Dear Friends: Man is considered to be the highest in all of creation. All scriptures speak very highly of the man-body. It is considered to be next to God. Man is divine in nature, and the man-body is the only golden opportunity given to us to enable us to see God. To see God we must see our own selves. This is the highest ideal set up before us by all Masters Who came in the past: "O man, you have the man-body; your highest aim is to know God." And God cannot be known by the outgoing faculties or by the intellect. It is the soul alone that can know God. But unless we know our own selves, we cannot know God. Self-knowledge precedes God-knowledge: who we are, what we are, what our connection is with this body, what our connection is with all the world over, and what our connection is with the Oversoul, called God. So to know oneself and to know God is the ultimate and highest goal before us. And we have joined various religions -- the social bodies of religions, which are our schools of thought -- to enable us to know God. First to know ourselves, as self-knowledge precedes God-knowledge.

    So knowing oneself and knowing God is what is called, strictly speaking, Spirituality. What things help us to know ourselves, what things are not helping factors, and how we can analyze ourselves from the outgoing faculties and intellect is a practical subject. This is truly called Spirituality. There are other side issues. Spirituality is no spiritualism, no spiritism, no hypnotism, and no mesmerism. These are side issues. Spiritualism means just to come in contact with those souls who have left the body. Spiritism is just a contact with the souls that are earth-bound. Hypnotism is just to influence somebody to think some way. And mesmerism also brings us under the influence of somebody: we are not left to our own free will. So these are side issues. Strictly speaking, they do not help us. They may help us to a certain extent; but, truly speaking, they are not Spirituality.

    The aim of spiritualism is to have contacts with the souls that have left the body. First of all, those souls can only help you to the extent they had developed themselves while they were on earth. If I go out of this hall, I am the same as I was here, inside. At the time of leaving the body, we are what we have developed in the man-body. By leaving the body we cannot become gods. So, after all, if they are to guide us, they will be able to guide us only up to the extent to which they have developed.

    And you'll find that to contact them is still a very difficult matter. In the physical body you can meet someone, question him, and clarify your doubts. You can be given some experience; and face-to-face you will have something directly. So it is even very difficult to contact these souls. If you contact them through mediums, you'll only get knowledge up to the extent that they have already gained it. And also, through mediums you do not see those souls. Somebody might act and pose, because you cannot see them. Acting and posing sometimes does not give us very correct information. You'll find that the statements of those who are in contact with those souls who have left the body sometime turn out to be true and at other times not true.

    I had a long talk with the Spiritual Scientist people who are conducting their church services in this way. They had to agree that, first of all, it is difficult to contact souls that have left the body. You have to find some medium to do that. Are you to become a medium? That is a difficult task. You can go directly to the outer man and talk to him, heart-to-heart, and anything can be clarified. But even if you get the medium to contact them, that medium may sometimes not be a very good channel. If he or she is, even then, those higher souls can guide you only up to the level that they have developed. And sometimes those may not be correct.

    So, our purpose is not spiritualism; that's a side issue. Of course, you can use side issues; but strictly speaking, we have to go to the highest plane -- to be one with God. And that can only be reached if we can analyze ourselves from mind and the outgoing faculties and "learn to die so that we may begin to live." If you can do that, you can contact souls in the higher levels, too. It will be something like seeing them face-to-face -- very convincing. For instance, I am here now; when I was in India you could not contact me. When I am here, everybody can see me. Similarly, if you rise up to those planes where those higher Souls are residing, as They are there, you can meet Them. And there are planes and planes. There are the lower planes, the higher planes, and the purely spiritual planes.

    So, spiritualism is not very definite, I tell you. First of all, you have to find some medium for it, who is an adept in it. And sometimes they cannot even talk to you, because the atmosphere is not correct. I was in London and met one spiritualist who used to call and meet spirits. His fee was about three pounds. I said, "I am ready to pay." We went over there and stayed in a room for one hour, and nobody appeared. It does appear that sometimes the atmospheric effects are not helping or congenial. So if you want to contact souls, why not rise above consciously, in the body, and reach those planes where they are?

