Perverted - Reason, if it comes in the Way of that Love

Scriptures are only road-maps; at best they are guide-books that give directions for the destination. It is the actual journey that will reveal the hardships, the delays, the land-slips, the potholes as well as the beauty of the scenic route on the way, and the magnificence of the destination. No secondhand account can equal the firsthand experience! The symbols on the map are interpreted differently by different scholars according to their preconceived notions, predilections and pet theories. 

If you acquire Love, then you can dispense with the Scriptures; for the purpose of all the Scriptures is just that: to create the feeling of Sarvajana samaana prema (equal love for all), and to negate egoism which stands in the way. Reason too, if it comes in the way of this love, is to be discarded as 'perverted'.
Baba (thought for the day)

Years ago I went with my old mother for a visit to the younger brother. He was in hospital, had always problems and he was kind of chaotic. He was talking about strange stuff. I wondered why mother wanted me to come with her, probably she didn't want to drive there alone. 

After that visit in my dream the inner master said, that he does the worst he can do. As usually situations reflect later on, every object has its own refection and if we don't get it, it takes some time, but somehow it will be there later on.

I got worried and spontaneously asked, what he did? 

But he didn't like it when I was asking. I don't remember what he answered, but for sure not what I had in mind. Anyhow, I wanted an answer or a feedback and usually it takes time to get there. 

I guess I mentioned Baba and he didn't like it, even though he had been married years ago to a lady who was spiritually inclined or maybe be cause of that he has totally changed and turned into the opposite. 

My concern was to understand it, to get some kind of feeling for it. 

Baba also said years ago in my dream, that I should take care of my brother. And as he had begun with TM many years ago, he didn't do it, I don't remember, I have probably even initiated him. That is how it went on and I tried to talk to him and noticed, there was no use, every word I said was turned upside down and it got only worse and not better. 

Illumined by Devotion and Intution, but no Peace

Intellect loves to revel in discussions and disputations. Once you yield to this temptation, it takes a long while for you to escape from its shackles and move on to enjoy the bliss, which you can attain only from its nullification.

Your feelings and emotions warp your thought process, and convert reason into an untamed bull. Always be aware of the limitations of reason and logic. They must give way and yield to devotion.

After a point in time, your spiritual path must be illumined by devotion and intuition. Hence, be aware – your intellect can help you only for some distance along the Godward path. Very often, egoism tends to encourage and justify one's actions, for a person is led along the wrong path by one's own reason, if that is the path the person likes! You often come to the conclusion you want to reach! So make a careful choice on the path you tread!

Baba

 

What is the difference between discrimination, which is the first step on the path and discussions and disputations?
He calls it the first step, discrimination. The second step is to see it in our own life and the third step we have to go on no matter what obstacles are there, that is called Tapas, spiritual work.

It has nothing to do with discussion and disputation. Baba calls the posititive side of the intellect devotion and the ill intended logic which puts everything in question is here meant with intellect.
For us in the West as we work mostly with the intellect and not the heart, that is difficult to understand. We think discrimination has only to do with the intellect, but it has to do with heart as well, it is the heart that leads to that discrimination between the eternal and the ephemeral, it means we accept that 'God' exists and develop love for God, pure love.

We think with the heart and discriminate between the real and the not real.
We cannot discuss about it, because discussion creates doubts.

The fact that I couldn't understand it right and use my intellect without feeling bad, resulted in trying to find answers on a place I finally couldn't find any. I went into a relationship and trusted someone who said, he knew, because I knew that I don't know.

Essence and Food

There is no point in distributing the essence of spirituality (adhyatma rasa) to underfed and weak people; give them food (anna rasa) first, make them strong enough to entertain strong beliefs and contain strong ideals. Physical hunger must first be appeased by simple and pure (sathvic) food.

