lecture 6

The common misconception is that every action must have a motive, that man must have an ambition. This misconception is being drilled into our minds right from childhood. Far from this being the truth, the opposite the truth. The less ambitious we are, the more efficient we are likely to be. The less we are driven by mad craving and desire, the more we are likely to achieve. Psychology is only peeping into this realm today, where the Yogis of ancient days held their court.

You are terribly worried about a certain problem. You can't remember a name, so you scratch your head, you frown. This is not good for improving the memory. Pulling your hair will only make you go bald; it doesn't seem to promote memory. The Yogi's simple analogy is this. You have dropped your wedding ring in a pond. It has great value, both monetary and sentimental value. If you are wise, you will quickly get out of that pond, wait till the water settles down, without making any further ripples on the surface. Let it become calm, still, absolutely placid. Then, all you need do is just have a look and you will find it. The more excited you are, the less are the chances of you ever finding that ring there. You are going to disturb the surface of the pond more and more, and the chances of you retrieving it will recede more and more.

It is this mad craving, this mad desire, "I must have this," that acts as a terrible tyrant in our life, brings on worry after worry, grief after grief, sorrow upon sorrow. And yet, we are caught in this rat race. No one has the courage to get out of this, and say "All right, you go ahead."

You know why we don't want to let the others go ahead, overtake us? Because we are not hundred per cent convinced that the road ahead of this speed is Death, self-destruction. If I knew that accumulation of wealth would lead me to ruin, I wouldn't mind if some of you overtook me along that path. I would take it easier. Though superficially we all say that this material progress is leading us to self-destruction, are we sincere? It is this insincerity that gets us. If I am sincere, let us say, in remaining a bachelor, I feel that this is perfectly all right, I do not miss a wife. If I am sincere, why should I be like him? He is married and quite happy; let him carry on, but I don't want to be like him. I don't want to be like somebody else. I want to be me. I want to be myself. Why should I have the craving to become like somebody else? This is the root of all trouble. Even when one becomes a Swami, let us say, it is to become your Self. It is not to become like somebody else. Absolutely impossible. It is in this craving to be like somebody else, that the trouble lies.

Quite a few people of royal standing were born in the same year that I was born. Sometimes, I sort of daydream. If only I had been born a few days earlier, I might have been a prince living in a palace, or a king in the Middle East. Would I like to be like that? Yes, of course. Would I like to be that? Please ask yourself this. It is a very important question. Would you like to be the Queen of England today? Ah, the glamour. It looks wonderful. I find my picture in every shop. Hm? Okay? You have your picture hung in every shop, but you would not see them. Why? You can't enter a shop. You can't go shopping. You can't do this, you can't do that. What we want is: I must be what I am, plus that. I must have the freedom of being just a simple citizen of Perth, and at the same time I must be the Queen of England. Impossible. You can't exchange your place for somebody else's.

What you want is Self-realisation. Look within, see what you are, and be that. It is mad craving that drives us from pillar to post, "I want to be like this, I want to be like that. I want a motor car like his. I want a house like hers." No. I am quite happy as I am. And all that I wish to do is to be what I am, in reality. To get closer and closer to that reality within. If we are sincere in this search for reality, we will not regret not rushing about, not being pushed around by cravings, desires and ambitions.

What is an ambition? An ambition is the declaration of a lack within. Why am I ambitious? Why do I want to gain something? Not so much to do something. To do something may be merely Self-realisation. Why do I want to gain something? Because I feel that something is absent, is lacking in me. If I lack it, will this lack be fulfilled? Please remember that word. Can this lack fulfilled by gaining something? Absurd.

Someone once took me to a super eye specialist. He said, "This is the most brilliant eye surgeon, because he has got the latest, most fantastic equipment."

I said, "My dear brother, if he is as brilliant as you suggest, why does he need all that equipment?"

On the same principle, suppose my I.Q. is low. I can't add up a few figures. Now, what do you do? You give me an adding machine. But you have not improved my I.Q. You have given me a crutch. The more a man leans on a crutch, the weaker his own limbs are going to be. When I began to use a camera, I had a wonderful eye-sight. I could look at an object, measure the light value with my own eyes, and be accurate to a degree. Now, I can't do it. You know why? Every camera is fitted with an automatic exposure meter. I don't have to use my judgement, with the result that I have lost a faculty. The more we depend on these things, the less efficient we become. The man who is efficient, will be efficient up here in his brain.

So that, when I discover a lack within myself, this lack cannot be fulfilled by supplying something from outside. I am using these as illustrations. I am not dogmatic in this, this is not my province at all. Again, if I suffer from a lack of Vitamin B, I can't obtain it by swallowing a few pills. No. I have to eliminate them now. In addition to eliminating the food that I have eaten, I have to eliminate these chemicals that I have introduced into my system. If I suffer from hormonal deficiency, I must ensure that the manufacturers of these hormones within my system function better. Not take some other hormones. These are some of the fallacies of the basic philosophy, that when you lack something, you should import it, get it from somewhere else, acquire it externally. This is where we go wrong.

This brings us to the basic principle in Yogic physical culture. When I practise Yoga, when I stand on my head, I am strengthening the pituitary gland. I am bringing about a better balance of the hormonal system in me. I am restoring the hormonal balance - or, harmony and balance. This must be done from within, not from outside.

If I lack something which gives rise to an ambition, I must discover the source of that lack, the meaning of that lack. I must understand why it is that I have this craving. What do I lack? There is something missing in me, and the fulfilment must come by removing that lack in my own personality. If I am afraid, if I suffer from a sense of insecurity, there is something lacking within me. Wisdom. Understanding. That lack must go. Leaning against a wall is no good. It may break that wall, but it will not strengthen me.

This is the fault of most of the modern systems, whether you call them medical systems, psychological systems, religious systems, monetary systems, or social systems. This is the basic lacuna in all these systems. "I lack something, there is something missing within me. I will supply it from outside." Since this is impossible, it leads to frustrations.

The thing must come from within. Beauty must come from within, not from a few creams you rub on the surface. The deficiency must be supplied from within. The deficiency must be removed there. Then, the greatest wonder is that, when the deficiency disappears, the craving disappears.

For example, some people have cravings for even such things as charcoal. Why? There is a lack within. When that lack has been removed, the craving suddenly disappears. So that the fulfilment of desire, of ambition, does not consist of supplying something from outside, but turning within, to the source of this lack, and removing it there by fulfilling the Self. By Self-realisation.

Hence Krishna tells us in the Bhagavad Gita, with beautiful imagery,

aapuryamaanamachalapratishtham samudramaapah pravishanti yadvat tadvatkaamaa yam pravishanti sarve sa shanti maapnoti na kaamakaami (Gita II-70)

He attains peace into whom all desires enter as waters enter the ocean which, filled from all sides, remains unmoved; but not the man who is full of desires.

The ocean is calm and peaceful. The sun's rays suck water vapour up. Clouds form. Very often it rains on the ocean itself. I have not been able to understand why the rain falls on the ocean. Why does God waste all his energy by sucking up water from the ocean, and then putting it back? Perhaps to teach us a wonderful lesson. This is the only reason that I can conceive of why rain should fall on the ocean itself. Look at this rain falling on the ocean, and how the ocean, undisturbedly, tranquilly, takes back the water. What happens to this water that so lovingly falls? It becomes one with the ocean. The other cloud formation is wafted onto the shore. Wind and gales blow the clouds onto the shore. How these clouds are pushed around, smashed on mountain peaks! The moisture comes down as rain, has to undergo terrible torture in these mountains. Pushed around here and there by boulders, becomes muddy, dirty, then flows down, sometimes joining a big river, sometimes being pushed around in small canals. Then the water flows down and joins the main strehm to the sea, and is calm again.

So, Krishna tells us,

When a desire arises in your mind, find out the root of that desire. Find out why that desire arises there, in your own mind. You will immediately see that the goal of that desire is within. It doesn't have to be wafted around and brought back. It can come down from there.

A simple story crossed my mind. A story told to me by a high official somewhere, in a small government office. The boss entered the office, and found one man sleeping there. He shook him, and said "Ay, what are you doing?" "I am sleeping, Sir." "Why are you sleeping?" "Sir, I have finished my work." "You should do something creative." "What for, Sir ?" "Then you will get promotion. Earn a lot of money. Be able to buy a big house. Retire. Take rest." "But isn't that what I am doing now, Sir? Instead of going to all that trouble, and having a holiday in fifty years time, I am having it now."

Now, though this story might be ridiculous, and totally immoral from your point of view, that is precisely the state of being that we are aiming at. It is called Yoga.

yam labdhvaa chaaparam laabham manyate naadhikam tatah yasmin sthito na duhkhena gurunaapi vichaalyate tamvidyaadduhkhasamyogariyogam yogasamjnitam (Gita VI-22,23)

Which, having obtained, he thinks there is no other gain superior to it; wherein established, he is not moved even by heavy sorrow. Let that be known by the name of Yoga, the severance from union with pain.

Krishna says, "Having obtained this state of being, you would not look for a greater achievement. Having got this, nothing other than this tempts you." That is Self-realisation. The man of Self-realisation discovers that the ambition which drives an imperfect personality, does not exist for him. He works. He is ever busy, ever active. All his hidden and latent talents and faculties express themselves. That is Self-realisation. He is active, but not because he wants to achieve something. The greatest achievement is Self-realisation. Being established in this, he is established in pure being. There is nothing more to do, there is nothing more to gain.

You might say, "Well Swami, I have got a very lovely wife, two children, a good house, two cars. I am enjoying reasonably good health. I don't want anything more." Good. That is only half a Yogi. The other half is a wonderful definition.

"Yasmin sthito na duhkhena gurunaapi vichaalyate." When you are established in this state of Yoga, no misery whatsoever touches you, affects you. You feel, "Anything that might happen to the body does not happen to me, anything that happens to the world does not affect me. How can it affect me? I am. I am what I am. And I will ever be what l am. There is no disturbance in this basic Self-realisation. I am the Self. I cannot cease to be the Self."

This is the great glory of the philosophy of Self-realisation. You don't have to prove the Self. You can't disprove the Self. The Self is unchanging. Why? Because, what is unchanging in me, is called the Self. You can't disprove that the Self is unchanging. No. What is unchanging in you is the Self. If you are established in that unchanging Self, what does it matter if your hair is black or white or if there is no hair at all? I am. "I am" is the great realisation. So that, whatever happens, you are not affected.

You don't cry when it becomes night. Wait for a little while, the sun will come up. You don't say that it's a wonderful thing that the sun has come up. Wait for a little white, it will go down. Night will come again. These passing phenomena, night and day, happiness and unhappiness, pain and pleasure, these things are part of the changing, ever changing pattern of this world.

I am the witness. I am. You don't even have to add 'the witness'. I am. That is the most wonderful thing. One who is established in Self-realisation, "I am" consciousness, is not disturbed at all, whatever happens outside. That is the sure sign of a man of wisdom, a man of Self-realisation.

We don't admire great beings like Buddha, Krishna, or Christ, for the miracles they performed, for the wonderful teachings they have left behind. No. What were they in the times of the greatest trials? That is what reveals the inner man. If wisdom is not there, we are still subject to this fluctuation - we are happy at some time and unhappy at others. If we are subject to this fluctuation, if we identify ourselves with these changing passing phenomena, we are lost.

In the Gita is given what I would call the steps of self-destruction.

dhyaayato vishayaanpumsah sangasteshupajaayate sangat sanjaayate kaamah kaamaatkrodhobhijaayate krodhaadbhavati sammohah sammohaatsmritivibhramah smritibhramshaadbuddhinaasho buddhinaashaat pranashyati (Gita II-62,63)

When a man thinks of the objects, attachment for them arises; from attachment, desire is born; from desire, anger arises. From anger comes delusion, from delusion, the loss of memory; from loss of memory, the destruction of discrimination; from destruction of discrimination, he perishes.

A beautiful flight of steps downwards. The picture is this. A man is standing outside a big supermarket, and he looks at something. Perhaps some of you might discover modern psychological doctrines in this description, but please, remember that the Bhagavad Gita is at least four to five thousand years old. He stands in front of something, an object. Now his mind has alighted upon this object, which he values because it gives him pleasure. Because he thinks it supplies a lack in his own personality. So, he loves it.

I don't know if men are subject to this? Certainly women are. A lovely dress. She has only seen it once. That will do. That object has been registered within. "Sangasteshupajaayate." A contact has been established through the camera lens of the eyeball. I have a camera. I can click it here and take it home with me. You know what happens? You are coming with me inside the camera. In exactly the same way, her eyeball has now taken the imprint of this dress. So that, although that girl saw the dress in the window of the shop, she is actually taking the thing home with her. The mind has assumed the shape of the dress. She goes home, and she cannot sleep. As soon as she closes her eyes, the dress hangs in front of her. "Sangaat sanjaayate kaamah." It applies not only to dresses. It applies to everybody with something which we are fond of. A young man may look at a girl, she will haunt his dreams until he gets her.

