Memoirs of the Divine Personality –

Sri Swami Nisreyasanandaji Maharaj

Excerpts from the letters written by
SWAMI NISREYASANANDA

I never forget the writers (of letters), as soon as any letter comes, I mentally think out
some answers, not for one day only but for a number of days.
- Nisreyasananda
Madras: 27th Aug. 1952
 GOD AS THE ONLY INSPIRER

L et us think of God as the ONLY INSPIRER for all of us. He has ‘created’ the
world, He has been sustaining, teaching, perfecting, and saving his children
always. All our efforts must be to tune ourselves to Him and His ever-abiding Grace,
fully at ‘work’ in each on of us, as well as all around. Let us avoid giving prominence
to individual persons, letters, words, or even books. Bahir-antas-cha bhutanam,
acharam charam eva cha. He is outside all creatures, and inside as well. He is also
within our experience of moving (sentient) and non-moving (insentient) creatures and
objects. (29th Oct. 1966, Salisbury)
 2

G od-given element, POETRY . . . the idea of writing poems as an expression

converting the ever-available and inexhaustible current of God’s Grace into
artistic and satisfying FORMS . . .. Actually when one gets into the stride of doing it,
it will become like breathing, - inevitable and rhythmic, regular and spontaneous.

Sri Ramachandra “lost” Sita. But for purposes of a sacrificial ritual he kept a “golden
image” of her by his side. What he kept WITHIN him can be very well inferred; his
whole life and conduct as a RIGHTEOUS KING, BROTHER, etc. must have become
a continuous expression of SITA’S virtuous presence within his loyal heart . . . and so
it must be for all of us – Inward fountain of LOVE bubbling forth in worthy FORMS,
purifying and enriching one and all, – performer and partaker alike. (29th Oct. 1966;
Salisbury, Rhodesia)
 3

Y ou know how I have learned to view any HOUSE? I had parents. Each of them
had parents, each time, two, two! And so on, to the Rishi, the founder of the
Gotra. If I has married, my wife too would be one, in this long chain of a few millions
of ancestors. So when people marry or have any CONTACT, like that of teacher &
student, doctor & patient, merchant & customer, these earlier millions of ancestors,
are REALLY MEETING. People dead to us are really LIVING, as Pitrs, Rishis and
Devas. So we make Tarpana for our ancestors, sages, and Devas. Their achievements
accompany all contacts. Their hopes or programmes too accompany us. Children born
or to be born (so also students & others to be contacted) come, if so wanted, to
FULFIL unfulfilled programmes of ancestors, sages and Devas, blessing from beyond
our sense plane. HOME COUNTRY, GOD: in this sense, will be a GOOD formula to
get their blessings, across to our sense-world. Children will then be totally
transformed, fulfilling accumulated hopes, with unsurpassed blessings from beyond!
So too will future contacts with all, in daily life, be blessed immeasurable! May you,
as well as myself, experience this TRUTH day by day! (26th Aug. 1965, Salisbury)
 4

I t is no use saying that we are all good. The question of questions is ARE WE
WISE? We must study individual and group psychology. And we should take no
step, which will create misunderstanding in a group. Individual loyalties must be
replaced by loyalty to an ideal. So alone we keep the trio – Ramakrishna – Mother –
and Swamiji as a kind of composite ideal for all. We succeed best when we hold up
these and remain ourselves in the background. I would even disappear into the
wildness if thereby I could preach their message to all. And the moment I find myself
a hindrance to the spread of their message, I shall retire into obscurity. This is true of
all movements. This is true in the political field also. The more Gandhiji and his
message are remembered, the less individuals will come into clash. – Let me put it
philosophically: the more Brahman is preached, the less cults will come into
clash . . .. (11th Sept. 1953; Bhadrachalam Relief Camp)
 5

