BEYOND WORDS In the lives of regular meditators, the day will come when there are no more questions left to ask. Buddha’s greatest teachings were given in total silence, where he would sit with his chelas around him, and because they were very advanced in the spiritual field, they would just think the question, and their answer would be there. Certain problems, in themselves, would be resolved, and when they left his presence, some change would take place within them; they would be transformed. That is the power, the spiritual force that a man like Buddha will emit from himself, but at the same time the recipient has to be receptive, too. As the old saying goes, “The seed has to be good.” Vivekananda said this, “The seed has to be good, and the ground also has to be fertile because seeds on barren ground will have no value at all, it will not grow.” There has to be a readiness in the chelas. Over all these years that I have been giving talks around the world, those who have attended many, many Courses, perhaps you have found one thing: that I have led you, slowly and stage by stage, into deeper and deeper knowledge. Sometimes a question is repeated, yet at one stage, when I look around, I will answer it in such a way that will make your mind enquire more, and as the mind enquires still deeper, fathoms still deeper, goes deeper, then I will take the same question and answer it in a still deeper level. LOVE IS ALL AND EVERYTHING Therefore, I say that when you have reached total depth, I will just sit here with you and say nothing. But what I would say to all my children, to all my chelas, to all, is “I love you,” that is all. But then we go beyond those words of “I love you,” because really speaking, those are the most misused words, that love has come between the “I” and the “You.” Why should it be so? It is a fallacy to say, “I love you” when the reality of love is to bring about a total oneness that knows of no “I” and neither “You.” So, when that stage is reached, then you will say, “I am love. My guru is love. All that surrounds me is love,” for love is all and everything. THERE IS A VAST DIFFERENCE BETWEEN KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM When man’s mind becomes fully realised, no questions will be left at all. But it is good to ask a question, for that just shows that one is on the path. The mind starts enquiring, enquiring, enquiring. It will enquire so much that you will start saying Neti, Neti, Neti, which is Sanskrit for “not this, not this, not this.” When a person asks a question in true questioning, the answer must inspire half a dozen more questions. When those half a dozen questions are resolved, a dozen will spring up until the stage is reached where you become the questionless questioner. For naturally born human beings, questions come from the mind, and the mind has to be appeased. But when all questions cease, and the mind ceases functioning or revolving itself around questions, or gets involved in questions, and all that ceases, then the heart just knows. So, I normally try not only to answer questions or give you some understanding of an aspect of life, but also to convey, through the words or the presence, all the emanations, something that reaches your heart and aids spiritual unfoldment. I used to be the greatest questioner. I used to be the greatest doubter, and thank God I was, for that very attitude of mind led me on until I could read no books anymore. I do read them, but not to learn. I just read them to corroborate, perhaps, or know of the experiences of others, for if you, as you all will, gain the totality, then you go beyond knowledge because the mind can only give you knowledge. All knowledge is acquired knowledge, and once one goes beyond this, one reaches the area of wisdom. There is a vast difference between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is of the mind, which can always be added onto, for today you will believe in one thing and tomorrow another thing, and like that you go on and on and on. And that is how all discoveries in the world are made. But when you reach wisdom, that means you have reached the totality. BECOME NON-ATTACHED SO THAT ONLY DIVINITY REMAINS So, in the love that is there, let the time come when the “I” and the “You” are not there anymore, and only love remains. The realisation we have when only love remains is that only God remains, and “You” and “I” are gone. When I say “You” and “I” are gone, it does not mean you will lose your physical body, ego self, or self-identity. That will be there, yet underlying that is that total stability, that living and feeling of a beautiful oneness, that unity around which the diversity just floats on. And that floating on will never affect the unity, the oneness that has been created within you. Then you become the real observer of the relative things of life that we have spoken about. You become non-attached to the world, and when you become non-attached, nothing can affect you. And when nothing can affect you, neither pain nor pleasure, then you are in a land of joy, such beautiful joy that knows of no opposites and no contradictions. So, the second thing or the third thing I would say is become non-attached so that no more conflict remains within oneself, and only the Divinity that is there, only that remains. … Gururaj Ananda Yogi: Satsang UK 1983 – 17
The Complementary Dance: Embracing the Roles of Man and Woman for Mutual Evolution
