Mahamanuv Baniyé
Today we can see the results of Yogiji Maharaj’s quest. It was his inner most wish to see a samaj of mahamanavs evolve – i.e. devotees with ‘super-human’ qualities. He constantly prayed with determination, He toiled and sacrificed so much for this wish to be realised. It has taken us twenty-five years to become aware of His dream – now finally we have begun to walk on this path. When we began, we had no trust, no faith, nor any desire to become sadhu. It was a common misconception that the poor who could not afford to buy food would become sadhu. However, Yogiji Maharaj’s vision of a sadhu was totally different, He wanted to bring about sadhu who would have qualities which He possessed, i.e. true sadhu with ‘super-human’ qualities.
Whenever Yogiji Maharaj was approached regarding the subject of marriage, He always advised the youth concerned to become a sadhu stating that the ultimate happiness lay in devoting one’s life to the Lord. Until now, only Gunatitanand Swami, Bhagatji Maharaj, Jaga Swami, Krishnaji-Ada, Shastriji Maharaj and Yogiji Maharaj had experienced such happiness. Others who became sadhu, only experienced distress and emotional disturbances and thus were put off from becoming sadhu. Those who had experienced the benefits of becoming sadhu communicated the fundamental concepts and principles. However, no-one bothered to apply them. Thus Yogiji Maharaj, at times, took it upon himself to forcefully insist that His devotees practice nirdosh–bhav. He also encouraged His devotees to have faith, trust and to live according to these principles.
Although most devotees began to experience happiness, others who did not like being forced became distressed and unhappy. For example, when certain youths had just qualified as doctors, their parents who had sacrificed so much to get their sons educated asked Bapa to allow their sons to remain at home to alleviate the parent’s poverty etc.
Bapa simply said : “Let your sons become sadhu – God will shower you with wealth”.
Those who had faith in His words and became sadhu have today acquired the status of vijli jéva sant.
Yogiji Maharaj has utilised His devotees’ prarabhdhas to purify them and now after twenty-five years of being associated with Him we have realised the truth, as sung in the bhajan ‘Jivan Sahuna brahm-ras thi sabhar thai gaya’ i.e. that everyone’s lives have been fulfilled with happiness of brahm. We now believe that even if one has no special qualities or qualifications, no matter what one’s past destiny, once we attain the association of a great swaroop and humbly pray to Him:
“Oh Swami, I belong to you, I have nothing. Whatever I have is worthless. You are my saviour; one who will redeem my soul. You are divine. I will sincerely try to believe and accept this. I will endeavour to live every moment exactly as you wish”
Then within two to five years we will experience the true happiness of Akshardham.
We now firmly realise that those who have been accepted by Gunatit Swaroopo will definitely become a brahm-swaroop. What are the qualities of Gunatit Swaroopo? How will we recognise them?
- Did their guru Yogiji Maharaj possess the qualities of nirmani, nirlobhi, nishkami, nirsnéhi, and nirswadi, i.e. free from pride, lust, attachments, taste and greed?
- Does the Gunatit Swaroop hold an attachment for his own relations?
- What are His disciples’ qualities? Have the disciples been freed from worldly attachments?
We can appreciate these three concepts if we analyse the lives of the present Gunatit Swaroopo such as P. Hariprasad Swamiji, P. Aksharvihari Swamiji, P. Saheb, P. Haribhai, P. Ba, P. Ben and other Sadguru.
All those who come in contact with these swaroopo are freed from worldly attachments. These swaroopo are act totally selflessly. Their guru (Yogiji Maharaj) was also totally selfless in His motives. Those who have been accepted as ‘belonging to these swaroopo’ will definitely become Brahm-Swaroopo. The samaj now believes and accepts this – thus everyone endeavours to maintain spiritual friendship and serve the Lord. They do not advise each other but try to help each other to remain happy and contented. By serving other devotees, each person pleases their guru who bestows them with blessings.
In this way, the whole samaj has begun to practice the principles of harmony and spiritual friendship. Each one tries to work out how they can help another devotee, what will please the other devotees? Often, even though certain devotees have been accepted by a swaroops, they themselves have no any inclination to please the guru. If we can help such devotees in any way, then we will have lessened the burden of our guru and they will be pleased. Practising spiritual friendship (suridbhav) in this way has a two-fold benefit. Firstly, it means that we are practising the true spiritual knowledge (gnan) and secondly, it will make our sadhana easier. The gurus do not want to force the spiritual knowledge upon anyone. They want the devotees to experience the power of the spiritual knowledge in such a subtle way that the devotees’ vices simple dissolve away.
The power of the spiritual knowledge is embodied in absolute conviction ; yatharth swaroop-nishtha – as described in Vachnamrut G.I. 27, G.I. 62 and G.II. 13. One should only apply the standards of swaroop–nishtha mentioned in these Vachnamruts. We should believe the swaroop to be as ‘great’ as described in these scriptures, they have reached the ultimate spiritual status and will ensure that we reach those heights as well. We should endeavour to live according to their commands and never look at the negative aspects of others. Try to maintain divyabhav at all times. Simply try to live your life in this way and wherever you falter, pray for forgiveness and continue to do séva. Whenever we try to serve His devotees, we are performing mahatmya–yukta séva. This will please our guru; they will bless us with unlimited divine strength.
