Monday, August 26, 2013

Finding God

August 10, 2013

Bangalore, India

3281
Photo credit: Paul Bica / Foter / CC BY
What is happening today is that, our education system has become so weak that even after getting a master’s degree, people don’t get jobs because they don’t know how to do a simple job. Skills are missing. We need a skill-oriented education. And that’s what our Nagapattinam school does.
You know, when the tsunami hit that area, that’s when our volunteers and teachers went there and built this school. Along with that they also started skill training.
The 600 and odd kids, whose lives and families were affected by the tsunami, are now bringing a tsunami of talents! This is really wonderful. We should congratulate all the teachers and volunteers who have made this happen.

Another interesting thing that the school authorities were sharing with me. You know, there were two local MLAs who were trying to admit their children in our school through recommendations.
There is generally a big queue to admit children to our school. But we admit the children only if they fulfill certain criteria.
So our teachers, volunteers and the principal stood by the policy. Tremendous pressure was put on them to admit these children out of the queue, out of merit, and out of all logic. The school authorities said, 'No!' They stood up for it.
It is a free school, still. Have you ever heard that there is a big rush to admit children into a free schools? This is what happens when people work with commitment. When you work with all your heart and soul, any institution can become par excellence.

So the school authorities said, 'No, even if you give us money we will not take. Anyway we don’t take money, it’s a free school. We stand by our policy. You will have to go through the regular procedures, and recommendations will not work'.
It is very nice. And it is not that somebody from the top, the trustees or someone, are telling them (to do this).
Wakefulness dawns within a person automatically. The character and commitment comes from inside, and that is what is called spirituality.
The effect of spirituality on your life is that it helps make you become committed. You set a high standard for yourself; not to compete with somebody else! You set standards for yourself and excel in it. That is what brings fulfillment in life.


Questions & Answers
You own the world’s biggest army. You have the best commandos and the most dedicated soldiers across the world. Your personnel never retire. In fact, new are continuously joining, just because you pay the best salary – happiness. Yet your vision for Vasudaiva Kutumbakam (One World Family) seems a far off dream. Even in our own country, we haven’t united. How do we move ahead?
Sri Sri: That’s a job left for you to do. You have a role to play. This is what you need to do.
We should go from village to village and unite the hearts and minds of people. Don’t think it’s a difficult job, the unity is already there. There’s just a little bit of misunderstanding, little selfishness, and a lack of vision which is creating this atmosphere that everything is hopeless. People basically are very good. 90% of the population have a very good heart. Even those 10%, I would say, have a good heart. Something has gone wrong somewhere, but we can set them right.
Kiran Bedi is here with us today. When she was in charge of prisons in Delhi, she made all those prisons into Ashrams. They were called Tihar Ashrams
Even today in Tihar, we have a skill training center and our programs are continuing there. We not only conduct meditations, but there is an Art of Living center as well in many prisons. Do you know that? 
Not only in India, even the largest prison in Argentina, having around 5500 inmates of that country, has an Art of Living center inside. Everybody does meditation there.

When I was in Brazil, they took me to visit the prison of Rio de Janeiro, and there was an Art of Living board inside the prison! They have painted the swans as well. I was surprised to see this, and there were tears in the eyes of those people. The people who society has condemned as criminals, they have a heart too!
In Tihar jail today, the prisoners are learning different skills. We have started teaching electrical skills as well. They are becoming electricians and carpenters. 
One of our Art of Living teachers (Deepak) has done tremendous work in Tihar. He has opened so many skills training centers around the country through our Rural Development Program (RDP).

So basically, people are good in nature; they are intrinsically good. They just need that spiritual kindling. 
Without Spirituality, life is dry. Do you see? When you feel so dry, you can’t but make mistakes. Anything you do will be a mistake. So you have a task, a goal, a job to do. Just get on the wagon.


Is God present? All these Puranas look like stories of fiction to me. How do I find God? How do I believe his presence, and why should I believe?
Sri Sri: Now listen, let God rest. Don’t worry about God now. Worry about yourself.
Who are you? First atma (spirit), and then paramatma (the Divine spirit). 
The paramatma (God) is beyond the atma (individual soul). First get in to the compound (i.e., know who you are), after that you can get into the house (know God).

