When we meditate, we pay off a debt to our ancestors

Like your DNA, your body is connected to your parents or to your very close friends. Haven’t you experienced this? Someone very close to you has some problem and you start feeling it in your body. How many have experienced this? So, on the physical level you are connected and more subtle than that is your subtle body. You’re connected to ancestor’s, to your parents.


How many of you keep getting dreams of people who have already passed, who have crossed over to other side? So, your mind and your consciousness are linked. So there is a constant energy exchange. Every time you meditate you are generating energy and that energy goes that way also. 

When you have cleared all these debts, that’s when you’re called a monk, a sanyasi. A real term monk means all debts are cleared, everything is settled, feeling "I am totally free". But that is one state, everybody doesn’t have to get there, you can continue.

But sometime if you are getting very old, in the Vedic terminology after 75, you are suppose to have that at least. When you turn 75 then you are cleared of every debt of everybody and you are totally free. You have no cravings, no aversions, no wants, no desires; totally satisfied. That’s the last stage of life. That’s good to have, at some point of time, ‘oh says I am free, I have done everything’.

Do you see what I am saying? Like when you have taken a loan, later you cleared the debts. If you have taken loans for your education what do you do? You keep clearing your debt for your education. In the same way when you meditate for some time, that debt is getting cleared from those who have given you the body, mind all of that. It’s only for a short time.

How does one know that one's consciousness is expanding?

It’s a natural phenomenon. Whenever you are happy, when you’re relaxed and aware, your consciousness expands.

When you’re relaxed and gone to sleep, of course, inertia dominates. But if you are aware and relaxed, consciousness is expanding. And whenever you feel hollow and empty, consciousness is expanding.

The answer is obvious. It’s like asking how do I know I have pain. If you have pain you know it. Got it?

How to experience deep mediation

Just relax! Meditating should be like lying on a massage table. So when you are taking a massage what do you, you just lie on the table and that’s it, and the masseur takes care of everything.

In the same way when you are here you just sit and know that your meditation will be done for you. You wanting to do something in the meditation is the biggest problem. 
There is a teacher, there is a guide, there is the Guru, and the Guru does the work for you. And you should have this right in the head first, okay?

The Guru is going to do meditation not me and relax, and see how it happens. Got it? Otherwise its like you lie in the massage table and you keep jittering, throwing your hands and legs, doing tantrums there on the massage table. Then what will a masseur say? He’ll say, ‘Hey! Keep quiet, don’t move!’


Suppose you are taking acupuncture treatment and you are not still what will happen? You are moving all over the place, getting up and running and again lying down. So, just relax.

Is there a plane in the universe that is hell?

Its right here! See, its right in your mind!


See, when you’re dreaming what is happening? Where do all those things in dream come from, somewhere else? Right here when your eyes are closed you are dreaming.

You are in the train and the train is suddenly in a boat and the boat has turned into a horse, all those things happen, isn’t it. You are sitting on a horse suddenly you find it is a donkey and you think it’s a donkey, suddenly you find it’s a dog. So you find all these things happening right here.

In the same way hell happens in your own mind. The negativity, tensions, stress, all those impressions causes hell right here. Don’t worry there is no place where you will be fried like potato chips, no! These days they don’t use deep fried even in heaven, they are more health conscious! So they are worried about cholesterol in heaven also and in hell also, so they don’t used deep fried human beings. That too dirty human beings, why would they?!

On Kundalini Shakti

Kundalini simply means the energy in your body. Unless it is awakened there is no life. And in the very first Sudarshan Kriya you do it is already awakened. It doesn’t have to be dramatic.


There are three types of kundalini shakti. One is sattvic. The most harmonious, gentle awakening of the kundalini shakti. And you don’t even know that it’s awakened, automatically you start being very happy, generous, large hearted, big minded, compassionate, intuitive. All these things keep happening spontaneously.


Second is the rajasic type where you find this jerk and all this drama happens. A lot of dramatic intense experiences come, this is the rajasic way. 

