GOD TO MAN AND MAN TO GOD

The Discourses of Meher Baba

First Edition (1955)

Edited by

C. B. Purdom

An Avatar Meher Baba Trust eBook

June 2011

Copyright © 2011 Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust,

Ahmednagar, India

Short publication history: God to Man and Man to God: The Discourses of Meher
Baba was originally published by Victor Gollancz (London) in 1955. It was
republished in a slightly revised second edition (with a new introduction by
Margaret Craske) in 1975. This eBook reproduces the original (1955) edition.
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 GOD TO MAN

AND MAN TO GOD

 GOD TO MAN
AND MAN TO GOD

THE DISCOURSES OF MEHER BABA

Edited by

C. B. PURDOM

LONDON

VICTOR GOLLANCZ
1955
 Made and printed in England by
STAPLES PRINTERS LIMITED
At their Rochester, Kent, establishment
 CONTENTS

Introduction 9

PART I

I The New Humanity 19

II The search for God 25
III God-realisation 29
IV Aspirants and God-realised beings 34
V The state of the God-man 39
VI The work of the God-man 43
VII Avatar 47
VIII The Circle 51
IX The ways of the Masters 56
X The qualifications of the Aspirant
1. Entering into the realities of the 61
inner life
2. Some divine qualities 64
3. Readiness to serve 66
4. Faith 68
XI Discipleship 72
XII The formation, function and removal of
sanskaras
1. Their formation and function 76
2. The cessation of sanskaras 82
3. Exhaustion of sanskaras 90
 XIII Meditation
1. The nature of meditation and its 94
conditions
2. The chief types of meditation 98
3. General classification of the forms of 101
meditation
4. Assimilation of the Divine Truths 104
5. Special meditations which are 111
personal
6. Specialised meditations which are 115
impersonal
7. Sahaj Samadhi 119
8. The ascent of Sahaj Samadhi 123
XIV The nature of the ego and its
termination
1. The ego the centre of conflict 128
2. The ego an affirmation of 132
separateness
3. The forms of the ego and their 137
dissolution
PART II
XV The dynamics of spiritual advancement 145
XVI Good and evil 149
XVII The place of occultism in spiritual life
1. The value of occult experiences 154
2. The occult basis of spiritual life 159
3. Occultism and spirituality 164
XVIII Reincarnation and Karma
1. The significance of death 170
2. Hell and heaven 174
3. The memories of past lives 178
4. Specific conditions of incarnation 181
5. The need for male and female 184
incarnations
6. The operation of Karma through 187
successive lives
7. The destiny of reincarnating 192
individuals
 XIX Maya as falsehood
1. False values 197
2. False beliefs 199
3. Transcending the falseness 202
4. God and Maya 204
XX The stages of the path 206
XXI The deeper aspects of Sadhana 212
XXII Perfection 216
XXIII The beginning and end of creation 220
XXIV Selfishness 226
XXV Violence and non-violence 231
XXVI God and the individual 234
XXVII The element of sex 239
XXVIII Love 245
XXIX God as Infinite Love 251
XXX The conditions of happiness 254
XXXI Eork for the spiritual freedom of 258
humanity
XXXII The task for spiritual workers 261
XXXIII States of God 266
Index and Glossary 269
 INTRODUCTION

The spiritual discourses contained in the following pages

are by one who has been completely silent for thirty
years, and has not written a word (except his signature)
for more than twenty-eight years. They were dictated to a
disciple, by means of a Roman alphabet board, for the
benefit of his close followers. At Meher Baba's request I
have edited them to be made available for a wider public.

Merwan Sheriarji Irani, known as Meher Baba, was

born in Poona, of poor parents on 25 February 1894. He
was educated at the (Roman Catholic) St. Vincent's High
School at Poona, afterwards at Deccan College. A lively,
genial, intelligent boy he was active in sports and
interested in poetry, but had no special spiritual interests.
At the age of nineteen, when cycling, one morning, he
passed an old woman sitting under a tree, who beckoned
to him, and when he came to her, embraced him. From
that moment he partly lost consciousness and was unable
to continue his studies. She was a Moslem holy woman,
called Babajan, who died eighteen years later, in 1931, at
a great age; her shrine is maintained in Poona. Meher
visited her a number of times, and for more than a year
was in a deepening state of abnormal consciousness. After
two years he was fit to lead an itinerant life, and visited
several Sadgurus. He came to the well known spiritual
master, Sai Baba of Sherdi, who sent him to another
master, Upasni Maharaj of Sakori, who when he first saw
Merwan, threw a stone at him, which hitting him on the
head brought him to a certain degree of normal
consciousness. He stayed nearly seven years with Upasni
at Sakori, and in 1921, Upasni said to Merwan, now
restored to full normal consciousness, "An Avatar is born
in your person, Merwan, you are the Ancient One". He
told one of his leading disciples, Gustadji, to follow
Merwan (thereafter called Meher Baba), which Gustadji
has done ever since.

Other disciples of Upasni at his orders followed

Baba, who in

9
1922 opened an ashram near Arangaon, Ahmednagar,
named Meherabad, where he also carried on for some
years a free school for boys of all castes and creeds;
afterwards a free dispensary, and a Mast ashram for God-
intoxicated men not conscious of their physical bodies.
He ceased to speak from 10 July 1925, using an alphabet
board for communication, and in another eighteen
months, on 1 January 1927, he ceased to write.
Nevertheless, he was intensely active, physically and in
other ways, and travelled all over India, gathering to him
disciples without distinction of nationality, caste, religion
or sex. He alternated these activities with long periods of
seclusion and fasting, and his work has had a number of
distinct phases an account of which cannot be given here.

Meher Baba's silence does not mean that he does not

speak, for he declares that he speaks to himself; but he
speaks to no one else. His work is done in silence,
inwardly, and is concerned with awakening people to the
unity of spiritual knowledge and the love of God.

Until the spring of 1931 he did not leave the East,

but has since paid seven visits to Europe, including five
visits to England, and four visits to the United States of
America. He has been twice round the world. These
journeys were made privately in the course of his spiritual
work, and for the sake of contacting individuals. He has
given a number of public "darshans", however, the last
being at Pandharpur, in the Deccan, on 6-7 November
1954. He had already discontinued the use of the alphabet
board on the previous 7 October, reducing all
communication to the minimum of gestures, without
making signs or using his fingers; he is now retiring into
complete privacy, giving up all external activities and
communication with the outside world.

The discourses contained in this volume were not,

usually, dictated word by word. Baba's method was to
state a theme and to indicate a general outline, which was
completed by an Indian disciple, though sometimes he
would go over every word. The language and methods of
illustrating what was said were for Indian hearers and
readers; in preparing the discourses for Western
publication they have not been re-written, but what
seemed to be redundant words or phrases have been
eliminated to reduce their length and to make them clearer
without, however, any other change. These facts should
be borne in mind now that

10
the discourses are made available to a wider public. A
certain amount of repetition that may be found is due to
the form of the teaching.

Although these discourses are in the nature of

teaching, Baba declares that he has not come to teach, for
mankind has plenty of teachers. He is not interested in
leading any religious organization, because the world has
plenty of religious leaders. He does not provide a
substitute for Christianity, Buddhism, Mohammedanism,
Judaism, or any other faith; indeed his first word to
Christian, Buddhist, Moslem or Jew and every other
believer is to practise his own faith.

As the Ancient One, or Avatar, Baba's work is to

awaken men and women throughout the world to the love
of God and to their true selves as one with God. He
carries out that work by providing an example of the life
of which he speaks, also in other ways that he does not
explain. In particular he has a Circle, which is described
in these pages, including a group of devoted men and
women disciples who serve and obey him implicitly, live
continuously under his active direction, and represent in
his immediate presence, the world at large.

In the discourses, dealing with the most profound

things in the simplest language, Baba intends to raise the
reader to his own level. They are not to be understood as
mere contributions to philosophy or religious knowledge
or to literature, though they contain explanations intended
to aid the seeker after spirituality. What Baba aims at is to
bring the reader to a state of being in which there is no
separation between knower and known or between being
and knowing. He no more aims at imparting theoretical
knowledge than at satisfying people's curiosity about
himself, or themselves, or the world. He is not against
such curiosity, but its satisfaction is not his work. He
invites people to look at themselves, to accept their
egotistic selves not as good or bad, clever or stupid,
successful or unsuccessful, but as illusions of their true
selves, and to cease to identify themselves with the
illusion. We who read him are all pretenders, so let us
give up our pretenses, is what he causes us to say to
ourselves, if we read him aright. But Baba does not say
what moralists and religious reformers say, which is that
in giving up our pretenses we should be ashamed of
ourselves for what we are. We are as it were in prison,
enchained by our past; but, he says, open the prison door
and

11
come out, breathe the air of infinity, enter into your
inheritance, and, he adds, "I will help you."

We all see different worlds but all are illusions.

Baba invites us to look inwards with humility at our true
selves, to look outwards in love because we are
interwoven with others, and to look upwards with
rejoicing at the Eternal Being. He also invites us to look at
him, to keep him in our mind's eye, so that the illusion
which surrounds us may have no power. This may be a
stumbling block to those who have not met him but to
those who have it is easily understandable; and many who
have not met him have come to understand it equally
well.

Baba proclaims brotherhood, for we cannot exist

without each other; our interests are the interests of all,
and our good the good of all. Unless we love each other
with self-sacrificing love we shall not be able to enter into
our inheritance. Baba points within each heart and says
"there is the infinite loving God". And he points to
himself as the example of love.

He is thus primarily concerned with the inner life.

"No social problems," he says, "are to be solved from a
point of view that accepts duality as real". He does not
say that social problems do not matter, but that they are
the effects of men's ideas about themselves, and that the
attitude of men in all these practical affairs would be
transformed were they to understand what was real and
what was illusion. Baba declares:

“For him no one governs but one world;

To him no one serves but his own self;
For him no one enjoys but Nature's wealth;
To him no one suffers but his own self;
To him no one worships but one God;
For him no one slanders but his own self;
To him no one treads but one path;
To him no one reaches but one goal;
To him no one stores but his own wealth;
For him no one begs but his own lost wealth;
To him no one lives but one life;
To him no one dies but one death."

Baba proclaims that God is the absolute fullness

through whom only is there meaning in anything. God is
the inwardness to which the mind of men has to be
directed to enable the illusion of the

12
world to be known. People ask Baba strange questions.
When Pilate asked Jesus, "Art thou a king?", Jesus said
"Thou sayest it", to the discomfiture of Pilate. When Baba
is asked "Are you God?", he makes a similar answer, to
the discomfiture of the questioner. No one can read these
discourses without realizing that Baba's answer to that
question, which he certainly provokes, is "The self in me
and the self in you are the one Self". This is declared by
St. Paul, "But we all, with unveiled face, reflecting as in a
mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the
same image from glory to glory . . .".

These discourses cover a wide field, but they begin

and end with the reader himself. This is therefore a
dangerous book. Baba is dangerous, as all who have been
near him know. He will not leave alone anyone who
listens to him. This therefore is not a book for those who
do not want to be disturbed and who propose to go on
living as they have always done. Such readers will not
like it. This is not a book for idle reading, but for quiet
hours, for solitude, and for those who crave for their lives
to be changed.

Baba invites those who listen to him to do the

impossible because only the impossible has divine
meaning. All that is possible belongs to the world of
illusion. The reality is the undreamed of, the hidden ideal,
even what it has not entered into the heart of man to
conceive. He invites us to be different, looking at each
other with different eyes, taking up our work each day
with a different impetus and vision from what we have
hitherto known, so that we can say as once was said in the
world, "The Father who dwelleth in me, he doeth the
works". Baba's awakening power is to enable us to
experience that our true human being is divine.

C. B. Purdom

13
14
 NOTE

The reader may find some terms in these discourses

with which he may not be familiar. Most of them are
explained, but to assist the reader a glossary is combined
with the index, which should be consulted should any
difficulty arise. For a more complete account reference
should be made to God Speaks, by Meher Baba (New
York, Dodd Mead & Co., 1955).

15
16
PART ONE

17
18
 I

THE NEW HUMANITY

As in all critical periods of human history, humanity is

now going through the travail of spiritual rebirth. Great
forces of destruction seem to be dominant, but
constructive and creative forces, which will redeem
humanity, are also being released. And though the
working of the constructive forces is silent, they will
bring about the transformation of man, for it is a part of
the Divine Plan to give to the world a fresh dispensation
of the eternal Truth.

The urgent problem with which mankind is faced is

to devise ways and means of eliminating the subtle and
physical forms of conflict and rivalry in the various
spheres of life. Wars are the most obvious among the
sources of chaos, but do not in themselves constitute the
central problem; they are the external symptoms of inner
disorder. Wars and the suffering they bring cannot be
avoided by propaganda for peace; if they are to disappear
it will be necessary to remove their root-cause. Even
when military wars are not being waged individuals or
groups of individuals are constantly engaged in economic
or some other form of warfare, and military wars with
their cruelty arise when these other causes are active.

The root-cause of the chaos which precipitates itself

in wars is that people are in the grip of egoism and
selfishness, and that they express egoism and self-interest
individually as well as collectively. This is the life of
illusory values. To face the Truth is to realize that life is
one in and through its many manifestations and to lose the
limiting self in the realization of unity.

With the dawn of understanding, the problem of

wars would disappear. Wars have to be clearly seen as
both unnecessary and unreasonable so that the immediate
problem is recognized as not how to stop wars but how to
wage them spiritually against the attitude of mind
responsible for so cruel and painful a state of

19
things. In the light of the Truth of the unity of all, co-
operative and harmonious life is to be perceived, and the
chief task before those who are concerned with the
rebuilding of human society is to do their utmost to dispel
the spiritual ignorance that envelops the mind of
humanity.

Self-interest eliminated from all spheres of life

Wars do not arise merely to secure material ends;

they are the product of uncritical identification with the
narrow interests which are included in that part of the
world that is regarded as "mine". Material adjustment is
only part of the wider problem of establishing spiritual
adjustment, but spiritual adjustment requires the
elimination of self not only from the material spheres of
life but from the intellectual, emotional and cultural life of
man.

To understand the problem of humanity as merely

the problem of bread is to reduce humanity to the level of
animality. Even when man sets himself to the limited task
of securing material satisfaction, he can succeed in that
attempt only if he has spiritual understanding. Economic
adjustment is impossible unless people realize that there
can be no effectively planned and co-operative action in
economic matters until self-interest gives place to self-
giving love; otherwise with the best of equipment and
efficiency in material spheres, conflict and insufficiency
cannot be avoided.

The rightful place of science

The New Humanity to emerge out of the travail of

present struggle and suffering will not ignore science or
its practical applications. It is a mistake to look upon
science as anti-spiritual. Science is a help or hindrance to
spirituality according to the use to which it is put. Just as
art, when rightly practised, is the expression of
spirituality, so science is the expression and fulfilment of
the spirit. Scientific truths concerning the physical body
and its life in the physical world can become a medium
for the soul to know itself; but to serve this purpose
scientific truths must be set in the larger spiritual
understanding and perception of values. In the absence of
such understanding scientific truths and applications may
lead to destruction and to a life that strengthens the chains
that bind the spirit. The progress of humanity is assured
only with science and religion hand in hand.

20
 The need for spiritual experience

The coming civilization of the New Humanity will

be expressed not in intellectual doctrines, but in living
spiritual experience. Spiritual experience belongs to truths
inaccessible to mere intellect. Spiritual truths can be
stated and expressed through the intellect, and the
intellect is of help for the communication of spiritual
experience; by itself, the intellect is insufficient for
spiritual experience or for its communication to others.
No intellectual explanation can be a substitute for spiritual
experience; it can at best prepare the ground for that
experience.

As spiritual experience involves more than can be

grasped by intellect, it is often described as mystical
experience. Mysticism is regarded as anti-intellectual,
obscure and confused, or impractical, and unconnected
with experience; but mysticism is none of these. There is
nothing irrational in mysticism, when it is a vision of
Reality. It is unclouded perception, and so practical that it
can be lived every moment of life and expressed in every-
day duties; its connection with experience is so deep that
it is the final understanding of all experience. When
spiritual experience is described as mystical, one should
not assume something supernatural or beyond
consciousness; what is meant is that it is not accessible to
the human intellect until transcended and illumined by the
direct realization of the infinite. Christ pointed the way to
this spiritual experience when he said: "Leave all and
follow me". This means that man has to leave his
limitations including his virtues and vices and get
established in the infinite life of God. Spiritual experience
not only involves the realization of the soul on higher
planes, but a right attitude to worldly duties and everyday
life; if it loses its connection with experience or the
different phases of life, there is a neurotic reaction, which
is far from being a spiritual experience.

Spiritual experience is not born of escape

The spiritual experience that is to enliven and

energize the New Humanity is not a reaction to the
demands of the realities of life. Those who do not have
the capacity to adjust themselves to life have a tendency
to recoil from its realities and seek protection m a self-
created fortress of illusions. Such reaction is a mechanical
attempt to perpetuate one's separate existence by
protecting it

21
from the demands made by life; it can give only a false
sense of safety and self-completeness. It is not even an
advance towards the solution, but a side-tracking from the
Path. Man will again and again be dislodged from his
illusory shelters by irresistible waves of life, and will
invite upon himself fresh forms of suffering by seeking to
protect his separate existence.

Just as a person may seek to hold on to the illusion

of his separate experience by attempting to escape from
life, so he may seek to hold on to it by identification with
forms, ceremonies and, rituals or with traditions and
conventions. Forms, ceremonies and rituals, traditions and
conventions are fetters to the release of infinite life, they
may be an asset for securing the fulfilment of the divine
life on earth; but they have a tendency to gather prestige
and make claims for themselves, and attachment to them
eventually leads to a curtailment and restriction of life.
The New Humanity will be freed from the life of
limitations and have unhampered scope for the creative
life of the spirit; it will break attachment to external forms
and subordinate them to the claims of the spirit. The life
of illusions and false values will be replaced by life in the
Truth; and the limitations through which the separate self
lives will wither away.

Identification with a group a form of the limited self

Just as a person may seek to hold on to his separate

existence through identification with external forms, so he
may seek to hold on to it through identification with a
nation, class, creed, sect or religion, or with the divisions
based upon sex. Here the individual may seem to have
lost his separative existence through identification with
the larger whole. But in fact he is expressing his
separative existence through such identification, which
enables him to take delight in a feeling of being separate
and different from others who belong to another class,
nationality, creed, sect, religion or sex .

Separative existence derives strength from

identification with itself and from distinguishing itself
from its opposite. A man may seek to protect his separate
existence through identification with one ideology rather
than another or with his cherished conception of the good,
which he contrasts with what he regards as evil. What is
found in identification with a limited ideal is not merging
of the separate self, only an appearance of it. A real
merging of the

22
limited self in universal life involves the surrender of
separative existence in all forms.

Hope for the future

The great majority of people are caught in

separative and assertive tendencies, and are thus bound to
despair about the future. It is necessary to look deeper
into realities to get a correct view of present distress. The
possibilities of the New Humanity are hidden from those
who look only at the surface of the world-situation; the
one outstanding feature of human nature is that in the
midst of the working of disruptive forces there exists
some form of love.

Even wars require the exercise of co-operative

functioning, but its scope is restricted by identification
with a limited aim. Wars are carried on by a form of love
but a love that has not been understood. For love to come
to its own it must be unlimited. Love exists in all phases
of human life; but latent or limited and poisoned by
personal ambition, racial pride, narrow loyalties and
rivalries, and attachments to sex, nationality, sect, caste,
or religion. For the resurrection of humanity, the heart of
man will have to be unlocked with a new love that knows
no corruption and is free from greed.

The New Humanity will come into existence in the

release of love through the spiritual awakening brought
about by the Masters. Love cannot be born of mere
determination, for through the exercise of will one can at
best be dutiful. One may through struggle and effort
succeed in bringing his external actions into conformity
with his conception of what is right, but such action is
spiritually barren, without the inward beauty of love.
Love springs from within, in no way amenable to force.
Love is essentially self-communicative and its own
evidence. Those who get love from others make response
which is of the nature of love, unconquerable and
irresistible, gathering power and spreading until it
transforms the whole. Humanity will attain to a new mode
of being through the free interplay of love from heart to
heart.

Redemption through Divine Love

When men recognize that there are no claims greater

than these of the Divine Life, which includes every one
and everything

23
without exception, love will establish peace, harmony and
happiness in social, national and international spheres,
and shine in its purity and beauty. Divine Love is the
expression of divinity, and through Divine Love the New
Humanity will be in harmony with the Divine Plan.
Divine Love will not only introduce imperishable
sweetness and infinite bliss in personal life, but will create
a new era. Through Divine Love, the New Humanity will
learn the art of co-operative and harmonious life, it will
free itself from the tyranny of forms, and release the
creative life of spiritual wisdom, it will shed illusions and
get established in the Truth, it will enjoy peace and
abiding happiness, it will be initiated into the life of
Eternity.

24
 II

THE SEARCH FOR GOD

Most people do not even suspect the existence of God.

Others, through early upbringing or the influence of
tradition, belong to some faith and acquire belief in God's
existence from education and their surroundings: their
faith keeps them bound to rituals, ceremonies or formal
beliefs but rarely brings about a radical change in their
lives. There are others, philosophically minded, who have
an inclination to believe in the existence of God, either
because of their own speculations or because of the
assertions of others; for them, God is a probable
hypothesis or an intellectual idea. They do not, however,
know God from personal knowledge, and God is not to
them an object of intense desire.

Direct knowledge of spiritual realities

A genuine aspirant to the knowledge of God is not

content with spiritual information based on hearsay,
neither is he satisfied with inferential knowledge. For
him, spiritual realities are not merely the object of thought
and their acceptance or rejection is fraught with
momentous implications. He searches for direct
knowledge. This attitude may be illustrated from the life
of the great sage, who was discussing spiritual matters
with a friend who was advanced upon the Path. While
they were thus engaged, their attention was directed to a
dead body being carried by their side. "This is the end of
the body but not of the soul," the friend remarked. "Have
you seen the soul?”, asked the sage. "No," was the
answer. And the sage remained skeptical about the soul,
for he insisted upon personal knowledge.

But though the aspirant cannot be content with

second-hand knowledge, he does not close his mind to the
possibility of spiritual realities that have not come within
his experience. In other words, he is conscious of the
limitations of his own individual experience

25
and refrains from making it the measure of every
possibility. He has an open mind for things beyond the
scope of his experience. If he does not accept them on
hearsay he does not entertain active disbelief in them. It is
true that the limitations of experience tend to restrict the
scope of the imagination, and a person comes to believe
that there are no realities other than those within his
experience; but as a result of some incidents in his life, he
may become open-minded.

This stage of transition may also be illustrated from

a story from the life of the same sage who happened to be
a Prince. Some days after the incident already referred to,
as he was riding on horse-back he came upon a pedestrian
coming towards him in his way, and arrogantly ordered
the man to let him pass. The pedestrian refused, so the
sage got down from his horse and they entered upon the
following conversation: "Who are you?" asked the
pedestrian. "I am the Prince," answered the sage. "But I
do not know you to be the Prince," said the pedestrian. "I
shall admit you as a Prince only when I know you to be a
Prince and not otherwise." This encounter at once
awakened the sage to the fact that God may exist even
though he did not know him.

Man indifferent to the existence of God

God either exists or does not exist: if he exists,

search for him is justified; even if he does not exist, there
is nothing to lose by seeking him. But man does not
usually turn to the search for God as a voluntary and
joyous enterprise; he has to be driven to this search by a
disillusionment about worldly things from which he
cannot detach his mind. Ordinarily, man is engrossed in
activities concerning the material world, and lives through
its experiences of joys and sorrows without suspecting the
existence of a deeper Reality; he aims at the pleasures of
the senses and avoids suffering. "Eat, drink and be merry"
is his philosophy. But he cannot entirely avoid suffering,
and even when he succeeds in having pleasures he
becomes satiated. While he thus goes through the daily
round of experiences, there arise occasions when he asks
himself, "What is the end of this?" Such an occasion may
present itself in some happening for which he is not
mentally prepared; it may be disappointment in some
confident expectations, or an important change in his
situation demanding radical

26
readjustment and the giving up of cherished habits.
Usually such occasions arise from the frustration of some
deep craving of which he is possessed. If that craving has
no chance of being satisfied, the psyche receives a shock
that may cause it no longer to accept the life that hitherto
has been lived without question.

Under such circumstances a person may be driven to

despair, and if the tremendous power generated by the
psychic disturbance remains uncontrolled it may lead
even to serious derangement of mind. Such a catastrophe
overcomes those in whom desperateness is allied with
thoughtlessness, for they allow impulse to have free sway.
Desperateness can only work destruction. But the
desperateness of a thoughtful person under similar
circumstances is altogether different because the energy
released is intelligently harnessed and directed towards a
purpose. In the moment of such divine desperateness a
man may take the important decision of discovering the
aim of life. There thus comes into his life the search for
lasting values. Henceforth the question that refuses to be
silenced is, "What does my life lead to?"

Divine desperateness the beginning of spiritual

awakening

When the psychic energy of man is centred upon

finding the goal of life, he is using the power of
desperateness creatively. He is no longer content with the
fleeting things of this life and is sceptical about the values
he has so far accepted. His desire is to find the Truth at
any cost and he does not rest satisfied with anything short
of it. Divine desperateness is the beginning of spiritual
awakening because it gives rise to the aspiration for God-
realization. In the moment of divine desperateness, when
everything seems to give way, a man may decide to take
any risk for realizing the possible significance of his life.

All the usual solaces have now failed him; but at the
same time his inner being refuses to reconcile itself with
the idea that life is devoid of meaning. If he does not then
admit some hidden reality that he has not hitherto known,
there is nothing worth living for. The alternatives are that
there is a hidden spiritual reality, which prophets have
described as God, or that everything is meaningless. The
second is unacceptable to a sane man; therefore he must
try the other. This man turns to God.

27
 Revaluation of experience

Since there is no obvious access to this hidden

reality, he looks upon his experiences as a possible
avenue to an explanation, and thus goes back to those
experiences with the purpose of gathering light upon
them. This involves looking at everything from a new
angle of vision and entails a reinterpretation of
experience. Now the seeker not only has experience but
tries to fathom its spiritual significance: he is not
concerned merely with what it is but with what it means
in relation to this hidden goal. And this revaluation of
experience results in gaining an insight which could not
have come to him before.

Revaluation of experience amounts to the

acquisition of wisdom, and each addition to spiritual
wisdom brings about a modification of the general
attitude to life. So the purely intellectual search for God
(or the hidden spiritual reality) has its place in the
practical life of man; his life now becomes an experiment
with perceived spiritual values.

The more he carries on this intelligent and

purposive experimentation with his own life the deeper
becomes his comprehension of its meaning, until he
discovers that in undergoing a transformation of his
psychic being he is arriving at the perception of the
significance of life.

