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Walk The Path of Truth
May 10, 2013, Bangalore, India

In the seventh chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna begins by
saying, Maiyy asakta-manah Partha yogam yunjan mad-ashrayah.
Asamsayam samagram mam yatha jnasyasi tach-chrnu. (7.1)
He says, By keeping all your affection on Me, and practicing the path of Yoga
as described by Me, I shall now explain to you how you can know Me
completely.
Here, aasakti means affection, and ashraya means that which we depend on.
There is affection (aasakti) towards those who we love, and there are those
whom we depend (ashraya) on. And that which we stay connected to is called
Yoga.
So here, Lord Krishna includes everything. Your heart and your mind, both are
engaged.
For example, your job is different from your hobby. There is aasakti (meaning
desire or affection) towards your hobby, but you do your job because you have
to. So, doing your job regardless of what may be, is Karma Yoga (the path of
performing ones duty). While we do our job because we have to, our affection
is somewhere else, or towards something else.
So here, Lord Krishna begins by saying, One who has his total affection on
me, who is dependent on me, who is constantly devoted towards
uniting with Me through the practice of Yoga (as described by the Lord
Himself), and who is free from doubts; how such a person can know Me
and My true form completely, I will now explain that to you.
Lord Krishna told Arjuna many times, Just focus on Me alone, and not here
and there. Why did he say this so many times? It is because Arjuna was so
dejected and troubled by his doubts.
Only one whose doubts have disappeared can attain knowledge.
Usually we think it is the other way around. One who receives knowledge is
relieved from all his doubts. Here, there are two things.
First, one who gains the knowledge is relieved from all doubts this applies to
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the material world; it is limited.
The other is, one who is freed from doubts; meaning one
whose Prana (subtle life force or energy) is very high, becomes capable of
understanding knowledge at a deeper level. Such a person is one who
truly knows.
We often think that our doubts can be resolved by questions and answers, isnt
it? But it is actually not so. Answering one question leads to ten other
questions in the mind. One pair of question and answer gives rise to ten other
new questions, and then this chain of questions and answers continues
endlessly, but the doubt does not go away.
The very reason we ask questions is to clear our doubts. But here, Lord
Krishna is saying that only one who is freed from all doubts is capable of
knowing (the truth).
Doubt means that your Prana has not blossomed fully; it has not reached its
peak. The Prana has gotten stuck somewhere in the body.
When you are full of Prana, all doubts automatically disappear. That is
why when you are very happy, there are no doubts in your mind. When
you are deeply in love, no doubts arise in you.
Doubt means that you partially believe something, and you partially disbelieve
it also. If you disbelieve something completely, then there is no doubt, and if
you believe something completely, then too you will not have any doubt at all.
So a doubt arises when you both believe and disbelieve something.
Now, how can one be free of all doubts and know something completely? This
is what Lord Krishna talks about.
Jnanam te'ham sa-vijnanam idam vaksyamy asesatah. Yaj jnatva
neha bhuyo 'nyaj jnatavyam avasisyate. (7.2)
He says, This is very deep knowledge (jnana), but there is a science (vigyana)
to it also. This is what I shall tell you now, after knowing which nothing more
remains to be known.
Lord Krishna says, There is nothing that I will keep from you. I am giving you
the complete knowledge.
He does not say that I will tell you one part of this knowledge today and the
remaining part tomorrow. Usually music teachers and maestros do this. They
give the knowledge part by part, in a very miserly manner. They will teach you
two lines of a song and will ask you to practice it and come the next day. Then
they will teach you another two lines and make you repeat the practice.
They will teach the Pallavi (the main thematic line of a song in Carnatic music)
part of the song on one day, and theAnupallavi (the short version of the main
line) the next day. So they do not teach the student fully. They keep testing
the student many times before giving the complete knowledge. But here, Lord
Krishna does not test Arjuna because He already knows everything (about
Arjuna); so there is no need to test.
Anyways, Arjuna is already depressed, so what is the use of testing him
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further. So He tells him, Do not worry. I will tell you everything and leave
nothing out for you to know. And He says that this knowledge is so vast
that after knowing this, nothing more remains to be known further.
When a student is told that he is going to be given very deep knowledge, then
he becomes alert. Just by hearing this, he stands in attention, and his hairs
stand on end with anticipation. Then he listens carefully with full attention.
That is why Lord Krishna adds this line before going further.
If someone tells us something casually, most of the time, we do not even listen
to them attentively. But if they tell you, Come here! I have a secret to tell
you, then you instantly respond by saying, Yes, yes! What is it? Tell me.
You become fully attentive in that moment. Does this happen to you or not?
It may be a very ordinary thing they may want to tell you, but before that if
they say, Listen! I have a secret I want to tell you. It is very urgent, then you
become very alert and attentive, and are completely ready to listen.
So in the same way, here the Guru (Lord Krishna) is preparing the disciple
(Arjuna) to listen to Him attentively. Otherwise the Guru keeps on speaking
and the disciples go off to sleep. This is what usually happens.
Many times, we go to a session to listen to deep knowledge, but we come back
saying, Oh! The knowledge was so high that I could not understand anything.
It all went above my head. Do you know why this happens? It is because we
simply do not listen. Our mind is so full of worries all the time; either our own
or that of others around us. We are not able to live without worrying. And if
there are no problems, then we create problems for ourselves. We find a
thousand reasons to get worried.
In the next verse, He says, Manusyanam sahasresu kascid yatati
siddhaye. Yatatam api siddhanam kascin mam vetti tattvatah. (7.3)
Out of millions of people, very few will walk the spiritual path and
make efforts to gain knowledge of the truth. Very few will follow the
path of Yoga.
In those days too, the state of spirituality was the same.
Mahabharata happened then, and even today it is happening. Only earlier it
took place on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, and today it is happening in our
parliament.
Delhi is just a 100 km away from Kurukshetra anyway. The only difference
today is that the Gita is not being recited there.
If you observe, there is a Kurukshetra happening in every house today
(referring to a state of moral conflict).
So Lord Krishna says that out of millions of people, very few will walk the
spiritual path, and of those few who follow the spiritual path, fewer still are
able to realize Me and know Me completely by my true form (Tattva).
The rest of the people come, just listen and go away without grasping
anything. Only a few rare people are actually able to know Me by My true
nature (Tattva-jnana: here meaning knowledge of the deepest principle or
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element).
This is a great secret. And what is the Tattva that He is speaking about here?
He explains this in the fourth verse: Bhumir apo 'nalo vayuh kham mano
buddhir eva cha. Ahamkara itiyam me bhinna prakrtir ashtadha. (7.4)
He says, Do you think I am only this physical body? No! I am Earth, I am
Water, I am Fire, I am Air and I am Space. I am the Mind, Intellect and the
Ego. These are the eight types of energies, that is me, and I call these
my Apara-prakruti (eight types of nature or modes of expression of the
Divine in the materialistic realm). I am all eight of these. I am present in
every particle of this Earth, and in every molecule of water.
Water is present everywhere in the Earth, in the sky, in the air and in the
sea; it is everywhere.
Do you know, 60% of your body is composed of water? So all these people
sitting here today are nothing but many litres of water (laughter).
If you weigh 60 kg, then nearly 36 kg of your body weight is nothing but
water. So each person is like an earthen pot, filled with water. Similarly, 15%
of your body is made up of the air element. Your body also has the earth
element and all these are bound together by the fire element, and that is
where body heat comes from. So there is heat in the body due to the fire
element.
Then, Lord Krishna also says, I am the mind, intellect and the ego.
Many times people come to me and say, Gurudev, I want to get rid of my
ego.
What is it that you want to get rid of? Ego too is a form of God, so just let
it be there. The ego seated deep within you is also a form of the
Divinity.
He says, All these eight types of nature are present within you, and
they are all nothing but different forms of Me, this is what Lord Krishna
says to Arjuna. You are not your mind. You are not your intellect. You are not
your ego. So what remains then?
In the next verse He says: Apareyam itas tva anyam prakrtim viddhi me
param. Jiva-bhutam maha-baho yayedam dharyate jagat. (7.5)
Besides these eight types of nature which are collectively called the Apara-
prakruti (Apara means that which is related to the material world), there is
another Prakruti (energy) which is much higher, called the Para-prakruti.
Everything in creation is upheld by this Para-prakruti.
That which has taken all the form that you see in the world; that which is the
cause of all that is happening in the world, the reason behind the Sun shining
and the Moon rotating is the Para-prakruti. It is the primary cause behind all
that is happening in the material creation.
So Lord Krishna says to Arjuna, In the absence of the which, no living creature
or human being, neither the Earth, the Universe nor this entire creation can
exist; that Tattva, i.e., the Para-prakruti is me. That which cannot be seen, yet
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it is, and is the basis of everything that exists, that Para-prakruti is me, and
this is what you should know.
The entire creation rests upon this Para-prakruti, which scientists today call the
Dark Matter and Dark Energy.
Scientists today say that the Sun is round like a sphere only because there is
tremendous amounts of pressure of energy from all sides. And the energy in
this empty space around the Sun is much more powerful than the Sun itself. It
is just like how you see a bubble inside a bottle of water. Why is the bubble
round in shape? It is because the water around it is exerting pressure from all
sides.
That is why, any object that appear round in shape, is only because of the
pressure of the energy present in the empty space (which is unseen) around
the object, and which is a thousand times more powerful than the object itself.
All this empty space that you see here, is not actually empty. It is full of
energy which is called Dark Energy and Dark Matter.
It is said, That which is unseen is true. This is because all that you can
see, is a very small part of what actually is.
All the stars and planets that you see in the sky are very small compared to
the invisible energy in the empty space around them, which is much more
powerful than the stars themselves. So this is what scientists today have
spoken about, and the same thing was told by Lord Krishna.
He says, I am that Para-prakruti that holds the entire creation, and which this
creation rests upon.
So Lord Krishna is that Dark Energy that scientists today refer to. The
word Krishna also means dark in colour.
That which cannot be seen is the basis of everything, and that which
we can see is actually nothing! (Laughter)
Whatever we can see the trees, the flowers are a very small part of what
is. It is the manifestation of the Apara-prakruti. But this Apara-prakruti is
contained within the Para-prakruti that cannot be seen. So Lord Krishna says
both these things.
For example, you cannot see the consciousness that is present within you. But
you can perceive the projection of your consciousness in the form of your
mind, intellect and the ego. Isnt it?
So this is what Lord Krishna means when He speaks of Tattva-jnana: (knowing
the creation in terms of its underlying principle or Tattva, i.e., the Divinity).
The speciality of Indian spirituality is that it has never dismissed science. In
fact science has always been given equal importance in Indian spirituality.
This is why it is said, Tattva-jnana, first understand this creation as the
manifestation of the five elements Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Space. By
understanding this knowledge (Apara-prakruti), you can then understand the
higher knowledge of the Para-prakruti. This is what Tattava-jnana is.
Even God has been identified as a Tattva or a fundamental principle. That is
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why Indian spirituality is a combination of spiritual knowledge and scientific
principles.
Your True Nature
May 11, 2013, Bangalore, India
(Below is a continuation of the post Walk The Path of Truth)

