Columns by Sri Sri Ravishankar

Know breath, know life

One of the acharyas of Ayurveda has said, Rase sidhe karishyami nirdaridryam idam jagath which means I am giving this knowledge of Ayurveda to take away suffering from the world. So, the a roach of Ayurveda towards life is wholistic. !ife has four characteristics, it e"ists, evolves, e" resses and e"tinguishes. #or this, it de ends on five elements$ the earth, water, air, ether and fire. %o make it easier to understand we can &ring in the five senses and its o&jects$ sight, smell, taste, sound and touch. %he study of life is Ayurveda '(ed means to know, Ayur is life). According to Ayurveda, life or e"istence is not a rigid com artment, &ut a harmonious flow. *ven these five elements of which the whole universe is made of, are not tight com artments of defined o&jects. %hey flow into one another. *ach one of the elements contains the other four. %he su&tlest in us is s ace, which the mind is made u of, and the gross is the earth element, which our &ones and marrows, and the skin and the structure is made of. %his is further divided into three +oshas , (ata, -itta and .a ha. It is a way to understand the mind. hysiology, its characteristics and its reflection on the

/hen an illness arises, it comes first in the thought form, the su&tlest as ect, then the sound form, and then the light form, that is, in the aura. It is only then that the illness manifests in the &ody. Sim le sym toms arise in the fluid form, which can &e irradicated, and then it manifests in the most gross form, where it needs medication. In treatments such as aromathera y, an illness can &e cured just through fragrance. It is mostly focussed on the reventive as ect. %he holistic a roach of Ayurveda includes e"ercise, &reathing and meditation. It is very interesting to notice the relationshi &etween &reath and the different +oshas in the &ody, namely (ata, -itta and .a ha. %hese three +oshas affect certain arts of the &ody more than the other arts. #or e"am le, (ata +osha is redominant in the lower art of the &ody , stomach, intestine, etc. +iseases like gastric ro&lems and joint aches are caused due to the (ata im&alance. .a ha dosha is redominant in the middle art of the &ody. 0ough is mainly a result of .a ha im&alance. '-erha s the word cough has come from the sanskrit word .a ha). And -itta, affects the u er art of the &ody ie, the head. Short tem er is a sign of -itta. 1oga, or &reathing techni2ues like Sudarshan .riya '%he Art Of !iving 3ealing 4reath %echni2ue) and the three5stage ranayama 'channelising -rana or life force to different arts of the &ody) have an effect on these three +oshas.

Among different ranayama and other &reathing techni2ues, there are s ecific &reathing e"ercises for the lower, middle and the u er arts of the &ody which hel &ring &alance to the res ective areas. 3ow do we &ring good health to our system6 #irst, &y attending to the ether element , the mind. If your mind is &ogged with too many im ressions and thoughts, and it is draining you of your resistance ower, that is where it is re aring your &ody for some illness. If the mind is clear, calm, meditative, and leasant, the resistance in the &ody would increase. 4ecause it would not allow an illness to come into the &ody. %he first remedy is calming the mind, coming from the su&tlest as ect of creation, the ether. And then comes the air element, the &reathing. Aromathera y, etc comes in this category. 7e"t is the light element8 here comes the colour thera y. 4efore an illness manifests in the &ody you can see that in the aura of a erson. And &y energising our system with the rana or life energy one can clear the aura and revent the illness. %hat is what yoga does. %he ur ose of yoga is, sto ing the sorrow &efore it arises. %o &urn the seed of sorrow &efore it s routs. And then comes the water element. #asting with water or urifying the system with water can &ring a lot of &alance in the system. And the final recourse is different medicinal her&s, medicines, and surgery. All this comes when everything else fails or when we neglect these other ste s. Our &reath holds a lot of secrets &ecause, for every emotion in the mind, there is a corres onding rhythm in the &reath. And each rhythm affects certain arts of the &ody, hysically. 1ou only need to o&serve it to feel it. #or instance, we feel a sense of e" ansion when we are ha y and a sense of contraction when misera&le. %hough we feel that ha iness or misery and the sensation, we fail to notice the connection. .nowledge is knowing that which e" ands. /hat is that6 %his knowledge, this en2uiry is the study of consciousness, is the study of life, that is the study of rana, the study of Ayurveda. 3ave you ever counted how many times you &reathe in a minute6 4reathing is the first act of life and its the last act of life. In &etween, the whole life we are &reathing in and out, &ut not attending to the &reath. 7inety ercent of the im urities in the &ody go out through the &reath &ecause we are &reathing twenty5four hours a day. 3owever, we are using only thirty ercent of our lung ca acity. /e are not &reathing enough. See, the mind is like a kite and the &reath, a thread. #or the mind to go high the &reath needs to &e longer. 1ou dont have to take -ro9ac if you can attend to the &reath. In one minute we &reathe nearly si"teen to seventeen times.

If you are u set it may go u to twenty, if you are e"tremely tense and angry, it could total twenty5five er minute. %en if you are very calm and ha y, two to three &reaths if you are in meditation. +ee meditation can reduce the num&er of &reaths you take. If you o&serve an infant, you will &e ama9ed at how &alanced they &reathe. %hey &reathe from all the three sections of the &ody. As they &reathe in their &elly comes out, as they &reathe out their &elly moves in. 4ut the more nervous and tense you are, you will do the reverse. /hen you &reathe out your tummy will come out and when you &reathe in, it goes in. %hese things, you dont have to go to a school or learn from any&ody if you have the shar ness of mind. 4ut our mind is so reoccu ied with so many things, so many judgements, so many o inions, and so many im ressions in the mind so we are una&le to o&serve, erceive the refined things in nature. So we need to study. %he yoga asanas are something which everyone has done as a child. 3ave you seen a si" month old &a&y lying on its &ack with its legs u . And it kicks its legs and head also u , almost like what you do with the a& 'a&dominal) machine. %hen it goes on its &ack and does the co&ra osture in yoga. And if you o&serve a slee ing child, its thum& and the inde" finger slightly touch, a formation which is the 0hin mudra. Or go to a 9oo and o&serve the monkeys. *ven they do many of the asanas to kee themselves healthy. So these are the things that coordinate &ody, &reath, mind and s irit. And Ayurveda attends to this holistic a roach. %here are so many oints in the &ody which corres ond with different sensations &ut these are reflections of something which is &eyond all this. /hat is that something6 %hat is the source of life. 3ealth is... +isease5free &ody:;uiver5free &reath:Stress5free mind:Inhi&ition5free intellect:O&session5free memory:*go that includes all:And Soul which is free from sorrow

A perfect life
In a state of ignorance, im erfection is natural and erfection is an effort. In a state of wisdom or enlightenment, im erfection is an effort8 erfection is a com ulsion and is unavoida&le< -erfection is taking total res onsi&ility, and total res onsi&ility means knowing that you are the only res onsi&le erson in the whole world. /hen you are in total vairagya 'dis assion), you can take care of even trivial and insignificant things with such erfection. -erfection is the very nature of the *nlightened one. .nowledge will &e different at different levels of consciousness. At a articular level, you will &ecome anasuya 'meaning devoid of fault5finding eyes. %here is a certain mindset that always finds fault, even in the &est of conditions. *ven with the &est ossi&le com anion, or the most &eautiful ainting, such eo le will still find something wrong. %hat kind of mindset cannot know the sacred knowledge. %he weaker the devotee, the urer the =uru needs to &e. .rishna tells Arjuna that he is giving him the Royal Secret, &ecause he is Anasuya. Similarly, 3anuman never saw any fault in Rama. #rom a distance, even craters cannot &e seen. *ven on a smooth surface there will &e holes. If you are only interested in the holes, you will not see the magnanimity of things. If you are not in Anasuya, knowledge cannot &lossom in you. %hen there is no oint in giving knowledge. If you look for im erfection you can see im erfection even in Rama and .rishna. If .rishna had &een living today then ro&a&ly there would have &een many court cases filed against him for telling lies, stealing etc< In 4uddhas life you dont see any im erfection. 4uddha lived a ure life not for his own sake &ut for the sake of the world, for the sake of the devotees. #or an enlightened erson, if someone drinks or smokes, nothing will ha en to his consciousness. In that state, all that you want is good for everyone, welfare for everyone and ha iness on this lanet. In a erfect world, why is man so im erfect6 It is so that you can &ecome more erfect. Recognition of im erfections leads you to more erfection. %his is a very delicate oint. If you recognise im erfection you may just sulk and &rood over it , Oh, I am im erfect, im erfect and im erfect. Recognise the im erfection in you and overcome it &y seeing more erfection. 1ou have heard this &efore, that all is =od and all is love. 4ut then what is the ur ose of life6 If everything is =od then where is life heading to6 !ife is heading towards erfection, isnt it6 /e want erfection. %here are three kinds of erfection$ -erfection in action:work 'kriya), erfection in s eech 'vachan), erfection in feelings:intention '&haav). Some eo le may &e very good in their actions &ut inside they feel very grum y and angry. Some may lie , ie, their s eech is not erfect &ut they do their jo&s right or they feel right. A doctor may tell a atient, +ont worry, your disease will &e cured, &ut that may not &e true. At times, the intention &ehind lying is erfect.

