Guru Purnima Satsang 2020 – Part 2

Question: Is suffering so important to the soul, to undergo change, even if it harms? Another person, has a powerful Guru, can’t he remove all the suffering?

Mohanji: Suffering is connected to your waking state mind. Pain is connected to various factors such as injury, body, going through certain processes. Pain can happen, but suffering is your choice. Suffering happens when resistance happens to the pain. When we resist situations, when we resist emotions, when we resist people, places, time, we have suffered. But suffering is not a permanent thing. When you are experiencing pleasure, necessarily, you may not suffer. But sometimes even during pleasure, at the time of pleasure, we may suffer because we worry that this time also may end. So, we may fail to experience a situation because we are afraid of something finite, connected to that situation. In the time of sorrows, some people have great pleasure. They say sorrows are good because they remind them of their life. In the time of pleasures, they fear sorrows may come after the pleasure, like a pendulum, like two sides of the coin. So they fail to experience a pleasure. This is human nature. This is one of the patterns that we constantly entertain.

So there is no need to suffer. When you go beyond your mind-matter, there is no suffering. Your soul has no suffering. It’s witnessing your happiness and sorrows, and all the games of your life. Your consciousness which operates in three levels – waking state, dream state and deep sleep state is not suffering. It’s happy to witness what the mind-matter produces, churns out called experiences. We categorise these experiences as good or bad. Consciousness is just watching it. At any point in time, consciousness does not tell you “Don’t do it. Don’t experience it.” It never tells. It just witnesses. It just allows you to experience anything you like on Earth. Nothing is good; nothing is bad. You experience whatever you want. Who categorises situations as good and bad, who categorises high and low, who categorises do’s and don’ts? Mind – Mind-matter.

I always tell one thing, do not enter into the realms of violence. Do not entertain violence in thoughts, words and action, because it breeds more violence. It contracts you; it shrinks you. That’s not our original state. Our original state, as I explained earlier, is expansion, inner richness. This is our actual state, but we fail to see it because our mind entertains itself with anger, hatred, jealousy, revenge, kind of silly things. And then it suffers because it’s like a person who smokes a lot and then suffers from lung issues. This is exactly similar to that. The person gets addicted to something spurious, and then health is affected. Who caused it? They themselves caused it. So we don’t have to suffer.

There is no suffering in life, except in our mind. Our mind has decided that there is suffering and then we suffer. The mind has decided, “This is okay; this is not okay.” And we suffer. The mind has decided. “This is right, this is wrong”, then we suffer. So, this is all minds’ game. I always believe that there are zero sufferings, even when people betray you or cheat you, etc., you don’t have to suffer because for doing that, they are paying a huge price. For them, it’s an experience. You have an experience of getting cheated, getting betrayed; like that the people who betray you, have an experience of betraying somebody. And when you ask for such an experience, you got a price to pay, a very high price to pay. Sometimes that price takes you to a level of debt, which lasts lifetimes.

That is why Mirabai says, “When you betray a guru, you carry the debt of that act of betrayal for about 80,000 lifetimes,” such a big, huge debt. So if somebody really wants to do that, they’re paying for it. You need not worry. They chose it. If I decide that I want to have a Rolls Royce car and choose to go ahead and buy it by taking a bank loan, I have to pay the bank until it’s over, as long as it takes. I cannot say that I will not pay any more, because they will catch me and will take the car away from me. So this debt is chosen. Our own anger, hatred, jealousy, selfishness puts us in debts. 

Why should we worry? If we are instrumental in creating it, we should worry. Otherwise, we need not worry. If somebody is cheating you, if somebody is betraying you, you are only at the receiving end. You are not spending on it. So if you develop that level of maturity and you start seeing the reality all the time, you will see this drama at work. You will see this whole drama of life. And this drama is very interesting. People play roles, and we enjoy those roles. They keep experiencing them time and again. Sometimes they come in different costumes, and they play the same role. You get surprised that this is the same guy who was doing this before. When in another costume, sometimes we don’t recognise them. But this is the reality.

