It's time to enter

 

Several thousand years ago someone said, “Knock and it shall be opened unto you”. The human mind two thousand years was simple, natural, closer to the source. One needed only to knock on the door and it would open. Today the mind has become more complex, more confused. Knocking will not help. One has to bang on the door.

5000 years ago a person would not have needed to knock. He would have found an automatic door. The moment he went near the door, it would have opened. You see that in the airport. If you go near the door, it opens and makes way for you. You need not even touch the door. The state of humankind five thousand years ago was much simpler than it is now.

You have never seen the door. You are struck outside the door. You are locked out of your own home. You need to bang on your door to get into your own home.

You seem to be closing your eyes, but you have never really shut your eyes all that you are made of is from outside. Even in sleep, even in dreams, the world moves in your head because you are so deeply steeped in phenomena. Complexities have kept you away from your self, from your home. Your communication with the world is through several doors. This very body is a mansion that has many doors.

Through each door you receive and you send out. The world comes into your mind through this door and goes out through that one. Through this very pair of eyes, you see the whole world. You take the world inside you. Look at a flower. What is happening? The flower is out there, but you are capturing that inside.

When you look at people, you bring all the impressions of those people inside. You are not just sitting there in front of me. As you are, you are present in my consciousness, in my mind. It becomes imprinted.

All that you see you take in, Eyes are those doors through which the world enters into you. Ears are those doors through which the whole world enters by means of speech. The sound of a word, mango, banana, food, donkey, madness, brings all those forms through your ears into your mind. The five senses are the five doors through which the world enters into you.

Doors are beautiful. Doors are filters that we want and need. Sometimes we welcome in and sometimes we close out. In one sense our doors never close. They have no utility, serve no purpose. It is like living in open space, living beyond protection. In another sense our doors have never opened. They have never opened to our innermost self.

Our rationality has kept us out. People, when they were simple and uncomplicated, could feel things. They could feel a flower.

Know yourself

 

This is just a moment, a fleeting moment, a passing moment. A mood comes and goes, thoughts come and go. And opinions change, jobs change, relationships change, friends change, things all around us are changing.

Whether we want it or we don’t want it, whether we like it or we don't like it, things go on changing. Yet you can hold on to that one thing which does not change in you. Be with that. That is you. The body has changed, you have not changed.

Some centered point in you has not changed. It is the same principle that is beneath the whole existence that is beneath the orderliness of this flower. That same principle is responsible for the colors in this flower, the shape of these leaves. The same intelligence is in the entire creation.

When we realize this, a grand unification happens in the consciousness. Our perception changes. Anything we look at, we look at sharply. When we hear, we hear sharply. We merge with what we see and hear.

There is a very big difference in the way a child watches television and the way we watch television. Have you observed that? If there is a story and somebody is crying, the child will also cry. We can see this in third world countries where villagers are not very well educated. If they get angry at the hero or heroine when they watch television, they go and smash the television set. They are so involved, they identify themselves with the television. 

There was a cricket match happening between Pakistan and another country. The newspapers reported that the television company did a very good business after that show, because when their country lost, people banged their television sets.

There's a definite difference in the quality perception that brings unification with the object of perception. That is why saints through all of time have spoken of uniting with the ultimate, uniting with the source, uniting with the rhythm.

There are two successes, being successful in life and being successful in the world. One can be successful in the world without necessarily being successful in life. Success in life is attending to this source, inquiry of the source and living in that joy and unconditional love.

Why we should review our lives in the time gone past

 

As we flip the calendar, we need to keep flipping our mind as well. Often, our diaries are filled with memories. See that you don't fill your future dates with past events. Allow the space for creativity to unlearn from the past and move on.

In the past year (and many of us rang in a new year just a few weeks back), how many days were you in sanyas? How many days were you struggling, being caught in maya? Turn back and remember the whole year.

Do not run away from anything. Do not reject anything. Do not go away from anything. At the same time, let your attention be on the self. This is a delicate balance. That balance is yoga.  

A poor man celebrates New Year once a year. A rich man celebrates each day. But the richest man celebrates every moment. How rich are you? If you celebrate every moment, you are the Lord of Creation.

Review the year while you celebrate. This is your homework. Compare your performance in the year before last and smile. This year is fortunate because you are living at this time. When you are living for the sake of the world, the world is fortunate.  

Let time celebrate your presence. You keep smiling as ever. When you let time celebrate you, you are witness amid celebration.  

The heart always longs for the old, the mind for the new. Life is a combination of both. Let the New Year bring into our life ancient wisdom and modernity, as life is incomplete without either of them.  

Don't feel shy to speak about human and spiritual values. The time has come now to call the whole world. Be ever new, happy you.

Who are you?

