Today, I would like to discuss with you the philosophy that I have followed for a long time. Just like many of you, I have been a rebel, and I was quite passionate about various situations in society; and I had the will and the need to express it as an activist. I did not participate in many activist activities, but I had strong opinions; I still hold some of them. I do have a strong opinion about any kind of bloodshed.
I do not endorse bloodshed. I do not endorse wars. I do not like canned hunting or hunting of any kind. I strongly object to the killing of beings. I do not approve of corruption. I do not approve any kind of negativity in thoughts, words, or actions. These are a few of the things which I do not endorse at all. There are some more.
But the point that I would like to tell you is that we have two ways to approach life or live a good life. One is through acceptance that there are varieties in the world; so many different things, people, diversity. Each person, or each community, or similar activity can bind people together. Each community has its own expression. Each person has his own expression; societies have their expressions.
We are living in a world of great variety; our languages are different, our food habits are different. Our likes and dislikes are also oriented to our upbringing. There are different religions, and that’s mostly connected to what we are used to. And we conglomerate, we become clans, we come together because we like it or we are used to it. Mostly, it is not what we like; but what we are used to, which is comfortable. We are used to a certain diet, and that’s comfortable for us. We are used to a certain language, which is comfortable for us, and so on. It’s not a question of whether this is the right or wrong thing happening in our lives; it is as it is.
Our language, mother tongue is beautiful for us; another person will feel the same for his mother tongue. Life thus goes on. We have two options here, acceptance and resistance. What happens with acceptance? When acceptance happens, the mind is stable. Acceptance does not mean that you accept everything like a doormat. I’ll explain that further.
When acceptance happens, transformation happens because we start accepting everything around us. For that, we have to start with accepting ourselves, and we should appreciate that there is a variety of things around us. If these are harmless to society, harmless to the world, we can accept them. Thus acceptance automatically brings a kind of approval. We agree with so many things, and that leads us to have greater stability in mind. The mind is stable and peaceful.
Resistance, activism leads to violence; disapproval is predominant because of what we disapprove in society. We are against it; we are fighting it, our mind is fully occupied with the disagreements. We have the right to approve and disapprove. We don’t have to approve everything in life. We can approve what suits us, or what stabilizes us.
I always approve of what is nonviolent. I’m a very strong advocate of nonviolence in thoughts, words, and actions.
I normally approve, or I agree with anything, which has no violence involved in it. No violence, no manipulation, no corruption, etc.; I easily approve them. Where there is discrimination, there is violence; there is division; all those things that separate people, I do not approve of them; I disagree with them. So we have the right to disagree.
But how can we approach it? I like to bring the awareness of people, to the level of their highest potential refinement. We are a refined species because our existence is connected to our intelligence. With most of the other species, their existence is connected to how they are made or their physical mettle.
Our strength is our intelligence. How do we express the higher refinement in social life, in daily life? It is very simple: express the highest level of compassion, kindness, selflessness, and unconditional love; total acceptance of the society, through acceptance, through love, goodness factor, kindness factor, righteousness factor; by binging all these into our lives, we transform society.
By fighting against it, or by being an activist, there are dimensions where it could be very inconvenient. The system may attack us, victimize us being an activist; we have seen that happening. Various activists could not survive the course of time because they had been victimized, by the established system.
We have to understand these methods. One is through acceptance, being a pro-life, and through resistance, being against something, a life of conflicts; will that happen, or not in the world? It is happening; it will happen because people are a variety. What we would like to do is to bring awareness to the level where corruption completely dissolves, violence totally dissolves; no wars, no bloodshed, no displacement, no hunting, no killing; no bloodshed of any kind. And a life where beings of all species can live their whole life peacefully, without any fear of any predator. By saying this, I do not mean that there are no lions, or there are no tigers, or there are no crocodiles. All beings exist, all the creations have their dharma, their method of life, and they will follow it. The reason for this is because of ecology, or the balance of the beings in nature. So that will happen. And we have to allow nature to be natural.
That apart, I’m only talking about the human intervention side. We should stay away; we should keep our hands off nature and leave nature to itself. It will beautifully work its way. We have to be in the system to change the system. What we can change in the system is the greed factor, the manipulative mind factor, manipulating for the sake of dominance, or we can guide people to be humans, towards positivity – this is the point here, always positive. This way, we can bring the awareness of the people to the idea that love, kindness, mercy, and good things, or good feelings can really transform the world. Imagine generations coming together on the platform of love, acceptance and companionship, care and share. They can’t create anything adverse to it, because their minds are all focused on the higher refinement of human existence; being totally human. The goodness factor, righteousness factor, kindness, unconditional love, mercy, compassion, righteousness, and the conscious maintenance of conscience; these should come together. I have explained earlier that conscience is the bridge between our conscious state and our soul. So this conscience should be well maintained; if the bridge is well maintained, we can cross over easily to the soul particle or the soul aspect/principle.
The maintenance should be very well organized; we should maintain our conscience; we should not do anything beyond or against our conscience. If we nurture it as a person, a group of people, a society, a community, a country, we can bring forth huge changes in the world. For example, we have been given good, non-polluting powers for our sustenance such as sun rays, wind, water; they all have power, and this power can be well used so that we can have a very good life, without polluting the Earth.
We do not need fossil fuel. We can make a big difference in the world. This COVID situation has brought forth great possibilities of having a pollution-free existence, a pollution-free environment. COVID taught us that this is possible. But why have we not been thinking about this before? Habitual, native existence. Natural existence, which is, we thought, “Okay, pollution is fine! We have to live in pollution.” We thought so even though we have been talking about global warming, climate change, the forest fires; all of which are very destructive and not conducive to human existence. We created hell on Earth because of our greed factor, and we know this very well! Do you think we could fight it and solve it? I doubt it! It’s like jumping into the fire and burning ourselves completely. Instead, through awareness, through life itself, through our own life, through our own thought process, through our own conviction, we can transform the world. And this is very important to understand because by being against, by resisting, by fighting against, we are burning ourselves. And another point is that activists will definitely get a lot of support because of the noise and the movement; birds of the same feather (flock together). I’m not against activism. I know it exists and that it has to because there are people who would like to make noise; otherwise, people wouldn’t know.
But what is the right way to do it; without harming people, without harming the environment, without harming the mind, without harming our conscience? We can bring the right, elected people to represent us and make a difference in society through the right laws, right actions, and right methods which would be progressive, rejuvenating, and proactive towards a better life; a better world, a world, which is peaceful, unpolluted, uncontaminated, where everybody is living a peaceful existence.
While saying this, am I accepting all the bad things happening, by bad I mean those activities that are harmful to the world? Absolutely not! I do not endorse 5G. I do not endorse the frequencies which are harming lives on Earth. I’ve been told by scientists; I have read that 5G is not suitable for any kind of being on Earth. All these frequencies can create a different frequency which affects our brains. Beings will behave in strange ways because their brains are affected. Water pollution, air pollution, earth pollution, plus all these barriers have created caste, country, culture, colour, religions; so many barriers that we see, a lot of walls; and we have 190- 200 countries in the world.
What is human refinement? One world, One family is human refinement.
We should be together. We should love each other, and through love and through nurturing, we bring forth a better world. This world is possible, and this is our responsibility. I would like to reiterate that our method, especially as Yogis, those who walk the path of Yogis, is to lead a life and lead by example that through positive thinking, positive actions, and by giving forth positivity, we can transform the minds of people, towards the highest human refinement.
What is the problem with activism? Activism, there is no problem. This is a group of people coming together for a purpose, that’s fine. But please remember, they could be victimized by the system, that is number one. And there could be divisions happening – pro or against. We have to choose between being pro or against. It’s not that. We can choose a different thing. We do not have to be pro or against anything. Instead, we can bring forth our life, with deep conviction in compassion; real adherence to our conscience, and being human. We can make a difference, and through our literature, etc., instead of fighting something, we can bring awareness to the minds of people.
If there is no demand, there won’t be any supply. Our demand or the demand that we create is creating the requirement for all these unnatural inventions. If we cultivate generations based on love, compassion, kindness, and no corruption, no greed, no jealousy, no anger, hatred, if we can bring that awareness into the lives of people of Earth, generations will be happy. When the greed factor is removed, there won’t be manipulations. There is no need to manipulate minds. When the profit factor, predominantly controlling the markets, are taken away, or diluted, we will be more ethical. To have an ethical existence, we must cultivate higher awareness. There’s no other way. We have to lead by example; we have to live it.
We can easily endorse fighting against something. Fighting brings in some elements of violence in our minds; it could be any kind of fight or disagreement. We should avoid violence in mind. We should avoid violence in expressions and actions because violence breeds more violence.
We can bring great frequencies on Earth through compassion and kindness, through lack of selfishness, by being selfless we can bring great vibrations on Earth, in our society, in our country, in the world. There is great potential, we can actually dissolve the territories and boundaries and walls, just by dissolving our greed factor. There is sustenance for everybody’s need in the world, but not for everybody’s greed because there’s no boundary for greed. But there is sustenance, there is food, there are materials for a good life; we have them; if we share and if we are considerate about everybody around us, we’ll have a good life; the society will be better. We have the right, and we have the responsibility for it.
To conclude this, I would like to say that our path is that of compassion and kindness. Through disciplined determination, through adherence to our conscience, in all our actions, we build up a world that is pure, uncorrupted, unpolluted, and unmanipulated. We live together as a kind community/society, as a good generation that will set precedents for the generations to come. We strongly adhere to righteousness, goodness, and we can make laws and rewards based on the goodness factor, the goodness quotient in us. And let the world be oriented on this matter. It will happen if you believe in it; if you have the conviction.
Once again, the adverse side of activism is that it is mostly selective towards something, or against something. And that may retaliate, and they may destroy. But we can change the vibration, the frequency of the world to goodness and happiness; choose goodness over everything; choose kindness and compassion, beyond everything. We accept our life, accept ourselves without judging or criticizing, and we accept the world and guide the world to better awareness, to a higher awareness that we are a great, intelligent being, walking on Earth, experiencing Earth. We can make this place much better.
I leave this thought on your plate now. Please do discuss it, share this, and also talk to people about it, and make a difference in their mindset.
Again, as I mentioned earlier, I am not endorsing any violence, any war, any kind of bloodshed. I am not endorsing anything which is not suitable for human existence, including certain foods, certain medicines, certain vaccinations, or any of those kinds. I’m not endorsing. Do not think that I’m supporting them, and I’m saying that let them all exist. No, I don’t do that.