#or e"am le a child asks his mother where his &a&y &rother came from, the mother re lies that she &ought the &a&y. %he mothers intentions &ehind lying is erfect. If someone lies intentionally then the feeling is im erfect, the s eech is im erfect and the action will also reflect the same. Su ose someone makes a mistake and when you look at the mistake you get angry. %hen you are no &etter than the erson who has made the mistake, &ecause there the action was im erfect, &ut here your feelings have &ecome im erfect. Any action will have some flaw. 4ut when the feeling &ecomes im erfect then it stays for a longer eriod. %he innermost erfection is lost. >any eo le who fight for human rights are fighting for a cause &ut inside, they get angry. Anger is as &ad as lust and jealousy is no &etter than anger. #rom all these si" im erfections 'lust, anger, greed, entanglement, arrogance and jealousy) you think one is &etter than the other, &ut they are not. Sadhana hel s you maintain your centredness and not &e shaken &y small events. /hen someone screams at you, their s eech is im erfect &ut dont assume that their feeling is also im erfect. +ont see an intention &ehind other eo les mistakes as then, the mind &rings in more im urity. %hats also (ikara, the distortion. -rakriti and (ikriti8 the whole creation is made u of nature and distortion of nature. Anger or jealousy is not our nature. It is distortion of our nature. %hey are art of this creation &ut we still call them distortions, &ecause they do not allow the Self to shine forth fully. And this is what sin is. Sin is not your nature and you are not &orn out of sin. Sin is just the wrinkle in the cloth. It needs ro er ironing. !ust is considered a sin &ecause in lust, you treat the other erson like an o&ject. 4ut in love, you see them as someone higher. Anger is a sin &ecause when you are angry you lose your centre, you lose sight of the self. In guilt, you are limiting the small mind to an action that has already ha ened. 4e thankful that you have &een &estowed with the 2ualities that you have &ecause it is not of your own making. And these 2ualities de end on the art that you have &een given to lay. /hen you understand this &asic truth, then your inner erfection &ecomes sta&le. It is said &y some sychologists that +ee inside you there is fear, guilt and anger. %hese sychologists know nothing a&out the mind or consciousness. I tell you that dee inside, you are a fountain of &liss, a fountain of joy< ?esus got angry twice. 3e threw eo le out of the church and shouted in anger. .rishna once &roke his own romise. 3e had vowed that he would not take u a wea on in his hand during the >aha&harata war. 4ut when it &ecame im ossi&le to con2uer 4hishma, he icked u his wea on, the Sudarshan 0hakra. %he eak of every emotion, every sensation leads you to &lossoming, to the innermost erfection. +ont look for erfection just in actions. 1ou name any action and Ill show you that there is a flaw in that action. *ven when you give alms or charity, you are &ringing down the self5res ect of the receiver. 4ut erfection in

feeling is ossi&le. -erfection in s eech is ossi&le to a great e"tent and to a greater e"tent, erfection in action is also ossi&le. *ven if the (ikritis come in your way, dont give them too much im ortance for they are like the wrinkles in a cloth. If you give im ortance to some&odys anger, greed or lust, then its not only in them &ut at some oint of time it takes a ermanent lace in your mind. #or e"am le, an animal has se" and after that it doesnt think a&out it till the ne"t season. 4ut a man kee s on thinking a&out it in his mind. %his is what .rishna says in the =ita on several occasions8 /hat has ha ened to your mind6 If you nourish these (ikaras inside you they change from one im urity to another and kee multi lying inside you. Rela" and know that you are not the doer. See this whole thing as a drama. %hat is the only way you can remain in your centre.

Secrets of life
+ee ening the mystery of creation is science. +ee ening the mystery of the self is s irituality %he ur ose of technology is to comfort human &eings. /hen s iritual values 5 human values 5 are ignored and neglected, instead of &ringing comfort, technology &rings fear and destruction. %echnology without human values would see nature as a dead o&ject. Science gives an insight into the life of nature and s irituality makes nature come alive. #or e"am le, in the eyes of children, there is nothing dead in the world animals, trees, the sun and the moon they all have life, emotions, feelings8 &ut in the eyes of a stressed and ignorant erson, even human &eings are like ro&ots o&jects< %echnology without s irituality is destructive. S irituality is the technology of consciousness, and the whole world is the lay and dis lay of consciousness. One who is not ama9ed &y the magnificence of this creation, his eyes are not yet o ened. %ell me, what in this creation is not a mystery6 4irth is a mystery8 death is a mystery. %hen, life is certainly a greater mystery. 4eing com letely immersed in the mystery of life and this creation is samadhi. 1our knowing or &elieving doesn@t really matter. %his creation is an unfathoma&le secret< A wise erson makes no effort to conceal a secret. 4ut he does not make an effort to reveal a secret either. #or e"am le, you do not talk a&out menstruation, death, etc. to a five5year5old, &ut as they grow older these things are not hidden from them any more. %hey &ecome known as a matter of course. %here are five secrets which are sacred and guarded &y the su&tle &eings and angels in this creation. %hey are$ ?anana Rahasya 'the secret of &irth)$ 4irth is a secret. 3ow a soul takes a &ody, the criteria for selecting the lace of &irth, time of &irth, ty e of &ody, arents, etc are all a secret. >arana Rahasya 'the secret of death)$ +eath is a highly guarded secret. +eath remains a mystery. %he rocess of se aration of s irit from matter and its journey from then on is a secret. Raja Rahasya 'the royal secret, the secret of ruling)$ %he rinci les of governing8 the rinci les of maintaining the orderliness in creation are a secret. -rakriti Rahasya 'the secret of nature)$ 7ature is a mystery. %he more you know a&out nature, the mystery dee ens. %he more a scientist knows, the more he feels there is much more to know. Science, though a earing to resolve the mystery in

creation, has dee ened it. %he knowledge of articles, wave functions, &lack holes, the vacuum state, etc have only dee ened the mystery. >antra Rahasya 'the secret of mantras)$ %he mantras and their effect, influence, method and mode of working are all a mystery. >antras are the im ulses or rhythms of consciousness, which itself is a mystery. Asually in the /est, a secret is shameful and dishonest. 4ut in the *ast, it is honoured and regarded as sacred. >ysteries of the creation only dee en. =etting stee ed in mystery is +evotion. +ee ening the mystery of creation is science. +ee ening the mystery of the self is s irituality. %hey are the two sides of the same coin. If neither science nor s irituality can create wonder and devotion in you, then you are in dee slum&er. /henever you consider a sym&ol, lace, time, erson or act as sacred, your attention is undivided and whole. /hen things are the same, you tend to sli into unawareness and inertia. %hen why does an act when erformed re eatedly lose its sacredness6 %his ha ens when your memory over owers your consciousness and you lose your sensitivity. #or e"am le, eo le living in 4enares do not feel that it is a sacred lace. %hrough living in the resent moment and through sadhana we can reserve that feeling of sacredness in our acts. %here is a leasure in rest and there is a leasure in activity. %he leasure in activity is momentary and causes fatigue. %he leasure in rest is magnanimous and energising. So, to the one who has tasted leasure in rest 'samadhi), the leasure in activity is insignificant. In order to have dee rest, one must &e active. %he ro er &alance of &oth is essential. %he mind !et us e"amine the five factors that influence the mind$ im ressions, and associations and actions. lace, time, food, ast

S ace$ %he lace you are in. *very lace you are in, has a different im act on the mind. *ven in your house, you can see that you feel different in different rooms. A lace where there there has &een singing, chanting and meditation has a different influence on the mind. Su ose you like a articular lace, you may find that a little later it will not &e the same. %ime$ %ime is also a factor. +ifferent times of the day and year have different influences on the mind. +ifferent ty es of food that you take influence you for some days. %he ast im ressions , the .armas have a different im act on the mind. Awareness, alertness, knowledge and meditation all hel erase the ast im ressions. Associations and actions$ %he eo le and events you are associated with influence your mind. In certain com any your mind &ehaves in one way and with others in a different way.

%hough these five factors influence the life and the mind, know that the self is much more owerful. As you grow in knowledge, you will influence them all. Restlessness 7ow let us e"amine the ty es of restlessness and its remedies. %here are five ty es of restlessness$ %he first is due to the lace you are in. /hen you move away from that lace, the street or the house, you immediately feel &etter. 0hanting, singing, children laying and laughing can change this atmos heric restlessness. If you chant and sing, the vi&ration in the lace changes. %he second ty e of restlessness is in the &ody. *ating the wrong food or vata aggravating food, eating at odd times, not e"ercising, and overworking can all cause a hysical restlessness. %he remedy for this is e"ercise, moderation in work ha&its and going on a vegeta&le or juice diet for one or two days. %he third ty e of restlessness is mental restlessness. It is caused &y am&ition, strong thoughts, likes or dislikes. .nowledge alone can cure this restlessness. Seeing life from a &roader ers ective, knowledge a&out the Self and the im ermanence of everything. If you achieve everything, so what6 After your achievement, you will die. .nowledge of your death or life, confidence in the Self, in the +ivine, can all calm down the mental restlessness. %hen there is emotional restlessness. Any amount of knowledge does not hel here. Sudarshan .riya hel s< All that emotional restlessness vanishes. Also the resence of the =uru, a wise erson, or a saint will hel to calm your emotional restlessness. %he fifth ty e of restlessness is rare. It is the restlessness of the soul. /hen everything feels em ty and meaningless, know you are very fortunate. +o not try to get rid of it. *m&race it< %his restlessness of the soul alone can &ring authentic rayer in you. It &rings erfection, Siddhis and miracles in life. It is so recious to get that innermost longing for the +ivine. Satsang, the resence of the enlightened one, soothes the restlessness of the soul. +o not look for the +ivine somewhere in the sky, &ut see =od in every air of eyes, in the mountains, water, trees and animals. 3ow6 Only when you see =od in yourself. Only =ods can worshi =ods. 3eightened awareness &rings you close to the reality. And for this, you have to increase your rana. %his can &e done through$ B. #asting, fresh food C. -ranayamas, Sudarshan .riya, meditation D. Silence E. 0old water &aths F. 7ot letting slee take over G. *motional eaks H. -resence of the >aster I. Singing and chanting J. =iving without a givershi , service without a doershi All of these together is 1agya. /hen you have reverence for the whole universe, you are in harmony with the whole universe. %hen, you do not need to reject or renounce anything of this universe. /hen you have reverence in all your relationshi s, your own consciousness e" ands. %hen even small things a ear to &e significant and &ig. *very little creature a ears to &e dignified. It is the reverence in every relationshi

that saves the relationshi . 0ultivate the skill of having reverence every moment in your life.

