The Inner Consciousness: How to Awaken and Direct It

by Swami Prakashananda

There is another reason why we must try to go beyond the outer and enter into the inner consciousness, and that is this: There is always reaction in our life—that is, when we live in the external consciousness, there is always reaction. Suffering is caused by reaction. Our miseries, our pains, our complaints, our doubts, our troubles, our disillusionments, our despair, have always been caused by the outer consciousness. For instance, when we live in the midst of sense perceptions we want to possess certain objects which we have perceived, impressions of which have been gathered through the senses. First of all, the senses come in touch with external things. It may be a little food, a little form; it may be a little object; but it is there. That impression gets hold of us, and what do we want to do? We want to get that object; we want to possess it; we want to own it. When we cannot own it, there is suffering, there is heart-burning.

Suppose I love some object. I try my best to possess it. I cannot do it. Something stands in the way and takes it away from me—snatches it away. There is suffering. There is misery. In this way we are constantly becoming dependent on external things. These outer things, these external things, these objects of the senses get hold of us. They enter our lives and completely hold sway over us, and we are carried away by them. Then we are thrown back, as it were, into ourselves; because nature’s laws work relentlessly—and there are changes—there are separations.

You may say such ideas bring gloominess, pessimism into our lives. What difference does it make if we become a little gloomy, or if we become pessimistic? What has your optimism given us? What do the passing joys bring us? They bring us nothing but reaction. So-called optimism does not land us anywhere. It rather leads us into complex situations and conditions. Rather we should hail with joy that sort of pessimism, true pessimism, which brings us face to face with the truth, which enables us to see things in their true color. Yes, we must face things boldly. It is not simply by patchwork that we gain in life, it is only by bold search and uncompromising investigation. It is by going to the root and the bottom of things that we gain—truly gain—and accomplish something which is worth achieving. So we must not be afraid of analysing things in a deeper way. You see around you nature’s changes and separations. You love a person. That person dies, or is taken away to other lands. You are miserable and prostrated with grief. Again, you have possessed certain things and you lose them—you lose a fortune in a few days, or in a few weeks, or in a few months. You are overcome with sorrow. That is life, and that is what is meant by outer consciousness. It is not that you must not have possessions; it is not that you must not have good homes; it is not that you must not love others. But do it knowingly; do it not as a slave, but as a master; not as a dependent worm, but as the witness you should approach these things.

Many things there are which must be taken into our lives necessarily. Unhappily we delude ourselves; we forget ourselves; we lose our heads; we lose our judgment; and we are carried away by the currents of life, not knowing whither we are going. When we are caught up in the whirl of conditions, when we are lost in the labyrinthian maze of circumstances, then we wake up for a while. Again we forget. So that is the outer consciousness, which has separations everywhere. You cannot depend upon anything. As soon as you depend upon anything—lean on anything—it is taken away from you, and what is to be done? That is why we must try to search for something which is more internal, which is not so changeable, on whom, or on which you can depend to a greater extent, because everything is relative until we get to the Absolute. We must find something which is better, which is greater. And that is our search—that should be our search. So, while living a life of outer consciousness you will analyse and you will see how all your complex conditions regarding which you complain, all the entanglements which we notice in different lives, all the confusion and friction which we see at home or abroad, all the heart-burnings, disillusionment and suffering which we notice amongst individuals—all these can be traced to that outer consciousness, that slavery, that dependence upon the material things of life. That is why we have to open up our inner consciousness. That is why we want to know if there is anything beyond the veil of the senses. That is why we must know whether there is anything back of this changeable condition of the senses and this changeable condition of the body.

Now, you may ask the question, how do we know that there is such a thing as soul-energy, or that there are inner forces? How do we know? We know as we know everything in life. We have to follow the same methods. How do you know the different details of a machine? You study that machine. You follow three processes—that is, three steps you must take in everything. First of all, you get hold of a book, or you go to a person who knows about the machine and you ask him questions. You look over different descriptions of the details of the machine, then you think for yourself; you judge for yourself. You revolve all these details within your mind. You analyse, and gradually you begin to handle the machine yourself—practical experience you must acquire.

