“MEETING WITH PERFECTION”

 

DR. T.M.P. MAHADEVAN

 

            IT WAS THE first of June, 1966, the fourth day of the Athens Meeting week. The Hill of the Phyx stood framed in a glorious sun-set on the east, facing the Acropolis to the east, crowned by the famous Temple of the Parthenon dedicated to Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom and Peace. It was on this Hill that the ecclesia, the con­vention of the people of Athens, used to meet of old. It was here that the orators, representing the people, ad­dressed their fellow citizens. The Royal National Foundation could not have selected a better location for holding the Athens Meeting.

 

            The Foundation was instituted by the late King Paul of the Hellenes: one of its major activities was the holding every other year, of an inter­national cultural gathering in the capital of Greece; and it was called “The Athens Meeting”. The object of the Athens Meeting was “to provide an opportunity for eminent contemporary thinkers from all over the world to express the human ideals and aspirations in the light of present knowledge and experience”. Each in­vited scholar was to give a talk on a topic chosen by him on one of the evenings during the cultural week, in the open on the Hill of the Phyx. Six of the seven participants were to be invited from other countries. His late Majesty King Paul had indicated that this was being so done in the spirit of the ancient Greek thinker Socrates, who said: “We call Hellenes all who partake of our culture.”

 

            The first Athens Meeting, was held in 1964. His Majesty King Paul had passed away before this Meeting. But his son who succeeded him, H.M. King Constantine, was the moving spirit behind the whole enterprise. Encouraged by the success of this venture, the Royal National Founda­tion organized the Second Athens Meeting in 1966. On the 29th May this Meeting was inaugurated by the King in the Temple of Athena on the Acropolis. The lectures on the subse­quent days of the week were given on the Hill of the Phyx. On the fourth day, the 1st of June, came my turn. I had chosen ‘The Heritage of India’ as my theme. Towards the conclusion of that speech I made the following ob­servation:

 

            “There is a widespread doubt in the minds of intellectuals both in my country and abroad in regard to the future of the heritage of India in the face of the present encounter with science and technology. A visiting scholar from Yugoslavia expressed this doubt, a few months ago, to a living sage in South India, Sankaracharya of Kamakoti Pitham. The sage, who leads the ideal ascetic life as it obtained in ancient India, replied without any hesitation: “No damage will be done to the Soul of India. If anything, modem science and techni­cal knowledge may serve to dispel the lingering superstitions and blind be­liefs. The culture of India has many challenges, and has come out victori­ous each time. There could be no better authentic evidence to the im­mortal nature of India’s heritage than the words of the Sage Sankaracharya. The heritage of India is not India’s alone but of all mankind”.

 

            The reference to His Holiness Sri Sankaracharya of Kanchi in this passage was noted with particular relevance by the members of the Greek Royalty who were present at the meeting. Her Majesty Queen Frederika, Queen-Mother of Greece, and her daughter, H.R.H. Princess Irene, had been practising meditation for some time and they were ac­quainted with Advaita-Vedanta through the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi. They had come to India earlier on a State visit along with the late Majesty King Paul: but then they did not have the opportunity or time to get to know closely the spiritual side of India. The Queen-Mother and the Princess expressed a wish to meet His Holiness on their next visit to India. It was in accordance with this wish of theirs that they came to India in November-December 1966, and met His Holiness. The meetings took place in Kalahasti on the 4th and 5th of December, 1966.

 

            Her Majesty Queen Frederika, Queen-Mother of Greece, and Her Royal Highness Princess Irene came as seekers of truth; and they thought it supremely worthwhile to undertake this long journey, and were richly re­warded. The following is the gist of the interviews – the questions asked by the Royalty and the instructions given by His Holiness:

 

Q. Your Holiness! I am able to meditate with a measure of suc­cess while awake. But, the meditative experience does not come in dreams. What should be             done to retain this attitude in the dreams also?