    As I told you, there are many planes. There are the earth-bound souls, too -- spirits. If we come in contact with them, they sometimes do harm to us; and they enter the bodies of those who are of their own taste. When you see a drunkard, the spirits which are earth-bound enter the body; he becomes mad, like anything. So spiritism is the lowest form -- it is not commendable at all. That is when the spirits, the entities, enter somebody's body. That is the lowest form and altogether not to be cared for.

    To come in contact with the higher souls causes great difficulties, as I told you. But we must consciously know where they are and go there while we are alive. Learn to leave this physical plane, come in contact with them and have a heart-to-heart talk. Would it not be most convincing? So with due deference to them, as I told you, these are the side issues. We can make the best use of them, but they are not always one hundred percent correct.

    So after I met the spiritualist, I offered him the fee. But he would not accept it. He said, "Because nobody has come." Anyhow, my point is only to bring this to your notice: that sometimes there is not a congenial atmosphere in which departed souls can contact you. So you're at their mercy. And even if you are fortunate to have a contact with them, they cannot guide you higher than what they were. And moreover, in the higher planes you'll find that there are many kinds of higher souls. Some are engaged only in the management of the worldly affairs, and some are purely spiritual. To come in contact with the spiritual people is more of a helping factor to know God.

    So, I tell you, Spirituality is purely knowledge of the self and knowledge of God -- just as I see you and you see me. But the pity is that although we are souls -- we are conscious entities -- we are under the control of mind. And mind is under the control of the outgoing faculties; and through the outgoing faculties we are so much identified with the outside things that we have forgotten ourselves. If you ask a child of three or four years of age, "Who are you?" he will simply open his mouth and eyes. He feels something there. As he grows in years, he becomes so identified with the body that when you ask him, "Who are you?" he will say, "I am Mr. Joseph; I am Miss Cartwright." And further if you ask him he will say, "I am a Christian; I am a Roman Catholic; I am a Protestant; I am a Coptic; I am a Hindu; I am a Mohammedan." We go so far away.

    My point of view is only to show you what Spirituality is. Spirituality is knowledge of the self -- liberating yourself from mind and outgoing faculties at will. Rise above them and know that God Power which is controlling us in the body and controlling all of creation; come face-to-face with that Reality.

    Can we have that good fortune to know God, to see God, as I see you and you are seeing me? That will arise only when we can liberate ourselves from mind and the outgoing faculties. That is what is called, "Learn to die so that you may begin to live." That is a matter of practical self-analysis.

    God cannot be known by the feelings or emotions, by drawing inferences or by the vital airs. You can know God only when you know yourself, because it is the soul that can know God. The soul is a conscious entity, a drop of the Ocean of All-Consciousness. Like alone can know like.

    So when Masters come, whom do They address? They address the people at large -- from the level of the man-body, not from the level of the badges of the various religions or schools of thought they are carrying; or They address us from the level of embodied souls. They say, "We are all children of Light. We are of the same essence as that of God. We are Spirit-in-man." And They see our further fate, because They see that we are under the control of mind, mind is under the control of the outgoing faculties, and we are so much identified with the outward things and the body that we cannot differentiate ourselves from the mind, from the body, or from the outgoing faculties. They tell us, "Look here. In the man-body you have a good fortune, because the man-body is the highest in all of creation; and it is the golden opportunity that you have to know God." They tell us, "O man, you have the man-body; this is the day I have just risen. If you won't wake up now, when will you wake up? -- because in the man-body alone you can wake up."

