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A Guide To Noble Living

By

Sri Swami Chidananda

CONTENTS

• Publishers’ Preface
• The Unbroken Link
• Eradicate Desires And Rest In Your Desireless Blissful Self
• The Sadhaka And The Worldly Man
• Be Up And Doing
• Use Not The Intellect For Increasing Laziness
• Necessity, Base And Supreme Factor Of Yoga
• Sadhana
• The Obstacle-Triad
• Not A Rosy Path
• Serve Humanity And Seek Divinity
• Be Like The Third Skull
• Be Simple And Guileless, Humble And Enduring
• Follow Their Foot-Prints
• The Devotee Becomes Invulnerable
• A Contrast Between Hanuman And Ravana
• The Role Of A Sadhu
• Destruction Precedes Construction
• The Epicurean’s Charge
• Guru And Disciple
• Religion
• The Glory Of Sannyasa
• Analysis Of The Human Mind
• Hints On Practical Sadhana
• Sadhana For Modern Man

A spiritual treatise may or may not satisfy the habits of the intellect, but, doubtless, it has to cater to the needs and the demands of the soul and the intuition. As such, the words of a saint, a messenger of the Spirit, speak to us during the calm and splendid durations we have with our soul within. H.H. Sri Swami Chidanandaji Maharaj voices silently to the inmost core of the thinking man. His talks do more intimately appeal directly to the hearts of aspirants.

This publication commands a position in the field of spiritual literature almost akin to the one that Bhakti-Yoga occupies among the group of Yogic paths leading to the emancipation of the individual. Bhakti-Yoga is like a highway train picking up passengers from the different stations they happen to come from. It sees no distinction of social status and rank and qualification but only a genuine zeal to get into and tread the way. Everyone, without distinction, can have access into this gate; all can enter into this temple of this unique Yoga. Mundane distinctions disappear before the mansion of the Supreme Friend and Lover of man. All can find their equal right before God; for the Divine Spirit is no respecter of social differences and man-made restrictions.

This small book of this Life Spiritual, in the same wise, greets a novice to answer his query as to what the real purpose of life is, what the meaning of true Yoga is, what the spirit of true renunciation is, and how to start with virtue, pass through holiness and culminate in Godliness. The advanced seeker in the midst of the high pitch of conflict and struggle finds here and there spot-lights to remove his darkness of doubt and dilemma and suddenly comes across solutions to his conflicting problems in the split of a second. And the more perfected soul would be delighted at heart because the literature deals with matters concerning divine living, abounds with talks on the glory of God, liberation, bliss and peace and narrates the exemplary ideals of great devotees like Sri Hanuman of the Ramayana fame, and the brilliant inspiring life and example of saints who lived up to the modern context of time.

The book is universally inspiring and guiding. Being mostly general in treatment and slightly abstract in character, any approach to it with a motive of finding the particular in the form of details of techniques and practices of various systems of Yoga would be misplaced. The work may simply be taken most reverently as the message of a saint on the path of Nivritti (renunciation) and Yoga. At the same time, the value of the book is no less than the usual text-books on Yoga and Vedanta; the latter deal specifically with particular aspects and systems of Yoga; they concern the need and purpose and aim of their chosen trainees and students of the more rigid systems. On the contrary, the need for a treatise of this kind is first and foremost in respect of the general readers and the Sadhakas; for it couches life in all its peripheries. The general principle always comes first and the particular later.

The work is a collection of Swamiji’s writings and speeches which are in the form of essays, articles and short discourses delivered on different occasions. The first five articles have been adapted from Swamiji’s inspiring addresses at the Satsangas in the Ashram at the Headquarters and they serve as a clarion-call to those who are in a slumber as yet to the life of the Spirit on account of ignorance of the true meaning and purpose of life; and after awakening them, infuse new strength, courage, hope and vigour into their lives by reorienting their movement towards God. Then comes the discussion of the basic principles of Yoga, and the primary requirements it calls for from its students.

The juvenile curiosity which looks upon Yogic life as a rosy path has been cautioned and the possible obstacles that beset the path have been pointed out. The norm of conduct of a Yoga student with relation to the society around the humanity in general has been set forth as being one of service, equality and sympathy, especially. We have to follow the foot-prints of wise sages who have already trodden the arduous steep mountainous path of spirituality. A devotee of God, the Almighty, becomes invulnerable due to the infinite strength provided to him by the eternally inexhaustible source of power and energy, Purushottama, the Lover and Friend of man, a Presence at once manifest in all things, a Power pervading the universe with innumerable forms as His mighty World-Yoga. This point has been vividly and interestingly brought out by drawing a picture of contrast between Hanuman and Ravana. The true concept of Devi-worship and the need for an overcoming of all that belongs to the low, base and bestial nature. Whereas the epicurean’s charge has been refuted and given a challenge with the true spirit of renunciation, attention has not been slackened to remind the austere recluses of their responsibility and sacred, supreme duty.

The human mind, with its structure and psychological working, has been broadly analysed and then sufficient hints on practical Sadhana have been given. The modern man has not been spared on any lame excuse in his attempt at abolishing the worship and adoration of God from his life on the ground of lack of time and opportunity. He has been supplied with a novel method of Sadhana in the form of mental union in Yoga while offering the physique to the work on hand. This is the concluding chapter of the book. Thus, through the seemingly unconnected topics runs an interconnecting link like the thread into which beads of pearls have been strung to make a beautiful garland.

—THE DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY

This holy land (Bharatavarsha) of ours with its lofty culture has been uniquely blessed and privileged by a continuous and unbroken stream of spiritual teachers, saints, devotees and savants to guide and uphold the arduous march of its men, ever reminding them of the true goal of life and preventing mankind from slipping into erroneous tracks at each critical moment. Look at our ancient history and you will find not a single generation which has been deprived of God-sent men who would ever hold high the banner of truth along with their clarion-call to humanity to remain ever vigilant and never forget the real purpose of life.

They never proclaimed anything as a conclusion of mere intellectual activity and labour of the thinking faculty but they did so on the basis of the profound authority of direct intuitional realisation of the Absolute. So whatever these ancient sages and Rishis have proclaimed in the Upanishads, it is from their direct experience in the core of their inmost spiritual being. They did not care to adduce any argument in their support or to induce acceptance. They just stated boldly what they KNEW AS TRUTH. And what is it that they have declared? It is

“O children of Immortality!
Ye are not the perishable physical body
Nor the ever-changing mind, nor the reasoning intellect.
But ye are the master of all these,
The supreme conscious-Being,
the unattached witnessing Spirit or Atman
beyond the reach of the mind and the intellect,
Different and distinct from body, mind and intellect.
Realise this fact and live in the awareness of your true Spirit.”

They have also shown the path that leads to this grand experience. We, as true descendants of our ancient Rishis and worthy sons of Bharatavarsha, should never lose sight of the great purpose of life which can be nothing else than God-realisation. Let no one be deceived by becoming a travesty of alien culture in the name of the so-called material prosperity.

The goodness of a tree is known ultimately by its fruits either sweet or bitter. The past two great world-wars bear the testimony of the destructive horror of the so-called advanced civilisation under the most modern scientific knowledge.

“I would like to bow down from a pretty distance to such deceiving knowledge and prefer one thousand times to be called the ignorant and cling fast to my soul-uplifting culture and heritage which guarantees me purity, manliness, divinity, character, integrity, unselfishness and love for mankind.”

Be careful, brethren, that scientific knowledge devoid of religion and spirituality will quicken only the world-doom since it provides in the hand of the all-devouring brutal instinct of the degenerated man another addition of deadly power for self-destruction.

Power verily corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Therefore neglect not the foremost duty of building up character, nobility, godliness and love for the search of your true nature.

The spiritual Sadhaka daily comes nearer and nearer to God. Day by day, his spiritual struggle brings for him more and more freedom from earthly bondage, from Maya. Every desire annihilated adds new strength to the enhancement of this freedom. It is a fresh addition to the store of inner happiness.

Here are some of the methods of thinning out the Vasanas (desires).

(1) Self-denial: Curtail all unnecessary wants, activities and mixing. Too much of contacts with friends and promiscuous mixing stimulate the old habits, previous Samskaras (latent impressions). Hence worldly contacts should be reduced as far as possible. Exert a little pure will. Deny then and there and say, “No, I don’t want it, since it is not going to help my spiritual well-being. Seek the counsel from the pure intellect and it will give you sure protection at the required moment. Slowly you will develop an attitude of looking at sense-objects as poison and delusive, a clever entrapment of Maya and then you will naturally deny them for your spiritual welfare.

(2) Vigilance: The past Samskaras are like dormant forces and coiled-up potential energies which sometimes assume violent forms and produce tremendous agitation in the mind, totally confuse and bewilder it and make it assume the very forms of desires. This is called Vishayakara Vritti.

So vigilance must be resorted to. No amount of leniency should be given to the mind.

(3) Non-cooperation: All the senses must be withdrawn slowly from their respective centres of pleasure. If you go on denying all the desires, then they will die a natural death.

