Connection to the real Master

Conversation with Mohanji from South America

Speaker: Good morning, Mohanji.

Mohanji: Nice to see you.

Speaker: Thank you so much Mohanji for being here with us. I’m so excited that I have a big smile, thank you again for being with us.

Mohanji: My pleasure, I am happy.

Connection with a spiritual family

Speaker: People are really very excited about being with you again. I tell them to connect to your heart, to connect to your eyes and then just to open themselves to your energy. Okay, so can we start with the questions?

Mohanji: I’m ready.

Speaker: Mohanji, as you know, Peru is one of the countries that is most hit in the world with the Covid-19 virus. We are still in a very strict lockdown with a curfew, and there are a lot of people who asked me questions about death because they have relatives, they have parents who died of Covid-19, and they have people around them who are suffering from it.

Actually, there were times when this country was number one in the world for the number of people dying on a day. Apparently, a lot of people have issues with the immune system, especially people from the jungle or from the mountains. The question is when people are dying from this or diseases like cancer, what can we say to the relatives, how can we ease their pain, especially when they are not spiritually oriented, or when they don’t have a deep connection with God?

Mohanji: I fully understand this. This situation is all over the world now. What makes or what brings pain is our connection to our parents, to our relatives, or other people? We feel a deep connection. We feel a kind of real bonding, and when they are not there, we feel devastated. This is irreplaceable. You cannot change it.

Let us take a scenario. If we have somebody unwell in our house, what will that person see? What they are suffering or what they are going through, you cannot change, because it’s already happening. But what would that person need from us, usually? They would need understanding, love, empathy, or companionship and support; these four things.

Expressing fear and sympathy may not work, because that will aggravate the situation. Expressing indifference also will not work, meaning ‘I don’t care’ that will not work. Just from your heart if you say and act accordingly, “I am with you, I love you, let’s fight it together” that will bring more power and energy to that person to fight; basically, survival is connected to a decision; to win the war.

Sometimes in such occasions, if you say God is helping you, etc., it may not work because the question they will ask is, then why did God give this to me first of all? So, let’s not talk about God too much. Let’s talk about us, as human beings, what we can do. We can make a big difference in society, and in people’s lives, with our attitude.

I get many messages from people not because they connect to me spiritually; because they say Mohanji, you are somebody whom we can trust. You are there like a rock, solid; you never change your mind. So, we love to see you; we love to connect with you because you are stable. Our stability is a very, very good gift we can give to our relationship, any relationship. Stability has a lot of value when everything else in the world is unstable. Many things in life now, in the world now we have no control, but we can choose to have an attitude of stability.

Moreover, in situations like Covid-19, most people you see are depressed; they’re not happy. If you meet ten people, and nine people are depressed, automatically you will feel depressed; because most of the energy exchange happening is taking you to a state of depression. This is to be very clearly understood – with whom you are interacting. It is important for you to connect to something stable, strong; you should make such friendships or connection to a person who’s very stable and strong; because you need somebody to hold on to so that you can give strength to other people.

This cannot be a picture on the wall; it should be a connection to a live person. I am not talking about God as such, but you need a person who is stable, so you can also be stable by connecting to that person; because this is important in today’s time. This is why I have been really working on connecting people globally as Mohanji family so that people can help each other to stabilise themselves. This has worked very well. So many of our people, whom Mirella you know already, are very stable despite things around not being stable. Bring a community together, not for activity; but for love.

The activity makes them come together easily, but the basis should be love. It is just simply staying together; just for the sake of love – togetherness and family. We all have our family; we were born in a particular family, and when we probably get married, it becomes a different family. In our life, different aspects of the family happen. But when you look back, you may see discontinuity many times and in many cases, but it is a family, which is connected unconditionally; it will never change; it’s always the same.

A spiritual family is very, very important. That is your immunity, and it’s your immunity in calamity. Here, the love is not conditional; if you are giving me something, I love you; it’s not like that, its love is unconditional. Whatever you are, whoever you are, it’s love that united us. And love will maintain us; love is our oxygen. Whatever you are, whoever you are, wherever you are from, whether you are rich or poor, whether you are educated or not educated, nothing matters. Just love, love brings everybody together.

During this time, we should know how to behave, because people will look at us. You are a spiritual person, and how will you be interacting with the world. Very simple – stability. Spirituality should be stability. When people look at you, and they see you being extremely stable; they may ask you, how can you be so stable, when everything is in calamities. That time you can say, “I have a family; that family is stable. I’m stable. This family needs nothing from me.” This is very important to understand, “My family needs nothing from me; I am everything to my family; my family is everything to me.” To have that connection, what do you need? Very simple, yesterday, today, tomorrow, day after, you should be connected the same way.

It’s very simple because all you need is consistency. Don’t keep changing your mind. Then you will be nowhere. In a time of calamity, stability and consistency have a lot of value. That tells you who you are and what you are. This is not to gain anything from anywhere. It is just to be immune to all the problems and calamities of the world.

And you should have deep conviction and faith. Conviction in what you believe in. You should believe in something, and you should have a firm conviction in what you believe, and you should have faith in that. What is the easiest and the most important thing in your life that you must believe in or you must have consistent conviction and faith in?

Maria: We have to trust in ourselves; some people say unconditional love; some people say love; some people say, love and family.

Mohanji: Good! Thank you for participating. The most authentic, the most original and the most reliable person you will ever find in your life is you. So, you should believe in yourself. You should have faith in yourself. You should have a deep conviction in yourself. This is very, very important. What is your investment in the family? Yourself, as you are.

What is your investment in society? In all your relationships, take anything. What is your investment? It’s you. Not something that you have, because that’s temporary; permanent investment is only you. So this is very simple, right? Not complicated spirituality, we don’t need complicated spirituality; it’s too much of noise. We need to know what the truth is. The truth is only you, only one thing; you.

When you were born, you realise there is a world around you, and when you die, the world is still around you, but you do not know there is a world. When you wake up in the morning, you know there is a world around you, and when you sleep, where is that world? So it’s all about you and your life. This is the secret. The secret is to find you and accept you and love you; self-acceptance, self-love, self-respect and then it goes into society. This is the only thing you can give to society.

What can I give you? Only myself. I cannot give another person; I cannot give any other thing which you may accept or reject. Society has only two faces, either they accept, or they reject. This is how the world works. So, what best can I give you is myself. When you see yourself in me, you will accept me. When you see me as a different person, you may reject me,  but if you see yourself in me, then you may accept me.

This is very important; this is the time to make the real family. The Covid situation has given you clarity. This is the real time to make a real family, stable family, together. It does not matter where you are living, but we can all be connected in energy; energetic connection. So there is something positive during Corona time.

Speaker: Just reading some of the comments… People who have never seen you, they say that they feel so much joy and happiness in their hearts.

Mohanji: It’s not seeing, we are connected, energy-wise we are related, and some people who are sensitive will feel it right away; immediately.

Spirituality and selfless service

Speaker: Mohanji, I would like if you could tell what is the relationship between spirituality and selfless service? Because there are a lot of people that just like sit and meditate, and that’s it. Then they tell me, but I’m meditating, and nothing is happening, what would you tell them?

Mohanji: Beautiful. We all have our orientation. We have a particular nature. We like some things, and we don’t like other things. What is that connected to? What is that based on? Our orientation, our being natural – naturality. So, that tells us that we have our original state or our originality; our naturality. We are original; we are natural; so we can only interact with the world, as we are. There’s no other way.

Likewise, we like certain subjects. Some people like science, some people like arts, some people like math, some people like to draw or paint. Some people like music. This is all connected to our orientation. The same applies to spirituality. Some people are very intelligent; they look at life through their brain; they need answers. Some people are very emotional; they see the world through their heart. And some people look at the outside world in the context of, what I can do for this world; and these people like to serve the world unconditionally. All these three people are spiritual.

In Sanskrit, for the intellectual or knowledge type people, it’s called Jnana Yoga. Jnana Yogis will want answers for every question; they will never be satisfied. Now, the other set is called Bhakti Yogis; they like the path of devotion. They like to pray and to have devotion as their path.  Then the other group is called Karma Yogis. Karma Yoga means they like to serve, and they have happiness because of service.

This is all purification, and everything helps purification; inner purification. Which is better? Which is not so good? Everything is good. So, what you are, that is how you will do, you will connect, nobody can change it.

PC: Google Images

Karma Yoga is selfless service, and when you do not have any desire with your activity, that means you don’t desire name, fame or money from this activity, it is called karma sanyaasa. That means renunciation; it’s like a person who has already given himself for it.

All of these are good. But, how you are, that’s the way you interact. Sometimes you are a mixture, you would like a little bit of chanting, you like to serve the society around you, and you may like to have some knowledge; so people have different mixtures. We are all different things.

This is the approximate picture. Let it be you, connect to yourself and what makes you peaceful, what makes you happy, what makes you contented, you can take that; you should follow that.

Don’t think what I’m doing is not right and what another person doing is right; it’s not so. What is good for you is good for you. This is a very simple benchmark. No comparison, no competition, because you are the truth. What you want to experience from the world is the reason for your birth.

Hanuman – The Disciple

Speaker: Alvaro, you remember Alvaro, who translated last time when we had a session; he’s organising an online yoga retreat, and he has a meeting with his team. He asked me how he can be like Hanuman?

Mohanji: Hanuman’s strength was his unshakable connection to Ram. It is not a vague idea; it is not to some invisible God. There was a man, whom Hanuman identified as an Avatar. He understood Ram is an Avatar and he dedicated his life to Ram completely; body, mind, intellect, and ego, everything to Ram.

First and foremost, we should know who we are connected to and why we are connected. Hanuman only concentrated on Ram. If you concentrate on one thing, continuously, consistently, you will become so powerful. Hanuman had full awareness. He told Ram, “I prefer to be your servant; so I can serve you. But please remember, inside, you and I are one; no separation.”

What happens today, the mind gets distracted; the mind is on many things – many people, many teachings, many books; so this concentration is not happening. That is why the result is not happening. When you concentrate on one Master, with all your heart, all your mind, body, everything connected, then you become the Master’s responsibility. Then you don’t have a responsibility, because you have already delivered yourself, which is what Hanuman did.

That kind of strength of being a disciple is missing in today’s world. It’s not easy. Because of the internet world, you see so many things, your mind is everywhere, and then the concentration is not happening, that’s why we are not progressing.

Hanuman had full clarity. This is very important for a clear disciple; full clarity. He knows this is Ram; this is an Avatar. I will not leave him, whatever happens. One point of contact is very important.

Focus on one thing! If that happens, and you are very clear, then you should avoid all doubts. Doubt is very dangerous because if you’re not sure, your mind is distracted. No doubt, no criticism, no comparison, just acceptance, this is my Master, I connect deeply.

Hanuman never asked Ram anything. He never asked Ram, “Please give me something.” He never asked, instead he served. Go ahead. You ask nothing from the Master, and you get the whole Master. When you have the whole Master, you have everything. When you ask something, it becomes too small. But Hanuman asked nothing, and he got Ram himself. Ram himself was his property. This is the strength of the relationship. When you want nothing from the other person, that relationship is so pure and innocent. Hanuman was fully aware of who Ram was. He had full clarity and awareness; clarity and surrender.

I keep always repeating, do not look at the Master as a human or a person. Look at the teachings, look at what he’s delivering, and then you will not be distracted. If you look at a Master, “Oh! He’s eating, drinking, sleeping; he’s just an ordinary man”, then we lose the track. This is a very big trap that we must understand when the Master is in the form of a person. If the Master is in the form of a person, you have to totally ignore the form and the related needs. You should look at the teachings and connect to the consciousness through the teachings; then you are stable. But if you’re looking at the person, you may be unstable. You understood this point.

Many people that time, connected to Ram as a king, as a warrior, as a husband of Sita, in various forms, various levels, people connected. But Hanuman connected to Ram as the Supreme Consciousness; this is the difference. He was not distracted by Ram eating, drinking, sleeping, talking and fighting. He was not distracted by anything. He was only connecting to him as consciousness. Just imagine, if you connect to a Master as only consciousness, you will become that. Where you park your mind, you become that.

Who is a Master? There is a Master inside all of us. Understand this very clearly. There is a Master inside all of us. The true education or true teaching is to bring that Master out. This Master is simply quiet, silent inside us. We all have a Master inside, our true Master.

In Sanskrit, it’s called Atma tattva, which means soul factor. We have a soul inside, that is the energy, which is stable and running just like electricity, which is going through all the gadgets. When the electricity goes to a washing machine, it performs as a washing machine. When the electricity goes to a refrigerator, it performs as a refrigerator. When the electricity goes to light, it behaves like light. But electricity is the same. Like that, inside us, inside all of us, we have this energy particle; energy factor. This energy factor is not visible. You cannot feel it with your gross mind. It activates our mind; it activates our senses; it activates our brain; it activates the whole body, just like electricity. But we can’t find it; we cannot see electricity, right? Just like that, we cannot find it.

So, how can you find it? How can you find the soul factor? Through silence. When you become silent; when you start accepting yourself, respecting yourself, loving yourself, connecting with yourself continuously for a period of time, then you start feeling the energy moving inside you. You can use Kriya, you can use meditation, you can use anything, you have so many methods. But the main thing is you are consistent. It’s about you. Catch one technique to come inside you. Go inside.

What is the aim of all these techniques? Why do we have meditation? Why do we have Kriya Yoga? It’s all to find the Master inside. Who’s the Master? Who’s the real Master inside us? You can use the knowledge path; you can use the devotion path; you can use the service path; it is all to find who our true Master is. When you really, really concentrate on yourself; going within, finally, you’ll find the Master – the soul factor, the energy factor, which is running your show.

Speaker: I’m sorry I was reading the question, and I didn’t hear. Could you repeat, please?