Then the repetition of the Name of the Lord must be undertaken; it can be any name that appeals to you the most. Do not treat the Name lightly. Respect it even if you hear it from the lips of a beggar, who uses it to procure alms. Though the person who utters the Name is bad or though his motive in uttering it may not be noble, do not ill treat the Name for its purity can never be harmed. Thank them for reminding you of the Lord and go your way.
Baba (thought for the day)

 

We discriminate between food and sathvic food, that is vegetarian food and food for the mind and meditation in mental purification. If we meditate, the mind is purified. That happens when we repeat the name of the Lord or a mantra, as any divine name is okay, so is every mantra okay.

But there had been a doubt about it, therefore, Baba mentioned it that all mantras are okay after a group meditation in the ashram. We met and meditated before Darshan and he took the group in the interview room. He talked about 'Soham', we watch the breath and listen to its sound, inhaling it is So ... and exhaling it is Ham ... It is the sound of the universe, the OM and if realized it is always present, also during sleep, it is the inner awareness that is not lost.

Meditation should be like cleaning teeth, we just do it to purify the mind. As we take a shower to keep the body clean, we meditate to keep the mind clean. If we don't do that we get entangled in the mind game.

After I began with dynamic meditation for a while I didn't sit anymore silently and I guess I got the reaction later on as loss of strength and energy. With dynamic meditation the body became more important, I also was careless about food and I guess it was not replacing the quality of silent meditation and after it hit it said, stop dancing. There was a time I also didn't silently meditated, but I began with Qigong and that was also not great and finally it was Amma in my dream, she said that I was travelling over China back to India. That was clear enough, I began again to sit and meditate.

Who sets the Example of Discrimination and Detachment?

For the wisdom of discrimination to dawn on people, elders must first set an example in discrimination and detachment. If they run after sensory pleasures with feverish excitement, how can the youth be blamed for their selfishness and greed?

The elders must practise what they preach, show how a divine life confers mental poise, joy, contentment and harmony. They must spend at least some time everyday in the recital of the Lord's Name or on Meditation. Then, children too, will imbibe that atmosphere and acquire peace for sure. Today, many speak with full passion that there is nothing as sweet as the Name of the Lord, but they do not repeat it at all. Children will easily discover the hoax, if one neglects their own spiritual progress on the path, but preaches it. The accountability of those who profess the spiritual path is great and must not be undermined.

Baba (thought for the day)

 

It makes sense that elders should set an example in discrimination and detachment, but we have to look for those elders in the West.

I have not found one until now who fits in that picture. We think elders to have more experience and we need experience to develop discrimination.

They do run after pleasures with feverish excitement, not only the youth, but also the elders seem to go for selfishness and greed. It was like that in my own family and it is like that all around us. We don't have that knowledge and nobody is preaching it.

The elders should practice what they preach.

I was with TM and the national leader was just an actor, and he was personal staff of the yogi and all the others are puppets and the master is not present, therefore, the source got lost, the West took over and changed the knowledge in the end it is not okay anymore.

Baba talks about the elders, but not even the yogis do it.
The West seems that corrupt it changes the mind of people, but not for the better, but for the worse.

I have been with Osho and did an inner child course with probably the most successful sannyas in that movement. They seemed close to the master, also American, chaining people to his work, there have been chains in the inner view and she came and told me even in the dream that they earned millions with that work, with chains and the inner child work, choosing people to do that work.

He belongs to the elders and something like close to the master. 

And isn't it the same with devotees? Is having interviews a sign of devotion and being close to him? Yes great, until we meet death inside and notice that it is nothing but the ego and greed. In the inner view was a whirlpool, that is greed and there was death, an empty hooded black guy, the inner master said that he did that, not only once, but twofold, I guess mind and body, that is not divinity, that is not light, but it is the opposite. 

That are the elders of the West, the devotees, the sannyasins, the meditators, not one was until now real of all those people I have met.