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WHAT IS A CULTURED MAN? In the conditioning of a man or woman, there are three factors to be considered: one’s karmic values, which have made us who we are today, and this is the most critical factor. The second factor would be what the environment does to us. By environment, we could include all the cultures of the world. If you live in India, you are in a different kind of culture, perhaps. If you live in America, you live in a different culture, which shapes your behaviour. Those two factors are the most important in shaping who you are. The question should be, am I happy with what I am? If I am not satisfied with what I am, what should I do about it? That is bringing a metaphysical question down to its practical, day-to-day values. What people think of me, how important is that? We have spoken about this before. That we become creatures of the environment, and we are sucked into this whirlpool of what we call culture. What is culture, really? If a person sits at the table and does not know how to handle a knife and fork, we call him uncultured. He is not cultured. He might be coming from Tibet, where there are no knives and forks. Culture is from the heart. Culture is an expression of a person’s essential self. Culture contains all the fine qualities of man; the refined man is cultured. He might have a crude exterior, but that refinement is from deep within himself, where every action of his is a glorification of creation itself. Every action of his is kind, compassionate, and all-encompassing. That is refinement, that is a cultured man. WHAT IS CULTURE? When we talk about cultures, we misuse the word so much. In certain parts of the world, certain kinds of clothing are worn; in other parts, different types are worn. In certain parts of the world, certain kinds of food are eaten; in other parts, other kinds. That has nothing to do with culture. That is just environmental factors that we are mixed up in or brought up in, which man can change at will. A man does not need to wear a pair of trousers, for example. He wears it to be a conformist. He wants to conform to society or within the framework of the society he lives in; therefore, he wears a pair of pants. A woman sometimes wears a dress because it is part of the culture or environment that has forced her to wear that kind of clothing. What does this have to do with culture? It is nothing but conformity, and conformity is never culture. A man can be totally unconventional yet highly refined and cultured. His every action shows that refinement. His every word, his every smile, his every gesture show that deep, beautiful refinement. That is culture. We call ourselves civilized. Ask ourselves: are we really civilized? Are we really civilized? Let us go back a hundred, two hundred years, where a midwife would deliver a baby. Those times in the backwoods, there was a lot of superstition in every country. The midwife, in delivering the baby, would tell the mother and father that there is a complication, and this baby will only be delivered safely if we call upon the local doctor. Which doctor? The witch doctor. So, they call the witch doctor, and he performs his mumbo-jumbo, and the baby is born normally. That was primitive people, uncultured people. Meanwhile, the fees were shared. There was a kickback. Are they really primitive people? What is happening today? The same thing. The doctor can treat you; he knows the symptoms; he has properly diagnosed you. But he refers you to the specialist. Why? For the kickback. Are we civilized? Are we any better than those people that we call primitive people? If we study primitive societies, we see greater oneness, where everyone stood together. Although there might have been tribal customs, if one tribe invaded another, they would all stand together despite their differences. What happens today to civilized people? We live in a block of flats, and nine times out of ten, we do not know who lives next door. Is that not so? Are we civilized? This happens all the time. What I am trying to tell you is that culture does not depend on the environment or on the way we live, which is conditioned by the environment. Culture is from the heart. A cultured man is a man whose heart is opened, who has expanded awareness of the surroundings, who has that awareness of the environment in such a way that he, being refined, can only see refinement. That which is not refined, he can overlook. He learns to see the good and not the bad. That is the cultured man. You see how backward we are! Even more backward than the primitive man, perhaps. Technological progress does not mean that we are more evolved. DEVELOPMENT SHOULD BE OF THE HEART Go back to the time of Christ, or even further back, to the time of Buddha or Krishna. People still have hatreds and wars and petty jealousies, and all those negative qualities still exist in today’s society; yet we call ourselves evolved. Technological progress is no sign of evolution. It is a sign of mental development. One invention breeds another one. Technologically, we can make discoveries. Yet, if we study ancient literature, like the Ramayana, written 9,000 years ago, we are told about airplanes, machines that fly through the air. So, what have we really invented? We have only rediscovered things that were buried in the past. We have not even fathomed the mysteries of the pyramids, the Bermuda Triangle, or stuff like that. What progress have we made? We do not so much want the development of the mind, but the opening up of the heart, where all things are known, and all things are felt,
Transcending Patterns: Achieving Enlightenment in This Lifetime
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WE CAN GO BEYOND THE PATTERNS SET BY SAMSCARIC AND KARMIC VALUES Any person can, in this very lifetime, reach the stage of Samadhi, or self-realisation, or experience oneness with Divinity. When we are born, we are born within and with a specific pattern. Say a child is born with an IQ of 100. Another child could be born with an IQ of 150. So, the child with an IQ of 150 has a greater mental capacity to reach a certain level, but the child with an IQ of 100 can be tutored and trained, with proper supervision, to achieve the same results as the child with an IQ of 150 would. When we are born, we inherit a particular pattern set by our past samskaric and karmic values. The pattern is set, but that does not mean that those patterns are limiting. Those patterns can be transcended. We can go beyond those patterns. A river flows in this direction, and it is possible to change the course of the river by altering the banks whereby the course of the river could be changed. Likewise, in human life, it depends upon our sincerity, upon our honesty, upon our perseverance in our practices, and greater and greater unfoldment can come. When a person starts unfolding within, it snowballs very fast. In the beginning, the progress is slow, but as greater and greater unfoldment comes to him, his progress becomes faster and faster. Like a snowball rolling down, it is small, but as it rolls, it gathers more and more onto itself, and the bigger the snowball gets, the more it still unfolds within itself. Likewise, it is definitely within the reach of every man to reach self-enlightenment in this lifetime. THE QUALIFICATION OF A SPIRITUAL MASTER IS HIS CAPACITY TO LOVE A Spiritual Master does not go through the Universities learning the three R’s (reading, writing, and arithmetic). When you go to university, they tell you about a thing, but they do not tell you what a thing is. That is what you get at university. A Spiritual Master goes through the university of life, and his continual quest is to find what a thing is. His finding of what a thing is is not limited to his intellect. He goes beyond the realms of the intellect, and he is in touch with the reality that is within himself. Finding the union between his small “i” and his Big “I” in annihilating the ego that stands in the way, and actually living and interpreting that reality that is within him in his daily life. That is the qualification of the true Spiritual Master. The qualification of the Spiritual Master is his degree of self-realisation, and how is that to be known? A Spiritual Master is a person who has only one quality: his capacity to love. He loves entirely, selflessly. There is no selfishness because, to him, he has not remained himself. I always say that a Spiritual Master is not the little flesh and blood that you would see that composes his body. I made a joke the other day that the composition of flesh and blood, its chemical value is only one shilling and fourpence. It is worth noting, perhaps, that with inflation it is two shillings and eight pence. So, the qualification of the Spiritual Master is his expansion of heart and his ability to portray that heart. Buddha, the Spiritual Master, was known for his great compassion. He could embrace the entire world in the folds of his arm. Christ was known as a Spiritual Master because of his intense love, which he gave his life for. Like that, you will find in the lives of true Spiritual Masters that they are dedicated to the cause of doing some good, trying to uplift their brethren. He is the one who really practises the Commandment, “Love thy neighbour as thyself.” How can one love one’s neighbour as oneself? It is valid in its fullest sense only when he can identify with his neighbour. Then he can truly love his neighbour. A true Spiritual Master feels the joy that wells up within your heart and cries your tears for you because his nature is love. He is bliss. He is Ananda. Those are the qualifications of a true Spiritual Master. A true Spiritual Master does not have half a dozen diplomas hanging on the wall in his office, and the proof of the true Spiritual Master is not only in his teachings but in how he can transform your life. The proof of the pudding lies in the eating. That is how a true Spiritual Master is known. And a true Spiritual Master, if he claims to be one, must be tested in every way. No blind faith is involved. Do not accept the word of the man. It is not necessary. Prove it to yourself. It is a quality that the mind cannot analyze. For example, you can break up the sugar in the laboratory and say what the chemical components of that sugar are, what constitutes those grains of sugar, how it can be reproduced, how it can be refined, and how it can be synthesised. You can explain all that, but you cannot explain sweetness. You have to taste sugar yourself to know sweetness. In like manner, when it comes to the relationship between a guru and a chela, it is the experience that counts, not what the guru does for the chela. A TRUE GURU DOES NOT ASK FOR DEVOTION, WHICH SHOULD BE A SPONTANEOUS ACT We have Spiritual Masters, and most of them are so-called Spiritual Masters. The chela comes along, a practice is given, and it is said that this will cost you fifty pounds. Those are also Spiritual Masters. They call themselves Spiritual Masters. In our organisation, which is practically worldwide and continues to grow, no fees are charged for any teaching. What we want is only the person’s sincerity. That
Beyond the Ego: Rediscovering the True Self through Meditation
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LIFE IS TRUTH, AND THAT IS KNOWN BY ITS VARIOUS DEGREES There is only one form of life, really speaking, and this form of life has its separate gradations. Scientists have even discovered a heartbeat in a cabbage, and they found that when you grow flowers, if you tend them with love, they grow much more beautifully. You can communicate on that level even with a flower. So that flower has life. Everything existing in the universe is nothing but life. It is all life. But why are there differences in different forms of life? It is due to the evolutionary process. In a mineral, in a stone, there is also life. It might seem inanimate to us, but if you leave it out for a few years, you will find changes in the stone, and those changes are not only caused by the external conditions but also by what is within itself. So, even in the stone which seems so inanimate to us, there is life. This table standing here, we think it is dead, but by studying it, we will know that there are millions of molecules swirling around. There is motion, and wherever there is motion, there is life; a specific energy propels it, and that energy itself is life. So basically, the force between the stone, between the plant, between the animal, and man is still the same, and