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« on: June 06, 2016, 07:41:18 AM »
Sri Ramanananda Swarnagiri says in his Crumbs from His Table:-
Devotee: When I am engaged in enquiry as to the Source from
which the "I" springs, I strive at a stage of stillness of mind,
beyond which I find myself unable to proceed further. I have no
thought of any kind, and there is an emptiness, a blankness. A
mild light pervades and I find that it is myself, body-less. I have
neither cognition nor vision of body and form. The experience lasts nearly
half an hour and is pleasing. Would I be correct in concluding that all that was
necessary to secure eternal happiness (i.e freedom or salvation or whatever one calls it)
was to continue the practice till this experience could be maintained for hours, days
and months together?
Bhagavan: This does not mean salvation. Such a condition is termed "manolaya" or
temporary stillness of thought. Manolaya means concentration, temporarily arresting
the movement of thoughts, old and new, rush in as usual and even though this
temporary lulling of mind should not a thousand years, it will never lead to total destruction
of thought, which is what is called salvation or liberation, from birth and death. The practicer
must therefore be ever on the alert and inquire within as to who has this
experience, and who realizes its pleasantness. Failing this inquiry, he will go into a long trance of
deep sleep (Yoga Nidra). Due to the absence of a proper guide at this stage of spiritual practice,
many have been deluded and fallen a prey to false sense of salvation and only a few have, either
by the merit of good acts in their previous births, or by extreme grace, have been enabled to reach
the goal of safety.
(Here Bhagavan tells the story of a Yogi, who was feeling thirsty and asked his disciple to bring
a cup of drinking water. Suddenly he went into that trance of mano-laya and several years passed.
When he woke up from this trance, the first question he asked was: Where is my cup of water?)
The first thing which he asked for was water, because, before going to deep concentration,
the topmost layer of thought in his mind was water, and by concentration, however deep
and prolonged it might have been, he had only been able to TEMPORARILY LULL HIS THOUGHTS,
and when, therefore, he revoked consciousness, this topmost thought flew up with all the speed
and force of a flood, breaking through the dykes. If this is the case, with regard to a thought which
took shape immediately before he sat for meditation, there is no doubt that thoughts which have
taken deeper roots earlier will still remain un-annihilated. If annihilation of thoughts is salvation,
can he be said to have attained salvation?
(Source: Crumbs from His Table, Sri Ramananda Swarnagiri, Sri Ramanasramam, Tiruvannamalai.)
Arunachala Siva.
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