SADHANA

THE PATH OF ATTAINMENT


Attaining Perfection

What one values in life is worth striving for, whether material or spiritual gain. Those who weigh the object that they wish to attain with the difficulty or the cost that is required for its attainment neither know the full value of the object nor do they know the way of attainment. The first principle that one must learn in the path is to esteem the object of attainment more than the cost one has to pay for it. 


Even if the object be not of the value of its cost, still the law of attainment is to attain a desired object at every cost. The great ones who have achieved great things in life have achieved in this way. Nothing in the world could take them away from what they wished to achieve. Even a life's cost they considered too small a price for the object of attainment. When this spirit directs the spiritual path, man arrives at having God-communion, for the true pursuer will never go halfway. Either he gains, or he loses himself. 


The words hatha yoga mean abstinence, or sternness, to want what one wants, and nothing else in its place will satisfy one. Those who are discouraged and come back from half the way will never arrive at a destination. Especially in the path of God, a person who takes one step forward with hope and two steps backward in doubt will go back or will linger on in the same place. By the sincere pursuit of the object, be it heavenly or earthly, with a willingness for all sacrifice, one attains to what to what the soul longs for -- perfection, the only satisfaction in life.


Rope of Faith

When talking about optimism and pessimism, I should say that there are times when the conditions do not allow man to be hopeful, even if by nature he was optimistic. The one who is placed in a situation where everything seems to stand against his prospect in life cannot keep his eyes open, see the condition, and at the same time have an optimistic view. When the conditions in life go against, and everything stands in opposition, it is most difficult for one to have a hopeful attitude in life. Outwardly, the conditions stand against belief, inwardly the reason supports the conditions, for reason is a slave to all that stands before it.

Therefore, if under such circumstances an optimistic person no longer shows optimism, he is not to be blamed. No doubt the one who, in spite of all conditions, against and in spite of his reason, helpless to find a way, still strikes the path of hope, is much more advanced than the pessimistic soul; for he whether he knows or does not know, is holding the rope which is attached to Heaven and which is the only source of safety. This rope is the faith and trust in the greatness and power of God which is within. 


And however much things may seem to be against, yet his faith in God can turn all things in time in his favor. It is denying what one does not wish to happen, even to the moment that the happening is knocking at the door, and still deny. That person will turn that happening into something that he desired. Misfortune will turn into good fortune, disease will turn into health, and death will turn into life.


Spirit of Optimism

There is no such thing as impossible. All is possible. Impossible is made by the limitation of our capacity of understanding. Man, blinded by the law of nature's working, by the law of consequences which he has known through his few years life on earth, begins to say, "This is possible and that is impossible." If he were to rise beyond limitations, his soul would see nothing but possible. And when the soul has risen high enough to see all possibility, that soul certainly has caught a glimpse of God.


They say God is all-mighty; and I say, God is all-possible. Possibility is the nature of God, and impossibility is the art of man. Man goes so far, and cannot go any further. Man makes a flower out of paper, giving it as natural a color as possible, yet he says it is not possible to make it fragrant, for he has his limitations. But God, Who is the Maker of the flower and who is the Giver of the fragrance, has all power, and man, who is weakened by his limitedness, becomes more and more limited the more he thinks of it. In this is created the spirit of pessimism. 

Man who is conscious of God Almighty, and who in the contemplation of God loses the consciousness of his own self, inherits the power of God, and it is in this power and belief that the spirit of optimism is born.


Balance of Power and Knowledge

The secret of the working of the whole universe is in the duality of nature. In all aspects of nature, these two forces are working, and it is the working of these two forces which balances life. Therefore, in attainment, not only power, which manifests as enthusiasm or action, is sufficient, but besides power, enthusiasm, knowledge and the capability of working is necessary. Very often a person fails to obtain success with all his enthusiasm and power and will, and the reason is that either by the power he has he pushes along his object like a ball, or with his strength he hammers the rock, which he really needs as a whole and not in pieces. 


Power is no doubt most necessary in attainment, but in absence of knowledge, the power may prove helpless. By power I mean power in all aspects, the power that one possesses in the outward life and the power of mind and body. It is the power of mind which is called willpower. No doubt, many with knowledge but lacking power also meet with failure. If an object is pulled from both sides, by power and by knowledge, then also there will not be a success. It is the cooperation of these two powers which is the secret of all success.


Success, be it of material character or of some other nature, is always a success. Success, however small, is a step forward to something great, and failure, however small, is a failure; it leads to something still worse. Success must not be valued from its outer value. It must be valued from what it prepares in oneself. And failure, however small, makes an undesirable impression upon one's self. This shows how very necessary it is to keep the balance between power and knowledge. It is of a very great value to try and develop in life power and knowledge in attaining one's object.