So continue this incessant process of dynamic self-denial and become a conqueror of all desires. Thus having washed clean the mind of all Vasanas, the aspirant ultimately rejoices and sports in the pure consciousness, bliss and self-delight of Atmic awareness.

Without Vasana-Tyaga (annihilation of desires), Mano-Nasa (death of mind) cannot be effected and without Mano-Nasa there can be no hope of Kaivalya or immortality.

A perfectly desireless state is absolutely peaceful and blissful.

The spiritual seeker gradually thins out his mind, reduces his desires and at last totally dies to all the worldly Vasanas and gets a final release from Samsara.

On the other hand, the worldly man daily brings fresh addition to the bundle of his desires. He creates new wants to experience new sense-pleasures and thus fattens the process of entanglement in Samsara. At last he finds himself under thick chains of bondage. He gets entrapped, deceived and caught by Maya and misses the goal of life.

Thus the spiritual aspirant and the man of the world stand poles apart in comparison. One soars high by the upward pull of his higher nature and the other hurls himself down into the abyss of Samsara by the downward pull of his lower nature.

Today only is yours. Yesterday is gone. There is no certainty of tomorrow. Hence make the best use of the present moment, the present life. Be up and doing. Live this day a life of helpfulness and worshipfulness. Waste not your precious time in vain gossips, scandal-mongering, talebearing, vain hopes and chitchats lest you may pass out regretted and lamented.

Who knows whether this golden opportunity would come again or not? So when everything is conducive for rising high towards the shining peaks lofty ideals, take care that the enthusiasm dies not due to slackness.

So do not postpone for tomorrow. Postponing means losing forever.

Remember this.

Towards the world, let our motive be one of goodness, friendliness and selflessness. Let us live for the good and peace and happiness of others, even of those who deceive us and inflict injury upon us. Mind not dear Sadhaka! For this is not your lasting abode. You are a quick passenger to your eternally shining original abode. So, on your way, while you are here for a short while, try to bring about a little happiness to others, try to lessen the discomfort, fear and anxiety of your neighbours, try to wipe out tears from others’ eyes. Try to remove as far as you can the gloom, despair and sorrow of your fellow-beings.

This should be the attitude for your Bahiranga Jivan (external life, relative living).

Through Paropakara (doing good to others) you worship the one Supreme Lord residing in the hearts of all, for “Eko Devah Sarvabhuteshu Gudhah”—the one Lord hides in all beings.

So bear sympathy for the poor and try to see Him through the humblest of His creation.

As to our Antaranga Jivan (internal living), it should be one of Yogic life, living in constant awareness of your divine relationship.

Increase the stuff of Sattva by daily prayer, worship, Bhajan, Kirtan and Japa-Yajna. This Japa-Yajna is the surest, safest and easiest path specially suitable for Kali Yuga, this iron-age.

Sometimes the mind would refuse to put forth effort on account of inner Tamas (inertia) and lethargy. Don’t yield to this inertia. Remove it by constructive activity, study and Kirtan.

Remove slothness by being “Up and Doing.”

A humorous but meaningfully significant incident is called back to my mind that can to some extent depict the baneful and curious motive behind all the so-called advancements in modern science and technology. One gentleman once asked his enthusiastic son who happened at that moment to be a student in some institute of technology, “Dear boy, what will you do if you become a good and renowned engineer?” The boy replied, “Dear Daddy! I will invent a machine which will be capable of giving me all that I desire by merely switching a button.” The father then asked the same question to his second son who was implicitly following the ideal of his elder brother.

“What do you intend to do when you too become an adept in modern technology as your ambition is keen after this?” And the juvenile younger boy instantly replied, “Father, I must invent another machine which will be used for the purpose of pushing the button of my elder brother’s marvellous machine and thus save us from the trouble of pushing the button quite often for our variegated needs.”

This illustrates the modern trend of scientific minds. So much of Tamas or inertia enters into man’s nature as a curse of luxuries and comforts that a time comes when he hesitates, even to switch on a button!

Instead of applying the intellect for inventing more and more physical comforts and machinery even to do your daily work, let this precious faculty be utilised in discriminating the real from the unreal. Let the intellect be directed in the quest of the permanent, eternal, imperishable and all-blissful Atman. Thus make life transformed to enjoy real and undecaying happiness born of divine communion. Finally rest in the abode of supreme blessedness devoid of all fears and sufferings.

Yoga bases its origin upon the necessity felt by man to rid himself of all sorrow and suffering and to free himself forever from bondage brought about by finite existence and to attain final victory over all fear, even over death itself. To this great problem, Yoga comes as the practical solution. Yoga plainly states that man is essentially of the nature of Bliss, Perfection, Peace and Freedom. The loss of his awareness of that oneness with the infinite, all-perfect source of his being is the very cause of his involvement in this earthly process called life. To regain a true awareness and to realise once again his everlasting oneness with the Divine is actually the practice of Yoga. The means of overcoming the defects and imperfections of this earth-life and thus experiencing union with the Supreme constitutes its structure. Yoga shows how to overcome the imperfections of the lower nature and to gain complete mastery over the mind and senses.

All the techniques of Yoga require perfect ethical and moral purity. Purity is the foundation of Yogic life. One cannot be a bad man and yet try to practise Yoga. One cannot allow himself to be impure, insincere, untruthful, deceitful and harmful to others and at the same time try to practise Yoga. There cannot be any spiritual realisation when interior circumstances are imperfect. There cannot be any religious practice or true interior life when moral goodness is not deeply implanted in the being. One has to be rooted in goodness, in purity, in truth and in selflessness. Half of the process of Yoga is in getting thus perfectly established in ideal moral conduct. When this basis has been established, then the application of the techniques of Yoga is like the striking of a dry march upon the match-box and immediately there is a flame. Without this basis, it is like trying to strike and ignite a wet match upon a cake of soap—nothing happens.

In all phases of Yogic life, the supreme factor is the grace of God. Call it what you will. It is the grace of the Supreme Essence, the source of all existence in which alone man realises his true nature and his deathless divinity. All the practices are purposeful when they make man move towards God and merge into oneness with Him. This is the purpose of Yoga.

Sadhana is the purpose for which we have come to this plane. It is this earth-plane alone upon which Sadhana for Self-realisation can be done.

Sadhana means right living—living a God-oriented life. Root out falsehood from your heart. Become an embodiment of Truth.

You are ever-pure and spotless. Express that ever-pure, spotless nature in your thoughts, words, in the pattern of your desires and inner motives in your daily life. Practise that, live that, radiate that—that is Sadhana. You are the Truth, the Supreme Reality. Express this Truth.

Let not your life be a contradiction of what you are. Be WHAT YOU ARE. This is the essential Sadhana. It is the direct path to live a divine life, to be divine in thought, word and deed.

The supreme Sadhana is a life lived divinely where every act, thought and word is permeated with the divine quality.

Be victorious over circumstances. Even when you are working do not leave this inner awareness. Assert it at every moment in all things. Be the conqueror of your mind, the subduer of your desires and a master of your destiny; for you are the Master.

May you develop noble character and walk the path of the good and pure, the path of Truth, purity and goodness, and move towards that glorious goal which awaits you. This is your birthright which you can claim and experience in this very birth. Do not postpone it. Be up and doing.

You must cultivate the flowers of Divine virtues in the garden of your heart. It is from virtue that one rises to holiness, from holiness to godliness and from godliness to God-experience. From impurity one rises to purity, from purity to sanctity and from sanctity into sublime spiritual experience.

The ascent of the individual soul unto the shining peaks of the experience of the Absolute on the practical path of Sadhana is attended with three barriers which must have to be overcome. The first one is a state of grossness arising out of a total identification with the body-house in which we reside. This identification has made us feel that we are ourselves, this body and this body is ourselves.

No matter how much we may mouth the words “I am not this body,” yet the very next instant our actual life and behaviour demonstrate our body-consciousness in effect, however much we may assert the contrary. If someone suddenly comes and says: “You fool! You are wasting your time in sitting there, why don’t you go and work?”, then your temper will immediately flare up and you will be in a state of anger. Vedanta will vanish and the intellect will suddenly give way to the fit of anger that has arisen in the mind due to a long force of habit. Now Mr. so and so, the immortal Atman, Satchidananda, beyond mind and body and beyond all the pairs of opposites, immediately gets up and prepares to fight. Your mind is in turmoil. It is agitated and is thinking: “How can I repay this fellow?” Anger flares up and the mind is thrown into agitation, and you want to go and punch the man in the nose. You have completely and totally forgotten, “I am the peaceful and ever-blissful Satchidananda Atman beyond name and form; the one without a second, all-full, complete and all-bliss.”

This is an example of falling down from the beautiful state of your Atmic nature into the ugliness and falsity of your lower nature owing to anger which is a kind of impurity (Mala). Similarly also greed, passion, selfishness, arrogance, envy and jealousy etc., constitute the impurities of human nature and every now and then they spring up and overpower the mind. The Atmic consciousness is then obscured and pettiness, dishonesty, intolerance, pride and the thought of “How dare one address me like this?” come into the mind.

These are all called impurities and are the basic blemishes of the human personality. These blemishes constantly plague the human individual and need be eliminated if you are to rise into a higher state of consciousness.

