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Reality dawns upon him alone who goes
back along with Nature making himself subtler and
subtler.
Sri. K. C. Srihari
The topic of the seminar taken from
the message ‘Peep into Reality’ at Raichur in 1970
stresses the importance of making ourselves subtler
and subtler. Master Sriramchandraji Maharaj of
Shahjahanpur, U.P, India continues in the message
saying “Unless the grossness is completely off, we
cannot even peep into Reality. For the impediments
if any, we alone are responsible. Until and unless
these things are removed we cannot expect the advent
of Reality. To realise the Subtlest Being, we
should adopt only subtle ways.”
As a first step towards this in the
system of Natural path, we are asked to meditate on
the Divine Light. Master in the article Rajayoga
explains this by saying “The process greatly helps
us in throwing out the grossness of our being and in
assuming a state of highest subtleness. We know that
God is completely devoid of grossness, so the
realisation of God must mean the attainment of a
state of similar subtleness to the last possible
degree. This is what we aim at in Natural Path. The
system helps an abhyasi free himself from grossness
that has settled round him in the form of
coverings.”
“The technique though quite simple,
is often beyond common grasp, since it adheres
closely to the absolute Reality and proceeds along
subtlest lines. It prescribes meditation on the
heart, supposing the presence of Divine Light there.
But the abhyasi is directed not to try to see the
light in any form or shape. If he does so the light,
if perchance it appears to his view, will not be the
real one but a projection of his mind. An abhyasi
is, however, advised to take it in the form of mere
supposition. In that case it will be the subtlest,
and we shall thereby be meditating upon the
subtlest.”1
It is clear from the above few
sentences as to why one has to become subtler and
subtler. When we meditate the initial minutes are
spent in struggling with our tendencies of the lower
nature. Even as a merry-go-round whirls, the
thoughts keep coming one by one. Lower nature
thoughts may be thought of anything that takes away
our attention from the thought of the Master. The
suggestion given by the Master to ignore the
thoughts that arise during that time has to be
followed rather than giving them attention thereby
making them stronger. In the words of our Master
“When we are attentive to the thoughts, their power
develops. If any of you breed the divine thoughts,
mind will grasp it and will not eject them because,
it is the real nature of mind since it has come from
the real Artery”2. Following the
suggestion takes us to higher levels of
consciousness and subtlety. Becoming subtler means
growing out of a thinking that is self oriented all
the time. It is true that all of us have
shortcomings, but it is incumbent upon us to yield
to the Divine totally and integrally. We are
provided opportunities to face our difficulties with
courage and forbearance. Expecting the difficulties
to vanish would be going against the law of cause
and effect. The impediments as Master says are of
our own making. Any amount of justification by our
petty minds will not grant us peace. Our minds have
got the capacity to buffer our egos with such logic
as may appease us. The subtleness required for this
awareness is made possible only by the repeated
assistance of Pranahuti that tells us that it is
possible.
Pranahuti brings the purest state of
consciousness in touch with the grossest level to
transform it so that the grosser gets moulded in
terms of subtle, the subtle in terms of subtler and
the subtler in terms of the subtlest. We must
understand that it is possible to stay at a higher
level of consciousness and that the way to overcome
our lower nature is to think of the higher.
Companies that take us away from this higher must be
discarded as refuse without a second thought. The
way to develop subtleness is to constantly cultivate
it. Just as we cultivated grossness by indulging in
such acts, we must cultivate subtleness by indulging
in such acts that develop it. Any act that reminds
us of our Master must be pursued with a zeal that
overcomes all others. A single pointed resolute
determination helps keep our goal in view.
Listening to the Master, reading his works,
participating in seminars, training programs,
thinking about Him, discussing about Him are a few
of the ways that one can keep in the thought of the
Master in addition to our meditations and satsangs.
Master says “There are stages in the
cosmic regions which we have to cross and indeed we
proceed to a certain length. Afterwards the power
of the abhyasi fails to get at the subtle force. It
is very difficult to cross it unless and until a
push is given to the next step and that is the
master’s work”3. The solution therefore
is to repent and yield to the Master
unconditionally. Once this happens, the power of
Master through assistance of Pranahuti destroys any
illusions that we may have about ourselves. The
individual mind is made to realise the greatness of
the Divine inspite of all its shortcomings. We are
made to realize it is love that is our true nature.
In one sense we are dead to the
world, but in another we are alive with a new
purpose working relentlessly for the mission of the
Master. In the words of Rev. Dr. K. C. Varadachari,
“According to some this linking up would involve or
must involve the extinction of the individual manas
and the individuality itself being swallowed up by
the Great Manas (mahat). All that may be expected
would be that the individual manas would have merged
in the Cosmic and Supra-Cosmic Manas and become of
their nature. Such a person would have become a
cosmic man or one having supermind or vijnana or
buddhi or any such manas which has gone beyond the
limitations of the individual and particularised
gross mentality.”4
The reason we need to become subtler
is so that the Divine can express itself in all
planes of our existence. The more subtler we
become, the more we become aware of our lowliness
and insignificance. The Reality that dawns upon us
is that it is the Master that is the common thread
in all of us and we by ourselves do not have any
significance. The awareness of the presence of
Master in all there is leads us towards conditions
of simplicity, fraternity, purity along with an
overwhelming feeling of gratitude. A life dedicated
to His service is all that we know and become. In
the words of Revered Dr. K.C. Varadachari “The
individual elevation in consciousness is but a step
in the greater task of Divinisation of Man. If
every abhyasi really believes in the Master, he has
the onerous responsibility of shedding through his
actions and behavior the Radiance of the Divine
Personality deeply imbedded in him. He should be
conscious of the fact that he is walking temple, in
as much as Master is present in his heart.”5
Pranams
References:
1.
Showers of Divine Grace, October 2006
Edition, pg 91
2.
Showers of Divine Grace, October 2006
Edition, pg 32
3.
Showers of Divine Grace, October 2006
Edition, pg 33
4.
Complete works of Dr. K.C.Varadachari
Vol 1 – pg 590
5.
Complete works of Dr. K.C.Varadachari
Vol 1 – pg 583 |