Everything that is connected to our life has a reason. If we chase the reason, if we try to understand the why’s, we do not move forward. Just experience it as it comes and leave it, unhook from it, and let it go. Time changes everything. Time changes situations. Change is the only thing which is unchangeable. Change is the only thing which cannot be changed. Change happens in life. Everything changes, everything evolves, everything has to evolve into various forms and dimensions. So, if we flow with those changes, you will be experiencing a breeze like life. Life would be like a breeze. But all these factors have value. Some of them are lessons. Some of them are warnings. Some of them are experiences, good and bad, whatever you wish to call it. But when we boil it all down, we call it life. Life has everything. It’s important to understand that.

Question: How to recognise my future partner? Also, I want to open a vegetarian restaurant, but how to conquer the fear of failure and how to succeed?

Mohanji: Three questions – your future partner, vegetarian restaurant and fear of failure. I think all are interconnected. If your future partner is a disaster, you will experience failure. And if you open a vegetarian restaurant, maybe you will get food to eat. (laughter)

I do not understand the correlation between these two. But, understand that fear of failure has its root in inertia (Tamas) and most of us entertain it because we all have inertia. We always say that we must be appreciated, we must be accepted, and for all that we do, we should be rewarded or recognised. This is our wish, our desire. But life is not like that. There are failures in life. If you look at my life, I have failed enough and more times. At one point in time, I was an eternal failure. In everything I do, I was failing. What I understood from that is, all that gave me experiences. If you do not resist it, do not reject it, do not fight it, do not put it under the carpet, then that means it becomes lessons for you. Everything in life will not be successful. 

We cannot rehearse in life. We cannot rehearse something and do life. So, we have to just do it as it comes. We have to live it; we have to do things as it flows. I would say if you are fearless, you will have tremendous success because we do not know what is around the corner. So if you don’t take a walk, we will never see it. If there is a failure, you slip and fall, or you fell down, what do you do? Get up and walk. In fact, if you take your whole life, you are born alone, you will die alone. You neither took the permission of the society to take birth nor will you take the permission of the society to die. So what is the bottom line? Your EXISTENCE is the bottom line. You are YOURSELF. You are the EXPERIENCE. 

You are here to experience; you are here to express. EXPRESS. Don’t worry about failure. If it fails, you start again. Look at people who have succeeded in life. They have failed tremendously. I think Walt Disney; he went to about 20 or 25 banks for financing his project called the Disney cartoons. But nobody believed in him. They said, “You are making some cartoons, and you want money?” They were ridiculing him. And finally, one banker decided to give him a soft loan. Rest is history. He created Disney World, and it became a huge success. Likewise, this Spider-Man character – Stan Lee, I think; he offered Spider-Man story for print, and the publisher said, “Ridiculous, this story will not sell.” Look at how famous this Spider-Man character became. Now, all the countries, all the children know Spider-Man.

The ability to believe in your work, ability to believe in yourself, the conviction that you have on yourself, ability to invest (the investment) in yourself, is basically the faith and that will take you forward. So, if you focus on failure, like the options of failure, the possibilities of failure, what will four people think, society will think, you will never move forward. Instead, we take the step forward, let us fail. No problem. Let there be failure, and that failure will give us a lesson. The failure will guide us to success because we know if you walk this path, there will be a failure. So you might as well change the path, deviate, take a detour and achieve success.

Whether it is a vegetarian restaurant or a husband, it’s the same thing. You got to kiss a lot of frogs before you find a prince, right? So you can never say that this is going to be the right man because we are talking about karmic beings. We are talking about bundles of patterns. We are talking about bundles of concepts. We are all baggage, huge baggage. So, how can you say that this is the right compatible person? If you are extremely tamasic, another extremely tamasic person might be compatible because you both can sleep all the time. If you are extremely tamasic and you get a person who is extremely saatvic, then you will have struggles at home as one person will sleep, and the other person cannot sleep. So this is how the combination works.

