The pilgrim must traverse and overstep the vast wastages of Kama (worldly desires), overcome the thick slushy growths of Krodha (anger) and hate and negotiate the cliffs of Dvesha (hatred and malice), so that he might relax on the green pastures of concord and Prema (love). Having thus become master of his inner foes, he has to rest in the silence of his own heart as a yogi, with all the agitations of his inner realm stilled. That is the meaning of the six-ringed pillar in the centre of the circle here; the six rings are the six Chakras (centres of energy) of yogic discipline in the central spinal Nadi (nerve current) of man.

Fixed in the undisturbed calm of his deepest consciousness, man finds that the lotus of the heart blooms into a thousand petals and then, a flame of awakening into the truth lights ‘Self as Prashanti’. That moment, the seeker knows that he and all else are one, that the One is Brahman. This progress that everyone has to make, today or tomorrow, in this life or in the next, is outlined as a clear picture in the symbol on the flag; so, when it flutters above ‘this Prasanthi Nilayam, resolve to hoist it on your heart too. Take the first step today, in this long pilgrimage. Give up, in order to gain; restrain, in order to receive; become blind (to external view), in order to see more clearly (the inner vision). (SSS Vol.5)

Life is a pilgrimage where man drags his feet along the rough and thorny road. With the Name of God on his lips, he will have no thirst; with the Form of God in his heart, he will feel no exhaustion, The company of the holy will inspire him to travel in hope and faith. The assurance that God is within call, that He is ever near, will lend strength to his limbs and courage to his eye.

Remember that with every step, you are nearing God, and God too, when you take one step towards Him, takes ten towards you. There is no stopping place in this pilgrimage; it is one continuous journey, through day and night, through valley and desert through tears and smiles, through death and birth, through tomb and womb. When the road ends and the Goal is gained, the pilgrim finds that he has travelled only from himself to himself, that the way was long and. lonesome, but, that the God whom he reached was all the while in him, around him, with him, and beside him! He himself was always Divine. His yearning to merge in God was but the sea calling to the Ocean! Man Loves, because He is Love! He craves for melody and harmony, because He is melody and harmony. He seeks joy, for He is joy. He thirsts for God for, he is composed of God, and he cannot exist without Him. (SSS Vol.7, p. 3)

Life is a pilgrimage to God; the holy spot is there, afar! The road lies before you; but unless you take the first step forward and follow that step with others, how can you reach it? Start with courage, faith, joy and steadiness. You are bound to succeed. The mind and the intellect are two bullocks tied to a cart, ‘the inner man.’ The bullocks are not used to the road of Satya, Dharma, Shanti and Prema and so they drag the cart along the road familiar to them, namely, falsehood, injustice, worry and hatred. You have to train them to take the better road so that they may not bring disaster to themselves, the cart they are yoked to and the men inside it.

‘Every one of you is a pilgrim on the spiritual road, proceeding at your own pace, according to your qualification and stage reached by its means. The advice that appeals or applies to one of you might not be appropriate to another who has travelled less distance or reached an advanced state. When I tell one person to follow on line of Sadhana, it is specially for his benefit; do not take it as a prescription for your own benefit also saying, ‘Swami told him thus; let me also adopt it’. No; each has a different make up: physical, mental and spiritual’. (Uniq, pp. 131-132)

Patience, tolerance, fortitude, equanimity, fraternity-these will prove invaluable equipment for the pilgrim. Do not distinguish between one fellow-pilgrim and another on the basis of caste, creed or colour, and do not divide them into friends or foes. Recognise only the common traits, the unifying efforts, the basic Divinity. Rich and poor, scholar and illiterate-these are distinctions that do not hold good for long, for they are but outer frills. A flower radiates fragrance and charm, whether held in the right hand or left. It does not limit that gift to some and deny it to others. Everyone who comes near is blessed. (SSE, p. 233)

‘Satya, Dharma, Shanti Premalato (Nee) Nitya Jivan Yatra Saginchu’

‘O man! Carry on the pilgrimage of your daily life with Truth, Righteousness, Peace and Love as your companions or guideposts’. (Uniq, p. 181)

Many devotees go on pilgrimages to Benares, Prayaag or other sacred places in the hope that thereby they will be absolved of their sins. Pilgrimages are not the means to wipe out sins. What is required is purification of the heart and the mind. If the mind is cleansed through sadhana (spiritual discipline), Divinity will reveal itself of its own accord. Saint Meera gave the same message when she sang a bhajan calling upon the mind to go to the Ganga and Yamuna. The Ganga and the Yamuna she had in mind are not the rivers in Northern India but the inhaling and exhaling breaths in each of us - the Ida and Pingala naadhees. The central spot between the brows is the Prayaag, the place where the Ganga and the Yamuna converge and by concentrating on this spot Krishna can be discovered. This spot is described by Meera as cool, pure and undisturbed. Inhaling and exhaling symbolise what one should take in and what one should reject and the holding of the breath (Kumbhaka) signifies what one should hold on to namely, Divinity. One should take in the pure things and reject the impure. (SSS Vol.16, pp. 125-126)