THE world is in the throes of a new birth. A new pattern of culture is emerging. The ways of science have paved the way for the reorientation of human aims and goals. Though men are presently thinking in terms of better ways of existence for all, and have been forced to conceive of life as a whole and not for oneself, and a few, yet the means and methods adopted for arriving at that goal, or realisation of a welfare state have not been satisfactory. Man muddles on with the rationality vouched for his growth. Yet, it is a fact that man is in search of happiness. This happiness and peace of mind seem to be closely linked up. Man has to realise that he belongs to a great world, not only of humanity, but also of other kinds and types of life; not only on this Earth of ours, but also on other worlds. Science has been opening up the frontiers of knowledge in very vast directions. We have almost begun to enter into a greater world. But our minds are yet incapable of thinking to that scale, and indeed we are incapable of adjusting to this mortal world and the prospects it is offering.     Man feels himself to be a greater being in reality, or at least capable of realising himself in the world, and fulfill the demands of his body, life, and mind. His efforts in this direction have been continuous, and a labour of extreme concentration has gone into his struggle to grow, to live, and to realise happiness in terms of the wants of his body. It is true that some mighty minds have held that all this search for happiness in the world by adapting the world to one's own needs and happiness cannot avail, and the precariousness of the achievement is more to be known. True also indeed they have counselled that in transitoriness of happiness achieved, there can be no real happiness. They have also held that the very definition of illusion is precisely transitoriness of all happiness. The search for the eternal and permanent happiness is the real search, and this entails the renunciation of the search for the transitory happiness, or success. However, man is not quite prepared for this renunciation of the transitory happiness, which, according to him, is in the hand, for the sake of the permanent happiness, which is far off. Better the bondage of the immediate if it is pleasant than the freedom of the eternal, which needs renunciation of the immediate. So too, the renunciation of finiteness or individuality is impossible because of the promise of attainment of the Infinite.

    Surely, men have sought a different solution for wish-fulfilment. They would like to realise the eternal in the temporal, the infinite in the finite, the unbounded in the bounded, spirit in the bosom of matter, and so on, because of the double demand of the human nature for both the worlds. There have grown several philosophies which seek to do justice to the claims of man's desires or wishes, here and yonder. That philosophies are governed by such desires or wishes is a fact that reveals the psychological roots of their thinking. Such thinking has not released itself from the goal-directing impulse, and rightly too, though it must be confessed that Reality is not capable of being a goal unless all happiness-claim is dropped, whether it is of the temporal or eternal order. Reality has a claim to be known for itself without the limitations and strictures of desire for any goal such as happiness, or pleasure, or power. It is to be known as It is in itself and for itself; that is the law of one's real being and Reality. Man feels his reality to be of paramount concern, and the realisation of that Reality is the basic impulse of his being; and happiness, pleasure, power, and so on are just means considered and surrendered on the march towards his own reality-realisation.

    The methods by which this reality-consciousness is to be attained are of great antiquity, and had varying fortunes because of man's dual aims. It is only when one seeks oneself that one realises one's reality, and not when one turns to the world to realise oneself, or oneself in it. Several indeed have been the philosophies that imagined or built-up the systems, and they have become incapable of showing the way to the reality-consciousness. Nor was liberation achieved with their help.  

    A return to the need for personal experience of the Ultimate has become urgent, and most people, tired of philosophies and logistics, and the so-called rationality, are turning towards a method by which they would have the experience or intuition, and realisation of the essence of being or existence. There are, of course, some who do not think that experience can solve any problem, and believe that belief alone in the methods or means of philosophies will be sufficient, and personal experience is merely a lure and a mirage. With such thinkers, we, of course, do not agree, and man has never agreed. True indeed this personal experience should be of the highest, and not merely a hallucinatory product of one's wishes and constructions – mental projections, so to speak, and not Reality. Hallucination is the projection of one set of illusions in the place of those it is said to replace, namely, the experience of Nature.

    The evolution of man into higher consciousness or Reality is indeed our endeavour, and this evolution can no longer be achieved through the old patterns, suitable to lower species and forms of life, including man. The growth of a cosmic consciousness, or an intuition that can grasp all in one sweep of consciousness rather than in fragments, or that which will integrate all knowledge and perceive the integral reality is a Divine gift, and cannot be expected to be attained through natural means of mere aspiration. Science expects this to happen in a natural evolution through man's infinite capacity to adapt the environment to his needs, and also, to rouse within himself powers and capacities, latent in a sense (such as he had already done) such as rationality, intelligence, instinct, will, consciousness itself, and creative imagination, co-operative activity, and social unity. However, the ascent of life is marked by breaks, and one wonders whether these breaks or leaps are due to an innate force or elan, or an upward force that has leaned towards it to pull it up. Religious experience in man reveals this leaning of the cosmic consciousness or divine and transcendent grace consciousness towards it. Thus in man this conjunction of the divine and the human is made possible for the first time in evolution. But a jump to the Ultimate consciousness or Being is a long way off. And the natural evolution of man will reveal that in his life the incidence of a force much vaster and superior to himself takes its hand. This is the beginning of Spirituality. The Self confronts its own deepest urge to be this urge towards the Ultimate Reality without which its own future is impossible and untenable.

