HOW TO TAP THE KNOWLEDGE THAT IS WITHIN OURSELVES?
Many people maintain that seeking spiritual knowledge by going to a particular place is the way to find it. But if we do analyse the problem of going somewhere, we will see that going anywhere is not necessary at all. The place that we have to go is within ourselves because all knowledge and all wisdom are within ourselves. The problem would remain how to tap the knowledge that is within ourselves.
Man is born essentially Divine. The Divinity is there in him. It is his inherent right, and it is just because of man’s mind that he cannot fathom the depths that are within himself. Man’s mind is such a cunning little animal that it stops the quest, and yet it is through the mind that one could really find.
We do know that the mind is finite, and yet that which we are trying to find is infinite. So, what can we do? How can we use the finite mind to find the infinite? Going to America, India, Spain, or Japan is not necessary when we are here in Guildford. Sitting in Guildford, we can find that Divinity is within us. Our organisation proposes a method for diving within oneself, and that method, as you would know, is through meditation.
Through meditation, we go beyond the limitations of the body and the mind
Meditation is a scientific method whereby we transcend the mind and experience that which is within. The Bible tells us very beautifully that “The Kingdom of Heaven is within.” So, it is not necessary to go anywhere. We just go within ourselves. Through the scientific method of meditation, we go beyond the limitations of the body and the mind. The conscious mind cannot fully appreciate that which is so infinite. We do know that human beings use only ten percent of their minds. Yet, there is ninety percent of the mind that lies dormant, and how do we activate that portion of the mind which is dormant, and yet in the activation of the dormant mind, we will still not be able to find the true Self that is us.
So, what to do? The method would be to go beyond all the completeness of the mind through a scientific process, and that which is left after traversing the whole mind, the hundred percent mind, will be the spiritual quality that is resident within us. The extent of the mind is the extent of the entire universe. So, sitting here and now, we can traverse the whole universe, because if you study science, you will know that the entire universe is contained within a single atom. Within the structure of a single atom lies the structure of the whole universe.
This knowledge is not anything new. If we study the structure of the universe, we will find that it is nothing but a set of vibrations, and vibrations can exist on various levels. Vibrations can exist on a subtle level as well as on a much grosser level. When they exist on a grosser level, in a congealed, compacted state, they become perceptible to the five senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. But that would be limited; the mind can experience the subtlest level of itself. If we should use an analogy of vapour, the same water vapour, which is very subtle, can become water which is grosser, and the same water can be solidified into ice, which is still grosser. All existence is nothing but vibrations, and these vibrations exist in different forms from the subtlest level to the grosser form. If we take the human body, or this table, or this hall, these walls, they are congealed, compacted vibrations on a grosser level. So, we start from the grosser level of things through scientific meditational processes, go to the subtle, then to the more subtle, and finally to the subtlest level of the mind, and then we go beyond that, which is known as the mind.
THE PURPOSE OF MEDITATION IS TO UNCOVER THE REALITY THAT IS WITHIN US
In this journey, we cover the entire range of the universe, and this is the purpose of meditation. The purpose of meditation is to go within ourselves internally. By going to other places, other locations according to geography, we are achieving nothing. By going to India, you might want to go for a holiday, and that is about all. They do maintain that at certain places the vibrations are more conducive to the spiritual quest. That might be so, but the conduciveness of the atmosphere does not necessarily change the grossness within us. The grossness within us has to be tackled here and now, and shifting this body or this mind to another geographical area will not help.
It is true that by association with the holy people, by association with that which is very good, could help us, but this is still very, very elementary. It is elementary because the study of various Scriptures and various books is still on a mental level. They are still on the level of the mind. Therefore, that which is still on the level of the mind is not the truth nor the reality that is within us. We have said before that the nature of the mind, although its extent is as large as the universe, is still not enough.
THE PURPOSE OF BEING IN TOUCH WTH DIVINITY IS TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF OUR LIVES
So, to unfathom the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven that lies within, there are various Yogic practices, scientific principles, and scientific methods following and practising, which we can use to unlock the doors that lead us to that Divinity. These practices are years old. Do not think that this knowledge is Eastern. Do not think that it is Western; it is universal knowledge, and geographical barriers are only made by man. We live on one planet as a planet, and the inhabitants of a planet; we can go further and say we are inhabitants of a solar system, and, further still, we are inhabitants of a universe. Man can hold the universe in the palm of his hand. He can experience every level to which the mind is capable, but that is still not enough; he has to go beyond it.