People who say, 'I don’t believe in anything', should at least believe in the word that they are saying. If you say that you don’t believe in anything, at least you believe that you don't believe in anything, right?
So, who is the one who is saying it? Who are you? Are you your thoughts? No, they keep changing. Are you your body? Just picture yourself 5-10 years back, your body has changed so much. 
In one year, every cell in our body changes. Do you know that? 
So each cell of our body is changing. The lining of our stomach changes every five days. Blood changes every 24 hours. Our skin changes in 30 days. And every cell, every atom in our body changes in a year’s time. 
So your body is a flowing river. Same river, but water is new. So you are new and you are ancient as well. It is the same with Ganga, the same with Yamuna, the same with Kaveri (rivers in India). The river is the same, from many years, but the water is always new. In the same way, you are new and you are ancient as well. Observe what is ancient within you and what is new. Know yourself. God will follow automatically.

So, don’t make an effort to believe. You shouldn’t force yourself to believe anything. Faith is not something you can force on yourself. It is something that comes up within you. Either through science or through spirituality. Through meditation you reach the same one goal. What is that goal? The whole universe is made up of just one wave function, just one vibration, one thing! That one thing is responsible for everything. And that one thing is what I am. You call it God, or Brahman, or he, or she, or it, or anything, it will work. 
When you go deep in meditation you merge, you dissolve, into that one pure consciousness. With that innocent nature and with love, the attainment happens.

Love means, when your mind becomes so light.
In anger and hate, the mind stays lifeless, and heaviness is felt. When you are in love, the mind becomes so light. Have you experienced this? 
See when you are happy, what is the feeling that you get? A sense of lightness. And when you are unhappy, it feels like a stone is sitting on your head, right? Yoga is the science to make you feel lighter. It is not just weight loss programs, but it make you feel mentally lighter as well. You lose all that mental stuff of anger, jealousy, hatred, greed, etc, that you acquire from everywhere, and feel so light from inside.

When can you feel light? When you know, when you believe, when you have the faith that the right will win –Satyamev Jayate (Truth alone wins). Then you have confidence that what you want will happen. 
When you have a sankalp (resolve), and vishwas (belief), then even if you have to fight someone in a court, you will do it with a smile. Even for a fight you will go with a smile. Not with anger and heaviness of mind. Are you understanding this? This is the essence of the Bhagavad Gita.

In Chapter 2, Krishna says, 'Yoga-sthah kuru karmani, sangam tyaktva dhananjaya. Siddhy-asiddhyoh samo bhutva, samatvam yoga ucyate'.
Become steadfast in yoga, feel the lightness within you. Demonstrate belief of victory and with this perform your duty, keep working. Then you will see, there is no tiredness. When do you tire? When the ray of hope becomes dim. And when raga and dvesha (cravings and aversions) dominate the mind, then a person gets tired.
If there is a unique gift given to the world by India, it is this – fight without cravings and aversions. This is a big gift to the world. So, challenges come. Face the challenges with poise, equanimity, serenity and dignity. Sincerity and serenity, these two are needed to face situations.

Dear Gurudev, is one lifetime enough for enlightenment?
Sri Sri: Absolutely enough! More than enough.

Gurudev, how to make my home a place of happiness. Even on weekends my wife picks up arguments.
Sri Sri: You know what? I’ll give you an advice. Take turns in an argument, don’t do it at the same time. You argue on Monday, let her argue on Sunday! And you keep smiling. You know, an argument cannot be countered with an argument. Questions cannot be replied with questions. When she argues you smile, okay! 
Make this a policy, and keep rowing the boat!


Gurudev, what is the difference between tendency (Prakriti), and crime (desire to harm). If love and service is our natural tendency, then why is crime increasing?
Sri Sri: Lack of spiritual education, lack of human values in society. 
People are stressed and they have never been taught how to release the stress, and so crime is happening. 
As I said, if you talk to these convicts in the prison, you’ll find that they’re not bad people. They are good people. But in an emotional upsurge they committed a crime. Something happened through them. If you ask them, they say, 'Oh, it happened. I never expected this to happen'.


Gurudev, if marriages are made in heaven, then why so many divorces happen on Earth?
Sri Sri: Marriages are made in heaven, but divorces are made on Earth! (Laughter)
Lack of patience. Somewhere in our country we are losing patience. We want everything immediately, and we want quick result, and quick changes.

In our Canadian organization, we had a president for a long time, around 10-12 years ago. She was an 82 year old lady. She used to tell me, 'Gurudev, if one cannot row one boat they cannot row any other boat. Even if you change the boat, you will not learn how to row the boat'. So she said, 'I’ve decided that, so I’m rowing the same boat for last 45 years!' And she introduced her husband.
These days the youngsters don’t know, they think by changing the boat they can row it well! And that’s such a wisdom, you see? If you know how to row the boat, you can row any boat. Many times newly married girls come and they complain about their mother-in-law. I tell them, win them over by love – what is it that they want? Why do you have to separate from your in-laws?
We don’t know basic communication skills. I just asked these girls one question, 'Was your mother not criticizing you?' 
They said, 'Yes'. 
Just look, your mother was much more criticizing than your mother in law. You tolerated everything your mother said, only when it comes from your husband’s mother it pricks you more deeply and you want to get out of the house.

