ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS: YOGA Volume 3 IN DAYS OF GREAT PEACE IN DAYS OF GREAT PEACE The Highest Yoga as Lived MOUNI SADHU First published in 1952 Second edition revised and enlarged (and first published by George Allen and Unwin) in 1957 This edition first published in 2019 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 1957 George Allen & Unwin Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: 978-1-138-35089-2 (Set) ISBN: 978-0-429-39773-8 (Set) (ebk) ISBN: 978-0-367-02590-8 (Volume 3) (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-429-39884-1 (Volume 3) (ebk) Publisher’s Note The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent. Disclaimer The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and would welcome correspondence from those they have been unable to trace. In Days of Great Peace THE HIGHEST YOGA AS LIVED MOUNI SADHU POREWORD BY M. HAFIZ SYED M.A., PH.D., D.LI'l"l'. R.uskin House GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN LTD RUSKIN HOUSE MUSEUM STREET FIRST PUBLISHED IN I952 SECOND EDITION REVISED AND ENLARGED (AND FIRST PUBLISHED BY GEORGE ALLEN AND UNWIN) IN 1957 PUBLISHED IN GERMAN IN I 9 55 AS AUF DEM PFAD SRI RAMANA MAHARSHIS' PUBLISHED IN PORTUGUESE IN 1956 AS 'DIAS DE GRANDE PAZ' This book is copyright under the Berne Convention. Apart from afV! fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act I956, no portion may be reproduced without written permission. Enquiry should be made to the publishers. © George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1957 PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN in 12-pt. Bembo ryp6 BY THE BLACKFRIARS PltESS LTD SMITH-DORRIEN ltOAD LEICESTER FOREWORD 'Pursue· the enquiry "Who am I" relentlessly. Analyse your entire personality. Try to fmd out where the !-thought begins. Go on with your meditations. Keep turning your attention within. One day the wheel of thought will slow down and an intuition will mysteriously arise. Follow that intuition, let your thinking stop, and it will eventually lead you to the goal'. From Maharshi' s Teachings 'If the Supreme Truth is unknown, the study of Scriptures is fruitless; and when the Supreme Truth is realized the study of Scriptures becomes useless'. From Sri Sankaracharya Most of the people in this world have no faith in spiritual values. To them the human mind is all in all, and this leads them to a variety of reflections and speculations. Some of them call them­ selves sceptics, others agnostics and yet others pride themselves on being pure materialists. The truth is veiled by our own ignorance. We do not carry our search after it far enough. · Having exercised our intellect up to a certain limit we feel there is no hope for further discovery or investigation. This attitude of the mind is the result of the study of Western systems of philo­ sophy which, from the Eastern point of view, is barren, and leads us nowhere, beyond speculations and guesses at truth. Whereas Eastern philosophy, more especially Indian system of thought, affords some genuine hope for an earnest aspirant on the path of search for truth. Almost all the ancient thinkers, saints and sages have pointed out an unfailing practical path by pursuing which, one may free oneself of all doubts ~d uncertainties and realize the meaning and purpose oflife. Their method ofapproach to truth is fairly scientific. They do not dogmatize nor play upon the credulity of our faith. They simply point out a path and lay down certain definite conditions for attaining it. s IN DAYS 0~ GREAT PEACE The final success on this path depends entirely on the aspirann own effort and self-investigation. The first obvious condition is earnest desire, unquenchable thirst to drink the water of life. In answer to a question as to what are the requisite qualifications ofa disciple, Sri Ramana Maharhsi once stated : 'He should have an intense and incessant longing to get free from the miseries of life. and to attain supreme, spiritual Bliss. He should not have the least desire for anything else'. The second is a ceaseless effort with careful and close observance of rules of conduct and the cultivation of the virtues of dispassion and .discrimination. The third is the search for a Sad Guru, a genuine teacher who may rightly and successfully guide the aspi­ rant to his destined goal. It may be added that the ancient Hindu scriptures and the Upanishads have already given us necessary directions as.to the path and its achievements. But the truth that is to be found by this definite scientific method is eternal, as acknowledged by the ancient sages, and needs to be testified to by living witnesses from time to time. It is these sages who have taught us the reasonable assumption and the logical conclusion that only a living teacher can teach us the Upanishadic truth, not the Upanishads themselves, .be­ cause they are just words and little more, while the living teacher is an incarnation of the truth we seek. Mouni Sadhu, the writer of the book In Days of Great Peace, published in its non-English editions under the title On the Path of Sri Ramana Maharshi, seems to have fulfilled all these conditions as far as it is humanly possible. As an earnest seeker he pursued several methods of God realization as taught by various schools of Yoga, occultism and mysticism and finally came to his supreme Master and Guru, Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi who, finding him well equipped with the necessary qualifications enumerated above, granted him His Grace, eradicated his ego-sense (as re­ ported by the author himself) and fmally helped and guided him to discover.his own eternal and ever-abiding Sel£ 6 FOREWORD From our point of view there are two kinds of rational faith in the reality ofspiritual life. I. An indirect faith which we have to have from the experi­ ences and verdicts. of such dauntless seekers after truth as had the courage, endurance and iron will to struggle through the thorny path of self-realization and whose words, according to their antecedent and personal integrity, have to be trusted. 2. Faith drawn from direct experience-a thing which no one can possibly doubt or deny. Mouni Sadhu' s book serves as a precious evidence of indirect faith which we have closely and correctly to investigate and ascer­ tain for ourselves. The careful and punctilious author has com­ mitted his inexpressible inner experiences to writing as faithfully' aG:curately and humanly as possible. It is left to us now to make use of it, to the limit of which we are capable. Actuated by the sense of selfless service and his desire to share with others his experiences and convictions, as a result ofhis direct knowledge, he has embodied his thoughts and feelings in the form ofthis fascinating, altogether inspiring and highly instructive book. The earnest readers will find in its perusal not only evidence of one who has. crossed the shore of illusory Samsara but enough food for thought and inspiration. · DR. M. HAFIZ SYED June, 1953 7 INTRODUCTION TO SECOND EDITION The first edition of this book was published in October, 1952 under the title In Days of Great Peace ... Diary Leaves from India. Following the advice of numerous friendly opinions and many favourable reviews by experts in India and the West, it has been decided to make the revised version slightly longer by some addi­ tional chapters based on my old diary and to change the sub-title. In expressing my own experiences it has seemed best to use as simple a form as possible, avoiding technicalities and classical Yogic terms, which might tend to confuse the student if he is not acquainted with them. In conveying spiritual matters, it is neces­ sary to avoid overburdening the mind, for it distracts the attention, ,and the main message is not absorbed. As well as the words of Sri Maharshi spoken in my presence, I have used quotations from the published teachings of the Sage, which were revised and acknowledged by him. They are: · Self-Realisation. Life and Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi by B. V. Narasimha Swami, 3rd. ed., 1936 Maha Yoga by 'Who', 3rd ed., 1947 Maharshi' s Gospel, 4th ed., 1946 Five Hymns to Sri Arunachala by Sri Maharshi, 3rd ed., 1946 Spiritual Instruction and Who Am I ? , two small books com- piled from the teachings of the Sage given in writing to his early disciples between 1900 and 1902. Since Sri Maharshi passed away from the body on 14th April, 1950, some 'new' interpretations and quotations of his sayings have appeared in books written by former inmates of the Ashram. They may be correct, but I prefer· to limit myself to the above­ mentioned works approved by the Master himsel£ I have given the reader an account of what I myself experienced, taking full responsibility for the accuracy of what I have written.