PRACTICAL
PHILOSOPHY IS YOUR LIFE-BOAT
A
participant in our Spiritual Training Programme for the past six years has
communicated his experience as follows : “Some ten
years back I was initiated into Kundalini Yogam, but in Meditation I could not progress beyond Agna chakram to Turiam or Turiatheetham.
Subsequently I practised Kaya Kalpa Yogam but had to abandon it
as I developed throat-trouble. These setbacks created depression in my mind,
very heavy at times. Only after I came to the Path of Wisdom (Jnaana Margam) as delineated by
you did the depression abate and disappear altogether. I am at a loss for words
to express my gratitude to you, Sir!”
This succinctly-worded experience of the aspirant goes to bear out two
findings I have been emphasising all along: (i) That
what is called Yogam (abominably abbreviated into
“Yoga” by pundits and Anglophiles!) is peripheral to the task of Liberation; and
(ii) that mental depression and misery in life will not be dispelled until you
come to Jnaanam (Wisdom).
As I have explained on earlier occasions, the word “Yogam” means “
And at what at point of time did this separation of the individual soul
(Jivatama) from the Absolute (Paramatma) occur, Sirs ? Never. Inhabiting the physical body which has a form (roopam) and was given name (naamam) for the purpose of worldly identification, the Jivan carved out for itself a miserly corner and imagined
itself to be on its own. It is all a mischief of the mind that became hardened
through crores of births; and now you are here steeped
in misery and unending anxiety, stresses, strains and tensions and casting about
for a way out which is nowhere in sight. The mind created the entanglement and
the mess and it has to disentangle itself. Make bold to take responsibility for
your present predicament, as the first step, or reconcile yourself to live out
in anguish and fear. The choice is yours!
Can you deny that the atmosphere enveloping the Earth is one and
indivisible? Are not the oceans surrounding the land-masses of the world but one
expanse of water although you have slipped into the habit of nomenclaturing them as Arctic,
‘What’s in a name ? that which we call a rose
By any other name would
smell as sweet’ ?
The Practical Philosophy offered by our Foundation is in the nature of a
life-boat given to you. It has a built-in magnetic compass to show the
direction, day and night. With these aid and implement, you should find your way
to the shore, navigating the ocean of the world-process (samsara sagaram). Remember, wind
and wave are for the brave.
— Sage
TGN