One day, while a certain spiritual Master was having a very powerful meditation, he began shaking his legs. At that time, many of his past incarnations appeared before his inner vision. These incarnations were talking to him with such devotion, saying: “When you took our form, you were a huge wave of the ocean. You could create a sensation — a real commotion. But now that you have become the ocean itself, your vastness is such that it cannot be fathomed; it cannot even be appreciated. It will take centuries to appreciate the vast consciousness that your illumination-ocean embodies for humanity.”
After having this experience, the Master told his disciples some stories about his Gorakshanath incarnation: “Across the vast Indian sub-continent I travelled, visiting quite a few places. Everywhere I used my occult power. If somebody said anything I did not like, O God, either I would destroy that person or I would give him severe punishment. In this incarnation, either God has taken away those occult powers or God does not allow me to use them. Some people believe that I still have occult power, and some people think that I do not have any. Who is right and who is wrong, God knows! But, in those days, to kill someone and then revive him was not a difficult task. Nowadays, I cannot even kill an ant! The ant just hides. Even a cockroach will run away before I can catch it!
“I have had many, many significant incarnations, although the number is fewer than you people have had. Most of you have had many, many more incarnations than I have had, but during my past incarnations I ran a little faster than you did. My Gorakshanath incarnation was significant because it taught me the difference between occult power and spiritual power.
“I always say that God first uses His Compassion. When His Compassion fails, He uses His destruction aspect because that is the only way to take people to the goal. For a few years, when he was younger, Gorakshanath was quite compassionate, but his compassion was exploited. Then, later in life, he only showed occult power. In some places, he created a sensation; in some places, fear. Again, in some places, people loved and respected him. But he did not receive as much love as he did admiration. The admiration he got came most of the time because people feared him, not because they loved him.
“People who did not get a direct experience of Gorakshanath’s occult power, but only heard about it from various sources, appreciated him. Others who directly experienced his occult power firsthand were terribly afraid of Gorakshanath. They were reluctant to come near him.
“Sometimes occultists use their power correctly, and sometimes they use it incorrectly. Sometimes, when they use occult power in a negative way, they have the power to change it into something positive. That is their good quality. They break something, but they have the capacity to repair it. But some occultists do not have that capacity. When they break something, it is finished! Then the rest of their lives they are miserable. But some occultists break and remake again. Gorakshanath was one of those who could destroy and rebuild.
“When occultists have tremendous occult power, sometimes they sneer at humanity’s weaknesses instead of showing sympathy. It is difficult for most occultists to identify themselves with humanity unless they have achieved God-realisation. Their very existence is fire, fire, fire! But they do not realise that they are setting fire to their own house. If they took the whole world as their own home, they would see that when they use occult power they are definitely destroying their own home.
“Towards the end of his life, for at least forty years Gorakshanath remained meditating inside various caves at the foot of the Himalayas. At that time he stopped using occult power completely; he only wanted God-realisation. Before God-realisation, occult power cannot be guided. It is absolutely like a mad elephant. But once you get God-realisation, occult power can be tamed easily, like a pet dog or cat.
“When spiritual Masters realise God, they see the difference between occult power and spiritual power. Spiritual power is the ocean itself, whereas occult power is either one wave or a few waves. Since in the ocean there are countless waves, when we become the ocean, we get countless waves.
“After realisation, when we get spiritual power, occult powers also increase in number and in strength. But the greatest occult power or greatest spiritual power is oneness-power with God’s Will. Continuous, sleepless and breathless oneness with God’s Will is the most difficult power to have. It is like becoming God’s slave. In this sense, ‘slave’ means ‘child’. At every moment little children want to be dictated to. Although they know how to make decisions, they get tremendous joy if they always get the command from the highest.
“That is the role that I play quite often. I get the message from the Highest what to do with certain individuals or groups of individuals. That very thing I always tell my disciples. You may not know or you may know better than I do what to do with your life on the physical plane. But if you get the sanction from me or even if you make me aware of your future plans, then I do hope you get more joy than when you make your own decision, which may or may not be correct. Once the decision comes from within or from Above, then that decision is your salvation, and it will give you utmost joy.
“Sri Ramakrishna said that if the ego does not go, then that rascal should be kept as a slave. This ego is safer if it has the Supreme as its Master. That is the happier and sweeter way. The other way is to have the Universal Consciousness and feel, ‘I am Brahma’. After realising God, the Universal Consciousness becomes yours, but there is no joy in this. You cannot play the sweet obedience-game. After becoming one with God, if you can become both Master and disciple, then there is great joy. But if you play only the role of the Master, only the Universal or Transcendental Self, then you do not get the same joy.
“Realisation I did have before my Gorakshanath incarnation. But that kind of realisation was like sitting near the foot of the tree. Then, in subsequent incarnations, I came to the foot of the tree. Then I started climbing and climbing. Now I have really climbed high, higher, highest.
“There was a kind of height that I achieved in those past incarnations. In each case, to reach that height had been my goal. In this incarnation, there is no such thing as the ultimate height. In previous incarnations, if I could reach nirvana, that was enough. Then, if I could have sahaja samadhi, that was enough. In this incarnation, I am seeing clearly that the Absolute Supreme is always transcending His own height. It is not my imagination or sweet dream. No, no, I am seeing it! The very nature of Divinity is to increase its own Divinity. This incarnation is offering me the message of the ever-transcending Reality, and I am offering that message to you, my dearest children.”From:Sri Chinmoy,Illumination-experiences on Indian soil, part 4, Agni Press, 1995
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