The Financial Secretary of Mysore asked: “Is Paul Brunton’s ‘Secret Path’ useful for Indians as well?”
M.: Yes—for all.
D.: The body, the senses, etc, are not ‘I’. This is common amongst us. But how to practise it?
M.: By the threefold method mentioned therein.
D.: Is breath-control necessary for enquiry?
M.: Not quite.
D.: “There is a blankness intervening,” it is said in the book.
M.: Yes. Do not stop there. See for whom the blankness appears.
D.: For devotees there is no blankness, it is said.
M.: Even there, there is the latent state, ; the mind wakes up after some time.
D.: What is the experience of ?
M.: It is as it is. For onlookers it may seem to be a swoon. Even to the practiser it may appear so in the early experiences. After a few repeated experiences it will be all right.
D.: Do they soothe the or do they excite them by such experiences?
M.: They are excited at first. By continued experience it becomes common and the man is no longer excited.
D.: Proceeding on safe lines there should be no unpleasantness. Excitement is uncongenial to smooth being and working.
M.: A wandering mind is on the wrong way; only a devotional mind is on the right way.