There is no tamasic way of developing kundalini. If at all some people consider tamasic, the people who use some powers and black magic and this and that sort of thing. But I don’t consider it as tamasic kundalini at all but it is some spirit powers you know. You appease some lower spirits and get some powers from them. And then you dance for some days and then you collapse, that’s what people do. So don’t run after some of this so called magic and miracles, many of them are from these lower spirits. They appear to be doing something to you and then you feel miserable later. 

So sattvic are the most harmonious, best type of kundalini and it is what happens already in Sudarshan Kriya. Doesn’t it happen? Tingling and every cell of the body wakes up. Does it happen or not?

Remember the very first Sudarshan Kriya you did, everything awakened?! That’s it! Did you have peaceful meditation? Did you start feeling I am not the body but I am the spirit? Did you get that experience? That’s already happening.


If you have no experience in kriya, you have so much dullness all the time, then you have to watch your food. You must be stuffing yourself with too much food, number one. Or you must have indulged in too much sex that there is no energy in your body to experience anything else. Then also it doesn’t happen. 

I tell you, someone has been very very busy day and night and didn’t have good sleep, enough rest then there is no way that they can experience any kundalini shakti. So these are some of the criterion, got it? When your energy is conserved then you find that elevation. And if good meditation is happening, you should know it is already functioning. If when meditating, inside you feel the expansion, a calmness, a serenity, it is all sign of kundalini shakti.

"Gurudev, all masters of holy tradition wear orange, why do you wear white?

Not all. One who does not wear clothes is also there! So, yes white has all the colors in it.

Usually the tradition is if you put on saffron you’re not supposed to go out of India, cross the ocean. But today many don’t follow that. It’s only a few people who follow that particular tradition. You can’t cross the ocean. Today they’re all doing it and that is good in a way.

These rules were made once upon a time when there were only ships. And they had to go by ship and they could not take bath every day. They cannot do their meditation in a ship. There were small boats, not even ships. And the boat would sail and take so many days. Anyone who would go on the boat when they come back they had to do some cleansing and all that. In the scriptures that is what was written. So they said no, you shouldn’t go on the boat.

Today that is not the thing. It is a home, it is a city inside the ship. So, those are irrelevant for today. This is what you have to see you know. Certain rules which are written, you should not just literally follow it.

Same in Judaism, it is said the day of silence is Saturday, Sabbath, means don’t do anything, rest. Six days you work, one day you don’t do anything. You just relax; with rest, prayer, meditation; because deeper the rest you take, better qualified you become. The quality of life improves; quality of your mind and consciousness improves. So for all this reason they said you should rest well one day. God rested for a day so you are also made in the image of god so you also should rest one day. That is Sabbath. But that is not what is happening.

You should not work means, you should not press the button in the lift! Suppose you are staying in the 20th floor of a hotel on Sabbath day. You cannot press the button you simply go on the elevator and it stops on every floor and it goes up to your 20th floor. I was in Jerusalem one Sabbath day. Nobody presses any button in the lift and it stops like a passenger local train at every floor. I asked you cannot sign also? On Sabbath you cannot sign also, you cannot touch a pen. These are all obsolete rules!

But you are still so busy and engaged. You are talking, and talking and talking and arguing and fighting also on Sabbath day but you cannot sign or press a button. It’s absurd!

This is where wisdom is needed. You need to look into these rules with common sense. We must induce common sense in all religious practices as well, it is important. Many times in the name of religion you shut off your common sense! It’s unfortunate; we need to changes these things. It will happen; people are more understanding.

How to increase will power?

Will power? Just relax! You know it’s lethargy that makes you feel I don’t have will power, isn’t it? You everyday decide, yes I’m going to wake up at 6am and do my pranayama and in the morning you say, ‘Oh it’s so cold, I’ll do it from tomorrow or tonight.’

It’s just because your system is tired, your mind is tired, body is tired and you eat the wrong things. Now I give you some idea, even to do that you will be so lethargic, why I should give an idea? At some time you get fed up and you jump out of your own bed and start doing exercise. So I feel that is better than giving you any advice, you be as lazy as much as you can afford. One day you’re sure to get fed up about being lazy. It can’t go on forever, got it?

