Discourse 2 (Part 3)
Swami Pritam Muni
(Continued from Previous)
Vadodara, 3.11.09

Great souls are not partial but we have to become qualified. How does one become qualified? Those who have gained the trust of great souls through lifetimes of service and sacrifice easily receive protection and guidance in all conditions and circumstances. We tend to look only at present circumstances but there is no need for us to become discouraged by them. "It is morning from the moment we wake up." Our effort should be that since we have gained convenient circumstances in the present, we should use the opportunity in such a way as to store up good destiny for ourselves in future lifetimes. Once again, great souls are not partial but we have to become qualified. How to become qualified? Through surrender and service.

If I may use an illustration. There is a board affixed at the Lord's door: "Surrender … Wait". What kind of surrender? I recite a couplet from 'Prem Aradhana':

Surrender without condition
Body, mind and wealth, life itself
Ask nothing in return, Pritam
Nor voice any complaint.

Surrender to God; put your trust in him fully. Man can be partial to man but God is impartial. Dadaji sees everything, knows everything. Do not complain. Express your surrender through doing the work of cultural resurgence.

Let us surrender whatever we have at the Lord's feet in the service of others. Let us do the work of cultural resurgence as directed by Dadaji. We should not have any demand or any complaint. This is the highest type of surrender we should strive for. Souls who perform such outstanding surrender again and again gain in qualification and arrange excellent bondage of indebtedness. (Those whom they serve become indebted to them for their service.) Such is the grace of God that naturally rains down on souls who have surrendered and rendered lifetimes of service that conditions are so arranged for them as to ensure their spiritual welfare. I had not demanded sannyas initiation from Guruji, but Dadaji's grace was with me and Guruji initiated me into sannyas. I made no effort in that direction. It was a matter of Dadaji's grace. Long before Guriji had me informed of the date of y initiation, many of my well-wishers already knew the day and date. Similarly, without any effort for it on my part, Guruji entrusted me with the task of cultural resurgence and to confer all categories of initiation in the lineage. He also gave me administrative powers in relation to the organization. There was no effort on my part in all this. I am doing whatever is necessary in relation to the work I have been entrusted.

Some words about sadhana … . All of you must be doing japa. Many a times it happens that some link is missing in some work we are doing so that though we are doing the work most dedicatedly it still gives us late and fewer results. There is hard work and there is smart work. Smart work is that which we do with discrimination and understanding so that we get maximum and best results with minimal effort. One worker sits in his air conditioned office and works for four, five, hours and earns reasonably good wages. Another puts in longer hours of harder labor but earns less. One goes to work in the morning and comes home late in the evening after a full day's hard earthwork. His wage for the day is 50-100 Rupees. This is all he gets for a days hard work of sweat and toil. Dharm-karma, service, sadhana, if done with discrimination and understanding are all 'smart work'. If you do these properly, they give you great results in a short time. By comparison, you get lesser results from the pursuit of hard work. If you are doing mantra japa, reading of the scriptures, service etc. but if there is some lack of understanding somewhere, it will be necessary to remove that deficiency if you want the best results. You should do your work in an unattached and discriminating way like Shivaji in the story I told you.

Consider what life is like in reality …. There is one thing onscreen and another behind the curtain. There was a Ramlila performance going on somewhere. Hanumanji was on stage with Sita Maiya. Lord Rama is shown roaming the forest calling 'Sitey, Sitey'. Everyone is greatly impressed by the portrayal of Hanumanji on the stage. Soon the performance comes to an end. The cast sits relaxing behind the curtain. 'Hanumanji' has his arm around 'Sita Maiya's' neck and he is regaling her with some story while enjoying his cigarette! This is only a little story of a drama performance but this kind of situation is common in real life too. There is a difference between what is seen onscreen and the reality behind the screen. Has it ever occurred to you why you are in this lineage and not in another? There are many who keep flying from place to place from the time of their birth. I frequently visit a family in Delhi. When I first visited them, the members told me that they had never sat in a train or a bus; their travel was always only in either their own car or a commercial flight or a helicopter. There is another family …. There is a wall in a ruin somewhere. There is a crack in the wall from which a sapling has grown. One of the children inquired, : 'Dadaji, a tree has grown here. How could it have come here?' Dadaji replied, 'For sure, something fell into the crack that made the sapling to grow. Either a seed fell there, or a leaf or a root or twig of a tree." In the same way, whatever happens in our lives is a result of our actions in past lives. We will receive in future lives n accordance with our actions in the present life. When will we receive it? If we grow Ladies Fingers, we get a crop n about 30 – 35 days. But if we have planted mangoes it takes two to five years before we get its fruit. We have to grow crops of both types so that we get something right away but there is also something for later too. Do you follow? When we sit down to eat, so many are the things we need. Similarly, we need various types of things in life. Suppose we get a lot of wealth, but if there is no one in the family we find the wealth to be useless. Suppose there is wealth and there is family but there is no love in the family; suppose there is all this but there is sickness in the family; suppose there is wealth and family and love and good health but no honor in society. The list of our wants is endless. How many circumstances we have to take care of in order to ensure our happiness! Now, if you wish to harvest wheat from your field, what must you sow? If you want to harvest rice you will have to plant rice. If you want to harvest lentils, you will have to sow the type of lentils you want to harvest. So, similarly, if we want various kinds of arrangements or circumstances in life we have to perform different types of karmas. True, if you have wealth you can buy everything. Dharma-karma similarly gives us everything but that means various types of karmas to make the way easier.

You may have heard the story of Shvetketu. He did not give food in charity when he was alive and was denied food in the next world. Eventually he had to satisfy his hunger from his own dead body.

We shall now try to so arrange our activities that in future we establish as many Life Mission centers as already exist so that they become centers of service and culture as instructed by Dadaji. "Cultural resurgence", that was his command. Our Life Mission centers should become centers for all-round development. How can all-round development be attained? First, we need understanding, that is, spiritual instruction. This we are already doing through our centers. But hunger and spirituality do not go together. There are other needs to be met, too – food, clothing, health care, etc. It will be our effort in future that Life Mission centers become service centers also. The work of cultural resurgence includes all types of cultural activities. We shall gradually develop those as well. That is, we shall try and make our culture centers a place where young and old will have access to all kinds of cultural activities which will cater to their own spiritual needs as well as the spiritual needs of others as well.

Why do all this? One, for rendering service. Secondly, so that everyone may get opportunity to 'sow other types of crops' also so that you may understand its significance and sow the right type of crop mix of karmas.

I tell you a small story. There was an elderly Saint named Devavratt who lived in a forest. A young sannyasi came to that forest in search of a peaceful place where he could pursue a particular spiritual practice. Devavratt saw him and inquired, "You are in search of a secluded place?" The young Sannyasi replied that he wanted to pursue some particular sadhana for a few days. He found a cave nearby. There was a stream nearby and enough roots and tubers for nourishment. Devavratt inquired from the young sannyasi, "Let me know what sadhana you want to do". The young sannyasi replied that he could not throw light on that matter. Devavratt insisted but the sannyasi remained firm in his position. On the appointed day, the sannyasi entered the cave. He left the cave only at midnight for ablutions and again at mid-day for gathering fruit etc. Days passed. Devavratt himself had attained such heights in his own sadhana that he had the power to assume any form at will. He was curious to discover the nature of the youth's sadhana. He assumed the form of a serpent and entered the cave through a small opening. There he curled up in a dark corner and waited for the sannyasi to do his sadhana. He maintained this practice for several days. Each day he assumed the form of a serpent and entered the cave where he curled up in a dark corner and awaited developments. In turn, the sannyasi became aware of all this. Accordingly, he drastically curtailed all outwardly manifest aspects of his sadhana so that nothing was apparent and disciplined his practice in such a way that it lasted a very short time. In this way, days passed and soon his sadhana neared completion. Eventually his sadhana ended and he turned towards the corner where Devavratt lay coiled in the form of a serpent and said, "Devavratt, beware!" Devavratt had been under the impression that the young sannyasi had been unaware of his presence. But the sannyasi knew and told Devavratt, "What you have done is improper. Since you have done this karma in the form of a serpent, now you remain in the serpent species". The word had left its source. It would have its effect.

Devavratt lost a moment but that moment was enough for the sannyasi's word to take effect. Devavratt tried to revert from serpent to human form but had lost the moment. He implored the young sannyasi to give him back his former form, coiled himself around his legs abjectly but to no avail. The sannyasi said, "You will remain in the serpent species for about three thousand years. Following that, Karnav Muni will come and release you from that species.

So you see, what situations can arise from even seemingly small improper karmas. Many times it transpires that people do such acts out of curiosity about the sadhana being pursued by some Mahatma. So they look in without permission. This should not be done. What they should do in case they have a desire to learn is to adopt the path of surrender and service. I do wish that many in the world may pursue excellent sadhana and make spiritual progress but if you want to become a doctor you must successfully pass with good grades through the qualifying classes with the required subject matter disciplines. For progress in sadhana, you need three qualifications: One, be simple; irrespective of the situation and circumstances, fully reject anger from your nature. This is a first requirement for making progress in sadhana. Secondly, put in a lot of effort for Dadaji's work. The third is, devoted service with surrender. These will sweeten your mind and your past karmas will go on getting burnt away.

As I observed earlier, what is on the screen differs from what is real. You are disciples of great yogi Gurus. It is better to earn than to simply know. But if you wish to earn you have to acquire qualification. Qualification comes from intelligent sadhana. Try to advance on the great path of sadhana during this available lifetime.

There is an instance involving Ramkrishna Paramhans and Swami Vivekananda. The former told the latter, "Assume that there is a bowl of amrit (nectar) and you are a small fly. You want to drink the nectar. How will you do it?" Swami Vivekananda replied, "I will sit on the edge of the bowl and slowly sip the nectar". Swami Ramakrishna replied, "Son, in these circumstances that is not the right way. If it is indeed a bowl of nectar, the right way is to plunge into the bowl itself. If it is indeed 'amrit' (deathless) then it cannot kill; even drowning in it cannot cause death. So in a case like this, one simply plunges in".

So here also Dadaji has opened a bowl of 'amrit'. Dadaji has said that more and more workers should undertake the work of cultural resurgence and that way let this work spread in more and more countries so that a cultural resurgence may cover the whole earth. This is the need of the present times. This work has to be undertaken far and wide and therefore it will require ever more workers. As I told you earlier, become simple, shed pride and anger, be sweet tempered. Do the work of cultural resurgence commanded by Dadaji. Surrender yourself to His work with 'nishkam bhava'. When anger arises in the mind, take control of yourself, exercise restraint, maintain silence. If you are going to arm someone with a pistol, you do want to make sure that he is not the kind who might use it casually.

Sojourn to other Talukas, districts, States and countries to carry the message of the resurgence campaign, explain its thoughts and ideas. I will try to prepare a platform for you. You only have to reach there and make the effort.

The third is surrender. We express our surrender by undertaking the work Dadaji has commanded to us. Make no demands; have no complaints. Simply join the campaign and do your best with dedication and surrender. You will earn Dadaji's love if you work in this manner.

I am delivering a discourse in Vadodara after a month and a half and do not feel that time has passed. I do not know if you feel the passage of time. It seems to me that none of you have any desire to make a move because I see that you are stable in one place. It is possible that you may not understand what I am saying. I have not seen in all my reading since childhood till my present thirty two years the things I know. I used to read a lot of books. It happens many times that we take up a book of say 300, 400 pages for the first time and as we read along we keep feeling that we already know all this. How does that happen? That is called 'anugraha', God's grace.

How does one earn God's grace? Through surrender and service. We have distributed a form among you today requiring you to fill in your name and amount of time you are willing to allot for service and the type of service you can render. Make it convenient to find time to devote to the work of cultural resurgence.

I had gone to Orrisa on 31st October. I had addressed a group of young people there. Most were in the age group 18 – 35 years. Most had received or were receiving higher education. I gave a discourse, inaugurated four cultural centers. When I sat down to give mantra initiation, I found out in response to my inquiry that some were M.B.A., some Ph.D., some medical professionals; all were talented youngsters. One of them approached me and said, "Muniji, I am a Christian. I heard your discourse and have decided to become your disciple. Can I take mantra initiation form you?" This was a good thing. I gave him mantra initiation and also gave him assurance, "Do not worry; many more will come as you have come". Many residing in various places of the world and who are genuine seekers of Truth will come to Pritam Muni when they hear our message. After receiving mantra initiation, the Orissa youths said to me, "Muniji, it will be our effort to see that whole of Orissa is covered with Life Mission centers and there are young people in the 18 – 35 years age group who are running these centers". If I should express this in my poetic way, I would say:

The plants have no need to announce
That spring has come.
The flowers bloom naturally
With the advent of Spring.

Witness how Dadaji's grace has worked. Now, if those youngsters there are willing to put in that kind of effort there, should we not try and improve the situation in our own Taluka or District with regard to the culture centers? They told me there that if I stayed in the area for two or three days they could start fifty centers. Similarly, workers in U.P. said, "Muniji, stay a week and we will start 10 to 150 centers". I replied, "About 5-10 centers open with one discourse." You should have readiness of that kind of scale – one discourse should be enough to motivate the opening of about 5 – 10 centers. People do not know me in that area but they have love for me. If a lot of work can be done even in such an area but you cannot do it here, it suggests some weakness or laziness somewhere.

We should make the effort. There is one Maninder Singh in Punjab who is a medical professional and known to me. He told me he has a large network of friends in Russia and he would accompany me to Russia during my tour there and help establish many Centers. When we were drawing up a program and Chudasama would ask me what to include, I would say, write down Russia, write down Africa. I went on speaking and he went on listing; Dadaji has so arranged it that there will be Centers there.

I was sitting with Guruji once and the topic came up. I told Guruji that I had contacts in New Zealand. Later, I remembered that there was no such person my list of contacts. Two or three days later someone known to me telephoned me and said he had a friend in New Zealand who wished to do my work. So now we have a network taking shape in New Zealand too. So is the case with Africa also. There are many families there who wish to join the crusade. We have an excellent network in many nations of the world. I had observed during my visit to Kanjetha that if we have planted flowers in our house we should be the first to receive their scent. So, if all these people abroad are willing to undertake so much, surely we too should be able to show as much work.

We went to Jaipur on 19th September. Yogendrasinh Rana had reached there the same night. He accompanied us during the whole tour till we reached Ranchi on 30th October. From Ranchi the sisters departed to return here and Yogendrasinh left for Delhi. His son is in the eighth standard and daughter in the twelfth science, yet he found 44- 45 days time to devote to Dadaji's work. There were people in Punjab, Delhi, other places, who devoted time to this work, each making some sacrifice or the other. All were people with families, yet everyone devoted some time to this work. We have to do the same; make adjustments in our life routines and find some time for Dadaji's work.

Lastly, hear my story about the small bag. I have given Taraba a small bag. (Reference is to Mrs. R.V. Chudasama, wife of Shri R.V. Chudasama, General Secretary of Life Mission. Pritam Muniji spent some time as house guest of Shri Chudasama pending readying of his own living quarters. – Translator).

There was a Mahatmaji. He was a carefree soul. In the course of his wanderings he arrived at the edge of a forest. He was hungry. He walked up to the city gates but the gates were shut just as he arrived there. Now they would open again only in the morning. Mahatmaji sat there at the gate and waited. He was very hungry and awaited the reopening of the gates in the morning so that he could go into the town and beg for alms.

Meanwhile, in the town, it so happened that the king of the place was childless. He had instructed his ministers that in the event of his death they should crown as king not someone from among their own families but the first person to walk in through the city gates on the morning after his death. Now, the king died that night. The Ministers and courtiers positioned a caparisoned elephant with a set of ceremonial attire at the city gates and waited for the city gates to open so that the first person to enter through the gates in the morning could be ceremoniously conducted into the city for being crowned king. On this side of the gate the Mahatmaji grew increasingly hungry and began knocking impatiently at the gates well before sunrise. Those inside the gates wondered at this person, so impatient to become king. So he passed his time, repeatedly knocking at the gate. Eventually, morning came and Mahatmaji quickly entered. Those present there stopped him, and Mahatmaji declared that he was hungry and wanted something to eat. The palace retinue explained the situation to him and pleaded with him to allow events to take their course. He agreed. He was given a bath and dressed in beautiful clothes. Then, with due ceremony and pomp, he was led into the city with bands playing. The new king entered the palace where he was duly crowned as King. He then summoned the chief courtiers and ordered them to place his old clothes in the bag he was carrying and carefully place the bag safely away where he could see it.

The bag was safely put away. What a grand time he began having now! Earlier he used to go begging for alms. Often he used to be asked to wait and used to be asked, "Wait; what reason can you have for haste?" Pritam Muni has many times experienced this. I had gone to a shop once to beg for alms. I stood there and shouted, bhikshandehi .. dharmalabh. The shopkeeper responded, "Mahatmaji, wait, keep standing". Our rule is to call thrice. I call thrice but not again after that. So I called two more times. The shopkeeper responded, "Wait a while ….. there is no train you are likely to miss, is there?". I walked away and went my way. Others would be pleased to drop a few coins in my bowl. I have many millionaires as my disciples but I am a renunciant sannyasi and sometimes do move about begging for alms.

Anyway, our beggar sat on the throne and his life changed. He got the best things to eat, received the best services, wore grand silken clothes, nothing could be better. Soon there was a rosy tint about his cheeks, he grew in weight and strength and, overall, Mahatmaji was happy.

Three years passed. One day all his Ministers approached him in a panic. They bowed to the King and said, "Rajaji, two or three kings of surrounding kingdoms have joined up and have surrounded our kingdom. Our kingdom is placed in grave danger. You are the King – show us some way. We have racked our brains but cannot think of anything". "Bringing me my old bag", Mahatmaji responded. I have lived in the lap of luxury for three years; now if someone wants to occupy the throne, he is welcome to it. I have had my day; what objection can I have if someone else now has his day?"

I too have given my bag to Taraba for safe keeping. It contains all I am ever likely to need, my clothes, my sandals. So long as everything appears congenial, I too shall get food served to me rather than beg for alms and shall do Dadaji's work. After that, the old bag is always there. All I have to do is to call, "Taraba, give me that old bag of mine" and say Om , Om, and move on. Like a lotus which is not effected by the place where it grows, I shall not let this which has come my way effect me and my life shall continue as before. A sannyasi should never become attached, not to a person, or to a place or to any thing or a condition of life, nothing. Remain unaffected like a drop of water on a lotus leaf even under the best of circumstances.

Remember and think about the things I have told you. Work a lot and whole heartedly for the fulfillment of Dadaji's divine will and let the cultural resurgence march forward on the strength of your efforts. Dadaji's grace will rain upon you. Om. Jai Bhagwan. I say this in humor but vairagya should be like this:

Kabhi khane ko maal malida
Kabhi bhookhe kadaka sahi
Kabhi milegi malmal gadia
Kabhi pathhar chattan sahi.

There is gourmet food sometimes
Sometimes the pangs of hunger
The softest linen beds to lie on sometimes
And beds of stone sometimes.
I have written a bhajan in my book of bhajans:

Look in the mirror of your heart
Whose image do you see there?

So we should keep ourselves under self-examination to keep an eye on what we see there. Do not form attachments for anything. Do not form attachments anywhere or for anything in life. It is fine if the circumstances are with us; it is fine to if the circumstances are against us.

I have enjoyed talking with you. May the mercy and blessings of Dadaji and Guruji be with us all always. May all be auspicious with you all. Aum, Jai Bhagwan to all.