Speaker 1: Chapter twelve of Autobiography of a Yogi. This is a
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Speaker 1: Read by Christine Rucker. Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda.
Speaker 1: Years in my master's hermitage, you have come, Shri Yuktashwar
Speaker 1: greeted me from a tiger skin on the floor of
Speaker 1: a balconied sitting room. His voice was cold, his manner unemotional. Yes,
Speaker 1: dear Master, I am here to follow you. Kneeling, I
Speaker 1: touched his feet. How can that be? You ignore my
Speaker 1: wishes no longer, Guruji, Your wish shall be my law.
Speaker 1: That is better. Now I can assume responsibility for your life.
Speaker 1: I willingly transfer the burden Master. My first request, then,
Speaker 1: is that you return home to your family. I want
Speaker 1: you to enter college in Calcutta. Your education should be
Speaker 1: continued very well, Sir, I hid. My consternation would importunate
Speaker 1: books pursue me down the years. First Father, Now, Shri Yuktashwar.
Speaker 1: Some day you will go to the West. Its people
Speaker 1: will lend ears more receptive to India's ancient wisdom. If
Speaker 1: the strange Hindu teacher has a university degree, you know best, Guruji.
Speaker 1: My gloom departed the reference to the West. I found
Speaker 1: puzzling remote, but my opportunity to please Master by obedience
Speaker 1: was vitally immediate. You will be near in Calcutta. Come
Speaker 1: here whenever you find time, every day, if possible. Master, gratefully,
Speaker 1: I accept your authority in every detail of my life.
Speaker 1: On one condition, yes, that you promise to reveal God
Speaker 1: to me. An hour long verbal tussle ensued. The Master's
Speaker 1: word cannot be falsified. It is not lightly. Given the
Speaker 1: implications in the pledge open out vast metaphysical vistas. A
Speaker 1: guru must be on intimate terms, indeed with the Creator
Speaker 1: before he can obligate him to appear. I sensed Sri
Speaker 1: Yuktaschwar's divine unity and was determined as his disciple to
Speaker 1: press my advantage. You are of exacting disposition. Then Master's
Speaker 1: consent rang out with compassionate finality. Let your wish be
Speaker 1: my wish. Lifelong shadows lifted from my heart. The vague
Speaker 1: search hither and yon was over. I had found eternal
Speaker 1: shelter in a true Guru. Come, I will show you
Speaker 1: the hermitage. Master rose from his tiger mat I glanced
Speaker 1: about me. My gaze fell with astonishment on a wall
Speaker 1: picture garlanded with the spray of jasmine Lahiri Mahasayah. Yes,
Speaker 1: my divine Guru, Sri Yuktshchwars was reverently vibrant. Greater he
Speaker 1: was as man and Yogi than any other teacher whose
Speaker 1: life came within the range of my investigations. Silently I
Speaker 1: bowed before the familiar picture. Soul homage sped to the
Speaker 1: peerless master, who, blessing my infancy, had guided my steps
Speaker 1: to this hour. Led by my Guru, I strolled over
Speaker 1: the house and its grounds. Large, ancient, and well built,
Speaker 1: the hermitage was surrounded by a massive pillared courtyard. Outer
Speaker 1: walls were moss covered. Pigeons fluttered over the flat gray roof,
Speaker 1: unceremoniously sharing the ashrump quarters. A rear garden was pleasant
Speaker 1: with jackfruit, mango and plantain trees. Balustraded balconies of upper
Speaker 1: rooms in the two storied building faced the courtyard from
Speaker 1: three sides. A spacious ground floor hall with ceilings supported
Speaker 1: by Colonnades was used. Master said chiefly during the annual
Speaker 1: festivities of Turkhapuja. A narrow stairway led to Shri Yuktshwar's
Speaker 1: sitting room, whose small balcony overlooked the street. The ashram
Speaker 1: was plainly furnished. Everything was simple, clean and utilitarian. Several
Speaker 1: Western style chairs, benches and tables were in evidence. Master
Speaker 1: invited me to stay overnight. A supper of vegetable curry
Speaker 1: was served by two disciples who were receiving hermitage training. Guruji,
Speaker 1: please tell me something of your life. I was squatting
Speaker 1: on a straw mat near his tiger skin. The friendly
Speaker 1: stars were very close, it seemed beyond the balcony. My
Speaker 1: family name was Priya nath Karar. I was born here
Speaker 1: in Serampoor, where a father was a wealthy businessman. He
Speaker 1: left me this ancestral mansion, now my hermitage. My formal
Speaker 1: schooling was little. I found it slow and shallow. In
Speaker 1: early manhood, I undertook the responsibilities of a householder and
Speaker 1: have one daughter, now married. My middle life was blessed
Speaker 1: with the guidance of Lahiri ma Hasayah. After my wife died,
Speaker 1: I joined the Swami order and received the new name
Speaker 1: of Shi yuktschwar Hiiti. Such are my simple annals. Master
Speaker 1: smiled at my eager face. Like all biographical sketches, his
Speaker 1: words had given the outward facts without revealing the inner man. Guruji,
Speaker 1: I would like to hear some stories of your childhood.
Speaker 1: I will tell you if you each one with a
Speaker 1: moral she Yuptashwar's eyes twinkled with his warning. My mother
Speaker 1: once tried to frighten me with an appalling story of
Speaker 1: a ghost in a dark chamber. I went there immediately
Speaker 1: and expressed my disappointment at having missed the ghost. Mother
Speaker 1: never told me another horror tale. Moral look fear in
Speaker 1: the face, and it will cease to trouble you. Another
Speaker 1: early memory is my wish for an ugly dog belonging
Speaker 1: to a neighbor. I kept my household in turmoil for
Speaker 1: weeks to get that dog. My ears were deaf to
Speaker 1: offers of pets with more prepossessing appearance. Moral attachment is blinding.
Speaker 1: It lends an imaginary halo of attractiveness to the object
Speaker 1: of desire. A third story concerns the plasticity of the
Speaker 1: youthful mind. I heard my mother remark occasionally a man
Speaker 1: who accepts a job under anyone is a slave. That
Speaker 1: impression became so indelibly fixed that even after my marriage,
Speaker 1: I refused all positions I made expenses by investing my
Speaker 1: family endowment in Land. Moral good and positive suggestion should
Speaker 1: instruct the sensitive ears of children. Their early ideas long
Speaker 1: remain sharply etched. Master fell into tranquil silence around midnight.
Speaker 1: He led me to a narrow cot. Sleep was sound
Speaker 1: and sweet the first night under my guru's roof. Sri
Speaker 1: Yuktschwar chose the following morning to grant me his crea
Speaker 1: Yoga initiation, the technique I had already received from two
Speaker 1: disciples of Lahiri Mahasayah, Father and my tutor, Swami Kabbala Nanda.
Speaker 1: But in Master's presence I felt a transforming power. At
Speaker 1: his touch, a great light broke upon my being, like
Speaker 1: glory of countless suns blazing together. A flood of ineffable bliss,
Speaker 1: overwhelming my heart to an innermost core, continued during the
Speaker 1: following day. It was late that afternoon before I could
Speaker 1: bring myself to leave the hermitage. You will return in
Speaker 1: thirty days as I reached my Calcutta home, the fulfillment
Speaker 1: of Master's prediction entered with me. None of my relatives
Speaker 1: made the pointed remarks I had feared about the reappearance
Speaker 1: of the soaring bird. I climbed to my little attic
Speaker 1: and bestowed affectionate glances, as though on a living presence.
Speaker 1: You have witnessed my meditations and the tears and storms
Speaker 1: of my sadana. Now I have reached the harbor of
Speaker 1: my divine teacher Son. I am happy for both of us.
Speaker 1: You have found your Guru, as in miraculous fashion I
Speaker 1: once found my own. The holy hand of Lahiri Mahsaiah
Speaker 1: is guarding our lives. Your Master has proved no inaccessible
Speaker 1: Himalayan saint, but one near by. My prayers have been answered.
Speaker 1: You have not, in your search for God, been permanently
Speaker 1: removed from my sight. Father was also pleased that my
Speaker 1: formal studies would be resumed. He made suitable arrangements. I
Speaker 1: was enrolled the following day at the Scottish Church College
Speaker 1: in Calcutta. Happy months sped by my readers have doubtless
Speaker 1: made the perspicacious surmise that I was little seen in
Speaker 1: the college classrooms. The Serampore hermitage held allure too irresistible.
