swámi A. P. Mukerji

“ MEDITATION EXERCISE NO. 1. Retire into the SILENCE. Shut off all thoughts and purposes relating to the external world. Try to realise that you, the Real Ego are not the body but that it is a mere garment you have put on for functioning on the physical plane and which you shall put off some day. Try to realise that you are immortal and that although a thousand bodies might come and go, you, the Ego, shall be as alive as ever. These are your shadows—your personalities. What dies and is born is a mirage—a mere phantasm—which you materialise for certain purposes. ”

“ WORSHIP OF THE TERRIBLE. The attitude of the soul which is not to be baffled by the lower nature or the "Personal Self" should be to seek Death and not life, to hurl oneself upon the sword's point and become one with the terrible. Those who are commissioned by the Lord to bear aloft the torch of spirit are fated to see every joy of the senses turn to ashes and crushing blows upon their eyes to the unsubstantially of the relative life of Maya. ”

“ Thought is a dynamic energy. Just as the food that you eat feeds your body, exactly similarly your thoughts and feelings nourish your soul. Matter is nothing but a concentration of Thought-Force or Mind-Substance. The entire universe is seen objectively. This is on the cosmic scale. On the individual scale—"As a man thinketh in his heart, so he is." This is a literal truth. Your body is nothing but a Thought-Form. Control your modes of thinking and shape them to lofty ideals. So will you infallibly, positively and immediately control your destiny. ”

“ You are a "worldling of the world," very clever, rich, and a master along your own lines. But spiritually you are an imbecile, worse than a baby. This is the Objective Mind—the "deepest immersed in matter, literally made of the dust." "It is the brain of worldly wisdom, common sense, prudence, methodical arrangement, order, discipline, classification, the skill and knowledge of the expert in any branch or department of art or science." ”

“ And the majesty of the Soul comes out only when a man is wounded to his
depths.
The Western ideal is to be doing: the Eastern to be suffering. The perfect life would be a harmony between (selfless or non-attached) doing and suffering. Worship the terrible. Worship Death, for its own sake; despair for its own sake; pain for its own sake. Yet this is not the coward's or the suicide's or the weakling's morbid love of Death, but it is the cry of the philosopher who has sounded everything to its depths and knows intensely the vanity of the desire for happiness on the relative plane of limitations. ”

“ Thus you see thoughts of the 'I can and I will', 'I do and I dare' type draw similar ones to you, ever increasing your own stock and at the same time stimulating and energising all others vibrating in the same key throughout the world. Hence you see we owe it to ourselves as well as to humanity in general to generate only positive, loving and lofty thoughts. Just brace up and send forth fearless, 'I can and I will' thoughts into the world's great reservoir of thought forces, and you will be surprised at your power to attract influence, and energise others. ”

“ Be positive to the external world. Be negative and receptive to the Lord's Will-force. Remember this. This brings me to the supremest and most solid truth contained in the Science of prayer. The praying mind, by its mere attitude of faith and earnest expectation, opens itself out to the tremendous inflow of Divine Energy. It draws close to the centre of all-power, wisdom and love, and drinks deep of the living waters of life so that even the very face or flesh begins to shine under the influence of this self-polarization—if I may be permitted to use this word—through prayer. ”

“ But the world will teach you bitter lessons and rend you to pieces if you try consciously to control it while you are still a slave to your lower self. Be great. Strive for Perfection. So will you be recognised by others. And according to the transcendent energy of the highest law of our Being it is the consciousness of heights scaled, accomplishments achieved and consequent dawning of a Loftier Ideal upon our intellectual horizon that fills us with Strength and Peace rather than the recognition of our worth by others. It is a serious mistake to care for fame, praise and admiration. ”

“ Reserve to yourself the power to remain unattached at all times. Accept nothing however pleasant, if it conceals a fetter into thy Soul. At a word stand ready to sever any connection that gives a hint of soul-bondage. Keep thy mind clear. Keep thy will pure. Attain the Impersonal Standpoint, O you man! there alone canst thou quench thy thirst for happiness never on the plane of personal. Who and what dies and is reborn?—Your lower self, your personality. ”