I’m saying that through higher awareness, we should transform the mindset of the world, and that takes effort, consistent effort. We have to believe in it; we have to have conviction in it. And we should live it. This is the way we can transform this world, now and forever.
Question: What is the real purpose of a disciple to do worship of a guru on this auspicious day?
Mohanji: Where does the Guru sit? This is the first question we must ask ourselves. Look at our whole life. We are only looking at a life which has happened from our birth so far, until our death in this life. This is what we consider as life.
All the masters, all the great traditions have said time and again that you are the thing you are looking for. I have mentioned that in my Guru Purnima message also, that you are the very thing or the very subject you are looking for. That means you have got to find yourself inside you. That means you got to do manana (contemplation). When you contemplate more and more, you will start finding your dimensions first. Eventually, you will come to a level where you will see yourself as a beacon of light and the rays spreading as dimensions; that means you have become one with your source, the one that is inside you. When you start connecting to the source that is inside you, you will start feeling the various possibilities beyond birth, beyond death. It means the possibility of the atma tatwa or the soul factor, which has no birth or death.
Once you understand that, you will see all your lives of the past and all the lives that are going to be in one spectrum, in one canvas. What happens then? That means you can see the whole role-play; various lifetimes you have played certain roles, and there is a continuation in between, like a stage in the drama. You go out, you change your dress, and you come back. It’s almost like that, very simple. That means you are almost going out and coming back. There is no birth, no death; just changing over, transitioning. So, once you understand that, the principle of Guru and the principle called YOU become very clear to you.
So, where is this Guru sitting? Inside! Then why do we worship a guru outside? That Guru is a reminder of what is sitting inside: just a reminder, nothing else.
So, when you respect (not only the Guru), the Guru in everything, which is the soul factor of all things, of all beings of nature, you will keep seeing the Guru. This is the main factor, the unchangeable factor. One who has actually recognised that soul factor and decided to settle into the soul factor; one who has found that soul factor from the physical factor, an emotional factor, consciousness factor and still further the witness factor, ( once you have settled down in the witness factor), you will see everything in the form of witness hood. You see everything as a witness. In that state, there is no caste, country, culture, colour, religion, language, nothing, just witnessing the whole thing.
When you start witnessing the whole thing, then you realise what exactly is awakening. That awakening only simply means you are a total witness of everything. You see the whole tapestry, not just the scenes of the drama, not the emotions, not the situations, not even the people acting; you see the whole picture. This is the journey that can only be achieved through our inner journey; you got to go within. You got to go inside, within.
When you are worshipping a master or when you are coming in contact with a master, who has already settled down within and he is fully established, your worship, (forget about physical worship), even thinking, even remembering, even your meeting, connecting, all that amounts to one thing. What is it? This is the state I’m looking for. Give me that state of yours. The state makes a master. The state where the Master rests makes that person a master. If the person is resting on emotions of life, that’s not mastery. The mind is dragging us like a slave.
When our awareness rests in the body, we are in waking state. When our awareness rests in our mind matter, we are in dream state. When our awareness rests in deep sleep state, we are in a state like death; we are detached. We are only in consciousness. When our awareness merges with consciousness, we start witnessing the state of the soul. That’s the only time we really witness what the soul is experiencing. That is the journey.
So, if you worship a guru, do you think the Guru needs worship? Guru needs nothing. Why does the guru need worship? Guru is not dependent on things outside of him, because he’s fully established in the witness hood, peaceful, stable and happy. He or she doesn’t matter. When you go within, and you start connecting to your own soul as I explained just now, you don’t need any worship. You are happy; you are settled. You are not dependent on the world outside for your pleasures of senses. Instead, senses are existing, but the senses are not demanding. Senses are relaxed, the mind is relaxed; there is no thrust of desires, no push of desires; tranquillity, peace. This is the real state.
If somebody is resting in that state, what would he feel and what would he say? Just be. JUST BE. The highest is achieved through that state of being YOU, being YOURSELF. BEING; only being. That’s the beauty.
When somebody says you have to worship me, that person only displays insecurity. That person is insecure. Why is he insecure? It is because he’s still dependent on the world outside. For a person who is stable within, whether somebody respects, somebody worships or not, it doesn’t make a difference. But if you want to experience that feeling of connecting in your way, as you are, you can do that. You can do whatever and for the Master, it doesn’t matter.
Sai Baba displayed that all the time. As the disciple came, Baba allowed them to perform their chosen ritual. Baba just allowed it to happen. He never said, “I don’t like it”, because there’s no like or dislike; just being.
Question: I want to know, for somebody like me when I’ve not met you in person, how could I understand that you are helping me and uplifting in spirituality? How do I know that I am growing in spirituality?
Mohanji: Do we actually need any help? This is the fundamental question. What help do we need?
In fact, a true master always remains as a mirror, undistorted image. That’s what he gives us. So, he always remains like a mirror, stable and still, and when you look into the mirror, you see your own true reflection. You see yourself in your true form, as you are. And that itself is a big deal because, in the outside world, you are only getting opinions of people. Some opinions are good, some opinions are bad, some are criticism, and some are praises. But between this, there is a reality. You never get that reality from the world outside. When you come to a master, the mirror is so fresh, perfect and clean; you get the real picture. That’s the biggest thing a master gives us your true picture.
So how does a master help? It is by giving your true picture; you realise this is where I stand; this is what I am. The moment you understand what you are, correction is easy. Diagnosis is difficult; the cure is easier. Similarly, when you come in contact with a pure mirror, an undistorted image happens. You automatically know where you stand and where you should be. The Master becomes a road sign with his own life.
What is the main thing happening here? Amidst all the varied dimensions of existence, emotions, changes; HE remains unchangeable, still. So, when you look at that Master, and you see a zero change, unchangeable, steady, then you realise this is the state of happiness; not pleasures, which are changing every now and then. Pleasures keep changing. For some time they remain, then again, you need more. But here, happiness is a state where you are always happy, stable and happy. And that state is what you are looking for. That’s when you realise, this is the state. So a true master’s life itself is the lesson, message and path. And when you come in contact, how do you know that you are being helped? Are you attaining silence in the mind? Or are you continuing to be restless and affected by things around us around you?
If you are always affected by things around you; that means you are only expressing your inherent patterns. It means, patterns or habits have formed, and it’s like a cycle going on and on and on. But a master shows you, that there is a possibility of being still, being out of the patterns, overcoming them by accepting those patterns and not resisting them. By holding the hands of the Master, (as long as it takes, maybe it takes lifetimes we never know), you come out of your patterns of life, including habits, likes, dislikes, opinions, prejudices, etc. and you become free. When you become free; fewer thoughts, less desire, less wear and tear from life will be the result. If this is happening, that means this relationship is working.
Relationship with a master does not have boundaries when I say boundaries, not bound by time. It is a continuous process. What brings you to a master is eligibility, YOUR WILL to experience the higher aspects of existence such as happiness; this brings you to a master. (And again as I said, it is not pleasures of life. We have many pleasures in life. It keeps coming and going, and we are not happy. Because one time it comes and goes, you crave for more, desire for more, and this is a continuous process.)Then you are in a tranquil state, and you are happy by nature and contented. So the contentment factor is the connection factor; you can actually assess your connection with your level of contentment.
Question: If people take advantage of unconditional love, how do you handle such situations? Is there a boundary to draw when you give unconditional love?
Mohanji: We are unconditional love by nature. That is our nature. We are love by nature, and we expand with love. We contract with hatred, revenge, anger; it makes us shrink. But with love, we expand, and that’s our nature; our nature is to expand. So love is our natural process. Love is our nature. But the world outside, of seven billion-plus people, is of every dimension. They are of different dimensions. It is not easy to say or categorise them at all.
Everybody is a mixture of various types of people. So, in this whole mixture, how people respond is completely based on time, space, their moods or the fluctuations of mind as per that time, because of various reasons. So, we cannot predict. We can only generalise a person based on the most predominant attitude. We can never say, “This person is always like this”. Each day could be different, moods could be changing, and everything could be changing. So, we must never judge anybody and say that he/ she is always like this. So, we have to understand that the world operates in such a way where the gunas; the Sattva, Rajas, Tamas gunas are fluctuating, flowing.
That changes time and again based on various aspects of existence, and that causes swings in moods. Sometimes Sattva is very high; people are tranquil and peaceful, then Rajas becomes high, they become very active, very explicit, and when Tamas becomes high, they procrastinate. So, this keeps going up and down, and according to that, a person will respond. Sometimes when the person is filled with Tamas, they may respond illogically, procrastinate. Procrastination brings forth anger, hatred, various types of feelings: feeling of separation, feeling of lack of love, etc. When that happens, maybe a disconnection happens between the person who loves them fully and the person who takes advantage of them.
Sometimes people think that the people who take advantage are good people because they fail to see the truth. At the same time, a thought may come that the people who love them unconditionally, but pretty rigid in their attitude are bad guys. In such cases, they hate the people who are truthful, and they follow the people who are manipulative. We have seen that in life. Sometimes people go after people who are manipulative, and they realise it much later. By the time too much of water would have flown under the bridge. That means time would have changed, and it would have probably become irreversible. Then betrayals happen, revenge happens, so much of bad blood happens. At the same time, the estrangement takes root; it means separation takes root, so this might become a trauma. But a master you are connected to, the Master will remain unconditional.
In the story of Victor Hugo, the Bishop gave food and accommodation to an ex-convict. When nobody wanted him, the society rejected him and did not want anything to do with him; at that time, the Bishop invited him to the church, gave him warm food and accommodation. But the convict in him could not accept it. The convict in him accepted himself as a bad guy, and decided, “This is not possible. Nobody can love me”. Because the inherent feeling or the concept or the state that he was in, rejected the kindness which the Bishop showed unconditionally.
What did he do? He stole the silver candle holders and ran away in the night. The police caught him, brought him back to the church because he had those candle holders which had the mark of the church on it. The police asked the Bishop, “Did this man steal something from the church?” and showed him the candleholders and few other things. The Bishop said, “No, I gave it to him”. Thus, he saved him again. That transformed the man.
So I always believe CONSISTENT KINDNESS transforms minds. So all you have to do is, not to have any expectation if you are brimming with unconditional love. If you expect people to appreciate, people to accept you as unconditional etc., there could be disappointments. Whenever there is an expectation, there is a potential for disappointment. So, express unconditional love consistently and be kind again and again and again, and you raise yourself in stature, not status. Stature is your ability to be unconditional love all the time. Then what happens in society? Society cannot ignore you anymore. Society will come around you, respect you and glorify you and make you a legend or legend hood comes to you because you have been consistent.
