by Sri P.C. Lahiri
A
few days back, I was in a house gearing up for an important family function.
One of the jobs entrusted to me was to clean the recently bought attractive big
sized glass mugs with undulating deep self-design on the outer surface which
had stickers all over them. The simple
job of cleaning a few big glass mugs led me to an enriching and valuable
experience. A well-lit kitchen area near
the sink was assigned to me to accomplish the task. I tried to pick on my experience of watching
the Master (Prajnanpurush Sri Sri Babathakur) clean and dry the plain glass
tumbler in which He used to drink water. Needless to say, He was very meticulous,
scientific and all-concentration in His approach to any work, whatever might be
its nature. This is a very important lesson that we all have to imbibe to be at
ease (not dis-ease), happy and simultaneously successful in life in all
situations and under all circumstances.
As a first step, the paper stickers took some time to be partially removed by the use of fingers as the gum was quite strong. Then I used a tooth brush soaked in hot soapy water to slowly remove the remnants of the sticker and gum. Once removed, each mug was raised to eye level to clearly check the removal of stains. When satisfied, the mugs were cleaned all over with hot soapy water followed by normal tap water. Then they were kept upside down one by one on a piece of water-absorbent kitchen cloth. A clean dry cloth was used to dry the outer and inner surface of that mug which was first kept on the kitchen cloth. Then I held the mug up against the bright ceiling light to check for any remaining stains. Lo and behold, a few gum stains still remained on the outer surface. It woke me up or so I thought. I went back to the earlier exercise of using the tooth brush soaked in soapy water on each mug to carefully brush out the stains that were visible in the backdrop of ceiling light. After cleaning and drying the first mug it just occurred to me that I should see it in the backdrop of brighter sunlight instead of bright kitchen light. To my utter surprise very fine gum stains were still visible on the outer surface. Then I checked, cleaned, dried and again checked one mug at a time to finally complete the task to my satisfaction by which time the ladies of the house wanted me out of the kitchen as fast as possible. I had used up five of their dry kitchen towels and taken one hour of their precious kitchen time. I apologized and left the kitchen.
The first inspection done at the eye level in the kitchen revealed something that needed removal and got removed. The second inspection performed against the backdrop of the bright kitchen ceiling light revealed something more and finer. Finally, the last inspection against the backdrop of brighter sunlight outside the kitchen revealed the finest stains that could possibly be identified through naked eye inspection without the use of an instrument. The brighter the light, the more the revelation and the knowledge of what needs to be done. We, the common people, learn about life science and spiritual science in the same way. In the present time and age, the first Guru (parents) takes care of the physical body after birth, teach us the basics of life/world and then hand over the child to the second Guru. The second Guru (teachers or shikshadatas) start from the base created by the first Guru and train us to make a living by the use of our inner/outer faculties (indriyas) vis-à-vis the outer world. Training in spiritual science gets imparted through the third and fourth Gurus but only to those of us who aspire for it. There are millions in this world who get connected only with the first two Gurus. The knowledge/training received through contact with third and/or fourth Guru is the subtler and subtlest Knowledge. In the light of that Knowledge, a student is not only able to truly appreciate the contribution of the two earlier Gurus but also move on to reach the desired goal in any sphere of life.
There are a few instances of orphaned or abandoned children who directly came under the umbrella of the third or fourth Guru as they never got the opportunity to be with the first and the second Gurus. Such Gurus being perfect from all angles (Perfection-personified) filled in for the first two Gurus and guided the child forward to his/her Ultimate Destination. These instances are very rare and also depend on the strong will and dedication of the follower. Not all will agree with me that such souls are very fortunate. I have no intention or capability of casting any aspersions on the first two Gurus but have only this to say that blessed are those who get an all-in-one Guru from birth. They move towards perfection through all their actions from day one as they are guided by a perfect scientist who has experimented Knowledge. Whereas others go through a process of many years during which they are guided by scientists who have experimental knowledge, in other words these scientists are themselves going through the evolutionary learning process. It is like the guidance received from a student of a higher class. Such guidance is helpful no doubt but not perfect.
