Intellectual vs. Emotional

There are two types of people in the world:

One type are called bhaav-pradhan: They are those who are driven purely by their feelings (meaning those who give great importance to their feelings).

The second type is called gyaan-pradhan: They are those who are driven by fact and logic, and act on the basis of knowledge, i.e. those who go by facts and knowledge and base their actions on reason and knowledge.

Some people’s feelings are very strong, and they are very emotional about everything around them. On the other hand, some people are natural thinkers. They think, weigh the pros and cons of everything and then act in a particular situation. Both of these (feelings and knowledge) are very important aspects of a person’s life, and both are necessary.

If you only rely on your feelings and not knowledge, you soon get misled and get carried away by them. On the other hand, if you only think and act without any regard to your feelings, then your life loses enthusiasm and becomes so dry. There is no juice left in your life then.

So you have to nurture both the head (the seat of logic, intellect and knowledge) and the heart (the centre of feelings and emotions). You have to combine them together to move ahead in life. This is how you can bring fullness to your life.

The main point to attend to is this: some people rely more heavily on the intellect and logic, while some are driven more strongly by their feelings and emotions. If you approach people who are driven by their feelings, and speak to them about surrendering and love; all this will appeal to them very greatly.

But if you go to a scientist, i.e. an intellectual, driven by fact and logic, and talk to him about love, surrender, etc., he will not be able to understand. He will say that there is some emotional or chemical imbalance in your mind! The scientist will say that your endocrine glands are over-active and secreting too many endomorphine hormones.

So people like this are driven purely by knowledge and intellect, rather than feelings. They perceive everything through the lens of knowledge. Yet even they are essentially devoted to the same Tattva, the one pure Consciousness.

A scientist will tell you that everything in this world is made up of one thing only. It is all composed of one and only one element, or principle. It is that same one principle that has manifest into so many diverse forms in creation.

To understand this, we can take the simple example of a banana. Do you know how many varieties of bananas exist in the world today? In South India, you even get red bananas. Have you ever seen a red banana? Then we also have green bananas which are small in size. They are called elaichi bananas. Now, they are essentially all bananas only. But each has a different size, color and flavour. 

The same goes for apples as well. You can find so much varieties in apples. There are yellow apples, green apples, red apples, etc. The apples you find in Shimla are so different from the ones you find in Kashmir.

So you can see so much diversity in flowers, fruits and vegetables around you. The same is the case with human beings also. There are so many different kinds of people. No two persons are alike. Every person is unique and different from the other, and they have different behaviours, feelings and emotions. In the same way, they all possess different kinds of knowledge and different thoughts also.

Lord Krishna says, 'Jnana-yajnena cha-apy anye yajanto mam upasate. Ekatvena prthaktvena bahudha visvato-mukham'. (Bhagvad Gita, 9:15)

Everything you see around you is a play of diversity of this one Consciousness only. This you should know and believe firmly. You should honor this diversity. You can prepare so many kinds of dishes from the same flour. From the same flour, you can make bread, naan (a special type of Indian bread), samosa (an Indian savory snack) and also halwa (a common Indian sweet preparation).

In the same way, there is only one God whom different people worship in different ways. There is only one Truth, and one Divinity; it is only the ways of worship that are different among different people. Now if we start expecting that everyone should behave and work like us, then that would be very wrong.

You know, there is so much terrorism in the world today because some people think, ‘Everyone should follow my way; everyone should work and behave like me. What I say and do is right, everything else is wrong’. People who say this are the ones who spread fear and terrorism in the world today. And they do this out of ignorance. This is why we need a Gyaan Yajna today, i.e. to spread knowledge to more and more people and dispel ignorance and negativity.

Achieving all four aspects of Purusharth

Both Artha (wealth and material comforts) and Kama (desire or passion) arise in life from time to time according to one’s needs. Fulfilling those needs to sustain one’s life, yet not getting entangled in too much greed or lust is the responsibility of Dharma (righteous action) and Moksha (liberation from suffering).