 

I’m the first and the last. Who is like me? Let him proclaim it. How do you introduce yourself? Do you know who you are? When someone asks, “Who are you?” 

Do you often end up saying what you do and what you are in relation to someone else? “I’m so and so’s son”, or “I’m a doctor”, or “I work in such and such a place, I do this”. 

You could be doing anything, but who are you? Are you what you are doing? Is that all? You could be a tailor today. Tomorrow you could be a cook. The next day you could be a teacher. You are a parent. You have been a child. You are a student. You are a patient in bed. You have many roles to play in life. But the sum total of all the roles cannot equal you. You are more than all the roles that you play in your life. When a person identifies himself with a role he is playing, all parts of his personality are not united. 

He is in so many fragments, It is like living in compartments, not being aware of the total potential that he is. Essentially this question - Who are we? What is our nature? Is the beginning of the spiritual journey.

The human nervous system has the capacity to inquire about itself, about the nature of living and the nature of being. This very quest is the beginning of humanness. The process of identification, I’m somebody, I’m an American or I am Mexican, I’m Canadian, I’m English, I’m German serves some purpose. But it is not the final truth, it is not the absolute. The spiritual journey is the search for the source. From where have I come? What is the source of this life? 

All the major religions of the world move toward this, the search for the source. But in the process people have gotten stuck in their positions. Today the wars and the fights all over the world are in the name of religion. One takes his position, I’m a Muslim or I’m Christian, I’m Hindu or I’m Sikh, I am Buddhist stand those who are not that, they are not mine. They don’t belong to me. So in the process of identifying with this position, that I am a Christian or a Muslim or a Hindu, I don’t even mind losing my life. Even if I die it doesn’t matter, but I’m a Muslim or I’m a Hindu or I’m a Christian. 

This must be me. That is what is happening, isn’t it? Is it not sheer madness?  We call it patriotism when it comes to the question of nationality, I’m a Canadian or I’m an American. There is no difference between Canada and the United States, just a line on the map. There is no border, nothing has been drawn on the earth. The land does not speak. It doesn’t say, ‘I’m Canada. I am America’.

Don't move an inch!

 

Don't move an inch. The journey has begun. If you move, you are light years away Neither east nor west, Nor north nor south. Between earth and the sky. 

Here the goal dawns on you. Don't move an inch. Worms move through books and birds sing His songs. Fill the lobbies of logic.

With the smoke of Her presence. Don't move an inch. The roof is on. With a billion stars, sun and moon. Moving around you. So that waves of love may rise in your heart and rock the life in total bliss. I'm the path, the goal and the seeker. Don't move an inch!

Starting our spiritual journey

 

In divine creation the whole world is united, the earth is united. It is oneness. In the whole human race there is unity. The search for this unity, the unifying factor, is the real spiritual journey. Unfortunately, the so-called spiritual journey has divided human beings and torn apart the whole society. The distinction between religion and spirituality should first become clear in our minds.

I normally give this example of a banana and banana skin, religion is like the banana skin and spirituality is the banana. People have thrown away the banana and are holding on to the skin.

Religion is outer ritual and habits, a way of life. Spirituality is the quest for the source of life, going back to the source, knowing deep within us we are part of the divinity.

When this distinction become clear in the mind, it is then that our journey towards the source begins. It is when we become human beings. It is then that we become united to that principle which is beneath all existence, which is beneath every happening and has enormous intelligence and orderliness.

In this path everybody has to walk alone. There is no proxy walking. You cannot share someone else’s walk and say, "Oh yes, I have walked". Someone else cannot eat for you or drink tea for you. "I have drunk tea for you, just relax". That doesn’t happen. The quest is the need of the soul, of every growing soul. When a thought comes to us, we don't know from where it comes. Thought comes from some unknown corner, some unknown area of ourselves. 

If our nervous system is stressed, distressed then the thought that comes we call negative. It is distorted. If the nervous system is clear, joyful, pure, smooth, healthy, then that comes we call positive, creative, life supporting. Thought is a spontaneous phenomenon springing from that area. Somebody gets the intuitive thought, "Do this, do this, do this". Every scientific discovery has come from that area.

Every work of art that sprung from that area. Every poem has come out of that area. And that particular area or avenue is in every one of us. That is what we are. That is the true introduction.

All that there, is change. Our body has undergone so many changes. If you look at your own childhood photographs, many times you will have to say, "This is me". Your friends will not recognise you as the same person. You looked very different when you were young. Your appearance has changed. The body has changed in size and shape. Your thoughts have undergone many, many changes. The way you feel has changed, hasn't it?

About a particular thing you felt good some days ago and then you didn’t feel so good and then again you felt good. Your opinions and your ideas, your feelings, your emotions all have changed. You identify yourself by things that change. Probing a little beyond that, when we say, "Oh, I am a very angry person", we usually justify our position of being angry. In doing that, we are hanging on to the past.

