At bed time, feeling the presence of God, repent for the wrongs committed unknowingly. Beg forgiveness in a supplicant mood, resolving not to allow the repetition of the same.

Human perfection lies in realising the Master as Master in true sense, and oneself as His slave devoted entirely to His service. By doing so one creates in himself a state of Negation which attracts His direct attention and establishes a link with Him. Now it becomes incumbent upon one to discharge his duties in like manner, keeping the link intact, so that the Master’s greatness be engrossed upon his heart and he may be in His direct view.

A devotee is concerned with nothing but Master’s close attention towards him, and his own nearness to Him. The nobleness of heart now takes another turn. When one has accepted Him as the Master he can lay before Him every wrong committed unknowingly by him, or anything that might be against the principle, in the capacity of one feeling guilty. In this way one impresses his own meekness upon the Master, who also begins to think that the wrong committed by the devotee is really pardonable since the feeling of supplication is present in his heart, for which he has presented it to the Master. There is such a tender softness in it as cannot be translated in words, and which reveals his feelings of true supplicancy. That means that the impediments present in him are removed and the weight thereof has been set aside. He thus assumes a state of absolute purity like that of the Divine currents which are absolutely free from Mala (impurities), Vikshep (unreal projections) and Avarana (layers of grossness). Thus it goes to mean that we acquire this state of highest purity by establishing the relationship of devotion. It also brings forth a sense of simplicity which has been pointed out as the quintessence of Nature, and which, when developed, envelops him all over so that he begins to feel himself completely merged in it. The errors, which a devotee can never be completely free from, are then reduced to a mere lifeless lump. It is probable that blunders might have been committed before establishing this relationship, but then they go on diminishing by and by till finally their very existence begins to fade away. By the effect of the strong push applied by the force of the will they get transformed into repentance. Repentance is nothing but a jerk to the thought-waves which creates to a certain extent a state of vacuum within him. The flow from above then gets diverted towards it, in order to keep up its uniformity with Nature. Thus the thing coming in helps us to wash off the previous effect. This may be taken as the true form of repentance.

The feeling of humility, which may as well be expressed as a state of supplicancy, covers within it the condition of innocence. One who attains it has in a way attained all, though apparently it may not seem to be so. In that case the mistake no longer remains a mistake, since it has washed off completely.

The next phase of devotion now comes in, which cautions him against the repetition of the wrong. It appears in the form of repeated prayers to the great Master for granting him a state of contentment to serve as a safeguard against repetition. As we have entered the sphere in the capacity of a supplicant it becomes incumbent upon us to abide by the rules of duty, avoiding everything that is forbidden by the laws of Nature. This can be accomplished when one shortens to the greatest possible limit the distance between oneself and the Master. Hence the best method for that would be to maintain in our thought a constant feeling of His presence.

It is also considered to be better to do this at bed-time, because one is then free from all engagements and the only point in one’s view is that of rest and repose, In other words, one finds himself in a comparatively free state. This freedom may also be interpreted as Nature’s state of contentment. Thus in a way we acquire conformity with at least one of the aspects of Nature. This is the reason why prayer at bed-time is more effective, and actions done accordingly are all well adjusted. We must therefore derive the greatest benefit from time, and take up the work suited for the hour.

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti.