Timeless Moments

Amongst the twenty-four principles that have formed this creation, time is one of the principles. Every moment, every single moment is important. Time is not elsewhere. It is here, now! The silent part of the Divine is known as maha kaala.

Shiva is known as Mahakaal. Mahakaal means great time. We often say, “I had a great time”. Isn’t it? Great time means the moments present in the timeless moments. When there is peace in the mind you will not sense the passage of time. When there is no peace in the mind even the two minutes that have passed by give you the feeling as though two hours were spent. Lord Shiva is also known as “Kaala Samhaara Murthy”. (It means the Lord who slays Time). How is it possible to slay time? It is possible by extreme bliss. When you are blissful you will not feel the passage of time. When you are not aware of the passage of time, then it is said that time has been slayed.

There is a close relation between time and sadness. When we are very sad, we perceive time to be too long. When you are happy you do not feel time. So what is happiness or bliss? It is our very self. That self is the Shiva tattva or the principle of Shiva.

Adi Shankara has sung in one song “Oh you foolish-minded people, do not search for your soul”. People wander to all kinds of places in search of the soul, for Shiva. Shankaracharya says that foolish are those who do not realize that “I am Shiva”. Do not see or think of Shiva as somewhere high up in the sky residing there all alone. Just peep into your self.

Usually when the word God is mentioned everybody looks up immediately. What is there up above? It only rains from above! There is nothing above. Everything is inside, neither above nor below. Looking inside or being inside is meditation.

When you look at someone close to you, your friend or somebody, what happens to you? Something happens inside you. You feel as though some new energy is passing through you. Capture that great moment. It is those great moments, which are timeless moments. Okay, you might have experienced those timeless moments by the presence of that person, that person might have brought forth those emotions in you. So what? Instead of getting immersed in that person or in the situation, just be with the spring of bliss rising up in you.

From despair to fulfillment: the path to sanyas

Maya means that which can be measured, that which draws you back into this world. Observe the Mayapati or the owner of Maya. Then that consciousness, that presence becomes predominant and your whole existence will be filled with that presence.

How many times in life you have experience this, “I am nothing. I want nothing”? When you are depressed you say “Oh! I do not want anything. Just leave me alone”.

When you have no enthusiasm you say that you do not want anything. That is of no use. In spite of having everything, have you ever contentedly felt “I do not want anything”? Or have you ever had some few moments where you felt “I have everything with me. I am everything”? If, in those moments of happiness and love, if you have felt that way, then you have had sanyas in those moments!

In this year, how many days were you in sanyas? How many days were you struggling, being caught in Maya? Turn back and remember this whole year. How many months, how many days, how many weeks you were in suffering? How many days you were in sanyas? Were you in sanyas at least for a few days? Even for a few moments if you live in the feeling that “I am nothing, I want nothing”, or “I am everything, I have everything”, you will gain good strength and peace in you.

Do not run away from anything. Do not reject anything. Do not go away from anything. At the same time let your attention also be on

the self. This is a delicate balance. That balance is yoga.

Demystifying Meditation

Mind without agitation is meditation. Mind in the present moment is meditation.
Mind that has no hesitation, no anticipation is meditation.
Mind that has come back home, to the source, is meditation. Mind that becomes ‘‘no mind’’ is meditation.

When can you rest? Rest is possible only when you have stopped all other activities. When you stop moving around, when you stop working, thinking, talking, seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, when all these activities stop, then you get rest. When all voluntary activities are arrested, then you get rest or sleep. In sleep, you are left with only involuntary activities like breathing, heartbeat, food digestion, blood circulation etc. But this is not “total rest”. When the mind settles down, only then “total rest” or meditation happens.

Focus means what? Fulfiled in the moment, being centered, looking to the highest and remaining in that space of peace is focus. No peace means no focus. When you are at peace, focus is happening already. Similarly, if you focus, you attain peace. Look into your own life. You are bothered even if you have things that you wanted and you are bothered if you don't have them! For example, if you have money, there is botheration. You are afraid or worried thinking what to do with this money, whether to invest or not and if you invest you are worried whether it is growing or reducing or you are anxious about the fluctuations in the share market. If you don't have money, even then you are bothered. “Liberation” is that total freedom wherein you are not bothered when things are there and you are not bothered even if they are not there.

Real freedom is the freedom from the future and freedom from the past. When you are not happy in the present moment, then you desire for a bright future. Desire simply means that the present moment is not all right. This causes tension in the mind. Every desire causes feverishness. In this state, meditation is far away from happening. You may sit with eyes closed, but desires keep arising, thoughts keep arising; you fool yourself that you are meditating, but actually you are daydreaming!

