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Bhagavad Gita commentary by Nithyananda You and Me

Bhagavad Gita

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BhagavadGita You And Me Chapter 16 Human beings are born with divine nature inbuilt in them; they are not sinners! Yet, worldly conditioning turns them demonic. How do we become divine again? Krishna explains!

Swamiji, would it be correct to say that even a demon such as Ravana in the epic Ramayana cared for his own kind and family and in that sense, had a measure of 'You' in him? Does that make him less of a demon?

Great masters have created different religions. Yet, as you said, these religions move from love and compassion to control through fear and greed. Many of us do not know any route other than religion by which to seek God. What do we do?

Swamiji, from what I hear, our default state is the divine, and we slip into demonic nature. Does caring for others keep us in this divine state?

Swamiji, What is the meaning of the mantra OM?

Swamiji, the cow is considered sacred and divine in Hindu religion. If it is based on ahimsa (non-violence), then no animal should be killed. Why the cow alone? Why not other animals?

Based on our education, many of us believed that science had all the answers. Even when science did not have answers to what the scriptures said, rather than denying science and accepting its limitations, we denied what the scriptures said. Thanks to you, many of us understand the truth behind the scriptures.

Swamiji, in order to achieve bliss, instead of being caught in temporary pleasures that only result in suffering, is it enough to drop anger, lust and greed?

This chapter is traditionally called Daiva Asura Sampad Vibhœga Yoga, or the yoga of divine and demonic nature. Here Krishna explains the concept of sa¹⁄skœras (engraved memories) from an even deeper level.

In the 14th chapter, He spoke about Guṇatraya Vibhœga Yoga, satva, rajas and tamas, the three attributes of nature in which all living beings exist. These are the states of goodness, aggression and ignorance. He also explains the three layers of the body-mind system: prœaṇœrra, manaḥaṇœrra and sūkṣmaṇœrra, which are the physical, mental and subtle bodies, respectively.

In the 15th chapter, Krishna speaks extensively about another body-mind layer, the causal body. That chapter is called the Puruṣottama Yoga or the yoga of the perfected being.

In chapter 15, verse one, Krishna points out how the body-mind system is centered. It is like a unique tree, with its roots in the physical world, and the branches in the causal world. He says:

The roots of this tree are hanging out in the open, in a known space, the conscious space. They go down as if they too are branches. The tree grows both upwards and downwards with many parts of it once again going into the unknown space.

Krishna explains that the leaves of this tree are the Vedas, knowledge. The words we use continuously in our being are in the unconscious space. This space is the causal layer of the body-mind system. He then teaches us how to remove the engraved memories in the causal layer, and how to program the causal layer towards bliss, towards eternal consciousness. This summarizes the teaching of the last chapter.

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Here, in the 16th chapter, He moves into the deeper energy layers of the body-mind system and takes us to the cosmic layer. Let me explain first about the energy layers of the body-mind system as traditionally described by the Taittreya Upanishad.

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The Taittreya Upanishad traces the flow of energy in the universe from its source down to its end uses. This Upanishad says that the primal energy is first expressed as the energy of ākāsa, or ether. The source of the energy is the cosmos, the universe, the Supreme, God, Parāsakti, individual Self, jīvan or whatever name you want to give this source.

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Etheric energy is the first layer of this cosmic energy as it spreads out to the manifested world. It is the energy of space, the energy of ether. Do not think that space is empty. It is empty of matter, as we know. However, it is full of energy. As we know from Quantum Physics, matter is energy, and energy is matter. They can exist simultaneously both in time and space. Etheric energy is the largest available energy source in the universe.

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If you were to place our solar system in a map of the universe, planet earth would almost disappear from sight even within the solar system! When you view our sun compared to a medium sized solar system in our galaxy, it would also disappear. That medium sized galaxy in turn would disappear when it is viewed in comparison to Antares, a star much larger but not even in the top ten rating according to size.

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This gives a visual idea of the vastness of the universe. Our planet is insignificant. When I say insignificant, I mean totally invisible and insignificant, even within a small corner of the universe. The vastness of the space our universe occupies cannot even be imagined. In comparison, planet earth is smaller than a microbe.

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The energy that pervades this space, this universe, this cosmos, is the energy of ākāsa - ether.

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Krishna speaks about the qualities of the divine and the demonic. The beauty is that both these words have the same root. Of course, it is not accidental; both qualities are rooted in the same energy. It is just a simple decision. When you choose the word 'you', you become divine, and when you choose the word 'me', you become a demon. That's all.

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, enlightened master of ancient India speaks beautifully of the same energy. No energy can be destroyed; your love can never be destroyed. It can only be converted. He says that as long as the calf says, ‘aha¼, aha¼’ (‘me, me’) it must work, suffer, get beaten and tortured. Once it is killed, musical instruments are made out of its skin; then when we beat the instrument, it says, ‘tumi, ‘Tumi’ or ‘tum’ (‘you, you’). As long as it says, ‘tu¼, tu¼,’ it starts being used for wonderful purposes like singing the glory of the divine!

This is a beautiful metaphor from colloquial Bengali (the language of West Bengal). Ramakrishna explains that as long as we have the idea ‘aha¼, aha¼’ or ‘ami, ami;’ (me, me), we will continuously be a demon to ourselves and to others. The moment the cognitive shift happens in us, that is when the ‘tumi, tumi’ (‘you, you’) happens, we will be a blessing for ourselves and for others.

All the engraved memories, the sa¼skaras, are stored in the causal layer. They operate without our control. Decisions are made without our knowledge. However, at the deeper level, in the cosmic layer, we decide consciously: you or me, divine or demon.

A small diagram shows how we make decisions, how our mind usually receives data and processes it, as well as how the cognitive shift happens in our being.

This is what Krishna explains at a deeper level.

You receive information through your eyes. For example, you are watching me delivering a discourse. The file goes to cakṣu (energy of sight), where it is converted into a digital or bio-signal file, so that it may be processed. The energy behind the eye operates much like a digital signal processor, converting the visual scene into information bytes, into a digital file.

The file then goes to citta (memory), where the excluding process of ‘neti, neti,’ (‘this is not, this is not’) happens. There you understand that what you are seeing is not a tree, it is not a plant and it is not an animal. The citta part of the mind acts like a filter. It compares what it receives with what it has in stock, and filters out the possibilities of what it sees.

Then the file goes to manas, another part of the mind that starts to identify, ‘This is it, this is it.’ For example, it concludes, ‘This is a man. He is wearing a saffron robe. He is taking a class.’ The idea comes in this fashion.

Then the file goes to buddhi - intellect. This compares the file with your past experiences with similar situations or similar people. For example, the file now carries me as data because you are seeing me. So if the past experience with me has been positive, or whatever you have heard about me is good, then you are happy and buddhi writes, ‘Yes.’ On the other hand, if you feel it is a waste of time, or if you are not in tune with my ideas, or the time that you spent with me earlier was unpleasant, the buddhi writes, ‘No.’

The file with all these notes, these additional pieces of information, then goes to the ego. The ego decides based on relevance, ‘What is in it for me? In what way am I related to this scene? What will I gain from this?’ If it will gain something, the ego says, ‘Yes, let me sit here and listen.’ If there is no gain, if the ego is not going to be enriched, the ego naturally says, ‘No, I think I will move out from here.’ Thus, according to the ego’s instruction, we decide. Our body either moves or sits.

This is how the process happens. The ego is the point where we choose, ‘What is in it for me?’ Our vested interests come into play at this point. Please understand that sometimes the whole process will say, ‘Yes, I will stay,’ yet at this point, the ego may decide, ‘My vested interest is being impinged upon.’ If this happens, we will not stay! The rest of the mind may accept what we are saying, but if the ego is not ready, the whole decision will be changed.

Similarly, if the rest of the mind says, ‘No,’ and yet this part, the ego says, ‘Yes,’ we will decide, ‘Yes.’ Sometimes, when you are about to do something that is

immoral according to the social standard or according to your understanding, the final conclusion is 'No.' But suddenly your ego feels, 'I will be enriched by doing this activity, let me do it.' So you decide to do it. This is the place where you decide, 'You or me!' that is to say, Me or yourself.

That's the only small difference. When we make the decision of 'You,' we radiate divine qualities. When we make the decision of 'me,' we radiate demonic qualities. Actually, most people sit here because it strengthens their egos. At the end of this discourse, they know much more than others! They can tell others what they know. Many times, we sit and listen for the ego's satisfaction. So if we sit and listen for this purpose, even if we listen to the Gita, be very clear it will just create trouble for our being. We will not be helped in any way.

The decision about 'You' or 'me' is made in the cosmic layer. If we decide with the attitude of 'you,' the whole thing becomes divine; if we decide with the attitude of 'me,' the whole thing becomes demonic. The mind is neither negative nor positive; citta is neither negative nor positive. None of these, including the guṇa (attributes) are negative or positive. Even tamasic qualities, such as laziness, are neither negative nor positive. Many enlightened masters seem passive, not doing anything at all. We cannot differentiate between their attitude and laziness. For instance, Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi sat throughout his life in one little town, Tiruvannamalai. He never moved out of there. He was mostly in silence. Yet we cannot say he was in tamas since he never made any decision out of 'me.' The whole process was happening with 'you' as a center, not 'me.'

We cannot call the citta, the mind or saṃskāra good or bad. In the superficial layers, they are neither. However, the decisions we make in the cosmic layer, in the deeper layer, determine whether they are good or bad. The energy behind passion and compassion is really one and the same. When we decide based on 'me', it is passion; when we decide based on 'You', it is compassion.

We need to understand one important thing. If we feel passion strongly in our being, but our compassion has only a little intensity, then our compassion is just a pseudo-expression, perhaps for the sake of name and fame, not for anything else. If we don't have compassion as intensely as our passion, all our activities are based on ego. Even this Gita discourse can become food for the ego, if the decision is taken out of 'I' and 'me'. When the decision is taken out of 'You,' even ordinary daily activities can become divine, not just Gita discourses.

We need not work on the 'doing'; we need to work on the 'being'. Doing can never lead us to anything. As long as we believe that doing can lead us to the

Ultimate, we have karma. This is called pūrva mīmāṃsī (those who interpret the vedic rituals literally). Only when we understand that only being can lead us to the Ultimate, we are called uttara mīmāṃsī (those who interpret the vedic scriptures according to vedānta-based non-duality).

According to the Vedas, there are two major types of people: People who believe in doing and people who believe in being. People who believe 'Being' are vedantins, people who believe that the transformation to the Ultimate can be achieved by 'doing' are karmakandis. Of course, the Ultimate can be achieved only by working on the being, not by working on the doing. If we work on the doing, we either suppress or express. We continuously fight with ourselves; nothing else is achieved. Only a man who transforms his being can achieve the Ultimate.

Whether to be a demon or divine, we decide at that one point. When we receive the data, process it and deliver the result or command, how is the command delivered? What is the center from which the command comes out? If the command comes out with the thinking, 'What is there for me? What is there for me?' then whatever we do, including meditation, will be only ego satisfying.

Many people ask, 'Swamiji, at some point, I felt such deep ecstasy in meditation, such beautiful bliss. But suddenly, within two hours it disappeared, it never came back! Why is this so? How can we get it back?'

Please understand that bliss is choicelessness. When we are absent, when our identity disappears, we experience bliss. The moment we want the bliss back, the moment we covet bliss, we have already chosen. We have made the choice! The moment we choose, we will always choose suffering. All choices are suffering, because choice is based on the mind. It is based on duality. Bliss is choicelessness. It is beyond duality, therefore there is nothing to choose 'between'. Bliss occurs beyond the level of mind and choice. But the moment we want to grab or have bliss, we suffer because we have dropped to the level of the mind, comparison and duality. Bliss can never be experienced this way.

When we are blissful, we allow bliss to possess us. The moment we want to possess bliss, we turn it into suffering. When we want to possess in order to strengthen our ego, the decision is from the attitude of 'me'. The moment the attitude of 'me' or 'mine' appears and decides, it destroys the bliss. We can no longer be divine. When we are blissful, we have said, 'No' to 'me'; we are relaxed in the 'You' idea. The moment we want to possess bliss, we have said, 'Yes' to 'me'.

You And Me

We need to understand 'You' and 'me' properly. The word 'me' means ego; the ego dissolves, whatever is left is Existence; it is divine. We create the demon by bringing in the idea of 'me'. The moment we bring in the idea of 'me', whatever is there, is demonic. The moment the 'me' idea is removed, whatever there is, is divine.

With the 'me' idea, whatever we do, be it meditation, rituals, learning, or knowledge, it will only strengthen the ego. Anything done with the idea of 'me', whatever is done to strengthen the idea of 'me', naturally leads to more ignorance and suffering. Anything done with the attitude of 'You,' whatever it is, naturally becomes divine and leads to bliss.

In Sanskrit, we have two words: nivritti and pravritti. Nivritti - looking inwards or liberation - is centered on the idea of 'You'. Pravritti - looking outwards or bondage - is centered on the idea of 'me'. Whatever is done out of 'me', leads to liberation; whatever we do out of the idea of 'You', leads to bondage.

Ashtavakra says this beautifully in his dialogue with King Janaka:

yad© ncha1/4 tad© mok3¡o yadcha1/4 bandhana1/4 tad© / matveti helay© kiÒcinm© g"h¢a vimuçca m¢l II 8.4

Where there is no 'me', there is liberation. Where there is 'me', there is bondage. Considering this carefully, neither hold on to anything nor reject anything.

As long as we are centered in ourselves, we are in the bondage of attraction and aversion, greed and fear. Most people are centered in their m¡l¢dhara cakra, which is the energy center in our body associated with the emotion of greed, or in the sv¢di3¢hna cakra, which is the energy center in our body associated with fears and insecurity.

The m¡l¢dhara is all about 'me' - our possessions: 'What is in it for me? Where do I go from here?' The sv¢di3¢hna is about 'I', our identity, insecurity and fear arising from our need to protect the body-mind system. Both these bind us, block us, and keep us firmly locked in the material world.

As our higher centers of energy get energized and unblocked, and our energy rises from the m¡l¢dhara and sv¢di3¢hna, to a¶hata (heart center) and beyond, we look beyond ourselves. The 'me' starts dropping. When the çjñc cakra (energy center between the eyebrows) becomes energized, the ego, the identity, the 'I' and 'me', disappear and the 'you' takes over. The demon becomes the the divine.

When we shed our ego, we become boundary-less. We are no longer limited by selfish thoughts about 'me' and 'mine', our kith and kin. The whole world is ours to care for. Krishna refers to this as vasudai²va ku²u¼baka¼, 'the whole world is one family'. As long as we feel that our body-mind is our boundary, that we are separate from the rest of the universe, we will continuously fight with Existence. We will continuously fight with nature, and we will be continuously fighting with the Whole. Please understand that the part can never succeed when it fights with the Whole.

Whatever we think, speak or do based upon the idea 'me', leads to more and more complications, more and more suffering.

Here, Krishna beautifully explains the demonic and divine natures.

As in chapter 15, in this chapter also, Krishna speaks. In earlier chapters, Arjuna was expressing his ego, and a catharsis was happening. He was mad, confused, and vomiting, quoting everything he had learned. Slowly he came to the next level, allowing Krishna to speak, and the conversation began happening. Now in the 15th and 16th chapters, Arjuna is practically silent; he is listening. No questions, only doubts. All the questions have disappeared and only small doubts are left. He is asking for clarifications and more understanding from his master.

Q: Swamiji, would it be correct to say that even a demon such as Ravana in the epic Ramayana cared for his own kind and family and in that sense, had a measure of 'You' in him? Does that make him less of a demon?

When someone like Ravana or Duryodhana cares for someone or expresses love and positive emotions, their emotions and behavior also emanate from ego. Their identity, the 'I' and the possessiveness, the 'mine', drives them to such behavior.

Duryodhana was probably the most selfish person in the Mahabharata cast. All that mattered to him was name, fame and possessions. He would stoop to any level and commit any crime in order to fulfill his ambitions. Yet, his relationship with Karna seemed out of character. He gave Karna a part of his kingdom and made him a prince!

Duryodhana's act was not born out of selfless or unconditional love. He recognized Karna as a warrior who could beat Arjuna, his arch enemy, and so wanted Karna on his side at any cost. Duryodhana's relationship with Karna was primarily born out of a selfish motive.

It is the same with many others who seem to show a sense of care and love amidst a general trend of selfishness.