Anything else said will be another burden and you will feel guiltier. You are lazy and someone says ‘Hey there is a fire’, and then how the fear of fire can take away all the laziness. Urgency takes away laziness. Or some knot in your heart gets opened, love comes welling up inside of you, then also laziness disappears. You are passionate about somebody or something, how you have no laziness then, you are suddenly awakened.

So either through love or fear or through greed you can overcome laziness. I don’t know a fourth thing, if you have any idea you tell me.

So if you are in deep love with something, laziness doesn’t come to you. In lack of these three things, you will procrastinate, that’s how it is. So if you procrastinate, fear will come sometime. Then out of fear you will start functioning. Or greed can come but I prefer being in love more than these two things.


So that’s why there is a tradition of promising someone who you love very much. You promise them something and you will see you follow it through. Say, you have promised your brother that you will pick him up or your niece that you’re going to meet her at the airport. Even though you feel so lazy in the morning to get up, you will just get up and run and go and greet them in the airport, even if it is in the middle of the night.

These days I have found a plane to go to India that reaches there in the morning at 9:30 you know. Bombay I don’t go at all; in Delhi when I go in the middle of the night the flight lands at midnight. By the time I come out it is 1:30am and there’s a huge crowd waiting at 2am at the middle of the night; elderly people, nursing mothers with babies. I just said ‘My God! Why did you come?!’

In just 2 minutes they’ll see me getting in the car, that’s it. And in the airport it causes so much of a ruckus, so many people at the airport. Now I found a flight that reaches there 9:30am so I don’t feel so uncomfortable. I feel uncomfortable because they’re all standing there. An elderly couple, who are in their 80’s are standing there every time I go. If one night is disturbed like that, they must have such several nights where their sleep cycle is broken.

Like this there are so many people, three to four thousand people. I have stopped going to Mumbai because one day it took me two and a half hours to get out of the airport, giving darshan to everyone in line there saying come, come, come. And the security personnel were paranoid; the police had a headache, and those granite benches and tables at the new airport were all broken. Our organization had to pay some 30,000 bucks for damaging the airport with our own crowd. Yes, they broke the outside, chairs were broken, granite slabs were broken, and doors were broken. So I have said I will not land in Mumbai. This was in the middle of the night at 2 o’clock. Why I’m saying this? When there is love there is no lethargy.

Three types of knowledge

There are three type of knowledge or information we get. One is through the five senses. You see and you get some knowledge, you listen and you get knowledge, you smell and you get information, through taste you get information, and through touch. The five senses bring you some knowledge, isn’t it? Most of our knowledge is gained by these five senses. Now this is one type of knowledge.

The second is through the intellect. The knowledge gained through intellect is superior to knowledge gained through the senses. Science is knowledge gained through intellect. See, what all you see from your eyes is the sun is setting, but what you learn through science is sun doesn’t set. It is the earth which revolves. You have not seen earth revolving through any of the five senses, but through intellect you understand that the earth is revolving and that it is revolving around the sun. This is the intellectual knowledge through intellect which is superior to the senses. Like in a beaker of water you keep a pen, what do you see? The pen is bent. That is the perception, but the intellect says no it is not bent it is an optical illusion. This is the knowledge through intellect.

Now these two levels of knowledge is much inferior to a third level of knowledge. That is intuitive knowledge. That is knowledge from the spirit, that comes from silence. It cannot be verified by the senses or the intellect. Knowledge which comes beyond these two is another level of knowledge. So life begins when we tap into that level of knowledge. Till that time it is existence.

Now how would you tap into this level of knowledge? The level of knowledge which is not through the senses, nor through the intellect. For that you have to let go of the knowledge of the senses and the intellect and relax. The moment you let go then what you gain through senses, the cravings and aversions they stop. All of our cravings and aversions are about the five sensory perceptions. It cannot be anything beyond that. Are you with me?

