Every moment in the life of a sadhak is a havan, an ahuti (sacrifice) made to the Devs — be it the act of eating food, sexual gratification, travel and leisure or even sadhna… even a sadhna has to be sacrificed after a stage. All these aspects are aspects of the physical — that which is temporary and unreal — it does not exist. The moment a sadhak associates himself with a physical aspect and tries to hold on to it, it is called a dilution in yog. On the other hand, if the sadhak makes an offering to the Devs with every physical aspect, it paves the way to evolution.
The Devs and Danavs are real and can be accessed through this body by doing sadhna under sanidhya of a Guru. The subtler the energy, the more purity is called for in the sadhna to attain it. The slightest waiver of focus or even a momentary thought/desire for something else is enough to make one spiral down. The reason why people falter is because they do not have a Guru.
A Guru is the one who gives you the experiences of the spiritual world. As one walks the path shown by his Guru, he intercepts many flowers that are planted on the sides of the track. A shishya is one who keeps walking the path keeping his eyes fixed on the Guru. If he pauses even momentarily to pluck a flower or even admire its beauty, it is considered a dilution. Then the person will get the flower but in the process, he will lose the path of Guru.
A clear indication of whether you are moving deeper into the science or into dilutions is your experience. The level of sadhna and your experiences go hand-in-hand. If your experiences are growing and your interactions with the energy-world are increasing, then no matter what you are doing in the physical, it means you are on the path. And if your experiences are not growing, then no matter how many pujas and paaths you are doing, you have drifted from your path.
Here one needs to be careful of the mind playing tricks. The mind is a powerful entity and can lead you to believe anything that you want. A simple way to check this is to monitor the amount of time you spend in sadhna and in physical pursuits like work and relationships. If you are spending lesser time in sadhna and more in physical pursuits, then no matter what experiences you are having or how much you think you have progressed, you have actually regressed, for it is the mind playing tricks for sure. If the time in sadhna and with the Guru is going up, then your experiences are real and you are on target.
A Guru can sense dilution much earlier and warns the sadhak to be careful. A majority ignore this warning because their ego does not allow them to see the mistake and move away from the Guru, and understand only once the damage is done. At the time when one decides to move away from the Guru, he needs to see that what is he moving towards while moving away from the Guru. Your acharan decides your state. Let no one else judge you. If after leaving the Guru, you immerse yourself into silence and are able to attract those around you into the subject and the practices, then no matter what anybody says, you are walking in the right path. If on the other hand, you are busy setting up shops or having affairs or interacting with people who are immersed in artificiality, be rest assured that you have diluted yourself.
A Guru tries till the last to somehow save the shishya, to keep him on the path. Maharana Pratap’s Guru feigned being Maharana Pratap in front of enemies so that he could escape. That is what a Guru does — he does not even shy away from putting his life at stake for a shishya, because even in doing that he will get salvation. A Guru has to carry the shishya on the path, but then if the shishya refuses to be carried further or changes his path mid-way, there is little that the Guru can do…
