With hope-food I exist³

There was once an Indian spiritual Master living in America who had great concern for every aspect of his disciples' spiritual lives. He always stressed the importance of individual morning meditation for those following his path. One very cold winter, however, the Master decided that his disciples could also benefit considerably from meditating with each other in the morning. So he formed seven meditation groups which were to meet at disciples' homes every morning at six o'clock. This group meditation was to go on for one month and it would take the place of the seekers' normal individual meditation.

Each morning the Master would surprise a different group of disciples by joining them in their meditation. As the month went by, the pressure of the Master's work unfortunately did not allow him to visit these groups anymore. On the last day of the month, however, the Master went to meditate with all the groups, walking from door to door, even though it was snowing very hard. But because of the bad weather, very few disciples had gone to meditate that day. The Master was very sad. When he returned home, he telephoned each one of his disciples and told them to come to his house immediately.

When they were all seated in his meditation room, the Master said, "These morning meditations are a golden opportunity for you. But most of you, if not all, are not taking them seriously. You are not availing yourselves of this opportunity every morning."

"Master," said one of the group leaders, "I am sad to say that on many other mornings as well, even when the weather was clear, you would have been disappointed by the attendance."

"I would like to continue these group meetings for another month," said the Master. "Right from tomorrow, you can be absent from your group only if you are extremely ill or out of town. If you cannot come to morning meditation for either of these reasons, please make it a point to inform the person at whose house the meditation is being held. No other reasons will be accepted. If someone says, 'I went to bed too late,' that kind of reason will not be accepted. But it depends on your sincerity. If somebody is not sick but tells the leader of the group that he is very sick, then God has to take care of that person."

"Master," said another group leader, "do you want to know who is not coming and why? Usually they do not inform us."

"Yes, I would like to know. Please keep attendance. I will ask you to tell the members of your group not to come anymore if they do not inform you when they are sick or out of town. If there are unavoidable circumstances, then what can you do? The soul can be there, although the body cannot."

"But Master," a third group leader said, "some people never come."

The Master said, "If a person is not coming regularly and if he cannot give an adequate reason, then I will tell you to inform him not to come."

"Master," the fourth group leader asked, "why are you becoming so strict with us?"

"If I tell you that you cannot come," explained the Master, "then you will really value the morning meditation. If you don't value your meditation, then nobody else is going to value it, not even God."

The fifth group leader said, "What about those who do come? Don't they at least give proper value to these meditations?"

"Do you think so?" asked the Master, "Today the highest mark I could give any group for its meditation was sixty-five out of one hundred. And what will be the lowest? In India the passing mark is thirty-three, but in America your passing mark is sixty-five."

"In America," said another group leader, "if everyone fails, then sometimes they lower the passing mark."

"All right," said the Master, "how much do you feel you got? Enter into the heart. For two minutes if you remain in the heart, then you will feel that I am right."

All the disciples became silent for a few moments. Then the Master gave marks for each group. Two groups tied for having the worst meditation; they got eleven percent. The next lowest mark was seventeen; fourth was twenty-three; fifth, twenty-nine; sixth, thirty-seven and seventh, sixty-five.

"Even sixty-five is most deplorable," said the Master. "For me, it is not a passing mark; it is a real failure. And I am really impartial when I give grades. Feel that you have the capacity to get ninety-nine, but you are not using it. I want each group to get at least eighty from me. Since you are taking the trouble to get up early to come and meditate, I am extremely pleased. But I wish to say that everyone's meditation can be much, much better."

"How can we do that kind of meditation?" asked one girl.

"It all depends on the eagerness and sincerity of each individual," replied the Master. "It is not that the members of the group that got sixty-five are better than the members of other groups. No! Each one has come to offer his meditation to the Supreme according to his own capacity and each individual is responsible for maintaining his own standard. So if you are getting the lowest mark, don't blame the other members of your group; blame yourself. We are starting with eleven. It is a real disaster in the spiritual world if you get eleven percent.

"What is the failing of each group?" asked another disciple.

"It is the aspiration of each individual. If you go deep within for half an hour, then you will see what you must do and what you must not do. But one thing I can say. Some of you do not even take a bath before you come and this is most deplorable. This basic discipline you should have learnt a long time ago. If you do not like it, I am sorry. But I cannot enter into your life and treat you like kindergarten students. You left kindergarten long ago."

"Master, what about our actual meditation once we come?" one boy asked.

"What happens," said the Master, "is that as soon as you get to the meeting, most of you feel that you have played your role. Just by coming you feel that you have done all that is necessary. But you have to feel that coming to the meditation room is only like coming to the starting point. Once you have come to your starting point, this is where the race begins. From here you have to run. You are not competing with anybody, but you are trying to run the fastest according to your own capacity.

"Also, do not sit on a chair unless you have problems sitting on the floor. Yoga and comfort do not go together. You will only enter into the world of sleep."

The Master paused. "I am eager to give you one hundred out of one hundred. The day I can give each group this mark, I will be the happiest person. But how am I going to do it? I don't think in this incarnation I will ever be able to do it."

One disciple said, "Master, we are grateful that you are giving us another chance."

"Yes," the Master said, as he stood up to close the meeting, "I have hope. Hope-food I am eating every day. With this hope-food I exist. Let us see if my disciples will really please me."