More than words

/isdom is &eyond words. It is the very 4eing. It is the essence of all words. See and relate &eyond words. %hen there is no lie in your life. /e attach meaning to words and we distort them, too. If you mani ulate words, it is a lie:If you lay on words, it is a joke:If you rely on words, it is ignorance:If you transcend words, it is wisdom. !ets e"amine few words which have changed their meaning in the course of time. 4RAI7/AS3I7=, +isillusionment, urana$ %ake, for e"am le, the word &rainwashing. !ike your &ody, your &rain needs washing sometimes. 1ou dont want to walk around with a dirty &rain, a dirty mind. /hat is wrong with the word &rainwashing6 It indicates a clean &rain, a clean mind, &ut it is used in a derogatory manner. !ike that, the word disillusionment. It is good that you are disillusioned. 1ou have come to reality. Similarly, the word urana. It means that which is new in the town, the most modern. 4ut it is used in the sense of &eing old. >*R01$ #irst let us look into the commonly used word mercy. >ercy indicates lack of intimacy. It Indicates a distance8 a lack of &elongingness. 1ou dont have mercy on your near and dear ones. 1ou dont hear arents say, l have mercy on my children. 1ou have mercy on those who you think are not yours. >ercy indicates anger, judgement and authority. /hen you ask for mercy, you are self5centred. 1ou want to &e e"cused from the law of cause and effect. It also indicates lack of courage and valour. /hen you know and trust the rocess of creation, you will sim ly rejoice. It is the small mind which su erim oses its nature on the +ivine mind. %he +ivine is all knowing and all loving8 there is no chance for mercy. +o you know I have no mercy6 /hen there is intimacy there is no lace for mercy. #OR=I(*7*SS$ Similarly forgiveness can never &e com lete. /e struggle, trying to forgive someone else. 1ou know why6 /hen you say I forgive, you think they are the cul rits, and when you think someone is a cul rit and trying to forgive, however you do it, a little &it of it remains. 4ut when you see with a &road outlook you see the cul rit is also a victim, victim of his or her own mind, ignorance, unawareness, unconsciousness. Isnt it6 So com assion arises from within you. 4ut when eo le cannot understand com assion, then they have to &e s oken to in terms of forgiveness. SO#%7*SS, #OR0*#A!7*SS$ 0ertain ty es of eo le are soft and their softness comes out of lack of courage and forcefulness. %here is yet another ty e of softness in eo le and this softness comes out of maturity, magnanimity, and the knowledge of the Self. %he eo le who are soft out of lack of courage suffer a lot. And at sometime or the other they &ecome volatile. Similarly there are two ty es of forcefulness in eo le vi9 aggression or assertiveness. Some eo le are forceful in an aggressive manner out of weakness, lack of strength, or out of fear. Others are forceful out of care and love, out of com assion.

%O!*RA70*$ Another word used often is tolerance. >any eo le think tolerance is a virtue. %olerance is a negative term. If you like something you dont have to tolerate. %olerance indicates a dee sense of dislike, which can at any time turn into hatred. It indicates a sense of se arateness, small mindedness, limitation of consciousness. /hen you are tolerating, it is a tem orary state. %olerance is a otential volcano. If you are tolerating it means you are holding on. AAS%*RI%1$ Austerity is often mistaken to &e overty or self5denial. It is neither. Austerity comes out of maturity. It is a sign of social health. Austerity is not against cele&ration and just vanity is not cele&ration. Only one who is rich in s irit can ractice austerity. -overty of s irit is vanity. Austerity &rings freedom from the ride of vanity. 4ut taking ride in austerity is again a vanity< +o not make an effort to im ress others, or to e" ress yourself. /hen you come from the self, your e" ression is erfect and your im ression lasts for ages. Ask yourself, Are you really your &ehaviours6 7o< +ont mistake this crust for your inside. %he ocean &ecoming the cloud is a secret, &ut the cloud &ecoming the ocean is o&vious. In the world only a few can notice your inner growth.

In search of bliss
%he +ivine has given you all the small leasures in the world, &ut has ke t the &liss to 3imself. %o get the highest &liss you have to go to 3im and 3im alone. +ont &e too smart with the +ivine and try to fool 3im. >ost of your rayers and rituals are just attem ts to trick the +ivine. 1ou try to give the least and get the ma"imum out of the +ivine and 3e knows. 3es an astute &usinessman8 3e will trick you even more. If you go underneath the car et, 3e will go underneath the floor. 4e sincere in your attem ts. +o not try to outsmart the +ivine. Once you get the &liss, then everything else is joyful. /ithout the &liss, joy in anything in the world will not stay. /hat ty e of time do you give the +ivine6 Asually you give the time that is leftover, when you have nothing else to do, when no guests are coming, there are no arties to go to, no nice movies to watch, no weddings to attend. %his is not 2uality time. =ive 2uality time to the +ivine. It will &e rewarded. If your rayers are not answered it is &ecause you have never given 2uality time. =ive Satsang and meditation your highest riority. =ive rime time to the +ivine. 1ou definitely will &e rewarded. Su ose you go to =od, get a &oon, and walk away. /hen your intention is to get a &oon, then you are in a hurry. Another erson who knows he owns =od is not in a hurry for anything. Infinite atience comes u in him. /hen you know you own =od, you are not in a hurry to get something out of =od. 1our hurry to get something throws you off &alance and makes you small. 3ave eternal wait, infinite atience. %hen you will realise =od &elongs to you. *ither through awareness or through ractice you reach the same s ot. %he +ivinity &elongs to you. Its not like sho ing at the su ermarket in a hurry and rushing &ack home. /hen you see the whole store is at home, you are not in a hurry to sho . 1ou are at ease. %o develo atience just o&serve the thoughts and feelings and dont regret it. /hen you know you are art of the divine lan, you sto demanding. %hen you know everything is &eing done for you. 1ou are taken care of. Asually we do it the other way$ we hurry the mind and are slow in our action. Im atience means hurrying the mind8 lethargy means slowness in action. -atience in the mind and dynamism in action is the right formula. %he +ivine does not test you. %esting is art of ignorance. /ho will test6 One who does not know will test, isnt it6 =od knows your ca acity, so why does he have to test you6 %hen, why the misery6 It is to &ring out thithiksha, or for&earance, in you. And for&earance could &e increased &y rayerful surrender or vigorous challenge for atience< Strange are the ways of karma. %he more you understand it, the more ama9ed you &ecome. It &rings eo le together and se arates them. It causes some to &e weak and some to &e strong. It makes some rich and some oor. All the struggle in the world, whatever it may &e, is the &ondage of karma. It cuts across all logic and

reasoning. %his understanding will lift you from getting stuck to the events or ersonalities and hel you in your journey to the Self. 1ou may think that a thief can say it is my karma to steal6 %hen the olice have the karma to catch him too< Only human life has the a&ility to &e free from karma. And only a few thousands aim to &e free from it. Only through =race can the &ondage of karma &e &urnt. -erforming actions cannot eliminate karma. Some karma can &e changed and some cannot. /hen you re are halwa, if the sugar or the ghee used is less than re2uired, or if the water is more or less than is needed, it can all &e adjusted, re aired. 4ut once soji is cooked, it cannot &e reversed. If the &uttermilk is sour, milk can &e added, salt can &e added to make it drinka&le. 4ut it can never &e reversed &ack to milk. -rara&dha karma cannot &e changed. Sanchitha karma can &e changed &y s iritual ractices. Satsang &urns the seed of all negative karma. /hen you raise someone, you take on their good karma. /hen you &lame someone you take on their &ad karma. .now this and surrender &oth good and &ad karma to the +ivine and &e free. Attachments cause feverish &reath and feverish &reath takes away eace of mind. %hen you are in ieces and fall rey to misery. 4efore you get scattered too much, gather yourself and rid your &reath of the feverishness through surrender and sadhana. Anfortunately, most eo le do not notice this until it is too late. /hen someone is drowning in the ocean of attachments, surrender is the life jacket they can ut on and wait for the rescue team. /ithout fighting the attachments, o&serve the feverish &reath and go to the cool lace of silence within. 1our first ste in this direction is directing your attachment to the .nowledge, to the +ivine. 1our non5attachment to the mundane is your charm. 1our attachment to the +ivine is your &eauty. %here are three things$ the Self, the senses, and the o&ject, or the world. And there are three words$ sukha, leasure8 dukha, sorrow8 and sakha, com anion. %hese have one thing in common$ kha, which means senses. %he Self through the senses e" eriences the world. /hen the senses are with the Self, that is leasure 'sukha), &ecause the Self is the source of all joy or leasure. /hen the senses are away from the Self 'dukha) in the mud, lost in the o&ject that is misery. Self is the nature of joy. In any leasant e" erience, you close your eyes8 you smell a nice flower, or you taste or touch something. So sukha is that which takes you to the Self. +ukha is that which takes you away from the Self. Sorrow sim ly means that you are caught u in the o&ject, which goes on changing, instead of focussing on the Self. All the sense o&jects are just a diving &oard to take you &ack to the Self. Sa5kha, com anion, means$ 3e is the senses. Sakha is one who has &ecome your senses, who is your senses. If you are my senses, it means I get knowledge through you8 you are my si"th sense. As I trust my mind, so I trust you. A friend could &e just an o&ject of the senses, &ut a sakha has &ecome the very senses. %he sakha is the

