THE MASTER ANSWERS PART NO.27, Mysticism, reading, forums, Numerology, Sun Signs, Divination

Posts: 5115 · Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2010 6:17 am

Q My Question was that in his death, did he do something for us? As remission for sins?

A Perhaps he was setting an example that having everything with him, he did not want to use his power. That may have been the lesson that he wanted to give us -- the lesson to resign ourselves to the Will of the Lord. "Thy Will be done." He knows best.

Q Could you say that the death of Socrates was another example?

A Yes. If you start analyzing and quoting, you will find almost every saint had to go through the same fate. It is only because people do not understand them and do not like them and so become prejudiced; otherwise they can find no fault. Saints have never committed any crime against society. They are the best citizens, to whatever country they may belong and whatever society they may be born into. But they are a little bold to shake people from their roots, to which they are so badly tied. Actually, these people think they are the devotees of the Lord, but they are not. They are devotees of the organizations. They are devotees of the professionals. They are devotees of the old rituals and ceremonies. The real philosophy, real spirituality, which is the base of every religion, they absolutely forget. The saints again come to remind them of the purpose of that particular religion, the purpose of spirituality. The professionals or priestly class never liked it, so the saints had to face all these tortures at their hands.

Q Quite clear, but I was thinking in reference to that also, are the Great Masters who are supposed to be perfect and are karmaless, that they are sacrificed, they are condemned, they are crucified in one way or another, does that not mean that they hope to have karma or they could not be crucified?

A There are many reasons for it. Sometimes they have to set an example to the world. Sometimes they take the karmas of the disciples on themselves, and make their own body endure them. And yet if they want to escape it, they can escape from that situation.

Q In what do they escape it? What do you mean, crucifixion, for instance?

A They can escape it if they want to. They are all powerful from that point of view. But, do they actually want to be crucified? Who wants to be crucified? Not even a Master. They just do not bother. It does not hurt them at all. You see, the physical body is not the Master. They leave the body. When they leave the body every day at will, it makes no difference what you do with their body. Crucifixion takes place only as far as the world is concerned, as far as our physical eyes are concerned. A saint actually cannot be crucified.

Q Can a real true saint promote his longevity?

A They do not like to. They are always in tune with the Lord. They do what He wants them to do. They can, if they want to, but they do not like to, they never do it. They have their allotted task to perform and when that is finished they are eager to go back.

Q You have spoken of happiness -- becoming one with God, what about accomplishments in this world? There are a number of people who have done great things, but who have ended up being very unhappy. How do you feel about that?

A You mean people who have achieved great things and yet are unhappy?

Q Yes, well take someone like Voltaire, who undoubtedly was miserably all his life, yet he made a great contribution?

A Well, brother, you are proving my point that whatever we may do in this world, we can never be happy. We will get the deserts of the good deeds that we do, but we will have to come back to reap the fruits of those good deeds. At the most you can go to heaven. You may get a much richer birth, better birth, but true happiness you will claim or can get only when you go back to Him. Worldly achievements can never give you permanent happiness. You may be a king, you may be a ruler, you may do good to the world, but your good deeds alone will never take you back to the Lord. How4ever, you will definitely get the fruit or reward. From 'C' class prisoner you will become an 'A' class prisoner. Instead of iron chains you will be bound with golden chains. From small huts you will be taken to palaces. That is all, nothing else. All the same you will remain a prisoner.

Yesterday I gave an example that all philanthropists do good to the prisoners, by improving their lot, but in spite of everything, the prisoners remain prisoners. Another man comes with the key of that prison-house, he opens the gate and sets all prisoners free. Saints just come for that purpose, to set us free from the world. They do not come to solve our problems. They come to help us to rise above these problems. You can never clear the thorns of the world, but you can definitely put strong shoes on your feet, and the thorns will not affect you. Saints give us the faith to live in this world, and yet not to be affected by this world. There are great pohilanthropists in this world, great people who have come and gone. Spirituality is something completely different.

Q If the world is becoming worse and worse, after it becomes so evil, will it destroy itself?

A No, sister. The world was like this, is like this, and will remain like this. History does not encourage us to believe that there was ever peace in this world. Nations always have been fighting against each other. People always have been killing each other. Tribes always have been fighting one another for existence. The fate of the world will remain the same. There will never be peace in the world, there never was peace in the world. As long as the mind is there, human conflict will remain the same. The question is one of degree, sister. Sometimes there is a little more conflict, sometimes a little less. The purpose of the saints is to take us away. We are all prisoners here. The purpose of the saints is to unlock the prison-house, to set us free. That is their mission, their purpose and tha tis what their teachings tell us.

