Urgency and Acceptance:

The Path to Progress

ear friends,

There is a story about Shuka who was sent by his father, the rishi Vyasa, for
instruction to the sage-king Janaka. It is said that Janaka asked the palace
guards to make Shuka wait outside for three days, and during this period
Shuka waited patiently and calmly without feeling any anger or resentment
for the treatment. After this, he was invited into the palace with due respect
and led to Janaka who asked how he could be of assistance.

Shuka told Janaka that he wanted to learn how he could possibly remain
steadfast in focus while being surrounded with so much luxury and comfort.
Janaka promised to answer his question but said that he had some urgent
business to attend to. He suggested that Shuka look around the kingdom,
however there were two conditions: Shuka had to complete the tour within
the stipulated time and also carry a pot full of oil on his head, ensuring that
not a single drop was spilled. Upon return from the tour, Janaka was pleased
that indeed not a drop of oil had been spilled. He then asked Shuka what
he discovered during his tour. Shuka replied that he could really not tell as
he was preoccupied with caring for the pot of oil, afraid that the oil might
spill out. Janaka then asked him if he had the answer to his question.

Revered Babuji gave us an important definition of wisdom. He said, “Live

as if you are going to die the next moment.” Reading this for the first time,
we go through so many emotions. The first thing is that we are reminded
Revered Babuji gave death is inevitable; if we knew it was coming
us an important the very next moment we would focus only
definition of wisdom. on what is most essential.
He said, “Live as if you
are going to die the Let us say you plan to undertake a long road
next moment.” journey. The knowledge that you are going
to be on the road for a long time might make
you decide to invest in a reliable car with
comfortable seats. Now let us suppose you get
the idea then to invest in a trailer that could
provide more comfort on the move: you could
have a comfortable bed, a washroom and
even a shower stand. In fact, you could have
a mini-kitchen installed that would take care
of meals. Then someone tells you that you
could also get a good entertainment system
for the times you would want to sit back and relax. Very soon you are lost
in a myriad of choices and possibilities that would make your journey ever
more comfortable. So much so, that you could actually forget all about the
purpose of the journey in the first place: your destination.

There is a real risk that in your attempt to secure a comfortable journey

you end up considerably delaying it, or worse, never actually embarking
upon it. And having spent so much time and energy on the vehicle, how do
you feel when you finally have to leave it behind? Are you ready to move
on, or do you want to stay in the vehicle to roam around, just to justify the
investment you have made?

In the above example, if we knew that time was short, would we not choose
differently? It is a strange thing that man is constantly worried about his future,
but when it comes to what is seemingly a distant future, he almost tends to

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be in a state of denial. As Revered Chariji
used to say, death becomes a certainty the
moment we are born. In fact, the longer So wisdom is in
we live the closer we are to it. Yet it would spending a life with
seem that the longer we live the more we utmost vigilance, in
are convinced of our own immortality. order to maintain a high
level of purity.
When the moment of death is right in front
of us, what do we think about? Is it the most
essential thing, or do we wish for this and that in life? Would we then
crave to attain name and fame? Would we go on with what we know to be
shameful acts? Would we show off our riches, pray for worldly possessions,
and find ways to evade death? Even if God did grant an extension of 24
hours to our life, what would we do with it? While these are no more than
speculative thoughts, the end could come at any moment. So wisdom is
in spending a life with utmost vigilance, in order to maintain a high level
of purity. This can be done by keeping our attention towards the pot of oil
as Shuka did, reminding ourselves that the journey is only meant to carry
us to the destination. For this we need to live consciously.

There is a joke I would like to share with you here. A beautiful young girl was
going skydiving for the first time, and unfortunately, due to turbulence, she
fell out of the plane before securing her parachute. An elderly gentleman
jumped out straight after her, and managed to reach her and hold on to
her arm before opening his parachute. They both landed safely and without
any injury. The young girl was from a very prominent family, so the elderly
gentleman was hailed by all as a hero. But he was not at all happy about
the situation, grumbling to the pilot, “Who pushed me out of the plane?”

Was he a willing hero? No, he had no intention of jumping out to save the
girl. He was an unconscious participant. Most of us live our lives in this

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way, unconsciously doing things that other
people push us to do, and as a result we reach
the end of our life without any direction or
preparation for what is to follow. Heartfulness
practice teaches us how to move away from ‘Heartfulness
this unconscious lifestyle. In meditation, practice
we progressively feel each new moment of teaches us how
consciousness, leading to a purposeful life to move away
and a purposeful death. from this
unconscious
The question arises: what is that pot of oil in our lifestyle. In
life? What can remind us to remain steadfast meditation, we
in our focus? The answer lies in a sense of progressively
urgency: the urgency that Shuka must have felt feel each new
to complete the task without spilling a drop of moment of
oil. Going through the process would have no consciousness,
doubt been difficult, painful even, but it is very leading to a
much like an uncomfortable journey that makes purposeful
us want to move on without lingering for too life and a
long. When Babuji was very sick or when Chariji purposeful
was on his deathbed, those moments again death.
triggered a tremendous sense of urgency in
us, compelling us to think, “What if …?”

