1. 27 Ways to Approach the Master

The master is ever changing, ever flowing Whether the disciple is present or not, the master goes on flowing He is not flowing for you in particular he is flowing simply because it is his nature to flow. He brings to life all that touches him, but stops for none. Drink deep of the master, drown your being in him if you dare but do not try to hold him in your hands for you may open your palms to find nothing but Nothing.

The Master is a door that is always open He invites you to pass through him into yourself He can be your channel but he is not your destination He will not allow you to stop at him. The Master is only an availability a direction that can open to the infinite sky that can open inward, into You.

3: The Master is a Searchlight You may or may not recognize the master, but he is sure to find you. Like a searchlight, he focuses his being on your own. He uses himself to illumine you. He does not show you the light he is the light. He showers you with his light and in the light of his being you find your own. And never can you flee the master for his being is sure to seek you out!

4: The Master is a Magic Wand He transforms you from who you are, to who you can be. From caterpillar to butterfly from frog to prince. he makes you aware of the truth of your own inner being. You are a latent potential a possibility. He guides you to your own flowering to your own fulfilment.

5: The Master is an Axe Never turn to the master for security for that is one thing he will never give you. He takes away from you everything that protects you - your habits, your relationships, even your mind! Even your reason. He breaks down the walls you have built painstakingly over the years- money, power, knowledge - brick by brick. He throws you upon the utter insecurity of life because those who have nothing else find God.

The master gives you birth anew. To him you belong, completely, entirely. He nurtures you with his very being Ultimately, you will be part of his blood and bones, you will dissolve into his being. Just as your mother brings you forth from the source, The master is the channel who returns you to the source.

He gives you no answers, but he is your answer. If ever doubt should take hold of you If ever you should question the reality of All the master is your living evidence. The master needs no further proof, his very existence, his being is proof enough of God. He questions each of your answers, but he is the living answer before which all your questions die.

When you come to the master, be ready to die. For he will surely demand the death of your ego, of your mind, of your self To be intimate with the master is to court death itself for he leads you into that experience where nothing remains not even the awareness that you are no more. At his feet, surrender your life and your death. The master will not accept any less.

The Master reflects your own inner being. The master watches you with your own eyes And if only you could look deep into them you might glimpse the reality of what you are but you are afraid! The master is your truth that you hide from yourself but where will you hide from your own image? The master is Reality, no more, no less; relentlessly he brings you up against the awesome divinity hidden within.

Like the lake upon which no ripples rise the master absorbs the chatter of your mind, he welcomes you into the silence of his being his is not the silence of wordlessness his is the silence that sings the silence of the bamboo flute : frozen music. when a master speaks, listen not to his words but to his silences and you will hear that truth which no words can ever express.

The master wields the knife of Life. His cruelty is the cruelty of compassion. He cannot tolerate anything that nourishes the cancer of your ego. Every moment with the master is a fresh surgery and he offers you no anaesthetic! he cuts you off from the umbilical cord of your deepest conditionings with him you experience the true terror of Death and with him alone you are Born.

12 : The master is a Compass The master shows you every direction you may travel in. He will not tell you which one is right for you but you can see. In his presence, you begin to move in the direction most natural to you and therefore the most correct. For all directions ultimately lead inward And the master is always, always pointing inward But he leaves you free to come in from any direction you choose. So follow not where the master seems to point : foll low where he is.

The master shows you how to live utterly in the present moment. He has no plan for tomorrow, not even a plan for today for him, all is play, and all is joy. His actions do not arise from habit for where is the mind to store them? He simply responds to the moment, moment for moment. Like every child, he carries a key we have left behind : the rare capacity to marvel. He looks at the world with wondering eyes ever absorbed in the miracle that is Life.

The master does not have to give you the truth. The truth is already inside you but it is fast asleep The task of the master is to call it forth. He is the flintstone that lends the first spark the catalyst that ignites the flame. He kindles you with his very intimacy Till the spark catches in the depths of your being and the fire begins to blaze within.

