Dynamics of an Inner Call

I probably should be a little ashamed to say there are very few books inspiring enough to return to again and again.  M. P. Pandit's, Dynamics of Yoga is one such book,  even if one doesn't consider oneself a dedicated Yogi.  Why is this book so compelling?  For me what is so powerful, besides his honest straightforward observations about yoga practice, is that you can feel the man in the page.  A lot of writers say a lot of smart, wise things.  But their written 'truths' are often an attempt to understand. Writing can frequently become a subtle disguise of wanting to know.  Pandit is not preachy, he's just himself; a 'himself' that is loaded with understanding.  Whenever I need a reality check or reminder, I pick this book up.

"I give what I really want so that one day they may want what I really want to give.... This is a great spiritual truth.  The Divine gives in order to create a link with us so that even by that external contact some communication is established as a result of which one day an identity can take place."

I've had a meditation practice for almost 35 years.  As would be expected, this practice has changed, faltered, evolved, seemingly devolved, looked and behaved differently over the decades.  Sometimes, I need some reassurances.

"It is necessary to sit for meditation regularly so that the habit is created and when a continued state of receptivity is required for the higher consciousness to descend into you and work in you, you are not found wanting.  You can immediately put yourself into a poise where undistracted by anything else you are in a position to receive what comes and let it work in you.  Length of time is not as important as the cultivation of a habit of meditation from this point of view...... It is the spirit of the prayer room, the spirit of meditation, that has to be carried bodily into the place of work and the place of the work has to be turned into a veritable place for meditation to be rendered into dynamic work."

It is often interpreted in most teachings, the body is considered a lesser aspect of a human's whole (in spiritual terms).  Those on a quest of the spirit often fall into a disregard to the here and now of the body.  Besides its way of waking us up to the present and reacquainting us with its relationship to the spirit, the body has a relationship to an embodied consciousness, .
"... The body also is a form of God, not the soul alone.  The physical body is after all the base that determines the health of the various other bodies that are erected on the foundation of the physical...[the Mother] believed,-- and I have seen possible, that by certain controlled movements of the body and the limbs, it is possible to awaken what is called the physical consciousness, that part of the consciousness localised in the material body."

Grappling with the concept of faith in practice sometimes leads one into a mired quandary. Pandit clarifies with simplicity.  "... faith is a conviction that is spontaneously there in the being.  It is a reflection of the soul's knowledge, the soul's perception of something that is yet to be realized by the rest of the being.  This reflection of the soul's knowledge in any part of the being carries a conviction about its certitude.  We may not be able to explain why it is so, but it does carry that certitude."

In all practices, there is a relinquishing of control, a let go.  This is an experience of levels, a necessary meeting of the lower to higher, the coarse to fine, the outer to the inner.
"Surrendered doesn't mean that you surrender your judgements, or your discrimination.  Surrender means the submission of your individual puny will [to that] which you recognize to be greater than yours. You turn your will for action to the vibrations of a higher will so that the higher may work through you. Your preferences, your likes and dislikes, your choices-- it is these that should be surrendered to the higher wisdom. The higher wisdom indeed works for your own welfare, and for the total welfare, much better than what you could with your limited intelligence.  Activity, however, must go on; on the plea that one has surrendered, one should not just remain passive.  The Mother points out that you sink into inertia if you sit back saying 'let God's will be done.'  It has to be an active surrender, a dynamic surrender.  You must place your enlightened will at the disposal of the higher will and continue to follow its guidance, to translate the command from above into day to day action."

Living in this way can seem quite counter to ordinary daily life.  Yet, Pandit's tone is always encouraging,  hopeful and steeped in kindness.  His is a voice worth revisiting time and again.