For instance, if you want to know about electricity, what do you do? You get hold of a book on the subject of electricity. Then you go to a professor and receive instruction. Then you go to the laboratory and handle different machines and study them.

Suppose you want to learn music, you follow the same process. And it is the same with this subject of the inner consciousness. First of all, you have to study; you must read books, or you must consult some persons who know. Would you believe blindly? Would you accept blindly that which they tell you? No. In no study must we accept anything blindly. Blind belief does not lead us anywhere. We must search thoroughly without any fear. Truth can stand all the tests of analysis, all the tests of observation. And if it is not truth, it can not stand the test. So always keep the reasoning faculty, or power of analysis sharpened, ready to observe, ready to understand, ready to reason out. At every point you must reason. And the more is this true with regard to the study of these inner things. Why? Because there are so many dangers and difficulties in studying these inner things. Many promising lives have been failures owing to a lack of proper understanding, owing to ignorance, owing to indiscriminate search or indiscriminate investigation. You cannot be too cautious—you cannot be too careful in studying these things.

These, then, are the steps you have to take. First, study and go to a person who has studied these things and who knows these things. In every book you will notice you are asked to go to a teacher. As you need a teacher in different fields of knowledge, so you need a teacher in this field too, and the more so because the objects which you are going to learn, the principles which you are going to master, are so subtle. Machines you can handle properly, because they are external things. You can grasp them. You can see them. But in studying this subject you have to study that which is very subtle, which is very fine. That is why you need more care. You need the help, you need the guidance of some one who is an expert teacher. And then you analyse yourself and reason—always reason. But do not bring that sort of skepticism into your life which is dangerous, which, as it were, clogs up all the channels of experience, which covers, or shuts up, all the avenues of knowledge, which makes one give up the search without proper study and investigation. Do not become skeptical in that way. Many have a tendency to become skeptical and give up the search. We have no honest right to demand any knowledge unless we have studied properly, or investigated closely. So open your mind, your heart, your soul to conviction. At the same time, do not take anything for granted, but be ready to learn. Always be receptive, always be responsive. Then we have to apply certain direct means; we have to follow certain practical methods in order to accomplish our purpose.

Now, of all the different methods which are handed down to us from the great sages and masters, one method is important, and that is concentration. Why is concentration upheld as a great method? Can we not awaken the inner consciousness by prayer, by worship, by devotion, by Divine love, and in many other ways? Certainly, we can. But in the path of concentration we can rise step by step—it is the most scientific method. Of course every path can be made scientific we may say, or every path can be followed step by step. True. But we can combine certain methods. Take, for instance, devotion. Devotion is a great thing. The love for an ideal, we need; it is important; in this country it is necessary. But if we allow ourselves to be carried away by heightened emotions, or by wrought-up feelings, we may develop fanaticism. There have been instances in which devotion, love, Divine love—when not combined with proper concentration, or proper analysis—have landed persons in the realm of emotionalism, or sentimentality, or fanaticism. They are led into the realm of bigotry and narrowness and carried away by these things. So try to balance devotion, with proper reasoning and it will be a great, helpful method. True prayer can open up our inner communion and help us to unfold. Pure self-analysis is another method. But concentration has been found to be very helpful for many, many people—for the majority of people—if it can be followed under the guidance of proper teachers and if it can be followed methodically. But some might say that there is danger in concentration. There is no danger in concentration. Consciously or unconsciously we apply it in every field of knowledge. Without concentration what can you do? As Emerson said, “The one prudence in life is concentration; the one evil is dissipation.” In war, in politics, in business, in trade, in the management of all commercial and social affairs, concentration is the secret of success.

And what is meant by concentration? Concentration includes two things. One is gathering up scattered energies; another is focussing these scattered energies of mind.