Autobiography of a Yogi
which upholds creation’s farthest swinging orb. Men of God-realization
like Trailanga allow the divine law to operate instantaneously;
they have banished forever all thwarting crosscurrents of ego.
The automatic adjustments of righteousness, often paid in an unexpected
coin as in the case of Trailanga and his would be murderer, assuage
our hasty indignance at human injustice. “Vengeance is mine;
I will repay, saith the Lord.” {FN31-5} What need for man’s brief
resources? the universe duly conspires for retribution. Dull minds
discredit the possibility of divine justice, love, omniscience,
immortality. “Airy scriptural conjectures!” This insensitive
viewpoint, aweless before the cosmic spectacle, arouses a train of
events which brings its own awakening.
The omnipotence of spiritual law was referred to by Christ on the
occasion of his triumphant entry into Jerusalem. As the disciples
and the multitude shouted for joy, and cried, “Peace in heaven, and
glory in the highest,” certain Pharisees complained of the undignified
spectacle. “Master,” they protested, “rebuke thy disciples.”
“I tell you,” Jesus replied, “that, if these should hold their
peace, the stones would immediately cry out.” {FN31-6}
In this reprimand to the Pharisees, Christ was pointing out that
divine justice is no figurative abstraction, and that a man of
peace, though his tongue be torn from its roots, will yet find his
speech and his defense in the bedrock of creation, the universal
order itself.
“Think you,” Jesus was saying, “to silence men of peace? As well may
you hope to throttle the voice of God, whose very stones sing His
glory and His omnipresence. Will you demand that men not celebrate
in honor of the peace in heaven, but should only gather together in
multitudes to shout for war on earth? Then make your preparations,
O Pharisees, to overtopple the foundations of the world; for it is
not gentle men alone, but stones or earth, and water and fire and
air that will rise up against you, to bear witness of His ordered
harmony.”
The grace of the Christlike yogi, Trailanga, was once bestowed on
my SAJO MAMA (maternal uncle). One morning Uncle saw the master
surrounded by a crowd of devotees at a Benares ghat. He managed
to edge his way close to Trailanga, whose feet he touched humbly.
Uncle was astonished to find himself instantly freed from a painful
chronic disease. {FN31-7}
The only known living disciple of the great yogi is a woman, Shankari
Mai Jiew. Daughter of one of Trailanga’s disciples, she received
the swami’s training from her early childhood. She lived for
forty years in a series of lonely Himalayan caves near Badrinath,
Kedarnath, Amarnath, and Pasupatinath. The BRAHMACHARINI (woman
ascetic), born in 1826, is now well over the century mark. Not aged
in appearance, however, she has retained her black hair, sparkling
teeth, and amazing energy. She comes out of her seclusion every
few years to attend the periodical MELAS or religious fairs.
This woman saint often visited Lahiri Mahasaya. She has related
that one day, in the Barackpur section near Calcutta, while she was
sitting by Lahiri Mahasaya’s side, his great guru Babaji quietly
entered the room and held converse with them both.
On one occasion her master Trailanga, forsaking his usual silence,
honored Lahiri Mahasaya very pointedly in public. A Benares disciple
objected.
“Sir,” he said, “why do you, a swami and a renunciate, show such
respect to a householder?”
“My son,” Trailanga replied, “Lahiri Mahasaya is like a divine
kitten, remaining wherever the Cosmic Mother has placed him.
While dutifully playing the part of a worldly man, he has received
that perfect self-realization for which I have renounced even my
loincloth!”
{FN31-1} One is reminded here of Milton’s line: “He for God only,
she for God in him.”
{FN31-2} The venerable mother passed on at Benares in 1930.
{FN31-3} Staff, symbolizing the spinal cord, carried ritually by
certain orders of monks.
{FN31-4} He was a MUNI, a monk who observes MAUNA, spiritual
silence. The Sanskrit root MUNI is akin to Greek MONOS, “alone,
single,” from which are derived the English words MONK, MONISM,
etc.
{FN31-5} ROMANS 12:19.
{FN31-6} LUKE 19:37-40.
{FN31-7} The lives of Trailanga and other great masters remind us
of Jesus’ words: “And these signs shall follow them that believe;
In my name (the Christ consciousness) they shall cast out devils;
they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents;
and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they
shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”-MARK 16:17-18.
CHAPTER: 32
RAMA IS RAISED FROM THE DEAD
“Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus. . . . When Jesus heard
that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory
of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.’” {FN32-1}
Sri Yukteswar was expounding the Christian scriptures one sunny
morning on the balcony of his Serampore hermitage. Besides a few
of Master’s other disciples, I was present with a small group of
my Ranchi students.
“In this passage Jesus calls himself the Son of God. Though he was
truly united with God, his reference here has a deep impersonal
significance,” my guru explained. “The Son of God is the Christ or
Divine Consciousness in man. No MORTAL can glorify God. The only
honor that man can pay his Creator is to seek Him; man cannot glorify
an Abstraction that he does not know. The ‘glory’ or nimbus around
the head of the saints is a symbolic witness of their CAPACITY to
render divine homage.”
Sri Yukteswar went on to read the marvelous story of Lazarus’
resurrection. At its conclusion Master fell into a long silence,
the sacred book open on his knee.
“I too was privileged to behold a similar miracle.” My guru finally
spoke with solemn unction. “Lahiri Mahasaya resurrected one of my
friends from the dead.”
The young lads at my side smiled with keen interest. There was
enough of the boy in me, too, to enjoy not only the philosophy
but, in particular, any story I could get Sri Yukteswar to relate
about his wondrous experiences with his guru.