Consistency is a big deal. Many people do not have it. It is because they pitch expectation into an activity, and suffer sorrows and disappointment. So, this is something which we must remember. Be unconditional, but have the maturity to have no expectations. So you keep giving. Examples are Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi; we can find so many examples. They did not do things for the sake of earning glory, and because of that, glory came to them. Nelson Mandela, for example, He was behind bars in one cell for about 30 + years, that is, for most of his life. But when he came out, he was not affected. He created the platform for a peaceful society.
How can that happen? There was no revenge in his mind. Likewise, various great masters whom we have respected over time, they have been kind consistently, been compassionate, and been selfless consistently, and expecting nothing and that made them legends. Being unconditional is a beautiful thing. But it should have one more ingredient added into it. That is, zero expectation, and that will give you glory.
Question: How can we be sure that we are doing Consciousness Kriya correctly? And how do we know we’re making progress?
Mohanji: Well, any practice for that matter, say a normal physical practice, how do you know whether you are making progress? In simple terms, your proficiency increases. But in spiritual practice, the idea of spiritual practice is to give you a certain level of stability. So one of the criteria if you are doing a thing right, with the full application, full commitment, with conviction, faith, and consistency; if you are doing it properly, the result would be stability. Automatically, you will be very stable, and you will not be affected by the things around you too much. Things will be happening around you as it would, but it will not affect you as much as it usually would. So that’s the real sign that you are actually in the right track; we can extend it to say with fewer thoughts, less desires, etc.
End of the day, when you are practising it right, when you are consistent about it, and you believe in it, (if you don’t believe in it, if you are testing it, it may not work that much.) then you will realise that there is a kind of stability happening inside you. You are not fluctuated by the fluctuations of the outside world. The outside world will remain outside; the inside world will strengthen. When the inside world strengthens, the outside world cannot affect you anymore.
This phenomenon, you can see if you are getting more and more stable inside that means the external world will not affect you as much as it normally would. So, this is a clear sign of knowing you are doing it right. Sometimes, you know the method very well, but the effect is not happening because you do not trust it. Secondly, when we go to a guru with expectations and the guru gives you certain guidelines, but then we neither trust the guru nor the guidelines, we fail in the whole thing. It is because of one reason; we have not connected, we have not accepted. So, it’s important to accept wholeheartedly, experiment it, keep trying it, and after a while, it will start working. Maybe initially it may not work, it starts working as you go further and further.
There should be some kind of consistency in your practice; this is very important. If that’s not happening, the results may not happen. We become busy with our thought processes, so we do not have consistency sometimes. Then, that affects us, and we feel dejected, depressed because we are not progressing. Progress means less thoughts. Less thoughts means less desires. Less desires mean more detachment and more freedom.
Less thought = Less desires =Less needs = More detachment = More freedom.
That’s a benchmark which you can actually look for. But for that, you need to connect to your inside world more than the outside world. When we are running behind the pleasures of existence, entertaining the senses, entertaining the mind, etc., it may not work easily. On one side we are chasing things outside, but on the other side, we are trying to come inside, this struggle will continue.
So you must spend enough time with yourself. And I have always done that between 3 am to 8 am, early morning. That is because that time, the world is relatively free from you or you are free from the world. After that, you got to give yourself to the world. Maybe you are working, you are doing things, and then you are probably busy with your life outside. And that will take its toll. It’s okay, that’s part of life. But we got to spend time with ourselves, a personal time. That’s the time you should practise consistently with faith, faith in yourself, faith in the activity and also be clear that you are not keeping expectations ahead of you.
What are you doing? – Just practising. Just doing what it takes. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s good or bad. Just by focusing on the activity with full surrender, the results will start happening because you are starting to connect with yourself. End of the day, whether you are a Bhakti Yogi, following the path of devotion, or Jnyana Yogi, following the path of knowledge, or Karma yogi, following the path of service, or Raja Yogi, following the path of consciousness, it doesn’t matter. Everything leads you to yourself. Eventually, you will have to come back to yourself, and that’s the whole path. That’s the whole tradition. So this will happen anyway. This has to happen. So it doesn’t matter whether this practice is right or wrong, etc. I would say wrong practice means you need to put pressure to do it. Right practice is a pleasure. You are happy to do it. This is very simple.
Question: What would strengthen and help the awakening of consciousness?
Mohanji: Consistency strengthens our purpose. When we are consistent, what is our priority? We must ask this question some point in time. Imagine you came in contact with a very powerful master. But you contacted him for some personal gain or personal benefits, such as a job or a marriage or a relationship or some money or a position in the world, something like that. That’s very shallow. It may happen anyway.
But why did you associate with a very powerful Master? What brought you to him? It is your eligibility. What kind of eligibility brought you to a master of that kind? It is the eligibility for liberating yourself from the mundane existence of likes and dislikes, happiness and sorrow; this kind of duality. It was time for you to come out of it. That is how you came in contact with the master. Now, imagine you are still expressing your patterns, expectations leading to disappointments, ownerships, anger, hatred, jealousy, etc. What happens? You stand still! Your patterns are more powerful than your association with something really powerful (the master). That means your patterns become a wall in front of you, which disconnects you from that master.
Then that connection is wasted. You cannot use it because there is a wall in front of you. Your own patterns, concepts, prejudices make a wall, and the wall grows, because your ego enters. Ego sometimes manipulates you. Ego tells you, “Hey, look here! This is not how it should be; he should come forward to you, not you go to him” etc., all those things and it takes you away from reality and detaches you from reality and what happens is that the whole connection is wasted. So, when you come in contact with a master, you should have the priorities set right. And you should have extreme flexibility, flow like a river, and flow like water. Extreme flexibility helps you to progress in drastic speed.
As I told in the beginning, imagine you have a lot of lifetimes, let’s say 200 lifetimes. As you come closer to your soul, you can see these 200 lifetimes in one frame, like in the zoom, we can see all the people on one frame, all the people who are connected to us are all in one frame, and they are all in these frames. Like that, we can see our various lifetimes in one frame and then we will know that we have been expressing almost similar patterns. Maybe, we have been a man or a woman or a child or anything in each life, that doesn’t matter. But in every life, we have been expressing similar patterns, insecurities, prejudices, all the things which you are experiencing now have been the same in all those lives and the coming lives as well.
So what you are really doing is that with each death, you are just going out, changing clothes and coming back into a new life. So it’s like a new scene in the drama. We are acting scene by scene by scene. If you take a drama, in that kind of boundary/frame, you are enacting a role. And you keep coming back in a new costume, and you play the role. In between, you are coming in contact with a master who says, “I will take you out of this. You had enough of roles in life, you have played a lot of roles, and I’ll take you out of it”. But then again, you have been used to certain patterns all these lifetimes, similar patterns. So what will you say? “Okay, I would like you to take me out of it. But you know what, I have something more to settle because I have left some things on another screen, another time so that I want to go back to complete that. That man cheated me. So I must go back and cheat him. He betrayed me. So I must betray him.” Like that, we have scores to settle.
We have things to complete, which provokes further lives. So in this whole bargain, in various lifetimes we have come in contact with people who have come out of this drama; they have finished their acting, they have already settled within themselves, they’ve understood there’s no need for this drama. They’ve experienced everything connected to this whole life, and they don’t want it anymore. They know it very well, and they have come out of it. These people still hang on to guide others to come out of it. But then our patterns are so strong, that we may even blame the people who are already detached from it, saying, “No, no, this guy doesn’t understand, I have to take care of this thing. This is more important for me.” ‘I’ am important. I factor. ‘I’ is the association with the role not with the actor. This is the problem. We associate ourselves with the role.
If Mohanji associates himself as a guru, then Mohanji has a problem. I’m not a guru all the time. When I play with Mila, I’m not a guru. I’m her father. Like that in every scene, I play a different role. And the sum total of it is what is called this incarnation. So, that acceptance should happen. With extreme flexibility, when you play the role, you play it well, good enough for an Oscar. You play it supremely well, and when you come out of it, you have nothing to do with it. That is the detachment we talk about. We have that experience every day.
Remember, when we go to bed, we shut off from this external world. We are completely detached. We shut the screen; there is nothing on the screen, no world outside. Then we connect to the internal world, and we see the drama of life as dreams. We get tired; we shut that also. Then we go into a deep sleep where you shut off everything, body, mind-matter, everything is shut off. You are totally sitting in consciousness with consciousness. You are sleeping with consciousness. Then you come back again to the waking state, where you and the world come alive. Again you wear the costume of this incarnation as per your projection, and the world recognises you as you are known in this incarnation. But is that you? Ask this question – Am I this? This role play is important in this act for sure, because you play that role, but is that you?
Why do you set boundaries? Why do we have boundaries? This question will happen, and that time we will start understanding the role play. So, everybody’s life is just acting, or role plays and patterns are guiding. The inclinations, tendencies push them to express what they are into this world. That means we are projecting what we are into this world. That means we are seeing or experiencing this world as WE are; we cannot experience the world as it is. We are not experiencing the world as the world is. Instead, we are experiencing the world as we are. What do you see around? What do you get from this world? – Opinions, concepts, prejudices, and so many factors of that kind. Think about it.
The world is full of opinions; it may not be the truth. Somebody says, “This person is not good.” That is his perspective. That person thinks that the other person is not as good as per his criterion. But another person may say, “This guy is very good.” So who’s telling the truth? Nobody is good. Nobody is bad. It’s our perspective; it is the way we see it. We see a person, and if our frequency is not matching with something, we call it not good – For whom? – For us. So, when we tell another person, “That person is not good, stay away”, are we missing heavily here? Definitely. We are missing a lot because we fail to see the truth. Our opportunity to see the truth or our opportunity to be neutral and have clarity is taken away because we see the world through our ears, not through our eyes. Eyes are given to see the world, to see the truth, but eyes cannot see the truth because ears work more.
We experience that in life. So this has to be clearly understood. The world is as it is, but we see the world as we are. And then if you see this whole 100, 200 lifetimes of our existence, you can see the same pattern at work. But because we are getting involved in the drama, we cannot really come out, because each person changes the costume and comes back and we must be there. We are addicted to this play, and we keep coming back: the same people, different costumes, and different order. They all come back, and they all provide similar emotions because they’re all coming with patterns; similar emotions. We enter into the drama, and we really suffer from that drama, sometimes happy sometimes sorrow, but do we see this drama? We must. The moment you start seeing the drama, and then you realise, “Oh, this is the story.”
