A yogi's justice, an Avatar's Justice and God's Justice¹

There was a spiritual Master who had a few hundred disciples. It was quite difficult for him to know who his really good disciples were. But it was quite easy for him to know who his really bad disciples were. Among his really bad disciples there was one who was notorious in his vital life, in his emotional life and in his life of insincerity. In these three phases of life he topped the list of the Master's undivine disciples.

One day one of the other disciples lodged a serious complaint against this particular disciple, whose name was Megh. The Master became furious and ordered Megh to come to him immediately. When Megh came to the Master, the Master said, "Look here, I am fed up with your undivine vital and emotional life! Why don't you do me the biggest favour and go back to your animal life? If you go back to your animal life, nobody will have anything to say. If an animal behaves like an animal, nobody blames it. But after becoming a human being if you act like an animal, naturally we have every right to blame you, and we do blame you."

Megh was trembling with fear.

Then the Master said to him, "Since I am your spiritual Master, let me see what I can do for you. I have a brilliant plan."

Megh touched the Master's feet. "O Master, forgive me, forgive me! I shall never do anything else to displease you."

The Master said, "Just hear my plan. I shall see what I can do for you. Some of my disciples take me as a Yogi, while others take me as an Avatar. Since I am your spiritual teacher, you must have thought of me as either a Yogi or an Avatar. If you feel that I am a Yogi, then I tell you, you have to leave me for six years. I shall not see you for six years. If you feel that I am an Avatar, then for three years you shall have to leave me. I won't look at you for three years. You can never come to my ashram during that time, and you can't speak to any disciples of mine.

"You will leave me either for six years or for three years. During that time you can't come near any disciple of mine, you can't come near me, and you can't speak to any of us.”

Megh said, "Master, I do not take you either as a Yogi or as an Avatar. I take you as God, my real God."

The Master said, "No, no, no. I don't want to be your real God."

Megh said, "You may not think of yourself as God, but I know and feel that you are my real God. And I feel that the difference that lies between a Yogi and an Avatar is nothing in comparison to the difference between an Avatar and God. If I had taken you as a Yogi, I would have had to stay away from you for six years. If I had taken you as an Avatar, I would have had to stay away from you for only three years. But since I have always taken you as God, then I think I will not be punished even for a day, because the difference between an Avatar and God is so vast. But since you have to punish me, you can punish me for only one day. For one day I will not come to you, and I will not speak to you or to any of your disciples.”

The Master discovered that he had lost the case. He put his finger on his forehead where his third eye was located and meditated for a minute. Then he said, "All right. You are prepared to be away from me for one day. I won't see you, and you won't see me. You won't see my disciples or mix with them either."

"Yes, yes, Master. But I have a prayer, just one prayer. For one day I will not see you and I will not talk to you. But my prayer is that you will see me, and you will talk to me.”

The Master said, "If I see you and talk to you, naturally you will see me and hear me.”

But Megh said, "If even a human being speaks to me while I am asleep, I won't hear and I won't see the person. You are God, you know, so if you come to my place spiritually and occultly while I am sleeping, you can talk to me and I won't hear it. You will see me, but I won't see you. As a matter of fact, this is what is happening all the time. God sees me and talks to me, but I don't see or hear Him, so I am in ignorance.”

The Master said, "Now be frank with me. I am asking you, do you really see me as God?"

"Yes, I see you as the real God."

"Well, since you have felt that I am the real God, then I have to act like the real God. That is to say, I shall speak to you in silence; I shall see you when you are asleep. You are in ignorance. You don't have your third eye open, so you will not know when I am talking to you or when I am seeing you. As a matter of fact, I can see you and talk to you twenty-four hours a day, and you will not be aware of it. But I don't want to be in front of you in an earthly way any more. I don't want you to catch me any more. Now leave me at this moment. From now on I will see you and speak to you inwardly."

At this Megh started crying, "O Master, no, no, no, no, no! It cannot be! Why?"

"No, I am really serious," said the Master. "You have taken me as God, and I will act like God. In silence I shall see you and speak to you. You will not be able to catch me outwardly any more."

Megh said, "Master, may I change, may I change my opinion? Now I really feel that you are not God. A real God would have much more compassion than you — infinitely more compassion than you have. Even an Avatar would have much more compassion than you have. So I wish to say you are a Yogi."

The Master said, "I am a Yogi?"

"Yes. I feel that since you have only that much compassion for me, you cannot be more than a Yogi."

The Master said, "All right. I am prepared to be a Yogi. Now you have to stay away from me for six years. For six years I will not speak to you, and you will not speak to me or mix with my disciples. Either you have to do that, or you must leave me totally, forever.”

Megh said, "Master, I am prepared to remain away from you for six years, but not forever. I shall be satisfied with my firm conviction that you are a Yogi, not an Avatar, and never, never God."

The Master blessed Megh and said, "You are absolutely right. When you come back again after six years, I shall accept you in my ashram.”

With a sad and happy face Megh left the Master: sad because he had to be away from his Master for six years, and happy because he would be able to come back to his Master.

As soon as Megh left the Master's ashram, the Master said, "What a relief! What a relief! O God, at last You have been really kind to me. For six years I shall be able to live without that rascal, my worst disciple. He is the particular creation of Yours that has been a real source of sorrow to me and to all my disciples."

The Master's relief

There lived a very compassionate spiritual Master. One day his absolutely worst disciple came up to him and said, "Master, Master, forgive me, forgive me! I have done many, many things wrong. I have never pleased you. I have never meditated well. I have never served you. I have quarrelled with my spiritual brothers and sisters. I have lived an undivine, unforgivable emotional life. But Master, you have always forgiven me, and for that I am most grateful to you. Master, I have a most sincere desire, and this is my last desire on earth. I see clearly that you will not live on earth for long. Please fulfil my last desire."

The Master said, "What is your last desire, Jimut?"

"My last desire is that when you leave the body, either at that particular moment or some other time on that very day, I want to leave the body too. Here I have not been able to meditate well. I have not been able to serve you. I have done everything wrong and undivine. But you have always forgiven me. If you will grant me this boon, I will be so happy, so grateful, so delighted. If I can leave when you leave, in Heaven I can please you in every way."

