Page 214 - Wisdom Unfurled

goal clarity. Several stages in devotion staring from downright flattery to total silence before the Lord are gone through. Devotion implies duality between the goal and the individual who weaves different patterns of loving attachment to the goal as already dealt with earlier and performs services of different kinds. Mergence in this condition leads to dumbness which further develops into a profound feeling of insufficiency realized earlier. When this insufficiency develops into a state of total helplessness, the aspirant feels that surrender is the only way.
This is the condition in the fourth knot which is actually the inversion of the second knot. Practice of the commandments 6 and 7 help the progress in this knot. The realization of the inseparable relationship with others and the divine had in the 2nd knot matures further along with the realization that all are forms and expressions of divinity, the basis for the expression of karuna or compassion and ahimsa. There is total dedication to the divine which is a way of purification as well. The person enters into the state where faith matures into total and unconditional surrender to the Divine on mergence in this knot. Surrender is essentially the state of settledness – settled in the confidence that the Master takes care of everything. The fifth knot is one of balance which on maturity gives the craving of going beyond the bodily limitations. One finds himself expanding losing the awareness of the body. Prejudices and conflicts die down. The practice of the 8th and 9th commandments helps the person a great deal in maintaining the condition in a subtle way all through.
He feels the experience of a samadhi (absorbency) condition far superior to the ordinary states. There is a feeling always that he is growing banishing barriers of being and dwelling in consciousness per se. This is felt differently by various aspirants as constant remembrance, constant state of vibrations through the body etc. The practice of the tenth commandment starts the process of development of humility further and in the deep core of our being we come to understand how much we are attached to the ideals and ideas and got stuck. The state ofViveka gains deeper meaning and restlessness in the condition is felt. However the transition to the next higher region, that is, Brahmand is not that easy. Trust in the Master and the push by a competent guide takes us to that realm. We have already seen that the conditions get inverted as we move from a knot to the next one. However the inversion at the 6th knot is a radical one, the transition being from the gross realm to a subtler one. Unless there is sufficient movement in the earlier knots in the Pind Desh the inversion here is difficult to happen and one lingers in the lower plane. The maturity of the first and second knots is the deciding factor here.
Beyond the Pind Desh