For some time you say, ‘Now I don’t want to see anything, I don’t want to hear anything, I don’t want to smell anything, I don’t want to taste anything, I don’t want to touch or know anything; I’m just going to be.’ Then intellectual concepts, judgments, decisions, to all that you say, ‘I don’t even need to know anything, I don’t care for anything.’

Letting go of concepts is the second step. How this should be? How that should not be? Things should be like this and things should be like that and blah blah blah and blah blah blah… all these intellectual perceptions.

Or am I doing the right thing? Am I on the right path? Am I on the right track? Should I go on and blah, blah, blah…All these things you drop and then silence begins and when silence begins then the knowledge from the third level dawns and that knowledge is called Ritambhara knowledge; the true knowledge that comes from beyond the intellect and that is the intuitive knowledge.

Everyone has got this ability and you have experienced in your life this gut feeling, knowledge from somewhere, which you cannot really make out what it is. Somewhere you feel this is the right thing to do and something happens in your tummy. And that knowledge comes up at that time but then we don’t honor it. Many times we stick onto the intellect or sensory perceptions.

Sometimes your intellect says this is wrong what I am doing, but you don’t listen to the intellect you keep doing the wrong things. How many of you have this experience? What you do? You stick on to the sensory and ignore the intellectual knowledge. And then what happens? You sometimes go beyond your intellect. Your intellect is saying something but your inner gut feeling is saying something else. And you’re feeling says no, there is something different, something more. And we ignore that and we stick onto the intellect. That’s how many times your judgements have been found to be a failure.

How many of you feel your judgements have been wrong? But sometimes, beyond your judgements you have seen and you have taken a step and have been happy about it. In spite of your intellect saying ‘No’, something says ‘Yes’. Something else triggers and that is what happens when there is faith and that’s when the faith comes up you know.

Sometimes your mind says no I want to quit doing all this spiritual practices, I don’t care for that, I don’t care for hopes. Many people do this, try to quit but something deep inside, the impressions, samskaras, some good karma, they just make you keep going and then you are back on track. And then you are happy. You feel, ‘Good thing I didn’t do it, I didn’t walk on my impulse.’ Those are the moments when something beyond your intellect has taken over and worked.

When we started Art of Living, in the very beginning I could see that there are millions of people going to come on this. I was just 22 or 23, something like that; just out of my teens. I said, ‘No I don’t want to start’. My intellect would say ‘No, so what? Someone else will come and do all this and take care of everybody’. I had no ambition, no desire to start any movement at all. I was happy, I’m happy now also, but I thought why would I take some headache, I don’t want to. I was a little shy also but my intellect was always saying ‘Oh no!’ 

But then everything kept happening because when the TM movement was there and they very much wanted me to be there. And they were all very friendly with me. So it was difficult for me to say no to my friends, and then all the elders there, and everybody, so I was sort of attached. I said no, I don’t want to start the Art of Living; fought and fought.

I had everything, I didn’t need anything. I had no lack and I have everything. I was flying around in helicopters in those days also. I had seen all the wealth I could see those days. And if I have to start something from the scratch, the intellect was saying ‘no’. But something beyond that was saying ‘yes’.

So I was in the railway station, it was in Hubli somewhere. There were two trains going, one to south and one to north. If I take the train to south that means I will not start this. In the same way, I was in the platform and on one side was this train and on another side the other train. I had tickets for both. (Laughter) I had committed for a program in north. If I go there north then it’s for sure that I’ll continue in the Art of Living. Start this whole thing. That was the most confusing time, conflicting time for me to get on to this train or that train. Then I jumped into the train which went to the north and let go of everything of the past; for no apparent gain. It’s not that I never thought what I will gain from this, no. In fact I thought, you are not gaining anything you are collecting more problems, trouble. There you could just be like a prince, very comfortable, somebody does everything for you.