The Master said, "Look here, I am not dying today. Can you not try to please me in the present, while I am still here on earth?"

Jimut said, "I try my best, Master, but my vital life, my insincere life, my ignorance-life is so strong that I can't please you no matter how sincerely I try."

"If you sincerely try, you can please me. But you don't try sincerely. That is the problem. You want to please me in Heaven at some future date, but you don't care to please me here and now."

"Please, please tell me how. I really want to please you."

"Not only today, but for my remaining days on earth?"

"Yes, yes! I really want to please you always."

"Then leave me at this very moment. Leave me, leave my ashram. I will be really happy if I don't see you any more."

"O Master, Master, you are so cruel to me. So cruel!"

"Look here. You want to go with me to Heaven, but here you have made my life a real hell. Now if I take you with me when I die, you will transform Heaven into hell. No matter where I take you, you will transform it into hell. So what am I going to do with you?"

"It is true, Master, that wherever you take me, I transform that place into hell. But I wish to tell you that wherever you are is my Heaven. I have no other Heaven. No matter where you go, it is my Heaven. Whenever I am with you, I am in Heaven. You may take it as hell whenever I am with you, but I feel that I am in Heaven. So, Master, either you have to please yourself or you have to please me. Needless to say, since you are my Master, your heart is infinitely more vast than mine. You will always forgive me, and I know you will make this great sacrifice for me. I know it. Wherever you go, if you allow me to go, then I shall feel that I am in Heaven. Will you not make this sacrifice for me? When we are in Heaven together, you will call it hell and I will call it Heaven."

The Master said, "Tell me, what do you want? Do you want me to please you, do you want me to please myself, do you want me to please God within you or do you want me to please God within me?"

Jimut said, "If I live in the desire-life, then I want you to please me, Master. That is to say, I want you to take me wherever you go. But if I live in the aspiring life, then I will tell you to do whatever is best for me and for you. That is to say, if you want to go to Heaven without me, then don't take me. I only want to please you and I will be equally satisfied with whatever you do."

The Master said, "Ultimately what do you want? You want to please me both in Heaven and on earth, right?"

"Yes, Master," said Jimut.

"Then if that is your wish, why don't you start satisfying me? Don't lead this undivine lower vital emotional life. Don't quarrel and fight with other disciples. Lead a sincere life, a life of aspiration and dedication. Start to please me here. If you please me here, only then will you be able to please me in Heaven or wherever I take you. Start pleasing me here and now, and then think of the future. If you don't please me in the present, what makes you think that you will be able to please me in the future? If the tree is a good one, it produces good and delicious mangoes again and again. But if it is a bad tree, then it will always produce bad fruit. You have to change your life altogether. Right from now turn yourself into a good tree, a divine tree, and start producing divine fruit. Divine fruit is love, devotion, surrender and oneness. Dedicate your life to the Supreme in me unconditionally and unreservedly. If you please me now, then you can please me in the future. If you please me unconditionally here, then you can please me everywhere. Therefore, for God's sake, please me by leaving me. Go away and thus do me the greatest favour on earth."

Jimut said, "Master, although to leave you is the most difficult task, I will do it, I can do it, I am doing it. Lo, I have done it." He fell at the Master's feet, took his blessing for the last time and left.

The Master said to himself, "At long last God has showered His Compassion on me."

Master, carry me in your suitcase, please

There was a spiritual Master who had two ashrams, one in India and one in America. Six months of the year he lived in India, and the other six months he lived in America.

The Master had disciples in both places, but in India he had more disciples than in America. His American disciples were extremely eager to go to India for a visit. Each time the Master went to India, they were so eager to see his birthplace, his native country. But most of his Indian disciples were not so anxious to go to America. Most of them were afraid. They were under the impression that America was not a good country, and that all its inhabitants were vital, and not really spiritual. They thought that if they went to America, they would lose all their spirituality. Some of the young Indians thought that America was the land of freedom, and that if they went to America they would really enjoy freedom. These disciples were anxious to go. But the Master could not take his disciples either from India to America or from America to India because he was not a rich Master. He was actually quite a poor Master.

It happened that once, when the Master was about to go from America to India, the disciple who was packing his suitcase all of a sudden cried, "Master, Master, I envy your garments! I envy your notebooks. I envy your pencils and pens. I envy everything that is inside your suitcase. How I wish that you would carry me in your suitcase! I envy everything that goes with you."

"Why, Vina?" asked the Master.

Vina said, "They can go to India, but I have been crying and crying to go to India with you and you have never allowed me. So I really envy them."

"Don't envy them, my child," said the Master. "It is not good to envy. It is not a good thing."

Vina immediately said to the Master, "Yes, it is not a good thing, you say. But you have done a bad thing."

"What bad thing have I done, my child?"

"You have not blessed me even as much as you have blessed your ballpoint, or a garment of yours. Anything that you are going to use, if you had made me that, then today I could have gone with you to India. I would not have had to stay here in America. I feel so sad when you go to India without me. In my next incarnation, please, please make me something of yours that you will want to take with you and use."

"My child, you are a belonging of mine. I will use you. I am using you. As a matter of fact, I am using you every day for God, for the highest Absolute. Your love, devotion and surrender I am using for the Absolute Supreme. Don't feel sad, my child. When I have money I will definitely take you to India."

Vina said to the Master, "All right, what can I do? I have to wait for that happy day when you have money. But Master, please tell me, do you think of me when you are in India? Do you miss me?"

"Yes, I think of you, my child."

"Do you miss me, Master?"

"Yes, I do."

"Do you miss me the way I miss you, Master?"

"Yes, my child."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am sure."

"Then, Master, I am happy that you think of me and miss me."

"My daughter, do you want to know whether I am happy?"

"Master, I don't understand you."

"You are saying you are happy because I think of you and miss you. Now I am asking you to feel whether I am happy or not."

"Master, I still don't understand."

The Master said, "I am unhappy, to say the least, because of your lack of spiritual height."

"I know I am not spiritual, Master. I know I am not very great in spirituality. And I know you are sad about it. But you always say you are pleased with me, extremely pleased with me."

