The path to the presence

11 October 1964, Prasanthi Nilayam

Professor Kasturi's English.

1

This day, three learned (scholars) spoke on (philosophy of Non-dualism) and (essential nature of Incarnation) and on the Lord of . They have appeased your hunger in full. When the stomach is full anything extra is bitter. But, a bit of pickle may be welcome. That I shall give you now! Birth as a human being is a unique chance for living beings. For, man is endowed with discriminating intelligence, the power to reason out the best among alternative courses. Man is far from the (animal), doser to (Lord of beings). He should not relapse into (animality). Listening to expounding the - the sweet story of - told in sweet Sanskrit and explained so sweetly, you should imbue the with which the story is filled. The has the majesty of (virtue); it has the majesty of (action); it has also the majesty of (feeling). By majesty, I mean (elevation). What a grandeur you witness in the , for example! When fell, sent to the place with a message to see that he is treated like the Emperor of and not a despised enemy. when he was called in to identify the ornaments of contained in the bundle she had thrown on the ground during the flight to captivity, declared that he could identify only the toe-rings of his sister-in-law; he saw only those ornaments, for he prostrated every day at her feet, as the consort of the elder brother is, according to the , equal to one's own mother. Now, it is impossible to find such virtue holding sway over men's minds. Now it is egoism, pride and greed that sway them.

2

Importance of moral standards Man has lost the fear of a fall; he has become worse than animals. It was not like this in the past. During previous centuries, women immolated themselves rather than fall into the hands of wicked foes. When offered to take on his shoulder back to , the virtue of would not allow her to accept the offer. She had her husband's reputation in view. She said that it would best suit her husband's fame if he himself avenges the wrong and rescues her. 's taking her, would be a repetition of what did, for he too stole her secretly while was away. She did not consider her immediate relief as more important than the implications of that step to her virtue and her husband's fair name. That is what I call (virtue in exaltation). Or, take the . The who guarded the lake had killed all the four brothers and they were lying on the ground. , the eldest brother, went there to slake his thirst and the warned him, too. He challenged him to answer his questions, just as he had asked the others; but since he replied correctly, the was pleased to grant him a boon; he could bring back to life one among the four who lay dead! And, whom did select? Not who would be his right hand in the coming battle against the ; not , who was indispensable as a bowman of the highest attainments; but, , the son of his stepmother, . Even the was surprised. He asked him the reason why. said that his mother had him as the one surviving son but his stepmother too should have a son alive. That was the measure of his attachment to , to virtue, to normal standards. Then, people lived for the sake of ; now, the ideal is (riches). When had at last to be encountered a single combat, he himself selected a foeman worthy of his reputation, , when he could as well have chosen a weaker rival. It was considered improper to fight with a weaker foe.

3

' to was super-physical It all lies in the vision that you command, that you have equipped yourselves with. One of the spoke of certain doubts which he himself had felt about Me, doubts which kept him away for some years. The love of the towards has led many ignorant people enmeshed in worldly attachments and physical attractions, to turn their faces away from God. Before passing judgement on any subject, you must investigate closely. The of the towards was super-physical, the love of the soul for the Oversoul, of the river for the sea. Persons deep in this type of love see nothing else, hear nothing else; they behave like mad persons, as the world goes. Their joy when they feel his presence is as supreme as their grief when they feel they are deprived of it. That is why among the songs of the saints, you have also; that is to say, songs, which blame Him for being cruel, partial, negligent, etc.!

4

You may know that the Lord of the Holy Shrine is called , the white jasmine; and the Goddess, the Consort, is called most appropriately, , the Bee! For the bee is drawn inescapably to the flower and it forgets itself while tasting the Glory of the Flower. The union of and is of the same significance as the union of and - and the Thirst, the Lord and the Love.

5

Doubt leads to perdition, spiritual ruin The children of the Sanskrit School enacted the play yesterday and you saw the boys who took the role of and completely immersed in the role and so, they were able to make you also feel every emotion they expressed. You must fill yourself with the Form and the Glory of the Lord; you must not be aware of anything else. Then, you too can become .

6

There are two eight-syllabled axioms in the , which you must take to heart: and . The first tells you that the person who is steady in his faith gains the knowledge of the path of liberation and the second warns against the sinister consequence of "doubt"; doubt leads to perdition, spiritual ruin. Dwell on these axioms and practise the spiritual discipline of , or . This is the pursuit that is worthy, not the pursuit of fame, nor the friendship of the famous. You ask for grace, which is available only at a very high cost; but, you pay only trash. It is sheer avarice, like asking a gourd as extra, when what you have paid is for a bean! You may claim that you have been coming to for ten or twelve or sixteen years or that you have even stayed here long; but, it is not the years that matter; it is the depth to which the roots of have grown in previous births. They decide the ears of corn that you have to live upon. It takes a long time and systematic to clear the field of all those growths - the , as the said, of and which leads to .

7

Three stages in spiritual awareness This is the meaning of the injunction that you should dip thrice in succession, when you take a bath in any holy river. The first dip is to cleanse the (the gross physical body); the second is to cleanse the (the subtle body), of the , the and the (sheaths of vital energy, mind, knowledge) and third is to cleanse the (the causal body) or the vijnanamaya kosha, with just a tinge of still left. They are also meant to consecrate the and the and confer . , and are also only three stages in spiritual awareness.

8

spoke of the and (dual and non-dual) attitudes which colour people's outlook in every field. But, they are not distinct;, they are stages of mental transformation. The fruit is the same; the soil and the sun make it reach the ripe stage, through the intermediate stages of tender fruit and mature fruit. When you realise that the Lord is at the address that He has given towards the end of the in the 61st of the 18th chapter, namely, "," that "He is in the heart of every being," then you know the one, with no other. To realise the Lord in every being, you must cultivate and drive out the bats that infest the dark caverns of your heart, the bats of hate, envy and malice. Let the light of illumine your thoughts, your words, your movements, your activities, your judgements. When you become transmuted into , the Lord who is , will reveal Himself to you, and play on the Flute, awakening your higher consciousness in the flood of Universal love. is essential because the effects of have to be removed by alone, as a thorn is removable only by another thorn. You cannot remove it by a knife or a hammer, or even a sword. The knowledge that the world is unreal was itself spread by by means of activity in the unreal world, the establishment of the writing of books and partaking in disputations. You cannot desist from arm; only, you have got to take care that it is saturated with and promotes the welfare of the world.

9

The grand combination Tomorrow again, the path of the Presence of the Lord will be explained by these as well as by Me. Whoever may speak, whatever the text, the substance is the same in no other place can you have this grand combination: who expound, as if to their own kith and kin, the great truths contained in the scriptures with such faith and devotion and a congregation of listeners which listens with devoted avidity, eager to learn and practise what they learn. You must be devoted, as devoted as a boy who studied in the of . When the was conducting his lesson assiduously, the rain came in torrents and the boys ran helterskelter to roll up their beds or collect their clothes or save their grass bundles. But, one boy reasoned out within himself:, we had heavy rain last evening too, so this downpour will certainly damage the dike. So, to save the two acres of land that the owned, he went and laid himself across the breach. You must so act that the heart of the melts at your devotion. Only that will cleanse the mind of evil and vice. If you develop devotion and steady faith you will achieve the Glory of Self-realisation.