JAY MAI JAY MAI JAY MAI 1 page

MAI-ISM

CHAPTER IV

MAI’S MANDATE

The Founder was re-employed in Hubli in continuation of his service in Bombay from 1942. People came forth from Bombay [Mumbai] to have Darshan and blessings. The Founder had some new types of experiences here which he wishes to be recorded.

The Founder is of opinion that every saintly or spiritual aspirant should record his experiences with the preciseness of all laboratorial experiments results. There must be standing public institutes for the said work. In India, no saint ever leaves after him a guidance for the younger generation in the shape of his own personal experiences. The disciples or devotees of the said saint are always anxious to show to the world that the saint was perfect from the day he was born. He was never even a quarter step out of the straight path or away from the consciousness of perfection or needing any illumination. People want their saints to be only a perfect image, perfect from the day they came to existence. They are not interested in the life of a saint as a man in the making, whereas in reality it is the deep study of those details alone which can help the future generation in the line towards a solid progress.

Mere worshipping our saints, Gurus and great men without trying to follow in their footsteps won't help us. No Guru will give us the nectar unless we love and serve him, unless we are devoted to him and unless we try our best to be what he is with unconditional and cheerful self-surrender. It is not that the saints are less merciful, but there are limitations beyond which the eternal Divine Law does not permit the result to accrue. One unit can be multiply to be 100 units, but zero remains a zero however great the multiplier may be.

To return to the experiences, the Founder was given a bungalow as a guest to temporarily reside. On the first day in Hubli a big gathering was held there and rich Prasad and sweets were distributed. Just then, a bitch got in and she was driven out without giving a bit and with a stick. At 2 a.m. after departure of all, Founder prayed to Mother, for the success of the first gathering in Hubli. He had not taken his meals. He had the joy of success but an overwhelming sorrow at the idea of the bitch being beaten out without a bit of bread. He was disgusted with man's non-consideration for other men, what to speak of animals. In a great disgust he decided not take his meals and laid himself down on his cot. At half past two the very same bitch which was turned out with beating came out from below the cot, began to lick the Founder and pulled his garments towards the kitchen! The Founder was happy like anything. He went to the Puja-room, worshiped the bitch and began to eat with the bitch, his own meals, partaking with bitch half to half. He caressed the bitch," Are you now satisfied? " " Mother! Hast Thou sent a bitch to see that I do not sleep hungry? "He wept with his face against the bed out of gratitude. When he opened his eyes after composure, he was surprised to see that the bitch was no where there in the whole bungalow of which all the doors had been locked before going to bed.

The Founder had once been in a condition for twelve days. This is the actual description: Any thought (people have experience, how many thoughts they have in a second), any one of them which did not mean a feeling of love, service, devotion or surrender to Mother, as soon as it rose in the brain, gave him a fire burning which gave an unbearable shooting pain and was nothing sort of a physical burning. The only difference was, unlike physical burning, here it was an unbearable burning which disappeared as soon as the thought subsided. Suppose you are traveling in a second class through an extremely hot country. You have closed all windows and have kept ice around you. Immediately something goes wrong and all the windows fall open. A burning blast of extremely hot air attacks you from all sides. You immediately run and close all windows and the burningness disappears.

To start with, he would have hot-fire-blasts at any other thought. Here I am afraid the reader can't imagine. Any thought means absolutely any. Even such a thought as " My name is so and so '". Any means any, absolutely. People cannot imagine certain states of blankness without having the actual experience. Their nothing is much above the real nothing and they suspect exaggeration. It is interesting to have an idea of Founder's habitual ordinary blankness. He would have often to ascertain whether he took meals or not, by seeing if there are any used dishes or whether the food kept for him has remained in the vessel or not. He could not recognize his own daily used things and would show the poorest memory about his possessions. Even after sixty, he can't distinguish between similar fruits daily used in his home or the most common grains or cereals. He believes that one of the secret of his devotional success is his strictest observance of ' No vacancy ' for admission in his brains to anything except those that are indispensable. With this knowledge the reader will be able to conceive what the Founder's ' nothing ' in the blankness referred to in the said experience can mean.