com anion who is there in &oth the e" eriences of the dukha and of sukha. It means one who leads you &ack to the Self. If you are stuck in an o&ject, that wisdom which ulls you &ack to the Self is sakha. .nowledge is your com anion and your com anion is .nowledge. And the >aster is nothing &ut the em&odiment of .nowledge. So sakha means, 3e is my senses, I see the world through that wisdom, through 3im. .nowledge has an end. .nowledge com letes. So also does disci leshi . #or the disci le is aimed at ac2uiring .nowledge. Once you cross the water, however nice the &oat is, you get off the &oat. After twelve years, the disci le com letes his studies. %he master does a ceremony called Samavartha, where he tells the disci le that he is ending the disci leshi and asking him to &ehave at ar with him, and let the 4rahman dynamically manifest. Sakha is a com anion in life and death8 it never ends. In the ath of love there is neither &eginning nor end. Sakha only wants the &eloved. 3e doesnt care a&out the .nowledge or li&eration. !ove is incom lete &ecause of longing. And so it is infinite, for infinity can never &e com lete. Arjuna was a sakha to .rishna and although .rishna was the erfect >aster he was a sakha, too. If your sense is the +ivine, then you see the whole world through the +ivinity. 1our head will &e in the mud in a few years8 +ont ut mud in your head while you are still alive. If you follow fun, misery follows you8 If you follow knowledge, fun follows you<

Know yourself, know God

/hat is =od6 /hat is not =od6 /hat is the definition of =od, if there is one6 %he moment you define &y a word you already have a conce t a&out it. /hat do you think is =od6 1ou descri&e it as that which is everywhere8 which is all5 owerful8 which is res onsi&le for this creation, for its maintenance, and for its dissolution8 which is Omni resent, Omni otent, and Omniscient. 1ou say I want to see =od and when you want to see =od as something, as an o&ject, then its not everywhere. %he moment you see =od, there is a distance &etween you and =od8 then you are not =od. 1ou want to see =od, and this wanting to see =od as se arate from you is again an illusion8 and if you are seeing =od, then =od is not omni resent< !ike love is felt in the heart, so is =ods resence. 1ou cannot see air, &ut you sim ly feel the air. 1ou cannot see heat or cold, &ut you just feel it. So in the same way =od cannot &e seen. If you see =od, then 3e is outside there8 3e is away from you and isolated. =od is never an o&ject of isolation. =od is the sum total. /hen you dissolve, =od remains. /hen you are there, there is no =od. *ither you can &e there, or =od can &e there, not &oth. So when you meditate, you &ecome one with =od. 1ou are =od. %hat is why, it is said, %atvamasi, meaning, %hou art that. So, =od is to &e felt in the de th of your heart. In dee meditation when your mind is still, calm, hollow and em ty, you suddenly feel, I am not there. %here is only one &ig e"istence. So, dont worry a&out =od. #irst know yourself then you also know what is =od, almost simultaneously. /ho are you6 +o you know a&out yourself6 ?ust find out a&out yourself first. If you think you are just the &ody, it is not ossi&le, &ecause &ody has its limitations. If you think you are the mind, thats also not ossi&le &ecause mind has its limitation, its another layer. If you know that you are Silence or you are S ace, then it is ossi&le8 =od is also S ace. S ace is =od. 0an you see s ace se arately6 %here are three ty es of s ace$ 4hootha Aakash , Outer s ace in which all this universe is hanging. 0hitta Aakash , In your mind, there is a world with im ressions, thoughts, dreams8 you live in that world, all the visions come in your mind. 0hida Aakash , Its the sky of consciousness that is all ermeating8 the consciousness, the &asis of all creation, that is +ivine, that all knows. !ord Rama himself had asked a 2uestion once. 3e was curious to see so much love, devotion and dedication in 3anuman that he wondered and asked 3anuman what it felt like &eing 3anuman6 3anuman told Rama , /hen I am in &ody 0onsciousness, I am your servant8 when I think I am an individual , I am in Soul 0onsciousness, I am a art of you8 and when I am in my &eing 0onsciousness, when I am in my self then I am you8 there is no difference &etween me and you. Its the same when some&ody &lames your child8 you take the &lame dont you6

%here is so much oneness8 in fact, there is really nothing other than =od. =od is that which is resent everywhere, all the time. +ont worry too much a&out hiloso hy or descri tions of Atma 'self) , -aramatma '=od). !ets forget a&out =od and o&serve this moment8 this moment has a mind of its own. %he whole e"istence has a mind of its own. !ike you have a mind and it has such intelligence, thats why it kee s everything orderly. Similarly, this moment is seen &y this mind. %his mind you can call it Atma or =od and that is what you are. 1esterday is not here right now, tomorrow is not here &ut the resent is here, now< Res ect this moment, adore this moment. See, this moment is not flat8 its very dee . /hen you acce t from the head, you can have the hori9ontal idea8 from the heart you e" erience the de th8 and &oth together &ring true wisdom and knowledge. /hat is =od and what is Self6 %he one &eyond Self is =od8 first reach till the Self at least. %he difference &etween Self and =od is just like the /ave and the Ocean. 0an there &e a wave without the ocean6 S ace is everywhere8 everything is in s ace. 1ou take all things out from a &o", em ty it yet something remains still8 the s ace remains as s ace, can anything touch the s ace6 0an anything destroy s ace6 1ou cannot make =od an o&ject of your sight. If you make it then it is no more =od. 1ou can live =od, can &e =od, &ut you cannot see or erceive =od as an o&ject which gives you the ath. As you move into the s iritual dimension of your life, you will come to know your true nature. In ancient India they said, Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram. Satyam '%ruth) /hen you feel the truth strongly, energy arises. Su ose someone accuses you of stealing a car. 1ou &ecome u set and say, 7o< I have not stolen anything< /hat is ha ening to you6 A huge force of energy is coming u . /hen 1ou say, 3ow dare you say that6 truth is coming u to confront a lie. Only when a lie confronts you, does truth come u so strongly. /hen you see that everything is changing, something inside you stands u and says, 7o< I am not changing. %hat force within you is truth8 its always there. Shivam 'Infinity8 that which is comforting) 0omfort comes from consciousness and is e" erienced &y consciousness. /hen the consciousness rela"es itself to some degree that is called comfort. If you have worked all day until you are very tired and you lay down in &ed and take a dee &reath, there is a sense of your whole consciousness e" anding in some manner. *nergy moving in a articular way creates comfort. In the s iritual dimension ones erce tion and e" ression of life changes. %he small I and mine disa ear. 1ou see life as a henomenon. 1ou are here and you are art of the river, the trees, the mountains, and the whole of nature. Such a soothing comfort comes with this knowledge. Sundaram '4eauty)

=od is ever youthful, ever young. %o me, =od is very naughty8 =od loves fun< %hat is why he has created so much fun around, including all the worry and everything else. All the rat race that goes on, that is also fun. !ife is fun< Recognising &eauty, loving &eauty, surrendering to &eauty8 life can never &e dull. As you move into the s iritual dimension of your life, you come to know your true nature , Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram 3ead understands head and heart understands heart. 7ose can only smell8 eye can only see8 ears can only hear, ears cannot see. So, heart can feel, isnt it6 /e try to ut the heart in the head and the head in the heart and it doesnt seem to work. 1our heart feels something is &eautiful, head says it is &eautiful. /e cling on to the word in the mind, we dont feel it. /e re eat the word &eautiful and it doesnt seem &eautiful. %he same thing goes for love. 1ou talk too much a&out love, you get stuck in the head and it doesnt rise in the heart. In silence love emits, radiates. /e are not se arate. /e are all one. I know you all and when you go dee inside you, you know me also. /e are not strangers. /hen we start listening to our heart then we know that all is one and all is =od. =O+ stands for =enerator, O erator and +estroyer. %he resent moment has generated8 the resent moment is o erating8 and the resent moment destroyed the ast. So, you are in =od and, =od is in you...

