THE GOOD AND GODLY LIFE The word brahmacharya is normally interpreted in English as celibacy. That is not the correct translation of brahmacharya. “Brahma” means good and godly, and “achar,” from which the word “achary” comes, means to live a goodly and godly life. In other words, to moderate our lives so that it is in accordance with nature or Brahma. That is what the word brahmacharya means, and not abstinence from sex. You would find that ninety-nine point nine, nine, nine, nine, nine, nine percent of the world’s population are householders, homemakers, and they have wives and children, and they are living in a world that requires practical living. A very small percentage, a very small fraction, has a natural inclination towards total abstinence. Total abstinence is a form of asceticism. In other words, it is a very, very small percentage of the people in the world that could be true ascetics. Then you have another small percentage that has an outward facade of asceticism. Meanwhile, what they are doing is escaping the responsibilities of the world. They go and sit in the Himalayas, or somewhere in the Alps, perhaps, and they say they become recluses. They seclude themselves from the world and build a wall around them to avoid the responsibilities of the world. What we are interested in is not that fraction of a percent of people—referring, of course, to true ascetics. But we are dealing with the ninety-nine point nine, nine, nine percent of the world’s population that are householders. For a householder, the concept of celibacy must be interpreted in an entirely different way. The concept of celibacy is not necessarily total abstinence, but it could mean a form of control. THE WAY OF A HOUSEHOLDER I will give you an example which I have quoted before. A couple came to see me in our centre in Cape Town, South Africa, and they had met some visiting swami. This visiting swami said that if you want to reach enlightenment, you must become celibates. This couple had been married for about ten, twelve years, but they had that yearning to reach enlightenment and develop a higher state of consciousness. So, this swami explained to them that, “You must conserve, reserve, the energies, and by doing that you will reach enlightenment. You, husband and wife, must start practising total abstinence from this very moment.” They took his word, and they started practising celibacy. They did not necessarily understand it. A few weeks went by and things were not bad. A few months went by, and things became worse. Each was at loggerheads with each other. They were irritable to each other, and not a single day passed when there were no quarrels. They started exhibiting various kinds of ailments because here was something that never came to them naturally. Something that they enforced upon themselves. We know, and all the laws of psychology will tell you, that when you enforce something upon yourself, you can create many repressions and a lot if inhibitions which could translate itself into various forms of psychosomatic diseases, which can become organic diseases as well. Then, of course, with the inhibitions and repressions, a lot of mental imbalance could take place. So, I spoke to this couple, and I went through their history and the advice I gave them, “Go to bed tonight!” The secretary fixed an appointment with them to come and see me three weeks later. They came, and they were back to their original selves: happy, beautiful, and ever so much loving. That is the way of a householder. THE SEXUAL URGE IN MAN Energy causes every instinct that man has, and we all know that the sexual energy in man, the sex urge, is the most potent urge in man, and it must be given its rightful expression without excesses and within all normality, and within all the precepts of morality and ethics and there is nothing wrong with it. Husband and wife indulging in their natural instincts and venting to their biological urges do not stop them from spiritual progress. That is the point to be taken – it does not stop them from spiritual progress because man is forever evolving. Since the beginning of creation, or rather, since the beginning of this cycle of creation, since the Big Bang explosion where millions of subatomic particles were sent forth, we are caught up in this process which we usually term evolution. In this evolutionary process, properly living a householder’s life is necessary. ACHIEVING SELF-REALISATION There are many ways to achieve self-realisation. Self-realisation is synonymous with self-integration, self-integration is synonymous with God-realisation, and God-realisation is synonymous with enlightenment or achieved the highest consciousness state. The living of a householder’s life can also lead one to enlightenment. The purpose for which we want to reach enlightenment is that consciously or unconsciously, every person is seeking happiness. Happiness, as we understand it is only a grosser expression of the inherent joy or bliss that is within us. That joy and bliss that is within us, the “Kingdom of Heaven which is within,” is forever wanting to express itself. As with everything else, if you observe around you the workings of nature, everything is forever trying to express itself. The seed attempts to express itself in the form of a flower. The flower attempts to express itself in the form of the fragrance it sends forth. Like that, in every way, this essence is the Divine power that is forever wanting to express itself. UNFOLD THE LIGHT WITHIN What happens to man is that he has conditioned his mind through various experiences of this lifetime and perhaps previous lifetimes. He has conditioned or patterned his mind so that he has created blocks to the expression of his real inner Self. As he removes the blocks, as he removes the veils, more and more can the Divinity be expressed. You do not need to consciously express the Divinity and say, “Ah,
