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Introduction We are very happy to present this book, the first in the Thus Speaks series of quotations from the three spiritual masters of the Sahaj Marg system of raja yoga. The series has been compiled to commemorate the 100th birth anniversary, 30 April 1999, of Babuji Maharaj (Shri Ram Chandra of Shahjahanpur), the Founder-President of Shri Ram Chandra Mission. The release of this series coincides with a time when more and more people in both the East and the West are turning inwards to solve the great problems of life. Men and women everywhere are discovering the benefits of meditation in their daily lives and realising that a balance between material and spiritual concerns is essential for our continuing evolution. It is, therefore, to all of humanity that these messages speak, in the universal language of love, acceptance and aspiration for the Highest. May sincere seekers everywhere gain solace and insight into their inner spiritual selves from these inspiring quotations from Lalaji, Shri Ram Chandra of Fatehgarh, the Adi-Guru of Shri Ram Chandra Mission.
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About Lalaji Shri Ram Chandra of Fatehgarh, affectionately known as Lalaji, was the adi-guru (first Master) of Shri Ram Chandra Mission. Born on 2 February 1873, Lalaji belonged to a distinguished family of Jagirdars (landowners), originally from the district of Mainpuri in India. In 1857 the family's property was plundered, and political unrest forced them to move to the town of Fatehgarh. His father was a tax superintendent and his mother a devout woman who passed away when Lalaji was only seven years old, leaving upon him the imprint of her strong faith. The effect of his mother's spiritual life was such that he developed a thirst for God at a young age. As a child, he also displayed a deep love and aptitude for music and was known all his life for having a beautiful voice. He was educated by a private tutor and learned Hindi from his mother, receiving his later education at the Mission School at Farrukhabad. After his mother's death, he was brought up by another lady with whom he shared a lifelong affection and regard. Shortly after Lalaji's marriage, his father died. Within a brief span of time, he also lost his elder adopted brother and all that remained of his family's ancestral property. Accepting these misfortunes with grace and courage, he went to work for one of his father's associates in Fatehgarh. It was Lalaji's conviction that a normal family life was most conducive to self-development and that any sincere seeker could progress to the highest level of spiritual attainment while fulfilling the duties of a householder. Not content to pursue such a goal for himself alone, he rediscovered and refined the ancient raja yoga method of pranahuti, whereby divine energy is transmitted by the Master into the heart of the aspirant in order to expedite his or her spiritual development. Lalaji offered his spiritual training to sincere seekers of any caste or creed, assuring that the highest aspirations, previously reserved for renunciates and ascetics, were brought within reach of all humanity. By nature Lalaji was always calm, but easily moved by the pains and pleasures of others. Rarely could he be angered. Not given to superfluous talk, he spoke as little as possible, but in answering questions he responded exhaustively. He was adept at using language to communicate his thoughts and captivate the hearts of his listeners. If there happened to be someone who could not understand him, he brought about the desired state in that person who thereby acquired an experience and knowledge of the subject under discussion. His personality, mode of living, and general behaviour earned Lalaji the affection and respect of his neighbours. He was much loved by Hindus and Muslims alike, and though he loved his followers with all their faults, he was at the same time a strong disciplinarian. In contrast to the practices of his time, Lalaji was very much against rituals and spending more money on ceremonial occasions than one could afford. He was in favour of the remarriage of widows as well as the education of women, and his servants were like members of his own family. It was said of Lalaji that he could bring about spiritual awakening in a person with a single movement of his eyelids, but display of any kind was repugnant to him, and ego was likewise never allowed to grow. Rather, he advocated that aspirants should stay away from powers until they reached their goal and discipline was perfected. For removing various complexities of the heart, he asked his followers to make friends of their enemies and the persons whom they dreaded. He regarded morality as essential to self-realisation and love as the greatest tapas (spiritual practice). He taught that afflictions are divine blessings holding many secrets, and that real craving for God will be found in only one person out of thousands. When he was not at his office, Lalaji imparted training to abhyasis (practicants) day and night and, after going to bed, transmitted to them until two o'clock in the morning. After his retirement in 1929, he began giving all his time to spiritual work, spending two to three hours every day dictating books, articles and letters. He was a great scholar of Urdu, Persian and Arabic and had a sound knowledge of Hindi and Sanskrit. Controversial phrases and words in scripture were explained by him in such a simple way that real knowledge became common property. Unfortunately, the vast majority of his writings were lost after his death, when a servant mistook them for waste paper and burned them. The quotations in this book are taken from approximately twenty articles which survived and have been translated from Urdu. During the period of illness leading up to his death on August 14, 1931, one of his disciples began to weep at seeing his teacher in extreme pain. Observing this, Lalaji remarked, “It can be removed within minutes if I exercise myself, but I am not touching it because it is all His will and we must abide by it.” He immersed himself in thoughts of God and was heard to say, “As the coveted hour of merger with the beloved gets nearer, so increases the fire of desire of him.” The art of transmission was passed from Lalaji to his most devoted disciple, who coincidentally bore the same name, Shri Ram Chandra of Shahjahanpur. Babuji, as he was known, further refined his Master's teachings into the current practice of Sahaj Marg (the natural path). In 1945, Babuji founded Shri Ram Chandra Mission in honour of Lalaji and, before his own death in 1983, appointed Shri P. Rajagopalachari, known as Chariji, to be his successor. Since that time, Chariji has been serving with great dedication as the spiritual representative and president of the Mission.