Mohanji: When you consistently concentrate on going inside, eventually you will find the Master inside; the soul factor which is running the show, which is making you function. If the soul goes from the body, we call it a dead body. Correct?

So, we are essentially this Master. We are the Master inside, but not the mind, or the ego Master. Ego tells us, “Oh! I’m better than other people; I’m a Master”, not like that. The real Master, the electricity inside, is making this whole thing function and experience the world. We find that person, and then you understood the Master. When you have actually understood your Master, you have become a Master. Very simple.

That means when you have understood the source inside you; the source which is activating you, making you function, making you experience the world, once you see that person, or see that energy, you have understood the real Master inside you, then you become the Master. So, somebody who has understood the Master, the real Master inside, He is a Master. The answer to the question, who is a Master – somebody who has recognised, understood, experienced the Master inside, is a Master.

Ram was an avatar. He came with full awareness. He knew why he was born, what was his job, what he was supposed to do, he knew the purpose of life. He knew who he was, so he was a Master. Since Ram knew his purpose of existence, he lived only that. Since Ram had full clarity about his existence, and about his life; in every twist and turn, in every level, he understood. And he was cool about it. He was not affected.

When you have clarity, you become cool. When you have confusion, you become angry, you become upset, you start hating and all those things. Whenever you have confusion, think about somebody sitting inside you, who has no confusion. The Master sitting inside is cool always.

Coming back to Alvaro’s question, you want to be like Hanumanji. First, create one point of contact. Remove all your doubts, confusions, jealousy, all those things connected to that and focus on that contact. Imagine Hanuman is your mind; when the mind is connected to the source, the mind becomes the source.

When the mind is connected to an addiction, then the mind becomes an addiction. The mind nurtures and holds addictions. If your addiction is your Master, 100% sure, you will become the Master. But you should not doubt; you should not blame. You should not compare, criticise, judge. Take your time to find the Master; you can take any number of years to find the Master. But once you find him, stay connected; make the Master your addiction. That means your heart, your soul, your body is given to the Master, and then you become the Master. That is why Hanuman became so powerful. In Hanuman’s case, it is said that even the hair on his body was chanting Ram, every cell had Ram inside. Ram, Ram all the time; that is addiction. Totally addicted to the Master!

Many people like to connect to a Master who is not in a physical body. What is the problem with connecting to somebody who is not in the body? Somebody who is not in the body, who has died and gone, but we know his teachings, we hear his teachings through books. When we connect to that kind of Master, what is the main problem? It is okay, it is not a problem for the sake of living, but for transformation, for connection, what is the problem?

The teachings that we know of a great Master today are usually interpretations. That means 30% is teaching, 70% is interpretation, imagination. It may not be the same what the Master said. The original teachings, nobody knows. Interpretations are what we listen to. Based on interpretations, people who are talking, or people who are interpreting may not have the same frequency as the Master. As I said earlier, in every generation, there are Masters who have mastered or who have understood ‘who is the Master’, experienced the real Master inside us. The Masters of the past are definitely authentic. Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, they are all authentic. And the Masters who have found themselves in this life also, are authentic. So it is your choice, preferably connect to somebody in the body, so that they can tell you where you’re going wrong easily. And it is the toughest to connect to a living Master. Mirella, can vouch for it.

Speaker: Yes.

Mohanji: What happens when you connect to a real Master directly? Your identifications, which is maintained by the ego, starts breaking. So, the fastest track is always through a living Master, but I’m not saying that a non-living Master is inferior. Not at all. They are good but follow your own heart, not the interpretations.

If you really like to be Hanumanji, you should be steadfast, clear in connection. Nothing else matters; nothing else. Only Ram matters, only the Master, your own connected Master, and that Master should be Ram for you. If you’re Hanumanji, who you are connected to should be Ram. Not that he is Ram, but the same way, and focus. And then you become that, become the Master, then you become very powerful, and you will know that; all your ego is lost. You have become completely free; you will experience tremendous power and freedom.

Now the question. What’s your question?

Speaker: Javier and Krishna have asked these two questions. It is about ego. If the ego is there, it is not helping us to find the Master that is within us, and what to do with a mind that is jumping all around and it’s very difficult to concentrate on one Master?

Mohanji: That’s a habit; pattern. We talk about not being able to concentrate, mind running after something; these are patterns which we have created. You need to tame your mind. You need to concentrate on one person, one method, one practice, one teaching, one path based on your orientation, what suits you.

Ego is there for everybody. You cannot run away from the ego. Ego is part of our system. Surrender your ego to the Master. “I leave it to you.” That is why a living Master has value. Master will squeeze your ego, and make you free. You can only follow what suits you; otherwise, it will not work.

If you are in the path of knowledge, you can only follow a Guru in the path of knowledge. Some people can only follow devotion, bhakti, that is their path. Some people can follow service, that is their path. We are all a mixture. What is predominant in you, that’s your right path. Understand what you are, what is your orientation; this is very important. Then you walk the path. And where you have parked your mind, that’s what you will become.

Understand this clearly. All our life, we are making prison cells for ourselves, our activity, our relationship, our possessions, our positions; they have made prison cells for us, they have bound us. Every relationship has restricted or made our boundaries, restricted our walking space. Every possession and position has restricted us. Can you see that? If you look at all our lives, whether you’re working, whether you are a family person, whether you are in a society, whatever you are, all these name and fame, and the possessions and positions, they all made us cages, prison cells. So, it is our job to be free. This is your spirituality.

Being free is spirituality. It doesn’t mean that we are not in the society, we do not have possessions, and we do not have positions; but having the awareness that this is not what we are. We are free in silence, and the only thing that is free inside, which is enjoying the freedom, is the soul factor.

A true Master will never bind you. The real relationship, which gives you freedom is your relationship with a true Master. Don’t compare a cult with the true path. This is a different path. One is towards brightness; one is binding. A cult is binding; they bind people with fear. We have to be free from all fears. A true spiritual path is a path of freedom. A true spiritual path brings you to yourself. A true Master brings you to yourself. That is the true path. So it’s easy to understand what is a true path and what is a cult. A cult binds you with fear. Here, there is no fear. You don’t have to be afraid of yourself, and you are the path.

So, to be Hanuman, very easy, is to be connected, permanently. If you want to be a Master; there are two ways. One is to connect to somebody, who has found the Master inside and settled in that awareness, or you have to find it yourself inside. Both are okay.

Speaker: I’m receiving messages that we should finish. We are 35 minutes over your time.

Mohanji: Is there a burning question? Is there a very important question? I would like to answer and then go.

Self-acceptance

Speaker: Yes, there is a burning question. She wrote to me several times here, and it is about how to accept myself 100%.

Mohanji: The simple answer is, you have no choice. You are the only person whom you cannot avoid. You are the only person whom you cannot escape from. If you understand that real freedom is freedom from the senses and not freedom of the senses and the mind, you will start accepting yourself better.

Real freedom is freedom from the senses and the mind; that means you’re not tempted by too many things outside. You are happy with what is inside, your Atma Tatwa, or principles.

The second level is gratitude, very, very powerful. When you start appreciating electricity, water, food, and everything like oxygen, start having gratitude for everything in your life, then you start appreciating yourself also. Take one decision. You will not take anything for granted.

Maria Rosa has a question.

Duality

Speaker: How to overcome duality that we have in those moments when we lose the connection with our Master?

Mohanji: Well, it’s always like that. We have to come back consistently. There will be times when you are detached, again, you come back. Again, you detach automatically, and again you come back. This journey is like that. It cannot be a hundred per cent consistent in the beginning. After a while, your top priority becomes the Master. Your only connection will be to the Master, or your only interest is the Master, then you become the Master, then you don’t have duality.

Mohanji: Clear? Is Maria Rosa happy?

Speaker: Perfect. Oh yes.

Speaker: Thank you so much Mohanji. It’s been an enormous pleasure. I think this conversation is going to help a lot of people. Thank you so much.

Mohanji: Love you all. At the end of the day, only love remains.

Please check the video link here

Transcribed by Seema Jamakhandi

Proofread by Shyama Jeyaseelan

Spirituality v. Religion

Hello friends, welcome to Mohanji Speaks. Today, I would like to read out a very meaningful message, which was forwarded to me. I liked it very much. So I thought I’d share it with you.

A learned man was once asked to explain the difference between religion and spirituality. His response was profound.

Religion is not just one, there are many.  Spirituality is one.

Religion is for those who sleep- spirituality is for those who are awake.

Religion is for those who need someone to tell them what to do and want to be guided- spirituality is for those who pay attention to their inner voice.

Religion has a set of dogmatic rules- spirituality invites us to explore within and get attuned to the Universal rules.

Religion threatens and frightens – spirituality, gives inner peace.

Religion speaks of sin and guilt – spirituality leads us on the path of emancipation.

Religion represses everything, which it considers false – spirituality transcends everything; it brings us closer to our truth.

Religion invents – spirituality helps us to discover.

Religion does not tolerate any question – spirituality encourages searching questions.

Religion is human, it is an organization with rules, made by men – Spirituality is divine without human rules; it leads us to the causeless cause.

Religion divides between us and them – spirituality unites.

Religion follows the concepts of a sacred book – spirituality seeks the sacred in all books.

Religion feeds on fear – spirituality feeds on trust and faith.

Religion makes us live in external reality – spirituality lives in our inner consciousness.

Religion deals with performing rituals – spirituality has to do with the inner self.

Religion feeds our internal ego – spirituality drives us to transcend beyond self.

Religion makes us renounce the world to follow a God – spirituality makes us live in God, without renouncing our existing lives.

Religion is a cult – spirituality is inner meditation.

Religion fills us with dreams of glory in paradise – spirituality makes us live the glory and paradise on earth.

Religion lives in the past, and in the future – spirituality lives in the present.

Religion creates cloisters in our memory – spirituality liberates our consciousness.

We are not human beings who go through a spiritual experience we are spiritual beings who go through a human experience.

Friends, these are very important thoughts. I liked them very much. Whoever compiled it, they are beautiful. Think over it; listen to it again and again. Try to understand and assimilate.  It will do a world of good to you.

I leave you with these thoughts. Have a great day and a great week ahead. Lots of love. This is Mohanji for you.

Transcribed by Ulla Bernholdt

Proofread by Vidya Rajagopalan

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Focus on Purpose not People

During a casual discussion regarding an organisational matter, Mohanji responded with great intensity about the need to focus on one’s purpose in life and steer clear of all kinds of emotions and emotional entanglement. He reiterated the need to use the clarity based on our purpose in life to respond to situations, people, and so on. This is a very valuable perspective that we believe is applicable to all of us who are on the spiritual path. Mohanji’s words follow… 

When we get closer and closer to our soul, divisions do not exist. We only see the purpose. What is purpose? Our purpose in life. It’s not about people (read: minds swayed by emotion). When we concentrate on people, purpose is lost. When we concentrate on purpose, people (and their fluctuating minds) lose importance. That is how I’m operating.

The world operates in only two ways. They either praise us or they criticise us. We don’t have to entertain both. The moment we get involved in either of these, we have to use our mind. Then we have to do a balancing act. What do we lose in the bargain? Purpose!

Someone called me yesterday and said that she was feeling down. I asked, “Why are you feeling down? You don’t have to feel down. During my work for this mission, many people have come and gone. Many people tried to put me down and pull me down but I always kept my focus on my purpose. I never based my life on people or their fluctuating minds. They are here today, gone tomorrow. When we focus on purpose, it gives us immunity, it gives us clarity, it gives us momentum. Otherwise, whenever somebody praises or criticises us, we can lose our track.”

Lack of alignment is connected to emotions. Minus emotions, alignment is perfect. When we do spiritual practice, we get aligned at some level. Then, we get into emotions and get entangled in the associated drama. It is like pouring water in a bucket (through spiritual practices) and then punching holes (through emotions) in the bucket that drain the water away.

Understand the world. Look at how the world operates between praise and criticism, between acceptance and condemnation. They will either say we are great or we are bad. We have nothing to do with all this. What is our purpose? My purpose is very clear. My purpose is to elevate people’s awareness, to raise their consciousness to the level where they can become one with the Ultimate Reality or get close to that state. All my activities are connected to this purpose. If I have to give food, I give food. If I have to give awareness. I give awareness. If I have to give a meditation, I give a meditation. Whatever it takes, I give it.

We have an inherent interest for praise. We become very happy, when people praise us. What gets happy? What part of us gets happy? Ego gets happy. Ego is always waiting. Ego says, “If somebody is praising me, I’m happy.” Thus, we make sure that praise happens, just to satisfy your ego. Understand it’s a trap. When people praise me, “You’ve done a great job. You rescued somebody from death.” Is there a change in my face? Do I get excited? Never. I surrender the praise at the feet of the Ultimate Reality. I have nothing to do with it. Similarly, if ten people say, Mohanji is very bad. I am fine with that too. It is their opinion and they are welcome to have it. I don’t have to buy into it.

The world is full of opinions. It’s up to you whether you should take it or not. That’s what I told the person who called me, “People can talk anything they want. Would you take it? Would you accept it? Would you believe in it? If you believe you are bad, then you’re finished. You’re neither good nor bad, or you’re both. Accept it that way. Otherwise when somebody says something, you will have to change yourself to suit their opinion When will you stop? Finally, you won’t have anything. Your whole life gets wasted endlessly satisfying others.”

We should look at the world differently. That’s the bottom line. People bring emotions. Why should we buy it? It’s like a vendor comes to us and says, “I’m going to sell you old rotten fish.” We say, “Oh, poor guy”, feel sympathy and buy it. What happens? The whole house stinks. People can bring stinking stuff. We don’t have to buy it. They can keep their stink. Let us keep our house clean.