As long as some desires linger in your mind, you cannot be at total rest. Lord Krishna says in Bhagavad-Gita, “You cannot get into Yoga (union with self) unless you drop the desires or hankerings in you”. As long as you hold onto some planning, your mind does not settle. Every desire or ambition is like a sand particle in the eyes! You cannot shut your eyes or keep it open with a sand particle inside, it is uncomfortable either way. Dispassion is removing this particle of dust or sand from the eye so that you can open freely and shut them freely! The other way is to extend your desire or make it so big, then also it won’t bother you. It is a tiny sand particle that irritates your eyes, a big stone or a rock can never get into your eyes!

See from your own experience. If you go to bed with some restlessness, agitation or desire, you will not get deep sleep. On the surface level it appears to be not there for a little while, but those plans or ambitions are still there in the mind. Very ambitious people cannot have deep sleep because the mind inside is not free. The more you are anxious about doing something, difficult it becomes to sleep. Before going to sleep, if you simply let go everything, only then you will be able to rest. Why not do the same thing moment by moment? When you want to sit for meditation, let go of everything. The best way to do this is to feel, “the world is disappearing or dissolving…I am dead!” Unless you are dead, you cannot meditate!!! For many, mind doesn't settle even after death. Wise are those who cannot settle their minds while alive!

Desires come up, instead of holding on to them or daydreaming, you offer the desires; that is meditation. You have no control over the desires. Even if you say, “Oh, desire is the cause of misery. I shouldn't have desires, when will I be free of desires?”, that is another desire! So, as they come up recognise them and let go. This process is called “Sanyas”. When you offer all that as they rise in you and be centered, then nothing can shake you or take you away. Otherwise, small things can shake you and you become sad or upset. Just few words from here or there can make you sad. Life teaches you the art of letting go in every event. The more you have learnt to let go happier, the freer you are. When you have learnt to let go, you will be joyful and as you start being joyful, more will be given to you. Taking a good look at the desires and realising that they are futile or nothing great is maturity or discrimination.

What is that you can hold on to? You cannot even hold on to this body forever! Whatever care you take, still, one day it is going to say goodbye to you! Without any prior notice, you will be forcefully evicted out of this world! Whatever you may plan, whatever you may do, your final destination is the grave! You live as a good man or bad man, you cry or laugh, whatever you do, everybody goes to the grave. Whether you are a sinner or a saint, you will go to grave. Whether you are rich or poor, intelligent or a dumb fool, you will go to the grave. Whether you are loved or hated, you will go to grave. Whether you love someone or hate anyone, you will go to grave. Patients die, doctors also die. Those who lost the wars went to grave and those who won also went to grave. This is the final say! Have your sight on the final say. Before the body leaves you, you learn to leave everything. That is freedom.

With dispassion, you can enjoy the world freely and you can relax and get relief from it freely. Dispassion can bring so much joy in your life. Don't think that dispassion is a state of apathy. Dispassion is full of enthusiasm, brings all joy to your life and it allows you to rest so well. When you come out of a deep meditation, you become very dynamic and you will be able to act better. Deeper you are able to rest, dynamic you will be able to be in activity. Even though deep rest and dynamic activity are opposite values, they are complimentary.

What is that you are looking for? Are you looking for some great joy? You are joy!

I will give you an example. Have you seen dogs biting bones? You know why they bite bones? Biting and biting that hard bone makes wound inside their mouth. It's own blood comes out and the dog feels that the bone is very tasty! After a while it's whole mouth is soared. Poor dog has spent the whole time chewing the bone getting nothing out of it! Any joy you experience in life is from the depth of your self when you let go all that you hold on to and settle down being centered in that space. That is called meditation. Actually, meditation is not an act; it is the art of doing nothing! The rest in meditation is deeper than the deepest sleep that you can ever have because in meditation you transcend all desires. This brings such coolness to the brain and it is like servicing or overhauling the whole body-mind complex.

Meditation is letting go of anger from the past, the events of the past and all the planning for the future. Planning can hold you back from diving deep into yourself. Meditation is accepting this moment and living every moment totally with depth. Just this understanding and few days of continuous practice of meditation can change the quality of our life.