The entire creation is composed of two types of Prakruti: Para-
prakruti and Apara-prakruti. Apara-prakruti is of eight types but there is only
one Para-prakruti which upholds everything in this creation.
In the sixth verse, Lord Krishna says, Etad-yonini bhutani sarvanitya
upadharaya. Aham krtsnasya jagatah prabhavah pralayas thata. (Ch.
7.6)
So, Lord Krishna says, This entire creation is made up of both, the Apara-
prakruti andPara-prakruti, and both of these are born out of Me. I am the
cause of their creation and I am the cause of their dissolution, and all of it
resides in Me. This is what you should know.
That from which everything is created is God.
Now you might ask, Then where does God come from?
If He came from some source, then He is not God. Then it is the source from
which He came from that is God.
Often people ask, Who gave birth to God?
How can one who takes birth be God? That from which everything in
creation takes birth, and into which everything ultimately dissolves is
God.
Hearing this you might think that God is something or someone who is very far
away from you; someone from whom this entire creation has come out of. No,
he is not far away. That is why Lord Krishna says, Know Me and Me alone (as
the one source from which all is born, and into which everything dissolves).
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This I or Me that is present within each person, is the Chaitanya (Self or
consciousness). And it is from this consciousness that everything has been
born, and into which everything will ultimately merge into. The
consciousness is the basis of life.
The body is alive because of the presence of consciousness. When
consciousness leaves the body, life comes to an end.
So Lord Krishna says, Know Me as the Chetna (consciousness) present in
every Jiva (living creature) which is the basis of everything and which sustains
everything in creation. I am the primary cause of everything.
So, consciousness is the basis of everything. There is consciousness present
even in a baby who is in the mothers womb, because of which it grows. If it is
not there, the child is said to be stillborn or dead.
Lord Krishna says, Anything that is alive and growing in creation is
because of Me manifest everywhere as the Chaitanya Shakti
(consciousness).
It is because of the presence of this consciousness that the trees grow new
leaves and bear fruits. Plants and trees are alive because there is
consciousness present within them, else it will not grow.
Now we might think that there is no life in a stone, but it is not so. There is
consciousness even within a stone. It is said that this entire creation is
organic (meaning it is alive and growing). There is nothing devoid of life in
the whole creation. Everything is alive.
Do you think that Nature, or the Earth is dead when she has given
birth to and sustained billions of creatures since the ages? Not at all!
This Earth is so alive, which is why we call her as our mother, or as
Bhu Devi. She is given this title because there is life in her. Mother Nature too
is alive.
So the Earth itself is an organism. Billions of living creatures and micro-
organisms are present within her. There is life in every atom and every cell of
creation.
When you see creation from this perspective, you will understand that nothing
here is dead, everything is alive.
If you see, some things in creation are stationary, while some appear to be
moving. But in reality, everything is in motion. The sun too is moving.
So Lord Krishna says, I am all that is alive in this whole creation. It exists
because of Me.
He then explains further in the next verse, Mattah parataram nanyat kincid
asti Dhananjaya. Mayi sarvam idam protam sutre mani-gana iva. (Ch.
7.7)
He says, O Arjuna! Know that there is nothing that is devoid of Me in
this creation. It is me only that is in everything. There is nothing beyond
me in this creation. The whole creation is woven into me, just like pearls
strung into a string.
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Yesterday I said that this entire creation is full of energy which is called Dark
Matter or Dark Energy. A simple example of this is air. See, you are
surrounded by air and it is also present inside you. If all the air is removed
from your body, it would simply shrink. The body is filled with air just like a
tyre. If the air is removed, then the body can be compressed just like a rubber
tyre and fit into a bag. It will shrink to such a small size. Just like a balloon
shrinks and becomes so small when all its air is taken out.
In the same way, the air element is present inside our body and also all around
it. Our body cannot survive without the air element. So also, nothing in this
world can survive without the power of consciousness.
So He says, Just like many pearls are strung and held together by one
string, in the same way many worlds in this creation are all present in
Me. I am the centre of everything.
The next verse, Raso 'ham apsu Kaunteya prabhasmi sasi-suryayoh.
Pranavah sarva-vedesu sabdah khe paurusam nrsu. (Ch. 7.8)
Now comes the interesting part. Lord Krishna says, I am the wetness of the
water, the taste of all the liquid substances; I am the rays of light that emerge
from the sun and the moon. Of all the Vedas, I am the Pranava (Om, the
primordial sound of creation).
Om is our true name. The name that we carry is the one given to us by our
parents, and it is limited to our existence in this lifetime only.
Even if someone is given a good name, still people are called by pet names like
Mintu, Pintu or Jimmy, etc. A girls name may be Padma (meaning the lotus)
which is a very nice name, but still people will say Pammi for a pet name
(laughter).
So people today call each other by any type of name. This name is not our true
name. Our true name is Om. It was our name before our birth and it
will be our name after we die. One day we will all dissolve into Om.
In Sikhism, there is a prayer by Guru Nanakdevji, Ek Onkar (God is
One), Satnam (His name is True), Karta-Purakh (He is the Creator).
It means, Om is the one and only true name, and the cause of all
existence.
But there are some ignorant people who say, We do not believe in Om, we
believe in Omkar. What is difference between the two? There is no difference.
Om is the essence of all the Vedas and that is what I am, this is what
Lord Krishna says to Arjuna.
There can be no progress of knowledge without Om. The chanting of the Vedas
begins with Om, and ends with Om also. The Vedas are the very expansion of
Om. Om is the essence of the entire creation.
Sound is a quality associated with the Space element. So in this verse, Lord
Krishna says, I am the sound in space of all that is spoken and conveyed. I am
also the capability a man is endowed with. Just as a woman is characterized by
her softness and a motherly nature, know Me to be the manfulness
(characterised by strength, skill or effort) in a man.
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In the next verse, He says: Punyo gandhah prthivyam cha tejas chasmi
vibhavasau. Jivanam sarva-bhutesu tapas chasmi tapasvisu. (Ch. 7,
V.9)
Smell is the quality associated with the Earth element.
We think that we are able to experience fragrances because of the Air element,
but that is not so. Just as sweetness is the quality of sugar, wetness is the
quality of water, heat is the quality of fire, in the same way fragrance is the
quality of the Earth element.
So Lord Krishna says, I am the fragrance of the Earth element; I am the heat
of the Fire element, and I am the life force present in all creatures. Whether a
good person or bad person, whether a lion, a cat, a rat or a donkey, wherever
you find life, I am the root cause of that life. It is all me. I am
the tapa (penance) of the wise sages. I am the compassion and willpower in all
ascetics and wise sages.
The Secret to Great Strength
May 11, 2013, Bangalore, India
(Below is a continuation of the post Walk The Path of Truth)
Then comes the next two verses, Bijam mam sarva-bhutanam viddhi
partha sanatanam. Buddhir buddhimatam asmi tejas tejasvinam aham.
Balam balavatam ch-aham kama-raga-vivarjitam. Dharmaviruddho
bhutesu kamo 'smi bharata-rsabha. (7.10 & 7.11)
There is a seed present in everyone. Every person who comes to this world
brings something with him (quality or gift). These are some innate qualities
(seeds) in each person that does not change.
Many times you will hear teachers say, Only if the quality is present in the
student can I develop it.
You can only grow something when you have some seeds to begin with. If
there is nothing to begin with, how would you be able to develop those
qualities?
So Lord Krishna says, This seed that is present in every Jiva (living being) has
been there since time immemorial, and it is not something new. It has no
beginning and no one knows exactly when it was sown. I am this seed
present in all living beings(bhutanam). This is what you should know
because every living being, every creature has a seed present inside them.
Just as this seed is present since time immemorial, so also all the kivas have
existed since time immemorial.
There are three things that are thought of as both Anaadi (without a
beginning) and Ananta (without an end).
One is God, the second is Jiva (here meaning the individual soul or
consciousness) and third is Prakruti (Nature).
The Apara-prakruti has been present since time immemorial. It is the same for
God and for the Jiva. So the creation is like a circle (vritta); a circle has no
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beginning and no end, yet at every point there is both, a beginning and an
end.
Lord Krishna then explains further, O Arjuna, if you see an intelligent person,
do not think that he has acquired his intelligence all by himself. I am the
intelligence of the intelligent.
This was a very clever thing that the Lord did. Where ever the mind can
possibly get caught up or attracted to, Lord Krishna brings Arjunas mind back
from all of those places to focus on Him again and again.
We get very influenced by intelligent people. We think, This person is so
intelligent. His intellect is so sharp and he is so knowledgeable. In this way we
start praising that person. So, to bring the mind back, Lord Krishna
says, Wherever you see such brilliant intelligence, know that it is Me.
It is a manifestation of Me alone.
By saying this, He brings the mind back to focus on Him. It means that
wherever you see sharp intelligence, know that it is Krishna and it has come
from Krishna. When you know this, your mind cannot stray anywhere (for it
will find everything to be a form of Lord Krishna and stay focussed on Him).
In the same way, He says, I am the Tejas (glory or brilliance) of the powerful.
I am the glow you see on someones face. I am the strength that you see
in a person who is unaffected by cravings.
One can draw strength even from Dvesh (aversions) and hatred. Such people
appear to be very strong. But I am not that. Terrorists and violent people
appear to draw great strength from hatred. But Lord Krishna says, I am not
that strength (drawn from negativity). Terrorists walk with such feverishness.
They terrorize others and show off their strength. But such strength is not free
from kama (desire) and raga (craving). Where there is craving, there is
aversion also. Those who engage in a display of their strength out of cravings
are foolish.
Also, people driven by feverish desires appear to display unusually great
strength. This is what is usually seen in the world today. People driven by
feverishness project themselves as very strong, but such strength is of no use.
Strength that comes out of feverish desires is very superficial, only on
the surface. This strength is hollow from inside. There is deep fear in the
minds of such people. And one can never be strong when there is fear inside.
One who is not connected to his own consciousness can never be
strong. A person who is not connected to his centre and is not aware of his
being, even though he may display great strength on the outside, inside he is
hollow with fear.
Similarly, strength that comes from hatred and demonic tendencies is also
hollow from within. There is a saying, Dwitiya dwai bhayam bhavati. It
means the presence of two (duality; here meaning not being united within
oneself) is the cause of fear.
People who have not united with the consciousness within themselves
(antarmukhi) and have not turned inwards to the Self, such people can never
be called strong. And when one is filled with cravings and feverishness, they
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can never go inward and unite with the Self. It is only when one becomes
centered within oneself that great strength dawns. Such strength is
free from the negativity of craving and feverishness and is beyond
them. That alone is true strength. This is why Lord Krishna
says, Wherever you see such pure strength, know that it is Me.
Now you might ask, Lord Krishna has said that great strength comes only
when one is free of cravings and feverishness. Are all desires bad then? Is
having desires wrong, or having a wish for everyones wellbeing also wrong.
Does that mean that one should not have any desires at all? No, it is not so.
Lord Krishna says, I am all those desires that do not go against
Dharma(righteousness of duty). All the people who acts in accordance with
Dharma and follows their Svadharma (ones nature or duty that one is
responsible for), the desires that arise in such people is Me and Me alone.
You all might have experienced this: At times when you act upon a desire that
arises in your heart, you find that it uplifts you and others as well. Everyone is
benefited by it. Such desires are the manifestation of God.
When we act in accordance with Dharma, we cannot commit anything
wrong. Moreover, along with Dharma, desires also do arise. But such desires
are divine in nature (inspired by divine will).
That is why it is said in the Vedas, Tanmeya manaha Shiva-
sankalpamastu (May desires benefiting everyone arise in the mind). May I
have auspicious desires that benefit everyone. May I have the desire to move
towards the truth, and towards all that is auspicious.
Now, the desire for truth is also a desire. If we want to progress higher in life,
that too is a desire. Having a desire for everyones wellbeing is again a desire.
You cannot celebrate festivals without having auspicious desires (for
everyone).
You cannot walk even a step in your life without desires. Desires are
present behind every action you do in life. There is a cause behind
anything you do in life, and the cause is desire. So what type of desire
should it be? One that is not in conflict with Dharma but in accordance with it.
So Lord Krishna says, I am all those desires that are in accordance with
Dharma.
You all must have experienced this sometime, where you acted upon a desire
and the result turned out to be just as you expected, and many people also got
relief from your action. There are some desires that arise in you, when you act
on them it brings peace and comfort to you and everyone around you. Desires
that do not create any conflicts in the mind and are not against
Dharma.
Any action of yours that goes against Dharma will prick you inside. It will keep
troubling you from within and you will feel, Oh, I think I have done something
really wrong. Your conscience will tell you this. But when you act in
accordance with Dharma, then you feel relaxed and at peace.
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Ye ch-aiva sattvika bhava rajasas tamasas cha ye. Matta eveti tan
viddhi na tv-aham tesu te mayi. (7.12)
Lord Krishna says, O Arjuna, the three gunas, Sattva, Rajas and
Tamas are all born from Me. But neither am I in them and neither are
they in me, yet they have all come from Me. This is what you should
know.
This is a very strange thing. Lord Krishna says, I am not governed by the
three gunas and neither do the three gunas reside in Me, yet they have come
into existence from Me alone. There is a great scientific truth behind this.
When you go deeper into understanding this, you realize that when you
become a witness to the play of the three gunas, you become separate
from them all.
So He says, Though they (the three gunas) are separate from Me, yet they are
an extension of me.
I wear the cloth on my body but I am not the cloth and neither am I a part of
the cloth. This example comes closest to understanding this.
Just like how we wear clothes on our body, but we do not become our clothes
and neither are we a part of the clothes, yet the clothes belong to us. Have
you understood this?
Lord Krishna says, It is I who has created these three gunas (the cloth), and
they belong to Me, yet I am not influenced by them and neither do they reside
in Me and I am also not these three gunas. So, O Dhananjaya (another name
for Arjuna meaning conqueror of great riches), you too should become a
witness to the three gunas. You should understand them to be a part
of My divine nature. They have been created by Me and it is I who
upholds them, yet I am not these three gunas.
Just like how you have different pieces of clothing for different parts of the
body, shoes for the feet, inner clothes and outer clothes for the body, a turban
for the head, in the same way all gunas have their own distinct qualities.
Now if you try to keep you turban on your feet, or wear hand gloves on your
feet and the socks on your hands, it simply wont work. Each piece of clothing
has its own distinct place and cannot be worn anywhere else.
So Lord Krishna says that, Each of the three gunas have their own
distinct qualities and their own place, and they have all come from Me,
yet I am not these. So do not go looking for Me in them, for I am
beyond them.
Do you know what Lord Krishna is doing? He is retrieving Arjunas mind from
all the possible places that it can get attracted to, and bringing it back to focus
on Himself. That is why there is both knowledge and science involved in this,
and this is what is unique about this discourse.
So using this Vishesha Gyaan (special knowledge), Lord Krishna repeatedly
retrieves Arjunas mind from anywhere it can get attracted to and pulls it back
to Himself. It means He brings the mind back inwards to focus on the
consciousness. This is the job of the Guru and the responsibility of the
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disciple.
So wherever one sees great strength, one should recognize it as belonging to
God, and not of the person who displays it. Wherever one finds beauty, one
should not think of it as belonging to the person but recognize God behind that
beauty. There can be no beauty without God. That is why it is said, Satyam
Shivam Sundaram. That is, wherever there is Lord Shiva (God), that is where
there is beauty and truth.
So by saying this, Lord Krishna frees Arjunas mind from every possible
attraction and pulls it towards Himself.
Krishna means attraction; it means one who attracts everything to
Himself. Freeing the mind from all possible places it can wander
towards out of attraction and bringing it to the centre this is what Lord
Krishna is. So wherever you see someone glowing like a Tej-punj (glowing with
spiritual grace), know that they are deeply in love with Lord Krishna, which is
why they draw everyone to themselves. It means withdrawing the mind
from the world of diversity that is due to the three gunas, and bringing
it back towards the pure consciousness within. This is a very unique step
and an astonishing science.
What Is It That Makes You Miserable?
May 14, 2013, Bangalore, India

(Below is a continuation of the post The Secret to Great Strength)
A great scientist called Professor DHoore had come here to the Ashram. He is
a Scientist and an expert in physics. He said that this Universe is held together
by three forces. If there were two forces instead of three, the world would
have collapsed. These three forces together constantly keep the Universe
stable.
He showed this by drawing a model. Just as a ceiling fan has 3 blades, these
three forces together keep the Universe in balance. Like the blades of a
windmill, when one goes up, the other two blades come down, then it rotates
and the one that was up comes down and the other two go up, and so this
movement retains the balance. In the same way, when there are three forces
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present together, only then can something operate continuously, otherwise it
is not possible.
In a pendulum clock, the pendulum swings between two points only, and it
continues to swing as long as it is wound. Once the winding gets over, the
pendulum stops. But these three forces act at equal distances from each other
and hence keep the universe in balance.
So he said that this world is held in balance by these three forces, which is why
it has continued to exist all this time.
I said that Lord Krishna has said the same thing in the Bhagavad Gita.
Lord Krishna says that, The three gunas, Sattva, Rajas and Tamas are all born
from Me, but I am beyond them and not influenced by them.
In the next verse, He says, Tribhir guna-mayair bhavair ebhih sarvam
idam jagat. Mohitam nabhijanati mamebhyah param avyayam. (7.13)
Moha (attachment) cannot know My true nature.
Attachment means having a limited vision. A mother gets so attached to
her child that her vision for the child becomes very limited. This is the
difference between love and attachment. Attachment only gives pain. It
promises happiness but in reality does not give any happiness. Having a
desire for happiness but experiencing misery is what attachment is.
Lord Krishna says, I am endless (avyaya) and I am eternal. This is what
others do not know.
All misery comes from attachment. All the feelings that you experience are a
result of the three gunas. But does this mean that we should just discard them
all away? No, this is not what He is saying here. The three gunas are
important.
He explains in the next verse, Daivi hy-esha guna-mayi mama maya
duratyaya. Mam eva ye prapadyante mayam etam taranti te. (7. 14)
He has said a very astonishing thing here.
Often people blame the world (for their own circumstances) and want to run
away from it. They think, The world is bad, it is dirty and corrupt. Such people
have never read the Bhagavad Gita. And even if they have read it, they have
not understood its true message. Lord Krishna says, These three gunas come
and go, yet I am untouched by them. I am eternal and untouched. I am as I
have always been.
So misery cannot diminish your being in any way, neither can
happiness expand it. You are the constant, eternal Self - untouched
both in times of misery and happiness. In this same way, many feelings
arise in you, such as anger. Anger rises in you as a storm and then goes away,
but you remain as you always are. You (as the Self or Consciousness) do not
experience any loss. Yes, your body experiences some pain and misery
because of it. But the Chaitanya Shakti(Consciousness) within you neither
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diminishes due to sorrow nor does it expand due to happiness. This
Chaintanya Shakti is what Lord Krishna is.
Here, Lord Krishna addresses Himself by saying I, Me, My. You should not see
any difference between God, the Guru Tattva (subtle divine element or
principle) and theAtma Tattva (the Self or Consciousness). They are all one.
So here, He is speaking to Arjuna and referring to Himself by using
words like I, Me, My. That I is not only Lord Krishna, it is our own
soul as well, and it is Paramathma (God) as well. It is not a person who is
speaking here, rather it is the power of Divinity that is giving this knowledge.
And the same power of Divinity is also listening to this knowledge through
Arjuna (here, representing the individual Consciousness).
This can also be understood in another way.
You are eternal, but you are not aware of this, which is why you get carried
away by storms of emotions like misery, happiness. This is because you are
caught up in attachment. It may be attachment towards your children, your
husband or wife, your friends, or toward wealth, or anything else.
It is because you are caught in attachment, you are not able to
recognize your true Self. In such moments, your situation seems to be so
big to you that you are unable to see anything else.
For example, one whose mind is feverish about money can think of nothing
else. He cannot think of his relationships, his friends and family, not even his
own health and wellbeing. Such a person ends up losing everything because of
being stuck in attachment.
Brothers fight among themselves because of money. Children fight with their
parents because of money.
Even attachment to religion brings misery. All suffering happens because
of attachment. Lord Krishna says, Those who are deluded by such
attachments, they are not aware of my true nature. They forget that I am
eternal and untouched. I (as Pure Consciousness) do not expand or diminish
because of anything. I am the supreme power behind everything, but people
do not realize this.
So does this mean that in order to attain God, one should not engage in
relationships or be a householder? No, not at all. You are not supposed to
abandon your responsibilities and run away from home. Just understand that
everything that happens, happens because of the influence of the three gunas.
Lord Krishna says, You should also not curse the three gunas, because they
are Divine, they belong to Me and are born from Me. This entire creation and
everything in it is born out of Me, so how can you curse it, when you know that
it is born out of me and me alone?
For example, if you curse a picture, you are actually cursing the artist who has
created that picture. Honouring Nature is honouring God, because Nature
is born out of God and remains in God.
.
.
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The Untrue Reality
May 14, 2013, Bangalore, India
(Below is a continuation of the post What is it That Makes You Miserable?)
The influence of Maya is so vast that no matter where you go, you find yourself
under its influence. The moment you feel you have freed yourself from one
trap (of Maya), you find yourself stuck in another one.