"My child, you don't understand my philosophy. Here I am telling you a specific thing. You were asking me whether I miss you. I told you that I do miss you, and that I think of you. This is absolutely true. But if I have to tell you my supreme philosophy, it will be different."

"What is your supreme philosophy, Master?"

"My supreme philosophy is that you do not claim me as your very own."

Vina burst into tears. She sobbed, "If I have not claimed you as my very own, then who has claimed you? Every second of my life I cry and cry to please you in your own way. I know I don't always please you, Master. I am still very bad. But I try to please you."

The Master said, "You have your nose, you have your eyes, you have your arms, you have your legs, you have your head, your heart, everything. Everything that is in your body, everything that comprises your body, you claim as your own. When you go somewhere, you take your body. When your body takes you somewhere, you go. You never think of your body and yourself as two. Wherever you go, you feel that you don't have to miss your limbs because they go with you. You don't miss your hands when you are going somewhere. You don't miss your legs or eyes, because they go with you. When you are fast asleep you are not using your eyes. But at that time you don't miss your eyes. When you are reading you are using your eyes, but you do not miss your legs or anything else, because they are with you. You know they are with you. There are many parts of you which you do not use while you are doing a particular thing. You use the things that you need to use, and then the rest you don't use. But you don't miss them just because you are not using them.

"If you really feel that you are part of me, part of my mission, which is my body, then wherever I am going, you are bound to go with me. If you are one with the body and soul of my mission, then wherever I go, you go with me. Without your nose, eyes and ears you don't go anywhere. And your nose, eyes and ears can't go anywhere without you.

"We two are inseparable in our life of mutually dedicated service to the Supreme. So try to feel that it is as indispensable for the body to carry all the limbs wherever it goes, as it is for the limbs to go with the body. I feel it is as indispensable for me to carry you with me wherever I go, as you feel it is indispensable to be carried with me. Take me as the body and yourself as the limbs. No matter where I go or you go, we go together. Is my philosophy clear, my child?"

"Yes, Master. Today I shall accept your philosophy. From now on, wherever you go I will be inside your heart all the time, as I know you are always inside my heart. Then I shall not miss you when you go away. But one thing I want to ask you, Master. I have read in your Indian scriptures that Krishna's dearest ones, Krishna's Radha and his Gopis, who were so close to him, used to feel miserable when he went away. Then, when he came back, their reunion was so sweet. Their joy knew no bounds. If I miss you when you go to India, I feel that my joy will increase tenfold when you come back. Can't separation help also in increasing joy?"

The Master said, "This is one way of experiencing joy, my child. There is another way. That way is to go from joy to greater joy to greatest joy. If you have offered your love, devotion and surrender to me, then you are getting joy. If you increase the amount of your love, devotion and surrender daily, then your joy increases. In this way you don't have to think of separation and reunion in order to get deeper joy, greater joy and more fulfilling joy. If you increase your love, devotion and surrender to me, no matter where I am, whether I am in front of you or somewhere else, automatically your joy increases. It is bound to increase, and it increases in a positive way.

"So, my child, it is not by staying away from your loved ones from time to time that you increase your joy. It is only by increasing your love, devotion and surrender that you increase your joy and fulfil me on earth. Wherever I go, you have to feel that you are my limbs and you are going with me. You don't have to experience the sense of loss. While I am with you or near you, all the time try to increase your love, devotion and surrender to me. And when I am physically away from you, whatever the circumstances, try to feel me and be with me inwardly and again increase your love, devotion and surrender to the Supreme in me. Then you will get the greatest joy, and you will give me the greatest joy."

The Master forgives the disciple's future

"I am simply fed up with your vital life! You must put an end to your emotional life. You must put an end to your life of ignorance. You are simply an impossible creature," the Master said to Viman. "I don't think I will be able to keep you any more or offer you light any more. It is enough! I am fed up with you."

Viman, with a sad face, said, "Master, Master, please forgive me once again. I know I have done many wrong things, many undivine things. But if you do not forgive me, who will forgive me?"

"Stop, stop, stop your philosophy!" said the Master. "Now tell me, Viman, you know that I am not a fake."

"No, Master, never, never! I know that you are not a fake."

"Then why do you have to behave like a fake disciple? They say, 'Like father, like son'. Why can it not be, 'Like spiritual father, like spiritual son' in your case? Why can't you be divine like me?"

Viman said, "I am trying, Master, I am trying to be like you."

"Viman, tell me one thing. What do you think of me in your mind? Do you think of me as an ordinary Master or a great Master or the greatest Master?"

"Master, when my consciousness is low, at that time I think you are an ordinary Master. When my consciousness is high, I think you are a great Master. But when my consciousness is at the highest, according to my standard, then I feel you are the greatest spiritual Master."

The Master said, "So you have three different states of consciousness: low, high and highest. When you are in one consciousness, you feel I am an ordinary Master. When you are in another consciousness, you feel I am a great Master. When you are in a third consciousness, you feel I am the greatest Master. I wish to say that I have something on my mind. You have done so many undivine things that you have cast a slur on my ashram. Now you have to do something with your life. This time I am really serious. You just said that sometimes I am an ordinary Master, sometimes I am a great Master and sometimes I am the greatest Master. Now how am I going to deal with you? Today I have to do something with you. You tell me what you think an ordinary Master will do in a case like yours, what a great Master will do, and what the greatest Master will do if he has to deal with a disciple like you."

"Master, an ordinary Master will punish me severely for what I have been doing. A great Master will scold me mercilessly. The greatest Master will forgive me unconditionally.

"All right, Viman. Since you take me as an ordinary Master, a great Master and the greatest Master at different times, I wish to play these three roles today in your life. As an ordinary Master, I am punishing you. You will have to leave me for twelve years. You cannot keep any connection with me or with my disciples. When and if you come back, I shall scold you mercilessly for twelve days. Then I shall forgive you."

"Master, first you will punish me, then you will scold me and then you will forgive me? What kind of forgiveness is that? Please forgive me; I don't want to be audacious, but I don't understand. After punishment and after scolding, is there any necessity for forgiveness? Master, please let me know. I don't understand."