that force is life, that force is the breath of life. The human being might be at a far more advanced stage. On this planet, the human being might be considered the most advanced at various stages of life. Still, there are other existences with higher forms of life that are even further beyond the capacity of the human being. So, it is a matter of gradation. Life is truth, and that is known by its various degrees. BECAUSE OF FREE WILL, THE INTELLECT CAN BE USED TO DEVOLVE OR EVOLVE A PERSON The human life that we possess has a unique value. The difference between animal life and human life is that humans have the thinking ability. The human can think, and it is only his power to believe that differentiates him from the animal. But what do we do with our thinking power? We have been given the intellect that can evaluate various things. We can determine from the cold to the hot; we can discriminate. We can distinguish between black and white, and we can differentiate between all the various laws that constitute the law of the opposites. But the human intellect can also be an instrument to unfathom the deeper levels within himself, and yet the same intellect, with its power of discrimination, can decide wrongly. Why can the intellect be taken into devious paths? It is because with the intellect we have something called free will. What is free will, and what is the relationship of free will with Divine will, for example? Divine will is a pattern that says water flows down a hill, not up a mountain. The sun rises in the east and not in the west. And like that, in the machinery of the Divine will, the human intellect functions with an ability to have free will. If we have to go to Birmingham from here, the intellect can decide, weigh the pros and cons, which will tell him which is the best road to take, which is the shortest route, which road has the least amount of traffic, and the road that will take him there the soonest. Exercising that intellect would be due to free will. Yet the intellect, being cunning as it is, can use the ability of free will in things and in ways which will prove to be a retrogression instead of a progression. It could be evolutionary, and it could also be used to devolve a person rather than to evolve one. Through meditation, we develop the ability to use free will to lead us to that which is evolutionary. So there lies the choice of man, the free will. When we, through meditation, develop the ability to go deeper and deeper into the subtler and subtler levels of the mind, our awareness increases. We expand our awareness, and in that expansion, we gain a greater perspective. Our perspective, our vision, our conception, our perception widens, and in the widening of the perception, when we have a general, a wider view, we develop the ability to be able to decide and evaluate with our intellect, so that the free will could lead us to that which is evolutionary and not to that which is retrogressive. That is the purpose. So, across all the realms of existence, there is only one life, and there are gradations within it. Man, the highest on this planet, has been given the power of thought that elevates him above the animal. And yet in man himself, the plant life exists. In man, the mineral life exists. In man, the animal life exists. And in man, also exists that Divinity which can take him and make him a God-man whereby he could live more in tune with his higher nature than his lower nature. And this is the primary purpose of meditation. The incredible benefits we receive in meditation: greater harmony, whereby one’s blood pressure is regulated, one’s heart condition is controlled, various psychosomatic diseases are eradicated, and organic diseases are helped towards a remedy that makes one feel better. It could act as a cure, but these are side benefits. The main benefit and primary purpose are to become one with the source, to return to that source from which we have come. So, we have progressed from all these various gradations of the one life, and because of the intellect, because of the ability in man, we want to become one again with that one life. THE SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS IS THE REAL COMPULSION FOR MAN TO BECOME ONE WITH HIS MAKER So, what is
Going Within: Discovering the Divine in Everyday Life
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
What is True Friendship? The Mergence of Souls
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REAL FRIENDSHIP BEGINS WHEN A SPARK IS IGNITED IN THE HEARTS OF TWO PEOPLE There could never be friendship on a total physical level. There could be an attraction that seems like a friendship. Most friendships, like love, are based upon needs. You need companionship; you need support; you need someone to share things with, and that is what is commonly known as friendship. But to me, that is not real friendship, that is only the surface of what friendship could be; for real friendship, like love, should have no need. When there is no need for friendship, there is a total acceptance of a friend. Where does friendship stem from? If friendship is based only on the mental level where two people think alike, that is good. There is a particular kind of mutualness in their ways of life, their likes, and their dislikes. That is true on the surface level. But real friendship begins when a spark is ignited in the hearts of two people. Like love, friendship has to grow; and when this spark is ignited in the hearts of two people, then friendship really begins, and even when two people think differently, they might agree to disagree – and yet that friendship, that deep love, is always there. In true friendship, there are no expectations and no wants. The first quality of friendship begins with accepting whoever that person is, and when one accepts someone, one has to take them totally. The greatest mistake people make in friendships is introducing the element of expectation. Whenever there is expectation from anyone – “I expect my friend to be