Life Lessons from Lord Krishna – Part 1

“Krishna was spontaneous. He was a complete avatar. A person who can be identified in every level of existence” – Mohanji

 

Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum! Lord Krishna!

Lord Krishna, his life, his message and what he stood for has influenced thousands of generations. Almost every generation is influenced by the presence and the message of Lord Krishna. We do not see many personalities who have influenced mankind so much, so deeply and still influencing in the same way. Krishna has all the dimensions possible in human existence. At the same time, Krishna lived as another human being; just another ordinary man with extraordinary powers, talents, determination, and also as an enigma. Apart from the usual stories which we talk about from the life of Krishna, I remember a couple of stories which made me think or made me realize certain realities. I have explained this before; but now, I am telling for the sake of the new audience.

Krishna was getting ready to go out to meet somebody. His chariot was ready, his charioteer was ready, and everybody was waiting. Krishna usually would dress up very fast. He did not take much time. He could get ready in no time. But this time – half an hour, one hour, two hours, three hours – he still hadn’t dressed up completely. The charioteer was surprised, “This is unnatural. Why is Krishna taking so much time to dress up?”

So, he decided to go and check what was happening. He found Krishna dressing up, making himself look good. He asked Krishna, “Krishna, why are you dressing up so well, so much?” Krishna said, “I have to go and see an important person.” Then the charioteer asked, “Who is this important person?” Krishna said, “It’s Duryodhana.” He was the eldest of the hundred Kauravas who were in the enemy camp of the Pandavas whom Krishna supported.

The charioteer was confused. Kauravas are known to be adharmic; they were doing all sorts of things which were against dharma, and Krishna is the epitome of dharma. Why should somebody who lives dharma, dress up so much to meet somebody who practices adharma, the opposite of dharma? It did not make any sense. So, he asked Krishna again, “Can you please tell me, why you are dressing up so much? And why are you even going to meet an adharmic? He should come to you.”

Krishna said, “Tell me one time in history when the darkness has ever come to light? Light has always gone to darkness.” Then he (the charioteer) said, “But why are you dressing up so much? You can go as you are. And people will accept you because you are Krishna.” Krishna said, “You know, he does not have the capacity to see who I am. So, let him at least see me in my costume.” When a person does not have the capacity to understand the other, they will only see what is external. We all do that. We see the external and we take a decision; we see the form, we see the expression, we see the complexion, and then we take a decision. We do not have the power or we do not take enough time to see what’s inside, ‘the real person’. When we start seeing the real person, we will see Krishna in everyone. So, this is a story.

It means darkness never goes to the light. Light always comes to darkness. So, when you become the light, you have to go to darkness. And light can never be diminished. A small tiny candle can light up the whole room; a small light. Like that, we can be light and we can brighten up the world around us. This is what Krishna said. When we try to see the third dimension of the person, try to understand the person; then we can never, ever hate anybody. It is because we see ourselves in everybody. We are all the same; we are all one. This is one of the stories which I always remember when I think about Lord Krishna; there are so many stories but one of them is this.

Then there is another story that was during the Kurukshetra War; the war was happening between the Pandavas and the Kauravas. The Kaurava army was much larger than the Pandava army, but Krishna was with the Pandavas. He was playing the role of a charioteer for Arjuna, one of the Pandavas. One evening, as this is a dharmic war, and they fight only between sunrise and sunset; (After sunset, nobody takes up any arms. There’s no fight, they stop exactly when the sun sets. But still, there is light, there is native light.), the eldest of the Pandavas, Yudhisthira and Krishna, decided to go into the battlefield to see what happened on that day. How many people were injured or had died? People were busy removing the dead bodies and the injured; all those things were going on and they went to see what had happened.

So, while they were standing and supervising, overseeing what’s going on; a beggar came to Yudhishthira and said, “I have not eaten anything, I’m hungry. Can you give me some money?” Yudhisthira checked his pocket; it was empty because he didn’t expect to use any money at that time. He casually said to the beggar, “I don’t have anything with me now. Come tomorrow, I’ll give you something.” Hearing this, Krishna started laughing and Yudhishthira did not understand the joke. After a while, he asked Krishna, “Why are you laughing? I didn’t crack a joke now. I don’t have money. That’s why I didn’t give it. That’s why I told him to come again tomorrow, I’ll give.” So Krishna said, “Look at the irony. We’re standing on a battlefield. We stopped this battle only because the sun has set. Tomorrow, again in the morning when the sun rises, we have to fight. We do not know for sure whether we will be alive at this time tomorrow to give some money to this beggar; because tomorrow we have to fight a battle. Anything can happen in the battle. So, to me, it does not make any sense. You are very sure, you will be alive and you will be in the same place tomorrow to give money to the beggar; while I’m not too sure whether I’ll be alive tomorrow to be with you.” Listening to that, Yudhishthira understood his grave mistake.