Don’t look at life too seriously. Flow with life just like water, like a river, keep flowing. Whenever you are looking at small things like relationships, (I’m not saying relationships are small, it means when you are occupied by relationships, etc.), you become short-sighted. Instead, you look for the larger life. Try to look at life in a much larger perspective. What are you trying to achieve from this life? What do you want out of this life? You should always dream big, think big, or have a larger vision. If you have a larger vision and take one step at a time each day, you will reach there. All the other things will fall in place. But if you do not have a larger picture, and if you are searching in a linear level in the market, to find a right man, like this guy looks okay, or that guy looks okay, this or that etc., this will always be confusing. That’s not the way. Instead, you walk your vision, and the right things will come to you. They join you because your frequency is set for something larger, something huge.

 I have created this Mohanji platform with that context, that all the people who are associated have the possibility to have great expressions in this platform. I created it in that mode because everybody has a need for actualisation, a need to be fully themselves and completely blossom. So, this ground has to be set in that way. I cannot set a ground where nobody gets actualisation, and all are like robots, not possible. So, this is created in that way which is why so many countries, so many dimensions, a variety of activities are happening. All this is created because of actualisation. Look at how many people are blossoming with this platform.

The point is, we should not think in a tubular way or within a frame. We are not bound by frames. We are not to be put in frames. We are like a flowing river, flowing as per time, as per various desires and our karmic patterns. But when we have a higher vision, when we are walking towards it and when we are bound by purpose, not people, (clear purpose, a purpose with clarity), it will open up the doors for you. Nothing can stop you, and everything will come together.

When you are talking about a restaurant, you look at the chain of restaurants; you have the vision for that. What do you really want to express in the world? You should have that picture in mind, and you should dream it, you should feel it every day. And you should feel it is alive, means you should actually see it in the world, in your mind, in your inner eye. Then it will happen eventually because you are energising that positive thought, a great image, a great plan inside you. That is how it will happen.

Question: How do I seek blessings and stay connected to Guru and the Guru Mandala?

Mohanji: Guru and Guru Mandala are the same. Guru is the representation of Guru Mandala, that means the world of elevated masters. There is no world of elevated masters apart from your master. It’s like a small transformer in your house that gives electricity to your house. Outside there is a huge transformer which is much more powerful. If you decide that my house needs the power from that transformer and you connect directly to that, your house will burn. So, what you need is a regulated energy flow where you can actually come in contact with it, and it can help in your transformation.

In the Datta tradition, the whole nature is your guru. If you are considering a person as a guru, in the tradition of Datta, everything is guru, life is guru, your SELF is the guru, and your INNERSELF is the real guru, personal guru. But if there is an external guru who has lived the freedom, walked freedom, expressed freedom, given freedom even from themselves (means no binding), that is the path. There is no binding on rituals, no binding on people, places, time, FREEDOM. That is the Datta tradition. So when we walk that path, how do you get connected? You have to connect to YOURSELF. You have to go within and connect to yourself, assimilate yourself and then through YOU; you can reach the whole world. After that, when you look outside, everything will become a reminder of who you are. And that’s how it should be. All the things happening in you, around you, they are all reminders of who you are. When you are deeply connected to that feeling of oneness or experiencing that feeling of oneness (It’s all experiences end of the day. If you cannot experience it is not real), you are unmistakably connected, unchangeably connected, permanently connected.

So, your connection with yourself is extremely important in our path and the path of liberation. Your connection with yourself is the truth. And that connection will take you to similar frequencies. As you raise your frequencies, you will come in contact with people of the same frequency. That is how you can actually grow and evolve. This is very important to understand. You are the final thing you need to connect. That is what we were talking earlier. You are the thing, you are the matter, you are the being, you are the person, and you are the personality. This is your connection. And this is exactly what we are trying to tell all the time. But then you look at somebody as stable as a rock, established in themselves, who’s not bound by the emotions of the world, not bound by time or space, not bound by any philosophies, totally free, then that becomes a reminder to you on how to walk the path, what will be the situation, how it can be. That is a reminder to you.