Why I’m saying this? This is the levels of knowledge, the intuitive knowledge which is beyond intellect. Everyone who knew me those days thought I am gone mad, crazy. Here I’m going to be put as a successor or heir to a huge organization, empire. Everything was there, and I am just washing it all off and getting on to something which has no form, no idea. Not even an organization was there, nothing was there. Only I had 200 kids to take care of and a school which would go with me. I had no money; nothing, no resource, I had never worked and I had no skills. And people say these days it is difficult to take care of two children in a house. Those days India was undergoing a lot of crisis too. Many types of crisis and here I land up with 200 kids or 250 kids to feed and to educate; all these responsibilities. Intellectually it was completely insane even to think about it for anyone who has some sense. But there was another knowledge, which I totally honored and depended upon and I took the step. Do you see what I’m saying? Otherwise there was no way we would have a Montreal ashram or I wouldn't be sitting with you and talking to you.

This possibility is not there at all. So this is the third level of knowledge, that gut feeling, or intuitive knowledge. Now, many times, with your emotions, with your own cravings and aversion you can think, ‘Oh this is my gut feeling, this is my knowledge.’ No! This is called maya, you maya, don’t get into that. When can you honor the knowledge of the spirit or the soul? It is when you are absolutely still. Got it?

So in the beginning it works for others, it doesn’t work for you because with you always there are some cravings, some aversions. Some cravings, some aversions and so you may get confused. So these hollow and empty meditations you do are all are very, very useful in getting to that level of knowledge, which is beyond the senses and beyond the intellect. Now how can you explain this to anybody? That’s big trouble, very difficult to tell somebody, ‘Oh there is one level that’s beyond your logic’. If you say that they will think you are crazy or denying intellect but it’s neither. Neither are you crazy nor do you deny the intellect. You go simply one step beyond and recognize something beautiful. This is the area where the entire cosmos works. All the knowledge in the cosmos is present there. Every invention has happened from this area.

The initial intuitive invention comes from that. Then intellect plays on it and develops it further. All great music or poetry has come from that area; every one of them! So one practical benefit from this is you now understand your intellect is judgmental and you don’t depend on it too much. Got it?

One of the steps is you see, ‘Oh yes my mind, it goes on saying something or the other and I don’t care, I don’t mind that’. You don’t get swept into these mind games. You become a witness to them all. Have you noticed it’s already happening with you? At home when there is some argument, or among the friends there is some argument, something happens. Sometimes you take one step back and say, ‘Oh come on, I have seen many of this. It’s not going to let this affect me.’ How many of you have started noticing this happening to you? There is a gradual progression for that. It’s happening in everyone’s life. Just this awareness, it will happen even faster. It will happen faster, just awareness about it.

Difficulty in relaxing

You are having difficulty in relaxing? Then be tense more and more and more. How long can you be tense? Some point you have to give up. That’s relaxation. 

So if you have difficulty in relaxing take a deep breath and don’t breathe out, hold on! You will know when to let go. And when you let go and breathe out, relaxation happens.

How to deal with a negative environment

There is a beautiful story. There was a small hill in a garden and it was situated in one of the very well known famous cities of those days. So it was a beautiful garden with fruit trees, lots of fruits and flowers. And there was a gardener in that garden and the gardener would go on top of that mound and he would invite everybody to come. From there he could see the people walking in the streets.

This was in a town called Ujjain and he would invite everyone, ‘Hey come, we have so many fruits, all of you come. Why don’t you enjoy the beautiful flowers and fruits? Please come and take. I just want to give them away, come.’ And the people would come and he got down that hill his mind would change and he would chase them away and say, ‘how dare you come to me, this is trespassing’, and he would chase them away. 

The people would get shocked and they would go and he goes back to the mound and again he begs, ‘Oh please come, please come’, and he would apologize, whatever it is. But again same story, he would chase them away after going down the hill. So people in the town who knew him they termed that he’s a crazy guy. He’s not sane because his behavior didn’t sound like he was sane. 

But then the wise people in those days what they use to do is whenever someone is insane or would do something wrong, they would get together and find out in what space is he in? So then one wise man said, dig the mound and let us see what is inside. So he got the order from the king to dig up that mound. So when they dug the mound they found a big throne, a golden throne that belonged to a king called Vikramaditya!