Speaker 1: Master accepted my ubiquitous presence without comment. To my relief,
Speaker 1: he seldom referred to the halls of learning, though it
Speaker 1: was plain to all that I was never cut out
Speaker 1: for a scholar. I managed to attain minimum passing grades
Speaker 1: from time to time. Daily life at the Ashram flowed smoothly,
Speaker 1: infrequently varied. My Guru awoke before dawn, lying down or
Speaker 1: sometimes sitting on the bed. He entered a state of
Speaker 1: some hahdi. It was simplicity itself to discover. When Master
Speaker 1: had awakened, abrupt halt of stupendous snores, a sire to,
Speaker 1: perhaps a bodily movement, then a soundless state of breathlessness.
Speaker 1: He was in deep yogic joy. Breakfast did not follow.
Speaker 1: First came a long walk by the Ganges. Those morning
Speaker 1: strolls with my Guru, how real and vivid. Still in
Speaker 1: the easy resurrection of memory, I often find myself by
Speaker 1: his side. The early sun is warming the river, His
Speaker 1: voice rings out, rich with the authenticity of wisdom. A bath,
Speaker 1: then the midday meal. Its preparation, according to Master's daily directions,
Speaker 1: had been the careful task of young disciples. My Guru
Speaker 1: was a vegetarian before embracing monk hood. However, he had
Speaker 1: eaten eggs and fish. His advice to students was to
Speaker 1: follow any simple diet which proved suited to one's constitution.
Speaker 1: Master ate little, often rice colored with turmeric or juice
Speaker 1: of beets or spinach, and lightly sprinkled with buffalo ghee
Speaker 1: or melted butter. Another day he might have lentil doll
Speaker 1: or channa curry with vegetables for dessert, mangoes or oranges
Speaker 1: with rice pudding, or jackfruit juice. Visitors disappeared in the afternoons.
Speaker 1: A steady stream poured in from the world into the
Speaker 1: hermitage tranquility everyone found in Master an equal courtesy and
Speaker 1: kindness to a man who has realized himself as a soul,
Speaker 1: not the body or the ego. The rest of humanity
Speaker 1: assumes a striking similarity of aspect. The impartiality of saints
Speaker 1: is rooted in wisdom. Masters have escaped Maya, its alternating
Speaker 1: faces of intellect and idiocy no longer cast an influential glance.
Speaker 1: Sri Yukfeshwar showed no special consideration to those who happened
Speaker 1: to be powerful or accomplished. Neither did he slight others
Speaker 1: for their poverty or illiteracy. He would listen respectfully to
Speaker 1: words of truth from a child and openly ignore a
Speaker 1: conceited pundit. Eight o'clock was the supper hour, and sometimes
Speaker 1: found lingering guests, My Guru would not excuse himself to
Speaker 1: eat alone. None left his ash hungry or dissatisfied. Shri
Speaker 1: Yufteshwar was never at a loss, never dismayed by unexpected visitors.
Speaker 1: Scanty food would emerge a banquet under his resourceful direction.
Speaker 1: Yet he was economical. His modest funds went far. Be
Speaker 1: comfortable with your purse. He often said, extravagance will buy
Speaker 1: you discomfort, whether in the details of hermitage entertainment, or
Speaker 1: his building and repair work, or other practical concerns. Master
Speaker 1: manifested the originality of a creative spirit. Quiet evening hours
Speaker 1: often brought one of my Guru's discourses Treasures against time.
Speaker 1: His every utterance was measured and chiseled by wisdom. A
Speaker 1: sublime self assurance marked his mode of expression. It was unique.
Speaker 1: He spoke as none other in my experience ever spoke.
Speaker 1: His thoughts were weighed in a delicate balance of discrimination
Speaker 1: before he permitted an outward garb. The essence of truth,
Speaker 1: all pervasive, with even a physiological aspect, came from him
Speaker 1: like a fragrant exudation of the soul. I was conscious
Speaker 1: always that I was in the presence of a living
Speaker 1: manifestation of God. The weight of his divinity automatically bowed
Speaker 1: my head before him. If late guests detected that Shri
Speaker 1: Yuktaschwar was becoming engrossed with the infinite, he quickly engaged
Speaker 1: them in conversation. He was incapable of striking a pose
Speaker 1: or flaunting his inner withdrawal. Always one with the Lord,
Speaker 1: he needed no separate time for communion. A self realized
Speaker 1: master has already left behind the stepping stone of meditation.
Speaker 1: The flower falls when the fruit appears, but saints often
Speaker 1: cling to spiritual forms for the encouragement of disciples. As
Speaker 1: midnight approached, my Guru might fall into a doze with
Speaker 1: the natural of a child. There was no fuss about bedding.
Speaker 1: He often lay down without even a pillow on a
Speaker 1: narrow davenport, which was the background for his customary tiger
Speaker 1: skinned seat. A night long philosophical discussion was not rare.
Speaker 1: Any disciple could summon it by intensity of interest. I
Speaker 1: felt no tiredness, then no desire for sleep. Master's living
Speaker 1: words were sufficient. Oh it is dawn, let us walk
Speaker 1: by the Ganges. So ended many of my periods of
Speaker 1: nocturnal edification. My early months with Shri Yuktaschwar culminated in
Speaker 1: a useful lesson how to outwit a mosquito. At home.
Speaker 1: My family always used protective curtains at night. I was
Speaker 1: dismayed to discover that in the Serampoor hermitage this prudent
Speaker 1: custom was honored in the breach, yet the insects were
Speaker 1: in full residency. I was bitten from head to foot.
Speaker 1: My took pity on me. Buy yourself a curtain and
Speaker 1: also one for me. He laughed and added, if you
Speaker 1: buy only one for yourself, all mosquitoes will concentrate on me.
Speaker 1: I was more than thankful to comply. Every night that
Speaker 1: I spent in Serampoor, my Guru would ask me to
Speaker 1: arrange the bedtime curtains. The mosquitoes one evening were especially virulent,
Speaker 1: but Master failed to issue his usual instructions. I listened
Speaker 1: nervously to the anticipatory hum of the insects getting into bed,
Speaker 1: I threw a propitiatory prayer in their general direction. Half
Speaker 1: an hour later, I coughed pretentiously to attract my Guru's attention.
Speaker 1: I thought I would go mad with the bites and
Speaker 1: especially the singing drone. As the mosquitos celebrated bloodthirsty writes.
Speaker 1: No responsive stir from Master. I approached him cautiously. He
Speaker 1: was not breathing. This was my first observation of him
Speaker 1: in the yogic trance. It filled me with fright. His
Speaker 1: heart must have failed. I placed the mirror under his nose.
Speaker 1: No breath vapor appeared to make doubly certain. For minutes,
Speaker 1: I closed his mouth and nostrils with my fingers. His
Speaker 1: body was cold and motionless. In a daze, I turned
Speaker 1: toward the door to summon help. So budding experimentalist my
Speaker 1: poor nose. Master's voice was shaky with laughter. Why don't
Speaker 1: you go to bed? Is the whole world going to
Speaker 1: change for you? Change yourself? Be rid of the mosquito consciousness. Meekly,
Speaker 1: I returned to my bed. Not one insect ventured near.
Speaker 1: I realized that my guru had previously agreed to the
Speaker 1: curtains only to please me. He had no fear of mosquitos.
Speaker 1: His yogic power was such that he either could will
Speaker 1: them not to bite, or could escape to an inner vulnerability.
Speaker 1: He was giving me a demonstration. I thought, that is
Speaker 1: the yogic state I must strive to attain. A yogi
Speaker 1: must be able to pass into and continue in the
Speaker 1: super consciousness, regardless of multitudinous distractions never absent from this earth,
Speaker 1: whether in the buzz of insects or the pervasive glare
Speaker 1: of daylight, the testimony of the senses must be barred.
Speaker 1: Sound and sight come then, indeed, but to worlds fairer
Speaker 1: than the banished Eden. The instructive mosquitoes served for another
Speaker 1: early lesson at the ashram. It was the gentle hour
Speaker 1: of dusk. My Guru was matchlessly interpreting the ancient texts
Speaker 1: at his feet. I was in perfect peace. A rude
Speaker 1: mosquito entered the ideal and competed for my attention. As
Speaker 1: it dug a poisonous hypodermic needle into my thigh. I
Speaker 1: automatically raised an avenging hand reprieve from impending execution. An
Speaker 1: opportune memory came to me of one of Patanjoly's yoga
Speaker 1: aphorisms that on ahimsa harmlessness, Why didn't you finish the job? Master?