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Thus Speaks Lalaji
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God What was there in the beginning? There was indescribable and indefinable darkness surrounded by darkness. There was a stir. The veil of darkness fell down and it took the shadow of wonder in its womb. Time was born out of it, which (mahakal) was an embodiment of shadow and darkness in a circular form. It looked hither and thither and said, “I am.” The word ‘I' was created from that time onwards. It feared, and fear started from that time on. Fear is created from the illusion of estrangement, along with ‘I'-ness. It then thought: “There is none else except myself. Why do I fear unnecessarily?” Fear disappeared. Fear vanishes by thinking as it does even now. It saw the original, and desired that it should also expand like the original. It is the beginning of desire which originated from that Being. It began to grow in it. From then on it was called Brahman. --- Imagine that we are Brahman, the centre, the original element, and the essence of existence. Let this idea be internal first. Then, looking to the external manifestation, think that all these are symbols of our own mental feeling. All these have emerged from us and are our form. What else can there be excepting ourselves? --- Brahman [God] is free from opposite states, whereas the jiva or individual soul lives in the contradictory states. This has the qualities of a struggle, whereas the Brahman is free from unrest as there is no feeling of happiness in Him. --- God has hidden himself inside your hearts and exposed you. Hide yourselves and expose God! Soul Desire, repugnance, happiness, sorrow, knowledge — all these seem to be the attributes of the same atman [soul] which becomes unconscious and lifeless after death. In essence, man is one, rather the entire creation seems to be one. Conjunction and action have created conditions of difference in its forms. --- Desire in the individual soul or jiva is due to the impression, or the illusion, of its being part, because to the view that sees unity in all, a drop appears to have lost its existence in the ocean. To such a view the ocean is but a vast and limitless drop in which there are no parts. This is one aspect. Another thing is that if, due to some reason, the drop has the knowledge of its being separate, it should also think that there is the ocean at the background of each and every drop, and that it is itself one with the ocean, having mingled in it. --- God is love and the very atman. This love, when united with selfishness, is reckoned as vice. But selfishness is also a necessity of Nature, which is not selfless. This is just duty and Divine command, another name for dharma. To perform this dharma without the idea of reward is the real dharma. This itself is called ‘desireless action' (nishkama karma). This one duty is performed only for sakes of one's atman. Our atman and the atman of all is one and the same. That is why the chain of mutual ‘give and take' is regularly continuing. --- The same love, which is nothing but atman, becomes selfishness in connection with matter, mansion, property and so on. And where selfishness makes its appearance, virtue hides itself. --- If there were no soul and body there would not have been the mind at all. It has no independent existence. Its existence comes into manifestation only on their combination. --- Why have the people of this world been afraid to say that the soul is ignorant? There have been many wise men, saints, sages, prophets and devotees in this world so far. But none of them have ever said that the soul is ignorant, because: 1. To deviate from the old and trodden path would take their breath away! 2. Those who wanted to say something new feared infamy. They were more mindful of the punishment inflicted by the society. They dared not come out of the social or religious circle. Getting a bad name from the community, religion or society was considered to be the worst calamity. 3. All of them have said so, no doubt, but none has said it openly. None removed the veil. A curtain of mystery and secrecy was dropped on the face of Reality. Even if they hinted at this they did so in their inner circle, and to a limited society. One who understood it eulogised it, and one who did not understand it also praised it. 4. They introduced such practice and meditation by which man's mind would rise high, and his heart would become magnanimous. Contact with the pure and the holy was considered essential. It may be just possible that with such practices a man would know the reality of his own accord. However, no clarification or elucidation of reality was made. They restricted their mind only to such proverbs and stories, but reality cannot be known if there is fear or scepticism. --- Now let us cast a glance at this very problem [the selflessness of love] which came up for discussion between the Sage Yajnavalkya and his wife Maitreyi in the Chandogya Upanishad. Yajnavalkyaji Maharaj expresses his thoughts thus:
