We need celebration that is spiritual

 

Celebration is the nature of the spirit. But, any celebration must be spiritual. A celebration without spirituality has no depth. 


Silence gives depth to celebration. Some people think being silent is spirituality. Many meditators feel that laughing, singing and dancing are not spiritual. Some people think only celebration is spirituality. 


In some parts of the world - rural India or Africa - celebration means loud music, there is no silence at all. Spirituality is a harmonious blend of outer silence and inner celebration, as well as inner silence and outer celebration. 

Take the first step towards your self

 

Break through all your barriers and feel that you are blessed. This is the one and only step you have to take, the rest will all happen. 


This deep sense of feeling that “I’m blessed” can help you overcome all obstacles in life. You receive courage and confidence, and you will open up for grace to pour in. Once you realise that you are blessed, then all complaints disappear, all grumbling vanishes, all insecurities evaporate. The sense of feeling unloved dissolves, and you stop wanting love. If you do not realise you are blessed, then doership begins. To make a difference in your life, feel you are blessed. 


Especially for those on this path of knowledge, there is every reason for you to feel blessed. Feel you are blessed. This is the first step towards the self. 

Anger of the enlightened

 

The love of the ignorant can be harmful, yet even the anger of the enlightened is not harmful. It can only be good. We have a school at the ashram in Bangalore. There are 250 children enrolled, but only 200 come to class on any given day. Fifty children don’t show up. Why? Because they cry at home, “Mother, I don’t want to go to school”. The mother says, “Oh, la la, don’t cry, okay”. She thinks “No child in the world is like my child”. She gives in to the child and defends him. She does not see the teacher’s point of view.


So, what happens? The child grows up spoiled. The child will never learn the alphabet, never learn to read or write. And the mother says, “Oh, never mind, there are sheep to look after and fields to tend”. Her love out of ignorance has spoiled the child. On the other hand, the anger of the enlightened is a blessing. 


The Puranas give many instances of this. Once a master was travelling with a disciple in the middle province of India. Some boys who were rude, rough, and abusive began to throw stones and tease the disciple, calling him names. This went on for some time as the boys followed the master and the disciple. They came to a river. The Master and the disciple got into a boat and started to cross. The boys got into another boat which began to sink in the middle of the river. 


The master slapped the disciple across the face. The disciple was so surprised, as he had not said a single word in response to the boys’ taunts. He had been such a good disciple and yet the Master had slapped him. The Master said, “It is your fault. You are responsible for their boat sinking. You did not respond to their abuse. Nature has now punished them in a worse way because you did not have enough compassion to quell their insults.” 


That slap from the master took away the karma of this event so that it would not be carried into the future of the boys. It also served to take away any little bit of joy the disciple may have felt as he was seeing the boys’ boat sink! Thus, it also took away the karma of the event for the disciple. Even the anger of the Enlightened is a blessing.


A sculptor of temples uses all types of stones. He uses certain stones for the foundation, these never appear outside. From certain other stones which are good to carve, he makes the walls and pillars of the temple. From yet other stones he makes the steps and other stones become the tower of the temple. Only those stones that are extremely suitable for carving will become installed as the deity. When the stone becomes a part of the temple, it no longer remains a stone, it becomes a sculpture, a piece of art, it becomes the living deity. 


In the same way many, people come to the master. According to the degree of their surrender they are installed by the master. All are essential. If there were no steps, how could a person reach the temple? If there were no foundation, how could the temple be there at all? What can a tower do without pillars? For a sculptor of temples, each stone is precious and valuable.

Is the spiritual Master universal or personal?

 

Often what is universal, we do not consider as personal and what is personal, we do not consider as belonging to everyone. What is “mine” and what is “universal” are completely opposite. This is the cause of greed, fear, jealousy and lack of contentment. 


Wake up and realise that the Lord of the universe is very personal to you. Your personal Master is the lord of the whole world. The Master is your very self and your self is the very life in every being. Make the universal personal, it makes you richer, wiser, stronger. Make the personal universal, you will find freedom, compassion and love. 


How can you make everyone happy? By becoming me. Now, how do you become me? What stands between you and me is your self-image. Your self-image restricts you from being me. Your self-image, whether good or bad, causes misery. If you are open, you are close to me. If you are close to me, you cannot but open up. 