Do you know why we have assassinated most of the people who spoke the truth? The people, whom we assassinated like Jesus and Socrates, were great masters who saw the truth and told the truth – undistorted truth, but we killed them. We character assassinated them. Why did we do that? Because we do not see, we can’t see. We are blind to reality. We only see what WE are, what is our pattern through the eyes of the pattern. We only see through the eyes of the pattern, through the eyes of our prejudices and concepts. Through the spectacles of what we have carried forward and what we have collected, we are watching this world. We are witnessing this world, and we don’t see the truth. We do not even accept the truth. All these people are like that. That is why racism, speciesism is all because we are eating concepts right from our breakfast till we sleep.
Somebody says, “It’s okay to kill an animal and eat” and we eat. We do not think that they have a life. They have a right to live as much as we have. The right is the same for every species which we don’t see. Likewise RACE. Each person is born in a certain community, and that’s about it. Nobody is higher or lower. Nobody can be higher or lower. Experience wise, everybody has the same right; the same kind of experience. If you touch fire, your hand will burn. The same happens with every race, everybody.
If we start seeing beyond all these seeming boundaries that we have created for ourselves and we fail to see the truth, then we realise, ”Oh, so there is a pattern”, but when do we get to see it? Even when somebody who has seen it tells you, we may not accept it. We may ask mundane questions. What will happen to me in the future? Does that mean you are asking what is the script? Or ask what will happen after my death? You will come back in the same way. It doesn’t matter. What you can do right now is your only reality. Try to connect yourself and try to see the truth now. That can change your future. Not that the future can change by sitting doing nothing, or entertaining the patterns now. Future will not change like that. Future will be future, patterns will continue, and patterns are ruling us. Our inclinations and tendencies are ruling us, which we don’t know. Even if it is told, we do not accept, nor do we understand. We do not allow changes because we are too bound by the patterns. We don’t even see. I have to sleep; I have to eat; I have to do this. I have to do that. You are completely preoccupied and bound by patterns, where your freedom is lost. As I have explained in today’s message, freedom is freedom from the senses and mind, not of the senses and mind. But unfortunately, what we have always been told and what we tell others is that I have freedom because I can go out and do whatever I like. That means being a slave is freedom. When you say, “I have the freedom to go out and do things that I like”, you are saying, “I can exercise my patterns and I call that my freedom”.
That is not freedom. Freedom is a state where you are free from your own senses and mind. Senses are pretty much sensors; they cannot operate on their own, the mind provokes them. So when you are free from your mind-matter such as intellect, ego and mind, then the senses are in control. If they are not bothering you, if the mind is not bothering you and if you are detached from your mind, and in the state of witness hood and mind is not really provoking the senses to go out, that’s the only time you experience freedom. Otherwise, you don’t. Whatever we say as freedom: freedom of choices, freedom of doing things; that is not freedom. That is just another word for living your own patterns.
Freedom is when you need nothing from Earth. Freedom is when you are free from your mind. If you understand that clearly, you have understood the whole tapestry. You have understood the whole thing. So when you are coming in contact, or when you are fully in contact with your own soul factor, then you see life in the whole picture, the whole frame, every life, and all the lifetimes together. That time you realise, if I miss the chance to get out of this drama, I’m stuck again. That’s the time when we realise this connection which you have received in the path of spirituality is worth millions, or it’s totally priceless. That’s the only real thing in Life.
Forget about the patterns and other things. You want to get married; you want to have children, a house, etc., all these are patterns. But look at the reality now. Look at the truth which you have come in contact with. The truth of being you, the truth to be you, connect to you, accept you, understand you, assimilate you, align you, be you and realise you. We call it self-realisation, and that is priceless. You cannot put a frame or a price to it. And the role of a master is to bring you to this awareness, not to force you into this awareness. No master will force you, why should they force you?
A true master will show you a mirror, “Look here, this is where you stand”. “Then where should I go?” – Into yourself. Which way? You connect to yourself through contemplation, understand yourself, and accept yourself. Acceptance is very important. You have to accept yourself with all your weaknesses and strengths. You have to feel yourself as you are and be yourself. This life is a golden chance. Do not chase the rainbows now because we have been chasing it always, in all the lifetimes. Now, we have got an opportunity to be aware that reality is at hands reach. We have come in contact with reality. And this is worth anything. That should be the first priority.
Destruction of patterns should be your first priority. But you can’t destroy something and stay empty. You got to catch something higher. How do you catch it? What will you catch? TRUTH. The Truth inside you; the truth is what you are catching. That truth is inside you. That’s the real you; the witness who needs nothing from Earth, nothing from anywhere. Beyond relationships, beyond time, space, beyond matters, materials, possessions, positions, this is you. You start connecting to that; you will see immense power happening inside you, overwhelming power.
Because you are free, you feel the power of freedom. It is great freedom to feel that power. That power is not to display to somebody, not to show off. The power is big, the power of beingness, the power of being you, you have nothing to prove on Earth. There’s nothing to prove; there is nothing to ask for or nothing to gain from Earth. Instead, you are giving the Earth all your brightness. Imagine, this is the truth of liberation. This is a liberated existence. If we understand that, we have understood everything. This is within you; it is not something which is kind of unreachable. It’s not a tall order. It’s within you. It’s you, connecting to you, assimilating you, aligning you and being you.
The connection with the master is to bring that spark, to light that fire. Then the fire catches, burns you and reduces you to yourself. All other things go away; all the patterns, concepts, everything burns into ashes. Then you become you. If this is really understood, you have understood everything. This opportunity is right at hand, and you have it. This Guru Poornima is the right day to think about it. Sage Vyasa, Vashishta, Saptarishis; everybody came to tell you this story, that human birth is extremely important. And in human birth, you have this opportunity to recognise, understand and assimilate your true self, the truth.
It’s not a linear existence. Life goes linear from birth till death, but that is only for the sake of experience. However, truth does not go linear. The truth remains vertical, always vertical. All the time, the truth remains the same. When you are a child, the truth is the same. When you are an adult, the truth is the same. In your old age, the truth is the same. Truth never changes. But in linear time, experiences changes, perception changes, body changes, mind changes, intellect changes, everything changes. And we confuse ourselves by thinking, “I am changing.” However, nothing is changing. You are the same, you cannot change, and truth cannot change.
So, if you’ve really understood this, you will start recognising the truth every moment. What you get out of it? – Immense stability, peace, tranquility, freedom. You will experience the real meaning of freedom only when you reach that state, where you are connected to the truth yesterday, today, tomorrow, and the day after. It doesn’t matter what your moods are, what your surroundings are, what your emotions are. Not a problem. Nothing matters. You could be anger, hatred, jealousy, lust, anything. Not a problem. It is a state of freedom. That’s exactly how great masters existed -consistent, stable, integrity, unchangeable because you are connecting to the unchangeable.
Welcome to Mohanji Speaks, my friends. Hope you’re enjoying the podcast. Do share them, if you like them, with your friends and discuss about them, because they might be transformative. Today, we will talk about enemies. All of us have some enemies in our life, those who dislike, hate or judge us. This is part of existence.
Just like we have friendships, we have enmities as well. Are they good or bad? They are as they are. Everything has its value in life. Life is a variety; life has all these things.
But have you observed what we do with our enmities? First and foremost, we have every right to be peaceful, contented and satisfied with what we have. This right is, in fact, our birthright and we must cherish it. Because we are unique beings on Earth; we have the ability to experience life as we are, and we do. We must experience life, using those capacities and abilities. In that context, if somebody does not like what you do, if there is meaning in their dislike, certainly, you must change your ways. But if there’s no meaning in their enmity and it is out of jealousy, you have nothing to do. We need not be jealous of anybody, nor do we entertain somebody’s jealousy, because these are unwanted or unimportant things. They’re not important in life. So, it’s important to understand that enmities are our choice. We don’t need enemies, we accept people; when we accept, there’s no enmity. Lack of acceptance causes enmity.
It’s our choice to have enemies or not; similarly, we have the choice to have friendships, as well, and to use them. It is a beautiful feeling to have nice friendships. I would like to talk about a recent incident. I have an old friend, in fact, he is my schoolmate and we were good friends for a long time. In 2014, a group of people turned against me, scandalized me, spoke ill about me and tried to pull down the entire infrastructure which I had painfully built up. And I was told that this man, my classmate, and close friend was also part of that group. People have seen him with the group which was against me. I was annoyed and disturbed by it wondering why he was behaving so. My thought was that he could have asked me if he had a question. But in such cases, where people intend to tarnish your name etc., they don’t talk to you; they just go ahead and do it. Since I was upset by his behaviour, I detached from him. I didn’t say anything to him, there was no communication.
One day, when I spoke to his brother, I told him these details and he, in turn, told my friend. It turned out that he became annoyed and said, “Why you couldn’t speak to me? Why did you speak to my brother?” I told him that once I had conveyed the matter, it was over; it was out of my system. I don’t keep anything in my mind.
But then, last week it occurred to me that this one issue was still pending. And I wondered why anything should remain pending. This relationship was sour. We don’t need sour relationships in our life; as much as possible, we should sort them out. We can have a peaceful existence, why have enemies? So, I sent a message to him, “I love you”. He later replied with a picture of a book I had gifted him a long time back, which I have autographed. He sent me a picture of the autograph too where I had wished him well. The friend then added, “Do you know, I read this book every day and I remember you.” I said,” I’m very happy.” When he sent me this picture, I sent across my phone number to him and asked him to call me. He didn’t call me, but he sent me his phone number. Immediately, I called him, and then he said this, “I read this book every day. And I remember you.” He then went on to narrate an incident. He said, “I never knew that we have a deep connection, a connection so deep that it could influence my life. When we were in touch, I didn’t realize it was important. But I didn’t party with anybody who was against you. I even told them, I know Mohan for many years, and he’s not what you think he is or, as you perceive.” However, that was not the impression I had, because he was with that group of people. He said he was with them because he was trying to solve the issue. Anyway, that’s beside the point. He told me that by coincidence, the day he fought with me, he lost a big contract, a very big and important one for him for his future. It went away and he did not know what to do. He tried his best to win it back. It was a contract job, and a huge sum of money was involved. But he just lost it, they just cancelled it. It was almost a year and a half since we first had an argument. The day I sent him the “I love you” note, the people who cancelled the contract, called him and said that they were not happy with the company they were working with. They wanted to give the contract back to my friend. He said, “I think there was energetic support in our relationship” and thus he got the contract back after a year and a half. He said, “You have been an integral part in my life and I’m part of your life”. Many times when I lost my job and had no way to join another one because I had to leave the country, he helped me, this was sometime in the 1990s and 2000s. There was a connection between us. When he lost the job, and he couldn’t enter a country, I brought him back to a different country so that he could continue with his business. We had a give and take; there were a mutual relationship and a mutual energy exchange. This was lost when we disconnected. A sign of that is that the day I wrote to him the “I love you” note, he got the contract back. Rest is history. I spoke with him and we decided that it’s not worth it to have enmity.
