Master and Apprentice
The subtle relationship that exists between a spiritual master and his apprentice is something that goes beyond time immemorial and transcends both life and death. It is the most powerful relationship in the whole world, and its constancy and virtue can only be experienced and not related in words. A master is someone who is free from the recursive and redundant way of existence that the human life is. Simply put, he is a causal being who is not bound to his physical existence owing to his karmas.
The master is a liberated individual who only returns to the physical existence with a purpose in mind; a purpose of selfless benevolence that is instituted in the progress of his apprentice. The master may accomplish this feat through many means. He may either incarnate or manifest in this world as a human being. Both incarnation and manifestation have different meanings to them. We will elaborate on this in the near future, but for now it will suffice to say, that the master always remains near his apprentice to guide him and shape him accordingly, so that one day, he may become a master himself. The worth of a true living master is beyond all quantitative measure. It takes lifetimes of good karma on part of the seeker, to be in the end blessed with a living master. Many seekers, through the course of time, take to themselves many masters, but in the end they fail to realize the fact that it is not the apprentice who seeks out the master; it is the master who finds the apprentice. A seeker can only get to the point where he can get a living embodied master, through sheer perseverance and unshaken faith in the lord. The lord tests the resolve and the constancy of the seeker’s desire all the time and in the end when he feels that the seeker can truly transcend the illusion of choice and come to a point where his perceptions would remain the same through time. The master is an invaluable and imperative asset in the spiritual journey of the seeker, and the seeker on his part has to prove his worth to be granted that boon.
The master’s scope of work is hardly something that can be described in words He is an individual in whom the divine cosmic energy instantiates itself and manifests itself to the seeker’s perception. Being a liberated individual himself, the master possesses all knowledge pertaining to the seeker’s past, his present and his future. To put it crudely, the master knows each and every significant karmic liaison that is enlisted in the seeker’s name. He is aware of all the latent desires that the seeker bears in his heart. The master knows and cognizes the fact that the seeker can hardly progress on the spiritual path with a heart that is burdened with the regret that stems from unfulfilled desires and a boatload of unrequited karma to his name. Thus the master on his part chooses to liberate the disciple through this recursive and redundant form of existence. In the end, the master achieves this when he instantiates the same form of cosmic energy in the seeker; i.e. when he instantiates the image of God in the apprentice; when the apprentice in the end transforms to being more than just a man; when the apprentice in the end himself becomes the master.
The journey referenced in this article is a journey that transcends thousands of years. It is a journey that takes great perseverance and dedication to complete; but most of all it takes great devotion and unparalleled spiritual desire to be selfless and to be benevolent. That is the only way into God’s kingdom. Many a times, some spiritualists claim that a person is his own master. That stage is a very advanced stage of spiritual evolution and does not necessarily apply to everyone. Those who get to that stage can only do so with the guidance of a realized master and hence they on their own accord never ever proclaim themselves to be great realized souls. An astute example of this is Sant Dnyaneshwar, who all through the “Dnyaneshwari” (a commentary on The Gita written in the 13th century by the great saint) never even refers to himself as a saint or a great master. He always refers to himself as the apprentice of NivruttiNath (“nivrutti daasa mhaNatee”)
Thus the point of the matter is that the master is of paramount importance in the life of any seeker. We should always be aware of this and with gratefulness and humble austerity continue our journey on the spiritual path…:)
The featured image is that of Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj.
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Tags: apprentice, description, master, spirituality
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November 23, 2009 1:48 am
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By Umesh, November 24, 2009 @ 7:18 pm
Excellent Article.
By Sunil Junnarkar, November 25, 2009 @ 12:48 pm
Jai Gurudev,
This article help us on the part of seeker to know, what is takes to be the devoted seeker and receive the guidance & blessigs from the master, on the journey of spiritual path.
Its truely insightful article.
Warm Regards,
Sunil Junnarkar