    We are, as it were, asleep. All Masters tell us the same thing. How are we asleep? The attention, which is the outcome of our own souls, is engaged in the outside things -- identified with them. Unless that attention is withdrawn from outside, we are awake outside, but asleep from within. You know, in the man-body we are controlled by some Power that does not let us go out of the body. Surgeons perform operations and the belly is cut; this operation lasts for hours on end -- with all that we cannot run away, out of the body; some Power is keeping us there. That Controlling Power is what is called God. So, when Masters come, They look at us and They have pity on us: "You have had the man-body for so many years and you have not yet awakened!" All Vedas, all scriptures tell us, "Awake, 0 man! Awake, arise, and stop not until the goal is reached!"

    We people are businesslike: we ask, "All right -- if we awaken, what will we get?" For that reason, Masters tell us, "If you really awaken -- rise above body-consciousness, 'learn to die so that you may begin to live' -- you'll get a very priceless pearl, a priceless jewel; and that is, of God. You'll find Him -- which is the aim of our life." But They address us: "You have become bewildered, benighted. You are so intoxicated with the worldly things that you do not like to be awake." Yet we know that this man-body is not everlasting, that we have it only for some period of time. Time and tide wait for no man. The sooner we reach the goal the better. Every day, every hour, every minute is drawing us closer to the end of life; and we are given up to the sensuous pleasures of the five passions outside.

    So we must learn to withdraw from outside, and know our self first, and then know God. Whenever Masters come, They tell us the same thing, whether They come in one country or the other. They tell us, "Look here. God is All-Wisdom. God is Eternal. Then, you must be wise." If a child's father is very learned and a man of letters, people generally say, "Oh, your father is so good; why are you not like that?" We are a drop of the Ocean of All-Consciousness, of All-Life, of All-Wisdom. We are children of eternity. So Masters say, "You should also be wise." But what do we do? Instead of finding Him, we never even care to make any arrangements to find Him. We have never made any preparations to find Him.

    What are the preparations? We have joined the various schools of thought; we read scriptures. That's the preparation. We are saying prayers or performing certain rites and rituals, and that is a preparation of the ground. When we are performing rites and rituals or saying prayers, we have love and devotion for God; and that is developed more and more; or by reading scriptures, we know how the Masters had experience with God in Their lives. That will create an interest in us to know God. All these things are the preparation of the ground. Masters say, "You have never even cared to have any preparations made to find Him, not to speak of finding Him."

    When we say to anybody, "Look here, dear friend, you have to leave the body someday," he answers, "Oh, let us enjoy ourselves. When the time comes we will see." But is there any contract that we live up to for a hundred years? Some die quite young in childhood; some die young in puberty; and others die old. And at anytime when a man goes out, he may meet with an accident and finish his life. Who dreams that his payments here will be finished in no time? Nobody can say when death is to come.

    So, after all, we have to leave the body on account of something -- perhaps disease, perhaps an accident, perhaps some other thing. Our wisdom lies in the fact that we solve now, while we are alive, what is to happen. Every night, don't go to sleep unless you have solved this mystery of life. A truly wise man is he.

    Even in the worldly things, what do we do? Whatever work you have to take up, say, next year, you make preparations for now. If the time left is short and your work is not accomplished, you engage some other labor -- another person's help too -- just to finish it by that date. How wise we are there! And what do we do in our case? There's no time fixed -- at least it is not known to us. Then we should be, I think, ready every moment. Who knows what will happen next? So Masters tell us, "Look here, you must be wise, because you are a drop of the Ocean of All-Wisdom." A man who is wise takes up everything with foresight: "What will happen next?" He will be prepared beforehand. But Masters say, "Strangely enough, you have never cared to make preparations for that, too."

    Practically, this disease is growing more and more -- even nowadays. Although we belong to one religion or the other, we are drifting to materialism, to atheism. There may be hundreds of people belonging to one religion or the other, but how many are there who are really sincere, who are saying their prayers, performing certain rites and rituals, or reading scriptures regularly? You'll find very few -- a very small percentage.