Now, you have a benchmark, you have a point of contact, or you have a destination which you can put into your GPS, so you know where you are going. And that’s exactly the whole point of the tradition. The tradition gives you these locations, these benchmarks, these pointers, the destination so that your journey is effortless. Also, you know where you are going, and that’s easy. So on this day of Guru Poornima, we must understand that connection is extremely important. When you stay connected, remember one thing very clearly, doubts are the detrimental factors. Doubting yourself always alienates you, separates you. Doubting the master separates you. Doubting the time, doubting the practice, doubting the environment; doubting separates you. Don’t take doubts lightly. Take doubts seriously. And don’t ask why this is happening? It is. So when you stop asking WHY all the time, you save a lot of time because acceptance takes ‘why’ away from our system. “Okay, this is happening. There must be a reason for it. Whatever the reasons are, if I’m supposed to know, I will know. Otherwise, I don’t have to know.” Every time you think like this, you are free. Each time you stop asking why, and you start connecting deeper and deeper into yourself and assimilating the experience that has come out of that situation; it means you are actually experiencing that situation fully within, each time. That experience becomes a validation of your life. That itself is your final and gives you stability, gives you freedom, complete freedom. So this is exactly what you should do. 

Stop doubting; stop asking ‘why?’ and stop asking, ‘Am I progressing? Am I regressing?’ All these are unnecessary questions. Keep doing the same thing. Keep repeating, keep assimilating and keep investing into yourself. Then what comes out will be something brilliant. It may take time because you have no idea how many baggages of patterns you are carrying, how much is removed, how much has to be removed. So, when we don’t know the whole drama of life and when we can only see two dimensions, we are completely controlled and bound by mind-matter (mind, ego and intellect). Hence stop asking why, stop doubting and just keep practising. And whatever you practice, you should believe in, otherwise don’t practice. Whether it is Kriya, Meditation, Contemplation, if you do not believe in it, there is no point in practising. It is a waste of time. And don’t practice for the sake of a Master. Master has nothing to do with you. A master’s job is to show a clear mirror to you so that you can look at the mirror and you can see yourself, where you stand. That’s the job of the master. Master’s job is NOT to TAKE you to yourself. His job is to show you that you are everything or tell you that you are everything or GUIDE you to yourself. But you have to walk. You have to find yourself and go within. If you doubt yourself, if you doubt the master, if you doubt the practice, if you doubt the time and space if you have excuses all through, where will you go? That brings a waste of time. That takes a lot of our time away, and it is a waste of life. This is the problem. It wastes lifetimes. We have wasted lifetimes already. Now let us use this lifetime to find ourselves and settle down.

The inner space is the only space which is yours. All the outer spaces are not yours; they are temporary. End of the day, all you need is only six foot of ground. If you are very tall, maybe eight foot of ground. That’s about it. You don’t need any more ground to keep your body, that’s it. We are chasing so many things of life, and finally, we are tired. We are still unhappy because we want more. And that is a waste of time. You should have something which gives you a good shelter, food to eat, peaceful life so that you can spread your energy and light into this world outside. When you assimilate yourself into yourself, you become brightness, and that brightness will reach the society and make the society brighter. That is your biggest contribution to society, not your teachings, not your noises.

The society has plenty of noises. It does not need any more noises. What the society needs is silence – a pregnant and deep silence, where silence talks much more than words. This is what society needs today. And what you need to give to this society is yourself. This is the only thing you can give. The only authentic thing you can deliver to this society is yourself, nothing else. You give your flavour. That’s the only thing which is expected. You cannot give any other flavour because you are already yourself. You cannot do anything else about it. So you give the society, your own flavour and that’s good enough. That means you are giving the society your unique flavour. And when you do that, don’t expect anything back. Don’t compare, don’t criticize, don’t judge, don’t character assassinate. Don’t betray, don’t cheat. So your conscience will be clean and bright. When your conscience is clean and bright, you are only giving pure stuff. You cannot give contaminated stuff. So this is important. What you need to give to this world is yourself and that you give as clean as possible, conscience clean, and deliver it with your full conviction without expectation. 