A promise is a promise. You must deliver. If you do not deliver, it will become a pending matter; a matter which needs to be fulfilled at another point in time. It might be a very small thing like promising a beggar where there is no contract, but a word is a word. It amounts to the integrity of a personality or a person. So, you must give. If tomorrow, you are not able to give, you may have to come back in another body to fulfill that promise. In short, if we promise, we must deliver. Avoid promising things which you are not sure of delivering. This is the moral of the story which Yudhishthira understood.

A great master, Jagat Guru like Krishna was unsure, whether he’ll be at this place, at this time tomorrow with Yudhisthira, to witness this contract being executed between Yudhishthira and this beggar. But a person who is not as wise as Krishna, he’s very sure, “Tomorrow you come, and I’ll give you money.” Are we like this? This is the question. This story is for us to introspect; to understand for ourselves, how many promises we make on Earth during our lifetime which we do not fulfill. Maybe the one who promised and the one to whom he promised may not remember, but it’s written in ether. That’s a contract.

Before you promise, think again. Can you fulfill it? If you are not able to fulfill it with your life, somebody else should fulfill it on your behalf. It’s important that we remain dharmic, truthful and fully aligned to ourselves. Deliver what you can deliver within your capacity at the given point in time. If there is another time, we don’t know. We have no idea.

I have no idea whether I’ll be available tomorrow to talk to you. So, what I have to talk to you, I’ll talk now. Tomorrow if I am available, if I’m alive, I can talk more. But there’s no guarantee. Life has no rehearsals, life has no reversals. Life is as it happens every moment. Krishna gave a very valuable lesson there. This is why we call him Jagat Guru.

Transcribed by Ulla Bernholdt

Proofread by Rekha Murali

How do I spend more time at the being level?

This question has come from a listener. It’s about explanations on how to stay at the being level. We simply understand what we consist of. We have the physical body, and we have the mind, intellect, and ego as processors. And we have the subtle factor, which energizes all these faculties. In this context, the ego factor maintains doership and ownership of action. It also keeps the personality traits such as possessions and positions.

When we become aware of this, we tend to understand that it’s just an illusion that we have created during our waking state. But we are experiencing life even when we are sleeping, dreaming. When we realize that we have other dimensions, we also have other dimensions, which are equally important, and they also give us experiences, then we can take a step away from ownership of actions to beingness.

Beingness – this simply means just being aware of your words, your actions, and your existence in all planes and in all levels. How to exist in beingness forever or always? Very simple, be aware. Just be aware. Always be aware of all your actions, all your emotions, all the thoughts, all the words, and all the expressions. Everything is spontaneously happening at a particular time, or at different times, in different places, with different sets of people, and we are only gaining experiences out of them. Plus, we are also expressing ourselves in that context. So, through expressions and through experiences, we are having a thing called life. This is what we are… Numerous activities, numerous times, numerous places, different things, but at the same time, we are just experiencing and expressing, so that’s a static thing.

The static thing about life is expressions and experiences. When we become a witness to both of these, we are already at the being level. ‘Being’ is being aware of every activity. Being aware of the consciousness which stays the same in the waking state, dream state, and deep sleep state. We are aware of the consciousness, which is beyond all these states. Even beyond the consciousness, we are being aware of the soul element, which, when it leaves the body, we call it a dead body. We have time here from birth until death. We have experiences out of this space, and we have expressions in this space. This is our life. When we are fully aware of our life in this context, and we are only witnessing it without judging, without criticizing, without comparing, without doing anything, or without having any doership or ownership, then you are free.

I will give you a story to prove this beingness. Saint Vyasa was meditating under a tree near the River Yamuna. And Lord Krishna and his people were on the other side. A group of people came to see Lord Krishna from the village, and they had carried a lot of sweetmeats to be given to Krishna, which Krishna loved. When they came close to the river, they realized the river was flooding, it was overflowing, swollen. And no boatman will take them to the other side, because it was dangerous. So, they decided to sit in front of Vyasa until he opened his eyes after the meditation to ask him what they could do now?