I never expect any kind of “holiday” in my life, - holiday in the sense that my
present way of dealing with situations is all that is needed and that I need not exert
at all in the future to learn any thing new. On the other hand I always feel that each
day is a new day and it bring its own new adjustments from me. In short, I am to learn
new lessons as long as I am alive. Whether these come from financial troubles . . . (or
any other), it is immaterial. I am to learn; that is clear. So I am thankful to God that
He keep me as a perpetual student, . . .. I hope this attitude will help me to meet the
situations as they crop up here. (27th Aug. 1952; Vivekananda College Hostel,
Madras-4)
 6

Swami Vivekananda had trained Sister Nivedita to look at India’s Ideas, (persons,
customs, institutions, etc.) from a truly Indian, original and creatively dynamic
standpoint. She had the good fortune to see for herself how the Holy Mother, trained
by Ramakrishna himself to take his own place as a spiritual guide – easily adjusted
her basically “orthodox Hindu ways” to suit the needs and temperaments of all
aspirants, irrespective of caste, creed, sex and also RACE. Let us learn to enter
meditatively into all the factors that made Nivedita [to write about the Holy Mother]
with devotion and depth of insight. We shall then be blessed with glimpses of
Prabuddha Bharata, India in her Awakened Form – whose first tidal waves rolled into
modern world Sri Ramakrishna, Saradamai and their disciples – whose successive
waves continue to roll forth many more from the Inexhaustible Store – house of the
Supreme. (17th Dec. 1966; Salisbury)
 7

Love transcends the value of physical presence. (8th April, 1983; Zimbabwe)
 8

M y thoughts run in your direction almost daily, as I re-view the past and dwell
on these relationships and situations which enable [me] to work hard, pray and
struggle for spiritual progress. God puts us into pressures of various sorts so that we
have to shake off our laziness, regroup our energies, and cultivate the highest virtues.
(n.d. & no place; probably Salisbury)
 9

WORK is always interesting, - a sort of pleasant tonic – when we look upon it as

service of the Lord. I do not make any distinction between “Work” and “Worship”.
To me all work is worship, work never tires me: and I am grateful to the Almighty for
this turn in my outlook. (n.d.)
 10
Money and house [in Africa] can easily come. But where is the man?. . . the need is
for men who can adjust to the local public and live a calm and simple life. Quote the
Bible and live like Christ: That is the need. (16th Aug. 1954; London)
 11

Things move in strange ways. An austere man like myself struggled hard . . . but
faith, not in the men and their changing ideas, but in your burning desire and the
country’s need – rather in the hand of the unseen Ramakrishna playing through all of
us is needed. Please do not cut yourself off from the stream of moral and spiritual
forces, through doubts. The force that moved you . . . to Ramakrishna’s feet knows
how to move other people and other ideas at the proper time. Please try to see things
as I see them from this distance. Our combined ritual will “suck in” the desired goal-
rather “tune in”. (16th Aug. 1954; London)
 12

I review the past and dwell on those relationships and situations which enabled me to
work hard, pray and struggle for spiritual progress. God puts us into pressures of
various sorts so that we have to shake off our laziness, regroup our energies, and
cultivate the highest virtues . . . I am what I now am as the result of all these
experiences (n.d. or place; Africa)

experiences.
(n.d. or place; Africa)
 13

Africa has taught me a good lot too. From outside they all appear as men, women,
and children. But a glance behind shows that they all are limbs of the all-pervading
and beneficent Lord Himself. Whether working in the farm or holding classes, or
taking regular yoga exercises in the early morning long before sunrise, I try to keep
this coordinated view before me . . . (n.d.)
 14
The only thing I can do from here is to pray that you all may have your high hopes
fulfilled through the Lord’s grace. (n.d.)
 15