Q Now I want to come back to the topic of the Ten Commandments. The Israelites were wandering aimlessly, and were the Ten Commandments not meant to put the people in check?

A Have it that way then. Why are we fighting in this world? What have the Ten Commandments done for us today? Have we improved? Have the Ten Commandments been obeyed? Without a Living Master it is impossible to obey the first two Commandments, for he alone can give us the key and teach us how to love God and worship Him, and how to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Q It brought us a little way. I mean we went one little step?

A I ask, have we improved?

Q Not a notch?

A Brother, I tell you. I have already told you that so many saints have come into this world. Not only Moses, but so many other saints have come. Have we improved as human beings? I do not find it so, We boast about killing hundreds of thousands with one bomb. Our ancestors only used to stab each other. Probably they could kill one or two in a lifetime. We have killed hundreds and thousands every day. Our ancestors used to kill one bird for their food. Our machines kill millions every day. We boast. You say we have improved. We have improved because we are living in palaces instead of under trees.

Q I think there are churches here and in other cities, which somehow are teaching very good ideologies, and I believe they are also received, I would say by about ten per cent of the crowd.

A In spite of all this preaching of ideology, we have not improved, brother. That is what I say. I do not blame the teaching. I do not blame the saints. They always try to do their best. But this world will never improve. If it could improve, it would have improved by the coming of saints, great saints. We never listen to them. We presume we listen to them but really we do not listen to them.

Q So, the doing of miracles all of this has nothing to do with the Kingdom of God?

A No. Miracles and all that, I said, they do happen. Saints are generally very kind-hearted, but performing miracles is not their mission in life. Sometimes miracles do happen in the lifetime of saints, but they do not intentionally want to do it. They do not want to deviate from the laws of nature. If Christ had done all those miracles intentionally, he would not have said, "Thy Will be done.He would not have said that we have to submit to the Will of the Lord. It means that we should face our fate karmas with His grace, boldly and gladly. Whatever is in our lot, we have to face that. Saints do not like to interfere with that, but miracles do happen. I do not say that they do not perform them. They do happen, but they do not give any importance to these things. The supernatural powers do come within us when we meditate, but saints do not want us to use those supernatural powers because one always does so at one's own cost. If we being to use them, we will lose all that we have. So, Christ also told Satan, "Begone" He did not want to be tempted by all those supernatural powers.

Q I would like to ask the possibility of starting groups, if it is possible to contact other people who believe along these lines, to get together? Groups should be established so that the teachings can expand.

A Possibility of holding groups?

Q No to start groups, so that ?

A Brothers, we are so few in number that it would be an unnecessary burden on initiates, on satsangis to spend money and to make places and then to collect there. Then there may be some differences in organization. I do not want satsangis to be lost in organizations or in management of those organizations and forget the real objective of initiation. When the number of initiates increases, we may find it necessary, and that time may come. But now I think there is hardly any need. we have a limited number of satsangis in almost every big city. So, we can hold meetings in homes, as we do now, gathering in different houses, in various cities.

Q To talk about Beas in the Punjab, how it started at first it was a small group and then and now they are building new houses and a big place where people can gather?

A Brother, the atmosphere in India is quite different from that in the States. I think you people have to work very hard for your living because your standard of living is very high. And that place, Beas, was not started as an organization; it just developed because the founder, after whom that colony is named, came there without any intention to start a center. Rather, he found a place which was deserted, where nobody would ever think of going, just on the wild bank of the Beas river, which was all bushes and ravines, not even level ground, because he wanted a quiet place for meditation. Well, wherever there is honey the flies come. So, the seekers and devotees started coming and he accepted them. Thus slowly and slowly that has developed into a colony. That is something quite different. I think it is not possible to make such a place here unless some Master stays here, because all these things revolve around that personality. They are not planned and made; they just develop. So, when that opportunity comes, we shall see to it then.

Q Maharaj Ji, in our various satsangs we do not always have perfect harmony. I think our average is better than many of the other institutions, but still it lacks perfection and from my ,limited point of view, it appears the root of it is jealousy or envy among satsangis. How can we as satsangis, not me particularly as the representative, but we generally as satsangis, avoid this difficulty?