Coming to one's self

With the clear and tranquil vision of the real nature

and worth of life he realizes that God, whom he has been
seeking, is no stranger. He is the Reality itself and not a
hypothesis; he is the Reality seen with undimmed
vision—the Reality in which he has had his being, and
with which he is identified. So, though he begins by
seeking something new, he arrives at understanding of an
ancient thing. The spiritual journey does not consist in
gaining what a person did not have, but in the dissipation
of ignorance concerning himself and life, and the growth
of understanding which begins with spiritual awakening.
To find God is to come to one's own self.

28
 III

GOD-REALIZATION

To arrive at self knowledge is to arrive at God-

realization. God-realization is different from all other
states of consciousness because they are experienced
through the medium of the individual mind, whereas God-
consciousness is not dependent upon the individual mind.
A medium is necessary for knowing anything other than
one's self; for knowing one's self no medium is necessary.
In fact, the association of consciousness with the mind is
a hindrance to the attainment of realization. As the seat of
the ego the individual mind is conscious of being isolated.
From it arises the limited individuality, which at once
feeds and is fed by the illusion of duality, time and
change. To know the self as it is, consciousness has to be
freed from the limitation of the individual mind. In other
words, the individual mind has to disappear while
consciousness is retained.

Throughout the life history of the soul its

consciousness grows with the individual mind and the
workings of consciousness proceed against its
background. Consciousness comes to be firmly embedded
in the individual mind. So when the mind is in abeyance
consciousness also disappears. The interdependence of
the individual mind and consciousness is illustrated by the
tendency to become unconscious when there is any effort
to stop mental activity through meditation.

The explanation of sleep

The phenomenon of sleep is not essentially different

from the lull of consciousness experienced during
meditation, though it is different in origin. As the
individual mind is continuously confronted by the world
of duality, it is involved in conflict, and when wearied by
its struggle it wants to lose its identity as a separate entity.
It then recedes from the world of its own creation and
experiences a cessation of consciousness.

29
 The quiescence of mental activity in sleep entails
the submerging of consciousness, but this cessation of
conscious functioning is temporary because the
impressions that are stored in the mind cause it to return
to renewed activity, and after some time the psychic
stimuli are responsible for reviving conscious functioning.
So sleep is followed by wakefulness and wakefulness by
sleep, according to the law of alternating activity and rest;
but so long as the latent impressions in the mind are not
undone there is no annihilation of the individual mind or
emancipation of consciousness. In sleep the mind
temporarily forgets its identity, but does not lose its
individual existence. And when the person awakens from
sleep he finds himself subject to his existing limitations.
There is resurrection of consciousness, but it remains
mind-ridden.

The obstacle of the ego

The limited mind is the soil in which the ego is

rooted; and the ego perpetuates ignorance through the
many illusions in which it is caught. The ego prevents the
manifestation of infinite knowledge already latent in the
soul, and is the most formidable obstacle in the attainment
of God. A Persian poem says, "It is extremely difficult to
pierce through the veil of ignorance; for there is a rock on
fire". As the flame of fire cannot rise very high if a rock is
placed upon it, a desire to know one's own true nature
cannot lead to the truth as long as the burden of the ego
lies upon consciousness. Success in finding oneself is
rendered impossible by the ego, which persists throughout
the journey of the soul. Though more and more detached
as the soul advances on the Path, it remains until the last
stage of the seventh plane.

The ego is the centre of human activity, and the

attempts of the ego to secure its own extinction may be
compared with the attempt of a man to stand on his own
shoulders. Just as the eye cannot see itself, the ego is
unable to end its own existence. All that it does to bring
about self-annihilation only adds to its existence, for it
flourishes on the very efforts directed against itself. Thus
it is unable to vanish through its own activity, though it
succeeds in transforming its nature. The vanishing of the
ego is conditioned by the melting away of the limited
mind which is its seat.

30
 Parallel between sleep and God-realization

The meaning of God-realization is the emancipation

of consciousness from the limitations of the mind. When
the individual mind is dissolved, the related universe
vanishes, and consciousness is no longer tied to it.
Consciousness then becomes unclouded and is illumined
by the Infinite Reality. While immersed in the bliss of
realization the soul is oblivious of objects in the universe
and in this respect it is as it were in sound sleep. But there
are many important differences between God-realization
and sleep. During sleep, the illusion of the universe
vanishes since consciousness is in abeyance; but there is
no conscious experience of God since this requires the
dissolution of the ego and the turning of full
consciousness towards the Ultimate Reality. Occasionally
when the continuity of deep sleep is interrupted, the soul
may have the experience of retaining consciousness
without being conscious of anything in particular. There
is consciousness, but not of the universe. It is
consciousness of nothing. Such experiences anticipate
God-realization in which consciousness is freed from the
illusion of the universe and manifests the infinite
knowledge hidden by the ego.

Difference between sleep and God-realization

In sleep the individual mind continues to exist

though it forgets everything including itself, and the latent
impressions in the mind are a veil between the submerged
consciousness and the Infinite Reality. Thus during sleep
consciousness is submerged in the shell of the individual
mind, but has not yet been able to emerge out of that
shell. So though the soul has forgotten its separateness
from God and has attained unity with him, it is
unconscious of unity. In God-realization, however, the
mind does not merely forget itself but has (with all its
impressions) lost its identity; and the consciousness
hitherto associated with the individual mind is freed from
trammels and brought into direct unity with the Ultimate
Reality. Since there is no veil between consciousness and
the Ultimate Reality, the soul is fused with the Absolute,
and eternally abides in knowledge and bliss.

The manifestation of infinite knowledge and

unlimited bliss in consciousness is, however, confined to
the soul that has attained God-realization. The Infinite
Reality in the God-realized soul has

31
the knowledge of its own Infinity; but such knowledge
does not belong to the unrealized soul, still subject to the
illusion of the universe. If God-realization were not a
personal attainment, the entire universe would come to an
end as soon as one man attained God-realization. This
does not happen, because God-realization is a personal
state of consciousness belonging to the one who has
transcended the domain of the mind. Others continue to
remain in bondage, and can attain it only by freeing their
consciousness from the burden of the ego and the
limitations of the individual mind. Thus, God-realization
has a direct significance only for the one who has
emerged from the time-process.

What was latent in the infinite becomes manifest

After the attainment of God-realization, the soul

discovers that it has always been the Infinite Reality, and
that its looking upon itself as finite during the period of
evolution and spiritual advancement was an illusion. The
soul also finds that the infinite knowledge and bliss that it
enjoys have been latent in the Infinite Reality from the
beginning of time and that it became manifest at the
moment of realization. Thus the God-realized person does
not become different from what he was before realization.
He remains what he was; the difference that realization
makes in him is that while previously he did not
consciously know his true nature, he now knows it. He
knows that he has never been anything other than what he
now knows himself to be, and that he has been through a
process of self-discovery.

The process of attaining God-realization is a game

in which the beginning and the end are one. The
attainment of realization is nevertheless a distinct gain.
There are two kinds of advantages. One consists in getting
what we did not previously possess; the other consists in
realizing what we really are. God-realization is of the
second kind. However, there is an infinite difference in
the soul that has God-realization and one that has not.
Though the soul that has God-realization has nothing it
did not already possess, its explicit knowledge makes
God-realization of the highest significance. The soul that
is not God-realized experiences itself as finite, and is
constantly troubled by the opposites of joy and sorrow.
But the soul that has realization is lifted out of them and
experiences the Infinite.

32
 In God-realization, separate consciousness is
discarded and duality is transcended in the abiding
knowledge of identity with the Infinite Reality. The world
of shadows is at an end and the curtain of illusion is for
ever drawn. The distress of the pursuits of limited
consciousness is replaced by the tranquillity and bliss of
truth-consciousness and the restlessness of temporal
existence is swallowed up in the peace of eternity.

33
 IV

ASPIRANTS AND GOD-REALIZED

BEINGS

Before god-realization advanced aspirants pass through

states of consciousness that are akin to the state of God-
realization. For example, Mad-Masts and saints of the
higher planes are completely desireless and immersed in
the joy of God-intoxication; since their only concern is
God, they become the recipients of the happiness that is
characteristic of the God-state. They have no beloved
except God. They have no longing except for God. For
them, God is the only reality. They are unattached except
to God, and remain unaffected by pleasures and pains.
They are happy because they are face to face with the
Divine Beloved.

Different states of aspirants

Advanced aspirants not only participate in some of the

privileges of the divine state, they also possess occult
powers and perceptions. They belong to different types
according to the kind of powers they possess. For
example, on the first plane, the aspirant sees lights and
colours, smells perfumes and hears the music of the subtle
world. Those who advance further see and hear at any
distance. Some see the entire physical world as a mirage.
Some take a new body immediately after death. Some
have such control over the physical world that they can
change their bodies at will; they are called Abdals in Sufi
tradition. But all these achievements pertain to the
phenomenal world; the field of their powers is itself a
domain of illusion, and the apparent miracles they
perform do not in themselves mean that they are nearer to
the God-state.

In their consciousness, too, aspirants belong to

various types, get intoxicated with extraordinary powers,
and in the temptation of using them have a long pause in
their Godward march; they get held up in the
consciousness of the intermediate planes. There are some
who become dazed, confused and self-deluded. There

34
are some who get caught up in a coma. There are some
who with difficulty try to come down to physical
consciousness by repeating some physical action or an
identical sentence a number of times. There are some
who, in their God-intoxication, are so indifferent to the
life of the physical world that their external behaviour
appears to be that of mad persons; and there are some
who cross the path while performing their worldly duties.
Owing to their exalted states of consciousness, some
advanced aspirants are adorable but their state is in no
way comparable to that of God-realized persons, either in
respect of the spiritual beauty and perfection of their
inward state of consciousness, or in respect of their
powers. All aspirants to the sixth plane, are limited by
finite consciousness, and are in the domain of duality and
illusion. They are mostly happy, due to their communion
with God. For some, the joy of the inward companionship
of the Divine Beloved is so great that they become
unbalanced in behaviour, and in their unsubdued state of
God-intoxication may abuse people, throw stones at them
or behave like ghosts. Their state is described as that of
the Unmatta. Owing to the exuberance of uncontrolled
joy in inward contact with the Divine Beloved, they are
regardless of worldly standards or values, and owing to
the fearlessness which comes to them through complete
detachment they may often allow themselves such self-
expression as would be mistaken for exaggerated
idiosyncrasies.

Poise comes on the seventh plane

Only when the soul attains God-realization on the

seventh plane does it get full control over its joy. Only
with realization does the unlimited happiness, which is
eternally his, in no way unbalance a person, for he is now
permanently established in non-duality. No longer for him
is the extravagance of newly found love. The occasional
unsettlement due to the on-flow of increasing joy at the
closer proximity of God is also over because he is now
inseparably united with him. He is lost in the Divine
Beloved and merged into him, for he is one with the
infinite ocean of unbounded happiness.

The happiness entered into by the God-realized

person is unconditioned and self-sustained, eternally the
same, without ebb and flow. He has arrived at certainty
and equanimity. The

35
happiness of the saints is born of proximity to and
intimacy with the Divine Beloved, who, however, remains
an externalized Another. In the happiness of the God-
realized there is no duality. The happiness of the saints is
derivative; the happiness of the God-realized is self-
grounded. The happiness of the saints is that of the
outpouring of the divine grace; the happiness of the God-
realized is the divine grace itself.

Differences in relation to the universe

When a person attains God-realization, he has

infinite power, knowledge and bliss. The intrinsic
characteristics of inner realization are the same in all the
God-realized, irrespective of the differences that give rise
to distinguishable types. These differences are extrinsic,
belonging not to the relation with God but to the relation
with the universe; they do not constitute degrees of
spiritual status between the God-realized, who are all
perfect. Yet these differences exist only from the point of
view of the observer; they do not exist for the God-
realized themselves, who are one with each other and with
all existence.

From the point of view of the outward creation,

however, the differences between the God-realized are not
only definite but worth noting. After God-realization,
some souls drop their bodies, and remain eternally
immersed in God-consciousness. For them, God is the
only reality and the entire universe is zero. They are so
completely identified with the impersonal Truth that they
have no direct link with the world of forms.

Majzubs

Some God-realized souls retain their gross, subtle

and mental bodies; but in their absorption of God-
consciousness are totally unconscious of the existence of
their bodies. Other souls continue to see their bodies and
treat them as persons incarnate, but these bodies exist
only from the point of view of the observer. Such God-
realized persons are called Majzubs, in Sufi terminology.
The Majzubs do not use their bodies consciously, because
their consciousness is wholly directed towards God, it is
not turned toward their bodies or the universe. For them,
their bodies as well as the world of forms have no
existence, so there can be no question

36
of their using their bodies in the world of forms.
However, though the Majzubs do not use their bodies
consciously, they are necessarily the centres for the
radiation of the constant overflow of the infinite bliss,
knowledge and love, and those who revere these bodies
derive spiritual benefit from this radiation of divinity.

Some God-realized persons have the awareness of

the existence of others who are in bondage. But they
know these souls to be forms of the Paramatman and that
they are one day destined to have emancipation and God-
realization. Being established in this knowledge, they
remain indifferent to the provisional and changing lot of
those who are in bondage. They know that just as they
themselves have realized God, these also will realize him.
They are in no hurry to speed up the God-realization of
those who are in bondage, for they take no active interest
in the time processes of creation.

God-men

Some of the God-realized not only possess God-

consciousness but are conscious of creation and their own
bodies. They take an active interest in those who are in
bondage and use their own bodies consciously for
working in creation, so as to help others in their God-
ward march. Such a God-realized one is called Sadguru or
the God-man. The Sadguru knows himself to be in the
centre of the universe, and everyone high or low, good or
bad, is at the same distance from him. In the Sufi
tradition, this centre is called Qutub. Through Qutub the
universe is controlled.

Avatar

The God-realized one who first emerges through

evolution as the God-man and helps others in bondage is
known as the Avatar. Sadguru and Avatar have complete
God-consciousness, plus full consciousness of the gross,
subtle, and mental worlds simultaneously, and have no
difficulty in retaining normal human consciousness; but
the Paramhansa and Jivanmukta, who have no duty to
perform, have at times great difficulty in keeping their
consciousness normal, and have to compel their minds to
come towards material things and activities; they may ask
for food or pull their hair or slap themselves to remain in
the body. The

37
Avatar has no difficulty in retaining normal consciousness
at all times. He does not have to resort to physical
activities in order to keep in the physical world.

In fundamental characteristics of consciousness the

Avatar is like other God-men. None retains a finite and
limited mind because after merging in the Infinite the
mind becomes universal and the God-man as well as the
Avatar never loses God-consciousness, although engaged
in activities in relation to the creation. Both work through
the universal mind when they desire to help others.

38
 V

THE STATE OF THE GOD-MAN

Of all the objects of human knowledge, God is supreme,

but mere theoretical study of God does not take an
aspirant far towards knowledge of the purpose of human
life, though it is better to study God than to be ignorant
about his existence. He who seeks God intellectually is in
a better state than a skeptic or an agnostic. But better than
to study him through the intellect is to feel for God,
though the feeling for him is much less than experience.
However, even experience of God does not yield the true
nature of divinity, because God as the object of
experience remains different from and external to the
aspirant. The true nature of God is known only when the
aspirant attains unity with him by losing himself in his
Being. Thus, it is better to study God than to be ignorant
about him: it is better to feel for God than to study him; it
is better to experience God than to feel for him; and it is
better to become God than to experience him.

The supreme certainty

The state of God-realization is not marred by

doubts, which cloud the minds of those in bondage. To be
in bondage is to be in a state of uncertainty about
"whence" and "whither"; the God-realized are at the heart
of creation where the source and end of creation are
known. The God-realized knows himself to be God as
surely as a man knows himself to be a man. It is for him
not a matter of doubt, belief, self-delusion or guess-work;
it is a supreme and unshakable certainty, which needs no
external corroboration and remains unaffected by
contradiction because it is based upon self-knowledge.
Such spiritual certainty is incapable of being challenged.
A man thinks himself to be what in reality he is not; the
God-realized knows what in reality he is.

God-realization is the goal of creation. All earthly

pleasure is a shadow of the eternal bliss of God-
realization; all mundane

39
knowledge is a reflection of the absolute truth of God-
realization; all human might is but a fragment of the
infinite power of God-realization. All that is noble,
beautiful and lovely, all that is great and good and
inspiring in the universe, is an infinitesimal fraction of the
unfading and unspeakable glory of God-realization.

The price of God-realization

The eternal Bliss, the Absolute Truth, the Infinite

Power, and the Unfading Glory of God-realization, are
not to be had for nothing. The individualized soul has to
go through the pain and struggle of evolution and
reincarnations before it can inherit this treasure, and the
price it has to pay for coming into possession of it is its
own existence as a separate ego. The limited individuality
must disappear if there is to be entrance into unlimited
existence. Individuality which is identified with a name
and form creates a veil of ignorance before the God
within; for this ignorance to disappear the limited
individual has to surrender his limited existence. When he
leaves not a vestige of his limited life, what remains is
God. The surrender of limited existence is the surrender
of the firmly rooted delusion of having a separate
existence. It is not the surrender of anything real but of
the false.

Two aspects of the God-man

When a person is crossing the inner planes and

proceeding towards God-realization, he becomes
successively mentally detached from the physical, subtle
and mental worlds as well as from his own physical,
subtle and mental bodies. But after God-realization some
souls again descend and become conscious of the whole
creation as well as of their physical, subtle and mental
bodies. They are known as God-men. God as God is not
consciously man; and man as man is not consciously God;
the God-man is consciously God and man.

By becoming conscious of the creation, the God-

man does not suffer deterioration in his spiritual status.
What is spiritually disastrous is not mere consciousness of
the creation, but the fact that the consciousness is caught
up in creation because of sanskaras and is consequently
submerged in ignorance. In the same way, what is
spiritually disastrous is not mere consciousness of the
bodies but identification with them owing to the
sanskaras, which

40
prevent the realization of the ultimate reality.

The soul in bondage is tied to the worlds of forms

by the chain of sanskaras, which creates the illusion of
identifying the soul with the bodies. The disharmony
within consciousness, and the perversions of the will arise
out of sanskaric identification with the bodies, and are not
merely due to consciousness of the bodies. Since the God-
man is free from sanskaras, he is conscious of being
different from his bodies, and uses them as instruments
for the expression of the divine will in its purity.

The changing shadow of God cannot affect God-

consciousness

The God-man knows himself to be infinite and

beyond all forms. He remains conscious of the creation
without being caught in it. The falseness of the
phenomenal world consists in its not being understood as
an illusory expression of the Infinite Spirit. Ignorance
consists in taking the form as the thing. The God-man is
conscious of the true nature of God, as well as of the true
nature of creation without consciousness of duality,
because for him creation is the changing shadow of God.
The God-man, therefore, remains conscious of creation
without loss of God-consciousness. He continues to work
in the world of forms for the furtherance of the primary
purpose of creation, which is to create self-knowledge or
God-realization in every soul.

The God-man works through the universal mind

When the God-man descends into the world of

forms from the impersonal aspect of God, he knows, feels
and works through the universal mind. For him there is no
longer the limited life of the finite mind, no longer the
pains and the pleasures of duality, no longer the emptiness
and vanity of the separate ego. He is consciously one with
all life. Through his universal mind, he not only
experiences the happiness of all minds, but their
sufferings too; and since most minds have a
preponderance of suffering, the suffering of the God-man,
because of the condition of others, is greater than his
happiness. Though his suffering is so great, the bliss of
the God-state which he constantly enjoys supports him so
that he remains unmoved by it.

The merely individualized soul is without access to

the infinite bliss of the God-state because it is affected by
sanskaric happiness and

41
suffering through identification with the individual and
limited mind. The God-man does not identify himself
even with the universal mind. He enters the universal
mind for his mission in the world, uses it for his work
without identification with it, and thus remains unaffected
by the suffering or the happiness which comes to him
through it. He dispenses with the universal mind when his
work is done; but while working in the world through the
universal mind, he knows himself to be the eternal God.

The God-man is not affected by suffering

Even when the God-man comes down into duality

for his universal work, he is not separate from God. In his
condition as man, he is on the level of men and eats,
drinks and suffers as they do, but as he retains his
Godhood, he experiences peace, bliss and power. Though
Christ suffered on the cross, He knew that everything in
the world of duality was illusion and in his suffering was
sustained by union with God.

As God, the God-man sees all souls as his own; he

sees himself in everything, for the universal mind
includes all minds. The God-man knows himself to be one
with all other souls in bondage. Although he knows
himself to be identical with God and thus eternally free,
he also knows himself to be one with the souls in bondage
and is thus vicariously bound; though he experiences the
eternal bliss of God-realization, he also vicariously
experiences suffering through the bondage of other souls.
This is the meaning of Christ's crucifixion. The God-man
is continuously being crucified, as He is continuously
taking birth. In the God-man, the purpose of creation has
been realized, and he has nothing to gain of added bliss by
remaining in the world; yet he retains his bodies and uses
them for emancipating souls from bondage and helping
them to attain God-consciousness.

Even while working in the world of duality, the

God-man is in no way limited by the duality of "I" and
"Thou" which is swallowed up in all-embracing Divine
Love. He has consciously descended from the state of
seeing nothing but God to the state of seeing God in
everything. His dealings in the world of duality not only
do not bind him, they reflect the pristine glory of the sole
reality which is God, and contribute towards freeing
others from their state of bondage.

42
 VI

THE WORK OF THE GOD-MAN

God-realization is the endless end of creation, and the

timeless consummation and fructification of unbinding
Karma. If the self takes an incarnation after God-
realization, it is not as an ego-mind, but as the
embodiment of the universal mind; so that it is not, like
the reincarnating ego-mind, subject to the bondage of
Karma. Ordinary man takes an incarnation under the
irresistible impulsion of creation but the God-man
reincarnates by free and spontaneous arising of
compassion for those who are still in the world of illusion
and bondage. The descent of a God-realized one is
fundamentally different from the incarnation of souls in
bondage.

Free and unbinding give and take

Those who have not realized God are still in the

domain of duality; their dealings of mutual give and take
create the chains of Karmic debts and dues, from which
there is no escape in duality. But the God-man, dwelling
in the consciousness of unity, has no such chains, and is
thus able to contribute towards the emancipation of others
still in ignorance. For the God-man there is none excluded
from his own being, he sees himself in every one; he
freely gives and freely takes without creating binding for
himself or others.

Any person who accepts without reserve the bounty

which the God-man showers, creates a link that will stand
until he attains the goal of freedom and God-realization.
Any person who serves the God-man, offering his life and
possessions in his service, creates a link that will be a
means of spiritual progress. Indeed, even opposition to the
work of the God-man is a beginning to the journey that
leads God-ward; while opposing the God-man, the soul is
establishing contact with him. Thus everyone who
voluntarily or involuntarily comes within the orbit of the
God-man’s activities becomes subject to a spiritual
impetus.

43
 The work of the God-man

The work of the God-man is fundamentally

different from that of the priest. It is characteristic of the
priests of established religions to attach importance to
forms, rituals and conformity with rules, and since they
are not themselves free from selfishness, narrowness or
ignorance, they may exploit the weak and credulous by
holding before them the fear of hell or hope of heaven.
The God-man having entered for ever into the eternal life
of love, purity, universality and understanding is
concerned to bring about the unfoldment of the spirit in
all whom he helps. There are those who are themselves in
ignorance, who because they have read or listened to the
words of a God-man may out of self-delusion or in
deliberate selfishness use the same language as he and
they may try to imitate the God-man in his way of life;
but by the very nature of their spiritual limitations they
cannot imitate the God-man in understanding, bliss, or
power. If out of self-delusion or hypocrisy they pose as a
God-man, their self-delusion or pretense becomes evident
in their lives. There are those who believe themselves to
be what they are not, and think they know when they do
not; when they are sincere they are not to be blamed,
though they may become a source of danger to others, and
should be recognized for what they are. The hypocrite
knows that he does not know, and his pretense creates
serious Karmic binding for himself; though he is a source
of danger to the weak and the credulous, he cannot
.continue with his deceit.

God-man can play the role of the aspirant

In his universal work, the God-man has infinite

adaptability. He is not attached to any one method of
helping others; he does not follow rules or precedents but
is a law to himself. He can rise to any occasion and play
any necessary role without being bound by it. A spiritual
aspirant cannot act as one who has attained perfection,
since the perfect one is inimitable, but the perfect one can
for the benefit of others act as an aspirant. One who has
passed the highest academic examination, can write
alphabets for teaching children, but children cannot do
what he can do. For showing others the way to divinity,
the God-man may play the role of a devotee of God; he
may play the role of a Bhakta so that others may know the
way. He is not bound to any particular role,

44
and can adjust his technique to the needs of those who
seek his guidance. Whatever he does is for the good of
others; for him, there is nothing more to obtain.

Maya used to annihilate Maya

Not only is the God-man not bound to any

technique of spiritual help, he is not bound to
conventional standards. He is beyond good and evil; but
though he may appear to be lawless, what he does is for
the good of others. He uses different methods for different
persons. He has no self-interest or personal motive, and is
always inspired by the compassion that seeks the well-
being of others. He uses Maya to draw his disciples out of
Maya, and adopts very different workings for his spiritual
task. Nor are his methods always the same with the same
person. He may do what shocks others because it runs
counter to their expectations; this is intended for a
spiritual purpose.

The God-man may seem to be harsh with certain

persons who contact him; but onlookers do not know the
internal situation and cannot have a right understanding of
his behaviour. In fact, his sternness may be demanded by
the spiritual requirements of the situation in the interests
of those to whom he is harsh. We have an analogy in an
expert swimmer who saves a drowning person. He may
have to hit the drowning man on the head to minimize the
danger in which he is likely to involve his helper. So the
sternness of the God-man is to secure the spiritual well-
being of others.

Shortening the stages of false consciousness

The soul in bondage is caught in the universe, and

the universe is illusion; but since there is no end to
illusion he is likely to be held indefinitely within its
mazes. The God-man can help to cut short the different
stages of false consciousness by revealing the Truth.
Through illusion the soul gathers experiences of the
opposites. Where there is duality, there is a possibility of
restoring balance through the opposite. For example, the
experience of being a murderer is counter-balanced by the
experience of being murdered; and the experience of
being a king, is counter-balanced by the experience of
being a beggar. But the soul may wander from one
opposite to the other without putting an end to its false
consciousness. The God-man can help the soul to
perceive the

45
Truth, cutting short the working of illusion. The God-man
helps the soul in bondage by sowing in him the seed of
God-realization, but every process of growth takes time.
There is, however, a qualification of this statement to be
made.

The help of the God-man is more effective than the

help that any advanced aspirant may give. When an
aspirant helps, he can take a person up only to the point
that he himself has reached; and even this limited help
becomes effective gradually, with the result that the
person who ascends through such help has to stay in the
first plane for a long time, in the second plane a long time,
and so on. When the God-man chooses to help a person,
he may take the aspirant to the seventh plane in one jump,
though in that jump the person has to traverse all the
intermediate planes.