If I had done the cleaning job in the light of the knowledge received by observing the Master clean His glass tumbler, then I could have perhaps completed the task in one go. That would have saved lots of time and energy. But due to my lack of experience, proper follow-up on Master’s training and the baggage of previous learning, I tried to do the task partly my way rather than wholly His way. So it is evident that anyone who has only been trained by a perfect Master has no other training to cloud the perfect Master’s training. Such a person by dint of receiving the Light of Perfect Knowledge from the beginning itself shall learn faster and execute better. We are fortunate too to have come in contact with a Perfect Master but have to make right use of the Light of Perfect Knowledge imparted by Him.
As a first step, the paper stickers took some time to be partially removed by the use of fingers as the gum was quite strong. Then I used a tooth brush soaked in hot soapy water to slowly remove the remnants of the sticker and gum. Once removed, each mug was raised to eye level to clearly check the removal of stains. When satisfied, the mugs were cleaned all over with hot soapy water followed by normal tap water. Then they were kept upside down one by one on a piece of water-absorbent kitchen cloth. A clean dry cloth was used to dry the outer and inner surface of that mug which was first kept on the kitchen cloth. Then I held the mug up against the bright ceiling light to check for any remaining stains. Lo and behold, a few gum stains still remained on the outer surface. It woke me up or so I thought. I went back to the earlier exercise of using the tooth brush soaked in soapy water on each mug to carefully brush out the stains that were visible in the backdrop of ceiling light. After cleaning and drying the first mug it just occurred to me that I should see it in the backdrop of brighter sunlight instead of bright kitchen light. To my utter surprise very fine gum stains were still visible on the outer surface. Then I checked, cleaned, dried and again checked one mug at a time to finally complete the task to my satisfaction by which time the ladies of the house wanted me out of the kitchen as fast as possible. I had used up five of their dry kitchen towels and taken one hour of their precious kitchen time. I apologized and left the kitchen.
The first inspection done at the eye level in the kitchen revealed something that needed removal and got removed. The second inspection performed against the backdrop of the bright kitchen ceiling light revealed something more and finer. Finally, the last inspection against the backdrop of brighter sunlight outside the kitchen revealed the finest stains that could possibly be identified through naked eye inspection without the use of an instrument. The brighter the light, the more the revelation and the knowledge of what needs to be done. We, the common people, learn about life science and spiritual science in the same way. In the present time and age, the first Guru (parents) takes care of the physical body after birth, teach us the basics of life/world and then hand over the child to the second Guru. The second Guru (teachers or shikshadatas) start from the base created by the first Guru and train us to make a living by the use of our inner/outer faculties (indriyas) vis-à-vis the outer world. Training in spiritual science gets imparted through the third and fourth Gurus but only to those of us who aspire for it. There are millions in this world who get connected only with the first two Gurus. The knowledge/training received through contact with third and/or fourth Guru is the subtler and subtlest Knowledge. In the light of that Knowledge, a student is not only able to truly appreciate the contribution of the two earlier Gurus but also move on to reach the desired goal in any sphere of life.
There are a few instances of orphaned or abandoned children who directly came under the umbrella of the third or fourth Guru as they never got the opportunity to be with the first and the second Gurus. Such Gurus being perfect from all angles (Perfection-personified) filled in for the first two Gurus and guided the child forward to his/her Ultimate Destination. These instances are very rare and also depend on the strong will and dedication of the follower. Not all will agree with me that such souls are very fortunate. I have no intention or capability of casting any aspersions on the first two Gurus but have only this to say that blessed are those who get an all-in-one Guru from birth. They move towards perfection through all their actions from day one as they are guided by a perfect scientist who has experimented Knowledge. Whereas others go through a process of many years during which they are guided by scientists who have experimental knowledge, in other words these scientists are themselves going through the evolutionary learning process. It is like the guidance received from a student of a higher class. Such guidance is helpful no doubt but not perfect.
If I had done the cleaning job in the light of the knowledge received by observing the Master clean His glass tumbler, then I could have perhaps completed the task in one go. That would have saved lots of time and energy. But due to my lack of experience, proper follow-up on Master’s training and the baggage of previous learning, I tried to do the task partly my way rather than wholly His way. So it is evident that anyone who has only been trained by a perfect Master has no other training to cloud the perfect Master’s training. Such a person by dint of receiving the Light of Perfect Knowledge from the beginning itself shall learn faster and execute better. We are fortunate too to have come in contact with a Perfect Master but have to make right use of the Light of Perfect Knowledge imparted by Him.
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