A gentleman came to me once and said, Gurudev, please bless me, I want to
get married. This will be the fourth time, my earlier three marriages ended in
divorce. So please bless me that I may find a suitable girl for myself.
See, it is okay if one or two marriages have failed. But if three marriages
ended in divorce, then there must be something wrong in you that you need to
look at and correct.
In America, there was a lady who was conducting many workshops on How to
make your marriage work. People would pay thousands of dollars to attend
her workshops, but she herself had been divorced eight times! (Laughter)
So a devotee came to me and said, This lady has been divorced eight times
herself. How can she teach people about how to sustain a marriage?
I said, No, she is the right person to advise in this regard! She must have
learnt from all those eight marriages! She must be teaching people what
mistakes can break a marriage, so she is the right person to tell what to do
and what not to do in a marriage.
Lord Krishna says, This three gunas have come out of me, but is not easy to
overcome all this because of Maya (illusion) which has also come out of me.
We often blame others, the world or even ourselves for our circumstances and
end up feeling guilty. But everything happens because of the three gunas,
which are a manifestation of the Divine.
It is only in India that even the Tamoguna (the state of existence characterized
by inertia and negativity) is regarded as a form of the Divine. This is not found
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anywhere else in the world. In other parts of the world, anything negative it is
regarded as a demonic quality; as part of the Devil which is separate from
God. But this is not the belief system in India.
Here, even Tamoguna is believed to have come from God and is governed by
Him. This is why the terrifying form of Goddess Kali too is said to be a form of
Divinity. Why is this so? That is because for the director of a film, each
character of the movie belongs to him. Whether it is the hero, heroine or the
villain, a director sees all characters as equal. Though they might be paid a
little differently from each other, but all of them are important, because all of
them are needed to make the movie.
In the same way, the Creator created this Universe using the three gunas. So
Lord Krishna says that these three gunas belong to Him (as an extension of His
divine energies). He says, These three gunas function through Me, and only
through Me can you transcend them. You cannot transcend them by yourself.
You cannot be free yourself from their influence (Maya) without My Grace.
Lord Krishna tells this also to Arjuna.
When we chant the Durga Saptashati (referring to the 700 verses of the Devi
Mahatmayam from the Markandeya Purana, dedicated to praising the Mother
Divine), there is a verse which says, Ya Devi sarva-bhuteshu bhranti
rupena samstitha; Namastasye namastasye namastasye namo namaha
(meaning: O Divine Mother! I bow down to You who are manifest as Bhranti -
the element of delusion in all living beings).
It means that it is the Mother Divine who is present as delusion within you.
Some people have this bhrama (misconception) that everyone is against them.
This happens to very accomplished people as well. Now just think, who in the
world has the time to go against them? Everyone is busy doing their own work,
and are thinking about themselves only. But such a person still thinks that
everyone is against him or her, and they get so troubled by these thoughts.
So, delusion too is the manifestation of the Mother Divine and is a form of the
Divinity.
One needs great courage to say something like this. A person who is very
brave and who has examined all the facts properly only can say such a thing.
Only a person who has experienced and who knows the underlying Divine
principle that operates everything in creation, that is beyond the material
world (Maya), can say such a profound thing. Not everyone is capable of doing
such a thing. This is why Lord Krishna is given the title of Bhagawan (a prefix
for God in India).
Like how people say that Shri Ram is regarded as Maryada
Purshottama (the supreme among the upholders of Dharma and
righteousness); Lord Krishna is called as Yogeshwara (the paragon of
perfection in Yoga).
Why are they addressed as Bhagawan? It is because they possess the
knowledge of the underlying Tattva (divine element or principle) that is both
the basis and also beyond the five elements and Maya.
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So, Lord Krishna says, All the three gunas and Maya are divine qualities.
Hence one should honour them all, because they are a form of the Divine.
The aspect of Divinity responsible for the dissolution of creation is honoured as
much as the aspect responsible for the preservation of the creation. Both have
equal importance.
Lord Shiva is worshipped everywhere as the Lord of destruction. Lord Brahma
is almost done with His task of creating the Universe. But Lord Vishnu and Lord
Shiva are worshipped more than Lord Brahma.
So, these three gunas are Divine in nature and it is very difficult to overcome
their Maya. This is what Lord Krishna says.
Only someone with deep knowledge can say such a thing. If someone says this
casually, people will not take him seriously. They will say, Oh, he is speaking
nonsense.
But we have experienced that it is indeed difficult to overcome Maya. A
devotee on the spiritual path has this same experience.
Here the Guru (Lord Krishna) is acknowledging this fact. Which is why Lord
Krishna says to Arjuna, I know this is very difficult for you.
So Lord Krishna has understood Arjunas condition very well.
A Gurus duty is to first understand the condition of his disciple and
then provide him guidance. Lord Krishna has recognized that it is difficult
for Arjuna to overcome this, and He acknowledges it.
Usually, when people want to overcome something, they do so by criticizing it.
That is when it becomes nearly impossible to overcome it.
If you want to move away from somebody and you keep on criticizing them
then you will never be able to move away from them. You will get even more
caught up with them. You think more about the people you criticize than those
whom you praise. You praise someone and you forget about it. But those
whom you hate or have a conflict with, they stay in your mind only. Such
people rent a space in your mind without paying any rent! They just do not
seem to leave your mind, even if a rent control officer were to go there
(laughter).
So those whom you criticize occupy your mind and you get completely caught
with them. Similarly, people who keep on criticizing Maya get more and more
caught into it. You must first honour Maya completely (because it is a
manifestation of Divinity). So, honour that which does not really exist, because
that is what Maya is that which only appears to be true but does not
really exist.
So Lord Krishna says, Honour that also which appears but does not really
exist, for that too has come from Me.
What is the source of delusion? This is what you must first find.
Just reflect on how you were before the delusion happened, and you will find
that your delusion simply falls away.
Lord Krishna says, Take your attention towards the source of this delusion
which appears to manifest through the three gunas, and you will find that it
comes from Me. So only by My grace can you overcome this. You cannot be
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free from delusion by your own efforts. Just surrender and take refuge in Me.
That alone will help you cross over this delusion.
A True And Simple Fact
May 14, 2013, Bangalore, India


(Below is a continuation of the post The Untrue Reality)
The next verse is,Na mam duskrtino mudhah prapadyante naradhamah.
Mayayapahrta-jnana asuram bhavam asritah.
Here, Lord Krishna speaks about those who are wicked and do wrong deeds.
Who is a wicked person? One who treats others in a way in which he
himself would not like to be treated is a wicked person.
When you behave with others in a way you would not like others to behave
with you, then you will be called a wicked person. Aversions in the mind
lead to feeling of wickedness. They cause wickedness to become part
of a persons behaviour and this leads to wrong deeds.
Lord Krishna says, Those who are foolish and ignorant, and who do wrong and
wicked deeds never surrender to Me. Such a persons actions are of the lowest
kind among men, and such a person can never know Me and My true nature,
nor take refuge in Me. Such a person will never think of Me and nor will he
ever believe in Me. Those who hold on to demonic qualities; those who are
deluded by Maya and have lost their wisdom and control over their senses will
never focus on Me.
A person who engages in wrong deeds is never able to reach his inner self. He
constantly remains focussed outward on the external world. Why is this so? It
is because once a person turns inwards, to the Self, he finds so much peace
and happiness from within. And a happy person can never do something
wrong. This is a true and simple fact. Even the most wicked person of all
will do not do any wrong deeds once he happy and peaceful. There are no
wicked people, there are only those who engage in wrong deeds. And
such people commit wrong deeds because they are not connected with
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themselves (they are not centered). They are not connected to their own
Self, nor to any Guru, nor do they have any faith in God. It is such people who
do wrong deeds.
I have heard that the movies made in India in the past 10-15 years portray a
devotee as the wrongdoer or a criminal, while the villain is shown dressed as a
holy person, with a tilak (sacred mark on the forehead made using vermillion,
ash or sandal paste).
A tilak on someones forehead usually means that he is a devotee, but here in
movies he is shown as a villain doing wicked deeds. So those who falsely
portray a villain as a devotee of God are even bigger villains!
They try to show the villain as a great devotee of God, whereas he is engaged
in all wrong activities.
Someone who is devoted to the Divine, will surely find happiness within
himself, and such a happy person can never commit any wrong act. Such a
person would neither remain ignorant nor will he perform wicked deeds. Those
who actually do wicked deeds are not intelligent at all. Can they be
called intelligent?
Lord Krishna says, It is impossible. He cannot be intelligent, he is ignorant.
He is unable to see that he will suffer the consequences of his wrongdoings,
much more than the harm he does to others. He is simply unaware of this
truth, which is why he does such wrong deeds.
Generally, when a person does something wrong, something will prick him
from inside. But such a person cannot even feel the prick from within for his
wrong action because he is so ignorant and foolish. It is like a sharp thorn is
stuck in his mouth, yet he continues to chew the thorn. Instead of spitting out
the thorn, he keeps on chewing it (thereby hurting himself more and more).
This is ignorance.
So Lord Krishna says, The lowest kind among mortals are those who are
ignorant. Those whose minds are deluded by Maya, who have lost their
awareness, and who are driven by negative feelings and qualities. Such people
can never reach Me.
So here, Lord Krishna has said two things: One is that you can
overcome Maya only through His Grace. And secondly, He speaks about those
kinds of people who do not surrender to Him and take His refuge. He says, I
am showering grace upon everyone, still some people do not take refuge in
Me. It is because they are ignorant and foolish. Why else would someone
refuse to come to Me? This is why I often say, that only an intelligent
person is capable of walking the spiritual path. The one who is ignorant
thinks he is the king and stays away from all this, but in reality he is actually a
beggar. No matter what he may do, he remains a beggar though he thinks of
himself as a king.
What would you call a person who cannot understand a few words and thinks
of himself as a professor? You will call him ignorant.

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Removing Fear
May 14, 2013, Bangalore, India

(Below is a continuation of the post A True And Simple Fact)
In the next verse, Lord Krishna explains further, Chatur-vidha bhajante
mam janah sukrtino 'rjuna. Arto jijnasur artharthi jnani cha bharata-
rsabha. (7.16)
In the earlier verse, Lord Krishna spoke about people who do wicked deeds.
But there is no person in the world that keeps doing only wicked deeds all the
time. And there is no person in the world who does not have any good qualities
at all.
So there are four types of people with good deeds that seek the refuge of the
Lord.
First one is Artah, means the ones who are depressed.
When an ignorant person becomes miserable, know that his
transformation has begun. He will start moving away from his demonic
qualities.
Nature has made it in such a way, that the people who do wrong deeds reap
misery as a result of their action. One should understand this also as the grace
of God. Why? Because when one becomes miserable, they turn inwards and
return to the Self as no one likes being miserable. No one likes to suffer.
No living creature can bear to be miserable. If someone likes being miserable,
then that is a disease. They experience a certain joy even from misery, which
is why they indulge in being miserable.
There are some of these college-going students who like to watch tragic
movies in which everyone dies in the end, including the hero and the heroine
(laughter). They seem to like it very much. This is actually a distortion of
misery.
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In America, there are advertisements in the newspaper that say, I want a wife
who is beautiful and who beats me with a chain everyday.
There are people who find joy in getting beaten by others. Its true! (Laughter)
I was shocked when I read this for the first time. I happened to come across
this. Someone pointed it out to me when I was there. There are some
advertisements that say, I want a partner who hits me with a shoe everyday.
It is said that these people have such feelings because as children they were
beaten a lot, which is why they enjoy this even now. They want someone to
beat them because it gives them pleasure.
Even psychologists approve of this behaviour and say that not wrong. They say
that such people have a preference for this kind of behaviour, which is why
they get joy out it. Misery is that which gives us pain. It is that which we do
not like (to experience).
It has never happened that someone who has done wrong has not
suffered for it. Misery is the fruit one has to bear for doing wrong
deeds. And when one experiences misery, it makes them go inward
and they are transformed.
Lord Krishna says, Four types of people who do good deeds worship and
remember Me. First are those who are miserable. Misery makes people turn
towards spirituality. When one is miserable, he often thinks, Oh, I should just
leave everything. Drop it all. The second kind of people who worship me are
those who desire something in life. They know that they cannot achieve what
they desire by their efforts alone and that they need the grace of God, or the
Guru to achieve it. Such people who seek certain desires also worship Me.
You will see an example of this during exam time. During exam time there will
be a long queue of students at the temple (laughter). The sale of sweets
suddenly increases during that time (for offering to the deity in the temple).
People who have certain desires, go to the temple on specific days, like
Tuesdays, etc., which they consider as auspicious.
When someone has a job interview coming up, they bow down to God daily
and offer prayers. Isnt it so? At least on the day of the interview, surely they
do all this, and even say, Jai Gurudev.
So Lord Krishna says, The second kind of people who worship and remember
Me are those who have some personal desire they want fulfilled. Such people
are also noble and do good deeds. They are intelligent enough to realize that
they cannot achieve what they want without the grace of God.
These people are aware that they cannot achieve what they desire by
their intelligence and efforts alone. They believe that luck or destiny
plays an important role as well. Such people, who seek Gods grace to
achieve their desires also take the refuge of the Divine. Lord Krishna
says, Those who desire material comforts and happiness from life also come to
Me. These are also good people, and they have done some good deeds.
Then there are those who desire something in life, yet they do not believe in
God, and they remain full of worries. Such people have some bad karma.
This is the problem with atheists. People who consider themselves as atheists,
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end up having a lot of fear inside. Whenever they have to complete some big
task, they display strong conviction on the outside but inside they are weak
and are always in doubt about what will happen in the future. They have
nothing to rely upon for support, and feel that they have to do everything on
their own.
Everything appears uncertain to them. The world seems like a dark place and
they become very shaky and unstable from inside. How can you consider such
a persons karma to be good? Those whose karmas are good have this
firm belief, God is with me at all times. My Gurudev is with me, and I
have all the inner strength that I need.
Those who have faith in God, Guru and the Self do not fear anything at all.
They are able to sleep peacefully. They will engage themselves completely in
whatever they do (without any doubt). This is because they have faith (in their
abilities) and they know that they have the support of the Divine in everything
that they do.
Life cannot progress without this faith. Having faith in oneself, faith in
the society, and faith in that invisible power which is present
everywhere, is important. And all these three faiths are one, they are not
separate from each other.
Lord Krishna says, The third kind of people who seek refuge in Me are the
ones who want to know, Who am I? What is this world? What is meaning of
life? People who have a genuine thirst for knowledge also come to Me
(Jigyasu). The fourth kind of people who come to Me are the wise and
knowledgeable (jnani). They are those who know (the truth) and have faith in
Me. One who knows the truth will definitely have faith in Me. How can one who
knows the Self not have faith?
So these four kinds of people seek refuge in Me: the miserable; the
one who seeks material fulfilment; the inquisitive and the wise. And all
these four kinds of people have very good karma, Lord Krishna says.
Now you should turn back and reflect on those times of your life when you
were depressed and you turned to the Divine; the times you wanted some
desires to be fulfilled; the times when you had thirst for knowledge, and the
times when you turned to the Divine as a wise person.
Wise (jnani) are those who see the transformation in their lives and with a
feeling of gratitude surrender everything to the Divine. They feel, I have
received everything from the Divine in abundance. I do not need anything.
Those who surrender to the Divine with a feeling of contentment and
with a deep sense of gratitude are the wise (jnani) ones. Such people do
not feel the need for anything. They feel that even before they could ask, they
received everything. Even before they could feel thirst, water was given.
A wise person is one who feels that he has received much more than
what he deserves.When this realization dawns in a person, he is filled with
love, gratitude and contentment, and spontaneously seeks refuge in the
Divine.
There can be no contentment without knowledge. Without knowledge there can
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be no gratitude. Those who are not content keep on demanding something or
the other.
So there are four types of people who take refuge in the Divine.
It is also possible that all these four types may exist in the one person. At first,
one may be miserable and take refuge in the Divine. Then they may turn to
the Divine because they want something from life. Then out of the thirst for
knowledge, and then as wise person. All these four stages can happen to a
person at different times in his life.
It is not that you will always stay fixed at one stage forever. It is not that
whenever you turn towards God, it is out of misery. That is not necessary!
After Several Lifetimes
May 15, 2013, Bangalore, India

