| Our desires and
distractions cause a wall to be raised between our understanding and the indwelling
Spirit. The aatman becomes altogether inaccessible to reason. The indwelling spirit is
hidden from our perception by our pleasures and pains. The spirit itself suffers no taint
though lying unseen in the midst of a heap ofimpurities. If the mind is concentrated, the senses are controlled and the heart is drawn
awayfrom external objects, the turbidity of the medium is cleared and then we begin
to see the soul as something real and distinct from the body within which it is lodged.
If we maintain the purity of the inner being, we shall see, besides, the Divine
Spirit that dwells within that soul.
When we begin to realize that within all it is the Supreme
Soul that lives and acts, then the pleasures and pains that we feel come under control and
gradually lose their intensity and ultimately vanish. The sunlight that shines and
spreads equally in all directions has noshape. But shadows have shapes. The rays of
light that make everything else visible are themselves completely invisible. |
