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PRAYER

Here, by the grace of God, the master's power alone works all through, and there can be no possibility of harm in it. If you find any difficulty or entanglement, or even an unbearable excitement of emotion, just refer that to Him through prayer at any time or from any place, and it shall go away at once. Never mind whether I become aware of it or not, your purpose shall anyhow be served.

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We must cultivate the habit of forbearance and tolerance, putting up coolly with taunts and rebukes of others, feeling ourselves to be at fault. This is not too great a sacrifice for the attainment of the great Goal. If my views seem to be appealing to you please try to follow them. This will bring you greater peace. If you find yourself inefficient for it, then you should resort to prayer with a supplicant heart. Do this and see whether you are able to overcome anger or not.

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Shri X has complained of anger in himself in his letter. The reply is that he should pray to God for its removal, in such a way that tears should come bubbling out.

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Much praise has been sung of a naked sword although its function is to cut. Now, it requires the brain to use it, so that it may strike the enemy and not the friend or self.

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Prayer is the sign of devotion. It shows that we have established our relationship with the holy Divine. In prayer we try to reach up to the central point. It can be attained by resigning ourselves to the Divine will which is absolutely simple and tranquil. The most important and unfailing means of success is, therefore, prayer.

HINTS TO A SEEKER

I hold that mere questions and answers can never reveal the mysterious interior of a man. This can actually be known only through close association (satsangh) and practice (abhyas). I may frankly confess to you that I have studied no books, for I never thought them worthwhile. I aimed at Reality which I thought to be the only thing worth having, and left the study of books to the scholars and pundits. Whatever I say or write is on the basis of my own experience or anubhava on the path of Realisation, irrespective of what Shankara or Ramanuja or others might have said about their own. I no doubt do read sometimes now, but that is only by way of recreation, and I try to retain as much as I can for the sake of easy expression. I remember one such thing which I had read in Viveka Chudamani by Shankaracharya, which means :—

“Books do not help us in Realisation; and when Realisation is achieved books are useless.”

When we start practising, and are in quest of our ultimate goal, we fix upon that which seems helpful to us in our pursuit. We consequently begin to imagine that everything depends upon God's will, so that we may remain connected with it. It gradually develops into closeness and attachment, which in true sense, means the beginning of layavastha or merging. For that we practise love, devotion and all other means conducive to our purpose. We can as well say that our free will extends so far as our limited sphere goes, and God's will extends as far as His unlimited sphere goes. We cannot profess our will to be the same as that of God until we shatter our limitations and bondages. This is our real pursuit, and we do it in order to secure merging with Reality. This topic is dealt with in another book ‘Towards Infinity'. In it I have explained how, after losing his individuality, a man can become identical with Brahma. The relation between God's and man's will may be expressed in the way that when we look to the former (that is God's will) the greater thing begins to attract the lesser thing. We begin to dwell in a state of non-duality when we become one with Him, the Absolute, after shattering all our limitations. But we start from duality and after marching on finally come to non-duality automatically.

As regards your question whether all proceed towards God spontaneously or by God's will, it may suffice to say that every river joins itself with the ocean losing its own identity altogether. The ocean does not come to mix with the river. Just so do we proceed towards the origin. A time shall be when all will merge in It, and that will be the time of Maha Pralaya. We practise only to cut short our way, and thus be saved from the miseries of innumerable lives till then.

Prakriti came into existence at the time of creation through the effect of the revolving motion around the Centre. The motion generated power which subsequently led to be the cause of creation. I feel that prakriti loses its existence in maha pralaya for if any composed up thing remains in existence maha pralaya has not been effected in true sense. What remains after that is but the One. We may call it Zero or the Base for the sake of understanding. No prakriti and no universe can stand without the Base. There must be a backing for the existence and that backing is God or Brahman. Existence is meaningless if it has nothing to stand upon. As for Prarabdha Karma, I think and see in my vision that they are in store for bhoga, as every action of body or mind produces some effect. We can attain liberation when we have cleared ourselves of all the past impressions. It is of course a tedious task. In Raja Yoga, they appear for bhoga in an almost fried up state due to abhyas and good guidance. The process of bhoga is also carried on during sleep provided the Master — the essential need in spirituality — is worthy of the task to bring these things round for bhoga in the dream. We have only to unveil ourselves through devotional practices. If you want to taste the real nectar of life, come forward into the field with undaunted courage, not minding the ups and downs of fortune. That is the thing needed for our life, not charity and alms. The real sacrifice is not to leave the job or office, and retire to the forest, but to lose your own self. That is what is needed in a true seeker.

You asked me about Nirvikalpa Samadhi. It is of course a yogic attainment, but it will not solve your problem. It can bring you to a state of salvation but liberation is something else, as given in `Reality at Dawn'. When you become extremely subtle (sukshma), akin to God, then only can you think yourself fit for liberation. We strive for that in our abhyas.

Suppose you attain nirvikalpa samadhi, even then kalpana remains in some form or the other. Besides, the state of inertness acquired cannot continue constantly, as we have to attend to our duties too. But suppose we do not mind them, even then the preservation of the body (one of our sacred duties) still remains; and it is indispensable too for the attainment of perfection. If the same condition prevails constantly, we cannot evidently be mindful of it. The real state of samadhi is that in which we remain attached with Reality pure and simple every moment, no matter if we are busy all the time with our worldly work and duties. It is known as sahaj samadhi, one of the highest attainments, and the very basis of nirvana. Its merits cannot be described in words but it can be realised by one who abides in it. It is not so easy as its name denotes. It was highly spoken of by Saint Kabir, and it is the thing worth gaining.

I may tell you one thing more. For the sake of proper abhyas try to seek the adept. When you find such a one give yourself up to him. I think I have sufficiently dealt with what you needed and now it remains for you to play the part of a true seeker and adopt means helpful in attaining the goal. There are three signs which indicate that we are nearing the goal. They are Divine action, Divine wisdom and Divine thoughts. Try to develop these in yourself. For that we have a simple method based on the process of yogic transmission, which helps the abhyasi a good deal on the path. Its efficacy can be known only if one does it for some time. We apply the simple method because we have to gain a simple thing. If this idea is rooted deep in the heart, it is sure to bear fruit soon. Is there anything more you want to ask me? I think there is one still, and it is, “How to attain perfection?” Is it not so? I may tell you most frankly that it is not in the least difficult provided you get a capable guide. Now seek one such. It is my friendly advice to you, and when you get him, give yourself up to him in toto. His association will reveal to you much, and that may also serve as a method to find him out. I have wasted a good deal of your time as only one sentence was enough for the reply. It is, “Seek in you and you will find Him in yourself. The Master is there. But when? Only when you are not there.”

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