--- When the difference between the Brahman and the individual soul is wiped off, sorrows will come to an end. Then there will be no fear of the disposition being removed. The drop and the ocean become one! Guru The definition of a Sat-Guru is that: 1. He should attach himself to Reality; i.e., he should dwell in the fourth state and in the jivanmukta [liberated] condition; 2. He should have practised yoga (shabda-abhyasi) and by means of this practice he should have control over the inner regions of the human brain; 3. He should have glittering eyes and a broad forehead; 4. He should have knowledge of devotion, knowledge and work (bhakti, jnana, karma), and should be able to answer questions but should not bind the tongue of the questioner; 5. He should concern himself with spiritual things, i.e., he should pay attention towards them. These are all ordinary characteristics. But the real inner qualification is that he should be able to satisfy his disciples by imparting the Divine grace (transmitting grace) through the awakened inner vision. --- If you sit by a fire, you feel warm; if you sit by ice, you feel cold. Why then will you not get transformed if you sit with a person who is perfect in discipline and etiquette? --- Worship of the worthy Master should be done. Association with Reality is called satsangh. Practice means to develop skill in the practice of shabda yoga. --- Guru-bhakti means only worship. Spend some time in the company of the Master and get your doubts cleared. --- A master should treat all equally. His love should flow evenly on all without any difference. He should not think himself superior to the abhyasis in any way. Love alone does everything. Liberation Some say that being bereft of feeling and movement, like a stone, is liberation. Some think that being one with the ocean as the drop, is liberation. Others say that flame uniting with flame is liberation. Some believe that one who ascends high is liberated. But none of these is true. Mental attachment is bondage, and detachment is liberation. --- Attaining freedom from miseries is liberation. Liberation is both permanent and temporary. When the liberation is such that the bondage of sorrow is never felt it is permanent liberation. Is bondage also permanent, if we are to speak of liberation as permanent? No, bondages are not permanent, they are temporary. --- That which is the cause of bondage, when reversed, helps in attaining liberation. There are three causes of bondage: (1) Remembrance, (2) Meditation, (3) Bhajan. When the practice of these three is associated with external things, the result would be birth and bondage. And when they are practised at heart internally keeping the goal constantly in view, it will result in freedom from external and surface bondage. (1) Remembrance means remembering again and again; (2) Meditation means having the idea; (3) Bhajan means contemplation or continuous meditation. Reverse these according to the instructions of the Master. There should be resistance to outside impressions, and the inner veil should be removed. Then gradually the meaning of liberation will become clear and liberation will be attained. --- Liberation is not the goal or the ideal of the way of saints called santhmath. It is achieved in the normal course of the process of worship; and in the process of the law of habit the satsanghi attains liberation during his own life time easily. --- Those who see attachment in detachment and detachment in attachment are called saints. Such is their liberation. Sadhana No one is devoid of sat – existence, chit – knowledge and anand – bliss. It is due to ignorance that man has thought himself to be other than what he really is. Here, in the satsangh, it will be tried to remove his ignorance side by side with the practice of meditation which will enable him to experience sat-chit-anand. --- Cleanse your manas (mind) with practice of sadhana and then go through literature, otherwise Reality will be lost upon you. --- Practice or sadhana is that remedy which does not allow unawareness in sushupti [deep sleep state]. Just as the mind thinks and acts in connection with the affairs of the gross body, and retains its knowledge, so also, if it can think and act, tasting at the same time the bliss of sushupti or the soul (atma), it is possible to achieve the state of awareness even there. The practice of this is the first step of upasana [devotional practice]. Moderation and Peace With the infusion of the soul into the human body all the attributes and characteristics, and the powers of understanding and sense, were inherent at their highest perfection. Emotions arose in connection with the creation of the universe. The attention and diversion of the soul went on going towards matter. Balance ceased to exist. There remained no moderation in the inherent conditions, until all the emotions became dead. Now the teachers bring again into action the dormant emotional conditions with the help of transmission and bliss. This is done to such an extent that in the teaching process of our order they make it start from the jasb (intense spiritual intoxication) and after getting all the aspects of jasb completed, they bring the disciple back towards sulook (path of spirituality). And then they get all the stages of sulook completed. This alone is the ultimate sulook. That very condition of moderation, which prevailed in human hearts and souls at the start, comes over now. The intervening conditions and stages are waves. From them it cannot be known as to what peace is, nor where it does abide. Now in reality the man is in the form of a man, whereas prior to this he was an animal in the form of man. When is reality found in waves? There is no question of start and reach here. What exists, exists. Weakness, passions and emotions are in imperfection only. There is no trace of waves and passions in perfection. There is peace when all the attributes become moderate. This is the state of desirelessness in spite of desires. --- Complete (perfect) peace is that in which one bears the teasing and taunts of others. One should bear with these things in such a way as the pouring of water on a soft inverted pot. It does not take any water into itself. Character Development Before creation everything was in perfect moral condition. As time went on, balance was