(Below is a continuation of the post Removing Fear)
Lord Krishna says, Tesham jnani nitya-yukta eka-bhaktir vishishyate.
Priyo hi jnanino 'tyartham aham sa cha mama priyah. Udarah sarva
evaite jnani tv-atmaiva me matam. (7.17)
Lord Krishna says, There are four types of people who are devoted to Me. The
miserable; the one who seeks material fulfilment; the inquisitive (jigyasu) and
the wise (jnani). Of these, the wise (jnani) one is most dear to Me because
his devotion is one-pointed towards Me.
Similar are the people who come to the Divine for fulfilment of some material
desires. At that time they show great devotion.
During examination time, all the students keep going to the temple daily (to
pray for good results). Once the exams are over, they forget where the temple
is. Then all that they can see are the cinema halls! (Laughter). Such people are
self-centred and come for a purpose. Even the inquisitive one turns to the
Divine for the purpose of satisfying his own inquiry (into knowledge). The
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inquisitive one is also centred on himself which is why there is something
lacking even in his devotion towards the Divine.
But this is not the case with the wise (jnani) one. The one who is wise is
contented, and the devotion of a person who is always contented
remains constant, unique and one-pointed. Whether he has some desires
to be fulfilled or not, his devotion does not change, it remains the same.
Whether there is joy or sorrow, his devotion towards the Divine remains the
same. Whether he gains something, or does not gain something, his devotion
remains unaffected.
So Lord Krishna says, Such a wise one is always connected to Me, and I
am always connected to him. One who is always connected to Me is truly
wise, and the devotion of such a wise person is always constant and one-
pointed. Such a wise person is very dear to Me, and I am most dear to
him. He is not interested in anything other than Me. For him, I am
everything. And when I am so dear to someone, they too become most dear
to Me.
Udarah sarva evaite jnani tv-atmaiva me matam. Asthitah sa hi
yuktatma mam-evanuttamam gatim. (7.18)
He says, This does not mean that the other people are not good. No, all of
them are good, and they are the best among mortals. Whether one comes to
Me out of misery, or for fulfilment of material desires, or even out of
inquisitiveness, they all are the best and most virtuous. Do not think that they
are worthless.
Usually, when we consider someone as the best, we consider everyone else to
be worthless.
This gradually turns into a habit for us. If someone is good, then the others
have got to be bad. Which is why Lord Krishna immediately adds, All these
four types of people are the best. So do not criticize any of them. Do
not think of any one of them as less than the other.No matter how a
devotee may be, whether he is devoted due to misery, or for fulfilment of his
material comforts, or out of inquisitiveness for knowledge, all are best.
But there is no difference between Me and the wise one (jnani). He and I
are one and the same. Such a wise person receives the highest deliverance,
that of uniting with Me.
This is no difference between God, Guru and the Atman (Self). So there is no
difference between Vasudeva (another name for Lord Krishna) and a wise
person. Lord Krishna says, A wise (jnani) person is like a mirror. You can
clearly see the reflection of your own mind in a wise person. You can see your
true Self reflected in a wise person. So remember to see Me in a wise person
and know him to be Me.
Bahunam janmanam ante jnanavan mam prapadyate. Vasudevah
sarvam iti sa mahatma su-durlabhah. (7.19)
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After passing through many lifetimes, one becomes a jnani (wise one).
Such wise souls who believe in Me, they come to Me after several lifetimes
(meaning after passing numerous times through the cycle of birth and death).
Such great souls, who know and believe everything to be a manifestation of Me
alone and nothing else, are indeed very rare.
Many of you must be thinking, I wonder how many times more I will have to
take birth to realize this (truth).
I tell you, to have even come here to listen to this knowledge you have already
crossed through many lifetimes. Just know that you have already gone through
many lifetimes, and you are here at the right time. Do not think the opposite,
Who knows how many more births I would have to take to receive this
knowledge?
Change your perception about this right now.
We can change our perception about anything at any time. Even to
realize God, this is all that we need to do, simply change the way we see
things. You do not need to do anything else.
You cannot realize the Divine through effort. The Atma Tattva (the soul or self)
cannot be realized through efforts. For that, you should simply relax and know
how to let go.
Now how are you going to let go when your mind is attracted to so many
beautiful things. Many times, you want to let go of your bad habits but you are
not able to let go. When you are not able to let go of bad things that bring you
pain and misery, then how will you let go of the good things that attract you?
When you are unable to let go of those that bring misery as well as pleasurable
things, your mind remains unsteady. This is why Lord Krishna says, Balam
balavatam ch-aham kama-raga-vivarjitam. (7.11)
Wherever you see strength, know that to be Me. I am the strength of the
strong. Wherever you see radiance, know that radiance to be Me. If you find
someone beautiful, know that the beauty is also Me. If you see an intelligent
person, know that intelligence to be Me.
Beauty is that which you cannot renounce and neither can you possess it. If
you try to possess it, you will not be able to. It is impossible. In fact when we
try to possess beauty, then that gives rise to many problems.
So Lord Krishna says, After several lifetimes, the wise ones come to me and
seek My refuge.
There are many levels of jnanis (wise ones). And many times, some wise
people develop an ego which becomes the cause of their downfall. They think,
I am the most knowledgeable person. I know more than anyone else. Such
people appear to be wise for a short time, but soon they sink into ignorance.
This very thought, I am so wise, gives rise to ego. This is called Dur-
ahamkaar (bad or misleading ego). And when one becomes egoistic about
being very knowledgeable, then to come out of that is very difficult.
Such a mind-set is commonly seen among scientists and knowledgeable
experts. When such people reach a certain level of knowledge, they think they
know it all and do not listen to anyone else.
!"#$ & (-

Lord Krishna says, A wise person (jnani) who is also a devotee, who
believes in Me totally, and who sees Me in everything in this creation is
a Mahatma (a great soul). This is the difference between a Jnani (a wise
person) and aMahatma.
One who is beyond the Mahat Tattva (a principle said to be subtler than the
ego) is aMahatma. Just like the eight types of Prakruti Earth, Water, Fire, Air,
Space, Mind, Intellect and Ego (referring to the eight material manifestations
of the Lords Divine energies), the Mahat Tattva is even beyond the ego and it
is very subtle.
One who has transcended the ego and has experienced the Mahat Tattva is
called aMahatma. This is the difference between the intellect and
knowledge. Knowledge is born from the intellect, but when it gets
mixed with ego it turns into ignorance.Such a person begins to fall.
It is the ego about knowledge that is most damaging and which brings a wise
person down (into ignorance).
Now who can go beyond such an ego? Only a devotee can go beyond. Being
a devotee means being humble, simple and natural.
A devotee who is willing to learn even from a fool, who is willing to learn from
a child, or woman, or a man, who is willing to receive knowledge from any
source because he sees God in everything, is very rare to find. A Mahatma who
sees the Divine in everything, is hard to find.
One who sees Vasudeva (Divinity) in the one who curses, and also in the one
who praises, such a wise person who is capable of recognizing the inner self
(rather than being misled by outer appearances and expression) is very rare to
find.
This does not mean you fall at the feet of children and call them, Vasudeva!
Vasudeva!You will scare them away. You should behave very normally, but
from inside you should have this deep understanding that everything has come
from the One Divinity.
Both the hero and the villain of a movie are the same (meaning they come
from one Consciousness). It is just one light that displays everything
throughout the entire movie that you see on the screen. So your focus should
be on the light that is projecting all these characters of the movie, and not be
lost in the movie and its characters.
That (Divine) light is Vasudeva, that one pure Consciousness from which
everything has come, and through which everything works. Everything is just a
play of this one Consciousness, and that is what you are.
So just like how you participate in a play, where each one has their role to
play, you also play the role that has been given to you.



!"#$ & (.

Everything Is An Expansion Of That One
May 15, 2013, Bangalore, India

(Below is a continuation of the post After Several Lifetimes)
Today is Shankara Jayanti. It is Shri Adi Shankaracharyas birthday (the
greatest Guru of the Advaita school of Indian philosophy).
Adi Shankaracharya propagated the teachings of the Advaita (non-dual)
philosophy. According to Advaita, everything is made up of only One thing.
In Advaita, it is said: Sarvam khalvidam brahmam, which means
everything is made up of Brahman or the One Consciousness only; it is
all Vasudeva (another name for Lord Krishna).
So the diversity that you see is not reality. The reality is that which is
unseen (and can only experience).
It is like those animal shaped biscuits that we used to get. Have you seen
those biscuits? They are all in different shapes a cat, a dog, a horse, an
elephant. Children like to play with such biscuits. So the same ingredients are
used to make these different biscuits of different sizes and shapes.
Today you see different animal shapes made out of chocolate as well. But
ultimately it is all made of the same chocolate only, isnt it so? And all of them
taste more or less the same. But children enjoy seeing the diversity in these
chocolates. So even though they all appear to be different, essentially
they are the same. Everything that we see appears to be different from
each other due to Maya (illusion), but that is not true.
There is a story of Adi Shankara.
Once, Adi Shankara was sharing, This whole world, that is everything, is
nothing. So, he was saying, This is all nothing. Like the modern day scientists
say, All this matter is nothing because it is all just waves.
As he was saying, Everything is nothing, just then a mad elephant started
running towards him. So Shankara ran to take cover.
Then someone said, Oh, that elephant is nothing. Why are you running?
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Shankara then said, The elephant is nothing and my running is also nothing.
Such was the profound intelligence of Adi Shankaracharya, and you will rarely
find someone like this.
What he said a thousand years ago matches exactly with what modern science
tell us today. We know this by different names and theories such as the Theory
of Relativity. But it is one and the same thing. Everything is an expansion of
thatOne thing only.
A great scientist called Professor DHoore had come here recently. He told me
that he had been studying matter for the past 45 years.
He said, Gurudev, I studied matter for 45 years only to find out it doesnt
exist! So today, when I give a speech, people think Im speaking about
Buddhism or some Eastern philosophy because I say that matter doesnt exist,
what exist are only waves.
Today science has reached the same conclusion, i.e., what appears is not real,
and that which is unseen is real, and which is everything. So everything
is Vasudeva (another name for Lord Krishna) only.
Now when I say everything is Vasudeva, do not think that this means there is
someone with a peacock crown, dressed in bright yellow clothes, standing
under a tree beside Radha and holding a flute (referring to Lord Krishnas
attire). If you think this, next you will start to wonder, for how many years he
has been standing with a flute in his hand, and that his hands and feet might
be aching from holding the flute all the time (laughter). So do not
misunderstand it this way.
This is why in the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna says, Avajananti mam
mudha manusim tanum asritam. Param bhavam ajananto mama
bhuta-maheshvaram. (9.11)
He says to Arjuna, People mistake me to be a human being (meaning
being limited to the physical body), they are not able to recognize Me. I
am that pure consciousness from which everything has come, and due
to which everything exists.
Those great people (Mahatmas) who see Vasudeva in everything and everyone
are indeed rare.
There are some people who think, Vasudeva is in everything but not in me. I
am just a servant. I am nothing, not even worthy of the dust of the Lords feet.
I am very insignificant. No, do not think this way. If everything
is Vasudeva then you too areVasudeva. You are a part of everything, which
is Vasudeva. There is nothing beyondVasudeva.
Such wise souls who are deeply connected with their inner self are very rare.
Lord Krishna says, Kamais-tais-tair hrta-jnanah prapadyante 'nya-
devatah. Tam tam niyamam-asthaaya prakrtya niyatah svaya. (7.20)
There are many people who worship different deities and gods to have their
desires fulfilled. Some worship Lord Hanuman, some go to Lord Shiva, and
!"#$ & )0

some seek the blessings of Santoshi Mata (a form of the Mother Divine) and so
on. They worship all the different deities and there are different desires behind
why they do so.
Lord Krishna says, People worship different deities for fulfilment of
their desires. But the power that fulfils these desires through all those
deities is Me and Me alone. And the devotion with which people
worship these deities is also Me.
There are so many different religious communities in the world today, not just
one. And within each religion, there are so many sects. And different people
believe and worship different sects, and they also receive some merit out of it.
Some believe in Jesus Christ, some believe in Allah, some in Guru Granth
Sahib (a holy scripture of Sikhism), some in Jehovah. Whosoever keeps their
faith in whichever religion it may be, they surely get something out it. If they
did not get anything out of it, why would they have faith in the first place?
Similarly, some people believe in Goddess Kali, some in Goddess Vaishno Devi,
while some devotees find that their wishes get fulfilled at Amarnath (one of the
sacred places of worship of Lord Shiva in North India).
Someone might think that the Amarnath shrine is nothing more than a block of
ice that gets formed according to some law of Nature. Why go there at all? No,
people go there with all their devotion. For the devotees, the shrine represents
the Divinity and it is not simply a block of ice. They see Lord Shiva in it and
worship it with a feeling of devotion.
So Lord Krishna says, Whosoever worships whichever deity, it is Me only who
gives them the fruits of their worship.
It is the One pure Consciousness which is giving everything to
everyone. When someone goes on a holy pilgrimage like Hajj (a sacred
pilgrimage for Muslims), they definitely get some joy from it. So Lord Krishna
says, I am the giver of this joy. This joy comes from Me and Me alone.
Again I tell you, Me does not mean someone with a peacock crown
dressed in bright yellow clothes. It is the One pure Consciousness
which is saying this, and which is present everywhere and in all
things. That is what Vasudeva is.
That Tattva (principle) which holds both the Apara Prakruti and the Para
prakruti together within itself is Vasudeva. And it is that Vasudeva that is
saying, Yo yo yam yam tanum bhaktah sraddhayarchitum icchati.
Tasya tasyacalam sraddham tam-eva vidadhamyaham. (7.21)
Whosoever, and through whatever faith that one comes to Me, I grant them
the fruits of their worship according to their devotion. And it is Me only who is
also the giver of this devotion. So the devotion is Me, the worship is Me and
the fruit also comes from Me. But these fruits are only temporary. However the
one who is wise knows Me by My true nature, and therefore he is best among
all the four types of people.
!"#$ & )'

