Despite
the fun and games we had with Master each day at the Florida Center,
Master still had Her normal work to do. Actually, Master had far more
work than normal due to the pre-arrangements needed for the Middle Eastern
and African lecture tour. Tremendous concentration, foresight, and research
were required to ensure that the entire tour would run smoothly. While
we residents could relax after an entertaining evening of joke telling
and movie watching, Master would return to Her work, continuing well
into the small hours of the morning, and sometimes right through to
the next morning, without sleep.
Master
mentioned one day that She really could not sleep at such a time. She
went on to describe how busy She was by saying, "I use three phones
and all are burning. I listen with my feet, I talk with my toes and
I respond with my ears. The telephone lines are burning almost all night
and all day". As difficult as this period of time may have seemed
to us, Master surprised us when She said that the weeks spent with us
were like Heaven for Her because She never had any mundane distractions
to cause Her trouble. These heavenly benefits naturally come more easily
when living in a harmonious, peaceful, and relaxing atmosphere such
as that at our Center.
For
Master, work is work and play is play. This means that, whatever She
does, She always gives Her total commitment and energy, both mental
and physical. At one stage, when the organization of the lecture tour
had reached a critical point, Master required assistance from some of
us residents. Our involvement meant that we had to keep up with the
lightning fast pace and energy consuming demands of Master's work level.
Therefore, during this period there was no time for sleep, and, at one
point Master needed to remind us that if She was awake and working we
too must at least be awake and ready to help.
As
time went on, constantly submerged in the tasks at hand, our attention
became focused together. I found that my usual useless thoughts and
scattered mind had ceased to exist. Although I was not aware of it at
the time, without conscious effort, I was fully concentrated and my
mind was empty of the usual distractions. Throughout my life, one of
my greatest weaknesses, the source of many of the problems I have encountered,
is a general lack of concentration and a very flighty mind. Finally,
through Master's and God's arrangement, I was given a very privileged
lesson in true concentration. This, however, did not come easily, but
the sheer momentum and power of Master's one-pointed concentration and
motivation was strong enough to carry along with Her a relatively poor
and slow helper such as me.
During
those days, my mind had neither the space nor the time to observe or
realize the changes I was going through and the progress I was making.
Only after life had returned to its normal day-to-day routine did the
true fruits of Master's blessing become apparent. Now my total attitude
toward work has changed. Whether a job is large or small, important
or routine, it demands and deserves the same attention to detail and
concentrated effort to complete, without wasting time. Thanks to Master's
divine grace, this change within me seems to have occurred invisibly
and without my mind's usual forceful efforts.
Now
when I look back over the years since my initiation, I can recall similar
moments when serving others selflessly resulted in my spiritual progress
taking a great leap forward. So great is the power behind our inner
connection with Master, that when we truly make an effort to strive
toward our noble ideals, miracles will occur which we could never have
dreamt of before. We need only to never forget our noble goals and continue
to strive forward with the courage to succeed regardless of the challenges
Master gives to us as tools for mastering ourselves.
Between Master and Disciple
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Blessing
of Joy in Florida