But later it came to a climax when even a thought like ' Mother is Merciful ' gave a burning blast. Even the idea of ' Mercifulness ' was inadmissible. Beyond ' Mother ' absolutely nothing was permitted. ' Mother' alone, not even the predict and the verb. A thought even like this, " Mother Thou art alone true, the rest is all unreal " was not admissible.

It was a period when he had alternate seconds of hot blasts and normal rests. Just as a victim even when there is over powering force would assert himself before losing his life, he would not mind the painfulness of the hot blasts and say ' " Mother, not even Thy mercifulness? Not even Thy greatness? Not even Thy oneness? Not even my saying ' I do not exist outside Thee? ' " He would dash his head against the pedestal where Mother was installed and weep with the frightful notion of incoming insanity. He knew this was a process of reforming every atom of his brain and mind. But who can guaranty a happy end? He had previous experiences of the type and he had passed through them with Mother's highest Grace, but who can say what will be the end? The mutilation of the mind itself?

The stage automatically disappeared after twelve days, by Mother's Grace, not gradually but all at once, just as he were pulled out by a crane from deep drowning waters to the shore.

How foolish it is to ask a devotee, how often he had dealing with his deity and worshipped. There is no end of it. What the world knows of true devotee is only a sample and a drop.

One more experience which the Founder repeats with pleasure is this. Opposite to his bungalow was the bungalow of a well-known songstress. Once at 2 a.m. he was in meditation in a room with none except V.L. B. (Bro. V.L.Baddi), his constant companion in Hubli. The Founder began to hear most pleasing celestial music. Said he to his companion," Is the songstress singing so wonderfully at 2 a.m.?" The companion said," No. No. I don't hear anything. "The Founder said," What not? Just sit on this wooden seat and hear. "The companion sat on the wooden seat. He was surprised," Yes. Yes. What a wonder is this. "So very beautiful music. She has never sung like this. "To be more sure the Founder asked his companion what was the tune. He said, "It is Lalit Pancham." Founder danced with joy. Both ran outside to see if the songstress was in her spirits singing her best. What is there? Pitch dark. No door or window open, none awake, all asleep.

The Founder and companion returned. Founder said," Let me see if I still hear. He sat on the seat. The music was going on. He got up and asked the companion to sit. The latter spoke with joy.," The very same Lalit Pancham but now its further higher note. ". Founder again ran, though this time the companion did not accompany. It was all dark in the songstress place. After some devotional talks they both slept. The light was extinguished. A few minutes after, they heard a burst of laughter. That was second wonder during the night.

The Founder wrote details of both experiences viz., twelve days ' confinement and celestial music, to his friend in these mystic experiences and was happiest when he had a reply: " Mother is fondlingly playing with you. The second experience is only making amends for the first. You were burnt with scorches for twelve days as that was considered necessary by Mother. She has given you the sweetest music one can ever hear as the divine medicine to restore your mental normality. Nothing is impossible for Mother. She laughs with a burst, on seeing that still, even after so many experiences you do not credit Her with powers which you yourself have described in your books."

These two experiences kindled a desire in the Founder's heart to arrange for a personal contact with Mother in the fullest solitude. He wanted a place where none, not even a sparrow would be between him and Mother whether he was in communion with Mother. None should be able to see or know what he is doing, whether he is beating his forehead or slapping himself or weeping or rolling on the ground or dancing or playing or most endearingly talking before and with Mother.

There was gradual development of the Mother-Movement as a whole. The ideal of the outer form of the Founder's activities had arisen from that of a society of the Mother's Lodge. From a lecturing hall for the public with a private personal worship in his own home in Poona, arose the public worship on large scales.From the prayer-house of some few individuals came forth a Religious - Relief - Home, with worship, mantra repetitions etc.