lost. Every spiritual organisation has for its objective, in one form or the other, to adopt morality so that our condition might become akin to the one which was there in the beginning. Moral conduct does not consist in merely pleasing others. It has a wide connotation. It means that we should bring our senses to such a balance that their condition is almost the same as described above. We should exert pressure on our senses in such a way that they do not become excited to an extent they ought not. How can this be possible? External influences also help in this. Many trifling things which we adopt in our external behaviour influence our mind. For instance, we go to an elderly person and show courtesy. (Here I mean not only elders spiritually, but also anyone who is older in age than we.) When we approach them, our first thought would be that we should not behave in a manner unpleasant to them. Rather, our effort will be to control our speech, gestures, emotions, etc., as long as we are with them. This is a preliminary exercise as it were, to reach that high level of conduct. If we make this our habit, then naturally our senses would, of their own accord, come under control. If, on the contrary, we do not behave like this, the situation gets worsened. So, it is necessary that etiquettes are observed. Taking care of our conduct really means attaining a balanced state so that we become identical with Nature. In other words, we should merge this thing in Nature to such an extent that all other things become non-perceptible. The fact is that etiquette is the soul of spirituality. --- One thing I would like to tell everybody — rather by the beat of a drum — that every seeker should try to shape his moral condition. One should not utter any word which is unpalatable to others, nor do any action not liked by others. Keeping these two things in view, one should apply oneself to improve his conduct. This is the basic principle. I am a lover of morality rather than spirituality. --- The purpose of action is only to express life. If life expresses itself in a natural way without harming anyone it is allowed. There is neither merit nor sin in it. --- There are two kinds of action: Legitimate Action and Illegitimate Action. That action which gives happiness [Bliss] is legitimate or right action, and that which does not give happiness is illegitimate action. --- Religion, the Shastras, the Guru and one's conscience unanimously never agree on bad things. This is the test of right and wrong action. If this is not accepted one should neither do a thing of his own liking nor of others' liking. --- Where right and wrong are involved in a relative state, there merit and sin exist. Thus merit and sin create the fetters of bondage, freedom from which becomes quite essential. Otherwise, even the idea of freedom and bondage does not probably occur in the mind. The remedy to save oneself from this is to convert evil intention into good intention and then act. --- That action is sinful in performing which there is fear, hesitation and shame, and that action is virtuous in performing which there is fearlessness, courage and valour. --- One should keep the elders, youngsters and subordinates happy by one's actions and manners. One should keep the environment and surroundings beautiful. Fire, air, water, earth and ether should not be polluted as far as possible. --- If we do not respect elders we do not acquire any merit, but on the other hand we will be committing sin by violating social etiquettes. --- Never offer advice unless invited, otherwise it is likely to yield bad results. If you find fault with anybody, pray for his freedom from it. --- Do not purchase a new thing if you can manage to carry on with your old belongings. --- Anger is a poison for spirituality. Unless one is free from this plague, moderation can never be obtained. Its effect is that the system becomes heavy, and tension is produced, and this does not allow the free and subtle current to enter. There will be continuous pressure on thought. --- To free oneself from anger, one should think himself to be polite and humble. Nay, he should try to make himself such that the same colour enters each and every part of the body. Cool and calm disposition alone is required for spirituality. The heart is so tender that it begins to droop even by the slightest circulation of the wind. --- Wickedness spoils the heart and makes it heavy and unholy, which results in sorrow. Besides this, the person on whom it is inflicted no doubt experiences sorrow. But a current of sorrow flows from his heart and makes the person inflicting sorrow sorrowful. To take an example, if your neighbour is sorrow-stricken and unhappy, you cannot in any way escape from the influence of his sorrow. This sorrow is just like the smoke of poisonous fuel, so to say. Burn it in any home and its bitterness spreads in the neighbouring homes. The same is the case with goodness or virtue. If you are virtuous, persons around you are bound to be benefitted by happiness. This world can be compared to our body. If any organ (part) is diseased the whole body is affected. Therefore good people always keep themselves away from sin, and engage themselves in right action. This is a simple truth. --- The balanced condition of the mind is an expression of the right attitude of man in all his activities, under varied circumstances; in a broad sense, it is the reflection of his character. It has a deep impact and a favourable influence on people who are associated with him. It reveals itself in conversation, serious and long or light and short, which is devoid of excitement or emotional outburst; devoid of a rapid, short-tempered and moody reaction, but a prompt, methodical and civil expression of one's own self. It is soft, cultured and smooth like the harmonious descent of Divine Grace. The pure heart, in communion with the Base or Source, pours itself forth naturally with nobility, magnanimity and love. It leaves an impression immediately and it progressively makes deep in-roads into and establishes itself in the minds of