26. The gift of knowledge is the highest gift in the world.

[Place: The Math, Belur. Year: 1902.]

The disciple passed the preceding night in Swamiji’s room. At 4 a.m. Swamiji roused him and said “Go and knock up the Sādhus and Brahmachārins from sleep with the bell.” In pursuance of the order, the disciple rang the bell near the Sādhus who slept. The monastic inmates hastened to go to the worship-room for meditation.

According to Swamiji’s instructions, the disciple rang the bell lustily near Swami Brahmānanda’s bed, which made the latter exclaim, “Good heavens! The Bāngāl¹ has made it too hot for us to stay in the Math!” On the disciple’s communicating this to Swamiji, he burst out into a hearty laugh, saying, “Well done!”

Then Swamiji, too, washed his face and entered the chapel accompanied by the disciple.

The Sannyāsins—Swami Brahmānanda and others—were already seated for meditation. A separate seat was kept for Swamiji, on which he sat facing the east, and pointing to a seat in front to the disciple, said, “Go and meditate, sitting there.”

Shortly after taking his seat, Swamiji became perfectly calm and motionless, like a statue, and his breathing became very slow. Everyone else kept his seat.

After about an hour and a half, Swamiji rose from meditation with the words “Shiva, Shiva”. His eyes were flushed, the expression placid, calm, and grave. Bowing before Shri Ramakrishna he came downstairs and paced the courtyard of the Math. After a while he said to the disciple. “Do you see how the Sādhus are practising meditation etc. nowadays? When the meditation is deep, one sees many wonderful things. While meditating at the Baranagore Math, one day I saw the nerves Idā and Pingalā. One can see them with a little effort. Then, when one has a vision of the Sushumnā, one can see anything one likes. If a man has unflinching devotion to the Guru, spiritual practices —meditation, Japa, and so forth—come quite naturally; one need not struggle for them. `The Guru is Brahmā, the Guru is Vishnu, and the Guru is Shiva Himself.’”

Then the disciple prepared tobacco for Swamiji and when he returned with it, Swamiji spoke as he puffed at it, “Within there is the lion—the eternally pure, illumined, and ever free Ātman; and directly one realises Him through meditation and concentration, this world of Māyā vanishes. He is equally present in all; and the more one practises, the quicker does the Kundalini (the `coiled-up’ power) awaken in him. When this power reaches the head, one’s vision is unobstructed—one realises the Ātman.”

Disciple: Sir, I have only read of these things in the scriptures, but nothing has been realised as yet.

Swamiji: कालेनात्मनि विन्दति—It is bound to come in time. But some attain this early, and others are a little late. One must stick to it—determined never to let it go. This is true manliness. You must keep the mind fixed on one object, like an unbroken stream of oil. The ordinary man’s mind is scattered on different objects, and at the time of meditation, too, the mind is at first apt to wander. But let any desire whatever arise in the mind, you must sit calmly and watch what sort of ideas are coming. By continuing to watch in that way, the mind becomes calm, and there are no more thought-waves in it. These waves represent the thought-activity of the mind. Those things that you have previously thought deeply, have transformed themselves into a subconscious current, and therefore these come up in the mind in meditation. The rise of these waves, or thoughts, during meditation is an evidence that your mind is tending towards concentration. Sometimes the mind is concentrated on a set of ideas—this is called meditation with Vikalpa or oscillation. But when the mind becomes almost free from all activities, it melts in the inner Self, which is the essence of infinite Knowledge, One, and Itself Its own support. This is what is called Nirvikalpa Samādhi, free from all activities. In Shri Ramakrishna we have again and again noticed both these forms of Samādhi. He had not to struggle to get these states. They came to him spontaneously, then and there. It was a wonderful phenomenon. It was by seeing him that we could rightly understand these things. Meditate every day alone. Everything will open up of itself. Now the Divine Mother—the embodiment of illumination—is sleeping within, hence you do not understand this. She is the Kundalini. When, before meditating, you proceed to “purify the nerves”, you must mentally strike hard on the Kundalini in the Mulādhāra (sacral plexus), and repeat, “Arise, Mother, arise!” One must practise these slowly. During meditation, suppress the emotional side altogether. This is a great source of danger. Those that are very emotional no doubt have their Kundalini rushing quickly upwards, but it is as quick to come down as to go up. And when it does come down, it leaves the devotee in a state of utter ruin. It is for this reason that Kirtanas and other auxiliaries to emotional development have a great drawback. It is true that by dancing and jumping, etc. through a momentary impulse, that power is made to course upwards, but it is never enduring. On the contrary when it traces back its course, it rouses violent lust in the individual. Listening to my lectures in America, through temporary excitement many among the audience used to get into an ecstatic state, and some would even become motionless like statues. But on inquiry I afterwards found that many of them had an excess of the carnal instinct immediately after that state. But this happens simply owing to a lack of steady practice in meditation and concentration.

Disciple: Sir, in no scriptures have I ever read these secrets of spiritual practice. Today I have heard quite new things.

Swamiji: Do you think the scriptures contain all the secrets of spiritual practice? These are being handed down secretly through a succession of Gurus and disciples. Practise meditation and concentration with the utmost care. Place fragrant flowers in front and burn incense. At the outset take such external help as will make the mind pure. As you repeat the name of your Guru and Ishta, say, “Peace be to all creatures and the universe!” First send impulses of these good wishes to the north, south, east, west, above, below —in all directions, and then sit down to meditate. One has to do this during the early stages. Then sitting still (you may face in any direction), meditate in the way I have taught you while initiating. Don’t leave out a single day. If you have too much pressing work, go through the spiritual exercises for at least a quarter of an hour. Can you reach the goal without steadfast devotion, my son?

Now Swamiji went upstairs, and as he did so, he said, “You people will have your spiritual insight opened without much trouble. Now that you have chanced to come here, you have liberation and all under your thumb. Besides practising meditation, etc., set yourselves heart and soul to remove to a certain extent the miseries of the world, so full of wails. Through hard austerities I have almost ruined this body. There is hardly any energy left in this pack of bones and flesh. You set yourselves to work now, and let me rest a while. If you fail to do anything else, well, you can tell the world at large about the scriptural truths you have studied so long. There is no higher gift than this, for the gift of knowledge is the highest gift in the world.”

Notes

1. Meaning an East Bengal man, used as a term of endearing reproach for the disciple. ↩