A compilation of various extracts from the Writings & Works of T. V. Kapali Sastry to illustrate the essence of a Yogi.
Sri Aurobindo : Contact
THEME/S
Background
"The line of my sadhana precludes me from adopting any one as my disciple or child," thus wrote Sastriar in a letter on 8-11-1930.
Still the Pandits of Sirsi had a special place in his heart. And certainly Madhav was not 'any one' to Kapali. In fact it was Kavyakantha Ganapati Muni alias Nayana, the illustrious Guru of Kapali, who told him that he saw a light about Madhav and that he should be 'taken care of and guided properly to bring out the best in him.
Sastriar took the cue from the Guru and took charge of Madhav's 'incipient drifting soul' and forged a high destiny for a self-confessed weakling that he was.
In the prophetic words of Kapali Sastry, "The Mother is sure to help your growth in her own way, in response to your daily prayers, that you may in one day in your life find that all along it was she who was herself growing in you, rather than helping your growth (27-6-1934). Success is sure to crown your efforts if you persevere, noiselessly and quietly, consistent with the part you are called upon to perform as a youngster, as a son, as a brother, as a student, as a man-in-the making, as a soul aspiring for a higher Divine conscious Presence with all its constituent Light, Power, Peace and Bliss." (4-9-1934)
Kapali Sastry insisted from the very beginning that Madhav must learn to be more cheerful and avoid dejection. On 24-7-1936, he assures,"always remember that Kapali Anna stands by you and will do all he can to help you to recover the many-sided strength that alone can lead you to the Glory that is yours".
Source: Verstalie Genius > Pg. 65
Q: Has prayer "by one who has not realised”' no meaning? Does it “only strengthen the I-ness”?
A: These are two parts of the first of the two questions you would like me to answer.
Prayer is chiefly meant for one who has not realised and it is full of meaning. It has meaning for one who has realised also.
For the realisation can be such that the realised soul can enter into and maintain its relation with the ultimate Reality — call it the Full, the Universal, the Divine I. The very fact that one prays implies confession of limitations as also recognition of the fact that there is something higher which one could approach with true humility for help and guidance.
This leads to the second part of the question. For the ego, what you call I-ness, is not strengthened by prayer; on the other hand it gains in humility, the very act of prayer cures it of its pettiness and when the prayer is intense and sincere, this I-ness certainly drops, but there is the great and eternal I behind and above that remains and rules. Truly has it been said ' The I of each and the great universal I are one'.
21-3-1948.
The proper form, and spirit as well, of your prayer must be - 'Today I have to do this, I pray, give me the right guidance.' It is the attitude that matters most in all prayer; one need not even utter so many words if the will or the aspiration to be guided by the Divine in all activities be well-shaped by frequent remembrance leading to constant active memory of the Divine.
Therefore, for one who is engaged in activities the attitude must be one which is at once proper and practical. One must have full interest in the work that is undertaken; an absorbing interest with its eventual thoroughness is necessary even in yoga and not only for purposes of worldly life. The English expression, disinterested action, is misleading and even a caricature of the Gita's sublime injunction — ' Do work, yoked to Me (yukta) ' The attitude then, is not to call upon the Divine and demand 'Make me pass', for in making such a demand you lower your status of being yoked to Her and feel a stranger to Her Grace and way of guiding those who have come to Her. Nor is the attitude to bé ' Thy wish will be fulfilled', as you put it, because such an attitude fits in where resignation reigns supreme and all is passive, and cannot be proper or true when one is called upon to act with full interest in a thorough manner for a particular end in view.
The attitude that actuates the prayer in the formula I have chosen for you in answer to your query will be, I think, clear to you now.
It is an attitude in which desires are not hidden and therefore self-deception is not encouraged or allowed; the whole being is exposed to the light of the Mother which purifies and sublimates whatever is to be retained and merits a permanent place in Her Will and view, removing whatever there is of dross and not worthy of retention in us. There is no necessity of calling upon Her to do as She wills, for Her Will compared with the collective willings of all men put together wins by a hundred lengths, and does not require a special prayer from us. Besides,
'Thy will be done' —this attitude, superb as it is, may prove injurious in some cases as it may lodge a lurking suspicion of a defeatist mentality quite overtly.
