The Goal is Oneness with the Divine

The means of getting Divine Grace are: Bhakti (devotion),Prapathi (surrender), Niyama (ethical discipline), Vicharana(enquiry) and Deeksha (determination). When you succeed in these tests, you will experience the grace of the Divine. Devotion should manifest itself in every action. Everything done out of love for God and as an offering to God becomes devotion. The devotee is filled with love and shares the love with all the others. The nine different forms of worship are only means to cultivate devotion. But the goal of all of them is to experience oneness with the Divine. Prapathi means total surrender - offering everything to the Divine. The sense of ego separates the individual from the Divine. When the individual offers everything to God, the barrier of ego is removed. Of all diseases to which man is prone, the disease arising from ahamkara (ego) is the most deadly. The only panacea for this disease is surrender to the Will of the Divine 

Do you know the mantra Soham? If we use it with the breath, So is inhale and Ham is exhale and together is it OM. 

If we inhale it is O and after we exhale it is M, in that very moment is only the body left until we take in the breath again and it is energy. If we are only in the body we know from Swami that we are not that. If we know it from Swami it is still theoretical knowledge, only when we make the experience and we feel it in our own body, it is true for us.

Therefore, we can conclude that the divine awareness is awake in the O and it gets to a close in the M, but in the O it goes on forever, together it is Om. Our normal awareness is in the body, the bod dictates out life. 

If we get aware of the Soham, the mantra of the breath going on constantly in our awareness, we switch and get aware that we are the O and not the M, not the body and it is pure being, called 'sat' and the knowledge and wisdom we acquire  in the divine words and listening carefully is chit and when we absorb it in our own higher self it will be Ananda, Sat-Chit-Ananda.

Our focus is in the body and we live the body if we are not focused on the Soham, the OM and get aware that we are not the body, not the mind, but pure consciousness or the higher self and the 'I am I', but it has to be realized, cognized and the method to get there is contemplation and nobody seems to know about contemplation, there is a vague idea about meditation, but contemplation it totally unknown and it is all what Swami is talking about. They go on adoring his form thinking that is what he wants, when I reality he talks about contemplation only and they don't understand it. From whatever side we look at it we get back to contemplation.

The means of getting Divine grace are: Bhakti (devotion),Prapathi (surrender), Niyama (ethical discipline), Vicharana(enquiry) and Deeksha (determination).

Worse than a Beast

 

 

When the mind of a person is unattached to the ups and downs of life, but is able to maintain equanimity under all circumstances, then even physical health can be assured. The mental firmament must be like the sky, which bears no mark of the passage through it of birds or planes or clouds. Illness is caused more by malnutrition of the mind than of the body. Doctors speak of vitamin deficiency; I will call it the deficiency of Vitamin G, and I will recommend the repetition of the Name of God, with accompanying contemplation of the glory and grace of God. This Vitamin G is the medicine that is needed. Regulated life and habits are two-thirds of the treatment, while the medicine is just one-third. You must reveal the divine qualities of love, humility, detachment and contentment. Else, you could become worse than a beast and in fact more deadly.

 

That was the insight with TM, it was bright sunshine and the air was breaking into pieces and that was the man coming in our dreams to awake us.

We solved all problems with TM and were focused on 'always going on and on' and it felt like undisturbed, beautiful sunshine and then the air was breaking into pieces and it was like transparent glass in the air as air cannot break into pieces, but something was not quite right that was  in the dream and at that time I had no idea that it was him and that he comes in our dreams to awake us, but it was a wake-up call for sure, only it was not so nice on that background of beautiful sunshine only pieces left, there was still beauty in the air, but it didn't feel good, but when he came in the dream to wake us up it was already done and final, I just didn't realize it yet.

Baba said in his thought for the day if peace and right action get separated only pieces are left. That was the answer in his words and the confirmation of the insight; it tells us why there were only pieces left. As he is the knower and only he knows, I had no idea what had happened and on the mind level there was no way to get the right answer, I had to listen to him to get the right answer. He is the knower and I had tried about everything to get an answer and it was in vain as it was in the mind only.

There was no right action and peace were separated and the man who comes in our dream to awake us was again in the dream and they were all puppets on a string and the hand who had made the puppets was not present. There was dependence between the hand and the puppets and it makes us aware that if we learn everything by heart and we do it mechanically like with TM, we get like puppets on a string, he was dictating every step actually and there was some not right action to get that insight that right action and peace are separated. 

As we know from listening to Swami's words the human values are not independent and only pieces left something had to be wrong. 

If we want to make the experience of pure love, we need three things, right action, peace and truth and if right action and peace are separated only pieces are left. That was not great. 

