Pride, stubbornness and jealousy, even if advocated by our Guru are impious and impelled by our evil mind. Nirdoshbhav, seva and spiritual friendship, even if advocated by our enemies are pious and endorsed by our Guru – Pappa
Our satsang and sadhana are to independently follow the Gunatit Laws to achieve a spiritual status known as ‘chidakash ni Gnan Samadhi’ – whereby we become ‘an instrument’ of the Lord, continually worshipping Him as prescribed in Vachnamrut G. III. 11. Thus if we have been fortunate enough to be affiliated with a true Gunatit guru, then He will use his prayers and sankalpas to instigate incidents which highlight our déhabhav. That is the guru’s duty; the sadhak is under obligation to obey the guru’s commands, serve the guru and the Lord such that he attains the spiritual etiquette and consequently enjoys bliss and joy.
In any crisis when the sadhak is typically overcome by obstinacy, pride or jealousy, he should realise that Maharaj and/or the Gunatit Guru have induced these circumstances to highlight any impurities (déhabhav), providing him with an opportunity to ascertain how much of his déhabhav has been purified and how much still remains. Thus he should introspect, acknowledge his own faults and pray to have them purged. Thus if the guru advocates such behaviour and the disciple complies with the gurus wishes, then he will certainly gain the guru’s admiration and trust, the guru will be pleased with the disciple’s behaviour and will feel honoured to instruct such a devoted and sincere disciple.
Even if the ordinary, worldly person requests the sadhak to practice the following principles:
- Nirdosh-buddhi – that everything is inspired by God.
- Suhrid-bhav – spiritual friendship
- Divyabhav – divine vision, relating to everyone amicably
If the sadhak complies, then the guru will be very pleased and will bless him such that he will make great progress in his sadhana.
Once Shreeji Maharaj instructed all the param-hansas to bring to Him the following morning, the water with which they had bathed their feet. He said that he wanted to feed the water to his horse. All the param-hansas who obeyed the request brought the water, Maharaj considered the water as consecrated, holy water and drank it Himself! Gunatitanand Swami was the only one who did not obey this instruction and thus had not brought the dirty water. He said that before he obeyed the instructions or requests of Maharaj, He considered them with great discretion. “Those requests which may cause me to falter and to breach the spiritual principles, i.e breach the panchvartman (man, swad, snéha, lobh, kam), will not be complied with, even though the request has been made by Maharaj. Thus Maharaj will be very pleased and will bestow the deepest blessings upon me.” Once Maharaj instructed Brahmanand Swami to go and give a sermon to the ladies. Brahmanand Swami made the following plea:
“ Maharaj, if I were to obey your command and preach to the ladies, I would be breaching the sacred vows and the pachvartman and I will be expelled. I would rather be expelled for not obeying you than for breaching the panchvartman.” Maharaj was delighted with this plea and proclaimed that Brahmanand Swami truly understood his inner-most wishes and opinions and lived accordingly.
The sadhak should use his discretion when deciding whether or not to obey the guru’s commands. Where the guru’s commands relate to ordinary issues, ones which do not conflict with the Gunatit Law, and do not lead to any compromise of the fundamental principles, the sadhak should obey the commands whole-heartedly without question.
For example, Gunatitanand Swami commanded Bhagatji Maharaj to go and summon Mount Girnar. Bhagatji Maharaj immediately began to walk in the direction of the mountain. Someone mockingly said: “Do you really think that Girnar will come?” To this Bhagatji Maharaj replied: “If Girnar does not obey the command of Gunatitanand Swami, Girnar will be in exile, but at least if I go and give him the message from Gunatitand Swami, I will still be welcomed as a humble disciple”. Thus Maharaj stated one should strictly observe the panchvartman, and in all matters obey the commands of the guru without question or argument.