 

A. One need not worry about the kind of dreams one has. One who practises meditation in the waking stage, may not, when he goes to the dream state, experience the meditative attitude. The dreams may relate to non-­spiritual phenomena. But the spiritual seeker should not be troubled over these; he should not think that such dreams constitute an impediment to his spiritual life. To think so, and to be troubled mentally would be an obstacle. What the seeker should be careful about is the waking life. He should devote as much of it as possible to the spiritual quest. If his endeavours in the waking state are in the direction of the Spirit, then gradually in dreams also one’s spiritual nature will be reflected.

 

            It is not dreams that affect wak­ing life; it is the other way about. One who is fair-skinned in waking life usually dreams of himself in dreams as having fair skin. If he has dark-skin, in dream also he has a similar complexion. Thus, it is the experiences of waking state that get reflected in dreams, al­though in odd and queer forms. So, if the aspirant is vigilant in his waking state, and strives constantly to remember the Self, gradually in dreams also the same attitude will get reflected. If he succeeds in rendering his waking life free from violent passions and base desires, in course of time his dreams also will become placid and full of peace *.

 

Q. Will Your Holiness be pleased to prescribe a technique by which the concentration and equanim­ity of the mind may be facili­tated?

 

A. Normally one breathes through one of the two nostrils, right or left. It is possible to change the breathing from one nostril to the other by effort. If the breathing is through the right nostril, and if it is to be changed to the left, what one should do is to put pressure on right side of the body, which could be done by, resting the right palm on the ground and making the body lean on that arm. For a change from the left to the right, the pressure should be put on the left side. Before the actual change takes place, the breathing would be through both the nostrils for a short time, say, two seconds. This is what may be called equalised breathing. If one practises to observe the equalised breathing, its period will become longer and longer. And, the equalised breathing will facilitate the gain­ing of mental balance and equa­nimity. The more one practises this, the greater will be the progress in achieving the bal­ance of mind, and the ability to remain unperturbed.

 

Q. If the surroundings are not sa­lutory, if there are people who are hostile to one’s mode of life, if everywhere one sees evil and wickedness, what should one do?

 

A. One may be surrounded by wicked people who are treacher­ous and evil in their ways. But one should not be impatient with them, or show hatred to­wards them. On the contrary one should have sympathy for them, and compassion. No per­son is wicked by nature, but circumstances and upbringing make him so. There is no reason, therefore, to hate him for what he has been made into. And also, an aspirant should not have hatred for anyone. He should reason thus: “Since the wicked person is so because of circumstances and upbringing, he is to be pitied rather than hated. What would I do if some­one whom I hold dear, say, my son, turns to evil ways? I would strive to correct him through love. Even so should I treat the stranger. In fact, there is no stranger for a truth-seeker; for all are his kindred. What would be my plight if I had been born and bred in those evil circum­stances? I too would be behav­ing in a wicked way, So, let me see the same Self in the wicked man; let me not hate him.

 

Q. What is the distinction between the savikalpa and nirvikalpa stages in samadhi? And, what is sahaja-samadhi?

 

A. Savikalpa and nirvikalpa are stages in the path of concentra­tion and meditation. In what is known as savikalpa-samadhi the mind is steady without any distraction, contemplating its object wholly absorbed therein. In nirvikalpa samadhi which is the goal of, Yoga, the mind ceases to function, and vanishes once for all, leaving the self to shine forth alone. In Advaita too the path of meditation is recog­nised; but here the object of meditation is the distinctionless Brahman. What is called sahaja-samadhi is realised through the path of inquiry. It is the natural state of self-reali­zation, and one of utter uncon­cern for the fleeting phenomena.

 

Q. What should a leader do in re­gard to customs, usages etc.? Even after he finds-them to be not of any benefit for himself, should he follow them?

 

A. Those who are the leaders of a group, society, or state, should not neglect the established relig­ious customs and usages. For themselves, they may not be in need of church-ceremonies, for instance, their advance in spiri­tuality may not require these. But if they begin to neglect them, the people for whom the rituals are really helpful will also start neglecting them. This would be setting a bad example. In the words of the Bhagavad­gita, “The wise one should not unsettle the minds of those who are ignorant, and are attached to action; on the contrary, he should encourage them to perform what they should perform, by himself doing the appropriate actions well and with diligence”. It is a duty cast upon the lead­ers and those that are at the top to lead the people from where they are, and not to re­frain from participation in the traditional ways of worship.