These impurities constantly put the mind into a state of agitation and activity. They never allow the mind to be calm and serene. As long as these gross impurities draw the mind outward to unspiritual action every moment, you cannot expect to sustain one unbroken current of thought of the Supreme Reality.

Due to impurities, the mind is drawn always into a state of restlessness, outgoing movement and agitation. This is the second barrier called Vikshepa. This has also to be overcome.

Still deeper in your mind is the third barrier called Avarana. It is a mysterious veil over the inner depths of your consciousness which holds you in a state of ignorance of your higher nature. Avarana is non-awareness owing to nescience, the basic ignorance. This veil is made up of the identification of the body-mind-consciousness.

These three—Mala, Vikshepa and Avarana—have to be overcome gradually, stage by stage in a methodical manner. And then suddenly you see the illumination of Atmic knowledge. You will come face to face with your true nature. You will have this transcendental experience.

The removal of the basic impurities or blemishes can be done by the cultivation of the opposite positive qualities. What do you do when you want to remove darkness? You do not bring mops or brooms to sweep it or sacks to collect it. You bring the positive opposite quality light to remove darkness.

The moment the positive opposite quality comes in, the negative quality vanishes; because the negative quality has no basis. A negative quality is not an independent entity by itself. Mark this very very carefully. Negative qualities really have no force. They only imply the absence of positive qualities. He is a great liar means he has no truth in him. There are no such things as lies but there is absence of truth in this person. The moment he welcomes truth by firmly asserting “I will try to become truthful,” he can no longer be called a liar.

Hatred is not a positive quality. There is no such thing as hatred, some dark thing wanting to jump upon you. It means that there is no love, no kindness. So it only indicates a condition of the absence of love, and in one who cultivates love and compassion there is no more hatred. The moment love comes in, hatred vanishes; because the positive is real and the negative is not real. When the positive quality is cultivated, the negative ceases to be.

So, remember, cultivation of virtues is a fundamental part of self-culture leading to spiritual evolution and Divine experience. This is the laying of the foundation as it were. If you want to cultivate a garden from a wild piece of land, the first thing you have to do is to root out all the weeds, the brambles, the undergrowth and remove all such unnecessary things. Then you have to prepare the ground by removing all stones and pebbles and then make the soil fertile.

Thus, in this process of spiritual cultivation you must work at getting rid of the trash, eliminating all that is undivine, unspiritual, transcending the brute and bestial nature such as greed, hatred, anger, jealousy, selfishness, haughtiness and arrogance. Then you have to grow the flowers of virtues in the garden of your heart. Then alone you will rise unto a state of godliness. “Cleanliness is next to godliness.” One should have great deal of zeal in cultivating divine virtues. Through the cultivation of virtues and removal of vices, the oscillating, tossing and restless nature of the mind gets thinned out. Through prayer and meditation the veil of ignorance is torn aside. Now you attain to the state of Reality-consciousness. Your experience is now one of absolute spiritual bliss and peace. How can you now describe that grand experience of spiritual consciousness or Divine ecstasy. You will only say, “I am Satchidananda.”

Nothing that is worthwhile is to be achieved without undergoing a corresponding amount of pain and suffering. No enduring ideal can be attained without toil and sweat. The seed splits and perishes to put forth the plant. The flower lays its life to give place to the sweet fruit. It is in the furnace that gold emerges from the ore. Even so, the price of sainthood is to be paid in the interim period of utter loneliness, privation and struggle which the aspiring soul passes through.

The spiritual path demands a rigorous Tapas and heroic endurance at one time or other. This has been the common experience of all such earnest souls who, fired by the ideal of Self-realisation turn their back upon the world of vanity and folly. Because the truth remains that the link between man and God is forged in the furnace of trial and adversity.

Gurudev says, “There is no royal road in spirituality. Adversity develops the power of endurance and will-force. Adversity develops fortitude and forbearance. All the prophets, saints, Bhaktas and Yogins of yore had to struggle hard against adverse circumstances. God puts His devotees under severe tests and rigorous trials .........”

You will also be tested by God for your sincerity and patience. He will make you utterly helpless and watch and see whether you have devotion for them or not in such straitened circumstances. We cannot say exactly what form these trials will take. But the sincere devotee is never afraid of these tests.

A grim endurance of all vicissitudes and a dogged resolution to persevere to the end are essential if one has to realise the Ideal. For indeed, rough and rugged is the march on the steep and narrow way!

Gurudev once cautioned a group of aspirants to be alive to the stealthy power of unconscious habits. “For,” he said, “Man is sybarite by nature. You may be very zealous in your austerity and vows in the beginning. But if you are not on the guard, slowly will the vigour be relaxed; comforts will creep in and you will be caught hopelessly. If the body is allowed to relapse into softness and luxury, you will find it well nigh impossible to discipline it again.”

Instances are not lacking where recluses in solitude, after years of asceticism, have slowly slipped into an easy-going life by coming in contact with admiring devotees. When they come to be well-known, devotees gather round volunteering to do personal service. Not wishing to disappoint the eager disciples, the ascetic allows a little latitude at first, but it grows upon him until he is a slave to every sort of luxury.

Mind immediately takes advantage of even the least sign of weakness in the aspirant. It is like a tiger crouching on its haunches about to spring. Swamiji exmplifies in his life the ceaseless and ever-alert vigilance against the sudden onslaught of Samskaras. He is a model to all, even to highly advanced aspirants—in his avoidance of the proximity of women. Devotees, many a time, seek to touch his feet while prostrating; never does he allow this to happen. No touch of a feminine hand is allowed, be it that of a real devotee even.

You might have read about a class-mate of Swami Vivekananda, a remarkable young man, a monk of great renunciation and determination, who after years of admirable self-control, Nishkama Seva, finally became hopelessly entangled in a woman’s wiles. Swami Turiyananda has cited this example in one of his intimate talks with Sadhakas.

It is not the question of being pure or impure. The very proximity of persons of opposite sex is dangerous, however pure and well-meaning the persons be. Moving with women unleashes a primitive force quite beyond the easy control of the human being. The woman herself may be spotless, but the Lord’s mighty power of Maya may work through her unawares. The hidden power of lust in the heart of men begins to manifest in feminine presence and proximity. Not without reason, the great contemporary saint, the revered Malayala Swami of Yerpedu, strictly forbids the careless mixing with persons of opposite sex. He once told a Sadhaka who had unwittingly allowed a lady to minister to his comforts, while he was ill, and had his feet shampooed by the kind-hearted nurse, “If I were to name an atonement for this lapse of yours, I would have you apply glowing coals to the portion of the feet touched by the lady.”

For an aspirant, all contact with women must be absolutely tabooed. Women may be revered, trained and elevated; but it must be in separate institutions. Different Ashrams should be maintained for them and it is from a respectable distance that even advanced souls should have dealings with them.

How supra-human beings, like Brahma, Narada and Visvamitra, succumbed to this influence of sex, is vividly brought out in the Hindu scriptures. Whether one is inclined to treat the scripture as authoritative or not, the lessons they embody and seek to place before men have to be taken at their worth. They advocate, in unmistakable terms, the avoidance of all contact with the opposite sex to the spiritual aspirant. It is no use attempting to ignore the fact that in the vast majority of people, the sexual craving is very intense; hence the necessity for such drastic advice.

Spiritual life is for eternity and realisation is infinite. It is not like a period of work, giving place later to a nice vacation.

The same high pitch of purity and discipline has to be maintained if life is to mean anything at all. No relaxation of vigour and caution can be afforded. For the mighty power of cosmic illusion is not a trifle to be toyed with. A fit of passion is enough to blow away the result attained by years of slow and painstaking effort. Remembering this, let the aspirant be ever ‘watchful unto prayer’ as the mystics have said.

It is well to keep before our minds the example of a certain saint of Madurai of whom it is narrated that, while he was passing aimlessly through the streets of that city, he was accosted by an irreverant and arrogant merchant who jocosely asked the saint which was the superior of the two; namely the beard of the saint’s chin or the tuft of hair on the tail of a donkey! The saint looked up silently at the questioner for a few moments and quietly resumed his wanderings.

Several years had passed away when the merchant was one day summoned urgently to the saint’s presence. The waggish merchant, having long forgotten all about his sacrilegious humour of bygone years, went wondering what the matter might be. He found the venerable saint on his death-bed and at his approach, the dying one raised himself slowly, and whispered to the merchant thus, “My good man! you asked me a question several years ago. Well, my beard is superior to the donkey’s tuft; so you have your answer and forgive me for my delay.”

The merchant asked why, after years of silence, the saint chose to give an answer to the impertinent query now, during his last moments. The saint, with great humility, replied, “Precisely because these are my last moments. Doubtless I might have even then answered you as I do now, but I dared not; for my dear brother, so very mysterious, so incomprehensible, is the Lord’s illusive power that I knew not what I would do or be the next moment. Man’s achievements are of no avail before Maya’s charms. She reigns supreme on the stage of the divine play. None can dogmatically say that he is beyond all temptation. It is the Lord’s grace alone that not only makes a man pure but also keeps him pure to the end.