He will reveal Himself to You

Many of you often come to Puttaparthi or visit other holy places. You hear scholars expounding the scriptures. You have observed great and noble souls. What is the benefit? How have you improved by all this? Have you succeeded in at least recognising your rajasic (passionate) and tamasic (dark) habits and tendencies? Recognizing them as deleterious is the first step in removing them. Have you become more and more serene and poised (Sathvic) as the years go by, or are you the same dull or perhaps fiery individual?
If you must know the Lord, you must love the Lord and lead your life with good conduct. Hatred or even indifference will result only in misunderstanding. Develop close association with the Lord and He will reveal Himself to you.

Baba (thought for the day)

 

In our last study circle there was the question about 'sathva' and it was kind of surprising to notice that it was not known or understood. There was the question, what is meant with 'sathva'. Is it a good question?
Certainly, because we cannot get aware of it if we don't inquire about it. But if we have no idea about 'Sathva', we also do not know the difference between 'Rajas' and 'Tamas'.

We observed great souls? The first step is discrimination and that means to get aware of the difference between Sathva, Rajas and Tamas, the great souls are established in sathva. 

If we are not aware of the tamasic and rajasic tendencies, we cannot remove them. 

But looking around here, it feels like they talk about God and love and after there is nothing anymore and not even the knowing where to begin with. They try to feel love, mind level. If we try to feel it - that is not permanent and not based on truth. And as we looked at discrimination first, one said, 'discrimination for sure not, it is about unity' and it sounded convinced, she said it loud in the circle and it was not her turn. We get to wrong conclusions, if we do not enough thinking it over. 

It feels like people try to understand it, but they stop when they hear God and love and afterwards they try to feel love and unity and that feels to them like the opposite, as they relate discrimination only to the head and intellect, that we can know the difference with the heart, that seems kind of far away, but it is seen with the heart. We are just not aware that the heart has the quality of discrimination.

That means there is also no feeling for the difference between mind and no mind or Atman, because they try to feel love. It has to be a permanent state and that has nothing to do with trying to feel love. And they are that uncertain that most of them do not go for meditation. But there is development in singing and Bhajans, some are playing instruments and we have great singers, that is developing the heart, but it seemes understanding it is far behind.

And as it is in the heart, we have to know the influence on the heart level. 

The Art of Enjoyment - Dance into Freedom

Parents and teachers must see that children learn good habits and attitudes in their formative years. What is read from books must be contemplated upon and reflected upon in silence and quietness. This is a very good exercise in intellectual development and in the acquisition of mental peace. The instinct to quarrel and fight over any and all misunderstandings must be regulated and sublimated. You should not cause children to suffer mental anguish or physical pain! Children also should not enjoy the infliction of pain on any being. They must be brought up with a sense of responsibility. They should be taught not to take delight in showing off their dress, ornaments, status or wealth before the less fortunate. They must be taught from early on, habits of personal cleanliness and most importantly, the habit of prayer at regular hours.

Baba

(thought for the day)

Bhajans is a wonderful way to make the experience to be in the present, to get out of the mind and to not allow the mind to take over during the singing. 

Knowing that Atman is only presence and if we notice during singing that our mind is still preoccupied in our projects or thoughts, we can let go and flow with the sound, it is also a way to get into the feeling. If the focus is not on the voice, but on the self, realizing we are all the same, we also don't get tired, we can start at any point new again, because it is all the same. It is a great experience of good energy to stay in the presence and as there are people singing together, we really can get energized by that. 

We usually feel the presence of Baba. If I close my eyes, it is like the beautiful times of Darshan, in my minds eye I see him walk around and giving Darshan to people, the sweet center of it or he is sitting in his chair and is listening to the Bhajans and it is a great feeling realizing that if two or three are in his name together, he is in the midst of us. 

Whatever disturbance in the mind which is always preoccupied with thinking about something, the future projects and the past, we can just let go and just be in the present. That is a very good exercise and being aware that Atman is in the present only and that the mind is constantly keeping us inside busy thinking about something, preventing that we can live fully in that present, if we know that and realize it, we of course can help the mind to calm down. I usually notice when I am not enough in the sound, when I begin to get bored. I am not enough into singing but in the mind.