    So this is what is meant by preparation. Remain in your own religions; they will help to prepare the ground. Only then can you know what further step is to be given. But what do we do all the time? We are bewildered -- intoxicated, I would say. In that very bewilderment or intoxication we never find the time to know Him, because we have not even known our own selves.

    Scriptures tell us that the Masters had experience of God. So naturally we also want to have the preparation to know God, to have that very experience that the Masters had in Their lives. But for that -- for everything -- there are some preparatory steps to be taken. And for that, it is love and devotion. God is Love and we are also love, because we are a drop of the Ocean of All-Love. God is Light, God is Life, and God is Love. So we are also love. And the way back to God is also through love. "Those who do not understand love cannot understand God, because God is Love."

    For developing that love and devotion for God, we read scriptures, and that awakens an interest in us; we say prayers; we perform certain rites and rituals. The purpose of saying prayers is that those things should come out of our hearts: it should be an outburst of our hearts. God is a matter of heart, not of head, mind that. God resides in every heart. The purpose of reading, of saying prayers, or of performing rites and rituals is to be in His Presence. And, out of love, some tears should roll down from our eyes. It is for that purpose. If you perform certain rituals or say prayers like -- what do you say? -- a gymnastic, with a loud voice, that has nothing to do with your own heart; and they will not give you the full fruit for which they were meant.

    So Masters always tell us, "Look here. You, in your own ignorance or intoxication are so given up to the outer ways that you have forgotten your own selves. Your angle of vision has become defective." For instance, in a butcher the Voice of God is not heard within; it stops. In the beginning, if you commit any sin, something inside you makes you feel ashamed. Once you transcend this spiritual barrier, well, you never hear the Voice. A butcher never hears the Voice. He goes on killing daily and daily and daily. He says, "Oh, that is right; we must kill." For that reason, the Masters tell us, "Well, dear friend, just be wise. You are a drop of the Ocean of All-Wisdom. Take up anything with foresight." And time and tide wait for no man. If this man-body is left, you cannot do anything further.

    Even a student, when the day of an examination is fixed, will stop playing when that time arrives, say a month or so ahead. And a week before the date of the examination, he will even take a book along with him to the washroom because the time is fixed for the examination. And for this examination which is the great final change called death, what preparation have you made? First is the preparation of the ground; and second is to know Him. And to know Him, you must know yourself. And do you know yourself?. I'm afraid not. We do say, "This is my watch, this is my book, this is my hat, or anything." We can lay it aside. We say, "it is my body." Can we lay it aside at will? The time does come, at the time of death, when we have to leave the body. And this course of knowing the self only starts when you learn to die while alive, to rise above body-consciousness. When you know yourself, you will know what Power is controlling you in the body and what Power is controlling all of the universe.

These are the things before us; this is what is called Spirituality. We have joined various schools of thought only for that purpose. It is a matter of self-analysis, as I told you. That is why Masters say, "You remain asleep all throughout your life by being identified with the outside things. You are awake outside but all along you remain asleep from within. You do not know the very God Who is the Controlling Power keeping you in the body. You can know Him only when you withdraw from the outside and awaken inside. And that you can do when you rise above body-consciousness." They say, "Look here, where is your God? All at once, at the time which is called death, you have to leave the body. Then you can do nothing. You can be only that which you have developed." By leaving the body you cannot become gods. If you are an illiterate man, even after leaving the body at the time of death, you will remain illiterate. If you are just attached to the worldly things, you will form part of the spirits. You will remain earthbound. If you have known God, you will go directly to the lap of the Father.

    So this is what we have to do in the man-body, which you have by the Grace of God. And for that very purpose we have joined the various schools of thought. We have to see how far we have advanced on the Way. We are becoming engaged in the side ways, the side issues. They are good; that's right -- to the extent that that particular line is concerned; but our aim is to know God. That very attention that has to know God is engaged in other issues.