Man on his part is but to exercise a constant humility and an active vigilance. All these several years I have striven to keep myself spotless and devout, putting faith on His love and mercy to maintain my purity. I have now but a few moments more to live and there is no chance of a slip; therefore with my last breath I answered you confidently.” And the saint sank back and gave up his body.

The great lessons of genuine humility and an unremitting caution have to be firmly grasped and borne in mind by everyone who would make any headway on the slippery path that leads from “darkness to Light,” from “the unreal to the Real,” and from “mortality to Immortality.”

O Blessed Friend! When will you wake up from this deep sleep of ignorance and enter into the reality of your true real nature—Divine Nature? You are not merely the body and intellect.

Come, come, wake up now. Claim your birthright. Recognise your identity. Enter into experience of the Divine Joy, Peace and Wisdom which is your Eternal Svarupa (essential nature). O beloved friend! O Radiant Atman! Do it now. You are indeed Divine. You are unchangeable, infinite, immortal Atman.

Life is Sadhana. Living is spiritual process. All actions—mental, verbal and physical—constitute Yajna. Yajna or self-giving is the fundamental principle and PAROPAKARA (doing good to others) is the Mulamantra (the basic sacred formula) of this life.

Live with understanding and wisdom. Understand the meaning and purpose of life. Understand your real nature and why you are here. Here on earth you are but a passing traveller. Here all things are temporary. All things pass. Therefore seek the eternal. Your real nature is not earthly. It is spiritual and deathless. To realise your Reality, your eternal identity is the purpose of your life. While you strive diligently for this inner experience cultivate Ideal Relationship with the world around you. To all beings relate yourself with nobility, sympathy, kindness, love, selflessness and the desire to serve all.

Compassion to all is the key to blessedness. Humility is the highest virtue. Truthfulness is the greatest treasure. Self-control is the supreme wealth to possess. Egoism is the worst blemish and hence to be eradicated in toto.

Be an ideal individual. Become a spiritually-illumined soul. Thus crown your life with Wisdom, Peace and Blessedness. You will then become a blessing to all mankind. I wish you joy and peace.

We do meditation in the morning and evening, but during our activities and dealings with others during the day we show petty-mindedness and selfishness. That obstructs our Sadhana and nullifies the benefits of our meditation. Penelope, the wife of Ulysses, had many suitors during her husband’s absence whom she never wished to marry since she was a faithful and loyal lady. Therefore she devised a trick to deceive them and pass away time. She told her suitors that she was preparing a fabric and, until the fabric was finished, she would not accept anyone. They agreed. Every day she went on knitting and, at night she used to undo the work till Ulysses appeared. This is a good example of “undoing” what had already been done.

We should not apply this sort of “undoing” to our Sadhana. Let us not add any undivine element to whatever good we might have practised during the morning hours. If, during our actions, we forget our essence and become harsh and dishonest and begin to criticise others—then all these things will undo whatever Sadhana we have done in the hours of meditation. Therefore, our eternal physical life and activity, our speech and actions, have closely to keep up and enhance the spirit of our meditation, worship and Sadhana.

It is very essential, therefore, that we do not confine our Sadhana only to the quiet hours inside the Puja-room, but divinise all your actions. All our deeds should express our real, inner nature. They should all become spiritualised. This divinisation of all activities is known as Karma Yoga.

The man who leads an ideal life, full of self-sacrifice, full of sweetness and helpfulness alone makes his Sadhana effective and fruitful.

An aspirant must, therefore be wise. He should not contradict his Sadhana during the active life. He should know where the pot is leaking; otherwise it will be useless to go on filling the pot.

An aspirant should also be careful, watchful, alert and penetrative. The story of the “Three Skulls” is worth remembering.

Once a Rakshasa (demon) came to a king’s court with three skulls and frightened the king to eat him up unless he could correctly point out which was the best skull out of the three. The king asked three days’ time and the demon agreed. Then the king asked his court Pundits as to which of them was the best. None could say anything since all the three resembled outwardly all alike.

One intelligent Pundit came and passed a rod through one ear of the first skull, and the rod went straight through the other ear.

Then he made the rod pass through the second skull. In this case, the rod, inserted through one ear, came out of the mouth.

Then the rod was made to pass through the third skull. When inserted through one ear, the rod went right into the chest.

The court-pundit remarked that the third skull was the best.

The first skull represents that type of people who hear wisdom through one ear and, without assimilating it, leave it through the other ear and forget about it. The second skull represents those people who, after receiving wisdom, are anxious to teach it to others, but do not practise the wisdom themselves. That is the second class of people.

The third skull represents the best type of aspirants, who after hearing wisdom, keep it in their hearts, and try to practise it in their everyday life. So, I would request you all to be like the third skull, cherishing and practising whatever you may learn from your association with the wise, the saints and the sages. May God bless you all!

All saints and holy men have illumined like the bright full-moon, the dark night of ignorance of the earth-bound souls by their own brilliant example.

They have been men of very simple nature, devoid of all crookedness and cunningness. Simplicity and guilelessness are the characteristics of all men of God.

“Unless ye become like little children, ye cannot enter the Kingdom of heaven.” This is the mystic declaration of Jesus Christ.

All truly great saints knew not how to disbelieve any man. They trusted all beings. This was one of the most salient traits in their character. They were guileless. They did not have the so-called shrewdness and cleverness which the worldly man has, which he thinks essential for him to get along. But to get along where? It is a different question altogether. Whether it is getting along in the right direction up to heaven or getting along as quickly as possible to perdition or his own ruin, that is the question. But the so-called shrewdness which the deluded man thinks very necessary for him to get along, the saints were lacking, and they were not the losers for it. They became worshipful. They were immortalised because they were guileless. Their nature was pure and simple, crystal clear, and this is the nature of children. Saints were like children. Childlike simplicity, childlike guilelessness, childlike innocence and crystal-like purity of heart have ever been the common attributes of all the saints.

Secondly that universal quality which characterises 999 out of 1,000 of all mankind is egoism. People are proud. Everyone has his own ego. Man feels “I am something,” and he does not like to be disregarded. He wants others to recognise him as something, and he wants to assert himself and this principle of ego, this feeling of one’s own superiority, is found to be totally absent in all saints. They were humble. They were meek in spirit. They were lowly in spirit.

“Blessed are the lowly in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.” The “lowly” not from the point of money. He may have everything, but in spite of that he feels that he is a speck of dust at the feet of the Lord. “Lord is everything. I am nothing. Thou art everything my Lord.” This is the attitude of all holy people, and this total absence of egoism, and the resultant humility—this is also a universal characteristic of all saints.

Even as egoism is the universal characteristic of the ordinary man in his unregenerate days, the man who is in the grip of delusion, Maya, even so, the universal characteristic of all saints has been perfect humility. Blessed are the meek. And the spirit of the same verse is re-echoed by one of the greatest saints India has produced. He was Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabbu. He says, “Trinadapi Suneechena—one should consider oneself lower than a blade of grass.”

The man of egoism (Ahankara) has not yet learnt this great secret, this truth that Ahankara is the great bar to true refinement and progress of man. He will argue that if a man does not feel himself to be something, he will attain nothing and so too much of humility simply spoils one’s life.

But the saints knew better. They knew what was the worth of achievement in this world and what was the truly worthwhile achievement. And they knew that the ego was the greatest obstacle for the attainment of all good things which are of lasting worth, and therefore they were humble, forbearing and forgiving. The lives of saints were full of trials and tribulations. They were persecuted. They had to bear too much hardship. The Lord put them in the furnace of hardship and tribulation, suffering and persecution.

Just as gold is put in the furnace to be purified of all dross and to shine as purified metal, even so, saints are put to much tribulation and suffering, and through all these they manifested three important qualities.

One was that they accepted all trials and tribulations as the blessings of God and bore them. Endurance, fortitude, forbearance—these were always and will ever be the characteristic of saints.

O man, endure.

The symbology of Christ being carried to the Calvary brings us this great lesson that man has to silently bear pains and sufferings and through this endurance and suffering only he comes out as gold purified of all dross.

In this process of silently enduring all the vicissitudes and painful experiences of life, they never lost faith. Rather, the more they endured the more were they tried by God and the greater, the stronger, the firmer their faith became. This was the second great trait in them. “O God! Thou may send me the worst suffering, but I will not lose faith in Thee, O Lord.” That was the wondrous spirit they had. They never lost faith in the Lord.

Thirdly they not only forgave them who did them harm, but wished all the good for them.

Have such endurance and be humble, O aspirant!

Whatever happens to you, never lose faith and you are sure to be rewarded with eternal life and infinite bliss.

To all those who were instruments in bringing about suffering to the saints, their attitude was one of forgiveness and returning good for evil. They tried to do good to the man who did them the greatest harm. To endure everything, to be always firm and unshakeable in their faith in the Lord and a spirit of continuous forgiveness-this is the nature of saints, and these characteristics are found in saints all over the world. All people who have risen to spiritual heights and have become worshipful by mankind—they have always manifested these wonderful qualities. To the saints, God is not a distant entity. To them God is an ever present living reality. Just as we are present to each other, to them, too, God is ever present. They turn to Him at every moment of their life. Whenever they were in need of help, solace, strength, guidance or light, they immediately turned to God even as a child turns to its parents. God was ever present before them and thus their lives were transformed by this ever present awareness of a superior being whom they felt to be their very own. They melted all the differences between themselves and God. They felt themselves to be very intimate with God. They felt God to be their own.