This king was such a generous king. Even today, an era in India is in his name, Vikram Samvat. So it is the 2068th year now, about 50 years ahead of the Christian era. It is 50 years ahead of AD, means he was 50 years before Christ. So today in India it is not 2011, it is 2068 or something like that.

So this Vikramaditya was such a pious, such a generous king of such good character that he was sitting in that throne for as long as 50 to 60 years. He ruled the country sitting on that throne and so the vibrations still existed. And so whenever the man went on top he became so generous. He got into the generous space. And when he came down he became nasty. So the space you are in matters.

You may have noticed in your own life, some places you get jittery and angry. How many have experienced this? What has happened? In that space there are people who have been angry or agitated. So you move into that space and it affects your whole behavior. And when you’re in good company what happens? You feel so much lighter, uplifted inside, totally at ease and at peace. Hasn’t this happened to you?

So the company matters, really matters. That doesn’t mean you should avoid people because they are not good company. You also should be strong and instead of running away from negative influence you must positively impact any negative environment. And sitting and doing your meditation, hollow and empty, these long meditations will help you be very strong and stable in that space. So wherever you go you carry your space and you make an influence rather than you get affected. Not be a ping pong ball but be the bat so you can influence the space around you.

This you must strongly know, so that you don’t run away from a situation unless or until it is so bad that it is swallowing you. Then you gently move away, don’t run away. Are you getting what I am saying?

Three types of space

Today I want to tell you about three type of space. One is the external space, in which all the five elements are there. Then there is the second type of space that is inner space, where thoughts come and emotions come. That’s inner space. When you close your eyes, what do you feel? That is inner space. And then there is the third space. That is the space of energy where there is no thought, no emotion but you just feel energy. In deep meditation you experience that, isn’t it? Or after kriya you experience that space, there are no thoughts, nothing but space.

The three types of space exist. One is called the bhut akash the outer space, second is chit akash the space where thoughts and emotions all these come and third, chid akash, space of consciousness. Consciousness itself is another space deep within us. These are the three type of space.

So we seldom understand; pay attention to these three different spaces. Whenever you are frustrated what do you say? ‘Give me some space.’ That is it, ‘I want my space. I want to be by myself.’ It’s very important. All inventions come from these three types of space. In the chid akash, in the consciousness it’s already there.

All knowledge there comes to chit akash through thoughts and emotions. Songs come as emotions, science comes as thoughts and ideas and then they get manifest in the outer. Meditation is recognizing these three spaces. So that’s why sometimes you sit and watch the vast space, put your attention there so the mind also becomes blank.

For how many of you it has happened? On a nice day cloudless sky, when there are no clouds, just bright stars are there. Just lie down and just keep gazing at the sky. When you gaze at the sky what happens? That space gets created inside too. A sort of emptiness and you get into a meditative state. So, all the thoughts, ideas, everything we do remains in this space. Maybe in the future sometime someone will come with the device to try to tap the akashic record. You can find out what happened in 2010, 2011. What knowledge came, where and who was thinking what all that can be recorded sometime in the future because time has inscription of all ideas.

See, in a cell phone you send a message, how does it go and reach another cell phone? So far away and exactly the same words and the same fonts get printed there. From the time you press the button here to send, it reaching there, how did it travel? In space! So the space in which all your telephonic conversations travel, all the messages travel, was recognized some thousands of years ago.

So the nature of space is knowledge and sound. ‘Shabda gunaka mahakaasha’, a Sanskrit saying; nature of light is sight, sight is connected with light; sound is connected with space, taste is connected with water and touch is connected with air. You know when you have to feel the touch, air has to be present. Inside water you do not feel the touch, have you noticed it? It’s different. Inside water you can’t feel it soft or hard, you can’t feel it. Rather whatever is the temperature of the water you can feel. Touch is related to the air element, and sound is related to space. So in the space everything is there. Like objects you’re thinking is there in the space. Sometimes you go to a place and you get thoughts and you wonder, ‘oh why did I get these types of thoughts’, do you see what I am saying?