I was motivated to write this message after reading a passage from a newsletter written by some disciples who had recently had the darshan of Pujya Swamiji. The passage read as follows: 'And Swamiji said, 'I do remember you all. but I don't want to, because it disturbs my sadhana', and then Swamiji wiped his eyes.' This made me think that we, as disciples, know very little about Swamiji. How little have we been able to grasp in all these years of discipleship, if we still think that a person who has reached such a high stage of awareness is bound by attachment or emotion. While Swamiji was physically present, he was constantly teaching us, but how much did we, with our narrow minds, understand of it?
Swamiji has said that pain and pleasure are only manifestations of nature, and that pain is higher than pleasure. Bat are we ready to accept pain, are we ready to suffer for others even once? No, we only think of Our own comforts and facilities, of our own ego. And how much of Swamiji's teachings do we practise? How much of the sadhana given to us by him do we do regularly? Very few people have actually kept up with it sincerely, and they are the ones who are not craving for Swamiji's personal and physical darshan. Those few are the ones who have established an inner link with Swamiji and they are the ones who understand him better.
We all come to this world with our own purpose, and we do not need to envy others in order to fulfil our own desires. We must analyse our own attachments, our own passions and emotions, and our own samskaras in order to live a peaceful life. In order to do this, we must practise yoga as per Swamiji's instructions. Practices like kriya yoga, raja yoga, bhakti yoga, karma yoga etc., are all very powerful, and we have had many experiences from these practices, although we may not be aware of it.
However if you really want to follow the path, it is very simple - just try to do what Swamiji has already told you to do. If you go through the Teachings Books of Swamiji, I am sure that you will be able to mid the answers to all your queries. Start your mind working on a higher level through the means of yoga practices. Then you will be able to understand the world, and if you understand the world you can live with inner peace.
Swamiji received Paramahamsa diksha long ago. To fulfil his guru's orders, he could have done something more simple, and it would have been sufficient. However, all that he has accomplished was for us only, to help mankind evolve spiritually. Now, it is our duty in return to see that the mission of yoga continues to grow all over the world. After analysing Pujya Gurudev's teachings, we come to understand that he has given us everything. He has with great patience shown us the path, however, we prefer to remain blind. Why do we want his darshan? Oh, because we want to discuss a stomach problem we have been having for the last few months, or we want to know if our daughter is old enough to get married. Or, no, it is nothing like that, we want to ask him why it is that we cannot meditate; whenever we sit for meditation all these thoughts come into our mind. How many times has Swamiji explained to us the real cause of our disease? So why don't we look into that and try to resolve it for ourselves?
Swamiji himself has said, if we were to get the darshan of God in our present state, we would still be asking, 'Oh God, please help me to get my daughter married.' Of course, you can always say, 'Is it not natural that, as a disciple, I would like to have the darshan of my guru?' But wait a minute, do you know if you are a true disciple yet? And if you are a true disciple, then why do you worry about his darshan? I am sure that if you are a true disciple, he will give you darshan without your craving or asking for it, and not only that, he will guide you, not just for now, but until the end of your life. It all depends on you.
These are things for all of us to think about. We still have time for spiritual development, and we should never give up our aspiration. United, we must try more than ever to continue with our spiritual life in the best possible manner and to have faith. We must remember that Swamiji is now at a higher level of yoga consciousness, and he does not want to come down again and again to repeat what he has been saying to us for so many years. This disturbs him and constantly breaks his inner awareness and sadhana.
If you think that Swamiji is unhappy because he is sleeping in the open air, on the bare ground, or because he is not going to see you again, you are completely wrong. Swamiji has always been a man of strong resolutions. Once he takes a resolution, he will never break it. Swamiji has resolved to become a jivanmukta in this life, and he will achieve it. We should all be proud of being devotees and disciples of such a great soul, especially in this era, when people like him have become very rare, and pray that he will continue to guide us from his higher abode.