Once a vastly learned man visited the Ashram to meet The Master. He had studied the Vedas and the other scriptures. He loved to discuss philosophy.
The Master, seated on the couch, cast his kind look on the Learned man and gave him counsel through parables.
The Master's say, "There are many scriptures like the Vedas and Granths. But we cannot realise The Lord without Bhakti and spiritual discipline. The Lord cannot be found in the Vedas, or the Tantra.
Once, A man received a letter from his father. In his hurry to go to the office, he misplaced it. He couldn't remember where he had left it. He began to search for it with a lamp. Two more people joined the search, finally the letter was at last found. The message in the letter was: 'Please send us five sets of Kurta Pyjama and a piece of white cloth.'
The man read it and then threw the letter away. There was no further need for the letter. Now all he had to do was to buy the five sets of kurta pyjama and the piece of white cloth.
The Scriptures are to be Read and once we understand the concept, implement in our life. Simple reading will take us nowhere.
For example, The almanac or our Panchang forecasts the rainfall of the year. But we will not get a drop of water by squeezing the Panchang. No, not even one drop.
Better than reading is hearing, and better than hearing is seeing. We understand the scriptures better by hearing them from the lips of The Master or of a Saint. Then one doesn't have to think about their
non-essential part.
"But seeing is far better than hearing. Then all doubts disappear. It is true that many things are recorded in the scriptures; but all these are useless without the direct realization of The Lord, without devotion to His Lotus Feet, without purity of heart.
Just see the Bhakti of Hanuman for The Lord, Hanuman says, 'I don't know much about the phase of the moon or the position of the stars. I do not know anything about the world. All I know is to just contemplate Rama.'
The Learned Man, "How long should one reason about the texts of the scriptures?"
The Master's, "We will continue to reason about the texts of scriptures till we do not Realise The Lord within us. So long as we do not have direct realization of The Lord, we will discuss him externally. We only discuss, but do not experience Him.
Have you seen the honey bee, How long does the bee buzz about? The Bee keeps buzzing, as long as it is in the flight mode. It is not sitting on the flower. No sooner does it light on a flower and begin to sip honey then it keeps quiet. There is Absolute Silence. This Absolute Silence is because of the highest order of contentment and fulfillment, which is attained when we have The Darshan of The Lord."
The Learned man asked, "How can we attain such fulfillment and contentment?"
The Master's say, "Honey Bee is magnetically pulled towards the flower bearing the honey. It is the smell of honey and the fragrance of the flower which pulls it.
Similarly, We are attracted towards The Master, who is filled with the essence of The Naama, when our heart is filled with desire to unite with The Lord.
The Master like the fragrance of the flower, and The Naama, like the essence of Honey pulls us towards them. When The Master Initiates us in the Spiritual Path and gives The Naama for Simran and Dhyaan, we start doing Naama Bhakti.
Through Naama Bhakti, we realise The Truth. We realise this world is just an illusion and a creation of our mind. Till then, We were stuck in the mind's ambit, we were caught in the worldly attachments and bondages. Now the shackles are broken as we taste The Naama Ras, like the bee, which becomes Silent on tasting Honey, we too reach The Absolute Silence. By The Master's Grace, we have The Darshan of The Lord, within us.
The Lord bestows the responsibility of sharing the experience of ecstasy during The Lord's Darshan to only a selected few. They may talk even after the realization of The Lord. But then they talk only of The Lord and of Divine Bliss. They experience The Lord even while talking, and make others experience, even if it is momentary, The Lord."
We are just a stroke away from Realising The Lord within us. The Master has been kind on us, He has bestowed The Naama on us. He has shown us the path of Bhakti, which pleases The Lord. It is through Naama Bhakti, we can Realise The Lord.
Let us dedicate time for Naama Bhakti at least 3 hours a day. Let us start with Simran of The Naama, The Master's Dhyaan will automatically protect us once we elevate our consciousness above the worldly thoughts and attachments. The freedom from sorrow, pain, and suffering is in our hands. Let us do Naama Bhakti and free ourselves from the shackles of bondage.
Authored by K. Giri