Anyone who has achieved self-realization has said the same thing, that there is
only One (consciousness). Such people are able to see the oneness in
everything. The one who do not see this are the ones who remain entangled in
fights and attachments in the world. They pick up scriptures and debate among
themselves, thinking, What I say is the truth, or, My religion is supreme.
But the wise one who has reached the pinnacle of devotion sees the
Divine alone in everything.
Learn To Look Beyond
May 16, 2013, Bangalore, India

(Below is a continuation of the post Everything Is An Expansion Of That One)
Lord Krishna says, Sa taya shraddhaya yuktas tasyaradhanam ihate.
Labhate cha tathah kaman mayaiva vihitan hi tan. (7.22)
Lord Krishna says, When a person worships whichever demigod, he surely
receives the merits of his worship (from those demi-gods), as arranged by me.
Do not think that there is some other person other than Me who bestows the
fruits of devotion. All fruits of devotion come through Me (as all demigods are
forms of Myself). This is the law of Nature.
There is a law of nature. If you put your hand in fire you will naturally get
burnt, and if you put your hand in water you will feel its coolness.
So Lord Krishna says, Everything operates per laws of Nature, and it is I who
has created these laws of Nature. This is why, I am (through the laws of
nature) the one who bestows everyone with the fruits of their devotion. It is I
who decides the merits that one must receive based on their actions, and not
anyone else. I am theOne (pure Consciousness), yet I am expressed through
different forms.
He says, Antavat tu phalam tesham tad bhavaty alpa-medhasam.
Devan deva-yajo yanti mad-bhakta yanti mam-api. (7.23)
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When people desire for small things, it shows that their intellect is
very limited.
This is because once they receive these small things that they desire for, it all
comes to an end in a short time.
Throughout their lives people desire for small things, like a promotion, or more
money, or a more fulfilling relationship. But all of these are very limited
(meaning: all these cannot give everlasting joy or contentment).
So people who keep making efforts towards such desires, and who spend their
whole lives in achieving these desire are not intelligent. This is a sign of a
limited intellect. We cannot say that they are foolish in doing so, but this is
surely a sign of lesser intelligence. They make so much effort for very small
gains in life.
By being devoted to the scenery (meaning having narrow goals, or desires for
small sense pleasure), one only reaps short lived results. But one who is
devoted to the seer (meaning the Self as a witness) within him
receives eternal gains. The fruits of such devotion (of being focussed
inward) never diminish.
So the creation (or life) is a process to shift your focus from the (limited)
scenery back to the seer.
You place your faith on the scenery (here referring to the form of Divinity one
prays to) because you get something from it. But whatever you gain is
because of the devotion you have within, which is the devotion of the seer.
Whatever one receives in life is due to their devotion (shraddha). Devotion
always comes from within (the seer).
Whatever we receive in life is because of our devotion, and what we receive
depends on the kind of devotion we have, to some demigod or goddess, or to a
Guru, or to God. So what is more important: the scene or devotion? It is said
that devotion alone is important.
And where does this devotion come from?
This is where Lord Krishna says, Any devotion that one has comes from
Me and Me alone, for I am that pure Consciousness. Those who pray
devotedly to different demigods and goddesses become one with them, but My
devotees attain Me.
Those who believe in the Self receive self-knowledge. Those who believe that
the demigods are separate from the Lord and worship them alone attain those
demigods and merge with them. So Lord Krishna says, One who is completely
devoted to Me alone attains Me and merges into Me.
So who is this Me? This is what Lord Krishna explains in the next verse:
Avyaktam vyaktim apannam manyante mam abuddhayah. Param
bhavam ajananto mam-avyayam anuttamam. (7.24)
He says, My Divine form which is eternal, unparalleled and beyond the
material realm is My Para-Rupa (transcendental Divine form) which is not
visible to the naked eye. Those who are unaware of this, and who think of Me
!"#$ & ))

as being limited to my (visible) physical body, or a personality are foolish. I am
the Divine power and not a person. I am the pure Consciousness present
everywhere. They do not know this Divine form of Me and look at me from a
limited perspective.
What does seeing in a limited way mean? It means getting stuck in little things
like, Oh, he looked at that person and he didnt look at me. He spoke to that
person and he didnt speak to me. This is all very petty behaviour.
In the Indian tradition it has always been said that you should not look
at your Guru with your (limited) human intellect. This is because if you
do, then you get caught up in petty thoughts like, Gurudev saw him but did
not look at me. Gurudev spoke to someone else but not to me. He speaks
more to this person but less with me. He loves others more than me.
Do not get stuck in such thoughts. All these come because of the
limited human intellect.
Once you are with the Guru, then that is it! Just know that your devotion and
His love for you are total and complete. Do not doubt or question it one bit. Do
not think whether the Guru loves you or not because the Guru is
a Shakti (power) and that power loves you very much. There is no other option
because love is its very nature.
In the next verse He says, Na-aham prakasah sarvasya yoga-maya-
samavrtah. Mudho 'yam nabhijanati loko mam ajam avyaya. (7.25)
Lord Krishna says, I am not visible to everyone, and this is because of My
own Yoga Maya (delusions about ones abilities as one moves higher on the
path of Yoga). It is because of this that everyone is not able to recognize
Me. One who knows Me is surely an intelligent person, and one who
does not, is ignorant.
What would you call someone who looks at the sun and then asks you, Is this
the sun? When the sunshine is falling on your head, when its heat is burning
the earth around you, would someone still ask such a question? The proof is so
self-evident.
So Lord Krishna says, Because of My Yoga Maya, not everybody can see Me.
In this entire creation, I am the Avyaya(eternal principle or the underlying
cause of all causes) behind everything that happens. I am not
diminished by anything and I am not enhanced by anything. I remain
unchanged. I am never born and I do not have any end. A foolish
person is unable to understand this. One who has even a little intellect
knows from within that I (as the Self or pure Consciousness) am neither born
nor can I die. I have never experienced birth or death, although people around
me are constantly growing old and changing with age. But when I am
unchanging, how can I die?
It is only that which is constantly changing that can die.
There is something within us that never changes. Every one of us has
experienced this at some time or the other, in some measure. If we focus more
!"#$ & )*

on this unchanging aspect of our self then this realization dawns, that we are
eternal. We will always be there.
So here, Lord Krishna speaks about that Atma Tattva (the soul or the self). He
says that one who knows this Atma Tattva is truly intelligent.
In the next verse, Lord Krishna says, Vedaham samatitani vartamanani
cha-arjuna. Bhavishyani cha bhutani mam tu veda na
kashchana. (7.26)
He says, I know everything. I know all that has happened in the past, I know
all that is happening in the present, and I know all that will happen in the
future as well.
The Self deep within us knows everything. It has the knowledge of events that
happened in the past, and all that will happen in the future. That which has
the ability to know is the soul.
So Lord Krishna says, I know everything and everyone, yet everyone does not
know Me. There is only One power that is capable of knowing everything, and
that is the Self. So the objects in the creation appear different, yet none of
them truly know Me. Yet I know them all.
People often ask, If all this is true, then why dont more and more people
across the world walk the spiritual path?
Lord Krishna explains this very clearly by saying, The foolish ones cannot
know Me. There are very few intelligent ones in the world and they alone are
capable of knowing Me. The very sign of being an intelligent person is
one who knows Me.
What Really is Sin?
May 16, 2013, Bangalore, India

(Below is a continuation of the post Learn To Look Beyond)
He continues further by saying, 'Iccha-dvesha-samutthena dvandva-
mohenabharata. Sarva-bhutanisammohamsargeyantiparantapa'. (7.27)
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Lord Krishna says, Why is it that so many are not able to know Me? The
reason is Ichha(cravings or desires) and Dvesha (aversions). They are
constantly stuck between their desires and aversions.'
When someone is caught up in Raaga (intense cravings), or consumed
by Dvesha (hatred or spite) towards someone, then that completely fills their
mind and they cannot see anything else. A person who intensely craves for
someone or has too much hatred for someone, such a person falls into
the trap of Moha (attachment).
All living creatures are affected by this, and all of them suffer because
of this very reason.
A person who is suffering and is miserable cannot see anything else or
understand anything. Even if something good is happening around him, he not
able to see it. Such a person lives in his own world. That
is Bhrama or Bhranti (delusion).
When such a person has a problem in his life, be it regarding money, or
relationships, etc., then all that he can see is the problem. His mind is
completely engrossed with the problem and nothing else. He spends his day
and night worrying over it, even years, but he is not able to overcome it.
If someone suffers a loss of some kind, then that loss grips the person so
completely that he is unable to see anything beyond it. This is what Lord
Krishna calls as Moha(attachment). He says,One who is caught up in such
attachments is not able to recognize Me as the one pure Consciousness
that pervades everything. He is unable to recognize My vast brilliance. I am so
vast and so majestic, he is not able to see that. So why does this happen, and
who is able to recognize Me?
He explains about this in the next verse:
Yesamtv-anta-gatampapamjananampunya-karmanam. Te dvandva-
moha-nirmuktabhajante mam drdha-vratah.(7.28)
Lord Krishna says, One whose sins have reduced and who has begun to
receive the merits of his good deeds, such a person becomes free from
the conflicts of cravings and aversions, and worships Me
dedicatedly. And also (on the other side), one who believes in Me is
automatically cleansed of all his sins. One who takes refuge in Me, and
sees Me as the pure Consciousness is freed from all his sins, and all his good
deeds begin to bear fruit'.
In the next verse He says, Jara-marana-moksaya mam asrityayatanti ye.
Te brahma tad viduhkrtsnamadhyatmam karma chakhilam. (7.29)
Lord Krishna says, Those who wish to be free from (the problems of) old age
and death; for whom I am the only shelter, and who rely completely upon Me
for everything, such noble people surely attain (the highest pedestal of)
the Brahman. This is what spirituality really is. And they are the ones who are
able to understand the ways of Karma also.
!"#$ & ),

He then says, Sadhibhutadhidaivam mam sadhiyajnamca ye viduh.
Prayana-kale api cha mam teviduryukta-cetasah.(7.30)
Here, Lord Krishna says, Those whose Punyas (meritorious deeds) begin to
bear fruit are freed of all their sorrow, and they begin to get drawn towards
Me. Those whose sins are not cleansed remain stuck in ignorance and
delusion.
This is the difference between Paap (sin) and Punya (merit). This is the
definition of the two. Sin is that which does not allow you to come to the
spiritual path. See, if you walk towards the light, the darkness (of ignorance)
automatically starts to disappear. But sin is that which does not let you move
towards the light. And this is what causes misery, pain and suffering.
We have also seen this happen in the courses and workshops. People who are
yet to undergo some suffering and misery, they are just not able to come and
attend the course. Their karma is such that it stops them from coming and
experiencing the course.
They are not able to attend Satsang, and even if they attend it, their mind is
racing elsewhere. All this is because of their unfavourable ( paap) karma.
Those who walk this path and receive Self-knowledge are freed of suffering.
With this, the seventh chapter comes to an end. In the next chapter, Lord
Krishna explains what spirituality really is. Spirituality is that which brings
you merit, and causes the light (of Self-knowledge) to dawn in your
life.
Once you are on this path, you never feel that you have aged. Old and
elderly people who are on the spiritual path keep their enthusiasm till their last
breath.
No matter how old they become, their face still glows with joy and happiness.
They have a child-like innocence in them. So how can you call someone who
has such a child-like innocence in them as old? How can you call people who
are unafraid of death and who keep smiling as old?
When a person completely understands that I am not the body, I am pure
Consciousness, then such strength dawns in him. How can such a person be
fearful of death anymore?
Such people feel free from old age and death (having realized their true nature
that is eternal). They are filled with happiness and enthusiasm. They are free
from the conflicts of craving and aversions.
Otherwise you see so many people who till the last moment of their lives keep
worrying about their son, or their daughter, or grandchildren, etc., (This is
happening to my daughter, that is happening to my son). You need to
realize that everyone has brought some karma with them, part of
which is Paap and some part is Punya. And they have to pay off the
debts of their bad karma and also experience the merits of their good
karma.
Lord Krishna says, But those who have complete faith in Me are freed from
their karma and their sins are cleansed. This is what spirituality really is.
!"#$ & )-

'People usually think that spirituality means to keep practicing Karma
Kaand (rites and rituals of worship as mentioned in the scriptures) throughout
their lives. But that is wrong. If you keep turning the beads of a japamaala (a
rosary) all your life, that is not going to bring you any merit. But once the faith
towards the Divine gets strongly lodged into your heart, then that is it.
For example, you all are sitting here in Bangalore. You are all aware you are in
Bangalore, isnt it? Does anyone have to remind you again and again about
this? Do you need to keep chanting I am in Bangalore ten times to remind
yourself about it? Who would do that? One who has some doubt. If you are in
Delhi but have this misconception that you are in Bangalore, then you have to
remind yourself again and again that you are actually in Delhi and not in
Bangalore.
So, when Lord Krishna says, Believe in Me with strong dedication and
unwavering faith, He does not mean to say you should keep on chanting His
name again and again. No, it is not so. Once you have faith in Him, then
that is it. Then you should not doubt it one bit. This is what knowing the
Divine truly means. Once you know Him and have total faith in Him,
then it stays with you forever. Such knowledge can never diminish. It is
always with you.
Delusion can never stay for long. It comes and goes. It has no permanent
existence. Knowledge can never be destroyed. It is only because of ones sins
that knowledge gets veiled by ignorance. By doing good deeds, the veil of
ignorance gets lifted and knowledge dawns in life. This is what spirituality is.
There are three different types of Taapa (manifestations of Divine
energy): Adihautik (pertaining to the material realm),Adhyatmik (pertaining to
the subtle spiritual realm) and Adidaivik (pertaining to the celestial realm of
the demi-gods). Lord Krishna says, I am all three and I am also beyond them
as well, and He simply leaves it at that, so that Arjuna can ask a question
about them.
Here He creates a chance for Arjuna to ask a question, and also to check
whether he is attentive or not (laughter). He wants to check whether Arjuna
has been able to digest all the knowledge given so far. So Lord Krishna gives
the knowledge, but at the very end of the chapter, leaves a small gap to give
Arjuna a chance to reflect and ask questions.
.
.
.
.
.
!"#$ & ).