    This is the call to the knowledge of the Self, to fulfillment, to perfection, to ultimate happiness and bliss, and above all, to the feeling and realisation of reality of oneself, which seems to be slipping away in its own original nature.

    The Seers of India had long ago seen this necessity for the help of the Highest and Ultimate Spirit for lifting man to the higher levels of consciousness and awareness, such as super-consciousness and absolute consciousness, or experience.  The Super-mind belongs to the regions of the level very much above the human mental and over-mental. There are levels of being such as the Pinda, Anda, or Brahmanda, Para-Brahmanda, and the Highest transcendent which is called by Shri Ram Chandraji of Shahjahanpur (U.P.) as the Central Region, and the Centre. Indeed, we can reveal the parallels between these and the worlds described as bhuh, bhuvah, svar, mahah, janah, tapah, and satyam. Consciousness at each level is higher, suited to the plane of its being, and goes through modifications or twists and limitations when it descends lower, and is thus said to form several centres or granthis, or chakras that distribute the power of consciousness according to the laws of the centres which emerge as and when the centre forms.

    The yoga of self-realisation demands then the approach to the highest state beyond all the levels of consciousness and being. The question arises whether this is possible. Whether it is not a gradual process of ascent which enables man to proceed from the level of man to the level of superman with a super mind, and so on till the highest level is reached; this is the second question. There is much to be said in favour of the gradual theory of evolution. The immediate possibility of arriving at the Highest level is also open to the human soul that has become aware of the urgency of its attainment and existence. This is what Shri Ram Chandraji assures as possible, and by the yoga directed by One who has attained that Ultimate Central Reality, it is positively easy. Evolution of the individual becomes swift even while in the human body, which is purified by that highest consciousness or power, and transformed in every one of its cells.

    The Power of the Highest can descend thus into the human heart and begin to purify and lead it to the highest state. The human frame itself is so made as to receive the transmissions of highest energy or Shakthi Divine at several centres corresponding to the cosmic centres and super-cosmic regions. The human body being thus purified in its nervous, circulatory, and other systems can enjoy or experience the peace, the power, and the transcendence even in this body. The need and process are really to be trained by an adept in this Raj Yoga path.

    Shri Ram Chandraji in this book entitled ‘Commentary on Ten Commandments of Sahaj Marg’ elucidates the conditions which are necessary for realising the Ultimate. They are Commandments which one must follow implicitly. They are not merely orders arbitrarily given, but clearly explained in order to show their rationality in respect of the goal that has to be reached. They are, of course, easy to  follow when there is earnestness to reach the Goal or the Ultimate.

    The simple formula of Prayer gives us our objective in this search — it is God who is the All Master, and who is the only person who can lead us to the Destination. Our wishes interfere with our reaching the Destination and are prapti-virodhis —enemies of our attainment. Surrender to God, who is power omnipotent, is the essential need, for, God is both the means and the end. The Master, who leads us to the Highest, is One who is so much absorbed in the Ultimate that He is, as it were, God in descent towards the soul that seeks and drives, and struggles for help.

    The ancient methods of practice are beautifully explained, showing the rationality of worship and meditation at the Sandhyas, or conjunctions of the day - morning, noon, and evening. The angas of yoga are also neatly expounded, and the natural method of spiritual adaptation and adjustment to the Goal is given in a simple and straightforward manner. The purification of the system by the subtle process of Transmission by the Master is an achievement that can find no parallel in the spiritual history in recent times. To live in God, for God, and by God is the burden of the path of Sahaj Marg, and this naturally leads to the realisation of one's reality in God, for God.  So too one becomes harmonious with all without any distinction. The higher worlds open up to one who has become one with God by living in Him and for Him alone. Spirituality is not like religion, just a form of worship or technique of observances; it is a living in the awareness of God and in His essence.

    Shri Ram Chandraji points out how the individual soul by following the Commandments of Sahaj Marg can even at the first contact come to experience the peace that passeth understanding, and then grow in this peace towards the highest possible to man. Liberation or Moksha is something that naturally follows from this practice. Perfection too may be open to one who is Divinely directed.

    There is a little amount of metaphysics or physics in the exposition which is not very important to discuss as it will become clear as one proceeds on with the abhyas.

    There is no doubt that there must be a complete transformation of man's nature, and he must be taken up for guidance by the cosmic and super-cosmic Nature so that his attainment may be felt to be more and more reality (Sat). As one approaches the Centre or the Ultimate, one increases in his reality, and all that went before appear to be more and more unreality. However, the abhyasi's aim is to gain this increasing reality that arises as one begins to get near the Centre.

    Shri Ram Chandraji's Discoveries in this realm are remarkable for their dynamic practical nature. God is not far and distant but very near, and ready means (siddhopaya); and man has but to turn towards Him to feel His presence and His power of transformation. We owe it to Shri Ram Chandraji of Fatehgarh (U.P.) for making this experience possible to all, and to Shri Ram Chandraji of Shahjahanpur for spreading this Gospel of redemption and transformation by demonstrating it practically to whosoever turned towards Him.

    This book is, in a sense, for the advanced practicant; but it is a very illuminating book which should be read after the study of Master's Reality at Dawn, and Efficacy of Raj Yoga.

C. Varadachari , MA. Ph.D.

# 8, G. Car Street,

Tirupathi, Andhra Pradesh

(from prerevised edition : Commentary on Ten Commandments of Sahaj Marg.)