There are two kinds of people who become tired of the life in the world. One who has risen above the world and the one who has fallen beneath the world. The former has attained his object; but the latter, even if he left the world, any other life would not satisfy him. His renunciation of worldly things means nothing. It only means incapacity. It is the conqueror of the life of the world who has the right to give up the struggle of the world, if he wishes to! But he from whose hands the life of the world is snatched away by his fellowman and who is incapable of holding it, who cannot progress, who cannot attain in life what he wishes to attain, if he left the world it is not renunciation, it is simply poverty.


It is not by any means selfishness or covetousness to want to succeed in life, for by success man is inclined upward. Only when, intoxicated by his worldly success, he closes his eyes to the further path, he stands still; and that standing still is like death. The many successful people whom we see in this world who do not progress spiritually, it means that they did not continue in the path of success. In reality, all roads lead to the same goal; business, profession, science, art, religion, or philosophy. When people do not seem to have arrived at their proper destination, it is not because they have preferred one path to another path, it is that they have not continued on the path. 


Very often, people lacking knowledge and with strength more than necessary, destroy their own purpose; while wanting to construct, they cause destruction. The greatest fault of human nature is that every man thinks that he knows best, and when he speaks to another person, he thinks that the other knows half and when he is speaking about a third person, he thinks that the third person knows only a quarter. And some few who do not rely upon their knowledge, they are then dependent upon the advice of others.

Therefore their failure or success or their being depends upon the advice of others. It is most difficult in life to have power, to possess knowledge, and together with it, to have a clear vision; and if there is any possibility of keeping the vision clear, it is by the keeping of balance between power and knowledge.


Self-discipline

In worldly attainment or spiritual attainment, the first thing is to attain self-discipline. Many experience, and few know, that things go wrong when one's self in not in discipline. Those who give way to anger, passion, to emotions easily, they may seem for a moment successful, but they cannot continually succeed in life. Very often, misfortunes follow an illness or a failure, and the reason is that a weakness gives way to another, and so a person who goes down, goes down and down and down. It is natural that a step one may take (goes) downwards, for the path of life is not even; but the wise thing is that if one step one has goes down, the next step may be taken upward. It is no doubt resisting against the force that pulls one downward, but that resistance only secures the path of one's life.

What generally happens is that man does not mind a little mistake, he does not take notice of a small weakness, he underestimates a little failure; and in that way in the long run he meets with a great failure. The wise thing is, therefore, to whatever depth one has fallen, to fix one's eyes upward, to try to rise instead of falling. It is very interesting to observe that God or Heaven are always pointed to upward, although, in reality, God is everywhere and so is Heaven. 


And what makes one think that God is upward or Heaven is upward is that natural impulse, which is a divine impulse in man, which gives an inclination to rise above. And this shows that success, its attainment, is divine pleasure; failure and its experience is the divine disappointment. People who blame destiny for their failure take the path of least resistance; but there are more difficulties in the path that appears to be of least resistance. For the man who struggles with life, his difficulties lessen as he goes forward. 


The one who takes the easy path, for him the difficulties grow more as he grows on. By this it is not meant that one should choose in life a path of more difficulties; by this it is only meant that in the path of attainment, difficulties must not be counted. Difficulties rise over his head who looks at them with awe, and the same difficulties fall beneath his feet who does not take notice of them. The man who fails in the world, fails to attain to spiritual bliss also. Man is the king of his domain; his coming on earth takes away, bit by bit, his kingdom. 


During this trial he is tested, if he uses that human virtue which helps him to attain to the mastery over his kingdom. Whatever man's life, he will not be satisfied, for his soul's satisfaction is in the fulfillment of this purpose. The day when he arrives at that mastery, the day when he has gained the kingdom he has lost, he can say, "Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven." And in this the fulfillment of man's being born on earth is accomplished.


The question comes, what is it to be self-disciplined? It is to be able to say, "I can," and not "I can't." Of course, very often the words, "I can't," man uses of what he does of what he does not think it wise or just to do. In that case it is different. But when there is something of which he thinks is just, it is good, it is right, and he says, "I can't," it is then that self-discipline lacks. When a person says, "I can't tolerate, I can't endure, I cannot bear, I cannot forgive," all these are the signs of the lack of self-discipline. 


In order to see this question more clearly, one must picture oneself as two beings, one the king and the other his servant. When one wishes, it is the king who wishes; and the part that says, "No, I can't," is the servant. If the servant has his way, then the king is in the place of the servant, and the more the servant has his way, the more the servant rules and the king obeys. Naturally, therefore, a conflict begins inwardly, and that reflects on the outer life, making the whole life misery. If a person be pious or good or religious, it makes no difference. If man does not realize the kingdom of God within himself, and realize his spirit to be king, he does not accomplish the purpose of his life.