A This is a very difficult question to answer because, sometimes, I too become the object of jealousy among the satsangis, and I have to experience a lot of difficulty. To me everybody is the same, but some people, for some reason, which perhaps even they do not know, think they are nearer. Others think they are a little away from me. We have to analyze what jealousy is. I have something and the other person cannot get that and he is jealous. He wants to get what I am possessing. From there it starts --- to possess what the other person is possessing, and being incapable of possessing it, one starts being jealous of the other. If we are materially minded --- and we are now becoming every day more materially minded, whether it is conscious or unconscious --- we are quite jealous. All are running this race of materialism, after these wordly objects and achieving these worldly possessions. It is actually making us a jealous nation, a jealous person, whether we realize it or not. We are every day becoming more jealous in our attitude for everything. My neighbor has a good car, I have an old one. I must have another car. I work. I am jealous. Why can I not have what he has? Slowly and slowly it becomes a habit to be jealous of each other.

But in Sant Mat there should be no jealousy. The question of jealosy does not arise at all. Sometimes one feels that perhaps the Master is giving more attention to a particular disciple or has left attending to other disciples. Then he starts becoming jealous, but he does not how much attention he needs and ho wmuch the other person needs. There is a beautiful parable, which I can never forget. I read in the Bible that a shepherd leaves the ninety-nine sheep and goes after the hundredth sheep the ninety-nine sheep and goes after the hundredth sheep which has gone astray from the flock. He goes after that sheep, and the other ninety-nine think he is ignoring them.HE BRINGS BACK THAT SHEEP TO THE FLOCK. NOW IF THE NINETY-NINE sheep start becoming jealous of that sheep, thinking that the shepherd is giving more attention to that one, how far are they justified? A sheep that has gone astray has to be brought back again to the fold. So, the question of jealousy does not arise. The shepherd loves all the sheep, and anybody who goes astray will perhaps get a little more attention from the shepherd.

In a class, some student do not give any attention to their studies, they are displeased with the back benches. They do something to the teacher in order to draw his attention so that he will ask them to come to the front row. It is not that the teacher does not like the intelligent or the well-behaved students. Perhaps those students on the back benches needed more attention. So, if the other students start getting jealous, demanding to know why those students have been given a front seat and more attention, and not they, there is something wrong in their way of thinking.

If we cannot rise above these small differences, petty human jealousies, I think we have not understood the real teachings of Sant Mat at all. You see, there is a difference between physical love and spiritual love. Jealousy comes in physical love, when we are conscious of others. We are jealously possessing certain things and we fear other persons might deprive us of them. So, we are jealous. It means that each of us is conscious of the other person, besides the beloved. But in Sant Mat there is only One Beloved. You become unconscious that anybody else exists in the world for you. Jealousy only starts where you are conscious of anybody else, existing besides the Beloved. But when you are in love with the Master, when you are in love with the teachings, when you are in love with the Lord, you automatically rise so much higher and forget about the whole world. You are not conscious of anybody else existing in the world at all. You see only the Lord everywhere. Then you get rid of jealousy.

When we try to monopolize, we think that we must have something and that the other person should not have it. As far as the world is concerned that may be true that one person is getting more attention then the other, but as far as the Master is concerned, he has equal love for every disciple. They may think he has given certain others more love, but he knows it is not so. I have told you that some students definitely need more attention than other students. So, each one gets attention according to his needs at the time. Everybody needs love, some perhaps need a little more to understand what that is. But the Master is gracious and equally gives his love to everybody, to every disciple, in the same way. Some people, due to their past sanskaras or past associations, do surround him or come nearer to him, but that does not mean that the Master loves them more than those on the back benches, or those who are silent, or those who do not exchange words or exchange letters. It is wrong for them to think so; perhaps he loves them much more, and they have his attention more than those who are surrounding him. So, there is no room for jealousy in Sant Mat. The question of becoming jealous does not arise at all. We must try to rise above these petty differences.

Posts: 5115 · Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2010 6:51 am

Q Well, Master, my point was that though there are quite a few societies, but the average person does not know, is not enlightened enough to go there. We should hold lectures, let us say, at our satsang every week or so, on that subject. They do quite a bit of good and give you so much information which I, myself, learned and I can assure you that my health is due mostly to that. And I do not see why everybody else cannot do that?

A That is right. You can just suggest that in these meetings, and you can refer others to these books. we have no objection to that. But, our purpose of group meetings is not so much to discuss about health as it is to stress spirituality. Otherwise, we may deviate from the real subject---that is what I fear. For instance, if we start telling how to cook good food, or how satsangis should dress, and we start giving demonstrations of all that---well, we are lost. Where is the time for all this, and where will there be an end to all these things?

Q I do not mean all the time, only occasionally, once in a while?