We also express this intimacy with God everyday through our prayers and hymns but we do not feel it intensely enough. In troubles, we trust our money or other external aids of the world rather than the indweller. We lack the sense of God’s presence.

On the contrary, the saints, even while living in the external world, are always in close contact with the Lord. Therefore they are God-men. They live a life in God and they always consider God to be the only real treasure, the greatest wealth, the only object worth having in life. They never have any other desire. Their desirelessness found ultimate rest in God alone and filled their heart with perfect contentment.

All saints stood above caste and creed. They belonged to one family—the great cosmic family of God. Absolute purity, absolute trust in God, absolute compassion, contentment, desirelessness, perfect guileless nature and total dependence on God alone—these you find in all saints.

Take anyone of the western saints. You will find the same simplicity, the same humility, the same frankness. Even if a man was about to cut their throat, they embraced him. That was the saintly reaction. They were filled with the spirit of this divine quality. In short, they fulfilled the spirit of the Amritashtaka, the last eight verses of the Twelfth Chapter of Srimad Bhagavad Gita wherein Sri Krishna describes the characteristics of a lover of God, one who is dear to the Lord.

We should also try to delve into the heart of these saints and feel as they felt in their hearts—an overflowing love for God, total forgiveness, motherly compassion, intensity of faith which alone could enable them to bear everything that came on their way and the Himalayan type of perseverance and patience they exhibited on the path of God-Realisation.

And if with our open hearts after removing all bias, we try to delve deep into the nature of the saints, then all the noble traits of their personality will come before us and we can engrave and emulate these noble traits in our hearts. That indeed will be the only effective manner in which we can worship these great souls by which we make an effort to carry out their teachings with sincerity and in a true spirit of respectability and try to emulate their lofty ideals and characters.

This emulation will be the greatest tribute we can pay to these saints.

We should try to emulate them. We should try to emulate the great ideal they have set before us through their exemplary lives. Therefore, to make ourselves adherents of the pattern of divine life which they have worked out, to make ourselves faithful reproductions of these great ideal lives would be the most effective manner in which we can offer our tribute and honour to these saints.

It is a common fallacy to suppose that people, who follow the path of devotion, who cultivate devotion, who take recourse to prayer, surrender and the Name of the Lord become effeminate, weak and they are not strong like the Vedantins. The Vedantins are always strong; they bring the picture of a lion, the king of the forest, which fears nothing and is full of strength. Even so, the lion of Vedanta is supposed to roar like a lion.

The real devotee is also equal to the Vedantin. He fears nothing in this world. His strength is infinite, because his strength is not the strength of an individual personality. The source of his strength is infinity, in which he has established himself. The source of strength for a Vedantin and the source of strength for a devotee are the same. The Vedantin relies upon Atman, but the devotee relies on the Lord. The Saguna Brahman (Brahman with attributes) and the Nirguna Brahman (Brahman without attributes) are one. Therefore, if a devotee feels within him a sort of fear or weakness, then it means that his practice of Bhakti is not correct. There is something lacking in him. Some error is there. If he is a real devotee, he should be perfectly fearless. He should say, “I have got the Name of the Lord on my lips. Nothing equals the Name of the Lord in the whole world. To me no fear from the world can come.” So a real devotee fears nothing. Maya cannot do anything to him. He who has got the Name of the Lord ever upon his lips, defies the guiles of Maya.

He who has got faith and devotion to the Lord becomes invulnerable. His defences are impregnable. Nothing can happen to him. It depends upon faith.

Such faith was there in Hanuman, whose glorious personality stands radiant before us in the pages of Ramayana. He is the ideal of a true devotee, the devotee who is full of strength, full of courage, full of heroism. True devotion gives strength. Real Prem (love) gives infinite courage and boldness.

What is the source of all strength that sustains an aspirant in his struggle to overcome Maya? The strength is the Name of the Lord. That strength is the strength of true love and devotion to the Lord. That strength is the strength of absolute faith in the Lord, faith in the grace of the Lord, faith in His Name, to exemplify which the glorious Name of Hanuman stands as an ideal before us.

A devotee fears nothing. No obstacle deters him from pursuing the path that leads to the blessed union with the Lord. If this real devotion is not there, then timidity and other things come.

What was the secret of Hanuman’s infinite strength? How could he cross the ocean by a single jump?

It is because he was a faithful votary of the Divine Name. It was the Bhakti (unflinching devotion) in him that gave him infinite strength to overcome all Rakshasas. Nothing could stand before Hanuman. He was matchless in his valour.

His strength was infinite, but then he stands in striking contrast to another personality in Ramayana, whose strength was also infinite, at whose strength all the three worlds trembled—Ravana—the person who could lift up Kailasa, who had conquered all Devas and made the god of Agni (the fire-god) his cook, the god Varuna (the water-god) water his garden, and all the Ashtadikpalas his slaves. The Navagrahas (nine-planet-gods) were steps to his throne. Such was the might of Ravana. But then what did Ravana do? This might of Ravana, this great strength which had to be subdued by no other than the Incarnation of Lord Vishnu Himself, was destroyed and spoiled by Ahankara, and also this was allied to Adharma. Egoism and Adharma completely vitiated and perverted this great power which Ravana possessed and, as a striking contrast, we have the grand personality of Hanuman towering in his height, but yet most wondrous, most beautiful, example of perfect humility and self-effacement. Always we see the picture of Hanuman with folded hands.

“Yatra Yatra Raghunatha-Kirtanam,
Tatra Tatra Kritamastakanjalim,
Bashpavari-Paripurnalochanam,
Marutim Namata Rakshasantakam.”

With all the strength, courage, heroism and other divine virtues, Hanuman of incomparable humility possessed a heart which was ever melting in tears of Prem and which ever cherished the attitude of servitude and humility. It is an object lesson for humanity both in its collective aspect, as nations of the world, and in its individual aspect—how they ought to subserve their entire capacities, abilities and strength to the service of the Lord, and how the strength and capacity should be characterised by utter humility. That is the great important lesson that Hanuman’s personality teaches to mankind for all times. If that is not there, we have the contrast of Ravana and we have the inevitable fall.

Hanuman’s name has been immortalised became his infinite strength was accompanied by immeasurable humility—humility as vast and deep as the ocean, and the perfect spirit of obedience and service. Hanuman is ever the servant of Rama, with folded hands and utter surrender, ever waiting for an opportunity to do some service to Lord Rama. He was a perfect devotee, a perfect servant and Sevaka, and he was a perfect spiritual aspirant for he kept his ego always in subjugation. Never do you find him raise his head, he always keeps it bent low. And therefore, Rama gave him the foremost place. When the Pattabhisheka time came, Rama placed Hanuman in front of Him. It was the reward of that perfect devotion, humility, spirit of service, absolute self-effacement and self-absorption.

Once Hanuman was questioned, “What is the day of the week today?” and “What is the star, the Tithi?” To this he replied, “I know neither the day nor the star. I know only Rama, His Name and His love.”

His life meant only the love of Rama and the result of such a love is that Rama places him ever in front of Him. That is the ultimate position occupied by him. There is no Rama without Hanuman.

He is the ideal aspirant characterised by ideal humility, perfect surrender and obedience. If you analyse the whole life of Hanuman, it is nothing but unremitting service of Lord Rama to the very end. The most important aspect of Hanuman’s personality that we should remember is Rama-Prem and his humility which made him immortal. Therefore, strength when it is allied to devotion to God and worship of God becomes fruitful in immortal glory, becomes fruitful in eternal union with the Lord. The highest that man can achieve comes to him who allies all his faculties of body and mind with virtue, devotion, humility, the spirit of service, and absolute surrender. To be ever absorbed in the repetition of the Name of the Lord and to be ever absorbed in the service of the Lord—this is the shining ideal of devotion that the grand personality of Hanuman presents before humanity for all time. Such is the glory of his personality and such is the importance of this ideal personality to us, spiritual aspirants as well as to all human beings in this world—to ally strength with Dharma and thus to attain the divine realisation of eternal oneness with the Lord.

People on this earth can be divided into three broad classes. The first type of people believe only in this life on earth. The second type consists of people who do a little service, but lack the spiritual vision. There is the third type of beings in whom, the spirit of enquiry is awakened, in whom a higher discrimination is working, who conceive of life, not as some period of existence to be finished here, after which they don’t know—and, therefore, are not concerned—what is going to happen. They conceive of this life as an opportunity, given for attaining something higher which belongs to a sphere transcending this. These Sadhakas have also got a knowledge that in essence they are not earthly, and that their life does not end with this earth-life. They have some glimpse that their life is really eternal existence in self-awareness, and of the nature of peace, bliss and wisdom. They think that their earth-life is a temporary bondage.

They are impatient that somehow or other they should recapture the pure experience of that real life, which is theirs in truth. Therefore, they use this present earthly existence for carrying on a determined struggle, so that they may transcend this ignorance and regain that experience, the eternal life in the spirit. They are known as aspirants and seekers.