In the attitude I urge, you will find that you are called upon to do the task with a happy confidence that you are not alone in your work, that you are to be entrenched in the faith — which is a potent substitute of consciousness until that dawns - that you are yoked to the Influence of the Light, of the Mother whose gracious guidance you can always receive especially in times of need and that what you call your will and work and efforts are but secondary, yet an indispensable instrumentation of Her Will.
You will remember the expression Yogah karmasu kausalam.
P.S. Srat is a vedic word meaning truth, and dha to hold: sraddha is an untranslatable word. Faith is a feeble English equivalent.
Faith is the innate power, sakti, by which truth is held, srat satyam anaya dhivate. Later Sanskrit grammarians derive it differently.
But the derivation I give can be better appreciated in the light of sraddhamayoyam…. sah. It is not a mere belief, it is a power of the soul by which the Spirit achieves its ends by using the intelligence and energy in the instrumental nature.
18-10-1940
THE main thing is to feel the drive of the need in the soul and earnestly set out on the inward path. The choice of the Teaching comes only next, depending on the temperament and intellectual mould of the aspirant.
11-3-1949
***
To make a true beginning in spiritual life, learn to separate yourself, your being, the purusha from the movement of the prakriti, the universal Nature. As long as you identify yourself with its movements you are bound up with it. But when you begin to stand aloof, it becomes possible to get a poise above the operations of the prakriti and set the inner being free to come into its own.
18-10-1950
Each one carries a world of his own with him. His thoughts, his movements, his world. God stands on high, on a tower as it were, gazing down at millions of human beings moving about below.
They give an appearance of so many small ants crawling round.
Each is full to his brim with his own things. God who carries his Plenty to give, finds none or few to receive. It is only if we care to unburden ourselves of our thoughts and prepossessions that there will be room to receive and contain what God is ready, indeed, waiting to shower. So it is always a first rule in sadhana to empty oneself.
It is never too late to take up spiritual life and succeed in it.
Neither age nor infirmity matters. What is important is a sustained effort, abhyasa.
2-11-1949
In spiritual life it is the earnestness that is of greatest importance. People, no doubt, begin with a considerable earnestness; they must maintain it and strive to increase it.
Learn to be open to a higher Calm, a Silence; that can be effected either by a strong aspiration or by the Grace of the Guru.
Once you begin to feel the Calm settling into you - no matter for howsoever short a time — the way is found. To call for that Calm, to give it room to settle into yourself — in the mind, in the nerves, in the body, by cultivating a habit of sitting for longer and longer periods, is the next step. By this means a continuing relation between the Higher Power and the system is established. And though in the beginning it is the seeker who has to strive and hold the Calm etc. as things progress, it is the Calm itself that begins to take hold him and carry him forth as it were. Ways are opened as if from nowhere and the seeker is put on the Royal Road. This Calm, this Silence is, so to say, one end of the Divine Being. If that end is firmly established in one the rest of the Divine is certain to pour in the vessel. With one end firmly caught, it is a matter of course before the other 'End' is rendered accessible.
A certain mental and moral elevation, some samskar, is indispensable for sate and sure progress in spiritual life. That is why the ancients attached so much importance to yama and niyama.
Reflection on the moral and mental level cannot be attained all at once, hence the need to start with at least some elevation. Without it, one either stops after a few steps or goes astray.
30-9-1948
Be in a constant state of receptivity. That is best done by aspiring for and achieving a settled calm within and around yourself.
6-3-1949
God is within, God is without, God is above. But first you must realise Him within before seeking to realise Him elsewhere.
17-3-1951
To have an ideal is meaningless unless effort is made to mould one's life according to it.
17-1-1950
Do not concentrate upon and pray for the removal of your defects, bad qualities; pray for the rise and growth of good qualities.
Positive gains will displace negative elements which will simply drop off.
