How is boredom related to memory

 

In an ocean, the waves keep coming non-stop, it doesn’t get boring! Birds sing the same song, every morning, all their life, they don’t get bored! It is only human beings who get bored! ‘Oh! Once again the same thing.’ And why do you get bored? It is because of memory. You remember whatever you have done before, so you get bored.

Memory is both a blessing and a curse. It is because you get bored that you feel the need to look for something different, something new, and that is how creativity comes up; you look for the ultimate. Otherwise, you could have remained like an animal doing the same thing every day. But, you can’t do it because you get bored! So, in that sense, boredom is a blessing. Because you get bored, you move on, you look forward, you become a seeker and you rise higher. 

At the same time, boredom is also a curse because it doesn’t allow you to be centered and steady in one place. So your mind aimlessly keeps jumping from one place to another. Because you get bored of everything, you can’t enjoy anything.

There are two different paths that boredom leads you to. Boredom is a blessing when it leads you to wisdom. Boredom is a curse when it leads you to frustration and depression. Because you are bored, you can’t enjoy it, and when you can’t enjoy it you get depressed and frustrated. Or, because you are bored you wake up and begin with a quest.

When life feels dull, there’s this magical moment where everything becomes lively. You can repeat the same thing over and over, and it won’t bother you. It’s like finding a spring of life. Just let go of the past, be like a carefree child, and every moment becomes priceless.

You move ahead and you look into the Self which is fresh all the time! The Self is ever new. Because you are bored with the ephemeral, the surface, you go deep into the Self. So boredom is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it takes you away from the routine monotonous life, makes you aware and brings life into you. And it is a curse because it doesn’t let you stabilise. People who are in love don’t get bored. The heart knows no boredom. The head knows boredom.

Sacredness of certain symbolism

 

In all cultures throughout the ages, certain places, times of the year, persons and symbols have been considered sacred. Native Americans and other tribal people consider the earth, sun, moon and all the directions to be sacred. In the ancient tradition of India, the rishis considered all the rivers, mountains and even animals, trees and herbs to be sacred. 

And what of people? They are definitely sacred. Various cultures honor certain people and consider them to be sacred. 

For Christians, the cross, Jerusalem, Christmas and the Pope are sacred. For Muslims, the crescent moon, Mecca and the month of Ramadan are sacred. The Hindus consider the river Ganges, the Himalayas and the Swamis to be sacred. 

When you consider a place, time, person, symbol, or act sacred, your attention is undivided and whole. When things are ordinary and the same, you tend to slip into unawareness and inertia. The moment you consider something sacred, your inertia disappears and you become more alive.

There is nothing as fulfilling as a sacred act. You put your heart and soul into a sacred act. When every action of yours becomes sacred, you have become one with the Divine. Then every minute of your life is sacred, every place you go to becomes sacred, every act of yours is sacred and every person you meet is only your reflection. 

An act when performed repeatedly loses its sacredness. This happens when your memory overpowers your consciousness and you lose your sensitivity. For example, people living in Benares do not feel that it is a sacred place. It is too familiar; that sensitivity is just not there. 

How can we preserve that feeling of sacredness in our acts? Through living in the present moment and through sadhana (spiritual practice). Your sadhana will not allow your memory to overpower consciousness. Then repetition is not a hindrance. 

It is good to feel that some places, times, people and symbols are sacred so that you can be awake and alive. But eventually you need to transcend and feel that the entire creation and your whole life are sacred. 

For the person of God, the whole world, with all its symbols, places and people are sacred at all times. Be a person of God!

Don't try to shorten "longing"

 

Longing itself is Divine. 

Longing for worldly things makes you inert. 

Longing for infinity fills you with life.

When longing dies, inertia sets in. But longing also brings a sense of pain. To avoid the pain, you try to push away the longing. The skill is to bear the pain of longing and move on. Do not try to find a shortcut to overcome longing. Do not make the longing short – that’s why it is called loooonging. 

True longing in itself brings up moments of bliss. That is why in ancient days longing was kept alive by singing and listening to kathas, or stories. 

When longing transcends relationships, then judgments, jealousy and all negative feelings drop. It is only with wisdom and self-knowledge that one can transcend relationships.