"Viman, you believe in the past, you believe in the present, but it seems you don't believe in the future. Before coming to me you did many things wrong, you know. And you are still doing many things wrong, even after having accepted my path. So you see, in the past you did things wrong, and in the present you are doing wrong. Now how can you think you won't do things wrong in the future? I know in the future you will do many, many things wrong. But I give you the promise that I will forgive you. As an ordinary Master, I shall punish you for twelve years. As a great Master, I shall scold you for twelve days. After that my forgiveness will be forever, from that day on. Be happy that this is my judgement. Twelve years will fly away and twelve days will pass in the twinkling of an eye. Then, for the rest of your life, I will only forgive you and forgive you, no matter what you do."

Now Viman said, "Master, since you will use the most powerful weapon on earth, out of your infinite kindness how I wish you would use it now!"

"Viman, you are such a clever fellow. Yes, I shall use my forgiveness-weapon, at the last. But I have two weapons, two mighty weapons to transform the nature of my disciples. One is force, and the other is love. Force-power I shall use first, and then I shall use love-power. But I have to tell you that force itself is love. Who forces whom? He who loves somebody forces him to be good. The mother forces the child to do the right thing because the child is hers. Again, the same mother loves the child because it is her child. She knows when to use force in the form of love and when to use love in the form of force. In your case I am first using force-power as love, and then forgiveness-power, which is love, as force. Right now if I use only love as force, you will not value this love-power, or forgiveness-power.

"Love as force and force as love are equally indispensable. But in your case I want to use force as love first, and then love as force. I feel that in this way only will I be able to bring about transformation in your life and to offer you realisation in this life of yours.”

Make your choice

There was a very, very old spiritual Master. He knew that he would not stay on earth a long time, so one day he invited Jagu, Maghu and Tagu, the three disciples of his who had pleased him most and served him most, to come to him. When they were all gathered together, he said, "My sons, you have served me well for many years. Now I wish to offer something to each of you. It is up to you to make the selection. As you know, I am spiritually rich and also materially rich. For my spiritual wealth I am most grateful to my Supreme Pilot. For my material wealth I am most grateful to my disciples.

"But I wish to say that I have three things to offer you: spiritual wealth, material wealth and the remaining years of my life. Now each of you make the choice. You can take all my outer wealth: my millions of dollars and my property. Or you can take my inner wealth: my spiritual Light, Peace and Bliss in infinite measure. Or you can stay with me for as many years as I am on earth. But you have to choose only one thing. Now you make the decision."

The Master said to Jagu, "What do you want, Jagu? What is your choice?"

"Master, Master, I want to have all your material wealth. I have served you on earth most devotedly. I know I won't be able to go with you when you leave the body. You will go alone. Since I have to stay on earth, I feel it is good to lead a decent life. Why lead the life of poverty when I know that by your grace you can give me material wealth? Since I have to stay on earth, let me live a decent, comfortable life. I am sure you will agree with me."

The Master said, "Certainly, I fully agree with you. You should lead a decent, comfortable life. You have served me for such a long time. This much, at least, I can do for you."

Then he said to Maghu, "Maghu, what do you want?"

"Master, I want your spiritual wealth: your Peace, Light and Bliss. If I have Peace, Light and Bliss, then I will be able to offer them to mankind and mankind will aspire and realise God. I need your spiritual Peace, Light and Bliss. Am I right, Master?"

"Yes, you are right, you are right. The Masters offer Peace, Light and Bliss to the world at large so that humanity will have a new life. As I shall give my material wealth to Jagu, so also will I give all my spiritual wealth to you."

Then the Master said to Tagu, "Tagu, there is only one choice left. You have to stay with me during my remaining days on earth. But are you going to stay with me cheerfully, devotedly and unconditionally?"

Tagu burst into tears.

"Why are you crying?" asked the Master.

"I am crying out of joy, out of sheer gratitude."

"Why?"

Tagu said, "This was what I wanted. I was all the time afraid that if Jagu or Maghu had wanted to live with you, I would not have got this chance, because each of us had to select a different thing. Now they have made their selections. Jagu wants to get your material wealth. Maghu wants to get your spiritual wealth. But I have been all the time crying only to stay with you. You are my only wealth. I don't have any material wealth or spiritual wealth separate from you. The only thing I need or want is to stay with you and serve you devotedly and unconditionally. I am so glad that this is the gift I have got. I want only to be with you, and nothing else. I don't want material wealth, I don't want spiritual wealth. I only want you, you alone."

Then Jagu said to the Master, "Master, that means I was mistaken. I wanted something inferior — your material wealth."

Maghu said to the Master, "Master, that means I was a fool. I wanted your spiritual wealth, and not you."

The Master said to Jagu and Maghu, "Both of you are right according to your own standards. Jagu, you have served me well according to your own spiritual standard. After serving, naturally you want some reward. This is the reward you have chosen. You wanted to lead a most comfortable life with the material wealth that I shall leave. You are right according to your own spiritual standard.

"And Maghu, you are right, too. You know my philosophy: that if you have Peace, Light and Bliss from the Master, you will be able to offer these qualities to mankind so that mankind will lead a higher life. According to your standard, you are also right.

"But Tagu feels that the most important thing is to stay with the Master. Who cares for material wealth? Who cares for spiritual wealth? It is the Master alone who is needed. I don't need any possessions of his. I need only him. This is what Tagu says. According to Tagu's spiritual development, he is right. According to your spiritual development, Maghu, you are right. According to Jagu's standard, he is right."

Maghu said, "According to our own spiritual standards we are all right, Master, but which one is actually the best of the three? Which one has the highest standard?"

The Master said, "Here I have to be very frank with you. He who can give up the temptation of material wealth and of spiritual wealth is by far the best. He who wants to stay with me and who will stay with me and serve me devotedly, soulfully and unconditionally is undoubtedly the best. Again, to say is one thing. But to say and do is another thing. Tagu is saying that he will stay with me and serve me most soulfully and devotedly as long as I am on earth. If he does what he says, then naturally he is by far the best. So far you three have all served me devotedly. But unconditionally you have not served me. Now Tagu is making the promise that he will serve me unconditionally."

At this point, Tagu said, "Master, I wish to serve you unconditionally even in Heaven."

