True Spiritual Living

by Swami Krishnananda

Now, our experiences are brought about by certain associations of the conditions of our body with the conditions of things outside. Sometimes, the frequency or intensity of the conditions of the world outside goes beyond the capacity of our body to receive its impact. Then, we cannot know what is happening outside. We cannot know that there is such a thing called heaven, for instance. We cannot see celestials with our eyes, because the celestial realm or the heaven that we have heard of is a condition of living, a set of circumstances whose frequency is far more intense than what our bodily conditions can bear or receive.

To give a gross example, your eardrum cannot receive broadcasting waves sent from broadcasting stations. If the BBC is transmitting something, your ear cannot hear it though these waves of the broadcasting station are impinging upon your eardrums, because there is no receptive capacity of the eardrums. They are very gross. We have a capacity to receive only certain types of influence. The influence should not be below our present condition, or above our condition. The body will not receive what is grosser than its own condition, nor subtler than its condition. And so, we are in a peculiar, temporary state of affairs where we are compelled to mistake a transient or fleeting set of circumstances for the entire reality.

That is why we are happy in this world – very, very foolishly indeed; and the student of yoga sees this with his piercing eye. Duhkham eva sarvam vivekinah (YS 2.15), says Patanjali. For a person of understanding, everything is sorrow in this world. There is no joy, because this joy is a phenomenon which is projected falsely by passing conditions, which should not be mistaken for everything and all things.

Why I mention all this is because we, as seekers of truth or students of yoga, should not take yoga as a diversion, a hobby, or a kind of play like tennis or football, for which we go in the evening when the day’s work is over. We are not playing tennis or football here. This is, as I said, a life-and-death matter for those who can realise their condition, really. But we are often so pigheaded that we cannot realise our own condition. It is this thick-headedness that makes us appear very comfortable and happy in this world. But a subtle mind, like that of a student of yoga, will realise what is ahead, and it will be very cautious of even tomorrow.

When we take to the practice of yoga, we take to a very, very serious subject, which cannot be compared with anything else in this world. The seriousness of the issue should drive us into a very meticulous observation of the disciplines of yoga. As the Upanishad tells us, not all the treasures of this earth put together can be equal to this knowledge. We should not impart this knowledge to undeserving persons, and we should not sell it for even the treasures of the whole world. Such is the worth, value, importance and necessity of this knowledge.

Knowing this very well, it is to be considered by us as high time for taking to serious practice, which calls for attention wholeheartedly paid to this subject, for which, as we considered in the previous chapter, we have to find time to sit quietly for a while every day to deliberate upon the various factors that are necessary for the practice. The first thing is, therefore, to find time; and our greatest of diseases is that we cannot find time. We have no time for anything because we have been caught up in the movement of a hurricane or a whirlwind which we call life in this world. This hurricane is driving us in the direction it moves, and we seem to have no control over its movement. We cannot have even a say in this matter. But it is up to us to gain some confidence in ourselves, and exert our will in the proper direction to find time. If we want to find time, we can find time; but if we do not want to find time, we cannot find time. Where there is a will, there is a way.

The activities of our daily life should be so adjusted, proportioned and allotted in the requisite manner that we should not allow our mind to engage itself in questions, issues, or matters which are not really connected with this serious subject which we are considering, this question that we are trying to answer. It is necessary, therefore, to have a daily routine chalked out very carefully, each for oneself, right from the time we get up in the morning till the time we go to bed. What are our daily items of routine? Is there any item which is unnecessary and which we can forego? If it is totally unnecessary, it should be given up, and the time saved thus should be utilised for a better purpose concerned with this aim of ours. Time can be saved either by giving up unnecessary activity, or by quickening the process of even necessary activities. There are many things which are quite necessary, and we cannot give them up because they have to be done, for one reason or the other. But we can bestow so much concentration on these necessary items that we might be able to do them quickly, more quickly than we would do them by merely woolgathering – because time is short, and we do not know what will happen to us tomorrow.

“Grhita ivakeseshu mrtyuna dharmamacharet,” says an old Sanskrit adage. We must practice the path of righteousness, pursue the aim of our life, with such ardour, anxiety, and intensity as would be necessitated at the time if death were to come and catch our throat. “Now I am here!” If death comes and tells us this, what will we think in our mind at that time? With what intensity will we think of God? And what would be the ardour with which we would cry for salvation?

In some of our scriptures, other humorous examples are given. Suppose our hair is caught by fire; we will run somewhere to dip it in the water, or do something. And with what force will we run – with what anxiety! We will not think anything else at that time – neither food, nor clothing, nor anything else: “Oh! My hair has caught fire!” Or, we are drowning in water and are gasping for a little breath. What will be our feeling at that time? Such, they say, is to be the ardour of aspiration, the intensity of our concentration, and the necessity we feel for the practice of yoga.

This is only an introduction for the simple thing that I wish to say – that is, we must find time to sit alone for at least a short time every day. ‘Alone’ means absolutely alone, with none around us, and nothing else to think in our mind – no engagements whatsoever, except the one thing that is before us.

This time that we choose may be either early in the morning, or late in the evening before we go to bed. In the middle of the day, we are busy; well, it is accepted. We have many things to do in this world, so we cannot sit for a long time in the middle of the day. We have to assume and accept that we are beginners. We are not advanced students, so we cannot be fulltime seekers in this intensified form. At least twice in a day we must be able to sit. The moment we get up from the bed, we should not run to the tea shop. That is not the thing that we have to think in our mind, at least for a few minutes – let it be even for fifteen minutes. Get up from the bed, and do not come out of the room at once. Let the first thought be the noblest of thoughts – the most sublime of ideas – the entertaining of which will be strong enough to give us enough energy to work throughout the day in a proper manner, without indulging in errors, or falsehood, or any kind of unwanted behaviour.

So should the day also end. Before going to bed, there should be at least a half-an-hour’s gap allowed for us to concentrate and meditate on these essentials of life. They are the essentials; the other things are only preparatory for these essentials to manifest themselves and work themselves out in our life. And a day should come when we should be able to give more and more time for these essentials by cutting short unwanted work and non-essentials in our life so that, God willing, the time will come when we shall be wholly dedicated for a life of godliness.

This does not mean an abandonment of earthly values, as many people mistakenly imagine, but a transmutation, transformation and sublimation of all earthly values so that in our turning towards God, we have not isolated ourselves from the world or given up anything of the world, but only absorbed everything into ourselves and become a larger body, a bigger person, and a more significant individual now than what we were earlier.