The best comparison of the three states of consciousness — waking, sleeping and dreaming — is with the nature. Nature sleeps, awakes and dreams! It happens in a magnificent scale in existence and it is happening in a different scale in this human body. Wakefulness and sleep are like sunrise and darkness. Dream is like the twilight in between.

And meditation is like the flight to the outer space where there is no sunset, no sunrise, nothing!

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From Talks by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Are you Tired?

If you are not tired, you will never reach home. Only if you’re tired, will you ever rest. Everything in the world will tire you. Only one thing does not tire you. That is love. Love does not tire you because that is the end, the home. It is not possible to be tired in love.

In fact, enjoyment brings tiredness! Tiredness is a shadow of enjoyment. What puts you on the road is your desire to enjoy. What brings you home is being in love. In your life, you move from one place to another in search of enjoyment. Wherever you saw joy and reached for it, you found that it was further away, somewhere else. So you had to move on and that moving is tiring.

Look at your whole life. A child gets tired of playing with toys and wants new toys. Tired of playing with new toys, they want people to play with, they want new friends. They grow a little older. Their games change. The object of the game changes. They want something more. So it’s like moving from one type of tiredness to another type of tiredness.

As a teenager you looked for something else, not toys. Which is the new movie? What is the new fashion? You want to have the best match for you. You are married. You make a very good couple. Then what? You want to have your own home, children. Those who are single think that married people are better off. Those who are married think that single people are better off.

Some think that people with children are happier. People with children wish everyday that their child grows up quickly so that they can be free. They wait for someone to give them a break, to take care of their children. Everything is tiring.

You move from one spiritual path to another spiritual path, from one practice to another. Sometimes people say, ‘‘Oh, I have meditated for 20 years. I am sick of meditation now. Please don’t tell me to do another meditation. Enough is enough.’’ It’s boring. People have no time. They find it boring to meditate. What to do? Where to go? When is that rest? That solace? That peace? When is that love that is so comforting, so eternal, so blissful? And you cannot rest until you reach home.

You may sit in the path here and there but you cannot be there forever. You may take a break. On the motorway, there is some rest place. On the way, you stop your car, use the restroom, stay a while and stretch. But that’s all. You cannot rest there, or be at peace there. At the back of the mind the drive is there — move on. There is no fulfillment.

It is the desire that tires you — the ‘want’ in the mind. Your mind tires you more than the physical work. If you are willing to do some work, even 15 hours at a stretch, it will not tire you but if you are not willing and you have to work even for four hours, it will tire you.

You have a party at home or you are arranging Christmas decorations. So you may work many late hours but still not feel tired. You feel good about it. But you work in some place you don’t like, you’d like to have four coffee or tea breaks and even then you feel it’s tiring! Don’t do any work at all. Just sit and go on thinking. You’ll be terribly exhausted. For many people, the tiredness and exhaustion comes from thinking and worrying, not by working.

Thinking you need rest makes you restless.

Thinking you have to work hard makes you tired.

Thinking you have worked hard brings self pity.

There is a place to rest. That is the divine, that is surrender and that is love. And you can’t do it unless you get really tired, unless you get sick of everything. You drop down. That is called surrender.

There was a king, an emperor. He attained all that he wanted to in the world, all the wealth; the whole continent was under his control. He thought that this is the world. Thousands of people were under his command, all the wealth at his disposal, all the pleasures at his beck and call. He could snap his finger and get anything he wanted. But that couldn’t get him home. It made him more and more tired.

Then he went looking for some spiritual knowledge. He went from place to place, collecting things here and there, but nothing worked. Everything seemed to work for a while. Finally, he got so tired that he renounced everything. That also didn’t work. Being an emperor didn’t work. Renouncing everything didn’t work.

One day he fell near a tree. He was exhausted of looking for, but not finding, a real master. It’s not easy to find a master. Even if one finds a master, it’s difficult to recognise and let go. So, he finally dropped under a tree and at that moment a dry leaf fell down from the tree.

He was looking at the leaf and that leaf flew to the east when the wind blew east and it flew to the north when the wind blew north. Looking at that, something in him suddenly snapped — the doership. The ‘want’ simply dropped from him. That very moment he realised that that moment is so eternal and he came back home.

Make life that way — become like a dry leaf — agree with what the divine has provided for you, float with the moment; do not regret the past, do not anticipate the future. That is what all the enlightened masters say, ‘‘Keep practicing on your own. When you feel you can’t do any more, that it’s all so tiring, then come and rest.’’ That’s why the places of enlightened masters are called ‘ashrama’, where you come and get rid of your tiredness. ‘Shrama’ means effort. Ashrama means the place where all the efforts loosen up. All tiredness, both mental and physical, vanishes. Even spiritual, you don’t have to strive for it.