The Master said, "Forget about Heaven right now. I am on earth. First try to serve me and please me while I am on earth. Now I wish to tell you, Maghu, if one stays with the Master and serves him devotedly, soulfully and unconditionally, naturally the one who is serving the Master is receiving Peace, Light and Bliss.

"It happens that sometimes one wants to serve the Master devotedly, and does not care for the world or want to do anything for the world. But Tagu serves me devotedly and soulfully, and whatever divine qualities he gets from me he is ready to offer to the world at large. He does not hold and hoard them for himself. Tagu does not want even my Peace, Light and Bliss, which Maghu wants, not to speak of my material wealth, which Jagu wants. He wants to stay with me only for myself. He wants only to please me in my own way. With this attitude one can stay with the Master and at the same time offer Light unconditionally to the world at large. While serving me unconditionally, Tagu will receive Light. If he offers it unconditionally to the world at large, then he is not only by far the best, but he is eternally the best among you three."

The right way to offer the Master's Light

One day while a certain spiritual Master was taking rest in his bedroom, he overheard a conversation among his disciples. They were talking about another spiritual Master. This other Master was doing extremely well, and his disciples were doing well. His own disciples were terribly jealous of this other Master. They were trying their utmost to think up ways to lower this other Master in the eyes of others.

One of them said, "Let us declare him to be a fake."

Another one said, "No, I don't think others will believe it."

The first one said, "Let us tell the world that he is just a poet who lives in the moon-world. He has nothing to do with reality. His words are all dreams and there is no reality in them. Let us say this, for one has to live in reality."

Someone else said, "I don't agree. People have discovered much truth in his poetry. This will not carry weight. His reputation will remain as it is, and not be affected."

Another one said, "Let us say that he just talks and talks, but there is no truth in it. He writes and writes, but there is no inner wisdom in it."

But others said, "He has written considerably now. If we say there is no truth, no light, in his writings and talks, I don't think people will believe us."

In this way the disciples were thinking about how they could embarrass the other spiritual Master and lower him in the world's eye. They were working very hard, going on and on. The whole time they were under the impression that their own Master was fast asleep in his bed.

But all of a sudden the Master came in, and he said, "I overheard your conversation." They were very embarrassed. They said, "Master, forgive us. We won't do what we were talking about. Or, if we do actually do it, we will do it when you are not around us. But, Master, we feel miserable that we have not been able to make you as great as the other Master is. That's why we are trying to do something against that Master."

The Master said, "If you really want to make me great, if you really want to make me known all over the world, do you think you will be able to do this by speaking ill of another Master? By criticising him, by trying to convince the world that he is not as great as people think, do you think you will help me in any way? This is absolutely wrong!"

The disciples said, "Master, then what shall we do? We really want to make you great."

The Master said, "If you want to make me great, if you want the world to receive my Light, then you people have to become good and sincere. Look who has made him great! It is his disciples. It is not I who can make myself great. It is your dedicated service, your devoted service, your surrendered service, your aspiration, your meditation only that can make me known all over the world. By criticising or finding fault with that other Master, or by making the world feel that he is not good, you won't be able to make the world accept my offering. By embarrassing someone, by finding fault with someone, you cannot make somebody else great. It is not the right way.

"Look at that other Master's capacity! Children leave their parents for him; wives leave their husbands for him; husbands leave their wives for him; brothers leave their brothers; sisters leave their sisters. This is what they do for him. I have been here with you people for a long time, but when you come to see me, you think of your mothers, you think of your fathers, you think of your sisters and brothers, you think of your wives, you think of your husbands. Look: in his case, when they leave their family, the family is gone forever. At that time the Master becomes their husband, their wife, their brother and their sister. In my case, you do not actually leave anybody. Still you think of the members of your family.

"I don't want to ask you to leave anybody. But you have to feel that all the members of your family abide in me. You have to feel that I embody all the members of your family. If you feel that way, then you will not be attached to the members of your family. Then your dedicated service becomes constant, devoted service dedicated to the Supreme, the highest Absolute in me. Otherwise, what is happening? Although you are here, your mind is divided. It is pulling you to the members of your family; it is constantly dragging you down. So be sincere! Stay with the members of your family at home or follow your old unspiritual life if you want to. But if you come here to me, you have to come with total devotion, total dedication to the Supreme in me. If you give total dedicated service to me, then only will you be able to help me offer my Light to the world at large.

"If you want to make your Master great and well-known, so that his service can be offered to the world at large, you first have to become divine yourself. You have to become totally surrendered to the Supreme in me and feel that I embody all your near and dear ones inside me. Then only will our mission succeed. Otherwise it is doomed to failure.”

Once I understand God, nobody can misunderstand me

"Master, Master, today I am so sad and depressed."

"Why are you so sad and depressed, my child?"

"I am sad and depressed because nobody understands you."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that on this earth nobody understands you."

"So, Tandra, are you on that list?"

"Of course, Master, I also belong to that unfortunate list. I wish to say that I try my best to understand you. But there are people who do not want to understand you at all. And I feel really sorry that I am helpless, that I cannot do anything to change their way of thinking."

"Tandra, when you change your way of thinking, that is to say, when you stop misunderstanding me, at that time you will see that they also will stop misunderstanding me. Now tell me, Tandra, what is actually bothering you today?"

"Master, last night I went to visit my parents, and my aunt happened to be there. She said to my parents, 'Look at Tandra's Master! A few days ago I happened to be at one of his public meditations. There I saw him in a very high spiritual mood. But even a spiritual Master of his standard, such a great Master, becomes nervous. I was so surprised. I was simply shocked His eyes were flickering, moving from this side to that side, and they were practically trembling. So I felt really sorry for Tandra's spiritual Master, and also for Tandra and the other disciples. I feel this Master is really sincere, yet look at his weakness!"

The Master asked Tandra, "What did you say?"

"I tried to defend you. I told my aunt that it was not nervousness that was causing your eyes to flicker. I told her that you were bringing down Light, scattering Light all over, and that we were all receiving it according to our capacity. You told us once that your consciousness is like a bird flying from one branch to another. While flying it is offering its beauty. When it is on one branch, it takes a few fruits and offers them so that others can eat. It goes from one branch to another, plucking the fruits and throwing them down so that we can eat.

