Dissolution occurs only when you have someone; otherwise, in what will you dissolve? This dissolution is nothing but surrendering your ego. How will you surrender your ego to the unknown and inaccessible?
Besides surrender, you learn to love. Love, surrender, dissolution, or sayujyata (merger), all these things go together.
Daaji’s health has been unstable. The pain and discomfort in his upper back region, including his neck and shoulders, have been giving him sleepless nights. This morning, he woke up at 4 a.m. with a sense of discomfort and imbalance. He sat on the swing till 5.30 a.m. and then, feeling sleepy, went to bed again. He was able to sleep well for a while after that.
At around 9.30 a.m., Daaji took a walk in the garden surrounding his house. Some of the youth who had stayed back after the youth seminar met him on the way, and he invited them to join him on the walk. Slowly the number increased, and soon there were around 35 young people walking along with Daaji, who took immense pleasure in showing them the variety of plants in the area. The youngsters followed him home, where Daaji invited all of them to stay back for breakfast.
As the group waited for breakfast to be served, Daaji answered a few questions. Here are a few snippets from the conversation.
Best Friends Forever (BFF)
You have fewer and fewer friends as you grow and, finally, the only friend you are left with is yourself. Even your husband cannot be your best friend, as you will part from him at some point in time.
For example, when you were younger, almost every month you were invited to birthday parties. As you grow, you attend more wedding parties. Then comes the time to depart from each other. You start wondering, “Who will attend my cremation?” So, that’s how lonely you become. At that time, your only friend is your God or Guru. So, think of that.
In having friends, in satisfying them and making them happy, your energies are always outward. I am not saying that you should not have friends. Have friends, but draw the energy inward.
One of the youths asked Daaji, “What if someone takes advantage of our loving nature?”
Daaji replied, “Let them take advantage.”
The youth asked further, “What if they try to distance us from the family?”
Daaji gave the following reply:
A Marriage Sutra
Then he or she is not family. Many girls, these days, say that they would like to stay away from their boy’s parents after marriage. It is better to stay away from such women. Why should they make such a condition of moving away from their family and parents?
By this, you come to know their nature: they’re not accommodating. How can they accommodate you if they cannot accommodate your family? It is utter selfishness. When people keep such conditions, it is a good signal, because then you are lucky to put an end to such a relationship from the beginning.
Daaji inquired if breakfast was ready. The volunteer informed him that it was ready and that they were waiting for the youth to come to the table.
“It’s a tragedy that they will not get up until I get up,” he said, getting up and going inside his room, leaving the youth to have their breakfast.
Daaji sat on the swing and called for Tanya Maniktala and Sanjay Sehgal. Tanya was leaving Kanha, and he invited her to come again the next weekend or whenever she could.
He went on to discuss the cover options for his upcoming book, The Wisdom Bridge, and also a new project consisting of folk tales and short stories. Daaji wanted to release a book of short stories every month, as he felt that stories can convey poignant messages in simple ways.
Between 10 and 10.30 a.m., he had physiotherapy with Surekha Banda.
After lunch, Daaji went to rest but could not sleep as he had difficulty changing positions while lying down. He called for Dr. Kishore, and with the latter’s assistance, he finally fell asleep. When he woke up, he felt a little better but tired.
In the evening at around 7.30, Daaji had a Yoga session with Bhushan Bhukte. Feeling uncomfortable while doing the asanas, he could not continue the session for long.
Dinner was low-key, as Daaji had to spend his energy pacifying the grievances of a couple living in Kanha Shanti Vanam. He met them for a brief while and explained that he had to attend the youth seminar in spite of not being well.
He said, “Everyone has problems, and I will try to solve them when presented, but it takes some time. Be patient. You are all mature seekers, and this critical outlook does not befit you. Be happy that you have a roof over your head to stay here. As far as spirituality is concerned, I will do my level best. I am very sorry to say that other matters are not under my control.” He asked one of his associates to look into the matter and do the needful and then went inside.
At around 10 p.m., Daaji began a profound conversation on the topic of surrender with the seekers present.
Dissolving the Ego
Dissolution occurs only when you have someone; otherwise, in what will you dissolve? This dissolution is nothing but surrendering your ego. How will you surrender your ego to the unknown and inaccessible?
Besides surrender, you learn to love. Love, surrender, dissolution, or sayujyata (merger), all these things go together.
So the biggest problem we all face with the Master is the dissolution of the ego – cracking the ego and having faith beyond any measure. Because, at the human level when we interact, our ego is challenged, our love is challenged, and our faith is challenged.
Often we see imperfection. For example, sometimes we see something that we admire or something that appeals to us a lot. But then the very next moment we are flat, because something happens. So, this prepares us; this exercise is not useless.
The Master may be perfect, but if my surrender is not perfect, there is a problem. On the other hand, the Master may be imperfect, but if my surrender is perfect, I’ll still make it, because then God takes over.
Even if the Master is at fault, sincere surrender takes care of it. But if the Master is the best and you have not yet surrendered, you cannot achieve the goal; the Master can do nothing. That’s why Babuji used to say, “Though all this is a gift of Lalaji, I did my part. I also labored for it.”