1. Dr. A.Subba Rao

The Topic of today’s seminar is “Demolition of past is a chapter in Natural Path”. This epoch making statement was culled our from the message for the Master titled ‘Craving of the Soul’ delivered in Malaysia in the year 1981 (30-4-1981) on the eve of Master’s 82nd birthday celebrations. (SDG – 20005 edition page 162)

Before proceeding to the subject proper it is felt that I may share some perceptions as I understand. There are three key words in the Topic namely 1)Past 2)Demolition and 3)Natural Path.

Past, present, and the future are the terms often encountered by everyone in life and these which indicate phases of life have unique relevance for each one. The past is very complex .It has several streams of consciousness intertwined. Each of these is a unique quality finding expression in one’s life at some time or other either alone or in combination with some others, but unique to the individual personality. It is also a fact that we experience resonance with the wave lengths of some of our ancestors and behave accordingly.

The apparent three divisions - the past, the present, and the future are phases with reference to time. The concept of Time is a big subject and I dare not talk much about it. If anybody wants to know more about it I request them to study the articles 1)“Space and Time” by Revered Babuji Maharaj (Wisdom Unfurled-Pages 17-20) and 2) “Time and Mysticism” by Pujya Dr.K.C.V. (Complete Works of Dr.K.C.V. –Vol.I-Pages 93-107) for deeper insights.

Suffice it to say that from the ordinary man’s point of view, there is a ‘Past’ (on which one has no control ), a ‘Present’ ( which is not usually utilized appropriately and fully as one ought to ) and a of the future within it. If we know the ‘Now’ then we know all about Time ……..” ( CW of Dr.K.C.V.-Vol.I-Pg.93 ). ‘Future’ ( which is unborn – but on which mind dwells most with many ambitions and hopes etc) whereas the truth is that the past continues in the present and extends into future. It is a continuum. It is also true that the wise men learn from the past and act appropriately in the present so that future may be happy and eventful. In the words of Revered K.C.V. “ ………. the Indian conception of Time can be defined generally as having triple stages of successive moments such as the past, present and the future. It is irreversible though events may be cyclical. Time extends both sides up to infinity and the secret of Time is its present tense according to some well known thinkers not because of the other two being irrelevant but because the present has the consequence of the past within it and has the potency.

We also see people take pride of their birth in this great land of ours and claim that we have a hoary past and rich tradition. It is true we have a hoary past. It is also a fact that profound logic and weighty dialectics of Indian philosophical systems instead of doing good are found to be stumbling blocks for many ardent seekers of Reality. It is very rare to have personalities like Dr.K.C.V. who with a most profound and unparalled grasp and knowledge of Indian philosophical systems displayed tremendous courage and accepted the Natural Path.

In the words of Revered KCV “Thus I found myself made to abjure the old theoretical ways of approach. I had to remake myself in a new way. I had to take stock of my whole past. All sectarian and cast conceptions had to be rethought. Philosophies help bind people to set notions. Thus I was to meet the challenge of the New”. It happened that I should meet Shri Ramchandraji. Firstly his views were clearly different from my whole past.

1. The conception of the Ultimate as Zero was quite against my philosophic inclination. Having failed with the positive concept it is time to experiment with this – Is it likely to be true ? The Zero has to be understood as the Beginning or Origin of all possibilities being nothing of what it becomes.

2. The concept of Invertendo shows how the deformation of evolution is natural and the power inherent is Zero (Nirguna). I began understanding of meaning of Vivartha. All flow necessitates the inversion and it is natural.

3. The formations of the descent are clearly on this principle of inversions.

4. The vast Brahman extends upto our knowledge of it. Thus Truth, Consciousness and Bliss themselves are attributes which get transcended in higher approaches. Sachidananda are not Ultimate Reality, they too being terms of knowing – Sankara too gets transcended.

5. The Individual is continuous with the Universal and the Ultimate, and is not abolished. The Pralya or mergence is cosmic and supra cosmic and then all are withdrawn into the Ultimate.

