Body is the Temple for the Dehi

It was to remind people in the villages to think of God that the ancients built temples which towered above all other buildings. The temple tower was the first thing the villagers saw when they woke up in the morning. The sight of the temple spire immediately aroused in them spontaneous feelings of adoration. It must be recognized that it was not a crazy feeling which inspired the ancients to build huge temples at great expense. These multi-storied temple towers were built so that they might constantly evoke sacred thoughts about God in the minds of the people.

It has been said: "The body (deha) is like a temple for the Dehi (indwelling eternal Spirit)." Just as a doctor reminds you of illness, and a lawyer makes you think of litigation, in the same manner when you look at your body you must remember God.

Baba (thought for the day)

I had to get used to it first to see in the body a temple of God. But it was at the same time charming and nice to think that way. I only noticed much later that I had to see it that way, because I was focused on the watcher and began to get insights and those insights didn’t make sense, if we don’t see the body as a temple.

The higher self was living in that body, but in the inner view it was separate from the body, it was light and beautiful, transcendental and only love and of course, never affected directly by the body, because there was a gap between the body and the light body of the higher self. In that gap was just a ribbon of a blue color and written in it was ‘self’. I was glad that it was there written that ‘self’, because I would have thought that it was God I saw in that light and beauty and love and outside of myself, but like that as it was my own self, it was not possible to project it outside even though it was outside, in that other body and that gap in between, it was like someone else was my own self, it felt more like seeing the neighbor as my own self than seeing my own self. It was the mirror of the other reflecting in love my own self and it was beautiful beyond measures and only love, it was an amazing insight.

The body is the temple of that beautiful being which is our own higher self and ever since I try to understand how it got there, why it looked like it looked and why it was in the dream that insight and why it is not possible to just know that we are that and not even after we have had the insight of it.

Peace is an Aspect of the Higher Self

Fire emerges when one wooden stick is rubbed against another. Can two sticks placed next to each other produce the fire? No. Fire though latent in them, emerges only through the act of rubbing of the sticks. What do these sticks symbolize? The sticks represent the human body. The fire of wisdom (jnana) is present in subtle form within us since our birth and is inert. Spiritual effort (Sadhana) is the process of rubbing the sticks. Where is the butter present in the milk? Butter has always been present in the milk and could be obtained only after the milk had been converted to curd and the curd was churned. Once butter is obtained from the buttermilk, it remains as butter without becoming milk. Likewise, in the human body, a divine power pervades every part of the body, which, after the experience of a Sakshatkar (vision of the Divine) will not be attached to the body.

Baba (thought for the day)

I liked to get aware of the three levels in Veda we have to search to understand it as action and the consequences, orderliness and the place and divinity and its absolute reality.

The question is how to see it in our own life and a way is to just write down what comes in our mind and today it is still on my mind. I remembered how I was waiting for the higher self to be there in the watcher, but I still remember the emotions, because I went beyond my own limitations and the fear, because I didn’t know where I went and it feels also somehow reflected in the father. In the mother early childhood was joy and the orderliness has to do with the father. When my mother came back from Spain she didn’t bring with her that orderliness which had been present due to my father before. It was like we had in not time lots of problems and everything went upside down and not the opposite as it had been with my father.

Spiritual effort is in Baba’s words related to rubbing the sticks. If I do not care about the Baba dreams and I do not think it over and see it in my own life, there will nothing come out by it. But the same value has meditation, if we do not meditate, the consequence will be that we are in the mind only.  If we face the first level of action and consequence, we have to be aware of what we are doing. The second level was in Baba’s presence, whatever happened had to be seen as his doing and we were challenged in understanding that level of divine orderliness.

Levels of Bliss

If we are approaching the Veda as watcher we will find three levels that need to be explored. The first is the study (jijnasa) of action and its consequences (karmajijnasa), then the search for the divine order that what assigns all things of the phenomenal world at its rightful place (dharmajijnasa), and finally the search for the understanding of the Divine Absolute (brahmajijnasa).

Each one is essential to get to the next step. Only through appropriate action within the divine order we learn to understand it and from this point only arises the understanding of the nature of Brahman. The relationship of karma, dharma and brahman is ... illustrated by the flower growing into a ripe fruit. The flower is first a a bud. After the petals fall off, what remains is the kernel from which the fruit develops. The unripe fruit is just acidic. Only when it is ripe, it is soft and sweet. Flower, kernel and ripe fruits are steps in the growth process and essentially one and the same. Therefore, the action (karma), the divine order (dharma) and God (brahma) are nothing else but three different manifestations of brahman. During action and even when in harmony with the divine order conflicts can arise. From the third level, after recognizing Brahman there alone is the bliss of perfect balance and equanimity (ananda).

Baba

This is a text from the study circle and it tells us why it is not that easy. The necessity of discrimination asks us all to get aware of it. If we want to get an experience of that divine level in our own self, we have to watch and act accordingly, that is what it tells us. I began to watch convinced that there was a higher self-level as self-experience and not only intellect and mind level, that much I had understood, but it was not the intellect that convinced me, but it had been present by action. I was writing a diary and waiting for a boyfriend, he was the first lover and I was during writing focused on love only. That is how the insight during that writing process resulted in 'self-realization'. Afterwards I couldn't find that self-realization anymore and I was looking for the reason, therefore, it was the self that knew that it was possible, as we find it always on that level, it is impossible for the mind to know it.

It is the self that knows itself and it is the same on the level of divinity, it is the divine that gives us the insights into the divine order.

Love and the Sapling of Joy

There can be no joy in a dry, barren heart. Divine Love alone can make a dry heart fit for the sprouting of the sapling of joy. Divine Love is free from self-interest. That love alone is sacred and divine which is based on complete obliviousness to one's self and is solely concerned with the yearning for God. Only when such a precious diamond of love is shining in your heart, you will have sacred and divine thoughts. 