all. The voice may be modulated to avoid a high pitch or any variation of the tone because that goes with anger and anger is a poison to spirituality. If a nasty and a sharp temper is avoided, if the evil of anger is overcome, there is scope for the attainment of the balanced condition of mind. This frailty of man leads to a loss of self-respect and individuality and results in unhappiness. It restrains the flow of Divine grace. The greater the control over this attitude, the freer and more bounteous is the celestial gift. It is a pity that this important and essential principle of the use of the tongue in the inevitable and constant activity of man, is not only overlooked, but neglected. It is unfortunate if the divine Guru is held responsible for this lapse in man. It is no doubt very difficult to control the mind. He whose tongue is polite, civilised and cultured, has a large heart, pure and noble, and thus has a wide sway over the minds of others. But equivocation is not to be encouraged. A civil tongue is a prerequisite to achieve the Goal of human life. A cultured tongue rules the kingdom of the heart. A polished tongue, in discourse or conversation, influences humanity and reigns supreme. Miseries Afflictions are the boons from God. There are many secrets in them and many inner experiences can be had by undergoing sufferings. --- It is good to be put to worries. The home is the training centre for submission and endurance, etc. It is the greatest form of penance and sacrifice. --- It is good to be tormented. Home is the school for tolerance and meekness. According to one way of thinking, patience in such things is considered to be penance, and is superior to other kinds of penances. So, instead of sorrow and resentment one should resort to gairat (the feeling that a person himself is at faulty, although he is not really at fault). Repentance is that emotion when one, being abused and chided by others, feels as if one himself is at fault, and then one has to resort to patience. For others, jungles, seclusion and solitude are the ways of achieving patience, endurance, and freedom from the turmoils of the world, while for us the scoldings, taunts and scoffs of the family members, friends and worldly persons are true penance. God willing submissiveness and surrender also shall follow. --- As for afflictions and worries, I too had mine which might perhaps be shocking to another. Often I had nothing for my meals. I had a number of children and dependents to support. Besides, at times I had to help others too, which I could not avoid. The entire responsibility was upon me alone and I had to manage all that and provide for all requirements. I may also tell you that sometimes there was only one quilt, and that too with badly mutilated padding, to cover the whole family. But I took it as a display of misfortune only which passed away with time. I felt that all this was absolutely of no importance to me as compared to Reality which was predominant in all my being. So I ever smiled on them thinking them to be the very way of liberation. --- Misery is the result of the individual soul being a part, and because it is desirous of happiness, it experiences misery. There is wholeness, perfection and fullness in Brahman. He wants neither living (life) nor happiness. Therefore, there is no sorrow for Him. Bliss Happiness [Bliss] in itself is real existence. Really speaking, happiness alone exists and all else, namely sorrow etc., is nothing but illusion. --- The mystery of all happiness lies in the steadying and settling down of the activity of the mind (chitta-vritti). Happiness is the heir of peace and rest. --- Happiness is not anywhere outside. It is in our fixing the attention, in the steadiness of disposition, and in the withdrawal of our mind. Those who know this secret need not search for happiness outside. --- No other theory is tenable in the spiritual field except that of the flow of disposition and steadiness of attention. Spiritual happiness is nothing but steadiness, settling and peace. --- Hearing the words of others is action. Thinking of those words and raising objections and doubts is knowledge. If the mind settles on the reality or the essence of those words, it is upasana [devotional practice], which gives happiness. --- The end of the Veda (knowledge) is pleasantness and bliss. The scriptures say that the goal of human life is to end misery totally, and to attain the highest (greatest) happiness. From this, it is proved that the Veda or knowledge is not an end in itself, its end being happiness and bliss. --- Happiness is the name of a certain disposition of mind, of upasana, of the condition of firmness, settling and withdrawal of mind; and misery is the name of that disposition in which there is wicked desire, evil propensity, jerk, removal and weakness. Except this, happiness and misery are nothing. The current of mind flows all over the body, from head to foot in the form of currents through the veins and arteries. Happiness is experienced where it settles, and misery is experienced when it is removed from there by force. --- Wherever the idea of happiness is found there will necessarily be the impressions of sorrow, because both sorrow and happiness are relative terms. But it is possible, to a certain extent, to create a wonderful state quite different from happiness and sorrow if only one practises to remain conscious in the state of sushupti [deep dreamless sleep], tries to maintain his disposition there dispassionately, and produces the state of merger and negation. And such a wonderful state can be retained even after coming back to the dream and conscious states. This alone is called bliss or supreme happiness. --- Attainment of Supreme Bliss is the ideal and aspiration of human life. Only the bliss of the Brahman is supreme. Karma Action or karma is the nature or dharma of the gross body. Just as the formation of body is natural, its movement also is natural; and so also the law of reward and punishment is natural. Every embodied being is called jiva, the characteristic of which is movement. In this movement works the principle of development or growth, and contemplation. --- Action (karma) is the practical or utilitarian side of the manifestation of existence, whereas knowledge is its essential aspect. These two aspects are conjoined with the middle link which is the human heart. --- The performance of almost all actions and duties is connected with the body. So this body itself is the obvious and open form of manifestation. Viewed from this point the body is sat [existence] and, therefore, this body and all the actions of this body — karma — are considered to be the beginning or basis of the Veda. Action — karma — is the first and foremost necessary condition of life. How can the existence be inferred without body? --- Why is action (karma) necessary? Action is the law of manifestation of life. Without action, it is not possible to infer the existence of a being. That is why every being having a body is required to perform action. --- Those who perform ordinary action keeping in view the fulfilment of some desire, raise action after action and desire after desire; and being caught in the web of this ‘cycle' are thrown far away from the destination. --- Serving the fellow-beings of the world in the light of this experience without any selfish motive is the best kind of sacrifice and worship. One who acts in such a way will be free from the bondage of karma (action). The Three Bodies There are three types of bodies: 1. Outer or gross body which is called sthool-shareer. This is made of sense-organs, flesh, skin, bones, blood, fat, etc. This is the sheath of food or the annamaya-kosha. 2. The subtle body is called sookshma-shareer. It is made of mind – manas, intellect – buddhi, psyche – chit, and egoism – ahankar. This is the sheath of mind – or manomaya-kosha. That which is made of knowledge, thoughts, intelligence, etc., is known as the sheath of knowledge or the vignanamaya-kosha. 3. Third is the soul or the causal body which is called karana-shareer. It is made of happiness, joy and bliss. This is the sheath of bliss or anandamaya-kosha, the food of which is joy. If you think over these names deeply, then you will know that these bodies really exist. --- The gross body is the instrument of action. Nay! it is action itself, and cannot exist without any activity. The subtle body is the instrument of knowledge or thought. Nay! it is knowledge itself, and it cannot exist without thinking and understanding. The causal body or the soul is the instrument of joy. Nay! it is joy itself, and it cannot exist without bliss and happiness. Viewed from this point, action is the beginning, knowledge the middle and bliss the final state. That is why the action is considered to be the beginning of the Veda. --- After movement comes the state of rest. Action is not eternal. But that which is called peace or bliss, is that not action too? All the three types of body join together in performing action. There is physical movement in the gross body, mental (ideatic) movement in the subtle body, and resting movement which is called bliss in the causal body. --- The body, the heart or mind, the soul — all these three are bodies. Movement of the organs of sense and of perception is the characteristic of the gross physical body. The heart or mind has the characteristic of mental or ideatic movement, in which are involved the subtle organs. There is both movement and rest in it. Peace or rest is the action of the soul which contains all the three kinds of movement in the seed-form. --- The knowledge of the outer body, i.e. the sthoola shareer, comes in the waking state or jagratha avastha. The knowledge of the subtle body or sukshma shareer comes in the dream state or swapna avastha, which is connected with the mind. The knowledge of the causal body or karana shareer comes in the deep sleep state or sushupti. This is the soul itself. --- The body-minded worshippers of body, careless or indolent persons, etc. are called idiotic — moodha. The worshippers of body, though having a body, do not know anything about it. One who is body-minded has his attention always fixed on the body. Worshippers of mind along with body — hard-working, irritable, retaliative, sane, thoughtful and selfish persons are called fickle — chanchal. The worshippers of mind, though having mind, are devoid of the knowledge about it. One who worships the mind along with body, has his attention fixed on mind as well as body. Worshippers of soul along with body and mind — just, selfless and far from being violent — such persons are called ignorant — ajnami. The worshippers of soul, though having some knowledge about the requirements of body and mind, do not know the truth about the soul, even though they crave for peace and happiness. Such men feel inclined towards spirituality when they read, think or hear others talking about it, and yet they are negligent, as is the nature of each and every individual full of desires. It is such an individual who is called ignorant. --- The heart is generally drowned or absorbed in the activities of the gross body, losing the knowledge of its own reality. Knowledge and Ignorance Knowledge is that which is known. And that too in such a way that one becomes equal to the known thing and only knowing remains. --- The ignorant man counts the leaves, flowers, etc., and eats, or may not even eat, the fruit, whereas the wise man is interested in eating the fruit only without paying any attention to these details. --- One who wants to know the purpose or meaning of knowledge is ignorant. Had he not so much of understanding we would have called him stupid, moodha, instead of calling him ignorant. ‘Ignorant' does not mean ‘devoid of knowledge or understanding' but means ‘devoid of the purpose or meaning of knowledge'. Such a person alone is fit for obtaining knowledge. --- Knowledge is contemplation, thinking, pure discrimination and nothing else. Differentiating things, demarcating the line of difference, establishing the points of difference or distinction — this alone is knowledge which is the characteristic of the