The truth is that, until they are enlightened, all human beings carry a mix of divine and demonic qualities. Everyone is a mixture of the attitudes of 'You' and 'me'. The 'You' arises more as you move towards satvic (goodness) tendencies, and the 'me' is predominant in the rajasic (aggressive) and tamasic (lethargic) tendencies. Just as a person has a mixture of these three attributes, each person is also a mixture of 'You' and 'me'.

The issue is how do we progress from the 'me' to the 'You', from the demon to the Divine. This is the purpose of life, if at all there is one. This is the core issue. As we shed our boundaries and grow, this transformation occurs. The growth is not external. It is purely an internal process. The experience is within. The expression is without.

We also need to understand where the 'I' and 'mine' come from. We think that the feeling of possession, the 'mine', comes from the identity of 'me'; it is the other way around. We are born with desires. They form the base of our primal energy. These desires drive us to acquire. These desires may be material, physical or psychological.

Even the infant needs nurture and care. It operates from its primal desire to live and survive. Its cries and other actions are meant to fulfill this desire. As the infant grows, its desires diversify. It needs varieties of food, clothing, shelter, entertainment, education and so on. As one desire gets fulfilled, another rises. But no desire gets really fulfilled.

The desires and fulfillment of these desires create the 'mine' - the possessions. Our basic desires come from the prarabdha karma, the carried-over mindset from our previous body. This is also called vāsanā. Our carried-over mindset from the previous birth decides how and where and as what we are born in this life. Vāsanās are the collective and cumulative mindset of our body-mind system from our previous birth. These are based upon how we lived that life. These are the unfulfilled desires with which we left the body in our previous life. Those desires do not go away. They follow us.

Not only do they follow us, but they also determine who we are in the next birth. Those unfulfilled desires constitute the 'mine'. These desires rise from the mūladhāra cakra.

These desires and possessions determine our identity, the 'I'. Please understand, it is not the identity that gives rise to our desires and possessions and the establishment of 'mine'. It is the desires and the possessions, the 'mine', which develops the identity. You think of yourself, who you are, based on what you have around you. The labels that you give yourself at any phase of your life are based on what you have acquired or what has been thrust upon you.

This identity, the 'I' or 'me', resides in your svadiṣṭhāna cakra. This identity is your expression. The desires are your experience.

A Ravana, Duryodhana or a Hitler does not assume that identity of a demon by accident. No! They are born with that mindset based on the kind of life they led in previous lives. They had the tendency to become what they became. They came into this life with the mindset and the desires, and were born into environments that gave them the opportunity to become what they eventually became.

But this is not predestination. This is not irreversible. The desire to be powerful or wealthy does not imply that one must lead a demonic life. It is a choice that individuals make.

I have told you, time and time again, that there is no such thing as destiny or fate as far as all of you are concerned. These are mere escapist ideas. It is like people who claim that they have surrendered to me and yet they do not listen to me. Fate and destiny are useful pegs to hang our mistakes on, so that we can remain blameless. We say, 'What can I do? It is all destiny; it's God's will.'

Of course, it is God's will. This whole universe is God's will and so are we. However, God has willed that we use our free will. That is why He has given us consciousness, so that we are aware of what we do. If we truly believed in God's will, we would do our very best and leave the result to Him.

This is what Krishna said earlier,

karma yeva dhikāraste mā phaleṣu kadācana

Do what you have to do without bothering about the results.

When we move into the space of 'You', we move into the attitude Krishna speaks about. When we are no longer worried about ourselves and we think of everyone's needs as our own, results lose meaning. There is no identity that directs us towards success instead of failure, based upon how we imagine success looks. Success and failure lose their meaning. They become the same.

Whether we act demonic or divine, the inner space in all of us is divine. The inner space is pure; it is uncontaminated. Whether we are tuned inwards towards that purity or tuned outwards toward gratification is the choice we make through our free will. A Ravana had the choice of being a Rama, and a Duryodhana had the choice of being an Arjuna. Through their own free will, they did not exercise that choice.

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Qualifications Of Divinity

16.1,2,3 Bhagavçn Krishna says, 'Fearlessness, purification of the being, cultivation of spiritual knowledge, charity, and being centered on the being, performance of sacrifices, and accumulation of knowledge, austerity, simplicity, non-violence, truthfulness, freedom from anger, renunciation, tranquility, aversion to fault finding, compassion for all living entities, freedom from covetousness, gentleness, modesty, studied determination, vigor, more forgiveness, fortitude, cleanliness, freedom from envy, and from the passion for honor, these transcendental qualities, O Son of Bharata (Arjuna), belong to divine men, endowed with divine nature.'

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Qualifications Of Divinity

Krishna lists a number of qualities that take us to a higher plane of consciousness; qualities that make us divine.

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Qualifications Of Divinity

Now when we listen to these things with the attitude of 'me', what do we usually do? We start practicing all these virtues. Be clear that if we try to practice all of these qualities, one thing is sure: we will become mad. We will not be able to do anything because we will be fighting with ourselves. We will be controlling our senses to strengthen our ego. When we try to understand these ideas with our ego, with the attitude of 'me', we practice them to strengthen the idea of 'me', to improve ourselves and become better beings. Again and again, masters prove that they are not better beings; they are totally transformed beings. There is a difference between better beings and transformed beings.

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Qualifications Of Divinity

The other day I shared the story of the lion and the sheep-lion told by Swami Vivekananda. It is a beautiful story. The sheep-lion does not want to realize that he is a lion. He wants to be a good, strong sheep. He asks the lion to give him a technique for becoming a strong sheep.

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Qualifications Of Divinity

Similarly, if we start practicing these qualities listed by Krishna, we may have a stronger ego. That is why so-called tapasvi (ascetics, people performing penances),

people who repress themselves, have a strong ego. People who perform penances or repress desires, radiate ego. We clearly see that they do these things to strengthen their ego.

When we are completely blissful and relaxed, austerity happens. I have seen many sanyāsīs (ascetics), especially in India, who blame householders for not being pure, for being sinners. When we force ourselves to do penance, we continuously burn inside; as a side effect we often have doubts about our path and ourselves. This doubt causes us to continuously do something; we then make others guilty about the path that they are following.

We make others feel guilty that they are doing the wrong thing when we feel what we are doing is right. This happens particularly when people come to us and admit their wrongdoings.

Listening to confessions makes a person's ego strong. The listener feels strong. He feels that the people confessing are doing wrong, whereas he is pure. When we do penance out of ego, we want others to feel guilty and we want others to confess to us. We feel strengthened listening to others' mistakes. We feel strong when we address others as sinners.

Swami Vivekananda says that calling man a sinner is the only sin. Penance is supposed to happen naturally out of joy and bliss. Just as a natural thing. Anything done by force is not going to help us or society.

Society teaches us that we are sinners. First of all, this is not true. No enlightened master who has realized the divinity within is capable of saying this. Secondly, who gains anything at all by calling everyone a sinner?

If a religious organization convinces people that they are sinners, that organization can control people. Unless an organization controls people, it cannot survive. There are only two methods that an organization can use to survive and grow - greed and fear. Either it attracts people by instilling greed in them, or makes them afraid by instilling fear.

Religions try both methods. They say that if we do this, we will be rewarded; we earn merit points and when we earn merit points, we go to this place called heaven. In heaven, we will be taken care of. We will not need anything. The picture of heaven painted by some religions is fantastic. All kinds of wine, women and songs will be provided if we do as the religious leaders say.

Some sects sell VIP (Very Important Person) passes that guarantee heaven after death! People pay huge sums of money for these. It is like people booking their final resting places with scenic views! They build superb cemeteries, which will have sea-view sites, hill-view sites, swimming pool-view sites and so on. You can be buried in these vaults and you can enjoy all these views.

You may laugh, but this is true. It happens around us every day. Like monkeys we are made to dance to someone else's tune - through sheer greed. The offer of such a wonderful opportunity after death is powerful because it is a realm of the unknown. The fear of what is going to happen after death, makes you listen to such nonsense.

Religions lay down regulations and commandments that we must not violate. If we violate these commandments, God will punish us and throw us into hell.

Krishna tells us to be without fear and greed. He also says to be without anger. He says to be truthful, simple, meek, gentle, non-violent, and to be without expectations and to renounce. These are qualities of the Divine; these are qualities that you express when you are focused not on your own self but on others. These are qualities that arise from the heart and not from the mind. These are qualities that arise from love and not from desire.

God, the very idea of God, should evoke love, not fear. God in any religion should be portrayed as compassionate. No enlightened master has experienced otherwise or expressed otherwise. The concept of a fearsome God with vengeance is a manmade myth. It is created by man, to set one man against another, to divide, control and conquer.

Man has devised sophisticated methods whereby you can commit sin and still be redeemed. He is told that he has sinned. Now that he is a sinner, he is asked to pay a particular institution to absolve him of his sins.

The cycle is endless. We commit sin, we pay, we are absolved of sin, and then we can go and sin again. So, we feel we cannot go wrong in this life or in any other life, or even if we do not believe in life after death, in whatever state we happen to be after death.

All this is nonsense. There is no hell or heaven. They exist only in our mind. We are conditioned to believe in them because this is the easiest way to control us, through fear and greed. The greatest fear of any religion is that we might start thinking for ourselves. Worse still, they are afraid that we may stop thinking, and drop our mind! Religions fear this because then we will be liberated and no one will be able to control us. We will have become our own master.

The saddest part is that religions say that we are born sinners. I can at least understand it if someone calls an adult a sinner because he is more exposed to the ultimate truths. The very lack of awareness that we are divine, in my opinion, is a sin; that is the original sin. When we got into thinking and started clutching onto our thoughts, we became ignorant. If at all there is an original sin, it is that - the clutching onto our thoughts. Conditioning makes us logical, it makes us sinners. We can accept that. However, what of a newborn infant? By what right can anyone claim that a newborn is a sinner? Especially if they do not believe that there is life after death!

So, do we assume that this sin comes from Nature, Existence or God? Does this mean that God is the Creator of sinful beings? What kind of a God is that? Why are such things promoted? All this is done to control others through fear and greed.

Do we seriously think that God has no other job except to lay down rules and regulations about what we should do and not do? After that, He still has more time, so He watches everybody to see whether they are observing or breaking rules!

God resides in you and me. We know everything that we do. When we do wrong, we know. No one has to tell us. That becomes our sin. The guilt makes our life hell, nothing else.

When we are free and liberated, we are in sheer enjoyment and we are in heaven. Watch a young child. Do we ever see him depressed and unhappy unless tortured by elders? When he is left free, he is really free. Children can be wild and they should be left wild. They explore with no inhibition. They are God-like and always in heaven. Anyone who calls a child a sinner is the biggest sinner.

As we grow, we are conditioned by others and we absorb their values, the society's value system and beliefs. We stop believing in our own inner being; we lose that inner child, that magical and miraculous child, and we become an adult. We start being led by our nose, by rules and regulations, by concepts of sin and 'me'.

If instead, we focus on others, on 'You', we expand. In fact, the more we focus on our inner awareness, the more we open up to others. We move from the 'me' to 'You.' As we move inwards, our higher intelligence awakens. Our higher intelligence is nothing but the Divine. That awareness alone makes us God.

Please understand that what we think of as God is not an old bearded man sitting on the clouds, playing on a harp! God is merely that energy of inner and higher intelligence. That same intelligent energy that is within us also drives the entire universe. The energy that powers us is the same energy that powers the sun. There is no difference at all.

As human beings we have the opportunity to expand into this energy, into this higher intelligence. Unfortunately, animals do not have this ability, this consciousness. Humans do. To ignore this gift, this opportunity, this consciousness, is our original sin. The entire meaning of our life is to discover this truth and become divine. That is why, if we die without realizing this truth, we are born again.

We go through this cycle of life and death again and again because we do not recognize who we are. As Buddha says, that is the cause of our suffering. When we realize our own Self, our true divine potential, we realize the meaning of our life, and there is no need to be born again. We become liberated.

Q: Great masters have created different religions. Yet, as you said, these religions move from love and compassion to control through fear and greed. Many of us do not know any route other than religion by which to seek God. What do we do?

This is a thought-provoking question that all of you must think about.

The great masters who founded the major religions were enlightened. They experienced and expressed the Divine. Over time those who followed them turned demonic. That is the truth.

Spirituality is the creation of masters. Spirituality is about our well-being. It is the root of our holistic well-being. This includes material well being, physical, psychological, mental, emotional, as well as relational and spiritual well-being. Spirituality is not just some intangible concept. These great masters never had any concern about their own well-being; they only addressed your well being.

For many years after Buddha's death, based upon his own injunction, there were no idols or pictures representing Buddha. A Bodhi tree represented him. However, about 500 years after his death, followers started making pictures and idols of him. Now, there are thousands of temples dedicated to the master who did not go by the concept of temples. This is despite the fact that Buddhism follows its founder's teachings more closely than most religions.

Once religions become institutionalized, they tend to become commercialized. They need methods to survive. The most basic tool of survival is control through fear and greed.

We can reject organized religion and seek God. We can go to a temple and see God without the need for a priest. Or if we prefer, we can relate to God at home, or wherever we choose. We do not have to submit to the pressures of any institution.

God is always available for help, but we never ask. Jesus says, 'Knock and the door shall be opened unto you, ask and it shall be given.' But we never ask, we never knock on the door, and we go on missing immense good that can be ours just through the asking.

I say to you that there is no need to even knock. His door is always open. All we need to do is take that step to enter. That is all.

God is always standing behind us, just like our shadow, but we go on searching for money, power and prestige. We never look at the subtle presence of life that surrounds us. We never look within, where it burns like a flame.

That is why we never look into someone's eyes; we avoid them. There is a subtle contract among human beings all over the world to never look into each other's eyes for more than three seconds. It is strange that this is so in all cultures. Looking into someone's eyes longer than a few seconds is called staring and is considered impolite. It is thought to be uncivilized and rude, unless you are intimate with that person, unless you are in love with that person. However, even when people are in love, they do not look into each other's eyes as windows to the Divine; they look into each other's eyes just for bodily, sexual energies.

Our eyes express everything about us: our body, physiology, psychology, and also our spirituality. Our eyes are our windows: People can look through them to our deepest core.

In our Bhakti Spurana Program, BSP, there is a meditation where two people look into each other's eyes for thirty minutes. Ask those who have been through this experience about what it taught them. They are deeply moved. They look into another person's eyes, in most cases someone they have just met at that program, for a full thirty minutes. They discover themselves during this process. Not only do they learn about the other person, they learn about themselves. The 'me' in the person gradually melts and transforms into 'You.'

BSP is for those who have undergone the first few levels of Life Bliss Programs such as the ASP and NSP. BSP introduces the master, inculcates the understanding of the master and explains the possible relationships with the master. All meditations in the BSP help you drop your mind, your ego. By dropping the mind, we find the master and the Divinity within ourselves.

Look deeply into a flower and you will find God. Look deeply anywhere and you will find God. God simply means the depth of things. Whenever we are in contact with the depth of things, immense energy becomes available to us.

In fact, we start seeking God only when God has already started seeking us. We move towards God only when God has stirred in the deepest core of our being. We are so unaware; that is why we think that it is our desire to seek and know the truth. We are so small that we can't have that great a desire! Understand that. When we are small, our desires are bound to be small.

People seek God only when God starts seeking them, although they think that they are seeking. Only finally, at the highest stage of meditation, do they become aware of the phenomenon that their whole understanding has been foolish. It was God seeking them, and that is why they started seeking God. However, God is always the one who takes the initiative.

It is the same with masters. They seek out disciples. It is not disciples who are in search, but masters who seek out the disciples.

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16.4 Pride, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness or cruelty, and ignorance - these qualities belong to those born with demonic nature, O Son of Pritha

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16.5 The transcendental qualities are conducive to liberation, whereas the demonic qualities make for bondage. Do not worry, Pandava, you are born with divine qualities.

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16.6 Partha, in this world there are two kinds of created beings, one is divine and the other, demonic. I have explained at length to you the divine qualities. Now hear about the demonic qualities also, so that you will understand and live your life blissfully and happily.

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16.7 Persons with demonic nature do not know what is bondage and what is liberation; nor what is cleanliness; truthful behavior is not in them.

What is demonic nature? Krishna says that all actions done out of arrogance, out of pride, out of ego, for name and fame, and for power, are demonic in nature. As in the case of Ravana, they benefit neither the person himself nor others. Their actions are performed out of ignorance, and ultimately lead to their own downfall.

