Devotion when not contained in the vessel of the heart bursts itself into tears and emotional expressions manifest. This of course starts at the Pind desh itself in knots 3 and 4. That is mainly because the soul seeks the Lord and it is happy at the signs of liberation from mundane consciousness and an awareness of the Divine it perceives in its inner core. At this stage the memory of the Lord is so revived that a feeling of repentance starts for having left the homeland and for being away from the Lord.

If the knot 1 is not thoroughly clean the chances are here also the aspirant may get into emotional fits and the chances of becoming an Avadhoot are there. Cleaning processes advocated by the Master should be assiduously followed. However, the chances are it may not be attended to all. This is because the aspirant gets into a network of feelings of purity and nearness to Lord. A capable guide alone can lift a person from this stage. Further the next stage in which the emotional over tinge is not there may not be all that attractive to the aspirant until he gets stabilised there and he develops the real taste that is needed through constant and thorough cleaning.

The reverential consciousness turns into a feeling of servitude to the Master. The much talked about condition of Dasya bhava expressed in Vaishnavaite cults has its base only from this stage. However, the expressions of ecstasy (cultivated and natural) and other aberrations having nothing to do with the condition. The best examples of this consciousness available for us in the epics are that of King Bharata (brother of Sri Rama) and Bhakta Hanumanji (of Ramayana). In both the cases there is total annihilation of self-consciousness and total servitude to Master is expressed. Of course the recent example is that of the Master Sri Ramchandraji of Shahjahanpur and His attitude towards His Master Lalaji Maharaj.

Behind this attitude of servitude towards the Lord is the base of piety and devotion and single pointed attention towards the goal. The negation of self increases in intensity and in the place of purity that one has been striving all the while the concern for the oneness with the Lord overtakes and even a slight digression causes much dissatisfaction. Vairagya in this sense is superfine and it has no resemblance even in its remotest sense to the earlier stages of Vairagya experienced in knots 1, 7 and 8. This is real attachment to the Divine for which the seeds were sown when the consciousness was diverted towards the Atman point from the lower region of heart. The beginning of Prapanna condition may be said to start from here and this state remains with the aspirant till the end. Many great saints of the past and the Alwars in particular raved in this sphere and may be said to have got into the intricate webs and could not extricate themselves for long periods of time. The cries of the aspirant to the Lord to take him to his fold and the cries of the aspirant repenting for his sins also find expression here. In the Pind desh the aspirant often repents for not being able to adhere to the rules of conduct or for having violated certain Niyamas. Repentance in that stage leads to prayer seeking help of the Master to improve one's conduct. At this stage the aspirant feels repentance simply for having forgotten the Lord even for a second. Thus while it may appear repentance is common in the super fine state of consciousness of superior type here, there is a feeling of separation and consequent repentance for forgetting Master. Though the feeling of sobbing grief wells up in the heart at the time of repentance it is not of the same magnitude felt earlier. When an aspirant comes to this stage and does not feel the sobbing grief at the same time of feeling repentance he can consider himself to have reached Laya Avastha in the state of Prapanna gati.

Tenth knot:

It is well known that greed is at the root of theft but only those that have the grace of God know that it is at the root of begging also. Much of what is called as "Prayer" is really no better than begging. The fortunate aspirant who has obtained access up to this stage knows that God really knows what he needs. The aspirants' confidence which is infinitely increased due to the awareness of the nearness of the Lord enables him to understand that the Master knows what he wants and what is required for the successful pursuit of his sadhana. It is only before one reaches this stage the attitude of questioning the events that take place which are both bad and good. He comes to a stage of accepting everything as a divine will and has no difficulty in accepting everything as a gift of the Divine also. Earlier to this condition such attitude is only artificial and is an attempt at imitating the higher condition however good it may be to stabilize one in sadhana. So far the condition of the aspirant is such that he was carefully guarding his lapses and putting it before the Master but at the same time was never hesitant to point out the lapses on the part of others. As the Lord Buddha said 'a man winnows his neighbours' faults like chaff, but his own faults he hides, as a cheat hides the false die from the gambler.' It is so far the habit of talking 'truths' about others or what their Ahankara suggests to them as 'truths' about others and always placing themselves at the level of a judge. This is one of the worst Ahankaric coverings that is got rid off by the grace of the Master before entering the realm of piety which is a very high condition. This it should be clear needs one more acquisition namely the capacity to face truth, namely courage (Dhiratva).

It is fear that is at the back of any sectarianism, narrow-minded fanaticism. It is fear of truth that drive men seek relief by getting into sects and seek shelter from theological dogmas and creeds which give them some little protection. The fact of experience is the truths of the Brahmand are as terrifying as the nature of Pind and it requires a great amount of courage for a man to face the various aspects of the Ahankara in the eye not casually or rationally but in full realization.

For those that are not blessed but aspire for life of truth the Ahankaric forces are still in darkness and silence and are in the domain of the unknown. This darkness is what one experiences in the Brahmand and the gray colour is visible only for those who are blessed. In the gray light glimpses of the Ahankaric forces are visible for the discerning disciples and so long as the gray does not dawn, like an unknown disease the unknown Ahankaric forces are hard to fight. The darkness naturally begets depression which is again one of the conditions of the Brahmand, as was pointed out earlier.

