Learning from the Adept

Dr. Rajesh Bhola
India
May 30, 2014

The real purpose of life is to navigate and complete the evolutionary journey through this ‘illusion’ (of life) with adeptness. Life’s cards are dealt and re-dealt continuously till we begin to find the love within us – our other-self. This game can only be won by those who lay their pleasures, their limitations, their all upon the table face up and say inwardly: “All of you players, each other-self, whatever your hand, I love you.” And to realise who we truly are – to find our other-self -  we really do not need to meditate, perform heavy penance or renounce the world. Why should we need to forsake everything to just find our true identity and the bliss that already resides within us? The answer to that one question, “Who am I?” has been given by many sages over the ages. However, there have been very few individuals who have passed down this experience to others. In this process of self-realisation, just like a goldsmith helps in separating gold from other elements, an enlightened person – an adept - is needed to help an individual achieve his/her purest form – to realise his/her true self. The adept helps separate our two eternal elements, of the self and the non-self. 

The path of self-realisation leads us to an inner world. This world is as real as the world we see, hear, feel and touch. Adepts are able to recognise the difference between these two worlds. They understand that the outer world is unreal, an illusion; only the inner world is real and true. They live on an inner plane that is both concurrent and coherent with the outer plane. They play their roles well and conscientiously. How exactly does the adept differ from an ordinary person? Fundamentally, it is a difference in attitude. The adept lives in accord with the principles of an inner world, principles unknown to the uninitiated. The opening of a door to the inner world symbolically represents the opening of the doors of the mind. It is the realisation that there is another life to live, other than this ordinary worldly life. Religions refer to this as metamorphosis; an apt word for the experience. It is a turning around of one’s life, a change in direction. Initiates are not expected to get swayed unduly by their emotions; they are to keep their expression governed by their mind, not by their feelings. Each experience in the outer world has an inner lesson, to help advance the disciple. These experiences are opportunities to develop courage, endurance, wisdom and other similarly desirable characteristics. The end objective is to bring the disciples’ physical, astral and mental bodies in line. The astral is dominated by emotions; the mental is the causal element of our being. The initiate’s consciousness becomes open to continual expansion; yet, regardless of how inclusive the consciousness becomes, the initiate never loses his or her individuality. This is the nature of the spiritual, of an expanded consciousness and a well-grounded individuality. The adept comes to understand that matter is not evil, but merely an expression of spirit. Matter may be said to be evil only when it hinders us, when it becomes an obstacle to our enlightenment – just as a knife turns evil when we cut ourselves with it. The disciple prays to be delivered from the false and the impermanent, and to be open to the true, the permanent and the real. The initiates, accepting the invitation to become adepts, pray with all their heart to be led from darkness to light. They yearn for knowledge of the path and the higher planes of existence to which it leads. The heart of such a person must be inspired by the spirit of veneration and devotion. Such a spirit is apparent only when one passes through the doorway of humility and lets go of arrogance. The opposite of humility is arrogance, not pride - for the opposite of pride is shame. We can gain this higher knowledge only when we are ready to esteem it. Finally, the initiates desire to overcome death, and to obtain the immortality that they firmly believe in. Death, to the adepts, is a door into a higher and fuller life. We were not meant to live for all eternity in our present personality, but to evolve into a form more grand than we are yet capable of conceiving. If we do not develop within ourselves a deeply rooted feeling that there is something higher than ourselves, we shall never acquire the strength and the courage to evolve to that. 

The true disciple, after learning from an adept, will set aside certain moments during which to withdraw, listening in complete silence to the echoes of what he/she has experienced - of what the outer world has revealed of itself. In these moments of quiet, every flower, every animal and every action will unveil undreamed of secrets. The external world will be viewed with different eyes. However, here there is also great danger, a great temptation. We must not stop at simply enjoying the new pleasures we experience in this heightened awareness; we must not live just within ourselves. We should not become dead to the inner world, a world that we need for our spiritual advancement. We should not accumulate wisdom as a treasure, but put out our learnings for the service of the world. The law of the spiritual way must be rigidly observed; we should seek knowledge only for the purpose of serving humanity and for the upliftment of the world. Any branch of knowledge that we pursue just to enrich ourselves with wealth, power, fame and security, would lead us astray from the path of attainment. Whoever can devote himself or herself to observing life as it expresses through any form - whether it be animal, plant or human - must adore this expression, must be in awe of it, must wonder about it. We cannot understand any of this consciously or empirically. All we can do is transcend the ‘illusion’ (of life), by choosing an identity that is bigger and more all-encompassing than what we seem to be. Imbibing virtues from the adept works powerfully and leads to an unfettering of the mind; similarly, exhibiting a certain degree of adeptness in working with the self can confer great mind potential.

On the physical plane we consider the age of the body; on the spiritual plane we consider the age of the soul. The soul that is ‘on the path’ begins to show signs of advancement in intelligence, emotional maturity and spiritual power. This advancement has little or nothing to do with the worldly age of the personality.

There are laws governing the spiritual life, just as there are laws governing the physical world. The latter we call the laws of nature, not all of which we yet know, or may ever come to know. Never underestimate the power of devotion, for this is a powerful pathway to higher knowledge, to the supernatural world, to the attainment of spirituality. However, every carping criticism and every negative expression frustrates the power of the soul in its desire for the attainment of higher knowledge; in the same measure as all heartfelt devotion frees the powers of the soul. Critical faculties are essential and have contributed to the development of civilisations, but at a cost. The cost is a corresponding loss of the hope of ever attaining a higher knowledge, or even a denial of the existence of a higher dimension of existence. It is essentially a loss of spiritual expression. 

 

Dr. Rajesh Bhola is President of Spastic Society of Gurgaon and is working for the cause of children with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, mental retardation and multiple disabilities for more than 25 years. He can be contacted at rabhola@yahoo.com