this or that” – then friendship ceases, then friendship just becomes a kind of acquaintanceship. You are acquainted with a person, you expect. Then it becomes a kind of business, here you expect from your friends to send you a present or a card, and if that does not happen, perhaps, perhaps you might have never thought of me on my birthday!” Meanwhile, he could really be a true friend, and, because of circumstances, whatever happened, you may wish him well; the welling-up and the value of friendship remain constant. So, in friendship, there is no expectation whatsoever. Then, with expectation, there is another quality a person develops: the ability to receive, to try to receive from a friend. You want, be it in the form of love, or support, or anything of that nature. And that, too, does not constitute true friendship if you always want to be and expect to receive. REAL FRIENDSHIP – GIVING OF ONESELF FOR THE SAKE OF GIVING Real friendship lies in giving, not because they are a friend, but for the sake of giving. When this quality of giving for the sake of giving develops in a person, it enhances the friendship without effort, for you are giving. Giving does not only mean giving a present or something mundane or monetary. It is giving of oneself; it is giving of one’s entirety. The most significant relationship between a man and wife, for example, is based on that kind of friendship. To be married is nothing but a friendship stabilised, and two people live together as friends in the same ship in this ocean of life. When the idea of giving is there, what do you give? As I said, giving has nothing to do with mundane things. But you give the core of your personality to the friend, and that core constitutes your every emotion, every feeling, good and bad. And yet there might be times in friendship where the friendship is heartfelt and truthful, but you might feel some anger for something which the friend has done, not to you, but some other act in his life, and you feel a bit angry. And giving that anger to your friend is also giving. It is not only a matter of giving love, but also of providing anger, for then you are a true friend. If I do not point out the faults in you to better yourself, not to degrade the friend, but for the betterment of the friend, then I am doing a disservice to my friend. In giving this service to a friend, a sacrifice is needed. You sacrifice the feelings that you have in you and put them at his feet. In other words, you are sacrificing your personality. All that composes you, you are sacrificing it at the friend’s feet, and this could be love and anger and everything that is connected to that, every emotion, every kind of emotion, positive or negative. You are sacrificing that at your friend’s feet. FRIENDSHIP IMPLIES A KIND OF ACCEPTANCE OF WHAT THE FRIEND IS The friend must be worthy too, able to accept the sacrifice, for that sacrifice is not a martyrdom but an offering. You are offering yourself entirely to a friend. To be able to provide oneself to a friend, trust is needed. If you ask the question, “Does that friend inspire trust in me?” That is the wrong question, because if the friend inspires trust in you, that trust will only be superficial. You have to have trust without the friend engendering the trust. So, in that trustful way, you offer yourself to the friend as a sacrifice of yourself. When we offer ourselves as a sacrifice in complete trust, then faith develops. Then you start having faith in the friend, and if you do, you do not see the friend’s flaws. You would begin to see only the goodness in the friend, and because of your faith, they will change. Your thought forces of love and devotion that have been engendered will overcome his weaknesses. I have always said that thought is a thing. It is powerful, and that very power, being so positive, will override all the negativity in the friend. So, you are not going out to help the friend, but by having the qualities we mentioned, you are automatically helping, and
Symbols of the Divine: The Tree of Innocence and the Light of Christ
SYMBOLS OF THE DIVINE Christmas is the Mass of Christ. The Mass is a celebration. And Christ, who is He? Christ is the highest expression of the divine manifested here on earth. He is one of the Lights who, from time to time in the history of man, are sent when great darkness covers the world. A tree is the highest form of plant life. What in the kingdom of plants can be greater than a tree? Consider its size, its shape, its perfect symmetry and colours, its majesty. What great spirit of nature is in charge of a tree! So, at Christmas, these two significant symbols merge to express Divinity in the clearest possible way. Lights are added to the tree and beautiful decorations, some of which reflect wonderful flashing sparkling patterns to which the heart responds in heightened awareness and greater expression of love, love for the Divine Creator – or Manifestor, as I always prefer to call Him. And who might be the most sensitive to this expression of love? A child. Childlike innocence is pure, but at the same time, it contains within itself the seeds of impurity, samskaras inherited from the past, which will be expressed later in life. Primal innocence, on the other hand, is forever pure and can never be contaminated by past samskaras, for it has none. The child, in his innocence, feels very deeply the primal innocence of love as expressed by a Christmas tree, with all its beauty and magical symbolism of divine power. A Christmas tree represents love in all its many aspects and is responded to by children of all ages, so that they, in turn, may reflect this love in their lives and benefit the world around them. THE SACRED MEANING OF CHRISTMAS GIVING Giving at Christmas time does the same thing. But before you can provide, you must first receive. How can anyone give what he does not possess? The presents at the foot of the tree are each an expression of the love that lies in the heart of the giver. Nothing can come