Speaker 1: Do you advocate taking life? No, but the death blow
Speaker 1: already had been struck in your mind. I don't understand.
Speaker 1: Patanjoly's meaning was the removal of desire to kill? Sri
Speaker 1: Yuktschwar had found my mental processes an open book. This
Speaker 1: world is inconveniently arranged for a literal practice of ahimsa.
Speaker 1: Man may be compelled to exterminate harmful creatures. He's not
Speaker 1: under similar compulsion to feel anger or animosity. All forms
Speaker 1: of life have equal right to the air of Maya.
Speaker 1: The saint who uncovers the secret of creation will be
Speaker 1: in harmony with its countless bewildering expressions. All men may
Speaker 1: approach that understanding. Who curb the inner passion for destruction? Guruji?
Speaker 1: Should one offer himself a sacrifice rather than kill a
Speaker 1: wild beast? No man's body is precious. It has the
Speaker 1: highest evolutionary value because of unique brain and spinal centers.
Speaker 1: These enable the advanced devotee to fully grasp and express
Speaker 1: the loftiest aspects of divinity. No lower form is so equipped.
Speaker 1: It is true that one incurs the debt of a
Speaker 1: minor sin if he is forced to kill an animal
Speaker 1: or any living thing. But the Vedas teach that wanton
Speaker 1: loss of a human body is a serious transgression against
Speaker 1: the karmic law. Aside in relief, scriptural reinforcement of one's
Speaker 1: natural instincts is not always forthcoming. It so happened that
Speaker 1: I never saw a Master at close quarters with a
Speaker 1: leopard or a tiger, but a deadly cobra once confronted him,
Speaker 1: only to be conquered by my Guru's love. This variety
Speaker 1: of snake is much feared in India, where it caused
Speaker 1: more than five thousand deaths annually. The dangerous encounter took
Speaker 1: place at Puri, where Shiyuk Tushwar had a second hermitage,
Speaker 1: charmingly situated near the Bay of Bengal. Prafula, a young
Speaker 1: disciple of later years, was with Master on this occasion.
Speaker 1: We were seated outdoors near the ashram. Prafulla told me
Speaker 1: a cobra appeared nearby, and four foot length of sheer terror.
Speaker 1: Its hood was angrily expanded as it raced towards us.
Speaker 1: My Guru gave a welcoming chuckle, as though to a child.
Speaker 1: I was beside myself with consternation to see Master engaged
Speaker 1: in a rhythmical clapping of hands. He was entertaining the
Speaker 1: thread visitor. I remained absolutely quiet, inwardly ejaculating what fervent
Speaker 1: players I could must. The serpent, very close to my Guru,
Speaker 1: was now motionless, seemingly magnetized by his curacing attitude. The
Speaker 1: frightful hood gradually contracted. The snake slithered between Master's feet
Speaker 1: and disappeared into the bushes. Why my Guru would move
Speaker 1: his hands and why the cobra would not strike them
Speaker 1: were inexplicable to me. Then Prafula concluded, I have since
Speaker 1: come to realize that my divine Master is beyond fear
Speaker 1: of hurt from any living creature. One afternoon, during my
Speaker 1: early months at the Ashram, I found Sri Yuktshwar's eyes
Speaker 1: fixed on me piercingly. You are too thin, Makunda. His
Speaker 1: remark struck a sensitive point that my sunken eyes and
Speaker 1: emaciated appearance were far from my liking. Was testified to
Speaker 1: by rows of tonics in my room at Calcutta. Nothing availed.
Speaker 1: Chronic dyspepsia had pursued me since childhood. My despair reached
Speaker 1: an occasional zenith when I asked myself if it were
Speaker 1: worth while to carry on this life with a body
Speaker 1: so unsound. Medicines have limitations, the creative life force has none.
Speaker 1: Believe that you shall be well and strong. Shri Yukteschwar's
Speaker 1: words aroused a conviction of personally applicable truth which no
Speaker 1: other healer and I had tried many had been able
Speaker 1: to summon within me day by day. Behold, I waxed
Speaker 1: two weeks after Master's hidden blessing. I had accumulated the
Speaker 1: invigorating weight which eluded me in the past. My persistent
Speaker 1: stomach ailments vanished with a life long permanency. On later occasions,
Speaker 1: I witnessed my Guru's instantaneous divine healings of persons suffering
Speaker 1: from ominous disease tuberculosis, diabetes, epilepsy, or paralysis. Not one
Speaker 1: could have been more grateful for his cure than I
Speaker 1: was at sudden freedom from my cadaverous aspect years ago,
Speaker 1: I too was anxious to put on weight. She Yuktaschwar
Speaker 1: told me during convalescence. After a severe illness, I visited
Speaker 1: Lehiri Mahasaiyah in Benars. Sir, I have been very sick
Speaker 1: and lost many pounds. Ah she yuktaschwar. You made yourself
Speaker 1: unwell and now you think you are thin. This reply
Speaker 1: was far from the one I had expected. My Guru, however,
Speaker 1: added encouragingly, let me see, I am sure you ought
Speaker 1: to feel better tomorrow. Taking his words as a gesture
Speaker 1: of secret healing toward my receptive mind, I was not surprised.
Speaker 1: The next morning, at a welcome accession of strength, I
Speaker 1: sought out my master and exclaimed exultingly, Sir, I feel
Speaker 1: much better today. Indeed, today you invigorate yourself. No, Master,
Speaker 1: I protested, it was you who helped me. This is
Speaker 1: the first time in weeks that I have had any energy. Oh. Yes,
Speaker 1: your malady has been quite serious. Your body is frail,
Speaker 1: yet who can say how it will be tomorrow? The
Speaker 1: thought of possible return of my weakness brought me a
Speaker 1: shudder of cold fear. The following morning, I could hardly
Speaker 1: drag myself to Lahirima Siyah's home. Sir, I am ailing again.
Speaker 1: My Guru's glance was quizzical. So once more you indispose
Speaker 1: yourself go to Deva. I realize now that day by
Speaker 1: day you have been ridiculing me. My patience was exhausted.
Speaker 1: I don't understand why you disbelieve my truthful reports. Really,
Speaker 1: it has been your thoughts that have made you feel
Speaker 1: alternately weak and strong. My Master looked at me affectionately.
Speaker 1: You have seen how your health has exactly followed your expectations.
Speaker 1: Thought is a force, even as electricity or gravitation. The
Speaker 1: human mind is a spark of the almighty consciousness of God.
Speaker 1: I could show you that whatever your powerful mind believes,
Speaker 1: very intensely, would instantly come to pass. Knowing that Lahiri
Speaker 1: Mahsiah never spoke idly, I addressed him with great awe
Speaker 1: and gratitude. Master, if I think I am well and
Speaker 1: have regained my former weight, shall that happen? It is
Speaker 1: so even at this moment my Guru spoke gravely, his
Speaker 1: gaze concentrated on my eyes. Lo I felt an increase
Speaker 1: not alone of strength, but of weight. Lahiri Mahasiah retreated
Speaker 1: into silence. After a few hours at his feet. I
Speaker 1: returned to my mother's home, where I stayed during my
Speaker 1: visits to Banarus. My son, what is the matter? Are
Speaker 1: you swelling with dropsy? My mother could hardly believe her eyes.
Speaker 1: My body was now of the same robust dimensions it
Speaker 1: had possessed before my illness. I weighed myself and found
Speaker 1: that in one day I had gained fifty pounds. They
Speaker 1: remained with me permanently. Friends and acquaintances who had seen
Speaker 1: my thin figure were aghast with wonderment. A number of
Speaker 1: them changed their mode of life and became disciples of
Speaker 1: Lahiri Mahasiah. As a result of this miracle, my guru,
Speaker 1: awake in God, knew this world to be nothing but
Speaker 1: an objectivized dream of the Creator. Because he was completely
Speaker 1: aware of his unity with the divine dreamer, Lahiri Mahasiah
Speaker 1: could materialize or de materialize, or make any change he wished.
Speaker 1: In the cosmic vision, all creation is going governed by law.