“ Mind governs everything, creates or destroys everything, on the physical as well as other planes. Your thoughts affect your health, your circumstances, your environments; those who come into daily contact with you, those who are separated from you by space, those who are what you call "dead" but who are really alive in spirit-life and bound to you more or less by mystic chords of sympathy in thought and soul-life, affecting you and being affected by you every minute. The range of influence exerted by a man's daily thoughts is simply tremendous. ”

“ Often when a boy playing with others the thought would strike me hard, "Are you the same that is running and jumping and shouting." I would stop, looking blankly ahead. A feeling of confusion would come over me and I would forget everything. I could recall the feeling distinctly and vividly. Now I understand. These were flashes of Soul-Consciousness unfolded in a past life and struggling for "recognition" in this life. Such men face DEATH for themselves calmly. They know they can't die. Such men are incapable of sustained hatred. ”

“ Do not permit your mind to be self-hypnotised into a false sense of being "exhausted" and "old." Neither of them is a fact except in your thought of yourself. All your powers are lying dormant. All your latent energies are lying unused. Back of your conscious mentality are tremendous energies awaiting the pull of your will. When your brain conceives of being something unusually great, at least so it may appear from your view-point, do not question your strength but go ahead unhesitatingly, fearlessly and steadily. Assert your life-force. Feel that you are young, strong and healthy and fit. ”

“ Picture to yourself strong waves of Thought-Force passing out of you and encircling the whole world. Picture the world as peopled with men and women manifesting the desired conditions.
The more friends sit together in union of will and soul concentrating as above-indicated the better. Practise alone if you can find no earnest and serious-minded ones to join you.
Believe in your power to so help humanity. The power of thought is unlimited. In blessing others bless yourself. The effect of this exercise will be far-reaching. ”

“ But man is trying to realise this Perfect Existence in the transitory things of the earth-plane. Only when he knows that not attachment to the things of the "world, the flesh and the devil" but renunciation of same and the bringing of the Impersonal Ideal into his everyday life would lead him to it, then Maya will have fulfilled its purpose—which is to show man his divinity. "Kill out the desire for life. Kill out Ambition. Kill out desire for comfort; yet work as those who love life. Respect life as those who are ambitious. Be happy as those are who live for happiness." ”

“ In a very short time it shall become a confirmed habit. Force yourself to it. Take an interest in what you do and say. Have confident expectations of SUCCESS. Never be daunted and cowed down by initial difficulties and failures. Never say die. If you go down—don't remain lying and moaning. Never, I say, never. Get up. Shake yourself up free and say, like the royal lion "Come one, come all, this rock shall fly sooner from its base than I." Have a will of your own and be a force for good. ”

“ The absolute mastery of 'self' ought to be your aim. I have given you the real secrets. You must exercise your own ingenuity and intelligence in utilising them towards your Self-development. I leave you to finish the fight for yourself. Get up and start in to work at your task from to-day and not to-morrow. Back of all efforts, always have this positive incentive and auto-suggestion:
"THIS IS TO DEVELOP MY WILL-POWER AND NO TEMPORARY PAIN CAN EQUAL THE POWER AND HAPPINESS ARISING OUT OF SELF-CONTROL." Get firm control over your emotions. ”

“ You know quite well that the hands of the watch are governed by the mechanism behind. Both are necessary. Ignorance exists in thinking that the hands of the watch move by themselves. This visible universe is the dial-plate of the Invisible. Maya (ignorance) blinds you to this fact, i.e., mere objective knowledge blinds you to the subjective side of life and you see nothing beyond a material universe. But you, who realize both, objective as well as subjective, need not be afraid of such a danger. For a danger it is to develop the objective mind at neglect of the subjective. ”