"But my aunt did not believe it. She has tremendous sympathy for us and tremendous respect for you. She feels that you are really sincere and that you are really doing God's work. But she cannot understand how a spiritual Master of your height can become so nervous."

The Master smiled and smiled and said, "Well, in this world I can't blame her. Everybody has to judge me according to his or her own standard. When your eyes are flickering in that fashion when there are thousands of people around you and in front of you, naturally they will get the impression that you are nervous. But in my case you know, as I have told you, I am offering Light at that time in a very dynamic way, and you people are receiving it.

"Anyway, I wish to tell you that she in no way wanted to damage our reputation. If she had criticised us badly and had felt no sympathy for me, if she had not at all cared for my spirituality or our cause, then it would have been a different matter. But she felt that the movement of my eyes was an act of weakness, and she was sympathetic. She was only feeling sorry. Actually she was not trying to speak ill of me, so right now let us not be displeased with her in any way. Let us sympathise with her ignorance and forgive her. I tell you, a day will come when she herself will be able to receive my Light. Then she also will understand what I actually am doing, and why my eyes flicker so rapidly. If she goes deep within and prays and meditates, who knows but that one day she may accept our path."

Tandra said, "Yes, I do feel that she will accept our path because she is more spiritual than my parents. Even my parents don't speak ill of us. They see that we are doing the right thing. Previously, we were absolutely useless in their opinion. But although they have lost me, because now I am all for you, still they feel that, after all, it is their son, their son, their son who has become spiritual. Now they have become wise. They feel that no matter who has transformed their child, the child still belongs to them. They are grateful to you for transforming me.

"So, Master, now that you have thrown light on the situation, I shall forgive my aunt and I shall wait for the day when she also becomes a disciple of yours."

The Master said, "Tandra, do you know why people misunderstand your Guru?"

Tandra said, "I do not know. I suppose it is our ignorance."

The Master said, "No, there is a specific reason. The reason is this: as long as I do not understand God, the world will not understand me."

"You do not understand God? But Master, you have realised God."

"Yes, I have realised God. But you have realised me as a spiritual Master; yet there are many times when you misunderstand me. Similarly, I have realised God fully, I have become one with Him in my consciousness. But here, when I am on earth, sometimes the human in me does not understand Him or fails to understand Him. Here is the situation: I am suffering on earth considerably. I really don't want to live on earth. I want to go away. I want to put an end to my sorrowful life here. I feel that I have fought like anything in the battlefield of life to serve God, to elevate the human consciousness. Now I feel that the time is more than ripe for me to go to the other world, but God does not listen to my cries. So, you see, I don't identify with God. I don't understand Him. I don't understand His Plan in spite of knowing Him, in spite of having realised Him.

"Here everybody misunderstands me, and I don't understand anybody. As long as I don't understand God in His Cosmic Plan all the time, how can I expect humanity to understand me?"

Jealousy is not the answer

There was once a spiritual Master who had about forty disciples. These disciples were extremely jealous of one particular disciple named Khaga. In front of him they used to show false love, false concern, false respect. But when he was not there, they used to meet together and speak ill of him and mock him.

The Master felt very sorry for that particular disciple. The Master said to himself, "He is so devoted to me, he is so spiritual." One day the Master invited all the disciples to come to him. Needless to say, Khaga also was there. In front of Khaga, the Master said to all the disciples, "Now look here. You are all jealous of my Khaga. Tell me, are you people sincere?"

They said, "Yes, we are sincere."

"If you are really sincere, let me ask you one thing. Is there anybody who loves me more than Khaga does? Then stand up."

Nobody stood up. "Is there anybody who is more devoted to me than Khaga is? Stand up."

Nobody stood up.

"Is there anybody who is more surrendered to me than Khaga? Then stand up."

Nobody stood up.

"Look at you! Here is the proof that he loves me much more than you do, that he has devoted his life to me and surrendered to me much more than you people have done. Such being the case, does he not deserve my utmost love? Does he not deserve to be my closest disciple?

"Just because you are sincere, you could not stand up. You know perfectly well that he loves me most and has surrendered to me most. I deeply admire your sincerity."

Then the Master called up one of his disciples to come and stand before him, and he said, "Dikka, among the disciples who are jealous of Khaga, you are the worst. Here, I am giving you a mirror. Look at your nose; then look at your eyes. Your eyes, according to me, are much more beautiful than your nose. But your nose is not jealous of your eyes, because you consciously feel that your nose and your eyes belong to the same body. You feel that they are one. Now look at your toe and look at your forehead. Your toe is so dirty and your forehead is so beautiful. But your toe is not jealous of your forehead.

"Now here is the thing. When you have established your oneness with something, then you do not feel jealous. If something in you is not as good as something else, you don't feel jealous, because both the things belong to you. The thing that is inferior is yours and the thing that is superior is also yours. So how can you be jealous of anything?

"There are two things that usually go together. One thing is jealousy and the other thing is hatred. Just because you people are jealous of Khaga, you think that he hates you. He knows all about your jealousy, but I wish to tell you that he does not hate you at all. On the contrary, he suffers. Because you are jealous of him, his loving heart has not been able to establish oneness with you. You people ought to feel sorry that you do not love him the way he loves you.

"It is I who have made him closest to me. It is I who can make you closest to me if I want to. But just because you are not devoted, because you are not surrendered to me the way he is, you are not closest to me, to my heart and soul. By becoming jealous of someone, you cannot become closest to me. Become like him in every way, and only then will you be close to me. Through love, devotion and surrender only can you become closest to the Master."

The prayer plant and the meditation tree

"Master, Master, please save me! I have a serious problem. My problem is that I do not know what kind of mental attitude I should have when I pray and what kind of mental attitude I should have when I meditate."

The Master placed his hand on Dhanu's shoulder and said, "My son, it is a very simple problem. It is not a serious problem. When you pray, you have to feel that this is the last opportunity that you will get to pray. You have to feel that if you pray soulfully, then a new life of illumination and fulfilment will immediately dawn in you, and if you don't pray soulfully, then death will come and snatch you away.

"Now I want to tell you about your meditation. When you meditate, you have to feel that this is the first opportunity you are being given. If you miss the first opportunity, no harm. There will be many more opportunities to come."