Speaker 1: Sri Yuktashwar concluded. The ones which manifest in the outer
Speaker 1: universe discoverable by scientists are called natural laws, but there
Speaker 1: are subtler laws ruling the realms of consciousness, which can
Speaker 1: be known only through the inner science of yoga. The
Speaker 1: hidden spiritual planes also have their natural and lawful principles
Speaker 1: of operation. It is not the physical scientist, but the
Speaker 1: fully realized master who comprehends the true nature of matter.
Speaker 1: Thus Christ was able to restore the servant's ear after
Speaker 1: it had been severed by one of the disciples. Sri
Speaker 1: Yuktishwar was a peerless interpreter of the scriptures. Many of
Speaker 1: my happiest memories are centered in his discourses. But his
Speaker 1: jeweled thoughts were not cast into ashes of heedlessness or stupidity.
Speaker 1: One restless movement of my body, or my slight lapse
Speaker 1: into absent mindedness, sufficed to put an abrupt period to
Speaker 1: Master's exposition. You are not here. Master interrupted himself one
Speaker 1: afternoon with this disclosure. As usual, he was keeping track
Speaker 1: of my attention with a devastating immediacy. Guruji, My tone
Speaker 1: was a protest. I have not stirred, my eyelids have
Speaker 1: not moved. I can repeat each word you have uttered. Nevertheless,
Speaker 1: you were not fully with me. Your objection forces me
Speaker 1: to remark that in your mental background you were creating
Speaker 1: three institutions. One was a Sylvan retreat on a plane,
Speaker 1: another on a hilltop, a third by the ocean. Those
Speaker 1: vaguely formulated thoughts had indeed been present, almost subconsciously. I
Speaker 1: glanced at him apologetically, What can I do with such
Speaker 1: a master who penetrates my random musings? You have given
Speaker 1: me that right. The subtle truth I am expounding cannot
Speaker 1: be grasped without your complete concentration. Unless necessary, I do
Speaker 1: not invade the seclusion of others' minds. Man has the
Speaker 1: natural privilege of roaming secretly among his thoughts. The unbidden
Speaker 1: Lord does not enter there. Neither do I venture intrusion.
Speaker 1: You are ever welcome. Master. Your architectural dreams will materialize later.
Speaker 1: Now is the time for study. Thus, incidentally, my Guru
Speaker 1: revealed in his simple way, the coming of three great
Speaker 1: events in my life. Since early youth, I had had
Speaker 1: agenigmatic glimpses of three buildings, each in a different setting,
Speaker 1: in the exact sequence Sri Yuktaschwar had indicated, these visions
Speaker 1: took ultimate form. First came my founding of a boys
Speaker 1: yoga school on the Ranche Plain, Then my American headquarters
Speaker 1: on a Los Angeles hilltop. Finally a hermitage in southern
Speaker 1: California by the vast Pacific. Master never arrogantly asserted, I
Speaker 1: prophecy that such and such an event shall occur. He
Speaker 1: would rather hint, don't you think it may happen? But
Speaker 1: his simple speech hid vatic power. There was no recanting.
Speaker 1: Never did his slightly veiled words prove false. Shri Yuktschwar
Speaker 1: was reserved and matter of fact in demeanor. There was
Speaker 1: naught of the vague or daft visionary about him. His
Speaker 1: feet were firm on the earth, his head in the
Speaker 1: haven of heaven. Practical people aroused his admiration. Saintliness is
Speaker 1: not dumbness. Divine perceptions are not incapacitating. He would say,
Speaker 1: the active expression of virtue gives rise to the keenest
Speaker 1: intelligence in Master's life. I fully discovered the cleavage between
Speaker 1: spiritual realism and the obscure mysticism that spuriously passes as
Speaker 1: a counterpart. My Guru was reluctant to discussed the superphysical realms.
Speaker 1: His only marvelous aura was one of perfect simplicity. In conversation,
Speaker 1: he avoided startling references. In action, he was freely expressive.
Speaker 1: Others talked of miracles but could manifest nothing. Sri Yuktashwar
Speaker 1: seldom mentioned the subtle laws but secretly operated them by will.
Speaker 1: A man of realization does not perform any miracle until
Speaker 1: he receives an inward sanction. Master explained, God does not
Speaker 1: wish the secrets of his creation revealed promiscuously. Also, every
Speaker 1: individual in the world has inalienable right to his free will.
Speaker 1: A saint will not encroach upon that independent The silence
Speaker 1: habitual to Sri Yuktashwar was caused by his deep perceptions
Speaker 1: of the infinite. No time remained for the interminable revelations
Speaker 1: that occupy the days of teachers without self realization. In
Speaker 1: che dallow men, the fish of little thoughts caused much commotion.
Speaker 1: In oceanic minds, the wails of inspiration may hardly a ruffle.
Speaker 1: This observation from the Hindu scriptures is not without discerning humor.
Speaker 1: Because of my Guru's unspectacular guise, only a few of
Speaker 1: his contemporaries recognized him as a superman. The popular adage
Speaker 1: he is a fool that cannot conceal his wisdom could
Speaker 1: never be applied to Sri Yuktashwar. Though born a mortal
Speaker 1: like all others, Master had achieved identity with the ruler
Speaker 1: of time and space. In his life, I perceived a
Speaker 1: godlike unity. He had not found any insuperable obstacle to
Speaker 1: mergence of human with divine. No such barrier exists, I
Speaker 1: came to understand, save in man's spiritual unadventurousness. I always
Speaker 1: thrilled at the touch of Shri Yuktashwar's holy feet. Yois
Speaker 1: ti that a disciple is spiritually magnetized by reverent contact
Speaker 1: with a master. A subtle current is generated that the
Speaker 1: votee's undesirable habit mechanisms in the brain are often cauterized,
Speaker 1: the groove of his worldly tendencies beneficially disturbed. Momentarily, at
Speaker 1: least he may find the secret veils of Maya lifting
Speaker 1: and glimpse the reality of bliss. My whole body responded
Speaker 1: with a liberating glow whenever I knelt in the Indian
Speaker 1: fashion before my Guru, Even when Lahiri Mahasayah was silent
Speaker 1: Master told me, or when he conversed on other than
Speaker 1: strictly religious topics, I discovered that, nonetheless he had transmitted
Speaker 1: to me ineffable knowledge. Sri Yuktschwar affected me similarly. If
Speaker 1: I entered the hermitage in a worried or indifferent frame
Speaker 1: of mind. My attitude imperceptibly changed changed. A healing calm
Speaker 1: descended at mere sight of my Guru. Every day with
Speaker 1: him was a new experience in joy, peace and wisdom.
Speaker 1: Never did I find him diluted or intoxicated with greed
Speaker 1: or emotion, or anger, or any human attachment. The darkness
Speaker 1: of Maya is silently approaching. Let us hie homeward within.
Speaker 1: With these words at dusk, Master constantly reminded his disciples
Speaker 1: of their need for Kya yoga. A new student occasionally
Speaker 1: expressed doubts regarding his own worthiness to engage in yoga practice.
Speaker 1: Forget the past. Sh Yukteshwar would console him. The vanished
Speaker 1: lives of all men are dark with many shames. Human
Speaker 1: conduct is ever unreliable. Until anchored in the divine, everything
Speaker 1: in future will improve if you are making a spiritual effort. Now.
Speaker 1: Master always had young Chellas in his head hermitage. Their
Speaker 1: spiritual and intellectual education was his lifelong interest. Even shortly
Speaker 1: before he passed on, he accepted for training two six
Speaker 1: year old boys and one youth of sixteen. He directed
Speaker 1: their minds and lives with that careful discipline in which
Speaker 1: the word disciple is etymologically rooted. The Ashram residents loved
Speaker 1: and revered. They grew a slight clap of his hands,
Speaker 1: sufficed to bring them eagerly to his side. When his
Speaker 1: mood was silent and withdrawn, No one ventured to speak
Speaker 1: when his laugh rang jovially. Children looked upon him as
Speaker 1: their own. Master seldom asked others to render him a
Speaker 1: personal service, nor would he accept help from a student
Speaker 1: unless the willingness were sincere. My Guru quietly washed his
Speaker 1: clothes if the disciples overlooked that privileged task. Shtshwar wore
Speaker 1: the traditional ochre colored Swami robe. His laceless shoe, in
Speaker 1: accordance with Yogi custom, were of tiger or deerskin. Master
Speaker 1: spoke fluent English, French, Hindi and Bengali. His Sanskrit was fair.