I only have a problem when people become vicious and they obstruct my activity. That’s the only time I have to do something because I have to complete the activity to fulfil my purpose. If my path is blocked, the block has to be removed. It’s not about people. I don’t focus on people. I look at the result. It’s not for my personal comfort. Every situation should be handled this way. Purpose, purpose and purpose. Not people, people and people. That’s why when people complain about other people, I try to play it down, tell them to let it go and end that discussion.

That is why I told the person who called me, “Don’t get involved in this emotional drama because you delay your progress inside. You fall for these kinds of things. You tend to put everybody on your head and pamper them. What do you end up with – a lot of asses on your head. Look at the world and see how it works. Then it’s your choice whether you want to fall into these traps or not.”

Today in the internet age, we have many options on the spiritual path and a lot of information. There are people who are always posting about various Masters and their quotes. It only suggests that they may be intelligent or know a few things. But that is only for the outer world. What about their inner world? Nothing is happening – same insecurity, same fears, same old baggage. How does inner world change? When one’s integration with one’s Master is firm. When you are plugged in, the electricity comes. When you do not plug in, you don’t get electricity which means internally, no alignment. It is easy to see. Very easy. I only deal with those people who have that intensity. If there’s nothing to do, why should I bother? Unless there’s something to do, why should we waste time? It may sound rude but this is the truth.

Some people cannot accept destruction of their comfort zones. What will they do? They will go, because, getting out of their comfort zones is a violation for them. Let them go. The path of Liberation is a path of fire. Not everyone can handle its fast pace and momentum. When comfort zones are affected, people who are not ready for change will leave us because this is not their cup of tea. They will go. What can we do? We cannot change our speed because of other people. The path of Liberation does not allow that. It expects things to be done when they need to be done. Not before. Not after. I have clarity. I have an agenda. I know where I’m going. I know what I am doing. I know why I’m doing it. Then if somebody says, “It disturbs my comfort zone. I want to procrastinate. This is my pace. I don’t want to do it this way.” I say, “Don’t do it. Who has said that you should be with me? I never said that.” If you are with me, then I have a responsibility to take you to the Ultimate Reality or take you closer to that state. If you’re not with me, I have no responsibility for you. That is less work for me. I am happy.

When one is plugged in, electricity has to come. When you’re with me, when you’re connected to me, when you are plugged into me, it automatically becomes my responsibility. So, understand this world is dual, happiness and sorrow, praises / contempt, and so on. How much do you want to get involved? There is only one knowledge and one wisdom. What is knowledge? Awareness of the soul. Knowledge is knowing there is a soul. Wisdom is being the soul. That is the difference. Knowledge means that there is some energy inside you which is operating you. Then how do you know that is operating? You get closer beyond all this emotional circus and then you get connected with your own soul and then you realise or you feel the soul. You experience it, then it becomes wisdom. Until then there is no wisdom. Experience becomes wisdom. Experiential wisdom is required. Mere knowledge is not enough.

The worst stupidity we have is the concept of sacrifice. Sometimes, we feel we sacrificed our life for another. We gave up our life for somebody. Yet, I have not seen anyone sacrifice. What is the reality of this so called sacrifice? When we can’t really make it with our life, we decide to make someone else’s life in the bargain. Nobody wins. We can’t walk so we help the other person to walk. So what happens? We fall down, the other person falls down and we claim that we made a sacrifice for them. This is the kind of world we’re living in. The word sacrifice is a very funny word. It has literally lost its meaning. First of all, we are stupid and now we are announcing our stupidity to the world. If we become stable that is the right thing to do for the other person. If we say, “I connected to myself, I attained myself and then I delivered that stability to the other person”, it makes sense. We did well.

There is nobody in the world who’s not selfish. We shouldn’t be selfish for the things outside – for something in someone’s pocket or in their yard. Anyways, we are all selfish. At least, let us be selfish to find ourselves. We use our selfishness and our time to find ourselves. This is a good way. Then what we give to the world is quality.

Be authentic, be yourself

Hello, my dear friends. Welcome to Mohanji Speaks. Hope you are doing well. And I hope you’re enjoying the podcasts of the past.

Today, I have a question and this is based on my quote, “Never be apologetic to anyone for being natural and being your true self because you cannot be anything else, authentically.” This is a quote, based on an idea ‘On being yourself.’ So, the question that was asked is, “Can you please explain this?” Maybe this question brings out ego in people and they say, “I am like this, take it or leave it.”

This quote is very true. You cannot be apologetic for being yourself because you are unique; you are neither high, nor low, nor equal to anybody. You are unique. Having said that questions such as these come up; how would you work in the world? How is your disposition in the world? What is the right method? When you are operating from a place of humility, respect, kindness, compassion, unconditional love, and selflessness, there is no way you can go wrong. You do not have to be apologetic for being yourself because you’re yourself, and that’s how the world will look at you. And that’s the flavour you’re adding to the world. You can’t add any other flavour, because everybody else is already taken. So, your best expression is your natural expression in the world. Your best presentation is of yourself, your natural self without prejudices, without masks, and without pretensions.

 

When you are in this world as yourself, totally, you are actually placing your mark on Earth. People love others when they are being themselves. Not everybody will accept. It is certain that not everybody accepts all that we do. Some people will like it. Some people will dislike it. Whatever we do, there will be opinions. The world is full of opinions and opinions are based on individual views, individual ideas, concepts and theories and many other things.

The world is not unbiased; society is not unbiased. Why is it so? That is because society is looking at people through its eyes, through its spectacles. In this situation, what is the best you can do? The best way to approach it is to be yourself, with all your authenticity, your authentic self, which means your total self. You display your complete self, which is the highest of human potentials, such as compassion, kindness, Ahimsa which means nonviolence and respect. Respect, this means respect for everything; even a cup of water is respected, people are respected, everything on is earth is respected. If you live your life like this, your total authenticity will be well accepted. Arrogance will not be accepted. No one likes arrogant and egoistic people, those who are difficult to handle. You know, they sometimes are very tough to handle, because they are full of ego, pride, anger. You don’t like such people, right? Please stay away from them. You know, as such we are also always in a revenge mode, we are against things, we are fighting things and we do not accept things; we are at loggerheads with people and situations. When we are operating continuously and consistently in this manner, society will avoid us and say, “They are crazy people!” Or call one a crazy man. This is very important to understand. People accept you according to your disposition. Being rude, arrogant and unkind, doesn’t take one far in this world. But being kind, being compassionate, being loving, being respectful being humble, helps. So, your disposition is very important.

There is no compromise here. Good words, caring and nice conversations, humble and respectful behaviour, these carry a lot of weight. But at the same time, I still insist; never be apologetic to anyone for being natural, because it is your birthright to be natural. You are natural by birth and being your true self is important because you cannot be anything else. You are authentic, you have to be authentic. You are unique, you have to be unique; you will be unique; you will remain unique and authentic.

With this thought, I leave you to think it over. Discuss, if you like, amongst your friends and share it as much as you can and try to make the world a better place.

Lots of love. This is Mohanji.

 

Transcribed by Ulla Bernholdt

Proofread by Vidya Rajagopalan

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Real Freedom

Hello, my friends. Welcome to Mohanji Speaks.

We have discussed about the unrest and the anger that spilled over into the streets of America. We’ve talked about racism, we talked about discrimination, and we talked about masters and slaves. This podcast is to discuss about who the real master is and who the real slaves are. We have always discussed about freedom at various levels, various dimensions. Time and again, various people have spoken about the need for freedom. We have fought for freedom. We have waged wars for freedom. And when freedom of movements is restricted, we have become violent.

But what exactly is freedom? Have we thought? We believe that freedom means freedom of senses, freedom of mind, and freedom of body. This is what we understand. That means, we do have the freedom to do what we like to do. But real freedom is freedom from the senses, freedom from the mind, and freedom from the body. This is your food for thought today. Real freedom is freedom from all the aspects that we consider as ourselves, such as the body, mind, intellect, ego, and the senses. When we are bound by them, we don’t have freedom. The freedom that we have fought for is that freedom where our movements are restricted. Body, mind, intellect, senses are all restricted and ego is affected. That’s the freedom that we fought for. That’s the freedom that we waged wars for. So, if we really, really have to experience freedom, we have to experience freedom from our senses, mind, and the body. That’s real freedom. The senses, the mind, and the body would like to roam on sensory objects in the outside world, fulfilling desires at every point in time. They seek fulfillment. The body seeks fulfillment, the mind seeks fulfillment, the intellect seeks fulfillment, and the ego seeks fulfillment. Senses help that. This is the freedom that we have been talking about. And we thought this is the freedom that we need. But is that so?  Think!

When we are away from desires, when we are away from the need for sensory satisfaction all the time, when we are contented inside, when we are away from the compulsions of the body, mind, intellect, and the ego, when we are fully settled and satisfied – that is freedom, beauty and peace of our soul. We do not need any external objects; we do not need any external factors, such as relationships, time, space, conveniences. We don’t need any of those, because we are fully settled inside.

So, real freedom is freedom from the mind. When we do not have to chase sensory objects, we are free. The ability to do something or be somewhere is not exactly freedom. But because we are connected to the body, because we believe we are this personality, we believe that experience, but that’s not it. This is an important thought. So, who are the masters? There is only one master – yourself. Who are the slaves? We become slaves when we are slaves to the wrong masters, such as the mind, body, intellect, and ego. Spirit is always free. Spirit has nothing to do with our completions and fulfillments. The spirit is free. The soul is free. The soul has nothing to do with us. It’s always stable, peaceful, settled inside. And when we settle inside along with the soul, we become the soul. We are also peaceful. There is nothing outside of us. Or there are many things outside of us, but they do not interest us anymore. But if you are fully settled inside, just like the soul who does not interfere in your satisfactions and completions, you will also be disconnected and detached from all these things outside. But you will be there in everything, detached and unaffected. Just like your soul. You can do anything you like but the soul is detached and disconnected. We will be like that. That’s real freedom.

So, if you really want to be a master, you’ve got to be yourself. You cannot be your mind, intellect, ego, and body, and still say you are free because that’s not freedom. If you really understand this freedom, you have understood the truth of existence. This is the truth.

I leave you with this thought today. Ponder on it. Think it over. Discuss this matter. And as you discuss more, you will get more and more awareness.

I wish you happiness, fulfillment, and settlement inside yourself.

Lots of love, this is Mohanji.

 

Transcribed by Ulla Bernholdt

Proofread by Shyama Jeyaseelan

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Silence Speaks – part 2

Satsang with Mohanji in Begrade, Serbia
13th October 2019

Watch the full satsang here.

PART 2

Q: What is your recommendation about the emptiness one feels after a loss. Should one grieve or ignore, or how to deal with it?

M: I’ll tell you my experience. When I lost my daughter in a road accident, it was very serious pain. I thought it was the end; I was very close to her. But then, when people started coming to the house and seeing me, they were expecting me to be sad for a long period of time. I then realized that this was my personal sorrow and that in fact, none of these people had anything to do with it. Why should I be a victim of someone’s sympathy? It paralyzes you. I refused the sympathy, because it was a personal sorrow, it was a completely personal issue. Also I refused to indulge in self-pity. Both of them paralyze you. You are thinking and nurturing sorrows because you love to be in that state.

Instead what I did was, I moved into serving the world in her name, in my daughter’s name. It has been sixteen years since then now. In many countries, ACT Foundation and Ammucare are functioning. See, there is a T-shirt here, ACT Foundation. How many lives have we touched? It’s not my merit, it’s not my power. It’s the intention. The power of intention made it. I decided that I will not remain a victim and receive sympathy or nurture self- pity. Instead,  I moved into the world; there was opposition, there were many obstacles. People tried various things to pull me down, and when I started this in 2003, some people, even authorities asked, “Do you have a lot of money?” I said, ”No“.  “Do you have somebody with a lot of money with you?” I said “No“. “Then this will not run even for one year”, they said. Now, sixteen years later, I can definitely say, “It ran! It did touch many lives. It’s still touching many lives.” How much it has grown and who received benefit from it, I don’t know, I never counted it. Recently somebody asked me, “What is the success behind ACT Foundation?” I said, “I never owned it. I delivered it to the world. The world is running it. People of the world are running it“.

In 2003, when they asked me the question, “What is your investment?” I said, “Myself“. I don’t have anything else to invest. I have only myself to invest, and I invested myself. Until today, I have never called up anybody asking for money. I never told anyone, “You must do something in ACT Foundation.” Never! Money has come. Activities have happened. Life has happened this way. Today, my daughter still lives, in many countries, through many people.

You can convert every loss into something powerful and positive. This is up to you. This is your disposition. If you sit down and cry, drink alcohol, pity yourself, nobody gains anything out of it; in fact life is lost. One life is already lost, and your life will be also lost. This is my answer.

I would say never waste your life, because you are unique in this world. There is none like you. You are a unique creation. You are neither high nor low or equal, you are unique, and there is nobody like you. You must use your uniqueness in the right way, as best as possible and make a difference in the world. Why not? Why do we have to just live and die? Keep shining bright!

When I wake up in the morning each day,  I say a prayer, “Thank you for using me.“  I do not take ownership. I really don’t have any extra powers as compared to any of you. But I refuse to lie down and die. It is not always easy, because sometimes people are very cruel toward us. Even if you are doing good things, they will come and say something very dirty and bad. They want you to slow down. You must get up and walk again.  Because it is your life! Nobody else is responsible. It is our life. We have to walk. Keep walking. And don’t expect inspiration from those outside. You should have inspiration from within.

We have to be self-inspired, there is no choice. Don’t expect anything from outside, because many times when you expect that, you get the opposite. They try to pull you down. They try to tell you that you are not good; they try to tell the world that you are not good. They do all these things. This is part of life. You watch anyone who has done anything in this world; people have accused them, criticized,  and even crucified them. This is the world. You have to live in this world. You have to live as yourself in this world.

What can you depend on? The purity of intention within you. Your intention should be always pure. You should always mean good for others. Whatever others do to you, don’t worry about that. Be good to  people. Do your best. I always make sure that if somebody comes to me I do my best; whether they are eligible, not eligible, good, bad, ugly, I don’t look at. We don’t have time for that. We don’t have time to waste. Each breath that we take on earth is valuable. This platform is valuable; that is, the earth is valuable. We don’t know how long we will live here. So, what we can do? Do your best; forget about applauses, hatred or criticism. Let everything be. You do your best. Don’t expect that everybody will appreciate. That is a big problem. If you expect people to appreciate and if they don’t appreciate, you will stop doing things. That is not good.

Sometimes, when I almost decided it is a thankless world, I should not do anything, then she (referring to Devi) was saying, “Keep moving, move! “ So I said, ok. When some people criticize for what we do, I tell them, “Can you do something better than this, I will support you?” They vanish. I realized that many people who talk, do nothing. They just talk, they don’t have any initiative for doing anything; even taking this piece of paper from one place to another, they won’t do. But they criticize those who do. So I say,” You do it better than me, no problem, I will support you.” I would like to see positive activities happening in the world; it is not important who does it, let it happen. But it doesn’t happen. So, what should you do? Keep walking. Don’t slow down. Don’t stop.

One more thing you can be sure about. Those who connect to you with their mind will not stay long. They change their mind. Those who connect to you from their heart will never leave. You can trust them. These are the people who will walk with you, whatever happens, they will never leave you. These, you can trust. Keep walking. They will walk with you. Night or day, winter or sunshine, it doesn’t matter, they will walk with you.

That is why Buddha created  his  entire empire with five people. So many people came to see him. Five people stayed. So many people came to listen to Jesus, twelve people stayed. It is the same with everybody. All those who do something in the world, do not have many to support them. Many will come to see, but not to support; a few people will support, and they really will. That is enough to build the world. This is the long story, but  it is important to understand, because I do not accept that you are weak, that something is impossible. These are things that I don’t understand. I always say, “There will be a way.“ Everything has a method. If you have the key, there is a lock; if you do not put the key in the right place you cannot open the lock. So, there is a right place, a right method to do things, find that thing. It will happen. I do not agree that something is impossible in life. If you ever feel weak, remember me, I will be with you. If nobody is with you, I will be with you. This is guaranteed.

Q: Do you enjoy being worshiped and feeling that you are special or above others?

M: I think she (referring to Devi) can truly reply to this question.  

(Laughter in the audience)

Please understand one thing. There is nothing special in me. But if somebody feels that they get satisfaction by praying to me, worshipping  me, loving me or hating me, I accept it as it is, because at the end of the day, it is about their satisfaction. I will never ask anyone to worship me, because it is of no interest to me. If somebody says,” I have to worship you,” I say, “Ok, do it,“ because it is for them.

Understand that different types of people meet me each day. Each person has his or her own favorite expression or style; who am I to deny it? But if I demand it, it is a different story. I never demand it. I never ask for it. I do not look at myself as special, to be really honest. I think that everybody is myself. Why do you worship another person? Worship yourself. This is what you should do. But somebody says, “You are amazing, I want to worship you, I become happy.” Then I say, “Please, go ahead“. Some people write poetry about me, they feel happy. Some people hate me, they get happy. I agree to everything,  so that they are satisfied in their life in their own way. Do you understand?

It is not just me, anyone who is aligned or stabilized, even you, will become like a powerful magnet, whether you like it or not. And that is because of only one reason,  you are aligned; your mind, intellect, body, ego, spirit, everything is together. When you look, everything looks, then every activity becomes powerful; you become attractive. It is not that you are doing something, you become like that. A magnet does not have to decide to become a magnet; it is a magnet. It attracts people; each person responds in different ways; as they are. We don’t interfere in this. People wrote the Aarati, I didn’t say anything. Some people wrote thousand names for me; everything is allowed. I have never depended on any of these things. If I depend on them, then I become addicted to somebody. Then if somebody does not do it, I would become sad. I am happy and I don’t want to compromise on my happiness.

I am sure that some of you definitely experienced in this lifetime, when you become totally aligned, you realize one thing: whatever you learned from the outside world, has no value. Secondly, the inside world is empty. When you have no outside world, and inside world, what are you? You are everything. You are all over.  In that kind of a situation, the only thing you feel all the time is that you know nothing. You are totally empty and free. You are  not bound by the emotions, or the devotion, or anybody.

Now, when you are like that, how will people respond to you, we don’t know and we cannot say, nor we can deny. People respond according to what they are. Some people feel a lot of love, some people love devotion, some people feel various things. Anyway, nothing will bind you. You are already free. You have chosen freedom. You are not dependent on someone’s emotion for your life. The remote control of your happiness is definitely not in the hands of someone else, it is in your hands. So you don’t change the channel often. If it is in someone else’s hand, they keep changing the channel; sometimes they are angry, upset, happy or sad; these will not affect you. But at a certain point in time, nothing affects you. The last point is you look at everybody as yourself; all are your relatives, all are your soulmates, there is no difference. Then, whether they worship or deny, hate or do whatever, how does it matter? When you love somebody, and they betray you, sometimes you feel the pain. Then you feel, “Ok, let them have their enjoyment at your cost. No problem.”

I will definitely recommend worshiping one person, in one lifetime, who is that? J YOU. Because you are a wonderful creation, understand that. Because you are an amazing creation, why not worship yourself? This includes self-acceptance, and love. So, instead of worshiping something outside of you, you must worship yourself and appreciate this creation called You in this lifetime, otherwise you will lose a lifetime. If you don’t worship me, I lose nothing. But if you don’t worship yourself, you will lose one lifetime.

Don’t feel that God is looking for your worship. God is busy. The whole Universe belongs to Him. Look at ourselves from the moon? We are like tiny ants here. We pray to God and God becomes happy? Understand the God in you and behave like God through love. Unconditional love. That makes you one with God. What you need to know is that you are the Supreme Consciousness in small bodies; from outer space we appear like tiny ants, ants walking around with big ego.

Q: How important it is to have living spiritual master?

M: Dangerous! How does it feel to live with a mad man? (Laughter)

It depends on you. If you are ready to break your ego into pieces, then there is nothing better than that. If you want to hold on your ego, but if you want to break the master to pieces… (laughter) Both ways it is a good idea. (Laughter) If Master breaks your ego into pieces, then you become free. If you break the Master into pieces, the world becomes free. (Laughter)

Is that clear? Good idea or bad idea? (Laughter)

It is very unpredictable to be with a living Master because his law is the law of dharma, not the social law.  He lives as per what has to be done, not what he loves to do. What you have to do is his  priority, not what you love to do. But, those who operate from the mind, their priority is what they love to do, not what they have to do. This is the main difference.

When you live with a Master, who only does what he has to do, because he can see through the destiny path, the karmic configuration, he will only do what he has to do, which might be shocking for you, because you have already boundaries, concepts, ideas, understandings and you decided that this is the way to go. He breaks the rules. It really tilts you. Sometimes, he shakes you. Sometimes you become scared. It is not as easy as you think; but if you are man enough to handle it and to allow your ego to be torn into pieces, then nothing better than that.

So now you know why she lives in Slovenia and I live in India. (Laughter) When you cannot tolerate each other this is the way to be together.

The conflict is that when you operate from your mind, you are security oriented; when your mind dissolves, you have no problem with security. If you are operating from your mind, insecurity is part of it and Master is secure. When Master is secure, he is very flexible; time, activities, everything is flexible. But, when you operate from your mind, you need patterns, you need structure. It is  very difficult. It is a big clash. When you are with a living Master, there always will be this clash; you are approaching the master from the mind level, with insecurity and the Master is operating  with the  complete security and full flexibility; it doesn’t work well. So people run away. They get fascinated by the Master, how he looks, how he walks,  how he smells, (laughter) they try to come  but then run away, saying, “Oh no! This is not what I want!” They also say, “He is crazy!”

Q: At the beginning of each spiritual practice, I keep progressing. But at the certain level there seems to be veil or curtain that falls and disables me from growing further, no matter what I do or how much more I try. So is this to help me develop patience or is it a sign that this path is closed for me or that something else should be found?

M: The activity which gives you experience for a period of time, after a while the same activity cannot give you the same experience. This is natural. That is called the stagnation stage. That doesn’t mean that what you are doing is wrong. But the same activity cannot give you the same experience. It is as simple as that.

If you continue doing the same practice during the stage of stagnation, then you will reach the stage of vacuum; confusions such as are you are doing the right thing or wrong thing, Guru is good, Guru is bad, will happen. If you still do the same practice continuously, then you reach the stage of stable bliss, where you are always peaceful. These are hurdles that you have to cross to reach the stage of stable bliss. It is a test of your consistency. Be consistent and definitely you will reach your destination. The tortoise kept walking, it reached before the hare. (In the fable of the tortoise and the hare where they had a race to see who was faster.)

Q: I lost my child four times. What is the reason why I cannot maintain my pregnancy? What is the way to calm myself down and help my body accept the fetus and bring the child to this world?

M: That is an individual question, individualistic answer is needed. I would suggest you to talk to any of these Mai-Tri healers here. They will tell you.

Q: How do I know that I am on the right path and my life’s purpose?

M: Please understand, life purpose is not separated from your life. What you are experiencing each moment is your life’s purpose. It is  continuous, right from birth till death. Life purpose is what we are experiencing each moment. Whatever you experience through the waking state, the dream state and your deep sleep state is your purpose of life. It is a mixture of all the things you have experienced so far in life.

How do you know you are on the right path? You will feel good. This is an internal thing. The right path, the right practice, the right Guru, the right destination, you will feel these because you have that capacity already. You will feel it is natural for you. Whatever is natural, whatever is not artificial is the right thing. So, life’s purpose is whatever you are experiencing at each point.

Higher purpose of life is to be aware of the consciousness that is driving or moving your life. Being aware of it, that this consciousness is active when you are awake, when you are dreaming, and when you are in a deep sleep;  being aware of that consciousness, which is behind all these activities and your understanding, is the higher purpose of life. As a human being you can understand that. No other species can do that. As human beings, you already have that faculty in you which will help you to be aware that whatever is happening is energized by something else.

The highest purpose of life is to feel God within yourself, and in everything around you, you only see God. This means the energy, the vibrations and the essence, everywhere. That is the higher purpose.

Is that clear?

Q: If I can’t see any changes within myself or outside of myself, does it mean that I am progressing or not? And in certain situations, I specially wish for Mohanji to lead me. Is it enough to just to have that intention and wish?

M: Mohanji to leave you or to lead you? Laugh J

Well, when you connect with me, I am connected to you. There is no need for any formality, or any particular method of connection. When you think about me, you are connected to me. When your mind is with me, you are connected to me. Automatically there is an energy exchange going on. It is not only me, when you think about anybody, there is an energy exchange happening. Sometimes you become conscious about it, you become aware of it, sometimes you are not aware of it, because sometimes it is based on sensitivity at that time or our moods or our emotions. So, when you are thinking about me, you are connected to me.

What are you connected to? The Consciousness which is represented by this body. Don’t think that I keep ‘PABX’ to check the connection of everybody. I don’t have to do that, because the consciousness is available, and that way you are connected. There is no need to specifically lead you in any particular method. Because, as I told in the beginning: The journey is you, the traveler is you, the destination is also you. In this bargain, my job is to ensure that you are travelling alright. That is why I said, if nobody is with you, I am with you. I never change my mind because I have no mind to change! There is no need for any ceremony; there is no need for any kind of initiation. When you think about me, you are connected to me and you will feel that difference. You will feel that energy. Just connect. Just stay stable. There is no particular time frame or a method; there is no duration. We are eternally connected. Just like the electricity on the wall. It is there. If you switch it on, you will get light. If you switch it off, there is no light. It is as simple as that. Electricity continues to connect. It is always there. This is a continuous flow of energy, and that has united all of us. That is why I said at the beginning that we are all soulmates, otherwise why did we meet in this life? There is reason for the meeting, right? And there is a reason for connecting. And not all the flowers will become fruit. There are a lot of flowers on the tree; some of the flowers fall off. But some flowers will stay and become fruit. Even the tree does not know which flower will become fruit. As long as you keep a safe distance you will remain warm. If you come too close, it might be burning hot.

I tell these people who are with me “Do not waste my life with me.” Do something better, find a boyfriend, get married, have children and live your life. Don’t waste your time with me, because it is too hot, in the neighborhood. J

Q: Is celibacy required for someone’s spiritual awakening?

M: Can you handle it? The celibacy? It depends on whether you can handle it. Any kind of suppression, is not conducive for awakening. Anything you suppress is only a postponement. Whatever you suppress, you postpone it for another time. Whatever you have, all the pluses and the minuses, all the strengths and weaknesses, you have to experience, complete, and then evolve. That is the right way. After a while, you will have no thought of that kind. Otherwise, if you suppress something, your main thought will be those things that you have suppressed. It is not only with celibacy, anything you have suppressed in life, they keep reminding you that you have suppressed them. That will become a botheration. And it takes time to come out of that botheration.

Q: How to overcome unconscious mechanisms like ego and egoism?

M: Ego is the skeleton of your personality. It is part of you. It is kept so that you can be aware of your existence, or experience existence from the level of  personality, that is,  you as a personality. It has relevance. But when we become egoistic, that is ignorance. When we are expecting respect, expecting  many things from the society, from other people, it is usually connected to not understanding. If you are very stable and you expect nothing, you are fine the way you are. Instead, if you want much from people, you want everybody to respect you or worship you, like you asked previously, these are weakness. These are wrong dimensions of ego. If you expect nothing, you are peaceful and settled nothing can affect you; you are stable. If our egoistic existence is the problem, how do you come around it or overcome it? By being aware of it. Just be aware that these things are happening and  watch them. Don’t do anything. Don’t try to fight with it. Watch it. It will slowly dissolve.