6. The individual ray of the Ultimate has created for itself an organic organization of physical, vital, mental and supramental centres and organs. These may well be the knots which has demarcated the several systems known as the physical, vital, mental or bonal, muscular, circulatory,alimentary,harmonic,nervous, supranervous and psychic etc. they have become autonomous in a sense but have to be opened up for higher control. This is possible only by bringing down the highest power of the Centre and not merely the higher power just before the human. It is the necessity to mould the lower in terms of the highest through the higher which has also to mould itself to receive the highest. That leads to going beyond Sri Aurobindonian Vijnana –moulding of the mental, vital and physical.

7. This is done by the means of the transmission or decent of the highest consciousness or condition (Zero) itself into the lowest region of the human heart or the organism as it is.

8. The yogic process is this transmission from the Ultimate which alone can shape the entire being, of the abhyasi for the experience and realization of one’s own physical, vital mental and supramental levels – called by Shri Ramchandraji, the pinda, brahmanda, para brahmanda and Central regions working under the direct force of the Centre”.( Practice and Efficacy of SRRY- Pg-272-275).

I had the good fortune of association with Tirupathi in the early 70’s and the knowledge of the personality of Sri KCV had a tremendous impact on my psyche. I was not a student of philosophy nor I was aware of Alfa and Beta of tradition.The system of the great Master and His simplicity appealed to my heart. There were no questions and I commenced the practice after introduction. By His grace very early in Sadhana I was established in Constant remembrance which is continuing. There after my real Sadhana and training commenced and is continuing under my revered guide Sri KCN who has been relentlessly moulding me.

Past from the point of evolution - In the words of the Great Master “When we are born into this world for the first time we were pure, because the source from which we have descended or come down is purity. The time went on, and innumerable births we have gathered around us different types grossness by our actions.

In this present existence too we are performing actions and the result is that these very actions slowly form layer after layer grossness around the original purity, so that in course of time we become to resemble the silk - worm that has spun a cocoon around itself. When man reaches this stage of his earthly existence, his life is one of the artificiality and full of grossness, both in the level of action and the results”.(SDG – Page 23 ).

Further the great Master while discussing about the Realisation states “……….At the time of creation everything began to assume a form of existence. Man also assumed his individual existence. The consciousness of individuality was the first covering in the composition of the man. Further additions continued one after the other. Egoism began to develop and ultimately assumed a grosser form. The working of the mind, senses and faculties began to contribute their share towards grossness. Actions of the body and mind led to the formation of Samskaras. Finally, now the man exists in the grossest form, consisting of the outer gross body and inner finer bodies and coverings. Now, from this solid outer state of existence we march right towards the centre passing through finer states one after the other. From gross body we come to the mind body and then to the causal body growing finer or more subtle at every step and proceed on further, dealing with other coverings”. (DR- Page 103 ).

The Master states that “When the span of life ended we took another form with the accumulated effects of grossness we had formed. Thus we have been adding at each birth till we have become the actions themselves. (SDG- Page 47 ).

In the field of Spirituality the ‘Past’ has a phenomenal significance and impact on the Goal of Life. The Great Master while explaining about the Goal of Life “……Anything short of Liberation cannot be taken as the Goal of life although there remains still a lot beyond it…….”. (DR –Page 17 ).

Further the Great Master explains “ …….Freedom from eternal bondage is not possible so long as we are within entanglements. The natural yearning of soul is to be free from bondage. If there is one who does not like to free himself from the entanglements there is no solution for him…..”.(DR-Page17 ).

This has been the experience of most of us that emergence of Goal clarity is a long drawn process and is consequential to thorough cleaning of heart and other centres in pind desh and assiduous practice of meditations on Pt.A and B and pranahuti influxes.

Now, let me say few things about the Natural Path which all of us have been following under the guidance of our Masters. The basics we are aware. We are conscious of the dynamic nature of the methods. The unique support of the Pranahuti, its efficacy and its impact in the task of our transformation is gratefully acknowledged. All glory unto our Masters. However let me share few salient aspects which are revelatory.

