Only a realisation is required to assimilate this understanding, and with the help of your meditations, you could change the entire course of your life within six months.
Purity of the Heart
The mind, which we call a cunning animal, is always pleasure-seeking. It operates 90 – 95 percent of the time by associating ideas. One thought breeds dozens of thoughts, and when all those thoughts come about in the mind, it is in a fragmented state.
Units make the Whole
Any person is a universe unto himself. Billions and billions and billions of cells operate in this little body, and they do so according to a precise system.
What is Consciousness?
Consciousness is one’s spiritual Self. That is pure consciousness that requires no support whatsoever from anything exterior to itself. That pure consciousness is a faculty, if you would like to use that word, that experiences itself, by itself, for itself. In other words, pure consciousness is.
The Teacher and the Taught
When the pupil is ready, the master is there, and the master comes in many forms and shapes. The whole purpose of the external guru is to awaken the internal guru. As a guru, I am only a channel, a means. There will come a time when you do not need the external guru because the internal guru will have been awakened.
Perfection is a Matter of Perception
Remember, what you see as imperfection is your conception. What you see as imperfect is perfect, too. Through its heat, the sun draws up water vapour, which becomes a cloud and makes things dark down below.
Universal Unity
God is not only in you, but God “IS” you in all His aspects, from the grosser physical body to the subtlest level, which you call the spirit. It is a vast continuum.
How to Deal with the Ego?
THE EGO HAS NO GROSSER SUBSTANCE EXCEPT THOUGHT We could never control our egos. If you believe in that, your ego is the sum of all the experiences you have gained in life or even previous lifetimes. That constitutes your ego. The ego has no grosser substance except thought, and thought, too, is matter. Because all the various experiences you have gained might never be reconciled completely, it will create a conflict. So, the ego or that thought formation finds conflict within itself, and it is this very conflict that is within the ego that is troubling you, and therefore, you want to control The ego is not harming you, but the conflict is creating turbulence. Whenever there is a conflict, you can never control it because by controlling that conflict, you are taking two opposing forces and using them against each other to create more significant conflict. So, it would snowball. We cannot control the ego; the ego is forever producing conflicts, and those conflicts have a habit of multiplying because they are unresolved. The best way and the only way to deal with the samskaras or impressions of which the ego is made is to refine the ego, to bring the ego from its opaqueness through to transparency, so that when it is transparent, the very spiritual force that is within you could shine through, bringing you joy. The nature of conflicts is Tamas, which is inertia or darkness. There is a heaviness about it. So, when one clarifies the ego and allows that spiritual light within you to shine through, you automatically and spontaneously banish the conflicts, which is how you can cleanse the ego. Therefore, meditation and spiritual practices are so important. From your conscious mind, you go right through the subconscious layers of the mind, and yet, further on, you find the superconscious mind, which is closest to the Absolute. Because the superconscious mind is clear, the light of the Absolute shines through to banish the darkness in the subconscious mind. KARMA IS PART AND PARCEL OF THE EGO-SELF Thought is the forerunner of your actions. Every action we perform is because of the thinking ability of the conscious mind, and when thought is the forerunner of your actions, it has to have something to enforce it. The conscious mind is enforced by the subconscious, wherein all the conflicts are stored. So, to recap, there is no annihilation and no resolution, but clarity can be brought about in the subconscious layers of the mind so that all those impressions there could be banished. When you banish these impressions, they go back to the sources. By this, we mean that specific negative thoughts would be attracted to like-minded, negative people in the atmosphere. Positive thoughts would be dispersed, and they would return to like-minded people. For example, if you are cheerful, you will attract cheerful people to you. If you are non-cheerful, those are the people you attract. So, it is not only the circumstances or the environment you are put in that mixes up the ego. It is a combination of the internal self, the samskaras mixed with the environment which enforces the impressions, and it works in a vicious circle, one is strengthening the other. Therefore, the ego-self is also subjected to the laws of Karma. According to the relative laws of life, Karma is that whatever you sow, you will reap. But that does not function in the superconscious level of oneself, it only functions on lower levels such as the subconscious mind which in turn influences the conscious mind. So, Karma or the results of your actions is not your sum totality, for you can disperse or banish Karma. I have said in many talks that if you have harmed ten people, it does not mean that you will be harmed ten times in the same way. Just do eleven good deeds and wipe off the ten non-good deeds. I never use the word bad deeds; there is no such thing. So, that is how, through spiritual practices and modulating our behaviour and actions in life with the help of the spiritual practices, we get rid of the Karma that is there. Karma could have its basis in many past lives, perhaps, and is manifesting in your present life. Therefore, you cannot explain why such a thing must happen to you. You look around you, and you see some people who are so happy and born in favourable circumstances. Then you look around and you find some people in unhappy circumstances. Some people are born sickly while others are born in good health; why? Divinity has nothing to do with it. Divinity is a neutral force. It does not judge. You judge yourself. So, we are placed in adverse circumstances because of Karma, and Karma is part and parcel of the ego-self. HELPED BY OUR MEDITATIONS, YOU CAN CHANGE THE ENTIRE COURSE OF YOUR LIFE So, we do not start with Karma; we begin with those existing impressions and instincts. In Sanskrit, there is a beautiful word called “Sanchita karma,” which means that an expression is already required, and everything in life you can observe is forever found to have expression. Otherwise, without expression, nothing can survive. These flowers will die if they do not give off fragrance or the beauty that is expression. Likewise, a human has to express himself, and because of the conflicts in this so-called ego-self, you express things negatively or positively. If you positively express yourself, your life becomes more and more joyful. So, it depends upon you, and it does not take long to change your life’s entire course. Firstly, you are a self-realised divine being, the children of divinity. You are nothing else than that. It is just a realisation to assimilate this understanding, and with our meditations, you can change the entire course of your life within six months. It does not mean that it will fall on your lap if you indulge
Why fear Death?