Physical bodies of ALL of us may appear, get old, sickly sometimes, and ultimately
when God thinks our “piece” is done, disappear. But MIND, – Cosmic Mind, which
is ONLY ONE, without a Second – is like the vast ocean. For convenience we may
call IT “my” mine, “your” mine, “his” mind and so on. It is like called the VAST
SEA “Arabian” Sea, “Persian” Gulf, “South China” Sea, “Indian” Ocean and so on,
according to the labels we give to the LAND nearest to it. So, too, according to the
physical body, nearest to it, we call THIS MIND by the names of the man or woman
or child that our physical bodies are. As when a boat turns its propellers, the Big Sea
it self is churned, so when thoughts are moved ANYWHERE, COSMIC MIND is
churned. The Milky Ocean, upon which Vishnu the All – Penetrator abides is churned
all the time when you and I and other THINK, FEEL, PLAN, JUDGE, THANK and
so on.

Each though movement acts like the propeller of some boat on the boundless sea. The
visible world of our physical senses is the exact resultant of all thought-movements
carried out by all propellers. We can look at this from the standpoint of each “person”
and of each “group”. Thus what Swami N. does in the field of thinking, feeling,
willing and acting when taken as a single unit, will churn Cosmic Mind, and produce
for me ONLY what I can Expect, when mixed with all other similar churnings of the
past and present of everyone else. Just as my physical body is what I can expect from
the race, colour, and other characteristics of my Indian parents, so, to my mental
movements can produce ONLY the result of their impact on the 20 th century mental
movements of the world – including within them, also the movements connected with
a Ramakrishna, a Vivekananda, a Sivananda, Ramamurty of Tanuku, and Mr. Attili
Suryanarayana of Bhimavaram. And now, of course, when I think and feel, when
mixed with the movements of people in Africa, Salisbury and the inmates of the
house of my host . . ..

The sum and substance is that NO ONE is really standing ALONE. We are all
properly mixed up, whether we take note of it or not. You have entered into my
experiences and into my ways of reading, chanting, praying, writing, hoping, trusting
and feeling grateful. So too you have all been mixed up with me and others . . ..
Penetrating all these mental movements stands the All-blissful Lord, – guiding,
correcting, and also COMPLETING our momentary sectional activities. By LOVING
HIM, we love all. By calling HIM The COMPLETER, we tune into the Cosmic
COMPLETING energies. In other words, we get Grace, we become blessed. He is the
Poorna Paramatma, the One Power which we convert into our little loves and anxious
prayers. (n.d. Salisbury)
 16

I keep my health fairly all right through Yoga Exercises . . . etc. Partly also, I think,
Because of the way I have learned to look at people and events. I can never
completely ignore the fact that in waking state, it is God alone who appears as
millions of different persons and objects. First, I take the lessons of what we call
DREAM and DREAMLESS SLEEP. I compare the lessons taught by these TWO
states which come and go. The SEER Drasta, i.e. MY REAL SELF, as Witness, never
comes and goes. Without any real change, dream shows up MANY, in different
conditions of joy and sorrow, with war and peace, with fire and flood. Yet in a
moment the many vanish into the UNITY OF DREAMLESS SLEEP. NO STAIN of
joy and sorrow, war and peace, fire or flood is LEFT.

Consciousness, CHIT – SHAKTI, is Niranjana, stainless and Akhanda, undivided.

The number seen in dream is only NAME AND FORM – Nama and Rupa. This
universe is really sat-chit-ananda, GOD. Asti, Bhati, Priyam, usefulness, Purushartha.
If we do NOT understand that the MANY of waking are also the same sat-chit-
ananda, we miss the Artham, usefulness, and get Anartham, misery and pain. The
Upanishad says that even if we make a slight difference, we become subject to
FEAR. God alone is the Fearless and Immortal. And we are THAT. Al persons and
objects seen in waking – like those seen in dream – are ONLY CONSCIOUSNESS
hiding ITS Truth of Unity and Bliss, and showing up Names and Forms and human
prayojana or at times human Anartha.