Having A Perfect Vision
May 31, 2013, Bangalore, India

(Below is a continuation of the post What Really Is Sin?)
The ninth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita is called the Raja-Vidhya Yoga or
the Raja-Guhya Vidhya (the most supreme and confidential knowledge).
A king (Raja) never makes too much effort for anything. Have you ever seen a
king work hard for anything? So, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna that this knowledge
is one that can be learnt effortlessly.
He also calls it Raja-Guhya Vidhya, meaning that this knowledge is a great
secret.
So, Lord Krishna says to Arjuna, 'Idam tu te guhyatamam pravaksyamy
anasuyave. Jnanam vijnana-sahitam yaj jnatva moksyase
'subhat'. (9.1)
He says, O Arjuna! You are Anusuya (one who is without envy and negativity),
so I shall tell you a great secret now.
What does Anusuya mean? One who does not keep finding faults in everything
is calledAnusuya. Who is called Asuya? One who finds faults in everything
around him.
When one's vision is distorted and imperfect, they seem to find fault in
everything around them. Such a person who sees faults in everything is Asuya.
So Asuya is one whose vision is distorted. Anusuya is one whose vision
is free from distortion and negativity.
For example, if anyone says something to a person who is miserable, he feels
that the other person is making fun of him. Have any of you ever had this
experience?
Even if you praise a person who is disturbed, they feel that you are making fun
of them. Even if you do something good for them, they still find fault in it.
No matter how noble your intention may be with which you do something for
such a person, they find some or other fault with it. Such a person who tends
to see wrong motives behind any action is called Asuya.
Anusuya means one who does not have such a distorted vision. Such a person
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knows and accepts things as they are, rather than finding imperfections in
them.
So whom can you tell a great secret to? One who is Anusuya.
You can tell a secret only to someone who does not find fault in everything,
and whose vision is not distorted.
One who is Asuya will only find fault in everything, no matter where they go.
Such people project the negativity of their own mind onto the world outside,
and they blame other people for it. One whose vision is distorted cannot
see his own imperfections. He just sees imperfections and bad
qualities in others. He keeps trying to find more and more faults in the
people around. Such a person is Asuya. No one can accept such a person as a
disciple because even if a Guru accepts such a person, he will find fault in the
Guru's teachings as well.
He will say, Gurudev, you said this, but there is a fault in what you said.
What can such a person imbibe from his Guru if he blames his Guru
and keeps on finding faults in his teachings? He will not be able to
receive anything. That is why it is said that you should not see the
Guru with the limited vision of the intellect, but rather from the
broader vision of knowledge.
So Lord Krishna tells Arjuna, Since your vision is free from distortions, I shall
now reveal an astounding secret knowledge to you. By knowing this
knowledge, you shall be free from all your sorrow and negativity. This
knowledge is both scientific (vijnana) and also transcendental (jnana).
Science is knowing What is this? (referring to knowledge of the material
realm), while spiritual knowledge is knowing Who am I? (referring to the
transcendental Self-knowledge).
So He says, By knowing this knowledge, you shall be free from all that is
inauspicious and there will no more be any negativity around you. No harm or
suffering will ever come to you after knowing this.
In the next verse, He says, 'Raja-vidya raja-guhyam pavitram idam
uttamam. Pratyaksavagamam dharmyam su-sukham kartum
avyayam'. (9.2)
So He says, I will not tell you anything that you cannot understand or put into
practice. There is no use of telling you such a thing.
Suppose a Guru tells the disciple something and he cannot do it, then what is
the use of such a thing? If a Guru keeps giving very high and complex
knowledge that the disciple cannot grasp, then what is the use of it?
There was a gentleman who once went to attend a discourse given by a wise
sage. When he returned from the session, he told his friends, Oh, the session
was wonderful. The saint gave amazing knowledge.
One of his friends asked him, Tell us, what did the saint speak about?
The gentleman replied, Oh, the knowledge was of a very high level. It all went
over my head.
So what did he gain by listening to such high knowledge when he could not
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understand anything. And even if one understands, still there is no use if one
cannot put it into practice, and follow it.
This is why Lord Krishna says, I will not tell you anything that you cannot
understand and practice. The knowledge I am going to give you is the king
(the most supreme) of knowledge. It is the most confidential knowledge, full of
secrets; it is the highest and most sacred of all. It is the best.
If knowledge that is royal and Divine is not sacred, then what is its use? It may
be the greatest secret, but if it does not have any sacredness to it, then what
can one do with such knowledge?
Usually it is the shameful things that are kept secret. But in India this was
never the case. Nothing shameful was ever kept secret. What was kept secret
was only that from which great things could be achieved. This is why this
knowledge is called Raja-Guhyam: The supreme and the most confidential
knowledge.
The specialty of India is that secret and sacred always went hand in hand with
each other.
A disciple was given a mantra in a secret manner. The initiation of a disciple
into the chanting of the Gayatri Mantra, which is the most sacred of all
mantras, was done in secret by whispering the mantra in the ear. The disciple
was then told to keep the mantra a secret, so that the mantra would reside in
him in the form of a seed. Just like how a seeds is sown under the soil.
When a seed is sown, it is always hidden under the soil, only then does it
sprout and grow into a tree. So a secret is like a seed. A secret is that which
brings purity to life because of which life becomes wonderful.
So Lord Krishna says that this (knowledge) is the greatest secret of all. It is
not a trivial or useless secret. Neither is it something to be ashamed of, or to
be kept hidden. It will only bring great joy and benefit to the one who knows
it. It bestows the knower with the supreme deliverance from everything.
The Space Of Knowledge
May 31, 2013, Bangalore, India

!"#$ & *'

(Below is a continuation of the post Having A Perfect Vision)
'Pratyaksavagamam dharmyam su-sukham kartum avyayam'. (9.2)
Lord Krishna says to Arjuna, This knowledge is such that it is directly
experienced. It is not that if you follow it today, you will reap its benefits after
many years, no! You will reap the fruits of this knowledge instantly. How? You
will experience this for yourself, just like how you experience pain, or hunger.
If you are feeling sleepy, do you have to check with someone, Am I feeling
sleepy?
When there is pain in your leg, do you have to go and ask someone if the pain
is truly there or not? It is so evident in your experience.
In the same way, you will find that this knowledge too is self-evident
and can be experienced instantly.
Now, you all practice the Sudarshan Kriya, do Pranayama and meditation. Do
you ever have to ask someone else if all these are benefiting you or not?
When you meditate, you immediately experience its gains. When you do
Sudarshan Kriya, you instantly experience its benefits, is it not so? In the same
way, the moment you are hungry, you feel it immediately.
When you are meditating, you instantly experience such joy and peace. Your
mind becomes so peaceful at that very moment.
So in the same way, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna, You can practically
experience this knowledge for yourself. This knowledge brings
happiness, and freedom from misery. And this knowledge is surely
worth following. It is easy to understand and practice, and at the same
time this knowledge is eternal and unchanging.
If you meditate even once, the fruits of the meditation are eternal and
permanent. When you do any good deed, its merits stay with you. So this
knowledge is eternal and permanent.
Once you have received this knowledge, it remains with you forever. It
is like, once you learn how to cycle, you know cycling lifelong. You do not need
to learn it again and again. In the same way, once you have learnt how to
cook Halwa (an Indian sweet dish), you know it all your life. You do not need
to learn it again and again.
So Lord Krishna says, This knowledge that I am about to give you is eternal
and timeless.
Then He says the next verse, 'Asraddadhanah purusa dharmasyasya
parantapa. Aprapya mam nivartante mrtyu-samsara-vartmani'. (9.3)
He says, Those who do not have faith in the supreme knowledge that I am
about to reveal to you, are unable to attain Me.
It means that such people are unable to realize the Self.
So He says, Such non-believers are unable to attain Me and they repeatedly
go through the cycle of birth and death.
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See, a person who does not come to the path of knowledge remains caught up
in the distractions of the world. Is it not true? He gets so caught up in the
everyday struggles of life. The same complaints, the same problems; the same
story repeats itself every day.
One whose life is devoid of knowledge, one who has no scientific
outlook, or who does not have any higher purpose, is unable to
achieve anything in life.
What do such people do? They get caught up in cravings and aversions with
people. They fight with the same people that they love, and then they love the
same people that they fight with. Those who are their friends become their
enemies, and their enemies become their friends.
You must have observed that even if you have not done anything wrong, still
people around you become your enemies. How many of you here have had this
experience? (Many raise their hands)
See, almost everyone is raising their hands!
So, people go through such events one after the other in life, and finally meet
their death. They suffer through the repeated cycles of birth and death, and
are unable to find any sort of lasting joy. There is no real joy to be found in
this material world. The more you go searching for joy in the world,
the more misery you find.
So one who does not have faith in this knowledge, and whose life is devoid of
any form of devotion, what else is there for such a person.
One who does not believe in a greater power that bestows life to everything in
creation, and which is the manifestation of Love, then what remains in his life?
His life is so dry.
Such a person always runs after his desires and wants something or the other.
So he is unhappy when he does not have something, and he is unhappy even
after he gets it. This is what is meant by Mrityu-Samsaar (referring to the
material world where everything is temporary, constantly changing, and
subject to death).
This is why Lord Krishna says, A person whose life is devoid of faith and
devotion can never attain Me. Such people fail to attain the eternal Divinity
that is Me, and repeatedly return to this world of death (meaning the ever-
changing material world).
In the next two verses, He says, 'Maya tatam idam sarvam jagad avyakta-
murtina. Mat-sthani sarva-bhutani na caham tesv-avasthitah'. (9.4)
'Na cha mat-sthani bhutani pashya me yogam aishvaram. Bhuta-
bhrnna cha bhuta-stho mamatma bhuta-bhavanah'. (9.5)
Lord Krishna says, O Arjuna, this entire creation is a manifestation of Me. Yet I
am the unmanifest and formless. This entire creation (consisting of form) has
come from Me (that subtle formless divinity). All that you see in this creation
has come from Me. All the fivebhutas (the five fundamental elements of
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nature) Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Space reside in Me and are created from
Me. Yet I am not in them.
This is similar to how you say, This cloth belongs to Me yet I am not the cloth.
See, you are within the cloth and the cloth covers you, yet you are not the
cloth that you wear.
In the similar way, Lord Krishna says, All these five elements are born from
Me and reside in Me, yet I am not in them (meaning that the Lord as Divine
consciousness is not limited to or by the five elements of nature, though they
have come from Him).
This is what Lord Krishna says here, and this is a great secret.
What He says here is, I am the formless aspect that cannot be seen and that
is beyond all that you see.
For example, there is a tree and there is nectar within the trunk of the tree.
But you can only see the tree and not the nectar.
So here, Lord Krishna says, I am that (divine) nectar which gives rise to the
diversity in this creation. I am the cause behind all the trees, the leaves and
the fruits that are present on them. In the same way, you can only see a
persons physical body but not his soul. The soul is formless and that soul is
what I am.
The life-force is present in every particle of our being. The moment that life-
force leaves a persons body, he is declared as dead.
For example, when a small part of your skin gets burnt, it slowly becomes
dead and devoid of all sensation. You cannot feel anything in that burnt part
because the life-force is not present in it anymore.
There is life in this creation because of consciousness. So Lord Krishna says, I
am manifest in this entire creation as the life-giving consciousness which
sustains all life. This is a great secret that you must know'.
An Astonishing Secret
June 01, 2013, Bangalore, India

!"#$ & **

(Below is a continuation of the post The Space Of Knowledge)
We call something astonishing or wonderful which is not ordinary. But if the
same event happens every day, then we do not call it a wonder because we do
not find anything really astonishing about it.
When you suddenly see something different to what you usually see, then you
say Oh! This is surprising! This is a wonder.
So a secret is also like that. It is out of the ordinary.
A mango tree will only bear mangoes as fruits. This is no secret. A coconut tree
only bears coconuts. Is there anything secret about that? But if one day you
see a mango growing from a coconut tree, then it is a wonder. You would say,
This is a miracle! It is such an astonishing thing to happen. It is
extraordinary.
If you observe carefully, many astonishing events are happening all
the time and everywhere in this creation, and throughout Nature. But
you need a special kind of vision to be able to see these astonishing
events.
We have to change the way we see things (meaning to shift towards a broad
vision). That is called Yoga.
It is said, when you see this creation from the perspective of Yoga, you find
everything so wondrous; so astonishing. And even more astonishing than this
is how everything in this creation is a manifestation of that which cannot be
seen; a manifestation of the unmanifest consciousness!
Everything in this creation has come out of empty space.
This is why Lord Krishna says, 'Na cha mat-sthani bhutani pashya me
yogam aishvaram. Bhuta-bhrnna cha bhuta-stho mamatma bhuta-
bhavanah'. (9.5)
Lord Krishna says, O Arjuna! Everything in this creation rests within Me, yet I
am not in them (not bound or limited by creation, though it is created by the
Lord Himself). The five elements are born from Me and reside in Me, yet I am
not in them. Look at this phenomenal magnificence of (My) Yoga.
For example, your body is composed of the Pancha Bhutas (five elements) and
your body is enveloped by your mind. And in your mind, you think about the
five elements, about the hot summers and the cold winters, about food and
shelter, etc. But is it the mind that eats food?
You often think about a Gulab Jamun or Rasogulla (popular Indian sweets), but
can the mind eat these sweets? No, it is the body that eats, but the thought of
food comes in the mind (and not in the body).
Can your mind hold a Rasogulla? It is not possible. But thoughts and feelings
for a Rasogulla do arise in the mind.
In the same way, God is present in this entire Creation. And how is that
so?
Lord Krishna explains this in the next verse, 'Yathakasa-sthito nityam
vayuh sarvatra-go mahan. Tatha sarvani bhutani mat-sthanity
upadharaya'. (9.6)
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He says, Just like how the air element is present throughout space,
everywhere, in the same way, this entire Creation resides within
Me. Whatever you see around you, everything rests in Me, and there is
nothing that is outside of Me.
A small child, who is eight or ten years old, asks his father, What is God? How
does He look like? Where is He?
The father holds the childs hand and takes him outside the house.
He asks the child, My dear! Tell me, what was present here before this house
was built?
The child replies, There was nothing. It was all empty space.
The father asks, So where has this house been built now?
The child says, It has been built in space.
The father then asks, So if we break this house down, what will remain?
The child says, Once again there will be only space.
So this means that space was there in the past, it is there in the present and
will be present in the future as well. It remains unchanged and unaffected from
everything. That space is what God is.
In the Upanishads, there is a question, Kim Brahmayeti? (Meaning: What is
the Brahman? Or, What all does the Brahmanencompass?), to which the
answer given is, Kham! Kham Brahmayeti! (Meaning: Space! Space and all
that it encompasses is the Brahman!).
So just like the space element is present everywhere and in
everything, in the same way the Brahman or God is present
everywhere.
This is why whenever we remember God, we chant, 'Namami-shamishan
nirvan roopam vibhum vyapakam brahma-ved swaroopam. Nijam
nirgunam nirvikalpam niriham chidakashmakashvasam bhajeham.
Nirakaromkarmulam turiyam gira-gyan gotitamisham girisham.
Karalam mahakal kalam kripalam gunagar sansarparam natoham'.
(Opening verses of the Rudrashtakam An Ode sung in the glory of Lord
Shiva, by Shri Goswami Tulsidas)
It means that God is the vast endless space of Consciousness.
There is a verse sung in the praise of Lord Dakshinamurthy (a benevolent form
of Lord Shiva as the embodiment of all knowledge), which says, Vyomavad
vyaapta dehaaya Shri Dakshinamurtaye Namaha.
(Meaning: Obeisance to Lord Dakshinamurthy who is the personification of the
Supreme Self that permeates through Space).
It means, what does Gods body look like? It is vast, endless like the sky.
Lord Krishna also says the same thing, Just like the air present is throughout
the space, in the same way, all the creatures and everything in the creation
resides within Me. So all creatures; the five elements, nature; absolutely
everything resides within Me.
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Now, does anyone go searching for that which is present everywhere? One
who goes searching (for the Divine) outside of himself is a fool. The one who
goes within and reposes within himself attains the Self (Divine), and he is the
intelligent one.
Even if you keep visiting pilgrim spots one after the other, such as Kailash-
Mansarovar(a holy shrine of Lord Shiva in the Himalayas), you are not going to
find Lord Shiva.
Where ever you are, when you simply become silent and go within yourself,
that very moment, you find God.
Lord Shiva is present everywhere, as Chidakasha: the all-pervading space of
consciousness. God is like the sky (space). Is space visible? Can you see
space? Yes and No.
So you should have total faith that God is present everywhere. Do not run
after God. Do not be feverish to see God (meaning, the desire to see God in a
form).
There is a beautiful couplet by Saint Kabir Das, Hari Hari kehta Mai phira,
Par Hari nahi milay. Jab mai theher karr chhup ho gayya, toh Hari
laage peeche kehat Kabir! Kabir!
(Meaning: When I feverishly searched for God everywhere, I could not find
Him anywhere. The moment I relaxed and reposed in my Self, God came
behind me calling, Kabir, Kabir!).
The Cause Of All Causes
June 01, 2013, Bangalore, India