I have seen many people do penance like Ravana (King of Lanka who abducted Rama's wife Sita, in the Indian epic, the Ramayana). Ravana did penance; however, his powers neither helped him nor others. He became a demon for others and for himself. He killed others, and finally destroyed himself. His penance was done with the attitude of 'me' and 'what is there in it for me?' The whole story happened to strengthen the 'I' and 'mine'. Please understand that whatever we do, whether we study the scriptures, do charity or social service, or perform pūjā (prayer), rituals or meditation, if they are done to strengthen the 'I' and 'mine', they always lead to suffering.

Focusing on the 'I' is instinctive. It is a call for survival. It is a call for our survival based on our conditioning and insecurities. The instinct to survive is what is called 'I', and the instinct to possess is what is referred to as 'mine'. The person who understands that both are illusions is an aware person. Such a person realizes that the instinct to survive does not help, and no matter what one may have, one still cannot survive forever.

The instinct to survive is pure illusion. At the most we can survive perhaps for 70 to 80 years. Sometimes a person lives to be 90 to 100 years with the same identity. Yet the instinct to survive tries to extend itself. It wants to make life eternal. No one wants to die. Naturally we are then walking towards suffering. As long as we carry this instinct to survive, we repeatedly hurt ourselves.

This morning an ashramite complained that she is hurt by small and well-meaning criticisms from others. She said she is sensitive. I asked her to stop using that word. I said, 'You are not sensitive. A sensitive person is porous; he allows the words to pass through him. Only arrogant people get hurt. If we are hurt, please understand that we are arrogant. We are impenetrable like stone, which is why words come and hit us. Don't say that you are sensitive.'

A sensitive person lets words pass through him. He never suffers. Suffering is from arrogance, never from sensitivity. A person who is sensitive never suffers. We suffer from words when we stop them, when we resist them, when we make our own meaning out of them. When we do not make meanings out of words, we do not suffer. It is like playing with words. We choose nice words to support our ego. We do not say, 'I am hurt because I am arrogant.' We use polished words such as, 'I am hurt because I am sensitive.'

Please don't cheat yourself with words. Let straight words be used. I hear many polished words around the world. People easily cheat themselves with such words. Don't cheat yourself with polished words. Let things be straight and clear. We can use polished words to cheat others, but let us please not use them to cheat ourselves.

Let me tell you a small story...

A contractor wanted to donate a sports car to an official.

The official refused, saying, 'I am an honest person and I cannot think of accepting this gift.'

The contractor asked him, 'In that case, how about if I sell this car to you for ten dollars?'

The official replied immediately, 'In that case, I will buy two cars!'

Be clear and do not play with words. Let us not cheat ourselves with words.

Let us be clear about what we mean. Let us use the same honest words to express what we really are and what we really feel. Ramakrishna says, 'Let your words and mind be straightened.' Whatever is, let it be expressed with straight words. At least we will know that we have a problem. When we use colorful, polished words, by and by, we forget we have a problem. When we play with words we forget that we have a problem. And this is very dangerous.

Understand, when we know that we don't know, at least we know that we don't know. When we don't know that we don't know, then we don't even know that we don't know! We then have a problem. Be very clear. At least let us know that we have a problem.

Let us use straight words. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. To achieve anything, the shortest way is straightforwardness. Nothing else can work.

Here Krishna gives all the divine qualities, one by one. It is not necessary to explain all the qualities. Let us take a few. Let us take fearlessness, for example.

As long as we carry the instinct to survive, we have fear. Fear can never be taken away from our being, as long as we want to survive. Surrendering to Existence, surrendering to death is the one and only way to achieve fearlessness.

There is a beautiful Upaniṣad (part of the Hindu scriptures), the Kathopanishad, including the Upaniṣads), founded by the vedic ṛiṣ (sages). They have gone deep into the science of death. The West has dedicated its entire energy to understand life, whereas the East has dedicated its energy to understanding death! That is why ṛiṣ live even after they die. They live after death, too. They exist; they discovered the art of living even after death. However, people who are caught in the material world die each moment, even as they live. This Kathopanishad is the science of death.

There is a beautiful story of a young boy, Nachiketa, who goes to the abode of Yama, the Lord of death. Yama was not there when Nachiketa went to meet Him; His servants try to receive him, but the boy insists on waiting for Yama. Yama

receives him after three days. Yama welcomes him. At this point, we must understand that no one goes to Yama's abode; only He comes to our abode! Always it is He who comes! When we try to escape from Him, He is death as we know it ordinarily; He will take away our 'I' and 'mine' - all our possessions and relationships; we cannot sign our check or drive our car once He takes us. We cannot have our relations anymore. Whatever we think is ours will be taken away: wealth, relationships, bank balance, everything. What we think is 'I' - the body, even that will be taken away. When death comes to us, everything is taken away. On the contrary, when we go to death like Nachiketa did, fearlessly, death welcomes us! Yama becomes our host!

In this story, Yama receives Nachiketa with love and care. First thing: He becomes a loving host. Next, He offers him three boons. Nachiketa first asks for good relationships. He says, 'When I go back to my family, my father should accept me, love me and take me back.' Yama blesses him with good relationships. After that Yama blesses him with wealth, and shows him how to create wealth, pleasure and comforts. Now Yama is behaving like a God. First He behaved like a loving host, and then He behaves like a God. Ultimately, Yama gives him ātmajñāna - knowledge of the Self; Now, He is behaving like an enlightened master himself! The third boon he gives because Nachiketa asks Him for the secret of death. Pleased with the boy's sincerity and courage, Yama blesses him with enlightenment itself.

Look at the paradox of life: When we run away from death, Death or Yama chases us, wherever we are. Death takes away all our wealth, our relationships, whatever we think of as 'I' and 'mine'. But here, with Nachiketa, the whole situation is just the opposite! When we surrender to Yama, when we go to Him, He is a loving host. He is not something terrible as we imagine Him to be. We always portray Yama as a huge form, black in colour, with a big moustache, traveling slowly on a buffalo, with a rope in His hands and with a terrible, arrogant and egoistic demeanor!

Here the whole scene is different. He says, 'Welcome! You are the form of Agni, fire.' A guest is considered to be the form of fire that we worship.

The vedic culture says, 'Atithi devo bhava' - the guest is God. In vedic culture, the guest or atithi is respected as God. A-tithi means a person who arrives without telling us in which thithi (time or date) he will come. Not the person who sends us an email, then a phone call, a fax, and then expects that we pick him up at the airport! Such a person is not an atithi. No! He is our relative! We must take care of him. He must be received; it is pure business. But atithi is different.

Please understand that all our relationships are more or less business relationships. Atithi means a person who comes straightaway into our lives with an openness. The big problem is, today the atithi concept is lost. People cannot believe that in Indian villages, the doors of all homes are kept open in the daytime. At least in the village in which I was brought up, all the doors of all the houses were open. I could go to any home on that street and eat. A child can go to any house and eat! The very idea of atithi, the unannounced guest, has disappeared in most places. When people call India a poor country, I tell them, 'No. You don't know the value of Indian culture.'

For example, when we travel to a developed country and go to a new city for business purposes, how much can we afford to spend on hotels and lodges? On the contrary, at least in India, if we have one friend, just a phone call is enough, and all arrangements are taken care of! There too, due to the cultural invasion, this hospitality is diminishing. At least in the villages where vedic culture is alive, this atithi culture is alive. Atithi devo bhava is where we respect any guest as God.

Yama tells Nachiketa, 'You are my guest and you have come to my house in the form of 'vaisv arcgnin' (the fire that we worship). The (priest) is considered to be the embodiment of Agni, the divine Agni. You have come to my house as the embodiment of the Divine. You are here. Let me pay my respects to you. I was not here to receive you when you arrived. Please forgive me for not being here for three days to receive you.'

Usually we postpone Yama (death). Usually we try to escape from Him. But when we go in search of Him, He will not be there, as we feared! That is the essence of this whole story.

Usually He chases us. We run away from Him, and He is behind us! But when we turn and go towards Him, we suddenly find that He is not there! For three days, Nachiketa could not find Yama. Understand this important point. This story is significant; it has a tremendous truth. When Nachiketa went to Death, Death was not there. This means when we turn towards death, we will not find death as we imagined it to be. Whatever imagination we have about death will not be there when we surrender to death. Now, because of our fear, we try to escape; because we try to escape, He chases us.

It is like a vicious cycle. If we understand that, at the moment we surrender, He will not be there as we imagined Him, as we expected Him to be, we will get tremendous courage. That courage makes us face Him more clearly. When we face

Him more clearly, we get more courage. When we follow this circle, it is called a virtuous circle; what we experience presently is the vicious cycle. Let us turn our vicious cycle into a virtuous circle.

If we can understand this Kathopanishad story, our whole idea of death will be transformed. First of all, when we seek Him, He is not there. Second, when He appears He is not as we imagined Him to be. Rather than being an arrogant, terrifying form, waiting to take our possessions, He is a humble host, welcoming us graciously. He then behaves like a God and blesses us with relationships, wealth and ultimately ātma-jñāna, knowledge of the Self, enlightenment.

We may ask how to go towards death, for example, 'Should we commit suicide?' Please understand that committing suicide is not facing death. Be very clear that people who commit suicide are not fearless. They are the most cowardly people. They commit suicide because they are unable to live this life. Rather than facing death, they escape from life. Suicide is not facing death but escaping from life. Escaping from life is one thing; facing death is another. These two are very different from each other.

When fear is created in our system or when fear happens, the only way to face the fear is to just go through it. Don't allow it to frighten you. Some people tell me that they are afraid of their fears. Fear is enough trouble, why be afraid of fear as well? Don't allow the fear to overshadow you. Sit with yourself; be with yourself. Let the fears come up; how long can you postpone your fears? How long can you control your fears? How long can you escape from your fears? Allow them to surface. Your whole being will shake, tears may roll, and you may have a deep depression. Let everything happen. Whether you consciously allow the fear to happen or not, the fearful incidents will happen. So it is better to face it with clarity and courage.

Our fears can be classified into five major categories. The first is the fear of losing wealth and comforts. The second is the fear of losing some part of our body due to an accident or disease. The third is the fear of losing our near and dear ones. The fourth is the fear of losing our mental well-being. The fifth is the fear of the unknown - that is the fear of death, ghosts, God, hell, heaven, and such things. These are the five major categories of fears we face in life. All our fears can be brought under these five categories.

Allow all of them to surface. Sit with yourself. Let everything come out; let your mind face the fears. Let your mind speak everything; let everything come out. Give it half an hour. Let it happen. You may feel depressed, tears may roll and

your whole body may shake. Let everything come out. What can be done? If you could do anything, you would have done it. Very clearly, your very existence proves that you are not able to do anything. That is why you are just keeping quiet. Allow the fear to happen. Let the fear come into your being.

Let the fear come up to your conscious layer without being suppressed. Accept that there is a possibility for all these fears to come true: your wealth may be stolen, you may have an accident, a near or dear one may die, or you may die. All these possibilities are real. Yes. What can be done? This is life. This is what is called facing reality as it is.

Only small kids need fantasies and imagination to face reality as it is. However, we need to understand the truth as it is. We can't escape from reality; we can't escape from the truth. The more we try to escape, the more it haunts us; the more it chases us. When we allow the fears to come out, suddenly we will see that they leave us, and we become more responsible, more intense.

In our second level meditation program, called Nithyananda Spurana Program or LBP Level 2, we have a meditation replicating the 'death experience'. It is based on my personal experience of death. People feel frightened to enter into the meditation, but on coming out of the experience, they feel completely reborn and clear.

They say, 'I have been postponing many things; now I have decided that when I go back, I will do those things.' Naturally these people become intense when they come out of the death meditation. They understand the value of relationships. Many people report that after that meditation, they began respecting their spouses; they do not take them for granted anymore. When we think of the possibility of death, we will never take life or our spouse for granted. We will start really living.

Similarly, when there is a possibility that our good health may be taken away from us, after this meditation, we will not take our health for granted; we will start living life intensely. We will not take things for granted when the possibility of death, of life being taken away from us, enters our being. We will realize our responsibility and the gift of life that Existence has bestowed upon us.

Let me tell you a small story to show how we take things for granted.

There was a king who felt completely bored after forty-five years of the good life. He had whatever he wanted: wealth, luxuries and other pleasures. Whatever was there to enjoy, he had it all. There was nothing for him to do.

All the excitement was lost; he was bored. Let me tell you, when you have all material comforts, when you have everything that you wanted in the material plane, tremendous boredom will happen within you. If we don't already have everything, we at least have the excitement of something left to achieve; we work for that. There is a need for continuity. There is a need to live. We will have some goal. When we have everything, what should we live for? Nothing! So never imagine that when we have everything, we will be happy. This king entered hell simply because he had everything. He was totally depressed, bored. He didn't wish to come out of his room; he was lying there the entire day through the year. His ministers tried their best to bring him out, to enliven him, and to give him a little excitement. They brought the best comforts and luxuries from all over the country, all possible pleasures. Nothing worked on the king. He said, 'No, I don't care for anything.' Finally they decided to do one thing. They said, 'O King, there is an enlightened master in the forest. He may be able to help you. Why don't you meet him? He will bring you out of your depression. Many have been helped by him.' The king said, 'I am not interested in going anywhere.' The ministers asked him to try just once. He agreed saying, 'You are telling me so much about him, let me give him a try.' He went to meet the master. The king was full of doubts and questions and unwilling to trust the master. He thought, 'Who knows if he is enlightened or not?' He asked the master straightaway, 'Can you help me come out of my depression?' That is the way people question when they come just to check a master out. They don't come to learn; they come to verify. Many people ask me, 'Can you show us some path to achieve God?' I tell them, 'I will try, why don't you be seated?' They question me as if they have come to check me out! Similarly, the king just wanted to check out that enlightened master. He asked straightaway, 'Can you do something to get me out of this depression?' The master told him that if he could bring all his wealth in one bag, he could teach him.

Immediately the king decided that this master had nothing to do with enlightenment. 'He is a cheat, a bogus fellow, he is asking for my wealth.'

He went away without giving a reply. However, that night he wondered why the master asked for his wealth. 'Inspite of my doubt about him, there is some grace, there is something about him working on me,' he thought.

People ask me how to find out if someone is enlightened. We can never find out using the intellect. Always try your best to suspect the person. If he is really enlightened, then his form, his very being, will impress us! We will not be able to forget him. That is the scale to check if a person is enlightened or not. People ask me if they should remember me all the time. I say, 'No. Try your best to forget me, to doubt me. If you have been really touched by me, you will not be able to do so, try as you might!' My presence will work beyond your intellect. If you are going to be helped by me, you will simply fall in tune with me.

Let me state very clearly: You will simply fall in tune! Through intellect we can never analyze or understand. With your intellect, try your best to say 'No.' If you always say 'No,' you will never be cheated; so that is the best thing to do. If the person is enlightened, he will be able to penetrate you beyond your intellect. He will be there in your being. He will be there in your mind in the day and in your dreams in the night. He will be haunting you. You cannot escape from him.

So this king felt hewas being haunted by the master. The king was lying on his bed, rolling from side to side. 'Shall I try? If he takes away my wealth, I can easily catch him. After all, it's my kingdom.' He did all the calculations. 'In any case, I am not happy with this wealth; if he takes it away, what is there to lose? It is not useful to me, so let him have it.'

So the king decided to take the risk. The next day he converted his wealth into diamonds, put them all in one bag, and brought the bag to the master. He stood in front of the master. Without saying a single word, the master suddenly snatched the bag and started running. The king understood that this master really was a cheat. He started chasing the master.

We cannot successfully chase someone who lives in the forest since he knows the secrets of the forest. That is why professional people never catch bandits. Not only in this country, but all over the world, professional police never catch bandits. The bandits know the secrets of the landscape.

The master ran this way and that, since he knew the forest very well. The king was new to the forest and tried his best to follow. This chase went on and on. The king wondered why he had taken such a risk. He was blaming himself and suffering. 'When I return to the country, I will have nothing. I will be a beggar, I will need to beg in order to eat,' he thought. He visualized scenes of his poverty. He began suffering his poverty already entered his mind. When he was rich, he was suffering; now he was suffering due to poverty. That is the paradox of money: When it is there, it gives suffering; when it not there, again it gives suffering.

When it became evening, the king was about to give up. He thought, 'Now I cannot do anything. This master knows the forest too well.' At this point, the master stopped running. The moment the king saw that the master had stopped, he quickly caught up with him and grabbed the bag.

The master laughed. The king could not understand what was going on. The master said, 'Fool, now take this and enjoy.'

Suddenly, the king felt that he had become rich! Just because he had missed his wealth for one day, he felt he had become rich!

The master said, 'Fool, you were depressed because 'you took everything for granted. Now the same wealth that you lost for one day, you have back again; go and enjoy it.' The king came out of his depression just by being made to miss his wealth for one day!