Divine Reflection: The Guru, the Chela, and the Light of Transformation
Attitude, Avatara, Bible, Chela, Conscious Mind, Darshan, Devotion, Divine, Divinity, Effort, Enlightenment, Evolution, Force, God, Guru, Gurushakti, Harmony, Heart, Incarnation, Integration, Joy, Love, Meditation, Mind, Non-Attachment, Oneness, Path, Peace, Philosophy, Relationships, Self-Realization, Spiritual Force, Spiritual Practices, Spiritual Teacher, Superconscious, Universal, Universe
A TRUE GURU A person does not realise he is a Guru. But all his actions are such that they become those of a teacher. It is not something that someone switches on or off, that “Oh, now I have passed my final medical exam and now I am doctor, or I have passed my final law exam, and now I am a lawyer.” It does not work that way. It is a build-up over ages and ages and ages, where the soul goes through various transformations on the path of evolution. I am not talking of myself; specifically, I am speaking of a guru; let that be remembered because there are gurus and gurus and Gurus. Some Gurus are born to do a certain kind of work, and there are Gurus that, through the progress of ages, through the evolutionary progress, eventually becomes teachers. In many countries, we have a false saying, and that saying is this, “I had a calling”. It is false. A person might have a glimpse of something, like many of you in your practices, you have glimpses of this or that or the other which are not necessary, but that they regard to be a calling and yet they are so unfit to teach the word of God. The person best qualified to teach the word of God is he who knows the word, and by knowing the word, he knows God. A true teacher does not rely on books. He might use them, in the beginning, to stimulate his intellect through reading various philosophies and things, but in the end, that is of very little help to him. His greatest help and source of inspiration is the practical experiences he has gained. For the true Guru has a direct link from his conscious mind to that Superconscious level, to that Universal level, the storehouse of all knowledge. He develops this by spiritual practices and by his very evolutionary status, where he at any time and at will can draw upon this vast computer, and he presses a button. Everything he needs to know is there. A true Guru, a Spiritual Teacher, will not tune his mind to ordinary, mundane things because he realises that these are all transitory. The present form of existence is but a dream-like existence, that is real within its dimension, but beyond the dimension of this present so-called existence, beyond that dimension and into another dimension, this is all but a dream. His mind is always filled, absorbed in Divinity. The mind and heart of a true Guru is always absorbed in that which we call Divine, and because of that absorption, everything he sees around him assumes the form of Divinity. Suppose he feels himself one with Divinity and everything he sees around him is Divine. In that case, a total identification occurs that you are totally identified with the object of your sight. In this identification, the subject and the object become one. That is why you feel so strongly about the power of Gurushakti. That is the secret behind it. The Guru can identify himself totally with his chela, and that is not a physical identification. That identification is on a different dimension, on a subtler level. DARSHAN – GURUSHAKTI Reading your progress forms, I see that practically all of you experience this, where you, as you say in your progress forms, you could see or feel the presence of that. This proves that in that other dimension, there is no space and no time. It is all there, all here and now. But it is always beneficial to be in the presence of one’s Guru, in the physical. There is a word in Sanskrit, called Darshan, which means “to see” but its symbolic meaning is “to be in the presence of,” because the man of God, the man that is absorbed in God, emanates a certain force, a spiritual force that would have some effect upon you. Therefore, all meditators normally, when they write to me or on the forms, say, that “I was on a Nottingham Course and I came to different realisations, and different understandings and so many things have changed.” That is why the officials in our organisation always insist or try their best to tell people to attend courses. Those four or five days could be very, very valuable and could even be the turning point in one’s life. Remember one thing very clearly; it is not I that does anything; it is the Divine force that does it all. MAN REQUIRES A MAN TO IMPART THE IMPULSE When does the Guru realise that he is a Guru? No realisation dawns all of a sudden. It is a gradual build-up from childhood; although he is unfolded, even the true Guru, even an Avatara, an Incarnation has to unfold. For an average person, an ordinary person, going through all the various stages of evolution, it would take millions of years to reach the stage of man, while the Avatara, the Incarnation coming through this vastness of the universe, from the formlessness into a formed being, would do it in a split of a second because there is no time in that dimension. Yet, he has to go through all that process. When this full force descends on earth, that Incarnation still has to go through the mineral kingdom and the plant kingdom and the animal kingdom and then to man. I have said before that in the stage of man, one requires a man to impart the impulse. This impulse is greatly imparted on courses, and that is Darshan. The Guru keeps on developing and unfolding himself until he comes to some form of realisation. This realisation is not something that happens overnight. He comes through the realisation that all this transitoriness of life, of what use is it, let us try and find the permanency of life for life is permanent. CHANGE MUST TAKE PLACE GRADUALLY The self-realised man or