Just sit there. There is a candle, there is a light burning for you. You only have to sit under its light. You’re lit. You don’t have to do anything. It’s burning for you. You only have to connect, sit there and feel the presence. Be a part of the divinity, then you will find that nothing can tire you in the world. You will become the source of love. You’re the home. Things cannot irritate you.

When you are tired, small little things can irritate you, push your button, can throw you off balance. Our peace is so fragile that anything, even a phone call, can blow it off. Our peace will be in hundred pieces — just a few words from someone. Fragile peace is of no use. The peace and love in our life should be so solid, like a diamond. Nothing should shake or move it.

Desire, awareness of the self and action all are manifestation of the same energy that is you. Among these three, one of them dominates at a time. When you have lots of desires, you are not aware of the self. When desire dominates, self-awareness will be at its lowest, and that’s why all the philosophers around the world have always advocated renunciation and dropping of desires.

When the awareness is dominant, then happiness dawns. When desire dominates, stress and sorrow result. When actions dominates, restlessness and disease is the result. When your actions and desires are sincerely directed to the Divine or to the welfare of society, then the consciousness is automatically elevated, and self-knowledge is sure to be attained.

You cannot rest when you have to do something which you cannot. And you cannot rest when you feel you have to be someone whom you are not. You are not required to do what you cannot. You will not be asked to give what you cannot give. Nothing is expected of you that you cannot do.

Doing service involves only doing what you can do. And no one wants you to be someone whom you are not. This realisation brings you deep rest. You cannot rest if you have either ambition or lethargy. Both are opposed to good rest. A lazy person will toss and turn at night and be ‘restless’ and an ambitious person will burn inside.

This rest brings up your talents and abilities and brings you closer to your nature. Even a slight feeling that the Divine is with you brings deep rest. And prayer, love and meditation are all flavours of deep rest. The only thing you have to do in your life is to make your peace strong, your love profound and your joy eternal.

Make your home god’s home and there will be light, love and abundance. Make your body god’s abode and there will be peace and bliss. Feel that your mind is a toy of god and you’ll watch and enjoy all its games. See this world as play and as a display of god himself and you will repose in the non-dual self.

The Here and Now

Let me tell you a story. Once two villagers were sitting under a tree and watching the sunset. They were very close friends. After sitting quietly for some time, one asked the other, What are you thinking? I am planning to buy five acres of land, a garden. The other friend immediately said, Don buy the garden!

The first one was surprised. He asked why? The second one replied, am planning to buy a buffalo. Then, my buffalo will enter your garden and we will fight, have misunderstandings and lose our friendship. I do not want to lose our friendship.

The first one said, Then, you cancel your plan of buying a buffalo. I am going to buy my garden. The second one said, No, no, no. I have already decided to buy a buffalo. The first one said, How will your buffalo enter my garden? I will fence it thoroughly.

The second one said, No, you see, it can just enter; a buffalo is a buffalo. Who can stop it? It can do anything.

Then the fight went to such an extent that they broke their limbs! Neither has bought buffalo nor any land. Nothing has happened. Just the mind race and both of them broke their limbs over it! Our fears are also like that. The future has not yet come. But you just sit there and think, Oh! What will happen? What will happen? Finally you will die! This is what is going to happen! So much anxiety about the future! In this run, the mind gets into such a mess. It is unable to see the presence that is all around it.

The mind totally forgets the divine. Me, mine, what about tomorrow, the day after and the day after that, next year, ten years later? You people plan in this way even up to the next birth! When people are newly married they say, We will be husband and wife for many life-times to come! This one birth is not enough. We will be man and wife for the next seven births! In reality, they may be fed up of each other in this birth itself, but they talk of the next seven births!

We should experience the divine presence, the divine light around us. You should have a desire in your mind to experience this. Have we ever desired the divine light? Has such a desire ever risen in you, that you want the highest peace? Has it arisen from deep inside you? The divine light, whatever that is, you do not know what it is. It is something by which the whole world is running. Have you ever really wanted it? When you sing or pray there should be total involvement. You don involve yourself totally. If the mind is preoccupied elsewhere then that is no prayer at all. There should be total involvement. When there is pain there is more involvement.

