All World
Gayatri Pariwar

Friends,

My Gurudev had asked me to forget about the world, about my home, my family, everything during the s³dhan³s at lonely places in the Himalayas. I obeyed him wholeheartedly.  This showed me the soul-light.

You should also forget everything and focus only on your inner self.  Most importantly, you should try liberating yourself from the thoughts of your family, your business/work, and of the other subjects that you are most attached to. Don’t worry about anything.  “Whether my associates and assistants are running my business sincerely? Whether there is gain or loss? What is happening to my work? Whether my spouse is in good health? How are my children doing in their job/studies? What happened to the wedding proposal of my daughter? Should I search for my son’s match now?” Well, if you want to think of all these then better go back. If you really want to do some s³dhan³, for which you have come here, then forget about everything else.    

If you are physically sitting alone in a room and keep thinking of the whole world, what is the point? It won’t give you any benefit of solitude. Whenever the thought of home or of the near and dear ones comes to your mind, divert it, thinking that everything is fine. Imagine, as though you have gone abroad or are busy preparing for some important examination.  Your friends and relatives should also be told not to disturb you. Many seekers of truth stay in the solitude of jungles. If it is not possible to go over to the Himalayas or to some forests, some stay all alone in hutment on the banks of the holy Ganga, etc. Any news from home will naturally distract their minds; this way they will neither be able to concentrate on the thought of God and soul, nor will be able to go back and help the family members. So, no one meets or sends them any message. This discipline is also essential in your kalpa s³dhan³ [1] course in this Shantikunj Ashram. You all must follow it sincerely.

During this s³dhan³ period you feel as though you are in the spiritual womb of Mataji (divine motherly mentor, Vandaniya Mata Bhagavati Devi Sharma). You regard this entire Ashram, as her spiritual womb, which is nurturing you with divine energy. Completion of this s³dhan³ should be like a new birth for you. You would then become her child! Don’t you want to become Mataji’s blessed child? Don’t you want to become like Vinoba or Vithoba – the saintly sons of Madalasa? Don’t you want to become like the Pandavas – the intrepid, princely sons of Kunti? Why would you refuse to become the illustrious sons Luv and Kush of goddess Sita? Indeed, you have the potential to become great, enlightened, glorious persons. That is what it means to be the children of Mataji. You only need to recognize your potentials and channelize them in the righteous direction. If you could do that, your kalpa s³dhan³ will be regarded successful.   

Process of Refinement:

You may also consider this s³dhan³ as an experiment of sitting in an av³. What is an av³?  It is a furnace to bake the earthen pots. A potter makes the earthen pots of wet soil. Then he puts them in the av³. The controlled heating inside the av³ makes the pot strong and sturdy. The process takes long but the pots remain inside without any movement. You may regard me as the potter who has put you in the av³ of Shantikunj.  Sit quietly and let your mind be ‘processed’ in the spiritual ‘heat’ of my inspirations. I will send you sublime energy, will send you my thoughts, you should assimilate them. For this you will have to be quiet, calm and introvert. If you continue talking to someone or to yourself, or let your mind wander outside, how will you experience my inspirations? How will you pay attention to my thoughts? Then there is no use of your s³dhan³.

If you think you will continue to beg before me, and all your wishes will be fulfilled, you are wrong. Do you want to impose your selfish wishes upon me instead of following what I am teaching? Stop this. You should also remember that desires of an uncontrolled and unrefined mind are unlimited; no one can ever fulfill them. Were the wishes of mighty demons like Ravana and Hiranyakashyap satisfied? Were the ambitions of Alexander the Great or Napoleon Bonaparte ever fulfilled?  

Stop behaving like kids who keep crying for something or the other. You are grown up adults now! Your maturity should be reflected in your attitude. You should control your cravings. Yes, most of your ‘prayers’ and ‘cries’ are nothing but expressions of your cravings. God has made you capable enough to earn your livelihood and fulfill the necessary requirements of food, clothing and shelter of your dependents in the family. There is no scarcity. Your problems are creations of your unbridled expectations and your wrong thinking. Your wishes are driven by your cravings for more comforts, glamour, false success and what not. The day you check these cravings, there will be no scarcity, no problem and no tension. You will then be happy and contented in the same circumstances.  

It’s time you wake up and defeat the witch of cravings. It has weakened you. It keeps you running after the mirage of the world. It keeps pushing you to beg before someone in one form or the other. All your activities, your dreams and plans of progress are governed by fantasies, worldly desires, avarices, insane ambitions and false pride. Will you continue to be a slave of these demons? Will you let your life be ruined like this? No, you should not. You have come here for the kalpa s³dhan³, so you must pledge to change and to follow the path of dignity.   

Uptill now your state has been like a raw material, which needs to be purified, chiseled refined and processed. At present you are like a pot of wet soil but when you go back after the s³dhan³ you should be like a strong and sparkling pot processed in the fire of the av³ I have prepared here. Hen nurtures its eggs by the warmth of her body, it does not leave them for any moment; Female tortoise keeps its eggs inside the sand of seashore; but it continues to carefully guard them. I have kept you alone in different rooms, but I am looking after you (with the help of my subtle body) all the time.  I am carefully watching your mental and emotional states. My thoughts are focused only at improving and elevating your level of consciousness.  If you sincerely attempt to follow the disciplines of s³dhan³ and pay attention, you will be able to hear me and feel the uplifting force of my inspirations. If you don’t follow the disciplines and try half-heartedly, you will go back as you are now.