from nothing. First, the giver must feel that he has love to give. This love then expresses itself in the form of a present – a wrapped-up parcel of love. This present might bring much happiness to the receiver, who will then share it with others. So, the spiral of happiness reaches upwards as an ever-increasing expression of the divine love for all humanity. This expression of love is the play of the light of Sattva, our old friend! Yet in the present state of our evolution here on earth, the darkness of Tamas must also play. Christmas passes, and often with it comes a dimming of the light of Sattva. Yet this twilight is only transitory. Each time love is expressed, its effects are never lost. Love may yield to the darkness of Tamas for a time, only to reemerge even stronger as the light of Sattva. This is the eternal struggle between light and darkness. The world will forever suffer the play of the opposites. This is the play of the divine and must never be thought of as discouragement. An individual may eventually transcend this play and thereby make room for another to spiral upwards in his turn. And so, my Namaste carries my love and wish for a Happy Christmas to all. … Gururaj Ananda Yogi: “Jewels of Silence”
Experiencing the Truth: The Light That Dissolves Doubt
TRUST BEYOND PROOF You may have forgotten this, but Christ also said, “There are many sheep, but not all of them belong to my flock”. There shall be many doubters; let them doubt, for their doubts, too, will lead them. Start with doubt. Who starts with doubt? I love doubters; an honest doubter must be an earnest seeker. Doubting should not be engendered by curiosity. Doubt should arise from a genuine, sincere search. When you seek sincerely, you will overcome your doubts. Scriptures teach various things because they have to appeal to different temperaments. There are multiple temperaments in the world. Some people are born of doubt. Many things in life cannot be proven. I would ask this young man, “Are you sure your father is your father?” You only think that because your mother has told you so. Many things in life cannot be proven; many things in life are taken on trust. The most excellent business deals are done over lunch; the contracts are signed later. The relationship between husband and wife is one of trust. They can cheat each other, and perhaps some of them could be so clever that, for years, it would not be known to either party. But there is trust, there is faith, and faith is what the whole of Christianity is based upon. You talk of God – prove God to me. You speak of reincarnation, prove that to me. There are a lot of things in life that are known by inference. BEYOND THE MIND THERE IS NO SATANS AND NO GODS The finite mind is not capable of comprehending the infinite. The finite mind can only infer certain things. Specific laws of logic are applied, and in their application, we would think, “This could be so.” But that is not the criterion; the criterion is what one experiences. So many Satans indeed come in the name of the Lord, so many of them do, and if the Satan deludes you, it is not the fault of the Satan, it is your fault! Yes. WHY do you get deluded by Satan? You get so deluded by an evil power because you have an evil tendency in you. Because of the evil tendency in you, you can only see the evil in others and think, “I am being deluded.” Forget the mind, if the tendencies in you are good and pure, your heart will feel that “Here are words uttered that will stand through ages and ages to come.” So, the criteria are your heart and your feelings; the mind will help. Yes, use the mind. I always say it is the most cunning animal. It is the mind that invents the Satans and the Gods. They are all inventions of the mind. The entire universe is nothing but mind. All problems in life are nothing but the mind. How we tutor that mind, how we learn through meditational practices, how we can overcome the mind, how we can go beyond the mind, and there truth is found, and yet when truth is found, it cannot be explained. And when you reach that level beyond the mind, all your Satans and your Gods, they all disappear. They have no existence; their existence lies in the mind. So that which is written through the mind must be of the mind. THE MIND CAN BE REFINED TO ITS HIGHEST SATTVIC LEVEL The purpose of our Meditation Foundation is to experience truth. We do not want to know about truth – for that you go to a university because Universities only tell you ABOUT a thing, not what a thing is. In our Meditation Foundation, we learn to experience what truth IS, and that truth is forever eternal. That truth is so powerful when known and experienced that no Satanic power could ever touch it or come near it. They cannot because when the light is switched on, darkness disappears. Darkness becomes non-existent, darkness becomes an illusion, and the mind has these illusory faculties. The mind is capable of experiencing illusions – that is the stumbling block to the truth. If any man wants to find Divinity through the mind, he cannot. The mind can be refined to its highest Sattvic level. The mind is also governed by the 3 Gunas, which constitute Nature, the entirety of the universe. I have spoken about the Gunas before. You have the Tamas, inertia, laziness, darkness; you have the Rajas, which is the activating force, the passionate force; you have the Sattva, which is light, light, light, light. Although the mind is a stumbling block to the progress of Man’s evolution, the same mind can be trained so that the Sattvic forces, the force of light, can dominate one’s life. The 3 Gunas will forever be there; they are indestructible, as Truth, or Divinity, is indestructible. These forces will always be there, but we have to allow Sattva to dominate, not Tamas. By allowing Sattva to dominate, the mind becomes increasingly refined. Sattva is more subtle; it reaches the highest subtlety of relativity. While Tamas, on the other hand, is at its grossest level. So, we allow Sattva to dominate so that the mind experiences the finest relative quality of existence. When we reach the finest relativity, then we go beyond it and experience truth. FROM DOUBT TO FAITH So, we use the mind as an instrument to overcome itself, and then the power of darkness, the power of Tamas, call it Satan, call it what you will, disappears. There is an old saying – “it takes a thief to catch a thief.” It takes a Satan to recognise a Satan. Yes, that is true, very true. So, when we go through our meditational practices and reach the refinement, the Sattvic level of our minds, we are in tune, and we go beyond all the doubts. It is easy to say, “do not doubt, do not doubt, believe, believe, believe”, it is easy to say it, but
