58. Parshadi, Charnamrita, Arati and Obeisance

DISCOURSES ON

RADHASOAMI FAITH

BY

MAHARAJ SAHAB

Pandit Brahm Sankar Misra, M.A.

58. PARSHADI, CHARNAMRITA, ARATI AND OBEISANCE

            91. The benefit of sanctification, which we shall presently explain from a theoretical point of view, is also conferred upon a very limited circle of devotees who are often in attendance on an adept. Articles of food left in the dishes after an adept has finished his meals, clothes and garments worn by him, and the water used for the ablution of his feet are considered to be highly spiritualised, and are used by such of the disciples as get an opportunity to obtain them. Disciples are also sometimes allowed to touch the feet of an adept with their forehaed, the object being that the spirituality, which is more or less flowing out from the feet of the adept, might be imbibed by them. This mode of obeisance is also, however, confined to a very limited circle. The use of thee sanctified articles or the mode of obeisance referred to, is, however, not a part of the holy service. At times, disciples are permitted to gaze intently at the eyes of an adept, and he also directs his gaze similarly at the eyes and forehead of the devotees engaged in this practice. Meanwhile, holy pieces dealing with the journey of the spirit-entity upwards, towards the region of pure spirituality, or containing a description of the conditions of deep love and yearning or of true humility and resignation to the will of the Supreme Creator, through which a devotee passes during the course of his spiritual journey, are recited. During this recital, the practice of spiritual contemplation has to be performed with the aid of the adept's gaze. The spiritual concentration during such moments is very great, and the devotees who are performing this practice are filled within themselves with rapturous bliss. When the concentration is beyond the strain to which a devotee is accustomed, his eyes involuntarily close, but during this condition he is all along conscious inwardly, and does not lose his identity like a hypnotized subject. The aid received in the course of this practice, which is technically known as Arati, is very similar to the aid extended to a child, who is just beginning to walk, by its mother or nurse. The effect of the Arati should in no way be confounded with the effect produced by suggestion or hypnotism, the object of the assistance rendered being to arouse the potentialities of the spirit-entity concurrently with the functions of free will and self-consciousness, and not to make the inherent powers of spirit a vehicle for giving effect to the desires of the operator, as is the case in mesmerism.

            92. As promised, we now proceed to explain the theory of the four modes of sanctification mentioned above and this theory also applies to the sanctification of garlands etc. by touch. That the internal condition of an animate object affects those who touch it is very clearly observed in the case of a number of insects etc., such contact in extreme cases resulting in immediate blisters etc. To a lesser degree, this peculiarity applies to all animate beings. Hitherto, we have been speaking of the physical effects with the object of establishing the proposition that the inherent constitutional spirituality is capable of producing, by means of the physical frame it has assumed, effects peculiar to the attributes and power possessed by its seed. In case of sanctification, similar effects are produced, but they are perceivable on the spiritual plane, just as physical effects are observable on the spiritual plane. A devotee whose spiritual power is developed to some extent can realize the effects produced by sanctified objects almost immediately he uses them, even when he is not aware that the object he is using is sanctified. If it is a fact that hypnotized subjects find it easier to establish communion with a person with the aid of an object used by him, the theory stated above is confirmed by this fact. Blood-hounds also are aided in following their clue in a somewhat similar way - something left on the way of the object of their search furnishing them with the necessary link.

            93. Electricity, which furnishes vitality, as it were, to all elements, bears greatest similarity to the spirit-force. It would not, therefore, be irrelevant to state in support of the theory we have been advancing, that if electrified bodies can impart their electric charge to everything that comes into contact with them, the quantity of electricity so imparted varying directly with reference to the electric intensity of the electrified body, adepts, whose physical frame is charged with spirituality of a very intense character and of a very high plane, can also similarly impart their spirituality to all objects that come into contact with them. It may perhaps be desirable to observe here that in considering the argument by the analogy stated above, the similarity in regard to touch alone should be kept in view. Any effort to extend the similarity in other directions would introduce unnecessary complications and produce anomalies.