God’s Hidden Language

Dear John,

One of the most thrilling episodes in Paramhansa Yogananda’s Autobiography of a Yogi is when Sri Yukteswar, after his death, materializes in front of Yogananda. Yogananda writes, “For the first time in my life I did not kneel at his feet in greeting but instantly advanced to gather him hungrily in my arms.” Then a little later, “My mind was now in such perfect attunement with my guru’s that he was conveying his word-pictures to me partly by speech and partly by thought-transference. I was thus quickly receiving his idea-tabloids.”

We have the delusion that words, written or spoken, are the only means of communication. In fact, the vast majority of communication is nonverbal. Only a moment of reflection will suffice: If God has manifested as everything, then there is an underlying connectedness and communication between everything. This goes all the way down to the subatomic quantum energies.

I have been reading a fascinating book, The Man Who Listens to Horses, by Monty Roberts. Through careful observation of wild horses, he discovered their hidden language. Using the old, rather brutal, method of breaking a horse, it takes around two weeks to finally break its will sufficiently for it to carry a rider. By understanding the hidden language of horses, Monty is able to accomplish this in a half hour. And the horse, instead of fearing him, works enthusiastically in partnership with him. As proof of concept, not only has he “joined up”—as he calls it, rather than “breaking”—with thousands of horses, but he has also won innumerable championships in the equine world.

It is only the arrogance of ego that makes us think that we, with our human language, are unique in our ability to communicate. As our awareness continues to advance during Dwapara Yuga, increasingly we will see the interconnectedness between all things. Articles are appearing weekly that share the latest discoveries by scientists of the communications among plants, ants, animals, and atoms.

Language may allow more detailed communication, but it is vastly inferior to the type of exchange that Yogananda described. As a sidenote, Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, took many of his ideas from Autobiography of a Yogi. He said that the image of the transporter came from Sri Yukteswar’s dematerialization, and I suspect that the Vulcan mind meld came from the same chapter.

If we want to speak with Divine Mother, we need to learn Her hidden language. We should take our first hint from the title of a book that Yogananda called scripture—Whispers from Eternity. God speaks quietly, and only a quieted mind can hear the divine whispers. So we must strive for deep stillness in meditation. Secondly, feeling is more important than intellect when trying to receive God’s communications, so we must open our heart center through deep devotion in order to hear His whispered vibrations. Finally, the real communication happens not only behind the curtain of words, but also behind restlessness of thought. In deep inner stillness and devotion the innate intuitive perceptions of the soul will begin to be heard.

Let us take a lesson from Monty Roberts and learn a new language, not of horses, but of Spirit. When we do, Divine Mother will speak to us tenderly in the same way She did to Yogananda: “Always have I loved thee! Ever shall I love thee!”

In divine friendship,

Nayaswami Jyotish

Next week is our annual Spiritual Renewal Week at Ananda. We hope you will be able to join us.