Chapter 78
In the course of the next four years, Berenice practised many different phases of Yoga discipline, the first of which was the Yoga posture, which is used to keep the spine straight and make the body so firm, when one is sitting in meditation, that one does not feel it.
For Dhyana—meditation—according to Yoga, is non-attachment. And when the spine is straight, the coiled-up Kundalini (triangular in form at the base of the spine) is aroused and rises through the Susumna, up the spine to the seven plexuses or centers of consciousness, finally ending with the Sahasrara, the highest or thousand-petal lotus of the brain. When this highest state of consciousness is reached, according to Yoga, one has achieved Samadhi, or super-consciousness. But whether or not one’s power of Kundalini reaches this last point, one’s perception is enlarged and elevated to the degree of its rise.
Berenice studied Pranayana—the control of the vital forces of the body; Pratyahara—or making the mind introspective; Dharana, or concentration; Dhyana—meditation; and often compared notes with some of the other students who were attending classes with her: one Englishman and one young and highly intelligent Hindu, as well as two Hindu women.
In the course of time she studied Hatha, Raja, Karma, Jnanai, and Bhakti Yoga.
She learned that Brahman, the Reality, is the total Godhead.
It can never be defined or expressed.
The Upanishads say that Brahman is Existence, Knowledge, and Bliss, but these are not attributes.
Brahman cannot be said to exist. Brahman is Existence.
Brahman is not wise or happy, but absolute Knowledge, absolute Joy.
“The Infinite cannot be divided into parts, and be contained in the Finite.
“This entire universe is pervaded by me, in that eternal form of mine which is not manifest to the senses.
Although I am not within any creature, all creatures exist in me.
I do not mean that they exist within me physically.
That is my divine mystery.
You must try to understand its nature.
My Being sustains all creatures and brings them to birth, but has no physical contact with them.
“But if a man will worship me, and meditate upon me with an undistracted mind, devoting every moment to me, I shall supply all his needs, and protect his possessions from loss.
Even those who worship other deities and sacrifice to them with faith in their hearts, are really worshiping me, though with a mistaken approach.
For I am the only enjoyer and the only God of all sacrifices.
Nevertheless such men must return to life on earth, because they do not recognize me in my true nature.
“Those who sacrifice to the various deities will go to those deities.
The ancestor worshipers will go to their ancestors.
Those who worship elemental powers and spirits will go to them.
So, also, my devotees will come to me.”
As her Guru said one day:
“The very air we breathe will tell us with each of its pulsations:
‘Thou art That.’
And the whole universe with its myriads of suns and moons, through everything that speaks, with one voice will cry:
‘Thou art That!’ ”
Berenice was reminded of Emily Bronte’s beautiful poem, which had long been one of her favorites: Last Lines
No coward soul is mine No trembler in the world’s storm-troubled sphere I see Heaven’s glories shine, And Faith shines equal, arming me from fear. Oh, God within my breast, Almighty, ever-present Deity! Life that in me hast rest, As I, undying Life, have power in Thee. Vain are the thousand creeds That move men’s hearts; unutterably vain, Worthless as wither’d weeds Or idlest froth amid the boundless main. To waken doubt in me Holding so fast by Thine infinity, So surely anchor’d on The steadfast rock of immortality. With wide embracing love Thy spirit animates eternal years, Pervades and broods above, Changes, sustains, dissolves, creates and rears. Though earth and man are gone, And suns and universes cease to be, And Thou were left alone, Every existence would exist in Thee.
There is not room for Death Nor atom that His might could render void;
Thou—Thou art Being and Breath,
And what Thou art may never be destroyed.
At another time, the Guru asked:
“Where is there anyone that is not you?
You are the soul of the Universe.
If a man come to your door, go and meet yourself.
For all are one.
The idea of separateness is hallucination.
You hate.
You love.
You fear.
All hallucinations; ignorance and delusion.”
“Every thought and word that weakens is the only evil that exists.”
“If the suns come down, the moons crumble in dust, systems after systems are hurled into annihilation, what is that to you?
Stand as a rock; you are indestructible.”
On Immortality:
“The particle of energy which, a few months ago, was in the sun, may be in the human being now.