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APPENDIX.
xxi
3. by devotion to a particular god or goddess or even to a
human guru, the culmination of which is reached when the devotee can "project* a perfect physical image of his deity, in whose company he continues to enjoy
his full measure of ecstatic pleasure" (p. 344). As regards contemplation, the greatest stress is laid on the power of suggestion, which is described as the influence responsible for the creation of anything that is created, under the sun. It is said :
"There is no limit to the power of suggestion. It is indeed the Key stone or basis to the whole edifice of creation of this and the waking world, as well as of all other worlds" (p. 350).
The greatest obstacle to the first path is said to consist in the recognition of truth by the intellect alone. The most advanced soul on this path "sees no duality in any of his three avastha's--jagrat [waking) swapna (dreaming] and sushupti [deep-sleep]." His point of view is changed and he "sees himself and all others as one."
The obstacle on the second path consists in the exhibition of extraordinary powers' acquired by the yogi which enable him to perform miracles, “altering the course of creation and stopping, changing, and even creating dreams just as he wishes." This results in pride which encompasses his fall. A yogi enjoys ananda (bliss) as long as he is in samadhi (self-induced trance), while a jñani [the follower of the first path] enjoys it in all the three conditions.
The danger on the third path lies in that “the devotee is apt to labour under a sort of self-deception. He comes to look upon this feat of conjuring up his deity as the ultimate goal, and the sensation of ecstatic pleasure which he feels in the presence of his god inclines him to remain in his service. This keeps him from kaivalya moksha or final liberation. If, however, he goes beyond this stage, his power of concentration increases, and he succeeds in carrying his consciousness to the sushupti avastha [the state of deep-sleep), where he becomes one with his beloved, and realises that the object of his devotion was in reality his own self." We are, however, not
• Some of our readers might be interested in recalling the statement of one of the leaders of Mystic thought who said of himself in one of his devotional paroxysms :
پاچھے پاچھے ھر پھرین کهت كبير كبير
من ایسر نرمل بهیر جیسے گنگا نیر
[Tn.--The mind has become clenr as the Ganges' stream ; [and] Hari (God) follows persistently, saying, Kabir, Kabir !
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