Speaker 1: He patiently instructed his young disciples by certain shortcuts which
Speaker 1: he had ingeniously devised for the study of English and sanscrit.
Speaker 1: Master was cautious of his body, while withholding solicitous attachment
Speaker 1: the infinite. He pointed out properly manifests through physical and
Speaker 1: mental soundness. He discountenanced any extremes. A disciple once started
Speaker 1: along fast. My Guru only laughed, Why not throw the
Speaker 1: dog a bone? Shri Yuktschwar's health was excellent. I never
Speaker 1: saw him unwell. He permitted students to consult doctors if
Speaker 1: it seemed advisable. His purpose was to give respect to
Speaker 1: the worldly custom. Physicians must carry on their work of
Speaker 1: healing through God's laws as applied to matter. But he
Speaker 1: extolled the superiority of mental therapy and often repeated, wisdom
Speaker 1: is the greatest cleanser. The body is a treacherous friend.
Speaker 1: Give it its due no more, he said. Pain and
Speaker 1: pleasure are transitory. Endure all dualities with calmness, while trying
Speaker 1: at the same time to remove their hold. Imagination is
Speaker 1: the door through which disease, as well as healing enters.
Speaker 1: Disbelieve in the reality of sickness. Even when you are ill,
Speaker 1: an unrecognized visitor will flee. Master numbered many doctors among
Speaker 1: his disciples. Those who have ferreted out the physical laws
Speaker 1: can easily investigate the science of the soul. He told them.
Speaker 1: A subtle spiritual mechanism is hidden just behind the bodily structure.
Speaker 1: Shri yukt Shwar counsuled his students to be living liaisons
Speaker 1: of Western and Eastern virtues, himself and execusative occidental in
Speaker 1: outer habits. Inwardly, he was the spiritual Oriental. He praised
Speaker 1: the progressive, resourcefulness and hygienic habits of the West, and
Speaker 1: the religious ideals which give a centuried halo to the East.
Speaker 1: Discipline had not been unknown to me at home. Father
Speaker 1: was strict an the often severe, but shri Yuktschwar's training
Speaker 1: cannot be described as other than drastic. A perfectionist, my
Speaker 1: Guru was hypercritical of his disciples, whether in matters of
Speaker 1: moment or in the subtle nuances of behavior. Good manners
Speaker 1: without sincerity are like a beautiful dead lady, he remarked
Speaker 1: on suitable occasion. Straightforwardness without civility is like a surgeon's knife,
Speaker 1: effective but unpleasant. Candor with courtesy is helpful and admirable.
Speaker 1: Master was apparently satisfied with my spiritual progress, for he
Speaker 1: seldom referred to it in other matters. My ears were
Speaker 1: no strangers to reproof. My chief offenses were absent mindedness,
Speaker 1: intermittent indulgence in sad moods, non observance of certain rules
Speaker 1: of etiquette and occasional unmethodical ways. Observe how the activities
Speaker 1: of your father Bahabati are well organized and balanced in
Speaker 1: every way. My Guru pointed out the two disciples of
Speaker 1: Lahiri Mahasiyah had met soon after I began my pilgrimages
Speaker 1: to Serampore. Father and Shri Yektashwar admiringly evaluated the other's worth.
Speaker 1: Both had built an inner life of spiritual granite, insoluble
Speaker 1: against the ages from transient teachers of my earlier life.
Speaker 1: I had imbibed a few erroneous lessons a cheila. I
Speaker 1: was told need not concern himself strenuously over worldly duties.
Speaker 1: When I had neglected or carelessly performed my tasks, I
Speaker 1: was not chastised. Human nature finds such instruction very easy
Speaker 1: of assimilation. Under master's unsparing rod. However, I soon recovered
Speaker 1: from the agreeable delusions of irresponsibility. Those who are too
Speaker 1: good for this world are adorning some other. Shri Yektschwar remarked,
Speaker 1: so long as you breathe the free air of earth,
Speaker 1: you are under obligation to render grateful service. He alone
Speaker 1: who has fully mastered. The breathless state is freed from
Speaker 1: cosmic imperatives. I will not fail to let you know
Speaker 1: when you have attained the final perfection. My Guru could
Speaker 1: never be bribed, even by love. He showed no leniency
Speaker 1: to anyone who, like myself, willingly offered to be his disciple.
Speaker 1: Whether Master and I were surrounded by his students or
Speaker 1: by strangers, or were alone together, he always both plainly
Speaker 1: and upbraided sharply. No trifling lapse into shallowness or inconsistency
Speaker 1: escaped his rebuke. This flattening treatment was hard to endure,
Speaker 1: but my resolve was to allow Sri yek T Shwar
Speaker 1: to iron out each of my psychological kinks as he
Speaker 1: labored at this Titanic transformation. I shook many times under
Speaker 1: the weight of his disciplinary hammer. If you don't like
Speaker 1: my words, you are at liberty to leave at any time.
Speaker 1: Master assured me, I want nothing from you but your
Speaker 1: own improvement. Stay only if you feel benefited. For every
Speaker 1: humbling blow he dealt, my vanity, for every tooth in
Speaker 1: my metaphorical jaw he knocked loose with stunning aim, I
Speaker 1: am grateful beyond any facility of expression. The hardcore of
Speaker 1: human egotism is hardly to be dislodged, except rudely. With
Speaker 1: its departure, the de divine finds at last an unobstructed
Speaker 1: channel in vain. It seeks to percolate through flinty hearts
Speaker 1: of selfishness. Shri yuk Tshwar's wisdom was so penetrating that,
Speaker 1: heedless of remarks, he often replied to one's unspoken observation,
Speaker 1: what a person imagines he hears and what the speaker
Speaker 1: has really implied may be poles apart, he said, try
Speaker 1: to feel the thoughts behind the confusion of men's verbiage.
Speaker 1: But divine insight is painful to worldly ears. Master was
Speaker 1: not popular with superficial students. The wise, always few in number,
Speaker 1: deeply revered him. I dare say Sri Yutashwar would have
Speaker 1: been the most sought after guru in India had his
Speaker 1: words not been so candid and so censorious. I am
Speaker 1: hard on those who come from my training, he admitted
Speaker 1: to me. That is my way, take it or leave it.
Speaker 1: I will never compromise, but you will be much kinder
Speaker 1: to your disciples. That is your way. I try to
Speaker 1: purify only in the fires of severity, searing beyond the
Speaker 1: average toleration. The gentle approach of love is also transfiguring.
Speaker 1: The inflexible and yielding methods are equally effective. If applied
Speaker 1: with wisdom, you will go to foreign lands where blunt
Speaker 1: assaults on the ego are not appreciated. A teacher could
Speaker 1: not spread India's message in the West without an ample
Speaker 1: fund of accommodative patience and forbearance. I refuse to state
Speaker 1: the amount of truth I later came to find in
Speaker 1: Master's words. Though Sri Yukteschwar's undissembling speech prevented a large
Speaker 1: following during his years on earth, Nevertheless, his living spirit
Speaker 1: manifests today over the world through sincere students of his Crea,
Speaker 1: Yoga and other teachings. He has further dominion in men's
Speaker 1: souls than ever Alexander dreamed of in the soil. Father
Speaker 1: arrived one day to pay his respects to Sri Yuktashwar.
Speaker 1: My parents expected very likely to hear some words in
Speaker 1: my praise. He was shocked to be given a long
Speaker 1: account of my imperfections. It was Master's practice to recount simple,
Speaker 1: negligible shortcomings with an air of portentous gravity. Father rushed
Speaker 1: to see me from your Guru's marks, I thought to
Speaker 1: find you a complete wreck. My parent was between tears
Speaker 1: and laughter. The only cause of Sri Yuktashwar's displeasure at
Speaker 1: the time was that I have been trying, against his
Speaker 1: gentle hint, to convert a certain man to the spiritual path.
Speaker 1: With indignant speed, I sought out my Guru. He received
Speaker 1: me with downcast eyes, as though conscious of guilt. It
Speaker 1: was the only time I ever saw the divine lion
Speaker 1: meek before me. The unique moment was savored to the full. Sir,
Speaker 1: why did you judge me so mercilessly before my astounded father?