28-12-1948
It is more towards acquiring real strength than on the exercise of it that our effort must be directed.
18-9-1948
Amidst all the currents and cross currents, agitations and excitements keep firm to the central principle that is to govern your life. Do not compromise on that; stick to it whatever the jerks and pulls.
10-1-1949
Do not be carried away by every movement that comes by; watch it from aside and then decide instead of allowing it to sweep you away in its flood.
5-3-1951
Whatever the surroundings, ' Mind your business' is an ideal motto for the seeker. Have an eye fixed constantly on the inner progress; clear the being of every dross and make room for the Light to enter and live and spread.
1-10-1948
When you tend to worry yourself over the welfare of others and kindred matters, even after taking to spiritual life, it is better to ask yourself: would not things go on if I were to die today?
Surely they will. Then let me treat these things as such and concentrate on the life I have chosen.
13-2-1949
To keep one's promise, to act up to the given word is not merely moral. It touches the spiritual being also. Not to keep to the word weakens the tongue-power, vak, and diminishes man's inner stature.
The sincerity with which you approach determines the results.
This is the law of the subtle workings of Nature.
9-4-1951
Few start the spiritual life with complete sincerity. But as they progress, as the stress of the original mixed motives lessens, the modicum of sincerity gets a chance to grow and spread itself gradually.
The question one ought to ask oneself is not ' Do people respect me, do they think of me as great?' But ' Do I deserve what people are charitable enough to grant me?' If one has genuine stuff in him, he cares little whether it is recognised or not. It is there all the same and he is conscious of it.
25-12-1948
The one aim of the seeker must be to achieve a constant jyotirlila, play of Light, within. The Saktilila may follow afterward.
He does not worry whether this play of Power is there or not once the uninterrupted reign of the Light is aglow within. Concentrate towards this end and do all that helps this Inanodaya, Dawn of Knowledge.
9-12-1948
Not to force but allow things to grow naturally is the safest and most fruitful rule in spiritual life.
12-12-1948
To learn to wait is an essential part of yoga. It is in waiting that the usual restlessness dies down and the being gets ready to open to a higher calm and peace.
The patience of God is infinite. He watches and watches the whirl of millions rushing about, each individual trying to outreach the other and waits calmly for the most developed soul to turn to Him when ready.
28-5-1949
To try to coerce the Divine is foolish. Do your part and wait upon the Grace in utter humility and surrender. There is a story of a boy who was somehow left behind in the temple of Kali at night.
Nobody should be allowed to remain in the sanctum of Kali; the reason, it would seem, is that there is a sport going on with the Deva Kanyas and no mortal should be present there. Now the father of the boy came near the prakara and entreated the Devi to somehow let out the boy. He was asked by Her to return home quietly and told that the boy was and would return safe. But he was not content. He continued to entreat and importune. The Devi got exasperated and with a loud' take it' cut asunder the body of the boy into two and threw it over the wall to the poor parent. The moral of the story is evident. The Divine knows what is good for the devotee and it is not for him to tell the Divine what to grant and when.
25-3-1950
To ask of God, constantly, gifts — spiritual or material — is beggarly mentality which repels the approach of the Lord. He is ever awake, watchful with hosts of gods ready to serve, ready to pour his untold riches in you if only you would consent to let them enter into you. The ego is the main bar. Surrender of the ego and of all that you imagine yourself to be, to the Almighty, throws open all the doors of your being. The inrush of the riches is spontaneous. Within, the Occupant spreads Himself more and more nearer the surface and emerges as the rightful monarch to whom all the gods of the universe pay homage. Rightly does the Upanishad say:
madhye vamanamasinam sarve devah upasate.
30-10-1948
Keep your soul to the front. You should constantly endeavour to keep the soul clear of all the envelopings, whether mental or vital, and feel it in the front. Persist in the attempt and you are sure to succeed.
How to be open to the Divine?
To love is to be open. That is the ideal way. It may not be possible for all. For such, the way is faith and aspiration.
Faith in the Guru, faith in the yoga, faith in oneself — this threefold faith and aspiration in the heart create the opening.
31-12-1949
Love is the one sure means of keeping open to the Divine.
23-3-1950
Fidelity to the Divine means exclusive opening to the divine influence. You have to be open to that alone. In your dealings with the world also, remember that everything has a divine element in it and you have to see that alone and put yourself en rapport with that.
19-3-1950
Sadhana should be natural. There should be such an utter surrender, giving up of oneself that the downpour from above or the outflow from within should be incessant. Of the two, the latter is more lasting and concrete in its results. It means a greater degree of personal effort and that implies a vigilance and endeavour on the part of the sadhak without which things stagnate.
12-2-1951
Cultivate assiduously the habit of referring to the guiding Centre within before doing anything. In the beginning you may find no light within but only the darkness of the mind; gradually, however, you will become conscious of a steady unfoldment, a gentle movement within that stirs to guide. By persistent reference, it grows and becomes automatic in operation. To this end, the habit of faithfulness to truth in all one's movements is very useful.
For the system gets acclimatised to movements towards and in the truth and movements of untruth find no support, no room in the person and the guidance from within can reach out without interference or mixture of untruth. Of course it takes time but if persisted in as a discipline, the fruit is sure. Seven to eight times out of ten, the guidance turns out to be the right one. If it fails to be so in the remaining cases it is because in the present state of things, the time-consciousness cannot be complete.
The location of the point of reference - whether it is to be in the heart or at the back of the mind - depends on the nature and temperament of the individual.
18-2-1949
If our movements are trained to proceed from a consciousness to which Truth and Right are natural, even the mind receives only the right and the true thoughts.
26-11-1948
Each one is full of his own ideas and standards. It is from such a mind he judges others, commends or condemns. Even those who speak of their 'open mind' have their own mental cobwebs and standards. To judge others it is necessary to get rid of these, to get out of one's mental frame. It is particularly difficult for those whose mental being is definitely formed and taken shape.
From that point of view those who have no mental personality to speak of are in a better position. It is only from an opening into the spiritual wideness that release can be got from this prison of mind.
Extricate from the illusory consciousness of the mind, from its world of fantasies. " reads the Mother's Prayer.
15-12-1949
When you are confronted with a situation, it will not do to be simply equal to it; you must rise above it, deal with it standing higher.
13-11-1950
Amidst all the excitement and hurry do not lose rectitude.
Have a centre of reference and do not do anything without looking into it.
20-4-1950
When thoughts or movements try to overwhelm you, step back, draw behind and you will find yourself standing above them.
10-6-1948
If one cultivates the habit of meditating in a concentrated manner even for ten minutes before going to bed, the response begins to continue throughout the night whatever the dreams etc., on the surface layer. And in the morning on getting up, one finds the same movement continuing. A fresh sitting at that time is necessary to stabilise and increase what has been received.
26-10-1949
The morning time is the most precious for meditation. But to make the best use of it it is necessary that before you retire at night you must be quiet, aspire for and get a measure of serenity, calm and go to bed in the consciousness that you have delivered yourself into the hands of the Power that is at work in you. In sleep in spite of the dreams etc., which cover mainly the surface layer of the consciousness, the Power goes on working in the depths and you will wake up with a feeling of repose, quiet and cheerful-ness. That gives the proper setting for a conscious and fruitful meditation. When you sit for meditation if sleep threatens to overpower you, you must be vigilant. There is a particular point at which if the sleep is rejected by vigilance, or by physical means, it goes away and does not bother you further.
By steady practice a natural mode of concentration gets formed during these periods of meditation.
25-4-1949
An hour of quiet, deep, concentrated meditation should be enough for a day provided there is a conscious endeavour during the rest of the time to educate the feelings, attitude and activities in the mould and rhythm that is demanded of a yogin. The attitude of the God-seeker should be active not merely during the meditation, but all the time, influencing and directing one's activities.
It is not advisable to sit for meditation for long hours at a stretch — at any rate in the beginning. Thoughts begin to crowd in after some time and if allowed to continue, a habit gets formed.
That is why brief snatches of undisturbed meditation are better.
