Theo. – I have understood that different stages mark out the way our yatra will gradually advance and how we have to go through each region. But you just told me that the divine Source itself is what really helps us, by meeting our soul and reabsorbing it. In such a process, what does the trainer’s work consist in?
The Elder – Work is far too big a word for it, though it is commonly used. Our existence is One, but it is also marked by many events and numerous lifetimes. In the so-called ‘vertical’ time, all these events are present at the same time: from the beginning of our existence to the Realization of the Ultimate.
Theo. – And in our present time, we are situated at some stage in our existence, aren’t we?
The Elder – The Source and the Goal are ONE. As we bear them totally, we also are ONE. Our spiritual work merely consists in realizing it, then in living it, and that’s all.
Theo. – What do we do then in order to help the aspirant?
The Elder – We prepare him or her to live that blessed moment, which is already there. We free the soul (atman) of all the illusory coverings that could make it believe that it is not the ONE, the Source, the Origin, the Goal… the Ultimate.
Theo. – It is there and it is not there. It is like a quantum leap made between these two conditions. I can understand better now the importance of cleaning: it allows us to restore the original condition of each chakra and in each region.
The Elder – We work simultaneously in the passing time and in the vertical time.
Theo. – Then there is no obstacle left.
The Elder – No, there is not. But there is a slow maturing of the being and of the successive liberations and realizations of the soul (atman) until it has absorbed its true condition, which is purely divine.
Theo. – Which means that we bear the entire creation within ourselves.
The Elder – We are that creation. Our whole inner space belongs to the Lord. We are the Lord.
Theo. – And our ego (ahamkara) is supposed to have disappeared.
The Elder – The Lord has integrated it. It can work perfectly under the guidance of the Will and of the Love God has for all His creatures, for all His creation.
Theo. –What impact does it have on the trainer?
The Elder – When we are working on an aspirant, it is the Lord who is working on and within the aspirant.
Theo. – And in practice?
The Elder – It is not like in Ho’oponopono. You must free whatever is imprisoned, what is not in place within you. So, you won’t feel you are working on the aspirant anymore.
Theo. – Then we do need a pretty good dose of self-forgetfulness! And how do the spiritual transformations and the progress of the soul operate on the way of the yatra?
The Elder – By means of resonance…the Lord resonating within us.
Theo. – Can you explain how that resonance works within you, and how it is to be used, please?
The Elder – Within me, I go from one chakra to another, from point 1 to Point 13, while suggesting that they each naturally resonate with the chakras and points of the aspirant who is sitting opposite me.
Theo. – And when you are facing a group of meditators?
The Elder – It is exactly the same. There is within me the advance of the yatra, which is resonating with the meditators’ chakras.
Theo. – But they have all reached different levels!
The Elder – It does not matter. The work will be done all by itself, in tune with each aspirant’s needs. The dosage is perfect, optimum.
Theo. – In this way, you can help them all meditate at the same time, whatever their spiritual levels, from beginners to disciples!
The Elder – Indeed, but without making any of these differences between them.
Theo. – Then your eyes are focused on the Lord and on nothing else, without any distinction, aren’t they?
The Elder – It is the akarma, and the Lord’s action is infinite.
Theo. – Finally, we are the only ones who set those limits!
The Elder – Our existence in this world, in these times, dictates its own limits. A baby will always require nine months for developing within its mother’s womb, and the rest of its life for realizing…
Theo. – Its destiny? The Ultimate?
The Elder did not answer, but he let Theo visualize a being’s life, from the physical aspect to the cosmic one, a life that comes entirely from the Divine.
Spontaneously, the young man absorbed himself into Silence…. And, when he thought the moment had come, he asked the Elder:
– How did you discover that resonance process?
The Elder – When I was in the presence of my living Master.
Theo. – During meditations?
The Elder – Strangely enough, I got aware of it at other times, when we were sitting around him in a harmonious and connected silence.
Theo. – How did you get aware of it?
The Elder – Through experience: we could spend hours sitting that way, in his presence, being motionless, speechless, and even thoughtless, absorbed in a deep feeling of wellbeing, of perfect balance, of a very great unspeakable simplicity.
Theo. – What was it?
The Elder – The Master’s condition, the Centre being manifested, embodied.
Theo. – Were you in the Central Region?
The Elder – Every time, nearly every time. There was often a smart fool to break that divine moment and ask, for instance: “Will you give us a meditation, Master?” Then, our Master would stop it all and give us a group meditation (satsangh).
Theo. – I guess he would make sure you were all silent and fully receptive.
The Elder – There were moments when, in his presence, Grace was pouring down on us.
Theo. – Was it due to your responsiveness?
