Swaroop-nishtha
In 1964, santo and sisters of Gunatit Jyot placed their trust in Yogiji Maharaj and began a sadhana to attain ÉkantikDharma (single-minded conviction). At that time, no one knew the meaning of ‘Ékantik Dharma’ or how they should go about the sadhana. However, the santo and the sisters had developed such an affinity with Yogiji Maharaj that they trusted Him totally knowing that if they followed Him – then wherever He may lead them – that place will be Akshardham. Each of them began their sadhana according to their own interpretations, sometimes making mistakes; then correcting them with Yogiji Maharaj’s inspiration. In this manner, Bapa has endowed us with the gift of such swaroopo.
Many devotees have reached the status described in Vachnamrut G.III. 35 and are experiencing the happiness mentioned in the bhajan:
‘Jivan sahuna ….brahma ras thi sabhar thai gaya’.
Yogiji Maharaj utilised our prarabhhas (i.e. our vices) such as anger, greed, attachment etc., to purify the other devotees; He utilised our useless characteristics and rewarded us by purifying those vices. This was a slow process, thus it has taken us twenty-five years to realise that each devotee is an Akshar–mukta (divine) and each one is controlled by the supreme Lord – as prescribed in Vachnamrut G. III. 2. We were unable to accept this fact, however, Yogiji Maharaj has affirmed this.
We now have a clearer understanding of how we can attain the ékantik dharma, i.e. how to achieve single-minded conviction. Spiritual essays explaining this have been published in ‘Anoopam – 5’. All the present swaroopo practised and have applied these principles and achieved single-minded conviction. Swaroop-nishtha is the single-minded conviction. The essays in Anoopam – 5 advocated swaroop–nishtha; one should understand what is meant by it; one should gain strength from it. As we begin to understand this concept and apply it, we will find that we are easily freed from worldly attachments. Yogiji Maharaj has helped us achieve the swaroop–nishtha as described by Maharaj in Vachnamrut G. II. 13.
In Gondal, Yogiji Maharaj Himself recited the Vachnamrut G. II. 13 and explained it in depth to P. Saheb and the brothers. Yogiji Maharaj granted P. Kakaji the divine vision whereby Kakaji witnessed Shreeji-Maharaj amidst all his devotees in His divine abode Akshardham. Yogiji Maharaj recited Vachnamrut G. I. 71 to P. P. Pappaji. On each occasion He was trying to explain that whatever we believe to be of value is indeed worthless, i.e. our possessions, and those devotees whom we regard to be full of vices are indeed the same devotees that live with Maharaj in Akshardham. Thus they are akshar-mukto. But our indriyas and antahkarans will not easily accept this fact. We would be able to achieve great feats but would not be able to accept this point. We often made great mistakes but with Bapa’s mercy we eventually came to accept this point and now experience happiness.
In 1974 we attained the ‘Royal Road’ which was the acceptance of swaroop–nishtha from the outset. Everyone realised that to attain happiness quickly, the best route was to achieve a single-minded conviction for the swaroop from the beginning. Once we realised and recognised the swaroop and they accept us as theirs – then one should simply ‘cling’ to the swaroop. The element of happiness in our lives would gradually increase as the negative elements, which cause us distress and desolation decreased. Eventually there would not be any negative elements at all.
For example, if we were rich beyond measure, i.e. millionaires, and if we were hit by hard times, then we would not be worried, would we? We would still remain care-free and happy. Similarly, we would learn to live in a state of bliss and happiness and nothing in this world could affect our happiness. That is known as the ‘happiness of Akshardham’. Everyone in this world is controlled by the karma and lives in fear of kal, karma and maya (negative forces). Only akshar-muktas are exempt from such forces. However, Yogiji Maharaj warned that devotees of the dangers of being lead by their intellectual mind.
Until now anyone who had acquired any spiritual knowledge, utilised it simply to inflate their egos. They used their spiritual powers; performed miracles etc. to gain fame, fortune and followers. It was all done to impress others, to impress upon others the power of their spiritual strength. Just as a rich person can impress people with his wealth, so could anyone who had attained any spiritual knowledge. Although, they were able to impress people – they could not free them from their vices, they could not give them any peace or happiness. Thus Maharaj and Gunatitanand condemned such practice and advocated that their disciples should act as instruments of the Lord – brahm-niyantrit.