In between these periods of meditation, an attitude that is most consonant with an aspiration and seeking for God-life must be cultivated and made increasingly living. In the long run there ceases to be any real difference between periods of meditation and non-meditation; each prepares for the other and both fuse into one uninterrupted line of sadhana.
14-10-1949
It happens, frequently, during meditation that just when a deeper movement is about to begin there is a strong tendency to lapse into sleep. If one manages somehow to get over that movement, the gain is striking; the movement increases; the spread of the light is wider.
-8-1951 ( sic )
If the fire of aspiration is burning, sleep will not creep in during meditation. Try to ignite that flame before which everything else pales and falls from you.
Feel the calm and Peace within and stick to it; that will lead and land you there which you cannot even anticipate.
18-1-1951
When you meditate and try to plunge deep into the heart, you may get sleep. But the sleep is not the usual kind of sleep.
When you come out of that sleep some passage has been worked out which will help you in getting deeper next time. Each time you go a level deeper.
21-9-1950
During meditation, particularly in the mornings, when there is a downward rush of Power from the higher altitudes into the being, at times the inflow of the Force strikes certain centres e.g. the vital, and one feels a tremendous increase in the vital energy, a thousandfold capacity etc. But such things have their own reactions later unless carefully handled.
27-4-1949
Q: When one sits for meditation at times the tendency to go in is strong, at other times to expand upwards. Should the stronger tendency be allowed to prevail or should one force what one wants?
A: Whichever is the stronger tendency and is more natural at the moment must be given free scope. Only one must be vigilant. For when the tendency is to go within or deep, the mind tends to sink into the subconscient. When one expands upwards, the mind gets busy with waves of surface thoughts. Of course the vigilance is necessary up to a certain stage when the push inwards or the pull upwards is so strong that the mind is simply swept away in the movement.
11-12-1949
Meditation is no end. It is after all a means. Your immediate aim must be a radical change of outlook, conversion of con-sciousness. Everything should proceed from a changed centre, a centre bathed in the surging waves of the antah samudra, inner ocean.
21-10-1948
When Rishi Atri hymns that when Agni is born, he is born as Varuna, he gives expression to a deep truth of spiritual life.
For when the fire of aspiration, the Divine Will (Agni) is manifested in man, there is an effortless, simultaneous realisation of Vastness (Varuna is the god of Vastness) — the habitual littlenesses and narrownesses are left behind. His consciousness spreads out, it expands to embrace the Divine in its vast extension. Varuna is followed by Mitra (God of Love, Harmony). There is a feeling of love, sympathy flowing out to all, to the whole creation. Repulsion, fear, hatred, all these melt away at this rise of Love and identification with the rest.
11-6-1951
You speak of calm as ' coming' from somewhere. That is calm, of course, but it is a mental calm. There is a greater calm within ourselves, deeper, the spiritual calm which calls down the other calm. The spiritual calm is always there within, firm, immovable and serene. The supramental calm is still greater.
When that is there even material elements can be rendered motionless and the calm imposed on them.
23-2-1949
Peace is not in the mind only. It is everywhere, it is within you and around you. If you learn to relax and yield to it, the Peace will envelop you all over.
18-4-1949
The Yoga-Shakti is of course working in the sadhaka, whether he is aware of it always or not. But if he is conscious of it and takes steps to be more and more conscious of its workings, that helps the Shakti and accelerates the process.
9-9-1949
When you progress in sadhana and the higher consciousness begins to act, the mind ceases to function as mind. Its substance is there of course, but not its activity. It simply falls mute.
Ideas are dynamic. Unless the mind is truncated as it were from the rest of the being, when thoughts get formulated in the mind for expression there is some response from the vital; and after a time the vital gets habituated to respond rhythmically to the workings of the mind and the increasing harmony thus established results in the deeper part, what is called Psyche in our Yoga, coming forward, finding the field ready for its reign.
17-12-1948
The psychic being — the true centre of love — is the apex holding together as it were the two ends of the vital and the mental.
It does not stand behind either. We may say, the vital from below and the mental from above have their meeting point in the psychic.
