Pray for Change

by Chariji, July 30, 2008, Satkhol, India

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Master: Well, you know, my concerns are with the people of some countries.

Abhyasi: Really?

Master: Do I ever joke about these things?

Abhyasi: No, of course you don’t. What is your concern?

Master: That they should be progressive, safe to meditate. Because in one’s quest for God, there are so many religions. Now which is the effective one? Which is not the effective one? You see, we have started from the pygmies, to the Adivasis [a tribe] of India, to the tree worshippers, nature worshippers, sun worshippers, but we know, at least now in our spiritual level, that these are not God. They are creations of God. So everything that we worship in a material form is definitely something that has been created by God, whether it is a horse or a bull or [inaudible] or anything. So we have to go beyond this, you see.

And in my opinion human beings should have a right, a birthright, to decide which way to adopt to reach the Ultimate. And nobody should have the right to interfere in this process. No? Therefore, we don’t go and preach, and say, “All of you come here.” We teach those who come to us, and we try to teach them what we do, and we say, “What I have achieved so far, I can guarantee you. Beyond that, Insha-Allah.” Now ‘Insha-Allah’ I am using as a phrase to mean God is always one who regulates our progress. Because if a child wants to go to school at the age of two, we don’t send. If a boy of eight wants to go to college—not yet. Or if a girl of six wants to get married—no. So here we use our judgement. So in social things, we have the parents’ guidance, the teachers’ guidance and the government’s guidance. The government should guide our lives, not control it—in any country. This is the idea of freedom, as I understand it. Not the French way of freedom, that you can get drunk, do what you like, break down and kill a queen. That is not freedom, that is misuse of it. They take freedom for a moment, for a day, for two days, for five days, declare a revolution, kill, destroy, and then say, “Now we are this.” It seems to fit in with an idea of democracy, that it is the expression of people’s will, but people’s will to destroy cannot be given to them. Don’t you agree?

Now we can say people want war. So can we declare a war immediately? There is a rule even in economic theory, that if you have a house, it is yours. It is undisputably yours, it is totally yours, but you cannot set fire to it—say for insurance or for some criminal reason. You cannot do it, because it can affect the neighbours’ houses, it can kill a baby inside. So you have a right only to construct and to enjoy—construct, retain and enjoy. No destruction!

Now when you interfere in the people’s legitimate (and right conferred on them by birth itself) sort of choice—you cannot interfere with it. I choose to worship in my room, in a way that I find gives me peace, tranquillity, and therefore a possible spiritual evolution. And if I have somebody who can guide me, what you call morshed [master] in your language, very good! But then we must remember, a morshed is not a religious person. Religion has a set of edicts, like thou shalt not, thou shalt not, thou shalt not. But what shall we do? So here the soul in its wisdom has to tell me from inside myself: don’t do these things. It is better to be without, than to do the wrong thing. As my morshed has said, it is better to be without a teacher than with the wrong teacher. It is better to be without medicine and let nature work, than take the wrong medicine.

So this is my concern for the people of some countries.

Abhyasi: What can we do to change this, Master?

Master: You can change only by prayer, because as individuals, which so many revolutions of France teach us, they can only destroy, using the same principle that Americans are now using, that this is the war to end all wars. Isn’t it? It is like saying, all the people of the world will die so that new people will come. It is not possible. So as humans, individuals, we all must pray, and pray with the heart. Then things will change. After all, the world has seen so many changes, even without wars. In India we have seen that we could have our own government without a war with the British. It was called a bloodless revolution, what we call ahimsa—non-violence. So to get an ahimsa type of a change, only prayer.

Abhyasi: The nine o’ clock prayer, or even outside that?

Master: No, no. Nine o’clock prayer is only for people. For change of this sort, you need to sit and pray, you see. You may say Allah, or you may say God, or you may say O my beloved, anything you like. He knows. When you say, “A rose by any name smells as sweet,” God by any name should be accessible to me. No? Because he is nameless. One without a name can be called by any name. But if you are Yasmin, or Sohrabi, I have to call you by your name.

Those who don’t wish to change, they are at liberty not to change. It is their life, you see. “No, no, I prefer to remain what I am. I am happy.” Okay, be happy. Because ultimately human life, forget the spiritual part of it, must be at least happy. The least that we should look forward to on earth is happiness, contentment.

Okay, thank you.