Living Without Fear: Understanding Death and the Immortal Spirit
AFTER DEATH When it comes to birth, the soul enters the mother’s womb at the time of conception. When a soul finds the proper genetic combination, it is carried through the sperms. The totally of mind is as vast as the universe. I have said that out of these 12 billion cells, the conscious mind is only using one-millionth part of 12 billion cells. How big is it? The thoughts that pass through your mind, how much space does it require? None. It requires no space at all. After death, you go into the realm of spacelessness, timelessness. It is only when you are ready to be reborn, and it is only when conception takes place that you recognise space and time. As the child grows, you start recognising space and time. Until then, you are still in spacelessness and timelessness as far as your ego self or mental self is concerned. There is two kinds of people that take a very long time to be reborn: a very, very bad person, like Hitler, he takes a long time to be reborn because there are not so many wicked people on earth and it takes a saint a long time to be reborn because how many saints are there through whom he can take birth? Therefore, we say of a holy man that blessed be his mother “to have given birth” to such a saint, to such a holy man. WHATEVER WE FEAR, WE WILL FIND There are no other planes of existences. You enter a phase of spacelessness and timelessness, and whatever we fear, that is what you are sure to find, because fear has a stronger quality to it than any of the other emotions. Fear of the unknown is the basis of all other fears. Man fears death because he has died many times before in unconsciousness. Man fears death because of his total attachment to worldly things. One should be non-attached. That does not mean that you should not live well or possess something that you need – it does not mean that but you are not to be attached. After death, what direction do we take? There is no direction because in the other plane of existence, there are no directions. The only direction you could think of is coming back to the three-dimensional world that we know. It is not necessary to come back to this planet. There are thousands of worlds very similar to ours, and if you have to be reborn, you might be reborn on another planet which would be conducive to your evolution. This other story of going on the other side and your aunties and uncles come to meet you, what truth is in there. None! You create them through your thought that you will meet Auntie Mathilda there and Uncle John. You would see or meet them because of your deep desire and attachment to meet them. Even that Auntie Mathilda might be reborn again, and yet by your thought force you will create her there and meet her there. THE LAWS OF NATURE HAVE EXISTED ALL THE TIME The mind manufactures everything, and therefore we say the entirety of creation is a superimposition upon the creator. All this manifestation is a superimposition upon the Manifestor. There is no God that creates, as I have said before. Creation is an ongoing, ever-expanding process all the time. It functions by itself with the laws that creation has formulated by itself. Like water runs down a hill and not up a hill. Who created that? It is something that is. It is something that has to happen, that water runs downhill. You throw a stone, and the stone comes down. Instead of flying up, it is pulled or pushed down by the laws of gravity. These various laws that we talk of today have been existing all the time without man even knowing it. There has always been a law of gravity even before Newton discovered it because the apple had to fall, and the apple has been falling for millions and millions and millions of years, while Newton just existed a few hundred years ago. Similarly, other laws within nature are operating. There are subtler laws, and when the mind becomes more and more refined through our spiritual practices, we understand those subtler laws to the extent that we can die consciously. We can be aware of bliss. People always say that such and such had a terrible death or suffered so much. That is not true. Because before death sets in, you become unconscious, and then in the other plane of existence, you become conscious again. There the mind functions on its own without being embodied, and that is why in the dream state your mind is functioning. Your subconscious mind is forever turning, churning, and learning. Then why not more so in a subtler plane. DO NOT FEAR DEATH At the moment of death, your entire life right from the time you were born flashes before your eyes—every detail in a moment. You might be 70, 80 years old, but those 80 years pass in complete detail in a moment in front of your eyes, and that goes to prove that you are entering a plane where time does not exist. We need not fear death or have nervous breakdowns about that fear. Like as the story goes, there are two things you can do about a nervous breakdown. You can go to the country for a long holiday or rest or find a job on Wall Street where you will not be noticed. We have such a recession here in America but some companies are still doing well. Those companies are like tea bags. They only realise what is happening when they are put in hot water.The thing which people fear the most, that which we call death is something that is not to be feared at all. For in reality, there is no death
The Master’s Guidance: Infusing the Absolute into the Relative
