| Again, it is
easy to wake up from sleep. But it is not by any means easy to wake up from the great
dream of worldly life. Our mental disposition must change entirely. First of all, the
desire to wake up must surge in the heart, as indicated in the Kathopanishad mantras
already quoted. The power of the spirit is moved to fulfil itself by the yearning. It is
the Supreme Spirit within that furnishes the energy. The
text is couched in language that brings all this out if interpreted by a competent
teacher. Without this yearning for realization , nothing can be achieved. The
ambition to be a vedantic scholar will not amount to this and cannot help. The desire to
be liberated from the state of separation from God must, like hunger driving the beast to
its prey, drive the soul to find its only satisfaction.
Secondly, unremitting vigilance must be exercised even
after the first vision, like the unceasing control of an athlete balancing himself who,
once having secured his balance, cannot relax but must all the time maintain complete
command over his muscles and his breathing. The external and internal organs of sense must
be under firm and continuous command. Right conduct must be maintained until it becomes
relatively a matter of course, and the inner being must be purified and kept in an
untarnished condition. Perpetual vigilance over one’s mind is necessary to
escape slipping bark into the world of false values, attachments and desires. |
