Brahmajna Ma on Brahmacharya

Enjoying sexual pleasures is like taking a sweetened ball of poison. Nothing covers the Self as much as this. The more this desire fades away, the thinner will be the cover.

Men consider sexual instinct as bad in its gross manifestation. Decrying it in this way is not going deep enough, for they still enjoy the inclination inwardly. As long as this state of mind continues sexual impulse will not be checked. To understand that there is no real pleasure in it is the correct understanding.

As long as it is thought that an object is pleasurable it cannot be given up. When sense-objects are regarded as dangerous and distasteful, like snakes and poison, none will feel sorry to give them up. When it is understood by correct reasoning that far from being pleasurable the sense-objects cover real bliss and peace, then they will be regarded as poison and it will be an easy affair to give them up.

Anticipation of the fulfilment of desire does not allow men any rest, it seduces men by promising pleasure but cannot give it. Happiness cannot be had unless anticipation of the fulfilment of desire is given up. Renunciation of hope alone can lead to peace. The more one gives up anticipation, the more one’s mind becomes relieved from bondage.

—Brahmajna Ma

Advice to Monks

Mother said, “You are attached to the world, and this āsakti must be put an end to by virāga. This is the second stage. But you must not stop here, you must not be attached to virāga either, it is but a means to an end. You must go higher up and beyond both these and observe indifference. The object in view is to make the mind waveless so that on the calm mind you may find the image of Ātmā reflected.”

Mother used to say, “Vichāra and vairāgya must go hand-in-hand, the object in view being to make the mind calm. Sometimes sadhus make the show of vairāgya the be-all and end-all of their lives; they do not pause and reflect where all this is leading them. A sadhu, though he may be looked upon as full of virāga, may be attached to some new object of attachment such as clotted hair or flowing beard or even the orange robe. If these make him proud and he becomes fully occupied with the thoughts of these things, he is no nearer the goal in spite of his so-called renunciation.”

—Brahmajna Ma

Real Sadhus

About the disciples of saints, Mother used to say, “Chaitanya-dev had some very good disciples. Saints come and go, but there are very few to reach the goal by following them. Men are eager to pass for sadhus but do not like to be sadhus.” …

Mother had an unending stock of anecdotes and stories to illustrate and impress any point. Her object was always to make it clear to us how in spite of the fact that there were innumerable sadhus, only a very few were in earnest; how they would forget their object only to wander down into bye-lanes, passing the whole of their lives in slumber, as it were. She would say, “I always tell you about the pitfalls so that you may avoid them. If a seeker proceeds along the right path, however slow he may be, he will surely reach the goal—it is because he keeps on wandering down the bye-lanes that his journey never ends. It seems to me that these sadhus are like pilgrims who intend to go to Benares, but instead of taking the road to Benares, put their luggage on their heads and roam about in the streets of their own city. All this is maya.” Mother would never criticize outsiders except before a chosen few. She wold say, “A religious organization on a big scale is bound to fail because good aspirants are not as cheap as blackberries.” She also said, “There are many gurus but a very few good disciples. I rarely come across a sadhu who seems to be following the correct path. All sadhus are moving in the domain of avidyā but no one can be called a sadhu if he is not earnest in getting beyond this domain.”

—The Life and Teaching of Sri Brahmajna Ma, Swami Prabudhananda, Sadhu Arunachala (Major A W Chadwick), ed. (Deoghar: D N Sen, Santi Asram, Bela Bagan, 1961) 11–12.