There are many amongst us who eagerly hanker after realisation and freedom, and they feel it to be their duty. But when we talk of duty we find ourselves enclosed within a sort of limitation. What is that limitation? It is only a narrower sphere of thought and wisdom. As for our present level it is that of finiteness which we cannot get away from, and from which we proceed on to broader visions; I mean the vision of the Absolute Reality. But that depends mainly on the means and methods we apply for the purpose. If perchance we fall upon means which go on adding to our limitations and bondages, we shall definitely remain away from the vision of Reality - the Absolute. There may be methods to suit the temperament of particular individuals, but which may basically be wrong, or in other ways inefficient, and may serve as a toy for a child to play with, only to offer him a temporary lull, but which may lead him further to temptations for more and more enjoyment of pleasures and happiness. That may perhaps be the charm to induce him further on the path of happiness. But so long as he remains held up by the charm of it his progress gets frozen. He may well be compared to a frog in the well which thinks its own narrow sphere to be the whole universe.
But if our present level inspires within us a consciousness of a higher type of happiness of infinite character, we may be awakened to the idea of going further into the sphere of limitlessness. That is why they say that for every grain of knowledge the wisdom required must be at least ten times greater. If that much of wisdom is there, the goal shall definitely be in our view and we shall be inspired more and more to proceed on into the sphere of Reality. But the difficulty arises when we remain held up by our own resourcefulness applied for our advancement. When it is so, the idea of freedom does not even crop up in the mind. That is really a sad tale of our own. Such persons ever remain a prey to their own thoughts which go on adding veil after veil to their thinking and practicing. They have, so to say, fastened themselves so rigidly into their own ways that they would never listen to the ways suggested to them for extricating themselves from the meshes.
The thing with which we started in the beginning thus becomes an impediment to our advancement on the path. In fact there can possibly be no hallmark to the advancement of the human soul, because we have finally to enter into Infinity. If, however, we may be able to take into account, in some way or the other, the final approach of man, then the very thing we take up in the beginning will lead us on along the path, and God will Himself present to us a Master who can take us on to the real vision of the Immaterial Absolute. On the other hand if one has not grasped the idea of true Reality, the means or methods he takes up for the purpose shall serve as a bondage against further advancement. The only thing required for the sure success shall therefore be intense restlessness for the attainment of the goal which shall bring the real Master to your doors.
For those who want to have at least a peep into the Reality the proper method shall, in my opinion, be that which touches the inner core of the heart. The external means usually adopted for the purpose are really of no avail and do not lead one towards the goal.
In order to discover proper methods for it we must take into account the cause which finally brought into being the entire creation. Definitely there was some power at work for the purpose. What was it? It was only the 'Thought', pregnant with the idea of creation, as well as with that of preservation and dissolution in the back ground. The same thought descended down into man and became part and parcel of his being. If we can properly utilize this power within us the mystery is solved. The thought has the same force, but within man it is limited to the extent of the human level. It develops into potentiality as we grow, and takes different spheres and regions for our existence, which we have all to pass through during our march towards the Goal. These, expressed as bondages, serve for veils which do not allow us even to peep into Reality. It is only when a worthy Master of calibre comes up to our help, that we are able to tear them off in order to make our passage to the Absolute Reality smooth and easy. There are plexuses, centres and sub-centres which also bar our progress at earlier stages. We have to pass through these in our pursuit of Reality. Complications also arise by the effect of our wrong thinking and practice, which we have to clear off through the process of cleaning.
In short the help of the Master, who has himself traveled the entire distance and has developed in himself the Divine force, is therefore of immense value. It is then alone that the Divine force begins to flow into the abhyasi from the Divine centres. This subtle force is very strong, so much so that in higher regions even if an abhyasi attempts to go up he is pushed down by the effect of this strong flow of the force. In that case it is only the Master's dynamic force that pulls him up through the flow and enables him to have a view of Reality.
But something is essential for the abhyasi also. In the first place he must have full trust in the Master and must fully cooperate with him in every respect. If it is so he will positively go on developing day by day, and begin to feel himself changed and transformed. The state of waking consciousness of the lower type will get transformed, and his journey through higher and higher types of conscious-ness will be commenced. Usually consciousness is spoken of as of three levels: conscious, subconscious and super-conscious. They are however the broader divisions, and there are still innumerable levels of it in each one. 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 subconscious mind into a state of splendour. This brings us to the state of super-consciousness. If the word super-consciousness is modified as super-sub-consciousness I think it will be easier to understand its further effects. Anyhow, if by the Master's grace we have come up to it, another theme opens for us. We are in a way merged into it in order to bring to our view the aspects higher than this. The word 'Higher' refers only to a rarefied state of it and in the same sense it is applied to the spiritual regions and spheres noted down in this connection. In short the various states of consciousness, one after the other, carry us along beyond the Trinity and even beyond Reality. The state of Freedom commences then but it is after a good deal of tiresome journey. When Freedom dawns the fatigue of the journey is over and we do not feel ourselves encumbered with its weight.
But our traveling is not yet over. We march on still towards the Base, where the Realisation assumes its original form. The colourful visions having ended, the vision of the Absolute in its true aspect commences forthwith. But the march is not over yet. There is something still which is inexplicable. The idea of freedom is also there, and so long as it is there, it is a bondage still, though our journey might have come to an end. There it is only God's help that can take us along onwards, but only when we are in a state of complete oblivion. In that sense I would therefore prefer to induce people to forget themselves instead of knowing themselves.
It is really the state of self-surrender in which one, as a true devotee, surrenders himself completely to the will of God, the Master, basking in the sunshine of His Grace. That is the relationship between the Master and the devotee, which is to be maintained all through because that was the only relationship that had finally brought us up to that highest level of super-consciousness. It is only here that the true character of our being is revealed. But if the idea of freedom lingers still, or he has a feeling of it in any way, he is not free from the shackles. When the consciousness of freedom is also gone, one finds himself lost in the maze of wonder. The idea of Reality even is not there. He feels that he is not keeping pace with Infiniteness. The condition can better be described either as having been dissolved in toto, or that Infinity has been poured into us in toto. When everything is dissolved, one finds himself nowhere. Absorbency in Brahman commences, but we push on still to attain the last stage destined for a human being.