People often think wisdom is devoid of longing. No! Such wisdom is dry. The longing that comes with true wisdom makes life juicier. The Divine is certainly juicy! 

Longing gives you the power to bless. Bless the entire creation for the longing in you is God.

Denying God - a primer

It was thought that saying “I am God” is blasphemy. I tell you, to say “I am not God” is blasphemy. When you say “I am not God,” you deny God His omnipresence. 

You are made up of love. If you say “I am not God,” you are denying that God is love. If you are love and you say “I am not God,” you are saying God is not love, and that is blasphemy. 

“I am” is your consciousness. If you say “I am not God,” you deny that God is aware, alert and awake. You exist. When you say “I am not God,” you deny God a portion of existence and that is blasphemy. You are denying the scriptures that say “God made man in His own image.” If you say “I am not God,” you are denying God. 

Now if God is omnipresent, why is there hatred and suffering in this world? Just as in a movie, when light passes through the film, it does not matter to the light what the film portrays, in the Absolute there are no opposites. 

Tragedy or comedy, hero or villain, the light is always there. All opposites are part of relative existence. Relative existence is not the complete picture. Good and bad, right and wrong, everything is relative. Milk is good, but too much milk can kill you. A drop of poison can save a life, but most medicines are poisonous if taken in the wrong dose. These are neither absolutely good nor bad; they just are. 

Truth transcends duality, and God is the absolute and only truth. In the same way, no matter what is happening in your mind, you are God.

Are you God?

I up a pistachio nut and asked, “What is this?” Everybody said, “A pistachio.” 

I held up a pistachio nut without the shell and asked, “What is this?” Everybody said, “A pistachio.” 

I then held up the shell and asked, “What is this?” Everybody said, “A shell.” 

As the nut with or without the shell is pistachio, similarly, spirit with or without the body is God. But just as the shell without the nut is not a pistachio, the body without spirit is not God. 

Spirit is certainly God because it is present everywhere. The body is certainly not God because it is not present everywhere. God is within the body and God embodies the whole universe. 

Those who have eyes will see. When asked, “Are you God?” to whom is the question addressed? As it is only the spirit that answers, one has no choice but to say, “Yes!”

A lady one told me, “I want an honest and humble man in my life.” Now, I am neither honest nor humble! I cannot tell everyone that I am God, as not everyone will understand. So I am not honest. I am not humble – how can God be humble? If I am humble, I am not honest. If I am honest, I cannot be humble.

If you need to own something, own the universe

 

Man has a tendency to own things. When he owns something small, his mind stays small, his life gets stifled and his whole consciousness is immersed in his house, his car, his spouse, his children and so on. A recluse leaves his home and goes far away. But there he starts owning his asana, his rosary, his books, his concepts and his knowledge. Ownership has simply shifted from objects and people to ideas and practices. 

A wise one knows that he owns the sun, the moon, the stars, the air, all of space and the Divine in its entirety. When you own something big, then your consciousness also expands, and when you own something small, then small negative emotions, such as anger and greed, start to rise. 

I wonder why people do not feel connected to the sun. The very existence of life depends upon the sun. Perhaps it is lack of awareness that causes people to refuse to acknowledge and own their connectedness to the macrocosmic universe. 

The rishis in ancient India, the Native Americans and aboriginals from all over the globe have insisted that you can feel connected to the sun, the moon and the directions. When you own something magnanimous, your consciousness also becomes magnanimous.

Understanding maya

 

What is maya? Maya is that which can be measured. The whole world can be measured, that is why it is maya. 

All five elements – earth, water, fire, air and ether – can all be measured. Can space be measured? Only in space can things be measured. Space is the first dimension of measurement. 

Measurement is always relative and not absolute. For example, if something weighs six pounds on earth, it will weigh only one pound on the moon. The light of the star you see today is not really today’s light. It has taken at least four years for the light to reach you. Both size and weight change in air, water and earth. 

So “measure” is illusory and not dependable. Your bones, skin, body, environment and the five elements can be measured; you can put a value, a quantity, to them. So, the whole world is maya. All measurements only provide a relative understanding. Einstein’s theory of relativity correlates with the advaita (non-dual) philosophy. 