The highest human Prayojana is technically called Nih – sreyasa; compare:

Krishna said: Sanyasah karmayogan Chanishreyasa karou ubham

Tayos tu karmasamyas at karmayogo Visichyate (5.2)

Both renunciation and unitive action have emancipation as their common effect; of
the two, however, unitive action is superior to (mere) renunciation of action. (tr. Nitya
Chaitanya Yati; Delhi: Viaks Publishing House, 1981;p.130)

Why such an arrangement of Name and Form by God? Simply this: [let us say] there
is a student of M. A. She is a bit nervous. Her grandfather and [say] a bearded Swami
know of the waking fact of the young lady’s fear. How should we react then? By
counter Name and Form and Prayojana. This sat-chit-ananda is Perfect. Though
dressed as a lady – [as in the case of this student] – it is really Durga, Lakshmi,
Saraswati – standing there and saying, “I am afraid, help me.” We say, applying
POSITIVE NAME and FORM, and Prayojana,“Don’t fear. Saraswati will guide your
mind And hand in the examination hall.” We say this to the seeming lady. BUT WE
FEEL INSIDE: “Lord, thanks for coming in the dress of the [lady student]. You have
given us Darshana of confidence and being a First Class?” If we are QUITE SURE
that God, the Poorna Paramatma ALONE exists there, looking like that [student],
then without sat-chit-ananda making any alteration IN ITSELF (Seagatabheda), the
new Name and Form and Prayojana, Fearless, Confidence and First Class Are
REVEALED.
This is Darshana. So Tyagaraja got Darshana of Protection, while robbers got
Darshana of Rama and Lakshmana shooting at them to make them yield. Mundu
Venukala iru pakkala . . . [By the two sides of the palanquin]. So Bhadrachalam
Ramadas got protection from prison, but Nizam got the vision, Darshana, of Rama
and Lakshmana as merchant princes who brought gold to match the sum Gopanna
spent in repairing the Rama temple at Bhadrachalam. So you and I will get only
Protection. Only robbers and mistaken rulers will et Darshana of the Lord handling
them in such a way that our danger is replaced by protection . . ..

Pre-chosen Names and Forms and Prayojanas being artistically repeated as pleasant
waves in the mind, form RIGHT MEDITATION. God alone is – Names and Forms
can be changed for the better by rightly chosen Names and Forms. Neenama
Rupamulaku Nitya Jaya Mangalam Rajiva- Nayana – Tyagaraja – vinutamaina Nee
Namarupaluka, etc.

Names and forms come. Let them. Do not with fear fight them. Welcome them and
make them sit on a side and have a cup of coffee. Then create a few NEWLY
CHOSEN Sattvic Names and Forms – Nama-rupamulu. These Sattvic Names and
Forms will more than balance the Rajasic and Tamasic pain-bearing Names and
Forms. Nature serves us, like Tennis balls, from morning onwards at all time of the
day and even early night. 4 units of rajas and Tamas, followed up by, say, 16 units of
Sattva, well chosen, Ishta, will make most pains vanish. Let us try this sort of Tennis
play, LEELA. (23rd Jan. 1976; Salisbury, Rhodesia)
 17

. . . if I were you, I would meditate upon that living experience, making my calm
confidence my further oblations. Instead of fasts, sleepless nights, early baths as a
physical penance, I would consider my feeling of the little pricks from . . . [friends] as
a daily psychological bath and use them to steady my calm confidence. Similar
nobility in attitude made you emerge successful . . .. Put forth slightly better efforts;
you will emerge as a Sthithaprajna or Gunatita. How I wish you will gradually study
and preach, do swadhyaya + pravachana, first to small circles. Prepare a dozen
subjects carefully . . .. Meanwhile read and digest (1) Four Yogas of Swamiji (2)
Teachings of Ramakrishna and (3) Katha and Mundaka Upanishads to begin
with.You can do this, and add on to the satisfaction you already have . . .. Let people
see in you . . . a giver of peace, a transformer of personal troubles into impersonal
joy. Ask: Ideas will rain. Keep the picture of Holy Mother who bore all troubles,
Radhu and others gave her from one side, and yet cooked, served and taught hundreds
of seekers on the other side. Instances can be multiplied . . .. Having pushed up your
way this much, push forward in this absolutely fresh and joy-inducing line. As your
personal mental frictions vanish and joy flows in – [physical] pains will disappear.
(11th May 1954; Nairobi, Kenya)
 18