P.P. Pappaji once asked Yogiji Maharaj if such concepts applied to us in this lifetime, or would we achieve the happiness of Akshardham when we died. Yogiji Maharaj replied that this was almost like a ‘cash and carry’ – pay the cash now and carry away the goods – meaning that whatever you do in this lifetime in terms of good deeds, service for the Lord, worship and devotion etc., is all repaid instantly in terms of purification of the soul and redemption – in this lifetime.
However, what one should do to achieve redemption was not clearly explained in those days. It took many years to realise that our thoughts, speech and actions should all be carried out with the sole purpose of pleasing Yogiji Maharaj. There were many who themselves did not realise this simple fact and continued to mislead others on the basis of their own mis-interpretations.
It took a long time to realise that one must first find and recognise a Gunatit Swaroop i.e. a vijli jéva sant, as described in Vachnamrut G. I. 62. Then one should firmly accept them to be the supreme being who is in constant communion with God and one should endeavour to abide by their commands. One should never question the commands given by the Gunatit Swaroop, nor hesitate in humbly following His instructions. One should insist on maintaining divyabhav – i.e. accepting everyone and everything as divine. One’s intention should always be to please the Lord, when you falter, you should ask for forgiveness and pray for strength. Then continue to serve the Lord with mahatmya. The peace and happiness experienced will progressively increase.
We began to accept this concept firmly from 1974. Many young santo, vrat-dhari brothers, vrat-dhari sisters and devoted grahusto (married couples) adopted the principles of remaining submerged in mahatmya–yukt séva from the beginning. They are all experiencing happiness now. Even newly initiated vrat-dhari brothers such as P. Rameshbhai and P. Rajnikantbhai are following these principles. P. Narendrabhai, P. Vasubhai, P. Dilipbhai and P. Prafulbhai found their sadhana very easy – they did not feel as they had to endure any disturbances / distress during their sadhanas. P. Saheb’s divine love for them allowed them to dedicate their lives to God, they had such faith in Saheb and unquestioningly followed his instructions.
Similarly, vrat-dhari sisters progressed with great speed in their sadhanas. P. Paduben is a prime example of one such sadhak who applied the principles of Vachnamrut G. II. 13 from the outset. She applied the mahatmya mentioned therein believing and accepting all devotees to be divine. She practised and applied this principle in her life to such an extent that she constantly remains submerged in mahatmya. She in no longer able to experience any kinds of emotional disturbances or distress.
Once one dives deep into an ‘ocean of mahatmya’ how can one experience any distress or disturbances of any kind?
P. Paduben applied this principle in her sadhana and has set an example for the rest of the sisters in Gunatit Jyot.
When any devotee approached Yogiji Maharaj all He saw was their positive characteristics. If we would like to experience the same level of happiness as Yogiji Maharaj, then we too should practice this. Why should we look at anyone’s negative side? It is the Lord’s duty – let Him do it. The Lord may be utilising their negative characteristics to purify us.
If someone swears at us or insults us then the Lord may have inspired their behaviour to see how immune we have become to ‘words’, i.e. shabdatit, or how immune we have become to ‘feelings’, i.e. bhavatit. We now understand these concepts – thus if we maintain swaroop–nishtha then the process of purification will be much easier for us. There are many accomplished swaroopo now, who applied these principles and have attained their goals without experiencing any distress whatsoever. Our sadhana is becoming progressively easier as we learn from the experiences of those who have completed their sadhana.
A few years ago there was a common belief that only one or two swaroopo who had attained equivalence and identification with Aksharbrahm and were in permanent communion with Parbrahm. Thus if a devotee chose to follow a different swaroop, he was discouraged by the majority of devotees. The argument was that one should not accept ‘new’ swaroopo as it would mean disrespect for the ‘original’ swaroopo. Now the common belief is that anyone who has been purified and has attained qualities which make him as pure as ‘distilled water’ is an instrument of the Lord. God works through him.
