Mahima roopi Jal éj jivan
In Vachnamrut G. II. 45, Maharaj has stated that He wished to eradicate and thus free us from the 51 bhutt (spiritual centres) which have a corrupt and negative influence upon us. These corruptive influence causes us to swerve from the righteous path.
Instead, one should seek refuge in the Lord. Just as an innocent child clings to its mother, relying totally on her, we should place our faith in the Lord, and rely completely on Him. How will we achieve this?
Remain submerged in mahima. One should speak of mahima and hear nothing but mahima at all times. Yogiji Maharaj used to practice this all the time, in His diary He always wrote of the glory of God (mahima). He described the festivals He had attended and devotees whom He had met at these festivals. He recounted such memories with such delight and zeal that the mahima He felt for them was apparent from His expressions. His every action and word was full of mahima– thus people enjoyed His company. P. Yogiji Maharaj’s whole life was spent advocating that we should all practice mahima as described in Swami-ni-Vato Chapter 1; Discourse 1 and Swami-ni-Vato Chapter 4- Discourse 140. We too should endeavour to put these principles into practice.
Never under any circumstances or for any reason whatsoever, should you criticise any members of the Gunatit Samaj. Even if you perceive their behaviour to be totally inappropriate, do not allow yourself to formulate any negative opinions about them. Do not listen to gossip or malicious talk, do not allow it to continue and under no circumstances should you participate with enthusiasm.
Séva should always be performed with mahatmya. If whilst performing the séva you experience negative thoughts (amahima) then it is better to abandon it. It is better that the séva remains unfinished than to allow yourself to participate in negative thoughts. Performing séva without remaining in mahima will only cause us to become attached to that task. So whilst performing any service, irrespective of what it is, we should tell ourselves the following: “I am performing this séva for Purushottam Narayan!” Such thoughts will help us perform the service with mahatmya and enthusiasm. If the sadhaks begrudge performing any séva and think the following: “I am the only one doing this séva, no-one comes to help me. The onus is totally on me!” then such negative thoughts will only hinder the progress of their sadhana.
If mahatmya exists then one should experience the peace and bliss of Akshardham. If we are not able to experience such happiness the cause may be that some fragment of amahima exists within us. In Kapodwadi, Bombay we performed Bapa’s and His devotees’ séva with the same mahima and affection as we would have had for our own relatives. We never saw their faults nor paid any attention to their vices; it was forbidden. Since we applied this principle, we progressed in our sadhana with happiness and joy. Although there was a lot going on at the time which included deceit, fraud etc., we were never affected by it. Our minds were always submerged in thoughts of mahima, thus we were never influenced by any negative forces. However, if we cannot remain submerged in mahima, we should certainly endeavour to refrain from taking offence of others or allow such feelings of offence (known as abhav) to continue. Gradually, we will be given séva which will automatically involve us in thoughts of mahatmya thus help us to remain submerged in the Lord.
The important thing is to remain submerged in the Lord. When some-one becomes attached to some task and then believes they must perform that séva. Indeed they begin to take offence of others if that séva is taken away from them; that is wrong because the séva is only performed as a means to please the Lord. One should not become attached to the séva – one should become attached to the Lord. To keep one’s mind engaged in thoughts of the Lord is what we must practice.
Take refuge in the Lord – known as Aashro. For the past two hundred years Maharaj has redeemed the souls of those who took refuge in Him. In order to live according to the principles mentioned in Swami-ni-Vato Chapter 1- 1st Discourse, one should continue to do séva with mahatmya and perform japyagna. We should make a firm resolution to take refuge in the Lord. The key to solving any problem is to resort to japyagna. As we use this ‘key’ to solve every problem, we will gradually be convinced that it works. This has been proven time and again by many devotees.
All those who endeavour to live according to the three principles mentioned above, will experience the bliss and happiness of Akshardham as described in the bhajan “Maré mandir malé ré…. bus tu, tu, tu……..”