Swami Prakashananda

“ In describing the pure, the basic, fundamental principle of life and creation—the pure light, the self-effulgent, self-caused Divine Intelligence—Vedic sages sang in this way: “There the sun does not shine, nor the moon, nor the lightning, what to speak of the mortal fire. That shining, everything shines; by its light everything is illumined”,—by its essence everything becomes full of consciousness. ”

“ So, while living a life of outer consciousness you will analyse and you will see how all your complex conditions regarding which you complain, all the entanglements which we notice in different lives, all the confusion and friction which we see at home or abroad, all the heart-burnings, disillusionment and suffering which we notice amongst individuals—all these can be traced to that outer consciousness, that slavery, that dependence upon the material things of life. That is why we have to open up our inner consciousness. ”

“ Why should we try to arouse the inner consciousness, if the outer consciousness is as explained? What harm is there in living in the outer consciousness only? Our life means that, our life means the varied duties of life—the varied responsibilities. Our life means its relation to our fellow-beings, to the world, to so many material things, to so many objects, to so many phases of external life. Our life means all this—and what is the harm in living in that state of consciousness? ”

“ Now, of all the different methods which are handed down to us from the great sages and masters, one method is important, and that is concentration. Why is concentration upheld as a great method? Can we not awaken the inner consciousness by prayer, by worship, by devotion, by Divine love, and in many other ways? Certainly, we can. But in the path of concentration we can rise step by step—it is the most scientific method. ”

“ Praise can be understood only in its relation to blame. Joy can be understood only in its relation to suffering or pain. One who is not really hungry cannot really appreciate the value of food. So, many ideas exist only relatively. It is the same with the inner and outer consciousness. We must understand both—then both become clear. What is meant then by outer consciousness? Outer consciousness means consciousness in which we are cognizant of external things—gross forms, gross objects, sense objects. Now, every moment of our lives, the senses bring in these impressions. ”

“ That is, consciousness means knowing an object, as it were; knowing something. But the word consciousness really indicates two things—subject and object. It implies the duality of existence. There is one who is the knower, the subject, the ego, the perceiver. ”

“ You look over different descriptions of the details of the machine, then you think for yourself; you judge for yourself. You revolve all these details within your mind. You analyse, and gradually you begin to handle the machine yourself—practical experience you must acquire. ”

“ In theoretical as well as applied psychology no term is more misleading, or confusing than the term consciousness. We use the term often in our conversation; we come across it in our study; but when we are asked to define it properly, to explain its significance, its meaning, or the idea for which that word stands, we are unable to do so. And that is because there are so many varied ideas concerning consciousness. There are so many aspects of consciousness, there are so many states of consciousness that we get mixed up—that is, we confuse one with the other. ”

“ We know that there is external nature, and all the time we are impressed with this idea. So when we cannot extricate ourselves from the realm and domain of forms and objects, when we cannot rise above the sense perceptions—the gross sense perceptions—when we cannot divest our minds of these externalities, as it were, then you will understand this state to be the outer consciousness.
Coming nearer the practical idea—there is the body-consciousness. As I stated previously, that means that we are conscious of the body, the body in all its phases, in all its senses, and in all its aspects. ”

“ Devotion is a great thing. The love for an ideal, we need; it is important; in this country it is necessary. But if we allow ourselves to be carried away by heightened emotions, or by wrought-up feelings, we may develop fanaticism. There have been instances in which devotion, love, Divine love—when not combined with proper concentration, or proper analysis—have landed persons in the realm of emotionalism, or sentimentality, or fanaticism. They are led into the realm of bigotry and narrowness and carried away by these things. ”

“ You know, curiosity-seekers never reach anything in life. Those who are sincere and earnest searchers and seekers have gradually unfolded themselves and reached the higher realms of understanding. So there is no real danger in concentration. We must start with that idea, and not be hasty. Many of us try to take things like a pill. We take a pill, and it must accomplish its results. Concentration is not a pill—and we do not know what accumulated experiences and impressions are at our backs. ”

“ But whatever time it takes, we must be determined and we must start with this idea, that even before passing away from this life, we will reach a very high state of consciousness, and we will unfold that Divine, cosmic, universal, absolute consciousness, which alone can make us really happy and blessed. ”

“ That is why you need more care. You need the help, you need the guidance of some one who is an expert teacher. And then you analyse yourself and reason—always reason. But do [19] not bring that sort of skepticism into your life which is dangerous, which, as it were, clogs up all the channels of experience, which covers, or shuts up, all the avenues of knowledge, which makes one give up the search without proper study and investigation. Do not become skeptical in that way. Many have a tendency to become skeptical and give up the search. ”

“ Now, you may ask the question, how do we know that there is such a thing as soul-energy, or that there are inner forces? How do we know? We know as we know everything in life. We have to follow the same methods. How do you know the different details of a machine? ”

“ There is always reaction in our life—that is, when we live in the external consciousness, there is always reaction. Suffering is caused by reaction. Our miseries, our pains, our complaints, our doubts, our troubles, our disillusionments, our despair, have always been caused by the outer consciousness. For instance, when we live in the midst of sense perceptions we want to possess certain objects which we have perceived, impressions of which have been gathered through the senses. First of all, the senses come in touch with external things. ”