"Master, Master, then in that case, why do I have to pray at all? I shall always meditate. Then I will get opportunities again and again."

The Master said, "Wait, I have not yet finished my philosophy. It is true that when you pray, only one chance is given, and if you don't use it soulfully and devotedly, then death comes and snatches you away. Again, it is true that when you meditate, you get many more opportunities if you miss one. But I wish to say that each time you miss an opportunity to meditate devotedly and soulfully, you have to know that God's Heart starts bleeding. If you don't meditate well, He is bound to give you another opportunity. But each time His Heart starts bleeding with sorrow. He feels, 'Here I am showing you My infinite Compassion, but I won't be able to make you My best, absolutely best instrument. But whoever makes the most out of the first opportunity when it is given, whoever does not miss even one opportunity, that person makes the best progress. That is to say, when it is time for his meditation, if he meditates most devotedly and soulfully, then he gets infinite Light, Bliss, Gratitude and Pride from Me. These divine qualities enter into him and he assimilates them. Then he offers them to the world at large, to aspiring humanity.’

"So I wish to say, when you meditate, feel that each time is an opportunity to grow into the high, higher, highest world. But if you don't meditate soulfully and devotedly, then you will see God extremely sad. His Heart starts bleeding and He can never make you His dearest or His closest or His most perfect instrument.

"Again, prayer is done by the child in us. Once the child pleases the father or mother, he is always loved and adored. But one in the family who meditates is more grown up. So, in his case, it is not like that. He is given many more chances, because one who meditates has much more responsibility than one who prays. If he uses these chances in a divine way, then he becomes the greatest messenger of God. But if he misuses them, it is a real pang to God.

"Prayer and meditation are both necessary. But prayer is usually done by the child in us, while meditation is done by the youth in us. Both are necessary. Without being a child, how can you grow into a youth? From a plant you grow into a tree. Prayer is the plant and meditation is the tree. They both go together. It is a continuous growth of reality. Prayer and meditation are a continuous growth of the same reality tree. Prayer and meditation are the continuous movement of man's evolution. They are the continuous development of God-fulfilling life on earth."

Monkey-Master vs. donkey-Master

There were two spiritual Masters. Each one had hundreds of disciples. Unfortunately, the disciples of each Master were very, very undivine. They used to quarrel and fight not only among themselves but also with the disciples of the other Master.

Now it happened that the undivine qualities of the disciples were like a contagious disease. These qualities entered into the Masters as well. So the Masters also began to quarrel and fight and to speak ill of each other. This went on for many, many years.

Each of the Masters was looked down upon by the disciples of the other Master, and each Master laughed at the other Master. But these two did have spiritual power and occult power, and one of them really had tremendous occult and spiritual power. The names of the two Masters were Banar and Gadha. Banar means 'monkey' and Gadha means 'donkey.' Although they were human beings, their parents had given them these names, and no doubt they rightly deserved them, for they did their best to live up to them.

One day Banar was meditating deeply when a revelation dawned. He said, "How long will my disciples fight among themselves and quarrel with the disciples of the Donkey? And how long will the Donkey and I quarrel and fight and speak ill of each other? The best thing is to put an end to it."

So Banar wrote a confidential letter to Gadha. "Dear Gadha," he wrote, "tomorrow I would like to meet with you. Please bring all your disciples and I shall also come with all my disciples. I have an excellent plan. If we can execute this plan, both you and I will be extremely happy. Also, your disciples will be happy and my disciples will be happy. In the park near your ashram there is a huge banyan tree. I will bring my disciples inside the park and you also bring your disciples. Let us all meet under the banyan tree and there we shall have a discussion. I have quite a few things to tell you."

Gadha was highly pleased with the letter. The following morning he brought all his disciples, and Banar brought all his disciples, and they met beneath the banyan tree. For the time being both the parties were courteous to each other.

Banar said to Gadha, "Gadha, let us put an end to this constant quarrelling. You have a physical body, and I have a physical body. We both have physical strength. You are a spiritual Master, and I am a spiritual Master. You have occult and spiritual power, and I have occult and spiritual power. Let us do two things. Let us have a physical fight, and then let us have a spiritual fight. Whoever wins…"

Before Banar could finish his proposal, some of Gadha's disciples immediately said, "No!"

But Gadha said, "This is an excellent idea. We shall see who is really great. On the physical plane everyone will know who is the winner as soon as the fight is over. But on the spiritual plane, how will these idiots know who has more spiritual power and occult power?"

Banar said, "It is very easy. We shall fight physically to know our physical power. Spiritually we shall both sit face to face and look at each other. With our third eye we shall try to conquer each other. By this I mean that the one who is stronger will compel the other to fall at his feet and take the very dust of the winner's feet with his head. In that way the disciples will know who is the greater of us two."

Then Gadha said, "I have an excellent idea. You know that one of us will win in the spiritual fight and one will win in the physical fight. Now, the one who wins spiritually will get the reward of having the other Master touch his feet. But the one who wins physically must have some reward also.

Banar said, "That is an excellent idea."

"Now," Gadha said to Banar, "please write down the names of your twenty best disciples, and I shall write down the names of my twenty best disciples. Whoever is the winner of the physical fight will get the twenty best disciples of the other Master, the loser. Now let us exchange our lists and read out the names."

When Gadha and Banar read out the names of their twenty best disciples, a terrible battle broke out. The disciples who were among the best boasted and bragged, and those who were not on the lists became terribly angry. The disciples of the Monkey fought bitterly among themselves and the disciples of the Donkey did the same. It took the Masters quite a long time to restore some kind of peace among their followers after having all kinds of insults heaped upon them by their bad disciples.

Now a new idea flashed across the Monkey's mind. He said, "Suppose one of us wins both the spiritual fight and the physical fight?"

Gadha said, "Banar, you are a fool! You are an old man, and I am a young man. You do not expect me to lose physically, do you? When we have our spiritual fight, there is some question as to who will win. But on the physical plane I know I will beat you immediately as soon as we start wrestling or fighting. I will just throw you on the ground, and you and all your disciples will start crying. You may win on the spiritual plane, but I will easily win on the physical plane. Then we will be even."

