Have an openness to receive light, love, and bliss of the eternal flame. Keep your gates open to receive divine treasures, writes Sant Rajinder Singh
Being receptive is like being an empty cup. This describes the attitude we should adopt in meditation and in our spiritual life. In meditation, pitchers of divine wine of spiritual love cascade into us from God. If we meditate like an empty cup, we can receive perpetually the wine of ecstasy. Meditation should be an effortless effort. We close our eyes and simply gaze at what lies in front of us, without any thought of what will or should appear. The sooner we sit in that state, the sooner we will have inner progress. It is for God to decide what to give us within.
Our spark is lit by a spiritual master at the time of initiation into the inner light and sound. Next, we maintain the flame when we learn to meditate, lead an ethical life, become a vegetarian and avoid alcohol and intoxicating or hallucinogenic drugs, perform selfless service, and by attending satsang. Finally, we merge our individual spark into the dazzling eternal flame illuminating our soul and spreading light to the whole world. We can reach this ultimate stage when we further ignite our spark by developing receptivity, a ruling passion, gratitude, and love.
Receptivity is an openness to receive the light, love, and bliss of the eternal flame. It involves keeping our floodgates open to receive all the treasures of the divine. Becoming like an empty cup is a way of life. It extends beyond meditation into our everyday living. A master-disciple relationship is based on firsthand experience. When we first come to a master, we see how a master is all goodness, sweetness, kindness, and affection. Through continued contact, we also see that everything the master teaches is proved by our own experiences on the spiritual path. At initiation, the master gives us a capital with which to start in the form of inner proof that there is something beyond this physical world. That initial capital is contact with the inner light and sound. With daily meditation, that inner experience increases, and we find that the theoretical aspect of the spiritual teachings is proven by firsthand practical experience. This motivates us to continue the practice to perfect meditation so we can rise beyond this physical realm to experience inner spiritual realms. With each added experience, we realise that what the master is saying is borne out by inner proof. That is why masters say not to believe what they are saying until one sees and proves it for oneself. Meditation gives the experimental process by which we can prove that the inner experiences of light and sound, the inner spiritual realms, the soul, and God are verifiable.
little by little, we find out that the master is our best friend, teacher, and guide. The master wants only the best for us. He takes care of us in all spheres of life. While others in life may cause us pain, the master heals all sufferings and pains. We begin to realise that the master is our true benefactor and we develop trust and faith in him. Once this trust and faith is established, we gain confidence in what the master teaches. Thus, we start engaging in the spiritual practices more closely. We know that the guidance given by the master will surely help us because we are proving what is being taught by firsthand experience through meditation.
We pray to God, but because we want the blessings to come in the way we want, we miss out on the blessings that God sends. We include an instruction manual with our prayer, telling God how we want the blessings to come. When they do not come in the way we want, we disregard the fact that God sent us our blessing. If we look back on the blessing later in life, we realise that what God sent us was far better than what we had imagined or asked for.
Sometimes, we ask for something that is not really good for us, or not as good as what God actually wants to give us. let us instead learn to be receptive to what God sends us. If we are patient and wait, we will receive far more than what we had asked for. We will find that God will give us greater gifts than what we could ever dream of. If we are patient and calm, we will realise that God knows what is best.
Acceptance does not come easily. At first we begin by praying for one thing or another. Praying for something in particular has its pitfalls. Sometimes we may have our prayer answered right away, and other times, not at all. If we do not get what we want, there is the danger of our becoming disappointed, disillusioned, and depressed. We lose faith and feel that God has not listened to us and is not responding. But when we do not pray for anything other than what God wants to give, there is no danger of disappointment. It takes time to develop to a point where we can pray in this manner. The faith and trust in God must first develop. That is born out of our experiences. Once that develops, we relax and put ourselves into God’s care. We have the confidence that God will act as our friend, benefactor, and protector.
“Sweet is thy will” is the highest state of receptivity. It is a condition in which our mind is stilled and our ego is at rest. It is best described by a formula: Humans minus the mind equals God. In this condition, nothing stands between God and us. We become an empty cup, and the pure waters of divinity can flow unhampered into us. There are no distractions, no separation, and no duality. The power of God permeates our entire being. In this state, we merge back into God.
To derive the greatest benefit from the blessings bestowed by God, we should adopt this humble attitude of the empty vessel.
The writer is a spiritual leader
