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Two: Aspects of the Path 65
once. And yet he remained alive! A God-realized person can, if
he or she so wishes, remain without food, water, or even breathing,
for years together, but there is no wonder about it, as the
God-Realized One possesses infinite powers.
But in the above example the noteworthy point is that at
the time of remaining without food or water for one year, Shri
Upasni Maharaj was not God-Realized. It was simply owing to
the intensity of his divine longing that Shri Maharaj was able to
forget the consciousness and needs of his corporeal frame.
The question may be asked as to what a man, who is completely
renounced and retired into solitude, should do to secure
the bare necessities of life, i.e., food, when he feels a great pinch
of hunger. He must go a-begging for food, and for this purpose,
may mix slightly with others temporarily. But he must be prepared
to partake of and be satisfied with any kind of food,
whether it is agreeable or disagreeable, and sufficient or insufficient.
And no sooner is his most acute need supplied, than he
should go back and remain in solitude all by himself, with the
thought of God.
It should not be implied from the above that begging, as
practiced by a large number of so-called Sadhus and other professional
beggars, who are a curse to society and a disgrace to
spirituality, is here advocated or condoned. On the contrary, it is
a fact that the first and foremost law of spirituality and Godfinding
is to give, from the start to the finish. And the true
renouncer, the great hero who has given up all desires – the root
cause of beggary – when he begs for and takes food and bare
necessities from a man of the world, he gives that man an opportunity
to serve and share in the great and noble search for God.