But what is not maya? Everything that cannot be measured is maya. You cannot say one ounce of love, two ounces of peace and five kilograms of happiness. Can you be measured? It is not possible. Your body has weight, but not you. 

Truth cannot be measured, ananda – or joy – cannot be measured, and beauty cannot be measured. All these are part of consciousness – the Divine – and are called mayi.

Connection between Shiva and Ganesha

 

The lord of the diverse universe is called Ganesha. 

The whole universe is nothing but clusters of atoms – groups of qualities, of energy. Gana means group and a group cannot exist without a “lord.” Like the queen bee whose mere existence brings forth the honeycomb, this diverse universe in itself is enough evidence for Ganesha’s presence. 

Ganesha, or lord, was born from the unmanifest transcendental consciousness, the Self, called Shiva. Just as when atoms bond and matter comes into existence, so when all the fragmented aspects of human consciousness bond, divinity happens effortlessly and that is the birth of Ganesha from Shiva.

On Shivaratri

 

Peace is your nature, yet you remain restless. 

Freedom is your nature, yet you remain in bondage. 

Happiness is your nature, yet you become miserable for some reason or another. 

Contentment is your nature, yet you continue to reel in desires. 

Benevolence is your nature, yet you do not reach out. 

Moving towards your nature is sadhana. 

Sadhana is becoming what you truly are! Your true nature is Shiva. And Shiva is peace, infinity, beauty and the non-dual One. Ratri means “to take refuge.” Shivaratri is taking refuge in Shiva.

On Valentine's Day

 

Abiding in the Self you become the valentine for the whole world. Spirit is the valentine of the material world, and the material world is the valentine of the spirit. They are made for each other. They uphold each other. 

If you clutch onto material objects and do not respect the spirit, then the material world will be displeased. If you honor the spirit, then you will care for the world, and when you care for the world, it will take care of you.

On transcendence

 

The foolish one uses spiritual power to gain material comfort. 

An intelligent one uses the material world to rise high in the spirit. 

When you transcend the intellect, you allow yourself to be used by the spirit. 

One who is awake, neither uses anything nor loses anything. 

Become intelligent – transcend and wake up.

From ignorance to enlightenment

 

If you think you are ignorant, you know who you are. 

And if you know who you are, you are enlightened. 

And if you are enlightened, then you certainly are not ignorant. 

If you think you are intelligent, then you do not know who you are. 

And if do not know who you are, then you really are ignorant! 

It is better to realize your ignorance, and become enlightened!

Attaining perfection in one's actions

 

Buddha was enlightened under the Bodhi tree. He then stood up and watched the tree from a distance for seven days. He took sixteen steps towards the tree and under each step blossomed a lotus flower. This is the legend. 

The Bodhi tree is symbolic of both sansara (the world) and dharma. The lotus flower symbolizes clarity, dispassion, love, beauty and purity. 

It is only when you are detached in life that you can watch the sansara and all of its plays. When you witness the sansara, every step you take is benevolent and impeccable. 

When every action of yours is preceded by witnessing, then every move you make in this sansara becomes perfect and significant.

Why say "Jai Gurudev"?

 

There is a Big Mind and a small mind. Sometimes the Big Mind wins over the small mind and sometimes it is the other way around. 

When the small mind wins, it causes misery and when the Big Mind wins, it is joy. The small mind promises joy but leaves you empty-handed. You may initially be resistant to the Big Mind but it will fill you with joy. 

The word guru means great. Jaya means victory. Deva means one who is fun-loving, playful, light. Some who are playful are often not dignified, and those who are dignified are often not playful. Jai Guru Dev means victory to the Big Mind in you that is both dignified and playful. Jai Guru Dev means “Victory to the greatness in you.” You do not say victory to the master as he has already achieved the Big Mind. You say victory to your own Self, your own Big Mind, which is being protested by the small mind.

Was Buddha an atheist?

 

A pure atheist is impossible to find. An atheist is one who believes only in the concrete and tangible, but life is not all concrete and tangible, nor is this universe. 

Whether it is business, science or art, all involve a certain amount of guesswork, assumptions, imagination and intuition. All of them have some aspects that are abstract in nature and are not tangible. The moment an atheist accepts, even remotely, something that is unexplainable, he ceases to be an atheist. 

