The Balance Between Effort and Non-effort

Having recently written about the concept that a spiritual aspirant or seeker need "do nothing", I thought I would further touch upon the Divine grace which flows regardless of effort or non-effort in everyone's lives.

While Nithyananda conducts the Acharya's training program, I find myself alone, seemingly separated by distance from my Guru. I made a decision when this period of separation begain, to go into silence, thinking that it would enable myself to connect more strongly with the presence of the Master (which I acknowledged, at least theoretically, was not limited by geographic or time-space constraints). Three days into the experiment, a friend alerted me to what the Master said about my vow, about which I had already personally informed Him prior to undertaking, "the cool breeze of the Master is always flowing irrespective of whether you are physically present or not. But by doing such things you obstruct that cool breeze."

These words created a tremendous shift in my awareness when I heard them, perhaps helped by the fact that I had created an energetic receptivity through my silence. It occured to me, how by this creation of unnatural effort, I was trying to take matters into my own hands, so to speak, completely driven by ego, or the sense of doership. In reality, my connection with the Master was never broken, despite the emotional upheaval at seeming separation. The Guru-disciple connection is the most sacred bond, forged for all eternity, in this life and beyond. How could anything ever sever it? Does not Nithyananda promise, "I will always be with you?", and had I not experienced that connection in every moment, with every breath?

Nithyananda further clarified, "all your sadhana is essential only upto the point when you meet the Master; after that point it becomes redundant, and even an obstacle. Just relax and let the Master work on the tumor of the ego. When I put my hand on it, you might run away because of the pain, but then I won't leave you. I will use anesthesia and perform the surgery. It will take more time but it will happen without pain. So allow me to work." The beauty of this incident lies in the fact that I was not stopped from following my own mind; experience in this case was the best teacher.

Only a relaxed, easy flowing with the moment remains necessary once the Guru has entered one's consciousness. All else is truly taken care of by the Divine. One learns to function as an unconcerned entity, detached from a sense of personal doership from this point onward. One continues to "do" things, including meditation and worship practices, yet remains a "non-doer" and recognizes that nobody was ever the doer!