Now we will proceed step by step. This thing is haunting. You can't forget it. Why? Because the thing has been printed, planted, in your consciousness. How was it possible for this thing to be planted in your consciousness? Because there was this lack in you. Otherwise, you would not even have noticed it. This thing seemed to supply this lack, fulfil this desire. So now, you take this picture home, you want to possess it. People unfortunately call ambition a very desirable thing. This is why it is very undesirable. For instance, you are filled with desire to possess this thing. You must have it. "Kaamaatkrodhobhijaayate." Out of this ambition, this desire to possess this thing, arises anger. Frustration.

Somebody might say, "Oh, no, my husband is very fond of me. Whatever I want, he will give." Today he will, perhaps. But, here again is a snag. Desire satisfied in this manner multiplies itself. All of us have experienced this. But, stupid as we are, we forget this experience. "Oh, I am a young man. I will smoke just one cigarette, I will not smoke again." This resolution lasts for the next hour; then he starts up again - just one more. Without realising that, every time this wrong action is repeated, the groove is becoming deeper. The habit is becoming more unbreakable. You know it. I don't want anybody to feel that this is anything that you don't know. Yet, we will go and ask a doctor, a priest, a psychologist, "How am I to break this habit ?" Who asked you to start this habit? Why do you ask how to break this habit? How do you break a glass? Throw it down and stamp on it.

How do you break a cigarette habit? Throw the cigarette down and stamp on it. Again the same thing. With our lips, we are asking the question, "How can I overcome this habit ?" With our own inner consciousness, we love that habit. So, we pray to God. "Lord, I love this temptation, but lead me not into this temptation. I love to be tempted, but I shall ask you not to lead me into this temptation. If I stray, then turn your blind eye on me." We want it. And, because we want these bad habits, we strengthen them by repetition. It is a totally untrue statement to say that craving is removed by enjoyment. It is completely untrue. Every time there is indulgence in this enjoyment, the groove becomes deeper and deeper. Then, all the contents of our mind, all the energies of our mind, flow more and more freely, more powerfully, along that groove. It becomes deeper and deeper and deeper. There is only one way of breaking a habit: putting it under your foot; stamp - it is finished.

A lot of people say they want to give up the habit gradually. This will go on and on until he begins to smoke. Especially in the case of Indians who are cremated when they die. First he keeps smoking cigarette, and then the cigarette smokes him; and later on, he is cremated. There is no gradual business here. I often ask the young people, "How long does it take a man to die? Does he die gradually, or instantaneously?" I may be suffering for a long time, I may be ill for a long time, but death is instantaneous. Finished. And this is how desires can be got rid of, not by gradually, weaning ourselves away.

These are all bits and pieces we picked up from psychological jargon, and use to our own advantage. Dis-advantage.

Remember, every time a craving is indulged in, it becomes deeper. You can't get rid of it. And the time comes when even the fondest husband, the best wife, or the greatest friend, says "No". I want something, and my father, my wife, my husband, my daughter, my friend, says "No". And frustration sets in. In that rustration, "kaamaatkrodhobhijaayate', you become angry, lose your temper.

This has always intrigued me again. Temper is a very funny word. Temper is used in different meanings in different sciences. Steel for instance, when it is very strong, not brittle, is said to have first class temper. A knife is supposed to have first class temper when it is sharp. A man is supposed to have a temper, and he loses it every time he becomes angry. I think it is a very significant transference of meaning. My intelligence and my wisdom are usually sharp. Becoming angry makes me lose the temper of my intelligence. My wisdom is calm and strong. I can do anything, but in a moment of anger I lose this strength of will. Perhaps that is why we began to use the expression, "loss of temper". The temper of our intelligence, the temper of our will, the temper of our wisdom, is lost when we become angry.

The brain is clouded when we become angry, when we lose our temper, and we lose the sense of our identity. In a moment of anger we don't know what we are. We shout at people who we normally respect. Our friends, elders, teachers, priests, other men. Why? Because we have forgotten our identity. We behave like animals. "Smritibhramshaat buddhinaashah." Once we have lost our identity as thinking, discriminating beings, then "buddhi" or enlightened intellect, which alone distinguishes the human kingdom from the lower kingdom, is gone. And what is left ? "Buddhinaashaat pranashyati." We go to self-destruction.

It starts with that evil that modern society condones and glorifies - ambition. Now again we should go back and reiterate the other statement. It does not mean that Krishna or the Bhagavad Gita or Eastern philosophy encourages laziness. No. Act, be busy all the time. Be efficient in whatever you do. But kill this ambition. Serve, because you love to serve. Serve, because you want to realise your Self! Can you do this? "Yes ! What is my reward?" In other words, if there is no reward, are you going to commit suicide? In order to live, do we go about asking people for fees? No. Then, in order to express this life, in order to express, realise, make real the talents and the faculties with which we have been endowed, why do we seek a reward? Ambition. Craving. Desire. In order to overcome this ambition we are asked to meditate. Before we go on to that topic, I must say a little more.

This meditation in itself is not the end. A period of meditation every day is a very healthy practice in order to reverse the destructive course, that I described just now. The destructive course is a movement outside, external movement, externalisation. In order to meditate, we are are asked to cultivate introversion. The energies of the mind, which have been moving outwards, have to be arrested and turned within. That is meditation. But then, this in itself is not the end. It is not as though you are going to sit there in a corner, and be looking at the tip of your nose. Oh, no. By entering into the state of meditation, we discover the being within. We discover the hidden talents and faculties within. We discover the wonders of the world within. And then, these flow, these become real, these faculties and talents become real. Life becomes real. I live. Living itself gives me joy. Everything that I do gives joy, the greatest joy.

Remember the clerk who demonstrated that you can have happiness here and now. Why go around a circuitous route to happiness or leisure at a future date? I say, be happy here and now. Doing this very thing, I can be happy. This thing itself can give me happiness. This thing itself can make me happy, because I am happy. We are not using it as a tool, as a commodity with which to buy happiness. This is the difference between the Yogi and the worldly man. This is the simple difference. The Yogi derives happiness from the action itself. Whereas, the worldly man uses life, uses his talents, uses his faculties in order to buy happiness. Since he can't buy happiness, he keeps using these things, accumulating, multiplying them.

A a man gets married once; his marriage is a failure. He doesn't sit and think, "Why was that marriage a failure, there must be something wrong with me." Oh, no! He thinks, "This girl is no good. Divorce her and get another one!" It doesn't work. And still he doesn't turn within. He doesn't ask, "What was wrong with me that I wasn't happy?" He always blames it on somebody else. This is no good, I'll have that. That is no good, I'll have this. Till he discovers that nothing is any good, and then it is too late. Only death is good at that time.

This is the difference between a Yogi and a worldly man. With a Yogi, the act itself gives happiness, life itself gives happiness. He doesn't live for happiness, work for happiness; the work itself is happiness. If you understand that, you have understood the entire Yoga philosophy. Yet, saying something, and doing something, are entirely different. It is very easy to say, but rather difficult to do.

Our great masters have given us a few hints here and there. When we are assailed by desire, our consciousness flows outwards, trying to grasp objects of pleasure. This flowing outward involves few psychological categories:

1. The buddhi, or discriminating or evaluating intellect;

2. The mind, or thinking principle;

3. The senses;

4. The organs of knowledge.

Eventually, we are able to experience the world and its pleasures only with the help of the organs of knowledge, the sense organs, as they are called - Indriyas. I see it is smooth. I say that I see it is smooth, but it is not the organ of sight which gives me the experience of smoothness, but the tactile sense of my fingers. I touched, and it was smooth. The expression is faulty. I see it is smooth, really means, I feel it is smooth. In the same way, the form is apprehended by the sense of sight. A piece of music is appreciated by the sense of hearing. These are the senses that bring us into contact with the objective world. So that, whatever we do, these senses play a significant part in our life.

Now, therefore, the path of introversion commences with the senses.

indriyaani paraanyaahuh indriyebhyah param manah manasastu paraa buddhiryo buddheh paratastu sah (Gita III-42)

They say that the senses are superior to the body; superior to the senses is the mind; superior to the mind is the intellect; one who is superior even to the intellect is He, the Self.

A beautiful psychological analysis. "Indriyaani paraanyaahuh," says Krishna to Arjuna. There is something wonderful here. Your senses are superior to the sense objects-to the world. A great statement, an inspiring statement, a ray of hope. You think that the object is attracting you. No. The object does not attract you. Your senses are superior to that object. Supposing a few young men are sitting on the beach, and one Miss World in a bikini passes that way. I am sure that every young man would say, "It's not my fault that I looked at her. She was walking in front of me there, I had to look. She was so attractive." But a few hundred yards away from this group, someone is sitting. This girl walks at almost point blank range from him, and he doesn't even turn his head. You know why? He is blind. So that her attractiveness is of no consequence to him. It is not important at all. My eyes are superior to all that is in the world, because, with them, I can see and allow myself to be tempted. Without them, the greatest beauty is nothing but a lump of flesh to me.

Even if you don't want to be philosophers, to be men of God, this gives you a great sense of dignity. Who says that she attracts me? No. I want to be attracted. It is like the story of a young couple, both villagers. Soon after they were married, the young man got a job in a big city; so, both of them went there and took a flat. This girl was alone in the flat while the husband was away at work. After a few days, the young man returned home, and saw that she was crying, and he asked her, "Oh, what's wrong with you now? Why are you crying?" She said, "That man next door is a vicious man." "Why, what's wrong?" "He is looking at me throughout the day." What would the husband's reaction be? He looked at his wife and asked, "How do you know he is looking at you all day, you are also looking at him? If you had been minding your business, you wouldn't even have been aware that he was looking at you. It is because you are also attracted by his presence" Whose fault is it? In passing, I might remind you that this is one of the basic principles of meditation. We often complain of distractions, noise here, noise there. When you sit there, and listen to your own breathing, why does this noise distract you? Who asked you to listen to that? If I don't listen to it, it will not distract me. But then I want to pat myself on the back and feel that I am meditating without a distraction. So, I ask myself, "Am I still hearing the noise?" Yes, of course I am still hearing. If there is noise in next room, don't worry, just go on. Otherwise, you are distracting yourself.

In all these, it is good to know that our senses are superior to the world outside. It may not lead us to terrible egoism or vanity, as I shall explain later, but it does give us an initial boost. It gives us great hope, because the world outside exists only because I come into contact with it. I grip the world, I grasp the world, I touch the world, I apprehend the world with the senses. They are superior.

Now, let's get back to the beach, with that young thing walking along. Another young man is sitting there. He has just failed in his examinations, and on the result of that examination depended his entire career. His hopes and dreams were finished. He wanted to die. He got into the water, but it was a bit too cold! So, he was sitting there. This lovely long-legged thing was walking along, but he doesn't even notice. You know why? His mind is not there. This happens to all of us. Especially to mothers of young children. A little baby has bouts of illness. The most tantalising objects of pleasure completely lose their meaning to the mother. A young girl might have gone raving mad after a fancy hat a year ago, but today her baby is sick. She is driving her baby to a doctor and she looks at the same hat, but it doesn't mean a thing. Why? Her mind is not there. The mind is elsewhere. So that, "Indriyebhyah param manah". You may even look at an object of pleasure and be indifferent to it, because your mind is not associated with that sense-organ.

Let us get back to the beach, and to another fellow who may be attracted to this beauty. He might be looking at her, following her with his eyes when somebody else calls him. He doesn't hear. Why? All his mind is flowing through the eyes. There was nothing left for the ears. This happens, I am quite sure, even to young men and women in class rooms. They are so busy looking at somebody else, that what the professor says falls on deaf ears. They are not deaf; there is no portion of the mind left for the ears to function with. The entire mind is flowing out through the eyes. Therefore, mind is superior to the senses. If I know how to handle this mind, I can switch off the senses.

"Manasastu paraa buddhih." Superior to the mind, is the discriminating intellect. Or, let us put it another way. Superior to the mind, is the eye of wisdom, "manasastu paraa buddhih." Wisdom is superior to mere mentation. It is this wisdom, it is this discriminating intellect, that decides the scale of values. If you want to experiment and discover this truth for yourselves, all that you have to do is to get together four people: a scholar 65 years old, a young lady, a little boy, and a baby - or some such assortment of humanity. Take them through a supermarket. You are not going to buy them anything, there is no money involved. Each one is given only a sheet of paper and a pencil. Take them round the entire supermarket. Come out, and immediately ask them to write what they saw.

