All World
Gayatri Pariwar

Silence prevails all around this hut. The nature is still. 

Silence of the solitude is unnerving. The day passed off 

and the night arrived. Due to strangeness of the surroundings, sleep was eluding me. The fear was not due to ferocious animals, thieves, snakes or evil spirits, but loneliness. The body had no work except turning from side to side. The brain was also idle and devoid of any work. So the old habit of musing started its process. Why fear arises in loneliness?

An answer sprouted from within. Man is a part of Samashti (The totality of universe). It is Samashti that has nourished him. Like fish which is blended with the element of water can survive only in water, man can also be happy and comfortable only in the society due to his being the part of Samashti, being a spark of the vast expanse of consciousness. In loneliness the connection with the society is snapped, with the result that his inner growth is arrested. The uneasiness due to this deficiency can be the reason for fear.

The imagination went still further. It brought forth many memories of loneliness and many instances of having suffered in loneliness. Those instances had no trace of happiness; it was simply passing the time somehow in boredom. The memory of the loneliness in the condemned prisoner’s dark cell of solitary confinement where I was put during the days of freedom struggle surfaced. There was no disturbance in that room, but solitude exerted pressure on the mind. When I was released after a month my body was pale like a ripe mango. I felt dizzy, while standing.

Since solitude was uncomfortable every part of the brain was engaged in proving the futility and demerits thereof. In fact brain works like a loyal servant. According to the mood of the mind it gathers and presents a mountain of proofs, evidences, logic, reason, thoughts and examples. To judge what is right and what is wrong is the job of the discriminating mind. The duty of the brain is only to present necessary materials to justify the stand taken by the mind. 

The brain now began to think like a philosopher. The selfish people think only of themselves, only about the profit and loss to self. They consider none to be their own. So they remain deprived of the joy of community. Their conscience is asleep and devoid of any noble feelings. There arose in my imagination, the examples of some persons who had everything by way of riches, wealth and earthly means of comfort; but due to their self-centered outlook they had nobody to call their own. All of them were neurotically unhappy.

The flow of fantasy was going fast in its chosen direction and it seemed that it was bent upon proving that solitude was not only futile but harmful and troublesome, too. Personal inclination would then stress its point i.e. why to pursue this folly? Why not live among the society and grab and gain what one could? 

The discriminating intelligence sensed the wayward flow of the mind and said, “If solitude is that worthless, why would the Rishis, Sadhaks, devotees, aspirants, thinkers, and scientists go after it? Why do they seek it? If solitude has no importance why is it sought after for attainment of Samadhi (The state of Super-consciousness–Self realization)? Why is solitude considered essential for self-study, introspection, penance, concentration etc.?”

Suddenly the flow of fantasy that was speeding ahead to prove solitude to be harmful stopped, as does a horse when the reins are pulled in. Faith said, “The inspiration of Sadhana in solitude cannot be misleading”. Devotion told, “The power that has put me on this path cannot guide me astray”. The conscience said, “Soul comes alone, and goes alone. It weeps, sitting alone in the jail of this body. Does it feel uneasy in this solitude that is already destined? Sun moves alone and so does the moon. The wind flows alone. Do they feel any discomfort in this?”

Thoughts can be checkmated by counter-thoughts. This psychological principle was proved here. The thoughts that seemed to be strong a little while ago crumbled like a house of cards. The counter-thoughts defeated them. Spiritual masters, therefore, teach us the importance of chasing away evil thoughts by noble thoughts. Evil thoughts, however strong they may be, can be nullified by noble counter-thoughts. I directly experienced in that lonely night, how a faulty conviction can be transformed into a noble one. Now the brain began to work in the direction of finding the utility, necessity and importance of solitude.

Slowly the night began to pass. Getting bored due to not feeling sleepy I came out of the hut and saw Ganga, flowing fast as if it was impatient to meet her beloved, the Sea. Blocks of stones tried to stop her on the way, but she crossed the hurdles and went past them. Though her watery body was getting wounded all over, she was neither complaining nor getting disappointed. She hardly took any note of these obstacles. She was not at all scared of darkness or loneliness. Her longing for the Lord of her heart did not let her worry about all these matters. Deeply engrossed in the thoughts of the beloved, she moved on singing the song of love, renouncing the comfort of sleep and rest.