It tells us also that before right action and peace had been put together and that was during the TTC teacher's training, we listened non-stop to tapes explaining the wisdom on the level of science and scientific research and that is based on truth, we had to accept truth and then we had to accept right action and that was purification of the mind is necessary, we need to meditate and there is not only our mind, but all minds and right action was the TM-teacher, getting others also into meditation to purify the mind and get into a state of sathva. If there is no sathva, we cannot listen to his truth, because only Sathva knows truth.

In Swami's ashram is always Sathva, we don't need to meditate to get there, but when he is not in the ashram there is no Sathva and therefore, people have that much troubles to listen, think it over and absorb. Only Sathva knows the truth, if we live our normal live in Rajas, we cannot listen to his words. In the ashram the sathva level is kept with Veda chanting and Bhajans going on regularly.  

The man who comes in our dream to awake us was afterwards present again and now all turned into enemies. We know with the first insight that right action and peace were separated, we know from our own experience that they had been put together first in the teacher's training, we know that he is the doer and that we cannot understand the Atma level with the mind, that means it was not possible to understand those insights, due to not right action, it was still the same reason, but now it was about the result and that is not funny at all, there were only pieces left, when people are puppets on a string they are blind and don't really know what they are doing and the hand was not there, somehow something went wrong in the leader level and the man coming in our dreams to awake us showed that it had turned into hell. 

During an assembly in Italy in the presence of the Maharishi it had been heaven on earth. It was no more, it had turned into the opposite and that was kind of a shock and not knowing what it was and no means of getting right answers. The man who comes in our dreams to awake us was again there and this time it was a black hole in my meditation and that was so scary, it was on three levels, the black hole is a replacement partner, the master was not there, it was projected in the leader and there were the three basic fears, fear because of the relationship not present, black hole and trust lost, because it looked like that, no answers possible in a black hole, no master present going beyond the mind and the fear to lose the mind, to get sick and the fear of death, body level, it was the fear of dying of tiredness. That was no more funny and it was the man who comes in our dream to awake us, but it also shows that on that level we don't get the right answers.

I went on with TM mediation and hoped it would get okay again and that was not possible, I hoped it would go on still because I had to find a better way and I didn't know that it was the man coming in our dream to awake us and if it is about awakening we have to go for it no matter what, our life will change if we like it or if we are ready for it or not.

In that sense it got only worse with the fear coming up and the lost trust and in the end it felt that scared that I was putting Omsairam in front of my TM-mantra and I had totally lost trust in it and I realized I hardly knew anything about it, it was all secret really and we didn't know about mantras and Patanjali and we just trusted and did programs and for some reason it didn't work out. 

In the meantime my whole life was based on TM and I went with the leader to the Maharishi hoping to find a better answer and it was even worse, above him in the air was criminal, but that was more like Darshan, it was standing in the air above his head and he saw it as well, he was aware of it and Nandkishore his right hand saw it as well. After all those those years in between I realize now the shock that really was, because I thought it was okay and I was convinced of it. It was a very scary experience.

Today we understand it. 

It was not possible to get answers on the insight level as it was all only science and no master behind it, he is the knower and with TM we didn't get the truth, it was all summarized in meditate and all problems will be solved, that is why puppets on a string, totally dependent on someone holding the string and if that was not there, it couldn't work. I went on with meditation, but it was a total shock really because I had liked it that much, but nevertheless if there is no master we can listen to and see our own insights in his words and trying by listening to his words to find the right answer, we don't get an answer, because he is the knower, on the Atma level we cannot understand it with the mind and the human values and how they work together is Atma level and not our mind.

I went on with meditation to keep up the systematic Sadhana and the rest had to be understood somehow. It didn't normalize again, but the experiences with TM were nevertheless exceptional and the background of only sunshine was also part of the insight and if there is only sunshine we are unattached to the up and downs of life and it felt like equanimity also at the beginning in Baba's presence, but after he said that it is not the right path and that I should only think about God and I had the feeling of not understanding anything anymore it was gone and the up and downs began again. 

Perfect health was also part of the TM meditation and knowing we could sit down and meditate and solve our problems.  

When the mind of a person is unattached to the ups and downs of life, but is able to maintain equanimity under all circumstances, then even physical health can be assured. The mental firmament must be like the sky, which bears no mark of the passage through it of birds or planes or clouds.

That was the basic insight, the sunshine environment and no clouds and it was breaking into pieces and we know from Swami's words that there are only pieces left if we separate right action and peace.

Illness is caused more by malnutrition of the mind than of the body. Doctors speak of vitamin deficiency; I will call it the deficiency of Vitamin G, and I will recommend the repetition of the Name of God, with accompanying contemplation of the glory and grace of God. This Vitamin G is the medicine that is needed.