If you sincerely want to dissolve your ego, help the helpless people or beings. When I was practicing on my own, I used to also practice insignificance, which means I am not important. Even now I practice it. I am not important; everybody else is important. That is the way I operate in this world. When you feel, ”Oh, I am amazing, great etc.”, I immediately remember, “ These are provided by them for a purpose, by the Masters or God, body is provided, awareness is provided, space and facilities are provided, listeners are provided, I have done nothing.” If you keep practicing insignificance and if you believe you are not all that important, there is no way ego can bother you.

Q: Can we transcend duality in this reality?

M: Absolutely. One word, awareness.

First, always remember – all that is happening is temporary; everything that is happening, it is momentary, temporary. Everything will move. Everything will pass. But you remain as a witness to this whole show. You are witnessing this only when you are awake. When you are sleeping, you cannot witness. That is first level.

Second point – always ask: Who is speaking through me? Who is seeing through me? Who is hearing through me? What is this thing which is in me, which is experiencing all these things? Keep asking these questions.

Third point – when you are responding, or when you are in this world, when you are moving around, you are responding to various situations, various people, various emotions, who is involved in all this? And how do you feel about it? Different emotions, different people, different situations,… something is happening within you; sometimes happiness, sometimes sorrow, sometimes good, sometimes bad. Who is experiencing all these, what is happening inside?

Then, fourth, the all-important question: Who am I?

Until you get the realization that “I am the Supreme Consciousness, I am the Consciousness, I am everywhere”, keep walking. And who is your Guru? LIFE. Life is your Guru. Every day brings you some lessons through experiences. Every day, every moment, you understand something whether you like it or not.

Nobody in this life can give you better lessons than life itself. So, you are important, your life is important, the lessons from life are important; this is why you are born. This is the purpose of your life. Whether we like somebody, dislike somebody, whether we like something, dislike something, it doesn’t matter; but you should like yourself because you cannot be changed. Don’t fall for hallucinations like, “I am something else, I am somebody else, and I am probably enlightened! “ These are concepts. Don’t worry about them. When you are enlightened, others will know. How will others know? You will not be affected by whatever it is happening outside, you will be peaceful. You will wake up in the morning and ask the question, “What else can I do for this world?” We will not be bound by the overwhelming feeling of, “Me and Mine“. We will be peaceful.

Now, if somebody does not understand you that is their problem, not your problem. Not everybody has to understand you and not everybody has to love you. Those who really love you will not expect anything from you. If someone expects something from you and loves you, they will not stay also.

Life is so simple. Don’t complicate. Philosophy is simple, right? What are we talking about then? J

Go home and have some food. Thank you!

 Read part 1

Transcribed by Nada Rakovic
Proofread by Vidya Rajagopalan

 

 

Clarity of Purpose Gives Will-Power, Part 1

Mohanji Speaks Zoom Satsang, part 1

24th March, 2019

Q: How to develop Iccha Shakti and what is it? Is sankalpa Iccha Shakti thing?

M: Iccha Shakti (the power of will) is connected to clarity of purpose. First and foremost we need to have clarity of purpose – what we are here for what we want with life, what your highest expression is, what will keep you happy, what the cause of your contentment and satisfaction is. Thus we have to do some manana (contemplation) before we can actually increase the willpower. Will-power is not something standalone. It is not alienated from your clarity of purpose. This is the most important thing. Most people are in a mechanical mode where they go for classes, get education, degrees, job, family, children, house, etc. In that mode, they would live their whole life, almost a clockwork kind of existence where they are not thinking at any point in time. They simply exist. So, it is important that we ask ourselves at some point in time, what really makes us happy? It’s not about pleasures. Please understand the difference.

Pleasures are connected to a certain time. For example, when you have a meal you feel contented. You wish for something and you get it, then you feel contented. Thus, we mostly spend our entire life chasing something and when it comes to you finally, you feel contented. It’s connected to some expectation and its fulfillment. I’m not talking about that. Rather, I am talking about a level of contentment where the end result is that contentment irrespective of whether something is available or not; you are happy no matter what. Whether you are appreciated or not, you are fine. You are fine at every level of existence. If that does not happen, it implies we have to increase our clarity of purpose.

Also the purpose should not be something small. It should be as powerful as brightening the earth with your existence for the limited number of years that you spend here. Do not lead your life as another hungry mouth to feed or consume. Most of us do not even think about how we can deliver more to this earth. That is the difference, the line between success and failure. We neither think about why we are here nor contemplate on what else we can do while we are in this body. This is important and this clarity will automatically increase the power of will.

Look at great leaders, not necessarily the philosophers, saints or Gurus, who have attained things and made a difference in the world. Consider someone who has provided employment to thousands. This means all those thousands of people enjoy a meal because of that person. These leaders have actually walked and are continuing to walk the path of success by having clarity of vision.

Thus the vision has to be very clear in life. It’s not an aim. It’s about what you want to do or what you can do with your current existence. That gives you stability. Then will-power automatically happens because you will not be bogged down by the events of life. You will continue to give. People may or may not appreciate. It however doesn’t matter. We continue to deliver. Since we are born on Earth, we will make the maximum use of this incarnation.

Adi Shankara has said:

punarapi jananam (again birth),

Punarapi maranam (again death),

Punarapi Janani jathare sayanam (again in the womb of some mother)

iha samsare bahudusare (this world is full of this agony of existence)

Krpaya’pare pahi murare (So, connect to the consciousness while you can).

The above words mean we have been taking birth, we have been dying, and we have been going through the same emotions again and again. We have pampered and nurtured our identities, our existence, and our personalities all our lives. At no point in time have we thought about or asked ourselves what else we could do for this world. Other than experiences, you anyway cannot take anything away from this world.

Talking about expressions, if your expressions are of the highest nature, such as compassion, kindness, selflessness, unconditional love, sharing, caring, non-violence, purity of thoughts, words and actions and you are operating from that plane consistently, then what you give back into the world will be very pure. You will only give purity. Don’t expect people to understand you. They may not understand  or appreciate. That’s fine because not everyone understands all others anyway. So, in order to maximize the relevance of this existence, you should maximize your delivery.

Delivery means you need to provide to Earth more than what you consume. That means more responsibility rather than rights. We talk about rights mostly and seldom talk about responsibilities. We must talk about our responsibility. You are already walking this earth; you are consuming a lot from this earth in the form of various materials, places, time & emotions, and so many other factors. Living on earth, walking this earth, we have many different needs and experiences and the earth is paying for it. We must pay back with our existence, with the highest good we can give. And that is the real and certain way to increase Iccha Shakti (the power of will).

Please understand it also is fearlessness. When you have great will-power, you will

1.  Not be afraid,
2.  Have no doubt,
3.  Not think (worry),
4. Stop to criticize or judge others,
5.  Not talk bad about anybody,
6. Know that all are karmic beings and all these people are expressing their existence in their own way.

So, we will continuously start expressing without any kind of blockage from within. It’s important that Iccha Shakti (the power of will) be connected to clarity of purpose. I would say that the highest clarity of purpose is “expressing non-violence”. They say “Ahimsa Paramo Dharma“, that means the ahimsa (non-violence) is the highest of dharma. If you can express non-violence in thoughts, words of expression, you will be increasing the clarity of earth and the society around you. And that will continue to bring you more energy and power.

As I said, when you have clarity of purpose, you will have the power of will, also you will have fearlessness. This was demonstrated when Pilate told Jesus, “If you repent, if you say all that I did was wrong, all I said was wrong, I can pardon you; I can set you free, you can remain alive.” But Jesus said “NO. All that I said was RIGHT.” Pilate then said, “People are against you. If I have to pardon you, I need your repentance for whatever you have done or said”. Jesus replied, “No, I will not do that. I meant what I said. I meant what I did”. That’s clarity (of purpose). When your purpose is clear, these words will come out because whether the next option is crucifixion or not, it doesn’t matter. Your clarity will lead you, give you strength and increase your will-power to the highest potential possibility.

Whenever your will-power is less, understand that your clarity is lost or you are unclear about the purpose. This holds good for employment too. In some companies you are just dragging your feet, you are going there out of compulsion, out of the need for salary, but you are not happy. That is because you are unsure whether this is exactly what you want to do in life. And that will not work because the job will become a pressure and you will never be happy or content. So, the clarity of purpose is essential. I hope this is clear.

Secondly, the faculties that you are using to experience this earth are

1) mind – emotions,

2) intellect – analysis,

3) ego – personality.

These are the three aspects with which we respond to the world. There are a lot of emotional people. Emotional people are basically nurturing their basic instincts. The basic instinct of every being on earth is SURVIVAL.

Survival has two strong aspects:

1) Need for food for the body to exist and

2) Need for sex – sexuality for the species to exist.

Now, most of the people who are operating in the emotional plane, which is, the mind plane are stuck to one or both these aspects (food and sex). And if you look at the whole world, you can see that the people are going in circles (similar pattern) in this manner.

Some people rise above the emotional factor and go to the intellect factor. In fact, they feel great about it. Intellectual/Intelligent people have a great capacity for analysis. They sometimes become scientists and explorers. They contribute a lot to this world just by using the intellect and they feel superior to the normal emotional and unconscious people. This is one more trap. As you can see, you are not actually getting out of traps. You have only transitioned from an emotional trap to the intellect trap. It is a trap, because it is not helping you to see the consciousness. You are not able to rise above these faculties. Another problem with the intellectual aspect is that it gives you a feeling of supremacy or superiority. Because you are able to analyze, you are able to assimilate, you feel great about yourself. That will lead to a more accented ego.

The mind is the basic (faculty) that which nurtures these instincts of human existence or any existence. Intellect is the analytical aspect makes you feel much better. There are many thinkers, philosophers, and other educated people who have tried to explore the nature of existence and they feel great about it. And then sometimes in their name or name of their teachings, religions & paths happen. While they may be good people and, in some instances, great people, if the intellect accents your personality, that is, the accent that overemphasizes a bloated ego, that is a BIG TRAP.

In the feast of ego, everybody goes home hungry. This is the way it is because the ego cannot be satisfied easily.

Intellect is another trap. One master had said, “Somebody who’s proud of their intellect is like a prisoner who is proud of his prison cell.” Intellect is a trap. The mind is a trap. Ego is a trap. Now, if this is understood clearly, then you understand how you are operating in this world. You might be using some of these faculties all the time. Right from the time you wake up until you sleep, you are operating in this mode continuously, all the time.

Now, the other aspect is AWARENESS. Awareness is there for every being. Some beings that are not able to talk like human beings, use their awareness to a great extent. You can see that during a natural calamity; most of the animals run away. They go to a safer place. Who told them? Look at the migratory birds traveling from Siberia or the Arctic region or wherever, to a tropical region every year at a certain time. Who told them? Who gave them direction? Who gave them the GPS or navigation capabilities? They have sharpened awareness. Through sharpened awareness, they are able to maintain precision in their lifestyle. Most of the animals and birds do that. But they are run by instinct. While the main instinct is survival for all beings, including human, they (non-humans) have awareness to a great extent.

We also have awareness, but we also have the capacity to use the awareness to understand the consciousness. That’s the difference. Consciousness is the substratum which runs the mind, intellect, ego, and body. Being aware of consciousness is one of the highest possibilities of a human being. If in one lifetime, we do not reach there, there is not much of a difference between our life and that of animals.

Most of us are not even aware of that aspect of consciousness. Why? Because we are stuck in the instinct plane. We are stuck in the instinct for survival and all other aspects associated with that. All our aspects (emotions) such as greed, jealousy, etc. are connected to instinct. If we become aware, or, we are conscious that consciousness exists, it is a completely different life and outlook. This is the possibility of human existence. And when you settle down in that aspect of consciousness permanently, we reach the stage beyond waking, dream, and deep sleep.

Also, understand that waking state is like a dream state now because we are not conscious of what’s going on. We are living mechanically. In the dream state, you are actually dreaming and that’s not the reality in real life. But it’s real at that time as when you are dreaming, you think it’s real. In waking state also, most of the time you do not have clarity, you only have partial understanding or awareness. If you are not able to see the truth as truth, as clarity (of purpose) with clarity, then it’s an extended dream state.

Thus most of us have an extended dream state in the waking state, and also a deep sleep state, which is similar to the death state with no existence. Dream state is one side and deep sleep is another. If you increase your awareness to the level where you understand that there is Consciousness, which runs or regulates the body, mind, intellect and ego as one unit, and consciousness that is the same in waking state, dream state, deep sleep state, then your clarity will be very high. With that clarity, you will not have much greed, jealousy, anger, hatred, you will not take revenge, criticize or judge because you know very well that all the people existing on Earth are at some level somewhere.

As I explained now, most of them might be operating only on mind state. Some of them might have transcended to intellect state. Some of them are between intellect and ego state. In some way, they are all trapped in their own states. How do you blame them? Or how can you criticize them? We all have gone through the same thing. If today you have a master, he would have spent many lifetimes chasing that mastery. Mastery doesn’t happen in a single day. You have to cleanse and empty yourself time and again, over lifetimes, to reach a stage of mastery where you are fully established in the consciousness, and not in mind, intellect or ego. Most of the people, who talk about the intellect such as writers or thinkers, are stuck in the intellect plane. While they have awareness, their awareness is pretty much caged in intellect and they are not able to transcend. They probably know that consciousness exists as a theory but it is not an experience.