They waited a few hours; Vyasa opened his eyes and saw that a lot of people were sitting in front of him. He asked, “Where are you coming from? Why are you here? What do you want from me?” They explained their story. They came to see Krishna, Krishna was on the other side of the river, and they can’t cross because there was no boatman or boat, there was no boatman willing to take them there. So, they asked him, “What should we do now?” Vyasa asked, “Have you brought something for Krishna?” and they said, “Yes, we have a basket full of sweetmeats which Krishna loves, made out of ghee, made out milk and ghee which Krishna usually used to love. He said, “Show me.” They opened the basket and they showed him, and he started eating. They couldn’t say anything because this was Vyasa. He started eating. He ate almost half the basket, he was pretty hungry. And they couldn’t do anything; they were just looking in awe, and in embarrassment, because they couldn’t tell him please stop because we have to take it to Krishna. Once he finished almost half the basket, he closed it. He said okay now you take it, and come with me. He took them to the river banks of Yamuna. And he said, “If I have not eaten anything, let the river part.” And the river parted. The villagers were surprised. How come? He has been eating in front of our eyes and he’s eaten almost half the stuff from the basket. And he says I have not eaten anything let the river part, and it parted. How come? Anyway, Vyasa said, “Don’t wait – cross.” They crossed the river; they went to the other side and the river came back to its original form. Vyasa stayed on this side. And they were really reluctant to tell Krishna about this or tell Krishna that they haven’t brought anything, because they didn’t want to give Krishna half a basket. While they were walking towards Krishna’s Palace, they saw Krishna resting on a bench in a garden. He was sleeping. They waited. He woke up. Krishna saw them sitting in front of him. And he was excited to see them, his old friends. He asked, “Oh, when did you come? Welcome! I’m happy to see you. By the way, what have you brought?” They were trying to hide the basket and then they said, “Oh we brought some sweetmeats.” ‘Oh no, no, no, don’t give it to me now, I am full of the same thing.”

Saint Vyasa

That means when Vyasa was eating, Krishna’s belly was getting full. That means, in perfect beingness you are everything. So, Vyasa was consuming this in the consciousness of Krishna and Krishna’s belly was getting full. He said’ I’ve eaten the same thing; my belly is full of the same thing. I can’t eat that now but thank you for bringing me.” So that is what Vyasa said, “If I have not eaten. Let the river part,” and it parted because he had not eaten. Even though his body was consuming, his consciousness was merged in Krishna.

If your consciousness is completely merged in the Supreme Consciousness, or if your individual consciousness is completely merged with the Supreme Consciousness, you have no doership, you have no ownership, you have no karma. This is as simple as that.

I hope you have understood this point. Please think about it, ponder on it and try to imbibe it, try to feel it, or try to understand it in a deeper sense.

I wish you great success. See you again soon.

Lots of love.

This is Mohanji for you.

 

Transcribed by Ulla Bernholdt

Proofread by Shyama Jeyaseelan

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Real Experiences of Sai Baba Transform You

Mohanji is a Spiritual Master whose awakening was graced by Sai Baba of Shirdi. He guides many on the path and works tirelessly to spread his teachings. Mohanji talks about Sai Baba being the Supreme Consciousness and how a real experience of Baba will transform you.

You will reach a level of awareness, where you are everything, and there is nothing beyond you, all of us will reach there sooner or later, at one point in time. First and foremost, we start a journey, we try to seek something and this seeking process sometimes takes a long time. This is the usual journey of an average seeker. We are trying to seek for something, we don’t know what we are looking for, and this process happens, in the scriptures, it is defined: Tat Tvam Asi (you are that, what you are seeking for, is you). So basically, what they are saying is that it is a journey from outside to inside. You are scattered all over outside because your mind is occupied with many things outside. You are addicted and connected to various things outside including places, people, situations, positions, possessions. From there you detach and finally, you come inside, and then you realise you are not even the body. You are the state or the Consciousness that operates the body. At a certain point in time you come there, you arrive, that’s when you settle down there. Then you really understand that all your relations, positions, and possessions have no value, and they are all temporary, they are only active when you are awake, they are not active when you are sleeping. So whatever is active when you are awake and when you are sleeping, that’s the real you. That you can only find inside you, you can’t find it outside. This realisation brings you inside.

