BOOK I
IV
BHAKTI AND JNANA
D: Sri Bhagavata [?] outlines a way to find Krishna in the heart by prostrating to all and looking on all as the Lord Himself. Is this the right path leading to Self-realization? Is it not easier thus to adore Bhagavan in whatever meets the `mind', than to seek the supramental through the mental enquiry, Who am I??M: Yes, when you see God in all, do you think of God
or do you not? You must certainly think of God for seeing God all round you. Keeping God in your mind becomes dhyana [?] and dhyana is the stage before Realization. Realization can only be in and of the Self. It can never be apart from the Self: and dhyana must precede it. Whether you make dhyana on God or on the Self, it is immaterial; for the goal is the same. You cannot, by any means, escape the Self. You want to see God in all, but not in yourself? If all is God, are you not included in that all? Being God yourself, is it a wonder that all is God? This is the method advised in Sri Bhagavata, and elsewhere by others. But even for this practice there must be the seer or thinker. Who is he?
D: How to see God who is all-pervasive?
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M: To see God is to be God. There is no `all' apart from
God for Him to pervade. He alone is.
D: Should we read Gita [?] now and then?
M: Always.
D: What is the relation between jnana [?] and bhakti [?]?
M: The eternal, unbroken, natural state of abiding in
the Self is jnana. To abide in the Self you must love the Self. Since God is verily the Self, love of the Self is love of God; and that is bhakti. Jnana and bhakti are thus one and the same.
D: While doing nama japa for an hour or more I fall into a state like sleep. On waking up I recollect that my japa [?] has been interrupted. So, I try again.
M: `Like sleep', that is right. It is the natural state.
Because you are now associated with the ego, you consider that the natural state is something which interrupts your work. So you must have the experience repeated until you realise that it is your natural state. You will then find that japa is extraneous but still it will go on automatically. Your present doubt is due to that false identity, namely of identifying yourself with the mind that does the japa. Japa means clinging to one thought to the exclusion of all other thoughts. That is its purpose. It leads to dhyana which ends in Self- realization or jnana.
D: How should I carry on nama japa?
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M: One should not use the name of God mechanically
and superficially without the feeling of devotion. To use the name of God one must call upon Him with yearning and unreservedly surrender oneself to Him. Only after such surrender is the name of God constantly with the man.
D: Where is, then, the need for enquiry or vichara [?]?
M: Surrender can take effect only when it is done with
full knowledge as to what real surrender means. Such knowledge comes after enquiry and reflection and ends invariably in self-surrender. There is no difference between jnana and absolute surrender to the Lord, that is, in thought, word and deed. To be complete, surrender must be unquestioning; the devotee cannot bargain with the Lord or demand favours at His hands. Such entire surrender comprises all; it is jnana and vairagya [?], devotion and love.