Listen, now focus on yourself. Why do you focus on what others do? There are so many people that do so many things in the world. It’s my headache and their headache, now why do you want to make that as your headache also?
I keep telling them don’t bow down and don’t bend down, but it is a cultural thing. In India they always do like that. When the person in the front bows down the people in the back don’t see it so they bow down. Then one above the other they keep falling.
Sometimes they grab my feet and then bang their head so hard on my feet. Sometimes I have to scream for them to stop. I have many marks that devotees have put on me.
Sometimes they grab my feet and then bang their head so hard on my feet. Sometimes I have to scream for them to stop. I have many marks that devotees have put on me.
I have tried educating people and it doesn’t work. You don’t have to copy them I tell you. And don’t be bothered by others I tell you. Otherwise you find that person is behaving this way and this person is pushing, this person is running, why shouldn’t all this be corrected? How much will you correct?
You know I see millions of people and everywhere is the same story. Do you see what I am saying? If you bring too much discipline where everybody is strict, people feel so suffocated. So I always preferred a middle path where it is not too much restriction and where it’s not free for all. It’s not the situation where it’s free for all; everybody jumps everywhere and does anything they want, no!
It’s the big problem and issue for me but we have to deal with it. Certain things are cultural things; certain things are peoples’ emotions. You know sometimes people see me, they come from a long distance and they want to shake hands with me, some want to come forward, you can’t blame them too. Some of them want a picture so they push everybody and they don’t see anyone, they just want to have picture.
I’m not just talking about here you should see what happens in India, or South America or Mongolia for example. I go to Mongolia, in the middle of the night at 2:30 in the morning, there is such a huge rush, everybody trying to get inside the airport. Security people were startled, what is this? But what do you do, I have not asked people to pull and push and just go forward. And if I say too much also it’s a matter of someone’s feelings, someone’s emotions, isn’t it?! Someone has come with a flower, a lady from a remote area in Mongolia and she just wants to give the flower into my hand. She must be in her eighties and I am so concerned someone will push her down.
Sometimes they light candles and then the people are walking around with all their garments and I say, ‘look out, light, light, light’. I was so concerned, they put the lights all along the stairways and people are just not aware. They’re in such joy, they’re in so much joy you know they lose track of their surroundings. They are sort of ecstatic and they don’t care about what’s happening to their garments, whether it’s catching on fire. So I am very careful, put off the lights and this and that.
So peoples’ behavior is very different. I cannot control peoples’ desires and nor can you. So why do we get stuck with other people’s behavior all the time? Whether it is good behavior or bad behavior, there are people who blame you for nothing. What do you do? Nothing.
There are people who show negative emotions, I do nothing and they show positive emotions, and I do nothing because it is a way for them to express themselves so l let them be. As far as possible I will make some security arrangements. Here also people sat holding everybody back with a rope but it does not work for five minutes. In five minutes later only outside my kutir I already see there are lots of people. Now I don’t blame them.
I want to tell you one incident. I was going to Lucknow, the city in the north of India. So when I went there the chief of police came to me and said, ‘Guruji, there was chaos!’
There was chaos in the airport, a stampede but thankfully nobody got hurt or anything. But there was so much crowd. The police officer came and said, ‘Guruji I don’t know what effect you have. Till the time you came we had all agreed that we would all be in line in a row and we’ll be disciplined and you’ll be allowed to get into your car very smoothly. But the moment you come out, I was the first one to break the plan and everyone broke all the plans and had gone haywire.’
There was so much chaos I could hardly get into the car. My shawls were torn. Well but I was not upset, I am not at all upset. I’m not upset with these things because I know. I said, ‘I don’t blame anyone, it’s my responsibility.’
I know wherever I go the chaos begins. I don’t even have to go to a place, just the news that I am going to a city is good enough to create chaos. And many of you know this, who will host me there will be a fight on that, who will drive me there will be another fight on that, I have come to terms with it now. I just accept it; there is no point in getting upset for it.
And bliss comes out of chaos and wherever there is bliss some chaos does happen. This is a natural law; do you see what I’m saying?!
So you better focus on yourself and your knowledge. You don’t need to do what others are doing, you be yourself and you move on. If you can help others then help, otherwise finding faults in others, ‘Why are they doing like this’, and saying, ‘Why don’t you educate them?’
How much can you educate? Who to educate, how many can you educate, tell me? We gave the technique for everyone to practice and to be happy and that is good enough, you know. But there should be some freedom for people to express their emotions.