But the point is that we can correct, if possible, the enemies that have happened in our life. But on the other side, if somebody decides that you are an enemy, there’s nothing much you can do because it’s there, in their mind. You can still counter it with love. Whether they accept it or not, you can choose to love.
Having enmities is a crippling situation, or at least an uneasy situation, which we can avoid in life. We can choose to love. We can choose to have contentment, satisfaction, and we can be balanced in our life. And if an enmity happens, try to solve it, or ignore it or just counter it with love. This is the thought I would like to give today, and we can discuss further about it.
I strongly believe that life should be embalmed with love every moment. We give what we can. We share what we have. We love. And that should be good medicine in all situations. And we can be really happy with love. Enmity happens, enemies happen with or without your knowledge and control. We remain as love; we remain as kindness, we remain as compassion. We exercise only those high qualities of life, and then you will have a better life. Be selflessness and be kindness, always.
This is Mohanji for you. Lots of love. Have a great day and a great week ahead.
Today, I feel very sad, disappointed. A wild elephant walked into human habitat in search of food. Why does an elephant come into a human territory for food? Because there is no food in the forest. We have encroached into the forest, which belongs to wild animals, and we have made farms for our sake. The elephant that wandered in was alone, lonely, hungry. And she was pregnant. The human breed fed that elephant with a pineapple laden with explosives. The hungry elephant ate that pineapple, which exploded in her mouth. Acute agony, pain and disappointment. The elephant trusted people. She thought they genuinely cared because they gave her food. But the elephant did not understand the treachery, the betrayal of our species, it was badly hurt. It had a baby in its womb. It had to protect the baby. But it knew that it cannot eat food, it’s mouth is totally destroyed. It walked into a river, immersed itself in it, probably to appease the pain, and it died there. The elephant left the body, the soul left the body, it died. Who’s responsible?
We are responsible. What each person of the species does, the whole species is responsible. We are responsible for our insensitivity. The basic cause is hunger. The driving force is hunger. We have insensitively expanded our territories. We have encroached into every sphere; dividers, huge dividers, impregnable dividers. The beings of nature have one simple need: appeasing hunger.
The human greed has wiped out many species on earth. It is still wiping out many species on Earth. Today, it’s World Environment Day. There is no food in forests, there are no forests, so many forests are burned all over the world to create farms; to bring agony and suffering to every species. Human greed, human insensitivity; man is everywhere. 7.5 billion people, 7.5 billion hungry mouths, we are everywhere. Our life has become a spelling mistake. We have lost balance, we have degenerated. When we kill indiscriminately, it’s a sign of sheer degeneracy, it’s not the sign of refinement.
The sign of refinement is compassion, the sign of refinement is nurturing and caring, the sign of refinement is being sensitive to every being around us. Human insensitivity is choking people to death. Human insensitivity is blasting animals to death. Human insensitivity is waging wars. Human insensitivity is releasing viruses into the air, human insensitivity is destroying our own species. When the whole environment is destroyed, what will we do? How will we live? We are creating our own grave. Insensitivity has a huge price. It must not forget that.
In the same state of Kerala, a while ago, a poor, tribal, hungry man stole some food from the village because he was hungry. He was caught and beaten to death. The only reason why he stole some food was that he was hungry. We brand people as thieves. We brand people in the name of colour, caste, country. We brand people and kill them. Our insensitivity has no boundaries.
In mind, we have many boundaries, many barriers, we do not people if they are not like us. We do not like species if they are not useful to us. We breed to kill for our own taste, for our own selfish pleasure. We have a huge price to pay for our sensitivity. We, as a species has to pay a huge price. We cheat, we steal, we betray our own species. We have polluted the environment. We have made gadgets to torture, to kill every species. We have sophisticated machines; war machines, equipment that destroys. A refined generation will never do this. We call ourselves refined and we encroach and disturb families. We take children away from mothers in factory farms.
We wreak havoc in the life of everything. We wreak havoc in the life of all beings, and we call ourselves refined. We sit in air-conditioned offices, we sit in air-conditioned spaces and discuss nature, preservation, nurturing nature, but we do nothing about it. We plant trees, but we don’t nurture them; hypocrisy, insensitivity, human greed, there is a price to pay. There is a price huge price. When we continue to be insensitive, nature strikes back. Nature has put us in confinement by releasing a virus; an invisible virus to tackle a bigger virus called human beings.
Today, I may sound bitter and angry; that’s because time and again, we have spoken about the necessity of being nonviolent. Time and again, I have told Ahimsa, non-violence is necessary for our lives; for the sake of the world, for the sake of the next generations, for the sake of the future of Earth, but we do not understand. We are not understanding. We are not listening. We are still going to supermarkets and buying the dead bodies of babies, small babies of various species. And we believe this is okay. It is definitely not okay.
Every being has the same right to live on Earth. Human beings are not special. We are just one species on Earth. We cannot betray any other species; we cannot betray our own species. We can’t kill people of any species; we have no right. If we have to show our supremacy, it should be with compassion. If we consider human beings as more refined, it has to be through kindness, selflessness, unconditional love, sensitivity. Let there be a better world. We have to repent. We have to seek forgiveness from nature for our insensitivity. We have to educate the new generation, the coming generation, the importance of being sensitive and loving.
Hello, my dear friends, welcome to Mohanji Speaks podcast. Hope you’re doing well, and hope you’re enjoying the earlier shows.
Today, I would like to answer a few questions regarding the Early Birds Club. The questions are ranging from, “What are the advantages? What do we expect? Whether we should participate at all?” All these things.
Fundamentally, we decided to have this kind of a system, a method to create quality successful people who are rooted in compassion and can have the power and energy to transform the world. So, imagine a lot of people, positive people walking this Earth. Imagine that situation. There is no crime, there’s no violence, and there is absolute peacefulness. They are only contributing to the peace and the stability of Earth and harmony. So, this is the vision. The vision is to have a large number of people in this world. We have 7.5 billion people on Earth, remember, and most of them, if they operate from the level of love and kindness, just imagine how beautiful the earth will be.
Now, I will talk to you about a few advantages, which, not me, various people have spoken about this, over time. Fundamentally, when you wake up early; let’s say, three o’clock. See, the time is divided into various parts or various segments in our scriptures and people have followed it. So, they have said that 9 pm to 12 midnight is called the dense time; that time is very energetically dense. It’s energetically very binding and dense. So, it’s recommended that you completely cut yourself off at that time. That means you sleep. Then you are not exposed to that time when it’s very dense. The more days you are exposed to dense time, you tend to become dense because we are like a sponge; we accumulate, we collect. So, 9 to 12 time also, it is said that that’s the time when the body restarts itself, rejuvenates itself, re-works on itself, or reboots itself.
9 to 12 time, if you completely rest, the body’s happy, the body has restarted itself, all the cells are fine. So, it’s good health, stability. This is one. Then 12 to 3, it’s usually called ‘Gandharva Yamam’, a kind of neutral time, and that time is good for rejuvenation and sleep.
And three to six is very, very important. That is the time when the mind reboots. When the mind reboots, the input also is very important. What’s the right input? The right thoughts, the right expressions, the right methods of action; all the right things; based on that is exactly where the Early Birds Club was created, that’s fundamental.
If this is very well understood, what are the advantages? Time and again people have told or spoken, that those who wake up early, have better self-esteem. They have better self-love; they have better self-respect, better confidence, positivity, balance, the strength of mind, relaxed, less stress, better connectivity with themselves. These are all individualistic things, but if you consistently do this, if you consistently base yourself and follow the Early Birds Club principles, you can experience some of these things. And there is a saying, ‘Something which is well begun, will also have a good culmination’. That means, when you begin something well, if you start your day well, you can end your day well too. A good start is very important for a good finish.
So, if you start early, connect to yourself, assimilate yourself, align yourself and then you go through the day; you will have good immunity from the wears and tears of life. So, this is very important. It means less conflict with the world outside. When you’re walking as aligned as you can, you have less conflict with the world outside. Then you will be better organized because you have all the time, you can prepare your day, you have all the time to think and do great things in life. When there is less clutter, there is a lot of clarity. If your mind is very deeply involved with yourself and you’re fully uncluttered, your clarity level will improve consistently when you wake up early and you start your day.
So, what is good wealth? It is always good health. If you have good health, you can experience life better. That happens when you wake up early and you do your exercises, your chants and your connection with yourself, it will help you to stabilize yourself, which will become good wealth.
So, early to sleep, early to wake. That is exactly how nature is, look around, you will know. When the sun sets even the leaves and the plants take it easy. They rest; all the birds go to bed, all the beings of nature, literally rest after sunset. We should also literally rest after sunset so that we can reboot ourselves in time.
So, the course of the night, because we have all the facilities, electric lights and all the things, we don’t really take rest. We do not give any respite to ourselves; we just work and work and work. So, what happens at the end, when you are consistently doing that, then you feel tired, every moment, every time. That’s because of the tedium of activity, compulsive activity.
Here, you’re taking a backseat; you’ve decided to spend time with yourself because you are everything, you are the universe, you are the world. If you don’t exist, there’s no world for you. The world exists as a platform, but you don’t have it. So, if you can raise your level of awareness to great heights, you can enjoy life fully. The whole idea is to enjoy, and experience life, since you have taken birth; it’s your birthright to have that great feeling of being alive.
With this thought, I leave you to think this over. I think I have told you about the basics of the Early Birds Club. We can always build on it and there are so many scientific proofs and scientific experiments regarding the early wakers. All the billionaires and the millionaires, all the successful people of the world, they’re all early wakers, and they wake up early, they sleep early. The scriptures have said this a long time ago; they said this is what you should do.