You will be surprised at what they saw. All of them went together into the supermarket, passed by the same stalls. What they saw was completely different. The old man perhaps saw some nice books, a walking stick. The young woman saw some dresses - she didn't even know that walking sticks were sold in that shop. The boy was looking at the model toys, and the little child was interested in the chocolates. Why? This is what is called interest. The mind picks up only those objects in which you are interested. In other words, the interest is again governed by the scale of values, created by the discriminating intellect called Buddhi.

Our whole life is dependent on the functioning of the Buddhi. The cerebral cortex, the topmost layer of the brain is impoverished in most of us. It gets the least nourishment from the heart, because the heart is unable to pump enough blood to the brain. That is why we become more and more stupid. Even if the brain gets some nourishment, the topmost portion is terribly anaemic in most of us, and therefore we are fools. We do not have a proper scale of values. This is one reason why the Yogis recommend the bead stand - Sirasasana - one of the best ways of nourishing the cerebral cortex, becoming more wise. There is something very interesting here - wisdom consists in looking at the world from a different angle. Standing on your head compels you to do that. Therefore, Yogis become wiser. "Manasastu paraa buddhih." The Buddhi is superior to the mind. The mind only follows the dictates of the Buddhi, the discriminating intelligence or wisdom within.

"Yo buddheh paratastu sah." Beyond that discriminating intellect, as the seer behind that eye of wisdom, is you, your Self, the Self. He who is established in the Self, he who is conscious of the Self, is not swayed by passions, is not swayed by desires, does not need the prod of ambition to make him work, to make him live. He is a man who is fulfilled. No ambitions tempt him. No calamities threaten him. He is established in Self-realisation.

 lecture 7

Of the basic enemies of man, we have dealt with just one. There is one more. It is repulsion - the opposite of desire, the opposite of attachment, the opposite of attraction, the opposite of infatuation.

kaama esha krodha esha rajogunasamudbhavah mahaashano mahaapaapmaa viddhyenamiha vairinam (Gita III-37)

It is desire, it is the anger born of the quality of Rajas, all devouring, all sinful; know this as the foe here (in this world). Says Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita.

You have only two enemies in the world. They are not outside you. They are within you. Within where, is for each one of us to discover. One is Kama, the other is Krodha. One is attraction, the other is repulsion. Yoga philosophy calls them Raga and Dwesha.

Raga is infatuation. These words are nearly impossible to translate, nearly impossible to express. Words are just symbols, x y z. God is a symbol in metaphysics and theology. What it represents is for each one of us to work out. A word may mean something in one problem, and quite another thing in another problem. Exactly the same thing applies to this other symbol - g o d. To me it may mean one thing, to you it may mean something entirely different. Words are uttered, expressed, pressed outside. The meaning has to be inscribed. In the case of the meaning, it is the inspiration that is essential. What it means to you is the most important thing. This is a fundamental principle in Indian philosophy. I hope you will get the principle correctly, without bias or prejudice.

If you think you have understood, you are a fool. You have not understood, because that ultimate reality is not an object to be grasped. It is a Truth to which you should surrender yourself. It is not a finite thing which you can measure, which you can encompass, which you can comprehend. It is infinite. You will always have to surrender the little self to it.

Merge the little self into the infinite. When you say 'Ah, I see,' when you don't see anything, it is like talking to your friend over the telephone, and saying 'I see'. You see nothing. The reality is not an object, it is your subject. Therefore, philosophers use all sorts of puzzling statements and paradoxes; slightly that way, slightly this way. When you have understood this, you will be silent, because you can't express it.

Again we go back to the scripture to which I have referred once or twice here, the teachings of Vasishtha. He seems to have been a colossal character. No living or dead philosopher anywhere in the world can hope to measure up to him. A colossal man, one who could sit, and declare with the courage of his own conviction, that what you see is unreal, an appearance. Don't trust your vision, it is defective. The optician may say that your vision is normal. He only means by that, that you are as blind as the majority of people are; nothing more, nothing less. But that means nothing. We are still blind. I can't see microbes floating arourd here. I mentioned on a previous occasion about the electron microscope. It will not say that she is a beautiful woman. If every pore of her skin is made to appear like the map of Israel, I don't know what concept of beauty you will have then. Now, this is only from the physical, point of view.

Take the psychological point of view, it is even, more interesting. I will start with a little Zen story. A wonderful holy man was sitting on the bank of a river. A young man and his wife harj one of those family quarrels, all part of the game of living. This girl in a huff, tore out off of the husband's arms, and said, 'I don't care for you, I will go away,' and she left. The poor husband started chasing her. After a few minutes, he came to a crossroad near which this holy man was sitting. The husband was perplexed. In order not to waste his time taking the wrong road, he asked this holy man. "Did a young beautiful woman go walking past this way? Which road did she take?"

This wonderful man looked up and said, "Ah, a young beautiful woman? I don't know, I saw a skeleton with a little bit of flesh on, going in that direction. If that is what you call your wife, go." A skeleton with flesh on. One definition of a beautiful girl. Right. Now, let us get a little closer. Ask the husband for his definition. "She is my darling, the object of my happiness, the source of my bliss. Everything. My whole world."

This is the reason why, in India, "samsaram" stands for the world, with all its misery and pain and death and unhappiness and so on, and "samsaram" in colloquial language refers to wife. A man might often point out his wife, and say, "She is my samsaram, she is my world"; in other words, "All my happiness, all my misery, has its origin in her." To the man, she is the source of his joy, his whole world.

What does the girl's father think? "Oh, very naughty. Right from her childhood, she has been terribly naughty. I tell her not to dress like this." That's exactly what the husband wants her to do. "I tell her not to go to parties." That's exactly where her husband takes her. "I ask her not to smoke." That's her husband's pleasure again! "A terribly naughty girl!"

The father wouldn't even like a stranger to remark "How beautiful your daughter is!" You know why? "How can you look at my daughter and admire her beauty? It is not for you." Look at the two entirely different points of view.

Let's go to the third party, a little baby. This baby may or may not be able to talk to you. But you can always find out. Look at that little baby. "What is this girl to you?" "My feeding bottle. Whenever I am hungry, she feeds me. Beauty or no beauty, I don't care, she is my feeding bottle. And if even Satan himself comes to threaten me, I run and jump onto her lap. She is my fortress. My security. Beauty? What do you mean by beauty?"

Supposing the whole family went to Africa, to a National Park, where tigers and lions roam freely. The girl stepped out of the car, and there was a lioness. And you ask the lioness, "What do you see? Beautiful girl? Naughty? Feeding bottle?" "No, Bread and jam. 150 lbs of breakfast. Ready made and hot!' The lioness doesn't know that this is a human being, a beautiful girl, a naughty girl, a feeding bottle!

Now, what in reality is she? Impossible to fathom. Impossible to understand. Because the very process of your understanding prohibits this. Let us not bluff ourselves that we are not prejudiced at all, we are not biased at all, that we always judge objectively.

Without shattering anybody's egoism here, let us face facts. When I look at him, I only look at him through my own eyes. That is all that is possible. I can understand him or her in a sort of roundabout manner, basing my understanding on this principle: just as I look at her with my eyes and arrive at an opinion, he might look at her with his eyes, and he has every right to his own opinion. That is the greatest understanding that is possible, that is all that is possible.

I can't look at anything through his eyes, it's impossible. I can appreciate his point of view, and what does that mean? I can tell myself that, just as I have my point of view, he has his point of view. I can therefore give him - who am I to give him? I mean, in a manner of speaking - his freedom of thought.

Therefore, when this theological formula, this theological symbol God, or g o d is used, it means nothing, except what it means to you. God is one. Of course God is one. But! My God need not be your God, will not be your God, cannot be your God.

This wonderful man Vasishtha, after giving us this world-shattering, mind-shattering, intellect-shattering truth that what you see is unreal, an appearance, then tells us, 'Don't bluff yourself that you can see the world as others see it. You cannot." Therefore, in this very room, there are one hundred universes. "Loka", in Sanskrit, means universe, but literally means a "plane of perception." It means that there are hundred lokas in this room; for, each one of us has his or her own world, in this room. What you see, you alone can see. No one else can see.

There is an objection here: look at that dress, what is its colour? Pink. Ask any one here, "What is its colour ?' They all reply "Pink". Unanimity - they all see the same thing in the same way! How can Vasishtha assert the contrary!

This wonderful man Vasishtha has a few answers to number one. He says sometimes, accidentally, a few people may have the same experience. Accidentally. Just like this: a ready made jacket is hanging in a shop. Let us say, all the menfolk here walk into that shop. It's just a matter of chance that jacket will fit a few of them.

There is the other argument, which is again intellect-shattering. Perhaps you have heard of colour blindness? One mistakes one colour for another colour. Usually between red and green, I am told. Now, supposing I was born colour blind. I am over-simplifying this. So that, congenitally, I see pink as green, and green as pink. When I was a little boy, I saw a dress. I asked my mother, "What is this ?", and she said, "It's a pink dress." "Oh, so this is pink!" Now, according to the system of wavelengths, the wavelength that I perceive could be equated to green. But I register in my mind that this thing that I am seeing is pink. So that, forty years later, when I am shown this dress, of course I see it as pink, though actually what I am seeing from within, scientifically, technically, the impression that is produced on my optical nerve, is green colour. But, since my mind has associated that wavelength with pink, I say pink. I am bluffing myself, I am bluffing you.

Hence, when a few people agree hundred per cent, to a certain definition of g o d, it only means they are bluffing themselves. They are thinking in terms of their own understanding. But they have come to a sort of agreement, conventional agreement, that I'll see this God one way, you will see God another way, but all of us will call this God. It suits our common purpose, and we go on. All this goes to show that, although we may use hundreds of word-symbols, they have no real significance or purpose in our life - only their meaning has.

We have become the victims of symbolism. Symbolism has a tremendous value in our life, it has a wonderful place in our life. We can't live without making use of symbolism. But, as with everything else in life, if we allow these instruments to make use of us, we are gone. Wealth is very good, very necessary. Somebody asked me the other day, "You are a Swami, you don't have a bank account, you don't have any possessions, no family, no property? Is it true? You don't handle money at all?" I said, "Of course, I handle money. I travel from country to country. I can't go to the airport and thumb a lift. I have to pay a ticket. Money is necessary for everybody. Food is necessary for everybody. But the moment 'we' become necessary for 'that' bank account, we are doomed. So long as I possess the money, it is perfectly all right. If that money begins to possess me, I am sunk.

We need this symbolism. Somebody has a cross, a crucifix, hanging around the neck, to remind them of Jesus Christ, His wonderful life, His great sacrifice. I have got my own. My Master. Whenever I feel a bit depressed, I open my locket, and I look at him. But then somebody said to me, "Your locket is getting a bit rusty and dirty, shall I gold plate it ?" Now there is some trouble. Shall we gold plate it? Shall we make it a golden locket? If it is golden, I am not going to look the inside anymore. I am going to be admiring the outside.

This is where the symbol loses its symbolism, and we crucify the spirit afresh. It is finished, so far as we are concerned. We don't want to understand what the symbolism means, we worship the symbol. Why do we worship the symbol? Not to remind us of the meaning. Not in order to enable us to meditate on the symbol. But, as a very cunning and wonderful substitute for the necessity to follow that symbolism. Why do I worship the Buddha? Why do I worship my Guru? As a substitute for following him? This would make it a tragedy, this leads to a tragedy. I worship my Guru. Yes, of course I worship my Guru. In order that I may meditate upon him, and follow His teachings. Not as a substitute for it.

Our life is full of symbolism. Without symbolism, we cannot live. But that symbolism exists to be understood, and rightly applied to our life. Then it serves its purpose.

Back to these two words - Raga and Dwesha. I gave you such long explanation, because the moment a word is uttered, the moment you jump up and say, "Ahhh, I have understood," it is probably a very clear indication you have not.

When you use words like Raga, Dwesha, passion or desire, ambition, anger, dislike, you feel "Oh, that is bad." Now, that means you have not understood.

We have a passion for labels. Here is a watch. It is a nice timepiece, a good brand. It is first class! It has a couple of words on it, a label. "Oh it must be wonderful, super first class." How do we know? We are guided by the labels. Our good sisters and mothers go to a shop to buy a dress. They determine its value on the basis of the price tag. "Oh, it costs twentyfive dollars! It must be good." The same dress, but it costs only two dollars, and so, "It's no good." Only two dollars, cheap! Or we look for some big name. "Made in Switzerland." Labels and labels and labels. The same thing with Mr. So-and-So. If you find a lot of letters - titles - after his name, he must be a great man. We have already made up our mind that he is that. Labels and labels and labels.