Eye of Justice

There are many in this world who push away the object of their attainment as a football, with their enthusiasm. They mean to take it, but without attention, they push it on; and this occurs when one is too enthusiastic to attain a certain thing for which he has not made himself ready. One must remember this in the path of attainment, that one must first feel strong enough to bear the burden of that which one wishes to lift. 


The wisdom which one sees working behind nature has intended and has arranged it so that every being and every thing will bear the weight that it is intended to bear. Very often, man's ambition runs before his power of bearing. He, before thinking whether he is entitled to attain a certain thing, strives to attain it; and it is this which causes, very often, failure. Man must become entitled first to have what he wishes to have. This makes it easy for him to gain what he wishes to gain, and it easily attracts to him what he wishes to attain.


There is one thing, which is desiring; and there is another thing, which is imagining. Lying in a grass hut one can desire a solid wall around his hut, but one can imagine a palace before him. Therefore it is not imagination which helps so much in attainment, it is the earnest desire that is needed for it. There are things which are within one's reach, there are things which are beyond one's reach. One must first prove to one's own self one's capacity of attaining things which are within one's reach. 


This gives one sufficient self-confidence, in order to attain that which is beyond one's reach. In the path of attainment, one must keep the eye of justice open. One must be able to know what attainment is right for him, and what attainment he does not deserve. There is no soul in the world who is not striving after something. To one, his object of striving is distinct, to another, perhaps, it seems perplexed. 


Yet, no one is living and not striving after something. According to the extent that the object is clear to one, it is easy to attain it. In the process of attainment, there are four stages. In the first place, in mind the object must be concrete, which one wishes to attain. Next, it must be reasoned out how the desire can be materialized. The third is what material is to be used and to be obtained for it. The fourth is composing, forming, or building of the object.


The central theme of the whole creation is attainment. In the striving of all souls in the world, there is one impulse, and that is the divine impulse. Yet the man who ignorantly strives after something and wrongly goes to work about it, ends in disappointment -- disappointment not only to himself, but even to God. The one who knows his affair and who accomplishes it rightly fulfills the mission of his life and the wish of God. No matter what one accomplishes, it is only a step towards something else. As one goes along accomplishing in the path of attainment, he in the end arrives at the aim of life. In the final end, attainment is the aim of all souls, although in the beginning it seems different.


The Secret of Attainment: Analysis of Self

The secret of all attainment is in the analyzing of the self. The impulse to attain a thing and the control of that impulse, both things are necessary. Very often, what happens? A man loses the chance of attaining something by his over-enthusiasm, because he puts his life out of balance. At the same time the power of impulse is a great power; the person who has no strength in his impulse must certainly lose. It is to strike a balance between impulse and control. There must be an impulse, but it must be under control. 


A person who is over-joyous on having riches must be sure that he will very soon lose; and the same is with everything. And the balance is kept by knowing that, "There is nothing too good for me in this life of the earth; that compared to all things that the earth can offer, my soul to me is more precious." The one who runs after things, the things of his pursuit run from him, frightened of his continual pursuit. But the one who is not running in the pursuit of the objects, then the objects, of necessity, will become his own. 


When God will become one's own, who else will not become one's own? In the attainment, confidence is necessary. It is according to one's confidence that the object of attainment is drawn closer. It is not by over-enthusiasm, for over-enthusiasm is intoxication. A person intoxicated by enthusiasm is liable to do the wrong thing instead of the right one. It is always the inner power which is the secret of attainment, and the less the inner power is expressed, the better it is. 


A person who allows his power an outlet, he only wastes it. It is the conserving of the power which makes man a reservoir of power, the power with which all things can be accomplished. To the person who has attained to the mystery of sadhana, the attainment, for him there is nothing in the world that cannot be attained. All is within his reach, all within his power, all within his grasp.


As high as is one's object, so high one rises; and as low the object of attainment be, so low is the person. If the object is honor-giving, the person is honorable. If the object is painful, the person is sad. If the object is pleasant, the person is joyous. If the object is exalting, the person is holy. And therefore, the person must know what object to keep before one's view, what object one should pursue through life. 

There are many childlike people who do not know what is their object in life. One moment they think of one thing, another minute they think of another thing; in the end they arrive at nothing, because they have no object set before their view. A person who becomes like this, no one can depend upon. Even the bird is frightened to sit upon a moving branch. The person whose object is set, it is that person whose life is settled, whom one can call serious, on whom others can depend. 


The person who does not know his own mind, he cannot help his fellow man, he will only upset; neither can he attain for himself nor can he help another. Therefore, it is a thing to be remembered continually, that one must make one's mind so clear as to see one's object before oneself, to see its character, its nature, its value, and then to set forth in its pursuit every effort, to pursue the object patiently till one has attained it. No matter how small the object, the attainment of it builds one step towards the final goal.