Talk On Vivek Chudamani

Author(s): Chinmayanand Swami
Publisher: Chinmay Publications Trust

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of the heart. All that he has to do in order to bring more progress in his efforts is to remove these cloggings and thereby bring a more intense self-application on the path of self-development.
This is true even in our every day life. If a brand new car with tank-full of petrol is on the road and when, it invariably happens, driven by the owner-driver, it develops troubles, rare indeed are such owner-drivers who know anything of things under the bonnet of his car. Sitting in the driver's seat he wrenches out all the switches and he labours with all the handles and when he finds that the response from the engine is not satisfactory, he leavęs it on the kerb of the road and comes back home.
But if in his place there was a professional driver, he will be able to sense out at once where exactly is the trouble in the engine and invariablly when the progress is thus blocked, he stops the car, gets out of his seat, raises the bonnet and checks up the possible points where the engine might have developed the trouble. After re-setting the engine, he comes back to his seat and the machine responds to his demands.
Similarly, when in meditation, a sādhak finds himself blocked, there is no meaning in sitting in the 'āsana' and kicking about in disappointment and cursing the entire hierarchy of Rishis or the entire Science of Vedanta. He must lift at once the bonnet of his bosom and look within to see if the necessary adjustments are all properly maintained within. The description of the “necessary qualifications” is for our guidance so that we may know what are the common troubles that could arise in the inner vehicle during our flight to the Beyond.
There are some seekers who wait for their spiritual progress, for better circumstance to do the Sadhana, a better time or for a greater master to initiate them. No doubt, Sankara says, time, place, etc., have got a place in the scheme of self-development, but he insists that they are all subsidiary. Without the required inner adjustments,