In ancient days, sages lived in the forests amidst wild animals and performed penance. How were they able to live in peace amongst these animals? Because they were filled with divine love, they extended that love to the wild beasts also. They had no lethal weapons with them, only the weapon of love, which transformed even the nature of the wild animals. Therefore fill your hearts with love.

Baba (thought for the day)

It was an amazing experience to sit in his Darshan and to get aware of that joy, there was a time it felt like nothing but universal love and joy, flowing joy and it was growing and growing. At that time when I left for once the ashram, mostly to look for some beautiful sari or to get a coconut drink, at time they had not yet coconuts in the ashram itself. Outside of the ashram we had to face another type of life and usually I didn't like it. But feeling that joy I was looking outside of the ashram and felt that these people were richer than the West, because any amount of money cannot get us to that joy and inner fulfillment which was present during Darshan.

Sacrifice for the Nation

People think that giving up hearth and home is renunciation. This is not what Vairagya (detachment) implies. Whatever we do should be done in a spirit of goodwill and service. It should be for the wellbeing of the nation. And the welfare of all must be looked upon as the motto of the nation. From very early times, Bharatiyas have lived up to the ideal: "May all the worlds be happy!" To uphold this ideal, rulers, scholars, sages and everyone made many sacrifices. Today the spirit of sacrifice is not to be seen anywhere. It is selfishness that is the root cause of all the cruelty and violence today. All that we have in this century are strife, disputes, riots and violence. Selfishness has reared its head. Embodiments of Love! Get rid of selfishness. Regard yourself as an integral member of society. Develop the faith that your welfare is bound with the wellbeing of all.

Today it is warmer and I got that tired after lunch, can hardly keep my eyes open, so if I write I wake up again. It is really a beautiful text we look at tonight in the study circle.  Thinking over that thought for the day I wonder why Baba said, 'I am in Africa?', because we are both not African. It was for me out of question that it had to do with me. It had to do with you, because you are in Africa and some of you family as it seems as well. Everything has to be done for the wellbeing of the nation. That is the way we were thinking as TM-teacher and I had been in a relationship with the national leader, it was all about the nation only.

To keep high up his function of the national leader they offered me a course as assistant teacher on a teacher training course and I went. I was focused on the higher self and Maharishi had nodded when I said I felt like just going on and on. So when they offered me the course, I thought it was about just going on and on and I saw it as an opportunity to get closer to the higher self and on that course everything broke into pieces, because the movement was thinking only about the role of the national leader and his former 'engaged' came back. Until then I believed it was all okay and in direction of 'going on and on' and take it as it comes. It was on that course that the air broke into pieces and it felt like hell. The motivation was the mind and the mind game of that guy, he was only an actor, there was no integrity or whatever there should have been. The others acted in his name and about the worst happened what could happen, the principle of yoga broke in pieces, it was all wrong. We didn't know that this was possible. We thought with regular meditation everything was done and we knew that he should have checked it because of that reason with the Maharishi, because he was no present and he didn't do it. I remember still how tired and exhausted I felt. I went in direction of the higher self and thought it was the right thing to do and in the insight reflected that they didn't know what they were doing and that they were just puppets on a string and the hand not there which should have been holding them and the whole thing broke into pieces and instead of friend, they turned in no time into enemies. It was a shock and it ended with the insight that there was a black hole in meditation. After that course I went back to the TM-center in Zurich and I hoped it would go on as before, but it was clear that it was no possible, something was wrong and I was very afraid of those experiences.

It was awful that tiredness, I was afraid to lose my mind or to die of that tiredness and I had no idea why. With vibuthi I got in touch with Sai Baba and he was present as inner divinity, so I went to him and still hoped that it would go on with TM as well until Baba said that it is not the right path and that I should only think about God and that it is very difficult to understand. I put Om Sairam in front of the TM-mantra to feel okay.

Being with Baba I had the feeling that my life was gone or what I thought it was my life and when I met Charles I was even glad that he was American, because I was glad to leave that national awareness what had turned into hell with the TM-national leader, because they all looked like enemies.

It was awful to face that reality and to not know why. Every time when I tried to know why, I realized I couldn't understand it and when Baba said it is very difficult to understand I had no idea how difficult, because it is practically impossible to understand it without listening to his words. I listened, but that is not enough, we have to think it over, we have to see it in our own life, we have to reflect on it and find the meaning of it behind in the background and that is what I am doing in writing you.

In the air was I don't know how many times 'cut off', but not why and how?

In Darshan was 'uprooted' and I always thought it had to do with TM.  It got lost with TM, but it had been already a problem before because of my family and being let down by them.

Whatever the fear of TM and the negative experiences was that big, I couldn't meditate relaxed anymore as I did before, that is why I put 'Om Sairam' in front of the TM-mantra and went on meditating like that and the sutras and siddhis I stopped. Baba has merged with it in the meantime and seeing divinity behind it feels different again. With that thought for the day of Ganapathi and him telling, 'I wanted to fly', it does make sense and it is not any more dangerous.  

So I have my own story with the national level and I was afraid of it and it had to do with the national leader.

It should be for the wellbeing of the nation. And the welfare of all must be looked upon as the motto of the nation. From very early times, Bharatiyas have lived up to the ideal: "May all the worlds be happy!" To uphold this ideal, rulers, scholars, sages and everyone made many sacrifices.

It was all upside down in no time in that relationship with the national leader. He didn't uphold the ideal, he was no ruler or leader, but he was just and actor. It was not real and the others followed him, so the whole TM-movement felt like 'enemies', when in reality yogis are our friends.

