THE CALLING

Today I would like to talk about this topic called the spiritual journey. We have heard this many times, the spiritual path, spiritual journey, what does it mean? What is the difference between people on the spiritual journey and those who are not on this journey? There is a big difference. First of all, to be on this journey that we talk about requires a calling. You cannot embark on this journey or you cannot force someone to be on this journey by talking to that person. You cannot force, there is no forcing, it comes naturally. This is a calling that comes naturally. It is life after life, after many lives and then there is this stirring within you, there is a restlessness within you. There are millions out there who live their life day to day as band aid management. When they have a problem then they find God or sometimes they don’t find God. There is nothing wrong because it is their life. Then you ask yourself what is the difference between us and them.

Firstly of all, do not despise people who are not in this journey. It is a natural process. Just as the flower needs time to bloom, every human being takes time to bloom. The blooming could take one lifetime or a hundred lifetimes, it is not for us to say. It is a calling from the Divine who says “Child you are ready to return to Me.” For every human birth you take, there is a separation from the Divine. This separation must be united again. The calling takes place when we are ready. When He knows that we can take it. When He knows that we are ready to embark on this journey. Then this calling starts. So don’t despise people who don’t believe in God, people who are not on this spiritual journey. In one lifetime you were like that. So once this calling starts, this restlessness starts then what happens is that you begin your search outside. All of you have experienced this, you begin your search outside. What this search is, you don’t know. You go and find something, maybe you say I want to find God and you go and read all the books, you go to all the temples, you travel to all the holy places and still not satisfied.

The reason is because the search is inside within yourself, the search is not outside. Now this search within you requires you to analyse yourself. That is why they say this spiritual journey is within. You must understand this is a journey within and not outside you. No one can take this journey for you because you are finding yourself. A lot of people come to me and say after I have started this journey, my problems got bigger. I tell them it is like this. The moment you embark on this journey of self-discovery, problems will be given to you so that you can overcome it. The weaker you are in an area, the more you will encounter it. Say for example, you are a jealous person, every day you will face it because the masters know that that is your weakest area. Your strongest area they don’t touch you because they know you can overcome it easily. Your weakest area is what you will encounter every day until you overcome it and then it disappears. Then comes another area for you to face. So it is like this. You remember our Guru gave us this “Many hear, few see and yet fewer seek. Among those who seek, a few will reach. Those who reach are those who stick.”

That means you stick to this path, stick to this journey because you believe that this is the correct journey, Why? Because it is a journey of self-discovery. No one can take this journey for you. No one can walk this path for you because it is yourself. You know your strength, you know your weaknesses, you know which area to work on and which area you want to put aside. It is you.

Ultimately, what you are looking for is your true self. Ultimately, what you are looking for is the Divine spark in you which is part of God. You are looking for this part of you which is love, unconditional love. When you find it, you find bliss. There is no more hatred, there is no more jealousy, there is no more envy, there is no such thing as not forgiving people because you exist in bliss. God is bliss, God is love. So if we have not reached this stage, we are still seeking.

Until you reach this stage where no one can make you angry, no one can make you jealous, no one can upset you and you are in a state of bliss. Then you have reached God but you don’t tell anyone about this. This is where you begin to help others by being present. Your presence alone will make someone happy because love flows out of you. You don’t need to call them and say come I teach you. Forget about it. Don’t teach people, if they want to learn they will come and find you. By being present in any situation, be it the workplace or wherever, you will realise that people will become joyous. They don’t know why but you know it is because of your presence, you give out this positive energy. This positive energy is love. There can be a situation where there is disharmony and when you walk in, suddenly things change. Why? It is because of your presence. I am sure you have experienced this before where a shop can be empty and the minute you walk in, so many people started to come and then the shopkeeper says “Hey, you have brought me luck.” What they don’t realise is that it is not luck, it is the positive energy which draws other people into the shop and suddenly there is business. If you are a negative magnet, everything will move away.

So remember that this journey, be it spiritual journey or spiritual path, it is not your choice. The time has come where there is this calling and then you embark on this journey and face all the challenges. So stick to it, the more the challenges you face, the more you are anchored. A lot of people give up because they say it is very tiring, cannot take it anymore. This is why we need to have a group, we need to have Satsang (group sharing), we need to discuss and talk to people. “Why am I going through this?” And they say that they too have or going through this and then you know that you are not the only one. Some people say that every time they have this same problem, better don’t get into this spiritual journey. You explain to them that it is like this. If you want to purify yourself, you need to go through this process or you can go through life after life like those millions of people who are not ready.

So the choice is not actually ours. You embark on this journey, you ask yourself, did I make the choice? No, suddenly you went into it Why? It is because you are ready. You must have worked in many lives to be ready in this life to meet up with your Guru, read his teaching and realise that this is what you are looking for. So be thankful that you are on this journey because you are ready for it and because you are ready, you must have the strength carry forward. No matter what the obstacle is, no matter what the problem is, the Masters know that you can take it.

Those people who are not on this journey and when you speak to them and if they are not interested, forget it. Don’t waste your time, it is not your calling to call them to come. On their own they will come. This is what it is.

So remember one thing, this journey we have talked about is inside you. What you are seeking is you are seeking yourself. The self you are seeking is your true self which is love. We all have love but the love we have is very contained. It has not blossomed like a flower. It is like a bud, it cannot give anything. As a flower, it can give beauty, it can also give the fragrance that people admire and appreciate. You won’t admire a bud. We are all like this bud. Until we blossom into a flower, then you can be admired by people and that is where you help people and then you become God’s worker. We call them “workers of light and love” where you are able to help another human being. So this journey is not only about yourself, it’s also about helping the others by being an example, so that they can move on.