Mai-ism says," No man that is born is perfect as God; but that does not mean you should lose your reason in the matter of deifying and worshipping and serving the greatest God-like men, with usual argument," He too is imperfect, just as we are; he is a bit less, we are a bit more imperfect, that is all ". Great are great and small are small, even though great do small things and small do great things. Great men are to be followed in their great acts and no to be judged by their blunders.

The wise man who binds himself with ropes of devotion and self-surrender and prays to God and Guru to pull him upwards is never lost and sure to rise to the highest point in course of time and as speedily as it can be, so long as he does not with his own hands sever himself from the protective and pulling powerful ropes. Catch God and Guru, never to leave, come what may, that is the highest secret of success Mai-ism gives. Set no big values as to how you fare. The opposite pairs of pleasure and pain, success and failure, rise and fall etc., are sure to play their parts. Fix up your eyes ever constant on your relationship with God and Guru, and the rest will automatically follow.

Idealism and ideal living is no doubt the purest sublime-most condition, but there is the other force of practicality, which is co-existent and remains un-alienated. I refer to the constant struggle between matter and spirit. Matter so often weakens and subjugates the spirit. What is required to be done is therefore the gradually acquired proofness that is attainable only by being alternatively within and without the mud mire of worldliness for times without number.

As a parallel to the development of the outer form of the Founder's activities, it is interesting to note the inner development of his mental changes as he passed through several stages. Without losing his own universal-mindedness, he had to stoop to the greater utilities of a defined religion for all practical training of the people and making them interested in true religiosity. The substance of a religion must be there to churn out religiosity. To make people interested in sweetness, any substance, say sugar, honey, grapes, jiggery or any such thing has to be most familiarly dealt with. What substance would in natural course be selected, would be the one that the people to be dealt with are most familiar with. Because on leaving Poona [ Pune], he could not get the outer universal skeleton, he had to choose the most easily available and utilizable Hinduism. Not that his universal-mindedness was any less. And he turned to Hinduism. The universal-minded man took up Hinduism because he had to deal with Hindus. If he were in the midst of Christians the selected substance for increasing the popular craving for true religiosity would have been Christianity. Even now the doors of Mai-ism are open to all varied types of religionists. The spirit of the Founder's universality would take, say, the Christian or Mohammedan colour even now, if the followers in large wieldable and countable groups belonged to Christianity or Mohammedanism. To understand more clearly, Mai-ism is the sweetness itself or the true religiosity itself and not a certain substance or a certain religion. The abstract conception required a concrete substance. The substance however brought its lights as well as shadows. Mai-ism in its outer form became Hinduistic, although no opportunity was allowed to pass without awakening and maintaining the public consciousness of the requirement of " Universal mindedness "as Mai-ism's true understanding. The abstract conception brought in the substance.The substance brought in the shadow, the shadow brought the Founder face to face with people's darkness and blackness of head and heart, ignorance, utilization for selfish ends and exploitation. The Founder was gradually pulled by people to tolerate their actual 'below-mark' stage and was dragged to descend from abstract supreme devotion to the practical work of relieving the distress of the people, from advising Nishkama Bhakti to admitting the Sakama Bhakti, from a general Mai Sadhana to the same for one's own purpose, from people's grateful humility to their worldly business tendency and finally, from their fair and honest business attitude, to the worldly natural plane of easy cheating and exploitation even in the realm of religion.

The Founder had to descend, step by step, to meet people on their own plane, which was found to be lower and lower as the Founder went deeper and deeper into the bottom layers of people's natural plane. He however persisted because in any case, he was not for abandoning hopes or his life long avowed Mai-Mission work.