For sure it was not about sacrifice when they offered me that course; it was because one was too much. It was against the ideal of yoga. It must have been the ideal which was not uphold, because afterwards we went together to the Maharishi and there was that 'criminal' in the Darshan above his head and also didn't understand it, because we had no Darshan with Maharishi. It was there because of the National leader, it reflected above his head because the master was not present as master, only for the national leader not for the others and that guy was only an actor. Maharishi told him that if he would not hold up the light, someone else would do it. He also had no idea what he did it seems. I left and went to Baba and in coming back got some instructions to keep it for myself and to not mix, but I could stay a TM-teacher.

I only realized in that moment that nobody would go to another master with TM and go on as I did, but I didn't want to go on, I just wanted to get out of it. I went to Baba a few months later and that is when I had the first interview and I asked him about it and when he answered, TM is not the right path, just think about God and that is very difficult to understand. I planned to fly back in September 86 and during Darshan he was standing in front of me and made a big smile and I couldn't leave. I cancelled the flight and the national leader when I didn't come back began to threaten me with my own sister, what I somehow had expected and in December he wrote that he would get 'engaged' at his birthday in December. So he replaced me as fast as he could and it was not about love or ideal or truth or yoga or sacrifice, but it was all about him acting his role.

And before I had Baba in my dream and he asked why I was that old and not yet married and he mentioned Al Drucker, which was even older and not yet married and the rest you know.

I went to get a visa in Singapore and on the way there the problem family and neighborhood came up and he said he would come back and marry me and soon after I met Charles and he really wanted to get married and he said, 'you belong to me'.

I was glad to leave Switzerland, because of that national level I had been into with the TM national leader and all turning into enemies, it was much worse than I thought it was.

But because Al was American, it was a way to get out of it, Charles was also American and you are American and my daughter is now American and Baba tells me, 'I am in Africa'?

So why Africa?

Nobody else is in Africa, but you. Al is not in Africa, the national leader made some more mistakes as it seems and lost his job, he is no more the national leader since years and he was living in Holland afterwards and now I don't know where he is, I never asked if he returned to Seelisberg or if he is still living in Holland? I don't know.

But I met once a guy who had known him when they were younger and he had left as well and he asked me what would happen to him if he is still in that TM thing and I told him, but he has no choice anymore, he cannot get out of it, he has to stay there, wherever that is, if it is in Timbuktu or in Holland or in Seelisberg, he cannot get out of it anymore.

You see by thinking it over I got the answer about the house, it had to do with getting a room in the ashram, no room really, when Baba said, 'I know what I do, I will give you a big house'.

The flying after all seems to have to do with the Siddhis, when Baba said, 'I wanted to fly' and that Baba is the motivator for the siddhis as well. The sutras help us to control the mind and to stay in that silence you like that much, you should try it. As you like silence you are like me, even if I sing also Bhajans I like silence much more and most of all silence and keeping the mind on the sutras, that is what I really like and there is that pleasure of the mind, because the anxiety of the mind is not present. It is kept under control with the 'strength of an elephant'.

What else is there still open? I am in Africa. That is open. Because Baba is the principle of 'attraction' and we go in his direction as he is bigger than the biggest and smaller than the smallest, so if he is in Africa his power of attraction is also in Africa. Are you that much in Africa and are you that power of attraction? I don't know if I will ever understand that part of it.

No Arguments and Disputations

Do not indulge in arguments and disputations; one who clamors aloud has not grasped the Truth, believe Me! Silence is the only language of the realized. Practice moderation in speech; that will help you in many ways. It will develop Prema, for most misunderstandings and factions arise out of carelessly spoken words. When the foot slips, the wound can be healed; but when the tongue slips, the wound it causes in the heart of another will fester for life. The tongue is liable to four big errors: uttering falsehood, scandalizing, finding fault with others and excessive talk. These must be avoided if there must be peace for the individual and society. The bond of brotherhood will be tightened if people speak less and speak sweet. That is why silence (mounam) was prescribed as a vow for spiritual aspirants by scriptures. As spiritual aspirants in various stages of the road, this discipline will be very valuable for you.
Baba (thought for the day)

This morning I am tired. We had been at the center last night, it is tree years ago that Baba left the body. It my side was sitting another devotee, her husband died in December 11 and she had asked me if I would come over to her place on new year's eve and I just couldn't. It was difficult to explain it to her and she somehow felt hurt. In December 10 my mother had died and in April 11 Baba had passed away. In December 11 the whole year had just been about dying as it seemed to me and it was about the beginning of a new year, beginning of 12, I was not able to do the same again, I had to begin the year differently and not with death. She was sitting near to me and I felt it, because I had excuses myself for it and told her way it was impossible and that made it come up for a moment, that deep morning when Baba had left the body, the sadness in the people. The tears began to flow again but with the Bhajans it got better.

We had nice Pasadam, (holy food) but I don't like to eat it late at night, so I took it with me home and my daughter was not there, so finally I ate it anyhow and I drank a glass of wine with it to sleep better as I had to get up early this morning.

And SMS informed me that she has today off and that she went out for entertainment. It was about at 2.45 AM, someone opened the door and my daughter came through the door with a girlfriend, and she was totally drunk.  

Bitten by a Snake and Wake-up

Suppose you dream that you are being bitten by a snake, and are struggling with pain, shouting and frantically searching for medicines. Now even though you are bitten by a snake, do you take medicine to remove the poison? No, you don't do that, because this happened in your dream. You perhaps will even forget the pain, as soon as you wake up, isn't it?

Similarly today you are in deep slumber of ignorance and worldly attachments and hence undergo a lot of suffering.

The world is ephemeral and full of misery. You suffer only because of ignorance and body attachment.

The moment you are awakened from the slumber, your problems will be solved. Anyone and everyone who aspires to lead a happy life must reduce body attachment. You develop ego because of your position, associations, physical strength or wealth. If you want to enjoy bliss, never give any scope for ego.