In order to bring together this class of people who are living for a spiritual ideal and to inspire it and take it near that spiritual goal, societies like the Divine Life Society have been founded by men of realisation, like Sri Gurudev. The Sadhu’s Federation was started with an additional aim, i.e., to gather together all the forces in the form of the various devotees, so that a unification may be brought about among all saintly persons—a sort of universal brotherhood of seekers, aspirants and Sadhakas. There is a prevalent idea that a Sadhu means a Sannyasin putting on ochre-robes. Swamiji says “No” to this. A Sadhu or a Sannyasin is one in whom the spiritual ideal is the only ideal, whether he is a householder or a renunciate.

In what way shall we be able to propagate the Sadhu-life, the life of divine quest, and what can we practically do in our own walk of life to awaken more and more people to the greatest sublimity of this life of seeking after God? Sadhus form a class diametrically opposite to the “normal man” of the world. If the man of the world holds a certain thing as desirable, the seeker looks upon it as something more insignificant than dust. What is pleasurable to the worldly man is extremely painful to the seeker. What the man of the world regards as necessary for life, the seeker regards as the greatest obstacle to real progress. And, in the very conception of progress even, the two are totally opposed to each other. If this is true, then the Sadhu must be a misfit in the world! To some extent it is true. But the real Sadhu is not a total misfit. The Sadhus’ community forms only a minority in the world. A Sadhu has got tremendous amount of adaptability. He knows that God Himself is tolerating the world and so he is also prepared to tolerate the world.

The Sadhu is essentially universal. Though he looks at the world with pain in his heart, he has great tolerance. He adapts himself with others, but is firm in his own ideals.

Look at Sri Swamiji—you have a living example of this truth in him. Sometimes politicians come and air their views and place their problems before him. He listens patiently to them and he gives the advice as though he is very much interested in these problems, while all the time he is in a consciousness which makes him realise that it is like a whiff of smoke.

These saints know that this worldly life is meaningless. The only meaning it has got is that it can be taken as a field of Sadhana. What we think of the life of animals, the enlightened souls too think the same of the life of an unprincipled man who leads a purposeless life.

You cannot get happiness from this work. If you go to a neem tree, pluck a fruit from one branch and then eat it, you discover that it is bitter. Imagining that you made a mistake by choosing to pluck from that particular branch which alone might be yielding bitter fruits exclusive of other branches, you suddenly change to another branch, pluck a fruit from it and find that it is bitter too.

How can you get a sweet fruit from a neem tree? Expectation of pleasures from worldly objects is exactly similar to this. No happiness can be got from the world.

A Sadhu knows this very well. Sometimes, on account of previous Samskaras, the Sadhu may deviate from the path just a bit, but he is never eternally lost. In the aspirant or seeker, there is always the Viveka and Vichara alive. Therefore, the reaction of Nachiketas to the temptations of Yama, is the reaction of a Sadhu to worldly pleasures.

The Sadhu, intent on treading the path of Sreyas (real good) tries to cut at the very root of the cause of Preyas, the apparently pleasing, by means of prayer, Japa of the Lord’s Name, Sankirtan etc. The hallmarks of all seers are more or less the same—compassion, selflessness, purity, oneness, renunciation, tolerance, and above all, returning good for evil. There are many examples from the lives of saints to illustrate this.

Therefore, in order to be able to propagate the Sadhu ideal, the ideal of divine quest, the quest after Truth, I pray with folded hands that you should:

(1) Get all the books on the lives of saints, that you can and study them.

(2) Hold a Satsanga in your own house and narrate the lives of saints to your family and children and friends.

(3) Save the money that you waste on luxuries and with that amount print and distribute widely leaflets and pamphlets embodying the lives of saints.

Thus your own life will be transformed. Thus thinking constantly of saints, you will yourself become a saint. And, you will help others transform their lives, too, and grow into saints. This is the best and the most practical way in which you can promote the ideal of a Sadhu life.

The phenomenon of destruction necessarily preceding a new birth is found in every aspect of creation and evolution upon this earth. Similarly, in the realm of the spirit, when the seeker has set himself to rise into the transcendental state of Paripoornata, or perfection, fullness, bliss, eternal life and infinite peace, light and joy, when he starts upon this process, he finds that he is bound down by many things which do not allow him to rise up to that desired state of spiritual felicity and bliss. Numerous elements of this old human self, many undesirable factors of the lower aspect of mundane life, hold him down, trying perpetually to keep him bound to ignorance, darkness, delusion and Anatmic (not Self) tendencies. This lower aspect of the individual soul in the form of the various weaknesses and defects of the flesh is known by the name of Papa Purusha or the Pasu—which need be destroyed and given as Pasu-Bali on the altar of Daivi Shakti (the Divine Mother of Power).

If an aspirant really and earnestly desires to attain to Supreme Peace and Bliss, then he must be resolutely prepared to do the preliminary breaking process that is absolutely essential before he can be free to rise up from the old personality and soar into the empyrean realm of the spiritual Consciousness full of bliss and peace. If his earnestness makes him ready to die to his lower-self, then he can be called a real worshipper of Kali, the fearful Mother Divine, the consumer of all the blackness in the form of the impurities of the soul. She wields Her sword and Her terrible form in order to destroy that which stands as an obstacle to our attainment of spiritual bliss. She is terrible, fearful and destructive to all that is lower in us, impure and unspiritual in us and all that is base and bestial (animalistic) in us.

The individual finds that he cannot fight and overcome these enemies of the higher self through his own puny individual efforts. Therefore, comes the necessity and the meaning of Mother-worship. He invokes that aspect of this Supreme Divine Power that might be capable of doing this process of Pasu-Badha in his own individual case. Therefore he turns to the Mother and lovingly addresses Her, “O Mother! come to me as the terrible, come to me with your fearful sword; come to me as a destructive power in thy fearsome aspect which will be capable of destroying in me that which is unspiritual, unholy, and that which is animalistic and base and Anatmic.” He welcomes the terrible so that She may release him from the clutches of the evil and the impure that is in him, the Papa Purusha that is in him. This is a Voluntary invitation of the destructive aspect of Divine Shakti so that She may, out of Her love and compassion for us, do the work of destroying all the Shad-Ripus (sixfold enemies viz., lust, anger, greed etc.) in us, our egoism, our impurity, our attachments and all the host of the things that form the lower aspect in the individual.

Therefore, the worship of Kali is a little bit difficult, because we find that while one part of the seeker, out of his aspiration and desire for liberation, feels that he should free himself from the base aspect of his personality, yet there is the power of delusion, attachment and Moha in him and this aspect makes it difficult for him to completely destroy his lower self, his attachments and cravings and Trishnas with a resolute mind. While he wants Mother Kali to come and do the work of destruction, at the same time he yet clings to his lower self! Therefore, his worship of the Divine Mother Kali is not whole-hearted.

He is the real worshipper of the Divine Mother, who sets himself resolutely to crush out all attachments, to crush out his delusion, to crush out his cravings, to crush out likes and dislikes, to annihilate his egoism, and thus actively co-operates with the. Power which he invokes through Mother-worship. Else, it will be a hypocritical worship.

A real seeker and a worshipper of the Divine Mother should ever exercise his Vichara, Viveka and Vairagya with a resolute and determined mind. It is the exercise of all these higher faculties in order that the lower faculties may completely be destroyed that forms the real worship of the Divine Mother. The Sadhana which the seeker does in order to destroy the impurities of his mind and heart, the Sadhana which he does to burn up his egoism and attachments of the lower nature, may constitute the real worship of Mother for him. It is the doing of one’s Sadhana with whole-heartedness, intense sincerity and with the entire integral being in the seeker, that constitutes the real worship of the Mother.

In every Seeker this worship of the Mother is a process that constantly goes onto that extent to which he resolutely opposes the cravings and attachments that try to keep him bound down to his lower existence; to that extent also he daily succeeds in doing a real worship of the Divine Mother.

Let us all pray to the Divine Mother that she may give us all the necessary strength and inspiration and inner power, to put ourselves whole-heartedly upon Her side and join in the work of the Divine Sakti in regenerating us, in annihilating our Pasutva (animal instinct) and bestowing upon us Divya-Jyotis (Divine Light).

The epicureans would always protest that the doctrine of renunciation is mainly responsible for the degeneracy of the nation, that such a doctrine of renunciation has always brought about deplorable weakness and inefficiency in the race which we see everywhere today. Is there any truth in this serious charge?

On the contrary, it is attachment and indulgence that is the real cause of all degeneracy and weakness. Indulgence in earthly objects creates attachment and makes man thoroughly selfish. However active such a man may be, and however busily he might engage himself in the work of the world, it becomes merely selfish alone. The average selfish individual cares a pin for the betterment of anyone save himself. His strength and his work is to no purpose for anyone’s benefit.

