O’ Being, Come, Let’s Walk the Divine Inner Realm
(Translated from the Original Ae Praani, Aa Chal, Antar Ki Divya Yatra Par: Swami Buddha Puri Ji)
Extract: As far as the inner path is concerned, it is that of breath. The chariot is the increasing force of your breath within, imbued with the vibrations of the mantra. The more complete the breath is, greater would the chariot run on the inside. Until the spot that the breath goes inside and stops for a moment before coming outside, until that point you have completed the journey within. Similarly, the point, where the breath comes out and stops for an instant before going within, from there you have to start your journey within. Become aware in these two instants and travel ever inwards. First, the journey would be from in-out and from out-in. And then with time, the motions of breath would cease outside and continue within the body itself. In the end, the journey would find its divine goal in the Tenth door (of the yogic lore).
One hundred percent of children usually breathe completely. This is their inherent nature, bestowed upon them by birth. And possibly, more than ninety percent of youth do not breathe completely. As age advances, leaving aside a blissful practitioner, everyone breathes incompletely.
An incomplete personality can only attract an incomplete breath within. Only a person, who is fully conscious, alive and satisfied in his own being, can attract a complete breath within. One, who is a half-inside and half-outside will only attract an incomplete breath within and exhale an incomplete breath outside.
Usually, a being is present very little inside; most of his self is enslaved outside in the objects of land, property, wealth, sexual desire etc. His personality gets trapped outside in these external objects. And the more a being is outside, lesser would his breath find way within.
The Two Mosaics of Life: Inner and Outer
A little child is awake within himself. The external objects like wealth-property, luxury-fame etc. have no meaning for him. He does not know the distinction of man and a woman. He himself is neither a male nor a female but is a merged personality of the two. In the language of Yoga, we would say that his consciousness is totally active between the two centers of the body viz. Muladhara and Sahasrara. This implies that the nectar-secreting centers in his head (Sahasrara) are fully active and the lower sense organs are also saturated with the life-giving prana. There is no obstacle in the subtle pathways through which the prana flows. He inhales and exhales completely.
But it is an enchanting play of the divine enchantress-Maya that as a child grows he too becomes a partner of his elders in the race for external objects. The path of the outside world, where he runs, is predominant in the gross elements of earth and water. This path has hills and mountains, whirlpools and waves, mire and bogs and many obstacles. The path itself becomes the obstacle in the journey of the outward traveler.
But there is another path and that runs within the human body. This is the path formed from fire and wind. It lies in the vast expanse of the span-less sky. There are clusters of moons and stars here. A reservoir of nectar is also present. The rays of the sun fall upon this pond and raise a spray of nectar droplets; the wind sprays these droplets-of-elixir all over the path. The traveler of this path, saturated by this spray of nectar, frolics his way through the vast sky into the realm of Consciousness.
In the outer journey, both the path and the traveler are distinct. If a being totally forgets the inner and goes on running in the outer world then the separation of the traveler and the path would go on increasing. The path itself would rise as an obstacle in the journey. The traveler would himself become lost, dissatisfied and disillusioned.
In the inner journey the path and the traveler go on merging into one another. The path itself becomes the inspiration and energy for the traveler. This merging of the path and the traveler is the magic (divine nature) of the inner journey.
But it is a miraculous boon of the enchantress-Maya that a being a both, a little outside and a little inside. He therefore, travels in a circle. Sometime he goes in and then goes outside. Right now, he finds only darkness within; he cannot go very deep within. In the outer journey he encounters obstacles and gets tired. He cannot travel very far in the external world. This is what is referred to as the cycle of Jagrit and Sushupti (wakefulness and deep sleep) states in the language of Vedanta.
He mistakenly searches the external world for the elixir that resides within because the darkness that pervades the inner world prevents him from pinpointing the source of elixir within himself. But instead of the nectar, the outer world brings him tiredness and lack of awareness. The peace that unconsciously stem into his life from his own inner world, he searches outside, but gets only frustration and insecurity. The joy that comes from an unknown source within, he searches outside, but gets sorrows and misery.