In our life also we undergo the same thing when we allow the 'insecurity consciousness' to happen to us. Please understand that I am using the word 'consciousness'. The feeling of insecurity is a consciousness; it is the truth. If we allow this feeling to happen in us we will never take life for granted. We will start enjoying life intensely. If for just one day we intensely miss what we have, we will never take life for granted again.

For example, try to live for even twelve hours without opening your eyes. Keep them closed. You will then never take your eyes for granted! Similarly, we will never take our life for granted if we know it will be taken away from us. We forget that it will be taken away from us one day, that is the problem. We suppress the fear, the insecurity about losing our lives; that is why we never enjoy life, and we take it for granted.

The moment we experience insecurity, when we understood that life might be taken away from us any moment, we start living intensely! If we are depressed or

bored, and we lose everything for just twelve hours, we will suddenly understand this truth. We will never again take life for granted.

The king felt bored because he took life for granted. When we face death, when we face insecurity, immediately we understand how we have been taking life for granted, and we start living intensely. That is what this story means.

Yama gave relationships, wealth and finally enlightenment to Nachiketa. When people come out of the darkness or death meditation in the NSP, they tell me that they understand the real meaning of relationships; this means Yama has blessed them! They know the value of their wealth now; it means Yama has blessed them with wealth and now they will start living. They realize that life is the ultimate blessing, and naturally Yama has showered that blessing on them. They understand that the body may die and that there is something beyond the body and mind that exists in them; that is what I call ātmajñāna (Self-knowledge).

We have the blessings of relationships, wealth and enlightenment when we face fear and death with clarity. Here, when Krishna speaks of fearlessness, He means, 'Face it, face the fear; only then fearlessness can happen.' Only when we face the instinct to survive and the instinct to possess, will we enter the zone of fearlessness.

Until then it can never happen. You can face the instinct for survival or the instinct for possession only by making decisions based on the concept of 'You', not on the concept of 'me'.

As long as you work, act, speak and think centered on 'me, me, me', you will be a demon; you will work out of the instinct for survival and the instinct for possession. When you work based on the concept of 'You, you, you,' you will radiate a new energy.

Try this simple experiment: Try living for others' sake for just one week. I am not asking you to give away your property or any such thing.

Usually we think, 'What is there in this for me?' For example, if your wife calls you up to see a movie, you say, 'No, I want to go to the beach.' You always force your preference. Just for one week, in your office, in your house, wherever you go, decide and be with the attitude of 'you' instead of 'me'. Try this with simple, day-to-day life decisions, not things like giving away your property. Immediately the mind thinks, 'If I start thinking based on 'you', people will take me for granted, people may exploit me, people may cheat me.'

Alright, that is fine. Now nobody is cheating you. You are living centered on the idea of 'me'. You are protecting yourself. Are you happy? Come on, be frank, are

you happy? Not really! So why not then give a chance to be centered on 'You'? We live all our life with this 'asurī sa¼pat,' what Krishna calls demonic nature, the attitude of 'me, me, me'.

Now just for one week, why not try this? These workshops and your time in the ashram is such a great chance to practice this. At present, when you come back into the hall for the next session, what do you do? You grab your seat. You leave your kerchief also to block the seat! First, you grab your seat. When prasād (blessed food) is given, you first grab your plate. For one week, take your plate after another person receives the food. See that the person next to you is comfortable. When you get up in the morning, ask the other person, 'Are you okay? Why don't you use the bathroom first, then I will use it.' We always say, 'Wait, I have some urgent work.' Instead of that attitude, try this experiment of letting others use or talk first with simple, small things. 'Please go ahead and use that. I will use it after you.' Or, 'You have been working continuously; let me help you with this small task.'

For one week, put that 'You' into your being. You will not know from where the bliss suddenly comes! Suddenly you will feel that your whole being is relaxed. When you don't give attention to 'me', you will never be 'in tension'. As long as you are giving attention to 'me', you will be continuously in tension.

When you replace 'me' with 'You', a deep inner healing happens in you.

What I am talking about is not morality. Please don't think I am teaching you how to live happily. There are many who write books like, 'How to Stop Worrying and Start Living.' I am not the person to teach 'How-to stuff.' I am giving this as a spiritual practice. If you are working towards spiritual growth, if you are a 'professional seeker', please try this one practice. I use the term 'professional seeker' because there is always a group of people who are professional seekers. If any swami (holy man) comes, they attend his programs. Any swami, any book, any spiritual event - they will always be present. People come to me and say, 'Swamiji, for the last thirty years, I have been seeking.' Don't feel proud about that.

Don't be proud that you are a professional seeker. Please be clear that if you have pride that you are a professional seeker or that you know some swami or the other, or that you have attended some discourse or the other, some meditation program or the other, you are not on the true spiritual path; you are just window shopping, that's all.

If you are really a seeker, if you think you are seeking spirituality, then do this one spiritual practice. Try this single spiritual practice for seven days. If you think there is any way I can help you, take this single statement and forget about everything else. Work based on this single statement: instead of deciding based on 'me, me, me', decide based on 'You, you, you'.

I am not asking you to give away or renounce anything; just try this with simple, day-to-day decisions. You will see something happening in your being. The tension, that solid weight in you will melt, loosen up; you will experience inner healing and a tremendous and cool, blissful breeze will happen in you. Naturally when you get a glimpse of this mood, you automatically start expressing this attitude in day-to-day life, everyday and every moment.

We always choose words and actions based on 'me'. For instance, when we shout at somebody, we say, 'I am doing it for his good, for his sake.' When someone is angry, we say, 'See, he is like a demon, he is mad at others, he is shouting.' When someone else is angry, we say he is a demon; when we get angry, we say it is for that person's good! 'If I don't teach him, who will teach him? I am doing it only for his good.'

Please understand, don't play with words; be straight. Experiment with this for the next week, not longer. After that you can become your old self. You can't become, that is a different issue! Try it on simple things. Instead of deciding based on 'me', decide based on 'You'. The irritation that you continuously carry will disappear. The instinct to survive, to possess, will disappear. You will become an empty being.

You will become a hollow bamboo. Whenever you become a hollow bamboo, you are a flute in the hands of the Divine. Whatever happens through you will be divine; you will imbibe the divine nature.

Krishna further explains step-by-step how to imbibe divine nature: How to cause the cognitive shift at the deep, subtle level.

Please understand that working at the level of satva (equanimity), rajas (aggression), or tamas (slothfulness) is difficult. It is akin to changing all the servants in order to change the master. We will never be able to do that. Just change the master and all the servants will be transformed.

Here, Krishna gives the technique to change the master, the ego that makes decisions. He gives the straight technique for the cognitive shift to happen. At present, cognition happens in us keeping the 'I' as the center; He gives a simple

technique to replace the 'I' with 'You' so that the cognitive shift happens. This same system will be used for the divine nature.

Rama and Ravana in the Hindu epic Ramayana, are both energetic; both have the brahmastra (high energy weapon). The only difference is that one is centered on 'I'; the other one is centered on 'you.' That is the only thing that makes one person divine and the other demonic. Rama is divine, Ravana is demonic.

Krishna goes further to give subtle techniques to experience the consciousness of 'You', the ultimate consciousness, the consciousness of the Whole, the 'dāivika sattvapat' or divine nature of your being through this cognitive shift.

Step-by-step Krishna explains all these great qualities. As I mentioned, please don't try to practice these qualities as a separate effort. The more we try to practice these separately, the more schizophrenic we will become. We will be fighting with ourselves. Do something that will make you express these qualities in life. Automatically you will become blissful, free from anger and full of dharmic (righteous) qualities.

When we do anything including charity, by force, or social conditioning, merely because we have been told that we will go to heaven, we will have trouble. Never do dāna (charity) if you feel something is being taken from you. The word dāna, giving or donating, is wrong; sharing is the right word. Because we feel we have enough, we share with others. With the word dāna, there is ego, the thought, 'I am higher, the giver; you are lower, the receiver.' With sharing, the idea of donation does not exist. The thought is, 'We have got it, let us share.'

Sharing is the right attitude. If we do charity with the attitude of 'I', we will later check whether our name has appeared on the plaque! 'Has my name been spelled correctly? Is it the right size? Is the font larger or smaller than that of someone else's name?' Especially in India, even if a tube light is presented to a temple, it will be inscribed with the words 'Ramanathan, son of Somanathan, in the memory of his mother, Saundarya Lakshmi, who passed away on this date, presented this to this temple on this day.' It will be painted with black paint. When we switch on the tube light, we will just see a black line on the wall - no light!

Ramana Maharshi says beautifully, 'When you don't ask, you will be given.' I tell people, 'When you don't tell what good things you do, I will tell.' When people do things for the ashram but do not tell anyone about them, I tell the whole world about them. However, when they tell, I keep quiet. When you don't do from the

attitude of 'I', you won't feel like something is being taken away from you. Above all, you will feel tremendous fulfillment. Anything you do with the attitude of 'you' will make you radiate these beautiful, divine qualities. Even Yashoda (the foster mother of Krishna) had the idea of 'I'. Let me tell you a lovely story. It is about a great devotee named Tarangini. It is a wonderful expression of love; the 'I' and 'you' are expressed truly here. The story goes that within twelve hours of Krishna's birth, He was handed over to Yashoda. He took birth at midnight, and before sunrise, He was brought to Yashoda. This was because of a prophecy that Kamsa, His uncle, would come to kill Him at sunrise. Yashoda brought Him up until He left his home, Vrindavan. Despite her bringing Him up, when Yashoda asked Him to sing or play the flute, He would not play. However, when Tarangini, a devotee of Krishna from a lower caste asked Krishna to play, He would play for her. She would stand in a corner and would not come in front of Him. She would quietly enjoy His presence and music from a distance. Once Krishna had gone, Tarangini would touch the dust in the place where He had stood and played. One day Krishna forgot the flute and went away. Of course, He did not forget, He must have pretended to have forgotten it. Would Krishna forget? He would make others forget, but He would never forget anything! He pretended to have forgotten the flute. Tarangini noticed the flute and with love and care, kept it in her home to hand over to Krishna. The next day Krishna said, 'Someone has taken My flute.' He pretended to search for it. He learned that Tarangini had the flute and went to her house. Since He was from a higher caste, He needed a reason to go to the area of the lower community people. Yashoda would ask Him why he had gone there. She would punish Him, since higher caste people did not go to that area. Krishna went to the area which was full of mud, dirty roads, and a hut in which a thousand suns were shining, meaning that there were a thousand holes in the hut! Krishna entered the house and asked for His flute. Tarangini was totally shaken to see Krishna in her house. She was overwhelmed; she was unable to speak. She ran and brought the flute to Him. Krishna continued His act, asking if He should play the flute. And who can refuse when Krishna asks?

She replied, 'My Lord, even Gods and R̥iṣ come down to listen to Your music, how can I say no?' He sat on the steps, and started playing; she sat in a corner filled with ecstasy. Yaśodā arrived at that moment. She felt terribly upset because He had never played the flute for her. She said, 'I take care of you; I give you food and look after you completely. You never play for me. Yet you come and play here for this urchin girl!' Please understand that the attitude of Taranginī is 'you' and the attitude of Yaśodā is 'me'. Due to this, all Yaśodā's service had no positive result for her. Since Yaśodā disturbed him, Krishna stopped playing. The tune that Krishna played to Taranginī is known as punnāgavaralī, 'the broken tune'. Krishna told Yaśodā, 'You served Me, no doubt, but with the attitude of 'I'. Taranginī is devoted to Me; you are devoted to yourself. As long as I am your Krishna, you take care of Me; that means you are devoted to yourself, you are centered on yourself and not on Me. That is why you are unable to digest five minutes of separation.' This is the instinct to possess. Krishna continued, 'You have come all the way here; you are not even giving five minutes of My space to her. Taranginī never asked Me to come to her house. She never expected that I would play for her. She is totally dedicated, with only the attitude of 'you'.' Then Krishna blessed Taranginī saying, 'You will have sampya mukti; you will become a śanbhaga flower and reside in My garland. You will stay with Me forever.' There are four muktis or levels of liberation: ślokya mukti, sārupya mukti, sampya mukti and sāyujya mukti. Ślokya means 'same place'; it means we will be allowed to stay in Vaikunṭha, Vishnu's abode. We will have a residence in heaven. Sārupya means we will have the same form as the Lord. For example, we can see Jaya- Vijaya, the gatekeepers of heaven; they have the same śankḥ (conch), cakra (discus), gadā (mace), padma (lotus) - all the accessories of Vishnu in the same svarūpa (form). Sampya (being near) is being in the inner circle; the cakra that Vishnu is carrying has achieved sampya mukti! Becoming enlightened oneself is sāyujya mukti. Sampya mukti is the best enlightenment because we can enjoy Him forever! It is like an ant forever enjoying the sugar candy.

Sayujya mukti is like becoming the sugar candy. This is for all the jīś. For devotees, the ultimate state is sampya mukti. So Krishna blessed Tarangini with sampya mukti.

He said, 'May you become a flower in My garland and be on My body. May you be on Me.' He then turned to Yashoda and said, 'Because you served with the attitude of 'me, me, me', may you not have any temple on planet earth.'

Yashoda served Krishna so much, but have you seen a single Yashoda temple? No! Everywhere you see Radha temples. If you go to Vrindavan, Radha is worshipped more than Krishna. Even a milkman when selling milk will call out, 'Radhe, Radhe,' not 'Krishna, Krishna.' Despite all her service, since it was centered on 'me', Yashoda was unable to achieve enlightenment.

On the other hand, Tarangini, being born of a lower community, was never even close to Krishna. She was not allowed to serve Him; however, because she lived with the attitude of 'you, you, you', Krishna went to her home, blessed her with eternal closeness to Him, and gave her liberation.

Even if they run after the Divine, people with the attitude of 'I' can never reach the Divine, because the Divine runs away from them. If we live with the attitude of 'you', even if we live in a hut with a thousand holes, Krishna waits for us at our doorstep. Many stories illustrate how the 'I' drives the Divine away, and the 'you' attracts the Divine. One small attitude change can take care of the cognitive shift.

Let me tell you one more small story. It is about the fight between the śankh (conch), cakra (discus) and padukā (sandals) of Vishnu.

Vishnu has a śankh, cakra and padukā. One day He returns home after having gone out. Vishnu is blissful energy, and likes to go around and enjoy!

Vaikuṇṭha, Vishnu's abode is totally different from Shiva's abode. It is a fun place; continuously dance goes on and all varieties of food are served!

Anyhow, Vishnu returns and leaves his sandals outside His bedroom and goes in to rest on his beautiful serpent bed, Adisesha. The conch and discus look at the sandals and laugh. 'See, you may carry Vishnu all day long, but when He comes into the room, you must stay out. Only we can enter with Him. You have not really achieved sampya mukti (close to the Lord). We are with him twenty-four hours a day. For the twelve hours of the night, you are outside. So you have half sampya mukti; we have full sampya mukti.'

The sandals replies, 'Alright, what can I do? Whatever Vishnu wants, let it be.' The next morning when Vishnu comes out, the sandals ask Him, 'Lord, the conch and discus are making fun of me. Is it true that You are unhappy with me? Is it true that I have only fifty percent sampya mukti? What mistake have I made?'

Lord Vishnu laughs and tells the sandals, 'Attitude and time does not mean that you are unimportant or they are important. Attitude and time do not show favoritism, I have no favoritism; each of you has a different place, work and things to do.'

He then adds, 'By worshipping the conch and discus, people cannot get liberation. However, by worshipping you, they can get liberation! The sandals when worshiped can give enlightenment. The discus kills; the conch declares victory in war. These are their roles; worshipping them cannot give liberation. Your duties are different. Your place is different. Only by holding you, people can attain liberation. Since they have made funs of you, let them be born on planet earth and worship you for fourteen years. The conch and discus will take birth as Bharata and Shatrughna (brothers of Lord Rama, in the Indian epic, Ramayana) and worship the sandals of Lord Rama for fourteen years when He is exiled to the forest. Let them worship you and understand that only you can liberate them.'

We must understand that people around the master have different responsibilities. If we think that some are important and others unimportant, we will face difficulties. The person who thinks he is important will be made to kneel in front of the person whom he thinks is unimportant.

The conch and the discus started thinking 'me, me, me' and so naturally they had to suffer. The sandals thought, 'You, You, You' and were therefore worshipped. Vishnu blessed the sandals saying, 'Let the conch and discus worship you and attain liberation, and then they will never talk about you like this.'