Until and unless something becomes your experience, it’s not yours. That is not your state. It’s a theory. It’s an understanding, it’s an awareness. But you have to bring it to a level not from outside, it has to happen from inside to a level, where you are experiencing consciousness, then you realize it’s a different world. That gives you tremendous strength, power, and freedom. The sign of freedom is fearlessness. This is how all the great masters fought. They did not care whether people liked or disliked, they did not care whether people understood or misunderstood, they delivered.

Many a time during their lifetimes, the Masters were not recognized. After their death, they were revered and they were canonized. This is exactly how life works. Masters did not care about this as it didn’t matter. It is important that you deliver. You will display the states of brightness, stability, and stillness. In that state, you don’t even need words to deliver; rather you deliver with your life as you exist, as you are. It shows when you are peaceful and when you are completely settled within.

The best place and the most authentic place to settle down in life is you. You need to settle down inside. It doesn’t matter where you settle outside in countries such as America, Canada, London or any other place on Earth as they are of temporary use; you live there for some time and eventually die. If you can use this lifetime to fully settle into yourself, that’s the best gift you can give yourself. Settling into yourself is the highest possibility of human existence. That means you stop asking “why?” There’s no “why”, it’s just “am”. “I am” or being-ness will be the state. In that state, you do not have to worry about Iccha Shakti (the power of will), Gyana Shakti (the power of knowledge) or Kriya Shakti (power of action) because everything comes, joins and dissolves into the state of oneness or being-ness. This is the highest possibility.

I am saying all these because you need to see the full circle. If you understand this clearly, then you have understood the entire spiritual journey. We are actually stuck with words of people, rituals, methods, ideas, and concepts. These are all traps which are nurtured by one of the faculties such as mind, intellect, and ego. If we are looking at these aspects as existence, like life, like spirituality, we are mistaken. Not even a guru is important here. You are the guru you are the one you are connecting to, and you are not even looking outside. Forget about judging or criticizing as these are very low levels of existence and you can’t go to those levels when we are talking about being aware of consciousness and being conscious of consciousness. In that stage, you settle down completely into you and then you stabilize there fully and completely.

Question: How do we invoke Gods such as Ganesha and Muruga? Do we invoke these Gods as dimensions of the super consciousness or as different states?

Mohanji: There are 33 crore gods that is 33% of us is our soul. There are 33 crore or 330 million aspects of one supreme consciousness. What is that one supreme consciousness which has no or which is beyond dimensions? You cannot put that consciousness into any frames. Its pure energy, pure brightness, “brighter than a million suns”. And that energy is intelligent energy which is vibrant, intelligent and potent which can take any form. Every form has come out of that energy. And every form is just another part of the play of duality. Duality means up and down, left and right, night and day, light and dark, all those are parts of duality. So, the whole manifested universe such as galaxies, planets and the suns and moons and the un-manifested universe which is remaining as pure energy put together is the concept of Shiva.

Shiva is the manifested and the un-manifested. Shiva is the known universe or and the unknowable universe. You cannot know because you don’t have the faculty to understand the size of Shiva. This is Shiva. Shiva means complete. Shiva represents fullness or completeness, existing all around and everywhere. There is no place where there is no Shiva. I am not talking about the finite form of Shiva, which is like a yogi, who is completely occupied with stillness. That is an expression of the Shiva. I’m talking about Shiva which cannot be represented or can be only represented with the Shiva Linga which is often represented within a disc-shaped platform.

Now, there are 330 million expressions of Shiva. Our great masters understood that this infinite energy can be demonstrated or expressed into this world in 330 million forms or more and they expressed it. Every expression has a form, name, circuit (Yantra – a geometric structure through which the energy flows). Every expression has a worship method to maintain that circuit, maintain that energy. Every worship method is almost like your need for food or need for oxygen without which you will die. Thus this worship method and the structure of worship was created to maintain that energy, with that intensity. Then there is a frequency that it manifests, which is the Bheeja mantra (a.k.a. Seed Mantra). So all the aspects, such as a form, circuit – yantra, frequency – mantra were put together and each deity was created. A deity represents an ideal. Every idol represents an ideal.

There are Gods who are fighting demons. That is actually the representation of demons which are sitting inside us in the form of anger, hatred, jealousy, and comparison. We have certain Gods representing only fighting and destroying their dominance so that the earth becomes better; our Inner Earth becomes better and cleaner. Thus certain deities were created.

Now, Shiva has two sons. One is the knowledge incarnation which is Lord Muruga or Karthikeya. Lord Muruga even explains to his father Shiva, the meaning of AUM. Since the father is AUM, he doesn’t need to know the meaning of AUM. So the son tells His father, the meaning is of AUM. Hence, He became the guru of His father. Lord Muruga is knowledge incarnate or Gyana Avatar – Avatar of knowledge.

Then there is Lord Ganesha, who represents the un-manifested universe. The un-manifested universe is unfathomable. It can’t be explained. That’s why he takes the form of a huge body with a big belly. Lord Ganesha also has a great intellect which is cosmic consciousness. That is intellect not contained by a form or a frame. This is represented by the big head of an elephant. Why? Because the elephant is the biggest animal walking this earth. It is also a very kind being; it is herbivorous. It is it doesn’t attack or kill people or anything unnecessarily. It minds its own business and it’s very intelligent. So, all put together the elephant’s head was given just to express the state of intellect (cosmic consciousness) He holds. Then His vehicle is a RAT. Literally, if an elephant sits on a rat, then the rat is history! It will be gone for good!

Rat signifies the basic instincts or vices of human existence such as greed, jealousy, etc. The elephant representing the whole supreme consciousness sits on the basic human faculties, which signifies that the supreme consciousness is controlling the human frailties or faculties.

Similarly, for each and every idol, there is an ideal behind it; there is a reason for everything. Even the arms and the weapons held (by Gods) are connected to certain qualities or vices that we possess. Everything is defined that way because Shiva is the supreme consciousness, which has no form; and that formless can come as 330 million gods. Each God is one dimension.

Please always remember that whenever there is a form, there is destruction. Nothing stays forever. Everything has come from pure energy and everything has to go back to pure energy. So, if there is a form, there is a formless state also. If there is a birth, there is a death. So everything has its time, duration and evolution. All these things are part of it.

WORSHIP METHODS: If the worship methods are not followed as per the frequency of the deity, that deity’s frequency changes or it nullifies. This is why there are strict, definite and codified systems in temples which allows certain things and doesn’t allow certain things in order to maintain the energy of the idol. And usually it is said that between 8 and 40 seconds the idol transmits the energy depending on the inducement into the idol. Prana (energy) is induced into the idol using certain mantras and rituals. Then the idol becomes alive. It’s almost like the soul that enters a body. When the soul enters the body you are alive and when the soul leaves the body you are dead. So this inducement of energy into an idol is created in such a way that in the 8 to 40 seconds it transmits the energy to the worshiper. When the devotee comes and stands in front, then within 8 to 40 seconds, depending on the intensity of prana pratishta (a ritual that gives life to the Idol), it happens (transmission of energy).

Secondly, our temples are not just the places of worship; they are all places of rejuvenation and transformation. How does that happen? When you look at the idols that are decorated and are beautiful to see, your eyes brighten, the mind expands. Then there is a nice fragrance emitted from the flowers, incense sticks, camphor, and other materials. Automatically your nostrils like it because of the nice fragrance. Your mind and heart expand through the nostrils. Then you have mantras, chanting, rhythms, bells and many different sounds which are pleasing to the ears. Through the ears, the mind expands and rejuvenates. When the sandal paste, sacred ash, kumkum (vermilion) is applied on your third eye or on your body, through the energy of that or through the smell and/or fragrance or touch, the mind once again expands. Then the priest gives you something to eat or concentrated water to drink. When you drink that through the tongue, again, the mind is rejuvenated. So, through all the senses, the mind is rejuvenated. Hence it’s a place of total rejuvenation. Then, people prostrate, they lie down on the floor with the head down denoting surrender, thereby canceling the ego. When you surrender, your ego is canceled. When ego is canceled, you are ready for the state of emptiness.

Ego creates blockages. When the ego is cancelled, you become empty and the energy of the deity enters you even more. They say that when you go to see a guru or God offer something in the form of money or fruits or something. When you do that, it’s amounting to sacrifice. You can only offer what you have, not what you do not have. So when you share what you have, it amounts to sacrifice. It makes you rich from within. Always sacrifice makes you rich inside. In fact, when you offer food to somebody who’s hungry, you feel great. All these things completely transform a person, a worshipper, a devotee, and when you go around the temple a few times, a minimum of three times, then you are actually rotating within the auric field of the whole temple, by being inside it. That means your aura is getting cleansed. You are going around the temple, and you are getting cleansed. Through the senses, the mind is cleansed. When you surrender, the mind is cleansed. When you offer something, the mind is cleansed, then you go around the temple, again, the mind is cleansed, when you come out from the temple, you are fresh, and you are a new person. This is why one should never go into a temple without taking a bath. Then you get the maximum benefit. If you do not take a bath or you don’t wash your faces, then what you receive from there also is not enough. But if you have purified yourself, the body is pure, the mind is pure, the expressions or Mantra chanting is pure (i.e.) you are chanting it well, you gain maximum from this trip. So all these things are very definite, beautiful and most importantly, everything is scientific. That is exactly how our great masters have designed this whole tradition of liberation. Everything helps you to go one more step towards liberation.

Transcribed by Rakshitha and Ananth Sankaran          Proofread by Vidya Rajagopalan

Read Clarity of Purpose Gives Will-Power, Part 2

Aligned Full-Time, Part 1

Zoom Satsang Mohanji Speaks
April 28, 2019, part 1

Purity of intention is essential. It cannot be selfish. Do your best and let go.

Q: To succeed in the corporate world, one has to make sure his achievements are publicized. How can we maintain insignificance and still succeed in corporate America?

M: I would say rather than complicating the whole thing, just be natural, just be yourself, your true self. Don’t work for a reason, work for the sake of work. When we do things for the sake of something, there is pressure, but instead what you should do is, do the best you can. You have been given a seat, you have been given a position and a purpose; do your best in that.  I would say that instead of wondering if it is significance or insignificance, understand that all these things are in the mind.

Always remember one thing, we approach life or we handle life, using our three faculties of perception. They are ego, which is the personality, intellect, which is our analytical capacity, and mind, which is the seat of emotion. This is how we usually handle our daily life.

If you look at how we operate on a normal, everyday basis, we will see that when we get appreciation, when we get respect, when we get honor, when we get awards, the ego is happy, the ego is satisfied. So, for ego to be satisfied, we need appreciation, we need honor, and we need accolades. Even when somebody respects you and honors you your ego is happy, when somebody treats you well, your ego is happy.

Likewise, intellect needs answers; intellect asks questions and it needs answers. When a question happens such as why something is happening in this particular way, intellect needs an answer and if you obtain the answer, intellect is happy. If answers are not happening, intellect starts churning, this is analysis. This is the reason we spend most of our time attempting to understand something about life. We do not accept life as it is, without questions, instead we try to understand life.

Now consider the mind; mind is the seat of emotion. When ego is hurt, mind is triggered; emotions happen, anger, hatred, jealousy, and so on. When expectations are disturbed, our mind is affected immediately.

This is the way in which we are operating. Understand the ego, intellect and mind and how they operate.

In our daily life, we go to work with a lot of expectations. We would like that others take us well; they should appreciate us, respect us, honor us and so on. But if that is not the situation, our morale is affected.  So I would say, just like India’s former President, Sri. Abdul Kalam would say, “Do your work well and that will bring you glory. If your contemporaries cannot see you for what you’re doing or they cannot appreciate you, appreciation may happen in another time; because often you do not get immediate appreciation for what you do. So you need to really apply yourself fully into your chosen profession with full conviction; you need to believe in what you do, otherwise, it can’t be done. If you do not believe in what you do, whatever you do, will be very weak; it will not have any effect or impact. And that literally affects success. So you must apply yourself fully with conviction and do your best and don’t worry about the results.”

That is exactly what Lord Krishna says in Bhagawad Gita as well. You surrender your actions and the results of actions to me, I will release you from the karma of it; from the sins… actually  it is not sin or merit, it is the doership; the ownership of action places lot of pressure on us.

What we need to do, in fact what I used to do is, I would set myself a goal. I would say, “In this company this is the current status, I would like to take it to this level.”  Now, whether people will appreciate or not doesn’t matter; as long as you know that the intention is pure. Purity of intention is essential. It cannot be selfish. The problem that arises when you are only looking at personal gains is that it will be short sighted or will be short lived; you can’t take it forward. On the contrary when your intention is pure and your aim is selfless, that is, not for personal gains, the success rate will be very high. And we will learn to appreciate the degree of success we gain too. Expectation destroys it. When we have an expectation of a degree of success and it does not happen, you will not be able to get satisfaction for what you have done, that is, there will not be an element of contentment, as expected.

Hence it is good, to do your best and let go. Do not worry about the results. Then, you will be satisfied with whatever comes your way, with whatever you get. This is similar to what happens in education; we study for an examination, do our very best but there is no guarantee with results. The key is to do our best within the time frame available.  I have always performed like that.

But please understand that the world is a mixture of various energies and frequencies. Many things are unpredictable, even the behavior patterns of people are unpredictable. Hence you cannot expect that people will appreciate you or treat you in a particular way. There is no point in wondering and asking questions such as,” I did my best with complete honesty, but I was not appreciated. In fact, people abused me.” Realise that people may not be able to understand what you do or your intention. You cannot escape these!

When you’re at your work, it is best that you develop a level of detachment, which means you apply yourself but are not affected by the result.  To explain this further, you do your best with conviction, with clarity, with purity of intention and leave the result to destiny. Then whatever happens, you will not be impacted.