1.By stating that ‘God has no mind’,the Great Master in a way in a single stroke demolished the past conceptions regarding God.

2.The theory of Parallelism gave enormous courage and possibility of intimate contact with Divinity and evolution towards It.

3.The Great Master demolished the genuine fears of common man with regard to austerity measures, penances and so on which are insisted in the traditional system of yoga for regulation of mind and control of indriyas. He instead prescribed the meditations on Pt.A and B and also assured his support through Pranahuti for the same.

4.The Great Master said that he had taken good from all systems and removed the superfluities was highly encouraging and reduced the burden of the Vijnanamaya kosa. This has demolished the fears that I do not have adequate scriptural knowledge and I could follow the system whole heartedly with naturalness and relative ease.

5.Further the training of the Masters gave me progressively clarity, understanding and wisdom regarding many subtleties in Sadhana both in theory and practice.

Another key word in the seminar topic is Demolition. All of us have been undergoing this demolition processes from the day one of our introduction

• .When cleaning of the heart is done.

• . When the downward tendencies are weakened and the flow to the lower is restricted.

• Further, diversion of flow to the Atman stabilizes the action of the first two and this continues.

• Subsequently cleaning of materialistic defects that have accumulated in the centres of the chest ( pind points ) also contributes in that direction.

In the words of the Great Master “The effect of the activities of the lower consciousness settles down upon the subconscious mind forming fate. The first thing to be undertaken is therefore the correction of the lower consciousness by right thinking and practice, so that it may itself be converted into force to bring the sub-conscious mind into a state of splendour. This brings us to the state of super-consciousness”. (SDG – Page 100 ) The Great Master further states “The proper moulding of the tendencies of the mind is the primary factor of any system of Sadhana (practice). The regulation of mind must therefore be the very basis of all spiritual practice. The mind , which in its primordial state was absolutely pure and regulated has now been spoiled and polluted by our wrong ways and doings. It is now to be set right so as to resume its primordial state.”( SDG- Page 19 ).

“ Under our system of spiritual training,the teacher at the very outset weakens the downward tendency of the abhyasi by the effect of his own power, so that it may get automatically diverted towards the Divine.”( IB).

This particular diversion of flow of consciousness from lower to upper heart and diversion to the Atman point is crucial and fundamental aspect of training in Natural Path. This is the beginning of restoration of naturalness towards the transformation of man into ‘ Real Man’. Methods of meditation and Pranahuti together perform this task. In addition practice of the commandments of the Master in letter and spirit is a sine qua non for any further progress. The training is systematic aiming at transforming of animal nature progressively to the last possible limits so that the human in man is brought out with a most sacred objective of expressing Divine which is one’s true nature. Unless negative emotions like possessiveness, greed, jealousy, lust, illwill, fear,selfishness,pride arrogance, birth, status, beauty, wealth, power and competence etc., which are demonic in nature are demolished the “Real” cannot find expression. In the words of the Master “The work of the mission will save the humanity from its doom by carrying the teachings of Master to every heart. Mankind today is groping in the darkness of materialism. Fear , greed and jealousy have gripped the man and every sense of value is lost. Only the torch of spirituality can remove the oppressing gloom and restore the real man”. ( SDG – Page 123 ).

Further in the message of the Master ‘Craving of the Soul’ certain other vital aspects that needs serious contemplation and understanding

1.Community of thoughts, that one generates unconsciously.

2.To develop proper attitude to Sadhana and develop dependence on Master and strengthen His remembrance with love, patience and co-operation. He also stresses the need to have a good heart for all human beings. 9 P.M. prayer has helped to develop this concern for all naturally.