All constructive work is slow and not ‘dramatic’ in the least. (4th Jan. 1962; Salisbury,
Rhodesia)
 19
. . . small group and informal talks. We call it ‘sittings’ – Sat-sang. The idea is that
the subject matter of the discourse should be UNEXPECTED and UPLIFTING. As
these doses of talks fall “repeatedly”, new Samskaras are generated in the speaker’s
as well as hearers’ minds. Thus ALL are benefited. The new Samskaras pull
corresponding environments into position . . .. (4th Jan. 1962; Salisbury)
 20

My duty is to work in all humility. The results are in the HANDS of HIM who pulled
me through . . . and threw me into Africa’s lap! You will pray for the success of the
work here, and I shall pray for the solution of your problems on that side. Each side
will thus be praying for welfare and at the same time be UNSELFISH. (4th Jan. 1962;
Salisbury)
 21
[When circumstances were really] trying, we used to pray for peace every night. Who
could ever dream that the next scene would be my second trip to Africa, and God’s
abundant grace? He who helped Draupadi from being stripped totally in Kaurava
court and again from Durvasa’s curse, who blessed Akrura by showing His true form
when Akrura was forced by circumstances to lure Him into Kamsa’s well-laid trap,
who transported his old classmate Sudama, into unimaginable bliss, in response to
urgent needs of Sudama’s own wife – He, the ONE without second, capable by mere
kataksha, of fulfilling the legitimate desires of His countless children (Eka bahuman
yo vidadati Kaman) knows when and how to enact His wonderful Leela anywhere
and everywhere. Let us each gladly play the part He assigns to us, you all there, and
this myself here.

We are not CREATORS in any sense. He alone is the creator. If we play our parts
well without grumbling, nay, with sincere Joy, His creative power will pout itself out
with divine abundance all around us. Inwardly we shall see only sincerity, outwardly
we shall see a gradual unfoldment of goodness and harmony. When He pushes one
hand into us, we feel, a desire to be sincere; and the more we try to be sincere, He
pushes His other hand into our surroundings and gives a Darshana of goodness, love
and harmony . . ..

Let us see this total picture in each context . . .. Your sincerity is one side, the steady
development of children in your family, the opportunity for good work in society . . .
from the other side . . .. It always struck me that the talks I gave in [various places of
Andhra] were all the beginnings of the creative play of God even in distant Africa.
All these movements are intimately connected from God’s standpoint.

It is we, small human beings, who see India and Africa, separate and different. To
Him it is all One, Himself only . . ..

My old books? If God has chosen to withdraw them through the mouths of white
ants, well let Him. Has He not helped His work in Africa through white men and
women? A few rupees worth of books there, and a few hundreds of pounds worth of
gifts here!

Got to get “yourself” or “sin”! Indeed remember Him and His throne in your heart,
family, etc.

. . . don’t purchase or replace those books, He who have them has withdrawn them.
They are His, as we all are also. (28th Oct. 1961; Salisbury, Rhodesia)
 22

Nowadays, I often tell myself and my friends here: What we call “our mind” is, in
reality, God’s Creative Field, Cosmic Mind, Hiranyagarbha. What we call “our
thoughts” then, are only converted forms of God’s Power, Grace or Chaitanya. Just as
we DRAW the invisible electric current and make it work through ADAPTERS, like
a bulb or a fan, or a stove, or a motor, so also we are DRAWING God’s Sakti through
different ADAPTERS – our sense organs like eye, ear, etc. and our mental
functionings like planning, choosing, deciding, hoping, trusting, feeling humble,
grateful and so on.

