The main reasons to be with a guru (spiritual master) are:
Communism has three goals: to check the greed of feudal and capitalist societies, to halt the fanaticism and fundamentalism of religious communities, and to care for the needy and share resources with them. However:
Communism cannot fulfill its goals without spirituality. It is impossible and time has proved it. Spirituality nourishes communism.
Do not feel shy to speak about human and spiritual values. The time has come now to call the whole world to these principles.
The All is calling,
The ball is rolling,
Time is milling,
The soul is willing...
Often business is looked down upon by spiritual people, and spirituality is considered impractical by businessmen. The ancient people realized that spirituality is the heart and business is the legs. An individual or a society is incomplete without both these aspects. Business brings material comfort and spirituality brings mental and emotional comfort. Spirituality brings ethics and fair practice to business.
In the mind-body complex, depriving either the body or the mind of comfort means depriving both of them. You cannot talk of spirituality to the poorest of poor people without taking care of their basic needs. They need to be supported materially. There is no spirituality in the world that is devoid of service and service cannot happen if material needs are ignored. Service cannot happen only through the lips; it needs legs to work.
Every economic system has its flaws. Capitalism exploits the poor while socialism dampens individual creativity, innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit. Spirituality is the bridge between socialism and capitalism. Spirituality gives to capitalists the heart to serve and to socialists the spirit to innovate.
The purpose of technology is to harness nature to bring information and comfort to human beings.
When spiritual values – human values – are ignored and neglected, technology brings fear and destruction instead of comfort. Technology without human values considers nature a dead object.
Science gives insight into the life of nature and spirituality makes nature come alive. In the eyes of children there is nothing dead in the world – animals, trees, the sun and the moon – they all have life, they all have emotions, they all have feelings. But in the eyes of a stressed and ignorant person, even human beings are like robots – objects.
Technology without spirituality is destructive. Spirituality is the technology of consciousness and the whole world is the play and display of consciousness.
There are two types of knowledge. The first one is pure knowledge and the second one is applied knowledge. Applied knowledge may benefit you immediately and directly, but pure knowledge benefits you indirectly in the long run.
If there are some things that you have studied or understood which you are unable to put into practice, do not get disheartened. Sometime in the future, if you do not discard as impractical the knowledge you have, it will be of use to you.
Often people discard pure knowledge for its lack of immediate application. In fact these two types of knowledge complement each other. Applied knowledge without pure knowledge remains weak. And pure knowledge without application will remain unfulfilled. Do not discard or label knowledge as impractical, and do not label yourself as weak or unworthy because you are unable to apply the knowledge in your day-today life.
Sometimes when you are alone in nature, silent, taking a walk, looking at the sand on the beach, a bird in the sky, or while meditating – suddenly knowledge will emerge and you will recognize knowledge dawning in your life.
A person who argues should not be given knowledge. An argumentative mind is not receptive to knowledge.
When someone is in an argumentative mood, then giving knowledge or advice is in vain. A person in an argumentative mood feels he knows it all, so he is not ready for knowledge. That is why wise people do not give advice when they are in an argumentative environment.
Argument has a purpose. It can bring out the truth if there is no emotion or sense of “I” attached to it. Argument can also be a disadvantage. It can make untruth appear to be truth.
A wise man will not take arguments seriously; he will just have fun with them. Wisdom is beyond all arguments.
A wise, enlightened, person makes no effort to conceal a secret, but he does not make an effort to reveal a secret either.
For example, you do not talk about menstruation or death to a five year-old, but as they grow older these things are not hidden from them. They become known as a matter of course.
An unenlightened person tries to protect a secret, or he reveals a secret at the wrong time, to the wrong person, or in the wrong place. And he makes a big fuss about secrets.
Trying to protect a secret causes anxiety and discomfort. An ignorant one is not comfortable with a secret, whether revealed or unrevealed, but the wise one is comfortable with a secret, whether revealed or unrevealed.
To be able to know yourself or to judge your actions, you need to understand tarka, vitarka and kutarka.
Kutarka is wrong logic. Most people use this logic and get caught up in ignorance. For example, the door is half open means the door is half closed. Therefore, when the door is fully open means the door is fully closed. Another example – God is love. Love is blind. Therefore God is blind.
Tarka is sequential logical understanding which increases scientific knowledge. When sequential logical understanding changes, then scientific conclusions change. For example, pesticides and antibiotics were considered to be very useful and harmless, but they are now proven to be harmful. In tarka, paradigms change.
Vitarka is asking questions to which there are no evident answers such as “Who am I?” “Where am I?” “What do I really want?” These philosophical questions bring forth spiritual knowledge, increase your awareness and bring about the blossoming of consciousness. Atma gyan (self-knowledge) increases. The wise know how to distinguish between these three. They will not apply kutarka or tarka for vitarka, or use vitarka for tarka.
Knowledge must be digested properly, and an inability to do so causes:
If you are in love with the Divine, then you can digest knowledge. Love is the appetizer, knowledge is the main course and seva is the exercise. Without love and seva, knowledge becomes indigestible.
A coconut tree is a natural desalination plant. It takes salt water from the earth and makes fresh water inside the coconut. Knowledge is like that tree – it takes us from salty mud to pure bliss.