Feel the connection with the Master

 

Someone asked me, when you play little games with us and push us away, how can we feel close to you? I say, you should feel more close if you are scolded or ignored, because to ignore somebody takes a lot of effort. When a Master does not even ignore wrapping paper or a flower in a vase, how can he ignore a walking, talking, breathing human being who is connected to him? Once you understand this, you immediately feel close.


You are with the master to share the joy of the Master, to share the consciousness of the Master. For that, you have to empty your cup of what is already in it. The Master is ready to share. You only have to share from your side.


Your friends tie you to the world, to matter. The Master ties you to the divine, to the spirit. When you are part of the Master, you have every right to be happy. You have every right to knowledge, happiness, and the whole universe. In the presence of your satguru, knowledge flourishes, sorrow diminishes; without any reason, joy wells up, lack diminishes, abundance dawns and all talents manifest. To the degree you feel connected to your guru, these qualities manifest in your life. 


Sit with your eyes closed and feel your connection with the Master. My Lord, Lord of Creation, My Master, Master of the universe, My soul, soul of all living beings, To him, my gloriously radiant Master, I bow down.

Closeness to the Master

 

What does it mean to ‘see through the eyes of the Master?’ Just this every situation that you face, you are thinking – If this situation comes in front of the Master, how would he handle it? If this complication comes to the Master, how would he take it? If someone blames the Master, what would he do? 


The key is to feel the presence of the Master. The Master is the presence, not a relationship. Relationships can be broken, mended, and broken again. There is craving and aversion in every relationship. 


This is the wheel of samsara, the misery of the world. All relationships go topsy turvy, whereas the Presence is vast, infinite, stable and centered. Don’t make the Master a worldly relationship. “Oh, he looked at me”. “He didn’t look at me”. “Oh, he said this”. “He didn’t say that”. “Somebody else is close, I am not close.” All this garbage comes into it. Just enter the door of the Master and come home. Only the presence of the Master will bring fulfilment to your life – and to all your relationships.


If you say that you have no one in this world, then you are disowning me. And if you disown me, then I cannot do anything for you. If you are not feeling close to the master, it is because of you, because of your mind, because of your ego concepts. Just being on the levels of formal and informal communication cannot make you feel close. 


“How are you?” “Where are you going?” “How have you been?” Stop these formal and superficial conversations with the Master. Speak with your heart what is deep in your life, what is important and intimate to you. Don’t just say, "Oh! How much the squash costs, 30 cents", or whatever. 


Share what you have and don’t judge, “Oh, this is garbage”. The Master is ready to accept garbage of any extent. However you are, he will embrace you. Do not feel shame, shy, or judgmental about yourself. If you do not feel close to the master, there is no point in having a master. It is just another burden to you and you have enough burdens already. Just say, “Goodbye”.

See the world through the eyes of the Master

 

There are 3 Sanskrit words: sukha (pleasure), dukha (sorrow) and sakha (companion). These have one thing in common ‘kha’ which means senses. The self experiences the world through the senses. When the senses are with the self that is joy, or sukha, because the self is the source of all joy or pleasure. 


When the senses are turned away from the self, or dukha in the mud, lost in the object that is dukha, misery. Mud, misery, mind, they are all connected. 


Sukha is the nature of self. And all the sense objects are a diving board to take you back to the self. You close your eyes during any pleasant experience as you smell a nice flower, or as you taste or touch something nice. Sukha is that which takes you to the Self. 


Dukha is that which takes you away from the self. Sorrow means that you have been caught up in an object that has pulled you off your Self which is nonchanging. 


Sakha is the companion who is there in all experiences of dukha sorrow and of sukha pleasure. Knowledge is your companion, and the master is the embodiment of knowledge. If you are stuck in an object, his wisdom pulls you out and leads you back to yourself. 


Eakha (sa kha) also means he is the senses. Sakha is one who has become your senses. It means you get Knowledge through him, he is your sixth sense. As you trust your mind, so you trust him. Usually a friend is an object of your senses, but a sakha has become your senses. Sakha means, ‘He is my senses, I see the world through his wisdom’. Your head will be in the mud in a few years; in the meantime, don’t put mud in your head while you are still alive. See through the eyes of the Master and you will see the whole world as divine. 