The purpose of being in touch with that Divinity, of drawing from that infinite reservoir, is to be able to improve the quality of our lives, the physical and the psychological qualities of our lives. If we discuss philosophy for the sake of philosophy, then it would just be nothing but mental gymnastics. The aim of any search, or into the beyond, would be the process, and the purpose would be how to interpret, how to translate that Divinity that is within us into daily practical life. Then, is philosophy worth something? As we said, it remains mental gymnastics, and anything that is theory only remains a theory. It has to be practical. So that is the purpose of meditation, whereby we go to the fount, the reservoir of these spiritual energies, and we bring them through the level of the mind to the level of the body, whereby our lives become more harmonious.
Through meditational practices, THE MENTAL AND THE SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF OURSELVES
The problems we face in daily life are due to one factor alone: an imbalance. Every human being has three aspects: the physical, the mental, and the spiritual, and it is the imbalance among these three that causes all the miseries we have. Man does not need to suffer. If we proceed from a Divine source whose nature is joy, then that which is created by pleasure should be joyful too. But because of the imbalances created by man, designed by our minds, we find our lives and the environment around us to be topsy-turvy.
Through meditational practices, we harmonise these three aspects within ourselves, and by creating this harmony within ourselves, we create a harmony around ourselves. The nature of a flower is to become beautiful. The flower becomes gorgeous because it has the inherent right to grow beautifully. But it does something else also. As the flower is lovely, its growth also enhances the beauty of the garden. So, by cultivating harmony within ourselves through meditative practices, we also create harmony in our environment. Society at large cannot be made a better society if the individual unit is neglected.
So, we start with ourselves, bettering ourselves so that society at large can also be bettered. Creating this harmony within ourselves creates stability, and any action performed from a stable foundation will always be dynamic. That action will always be vital, filled with vitality, and with this vitality, with this skill in action, with proper action, which is helped by our meditations, we find life becoming smoother and smoother.
WE NEED TO GO NOWHERE BUT WITHIN OURSELVES
If we go to India to find philosophical answers, we will discover specific answers that could be quite plausible to us. Still, those techniques could be found in India, they could be found in South America, they could be found anywhere because the secret, the keys to open the doors within us, are everywhere. No country or no nation has the right to say we possess the secrets. Perhaps certain countries have rediscovered certain facets, certain harmonising secrets of life. Still, we know that even before Newton discovered the law of gravity, gravity existed, and if it existed, it existed on a universal level.
So, we need to go nowhere; it will not really help us. But if we have a temperament and feel that going somewhere will help us, by all means, nothing will stop us, and a change of climate, a change of air, might be pretty healthy. So, we start here, and now within ourselves, and by delving deeply within ourselves, through the methods taught by our organisation, within a very short period of time, within a few weeks, we will find greater harmony within ourselves. And that harmony that is produced in ourselves has an active effect upon the vibrations within us and the vibrations within the atmosphere and in our environment. So, life becomes better. Life becomes smoother and more joyful. If our goal is to attain that joy, the path to joyfulness should also be joyous, and that is our aim.
OUR MESSAGE IS NOT NEW, BUT PRESENTED IN A WAY TO SUIT MODERN TIMES
The message we teach is not new. This knowledge has always been there. Two thousand years ago, it was preached in a different form. It said, “Have faith, believe, and thou shalt be saved.” That is very true. It was taught to a particular kind of people at a specific time. Today, times have changed, people’s minds have changed. We live in a technological age in which the mind is drawn more to science, and we can interpret the same old teachings from thousands of years ago on a scientific basis. Science has proven that the composition of the human being and the entire universe is just vibration. And through various techniques, we can manipulate those vibrations to reach finer and finer levels within ourselves, and even go beyond the sum totality of those vibrations.
So, this is a message that is not new, but presented in a way that suits modern times. Those thousands of years ago, when people were told, “Have Faith,” they would have faith. If you tell someone today to have faith in something, their minds will not readily accept it. They want a particular form of scientific method to have that faith. Yet faith alone is not enough. First, we start with belief, belief develops into faith, and faith develops into knowingness, where we know that which is within us.
To use an analogy, if we sit in an air-conditioned room, we believe that fire is hot. We leave the room and go to the next room, where a fire is burning. As we get closer to the fire, we feel the heat, and we have faith that the fire is hot. So, from belief, we develop into faith, and when we get into the fire, we know the fire is hot.
WE CAN LIVE THE ABSOLUTE IN THE RELATIVE FIELD OF LIFE
So, the purpose of life is to know. The mind cannot intellectually define or explain what the infinite is. But the infinite can be experienced experientially, knowingly. With a sense of knowingness, we can know what the infinite is; we can live the absolute in the relative field of life. If you go to a theatre to see a play, you will find spotlights on either side of the hall. The spotlights would shine on two sides of the stage, but as they draw closer and one is superimposed upon the other, how bright that light is. That means that man can infuse the absolute into relative life and thereby enjoy the maximum value of relativity.
