Page 190 - Wisdom Unfurled

We should also note that being a true and worthy disciple of the highest order, the devout disciple, is not an easy task. It is perhaps more difficult to get a good disciple than a good master. In fact it may be said that all sadhana in a way is aimed at becoming the ideal disciple who is the cynosure of the Master’s eyes, as once it is accomplished nothing more is to be done. The Adi Guru Revered. Lalaji Maharaj had remarked that though He had a number of followers, He could get only one whom He could structure in the ideal manner. We find always a herd of sheep and very rarely a lion in the field of spirituality. The Master says elsewhere that one lion is better than a hundred sheep. He also says He needs such persons in His organization who may shine out like the sun (SDG p 164). To be called a disciple one must be thoroughly disciplined and obedient. Obedience and submission are the stepping stones to surrender. We find in the life of Master Sriramchandraji the most vivid illustration of the ideal disciple who became the cynosure of His Master’s eyes, the object of His continued and constant remembrance and the perfect case of the lover turning into the beloved and vice versa.
Real Guru
The Master expresses His views on the nature of the real guru of excellent attributes and crowning attainments on the path of spirituality. Such a Master has a heart ever ready to help any one who might be in need of it. He is a samavarthi totally impartial and just and samadarshi looking equally upon every one. He prefers to carry out his task in a spirit of a humble servant of humanity, though there have been masterly Gurus who functioned as masters in their lifetime. The Master defines in this context, the oft-used form of reverential addressing of the saints, namely, ‘Mahatma’ in His own characteristic manner. The word has been defined in various ways not perhaps without some reasonable basis. However the Master would take it to mean ‘non-being Being’, that is, the person who has negated himself totally or has become a zero allowing only the Divine within, the Real Being, to express Itself in all his functioning. Such a person is quite away from spirituality as is normally known and understood. We may recall the Master’s utterance wherein He has stated that the end of religion is spirituality, the end of spirituality is Reality, the end of Reality is bliss and when that too has gone one arrives at the destination. So the Mahatma is one who has traveled far beyond the domain of spirituality and is dwelling permanently in the sphere of negation at least (non-being) with the really advanced persons like the Great Master swimming in the Ocean of the Infinite steeped in the state ofTam or total ignorance. The Master comments that this way of looking at ‘Mahatma’ would not be so easily appreciated by people at large as they are used to witnessing the proud, vainglorious and self-styled mahatmas who would like to showcase their talents and achievements demanding worship,