    Now, a man who is fast asleep never dreams of awakening. Who can awaken any man who is fast asleep? You'll say, "The man who is awake." He will shake you up, and in a loud voice say, "Wake up!" And you can awaken. What is meant by that? Those Who are awakened have risen above body-consciousness. They are not identified with the outside things, but They make the best use of the things at their disposal. They shake us first by theory and then by attention: They raise us up; They have the competency to raise our souls out of the deep sleep that we are in. When we withdraw our attention from outside and above the senses, we know ourselves, and then we can know God. That's a need, you see. Any man who has known himself, who is awake, can make you awake -- call him by any name you like. In worldly things, too, you will find that if you have to take up any subject, to take up any line, you have to go to somebody who is an expert in that line. He can guide you; he can help you. You will have success in that very line. Similarly, this is also a way -- a practical way -- to rise above body-consciousness, to know oneself, and then to know God.

    This is the subject before us and for which purpose we have joined the various schools of thought. We need not change any religion. Masters have come in all religions. They have given the same teachings. Masters -- Those Who saw the Truth -- gave out only the teaching of seeing God, not other side issues.

    Why do we differ? Why do we have so many schools of thought? The apparent reason is that they have not seen God. They are trying; they are on the way; but they have not found Him. Those who have found Him say the same thing. They give issues their comparative values. They say, "All right, to maintain the body is a good thing; to be a doctor is a good thing; to take up some line is a good thing; to have contact with the spirits of higher souls is a good thing. But knowing the self and knowing God is the highest of all."

    So this is what is before us. We have to see how far we have succeeded in this way. I think this will do for the present. I am not here to advocate any religion. Remain in your own religion. But what we have to do, we must see whether we have done or not. And you'll find the same teachings given by all Masters Who came in the past. They are all One. They say the same thing. Those Who have seen, They say the same thing. Those who have not seen, they differ. They have little, little differences -- everybody has. But to see God is something else. Among all these different schools of thought, the only difference is in little viewpoints. One says, "it is my viewpoint," -- and others follow him -- and a separate school of thought is formed. But Those Who see have the same thing to say. They say the same thing. By a parallel study of religion you'll find that it is the same thing.

    Thank you.
 

QUESTION: Are we not all following an individualistic pathway of life?

THE MASTER: Truth is one. Those who have known Truth are the best authorities or the best guides to bring us closer to the Truth. Each individual develops in his own way; and if he is left to himself, he finds ways to go up. But if he is guided by someone who is perfect in that line, he will develop quicker. Of course, we have to develop individually. But with proper guidance and help, we can develop even quicker. For instance, there is a fruit-giving tree. If you leave it to its own growth, it will take six or seven years to give you fruit. But if you give it some scientific food, that very tree will give you fruit in two or three years. Well, we are not immune from getting help from others to give us quicker results. Of course, we have to develop individually. We have to be still, physically and intellectually, and know that we are gods. So individual development can be augmented -- quickened -- by those who have the highest -- I mean, those who are fully developed.

Q: I would like to know if each one of us has a certain mission that we are supposed to develop and express along with the Truth?

M: That's right. Each man has his own mission. But those who know -- those who have their backgrounds -- see that they have their own mission. And they develop for that. Of course, each man has to have his own mission; there are so many missions. The highest one is to know God in man and to let others know God. That's the highest mission. There are other missions, too, of the side ways. Of course, they will help humanity in a certain way; but the highest goal before us -- the highest mission -- is that of knowing God. And for that, we must be aware -- conscious. That consciousness will come only to people who are fully developed. They know what they have to do. Truly speaking most of us do not know what we have to do. There are a few of us who have their development behind them, and they know they have certain things to do.

    I tell you, when I was going to retire, I was in government service as a Military Accounts officer. I was going on a pension, and people advised me to have my pension commuted so that I could continue working for another ten years. Then I told them that I didn't want to commute my pension. Why? I knew I had my mission before me. So I retired in 1946. It is now 1963. In the other case, I would have finished that connection only in 1956; and I would now also be having the same connection. There should be something very clear-cut before us.