Remaining calm is very essential in every situation, especially in management. When you have many people to manage, you need to be stable. They will look at look at you, see that you are stable and work freely. Instead if you give them insecurity, you are also responsible for the results of their activity. When people are insecure, we will have no idea as to how they function or what their level of productivity will be. Hence when you are leading a team, you must remain stable and not be prejudiced. You can highlight a person’s strengths but should not emphasise anyone’s weaknesses. We must understand that all of us have weaknesses. Let them be, there’s no problem. But if we over accent them, they will grow and strengths will be sidelined. Hence we must highlight strengths, nurture them, so that in time weaknesses become insignificant. Also a team will have a mix of people; we cannot look at everyone with the same set of spectacles. Each person is a story. Each person has a history. Each person is a universe by himself or herself. So they should be handled and appreciated in their individual capacities. Do not compare, it’s not the same and it cannot be the same.

Lastly, you can position yourself well in a seat (position) when you respect others as you would like to be respected. It is a world of respect, a world of honor and a world of love.  Those who are weak and insecure talk bad, gossip and also perform bad deeds. These are signs of weaknesses. Those who are strong remain quiet and calm. They will not be affected in any way by whatever happens in the world. Their approach is – this is your problem, you keep it!

In the story of Nagarjuna, the thief asked, “Do you know that I’m a big sinner?” Nagarjuna countered, “Why are you telling me? “ The thief said, “No guru agreed to take me as his disciple because I have sinned!” Nagarjuna responded by saying, “If someone has treated you with prejudice then he is not a guru.” A guru’s job is to impart knowledge. Like the sun, his job is to keep delivering, without bothering about the person coming to him. If he is playing the role of a guru, his job is to deliver. Similarly, as a boss, your job is to nurture, your job is to encourage, your job is to improve the strengths, not to criticize or nullify anybody. Even if you do not like somebody, you try to reason with them by saying something along the lines of …”Look here, these are certain qualities which may not get you much mileage in your career. So why don’t you change them?” This with love you can change things, you can nurture things, show them the right path, the light.

When I wake up each morning, I say thank you to the tradition for using me in this world. I thank the tradition for using this body in this world. This is my purpose of existence.

Always remember there is only one life, not different ones such as working life, personal life or spiritual life. These are just different dimensions of one life! In every dimension, you must be the same, whether it is personal life, where you are performing the role of a father, mother or child; in your professional life, whatever is your position; in your social life, whatever you are. Be it your financial life or even your spiritual life, you must remain the same. This means that attitude wise, you should possess an attitude of respect, an attitude of contentment, an attitude of love. Also gratitude is a powerful tool.

When I wake up each morning, I say thank you to the tradition for using me in this world. I thank the tradition for using this body in this world. This is my purpose of existence. So now whether people will appreciate or criticize me, some may judge me, some may love me, others may hate me, I can’t help it. This is not my problem. I am not creating it. It is their mind that is creating those situations.  Hence when someone loves you, it’s their mind creating love. If somebody hates you, it’s their mind creating the hatred, not me. I might be a trigger, because of whatever reason but that is not important.  But when hate happens, it’s in the mind of someone, when love happens it is the mind of someone, when fear happens again it is in the mind of someone. We are not responsible. What we need to do, is be as stable, quiet and silent as possible within.

But we must have a target. When you sit in a seat (responsible position), you need to know where you are and where you’re taking the team. That clarity should be there, the more clarity you have, the more perfection you have. Vision is essential for a manager. If there is no vision, there’s no movement, you are stagnated. So the vision should be very clear. Usually the vision is connected to budgets and the plan of the Board of Directors. Once you have the vision, it is then a question of smooth and easy planning. If you need 10 people to do the job, 10 people are a must. Don’t try to make do with 8, because then the pressure on each person will be very high. You also will not be able to compensate equally. When you have clarity of vision, if you have laid the roadmap well; if you have supervised and monitored properly, while also understanding that someone is weak, another is strong, hold hands if needed, pat on the shoulder where needed, then the entire team will succeed, it will achieve great levels of success. Whether it is a spiritual organization or a commercial one, it doesn’t matter, whether you have clarity matters and it shows in your actions.

Q: Spirituality is perceived to be a serious affair. We often say, let me enjoy life now and become spiritual later, when I’m older. How can we blend the pursuit of spirituality with materialistic life?

M: I do not agree with the first statement itself. According to me spirituality is a great pleasure; it is the pleasure of being you, the pleasure of being natural. A young child, say 2 or 3 years old, has immense pleasure because he or she is being one hundred percent natural. But as we grow older, we try to pretend that we are something or somebody, we try to adapt to social conditions and then we become unnatural. That is why we feel that spirituality is a pressure. On the other hand, I feel that it’s a pleasure, always. When you become natural, it is possible that society may not like it; society may not understand it. But internally, you are always contented. There’s a high level of contentment, when you are spiritual. And what is spirituality? Spirituality is your aligned existence. In other words when you are spiritual, you are connected to your spirit, which is consciousness, you will start understanding who is behind the show, behind the emotions, behind the actions, behind the perceptions. Consciousness operates in three different modes – the waking state, dream state and deep sleep state, on a functional level, and turiya state on a samadhi level, on the basis of samadhi. So if you understand how our consciousness operates in everyday life, you will realize,”Oh, this is the show!” This is the clarity we need and I think it is very important. It is definitely not any type of pressure.

You understand I am not the anger or the hatred, I am not jealousy, I am not the body, and I am not the mind, not the intellect and not the ego. You further understand that consciousness remains the same through waking, through dream and through deep sleep. We are the same throughout! Now we start enjoying the whole drama. You start to see that people are in various modes, much akin to role play in a drama that you watch on the stage. You see people being possessive owning objects, but how long can you own? Until you go to the grave! We have all these fancy positions, General Manager, Professor, Principal, President, Minister, and so on… but it is all temporary. Finally we see that at the end of the day that it is consciousness at work. This is being spiritual.

I think you will start reveling in this feeling of being consciousness. What you then see is a different world. You will actually start enjoying the nature of every being, in fact, everything around you because there’s nothing else to do you. It’s just drama, role play, background and settings. You will start experiencing joy. If you live a hundred days, those hundred days will be joyful.

And it is not relative enjoyment, where it is a pleasure for some time. For example you had a meal and after six or seven hours, you again need a meal. It is not like that! You are always contented, feeling good, feeling free, feeling beautiful, and feeling handsome. There will be no comparison because wherever you look, you only see consciousness at work, not the person’s behavior patterns. Each person is a universe by himself, each person is a story, and each person has a history, a constitution, character, form, shape and also duration.

So what is all this show about? In the next hundred years, even a child born today will not remain on Earth.  You realize there is no big deal to this whole story; you also start understanding there is no big deal about yourself! This is most important, because from then onwards, pride and ego will have no value. A beautiful situation indeed! When you are not affected by your pride or ego, you are very powerful; you are not at all affected by the outside.

Spirituality is definitely a blessing. And all of this is achieved just through connecting with your actual nature; connecting with yourself, and not because of any activity. It is not that it helps if you meditate for many hours, follow certain practices or are associated with certain mission. Importantly, are you associated with yourself? Are you agreeing with yourself? Are you accepting yourself? Are you in tune with yourself? If you have fully accepted yourself, your mind will be absolutely non turbulent. No environment can affect you.

Spirituality is a beautiful state, where it’s only about connecting with you.

That is why I say, if you have any questions in life, the answer is one.

You

You are the answer. Everything started with you, everything will end with you. When you wake up all your problems start, when you sleep, everything ends. It is that simple. Everything is you. Mohanji doesn’t matter here. The society doesn’t matter, your job, your relationships, nothing matters. It’s you. All these exist only because you exist.

Your existence is the most important thing. The whole society that you see around or the things you are connected to the materials, possessions or positions exist with you as the center point. That is why I said the answer is you. Everything starts with you. Everything ends with you.

If you criticize somebody, you are actually only expressing your ignorance. If you appreciate somebody, you’re actually expressing your consciousness. This is because you’re experiencing wonder at the expression of consciousness in another. If you’re criticizing somebody, it’s ignorance at play because another person is only expressing his inherent constitution i.e. what he consists of.

Everyone is the same, all 7.5 billion people, all the animals, birds, all these beings, they’re all the same. Hence when we start talking about others, or we start looking at people as different beings etc. we are only talking about our limitations. We are having walls, walls created by the mind. Otherwise, we do not have walls. We are fully open, like a young child.

We see the universe, as the universe filled with wonder.

We look outside the world and see wonder!

Flowers are blooming, it is wonder.

Birds are flying, it is wonder!

Animals and birds and rivers and mountains and oceans – It is wonder!

When you are fully with yourself, you will look at the world as wonder!

And that is a wonder fueled life, fueled by wonder. That’s a great feeling.

So please remember spirituality is not about being serious. Spirituality being serious is approaching spirituality with your mind. You can’t approach spirituality with your mind. Mind has to be hanged in some place! Let mind stay some place.

And I would say let the mind be with something it likes to be occupied with and ignore it. Intellect is the tool for analysis; stop analyzing. Doubts are a huge blockage in this journey. You doubt yourself, your master, your teacher, your path, your tradition, you doubt everything. And the society gives you plenty of doubts, free. But if you buy those doubts, who is affected? It is your mobility that is affected!

The media says all the Gurus are bad. Spirituality is just a pastime, you go to spirituality when you are very old and can do nothing else. These are all concepts that are not true.

When you are alive, spirituality aligns you. That is spirituality; alignment; body, mind, intellect, ego and spirit in one line, together.

When you look, your eyes are looking at something, your mind is looking at the same thing, your intellect is looking at the same thing, your ego is looking at the same thing, and your body is still and the spirit is backing it up. That means when you look, it will be actually looking. Otherwise mind is elsewhere, intellect is elsewhere, ego is elsewhere – everything is in different places. Then, when you look, it’s very weak; you hardly see. That is why we have vision, but limited awareness about the vision. We look, but cannot see because the mind is not available.

When you say you are spiritual, it’s a full time affair. When you say you are spiritual, it means your mind, body, intellect and spirit are together.

When you look, everything is looking.

When you hear, you’re all ears.

When you feel, you’re only feel.

You are one thing at a time. And at that time, you are that thing, hundred percent.

This is practice. It is perpetual meditation; you are on meditative work all the time. You are not separate, you can’t be separate. You might believe that you can do multitasking. It’s absolutely not true.

Multitasking is less awareness spread over a lot of things. This is not the way to live. When you are eating, you are actually eating your food, you are fully consuming, and you are in that mode of consumption. When you stop eating, the act is completely finished. Then you are onto something else. You are then completely there with that act. Your body, mind, intellect, ego and spirit are completely there. This is the way to exist, so that each work will have its completion, perfection, and there is high degree of contentment. This is fulfillment.

Spirituality is not about being serious. Spirituality being serious is approaching spirituality with your mind. You can’t approach spirituality with your mind. Mind has to be hanged in some place! Let mind stay some place.

 

Read Aligned Full-Time, Part 2

Transcribed and proofread by Vidya Rajagopalan

Concepts and Truths

The Creation

If there are 7 Billion people on earth, there are so many personalities, with concepts, ideas, fears, conditionings, and all other flavors of life that one could possibly think about. As I have always mentioned, constitution wise, we are “hand-made” and not a factory product that looks and feels alike and whenever man tried to create evenness among his subjects, serious tragedies took place; wars, death and displacements happened. Look into the history of man-kind, you will understand what I am talking about.

Life as a Stage Show

Each being on earth is unique, irrespective of the species. This also implies on one’s free will. We create our destiny. We ourselves, through our own thoughts, words, emotion and action created our own destiny. We are the creator or script writer of our own life. Soul is only the aiding factor or the fuel that fulfils the journey – the energy that made the script into action. Nobody else is responsible for your life, your experience, even though many a time, you need co-actors to bring forth effects in experience. So, many actors sequentially join and leave the play and each actor has his or her relevance in the play. None is less or more important. Everyone added their flavor. In your life story, you are certainly the hero and the rest are the supporting actors. But, for each supporting actor, they are the hero of their own script. Comedy, tragedy, drama, action, horror, satire and all its variations are usually part of every script. Each actor represent different flavors of life. They join hands and spice up the drama of your life. They make it worth it. Sometimes the show makes you cry, sometimes it makes you laugh, sometimes it creates fear, sometimes love. The story continues. Many characters happen in the play.

Concepts and questions such as why cannot god remove evil from earth makes no sense when we understand how the infinite power operates. God is neutral, just like our own soul. It is objective, non-interfering and in perfect detachment from the actor or the action. God allows all characters to come and perform on the stage or it never interferes at least. Since each player is also the script writer of his own drama, God allows the experience of the play, irrespective of its theme and reason. There is no good and bad in God’s realm. There is only truth and experience. Man goes through many relative truths before he understands and attains the absolute truth. This trial and error is part of every being’s life. God shall not take away this experience of existing in duality until one finds his unity. Duality is indeed the state as well as experience that leads one to unity. This truth cannot be underestimated. Without duality, there is no creativity. When me and my father becomes one, there is nothing to experience anymore. Only when the object and the experiencer are separate from one another, there is an experience. When eyes becomes one with the sight, there is nothing to see. When tongue becomes taste, there is nothing to taste. When ego and all identities dissolve and man becomes one with God, there is no more search. There is only beingness.

This state can be achieved only at the end of the drama. The chosen script should be acted and completed before the merger can happen. The audience or the operator cannot interfere and change the script nor duration. Sometimes, some characters attain sudden death and disappear from the drama. Even this is part of the original script even though it may seem to the audience as quite dramatic. This is the chosen effect, by the script writer. If a WOW! happens in the lips of the audience, the script writer attains fulfillment, even if it means a tragedy.