“ So, “knowing together” means we know the subject and object together—that is, they both exist; one cannot exist without the other. So wherever there is a subject, there is also an object. That means that wherever there is a thinker, there must be something to think about; otherwise there is no meaning back of the term “thinker”. Whenever we use the term “perceiver”, we must know that there is something to be perceived. The same is true of consciousness. ”

“ Do you not see that in order to eliminate these external conditions and enter into the inner realms of consciousness, we have to rise above the body consciousness? Therefore, if we identify ourselves with these vibrations, or any kind of physiological experiences, we are going against what we are trying to accomplish. We would be inconsistent. So put the chemicals together and let the crystallization take care of itself. Gradually the latent energy awakens, and the energy working in the life is concentrated. Gradually you will see a new vista of knowledge and wisdom opening before you. ”

“ We must search thoroughly without any fear. Truth can stand all the tests of analysis, all the tests of observation. And if it is not truth, it can not stand the test. So always keep the reasoning faculty, or power of analysis sharpened, ready to observe, ready to understand, [18] ready to reason out. ”

“ You may say such ideas bring gloominess, pessimism into our lives. What difference does it make if we become a little gloomy, or if we become pessimistic? What has your optimism given us? What do the passing joys bring us? They bring us nothing but reaction. So-called optimism does not land us anywhere. It rather leads us into complex situations and conditions. ”

“ So that is the outer consciousness, which has separations everywhere. You cannot depend upon anything. As soon as you depend upon anything—lean on anything—it is taken away from you, and what is to be done? That is why we must try to search for something which is more internal, which is not so changeable, on whom, or on which you can depend to a greater extent, because everything is relative until we get to the Absolute. ”

“ True prayer can open up our inner communion and help us to unfold. Pure self-analysis is another method. But concentration has been found to be very helpful for many, many people—for the majority of people—if it can be followed under the guidance of proper teachers and if it can be followed methodically. But some might say that there is danger in concentration. There is no danger in concentration. ”

“ We have no honest right to demand any knowledge unless we have studied properly, or investigated closely. So open your mind, your heart, your soul to conviction. At the same time, do not take anything for granted, but be ready to learn. Always be receptive, always be responsive. ”

“ We must know why we have to perform so many activities. What is the purpose? What is the idea back of it? Why are those condemned who neglect their duties, who shirk their responsibilities, who do not try to perform their functions, their duties properly? ”

“ First, study and go to a person who has studied these things and who knows these things. In every book you will notice you are asked to go to a teacher. As you need a teacher in different fields of knowledge, so you need a teacher in this field too, and the more so because the objects which you are going to learn, the principles which you are going to master, are so subtle. Machines you can handle properly, because they are external things. ”

“ When, through proper training and daily practice, one is able to learn how to gather up the wandering mind, and withdraw these different powers of the mind from different sources and focus them on one thing, then so much energy has been combined, as it were, and we can accomplish something. ”

“ There is another Sanskrit word which expresses the same idea, Kaivalyam, the state of being alone; that which is self-caused; that which is not dependent on anything; that which is freedom itself; which is above everything. ”

“ Through different lives and through the present life we have been gathering up so [23] many things. We are performing so many karmas, as we say, and we have to eliminate so many things in our lives. Through proper effort we shall remove many obstacles, many difficulties, and our task will become easier and easier. ”

“ I want to impress this upon your mind because these things are established facts and those who have experienced them know these things. They are not the results of mere speculation, or mere imagination, because those teachers who would try to teach you will tell you from the beginning that you have to eliminate all the ideas of imagination. You must give up imagining things. Many of us have a tendency to imagine too much, constantly seeing visions and other things. ”

“ Otherwise, so much of our energy has been dissipated.
Regarding the difficulties and dangers of concentration, let me mention that there are difficulties in all paths, in all fields of knowledge. Nothing worth achieving has been accomplished without a little difficulty, without a little sacrifice, without a little sincere and earnest effort. ”

“ At every point you must reason. And the more is this true with regard to the study of these inner things. Why? Because there are so many dangers and difficulties in studying these inner things. Many promising lives have been failures owing to a lack of proper understanding, owing to ignorance, owing to indiscriminate search or indiscriminate investigation. You cannot be too cautious—you cannot be too careful in studying these things. ”

“ That is why we want to know if there is anything beyond the veil of the senses. That is why we must know whether there is anything back of this changeable condition of the senses and this changeable condition of the body. ”

“ You must eliminate those notions from the beginning, and must try to live in realities, in facts and true experiences. So you must not accept anything credulously, but try to study and investigate for yourself. ”

“ They come to test our strength, and we overcome them, we unfold our latent and dormant powers. So never give way. Never give up after you accept a method. Be not hasty in adopting a method, but once you have taken it up, follow it with the utmost pertinacity. ”

“ When these energies are released, they must find a passage and they must be allowed to go through this canal, and as this released energy rises into higher and higher centers, we enter into inner and inner stages of illumination. ”