So then, there are two aspects: One is the aspect of existence, as you as an incarnation. Sai Baba said, “In that mode, I am the servant of the servant of God.” I am the servant of the servant of God means, “I put myself in the humblest possible way, I am here to serve the servants of God, I am here to serve the seekers who are seeking for truth.” That is what Baba said. But when you look inside, like Hanumanji told Ram, “I choose to be your servant, and this is the role of my life, this life. I choose to be your servant, your wish is my command, but Consciousness-wise, you and I are one. You are playing the role of Ram, I am playing the role of Hanuman, but we are the same.” Likewise, Baba said, “In this life, in my disposition, my position, I position myself as the servant of the seeker, guiding the seeker to the Lord. But the Lord and I are one, you and the Lord are also one.” The moment you realise that you are one with the Supreme Consciousness, or what is inside you – 33% of you, the soul element is exactly what you are finding everywhere – that is, the microcosm and macrocosm are one. But because of functional roles, they seem separate. They seem separate, they are not separate. So when you stop seeking for anything outside, everything reveals itself inside. In that revelation, what you understand is that we are one with the entire cosmos. The created universe and the non-created universe, the known, tangible universe and the unknowable, infinite universe, we are the same, we are one with that. Then it is a question of us dissolving and disappearing. We become one with the whole ocean; the ocean becomes us.

Baba, in that mode, has said, “I am everything.” That is the place where all of us will reach sooner or later. And as we travel inside more and more, we start understanding the silence factor inside us, completely free, totally free, non-intrusive. Actually, based on no desires, no desires for anything outside, no desires for anything inside, even for realisation. So everything settles down to complete stillness. We become stillness, total stillness, and in that stillness, there is no world outside. Whatever you see outside is yourself in various forms – a tree, a plant, an animal, a bird… anything you see, it’s you. There is nothing, nothing else. So in that mode, all you see is yourself, and you are interacting only with yourself. In that mode, you are one Consciousness with the Supreme. So Baba, when he says he is a servant of the servant of God, He is the servant of the seeker; His role is to guide people to complete liberation. And please understand, this is a collaboration. When you are walking this path, when you are established in this particular mode, various oceans, various rivers come into you and you become a larger ocean.

That is what happened when Akkalkot Swami attained Mahasamadhi. A part of his soul merged with the tree under which he was sitting, and a part of his soul merged with Sai Baba. When some of his followers were coming to Akkalkot to meet him, He came in a dream and said, “Come to Shirdi, I am sitting there.” And when they came to Shirdi and saw Baba, they saw Swami – unity of Consciousness. And also, Masters who are here with a similar purpose – they conglomerate, they unite, and they deliver together. This I have felt myself when I interacted with Ganeshananda Giri Babaji, Vitthal Babaji, Avadhoota Nadananda, and Devi Amma. Devi Amma lives in Bangalore. Vasudevan Swami is one of them in Vajreshwari. What I found in him is that he was old and he was bent, he can’t stand up properly and all he does is, he prays, “O Lord Krishna, I have not seen you for a long time, I am old, I can’t see well, when will I see you?” And Krishna appears, not just appears, the residue of his presence would be on the wall. This means it was not an illusion; it was a presence. Various people say they had these appearances: Jesus appeared, Krishna appeared, Buddha appeared, etc. But many of them are mental projections. How do we differentiate between a mental projection and a real apparition?

When a Master of that frequency, like Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, or Avatars of that frequency appears, you don’t remain the same anymore. Your frequency has to shift, your frequency changes to receive their frequency. That means, there will be a different level of elevation, and only then you can communicate. This communication happens only through that elevation of awareness. But if it is just a mental projection, there will be no change, you will be the same. You will still have all your anxieties, fears, anger, hatred, jealousy… all those things. But if a real apparition, if a real encounter happens, with the energy as powerful as Sai Baba or Krishna, then you will not be the same again, it will not be the same, you will not remain the same. So this can be considered as a real sign that you are actually having communion, and the result, almost always, would be silence. You will not have any initiative to tell people, “Look here, I am speaking to Krishna, I am speaking to Sai Baba,” you may not even feel like telling, because the more you interact with any being of a higher frequency, the result is inherent silence inside. And no urge to prove to anybody, there is nothing to prove to anybody. What will you prove?

Your state is not provable. In what state you are operating, you can’t tell. Your behaviour is not possible to convey anything. Many people considered the behaviour of Baba as inconsistent, some people even thought he was mad. But he was a great Master. His operating level was different. He was discussing things with subtle beings, and sometimes he used to shout, scream, beat, he used to throw tantrums. All these were communications to various frequencies, various dimensions. So, it is not easy for a normal human being to recognise and understand a Master. What will you convey? When you are established in yourself, you will lose all desires to convey something to this world outside, not only a spiritual message but as what you are, who you are, whom you are discussing with – all these are irrelevant, there is no relevance, there is nothing to convey. You will be very settled and peaceful and whether the outside world accepts you or rejects you, it doesn’t mean anything to you. Because this is a world of minds, this is a world of concepts. I always tell people, if people who are ‘minds’, accept you or reject you, don’t worry about it, let it happen. But if Masters of great stature, if they reject you, then you have something to change within, most probably the ego factor.