The more he came into contact with people, the more disillusioned he became about the real value of the so much tom-tombed religiosity of the Religion. He saw very little of a practical nature beyond passing liking or a taste and nothing like love for religion with sacrifice. Religious living did not mean a different mode of actual living. He saw hat even the so-called universal-mindedness of many was, on analysis, nothing more than a courteousness, a little tolerance, a little broad vision, a little goodness and a royal talk. That by itself could not stir up the inner soul.

In practical life universal-mindedness was only a negative virtue. It had its value because with many others the infatuation about their own religion and in some cases fanaticism were there as a contrast. By itself the universal-mindedness as he saw, did not mean much constructively, in the actual progress in religion and Religiosity. The Founder here does not refer to the highest meaning of universality, viz., seeing and treating every soul as one's own self. That is entirely out of the question in this world, at least the modern one, except for few exceptions who are in the world and not out of the world. The first descent from abstract devotion was towards the Nishkama Bhakti. The Founder went on being faced with bankruptcies after bankruptcies from one surpriseful unhopefulness to another. Going down he could not meet Sadhaks, who would be for increasing their supernatural accumulated powers for public welfare through Mantras, meditations, worships etc.; the average plane was still lower. Religion was found to have some faintest signs of being welcomed, on the Sakama Bhakti plane.The Founder went down and down and welcomed even the out and out Sakama Bhaktas resorting to religion, mantras etc., for a particular specific object. There too the Founder's hopes were frustrated. Few took up the devotional or religious permanent colour. People licked away honey and left the dry bread. Founder said to himself," Well I am more than satisfied if people remain contacted with religion even though that be for clear-cut openly declared purpose and only periodically." However the world was found to be shameless even therein in the lowest requirement, and even feeling grateful to God or Guru was found to be not only absent but out of question and question-barred. God or religion were found to carry no higher value than a stop - cock of a water-pipe to be turned whenever one wanted water.

The Founder would have considered himself blessed, if he had found the world at least at that stage of periodical devotion for a specific object. The world however showed still more wonderful varieties of lower planes. Discontentment underlying demands, and further, even wrathfulness on non-fulfilment of demands, so to say, dictated to Mother. The Founder permitted himself to be down dragged because in any case, he wanted the unwilling horse of the world to drink the celestial waters. He tolerated Religion being made even a matter of business and there too the world most hopelessly failed to be true to its words of recognition even after fulfilment of their specific desires. The introduction of business element murdered the last remnant of gratefulness. The world was found hopelessly poor in the matter of the very first requirement of true religiosity, viz., humility and gratefulness. If he had known the true value in 1932, and if it were a matter of his own choice, he would not have dedicated his life to this fool's and mad man's work. The rub is there - " If it were a matter of his own choice. "

The Founder would be sitting in the Mai Prayer Hall (28 feet by 16 feet) on an Asan (Seat) on the floor in front of his dearest Mother on a pedestal, exactly in square line with the image. The place has breeze from south and west and powerful lights are making the place bright enough for the humble devotee to be viewing Mother most minutely at intervals. The Founder would shed tears and pray to Mother to do any of the two things She pleased,"At least show me some faint phantom of success in my undertaking of Thy work or sweep out the last remnant of desire to raise the religiosity of the religion following world through Thy Mai-ism." Mother however would do neither.

The paradoxical position, in the matter of God's attitude, is simply a torture, although a spiritual one.What is the deepest hidden working underneath? It is a play of God or Mother with His or Her dearmost devotees. They live their most intense life with Almighty, but the world as a whole remains practically unchanged, though with a temporary spiritual flood.

When the Founder would be tired to the last point, Mother would explain the paradox thus: -

Do you think it is the laying down and explaining certain best recipes of a religion, that can make the world happy? No.

Do you think it is ceaseless effort of understanding of truths, that entitles men to be happy? No.

Do you think the world is unhappy and miserable, without its own evils and sins? No.

All is delusion.