DEATH IS ONE OF THE FINEST EXPERIENCES MAN CAN EVER HAVE This one man who turned a hundred was interviewed on television, and the interviewer asked him, “What is the secret of this long life.” So, this man of a hundred answers, “That is straightforward; I just keep breathing!” This other guy who turned a hundred was asked, “What is your secret? And this is that, and that?” they had a long chat about it. So, the interviewer tells him, “Well, happy birthday to you, sir, and I expect to see you at the same place next year,” the old man replies, “Well, I see no reason why we should not. You look healthy enough.” There have been books written like “Life After Death” and “Life After Life” and things like that, with research done by doctors. I am sure some of you might have read those books. There were a few articles in the Observer, a two-part series on the same subject. They stress that a light comes to meet you when a person dies. That is an untruth. This is evidence they got from people who were just about passing over and recovered again. No light comes to meet you, but you will see your spiritual light within you. After discarding the physical body and having the finer mind left, you recognise that light and feel that you are meeting this light. In the other dimension, those little bulbs have no time to march forward to you. Death is one of the finest experiences man can ever have. I have died many, many times, at will, where you can send your soul out of the body and re-enter the body. You project it out, which some people call out-of-the-body experiences, but that is a misnomer. That does not happen. The occultists, who use the word “astral body,” say that your astral body leaves your body. No. It does not leave the body. The astral self, or the subtle body, is projected out of your physical body, and you have a dual consciousness. So, half your consciousness is contained in the subtle body, and half is contained in the physical body or the grosser level of the mind so that recognition can occur. If you are thinking of America, you are in America, and then you will remember it afterwards because part of your consciousness remains behind. If there were a total severance, then you would be dead. HAVING SHED THE ENCUMBRANCE OF THE PHYSICAL BODY, YOU FEEL SO FREE At the time of death, ninety-nine point nine per cent of people lose consciousness, and in the process of losing that consciousness, they feel they are going through a tunnel and on the other end is the light. But that is not the way to die. Why must you die being unconscious? The natural way to die is in full consciousness, and that can be achieved through our practices, where you are fully conscious of leaving the physical body. It is such a beautiful, ecstatic experience that is indescribable in words. There is no suffering at all. People fear because it is the unknown, but those who know it do not fear. It is very beautiful. When a person in old age perhaps has cancer or some other kind of disease, remember it is the conscious mind that is suffering while they are still alive. Only the subtle levels of the mind go ahead, so when the conscious mind is deadened, suffering does not linger. Having shed that part of the analytical mind, having shed the encumbrance of this physical frame, you feel such a beautiful sense of freedom. You feel so free. You feel free because you are now away from a grosser environment into a much finer environment, a more subtle environment, and there, the samskaric body, which we call the soul, feels as light as air. IN THE AFTERLIFE, YOU WILL BE BUSY FORMULATING YOUR NEXT BIRTH That part of the soul, the subtle body, also has powers of thought but on a subtle level, not like the conscious mind, and with that power of thought, you can call forth anyone you desire to meet because in that dimension, there is no space, there is no time. When we hear people saying, “Oh, I will meet you on the other side,” a lover speaking to his beloved, “I will meet you on the other side,” or a friend saying that to a friend, that is possible. When you die, if your thought forces are strong enough and you say, “I want to meet such and such a person,” you can meet him in his astral or subtle body. You can do that. But there will be no shape at all. Mary will not look like Mary, and Amantha will not look like Amantha, and Jean will not look like Jean, but the recognition is there that “Ah, this is Jean, this is Joan, and this is Jack.” Communication takes place there without words. Feelings are exchanged, and one could discuss things, but you cannot necessarily help each other because those souls are busy working out, formulating the process, formulating the basis of their next birth. They are evaluating and trying to find the vehicles through which they could be born again. EVOLUTION IS ALWAYS PROGRESSIVE Some Hindus believe that if you live a terrible life, you will be born a cat, or a dog or a cow, or whatever. That is rubbish. I tell them that evolution is always progressive. Once you reach the human kingdom, you will never return to the animal kingdom. But there is one thing that could happen. If you have evolved into the top of the human kingdom and perform some not-good actions, you could come down to a lower level but remain in that kingdom. That could happen. But you would never become a cow or a donkey. At the moment of death, it is nice to die consciously;
What is Meant by Silence?