 

Great Masters will not reject a person of a certain level definitely, because whoever is eligible to climb up, they hold hands indiscriminately, without any agenda. They will not ask anything. Real Masters need nothing from you, they are not looking at your wallet or pocket. But as somebody said, “When I give to Baba, I am sure it reaches thousands more; when I keep it in my pocket, it may not even be useful for my people at some point in time.” So, what you give, you get more, as spiritual grace.

Grace is the money, what you spend for a Master, or for annadaan. I always recommend annadaan as a cleanser, purifier. Annadaan is Mahadaan, there is nothing better than feeding the poor. When I say poor, anybody who is hungry, it doesn’t matter if it is a human being or any being who is hungry, their need is food. If their need is food, feed them, give them whatever you have, share what you have. That makes you rich, and that’s a very noble thing to do.

Because all beings respond to love, they respond to hunger. They are all instinctual things.

In instinct, the primary instinct, the basic instinct, is survival. The basic instinct of survival manifests itself in the need for food. Most of the animals and birds travel miles in search of food because that’s basic for their survival. And seasonally, sexuality is there for the species to survive. Human beings also have it, but because human beings use intelligence and imagination more than instinct, they manipulate all these things.

We tend to manipulate. That is why we have so many Do’s and so many Don’ts etc. while most of the other species don’t have it. They don’t have it, they live more a less a plain life, and they are not in opposition or resistance at all with life. We are. And that is causing lots of agonies and pains, even wars. So a great Master, in the relevance of Baba, he came here for creating harmony between religions, between communities. He’s not a Muslim, nor a Hindu, nor a Christian, nor a Buddhist. He is just a human being. He lived a normal life as a human being, but with a high level of awareness, which could transform millions even after leaving the body.

 

Transcribed by Nada Rakovic

Proofread by Shyama Jeyaseelan

 

 

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The Gross and The Subtle

Dear All,

The Gross and The Subtle, this duality will always trouble the mind. Is the way to unity is through this duality? Mohanji gives awareness to many burning minds.

When one expects to see complete unity and diversity of GOD in gross forms, one fails to understand the creation, creativity, free will and uniqueness within the diversity of existence.

Do not be disillusioned. No gross form is equal to God, if God is formless, colorless, desire less and omnipresent. Form has limitations; Form has reasons. Form has weaknesses. Forms dissolve and die. A form can indeed represent higher consciousness, which we could call an Avatar. Forms represent various degrees of awareness. But forms also represent duality. While owning and operating a form, there is alienation, there is a division, and there is a corresponding disillusionment too. Forms that represent certain aspects of the all-encompassing God are considered as deities. All forms on earth have its own constitution which is well beyond generalization, even though generalization is possible on the basic level of operation such as hunger, sex, sleep, circulation of blood etc which are the basic general rules of gross existence.

When we expect to see complete unity and diversity of GOD in gross forms, we fail to understand creation, creativity, free will and uniqueness within diversity of existence. We fail to appreciate the basic as well as the collective operating levels. We get disappointed and disillusioned. Uniqueness is the basis of creation. It is no factory product. Creation in larger sense is always hand made. Understand creation at the cellular level and then you will understand the Universe!!!

Let us make one thing clear. This body is called Mohan or in your words ‘Mohanji;. Till my last breath, this body will remain in the name of Mohanji. People may confer titles in front or back of this name. But the name will remain the same.

Never be disillusioned. We can only see what we are capable of seeing.. Mohanji

This body is definitely not Rama, Krishna, Shiva, Baba or Jesus. This body, existing today, is called Mohanji. Consciousness that operates or works through this body is intangible, invisible and often incomprehensible to public eyes. Never be disillusioned. We can only see what we are capable of seeing. Be Happy!!!!

All people are connected to something, some body. This connection is due to their inner compatibility with the object of their connection. One may see the reflection of their object of connection in me. That does not make me that object. There could be resemblances, character similarities, but one is certainly not the other. Be aware of that!!! No person can be another person. Even when soul takes new birth, the incarnation has different names, form and purpose. Nothing is ever the same. Time and space are different and so is purpose on earth.

