone as if by a magician’s skill. Rapt in his vision and full of an unspeakable joy, he got up and exclaimed; “The truth of water as indeed the truth of everything else is a wonder wisdom, a knowledge and power ineffable, an infinite delight.”.

The Master smiled and spoke not, neither affirming nor negating. But the disciple understood through an inner contact. And others wondered and tried to fathom the meaning of the disciple’s words and still more of the Master’s rich and pregnant Silence. 

Alok Pandey