TRADITION AND KNOWLEDGE
Dialogue 13A: I belonged to the self-preparation group of the Theosophical Society in 1923
and 1924. In that group there was a preparation for understanding which
followed the traditional approach—of viveka (discrimination), of vairāgya
(detachment) and love. A change came about when you said: Let us break away
from all organizations, from all disciplines.
In the book At the Feet of the Master, śama is translated as ‘control of the
mind’ and dama as ‘control of the body’. Traditionally śama seems to have been
neglected; less attention is paid to it than to dama, control of the body. And yet
the word śānti, which is a one-word symbol for inner peace, is derived from
śama as the past participle. By implication, if śama is not understood, śānti is
also not understood.
K: What does the word sādhanā mean to you?
J: To practice sādhanā is to acquire discipline.
A: You neglect śama, the process whereby the rising impulse of the mind
subsides.
K: What do you mean by ‘process’? A process implies a movement—from here
to there; a process involves time.
A: The process of observing the ways of the mind involves time.
K: Time is involved in a process, in a discipline, and is also necessary in order
for one to arrive. Time and also space are implied in all that. From here to there
implies space, and that space is covered through time.
J: Ramana says that it is pathless, free of ‘process’, free of time.
A: Even when we realize that it is not good to suppress the arising and ending of
desire, that realization is still a process; and the process is in time.
K: What do we mean when we say that we live in time? What does ‘living in
time’ mean?
A: The mind is geared to yesterday, today and tomorrow.
K: The mind also lives within chronological time—I come here at such and such
a time. Is there any other time?