Baba

How do we get to insights?

In the beginning I was that afraid to get distracted, I didn't read, I tried to stay alone and to focus only on the watcher to not miss it.

I didn't know what it was. I just didn't want to miss it and everything seemed a distraction. In a sense I was glad that my life was regulated by my job, I did my work and time passed by, I was still watching. I didn't try to understand what I did, I just watched.

I had read in the Autobiography of a Yogi from Yogananda Parmahansa and others that it was possible to make the direct experience of the divine.

And I decided to not change things until it would change from the inside. And I didn't tell anybody what I did, because it was kind of impossible to make sense.

If we are really focused on the observer and not on something we think is observing and just another form of the mind, we will get aware that it is quite difficult to explain it without the help of Vedic knowledge, because in the West it seems just not to make sense to watch without a purpose of watching or just to watch and by watching to get aware of the watcher itself. 

Truth and Divine Power

There are many who observe My actions and start declaring that My nature is such and such. They are unable to gauge the sanctity, the majesty and the eternal reality that is Me. The power of Sai is limitless; it manifests forever. All forms of 'power' are resident in this Sai palm. But, those who profess to have understood Me, the wise, the Yogis (spiritually advanced persons), the Pandits (scholars), and the Jnanis (liberated persons) - all of them are aware only of the least important, the casual, external manifestation of an infinitesimal part of that power, namely, the 'miracles'!

My power is immeasurable; My truth is inexplicable, unfathomable. What I will, must take place; what I plan must succeed. I am Truth; and Truth has no need to hesitate, or fear, or bend. I am announcing this about Me, for, the need has arisen.

Baba (thought for the day)

If we want to understand his nature or to get closer to that reality, we have to know the principle. There is no other way to get nearer to his nature.

It seems maybe like a contradiction, when he is telling us that they are unable to gauge the sanctity, the majesty and the eternal reality that is Me.

We have to get aware of the oneness between our limited 'I' and the divine reality of 'I am the One', the universal 'I' to realize the meaning of it. If we see it in the inner view, it gets closer to our understanding. If we think on the intellectual level, 'I am the One', it is associated with body consciousness and therefore, it results in a huge ego.

He is the man who is in our dream to wake us, if he is present in our inner experience as 'I am the One', we know it is 'He' but as it is in our inner view, we also know that my own 'I' is not different from that and we can get the meaning of 'I am That', 'Tat Twam Asi'.

He is leading from the inside in our dreams to that insight and that is how our understanding of his reality grows. If we do not have the insight of it, on the mind level it is not possible to gauge the eternal reality in which he is identified.

It is not only limitless and manifests forever, it knows no birth and no death.

If we get one with the principle and who get closer to that wisdom and higher understanding we realize also how small certain things get, what we might think on the mind level are important.

What we notice is that he tells us, 'My power is immeasurable; My truth is inexplicable, unfathomable'.

Getting rid of the Cover Wrapping up Divinity within

Once a friend asked the famous sculptor from Italy, Michelangelo, "Why are you working so hard, chiseling this large piece of rock? Why don't you go home and take some rest?" Michelangelo replied: "I am trying to release the Divine that is in the rock. I wish to bring out of this lifeless stone the living Divinity that is embedded in it."

If a sculptor could create from an inanimate stone a living Image of God, cannot human beings vibrant with life manifest the living Divinity that resides within them? What is the reason for this incapacity to realize the Divinity within? It is because we do not realize the soiled cover in which it is wrapped up. If our clothes get dirty, we change them because we are ashamed to appear in unclean garments. If our house is shabby, we try to clean it. But when our minds and hearts are polluted, we do not feel a shamed! To purify our hearts and minds, the first thing we have to do is to lead a righteous life. Our actions must be based on morality.

Baba (thought for the day)

I was meditating regularly morning and evening with TM-meditation, first it were only twenty minutes and afterwards with the Siddhis-program it expanded to one and a half hours morning and evening. I began with that meditation during my time in Paris, because I tried to get inside answers, because I had years before the higher self in my dream, it was just light, beauty and love and that felt real good. After that insight I just wanted 'that' and the question was how to realize it and that is why I began with meditation. It had good effects on my health or on my feelings, the focus improved and as I was studying French, I noticed that it was much easier to focus, what I enjoyed. That was for me enough reason to go on and I thought that this meditation would be good for everybody, that is how we went ahead hoping the rest would come in time, that rest was all about insights only. And I had a quite difficult French test and before I went for a whole week to a meditation course, it was actually a siddhis prep course, but I didn't go there in the intention to do the siddhis, I wanted just more rest for my test. We did nothing but meditate, it was called rounding, and it began with two and went up to six and got less to the end of the week again. The test was good, I felt not identified with it and therefore, I did it totally relaxed and that made it easier afterwards. During that course I heart a beautiful melody that came out of the hearts of all hearts. That was related to the higher self I had met already before in the dream and in that moment, because it happened with lots of meditation practice and during the course, it got projected into TM. I thought I had to go there, that was the conclusion and I had no idea that it was a wrong conclusion. So I went for the Siddhis and that felt like an opening up and great. I went back to my country to earn the money for the TM-teacher's training course, it was easier for me in Zurich than in Paris and I went on course.

Live happily in the Present

We either think of the past or the future and ruin the present. Past is past, forget it. The past which is dead and gone, is useless. Work for your progress by living in the present, and in the moment. Future does not always bring happiness. And so far as the past is concerned, how much happiness have you experienced in it? Therefore, live happily in the present. What should we do in the present? Follow this maxim: Less luggage more comfort makes travel a pleasure. We should not worry about the past at all. Thinking about the past will not do any good to us. Therefore we should lead our life in the present and achieve all-round progress.