Just treat her as you treat your own mother. Take whatever she says like your own mother. You know it has made such a big difference in many, many marriages.
You should know just this simple wisdom. Meditate a little bit. Okay, mother-in-law is criticizing, let her criticize! Where there is belongingness, there is criticism also! Your mother-in-law has said something, it’s okay! Just listen to what she’s saying. If it hurts, keep cotton in your ears and keep listening, keep smiling!
You can win over anyone with love. And what is the difficulty in winning over elders of the home? We need a little patience, a little endurance. If we lose patience, we cannot progress in any aspect in the society. If you ask me how to increase patience and endurance? I will say continue doing what you’re doing here.
How many of you feel that you have changed, you have more patience? Let me see. Good.


Sunday, August 25, 2013

Near Death Experiences

July 31, 2013

Bad Anogast, Germany

3154

Where is the Jeeva and the Atma before birth? What is the difference between Jeeva andAtma? How is a Jeeva born, and where does it come from?
Sri Sri: Both are same. Life comes into the body at the time of conception, and sometimes at the time of birth also. The soul enters the body at the time of conception or the time of birth. Sometimes one soul stays up to birth and another soul comes at birth. Usually, it is the same soul that stays throughout.
It is one of the 5 secrets. The secret of death, the secret of birth, and the royal secret. These are some of the 5 secrets. I’ve spoken about it in the knowledge books. Just read those books.
I know many of you have not read the seven volumes of An Intimate Note To The Sincere Seeker. Read these seven volumes. For seven years, every week I used to give one knowledge sheet. It was on Wednesdays, we used to sit and write something new. And it was all compiled as An Intimate Note To The Sincere Seeker.
Another book that you must all read is the Yoga Vasistha (a discourse of sage Vasistha to Prince Rama, during a period when the latter is in a dejected state).
You may not understand it by reading it once. Read it again and again and again. Whatever you understand, just take that. And whatever you don’t understand, just leave it. One day you’ll say, 'Oh, this is it!'
There is a doctor in USA, he’s a brain surgeon. He went into coma for seven days and people thought he’s dead, and that he will not come back to life. But suddenly something happened and he came back.
He wrote a book called The Proof Of Heaven. He’s a Christian, and had no idea about the eastern philosophy. He has never read anything about it. But when he came back to life, what he wrote is startling. He wrote what is usually taught in the Bhagavad Gita (an ancient Indian scripture).
He said when he left the body, all that he felt was the big presence, and the name of the presence is Om. He called itOm.
He also talks about the golden egg, and the core. Core means the self, the atma.
And he says the roots are above, and the shoots below. That is what the Bhagavad Gita said. There is a tree with its roots above, in the sky.
He said, when he left the body, he moved through the roots to the other side. It was a muddy, murky space through which he had to go.
This is absolutely what the puranas (Hindu religious text) speak about. It is simply the ancient puranas in the modern language; in the language of science.
It says the same thing: Communication without language. And an angel comes, a guide comes to take you through from one place to another. This is what is said.
Why do you have to have a Guru in life? Because after you die, the first person that you meet will be the Guru. The Guru will take you from that place; like a guide. It is like when you arrive at an airport and you have someone there to receive you, to take you to the car. That is why a Guru is important.
All those ancient ideas, is what this doctor experienced. It is very interesting. And many people who have had near-death experiences (NDEs), have all experienced similar things, like seeing a tunnel with a very loving light on the other side. Not going to hell or something like that.
Reading these experiences makes you understand life. So forget about the fear of hell or the temptation of heaven.
In India also, there is a gentleman who comes to the Ashram regularly. He also said that he had a very similar experience. He died for seven minutes before he was revived.
When he was revived, he explained his journey, how a few people came and took him to another place. He said there were people dressed in white, with beards, like some rishis (sages).
They said to the people who brought him, 'Why did you bring him? It the wrong person, he still has to be on the planet'.
The people who brought him said, 'No, this is the right person', and so they were having an argument. He was narrating his experience, and then he said that he was brought back and left just near the nostrils of his corpse.
He said, 'I saw myself on the operation table. I saw myself and I saw people crying. The doctor was trying to revive me but I was gone. I was connected with a thin thread. And then they attached me to the thin thread and left me near the nostrils. I breathed in gently and came back to life'.
Many people who have come back to life had similar experiences.
So life is much more than what we think it is.
I wrote a poem in Kannada when I was 17 years old. In the poem, I had written that I was everywhere and then suddenly I came like a lightning back onto this Earth. And this is exactly what this doctor has also written!