The main goals of our life are Dharma and Moksha. In the course of our life, from time to time, we have to engage ourselves in the pursuit of Artha and Kama. Enjoying them but at the same time not getting caught up in it. This is why we should engage in those action that are in alignment with our Dharma, and refrain from those actions that go against Dharma. The same goes for Artha also.

Life cannot run without any one of the four aspects of Purusharth.

In the course of life, you must have Moksha as your supreme aim; adhere to and uphold Dharma at all times, and you will see that your pursuits for both Artha and Kaama will also give good results in due course of time.

Making relationships work

You are right for your partner when you can adjust. Relationship means adjustment, it is giving. 

You give what you can to your partner and wait for them to give back to you. If you are demanding from the others, the relationship is not going to last long.

Demand destroys love. Love is always about giving. Known that you have come here (on the planet) to only give love and demand love from anybody. Demand and blame destroy relationships.

Just imagine yourself in their situation. How would you feel if someone doubts your love for them, and you have to make an extra effort to make them believe that you love them? Is it not a burden?

Learn to praise your partner and uplift a situation instead of blaming and finding fault. Uplifting your partner should be your commitment . Then you are the right person for anybody, and everybody will love you when you don’t hurt them intentionally. 

Be open to correction and changes, and have the patience to listen to criticism. 

You have to be patient to take criticism. 

See your partner beyond his or her words and actions.

When someone comes home after a long tiring day at work, it is normal for them to feel exhausted and frustrated. So you should understand their situation and give them the space/freedom to express their genuine feelings of frustrations, anger etc.  When someone is in labor pain, and if you say, ‘Don’t deliver, keep it, keep it, keep the baby inside.’ What can they do? How long can they keep it inside? Somewhere they have to explode. You should allow them to express and let go of all their stress that they have carried all the day. 

Understand why your partner is upset or unhappy then your relationship will work. 

If you are understanding, you will allow them to tell you everything that happened and you can uplift them! But if you expect them not to tell anything and be nice to you 24/7 and find fault with them all the time, then relationships do not work!

A world without violence

I have this crazy idea… a world without violence. This might appear to be utopian thinking, but we need to dream and we will get there! If we instill pride in being non-violent, in being compassionate, in being helpful to others, our lives will take a new direction. And that should be our unwavering commitment.
⠀
It is saddening to see the impact of gun-violence on our families and society. An ABC news report indicates that there are more gun retail stores than grocery stores in the U.S. When we have not provided education in non-violence, or equipped people with tools to control their aggressive tendencies, we cannot afford to have so many gun stores making it easy to pursue deadly acts of violence.⠀
⠀
Aggressive tendencies can occur in anybody; it is quite natural. But one should be taught how to handle that aggressive tendency in a healthy way. When conflict arises in the mind of an individual, perception, observation and expression are impacted. This in turn impacts communication with the other party. In a conflict zone, the first thing that is needed for resolution is an improvement in the communication between the parties. This can happen only when the mind is calm and is able to respond, rather than react. In order for the mind to be calm, mental traumas need to be relieved. The rhythmic breathing and meditation techniques that the volunteers of The Art of Living use have been quite effective with relieving mental and emotional distress.⠀
⠀
The ignorant are fanatically religious, the so called intelligentsia are fashionably atheist, and the wise are genuinely spiritual. It is time that we encourage our young people, our children, to see beyond limited identities and to associate with the common humanity that we are all part of. It is time to tear down the walls between cultures and celebrate diversity. It is time to connect at the heart-to-heart level and let go of the negative emotions. This is how we can create a violence-free, stress-free society.

Every finger in your hand is connected to a planet

Every finger in your hand is connected to a planet. The thumb is connected to Mars. Mars stays alone. Index finger is connected to Jupiter (Jupiter shows the path, it is the teacher). When you want to show something, you show using the index finger, this is Jupiter. The middle finger is connected to Saturn; Saturn is the servant. The ring finger is connected to the Sun; the Sun is the king. And who owns the jewels? The king, and so you put rings only on the ring finger. That’s why it’s called the ring finger. The little finger is connected to Mercury. So when you do chin mudra, what is happening? The index finger (Jupiter) and the thumb (Mars) are coming together, that is wisdom and power.

