Talk 138

15th January, 1936
Talk 138.

The Financial Secretary of Mysore asked: "Is Paul Brunton's Secret
Path useful for Indians as well?"

Maharshi: Yes - for all.
D.: The body, the senses, etc. are not `I'. This is common amongst us. But how to practise it?

Maharshi: By the threefold method mentioned therein.
D.: Is breath-control necessary for enquiry?

Maharshi: Not quite.
D.: "There is a blankness intervening," it is said in the book.

Maharshi: Yes. Do not stop there. See for whom the blankness appears.
D.: For devotees there is no blankness, it is said.

Maharshi: Even there, there is the latent state, laya ^[?]; the mind wakes up after some time.
D.: What is the experience of samadhi?

Maharshi: It is as it is. For onlookers it may seem to be a swoon. Even to the practiser it may appear so in the early experiences. After a few repeated experiences it will be all right.
D.: Do they soothe nadis or do they excite them by such experiences?

Maharshi: They are excited at first. By continued experience it becomes common and the man is no longer excited.
D.: Proceeding on safe lines there should be no unpleasantness.
Excitement is uncongenial to smooth being and working.

Maharshi: A wandering mind is on the wrong way; only a devotional mind is on the right way.

Talk 137 Talk 139