Do you think that the majority of our problems come from our relationship with our parents as the psychologists think?
Sri Sri: No, major problems come because of your own mind. Don’t cling that onto the parents, poor things.
Few years back, a young girl came to me with her parents. The girl was past her teenage, around 21-22 years old, and she had such a good relationship with her parents. Then the psychologists spoke to her that so and so problem is because of your parents, and suddenly their whole relationship fell apart. They never had any problem before.
You know, I tell you, when children see so many of these programs on the television, they start identifying themselves with the victims. There are child abuse victims, and the kids watch the television and suddenly start thinking, 'You know when I was 2 years old, my father molested me'.
Her father said, ‘I swear I would never ever do such a thing, but my kid is accusing me of having molested her'.
They were so devastated. Both parents went through hell but they never said a thing. The child had started imagining.
How can a two year old child remember anything? Can you remember as a two year old when somebody cradled you, when they put you down. If they continue from two years to four or five years, then yes, you can remember. But if someone did anything to a two year old, do you think they would remember that? Personally, I don’t think so.
Well, even if something has happened, what is the point of remembering that after 25 years or 30 years, and accusing someone who is in their late fifties and making their life miserable.
Yes, if you are a victim, definitely you should speak out. But sometimes people are not a victim yet they put themselves as victims. Superimpose a victimhood on oneself; people do this.
This is a big problem. Modern psychology has a lot to learn from ancient wisdom. They shouldn't tell people that there is pain deep inside them. If you go deep inside, there is no pain, there is only bliss. You have never gone deeper inside.

I learnt a lot of good principles here. How to implement this in my everyday life? To be in business I need to be a little aggressive and active. Just meditation won't do.
Sri Sri: Correct! There is no need for mood making. When you’re sitting here, you’re sitting like this (cross legged). When you go to your office, you don’t have to sit like this! When you are in business, you do business.
You don’t put on your winter coat all the time. Just imagine yourself walking around with your winter coat now, in this weather! You can’t survive. Put your winter coat on only in winter. Also you can’t walk around in your summer dress in winter.
Like you change your coats, you have the ability to change your moods, your behavior. You don’t need to be stuck in one behavior. You don’t need to be goody-goody all the time. When you are in business, be in the business mood. You have to be active, you don’t have to go slow motion.
You can do the slow meditation in motion (a technique of meditation taught at The Art of Living) here in this hall, not in the dining hall. If you sit in the dining hall and do meditation in motion, your lunch will become your dinner.
All that you learnt here is something that brings inner transformation. It is not a concept in the mind. It’s all part of you. In fact you don’t try to implement this in your day to day life. You just be a normal, natural person. This knowledge will automatically come into play in your life. That is the duty of knowledge. There is no effort to implement it. It is spontaneous, it automatically reflects.

How to deal with wishes? I wish to have a child, which after many tries is still unfulfilled.
Sri Sri: Whether a desire is fulfilled or not, just be happy. Don’t cling onto a desire. Because whenever a desire is fulfilled, it leaves you in the same place that you were before the desire arose. Not all desires can be fulfilled. Some get fulfilled, some don’t.
But you should take one stance. You know what that stance is? Come what may, I’m going to be happy. Whether single or married, I’m going to be happy. There are more chances for you to be married, if you want to. And when you’re already married, then that’s fine. Still be happy. Whether you have a child or not, just be happy.
The one decision that you need to make in life is 'I will not allow any situation to bog down my happiness'. Got it? You have to take that decision, nobody else can take it for you.

In your opinion, what is there after death? Do you believe in reincarnation?
Sri Sri: I don’t believe in reincarnation. I know it’s there. You only have to believe something which you don’t know. When I know it exists then why do I have to believe?
You don’t say, 'I believe my car is outside'. When you've parked your car outside, you say, 'My car is outside'. Got it?
This life is only a small portion of the vast life that we all have. This life is only one small bit.

I’m a follower of your twitter account, do you write your tweets on your own?
Sri Sri: Yes, just this morning I've tweeted three times. I do my own tweets. A couple of times I ask my secretary or someone else to do it, but 95% of the time I tweet on my own.
Are you all on my twitter account? How many of you are not on my twitter account? Get down to it, right away, without delay! And tell all your friends also. It is good to read some knowledge regularly.

I was on anti-depressants for many years. I've been off anti-depressants for 2 years. I do my Sudarshan Kriya every day, but my concentration and sleep are not normal, and this affects my work. Sometimes I feel that I was better off on anti-depressants. Is it okay to take them on doctor’s advice if my job is at stake, or should I resist at all cost.
Sri Sri: I wouldn't say resist at all cost, but resist it. And do Yoga. Spend one hour in the morning stretching and balancing your body.
It was good today (morning yoga session), wasn't it? How many of you enjoyed that? When you do it, concentration improves. That’s why I gave you open eye meditation. I know many times when your eyes are closed you start to drift away, and you start building castles in the air. And then I have to remind you to keep your eyes open!
So, a few minutes of meditations like this and you’re back to your power of concentration. Just look at me, people ask me so many questions every day, you know you've no idea.
Ours is a small course, but there are 3000 people in Canada, and 3000 people in USA, and everyone asks me while coming and going the same question five times, and I give the same answer every time. And I know they are asking me five times, and I have to be very alert!
I make sure I see everybody, if I don’t see one person then that person writes, 'You ignored me, you don’t like me. You don’t love me'.
In fact, I don’t miss them. When I see them they are looking somewhere else! But they say, 'You never smiled at me'.
See I attend to everybody, 100% percent. You can do that also.

Dear Gurudev, in the last few years many people have spoken about the planet’s entry into the fourth dimension. What can you say about this?
Sri Sri: Until you know any dimension right here, don’t be swayed away by all this talk. It is just a way to create a thrill.
It is like when people asked me several hundred thousand times about the Earth coming to an end in Dec 2012. Oh god! Wherever I went, I heard the Earth is going to come to an end.
I said, 'Not really, everything will be as usual'.
People started storing milk powder and groceries for 6-months in their basement, thinking that everything will shut down.
These are little thrills that people like to have, and so they bring out such fantasies time and again. Know that all dimensions are right here, don’t worry and be happy.

Saturday, August 24, 2013

From Religion To Spirituality

July 30, 2013

Bad Anotgast, Germany

3121

Religion has become an obstacle in my life. I cannot move forward. What should I do?
Sri Sri: Never mind. Move from religion to spirituality. You are a spiritual being, and that is good enough. Every religion has some nice things to offer. Take a little bit from all the religions in the world and move on. You don’t have to be stuck with it. Don’t worry.
Nothing can be an obstacle if you don’t allow it. It is you, your own mind which makes it into an obstacle. It is because you have been put with the guilt, that maybe you’re sinning against god. How can being spiritual be a sin! How could being happy be a sin. How could being loving and doing good in the world be a sin? How could becoming still, calm and being devoted be a sin? 
It is guilt and the fear of sin that has been induced into the minds of people, 'Oh don’t do this, God will punish you'. A sense of complete desperation and weakness comes.

I tell you, you are all like diamonds. You are the deep spirit of joy and love. God won’t be angry at you for doing Yoga and meditation. There are some people who spread these words that eastern things are satanic, that god will be angry at you. This is so stupid!
Yesterday, someone was telling me, 'Gurudev, my classmate got converted. He was baptized. Now when he comes to my home, he doesn't even take prasad (food offered to the lord). If I invite him for a wedding in a temple, he won't come with me to the temple because he feels that he will be betraying Christ if he goes to a temple. He will not even touch the food that is offered'.
This is so stupid. This is all wrong information. This is how guilt and fear is induced in them. This is wrong. 
We should respect every religion, we should take everyone along. 
I can guarantee you that God will not be angry at you, and you will not go to hell. So don’t worry about these people who induce such things. Move with conviction.


Is this the right place for me? There is no way back to normal life. Even my husband who loves me couldn’t accept my activities in The Art of Living. He’s afraid that I’m going mad!
Sri Sri: Balance things. Don’t scare anybody. You need to balance life. Make people understand. 
This (The Art of Living) is not abnormal, this is a normal life; to be happy, to be centered and to spread the message of joy and happiness. We need to improve our expression.


Why am I here? Why did I do this course? Am I normal?
Sri Sri: There are many standards of normality. From a lower standard, you may not be normal. From a higher standard you are normal. If from an even higher standard again, if you are not normal, then you need to be going up much more. So what do you mean by normal? 
Why are you here? You should ask this question in a bigger context. 'Why am I here on this planet Earth', that’s a really precious question.
I leave this question to you, you should keep it. Ask yourself again and again. It will make you a great philosopher.