On this day of Guru Poornima, this is the message I wanted to give you. Please remember – you are unique, you are important, you are significant, and nobody else is like you. Don’t underestimate yourself. Don’t criticize and judge yourself. Don’t compare yourself with anybody. And please don’t blame others because whatever you do, will have an effect on you. Your own activity, whether it’s done now or done in the past, it will create its own effect. Any action and every action will have a result. So do not blame others saying that because of him, I am suffering. That is not true. It’s all because of our own actions.

We must understand that whatever we do, whatever we perform, whatever we say, speak, think, everything creates vibrations, frequencies, and that will create results. So, understand this clearly, and assimilate and be together, support each other, help each other. We got to have a whole world – one world, one family. One world and one family is the truth – Vasudeva Kudumbakam – that is the truth. We are all together; no caste, creed, country, culture, colour, language, religion, nothing, just people, one species FOR ALL species. This is what we should be. Then we are living purity. We are walking, talking, eating purity, everything pure. That is the highest you can give to this world. And it’s not a small thing.

I hope I have given you the message. Thank you for coming together, and we will stay in touch. Wish you a great Guru Poornima and wish you a great life ahead. I’m always with you, and I love you.

Transcribed by Rakshitha Ananth

Proofread by Rekha Murali

The Essence of Creation – Datta Tradition

Dattatreya idol in Mohanji Foundation Datta Tapovan ashram, Canada

The popular idol of Lord Dattatreya has three faces: Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. These faces of Datta represent the three aspects of our existence. Brahma represents birth/creation, Vishnu represents sustenance/life, and Shiva represents dissolution/death.

Why is Datta’s face of Vishnu usually in the front?

Lord Dattatreya often has the face of Vishnu in the front.
In this world, what we need is a peaceful, balanced life with abundance. Why have we come to earth at all? If we don’t have anything to experience from earth, we will not taken birth here at all. We don’t have to take birth. The very reason why we have taken birth, we meant to experience so many things on earth, it doesn’t matter what it is or if it is good, bad, or ugly. There is some reason for coming here and that will be assisted by Maha Vishnu – the Sustainer. That is why Datta’s face of Vishnu is in front most of the time.

Shiva is originally the manifested and unmanifested aspect of creation and so is the name Vishnu in absolute sense. The manifested world is as tiny as a pimple on Shiva’s face. The unmanifested aspect is huge. The unmanifested aspect is represented by the Shiva Linga – something which cannot have a defined form is given a form. A form needs to have a shape which represents sustainability, i.e. always existing, and that is the form of Shiva Linga.

Brahma is the beginning, but looking at the whole creation, Vishnu comes before Brahma as beyond birth and death. Brahma is the creator aspect. Creation starts only when there is a platform for creation. If there is no canvas to draw, how can you express your skill? Brahma came into existence when the platform happened, that means – when the created world happened, when the atom happened, when relativity happened, that’s when Brahma happened. Without relativity there is no need for Brahma. Vishnu is the sustenance aspect of Shiva and Shiva is the manifested and unmanifested aspect of Para Brahma. This is the unity.

And where is Brahma sitting? On the lotus which has come out of the navel of Maha Vishnu. What does the navel represent? Kriya Shakti. Iccha Shakti (the power of will) sits in the heart center, Gyana Shakti (the power of knowledge) in the third eye, and Kriya Shakti (the power of action) in the navel. Gyana Shakti is connected to Shiva, Iccha Shakti is connected to Vishnu, and Kriya Shakti is connected to Brahma.

That is why Datta exists in these three aspects: Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.
Datta is here because of our need, not because of his need. Datta does not need anything from anybody. He doesn’t even need existence, but because we exist he exists – for our sake.

Why do troubles occur in life at times when people connect to Datta or Datta avatars?

Dattatreya idol in Mohanji Foundation Datta Tapovan ashram, Canada

Conflicts happen because of the aspect of annihilation, which means your lifetimes are getting reduced. When you connect to the Datta path, it becomes intense. What is usually spread in many lifetimes comes together into a few lifetimes, so each life will become intense.

The reason why pain in life sustains is because of the resistance to pain. If we accept and say “Okay, this is happening, and this will go”, then it will not be felt deeply as it would when we handle events through mind, intellect and ego.