Baba (thought for the day)

This is kind of challenging to me, because Baba said to us in the interview room, follow the master, fight to the end, finish the game and by following the inner master a lot of past stuff is usually coming up, but it doesn't mean living in the past.

In trying to understand the insights in the light of the past experience and whatever comes up, comes up. Usually I do not think about it if it is past or not, I just think about understanding the insights.

Baba was in a dream and there were two Babas, one as the insight and the other one as the next step.

If we want to get to the right conclusion, we have to listen and to think it over and to absorb. But it doesn't mean living in the past. It is ruminated until we see it in the right light and it is not a matter of how long it takes or about past, it is more a question about getting the right answer and that is of course now and in the present.

Baba always said when it was about interview, one day we will get inner view and at that time we didn't know what it meant, what a personal interview in the inner view was like. In the meantime I am familiar with insights and inner view.

Baba also said he is the man who is in our dreams to awake us.

The first really great personal interview in meditation was during the first birthday celebration I had spent in Baba's presence.

We were happy that it was his birthday and therefore, went into meditation and there he was during meditation. He opened the door, he was dressed in white and there was a beautiful golden light.

I am Atma, not the Body

When a tree sways with the wind, its branches bend and toss up and down. But the tiny bird sitting on it is not afraid? Why? Because the bird relies on its wings. Even if the branch falls down, as long as its wings are fine, it is safe. With this realization, the bird sits bravely on the swaying branch. However, human beings do not have so much faith as a tiny bird. Even with the slightest problems on the tree of life, people get very worried, why? It is because they have lost their self-confidence. Even at the slightest suffering, people are frustrated, depressed and unable to bear. Instead of depending on your intelligence, physical strength or wealth, trust your self-confidence. Do good deeds; let every step and all your efforts be directed to win His Grace and proximity. Then, you will surely triumph!

Baba (thought for the day)

Do you see the tiny bird tossing up and down with the branches in the wind not afraid?

As long as its wings are fine, it is safe. When Baba said in my dream, ‘I wanted to fly’, it was probably about self-confidence and knowing if we have self-confidence, we can fly.

And he also said in my dream, ‘I wanted a big house’, and if it is about the house of self-realization the fundament is also self-confidence, the walls are self-contentment, the roof is self-sacrifice and living in the house will be self-realization.

What Baba said is, ‘self-confidence, self-control, self-contentment, self-sacrifice, self-realization’.

It is all based on the self and not the mind.

Oneness with the Divine

The profound message the divine epic Ramayana gives is: One must lead the life of a human being, and one must seek oneness with the Divine. In every human being, all the three natures – human, divine, and demonic – are present. But most people today ignore their humanness and Divinity, and foster only their demonic nature. In fact, one should strive to manifest the Divinity, and not display one’s weakness or unpleasant qualities. In every act, Rama set the example, be it in individual conduct, in the discharge of duties to the family, or in fulfilling the obligations to society. Rama demonstrated the ideals to be followed. All should begin with fulfilling their individual obligations. The duty of the individual is to manifest the Divinity within. As an individual, Rama revealed the Divinity in Him through His ideal conduct.

Baba

How do we find the oneness with the divine, if we are not in our inner essence, we are not one with the divine. It is therefore, necessary to discriminate first to be able to know that difference in our own awareness between the inner divinity in our heart and the mind and how do we know that difference?

Baba tells us that Tapas spiritual work is, first to discriminate, second to see it in our own life and third to go on no matter what obstacles are there. It helps to see the difference between the inner essence and the mind and its holes. If we are in the mind we are cut off the essence and look for the solution on an outward level and not in our own self. That difference between the essence or divinity in our heart and the mind in our conscious awareness is present if we find it in our own self in the now or we search for it outside. In the process we begin to discriminate between the obstacles in the mind and the essence of our own higher self.

See the Divine in every Day Life

Due to the force of gravity objects fall. The gravitational force is invisible to our eyes. Similarly, there are innumerable divine forces operating in this Universe. You must not deny them just because you cannot see them. Only the power of the Divine enables you to speak, see, move and think. All the power of the sense organs are derived from the Divine. In conceit, you may imagine that you are the doer. This is the result of ignorance and folly. Ask the question, what is responsible for existence? The answer is Divinity. Without faith in the Divine, nothing can be achieved. There is no need to seek a reason for this faith – Faith has no season or reason, it is like the love of a child for the mother. The child loves its mother for the sole reason that she is its mother. Develop such confidence and firm faith, you can realize God.

(Baba)

Last night there was not enough force of gravity to sleep or maybe it was something else, I woke up and didn’t remember that my daughter was already home. It was real strange.

I had taken a half a sleeping pill to be able to sleep. We had a study circle and were talking about the principle of Ahimsa, non-violence and ‘himsa’ – violence. I went fully into the himsa issue as we have in the West hardly any place where we find no himsa, violence.

Baba calls ahimsa, non-violence the highest virtue.

I was not in the mood of singing and participating and I am glad the others talk also, so I had nothing much to say but in the end to tell I went just into my heavy insights and it is all about violence.

Time is a Witness

On a stage, there are a number of lights. One is turned towards an actor in the role of a king. Another is focused on a beggar. Yet another light is on a man reading the Ramayana. The fourth one lights up a fighting scene. Here, although the lights illumine a variety of scenes, they remain unaffected by the behavior of the actors; they simply bear witness to the actions but no blame attaches to them for what the actors do. The characters alone are affected by what they do. Similarly Time is a witness to what everyone is doing. This Time is available equally to all. Your primary duty is to make right use of this Time. For this purpose, there is no need for you to wait for the beginning of a new year. Every moment is a manifestation of Time. The second is the basis for the year. Hence every second should be filled with purposeful action.

Baba

How do we know why we want to get an answer? Maybe it was because he asked and we had to get an answer.