    How many are there who really know their mission? Few. There are some, but not many. But they are conscious, those who have their backgrounds. Others are simply drifting. We must have some mission in life, some ideal in life. Most of us are only adrift, I tell you. Sometimes we know we want to become very religious, very spiritual. Sometimes we have to do something for the world; we must get hold of money. We spend our efforts sometimes this way, sometimes that way. What is the result? We dig up the ground to find water underneath, and we dig up four or five feet here and four or five feet there. There are so many pits, and they never give us any water.

    So I would advise and request each man to set up some ideal before him. When I entered life I had two ambitions -- for worldly things and for God. It took me about seven or eight days regularly to think about it by my own self in lonely places. Then I came out to the last thing: God first and the world next. So I've been just plodding on. When you have some ideal before you, even if you are working on it just a little, day by day, you will reach it. You will be nearer to that goal. So there should be some mission; if we are developed, we already know it. Otherwise, we must set up some ideal before us to make the best use of the man-body that we have with us.

Q: I'd like to know when You'll be back in Delhi, and when it is available for somebody to come as a student to Delhi?

M: I tell you. God willing, I hope to be back by February. But I tell you, it won't be possible to enable everybody to go to India. Those who would like to come, they are most welcome. But you can even start now and remain in contact through correspondence. You'll get the same thing in development and help and protection as if you are there. It is up to you to decide, of course.

Q: I have heard it stated that when one is irrevocably committed to a certain Master, one cannot make a change even though one's conscience tells one he should.

M: I tell you. We have to see, what is a Master? If the person has given you the definition as it is given in the scriptures or as it is given by the Masters Who are speaking through the scriptures, then there is no difficulty in understanding that. This is first a common sense point of view. If you're reading in a primary class and you want to study in college, if your primary class teacher is able to give you that college instruction, well and good. If not, with due deference to the teacher who taught you in the primary class, you have to take up with some other one who can teach you in college. That's a common sense point of view.

    And the other is what the scriptures say. The Master is One Who, to all intents and purposes, appears to be a man. But He is the mouthpiece of God. Well, everybody says, "I am the mouthpiece of God." How are we to differentiate? The only differentiation lies in who is able to give you an experience of rising above body-consciousness, of opening your ears to hear the Voice of God. This is apparent, and everybody can test it. Who can give you some experience of the Way? Performing outer rites and rituals, having certain badges of certain schools of thought, knowing how to say prayers, knowing how to give lectures on subjects intellectually, I think anyone can do after some training.
But this concerns how to raise our soul above the bondage of mind and the outgoing faculties and how to open our inner eye to give us an experience of rising above body-consciousness. Giving a contact with the Light and Sound Principle of God: that is the definition given by Masters speaking through scriptures. Wherever you find Someone like that, well and good. There may be one, there may be hundreds. I wish there were as many as possible, so that humanity might have help that way.

    If you have that thing, that's well and good. But anybody can tell someone, "Repeat this mantra, repeat these words, or say prayers this way or that way." But raising the soul above the senses and opening the inner eye -- so that you testify that you really see something quite consciously, not under influence -- and also opening the inner ear so that you hear something and you testify to it, is, I think, the only criterion given for Masters by the scriptures that we have on hand today.

    Now we have to see whether we have that. A Master is One Who should also be able to give this experience first-hand. Suppose a man comes to you, and he gives a talk on business principles. He gives a wonderful talk, quite appreciable, quite informative; but the poor fellows to whom he gives the talk have no money with which to start a business. What will his lecture do? If he is able to give them some capital, then his talk will do something.

    Everybody can say, "All right, rise above body-consciousness; open the inner eye to see the Light; do this thing; pray; it will come of itself." Well, it may come or it may not come. "A bird in hand is better than two in the bush." So if someone is there who is competent to give you some experience, and you see for your own self that you have it, I think that is more appealing.