Viewed from this perspective, it is the sense of urgency, the trials

and the discomfort that ensure our purpose, rather than the state
of settled peace that we tend to crave. Urgency seems to open up
a spring of wisdom in us, but this sense of urgency to complete
the journey seems to be at odds with the state of acceptance. If
we accept our circumstances and are at peace, how can a sense
of urgency remain?

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 There is a Chinese tale that tells of a mother
cat that wanted to teach her little one how
to catch fish. The mother took the kitten
to a pond full of fish and said, “Let us see
how many we can each catch.” Both of
them found a spot, set up their fishing
rods and waited. As nothing seemed to
be happening, the kitten looked up and
saw a dragonfly dancing in the air, as if
It is the sense inviting him to come and play. The kitten
of urgency, began chasing the dragonfly but could not
the trials and catch it and it soon flew away. By the time
the discomfort he returned, the mother cat had caught a
that ensure our big fish. The kitten worried that he would
purpose, rather lose the challenge and began thinking
than the state of about fishing again. Soon a very pretty
settled peace that butterfly came flying around, and its wings
we tend to crave. were most enticingly colourful. The kitten
Urgency seems to simply had to catch it, so he went round
open up a spring and round chasing the butterfly, which
of wisdom in us. too managed to fly away. When the kitten
returned, his mother had caught another
big fish. He then asked, “How come you
have managed to catch two big fish, while I
haven’t even caught one?” His mother replied, “If you keep going
after dragonflies and butterflies, if you are always of two minds,
how on earth will you catch a fish?” Much of the day passed and
the kitten realized that it would soon be dark. So he sat down,
determined not to budge. In time, he felt a tug on the fishing rod
and, lo and behold, there was big fish ready to be caught.

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The sense of urgency, the possibility of returning empty-handed, propelled
the kitten to finally endure the process of waiting with rapt attention, and this
eventually led to success. In the life of an abhyasi, each meditation brings
about a finer and subtler condition and a new level of consciousness, by
the grace of the Master, but the inability to appreciate what has been given
results in the gaze wandering away towards dragonflies and butterflies. The
result is similar to Chariji’s analogy of putting a pot of water on the fire for a
minute and taking it off, then putting it on again and taking it off, because
nothing seems to be happening. Only sustained heating can result in boiling
water. The processes of boiling water, waiting with focus, and carrying a
brimming pot of oil and not allowing it to spill, are essentially processes
of urgency, discomfort and waiting. Had Shuka not waited patiently, he
would have returned empty-handed, perhaps with resentment instead of
wisdom. Unfortunately, it can be said that the very means by which progress
is ensured are often resisted by us.

In the life of an abhyasi, each meditation brings

about a finer and subtler condition and a new level
of consciousness, by the grace of the Master, but the
inability to appreciate what has been given results in
the gaze wandering .

Babuji describes this so simply in the chapter ‘My Pain’ in his book Voice
Real. He says that many of us pray for speedy progress, but the moment the
conditions for speedy progress are created we start praying for them to go
away. Given this resistance, common to all, it is to the Master’s credit that
progress happens. It is an extreme balancing act where we are progressively

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challenged but not overwhelmed, encouraged but not indulged, helped
but not forced, all in a constant and tireless attempt to ensure the maximum
progress possible.

Imagine the possibilities if we could cooperate, if we could re-wire ourselves

to accept and maintain a state of urgency?
We would embrace a state of restlessness instead of seeking respite.
Such a state of restlessness arises only with surrender.
Such surrender is only possible with trust and faith in the Master.
Such trust and faith is built up by the reassuring experiences we
have along the way.
Such experiences come about only if we practise as prescribed.

When faced with trials and tribulations in life, if we could go through them
rather than trying to avoid them, precious time would be saved. The way
is this: whether in our practice or in life, accept and make peace with the
state from which we desire relief, while continuing to do our best in a
state of surrender. Acceptance is not about returning to a state of rest, but
instead nurturing a state of mind where we have made peace with unrest
and discomfort. With this attitude, if we can remember Babuji’s words and
know that the end can come at any time, we will be all the more anxious
to go through whatever is required in order to swiftly arrive at the highest
that can possibly be. This triggers an onward march, where we repeatedly
find that every time “hills bend, streams wind and the pathway seems to
end, past dark willows and flowers in bloom there lies yet another village.”

Acceptance is not about returning to a

state of rest, but instead nurturing a state
of mind where we have made peace with
unrest and discomfort.

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Imagine a state where a sense of urgency and the attitude of acceptance
co-exist. Somewhere in between lies the magical solution. May this state
be granted to all the aspiring seekers of the Truth.

With love and respect,

Kamlesh Patel
22nd January 2018, Basant Panchami

On the occasion of the 145th birth anniversary of

Pujya Shri Lalaji Maharaj

Kanha Shanti Vanam