By taking a person to the seventh plane, the God-

man makes him equal to himself, and the person who thus
attains the highest spiritual status becomes himself a God-
man. This transmission of spiritual knowledge is
comparable to the lighting of one lamp from another. The
lamp that has been lighted is as capable of giving light as
the original lamp itself; and there is no difference between
them. The God-man is like the banyan tree, which grows
large and mighty, giving shade and shelter to travellers
and protecting them from sun, rain and storm; in the
fullness of its growth its descending branches strike deep
into the ground to create in due time another full-grown
banyan tree, which also becomes not only large and
mighty, but has the same potential power to create banyan
trees. The God-man arouses the God-man latent in others.

Lord and Servant

The God-man may be said to be the Lord and

Servant of the Universe at one and the same time. He
showers spiritual bounty on all in measureless abundance,
and as one who bears the burden of all and helps them
through spiritual difficulties, he is the Servant of the
Universe. Just as he is Lord and Servant in one, so he is
the supreme lover and the matchless Beloved. The love,
which he gives or receives frees the soul from ignorance.
In giving love, he gives it to himself in other forms, and in
receiving love, he receives what has been awakened
through his own grace, showered on all. The grace of the
God-man is like rain which falls on all lands, barren and
fertile, but fructifies only in the lands that have been
rendered fertile through toil.

46
 VII

AVATAR

Consciously or unconsciously, every living creature

seeks one thing. In the lower forms of life and in less
advanced human beings, the quest is unconscious; it is
conscious in advanced human beings. The object of the
quest is called happiness, peace, freedom, truth, love,
perfection, self-realization, God-realization or union with
God. Essentially it is a search for all of these, for all are
aspects of one thing. Everyone has moments of happiness,
glimpses of truth, fleeting experiences of union with God.
Everyone wants to make these moments, or glimpses, or
experiences permanent, so that he may have abiding
reality in the midst of change.

This search is based on a memory, dim or clear, as

the individual's evolution may be low or high, of his unity
with God; for every living thing is a manifestation of
God, conditioned by lack of knowledge of its true nature.
The entire process of evolution is from unconscious
divinity to conscious divinity, a process in which God
himself, eternal and unchangeable, assumes an infinite
variety of forms, enjoys an infinite variety of experiences,
and transcends an infinite variety of self-imposed
limitations. Evolution, from the standpoint of divinity is a
divine sport, in which the Unconditioned tests the
infinitude of his absolute knowledge, power and bliss in
the midst of all conditions. But evolution, from the
standpoint of the creature, with limited knowledge,
limited power, limited capacity for bliss, is an epic of
alternating rest and struggle, joy and sorrow, love and
hate, until, in the perfected man, God balances the
opposites and transcends duality. Then creature and
Creator recognize themselves as one; changelessness is
established in the midst of change, eternity is experienced
in the midst of time. God knows himself as God,
unchangeable in essence, infinite in manifestation, ever
experiencing the supreme bliss of Self-realization in
continually fresh awareness of himself by himself.

This realization takes place only in the midst of life,

for only

47
in the midst of life can limitation be experienced and
transcended, and subsequent freedom from limitation
enjoyed. This freedom from limitation assumes three
forms.

Most God-realized souls leave the body at once, and

forever, and remain eternally merged in the unmanifest
aspect of God. They are conscious only of the bliss of
union. Creation no longer exists for them. Their round of
births and deaths is ended. This is known as mukti or
liberation.

Those God-realized souls who retain the body for a

time, but are not conscious either of their bodies or of
creation, experience the infinite bliss, power and
knowledge of God, but they cannot consciously use them
in creation or help others to attain to liberation. That
particular type of liberation is called videh-mukti or
liberation with the body.

Those God-realized souls who keep the body, yet

are conscious of themselves as God in both his
unmanifest and his manifest aspects, experience
themselves as God apart from creation, as God the
Creator, Preserver and Destroyer of creation, and as God
who has accepted and transcended the limitations of
creation. They enjoy to the full the divine sport of
creation. Knowing themselves as God in everything, they
are able to help everything spiritually, and to make other
souls realize God, either as Muktas or Majzubs, as they
themselves are called.

The God-realized ones though one in consciousness

are different in function. For the most part, they live and
work apart from and unknown to the general public, but
there are always five, who act (in a sense) as a directing
body, work in public, and attain public prominence and
importance. In Avataric periods, the Avatar, as a supreme
God-realized one, takes his place as the head of this body
and of the spiritual hierarchy as a whole.

Avataric periods are the spring-tide of creation.

They bring a new release of power, a new awakening of
consciousness, a new experience of life—not merely for a
few, but for all. Qualities of energy and awareness, which
had been used and enjoyed by only a few advanced souls,
are then made available for all humanity. Life, as a whole,
is lifted to a higher level of consciousness and geared to a
new rate of energy. The transition from sensation to
reason was one such step; the transition from reason to
intuition will be another. In intuition the opposites are
resolved.

This influx of the creative impulse through the

medium of a

48
divine personality is an incarnation of God in a special
sense and called Avatar. This Avatar was the first
individual soul to emerge from the evolutionary process,
and is the only Avatar who has ever manifested or will
ever manifest. Through him, God first completed the
journey from unconscious divinity to conscious divinity;
in him he first unconsciously became man in order
consciously to become God. Through him, periodically,
God consciously becomes man for the liberation of
mankind.

The Avatar appears in different forms under

different names, at different times, in different parts of the
world. As his appearance always coincides with the
spiritual birth of man, so the period immediately
preceding his manifestation is one in which humanity
suffers from the pangs of the approaching birth. When
man seems more than ever enslaved by desire, more than
ever driven by greed, held by fear, swept by anger, when
more than ever the strong dominate the weak, the rich
oppress the poor, and large masses of people are exploited
for the benefit of the few in power, when individual man
finds no peace or rest and seeks to forget himself in
excitement; when immorality increases, crime flourishes,
religion is ridiculed, when corruption spreads throughout
the social order, class and national hatreds are aroused
and fostered, when wars break out, and humanity grows
desperate, when there seems to be no possibility of
stemming the tide of destruction—at this moment the
Avatar appears. Being the manifestation of God in human
form, he is a gauge against which man measures what he
is and what he may become. He corrects the standards of
human values by interpreting them in terms of divine-
human life.

The Avatar is interested in everything, but not

concerned about anything. The slightest mishap
commands his sympathy; the greatest tragedy does not
upset him. He is beyond the alternations of pain and
pleasure, desire and satisfaction, rest and struggle, life and
death, for to him, they are equally illusions from which he
has come to free those who are bound. He uses every
circumstance as a means to lead others towards the
realization of the Truth.

He knows that men do not cease to exist when they

die, and therefore, is not concerned with death. He knows
that destruction must precede construction; that out of
suffering is born peace and bliss; that out of struggle
comes liberation from the bonds of action. He is
concerned only about unconcern.

In those who contact him he awakens a love that

consumes

49
selfish desires in the flame of the one desire to serve him.
Those who consecrate their lives to him become identified
with him in consciousness. Little by little their humanity
is absorbed into divinity, and they become free.

Those who are closest to him are known as his

Circle. Every Master has an intimate circle of twelve
disciples, who, in realization, are made equal to the
Master himself, though they differ from him in function
and authority. In Avataric periods, the Avatar has a Circle
of one hundred and twenty disciples, all of whom
experience realization, and work for the liberation of
others. Their work is not only for contemporary humanity,
but for posterity. The unfoldment of life and
consciousness for the whole Avataric cycle, mapped in
the creative world before the Avatar took form, is
endorsed and fixed in the formative and material worlds
during the Avatar's life on earth.

The Avatar awakens contemporary humanity to a

realization of its spiritual nature, gives liberation to those
who are ready and quickens the life of the spirit in his
time. To posterity is left the stimulating power of his
divinely human example, the nobility of life supremely
lived, of love unmixed with desire, of power unused
except for others, of peace untroubled by ambition, of
knowledge undimmed by illusion. He has demonstrated
the possibility of the divine life of humanity, the heavenly
life on earth. Those who have the necessary courage and
integrity follow when they will. Those who are spiritually
awake have been aware for some time that the world is at
present in the midst of a period such as precedes Avataric
manifestations. Even unawakened men and women are
becoming aware of it. From their darkness they are
reaching for light, in sorrow they are longing for comfort,
from the midst of the strife into which they have found
themselves they are praying for peace and deliverance.
Yet they must be patient. The wave of destruction must
rise still higher and spread still further. But when, from
the depths of his heart, man desires what is more lasting
than wealth, more real than material power, the wave will
recede. Then peace, joy, light will come.

50
 VIII

THE CIRCLE

When after several lives of search, purification, service

and self-sacrifice, a soul meets a God-realized Master,
after several lives of close connection with the Master,
and love and service for the Master, he enters into his
Circle. Those who have entered into the Circle have
through their efforts acquired the right (Adhikar) of God-
realization, and when the moment for realization arrives,
they attain realization through the grace of the Master. A
Master who takes an incarnation for work brings with him
those who are in his Circle.

The use of sanskaras

Actions in the world of duality are prompted by

sanskaras of duality. Consciousness of duality implies
the working of the impressions of duality, which first
serve the purpose of evolving and limiting consciousness,
so as to facilitate self-knowledge or God-realization. The
soul cannot attain consciousness of its own unity unless it
goes through the experiences of duality; and these
experiences presuppose the corresponding impressions of
duality.

From the beginning till the end, the soul is subject

to the momentum of impressions which constitutes its
destiny. These impressions are called Prarabdha
Sanskaras. The Prarabdha Sanskaras are always in
relation to the opposites of experience, e.g. the sanskaras
of greed and its opposites, the sanskaras of lust and its
opposite; the sanskaras of anger and its opposite, the
sanskaras of bad thoughts, words and deeds and their
opposite.

From the stage of the embryo till the stage of

realization of God, the soul is bound by its impressions of
duality. All that happens to it is determined by these
impressions. When the soul receives realization of God all
sanskaras disappear. If the soul remains immersed in the
experience of divinity without returning

51
to the normal consciousness of the world, it remains
eternally beyond all sanskaras.

Yogayoga Sanskaras of the Universal Mind

When the God-realized one returns to normal

consciousness he has a universal mind, and in the
universal mind he gets superfluous and unbinding
sanskaras known as Yogayoga Sanskaras. In the beyond
state, the Master is free from sanskaras; and even when
he is conscious of creation and is working in creation, he
remains unbound by the Yogayoga Sanskaras, which sit
loosely upon his universal mind. The Yogayoga
Sanskaras serve as channels of his universal work, they
do not form a restricting chain to his consciousness.

TheYogayoga Sanskaras are automatic in their

working, and all contacts and links that the God-man uses
in his working are based upon them. These Yogayoga
Sanskaras do not create a veil on the universal mind; they
do not constitute a cloud of ignorance; they serve only as
a necessary framework for the release of positive action.
Through them the universal will is particularized in its
expressions. Any action that is released in the world of
space and time must be in relation to certain definite
situations or a set of circumstances, and there must always
be some reason why a response is given to one situation
rather than to another and why it is given in one way
rather than another. The basis for the self-limitation of the
actions of a soul in spiritual bondage is in his Prarabdha
Sanskaras, which are binding; and the basis for the self-
limitation of the actions of one who is spiritually free is in
his Yogayoga Sanskaras, which are not binding.

The work of the Master is subject to the laws of creation

If the God-man were not to get these Yogayoga

Sanskaras when returning to normal consciousness, he
would not be able to do work of a definite nature. The
Yogayoga Sanskaras help the God-man to particularize
and materialize the Divine Will through him and to fulfil
his mission. The Master is and knows himself to be
infinite in existence, consciousness, knowledge, bliss,
love and power and remain infinite in the beyond state,
but the work that he achieves in the world of creation is
subject to the laws of

52
creation and is therefore finite. Since his work is in
relation to the unnveiling of the hidden infinity and
divinity, and since the realization of this infinity and
divinity is the only purpose of creation, his work is
infinitely important; but when measured by the standard
of results, it is like any work, so much and no more. But
even when the work of the God-man is measured by
results, the greatest of souls in spiritual bondage cannot,
even in terms of the results, approach the achievements of
the God-man. The God-man has within his work the
infinite power of God. Sometimes a God-man achieves
some limited task, then his incarnation ends not because
he is limited in power, but because the work, determined
by his Yogayoga Sanskaras, is so much and no more. He
is in no way attached to the work as such. Having finished
the work he is ready to be re-absorbed in the impersonal
aspect of the Infinite; he does not tarry in the world of
unreality longer than is necessitated by his Yogayoga
Sanskaras.

The Avatar and his Circle

When the Avatar takes an incarnation he has before

him a definite mission, the plan of which is adjusted to the
flow of time. The process of the incarnation of the Avatar
is unique. Before taking on the physical body and
descending in the world of duality, he gives to himself
and the members of his Circle special types of sanskaras,
which are known as Vidnyani Sanskaras. The Circle of
the Avatar always consists of one hundred and twenty
members; all have to take an incarnation when the Avatar
takes an incarnation. The taking on of the Vidnyani
Sanskaras, before incarnating in the physical body, is like
the drawing of a veil upon himself and his Circle. After
incarnation the Avatar remains under this veil of Vidnyani
Sanskaras until the time comes which has been fixed by
himself that he experiences his own original divinity and
begins to work through the Vidnyani Sanskaras trans-
muted into the Yogayoga Sanskaras of the Universal
Mind.

Vidnyani Sanskaras are the ordinary sanskaras of

duality, though essentially different in nature. The
Vidnyani Sanskaras prompt activities and experiences
caused by ordinary sanskaras, but while these activities
and experiences have a general tendency to strengthen the
grip of duality, the activities and experiences caused by
Vidnyani Sanskaras work towards loosening that grip.

53
The logic of the working out of the Vidnyani Sanskaras
necessarily invites the realization of the oneness of
existence; they are, therefore, known as a threshold to
unity.

The members of the Circle remain under the veil of

Vidnyani Sanskaras until they get realization of God at
the time fixed by the Avata; then the Vidnyani Sanskaras
they have brought with them become Yogayoga
Sanskaras, serving as an instrument for the fulfilment of
the Divine Plan on earth.

Difference between Vidnyani Sanskaras and Yogayoga

There is an important difference between Vidnyani

Sanskaras and Yogayoga Sanskaras. Though Vidnyani
Sanskaras work towards the realization of unity, they
bring about the experience of being limited; but the
Yogayoga Sanskaras, which come after realization do not
interfere with the experience of infinity; they serve as
instruments for responses and activities in the dual world.
The working out of Vidnyani Sanskaras contributes
towards one's own realization, while the working out of
Yogayoga Sanskaras contributes towards the realization
of others who are still in bondage.

In the beyond-state time, space and the world of

phenomena are non-existent; it is only in the phenomenal
world of duality that there is space or time or the
operation of the law of cause and effect. So when the
Master works in the sphere of duality to uplift humanity,
his work becomes subject to the laws of time, space and
causality; and from the point of view of external work, he
appears to be limited, though, in reality, he is
experiencing the oneness and infinity of the beyond-state.
However, though himself beyond time when he works for
those who are in duality, time counts.

Special working for the Circle

The Master's work towards humanity goes on

without break through the higher bodies; but when he
works for the members his Circle his action is subject to a
time, which he himself fixes for a precise and definite
intervention in the mechanical working out of their
sanskaras. Therefore, those who follow the instructions
received from the Master and abide by the time given by
him have the benefit of his special working. For the task
the Master sets before himself time becomes an important
factor. The working

54
which the Master undertakes in relation to the members of
his Circle not only touches and affects them but affects
others closely connected with them.

The Circle constitutes the most important particular

feature in relation to which and through which the Master
carries out his spiritual duty to humanity and comes into
existence as a result of the links of several lives. Every
Master has a Circle of very close disciples; that does not
create a limitation in his inward consciousness. In his
God-state, the Master finds himself in the centre of the
universe, and no Circle circumscribes his being. In the
infinity of non-duality, there are no preferences; the
Circle exists only in relation to the work the Master has
undertaken in the phenomenal world. But from the point
of view of spiritual work in the phenomenal world, the
Circle is as much a reality as the Himalayas.

55
 IX

THE WAYS OF THE MASTERS

The Masters are impersonal and universal in their

consciousness; but for spiritual purposes they limit the
scope of their work and allow their manifested
personalities to become the centre of the aspirations of
their disciples. They use personal relationships as
channels to pass on their help to those aspirants who are
connected with them. The Masters are on the look out for
those who need their help and no spiritual yearning is
overlooked. They foster the advancement of all aspirants
in various ways, although these ways may not be
intelligible to others.

The Masters’ Help

The help of the Master consists in making the

spiritual journey of the aspirant sure, and in shortening the
time that he might otherwise take for arriving at the goal.
The aspirant may go far by independent search, but is
unable to cross the sixth plane without the help of a
Master. Even on the intermediate planes such help is
valuable, because the Master prevents the aspirant from
being detained and protects him from pitfalls. Kabir has
compared the three stages of the Path to the three phases
of fire. Just as at first there is smoke and no fire, then fire
enveloped in smoke, and lastly fire without smoke, so the
beginnings of the Path are enveloped in ignorance, in the
middle there is confused perception of the goal, and
finally there is the realization of the truth without illusion.
Since the Path lies through illusions of many kinds, the
aspirant is never safe without the guidance of the Master
who knows the stages of the Path and can take him
through them.

Before the opening of the inner eye, the mind

conceives of the goal as the Infinite. This conception is
based upon some symbolic image of Infinity such as the
sky or ocean, which suggests vastness. But such concepts
have to be superseded by direct perception of

56
the Infinite. The aspirant sees the Self directly when his
inner eye is opened. But when this happens, the mind is
dazed by the perception of the Self, it loses the capacity to
think clearly and mistakes the seeing of the Self for
realization. Hence the illusion of being at the end of the
Path while traversing it. In Sufi this particular part of the
Path is known as Mukameafasan or the Abode of
Delusion; it is in such difficult phases of the Path that the
Master gives a push to the aspirant, so that he passes on
instead of getting caught up on the way.

There is danger to the aspirant of being detained on

each of the inner planes, because each is alluring and a
trap. But the Master takes the aspirant through them
without delay. The aspirant has to walk his own way, but
the contribution of the Master is in confirming and
consolidating the previously acquired intuitions and
perceptions and in precipitating the aspirant's
consciousness into the next stage.

Unquestioning Faith

As the Master uses Maya to take the disciples out of

Maya, and as he is himself beyond good and evil, he may
often require things that are unacceptable to the good
sense of his disciples. The disciple should none the less
follow the instructions of the Master with implicit faith.
The following well known instances illustrate the point:
Abraham being called upon to sacrifice his son Isaac was
about to slaughter him when the boy was miraculously
saved by being replaced by a goat. Shams-e-Tabriz
ordered Maulana Rumi, his disciple, to fetch wine for
him, which he complied with though Maulana at the time
had a large following of Moslem divines, on account of
his reputation as a great theologian of the Islamic world,
and wine is religiously prohibited to Moslems. Hence it
was a crucial test for Maulana to carry a jar of wine
through the streets, but he did it. Ghousali Shah was asked
by a Master who lived in a hut by the side of the river
Ganges to get a vessel full of water from mid-stream for
drinking. It was about midnight and the river was in
heavy flood because of the monsoon. The disciple
hesitated, but gathered courage to attempt the impossible.
No sooner had he stepped into the water than he wit-
nessed a wonderful transformation of the scene. Instead of
waves and the floods, the river turned into a thin stream
and the vessel to be filled almost touched the river bed.
The disciple crossed the

57
river to the opposite bank in search of the mid-stream.
While thus occupied the Master appeared and enquired
the reason of his delay. The disciple explained that he
could not find the mid-current and the Master allowed
him to fill the vessel by handfuls and himself helped. The
Master then left the disciple on some pretext asking him
to follow after filling the vessel. When Ghousali Shah
returned to the hut with the vessel full of water, he dis-
covered that the Master had never left the hut but had
been talking all the while.

These stories show how the Master, on rare

occasions, may use his occult powers to break down the
ego of his disciples or help them. But the Masters are very
sparing in the use of such powers. Ordinarily, they secure
their purposes through normal ways but they exhibit
understanding, sense of humour, unending patience and
consummate tact, and also take great trouble to help their
disciples adjust themselves to the needs of any situation.

The story of Bahlul

The great mystic Bahlul wanted to contact certain

notables of Persia for reasons of his own. The only way of
doing so was to go to the Prince's party attended by these
notables. Unfortunately, Bahlul was bald-headed, and in
those days no one without hair was allowed to attend any
party given by the Prince, for the Prince had lost his own
hair; and to see others without hair prevented him from
enjoying the party. And so, when Bahlul went to the party
he was thrown out. As the party lasted for three days,
Bahlul borrowed clothes and a wig and disguised himself,
and went again on the following day. No one recognized
him in his fine clothes, he made a great impression, and
was liked so much that the Prince invited him to sit near
him. No sooner was Bahlul seated, than he winked at the
Prince. This the Prince did not understand but vaguely felt
that such a gesture from an illustrious man must mean
something important; thinking that it merited a suitable
response, he winked back. Those who were near saw this
exchange of winking and were impelled to imitate it.
Soon the winking spread throughout the company. Then
Bahlul cried, "Stop! O you wise men. Why do you wink?"
And the notables replied, "We are winking because you
great men were winking. We only imitate you." Then
Bahlul took off his wig and

58
said, "We two are both bald. Imitate us!" The notables
went away and on the third day returned with shaved
heads. Then Bahlul turned to the Prince and said, "We are
permanently bald, these men will have to shave their
heads daily to remain bald". Thus through his sense of
humour, Bahlul secured access to those whom he wanted
to help.

Dealing with failings

The Master takes infinite pains to win the disciple

for spiritual life. Since progress is secured only if love for
the Master is not allowed to decrease, he takes care to
remove obstacles in the way of whole-hearted devotion.
And sometimes he is seen to humour the disciple, even to
feed the ego of the disciple, but this is to give a long rope
to ignorance in preparation for the final extinguishing of
the ego. The Master is not perturbed by the failings of the
disciple, which he tolerates with patience and infinite
capacity to wait, knowing that when the disciple gets
established on the Path, these failings will disappear.

Once the Master is satisfied that the disciple is

firmly established, he cleanses the mind of the disciple of
blemishes and often achieves this at the risk of appearing
ruthless. The usual method of the Master, however, is as
sweet and agreeable as it is effective.

Solution of problems

Since the Master is for the aspirant a symbol of the

Supreme Self the problem of adjustment with the Master
is the problem of realizing his own inner divinity and
arriving at adjustment with all other forms of the Supreme
Self. Through his allegiance to the Master, the aspirant
realizes that all problems of life are aspects of one
problem, so that he arrives at integration, which is
different from mere compromise. To be able to help the
disciple to achieve this difficult task, the Master becomes
the nucleus of the spiritual idealism of the aspirant,
because intensive concentration of psychic energy is
necessary if the aspirant is to break through the many
barriers that lie between him and his goal.

The supremacy of the claim of the Master is not to

be challenged even by the reverence the disciple feels for
Masters other than the one who has accepted him. All
Masters are one in

59
consciousness. One Master is not greater than another, the
disciple must, however, place his own Master above other
Masters, until he transcends the domain of duality and
realizes unity. Psychic energy would be dissipated unless
there was recognized a supremely imperative claim
among the many claims of life; and exclusive
concentration upon one Master is usually indispensable
for gathering up the psychic energy of the disciple. In rare
cases, owing to special circumstances, the Masters may
decide to share the spiritual work in relation to a
particular disciple; and there are cases of disciples who
have had to affiliate themselves to two or more Masters.
But this is an exception rather than a rule; for Masters
arrange the distribution of their work so that there is no
conflict of loyalties.

60
 X

THE QUALIFICATIONS OF THE

ASPIRANT

1. ENTERING INTO THE REALITIES OF THE

INNER LIFE

Though God-realization is the ultimate destiny of all, the

mind of the worldly minded is darkened by accumulated
sanskaras, which must be weakened even before the
aspirant enters the Path. The usual method of dispersing
sanskaras is to follow religious rituals and ceremonies.
This stage of external conformity to religious injunctions
or traditions is known as the pursuit of Shariat or Karma
Marga, and covers such actions as the offering of daily
prayers, the visiting of holy places, the performance of
duties prescribed by scriptures and the observance of
recognized ethical codes. Though the stage of external
conformity is useful as spiritual discipline, it is by no
means free from evil effects; for it not only tends to make
one dry, rigid and mechanical, but it often nourishes some
kind of subtle egotism. Most persons are attached to the
life of conformity because they find it to be the easiest
way of placating an uneasy conscience.

The soul may spend several lives in gathering the

lessons of external conformity, but the time comes when
it longs for the realities of the inner life. When the
worldly man starts upon this search, he may be said to
have become an aspirant. Like the insect, which through
metamorphosis passes on to the next stage of existence,
the soul transcends the phase of external conformity
(Shariat or Karmakanda) and enters upon the path of
spiritual emancipation (Tarikat or Moksha Marga). In this
higher phase, the soul is no longer satisfied by external
conformity but seeks to acquire the qualifications that
belong to the inner life.

Limitations of conventions

From the point of view of the realities of the inner

life, a life that

61
deviates from conformity may often be spiritually rich. In
seeking conformity with established conventions a man is
almost always prone to a life of false or illusory values.
What is conventionally recognized need not be spiritually
sound; on the contrary, many conventions express illusory
values, since they have come into existence as a result of
the working of minds that are spiritually ignorant. Illusory
values are conventional because they belong to a
mentality that is most common. This does not mean that
conventions necessarily embody illusory values.

Some people adopt the unconventional for no other

reason than that it is unusual and they are enabled to feel
their separateness and difference from others and to
delight in it. In this there is no merit. Others become
unconventional through the exercise of critical thought.
Those who would transcend external conformity and enter
into the life of inner realities must indeed develop the
capacity to distinguish between false and true values.

Discrimination

The rise from Shariat or Karma Marga to Tarikat

or Moksha Marga is, however, not to be interpreted as a
mere departure from external conformity. It is not a
change from conventionality to idiosyncracy, from the
usual to the unusual, but a change from a life of
thoughtless acceptance of traditions to a mode of "being"
based upon thought. It is to change from implicit
ignorance to critical thoughtfulness. At the stage of
external conformity, spiritual ignorance is often so
complete that people do not realize that they are ignorant,
but when awakened they begin by realizing the need for
Light, and the effort to reach this Light takes the form of
discrimination between the lasting and the transitory,
between the true and the false, the real and the unreal, the
important and the unimportant.

For the spiritual aspirant, however, it is not enough

to have intellectual discrimination. Though the basis of all
further preparation, it yields its fruit only when the newly
perceived values are brought into relation with practical
life. In spirituality, what matters is not theory but practice.
The ideas, beliefs, opinions, views or doctrines that a
person may intellectually "hold" constitute a superficial
layer of human personality,

Sometimes a wrong view held with fervour may

indirectly

62
invite an experience which opens the gates of spiritual
perception. Even at the stage of Shariat or Karma Marga
allegiance to religions is not infrequently a source of
inspiration for self-less and noble acts, and though
dogmas or creeds are blindly accepted they may be held
with dynamic fervour and enthusiasm. Dogmas and
creeds have the distinct advantage, when embraced not
only by the intellect but also by the heart, of affecting
more of the personality than theoretical opinions.

