A Language Beyond Words

Paramhansa Yogananda stated that we live in an Age of Energy, Dwapara Yuga. Matter itself has been shown to be energy. This truth can be applied even to communication.

We communicate not only with words, but also with the feeling and energy behind them. The Dwapara awareness of energy can help us communicate better, as words have grammatical constraints, while feeling has the fluidity of energy.

Intuition comes from calm feeling and thus opens the doors of true wisdom. Many saints have been practically illiterate in the ways of formal knowledge, but their feeling of divine love reveals all the knowledge of the Universe. We also see that when we are calm and centred, we don’t need to say a lot to get a message across — while during restlessness times, many words fail to convey our intentions.

I had a glimpse of this truth in an unusual way. When I was a student, I was going to my college a little earlier than usual to finish some work. Given the earliness of my arrival most of the building was empty and unusually peaceful.

As I was walking through the deserted corridors I heard a silence-shattering “Meow” and saw an innocent looking cat roaming the corridors periodically meowing. Somehow I felt that the cat was looking for something. I followed the cat and it stopped at a window of one of the labs and looked towards me with hope. I was no expert in the language of “Meows,” yet in that peaceful environment I felt like opening the window to the lab, as the doors were locked.

The cat immediately leaped through the window into the lab and pulled a kitten from under a cupboard! The relief at seeing her kitten was obvious as she sat affectionately licking her child. Even though I couldn’t understand anything in the “Meows,” the deep feeling of love of the mother for her child conveyed everything that was needed.

 
Love is one of the aspects of God and also a portal to experiencing God. The way to approach it is from the heart centre. Paramhansa Yogananda said once to a disciple, “When I’m gone, only love can take my place”.

Loving God is one of the fastest routes to freedom. When one loves a person or a thing, they do not let it out of their sight. A human lover will keep thinking of his beloved even when they are not together. Similarly, the devotee’s feeling of love for God breaks all barriers to their eventual union.

Here are some ways to develop this feeling:

• Paramhansa Yogananda said that “Chanting is half the battle” because it awakens the heart’s feelings and helps focus our mind on the divine. Each one of his Cosmic Chants will help you focus on a different aspect of feeling.
• One of the practices that helps me is to consciously feel my centre and energy in the heart and relate to the world from that centre. (The energy can flow either up towards God or down into worldliness from the heart so one must be careful!)
• Meditation helps increase our awareness of feeling, which is already present. When you are meditating it can help to have your awareness at the heart centre, while keeping the eyes uplifted. This especially helps those whose nature is more intellectual.
• Serving others helps break open the defenses we create around our hearts, and to see the divine in all. Each day, try to perform some act of giving kindness or happiness to others. Even the gift of a smile helps!
• Listen to and sing Swami Kriyananda’s divine music. Here is an example of one beautiful song by him: The Divine Mother.

The language of the heart is how we commune with the Divine. It also helps us understand the various “Meows” that we come across in life :).