So, we have all these options, we have guidance, and we made a system of the Early Birds Club in such a way that it’s effortless, it’s easy. You can follow that and feel it, and then you can improve yourself. When you glow from inside; the society grows. It’s your brightness which makes a difference in the society. This is exactly what we want to see. Let the world be brighter, because of you. The world needs light. So, let’s work together for it. Spread this word around, spread the idea around as best as you can, and bring more and more people to feel the power of waking up early.
Wish you all success. This is Mohanji. Lots of love.
Q: Mohanji, I am emotionally drained and in a rut. I want to get out of it, but I don’t know how. Please guide me.
Mohanji: Be useful to the society. Go out, help the helpless. Whenever you feel you are stuck, go out and see the world. There are so many things you can do in this world. What you can share is what you have in abundance. You have time in abundance, share time; if you have wealth in abundance, share wealth; if you have love in abundance, share love. Don’t sit at home and think that nobody is loving me. You go out and love the world, love the people, love the beings of the world, the children of the Earth. You will get love in abundance. Whenever you feel stagnated, whenever you feel emotional, get out and do something in life. It will completely change your entire perspective. Your whole life will blossom.
Q: What is the difference between poor self-esteem and insignificance?
Mohanji: Well, both are connected to expectations. The other important thing is acceptance, in the right way. Accept yourself more. Say, you have fluctuations in life; one day you are very happy and very productive, another day you are dull and unproductive. If this wave of life is happening, that only means you are living. There is nothing more to it. Don’t try to analyze why it is happening. It is happening, it is happening. Thus, when you have good energy, when you have high momentum, do your best. Go all the way, do your best. When you have very little momentum, are feeling low, slow down, take it easy, take a back seat. You attend to yourself. Look within. Don’t do anything. So, if you really look at yourself as this vibrating organism which has its relevance you will be fine with your life. So whenever we resist something, have plenty of expectations and corresponding disappointments, we will have low self-esteem. Insignificance is the effect it creates.
There is no insignificance in life. Everybody has significance. Even the ants, the insects and the beings you see around our house, have significance. They are all doing their job. Don’t worry about their size. Whatever be their size, they have their relevant existence. Even an ant is relevant to its own family, just as we see everyone in this world has some relevance somewhere. It need not necessarily be everywhere. Hence we have our significance; that significance is based on how much you give to this world and this you can decide.Lack of self-esteem can be easily handled by accepting yourself.
“Alright, I am like this – with this given capacity, this incarnation, this time and space, I perform.” That is all you can do and that’s all you need to do.
Q: Some great siddhas like Atmananda, Lahiri Mahasaya have cast out their sacred body in the sacred fire of cremation. How can we connect to these masters who have not left their powerful vibrating jivasamadhi state?
Mohanji: That is based on purpose. All these great masters have complete clarity of their existence and they come (into this world) based on what is needed. After a while when they have crossed the mind, when the mind dissolves in the state of Samadhi, their entire existence is connected to purpose, dharma – not karma. Karmas are over. When this happens, they will only do what is necessary. It is not for sensory pleasures, emotional pleasures or pleasures of the mind, intellect and ego. They are not bound by these any more. Their entire purpose of existence is what they are sent here for or what they are supposed to do. Their operating level will be an echo of Dharma, which means, operating Sanatana Dharma, perpetual ground rules of operation. In that mode, if they have to leave their body for the sake of larger population or future generations, they will do it.
As Atmananda says, “I will walk on this Earth, as if I have never walked.” That means he will empower people, he will do things, as if he were alive at that time. In future, there should not be a reminiscence of Atmananda, everything should be burned. But Atmananda still proved that he has not left. This is the operating level. He is telling people, “I am not bound by the body.” Even while existing I can be everywhere. Now when I am leaving the body, a body is not that significant because the point of operation like a siddha leaving the body is like a 100,000 prana prathishtas, which is to say that continuously, energy will flow out of that. Examples are Shirdi Sai Baba, Satya Sai Baba – samadhis of great masters are power centers now. However, every one need not do that and each person does what he is supposed to do. Name and fame are not important.
The entire operating level is purpose; once the purpose is accomplished, they dissolve. Just like a bird or animal, their existence is completed and they don’t care. When it is time to leave, they do; there is no emotional binding to it.So a true master will only obey the rules of the tradition. They will say, “This is what I am supposed to do, I will do the same and leave.” They don’t expect anything from anybody. Nobody’s applause or criticism can redirect them to something selfish; never, it’s not possible. They will stay with their path and if people don’t understand them, people leave them. The masters don’t leave their path. The path is very clear. And the path of liberation is the path of fire. It’s not easy to understand. It burns your feet, if you are not eligible. So the path itself drives people away (chuckles). For a person who is fully occupied in consciousness and only operating on Dharma, it really does not matter. But if it is needed they will definitely keep their body in a place or they will say, “Burn it.” Vasudevan swamy wanted his body to be cremated. We did that and I myself immersed the ash in the Ganga. It is as per the wish of the master. Nobody can say anything about it.
Q: Pranaprathishta on Vigrahas has happened down the ages by Maharishis and Siddhas, but a Pranaprathishta in a recorded version as felt in Power of Purity meditation is indeed an incredible contemporary phenomena. Can you elaborate on this?
Mohanji: Well, Pranaprathishta is inducing energy in a particular way, using a method, into an idol. That has to be maintained as well. In the Indian tradition, we have the tradition of Sanatana. Great masters have recognized the Supreme Consciousness as all-encompassing and they have derived 330 million varieties from it. Why that particular number? It signifies 33%. So 330 million deities – deities means potential gods, which can have a form, which has a circuit- yantra, which has a frequency – mantra and it has a duration and a purpose, in fact, a clear purpose; each one has a flavor and an ideal behind it. And the form is created based on the ideal, the circuit is created as per the intensity requirement, frequency is created as per the effectiveness. All this has been done by great masters.
How do you worship these 330 million deities? The masters said, worship the 33% of you, which is the soul element. When you worship the soul element, when you connect to your soul element, you will see no differences then. You can’t see people; you cannot see birds or animals. You only see the soul in you and the soul in everybody. That is “Namaste” “I am not me. The existence in me bows down to the existence in you”. So the me or mine factor or I factor dilutes. We see only the existence factor. What maintains us is the soul element and we bring into the idol that soul element using a certain system. As per the idol means as per the ideal. An idol is thus created. It has a size which can retain the energy, it has its worship methods to maintain it and also it has its bhaavs or flavours which is maintained.
Power of purity is a meditation basically to unhook – unhook from the past, where you are in a capacity to bless. That means your level of purity increases every moment, because when you unhook from the past, you are in the present. When you have nothing to do with the past, the people, the situations, the time and the emotions, you are pure. The purity inside will stabilize you and that stability will make you bright. So why is the power of purity spreading? Because it creates a remarkable difference in people’s lives and they feel it. I felt it is priceless. That’s why I kept it free so that everybody can experience it. And I don’t claim it to be mine. It came to me. I have no other claim of any kind, either to say that it is mine or that I created it. It happened through me and it came to the world, it is as simple as that. So how are the effects happening? I would say don’t analyze. Analysis automatically takes the fragrance away. The beautiful flower is smelling nice, but it will not be that nice if you start looking at where the fragrance is coming from, the flower will be destroyed. So I feel it is better to not analyze. Experience it, enjoy it and be liberated. That is best.
Q: what makes one mountain such as Kailash or Arunachala more important than other regular mountains for seekers and how are they related to Shiva? Did Shiva physically live at this locations? And did Maa Parvathi physically meditate in the Gourikund?
M : Well, whether they physically lived there or not, whether the effect is there or not, these are for the individuals to experience. If I say something it will become a concept, but let us look at why certain some places are so important. It is because of the energy conglomeration there. Places have their frequency and energy or power. Every part of earth has its vibratory level. Everything is different, just as it is for people. Each of us has our vibratory level. When we become more and more into ourselves, mind, intellect ego is turned inward and we are completely aligned, we become powerful. Then we start expressing more and more brightness. Similarly, we have all these places that have their frequency and conglomerated energy, saturated energy, which attracts people there.
So what is Shiva? Shiva is a state, a state of complete detachment. Detachment here implies one who is fully occupied with himself and is completely in a state of being complete or still. Stillness is connected to completion. He also represents the human aspiration, the highest potential. So that place can attract that kind of energies. Whether Shiva as a form lives there, is not significant. But the state of Shiva is experienced there. The state of stillness. The Kailash effect. That is experienced there. So that is probably attracting people.
As for Arunachala, I am not sure if I spoke about my experience earlier, but I have written about it in Yogi Ram Suratkumar’s journal, which was released recently. So I had this experience where I was going inside this Arunachala Mountain and this Swami with bare chest, wearing only a dhoti, said “Come in and keep walking”. I entered a cave and it became darker and darker. He said keep walking. He was behind me and he urged me to walk. I could not see but I walked in and I walked all the way inwards and then slowly the brightness started. I walked further and he was asking me to keep moving and I reached a place where it was open expanse, a big space, like a small basin, bit curved in the middle, lot of platforms like stools although not stools, it was like rock formations, where people were meditating and everybody was glowing in golden color. Then I realized that this color is not them, it is the color of the space. The space is golden and when the golden light falls on everyone, everybody looks golden. Also I could feel that they are all like crystals, transparent, big beard and very lean. Everybody looked very similar and they were meditating. At first, I thought it was the golden age, rather the symbolism of golden age. Later I understood it to be Siddhaloka. Then he said, “Let’s go.” And I came out with him. That was an experience! Later on when I spoke about it to Deviamma, Deviamma said this is actually Sidhaloka; what you see outside is just the shell. Actually, the parikrama is going around the Siddhaloka and I could also see that the root of the idol of Arunachala Shiva, is inside this portal. There is a huge world there. I could experience this state. That effect stayed for a long time. Even now it stays, when I talk about it, I feel it. So these things exist. Various levels of masters operate from various planes. These are all timeless spaces, spaces where you cannot measure time and space. These are places created for a certain effect. The next day our people were going to visit the Arunachala Shiva temple. I could not go because I was immersed in this vision. When I reached Bangalore later, a certain person contacted saying that a swami wanted to meet me, so I met him. Swami said, I wanted to tell you Arunachala Shiva is waiting for you, you could not go but you need to go. Immediately I went back the next day to have darshan of Arunachala Shiva. And at that time everything was well organized. When I went there one of the priests came to receive me and we went inside, we had darshan and we came back. Everything is interconnected.
