Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Judging the mind or judging the master?

Last week, there were a couple of new members at our weekly wellness meet (satsang) here in Singapore. They have been in the so-called spiritual path for many years, have been with many masters. Apparently they were very touched and inspired by Swamiji's discourses on youtube; that's how they found their way to our center.

In the course of my conversation with them, one of them started remarking 'this master is like this, that master is like that, that other master should be more...' etc. Although he said great things about Swamiji, I felt uncomfortable when this kind of analysis about masters started.

As Swamiji says, one of the favorite pastimes of people who are so-called spiritual seekers is to constantly evaluate and judge various masters. Swamiji says "these professional seekers, their profession is to seek!" Not thinking about how one can benefit from the master, they are ready with their evaluation report about him, whether good or bad!

It is time we stop the evaluation outside and start the internal evaluation of ourselves. Many people ask Swamiji "With the track record of so many fake sadhus, isn't it essential we judge and evaluate first to be convinced about whom we are following?"

To that, His beautiful answer: The only test for you to follow a master is to see if you feel a deep connection, from the heart and being. If this happens, then even if the master is not enlightened, it's ok. Just follow him, you will become enlightened. If that connection does not happen, then even if he is enlightened, he cannot help you!

Many times we miss the master simply because we give more power to the mind. I cannot help but quoting Swamiji again on this. He says, "it is never a battle between you and your mind. It is a battle between me and your mind. Just decide which side you want to support". So, if we decide to be on the mind's side, even by mistake, then we know where we are headed!

A related video where Swamiji answers this issue in His own words:

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