When the psychic centre is active, it uplifts and pushes the vital in purified action; it warms and guides the mind in its activity.
30-9-1950
When sadhana is being worked out in the sadhaka by the higher Power, there is, at intervals, what can be called a shaking off of dust.
The sadhaka should be careful at such times not to be upset and not to get identified with the dust. He should quietly keep to his own depths in the confidence that the Power at work will do what is to be done.
13-10-1949
In your activities maintain a certain aloofness from the work you are engaged in. If that is done, you will cease to be affected by the contacts of men and things inevitable in every-day life.
They just pass by on the surface, leaving you secure in your own poise.
24-4-1949
The radical Realisation or even the conversion of consciousness always takes place in a trice. Of course it is preceded by a long period of preparation, known or unknown to the surface being.
A readiness is indispensable even in the more external parts of the being e.g. in the mind, in the vital. Particularly the vital; for in most it is the vital being or part of it that is at the root of all disequilibrium and is responsible for the unsteadiness of the mind.
The mind itself can be brought round easily; but it is the vital volcano under it that unhinges it and sends it swirling.
17-10-1950
When you are depressed due to any happenings, withdraw from company, sit quietly, breathe deep and invoke the Peace to settle into you.
Sooner or later a rhythm will get established in you and by constant practice you can feel it at will. The Peace must be felt in the very cells of the body; then will the circumstances cease to overpower your spirits.
9-4-1949
One is apt to feel at times in sadhana that it is the same movement that goes on and get depressed as there are no signs of progress beyond the monotonous repetition. In fact it is not a useless repetition.
It is purposive; the results are seen much later.
It is like breaking a hard substance with hammer-blows. Each hammer blow looks like every other.
Yet, each carries forward the consequence of the earlier and the cumulative effect is that the hardness yields at the end.
16-3-1950
As long as one does not stand above the activities of Nature depression is inevitable.
Depression is a state of being less than normal. If the aspiration is active flaming, there can be no despondency or depression.
A falling off — in any part of the being — from a certain poise which is natural or normal to oneself is what is known as depression.
It is indispensable to learn to separate yourself from the workings of the Prakriti — the universal Nature through the instruments of mind, life and body, — and station yourself on a higher level in a settled poise.
That way lies secure freedom from the reactions and reflexes of the operations of Nature.
When the Mother speaks of the slaying of the Devil of dejection and despondency etc. what is meant is this: so long only those who had attained a certain definite stature in the inner life could stand unaffected by these ills.
Hereafter, any one with the necessary aspiration will find it easier and more possible to overcome despondency etc. without having to wait till the growth of the soul has reached a sufficiently high water-level.
25-10-1950
The most potent cause for spiritual falls is man's EGO. But after all, what is man? What is it that belongs to him? Things have been there before him and will continue to be there after him.
Only he claims, he arrogates to himself things which do not belong to him at all and says, 'this is mine', ' that is mine'. The very body which he calls his own belongs to the various elements in the Universe (and even the ego-self with which he identifies his personality is a reflection — a powerful reflection - of the deeper seated entity, the true soul). If the seeker feels and maintains the attitude, 'Lord, thou art everything, I am just a bubble whose very existence depends on thy pleasure', that would be more in consonance with facts as they are.
Once you take to spiritual life, you must treat the past life with all its griefs and joys, as a thing of the past. Develop a new outlook, turn the mind away from things connected with or leading to suffering and misery. The system must be trained to refuse automatically to give room to unhappy movements.
6-1-1949
However much one may get clouded with wrong movements and forces in the world, if he has, at least once, received a touch or come into contact with a spiritual Centre, one may say he is sure to rise up awakened to the call of the Soul.
If you learn to put yourself in the consciousness of the Divine, you have no need to struggle. Your thoughts, ideas reach out effortlessly and fructify ultimately because it is the Shakti that effects the things and you are identified with it.
10-4-1950
When you begin to smile on your difficulties then surely you have begun to progress in yoga.
18-4-1950
Source: Collected Works Vol. 2
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