How we are centered and where our attention is focused is what makes our life demonic or divine. Divine or demon is determined only by one concept: 'You' or 'me'.

Now, here is another important point. After hearing about 'You' and 'me', the next thought that may come to our mind is, 'Swamiji, I do not know whether I am working based on 'You' or based on 'me'. I am worried about whether I am a demon or divine. Please guide me, tell me, based on which quality I am working.'

Let me assure you that if this fear arises in you, you are divine. The person who is ready to look into his mind, the person who is afraid about whether he is living rightly or wrongly, always lives rightly. Only the person who is arrogant is demonic. The person who is demonic never considers whether he does right or wrong. He thinks that he is always right.

Arjuna also has that fear, 'Bhagavān, am I living with divine or demonic nature?' He is not expressing that feeling, but his face reveals his fear.

Now Lord Krishna explains that living with transcendental qualities, that is the attitude of 'you', one achieves liberation or enlightenment - nivritti. By living with the idea of 'I' we create more bondage. The demonic qualities make for bondage, meaning pravritti.

Lord Krishna assures Arjuna that he is born with divine qualities.

If we have ever contemplated whether we were living with 'You' or 'I', if the doubt ever arose, if we have suffered, if we have felt fear or guilt, be clear that we are born with divine nature. On the other hand, if we feel that we are living properly, and that we came here because we had no other entertainment, with the thought, 'Let me listen to whatever master is saying,' if we have that attitude, then we know our nature!

If we have looked once into our being, considered and thought, 'Am I living with demonic nature? Or am I living with divine nature? What is my nature?' If we looked even once into our being and tried to measure ourselves with this scale, we are in the position of Arjuna. Be very clear that we too are born with divine qualities. So if you are worried after hearing the qualities, then be sure, you are born with divine qualities and you don't need to worry about it any further.

When a person who is righteous listens to such words, he will try to verify his own nature, since he is centered on dharma, righteousness. People who are adharmic, non-righteous, even if they listen to such discourses, think, 'Oh, Swamiji speaks about all these things as though he lives them. Let us see how he lives them. Let us see if his living is in tune with his ideas.' A person who is divine tries to chisel or correct himself, whereas a person who is demonic tries to correct others. With the demonic nature, the person holds the hammer and chisel towards others, whereas with the divine nature, he holds the hammer and chisel towards himself.

When we carve ourselves, we become God. If we have ever looked within ourselves, then we are born with the divine nature. Now Arjuna has become

mature; the moment he hears these truths, he looks into his being. Naturally then Lord Krishna tells him that he is born with divine nature.

Krishna describes the qualities of a person who lives based on ‘I, I, I.’ I don’t think we need to understand these qualities because we already have these qualities which is why we still feel we are suffering. There is no need to read these qualities, because we know enough of them. All that we need to know is how to live with the attitude of ‘You, You, You’.

Please understand that when we live with the attitude of ‘You, You, You’, we completely forget ourselves; we disappear into Existence. We are in bliss.

Let me share an important technique that Lord Krishna speaks about. For three days, think you are somebody else. It may seem funny! For instance, if you are a doctor, for three days think you are a beach freak. Clearly visualize yourself as somebody else, not a doctor. The moment you change the idea about youself, a tremendous freedom happens to you. Your tension disappears.

Before taking sanyās, aspirants undergo a meditation called ‘bhūta śuddhi’ meaning they are giving up their entire past. They perform the death ceremony of their parents, srāddha, even if their parents are alive. This is because if the parents die after the person takes sanyās (renunciation), who will do the death rituals for them? Therefore they do it now itself. They also do their own srāddha (death rituals) since they will have no children and there will be no one to do it for them!

After the srāddha, they must lose their identity, whatever they may have been - doctor, lawyer or engineer. To do that they smear their entire body with sacred ash, and like a ghost, they put on rudrākṣamālā (necklace of the holy rudrākṣa seeds) and celebrate! Their identity is completely lost and they beg for alms. They do not associate with their identity. They completely break their identity. For three days, they meditate that they are somebody else. Only if they pass this meditation and break from their identity for three days, are they given sanyās.

This is ‘bhūta śuddhi,’ breaking away from our past identity.

For three days try this meditation. For three days, think you are somebody else. Whatever you think of as your property, forget it; whatever you think are your problems, throw them out; whatever you think of as your profession, give it up. You can pick it up later, but for three days throw it all away.

You will see a new consciousness rising in you. If you throw away the ‘me’, that alone liberates you, and if you start working on ‘You’, you experience tremendous

You And Me

bliss. When you drop 'me', you experience peace; when you start working with 'You', you experience peace and bliss. This is the straight path to peace and bliss. A demon is not one with horns on his head, with protruding teeth, with six hands and a fearsome look. Krishna says that one with a demonic nature is not aware of what bondage is and what liberation is. People of this nature are so deeply immersed in their attachment and aversion that they no longer feel themselves separated from these qualities. They are so much in bondage to their senses that they can no longer know they are in bondage. To a madman in an asylum, the rest of the world is mad, not he. He is the only sane person in an otherwise insane world. Once a famous actor went for a public relations visit to an institution for the mentally disabled. This man was so well known that everyone recognized him. As he was taken on a visit around this asylum, an inmate asked him curiously, 'Who are you?' The actor was surprised since he thought everyone recognized him. He said quite pompously that he was so and so, the famous actor. The inmate signaled him aside and whispered, 'You know, that is what I said to them when I came here. They cured me in six months. You also stay here six months and you will be alright!' Many of us are like this! We do not see a prison wall around us, that's all. However, we are led exactly the same way through greed and fear, through attachment and aversion. We can excuse rats for constantly running in a maze without knowing how to get out. How can we excuse a human being who has been given the gift of cognition and discrimination? Why don't we use the higher intelligence provided to us to at least understand where we are going wrong? A small story: A preacher attracted many disciples because he promised that he would take them to heaven after they died. One day the preacher died. Two disciples committed suicide so that they could follow him to heaven. They did not want to miss the chance, in case he forgot what he had promised them. The preacher was happy that two disciples followed him in death.

The three reached the gates of this beautiful palace and the guard seemed to be aware of their coming, and let them in. The preacher turned around and said to the disciples, 'See, whatever I told you is coming true. All those fools who did not follow you missed their chance.'

Three beautiful women received them and served them delicious food and wine. They told them, 'Whatever you wish for will be yours to enjoy. All you need to do is merely think of what you want.' For the next few days, they thoroughly enjoyed the palace with its comforts. Even before they thought of something, what they wanted materialized before them.

In a week's time, they became bored. The preacher said, 'This is a wonderful place, yet I am homesick.' His disciples said, 'Yes, master, we too are homesick; this is no fun anymore. We cannot even fantasize. Even before we fantasize and finish, it becomes reality. We never thought we could become bored of heaven, but that has happened.'

Looking around, they noticed a few windows. However these windows were locked and they could not see anything outside. Even when they wished that these windows would open, they would not. Instead, the guard came in. He explained, 'Sir, your desires only apply to the space within the four walls of this palace. You cannot open these windows.'

The preacher said, 'Look, we are bored. We are homesick. We want to look at planet earth where we came from. Even if we cannot go there, can't we at least look?'

The guard said, 'Sir, no, you cannot.'

The preacher became annoyed, 'Can we then at least go to hell?'

The guard turned to him surprised, 'Where do you think you have been all this week?'

We get ourselves so comfortable in our own hell, in our own demonic nature, that we can no longer differentiate between hell and heaven! We cannot tell demonic and divine nature apart. We do not know the difference between bondage and liberation.

Q: Swamiji, from what I hear, our default state is the divine, and we slip into demonic nature. Does caring for others keep us in this divine state?

You And Me

You are right. As I said, even if you start with the doubt, 'Perhaps I'm not divine,' you start moving into that default divine nature. Caring for others, focusing on the 'you' instead of 'I,' automatically takes you to the path of the Divine. The problem with most people however, is that their caring is a business transaction. They care when there is something in it for them. Whether the transaction is with mother, father, spouse, son, daughter, relative or friend, there is a 'What's in it for me?' attitude. The care arises not out of real love, but out of attachment or aversion. We care because something may happen if we do not, or we care so that something good happens to us. It is like providing any other service. It becomes contractual. When the focus is on 'you,' as in caring for someone with no expectation, with no conditions, we slip into a state of bliss. This state of bliss is our natural state. When you are focused on 'I,' you invite suffering and misery. Remember one thing: God is closest when we are blissful; when we are in misery we are farthest from God. The dilemma is that most of us remember God when we are in misery and that is the moment when we are farthest away also! Even if we shout from a place of misery, our voice cannot reach Him. When we are blissful, we need not even whisper. Without saying a single word, our prayer is understood. Even our silence is eloquent. This has been the problem throughout the ages: Man remembers God only when he is miserable, which is the wrong moment to remember Him. When you remember God in misery, that means you want to use Him. And God cannot be used as a means to some end. That is sacrilege. It is using God as a tool. To use another human being as a means is immoral; what shall we say about using God as a means to another end? When we are in a blissful moment, when we feel blessed by Existence, let us savor that moment. That is when we are closest to God. Let that moment be of gratitude, prayer, and meditation. In that moment, remember God existentially, not verbally. Let your whole being feel the vibration and become overwhelmed with the beyond. Don't lose that moment. It is precious. Everybody is born ready for divinity. If we miss it, it is totally our responsibility. We miss it because we never look within. We miss it because we never use the opportunity that life gives us. We miss it because we are unconscious, sleepy. We miss it because we are lazy. We miss it because we are not aware of the great blessing that life is.

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How To Save Our Planet

16.8 People with such demonic qualities think there is no ultimate energy or intelligence, which is running this planet earth, which is running the universe, and that this whole creation is produced out of lust and desire, and is unreal. 16.9 Following this material view of creation, these degraded souls with small intellect, lost in themselves and committing cruel deeds, are engaged in the destruction of the world.

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How To Save Our Planet

Please understand, the energy that is within us, the energy that drives us is the same energy that drives this universe, this solar system and planet earth. This energy is intelligence, the highest intelligence.

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How To Save Our Planet

Krishna says that when we are unable to recognize this energy, we are demonic. We do not believe everything operates out of this energy; instead we believe we make things happen with our greed, lust and desires. We believe we run this world with our puny intellect that we consider intelligence.

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How To Save Our Planet

For years, many religious institutions believed planet earth was the center of this universe. They killed millions for believing otherwise. Though they may have believed in some form of God who created this universe, they seemed to think that this God was situated on this planet.

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How To Save Our Planet

They assumed that they ruled earth, and that there was nothing beyond them, so they could destroy people who did not share such a belief. We need not even be irreligious to be demonic. We just need to be so self-centered that even our God is at our disposal. Then we are demonic.

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How To Save Our Planet

Such a belief is different from the concept of believing that you are God and that God resides in you. This belief arises from deep awareness instead of dark ignorance and is totally selfless. Once you become God, the rest of the world is part

You And Me

of you and you are part of that world. There is no longer the duality of 'I' and 'You'. Both merge into the non-duality of either 'I' or 'You'; it does not matter. Even to this day, there is no logical explanation for the creation of this universe. There are theories; that is all. All of them are only theories. The Big Bang theory says that the universe was created in one huge cosmic explosion or Big Bang. But it cannot answer the question, 'What caused that explosion?' What was there before or who struck the match or what created that explosion is unknown. If there was something that led up to the Big Bang, how can the Big Bang be the cause of creation? More intelligent and aware scientists understand and are creating new concepts. They too, like our sages, suggest that a cosmic intelligence runs the universe. The universe is not dead; it is not just matter. They say that the world is not just pure physics and chemistry. People who think the world is pure chemistry become demons. Naturally, if we think this whole world is just inert matter, we try to acquire more and more by killing everybody, by hook or by crook, by right or wrong means, and we do what we want to. Only when we understand that this universe is intelligence, and that it responds to our thoughts and activities, will we live properly, or start really living. A small story: A group of scientists thought they could do anything and everything. They challenged God, 'Now you are unnecessary. Whatever you do, we can do. We can even clone human beings. What do you say? Now we can also develop whatever you have created on earth. Our department has developed everything. We can do anything.' God was surprised to see all the scientists' creations - the sizes of the bananas, and other fruits they had created, and so forth! The scientists then challenged God to a competition. 'Come face us. We will do whatever you do. We are better than you; you can go and rest. We don't need you anymore.' God agreed to face the scientists. God created a plant, and immediately the scientists created the same plant in a better way. One by one, they created the same thing God created. Suddenly, God took a little dust and created a man.

The scientists said, 'This is not a big deal, now that we have the ability to clone.' They took some dust and were about to create a man.

God said 'Stop. Bring your own dust and create. Don't use My dust!'

Whatever we may achieve, wherever science may go, the Divine is alive. God exists and the cosmic intelligence runs this whole universe. We may create man out of dust, but where will we get the dust from? We cannot create dust! It has to be God's dust! Be clear that there is a pure energy and intelligence that is the source, the underpinning of the whole universe.

When a person is living within the limits of the intellect and 'me', he cannot experience the Whole. He knows only logic and calculation and with that arrogance thinks he knows everything.

Many young people come to me with their parents who force them to prostrate at my feet. I never like people being forced to fall at my feet. If these young people want they can leave, but they stand there and ask questions such as, 'Why should I fall at your feet?' I tell them, 'I have not asked you to. Why should you stand here and argue?' Yet their arrogance is so much that they stand and argue. I think to myself, 'They should probably get married.' After a year when they return as married people, without prompting they simply do a sa¯t˙canga namask¯ar, a full prostration, because in one year they would have been completely trained to surrender!

What we cannot do in ten years can be done in one year of marriage! Those same people fall flat on the ground and know how to listen. They are polite. They say, 'Yes, Swamiji!' They know the power of the 'Yes' mantra!

That is what should be done to demonic people: Simply get them married and the demonic qualities will disappear. Perhaps that is why God created the institution of marriage!

People with demonic qualities say the world is produced out of sexual desire and lust. Lust is the reason for the whole universe, they say.

Please be clear that lust cannot be the reason. Intelligence, the divine energy is the cause and effect of this whole universe; the cause and effect is the Divine that is responsible for the universe. However, when we think it is lust or that we are responsible, we live with the idea of 'me, me, me'.

Krishna says firmly that when we believe that we are the cause of this universe, this Existence, we are so deluded and locked in our own identities, we destroy the world and ourselves as well.

Our ancient sages, the great r̥is, were not fools. They did not retire to forests because they had nowhere else to go. Many were great kings, rulers of this planet, and they voluntarily left behind all that they had, so that they could understand where they came from. It was not enough for them to read and listen to the experiences of others; they chose to experience the truth themselves.

In the process, they realized themselves and became liberated. What they realized in one sense was simple. As many others over thousands of years have discovered, they discovered that they were part of this cosmic Existence. They realized and experienced that they too were Gods. They found that the same energy that operated in this universe operated within them. They experienced that every living being on earth came from the same Source, and is the same Source.

If we studied elementary geography in school, we know that at the core of the earth there is molten magma, not very different from what there is in other planets. Around the core the earth has cooler layers and finally there is the topsoil on which plants grow and we live.

Now, what do we do when we need water and there is no river nearby? We dig a well and, as if by magic, water appears. Now our neighbor wants water; he too digs a well and finds water. Our well and his well may be in two different houses and owned by two different people, yet are these waters different?

They come from the same source, whether you dig a well in India or whether you dig a well in the United States. The locations are at two ends of the world, but the source is the same. Not merely the source, the water is also the same. Yet, we fight over common resources, thinking that we created them and therefore we own them.

This attitude of selfishness leads only to destruction of everything - the environment, the world and all living beings. One part of this world, perhaps with less than one-sixth of the world's population, the so-called developed world, the so-called Western world, consumes more than half of the natural resources of this world. What right do they have to do this?

Not only do they consume more than half the resources, they cause such pollution that the earth trembles. Gradually all the glaciers of this world will disappear, the poles will melt, the oceans will rise and a large part of the world will be under

water. However, the underdeveloped world, the poorer parts of the world will be under water, because the people will not have the means to get themselves out of trouble.

We actually waste a lot of water. Why do we need forks, spoons and knives to eat when we have hands and fingers? Also, to clean the crockery and utensils, we need more water and detergents. Detergents pollute the water in our streams. We think our fingers may be dirty; have we ever looked at the utensils we eat with? If you look under the microscope, you will find more bacteria than you can ever imagine.

Then we need to sterilize those utensils. We use chemicals to do that. Those chemicals can lead to cancer. Doctors in the West have warned that reheating food in plastic containers in microwave ovens can lead to cancer. Soon, they will find that eating food stored in refrigerators leads to other complications.