But dogmas and creeds are as much a source of evil

as of good because in them the guiding vision is clouded
by the suspension of critical thinking. If allegiance to
creeds and dogmas has sometimes done good to the
individual or to the community to which he belongs, it has
more often done harm. Though the mind and heart are
involved both are functioning under the handicap of
suspension of thought; hence dogmas and creeds do not
contribute unmixed good.

Putting theory into practice

When a person gives up accepted dogmas and

creeds in favour of views and doctrines to which he has
devoted thought, there is a certain advance in so far as his
mind has now begun to think and to examine its beliefs.
But very often the newly held beliefs lack the fervour and
enthusiasm that characterize allegiance to dogmas and
creeds. If these newly held beliefs lack motive-power,
they belong only superficially to the new life. The mind
has been emancipated from the domination of uncultured
emotion, but this is often achieved by sacrificing the co-
operation of the heart. If the results of critical thought are
to be spiritually fruitful, they must again invade and
recapture the heart. In other words, the ideas that have
been accepted after critical examination must be released
in active life if they are to yield full benefit; in the process
of practical life they often undergo transformation and
become interwoven with the fabric of life.

The transition from external conformity (Shariat or

Karma Marga) to the life of inner realities (Tarikat or
Moksha Marga) involves two steps: (i) freeing the mind
from the inertia of uncritical acceptance based upon blind
imitation and arousing it to critical thinking, and (ii)
bringing the results of critical thinking into practical life.
To be spiritually fruitful, thinking must be not only
critical but creative. Critical and creative thinking leads to

63
spiritual preparation by cultivating those qualities that
contribute to the perfection and balancing of the mind and
the heart and the release of divine life.

2. SOME DIVINE QUALITIES

If the inner life is to be harmonious and enlightened,

divine qualities have to be developed and expressed in
daily life. Any one quality may not seem to be extremely
important, but it is necessary to consider it in relation with
other qualities. In spiritual life, all qualities implement
and support each other, and their inter-connection is vital.

Every man is a rightful heir to the Truth; but he who

would inherit it must be spiritually prepared, and this
spiritual preparation sometimes takes several lives of
persistent effort. Therefore, one of the first requirements
of the aspirant is that he should combine enthusiasm with
patience. Once a man is determined to realize the Truth,
he finds that his path is beset with difficulties and there
are few who persist with steady courage until the end.

Accepting the world as it is

Spiritual effort demands not only physical

endurance and courage, but forbearance and moral
courage. The world is caught in Maya and false values;
therefore, the ways of the world run counter to the
standards the aspirant has set for himself. If he turns away
from the world, it does not help him; he will have to
return to the world and develop the ability to face and
accept it as it is. Very often his Path lies through the
world, which he has to serve despite not liking its ways. If
the aspirant is to love and serve the world, which does not
understand him or is intolerant of him, he must develop
forbearance.

As the aspirant advances on the Path he acquires

through contact with the Master an increasingly deeper
understanding of love, which makes him sensitive to
contempt, callousness, apathy and hatred. This will try his
forbearance to the uttermost. Even worldly men find the
world indifferent or hostile, but their suffering is less
acute, because they do not expect anything from human
nature and think these things inevitable. But the aspirant
knows the hidden possibilities in every soul, and his
suffering is acute

64
because he feels the gulf between that which is and that
which might might have been.

Moral Courage

Forbearance would be easy if the aspirant could

accept the ways of the world. Loyalty to the truth of his
own perception demands moral courage and readiness to
face the criticism, scorn and hatred of those who do not
yet perceive the truth; and though in this struggle he gets
help from Masters and co-aspirants, he has to develop the
capacity for the truth single handed, without relying upon
other help. This moral courage grows with confidence in
oneself and the Master. To love the world and serve it in
the ways of the Masters is not for the weak and faint-
hearted.

Freedom from worry

Moral courage and self-confidence are accompanied

by freedom from worry. There are few things that exhaust
energy so much as worry. The ego-mind that identifies
itself with its past gets entangled with it and keeps alive
frustrated desires. In that way, worry continues to eat into
the life of man. Worry is also experienced in relation to
the future, and the mind seeks to justify itself in the
attempt to prepare for anticipated situations. Worry is the
product of imagination working under the stimulation of
desires, living through sufferings that are our own
creation. Worry is a serious dissipation of psychic energy.
When the mind is gloomy, depressed or disturbed its
action is chaotic and binding. The cure for worry and
depression is detachment, the practice of separating
oneself from the illusion of existence.

Help from the Master

The condition of progress on the Path is guidance

from the Master according to the immediate needs of the
aspirant. What the Master expects is that the aspirant will
do his best. He does not expect immediate transformation
of consciousness. Time is an important factor in spiritual
advancement as in material endeavours, and when the
Master has given a spiritual impetus to the aspirant he
waits until the help thus given is assimilated. Too much
spirituality may have unhealthy reactions. The Master

65
selects the moment when his intervention is beneficial,
and having intervened he waits with patience till the
aspirant needs further help.

3. READINESS TO SERVE

The aspirant has always to be in readiness to serve

the cause of humanity. He has to select that kind of work
which he is qualified to do by his individual aptitude and
abilities. But whatever service he can render he must
faithfully carry out.

The trials through which he has to pass may be

many, but the determination to serve remains unshaken.
Yet he must not be come attached to the idea that service
brings results. He is willing to render service no matter
what the sacrifice but is not bound by the false idea that
"I" should have the credit. If the privilege of rendering a
particular service falls to the lot of someone else he is not
envious, for in the spiritual life there is no thought of self.
The self in all its forms is eliminated. Service springs out
of the spontaneity of freedom, in the co-operative spirit in
which there is no insistence upon the claims of "I".

If the aspirant is detached from his own works and

their results, he becomes free from the opposites. The
worldly minded realize their existence through
achievements, which they judge tangible, so that they
grasp at what they consider great things and avoid little
things. But from the spiritual point of view, the so called
little things are often as important as the great things.

Accepted values and fields of service

In a society dominated by material conceptions of

life, service is interpreted as affording facilities for food
or clothes, or some other physical necessity or welfare. In
a society in which intellectual culture is appreciated,
service is interpreted as spreading learning in different
forms; in a society with a developed taste for beauty,
service is interpreted in terms of the production and
distribution of works of art; in a society responsive to the
values of the heart, service is interpreted in terms of
providing channels to facilitate the culture and expression
of the heart; and in a society alive to the supreme
importance of the life of the spirit, service is interpreted in
terms of spiritual understanding. If there is no spiritual
understanding, the desire for rendering service to

66
others is limited. Service is of two kinds: in adding to the
lives of others those things which are worth while; or in
removing from the lives of others those handicaps which
prevent them from having that which is worth while; if
our ideas of things that are worth while are small, the
scope of possible service also becomes narrow.

Just as it is habitual to misjudge positive

contributions so it is usual to make a similar mistake in
judging obstacles, handicaps and adversities. It is
characteristic to allow more importance to external and
tangible things than to what belongs to the inner life. War
is considered to be a greater calamity than lives filled with
hatred, though from the spiritual point of view such lives
are not less evil. War assumes great importance because
of its cruelty; but hatred is equally important even when
not materialized in outward actions. Epidemics, injuries
and death invite more attention than the agonies of the
heart heavy with the burden of desire.

But for the aspirant eager to serve without

recognition or credit, everything that thwarts or perverts
the release of life is worthy of attention, irrespective of
whether it is great or small. Just as the building up or the
collapse of empires has a place in the flow of human
existence, the moments of sadness or sweetness in
individual experience have their place in it; the
importance of one is not to be measured in terms of the
other. The aspirant looks at life as a whole.

Service which springs from love

Even when the aspirant renders a service that is

self-less he keeps guard upon his mind. He must be
humble, honest and sincere. The service he renders must
not be for the sake of show, and should be an outcome of
love. If the aspirant is inspired by love, his love will
enable him to be in harmony with his co-workers without
jealousy. If there is not harmony amongst co-workers, the
service that is rendered falls short. Further, if the aspirant
renders outward service without the spirit of love, he is
merely acting from a sense of duty. In the world, people
work for pay; at best, it is a sense of duty that prompts
them to be efficient. Their work does not have the inward
beauty of work done out of love.

67
 Contact with the Master

The aspirant can best maintain the practice of true

service, if he has the good fortune to be in contact with
the Master. The Master teaches not through preaching but
through example; and when the Master is seen rendering
service to humanity, the aspirant is quick to catch his
spirit. Contact with the Master is also helpful in
encouraging the spirit of co-operation. The aspirants do
the Master's work, not their own, and they do it because
they have been entrusted with it by the Master. They are
free from ideas of individual merits, rights and privileges.

In co-operation of this kind the aspirants serve each

other, because the Master's work is accepted by each as
his own. In being useful to a co-aspirant, the aspirant is
rendering a service to the Master. But in such service he
knows that all are equal, and it is easy for him to cultivate
the habit of serving in the spirit of humility. If service
makes him proud, he knows that he might as well have
not served. One of the most difficult things to learn is to
render service without fuss and without pride. In the
world of spirituality, humility counts as much as utility.

When the Master serves others, he does so not

because he is attached to the work but to help and to set
his disciples the example of self-less service. In his
feeling of oneness, the Master knows himself to be at
once the Lord of all and the Servant of all. The aspirant
realizes the ideal of true service when he has before him
the example of the Master; but the spiritual preparation of
the aspirant is never complete until he has learnt the art of
rendering service with joy.

4. FAITH

One of the most important qualifications is Faith, of

which there are three kinds: (i) faith in oneself; (ii) faith
in the Master and (iii) faith in life. Faith is so
indispensable that unless it is present in some degree, life
is impossible. Children have a natural faith in their elders,
looking to them for protection and help. This habit of trust
persists until the shock of being deceived or exploited is
received. Faith is strengthened when it finds those
qualities which invite and confirm it. Being worthy of
faith and having faith in others are complementary, they
are the conditions of the development of individual and
collective life.

68
 Faith in oneself

Unqualified and implicit faith belongs to the world

of ideals; in practice it exists only rarely. Faith remains
undeveloped, however, unless one has faith in oneself. A
man without faith in himself, cannot develop those
qualities that invite and foster it in others. The confidence
that you can, under all circumstances, remain loyal to
your own perception of the best is not only the foundation
of a reliable character but of co-operation with others.

But unshakable faith in oneself is as rare as implicit

faith in some other person; few have developed it to the
degree that ensures effective control of themselves. In
most persons faith in themselves is undone by the
experience of their own frailties and failings. Self-
confidence is thus in constant danger of being shattered
and can be established only when a man has before him a
living example of perfection.

Faith in the Master

Faith in the Master nourishes faith in oneself and

faith in life, in the teeth of set-backs and failures,
handicaps and difficulties. Life as one knows it in oneself
or in most of one's fellow-men, is narrow, twisted and
perverse; but Life as seen in the Master, is unlimited, pure
and self-contained. In the Master, a man's own ideal is
realized; the Master is what his own deeper self would be;
he sees in the Master the reflection of the best that is yet
to be, which he will surely attain. Faith in the Master,
therefore, becomes the chief motive-power for realizing
one's latent divinity.

Faith and critical reasoning

True faith is grounded in the deeper experience of

the spirit and purified intuition. It is not to be regarded as
the antithesis of critical reason but as its guide. When
critical reason is implemented by living faith, based on
pure intuition, its functioning becomes creative and
fruitful. Many forms of credulity cannot be removed
except by the free working of the critical reason. How-
ever, critical reason can clarify only those forms of faith
that are not based upon pure intuition. True faith,
grounded on pure intuition, is an imperative, which
cannot be made subject to reason, for it transcends the
limits of the mind and is fundamental

69
and primary. This does not mean that faith at any stage
need be blind in the sense that it is not to be examined by
the critical intellect. True faith is a form of sight not of
blindness and need not be afraid of the functioning of
critical reason.

The right of testing the Master through critical

reasoning has always been conceded to disciples; but if
after testing and being satisfied about the perfection of the
Master the disciple shows wavering, it is the result of a
deficiency in his sincerity of approach and integrity of
purpose. There are many instances of uncritical credulity
in the claimants for spiritual wisdom, and many instances
of unjustified wavering of faith despite a convincing basis
in one's own experience; and just as credulity is the result
of the unconscious operation of worldly wants, unjustified
wavering of faith is due to the unconscious operation of
desires that run contrary to the manifestation of faith. The
first is the father of unwarranted belief, and the second the
father of unwarranted doubt.

Cravings pervert the functioning of critical reason,

and an unwavering faith, grounded in pure intuition,
comes only to a mind that is free from the pressure of
unsatisfied wants. True faith is, therefore, a matter of
growth; it increases in proportion to the success of the
disciple in freeing his consciousness from cravings.

Faith must be distinguished from intellectual belief

or opinion. When a person has a good opinion about
someone, he is said to have a certain faith in him. But this
kind of opinion does not possess the spiritual potency of
living faith in the Master. Beliefs and opinions exist in a
superficial layer of the human psyche, they do not have
integral relation with the deeper psychic forces; they
remain in the mind without bringing about those radical
changes in the personality which determine the attitude to
life. People hold beliefs as they wear clothes; in times of
emergency they change their clothes to suit an altered
situation.

Living faith creatively dynamic

Living faith has a vital relation with all the deeper

forces and purposes of the psyche; it is creatively
dynamic. There is not a thought but is enlivened by it;
there is not a feeling but is illumined by it; there is not a
purpose that is not recast by it. Living faith in the Master
becomes a supreme source of inspira-

70
tion and unassailable self-confidence for the disciple, and
expresses itself primarily through active reliance upon the
Master, not merely through the opinion held about him.
Living faith is an active attitude of confidence in the
Master, expressing itself not only through trustful
expectation of help, but through the spirit of self-
surrender and dedication.

Such fruitful and living faith in the Master is always

born of some deep experience, which the Master imparts
to the disciple. Just as the disciple tests the Master in
respect of his capacity to guide him, so the Master tests
the disciple in respect of his integrity of purpose. The
Master is unconcerned about whether the disciple doubts
him or has faith in him; what he is concerned about is
whether the disciple is or is not sincere and whole-hearted
in his spiritual search. The Master is not interested in
giving proof of his own divinity except when he feels that
such proof is necessary for the spiritual benefit of one
who has surrendered himself to him.

71
 XI

DISCIPLESHIP

When an aspirant becomes affiliated to a Master, he is

said to have become a disciple. But merely formal
affiliation does not constitute discipleship. The
relationship between disciple and Master is utterly
different from legal relations that create rights and
liabilities through verbal understandings or formal agree-
ments. Such transactions are inwardly determined by
sanskaric ties and karmic laws, and are not devoid of
significance; but these relations are in their nature
provisional and superficial, in no way comparable to the
bond of discipleship that gives substance and direction to
the life of the aspirant. Discipleship belongs to the basic
law of the spiritual life. It is therefore of much greater
significance than the relations that arise within the context
of ordinary life from associations or contracts. Many of
these earthly relations do not enter into the spiritual fabric
of the life of the aspirant.

The relation between Master and disciple is

primarily a relation between the lover and his Divine
Beloved, the most important relationship into which a
person can enter. Earthly love in discipleship is the love
of God-unconscious for God-conscious.

The love the aspirant has for the Master is the response
evoked by the love of the Master. Love for the Master
becomes a central element in the life of the aspirant;
because he knows the Master to be an embodiment of the
infinite God, all his thoughts and aspirations are centred
upon the Master. All other streams of love join this great
river of love and disappear in it. Majnu loved Laila. He
loved her so intensely that every moment of his life he
was filled with thoughts about her. He could neither eat,
drink nor sleep without thinking of her, and all he wanted
was the happiness of Laila. He would gladly have seen
her married to some other person had he known it would
be in her interest, and he would even have died for her
husband had he thought she would thereby be

72
happy. The self-denial and sincerity of his love led him to
the Master. Because he thought only of the beloved, his
love was lifted from the physical and intellectual level to
the spiritual.

Purification through love and self-surrender

When the disciple meets his Master, all he has to do

is to love him; for loving the Master out of the fullness of
his heart, the disciple's union with him is assured. He does
not worry about the quality of his love. He loves in spite
of weaknesses and does not wait till he can purify his
heart. The Master is the source of purity and to set one's
heart on the Master is the beginning of self-purification.
When the disciple has whole-hearted devotion to the
Master, he opens himself for the reception of the Divine
Love, which the Master pours upon him; his weaknesses
are consumed in this Divine Love. But if the disciple is to
be free from weaknesses and attain purity, he has to
dedicate his life to the Master without reservation. He
must offer his weaknesses as well as his strengths, his
virtues as well as his vices, his merits as well as his sins.
His self-surrender must be so complete as to allow no
room for a shadow of secret self-desire.

Complete self-surrender and unquestioning love

become possible when the disciple has faith in the Master.
Once God is realized there is no question of faith, but,
until realization, the faith that the disciple places in the
Master is his guide. It is not for nothing that all religions
are referred to as "faiths".

The story of Kalyan

The faith of the disciple must be grounded on his

experience of the divinity of the Master. The story of
Kalyan brings out the meaning of this. Kalyan was a
disciple of Swami Ramdas who was a Perfect Master at
the time of Shivaji. The Master loves all disciples alike;
but some are particularly dear to him. Swami Ramdas had
many disciples; but the favourite was Kalyan. Other
disciples did not understand why Kalyan should be so
dear to the Master. Once Swami Ramdas made a test of
the devotion of his disciples when he carefully pretended
to be so sick as to be on the point of death. He had placed
a mango on the joint of his knee and covered it by a
bandage so that it looked like a huge swelling.

73
Swami Ramdas pointed to this swelling, said that it was a
malignant tumour, and that there was no chance of his
living unless some one sucked out the poison. At the same
time he made it clear that whoever sucked out the poison
would die. Then he asked whether any disciple was
prepared to do this. All the disciples hesitated except
Kalyan who arose immediately and began to suck from
the swelling. He found that what he sucked was mango
juice not poison. To be willing to die for the Beloved is
true love. Such faith, love and loyalty as that of Kalyan
comes to the disciple only through the grace of the
Master.

The Master realized through service

Undivided loyalty to the Master does not introduce

narrowness in the life of the disciple. To serve the Master
is to serve your own self in every other self. The Master
dwells in Universal Consciousness and wills universal
spiritual well-being; to serve the Master is to participate
in his cause, which is to serve all life. While sharing the
work of the Master, the disciple may be required to be in
touch with the world; but though moving in the world he
is in inward contact with the Master as Infinite Being.
Therefore, by sharing the work of the Master, the disciple
comes closer to him. Serving the Master is the quickest
means of realizing him. Service of the Master is a joy for
the disciple even when an ordeal is involved that tries
body or mind. Service offered under conditions of dis-
comfort or inconvenience is the test of the devotion of the
disciple. The more trying such service the more welcome
it is, and as he voluntarily accepts physical and mental
suffering, the disciple experiences the bliss of spiritual
fulfilment.

Conflict

The sense of undivided loyalty to the Master is

made possible by right understanding of what the Master
is and what he stands for. If the disciple has an imperfect
grasp of the status and function of the Master he is likely
to set up a false antithesis between his own Higher Self
and the Master, and as a consequence he may have in his
mind an imaginary conflict between the claims of the
Master and other claims. But a disciple should from the
beginning realize that the Master requires only that the
disciple should realize his

74
own Higher Self. In fact, the Master is no other than this
Higher Self. This, however, does not mean that formal
allegiance to the Higher Self is a substitute for allegiance
to the Master. The disciple cannot have a clear perception
of his own Higher Self until he is God-realized, and what
comes to him as duty is a prompting of sanskaras
interpolating themselves between the Higher Self and his
field of consciousness. The Master as one with the Higher
Self makes no mistake about right valuation.

The disciple, therefore, must test his own

promptings by means of the orders given by the Master
and in the event of conflict he should re-examine his own
ideas. Almost always a little reflection is sufficient to
enable him to perceive the harmony between his own
Higher Self and the requirements of the Master. If,
however, the disciple is unable to reconcile the two, he
may be sure that he has not grasped what the Master says.
Under such circumstances the Master requires the disciple
to follow his conscience at any cost. The Master may
sometimes give instructions with a view to preparing the
disciple for a higher mode of life when the disciple may
find himself confronted by an apparent variance between
his inclinations and the instructions received from the
Master. But the Master does not give instructions for
which the disciple has not had inward preparation.

The Master is supremely impersonal, his only

concern is to remove the veils between the consciousness
of the disciple and his Higher Self. So there is never any
real conflict. At the end of his search, the disciple
discovers the Master to be none other than his Higher
Self. In his impersonality the Master desires that the
disciple should reconstitute himself in the light of the
Higher Self. This is the meaning of discipleship.

75
 XII

THE FORMATION, FUNCTION

AND REMOVAL OF SANSKARAS

I. THEIR FORMATION AND FUNCTION

There are two aspects of human experience—the sub-

jective and objective: the mental processes which contain
the essential elements of experience, and the objects to
which they refer. The mental processes are dependent
partly upon the immediate objective situation, and partly
upon the functioning of the accumulated sanskaras or
impressions of previous experience. The human mind thus
finds itself between past sanskaras and the objective
world.

From the psycho-genetic point of view, human

actions are based upon the operation of the impressions
stored in the mind through previous experience. Every
thought emotion and act is grounded in groups of
impressions, which are modifications of the mind stuff of
man. These impressions are deposits of previous
experience, and become the most important factors in
determining the course of present and future experience.
The mind is constantly creating and gathering them.
When occupied with the physical objects of this world,
such as the body and nature, the mind is, so to say,
externalized, and creates physical impressions; and when
it is busy with its own subjective mental processes it
creates subtle and mental impressions. The question
whether these impressions (or sanskaras] or experience
come first is like the question whether the hen was first or
the egg. Both are conditions of each other and develop
simultaneously. The problem of understanding the
significance of human experience, therefore, turns upon
the problem of understanding the formation and function
of sanskaras.

Natural and non-natural sanskaras

The sanskaras are of two main types—natural and

the so-called

76
non-natural—according to the manner in which they
come into existence. The sanskaras gathered during the
period of organic evolution are natural. They gather round
the soul as it successively takes up and abandons the
various sub-human forms, passing from the apparently
inanimate stone or metal to the human, where there is full
development of consciousness. All the sanskaras which
cluster round the soul before attaining the human form are
the product of natural evolution, and are therefore,
referred to as natural sanskaras. They should be
distinguished from the sanskaras cultivated by the soul
after the attainment of the human form, treated under the
moral freedom of consciousness with its responsibility of
choice between good and evil. They are, therefore,
referred to as non-natural sanskaras. For, though these
post-human sanskaras are directly dependent upon the
natural sanskaras, they are created under fundamentally
different conditions. The difference in the length of the
periods through which they have been gathered and the
conditions under which they are formed is responsible for
the difference in the degree of firmness with which the
natural and non-natural sanskaras are attached to the soul.
The non-natural sanskaras are not as difficult to eradicate
as the natural sanskaras, which have an ancient heritage,
and are more firmly rooted. The obliteration of the natural
sanskaras is practically impossible unless the neophyte is
the recipient of the grace of a Master.

Manifest life arises owing to the will-to-be-conscious

in the Absolute

An important question is, "Why should the

manifested life at the different stages of evolution emerge
out of the Absolute Reality, which is infinite?" The
answer is that manifested life arises out of the impetus in
the Absolute to become conscious of itself. The
progressive manifestation of life through evolution is
ultimately brought about by the will-to-be-conscious
inherent in the Infinite. In order to understand creation in
terms of thought, it is necessary to imagine this will-to-
be-conscious in the Absolute prior to the act of
manifestation.

Though for the purpose of an intellectual

explanation of the creation, the impetus in the Absolute is
to be regarded as a will-to-be-conscious, to describe it as
an inherent desire would be

77
incorrect. It is better described as an inexplicable,
spontaneous and sudden impulse. Since all intellectual
categories are necessarily inadequate, the nearest
approach to understanding the mystery of creation is not
through an intellectual concept but through an analogy. A
wave across the surface of the ocean produces a stir of
innumerable bubbles, and the impulse creates myriads of
individuals out of the infinity of the One Being. But the
abounding Absolute or One Being is the substratum of
individuals. Individuals are the creation of a spontaneous
impulse, and have, therefore, no anticipation of their
continuity of existence throughout the cyclic period until
the subsiding of the initial tremor. Within the
undifferentiated being of the Absolute is a mysterious
point through which comes forth the variegated creation,
and the deep, which once was icy-still, is astir with the
life of innumerable selves who secure their separateness
of a definite size and shape through self-limitation upon
the surface of the ocean.

The Absolute is unaffected by the illusion of manifestation

This is mere analogy. It would be a mistake to

imagine that some real change takes place in the Absolute
when the impulse of the involved will-to-be-conscious
brings into existence the world of manifestation. There
can be no act of involution or evolution within the being
of the Absolute; and nothing real can be born from the
Absolute. The change implied in the creation of the
manifested world is not an ontological change or a change
in the being of the Absolute Reality, it is an apparent
change. In one sense, the act of manifestation must be
regarded as an expansion of the illimitable being of the
Absolute, since through that act the Infinite, which is
without consciousness, seeks to attain consciousness. But
since this expansion of Reality is effected through its self-
limitization into various forms of life, the act of
manifestation might also be called the process of timeless
contraction. But whether the act of manifestation is
looked upon as an expansion of reality or as its timeless
contraction, it is preceded by an initial urge or movement
which might in terms of thought be regarded as an
inherent and involved desire to be conscious. The
manifoldness of creation and the separateness of
individuals exist only in imagination. The existence of
creation or the world of

78
manifestation is grounded in illusion, so that, in spite of
the manifestation of numberless individuals, the Absolute
remains the same without any real expansion or
contraction, increment or decrement. But though the
Absolute undergoes no modification, there comes into
existence its apparent differentiation into many
individuals.

The original illusion in the stone

The original illusion marks the beginning of the

formation of sanskaras, which starts in the finite centre
which becomes the first focus for the manifestation of
individuality. In the physical sphere, this first focus of
manifestation is represented by the tri-dimensional and
inert stone, which has rudimentary and partial
consciousness sufficient only to illumine its own shape
and form. Whatever illumination exists in the stone phase
is derived from the Absolute, not from the body of the
stone. But consciousness is unable to enlarge its scope
independently of the body of the stone, because the
Absolute is first identified with consciousness and
through it to the stone. And as all further development of
consciousness is arrested in the body of the stone,
evolution of the higher forms of manifestation becomes
indispensable. The development of consciousness has to
proceed with the evolution of the body by which it is
conditioned. Therefore, the will-to-be-conscious which is
inherent in the Absolute seeks by divine determination a
progressive evolution of the vehicles of expression.