You are like a free bird. You are fully open. Feel that you are flying like a bird. Learn to fly. This is something which you have to experience within yourself. There is nothing else. If you consider yourself as bonded, you will remain bound here. Experience freedom. When will you experience freedom? After you die? Become free right now. Sit down and become contented. That thing in you which says, have to do. I have to do. I have to achieve; that is wrong. Sit down in peace, thinking: have nothing to do now.

You are afraid of opening your fists. What is there with you that you have to hold your fists? You have nothing with you. Open your fists. The whole sky will be in your hands. Be natural. Be with love. Do service. Celebrate all your life.

The Mature Mind

Knowledge of the self, truth and skills can bring the best in you

The Mature Mind

Children always say, ‘‘I should always eat sweets. I always want to eat chocolate.’’ If you always eat chocolate, you don’t get the taste of chocolate. You don’t get the contrast. But that is a silly desire of children, that they should always have sweets. But as you grow older, you know that it doesn’t matter. We don’t need to have sweets all the time.

In the same way you don’t need to be the same all the time. You can get disturbed for a while. So what? Life is a totality, it has everything in it. Vyasa had written all the eighteen puranas. There is nothing that Vyasa has not touched in the world. Except that the entire world is the leftover — uchchista. Then Vyasa himself became unhappy at one time, after writing all that, giving all the Vedas, the Puranas and Ashtadasha Purana.

He once says after writing the Mahabharata, ‘‘Oh! I am lifting both my arms and crying to people, who by hearing something will get both material and spiritual benefit, but nobody is coming to me. What can I do?’’ The brilliance of Vyasa is unparalleled, because he had made all the principles in a story form in such a way that it gives something to a child, something to a teenager, something to an adult, and something to a sannyasi.

So anybody who reads Vyasa is bound to get something out of it. But Vyasa himself became unhappy. And then Vyasa tells that then the Bhagavatham came and Sukhdeva comes and says, ‘‘Okay all this knowledge is there but something is lacking.’’ What is it? That is the devotional aspect of it. Then the Bhagavatham was created. So every mistake has got something good in it. Every event gives something. So don’t say, ‘‘Always I should be at peace.’’ Doesn’t matter, even if you are disturbed at times.

l The story of Brihaspathi and Chandra

There is a story in the Puranas that Jupiter or Guru was wedded to the star Tara. Star is something that is far away, the whole cosmos. Brihaspathi (Jupiter) is the Guru of the devas. His wife Tara was stolen by Chandra the moon. Stolen means she fled away, went away with Chandra. And then they had a son, Mercury. Now, when Guru found out about this, he told Chandra, ‘‘You better give me back my wife. She is my wife.’’ Then Chandra and Brihaspathi fight and finally all the Devas come and request Chandra, ‘‘You just give her up.’’ So, she was returned back to her husband.

This is the story. On the surface it seems funny but when you look into it in a very subtle way, there is a beautiful sense to it. Guru is the self, Brihaspathi, Devaguru — master of all the gods. That is the self. Moon is the mind. Tara is the universe. So, what happened? Self is the innocent level where everyone was like a child, and the self was connected to the universe. The innocence was one with the infinity.

But as the mind became enlarged, one grew in the mind and the connection between the self and the universe was cut off. But the connection between the mind and the world began. But with this relationship of the mind with the universe, the cosmos expanded and it went to the extent that it gave birth to awareness. Mercury is Budha, is Pragyakaraka — means the bestower of wisdom or awareness. So the mind and the universe went to that extent and they realised and to them was born this awareness of the self back again.

When the awareness of the self was born, then the universe again got united with the self and the mind was removed. The mind became a no-mind. It became detached from the world. So Tara got detached or Chandra got himself detached with Tara. The whole universe was detached from the mind and it was reunited. The universe got united with the self, to which it already belonged.

So in astrology it is said that Mercury is the son of the Moon — that is awareness is born out of the mind only. A mentally retarded person cannot have awareness. So awareness is born out of a mature mind, and from that awareness wisdom develops. Guru is the Self, that who unites with the self. It is a very beautiful story but nobody has understood this meaning in the right way.

There is no absolute value in anything other than the self

Stories like the one on Ekalavya are truly inspiring. Not everybody is cutting their thumb all the time, and what good was it to people who have had their thumb all the time? In the whole of history, one man cuts his thumb, and lets go of his attachment to the skill he had. He is very intelligent. What good does learning archery do? Nothing.

You can look into any situation and be for or against it and both will hold good. Look at the illiterate, innocent people. They are so happy, and have such a smile on their faces. And look at all those who are educated, cultured, and see the amount of tension and stress in their lives. What good is it to go to school?