Why is the thumb connected to Mars? It is because whenever you win, what do you do? You put your thumbs up. Thumbs up is a sign of victory. When you lose what do you do? You put your thumbs down. So these gestures are so inbuilt in us.

Different planets affect different parts of your body. Your teeth is connected to Saturn. Your eyes are connected to the Sun, your cheeks are connected to Venus, forehead to Mercury, nose to Jupiter. I mean this as the connection of microcosm with the macrocosm. It is so fascinating!

Similarly, moods depend on the moon. A mood does not stay for more than two and a quarter day. That is the amount of time the moon is at one place. The moment the moon moves from that place; your mood also changes. And when the moon and Saturn combine, people get depressed. 

So these emotions, these feelings, they come and they go away. Nothing is permanent. No planet is permanently stationary in one place. They all move. But when you identify yourself with any one of these emotions, you get stuck. That’s when you don’t move. That is when it infiltrates into your body and you get sick, and all such things happen. Isn’t it fascinating? So what is the way? How to move on from that?

On a cloudy day, when a flight takes off, what does it do? It goes above the clouds, and then there is sunshine. That is what the spiritual practices are. They move us away from the chit akasha (the space of the mind) to the chida akasha (space of pure consciousness). We move beyond all the emotions.

9 planets moving through the 12 constellations brings 108 units of change. So to enhance the good effects and to reduce the malefic effects, ‘Om Namah Shivaya’ is chanted 108 times. That uplifts you, uplifts your spirit, and takes you beyond. It connects you to the chida akasha (space of pure consciousness).

You don’t have to be rich to feel the abundance.

What are you struggling for?

Is it Money? You are struggling for money, then don’t sit and day dream, do hard work. If one business does not work, choose another business and do it. 

Don’t sit and day dream and only think about miracles to happen.

Miracles do happen, but if you crave for miracles then they will take a back seat. Nature wants you to be dynamic. There are people who have asked me, ‘Guruji, please give me some numbers for my lottery ticket. I just want to win a lottery so that I don’t have to do anything. Just do sadhana all the time and some seva(service).’ No way! First of all, decide what it is that you want from life. You know money is something that you will always find people short of. Always!

You can see for example, the richest country, the only super power on this planet is USA and it is under heavy debt; trillions of dollars of debt. You take big companies; many of them are in debt. The richer a person gets, the more expenses he has. At the same time, there are poor people who are contributing towards charity, poor people who take time to do service, which is amazing. They feel so much abundance.

Did you know that during our silver jubilee celebration, a beautiful incident happened!

I came down from the steps on the last day and a small boy came running to me with tears in his eyes and gave me an envelope. I took the envelope and it had Rs. 5000 in it. I looked at that boy and I asked, ‘What do you do?’ He said he is a laborer. The money in the envelope that he had given me had two months of his earnings, and he said, ‘Please take this.I can’t tell you how much my life has transformed. Please accept this.’ I took just Rs.100 from that envelope and returned back Rs. 4900. I told him, you know this Rs.100 is so precious for me, this is enough. I will take this. Two months of his salary; someone who is a laborer who does manual work, he comes and offers this. Such a big heart!  You don't have to be very rich to feel the abundance.

In fact many rich people don’t feel abundance at all, they feel lack. They are not generous. But poor people are very generous. Don’t imagine a situation where you will become super rich one day and then you will start doing some seva(service), no, nothing like that. You can feel abundance at any point of time. 

And the moment you start feeling abundance, you will see things will get better! 

Our judgements of others are usually poor

When egos are there, they do clash. There is no way out. When there is wisdom, you will rise above any small-minded attitude, bickering and judgements.

You judge people all the time, and if you turn back and look at your own judgements, I tell you, 80 to 90% of the time, they will be wrong.  Sometimes you type a message to send to someone, and something tells you that this is not okay and so you retract it. This shows how poor your judgements are.

