part 2 three

Swami Saradananda’s American “debut”

    In her house was held a small Conference of Religions, to which many important people were invited. The famous philosopher Prof. [Wm.] James and many other notables came to meet Swami Saradananda. They respected him highly and he had plenty of influence. Seeing his steadymindedness, gentleness and politeness everyone accepted and became fond of him. In one or two letters written to Sturdy and Fox at this time there is written: “Though he has not the brilliance of Vivekananda, he is a sadhu (of the three qualities mentioned above). Later: “Everyone is especially fond of him.”
    Swami Saradananda once told Mohendra, “In one place there was a very big meeting in a tent [Greenacre?]. I was not accustomed to speaking to such a big gathering and was a bit nervous. Goodwin was with me and was a spirited fellow. He began to encourage me in various ways. And I did, in fact, talk in that way. Everyone listened eagerly and with deep attention. You can imagine Goodwin’s joy! And he said I had spoken in the same mood as the Gita and the Chandi. Gradually exhausting all my ideas, I got into a scrape. If I said the same thing over and over, who would listen? I called hard on Thakur and after a few days an unlimited enthusiasm arose in my heart. I lectured in a new vein and the place was crowded. My mouth opened up. Money came too. I thought I had better stay on a few years. But what was my fate? Your big brother spoiled everything. Suddenly a letter came from Belur Math telling me to return to Calcutta with certain ladies. Goodbye lectures, everything gone to pieces. I don’t know lecturing. I don’t know work either; to carry out Swamiji’s orders is my raison d’être. I have done my job.”
    From this bit of conversation it can be well understood what a great faith Swamiji had in this Swami, who would have considered it highly reprehensible to go against his word. Prestige, name, position were nothing to him. Such sincere love for Swamiji has seldom been seen. Moreover he was willing and persevering under all circumstances. Because he was steady and courteous he never showed his own will or power. If anything was brought up about himself, he would bury all that under his humility. This was his special greatness. He showed it time after time throughout his life.

Recollections of Raja Yoga lectures

    Now to the twice-a-day lectures on Raja Yoga. Goodwin took them all down. Although Swamiji had a translation of the Yoga Sutras together with brief written commentaries, when he gave the lectures an independent commentary and ideas of his own would come out. The sound of his voice, the look of his face, the glance of his eyes – all were his own. Very profound, sweet, commanding, endearing – all different from what was seen at the lecture time. He became of such unusual appearance, no one had the capacity to look him in the face for long. It wasn’t Bengal’s Narendranath Dutt any more. There was a great power named Vivekananda in that body.
    Let no one suppose that Swamiji had made his Raja Yoga explanations by appropriate forethought. Anyone who assumes that idea has not known or understood him at all; rather, he will have formed a completely false notion of him. Swamiji at every point would say, “I never preach what I do not practice.” It was not that he just told the people about his Brahmajnana, his experience beyond the senses; he made them feel, in some measure, all these things, with his teaching. Coming to hear Swamiji’s Raja Yoga lectures and sitting still for an hour and a half in meditation were really the same thing. He would make them realize much of what he had himself realized. It was Goodwin alone who wrote down and kept all the instructions, but the ordinary listener would not take special notice of Swamiji’s points. Mohendra will now report what he remembers and just what he thinks was said. Goodwin’s [unpublished] material has all been lost and apparently there is no hope of recovering it. Mohendra’s account will be like a grain of sand beside the Himalayan compass of the former, but perhaps better than nothing at all!