Evolution of consciousness and forms

Thus the Absolute forges for itself a new vehicle of

expression in the metal form, in which it becomes more
intensified. But even at this stage it remains rudimentary.
It has to get transferred to forms of vegetation in which
there is an appreciable advance in the development of
consciousness through the maintenance of the vital
processes of growth, decay and reproduction. Emergence
of a still more developed form of consciousness becomes
possible when the Absolute seeks manifestation through
the instinctive life of insects, birds and animals, which are
aware of their bodies and respective surroundings, which
develop a sense of self-protection, and aim at establishing
mastery over their environment. In the higher animals
mind or thought appears, but its working is

79
limited by such instincts as those of self-protection and
the care and preservation of the young. So even in
animals, consciousness has not its full development, with
the result that it is unable to serve the purpose of the
Absolute to attain self-illumination.

Human consciousness

The Absolute finally takes the human form in which

self-consciousness appears. At this stage the capacity of
reasoning develops, the scope of which is unlimited, but
as human consciousness is identified with the physical
body, this consciousness does not serve the purpose of
illuminating the nature of the Absolute. However, in the
human form, consciousness has the potentiality for self-
realization, and detachment from the body and its
environment, and the will-to-be-conscious with which
evolution started becomes fructified in the Masters or
Man-Gods.

The development of sanskaras

The Absolute cannot reach self-knowledge through

ordinary human consciousness, because that
consciousness is enveloped in a multitude of sanskaras.
As consciousness passes from the apparently inanimate
state of stone or metal to vegetative life, then to the
instinctive state of insects, birds and animals, and finally
to the consciousness of man, it is continually creating new
sanskaras and getting enveloped in them. These natural
sanskaras get added to after the human state is attained by
the creation of non-natural sanskaras, through human
experience. Thus the acquisition of sanskaras is
unceasing during the process of evolution as well as
during the later period of human activities. This
acquisition of the sanskaras may be likened to the
winding up of a piece of string round a stick, the string
representing the sanskaras, the stick representing the
individual mind. The winding up starts from the
beginning of the creation and persists through all the
evolutionary stages and the human form; the wound string
represents all the positive sanskaras—natural as well as
non-natural.

The winding of sanskaras

The sanskaras constantly created in human life are

due to the various objects and ideas with which
consciousness finds itself confronted, and the thoughts
and actions that follow; these

80
sanskaras bring about important transformations in the
various states of consciousness. The impressions created
by beautiful objects arouse the capacity for appreciating
and enjoying beauty, so that when one hears a good piece
of music, or sees a beautiful landscape, there is a feeling
of exaltation. When one contacts the personality of a
thinker, one may enter new spheres of thought and be
inspired with enthusiasm. Not only the impressions of
objects or persons but also the impressions of ideas and
superstitions determine the conditions of consciousness.

The power of the impressions of superstitions might

be illustrated as follows. During the Moghul rule in India,
a highly educated man who was skeptical about ghosts
made up his mind to verify the truth of their existence
from personal experience. He had been warned against
visiting a certain graveyard on the darkest night of the
month, for it was reported to be the habitation of a
dreadful ghost who made his appearance whenever an
iron nail was hammered into the ground within the limits
of the graveyard. With hammer in one hand and a nail in
the other he walked into the graveyard on the darkest
night of the month and chose a spot uncovered by grass to
drive a nail in the ground. When he sat on the ground to
hammer in the nail, an end of his black cloak got tied to
the nail. He finished hammering and felt he was
successful with the experiment without encountering the
ghost, but as he tried to rise he felt a strong pull towards
the ground, and became panic-stricken. Owing to the
operation of previous impressions he could think of
nothing but the ghost, who, he thought, had secured him
at last. And the shock of the thought was so great that the
man died of heart-failure.

The power and effect of impressions can hardly be

over estimated. An impression is hardened, and its
inertness makes it durable. It can become so engraved
upon the mind that despite a sincere desire to have it
eradicated it works itself into action directly or indirectly.
The mind contains many heterogeneous sanskaras, and,
while seeking expression in consciousness, they often
clash with each other. The clash of sanskaras is
experienced in consciousness as a mental conflict.
Experience is bound to be chaotic and enigmatic, full of
oscillations, confusion and tangles, until consciousness is
freed from sanskaras – good and bad. Experience can
become truly harmonious only when consciousness is
emancipated from subjection to impressions.

81
 The three types of sanskaras give rise to three different
states of consciousness

Sanskaras can be classified, according to the

essential differences in the nature of the spheres to which
they refer, as of three kinds: (1) Physical sanskaras,
which enable the individual to experience the physical
world through the physical medium and compel it to
identify itself with the physical body. (2) Subtle
sanskaras, which enable the individual to experience the
subtle world through the subtle medium and to identify
itself with the subtle body. (3) Mental sanskaras, which
enable the individual to experience the mental world
through the mental medium and compel it to identify
itself with the mental body. The differences between the
states of individuals are due to the differences existing in
the kind of sanskaras with which their consciousness is
loaded. Thus merely physically conscious individuals
experience only the physical world; the subtle-conscious
only the subtle world; and the mental-conscious only the
mental world. The qualitative diversity in the experience
of these three types of individuals is due to the difference
in the nature of their sanskaras.

The self-conscious individuals are, however,

different from all others, because they experience the
Absolute through the medium of the self, whereas other
individuals experience only their bodies and the
corresponding worlds. And this difference is due to the
fact that whereas the consciousness of others is
conditioned by some kind of sanskaras, the consciousness
of self-conscious individuals is free from sanskaras. It is
only when consciousness is unobscured and
unconditioned by sanskaras that the initial will-to-be-
conscious arrives at its fruition, and the infinity and in-
divisible unity of the Absolute is consciously realized.
The problem of deconditioning the mind through the
removal of sanskaras is, therefore, extremely important.

2. THE CESSATION OF SANSKARAS

Human beings do not have self-illumination,

because their consciousness is clouded. The will-to-be-
conscious with which evolution started has succeeded in
creating consciousness, but without knowledge of the One
Being the individual is impelled to use consciousness for
experiencing its own nature. The existence of sanskaras
keeps the individual confined to the illusion of being a

82
finite body trying to adjust itself in the world of things
and persons.

Individuals are like drops in the ocean. Just as each

drop is fundamentally identical with the ocean, the soul
which is individualized is still the One Being, and does
not really become separate. Yet the envelope of sanskaras
in which consciousness is covered prevents the individual
from having knowledge of the self and keeps it within the
domain of Maya. So that the individual should
consciously realize his identity with the One Being, it is
necessary that consciousness should be retained and
sanskaras removed. The sanskaras which are
contributory to the evolution of consciousness themselves
become impediments to illuminating the nature of the One
Being. Henceforth, the problem with which the will-to-
be-conscious is confronted is that of the release of the
individual from sanskaras. This is accomplished in the
following way.

Five ways of release from sanskaras

(1) To cease creating new sanskaras by putting an

end to those unconscious activities that form them. If the
formation of sanskaras is compared to the winding of a
string round a stick, this step amounts to the stopping of
the further winding of the string.

(2) The wearing out of old sanskaras. If sanskaras

are withheld from expressing themselves in action and
experience, they are gradually worn out.

(3) The unwinding of past sanskaras. This process

consists in annulling past sanskaras by mentally reversing
the process which leads to their formation.

(4) The dispersion and exhaustion of some

sanskaras. If the psychic energy which is locked up in
sanskaras is sublimated and diverted to other channels,
they get dispersed and disappear.

(5) The wiping out of sanskaras. This consists in

completely annihilating sanskaras. In the analogy of the
string, this is comparable to the cutting of the string. The
wiping out of sanskaras can be effected only by the grace
of a Perfect Master.

It should be noted that many methods of undoing

sanskaras are effective in more than one way, and the five
ways mentioned are not meant to be sharply
distinguished. They represent the different principles
characterizing the psychic processes that take place while
sanskaras are being removed. For the sake of
convenience, only those methods that pre-eminently
illustrate the first

83
three principles (viz., the cessation of fresh sanskaras and
the wearing out as well as the unwinding of past
sanskaras) are mentioned here. The methods that
predominantly illustrate the last two principles (viz., the
dispersion and sublimation of sanskaras and the wiping
out of sanskaras) will be explained later.

Renunciation

If the mind is to be freed from the bondage of

accumulating sanskaras it is necessary that there should
be an end to the creation of new ones. New sanskaras can
be stopped through renunciation. Renunciation may be
external or internal. External or physical renunciation
consists in giving up everything to which the mind is
attached, viz., home, parents, wife, children, friends,
wealth, comforts and enjoyments. Internal or mental
renunciation consists in giving up all cravings, feelings of
self-importance, opinions, habits and attitudes. Though
external renunciation is not necessarily accompanied by
internal renunciation, it often paves the way for it.
Spiritual freedom consists in internal renunciation, not in
external renunciation; but external renunciation is an aid
in achieving internal renunciation. The person who
renounces his possessions disconnects himself from a
potent source of fresh sanskaras. He thus takes an
important step towards emancipating himself; but this is
not all that is achieved through external renunciation.
With the renouncing of everything he also renounces his
past bindings. The old sanskaras connected with his
possessions get detached from his mind, and since they
are withheld from expressing themselves, they get worn
out.

External renunciation creates a favourable

atmosphere for the wearing out of sanskaras; as for
instance a man who possesses money and power is
exposed to a life of indulgence and extravagance, his
circumstances are favourable to temptations. Man is
mostly what he becomes by being shaped by
environment. Whether or not he surmounts his
surroundings depends upon strength of character; if
strong, he remains free in thought and action in the midst
of action and reaction with his environment; if weak, he
succumbs to their influence. Even if he be strong, he is
likely to be swept off his feet by the collective mode of
life and thought. It is difficult to withstand the onslaught
of a current of ideas and to avoid falling a prey to
circumstances. One who

84
resists circumstances is still in danger of being carried
away by some wave of collective passion and caught up
in modes of thought he is unable to renounce. Many
persons would live a different life were they not
surrounded by luxuries. The renunciation of superfluous
things helps the wearing out of sanskaras and is con-
tributory to the life of freedom, and awakening of
consciousness.

Solitude and fasting

Two important forms of external renunciation that

have special spiritual value are (1) solitude and (2)
fasting. Withdrawal of oneself from worldly activities and
occasional retirement into solitude are valuable for
wearing out the sanskaras connected with the gregarious
instinct. But this is not a goal in itself. Like solitude,
fasting has great spiritual value. Eating is satisfaction;
fasting is denial. Fasting is physical when food is not
taken despite the craving for the enjoyment of eating; it is
mental when food is taken not for its delights but for the
survival of the body. External fasting consists in avoiding
direct contact with food so as to achieve mental fasting.

As food is a necessity of life its continued denial is

bound to be disastrous. Therefore, external fasting should
be for a short time only. It has to be repeated until there is
victory over the craving for food. By bringing into action
the vital and psychic forces to withstand the craving for
food, it is possible to free the mind from attachment to it.
External fasting has no spiritual value when undertaken
with the motive of improving the body or for the sake of
self-demonstration. It should neither be used as an
instrument for self-assertion, nor carried to such an
extreme that the body is reduced to its limits. Self-
mortification through prolonged fasting does not
necessarily promote freedom from the craving for food.
On the contrary it may invite re-action to a life of
extravagant indulgence. If, however, external fasting is
undertaken in moderation and for spiritual purposes it
facilitates the achievement of internal fasting; and when
external and internal fasting are whole-hearted, they bring
about the unwinding of the sanskaras connected with the
craving for food.

Penance

The unwinding of many sanskaras can be brought

about through

85
penance. This consists in augmenting the feeling of
remorse when one has done wrong. Repentance consists
in mentally reviving the wrongs with severe self-
condemnation. It is not mere regret or sorrow for the
wrong. Penance is facilitated by remaining vulnerable
during periods of emotional outbursts, or by deliberate
efforts to recall the past with deep disapproval. Such
penance unwinds the sanskaras which are responsible for
the action. Self-condemnation, accompanied by deep
feeling, can negate the sanskaras of anger, greed and lust.
Sometime or other a man is bound to experience the
reaction of remorse and suffer the pricks of conscience. If,
at that time, he vividly realizes the evil for which he was
responsible, the intensity of emotional awareness by
which it is accompanied consumes the tendencies for
which he stands self-condemned.

Self-condemnation sometimes expresses itself

through forms of self-mortification. Some saints inflict
wounds on their body when they are in a mood of
penitence, but such expressions of remorse are to be
discouraged. Some Hindu aspirants cultivate humility by
making it a rule to fall at the feet of every one whom they
meet. To a man of strong will and stable character
penance can bring-the desired good effect through any
form of self-humiliation which unwinds the sanskaras
connected with good and bad actions. Others, feeble in
will power, derive benefit from penance if they are under
sympathetic direction. When penance is carefully
nourished and practiced it inevitably results in the psychic
revocation of undesirable modes of thought and conduct
and brings a man into a life of purity and service.

It should, however, be noted that there is always in

penance the danger that the mind may dwell too long
upon the wrongs done, and thus develop a morbid habit of
regretfulness, and even take pleasure in it. Such
sentimentality is a waste of psychic energy, and in no way
helpful for the wearing out of sanskaras. Penance should
not be the everyday regret that follows everyday weak-
nesses. It should not become a sterile habit of immoderate
gloomy pondering over one's failings. Sincere penance
does not consist in perpetuating grief for wrongs one has
done but in resolving to avoid them in future. If it leads to
lack of self-respect or self-confidence, it has not served its
purpose, which is to render impossible the repetition of
certain actions.

86
 Withholding desires from fulfillment

The wearing out and the unwinding of sanskaras

can also be effected by denying to desires their expression
and fulfilment. People differ in their capacity and aptitude
for rejecting desires. Those in whom desires arise with
strong impulse are often unable to curb them at their
source, but they can refrain from seeking their fulfilment
through action. Even if a man has no control over the
surging of desires, he can prevent them from being trans-
lated into action. Rejection of desires by controlling
actions avoids the possibility of sowing the seeds of
future desires. On the other hand, if a man translates his
desires into action, he may exhaust some impressions but
will create fresh impressions, thus sowing seeds for future
desires, which, in their turn, demand satisfaction. The
process of speeding up or exhausting impressions through
expression and fulfilment does not in itself contribute
towards securing release from sanskaras.

When desires arise and their release into action is

barred, there is plenty of opportunity for cogitation upon
them; and this cogitation results in the wearing out of the
corresponding sanskaras. It should, however, be noted
that such spontaneous cogitation does not bring about the
desired result if it takes the form of mental indulgence in
the thought of the desires. When there is an attempt to
welcome and harbour the desires, cogitation will not only
have no spiritual value but may be responsible for
creating subtle sanskaras. Mental cogitation should not be
accompanied by any conscious sanction for the desires
which arise in consciousness; and there should be no
effort to perpetuate their memory. When desires are
denied their expression and fulfilment in action, and are
allowed to pass through the intensity of the fire of cogita-
tive consciousness which does not sanction them, the
seeds of these desires get consumed. The rejection of
desires and the inhibition of physical response effect in
time a negation of past sanskaras.
.
Desirelessness

Rejection of desires is a preparation for

desirelessness or the state of non-wanting, which alone
brings freedom. Wanting is binding, whether fulfilled or
not. When it is fulfilled, it leads to further wanting, and
this perpetuates the bondage of the spirit; when
unfulfilled, it leads to disappointment and suffering which

87
through their sanskaras fetter the spirit. There is no end to
wanting, because the external and internal stimuli of the
mind are constantly alluring it either into wanting or into
disliking (which is another form of wanting). The external
stimuli are the sensations of sight, hearing, smell, taste
and touch; the external stimuli arise in the mind from
memories of the present life and the totality of sanskaras
gathered by consciousness during the evolutionary period
and human lives. When the mind is trained to remain
unmoved and balanced in the presence of all external and
internal stimuli, it arrives at the state of non-wanting,
when it is possible to unwind the sanskaras.

Wanting is a state of disturbed equilibrium of mind, and

non-wanting a state of poise. The poise of non-wanting
can be maintained only by a disentanglement from all
stimuli, whether pleasant or painful, agreeable or
disagreeable. To remain unmoved by the joys and sorrows
of this world, the mind must be completely detached from
external and internal stimuli. Though the mind is
constantly fortifying itself through its own constructive
activity, there is always the chance of these outposts of
defence being washed away by a sudden wave in the
ocean of natural mental environment. When this happens,
you may for the time feel lost, but the attitude of non-
attachment keeps you safe. This attitude consists in the
application of the principle of denial. Watchful effort is
needed to maintain detachment from the opposites of
experience. It is not possible to deny only the disagreeable
and to remain inwardly attached to those that are
agreeable, if the mind is to remain unmoved. The
equipoise consists in meeting both alternatives with
detachment.

The "yes" meaning of the positive sanskaras can be

annulled only through the negative assertion of "no",
"no". This negative element is necessarily present in all
aspects of asceticism, as expressed through renunciation,
solitude, fasting, penance, withholding desires from
fulfillment, and non-wanting. The blending of these
methods and attitudes creates a healthy form of
asceticism, but to ensure this, the negative element must
be without any perversions or further limitations.

The limit of the negative element

It is useless to try to coerce the mind to a life of

asceticism. Any

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forcible adjustment of life in the ascetic way is likely to
stunt the growth of good qualities. When the healthy
qualities of human nature are allowed to develop slowly,
they unfold knowledge of relative values, and thereby
pave the way for a spontaneous life of asceticism, but any
attempt to force them will invite reaction.

The process of being freed from attachments is

often accompanied by the formation of some other
attachments. The grossest form of attachment is that
which is directed towards the world of objects. But when
the mind is becoming detached from the world of objects,
it has a tendency to arrive at finer attachments of a
subjective kind. After the mind has succeeded in
cultivating a certain degree of detachment, it may develop
that subtle form of egoism which expresses itself through
aloofness and superiority. Detachment should not be
allowed to form any nucleus on which the ego may fasten
itself; at the same time it should not be an expression of
one's inability to cope with the stress of worldly life.
Further, detachment does not consist in clinging to the
mere formula of denial which may become an obsession
of the mind without deep-felt longing for enlightenment.
Such interest in the formula of negation often exists with
an inward dwelling on the temptations.

The negative sanskaras must also disappear

The negative assertion of "no", "no", is the way of

unwinding the positive sanskaras gathered through
evolution and human lives. But though this process
destroys the positive sanskaras, it results in the formation
of negative sanskaras, which also condition the mind and
create new problems. The assertion of "no", "no" has to
be sufficiently powerful to effect the eradication of the
physical, subtle and mental sanskaras; but after it has
served its purpose it must be abandoned. Spiritual
experience does not consist of negation. A negative
attitude is equivalent to an intellectual concept, used to
condition the mind, but it must be renounced. Thought
has sometimes to be used to overcome limitations set up
by its own movement, but when this has been done, it has
itself to be given up. This is the process of going beyond
the mind, which becomes possible through non-
identification with the mind and its desires. To look upon
the body as well as all thoughts and impulses, objectively,
is to get established in detachment and to negate the
sanskaras. This means freeing the soul from its self-

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imposed illusions such as “I am the body”, I am the
mind" or "I am desire" and gaining ground towards the
enlightened state of "I am God", "Anel Hague", or "Aham
Brahmasmi".

3. EXHAUSTION OF SANSKARAS

Those methods of removing sanskaras that have

been explained depend chiefly on the principle of
negating those positive sanskaras that veil the truth from
consciousness and prevent self-illumination. These
methods are based upon the control of the body and mind.
The control of the habitual tendencies of the mind is much
more difficult than the control of physical actions.
Fleeting and evasive thoughts can be curbed only with
great patience and persistent practice; but the restraint of
mental processes and reactions is necessary to check the
formation of new sanskaras and to wear out or unwind
the old.

Control is a conscious activity and involves effort as

long as the mind attempts to recondition itself through the
removal of sanskaras; but after release from the
sanskaras the activity is spontaneous, because the mind is
functioning in freedom. Such control is born of strength
of character and health of mind, and brings with it
immense peace. The mind which appears feeble when
uncontrolled becomes a source of great strength when
controlled. Control is indispensable for the conservation
of the psychic energy and the economical use of thought-
force for creative purposes.

If, however, control becomes mechanical it defeats

its own purpose, which is to make possible the free and
unconditioned functioning of the mind. The control that
has spiritual value does not consist in the repression of
thoughts and desires, but is the restraint exercised by the
perception of positive values discovered during
experience. Control is essentially, therefore, not merely
negative. When positive values enter consciousness, they
generate psychic energy, which removes the mental
tendencies that interfere with free expression. Thus, the
tendencies towards lust, greed and anger are removed
through the recognition of the value of a life of purity,
generosity and kindness.

The mind that is accustomed to certain habits of

thought and responses does not find it easy to adjust itself
to these new results of its own perceptions, owing to the
inertia caused by the impres-

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sions of previous modes of thought and conduct, and this
process of readjustment in the light of true values is what
we call controlling the mind. But this control is never
mechanical. It is an effort of the mind to overcome its
own inertia. It is fundamentally creative.

Dispersion through sublimation

Creative control is possible because the source of

light is within, and though self-illumination is prevented
by the veil of sanskaras, there is not, even within the
boundaries of ordinary human consciousness, complete
darkness. The ray of light which leads the individual
onward is the sense of true values, which guides with
varying degrees of clarity according to the thickness of
the veil of sanskaras. The process of the replacing lower
by higher values is the process of sublimation, which
consists in diverting the psychic energy locked up in
sanskaras towards creative and spiritual ends. When the
psychic energy is thus diverted those sanskaras get
dispersed.

The method of sublimation has the special

advantage of having an unfailing interest for the aspirant
at all stages. The method of negation without substitution,
though necessary, is likely to be boring, and may seem to
lead to vacuity. But the method of sublimation is at every
stage of absorbing interest, bringing an ever-increasing
sense of fulfilment. Psychic energy can be sublimated into
spiritual channels through (1) meditation, (2) selfless
service of humanity, and (3) devotion.

Meditation is deep and constant concentration upon

an ideal object and its nature and forms will be dealt with
in the next discourse.

Selfless service

While meditation on the personal and impersonal

aspects of God requires withdrawal of consciousness into
the sanctuary of one's own heart, concentration on the
universal aspect of God is best achieved through the
selfless service of humanity. When the mind is absorbed
in the service of humanity, it is oblivious of its body and
mind and their functions as in meditation, and therefore
new sanskaras are not formed. Further the old sanskaras
which bind the mind are shattered and dispersed. Since
the mind is now centring its attention not upon its own
good but upon the good of

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others, the nucleus of the ego is deprived of its energy.
Selfless service is, therefore, one of the best methods of
sublimating the energy locked up in the binding
sanskaras.

Selfless service is accomplished when there is no

thought of reward or result as an earlier discourse has
made clear. You are willing to sacrifice everything for-
the well-being of others. Their comfort is your
convenience, their health your delight, and their happiness
your joy. You find your life in losing it in theirs. You live
in their hearts, and your heart becomes their shelter. Thus
through living for others your own life finds its
expansion. The person who leads a life of selfless service
is, however, never self-conscious in serving. He does not
make those he serves feel that they are under any
obligation to him.

The purifying efficacy of love

Love comprehends the different advantages

belonging to the other paths leading to emancipation, and
is the most effective Path. It is characterized by self-
sacrifice and happiness. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that
in whole-hearted offering to the Beloved there is no
diversion of psychic energy, and concentration is
complete. In love the physical, vital and mental energies
are made available for the cause of the Beloved and
become dynamic power. The tension of true love is so
great that any feeling which might intervene is at once
eliminated. Thus, there is no parallel to the expulsive and
purifying efficacy of love.

There is nothing artificial about it for love subsists

from the beginning of evolution. At the organic stage it is
expressed in the form of cohesion or attraction. It is the
natural affinity that keeps things together and draws them
to each other. The gravitational pull exercised by the
heavenly bodies upon each other is an expression of love.
At the organic stage love becomes self-illumined and self-
appreciative, even from the amoeba to the most evolved
human beings. When love is self-illuminated, its value is
in conscious sacrifice.

The sacrifice of love is complete and ungrudging.

The more it gives the more it wants to give, and the less it
is conscious of having given. Ever increasing and never
failing it seeks to please the Beloved. It welcomes
suffering to satisfy a single wish of the Beloved or to
relieve the Beloved of the slightest neglect. It would

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gladly die for the Beloved. The lover breaks through his
limitations and loses himself in the being of the Beloved.

Such deep and intense love is called Bhakti or

devotion. In its initial stages devotion is expressed
through worship, through ritual before the deities, and
reverence to the revealed scriptures, or through the pursuit
of the Highest in abstract thinking. In its more advanced
stages, devotion expresses itself in the form of interest in
human welfare and the service of humanity, love and
reverence for saints and allegiance and obedience to the
Spiritual Master. These stages have their relative values
and relative results. Love for a living Master is a unique
stage in devotion, for it gets transformed into Para-bhakti
or divine love.

Para-bhakti

Para-bhakti is not merely intensified Bhakti. It

begins where Bhakti ends. At the stage of Para-bhakti,
devotion is not only single-minded, but is accompanied
by extreme restlessness of the heart and a ceaseless
longing to unite with the Beloved. This is followed by
lack of interest in one's own body and its care, isolation
from one's own surroundings and utter disregard for
appearances or criticism, while the divine impulses of
attraction to the Beloved become more frequent. This
highest phase of love is most fruitful, because it has as its
object a person who is love incarnate, arid who can, as the
Supreme Beloved, respond to the lover most completely.
The purity, sweetness and efficacy of the love which the
lover receives from the Master contributes to the
insuperable spiritual value of this highest phase of love.

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 XIII

MEDITATION

1. THE NATURE OF MEDITATION AND ITS

CONDITIONS

Meditation may be described as the path that the indi-

vidual makes for himself while trying to get beyond the
limitations of the mind. The man who finds himself drawn
into deep meditation is grappling with spiritual problems.

Meditation has been misunderstood as a process of

forcing the mind upon a selected idea or object. Most
people naturally have an aversion to meditation because
they experience difficulty in attempts to coerce the mind
in a particular direction, or to pin it down to one particular
thing. Any purely mechanical use of the mind is bound to
be spiritually unsuccessful.

The first principle for aspirants to remember is that

the mind can be controlled and directed in meditation
only according to the laws inherent in the make-up of the
mind itself, and not by means of the application of force.

Many persons who do not technically "meditate"

are often found to be deeply and intensely engrossed in
systematic and clear thinking about some practical
problem or theoretical subject; this mental process is very
similar to meditation, inasmuch as the mind is
concentrated upon the one subject to the exclusion of all
others. Meditation is spontaneous in such mental
processes, because the mind is dwelling upon an object in
which it is interested and increasingly understands. The
object of meditation has always to be carefully selected,
and must be spiritually important; it should be some
divine person or object, or some spiritually significant
theme or truth. To attain success in meditation, the mind
must not only be interested in the divine subjects but must
understand and appreciate them. Some intelligent
meditation is a natural process of the mind, and since it
avoids the rigidity and regularity of mechanical
meditation, it is easy and successful.

