Uncover yourself chapter 10🔗

To tell you honestly: you are not going to surrender to me. The disciple never surrenders to the Master. He only surrenders to himself. But as of now, you do not know who you are, so if I tell vou to surrender to yourself, you will not be able to fully understand. The moment you surrender to the Master, you will be thrown back to your self. The Master is the path back to your Self. Guru Bhakti - devotion towards the Master suddenly leads to Atma Bhakti - devotion towards the Self.

- UNCOVER YOURSELF -

An old devotee tells THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM that there are times when he is not quite sure who he is following. "There are times when I feel like I am following You', he says, 'and there are other times when I feel like I am following myself."

You see: whether you follow yourself or you follow me, there is no difference. It is as if you are looking into a clear, still pond. When you stare deep into the pond, your reflection stares back at you. So who are you looking at; the pond or yourself ?

If you understand this one truth, you will understand the relationship between the Master and disciple.

The Master is the pond. He is a mirror which the disciple can simply look into and see his own reflection. Understand?

You are looking at me only to see yourself. And this is why I am going on telling you to surrender. You are not surrendering to me; you are only surrendering to yourself. It is just like a mirror. A mirror has to reflect you; otherwise it cannot be called a mirror. So the only purpose for your looking at me is to look at yourself. As you look at my face, your real face will be revealed to you. Then the mirror is no longer needed because you have seen yourself.

And this is what being a disciple means; to simply look at the Master and lose your self. The Master will reflect what you already are.

When I say look at the Master, I mean be with him. But in the ashram, there are a few guys who sit around and just look at me while the others discuss their doubts. They will go on gazing at me. I call it 'gazing meditation'! As you go on gazing, you will simply drop my form and turn inwards. But you must not get caught up with the form and forget you are looking at a mirror. Simply gaze at me with the deep feeling that you are experiencing yourself.

A brahmachari says that there are times when he feels like he is fighting with swamiji .

Actually you are not fighting with me; you are fighting with the transformation. You are afraid there is no way back to what you have always lived with. And you know there is no way back. This is why there is a fight.

It is a battle against yourself. Your pseudo self will go on being defeated, yet it will go on trying. The Master is a reflection of you. So it will feel like you are fighting with me.

As of now, there are two patterns within you: the artificial and the natural. If you are open and allow the Master to do his work on you, he will effortlessly pull the natural from its depths and bring it to the surface. But if you continue to fight, you will nurture the artificial and it will only take longer. Understand: because you have two different things within you, there is an inner fight, an inner argument. One side wants to be open and receptive and the other side wants to remain closed and sealed off.

It is like you are a mirror, a shiny mirror. But through the years, dust has collected. If you become open to the Master and allow him to do his work, he will simply wipe your mirror clean. But if you go on fighting and resisting, more dust will accumulate. And poor guy, he has to wipe that also!

So just become receptive and allow your mirror to be wiped clean. Then you will be able to see with more clarity. You will be able to see that I am you there is no difference. And if I am you, with whom are you fighting? There is no one to fight with!

- UNCOVER YOURSELF -

One more thing: in the presence of the Master, all the emotions which you have been carrying your whole life will come up. And they will be more total than what you have experienced before. This is why your mood changes so frequently when you are with me. Society has taught you to allow only certain emotions and suppress others. Here, all the emotions will come up and be chiseled; all of the emotions will be worked on.

What you project yourself to be and what emotions lie within you are two separate things. And it is a very powerful technique to be in the Master's presence because everything will come up and be expressed totally. When it is expressed, it will pass.

• RISING IN LOVE WITH THE MASTER -