We create a huge cloud around what is not even close to truth, and it has happened to you so many times in the past. You hold grudges against people, you have concepts about people and you get yourself trapped into it. You must wake up from this. You know, if your time is good, your worst enemy behaves like a friend, and if your time is bad, your closest friend behaves like an enemy. So, your luck or time is totally responsible for your friends and enemies. Your karma is responsible for what you go through.

So, you should take your mind away from judging others and bring it to yourself. Often people who complain that others have a big ego, have a big ego themselves. Often those who complain others are rude, you will see somewhere inside, they are rude. You should reflect on yourself. See, you can’t correct others but others give you a chance to correct yourself.

What are you unhappy for?

What are you unhappy for? What is it that you are unhappy about? You are unhappy about the situations and circumstances around you. You are unhappy about the people around you.

Are they going to be there permanently or forever? They are moving and changing. It is all like a flowing river! Wake up and see the person you saw yesterday night is not the same person this morning, this evening or tomorrow.

Why are you unhappy about other people? Know they are all like bubbles on the surface of water. They are fleeting; they are moving. You are unhappy about situations and circumstances. How long are they going to be there, not forever? They all move and change.

What else are you unhappy about the health of your body? How long you can hold onto your body even if it is very healthy? Can you hold on to it, forever? One day it is going to drop. If a body gets sick, attend to it, that is all. Getting mentally agitated makes it even worse. It is the nature of the body to be sick and healthy.

In your true nature, you are free the moment you see it’s not in you. If you have a pain, observe it’s happening in the body. If there is tightness or joy in your mind, observe that it is tight, sad, unhappy or happy. Just observe that you are not enjoying, and it is happening elsewhere, as though it is happening elsewhere.

Now trust my words, you are not the doer. Life is ‘happening’ on this planet. Everything is moving. Your mind is going through ups and downs, sorrows and joys. It has its own ways, its own time.

There’s only one way you can be happy, that is seeing that you are not the doer, that everything is just happening. 

Let it happen. Thinking you are the doer agitates you further, and you become much more restless. Not to do, to undo, is another doing. The desire to do something to get out of it is another ‘doing.’ It’s something like a pond being muddy. You know this, but then start stirring it more. And if you keep stirring, it is bound to become muddier. There is no way it can settle down. When you can feel ‘I am not the doer,’ when this confidence, this faith dawns on you, that is nectar. With that, you will become happy.

Let this fire of awareness, this fire of knowledge burn all that ignorance and destroy your sorrow. Do not be unhappy. There is no need to be unhappy or sad about your body, and the things happening in your mind, about people, situations, events and circumstances around you. Then, what can you be unhappy about? Can you be? Is there any other thing to be unhappy about? Is it? Sukhī bhava (be happy)! It is an order as well as a blessing.

Qualities of a Jnani (Gyani) - II

There was a 27 km long artificial tunnel constructed in Geneva. One scientist discovered the God particle (referring to the discovery of the Higgs-Boson particle) through his experiments in that tunnel. In the next month, I received an invitation to visit Geneva and meet the scientist.

What does ‘God Particle’ mean? It means that most fundamental and indivisible particle from which everything is made up of. That from which everything in creation is made of and which is the essence of everything – that is what is meant by the God Particle. So those scientists told me, ‘We have found God by discovering this particle, because everything is made up of this alone’.

So both a Jnani and a Vijnani (scientist) are close to God. They both contemplate upon God. Do not think that only a person who sits in a temple all day, and sings devotional songs and rings the temple bells is truly worshipping God. No, it is not so. Anyone who deeply believes in the mystery of the Creation, who is aware of its greatness and its diversity, and who surrenders to the power of the Creation – is truly engaged in Upasana (deep contemplation of God).

You will find that there as many different ways of worship, as there are people. All of them are the best, and you should respect and honor them all.

See, God is only one. If you wish, you can see Him as one, or you can choose to worship Him in different forms and different ways too. You can see Him in the plants, trees, animals, children, men and women. You can even see God in a donkey, or in a dog, or in the smallest of insects. You should honor and respect them all (for they are all diverse manifestations of one Divinity).