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 Meditation and concentration

Meditation should be distinguished from

concentration. It is the first stage of a process which
develops into concentration. In concentration, the mind
seeks to unite with its object by the process of fixing itself
upon it, whereas meditation consists in thinking about a
particular object to the exclusion of other things. In
concentration, there is practically no movement of the
mind; in meditation the mind moves from one relevant
idea to another. In concentration, the mind dwells upon an
idea without amplifying it or connecting it with other
ideas. In meditation, the mind assimilates the object by
dwelling upon its attributes or implications. In
concentration as in meditation there is the intermingling
of love and longing for the divine object.

Persons who have not the capacity of intense

concentration have to begin with meditation, whereas
those who have the capacity for concentration find
meditation unnecessary. The latter may immediately
concentrate on the form of a God-man or some such
formula as "I am neither the material body, nor the subtle
body, nor the mental body; I am Atman".

Silence and seclusion

Meditation is essentially an individual matter in the

sense that it is not for society but for one's own spiritual
advancement. Isolation of the individual from social
surroundings is almost always necessary in meditation.
The ancient yogis took to the mountains and caves in
search of seclusion. Undisturbed silence is necessary.
However, there is no need to go to mountains and caves in
search of these conditions, for even in towns the quiet,
silence and seclusion necessary for meditation can be
found.

Darkness

Darkness or the closing of eyes is not necessary for

meditation. If the aspirant mentally faces the object of
meditation, he may have successful meditation, even with
open eyes. But generally he will find that to get away
from physical sights and sounds is helpful. To secure
complete silence involves careful selection of the spot for
meditation, but one has only to close one's eyes to protect
the mind from the disturbance of sights. Sometimes, when
there is

95
light, closing the eyes is not sufficient to ward off visual
stimulation; it is then advisable to meditate in darkness.
Darkness normally promotes progress in meditation.

Posture, place and hour

As to posture, there are no fixed rules. Any posture

that is comfortable and hygienically unobjectionable may
be adopted, so long as it does not induce sleep and
contributes to the alertness of mind. The posture should
not involve physical tension or strain, because it then
invites the attention of the mind. The body should,
therefore, be relaxed, but the usual position taken in sleep
should be avoided because it may induce sleep. When the
body has assumed a convenient and suitable posture it is
helpful to think of the head as the centre of the body when
it becomes easier to withdraw one's attention from the
body and to fix it on the object of meditation.

It is desirable that the aspirant should maintain the

same posture for each meditation. The associations that
the posture has with meditation endow it with a capacity
to induce meditation. When the body has assumed the
chosen posture, it is under the subconscious suggestion
that it must serve the purpose of meditation. Choosing the
same spot and a fixed hour are also useful because of
association. Hence the aspirant should adopt the same
place, posture and hour. The choice of place involves
consideration of its occult associations. Special
importance is attached to meditating in holy places where
the Masters have lived or meditated.

The posture, place and hour of meditation have an

importance that varies according to the individual. The
Master, therefore, may give different instructions to
disciples. However, where meditation has become
habitual through practice, adherence to a fixed place,
posture or time can be dispensed with, and the aspirant
can meditate under any conditions. Even when walking he
may be absorbed in meditation.

A joyous act

Meditation should not be resorted to as if it were a

form of medicine. One has to be serious, but this does not
mean that the

96
aspirant must look grave or melancholy; humour and
cheerfulness not only do not interfere with the progress of
meditation but contribute to it. Meditation should not be
turned into a distasteful or tiresome thing; the aspirant
should freely allow himself the joy attendant upon
successful meditation without getting addicted to it. All
thoughts of depression, fear or worry should be
eliminated.

Collective meditation

Though meditation is essentially an individual

matter, collective meditation has advantages. When
aspirants who are in harmony with each other meditate
together, their thoughts have a tendency to augment and
strengthen each other; this is particularly noticeable when
the disciples of the same Master are collectively engaged
in meditation upon their Master. But if the collective
meditation is to yield its full advantages, each aspirant
must be concerned with the course of his own meditation
and not with what others are doing. Though in the
company of others, he has to be oblivious of the world,
including his body and to be exclusively cognisant of the
object agreed upon before the beginning of the
meditation. Intelligently conducted, collective meditation
can prove to be of immense help to beginners, although
advanced aspirants invariably meditate by themselves.

Disturbing thoughts

In ordinary thinking, the flow of trains of thought is

common, but when the mind sets itself to meditation,
there is usually a tendency towards irrelevant thoughts.
This is a habit of the mind, and the aspirant should not be
disturbed by the appearance of contrary thoughts, which
had hitherto not made their appearance. Meditation
includes bringing the subconscious contents of the mind
to the forefront of consciousness. The aspirant must be
prepared for disturbing thoughts and should exercise
patience with the confidence that these disturbances will
be overcome.

The last but not least important condition of

attaining success in meditation is to adopt the right
technique in respect of disturbing thoughts. It is useless to
waste psychic energy by direct effort to repress them.
Such an attempt leads to further attention to the disturbing
thoughts, which feed upon the attention given to

97
them and get strengthened. It is better to ignore them and
return to the object of meditation without attaching undue
importance to disturbing factors. By recognizing the
irrelevance of disturbing thoughts it becomes possible to
let them die through neglect, keeping the mind upon the
object of meditation.

2. THE CHIEF TYPES OF MEDITATION

Meditation is of different types, which can

conveniently be distinguished. They can be classified
according to the function they perform in respect of
spiritual advancement, or on the basis of the part of the
personality predominantly brought into play during the
process, or on the basis of items of experiences involved.

Associative meditation and dissociative meditation

In the first type of meditation the purpose of

associating consciousness with the eternal Truth is served
and of dissociating consciousness from the false things of
the phenomenal world. There is thus associative
meditation, which predominantly involves the synthetic
activity of the mind (Anwaya), and dissociative
meditation, which predominantly involves the analytic
activity of the mind (Vyatereka). Associative meditation
may be illustrated by the formula "I am Infinite", and
dissociative meditation by the formula "I am not my
desires".

Through associative meditation, the aspirant unites

with the spiritual ideal as mentally constructed by him;
and through dissociative meditation, he separates himself
from the conditions that come to him as anti-spiritual.
Associative meditation is a process of the assimilation of
the essentials of spiritual life; dissociative meditation is
the process of the elimination of those factors that inhibit
the life of the spirit.

Associative meditation is concerned with objects

selected from the land of light; and dissociative
meditation is concerned with objects that belong to the
land of shadows. The world of illusions is the world of
shadows, which has a charm of its own, and if a person is
to succeed in getting out of the world of illusions and to
arrive at the Truth, he must develop resistance to the
enticement of the world of illusions by repeated attention
to its worthlessness and develop discontent with the world
of shadows. Therefore,

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dissociative meditation is a preliminary to associative
meditation.

Associative and dissociative meditation are both

necessary, but the former is by far the more fruitful. When
a person is surrounded by shadows, he will not be helped
by being upset about them. If he is cross with the
shadows, he will increase his worries. Instead of fretting
about the shadows, he should set himself to the task of
getting into the full blaze of the sun, when the shadows
will disappear. Aimless discontent with existing
limitations is to be replaced by effort directed towards the
ideal. As long as the face is turned toward the sun and as
long as he walks into the light, the shadows will not be a
serious handicap to a person's emancipation.

Associative meditation is to the spirit what the

assimilation of food is to the body. As the body maintains
itself by the assimilation of the right food, so the mind
secures health by the assimilation of spiritual truths by
meditating upon them. But it is necessary to strike a
balance between different forms of associative meditation
even though they are all in their own way good, just as it
is necessary to attend to the balancing of the physical diet.
Disproportionate development of mental life hampers
advancement because of the internal friction attendant
upon it. Combinations of the different forms of meditation
facilitate rapid progress because they promote a
harmonized and balanced mind. The right combinations
are those which promote an advancing equilibrium by
emphasizing these aspects of the truth that are relevant for
removing the special obstacles with which the aspirant is
at the moment faced.

The analogy of diet can be extended to the second

type of meditation, which consists in avoiding the things
that are anti-spiritual. As faulty diet can upset physical
health, so can faulty meditation throw the mind into
disorder. Instinctive meditation on the objects of craving
creates fetters for the mind. Therefore, it is as important to
avoid the wrong type of meditation as to avoid the wrong
type of food. And further, as good health requires
elimination of waste products, so spiritual health requires
detachment from undesirable thoughts and emotions.

Three types of meditation

So far, explanations have been concerned with two

forms of

99
meditation; by considering the nature of the functions
they perform in spiritual advancement it is equally
illuminating to consider the nature of the part of the
personality predominantly brought into play during the
process of meditation. Through the application of this
second principle, we have three further types of
meditation.

In the first, the intellect is predominant and it may

be called "discriminative meditation". In the second, the
heart is predominant, and it may be called the "meditation
of the heart". In the third, the active nature of man is
predominant, and it may be called "the meditation of
action". Discriminative meditation is represented by the
intellectual assertion of a formula such as "I am not my
body but the Infinite"; the meditation of the heart is
represented by a steady flow of love from the aspirant to
the Divine Beloved; and the meditation of action is
represented by an unreserved dedication of one's life to
the selfless service of the Master or humanity. Of these
three types of meditation, meditation of the heart is the
highest and most important; but the others have also their
value and cannot be neglected without serious detriment
to the spiritual progress of the aspirant.

In fact, the different types of meditation must not be

looked upon as excluding each other. They should
proceed in combination. Sometimes, one type of
meditation leads to another, and progress in one is often
held up until there is corresponding progress in the others.
All types of meditation are valuable for securing the
spiritual advancement of the aspirant and supplement
each other.

But one type of meditation may also seriously

interfere with the progress of another if it is resorted to at
an inopportune moment. The different types of meditation
are all concerned with aspects of life that are equally true.
But according to the psychic state of the individual, the
assimilation of one truth of life may be more necessary
than the assimilation of another. Therefore, the Masters
never prescribe the same form of meditation to all; they
give specific instructions according to the individual
needs of the aspirant.

The need for instructions from the Master

The type of meditation necessary in a particular

situation can often not be correctly ascertained by the
aspirant for himself. He

100
can get so addicted to one type of meditation that he finds
it difficult to escape from the groove that has been cut
into his mind. He fails to see the importance of any other
meditation and is not drawn to it. The aspirant may, of
course, himself come to feel his own deficiency, but like
many medicines, the meditations indicated in a specific
situation may come to the aspirant as distasteful, so that
he is disinclined to take them. The help and advice of the
Master are indispensable. Specific instructions from the
Master supply necessary correctives for neglected aspects
of personality.

Although the aspirant may start with an initial

aversion to a type of meditation, he gets interested in it
when he comes to see its real value and appreciates its
purpose only when he has tried it. It is not possible to
discover the value of any type of meditation by theoretical
speculation. Like many other things of spiritual
importance, meditation yields its significance after the
person has experienced it, not when he tries to understand
it by examination.

Determination necessary for success

To have success in any mode of meditation the

aspirant must enter upon it with the determination to
explore its possibilities. He must not start with
reservations, but should be prepared to encourage
unexpected states of consciousness, and be willing to go
where he is led, but without expectations. The essence of
meditation is one-pointed-ness and the exclusion of other
considerations, even when they happen to be enticing.

If the aspirant adopts any type of meditation on his

own initiative and without the benefit of the guidance of
the Master, he may get so far that he loses his perspective
and is unable to recover himself. It may be impossible for
him to change to some other mode of meditation even
when necessary. This is avoided if the aspirant has
accepted the orders of a Master. When he is under
guidance the Master asks the aspirant to halt at the right
time, and helps him to get out of the grooves cut by
previous meditation.

3. GENERAL CLASSIFICATION OF THE FORMS

OF MEDITATION

The process of meditation aims at understanding

and transcending the range of experience. When
meditation is interpreted in this manner, it is seen to be
something not peculiar to a few

101
aspirants, but a process in which every living creature is
in some way engaged. But the term meditation is
restricted to those forms devoted to understanding
experience intensively and systematically. Meditation as
the natural application of the mind brings no
consciousness of ultimate purposes. But spiritual
meditation is deliberate; and the ultimate objective is
consciousness itself. The forms of spiritual meditation are
continuous with the meditation found throughout the
world of consciousness, and the spiritual forms of
meditation come into existence when other more general
forms of "meditation" have brought the person to a crisis.

General and specialized meditation

The spiritually important forms of meditation are of

two kinds: (1) General meditation, which consists in the
assimilation of the Divine Truths and (2) Specialized
meditation, in which the mind selects some definite
experience and is exclusively concerned with it. General
meditation is a carrying further of the ordinary thought-
processes systematically and intensively. It is different
from the pre-spiritual meditations of the worldly only in
so far as (i) the thought-processes come to be directed
towards realities that have spiritual importance, and (ii)
the mind makes intelligent use of expositions of the
Divine Truths without renouncing its critical powers.

The specialized forms of meditation require more

than an intellectual approach to the Truth. In them the
mind has an opportunity for intellectual understanding of
the object of meditation, but help is required to cultivate
mental discipline, to develop capacities hitherto inactive,
and to unfold latent possibilities of personality.

The problem of the specialized forms of meditation

is not theoretical but practical. Specialized forms of
meditation are helpful for overcoming specific obstacles
in the way of enlightenment and realization; they aim at
controlling the mind and going beyond it. Specialized
forms of meditation are equivalent to the attempts of a
man to break through the walls of a prison rather than the
speculative formation of “opinions” about the strength of
the prison-walls.

In spiritual life even a sincere mistake taken

seriously, may have more value than half-hearted
allegiance to theoretical truth. The

102
practical purpose in the specialized forms of meditation
may be at the cost of theoretical truth. Thus, while
concentrating on a particular formula, no other formulae
must be allowed access to the mind, although other
formulae may have the same or even greater spiritual
importance. If an aspirant has been meditating upon one
Master, he must exclude other Masters. In the same way,
intensive thinking about the nature of the soul cannot be
carried on while trying to make the mind blank, although
intensive thinking may be as helpful towards the
achievement of the goal as the process of making the
mind blank.

The task of bringing together the different facets of

the Truth, and building up a complete view of life, is
attempted in general meditation, in which thought is free,
comprehensive and receptive to all aspects of the truth.
Such general meditation has its own value. General
meditation is helpful before adopting specialized forms of
meditation, as well as after trying them. But it cannot take
the place of the specialized forms of meditation, which
have a different function.

As the different specialized forms of bodily exercise

need to be correlated in the light of knowledge of the
health of the body, so the specialized forms of meditation
have to be correlated with the complete ideal of life,
which the aspirant constructs through the process of
general meditation, which observes no law but that of
finding the truth in all its aspects. Just as specialized
forms of meditation cannot be replaced by general
meditation, general meditation cannot be replaced by
specialized forms of meditation.

The different specialized forms of meditation can be

conveniently classified on the basis of the experience that
the mind seeks to understand. Human experience is
characterized by the dual aspect of subject and object;
some forms of meditation are concerned with the objects
of experience, some with the subject. Some forms of
meditation are concerned with the mental operations
involved in the interaction of subject and object. Thus we
get three kinds of meditation.

All the forms of meditation, which the aspirant may

adopt, culminate in the goal of all meditation, which is to
become established in the Sahaj Samadhi or spontaneous
meditation of the spiritually perfected soul. The Sahaj
Samadhi has two forms: (i) Nirvana or absorption and (ii)
Nirvikalpa Samadhi or divinity in expression.

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 Table of General Classification

The classification of the types of meditation given

in the accompanying table serves the purpose of
summarizing what is said here. The different forms of
general meditation will be dealt with in Part 4: the
different forms of specialized meditation, along with their
sub-divisions, will be explained in Parts 5 and 6. Sahaj
Samadhi and its forms will be explained in Parts 7 and 8.

A TABLE OF GENERAL CLASSIFICATION OF

THE TYPES OF MEDITATION

i General Meditation 1. Philosophical thinking

or
The assimilation 2. Hearing a discourse
of from the Masters
the Divine Truth
3. Reading the written
expositions of the
FORMS Masters
OF THE
MEDI- ii Specialized 1. Meditation concerned
TATION Meditation which with the objects of
OF THE
ASPI-
selects some experience
RANT definite items of 2. Meditation concerned
experience with the subject of
experience

3. Meditation concerned
with mental operations

1. Nirvana or Absorption
SAHAJ SAMADHI OR THE
MEDITATION OF THOSE WHO
ARE SPIRITUALLY PERFECT 2. Nirvikalp Samadhi or
Divinity in expression

4. ASSIMILATION OF THE DIVINE TRUTHS

(A) Modes of general meditation

The beginnings of spiritual life are marked by

general meditation, which does not exclusively concern
itself with specific items of experience, but in its
comprehensive scope seeks understanding and
assimilation of the Divine Truths concerning life and the
universe. When the aspirant is interested in the problems
of the nature of life and the universe he may be said to
have launched himself upon such meditation. Philosophy
is the outcome of the endeavour to grasp the ultimate
nature of life. But the purely

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intellectual grasp of the Divine Truths remains incomplete
and indecisive owing to the limitations of the experience
available to it. The philosophical meditation of free and
unaided thought does not lead to conclusive results; it
often leads to conflicting systems or views. All the same,
philosophical meditation is not without value because
besides leading him in the realms of knowledge, it
provides the aspirant with intellectual discipline, which
enables him to receive the Divine Truths when he arrives
at them through those who know.
.
The study of Revealed Truths

The most fruitful method of general meditation

consists in studying the Revealed Truths concerning life
and the universe. The discourses of living Masters or the
writings of the Masters of the past are a suitable object for
this method of general meditation because the
assimilation of the Divine Truths, so revealed, enables the
aspirant to bring his life into line with God's purpose.
.
The Divine Truths are most easily grasped when
directly passed on to the aspirant by a living Master. Such
personal communications have in them an efficacy that
does not belong to the information received by the
aspirant through other sources. The word becomes alive
because of the life of the Master. Hence many scriptures
emphasize the need for hearing the Divine Truths directly
through the spoken word of the Master (Gurmukh). The
mode of general meditation, which depends upon hearing
the expositions of the Divine Truths, is undoubtedly one
of the best forms of meditation, when the aspirant has the
opportunity to contact a living Master and to listen to him.

It is, however, not always possible for the aspirant

to contact a living Master; and meditation through reading
becomes necessary. For most aspirants, meditation
through reading has hardly any substitute, and starts with
written expositions. The meditation, which takes its start
from reading about the Revealed Truths, has the
advantage of being easily accessible to most aspirants.

(B) Reading as a meditation

Meditation through reading has its handicaps

because most of the written expositions of the Divine
Truths are meant for intellectual study rather than for
assimilation through meditation.

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The difficulties that aspirants experience in connection
with this form of meditation, are (i) that the method is not
adapted to the subject-matter of meditation; or (ii) to
some flaw in the method which makes it mechanical; or
(iii) to the vagueness of the subject-matter.

All these causes which vitiate meditation and make

it unsuccessful are avoided in the specific meditation now
to be explained. The usual difficulties in meditation
through reading, are removed in this meditation, by (i)
securing that the process of meditation as well as the
subject-matter are adapted to each other and to the
conditions of intelligent meditation, (ii) by explaining the
different phases of the meditation that takes its start from
reading, and (iii) by providing an exposition of the Divine
Truths which are a suitable subject-matter for meditation
through reading.

Three stages of meditation through reading

This form of meditation has three stages:

(1) In the first stage, the aspirant has to read the
exposition daily and simultaneously think about it.
(2) In the second stage, reading becomes
unnecessary, but the subject matter of the exposition is
mentally revived and constantly thought over.
(3) In the third stage it is unnecessary for the mind
to revive the words and discursive thinking about the
subject matter comes to an end. At this stage, the mind is
no longer occupied with any trains of thought but will
have a clear, spontaneous and intuitive perception of the
sublime Truth.
Subject-matter

Since meditation consists of intense thinking about

a particular subject, it follows that the best help for such
meditation is a clear exposition of the subject. The
following exposition of the Divine Truths comprises the
story of creation, and an account of the Path and the Goal
of self-realization.

This special form of meditation is not difficult

because reading of the subject-matter and thinking about
it are simultaneous. Further, in making the exposition of
the subject-matter clear and concise, the likelihood of
irrelevant thoughts is eliminated. It is

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extremely hard to avoid the disturbance of irrelevant
thoughts in ordinary meditation, but they become
improbable if the subject-matter consists of an exposition
of the super-sensible Truth. Aspirants who meditate upon
the subject-matter of the following exposition of the
Divine Truths will find it to become inspiring and will be
taking an important step towards the realization of the
goal of life.

(C) The Divine Truths

Atman is identical with Paramatman or the Eternal

Self, which is One, Infinite and Eternal. The self is
beyond the material, subtle and mental worlds, but
experiences itself as limited owing to identification with
the Sharira or the material body; Prana or the subtle body
(which is the vehicle of desires and vital forces); or
Manas or the mental body (which is the seat of the mind).
The self in its transcendental state, is one, formless,
eternal and infinite, yet identifies itself with the
phenomenal world of forms, which are many, finite and
destructible. This is Maya or the cosmic illusion.

States of the phenomenal world

The phenomenal world of finite objects is illusory.

It has three states: (1) the material; (2) the subtle; and (3)
the mental. Although these three states of the world are
false, they represent different degrees of falseness. Thus,
the material world is farthest from Truth; the subtle world
is nearer Truth; and the mental world is nearest to Truth.
But all three states of the world owe their existence to the
cosmic illusion, which the self has to transcend before it
realizes the Truth.

The purpose of creation is that the self should enjoy

the Eternal Self consciously. Although the self eternally
exists in and with the Eternal Being in inviolable unity, it
cannot be conscious of unity independently of the
creation, which is within the limitation of time. It must,
therefore, evolve consciousness before it can realize its
true nature as identical with the Eternal Being. The
evolution of consciousness requires the duality of the
subject and the object—the centre of consciousness and
the environment (i.e. the world of forms).

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 Cosmic illusion

How does the self get caught in illusion? How did

the Formless, Infinite and Eternal come to experience
itself as form, and as finite and destructible? How did the
Purush or the Supreme Spirit come to think of itself as
Prakrati or the world of nature? In other words what is
the cause of the cosmic illusion in which the soul finds
itself?

To realize the Eternal Being, One, Indivisible, Real

and Infinite, the self became conscious, not of God but of
the Universe, not of the Eternal Being but of its shadow,
not of the One but of many, not of the Infinite but of the
finite, not of the Eternal but of the transitory. Thus,
instead of realizing the Eternal Being, the self became
involved in the cosmic illusion, and, though infinite, came
to experience itself as finite.

The organic evolution

To become conscious of the phenomenal world, the

self must assume some form as its medium for
experiencing the world, and the degree of consciousness
is determined by the nature of the form. The self first
becomes conscious of the material world by assuming a
material body. The consciousness of the material world
which it has in the beginning is of the most rudimentary
kind, and correspondingly the self assumes the most
undeveloped form (e.g., that of stone) with which
evolution begins. The driving force of evolution is the
momentum that consciousness received owing to the
conservation of the impressions (sanskaras) left by
desires or conations. Thus the sanskaras cultivated in a
particular form have to be worked out and fulfilled
through the medium of a higher form and a
correspondingly more developed consciousness of the
material world; and the self has to assume higher and
higher forms such as metal, vegetable, worm, fish, bird
and animal until it assumes a human form, in which it
develops full consciousness in all the aspects of knowing,
feeling and willing of the material world.

The sanskaras are not only responsible for the

evolution of the form and the kind of consciousness
connected with it, they are also responsible for the
riveting of consciousness to the phenomenal world. They
make emancipation of consciousness (i.e. the withdrawal
of consciousness from the phenomenal world to the self

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itself) impossible at the sub-human stage and difficult at
the human level. Since consciousness clings to the
previous sanskaras, and experience of the phenomenal
world is conditioned by an adequate form as a medium,
the self at every stage of evolution comes to identify itself
with the form, e.g., stone, metal, vegetable, animal, etc.
Thus the self, which is Infinite and formless, comes to
experience itself as finite, and thinks of itself as stone,
metal, vegetable, worm, fish, bird or animal, according to
the degree of the development of consciousness; and
finally, while experiencing the material world through the
human form, the self thinks itself to be a human being.

Re-incarnation and the Law of Karma

The self develops full consciousness in the human

form, and there is no need for any further evolution of the
material form or body. The evolution of forms, therefore,
comes to an end with the attainment of the human form;
and to experience the sanskaras cultivated in the human
form, the self has to re-incarnate again and again in the
human form. The innumerable human forms, through
which the self has to pass, are determined by the Law of
Karma, or the nature of its previous sanskaras. During
these lives, the self, which is eternal, identifies itself with
the gross or material body, which is destructible.

The subtle and mental bodies

While developing full consciousness of the material

world in the human form, the self simultaneously
develops the subtle and mental bodies, but as long as its
consciousness is confined to the material world it cannot
use these bodies consciously. It becomes conscious of
them and the corresponding worlds only when its full
consciousness turns inwards, i.e. towards itself. When the
self is conscious of the subtle world through the subtle
body it identifies itself with the subtle body, and when it
is conscious of the mental world through the mental body
it identifies itself with the mental body.

The Path

The homeward journey of the self consists in freeing itself

from

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the illusion of identity with its bodies—material, subtle
and mental. When the attention of the self turns towards
self-knowledge and self-realization there is a gradual
loosening of the sanskaras, which keep consciousness
turned towards the phenomenal world. The disappearance
of the sanskaras proceeds side by side with the piercing
through the veil of the cosmic illusion, and the self begins
to transcend the different states of the phenomenal world
and to know itself to be different from its bodies. The
Path begins when the self finds itself and turns its
consciousness towards the Eternal Self.

At the first stage, the self becomes unconscious of

its material body and of the material world and
experiences the subtle world through the medium of its
subtle body with which it identifies itself. In the second
stage, the self is unconscious of its material and subtle
bodies and also of the material and subtle worlds and
experiences the mental world through the medium of its
mental body with which it now identifies itself. At this
stage, the self is face to face with God or the Eternal Self,
which it realizes as Infinite. But though it recognizes
Infinity or the Eternal Self, which it objectifies, it looks
upon itself as being finite because of its identification
with the mind or mental body.

Thus, we have the paradox that the self, which is

infinite, sees its infinite state, but continues to regard
itself as finite, because it looks upon itself as the mind. It
looks upon the object of the mind as the Eternal Self and
not only entertains the longing to be one with the Eternal
Self but endeavours to fulfil that longing.

The Goal

In the third stage, the full consciousness of the self

is drawn still further inwards (i.e., towards itself) and
ceases to identify itself with the mental body. Thus, in the
third and the last stage (which is the Goal) the self knows
itself to be formless and beyond all the bodies and worlds,
and realizes its unity with the Eternal Self. In this
realization it enjoys infinite Bliss, Peace, Power and
Knowledge.

At the end of the Path the self frees itself from all
sanskaras and desires connected with the material, subtle
and mental worlds, and from the illusion of being finite.
At this stage the self transcends the phenomenal world
and becomes self-conscious and

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self-realized. For attaining this goal the self retains full
consciousness and at the same time knows itself to be
different from the Sharira (material body) Prana (subtle
body, which is the vehicle of desires and vital forces) and
Manas (mental body, which is seat of the mind).