(Below is a continuation of the post An Astonishing Secret)
The next verse is, 'Sarva-bhutani kaunteya prakritim yanti mamikam.
Kalpa-ksaye punas tani kalpadau visrjamy-aham'. (9.7)
'Prakrtim svam avastabhya visrijami punah punah. Bhuta-gramam
imam krtsnam avasam prakriter-vasat'. (9.8)
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Lord Krishna says, Nature follows certain laws, and it runs on those laws. A
flower blossoms on a tree, and after some time it falls off. It decays and
becomes fertilizer. The same fertilizer in the earth grows back again into
another flower from the same tree. So this is the Divine law of nature.
Everything in creation has come from Me, and it will all dissolve into Me one
day. From time to time, I create this creation, and from time to time I
dissolve this creation into Myself.
A normal person who you see before you, one day dies and disappears, and
you are left wondering where this person went! Even though his body is still
there, where has his Chetna (consciousness) gone?
Lord Krishna says, After death, it (a persons consciousness) merges into Me
(the soul merges with the Lord). It dissolves into Me and when the appropriate
time comes, once again I grant life and a physical body to the soul (here
referring to the Jiva or the individual being) as per the nature of its karmas. I
then place it in the appropriate womb for it to be born once again. So through
my material nature I create this cosmic creation again and again.
He says, 'That from which all of creation is born out of, and into which all of
creation dissolves into again and again; that elemental Tattva is
the Paramatma Tattva (most fundamental element or principle)'.
Scientists today speak about the Black Hole (a region or object in space that
consumes and absorbs everything that comes near it owing to its very high
gravitational pull). They do not know what this Black Hole is made of and how
deep it really is. Everything that comes near it gets sucked into it, and no one
knows where it goes.
It is said that there are hundred thousands of such Black Holes in the Universe.
Similarly, scientists today speak about Dark Matter and Dark Energy. They say
that the entire world is made up of this Dark Matter and Dark Energy.
Do you know why the Sun appears round in shape? It is because there is
tremendous amount of pressure of energy from all sides. There is energy in
the empty space around the Sun and it is much more powerful than the Sun
itself.
Whatever objects appear round in shape in this world is because of the
invisible forces present in the space around it, and these forces are much
stronger than the object itself.
So the forces present in the empty space around the Sun are a
thousand times stronger than the Sun, and this space is what scientists
have called Dark Matter and Dark Energy.
This Dark Matter and Dark Energy is so powerful that it can completely swallow
up the sun in a matter of minutes.
So that which is unseen is actually more powerful than what we see. This is
what our ancestors termed as Adrishta (that which is unseen or invisible to the
naked eye).
The un-manifest and unseen element is far more powerful than the manifest
object which we can see.
The same thing that scientists speak of today, was said by Lord Krishna
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thousands of years back. This is why He says, I create the creation again and
again. All the atoms and molecules present in Nature continuously transform
from one (energy) state to another, and ultimately dissolve into Me.
The leaves, fruits and trees ultimately dissolve after dying. They dissolve back
into Prakruti (nature) from where they are born once again. In the same way,
the human body also decays and dissolves, and then (the soul) gets a new
body once again according to the nature of its karmas. In this way the cycle of
nature continues.
The next verses are, 'Na cha mam tani karmani nibadhnanti dhananjaya,
Udasina-vad asinam asaktam tesu karmasu'. (9.9)
'Mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate sa-characharam. Hetunanena
kaunteya jagad viparivartate'. (9.10)
Lord Krishna says, If this entire creation comes from Me, and if I am the doer
of all this (the action of creation), then obviously I should also reap the fruits
of this action. But this is actually not so. O Arjuna! Though all creation is
created and sustained by Me through Prakruti and this Prakruti resides in Me,
yet I am unaffected by the action and the fruits of creating the creation.
Now how is this possible? For example, can anyone pollute the Space element
(within which everything is contained)? It is not possible.
You can pollute the Earth, Water, Fire and even the Air, but can you pollute
Space? Not at all! If the air is dirty and polluted, you can switch on the fan and
all the bad air goes away. But the Space element always remains as it is, pure
and unchanged.
So in the same way, Lord Krishna says, Just as the Space element remains
unaffected, in the same way I too am unaffected by everything even
though all action (karma) happens within Me and through Me (that is,
through the Lords Divine energies). I am not bound by any action or its fruits.
This is why, when a Jnani (wise person) does anything, he remains unaffected
by the fruits of that action. He does not suffer any ill-effects of his actions.
Suppose a surgeon operates on a patient, and the patient dies in the
operation, does the doctor get blamed for the patients death? No, he does
not; unless he acted irresponsibly and was operating carelessly. So despite a
doctors best efforts, patients sometimes do die during an operation. Is it not
so? The doctor cannot be blamed for the patients death.
But when a dacoit stabs someone with a knife, and the person dies, would the
dacoit incur the bad karma of killing someone? Yes!
A dacoits knife is very different from a doctors knife. Though both knives
essentially do the same thing they cut through a persons body. But when a
doctor cuts open a person (to treat him), we thank him for his efforts; when a
dacoit uses his knife, he is sent to jail.
So the dacoit reaps the fruits of his bad karma.
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So here, Lord Krishna says, I remain untouched by all karma and its fruits.
Think of a person who is sitting on a train and looking outside the window. The
scenery from the window keeps changing, but this person simply sits and
watches it all go by. Stations keep coming one after another, yet this person is
simply sitting, observing it all. He does not interfere in the changes that are
happening outside.
He does not say, Oh, this scenery should not be there. He knows that saying
this is of no use because it will not change what is happening outside. So in
this way, he sits and observes everything with a sense of apathy.
Lord Krishna says, I observe everything (all actions) with a sense of apathy,
as Nature goes about doing its job. I am not attached to anything that happens
because I know the nature of the three Gunas (Satguna,
Rajoguna and Tamoguna). It is me who has created these Gunas and their
nature. They operate as per the Divine laws designed by Me. So when they are
functioning as per the laws that govern them, why should I interfere in their
function? So I remain detached from the play of the three Gunas and simply
observe everything that happens.
There is consciousness deep within every person. Everything is operating
because of this consciousness, which is why, whatever we do, we are also a
witness to that action as well. (This is because it is the consciousness that
is the source cause of all action). There is this feeling that it is all just
happening.
Whenever you do some very good work, you feel, I did not do anything.
Everything simply happened on its own (through me).
How many of you here have had this experience? (Many in the audience raise
their hands).
For example, you achieved a great task and everyone praises you for
completing it, yet you feel that I did not do anything. It all happened on its
own. It is God who did everything (meaning to feel a sense of non-doership).
Have you ever felt this way?
In the same way, if you go to any jail and ask the worst criminal there, How
did you do such a crime? What made you do it? He will say, I never did it. It
just happened (through me). A person comes under a strong influence of
the Tamoguna (a quality or state of existence characterized by inertia,
ignorance and negativity), and ends up committing a crime. Then he says, 'I
did not do it. It just happened. Please forgive me.
But there is little sincerity in the forgiveness he asks because he continues to
think, I did not commit the crime. I wonder how it happened.
There are many criminals who think of themselves to be innocent.
Once when I had gone to a prison to address the inmates there, I asked them
all, Tell me, how many of you here think that you are innocent. Raise your
hands.
Every one of them raised their hands! (Laughter)
The jailor then approached me and said, Gurudev, everyone here will say
that.
!"#$ & +0

So every criminal will say, I am innocent. I have been falsely convicted of this
crime by someone else. I have been wrongly accused and brought here to jail.
Even the ones who commit the crime will say, I do not know how it happened.
So this is why Lord Krishna says, All actions happen due to (the laws of)
Nature, but such actions do not bind Me. I remain detached and separate from
them. Just like an apathetic person who sits and observes everything with a
sense of apathy (or indifference)'.
He says, 'Do not think that I am apathetic or sad, no! But just as an apathetic
person sits with a sense of detachment (withdrawn), I observe all actions
without being attached to it or affected by it'.
The Shine In The Sunshine
June 01, 2013, Bangalore, India

(Below is a continuation of the post The Cause Of All Causes)
Lord Krishna is saying here, I observe everything happening in nature with a
sense of apathy (or indifference). I am not attached or affected by it, yet
everything in the creation is completely governed by Me (as the cause of all
causes).
A good example is the Sun. Just with the presence of the Sun, there is life on
Earth.
All activities begin with sunrise; people wake up and go about their daily
duties. And at sunset everything comes to a standstill.
When the Sun rises, the birds start chirping. Now the Sun does not specially go
and tell every individual bird, Hey, wake up! The very presence of the Sun is
good enough for the birds to rise and start chirping. Flowers automatically
bloom when the Sun rises.
So, in the same way, Lord Krishna says, I am the source that governs
everything in this creation, and it is through my very presence that everything
happens.
For example, a fetus in the womb of a mother. It is because of the presence of
consciousness (Jiva or life force) within the fetus that causes it to grow.
!"#$ & +'

It is because of the presence of consciousness (Jiva) within a plant, or a trees
that causes it to grow. Now this consciousness that is present within each
living being is a witness to all that happens. It does nothing by itself, yet
everything happens under its influence.
Lord Krishna says, Any transformation that you see, happens because of Me. I
am the seed from which everything is born, and I am the cause of all changes.
After listening to this, what more proof do we need of the existence of God?
Are creatures being born in this world or not? Every moment there is
something being born. See how many living creatures and insects are being
born every moment. Plants, trees, insects, animals, babies, all are being born
every second.
Lord Krishna says, My presence (as the Divine Consciousness governing
everything) is the cause of living beings being born and coming into existence.
It is My presence that sustains and upholds their existence. And it is My
presence due to which they undergo all changes and ultimately die and
disappear.
So God is that fundamental principle from which everything has come.
He is that which upholds and sustains everything in creation, and He is
also that into which everything dissolves into. And it is all happening
every moment, everywhere.
Now how can anyone or anything be separate from God?
Do not be foolish in looking for God, or running behind Him. Wherever you are,
just relax, and repose within yourself. That is where you will find Him. He is in
you.
That which is not omnipresent cannot be called God. When He is present
everywhere, is He not present in you? Or is it that God is present in someone
else, or in Gurudev but not in you? Do you think God is present in Gurudev and
not in you? No, not at all. God is present everywhere. You can see Him so
evidently in Gurudev, but He is also present in you, in the person sitting next
to you, and also in the most foolish of people too.
One who can see God in the most foolish person, can never lose sight
of God again!
God is present everywhere, and is present in you as well.
God is eternal. It is not that He came some 5000 years ago, with a flute in His
hands, wearing a crown of peacock feathers, and now he is not present. That is
not so! He is present now, this very moment.
Then, He belongs to everyone. So does He belong to you? Yes, He belongs to
you!. That is it. Just believe in this totally.
Now what do you need to do to believe this? Do you need to read all the
scriptures, all the Puranas and the Vedas, or do you have to sit in Samadhi for
hours? No. Just take it for granted right now that God is present everywhere,
in everyone and at all times. He belongs to everyone, so He belongs to me too.
He is in me and He is all-capable.
!"#$ & +(

It is very important to remember that God is all-capable. He is capable
of fulfilling all our desires and whatever we feel that we lack. He is
capable of granting us all that we need. This is all that you have to believe in.
So just believe this and relax.
Lord Krishna says, O Kaunteya! (Kaunteya: Son of Mother Kunti, another
name for Arjuna) Listen, all changes in Creation happen because of Me. If you
see any transformation in this Creation, it is because of Me.
It is impossible that someone does not get transformed after coming
to a Guru. Simply impossible. If someone is standing under the Sun,
sunlight will fall on him. It is impossible to say that 'there is no sunlight falling
on me'.
So Lord Krishna says, O Arjuna! I am the reason behind all transformation you
see in the creation. Anyone who comes and takes refuge in Me, is surely
transformed'.
The next verse is, 'Avajananti mam mudha manusim tanum asritam.
Param bhavam ajananto mama bhuta-mahesvaram'. (9.11)
Lord Krishna says, 'These foolish people think that I am a human being. It is
true that I am in this physical body, but the ignorant ones think of Me as being
limited only to this physical body. They are not aware of my supreme
transcendental form, and do not recognize Me as the subtle divine
consciousness that pervades everything. Being unaware of that supreme
Divine form of Mine, these ignorant people think of Me to be an ordinary
human being. I am the Lord of all the Bhutas (fundamental element of
nature).
The consciousness present within us is much greater than the physical body,
and is beyond it. The mind and the soul are far more powerful than the
physical body. The soul is the owner, the Lord of this physical body and not its
servant.
In the same way, God is the Lord of this Prakruti (nature) that is made of up of
all the Pancha Mahabhutas (meaning the five fundamental elements of nature:
earth, water, fire, air and space).
Lord Krishna says, Though I reside within this body and appear to work
through it, yet the consciousness that is within Me is separate from the body
(not limited by it), and is much more powerful than this body. This
consciousness is God Himself'.
There is no difference between the Jiva (individualized consciousness) and
God. The soul is pure consciousness. There is no difference between the soul
and God. They are one and the same.
God is the (power of) consciousness that resides within us all. The
Prana (Life-force) that is present in our body is nothing but God. When
we remain unaware of this truth, we remain ignorant.
!"#$ & +)

(Note: The discourse was given in Hindi. Above is a translation of the original talk.)
The Real Thief Is Ignorance
June 03, 2013, Bangalore, India

(Below is a continuation of the post The Shine In The Sunshine)

Lord Krishna says to Arjuna, 'Moghasa mogha-karmano mogha-jnana
vichetasah. Rakshasim asurim chaiva prakrtim mohinim-sritah. (9.12)
Lord Krishna here speaks about Mogha-asha (Meaning: desires that bear no
fruit or purpose). There are some desires in our life that are totally futile and
have no purpose. Neither do we get any joy or comfort from them, nor do the
people around us. But still we continue carrying such useless desires in our
mind and heart.
Then, there are some people who do actions which not only harm themselves,
but others as well. Such actions are called Mogha-karma (Meaning: futile or
fruitless actions driven purely by attachment or feverishness of desire).
In the same way, there is Mogha-jnana which means incorrect or incomplete
knowledge. It is when you see everything in a distorted way, in an upside
down manner.
Man has three powers with him: Iccha-shakti (the power of desire), Kriya-
shakti(the power of action), and Jnana-shakti (the power of knowledge). When
all these three powers are influenced or dominated by Moha (attachment), it
leads a person to become Tamoguni in nature (a quality or state of existence
characterized by inertia, ignorance and negativity). People with demonic
tendencies, negative and evil tendencies are completely sunk into Tamoguna.
Now, such people do have desires, they perform action as well and they also
have some knowledge about the action they are doing, but there is no life in
them (here meaning, to become devoid of positivity, enthusiasm and spirit).
There is no awareness in them (meaning, to become deluded and lose sight of
the Self).
!"#$ & +*