God is present everywhere and in everything. So you should honor and respect everybody.

There is saying, ‘Akeet Brahma paryate’, which means that the Brahman (the one supreme consciousness) is manifest everywhere, right from the smallest insect to the vast creation. So you should have total faith in it and respect it.

You too are made up of the same consciousness. Every particle of your body is made up of the Brahman. There is nothing in creation that is beyond it. So there are three things you should always remember:
1. God is everywhere and so He is also present in me
2. Since He belongs to everybody, He also belongs to me, and
3. God is all-capable and can fulfill any lack that I may have

It is not that God existed sometime earlier in the past and now does not. No, not at all. You should remember that God is present everywhere and at all times. He is present right now, this every moment.

Just remind yourself of this and relax. This is called Faith.

Now what will you have to do for this? Will you have to sit and meditate for hours together? No, you have to do nothing for this. Just have total faith in this fact, this very moment! That’s it.

How much time does it take for you to become a lover? Do you have to practice a lot for it? Do you have to study it in some college, or get a certifying degree for that? Do you have to study (the scriptures) for many hours, or will you have to do very strenuous exercise for that?

What is it that you have to do to become a lover? You do not need to do anything. Just believe in God totally. That’s it. Just believe, ‘I am a true lover’.

What is the mantra for love? 'Everyone belongs to me, there is no one who is a stranger, who is not known to you'.

It is to know and firmly believe that there is no one other than God everywhere (seeing God everywhere means to be truly and deeply in love with God).

Now when will you follow this? Will you do this after 10-20 years? Will you do it after you grow old? I tell you, do it now! This very moment! Just take it for granted that ‘I am a lover (of God)'.

Being totally in love (with God), you see that there is no one who is a stranger. Everyone belongs to you. People from every country of the world, whether it be Pakistan, Nepal, India, Iran, Iraq, USA; they all belong to you’.

When we consider that everyone belongs to us, then other people too will not find it difficult to accept us as their own. They too will consider us as one of their own. Usually there is a seed of this thought present inside us somewhere that ‘So-and-so person is not my own. This person is separate, he does not belong to me', or 'That person is my enemy’.

Then the same feelings arise in them as well. So from our heart, we should not think of anyone as our enemy, or have such feelings towards them.

If you really want to have enemies, then you should consider corruption as your enemy. You should regard violence and anger as your enemies. All these deserve to be removed from the world. Anger, violence, corruption, oppression and immoral practices need to be removed from the world, and we must all stand against them.

So it is these negative forces that we have to oppose in the world, rather than opposing or fighting against a person or a group of people. We should remember that everyone belongs to us and there should be no delay in accepting this truth totally. If all the people of the world listen to this, then all the fighting would come to an end.

Now you should not insist or force everyone to agree to this and believe it. It is possible that some people may not accept this fact at all. It is okay. See, that is their nature and they will behave that way. We must do what we have to do.

Qualities of a Jnani (Gyani) - I

A jnani (wise or knowledgeable one) is one whose intellect is sharp and profound. Such a person understands everything in depth (and not superficially). A jnani is always close to nature and to God, i.e. a wise person understands and acts in accordance with the laws of Nature and does not violate them.

You can realize God through your feelings (of devotion and surrender), and also by following the path of knowledge (which helps righteous action and dispels ignorance).You should follow the path that is in accordance with your nature, one that appeals to you. If you are someone who is driven more by feelings than by logic and intellect, then you should engage more in satsang and bhakti (devotion).

If you are driven more strongly by intellect and logic, then you will become restless if you sit in a satsang for a long time. Then you would say, ‘Oh, stop all this satsang and chanting. How many times will you say the same thing again and again? Why are you all singing such a long bhajan? Just calling out God’s name once is enough!’

If you see two lovers, they keep writing each other’s names everywhere. They write, ‘I love you’, everywhere they can. And writing it just once is not enough. They write it ten times! They start filling pages and pages of books with the name of their beloved. They even etch the names of their beloved on the walls.

