Sri M., the living Nath yogi, has published a sequel to his autobiography. As with the original book, the sequel also mentions wonderful and marvellous events, including glimpses of past lives, astral travel, etc., which stretch our notions of "human" capabilities. Yet, what elicits the deepest gratitude from the reader is the record of some of his conversations with his guru, Maheshwarnath Babaji. Once we are convinced that the advanced yogis have a greater perception or understanding, the inevitable question arises as to how we can develop our own understanding. Here, the inspiration from the amazing is bolstered by the reassurance from experience, and gives the reader a new ray of hope that maybe he/she too could perhaps understand. In some of these conversations, Sri M mentions what Maheshwarnath Babaji told him about the ego, the right kind of practice, and the connection with the supreme witness consciousness (Turiya of Mandukya Upanishad).
While the mention of Turiya in the Mandukya Upanishad is well known, Wikipedia adds that the same idea is also found in other and older Upanishads. Briefly, people are normally aware of only 3 main states of consciousness - the waking state, the dream state and deep (dreamless) sleep. The upanishads state that beyond these three, there is a fourth (chaturiya, from which perhaps the word turiya is derived) which is the substratum of the three and bears witness to the activities in the other three states. Once, during his stay with his guru, Sri M asked the guru to explain these references to the Turiya state and the answers given by his guru have been retold in the book. The answer is related to the answers on meditation and the identity of the observer and the observed (as Krishnamurti put it). The observer and the observed are nothing but a group of thoughts (or, parts of the same brain) differentiating themselves from some others. Inasmuch as both sets of ideas arise and play within the human brain, the grouping is somewhat arbitrary and it is clear that they are all part of the larger field of thoughts within the brain. Realizing this deeply, it seems the sages could "see" the rightful place of the individual ego as but a small bubble within the larger field, and this helped them attain a state of consciousness in which the field was primary and the ego was of no essential importance. This larger field, as it happens, is universal and at a different level, is also an ultimate witness to all states of consciousness through which the individual passes. Therefore, it is what people call the "Atman"(self or soul) and this Atman is also the universal Brahman.
Other parts of the book are equally helpful, at different levels. In some chapters, Sri M describes his astral travels and experiences in the dream state. Sometimes, other powers are discussed - like that of disappearing by controlling the light absorbed by the body or by the much more difficult method of disintegrating and later re-integrating the root forces that constitute the body. Similarly, in one chapter, the story of Sadhu Ananda is described - an IIT engineer who gave up a comfortable career for self-realization but still could attain to the deeper realizations and samadhi exoeriences which he wanted to have. He had all but given up hope and was naturally quite disillusioned until one fine day, an elderly master yogi visited him from nowhere, and agreed to stay one night at his cottage. After finally experiencing deep samadhi, Sadhu Ananda remained a wanderer and years later, left for even higher and more difficult-to-scale regions of the Himalayas. These parts clearly inspire and are most needed by people who cannot do without some proof of the impact the practices can have.
Some other chapters provide practical tips - like the story where a master tells the disciple to stretch the mind like the strings of a musical instrument (neither too little, nor too much). The guidance goes a long way in preventing devotees from going to dangerous extremes. Similarly, the chapter where he is astrally taken to a cave which contains remnants of an extraterrestrial visit forces us to rethink some basics we take for granted. Stories from his own past lives remind us of the laws of karma and profess the idea of transmigration of the "soul". Equally importantly, they bring out not only the trancendence of many famous gurus (like Ramakrishna Paramahansa) but also their deep sympathy and kindness for their fellow human beings.
Sadanand Tutakne
Sadanand Tutakne