He asked us, ‘who am I’. And we went into that search to understand who he said he was and who is that ‘I’, a universal principle and for everybody the same. We could think that everybody who has a body will also have a feeling of ‘I’ and it is connected to that entity and to the body.

Who am I?

There were questions and we had to find the answer. And Baba asked, where do I come from? Where do I go? Hong will I be here?

In the beginning I was translating all of Baba’s speeches trying to somehow closer to it and it felt like far away. I could understand it as principle and think that the same universal entity or divinity, what I looked at as opposed to our individuality, which is not universal and therefore, limited in its being.

Baba and the Jumping, Bumping Monkeys

At times, your mind becomes a monkey, a mad monkey, jumping and bumping all over. It might be difficult to control your mind. In those moments, tell yourself, “I am not a monkey; I am part of ‘mankind’.” You must have and exhibit kindness from within you. Cultivate love and develop kindness. All of you must start the day with love, fill the day will love and end the day with love. This is the way to God. Always be happy. There should not be anyone with castor-oil faces. You must lead a happy life and be cheerful always. Not just on your birthday should you be happy, you must lead your life in happiness all the time. When you have love for God, you will not do things that God does not approve of. So, your life will always be happy. Follow God, live in Love and Truth. Then you will attain true happiness and enjoy bliss.

(Baba thought for the day)

I think I enjoy it very much to get aware of the 'I am the One', no differences at all on the inner level of our 'I', which has no limitations and expanded to an universal level - or should we call it the soul level - and in our relative world experience there are that much differences that we do not understand each other.
I have to get use to the new universe and I think it needs a happy smile to get aware that with Baba in my world are vampires, demons, gaps and huge precipices, avalanches and whirlpools, volcanoes and storms, beggars and homelessness, we find ourselves on the scaffold or we have to face the devil.
Years ago being with Swami in the ashram meditating every day, feeling safe in my mediation, it didn't even come to my mind that I will have to face such a world view with him later on in my own inner view. The world has quite changed. 

How do we Attain Immortality?

Not by work or wealth or progeny, but only by sacrifice can one attain immortality. All the scriptures explain the value of sacrifice. Understand its inner significance and practice it. Devotion should not be confined to visiting temples and saluting God therein. Devotion exists everywhere. Wherever you sit, you can utter the Name of the Lord. There is no place without Love, Love exists everywhere. Some love their mother or father, others their wife or children. There are yet others who love God. Loving God alone is true devotion. The love for any worldly person can at best be selfish – there is no one who loves another person without a selfish reason. God alone loves you without selfishness, expecting nothing in return. Therefore develop faith and devotion to God.

Baba (thought for the day)

If divinity is that close to us, closer than anybody we know, how can we not be aware of it? I began to watch, decided to not change anything anymore, until it would come from the inside out of the higher self, because if it was that close, it had to be there. 

There had to be a way to make the experience and if we have enough patience and perseverance, it has to be there. 

Waiting for divinity in the beginning it felt good and special, but after a while I noticed that I had no idea about it really, I was just watching and I didn't know what fore really, I couldn't explain to anyone, because nobody knew and nobody looked at it that way. 

It felt like time began to load and the fact that I had no idea what I was doing and I also noticed I didn’t know how to explain it, but I was convinced that in my environment, in my family, if I would tell what I was waiting for, they would laugh about it. 

I had already earlier mentioned that I thought life was about self-realization and was surprised by the reaction, as it was not what I had expected. Everybody seems sure that it was not possible. 

Therefore, I was warned and I waited and didn’t talk about it. Waiting in silence until it would come from the inside, that made sure there were less distractions and doubts about it. If we do not talk about it, it was silence and I am certain that helped a lot.

Writing gets us to the Right Answer

At times, you may feel dissatisfied with the answers you wrote, even though you have spent a lot of time reading. Why? Because when you are preparing for examinations, mere reading is not sufficient.
You may read at home and feel confident of writing well in the exam hall, but that doesn’t work. You must necessarily practice at home what you do in the examination hall. That is why you should often practice writing the answers.
Many things which you do not understand clearly while reading, becomes easier to comprehend when you write. The more you write and practice at home, the better you will do in the examination hall. I will also share another secret for your success: In the examination hall, before receiving the question paper, you should first pray. Receive the question paper after your prayer. Then slowly read the question paper and start answering the easy questions first and the difficult ones towards the end.

Baba (thought for the day) 

If we read Baba's words we think he talks only to the students, but we know how it felt being in his presence, we always got the answers between his words and it was not at only for the students. We are the aspirants on the spiritual path and he is the teacher. He said that life is the best teacher and Tapas means first to use discrimination, second to see it in our own life and to go on no matter what obstacles are there. We should see it in our own life and it means we will have to do out homework and pass also some tests.    

That examination in our own life will be different, there will not be an examination hall, but nevertheless, it will be real. We feel it again and again that people are not quite satisfied with their words and thoughts, because we do not understand it well enough, because reading is not sufficient. We have to listen and to think it over to be able to absorb it as part of our own self. 

That thought for the day tells me finally why I am into writing. He was holding up a book after we came here and I knew it means writing it and when I began to write I didn't know where to begin with and even less how to end it, but I went on writing, just to do it, because in doing it we can finally will find a beginning and an end and not in just thinking about it, we have to put it into practice.

In the mean time it has changed, it is the reason why I write that blog, I am that student who has to pass an examination test and I have to find the right answer and in writing we practice at home and think it over in a different way than only reading it and we get a deeper meaning of the words and Baba's wisdom than only reading it.

Darshan: Sight of Truth

The path to God is difficult, but you can win. Let God do whatever He wants. Surrender to Him and say, “I brought nothing with me! Whatever You have given me, I offer it back to You.”