This outward focus in the inner-outer circle pervading a being’s life makes the nectar itself into an object of grossness. In other words, inner-peace becomes frustration outside; the joy emanating from the source within, severed from its origins becomes a cause of sorrow; love appears in the form of jealousy; the yearning for the inner self appears as greed; the energy reservoir within flows out in the form of anger; and the bliss of the self takes the form of craving for sex. These statements can be further clarified by the following analogies:
Just like if in place of honey, curd gets mixed into milk, it spoils the entire lot of it; similarly the sweet love, mixed with sour selfishness takes the form of jealousy.
Just like dry wood made wet with water gives smoke instead of fire; similarly the inherent energy and glory of man’s nature mixed with the water of attractions-for-outer-objects gives the smoke of anger instead of the flashes of fiery victory.
Just like when the base of water reservoir becomes soil instead of sand, the entire mass of water becomes a bog; similarly the flow of prana, pure and pristine like flow of water, gets caught in the senses and becomes the bog of disease and old-age.
Just like the best of vehicles if driven on an uneven road would eventually get toppled; similarly, the vehicle of breath run on the uneven and stony road of sense-organs and attractions to outer objects, gets shallow and ultimately topples. The breath cannot go within the body. This is termed as death.
Just like even the ablest of men loses his way in total dark and ends up getting confused; similarly, the best amongst men would get lost from the path to nectar because of the darkness pervading the subtle inner world. Howsoever good he may be, coming to the outer world he shall get entangled in the emotions of anger, jealousy, greed etc.
Frustration, sorrow, jealousy, greed, anger, sex, disease, confusion, death are all results of running on the outer track. O being, you will have to come within. You will have to remove the darkness that you see within. You will have to light the flame of wisdom in you, fill yourself with the sweetness of love and embody yourself with power, consciousness and awareness. To gain freedom from disease and fear of death you will have to drink the nectar that resides within and for complete satisfaction you will have to experience the joy of Brahman. This is your action, this is your religion. This is the goal of your life; all your worldly actions, behaviour, relationships, thoughts etc. are to gain this end.
O being, begin this journey of the inner path. Understand that there is a path within the body too and the chariot too is present to take you on that path. Only you are needed. Come, board the chariot!
The Chariot of the Word on the Path of Breath
As far as the inner path is concerned it is that of breath. The chariot is the increasing force of your breath within, imbued with the vibrations of the mantra. The more complete the breath is, greater would the chariot run on the inside. Until the spot that the breath goes inside and stops for a moment before coming outside, until that point you have completed the journey within. Similarly, the point, where the breath comes out and stops for an instant before going within, from there you have to start your journey within. Become aware in these two instants and travel ever inwards. First, the journey would be from in-out and from out-in. And then with time, the motions of breath would cease outside and continue within the body itself. In the end, the journey would find its divine goal in the Tenth door (of the yogic lore). Making the mind imbued with the mantra, embark it on the chariot of breath. Breath by breath, let the mantra resonate within you. Remember, without embarking upon the path of breath, mere mental musings will not help you traverse the inner path.
The 5 milestones of the Inner Journey:
- The first milestone in this journey is breathing completely, like a child. In other words, learning to breathe from the navel. When the breath is thus transformed, then the inner journey begins.
- Now, the breath would have to be made more forceful towards the inside. All young men and women breathe forcefully: during physical exertion, in anger, in sex etc. But for the inner-race, you shall have to become powerful, joyous and increase the force of the breath while chanting and meditating. Then the divine qualities would be awakened in you. The goal of the mantra, ‘Raam’ would spread its light. The inner darkness would be dispelled. In this way, the bumpy road would be evened out. When the breath would be thus practiced, the flame of fire would be awakened in the navel.
- The awakening of the yogic fire in the navel.
- The breath has to be made so deep and long that the breath flows only within the body. In this state the path rises straight upwards. Here, you shall enter the path made of wind and fire.
- Now, the breath has ceased in the brain. This is the realm of space. Here you shall be blessed with the taste of the elixir of life. This is the beginning point of the divine journey. The power of the Lord has awakened within you.
Now there are no confines and no fear. Now there is total satisfaction and drunkenness of divine joy.