So they write the beloved’s name wherever they can. This is because a lover cannot stop by saying the beloved’s name just once. He is not content with that. So he keeps reciting the beloved’s name again and again. This is not the case for one driven by the intellect and logic.

Even music does not appeal to one driven by the intellect. They are uncomfortable with chanting the same name and same lines again and again. This is how they think. But when such a person (who is driven by the intellect) looks at the creation, he gets so wonder struck by the magnificence of the creation. The creation is so miraculous, so mysterious and so full of amazement.

The are new discoveries that happen every day and every moment, yet the more one discovers of this creation, the more one realizes that the secrets of the creation are far more deeper and mysterious than one can imagine. And this realization only increases the sense of wonder in a person, so much so that ultimately he experiences yoga (union). Through this sense of wonder, he becomes one with nature.

This is why it is said, ‘Vismayo Yogah bhumika’ (The sense of wonder has a great role to play on the path of Yoga).

So, being in a state of wonder is an important step in Yoga. Why is this so? It is because there is so much more than what we think we know, and there is so much that we still do not know. Just understanding this alone can take us to greater heights of progress in our life.

This creation is vast, endless, and full of wonders; it has no end, it has no shores. Knowing this is being in a Gyaan Yajna. A Jnani and a Vijnani (person with a scientific outlook) is always aware of this fact, so he is always close to God. He is always watchful in a state of wonder as Nature reveals its secrets.

Attachment to the Guru

See, if you try to possess the Guru then that is not possible and will only bring you pain. A Guru belongs to everyone and not just to a handful few people. And where there is intense love, there is bound to be intense longing also, and it does bring a little pain with it. But this is a different kind of pain, there is a certain sweetness in this pain. This kind of attachment to the Divine, or to the Guru, or to the entire world, is one and the same.

We all want to see the world as a better place. One becomes a Guru only when one is able to provide knowledge and help bring a positive change in the lives of others. I say that, when one experiences a profound transformation in life, that is when they become aware of the Guru and turn to him with reverence. People often say the exact opposite of this: they say that first you must make someone as your Guru, and only then will you experience change in your life.

How can you express your gratitude to the Guru? By helping with bringing the same transformation that you have experienced in your own life in the lives of many others. If you sincerely desire that ten people should be benefitted and live better lives, then that sincere intention surely works and manifests.

So love and longing are two sides of the same coin. This does happen, and our inner creativity blossoms because of this as well. This longing for the divine can bring our attention to the right path and away from negative things such as drinking alcohol, criticizing others, etc. When the mind turns away from such negativity and soaks in the nectar of love and devotion, then longing also comes and this does bring a little pain with it too.

Who is a yogi and what is a yogi’s way of life?

A yogi is a child. A yogi is becoming a baby again and again. If you look at a baby, from about 3 months to 3 years he does almost all the asanas. It can even teach you pranayama. You don’t need a yoga teacher if you observe a baby. Similarly, all animals also do some asanas.

A yogi is one who is connected with the infinity; connected with everybody. He doesn’t feel isolated with anyone, at anytime. Yogi is one who is skillful, one who is flexible. Some people have a very flexible body, but their minds are very rigid. A rigid person is not very palatable. He cannot communicate properly and is not open to new ideas.

A yogi is one who is not rigid but at the same time who is not very mushy or wishy-washy; he is very straight forward. He has strength, yet is soft. He has a childlike innocence, yet depth in wisdom. He is childlike, not childish. He has a childlike simplicity, yet is wise. A yogi is sensible and sensitive.

Often people who think they are very sensible are not very sensitive, and people who are very sensitive are not sensible at all! A yogi is a perfect combination of sensibility and sensitivity.

Yogi is one who is loving, yet very centered. Often people who fall in love lose their centeredness, and people who are very centered, they don’t seem to be radiating love. A yogi is the perfect combination of head and heart; being centered and at the same time being very loving.

You can assign all ideal characteristics to a yogi because a yogi is one who is connected to the self, connected to the universe, connected to everybody; because everybody is connected.