"
Sri Yukteswar related one of his own experiences in scriptural
edification. The scene was a forest hermitage in eastern Bengal,
where he observed the procedure of a renowned teacher, Dabru Ballav.
His method, at once simple and difficult, was common in ancient
India.
Dabru Ballav had gathered his disciples around him in the sylvan
solitudes. The holy BHAGAVAD GITA was open before them. Steadfastly
they looked at one passage for half an hour, then closed their eyes.
Another half hour slipped away. The master gave a brief comment.
Motionless, they meditated again for an hour. Finally the guru
spoke.
"Have you understood?"
"Yes, sir." One in the group ventured this assertion.
"No; not fully. Seek the spiritual vitality that has given these
words the power to rejuvenate India century after century." Another
hour disappeared in silence. The master dismissed the students,
and turned to Sri Yukteswar.
"Do you know the BHAGAVAD GITA?"
"No, sir, not really; though my eyes and mind have run through its
pages many times."
"Thousands have replied to me differently!" The great sage smiled
at Master in blessing. "If one busies himself with an outer display
of scriptural wealth, what time is left for silent inward diving
after the priceless pearls?"
Sri Yukteswar directed the study of his own disciples by the same
intensive method of one-pointedness. "Wisdom is not assimilated
with the eyes, but with the atoms," he said.
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