SPIRITUAL advancement begins when there is a radical change in the outlook of the worldly man. The worldly man lives mostly for the body, and even in those pursuits which do not seem to have direct reference to the body, in the last analysis the ultimate motive power is to be found in the desires connected with the body. Subjugation of body for higher life For example, he lives to eat; he does not eat to live. He has not yet discovered any purpose clearly transcending the body, so the body and its comforts become the centre of all his pursuits. But when he discovers a value in which the soul is predominant, the body is at once relegated to the background. The maintenance of the body now becomes for him merely instrumental for the realisation of a higher purpose. His body, which had formerly been a hindrance to true spiritual life, becomes an instrument for the release of higher life. At this stage man attends to his bodily needs with no special feeling of self-identification, but like the driver of a railway engine who fills it with coal and water so that it may be kept going.
The very beginning of spiritual advancement is conditioned by quest for that goal for which man lives—the goal for which he unconsciously loves and hates, and for
Quest for the goal which he goes through variegated joys and sufferings. Though he may be stirred by the pull of this incomprehensible and irresistible divine destiny, it may take a long time before he arrives at the mountain top of Truth-realisation, and the path is constantly strewn with pitfalls and slippery precipices. Those who attempt to reach this mountain top have to climb higher and higher, and even if a person has succeeded in scaling great heights, the slightest mistake on his part might cast him down to the very beginning again. Therefore the aspirant is never safe unless he has the advantage of the help and guidance of a Perfect Master who knows the ins and outs of the path, and who can not only safeguard the aspirant from a possible fall, but lead him to the goal of realisation without unnecessary relapses.
The aspirant who has decided to reach the goal carries with him all the sanskaras which he has accumulated in the past, but in the intensity of his spiritual longing they remain suspended and ineffective for the time being. Blocking of advancement Time and again, however, when there is a slackening of spiritual effort, the sanskaras hitherto suspended from action gather fresh strength and, arraying themselves in a new formation, constitute formidable obstacles in the spiritual advancement of the aspirant.
This might be illustrated by the analogy of a river. The powerful current of the river carries with it great quantities of silt from the source and the banks. Analogy of the river As long as these quantities are suspended in water they do not hinder the flow of the river, though they may slow it down. When the current becomes slower in the plains, and particularly towards the mouth, this bulk tends
