The Path

The spiritual path is very hard, and often it can seem almost too ambitious, almost futile. All I can say is, if anyone cultivates an attitude of 'never give up', help always arrives in the nick of time. SwamiJ has a nice phrase (you can search it on his website to find the context) that became a mantra for me for a short time 'never give up, always let go'. This seemingly contradictory phrase can carry you through the 'dark nights of the soul'. Essentially, the sAdhaka never gives up trying for moksha, and yet at every point one has to let go of everything mentally. Along the way, the hardest thing to find is constant inspiration. Any determined sAdhaka who has felt the need for it can somehow dig it out of websites, books, teachings, etc. It is undoubtedly difficult, but it can be done. As you know, if anything, the message I have wanted to convey to anyone who wanted to listen, is that Self-realization is an achievable goal for householders in this day and age.

A slight variant of the anecdote of the diamond that the servant went to sell for the master can be helpful here. If one wants to own a very expensive diamond, the first step is to know what a genuine diamond looks like, how much it weighs etc. Then of course, one has to raise the capital to buy the diamond, but without knowing the genuine article, one can cheated by a piece of ordinary glass. Once you have recognized the diamond and started raising the capital, it is also good to take stock of all the capital already raised. Reflecting on your own progress is a useful and inspiring exercise. Without being complacent, it is useful to see how far a little practice leads one, and then one can take stock of the future. Often times one may be closer than one thinks. However, the nature of sAdhanA is that God will lend a hand, and will take 10 steps for each one you take towards Him, but it is also true that until the sAdhaka pays down the entire capital, Grace will not descend. So it is a peculiar balance between putting in full effort, and surrendering the mere self. That last lap is probably best done at a time when one has few commitments, but one can prepare for it even 10 or 15 years ahead of time. The final assault is like going for the Olympic gold, but as you know those athletes practice for years in advance. Keeping that long term goal in mind, but acknowledging and gaining confidence from current progress, while keeping the appetite whetted for shorter term goals is the best path for sAdhakas.

Soma

Soma is one of the most misunderstood concepts in the Veda. In the Rg Veda, Indra gets intoxicated with Soma, and in other parts of the Veda there is a description of the soma yajna and there are directions on how to procure the soma plant (a kind of ephedra) found high in the Himalayas. A lot of the recent (especially Western) literature is obsessed with the hallucinogenic aspects of soma.

The import of Indra getting drunk with Soma is that man is drunk with the world because Indra is the King of the gods (who are the senses), so man whose senses are not under control is drunk with the world. Soma means the moon, and the moon is the source of the mind, and the mind is the source of the world (jagat). When the senses are conquered through yoga, man acknowledges God and the intoxication with Soma is pierced. Soma as the mind also appears in yoga and tantra, where once shakti is awakened in the sushumnA, the soma that drips from the lalATa cakra no longer gets burnt in the jaTara agni, but is quaffed by the yogi. Indeed, after kuNDalinI awakening, there are intensely pleasurable feelings when this soma is enjoyed. But as you know, this too has to be set aside with the spirit of vairAgyam, since it is also a product of the mind, and hence impermanent. Only when the mind completely comes to rest is the Eternal and Absolute Truth experienced. This is why all sights and sounds in the inner realm are all mere distractions along the way, although they can be useful markers of progress and an inspiration to move forward.