    Among the meditation instructions: “Just as I am sitting here looking at you before me, so one can meditate fruitfully. That is, just as we are sitting here in our physical bodies and looking at each other, we meditate as if it were on another form of our own body.” He mentioned another method: “Think that your gross body has fallen dead and you are looking down at it; meditating in this way, you can quickly have the understanding of the difference between the gross and subtle bodies. But this is a bit difficult in the early stages. Think: my ishta is before me. I am seated near him with my mind gathered. Next think that gradually he is entering my body; finally the Lord and his devotee have become one body. Sometimes the devotee in his subtle body enters the body of the ishta and, staying there awhile, from inside the ishta the devotee is looking at his former (own) gross body – thus by changing things around in one’s view the discrimination between gross and subtle bodies comes.
    About concentrating on a point of light, he said that at first by meditating in this way there may come at the back of the head a kind of throbbing which may be unpleasant. But by meditating, this can be stopped. It is not good to meditate strenuously (forcing oneself): it often creates obstacles.
    He made special mention of how sakti enters the ida and pingala or opens the path. “When we are meditating and the sakti approaches the ida, pingala and sushumna, it feels as if the nerves are being torn out
(or torn up), or as if a red hot iron wire were piercing the flesh – it can feel just like that. If because of this one finds at the time of sadhana an increased need for urination, or perspiration on the brow, there is no need to worry. As soon as the back of the head throbs, stop your meditation. One should not overdo.
    “While meditating on the fixed point (of light) you may at first see a number of black spots like a swarm of flies. Now try to think of these as pale, white, or even shining like fireflies; slowly try to make them stop moving and stand still. Of course it all depends on your meditation; they will take these forms only as your concentration deepens. Then all these will gradually come together and take on a vague sort of smoky color. Soon it will be both steady and clear, and look like a steady object, though the smoky color remains and its light or effulgence is yet to come. Finally it will stand before you clear, bright and effulgent. On a day when your meditation is deep like this, it will present this clear picture or form, and as your inner power diminishes, so will the said picture fade. He always said, “Because you don’t get results right away, don’t give it all up; do a little bit of sadhana and you will understand its value.”

Recommended food

    “At the time of sadhana stimulating foods should not be eaten. Rice, bread, milk, banana and other fruits are best. It is good if one does not take meat or fish, but fasting is not necessary. You can take bread, fruit or milk three times, or four or five times a day. Eating little is good, not filling up. Notice what does not cause wind in the stomach and lassitude in the body and take accordingly. Also what keeps the mind pure. By observing this much discipline the mind will quickly progress on the path of meditation.”
    The meditation room. [First part as given in Raja Yoga.] “Always think of it as a place for meditation. Keep it pure by means of a few flowers, fruits, incense etc. Let its air be fresh and the mind will concentrate automatically. Keeping in the room some pictures of perfected souls or some symbolic figures too is good, because all these accessory things bring an attitude of sraddha into the mind.
    “Asana. When you keep to one seat and make japa there with concentrated mind for some time, some of the japa’s power lies hidden in that habitual asana and it will rise and help you on a day when the mind is restless or lazy, so always keep it pure.”
    As an example of the holiness clinging to special places, he mentioned that a certain person had entered a secluded mountain cave and sat doing japa for many days until he gave up his body. No one knew his name, place of origin or anything about him. But if any advanced sadhaka now goes into that cave, he will know as soon as he enters it that it is a holy place. And he will declare that a perfected soul had lived there, because the power left there reveals itself to the newcomer.
    Japa. “Unceasingly one should make japa of some pure word or the name of a perfected soul. At first it will be with the tongue, or gross body, but as it goes on uninterruptedly, the japa becomes inward and springs up inside the body. Then it goes from the tongue to mind, and gradually all the subtle nerves of the body pick up the japa. As one goes on doing this, a certain power arises from inside; then the gross body becomes different, and does not seem so heavy, inert or indolent.
The dejected and impure moods which we feel in our ordinary state do not come any more. Then the body feels quite light and gay; there is enthusiasm and difficult matters seem easy to understand. Swamiji said: “I have done continuous japa; it is in every atom of my body. I have done it to the very tips of my fingers. As we now experience the objects of the world in our gross body, when we go to the subtle body, all this is experienced in another way and that is full of joy (ananda) and affection.”