What is the KEY? Analyze the word 'devotee' and it means 'one who isdevoted.'
That is the key. You must be devoted! It is as simple as that,
the Grace, Power and Light my Guru can send me?
When Muktananda sat down to meditate, he had pictures of Siddha saints all
over his walls, and he would bow to them, believing they were really there.
He believed they were literally in the room with him, that they were in
contact. This, at the beginning of his devotion, set the foundation of
faith and confidence, a good beginning. Now let us look at the word
devotion:
de·vo·tion
1. committed love: deep love and commitment
2. dedication: great dedication and loyalty
3. enthusiasm: strong enthusiasm and admiration for somebody or something
4. religious fervor: fervent religious or spiritual feeling
5. act of devoting: the act of devoting something or being devoted to a
particular purpose
Here is one reason I found my male devotees could not properly install me
(into heart and mind) and receive my power - THEY WERE INFATUATED WITH A
WOMAN BESIDES THEIR GURU!
Now on the outside, one would think,
'This is silly...do you expect males to drop being in love with women to
follow their Guru? Then that would curtail their private and personal life,
it would come to a standstill, and besides, it is selfish of you to ask of
them something like that.'
I am not really asking, nor have I ever asked any man to give up his love
affair to install me, but I only noticed those men who wanted to be my
devotees, or who said they were, when they were infatuated with a woman
(even on the internet, no physical contact) I could not install the
Anointing into them, and simply by watching this activity, I learned that
there is a CONFLICT OF INTEREST between the relationship with Guru and being
'in love' (usually infatuations that come and go) with a woman.
The problem lies in that fact that when a person is IN LOVE or INFATUATED
all their emotional system and their mind tends toward the object of their
affections, and therefore, either all of their heart and mind goes to the
love object, or else this is divided, and when it is divided between the
'lover' and Guru, then it is lukewarm, and so, you get a lukewarm or
ineffective result. Yes, men who had internet lovers and mistresses failed
to receive my power, even when they prayed to me and tried, because
basically, all their heart and mind were not in it. Their heart and mind
were filled with thoughts and desires for their lover and mistress, (which
brings to mind why people such as myself BECOME CELIBATE. That is the very
purpose of celibacy, to keep the mind from being divided, to give all of
oneself, not just a part, to God.)
And so, when infatuations are entertained, you can say 'goodbye' to Guru
power and 'hello' to the world and flesh.
What is the result of most of these infatuations? They come and they go,
and when they are over, disappointment, even hostility take their place,
sometimes disgust, and yet these temporary liaisons, which usually lead to
nothing but heartbreak and heartache, or worse, keep the devotee from
receiving God Power.
The conflict here is between the flesh and God. Do you want God, or do you
want infatuation? That is the conflict, that is what must be resolved.
In my study of Saints, they all sacrificed the flesh, they had to, or else
their relationship with God wouldn't work. (I can concede that
'householders' or those who are married can also be saints, because there is
much suffering and hardship, responsibility in marriage. Of course, a good
marriage can make saints, even a bad marriage can make saints. But any life
vested closely in people, close to the world, does interfere, and those who
want God totally have to take time away from earthly life to keep their
relationship with God in the state of intimacy. Although it is not
impossible, to live with a spouse and be a saint, it offers challenges.
Most spouses demand primacy, they will tell you,
'Do this, do that'
while you are praying, and what will you say? Suppose you want to read a
spiritual book but your wife wants you to shop for her? Suppose you want to
pray two hours a day, but she wants to chat? Suppose she wants to watch
television and has it on so loud you can't concentrate on your meditation?
Living with people causes distractions and also, temptations. Suppose you
want to eat abstemiously, but she wants to gorge herself? Your own resolve
will be weakened when she sets the table with roast beef and chocolate cake
for dessert. This is just a small sample of little things that interfere
with the discipline of meditation, prayer, spiritual reading and
concentration on the primary focus of a devotee, the love of God.
I know what devotees must or must not do, because I am a perennial devotee
myself, I am always seeking my Heavenly Gurus, I am daily at the feet of
God. I know that in my relationships with others, although I had to have
them, there was much interference. Earthly life and spiritual life are at
odds, because to follow a sadhana, you need time, focus, attention,
concentration and energy for your pursuit, but people discourage rather than
encourage this and they distract and interfere. I recall all the arguments
I had with my husband Richard, because he did things that broke my sadhana
trance. I asked him not to turn on television, but he was addicted to it.
As soon as he woke up in the morning he would go straight to the TV, turn it
on, and tell me he just wanted to see the weather channel, but then he would
surf, surf, surf, looking for stimulation and entertainment. When I was in
a deep sadhana just the sight of televison or the sound of it would bother
me terribly, and I would ask him to put a screen in front of it, and put the
volume way way down, and I did not want to even SEE the screen for one split
second as I walked through the living room. I do recall once walking by and
glancing in that direction, past the screen, I saw the face of Regis Philbin
and it made me scream. Why? Sounds nuts, but it wasn't nuts. I had done
the Regis Philbin Show and there was a whole set of memories and feelings
connected with it, and when I saw his face, it brought it all back in an
instant and put like a knife into my sadhana state. The sadhana state is
extremely delicate, and once in it, one visit, even a phone call, can remove
the 'trancelike' state, the state of receptivity to God.
If such little things can distract and disturb a sadhana and a devotion,
then of course, being infatuated, you can see it would be impossible to give
oneself to God.
This is the work of sainthood - saints spend so many years removing from
themselves all that is not God, all they don't need, and all they can do
without, to pare themselves down in readiness for God. You have to be open
and alone, isolated, clean and pure for God. You cannot be distracted,
disturbed, fragmented, pulled in other directions, you have to be centered.
Now if a devotee does not have a great hunger for God, but allows the things
of the world and the flesh and people to pull him this way and that, he
cannot receive the power of the Guru.
I do recall another great key given by St. Benedict to his sister, St.
Scholastica, when she asked,
'How does one become a saint?'
His answer,
'Will it.'
Yes, will it. Your will has to want it, and want it so strongly you will
give up other things for it.
Now I must explain this. Unless you get some experiences of God, it is not
likely you will be able to maintain the disciplines and the hardships that
spiritual life demands. This is where visions, dreams and experiences come
in, they inspire and delight you to keep going, because in these, you are
seeing in part the Kingdom of God, and it is more interesting and exciting
than anything of the earth. I say phooey to those who say experiences are
not important, they are all important. If you never had experience, vision
and site of the one you love, your ardour would grow cold, you would forget
her. But visits, pictures and experiences fan the flames of love, and that
is what these visions do. Visions also explain where you are at on the road
toward union with God, they give you information on how to channel your
sadhana, if you are moving ahead or in some cases, falling behind. (Yes, I
get rebuked and am grateful for it, God calibrates me when I make a
mistake.) There has to be pleasure given for us to continue giving up the
world and flesh for the sake of God, without pleasure it would be too hard
to go on; not that this pleasure stays forever. While on earth we go
through light and dark, illumination and darkness, bliss, then dryness and
desolation, and both states are necessary. I had so many ecstatic
experiences that when I went into my dark night, especially the one that
lasted eighteen years, the memory of those bygone joys kept me from
immersion in the world and its dubious pursuits, and I forever yearned for
God. I had understood what spiritual pleasure was, and for me, nothing
could ever take its place. And so yes, spiritual pleasure, bliss and
ecstasy are all- important to keep one going. That is one of the reasons I
am eager for my devotees to have these dreams and visitations from God, the
pleasure of them will motivate them to keep struggling for Oneness.
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