BY SWAMI OMKARANANDA SARASWATI
The little drop of water can support and bear millions of ships, and sustain billions of tons of icebergs–if it sinks into the ocean and becomes the whole ocean. The image of God in the little, petty man has the infinite freedom, power, peace, joy, perfection and becomes the supreme Lord of all creation–the moment it liberates itself from the limitations of phenomenal existence and obtains oneness with the Being of God, the highest, the greatest, the Absolute.
The space in the balloon can support all creation, all the stellar regions, all the worlds–if it knows, has faith in, the boundless space without, liberates itself from the confines of the balloon, and becomes one with the space everywhere. Even so, if man can know and have faith in the universal, supra-cosmic, all-pervasive, absolute divine Consciousness-Power, God, he liberates himself from his own human limitations, limitations in knowledge, in love, in light, and becomes one with God. Nothing, at this stage of perfection, is impossible for man. Until this highest stage is arrived at, man can always work wonders and do impossible things by contact in devotion, faith, prayer and love with Him who is the supreme Power, the infinite Consciousness, the all-creative Light.
Everything great is within yourself. Yonder is a huge stone. Looking at it, we can remark that therein is a lion, or a deer, or a beautiful maid, or the Greek philosopher Plato, or an Eastern sage or a Western thinker–and we can go about chiselling the stone until that lion, or that deer, or that maid, or that philosopher or that sage emerges. Infinitely more true is this of the Consciousness within yourself. You can set about working on it, and produce from it a philosopher, or a sage, or a person of supernormal knowledge, wisdom, love, powers, or an angel, or a joy, a peace, a grace, a perfection–anything you desire. Work on yourself, and fashion any type of greatness or perfection you envision. Children look at the snow with which all the Earth is covered. One says that there is a little house in it, and sets about making that house from the snow. Another asserts that there is a toy in it, and begins fashioning the toy. The third one claims there is a man in it, and starts building up the snowman. Thus, each produces from the snow the image he has in his mind.
All the extraordinary qualities of nature that are characteristic of the world’s greatest saints are there in you. If not great purity, some purity is present in you. If not endless knowledge, some amount of knowledge you do possess. Though not superhuman patience, a little patience you do command. If not great and all-absorbing love for God, some love for that which you recognize as the Good, or the Beautiful, or Truth, or God is active in you. That amount of faith which moves mountains you may not have, but you cannot deny that there is in you some little faith. If all in you is not receptive to the all-perfecting Divine Presence, there still lurks in you something which appreciates readily the things of Love, Light, Beauty, God.
Your love, when fully grown, is the saint. When the little faith in you fully flowers, it is the wonder-worker. Your wisdom, when fully developed, is the sage. Love is the Power of powers. Love all, at all times, in all circumstances and conditions, and even in the most difficult situations. Let nothing external, or internal, dry up the perennial springs of the silent, unobserved flow of your love for all.
Transformation of our entire inner nature, of our thoughts, emotions, energies, is a wonderful way of acquiring tremendous spiritual powers. When we exceed the animal and human nature, refine, exalt and illuminate our minds and hearts, wills and inner spirit, we gain the numberless powers that belong to our inner, self-luminous spiritual nature.
Constant experience of the Presence of God endows us with rare powers. The power to remain unaffected by difficult circumstances, the power to rule the environment and not to be ruled by it, the power of remaining peaceful, joyous, unshaken are among the many powers that accrue to us from the practice of the Presence of God. Self-surrender to the omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient and all-loving, all-protecting, all-perfecting Divinity fills us with extraordinary powers.
Special concentration exercises awaken the divine powers in us. Meditation unfolds the higher powers of perception and divine nature. Japa–constant repetition of the Mystical Syllables–puts us in touch with the various powers of God. The Might, the Light, the Grace, the Peace of God manifest in our daily lives.
Years of devotion and strict adherence to Truth bestow on us the power of making true everything that we say, or wish, to anyone. Magnanimous nature, generosity and free bestowal of charities liberate us from every type of want, and secure for us material and spiritual welfare and prosperity.
We acquire the power to live long by deep and rhythmical breathing. We also gain by it peace of mind, freedom from physical and mental ailments, and get closer to the knowledge of God. When we go on wishing welfare to all, praying for everyone, every creature, and desire the happiness of all that has life and breathes, we find ourselves in possession of great inner Light, Joy, Peace, Power, and our life is made secure against accidents, losses and misfortunes. We become a great blessing to the whole creation.
SWAMI OMKARANANDA SARASWATI,68, sage, mystic, philosopher, is Founder-President of several charitable trust societies, academic and cultural schools and a research institute for science-synthesis.