Whenever any mental movement, in the conscious field, takes place, the
UNIVERSAL POWER (GOD) copies it or makes a subtle carbon copy of it and
keeps it as a deposit – SAMSKARA. Such samskaras constitute our SUBTLE
BODY, Sukshma Sarira, at any time. It becomes a creative sub-station managed by
God. When any impression is PLAYED BACK, we call it MEMORY, Smarana.
Thus, in every act of MEDITATING OR SMARANA, we select what we SEEK, or
LOVE OR ASPIRE FOR, and GOD PLAYS IT BACK FOR A TIME. From every
mind – wandering, our unwanted Samskaras, thrown up or played back by Him – we
must thankfully and patiently BUILD UP different stages of other thoughts or
memories, including Mantra and bhavanas, till the thought easily dwells on God’s
LOVE FOR US – His GRACE, constantly making us live and work. From each
unwanted, or irrelevant or negative, childish thought, feeling, or doubt and fear, we
must THANKFULLY build up a thought structure till our Ishta is involved and
LOVED.

If this is what ‘meditation’ implies, then our share is very little – to keep on choosing
the best. HE PLAYS BACK what we choose and after a time, also what is still
negative in his file, connected with us, such negatives, when He kindly shows them to
us, we should not call “mind-wandering” or treat is as NUISANCES. We must
thankfully take them as starting points for the next Bhavana parampara – chain of
GUIDED memories till the mind is filled with fresh LOVE of our Ishta.

This was the subtle body is constantly purified and made more and more DIVINE
through negative thoughts being built up into positive thoughts, ending with Ishta.
Such constantly purified subtle body (rather each successful meditation exercise)
pulls Tanmatras in a different way. They combine to create a more favourable
EXTERNAL WORLD and internal condition for us, and for the others, thoughts thus
condense into the contact of greater friends, better opportunities, the incoming of new
teachers, the rising up of higher nobler thoughts, etc. We do not actually
REMEMBER at all; we want to remember but memory takes place only when GOD
HAS PLAYED BACK an old impression.

If you now ask me: Swami, do you meditate? My reply is: No, God sometimes plays
back that I LOVE, often He plays back old childish Samskaras. I receive them
thankfully and lovingly build from there a thought-structure like a temple Gopuram,
till I invoke Him into MY HEART LOVE HIM more fully. (7th March 1968;
Luanshya)
 23

Gita says in ch. XV: I am seated in the hearts of all, O’ Arjuna. From Me are
memory, knowledge and their absence. I am the one Thing to be known from all
Vedas (Scriptures): I am also the author of Vedanta, and the Knower of Veda as well.
Sarvasya cha’ham Hrdi Sannivishto, Mattah Smritih jnanam apohanam cha/
Vedaischa sarvaih Aham eva vedyo, Vedanta-Krt Vedavid – evacha’ham.

It is God Himself, seated within us, who copies all our experience of sights, sounds,
tastes, and preserves them in His Own Filing Office. We unfortunately call that office
of His “my subconscious”. Its Divine Value is thus lowered by our tying up our
smallness to it. It is when He shows His Grace by playing back a desired file . . . that
we get what is called ‘our memory’.

Meditation is a skilful playback of the same holy memory second by second,

previously CHOSEN by us. His Grace obliges us by playing it again and again. We
cannot then ask, “What memory or meditation CAN BRING GRACE TO ME in the
future?” In the past God himself copied and filed the holy experience, whose
repetition we desire now. His grace is playing it. So Grace is flowing as MEMORY,
as MEDITATION. We do NOT ourselves remember. He HELPS US TO
REMEMBER BY PLAYBACK from His Office. Successful meditation even for 10
seconds is thus His FREE GRANT OF GRACE FOR 10 SECONDS. We MUST
thank Him for this expression of Grace at least 5 seconds. This thankfulness increased
by with daily practice.