You can see everything from various angles. This is only to glorify the value of sacrifice. One can have great skills, and attachments to those skills can make one’s life very miserable. Stars, musicians, teachers are all gifted with some talent but they get so obsessed, arrogant and adamant with it that they make their own life miserable. One’s willingness to let go of one’s skills brings them eternal peace and strength.

It is said that the divine is permeating in everything in equal amount. In the wise and the fools. God lives in everything. Eersha Vaasya Edam Sarvam/Yatha Kinchith Jagathyam Jagath/

Tena Tyakthena Bunjitha/

Ma Dhutha Tasya Sidhana

Eersha Vaasya. He lives in everything, it says, because Edam Sarvam, this is what you see. This is all. The Divine lives in the entire world. Do not blame this world, if you want to blame, blame consciously. Yatha Kinchith Jagathyam Jagath, whatever is moving, unmoving, little, small, or big, everywhere, Tena Tathkena Bunjitha, you enjoy this by letting go. Whatever you hold on to creates fear in you. When you create fear you don’t even enjoy it.

If you hold on to your skill, then you are afraid of someone becoming more skillful, then you are afraid of losing your skill. The fear in you will block the happiness. This is exactly what happens with most of the artists. They hold onto their art so tight, always looking if somebody is waiting to pull them down. Only a brave person can say, ‘‘Let go!’’.

Tena Tyakthena Bunjitha Ma Dhutha Tasya Sidhanam. Don’t have grudges, jealousy, hatred, or envy towards anybody. Everything is common property. In another thousand years so many people will come here and go. How can you say, ‘‘Oh! This is my hill, this is my house, my place, my room.’’

The true seeker

Truth always has value but you know what you need is a skill to express truth. We often say we are very honest, very truthful. But why do all these problems come to you? Because you are not skillful.

To bring the best in you, you have to become Arjun. Among so many, only Arjun got the knowledge. Why? What does Arjun mean? One who is thirsty for the truth. The true seeker. You don’t become a seeker just to show off, or to get your way around in the world. You can become a teacher and go on teaching and have nothing inside you. Just build up your own ego. Then it won’t help. The true seeker is Arjun — who wants to know truth.

There are so many gurus, but once you come to Bhagwan, your miseries end. And it’s not through the guru’s

teaching that you get something; that is just superficial. Dronacharya and Kripacharya can teach you archery, but they cannot make you meet yourself. To a sadguru, you just come and just sit. In a silent way everything works. And then, for all the other gymnastics that you want to learn, you have to be with Dronacharya and Kripacharya.

The Philosophy of Joy

The sole search of every being is joy. Whenever one is searching, whatever one is searching, one is looking for joy — whether it is spiritual or material, whether it is in the movies, bars, or in the church or temple; whether it is money, fame or power. The search simply is for joy and the Divine is all joy and bliss.

Bliss is nothing but qualified joy, a joy that is devoid of feverishness, suffering and pain. Love comes along with pain. Silence is a little serious; joy is mischievous. One cannot have mischief if there is no joy and Krishna is all mischief. Krishna is absolute joy, absolute bliss. Nothing whatsoever could take away the joy from Krishna.

If you look at his life, it was miserable — he was born in misery. Kansa, the uncle of Krishna, is a symbol of ego. Ego is far away from joy; ego tries to kill the joy in us. Children are so full of joy because there is no ego. The moment ego comes, separation comes. We destroy the bliss, the beauty, that innocent joy. Kansa sent several people to kill Krishna but was unsuccessful. Krishna, when he was just eight or ten, fell in love with Radha, she was much elder to Krishna. That love was such a pure love. People did not know why they were in such a love with Krishna; everyone would flock around him.

Mischief is the outcome of joy. Children are very mischievous. Parents say, ‘Don’t do this!’, ‘Stop that!’ It’s very normal for children to be mischievous; we should let them do it. Sometimes it entails trouble for the parents, but there is also fun. What is life without fun? Krishna told many lies, played and troubled people around him. People around him would like to be troubled by him. People would complain with anger, but the moment they came in his presence, they would start giggling, all their anger would vanish.

In the presence of pure bliss, joy, all complaints vanish and life appears like a play. One can look at every trouble as a challenge or can spend it crying and complaining. You know, what you have in your hand indicates what you are inside. If you have a gun in your hand, it indicates fear or violence. If you have a flower in your hand, it indicates you are like a flower. If you have a flute in your hand, you are like a flute — hollow and empty.