WHAT IS MEANT BY SILENCE? Silence can only be found in silence. If you cannot experience silence within yourself, how will you know the value of silence? Can you ever understand the meaning of silence in the process of life within yourself? Because in that silence, all recognition is gone. Silence remains silent, and there is no recognition of silence. Once you start analysing the meaning of silence, then your silence is destroyed and becomes useless. You go within yourself in that silence, yet you do not know you are silent. For silence has no answer to itself. Silence is silence. That is a scientific equation; any scientist here will bear me out. When you merge within yourself in silence, my beloveds, no question will remain because you will not analyse silence at all in your very silence. That is silence. So be silent and know, as the scriptures say, “Be still and know that I am God.” THE GURU LEADS YOU TO FIND THAT DIVINE SILENCE WITHIN YOURSELF That is what our scriptures tell us. But I can tell you something more about this. I will teach you how to be silent yet conscious of that silence. I will write this out to all of you as my license. To be silent is a step on the path that leads you further on. Leading you further on in your silence, you must learn to find the in‑silence within yourself, and as you progress, you will discover total silence. Let us define the meaning of silence. What is silence, and what is silent? To be still and in your guru’s heart, or He in your heart. Is that silence? That is superficial. The guru leads you to find that divine silence within yourself. He can only lead you there, but you must see that silence. As I said, I will endorse the license to lead you there. So, what is the process of finding silence within yourself? There is no process. Silence exists within itself. No one in this universe can create it. The process involves following the path of in-silence to merge away in silence. I am telling you truths perhaps never known before. I do not know. Who cares, in any case? Because once you produce a case, as my lawyer friends here will confirm, you go into mental gymnastics, which is not what I want you guys to do. I want you to merge away within yourself in the silence of Divinity. In finding that, I promise you will find the in-silence within yourself that will translate into peace within all of you. BE YOURSELF People try to clean their exteriors, and yet they stink. They put on their powders and puffs and whatever. You would know more than I do. What is the meaning of that, my beloveds? Where is it going to take you? To the cosmetic factory, yes! That is where you will go and spend a damn fortune, which is meaningless. But if you have the purity of heart, you will always remain fragrant within yourself. Smell me, if you like; any of you. Total fragrance without any cosmetics, without any makeup, without any shit. The principle is to be fragrant in purity within yourself. You can still use your cosmetics if you want to, like putting up your eyebrows in blue, purple, and whatever shade. What do I know about it? When I am with my beloved, I tell her to wash her face in the bathroom and to be herself, totally pure, without any cosmetics. That is important. I never want a woman who has cosmetics. But I want my wife, my beloved, clean and pure. These are practical lessons, so listen to them. I want her to be clean and pure, without cosmetics. Why must I fall in love with cosmetics, which are a falsity? Do you know that the most significant industry in this world is devoted to creating cosmetics? If my beloved kisses me passionately, am I kissing her sweet lips or lipstick? The point is this: do not indulge yourself in a false mask; indulge yourself in your reality. Remove the mask, for that mask is a falsity. Get to the next point: to become yourself. Be you. Be your reality and feel the beauty that exists within you. Why do you guys not see the beauty that is within you? You fail to see the beauty within yourself because of the false masks that you have put upon yourself. You only see yourself through this mask, which is not you. You observe yourself through the facade, the mask, that you have created around yourself, so you lose the sense of your reality. It is all so simple. “THAT” IS WHO YOU ARE To a spiritual master, a realised being in communion with Divinity, it is simple. But others might need a little more understanding, a little more spiritual practice, meditation and more and more diving deeper. The deeper you go within yourself, the more you will discover yourself. Where is your authentic self? Tell me. Answer me this question, my beloveds. We have known each other for so many years; you know that. Who are you? This beautiful, handsome face? Is that what you are? Is that what you regard yourself to be? That is wrong. That is who you are. God bless you, beloved. Let sunshine forever flow in your life.Sunshine will ever flow in your life.Rain might come, but that will pass away soon.For the sunshine will forever be there with you.Clouds might float by, but remember this:Above the clouds, there is that beautiful sky.So why must I be concerned with the cloudsWhen do I know the vastness of that beautiful sky?Sunshine would never be there.And thanks to the shining of the sun,That has produced the clouds and the rain,That has given you food for yourself to sustain,Come blessings, my beloved.Everything in life,Everything has its counterpart. … Gururaj Ananda Yogi: Satsang US 1987