Page 190 - Silence Speaks

Role of Master
onlookers into a state of ecstasy. But this type of dance is now quite unknown and obsolete. The ancient books also do not make any reference to it in clear terms. The Tandava dance of Siva, though not exactly the same, was much akin to it, but it was of a grosser type.
Sadhana has two aspects, one the abhyas and the other the master's help. abhyas is meant only for creating inner conditions which will be helpful to the abhyasi in attracting the flow of the Divine grace, and this involves one's self-effort. But self-effort alone is not sufficient. It must be supplemented by the master's support. As a matter of fact what we really stand in need of for our ultimate purpose is only Divine grace. But owing to one's inner complexities, it is almost beyond the capacity of a sadhaka to have it by himself. For that reason master's help is indispensable. In earlier stages Divine grace flows into the abhyasi only through the medium of the master. As such it is often interpreted as master's grace. Whether it comes through the master's medium or direct it is the same Divine grace in both the cases. So long as the abhyasi is
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