The Trail Of Wings

What Indra Devi has said is nothing new in this country and for us. In fact, she learnt the elements of yoga here and she is making many lives happy and peaceful in the West, through yoga. Her campaign of Light in Darkness is only the Sanathana Dharma ideal of ‘Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya’  - “From darkness lead me into light.” It is really surprising that anyone should train people in concentration; for without concentration, no task can be accomplished by man. To drive a car, shape a pot on a wheel, weave a design, and weed a plot of land - all these jobs require single-minded attention. To walk along life’s highway, which is full of hollows and mounds, to talk to one’s fellowmen, who are of manifold temperaments – all these require concentration. The senses have to be reined in, so that they may not distract or disturb; the brain must not go wool-gathering; the emotions must not color or discolor the objectives one seeks. That is the way to succeed in concentration.

Yoga is chitta vritti nirodha - the cutting off all agitations on the lake of one’s inner consciousness. Nothing should cause a wave of emotion or passion on the calm surface or in the quiet depths of one’s awareness. This state of equanimity is the hallmark of Jnana (spiritual wisdom). Sadhana (Spiritual discipline) is the drug and Vichara (Inquiry) is the regimen that will cure man of all waywardness and agitation.

Become Aware That You Are The Light

The process of meditation on the Light of the Lamp, which Indra Devi has told you, has to be understood thus. First, feel that you are in the Light. Then, proceed to the realisation that the Light is in you. Later, become aware that you are the Light, no more, no less. But, it is easier and better to project the light, which you first visualise within you, to the outside world, illumining more and more of the world, and visualising them all as soaked in the Divine Glory that is in you, too. When you feel you are all Light, you will have no weight; everything will be bright. That is why, on the Prasanthi Flag, the Atma-jyoti is represented as emanating from the Hridhayakamala, when the Lotus blooms at the first touch of the rays of the Sun, Jnana.

You can have other things besides Light to overcome the darkness. Anything that awakens the awareness of the Universal - the Infinite, the lmmanent, the Transcendent, all-pervasive, vast Brahman - is beneficial. You can have some Form of the Universal, like Krishna, Whose blue colour is redolent with the vast deep sky or sea. Contemplate on that Form, picture it in your mind, spend time slowly and with full attention on that holy picturisation - peacock feather, the kasturi (black) dots, the brows, the eyes, the nose, the nose-stud of pearl, the mouth, lips, teeth, the flute. Oh, you can spend hours painting Him on the canvas of your heart! (Your attention will wander far in the initial stages, but do not lose heart). It is a very profitable exercise to sublimate your thoughts and feelings. Every minute spent in this dhyana will take you one step nearer Liberation, nearer Mokshapuri, the ‘City of God’, of Freedom from bondage.

Take Everything As The Will Of The Lord

You are forsaking your real mother and attaching yourselves to the ayahs (maids), who fostered you. Your real mother is Sai, Who has affection untouched by ego. That is why Ramakrishna cried out for Her and for Her grace. There is in every one an inner urge, goading him forward to the merger in his own reality, as a river is led along to the sea by the compulsion of the flow. The pendulum will swing from right to left, only when you wind the clock. Leave off winding, it will come to a halt. So too, the mind will waver from right to wrong, from mirth to moan, only when you urge it on and encourage it. Desist from winding the mind; it will cease its antics.

Do not count your tears of pain; do not pore over your griefs. Let them pass through your mind, as birds fly through the sky, leaving no trail behind, or as flames and floods appear on the screen in a picture-house, without singing or damping the screen.

You must not lose heart, when you are disappointed. Perhaps, your wish itself was wrong, or its achievement may have landed you in worse situations. Any way, it is the will of the Lord and He knows best. Disappointments and distress are like the skin of the plantain, to protect the taste and allow the sweetness to fill the fruit. In such dire straits, let your mind dwell on the splendor of the Atma and its majesty; that will keep you alert and brave. The antics of the senses and the mind can be arrested by the whip of Atmajnana (wisdom of the true Self).

Prayers To Be Offered Daily

Do this concentration of your reality every day, in Dhyana. Follow the same rigorous routine every day - time, place, duration, method, pose, all being unchanged. Then, the disturbing factors can be easily humbled and tamed. As Ramakrishna said, do not dig a few feet in a number of different places and moan that you could not strike water. Dig in one place steadily and with faith. The boring drill goes down into the very underground spring of water; drill “Ram” “Ram” “Ram” continuously and steadily and you, too, can get the rewarding result of realisation.

“Ram” is the name of the drug; the disease will not be affected in the least, when you simply repeat the name of the drug. It is only when the drug is taken in that the disease gets scared and packs up to leave. As jerks are to the body, japam (contemplative repetition of sacred words) is to the mind. Jerks tone up the body. Japam tones up the mind and drives out the evil viruses from it. The heart is the pot, intelligence is the churning rod, sadhana (spiritual practice) is the process of churning, and realisation is the butter gained.

If you plead that you have no time to spare for japam and dhyanam, I will say that it is but laziness that makes you argue so. How can any lower task claim the time that is legitimately the right of the one task, for which man is born? Rise every day, as if you are rising from death. Say, “Thus am I born. Make me speak soft, sweet words. Make me behave coolly and comfortingly towards all. Let me do deeds that shower happiness on all and form ideas in my mind, which are beneficial to all. May this day be worthwhile by Thy Service” - pray like this, sitting on your bed, before you start the day’s schedule. Remember that pledge throughout the day. When you retire at night, sit up and examine quickly all the experiences of the day; see whether you have caused pain or displeasure to anyone by any word or deed. Then, pray, “I am now dying and falling into your lap. Pardon me for any lapse; take me under your loving shelter.” After all, sleep is a short death and death a long sleep.

Train yourself to waken, when Brahma-muhurtam begins - that is to say, at 3.00 a.m. You may require an alarm clock at first for the job; but soon, the urge for Dhyana will rouse you. Do not take a bath before you sit for Dhyana, for the ritual of the bath will arouse the senses and you will be too full of pulls in different directions for the process of Dhyana to succeed. Regularity, sincerity, steadiness - these will reward you with success.

Prasanthi Nilayam, 22-1-1967