We meditated at lot, we had our Siddhis program in the morning and all together it were about three hours or more and we had it in the evening and we had every day center activity and that is the same feeling we get when doing Swami's work, but we have to do it first to get aware of it. If we don't do it we don't get aware of it, we realize it by doing; he is only present if we do it.

Regulated life and habits are two-thirds of the treatment, while the medicine is just one-third. You must reveal the divine qualities of love, humility, detachment and contentment. Else, you could become worse than a beast and in fact more deadly.

That is what we did, we had regulated life habits, we meditated at the same time and the focus was on spiritual activity, it was a total shock that it all was breaking into pieces, I was also not ready for that, who expected that. I don't know why I had that feeling that I didn't understand anything anymore, when before it was even something like equanimity. It was such a shock, I just couldn't find the right answers and what had happened on the mind level and with TM it was not possible to get answers. With Swami I didn't know yet how to do it or I couldn't do it alone, I needed someone to do it and that with Al Drucker also didn't work and there was finally Charles, who only took advantage of it and I guess I have never felt that helpless trying in vain to understand what was wrong because with the mind we cannot understand it. That is why I hoped Charles would help me to find answer when it was the opposite, with him I didn't find any answer anymore.

Else, you could become worse than a beast and in fact more deadly.

That is a warning if we don't live his message and think we know and take only advantage of it, that is the reality I met with Charles, that is the confirmation, we could become worse than a beast, lower, a vampire is worse than a beast and also in fact more deadly.

We should be careful if we listen to Swami's words what we allow the mind to do and what not to not turn into that and we can see it from his words that it is possible to become worse than a beast, a beast is animal level, the demon or vampire is must worse than the animal level and a vampire is deadly, he doesn't stop with sucking our blood until there is nothing left and that is deadly.

We should listen to Swami, he is not talking only about love, that is what all think that he is talking only about love, because they don't listen to him.

This here is a warning and it confirms and explains why we had dreams of Swami with a vampire face and a very long nose. It confirms the nightmare and the constant feeling of danger in the air living with him together in the US; it confirms that if we don't listen to him, it is possible to become worse than a beast and in fact more deadly.

That is a warning and we should listen to his words and not hear only love, when he doesn't talk about love. The mind always thinks everything is clear and understood, but that is only the mind, if we know the Atma, we also know that we don't know it and that the mind never can know it and therefore, we have to listen to him.

Unity consciousness is if we meditate together and in silence would get aware of Samadhi, all are one in a Samadhi, there is no difference, and everybody in a Samadhi is the same. We share the silence, but in silence we do not get aware of it, it is just pure being.

God consciousness is getting aware of the unity between all people as one that is possible if we sing together and it is like a Samadhi, we transcend not with a mantra in silence repetition in the mind, but we transcend the mind together in singing and getting aware that there is only one voice and only one and if we listen to that unityconsciousness, all are one, we also feel Swami's presence and that is the confirmation of it that it is true, but it is only during singing while we are actually doing it, it is in activity, if we don't do it, we will not feel his presence and it is not true. It is just what we think divinity is, our concept of it and that is not it. It is not the real experience of it. It has to be real to be true and confirmed by his presence. Christina

 

 

 

 

Illusion; Wrong Motives Attributed to His Action

Oblivious to the presence of the sacred Divine within, people embark on their quest for God. Avatars (incarnations) are of two kinds: Amsaavatar and Purnaavatar. All human beings are Amsaavatar (partial incarnation of the Divine). Mamaivaamso jeevaloke jeevabhutah sanatanah (In this world of living beings, it is a part of My Eternal Self that has become the Jiva, the individual soul), says Krishna in the Gita. These partial incarnations, caught up in Maya, develop egoism and possessiveness and lead worldly lives. However, the Purnaavatars (complete incarnations of the Divine), subduing and transcending Maya, manifest their full divinity to the world in their lives. The Purnaavatar may behave, according to the circumstances, as if subject to Maya, but in reality He is free from it at all times. But some, not understanding this truth owing to their own limitations, attribute wrong motives to His actions. In this they reflect their own feelings.

There was a feeling of family, it was present due to my ex. He said he had experience with TM and it was not true, he didn't do it. We were with Baba, he looked like he was a spiritual aspirant and it was not true, he didn't care about character, he took only advantage of it and he was living in the room of his former boss and he seemed also involved and that made it real, so many people involved on different levels all the same, that was the trap. Why should it not feel like family, but that feeling is an example of a wrong motive attributed to his action after all, I thought it was real and it was not. 

And I got aware of it that way, little by little, thinking it over and getting to the right insights. 

He talked a lot about his friend and I thought it had to do with TM, as yogis are our friends, in the meantime I know that about everything is dream only and nothing was real and he only took advantage of it. 