THE ABSOLUTE IS NOT APART FROM THE RELATIVE The full extent of the mind is as vast as the entire universe. When man can reach the deepest, fullest level of his mind, he could have the cognition of the entire universe. But that is not enough. That is not enough because the whole extent of the universe is still relative. We still have to reach the Absolute, and there lies the changeless quality of life. Because of the techniques given, in meditation, we go from the grossest level of the conscious mind to the subtlest level of the mind, and from there, we transcend it. And this is a possibility for every one of us. When we reach that stage and become established in the unchanging reality, this whole universe becomes an illusion. But until we reach that stage, this universe is real. In other words, it means that within relative values, there is reality to this existence. But from the absolute point of view, relativity becomes non-existent. But even after reaching the absolute, we still have to live this life and live it as real. How do we do that? By continually diving within ourselves and drawing from that absolute force, we draw from that storehouse. We draw from that storehouse of divine energy and infuse that divine energy into daily living. So here we have seen that the Absolute is not apart from the relative. The infinite energy is not apart from the transitory energy. So here, a happy union takes place. What do we gain by that? First, we gain the joy of living and life, for no man is born on this earth to suffer. All the sufferings in the world are because of misunderstanding and misconception, and we have the instruments in our hands to dive deep within and find the Kingdom of Heaven which resides within us. THE GURU IS A GUIDE The Bible says, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven within, and all else shall be added unto thee.” But the mistake we make is that we want all else first and then the kingdom. That is the mistake we make. We have to make a 180-degree turn to find the entire value of life, thereby making what is regarded as a living hell into a heaven. Nevertheless, it is possible, and it is the duty of the Spiritual Master to show the way. No one can evolve you to that stage. A spiritual master can only guide you to that stage. He is only a guide – a spiritual master or a guru is nothing but a channel. Like a hollow piece of wood, he is like a flute, and Divinity blows its infinite music through this hollow piece of wood so that you could enjoy the symphony. In all the travels I do throughout the world, they expect a guru, long hair, long beard, old man, but that is not so. The spiritual master is an ordinary human being like you, and it is only through the human impulse that I could touch your mind and heart. That which you regarded and thought was so permanent in life; you will find that it is not permanent for the inner within-ness that is the only permanency. But no hope must be lost because our message is of hope and love. Know this for sure, that you exist because God exists, and God exists because you exist. Fire cannot exist without heat, and heat cannot exist without fire. In that sense, we are the manifestation of the Manifestor. … Gururaj Ananda Yogi: Satsang DK 1978 – 01
Discerning the Way: From Confusion to Clarity
A WRONG PATH, MISTAKES RESULT MOSTLY FROM CONFUSION “Mistake” is the negation of “take.” You have reached out to take, and you have missed the mark. When you miss the mark, it is either because you are blind or the room is dark. I want to take this flower, but I miss it. That is a mistake. All opportunities are given to us, whereby we need not make mistakes. All opportunities are given, and mistakes result primarily from confusion. But in our rashness, in our hurry, in our impatience, in our intolerance, we grab, and we miss. When the mind is confused, we allow it to simmer down. As the Chinese proverb says, before saying an angry word, if you are feeling angry, roll your tongue nine times and then say it. By the time you have finished rolling your tongue nine times, your anger is gone, and you will not make the mistake of saying the wrong word. That is the mistake. If the confusion cannot be solved by ourselves, we go to a counsellor, a qualified person, to advise us, to counsel us so that we do not make a mistake – it is very simple. A WRONG PATH Because in the beginning, we were in such a hurry, or we were so rash, we take the wrong path. What is the wrong path? The wrong path is that which takes us away from our real Self. There are wrong paths which are very circular, taking the wrong road to the beach and instead of down there, we walk up here – but those are not the paths to which we refer. From the spiritual point of view, a wrong path takes you away from the divine essence within yourself. In other words, you are not flowing with the laws of nature. Nature does not make mistakes. Water runs down a hill and not up a hill. The sun rises in the east and never in the west. Like that, everything in the laws of nature works to fine precision. Every planet that revolves around the sun has accuracy through natural laws. Every plant, every flower that grows timelessly, combines all the various natural laws involved in it to make it conducive to growth. Because man has a mind, the cunning animal as we call it, we turn and twist nature’s laws and swim against the current. The wrong path starts with a mistake, and that mistake could also be defined as a misconception. Instead of conceiving the right path, we miss it. Misconception. That is why we take the wrong path. But even after taking the wrong path, you can still make a U-turn and come back. A little time would be wasted, but there is no hope lost. No hope is ever lost. It is the mind that is the troublemaker. If the mind can be regulated to think rightly, then these mistakes and wrong paths do not happen. What do we do to let the mind operate within the laws of nature would be to keep holy company? That is why we are here. Sat-sang – association for the purpose of truth. It is always advised in ancient scriptures that as far as possible be in holy company. Good company, and because of that, read good books instead of cheap novels which we find in those bookstalls on street corners. The other day I passed a stall, and magazines were hanging there, and I had to turn my head away. It was