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.”