Do not be disillusioned. This body is called Mohanji and it will remain so till this body dies away. Do not be affected or connected to me- imagining, thinking that this body is that of someone else. That will lead to disillusionment and disappointment.

All incarnations portrayed their unique character and constitution even like we do. Baba is Baba, Krishna is Krishna, Jesus is Jesus. These are names of bodies (certain people) of the past. Their consciousness is certainly one and their consciousness is definitely eternal hence they are eternally available. They all are one. You are one with them too. This is why you are connecting with them or their certain character aspects so effortlessly. There could be many similarities of them – their character, that you recognize in others. There could be consciousness compatibility which makes them feel that this one is that one. But it is a mirage. Do not be disillusioned.

All bodies have duration and purpose. Purpose is always time-related – on earth. Time changes matter. Requirements change on earth. Such incarnations that could handle such requirements take birth. They may have attributes from the past. But they are in a fresh body. They have fresh name and form. They have a new set of parents, language and mission. They are new. Do not be disillusioned. This body is called Mohan and will remain so.

A son may resemble the father, but he is not his father. Likewise, each incarnation is unique. Our inflexibility and non-understanding is due to our own conditioning and mental pictures, images that we have acquired and maintained. Once we become flexible and fluid clarity takes place spontaneously.

7 Billion people. 7 Billion Personalities. 7 Billion types of expressions. Do not try to change the world outside. Change the world inside. If 7 Billion does the same, the world outside will be a much better place. Tragedy lies in the fact that we are trying to change the world outside all the time, ignoring or discounting our conditioning,  fears, phobias and prejudices. When we are always “against” something, we will fail to see the subtlety and beauty of existence. When we only look outside, all you see are states of duality and disparity. Unity lies within. The key to a unified existence, oneness with all beings, is kept within us. When we become unified with ourselves, we see the whole world unified with us. The “way out” lies within us.

The “way out” lies within us… Mohanji

Why do people worship Gurus – the ones who are in their physical form? Do we need to? I find it inappropriate and meaningless.

This question usually comes from a person who is in the knowledge path – Jnana Yogi. There are many paths to reach God. And Guru is the guiding light. There are many types of people too. Everyone has his or her own style and approach towards any situation. Actually speaking, no true guru or God needs anything from you, let alone worship.

Now, a person of emotional nature, who chants praises of God – usually the form that his mind gets connected to easily, melts himself or herself into that being or object of worship. These people need an object to worship. Human mind needs forms to associate with. This is fundamental. It recognizes forms and connects to forms. Human constitution uses all faculties such as body, mind and intellect to connect to the chosen form. And when the connection through faith increases, individual personality takes a back seat. The individual starts to merge with the object of worship. Non-duality happens. When oneness takes root, often the need for any of the individual faculties that the individual used for the primary connection also becomes redundant. Everything dissolves into oneness. This is the advantage of bhakti Yoga. Usually, Bhakti Yogis merge with supreme consciousness much faster than the other paths such as knowledge, sadhana (spiritual practices) and service. The tranquility and strength that they achieve through surrender cannot be fathomed by the practitioners of other types of paths.

Likewise, the elevation that knowledge gives – based on duality is not understandable to a Bhakthi Yogi too. Experiencing God using the path of knowledge is like the pole of the pole vault. The pole is only used to lift one beyond the bar. Then, the pole of knowledge is shed when the bar is crossed. Then it is just a fall into the lap of Infinity or God. But, if the Yogi holds on to the pole and refuses to let go, handicap happens in the game. He stays with his pole and cannot win God.

In the case of Path of Pathlessness, ability to cling on against all odds and depth of faith and surrender is the criterion for higher elevation. .. Mohanji

There is a saying “If God and Guru come together, whom to greet first?” The answer automatically happens “Guru, because he is the one who brought and guided me to God”. This is one aspect and answer to your question.

Another aspect – in Shirdi Baba’s words “My Guru was indeed powerful. But he taught me nothing. Day and night I served him and watched him. He gave me everything”. This is another aspect. There are paths where there are no explicit teachings or courses. By just a mere glance or wave of hand, Baba used to elevate people. By just being in the energy field of the powerful Guru, the disciple achieves everything. But, in those cases, the Guru would often display mediocrity and shallowness, to test the tenacity and conviction of the disciple.