I loved my mediation and the big assemblies and mediating a long time and even in my parent's house things changed, my father began with meditation, my sister and my younger brother and for a short while it felt great.

After a while it didn't feel good and I got a book with some vibuthi in it, holy ash and I put it on my tongue in the meditation and it was the first contact with Swami, it was a fine feeling flowing downwards in direction of the heart and it was love and intensified it was present as a very tiny small form of divinity in the heart, that form was dark blue and beautiful.  

Above a annoying neighbor was 'village consciousness' in the air, but it didn't tell why and how, as time went by he came close instead of moving away. 

He sat in front of the door of my parent's house opposite the road and was harassing my life space. Once I had met him and his wife while doing the shopping for my mother and not aware of his bothering us in purpose, I enjoyed even to see them. That is when I noticed for the first time really that he seemed not that happy, he looked through me like I was not existing and that felt not right. 

If we don't like someone, we don't go and live opposite the road in the same village, same street as close as possible to upset, to manipulate and it came up with Swami in the ashram that he was responsible and that is was manipulation only. 

By my family it was ignored, my mother always said, what do you have, there is nothing, they made fun of it, because I was still disturbed by it, but it was enervating no matter what. 

All are One, Be Alike to Everyone

Jnana Yajna is specially recommended by scriptures for all. Jnana does not simply mean knowledge gained from scholars and books, but actually conducting in accordance with that knowledge. Knowledge can never ripen into wisdom so long as the ego persists in craving for results to satisfy its desires. When ego fades away, knowledge shines as Wisdom. When yajnas are performed solely for the peace and prosperity of the world (Loka-Kalyan), they reach God. Jnana reveals that in every sacrifice, God is the Prompter, the Promoter, the Sacrificer, the Sacrifice, the Product achieved and the Recipient of the product. God is the consumer of every sacred offering (Yajnabhuk); He is guardian of the yajna (Yajna-bhrith) and its performer (Yajna krith).He is all; it is only when He is all that the act becomes a genuine yajna. If this attitude can soak into every activity, it will sanctify every moment of your life and make it a yajna.

If we think that thought of the day over we first have to jump over the obstacle of Sanskrit expressions what gives us the feeling we don't understand it. Some days ago he explained very clearly the expression of yajna, the sacrificial rite and sacrificial fire. If God is the goal, God is also the yajna. To get the right feeling for it, a feeling not only an idea, we have to get closer to the universality of oneness and the divine as omnipresent unity and we have to understand that if he is the goal, he is also the source and the path to reach that goal. To understand those words right depends on how much work we have done by listening, thinking it over and now being able to absorb the meaning of it. It is expanding consciousness and it grows and develops with practice.  

Jnana Yajna is specially recommended by scriptures for all. Jnana does not simply mean knowledge gained from scholars and books, but actually conducting in accordance with that knowledge. Knowledge can never ripen into wisdom so long as the ego persists in craving for results to satisfy its desires.

Jnana is usually translated as knowledge or wisdom. A yajna is therefore a sacrificial rite to reach the goal of oneness, the divine. 

If we see it in our own life and take as example a study circle we share our own experience in the circle. The study circle is part of a center activity and therefore, it is a practice in the purpose to reach the divine oneness and as he is telling us here or confirming with his words, if the goal is divine, the source and path to get there is also divine. In the circle everybody tells about his own experience without being interrupted by others, the participants have to learn to listen, what we think over is wisdom and as we know that knowledge through Swami, we listen to his words and we have to think it over. If we would go into discussions and arguing it would be on the mind level and only half a circle and Swami explained that it can go on forever if we don't go deep into the wisdom.

Knowledge can never ripen into wisdom so long as the ego persists in craving for results to satisfy its desires. When ego fades away, knowledge shines as Wisdom.

Dear and Near, it has to be Our Own Experience

Normally people are drawn to sense objects, for they are victims of instincts. Instincts easily seek sense objects - they come along with the body and aren't derived by any training. The infant seeks milk from the mother's breast, and the newborn calf naturally nestles at the udder. However for the infant to walk and talk, some training is necessary, because these actions are either socially prompted or learnt by example or picked up by imitation of others. Training is essential even for the proper pursuit of sense pleasure, for wild untrained search for such pleasure promotes anger, hatred, envy, malice and conceit. Hence to train the senses along salutary lines and to hold them under control, certain good disciplines like repeating Lord's Name (japa), meditation (dhyana), fasts (upavasa), worship at dawn and dusk, etc. are essential. Though sense pleasures are 'natural' at first, by constant practice, training and listening to the wise, slowly the greater and everlasting bliss derived by divine adoration is grasped.

In these words is explained why training is necessary and why we meditate and whatever our method of training, we should never stop it. Swami calls it good disciplines. 

He said in an interview that all mantras are okay. I guess it was not just the mantra, but the fasting that was part of my discipline at a certain time of my life, I got used to it and liked the way I felt when fasting, light and actually full of energy. 

How do we get aware of the underlying oneness or that we are all the same higher self and that there is no difference? It has to be experienced. 

When we meditated with a mantra and we were in the ashram near New Delhi, it was about yoga and I was surprised to notice that the Westerners were fixed on the meditation technique and programs, but not the Indians, they went undisturbed on with their tradition, no matter what ... The big issue of secrecy behind held up high to keep the teaching pure by Westerners was not the same for them. 

As it is tradition, the wisdom was available in every bookshop as it seems and they went on with tradition, while we were bound to programs and just listened to the puja, worship, they did next door. 

When we get aware of the secrecy in Veda we also get aware what was for the Westerners secret, was for them just normal and it would never become what it had been for them, it is holy tradition and it will always be a secret to the West what is for them just tradition. 

When seeing it in our own life we get aware of our own experience and if we don't see it in our own life, we cannot understand it. 

Training is essential even for the proper pursuit of sense pleasure, for wild untrained search for such pleasure promotes anger, hatred, envy, malice and conceit. Hence to train the senses along salutary lines and to hold them under control, certain good disciplines like repeating Lord's Name (japa), meditation (dhyana), fasts (upavasa), worship at dawn and dusk, etc. are essential. Though sense pleasures are 'natural' at first, by constant practice, training and listening to the wise, slowly the greater and everlasting bliss derived by divine adoration is grasped.

What is Mandatory to Every Human Being

 

Five yajnas are prescribed as mandatory for every human being: (1) Activities devoted to the study of scriptures (Rishi Yajna); (2) Activities devoted to parents who confer your birth, foster and guide you (Pitr Yajna); (3) Acts done as reverential homage to God who endowed you with mind, intelligence, memory and consciousness, and who is inherent in your every cell as Rasa, the vital energy (Raso Vai Sah).Indeed, the right use of these instruments that God has given you is Deva Yajna; (4) The fourth is adoration of guests. Everyone must welcome the chance of entertaining a guest and treat them with affection, and please them with sincere hospitality as if sent by God, be it one's own kith and kin or strangers (Atithi Yajna); (5) The final yajna is unselfish acts done while dealing with trees, plants, animals, birds and pets like cats and dogs (Bhoota Yajna). Remember to make every act of yours from sunrise to the onset of sleep as a Yajna!

 

This is for every human being or spiritual aspirant, also for you, no exception and person status that gives us the privilege to be different from others.

Do you know what a yajnas is? If not we find it explained in the Internet.

In Hinduism, yajña (Sanskrit: यज्ञ; IAST: yajña) ("sacrifice") is the ritual act of offering labour or materials. In more formal ceremonies, it is a practice from historical Vedic religion where specific offerings are made, accompanied by the chanting of Vedic mantras. Agni Yajna is the ritual offering of ghee, grain and havana sámagri ("herbal preparations") into a sacred fire.

The meaning of the word yajna is derived from the Sanskrit verb yaj, which has a threefold meaning of worship of deities (devapujana), unity (sangatikarana) and charity (dána).[1] An essential element is the ritual fire – the divine Agni – into which oblations are poured, as everything that is offered into the fire is believed to reach the deity or deities. (Wiki)

It means five sorts of offerings are mandatory for every human being.

1.  Activity devoted to the study of the scriptures is what we are doing here.

We study Swami's words in thinking it over we get able to absorb the meaning and what is important is to see it in our own life, if we don't do that, we cannot understand it.

Five yajnas are prescribed as mandatory for every human being: (1) Activities devoted to the study of scriptures (Rishi Yajna); 

That is why I went to see my parents and I looked at them as God, no matter what problems they had and no matter how difficult it got in their presence, I saw it as challenge to be with them in spite of it and I wrote Swami constantly to keep calm inside and to just watch and to not get entangled with their issues. I wanted to get the insight what was wrong and why it felt not as it should have felt like a home. 

I always woke up with nightmares and in fear when I was in my parent's house and apparently without reason, in the midst of the night just like that there was fear. The man who comes in our dreams to awake us said, that listing to my mother the father seemed to be in an outside room of the house, she banned him in a corner, but in reality he was in the center of the house and that felt scary. Parents confer our birth and are on that level of God, but the way they fostered and guided us in being let down, that is another matter.

Illusion or Reality ... Which is it?