Ramana Maharishi said, “I have pain, but I have no suffering.” Suffering is your choice.

When this happens, you are shifting into the Path of Shiva. When you are moving into the Path of Shiva or you worship Shiva, it is annihilation.

If you ask for many material things on one side, ex. positions, possessions, and at the same time you worship Shiva, there is a conflict already. On one hand you are asking for dissolution, while on the other hand you are asking for everything on earth. One contradicts the other and the result is a confused existence and pains over deprived desires. This is what prolongs suffering.
The major quality of the Datta path is the consistent grace factor. Imagine having all the troubles in all these lives, with the grace factor and without the grace factor. The difference is that with the grace factor, there is somebody to hold you, guide, protect and energize you.

That is Datta Tradition. The Tradition which empowers you, energizes you, protects you and provides Gurus/Masters for you to connect and talk to. The Tradition which reduces burdens and opens channels within for grace to flow.

With Love
Mohanji

Mohanji inaugurating Datta Tapovan ashram in Canada – prana pratishta

Expressions and Understandings

From limited to limitless awareness

Topic: Gurus and followers. In recent years, there has been a lot of controversy regarding certain spiritual organizations and the actions of both their leaders and followers. This has lead to a lot of doubt, confusion and even disillusionment. Mohanji has received many mails pertaining to the subject of Gurus and followers. This post addresses some of the issues raised. Hope it gives you clarity.

Caroline

BTW Team

Mohanji:

“A student threw a stone at his teacher. The teacher was hurt and hospitalised. The head of the institution asked the student’s parents to present themselves for a discussion on disciplinary actions to be taken against the student. The parents appeared on time. The first thing the principal asked the student’s father was “Do you throw stones at your superiors?” The perplexed father said “Well, of course not”. The principal asked again “If you have that much wisdom, then why is your son behaving in this way?”

😦

The point here is, all of us are individuals. Every being is Unique. We all have our own expressions and personal style. We are inimitable in that way. But, society is often two dimensional. When we do something seemingly wrong, irrespective of our reasons for these actions, society will blame our upbringing for that. They will blame our parents, grandparents and even our clan, on some occasions.

Likewise, we have seen or heard many spiritual masters in our life time, both alive and departed. We have also seen or witnessed their followers. Some of them are extremely fanatic and some are moderate, considerate or more tolerant. Yet, we, as society look at their expressions and judge their alive or departed Guru. Am I right? Do we not judge a Guru based on the expressions of his disciples? Are we right in doing so?

The Guru could well be enlightened and might be a total renunciate. His disciple might be a pretender or just another seeker of knowledge carrying a big baggage of sundry desires, dreams and aspirations of making it big in life. He may choose to use the name of a famous guru in order to satisfy his personal desires. Do you think the Guru asked him to do that? Do you think he is reflecting the Guru’s teaching? Do you think that we can blame the Guru for all the actions of his followers? The answer is a BIG and categorical “NO”.

Just like the father of the student was helpless in that given situation, every Guru is helpless in the case of his or her followers. What can a Guru do, if his disciple chooses to mis-interpret or deliberately twist the Guru’s teachings for his personal advantage? This is especially so when the mission grows and the Guru becomes a public figure. He is even more vulnerable. People approach him with multiple interests. Some come in search of guidance and to seek liberation. They are sincere seekers and a big rarity. Some come to obtain a mantra to achieve instant success, which is more common. Some come to see how he operates, which will help them set up their own shop at some point in time. There are many like this. They are collectors. They are after transferable knowledge and not non-transferable experience from the Guru. Some come to test the Guru. Some to compare one Guru with another, and to judge, criticize or ridicule. Some come because of simple things such as they like the food in the ashram or because their spouse cannot cook well. Some come to escape from their nagging realities. Some come because the girl or boy they love visits this Guru. Likewise, different reasons for different folks!!!

Seeking different nectars from different flowers!!!

