The preliminary condition is fulfilled
I had already walked a long distance on Colombo beach. The fishers in the area pushed their boats on the sand in a hurry before the son went down in Dehiwala. Their screams and baskets full of fish seemed to trouble the majestic and enigmatic serenity of that evening, which appeared to be more silent that usually. I quickly went away from them and found an isolated place, on a cliff that emerged from the sea at Bambalapitiya.
The sky was splendidly and gradually illuminated by soft colours as the sun was going down. The evening was pleasantly cool and had a euphoric and strengthening effect on my nerves. The sea’s continuous noise and the fascinating contemplation of the waves breaking on the shore were a pretty good subject for a yoga meditation.
I thought then those never tired waves had been jumping against the cliffs for thousands of years and the cliffs did not move. Did man’s authentic spiritual search over the years resemble it, analogically speaking? Man has always searched and fought determined to find the ultimate Truth or God who is hidden inside him in the Eternal Self (ATMAN); apparently he continued to remain unknown and mysterious.
Sea can somehow compare to the universal absolutely divine conscience. Small waves appear from it like our limited and ephemeral egos. These waves jump, hitting themselves against the Truth and dissolve, but only to be changed and manifested again and again in evanescent waves.
Those were my thoughts when suddenly an older and tanned man approached me, almost insisting in being listened to. I was rather puzzled but I realized later on it could not have been just a happening. His look was a little bit aggressive but his sate of spirit was willing and funny. He said: “Young man, why do you waste your time in laziness?”
The secret spiritual connection that appeared between us that moment grew into a warm and spontaneous friendship. This simple and funny man introduced himself as a retired clerk who lived in Tellipallai (a village close to Jaffna), together with his wife and family.
Starting the first minutes, after properly introduction, he told me about Yoga Swami with passion and admiration. “It is almost revolting you have not decided to visit our wise yogi that is alive and is a vivid example of spiritual liberation on this island”. This kind gentleman even offered to pay for my trip by train to Jaffna and, as a top of his kindness, he also invited me to be his guest, for as along as I wanted.
Thus, we spent a couple of weeks together in Jaffna, weeks rich in spiritual events. He personally took me to visit the famous Hindu temples from that side of the country; we also visited together Nallur temple. As a devotional Hindu, he thought I had to purify myself before visiting Yoga Swami.
Every morning, before sunrise, his wife recited divine hymns from traditional Hindu writings. I often had to wear that white “dhoti” (special clothing for men in Bengal and paste Ganges’ valley, adopted as a religious clothing in many Indian regions), and sandalwood paste and sacred ash were generously put on my head, as that was a necessary condition to enter those temples.
The religious or spiritual meaning of those rituals was not very clear to me, but they added a certain colour to a monotonous and superficially solemn situation. Weeks passed and I started to feel a little impatient I had not visited Yoga Swami yet, even though their hospitality had been great.
I have to confess I was wondering if my friend did not try to subtlety convert me to the way Hindus lived. But such a program seemed objectless as I already had a certain sympathy towards Vedanta philosophical system. Then, I realized my friend was very honest, thinking a preliminary preparation was necessary indeed before such an important meeting.
Almost the whole month passed and I already wanted very much to return to Colombo. I even started to lose my interest towards Yoga Swami. I even decided to leave Jaffna without visiting my friend anymore. When I told him about that, he told me happily: “I think the right time has arrived! If you lost your interest to see Yoga Swami, them you are in the perfect state to see him. We will go there tomorrow”.
After he spoke with me, I was firmly convinced for the first time of the real and profound goal of that so long waiting and preparation period. We decided to leave together to meet Yoga Swami the next morning at sun rise, as we considered it the right moment for such a meeting.
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