"I am waiting to hear you."

[leyh]

Dear Forum Members:

I would like to share an excerpt from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda:

 

A celebrated scholar received a similar jolt.It came during his first visit to the ashram.The rafters resounded as the guest recited passages from the Mahabharata,Upanishads,and bhasyas (commentaries)of Shankara.

 

"I am waiting to hear you."Sri Yukteswar's tone was inquiring,as though silence had reigned.The pundit was puzzled.

 

"Quotations there have been in superabundance." Master's words convulsed me with mirth,as I squatted in my corner ar a respectful distance from the visitor."But what original commentary can you supply,from the uniqueness of your particular life? In what ways have these timeless truths renovated your nature? Are you content to be a hollow victrola,mechanically repeating the words of other men?"

 

"I give up!"The scholar's chagrin was comical."I have no inner realization."

 

For the first time,perhaps,he understood that discerning placement of a comma does not atone for a spiritual coma.

 

"These bloodless pedants smelly unduly of the lamp,"my guru remarked after the departure of the chastened one."They consider philosophy to be a gentle intellectual setting-up exercise.Their elevated thoughts are carefully unrelated either to the crudity of outward action or to any scourging inner discipline!"

 

Master stressed on other occasions the futility of mere book learning.

 

"Do not confuse understanding with a larger vocabulary," he remarked." Sacred writings are beneficial in simulating desire for inward realization,if one stanza at a time is slowly assimilated.Otherwise,continual intellectual study may result in vanity,false satisfaction,and undigested knowledge."

 

Sri Yukteswar related one of his own experiences in scriptural edification.The scene was a forest hermitage in eastern Bengal,where he observed the procedure of a reowned teacher,Dabru Ballav.His method,at once simple and difficult,was common in ancient India.

 

Dabru Ballav had gathered his disciples around him in the sylvan solitudes.The holy Bhagavad Gita was open before them.Steadfastly they looked at one passage for half an hour,then closed their eyes. Another half hour slipped away.The master gave a brief comment.Motionless,they meditated again for an hour.Finally the guru spoke.

 

"Do you now understand the stanza?"

 

"Yes,sir." One in the group ventured this assertion.

 

"No,not fully.Seek the spiritual vitality that has given these words the power to rejuvenate India century after century." Another hour passed in silence.The master dismissed the students,a nd turned to Sri Yukteswar.

 

"Do you know the Bhagavad Gita?"

 

"No sir,not really;though my eyes and mind have run through its pages many times."

 

"Hundreds have replied to me differently!" The great sage smiled at Master in blessing."If one busies himself with an outer display of scriptural wealth,what time is left for silent inward diving after the priceless pearls?"

 

Sri Yukteswar directed the study of his own disciples by the same intensive method of one-pointedness."Wisdom is not assimilated with the eyes,but with the atoms," he said."When your conviction of truth is not merely in your brain but in your being,you may diffidently vouch for its meaning." he discouraged any tendency a student might have to consider book knowledge a necessary step to spiritual realization.

 

"The rishis wrote in one sentence profundities that commentating scholars busy themselves over for generations," he said."Endless literary controversy s for sluggard minds.What more quickly liberating thought than 'God is' ---nay, 'God'?" (Autobiography of a Yogi --- Chapter 12:Years in My Master's Hermitage)

 

 

[This message has been edited by leyh (edited 06-23-2001).]

 

[This message has been edited by leyh (edited 06-23-2001).]

 

[This message has been edited by leyh (edited 06-23-2001).]

 

[This message has been edited by leyh (edited 06-23-2001).]

[leyh]

Dear Forum Members:

Sorry about the constant edits.I hand-typed everything and I keep spotting typing errors after submission.I guess I'm just too impatient.Next time,I shall employ full use of the spell-check.Yours Very Sincerely

[Maitreya]

leyh,

 

If you erase the preceding edit sign when you have to do a second edit it will only show up as one.

 

Just a small tip from a habitual bad speller.

[animesh]

Whenever I make a long post or I use HTML/UBB code, then I first click on Preview to make sure that everything is proper. I do whatever editing I need. Then only I click on Submit Reply button.

[leyh]

Dear Maitreya and animesh:

Thank you very much for the advice.Yours Very Sincerely.

 

[talasiga]

Thank You for reminding me of this story Leyh.

 

Not many are responding to your post. Perhaps they are applying themselves to the lesson it presents.

 

Kindest Regards

Talasiga

[leyh]

Originally posted by talasiga:

Thank You for reminding me of this story Leyh.

 

Not many are responding to your post. Perhaps they are applying themselves to the lesson it presents.

 

Kindest Regards

Talasiga

Dear Talasiga:

I've been away from home for the past few days and I apologize for not replying sooner.

I myself am trying to apply myself to lessons from the lives of saintly personalities and I still have a long way to go,so let us wish each other and all others on the spiritual path well.Yours Very Sincerely

 

 

[talasiga]

Yes Leyh,

Your story was about people who display knowledge of Shrooti and philosophy whilst lacking in personal experience and understanding.

 

Is there any Paramahansa Yogananda story about those who hide their spiritual experience and understanding?

 

Such a story would also be relevant under the title of this thread, "I am waiting to hear from you."

 

[leyh]

Dear talasiga:

The entire 1946 edition of Autobiography of a Yogi is online and can be found at http://www.ananda.org/ I hope you will find it to be of convenience and interest.

 

Regarding stories about those who hide their spiritual experience and understanding, I recommend you to read Chapter 12 of The Autobiography of a Yogi.It is entitled "Years in my MAster's hermitage, and it contains many anecdotes about Paramahansa Yogananda's spiritual amster Sri Yukteswar.Of Sri Yuktewsar, Paramahansa Yogananda wrote:

 

Because of my guru's unspectacular guise, only a few of his contemporaries recognized him as a superman. The popular adage: "He is a fool that cannot conceal his wisdom," could never be applied to Sri Yukteswar. Though born a mortal like all others, Master had achieved identity with the Ruler of time and space. In his life I perceived a godlike unity. He had not found any insuperable obstacle to mergence of human with Divine. No such barrier exists, I came to understand, save in man's spiritual unadventurousness.(Autiobiography of a Yogi,Chapter 12: Years in my Master's Hermitage)