Shreeji Maharaj appeared on this earth, hoisted His flag, and made internal enemies run for their life. He made all his saints and devotees stainless. In this world, He followed and made others follow beyond-the-world rules and regulations that surprised many great individuals of that time.
Even today, the whole world is surprised to see our saints following some strict regulations. Even the people who follow strict regulations feel our saints’ path is something unique. Outsiders, for example, say, “What? Do you eat only once a day? Wow,” “You don’t have any contact with opposite-gender at all? Is it really possible? Can you guys live like that? Incredible.”
They can’t even believe it. They think “Can someone really live like that?”
See how surprised the world is by observing very few regulations laid by Maharaj. How surprising would it be to watch the strict lifestyle and strict regulations of NandSanto who lived along with Maharaj?
The glory of Maharaj is that anyone who lives as per Maharaj’s instructions can never be defeated by any internal enemies.
On this earth, He executed such a satsang that can’t be found elsewhere in this world. Many great souls were surprised by the standards of our satsang. He spread His influence, He did surprising leelas, and He made His abode easily available to as many souls as possible.
All the internal enemies like lust, anger, hate, miser, etc., were sitting idle until Maharaj and elder saints were present on this earth. Being unable to do anything, they were waiting for the right opportunity to enter.
Once Maharaj and elder saints left to their abode, the first thing internal enemies did was, they all came together and started jumping and dancing joyfully as they are now free to take revenge on those who defeated them.
In this universe, no one can be completely free from internal enemies because Bhagwan made this universe from internal enemies.
Is this universe made of virtues or vices (like internal enemies)? What is the root of this universe?
The universe is not made from virtues; it is made of lust and other internal enemies. Bhagwan introduced these internal enemies to expand the universe and to allow the universe to run by itself.
And so, Bhagwan didn’t make arrangements to destroy these internal enemies once for all but made arrangements to be saved from them.
Thus, internal enemies can’t be destroyed forever. The only thing we can do is to save ourselves from them.
Many historic brave souls were defeated by internal enemies. How brave are we in front of those brave souls? Yet if we want to save ourselves from internal enemies, here is the way.
Anger
If we are going on in a particular direction, and if someone stops us, and says, “Never go in this direction but go in the other direction,” and if they do not allow us to go forward in the direction we want to go, then we will get angry.
If we hold something in mind, and if it is disturbed, then we get angry.
Desire is the root cause of anger. If an intense desire is disturbed or if someone tries to stop us from going toward that desire, then anger takes over us.
If we reduce keeping things and desires firm in our mind, then our anger could be mitigated.
If desires are controlled and yet anger arrives, then if all senses are frozen (or stilled, without doing any action), anger calms down, melts, and disappears.
Desire for money
Maharaj asked His saints to keep away from money and money-generating sources.
Money and opposite-gender are to be distanced from the mind.
The root of everything is desire. If there are obstacles to a desire, then we get angry. How about if the desire is fulfilled? If a desire is fulfilled, we want more desires to be fulfilled. If one desire is fulfilled, we go for the next desire—a bigger one this time. So, we become a miser.
As we make profits, we desire more profits. After gaining profits, if we don’t desire more, then we can be free from being a miser. But that is practically impossible.
It is like giving a biscuit to a dog and asking it to stop waving its tail and to be happy with one biscuit. But that is quite impossible. If we give one biscuit to a dog, it will wave its tail welcoming a second one. After making some profits, not desiring for more profits is as hard as that.
Taste
The best way to become free from the desire for tasty foods is to sit along with others and eat.
If we eat alone, then our taste buds want to eat something different. We might be eating very cheap food, but if we eat alone, we will get the desire to eat tasty foods.
To win over taste, Maharaj instructed us to put all the food items in a vessel, mix them with water, and eat by remembering Bhagwan.
Eat along with everyone (sit with the group while eating) and follow the instructions of Maharaj (mix all food items with water and eat).
Attachment to relatives
To win attachment on relatives, Maharaj instructed His saints to not keep any relation with relatives even after death. It is not just about interacting with relatives; there should not be any kind of dealings with relatives, not even a “Jay Swaminarayan”.
Saints of these days, when no one is around, do talk with relatives as usual. When someone is around, they say “Jay Swaminarayan” and keep quiet.
Maharaj also asked us, “Don’t go places where you are honored and appreciated.”
Mind
The Shrimad Bhagwat says:
तथा चोक्तम्—
न कुर्यात्कर्हिचित्सख्यं मनसि ह्यनवस्थिते ।
यद्विश्रम्भाच्चिराच्चीर्णं चस्कन्द तप ऐश्वरम् ॥
tathā coktam —
na kuryāt karhicit sakhyaṁ
manasi hy anavasthite
yad-viśrambhāc cirāc cīrṇaṁ
caskanda tapa aiśvaram
[SB 5.6.3]Definition: All the learned scholars have given their opinion. The mind is by nature very restless, and one should not make friendship with it. If we place full confidence in our mind, it may cheat us at any moment. Even Lord Shiva became agitated upon seeing the Mohini form of Lord Krishna, and Saubari Muni fell from his mature stage of yogic perfection.
नित्यं ददाति कामस्यच्छिद्रं तमनु येऽरय: ।
योगिन: कृतमैत्रस्य पत्युर्जायेव पुंश्चली ॥
nityaṁ dadāti kāmasya
cchidraṁ tam anu ye ’rayaḥ
yoginaḥ kṛta-maitrasya
patyur jāyeva puṁścalī
[SB 5.6.4]Definition: An unchaste woman is very easily carried away by her lovers, and it sometimes happens that her husband is violently killed by her lovers. If the yogi gives his mind a chance and does not restrain it, his mind will facilitate internal enemies like lust, anger, and greed, which will doubtlessly kill the yogi.
The more we trust ourselves by thinking “I am worthy,” “I am special,” then the more our mind wins over us.
Successful and intelligent people never trust themselves or their mind.
“I do not trust my own mind,” said Shreeji Maharaj. “Never trust yourself, but trust someone more authentic than you.”
When we don’t trust our mind, then our mind can’t win over us. When the mind can’t win over us, internal enemies can’t win over us. If we trust our mind, that is a win for our internal enemies.
So, Maharaj said, it is our strategy to not trust our own mind.
Rushabdev Bhagwan was a realized soul. All supernatural powers came to him, yet he didn’t accept them. He thought, “If I accept, someone down the line will accept them by considering me as an example.” So, he didn’t accept those supernatural powers.
Maharaj added, “I like the detachment that is born from not trusting mind.”
Thus, by punishing these powerful internal enemies, all the other little internal enemies got scared and kept quiet.
With these effective techniques, Maharaj made His saints and devotees win over the internal enemies and made them stainless. That is the power of Maharaj.
References: