Satisfaction

Dear seekers, dear spiritual brothers and sisters, I wish to give a talk on satisfaction from the spiritual point of view. It is only human beings that need satisfaction from God. God Himself is all Satisfaction. At the same time, He wants to see and achieve satisfaction inside each and every individual. Here we are all seekers. Inside us is the animal existence to some extent, the human life as such, and the divine life that we are longing for. Finally, Light Supreme abides within us, in the inmost recesses of our hearts.

The animal in us wants satisfaction through destruction. The animal in us is jealousy, doubt and anger.

The human in us wants to aspire, but then it drowns in the pleasures of ignorance. At times it does want to aspire, and when it aspires it feels the supreme necessity of realisation: realisation of its inseparable oneness with the world of Love, God's Love. The divine in us consciously and constantly longs for satisfaction, satisfaction within and satisfaction without.

The Supreme within us wants the supreme Satisfaction. God is granting us His unconditional Satisfaction. He is showering His infinite Compassion on us. And we receive according to our inner receptivity and capacity. Our capacity is our devoted head and our receptivity is our surrendered heart.

We want satisfaction; therefore, we make a personal effort. From our personal effort we gain satisfaction. Again, from our inner surrender to God's Will we gain higher satisfaction. When we combine soulful personal effort with surrender, at that time we get supreme satisfaction.

Being a seeker myself, I wish to say that there are three principal ways to achieve satisfaction in life. First is the way of concentration, second is the way of meditation and third is the way of contemplation. Through concentration, meditation and contemplation we achieve satisfaction: dear, dearer, dearest satisfaction; sweet, sweeter, sweetest satisfaction. Satisfaction that is dearer than the dearest, sweeter than the sweetest. Concentration is speed; it wants to grant us satisfaction sooner than at once. When we concentrate, we can achieve and receive considerable satisfaction on earth. It is like a man reaching his goal; deep in our destination is satisfaction.

Meditation is slightly different. Meditation will give us peace, which is another kind of satisfaction.

Contemplation gives us satisfaction through delight. It helps us to discover the delight within us. Contemplation tells us that delight is our Source, that in delight we actually grow and that at the end of our earthly journey, into delight we shall retire.

Concentration is speed satisfaction, meditation is peace satisfaction and contemplation is delight satisfaction. Concentration, meditation and contemplation are the three members of the divine self. Each member plays a distinctive role in bringing satisfaction. Concentration plays the role of the hero warrior. Meditation plays the role of the wisest instrument of the Supreme. Contemplation plays the role of the divine Lover and the Beloved Supreme.

Concentration joyously declares, "God is for me." Meditation soulfully declares, "I am for God." Contemplation unconditionally declares, "God and I are eternal. I am for God and God is for me. I am unconditionally for God and God is unconditionally for me." This is the blessing and wisdom light that contemplation offers to us.

Concentration has the capacity to discover the tiniest drop inside the vast ocean and to concentrate on it. It can separate the tiniest drop from the infinite Vast and then it can do anything it wants to do with the tiniest drop.

Meditation has the power, on the strength of its inner spiritual capacity, to transform the tiny drop into the vast ocean. The power of meditation has the capacity to transform the finite into the infinite Vast.

Contemplation has the capacity to see unification between the tiny drop and the vast ocean. In contemplation, they combine their capacity in order to achieve satisfaction.

Creation is satisfaction and the Creator is satisfaction. If we see creation with the eye of our Inner Pilot, it is nothing short of satisfaction, supreme satisfaction. But if we see creation with our own human eyes, with our limited vision, then we see and feel nothing like satisfaction. If we use our limited vision, we see all around us confusion and frustration. But if we invoke God Vision, we see God's creation in us, through us and around us. Then, we notice continuous preparation and ever transcending perfection in His creation. Confusion and frustration offer dissatisfaction: continuous preparation and ever transcending perfection grant us divine satisfaction.

Expectation is satisfaction when we want something from others. We expect something from others, others expect something from us. Each of us gives and we both derive satisfaction. Then we go one step ahead and feel that there is no satisfaction in expectation. If we expect, we act like a beggar. A beggar is one who does not have the things that he wants. If we have expectation, I tell you that we act like beggars; but we are like an emperor if we don't expect. Instead of expectation, we have to have surrender, constant surrender to God's Will. We shall evoke God's Presence and then it is up to Him if He will grant us satisfaction. If we seek only to be His perfect instruments, and if He allows us to be His perfect instruments, at that time we shall derive true satisfaction. Each individual seeker can pray and meditate and in this way grow into satisfaction supreme. When he wants his satisfaction to be high beyond the skies, he climbs up high, higher, highest in order to see His Heavenly Father and thus grow into divine, supreme satisfaction. And the same seeker, when he meditates, realises that God's Heavenly satisfaction is not only in Heaven but also on earth. Therefore, when he wants to feel his Father's Heaven in the highest realm of consciousness, he climbs up on the strength of his prayer and when he wants to see His Father's Universal Form as well as His Transcendental Form, at that time he prays.

We pray, meditate, concentrate and contemplate only for one thing: the satisfaction of our Lord Supreme. If we fulfil ourselves in our own way, out of His boundless Compassion, God without fail will grant us satisfaction in our own way. But just because we are spiritual seekers, our sincerity will not allow us to derive supreme satisfaction unless and until we can please God in His own way.

How will we please God in His own way? There is only one way and that is through self giving. Self giving is founded upon our constant inner cry. This inner cry we see, we feel and we grow into only when we put God first in our life.

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June 18th, 1976
Friends' Meeting House
London, England