Krishna has the flute in the hand and the whole style of standing indicates his whole philosophy. One leg is firm on the ground. A dance can happen when your feet are first touching the ground. If your legs are buried in the mud, a dance cannot happen. Not even if it is up in the ground. One leg has to be firm on the ground, the other can be up in the air and then dance happens. Joy is the dance of life and the life of Krishna is such a dance.

One can imagine Krishna everywhere; you cannot pinpoint Krishna as one thing. Sometimes he may ride a horse, be a charioteer and in some other place he can be dancing. Krishna is the symbol of all possibilities, the total blossoming of all aspects of human, or Divine — whatever you call. It’s very difficult to really understand Krishna’s personality. The rishis called him the full embodiment of the Divine total because all that a human could be, a being could be, is all in Krishna. You can see him as the perfect friend.

Once one of his close aides tells Krishna, ‘‘O Krishna, I cannot understand you. I have been with you for the past fifteen years, you confuse me more and more everyday! At one point I see you as such a courageous person who could alone fight war with so many people, at other times you hide yourself in the closet. You behave completely eccentric. One time you are so powerful, another time so scared. One time you come out with such a great wisdom, another time you ask me advice.’’ One place he is a servant, another time king of the whole province, who takes very good care of all subjects.

Contrast energies

Arjuna was ready to quit everything and go to the Himalayas. He was not ready to fight the war. Krishna convinced him. Krishna was a good teacher because he taught as a friend. He said, ‘‘You’re such a great warrior. Anyway, everyone is already dead.

I do everything, you just be an instrument.’’ In the battlefield, if someone could sustain the depth of awareness, clarity of mind when everybody is in such chaos, and give the highest knowledge, that leaves you in awe of Krishna.

You can have a big smile when everything is firm and smooth but when everything is upside down and you smile, then you have achieved something. Everything was upside down, chaotic, wherever Krishna went and yet, the smile would simply capture everything. His smile was so great that people would forget their sorrow and joy would simply flood.

Even the saints would fall in love in that field of energy; people who have renounced everything would be interested. The dispassionate one will be drawn. The word Krishna, itself, means that which is attractive, that draws everything. The very core of your being is such; the bliss of the self, the joy of the self is like that. It just draws everything. In a symbolic manner, also, it is so beautiful. Krishna was such a charmer that people could not stay away from him. Young and old, boys and girls and even the rishis, could not stay away; they would just follow him around.

The gopis said, ‘‘the love between you and me; only my soul knows.’’ The depth of the love, joy, and devotion was like wildfire all around Krishna. In love there is 2 percent lust. In lust there is 2 percent love. You may have noticed when children are in deep love, they come and hug, hang to your neck, kiss you, lick all parts of your face. What do you call it, love or lust? Love. But the act is very lustful.

It’s the same thing with a puppy. When you come back home, the puppy will jump all over you and lick you by which it is expressing its love to you. Intense love wants expression. You hug, shake hands, give flowers... nothing really satisfies. Love cannot be fully expressed, yet it cannot be without expression. That’s the nature of joy and love. It wants to find an expression.

The love of the gopis and Krishna was such a love. Krishna means the most attractive. It is the divinity that is the most attractive; the energy that pulls everything to it. Krishna is the formless centre which is everywhere. Any attraction from anywhere is coming only from Krishna. Often people fail to see the spirit behind the attraction and merely hold on to the outer shell. And the moment you try to possess the shell, you will see Krishna has played a trick and you will be left with an empty shell in your hands and tears in your eyes.

The mind moves towards beauty, joy and truth. Krishna tells Arjuna, ‘‘I am the beauty in the Beautiful, the strength in the Strong, the wisdom in the Wise.’’ Be clever like Radha — don’t be tricked by Krishna. Krishna could not escape from Radha, for, her whole world was filled with Krishna. If you can see that wherever there is an attraction, there is Krishna; then you are Radha, you are in your centre.

The God Within

God is never an object of isolation but the very core of your being.The difference between self and God is just like the wave and the ocean. Can there be a wave without the ocean?

Who are you? Do you know about yourself? Find out about yourself first. If you think you are just the body, that is not possible because the body has its limitations. If you think that you are the mind then that is also not possible because the mind too has its limitations. It is just another layer of our existence. If you know that you are Silence or that you are Space, then it is possible; God is also space.