But Banar said, "Suppose you don't win in the physical fight? What will happen then? Granted, you are physically strong, but what will happen if I somehow defeat you in both contests?"

"Don't brag, don't brag!" said Gadha. "Well, in case you win, I am going to become your disciple. What more can I say or do? I will give up my life of teaching. I will be your humble devotee along with my twenty disciples if I lose to you in both the physical and the spiritual fights. And you must also do the same if you lose to me in both the fights."

Banar gladly agreed to this proposal.

Then Gadha said, "Now let us start."

The disciples of both parties were alarmed, eager and anxious to see who would be the winner. Each group encouraged and inspired its own Master.

Now it happened that although Banar was an old man, he defeated Gadha like anything in the physical fight, in front of everyone, and in the spiritual fight also he defeated Gadha. The monkey-master defeated the donkey-master in both cases.

Then Banar said to Gadha, "Look, you have lost to me in both the physical fight and the spiritual fight. Now you will have to be my devoted disciple, and your good disciples also have to become my disciples. But something within me is telling me that your good disciples are not going to be my good disciples. They will feel sad and depressed, and they will all the time think of the kindness, love and affection that you showed them. No matter how much love I give them, you know they will never feel that I am giving enough. It is not possible that your good disciples will become my good disciples. When one army loses to another army, the losing army does not usually go and join the army that has conquered it. I have conquered you and won your good disciples, but I am afraid they will not become my good disciples because of their sadness at your defeat and because of their loyalty to their Master. Now, Donkey, tell me what to do."

Gadha said, "I will ask them to be good. Since I have become your very good disciple, I will ask them to be good."

Banar said, "I will be very grateful to you if you ask them. But Gadha, some divine ideas are entering my mind. I feel awkward about having you as my disciple. After all, you were also a Master. I have a nice plan. Let me release you. I shall not take you as my disciple. You remain the Master with the rest of your disciples, and tell your twenty good disciples that if they behave well, if they listen to me devotedly, then after three years I shall return them all to you; otherwise, I shall keep them forever. If they do not become good disciples, I will compel them to stay with me. But again, if they behave well, if they become really devoted to me, I shall give them back to you in three years' time."

Gadha was very pleased at the generous inclinations of his conqueror. He said, "Banar, you are the conqueror. It was my suggestion that whoever lost both fights would have to give his twenty best disciples and would himself have to become a disciple of the winner. I am the loser, so I and my twenty best disciples have become your disciples. But now, if these twenty disciples stay with you and I go away with my other disciples, it won't be proper. I can't do that. They will be at your feet, at your beck and call, just because I lost to you. Who is responsible for this punishment? It is I who am the culprit. I am fulfilling my promise to you, but I cannot sacrifice these innocent disciples of mine in that way. No, I cannot do it. They are most precious to me. Since I have given them to you because I lost, I cannot go away and desert them. I have to stay with them. I will be devoted to you, and I will compel my disciples also to be devoted to you. But if they suffer here at your feet, if they have to accept your leadership, can I go and enjoy myself with the rest of my disciples? No, that I can't do.

"It was I who made the proposal that the loser would have to offer his best disciples, and even himself, to the winner. Now I can't leave these disciples to suffer for my foolishness. I am going to stay with them. If you will accept my bad disciples also, I will be very grateful. But no, I don't want you to accept my bad disciples, because bad disciples are always bad. Let my bad disciples stay without a Master for the time being. And when you are pleased with my other disciples and with me, when you release us either in three years or in as many years as you want, then we shall go back. At that time I will again collect all my old disciples and be their leader and the leader of the disciples who are right now with you. Eventually we shall have our ashram again.

"In one simple sentence I tell you I can't leave my good disciples. I am duty-bound to stay with them and suffer with them. I have not been as great a Master as you, but now I feel I am obliged to fulfil my promise to you and also to be one with my good disciples, who have been so kind to me and so devoted to me right from the beginning.

At this Banar was deeply moved. He said, "You are really great, Gadha, you are really great. You have such love for your innocent disciples. I am most pleased with you, most proud of you, most grateful to you for giving me your divine wisdom. To love one's spiritual children as one's own life: this is what you have taught me. Therefore, Gadha, I am bowing down to the Divine in you, to the Supreme in you."

Gadha said, "You are bowing down to the Divine in me, Banar, but I am bowing down to the Divine in you, plus to the human in you. The human in you is also really great; otherwise, the human in you would have enjoyed malicious pleasure in keeping me at least for a few years just because I am the vanquished. But out of your divine generosity you were willing to let me go."

Banar said, "My dear Gadha, I am letting you go with your dear ones. You go and run your ashram, and let me run my ashram. Let us remain friendly with each other. Let the members of my family try to do the right thing. Let the members of your family also try to do the right thing. Let us not quarrel any more. Let us not fight. Let us join together. Your group and my group must join together and always fight against one enemy: ignorance — the ignorance that we once saw and became. Now we are free from ignorance, both you and I, Gadha, so what we shall do is pray and meditate sincerely. You guide your disciples. Let your disciples pray and meditate soulfully. And let my disciples pray and meditate soulfully. Let us act like two divine armies of the Supreme for the Supreme. Let these two armies fight against ignorance and establish the kingdom of beauty, divinity and universal oneness on earth."

Gadha said, "Banar, you are not only great; you are good."

Banar said, "If I have any goodness, it started when you said that you did not want to leave your disciples. You wanted to be my disciple and share their suffering. This was your generous heart. It was your heart of oneness with your good disciples that made me good. Your love for your disciples and your oneness with them has taught me love and oneness with my disciples and with everybody's disciples — in fact, with all human beings on earth. Gadha, you are great, you are good; and if you say that I am also good and great, then I wish to say that my greatness and goodness and your greatness and goodness are all unconditional gifts from the Absolute Supreme. Let us treasure these blessing-gifts from the Absolute. Greatness and goodness are the gifts which we have got from the Supreme. Let us cherish them from now on."

Gadha said, "Certainly we shall. Right from this moment let us begin."

Editor's preface to the first edition

The ten stories in this book were written by Sri Chinmoy between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. on 27 September 1974, while the Master was visiting his Centre in Puerto Rico.