A thief went to a wise saint and said, O noble sage, I will do anything that you
ask me to do; but please do not ask me to stop stealing. It is in my nature and
I will continue to steal. Other than this, I shall willingly listen to any knowledge
you have to give.
The sage said, Alright, do as you wish. Go ahead and steal, but from now on,
when you steal, do it with full awareness and by being established in your
consciousness. Even if you wish to curse someone, do so with all your
consciousness. If you wish to be angry, do so with complete awareness.
The thief said, Alright, what you have said is quite easy to do. Stealing is my
habit, I can steal even if I am asleep, and I get away with it. I am an expert at
stealing. Since all you are asking from me is to do all this with full awareness, I
shall definitely do that.
The thief took blessings from the noble sage and continued on his way. When
he was about to commit his first robbery, he remembered the sages words,
Steal, but with full awareness. So he tried to steal with full awareness, but he
found that he just could not steal. He thought, It is just the first time that I
have failed, so let it be. It's alright. I just met the wise sage today, so that
meeting with a noble soul might be causing a little fright within me. I will steal
tomorrow. But the next day when he went to commit the robbery, he was
again unable to do it. The same thing happened the third day too. The thief
thought to himself, The effect of meeting such a noble sage and his blessings
will obviously stay for some time. It might last a week, no more than that. So I
will refrain from stealing until a week has passed. By then, I will be back to my
nature (of being a skilful thief).
Often when people come to satsang, their nature gets transformed. But the
moment they leave and go out, they slip back into their bad habits.
So the thief also thought the same, The effect of Sadhana, being in silence
and following spiritual practices lasts for a week or two, or a month at the
most, and then it all fades away. So after a week, I shall surely be able to steal
skillfully once again.
After a week had passed, the thief again tried to commit a robbery, but again
he was unable to steal anything. He then tried the same thing after one
month, but again he was unable to steal anything. He started shivering and
became nervous.
He thought to himself, What is happening to me? Earlier, I was able to do all
this so easily. But now, if I try to even pick someones pocket with awareness,
I become so nervous, my heart starts pounding, and my whole body shakes.
No matter how hard I try, I am just not able to steal anymore!
The thief rushed to the noble sage and fell at his feet. He said to the sage, O
noble sage, what have you done to me? You have ruined my business.
The wise sage smiled and said, It is all because of your awareness. All
mistakes happen when a person is not fully aware of what he is doing.
A person who is fully aware can never get angry, nor can he commit
any misdeed. All mistakes happen in a state of ignorance, and lack of
awareness.
!"#$ & ++

This is what Lord Krishna also says. A person who is dominated by attachment
(Mogha-asha, Mogha-karma and Mogha-jnana) and negative tendencies is as
good as a dead person, without any consciousness (Here meaning: Due to
demonic tendencies, the quality of their consciousness becomes dull and inert
because it is filled with negativity). This is what happens due to Mogha-asha.
People who become more and more dependent on demonic and negative
tendencies (Mogha-asha, Mogha-karma and Mogha-jnana) become totally
absorbed by Tamoguna.
Lord Krishna says, How can such people know Me, when they are so deeply
entangled in negative tendencies?
Such people engage in Nishedha Karma - that is, karma or actions that make
ones consciousness dull and polluted. Such actions completely destroy the
consciousness. Actually it is not appropriate to say that the consciousness gets
destroyed. It means, such actions suppress the consciousness because it
covered with Mogha (attachment) and demonic tendencies. These actions are
called Nishedha Karma.
For example, suppose a boy and girl fall in love each other, and their parents
do not support their relationship. Somewhere deep down, both the girl and the
boy also know it well that they will not be able to spend their lives together,
because their nature is very different from each other. Yet they get trapped in
attachment towards each other (and the craving for a relationship).
Whenever they are together, they fight with each other, despite all this, they
still continue to be in a relationship. This is what attachment is.
Staying together causes pain, but on the other hand, being away from each
other causes misery. It is like how a bit of food gets stuck in your throat. If it
is too sweet, you do not want to spit it out, and if it is too bitter, you do not
want to swallow it. People often get stuck in such situations and relationships.
This is called attachment. They are not able to stay in the relationship, and
neither are they able to abandon it.
Nature has this mysterious power, by which it enchants a person and take hold
of him completely, thus deluding him. Take alcohol for instance. Why do
people become so addicted to alcohol? It does not help their consciousness
blossom in any way. Neither does it give them any long-lasting joy or comfort
of any sort. Yet leaving alcohol causes pain and problems in people. People
who smoke cigarettes suffer in the same way. If smoking cigarettes can bring
you everlasting bliss, then I would recommend everyone to smoke. If that was
the case, then the faces of people who smoke would be glowing with radiance,
joy and happiness. But do you ever see this happen? Have you seen anyone
who smokes look radiant? Do they look ever look happy, scintillating with joy
from every particle of their being? (Laughter)
When you see a smoker, does it look like his consciousness is blossoming and
expanding? Does his spirit dance in joy when he smokes? You will not find
even one person like that anywhere. They all look so dull and lifeless!
People who are drunk with alcohol look the same too. Just like the street dogs
that are ridden with disease and who everyone throws stones at. You feel so
sorry for those poor animals. In the same way, people who smoke and drink
reach such a pitiable state. People who smoke and drink resemble such dogs,
!"#$ & +,

so dull and lifeless. All this happens due to Mogha-asha, Mogha-
karma and Mogha-jnana (here meaning: being ignorant about how something
brings only misery instead of happiness, yet continuing to indulge in them).
There was an old lady whose son had abandoned her. He insulted her and
threw her out of the house. The lady became so depressed thinking about her
son and how he treated her. But how long can she weep for him? After
sometime, the tears also dry up, and then inertia takes over completely
because of attachment, and this dulls the consciousness. Such a person
appears almost lifeless. You will find many such people around in the world
today.
Once I had gone to South Africa for an Art of Living program. Many people
from the old age homes, packed in four buses, had been brought to meet me
and attend the program. It was the most pitiable situation to see them. These
old people had been thrown out of their own homes by their children, just like
how we throw garbage outside.
These people were living in old age homes where there are no spiritual
practices followed, no sadhana and no satsang. They would just eat, drink and
sit idly. These old people had become so miserable in life because of the
attachment with their children that they appeared dead despite being alive.
I said, I pray that such a situation never happens in India'.
In the old age homes here, people still discuss knowledge and attend satsang.
At least they are aware that they are caught up in attachment, and they need
to overcome their attachment. The people there (in South Africa) were not
even aware of how deeply they were caught up in attachment, and that they
needed to overcome it.
This is why Lord Krishna says, By getting caught up in such attachment and
feverish desires, a person loses his consciousness and reels in negativity'.
People who find themselves in such a state are neither aware of how to
overcome it, and are unable make any efforts to do so. They only keep sinking
deeper in such a state.
Who Is A Mahatma?
June 04, 2013, Bangalore, India

!"#$ & +-

(Below is a continuation of the post The Real Thief Is Ignorance)
In the next verse, the Lord says, 'Mahatmanas tu mam partha daivim
prakrtim asritah. Bhajanti ananya-manaso jnatva bhutadim avyayam'.
(9.13)
Lord Krishna says, The nobles souls (Mahatmas) are not like those in the grip
of attachment (resulting in demonic tendencies). A Mahatma is one who holds
on to divine qualities and who relies upon the divinity'.
Lord Krishna says, The noble souls (Mahatmas) are always aware that I am
eternal, undying and permanent, and with this awareness they are constantly
immersed in the bliss of devotion towards Me. They do not get caught up in
attachment.
How did we define Moha (attachment)? Attachment is that which does not
really give you any lasting joy, but only gives you a false promise (or
temptation) of happiness.
That which lures you, but does not give you any happiness, instead it gives
you only misery after misery, that is attachment.
Just like how I told you about cigarettes. Smoking cigarettes does not give you
any lasting happiness, but if you have to give up smoking, it gives you a lot of
pain. Drinking alcohol does not give you any true joy, but trying to give up
alcohol brings so much pain. This is what Mogha-karma is. And those who are
entangled in such karma can never find joy, because they abandon divine
tendencies and take the refuge of demonic tendencies.
Lord Krishna says, The Mahatmas or noble souls constantly sing the glories of
Me and are devoted to Me with one-pointed devotion.
Who is a Mahatma (noble soul)?
In India, if you say Mahatma, everyone thinks of Mahatma Gandhi. Or we think
of sages and saints as Mahatmas (noble souls). But who is a Mahatma?
The mind is very subtle. The intellect is subtler than the mind, and the ego is
far subtler than the intellect also. And this ego, which is even subtler than
the subtle, makes a person dance to its tunes.
There is ego in every person. It may be Sattvic (positive) ego or it may
be Dur-ahamkaar (negative or misleading ego). When the ego becomes even
finer, then it reaches an element or a principle called the Mahat Tattva, which
is subtler than the ego. It is said that the Mahat Tattva is a 100 times subtler
and finer than the ego, which itself is so subtle.
One who has attained this Mahat Tattva is called a Mahatma. So a
Mahatma is one whose ego has practically disappeared. A Mahatma is one who
does not differentiate among people and accepts everyone as his own.
We do not have to bring this Mahat Tattva from anywhere outside. It resides
deep within us all. When the ego becomes transparent (meaning, almost non-
existent), then one can see and realize the Mahat Tattva.
!"#$ & +.

There is greatness present within everybody, but the ego needs to become
transparent (overcome) in order for that greatness to become visible. If the
ego becomes as solid as a wall, then the greatness of being a Mahatma does
not get reflected, even if one gains the title of a Mahatma.
So the Mahat Tattva becomes evident when the ego becomes transparent like
a glass window (Meaning to become transparent, that is to become simple and
natural both from within and on the outside).
For example, there is sky is present behind the wall and behind the window as
well. You can see the sky from the the glass window, isnt it? You cannot see it
completely, but you at least get a glimpse of it. But you cannot see the sky
through the solid wall, even though the same sky is present behind the wall. In
this way, the Mahat Tattva is present within us all. The ego is simply a curtain
that veils the Mahat Tattva and prevents it from being seen and expressed.
The Mahat Tattva is present in a dacoit also. Rishi Valmiki was a dacoit in his
earlier days before he became a Rishi. So there is a Valmiki present inside a
dacoit also (Meaning: the Mahat Tattva is present in everyone, both in those
who do good deep and in those who do wrong deeds).
The Mahat Tattva is present in a dacoit also. Rishi Valmiki was a dacoit in his
earlier days before he became a Rishi. So there is a Valmiki present inside a
dacoit also (Meaning: theMahat Tattva is present in everyone, both in those
who do good deeds and in those who do wrong deeds).
Though Sage Valmiki was a dacoit earlier, the Mahat Tattva blossomed and
became evident in him. He is regarded as one of the greatest Rishis of all time.
The same happened with Angulimal also (Angulimal was a wicked person who,
in the days of Lord Buddha, used to loot travellers and cut off their fingers. He
would wear those fingers in a necklace, earning him his name. He was
transformed when he met Lord Buddha). But the moment the wall of his ego
collapsed, the Mahat Tattva became so clearly manifest in him and he went on
to become one of the greatest Bodhisattvas.
What does a Mahatma do? A Mahatma adopts all the qualities of the Divine.
They take refuge in the Divine and always act by being anchored onto the
Divine for their support. ADuratma (a wicked person or a wrong-doer) takes
the support of demonic tendencies to fulfil their desires, but a Mahatma always
takes the support of divine tendencies.
Going further, Lord Krishna elaborates on what are demonic and what are
divine qualities. But this is certain, that we need the support of divine qualities
for consciousness to truly blossom within us.
What are divine qualities? Qualities that help blossom the
consciousness within you; that which enhances your awareness and
bring more happiness and enthusiasm to you are truly divine
qualities.


!"#$ & +/

One Pointed Devotion
June 04, 2013, Bangalore, India

(Below is a continuation of the post Who Is A Mahatma?)
Lord Krishna says, 'Mahatmanas tu mam partha daivim prakrtim asritah.
Bhajanti ananya-manaso jnatva bhutadim avyayam'. (9.13)
A Mahatma knows well what is steady, what is unsteady; what is eternal, and
what is temporary and perishable.
Lord Krishna says, Such great souls (Mahatma) worship Me knowing My
eternal nature (shaashvat prakruti) as the one pure Consciousness, with
steadfast devotion and a one-pointed mind.
This is a very important thing that He says here.
Many times we feel that we are singing bhajans (devotional songs) and
performing puja for the Divine; but we are not really singing or doing puja,
because our mind is caught up in desires, and we keep thinking that we should
get this or that (Meaning: the mind races after acquiring something or the
other and is not centered to the Divine in that moment) by means of doing
puja. Even when we bow down to do pranaam to the deity (offering
salutations), we do not do it for our own selves, but for some selfish motive,
like to pass in the exams.
When you offer worship with some self-interest in mind, then that is
not worshipping the Divine with a one-pointed mind. It means there is
something else hidden in your mind. Then the puja, sadhana, satsang, etc.,
that we do is only to fulfil the desires of our mind. It is not done with a mind
that is one-pointed towards the Divine.
But what does a Mahatma do? They do everything with a mind that is
one-pointed to the Divine. They sing bhajans with a one-pointed mind.
They do not desire for anything else and are so happy in simply
singing bhajans and praising the Divine.
A Mahatma does not bow down before the Divine so that he gets a good job.
He does it because he gets so much happiness by simply doing it.
!"#$ & ,0

There are two types of puja or worship.
One type of worship is done with a desire to get something, or to offer
gratitude for having received something.
We feel that Oh! God has given me this, and that', or 'God has given me such
a beautiful house; God got me married, so we do puja to thank God in return
for having received something from God. But this is not done with a one-
pointed mind, because it is done either in return for having received
something, or in order to get something in the future.
For a Mahatma, there is nothing more blissful than being one-pointed
in devotion to the Divine. There is nothing else that gives him so much
happiness other than just singing praises of the Divine. He finds so
much joy in that. That is why it is said that a true devotee tells God, O God, I
find so much contentment just by looking at you.
If you ever ask a child, What do you want?, he will always say, I dont want
anything. In fact, the child does not even say, I dont want anything. He will
simply say Nothing! You will also find this in a person who is contented.
So one who is in a state of pure innocence and who is content with everything
displays such one-pointedness (of the mind).
If you look at an infant, you will see that he is so contented. He does not need
anything at all. The same is the case with a devotee also. If you ask a devotee,
'What do you want?' He will say the same thing, 'Nothing!'
One who is intelligent always worships the Divine with a one-pointed
mind.
A Mahatma also always worships the Divine with a one-pointed mind because
he is aware (of the temporary nature of things), so he says, What is the use of
asking God for trivial things? All those He has already given me in abundance.
I have received the greatest gift of all God Himself! I need nothing more.
This is the quality of a one-pointed mind.
Those who worship God with the desire to get something are not able to follow
anything devotedly. They will do a little worship here, a little somewhere else,
in the hope of getting what they desire. Such people keep roaming from one
place to the other, thinking, if they do not get what they desire from one place,
they will go to another. But this is all in vain.
Why? This is because their aim is not to surrender to the Divine and
sing bhajans, rather only to gain something that they desire.
So they will run to whichever place where they can get it. Such people cannot
be called Mahatma. A Mahatma is one who worships and honours the Divine
with one-pointed devotion.
Lord Krishna says, Everything in the world is temporary and perishable. But I
will never perish for I am eternal and have no end. A Mahatma knows this well
and hence worships Me with a one-pointed mind. I am eternal and my Love is
eternal also. Knowing this, such noble souls worship Me with a mind one-
pointed towards Me.
Such a noble soul always feels, No matter what happens O Lord, You are
always mine and I am yours forever. Whether I get something or not, You are
!"#$ & ,'

always mine.
Having this feeling is to have a one-pointed mind.
The next verse is, 'Satatam kirtayanto mamyatantas cha drdha-vratah.
Namasyantas-cha mam bhaktya nitya-yukta upasate'. (9.14)
Lord Krishna continues by saying, Such noble souls always sing My praises
alone. They are strong and unwavering in their devotion to Me. When they
have to do something, they simply do it with full conviction and faith. They live
and abide by their unshakable faith in Me, and they bow down only to Me.
Such pious souls always sit near Me, steeped in their devotion to Me.
These are the signs of a Mahatma. They always take the shelter of the Divine
and divine qualities.
In this way, Lord Krishna speaks about the signs of a Mahatma and a devotee.
Tomorrow we shall see what the qualities of a Jnani (wise one) are.