Transcending Crime: A Heart-Centred View on Wrongdoing
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT FROM A SOCIOLOGICAL VIEWPOINT Crime and punishment can be examined from so many different angles. One angle would be the sociological one, which is what most people are concerned about. Then, of course, there are metaphysical and philosophical angles in which we can examine what crime is, what punishment is, who should mete out punishment, and who is a criminal. The laws of sociology are based on one principle: to preserve some form of stability in society. To have this stability in society, limitations have to be put on people’s actions. As we know, sociologists usually do it with a stick. The stick is held there like a school master would – my apologies to the school masters – the stick is there, and thereby fear is instilled into people’s minds, that “If you do this, you will get that”. But the funny thing is that if a criminal steals a million pounds, he will go to jail for 6 months, and if he steals an egg, he will go to jail for a year. Why is this? Psychologists will tell us that the person who has embezzled a million pounds has used far greater brainpower in his planning. Is that planning to be appreciated in lowering the sentence? What a funny business. It brings to mind a remarkable story written by Victor Hugo, “Les Misérables” – the miserable life – where this man, because his wife and children were starving, went to steal a loaf of bread, and stealing that loaf of bread got him into so much trouble. Was this justice? People who create laws in our social systems cannot always be right. There are many inconsistencies in their judgments and in the background that led to these laws. But the main idea is that they need to instill fear in people’s minds so they will not do wrong. If a traffic cop is behind you while you are driving, you are likely to be careful not to break any traffic laws. Similarly, in all forms of criminal activity, if there were no punishment, people might go out of control and commit all kinds of acts that hurt both society and themselves. So, these laws are necessary. How these laws are enacted, promulgated, and implemented might need significant reform. Though it could be a curb on others trying to embark on that path, how is criminal punishment going to help the individual? The most significant number of criminals born in this world are made in jail. If a person is convicted, that person will be put in touch with others of like sort, and through the exchange of ideas and views, they do not come out as better people. So, in most cases, if the crime is not severe, the appropriate course is rehabilitation, which alters the criminal’s mind and changes his old mental attitudes and concepts, so that he can try to live a better life. And this can be done through meditational means and by providing knowledge to people in jail. There are other methods. Many people who become policemen do so not because they want to uphold the law, but because of a personal vendetta. We do not say all, but many of them in their childhood have been so oppressed by their schoolmates, their friends, their environment, that they grow up and say, “Let me become a policeman and I will show them.” So, they become policemen. A criminal becomes a criminal because his upbringing has also instilled in him a grudge against society. So, the criminal has a grudge, and the policeman has a grudge, and the two negatives can never make a positive. Recently, I was invited to talk to a group of policemen. If these very policemen could be put through a course in human psychology, they could learn how the human mind works and then reform the man without further deforming his mind. So far as laws go, there is a lot that is to be desired left out. But punishment has to be there to preserve a specific stability in society. CRIME AND PUNISHMENT FROM A PHILOSOPHICAL VIEWPOINT That is from the sociological point of view. Let us examine this: crime and punishment from the philosophical point of view – what is crime? What spurs a person to perpetrate a particular act? Are there any karmic values that might extend further than his childhood? Can we say that all the tendencies of an adult come from childhood, or do they go even further back? Tendencies are not things that could never, never be rubbed out; tendencies can be overcome. Perhaps this person in previous lives might have lived such a life whereby a certain tendency, a particular impression, has been formed in the memory box of his mind, and that he has taken another birth to manifest that tendency, and by manifesting that tendency, he is trying to overcome that tendency. If everyone tried to manifest their tendencies, this world would be in chaos, because no human being is entirely animal, entirely human, or altogether divine. Every person has these three aspects within them. Through evolution, they have travelled a long journey through thousands, maybe millions, of lifetimes. They have accumulated experiences from the mineral kingdom to plants and animals, and within their minds, they carry all the impressions they have gained. When they were animals, it was in their nature to kill. It is not wrong for a tiger to kill; it is part of the tiger’s nature to hunt for prey to feed itself. A tiger never kills for fun, nor does any other animal. Predators never kill for entertainment; they kill out of necessity. However, that impression of killing remains in the human mind. The criminal allows his lower nature, as we call it, to dominate his life. He comes with this animal tendency, and then the principle of heredity comes in, and the principle of training the child comes in. When