Social Role Play

Society consists of all sorts of beings. Variety in looks and variety in flavors makes life worth it. Monotony and stagnation always creates boredom, stress and delivers a depressed existence. Motivation to excel helps maintain energy levels. Society works on systems. Various players make it complete. The job of a policeman, doctor and an engineer are distinct and each of them add value to the overall collective existence. A doctor is expected to cure illness while a policeman is expected to maintain law and order. Each one has his chosen path and expressions. One cannot be replaced by the other, even though there could be possible combinations.

There are expressions in beings which brings forth happiness or sorrows or both. Various expressions from various flavors of love – the highest being unconditional love – to lesser emotions such as greed, hatred, jealousy, anger so on and so forth. These are all flavors that the script writer wrote in his personal drama of life, out of choice of out of ignorance. What has the God, the audience or spectators got to do with it?

If someone ever states that God or Guru should prevent evil from spoiling the broth of life, it is indeed a sign of perfection in non-understanding. Just as the soul, the energy and electricity does not interfere in our thought process, words of action, and just assists fulfillment, God shall not remove duality at any cost, unless it chooses to remove relativity and dissolve everything back into itself. Until the huge universal drama ends, the smaller – much micro dramas will continue. God shall not pull the plug.

Coming back to our realm, If everyone does his part well, society would be a better place. If a policeman handles law and order honestly and purposefully, people will live in peace. If the ruler is objective, selfless and benevolent, people will live fearlessly. If laws ensure justice on time, crime will be less. When greed and selfishness dominates a society, calamities will happen. When purposelessness dampens the morale of the society, wars will happen. These are some of the basic ground rules of existence.

Thus, as individuals are creating their own script of life, the society is built up on collective scripts. No God or Guru is responsible for that. Duality or relativity made life possible in its existing variety. Minus relativity, there is no creativity. Minus creativity, there is no experience, or fulfillment. Minus fulfillment, there is no reason for existence. So, how can God interfere? He is the facilitator and not the creator of the micro dramas. If your rulers and policemen cannot prevent crime, if the education systems cannot develop higher awareness in society, what has God got to do with it? It is the problem with the operating levels of the society which consists of people. It is not the job of a saint to maintain law and order. His job is to guide those who choose to come to him, follow him and stay with him to higher levels of awareness. In that effort, miracles can take place. No true guru will perform miracles of higher or lower impact, just for the sake of creating thrill in people because siddhis bind and often enslave the performer. It is indeed the faith of the disciple that facilitates it. Those who come to test gets nothing. Those who develops faith can spontaneously experience higher realities. As Jesus said “May your faith heal you”. No true Guru will also interfere in the free will of the people or society. The star villains of our epics such as Hiranya Kashyapu, Kamsa, Ravana or Mahishaasura had their own free existence before being deleted from the system by avatars that came specifically for this extermination job. There were saints and higher masters living in those periods too. Why was the duality maintained? This is how the universe operates. Society that craves for peace should create awareness. They should shed greed and jealousy. When greed for profits achieve insensitive proportions, the soul of earth suffers. The environment decays. The Guru or God has nothing to do with it. One last question on the same subject. Even if a Guru or God comes forward and volunteer to cleanse the society, and prescribes the ways to do it, will the subjects follow it unconditionally? If yes is the answer, we would have already done that. We would not have assassinated Jesus and Socrates – those who only spoke truth. We would have lived according to the teachings of Bhagawat Gita, Ashtravakra Gita, Avadhootha Gita or the great eternal teachings of saints who followed Sanatana Dharma. We would definitely have lived by the teachings of Gita and Satcharithas. There should be clear understanding before we complain about our own state. Who is creating them, maintaining them, and enjoying them? This is important to realize.

Pseudo Spirituality

Why are many still groping in darkness as far as spirituality is concerned? Good question. This is because people are going after “feel good” stuff, cults and organized patterns while each one of us are unique creations and every capsule cannot suit everyone. The comfort zone spirituality cannot ensure any growth. Stillness is the nature of the supreme God. If the aim is to achieve that, shedding is important. Everything should dissolve and there can be no duality. Only oneness with the God. Until we achieve that, we need to practice witness hood  objectivity, and stillness. Many people who are in the path are just entertaining themselves with activities believing that more activity will get them more results. This is perfect non-understanding. Beingness evolves the man and not doingness.

Gratitude Matters

Good question. Gratitude will indeed help in spiritual growth. But, people forget fast as they are using their conscious mind for their daily life. They go after glitters and others opinions instead of own experience. Jesus healed many leprosy patients. There was no cure for leprosy during those days. Leprosy patients were locked and sealed in caves and left to die! They walked with a bell around their neck to warn people. Yet, once they were healed, they dissolved into the society without even a glance of gratitude for the healer. Their ego did not permit them to declare in the society that they were leprosy patients in the past. Jesus did not expect any gratitude though. It would have been a great evolution for the consciousness of the patients, if they stood up and thanked the healer; nor did they come to his assistance when Pilate asked the question if Jesus should be pardoned. All those who benefited by Jesus never gave anything back to him. This is the nature of our society. Gratitude is good for the seeker. The real guru wants nothing.

Love You Always

M

 

Surrender Matters

Dear all,

Mohanji has given the practical prayers to be in harmony with ourselves and others and pointed out the depth of the benefits of surrender. He explains possible misunderstanding of the word ‘surrender’, too.

Love,

BTW Team

Surrender purifies us completely

My Beloveds

            Surrender, is one of the words in human languages that is most misunderstood in usage. Surrendering to someone is a big hit on one’s ego. It diminishes one’s self-esteem. Having to surrender is considered as a weakness or a deficiency, in terrestrial terms, where ego decides actions.

While, in spiritual terms, this is a good thing. Man minus ego = God. So, surrender nullifies our ego and then the Godhood within us starts to shine. This is why we prostrate in temples and monasteries. When our head and heart come in one line, horizontally, ego is under control. When we bow down in reverence, we nullify our ego, at least temporarily. Bhakti or Devotion has a lot of value because it brings ego under control. Ignorance expands our ego while surrender brings it under control.

Bhakti or Devotion has a lot of value because it brings ego under control.

Traditionally, our ancestors used to practise some simple methods to maintain health and keep ego under control. Here are a few chants and their explanations.

When we wake up in the morning, after lying horizontally the whole night, our energy pattern in the body would have changed. Its frequency would have altered. While sleeping, the energies of our body has attained a tranquil, passive state. It is more latent energy. When, we wake up, we must give time for energies to start moving, preparing the body for action. In order to provide this time, they suggest lying down and look at the palm instead of jumping out of the bed and being vertical all of a sudden, which can affect the rhythm of the heart and adversely affect the meridians of our system. There is a mantra to ease our getting up. Look into the palm of your hands and chant ” Karagre vasate Lakshmi, Kara moole Sarastwati. Kara Madhya Sthitha Gowri, Prabhate Kara darsanam” This means, At the tip of our hands or fingers stays Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth. Lakshmi never stays constant at any place. Money changes hands. Fortunes change too. So, it always stays at the tip of our fingers. Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge stays at the opposite side, that is, the root of our palm near the wrist. Acquired knowledge stays with us till we die. It is more stable in terrestrial terms. In the middle stays Goddess Parvati, the kindness incarnate, the mother. She balances the knowledge and action. She enhances wisdom. With this knowledge, if you see your hands and remember the pattern of our existence, it will give sufficient time for the latent energy to move in an even fashion within as well as give us a balanced outlook. It also enhances our commitment to selfless work. It activates kindness and reverence within us. This also is a reminder that it is the god energy in us that makes things happen in our life. This is also meant to nullify our ego and surrender to the supreme.

Then we sit up in our bed. Our body has become vertical from horizontal. Energy has started moving differently. Then, we need to earth it off as we were lying horizontal before. In order to achieve that, we chant “Samudra Vasane – Paadasparsam Kshamaswame” and we bend down and touch the ground with our right palm, which is the opposite side of where our heart is. This earths the excess energy which we accumulated or conglomerated during our sleep and saves our heart as well. This is why we earth the energy through the right hand. Then we are ready for the day.

There is also one version of the same hymn where it says that Lord Krishna stays in the middle of the palm (Kara Madhye tu Govinda:). Well, He is the Guru of the Universe. If He stays in the middle of the palm, we can only function with total equanimity and detachment. He has blessed us with the Great Bhagawad Gita and if we follow His teachings and function with detachment, we attain liberation.

Morning chant, to balance our energies and frequencies. Lying down, look at the palm and chant, “At the tip of our hands or fingers stays Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth. Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge stays at the the root of our palm near the wrist. In the middle stays Goddess Parvati, the kindness incarnate, the mother.”

Then we sit up for a few seconds in our bed before we stand on our feet. This is good as it helps the body rhythm and the flow of prana through our meridians. When the feet touches the ground, we pray “Samudra Vasane Devi, Parvata Sthana mandale, Vishnu Patni Namastubhyam, Padasparsam Kshamaswame”. This prayer is to the Goddess which we call Earth, even though we address it to the wife of Lord Vishnu, Goddess Lakshmi. “One who pervades the water and mountains, or One whose body is the oceans and mountains, I prostrate to the Goddess and please forgive me, as I step on you or tread on you.” This is reverence to the mother Earth. If we have such reverence to the mother Earth, we will never be insensitive towards her and destroy her. So, we thus seek her permission to walk on her for our purpose. We remain in gratitude. This time also gives our body an easy pace between horizontal to semi vertical and totally vertical. It helps to keep our energies even and well circulated. It maintains our meridians.We are mentioning earth and water, the basic two elements in our body. Samudra (ocean) represents the water element in us which is regulated by our hara chakra. And Parvata (mountain) represents the earth element as well as potential for the highest elevation in us – the kundalini energy. Hence this is also invocation for both the elements, mother kundalini and also the other elements in us, with the prayer to assist us as we move through the day. If kundalini energy inspires us, wisdom will flow. It also says be conscious right when you wake up until you sleep. And always live on prayers and surrender.

Sit up and chant, “One who pervades the water and mountains, or One whose body is the oceans and mountains, I prostrate to the Goddess and please forgive me, as I step on you or tread on you.” This is reverence to the mother Earth.

Then we stand up, looking towards the rising sun in the east, remembering Lord Vishnu or His Avatar, Lord Krishna, the maintainer of the universe, and chant  – “Kaayena Vaacha, Manasendriyaiva, Buddhyatmanaavat, Prakrite Swabhavaat, Karomi Yadyat, Sakalam Parasmai, Sri Naarayanaayeti Samarpayaami”. This means, Whatever I perform today, with my body, mind, intellect, senses, speech, my nature and character, I surrender everything at the Lotus feet of the Lord Narayana.” Narayana means the destination of man or the Supreme Father. Everything came out of Him and will merge back into Him. So, this prayer is to the Supreme Lord. When we start our day with this chant, and this understanding as well as surrender, we will accept all that happens that day with equanimity and poise and our desires or expectations will be totally under control. Even if things do not happen as we expected, we will not be perturbed and will start to accept it as the Will of Lord Narayana.

Then, stand up turning to the sun and chant, “Whatever I perform today, with my body, mind, intellect, senses, speech, my nature and character, I surrender everything at the Lotus feet of the Supreme.”

Then, we conclude our day with the surrender mantra, requesting complete forgiveness for all our actions, thoughts,and words. “Kara charana Kritam Va, Kayacham Karmacham Va, Shravana Nayanacham Va, Manasam Vaaparadham, Vihitam Avihitam va, Sarvametat Kshamaswa, Jaya Jaya Karunabdhe, Sri Mahadeva Shambho, Sri Sai Natha Sambho.” This is the final prayer before we go to bed. It says, Whatever I performed today, with my organs of action such as hands and legs, organs of perception including senses, mind and intellect, all that I performed as per your wishes or against it, due to my ignorance and non-understanding, Oh Lord, please forgive everything, please forgive me, my supreme Lord Shiva, My Lord, Sai Baba. (They are one)

End your day with surrender mantra, “Whatever I performed today, with my organs of action such as hands and legs, organs of perception including senses, mind and intellect, all that I performed as per your wishes or against it, due to my ignorance and non-understanding, Oh Lord, please forgive everything, please forgive me, my supreme Lord.”

As we surrender all that happened that day at the feet of the Supreme Lord, from where everything originated and perpetually dissolves, we become free from all bondage. We become detached from all our thoughts, words and action. Thus, Surrender purifies us completely. Also, we are surrendering all our activities of the day at the feet of Lord Vishnu who maintains and supports existence. He is the one who maintains creation. Preservation is His job. 🙂 And at the night, we are laying ourselves at the feet of Lord Shiva, the dissolver.  He dissolves existence. He merges us with our creator. Each night, we are re-born, as we dissolve our identities during deep sleep and regain it as we wake up. So, we are requesting the lord of dissolution to forgive everything and help us dissolve smoothly into emptiness and provide us a blissful sleep. So, readers may kindly note that in the morning, we are requesting for continuity in thoughts, words and action so that all that we perform on that day bear positive results and in the night, we are requesting forgiveness which helps smooth dissolution into the lap of the Almighty without terrestrial entanglements. Those who carry hatreds and heaviness of hearts, may kindly be aware of this. One prayer goes to Lord Vishnu and the other to Lord Shiva. Both are essentially one. Both are expressions of one Parabrahma.

Surrender in spiritual sense is a great thing. It helps liberation from the birth-death cycle. The same method can be followed by people who follow any faith of their choice. The main thing is the attitude of surrender, to your chosen deity  or Master or Prophet and leave all ownerships at His feet. He does everything. The whole existence belongs to Him. (He does not mean a male. Gender has no value here. It can be the Supreme Energy which is formless, genderless.)

Surrender in spiritual sense is a great thing. It helps liberation from the birth-death cycle. The same method can be followed by people who follow any faith of their choice.

Love You Infinitely

M