The ideal of renunciation and detachment is the one factor that has kept intact the virility of Bharatavarsha as a nation and race. Take any period in history and you will find that it is the greatest personalities who have risen above all selfishness and ruthlessly renounced all petty attachments that have achieved the greatest good of the country and turned the course of history. Lacking in the spirit of renunciation people have turned selfish. You see the baneful results of this selfishness everywhere in the form of greed, cruelty, corruption, cut-throat competition, jealousy, enmity and on a large scale, warfare.

Renunciation broadens the vision and annihilates egoism. It is a higher sense of duty in a spirit of selflessness with a knowledge that the Lord is ultimately the natural heir to all the fruits of actions and sacrifices. Whereas, in the absence of renunciation, the vision of the individual is obscured by the cloud of self-seeking and self-interest. There is no courage of conviction. The selfish individual lacks moral courage. When the call to a noble act of self-denial or sacrifice comes, the man imbued with the spirit of renunciation boldly responds to it. Whereas, where there is no spirit of renunciation, the individual wavers and steps back with the suspicion of his self-interest and the welfare of his family getting affected. Such attachment to selfish circles makes him backboneless. That is indeed the basic ill.

It is due to the gross misunderstanding and antagonism to our spiritual heritage that a period of sloth and degeneracy has come over us. No doubt, a great part of this unfortunate spiritual stalemate is due to the prejudiced, unsound and selfish interpretations of our scriptures by a class of Pundits who thrived on the innocent faith and religious fervour of our countrymen. But surely it cannot be denied that the modern, westernised man is equally responsible for this degeneracy due to his utter ignorance of his heritage due to his blunt, shallow and clouded vision to seek the right in a conglomeration of opposite currents, due to his apish antagonism and his vainglorious worship of alien ideals. There can be no real service, no real social work, no real philanthropy, no real patriotism, no real national growth, without the true spirit of renunciation. Renunciation is strength Supreme. Hence it is the central ideal of our race.

Guru-Kripa is a wonderful mysterious factor that will enable the aspirants to seek and to attain the summum bonum of life—that is Self-realisation or the vision of God, or Moksha. Whether the disciple is deserving or undeserving, Guru-Kripa sets aside all normal laws that operate in the spiritual plane and takes one to the transcendental Bliss.

There is absolutely not the least bit of exaggeration in the statement and also in the fact that the Guru is always gracious. But then Guru-Kripa has not only to be bestowed, not only to be given but it has also to be received. In receiving it, we immortalise and divinise ourselves.

There must be joy in obedience to the Guru and there should be a real craving in the spirit that “I should obey.” To be a disciple you should obey even in dream. Day and night our Sadhana should be to cultivate this attitude of obedience to perfection. This is the external part of Sadhana.

To the disciple, the nature of the Guru is not human. We should be completely blind to the human side of the Guru and we should be conscious only of the divinity that he is. Then alone will we be able to partake of his Kripa which will transform us from the lower human into the transcendental divine. Our relationship with the Guru is purely divine, purely spiritual.

Similarly we have first of all to develop in us the consciousness that we are immortal beings and that we are in essence Satchidananda. Then we can demand that Satchidananda-Consciousness from Guru and the Guru will be able to give that to us.

Patience and humility in the spiritual realm may have to extend over a period of decades. We have to wait like a dog at the door-step of the Guru for a whole lifetime, if need be. There is no loss here. For the goal is immortal life and freedom.

The best thing is to humbly leave everything to the Guru. “I do not know whether I am a disciple or not. Therefore, O Ocean of Mercy and Compassion, pray, make me a proper disciple. Generate in me that Mumukshutva which makes me a disciple and give me the spirit of willing obedience. Help me in trying to follow thy instructions. Help me in trying to mould myself upon the pattern set-up by thee”—this must be our constant prayer. And, by this alone shall we be able to draw the Kripa of our Guru and make our life fruitful. And the perfect way of praying is in obeying and in trying our best to be real disciples.

Existence being one, all life is one. All life being essentially one, mankind is also one. Uniformity is the law of the spiritual plane. Though externally, variety or diversity is the Law of Nature in the manifest universe, in its inner aspect, uniformity or unity is the Fact of life. Mankind is one. Thus on the one side we have this unity of mankind all over the universe. On the other side regarding Godhead too we have utterances of sages ‘Ekam eva advitiyam Brahma’—God is one. Absolute unity has to partake of the nature of oneness. Thus when we go into the fact of religion from this observation and from this attitude or point of view, we are drawn to the conclusion that Religion too is one! Whatever the apparent external differences between religions may be, the inner process of religion has necessarily to be one and the same for it implies and comprises man’s movement towards Godhead.

The process of religion is the freeing of man from the factors which bind him down to this earthly existence of pain and death. If unrighteousness is a factor in causing suffering, then be righteous. If through untruth man is to be bound to this vexing mortal life, and has to pay a heavy penalty in suffering and pain, then abandon falsehood; be truthful. If by being cruel, you will reap a harvest of pain, torment and suffering, cast away cruelty and practise Ahimsa be good, be kind, be compassionate. Thus the process of religion develops in a scientific way by studying the causative factors of your bondage to this earth-life and its pains and sorrows. It insists that by living a life of practical religion you can remove all these causative factors of suffering. We must, therefore, lead the life carefully in such a way that we do not commit those things which result in painful experience and existence.

The process of religion slowly works out a scheme of life for you, where you are made to bring into manifestation or into active expression all these lofty life-transforming elements of the Divine aspect of your being, thus helping to overcome the animalistic aspect and progressively unfold the divine nature that is already the essential part of your inmost Consciousness. Man is made in the image of God; therefore Godliness is the very essence of his real inner being. Hence the external operation of lower nature has to be overcome and cast away, thus giving full scope for the manifestation of the Divine Svarupa (nature) in him.

With the unfoldment and the blossoming of the Divine Consciousness in man, he becomes at once linked with the infinite divine existence, Sat-Chid-Ananda. The unity which had been for the time being veiled, as it were by ignorance is re-established. This consummation of the religious quest is to make man declare: “I am not this body, I am not the senses, the mind and the intellect, I am Sat-Chid-Ananda Brahman.” This comes from the fullness of experience and the culmination of religious practice which is the experience of your Eternal spiritual Unity with God-head.

No religion wants you to be tied down to this earthly life. All religions have as their goal the attainment of perfection, freedom and immortality. All religions also have the same process in their essence, whatever be the difference in the ritual or ceremonial details. Real Religion wants the complete annihilation of the lower self, animalistic part of man, and the progressive unfoldment of his divine nature. Thus from the very genesis, we see that the fundamental principle and the ultimate goal of all religions are the same.

Religions have come either from eternal wisdom enshrined in scriptural texts like the Upanishads, Vedas, or from some great men of wisdom inspired by God to give out His message about the way of attaining Him. If we go to the source and look at the great and inspired lives of Jesus, Mohammed, Zoroaster, Buddha and examine the great fountain-heads of the various faiths in the world, we will find that by their practical example, through their exemplary life, they have shown us what is the very soul of the religions which they have given to mankind. They demonstrated the practical living of the religions which they later on gave to their followers and in these personal, living demonstrations they were all at-one.

Let us examine a few of the prophetic utterances of these great messengers of God. Is there any religion that tells us “Utter lies; be dishonest; hate people; develop anger and animosity; be impure; be immoral?” No, “certainly not”—is the emphatic answer. Every religion lays stress upon a life of Truth, Absolute purity, of compassion, of love, of devotion, of tenderness, of a life of sacrifice and of goodness in thought, word and deed. Every religion has given a way of life to its followers as the ideal to be followed, in order to attain the goal viz., ultimate imperishable happiness free from birth and death, disease and misery. The way or the means is one and the same in every great religion. It is a life of purity and devotion practically demonstrated by each one of the prophets, saints and great men of wisdom.

Therefore, from whichever angle you approach and study the subject of religion and spirituality, and from whichever angle you look at it, you find that every important factor is fundamentally one and the same in all faiths. All faiths are one and all prophets have lived the same life of ethical perfection, divine compassion, goodness and awareness of the oneness of mankind. Thus, however much we may try to close our eyes to these facts, we find the oneness of all faiths proclaiming itself in a living, irresistible way through the very motive force underlying each faith and religion. In other words, there is oneness in the process of all religious achievements, and there is oneness in the ultimate destination which each one of these different religions wants its followers to realise. These different faiths are, as it were, so many beautiful flowers that go to make a beautiful bouquet which we offer at the Almighty Being.

We, as seekers of Truth, have first of all to bear in mind that there is a twofold aspect in which Sannyasa pervades our life. In its purely spiritual aspect, Sannyasa embodies the highest spirit of Nivritti, viz., the total negation of names and forms, and the masterful and purposeful assertion of the One Reality, beyond all names and forms, that is Brahman or the Self. This is the highest outcome of the highest Vedantic Sadhana. This is the innermost core of the culture of Bharatavarsha, the highest and the only aim of human existence according to the Hindu genius. Not only this physical universe, but the countless number of universes that exist as a drop in the infinite ocean of Satchidananda are negated in order to ever remain immersed in the blissful consciousness of the Atman.

