On every ékadashi, Yogiji Maharaj would ask his devotees to read and recite the Vachnamruts G. II. 7 and G. II. 8.
Vachnamrut G. II. 7
Then Muktanand Swami asked Shreeji Maharaj: ‘A human being is filled with worldly desires, thus how can he ever be freed from it ?”
Shreeji Maharaj replied : “Even though a devotee lacks vairagya altogether, but if such a devotee should profoundly serve a great saint with deep dedication and conviction and obey implicitly all the rules prescribed by God, then the great saint would bless him and negative traits such as anger, passion and carnal desires are instantly removed. If these desires are deeply embedded within the soul, then they become the reason for our re-incarnation. However, serving such a saint will also redeem the soul of even the most irredeemable desires”
Shreeji Maharaj informed Muktanand Swami that Gunatitanand Swami was one such great saint.
The irony is that when we hear this, we feel that these examples are given for the sake of others and we already understand the concepts explained above. We may even go so far as considering ourselves as the ‘great saints’, believing that we already uphold such deep convictions etc. Thus, no one actually asked Maharaj to explain who such great saints were otherwise Maharaj would have revealed them. However, in those days, it had been difficult enough for Maharaj to reveal His own true self, His own greatness to his devotees, then how could he have revealed the real worth of Gunatitanand Swami !!
If one comes in contact with a great saint such as Gunatitanand Swami and begins to serve him sincerely with faith and deep conviction then one would immediately be liberated from one’s vices. One would become brahmroop. Simply a glance from such a great saint is enough (drashti), their power is such that one glance would eradicate all our negative traits and free us from such vices. Just as the ‘click’ of a camera instantly captures a moment in time and it becomes a ‘photograph’, such is the power of the gaze of a great saint. However, one should believe Gunatit to be such a great saint. Our real problem is that we can accept all other Gods ; but we find it difficult to accept the greatness of the Gunatit Sants. The simple reason for this is that the Gunatit Sants do not have any wishes or thoughts of their own, they project and reflect the wishes and thoughts of those who come before them. To serve them sincerely would be to accept and believe all devotees to be divine. When the great saint begins to purify our inner most traits which are strongly fused with our soul, that is when we must be brave, we must endure this process whilst accepting all others to be divine. If we can do this, the Gunatit Sants will be pleased and will free us from our jivbhav i.e. obliterate our ego.
We have found and recognised such great Gunatit Sants, thus what remains to be done is to begin praying to them for the purification of our souls. When the trials and tribulations begin, it will not always be easy to endure the process, but if we remain firm and continue as mentioned above then victory will definitely be ours.
Vachnamrut G. II. 8
Every day is the day of ékadashi for satsangis. Our ten indriyas plus the eleventh being the mind make up the components of ékadashi. Ékdashi is to control these eleven factors and to engage them constantly to please the Lord and refrain them from worldly desires.
To pray is to participate constantly in brahmyagna and gnanyagna.
Whenever one acts or thinks as dictated by one’s mind (mun-mukhi actions) ; but avoids such behaviour by telling oneself that these thoughts and/or actions will not please Bapa, He is constantly watching me and my behaviour, that is Brahmyagna. To avoid negative thoughts, taking offence of others, gossiping i.e. to avoid behaviour which would cause you to violate your own religion is brahmyagna.
To participate in thoughts and actions which include divyabhav i.e. endurance, toleration, forgiveness, feeling of harmony, unity and spiritual friendship in order to please Bapa is known as gnanyagna.
When a fellow devotee is distressed, we should begin to pray to Bapa on his behalf, praying as we would pray for ourselves (surid-prarthna), asking Bapa to alleviate him from his problems. To believe whole-heartedly that whatever Bapa is doing is for his well-being, is known as nirdosh-budhhi. If we practice this principle, Bapa will surely enlighten us and we will know why Bapa inspires such circumstances which has distressed the devotee. We will appreciate Bapa’s greatness and thank Him. Thus practising harmony, unity and spiritual friendship will ultimately cultivate nirdoshbhav within us.
In Vachnamrut G. II. 8, Maharaj has stated that even great ascetics such as Bhisma cannot be classified as being nirgun i.e. beyond rajogun, tamogun, and satvagun. However, those who have recognised and have come in contact with Brahm and Par-bham in the form of Gunatit Swaroop have begun their journey and will eventually become nirgun. Irrespective of whether they are married, run businesses, etc. they will definitely become nirgun as per Vachnamrut G. II. 11. Even those who come in contact with such devotees will also become nirgun. The acceptance of the power and control of brahm over everyone’s lives is the fundamental key which will encourage us to have faith in Maharaj and to do as he inspires. Thus we should continue to practice brahmyagna and gnanyagna.
For How long ?
Maharaj has stated that one should continue to practice brahmyagna and gnanyagna until one has attained the divine vision of atma (one’s soul) and parmatma (God).
Practising spiritual friendship will ultimately lead to nirdoshbhav, granting us the divine vision (leela), this is known as nirvikalp samadhi. This will mean that we experience the peace, bliss and happiness of Akshardham immediately.