Each swaroop will have His own way of leading His followers, their methods may differ but ultimately everyone will reach the same destination – Akshardham. Just as we can travel using different modes of transport – the journey may be by road, air, sea etc. – the time it takes to reach the destination will vary, but irrespective of the mode of transport, everyone will eventually reach their destination. In the same way, we are all travellers each following different swaroopo,they are all ékantik swaroopo be they vrat-dhari sisters, vrat-dhari brothers, santo or married couples. Each one is making spiritual progress. We all accept and believe this as explained in the bhajan “Jivan Sahuna brahma-ras thi sabhar thai gaya’.
We are all practising the concepts mentioned in that bhajan. The swaroopo themselves live according to those principles thus illustrating the benefits of such principles to their followers. ‘Actions speak louder than words’ – the behaviour of the swaroopo speaks for itself. Each devotee follows in his guru’s footsteps and when faced with any difficult circumstances, he immediately believes Maharaj to be the controller of those circumstances and accepts his guru as the one who inspires everyone.
Imagine for a moment that we accept P. Ben as a Gunatit Swaroop, and we also accept P. Saheb and P. Hariprasad Swami as swaroopo – then it follows that we should accept them as the ‘controllers’ of their devotees’ behaviour, they guide and inspire their followers. If we accept this, then how can we believe their followers to be acting wrongly?
The main problem is that we have not even accepted P. Ben, P. Saheb etc. as Gunatit Swaroopo. This is the reason we have arguments and tend to question everyone’s actions. We should believe that Maharaj dwells constantly in P. Ben, P. Ba, P. Saheb, P. Hariprasad Swami and P. Aksharvihari Swami. These swaroopo have attained equivalence and identification with Aksharbrahm and are in permanent communion with the Lord. The Lord will work through all those who remain submerged in Him and His Glory (mahima).
If our guru should speak ill of others, i.e. participate in amahima, then God will no longer work through him/her. This principle has been firmly instilled in us. The theory we apply is this: when some-one approaches us in a negative way, instantly we should imagine that person to be our guru. If our guru acted in this manner we would not take offence but would simply endure it. We now believe and accept our guru to be Gunatit Swaroopo. Until 1965, it was quite difficult for us to accept Yogiji Maharaj as such a swaroop even though He was an incarnation of God. Those who believed this benefited, whilst others lead by their inner beliefs were not so fortunate.
Today, many people believe and accept Yogiji Maharaj as the Pratyaksh Swaroop and temples and shrines have been built in His honour.
However, many years ago Yogiji Maharaj was heavily criticised for initiating youths into the monastic order. People believed that the ones He had chosen to become sadhus were not at all appropriate – they did not have the characteristics or qualities required for becoming sadhus. We have now witnessed that these sadhus who were chosen by Bapa, have today attained the spiritual status of a Gunatit Sant – there are many who have become their followers.
These swaroopo do not seem any different from us; sometimes we may even appear to be more intelligent than them. However, that is not so. We must believe and accept them to be the divine instruments of the Lord. We should accept their mahatmya as per Vachnamrut G. II. 13 and also accept their devotees to be divine.
Never criticise other swaroopo or deny their greatness. Just as we believe our swaroop to be a divine instruments of the Lord, others may believe their spiritual guru to have a attained similar status. Who are we to deny this? We now accept this fact and thus we do not experience any distress or emotional disturbances. We enjoy peace, bliss and happiness. A Gunatit Samaj (community) of vrat-dhari sisters, vrat-dhari brothers, ascetics and married couples has evolved where everyone respects the beliefs of others. We are in a new era where we are able to live in spiritual harmony and unity.
New sadhako have been shown the easiest way to attain happiness. Once you have attain an affiliation with your guru, you must firmly believe Him to be a vijli jéva sant – a Gunatit Swaroop. Then at all times endeavour to live according to His commands. Live according to the first commandment of Sanjivani Mantra:-
“Never, Never forget even for a moment that the supreme omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent divine has selected you to do his work. Then why worry!”