Just like your body is made up of proteins, amino acids and carbohydrates, your mind and soul are made up of love. You are made up of love. Everyone is full of love and love is God. So you are made up of God! Every little atom of your body is made up of love and that is what is God. Do not think God is sitting somewhere in heaven. God is here and now!

God is not somebody with a big white beard, sitting in heaven. God is love. He is space. When you are meditating, when you feel at peace, at home with everyone, you are in touch with the Divine force. Can you live without love? In the Upanishads, it is said kham kham brahma — the space is God, in which every thing is and into which everything dissolves.

What is not God? What is the definition of God, if at all there is one? You describe it as that which is everywhere; which is all-powerful; which is responsible for this creation, for its maintenance, and for its dissolution; which is Omnipresent, Omnipotent, and Omniscient.

You say, ‘‘I want to see God’’. When you want to see God as something, as an object, then it is not everywhere. Then you are not God. This wanting to see God as separate from you is also an illusion. God is not an object of senses, but the feeling of feelings, the prescence of presence, the sound of silence, the light of life, the essence of the world and the taste of bliss.

Just as love is felt in the heart, so is God’s presence felt. God is never an object of isolation. God is the sum totality. When you dissolve, God remains. When you are there, there is no God. Either you can be there, or God can be there, not both. So when you meditate, you become one with God. You are God. That is why, it is said, Tatvamasi, meaning, ‘Thou art that’.

God is to be felt in the depth of your heart. God can neither be perceived through your senses nor through the mind. God is the seer himself. Who sees? That is God. Space is God. Space is everywhere, and everything is in space. Nothing can touch space. Nothing can destroy space. And you cannot see space as a separate object.

There are three types of space: l Bhuta Aakash: Outer space in which all this universe exists l Chitta Aakash: The world of impressions, thoughts, and dreams that exists in your mind l Chida Akaash: The sky of consciousness that is all permeating, everywhere; the consciousness, the basis of all creation, that is Divine — that which knows all.

You cannot make God an object of your sight. If you make it that, then it is no more God. You can live God, can be God, but you cannot consider God as an object which gives you the path.

The whole existence has a mind of its own. It is just like you. You have a mind and it has such intelligence, that’s why it keeps everything orderly. Similarly, this moment is seen by this big mind. This moment knows exactly what to do. There are so many activities happening in the whole creation. Right now, some people are sleeping, some are waking, some activity or the other is happening in the whole world. Right now enormous activity is happening in the mind, in the present. In the Now! This mind is what you can call Atma or God and that is what you are.

The one beyond the Self is God. First one needs to reach the Self at least. The difference between Self and God is just like the Wave and the Ocean. Can there be a wave without the ocean?

GOD is the Generator, Operator and Destroyer (Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara). The present moment has generated; the present moment is operating; and the present moment destroyed the past. So you are in God and, God is in you. There is a place for everybody in the heart of the Divine.

The mind is so used to looking to the concrete and promises that it cannot appreciate something abstract. Then the mind needs promises. When you love somebody, you want a promise from them that they really love you. That is why Jesus says, ‘‘I am partially exposed so you will know what I’m saying to you. You just know me partially, and there is a big part of me that you do not know.’’

If you are inside the house, the doors do not mean much to you. You do not need the door to be closed or open when you are already inside the house, inside the room. When you are not inside the room, you need the door. You need the door to be opened.

Jesus said, ‘‘You have burned enough in the sun, in the heat. You have roamed all over the place. Just come inside; this room is ready for you.’’ This is the confidence that a master gives you.

You do not believe what you do not know. You say that you do not believe in God. God is the very core of your being. Like an onion, if you start peeling the layers one by one, when you reach the center, there is nothingness and everything is made up of that space. The whole is God; everything is God and that consciousness is present everywhere. I am present here, I am present there, I am present everywhere. That being, that space, the very consciousness is what people have called God because it is present everywhere at all times. It is to that omnipresence, that omnipotence that all the different names have been given.

You can look at it this way. In the body there are many cells and each of them has its own life. New cells are coming up and old cells are dying but they have no knowledge of you. Yet they are affected by you and you are affected by a single cell. In the same way, know that the big life and the big mind, which encompasses all our minds and all our lives, is what we can give the name — God. It is useless to find a meaning. A flower blooms. What is the purpose of beauty? You may say that it is to enjoy. What is the purpose of joy? There is no purpose to joy; it is an end in itself.

Life, when it is lived in its totality, is an end in itself and a beginning in itself. Love, joy, beauty, all that is precious and valuable in life, are really beyond value, beyond meaning, beyond purpose.