“My friend Rama and I were inseparable,” Master began. “Because he
was shy and reclusive, he chose to visit our guru Lahiri Mahasaya
only during the hours of midnight and dawn, when the crowd of
daytime disciples was absent. As Rama’s closest friend, I served as
a spiritual vent through which he let out the wealth of his spiritual
perceptions. I found inspiration in his ideal companionship.” My
guru’s face softened with memories.
“Rama was suddenly put to a severe test,” Sri Yukteswar continued.
“He contracted the disease of Asiatic cholera. As our master never
objected to the services of physicians at times of serious illness,
two specialists were summoned. Amidst the frantic rush of ministering
to the stricken man, I was deeply praying to Lahiri Mahasaya for
help. I hurried to his home and sobbed out the story.
“‘The doctors are seeing Rama. He will be well.’ My guru smiled
jovially.
“I returned with a light heart to my friend’s bedside, only to find
him in a dying state.
“‘He cannot last more than one or two hours,’ one of the physicians
told me with a gesture of despair. Once more I hastened to Lahiri
Mahasaya.
“‘The doctors are conscientious men. I am sure Rama will be well.’
The master dismissed me blithely.
“At Rama’s place I found both doctors gone. One had left me a note:
‘We have done our best, but his case is hopeless.’
“My friend was indeed the picture of a dying man. I did not understand
how Lahiri Mahasaya’s words could fail to come true, yet the sight
of Rama’s rapidly ebbing life kept suggesting to my mind: ‘All is
over now.’ Tossing thus on the seas of faith and apprehensive doubt,
I ministered to my friend as best I could. He roused himself to
cry out:
“‘Yukteswar, run to Master and tell him I am gone. Ask him to
bless my body before its last rites.’ With these words Rama sighed
heavily and gave up the ghost. {FN32-2}
“I wept for an hour by his beloved form. Always a lover of quiet,
now he had attained the utter stillness of death. Another disciple
came in; I asked him to remain in the house until I returned.
Half-dazed, I trudged back to my guru.
“‘How is Rama now?’ Lahiri Mahasaya’s face was wreathed in smiles.
“‘Sir, you will soon see how he is,’ I blurted out emotionally.
‘In a few hours you will see his body, before it is carried to the
crematory grounds.’ I broke down and moaned openly.
“‘Yukteswar, control yourself. Sit calmly and meditate.’ My guru
retired into SAMADHI. The afternoon and night passed in unbroken
silence; I struggled unsuccessfully to regain an inner composure.
“At dawn Lahiri Mahasaya glanced at me consolingly. ‘I see you are
still disturbed. Why didn’t you explain yesterday that you expected
me to give Rama tangible aid in the form of some medicine?’ The
master pointed to a cup-shaped lamp containing crude castor oil.
‘Fill a little bottle from the lamp; put seven drops into Rama’s
mouth.’
“‘Sir,’ I remonstrated, ‘he has been dead since yesterday noon. Of
what use is the oil now?’
“‘Never mind; just do as I ask.’ Lahiri Mahasaya’s cheerful
mood was incomprehensible; I was still in the unassuaged agony of
bereavement. Pouring out a small amount of oil, I departed for
Rama’s house.
“I found my friend’s body rigid in the death-clasp. Paying no
attention to his ghastly condition, I opened his lips with my right
finger and managed, with my left hand and the help of the cork, to
put the oil drop by drop over his clenched teeth.
“As the seventh drop touched his cold lips, Rama shivered violently.
His muscles vibrated from head to foot as he sat up wonderingly.
“‘I saw Lahiri Mahasaya in a blaze of light,’ he cried. He shone
like the sun. ‘Arise; forsake your sleep,’ he commanded me. ‘Come
with Yukteswar to see me.’”
“I could scarcely believe my eyes when Rama dressed himself and
was strong enough after that fatal sickness to walk to the home of
our guru. There he prostrated himself before Lahiri Mahasaya with
tears of gratitude.
“The master was beside himself with mirth. His eyes twinkled at me
mischievously.
“‘Yukteswar,’ he said, ‘surely henceforth you will not fail to
carry with you a bottle of castor oil! Whenever you see a corpse,
just administer the oil! Why, seven drops of lamp oil must surely
foil the power of Yama!’ {FN32-3}
“‘Guruji, you are ridiculing me. I don’t understand; please point
out the nature of my error.’
“‘I told you twice that Rama would be well; yet you could not fully
believe me,’ Lahiri Mahasaya explained. ‘I did not mean the doctors
would be able to cure him; I remarked only that they were in
attendance. There was no causal connection between my two statements.
I didn’t want to interfere with the physicians; they have to live,
too.’ In a voice resounding with joy, my guru added, ‘Always know
that the inexhaustible Paramatman {FN32-4} can heal anyone, doctor
or no doctor.’
“‘I see my mistake,’ I acknowledged remorsefully. ‘I know now that
your simple word is binding on the whole cosmos.’”
As Sri Yukteswar finished the awesome story, one of the spellbound
listeners ventured a question that, from a child, was doubly
understandable.
“Sir,” he said, “why did your guru use castor oil?”
“Child, giving the oil had no meaning except that I expected
something material and Lahiri Mahasaya chose the near-by oil as an
objective symbol for awakening my greater faith. The master allowed
Rama to die, because I had partially doubted. But the divine guru
knew that inasmuch as he had said the disciple would be well, the
healing must take place, even though he had to cure Rama of death,
a disease usually final!”