Acting Without Judgment: When Judgment Ceases, Peace Begins
Compassion, Force, Guru, Happiness, Impressions, Karma, Kindness, Love, Mind, Peace, Purity, Samskaras, Scriptures, Self
USE THE GOLDEN RULE The mind is filled with compartments, and because of this, we become judgmental, and the reason for these compartments is because of the experiences that we have gone through. The more experiences you have gone through in various lifetimes, the more compartments there will be, and therefore, whenever we witness something, we try to draw from the memory box. When it aligns with the experience’s objective, we judge it by our own personal standards. The way to avoid that is to use the Golden Rule: put yourself in another’s shoes. That is known as the Golden Rule. But we do not. We only see things from our angle, and when we do, there will naturally be distortions. It is these very distortions that make us fearful, for there is an energy in everyone that wants you not to be judgmental. So, the conflict arises from the force in the mind that generates these fears. ACT FOR THE SAKE OF ACTING, AND NOT FOR THE RESULT THEREOF When fear is created, you naturally will suffer from anxiety. When anxiety is there, you will worry about the minutest little thing, which holds no water at all. The first perception you have of an object, you will compare with these various compartments or cubbyholes in the mind, and when you come to a judgment, you are creating more compartments. And as we create more and more compartments, more fear arises, and in this anxious state, we project ourselves into the future, which makes us even more fearful. Most people worry about or are afraid of things that might never materialise, things that will not materialise at all. By being judgmental of the object, you are also becoming judgmental of yourself; will I achieve this, or will I not accomplish that? It is a projection. Then the idea of achievement or the result that will occur puts you into greater worries and sleepless nights. But if you do not have expectations for the result of any action, you will sleep very peacefully because anxiety will not be there. It is said in the scriptures that ‘act for the sake of acting and not for the results,’ because the results will come naturally. When you focus solely on the action itself, your mind remains calm and centered, fostering inner peace. This is how the mind should really function. Not worrying about the results, not worrying about the paycheck; keep on acting, and every action you perform becomes more stabilised in the mind. First, it comes out in the form of a thought, and the action performed or based on that thought will further stabilise that samskara, and that is why the scriptures teach of love, compassion, and sympathy. REGARD YOURSELF AS AN INSTRUMENT, AND EVERY ACTION YOU PERFORM WILL BE A PURE ACTION So, you are being kind to yourself by avoiding thoughts that are contrary or adverse. If you are compassionate to someone or kind to someone, you are benefiting more than the object to which you have or to whom you have extended the kindness. Like that, by action, one removes the old impressions in the mind, and as the impressions become moved away or thrown out of your system, the less fearful you will become, and the less fearful you become, the happier you become. And that is what everyone is seeking. So, scriptures have their value, but action must be totally unmotivated. When you do good for someone, never think, “I am doing it,” because, as we have said before, you are not really the doer. There is a force within you that is using you just as an instrument, for you are nothing else than an instrument. So let that force work through you and regard yourself as an instrument, and if you regard yourself as an instrument, then every action you perform will be a pure action because you are not the actor. And purity lies in the absence of motivation. If you do some good work and say, “I did such and such a thing,” then there will be no result of that action. I remember arriving in South Africa and being totally broke. I was standing at a bus stop waiting for a bus, and at that time we never had rands and cents; we just had pounds, shillings, and pence, and I had six pence in my pocket. Here, a woman with a baby in her arms came up to me and said, “Sir, can you help me out with bus fare?” Because she had a long way to go. So, I gave her the sixpence and never thought about it at all. I took a walk home, which is about five miles away. In those years, things were much cheaper than they are today. I walked home five miles away. But what a beautiful feeling I had within me, and the very next day I got offered an excellent job out of the blue, as one would say. So, if we do not worry or take to mind any action we perform, the result will always be there because you did it totally unselfishly. You did it with feeling, you did it with sincerity, that when the evening was cold, why must this woman walk all those miles with a baby? So that is self-giving in some form or another. JUDGE YE NOT SO THAT YE BE NOT JUDGED There are many ways in which we could give ourselves to others. Sometimes, just a kind word can transform another person’s life, and his transformation in return would rebound on you, so you would also gain some transformation. But when we keep on compartmentalizing our minds, then these actions will not happen. Then we become judgmental, and we say, “What right does that woman have to be out late at night with a baby?” That is her business, and I would be judging. Who knows, she might have had some very