It was said by our Eastern forefathers long ago that food should not be eaten four hours after it is cooked. It becomes non-satvic then and it is unfit for our energy. That's why most people are demonic. Who eats food within four hours? Not even those who cook it. So, we descend into tamas, ignorance, by eating non-satvic, de-energized food, and convert ourselves into demons.

Everything adds up. The Hitlers of this world do not happen by accident. They are created by society. When Krishna says alpabuddhi, low intelligence, He is not referring to our IQ; He is referring to our emotional and spiritual quotient. He refers to the absence of higher intelligence and awareness.

How can we be aware when we are being rushed from one activity to another? How can awareness arise when we are brainwashed into a belief that we can multi-task? We constantly look at what results we must get, rather than focusing on what we are doing.

How many of us think about a job when we are engaged in that job? We drive listening to the news or music. We eat while working on the computer. We talk to another person while watching the television. Even in the shower, we argue with ourselves! What do we do in a focused manner, while staying in the present? No wonder we cannot sleep well, because all the demons of the day chase us in the night.

When we are not in the present, we are in a state of low intelligence; we become demons. We become Hitlers or worse. Hitler became one of the greatest

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demons the modern world has known because of his insecurities. He was conditioned by society to fear and hate. His fears were magnified so that the whole world feared him.

Low intelligence leads to cruel deeds. When we have no awareness of who we are, we do not care about anyone else. Not even about our parents. We are so self-centered that we will harm our mother if we feel in our imagination that she stands in our way.

All this can change; all this can be changed. All that is needed is the cognitive shift from the demon to the divine, from 'I' to 'You'. There must be an understanding from childhood that this planet is common property and it cannot be owned and exploited or used by playing one against another. It can only be cared for together and shared.

Everyone must be educated to understand that anything that harms the environment harms everyone on planet earth. No one is protected. What is done in the USA affects people across the globe, in China and India, and vice versa.

We are not talking about the power of manmade weapons of mass destruction that can be set to destroy large numbers of people by pressing a button. We are talking about everything that we do, the way we eat, the way we dress and the way we live, everything affects all of us as these affect the environment we live in.

The environment we live in, the oxygen we breathe, the water we drink, the soil that gives the food we eat, all this is energy. This is what we call panca bhūta in Sanskrit, the five elemental energies that sustain us. When these are destroyed by our low intelligence, out of our selfishness, the world around us collapses.

Q: Swamiji, What is the meaning of the mantra OM?

Oṁ is the sound that is heard in one's own being when all other noise in the mind has stopped. When there are no thoughts floating in the mind, when there is nothing to disturb, one senses a deep vibration in the being. This is the sound of Oṁ.

We don't make this sound. We cannot make this sound. It must happen by itself. It is not a mantra to be chanted. We must be utterly silent and receptive. We must listen. We must learn to listen, not merely with our ears but with our whole being. Something then happens within us. Then we hear it. It is what the sages call the

still, small voice within. Zen masters call it the sound of one hand clapping, and vedic tradition terms it pra`ava mantra and calls it OM.

O» is the soundless sound. It is the anchata sound, the sound that is not created. We teach a meditation called the Mahcmanra in our first-level Life Bliss Programs. This meditation energizes the anchata cakra or heart energy center. Anchata means that which is uncreated. O» is that sound which is creation itself; it was not created. When you practice this meditation to energize your anchata cakra, the O» sound is created within you. That is why this meditation is called the Mahcmanra, or great mantra. It is a tremendously powerful self-healing meditation.

Typically all invocations to deities begin with O» as the first word or prefix. There are mantras that are chanted in prayers called a¾ottaras (108 names) or sahasranamas (1008 names). These mantras are descriptions of the deities, each mantra extolling one or another feature of the deity. Usually these are prefixed by the word O». They are suffixed with the word namaa. Namaa literally translates as, 'I am not,' signifying surrender to the deity.

The first verse of Vishnusahasranama, the 1008 names of Vishnu, is 'O» achyutcya namaha'. It means 'Krishna is the incarnation of Vishnu'. The Vishnusahasranama is Bhishma's prayer to Krishna, as Bhishma lay awaiting death on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. As such, it is part of Mahabharata.

16

How To Save Ourselves

16.10 Filled with insatiable desires, hypocrisy, pride, and arrogance; holding wrong views due to delusion, they act with impure motives and for impermanent objectives.

16

How To Save Ourselves

16.11,12 Obsessed with endless anxiety lasting until death, considering sense gratification their highest aim, and convinced that sense pleasure is everything; bound by hundreds of ties of desire and enslaved and filled with anger, they strive to obtain wealth by unlawful means to fulfill sensual pleasures.

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How To Save Ourselves

What Krishna says here is applicable to a vast majority of people today.

16

How To Save Ourselves

Times have changed since the days of the vedic educational system where, from childhood, one was guided toward self-awareness. Modern day education is based upon logic, science and rules, and is short on self-awareness and dharma, righteousness.

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How To Save Ourselves

When we are caught in the material world, focused on 'I' and 'me', we are stuck in the m̄lodhara and svadhiṣṭhana cakras. Greed and fear rule us and we are forever in the bondage of attachment and aversion. Whatever we do is with selfish and impure motives, and results in consequences that are mostly illusionary.

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How To Save Ourselves

In the earlier verse, Krishna explained how a person with demonic nature could destroy this world. Here, He shows how such a person can destroy himself. Out of pride, arrogance and hypocrisy, such a person moves in a path directed by purely selfish and material objectives, and derives results that produce suffering.

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How To Save Ourselves

When we focus on matter, we tend to lose sight of the energy inherent in matter. When we focus on the form, we cannot see the formless that enables the form. What is permanent in both cases is the formless energy that drives the form and matter.

Science has moved a long way from the Newtonian model based on matter and form. This model is no longer relevant. From the days of Einstein, when matter and energy were linked inextricably, the concept has changed. Today all sciences accept that matter and energy not only co-exist, but also that the same object or event can be perceived or experienced by the observer as matter or energy or both.

So, we are back to the Indian master Adi Shankaracharya's theory that the observer determines what is being observed. We may think this is fanciful. However, this is an accepted theory in the most advanced form of Quantum Physics today. Elementary subatomic particles, when observed in identical conditions with identical tools, appear differently to different observers. As yet there is no explanation for this phenomenon.

Our ancient sages explained that this happens based on our deep-rooted conditioning, which colors our perceptions. When science is sufficiently advanced, it will accept this truth.

Events that happen around us, as well as objects that surround us can be viewed in different ways. Everything depends upon our conditioning, our sa1⁄4sk©ras.

A couple with young children was driving along the beach one warm summer evening. A young woman in the convertible ahead of them stood up and waved. She had no clothes on!

The parents pretended nothing was amiss.

A small shrill voice piped up from the backseat, 'Mom, Dad, look! The lady is not wearing a seat belt!'

Perceptions differ based on our experience bank. A child's perception is innocent and without negativity. It is totally objective. Over time, we accumulate feelings of guilt, shame, fear, arrogance, hypocrisy, greed and irritation that our responses to situations are tinged by these negative emotions.

As I have explained before, most humans live in their m©l©dh©ra cakra, unable to rise beyond their survival needs. Their entire focus is on survival and their emotions are anger, greed and lust. Everything is physical, material and self-centered. It is all business.

A few are caught in their sv©di©sh©na cakra and stay there bound by insecurities. Fears of various kinds control them. Men are more prone to stay blocked in m©l©dh©ra and women in sv©di©sh©na. Both are unfulfilling. Both are unreal from a

spiritual perspective. In mlcdhra, we are caught in fantasies. Our entire life is based on how we wish it were, rather than enjoying it as it is. This only leads to suffering.

A step further into svcdhhna is still unreal, because no fear is real. All fears are created by the mind. All we need to do is face the fear, and it disappears. The most serious fear is death. This fear exists because we do not know how to live. It is linked to the blocked mlcdhra, because of which we do not live our life; we only fantasize about our life. We fantasize about our life with greed and we fantasize about our death with fear.

Once we know how to lead our life without fantasies, the fear of death disappears. Then suffering and misery dissolve automatically. We move from the demonic into the divine realm.

Here Lord Krishna explains the same concept in a deeper way, and gives a beautiful punchline.

Many take shelter in pleasures and pain that end only with their death. With some, even at that time, it doesn’t end. They think of the money they paid for insurance, casket, marble gravestone, etc. They regard gratification of desires as the sole objective in life.

Many people ask me, ‘Swamiji, in the Gita, Krishna says that the last thought before death determines how we are born in the next birth. Can we find a way to have good thoughts at the time of death?’

I agree that this is a practical question. Unfortunately, there is no practical answer. There is a word called vsan in Sanskrit that refers to our mental attitude. Vsan is built up over our entire life from childhood, some of it even from before birth. It is the accumulated software of our mind that drives us; it is our operational system, the Microsoft Vista equivalent in our mind-ware.

Vsans are the compilation of all our value systems and beliefs that define our mental attitude that in turn drives our actions. Unfortunately, vsans, along with their counterpart saskras, memories, are part of our unconscious mind and we have no easy way to access them. Therefore, we have no means to control them and make things happen the way we want them to. It is as if we are on autopilot, with our vsans and saskras driving us through life until we die.

The nature of the unconscious mind is to react to the senses. We may think we respond consciously. But almost all the time our reactions are instinctive, decided

by v®sanc$ and sa¼sk©ra$, rather than by conscious application of our rational mind. This is what Krishna refers to as the nature of a demonic person. Instinct is the nature of animals, and because it is their nature, it works well for them. They flow with nature.

Instinct is not the nature of humans. Human consciousness can rise to the intuitive level, in which awareness results in high action. This is the potential of the Divine inherent in all of us. Instead of rising to the intuitive level, the super conscious level, most people find it easier to descend into the instinctive or unconscious level.

Adi Shankaracharya says beautifully in Bhaja Govindam,

anga¼ galita¼ mu²a¼ da°navihrna¼ j¢ta¼ tu ²a¼ v®ddho y¢ti g"hetva dan²a¼ tadapi na muncati c°pi 'ram

'The body is worn out, hair has turned grey; the mouth has become toothless and in old age a stick is needed for support; yet the person is still full of desires. There is truly no end to desires.'

The problem is that we do not know how to fulfill desires. We go through peaks of emotions goaded by our desires and then slip into valleys of depression and guilt. Our emotions are not authentic because they do not touch our inner core. If we intensely experience these events born out of desires and perceived by our senses, we find that neither the peaks thrill us nor the valleys sadden us. We don't need to suppress or ignore these emotions; we can experience them fully without differentiation and move on.

How many times have we found that what we see and hear turn out to be not what we understand them to be? Our senses interpret what they sense in the light of v®sanc$ and sa¼sk©ra$. There is nothing real about what we see. Different people perceiving the same object or event have different interpretations based upon their conditioning. So it is with pleasure and pain. What is pleasure for one person can be pain for another. What is pleasure for one person causes pain to another person.

We rush towards pleasure and away from pain. We are so eager to fulfill our desires that we go to any length to amass wealth and do any deed, however questionable it may seem. As Krishna says, this goes on until we die. If we expect that we will suddenly be filled with thoughts of the Divine at death, even though our whole life we chased only pleasures, this is another foolish fantasy.

If all our life we have been chasing money, at the point of death also, we will be obsessed with money, even if we realize that we can't take it with us. If all our life we have been obsessed with lust, we will die in lust. If we live as a demon, focused on 'me', we cannot suddenly take the leap to 'You' at the point of death. That does not happen.

Q: Swamiji, the cow is considered sacred and divine in Hindu religion. If it is based on ahimsa (non-violence), then no animal should be killed. Why not other animals?

All life is sacred, whether human, animal, plant or whatever else. In vedic times, it was primarily a pastoral lifestyle and the cow was an important part of day-to-day life. It was also a measure of wealth. The cow was seen to be giving itself selflessly, leading a 'You' focused existence. Based on these factors, it was given a place of honor and considered holy and sacred.

In a sense, the cow was given a special place of protection. Such protection was not available to all animals. Even if we extended that protection to all animals, what about other living beings, plants, fish and so on?

Only a person who is aware can practice ahimsa, nonviolence. The same is true of satya, truth. We are not referring only to nonviolence and truth in action, but in thoughts and words as well. Such nonviolence and truth require purity of thoughts, words and action. This can only be done at a high level of conscious awareness.

We are not talking about the moral issue of whether an animal can be killed for food or whether a plant can be consumed as food. It is a conscious awareness when working with nature. For a wild animal like a tiger or lion, it is natural to hunt, kill and eat a deer. There is nothing immoral about it. That is the law of Existence. A lion or a tiger needs to kill other animals to survive.

That is not the case with humans. When a person is aware and conscious, he will not have the desire to consume meat. Nonviolence lives in that person. If one extends that logic to plants, the practice in ancient times was to use plant material only when it was ready to fall, like a fruit from a tree and so on. So, in ancient times, the concept of nonviolence was extended to plant life as well.

In our present day lifestyle, this may not be possible. We do not live nearby trees. In a few generations from now, children may ask, 'What is a tree?' In the same way, modern city children ask about a cow. They have never seen one!

This is where the concept of aparigraha or living within one's basic needs, comes into application. When we limit our consumption to real needs, minimal needs, we stay within nature's tolerance limits. However, as a rule, man is greedy. What rules him are his wants, not his needs. While nature can meet the needs of all beings, it cannot meet the wants of even a single person. We need to live with the higher consciousness that respects nature.

People ask why we insist on Nithya Spiritual Healers being vegetarians, teetotalers and so on. We insist on this only for their good. The meditation through which Nithya Healing works cannot tolerate the energy of meat, alcohol, tobacco and such substances. They act negatively on our energy.

These restrictions are not based on moral considerations. My recommendations are based purely on energy considerations. These substances such as egg, meat, alcohol, tobacco and other toxic substances act adversely on our energy system.

When we meditate and grow in awareness, our need for these substances drops. In the USA, we conducted a special program for those who wanted to pursue meditation for self-healing, yet did not want to give up meat, alcohol, etc. After following the meditation practice, many found that they no longer wanted to consume these substances! They then returned for advanced healing programs, fully prepared and committed to the conditions of no meat, no alcohol, etc.

This is what happened. With meditation, body awareness increased. They started listening to their body. Constantly our body cries out to us to stop abusing it with these toxins. The problems begin when we do not listen to its calls. Now these healers have listened and stopped consuming these toxins. Their consciousness has blossomed.

If man blossoms in his consciousness, he is God; he is bliss. He is in nityananda.

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Sensory Trap

16.13 They think: This has been gained by me today; I shall fulfill this desire; I have this much wealth and will have more wealth in the future;

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Sensory Trap

16.14 That enemy has been slain by me, and I shall slay others also. I am the Lord. I am the enjoyer. I am successful, powerful, and happy.

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Sensory Trap

16.15 I am rich and born in a noble family. Who is equal to me? I shall perform sacrifice, I shall give charity, and I shall rejoice. Thus deluded by

16

Sensory Trap

16.16 thus confused by various anxieties and caught in a net of illusions, one becomes too deeply attached to sensory pleasures and falls into hell.

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Sensory Trap

Krishna does not let go. He wants Arjuna and mankind to understand how deeply the human psyche is damaged by the ego.

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Sensory Trap

Shankara defines chora or food, in one of his commentaries, to mean all sensory inputs, whereas traditionally chora is translated as food. Food, as we normally understand it, is what the mouth consumes. This is the sustenance upon which the physical body feeds and grows. Many live only to eat, but a few aware ones eat only enough to sustain them, so that they can live.

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Sensory Trap

Every sensory organ has its own chora, inputs, upon which it feeds. Based on these inputs, the eye, ear, tongue, nose and skin develop their desires and convey these desires to the body-mind system. Control of these senses and the desires that they weave is what Sage Patanjali prescribed as pratychora, one of the eight methods of his Ashtanga Yoga.

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Sensory Trap

Pratyhcra is not suppression of the senses. Pratyhcra is not starving the senses. Just as we need to eat in order to live, the senses need inputs to function.

However, these inputs can be regulated so that the fantasies they weave are kept in control.

The average human is led by his senses; he does not lead his senses. His karmendriya, the organs of action that are responsible for movements are driven by these senses without the need for input from the conscious mind. Instinctively, they avoid pain and welcome pleasure.

A small story:

Two friends met in the street. One of them looked sad and almost on the verge of tears. The other one asked, 'What happened? Why do you look so sad?'

He replied, 'My uncle passed away three weeks ago. He left me fifty thousand dollars.'

