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realize at that time that I was taking a grave risk in not having her with me when away from
home, that without my knowledge the stormy force released in my body was still as actively
at work, and that though I was not acutely cognizant of its movements, the strain on my vital
organs was no less heavy than it had been before. The thought that I was in an abnormal state
internally was, however, never entirely absent from my mind, for I was reminded of it
constantly by the luminosity within. But as time wore on and the condition remained constant
it lost for me much of its strangeness and un-naturalness, becoming, as it were, a part of my
being, my usual and normal state.
Chapter Nine
IN view of the immense significance of the regenerative and transformative processes at work
in my body, especially during sleep, which ultimately resulted in the development of psychic
gifts, never possessed by me until the age of over forty-six, it is necessary to dwell on this
most important phase of my singular experience. Not only the ancient treatises on Yoga but
numerous other spiritual texts of India contain references to the miraculous power of Shakti,
or feminine cosmic energy, to bring about transformations in her devotees. The famous
Gayatri Mantra, which every Brahmin must recite daily after his morning ablutions, is an
invocation to Kundalini to grant transcendence. The sacred thread worn by the Hindus,
consisting generally of three or six separate threads held together by a knot, is symbolic of the
three well-known channels of vital energy, Ida, Pingala and Sushumna, passing through the
centre and on either side of the spinal cord. The tuft of hair on the top of the head usually
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worn by men indicates the location of the inoperative conscious centre in the brain which
opens like a lotus in bloom when watered by the ambrosial current rising through Sushumna
and functions as the seat of supersensible perception, the sixth sense or the third eye in those
divinely favoured by Kundalini.
The obviously unambiguous references to her creative and transformative prowess, contained
in the hymns composed in praise of the goddess by renowned sages and great spiritual
teachers, venerated almost like gods and in most cases, if their own avowals are to be
believed, themselves the beneficiaries of her grace, cannot be dismissed lightly as mere poetic
effusions devoid of any material foundation. Considering also the fact that the results attained
by the masters formed subjects for experiment and verification by their disciples, who had,
therefore, necessarily to gauge their correctness, the assertions cannot be treated either as
mere metaphors, intended to convey some other meaning, or as crude exaggerations of trivial
achievements. In any case it is on the universal acceptance of the truth of these ancient beliefs
in India that all the systems of Yoga and the massive structure of Vedic religion have been
built, with a foundation so deeply laid that they have come to be an integral part of every
religious act and ceremony of a Hindu. Consequently the average worshipper of Kali, Durga,
Shiva or Vishnu, when prostrate before the image of his deity with tearful eyes and lips
quivering with emotion, implores the boon of not only worldly favours but also of super-
physical attributes to enable him to look behind the veil of illusory appearances.
If the historic record extending to more than thirty centuries as embodied in the Vedas and
other spiritual texts is to be relied upon and credence lent to the unquestionable testimony of
scores of clever investigators and shrewd observers, the ancient society of Indo-Aryans
abounded with numerous genuine instances of transfiguration by means of spiritual strivings
and Yoga, resulting in the complete metamorphosis of personality as a result of which
individuals of a common calibre were transformed into visionaries of extraordinary
attainments by the touch of an invisible power which they recognized and worshipped with
appropriate ceremony. In fact one of the basic tenets of Hindu religion and the archstone of
the science of yoga is the belief, emphatically upheld by almost every scripture, that by
properly directed effort it is possible for a man to complete the evolutionary cycle of human
existence in one life and blossom into a transfigured adept in tune with the infinite Reality
beyond the phenomenal world, forever released from the otherwise endless chain of births and
deaths.
In addition to cases of spontaneous transformation brought about suddenly or by slow degrees
in mystics and saints, ancient or modern, both in the East and West, and supported by
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