This is slight deviation from subject, but what I am saying is that each place has its frequency. Each place has its relevance. And based on your frequency, your connection, you will get attracted to that place. Otherwise you will not feel like going there. What attracts you to a place is the compatibility of frequency and that is there for all of us. And as I said earlier nobody is higher, nobody is lower. You can’t compare. It’s all individualistic. So if you are getting attracted to a person, a personality, a time or a space or a place or even a hill or mountain, understand that there is frequency compatibility. So that is the reason for all these. But definitely in this world there are numerous frequencies in operation. They all have their spaces which are like expressions of those frequencies, conglomeration and that attracts you. And some of our people in 2016 went and touched Kailash physically. This is very, very difficult, very rare, very difficult, very dangerous, but they did it. How many life times does it take to reach there? So what made it possible? Only one thing – eligibility; eligibility, over a period of time. Of course purity of intention has a great value, but more importantly you earned it. The time came, when it all fell in place. The time was right for that. You can’t define all these. There aren’t strict rules to create these. Hence every place has its value and I would say that wherever you go feel the place, experience the place not just take a picture with it in the background. It should be felt. Every place should be felt. Every person should be felt. When you connect with your heart, whatever it is, whether it is a person or a place, it stays. It always stays. Whenever you connect to anything with your mind it can change, because our mind can’t contain something for long. Whenever you connect to something or somebody with your mind understand it is temporary. Whenever you connect something with your heart, whatever happens in the world, it will stay, always; by heart means I would say connect with awareness and then it will stay forever.
Q: Is it possible for me to have an intention carry along the souls and dear ones with me for the Kailash Pilgrimage?
Mohanji: Automatically it happens so. Because a pilgrimage of that intensity where you are travelling, you are not travelling alone. You are taking the whole lineage, ancestry. All those people who wanted to go and could not go or people who are connected to you through relationships, you are carrying everybody. We used to do this earlier and even now we do it in our Kailash yatra – we ask if you would like to sponsor somebody in case you cannot go. Many times if people can’t go, they sponsor someone on behalf of themselves and their families. This is usual practice in India. Earlier it was Kashi or Varanasi. Kashi is very easy to reach now, there are flights. Earlier it was very difficult to reach there. So when somebody can’t go they would hire somebody or help someone else go. It’s almost as if they visit the place. We still do that – the form provides for it; ”Would you like to sponsor somebody?” It is customary. It is not that one has to sponsor, but then we provide the option. If you can’t go, you help someone else who is poor, visit, and then that effect comes to you also. They will carry everybody.
When you go to a place of power, whenever you worship, it’s always for you and your ancestors. The lineage gets the benefit. Likewise you do good work, say, you help the helpless, feed the birds, animals, fishes and other beings in nature, everybody gets benefitted, all the people in the lineage are benefitted. That will release karmic weight from your shoulder also. The karmic weight of the lineage is reduced. This is a practical example- many have told me that when they started feeding beings such as birds and animals, things have cleared up, blockages were removed. It may sound very simple, but it has its effect.
Q: If a person’s brain is damaged and person is not aware of normal self, what is the state of soul and the mind?
Mohanji: The connection to relationships is part of soulmateship, where a group of souls decide to exist together in the same time, in the same place, in certain relationships, to experience certain flavors. Thus, a person who is not available to the society, as a full person, is in a way keeping the connection to a relationship, it is continuing and the person has time till next birth; so they keep the body, they keep the existence and also keep the relationship; so the connection remains. Also the experience of love or care or experience of whatever kind they want to do or have happens, even without the mind existing, since the body exists. At times, you never know, they may be aware of it too and science has proven that persons apparently brain dead or in coma, in certain ways, understood everything happening around them. That is possible. So, anyone living with awareness, connection, love, it finally boils down to the experiences you wanted to have in a life time. At which level, how much or how long, one can’t say, it depends on karmic boundaries.
Q: Why is it not that all sincere prayers are answered?
Mohanji: That is again Karmic allowance. Sincere prayers are all answered means many are desires… (chuckles). You know, you only get what you deserve. What is delivered to you is what you deserve. There are plenty of desires and all of them can’t get fulfilled. Of course, if the desire is strong enough, it will get fulfilled, maybe not in this life time. It could go onto another life. All that is happening in this life is within the boundaries of Karma and has Karmic allowance, that’s why it is happening. Everything does happen in its time, its own time, which we must remember. So it may not happen right away, because the whole plan was not there, the whole agenda was not there. When the original desire happened, the wish happened, which created this life, it was not there. The new ones will be added up; they are all kept as pending desires. In another time and another space, it will happen and at that time you may say I don’t want it. But you will have it.
Q: When any member of the Mohanji family asks me something like, are you going on a pilgrimage to Peru or Kailash, I immediately take it as a sign from you and I go out of my way, beyond my affordability to make it happen. Am I being naïve? How can I know when I am truly getting a sign from you?
Mohanji: Well, when anybody comes to you, of course you have a relationship, anybody asks you give me something, there is a connection. Whether it is from Mohanji family or the global family or anybody, you have to look at it objectively. What is affordable to you? What is possible for you? You are only supposed to deliver as per that, not as per what others need you to do. Many people have many expectations from you. But what you can deliver is as per your time, space and capacity. This should be very clear. And you should be able to say clearly, “Look here I heard you and I will do what I can. I cannot guarantee the entire expectation”. If that is made clear, you are free and the other person is made free. I always make sure I tell this, I don’t promise. I try to deliver more than they think but I don’t promise. When I promise, it becomes a commitment. There is an emotion connected to it too. But I listen, I understand, I deliver as per what is possible, as per what is karmically allowed or without violating the karmic structure. That is how we operate. That is how the people of path of liberation should operate. We don’t manipulate. We should not promise that which we cannot deliver. We should only deliver what we can or within our capacity and the capacity of the receiver so that everything has it’s synchronicity and harmony. It is very important.
Q: May I request Mohanji, the compassionate, honest, selfless human being to talk about Mohanji the contemporary Avatar more explicitly and elaborately?
Answer: This is too much of flattering I think… (Laughter J). I would rather say that I am you. You look at me as you are. Whatever I am has no value in fact. Each person looks at me and sees how they are. That is the only relevance in this life time. Because I could be anything and I can say I am something. That has no value because my value in your life is your only reality with me. I mean we can talk many things. All these things are how you see it. You could look at me as you said. Some look at me as a crazy person, an eccentric, as a person who should not be dealt with, a bad guy… so these thoughts are also there. World has all varieties. So why talk about who we are? What was our past, what is our lineage, it has no value. I feel that my net worth is how much I deliver to the Earth. That’s about it and that is also based upon my effective years when I am performing something, delivering to the earth. Tomorrow I don’t know what I will be able to do, how I will operate. I don’t know. I don’t keep agendas. I never bind people. I like to see you free. This is my wish and the way I operate. I want to see you perfectly free, fully charged, fully powerful with the ability to deliver a lot in the world. This is my desire and this is what I try to empower.
So I try to do what I can, I don’t know how effective I am. Maybe some will say he was effective, some may say he was not effective; some may say he was good, some may say he was not good. So this is the world. People look at you with their own eyes and they may partially understand or even hardly understand. Very rarely, they completely understand but that is life. Only one thing I would like to say, “Don’t look at me through your ears”. Your eyes have been given for you to look at me. When I say do not look at me through your ears, I mean through the words and opinions of others about me. That can be very wrong. People can give any opinion about anybody, but that is their own opinion. Not just me, understand that you should not use that to look at the world. If you look at the world through your ears, you don’t see. That is a big mistake you will be committing. Otherwise the world is fine; if you are fully charged, if you are very bright, the whole world is bright. So I am not big deal in this world, I am doing my job and after my death someone else will do the job, before me, so many others have done this job. So we all have our relevance in various degrees and I like to remain in that understanding. If I have touched your life positively, I am grateful to the existence, to the tradition. I never made any plans in the past. I will continue to shine bright, as much as I can; irrespective of the clouds, I try to give light but people accept me or reject me as they are, not as I am. So I don’t say anything about it. I really appreciate and I think it is a bit of flattering but I respect that and I bow down for that thought and those words. I like positive discussions so let us keep it positive. And one more thing, if you really love me, I would like you to be shining bright light for this world. If you are really connected to me, if you feel Mohanji, then express it to the world. Give this light to the world and let the world be brighter and lighter. We can’t do much else. We can only deliver ourselves to the world. Earlier in 2003 when the ACT foundation started somebody asked me a question, what is your investment into this foundation? This is before Mohanji Foundation started. I answered that the investment into ACT foundation is Mohanji, myself. So the best investment you can give into this world is yourself. That, you should always remember. Any money, wealth or other object has come to you at a certain point in time and it could leave you too. But if you invest yourself into this world, that will remain forever. I think that is the best investment possible and I wish you success. I wish you great success. Shine bright, brighter than the sun, brighter than a million suns and then life is worth it. You have the right to do that, you have the power to do that. Then we have something to do together. Wish you success. Thank you!
Transcribed by Kishore Mundanat Proofread by Vidya Rajagopalan
Brahmarishi Mohanji, a spiritual leader and a messenger of peace, attended the historic Peace Pledge Project at Assisi, Italy from 28th to 29th June 2018. This historic event saw more than 100 spiritual leaders, business leaders, educational and environmental leaders who came together and emphasized the importance of universal loving-kindness and compassion for all beings. This global event demonstrated to the world our mutual friendship, respect and common goal for a peaceful world nurtured by wisdom, compassion, unity in diversity, forgiveness and reconciliation.
Assisi, a small but powerful town soaked with divine energy, the place where Saint Francis was enlightened and had communion with the Supreme Consciousness. With his love for nature and all beings of Mother Earth, St Francis spent his life serving all beings from this pious place and finally attained liberation.
Assisi displayed the unconditional love, the warmth of compassion and peace in every inch. This resonated completely with all in the presence of Mohanji.
Many renowned Masters and leaders were gathered in this multi faith event which aimed at bringing awareness to peace in humanity.
Mohanji’s ease and compassion towards everyone was evident in His gestures and the radiance that He was bringing in their faces.
To simply observe how Mohanji was living “Loving-Kindness, compassion and unconditional love” every moment, not just in words but in actions, was a wondrous, eye opening experience.
Mohanji’s First (recorded) Speech
During lunch time they explained this idea to me, the first thought was, it’s a conscious lifestyle. Being aware. Being conscious. We are controlled by the temptations of the media. One sign is, we keep changing mobile phones. I saw this mobile phone which can be pieced out and changed when needed. I think there is no such mobile phone available at the market today, because they expect us to change the mobile phone with the new features every time. This has become a habit. We have learnt to live like this because it is a consumerist society. We are not worried about what happens to the materials we have used and where they are going (i.e how they are disposed off).
