Spiritual Masters are reflections of Love

From our e-book “We are Here to Celebrate”

Kriya Yoga

Rudra Shivananda

Love gives our spiritual teachers the strength to help us. I sometimes wonder why Babaji is so tough on the people he is close to. Then an example came into my awareness; if a father had a hundred children out of which two are capable and the other 98 are handicapped, the father would put a lot of reliance on the two capable children. The sincerity of the two capable children to carry out their responsibilities with love and compassion is truly admirable. Rudra Shivananda is one such Master. I shared this analogy with Rudra and told him how grateful we are to him for the sacrifices that he is making for all of us.

A heartfelt prayer done out of love can be very powerful. Once I attended a Satsang with some devotees of Amritanandamayi, the hugging saint. The participants were signing devotional songs which I found to be enchanting. I sat down and began meditating. In a short moment, I felt inspiration rising within me. I started praying for the happiness of all beings and made the following prayer: Mother, I know that you are within me but I only know this intellectually. Please bless me so that I am able to know with certainty like I know my arms and legs are part of me. Bless me so that I can see you in all beings. Bless me so that I am able to help others and when I am tired, bring me back into your arms and give me strength and encouragement. Mother, I am your baby. Bring me happiness with your loving smile and may my smile bring you happiness as well. Hold me close to you so that I am filled with your love and warmth. When I try to crawl away, gently bring me back with your love and compassion. Mother, I am confused and there is a burden in my heart. Please fill me with your love.

I then opened my eyes and my gaze rested on Amma’s picture. Her eyes looked alive and she was looking directly into my eyes. I could feel the energy rise within me. I felt joy and bliss. Before I went to the center, I was feeling very tired. I almost convinced myself to just rest and meditate at home. What happened was completely opposite. I left the center feeling energized and filled with joy.

Mother, we are your children struggling to find you. Please shine your love on our path so that we are able to find you easily.

A few days later, I penned these words in my Spiritual Diary, “Material gains are nothing compared to the love of my Divine Mother. I remember yesterday the joy I felt when I look at Amma’s picture. It was as if she was actually there looking at me with love in her eyes. That is true joy and happiness. Why chase after power and wealth which leads only to suffering if we are not able to control our mind. Attaining a position will lead to the fear of losing that position. We often create a picture of happiness in the future from getting something by filtering out all the negative aspects. This ‘imagined’ future happiness causes suffering in the present moment because it brings about craving or the feeling of discontentment. When one goes around searching for happiness and trying out different combinations of external factors (family, career, friendship etc) to get happiness, the goal is often elusive. We already have all that we need, here and now. All of us have the Divine within us and we are all within the Divine. We just need to sit, relax and calm ourselves to enjoy the bliss within us.”

Happiness is a state of being. When we fall in love, we get a glimpse of true happiness because we forget ourselves. Suddenly, our past and future does not matter, as long as we are with our loved ones. We are absorbed in the present moment. This is how we should live our daily lives. Deepak Chopra wrote, “to love, be loveable”. Be a baby again. Don’t choose to be ‘loveable’ only to certain selected people. We choose to be lovable when we are with everyone.

In the Lamrin teachings of Mahayana Buddhism, there is a contemplation that can help us to develop unconditional love. It highlights the fact that we have taken countless rebirths and all beings have in one life or another been our mother. Now, if you are a parent, you can understand the unconditional love that you have for your own child. All beings have, in one life or another, felt that way towards us. Before praying for the happiness of others, I usually contemplate this truth. It adds gratitude and love to my prayer.