A I have no objection. You may discuss anything from the health point of view. Or, you can say that these exercises have helped you, these books have helped you. Then if anybody else is interested, he can join those organizations, or he can read those books from the health point of view. You people meet just once a month, or once a week, and just for about an hour or so. In this little time, how can you discuss all these multipurpose activities of our daily needs? It is always good to discuss spirituality, because the purpose of the group meeting is to build that atmosphere in which we have to live for meditation. We should not do anything which deviates our attention from that meditation we have to build that atmosphere of meditation around us by reading Sant Mat literature, by giving help to each other. We should always be helpful to each other. We should try to create in ourselves love and devotion for the Lord, and help the new students on the path so that they too can live in that atmosphere of meditation. That is the object of these group meetings --- nothing else. But, if there is disharmony, unpleasantness, or bossing in the group meetings, I do not think that you practically gain anything from such group meetings at all.

Another point to consider is that other people may not feel inclined to hear about health or cooking, or other things. They may say that all these other things can be learned in other schools is about meditation, about spirituality, and that is the purpose for which they come here. We are not against talking about health, or how to breathe, or how to exercise; but there are so many other places where we can learn these things.

If anybody needs help, whether spiritual, mental or physical, and we are able to help, we should always do so. But what I mean is that we should not be lost in so many activities that we forget the real purpose of these meetings. The real purpose is to create love and devotion, because a healthy, good atmosphere of love and devotion is very essential for meditation. There should always be love and harmony in your groups. You should be helpful to each other, and a new seeker coming and entering in your hall should automatically realize the difference between other organizations and your organization. You can help them in health and in your organization. You can help them in health and in cooking matters too. I have seen your magazines. They publish all those recipes for cooking and all that. These are useful for practical purposes, but we need not waste time in discussing these things in our meetings.

Q But people have to be informed. Of course, they are not ignorant, but they are misguided. They are not informed about health, and neither was I many years ago.

A I mean, if the impression in satsang is that we have to ignore health, that is wrong. We have to look after our health, but the purpose of keeping healthy is meditation. The object should be kept in view; that object should not be lost; that destination we should not forget. Health we have to maintain. Everybody needs health. But, we cannot teach all these things. We should discuss only the spirituality, which is the food for the soul and the mind. Other things automatically come to us when the love of the Lord and devotion comes in us. We should not lose time in those discussions; those other things we can always learn elsewhere.

Posts: 5115 · Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 6:00 am

Q I would expect a little bit more.

A Well, you let me know what word to use that would be more practical.

Q Maharaj Ji, I heard that a satsangi lady cannot get past the third region. In other words, the rumor was that even if she were initiated and were to get up to that stage, she still would have to come down and be reborn into the form of man to enable her to reach Sach Khand?

A It is not pleasant to think that. You see, it is a man's world. Men always like to feel superior by saying these things, and I more or less think that this originated as "Guest House gossip" in the Dera. I have not read it in any spiritual literature. As far as Sant Mat is concerned there is no difference between a man and a woman. There is absolutely no difference. Sex plays no part there. After Trikuti, the second stage, sex does not even exist at all. The soul itself has no sex; that is left behind with the body, with the mind. So, it is absolutely wrong to think that because one is a woman, one cannot go back to the Lord without coming back into this world as a man, or to think that only man is so fortunate as to be entitled to go back to Him. That is not so. But sometimes a man probably wants to escape from a lady, so he thinks up that happy situation, that at least there will not be any ladies that high up. As far as Sant Mat is concerned, that is absolutely wrong.

The soul has no soul-mate and the soul has no sex. Some people are under the delusion, probably another justification for their own weaknesses, that unless we meet our soul-mate we cannot go back to Him. I often get letters from American satsangis saying, "I cannot make progress because I have not yet been able to meet my soul-mate." This is just another justification for weakness. The soul does not need nor can it have a soul-mate at all. Every soul is individual. We have our individual relation with the Lord. We do not need to get somebody. Our Master is our soul-mate, if you want to call him such, as it is only through him that we can go back and merge into the Lord. Soul has absolutely no sex, sex is not involved at all; in fact, we have to rise above it and sublimate it in order to make even a little spiritual progress. So,ladies should not feel at all inferior from that point of view.

Q Will you tell us the definition Sant Mat has tfor us about soul-mates? Whether it is in marriage or without marriage, and how we will recognize it?

A As I have mentioned in some other places, many times I have received letters, especially from American satsangis, indicating that there is a certain idea among some people that we have some kind of soul-mate, and unless we meet that soul-mate somewhere inside or outside, we cannot merge back into the Lord. That is a wrong notion, for every soul has its own individual relation with the Lord. There is no such thing as a soulmate. That idea is simply a justification for certain weaknesses. Absolutely, we have no soul-mate. We are working our way back to the Lord independently. We have karmic relationshp with people that come and go, but that does not mean that if we do not have any karmic relationship with a particular person we will not go back to Him. Every soul is independent.