An intelligent person cannot rule out all the mysteries in life and the universe, and hence cannot honestly be an atheist. So-called atheists are perhaps only denouncing certain concepts of God. 

Was Buddha an atheist? No, in one sense, because he professed emptiness, which is very hard for an atheist to accept, and yes in another sense because he did not profess concepts of God. An atheist believes only what he can see, but Buddha said all that you see is not real. If only all present-day atheists could be Buddhas!

Understanding an atheist - II

 

An atheist does not believe in either values or in the abstract. When an atheist comes to the guru, what happens? He starts experiencing his own form and discovers that he is indeed formless, hollow and empty, and this abstract non-form becomes more and more concrete. 

A guru makes the abstract more real, and what you thought was solid appears more unreal. Sensitivity and subtlety dawn. Perception of love – not as an emotion, but as the substratum of existence – becomes evident. The formless spirit shines through every form in creation and the mystery of life deepens, shattering atheism. Then the journey begins; it is a journey with four stages. 

The first stage is saarupya – to see the formless in the form – seeing God in all forms. Often, one feels more comfortable seeing God as formless rather than having a form, because with a form, one feels a distance, a duality, a fear of rejection and other limitations. Other than in deep sleep or in samadhi, all of our interactions in life are with a form. If you do not see God as having a form, then the waking part of life remains devoid of the Divine. 

All those who accept God to be formless use symbols and perhaps love the symbols more than God Himself. If God comes to a Christian and tells him to leave the cross, or if God tells a Muslim to drop the crescent, he may not do it. Initially, loving the formless is possible only through forms. 

The second stage is saamipya – closeness – feeling absolutely close to the form you have chosen and reaching out to the formless. This leads to a sense of intimacy with all of creation. In this stage, one overcomes the fear of rejection and other fears, but this stage remains bound by time and space. 

The third stage is saanidhya – feeling the presence of the Divine by which you transcend the limitations of time and space. 

The final stage is saayujya – when you are firmly entrenched in the Divine. It is then you realize you are one with the Divine. There is a total merging with the Beloved and all duality disappears. This is that and that is this. 

A believer also goes through these four stages.

Understanding an atheist - I

 

It is difficult to see God as formless and it is difficult to see God as having a form. The formless is so abstract and God in a form appears to be too limited so some people prefer to be atheists. Atheism is not a reality; it is just a matter of convenience. 

When you have a spirit of inquiry or when you search for truth, atheism falls apart. With a spirit of inquiry, you cannot deny something that you cannot disprove. An atheist denies God without first disproving God’s existence. In order to disprove God, you must have enormous knowledge and when you have enormous knowledge, you cannot disprove it. 

To say that something does not exist, you must know about the whole universe. So you can never be one hundred percent atheistic. An atheist is only a believer who is sleeping. For a person to say, “I don’t believe in anything,” means he must believe in himself. So he believes in a self that he does not even know. 

An atheist can never be sincere because sincerity needs depth and an atheist refuses to go to his depth. The deeper he goes, he finds a void, a field of all possibilities, and he has to accept that there are many secrets he does not know. He would then need to acknowledge his ignorance – which he refuses to do – because the moment he is sincere, he seriously starts doubting his atheism. 

A doubt-free atheist is nearly impossible. An atheist can never be sincere and doubt-free. When an atheist realizes his ignorance, what does he do? Where does he go? Does he go to a guru? What does a guru do to him?

The most beautiful place in the universe

 

There is a place you can come where everything is beautiful. 

Tourists go from place to place looking for beauty, and they try to take away the beauty. They only get tired and tanned. Yet the most beautiful spot anywhere is right here! When you come here, you find that wherever you are, everything is so beautiful. 

Where is this place? Do not look here and there. Where do you go? Within you. When you come here, then any place is beautiful. Then wherever you go, you add beauty. 

If you are unhappy, sweet things are nauseating, music is disturbing, and even the moon is irritating. When you are calm and centered, clouds are magical, rain is liquid sunshine, and even noise is musical.

Book yourself on a trip to this most beautiful place in the universe. Then you will find that every day is a vacation and a celebration.

Finding real beauty

 

When your mind is not complaining and is responsible, courageous, confident and hollow and empty, you are inexplicably beautiful. A person who cannot correct or act on a complaint has no right to complain. And a person who can correct or act on a complaint, will never complain. 

Complaining is a sign of weakness. Complaining is the nature of utter ignorance where one does not know the Self. Complaints take away the beauty that is inborn in you, and the effects show up more clearly for those on this path. 

The worldly mind is a complaining mind; the divine mind is a dancing mind. Just complaining without looking for a solution is a sign of irresponsibility. And when solutions do not work, finding alternative solutions is a sign of courage. 

For external beauty, you put on things; for real beauty, you have to drop all those things. For external beauty you have to have make up; for real beauty you only have to realize that you are made up.

Restlessness and its remedies

 

There are five types of restlessness. The first type of restlessness is caused by a particular place. When you move away from that place – the street or the house – you immediately feel better. Chanting, singing, laughing and children playing can change this atmospheric restlessness. If you chant and sing, the vibration in the place changes. 

The second type of restlessness is in the body. Eating the wrong food, eating vata-aggravating food, eating at odd times, not exercising and overworking can all cause physical restlessness. The remedy for this is exercise, moderation in work habits and going on a vegetable or juice diet for one or two days. 

The third type of restlessness is mental restlessness. It is caused by ambition, strong thoughts, likes or dislikes. Only knowledge can cure this restlessness – seeing life from a broader perspective, having knowledge of the Self and awareness of the impermanence of everything around you. If you achieve everything, so what? After your achievement, you will die. Knowledge of your death and life, confidence in the Self and confidence in the Divine all calm down mental restlessness. 

The fourth type is emotional restlessness. Any amount of knowledge cannot help here – only Kriya helps. With Kriya, all emotional restlessness vanishes. The presence of your guru, a wise person, or a saint will also help to calm your emotional restlessness. 

The final type of restlessness is rare. It is the restlessness of the soul. When everything feels empty and meaningless, know you are very fortunate. That longing is the restlessness of the soul. Do not try to get rid of it – embrace it, welcome it. People do all sorts of things to get rid of it. They change places, jobs, or partners, they do this, they do that. It seems to help for some time, but it does not last. 

Only this restlessness of the soul can bring authentic prayer in you. It brings perfection, siddhis and miracles in life. It is so precious to get that innermost longing for the Divine. Satsang and the presence of an enlightened one soothe the restlessness of the soul.

Understanding "samadhi"

 

Deep rest is bliss, and bliss is the understanding that only God exists. Knowing that only God exists is the deepest rest possible. 

This conviction or experience that “only God exists” is samadhi. Samadhi is the mother of all talents, strengths and virtues. Samadhi is needed even for the most materialistic person because a materialistic person seeks to gain strength and virtues. To be in samadhi, you do not need any effort or talents, strengths or virtues. 

Withdrawing from all types of physical and mental activity is rest. That is built into our system as sleep, and sleep is the best friend of activity. 

Samadhi is conscious rest. Samadhi is the best friend of life. To be alive in your full potential, samadhi is indispensable. Restlessness obstructs samadhi.

Moving beyond the wrapping paper to the present

All sensory pleasures in the world are like wrapping paper; the true bliss is the present inside. 

Divine love is the present, yet we are holding onto the paper believing we have already enjoyed the gift. It is like putting a chocolate inside your mouth with the paper still on. A little chocolate may seep into your mouth, but the wrapper causes discomfort. 

Unwrap the present. The whole world is there for you to enjoy. The wise know how to enjoy the gift inside, while the ignorant get stuck with the paper.

Believing in time

 

An ignorant person either disbelieves or believes what an individual says, but the wise one does neither. His faith rests on kaal, or time. 

When the time is good, a foe will behave like a friend. When the time is not good, even a friend will behave like a foe. 

An ignorant person disbelieves in both time and the Divine beyond time, while the wise one believes in Mahakaal – the Grand Time, or Shiva. 

In the world and in time there is always room for improvement. You can improve your time and your nature. Only Being is perfect all the time. Take refuge in Being and become immutable. Know that I am immutable.