And yet know this, the secret of secrets. Enjoyment and Happiness proceeds from Relinquishment,to the extent you throw away things of the world. "Love alone is the Teacher of Relinquishment.Service concretises Love. They become happy who love and serve Me and whom I love.The claim to be happy finally rests on Love and Service to me and Mine, with devotion and self-surrender. Neither people can change matters nor you. What is people's highest self-control before Nature's urge within? And what can our highest effort do unless I move the keys of people's hearts?

"And yet the paradoxical position that you are weeping about saves the world and is the keynote of the secret working."
"It was true of every one that was, is and will be dearest to Me.There is no human working that permanently helps. It is only My will. The usefulness of all working of people, or God's dearest devotees proceeds from quite a distant irrelevant invisible thing."

To repeat, it is this: "Those who love and serve Me, My dearest and My children, will be saved."World as a whole will be run on the basis of its collective merit, but individuals will be saved." The rest is all Maya's befooling of mankind, through delusions of authorship, ownership, actorship etc., and misunderstandings through networks of causes and effects, distinctions and differences, mine and thine, etc.

" Millions have preached religion. Where is the happiness? Millions have mechanically obeyed Divine Laws laid down in scriptures. Where is happiness? The bestower of happiness is I Myself. There is nothing like any person's claim thereto in virtue of any well earned dues or any deservedness."

"The Lover, The Server and The Surrenderer to Me or Mine alone wins the highest victory of happiness." The rest is only a temporary mirage-like satisfaction and a passing talk, a word-froth, a speedy revolving of a motor wheel raised above ground; the meter would read miles but the motor stands where it has stood.

The Founder would jump up from his seat of meditation and lift Mother's picture and holding Her over his head, would say in highest jubilance," Then what else have I been doing and preaching? " His brains would cool down with an overpowering sleep. He would again have the passion to continue Mother's work in spite of failures. He would say to himself," Failures are no failures except in worldly eyes. Every effort itself by virtue of its being with the purpose of serving Mother and Mother's work is a victory by itself."

Catching Mother in Her highest joyful mood, he would gradually creep in with his prayer," Let my desire of seeing Thy name and the specified name of JAYA MAI repeated by thousands be fulfilled, for that alone can make he world happier, if not now, just before I return to Thee; if not then, when I am disembodied and am more able to do Thy work; if not then, even after several centuries, through Thy selects."

The founder would be surprised and annoyed at the inverted arrangement of " First Mother and Motherliness, and thereafter the world and worldliness ". He would ask," Why should I be dipped in the worldly rottenness after having known the source of nectar and having partly sipped the nectar? " When this questing was causing agitation, the Founder had the Mother's Grace of having the Life of Paramahamsa, made an offering to him by a Mai devotee in November 1949 at Madras (Chennai), and there he found the corroboration. " First God attainment and then the world - entering ".

The ancient Hinduism has also accepted or rather taught the very same truth.What else in the meaning of Brahmacharya Ashram? Does that not mean, " First God and then the world "? Did not that mean you enter the world after God-initiation and Divine Knowledge?

Illumination is one thing.Conviction is the next higher thing; realisation is still a higher thing. And corroboration after realisation is yet a still higher thing. No realisation gives you the perfect joy without corroboration. You may dispense with a Guru upto the last end, if you are vehemently against having a Guru, but at that last stage of corroboration, the Guru is indispensable.

The Founder explains " conviction " thus. We talk of God as the Saviour of the most wicked. A stranger comes and threatens you with," Is that true? " You shiver; you tremble; you say, " We only hear so, so many have said so in the past." You seek out a way from his clutches, you walk out with a weak platitude, you yourself are overpowered with doubts. In the end it may well be said that you have a consciousness of having accepted a certain statement as truth with usual heard mentality. On the other hand, the realised man stands firm as rock. He has the courage, the conviction of any mother that would boldly say out, with respect to an altogether face-changed son of hers after years, " Yes. he is my son." That conviction is there because the son is a piece and parcel of hers. A certain truth must have similarly formed a piece and parcel of the realisation of the realised.