You may think your parents gave you the body. Who put life into your body? Who makes your heart tick incessantly? You may feed the body with tasty food but who digests all the food you eat? Who is the driving force behind the circulation of blood? God Himself regulates every single act within every living being.
The eye that is not even an inch long can clearly perceive the stars, far away in the sky. Who gave this little eye, this big strength and power? God alone has conferred and is conferring everything upon you. With your little ego, you are confused that you are the doer. This is the greatest ignorance. Whatever He gives, accept it, it is for your highest good.

Baba (thought for the day)

It was my first interview with Baba. He took the group in the interview room and someone said that are the people from your country, you should go. 

I was the last one walking fast over the place to the mandir and the last one going through the door. Baba was standing at the door and asked, ‘where do you come from?’ And I answered, because I thought it was about the country, ‘Switzerland’. 

In the back of the room was some place to sit down and it was filled with people and he closed the door behind and walked in front to this chair. 

It was amazing, because I saw him the first time materializing things that close, he made for someone a ring and something else and out of his hand came sweets and he gave some of it to all people present.

And he asked the country groups in the second smaller room behind and there we sat and it came all by surprise to me when he said, ’what do you want’? He felt that close, it was an incredible feeling and I tried to explain it. 

Sharing good Things

Always help the poor and those suffering and in distress. Once upon a time, in Tamil Nadu, lived a poet saint who squatted on the small veranda of his hut and chanted beautiful songs to the Lord. One day, it was raining heavily. Another man came and asked him if he could also take shelter there. The devotee said, “There was place just enough for me to stretch out, but now that you are here we will both sit erect.” Later, another man stopped by and asked for shelter. The devotee again agreed saying, “There was place for the two of us to sit. Now that you also have joined, let us all stand.”

He thus taught the principle of helping everyone and not sending anyone away who needed help, even when the means are limited. Cultivate this attitude of sharing with others any good thing you have. Thus you can practice daily, the great principle of finding God in every being.

Baba (thought for the day)

In our center we always have problems to put that in practice, because we do not find the poor on the streets like in other places and it seems rather they are hidden and alone and like abandoned mostly in the cities and to find them seems nearly impossible and we cannot impose ourselves on them if they do not ask for it.

There are always people trying to do more and they don’t know how to put it into practice.

But thinking it over we find another meaning in the thought for the day. In whatever situation we are and we have to share our shelter with another one, even if there is no room and it gets uncomfortable, but we still do it and accept it as a gift of the Lord.

It can be that we are in a crisis and life is not at all as we thought it should be and we begin to doubt and ask, ‘why Lord you are giving me that plight and it is that uncomfortable how you can do that do me?’

We can share with others the good things we have instead of sharing the bad and even if the means are limited. It means even if we have nothing to give we still can give something, but it doesn’t mean that we expect others to do good to us, what seems often the case, it seems they take it literally what Baba uses as example here to show how we can keep a good way of seeing things, even if we have limited means.

Difference between Good and Bad

Who is a bad person? Anyone who sees evil in good is bad; stay away from them. If you join bad company, knowingly or unknowingly, you will lose good qualities. Many have reaped poor fate due to bad company.

Who is a good person? Anyone who sees good, even in a bad person, is good. You must develop friendship with the good. There may be some evil qualities in you; do not worry or become weak because of this. Develop good qualities increasingly. God will always be in you, with you, around you and will take care of you.

Whatever task you undertake, discriminate carefully, follow the noble path and always do good acts. Keep your heart sacred and pure. Never fill it with bad thoughts and feelings. You must start early, drive slowly and reach safely. When you develop good qualities, your journey to the future will be smooth.

Baba

I was impressed getting the answer like that. 

That thought for the day was a highlight and it seemed to explain about everything. Following the inner light and the inner master trying to know how it got into self-enquiry in these words is the reason why some insights were good and others bad, why some were light and others dark. 

In the experience it is not that easy to get aware of it, it is even very difficult to understand Tamas, upside down, if evil is seen in good.

It was not as we might think how we get into self-enquiry; it was not a decision, but the result of watching. 

We didn’t go to Baba and he said, you have to do self-enquiry. 

It was by practice that we got into it. 

In doing we got aware of it. 

The insights were there, but not understood and he said in the dream that he is the insight and the following step.

It began with the higher self in the dream and it had to be understood, that was clear, only not where and how to get the right wisdom.

First time I had met the Maharishi, he was a yogi, I hoped he would tell me how to understand insights and there was one outstanding insight and there were others I was not even aware of it that it was the level of insights.

It went from one TM-course to the next, always hoped to find it in the next course and it was all in vain, only more insights and no answers and when I finally realized that there would be no answers at all, it was too far gone, no way back, it was just deception and illusion.

And finally after being with Baba, sure that it was at the right place, still there were no answers. 

And Baba said, ‘wait, wait, wait’ and time went by and nothing happened.

And in an interview he said, ‘follow the master, fight to the end, finish the game’ and by that it was clear that we didn’t know how to listen to the inner master, even less how to fight to the end and what about finishing the game?

It felt all like theoretical wisdom and the question was how to put it into practice.

The Witness and Divine Love

God dwells in each and every one of us. Do not criticize anybody, you will accumulate sin. Do not hate anyone. Never deride anyone’s action or ridicule them on the grounds of caste, race, gender, religion or community. There is only one caste, the caste of humanity. There is only one religion, the religion of love. There is only one language, the language of the heart. All of you must understand and internalize this. Become an ideal person from today. Develop faith in the ‘Brotherhood of Man and the Fatherhood of God’. Do not worry about the past, forget it. This will lead you to real bliss. Thus I bless you!

In the beginning with Baba it felt like only ‘love, love, love’ and it made me go into the feeling and there it ended, it felt like I couldn’t think anymore. We didn’t know where to begin and how to be able to get that experience of love.

