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Spend enough time reflecting upon spiritual truths. These are about (i) God the Supreme (ii) the Ultimate Reality of world-existence and (iii) yourself, the Self or Soul in you.

29 July 2004

Dear and blessed S:

Harih Om Tat Sat. Your letter of 12th June with the offering was received and acknowledged. I wanted some time to write to you leisurely.

Self-realization is something very broad and comprehensive. People make the common mistake of regarding it as a mere point – a one-time event. This confusion should first be cleared.

In its comprehensiveness, a number of virtues and excellences reign. As a seeker, try to know about these. Then be given to these, one after another. To the extent you ensure that these have an important place in your mind, you will begin to feel ‘quietitude’ and joy.

To practise or pursue a virtue, one should first think fondly about it. This means one has to spend as much time as possible mentally on it. That will then instill the virtue into your inner system. Once this is accomplished, it will begin to express in your thoughts, words and deeds.

This is verily how anything grows in an individual. Generally, people hear or read something and feel a little about it. May be some wish for or desire it. There it stops. How can a quality grow then?

The missing part is the inner association with what you desire. Think of a girl loving a boy. Will not she think about him day in and day out? That even leads to her marrying that person, often despite all the obstacles she faces! If an individual can be possessed thus by a lifelong relationship, what prevents the same mind from possessing harmless enriching virtues and qualities?

Start this inner process of fondness and assimilation straightaway. What is the first quality you want to focus on now?

The earth is suspended or supported by none in space. Yet it revolves and preserves its trajectory unshakably for ages. What sustains this? The same is the truth with every other heavenly body.

Rely fully on the same Supreme Power from now on. This reliance has nothing to do with That. But it has everything to do with your mind, yourself. Can you with heartiness and zeal raise yourself to this level of full-fledged reliance? In reality, it means imbibing a certain psychological dimension. If you are able to muster it, that will readily enrich and empower your mind ineffably. If the mind with reliance is greatly powerful, the one devoid of such reliance is a trifle. Gauge their difference and determine your choice.

Try to remove one constriction after another from the mind: desire, hatred, fear, intolerance, irritation, ego, possessiveness – all these. A constricted mind is heavy and suffocating. One free of constriction is light and joyous. One is a narrow stream while the other is a wide deep river! Be the latter. The means for it is to strip the mind of narrow notes one by one. Do not attempt to remove all at one stroke. Dispense with them one after another.

Spend enough time reflecting upon spiritual truths. These are about
(i) God the Supreme
(ii) the Ultimate Reality of world-existence and
(iii) yourself, the Self or Soul in you.

Try to delve into your mind, looking at its subtle working. Explore the vista that it is. For instance: What is thought? What is thinking? Who is the thinker? How are the three related? What is the thinking substance itself? Mind you, all these are just within your body, felt and experienced by you every time.

Such enquiry will take you to the Mental Vastness that hosts all these. Looks simple, but very deep and wholesome when attempted. Is this not enough for you to focus your saadhana and proceed?

Start earnestly. Let me know.

Rudraaksha generally denotes austerity, tapasyaa. Ascetic brahmacharins and sannyaasins may and do wear the rudraaksha garland. But householders take to it only after transcending their youth, say after crossing sixty. But these days, I find, rudraaksha has become a fashion. Otherwise, tulasi garland is harmonious with householders, and rudraaksha with ascetics. Rudraaksha is an ayurvedic item too. One common test applied to select the proper ones is to put the seeds into water and take only those that sink. Reject others.

Love and ashirvaad. Ma and Nutan Swamiji send you loving good wishes.
Antaraatma, Swamiji.

(From Vicharasethu—Dec 2004)