CHAPTER III.

REVELATIONS AFTER SAMADHI. THE MASTER'S SERMON.

Returning a little to his senses, he talks to the Holy Mother saying, "Don't trouble me, O Mother! Come down to this place. Be still, O Mother.

Pre-arrangement by God.

What is by Thee,—O Mother!—pre-arranged in the case of everybody, that alone shall come to pass! What shall I say to these people!"

How to Know God.

Nothing can be achieved in the path of spirituality without discrimination¹ between the Real (God) and the unreal or phenomenal universe; and without non-attachment¹ to riches, honours, sensual pleasures, &c.

¹ Viveka.

Non-attachment is of many kinds. One kind of non-attachment springs from the acute pain due to worldly misery. But the better kind arises from consciousness that all worldly blessings, though within one's reach, are transitory and are not worth enjoying. Thus, having all, he has not anything.

Religious Awakening and the Time Factor.

Everything rests upon Time. For all religious awakening we must wait. At the same time the precepts of a Religious Teacher should be listened to. One may be put in mind of these precepts on a future occasion and then one would probably cry out, saying, 'O! yes! I heard this from such and such a person at such and such a time.' Another reason is,—our worldliness gradually wears off as the result of our listening to these precepts from day to day. Our worldliness is like the intoxication caused by wine which goes off gradually if repeated doses of rice-water are taken.

Limited Number of Seers² of God.

The number of those who attain Divine Wisdom is very limited. So in the Gitâ, "Out of thousands only one doth strive for Knowledge; and out of a thousand such people striving for Knowledge only one doth succeed in reaching the Goal."

¹ Vairâgya.

² Jnânins.

One of the company present, here quotes the text^* in the Gitâ.

Divine Wisdom¹ and Non-attachment.

The more is a person's attachment to the world, the less is he likely to attain Divine Wisdom. The less his attachment the more is the probability of his getting such wisdom. Thus, wisdom may be said to vary directly as non-attachment to the world, its riches, its pleasures., &c., and inversely as attachment to the world.

Stages of spirituality.

Bhâva is the state of being struck speechless at the thought of the Supreme Being (of whom the only things that can be predicated are Existence, Absolute Knowledge and Bliss). Bhâva is the utmost point that can be reached by ordinary mortals.

Ecstatic Love² of God is attainable only by a few. They are human beings with extraordinary original powers and entrusted with a Divine commission. Being Heirs of Divine Powers and Glories they form a class of their own.

To this class belong Incarnations of God like Chaitanya Deva and their worshippers³ of the highest order, who are their 'members.'

The two characteristics of this Love are, first, the forgetfulness of the external world and, secondly, the forgetfulness of one's own body,—so very dear to one.

¹ Jnâna.

² Prema.

³ Bhaktas.

^* Manushyânâm Sahasreshu Kashchit Yatati Siddhayê. Yatatâmapi siddhânâm kashchinmâm vetti tatvatah.

Bhâva is like the unripe mango, Prema is like the ripe mango. This Love is like a string in the hands of the worshipper² which binds God. The devotee holds the Lord under his control, so to speak. The Lord must come to him whenever he calls out to Him.

In Persian books it is written that within the flesh are the bones, within the bones is the marrow, within the marrow is, etc., etc., and that last and innermost of all is this Love of God.

Krishna is called Tribhanga Murari. It is only a soft thing that is capable of changing its form. So this form of Krishna implies that he must have softened a little in some way or other. The softening in this case is accounted for by this Love.

How to Pray.

How to pray is the next question. Let us not pray for things of this world, but pray like the Saint Nârad. Nârad said to Râm Chandra, 'O Ram, grant that I may be favoured with Bhakti (love, devotion and self-surrender) to the Lotus of Thy Feet.' 'Be it so, Nârad,' said Ram. 'But wilt thou not ask for anything else?' Nârad replied, 'Lord, may it please Thee to grant that I may not be attracted by Thy Mâyâ, which so fascinateth the Universe.' Râm Chandra said once more, 'Be it so Nârad; but wilt thou not ask for anything else?' Nârad replied, 'No, Lord, that is all I pray for.'

² Bhakta.

Knowledge varies in degree and kind. There is first, knowledge belonging to men of the world—ordinary mortals. This knowledge is not sufficiently powerful. It may be likened to the flame of a lamp which only lights the inside of a room. The knowledge of a devotee¹ is a stronger light and may be compared to the light of the moon which shows things outside of a room as well as those inside of it.

But the knowledge of the Incarnation of God is still more powerful. It may thus be likened to a yet stronger light, the resplendent glory of the Sun! Such light shows the minutest things both outside and inside of a room. Nothing is problematic to Him. He solves the most difficult problems of life and the soul as the simplest things in the world! His exposition of the most intricate questions in which man is interested is such as a child can follow. He is the Sun of Divine Knowledge whose light takes away the accumulated darkness of ages!

The Master indirectly Describes Himself.

Chaitanya Deva, owner of both Divine Wisdom and Divine Love.