 

            Recording the indelible impression of the interviews and the unique blessing gained by the darsana of His Holiness, Her Majesty has observed thus:

 

            “The two days we spend in his company will never be forgotten. There was pure spirituality. What strange fate has brought us close to him!”

 

            Expanding the same impression, and reminiscing on what has been aptly described as the meeting with Perfection. Her Royal Highness said:

 

            “Since some time now I find myself in a situation where there are no more questions to ask (except for details). Yet identification with the self is far from constant. Nevertheless the practice of application will also contribute in making it more permanent so that there is re­ally no problem. Then I believe that Fate brings things when time is ripe. And what came as Fate’s great gift was this meet­ing with Perfection whose bless­ing is more than I am able to cherish without being deeply moved.

 

            “He mentioned that the astro­nauts must have experienced outwardly that which is usually felt inwardly by spiritual seekers – an outer mystic experience. We had the Grace of having both the outer and inner mystic experience in His presence and we are thankful for it. He ap­peared as the vivid link between Spirit and matter, a link for the seeker which showed that they are not separate. The world of appearance with this Sage, who quite obviously was a guest in the frail body, was there, but the, Essence, with which the guest is identical, was there too, demonstrating that the world is not different from it. His gaze made the self cast off all the bonds of the ego, thus unveiling a pure reflection of what those eyes are identified with. How can the beauty of this be wit­nessed with dry eyes?

 

            “The greatness of His blessing was so immense that this hu­man container was incapable of holding it without its over-flow­ing which resulted as tears. Tears of utter fulfilment which washed away the container, causing it to dissolve, for a while, into the Reality He sym­bolizes.”

 

            Exactly two years later. Her Majesty the Queen-Mother and Prin­cess Irene came again to meet His Holiness – this time Her Majesty’s niece and nephew also came with them: Princess Dorothea and Prince Karl. The interviews with His Holiness took place at Masulipatnam on the 6th, 7th, and 8th of December, 1968. In all the Royal visitors spent more than eight hours with His Holiness, drinking deeply of his wisdom and experience, and basking in the full ef­fulgence of his spiritual magnificence. From the moment of their arrival in Madras on the 3rd, to that of their departure from Madras, after the Masulipatnam visit, on the 11th for Bombay en route to Europe, they had but one thought – the thought about His Holiness. Each of them consid­ered the meeting with him the most precious gift of Providence in their lives. They received the benign grace of the Great Master in an abundant measure.

 

            The Royal visitors had meetings with the Master both severally and together. It was a remarkable experience to watch, on the one hand, the visiting guests addressing His Holi­ness questions that revealed great depth of sincerity and keenness of spiritual seeking and, on the other hand, the Master giving precise in­structions and most lucid expositions on points which would help in the progress of one’s inward quest. The outer world rarely figured in the con­versations. The inward life was what the Royalty was primarily concerned with; and they were convinced that they had come to the most authentic source for light and guidance.

 

            To those members of the Royal party who had lately begun the prac­tice of meditation, His Holiness gave detailed instruction as to the tech­nique that they could adopt. Each session of meditation could be divided into two halves roughly. During the first half, controlled breathing could be practised. After taking in a deep breath, the breath is to be retained as long as it is possible to do it conven­iently and without strain. If, for in­stance, one could retain the breath for an optimum measure of 100 sec­onds, let one practise the breath-re­tention only for 50 seconds. After the retention, one should breathe out as slowly as possible. This is to be re­peated during the first half of the meditation-session. Each time the breath is retained, one could devote the first few moments to the thought of the all-pervading Divinity which is the ground of the universe and of one’s being. The advice was also given to increase slightly the daily medita­tion period. If, for instance, one de­voted two half-hour sessions to meditation, one in the morning and one in the evening, one could add a third session of sometime lasting for a quarter-hour.