His friend said, 'That's not bad.'

He continued, 'Two weeks ago my cousin died and he left me ninety thousand dollars.'

His friend cried, 'This is great!'

He went on, 'Last week my grandfather died. He left me a million.'

His friend asked, 'Then why are you so sad?'

He replied, 'Because this week, nobody died.'

Understand: Once we allow our mind to get driven away by the senses, there is no stopping. We won't know how to make it stop either. So we continue with our fantasies. We fantasize about accumulating wealth. Unfortunately for us, the purpose of gaining wealth is rarely to enjoy it. If that was the reason, all we need to do is to gain some wealth and then spend it on enjoyment. In most cases, the joy of acquisition becomes the drive for the person rather than the joy of using the wealth. It has nothing to do with what one can do with the wealth. It has to do with how much more we have than all the other people that we know.

The day our neighbor buys a new air-conditioner, the temperature in our house goes up! The day our neighbor buys a new car, our car, which till that day ran well, will stall. As soon as we see another woman wearing the latest style shoes, our shoes that had fit absolutely fine, start pinching.

You And Me

We are driven by comparison and envy. We are not merely fulfilling our needs, we are actually fulfilling other people's wants and desires. From childhood, we are taught to grab. Nothing we have is enough. Nothing fulfills us. Until death, we are driven by greed.

In our second-level program, called the Nithyananda Spurana Program, NSP or Life Bliss Level 2, participants are led through a meditation on desires. They write everything they have always wanted. They sometimes write pages of desires. They are asked to remember these. They are then led through a meditation and at the end of the meditation, they are asked to recollect all the desires they wrote.

To their surprise, they recollect only a few. Those that they recollect are mostly those that benefit people at large, rather than them alone. The meditation process is designed to dissolve saṃskāras, the accumulated unfulfilled desires. What remain are the original desires with which one is born. These are called prārabdha karma, desires with which we assume our present bodies.

Our body-mind system carries within it the energy required to fulfill the desires that we were born with. Nature, as Mahavira and other great masters have said, brings us into this world having already made sure that all our needs will be fulfilled. However, we develop wants and desires that we borrow from others; these are not our needs.

People are surprised that over time, they lose interest in the drive to have more material possessions after this shift. It no longer makes sense to them. They develop a sense of detachment. At the same time, they find that what they really want happens, without effort on their part. Ask our healers who must go through NSP before I ordain them as healers. They have become less greedy, less judgmental, less negative, and more focused on others. Yet they find that things happen the way they want them to, even though they only spend a fraction of the time they used to on chasing material possessions.

Many Nithya Healers graduate into ācāryas or teachers and into organizers the of Nithyananda Mission activities. They spend more and more time on the mission, and less and less time on their own work. People are amazed to see that with much less time or effort invested, they do better at work and their businesses and their careers!

This is no surprise to those who understand the way Existence works. Existence is waiting to shower us with all that we need. The problem is that we never stop to understand what we need. All the time we are caught in the web of our sensory fantasies, and we run after what others own; we let our senses lead us. After

doing these programs and becoming healers, these people spend more time meditating and being aware of who they are. They develop an understanding of their real needs. It is no longer necessary to run after empty wants. What they need comes to them; their needs follow them.

I tell them again and again, 'Do not get stuck in my form. Do not run after me. Do not chase me. Just devote yourself to the mission, which is for universal benefit. Focus only on serving the mission. Then, I will run after you. I shall chase you to be with you.' Many quickly understand this. To them it makes no difference where they are and where I am physically. Wherever they are, I am with them. It is not a mere theory or illusion. Ask them. It is real.

Once we move from the 'me' focused demonic state into the 'you' based divine state, we no longer need to worry about creating wealth, developing a power base, establishing relationships or whatever else we have focused attention upon all our lives. Existence takes care of all this. Existence takes care of us.

If instead, we are focused on our own self, 'me,' be sure, we are moving in a downward spiral that Krishna says takes us into hell.

Q: Based on our education, many of us believed that science had all the answers. Even when science did not have answers to what the scriptures said, rather than denying science and accepting its limitations, we denied what the scriptures said. Thanks to you, many of us understand the truth behind the scriptures.

There is a huge difference between fact and truth. Science, history, and all these logical creations are interested in only facts. Facts are limited by one's understanding, limited by the perceptions of one's mind. Fact is three-dimensional; it is limited in size, space and time.

Truth is forever. It is not limited by size, space and time. When masters say something, it may not be relevant to what exists at that point in time. It is a part of their cosmic experience that transcends time and space.

Time and again disciples tell me, 'Swamiji, we could not understand what you said a year or two ago. It made no sense because it had nothing to do with what we could see as reality. Now we see everything happening exactly the way you said long ago.'

We can understand many things that are beyond the mind from conscious awareness and experience. They cannot be proven by logic and experimentation.

When I say that I leave my body every night, it sounds like a madman's tale to a non-believer. However, close disciples know the truth.

Life is more like magic than mathematics. It is a mystery, insoluble, unfathomable, inexhaustible. It is a miracle that we cannot understand. Science tries to demystify it. As science has become more powerful, people have become more irreligious, for the simple reason that they think they already know what it is all about. And they know very little.

Science gives facts, not truth; it talks about objects. Yet the real substance is our subjectivity, our consciousness, and science is ignorant of that.

So as not to accept defeat, science goes on denying this. But it cannot deny it. Even the scientist knows perfectly well that he is, and he is not an object. In fact, without him there would be no science. Without the observer, nothing would be observed; the object exists only because there is a subject.

That inner subjectivity is a magical phenomenon. It is unbelievable. One can experience it and one can be in tremendous awe. That awe is spirituality, that wonder is the Divine.

Spirituality fills our life with more and more mystery. Even things that were never mysteries turn out to be mysteries. A rose flower, a pebble on the shore, a bird in the sky, all these become mysteries. Science demystifies, spirituality gives us back the whole mystery of life.

If we look from the outside, man seems to be another animal. But this is only a sensory perception, since we are used to seeing things from the outside.

If we want to know the human being, we must look from within. Humans have consciousness. The human nature is centered within. Our senses keep dragging us to the periphery of our being. Our true nature pulls us back to our center. As a result, humans become eccentric. We constantly move from the peripheral senses to the central reality and back. We swing like a pendulum.

Meditation is the bridge from the periphery to the center. It is a commitment to discover our inner nature, a commitment to make self-discovery the central focus of our life. If we are decisive, the very decision starts the process of our transformation.

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Cast into Suffering

16.17 Self-complacent and always conceited, deluded by wealth and false pride, they perform superficial sacrifices in name only, without following the vedic rules or regulations.

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Cast into Suffering

16.18 The demonic person, consumed by ego, power, pride, lust and anger, becomes envious of the supreme personality of godhead, who is situated in His own body and in the bodies of others, and blasphemies against Him.

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Cast into Suffering

16.19 Those who are envious (of Him) and cruel, who are the lowest among men, I repeatedly cast into the ocean of material existence, into various lowly, demonic forms of life.

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Cast into Suffering

16.20 These foolish beings attain repeated birth amongst the species of demonic life. Without ever achieving Me, O Son of Kunti, they sink into the most abominable existence.

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Cast into Suffering

Krishna has said in other verses that He will receive anyone with compassion and redeem them. Here He says He will cast them aside into suffering. How do we reconcile these two positions?

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Cast into Suffering

Both positions are true! After all, every word that an enlightened master utters is true. It is our understanding that needs to improve.

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Cast into Suffering

Krishna is compassion incarnate. Anyone who surrenders to Him is redeemed, liberated. That is the absolute truth. The problem is that we only pretend to surrender. What we have are mere words. Our thoughts do not match our words, and our words do not match our actions.

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Cast into Suffering

People come to me and say, 'Swamiji, we surrender to you. Please help us and relieve us of our suffering.' When I tell them to attend the meditation program the following week, they say they need to check their appointment book!

Is this surrender? Does this have any meaning? It is sheer hypocrisy, trying to involve the master in a conspiracy of our own making.

There are a few people who take foolish risks despite my warning; they say that they have faith in me and that they will be saved. A few years ago, on our Himalayan trip, such an incident happened. We were staying at Gangotri, where river Ganga takes shape. We planned to go to Gomukh, the source of Ganga the next day. Gangotri is about 12,000 feet high and Gomukh is a difficult and dangerous climb of another 3,000 feet. At the discourse the night before, I announced that I had decided not to climb to Gomukh as I felt the strong possibility of landslides, which are common in that area.

Usually I give people a choice. They need to exercise their free will. I told my followers that I would not be going because the weather would be bad; however, if anyone felt that they must go, it was their choice. We had eight buses with about thirty people in each bus. Each bus had a leader who kept track of his group and one person coordinated all the buses. It was understood that everyone should keep their group leader informed of their whereabouts, since the mountains could be treacherous.

The next morning I casually asked someone whether anyone had gone to Gomukh. That person did not know. I called the overall coordinator. He said no one had told him they would be going. However, one person had said the previous night that he planned to go despite my warning and he would surrender to me to ensure his safety!

About ten people went to Gomukh that day without informing their group leaders. There were land and snow slides along the way. They returned safely.

If these people had really surrendered, they would have listened to my warning and not gone. What perversion of surrender is that when someone goes against my warning and still says I should take care? This is how many of us behave. We hurt others, harm others, we do all kinds of nonsense which we know we should not; then we go to a temple and pray that everything should be okay. How can it be okay? Why should it be okay?

Every action has a reaction. That reaction is what we commonly call karma. Forget all philosophical, metaphorical and spiritual significances. Common sense tells us that if we do something there will be a consequence. Ninety percent of the time we know the consequences in advance. And still we claim we make rational decisions.

Why then make God or master responsible for our rational decisions?

If they have faith in me, why don't they listen to me in the first place? Why do things I advise against and then say that their faith in me will save them? Is it to test me? Is it to make me responsible for their foolish deeds?

The point is that as human beings we have free will. The problem is that we feel free, yet we are unwilling to exercise our will. People ask whether they are controlled by destiny or free will. I tell them that no destiny binds them; they are free to exercise their will.

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad puts it so well: as are your thoughts, so is your will; as is your will, so your action, as are your actions, so is your destiny.

Destiny is nothing but the end result of how we exercise our free will. The problem is, we have no will; in the morning we want to do one thing, by noon it is something different, by night it is totally different. So, if our will keeps changing, how can it ever be converted into action?

People tell me, 'Swamiji, you say visualization helps make things happen; we have tried: nothing happens.'

Nothing happens because you are full of self-contradiction. If we wish to get rid of back pain, and we keep saying, 'Let this back pain go,' it will never go. Every time we utter the words back pain, our mind latches more firmly onto the concept of pain. If we want to get rid of pain, we must visualize health, not pain, not getting rid of pain, but feeling healthy.

When we surrender to Krishna, our surrender must be total. There can be nothing between Him and us. Then, He surely liberates us. Because then we are already liberated, we are in Krishna consciousness.

Here, He talks about people who feel no need to surrender to Him. They are so full of ego, that they feel He is their competitor. He says He will cast them into the material world. In this material world, they can follow their senses, sense objects and what they consider to be sensual pleasures till death. As I said before, it is our decision. Even Krishna is helpless to change it, because He has given us the power to decide. He has handed over the decision to us; to decide whether we want to be 'me' or 'you' focused: demonic or divine.

Saying again and again, 'I believe in what Krishna says,' has no meaning. It does not help. Faith does not mean belief. Belief is not trust. Belief is a pseudo-trust,

imposed, cultivated out of fear. It is not something that has grown from within us. Rather, it is something that has been implanted by others: society, religion, the state. They have their own interest in creating belief in people. Believers are obedient. Believers are not rebellious. Believers remain stupid; they never grow in intelligence. And society does not want people to be intelligent.

Society can tolerate intellectuals but not the really intelligent. It can tolerate professors, scholars, educated people and knowledgeable people. They are intellectuals, not wise, not intelligent, because if they were intelligent they could not cooperate with all the hypocrisies that go on in the name of tradition, culture, civilization and religion. They would rebel.

Society has a vested interest in belief. Society creates belief. It is a poisonous phenomenon. It destroys intelligence; it destroys independence and rebelliousness. It creates hypocrites. The 'yes' of a man who cannot say 'no' is always powerless. First a man must learn to say 'no,' only then does his 'yes' have meaning.

Faith is different from belief. It is a totally different phenomenon. It is not social. It is individual. Others do not give it to us. It is of our own seeking. It grows in us as we start trusting Existence. It arises not out of fear, but out of experience, out of love, out of joy. Faith is tremendous freedom, and infinite bliss.

With faith we grow. We grow in love to a master and to God. Most of us look to God as a person to pray to, to worship. We feel God is a third person. He is not us. Prayer and worship become important pathways to reach this form. The moment we drop the idea of a person, prayer disappears; instead, meditation becomes significant.

In prayer, we worship God. In meditation, we become God. It is easy to resort to worship, as it is external. We are used to focusing on externals. Meditation is going inwards. So, it is more difficult for many who are educated rationally. That's why meditation never became the central core of religion in the West. In the East all the great masters founded their teachings on meditation. They taught them to be God, not to worship God.

Meditation leads us to surrender. Meditation is the creation of awareness. Awareness is the knowledge that we are one with the universe. It is then about 'you' instead of 'me'. The feeling of 'you' and the absence of 'me' dissolve the idea of 'I' as identity. This is the foundation of surrender.

This is what Krishna talks about in this chapter. The courage to move from 'me' to 'you' is the courage to trust, love and surrender. When that happens there is nothing else but Him. We become Krishna.

When we are one with the universe, one with Krishna, there is nothing else we need to look up to. There is nothing else to look for. We have reached eternal bliss - nityānanda.

Q: Swamiji, many religions refer to love as the noblest of all emotions. Is love the same as surrender?

Yes, love is indeed noble. Yet most of us do not know love. What we think of as love is either lust or a cunning tool to demand attention. For most, love is business.

As long as love is conditional, it cannot be noble. For humans, unconditional love is almost impossible. To be unconditional, love can have no expectations. Even a mother loves her child based on expectations. Perhaps not when the child is an infant and there is an instinctive need to protect. Once the child grows up there is almost always a condition attached to the nurturing.

Many parents complain that their children are doing whatever they please. They say they love their children and cannot bear to see them ruin their lives. When I ask them how they are ruining their lives, they say either that the boy or girl plans to marry someone they love or they want to work instead of getting married.

Who is getting married? Is it the father and the mother, or the child? Why would they ruin their lives if they married on their own or decided on a career? It is all the expectations of the parents that the children should do as the parents demand. Why? Parents do not possess their children just because they brought them into this world.

This attachment and these expectations do not allow us to express love unconditionally.

Nonetheless, love is the ruler of all emotions. Learn only two things: meditation and love. For some, the emphasis will be on love; meditation will be a support. For others, meditation will be the main key; then love becomes the support. Both are needed; the question is of emphasis.

If your emphasis is going to be on love, love the Whole, love the entire world. Let your love be undivided and undifferentiated. Let it be like the sun who warms all, saint and sinner alike. Love is the most luminous phenomenon but one needs totally different eyes to know it, to see it, to feel it. Ordinary eyes cannot look at

This is what surrender is about: It is asking for your defeat. Let me repeat: Surrender, renunciation of the self, or sanyās is a defeat, a defeat of the ego. God is realized the moment the ego is dissolved.

Surrender is the search for the divine principle. Call it God, truth, freedom, or nirvāṇa. They mean the same thing. The search is for something that is missing in life. We are alive but unaware of what life is about. We exist, but we are completely oblivious to the fact of who we are.

Existence is there, but awareness is not there. Unless existence becomes aware of itself, life remains empty, unfulfilled. The search is for awareness. Awareness is the divine principle that can transform your life from a mechanical existence into conscious bliss. This search is not done in the outer world; it is done in the inner world. The truth has to be found with closed eyes, within oneself. It is already there; we must dive into ourselves.

Meditation is the art of diving into oneself. Surrender is the courage to take this plunge. One is going into the unfathomable, and in the beginning it is frightening, but only in the beginning. As you become more and more skillful at diving deeper and deeper, life becomes an adventure of tremendous beauty and bliss.

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Of Gold And Women

16.21 There are three gates leading to this hell: lust, anger and greed. As they lead to the degradation of the soul, these three are to be abandoned.

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Of Gold And Women

16.22 Those who have escaped these three gates of hell, O son of Kunti, behave in a manner beneficial to the (evolution of the) soul, and thus (gradually) attain the supreme destination.

