Knowledge to live by

1. ‘The Divine is within’

Pujya Ma says, “Be conscious of the Divine in you, it will never fail you.”
This in itself gives a tide of hope and announces to the exhausted seeker of Truth that he need not run from place to place any more to find the object of his search, as the whole Truth in its pristine glory is present within him and that is his real being.
The seeker soon realises that his real Self is covered by superimpositions such as his concepts, beliefs, negative habits, desires, fears, etc. He only needs to remove these superimpositions and the residue will be the ever-shining Self of all.

It is a fact that traits and habits set in within the complex web of the human mind and it is almost impossible to uproot them. The situation becomes worse as one grows older. Even if we are able to conquer one trait, it is likely that many other traits have sprouted within. Therefore, instead of fighting oneself, one must simply ‘walk in the opposite direction’ and thereby transcend it all. In this way, one becomes free of one’s traits in a playway method. This is a most restful experience as one becomes free of the burdens that torture us. One now simply becomes a witness of oneself, without being affected any more by the negative traits of one’s mind.
By persevering in this practice, one is cleansed and new areas of consciousness open up, leading one ultimately to the complete Silence of the ever-glorious Self.

There are some immutable facts of life from which one can learn tremendous lessons. For instance, it is a fact that any man born in this world will die one day. Accepting this fact, one can look at oneself objectively and lessen one’s extreme attachments to oneself. One realises that we give undue importance to our ‘body-mind unit.’ This realization loosens innumerable knots that we have created for ourselves and will lend an atmosphere of peace within. Many fears will lose their meaning and life can become a joyful affair again.

The greatest disease man suffers from is the illusion of being an individual, separate from the rest of the world. The sense of ego in man robs him of all his beautiful inherent qualities and creates an atmosphere of insecurity within, whereas the Truth of life is that one must not be conscious of oneself as an entity but simply aware of ‘being.’
The ego is the root cause of all our troubles and uprooting it is the most difficult task, but not impossible to achieve. ( Pujya Ma’s example stands as proof to this fact.) It has been observed that for the last over 40 years, Pujya Ma’s life has been an uninterrupted flow of Pure Love for all who have come to Her. All Divine Qualities naturally flowed through Her uninterruptedly. Pujya Ma reassures, “What a man has done, a man can do”.
Getting rid of the ego, one arises to the fullness of Being, and abides in the ultimate Truth of Life where only Silence remains.The above clearly shows that this approach of life is not a method of self-improvement but a way to transcend oneself and rise in the Truth. All self-improvement methods (psychology, psychiatry, diets, modern methods, etc.) can help one to some extent to get rid of a problem but won’t free a man from himself altogether. Their limitation is based on the fact that the ego remains untouched.

It is imperative that the knowledge of life received should be imbibed in practical life. It is only then that meanings will be revealed to the seeker. As he tries to step out of himself and get rid of his ego, it is natural for him to offer his body-mind-intellect unit for the service of all, as they are of no use to him any longer.
The dedicated offering of oneself is the meaning of Arpana and it is the prime endeavour of the residents of Arpana to offer all their faculties and abilities in the service of others.
Besides, the proof of a life given to the ideal of Truth has to be given at the gross level.
In today’s times, one has to dedicate one’s entire personality, i.e. gross, emotional and intellectual, to this re-search of the Spirit of Truth. Meditation alone – as practiced in the modern way – cannot lead to any lasting effect. Meditation would flow naturally into action constantly. Only then can it be uninterrupted.

The above are simply a few extracted lessons of life derived from the vast reservoir of knowledge received from Param Pujya Ma. The latter is materially constituted of:

• Voluminous manuscripts which are elucidations of the ancient Scriptures that have been flowing spontaneously from Pujya Ma since 1958, making their wisdom accessible to the most ordinary people living in today’s era.
• 5,000 handwritten cards and other notes by Pujya Ma which constitute a part of Her own incredible research into the meanings of verses of the Scriptures.
• 7,000 audio cassettes and 2,000 video cassettes of sessions of questions and answers with Pujya Ma responding naturally to the queries of seekers of Truth.