You cannot hide from the master He penetrates you even without your knowledge Before him, you lie totally open, completely vulnerable All that you hide from the world cannot escape the keen search of his eye He pierces the deepest layers of your being Perceiving with equal clarity both : the disease you try to hide and the Divinity you don't even know you carry within.

16: The Master is the Beloved You cannot approach the master with your head with your mind. Approach him with your heart. With unquestioning love, and unconditional surrender. Allow the master total freedom of your space. Allow yourself to fall deeply in love! With complete receptivity, utter vulnerability yield to him, and he will yield his being to you. Only when you dissolve in him, and he in you can the miracle of your transformation happen.

17: The Master is Freedom Only by entering into the master can you enter into complete freedom. The master is the key that frees you from the prison of your mind, of your ego. He liberates you from the walls you have built around yourself. The master forces you into that state of sharp awareness that comes only when you are totally free when all possibilities are left open when you have nothing left to fall back upon.

18 : The Master is an Oasis Like a miracle of nature like an oasis in a desert when the disciple is truly ready, the master appears. Whenever there is a deep need it is sure to be fulfilled. But you have to be thirsty enough to be allowed to drink. Your search has to be intense enough to qualify. What the master has to offer cannot be given to a mere passerby For he has much to give but you have to be ready to receive.

The master is your inner voice. He guides you on the right path just by his presence. You cannot deceive the Master you are transparent to him. He is not concerned with what you are doing but what you are. The master is your reminder that you can do no wrong for you are the Divine in disguise.

The master has no plan for you, but he is the master plan that Existence has designed for you. Through him you will fulfil Existence's will. Through him is born the path that is right for you The master has no technique, no device but he carries the blueprint of your destiny. He does not tell you your destination yet he carries the secret map that can unfailingly lead you there.

21: The Master is a Bridge The master takes you across the river of Life He supports you on your journey inward. He carries you safe above the deep dark waters of doubt and depression. But the master himself is the last support you will have to let go of. When all else has been conquered he is the final bridge you have to cross before you move on without a backward glance.

The greatest teacher of all is the non-teacher. The master teaches not by showing, but just by being. He gives you no ideology, he places no conditions He is here to free you of all ideologies, all conditionings. Whatever you can learn from a master is what you absorb in his presence, in a flash. The master ignores your mind; he is concerned only with your being. He gives you no concepts; he gives you clarity of vision. He is more than a teacher – he is an awakener.

The Master is the fire that can cleanse you of all other fires raging inside He is the fire that can quench your anger purge your guilt burn your ego. To cleanse you, he will have to first consume you, destroy you. Allow it. In that fire alone is there hope of a renewed birth.

The Master is what lies ahead. He is the hope that urges the seed to sprout even when engulfed in the darkness of the earth He is the voice that calls forth the flowers into blooom even before the summer has come He is the promise that calls you forth into fruition even as you cry, 'I'm not ready! Not yet!' Never turn your back on the master's call for he is not only your promise; he is also your fulfilment.

The ways of the master are strange, because they are not of this world. He is the body, and he is not the body. He uses his mind, but he has no need of it. He looks like you and me, he eats, laughs, sleeps - but his inner core is totally different. He has gone beyond birth and death. He is of a different space. To try to understand the master is to look deeper into oneself to come closer to one's own inner being. That is what the master is - an invitation to discover oneself.

The master is the ideal of natural perfection in this world. Like the lotus that blooms in the murky pool he is of this world, yet remains untouched by it. Even as dewdrops glide off the lotus leaf the concepts of good and evil, right and wrong time and space cannot lay hold of him. He welcomes you to share in his joy to savour his grace, to taste the nectar of his compassion. Like the divinely beautiful lotus his presence is a delight to whomsoever beholds.

The master radiates the fire of his own brilliance. He is forged of the same carbon as you or I but a lifetime of tapas has purified him beyond recognition. Beware the master, the diamond - he lures you with his sparkle! Drawn by his radiant charm, you approach closer and closer - only to find, in a sudden moment, unwarned! his luminous edge drive deep into you severing the ego in a way so flawless, so fine that not even a scar remains to betray that the person you once were, exists no more.