terrible the photos in the magazines. If the reading matter is good matter, the company is good company, and continuing that, our minds would be attuned more and more to a higher level. The more and more the mind is attuned to a higher level, the less and less do we have the chance of making a mistake or going on the wrong path. That is it. So simple. DO ONE NEED TO EXPERIENCE THE WRONG PATH? It is like saying that do you not need rain to know the sun. Do you not need to know the night to know the day? But who says the sun and the rain are wrong? Who says the night and the day are wrong? They are not opposites. They are part and parcel of one whole. But this would not apply to man’s life as he lives it. It is not necessary to go through extreme misery to find happiness. It is not necessary. It is not necessary to eat bitter fruits half the lifetime and then say, “Let me eat bitter fruits now because I know that by eating bitter fruits now, sweet fruits will come.” You might be dead by that time! It is only the right knowledge and right guidance that will prevent us from experiencing the wrong path and be led onto the right path. We are also looking at it from this limited fraction in this vast continuum. Today if a man is walking on the right path, who knows how many wrong paths he has not traversed in past lives? Today man gives his life to save thousands and millions. Who knows that through his hands thousands and millions were not destroyed in the past? But if today we are on the wrong path, must we think and say, let me continue on the wrong path? That is the question. Because as soon as we realise that this is the wrong path, you immediately impress your mind with all happenings of the wrong path. Negative affirmations, negative suggestions, negative thinking all the time will not produce a positive thought or a positive action. IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO KNOW MISERY TO FIND HAPPINESS Things that were done in ignorance or innocence are OK. You did not know. But as soon as man develops the thinking mind and man learns to discriminate and starts knowing that this does not seem right, and as soon as he knows or realises
Infusing Spirituality into Life: Integrating the Spiritual and the Material
START SPIRITUAL EDUCATION IN PRIMARY SCHOOL There is a great necessity in this world to express to the young about the spiritual life. I think I have spoken about this many times before, as mainstream education does not start spiritual education like some organisations are doing, because when you reach a certain age, your mind is so set. But start spiritual education from when the child is small, starting in school, primary/infant school. That is the place where spiritual knowledge is to be given to be moulded and grow up in that. I have found one thing: in the home where there are meditators, where quality recordings are played all the time, the children listen. You will be surprised how perceptive children are. Although they might not be able to verbalise it, they feel that something good is there, and if they are nurtured and brought up in that kind of atmosphere, then juvenile delinquency would be so much lessened. THERE IS A GREAT INTEREST IN SPIRITUAL MATTERS TODAY In all countries, including America, England, and everywhere, technological progress has been so fast today. The intellects have become more and more developed. Despite the technological developments, they have searched outwardly, for they suffer from dissatisfaction within themselves. They do not have peace. They could run multi-billion-dollar corporations, and yet they find an emptiness. They have gone to the highest intellectual and technological development limit and cannot find the answer there. So, the only way they can go is inward instead of outward. Therefore, there is a great interest in spiritual matters today, of finding the Kingdom of Heaven within. There is a significant surge in that direction, which is an excellent sign. Unfortunately, many of my countrymen have come along and misused the privileges that were given to them. Instead of them converting the outward seekers, they became outward seekers for power and wealth. That is a tragedy, and when I meet some of these guys at times, I give them a piece of my mind because I am afraid of nothing and no one. It could be the highest lord of the land. If I want to say something, I say it openly and clearly and in no uncertain terms. That is a tragedy, but those that do understand might be performing some little good work. THE PEACE THAT PASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING Anyone on the spiritual path should be encouraged to find himself. By finding himself, his life will become more peaceful, and that is what we want. “The peace that passes all understanding.” We need this integration; the mind and body have been led so far outward. It is about time that more and more people like you would make a right-about turn and start going inward. For only there is peace to be found. A millionaire might become a multi-millionaire, and the multi-millionaire might become a billionaire. But what has he gained as far as his personal peace is concerned? Therefore, the scriptures would say, “What is the use of gaining the world and losing your soul?” And souls are being lost. They are not lost; we say these words figuratively and not to be taken in its literal sense because the soul of men can never be lost. But it can be entangled with these total materialistic, unbalanced desires. WE NEED MATERIALITY I am not against materialism. But what I would like to see is that Spirit, that spirituality to be infused into materiality. So that which is material becomes spiritual, and that which is spiritual becomes material. It is a continuum. It is a oneness. But although having two eyes, we close one eye and look at the material part. Let us open the other eye and see the spiritual part as well. We find