My colleagues always manage to take my energy away. What can I do to not lose my energy?
Sri Sri: Never mind, give them more! You have much more energy than what they can all take from you. The Sun or the Moon never say that you’re taking my light away! You are the source of energy. 
I am with you. I give you perennial replenishment of energy, don’t worry. Don’t put your attention there, put it here. If you’re putting it here you get more energy. If you put it there then you feel you are being drained of energy.


Should I suppress or should I express anger?
Sri Sri: Sometimes express, sometimes suppress. There is no single answer. You can’t express it all the time, you will cause so much damage to yourself and others around you. And you can’t suppress it all the time, sometimes you need to express it. Otherwise you will explode. 
So you should have that right balance. Wisdom is knowing when to express it and when to suppress it.


After a couple of failed relationships, how do I overcome the desire to be in another relationship. I feel guilty when I wish I had a partner, because in the past I have failed.
Sri Sri: Okay, there are two things that you can do. 
1. If you feel that it (relationship) is not for you then move on, move alone like a lion. 
2. If you feel that you really need it, then try again till you succeed. Keep trying all your life, till you go to the grave. You can try in the heaven, and afterwards as well, if you’re so bent upon it.
Be happy now. If it is not worked out, why make yourself more miserable? And if you are crossing the age bar, focus on something better.

Relationship is only for the middle few years. 
Just see, in your teenage you didn’t have any relationship, and you had no problem. You were happy. And after you are, maybe 70, you will have no relationship. Even if you have a relationship, it will only be to fight. There is no relationship afterwards, it’ll be more like a companionship. So what is the big deal about it? 
For life in between, if you feel you want to have it, then have it. If you say that it is not working out, then move on. If you feel very tempted, try once again with another person. If it works, well and good. If not, well and good. Either way it is good.


Beloved Gurudev, what do you think about the donation of organs after death?
Sri Sri: It’s good. We can donate our organs. If our organs can come to someone else’s help, we should be happy. 
Donate your eyes, or whichever organs are useful to others. Even if you are not here, your eyes continue to help someone to see. 
Like when you give knowledge to somebody, that knowledge will continue even when you are not there. People will enjoy it for generations
Though organs may not stay as long as knowledge or wisdom, they can for a short period of time help someone else. The purpose is that if we are useful in any way, while living or after death, we should just do it.


Do you really think that it is possible to stop hating someone?
Sri Sri: Don’t stop hating, keep hating them. Do what you find easiest my dear! If doing something is bothering you, and you are finding it so difficult to do, then why do it. 
If you do something difficult and you still become miserable, what is the point? Do that which is easy and which makes you happy. 
If hating someone everyday makes you comfortable, makes you happy, just do it! I am only concerned of your happiness. And if hating someone makes you happy and blissful, just do it without guilt. (Laughter)

This is not the case. When you hate somebody, they occupy your mind. They are occupying a place in your consciousness, and slowly you become like them. Why you should not hate somebody is because you don’t want to be like them. This is the reason.

Is it okay to mix different yoga techniques? Or should we find one way.
Sri Sri: No, don’t mix them, it becomes a hotch-potch. You have on your platter, such a wonderful program. All based on a single line of thought, a philosophy which is ancient yet profound, and still modern. So just follow one way. That’s the best.
I’m saying this after many years, otherwise I usually say, do whatever you like. Do you know why? I have got many people coming to me after going here and there and making a big mess of their mind. So now I have started putting my foot down and so I am telling you, don't do it.
Several people went here and there, and were told to do this japa or that technique, and later on they were uncontrollably shivering. These people had problems and had to go to the hospital. Several such cases have happened over the past few years. People had to be given higher medication. And some of them had become so difficult to heal.
Why do you want to do other different techniques, what is the point? You have something very good on your platter. But if you’re not at all getting benefited, you tell me that this is not helping you at all. Then I will show you where to go, which would help you.

How to increase faith in myself and in the Divine?
Sri Sri: Forget about it! 
Don’t try to increase faith. Wanting to increase faith is the problem. Know that you have as much as you need. 
However big is your cup, that much is already there. Relax, and you’ll find your cup is full. You can’t hold more than the capacity of your cup.

Many times people ask me to give them blessings. I tell them, 'My blessings are always there! But you have to look at your capacity to receive. If you come to me with a small cup and say you want 10 liters of milk in this, how is it possible? You should carry a can which can hold 10 liters. You can’t have 10 liters in a teacup.'
So increase your capacity. And that will keep happening automatically when you say, 'I have enough faith'. Don’t say, 'I don’t have faith'. You have enough faith.