As one famous model or actress said to a famous Guru “Your Holiness, I want to sleep with you.” The saint smiled and said, “Why sleep, my darling? I am trying to wake the sleeping people up!!!”. On this occasion, for the model, it is another feather in her cap, “I have also slept with a holy man!!!”. This could possibly give a morale boost for her public standing and her socio-commercial positioning. She may gain more space in the gossip columns and may attain more press coverage. For the Guru, it is usually scandalizing. He may get ruined. His reputation may get tarnished. This is especially so, if the Guru has worked hard to maintain uniformity in his image or cultivated an image of invincibility!!! For those who do not care about their public image, nothing matters.

How can the Guru help all the reasons of his disciples? He can only stay neutral at all times. Terrestrial entanglements are not worth it. Great saints may have become involved from time to time, but for specific reasons and purposes. For example Vyasa, Vishwamitra etc.

Whatever rises, must fall. This is the way earth’s gravitational forces work. Nothing can stay in the air for more than a reasonable time. No bird can stay in the air forever. It must rest its wings some time. So, if we expect happiness and upliftment all the time, it cannot happen. We have to go through the dualities of existence until we die. Or, until we are not worried about or bound by terrestrial sensory objects in order to find our fulfillment. If we are self- sufficient, that means, sufficiently established in self, we will be established in perpetual happiness.

Do not judge or criticise anyone – let alone a Guru or a spiritual teacher, because we do not or cannot know and understand anyone fully, nor do we know their karmic configuration which provokes their thoughts, words and actions. Ahimsa is the best path. Perfect Non Violence in thoughts, words and action. Do not judge a father by looking at his son. Do not judge any Guru by looking at his or her disciples. Guru can give only as much as a disciple can carry with him. If Guru is a flowing river and disciple has the capacity to carry only one glass of water, can we judge the guru’s capacity as one glass of water? Here, the disciple can publicly express his Guru’s stature only within his capacity and understanding, which is only one glass!!.

Awakening and Reflecting Divine Grace

Please understand this clearly. Guru is often limitless. Followers usually have tremendous limitations. Guru will indeed try to strengthen them to enhance their capacity. It is like body building. You cannot lift the weight beyond your initial or actual capacity, even if your instructor asks you to take or try more weight. Your instructor may lift the weight easily because of his experience. You have to work everyday and slowly increase your capacity. You need faith, tenacity, consistency, application and dedication. Same with spirituality. You cannot understand the consciousness of a Guru, overnight. It takes time and it definitely takes patience. Gurus exist in a much higher realm and the higher they go, the less street-smart they become. Their operational medium becomes unconditional love. When they cross over to spiritual realms and establish there, they stop depending on their body, mind and intellect. I am talking about sadgurus, the great masters. Acharyas are doing it for money. That is a different story.

So, do not judge a Guru based on the expressions of a disciple who operates with his limited body, mind and intellect. Live and Let Live.

The presence of a True Master is like the fire keeping the Tamas of cold away.

Q: Living in the presence of enlightened masters have been given so much importance in the Dattatreya, Kriya as well as Siddha tradition. In fact, all the tradition recommends living near a master. What is your opinion?

Ans: I have split your question into two. Both are good questions and most relevant in today’s time. It is true that the presence of a living master has a purgating, purifying effect in a receptive disciple. If the disciple is not receptive, even if the highest master is near him, it will not benefit him. Individual receptivity and eligibility or capacity for absorption is the key to gain maximum benefit from the proximity of a Guru.

The presence of a true Master is like the fire keeping the tamas of cold away, when you sit near the fire. The tejus of a true master will keep the Tamas away, the most detrimental factor in the spiritual progress. This helps the disciple to evolve faster. The proximity of the master is also a constant reminder to a worthy disciple. In his energy field, situations melt and the events flow through life, effortlessly. A true master can see and understand the constitution of a disciple and delivers only what he can consume. Wastage never happens. The same medicine cannot cure all diseases. A true guru will only prescribe the medicine the disciple actually needs, irrespective of whether it is sweet or bitter. When the intention is pure, then, the medicine works. Unshakeable Faith of the disciple in his guru is the key here. Shaking, wavering or shifting faith cannot bring clear results, just like if you keep shaking the glass, milk cannot be poured without spillage into it. So, living with a saint has its unique value. But, do not imitate the saint who has already attained enlightenment. Allow him to be himself and follow only his directions and teachings, without judging his attitude and behavior. Leave him alone and be yourself. Live and let live. 🙂

Q: I would like to know the most effective method of Shaktipat? Who can give saktipat? What is the criteria and I have read that one of the sign of a true Datta master is his ability to change one’s consciousness through delivering saktipat. Am I right?