IN THE SILENCE THAT LIES WITHIN LIES ALL THE GREATEST GLORY
Some teachers would say renounce the world, renounce this, deny that, but that is not renunciation. It is not necessary to escape modern society to live in the caves of the Himalayas in India to find truth. Truth can be found here and now in practical living, and the method is so simple that we dive deep within ourselves to that reservoir of Divine infinite energy, gradually bring it out through these practices, experience its power, and use it daily in our lives. It can be used in our work, workaday life, family life, social life, and environment. There are many beauties attached to this Divine energy if it is brought into daily living. The first thing it does is it opens our hearts. Opening the heart means opening the core of the human personality, and by doing that, we become loving people.
A young lady came to me not so long ago and said, “Nobody loves me.” I said, “Yes, what are you doing about it?” So, we put her on a specific meditational technique which opened her heart, and she became very loving. When a person becomes loving, they automatically become lovable. It is a natural process. So, not only through logic, not only scientific methods that convince the mind, but also through spiritual practices which open the heart, we experience with the heart and appreciate with the mind all the beautiful things that are coming to us. By this process, all the tensions that are there in the mind are eradicated. The tensions disappear, and when a person can exist on that calm level, he can experience only that silence within. Then only can he experience that silence and, in that silence, lies all the greatest glory. It is something indefinable but experienceable by the mind. It can be experienced on the heart level, and then the mind comes along, appreciates, and says, “Yes, there is something there.” So, the quality of life improves, and that is the duty of life to make ourselves better and better people. We do not need to make ourselves better people for others, but we can make ourselves better people for ourselves, so that this very life, this material life, this relative life too can be more and more joyous. So, instead of going to India, we go within ourselves.
EVERY HUMAN BEING IS UNIQUE, AND THEREFORE TECHNIQUES SHOULD BE PERSONALLY PRESCRIBED
All the spiritual meditation techniques we teach are very, very simple and anyone can practise them. These techniques are based entirely upon a person’s vibration. A true guru can enter meditation and, by meditating on a person, feel the person’s vibration and assess the person’s spiritual status and the degree of imbalance between mind, body, and spirit. And by evaluating the degree of imbalance between mind, body, and spirit, he prescribes a specific technique to correct it. It is not a generalised technique; it is a particular technique, because through any form of generalisation, it will not help all. There might be other Societies and other teachers of specific techniques who are doing things on a large scale. But I personally believe that every human being is unique. Every human being is unique. Even identical twins are not alike; they are different in characteristics. Therefore, any technique that is to be given is entirely personal, made for the person.
If we write to a pharmaceutical firm and get a list of all their products, all the medicines they manufacture, any child can memorise the names of all those drugs, Penicillin, Oramyson, Streptomycin, whichever. Still, it is only the doctor who will know which medicine to give to whom and for what purpose. Because the imbalances in a person’s life are not necessarily the same. Take the example of a common headache. A common headache is a symptom, but it could be caused by many different things. The outward symptom of that headache would have many causes. Therefore, only the doctor would know what to prescribe to help that person. Likewise, in the spiritual field, likewise in the field of general living, where there are specific imbalances, and believe you me that ninety-nine point nine, nine, nine, nine, nine percent of people are not balanced people. Complete balance only occurs when a person becomes self-realised, and self-realised people can be counted on the fingers of one hand. So, the job of a genuine guru is to assess and evaluate what the person needs, and accordingly, a specific practice is given; there are thousands and thousands of practices.
IT IS THE QUEST OF EVERY HUMAN BEING TO FIND HAPPINESS
We do not cater to curiosity mongers, only to earnest seekers. So, these things are done personally, and if I tell you of a specific technique, it might seem attractive to some people who say, “Ah, this is very beautiful,” and they might start practising it, which might cause them harm. So, these things are usually done privately, whereby a person is assessed on their vibration. The imbalance is pointed out specifically, and I say, “This or these are the problem areas, and this is to be done for those problem areas.” And with hundreds of meditators throughout the world, we have found that within a few weeks their lives have become better, smoother, and happier, and that is what we want: happiness.
Consciously or unconsciously, it is the quest of every human being to find that happiness. They want to see it because there is a compulsion, a compelling force that urges them on to find that joy, and the compulsion is there because our essential nature is bliss. We emanate, or we are manifested from bliss, and we want to reach the state of bliss again. Therefore, it is a very, very natural desire for a person to seek that happiness.
… Gururaj Ananda Yogi: Satsang UK 1976 – 03
