Swami Sivananda Vani

[Guest guest]

CONCERN FOR A DEVOTEE: A devotee wrote to the Master complaining

that he suffered from sleeplessness and requested that some medicine

be sent to him.

 

The Master suggested to his secretary, " Why not send my oil to him? "

The Master used a particular combination of oils to get sound sleep.

 

The secretary replied that if the oil was sent then the Master would

not have any for his own use. He suggested that it could be

purchased and sent to the devotee. So he did not take any action in

the matter as he could not bear the thought of depriving the Master

of the oil.

 

The Master therefore called another disciple and said to him, " Ohji,

go immediately and get the bottle of oil from my room. "

 

When it was produced, he said, " Put half of it in another bottle.

Label the bottle: 'oil for sleep', give directions for using it and

send a telegram that the oil has been sent. "

 

While the disciple was going out with the bottle to carry out the

instructions, the Master called him back and said, " Send three-

fourths of the oil to him. One-fourth is quite sufficient for me. "

 

Such was the Master's great concern for the welfare of his devotees!

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" The spiritual path is itself a great secret. The little Japa that

you do, the scriptures that you read, the audience that you hold and

whatever you appear to be doing, is only an outer crust of the

mystery of life. The mystery is finally in yourself. You yourself do

not know who is goading you to think in this manner. That goading

principle is the mystery. If you recognise this mystery within you

which mystifies even your intelligence and your efforts, you will be

humble, simple and small before God, because spiritual Sadhana is an

art of becoming smaller and smaller. It is not to become bigger and

bigger. A person becomes smaller and smaller as he approaches God,

just as a candle flame becomes dimmer and dimmer as it goes nearer

and nearer to the sun; and just before the sun, it is not there? You

cannot see even its existence. It vanishes. Likewise, when we

approach God, we become smaller and smaller, humbler and humbler,

littler and littler, until we become nothing. In this nothingness,

we will find God Himself filling us. When there is total emptiness

created by an abolition of ourselves, in this emptiness or vacuum

created, God fills Himself. 'Empty thyself and I shall fill thee'-

says Jesus Christ. The Mahaganapati Purana, the Ganapati

Atharvasirsha Upanishad, the Ganesa Gita and several anecdotes

occurring in the Mahabharata and the other Puranas glorify this

aspect of the Supreme Almighty which requires our submission at His

feet, and expects us to recognise Him as the sole power that

can remove all obstacles on the path of the spiritual seeker towards

the attainment of Godhead. " - Swami Krishnananda