If ever a sadhak becomes distressed and takes offence of his own guru, then all other gurus will begin to pray for him and try to sing the praises of his guru. All other swaroopo will do their utmost to remove such negative feelings and thoughts from the sadhak’s mind. Such is the level of spiritual friendship practised in our samaj that it would be almost impossible for sadhako to remain distressed.
Secondly new sadhako are taught from the beginning to accept that whatever other devotees do, should always be accepted as divine. Never look at their negative side. Always try to believe that their actions are inspired by their guru or the Lord.
Thirdly, we should utilise our talents in order to serve the devotees of the Lord. Even the most basic abilities such as that of a barber can be used to serve other devotees. Previously the only talents / abilities held in high regard were those of preaching etc. Basic abilities such as cooking, cleaning, driving were not recognised. However, it is not what you do but how you perform that séva which is of importance.
Instead of summoning a barber, Gunatitanand Swami instructed Bhagatji Maharaj to shave all the sadhu’s heads. We would consider Gunatitanand Swami’s actions to be miserly, but Bhagatji Maharaj instantly responded by saying, “Fetch me a razor” and began the task. It was not a question of money, but a question of how one accepts and performs according to the guru’s commands (agna). Bhagatji Maharaj and Jaga Swami constantly endeavoured to live according to their guru’s commands and thus attained the spiritual status of Gunatit Swaroop.
We now realise that swaroop-nistha, that is belief and acceptance of the swaroop as one who has attained equivalence and identification with the Par-brahm and is in permanent communion with God, is very important. We also realise the importance of the 1st commandment of the Sanjivani Mantra and know that our gurus have taken the responsibility of ensuring our spiritual progress. Thus, all we need to do is to maintain faith and do whatever they ask us to do. When we falter, we should pray for strength. We should never look at others’ faults or vices nor should we compare ourselves with anyone else. Each person is unique and has their own characteristics and prarabhdhas (past-life destiny). For example, there are two patients, one suffering from Diabetes and one from Tuberculosis. Each will be treated differently by the doctors and given different diet. The one suffering from diabetes cannot and should not compare his circumstances with the other patient. Each is a patient; there the similarity ends. Each has a different condition and will be treated accordingly. In the same way, we are all sadhako but have different characteristics – and therefore should not make comparisons with each other.
We also realise that if we have a genuine need for anything then our guru will definitely provide whatever we require. However, if we ask for something simply because another sadhak has it, then that is wrong. Basically we should avoid two things: jealousy and/ or envy of other sadhako, and making comparisons with other sadhako.
If we begin to live according to the points mentioned above then our sadhana will progressively become easier and we will become happier. We will find it easier to remain submerged in the Lord and in mahatmya.
We will not be able to dwell on the negative characteristics of others. If we find that we are looking at others’ faults, we will consider it our own weakness. We will endeavour to practice the principles mentioned in Vachnamrut G. II. 13 and Vachnamrut G. III. 2. We should insist that we:
- Constantly remain submerged in the Lord;
- Constantly maintain that everyone is divine.
To attain this we should serve the Lord and His devotees with mahatmya and we should engage in singing the praise of the Lord and listening to such praises being sung. Then all we experience will be tranquillity, peace, bliss and happiness.
If one begins a sadhana and remains alert and aware as mentioned above, then one could achieve this within three years. There are many such examples of sadhako who began their sadhana and are now experiencing nothing but the happiness of Akshardham. Thus, those who come in contact with such sadhako are also able to experience this fact. The may come laden with troubles, yet within a few hours they feel that their burden has been lifted and experience peace.
To live according to one’s guru’s wishes will achieve so much for us. Our gurus are so great and since they are in constant communion with God, they receive inspiration from God and guide us accordingly. They act as instruments of the Lord and thus will ultimately lead the whole samaj to a state whereby everyone is enjoying the happiness of Akshardham. Let us all begin walking on the righteous path which will lead us to our goal. Let us make a firm resolution to help each other on this journey. Such spiritual friendship and harmony will please Yogiji Maharaj.