One question comes: why our meditation is disturbed by unwanted thoughts coming
in? Reply: This is also His Grace. He has been keeping in His store all these childish,
painful, shameful memories. FREE OF COST. All these years from our childhood.
By showing a few of these samples, He is silently asking, “What do I, God, do with
these?” Our reply must be, again, Thanks, Lord. Those are my thoughts and plans of
my earlier days. I was then immature. Kindly take my present value of nobility, truth,
love, devotion only into account. I shall put a new rubber stamp on them, saying:
From now on, I want only Sat, Chit, Ananda, Bhakti, Jnana, etc. Then Mentally stamp
the new Ishta, or latest Chosen Value on those files, date them and make them
readjusted files. Next time when those old memories come up, they come with the
new value accompanying them. With this, repeated again, day after day, thankfully,
the entire MIND becomes PURE and vibrant with Ishta, or latest Value. Then God’s
angels, which in philosophy we call Tanmatras subtle and gross, combine in various
ways and bring about healthy changes in our body, house, society, and even country.

Prophets were so harmonized that each idea they has became condensed into the
benefit of others, and even the country. IN VERY SHORT TIME . . . what others
would have done only in a hundred years, these wise people with hearts purified in
this patient skilful way, did in 20 or 30 years. And that work lasts for even 500 years.

So let us thankfully practice noble thinking, and readjust old files when he plays them
back to us. Let us NOT call these “Disturbances.” God, through His Grace, shows us
these old files; so that we can at each sitting readjust them and bring them upto date.
Looked at in this way, our body is relabeled as His Temple, and our mind relabeled as
His Throne Room, where His sits . . . persisting, seeking, trusting, acquiring, totaling,
comparing again, feeling fulfilled, THANKFUL, etc. This combination, like the
physical, is also meant for the king, seated within and controlling everything as the
ANTARYAMIN. From even simple waking standpoint this body and this so-called
mind, etc., are different sections of a Cosmic City, with Cosmic Ruler seated within
each section and controlling it be MERE PRESENCE. Maya Adhyakshena Prakritih
suyate sa characharam (GITA: IX, 10): “By Me presiding, Prakriti produces the
moving and the unmoving. Because of this, O Son of Kunti, the world revolves”
[and] “The One, the Luminous hidden in all beings, all-pervading, the Inner Self of
all, the Superintendent of all acts, the abode of all beings, the witness, the perceiver,
alone, and free from qualities.” Swetashwatara Upanishad VI, 11.

Thus we can see why, when we make Achamana, even, we are by each touch and
Mantra, handing over real control of lips, eyes, ears, etc., to the Divinity within
supplementing (not denying) the existence of control of the body, mind, etc. RE –
VALUING, through scripture and discrimination, body, mind, etc., as city, etc.,
where the Lord presides always. (1st Sept. 1977; Chicago)
 24

The places where each finds a fit occupation cannot be the same town. Physically, it
is impossible to be with all. But mentally we can feel oneness with ALL. GOD is the
one common abode from which All come. He, as Antaryami, fills all, sustains ALL as
Pushan nourishes all, perfects all and in their perfected states takes them back into
His EMBRACE. “Yathova imani bhutani jayanthi yena jathani jeevanthi yat
prayanthi abhisam visani, tat vijnanasya tat brahma iti.”

It is only from ordinary sense-bound view that each of us evolves from ignorance,
fear and doubt into wisdom, fearlessness, and knowledge. From God’s view there is
no change from good to better. From his level, everything is full, Himself only. From
our level, snow, water, and steam are different. One changes into another. Snow
changes into another gaseous steam. But the combination called H2O remaining
constant. So the Lord remains Samam, equal and Full, in all creatures changeless.
Samam sarveshu bhuteshu tishtantam parameshvaram vinasyasthu avinasyantan-yah
pasyati sa pasyati. (Gita XIII, 27) Also 28 and 30 of the same chapter give the clue
for our practice.

