"Unflinching devotion to the Teacher is paramount in the life of a true seeker. To begin with, an external God can be the object of faith. But once the devotee grows to be a seeker, only a Wise Teacher can fulfil his quest.  It is then for the seeker to get purified and enlightened by the words of wisdom from his Guru.  Their bond and attunement put the Teacher on the pedestal of God.  Such an impeccable Guru-sishya bond alone bestows wisdom, strength and fulfillment to the seeker."

The Guiding force of Narayanashrama Tapovanam & Center for Inner Resources Development

Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha

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Q & A

 
Reproduced from the June 1996 Issue of the monthly magazine Vicharasethu
1 May 1996
Poojya Swamiji,
 
My heartfelt pranaams. I have just now finished reading a book by X. X describes through letters to his Master the spiritual experiences he underwent after receiving initiation. I am left wondering whether spiritual knowledge matures and is true only if one undergoes such powerful transforming experiences and insights.
 
I also claim to experience almost constant Self-knowledge. But I never had any powerful spiritual experiences. For me Self-knowledge represents a pure knowledge of being with no extraordinary attributes. Its bliss also is ordinary.
 
During your last visit you mentioned something to the effect that Self-expression is subdued in my case presently to enable me to do some work. Does ‘subdued’ mean it is different from true knowledge? Is it that one has to work out the magnificence of the
Self and otherwise it is not expressed naturally?
 
Could you please enlighten me on truth behind the spiritual evolution I am undergoing? You mentioned about a Great Outcome in your last letter to me. Should I not know what is that? What are the various stages and their indications?
 
Swamiji, I have put so many questions before you. You have repeatedly told me that desirelessness is the ultimate attainment. But my heart remains concerned. Swamiji, is it beyond my potential? Or is it going to be a lifelong affair? Can the process be hastened? Or what do I do for it?
 
Seeking your blessings to achieve the Highest,
                                                                           In loving surrender,
Yours P.
 
 
29 May 1996

Dear and blessed P,

Harih Om Tat Sat. Your letter of 1st came here in time. I read it, and I am now reading it again. Here are my thoughts and reactions:

  1. Seekers are of various kinds. The variety extends from their bodily composition. The course of seeking and the results it produces also differ accordingly. As the voice and the appearance vary from seeker to seeker, so also are the deeper characteristics.
  2. But after these differences express and exhaust themselves, the pedestal to be reached must and will be the same. Till then, it is ‘different roads leading to Rome’.
  3. ‘Experiences’ will be guided by each seeker’s disposition and susceptibilities. But understand all experiences to be experiences alone. They tend to inspire the seeker and also give him the confidence that in this body there exists a Power and presence transcending the mere body. Beyond this confirmation, no purpose is served by them.

  4. Finally, when it comes to Self-knowledge, it is the knowledge that you are the Self, and never were you otherwise. This Self admits no change. No one experience particularly denotes or indicates It. All experiences are caused by the same Self and imply that Self alone. Self is not experience, but experiences are subsisting on It, caused by It. Even the body is its creation.

  5. Here are a few introspections. The advanced seeker can verify his own position:

    1. Do I look to anything or anyone else for fulfillment?
    2. Do I find any existence besides the Self, at any time, judged by any standards?
    3. Do I think of any gain than the Self, which I already am?
    4. Do I feel that I am a non-doer, and hence non-enjoyer and non-suffer?
    5. Do I know clearly that the Self is the supreme Brilliance and in its light alone all other things shine with their respective lustre?           
    6. Do I realize that while wakefulness, dream and deep sleep states rise and set, their substratum does not rise and set? Do I also realize that these transitory states have no existence besides Self?
    7. Do I feel like comparing myself with other Knowers in order to judge my Self-knowledge? Do I feel I am less or more than others?   

 

In short, Self-realization implies a state of full freedom in the conscious level. It denotes psychological sufficiency and intelligential enlightenment, both of which must be foolproof.

Decide how much freedom you envisage and want? And then fulfil it. Finally, the need for freedom will itself become extinct.

With love and Sivasis.

                                                                                                               Yours,

                                                                                                                 Swamiji.

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