This is extended to philosophy and metaphysics. Labels, words. We don't look for the meaning at all. Take, for instance, ambition. "Yes, I have understood what ambition means. All ambition is bad. Right ?" No, wrong. Here again, the general rule is that there is no general rule. We look for a general rule, we want to make our lives so easy and sloppy. We don't want to think, we don't want to understand. Somebody must give us a ready made answer. The ten commandments. Twenty three instructions. Then we look steadily into that. We tell ourselves, "Umm. That one is a bit tricky. Umm. This is all right, I can do that. Umm. Now, what shall I do ?" Add a little, subtract a little. We want a ready made doctrine, ready made things dished out to us, so that there will be no need for us to think, to understand. And so, we look for general rules, look for a guide. A Guru, a Master, a Scripture that we can quote. Absurd! There is no general rule.

We may be given a Light. That is why the Guru is called the Light. That is why the scripture is called the Light. Light is light. The sun shines. You can do nothing with that sunshine. You can walk in that sunshine, you can study in that sunshine, work in that sunshine. But you cannot sell that sunshine, you cannot make it to a commodity for me to make use of. It is a Light.

If you understand what this Light means you, can make your life blessed, but you can not make use of that Light. The Guru is the Light. The scripture is a Light. It has to be absorbed. We have to expose ourselves to this Light, and become that Light, receive that energy, assimilate that energy, and find our own path, our own way. The Light will not go ahead of us, it will only shine on our path. When somebody says, "Cut out all desires, we reply, "Oh, all right. Finished. All desires are cut out." Then we wonder, "Cut out that desire to live too?" Ah. Why not? What makes you eat now? If you don't desire to live, why do you eat? "All right. We shall not eat, but die." Well, cut out that desire to die. Cut out that desire to stop eating. It can go on.

You can see the puzzle here. This is what called understanding. When we look at a problem, at a solution, at the truth, at a doctrine, at a psychological principle, from only one point of view, we can never understand it. Now, understanding literally means, looking at something from an unusual angle. Standing under. Think of standing under something. Do we do this? No. Look at this problem from as many view-points as you can, and then you might get a comprehensive vision of the ruth. Don't jump to conclusions !

What do you mean conclusions? Conclusion can only be a full stop! How can we ever arrive at a conclusion? What is there beyond that conclusion? There is only one conclusion: absorption in the Truth. That is the conclusion. It is prescribed by the Truth, not by me.

There is no couclusion so far am concerned. It is a perpetual experiment, unending experiment with the Truth, to discover the Truth. When I discover the Truth, I am inside it. That is all. So, let us not jump to, conclusions. "Desire is bad ? Oh, I'll have no desires!" You know what you will do? You will only avoid all inconvenient desires, and give the other things holy, holy names.

So, we don't get a comprehensive view of the problem, and that's why we suffer. Desire is bad, ambition is bad - it leads us astray. Have we understood it.? No. Why? Because of the root trouble that the great Truths cannot be defined positively. They can only be alluded to negatively. So that it is perhaps not right to say, "Do not entertain ambition." The Indian philosopher uses the negative approach, "Vairagya." Vairagya is absence of attachment, absence of infatuation, absence of craving. This is the right attitude towards the world: absence of craving, infatuation; absence of a selfish motive. We can only describe it in a negative way.

When I say "Love," you think "Ah, I know, of course I know. It is seen there on the television set, in Hollywood films." But that is not called love, that is called passion, infatuation. "Oh, I see!" you respond. Yet, you see nothing! It has to he defined in an indirect way: absence of all hatred.

These two are your enemies: infatuation or desire - and the opposite: hatred. These are the enemies. Then should we say, "Ah, I shall not hate anybody at all. Om, Om." While a man is murdering some body else, can you say, "No hatred, no retaliation. Om." No, you are a coward! You don't have to hate in order to restrain that murderer from doing what he likes. Why don't you do it? "Oh, no, no, no. Thou shalt riot hate. Resist not evil." This is called the philosophy of laziness. This fellow has cut out that little bit from the Bible, "Resist not evil," and he has kept it in his pocket. When it is convenient, he will take it out, and show it to you. "See ? Resist not evil. I'll resist not that evil." What if somebody jumped on his throat, and started choking him! Will he say, "Resist not evil. You can have my throat, and take it away?" Oh, no. He will quote some other section of the Bible. His is the philosophy of laziness! We must understand these things.

It is very difficult. Every situation has to be sized up correctly, on the spot, without prejudging. You can't possibly answer this question, "If the hydrogen bomb is dropped over Australia in 2023, what will you do?" It is impossible for me to answer that question. We will have to wait for the situation to arise. We will have to face the problem, because the solution to this problem, any problem, is brought in by the problem itself, on its own shoulders.

You can't have a solution before the problem is there. This is what we are trying all the time. 'Ifs' and 'buts' and 'if this happens' and 'if that happens'. We have already solved all the problems of the world for eternity. Impossible! Absurd! All we can say is, "When the problem comes, I'll deal with it. Enough unto the day is the evil thereof." We must bear in mind the general principles, and apply those general principles to each occasion as it arises. Solve each problem as it knocks at our door.

One of our enemies is attachment, infatuation. The other of our enemies is the opposite, the opposite of infatuation. Why is attachment, or limited love, our enemy? Because it involves disliking somebody else. The moment we use the expression "I like something" at the back of our minds, is the concept, "I don't like what is not this." And therefore, both these lead us away from our Self, astray from our Self, and therefore they are to be avoided. They are our enemies. Why are they our enemies? Because they lead us away from our Self.

Desire is undesirable, and the opposite of desire, dislike, is also indesirable. Hence, again I have an oversimplified formula. Whether you cling or you kick, you come into contact, and that contact is the enemy. Clinging and kicking, both are to be avoided.

You have seen how the Indian salutes. This is what is considered desirable. The two palms of the hands, coming together; the fingers are not interlocked - then you are caught. They are not even half an inch apart. They are just touching one another. They are not involved in each other, they are not apart from each other, they are one, but in a free and independent way, in a free and wonderful spirit. There is no compulsion here. Yet, because there no compulsion, there is no revulsion either. They are together, there is a spirit of togetherness, of unity, and that is love.

This love is something which transcends both the lower form of love, and hatred. The lower form of love and its corollary, hatred, both are our enemies. Why? Because they lead us away from the centre of our own being. They lead us to continuously changing, ever changing states of becoming.

I become his friend, and, as soon as I become his friend, he tells me, "Don't talk to so-and-so, he is my enemy. So, l become his enemy. This goes on multiplying and multiplying ad ininifum; and our life is a mess. Hence, desire and also its opposite, hatred, are our enemies. One of the greatest of Indian sages, Narada, even goes to the extent of saying, "Turn all these things towards God. If there is love in your heart, if there is passion in your heart, if there infinite desire in your heart, if there is vanity in your heart, turn all this towards God."

I am not very good at drawing, but you can visualise a big circle. Humanity occupies the circumference. Millions of dots on the circumference. God is the centre. Man must reach that centre via his unique Path, the radius. That is the destiny of human life. That is the goal of evolution. You can visualise such a goal. It is again an inspiring, if frightening truth, that this centre is equidistant from every point on the circumference. It doesn't matter if the point is on the upper semi-circle, or the lower semi-circle. There is a saintly, holy man at the top of the circle, and there is an unholy man at the bottom, a thief, dacoit, murderer.

Says Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita,

api chetsuduraachaaro bhajate macmtmananyabhaak saadhureva sa mantavyah samyagvyavasito hi sah (Gita-IX-30)

Even if the most sinful worships Me, with devotion to none else, he too should indeed be regarded as righteous, for he has rightly resolved.

"Even if you are a supremely wicked man, the most wickedest amongst wicked people, the worst of all sinners, even you are not abandoned by God." It is so simple. Light the lamp of Truth. Light the lamp of understanding, God-realisation, Self-realisation. As we all know, the darkness of the whole world cannot defy the light of a single lighted candle. So that, where is despair? Who is God forsaken? Where is eternal damnation? Absurd !

To come back to the circle. Each one follows his or her own path. I am not necessarily referring to his or her native religion here, but his or her own path. What is that path? Don't ask me, ask yourself. Whatever be that path, you follow your radius - that is your shortest road to the centre. You can't follow me. It's impossible. The holy man follows his radius to the centre. The terribly unholy man, following his path to the centre, will reach the centre about the same time. If, and a very big 'if' - this is the snag in the whole game - that is, if you are facing the centre. That is the only condition. We are only interested in the direction. Even ambition takes on a value, if it is in the right direction. Even its opposite may have some value, if there is the right direction. We should know what to give up, and we should know what to aspire for.

So that, when we come back to this business of "Don't have any desire," it refers to don't have any selfish desires, any desire which takes you along the wrong direction away from the centre. Any desire which takes you towards the centre, acts like a catalyst, acts like fire. Fire burns everything else, but it doesn't need some other fire to destroy it. In order to destroy a rubbish heap, you throw some fire, some matchstick on to it. The fire will not be there forever. Don't worry. As soon as this fire has destroyed that rubbish heap, it will burn itself out. Even so, the desire to be good, the desire to be Godly, the desire for Self-realisation, the desire to cultivate understanding and Self-awareness, is like this matchstick. It is there, it need not be abandoned, it should not be abandoned, for it leads to the destruction of all selfish desires. It leads our consciousness in the right direction, and then the desire vanishes. Hatred is something which should be abandoned, for ever and ever. Again, renunciation of worldly pleasures may at one stage appear to be running away, abandoning something. Yet it may be necessary to give the whole life a certain direction.

kaama esha krodha esha rajogunasamudbhavah mahaashano mahaapaapmaa viddhyenamiha vairinam (Gita III-37)

It is desire, it is the anger born of the quality of Rajas, all-devouring, all-sinful; know this as the foe in this world.

Desire and hatred are the worst of our enemies. They should be abandoned by every seeker after truth. Supposing this man standing on the circumference has his face turned away from the Truth. Then, what happens? Nothing serious. He will go-round the world, and then he will have to come back. For, that Being, that Truth, that Reality, is omnipresent; that Reality alone is real. You can substitute the word God for it, I have no objection; because, hatever is real is God. We are not going to quarrel over terms, over terminology. What is God? Reality is God. You can use the word God, or you can use the word Reality, if you don't want to use either of these words, you can use x y z. That alone being real, the shadow has to vanish some time or other. This non-existent appearance has to go some time or other.

Very often I am rebellious when it comes to confrontation with people who say, "You know, if you don't do this, you will go to hell, and stay there for ever." I reply, "That's quite simple, I'll get used to it!" I have got used to all sorts of things in life; I was born in South India, accustomed to taking hot curry, and all sorts of hot chutney and so on. Then I started to travel, and became accustomed to bland food. Good, I got used to it very soon, with the result that, if I had hot curry, it burned my mouth. People can get used to anything.

There is a funny story told about a man whose feet were dogged by misfortune. Whatever he touched, turned into failure. So, he went to one of those astrologers, fortune tellers, and consulted him. The fortune teller said, "Oh, my friend, you know, for the next seven years it will be like this. More and more misfortune. You will be sunk in misery. But you are only a young man." "Ah," the young man asked, "but afterwards?" "Oh, afterwards, you will get used to it," replied the astrologer.

If these people who come to me with their theories of eternal damnation are a bit more serious, I ask them, "Look, do you sincerely believe that God is Omnipresent? Yes or No?" "Yes?""Good, then you say that I will go to Hell and stay there forever. It's all right. God is there too. If God is Omnipresent, even in Hell God exists, doesn't He? Then what is wrong with being in Hell?"

It is this sort of threat and fear that turns people away from religion. What we need is understanding. Even if a man turns away from God, just as a man turning away from light, what will he see? His own shadow. He wilt get frightened. Perhaps he will walk on his own shadow. He might stumble. He might break his leg. He might break his nose. All right. But he will come back to reality.

It is this great and heartening message that is contained in the Bhagavad Gita. It is said, and the Gita again and again tells us, that all you need to do is turn towards the Light. If you are facing away from the light, you will see the shadow. You don't create that Light, because the Light shines constantly; and forever. All that you need to do is turn toward the tight, and your problem is solved.

It is said that Alexander's father had a rather unruly horse in his royal stable. He had asked the best of men to break this horse in. Everybody had failed. The moment somebody mounted on the horse, it kicked him sky high. But the horse was very beautiful, and Alexander's father was still very fond of it. Alexander, then a little boy, was also watching this game, and it is said that one day he went to his father, who was on the verge of despair, and said, "Father, can I try to break in this horse?" And his father said, "Son, so many powerful men have tried and failed, and you, a little boy?" "Yes, if you give me permission, I'll try." And this royal pride wouldn't allow this old man to betray an extraordinary affection for the son, so he said "All right, young fellow, go, try!" It is said that Alexander mounted the horse in less than two minutes. His father was flabbergasted, and asked, "How did you do it?" "Well Father, I saw something. Every one of these men who had attempted to ride this horse, came in the morning, when the horse facing west. And everyone patted the horse on its back and cheeks, and then jumped on. The horse was looking at its own shadow, and when it saw something happened on top of that shadow, it got frightened. I was watching this game, and when I went there, just turned it eastwards, the shadow was behind, so the horse did't even know what had happened."