The same person is king to his subjects, son to his parents, enemy to his enemies, husband to his wife, and father to his son. He plays many roles. Yet, if you ask him who he is, he would be wrong if he gave any of these relationships as his distinctive mark, for these marks pertain to physical relationship or activities. They denote physical kinships or professional relationships; they are names attached to temporary statuses. Nor can he reply that he is the head, the feet, the hands, etc., for they are but the limbs of the physical form. He is more real than all the limbs, and is infact beyond all names and forms which are falsities that hide the basic Brahman; he is known as 'I'. Reflect over that entity well and discover who that 'I' really is. When it is so hard to analyze and understand your own entity, how can you pronounce judgment on other entities with any definiteness?

How is that constant reflection possible?

We have to go to the basic, it cannot be transcended, the non-conceptual. How do we get there? It is reflected as ‘not that’, everything is not that, everything is conceptual, why is the ‘I’ different? It cannot be transcended anymore, it is basic, universal. Everything in nature had an ‘I’ in different shapes and different bodies.

Constant reflection on the glory of God helps you to transmute the body, mind and spirit. – Baba

If someone asks, who we are, we answer with our name and it is related to our body. If we want to be more basic and universal, we have to go beyond the name and the form.

Everything Baba mentions here is ‘not that’ until we get to ‘that’ and what is ‘that’, it cannot be transcended anymore, it is basic, it is universal, it is ‘I’. It is easy for us, we know how to transcend until there is nothing left but ‘pure being’ in a state of mediation. But here it is about contemplation, not meditation. 

What is contemplation? We get aware in using our intelligence of all what is ‘not that’, all what is conceptual, we have to do it to be able to understand it, we feel it, be it, we have to see it in our own life, it has to become experience, not that, it needs discrimination and we let go of everything conceptual constantly and automatically we are focused on what is basic, we cannot think it away and that is the ‘I’. 

What we reach with meditation by using the mantra is a state of pure being, what we reach by contemplation and 'not that is the I. It is also pure being, but it is contemplation and not meditation and there is a leftover of thought and if we do it consciously we are actually not gone and without thoughts, we are in contemplation of the basic reality.

They denote physical kinships or professional relationships; they are names attached to temporary statuses. Nor can he reply that he is the head, the feet, the hands, etc., for they are but the limbs of the physical form. He is more real than all the limbs, and is infact beyond all names and forms which are falsities that hide the basic Brahman; he is known as 'I'.

Engaged in Immortality

 One important verse in the Gita (Ch 12 Verse 20) states: Those who revere the dharmic way to immortality, and completely engage themselves making Me as their ultimate goal with all faith, are exceedingly dear to Me. What a grand idea this verse conveys! The Lord has clearly declared therein that those who have these qualities, that is, those who trust Him as the only ultimate goal and are attached to Him single-mindedly — they are dearest and nearest to Him. Note the expression, 'righteous way to immortality' (dharmya-amritham) used here. Ponder over it and draw inspiration from it. The nectar of the Lord's grace is deserved only by those who adhere to the Lord's dharma. Simple folks believe they have devotion toward the Lord, but they do not pause to inquire whether the Lord has love towards them. People who pine to discover the Lord's love are rather rare. That is really the true measure of spiritual success.

Do we listen to Swami's voice, can we see him talking about the verse of the Gita standing in front of all the people gathered at his feet listening to him with outmost attention? Isn't it a wonderful picture?

Yesterday he told us that contemplation is neglected. 

Have we asked ourselves what contemplation is? Do we know how we contemplate, and the difference to meditation and concentration, did we ever think it over and ask ourselves questions about it? It is not meditation and it is not concentration, therefore, what is the joy of contemplation?

If we listen to it, we get aware of it that it is a gift, a precious gift of immortality and if we listen, we know we worried for nothing, nothing ever changes, energy doesn't get lost, only the body level are changes, on the energy level are no changes and if we listen to the divine words and how he is talking about the 20 verse of chapter 12 in the Bhagavad Gita he is telling us, listen, listen, listen (listen, think it over, absorb) and enjoy the truth in the divine words.

Those who revere the dharmic way of immortality and completely engage themselves making Me as their ultimate goal with faith, are exceedingly dear to Me. (That are Krishna's words)

How do we understand it? 

He talks about being engaged in the dharmic way of right action, the way of immortality and if we completely engage ourselves and make him our ultimate goal with faith, we are dear to him, we listen to Krishna's words. We can ask ourselves, are we engaged to that type of faith? 

Contemplation is Neglected if we don't Listen, Think it Over and Absorb

How amazing is this! You can get sacrifices of the highest order performed by yourself or through scholars versed in Vedic ritual. You can visit and praise the holiness of diverse shrines and inspire others to journey thereto. Similarly you can master the highest scriptures and teach them to many and make them experts. But how many of you have succeeded in mastering your own bodies, senses and wayward minds, and turned them inward to gain perpetual and unchanging equanimity? You embark upon an undertaking with a purpose, goal, or an end in view. But the endeavour is sublimated into a yajna (sacrificial rite) only if the purpose, goal or end is the glorification of God. God is the yajna, for He is the Goal. His grace is the reward. His creation is used to propitiate Him; He is the performer as well as the receiver. Every act, where the ego of the doer does not surface, becomes a Divine offering.

In yesterday's words of Swami we got aware that we neglect contemplation or better, nobody knows it good enough to know what contemplation is, we are rather naive and think we can feel a bit of love and that's it and Swami's divine presence is not felt anymore.

If we have been meditating, we know how to transcend the mind and that all are one if we do it together, there is only one mind as well, only it is the realm of differences, everything is always changing, nothing remains the same and divinity it the realm of no differences, it doesn't change ever and it is always the same and what is new for us is that the two realms are together, but separate, one turns not into the other.

If the divine level is never changing, eternal, immortal and true always without exception, it is an absolute truth and it cannot change and therefore, if we get aware of God consciousness, we get aware that nothing has changed and everything is as it always was and had been and always will be, but the body level changes and we get older, man may come and man may go, but I (higher self or divine I) go on forever. (Vedic saying).

Swami talks here to spiritual people and sacrifices of the highest order, priests, Sannyasins and even Vedic scholars, pundits are versed in Vedic rituals and they perform their rituals and they think they reach God and he is telling all that it is not true. And he goes on telling that we can go for pilgrimage and praise the holiness of the shrines and even inspire others to do the same and we can master the highest scriptures, learn it all by heart, recite them and even teach it to others and become experts, but still, how many have succeeded in mastering the body, the senses and the wayward mind and turned inward to gain perpetual and unchanging equanimity?

Children of Eternity or Children of Futility

People everywhere are degrading themselves from their status as children of eternity (amrita-putra) to that of children of futility (anrita-putra)! Holding nectar in their grasp, they are drinking the poison of sensual pleasure. Neglecting the joy of contemplation of the fundamental divine reality of the universe, they are entangling themselves in the external trappings of this objective world of appearances. This immortal dharma (amrita-dharma) is described in the Upanishads, and since the Gita is the kernel of the Upanishads, the same is emphasized in the Gita too. The Gita teaches Arjuna to develop certain qualities that help the practice of the Atma Dharma(the righteousness that springs from the True Self). These are delineated in verses 13 to 20 of Chapter 12. The dharmic (righteous) way of life is like the very breath; it is the road to self-realization. Those who walk along it are dear to the Lord.

 

We are children of eternity (amrita-putra). If we talk about Swami's wisdom we should use his words, it takes care of that there are not too many misunderstandings. We can see where it leads about misunderstandings and if we ask a question what seemed a simple thing it was answered on the level of arguing and whatever that was to who are you to know? 

Silence is still better than to argue about everything.

Why are we children of eternity? If we use Swami's words, he doesn't argue and it is no issue, we just have to get accustomed to it to use his words.

 

People everywhere are degrading themselves from their status as children of eternity (amrita-putra) to that of children of futility (anrita-putra)! 

 

Joy is our Birthright, Peace is our Innermost Nature

Joy is your birthright; peace is your innermost nature. The Lord is your staff and support. Do not discard it; do not be led away from the path of faith by stories invented by malice and circulated by spite. Take up the name of God; it could be any one of His innumerable ones that appeals to you the most, and also chose the form appropriate to that name, and then start repeating it from now on - that is the royal road to ensure Joy and Peace. That will train you in the feeling of brotherhood and remove enmity towards fellowmen. When you sow seeds in the field, they can be eaten away by ants or washed off by rains or picked on by birds or destroyed by pests, still some seeds stave off all these and grow as strong and sturdy seedlings. Similarly, you must do everything to uphold the privilege of this birth and strive to return to the Lord.

 

How do we understand our innermost nature? We know from our meditation time that it was called a state of perfect orderliness and we reached in on that pure being level, repeating the mantra. It was a state of no thoughts, beyond time and space, it means we had no awareness of it, when thought came, we were back in the mind and thoughts were part of meditation, when we noticed that we were not thinking the mantra, we went effortlessly back to the mantra. That is how we transcended our mind and the thoughts and it was a state of non-conceptual pure being and it created perfect orderliness, that is peace, it was the result of a purified mind and we were able to meditate in private and if we did it in the group, knew we were stronger the influence on the collective consciousness level was much stronger. 

How do we create that group effect in singing together, we should focus on the divine only, it is one, universal truth, if we listen to the one, we will feel the love and the good energy created by sharing the singing it is also a way of communication, but on a divine level, if we focus on oneness, if we are in our thoughts and busy in the mind thinking and listening to the others, we are in the mind and don't transcend the mind. What Swami said is that it is our duty to focus on divinity to be it, that is how we offer all differences and everything that is individual and personal and egoistic to him and transcend together in the group the mind and it becomes an experience of the divine being present. If we don't focus on one voice only we will not feel that divine presence, but probably feel disturbed on the mind level, to hold on to that all compassing divine awareness he said is our duty.

