Perfect - Shri Hans Ji Maharaj

Perfect … Every soul is destined to be perfect, and every being in the end, will attain the state of perfection. Whatever we are now, is the result of our acts and thoughts in the past: and whatever we shall be In the future, will be the result of what we think and do now. But this, the shaping of our own destinies, does not preclude our receiving help from outside; nay, in the vast majority of cases such help is absolutely necessary. When it comes, the higher powers and possibilities of soul are quickened, spiritual life is awakened, growth is animated, and man becomes perfect.

This quickening impulse cannot be derived from books. The soul can only receive impulses from another soul, and from nothing else. We may study books all our lives, but in the end, we find that we have not developed at all spiritually. To quicken the spirit, the impulse must come from another soul.

The person from whose soul such impulse comes is the Guru, the teacher; and the person to whose soul the impulse is conveyed is the student. To convey such an impulse to any soul in the first place, the soul from which it proceeds must possess the power of transmitting it, as it were, to another; and in the second place, the soul to which it is transmitted must be fit to receive it. The seed must be a living seed, and the field must be ready ploughed; and when both these conditions are fulfilled a wonderful growth of genuine realization takes place. The true teacher has to be of extraordinary capabilities, and the true aspirant must be sincere. for spiritual awakening to result. All others have just a little curiosity awakened and are merely standing on the outward fringe of realization. There is, no doubt, some value even in that, as it may, In course of time, result in the awakening of a real thirst for realization; and it is a mysterious law of nature that, as soon as the field is ready, the seed must and does come. When the power that attracts the light of realization in the receiving soul is full and strong, the power which answers to that attraction and sends in light, comes as a matter of course.

There are, however, certain dangers in the way. There is, for instance, the danger to the receiving soul of mistaking momentary emotions for real thirst after realization; but as long as these momentary emotions are thus mistaken, that continuous, real, craving of the soul for realization will not come, and the true transmitter of spirituality shall not be allowed to enter.

The conditions necessary for the aspirant are purity, a real thirst after knowledge, and perseverance. It is not a question of one or two days or of years; the struggle must go on for life. Success may come immediately, but the student who sets out with a spirit of perseverance, will surely find success and realization. There are still dangers in regard to the transmitter, the Guru. There are many who, though immersed in ignorance, yet, in their pride, fancy they know everything, and not only do not stop there but offer to take others on their shoulders and thus, the blind leading the blind, both fall.

In regard to the teacher, he must know the spirit of the scriptures. One who deals too much in words, and allows the mind to be carried away by the force of words, loses the spirit. The network of the words of the scriptures is like a huge forest, in which the human mind often loses itself and finds no way out. Those who employ such methods are only desirous to show off their learning, so that the world may praise them as great scholars. Not one of the great teachers of the world ever went into "text-torturing", nor playing upon the meaning of words and their roots.

The second condition of acquiring spiritual truth and imparting it to others, is the purity of heart and soul. There must be the worthy vibration of spirituality in the mind of the teacher so that it may be sympathetically conveyed to the mind of the taught. The function of the teacher is indeed an affair of the transference of something and not one of mere stimulation of the existing intellectual or other faculties in the taught.

The third condition is in regard to the motive. His work must be simply out of pure love for mankind. The only medium through which spiritual force can be transmitted is love.

The highest knowledge and the highest wisdom cannot be bought nor can it be acquired from books. You will not find it anywhere, until your heart is ready for receiving it, and your teacher has come. And when that divinely appointed teacher comes, serve him with childlike confidence and simplicity, freely open your heart to his influence and see in him God manifested. Those who come to seek Truth with such a spirit of love and veneration, to them the Lord of Truth reveals the most wonderful things regarding Truth, Goodness and Beauty.

- Shri Hans Ji Maharaj