The Master Principle

Throughout history, we have looked for wisdom, peace, integration and balance. And throughout history the enlightened Masters have helped us find those higher goals through spiritual evolution. The Master is called by many names in different cultures and languages around the world. Nowadays the Sanskrit word “Guru” has become popular. But the true and full meaning of the Master under any name is largely ignored…

The Sanskrit word has concentrated significance. In essence it means “gravity”, the one who has intrinsic gravity beyond that of Mother Earth’s. Thus it can attract upwards, away from materialism of all sorts. And it can attract and awaken the living force within us - our motherly Kundalini energy, which herself is not subject to the material gravity of Mother Earth either. The ultimate consequence is that, if we are seeking spiritual evolution earnestly, we will eventually gravitate towards the true enlightened Master.

But in the modern world this is nowhere near as easy at it may sound. Many people have made a great living by pretending to impart spiritual knowledge and sometimes by showing all sorts of “magic” powers. An indelible mark of pretence is the material involvement, of which a real Master is by definition completely devoid. All the great figures of our spiritual evolution, from Abraham to Raja Janaka to Lao Tse and Guru Nanak have shown this throughout their lives, as did many other true Masters and saints. Their interest in material things was inexistent.

This is well illustrated by an episode from Raja Janaka’s life. He was a great king and some had doubts about his ability to be a spiritual person of the highest order while being a king. A disciple went to accompany Raja Janaka for his meditation and at some point news came from the palace that a fire had started and a lot of belongings were going to be burned. The king’s companions rushed back to the palace to save their lot, while the king continued to be in meditation, with no obvious reaction. A second messenger came and warned the king that the fire is coming now their way and the belongings that they had brought for the trip outside the palace will be burnt. Yet the king did not move a muscle and remained in the bliss of meditation. The disciple got scared and was now preoccupied about his few belongings and could not pay attention to meditation anymore. A third messenger came shortly thereafter and told them that the fire was now coming close and they were in danger. The disciple run away in fear only to meet another servant who was coming to tell that the there was no more danger from the fire. He returned to the king’s side who was still in meditation and realized that Raja Janaka was completely detached of possessions and the material world, all the while brilliantly fulfilling his duties as a king and that only a Master of the highest order could achieve that.

This episode also accurately depicts the state of mastery as internal to begin and to end with. One cannot become masterful by trying to master others. It is only by becoming a full master of one’s self that one is automatically recognized by the principle of mastery that exists in all of us. And Shri Mataji has made it very clear that the rise of the Kundalini can only be sustained when we really assume the role of our own master. When we always seek the guidance from our pure Self and we continuously strive to follow it. And when we recognize a Master of the highest order, as She is, and try to absorb every bit of loving guidance with discretion and gratitude. Thus we reach a point where the “disciple“ and “master” within us become one and the same, when the pure Self manifests spontaneously and continuously in our life. And that is the ultimate goal of our evolution and the bliss of that state is the complete reward of the spiritual journey.