Combating corruption
%he &ig 0 of corru tion can &e countered &y five more 0s< %he first, I would say, is the sense of 0onnectedness. A lack of connectedness or sense of &elongingness &reeds corru tion in society. %hat is why, often, you see eo le looking for connections, in order to avoid corru tion< A sense of &elongingness among eo le, among the community, can root out corru tion. %hat is why corru tion is lowest at the village level8 &ut when it comes to ur&an areas, cities, its much more &ecause there is no community sense there , no &elongingness. %he second 0 is 0ourage. A lack of self5esteem or confidence in ones own a&ility is one of the causes of corru tion. It is fear, or insecurity in a erson that makes one &ecome more corru t. 3e then tries to find his security only through money, which doesnt really ha en. %he more money he ac2uires, the insecurity doesnt disa ear. In fact, he &ecomes more afraid and more fearful &ecause the money is not earned in a right manner. So the second 0 that we will have to focus on is to create that courage in a erson , courage and confidence in ones a&ility and in the laws of nature. %hird is an understanding of 0osmology , looking at ones own life in the conte"t of e"tended s ace and time. ?ust take a look at our own life. 3ow long is it6 Only IK5BKK years< See life in the conte"t of the huge dimension of time. 4illions of years have assed since the creation. Our creation, as scientists say, is FK &illion years old. And everything in this creation is recycled. %he air we &reathe is old, every cell in our &ody, every atom is old, the o"ygen and hydrogen is old< And this will continue. Seeing life from a different ers ective of s ace and time is what will dee en ones vision a&out ones life. 4eing corru t, one amasses a lot of money and uts it in the &ank. One cant s end all that money and then one dies. Ones children inherit the ro erty and then they fight over the inheritance< Seeing life in the conte"t of this huge universe and unfathoma&le time can &roaden ones vision, can &roaden ones mind and can enrich ones heart. %he fourth 0, I would say, is 0are and 0om assion. 0are and com assion in society can &ring dedication. It is the lack of dedication that causes corru tion. %he .um&ha >ela in India was attended &y a total of DK million eo le , nearly D million eo le each day, and there was not a single incidence of violence, theft or ro&&ery< One night, we were distri&uting &lankets to the oor as it was very cold and I came across a youth, who refused to take a &lanket, saying that ro&a&ly someone else there needed it more< %hat sense of care and com assion$ It doesnt matter even if I dont have, some&ody needs this more. /e have to care for them. %hat care and com assion can root out corru tion. %he last one I would like to em hasise is a sense of 0ommitment , commitment to contri&ution. /hen a erson has a goal, a commitment to a higher cause in life, it &rings a shift from gaining to giving. In society, if everyone kee s thinking, /hat can I gain6 rather than /hat can I contri&ute6 or 3ow can I &e useful to the

eo le around me6, then corru tion cannot &e rooted out. In society, we need to have this shift in our attitude, from /hat can I gain6 to /hat can I contri&ute6 4ut all this cannot &e ossi&le without individual u liftment. S iritual u liftment. A sense of &elongingness with the whole world. %oday the glo&e has &ecome a village. /e have glo&alised everything other than wisdom. And that is one of the causes of terrorism and unrest in the world today. /e acce t food from every art of the world, we acce t music from every art of the world, &ut when it comes to wisdom, eo le seem to shy away. If every child in the world learns a little &it a&out all cultures, a little &it a&out all values, the whole scenario will &e different. %hen one will not think, Only I will go to heaven. *veryone else will go to hell. %his wrong education or lack of education has caused so many ro&lems in the world. A sense of &elongingness with the whole world , it doesnt matter what colour or race you are , is that shared value that we are talking a&out today. *ven if one ocket in the world remains ignorant of these shared values, common values, the world will not &e a safe lace. So we need to address these issues with a lot of atience. It is not a jo& that we can do overnight, &ut through education and creating that sense of community, through ins iration and e"am le. >ake a su&tle distinction &etween s irituality and religion. Religion is like the &anana skin and s irituality is the &anana. S irituality or the common values are the same, in every religion. %he differences are only on the surface. and they are good< Its good to have differences. 7urture the differences and at the same time enliven s iritual values. %hen we all get together and make a change. >ake a &etter society.

The creati e impulse

It is very im ortant for us to ro&e into the source of thought. Often we are called great thinkers, &ut what is a thought6 /here does it originate6 Is there any way that we can im rove the thought rocess6 0reativity is a hot su&ject today all over the world. /e want to make eo le very creative. /hat are the mechanics to make eo le creative6 /hy does someone get a violent thought and why does someone get a creative thought6 3ow can someone &e a genius and someone not6 /hat does this de end on6 Is it the food, is it the e"ercise or does it de end on any other avenues or arenas6 4ut, we can create great thinkers. %here is a 2uestion in front of us today and research is ha ening around the world a&out the very rocess of creativity. =reat writers and thinkers have e" erienced the writers &lock. 1ou would have sometimes e" erienced that. 1ou sit with a a er and en in a &eautiful lace, waiting for something to come... and many times they dont< /hat is the source of creativity6 %hought is nothing &ut an im ulse of energy and intelligence. %hat im ulse of energy and intelligence, for it to arise and a correct thought to come, you need BG im ulses to meet at a oint in the cere&ral corte" at the s eed of BK to the ower of minus DK cycles er second. In that short interval of time, all the BG im ulses in the cere&ral corte", when they meet, is what we call a correct thought. /hat do we do a&out it6 /e need to train our &rain, our mind. 7ow, as you are reading this, are you fully with it6 7ow6 BKK ercent6 7o< As you are reading, you are having a dialogue in your own mind saying, yes, I agree or no, that cannot &e. Are you o&serving this6 /e all have a filter in our mind and we listen through this filter and we acce t only that we already know. Something, which doesnt already fall within our &elief system, we straightaway filter them out. %his tendency in the mind to take things which it already knows and reject that which it doesnt know, is one of the main &locks of creativity. %he second as ect for creativity is imagination. 1ou will see that every creative erson has some imagination. At that moment you will not think whether that is real or not. /hat a ears to &e unreal and an imagination in that direction &rings creativity. If it is only an imagination, totally disconnected with ground reality then also it falls short of that connection, that transformation, that unreal &ecomes real. %homas *dison, once u on a time, dreamt of how to create light. It was urely an imagination. Similarly, the tele hone or lane , all these inventions ha ened through certain imagination and linking that imagination to the resent creativity, resent state of ground reality. If you are thinking only of the ground reality then no creativity will come and if you are only on imagination, then too there is no creativity. A &alance is needed. See, life is also like that , a &alance &etween our intellect and our heart, or feeling, or intuition. !istening to our gut feeling, develo ing that intuitive a&ility within us is another as ect of creativity. So, when such &locks come into us, there is a way to eliminate them. 3ow6 %o study our own seven layers of our e"istence. /hat are they6 I call science as a

study of what is this and s irituality as a study of who am I6. %hey are not at loggerheads at all, they go hand in hand. So study a&out yourself, your seven layers of e"istence. /hat are they6 %he &ody, the &reath , are you all &reathing now6 See, many times we are not even aware that we are &reathing. %hat something, which kee s our &ody alive, we dont care to look into it. Our &reath has great secrets to offer. %hen comes the mind. >ind is erce tion, o&servation and e" ression. %hen is the intellect , the judgement, the arguments, the agreement or disagreement that ha ens within us is all art of our intellect. %he memory , if you o&serve the memory, it stores the memory of un leasant things much more than the leasant. /e take the insults and reserve it in our memory much more than the leasant events. %his is the nature of memory. %hen comes the ego , the more we study, the more learned we &ecome8 we &ecome so stiff. /e lose our smile, we lose our innocence, we lose our friendliness. !earned eo le get a sort of an ego , that I am much &etter than the other, more learned, I know &etter than them , this ego of I know &etter takes away certain &eautiful things from your life. One should have a sense of &elongingness with every&ody, naturalness. *go dam ens ones ersonality. %oday, what we lack is really good e"am les of ersonality. .nowledge is there in all the li&raries , &ut what the &ooks cannot transmit is the ersonal charisma, the vi&ration a erson emits. %he friendly and warm atmos here a erson carries along with him:her. %he seventh layer is the self. Self is that something that is the reference oint of all changes in life. /e notice that everything is changing in our life , our &ody, our mind, our thought, our environment, and our &ehaviour. If everything is changing then how do we know the change6 4ecause there is a reference oint, something that doesnt change, we are a&le to notice the change. And this reference oint, the non5changing something that is in every one of us, I would call the Self. %he scri tures would call it atman. A little &it of knowledge a&out these seven layers of e"istence makes a &ig, &ig difference in our lives. It &rings cheer, freshness, and we &ecome so alive and childlike. If you are cheerful, you will &e creative. Otherwise you are so dull. %he youth of today dont want to study more. /hy6 4ecause they see the eo le who are well read, and have &ecome great achievers in the field of literacy, science, they dont see joy in them, they dont see them as an e"am le, and they dont see a warm, friendly environment atmos here around them. So, I see many youth turn their face away from going into higher studies. %his is the situation all over the world today. /e need to &ring a scientific hiloso hy in the youth , and ractical hiloso hy, which is not in the &ooks &ut shines out in our own ersonality. In our country what we have really destroyed is the self5esteem in our eo le. (illage &oys and girls have 9ero self5esteem. %his is &ecause we have constantly, in many ways, directly or indirectly, consciously or unconsciously, drilled into them the idea that they are no good. /ear a ant, shirt, jeans, modern dress, only then you are good, otherwise you are no good , you are much less.