mind. --- Knowledge is no doubt light, but it is not an end in itself, but is merely a means to an end. We do not light a lamp at night for the sake of the lamp but to do some work by its light, which is the end or aim. So our knowledge also has some goal but it is not a goal in itself. --- The eyes see everything, but do not see themselves. The nose smells everything, but does not smell itself. The ears hear everything, but do not hear themselves. You see everything, but you do not see yourself. This is ignorance. To ward off this ignorance you will have to take the help of an artificial mirror which you are already using. The help has started. And gradually when you look at your image in the mirror, you will yourself be satisfied and keep quiet. Then the chain of questions will automatically stop. --- You go into the state of deep sleep every day. What do you know there? Nothing! This is the daily experience, but on waking up from deep sleep the mind is reminded of its existence. The reason is that the mind takes with it the particular mixed influences in the form of impressions. There is no doubt that it merges in the soul, but it conveys its impression on its return. And what is that impression? Awareness of unconsciousness, a sense of senselessness, and knowledge of ignorance! What does it say excepting this? Ask and it would explain to you of its own accord. One's own personal experience, though it is bare knowledge, is a thousand times better than book knowledge or hearsay knowledge. --- It is an accepted fact that the course of the world is not uniform. Its colours go on always changing. When man endures its hot and cold waves, he becomes firm and gains experience, and begins to say: The punishment for the embodied --- The charm, advantage and purpose of satsangh is to make the mind broad, so as to reach the goal and purpose by showing the importance of everything in its own place, and then giving a relative view point. The purport of all this is to emphasise that becoming wise (jnani) is not the final point of attaining the aim. Knowledge is only the final stage in attaining bliss and happiness. --- Stupid does not mean motionless. But it means lazy, having no intelligence or discrimination. Such a person performs action but does not know it, nor its results. Fickle means moving — he who is restless and hesitant, looks hither and thither, this side and that side, uses if's and but's. He has stupidity, no doubt, but a novel condition has so set in it that he becomes hesitant. That which is at rest is called peaceful and stable. It (peace) is the name of the subtlest originality. Its Sanskrit root is sam which means stability. --- The chain of ‘give and take' never comes to a stop. (Gara na satani va sitam bhi rasada — You will receive harm even if you do not harm others.) So, where is the favour in this? Nature compels us to do this and gets this done. It is our ignorance that we keep everything before us and forget our own self (atman) totally. If you have not understood this, listen to a story the result of which is grief. Some people started on a journey with some purpose. There was a river on the way and there was no ferry. However, they crossed the river, and when they came to the other bank, they consulted each other and wanted to make sure whether all the members of the group had crossed the river and that their total number was intact as it was when starting from home, and that none was drowned. Everyone began to count the others leaving out himself. So it was decided that one of them was drowned in the river. They began to cry loudly. People assembled and inquired the reason for their crying. But they could not decide. At last, an old man of experience came and consoled them. He asked them to stand in a line before him and count; and they counted in the same manner as before. Then the good old man asked them why everyone counted all the others, but not himself. All of them realised that it was their own mistake that each forgot to include himself. Having been assured thus that none was drowned, they went their way and the old man took his. Now it is very clear. One should think over this. Everyone has organs of sense, organs of action, mind, intellect, ego and the soul. Man performs action keeping all these in view, but forgets himself and the fact that he is the very atman which is love. All the people of the world would have failed to solve this riddle. But there comes a pious man in the form of a guru, gives knowledge of the atman, bestows peace and goes his own way without expecting any return or reward. This alone is his work. When the jiva [individual soul] gets deliverance, what other concern has He? Freedom and Bondage Liberation means becoming free. Freedom from bondage is called liberation. These two conditions are related to the mind. Mind alone experiences. Mind alone accepts and feels bondage and freedom. This knowing and feeling is knowledge. When the mind thinks itself ignorant, and is keen about knowledge and is interested in it and know it, it is called knowledge. Likewise, when the mind becomes perturbed on taking a certain condition to be unpleasant, it is called bondage. And when it tries to free itself from that condition and attains freedom, it is liberation or mukti. Just as knowledge and ignorance are the states of mind, so also are freedom and bondage. Both are illusory and mental acceptations. --- Artificial feeling and the idea of firmness of artificial relationship was all a form of mental conception just like religion. It was a play of man's will power being unidirectional. Now, the question is: How is this life a bondage? The answer is that thought alone has made this play a cause of bondage. --- A person thought in his dream that he was ill, and the thought became so firm that it persisted even after his waking. Now he laboured under the same illusion in the waking state and during sleep. Though he appears to be quite healthy, he never admits it; and he remains unhappy without any reason. This is another example of bondage. --- A person is under the illusion