Speaker 1: Was that just? I will not do it again. Master's
Speaker 1: tone was apologetic. Instantly I was disarmed. How readily the
Speaker 1: great man admitted his fault, though he never again upset
Speaker 1: Father's peace of mind. Master relentlessly continued to dissect me
Speaker 1: whenever and wherever he chose. New disciples often joined Shi
Speaker 1: Juktashwar in exhaustive criticism of others. Wise, like the Guru,
Speaker 1: models of flawless discrimination. But he who takes the offensive
Speaker 1: must not be defenseless. The same carping students fled precipitately.
Speaker 1: As soon as Master publicly unloosed in their direction, a
Speaker 1: few shafts from his analytical quiver tender inner weaknesses revolting
Speaker 1: at my touches of censure are like diseased parts of
Speaker 1: the body, recoiling before even delicate handling. This was Sri
Speaker 1: yuk De'shwar's amused comment on the Flighty Ones. There are
Speaker 1: disciples who seek a Guru made in their own image.
Speaker 1: Such students often complained that they did not understand Shri
Speaker 1: yuk Deshwar. Neither do you comprehend God, I retorted on
Speaker 1: one occasion, when a saint is clear to you, you
Speaker 1: will be one among the trillion mysteries breathing every second
Speaker 1: in the inexplicable air. Who may venture to ask that
Speaker 1: the fathomless nature of a master be instantly grasped. Students
Speaker 1: came and generally went. Those who craved a path of
Speaker 1: oily sympathy and comfortable recognitions did not find it. At
Speaker 1: the hermitage. Master offered shelter and shepherding for the eons,
Speaker 1: but many disciples miserly demanded ego balm as well. They departed,
Speaker 1: preferring life countless humiliations. Before any humility, Master's blazing rays,
Speaker 1: the open penetrating sunshine of this wisdom were too powerful
Speaker 1: for their spiritual sickness. They sought some lesser teacher, who,
Speaker 1: shading them with flattery, permitted the fitful sleep of ignorance.
Speaker 1: During my early months with Master, I had experienced the
Speaker 1: sensitive fear of his reprimands. These were reserved, I soon
Speaker 1: saw for disciples who had asked for his verbal vivisection.
Speaker 1: If any writhing student made a protest, Shri yef De'shwar
Speaker 1: would become unoffendedly silent. His words were never wrathful, but
Speaker 1: impersonal with wisdom. Master's insights was not for the unprepared
Speaker 1: ears of casual visitors. He seldom remarked on their defects,
Speaker 1: even if conspicuous. But towards students who sought his council,
Speaker 1: Sri yeuf De'shwar felt a serious responsibility. Brave, indeed, is
Speaker 1: the Guru who undertakes to transform the crude ore of
Speaker 1: ego permeated humanity. A saint's courage roots in his compassion
Speaker 1: for the stumbling eyelis of this world. When I abandoned
Speaker 1: underlying resentment, I found a marked decrease in my chastisement.
Speaker 1: In a very subtle way, Master melted into comparative clemency.
Speaker 1: In time, I demolished every wall of rationalization and subconscious
Speaker 1: reservation behind which the human personality generally shields itself. The
Speaker 1: reward was an effortless harmony with my Guru. I discovered
Speaker 1: him then to be trusting, considerate, and silently loving, undemonstrative. However,
Speaker 1: he bestowed no word of affection. My own temperament is
Speaker 1: principally devotional. It was disconcerting at first to find that
Speaker 1: my Guru saturated with yana but seemingly dry of BAKHTI
Speaker 1: expressed himself only in terms of cold spiritual method the maatics.
Speaker 1: But as I tuned myself to his nature, I discovered
Speaker 1: no diminution, but rather increase in my devotional approach to God.
Speaker 1: The self realized Master is fully able to guide his
Speaker 1: various disciples along natural lines of their essential bias. My
Speaker 1: relationship with Sri yek de Shwar, somewhat inarticulate, nonetheless possessed
Speaker 1: all eloquence. Often I found his silent signature on my thoughts,
Speaker 1: rendering speech in util quietly sitting beside him, I felt
Speaker 1: his bounty pouring peacefully over my being. Sri yek Deshwar's
Speaker 1: impartial justice was notably present during the summer vacation of
Speaker 1: my first college year. I welcomed the opportunity to spend
Speaker 1: uninterrupted months at Serampoor with my Guru. You may be
Speaker 1: in charge of the hermitage. Mastor was pleased over my
Speaker 1: enthusiastic arrival. Your duties will be the reception of guests
Speaker 1: and supervision of the work of the other disciples. Kumar,
Speaker 1: a young villager from East Bengal, was accepted a fortnight
Speaker 1: later for hermitage training. Remarkably intelligent, he quickly won Shri
Speaker 1: Yuktashwar's affection. For some unfathomable reason, Master was very lenient
Speaker 1: to the new resident. Mukunda, Let Kumar assume your duties,
Speaker 1: employ your own time in sweeping and cooking. Master issued
Speaker 1: these instructions after the new boy had been with us
Speaker 1: for a month. Exalted to leadership, Kumar exercised a petty
Speaker 1: household tyranny in silent mutiny. The other disciples continued to
Speaker 1: seek me out for daily council. Makunda, is impossible. You
Speaker 1: made me supervisor yet the others go to him and
Speaker 1: obey him. Three weeks later, Kumar was complaining to our Guru.
Speaker 1: I overheard him from an adjoining room. That's why I
Speaker 1: assigned him to the kitchen and Yu to the parlor.
Speaker 1: Shri Yuktashwar's withering tones were new to Kumar. In this way,
Speaker 1: you have come to realize that a worthy leader has
Speaker 1: the desire to serve and not to dominate. You wanted
Speaker 1: Makunda's position, but could not maintain it by merit. Return
Speaker 1: now to your earlier work as Kok's assistant. After this
Speaker 1: humbling incident, Master resumed toward Kumar a former attitude of
Speaker 1: unwonted indulgence. Who can solve the mystery of attraction in Kumar?
Speaker 1: Arguru discovered a charming phone which did not spurt for
Speaker 1: the fellow disciples. Though the new boy was obviously Shri
Speaker 1: yuk to Shwar's favorite, I felt no dismay. Personal idiosyncrasies
Speaker 1: possessed even by masters, lend a rich complexity to the
Speaker 1: pattern of life. My nature is seldom commandeered by a detail.
Speaker 1: I was seeking from Shri Yuk to Shwar a more
Speaker 1: inaccessible benefit than an outward praise Kumar spoke venomously to
Speaker 1: me one day without reason. I was deeply hurt. Your
Speaker 1: head is swelling to the bursting point. I added a
Speaker 1: warning whose truth I felt. Intuitively, unless you mend your ways,
Speaker 1: some day you will be asked to leave this ashram.
Speaker 1: Laughing sarcastically, Kumar repeated my remark to our Guru, who
Speaker 1: had just entered the room, fully expecting to be scolded.
Speaker 1: I retired meekly to a corner. Maybe Mukunda is right.
Speaker 1: Master's reply to the boy came with unusual coldness. I
Speaker 1: escaped without castigation. A year later, Kumar set out for
Speaker 1: a visit to his childhood home. He ignored the quiet
Speaker 1: disapproval of Shri Yuktashwar, who never authoritatively controlled his disciple's movements.
Speaker 1: On the boy's return to Serampor, in a few months,
Speaker 1: a change was unpleasantly apparent. Gone was the stately Kumar,
Speaker 1: with serenely glowing face. Only an undistinguished peasant stood before us,
Speaker 1: one who had lately acquired a number of evil habits.
Speaker 1: Master summoned me and brokenheartedly discussed the fact that the
Speaker 1: boy was now unsuited to the monastic hermitage life. Mukunda,
Speaker 1: I will leave it to you to instruct Kumar to
Speaker 1: leave the ashram tomorrow. I can't do it. Tears stood
Speaker 1: in shrie yuck to Schwar's eyes, but he controlled himself quickly.
Speaker 1: The boy would never have fallen to these depths if
Speaker 1: he had listened to me and not gone away to
Speaker 1: mix with undesirable companions. He has rejected my protection. The
Speaker 1: callous world must be his guru. Still, Kumar's departure brought
Speaker 1: me no elation. Sadly, I wondered how one with power
Speaker 1: to win a master's love could ever respond to cheaper allures.