Therefore I just categorised two aspects:
One is the internal space – the internal space which has feelings, emotions, etc. and it is also the seat of contentment. Furthermore, it is based on needs. It has a root, a bhaav or a flavour – silence.
The other one is external – the external is all connected to noises. So one is silence and the other one is noises.
I am only talking from the spiritual point of view, as I am not an expert in the circular economy. But from the spiritual angle, I would say this is a conscious lifestyle. It is connected to the external space, our addiction to things outside and how this addiction is maintained by the media or the temptations that come out of the media which make us spend on a particular frequency, whether we like it or not. For example, “if you buy two, you will get one free,” – we will buy it even if we do not want it because of the temptation, the greed factor. It is not the need factor any more. It is the greed factor. Then it is unconscious existence. We are existing more or less unconsciously and we are driven by things outside. We do not even look inside (to see) whether this is leading us to contentment. Contentment factor is definitely not there. It is about just managing a lifestyle of unconsciousness. The noisy world is filled with materials and we are connected to the fancy towards it. It is blind consumerism because we are not even worried about how it comes i.e. how it is produced or it’s source. Actually I was talking to my wife… my daughter was saying, ”I don’t like this food. I want another food…” so I asked her, “Does she know where this food is coming from? And how many people have worked to get this food on your table? It would be a good idea if she knows, because even if it is one grain, there is a lot of sweat and blood behind that grain. It is easy to discard it. We think it is ok, we will pay money and obtain it. We should also know where the money comes from. This awareness is missing most times.
The media control leads us to restlessness. When we see new things in the media, in advertisements, etc. we feel we should have it. Whether it is a car, a phone or anything new – “Oh, this has better features! It is better than what I am using now. Why don’t we go for it?” Sometimes it leads people to debts and further insecurities.
It maybe even connected to boredom. We are bored with life, we are bored with monotonous things. Sometimes it is comparison with other people, “My neighbour has got a new car, so I would like to get another one.” This is triggering the need for changes. It is not that we need it. The car is still moving and working well. We can use it for some time, but we change it because we think it is time we have proven something to this world, it maybe to prove that you have more money or better means, or whatever. The greed factor is maintained all the time. It is not the need factor any more . Then it leads to insecurities. We are always in a mode of insecurity, we need more and more. We are pleasure oriented, not satisfaction or contentment oriented.
The way we approach the world with surrender, things happen and we are reasonably contented with the lifestyle. The demands are less and that leads to peace. People are not talking about peace. People are talking about materials, what else we need and what other things are available. All in all, life has become an unconscious pursuit. We must lead to a conscious lifestyle. It is all boiling down to conscious lifestyle. Being aware of what we are doing here, why we are doing the same and whether it is necessary. Buddha said, “Just before you speak, ask yourself, if you are going to talk with kindness.” Similarly, one could think, “ Do we really need it? Is this thing really needed or are we using our emotions and are getting carried away with what we see on the television?”
That is about it. That is more or less what I wanted to say.
Mohanji’s Speech at Basilica of Saint Francis
I bow down to the great Master who united us here. I also bow down to the traditions that we brought here. These are all drops of the same ocean.
This is a leased body. This is a leased life. There is a duration. This remembrance could help. When we feel that we own the land or own anything, when we feel possessiveness, possessions and various dimensions of ego, this remembrance might help – that we are here on a leased life, on a tourist visa, we have to go back. We only carry some memories and some desires. If we do not have control of our desires, we keep coming back. It is important to understand WHO united us here, I bow down to the great masters and the tradition that brought us here, all the traditions that brought all of you here. I bow down to all of you. When you do not exist, you see only yourself everywhere. If you see differences, understand it’s the mind. Only mind can see differences because you are always unique. That’s the way we are created. We are neither high, nor low, nor equal. We are unique. If we understand that, let us express our highest possibility into this world which is goodness, loving compassion, kindness, instead of greed, hatred, possessiveness, revenge and insensitive lifestyle.
I bow down again to the Lord who brought us together, who is called by many names, and whom we think of in many forms and formlessness. I bow down to the unique creations that He has brought on this world. Thank you.
Mohanji’s Speech at the Conclusion Ceremony
on 29th June 2018
(Note: recording started after a few sentences)
…The second point that Swamiji said is about the conglomeration that is going to happen in Kumbh Mela. This is the highest message of peace at this point in time. At one place, millions are assembling in the name of peace. No conflicts. Everybody is the same. This is a very powerful platform to express something. And the third point to note is I have been assisting in whichever way possible; we have put out the Peace Pledge Project on our website last year and it is still there.
Visibility factor should not focus just on the websites. Not many people visit websites; not many use Facebook, we might as well forget about Twitter and other social media. Visibility has to be through multiple means. We have program called Conscious Walking. It is basically for unification, being in your own energy and walking. This is very popular in Europe. They have T-shirts: ” Walking for Peace”; “I am a Walker for Peace”.
These T-shirts go very well. People look at it and say, what is this? What Pujya (which means revered) Swamiji said was the same thing, if you want to convey the message, convey it through pictures, images and that goes a long way. If we are talking and not expressing, it remains as a theory, an idea. Therefore I think the next step should be focusing on the visibility and that should not be only through the platforms which are type-cast, like Peace Pledge Project. We have united here to create a formula or patterns or an understanding. But peace is a state. It has to be a state. It is a state where you are contented, you are balanced. That state has to happen through various methods. When I was in Iraq in 2004, my bodyguards were kidnapped, my four-wheel drive vehicle was blown up; each day was a survival. I know how it is… a child once told me, “If I get a knife, I’ll kill a man.” He had that kind of anger, a feeling of revenge within him. Such situations cannot be changed just by talking about it. You cannot suggest to them, ”please meditate and improve.” It will not work. I can tell you right now; next generations to come i.e. future generations will look at us and call us a barbaric generation. This is going to happen. They will call us a barbaric generation because we have no idea of what we are doing. From a macro perspective, this is about all governments and people. People who believe in peace and who are doing something about it right now may look like fools, but in the future they will be trendsetters.
Technology has given us this opportunity for visibility and the highest level of visibility is through videos and short presentations. I fully agree with Pujya Swamiji in this regard. Attention levels are very short; today, it is 8 seconds. In 1986 we used to say that if one can convey a message within 15 minutes, it is good enough. Contrast it to today when it is 8 seconds! At the end of 8 seconds your attention is no longer available; so if you cannot convey something within the first minute or so, you cannot convey it. That is the level of our imbalance or disalignment. Alignment of body, alignment of mind, alignment of intellect, alignment of ego i.e. personality is important. But there is definitely no alignment at all. Through various religious paths, systems, methods, contemplations or meditations, we are trying to convey, but at the end of the day what we are achieving is complete anarchy in the whole world. We talk about religion and religions are killing more people, not diseases, illnesses or an epidemic. Religions are killing people. What harmony are we talking about?
I completely agree with Swamiji, that we should use these platforms well, especially Kumbh Mela. It is a very, very powerful platform and people should wear T-shirts, hats or whatever it takes. I believe that if we present the idea to the corporates, they will fund it. The idea of peace is one everyone may feel about. We should not just talk among ourselves and within our organisation. We could be weak on our own, but collectively, we could be a power. If all of us can speak to our own network, all those in our contacts, it could be a movement. And it should be visible. If it is not visible, it is not good enough. Also, do not depend too much on websites and platforms like Facebook, etc. They are temporary and do not stay. They keep moving, so you have to keep telling something each day. And if you don’t have a team to keep inspiring people, the whole idea is lost. We will talk about the same thing in the next program; that is not good enough. People should FEEL. People should ALWAYS REMEMBER. Peace, as I said earlier, is a STATE. That state has to be attained. When the state is attained, nobody can disturb you. Until we reach there, we need to do something. This is my humble opinion.
Q: Can you tell us some recommendations how we can operationalise your insights?
Mohanji with the initiator of Peace Pledge Project Murshid Karimbakhsh Witteveen Chair Universal Sufi Council
Mohanji: I would like to continue what Pujya Swamiji said. One thing is that short videos are very powerful today.
Participant 1: How many videos do we have? Or speeches? They could be edited into short videos. I would say that we have at least 20 hours of material. Would that be correct?
Participant 2: Something like that, yes.
Participant 3: Johnathan, I have about 25 1-2min videos of many people.
Participant 1: Ok. So, Mohanji, we have potentially 30 high quality, high definition, really good quality material, we have about 20 very heartfelt, sincere, not only visually quality but high quality material. How can we get that to as many people in the best way possible?
Mohanji: Today, I was listening to a discussion on the media on how to grab attention. Even adults watch cartoons like “Tom & Jerry”, something funny, which conveys a short message in a short span of time, not long conversations or philosophies. They may not be interesting for all. For some people these might be suitable, but we are talking about 7.5 billion people. We need to have these videos or short presentations, which convey a message in a subtle way, while making you feel. This is a real art and many are practising it. We can also use images, like ice melting in Greenland, in other words, make it visual, as much as possible.
Participant 1: So you are giving editing suggestions of the material and make it more compelling.
Mohanji: Absolutely.
Participant 1: You can talk to Jonathan about that. Jully has the interviews which are just in a lovely environment that are not visually that striking but are short, crisp and content rich. How can we apply that?
Mohanji: It has to be edited into one sentence each and put together; it could be many faces coming forward so that in a minute about 30 or 50 people are talking, even one word will grab the attention; not necessarily a full sentence or complete conversation. This is because attention level is very weak these days. I think that is what you, Pujya Swamiji meant (turns to him) when you mentioned crisp videos. That is exactly the point.
Participant 4: Mohanji, I see two real needs from what you said. One is corporate sponsorship. We need, anyone who has talent in that, who has good will to help us. That would be tremendous. And the other thing is that in some ways, we need a whole video team, a team of people who have both good will and knowledge and understand our message.
Mohanji: I am only talking about one thing – visibility. Corporate sponsorship is about their visibility. They do it for their sake, not for our sake, but that is good enough for us. What they contribute, we will say this was given by or sponsored by some company. If you are talking about professionals doing this work, they will pay. Because there will be cost and they will be shouldering it. Then it’s a question of reaching people. Facebook is a good platform for that. You can pay them and they will take it all over the world. It is like a country now.
Participant 4: That’s a resource we don’t have yet.
Thus Spake Mohanji 