Meditation can help this inner flow, and the stream grows stronger. When we open our hearts in reverence in a sacred or holy place we experience something over and above our usual state of mind, and this experience is an intimation of what we are capable of. Thus we can learn to experience life itself, to experience all beings and all Nature as holy and worthy of reverence. We can grow in understanding of the happiness and sorrows of people around us, and of the power and beauty of Nature, music and art.

Attention is a key word in making the inner streams stronger. When we observe without judgement the movements of our own psychological nature, as we become conscious of them, we dissolve some of the obstacles that interfere with the flow of the streams.

The great sages are those whose once small streams have developed into mighty rivers, even oceans. While the regenerative quality of the water of pure love, wisdom and power in our small streams may be the same as in their rivers and oceans, the degree of incorporation into our lives and consciousness is different, and the consequent flowing out to others is also different in degree. But let us remember that the regenerative quality of the water is the same.

Let us take a simple example. It is very common to think according to linear logic that this is 'good' and that is 'bad'. But nobody is completely good or bad; it is a question of proportion. Such linear thinking can place us in difficult situations because we do not understand fully, nor perceive really, what is happening, and without this clear and true understanding we cannot find the best way to help. Sometimes, in difficult situations, someone is very calm, thinking quietly-and eventually suggests good ways of helping. We wonder, what is the secret? Perhaps they have developed this deeper sensitivity to the reality of people and situations around them.

Another example is found in the film 'Amadeus', in which one scene serves as an indication of this greater sensitivity. Mozart's mother-in-law is scolding him about something or other, shaking her finger at him, but rather than reacting negatively to this, Mozart's sensitivity enables him to incorporate this energy, this real human situation, this 'little drama of life', into the harmonious whole of one of his operas, thereby raising the energy to a higher level. He had discovered something of the secrets of the human heart!

During the Centenary Convention in 1975, a friend meditated in a quiet and holy place here at Adyar, and perhaps for the first time realized that there was a higher level from which to see, to understand and react to the world around him. It is possible for all of us to see the world around us from a deeper, wider level of consciousness, and know more of the secrets of the human heart.

India is the land where the great sages taught the world about the four states of consciousness. The highest of these states is the fountain from which human spiritual regeneration flows. For example, Nâgârjuna taught the world a higher level of logic above normal linear thinking, an understanding of ambiguities and paradoxes, in the affirmation that emptiness is fullness. So, through these understandings it was possible to merge with the fountain of the spiritual regeneration of humanity.

We are in a place where many of the flowers of humanity, our Elder Brothers, the Masters of Wisdom and Compassion, have their home. So, let us discover deeper approaches to life. Let us try.

E.E. Cummings