the two eyes adequately focused, and in that proper focusing, the spirituality and materiality is infused. Because we need materiality – we need it. If I have not got fifty cents or fifty-six cents in my pocket at home, I cannot go and buy a loaf of bread, and I need the sustenance. That is material. You walk outside. God’s air is free, but we are paying for it in taxes. INFUSION OF SPIRITUALITY We cannot escape materiality. This body is material. It is flesh and bones. It is material. But the spiritual side of man can be deeply infused in that materiality so that it functions holistically so that it functions in a wholeness. That is healing. To be healed is to become whole. It is beautiful, really if we think about it. It is beautiful, and it is not an impossibility. It is within reach of everyone. It is just by directing one’s attention, and with spiritual practices, you will find that we will see lesser and lesser faults in things. We will see the greater and greater good in things. That is practical infusion in practical daily living. Then we stop being judgmental. “Judge ye not that ye be judged.” “Love thy neighbour as thyself.” “Do unto others as you expect to be done unto you.” These injunctions become realities, not just words on the printed page. That is what we want. So simple. You do not need to make it complex. Very simple. The simple understanding of what life is all about, and if you know life, you know love. And if you know love, you know laughter which is joy. In our motto, we had to use the word laughter because there is three L’s. Instead of saying L. L. J, we say three L’s. By laughter, I mean joy. … Gururaj Ananda Yogi: Satsang US 1982 – 05
Life, Love, and Laughter: Embracing the Essence of Being
LIFE IS TO BE ENJOYED You might all know the story of Ramakrishna, where this teacher took his students to a mango orchard. All the students started counting how many branches and how many leaves and how many veins in all these various leaves, but one student sat in the corner. He plucked a mango and was eating it. Who had the greatest enjoyment? The leaf-counters or the mango-eaters? So, enjoy! Life is made to enjoy, for life itself is joy. The very composition of the forces that make life is joy. Life is love; love is laughter. And that is why we say, “Smile and the world smiles with you.” See, these simple little sayings, there is such deep meanings to it, but we fail to understand it. If I pull a big face, you are going to do the same. So, I smile, and you will smile. And if my smile and love is genuine and sincere, it will touch the very core of your being. And that is how life is to be lived. That is how the connection between the relative and the Absolute is created: hotline from the conscious mind to the superconscious mind and the beyond. The superconscious mind is as vast as the universe. And yet, there is something more beyond. The totality of the superconscious mind and the subconscious and conscious is represented by what we know as the personal god. The emanation of this totality is the personal god, and from there, we reach that which is impersonal. The personality that is created by this universe is the personal god with various attributes. At the same time, the impersonal is the neutral force — like electricity in a stove for heat or a fridge for coldness. And that is what man is. And that is where? Nowhere, but nowhere is now here. Do you see the similarity in spelling between “nowhere” and “now here?” It is spelt the same way. … Gururaj Ananda Yogi: Satsang US 1979 – 02
The Flow of Meditation: Embracing Thoughts Without Attachment
THOUGHTS IN MEDITATION Many people are worried about thoughts in meditation, and this is a misconception. Many people say, and this has originated in the East, that in meditation, there should be no thoughts in the mind, the mind should be blank, but that is erroneous. The mind could never be blank. There comes a time when you will find a certain blankness in the ten percent conscious mind, but your mind could never become blank, for the subconscious would be working all the time. Like in sleep, the conscious mind goes to sleep, but the subconscious mind is forever working. Many people complain that when I sit down to meditate, lots of thoughts rush through my mind. That is good; let them rush through the mind. A thought is like a story; it has a beginning, a middle and an end. As the thought is tapering off at the end, you easily and effortlessly introduce your mantra, and as that mantra fades away, another thought will come. A THOUGHT LAST FOR A FEW SECONDS ONLY We think that a thought lasts for half an hour; it does not. By thought here, we could equate it with contemplation, and man’s mind cannot systematically start a thought and preserve that thought for a period of time. A thought cannot last that long because man’s mind is so fragmented that he cannot. Man’s mind can only have a thought for a few seconds at a time, and then there has to be a gap that might not be noticeable to people. What you are experiencing is a whole series of thoughts, most of the times disconnected. You will think for a second of Auntie Mary, and then you will think of the pudding you have got in the oven and then think of what you will wear tomorrow to the party – totally disjointed. BEING ABLE TO CONCENTRATE, YOU WILL CONTEMPLATE Proper contemplation is like pouring oil from one vessel into another without a break, and that comes about through a concentrated mind that could focus all its energy to a focal point. That is why the practice of Tratak is so important that it will help you to concentrate and by being able to concentrate, you will contemplate. LET THE THOUGHTS COME, LET THE STORY FINISH When thoughts occur in the mind, there is nothing wrong with it because once the mind goes totally blank, in the present state of man’s mind, he could very easily go into self-hypnosis and he could also very easily