Corroboration. With greatest exertions you have reached Mother's Mansion. You have been sitting on the very steps of the Mansion. You say " This must be the place ". But yet it is " must be ". You require some one ahead of you to say " Yes, you are right. This is Mother's Mansion. ". Till then the realisation is not perfect.

In addition to the routine way. Mai- Swarup and Mai-ism declare and reveal the existence of the under-ground passage. There are no qualifications which are indispensable for an aspirant provided he has an unfathomable love for Mother. You love Her; you serve her; you surrender yourself to Her, every thing including salvation is yours. That is Mai-ism.

The Founder suggests a special attitude towards religious questions, to derive highest illumination. We should not have attitude of summing up everything with ' Everything is the same ' mentality, nor should we have the mentality of " Everything is already with us ". Then alone you you will squeeze out the maximum joy of understanding religion.

Help Mother to make the world better and more happy. Not to retire from the world, but to help Mother in the task of ameliorating the world. Not leaving the world to it's own lot. There, there, is one of the permanent distinctions of Mai-ism.

There is quite an independent path of love. Love between God and devotees.It is as good as a mechanical law of magnet and iron, the iron piece may be rusted or brilliant, it may be anything, of any colour and any shape. It is we who mix up things. We jumble up the up the ideal of God as Mother or Love with God who runs the Universe, who can adjust matters to our advantage. How you fare in life and the world, should be entirely a foreign inadmissible matter in the said independent path of Love. The return of Love is love and not prosperity, power, removal of miseries, subjugation of opponents etc.; Love means absolutely nothing else. The jumbling is there; don't jumble up Mother as Mother to Her child and Mother as Creatrix and disposer of Universe. You love Mother but in return you want the whole pleasure and wealth of the world. If you are satisfied of love of Mother towards you, your love and readiness to die for Her in itself is sufficient and is independent of all requirements. There only the plain and scientific law holds. You weep out of separation from Mother, Mother runs to you. She heals you up and your wounds in hospital; She bandages you. But, mind, She runs not necessarily to give you what you want and to help you out of your pitfalls. She runs to you to remove the pangs of separation. She too runs because She can't remain without running. " Loving Mother becoming Mother " That is the second unfailing divine law. Mother's mandate to Her highest devotees is: " Be Mother to all as I have been to You." Do you want Mother for Mother's sake? Well, there your way is clear. There is an an dependent path of divine love, which does not make any other achievements indispensable. That is the innermost teaching of Mai-ism.

To return to our narration, all his friends and admires and Mai-ists hailed the idea of selecting a place where he would be staying alone with visitors, off and on. In actuality, he had leaved separate from his family since he began the movement in 1932. With his devotional activity, it was impossible for him to be living with his family. Some visitors may be honest, some cheats. Any one in distress would come to him at any odd hour.

Once at the one a.m. in the night in 1932, the Founder's door was knocked by a man of reputation. He explained his calamity. Someone was dragging him into court with a nasty woman-entangled accusation. He had to come for a loan of Rs. 500 at that odd hour. The Founder was never rich. He said, " I have no money, but I can move Mother to change your enemy's mind to be merciful." He agreed. He was made to lie on a carpet, repeating certain Mantras at the Lotus Feet of Mother, that night. He was made to fast for three continuous days and subjected to confinement in the owner's place. One of the man's friends kept a watch over developments and informed the Founder and the man. Soon a well known pleader was engage, as the next day a suit was to be filed. First day gone. The friend brought the news that the filing of the suit was detained as the antagonist had a high fever. Founder made himself bold to send word to the antagonist," Your accused has surrendered himself to Mother and is in my charge. You will not get free from the fever, unless you change your mind to be merciful." The man laughed away. Three days passed. The fourth day happened to be the day when the Founder was ordered by the head of his department to proceed to Dharwar for things to be kept ready for him for a meeting. He had promised the man in distress that he would do his best to take him out of the calamity.