This seemed to be a rather silly story. I don't know if it is true or not, but this is all that matters in life. We can't possibly subdue Raga, infatuation, we can't possibly subdue Dwesha, hatred. These two are part of the world complex, called Samsara. All that we need to do, in order to overcome these two dreadful enemies, is to turn towards the Light, towards the centre, towards God. To live all the time aware of the Self. That is called Jnana. Jnana is not book knowlege, Jnana is not intellectual comprehension. Jnana is spirirual understanding, spiritual appreciation, spiritual vision, spiritual wisdom. This spiritual vision dispels the gloom of darkness, which in turn gives birth to all our problems that spring from infatuation and hatred, Raga and Dwesha.

 lecture 8

We have discussed the twin forces that disrupt our life, and tear into pieces the forces of attraction and repulsion. We should bear in mind the fact that they are inherent in creation, and that we cannot rebel against them. Without them, creation will not go on, cannot go on. When I say this, it is not as though we are challenging God's Omnipotence. Oh, no. This is part of God's creation. The twentyfour hours of the day are naturally divided into a certain segment called day-time, a certain segment called night-time. The two together form the day of twentyfour hours. Can God not create a day of only daylight ? Yes, but this is how it is. These twin forces of attraction and repulsion are inherent in the world; in the world of matter, but not in the world of spirit, of spirituality. These forces operate only in the realm of matter.

indriyasyendriyasyaarthe raagadveshau vyavasthitau tayornavashamaagachchettau hyasya paripanthinau (Gita III-34)

Attachment and aversion for the objects of the senses abide in the senses; let none come under their sway, for they are his foes, says Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita.

There is a certain affinity between the senses, the body, and the material universe. Some objects are pleasant to the touch. Other objects are not so pleasant to the touch. When I touch one thing, I feel like carrying on a little more; when I touch another thing, I feel like taking my hand away. When you look at something, you feel attracted, tempted to look a little more; you look at something else, you want to turn your head away. Take, for instance, glare. A certain degree of light is tolerated by the optic nerve. Beyond that, it hurts the eye. Physiologically, these things are true. These things are part of creation. If you are longing for Self-realisation, if you want to enter the realm of the Self, then try not to come under their influence.

You will appreciate the grandeur and glory of creation when you reflect on these wonderful truths. This can be used as a meditation technique, in order to become intensely aware of your own inner personality, inner being. Close your eyes, inhale, keep inhaling till you can't inhale any more. Why not? You can take a balloon, keep blowing; it is full, keep blowing, keep blowing, it will burst. Now, let us say, I don't care if my chest bursts. Not that I want to commit suicide, but I don't care. What happens? Suddenly, I can't breathe in any more. I can't inhale any more. Why? There is a thermostat type of thing, a sort of built-in governor, and that thing quietly connects and disconnects. The switch that enables me to inhale deeply is switched off. The other switch that will enable me to exhale is switched on. If, for instance, this command and counter-command were not there, you can appreciate, we would blow up like a balloon, in half a minute. This command and counter-command are inherent in your physical body. You know what happens when you do this? Some muscles contract and become tense, while the others expand and let go. If these twin forces do not operate, you cannot live.

The same twin forces operate to put us to sleep, and wake us up. Funny isn't it? Who puts you to sleep? Perhaps you will say, "Now I am awake, and when I get tired, I lie down and go off to sleep." But when you sleep, who wakes you up? That is a question we never ask ourselves. We have never asked these simple questions. I am tired, and I want to sleep. Very good. You could sleep forever. Who wakes me up tomorrow morning. The same twin forces operate there.

As students of psychology will appreciate, the will to live, and the death wish, are living together in our psychophysical organism, one wanting to destroy, another wanting to perpetuate. That is why we are alive. Otherwise, we won't be alive. It is these twin forces that keep us alive on the physical plane - a very important thing to remember. These twin forces are necessary for the continuance of life on the physical plane. You might say, "Well I am a naturalist. I am going to live absolutely in tune with the laws of nature." Good, you will live for a long time. Well, if you are unable to live absolutely in tune with nature, your body will also begin to disintegrate, although very much slower than mine will. If I live for 60 years, you will live for 600 years. But you will still disintegrate and die. And then, again you will come back into this embodiment and keep going, because this law governs only the physical plane. There is a plane beyond that. That is a spiritual plane. We are not this physical body. I am not this physical body.

I was asked by a friend, "Do you believe in reincarnation?" Now, first of all, I always try to clarify, a question, before answering it. There are some who want to show off, "I not only understand your question, but I have the answer to it, ready made." And so, we come to grief, because you mean something, I mean something else. Instead of that, when a question is asked, please ask that person to explain what the question means. "Please tell me what do yo mean by reincarnation? It's a big word."

"Oh, it is that after you die, you are reborn."

I said, "If I am dead, I will not be reborn. If I die, how do you think I will be reborn ?"

She replied, "I understand your spirit is alive after death. Even after the body dies, the spirit is still alive."

Now, already she is beginning to get some clarity of vision. The body, once it dies, cannot be reborn. It is absurd. But there is a confusion between the 'I' and the body. And then I asked her again, pointing to her body, "Look, when was this born?" "Fortyfive years ago."

"You were born, this body was born, 45 years ago? Impossible. Your mother must have been a mountain. What was born 45 years ago was a tiny little thing. My question was 'when' was this born?"

"Ah she said, "This was born perhaps last week."

What is this made of? Bread and butter, carrot and cheese. Therefore, what dies? Bread and butter, carrot and cheese. Let it go. Why are you worried? Thus again, this death wish covers only this physical material being. It does not affect your Self at all. Yet, there is a confusion. Who is 'I'? This body?! This is bread and butter, carrot and cheese. This is not "I". The "I" is not involved in the play of the twin forces.

One who wishes to attain Self-realisation, must overcome the twin forces. There are two forces, one dragging us this side, the other dragging us that side. How do we overcome these? A very simple answer - the middle of the road path. The middle path which Lord Buddha advocated. This middle path cannot be defined at all. On this side is Raga, attachment, attraction, infatuation; on that side is Dwesha, anger, hatred, repulsion, dislike. And what is the middle? The middle cannot be defined in positive terms. Therefore, when you are thinking in terms of this infatuation, attraction, you describe it negatively - desirelessness. The opposite to Raga is Vairagya. The opposite of Raga, that's all we can say.

The opposite of attraction, the opposite of infatuation. In the heart of a spiritual man, there is no craving, there is no attraction, there is no infatuation. That's all we can say. When we are thinking of the same middle-of-the-road, in terms of hatred, anger, and dislike, we describe it as absence of these. They only define it as the absence of hatred, the absence of anger, the absence of dislike. They do not define it positively at all. But, for our own enlightenment, to help us understand these concepts, if we should go on defining everything negatively, we won't get a positive help. Hence, great saints and sages, Krishna, the Talmudic sages, Jesus, Buddha, St. Paul, St. Francis, all of them have given one word - love.

I am sometimes terrified to use this word love, because of the obvious misunderstanding of its meaning, brought about by stars. That is not love, and I don't think it is even passion. What we see in films and television dramas, is not love, it is not passion. It's a confusion. We are not talking of that here. Perhaps, in worldly relationships, this love is evident in the love of a mother for her little baby - not even a child, no, not a young one, not son, not daughter. The love or the feeling that a mother has, let us say, for her three months old baby. That is love. All the rest is something else. Because I believe that afterwards even this relationship is polluted by all sorts of other considerations. A son grows up, a daughter grows tip, and then you love that son, you love that daughter; not motivelessly, not unselfishly, not non-egotistically, not egolessly, but there is some sort of viciousness which pollutes the relationship. Some selfishness, apparent or hidden, is there. That is the flaw of love which cannot therefore be positively defined as 'this is love'. It can only be said that in the heart of that mother there is not the slightest trace of animosity not hostility towards that being, that little baby. Beyond this, I don't think this pure love exists in this world, except in the heart of the most enlightened person, in one who is very close to God. Yet, this pure love is God. It is this pure love that transcends these two, the twin forces of attraction and repulsion, love and hatred, as we know them on the physical plane. This spiritual love is above both these, and, therefore, right in the middle.

This middle of the road path is so fine, so subtle, that it is impossible to see it. Here it is that Krishna gives us a wonderful challenge, and that is why this Yoga is called Buddbi Yoga. There is no general rule, there is no definition. You can't definitely say that this is what a holy man will do. He may not do it, he may do just the opposite. You can't define anything. You can't take somebody else's advice. It is no good asking, "Oh, what shall I do?" It is unfortunate, but nobody can answer that question. You have to find the answer yourself.

There is absolutely no guidance from outside. From within the answer must come. You will have to ask yourself from moment to moment, "What does this inner light point to?" Therefore, here in this Yoga, the seeker is ever alert. He can't afford to be non-vigilant even for a moment - else, he is lost. Take for instance the Sirasasana; we can all learn to stand on our head. Very easy. At about twenty minutes is a barrier - your legs become numb, you want to collapse. Cross that barrier, you can go on for a long time, so that it can become a mechanical affair. All forms of Yoga can become mechanical.

I can go on breathing, I can see people, I can keep talking while I use my rosary. You can repeat a mantra mechanically. Anything can become mechanical. Nursing is a wonderful profession, and if it is done with the Bhavana, or the attitude that I shall discus's presently, it can lead to God-realisation. But it can again be done mechanically. I have heard this with horror from the lips of some very nice, very loving nurses, "Ah, my dear, you know there was a death in my ward." It's as though she has a few names on the board, and one name has been wiped out. "Ah, bed number 4 is serious, bed number 5 is not serious. Bed number 4 is critically ill, bed number 6 passed away yesterday." It can become wooden, mechanical, and lose its meaning, lose its spiritual qualities. And, in the same way, the marriage relationship can become mechanical. The husband comes home, with a "Hello darling." You would think they got married only yesterday, perhaps, and hence such intense love and affection; but they may be almost on the verge of divorce!

These things have become common-place words which are not meant. Hypocrisy! I don't want to say hypocritical, because they don't mean to be hypocritical. They use it so automatically, there is not even hypocrisy involved in it. All that is completely un-Yogic. In the case of this Buddhi Yoga, where we are asked to follow the middle path, you have to be constantly vigilant. Am I slipping, on this side or that side? Maybe this, maybe that.

Hence, this Yoga is called Buddhi Yoga, Yoga of Wisdom, Yoga of enlightened Intelligence. That is a very special term used by Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita; it is not found in any other scripture in India - Buddhi Yoga. Yoga of enlightened discrimination. And this enlightened discrimination has to be constantly active in our lives. When that is in full swing, it is then that we have a taste of love.

I remember the story of one of our greatest sages. In prehistoric era, they usually became Swamis in their old age. They had three stages of life. The first stage was the stage of a student. The second was the stage of a householder. As soon as the student had finished, his study under his guru or teacher, he married and led a righteous householder's life. Then, when this gentleman looked at his son, and saw a moustache growing on the son's face, he handed over the reins of the family to him. Otherwise, it leads to frustration. The young man is frustrated and wants to lead his own life. So that, at that time, in ancient days, the couple retired, and led a life of seclusion, slightly isolated from society. Not completely cut off, just a little isolated from society. They were the spiritual teachers. They were called the rishis and the maharishis. The maharishis were married people, still living with their wife. But she was not a wife any more - she was a spiritual companion, or sister.

There was one such wonderful sage, called Yajnavalkya. The story is narrated in the Upanishads. He was a very clever man, a man of direct Self-realisation. It seems to have been the custom in those days that the king, in addition to having other forms of entertainment, also held debates involving spiritual topics. There was a king, called Janaka. He was fabulously rich, and he would have in his courtyard a thousand cows - cows also were valuable in those days - their horns and hooves covered with gold. You can imagine the amount of money that was involved. The king would sit on his throne and announce, "Ladies and gentlemen, there are a thousand cows, all of them with horns and hooves covered in gold. They belong to the wisest man in this assembly. Ministers and judges, find out amongst yourselves who the wisest man is, and to hint belongs this wealth." Yajnavalkya seems to have been the winner all the time; and so he had enormous wealth. He had two wives who were living with him. One morning, he called both of them and said, "Look, I think it is time that I dropped even this business of debating and teaching, of looking after you and getting all this wealth. I want to become a sannyasi, a Swami." Swamis, in those days, led a wandering life; they never even went into a house, but stayed on the roadside. No name, no address. Very often, they didn't even talk. Occasionally, they would enlighten somebody.