3. In the same message Master exhorts us all “Try to forget the ‘I’, it will help a good deal”.

Ego is responsible for ones bondage both positive and negative and its consequential effects in joy and sorrow. On our own it cannot be tackled. It has been my experience that the attitude of resignation to the will of the Master, submissiveness , patient waiting, yielding through prayer and dependency helped later in the development of state of surrender . But it was not an easy task but for the grace of my Masters and their loving training. The Great Master says “To stiffen one’s neck, is a defect. So long as it is not removed, one is not aware of one’s own base. What I mean by ‘Base’ is that when a person is wholly rid of this defect, there arises a state, which has been attempted to be translated by the use of this word. To live in that state is a human culture. When that stage grows a bit denser, it enters the region of the attribute of Poverty or Humility. When such a state is achieved, then the subject (of the Lord ) becomes a subject in the real sense. To achieve such a state, hundreds of transmissions and prayers are prescribed. Man ought never be away from his own level; and this level is called ABUDIYAT (The subdued). This is the essential object for the subject ( of the Lord ). It is here, as I have written so often, that the burden of egoism is very much lightened”. ( SDG – Page 40 – 41).

Sri KCN while discussing about the role of five Kosas in Sadhana under PAM explains “……..Master has described the spiritual journey of the aspirant to be through a total 23 circles or rings covering 5 rings of Maya, 11 rings of Egoism and 7 rings of splendour. He has stated that even the greatest saints like Saint Kabir could cover only 16 rings consisting of the 5 rings of Maya and 11 rings of Egoism during their life time. Master asserts that the areas of Central Region covering 7 rings of splendour were never experienced while in life by any person, during his life time and these realms are made available to the human beings so that we reach the Centre or the Base for the first time in human history by the Grace of the Grand Master Pujya Lalaji Mahraj.

The five rings of Maya may be considered as binds of the 5 Kosas. One who crosses these rings/binds is considered as a person liberated from the cycle of re-births. But realization of our true nature is a different chapter that starts only from here .The 11 rings of Egoism are the ones that are formidable to cross over and help of the Master through Pranahuti is perhaps the only way for us. While Ego in its grosser aspect is covered while we traverse through the Five Kosas or five rings of Maya, Egoism per se gets attended to only in the rings of Egoism. The vast realms of Brahmand are within the realms of Ego. This ego that we are referring to here is not the crude Ahankar but the awareness of Self identity. Self identity continues through the Para Brahmand and only when we enter into the Prapanna gati there is slight load shedding in its content. Prapanna condition makes the self less assertive and more dependant on Him. This change in the core of our being gets refined further through the Prabhu and Prapanna Prabhu gati and we reach a state where we are going to meet the upadhi or karana of the grosser kosas. The basis for the kosas are many and are distinct. They have been located by the Master beyond the Para Brahmand and he stated they are 65 in number. These 65 points including the Sahasrara are the final binds we have before we enter into the Central Region.

We have seen in Master’s works that he charts our progress through 13 knots which express our states of consciousness in the journey to the Infinite, and they start from Viveka and Vairagya to the Ajnana dasa. The 5 kosas are also tinged by the colour of these knots and thus we have 13 points each reffering to each of the kosas. Unless we travel through these points there is no entry into the Central Region.” (The Five Kosas Role In Sadhana Under PAM-Pages 93-95 ).

It is for the first time in human history that the Great Master blessed us all with a dynamic method in which there is a unique support system of pranahuti which is helping the seekers to tread the slippery path. Master also gave methods of training for trainers and several techniques and hints in the messages like message on ‘Method of training’ and ‘Problem and its solution’.

My personal experience and conviction is that this demolition though prima facei appears tortuous and painful while undergoing for both the trainee and the trainer, it is the only way for evolution towards Divinity pure and simple. There are several tests of humility that are taught to make man humble before God and maintain that dignity and its position as a true Prapanna and a servant of the Divine for Its purpose.

In this connection Master says “……That is, first of all, the teacher should destroy the old edifice, then erect a new edifice without bricks and mortar. This is the help that the grown – up child should be given under such surroundings. Now comes the work of Natural Path – as the preceptors do……”.(SDG – Page 45 ).

Therefore I conclude with a prayer that we continue to mould our selves and allow moulding by Master as he wants us to be so that we will be able to express ‘Him’ and ‘Him’ alone for which demolition, a chapter in Natural Path is absolutely essential which we should whole heartedly welcome and accept. Then only the practice of the commandment-5 becomes natural to one’s being.

Pranams.