It should be noted that spiritual vanity represents another form of darkness. Instead of fear in that case the opposite weakness manifests itself, namely self-confidence a quality which by its "selfness" betrays the Ahankara. Self confidence is the forerunner of pride which puts the aspirant on a lofty pedestal at the foot of which the rest of humanity is deemed to crawl like so many insects. Spiritual pride is the worst enemy to realization of the Ultimate. The lie of dualism shall end even as a falsity of the liar should. This is the worst lie and can never go unless the single pointed orientation to the Master develops to the exclusion of all. In the house of the Lord only one exists and that is the Lord.

It may be seen that the traditional system of yoga does not talk of any knot or centre between Ajna chakra and Sahasrara. However, there are references to certain unnamed centres in the works of the Saint Jnana Deva. In his book "Kundalini and Meditation" Sri Arjun Dass Mallik refers to the works of a Saint Sabhapati Swami who has given a graphic account of the points and knots in human frame. However, unfortunately the full details of the nature of these knots are not mentioned in the book. Suffice it to say that there have been glimpses of such centres between Ajna and Sahasrara even earlier. It was, however, left to Sri Ramchandraji to elucidate on them.

The feeling of nearness to the Lord turns into a feeling of proximity with the Lord. In the earlier knot the feeling of surrender to the Lord which was experienced now changes its hue to that of lordship by virtue of proximity to the Lord. Due to the real contact with the Lord one has developed, there also develops a feeling of revering oneself and in fact one feels that all his limbs and organs are all Divine and needs to be kept sacred and in fact worshipped. Much of what goes in Sri Vaishnavism where they try to beautify the body and make it venerable is based on this logic namely the body and mind of the Jiva is the gift of God and has all the characteristics of the Divine once it is surrendered to the Lord. The misfortune was the gross interpretation given to the tradition.

The aspirant now feels a type of coolness and calmness coming from within and accepts it as Divine in its origin and nature which of course is true. The condition can be compared to that of a person who stays in a Royal house permanently and feels regal naturally. This is called Prabhugati. The feeling of being a part of the regality or part of Lord extends up to the feeling that one has a share in the lordship.

However, the stage gets passed over soon and the real nature of the aspirant, namely, that of being a devotee ever in wait of the Master comes to view and the aspirant feels now that he is only a Prapanna and a surrendered self before the Lord. Presumably this attitude or posture of the aspirant rings in the inner core of Reality and as Master says 'the Master starts sensing that one of his slaves is in wait for Him'. This condition is called by Master as Prapanna Prabhu gati. These are all the stages that have to be covered before one can enter into the Kingdom of God in the real sense. At this stage divine qualities tend to get expressed in the aspirant. A sense of sameness with the Divine develops to a certain degree but the laya is yet far off. There is conscious awareness of the presence of the Bhuma or base in the heart and this makes the aspirant know that there is a certain eternal or universal essence which has to be reached. This makes the aspirant aware of the original essence or moola tattva.

Rev. Babuji says that the realm of expression or manifestation is from this level downwards. Here all the elements are in their original essence and are in purity. All manifestation begins from here to take grosser forms and therefore this can be considered the causal existence of all things in the Universe. This is the abode of Isvara in the sense that from this level alone He functions. This is the beginning of expression of the Divine in a grosser sense. Therefore, it is to be understood that this is the realm of piety (qudsa). It would be better to understand that the realm of piety starts from this place and spreads through the realm of Bhuma till the aspirant reaches the goal.

The aspirant having reached a stage of absolute surrender to the Master, and enjoying in a sense the regal status of the Lord and having developed piety now enters the real journey. The stage of going beyond expression having been reached the Aspirant is now ready to shed the various sheaths of existence and the long and final lap of journey begins.

It is necessary to recall that all existence consists of five Kosas starting from annamaya kosa through Pranamaya, Manomaya, and Vijnanamaya to anandamaya kosa. The soul is enwrapped by five sheaths of consciousness is a well-known fact. It may also be remembered that the aspirant in Sri Ram Chandra's Rajayoga does not go through the journeys fully in various knots and is allowed to move on to the higher stages by the Grace of the Master experienced through Pranahuti and therefore there is considerable portion of the journeys to be done there. But the Great Master identified the means by which the Aspirant need not struggle himself at the lower levels and that one may virtually complete the journeys at the lower levels by going through various knots beyond the Prapanna Prabhu gati.

The toughest of the sheaths is the annamaya kosa which is followed by the less strong Pranamaya, Manomaya, Vijnanamaya and Ananda maya Kosas. Unless the soul is freed from the confusion of its identifying itself as these sheaths or otherwise the clutches of these sheaths the question of freedom of the self is out of question. It is not here intended to have a full explanation of these sheaths; suffice it to say that the body, breath, mind and vital spheres of our constitution are governed by these sheaths. As a matter of fact the whole exercise of seeking freedom is directed only against these sheaths in a sense. The Annamaya kosa literally governs the modern man. He is guided by a philosophy directed mainly at the stomach: a culture of dinner parties and luncheon workshops. The knots or points coming after the Prapanna Prabhu gati relate in one sense or the other with these Kosas.