Dream the impossible to make it happen

 

Unless you have a dream, you cannot realise it. Every invention has come out of a dream. Dream the impossible. Obviously, dreaming employs something which is beyond your perceived capacity.  

Consider the faculty which is the perceptor of the dream. Some dreams have impacted your daily living and others have not. Some dreams you remember, and others you have forgotten.  

We are all born in this world to do something wonderful and unique; don't let this opportunity pass by. Give yourself the freedom to dream and think big.

Have the courage and determination to achieve those dreams that are dear to you. Many a time people who dreamt big were ridiculed, but they remained strong to achieve their goals.  

Do something creative. Not a year should pass without doing something creative.

Everyone is your teacher

 

Know that you are a student forever. Do not underestimate anybody. Knowledge may come to you from any corner. Remember the ancient saying – let knowledge flow to me from all the sides.  

Each occasion teaches you and each person teaches you. The world is your teacher. When you are always looking to learn, you will stop underestimating others. Humility will dawn in your life.  

There is a nice story. A man earned a lot of money and then gave all his property to his son. The son then built a small house behind his big house and told his parents, “Now you have to stay there.” So the old couple stayed there, while the son and his family lived in the bungalow.  

One day, while playing, the grandchild came to his grandfather's home, where everything was in a pathetic condition. The grandchild said, “Grandpa, be careful with your plate and chair. Don't break them.”  

When he asked why, the child said, “Because tomorrow, my father will need them.” One does not realise this fact. You are also going to be old one day.

Random acts of kindness

 

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

If you do not respect the spirit, then matter is not pleased. If you honor the spirit, you care for the world, and when you care for the world it will take care of you.

You are the Christmas tree. At the time of year when no tree bears anything, it has many gifts to offer. A Christmas tree bears the gifts and the lights not for itself. Similarly, all the gifts you are carrying in your life are for others. Anyone who comes to you, you offer them your gifts.

When you show kindness, your true nature comes into play. Have you ever done acts of kindness without expecting anything out of it? Our service should not be mechanical.

Once some boy scouts were at a Sunday service, when the priest said, “You should serve.” They asked, “What is this service? Could you give us some example?” He said, “Suppose an old lady wants to cross a road, go and help her cross the road.”  

So the boys went and looked for a whole week, but there was no old woman trying to cross the road. Finally four of them found a woman walking on a footpath. One of the boys went and asked her, “Madam, would you like to cross the road?” She turned and said, “No.” He was disappointed.  

So another boy went and asked her again, thinking, perhaps, that the first boy hadn't asked properly. The woman was now a little bit confused. She wondered why she was being asked this. So, she said it was all right for him to take her across the road.  

Once they had reached the other side, a third boy came and asked her, “Would you like to cross the road?” Now it really bothered her. When the fourth one approached her, she almost screamed and ran away.  

You don't have to plan acts of kindness. Just do it spontaneously. When you do random acts of kindness, you come in touch with your true nature.

What "success" really means

 

There is so much talk about success. Have you ever thought what success is? Success is simply ignorance about one's capabilities. Success is ignorance about the power of the self, because you assume you can do only this much.  

If there are obstacles, you are clear about your objective. With a calm and serene mind, think of many possibilities. Know that failures are steppingstones for greater success. Actually, there are no failures in life. All the seeming failures are only steppingstones for greater success.  

If you feel the obstacle is too much, deep prayer can work miracles. The feeling that “I am blessed” can help you overcome any failure. Once you realise that you are blessed, then all the complaints disappear, all the grumbling disappears, all the insecurities disappear, a sense of not being loved disappears, wanting love disappears.  

Ego is always ambitious and wants to do tough jobs like climbing Mount Everest, whereas a simple act like watching a butterfly, watering one's garden, watching the birds or the sky can bring deep relaxation, and relaxation connects you with your source. Seemingly trivial actions open a new dimension and bring in immense peace and rest. Just come out of your little shell and feel free. 

There is a saying: “Behind every successful man is a woman.” I will modify this: Behind every success there is the Divine saying, “I am behind you.”

Overcoming prejudice

 

Your prejudice against gender, religion, caste and class does not allow you to mingle with everyone around you. Often, you don't sit with people who are not economically or socially at par with you. You have to learn to break that barrier.  

Also, there is age prejudice. Teenagers don't like to have fun with elderly people and vice versa. Gender prejudice is more prevalent in rural areas. Caste system is present even among the royalties of Europe, the UK and Japan. Religious prejudice is well known. 

There are good people and bad people in every community, religion and every section of society. Don't be prejudiced against them. At the same time don't be shy about your identity.  

When you overcome prejudice, you will be very natural, and your quality of life will improve.