Q: I understand that we're not supposed to give healings or be a channel for healings now, without permission from the Master. And I was wondering about little children under the age of seven who seem to feel a healing when you lay your hands on them.

M: You just want to know about healing?

Q: Well, I want to know if it's all right.

M: I tell you. Healing is all right. But healing has its higher form of healing and lower form of healing. If it is a healing like that done by Christ -- those who simply thought of Him were cured (even by touching the hem of His garment they were cured) -- that healing is all right. But if you exert yourself, if you direct your attention, that is the lower form of healing. That is the very attention that is to be concentrated to rise up to know God.

    So those who do healing in the lower form, as I just described to you, exhaust themselves; and that very healing stands in the way to God. The little attention you have controlled, you direct to others by prayers, by attention. The others are healed -- sometimes they are healed and sometimes not. And sometimes there is some reaction from those healings on our own self by the law of sympathy. So I would advocate the highest form of healing which is, that even if you think of the one who is perfect, he may heal you.

    I had a very long talk with the Christian Science people, who take up healing. This is the only difference between the two. I would advocate the higher form. The other stands in our way to higher perfection. We have good wishes for all -- that's good. Help them to the best you can. But if by healing you exert, you pray, you direct your attention, then that stands in our way to God. And that also only helps those men who are not strong in will force. So the higher form of healing is the best, to my mind.

Q: I wanted to know if the living Master continues to teach His initiates when He goes on and turns His work over to another Master ?

M: The Master of the definition that I have given you takes care of His initiates who have been put on the Way. But, truly speaking, you become an initiate not by having only certain preliminary things. When you come within and see the form of the Master, the God Power manifests Himself in that form; that is, not by visualizing it yourself or by premeditating on some form yourself; but when you rise above, you will find that God Power manifests in a certain form at Whose pole He is working. That is right. If you come up to that level and that Power talks to you, well, no further guidance is required. Until then, you need guidance, you need help. By hearing His talks, you can solve certain problems or clarify something which is not very clear to you. So you have to have the benefit of attending the other Master Who is on the Way. He will never direct you to leave the old Master, but He will help you to come in contact with Him.

Q: Do you take any obligation when you seek initiation, either to yourself or to the Master?

M: Obligation to the Master, you mean?

Q: Either to yourself or to the Master. Do you take an obligation ?

THE MASTER: Obligation... What did Christ say? "If you love me, keep my commandments." That's an obligation. When you are put on to a certain thing and you are asked to live that way, that is the obligation. When you give your word, you must stand by it -- to be on the Way. Yes, it may be that you will find some other Master Who is more competent. We are after Truth. Our Master [Baba Sawan Singh Ji] used to say, "This is the Truth that I have given you; if you find more Truth elsewhere, take it up, and I will also go there." We are after finding the Truth. We are not after being bound to anybody. But we do respect the man-body at whose pole that God works. Truly speaking, the Master is God Himself, which is manifest at any human pole. So if you find any more Truth, yes, you are welcome. So far, I think this is the one Truth that has been realized by almost all the Masters Who came in the past. The only thing that remains is whether we have something to start with or not. There is something on credit and something on cash. Those who would like to live on credit, well and good. If they want only cash, they must have something to start with. Develop it.

    You know the parable of the talents given in the Bible: that the rich man gave twenty talents to one person, ten to another, and five to another. When he came back later on, he found that the man who had twenty had made it forty. And the one who had been given ten had made it twenty. And the one who had had five had kept it on the shelf and never used it.

    So the obligation lies there, for our own benefit. Master does not need anything -- it is only for the good of the God in Him. He wishes all children of God to come to Him and to be back in their Home.

    Yes, please?

Q: When we reach a certain degree of spiritual growth and development, isn't it true that your own God Presence will speak to you when you have a question to ask ?

M: I think I have already replied to this point. If fruit-growing trees can bring forth fruit earlier by scientific methods, the less-developed souls can have help from the higher souls, in the same way.