%his idea we have &een &om&arding into their life through the media, through various means. I was telling the director of +oordarshan that we have 3indi newsreaders in a tie and suit , how does a villager relate to this6 %hey think that only if I dress like this will I get res ect. /e dont have to co y everything. If you see, our news reading is a co y of 440 or 077. /e need to &ring in creative ideas. /e should em ower our village youth , &ring them self5esteem. /ithout self5esteem there will &e no creativity, without creativity there will &e unem loyment. %he cause of unem loyment in the country today is lack of initiative, entre reneurshi and all this is &ased on low self5esteem. So we need to &ring self5esteem in our children.

!reath of life
%he world would &e free from trou&le if there is no love< All the ro&lem in the world is caused &y love< So also all the joy, leasure and the very ur ose in life. +o you see what Im saying6 Su ose there is no love, you cant &e jealous8 jealousy is &ecause of love. =reed is &ecause you love o&jects too much. Anger is &ecause you love erfection, that is why you are angry at im erfections. 1ou love yourself too much and thats why ride and arrogance comes to you. Isnt it6 So, every distortion of love causes ro&lems not only for ourselves, &ut for every&ody. *ven though this is the case, without love what is there in life6 ?ust imagine theres no&ody who loves you on this lanet, and you dont love any&ody. +oes life have any meaning, any ur ose6 It a ears a&solutely de ressing, &oring, uninteresting, isnt it so6 4ut, how do we get to that oint of love where that love is free from the distortions and we are a&le to &e at ease with ourself6 %his is where a little knowledge a&out ourself, a&out our mind, our consciousness, and the root of distortion will hel . It is when you are tired and e"hausted that you are not in touch with your virtues. *very individual is &estowed with all the virtues in the world. %hey sim ly get covered &y lack of understanding. All that is needed is to just to uncover the virtues that are already there. 7ever should we think, Oh, dee inside me there is sorrow. I say its only skin dee , go a little dee er there is no sorrow. 1ou cannot have hurt dee inside you, that only means you have not gone dee enough. %hats why we are una&le to forgive some&ody &ecause we think that erson has caused us hurt. Right6 4ut if you look at the erson from a different ers ective, that erson himself is also a victim of ignorance, small mindedness, lack of awareness. So, inside every cul rit there is a victim crying for hel . If we can recognise that we dont need to forgive them, we will feel com assion for them. /hen we are ha y, something in us is e" anding, have you noticed it6 And when we are u set, something in us is &eing crushed, a sense of contraction is felt. ?ust knowing this &rings freedom to us. %hen our mind or our consciousness no more &ecomes a u et of any&odys words, o inions or their sayings. It &ecomes free. /e are unconditionally ha y. *ach of us should reach out to everyone and say, 3ey, come on, just &e friendly<. +o you know that a child smiles EKK times a day, an adolescent only BH times, and an adult doesnt smile at all. And that too, if he &ecomes a little successful, he &ecomes much more stiff. I cant understand this< %o me, someone who has no fear, who feels at home with every&ody and has a smile which no one can take away is a successful erson. #rom today, make one resolution , that you are going to &e a guiding lam for the world, for the eo le around you. /herever you go, you are going to u lift the atmos here. If someone comes to you with com laints they should go &ack with a lighter heart, feeling more enthusiastic. 0an you all do this6 So, learning something a&out our &reath is very im ortant. Our &reath has a great lesson to teach us, which we have forgotten, for every rhythm in the mind, there is

a corres onding rhythm in the &reath, for every rhythm in the &reath there is a corres onding emotion. So, when you cannot handle your mind directly, through &reath you can handle the mind. 7either at school nor at home does any&ody teach you what to do when you are u set or angry or de ressed. Isnt that so6 %he first thing we did when we came to this lanet is that we took a dee &reath in and then we started to cry. %he last thing well &e doing, well &reathe out and make others cry< In &etween, the whole life, we are &reathing in and out, &ut, we have learnt very little a&out our &reath< 7o &reath, no life... know &reath, know life< %he rhythm in &reath can hel us get in touch with the de th of ourself, our soul, our consciousness, our &eing and we feel connected with every&ody, with everything in the world. I am sure that dee within you, everyone of you feel that you have not grown, meaning you have not changed, not grown old. %his indicates the soul in you, the de th in you, the s irit in you doesnt change, doesnt grow old, its not aging. %he &ody is aging &ut something in you is not aging. =etting in touch with that something that doesnt age, &rings &eauty in life. %hat is meditation. /e need to learn a little &it a&out our &reath. /e need to know a little &it a&out all the layers of our e"istence, vi9 &ody, &reath, mind, intellect, memory, ego and the self. %his is what I call Art of !iving, learning a little &it a&out ourself, the seven layers of our life. And that makes you &e in the resent moment and it hel s us to maintain the innocence that we are all &orn with, and feel at home with every&ody, anywhere. /hat I would suggest is take one week off every year for yourself, like you take your car for servicing. +uring that time, align yourself with nature, wake u with the sunrise, do some e"ercise, eat ro er food, just as much food as necessary, some e"ercises, yoga, and some &reathing e"ercises, a few minutes of singing, and kee ing silence, enjoying the creation. Aligning ourself with nature, our whole system gets recharged, makes the whole year, we feel so vi&rant, enthusiastic.

"ower of lo e
%here is strength in eace. %here is strength in calmness. %here is strength in love... &ut it goes unnoticed. /hat you cannot win with a stick, you can win with love. /hat you cannot win with guns, you can win through love... and this ower of love needs to &e realised. %he most owerful thing in the world is love< /e can win the hearts of eo le through love. %he victory that comes out of ego is worth nothing. *ven if you win in ego, it is a loss. *ven if you lose in love, its a victory< >aking eo le realise this innermost strength that we all have is the challenge< 1ou cannot talk a&out love when a terrorist is at your door, &ut is there some way in which we can transform the world6 Is there any alternative method that can &ring sense to eo le who do not listen to anything, other than force6 /e can start thinking along these lines only when we realise that there is enormous ower in love and inner eace. /hen we are eaceful, we radiate that eace to the eo le around us and they also &ecome calm. In these times of war and disease in the world, its so im ortant that we all meditate a little &it everyday. /hen we meditate, we nullify those vi&rations, there&y creating a more harmonious environment around us. I would call war the /orst Act of Reason '/AR). In every war, there is some reason. Sometimes it &ecomes unavoida&le, like an o eration. If there is a wound or a cancerous cell in ones &ody, we o erate. After the o eration, the nursing is very essential. /e need to nurse that art which has &een o erated. Its the same in the world and in the syche of eo le8 a lot needs to &e done to &ring eace, love and confidence into hearts and minds. So our &eing eaceful in a meditative, rayerful state, will definitely hel . +ont think, what can I do6 or that you are insignificant, when the world is in a ro&lem. 1ou too have a role to lay. !ike a tiny homeo athic ill, which has a B:BKKth, or B:BKKKth otency, makes an im act on a &ody, which is si"ty to seventy kilos< In the same way, every individual , everyone who is &reathing, talking, walking, thinking , has an influence on this cosmos, on this lanet. So we can all radiate eace, good thoughts, good vi&rations, good wishes and that will definitely make an im act on the lanet. Ive seen this over and over again. /hen there is a conflict and you interact with &oth the grou s engaged in the conflict, they soften u < /hen communication &reaks down, it causes tur&ulence, which in turn causes stiffness and rigidity, &ut when you re5esta&lish communication through love, through eaceful means, through atience , it does yield. One thing that is a&solutely essential to avoid such fanaticism or religious terrorism in the world is a multi5cultural, multi5religious education for children. It is &ecause a child grows u thinking that other religions or cultures are &ad or no good, that he:she is ready to give u his:her life for that cause8 &ut when a child grows u knowing a little &it a&out all other religions, cultures and customs, then there is a sense of &elonging with every&ody.

