Padas] General Introduction comes to regard resignation to God as the highest consummation to be attained by man. CHAPTER IV In the last chapter, we have taken a panoramic view of the different ideas held by the Hindi saints about the nature of God, and the prayers which they have offered to him. In the present chapter, we shall proceed to a description of the actual path of their pilgrimage, as well as the conditions which are necessary for taking them to their desired goal. In the first place, the aspirants must feel the necessity of a Spiritual Teacher who will guide them through the moral and physical turmoils of life. In that matter, we shall consider the characteristics, both moral and spiritual, which are necessary for the Spiritual Teacher. In this respect, the description given by Kabir in regard to these qualities of the Spiritual Teacher can never be excelled. We shall then proceed to discuss the means by which the meditation on God is to be accomplished, namely, the Name of God, as also the relation which Tulsidas tries to establish between the Name and the Form of God. After this comes the methodology of meditation which is described here in five stages. One of the chief contributions which Kabir makes to the process of meditation is what he calls internal meditation. After this, comes the requirement of intensive concentration, which is the very life-blood of the meditational process. After concentration, we come across three other requirements, namely, those that have been mentioned by Patanjali as चिरकाल, नैरन्तर्य and