Speaker 1: Enjoyment of wine and sex are rooted in the natural
Speaker 1: man and require no delicacies of perception for their appreciation.
Speaker 1: Since whiles are comparable to the evergreen olander fragrant with
Speaker 1: its multicolored flowers, every part of the plant is poisonous.
Speaker 1: The land of healing lies within radiant with that happiness
Speaker 1: blindly sought in a thousand misdirections. Keen eyed intelligence is
Speaker 1: two edged. Master, once remarked in reference to Kamar's brilliant mind,
Speaker 1: It may be used constructively or destructively, like a knife,
Speaker 1: either to cut the boil of ignorance or to decapitate oneself.
Speaker 1: Intelligence is rightly guided only after the mind has acknowledged
Speaker 1: the inescapability of spiritual law. My groom mixed freely with
Speaker 1: men and women disciples, treating all his children perceiving their
Speaker 1: soul equality. He showed no distinction or partiality in sleep.
Speaker 1: You do not know whether you are a man or
Speaker 1: a woman, he said, just as a man impersonating a
Speaker 1: woman does not become one, so the soul impersonating both
Speaker 1: man and woman, has no sex. The soul is the pure,
Speaker 1: changeless image of God. Tri yuk de Schwar never avoided
Speaker 1: or blamed women as objects of seduction. Men, he said,
Speaker 1: were also a temptation to women. I once inquired of
Speaker 1: my Guru why a great ancient saint had called women
Speaker 1: the door to hell. A girl must have proved very
Speaker 1: troublesome to his peace of mind in his early life,
Speaker 1: my Guru answered caustically, Otherwise he would have denounced not woman,
Speaker 1: but some imperfection in his own self control. If a
Speaker 1: visitor dared to relate a suggestive story in the hermitage,
Speaker 1: Master would maintain an unresponsive silence. Do not allow yourself
Speaker 1: to be thrashed by the provoking whip of a beautiful face.
Speaker 1: He told his disciples, how can sense slaves enjoy the world?
Speaker 1: Its subtle flavors escape them while they grovel in primal mud.
Speaker 1: All nice discriminations are law lost to the man of
Speaker 1: elemental lusts. Students seeking to escape from the dualistic maya
Speaker 1: delusion received from Sri yach to Schwar Patient and Understanding Council.
Speaker 1: Just as the purpose of eating is to satisfy hunger,
Speaker 1: not greed, so the sex instinct is designed for the
Speaker 1: propagation of the species according to natural law, never for
Speaker 1: the kindling of insatiable longings. He said, destroy wrong desires now,
Speaker 1: otherwise they will follow you after the astral body is
Speaker 1: torn from its physical casing. Even when the flesh is weak.
Speaker 1: The mind should be constantly resistant. If temptation assails you
Speaker 1: with cruel force, overcome it by impersonal analysis and indominable will.
Speaker 1: Every natural passion can be mustered. Conserve your powers. Be
Speaker 1: like the capacious ocean, absorbing within all the tributary rivers
Speaker 1: of this senses. Small yearnings are openings in the reservoir
Speaker 1: of your inner peace, permitting healing waters to be wasted
Speaker 1: in the desert soil of materialism. The forceful, activating impulse
Speaker 1: of wrong desire is the greatest enemy to the happiness
Speaker 1: of man rome in the world. As a lion of
Speaker 1: self control, see that the frogs of weakness don't kick
Speaker 1: you around. The devotee is finely freed from all instinctive compulsions.
Speaker 1: He transforms his need for human affection to aspiration for
Speaker 1: God alone, A love solitary because omnipresent. Sri yek De
Speaker 1: Shwar's mother lived in the ran A Mahal district of Benarus,
Speaker 1: where I had first visited my Guru. Gracious and kindly,
Speaker 1: she was yet a woman of very decided opinions. I
Speaker 1: stood on her balcony one day and watched mother and
Speaker 1: son talking together in his quiet, sensible way. Master was
Speaker 1: trying to convince her about something. He was apparently unsuccessful,
Speaker 1: for she shook her head with great vigor. Nay, nay,
Speaker 1: my son, go away, now, your wise words are not
Speaker 1: for me. I am not your disciple. Shrid yuk De
Speaker 1: Shwar backed away without further argument, like a scolded child.
Speaker 1: I was touched at his great respect for his mother,
Speaker 1: even in her unreasonable moods. She saw him only as
Speaker 1: her little boy, not as a sage. There was a
Speaker 1: charm about the trifling incident. It supplied a side light
Speaker 1: on my Guru's unusual nature, inwardly humble and outwardly unbendable.
Speaker 1: The monastic regulations do not allow a swami to retain
Speaker 1: connection with the worldly ties after their formal severance. He
Speaker 1: cannot perform the ceremonial family rites, which are obligatory on
Speaker 1: the householder. Yet Shankara, the ancient founder of the Swami order,
Speaker 1: disregarded the injunctions. At the death of his beloved mother,
Speaker 1: he cremated her body with heavenly fire, which he caused
Speaker 1: to spurt from his upraised hand. Sri Yuktashwar also ignored
Speaker 1: the restrictions in a fashion less spectacular when his mother
Speaker 1: passed on. He arranged the crematory services by the Holy
Speaker 1: Ganges in Bannars and fed many Brahmins in conformance with
Speaker 1: old age custom. The Shastrik prohibitions were intended to help
Speaker 1: Swamis overcome narrow identifications. Shankara and Shri Juktashwar had wholly
Speaker 1: merged their beings in the impersonal spirit they needed no
Speaker 1: rescue by rule, sometimes to a master purposely ignores a
Speaker 1: canon in order to uphold its principle as superior to
Speaker 1: an independent of form. Thus Jesus plucked ears of corn
Speaker 1: on a day of rest. To the inevitable critics, he said,
Speaker 1: the Sabbath was made for man and not man. For
Speaker 1: the Sabbath outside of the script rures seldom was a
Speaker 1: book honored by Sri juk de Schwar's perusal. Yet he
Speaker 1: was invariably acquainted with the latest scientific discoveries and other
Speaker 1: advancements of knowledge. A brilliant conversationalist, he enjoyed an exchange
Speaker 1: of views on countless topics with his guests. My Guru's
Speaker 1: ready wit and rollicking laugh enlivened every discussion. Often, grave
Speaker 1: Master was never gloomy. To seek the Lord, one need
Speaker 1: not disfigure his face. He would remark, remember that finding
Speaker 1: God will mean the funeral of all sorrows. Among the
Speaker 1: philosopher's professors, lawyers, and scientists who came to the Hermitage,
Speaker 1: a number arrived for their first visit with the expectation
Speaker 1: of meeting an Orthodox religionist, a supercilious smile or a
Speaker 1: glance of amused tolerance occasionally betrayed that the newcomers anticipated
Speaker 1: nothing more than a few pious platitudes. Yet their reluctant
Speaker 1: departure would bring an expressed viction that Sri yuk Tshwar
Speaker 1: had shown precise insight into their specialized fields. My Guru
Speaker 1: ordinarily was gentle and affable to guess. His welcome was
Speaker 1: given with charming cordiality. Yet inveterate egotists sometimes suffered an
Speaker 1: invigorating shock they confronted in Master either a frigid indifference
Speaker 1: or a formidable opposition ice or iron. A noted chemist
Speaker 1: once crossed swords with Sri juk Deshwar. The visitor would
Speaker 1: not admit the existence of God inasmuch as science has
Speaker 1: devised no means of detecting him. So you have inexplicably
Speaker 1: failed to isolate the supreme power in your test tubes.
Speaker 1: Master's gaze was stern. I recommend an unheard of experiment.
