The Truth is Beyond

The great Zen master Ma-tzu — when he was an aspiring disciple — would meditate intensely for unusually long hours everyday. Observing this, one day, his master Huai-jang enquired of him, “What is the purpose of your meditation?” Ma-tzu replied, “I am practicing this to become an enlightened being, a Buddha.” Huai-jang grabbed a brick and started rubbing it with a rock. Curious, Ma-tzu asked his master, “Why are you grinding on that brick ?” “Not grinding,” the master replied, “but polishing it into a mirror.” “How can you make a mirror by polishing a brick?” Ma-tzu asked, stunned. “How can you become a Buddha by practicing meditation?” snapped Huaijang. Ma-tzu understood what his master said. The Zen story illustrates that techniques and methods are useless in the spiritual domain. They may promote health and well being of the seeker but they cannot bestow God realisation on him. Pranayama may be beneficial for the lungs but what is doubtful is its ability to plunge the seeker into the realm of Truth. Since no method, no technique can help us realise God, the only way is the living true spiritual master. The true master bestows on the seeker directly, the knowledge of God. The great saint Kabir says, Guru and God both appear to me. To whom should I prostrate? I bow before the Guru who introduced me to the God. This is the core philosophy of Sant Nirankari Mission, which firmly proposes that knowing God — the eternal, omnipresent and formless — is possible by anyone who approaches the True master.

Source: Economic Times, 18/02/2019