 If we meditate, we repeat a mantra and we transcend the mind and with together we create that good energy and have an effect on consciousness, if we are singing devotional songs with Swami in focusing on the divine and it is done every Thursday all over the world, we also create that good influence and energy. In it are a lot of good vibrations, therefore, it is our duty to keep that oneness in our mind.

We offer to the divine the ignorance, the diversities, the differences between all, the illusion and every other offering in the mind what is illusion is not really an offering. He said that it is the only offering that is worth to be offered to the Lord.

If we are in the mind and we offer something, we first have to get rid of the illusion and it is not worthy of being offered to him.

Joy is your birthright; peace is your innermost nature. The Lord is your staff and support. Do not discard it; do not be led away from the path of faith by stories invented by malice and circulated by spite.

One cannot Escape from Disquiet as Long as the Fundamental Ignorance Persists

One cannot escape from disquiet as long as the fundamental ignorance persists; mere change of occupation, prompted by the desire for more comfort or the need for satisfying some passing likes will not give lasting satisfaction. It is like hoping to improve matters in a dark room by a mere readjustment of furniture. Instead if a lamp is lit, passage across the room is rendered easier even without readjusting furniture. There is no need to interfere with the furniture at all. So too, in this world, it is difficult to move about truthfully, correctly, and peacefully without knocking against some obstacle or other. How then are you to succeed? Light the lamp of spiritual wisdom (jnana)! Let it reveal the reality! That will solve all the difficulties. You may claim that you live according to dharma, but have you evaluated if your acts are done in a spirit of dedication to the Divine? If so, they will authentically be stamped as 'dharmic'.

We cannot just relax if the fundamental ignorance exists, it is not the silence and inner peace we felt during our group meditations, knowing that all problems would be solved just sitting down mediating and with lots of others together in big courses, it was a different experience of quiet and peace and we don't find it without the right wisdom, it is nevertheless the same, we just have to do the job and realize it. 

One cannot escape from disquiet as long as the fundamental ignorance persists; mere change of occupation, prompted by the desire for more comfort or the need for satisfying some passing likes will not give lasting satisfaction.

One-pointed Attention and Listen to His Words

 When people complain that they cannot concentrate, I laugh, for even the driver of a car is a master of the art of concentration. The taxi driver does not pay heed to the chatter from the seat behind or to the radio. He is watching the road ahead with single-pointed attention. If you have earnestness and faith (shraddha), more than half the battle is won. That is why, Krishna asks Arjuna, "Have you listened to what I have said with one-pointed attention?" Arjuna, even in the midst of the opposing armies in the battle-field, affirmed he listened to the words of the Lord with keen concentration. Practice concentration and it will stand you in good stead. Also, do not mistake the technique for the goal; do not lose your way in the tangle of scholarship. Scholarship and learning are only the means for the mastery of the Mind, to turn it from the Creation to the Creator.

Swami is here comparing concentration with earnestness and faith. If we are earnest, we concentrate.

If you have earnestness and faith (shraddha), more than half the battle is won. That is why, Krishna asks Arjuna, "Have you listened to what I have said with one-pointed attention?" Arjuna, even in the midst of the opposing armies in the battle-field, affirmed he listened to the words of the Lord with keen concentration. Practice concentration and it will stand you in good stead.

Watch the ground and look at the sheet of water that reflects the sky —then you can see, at the same time, the sky above and the earth below.

Why complain that the ground cannot be seen when all the while your gaze is fixed on the sky? Watch the ground and look at the sheet of water that reflects the sky —then you can see, at the same time, the sky above and the earth below. So too, to adhere to the law of truth (sathya-dharma), in your every act, you must see the reflection of the glory of the Divine (Atma); then this attachment to the Lord will transmute your attachment to the world into a pure offering. Adherence to the law of truth is in fact the practice of the immanent Atmic principle. The goal of purity should not be altered or lowered; the essentials should be kept intact. Righteousness (Dharma) does not depend on the various names and forms that its application entails; they are not so basic. Dharma depends more on the motives and the feelings that direct and channelize your every act.

If our attention is at the sky how can we see what is on the ground? If we look at the sky in a fixed gaze, the Attention is fixed and not even flexible, it means with other words they are convinced that the sky is the answer and it is the always sign of Maya, Illusion that we are looking for it at the wrong place.

Why complain that the ground cannot be seen when all the while your gaze is fixed on the sky? Watch the ground and look at the sheet of water that reflects the sky —then you can see, at the same time, the sky above and the earth below.