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Of Gold And Women

16.23 But he who discards scriptural injunctions and acts according to his base impulses attains neither perfection, nor happiness, nor the supreme destination.

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Of Gold And Women

16.24 By the regulations of the scriptures, one should understand what is duty and what is not duty. After being versed in scriptural injunctions, one should act accordingly.

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Of Gold And Women

Krishna ends the chapter with this advice: Shed anger, greed and lust and we will be saved. He calls them gates to hell. These are the qualities of the blocked mōdhora cakra. These are attributes that bind us to 'me' and 'mine'. We mistakenly believe that these qualities are essential for our life on this planet. Nothing can be more wrong. As long as we are bound by anger, lust and greed, what He calls the three gateways to hell, we are in bondage; we are in suffering. We do not need to die and be escorted to someplace called hell. We live in it day after day and suffer. Kāma, krodha and lobha: lust, anger and greed - when we shed these we are liberated. Ramakrishna says again and again, drop kāñcana and kāminī, gold and women, greed and lust, and we will be liberated. Lust for women, and greed for gold, these two desires more than anything else, cause all our sufferings.

Krodha, anger, arises out of the suffering. We feel thwarted and we feel angry. The cycle goes on. When these three combine, they create moha, or delusion. There is nothing real about kåñcana - gold and kåminã - woman, because these are impermanent; they cannot give abiding joy. We may feel the pleasure for a while. After that, we will take them for granted. We will be like that king in the story I told earlier, whose possessions had to be robbed before he could come out of his depression.

Management of these emotions is addressed in detail in our Life Bliss Program. We explain the origin of these emotions and how to control them. We teach meditation techniques that liberate us from the harmful expressions of these emotions.

At one level these emotions are desires. Anger, greed and lust are expressions related to desires. Desires are energy. Lust is what drives us into reproduction and it is essential for the survival of species. Greed is the extreme expression of our survival needs. Anger is often the driving force to get things done. They achieve positive results, too.

However, Krishna refers to the expression of these emotions in the context of self-gratification. He refers to the gratification of base impulses. The baseness of the impulse is related to the intention. As long as these are expressed with the attitude of 'me,' they are base and demonic impulses. There are no redeeming features.

Lust can be transformed when it is expressed in an unselfish and unattached way. Lust will then totally disappear. Compassion and caring will be in its place. Every woman, including his own wife, was 'mother' for Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, enlightened master from India. That was the extent of his purity and devotion. Of course, such people are exceptions.

People ask me, 'Swamiji, man has evolved from mammals. Mammals are polygamous by nature. How can we expect human beings to be monogamous?'

Please understand that animals mate to procreate, never for entertainment. Only humans engage in sex for entertainment. That is why there is so much pornography. Animals mate purely for reproduction and the survival of their species. So it makes no difference whether they mate with one or many. They also mate at certain times, unlike humans. Animal lust is pure. There is no fantasy involved when animals mate. No animal fantasizes about another animal when it is mating.

Human beings indulge in sexual fantasies. Their lust is impure. It is corrupted because lust is not used for what it is intended. It is used for everything except

reproduction. How many couples indulge in sex with no thought except that of their mate?

In the Shiva Sutras, Shiva tells Devi that in every couple's bed there are four people. In addition to the man and the woman, there is the man's fantasy of his woman and the woman's fantasy of her man. It is an orgy, not a relationship.

Human beings have the consciousness to rise from polygamous instincts to monogamous intelligence. That is the whole basis of societal regulations. We may look at it as a constraint, but it is a discipline that prevents abuse of one human being by another. Why else is there a need to marry? You can always live like animals and do what you please, if you can.

We can't. Our intellect will not allow us. Our mind will create a thousand fantasies. It will create desire first and then guilt. So we swing from desire to guilt, guilt to anger, anger to depression and so on. It will become a vicious cycle.

Living like an animal is not an option for a human being. Ascent is the natural law, not descent. We need to rise in awareness, not descend into ignorance. That is why, if we are aware, we move from the polygamous instinct to monogamous intelligence. In fact, if we are truly intelligent, our intuition takes us beyond monogamy into aloneness.

Aloneness need not be running off into a forest to meditate. We can be alone in the midst of a family. Being alone is to move to our core. Aloneness is our real nature as a human being. Then we move into that attitude of 'you' instead of focusing on 'me.'

Lust is one aspect of the broad spectrum of desires. Unending desire is greed. When a desire is truly fulfilled, it leaves us. Karma is unfulfilled desires that goad us into action. We can never fulfill our desires because many of these desires are not truly ours. We borrow these desires from other people. We need a bigger house, fancier car or younger wife because our friend, neighbor or cousin has one.

Even if we acquire one, the satisfaction will be temporary. We will meet another friend, neighbor or cousin who has a bigger house, better car or more beautiful wife. So it goes on. It goes on without end. There is never contentment. Each desire is the seed of suffering. That is why Krishna calls it a gateway to hell. But how do we get rid of these desires?

This is what we teach at our second level Life Bliss Program, the Nithyananda Spurana Program or NSP. We help identify true desires, the prarabdha karma, with

which we are born into this world. These are our true needs, not borrowed wants. We have the energy to fulfill them and discard them. Our karma dissolves.

The NSP course leaves us free of negativities. People who attend this program say that they cannot hate or even dislike anyone. The 'I' blossoms into 'you' effortlessly.

At this stage, we shed anger as well. Anger and guilt are byproducts of desires. What we cannot acquire makes us angry. Anger produces guilt. Being angry towards a person is fruitless. Much of the negativity expressed towards others comes back to us. It depletes our energy. Anger or even guilt is also often an expression of one's inability to do something. It is a self-centered emotion born of one's weakness.

Suppression of anger does not help. It can actually lead to chronic diseases like cancer. When we learn to turn the emotion of anger towards an issue instead of a person, it becomes energy instead of a disability. Anger needs to be transformed into the positive energy of action.

What Krishna asks us to do is to transform negative emotions like lust, greed and anger into positive energies. He tells us that these are gateways to hell so long as we use them from the attitude of 'me.' When we transform these emotions into energy, by shifting to the attitude of 'you,' these same emotions become gateways to heaven.

Q: Swamiji, in order to achieve bliss, instead of being caught in temporary pleasures that only result in suffering, is it enough to drop anger, lust and greed?

First of all, bliss is never an achievement on our part. Whatsoever we do to achieve bliss is doomed to fail. All our effort emerges from the mind, it comes out of the ego, it comes out of our anguish, anxiety, desire and ambition; it comes out of our confusion. It can't bring bliss to us. It can bring only misery.

The struggle for bliss becomes one more struggle, like the struggle for kāminī and kāñcana, women and gold, lust and greed. You only move from one misery to another misery. While you are changing from one misery to another, you may think those intermediate moments are blissful. You feel joy in those small gaps when you change tracks; that's all.

But bliss always comes from the beyond as a gift. We must be passively receptive to it. We are not to be aggressively active for it, just be receptive like a womb. We must be feminine to receive bliss. We must become pregnant with God.

When ego disappears, anger, greed and lust also disappear. What is left is bliss.

Bliss has a luminosity of its own. Misery is dark; bliss is bright. The miserable person casts a shadow on others, too. He comes like a black hole, he sucks people's energy; his presence is destructive. However, the presence of a blissful person is creative, nourishing. It showers light on others.

Bliss is never in the past and never in the future; it is always in the present. Bliss means to be in the present, to be totally here and now. Then one's heart dances and sings and great celebration flowers in one's being: each cell dances, each fiber of one's being sings.

Because bliss is always of the present, one philosopher said that he does not want to go to paradise because he will get bored of bliss! There will be only bliss and nothing else. There will be no misery, no tension, and no anxiety. He does not understand what bliss is; he is simply playing with the word. Bliss is always young; as fresh as dewdrops in the early morning sun, as fresh as a rose opening up. It never grows old and one never grows tired of it, one is never bored by it.

Bliss is that with which you can never be bored, because it is never old. It is always new, and it is never repetitive. It is so fresh every moment, how can you be bored? Hence all the religions say that the angels go on singing on their harps. All that they do is sing, because singing represents joy: they rejoice! This is not a state somewhere above you in the sky. That state is within you. Whenever you are in contact with the present, you are in paradise. 'Now' is another name for paradise.

Bliss is a by-product of total trust in Existence or in God. God is not a person but the impersonal presence. The very life or Existence is God and the living energy is God. And to trust in it means to stop struggling against it. Struggling against it creates misery; it is trying to go upstream. Trust means surrender, going with the stream. And going with the stream is bliss. All misery is because of the ego and its struggle, its resistance. Trust means that resistance has been dropped. You don't think of yourself as separate from the Whole; you are just an intrinsic part of the great harmony of Existence, a small note in this great orchestra. Then bliss is natural.

My whole effort here is to help you move towards bliss. The way to bliss is through the heart and through devotion. That is why in addition to meditation, we engage in dancing and singing devotional songs. These are the ways in which you can be persuaded back to the heart.

Once you are there, once you have tasted the peace of the heart, you will be surprised. The head is left far behind. It is no concern of yours. It is as if it no longer belongs to you, it may be somebody else's head. It is so far away, so distant that you don't even hear the noise. The heart is so deep that the head becomes infinitely distant. Those are the moments when you feel for the first time what bliss is; otherwise it is only a word.

Rarely have people felt the real taste of bliss. People use the word and they think they understand it. They can't understand; it needs some existential experience to understand it because bliss is synonymous with God. Bliss is the ultimate meaning of life.

To feel that one is 'nobody' is of tremendous significance because that cuts the root of the ego. The ego lives through the idea of superiority. And sometimes the ego stands on its head; then it lives through inferiority. However, a person who knows that he is nobody is neither superior nor inferior, he is simply not. And in those moments of non-being, bliss descends.

Without ego, you cannot be miserable. Just try! Nobody has ever succeeded, and I don't think anybody ever will. Without the ego it is impossible to be miserable, just as with the ego it is impossible to be blissful. When there is no ego, only bliss is left.

Ego keeps you restless, keeps you occupied: 'Do this, do that, be this, be that.' It goes on giving you new projects. It never leaves you alone. It keeps goading you. You must become somebody, you must be the president of the country or the prime minister, and you must be famous. You must earn so much money. It goes on goading you till it either drives you mad, drives you to the point of suicide, or drives you to a master!

By dropping the ego, great rest happens. Then there is no need to try any relaxation method; one is relaxed, there is nothing to be tense about. That natural, spontaneous relaxation brings bliss in a flood; one is overwhelmed. And bliss never comes in small measures. When it comes, it comes like a flood; when it comes, it drowns you totally.

Go beyond ego. The very idea is dangerous; ego must be dropped, because the moment you think of yourself as great, you think of others as inferior; it is based on comparison. Comparing yourself with anybody is harmful. It is harmful to the other and to you. Everybody is unique. Nobody is great and there is nobody who is not great. Nobody is big and nobody is small. All are unique, incomparably unique.

This is the spiritual understanding. When one becomes awakened, this is how one looks at people. They are not alike; at the innermost core they are the same, but on the circumference they are unique personalities. A rose is a rose, a lotus is a lotus: neither is the lotus greater nor is the rose greater. Both have blossomed, both express God in their own ways.

Love yourself. That is the beginning, then love those close to you, then love the world, then love the whole cosmos; only then will you be able to love God. The journey begins from one's self and ends in God. These are the two banks of the river. You are on one bank, God is on the other; love is the bridge. The bridge passes over the whole river, but people fear love; that's why they keep praying. They never understand what they are doing; their prayer is ignorance. Unless it is full of love, it can't be true.

Unless you live in love, you can't enter any temple of God; and one who lives in love need not enter a temple, he is already in it. Remember this simple message and try to live it, because this is not a doctrine to be believed in, but a life to be lived. Bloom in love and release the fragrance of love. That is prayer. And only the fragrance of love reaches God, nothing else.

All of you need to become a living message of bliss, not only in words but also in deeds. Your being must radiate bliss. You need to be blissful and you must create an atmosphere of bliss around yourself, so that whosoever comes in contact with you immediately feels the cool breeze of bliss.

The real message cannot be conveyed through words. Words can help. But they are secondary; the real message can be communicated only through being; that is primary. Be cheerful, be blissful, be a song and a dance, and transform your whole life into a sacred celebration, into a sacred ceremony. This is surrender.

The moment one starts seeking and searching for oneself, one becomes the blessed one. The enquiry itself is the beginning of the transformation. The more passionate the enquiry, the sooner transformation comes. Make it intense and make it total.

Surrender must be a deep commitment. Surrender must become more valuable than anything else in life, even more valuable than life itself. This is one fundamental secret of life and Existence: you live only when you have something for which you are ready to sacrifice your life.

Life begins only when you have something more, higher, bigger, holier than life, in your life. Only when life becomes a means to a higher end, then your life starts having a context. And in that context only, there is meaning, significance, and bliss.

Meditation leads to bliss; it makes it happen. It leads you within and ultimately that's where God is. Slowly learn how to dissolve. Dissolve in any act, then that act becomes blissful. If you jog, you disappear in the jogging and there is no jogger, only jogging remains. Or if you meditate in the early morning, there is no meditator but only the meditating remains. You are so possessed by the act itself there is only the act and no doer inside. Then it is bliss, a blissful dance.

Meditation is the key to bliss. Some people believe that meditation is nothing but a kind of thinking, thinking of higher things. When you think of God, when you think of Love, it is called meditation. No, that is contemplation. It is better than thinking about useless things, but it is not meditation.

Thinking is not meditation. Whether you think of God or money, it doesn't matter. Going beyond thoughts is meditation.

Thinking in any manner about any object is a disturbance in meditation. In the East, meditation means a state of no thought. It is pure Being. That is the greatest experience in life, when you simply exist. No thought crosses your being. The whole traffic stops and the mind disappears. All that remains is consciousness. Whatsoever was hidden behind the thoughts is no more hidden. Whatsoever was involved in thoughts is no more involved. All energy is released. One is simply a pool of energy, and so silent that not even a ripple arises.

Bliss happens if we fulfill one condition, that of being peaceful at heart. And it is not difficult to fulfill. The heart is peaceful; however, we are not there. We live in the head. The head remains with thoughts, desires, imagination, memory; the constant traffic of all these things will be there. It is always rush hour, twenty-four hours a day; the crowd of desires is passing day in, day out.

If you try to make the mind silent, you get into more trouble and become frustrated. That happens to people who don't know what right meditation is. Then they learn tricks to hypnotize themselves. And there are tricks available: repeat a

certain mantra, chant a certain name and constantly repeat certain words. Any words will do; there are no sacred words, all words are the same.

This is not meditation. Constant repetition of a name creates a state of deep sleep in the head: you fall asleep. It is good, nothing is wrong with good sleep; but it is not meditation and it will not transform you. The real transformation happens when your energy moves from the head to the heart. When you reach the heart, you reach the core of your consciousness.

In that silent pool of consciousness, of energy, Existence is reflected; we come to know that which is. God is another name for that which is.

The most important thing to remember in life is that God loves us: He has not forsaken us, He is not indifferent to us and He is continually concerned about us, He cares.

The deeper this idea enters your heart, the better, because when you feel more loved by God, you will be able to love others. That's how we are able to love: if we are loved, we can love. If we are not loved, we don't know how to love; we don't know what love is.

God is our substance, our very being. He is not something outside us; He is our innermost core. We do not need to seek and search for Him. Only this has to be remembered: we have forgotten it. God is not lost; only we have forgotten who we are.

Don't be identified with the body. Don't be identified with your mind, country, race or religion. Don't be identified with anything. Don't think, 'I am this' or 'I am that'. Remember, neither 'this' nor 'that'. That is one of the secret teachings of the mystics: neti-neti, neither 'this' nor 'that'. Avoid 'this' and avoid 'that,' too.

If you can avoid both polarities, day and night, life and death, body and mind, then slowly a third energy arises in you, a third force arises in you. That is consciousness. That's your reality. That is freedom: freedom from fear, anxiety, misery, freedom from the world, freedom from the wheel of life and death. Then you are a witness, watching, getting identified with neither 'this' nor 'that'; you are a spectator, a mirror reflecting but not getting caught in any reflection.

When you are a witness, the 'me' and 'mine' drop. What remains is identification with your energy, with your state, not your status. In that state, you are one with all. It is 'you' that becomes the focus, no longer 'me'. You become divine.

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Daivāsura-Sampad-Vibhāga Yogas

Thus ends the sixteenth chapter named Daivāsura-Sampad-Vibhāga Yogas of the Upaniṣad of Bhagavad Gita, the scripture of yoga, dealing with the science of the Absolute in the form of the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna.