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The Levitating Saint

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Brief overview

A saint who never leaves his house teaches that love of God outranks every technique.

  1. Seclusion practised for others, not for comfortTwenty years indoors because worldly people dislike the candour that shatters their delusions.
  2. Do not mistake the technique for the goalAfter an hour of silence the sage asks whether anubhava has been developed, urging love of God over meditation itself.
  3. Renunciation is a bargain, not a sacrificeA few paltry rupees traded for a cosmic empire of endless bliss puts the cap of Croesus on any saintly beggar.
Executive Summary AI
  • At a gathering, Apendra Mohan Chowdhury reports a yogi seen levitating several feet above the ground, and the narrator surprises him by already knowing the saint, who lives close to his home.
  • Baduri Mahasaya has lived indoors for the past twenty years, relaxing the rule only during holy festivals when he walks as far as his front sidewalk, where beggars gather for his tender heart; he once performed bastrika pranayama so forcefully it seemed a storm had risen in the room.
  • Showing thick envelopes from America, the sage says he corresponds with societies there, that the knowledge of yoga is free to all who will receive it, and that neither West nor East will flourish without some form of disciplinary yoga.
  • When a departing student praises him for renouncing riches, the master answers that he has left a few paltry rupees and petty pleasures for a cosmic empire of endless bliss.
  • Years later, before the narrator embarks for the West, Baduri Mahasaya gives his farewell blessing: hoary India for a shield, victory written on his brow, and a noble distant people who will receive him well.
Key Quote
“My rule of seclusion is not for my own comfort, but for that of others.”
— Baduri Mahasaya
Key Quote
“Saints are not only rare, but disconcerting.”
— Baduri Mahasaya
Key Quote
“Do not mistake the technique for the goal.”
— Baduri Mahasaya

Transcript

0:00 CHAPTER VII. the levitating saint i saw a yogi remain in the air several feet above the ground last night at a group meeting my friend apendra mohan chowdhury spoke impressively i gave him an enthusiastic smile perhaps i can guess his name road? Apendra nodded, a little crestfallen not to be a news-bearer. My inquisitiveness about saints
0:48 was well known among my friends. They delighted in setting me on a fresh track. The yogi lives
0:54 so close to my home that I often visit him. My words brought keen interest to Apendra's face,
1:00 and I made a further confidence. I have seen him in remarkable feats he has expertly mastered the various pranayamas of the ancient eightfold yoga outlined by patanjali
1:12 once badori mahasaya performed bastrika pranayama before me with such amazing force that it seemed an actual storm had arisen in the room then he extinguished the thundering breath and remained motionless in
1:26 a high state of superconsciousness. The aura of peace after the storm was vivid beyond forgetting.
1:33 I heard that the saint never leaves his home. I penned that his term was a trifling credulous.
1:39 Indeed, it is true. He has lived indoors for the past twenty years he slightly relaxes his self-imposed rule at the times of our holy festivals when he goes as far as his front sidewalk beggars gather there because st badruri is known for his tender heart body loses its grossness after use of certain pranayamas then it will levitate or hop about like a leaping frog even saints who do not practise a formal yoga have been known to levitate during a state of intense devotion to god apendra's eyes were sparkling with curiosity yes i go often i am vastly entertained by the wit in his wisdom occasionally my prolonged laughter general public a lone disciple occupying the ground floor guarded his master's privacy the student was something of a martinet he now inquired formally if i had an engagement just in time to save me from some re-ejection. Let Mukunda come when he will.
3:06 The sage's eyes twinkled.
3:08 My rule of seclusion is not for my own comfort,
3:10 but for that of others.
3:12 Worldly people do not like the candour
3:14 which shatters their delusions.
3:17 Saints are not only rare, but disconcerting.
3:20 Even in scripture, they are often found embarrassing.
3:23 I followed Baduri Mahasaya
3:48 to his austere quarters on the top floor from which he seldom stirred masters often ignore the panorama of the world's ado out of focus till centred in the ages present. Maharishi, you are the first yogi I have known who always stays indoors. God plants his saints sometimes in unexpected soil, lest we think we may reduce him to a rule. The sage locked his
3:55 vibrant body in the lotus posture. In his seventies he displayed no unpleasing signs of age or
4:02 sedentary life. Stole water and straight, he was ideal in every respect.
4:07 His face was that of a rishi, as described in the ancient texts. Noble-headed, abundantly bearded,
4:14 he always sat firmly upright, his quiet eyes fixed on omnipresence. The saint and I entered
4:21 the meditative state. After an hour, his gentle voice roused me.
4:26 You go often into the silence,
4:28 but have you developed anubhava?
4:31 He was reminding me to love God more than meditation.
4:34 Do not mistake the technique for the goal.
4:38 He offered me some mangoes.
4:39 With that good-humoured wit
4:41 that I found so delightful in his grave nature,
4:44 he remarked,
4:45 people in general are more fond of Jala Yoga, union with food, than of Dhyana Yoga, union with God.
4:53 His yogic pun affected me uproariously. What a laugh you have!
4:58 An affectionate gleam came into his gaze. His own face was always serious, yet touched with an
5:04 ecstatic smile. His large, lotus eyes held a hidden divine laughter those letters come from far-off america
5:13 the sage indicated several thick envelopes on a table i correspond with a few societies there whose members are interested in yoga they are discovering india anew with a better sense of direction than columbus i am glad to help them the knowledge of yoga is free to all who will receive like the un garnishable daylight
5:33 what rishis perceive as essential for human salvation need not be diluted for the west alike in soul though diverse in outer experience neither west nor East will flourish if some form of disciplinary yoga be not practised.
5:50 The saint held me with his tranquil eyes.
5:53 I did not realise that his speech was a veiled prophetic guidance.
5:57 It is only now, as I write these words,
6:00 that I understand the full meaning in the causal intimations he often gave me

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