You will have to make great preparations for establishing yourself firmly in yoga. I now see that you have less of tamoguna and more of energy; less of doubts and more of faith. I have also begun to think that very soon I will initiate you into the practice of ‘divine consciousness’. I will find time for it so that within two months I can instruct you fully in that practice. You should also prepare yourself. If you are ready, my task will be easy.
Do not bother about your faults. You have the infinite power of yoga in you. Awaken this power. How do you get the time to think about your weaknesses? The weakness of those who aim high is not regarded as weakness, it is their special characteristic. Laziness, etc. will go slowly, not quickly. You are my disciple, my daughter and my mother too. The awkward relationships of the world are not in my world. There is only one reality which, through ignorance, appears as ‘two’ and which will again be ‘one’ through yoga. This is the truth and by that alone we will be able to communicate with each other on the plane of yoga. The idea of ‘two’ belongs to the world, so also the idea of ‘many’. The idea of ‘one’ is unearthly.
I wish to give you practice in yogic transcendence. I wish to teach you anushthana and kriya yoga. Sadhana can be increased in winter. I will teach you these practices in winter.
Renovate your pooja room. Make it very clean. Collect religious books. Keep pictures of saints. Do not let anyone enter this place of worship. Burn incense there daily.
Practice asanas more and write out the techniques which you have learned fully. Thereafter, you have to write what upakara is. No instructions can be given to you about it for your yoga practices are not completed. As your study goes on nearing its end you will be asked about upakara.
Amongst the asanas, there are many unimportant ones. They should be practiced for seven days. That is enough. Some asanas are difficult. These are to be practiced as many as eighty times. In your schedule of asanas include one or two of these. Practice one round of surya namaskara and Practice mayurasana, garbhasana and kukkutasana.
But my interest in you is to awaken the yogashakti; to see that each and every activity of life contributes to the awakening of this shakti. Neither husband, nor children, nor responsibilities are obstructions. On the contrary, they are helpful. If you have in you extreme intensity, real love, indomitable will, and a deep thirst for knowledge, there is no power on earth which could cause hindrance on this path. A wife can continue to be a wife and a mother. A butcher can remain a butcher, and a fisherman a fisherman. No one need change his status or vocation in life, nor his duties. All that is necessary is that he should perform his sadhana in order to awaken the secret power of yoga which is within, and to make every action an act of sadhana. In other words, every idea and every act should be dedicated with a single-minded devotion to that sadhana.
Please remember that you are a sadhu, a soul seeking liberation, a sannyasi – a pure, detached soul. No act should drag you down to lower ideals. Whatever you may be, in my eyes you are a sadhu and my foremost helper. If I tell you to leave your own house, people will call you a fool. But if you leave the house after becoming an MP, people will call you clever. Be that as it may, you have first to Practice sadhana and help in the propagation of yoga.
At the moment, we are talking about the path of yoga. A few years hence public welfare will also be included in it. Remember that the collective use of the yogic, material and mortal powers will be made for one great public cause. Real service of mankind is rendered by spiritual power, even if it is assisted by man’s power and financial power. There exists in the social order such complicated problems which no institution, no government, no amount of wealth, no man, no power can solve. These can only be resolved by spiritual power. None but a sadhu could help those who were not cured by six months of medical or psychological treatment.
None need be afraid of me. I am fighting for a very big cause, striving for it, and going forward with it. This cause is dearer to me than life itself. No other world exists for me except the world of the mission. There is a divine purpose behind whatever it is I am doing. It is essential that I finish this work under any circumstances. This is for your internal overhauling. For me, you are a trustworthy, devoted and efficient disciple. To this stage, you have come through the strength of your sadhana.
Sleep at night in yoga nidra. If you sleep in this way, your sleep will end soon and you will be able to contact the subtle world. This can be practiced in any position, not only by lying flat on the back. All that is necessary is that you adopt one method for yoga nidra. Through this practice one can get up even at three in the morning. This is also the method of removing tamoguna. Another method is to remember your mission always. Age is advancing; youth provides the only opportunity. None can Practice sadhana nor render service in old age.
If it is true that the sadhana is easy, why should we not dedicate ourselves to it? I testify that there is a strange power within you which wishes to manifest itself and to be awakened. When those coverings which conceal it will be torn asunder, then only one veil will remain. Both of us will have to join hands to tear through it. Remain forever conscious that you have in you that power. I will also remind you of it. Both of us will jointly destroy this impenetrable veil.
Letter to a disciple, first published in Taming the Kundalini