Ans: You are right. The most effective Shaktipat happens in the presence of a real Guru. Many spiritual paths and masters use the technique of direct transfer of consciousness or at least energy. This is not only pertaining to the Datta tradition. Great Shaktipat happens in the presence and energy field of a true master. Introversion, silence of mind and surrender is a must, in a disciple, to attain it. An agitated and questioning mind, ego, analysis etc will close the doors of your receptivity. Just the master’s presence, look, eye contact let alone touch, will deliver what the disciple needs. It is like water flowing spontaneously from a hill to a lower land. In the presence of a true master, saktipat constantly happens. There is no need to get stuck with the word “Shaktipat”. Call it merger of consciousness, energy transfer, or cleansing energy or whatever you like. Words have lesser meaning in this context and effect is more important. Indeed, Datta tradition believes in Shaktipat or purification by a Master. A True Master can deliver Shaaktipat and all those whom he has empowered can also deliver saktipat. When those initiated take it lightly, or lose their purity, or mis-use it let alone scandalize it, the Siddhi comes back to the Master. Initiation into Shaktipat is just like re producing oneself in another. The initated has to become the initiator to perform, while delivering it. As I said, purity is very important and mixing and experimenting it with other methods, does not help. It even takes away the effect of Shaktipat.

A true master can deliver Shaktipat where ever the disciple is, irrespective of their physical proximity. Shaktipat can be delivered by a True Master through his third eye, look or touch. There are many occasions, in some paths, where Shaktipat, energy transfers, or initiations are done in waist-deep water, near fire, or even naked in burial grounds. In some method, depending on the level of blockage of a disciple, Masters deliver shaktipat straight at the Mooladhara chakra, or the space between the scrotum and anus, to jump start the dormant energy. These can be done only by True Masters who know exactly what they are doing. Otherwise, the blockage will get transfered to the one who performs it, which could be quite traumatic and binding.There are many methods. This is only for the academic interest that I have mentioned here. Mis-using of such powers will take it away from the user. It needs extreme internal purity, to deliver with perfection. In Datta tradition, the compassionate Masters remove many karmic blockages of all those who approach them through even a glance, applying vibhooti on their third eye, or by aashirvaad or through touch. It does change the consciousness of the receiver. It removes blockages existing in their system since life times.

Mohanji while giving Shaktipat. … the brightness and shine at the Third Eye is unmistakable.

Q: People hesitate to feed the poor and hungry, but they shower their riches at the feet of Gurus and in some temples. I cannot understand this. Why is God so cruel?

Ans: You are talking about people and why do you drag God into this arguement? Leave God alone. He is truth. He is compassion. He is benevolence. But, He allows you to choose your character, habits and constitution, and allows you to be natural. Has He ever interfered with your ugliest of thoughts? So, God is objective and impartial.

Now, people give money only for purposes that will benefit them in some way. Every investment has an expectation behind it. They want salvation, redemption from their sins, marriage of their daughter, removal of a damaging partner, so on and so forth. They approach Gurus and temples for this purpose. They give money there. True Gurus and Gods need no money. This is ideally recycled back into the society for the benefit of the poor and the hungry. This is the grand collaboration. Gurus and Gods collect the money offered at their feet and they deliver it back to the ailing mass, and use it for the betterment of the poor, needy and hungry, for the birds and animals etc. If this works this way, it is beautiful. Sometimes, greed interferes and the Gurus use it for expressing personal pomposity. They fall. When selfishness takes root, people fall, irrespective of their social standing. We have seen it happening all around us, many times over. Hope you understood this concept clearly.

Wish You the highest awareness.

Wish You Peace and Love,

M.

Unquote.