go into a form of a catatonic state, which is not a healthy state at all. So, when the thought comes or as many as they like, let them come, let the story finish, and you get back onto your mantra. When that ends, another thought will appear from the subconscious to the conscious level, but the secret here is that you are not to be involved in the thought when these thoughts come. By involvement in thought, we mean that you must not be emotionally involved. Auntie Mary was not kind to you, so here the thought of Auntie Mary comes up, and when you say, “Oh, she was not kind to me”, you feel angry. That anger is an emotion. Think of the unkindness of Auntie Mary by all means, but objectify the thought, view the actions of Auntie Mary as if you are looking at a motion picture, looking at a film and view it detachedly. Then that very thought, that detachment or non-attachment to your thought is in itself a form of meditation. Meditation is an alternation between mantra and thought and mantra and thought, a smooth transition from one to the other. EMPTYING THE SUB-CONSCIOUS MIND OF SAMSKARAS Those meditators who have all these thoughts cropping up are not to be bothered. They are emptying the sub-conscious mind of many samskaras, of a lot of impressions, and they are letting it off; they are letting off steam, which is partly how a lot of the stresses can be resolved. The same thing happens in dreams. If you dream, it is a wonderful mechanism, and if you have nightmares, that is even better, for all the dirt clogging the mind is thrown off. All the horrifying thoughts that are existing in the mind in seed form are being dispelled. If you had to live in the waking state of life the experiences of the nightmares, you would not be able to live. Life would become extremely difficult. You see how wonderful nature is or how wonderful God is. He has given man all these safety valves to rid himself of the impressions, the samskaras so that he could be led to God because God is always calling. He says, “Come, come, come, come, come” and therefore, He has given these safety valves. DO NOT BE WAYLAID BY SIDDHIS When these thoughts come about, then one must be very careful when one talks of telepathic thoughts. Those which are regarded to be telepathic thoughts could just be one’s imagination, they could be hallucinations. Some people might have that psychic ability to receive thoughts of others, but they must just be regarded as thoughts, and no importance must be attached to them because they could be the greatest stumbling block in one’s spiritual progress. All the greatest Saints and Sages have said that do not be waylaid by what they call Siddhis. You leave your front door and want to go to the garden gate; there are beautiful flowers in your garden, you do not get stuck there. As you pass you admire them, you say “Ah, they are so lovely, look at the lovely colours”, but you march on the path and reach the gate because you have to go out. All these Siddhis, or sometimes they are called occult powers, is not our line. I could teach each of you any particular Siddhi you want to have, but I shall not
The Evolving Soul: Transforming Personality Through Meditation
CHANGING OF PERSONALITY? We are nothing else but a bundle of all the experiences that we have gained over all those millions of years, perhaps, and that constitutes our personality. Through meditational practices, changes come to the personality. For example, from certain experiences in life, one becomes hard, or one becomes obnoxious, or one becomes a heckler or troublemaker or whatever. If that person is sincere enough, that will cease in him because he will start viewing everything within the framework of love. Take the example of a heckler or a troublemaker. Why does he do that? What is the discrepancy in his personality that would make him do that? Of course, the teacher would always look upon such a person with love and compassion because he understands there is something wrong. What is the mechanism that is making the person tick? The most common thing one would find is that there is such a blockage in him that he cannot express the love inherent in him. Therefore, because he cannot express love, his awareness is limited. By his awareness being limited, he had a lesser understanding and many times even the answer to a question might not be understood. When we look at these things, study the personality, we do not feel pity, but we feel greater love and greater compassion. In like manner, meditation does change the personality. It takes away the hardness that is there and brings that mellowness that love inspires. It teaches a person how to love, it teaches a person the meaning of love and not only that, it teaches a person to become love. That is the fundamental change required in today’s man. Because of the vast experiences one had in various lifetimes, there are conflicting thoughts, conflicting impressions in one’s mind and these conflicting impressions have to be resolved. If one goes through all the various experiences and tries to resolve them one by one, it will take millions of years. That is the process of psychoanalysis, for example. They try to find the cause of things, and by finding the cause of things, the cause can be altered. But if the personality is defective in itself, how can the cause be altered? That is the scientific way. The mystical way is this; that you do not analyse the causes. You go to the light. In other words, you do not analyse darkness, you switch on the light, and darkness disappears. That is the shortest path, the shortest route towards finding that inner joy and that inner peace about which we all think. The personality chosen by the soul is not a choice. There is no difference between the soul and the personality. Where does the soul reside? Does it reside in your leg or your head, or your arm? No, you are the soul. Therefore, the soul is the personality, and