It was on March 7th that Master chose to leave his body while addressing a large crowd, speaking of the unique relationship of India and America, and concluding with his poem, My India. 1952 was the year, and its events can seem long ago—out of sight and mind. Yet, all lives continue to resonate down through time, and that is even more true for such a greatly realized soul as our dear Master.
Spiritual masters continue to be inspirations for generations, even millenniums after an incarnation. Sometimes this is due to organizations that keep the masters in the collective consciousness, but even more relevant is the fact that having become established in eternal Life, a true master’s grace can communicate itself to a sincere devotee throughout all time and without regard for spatial distance.
Think of electricity coming from some great power source, and through a series of transmission lines it comes into your home, to a plug-in near you. However, even though the flowing electricity is right next to you, you still need to plug into the socket and have an implement that can take advantage of its power. And this is how it is with knowing God and His great spiritual masters. The electricity of their grace is ever flowing to us, in fact is all around us, but only if we plug in and have the capacity of utilizing that flow of spiritual power can it really make a difference in our lives.
Prayer, meditation and deep God-remembrance is the plugging in, and depending upon the capacity of the instrument (of your body, mind and soul), you may make use of that grace. A small instrument will perhaps manifest a little light and will occasionally perform some small selfless act of service. A greater instrument will brightly illumine a room and be in the saddle of service to God, but that service is mixed with self-interest. Then there will be those who bring light to the whole world, and are perfectly surrendered servants of the Almighty.
What sort of instrument was Master? Master’s mother related to him that even from his birth, the perfect master, Lahiri Mahasaya had made a tremendous prediction:
“I first knew your destined path when you were but a babe in my arms. I carried you then to the home of my guru in Benares. Almost hidden behind a throng of disciples, I could barely see Lahiri Mahasaya as he sat in deep meditation. “While I patted you, I was praying that the great guru take notice and bestow a blessing. As my silent devotional demand grew in intensity, he opened his eyes and beckoned me to approach. The others made a way for me; I bowed at the sacred feet. My master seated you on his lap, placing his hand on your forehead by way of spiritually baptizing you. “‘Little mother, thy son will be a yogi. As a spiritual engine, he will carry many souls to God’s kingdom.’ “My heart leaped with joy to find my secret prayer granted by the omniscient guru. Shortly before your birth, he had told me you would follow his path.”
Of course, the great master’s prediction bore fruit. Master plugged into God, and, like a great steam engine he helped so many others to do the same—according to their capacity and their willingness. Mother Hamilton was one of the greatest of these sincere ones with incredible capacity. Mother describes a moment of heartfelt surrender to her Master after his passing. Master’s body had been kept in his room, and after a night of staying with his body, Mother describes:
On the morning that they were going to take him from his room, he was laid out on the bed. He didn’t have any shoes on. He had little blue socks. He was beautifully formed. His hands, his feet were perfect. I was all alone in the room with him for the moment. And I had been so glued to him, so attached to him, my love for him was so great that it extended beyond human comprehension, and my loss was indeed terrible. So, I knelt at his feet and put my head on first one foot and then the other. As I held my head there, I prayed with everything I had in me that God would take me, would lift me up and use me to even some small degree of the way that He had used my Master, to take God’s children to Him. And as I knelt there—and this is the truth as I stand before you, and God knows it—all of a sudden, from these feet came a charge of electricity that went right through the center of my head, as though he had known—that he was consciously in that body yet.
New generations have come since Master and Mother’s passings, and the power of their message continues as mightily as ever; “Come, follow me!” Let us be inspired by Master and Mother’s lives, to plug into the universal current that God is constantly sending out to this vast creation. Know that the only limit is your willingness and growing capacity. Link your consciousness onto the powerful engine of Master through reading his words, thinking upon him, meditating upon the endless divinity that animated him in life; when you merge into him, you merge into the same Infinite Spirit he loved so much. God bless Master, and God bless the Work he came to do–to awaken all of us, all of creation to the Presence of our most perfect Creator.