In the path of courses and examination, the skill displayed is the criteria for elevation. In the case of Path of Pathlessness, ability to cling on against all odds and depth of faith and surrender is the criterion for higher elevation. When people asked Muktananda how he achieved his spiritual proves, he answered “I never asked my guru – WHY?” Total surrender and perfect obedience was the path. This is often very difficult for a Jnana yogi, one who is in the knowledge path who needs answers for every simple thing. The Gurus of the Datta Tradition, Nath tradition or simply those who follow the path of dissolution will not deliver such answers. They even shake the faith of their disciples through abnormal and even unacceptable behavior to test the mettle of the student. Jnana Yogis often scandalizes the guru and escapes, but falls deeper into the birth death cycle and disillusionment. Bhakti Yogis stay.

Now, once again, how do you know a Satguru – the true one?

There are some primary yard sticks – The most important is your destiny.  It is destiny that brings you to him. And it is your destiny that makes you recognize the real one.

Second are certain signs of the Guru – does he bind you with fear or he maintains you unbound and free? If you are always kept unbound, you are at the right place. In this path, serving the guru is your choice, yet it is also your elevation.

Third is, he needs nothing from you, or he gives you back much more than he takes – if at all. He changes your basic constitution often based on conditionings and fears, to that of stillness and fearlessness.

Fourth is, when you are with him, you will know and recognize a definite change in your vibratory level, a shift in consciousness. The more you are with him; the shifted consciousness becomes yours too. These are subtle aspects one must feel and experience within.

Fifth is non conformity to any habits and mannerisms. He may behave in strange ways often unacceptable to social norms. This is because a Guru who is established in supreme consciousness operates only in the level of cosmic necessity or purpose and not of individual karma. He is only guided by purpose. He has nothing to do with social do’s and don’ts. His operating level is spontaneity, uncontaminated by thoughts. For example; Vyasa impregnated Ambika and Ambalika because the dynasty had to continue. He also impregnated the maid to bring forth an unconditional, wise man called Vidura into the court of selfish royals. Sai Baba often scolded and beat people to drive away evil lying embedded in the constitution of devotees. People, who got offended, never understood the real meaning behind the action. They left him and went away. The loss was essentially theirs. Swami Samarth used to urinate in front of people which distracted many. There are many such examples.

If the Guru is powerful, he would usually be very ordinary or will often act in strange ways. They scold people for their well-being. They need nothing from anyone. True masters would not care about their mannerisms and will have no efforts to make himself socially acceptable. Those who are totally conditioned and bound by social norms and fears will run away from them. Those who stay get all that they can carry.

So, worshipping the Guru, considering him as representing the Lord Almighty, or personification of the Lord is definitely the path of those who are inclined to Bhakti or devotional path of spirituality. Understand that all paths are suitable for someone. All paths are not suitable for everyone. So, do not judge from your level. If you do, you will only get more disillusioned. You may not understand the pleasure that a bhakti yogi derive from any acts of devotional nature. They often do not have duality. They become one with the object of their worship faster than other paths.

The knowledge path keeps duality longer than other paths because, intellect is the faculty used to digest knowledge and intellect is associated to our limited system. This constitution of ours which is tangible and that we call with a name is associated with a form. Intellect alienates and analyses. Intellect creates walls. When knowledge becomes wisdom, that means each unit of knowledge intake is digested well, and it merges into our constitution, duality slowly starts to dissolve. Oneness takes root.

The causeless happiness

Understand one thing clearly. No true gurus or god needs anything from people including worshipping their perishable physical form. But, for disciples, it is reconfirmation, confidence and it helps in maintaining their faith. This is why they do it. Every practice has its value only if it is done from the heart. If mechanically, ritualistically done, no activity will have any value.

I hope I have clarified the question at hand.

Bless You

M

Purity Matters

Do use this time wisely, shed doubts, suspicion, jealousy, guilt, greed, silly ego and anxiety and move on to the next level. There is nothing worth holding on, which is of permanent value on earth.

Dear Beloveds,

          Time is racing past. At the same time, it is empowering people to experience higher dimensions too. Those who are willing to take at least one step towards liberation from various bindings of earth are being abundantly assisted by time and the masters. Hence, do use this time wisely to shed doubts, suspicion, jealousy, guilt, greed, silly ego, and anxiety and move on to the next level. There is nothing on earth that is worth holding on to, which is of permanent value.

