Summary: Explains that the sadhana includes the different parts of the being and that all must be looked at honestly and offered up for transformation; explains that the sadhana is not life-denying – but the present animal and human life is to be remoulded in God.

You see, S., here we work not with five minutes of people’s life – we work with the whole of life. That means the entire realm of the being. To make somebody happy for five minutes is very easy, but when every corner of your being is dealt with, when the whole of your personality surfaces and exposes itself, it becomes a whole different ball-game… The fears, the paranoias, the prejudices, the biases, the jealousies, the loves, the hates, the arrogance – everything comes up. You are dealing with the entire gamut of Nature’s forces. It is not five minutes of relaxation – it is a transformation in the light of God. And that requires a certain honesty within oneself, a certain sincerity, a trust – a complete surrender.

That in itself may take lifetimes, to be able to surrender to the light alone. For the ego comes up, and the ego rebels against everything that is divine – because the ego has to bend itself back as it were – and all the resistances and the stubbornness of the ego revolt at the slightest pretext. When the ego can look itself in the eye honestly… And even when it does, it does not have the eye to be able to look deep enough and to be able to see far enough as to what awaits it. And so therefore there are many moments of despair.

That is why trust. But trust is not something that is mental – it is a faith that abides in the soul. It is deep-seated. It is consistent; it is built gradually, it is developed and unfolded from deep within, as opposed to belief which is of the surface, through commitment and persistence. Some of course have it already or are given it from the very beginning as a rare gift from within and above.

And with the working of the force there are tremendous energies that are released – it is not a cakewalk for sure and I have always said so, from the very beginning. And I have also said it will get even tougher. So I have been perfectly honest in that sense. But it only gets tough because we cannot see; and it only gets tough because the ego resists. One can say it cannot see therefore it resists; and yet when it resists it cannot see – such a paradox. When the whole of the consciousness is dealt with, it is like dealing with the universe and all that which is within it at the same time – not just five minutes sitting with someone and giving meditation. When you start to live with an awakened energy, the whole of the consciousness is taken up – it is an acceptance of the soul to be transformed in light.

It is conflict that will come up first; it is all the poisons that will rise first. When you churn a lake all the mud from the bottom comes up. First little stirring and the fears and the paranoias come. That is why I have always said you have to be a warrior, you require courage in this journey, you require dedication – to go all the way, of course some do not go all the way, they can make only part-journeys.

That is why it is built up through many lifetimes. Even for one like the Buddha, it was built up through so many lifetimes. I am only giving Him as an example, not holding up Buddhism with its objective of dissolution in Nirvanik impersonal reality as an ideal, as our ideal is the all comprehensive reality inclusive of an evolving Divine persona in life. Even so with Christ – do you think Christ descended out of nowhere? He built it up: that soul, that life, through many lifetimes before he could be the Son of God and descend.

It is easier to follow than it is to lead because as a follower you can put all your weight on the one who leads, but the one who leads has nowhere to place his head. And yet He continues, with so many heads rolling in his bag; he never stops for he lives in trust. “May thy will be done, my Father” – He has offered his will permanently. Not for Himself he lives, he lives for the Father – it is a different ball-game. So even in the moment of crucifixion He remains in trust. The followers and the seekers are free to follow or not to follow, but He is bound to carry on – he has no choice, he cannot leave… Even if at times He would prefer to.

You know at sea there is a tradition: the master of the vessel never leaves the vessel first; he is the last to leave, if ever. Whenever there is a crisis everyone leaves, but the master remains. There is many a master in known history who have gone down with the ship.

There are so many regions to the consciousness, and everything has to be dealt with – at least here everything is dealt with, everything is touched and surfaces. Can we every moment of our lives turn to the Divine, to God? Can we be remoulded in godliness, in all honesty, in all sincerity? It does not deny your life – we do talk about the life divine.

But the first requirement is to be able to see every part of our being, every part of our personality with all honesty, and forever reach within ourselves for the Truth that abides there, for the God that abides everywhere.

And to stand naked first, before one can stand transformed; to stand naked facing the Divine Sun who is the Father to all, Mother to all and Friend to all. There are such amazingly beautiful treasures that await the soul that seeks in the heart – whenever the ego may allow it.

So every moment of our lives has to be sadhana, has to become conscious, finally to be remoulded in the light of God – every part of our being, every corner. It requires patience, it requires love, and it requires trust.

And it is not a denial of life: we do speak of the life divine. But it will not be animal life, human life – it will be life divine. It requires patience to work with oneself, and together as a community.

We may have our moments of struggle and strife, but they must be allowed to pass: it is in harmony that we must dwell. And be able to keep ourselves in waiting for it to happen while we continue to work with ourselves. You will notice how quickly one gets involved in the externals, how quickly we get involved in the sensational – it is so. So we continue to remember to reach within the depth of the being, not to dwell on the surface so easily – even though this is the case now. It is not a shallow life that we seek, but a life remoulded in God in every way – to enter more and more the God-consciousness and then to allow that consciousness to get hold of every part of your being, every act, and to continue to evolve more and more unto the light. And for that one requires courage and honesty, requires strength – an inner strength.

There is this fullness of life awaiting the soul – but one must allow life to aspire and be inspired more and more to the Divine, to be lifted unto the Divine.

So through your sadhana you ascend godward, to God-consciousness, so that you may descend in godliness into life. It is a raising of oneself and a deepening of oneself – not to disappear but to bring it into manifestation.

Always the most difficult work is given to the dearest and the closest. For God so loved the world that He sacrificed His own Son, who was dearest and closest. And it ever has been seen throughout history that one who is loved the most, is relied upon, depended upon also the most.

Arya Vihar

20 Jun 1998