The self emancipates itself from the illusion of

being finite by (1) liberating itself from the bondage of
the sanskaras, and (2) knowing itself to be different from
the material, subtle and mental bodies. It thus annihilates
the false ego (i.e., the illusion that "I am the material
body", "I am the subtle body" or "I am the mental body").
While the self thus frees itself from the illusion it retains
full consciousness which now results in self-knowledge
and realization of the Truth. Escaping from the cosmic
illusion and realizing its identity with the Infinite is the
goal of the long journey.

5. SPECIAL MEDITATIONS WHICH ARE

PERSONAL

It was said earlier that specialized meditation is of

three kinds: (i) meditation concerned with the objects of
experience; (ii) meditation concerned with the subject of
experience and (iii) meditation concerned with mental
operations. These three kinds of meditation are inter-
connected because the subject of experience, the objects
of experience and the different mental operations, are
interwoven. Thus, meditation concerned with the objects
of experience may often have reference to the subject of
experience and to the diverse mental operations involved
in it; meditation concerned with the subject of experience
may often involve reference to the diverse mental
operations and the objects to which these mental
operations are directed; and meditation concerned with
the diverse mental operations may often involve reference
both to the subject and the objects of experience. Yet each
kind of meditation remains distinct because of the
predominance of some factor.

These three kinds of meditation can each be further

subdivided according to the nature of the content of the
meditation and according to the manner in which it is
conducted. Out of these forms of specialized meditation
only those that are representative need mention. Thus,
twelve forms of specialized meditation are referred to in
the following Table of Enumerative Classification.

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A TABLE OF ENUMERATIVE CLASSIFICATION
IN
THE FORMS OF SPECIALIZED MEDITATION

1. Meditation on the Divine

Qualities of the Master
A Meditation 2. Concentration on the form
concerned of the Master FORMS OF
with the 3. The Meditation of the PERSONAL
objects of Heart MEDITATION
experience 4. The Meditation of Action

5. Meditation regarding the

numerous forms of mani-
fested life

6. Meditation regarding one's

own bodies
7. Meditation on the Form-
less and Infinite aspect of
God
FORMS OF
B Meditation 8. Quest for the Agent of IMPERSONAL
MEDITATION
concerned Action
with the 9. Considering oneself as the
subject of witness
experience

C Meditation 10. Writing down thoughts

concerned 11. Watching mental
with mental operations
operations 12. Making the mind blank

It should be noted that of these twelve forms of

specialized meditation, meditation is personal when
concerned with a person and impersonal when concerned
with (a) aspects of human personality or (b) something
that falls outside the range of human personality. The
forms of specialized meditation that are personal will be
explained here, and those that are impersonal will be
explained later.

Advantages of personal meditation

Personal meditation has some clear advantages compared

with impersonal meditation. For beginners, personal
meditation is easy and attended with joy; while
impersonal meditation is difficult

112
unless there is a special aptitude for it. Moreover, forms
of impersonal meditation are mostly disciplines for the
mind, but forms of personal meditation also draw out the
heart. In spiritual perfection, the mind and the heart are
both to be developed and balanced; therefore, personal
meditation, which helps the development and the
balancing of the mind and the heart has special
importance. Impersonal meditation is fruitful and
effective when the aspirant has been prepared through
forms of personal meditation.

Personal meditation is directed towards persons

who are spiritually perfect. As a man who admires
Napoleon and constantly thinks about him has a tendency
to become like him, so an aspirant who admires some
spiritually perfect person and constantly thinks about him
tends to become spiritually perfect. A suitable object of
personal meditation is to be found in a living Master or
Avatar or in the Masters and Avatars of the past; but it is
important to have as an object of personal meditation a
person who is spiritually perfect. If the person selected for
meditation is spiritually imperfect there is a possibility of
his frailties entering into the mind of the aspirant who
meditates upon him.

Personal meditation often begins by the admiration

which the aspirant feels for some divine quality which he
sees in the Master. By allowing the mind to dwell upon
the divine qualities expressed in the life of the Master, the
aspirant absorbs them into his own being. The Master is
beyond all qualities, good and bad; he is not bound by
them. But the qualities he exhibits, while interacting with
life, are different aspects of divinity in action; and the
expression of divinity becomes a medium of helping those
who are responsive. Appreciation of the divinity
perceived in the Master gives rise to forms of meditation
in which the aspirant thinks of the Master as an
embodiment of qualities such as Universal Love or
Complete Detachment, Ego-lessness or Steadfastness, or
Infinite Knowledge or Selfless Action. Sometimes the
mind may dwell upon such qualities in their separateness
or in combinations that reveal their inter-relatedness. This
form of meditation is valuable when it is spontaneous; it
then leads to a greater understanding of the Master and
gradually moulds the aspirant into the likeness of the
Master, thus contributing towards self-preparation for the
realization of the Truth.

Dwelling upon the qualities of the Master often

facilitates

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concentration on the Form of the Master. In this
meditation, the aspirant is aware of the spiritual perfection
of the Master and fixes his mind upon the Form of the
Master, without analyzing his spiritual perfection. Though
specific spiritual qualities are not revived in the mind, all
that the aspirant may have understood through the
preparatory meditation concerned with the qualities of the
Master will constitute the implicit background of one-
pointed concentration and contribute towards its efficacy.
This form of meditation involves identification of the
Master with the spiritual ideal. This is responsible for
removing such barriers as may exist between the aspirant
and the Master and gives rise to unrestrained love for the
Master leading to the meditation of the heart, which
consists in constant thinking about the Master with
uninterrupted flow of love. Such love annihilates the
illusion of separateness, which divides the aspirant from
the Master, and has in it spontaneity hardly paralleled by
other forms of meditation. Meditation of the heart is in its
final stages accompanied by unbounded joy and utter
forgetfulness of the self.

Modes of the meditation of action

Love for the Master leads to increasing

identification of the aspirant with the Master, so that the
aspirant desires to live in and for the Master and not for
himself; this leads to the meditation of action. The initial
modes of the meditation of action usually take the
following forms; (a) the aspirant mentally offers to the
Master all that is in him, thus renouncing all that is good
in him as well as all that is evil; this frees him from the
good as well as the bad elements of the ego and helps him
to find a lasting integration of being with the Master; (b)
the aspirant volunteers for the service of the Master;
doing work for the Master in the spirit of selfless service
is as good as meditation; (c) the aspirant does not allow
the ego to seize upon any of his actions—small or great,
good or bad. He does not think "I do this"; on the
contrary, he develops the thought that through him the
Master is doing all that he does. For example, when he
looks, he thinks "The Master is looking"; when he eats, he
thinks "The Master is eating"; when he sleeps, he thinks
"The Master is sleeping"; when he drives a car, he thinks
"The Master is driving the car"; even when he may
happen to do something wrong, he thinks "The Master is
doing this". Thus he

114
relinquishes all identity with his actions, and everything is
brought into reference to the Master. This necessarily
involves the determination of each act in the light of the
spiritual ideal as seen in the Master.

The four forms of personal meditation on the

Master represent the four main ascending stages: (i)
perceiving the spiritual ideal in the Master; (ii)
concentrating upon the Master as an embodiment of the
spiritual ideal; (iii) loving the master as a manifestation of
the spiritual ideal; and (iv) expressing the spiritual ideal,
perceived in the Master, in one's own life. Personal
meditation on the Master in its different forms contributes
towards the release of the creative life of spiritual
fulfilment. Meditation on the Master is a meditation on
the living ideal and not on the conception of perfection; it
therefore generates the dynamic power that enables the
aspirant to bridge the gulf between theory and practice
and to unify the spiritual ideal with everyday actions in
his own life. To live the life that is inspired and illumined
by the spiritual ideal as embodied in the Master is the
culmination of all the forms of personal meditation.

6. SPECIALIZED MEDITATIONS WHICH ARE

IMPERSONAL

The attention has a tendency to be riveted on one's

own bodies independently of the spirit which they
manifest. This leads to illusions, entanglements and other
complications; hence arises the need for a kind of
meditation that enables the aspirant to cultivate a correct
perspective upon the meaning of the bodies or forms, and
a right attitude to them. This meditation consists of
regarding all forms as equally the manifestations of the
same all-pervading life and as nothing in themselves. It is
contributory to disentanglement from the world of
creation, and furthers the cultivation of universal love,
which regards the whole of humanity and all living
creatures as members of an indivisible whole.

Meditation regarding one's own bodies

But the meditation concerned with the numerous

forms of manifested life remains incomplete unless
supplemented by another meditation which is concerned
with one's own bodies, material, subtle or mental.
Consciousness of them causes an

115
attachment so deep that it identifies itself with them.
Thoughts of detachment concerning one's own bodies
helps the emancipation of consciousness and the dawn of
self-knowledge, and such meditation is most fruitful. The
material, the subtle and the mental bodies are then
regarded as cloaks to be put on or off.

Meditation on the formless and infinite aspect of God

The meditation concerned with the form of

manifested life and the meditation concerned with one's
own bodies, are preparatory to the impersonal meditation
in which (a) an effort is made to withdraw one's
consciousness from the forms of manifested life as well as
from one's own bodies-material, subtle or mental, and (b)
to centre consciousness on the formless and infinite aspect
of God. In impersonal meditation it is necessary in the
initial phases to avail oneself of symbols of infinity. It is
helpful to start with an image that suggests infinity rather
than with the abstract idea of infinity. The mind may
become steady on the image of sky, ocean or emptiness;
but once a particular image is chosen, the aspirant should
retain it throughout the period of meditation and not
replace it by another. Of these symbols of infinity,
emptiness is difficult to imagine but is the best symbol if
it can successfully be brought before one's mind. The
aspirant is not in this meditation to arrive at complete
blankness of mind. Such blankness involves the cessation
of mental activity and the exclusion of all thoughts, but
the object of this meditation is to dwell upon the formless
aspect of God.

The infinite within

It is important in this meditation that the symbol

should not be externalized as if infinity were outside the
aspirant; it should be thought of as within. The aspirant
should give to himself the suggestion of identity with the
infinite by mentally repeating "I am as infinite as the sky
within", or "I am as infinite as the ocean within", or "I am
as infinite as the emptiness within". It may be useful to
use the bare formula, "I am the infinite within" and while
mentally repeating this formula, to realize the significance
of infinity through the image that has been chosen. It is
not necessary to repeat the formula in words; it is enough
to retain the thought.

116
 The "I am infinite" meditation may lead to the
merging of the aspirant into the formless and infinite
aspect of God. Some aspirants merge so completely that
they are disturbed by no outer sounds. Others become
restless or easily disturbed; they should not worry about
lack of success but persist whether they experience the
sense of merging or not.

Quest for the Agent of Action

The forms of meditation that have been so far

explained are concerned with the impersonal objects of
experience; but some impersonal forms of meditation are
concerned with the subject of experience. One such form
of meditation consists in repeating the question, "Who is
it that does these things?" The aspirant finds himself
thinking such thoughts as "I sleep", "I walk", "I eat", "I
talk", "I see, hear, touch, taste and smell", "I think, feel
and desire", etc. But the question is, Who is this "I"? The
self does not experience any of these things. The self does
not sleep, walk, eat or talk, see, hear, touch, taste or smell,
think, feel or desire. The aspirant thinks that he sees,
hears, thinks, feels or desires; it is really his mind that
does these things. As self the aspirant does nothing. But it
is not enough to think that he does nothing; he must know
it. This he achieves by detachment.

Knowledge of the self may be aimed at through a

form of meditation in which the aspirant realizes himself
as a witness of his own physical and mental happenings.
After one awakes from one's dream, one realizes oneself
to have been not the agent of the actions in the dream but
a witness. If the aspirant persistently practices considering
himself as a witness of the physical and mental
happenings that he experiences in wakefulness, he will
develop detachment, which brings freedom from the
sufferings connected with worldly events. This meditation
is intended to lift the aspirant out of the bonds of time and
to secure for him relief from the fret connected with
expressions of limited energy. As a witness, the self
remains aloof from all events in time, and the results of
actions do not bind it. All this has to be experienced and
not merely thought of.

Making the mind still

The forms of meditation concerned with experience,

however,

117
are subject to the handicap that experience can never be
the object of thought or meditation; these forms of
meditation, therefore, can at best take the aspirant near to
self-knowledge, which is made complete when the
domain of the mind is transcended. Some impersonal
forms of specialized meditation are, therefore, concerned
with mental operations, and aim at making the mind still.

Writing down thoughts

To acquire control over one's thoughts is to become

fully conscious of what they are. Thoughts have to be
attended to before they are controlled. In introspection it
is often not possible for the beginner to devote attention to
the thoughts that pass through his mind. It is, therefore,
helpful for the aspirant occasionally to write down his
thoughts as they come and to inspect them at leisure. This
process is different from writing what is planned
beforehand. Thoughts arise without direction or restraint
and are allowed to show themselves as they come, so that
repressed elements from the subconscious gain access to
the conscious mind.

Watching mental operations

In a more advanced stage an intensive awareness of

mental processes can take place while thoughts appear in
consciousness; writing then becomes unnecessary. The
watching of mental operations should be accompanied by
the critical evaluation of thoughts. Thoughts cannot be
controlled except through appreciation of their value or
lack of value. When the thoughts that assail the mind are
critically evaluated, and the internal stirrings of sanskaras
are faced, understood, and taken for what they are worth,
the mind is freed from obsessions and compulsions in
relation to them.

Making the mind blank

A way is thus prepared for the meditation that

makes the mind blank. This is difficult to achieve. The
mind is without ideas during sleep when consciousness is
in abeyance. If during wakefulness the mind has the idea
of becoming blank, it is thinking about that idea and is far
from being blank. Making the mind blank becomes
possible by an alternation between two incom-

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patible forms of meditation so that the mind is caught
between concentration and distraction.

Thus the aspirant can concentrate on the Master for

five minutes, and then keep his mind steady for a further
five minutes in the impersonal meditation of "I am
Infinite". The disparity between the two forms of
meditation can be realized as follows: in the meditation
on the forms of the Master, the eyes may be kept open,
and in the impersonal meditation the eyes may be closed.
Though after the first five minutes there is to be a change
to another type of meditation, there should be no thought
about the change. There is no distraction unless there is
concentration. When the change is effected, there should
be no thought of the first meditation. The distraction has
to be as complete as the previous concentration. When
there is a quick alternation between concentration and
distraction, mental operations are, as it were, cut through,
and the disappearance of mental operations is
contributory towards making the mind still, without
allowing consciousness to fall into abeyance.

All thoughts that appear in the mind of the aspirant,

are forms of perturbation, and have their origin in the
momentum of stored sanskaras. The perturbed condition
of the mind can disappear only when the aspirant can so
control his mind that all thoughts are eliminated. Only in
complete internal silence is truth found. When the surface
of the lake is still, it reflects the stars; so when the mind is
tranquil, it reflects the nature of the self.

7. SAHAJ SAMADHI

The different forms of meditation practiced before

consciously entering the Path, as well as the different
forms of general and special meditation, adopted after
becoming an aspirant, are preparatory to the attainment of
the highest state of Sahaj Samadhi or spontaneous
meditation, in which the aspirant becomes permanently
established when he realizes the ultimate goal of life. The
Sahaj Samadhi of the Siddha or God-realized person is
continuous with all prior forms of meditation and is a
culmination of them. But it is different in kind and
belongs to an entirely different order.

Pre-spiritual meditations

The spontaneity or effortlessness of Sahaj Samadhi

must be

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distinguished from the pseudo spontaneity present in the
"meditations" of the man who has not entered the Path.
The mind of the worldly man is engrossed in objects of
sense, and he experiences no sense of effort in the
"meditations" concerning these objects. His mind dwells
upon them because of a natural interest in them, and not
because of any deliberate effort on his part. The sense of
effort arises, not in allowing the mind to dwell upon these
objects, but in trying to dissuade it from them. So the pre-
spiritual forms of "meditation" seem to have some
similarity with the culminating Sahaj-Samadhi of the
Siddha, in having a sense of spontaneity. But this
resemblance between the initial phase of meditation and
its final phase is superficial, since Sahaj-Samadhi and
pre-spiritual "meditations" are separated by vital
differences of great spiritual importance.

The sense of spontaneity, experienced in the pre-

spiritual "meditations" concerned with worldly objects
and pursuits, is due to the interests created by sanskaras.
The pre-spiritual "meditations" are the working out of the
momentum of accumulated sanskaras of the past. They
are not only far from being the expression of true
freedom, they are symptoms of spiritual bondage. At the
pre-spiritual level, man is engulfed in ignorance
concerning the goal of infinite freedom; and, though he is
far from being happy and contented, he gets so deeply
identified with sanskaric interests, that he experiences
gratification in their furtherance. But the pleasure of his
pursuits is conditional and transitory, and the spontaneity
that he experiences in them is illusory, because through
all his pursuits his mind is working under limitations.

Freedom and spontaneity in Sahaj Samadhi

The mind is capable of genuine freedom and

spontaneity of action only when completely free from
sanskaric ties, which is possible only when it is merged in
the state of the Sahaj Samadhi of the Siddha. It is,
therefore, important to note that though there may seem to
be a resemblance between the Sahaj Samadhi of the
Siddha and the pre-spiritual "meditations" of the worldly
man, this resemblance hides the difference between
illusory and true spontaneity, bondage and freedom,
pleasure and abiding happiness. In the pre-spiritual
meditations, the movement of the

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mind is under unconscious compulsion, and in Sahaj
Samadhi, mental activity is released under conscious
initiative.

The different forms of meditation that characterize

the life of the spiritual aspirant are midway between the
pre-spiritual "meditations" of the worldly man and the
Sahaj Samadhi of the Siddha, and constitute the link
between them. When a man's acquiescence in sanskaric
interests is profoundly disturbed by any set back, defeat or
suffering, or is shaken by an imparted spark of spiritual
understanding, he becomes conscious of his bondage and
the falseness of his perceptions, and the different forms of
meditation that are resorted to arise out of his struggle
towards emancipation from the bondage of receptive
desires. The forms of meditation that are spiritually
important begin when a person has become an aspirant or
Sadhaka.

The meditation of the aspirant in all its forms

counteracts instinctive or other tendencies inherent in the
mind. He adopts different forms of meditation as a means
to an end, because he looks upon them as avenues to the
Truth. They are intelligent and deliberate effort. The mind
interested in the various aspects of the Truth, which the
different forms of meditation are concerned with, finds
these forms of meditation increasingly spontaneous. In
none of the meditations of an aspirant is the element of
spontaneity more pronounced than in those forms of
personal meditation that require the expression of love.
But full spontaneity and freedom remain unattained until
the goal of meditation is achieved; until then there is a
mixture of deliberateness and spontaneity. The reaching
out towards spiritual freedom is throughout accompanied
by a sense of effort, which persists until all false
perceptions are overcome. Though effort may vary in its
intensity, it never disappears until there is reached the
tranquillity of final attainment.

Progress towards Sahaj Samadhi

In Sahaj Samadhi there is no effort because there

are no obstacles to overcome or objectives to achieve;
there is the infinite spontaneity of unfettered freedom and
the unbroken peace and bliss of Truth-Realization.
Progress towards Sahaj Samadhi consists of transition
from unquestioned acquiesence in the momentum of
sanskaras to a desperate struggle with sanskaric
limitations, and ends in complete freedom, when
consciousness is no longer

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determined by the deposits of the past but is active in the
perception of the eternal Truth.

The Sahaj Samadhi of the Siddha is different from

the meditation of the aspirant, not only in respect of
freedom and spontaneity of consciousness, but also in
other respects. All the different forms of meditation in
which the aspirant may be engaged aim at securing a
merging of the mind in the infinite Truth. They only
partially succeed and fall short of the annihilation of the
individual mind. They represent varying degrees of
approximation towards the spiritual goal, but not its
realization. In Sahaj Samadhi, however, there is
realization of the spiritual goal, for the limited mind is
completely annihilated and has arrived at the total
merging in the infinite Truth.

Exaltations in Meditation

The aspirant's meditation in its higher forms often

brings a sense of expansion and freedom, as well as the
joy and illumination of the higher planes; but neither the
sense of expansion and freedom nor the joy and
illumination are abiding, because when the aspirant comes
down from his exalted state he is again what he was, viz.,
a person held up in the shackles of sanskaric limitations.

Just as a prisoner who looking out of the window of

his prison at the expanse of the sky may get lost in the
vision of space, so the aspirant who enters into a trance-
meditation may temporarily forget limitations immersed
in the light and bliss that it brings. But though the prisoner
may have forgotten the prison, he has not escaped from it:
neither has the aspirant absorbed in the trance-meditation
lost the chains that hold him to the world of illusion. The
prisoner becomes conscious of his bondage as soon as he
turns his mind to his surroundings, and the aspirant
becomes conscious of his failings as soon as he returns to
normal consciousness. The ascending forms of trance-
meditation may bring increasing occult powers, but not
the unending knowledge and bliss accessible in the Sahaj
Samadhi to the Siddha who has attained emancipation by
breaking through the chains of Maya. There is still
another difference between the trance-meditations of the
aspirant and the Sahaj Samadhi of the Siddha. The trance-
meditation is usually sustained by some phenomenal
object capable of exercising attraction. The lights,
colours, tastes, smells and sounds of the subtle sphere
have their part to play in helping the mind to withdraw
from worldly

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things. Thus the trance-meditation of the aspirant is not
self-sustained being dependent upon the objects to which
the mind directs itself.

Sahaj Samadhi is self-sustained

The Sahaj Samadhi of the Siddha is self-sustained

and in no way dependent upon any object of the mind. It
is a state of wakefulness which has the steadiness of true
perception.

The different forms of general and specialized

meditation resorted to by the aspirant are valuable within
limits. They must not be looked upon as having the same
value for all or as being equally necessary for all. They
are among the ways that lead towards the divine
destination. For the few who are in an advanced spiritual
state the ordinary forms of meditation are unnecessary.
Those who are in direct contact with a God-realized
Master may find the special forms of meditation un-
necessary. It is enough to be under the guidance of the
Master and to have love for him. Those rare beings who
have attained self-realization and are always in the state
of Sahaj Samadhi not only do not need any form of
meditation, but themselves become objects of meditation
when they are able to give their help to others.

8. THE ASCENT TO SAHAJ SAMADHI

When the mind is tuned to the object of meditation

it merges in the Truth and experiences Sahaj Samadhi, or
state of spontaneous enjoyment of uninterrupted self-
knowledge, in which the aspirant loses his limited
individuality to discover that he is identical with God. The
Sahaj Samadhi is a culmination of the earlier forms of
personal and impersonal meditation, not their product.

All forms of meditation followed by the aspirant, as

well as his other spiritual efforts, have but one aim, to
realize his longing to be united with the Infinite. When
this union is effected the Sadhaka (aspirant) becomes
Siddha (one who has attained the Goal). The union with
the Infinite, which the Siddha achieves is referred to by
the Sufis as Vasl. It is this state of union with God which
is described by Christ in the words: "I and my Father are
One". Many have written about this highest state of
consciousness, but it remains indescribable. It cannot be
expressed in words, and therefore cannot be explained.
But though it can never be

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explained it can be experienced. This highest state of the
Siddha is called the state of Sahaj Samadhi,

To dwell in Sahaj Samadhi is to experience the

God-state, in which the self knows itself to be God,
because it has shed all limiting factors. The God-state of
the Siddha is in contrast to the body-state of the worldly
man. The worldly man concerned with eating, drinking,
sleeping arid the satisfaction of other bodily desires, does
not extend his consciousness beyond the body, and thinks
in terms of the body. He lives and moves and has his
being in time and space.

The life of energy

The first step towards the God-state of Sahaj

Samadhi is taken when the body-state is transcended. The
shedding of the body-state means entering the sphere of
existence that is comprised of energy. The self is not
subject to time and space. It is lifted to the domain of
energy. Body or form is a solidification of energy; and to
rise from the world of forms to the sphere of energy
amounts to an advance towards a pure state of being. The
energy-state is free from many of the limitations that
obtain in the world of forms. Consciousness then vibrates
in and through energy. In the energy-state, the eating and
drinking of the body-state are paralleled by the absorption
and assimilation of energy. The self at this level exercises
control over energy. It is through the use of energy that it
seeks fulfilment. But its actions are still within the domain
of spiritual limitation. It can see, hear and smell things
that are inaccessible to the body-state, and can perform
many things (such as producing light in the dark, or living
for thousands of years only on the drinking of energy),
which appear to be miracles to those who are in the body-
state. But the sphere of its existence is that of energy, and
its life is completed by energy. The energy-state is the
state of the spiritually advanced, but is far from being the
state of perfection, which expresses itself through the
Sahaj Samadhi of the Siddha.

The life of the mind

The second important step towards Sahaj Samadhi

is taken, when the self transcends the domain of energy
and enters the domain of the mind. All energy is an
expression of the mind,

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therefore the transition from the energy-state to the mind-
state constitutes an advance towards the God-state of
Sahaj Samadhi. In the mind-state, consciousness is
directly linked with the mind. Here consciousness is in no
way fettered by the body or energy. The saints who are in
the mind-state have full control over the body and energy,
they can read and influence the minds of others and even
raise the dead. However, the mind-state is still within the
domain of duality and illusion and has to be transcended
before the attainment of union with the Infinite.

The entire advance from the very beginning consists

in gradually curtailing and transcending the working of
the individual mind. The mind functions in the body-state
and the energy-state. In the body-state the mind thinks in
terms of the body, in the energy-state in terms of energy,
and in the mind-state in its own terms. However, even
when the mind thinks in its own terms it does not attain
knowledge and realization of the Infinite, because itself is
the veil between its thought and the Truth. Though the
mind may be unencumbered by the life of the body or the
life of energy, it is still limited by separate consciousness.
The mind has to be merged and dissolved in the Infinite
before it is possible to experience the God-state of Sahaj
Samadhi. Form is solidified energy, energy is an
expression of the mind, the mind is the covered mirror of
Eternity, and Eternity is the Truth, which has thrown off
the mask of the mind.

To discard the limiting mind is no easy thing. The

chief difficulty lies in the fact that the mind has to be
annihilated through the mind itself. One indispensable
condition is the most intense longing for unity with the
Infinite Reality. But patience is equally necessary. One
Master told his disciple that to attain the highest state he
had to be bound to a wooden plank, with his hands and
feet tied, thrown into a river, and then to strive to keep his
garments dry. The disciple could not understand the
meaning of this. He went from place to place until he
came to another saint and asked the meaning of the
injunction given by the Master. The saint explained that it
meant that to attain God he had to long for union with
him, as if he could not live another moment without it,
and yet to have the inexhaustible patience that could wait
for endless years. If there is lack of intense longing for
unity with God, the mind lapses into its usual sanskaric
working, and if there is lack of infinite patience, the very
longing that the mind

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entertains sustains the working of the limited mind. Only
when there is a balance between infinite longing and
infinite patience can the aspirant hope to pierce through
the veil of the limited mind; and this combination of
extremes comes only through the grace of the Master.