this life that one has taken is definitely to learn lessons. RESOLVING CONFLICTS IN THE MIND After leaving this body behind in the subtle spheres of existence, one goes through a process of evaluation. We evaluate all things we have done in all our lifetimes, and we choose the circumstances in which we are born. The body perishes, and yet the body is not destructible. All matter remains eternal. It will not remain immortal in the same form. It will disintegrate and go back into its original elements – dust to dust. In that way, the atoms that compose the human body are not destroyed, but they will be attracted to its like. Birds of a feather flock together – it is a true saying. The body changes from time to time. But the subtle body in man, which is the carrier and conveyor of all experiences that one has had, has to resolve the conflicts created. For example, the conflict between love and hate and the conflicts experienced between pleasure and pain. All these conflicts have to be resolved, and to resolve conflicts one by one is a process that would take millions of years, but this process is not necessary. You do not need to analyse the mechanics of darkness. Switch on the light, and that we do through meditation. We reach the deepest layers to the source of light and bring forth the light to banish all the darkness in our lives. As one meditates and one gains experiences, one is modifying oneself; modification of the mind is a modification of the soul. Every experience gained, good or bad, has its particular value. No experience is for nothing – it must leave some impression. As humans on this planet, we are just a tiny speck in this vast continuum that we call eternity. Within the range of evolution, one can digress by one’s actions, not to a lower kingdom but in the strata of the human kingdom. One can be born again for example as a worse type of person than one is in this life, because of our actions, because of our thoughts; for thought too is an action, a subtle action. When the physical body acts, it is just a translation of that subtle action which started in the mind. So, thought and action, thought and deed, as we normally talk about it, modify the soul. THE SOUL IS SUBJECTED TO CHANGE; THE SPIRIT IS CHANGELESS Here one thing must be understood, and there have been many misconceptions about this. The soul is equated with the spirit. The soul is not the spirit. The spirit in man is forever pure. The soul is the personality with its origin or its impetus from that neutral power called the spirit. It is the soul that evolves and modifies because evolution necessarily implies change all the time. The spirit is changeless. The soul is like the waves on the ocean, forever rising, falling and rising and falling and yet at the depths of the ocean, the calm unchangeability is there all the time. We are trying to
Divine Love: The Inexplicable Gift of Life
ONLY LOVE EXIST Love heals anything. Love heals the mind; love heals the heart. Love heals any ache or pain. The greatest gift bestowed on mankind is to be loved and to be able to love. When we make ourselves worthy of that, when we start loving, even consciously, at first, it might seem a bit mechanical, but showing little kindnesses here, there, and everywhere it starts the machine rolling. I have a friend who is a very big businessman, and during those business times, I used to visit his office now and again. He has a big notice in his front office that “To be enthusiastic, act enthusiastic.” By acting enthusiastic, you become enthusiastic. You are repatterning your mind with some effort. When it comes to love, you can not just love, but start with the little niceties, the little kindnesses, a little smile. When you become loving, you become lovable. That is how you attract love towards you. That is how we attract the greatest gift given to man, to be able to love and to be able to be loved. For the very word “love” is synonymous with God – for God is Love and Love is God. WHEN TWO PEOPLE ARE GATHERED IN MY NAME, I AM THERE When a man loves a woman, God has come between the two people. He is there, ever-present. In the scriptures, when two people are gathered in my name, I am there. This also has its literal meaning where one discusses the teachings of the scriptures. It also has a figurative meaning, that by getting together to discuss those very teachings, one discusses them not as a surgeon, analysing and dissecting, you get together for love – a sharing of love. Then that Force, that power, is always there. The most significant healing that could be given to me, for example, is your love, a sharing of that love. That is all. It opens up a beautiful channel toward that which is inexplicable. I experience it every moment of the day, but if you ask me to explain it, to define it, I cannot. It is beyond the comprehension of the mind. But the feeling is so powerful. THE FLOWER JUST GIVES OFF FRAGRANCE Last night Doug and I were sitting down chatting; I said, “You know, the forces of Divinity are flowing so powerfully that I sometimes feel that this body could hardly contain it.” That is the whole secret of life, to share this love, and in sharing, there is growing. Look how beautiful when the flower grows. Look how many elements are shared or interconnected with each other. The air shares, the sun shares, the minerals in the ground shares, and all the sharing makes the flower grow; it makes it blossom in its beauty. And when it blossoms in its beauty, that is not all that it does. It also gives off that fragrance without asking. You do not ask the flower for its fragrance; it is just there. It just gives. If our lives could be like the flower, where we become fragrant with love, and there is not a single person on Earth that needs to be unhappy. For love is all; love is happiness; love is joy; love is God; love is Divinity. Nothing else exists but love. … Gururaj Ananda Yogi: Satsang US 1978 – 23