Friday, August 23, 2013

A Diamond In A Garbage Can

July 27, 2013

Boone, North Carolina

3196
Life is a celebration. You must grab and use every opportunity, everyday, to celebrate and be grateful.
When you know., I am ever
pure, celebration will never
stop in your life. Intrinsically
we all are pure by nature;
but the moment you feel this,
that you are pure, your heart
is pure, you don’t wish
anything bad for anybody
on this planet or any other
planet, then you are love.

How can celebration happen? Celebration cannot happen by just putting flowers and balloons; it has to happen from within. What are the qualifications and conditions needed for celebration to happen? Have you thought about it?
(Audience: Feeling grateful, feeling happy.)
It’s a Catch 22; if you celebrate, you are happy; if you are happy, you celebrate.
(Audience: Contentment; good company, wanting to have somebody to celebrate with; feeling at home, a sense of security.)
Yes, if you are fearful, you cannot celebrate. Being in love; a sense of belongingness!
(Audience: Good food.)
Of course, food is part of celebration. If you are hungry, you can’t celebrate!
(Audience: Exchange food and drink? )
Listen, do you really see people who exchange food and drinks as happy? Or in a celebration? Look at their faces!

Then we need a sense of purity.
When you feel clean, you can celebrate. When you feel dirty, can you celebrate?
If you are working on the drainage system, and someone comes and tells you, ‘Come, let’s celebrate’, you will say, ‘No, I am dirty. Let me take a shower, then I will come and celebrate.’ Don’t you say that?
So what do you need to celebrate? A sense of purity; cleanliness. Celebration is when you feel clean, outside and inside. People who think they are the worst sinners cannot celebrate since that guilt and sin is eating them up. So a sense of purity, outside and inside.

This Guru Poornima, I want you to remember one thing, you are a diamond; maybe, in a garbage-can!
So, when you feel you are impure, know that you are a diamond. A diamond can never become impure, it can only be in the garbage can.
If a diamond is in the garbage can, will you throw it? No, you will just pick it up and wash it. All these practices that you do, is just washing the diamond, that’s all!
How long does it take for you to wash the diamond? Do you need to scrub it hard? No, just a little bit of water; maybe a pinch of soap. In the way, 'So Hum, So Hum', that’s it, then the diamond is pure again.

When you know this, Nitya Shudhoham, i.e., I am ever pure, celebration will never stop in your life.
Intrinsically we all are pure by nature; but the moment you feel this, that you are pure, your heart is pure, you don’t wish anything bad for anybody on this planet or any other planet, then you are love.
When you feel you are pure, you are love, and you are blossoming. Then there is alertness, wakefulness inside you.

You are ever pure, and silence is the scent of pureness. Silence, and this understanding that I am ever pure, makes life a celebration. The celebration that comes out of silence is very authentic because it is coming from the depth.
Since you have used all the soap and water and everything to clean the diamond (referring to The Art of Silence Course), now the diamond shines, and that is celebration. There is genuineness in everything in you; there is genuineness in your smile.

Have you seen the smile of some people? The smile doesn’t come from inside; it is a cosmetic smile. People say, ‘Welcome’, but it is a cosmetic welcome.
People say, ‘Thank you so much’, but that thank you so much is very cosmetic. It is from outside, because inside there is no silence, there is turbulence, a sense of impurity, a sense of sin; all that is boiling inside.

Whether pure or impure,
however you are, if you
remember the being as
blossomed like a lotus,
and when you know that
you are a witness, that
brings you inner and outer
purity immediately.

Human life is worth the celebration. It is worth getting rid of all these things that we put in ourselves.
What we do is put garbage in the jewel box. It is not the jewel box that is in the garbage can, but we are putting garbage in the jewel box. We simply have to remove it.
Just realize that you are pure love. It is because we are conditioned to think that we have sinned and are sinners, that we are so hard on ourselves. And since we are so hard on ourselves, we don’t recognise the beautiful qualities, and the gifts, that we already posses.

Each and every one of us have come to this beautiful planet with abundance of beautiful qualities; somehow we simply don’t recognize it.

Guru Poornima is the celebration where you recognize the beauty that you are. Only when you recognize this beauty, and all the gifts that you have received, only then you will feel grateful. Expressing that gratefulness to the tradition of Masters, is Guru Poornima.

That is a true celebration.