Do not follow me. In fact, you cannot follow me, because I am behind you to push you forward. You have to leave everything behind and move ahead. All your experiences, your relations everything is a part of the past. Drop everything. Leave the whole world of your memories behind, including me. Stop looking for more, be free. Then compassion will flow from you. 


When people do not follow anyone, is it usually not out of fear or rebelliousness? One kind of ‘do not follow me’ comes from fear or rebelliousness. Another kind comes from a heightened awareness. You cannot follow me because I am behind you and I am in you. For too long you have been a sheep, now it is time to be a lion. 


How do you feel if someone praises you? Shy, happy, great, embarrassed; it does something to you, doesn’t it? But it doesn’t do anything to me. When you praise the moon, the mountains, Lake Lucerne, the Black Forest, it doesn’t do anything to them. They remain the same. Just like that, I’m part of nature. If you enjoy praising me, you may do so. In fact, you have no choice. You can do with me whatever you like, I’m there for you. You are lost on the street. There is rain, thunder, wind and cold, you need shelter. You look around and you find a door. You come to the door because it is more inviting, more charming, more joyful than anything out on the street. 


When you enter the door of the Master, you come home. You see the world from a new perspective. From inside you can still hear the thunder and see the rain,but it no longer disturbs you. Inside there is warmth and security.


The world looks much more beautiful, not a nasty place, a place filled with love, cooperation, compassion. Your fear drops away. When you can see the whole world through the eyes of the Master, it is a sign that you have come to the Master, you have entered the door. This is the purpose of having a Master. If you are still seeing the world as before, then you have not yet come to the Master, you are still standing out in the street, cold and wet, you are only looking at the door, you have not yet entered in.

Knowledge vs. Information

 

If you are in love with the divine, then you can digest knowledge. Love is the appetizer – seva is the exercise. Without love and seva, knowledge becomes indigestible. 

If love is the appetizer, what is the main course? Knowledge is the main course.


Everything here is recycled. The earth is millions of years old, the Alps, the water, the air. Billions of people have breathed the same air. You are recycled. All the particles in your body are old, your thoughts and emotions are recycled, your mind is recycled. You are a recycled person. Everything here is recycled. Consciousness is recycled it is the same old consciousness. Remind yourself that everything here is recycled material so relax. 


Everything goes to where it came from. Recycling brings back purity and hygiene. Knowledge recycles the mind. Knowledge keeps everything fresh. That is why you can keep recycling the same creation. A mind in knowledge finds everything fresh. If you do not put knowledge into your mind, the mind gets rotten. Knowledge brings the mind back to purity. Recycling brings purity and hygiene.


So, what is my message? I have no message. In order to give a message one has to be far away. A message needs distance. A message is of the past, or of the future. A message is impersonal and lifeless. Knowledge cannot be a message. 


The wise one will not give you a message but will simply awaken you. God will not give you a message. For God to give you a message, God has to be far away from you. God is closer to you than your breath. How can He give you a message? The wise neither need a message nor give a message. The unwise would give a message and want a message and would be unable to use the message anyway. 


Whoever needs the message will not use it. And one who can use the message will not need it. 


What is the difference between knowledge and a message or information? You can read about living in the moment again and again, but it only becomes knowledge when you experience it. You can read the ingredients but when you taste the food, the information becomes knowledge. Knowledge has an end. Knowledge completes. 


So also does discipleship, for the goal of the disciple is to acquire knowledge. Once you cross the water, however nice the boat is, you get off the boat. After 12 years, the disciple completes his studies. The master does a ceremony called samavartha. He asks the disciple, to behave at par with him and allow the Divine, Brahman to manifest, he thus ends the discipleship. 


Sakha is a beloved companion in life and death. Sakha only wants the beloved. He longs only for the beloved. Sakha does not care about knowledge or liberation. His love is infinite and infinity can never be full. His love is complete in its eternal incompleteness. 


There is no end on the path of love. Arjuna was a sakha to Krishna and although Krishna was the perfect master, he was a sakha too. What are you, a shishya - a disciple, or a sakha - a beloved companion?

What is the use of knowledge?