 

            The Master enquired of Princess Irene about the progress she had made in her spiritual life. She said she had found in the practice of music a means for divine communion, and asked if she could pursue this particular mode of approach. His Holiness gave her instructions as to how through devotion to music she could develop the consciousness of the in­ner Spirit. Devotion to music and meditation could go hand in hand and help each other.

 

            Her Majesty Queen Frederika asked about certain supernormal manifestations that appear while one progresses in the path of meditation. His Holiness said that one should not attach much importance to them; that one should not forget the goal of meditation which is enlightenment.

 

            A question was put in regard to what one should do for retaining the higher consciousness in the last moments of one’s life. After recalling a few instances of persons who were in full possession of their faculties and passed away in peace. His Holiness observed that what really mattered was not how one, passed away, but how one lived in the present. One should endeavour to lead the life di­vine as much as possible, without worrying about one’s possible condi­tion in the last moments. If, besides practising meditation, etc., during one’s life which should be sufficient, one also wishes for a peaceful end in complete possession of one’s faculties, one should cultivate praanayaama and other techniques of Yoga. But this is not necessary after all, and does not contribute much to one’s spiritual life.

 

            Her Majesty the Queen-Mother said: “Some of us who have adopted vegetarian food habits are asked by friends in the West to state the rea­son for such adoption. If we give the reason as the desire to avoid causing pain to animal life, they ask if vege­tarianism does not involve inflicting pain in the vegetable world.” His Holi­ness explained clearly and in detail the basis of vegetarianism: “The ideal life of complete compassion and non­violence is possible only for a few: it would involve subsistence on fruits and leaves that fall from trees and plants. In the case of others there can only be gradual approach towards that ideal. The rule is: if it is possible to live by causing less injury to other lives, it is wrong to inflict more violence. It is on this principle that vegetarian diet is greatly to be pre­ferred to meat-eating. In the first place, when vegetables are plucked, the plants are not destroyed, whereas meat cannot be had without killing the animal to which it belongs. Secondly, animals are more sensitive than plants; they have a greater number of keener Sense faculties than the latter. In fact, there is not much difference in this regard be­tween the animals and us humans. The feeling of pain is almost the same; the suffering is of the same degree. The plants do not suffer to the same extent. Plucking vegetables or leaves is comparable to the clip­ping of nails and the cutting of hair. Thirdly, intrinsically there is not much to choose between cannibalism and eating of animal-meat. The arguments against the one hold good equally against the other. If the civi­lized people who are meat-eaters are against cannibalism, it is more on grounds of sentiment. It is clear that meat-eating causes more suffering than living on vegetables. And, every effort for reducing the quantum of suffering is commendable.”

 

            The doubt was expressed by one of the members of the Royal party, whether humanity had not missed the chance of turning to spiritual values at the end of the last World War. His Holiness replied saying that no such generalized statement could be made about mankind as a whole. What is important is that individuals should be intent on inward progress. If they evolve spiritually, the world will improve. It is not to become great that one should aim at, but to become good; for, to be good is to be truly great.

 

            Prior to leaving Masuilipatnam on the 8th of December, 1968.’ Her Majesty and party took leave of His Holiness after about an hour of sit­ting in his benign presence. Little was spoken during this session. In his own characteristic manner, the Great Master blessed the Royal devotees; and they dragged themselves away, unwillingly to leave. The spirit of hu­mility and ardent quest for the highest values was reflected in the reply that Her Majesty gave to the chairman of the Municipal Council of Masulipatnam who met her in the special railway coach and entreated her to agree to a civic reception: “Thank you: but we have come all the way from Europe, not as members of Royalty but as humble devotees seek­ing the blessing and guidance of His Holiness.”

 

 

* See the Panchadasi a manual of Advaita (IV, 82): Relinquishing contrary thoughts, if one meditates without interruption he would achieve meditation even in dreams, etc., be­cause of the residual impressions.

 

 

 

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