So, whether a culture or a religion is rightly or wrongly used to divide eo le, it is not good. /e need to unite the world, the hearts and the minds< /here is it that we can all unite6 %hat is the meditative state that we are all &orn with , the sim licity that we are gifted with. So, I feel that when every child in the world learns a little &it a&out every other religion, the child will not have inhi&itions or hatred towards other religions or cultures. See, we acce t food from every art of the world. /e acce t music from every art of the world. 1ou dont need to &e 0hinese in order to eat 0hinese food< 1ou dont need to &e an Italian to go to -i99eria and eat i99as, nor a +anish to eat +anish cookies< One doesnt have to &e an Indian to listen to &hajans or sitar music< Similarly, we need to learn to acce t knowledge and wisdom from every art, and this is what has &een lacking in the world. /e need to drive home this message &ecause even if one art of the world is not ado ting this idea, the world will not &e a safe lace as that little art or corner can &reed terrorism. I would say you should take u a two5 oint rogramme , doing a little service in grou s and:or as individuals, educating eo le on human values, friendliness, com assion, non5violence, non5aggression... Aggression has even come into the lives of children. %here is a &eauty in non5violence8 there is a &eauty in non5aggressive &ehaviour, which has unfortunately not &een highlighted, either &y our media or &y our surroundings. %his is ha ening everywhere in the world. 0hildren take ride in &eing violent. If they lose their tem er, they feel that its normal , they take ride in it. One who is very aggressive in the classroom, gets more attention than one who is eaceful, isnt it6 So children grow u feeling, If I am aggressive, then I have my say. /e need to &ring &ack the ride in &eing non5violent. If we could instill that ride in &eing non5violent, in children, their whole life will take a new direction. A ride in &eing com assionate, a ride in &eing availa&le and hel ful to others around us should &e our new motto. I think we need to do something to &ring &ack those human values in society and smile more< 1ou look at a teenager or a &oy or girl who goes to college , do they really smile6 See the heaviness in their faces, the heaviness in their hearts. A child is so ha y , walking, moving, jum ing around and then that same child goes through college to &ecome so sad, u set and de ressed< Is this the ur ose of our education6 1ou know, sometimes I feel like shaking every&ody, Aye< 0ome On< Smile<. I read some research recently that a child, a &a&y, smiles EKK times a day, an adolescent only BH times and an adult doesnt smile at all< If you smile, do you think something might &e ro&&ed from you< /hat is it that you lose6 /hen you smile, others get and you dont lose anything< /e need to smile more< At least give yourself a &ig smile when you wake u every morning and look in the mirror< Only a few eo le in the world cause terror, not the whole o ulation. Of the si" &illion eo le on this lanet, therell &e a handful who are causing ro&lems in the world. %here are hardly a few thousand who cause crime and the whole world is

affected. +ont you think that with the same law, the reverse will also work6 ?ust a few of us, a few thousand of us, &eing really eaceful and loving, caring for the whole lanet , can we not &ring a transformation6 /hen you oint a finger at others, three fingers are ointing towards you< So if I say, 1ou are &eautiful< that means I am three times more &eautiful< If I say, 1ou are ugly< I am three times more ugly8 &ut when I include you into me, then there is no you and there is no me. %hen there is only one , that is ultimate victory< !ife is so short< /ell all live another CK5DK years and then one day, every&ody will &e dead and gone< 4ut we cry for what we have and were u set a&out what we dont have, isnt it6 Is it worth living life like that6 /e ourselves get de ressed and then de ress every&ody around us< /e need to shake ourselves u < /ake u < And when we wake u from this slum&er, then we have eace in our hearts and we can radiate that eace and love around us.

God for the disbelie er#s soul

1ou have always thought of =od as a father, u in the heavens somewhere. 4ut can you see =od as a child6 /hen you see =od as a father, you will want to demand and take from 3im. 4ut when you see =od as a child, you have no demands. =od is the very core of your e"istence. 1ou are regnant with =od. 1ou have to take care of your regnancy and deliver this 0hild into the world. =od is your child who clings onto you like a &a&y till you grow old and die. %his child clings on to you crying for nourishment. Sadhana, Satsang and Seva are the nourishment. It is difficult to see =od as formless and it is difficult to see =od as form. %he formless is so a&stract and =od in a form a ears to &e too limited. So some eo le refer to &e atheists. 4ut atheism is not a reality, it is just a matter of convenience. /hen you have a s irit of in2uiry, or are in search of truth, atheism falls a art. /ith a s irit of in2uiry, you cannot deny something which you have not dis roved. An atheist denies =od without first dis roving it. In order to dis rove =od, you must have enormous knowledge. And when you have enormous knowledge, you cannot dis rove =od< #or one to say that something does not e"ist, one should know a&out the whole universe. So you can never &e BKK ercent atheist. An atheist is only a &eliever who is slee ing< In fact an atheist is someone who has a conce t of =od< #or a erson to say, I dont &elieve in anything, means he must &elieve in himself , so he &elieves in himself a&out whom he does not even know< An atheist can never &e sincere &ecause sincerity needs de th , and an atheist refuses to go to the de ths. 4ecause the dee er he goes, he finds a void, a field of all ossi&ilities , he has to acce t that there are many secrets he does not know. 3e would then need to acknowledge his ignorance, which he refuses to do, &ecause the moment he is sincere, he seriously starts dou&ting his atheism. A dou&t5free atheist is ne"t to im ossi&le< So you can never &e a sincere and dou&t5free atheist. /hen the atheist realises his ignorance, what does he do6 /here does he go6 +oes he go to a =uru6 /hat does a guru do to him6 Atheism is when one does not &elieve either in values or in the a&stract. /hen an atheist comes to the guru, what ha ens6 1ou start e" eriencing your own form and discover that you are indeed formless, hollow and em ty. And this a&stract non5form in you &ecomes more and more concrete< %he guru makes the a&stract more real and what you thought as solid a ears to &e more unreal. Sensitivity and su&tlety dawns. -erce tion of love, not as an emotion, &ut as the su&stratum of e"istence &ecomes evident. %he formless s irit shines through every form in creation and the mystery of life dee ens, shattering the atheism. %hen the journey &egins and it has four stages. %he first stage is Saaru ya 'to see the formless in the form) ie, seeing =od in all the forms. Often, one feels more comforta&le seeing =od as formless rather than with a form, &ecause with a form, one feels a distance, a duality, a fear of rejection and other limitations. In life all our interactions are with the form, other than in

dee slee and in Samadhi. And, if you do not see =od in the form, then the waking art of life remains devoid of the +ivine. All those who acce t =od to &e formless use sym&ols, and erha s love the sym&ols more than =od himself< If =od comes and tells a 0hristian to leave the cross or a >uslim to dro the crescent, erha s he may not do it< %o &egin with, loving the formless is ossi&le only through forms. %he second stage is Saami ya 'closeness) ie, feeling a&solutely close to the form you have chosen and reaching out to the formless. %his leads to a sense of intimacy with the whole of creation. In this stage, one overcomes the fear of rejection and other fears. 4ut this is time and s ace &ound. %he third stage is Saanidhya , feeling the resence of the +ivine &y which you transcend the limitations of time and s ace. %hen the final stage is Saayujya, ie, when you are firmly entrenched with the +ivine. It is then that you realise you are one with the +ivine. %here is a total merging with the 4eloved and all duality disa ears.

%ake care of your =od< Atheists lurk around the corner< +ou&ts, dis&elief and ignorance are the atheists in your mind , so you &etter take care<

$i ing the mystery of life

-ur ose of words is to create silence. +oes every word you s eak create silence in others or does it create tur&ulence in their minds6 -ur ose of knowledge is to make you feel that you dont know< If the knowledge makes you feel that you know it all, then it has not fulfilled its goal. %he more you know, the more you &ecome aware of the unknown. .nowing is just ushing the &rick a little further towards ignorance. 4efore, you thought that you had less ignorance and now you know that you have more ignorance. -ur ose of knowledge is to create awareness of the 4eing. %his creation is enormous and infinite. It is a mystery. >ysteries are there not to understand, &ut to live. !ove is a mystery, slee is a mystery, your mind is mystery and all that you see around is a mystery. 1our life is a mystery. %rying to understand mystery is confusion, &ut living it fully is called enlightenment. %here is one I dont know that comes out of ignorance. %his is an ugly I dont know. %hen it asses through knowledge and &ecomes a transformed I dont know<. %his is a &eautiful I dont know< which is a wonder. %his is how every 2uestion turns into a wonder. /hat is the difference &etween a wonder and a 2uestion6 ;uestion is associated with sorrow and restlessness whereas wonder is joy in e" ression. /hat is your life6 After all, how many years are you lanning to &e here in this lanet6 !ook in the light of the time. In the time scale, millions of years have assed and millions will come in the future. /hat is your life6 GK years or HK years or BKK years6 S an of life is insignificant. It is not even a dro in the ocean. In terms of s ace you sim ly dont e"ist< %his understanding dissolves the ego. *go is ignorance of your reality, ignorance of your e"istence. 7ow, just to know this do we have to do some thing else6 ?ust o en your eyes and see, /ho am I6 3ow I am on this lanet6 /hat is my life time6. Awareness dawns in the mind. It does not worry a&out small little things like, this erson said this thing to me and that erson &roke away with me and this ha ened with that erson and I am going to say this and that. All smallness will sim ly dro away with this &eautiful I dont know<. Ignorance has its necessity. Ignorance kee s the joy in the game. In a game if you know the result &efore you are laying you wont &e laying sincerely. If you know you are going to win a game you wont ut your BKK ercent in the game. If you know that you are going to lose a game, then also there is no charm in laying the game. %he game is joyful when its results are unknown, when they are hidden away... %he nature is so kind and loving to you that it does not tell you a&out your future and does not remind you of your very old ast. 4ut, even with the short little memory it has given us we try hard to make our self misera&le< /hen the state of I dont know asses through knowledge, you are delivered in another state of I dont know<... %hat is a &eautiful I dont know< and that is the end of knowledge. So the whole journey is from I dont know to I dont know<. %here is a saying that &efore enlightenment you cho wood and carry water and after enlightenment you cho wood and carry water. 4ut with a slight difference8