Lastly, there is that unique composite light which may be called the Luni-solar Light—a light made up both of the light of the Moon and of the light of the Sun. To this composite light may be compared the unique Wisdom of Incarnations like Chaitanya Deva, who are marked alike by Wisdom and Love, strictly so called. It is unique like the Sun and the Moon appearing in the firmament at one and the same time.

¹ Bhakta.

The Worldly Man and His Hope.

The man immersed in worldliness cannot attain Wisdom Divine. He cannot see God.

Does the muddy water ever reflect the sun or any surrounding object?

Is there no remedy for this state of things? Is there no hope for the worldly man? Yes, there is certainly.

If you drop a purifying agent, say, a piece of alum, into muddy water, the water is purified and the impurities, all settle down on the bottom of the vessel. Discrimination¹ of the real (God) from the unreal (i.e., the phenomenal universe) and non-attachment to the world are the two purifying agents. Thus it is that the worldly man ceases to be worldly and becomes pure.

The Six Steps leading to Realisation of God.

First stage:—The mixing² in good company, i.e., the company of holy men.

Second stage:—Admiration³ for higher things, i.e., things relating to the spirit. Third stage:—Single-minded⁴ devotion to one's Ideal. The Ideal may be one's Spiritual Preceptor.⁵ The Ideal may be the Formless.

The Ideal may be God Personal or any of His innumerable Manifestations. It may be one's tutelary⁶ God or Goddess. The worshippers of Vishnu have this devotion to their tutelary God, Vishnu or Sri Krishna. The Saktas or the worshippers of Sakti (the Goddess that rules the Universe) have this Nishtha for Sakti who is also known as Kali, Durga, &c.

¹ Viveka.

² Sâdhu-Sanga.

³ Sraddhâ.

⁴ Nishthâ.

⁵ Guru.

⁶ Ishta Devatâ.

Fourth stage:—The state¹ of speechless wonder at the thought of God.

Fifth stage:—This stage is intensified when the feeling of devotion reaches the highest point² after God-vision. The devotee sometimes laughs, sometimes weeps, like a mad man. He loses all control over his body. This stage is not attained by ordinary human beings who are not capable of conquering the flesh. It is reached by Incarnations of God alone who appear in this world for the salvation of mankind.

Sixth stage:—Prema goes hand in hand with Mahabhava. Prema is the most intense Love of God after Realisation and is strictly the Highest Stage of spirituality. The two marks of this stage are, first, the forgetfulness of this world; second, a forgetfulness of the self which includes one's own body.

Chaitanya Deva who reached this stage was so much lost in the Love of God that he often forgot himself and forgot the identity of the places where he had been before. Observing a forest before him, he so far forgot himself as to think that it was Brindavan.³ He looked at the sea while at Puri and took it for the Jumna. In this state he would throw himself into the sea and was on two or three occasions given up for lost by his friends and disciples. This stage leads the devotee to the Goal, viz., to God. The devotee sees God. He attains the End of Life. He is blessed with the Vision Divine.

¹ Bhâva.

² Mahâbhâva.

³ Brindâvan,—the land where Krishna incarnated Himself.

Here the Master said to the company present, "If you have any question to put to me you are welcome to do so." But none present came forward to do so. And the Master went on saying:—

Time as a Factor of Spiritual Discipline.

Knowledge¹ cannot be communicated all at once. Its attainment is a question of time. Suppose a fever is of a severe type. The Doctor cannot give quinine under such circumstances. He knows that such a remedy would do no good. The fever must first leave the patient, which depends upon time, and then the quinine would be useful. Sometimes the fever would go off without your having to give the patient quinine or any other medicine. Precisely the same is the case with man who seeks for knowledge. To him religious precepts often prove useless so long as he is immersed in worldliness. Allow him a certain period for the enjoyment of the things of the world; his attachment to the world will gradually wear off. This is exactly the time for the success of any religious instructions that may be given to him. Till then they would be as good as entirely thrown away.

¹ Jnâna

Many come to me, and I have observed how some of them are anxious to listen to my words. But one or two of the company appear to be restless and impatient in my presence. They say to their friends in whispers, 'Let us go, let us go.—Well, if you mean to stay we had better go into the boat and wait for you.'

It is difficult to drive nails into a pucca brick wall. It will break the head of the nails sooner than make any impression upon the wall.

It is idle to strike the crocodile with the sword. The chances are that the sword will not make a cut.

Therefore I say that the element of time is an important factor in all these matters.

Spiritual awakening is very much a question of time. The teacher is a mere help.

The meeting then broke up.

Karma.

Master (to M.): The fact is, a great deal of all this desire for knowledge¹ or for freedom² depends upon one's Karma in one's previous incarnations.

Disciple: Yes, Sir, it is so difficult to understand one's self! We see the self only as it appears to us. Behind it there might be a hundred previous incarnations. We walk upon the floor of a house but we never stop to see how it is made and what various things are beneath it.