EVERYTHING AND NOTHING
Zen philosophy speaks of something they call the state of no mind. But there is no such thing as no mind. As long as you are in the body, there will always be a mind. Through our practices, the mind can be brought to a very high level, which we normally call the superconscious level, and from there, everything can be viewed. The state of total non-awareness can be achieved in two ways: with a baseball bat or by reaching that very high state of evolution. But that is not the end. The end would be when you even go beyond the superconscious state of mind, and that is possible while you are still in the body. According to Ramakrishna, your entire body will disintegrate if you stay in that state for 21 days.
You have glimpses of it all the time, and you dive into the unknown, into that chasm where nothing is known, yet everything is known. It is an experience, but who experiences it? The experience experiences itself, for it exists within itself. Even in that state, there is extreme motion, like a spinning top at high speed. You think it is standing still, but it is moving so fast that it appears to be standing still.
When you come back from that state of Nivrikalpa Samadhi, or the state of no mind, or beyond the mind, not off the mind, of course, cognition dawns on you. Then you ask the question, “Where was I?” And only then do you start asking another question, saying, “Who am I?” Am I the everythingness of life, or am I just nothingness? The answer to both questions is yes. You are there and yet not there.
IN A DIVINE UNIVERSE, EVERYTHING IS DIVINE
That is the highest level any person can reach, because at that level of nonconsciousness of the universe, you have merged into energy, that divine Nivrikalpa energy. And when you are in that energy, you pervade everything in existence because you have become one with that universal or beyond-universal energy. The energies in the universe are normally limited in their various gradations and levels, but one can reach beyond that level, and when you return, you are filled with bliss, ecstasy, absolute knowledge, absolute bliss, and absolute existence. Because after reaching beyond the universe and returning, you start cognising everything.
Because you are bringing that indescribable energy with you and bringing it into your conscious level of living, you will find that level so, so enhanced. I have been there many times, hundreds and hundreds of times. Going beyond the universe and yet coming back to the superconscious state, you start cognising one thing: that everything is composed of that energy, that indefinable energy. Everything is composed of it.
And when you feel one with that energy, you see it all around you, and that is how you see everything as divine. Everything is divine; there is nothing wrong in this world. How could there be anything wrong when everything is composed of that energy? We only find things wrong in this world because we do not have that cognition from that highest level. But once we bring that highest level down, we will find everything divine and nothing wrong. You will have the same love for a murderer, a rapist, or a holy man. You will have the same love; there is no differentiation.
THE WELL THAT NEVER RUNS DRY
Most probably, you will analyse with your conscious mind that “oh, he is a murderer” or a rapist or a thief. But then you will have that energy within you, which will enhance your analysis and lead you to say that this man is a murderer. You will ask, “Why is he a murderer?” and you will know that there is some imbalance in his mind that made him commit these vile acts. So, because of the love and compassion you have developed through that divine energy, you will try to help that person.
It is so common, for example, that when you see someone slip on a banana peel, you start laughing. I do not laugh; I feel sorry. I would go up to the person, help him up, and comfort him, because I would feel his hurt, because he is made of me, of the same substance, the same divine energy that permeates me and him. So that is how kindness and compassion are developed, where you view everything with great love, compassion, and kindness. You are forever giving. All the time. Because love is a quality that cannot contain itself; it must express itself in some way or another.
Love can also be expressed through hate, because hate is just the other side of the coin. There is a very thin dividing line. But then again, that depends on your emphasis. What are you emphasising? Are you emphasising hatred or love? That can come about through this deep, deep understanding, because once you have reached that high stage, that understanding automatically comes. And it is not only a mental understanding; it is an understanding from within you that just wells up. Like a well that remains full all the time, it never gets empty. Always water in the well. That is how the heart operates. There is always water there, the water of love.
THE ETERNAL REALITY OF BEING
So, to reach the area of nothingness is to reach everythingness. I might have told you this story before, or to another audience. I do not know. A chela went to a guru, and the chela asked the guru, “What is it that which creates everything?” So the guru said, “You see that tree over there. Bring one fruit.” So he brought the fruit, and the guru said, “Well, take out one of the seeds.” And he took out a seed, and the guru asked the chela, “Crack the seed and see what you find in it.” So the chela said, “There is nothing in it.” That nothingness in the seed has produced the seed that produced the tree.
So, is that nothingness not everythingness? But we have not had that perception, because we have not reached that depth. We find nothingness. Yet everything is there, forever existing since eternity. You have been existing since eternity. Ah, yes, you are eternal. Absolutely eternal. Yes, you have changed bodies from time to time in your evolutionary progress, but you, yourself, your real self, is eternal. If that is remembered, then you will find that all your little problems, small or big, will not touch you so hard. You will say, “I am eternal, and this little form and shape I have taken on is here today and gone tomorrow.” Yet that little shape also never goes; it only reverts back to its various elements of which it is composed: fire to fire, water to water, air to air, ether to ether, earth to earth. So even that is eternal. Because if that was destructible, then Divinity would be destroyed. Because you are divine, and how can Divinity destroy itself when it never had a beginning and will never have an end.
THROUGH OUR TEACHING, YOU WILL DEVELOP GREATER AND GREATER UNDERSTANDING
So, those are the understandings. I am sure most of you understand, because I try to be as simple as possible. I can tell you the same things in very technical terms, but not everyone is a professor of philosophy, psychology, philology, or any ology. So I try to be very, very simple, so I am not here to talk over your heads. That is very easy; any professor can do that. But I talk to your hearts, so that with the opening of the heart, awareness also expands. Most of you who have been with me for so many, many years have developed greater and greater understandings through our teachings.
You will find that if you listen to a tape today and then, after three years, listen to the same tape again, you will find a completely different meaning in it. The words come from the heart, and you will find a different meaning because you have progressed to the point where you can see between the lines, between the words, and grasp the depth of it. And yet, I try to be as simple as possible, with a few jokes in between, and to have some fun. Why not? Life is joyous, so why not be joyous? Why not have a good old laugh?
AWAKEN EACH DAY WITH APPRECIATION AND OPENNESS, AWAKEN TO JOY
I must really thank you very much for being with me. It has been so, so pleasant, and I really enjoyed myself. I had all the joy, and more joy, more and more and more and more. It is not a matter of quantity. When I say more joy, it means greater and greater appreciation of what is already there. This must be realised by everyone. If you affirm to yourself every morning when you wake up that your day today is going to be totally joyous, then you will find it to be so.
Because you are repatterning your mind, instead of waking with a million sorrows, wake with joy. Look out the window and see. Aah, look at the sunshine. Look at the snow. Look at God’s beauty. Look at those trees. Look at the autumn leaves just falling to the ground, so beautiful. So you also fall with the leaves onto the beautiful snow of love.
In the East, the greatest gift people can have is to travel, walking thousands of miles just to be in the presence of a spiritual master. He does not even need to say a word; just his presence imparts a certain force, a certain energy, that elevates. After you leave one of our courses, you will definitely feel uplifted. There will be some joy in your heart. That same joy can be expressed through laughter or even through tears, and that is healthy. Many people do not know how to cry. Learn how to cry. It is a good cleanser of the mind. Through that, you can start thinking much more deeply, and that is important.
… Gururaj Ananda Yogi: Satsang US 1985 – 52