The moon had reached overhead. Its numerous reflections were glittering on the waves of Ganga, as if Brahm (The Almighty) was revealing the secret of Its Maya in the visible form by showing one Brahm becoming many by entering into numerous bodies. The scene was very fascinating. Coming out of the hut, I went over to the bank and sat on a block of rock and began to see the sight attentively. Within a short while I felt sleepy and slept there on the rock itself.

It seemed to me, that the course of water got transformed into a lotus-like beautiful celestial maiden. In that posture of supernatural calmness and ocean-like gentleness it seemed that all the purity of earth had been collected and filled up in one human body for her to appear in. Without pausing she came over to a block of rock nearby. To me it appeared that it was happening in reality. The divine maiden began to say something in her sweet voice in very calm and gentle words. I began to hear it attentively as if hypnotized. She said, “Oh Soul in the human body! Don’t consider yourself alone in this thick forest. With open eyes, look around and see that it is you yourself who is living through every thing you see around. Don’t confine yourself to the conception that you are limited to the body of a human being. In this vast creation, man is not everything. Why feel loneliness where human companions are not present? Other living creatures are as dear to The Creator as man. Then why don’t you consider them your brothers? Why don’t you establish intimacy with them? Why don’t you make them your companions? In this solitude there is no human being, but there are innumerable living creatures here. Souls in many forms like birds and animals, flies and insects, plants and trees live here in this mountain forest. All these souls have feelings and emotions. If you are able to develop a sense of kinship between your soul and that of these supposedly soulless creatures, you will feel a sense of self-fulfillment.

The divine maiden of heavenly beauty continued without pause, “God has given intelligence to man, but the poor guy could not make use of it for gaining real happiness. He misused this divine boon for self-gratification. He, who deserved to be acclaimed as the noblest of God’s creation, has become a creature to be pitied upon instead. On the other hand other creatures on earth may have only very little intelligence, but once you try to emphatically synchronize your feelings with theirs you will feel that all of them are your soulkins.”

The sleep was broken as soon as I turned the side. I got up hurriedly and looked all around. The divine maiden has vanished into the invisible. It seemed as if she had merged herself back in this stream. She might have been transformed back into the course of water. The words spoken in human language were not there to be heard. But the same message was echoed in the gurgling sound of water. The physical ears could not hear them, but the soul was still understanding it, perceiving it.

Was I awake or in dreams? Was it reality or an illusion? Were they my own thoughts or a divine message? I was confused. I opened the eyes and moved my hands over the head. I tried to find out that which was seen and heard a little while ago, but was unable to find it and was getting no clue either.

By then I saw many reflections of the moon gliding over the waves that were coming together from all sides and appeared to be telling something with a smile. When I tried to hear their message the tiny child-like reflections began telling:- “See so many of us moons are here to play with you, to smile and laugh with you. Won’t you take us as your companions? Are we not good pals? Man, you have come from the selfish world of yours where only those who would serve your interests are dear to you and all others are aliens. Isn’t it the way of your world? Leave it and learn the ways of our world here. Here there is no such complication. There is no distinction like they and we. There is no selfishness. All are our own. We believe that our own super-soul dwells in all. You too learn to feel this way. Then, with so many of us here you won’t feel alone. You have come to perform some Sadhana (dedicated spiritual pursuit) here, isn’t it? Don’t you see this Ganga engaged in Sadhana? Engrossed in love how single-mindedly she is heading forward to meet her beloved. No hurdles on the way can stop her. Does she care to look at the darkness or loneliness? Does she get deflected from her aim even for a moment? If you want to adopt the path of Sadhana, then you too have to adopt this way. When your soul, too, will start moving fast to get to its own beloved (The Supreme Soul) like Ganga, how can the crowds of people attract you, or the solitude frighten you? If you want to stay on the shores of Ganga, dear Sadhak, you learn Ganga’s Sadhana of love too.”

Many tiny moons were dancing with the waves. It seemed like the dance of Krishna and Gopis said to have taken place at Vrindavan. The waves were the ‘Gopis’ and the moon played Krishna’s role - A Krishna with each Gopi. What a wonderful dance was being seen by the eyes? Mind was immersed in joy. The inner conscience was asking me, “Look, see the glimpse of the Supreme Beloved. One soul is dancing in each body like the one moon dancing on all the waves.

The whole night passed. Reddish radiance of the dawn began to appear in the eastern horizon. What was seen was simply wonderful. The fear of solitude disappeared. Legs slowly pulled me towards the hut. Now it was light of loneliness that filled the mind.