edit: dap, 1, 10/5/96

1.1.1 FNS

I will speak tonight upon the topic of sincerity. You know there are three things which are necessary upon the spiritual path. First of all, one who is a seeker must have a goal, they must have something which they are seeking to find.

So first of all on the spiritual path there must be a direction, there must be inspiration or cognition of the spiritual goal. So first on the spiritual path there must be that which you are going towards. Secondly there is a movement from the previous position to a new position of more intimate awareness of the infinite consciousness which underlies manifestation, and thirdly there must be sincere effort. For the movement to take place there must be some thought which is moving you towards your cherished goal. Now if there is no sincerity deep within you, a sincere desire to know that Supreme being, then it will be very hard to establish the degree of momentum that is necessary to break the bond of stagnancy and move you towards the Supreme. So you must have sincerity upon the spiritual path.

Deep within yourself find the heart to go forward , the longing, the aching that wishes to move onward, to move towards the Great. For it is your birthright, it is the birthright of every human being to know the Supreme, for that divinity is your very nature. It lies quiescent within you in all circumstance at all times. It is only due to covering of illusion that you have forgotten your essential nature and what is one, appears to be many. To wipe away the clouds from your eyes so that you may see clearly the nature of your own existence, requires that you make sincere effort. For without the sincerity it is very difficult to move forward.

Let us say there is one boy, and this boy became enamored with an idea of realizing His relationship to the Supreme consciousness. So he founded a teacher, began to do meditation, began to read holly books and thought: I take an interest in God and I am training my mind towards the Divine. But in fact, this boy, though he took some small interest, had a much greater interest in other things. He liked to go to parties and read the books on so many subjects, he had so many interests that this was just one more interest along with all the others. So the years went by and this boy discovered one day that though he was doing his meditation it is not felt that there was great progress. In fact he could not tell that there was much progress at all. So he began to reflect on this point and thinking about it he could not find the reason for his lack of progress. So he decided he would seek the advice of a spiritual adapt. So he went to one teacher and spoke with that teacher and told him: Many years ago I learnt meditation, I have read so many different holy scriptures, I have done meditation and yet I don't feel any different. What is the matter, why do I not progress in my spiritual practice? Now the teacher he had sought was a very good man and he was in the habit of counseling such young men. And so he said to the man: my boy, tell me how much of your day do you think about the Supreme. Well, the man could not answer, he said: Well, when I do my meditation, I think about him. The man said: Yes, yes and when else do you think of Him? And the seeker said; well I don't know, when I have the time. Then the teacher said: that is the problem. You will only think of the Supreme being when you have the time, when there is nothing else to do and of all your other engagements are temporarily suspended and there is nothing else to think of, then you will think of Him. So if you put Him in the lowest priority, what do you expect. You will not come to know Him very quickly if He is your lowest priority, because your sincere effort is somewhat lacking. Now the man hearing this, became very upset, he said: No, no, I am sincere, I have practiced so many years, I have done so many different things how can you say like this. I am sincere and the teacher said: good and well, you are sincere, but I suggest that you enhance your sincerity by placing the divine as your topmost priority and taking all of other commitments and making them secondary priorities. That is to say you lead your life in such a way that you are always thinking of the divine being and when you are doing your other activities, He is never far from you, you keep Him always in your heart, always near to you. You bring yourself close to Him, always in all you do, thinking of Parama Purusha, thinking of the divine being, thinking, Lord is with me at all times. The Supreme Entity is inside of me manifesting in my being and manifesting in myriad of colors of this manifest world and all those people I am coming in contact with are His manifestations and I should love and serve them as I would love and serve my Lord. Thinking like this, keeping the Supreme being ever in the heart and ever in the mind, then with this closer association and continual ideation, progress is bound to be made, so the teacher told the man.

Now this man was actually a good man and he was not stupid. He went home and he thought very hard on the words of the teacher and he took them to heart and he began that very day to change his priorities and to put his relationship to God first and foremost in his life and to make all of his other commitments a part and parcel of his forward movement towards the divine. So that 24 hours a day in all of his activities he was practicing the remembrance, remembering always the divine being is all around me, he is with me here and now. I am always in the arms of my beloved, I am ever surrounded with divine love in all moments in my life. All people that I come to know are but His manifestations. I cannot go anywhere or do anything that He is not with me and that I am not coming in closer and closer contact with His infinite love. Thinking like this, the man began to lead his day to day life, making all that he did, all that he experienced an expression of His love for Parama Purusha. And feeling the presence of that divine entity, all around Him in every moment of his life, in all the people that he cared for, in the activities that he did, so that what he did, he did to serve his Lord and so he began to take a different approach to his life and by and by in a very short time, he noticed there was a change, a very distinct change. He began to feel that the Supreme entity was always with him, a sweet and loving presence which surrounded him, encompassed him and grew and grew within him. And those around him began to notice, he was becoming much sweeter person, very nice to be around. And always he was thinking, I will serve these people as my Lord, for they are His very expression. And so he began to have very nice relationship to many people and he began to feel a kind of warmth and love that surrounded him at all times and that was with him always. And when he would do his meditation he found that his mind easily slipped to a state of deep peace and tranquillity in which all boundaries were lost and he himself could open into the vastness of that divine essence which lies in the core of one's heart.

So there are three things that must be there. There must be some knowledge of the goal, some awareness of the existence of Parama Purusha, the Supreme consciousness which underlies all manifestation. There must be movement and there must be sincerity to make that movement productive. So each and every person who would come to know themselves, come to know the core of their own being, come to know the divinity which lies quiescent within themselves, will have to have the sincerity, will have to cultivate it. Parama Purusha, the Supreme undifferentiated consciousness, lies quiescent at the center of this manifest universe, like a pole star drawing all creation into itself. He is the source of all manifestation, all of this lies within His mental arena and He is pulling all of His children, all of His manifestation, back to Him, back to Him, pulling, drawing them back to Him to unite in His infinite existence. So that pull from Parama Purusha is there on each and every human being, each and every little creature of the world, even upon the rock and all are taking that and moving, being drawn forward, closer and closer. So the sincerity which is required to enhance that movement is naturally there because deep within the heart of every living being, the longing for God, the longing for union, the longing for the dissolution of separation exists, you need but unveil.

Are there questions?

I have a question? I have the group "Curious friends" and I would like to get your advice for this work?

You do three things. First of all, you remember Parama Purusha at all times and realize that these people are but His manifest forms, come to you, seeking to know themselves more deeply. So you serve them with complete love and sincerity. Also do not worry if you make mistake, if you do right, do wrong, you just be yourself. Share your love with your brothers and sister, give what you have to those around you with openness and innocence. That is a great service to all and you surrender the results of your actions unto Parama Purusha, for you act out of love and not for any other purpose and you surrender the results of your actions. That way you are approaching your work from His perspective, from the perspective of the divine entity. For while human beings have many desires, many goals, Parama Purusha has only one desire, one goal and that goal, that desire is to bring all living beings unto Himself, to show each and every living being the great joy which lies within them. So you align yourself with His attention and you give the results of your actions unto the divine.