of ghost. He saw a bare branch of a tree in the dark night and thought it to be a ghost. His thought power told him that the branch is a long-toothed ghost. He became afraid and ran away, fell down and became unconscious. When he regained consciousness and opened his eyes, the illusion of the ghost caught hold of him. He begins to talk at random and to roam here and there like a mad man. He is thus unhappy. When a thought born out of illusion torments a man in this way, he is caught in its bondage and becomes unhappy. This world is a place of illusory thoughts, where thousands of affairs of illusion happen. What else can a man be except being unhappy when caught in the meshes of illusory thoughts? --- Men who have been caught in the chains of this bondage are so much worried that they are unable to understand reality. All these bondages are not real; all of them are artificial, illusory, pertaining to thought, and fictitious. This chain goes far beyond, so much so that it exists in the other world even after death. --- If one can understand this bondage, and after enjoying pleasures and suffering miseries one feels aversion towards them, or mentally refrains from them, you will find many a man free in this world in the same way as they are bound. Pearls Om is the mother of all sounds. It exists even in your belching, sneezing and yawning. Whatever sound you hear — the sound of the bell, conch, flute, tabla and tabor — the same Om is heard if you apply your mind to it. The rishis have sufficiently thought over this and published it. --- Sat is existence which is expressed through the activity of the world, struggle, occupation and profession, craft and industry and duty, etc. All these find expression through sat, because nobody would have done these, nor was there any possibility of doing these, if there were no existence. --- That individual existence which has no conception of right and wrong, i.e., which has neither good nor bad intention, does not also have either good or bad result thereof. It only grows, thinks and moves just as an infant does. --- Even the religious persons do not think of any other thing except the world of bodies and desires. Their heaven is nothing but sense-enjoyment, and enjoyment with the fairies and slaves. --- Children understand certain things so well that even the grown-ups cannot understand after much effort. Likewise, the divine vision is found to exist even in the unsophisticated village folk, men or women. --- Perfect state is that everything in a human being should attain a balanced state, making it one's own. If this condition is negated, then none can equal him. Indeed, it is attained with great difficulty; but this does not mean that one should not aspire for it. --- The blind man sees a wonderful sight to which there is no end. The dumb man speaks a wonderful speech, and the man having speech becomes dumb. I have not seen anything, still I have seen everything! I have not heard anything, still I have heard everything! --- The aim of yoga is concentration of mind and changing its states from point to point. One would gain experience automatically and know the truth by making the mind stay on spiritual centres in the brain. --- Contentment and desirelessness are almost one and the same condition. The fulfilment of desire can be called bhog, and desirelessness (of desire) can be called yoga. --- This world is the world of possibilities. There is, of course, every possibility of a possible event, but the most wonderful thing is that there is also the possibility of an impossible event becoming possible. --- The crux of the matter is that he alone is successful whom He attracts. When the proper time comes all those people will come to the right path by and by. Emotions and samskars of everybody are different and, accordingly, there is a separate time for each one. --- It is left to God to shower His grace on whomsoever He likes. Our duty should be to try to reach up to that condition. To whatever extent we might achieve success, it is well and good. --- Faith can be said to have been strengthened when one's link with God is established so firmly that it is not separated even if one tries to do it. One should feel oneself helpless to do so. Effort should be made to develop such faith. --- Gratitude (benevolence) is that in which one is never negligent of remembering Him, every moment, as his own. One should remain contented under all circumstances, and no better situation should be remembered. --- What is love? It is the shadow of the Ultimate, and the principle jewel of man. The shadow disappears when it comes under light. In worldly matters one generally loves the pleasure of the senses. It is easy because the senses are inclined towards it. If the same thing is moulded towards That, then everything can be achieved. That is, if love is developed for that Infinite bliss, excellent results will follow. Its use has been wrong so far. In short, love alone is the secret of success. It helps the aspirant to such a degree that it takes him to the top, and itself disappears there. --- There are three stages of love. The first one is that which is generally seen. One is unnecessarily and aimlessly entangled in worldly things to such an extent that he weeps for very ordinary things. He suffers grief on losing them. If he gains convalescence he acquires a wonderful condition. The second stage is far above this. That is, there is worry no doubt. He does the work and experiences afflictions also. But he does not feel like weeping. The third stage is much above this. The only thought at this stage is, ‘work and make effort. If it does not yield the desired result, think that it is so ordained by God.' On reaching this stage, Divine thoughts occur, and attachment with the Real begins. ------- Oh! Sadhu, adopt natural practice. Impressions and the law of action, Speaking and talking are of no use, Without practice, this illusion won't vanish, When the dirt of the mind is washed away When the dirt of the mind is washed away |
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