Chapter Seventeen: Sincerity Towards the Guru and God. Drashta Taraf Pativratapanu

Once we have recognised the Pratyaksh Swaroop and accepted Him as an incarnation God, the awareness of our race and caste will be eliminated, however, our intrinsic nature (swabhav) and worldly desires (vasna) still remain. Each morning we should to pray:

“Oh Lord, please reveal my weaknesses.”

Then remain alert throughout the day. The constant awareness of having asked for this in our prayer alertness is known as jagratta. Bapa will definitely begin to reveal our weaknesses.  

Vasna – Worldly desires

Whenever we dislike someone’s behaviour, or if we feel they have acted inappropriately, then we should try to accept it. Otherwise, if we are on friendly terms with them and it is possible to advise them, then we should tell them how we feel and hope they will listen. If on the other hand we are not in a position to do so, then we should simply pray to Bapa and try to forget the whole incident. 

Each person is trying to please Bapa albeit in their own way. Thus if an error is being made on anyone’s part, Bapa reveals it in one way or another and the people involved introspect. He reveals even the slightest weaknesses which cause us to become insincere toward Him and our goal. When these weaknesses are revealed, we will experience anger and blame others for our mistakes / weaknesses. We will take offence of others. The more we blame others, the greater our anger and distress will become. Bapa will be the inspirational force behind these events. The only resolution to this is introspection. We should immediately begin to pray for the solution and instantly our own faults, or weaknesses will be revealed. 

We will be able to accept that it is our own vices i.e. pride, stubbornness, jealousy etc., thus we will be able to pray for the purification of these vices. Bapa will hear these prayers and obliterate them. So do whatever is inspired by Him. Leave the rest up to him – simply pray. Bapa will grant strength to those whose behaviour we disliked. During the sadhana, a certain amount of distress is inevitable, thus we should pray for those who experience distress and sorrow. Bapa will give them the required strength to introspect and eventually their vices will be obliterated and they too will experience happiness. 

Swabhav – Our intrinsic nature.

We may reach a point in our sadhana where we no longer take offence of others. Each person is accepted as having the right to do whatever he wants. If we are upon friendly terms, we may politely advise them. So long as we do not interfere in others’ business to the extent that Shree-dama did, then we are nirvasnik i.e. free of worldly desires. We are only entitled to pray for those whom we consider are acting improperly. Often we judge other people and their behaviour on the basis of our values and our behaviour. We make judgements on the basis of our own nature, our spiritual understanding and when others’ behavioural pattern differ from ours, we immediately feel that theirs is wrong, even though there is nothing to confirm that ours is right ! 

When we cannot accept that others are associates of Yogiji Maharaj and that their behaviour is divine, we will begin to experience a feeling of sadness and desolation, this is our swabhav. This feeling will not be easily removed. No spiritual knowledge or meditation will get rid of these negative emotions. The only thing which will work is humble prayer from the depths of one’s heart.

“Oh Bapa, have mercy and show me where I have faltered.”

The fact is that we do not accept all others as divine muktos of Akshardham. This means we experience slight distress and emotional disturbance. The mere fact that we are unable to appreciate how lucky we are to have attained God is a sin. The only thing we should try to do is pray, do nothing else. This is known as seeing and accepting the leela. Eventually Bapa will grant us ‘divine vision’, this is the real happiness known as ‘murti nu sukh’.

Once our swabhav has been obliterated, we will attain divine vision. Prayer will reveal to us why Bapa inspires people and events in the way that he does. Even if Bapa does not reveal them, we will not mind. We will accept that it probably does not affect us. However, if we see that some-one is distressed and through spiritual friendship (surid-bhav) begin to pray to Bapa, then He will surely reveal to us why that person is suffering. Thus Bapa states that by practising spiritual friendship we can attain nirdosh-bhav i.e. accepting Bapa as the almighty one who inspires everyone. As per Vachnamrut G. II. 62, whatever has happened, is happening and will happen in the future is controlled by Him. We will be able to accept this as per Vachnamrut G. I. 27. Thus to engage constantly in prayer is to remain in Akshardham.