Yajnavalkya said, "Look, I'm going. I have all this wealth. Both of you are dear to me. I will divide the wealth equally between you two, and take leave of you."

The elder wife said, "All right. If that is your will, farewell."

The younger one said, " Wait a moment. If you want to go, then go. I will not stop you. You said you would give me half your wealth. Thank you very much. I used to sit and listen to your discourses, and you taught your pupils to attain Self-realisation, liberation, freedom. Total freedom. Now, you are giving me a lot of wealth, but if you also indicate where this freedom is sold, I'll go and buy it. I am more interested in that."

This man gave a hearty laugh, and said, "Oh, no, you'll live like a wealthy woman. But, who ever told you that you can attain Self-realisation with the help of wealth?"

Then she said, "All right, if that is the position, let my sister have my share also; but teach me how to attain salvation, liberation, Moksha. That is more important. Self-realisation is more important."

The Upanishad, which gives us this story, is full of wondefull tenderness. It looks as though the holy man who wanted to leave even his wives and go away, suddenly looked at this wife again with great affection, and a spiritual honeymoon started. The rest of the dialogue sounds as though he had fallen in love for the first time.

He said, "Ah come, come. I am delighted with your question. Come, sit down, I'll tell you." From then on, the conversation is so delightful, and he gives us this wonderful truth. Wonderful!

na vaa are patyuh kaamaaya paatih priyo bhavaati aatmanastu kaamaaya paatih priyo bhavaati na vaa are jaayaayai kaamaaya jaayaa priyaa bhavaati aatmanastu kaamaaya jaayaa priyaa bhavaati (Brihadaaranyaka Upanishad II-4,5)

It is not for the sake of the husband that the husband is dear, but for the sake of the Self. It is not for the sake of the wife that the wife is dear, but for the sake of the Self.

"My dear, it is not because I am your husband that you love me, but because of the Self." A very great truth. Unless we understand this clearly, no love is possible. Till then, we dare not use that word love. "It is not because I am your husband that you love me, but because I am your Self. It is not because these things are dear to us, valuable to us, that we love them, but because the one Self knits all of us together."

We are all one in that Self. It is only from the purely physical point of view that we are different from one another. It is only from the point of view of our thoughts and ideas, the products of our minds and intellect, that we seem to be different from one another. On the spiritual plane, we are one. It is not that after a time we will become one. We can't become one, unless we are one. It is only the removal of this dirt of "Avidya", ignorance, that is necessary. Once that goes, underneath, or above, we should realise this oneness.

This realisation of this oneness is love. No love is possible between two beings, two personalities. Impossible. Two personalities can't love one another. It is a contract, a business. If you want it that way, wonderful; but please don't use the word love. Don't call it love. It is a partnership. "I'll look after the house, you go and get me the money." This is all a business contract. And the husband says almost the same thing to the wife. "I'll go and work and sweat and toil and earn the money, but please give me my breakfast at the proper time. Keep the house clean. If you don't do that, well, Ill get a divorce. Till then I'll call you 'my darling', and you'll also call me 'my love'."

This is what goes on. Here it is only a business contract, a business partnership. This is not love. Love is unity. Love is a recognition of that unity, the unity that exists already. This unity cannot be created, need not be created, because it is there.

na vaa are patyuh kaamaaya paatih priyo bhavaati aatmanastu kaamaaya paatih priyo bhavaati

The recognition of this truth is fundamental to this Buddhi Yoga. It is this love that creates. It is this love that sustains. It is this love which, paradoxically enough, even destroys.

This has created a lot of misunderstanding in Western minds, towards Indian philosophy. "How can you say that there is a God who destroys? And you worship that God?" Shiva, a member of the Hindu Trinity, is supposed to be the one who destroys. Or Kali is supposed to be the destroyer. "How can you regard these things as God?" Why not? Destruction is a necessary antecedent to all construction. No construction is possible without a previous destruction. You cannot have a tree, a plant, unless the seed has been destroyed before. You would never have a chicken if you wanted the egg always to be there. Impossible! A certain form of destruction is inevitable, is part of creation.

Now, you may think, "I can kill anybody. I can do what I like. I can eat a dozen chickens tomorrow morning, why not?" But, this cosmic force, this cosmic intelligence, this cosmic consciousness that brings about this destruction, is love, not hatred. It is love, not passion. It is love, not desire. This cosmic energy, Shakti,, Maya, Kali, Shiva, or whatever it is you call it, is not motivated in its destructive aspect by hatred or passion. No, not this. But by love, pure love. It is almost impossible to understand this, unless we are humble and receptive to Light. It hurts our sentiments, it hurts our prejudices, to be told that this should happen, that this is good. This truth is very hard to grasp; it is repulsive to uninitiated ears. But, the student of Yoga is able to see His Grace and His Love manifesting itself - when necessary - as pain, destruction, and unpleasant experiences.

I shall tell you a story. It is said that there was a great king in India. He had a minister who was also a very wise man. The wise man was in the king's company almost all the time. They used to go hunting together. One morning, just before going to the forest for the hunting expedition, the king sat down for his breakfast. He had a lovely apple, and he himself took the knife to cut it; and as he did so, he cut off the tip of his finger. "Ah" he cried. The minister, who was sitting in front of him, said, "Don't make such a noise, your Majesty, it's for your own good."

Immediately the king became red with anger and shouted, "How dare you!", and, suffering from agony, he said to a soldier standing there, "Hey, arrest this man, put him in gaol." The soldier had to obey the king's command, and put the minister in gaol, saying, "Come along, please sir, put your hands together, I'll put on the handcuffs."

This minister was smiling all the time. As he was walking away, he said, "And this is for my good, my king."

The king went alone for hunting. It so happened that there was a gang of bandits in the forest, who had a sort of religious vow which necessitated the sacrificing of a human being. It's just a story, don't take it very seriously. It necessitated a human sacrifice to a deity. They were looking for one, and fortunately or unfortunately, the king came past. They surrounded him saying, "This wonderful man is going to be sacrificed today. The gods will be highly pleased with us. Good, let's kill him."

They gave the king a nice bath, and the priest looked at his little finger and asked, "What is that?" The king said, "This morning, I cut my finger as I was cutting an apple." The priest looked at him in utter disgust, gave him one slap, and told him to get out. "What has been cut by a man is not fit to be offered to God. You are already polluted. Useless. Get out." The king said, "Thank you very much," jumped on his horse, and raced back to his palace.

Half way back he remembered. "The minister was right. If the tip of my finger had not gone, my head would have gone today. This is the one who saved my life." He raced back, opened the prison, embraced the minister, and said, "You were perfectly right. That thing that happened was for my good. And you knew. Ah, you wonderful man. Sorry for putting you in prison. Let us go and have our lunch." Then, half way through, again he suddenly remembered something else and said, "Look, I sent you to prison unjustly. You didn't get cross with me, but said that was for your own good. Now, can you explain that?"

Said the minister, "If you had not locked me up, I would have accompanied you. They would have left you and sacrificed me! So, you put me in prison, and saved my life. Thank you."

Now, this may be a rather amusing and meaningless story, but I think it has a great lesson for us. This is the attitude that 'the true man of God' takes - the person who has his eyes rivetted on the middle of the road path. He sees beyond all destruction and is not afraid of it, not even the destruction of his own body. Death is nothing. It's the most desirable, the most welcome change. People spend lots and lots of money going for a change, from here to England, from here to Fiji. Without the expenditure of a single cent - except the expense someone else incurs for the funeral; but you don't have to spend anything in order to go - you can go for a very great change. Throw away this worn-out useless body here, and get a new one.

vaasaamsi jirnaani yathaa vihaaya navaani grihnaati naroparaani tathaa shariraani vihaaya jirna nyanyaani samyaati navaani dehi (Gita II-22)

Just as a man casts off worn-out clothes and puts on new ones, so also the embodied Self casts off worn out bodies and enters others which are new.

This consciousness, the Self, this personality, dwells in this body. When the purpose for which this incarnation was assumed, has been finished, well, that is all, we goon to the next one. Just as when my work in Perth is finished, I go on to Singapore. Nothing more dreadful or serious than this. We are worried by this feeling that all destruction is something devilish. It is not the devil that destroys. There is no devil in the world, except in one's own foolish mind.

It is this attitude that is at the base of Buddhi Yoga. The awakening intellect peeps through the veil of ignorance, and perceives that it is this love, supreme love of God, or, love that is God, that keeps this universe, maintains it, and destroys it ,when the time is come, when the need is there. Why? Wherefore? We don't know. There is no why or wherefore at all. These questions do not arise. When a husband knows why he loves his wife, he doesn't love her, he loves only the why.

When the wife knows why she loves the husband, it is not the_ husband she loves, she only loves the why. There is no why in love at all, it is totally blind, because the Light is cosmic. Not blind in the sense of ignorance, but blind because there is a blinding Light of Truth, in front. That is love. And all activity that springs from this love, from this consciousness, is Buddhi Yoga.

Krishna gives us one or two attitudes which, remembered, will lead us to this Buddhi Yoga. It is good to remember again that this is not a general rule. It doesn't help us in our life as sort of commandments to follow rigidly. It only enunciates a principle. This principle has to be born in mind, and applied to each situation. Principle number one. Please remember that it is not you, the "I" that works in this world, but something else. It is not the mirror-reflection that speaks, it is the original that speaks. It is not the mirror-reflection that breathes, it is the original that breathes. The substance breathes, not the image. We know this. A man is made in the image of God - the image does not walk, the image does not function, the image does not breathe, the image does not see - the image does nothing. It's all done by the substance, the original. This is attitude number one, and it is very important. This is true egolessness. True egolessness is, sorry for the grammar, when the 'I' begins to feel "not 'I', but God does this.' Not 'I', but God. Not 'I', but the person whose image I am, 'that' does it. Not 'I', but the substance, 'that' is beautiful. This is attitude number one. Nimitta Bhavana, or attitude of an instrument.

As you will immediately see, it is a very imperfect description. It cannot be described. We may throw out some hints here and there, suggestive of the truth, but the truth cannot be defined. Now, if a doctor adopts this attitude, what will he do? Does he feel that he is an instrument in the hands of God? Even that gives him an ependent personality. Does that image say, "Oh, I am an trument in the hands of that chap who is standing in front of me?" No. Even here we are not going to ascend into this hundred story building all at once. So, in the beginning, we are told: perform your actions as a matter of duty. That is, in other words, don't look for a reward. "It is my duty to do this, so I will do it. What I get out of it is not my business."

Now, that is a very imperfect and insecure attitude, because sooner or later I begin to wonder, even if I don't commit the blunder of demanding, "I am doing my duty, but is she also doing her duty?" Love has gone. It has started to demand, and when love starts to demand, it becomes passion. It is no longer love. So that, this concept of duty is a very imperfect one, however much it may be necessary as a preliminary to go on. Work for work's sake, you have heard. Very beautiful, very good. But then it tends to become mechanical. No good. No. It cannot become mechanical. Can a thing that is motivated by love, become mechanical? Oh, no! It is full, soul-ful, full of love. Love cannot be mechanical in its manifestation.

How to explain this. We can eliminate all the non-loves - it is not duty, it is not working for work's sake. Therefore, they invented this thing called the attitude of an instrument, of an instrument that you use. For instance, this girl is writing. The pen obeys the master hundred per cent. Whatever she wants to write, the pen writes, dutifully, beautifully. The pen doesn't have the egotistic feeling 'I am writing this,' or 'I am not writing this.' If she takes it into her hand, and writes with it, it writes - which is the symbolism behind the musical instrument of which Krishna was fond, the flute. The flute is nothing but a hollow tube, a reed. It is nothing, it is worth not even 10 cents. And yet, when Krishna put this to his lips, "Ah, lovely," from there celestial music would issue. Why? Because it is hollow. It is its hollowness. I would prefer to be called His Hollowness, not His Holiness. The more hollow we are, the better the divine music which flows from us. If there is a little bit of obstruction in the tube, the music is spoilt. Now that is an instrument. It is not an instrument in the sense that it has a distinct individuality, but it is an instrument in the sense of this fountain pen. We are instruments in the hands of God, in the sense that this pen is an instrument in the girl's hands. We are an instrument in the hands of God, in the sense that his flute was a musical instrument in the hands of Krishna. The emptier it is, the better. The more hollow it is, the better, and yet ever willing to radiate music.

In this egolessness, there are two things, which Krishna pointedly refers to in the Gita.

prakriteh kriyamaanaani gunaih karmaani sarvashah ahamkaaravimudhaatmaa kartaahamiti manyate (Gita III-27)

All actions are wrought in all cases by the qualities of Nature only. He whose mind is deluded by egoism thinks "I am the doer".