I am keeping you close to my heart I want you all to live an enlightened life with dignity. It will be splendid if you also merge all your ambitions and aspirations to achieve this. Soul-level connection between the Guru (spiritual mentor) and the s³dhak³ [2] is necessary for the success of any s³dhan³.  But the disciple needs to prepare himself for it. The four tapas [3] I always ask you to follow are part of this preparation. You have to strictly follow them in this Ashram. These should also be integral part of your life. What are these disciplines?

Four Essential Disciplines of Self-Restraint:  

These can be classified as –  (i) restraining expenditure; (ii) discipline of time; (iii) preventing the misuse of sense organs; and (iv) control over the thought-process. They are interlinked. Observance of one strengthens the ability to follow the others.  

If you have money, don’t get tempted by the tantalizing attractions of markets and keep wasting it. Don’t waste it on luxuries. Don’t care if people call you a miser. You should save your money and use it wisely for fulfilling your essential duties, for good, altruistic purposes. If you spend it carefully for a benevolent cause, trust me, God will bestow you with much more wealth. God is referred in our scriptures as having thousand heads and several thousand hands (“sahastra ïºr̳ pur¿Ìa¡….”). He will give you so much from these thousand hands that you can’t even imagine. Mine is a living example in front of you. Whatever I had I offered it to the Almighty — for the welfare of His creation. The result is in front of you: The school in Anwalkheda (which has expanded into a degree college), Gayatri Tapobhumi and the grand Headquarters of our mission at Shantikunj, Haridwar. Don’t you see these? Our mission’s press had also started on a minuscule scale with small funds I had. Now you see its gigantic form! Our mission is also expanding exponentially. Don’t you want to see such growth of your efforts? Can’t you plan your investments with such foresight that it will continue to expand and benefit more and more people? Then what kind of progressive mentality you have? You are simply a follower of what others around you are doing. Okay, you may not have the courage to donate all your wealth for altruistic purposes alone. But, you should at least restrain your unnecessary purchases, lavish life-style and make constructive use of your resources, keeping in mind the development and progress of the society too.

Another essential discipline is that of time. You have to be punctual and wise about using every minute of your every day. You must jot down a time-schedule of a day’s activities well in advance and stick to it. You are being given the instructions of your daily routine here from 3:30 am to 9pm. You must follow it without any excuse. This way your body and mind will be trained to stick to the set schedule at your home and workplace too.

Most often you waste time in unnecessary chit-chatting and entertainment. Unless you avoid this, you can’t do any s³dhan³. Observance of silence is also useful to discipline your tongue. I have already told you the importance of restraining the greed of tongue. Control over the wild urges of other sense-organs is also crucial.  Of these, the most important discipline, like that of restraining the greed and agility of the tongue is – observance of Brahmcharya [4]. Many men stare at women erotically and even vulgarly. This is despicable. Obscene feelings, erotic excitations are like toxins to your subtle body. You should uproot such poisonous, animal tendencies from your psyche. You need to positively transmute your attitude.  Respect for womanhood will strengthen you physically as well as mentally. It is essential for observance of Brahmcharya. Recall the example of Mahatma Gandhi who followed it life-long in spite of living with his wife since the day he resolved to adopt this discipline. Ramkrishna Paramhansa always treated his wife Sharda Mani as incarnation of Divine Mother – his Deity. After his victory in a battle when the queen of the defeated side was brought to Chhatrapati Shivaji, he had treated her like his sister and sent her back to her home with due honor; her blessings had enhanced his glory manifold. Even the exceptional beauty of dancer Uravashi was not able to shake the sanctity of Arjun’s character. Only people of such dignity of conduct can become historic heroes. Both men and women should treat each other respectfully, with purity of motive.  This is how they can protect and augment the radiance of their vital energy.

You are given discourses on spirituality, religion and culture everyday in the morning and evening as part of satsang. As part of your training in sw³dhy³ya, you are also asked to read spiritually illuminating and inspiring books and contemplate over what you read. Now onwards satsang and sw³dhy³ya [5] should be integral part of your life. These provide positive and constructive directions for your mind and thus give tremendous support for restraining your sense organs. These are excellent modes of self-training in the light of teachings of elevated souls.

Why do you need to follow the crowds? Why do you need someone else’s support? Remember time and again that most trustworthy, intimate and powerful friends of yours are – the God residing within you, you yourself and your good thoughts. You should turn to them for guidance and support rather than running after the world.

I hope you have understood the message. So, realize the importance of your routine in this course and train yourself accordingly. Purify your attitude, discipline your conduct and illuminate your inner self. This is what will please the Almighty and bless you with invaluable boons.

Notes:
[1] Kalpa S³dhan³: Spiritual practice of self-refinement and transformation under
ascetic self-disciplines.  
[2] S³dhaka: One who undergoes s³dhan³.
[3] Tapa: Ascetic practice of self-restraint.
[4] Brahmcharya: The discipline of physical and mental chastity, incorporates piety  
of character, stability of mind and body for natural avoidance of erotic thinking, carnal desire and sexual indulgence.
[5] Satsang and Sw³dhy³ya: Enlightening discourses, discussions and study of the
sagacious thoughts and glorious works of great personalities on different aspects of life.