MASTER: I hope you have understood the significance of Naam. If a lit match-stick is applied to a huge heap of straw, it takes sometime for the entire straw-heap to be reduced to ashes. An equally big heap of cotton-wool however burns more quickly. But if you light a match-stick in the darkest cavern, it is illuminated at once.
SEEKER: What are you trying to illustrate by these examples?
MASTER: The heap of sin of a great sinner burns rather slowly with the application of the match-stick of Naam as in case of the straw-heap. The sins of those who are guilty of minor faults burn rapidly. On the other hand in case of those who have done good deeds, Naam immediately removes darkness from their hearts which then become fully illumined. According to the merit of the person, Naam acts slowly, fast or instantly.
SEEKER: If one achieves fullness by uttering Naam even once, why then do wise people exhort you to singing Naam always and unceasingly, and not let even a single breath go waste without Naam?
MASTER: As soon as Naam is uttered even once, it sets fire to the heap of sins of the utterer and the heap goes on burning. If Naam is repeated many times, it acts like fanning the flame and sins burn fiercely. On the other hand, if one talks of other mundane things then it acts like sprinkling water on the fire which gets dimmed, and thereby delays the process of burning sins. But nothing can prevent the fire of Naam from completing its work.
SEEKER: Does it follow that if a person sings Naam ceaselessly, all his sins are destroyed quickly?
MASTER: Yes, it is so. Man is being driven as a result of his Karma spread over hundreds of his previous lives. In that process, he has collected a considerable amount of sin. Unless that sin is destroyed, he cannot gain Shanti (peace).
SEEKER: What happens when the sin is destroyed?
MASTER: Jnana (true knowledge) comes when sin is destroyed.
SEEKER: What is Jnana?
MASTER: “Vasudeva Sarvam” — whatever exists is all God — when this knowledge comes then no sorrow remains. The world then looks like a garden of flowers of Ananda. The person then moves about happily in the garden of Ananda. The screen before his eyes, which made him see many, is removed and he finds only Ananda. Everything gets filled with the same Ananda and everything appears to be the same.
SEEKER: Does one attain this state of mind only by singing Naam or does he have to do other forms of Sadhana?
MASTER: The singer of the Naam does not have to do anything else. If he takes shelter in Naam for some time, then Naam itself takes hold of him. Thereafter the Bhakt does not have to make an effort to sing Naam. In the strings of his heart Naam itself starts vibrating.
SEEKER: Does he lose all sense then?
MASTER: No, he does not lose his sense; he hears the sound of Naam in the strings of his heart while he is awake and he sees light.
SEEKER: What is light?
MASTER: Light is God.
- Jyoti (light in heart) is ‘Param Brahma’, Jyoti is the ultimate happiness, Jyoti is eternal peace, Jyoti is ‘Param Pada’ (the final liberation).
— In the lotus of the heart there is white Jyoti.
SEEKER: So only Jyoti is visible in the heart?
MASTER: No, it is not simply Jyoti (light). In that Jyoti is the Hiranmaya Purusha (Purusha of golden colour). The Chandogya Upanishad has said — ‘Within the sun, the golden Purusha, who is visible, is full of Jyoti: he has golden beard and golden hair. Even down to his toe nails, his entire body is full of Jyoti.
SEEKER: Is a form also then visible in the Jyoti?
MASTER: Those who want to see the form, they see it, but there are others who want to remain immersed in Jyoti.
Bhagwan Shatkope has said: —
— In the great current of Jyoti there is a floating form which dances in my mind; no one can know him.
SEEKER: When a person sees this Jyoti, does he lose his outer senses?
MASTER: No, he does not; one can see Jyoti, even when one is fully awake, both internally and externally. If one can concentrate one’s mind on Jyoti, then gradually the three i.e. the person who is doing ‘Dhyana’, the object of ‘Dhyana’ and the process of ‘Dhyana’ will disappear and only Jyoti will remain.
SEEKER: Then no one remains to see the Jyoti?
MASTER: He, whose Jyoti it is, (i.e. God) only remains.
— At the time of Samadhi, the all-pervading, endless Jyoti appears. On seeing it, no work and birth and death remain.
SEEKER: But Samadhi is far off; I cannot think of it.
MASTER: Yes, Samadhi is far off from those who do not sing Naam, but it is not far from the singers of Naam. Then Naam itself starts dancing on the tongue in the form of Naam. Naam echoes in the heart in form of Nada, Naam in the form of Jyoti completely destroys Aham (ego).
Sri Ram, Jai Ram, Jai Jai Ram.
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