God's nature does all sorts of things in this world, but foolish man thinks, "Ah, I have done this." We can't even sit and talk here, but for God's grace. It is God's grace that has put this little thing called vocal cord in my throat. It is God who enables me to speak. If there is a pinpoint of an ulcer on that vocal cord, I am finished. You have no idea how small this vocal cord is. So small it is, and yet it is what enables me to talk. In the same way, a tiny little bone in the middle ear enables you to hear. If something happens to that tiny little bone, you won't hear a thing.

So that, it is God's nature, God's power, God's energy, that functions through us and enablesus to live. One who realises this will, be ever thankful to God, from moment to moment. He will not look for a reward, will not ask, "What will you give me if I do this?" - but will thank God for keeping him alive and enabling him to live. That is the attitude of the truly unselfish, egoless Yogi.

The second attitude is even more interesting. Just as not I, but God, works through this personality, in the same way, the service that is rendered, is rendered to God. Not for this body, not to this physical organism, this perishable physical organism, but to God. Anyone who adopts the other attitude, "I have served this man, I have worked wonders, I have saved this man's life" - comes the rather frustrating end. "The operation was successful, but_the patient died." It's frustrating, as is illustrated in the following example.

There was a story in the "Life" magazine about or six years ago, of a man who had been burnt alive when be tried to rescue somebody from a burning house. A team of about forty or fifty nurses and doctors and so on, using a few million dollars worth of medicines and dressings and all the latest gadgets, brought him back to life. Ah, a miracle, a dead man has been brought back to life! What more do you want? Then it seems, so goes the story I read, he fell in love with the nurse who was nursing him back to life, and he married her. The community provided them with a house, and everything that was necessary to rehabilitate them. He had a jeep that he was driving around doing some work. Six months after the miraculous recovery, he was driving his jeep, it skidded on the turn of a hill, turned turtle, the engine burst into flames, and he was incinerated again. It might prove a point in the theory of Karma. What have the doctors, etc., done? They worked a miracle - revived this man, kept him alive for six months, but he died. Everyone dies. What is the purpose of all our service if everyone has to die? - this is the frustration I alluded to.

If we look to the physical personalities of the people whom we serve, we are living in a realm of ignorance. Possessiveness results from this. Attachment results from this. "I serve him, and therefore he belongs to me." When I say he belongs to me, I belong to him, I am tied to him, tied down to him. It's a vicious circle once again, which will keep us forever in bondage. And, therefore, Krishna gives us a delightful picture.

yatah pravrittirbhutaanaam yena sarvamidam tatam svakarmanaa tamabhyarchya siddhim vindati maanavah (Gita XVIII-46)

He from whom all the beings have evolved, and by whom all this is pervaded - worshipping Him with his own duty, man attains perfection.

He said, "Arjuna, realise this." The world you serve, the human beings or other beings you serve, are also manifestations of the same God. You are not serving Mr. So-and-So, or Mrs. So-and-So. You are serving the manifestations of God. You are not serving, God serves. God serves his own manifestations.

"Yatah pravrittirbhutoanaam." After all, all these beings have their origin in God, "Yena sarvamidam tatam," and by God are all these beings pervaded. Every cell of our being is filled with the divine presence. The whole universe is filled with it, that is the meaning of the word Omnipresent. The whole universe is pervaded by this divine presence, interpenetrated by this divine presence. I don't serve you, you don't serve me. No one serves anybody else. It is God who serves His own manifestation.

Here I may sound rather crude and ungrateful, uncultured. A simple story is told of a holy man walking along the road. He was knocked down by a charming and wealthy lady driver, who didn't even care to stop and pick him up. She was in a great hurry to attend a party. Just behind her came a lady doctor in her car. When she saw this man lying on the road unconscious, she put him in her car, took him home, nursed him back to consciousness. As soon as this holy man opened his eyes, she bent over him extremely affectionately. She was proud of what she had done. "Oh, what have I done today. Who is there like me in this world?" She looked at him and said, "Are you all right? Can you recognise me? Do you know in whose house you are?" He said, "Hm. You knocked me down, and you brought me back to consciousness." She was shocked, "Oh, no I didn't. Some wretched girl knocked you down." "Oh, I know that, I know that. But the same consciousness is there in her, the same Self is there in her, and the same Self is here. The same divine presence through that girl knocked me down. And the same divine presence through you revived me. It is all God. Everything is God."

"Svakarmanaa tamabhyarchya" A beautiful picture, which I always try to remember and keep in mind. Abhyarchya is worship. You take flowers and offer at the feet of an image of God. This is called archana. Krishna says that you can do this archana, you can do this worship constantly. You don't have to go to a temple, you don't have to go to a room, a puja room or prayer room. Whatever you do - svakarmanaa - there is no right or wrong, no good or bad, no limitations here. What'ever' you do. Close your eyes - you don't even have to close your eyes if you know how to close your eyes from within - take that action, symbolically as it were, to represent a flower, and offer it at the feet of the Omnipresent God.

Where is He?

In the heart of the person whom you serve. Remember it is God whom you serve. Look into the heart of that person, hold up as a flower the action you have performed, and say, "Lord, accept this prayerful offering at your Feet."

"Siddhim vindati maanavah". Doing this, living in this manner, with this attitude, man attains perfection, Self-realisation.

 lecture 9

It is always a very difficult thing to conclude a discussion, because suddenly you realise that there are too many loose ends from the other talks to allow to be tied in a single night's lecture. At the beginning of today's offering, I would like to make it clear that we have done nothing here. If these few talks have brought about just this little inner change, transformation, which would compel us to think, which would compel us to understand, then our being together here for these nine days will not have been in vain. That's all we have tried to achieve. Nothing more, nothing less.

This understanding is possible, only if we are bold enough, courageous enough, to look at a problem, a situation, a question, a fact, a truth, from as many points of view as possible. We are all accustomed to looking at a problem from one point of view, from "my" point of view. That is all that we are normally capable of.

A dog cannot think like a cat, and it is impossible for a cat to appreciate the viewpoint of a rat. To the cat it is just play, but to the rat it may be a different thing. They can't possibly exchange their points of view. This law of bigotry, bias - it is a law of bestial nature, as is the law of cause and effect, or the law of opposite forces, positive and negative, as I said yesterday. Wherever such bias, such bigotry, such bestiality and fanaticism exist, you can rest assured that the animal has not yet been transcended. I hope you will remember this cat and rat business.

You can't punish the cat for not appreciating the misery of the rat. It is impossible. It has not been created with the ability to look at things from the viewpoint of the rat, while the human being is supposed to possess this faculty. The faculty of not stepping into somebody else's shoes, but of looking at a problem from as many points of view as possible. Again, I don't pretend that I can look at a certain problem from his point of view. No. He suggests to me that there is another point of view, and, using my own point of view, I am merely going to shift my position. It is a very difficult thing, it is almost impossible. To put yourself in his shoes is impossible, unnatural, I can't do it. What I can do is this. Instead of merely, doggedly - meaning that you are still not evolved higher than a dog - pursuing my own point of view, I can abandon this dog-nature, and try to walk round this thing, walk round this problem, looking at it from a few other points of view.

That reminds me of a delightful verse in the Bhagavad Gita, in the eleventh chapter, where Krishna had been glorifying God and His Infinite Being, Cosmic Being, saying that God and God alone is the essence of all creation. He began to sound as though he was referring to himself. Arjuna, the disciple, broke down and said, "Your description is wonderful. May I see what that reality looks like?"

It is said that Krishna himself, standing on the field of battle, assumed the Cosmic Form which Arjuna saw, and in glorifying that Form, Arjuna uses a wonderful expression,

namah purastaadatha prishthataste namostu to sarvata eva sarva anantaviryaamitavikramastvam sarvam samaapnoshi tatosi sarvah (Gita XI-40)

Salutations to Thee, from front and behind! Salutations to Thee on every side! O All! Thou infinite in power and prowess, pervadest all; wherefore Thou art all.

He says, "O, Lord, I salute Thee from front, O, Lord, I salute Thee from behind, O, Lord, I salute Thee from every point of the circumference I am capable of treading. I salute Thee from all directions."

This, to me, means just this: God, Thou art Truth, and this Truth is infinite. Forgive my incapacity to grasp Thee with these finite arms. Instead of trying to grasp Thy infinite form with finite arms, let me touch you. To put it in ordinary language: let me touch you; I'll touch your front, I'll touch your back, I'll touch you everywhere. That is what we have been trying to do, and that is what real understanding means.

In human relationship, understanding is a wonderful word, a wonderful concept. We have known what intolerance means. Intolerance, especially in the matter of religion, is something unforgivable. It is the one thing unforgivable. To use God's name, to use the fair name of religion, to practise intolerance, is unforgivable blasphemy and sin. Forget that. Even tolerance is a fairly unhealthy and undesirable trait, an undesirable, unhealthy attitude. A man who tolerates another, has hoisted himself upon a pedestal, looks down on this chap, and says, "Ah, vicious fellow, all right! I'll tolerate you. I am such a good man, that I'll tolerate you." It is better, much better, than intolerance, but still not so good, not quite human.

One day, that man comes down on equal footing with the other fellow, and there is what you call 'love'. What you call love, not the love that I explained yesterday. On an equal footing, "We are friends." The love of friendship, the love of equality, that is called love. Both of them standing on the same pedestal, arms about each other. "I don't tolerate you, but I love you." It's a matter of equality.

Understanding is even better, the best of all. Understanding literally means "standing under." In tolerance, you stood above; in love, you stood shoulder to shoulder; in understanding, you stand under. If you stand under, the other man is always taller than you are, higher than you are, nobler than you are, better than you are, greater than you are. You have the chronic nature of appreciating everybody.

In business and accountancy, appreciation means 'the value goes up.' So that, from the point of view of the man of understanding, from the point of view of the man who stands under, everybody else has an appreciated value. This is the understanding we need in religion, this is the understanding we need in social relationships. This understanding alone can be developed, not the understanding which we pretend to have, "Oh, put yourself in his position." If I put myself in his position, I don't know what I'll do. It is hypothetical nonsense! To put oneself in somebody else's position is hypothetical nonsense; it is not possible. Real understanding, which is possible, is standing under, and appreciating everything else. Because, ultimately,

ishvarah sarvabhutaanaam hriddesherjuna tishthati bhraamayansa vabhutaanz yantraarudhaani maayayaa (Gita XVIII-61)

The Lord dwells in the hearts of all beings, O Arjuna, causing all beings, by His illusive power, to revolve as if mounted on a machine.

"Arjuna, the whole world is pervaded by God, and God alone dwells in the heart of all beings." Beings, not human beings only. It is this divine consciousness emanating divine power that sustains all beings. You are not the only one in the world. The world has not been created for your enjoyment, for your pleasure. If you are realistic enough, you will appreciate this truth. The moment that idea enters into my heart, I have purchased trouble. The very next moment, I realise that I was wrong. You don't have things created for any individual's pleasure, for any individual's happiness. Oh, no. This Cosmic Being, this Cosmic consciousness, dwells in the heart of all beings. Not in this one being, not just in human beings, but in all beings. We have to understand it.

Since all beings are pervaded by His consciousness, by God's consciousness, so long as this idea of "I" persists here, I must bow down. For, as we saw yesterday, it is this ego that stands between us, between me and God-realisation. It is this false idea that 'I am', that the image has got its own independence and individuality, that is the cause of all troubles and miseries. Once this is gone, then there is no trouble, there is no suffering.

The ego can act in two ways, can manifest itself in our life in two ways: firstly,

ahamkaaravimudhaatmaa kartaahamiti manyate (Gita III-27)

He whose mind is deluded by egoism, thinks 'I am the doer'.

The man who is possessed by this egoism, attributes all actions to himself. "I am sitting and talking here. I am sitting and listening. I am doing this, I am doing that." It's wrong. 'You' can do nothing. It is the vocal cord that's speaking. It's the auditory nerve that listens. It is perhaps a little nervous centre somewhere in the body that enables me to move my fingers. If that is paralyzed, l am finished. I have seen this myself. It is a frightening thought. We are only sitting here tonight and sharing these thoughts because of God's energy. Who is sitting there? You? Me? Who is able to see? You? Me? Who is able to hear? You? Me? No. Energy, Cosmic energy, Cosmic Being, Cosmic Prana, Cosmic Consciousness. It is not this "I", but some thing else. This is all we need to know. Not "I", but God.

The same ego can come down and meet us on the other side. On the one side, the fool says, "I am doing this." On the other side, the fool says, "I won't do this."

yadahankaaramaashritya na yotsya iti manyase mithyaisha vyavasaayaste prakritistvaam niyokshyati (Gita XVIII-59)

If, filled with egoism, thou thinkest, "I will not fight", vain is this, thy resolve; Nature will compel thee.