P. Saheb encouraged the youths to serve the sisters of Gunatit Jyot and gained the blessings of Yogiji Maharaj.
P. Hariprasad Swami and P. Aksharvihari Swami served the devotees (sambandhwala) who lived in Sankarda and Sokhda by giving them true spiritual guidance and this pleased Yogiji Maharaj immensely. When Yogiji Maharaj wanted to initiate youths to become sadhu, those youths had no inclination whatsoever to lead such a life. At that time, P. Haribhai made a special effort to look after these youths; serving the youths in any way he could; using his mind, body and his wealth. Sometimes, he even endured insults on account of helping the youths – but he continued.
P. Yogiji Maharaj was very pleased with such devotion and service. As a result, all these swaroopo have now become great sadhu–swaroopo; experiencing peace, bliss and happiness and guiding other devotees on the true path to achieving salvation. P. Ramnikbhai Modi also served the santo and sisters of Gunatit Jyot without any hesitation and never expected to be rewarded for his service. Yogiji Maharaj was so pleased that He said to Ramnikbhai:
“Serve the sisters of Gunatit Jyot until the day you die and the following three boons will be granted: you will not suffer any health problems, you will be lavished with wealth and through you, many will be redeemed.” Yogiji Maharaj certainly kept the promise He made to Ramnikbhai.
From this we have learnt that we should practice mahatmya–yukt séva, also that we should not expect any rewards from those whom we serve. Even if we only get insults in return, we should only be pleased. We should believe the following:
“I am but a mere sevak – a servant, who is only entitled to serve. Whether or not I am appreciated does not matter. Even if I am neglected, I will simply endure and continue to serve.”
Whenever a person serves another, they will always expect to be appreciated and rewarded. It is a fact that when we serve a devotee who only scorns and insults us, the Lord will be pleased and will reward us in other ways.
As we gradually begin to please the Lord, He will reward us by purifying our intrinsic characteristics and eventually we will be able to control our whole being. We have witnessed that P. Saheb and his colleagues performed mahatmya–yuktséva and this resulted in the purification of their strong characteristics. We too should be smart and practice this principle.
Those who are not devotees of the Lord are controlled by karma – thus if we begin to serve them then we too may be controlled by the laws of karma. When performing mahatmya–yukt séva, we must distinguish between devotees (sambandhwala) and those who are not devotees (lay people). When we serve devotees, it is done with the intention of pleasing our guru and the Lord and this helps in purifying our egos.
Until we have been purified we will always expect to be rewarded for mahatmya–yukt séva, i.e. be treated with respect, honour, admiration, appreciation etc. Instead if we experience contempt and insults we will become disillusioned and will feel that we were better off when we did not serve the devotees. This is our inner mind’s negative influence. At this point, if we sincerely believe the swaroop to be the almighty one who inspires everything and everyone then the negative forces will not be able to influence us. Once our ego has been purified the expectation to be rewarded for mahatmya–yuktséva will cease.
It is important to maintain a friendship with those who are on the same spiritual level as us. When we cannot accept the swaroop’s mahatmya, and we take manushya–bhav, these friends will help us overcome such misconceptions. If for any reason we are unable to accept the Pratyaksh Swaroop to be the ultimate force who inspires whatever is affecting us, then we will not turn to the swaroop Himself, but are more likely to tell a friend about how we feel. Our friend will begin to pray for us and our misunderstanding will begin to fade away. We will begin to ask ourselves whether we are right in what we are doing i.e. taking manushya–bhav. Thus, we too will turn to prayer and japyagna.
As we gradually go through these experiences, the impact of any insults and criticisms which we may endure will be diminishing with each experience. We will accept such insults and criticism with serenity. All we will endeavour to do is séva, realising séva to be the ultimate form of worship and devotion. We will be able to accept the Lord and the almighty inspiration force and be able to experience Him at work. We will thus be able to enjoy the peace, bliss and happiness that other swaroopo currently enjoy. Spiritually we will be independent because we will be able to accept the leela of the Lord. On those occasions where we fail to accept the leela we will immediately introspect and ask the Lord to enlighten us. Thus our soul will become very strong – we will never lose our peace of mind – always experiencing peace and happiness.
It should be our ambition to reach this spiritual status as mentioned in Vachnamrut G.III. 26. To attain this, we must serve others with humility. We must remember that we are serving others to please the Lord and for the redemption of our soul. Often we have a tendency to criticise devotees; yet we will tolerate the behaviour of those who are not devotees. Similarly, we will tolerate our faults and inadequacies as well as those of our relations – but not those of the devotees. This remains our sadhana.
We must remember that we are on a ‘royal road’. Day by day, we will make spiritual progress and within three years our spiritual goal will be reached. If we endeavour to march on with zeal, the Lord will reveal our faults and shortcomings to us. Then if we endeavour with our fullest ability to overcome these faults then we can achieve in three years that which normally take thirty years. We will attain spiritual equanimity and will experience peace, bliss and happiness of Akshardham. Thus remain care-free and make a firm resolution to begin living each moment in this way.