“ There are some children and even grown-up men and women who mistake their 'obstinacy' for Will-Power. They want a thing and when they do not get it they tear their hair, gnash their teeth, stamp their feet and fly into a terrible passion. Since people think that these uncontrolled creatures are strong-willed while all that you could say about them is that they are utter slaves to their desires. You must practise self-denial in fifty different ways and force yourself to do certain things, 'little and big,' every day purely for developing this power of Resistance. ”

“ You ought to be able to concentrate upon one subject of thought, study and observation with undivided attention and then take your mind off that subject and put it on something else, at your will. Train your mind to 'give' perfect attention to any subject you like and also to 'shut off' or inhibit all attention on that subject. The mind is a restless thing darting from one thing to another, and, like a spoilt child, tiring of continued attention. ”

“ If you strive to build yourself on the basis of the simple principles as laid down in this series of lessons you will in time grow into the Higher Self and at last become one with it. Moreover, your daily life will be the Occasion for the practical application of these principles, thus enabling you to pursue your way through life calmly, earnestly, independently and with the quiet dignity of a man "who knows what he is about". I cannot and would not speak of "get-rich-quick" methods of self-development because they are the veriest rot imaginable. ”

“ The great God whose Infinite power regulates the motions of planets and yet takes note of the sparrow's fall has your soul's best interest at heart. All you do, all you say, all you feel, all you hope, all your experiences—all, all is His will. Man's Will is God's Will. God's Will is Man's Will. ”

“ You may not say it to others—confession may hurt your pride—but secretly away deep in your heart, there resides strongly and fiercely the desire to be a Fearless Individual. And it is a worthy desire. To be able to wipe off all fearfulness, anxiety and worry from your mental tablets is no easy task, but when once accomplished, it gives you a glimpse of Heavenly Joy and Superhuman Strength. And, You can be Fearless, I tell you—each one of you—you can be what you will to be. ”

“ But you will find your influence radiating and circling out naturally and irresistibly, winning souls to the higher life, and you yourself shall thus stand as a tower of strength, a redeemer of the race, an inspiration and a living benediction unto humanity. ”

“ You shall never see a leader of mankind without tremendous faith in himself. But equally truly you shall never see a true man or woman taking delight in having others crawl to dust before them. They feel pained and shocked at such a sight. There is infinite humiliation to them in this sorry spectacle. But Self-Conceit is that original obliquity that leads a man to make a hog of himself. ”

“ They suffered, they felt for humanity. And when undeveloped humanity forced them to the Cross; they bore it in the same spirit in which the gentle nurse bears the blows and abuses of the disease-racked patient. "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." Verily to know all is to forgive all. This Soul-Consciousness is as much yours as that of anyone. ”

“ By concentration is meant the directing of all your energies along a special line of achievement. For instance, if you would be a perfect Yogi, you must concentrate, concentrate, morning, noon and night, at all times, along that line of endeavour. You must study all the vast literature on Yoga, Psychology, Metaphysics, Mentalism, etc., and form your own synthesis on same. You must think hard and work hard for Yoga. "Genius is the power to bear infinite pain." Nothing ought to be too great a sacrifice, including your own life, for the right understanding and achievement of Yoga. ”

“ Exercise your Will-power. Be something. Do something.
LOVE FOR HUMANITY, ENERGY, ASPIRATION, SELF-ESTEEM. I cannot too strongly emphasise the difference between Self-Esteem and Self-Conceit. I wish to drive and thoroughly pound this difference into your brain. Self-Esteem is decidedly a manly trait. It is based upon a conviction of the Kingship of God and the Sonship of Man. Man is a dignified being with divine attributes. He should not disgrace his Maker by crawling on the ground. This is Self-Esteem. Self-Esteem does not lower itself. It never lowers others. ”

“ Yes, you must work constantly, train your intellect, develop your personality but do not do all this for your own personal self but for the Higher Self, The BRAHMAN, Eternal—to manifest through. As soon as you lose this view-point your personal strivings end in Pain and Disappointment. Work as hard as the ambitious man and the lover of pleasures but remember your actions are inspired by different motives. ”