&efore it was a misera&le I dont know afterwards its a &eautiful I dont know<. *very knowledge whether scientific or artistic leaves you in a lace of ama9ement and wonder. 1ou ask a oet, 3ow did you write this oetry6 3e will say, I dont know<. 1ou ask a scientist, 3ow did you discover this6. 3e will say, Oh< I dont know<. %his I dont know< level of consciousness is innocence. Some of you might have the ro&lem that the mind goes round and round. %his is &ecause you want to know all the time. ?ust remain in I dont know, the mind &ecomes 2uiet. .nowledge is like a detergent agent. 1ou ut the soa on the cloth, &ut wash it away. 1ou never say, it is a wonderful detergent soa , let it remain on my &ody. All our struggle is to know more, know more, know more... you are trying your level &est to understand your feelings and your emotions and you get into more and more and more confusion. %his is what has ha ened with sychology today. It tries to e" lain to you why you feel like the way you are feeling. %he why 2uestion arises always when you are unha y. 1ou say why this ro&lem to me on earth of all the eo le6... 7o&ody ever asked, why am I so ha y6 or why is there so much joy and &eauty in the world6. 1ou want to understand, why am I not feeling good6 or why am I angry6, or why is this not ha ening6. %he more you try to understand and try to dig it, you seem to understand less and less. %he mystery dee ens, &ut an illusion comes as though I know it. 4ut thats for a short while. /e ourselves do not know and we try to e" lain to others< Sto your e" lanations8 your e" lanations have ut you into a sou and make other eo le also more confused. 1ou dont know what is ha ening in your mind. >ind is like a rollercoaster , its a crowd. Something comes u sometime and then some other thing o s u . ?ust &e in the sim le and innocent state of I dont know<. %his life is a mystery , &eautiful , live it. !iving the mystery of life so totally is joy. 4ecoming the mystery is divine. 1ou are a mystery<

%nlightenment is a &oke'
Seekers on the s iritual ath are curious to know a&out *nlightenment. /hat is *nlightenment6 I say, *nlightenment is like a joke< It is like a fish in the ocean searching for the ocean. Once u on a time, there was a congregation of fish, who got together to discuss who among them had seen the ocean. 7one of them could say they had actually seen the ocean. %hen one fish said, I think my great grandfather had seen the ocean< A second fish said, 1es, yes, I have also heard a&out this. A third fish said, 1es, certainly, his great grandfather had seen the ocean. So they &uilt a huge tem le and made a statue of the great grandfather of that articular fish< %hey said, 3e had seen the ocean. 3e had &een connected with the ocean. *nlightenment is the very core of our &eing8 going to the core of our self and living our life from there. /e all came into this world gifted with innocence, &ut gradually, as we &ecame more intelligent, we lost our innocence. /e were &orn with silence and as we grew u , we lost the silence and were filled with words. /e lived in our hearts and as time assed, we moved into our heads. 7ow the reversal of this journey is enlightenment. It is the journey from the head &ack to the heart, from words &ack to silence8 getting &ack to our innocence in s ite of our intelligence. Although very sim le, this is a great achievement. .nowledge should lead you to that &eautiful ur ose of knowledge is ignorance< oint of I dont know. %he

%he com letion of knowledge will lead you to ama9ement and wonder. It makes you aware of this e"istence. >ysteries are to &e lived, not understood. One can live life as fully in its com leteness, in its totality. *nlightenment is that state of &eing mature and unshakea&le under any circumstances. 0ome what may, nothing can ro& the smile from your heart. =oing &eyond the limited &oundaries, and feeling all that e"ists in this universe &elongs to me, is enlightenment. Anenlightenment is easy to define. It is limiting yourself &y saying, I &elong to this articular lace, I am from that culture or I &elong to this religion. It is like children saying, >y dad is &etter than your dad, or >y toy is &etter than your toy. I think most eo le around the world are stuck in that mental age grou , just the toys have changed. Adults say, >y country is &etter than your country or my religion is &etter than your religion. A 0hristian will say, %he 4i&le is truth, and a 3indu will say, %he (edas are the truth. %hey are very ancient. >uslims will say, %he .oran is the last word of =od. /e attri&ute glory to something just &ecause we are from that culture, not for what it is.

If one could take credit for all that e"ists throughout the ages and feel as though It &elongs to me, then, that is maturity. %his is my wealth &ecause I &elong to the divine. %he +ivine, according to time and s ace, gave different knowledge in different laces. One &ecomes the knower of the whole universe and can say all the &eautiful flowers are from my garden. %he whole evolution of man is from &eing some&ody to &eing no&ody, and from &eing no&ody to &eing every&ody. 3ave you o&served that young children have that sense of &elonging that oneness, that innocence6 As we grew u we lost that innocence and &ecame more cunning. %he innocence of an ignorant man has no value, and the cunningness of an intelligent man also has no value. *nlightenment is a rare com&ination of innocence and intelligence, having words for e" ression and, at the same time, &eing very silent. In that state, the mind is fully in the resent moment. /hatever is necessary is revealed to you in such a natural and s ontaneous way, you just sit and the song of the nature flows through you.

(eeling the presence The Art )f Self*+isco ery Only those who have eyes can see and only those who have ears can hear. %hat which has to &e seen cannot &e heard8 it has to &e seen. !ife has five dimensions or five senses , seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching. 4ut there is one more dimension that has gone out of sight8 that is feeling. #eeling the -resence. !ight cannot &e heard through the eyes8 it has to &e seen through the eyes. Sound cannot &e seen through the eyes &ut heard through the ears. !ikewise, the resence has to &e felt &y the heart. =od is not an o&ject of senses &ut the feeling of feelings, the resence of resence, the sound of silence, light of life, the essence of the world and the taste of &liss. And our human life is enriched only when we can live this si"th sense of e"istence, of feeling. If you are feeling de ressed and continue to feel de ressed, you create articles of de ression around you. %hose ions of de ressions around you go and stick to the environment. If someone walks into that lace, even after you have left, that erson for no reason would start feeling de ressed. 3ave you e" erienced this6 1ou walk into a room and suddenly feel angry vi&es. 1ou were all right a few minutes ago &ut the moment you walk in, all the anger, stress and tension overtakes you. %oday there is a lot of talk a&out the environment. *nvironmentalists are at work everywhere you see. %here is talk a&out rotecting the forest, &ringing u more greenery, recycling of things, materials, lastics and use of more natural and organic su&stances. A few years ago, this was not an issue at all, wasnt it6 7ow all nations are coming to an agreement to save lanet earth. !ike we ollute the earth, we ollute the water, we also ollute the su&tle environment of feelings and emotions. >an has &ecome a victim of his environment. 3e is not in control of his mind &ut a victim of the environment. 3e is not in control of his mind &ut a victim of the environment and the total stress in the environment. Is it not so6 /e ollute our environment in a very su&tle way through our negative emotions. 4ut it takes 2uite sometime to clear the environment of this. It is inevita&le that sometimes you feel stressed, sometimes you feel negative, sometimes you feel dou&t, sometimes you get into all sorts of moods , it is inevita&le. It ha ens. 7o&ody wants it. 4ut when it ha ens how do we handle them6 /e hear a lot a&out other things in life &ut we s end very little time to hear a&out ourselves8 how to handle our mind6 3ow to &e in the resent moment6 3ow to &e ha y and grateful6 %his we have not learnt. %his is the most unfortunate thing. %hen what is the solution6 %his is where we miss a very fundamental rinci le that governs our environment, our mind our emotions and our life in general. Our &ody has the ca acity to sustain much longer the vi&rations of &liss and eace than it does negative emotions &ecause ositivity is in the centre of our e"istence. ?ust like in the structure of the atom, rotons and neutrons are in the centre of the atom and electrons are only the eri hery, same is with our lives8 the centre core of our e"istence is &liss, ositivity and joy &ut it is surrounded &y a cloud of negative ions. %hrough the hel of the &reath we can

easily get over our negative emotions in a short eriod of time. %hrough meditation and certain &reathing techni2ues you can clear this negative cloud. In future, I think the rule will come , any&ody who feels de ressed, will &e fined< %en thousand ru ees fine for getting de ressed< %hen you will &e asked to go and &reathe and meditate and get rid of all your de ression without swallowing any ta&lets. /hat is there for you to get de ressed6 1ou are here for a few years anyway8 just a few years on this lanet. And as long as you are here, you can as well, &e ha y. %his life has so much to offer to you. 1ou can see this once you take sometime off, rejuvenating the soul. 1ou soul is hungry for a smile from you. If you could give this, you feel energised the whole year and nothing whatsoever can take the smile from you. *veryone wants to &e successful in life. 4ut without knowing what is success, you want to &e successful. /hat are the signs of success6 ?ust having a lot of money, is that success6 /hy do you think money means success6 4ecause money gives you freedom so that you can do whatever you want. 1ou may have a &ig &ank &alance &ut, you have stomach aches, ulcers, you may have to go for &y ass surgery8 cant eat this, cant do this, cant do that. /e s end half our health to gain wealth and s end half our wealth to gain &ack the health. Isnt that funny6 Is this success6 It is very &ad mathematics. !ook at all those who claim to &e successful , are they successful6 7o, they are misera&le. %hen, what is the sign of success6 %he sign of success is overwhelming joy, right6 It is confidence, com assion, generosity and a smile that none can snatch away, &eing really ha y and &eing a&le to &e more free. %hese are the signs of a successful erson. %ake some time off to look a little dee into oneself and calm the mind down. %hus erasing all the im ressions that we are carrying in our minds and e" erience the resence, the divine that is the very core of our e"istence. %his is #**!I7= %3* -R*S*70*<<<