It is the fulfilment of life on earth where a reconciliation between delight and silence, passion and beauty, between life's opposites has to be effected. The possibility of such a fulfilment is a truth "at the mystic fount of Life". Even when the shadow of ignorance is removed the mystery of God's manifestation in the cosmos remains. The riddle of this world which is like an unfinished play is not solved. People have taken this state of white eternity of the Being as the last secret of the cosmos. But it was, really speaking, the first entrance into the realm of timelessness which would be a beginning of his discovery of God.

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The whole experience of life in the world as it is today can give something. But it is too little and "cannot fill the spirit's sacred thirst." Something seems to be missing which is badly wanted to make life perfect. In the absence of that something all other things acquired by man lose their significance. To Aswapati came that experience where “all knowledge ended in the Unknowable”. But he found that there was a peace and silence settled in him, occasionally calling him to reach to something impalpable, something beyond, which yet filled his whole being, that which made the smallest seem divine.

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Aswapati came out of the timeless depths where he had sunk and heard once more the slow tread of the hours. He had now gone beyond the witness Self and his universe and entered into a realm of boundless silences. He aspired to understand and hear the voice that created the worlds. A light was round him wide and absolute. There he experienced sheer being living in its own peace, content with only being, full of bliss. There was no nature now, no knowledge by thought because it was beyond thought. But it was the knowledge by which the knower is known. There were a thousand roads in that infinite realm leading towards eternity and having gone beyond the realm of the knowable he gazed with an immeasurable outlook which was one with self's inlook into its own pure vasts. He saw the miraculous content of knowledge, power and delight of this stupendous All and its inexhaustible acts in a timeless Time. Here on this plane of radiant Self, which was multiple of one Self, he found that the spirit was not hidden from its own view and all consciousness was oceanic happiness, and all creation is an act of light. Then out of the neutral silence of his soul he was called to a vision that climbs beyond the reach of time.

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From the world-Soul proceeds each new birth of the Eternal and it is a flame that cancels death in mortal things. Aswapati found that everything in the cosmos had grown familiar and kindred because the intimacy of God was everywhere; there was no veil, no barrier dividing consciousness from consciousness, being from being. He felt a sense of universal harmonies, and eternity of truth and beauty and good and joy made one. From this centre all finite life seemed to proceed and he saw that a formless spirit became the soul of form.

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Going beyond the kingdoms of the ideal world, Aswapati came to a region "where Silence listened to the cosmic Voice". But he did not answer the million calls, the endless questions, nor did he answer the eager hopes that were directed towards it. It appeared as if the hierarchy of the worlds paused here.

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Aswapati found that beyond the line of things achieved by man there always was an ideal beckoning from afar, carrying in itself the touch of the Unseen. It was a tireless thought in him that always wanted to discover the Unknown, to achieve the unattained. Behind this search of tireless thought, there is a longing for a Truth infinite and absolute; and each step of the endeavour becomes a new rung in the ladder of human ascent. This flame of aspiration in his heart seemed to be supported by the flame of Spirit which maintained this immortal hope. He saw from afar on one side the blue heavens of the ideal mind and on the other side the kingdoms of a deathless Rose.

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Just as the mind is wider than the brain it uses, so the spirit is greater than the instruments in which it manifests itself. And, really speaking, the spirit is not a product of mind, rather, self-existent knowledge inherent in the Self is really the origin of mind. Aswapati now arrived at a region where Thought leaned on a Vision beyond thought. These planes create unrealised possibilities far beyond the ken of the expanding universe and they overtop the ceiling of life's soar. This region of the ideal Mind intervenes between the divine and the human and it is its mights that bridge the gulf twixt man and God. It is the light of these planes that fights against Ignorance and Death. It is in this region that living gods dwell, each trying to build a world in his own right. There knowledge is certain, joy and powers spontaneous.

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Aswapati saw that above this human mind of ours there is a region of bright Light from where two demons look down on .the whole scene, one a "huge high-winged Life-Thought" and the other a "pure Thought-Mind". These two in their combination can make it possible for man to break the limits of his humanity and arrive at a supernal Light.

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From the realm of dark gloom, Aswapati came out into a felicitous daylight. Here life was subject to divine command, assured of its own bliss, without fear or grief "and unalarmed by the breath of fleeting Time". It was at ease here and secure in its joy and universal love. There was ceaseless radiance all round and even the elements that touched the senses were full of delight.

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Hatred was like an all-pervading element in this region "burning the soul with its malignant rays". Even physical objects seemed to emanate these lower impulses. It was not that the beings on this plane were unconscious,—they were conscious but they were all perverse. Aswapati tried to understand and to know the heart of this Hell. He wanted to understand its root. He suffered all the sorrows of this hell and went through all the bitter experiences. He narrowly escaped the danger of losing his own Self, because "he treasured between his hands his flickering soul". While passing through this region, even though thought had ceased and sense had failed, "his soul still saw and knew". He sounded further the mystery of this dark and bottomless world and by an act of sheer identity with the very deepest spirit that was behind this Nescience he stood at the very entrance of the Subconscient and saw that the Being that was there though acting unconsciously, was in reality carrying out cosmic will. He saw that a secret divine Hand, an invisible hand of Light, was guiding it.