          Pat from Portugal had asked me to define a good and bad act, in the context of a spiritual being. My answer is – PURITY. Purity in thoughts, words and actions, while performing his life on earth. If your act is for the well-being of the receiver, if your intentions are pure and unselfish, it is a good act. If you do anything to satisfy your own desire or ego, it is a bad act. A spiritual person should maintain his objectivity. Many people attain spiritual powers quite rapidly. These are baits of spirituality. If you use the acquired spiritual powers for your own benefit, you will fall. If you use the acquired powers for the general well-being of the society, you will always stay liberated from it. The utility of a knife depends on its user. A knife can harm you and help you. It depends on how you will use it.

Many people attain spiritual powers quite rapidly. These are baits of spirituality. If you use the acquired spiritual powers for your own benefit, you will fall.

Remember the old story? Two monks were walking on the bank of a river. One was quite young in his twenties and the other saint was older, in his sixties. While walking, they saw a pretty young woman taking a bath, half-naked. They ignored the sight since they were not allowed to have such distractions and moved on. Suddenly, the woman slipped and fell into the river and started to drown. The young monk left his shoulder sack and jumped into the river and rescued her. He lifted her and brought her to the shore. She had become unconscious. He brought her back to consciousness and when he knew that she was fine and could manage on her own, he picked up his shoulder sack and left the place. He did not look back or expect even a glance of gratitude from her. The older monk was watching all this. After walking for a while in silence, when they sat down for lunch which they had carried, the older monk told the younger one, “I do not think what you have done is right. We are monks, celibates. We are not supposed to touch a woman, let alone a naked one. In that regard, I feel you did the wrong thing”. The young monk smiled and said, “Nowhere in the scriptures have I read that an act of compassion is wrong. The situation demanded an appropriate action. I acted. I left the girl at the shore. She is far away from my body and my mind. Why are you still carrying her?” This silenced the older monk. The young monk acted objectively, based on the need and purpose. He had no fears. The older man represents our current society. He never considered that the woman needed to be rescued or that saving her life was the most important thing at that moment when the incident happened, or that was the appropriate action at that point in time. Instead, he was totally preoccupied by the man-made ‘dos and don’ts’ for monks. This is an example of how society which consists of people of various evolutionary levels will think and act and how, as a spiritual being, you should act. Again, the bottom line is purity. Action without selfishness.

If you use the acquired powers for the general well-being of the society, you will always stay liberated from it.

In the spiritual path, when siddhis or spiritual powers have happened to you, I suggest that you ‘behave like a doctor’. A patient is in front. Emotions have no value. Objectivity is important. Right diagnosis is the key for cure. Look at the patient objectively, diagnose, and do whatever is the right treatment at that time using all the available knowledge, technology and understanding, without worrying about the consequences. There have been many occasions in the history of medicine where the confidence and purity of the doctor have worked miracles on the patient. So, if we are pure within, we need not worry. If the intention was pure, never worry. Society may not understand the ‘eccentric’ spiritual being. You need not worry about it.

Your conscience should be clean. Your inner space should never be contaminated.

When you have spiritual powers (siddhis), if you consistently behave in selfish ways, it will erode from you. Objectivity is important. Who is in front is not important. What you need to do is important, and that you are doing whatever is needed is all the more important. Once you have objectively completed what you have to do, move on without any expectations. In today’s world, misunderstandings are quite common. Each person entertains his own view of how a spiritual person should be, having no consideration or idea about his operating level or consciousness. So, do not expect all people to understand you. It is also not worth being scared about society and because of that fear, not performing what you have to, or what you meant to do with your available life and powers. So, the best way is to be objective and perform to your best ability. Your conscience should be clean. Your inner space should never be contaminated. Only if you entertain purity can you delivery purity. There should not be an inch of selfishness within.

My answer is – PURITY. Purity in thoughts, words and actions, while performing this life on earth.

No fear is the sign of a true spiritualist. When you are performing from the level of purity, even if people do not understand you and your action, it does not matter. Remember – many people did not understand the actions of Jesus during his time and they criticised and condemned him. Many people criticised and condemned Krishna (the whole Kaurava clan for example). Many people considered Sai Baba a mad man. Many people hated Osho. Take any spiritual master – you will see that some loved them, some hated them. Some moved with them with personal agenda and expectations. Some left them because of personal agenda and unfulfilled expectations. When this is the way the world works, what are we afraid of? Just ensure that you stay liberated and pure at all times. Only then can you help others to see the light of liberation.

Bless You with Peace

Love Always

M

No fear is the sign of a true spiritualist… Just ensure you stay liberated and pure at all times.

Surrender Matters

Dear all,

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

Love,

BTW Team

Surrender purifies us completely

My Beloveds

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Love You Infinitely

M