Speaker 1: Examine your thoughts unremittently for twenty four hours, then wonder
Speaker 1: no longer at God's absence. A celebrated pundit received a
Speaker 1: similar jolt. With ostentatious zeal, the scholar shook the ashram
Speaker 1: rafters with scriptural lore. Resounding passages poured from the Mahabarata,
Speaker 1: the Upanishads, and the Bashas of Shankara. I am waiting
Speaker 1: to hear you. Shri Yiktashar's tone was inquiring, as though
Speaker 1: utter silence had reigned. The pundit was puzzled. Quotations there
Speaker 1: have been in superabundance. Master's words convulsed me with mirth
Speaker 1: as I squatted in my corner at a respectful distance
Speaker 1: from the visitor. But what original commentary can you supply
Speaker 1: from the uniqueness of your particular life? What holy text
Speaker 1: have you absorbed and made your own? In what ways
Speaker 1: have these timeless truths renovated your nature? Are you content
Speaker 1: to be a hollow victrola mechanically repeating the words of
Speaker 1: other men? I give up. The scholar's chagrin was comical,
Speaker 1: I have no inner realization for the first time, Perhaps
Speaker 1: he understood that discerning placement of the comma does not
Speaker 1: atone for a spiritual coma. These bloodless pendants smell unduly
Speaker 1: of the lamp. My guru remarked, after the departure of
Speaker 1: the chastened one. They prefer philosophy to be a gentle
Speaker 1: intellectual setting up exercise. Their elevated thoughts are carefully unrelated
Speaker 1: either to the crudity of outward action or to any
Speaker 1: scourging inner discipline. Master stressed on other occasions the futility
Speaker 1: of mere book learning. Do not confuse understanding with a
Speaker 1: larger vocabulary. He remarked, sacred writings are beneficial in stimulating
Speaker 1: desire for inward realization. If one stands at a time
Speaker 1: is slowly assimilated. Continual intellectual study results in vanity and
Speaker 1: the false satisfaction of an undigested knowledge. Shri Yektshwar related
Speaker 1: one of his own experiences in scriptural edification. The scene
Speaker 1: was a forced hermitage in eastern Bengal, where he observed
Speaker 1: the procedure of a renowned teacher, Dabru Bala. His method,
Speaker 1: at once simple and difficult, was common in ancient India.
Speaker 1: Dabru Bahala had gathered his disciples around him in the
Speaker 1: Sylvan solitudes. The Holy Bagavedgita was open before them. Steadfastly,
Speaker 1: they looked at one passage for half an hour, then
Speaker 1: closed their eyes. Another half hour slipped away. The master
Speaker 1: gave a brief comment. Motionless, they meditated again for an hour. Finally,
Speaker 1: the Guru spoke, have you understood, yes, sir. One in
Speaker 1: the group ventured this assertion. No, na fully seek the
Speaker 1: spiritual vitality that has given these words the power to
Speaker 1: rejuvenate India century after century. Another hour disappeared in silence.
Speaker 1: The Master dismissed the students and turned to Sri Yuktashwar.
Speaker 1: Do you know the Baga Vadgita? No, sir, not really,
Speaker 1: though my eyes and mind have run through its pages
Speaker 1: many times, thousands have replied to me differently. The Great
Speaker 1: Sage smiled that Master and blessing. If one busies himself
Speaker 1: with an outer display of scriptural wealth, what time is
Speaker 1: left for silent inward diving after the priceless pearls. Shri
Speaker 1: Yuktaschwar directed the study of his own disciples by the
Speaker 1: same intensive method of one pointedness. Wisdom is not assimilated
Speaker 1: with the eyes, but with the atoms, he said, when
Speaker 1: your conviction of a truth is not merely in your brain,
Speaker 1: but in your being, you may diffidently vouch for its meeting.
Speaker 1: He discouraged any tendency a student might have to construe
Speaker 1: book knowledge as a necessary step to spiritual realization. Riis
Speaker 1: wrote in one sentence Profundities that commentating scholars busied themselves
Speaker 1: over for generations. He remarked, endless literary controversies for sluggard minds.
Speaker 1: What more liberating thought than God? Is? Nay God? But
Speaker 1: man does not easily return to simplicity. It is seldom
Speaker 1: God for him, but rather learned pomposities. His ego is
Speaker 1: pleased that he can grasp such erudition. Men who were
Speaker 1: pridefully conscious of high worldly position were likely, in Master's presence,
Speaker 1: to add humility to their other possessions. A local magistrate
Speaker 1: once arrived for an interview at the seaside hermitage in Puri.
Speaker 1: The man, who held a reputation for ruthlessness, had it
Speaker 1: well within his power to oust us from the afram.
Speaker 1: I cautioned my guru about despotic possibilities, but he seated
Speaker 1: himself with an uncompromising air and did not rise to
Speaker 1: greet the visitor. Slightly nervous, I squatted near the door.
Speaker 1: The man had to content himself with a wooden box.
Speaker 1: My Guru did not request me to fetch a chair.
Speaker 1: There was no fulfillment of the magistrate's obvious expectation that
Speaker 1: his importance would be ceremoniously acknowledged. A metaphysical discussion ensued.
Speaker 1: The guests blundered through misinterpretations of the scriptures. As his
Speaker 1: accuracy sank, his ire arose, do you know that I
Speaker 1: stood first in the m a examination? Reason had forsaken him,
Speaker 1: but he could still shout, mister magistrate, you forget that
Speaker 1: this is not your courtroom, Master replied evenly. From your
Speaker 1: childish remarks, I would have surmised that your college career
Speaker 1: was unremarkable. A university degree, in any case, is not
Speaker 1: remotely related to vedic realization. Saints are not produced in
Speaker 1: back every semester like accountants. After a stunned silence, the
Speaker 1: visitor laughed heartily. This is my first encounter with a
Speaker 1: heavenly magistrate, he said. Later, he made a formal request
Speaker 1: couched in the legal terms which were evidently part and
Speaker 1: parcel of his being to be accepted as a probationary disciple.
Speaker 1: My Gurup personally attended to the details connected with the
Speaker 1: management of his property on scrupulous persons on various occasions
Speaker 1: attempted to secure possession of Master's ancestral land with determination
Speaker 1: and even by instigating lawsuits, Sri Yukta Schwar outwitted every opponent.
Speaker 1: He underwent these painful experiences from a desire to never
Speaker 1: be a begging guru or a burden on his disciples.
Speaker 1: His financial independence was one reason why my alarmingly outspoken
Speaker 1: Master was innocent of the cunnings of diplomacy. Unlike those
Speaker 1: teachers who have to flatter this supporters, my Guru was
Speaker 1: impervious to the influences, open or subtle, of others' wealth.
Speaker 1: Never did I hear him ask or even hint for
Speaker 1: money for any purpose. His hermitage training was given free
Speaker 1: and freely to all disciples. An insolent court deputy arrived
Speaker 1: one day at the Serampour Ashram to Sir Shri Yektashwar
Speaker 1: with a legal summons. A disciple named Kanai and myself
Speaker 1: were also present. The officer's attitude toward Master was offensive.
Speaker 1: It will do you good to leave the shadows of
Speaker 1: your hermitage and breathe the honest air of a court room,
Speaker 1: the deputy greamed contemptuously. I could not contain myself another
Speaker 1: word of your impudence, and you will be on the floor.
Speaker 1: I advanced threateningly, you wretch Canai's shout with simultaneous with
Speaker 1: my own. Dare you bring your blasphemies into this sacred
Speaker 1: eye shrum? But Master stood protectingly in front of his abuser.
Speaker 1: Don't get excited over nothing. This man is only doing
Speaker 1: his rightful duty. The officer, dazed at this variant reception,
Speaker 1: respectfully offered a word of apology and sped away. Amazing
Speaker 1: it was to find a Master with such a fiery
Speaker 1: will could be so calm within. He fitted the Vedic
Speaker 1: definition of a man of God, softer than the flower
Speaker 1: where kindness is concerned, stronger than the thunder, where principles
Speaker 1: are at stake. There are always those in this world who,
Speaker 1: in Browning's words, endure no light, being themselves obscure. An
Speaker 1: outsider occasionally berated Sri Yuk to schwar for an imaginary grievance.
Speaker 1: My imperturbable Guru listened, politely, analyzing himself to see if
Speaker 1: any shred of truth lay within the the nunciation. These
Speaker 1: scenes would bring to my mind one of Master's inimitable observations.
Speaker 1: Some people try to be tall by cutting off the
Speaker 1: heads of others. The unfailing composure of a saint is
Speaker 1: impressive beyond any sermon. He that is slow to anger
Speaker 1: is better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his
Speaker 1: spirit than he taketh a city. I often reflected that
Speaker 1: my majestic Master could easily have been an emperor or
Speaker 1: world shaking warrior, had his mind been centered on fame
Speaker 1: or worldly achievement. He had chosen instead to storm those
Speaker 1: inner citadels of wrath and egotism, whose fall is the
Speaker 1: height of a man. End of Chapter twelve.