It was present during the time in the ashram as we had every day two Baba Darshans, but when back in our Western world I tried in vain to find it and why it felt like gone. It could not be possibly just go away and what was it?

When I first met with other Baba devotees we were three people singing together with a tape recorder, and I went to India because I wanted to know more.

Face Troubles develop Courage in the Self

When you face troubles develop courage in yourself. Do not think, “Why should I be troubled like this?” Develop broadmindedness. Firmly believe that whatever happens is only for your good. Never forget that trouble, loss, illness, etc. come only for your good. Do not see bad in good. Always see good in bad. Light has much more value when there is darkness around. The value of joy is realized only when there are troubles. During the rainy and winter season, we want heat. In summer times, we look for coolness. You need both heat and cold, depending upon the circumstance. No matter in which situation you are, you must develop good feelings. You must start this habit of always having noble feelings from a very young age. Whatever thoughts and feelings you develop then, will last forever. Develop good thoughts and give up bad company.
Baba (thought for the day)

Spending the day at the emergency ward, after a major fall and still hoping it would get okay soon, and that is should get better, after all, we had to face fact, that is was not getting better but worse, it was a bone fraction.

In the mind a vacation and the intention to travel to India next week, all that should not be happening now, that was clear.
There must be something wrong about the travelling plans or something else, but what was it? There has to be something wrong about it, if everything turns upside down in no time and how to see good about it? That is exactly what Baba is talking about in this thought for the day.

Holistic Wellbeing

The word ‘Health’ is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word ‘Helig’ meaning holistic or wholeness of the spirit. You are made up of sense organs, mind, intellect, consciousness and the indwelling spirit. ‘Wholeness’ includes all these elements. Your mind should be in a state of fullness; there should be no room for confusion or depression. To achieve such a state of mind, it is necessary to connect with the Divine and understand the situation. For instance, students should not get depressed if they did not score as well as they expected or perhaps failed in an examination. Instead, they should examine the reasons for the result – whether they studied well or understood the subject correctly. If the conclusion is inadequate preparation, then the resolve should be to do better in the next opportunity. You must develop your moral and mental strength by practicing Sadhana for disciplining the mind and achieve holistic wellbeing.

Baba (thought for the day)

Yes, we call that helig – ‘heilig’, the wholeness of the spirit.

We know our sense organs, but everything else is not so clear, for the mind we do not have a good translation, the intellect is easier, but consciousness not and even less the indwelling spirit.

If it would be so easy to just contact that spirit, we would know how, but as it is inside and inside it is dark, we do not have any light to see, we look for it on the outside and there we cannot find it.

So we should get aware of it to be able in that wholeness to include all elements.

How do we get aware of the indwelling spirit?

If we see only part of it, our mind cannot be in fullness, that is just normal.

That is it what reflects in the inner view as colors, usually if it is black dark by experience it has to do with partial knowledge and usually some part of the whole is ignored.

If we don't Know our True Identity ...

All spiritual practices (Sadhana) will go in vain if you do not know your true identity. Instead of asking others, “Who are you?” ask yourself, “Who am I?”

We say, “This is my book, this is my tumbler.” Then, "Who am I? The feeling of ‘my’ is illusion (maya). All this ‘mine’ is matter; they are negative. You think you are the master of this material world. Master the mind and be a mastermind! Make an effort to know your true identity.

To know this, you should first give up body attachment. When I say this is ‘my handkerchief’, I am separate from the handkerchief. Similarly, when I say this is ‘my body’, I am separate from the body. When I say, ‘my mind’ it means I am separate from my mind. Then who am I? Constant enquiry on these lines would lead y ou to self realisation.

Baba (thought for the day)

We went into the practice of spiritual sadhana by regular meditation, twenty minutes morning and evening silent sitting, very simply, we just sat down and were thinking a mantra, repeating it and it was essential to do it regularly, and health will improve, we use more of our mental potential and life improves in many ways, and that will takes care of aging, we will get less old or we remain longer young etc.

That was all good and we could use it and it is what everybody wanted, there was no reason to not go for it, but not once it was about our true identity. But I was looking for the higher self and that is our true identity and I was thinking that it would still come, later on maybe, they always said it would come and there was that big deception, first it was all secret, we could only know in doing and afterwards, after we got it and it went from program to program, from course to course, but it never went beyond it and in direction of the higher self. In that sense it was similar to scientology, I have seen a movie not long ago and first it seemed to make sense, going beyond the mind and more in a state of being and then began the courses and more courses and training and it ended in a mental prison and it is nothing but brainwashing. 

Seeing the Divine in our Heart

Truth is that, which does not change with time. A policeman wears his uniform and performs his duty. When you see him, you think that is the truth. After his duty, he goes home and changes to a night-dress. Now too he is a policeman! Though the clothes he wore has changed, his body does not change. Similarly, ‘Dehi’ your indweller, does not undergo any change. Your body is associated with Satvic, Rajasic and Tamasic qualities. Remove them and you will see the divine ‘Brahman’.
In a cold hill station, you wear vest, shirt and then a protective coat on top of it. If you want to see your heart (chest), you must remove your coat, shirt and vest; only then you can see your heart. Similarly, the body of a human being is covered with many qualities. When you go beyond these, you will be able to see the Divine in your heart.

Baba (thought for the day)

In thinking it over and writing about it we can get deeper into the meaning of the wisdom in his words and find him. This is such great wisdom. First it tells us that we have to reach a non changing level, how do we do that? It helps to see it with the opposite value, we know it is not relative, because everything relative is changing, therefore, it is absolute. It cannot be limited by time and space, it has to go beyond it to be only one without a second. We can only recognize what is passing by, because there is something which is always the same and not moving. We see the limited, because behind is the ocean of consciousness and the unlimited being.