To dwell in Sahaj Samadhi, is to dwell in Truth-

consciousness. This state cannot be grasped by anyone
whose mind is active. The God-state is beyond the mind;
for it dawns when the limited mind disappears in the final
union with the Infinite. The self now knows itself through
itself, not through the mind. The worldly man knows that
he is a human being, not a dog; in the same way, in Sahaj
Samadhi the self knows that it is God, not finite. The
worldly man does not have to keep repeating to himself
that he is not a dog, and in Sahaj Samadhi, the self does
not need any inducing of God-Consciousness through
repeated suggestions; it knows itself to be God through
effortless intuition.

The life in Eternity

He who has Sahaj Samadhi is established in the

knowledge of the self. This knowledge does not come and
go. In the state of ignorance the aspirant looks upon
himself as a man or woman, as the agent of limited
actions and the experiencer of joys and pains; but in the
state of knowledge he knows himself as the self, which is
not limited by these things, and is untouched by them.
Once he knows his own true nature, he does not get
involved in ignorance. This state of God-consciousness is
infinite, characterized by unlimited understanding, purity,
love and happiness. To be initiated in Sahaj Samadhi is to
arrive at the endlessness of life in Eternity.

Two forms of Sahaj Samadhi

Sahaj Samadhi has two forms: (1) Nirvana or

absorption in divinity; and (2) Nirvikalp or divinity in
expression. When consciousness is withdrawn entirely
from all the bodies and the world of creation it leads to
Nirvana or the beyond state; but when consciousness is
made to function through the bodies without attachment
or identification, it leads to Nirvikalp Samadhi or the
Sadguru-state, in which though consciousness is attached
to the bodies as instruments, it is detached from them
inwardly by non-identification. The piercing of the mind
amounts to the complete

126
withdrawal of consciousness from the universe and its
absorption in God. This is the state where the universe
becomes zero; it is Nirvana. Most of those who attain
Nirvana do not come back again to the consciousness of
the universe. The few who descend to the consciousness
of the universe experience it as nothing but God, and
remain constantly in the Nirvikalp state. Nirvikalp means
a life where the mental activity of false imagination has
come to an end, and where the oscillations of the limited
mind are stilled in the realization of Eternal Truth.

The Sahaj Samadhi of the Nirvikalp state comes to

those who descend from the seventh plane. It belongs to
the Sadgurus and the Avatars. The poise and harmony of
this state remain undisturbed even while giving energetic
response to the changing circumstances of life. He who
has this state sees God everywhere and in everything; he
sees nothing but God. His God-state is therefore in no
way lessened while dealing with the things of this world.
In the battlefield, while flying in an aeroplane, or talking
to people, or engaged in any other activities, he is still in
the conscious enjoyment of the Truth.

The state of Nirvana and the Nirvikalp state are

similar to the state of Mukti or Moksha in representing the
merging of the individual soul in God and in yielding the
eternal bliss and infinite knowledge of super-
consciousness. But Mukti or Moksha is experienced after
the soul has dropped its bodies; and the state of Nirvana
as well as the Nirvikalp state can both be experienced
before giving up the bodies. However, though the state of
Nirvana and the Nirvikalp state are similar in this respect
and though they are also the same in essence, there is a
difference.

When the self leaves the ego-shell and enters into

the infinite life of God, its limited individuality is
replaced by unlimited individuality. The self is God-
conscious and preserves its individuality. The important
point is that individuality is not extinguished, it becomes
spiritualized. However, though the unlimited individuality
of the self is retained in union with the Infinite, it may
remain eternally quiescent in the experience of self-
contained divinity. None returns to world consciousness
from this state of Nirvana or absorption. Sometimes,
however, the self that has just entered the infinite life of
God establishes its unlimited individuality through the
release of dynamic divinity. This is the Sahaj Samadhi of
the Nirvikalp state.

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 XIV

THE NATURE OF THE EGO AND ITS

TERMINATION

1. THE EGO THE CENTRE OF CONFLICT

In the prehuman stage, consciousness has experiences
that are not explicitly brought into relation with a central
"I". For instance, a dog is angry, but does not feel "I am
angry". But even a dog learns through experiences acting
upon each other as a result of the mechanical tension of
connected imprints or sanskaras; this, however, is
different from the intelligent synthesis of experiences
through the development of I-consciousness. The first
step in submitting the working of isolated impressions to
intelligent regulation consists in bringing them in relation
with the centre of consciousness, which appears as the
explicit limited ego. The consolidation of the ego-
consciousness is defined from the beginning of human
consciousness.

The origin of the ego

Human consciousness would be no more than a

repository of the accumulated imprints of varied
experiences did it not also contain the principle of ego-
centred integration in the attempt to organize and
understand experience. The process implies capacity to
hold different experiences together as parts of a unity and
the capacity to evaluate them by mutual relation. The
integration of the opposites of experience is a condition of
emancipating consciousness from the thraldom of
compulsions and repulsions which tend to dominate
consciousness irrespective of valuation; and the early
attempts in securing such integration are through the
formation of the ego as its centre.

The ego emerges as an explicit accompaniment of

all the happenings of mental life to fulfil a certain need.
The part played

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by the ego in human life may be compared with the
function of the ballast in a ship. The ballast keeps the ship
from too much oscillation; without it, the ship is likely to
be too light and unsteady and in danger of being
overturned. The psychic energy would be caught up in the
mazes of dual experience and would be frittered away
were there no provisional nucleus to bind together the
active tendencies born of the relatively independent
instincts inherited from animal-consciousness. The
formation of the ego serves the purpose of giving a certain
amount of stability to conscious processes, and secures a
working equilibrium which makes for an organized life.

It would, therefore, be a mistake to imagine that, as

the ego arises only to vanish, it fulfills no need in the long
journey of the soul. Though the ego is not meant to be
permanent since it can be transcended and outgrown
through spiritual endeavour, the phase of ego-formation
must nevertheless be looked upon as a necessary evil for
the time being.

The ego thus fulfils a certain need in the progress of

consciousness; but since it takes its shelter in the false
idea of being the body, it is a source of illusion. It is of the
essence of the ego that it should feel separate from the
rest of life by contrasting itself with other forms of life.
Thus, though inwardly trying to complete and integrate
individual experience, the ego creates division between
external and internal life in the attempt to feel and secure
its own existence; and this division cannot but have its
reverberations in the inner individual life over which it
presides.

The ego a seat of conflicts

While striving to establish unity and integration in

experience, the ego can never realize this objective; and
though it establishes a certain kind of balance, this is only
provisional. The incompleteness of its attainments is
evident from the internal conflict which is never absent as
long as experience exists only from the point of view of
the ego. From moment to moment, the mind passes
through a series of conflicts. The minds of great persons
as well as the minds of common people are harassed by
conflicting desires. Sometimes the conflict is so acute that
the person concerned yields to psychic pressure, with the
result that there is either a partial or total breakdown or a
complete derangement of the

129
mind. There is no vital difference between the normal
man and the so-called abnormal man. Both face the same
problems; but the one more or less successfully solves his
problems and the other does not.

The ego attempts to solve its inner conflicts through

false valuations and wrong choice. It is characteristic of
the ego that it takes what is unimportant as important and
what is important as unimportant. Thus power, fame,
wealth, ability and other attainments and
accomplishments are taken delight in by the ego and are
clung to by it. Spirituality the ego fights against. For
example, if a person experiences bodily or mental
discomfort while doing work of spiritual importance the
ego desires to restore that comfort even at the cost of
giving up the spiritual work. Bodily and mental comfort
as well as other worldly attainments are necessary, but not
important. Many things come to the ego as necessary
which are not in themselves important, so that the ego
represents a fundamental principle of ignorance.

The need for conscious control

It is rare to get the mind to function harmoniously,

because it is mostly guided and governed by forces in the
sub-conscious, and few take the trouble to attain mastery
over these forces which direct the course of their mental
life. The elimination of conflict is possible only through
conscious control over the psychic forces in the sub-
conscious, and this control can be permanently attained
only through the repeated exercise of true valuation in the
conflicts with which the mind happens to be presented.

If the mind is to be freed from conflict, it must

make the right choices and prefer the truly important to
the unimportant. The choice has to be intelligent and firm
in all conflicts—important and unimportant. It has to be
intelligent, because only through the pursuit of true and
permanent values is it possible to attain a poise that is not
detrimental to the dynamic and creative flow of mental
life. An unintelligent choice may temporarily overcome
conflict, but it is bound to curtail the scope of life or to
hamper the fulfilment of the personality. Moreover, the
conflict will reappear in some other form, if it has not
been intelligently cleared up. An intelligent solution, on
the other hand, requires an insight into values. The
problem of conflicting values, and the solution of

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mental conflict, therefore, require a search for the real
meaning of life. It is only through wisdom that the mind
can be freed from conflict.

Having once known the right choice it is necessary

to maintain it, because competing tendencies continue to
act as obstacles in making the choice effective; and, at
times, there is even the danger of the decision being
subverted through the intensification of competing
psychic forces. To avoid defeat, it is necessary that the
mind should stick to the right value, which it has seen.
Thus, the solution of mental conflict requires not only the
perception of right values, but unswerving fidelity.

The intelligent and firm choice, however, has to be

repeatedly exercised in all matters—small and great; for
the ordinary worries of life are not less important than the
problems with which the mind is confronted in times of
crises. The roots of mental conflict cannot completely
disappear as long as there is only intermittent exercise of
intelligent choice. The life of true values is spontaneous
only when the mind has acquired the way of choosing the
right values. Three-fourths of our life is made up of
ordinary things; and though conflict concerning such
things may not cause mental agony, it leaves a sense of
uneasiness.

Hidden conflicts

In fact, the conflicts upon ordinary things are rarely

brought to the surface of consciousness, so that they cast a
shadow on life, from, as it were, behind a screen. Such
conflicts have to be brought to the surface of
consciousness and faced. This process should not
degenerate into imagining conflicts where there are none.
The sure indication of a hidden but real conflict is the
sense that the whole of the heart is not in the thoughts or
actions that happen to be dominant at the moment, and
there is a vague feeling of a narrowing down or restriction
of life. On such occasions, an attempt should be made to
analyze the mental state through inward attention and
such analysis will bring to light the hidden conflicts.

The most important requirement for the satisfactory

resolution of conflicts is the motive power or inspiration
that comes from a burning longing for the Truth. Mere
analysis may aid choice, but the choice will remain a
barren intellectual preference, unless it is

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vitalized by zeal for the Truth that appeals to the depths of
human personality. Psychology has done much to reveal
the sources of conflict; but it has yet to discover the
method of awakening inspiration or supplying the mind
with that which makes life worth living.

To establish love for the Truth is the beginning of

right valuation, and the beginning of the undoing of the
constructions of the ego exhibits itself through false
valuation. Any action that expresses the true values of life
contributes towards the disintegration of the ego, which is
a product of ages of ignorant action. Life cannot
permanently be imprisoned within the ego; it must make
efforts towards ultimate Truth. In the ripeness of
evolution comes the discovery that life cannot be
understood and lived fully so long as it moves upon the
pivot of the ego: and man is, therefore, driven by the logic
of his own experience to find the true centre of experience
and to reorganize his life in the Truth. This brings about
the wearing out of the ego and its replacement by truth-
consciousness. The false nucleus of consolidated
sanskaras disappears in the integration and fulfilment of
life.

2. THE EGO AN AFFIRMATION OF

SEPARATENESS

The ego as an affirmation of separateness takes

many forms. It may take the form of self-conscious
memory expressing itself in such recollections as, "I did
this and I did that, I felt this and I felt that". It also takes
the forms of ego-centred hopes expressed through plans,
"I shall do this", "I shall do that", "I shall feel this", "I
shall feel that", "I shall think that". Or the ego has a strong
feeling of being some one in particular and asserts its
separateness from others. While provisionally serving a
useful purpose in the development of consciousness, the
ego, as an affirmation of separateness, constitutes the
chief hindrance to the spiritual emancipation and
enlightenment of consciousness.

The ego affirms separateness through craving, hate,

anger, fear or jealousy. When a person craves for the
company of others, he is conscious of being separate from
them and feels his own separate existence in an intensive
manner. The feeling of separation from the other is most
acute where there is unrelieved craving. In hate and anger
also the other person is excluded from one's own being
and regarded as hostile to the thriving of the ego. Fear is a
subtle

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form of affirming separateness and exists where the
consciousness of quality is unabated. Fear acts as a
curtain between the "I" and the "you" and not only
nourishes distrust of the other but brings about a shrinking
and withdrawal of consciousness so as to exclude the
being of another from one's own life. To fear God and his
manifestations is to strengthen duality; to love them is to
weaken it.

The feeling of separateness finds most poignant

expression in jealousy. There is a deep and imperative
need in the human soul to love and identify itself with
others; this is not fulfilled where there is craving or hate,
anger or fear. In jealousy, in addition to the non-
fulfilment of this deep need there is the conviction that
another has successfully identified itself with the person
whom one sought; there is therefore an irreconcilable
protest against both for being in a relationship designed
for oneself. All exclusive feelings such as craving, hate,
anger, fear or jealousy bring about a narrowing of life and
contribute to the limitation of consciousness; they are
instrumental to the affirmation of separateness and feed
the ego.

The reduction of the ego through love

Every thought, feeling or action that springs from

the idea of exclusive or separate existence binds the soul,
all experiences— small or great—and all aspirations—
good or bad—create a load of impressions and nourish the
sense of the "I". The only experience that makes for the
reduction of the ego is the experience of love, and the
only aspiration that makes for the elimination of
separateness is the longing for becoming one with the
Beloved. Craving, hatred, anger, fear and jealousy are
exclusive attitudes that create a gulf between oneself and
others; love alone helps towards the bridging over of this
self-created gulf and breaks through the separative barrier
of false imagination. The lover, too, longs; but he longs
for union with the Beloved; and in seeking or
experiencing union with the Beloved the sense of the "I"
declines. In love, the "I" does not think of its own
preservation. The ego is the affirmation of separateness
from the other: and love is the affirmation of oneness with
the other: the ego can be dissolved only through love.

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 Desires

The ego is implemented by desires of varied kinds.

The failure in the fulfilment of desires is a failure of the
ego, and success in the attainment is the success of the
ego. Through fulfilled desires as well as through those
that are unfulfilled the ego gets accentuated. The ego can
also feed upon a lull in desires and asserts its separative
tendency even through desireless feeling. But when there
is cessation of all desires, there is cessation of the desire
to assert separativeness in any form, therefore freedom
from all desires brings about the end of the ego.

The problem of erasing the ego from consciousness

is complicated because the roots of the ego are in the sub-
conscious mind in the form of latent tendencies. The
limited ego of explicit consciousness is only a small
fragment of the ego. The ego is like the iceberg floating in
the sea, of which about one-eighth is visible. Only a small
portion of the ego becomes manifest in consciousness as
an explicit "I": the major portion remains submerged in
the dark and inarticulate sanctuaries of the sub-conscious
mind.

The explicit ego

The explicit ego which finds its manifestation in

consciousness is by no means a harmonious whole but an
arena for conflicts of opposing tendencies. It has a limited
capacity for this, however, for two persons have to be at
least on speaking terms if they are to enter into a quarrel,
otherwise they have no common ground. In the same
manner two tendencies entering into conscious conflict
must have a common ground; otherwise they remain
submerged in the sub-conscious mind, until modified
through the tensions exerted by the activities of the
conscious mind.

The implicit ego

Although the ego is essentially heterogeneous, the explicit

ego of consciousness is less so than the implicit ego of the
sub-conscious mind, and operates as a formidable whole
as against the isolated sub-conscious tendencies that seek
to emerge in consciousness. The organized ego of explicit
consciousness thus becomes a repressive barrier, which
indefinitely prevents the several constituents of the
implicit ego from getting access to consciousness.

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All problems of the ego can be tackled through intelligent
and conscious action, and, therefore, a complete
annihilation of the ego is possible only when all the
constituents of the ego pass through intelligent
consciousness.

The action of the intelligent consciousness is

important, but not in itself sufficient. Even the
components of the implicit ego of the sub-conscious mind
have to be brought to the surface of consciousness to
become parts of the explicit ego and to be submitted to
the action of intelligent consciousness. If this is to be
achieved, there has to be weakening of the explicit ego in
such a manner that it allows the emergence in
consciousness of those desires and tendencies that could
not hitherto find admittance in the arena of consciousness.
This release of inhibited tendencies brings about
additional confusion and conflict in the explicit ego;
therefore, the process of the disappearance of the ego is
often accompanied by intensified conflicts in the arena of
the conscious mind rather than by any easing of conflicts.
However, at the end of the uncompromising struggle lies
the poise and harmony that come after the dissolution of
the structure of the ego.

The removal of the roots of the ego from the deeper

layers of the sub-conscious and the bringing them to the
light of consciousness is an important part of the process
of wiping out the ego; the other important part consists in
the intelligent handling of desires after they gain entrance
to the arena of consciousness. The process of dealing with
the components of explicit consciousness is by no means
simple; for the explicit ego has a tendency to live through
any one of the opposites of experience, and, if ousted
from one opposite by the intensive operation of intelligent
consciousness, it may move to the other opposite and live
through it. Through alternations between the opposites of
experience the ego eludes the attack of intelligent
consciousness and seeks to perpetuate itself.

The tricks of the ego

The ego is also epiphytic and expresses itself in

numberless ways. It lives upon any type of ignorance.
Pride is a specific element in egoism. A person can be
proud of unimportant and silly things. Persons may
develop their nails to an abnormal length and preserve
them, even at the cost of much inconvenience to
themselves, for no other reason than as a medium of
assertion

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of separateness from others. The ego may magnify its
attainments in a grotesque manner. Direct assertion of the
ego through self-display is very common; but, if such
direct assertion be hindered by good manners, the ego
may seek the same result through such evil as slander. To
show another in a bad light is to glorify oneself.

The ego is activated by the principle of self-

perpetuation and has a tendency to live and grow through
any means not closed to it. If the ego is curtailed in one
direction, it seeks compensating expansion in another,
and, if overpowered by spiritual actions, it may even
fasten upon this very force brought into action for the
ousting of the ego. If a person attempts to cultivate
humility to relieve himself of the monstrous weight of the
ego and succeeds in doing so, the ego can with surprising
alacrity get transferred to this attribute of humility itself.
It feeds itself through attachment to such assertions as "I
am spiritual", as, in primary stages, it achieves the same
end by "I am not interested in spirituality". Thus arises the
ego that feels separateness through the attainment of
things considered highly desirable and unworldly. But this
type of spiritual ego is as binding as the crude ego.

In fact, in the more advanced stages of the Path, the

ego does not seek its strengthening through open
methods, and uses the means that are available for
securing the elimination of the ego. These tactics are like
guerilla warfare and are the most difficult to counteract.
The elimination of the ego from consciousness is
necessarily an intricate process. The nature of the ego
itself is very complicated and needs divine grace to
overcome it. Since the ego has almost endless possibilities
of securing its existence and creating self-delusions, the
aspirant finds it impossible to cope with its ever fresh
forms, and can hope to be successful with the tricks of the
ego only through the grace of a Master.

The Master's help

It is when the aspirant is driven to realize the futility

of his own efforts that he approaches the Master. He can
by himself make little headway towards the goal that he
seeks. The persistence of the ego leads him to self
exasperation; and it is in this perception of helplessness
that he surrenders to the Master. The self-surrender
amounts to an admission that the aspirant has given up
hope of tackling the problems of the ego by himself and
that he

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relies upon the Master. When through the grace of the
Master, the ignorance which constitutes the ego is
dispelled, there is the dawn of Truth which is the goal.
.
3. THE FORMS OF THE EGO AND THEIR
DISSOLUTION

The ego subsists upon possessions such as power,

fame, wealth, ability, and accomplishments. It creates and
recognizes what is distinctively "mine". However, in spite
of all the things it claims as "mine", it feels empty and
incomplete and seeks to fortify itself through further
acquisitions. It brings its varied possessions into
comparison with those of others and uses its possessions
for self-display at the cost of others. Yet the ego is
dissatisfied despite its possessions, and seeks to derive
satisfaction by a more intense sense of possession. Thus
the ego as an affirmation of separateness lives through the
idea of "mine".

The ego wants to feel separate and unique, and

seeks self-expression either in the role of one better than
others or as inferior to them. Either role may serve. As
long as there is the ego, there is the background of
duality, and the mental operations of comparison and
contrast with others cannot be ended. Therefore, even
where a person feels a sense of equality with another, this
feeling is not securely established, and marks a point of
transition between the two attitudes of the ego, rather than
a permanent freedom from the distinction between "I" and
"thou". This pseudo equality, may be made articulate in
the formula "I am not in any way inferior or superior to
the other", which will be seen to be a negative assertion of
the ego. The balance between the "I" and the "thou" is
disturbed by a superiority or inferiority complex; and the
idea of equality arises to restore this balance. The
negative assertion of the ego in the form of equality is,
however, utterly different from the sense of unity, and the
conditions of co-operative life are fulfilled only where the
idea of equality is replaced by the realization of unity.

Two complexes

The feelings of superiority and inferiority are

reactions to each other and the induced feelings of
equality is a reaction to both. In these three modes, the
ego succeeds in asserting its separateness.

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Both feelings and complexes of superiority and inferiority
are compelled to seek separate and alternate expression
through suitable objects, as when a person dominates over
his inferiors and submits to his superiors. The ego is
constantly confronted with the spectacle of its intrinsic
emptiness, and, therefore, clings to the delusion of its
worthwhileness by demonstrating the greatness of its
possessions. This is not confined to mere comparison but
often exhibits itself in clashes with others. Thus,
aggressiveness is a natural outcome of the need to
compensate for the poverty of the ego-life.

On the other hand, submissiveness is rooted in fear

or selfishness, and is not whole-hearted or spontaneous,
because there is jealousy of or hatred for the superior
person. Outward submission is the effect of the inferiority
feeling and enhances the ego in one of its worst forms.
The ego attributes its sense of emptiness to inferior
possessions rather than to seeking fulfilment through
possessions; and the awareness of its inferiority becomes
a further stimulus to efforts to add to its possessions,
through such means as are available. Thus, while
perpetuating the inward poverty of the soul, the inferiority
feeling becomes, like the superiority feeling, the
expression of and the accumulation of that type of
ignorance which constitutes the ego.

Surrender to the Master

When a person comes into contact with the Master

and recognizes him as being in the state of egoless
perfection, his self-surrender is distinguished from the
inferiority feeling because accompanied by the awareness
that the Master has basic unity with the disciple. Such
self-surrender is not an expression of loss of confidence,
but of confidence in the final overcoming of obstacles
through the help of the Master. The appreciation of the
divinity of the Master is the manner in which the Higher
Self of the disciple expresses its sense of dignity.

To bring about a rapid dissolution of the feelings of

superiority and inferiority, the Master may stir both
feelings in alternation. If the disciple is losing heart and
giving up the search, he may arouse deep self-confidence;
if he is egoistic he may create situations in which the
disciple has to accept his own incapacity or futility. Thus
the Master wields his influence over the disciple

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to expedite the stages through which the ego passes
before its disappearance.

The superiority feeling and the inferiority feeling

have to be brought into relation with each other, and may
require a psychic situation in which they will be allowed
to have their play without requiring the repression of the
one to secure the expression of the other. When the soul
enters into a vital relation with the Master, the feelings
concerned with the senses of inferiority and superiority
are both brought into play and counteract each other. With
the dissolution of these opposites there comes the
breaking down of the separative barriers of the ego in all
forms; with the breaking down of the barriers, there arises
divine love; and with the arising of divine love, the
feeling of "I", as distinguished from "thou", dissolves in
the sense of unity.

So that a car should move towards its destination a

driver is necessary, but the driver may cultivate strong
attachments for the things he encounters on the way, and
may not only halt at intervening places but get lost in the
sideways in pursuit of things that appeal to him. He may
keep the car moving without coming nearer the goal; he
may even get further away from it. Something like this
happens when the ego assumes the control and direction
of consciousness.

If consciousness is to be emancipated from its

limitations and rendered adequate for serving the purpose
for which it came into existence, it must draw its directive
momentum not from the ego but from some other
principle. In other words, the driver who is ignorant of the
ultimate destination must be exchanged for another driver,
free from the influence of the things he encounters on the
way, one who keeps his attention on the goal of non-
duality. The shifting of the centre of interest from
unimportant to important values is comparable to the
transfer of power from the ignorant driver to the driver
who knows the destination.

Integration around a false idea

Had the ego been nothing but a medium for the

integration of human experience, it would have been
possible for man to get established in the Truth merely by
carrying it actively further; but while playing a part in the
progress of consciousness, the ego represents an active
principle of ignorance which prevents

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spiritual development. The ego attempts the integration of
experience around the false idea of separateness. And
having taken an illusion as a foundation for the
construction of its edifice only succeeds in building one
illusion upon another.

As long as human experience is within the

limitation of duality, its integration is the condition of a
rational and significant life. But the ego as a nucleus of
integration has to be renounced because of its alliance
with ignorance. There arises an imperative need to have a
new centre for integration, free from the basic ignorance
of a separateness, which allows scope for the incorpora-
tion of the values inaccessible to the ego-centre. Such a
new centre is provided by the Master who represents the
absolute Truth. The shifting of interest from unimportant
to important values is facilitated by allegiance and self-
surrender to the Master who becomes the new nucleus for
integration.

Union with the Master the realization of the Truth

The Master is an affirmation of the unity of all life;

allegiance to the Master, therefore, brings about a gradual
dissociation from the ego-nucleus which affirms
separateness. After this crisis in the life of man, all mental
activity has a new reference in the light of its relation to
the Master as the manifestation of the infinite Truth. The
person henceforth experiences his acts as no longer
initiated from the limited "I", but inspired by the Truth.
He is no longer interested in the well-being of the limited
self, but only in the Master as representing universal and
individual life. He offers all his experiences and desires to
the Master, reserving neither the good nor the evil for the
limited "I", thus stripping the ego of its contents. This
bankruptcy of the ego does not interfere with the process
of integration, which is created around the new centre
established by the Master. When the ego-nucleus is
bankrupt and devoid of any power or being, the Master as
Truth is firmly established in consciousness as the guiding
and animating principle. This is at once the attainment of
union with the Master and the realization of the Infinite
Truth.

As the ego gradually adjusts itself to the spiritual

requirements of life through the cultivation of humility,
selflessness and love or whole-hearted surrender and
offering to the Master, it suffers drastic curtailment in
being, and it not only offers increasingly

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reduced resistance to spiritual enfoldment, but undergoes
a radical transformation that causes the ego, as an
affirmation of separateness, completely to disappear. The
intermediate steps of the reduction of the ego and the
softening of its nature are comparable to the trimming and
the pruning of the branches of a tree, whereas the final
step of the annihilation of the ego amounts to the
uprooting of the tree. When the ego disappears entirely,
there arises the knowledge of the True Self. Thus, the
long journey of the soul consists in developing from
animal consciousness the explicit self-consciousness of
the limited "I", then in transcending the "I", and, through
the medium of the Master, to be initiated into the
consciousness of the Supreme and Real Self, as an ever-
lasting and Infinite "I am" in which there is no
separateness, which includes all existence.

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