We have come out of silence (referring to The Art of Silence Course), but we are still carrying the silence with us. Now recognize that you are a diamond; maybe in a garbage can, but never mind.
This doesn’t mean that you should not get upset, you should not get angry, you should not do all that you are doing. Or you should be goody-goody all the time and you should not scorn at somebody; no, you can do all that! Whatever you need to do in your day-to-day life, you do all that. However, realize that you are much more than the actions that you do. You are much more than your situations, your surroundings, your thoughts, your emotional patterns. You are much more than what you think about yourself.

Again and again, recognize this, 'I am a diamond, but unfortunately, I have fallen into a garbage can. Now I am getting out of it, and washing myself!'

It could be an annual wash, or a bi-annual wash, then you realize that all the stuff you have been holding with yourself, is not you anyway. You are ever pure.

Is it hard to recognise or believe this? That is why we do Sudarshan Kriya and all the other processes, just to recognise that you are so pure, and something so wonderful.
How many of you find it hard to believe that you are a diamond, ever pure? (Some in the audience raise their hands).
Oh, you do? You need a couple of Advanced Courses; maybe even one more would do. How many of you found that you could relate to it, raise your hands? (Some in the audience raise their hands).
Oh, some relief to me! At least some of you recognise what I am saying. Good!

At the beginning of the Guru Pooja, we chant the mantra:
'Apavitrah pavitro vā, Sarvāvasthān gato pi vā. Ya smareth pundarīkākasham, Sa bahya abhyantara śuci hi'.

Whether pure or impure, however you are (maybe you have fallen down so much, gone really deep down the ditch), yet, remember the being as lotus (the lotus flower is born in mud, but it never smeared or attached to the mud). The being is blossomed like a lotus (pundarīka means blossomed like a lotus).
The being is a witness; when you know that you are a witness, that brings you inner and outer purity immediately (Sa bahya abhyantara).

Everyone’s consciousness is so
rich and filled with all the
good qualities. You don’t
need to borrow it from
outside, it is already there. It
just needs a little bit of
nourishment. Like a lotus
flower; all the petals are
already there, it simply needs
to blossom, open up, and show
its glory.

Ya smareth pundarīkākasham; it is not just remembering someone with a lotus eye.
There are two things here; akasham (eye) also means witness. Pundarīka (lotus) also means blossomed, yet unblemished and untouched by the mud.
So, when the consciousness blossoms, it remains unblemished and untouched, at the same time, it is witnessing, and it is the awakened consciousness.
Just the remembrance of an awakened consciousness, makes you feel the purity.

When you feel connected to the tradition of awakened Masters, then also suddenly the purity dawns.
When you think of someone you love so much, the love gets kindled in you. When you think of your enemy or someone you don’t like, an unpleasant sensation arises in your body; every cell in your body is agitated. Whatever or whomsoever we think of, that happens in our body. So, when you think of awakened people, you feel that sense of purity dawns within you.

If you think of someone who is very greedy and ambitious, you will get that type of vibration in you. If you think of someone who is very peaceful or joyous, you will feel that same vibration. The same sense of joy catches onto your consciousness.
Why should you not hate anybody? It is because whomsoever you hate, that person occupies a big portion in your consciousness.

Whomsoever you think about, you imbibe their qualities in you. So, when you think about a blossomed, witness consciousness of a higher order, you suddenly feel the purity within you and around you. This is so scientific and true.

Do you know why Lord Buddha’s statues were kept for meditation?
After Buddha left the body, they started having Buddha’s statues. When you sit in front of Buddha’s statues, you also start sitting like Buddha. You close your eyes and you feel like imbibing all that stillness. This was the original idea of having Buddha’s statues. Today, it has just become fashionable to have large, expensive statues.

The significance is not the statue, it is you sitting like a statue, with a smile on your face. Relax, let go all that you are holding on to, unnecessarily. Realise, 'I am a diamond, ever pure'. Then you imbibe those qualities within you.
Everyone’s consciousness is so rich and filled with all the good qualities. You don’t need to borrow it from outside, it is already there. It just needs a little bit of nourishment. Like a lotus flower; all the petals are already there, it simply needs to blossom, open up, and show its glory. Similarly, every single individual has these qualities.
On Guru Poornima day, once a year, you recognize that you imbibe those beautiful values, and be thankful. The more grateful you are, the more grace flows in your life.
So, celebration happens with silence, with a sense of purity, and with a sense of sharing.


People on the seva team were sharing how good they feel doing seva. When you share, the joy is something different, and that is celebration.
If there is anything more, tell me, we’ll add to it.
(Audience: Yes, celebrating with God, also).