When the physical eye sees a sick man, the mental eye, activated by teacher’s words,
and our reading scripture backed by our own reasoning, must practice seeing GOD
seated there in all His Glory and Fullness. Second by second we must try to see
BOTH VIEWS, man the sich and God the Full one after the other, as time flows by,
second after second. The very arrangement of this flow of seconds one after another,
is to help us to practice BOTH VIEWS. If 41 seconds are spent in seeing a sick man,
at least 16 seconds must be Lovingly spent in SEEING Dhanvantari standing in the
form of the sick man.

So also in the case of a frightened student, seen 4 seconds, one must for 16 seconds
practice SEEING SARASWATI with book, rosary, and Veena in Her Four hands
pleasantly smiling at us. So also when the suffering earth is seen 4 seconds one must
practice seeing Vishnu with Lakshmi, Thumuru and Narada and Garuda together
smiling at us for 16 seconds. Thus a cash balance of 12 seconds, Satwick thought,
will become our Karma, our Satwick sadhana gaining over the Rajasic and the
Tamasic view of pain and suffering.

This must become a sport, a game, a Leela. We must not strain while cultivating this
habit of allowing painful scenes to stay for a short time and then trustfully following
it up with thoughts of God’s presence as that very sad scene of a few seconds
earlier . . .. We cannot have Sattwa alone. Rajas and Tamas will also be there all
mixed up. What we must do is to give importance to Saatvic pictures, as and when
Rajasic and Tamasic pictures come in the course of daily life.

When negative 4 are followed by positive 16, we get a clean balance of 12 Sattwa.
Since what we call out thought power is really only God’s Power and Glory, this
positive balance of Sattwa is God’s grace itself – not all our Karma. We must learn to
pur new labels, give new names, replacing words like ‘my body’ by HIS TEMPLE,
our mind by His milky ocean, individual by Hiranyagarbha, man by God. We must
learn to play this game as a sort of spiritual FUN. If we practice a Game, Leela, with
God, Leela becomes intensified with repetition. Then what we do mentally becomes a
protecting song, a Gayatri, cha Trayate ch, Gayatri a Movement of Trana, a Mantra, a
succession of Saatwic, pleasantly continued movement of Created waves . . .. (n.d.;
Johannesburg)
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. . . Those were glorious days when I was picking the valuable art of loving people,
entering into their lives and problems, and with God’s grace, helping to solve them . .
.. That art is the Art of Spiritual life, Saraswati, with two hands playing Veena, shows
that spiritual life must have the soul-capturing melody and flow of music. The book
in one hand and a rosary in the Her two other hands show that scriptural study and
meditation are to be harmoniously blended with every movement of life . . . Vani, vak,
speech, word, spoken mentally while praying, to purify us and make us fit
instruments for getting and retailing revelation: is the Key to it.

Gold is made into a ring. There are not two: Gold AND a ring. Gold IS the substance;
ring is the FORM. Similarly, God is the ONE SUBSTANCE in the Universe. God is
the material cause of the universe, according to Vedanta. Any creature, animal or
man, or celestials, or even Brahma, the Creator, is the Rupa, form, shape, AS WHICH
GOD APPEARS. Touch the ring, you cannot separately touch Gold.

So touch man, serve him; we cannot separately touch or serve God and man. God IN
man; GOD AS man: these are different standpoints to realize and use as our base for
work. Advaita uses God as man. So Vivekananda advised people, if possible to make
worship, and service to man identical. Serving man or animals SEEING THEM AS
GOD. This is a deeper form of spiritual life than formula Karma Yoga which can help
us to serve God IN man, and thereby purify our mind, and make it fit for realization.
As Viswamitra saw Sri Rama as God and yet taught Him, so all can serve the visible
man and see God standing there are recipient of the service. (4th Oct. 1977; Chicago)