To realise this great end and aim, our ancient sages and saints have interwoven and blended into the fabric of our social life the four Asramas, viz., Brahmacharya, Grihastha, Vanaprastha and Sannyasa, to effect a gradual unfoldment of this spirit stage by stage in the life of an individual. In the Brahmacharya Asrama, or the student-life, one has to live with his Guru, give up all distracting thoughts and give himself up completely to the study of scriptures, living a life of self-control, purity, simplicity, austerity, attention to studies and obedience to and service of the preceptor. In the next stage, he lives an ideal life of a householder with selflessness, self-sacrifice and self-effacement as his mottoes. This is the preparation for the next stage, viz., Vanaprastha, where he has to discipline himself to enter the life of Sannyasa.

In the Sannyasa life, meditation and collecting food for his livelihood were the Dharmas enjoined upon the man who had done all his duties to society, to the nation, to his own family and to his friends. He has now no more attachment and has but to fulfil the one great duty, i.e., of meditation upon the Self, and realisation. Thus, in the last stage of the social order, viz., Sannyasa, we have the highest spirit which embodies the soul’s upsurge from finitude to infinitude. This is the natural and dynamic movement of every soul which strives to break all finite bonds and cast aside all traces of attachment; and completely shattering the illusion of duality and phenomenal existence, it strives to soar into the splendour of Atmic-Consciousness.

This innate urge of the individual is the spiritual aspect of Sannyasa for which no social order exists. It depends upon the intensity of the soul’s urge, upon the thirst for Self-realisation which seizes the Jiva that has been awakened to the transient nature of the phenomena and to the ever-present Reality that is its very nature.

The real meaning and the true glory of Sannyasa can be best understood by devoutly observing saints and men of God who are the living embodiments of the highest and the best in Sannyasa. They personify Sannyasa in the truest sense of the term. Gurudev Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj is verily the greatest exemplar of the true Sannyasa-spirit. Every act of his is the illuminating revealer of the secrets of real renunciation.

The spirit of Sannyasa has been misunderstood to be a sort of retreat to the quiescent and a sort of escapism which arises out of inability to face life. That sort of Sannyasa stands self-condemned. Sannyasa is infinite strength. By escaping from active struggle of earthly life, an individual cannot escape his Prarabdha (destiny). This is an illusion which people who do not know the law of Karma hold on to. He who understands would not dare to enter this fiery order of Sannyasa in order to escape from the struggle of life. Fate will show that he is woefully mistaken. Those very Karmas which he has sought to escape in secular life will stand before him, ruthless and pitiless, and he will have to work them out with compound interest.

Sannyasa is based upon heroism. The real soldier in the Adhyatmic (spiritual) field is he who has dared to see life as it is, who knows that everything in this world is a transitory dream; and having the courage of this conviction that the world is unreal, he has risen above the strong bonds of attachment to sensual objects and has come into the life where the greatest of all struggles has to be worked out—a struggle against one’s own nature. There is no greater difficulty in the world than to attempt to wipe out the feeling or consciousness of one’s individual existence—‘I am good-looking, talented’ and all the hosts of associations and Adhyasas which cling to the normal human consciousness—and to instil in its place the grand consciousness, ‘I am not this body,’ ‘I am not this mind,’ ‘I am Satchidananda Atman,’ ‘I am all-pervading and infinite, beyond birth and death, endowed with countless powers.’

This is real heroism. In trying to do this one has to give battle to age-old instincts which one has acquired through crores of births through which the Jiva-consciousness has passed. This is not the struggle of a day. It may well be the struggle of a lifetime, and many a time one has to face defeat and downfall.

The heroism of a Sannyasin lies in the fact that he will not be a coward. He admits of no failure, of no setback. For him all these elements in the struggle are steps which take him nearer and nearer to the grand ideal, to the great goal having reached which he will be able to declare: Deho naham, Jivo naham; Pratyagabhinna Atmaivaham—I am not this body, nor the Jiva; I am the innermost indivisible Atman. Every effort put forth is in the nature of an achievement, never in the nature of a loss.

A Sannyasin is one whose life is based upon supreme Tyaga, upon perfect desirelessness. He has to give up all desire for this gross, physical, external world; even the desire for highest enjoyment in heaven. From a blade of grass to highest Brahman, all is dust for a Sannyasin. He rises above them and asserts his Atmic nature. His life is, therefore, based upon renunciation. He does not bestow too much attention upon his physical body, whether it is praised or censured, respected or ill-treated. He ever strives to dwell in the consciousness of the Atman. Reflect over the above and judge what you are.

A Sannyasin’s life is composed of the three factors of total renunciation, of a blazing aspiration for the Infinite, of spotless purity. A total renunciation is the negative aspect of his life, the blazing aspiration is the positive aspect in between, and spotless purity is the fabric of which his life is made up. Positive p is the one condition of the descent of Divine consciousness into his receptacle. Keeping this as the model pattern of the Sannyasin’s life, may we all ever struggle to come out of the intoxication of ego-consciousness, of this fever, Kama-Krodha-Lobha-Madha-Matsarya disease, this Samsaric disease which can be cured only through correct understanding of Sannyasa and Brahma-Chintana. If all pain and sorrow are to cease for ever, we have to take to Sannyasa. If our life is to blaze forth as peace and blessedness, Sannyasa, and Sannyasa alone, is the one way. For, it is selfishness that is at the root of all miseries upon the earth, of all fights and quarrels, all problems, all wars and hostilities; every sorrow and every misery that is now rampant in human society has at its root the Asuric trait of gross selfishness, where man wants everything for himself and does not care what happens to others in the process of fulfilling this craving for getting things for himself.

Sannyasa cuts at the very root of this Asuric trait, for Sannyasa is based upon unselfishness and renunciation of selfishness; and if selfishness is renounced everything is renounced. Renunciation of selfishness means, if I may say so, renunciation of all desires for it is selfishness that takes the form of desire for various things for oneself. Therefore, the real spirit of Sannyasa may be stated in the simple term, complete desirelessness. In the light of this consider and evaluate your life and ascertain where you stand. Resolve freshly and strive boldly onward.

It is the duty of every aspiring seeker and earnest Sannyasin to try to take note without fail of two significant factors, namely, theoretical conception of Sannyasa as laid down in the authoritative scriptures and the practical living of Sannyasa in one’s life as immortalised by the vital tradition of this great land. What does the true discerning Hindu take Sannyasa to be? We know that Sannyasa is the fourth order or stage in life (Asrama). The individual entering this stage of life gets the Diksha through the Guru and performs Viraja Homa (sacrifice). It is this Viraja Homa that gives you the right clue and right answer to what Sannyasa implies. Viraja Homa throws a flood of light upon the true meaning of Sannyasa. Sannyasa means annihilation of the old, deluded, egoistic consciousness. It means the burning of all desires and attachments in the blazing fire of absolute renunciation. It means reducing to ashes the last vestige of physical consciousness. It is the emergence of a glorious, new consciousness. “I am neither body nor mind, immortal Self am I” is the consciousness of a Sannyasin, whose body, mind, senses, Pranas and the ego all have been offered up in the Viraja Homa flames. It is the supreme renunciation. Sannyasa therefore implies Sarva-Tyaga. Hence his daily vow becomes: “I renounce the pleasures of this world. I renounce the pleasure of the astral world. I renounce the pleasures of heaven.”

All desires are annihilated for anything here or in the hereafter. At this juncture we are given a startling revelation. We find that at the top of this great renunciation comes another vow. For, the monk declares: “I will not cause fear to any being.” The monk gives the promise of absolute fearlessness to all creatures, whereby no living being need fear of any harm from him. By this he pledges himself to Visva-Prema or universal love. For, fear can exist only where harm or pain is forthcoming, and the latter are manifest only where hatred or animosity is present. But where love becomes enshrined, only loving service and joy flow forth and all creatures may fearlessly partake of it with perfect assurance and confidence. Such universal love and service are therefore the spontaneous offshoots of Mahatyaga or supreme abandonment of selfishness. Therefore these two great and sublime elements of Tyaga, i.e., abandonment of desires for name, fame and reward, and Seva, i.e., service to the sick, poor and needy—constitute the sublime elements in the spirit of Sannyasa. Tyaga is for Atmasakshatkara or Self-realisation. Therefore service and Self-realisation form the lofty twin impulses that move in the life of a true Sannyasin taking him towards the attainment of the highest consciousness of Truth Absolute.

Man is defined as a rational animal. That part of him, endowed with the power of reasoning, formed his human nature, and this was the centre of his personality. On one side, the urge for a higher state of consciousness was his essential, ever-pure, ever-perfect, divine nature, which was unborn, undecaying, imperishable, and of the nature of immortal existence which was his real being, and which continues even after the dissolution of the physical body, even after the cessation of the functioning of the mind.

When one life-span comes to an end at the dissolution of the physical body, all mental processes of the individual come to an end and all sensory processes based upon the thought-process also come to an end. We find that even after one’s mind ceases to operate, the consciousness, the real part of the human being, continues to be, and spiritual researches by sages of intuition have found out that this unit of consciousness continues to travel along a chain, link by link, and human incarnation being a link in the chain, much doubt that there was regarding the continuity of consciousness after the dissolution of the body and cessation of the mental processes was set aside conclusively in two ways. The memory of previous birth in an individual was active and the data or facts giv