WASHINGTON – From time immemorial some people have sought spiritual enlightenment in secluded places, far away from the noise and commotion of ordinary social life. In many different cultures there seems to be an obvious connection between a life as a lonely hermit in a cave, or as part of a small brotherhood living in a remote monastery, and the possibility to meditate and thus acquire a higher degree of wisdom and a communion with the Supreme Spirit.
Let your own little space be the place where you shall seek enlightenment
But here comes common sense advice. And it comes from a man who had indeed achieved the spiritual awakening that most people desire to attain by going away, to some isolated place in the mountains.
Here is what “The Sleepless Saint” said to young Mukunda, later on Pramahansa Yogananda, as recounted by Yogananda himself in his famous book, Autobiography of a Yogi.
“Young yogi. I see you are running away from your yogi. He has everything you need; you should return to him.” He added, “Mountains cannot be your guru”.
“Masters are under no cosmic compulsion to live on mountains only”. My companion glanced at me quizzically. “The Himalayas and Tibet have no monopoly on saints. What one does not trouble to find within will not be discovered by transporting the body hither and yon. As soon as the devotee is willing to go even to the end of the earth for spiritual enlightenment, the guru appears nearby”.
I silently agreed, recalling my prayer in the Banaras hermitage, followed by the meeting with Sri Yuktesvar in a crowded lane.
“Are you able to have a little room where you can close the door and be alone?”
“Yes”, I reflected that this saint descended from the general to the particular with disconcerting speed.
“That is your cave.” The yogi bestowed on me a gaze of illumination which I have never forgotten. “That is your sacred mountain. That is where you will find the kingdom of God”.