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Aswapati tried to find the cause of the failure of this higher vital world. He peered into the darkness that was below and tried to locate there the cause, if any. Suddenly, the veil was rent that covers Nature's depths, and there he saw the fount of the world's lasting pain and the mouth of the black pit of Ignorance. It was the region of the Nescience where everything present in life is turned into its opposite, turned with almost an equal imperativeness. For instance, there was a Power, there was a Presence and there was what might be called Doom which was the opposite of Destiny. There was a mind also which, instead of serving truth, corrupted it with her own formula and everything there was consequently overcast with error, grief and pain. Due to this universal presence of evil and falsehood everything bore black fruit of suffering, of death and bale. Seeds of evil and falsehood seemed to be scattered everywhere. Here even though he saw some brighter side of life, some truth, some love, some friendship and beauty, he also could not help seeing the anguish and fear and lust evil.

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From the region of the lower vital plane where Aswapati found the denial of the highest possibilities of man he came up to the kingdoms of the higher vital where he found at least "a dubious hope". There was in this plane of consciousness a possibility of self-finding, a sureness of form, adventure of the mind and choice of the human heart, and a touch of sure delight in unsure things. In this higher vital world there was always the zest: of achievement, of trial and dream but none of these things ever fulfilled itself. They were worlds of marvels, beauty, wonder, fancy which reflected dimly some great spiritual splendour above. But the life here was only an ineffectual search which never ended in a victory. Everything on this plane allured but nothing satisfied. From here he saw a wider horizon with a greater promise. He saw that there was a self-conscious Spirit trying to seek its own self, busy with little fragments of life. Here, for the first time, the secret Spirit could find some expression, though very inadequate for its delight, beauty, truth and absoluteness. It was possible now to have some beginning of knowledge, intuitive sight and some passion of the rapturous heart of Love.

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Aswapati saw innumerable creatures, spirits, imps, goblins, genii, all kinds of lower vital beings. It is these beings who act upon the inner beings of man and to turn them round and round in the inescapable circle of ignorance. Everything here on earth is enacted under their influence. The twilight of human nature is the place they lurk in and they speak to the human being "with the voices of the Night". It is thus that these forces utilise human beings for their purpose and build up structures or constructions which they force upon men leading in the end to blind ignorance. This happens because "reason is used by an irrational Force". Even though man is born on the earth and is of the earth, still, "this earth alone is not our teacher and nurse"—because, "the powers of all the" worlds have entrance here". Man is thus very powerfully influenced and moulded not only by the earth and its forces but by life and vital forces that are subtle and by mental forces and even by forces beyond mind. This fate lasts so long as man's soul does not attain its freedom. When man awakes to his free Self, then ends this dream of nether life.

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To walk on the path you must have a dauntless intrepidity

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A life arose as a result of the dolorous meeting of the higher Vital and the Inconscience which was so full of unappeased unrest that it could not allow contentment on this inert, solid, globe of the earth. This plane of the little life has given the law of craving to man. It is because of these formless yearning passions in his heart that man is unable to rest content with his life like the beast, or live happy like the flowers and trees. Man's life has added care, reflection and discontent to itself, and he has become an insatiate seeker. All the original fire and might of pure life is brought down here into the littleness of the material being; and life is feeling here a push, an urge towards unattained conditions.

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Having left the limits of the physical mind Aswapati entered the world of life, the plane of vital being. To this plane belong change, doubt, adventure, toil without repose. Life pursues a goal which seems to recede like a mirage as it is pursued. In fact, this plane of pure life-force was "the manifest incalculable". Here, life could take all shapes and need not remain confined to any fixed form. Life here is fearless and can court disasters and dangers and follow the wake of discovery almost as her law...

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Having crossed the boundaries of this gross material cosmos Aswapati came to a world of subtle material existence where "All shapes are beautiful and all things true". This world of subtle matter is really the origin of our gross earth. In fact it is the "brilliant roof of our descending plane" and it serves to protect the material world from the operation of subtle forces which might be too strong for it.

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Aswapati's vision was widened beyond the confines of human limits; he could see the whole cosmos as "A limitless movement" that "filled a limitless space". He saw it as a selfcreation of the Unknown without end or pause, revealing the grandeurs of the Infinite. He saw there "The world-shapes that are fancies of its Truth". The chequered fields of experience with their vast and multiple play of knowledge, ignorance, pleasure, pain, etc., he could see and feel that experience was a single plan, a thousandfold expression of the One.

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Aswapati's Yoga starts by the release of his soul from the bondage and limitations of the body, life and mind, the apparent being of man. He feels within him a spiritual being, and also experiences new faculties and states of consciousness beyond mind as a result of his upward effort. He ascends from his mere human status, expands out of his ego-personality, grows wider and awakens in him the working of new powers of nature. He leaves not only the ego-limit but the earth consciousness and journeys to other planes, below and above, sees them and their working and their effect on the earth consciousness. All along he remains the witness—the detached observer. He acquires the knowledge of the constitution of man and that of the universe.

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To know in advance what will be the circumstances of life one ought to have the strength of a God. It is a Supreme Grace for man that the future is not revealed to him; because most men would not have the courage to live their life, if they knew what it would be. The all-embracing Divine Consciousness is needed to have the knowledge and live in the present condition of the world and, at the same time, do what one is expected to do and act according to the Divine’s Will. When the consciousness of man becomes wide, strong and pure enough to know, or rather, to share the knowledge of the Divine, then this knowledge comes along with the consciousness.

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