 

You walk until you come to the ocean. You don't walk or run in the ocean - you float and swim. Like this, once you come to the Master, seeking stops, blossoming begins. You seek until you come to the Master. 

Seeking is a desire. Desire is a thought. Thoughts are in the mind. The mind is in the big mind. The big mind in me is love. Emotions are ripples in love. Love is all knowledge. Every atom of the big mind is crammed with knowledge. Knowing this, you stop seeking. You are knowledge. Every atom in you is shimmering with Knowledge. 


In Sanskrit, this is called go. Go has 4 meanings: 

1. Knowledge 

2. Movement 

3. Achievement 

4. Freedom or liberation 


Pal means friend or protector - one who takes care of you. Be a Gopal (go-pal), be a friend in knowledge. Often you become friends by: 

1. Gossiping about negative things 

2. Complaining 

3. Similar cravings or aversions 

4. Common enemies or common problems 

5. Common goals or common addictions 


You become friends with someone because you have something in common. But coming together in knowledge is rare. Be a friend in knowledge. Uplift each other in knowledge. All satsangis are gopals - reminding each other of the knowledge, coming together for knowledge. That is Gopal. Be a protector of this knowledge. 


Knowledge is a burden if it robs you of innocence.

Knowledge is a burden if it makes you feel you are special. 

Knowledge is a burden if it gives you an idea that you are wise. 

Knowledge is a burden if it is not integrated into life. 

Knowledge is a burden if it does not bring you joy.

Knowledge is a burden if it does not set you free.

Knowledge must be properly digested and assimilated. 


Indigestion of Knowledge leads to: 

1. Development of a subtle ego which has no cure. Subtle ego gives rise to habits that are not life supporting.

2. Adamancy 

3. Tendency to preach 

4. Using knowledge for one's own small ends. Familiarity without depth or understanding; flakiness. 

5. Disinterest, taking for granted, lack of awareness.

6. Heart burn.

There is no freedom without discipline

 

People who are free regret that they do not have discipline. They keep promising that they will become disciplined. People who are disciplined look for the end; discipline is not an end in itself, it is a means. Look at people who have no discipline; they are miserable. 


Freedom without discipline is absolute misery. Discipline without freedom is suffocating. Orderliness is monotonous and chaos is stressful. We must make our discipline free and our freedom disciplined. 


People who have company all the time, look for the comforts of solitude. People who are in solitude feel so lonely and want company. People in a cold place want a warm place. People in a warm place love something cool. This is the dilemma of life: everyone is looking for perfect balance. Perfect balance is like a razor’s edge. It can only be found in the self. 


Initiation is called diksha. In Sanskrit “di” means intellect, “ksha” means the horizon or the end. Diksha means transcending the intellect. Education is called shiksha, the horizon of discipline – total discipline. Discipline is needed for education. Diksha is needed for meditation. 


A teacher gives shiksha. A guru gives diksha. A guru takes you beyond the intellect to the realm of Being. It is a journey from the head to the heart. 


Blossoming beyond the intellect is diksha. If you do not go beyond the intellect, you will not smile, you will not laugh. Once diksha happens, you are happy, blissful and contented and your thirst for knowledge is quenched. Totality of discipline is shiksha. Totality of intelligence is diksha.

Finding freedom through bondage

 

One who has given everything has also given freedom. Honour the freedom first and make good use of all things given to you. To think fresh, you need to be free of all impressions. Let go of all impressions right this moment and be hollow and empty. 


When you hear a word, the sound instantaneously conveys the meaning. Similarly, the knowledge that you are sitting, standing or talking needs neither confirmation nor proof. An intention to be free makes you free right away. Realising that freedom is your very nature brings enormous shakti, energy. 


Forget about this knowledge note and be free. The full moon of Raksha Bandhan is dedicated to the seers the rishis. Bandhan means bondage, raksha means protection. This is a bondage that protects you. Your bondage to the knowledge, to the master, to truth, to the self, all save you. A rope can be tied to either protect or strangle you. The small mind and mundane things can strangle you. The big mind and knowledge save you. Raksha Bandhan is the bondage that saves you. 


You are saved by your bondage to satsang. Your bondage to the master, to truth, to the ancient knowledge of the rishis is your saviour. Bondage is essential in life. Only let the bondage be to the divine, in a life free from bondage.