The Elder – It was due to him, mostly. In order to pour down, grace demands extreme purity. So, I can see no one but the Master. He was whole-heartedly in resonance with our hearts.
Theo. – For that group of yours, your Inner Master might have been responsible for it.
The Elder (pensively):
– Maybe… When it rains, everything gets wet, all around…
Theo. – Do you remember any other such exceptional moments?
The Elder – I have a lot of such memories, because the Master’s presence, his spiritual condition, will often activate that grace to our benefit, whatever our conditions and the progress of our souls in the yatra. I can remember a very special experience I had. It was during the inauguration of the Satkhol ashram, in the Himalayas. All the guests present were persons very dedicated to our Master’s Mission. He was giving a talk in the meditation hall, and I saw him with my inner eye. He looked bright white, supernatural. Later, I asked him what it meant. He replied: “Purity.” I could see my Master as the Lord, and that is how grace had started flowing down upon the participants.
Theo. – The Lord condition attracts grace, doesn’t it?
The Elder – When the Master retreats to make way to the Lord, then he is the Lord, and grace comes naturally together with Him.
Theo. – Does that often happen?
The Elder – Ex post facto, I think it does, but we did not know. Only that special silence we kept in his presence, some quiescence in our thoughts and a profound wellbeing would mark it out.
Theo. – A sort of open-eyed samadhi, wouldn’t it?
The Elder – You are right. He would train us for sahaj-samadhi, because it would not be appropriate to close one’s eyes and meditate in Master’s presence without being asked to do it. But sometimes, our eyes would just be closing under the impact of transmission.
Theo. – A sign that he was working on you, was it?
The Elder – I can remember Babuji casting his eyes briefly on someone: he would never focus on the person for long – it must have been rude in his culture – but whereas he had cast that quick glance at him or her, the inner connection immediately indicated that such a specific work had effectively started. Actually, when grace was flowing down, both transmission and work seemed to be suspended. Time would stand still, everything would stop within us, and then grace would flow down. Sometimes, the Master would warn us, but not always. Retrospectively, I realized that it would happen quite often. All our bodies, the physical, the subtle and the causal ones, were perfectly in resonance with him, with his own bodies, and we received that grace.
Theo. – How long did it last?
The Elder – As far as I know, it was very brief. In the Master’s heart, it was permanent: all around him, a kind of good regenerating rain was pouring down.
Theo. – That must be the reason why the aspirants intuitively want to be in the Master’s presence.
The Elder – The master says that one transmission is worth one thousand meditations and that a flow of grace is worth one thousand transmissions. I’ll let you appreciate it.
Theo. – Why does it have to happen during celebrations?
The Elder – During bandharas (important spiritual celebrations), grace flows for the three days they last.
Theo. – Why on such a specific day rather than at any other time?
The Elder – On that day, the master celebrates his Master’s birth anniversary. It is an act of love, performed with a perfectly pure heart. So, grace flows down upon all the persons who are physically there and can then benefit from it.
Theo. – What about those who are not physically there but are spiritually present in mind and heart?
The Elder – They will benefit from an exceptional transmission echoed by tens of thousands of hearts, but as for Grace, you must be there.
Theo. – But what if you are totally in His Presence?
The Elder – Who knows? When we are perfectly in tune with the Master, so are our whole being and all our chakras. Then we receive the Master in his entirety. He gives himself totally, unconditionally and spiritually to all his disciples. What is the Master’s is the disciple’s.
Theo. – What is the father’s is the son’s.
Can we maintain such a condition?
The Elder – We can, but not for a long time, unfortunately. I have observed that such a state will rapidly weather off.
Theo. – Only the Master can keep it, can’t he?
The Elder – Only the Master in you can keep it: it all depends on whether our hearts have become the Master’s heart or whether they are still ours.
Theo. – We are working on that.
The Elder – That is the role of the trainer, a preparatory role. To begin with, the Master comes as a friend, in order to visit our hearts. Satsanghs and individual meditations greatly help living such privileged moments. Later on, we invite the Master for longer stays in our hearts, and in the end, He will dwell there permanently…which is a blessed moment, the moment when He accepts our invitation.
Theo. – And then?
The Elder – It is to be lived inwardly. It is intimate. It is sacred.
Theo. (pensively):
– As trainers, that is the condition we should work with, isn’t that?
The Elder (smiling):
– We are all striving for it. Being a trainer is a potentiality. Like everything in the Sahaj Marg, that potentiality will have to develop and find its full expression, so that during any transmission the Inner Master should be the only one in command.
– Then, it becomes ‘a grace’…Theo concluded, pensively.
Theophile the Elder
An excerpt from Dialogs with Theophile the Elder
Theophile the Younger’s initiation