Says Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita. "You say, "I won't fight." Who are you to say, "I won't fight?" You say, "I do it." Wrong. You say, "I don't do it." Also wrong. What am I supposed to do? Realise that this "I" is non-existent, that is the point. If you say, "I do it", you are an egotist. And often we pretend or we console ourselves, "All' egotistic action is bad. Oh, I'd rather not do anything." Egotistic action is bad. So that, if someone says to you, "Will you come and give a talk?', and you say "Oh, no, no, no, I don't want to give a talk, I want to be very humble", that means you are such a terrible egotist, that you don't want others to have a chance to criticise you. You have created in your own mind a tremendously big image of yourself. You don't want that image to be destroyed, disturbed, blackened; so, you duck under and say, "Oh, I am such a great man, I wouldn't allow myself to be criticised by you." Break it. Come out in public. Let a hundred people laugh at you.

This side is wrong, that side is also wrong. Look at this teaching. That is why it is called Buddhi Yoga. You must keep your mind alert, your Buddhi alert, your intelligence alert, your consciousness alert, your discriminating faculty alert, and see through. If there is this feeling within, "I do this", cut it out. God does, not "I". Then when this power wants to do, wants to work, let it. Let this power function. Let Cosmic will function through each one of us.

That is the reason why, again to go back to our symbolism, even in these days when all temples and churches are electrified, we always keep that flame, maybe a big oil lamp, maybe only a candle, but we still insist on this naked flame. Because it is only the naked flame that can teach us this wonderful lesson, this delightful lesson.

Earth, water, fire, air, and ether (space) are in you. Earth and water can be felt, can he handled, they resist the touch. Space and air cannot be grasped. You know they are there, but you can't grasp them, you can't see them. Fire, this element in the middle, shares some of the characteristics of the first two and the last two. Like water and earth, fire is visible, fire can be seen. But like air and space, fire cannot be grasped. It can be seen, but not grasped. It is in the middle, the middle path.

Why do we worship the fire? It shows us the middle path. Don't do this, don't do that. And therefore, your actions are going to share part of this and part of that. Part of the left and part of the right. That is why Jesus Christ is in the centre of the Cross. Neither on this wing nor that wing, but the centre.

Look at this fire again. In nature, fire always moves upwards. Keep your consciousness always upwards. Don't go down the ladder of evolution. This is what fire teaches us.

There are a lot of things that fire does. Fire brightens, fire illumines. All these are applicable to spiritual truth. But, apart from all that, what is most important to our discussion now, is that it seems to be doing nothing. You look at it, it is just a flame. What do you mean 'a flame'? Is there one flame? No. Why? Because it keeps on flowing up. There is tremendous activity within that single flame. If only you can look at it through the electron micro-scope, you may find a ceaseless flow of sparks, ceaseless flow of electrons.

That this ceaseless activity seems to be inactive. This infinite diversity appears to be single. Wonderful. This is what the naked flame teaches us. That is the nature of the man who follows the middle of the road path. He is not going to be inactive, that is inertia. He is not going to rush about, making everyone feel what a wonderful man he is, doing wonderful things for the world. No.

Part of this nature, part of that nature. The activity from this side and the quietude from that side. Exactly, again, what Samadhi, or the fourth state, implies.

We have four states of consciousness. The waking and the dreaming. These two can be combined into one. In the waking state, the world is outside, and in the dreaming state, the world inside. The third stage is sleep, deep sleep, where the world does not exist. Even self-consciousness does not exist.

The fourth state is really the middle state. Both in the waking and dreaming states there is consciousness of the world, of diversity. In the deep sleep state, there is unconsciousness and homogeneity, no diversity, but singleness, unity. So, we have diversity plus consciousness on the one hand, and unity plus unconsciousness on the other. The fourth state called Samadhi, shares both these. There is consciousness, taken over from the waking-dreaming, state, and there is homogeneity from the sleep state. When these two get together, you have Samadhi.

This is what this wonderful naked flame that we use in our worship, that we use in our temples, churches and synagogues, teaches seekers like us.

This ego has to go, and its place need not be taken by God - God exists already. When the ego is pushed out, or when the ego is realised as the image of God, there is liberation, freedom. That is freedom. All other freedom is a travesty of freedom. All other freedom is bondage. Political freedom can lead to greater bondage. Personal freedom can be anarchy and chaos. Freedom from family, my parents, my neighbours, society, may become or may lead to immorality. Real freedom is freedom from this ego, from this ego-consciousness. Yoga enables us to achieve this freedom, this basic freedom.

From time immemorial, great saints and sages have struggled to evolve a method. Immediately after a method is invented, we try to make use of it. We surrender ourselves to the method, not to the truth. We want to attain freedom from a certain tyrant, and jump from frying pan into fire, and say, "Why is it that I am not free yet?" Of course we are not free, because we have only exchanged masters.

Yet, the method is not to blame. We are to blame. Even right from the ancient days there were temples, places of worship, images of God, symbols of God. We want to feel the presence of God; so, we build this temple. We put something there, a stone, an image. Why? So that, in times of distress, we can run there, and kneel down before that symbol. God is here too, but I can't feel it. There, in the temple, I can, perhaps. I have some help. After all, why do I feel despair? Why do I feel insecure? Because I can't feel the omnipresence of God. I somehow feel that my oppressor is ungodly, is anti-God. Suppose all of you start choking me at my throat now. I naturally begin to feel that God does not exist here; otherwise, why does he choke me? So I want to run away. I want to have the feeling that there is one place from which God cannot escape. And that is the temple.

So that, in order to free me, I imprison God! A very delightful way of treating God. I want my freedom, so I put that God into a temple! Even then there is no harm. If I go to the temple and worship God in the proper manner, in the prescribed manner, it is perfectly all right. But sooner or later, the same evils of egoism and possessiveness enter the field of religion, the field of worship. I begin to feel that this is God, and naught else. This is God, and that is not God. A division has come. The evil that you want to avoid, follows you wherever you go. It's a shadow, and you can't escape from your own shadow.

So, right from those days, the Jewish prophet, Moses in the Middle East, the great Maharishis and Buddha in India, said, "Abandon all these props." So long as you lean on something, you will not exercise your own limbs. You will not use your brain if you depend on somebody else for facts and information. Abandon this. But then, in times of distress, you will get shaky, you will will be compelled to think. Good. That is why they said, "Thou shalt not worship any graven images." They wanted you to think, to reflect, to meditate. The Buddhists, the Hindus, Jewish people, people all over the world, said, "You are not allowed to worship God as graven image." But, when we are in distress, what are we supposed to do? Someone had a bright idea, "Don't make an image of God. God is something so very great, infinite. But make sure your cheque-book is with you; then, if there is some distress, you can take the next plane and fly out! If somebody starts teasing you, give him ten dollars, he will keep quiet."

What has happened? We have found a substitute for God. The same image, the same image. Somehow it must come, somewhere, and get us. In the East again, and in the West, intellect began to take the place of an image of God. Intellect - not intelligence, not wisdom. Both the Buddhists and the Vedantic philosophers, and also the later Jewish teachers, were such great intellectuals, that they put that up as a prop. Same thing. It's prop again. They have not been able to face the real problem.

The real problem is ego. Knock that down. That is the worst of all props, the basis of all props. Knock that down, and you will get Self-realisation, and you will be completely free. But then, that's a bit difficult for us. That is what God said to Moses. "I am That I am." Not 'this' I am. 'That' I am. I am 'That'. What do you mean, "I am That?" Find out. Find out what is meant by 'That'. What is 'That'? Everything that is not 'this'. "Ah, you mean this?" No. Because, the moment you use 'this', it is gone. "Ah, you mean that God is unthinkable?" No. Because it has again been grasped by you, "It is this." Not this, That. Keep quiet, keep searching. Courtship is more delightful than wedding. Keep going. Keep it up.

Again and again, we make the same mistake. We knock one idol down, and put another idol in its place. Buddha said, "Throw away all the idols". So, we have the idol Buddha. Very good. He said, "Don't worship, don't worry about a God." So, we say, "All right, we won't worry about any other God. You be our God." We merely change expressions, find synonyms for uncomfortable untruths. Paraphrasing one concept with another concept, and priding ourselves that we have abandoned the old-fashioned concepts.

What are we looking for? We are looking for a state consciousness that expresses this "I am That I am." "Tat Twam Asi." "That Thou Art."

In the Gita, Krishna gives us a description of different Yogas, or paths to the Realisation of that Truth. Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga leading on to Raja Yoga, and Jnana Yoga.

Karma Yoga demands self-sacrificing service.

Bhakti Yoga demands self-surrender to God. "I can't feel God inside; so, let us create a God outside." Even though we feel the presence of God outside in a temple, be sure that you surrender your little self, the Ego. The God that you worship in the temple, in the church, may be your creation; all right, never mind. Having created that God, if you are capable of surrendering this little self completely, it has still achieved its purpose. Why? For the simple reason that God is there in that image also. If God is Omnipresent, you can contact Him, you can touch Him anywhere you like. But then, please remember that that God demands self-surrender. Not worshipping that God. You can't possess the temple. "That temple belongs to me. That God belongs to me. This is my God." No, because then it is finished, gone.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna gives us a delightful concept. I have not heard it in any other scripture, even in India.

mayyaaveshya mano ye maam (Gita XII-2)

Enter your mind in Me.

What do we do? What are we going to do in a few minutes time? We are going to sit down, close our eyes, take a deep breath, and meditate on God seated in the lotus of our heart. This is what we are taught. If we understand the purpose of the method, we can make use of it for some time, and go on from there. But Krishna uses a delighful expression: don't try to push Me into your heart, push yourself into My heart."

"Enter your mind into me." I hope you will remember this when you sit down to meditate. It is important that not only we should feel God's presence in our heart, but that we should feel our presence in God's Heart. It is true. We are all God. Therefore, in the method that we are adopting now, it is delightfull thin to proceed in this manner.

First, visualise the presence of God in any manner you like in your heart. Feel that God is there, Jesus Christ, Buddha, Krishna, whatever you like. Then, still sitting there, feel the Bhavana, the visualisation. Feel that this form expands and fills you. The feeling must be intense, so that, after a few minutes, it is not 'I' sitting there, but Buddha is sitting there, Christ is sitting there, or Krishna is sitting there. If any evil thought arises, it must arise in Christ's mind. It must be Jesus Christ who is thinking the wicked thought. Which is impossible! So it will not arise. Then, once you are able to enter into this state without much effort, let this form expand, fill the whole of Australia, fill the whole earth. So that, if you are meditating upon Christ for instance, you feel Christ extending from Heaven to earth. A huge form; in that hum form, this earth is floating as a little cell. The whole earth is floating as a little cell in His lungs. Delightful form of meditation. Very good. Very effective.

So that Bhakti, which demands self-surrender, allows us to use these forms, in order that we may surrender ourselves to that form, and through that form to the Almighty, to the Omnipresent God.

Raja Yoga demands Self-realisation. You sit down, with closed eyes, open eyes, or what you like. Dive deep within, and come face to face with that Self.

Jnana, or the Path of Wisdom, Self-analysis. Self-analysis leads to self realisation, again. Keep asking the questions, "Who am I?, "Who is I, "What is I?"

But eventually, all these systems are meant to achieve only one purpose, Cosmic Consciousness. The Realisation of the Truth that the "I" is nothing but the mirror image of God. The "I" is not a non-reality; it is not the Reality. It exists, and yet, it does not exist. It exists as an image. That that image is not true; it is the substance that is true. The image exists because of the substance; it has an existence, yet not an absolute existence. Till this great truth is realised, you must keep searching, keep searching.

eshaa braahmi sthitih paartha nainaam praapya vimuhyati sthitvaasyaamantakaalepi brahma nirvaanamricchati (Gita II-72)

This is the Brahmic seat, O Arjuna. Attaining this, none is deluded. Being established therein, even at the end of life, one attains to oneness with Brahman.

Some Yogis even go so far as to say that not only important to reach that Realisation, but having reached that, you should not slip from there. Hold on to it. Because this Karma, which has given birth to this body, the ignorance, which gave rise to the attachment to this body to this body-consciousness, will still persist, even after we are able to touch this Cosmic Consciousness. A moment's non-vigilance might lead to a downfall. You night slip back into the state of ignorance. Somebody sets up an alarm clock; the alarm bell rings, we wake up, "Ah, give me another ten minutes!" Finished! Gone! Back to sleep again. You woke up. Of course you woke up. Nobody can say you didn't wake up. You woke up. Then, because you were non-vigilant for a little while, you slipped back into the deep sleep state again. That might happen to us.

To illustrate that, and as a fitting conclusion, to this study of the Gita, I'll narrate a story of an illustrious saint. You may say it is legendary, because this story occurs in one of our legends, called the Bhagavatam. But most Indians firmly believe that this was a historical personality. And some even go to the extent of saying that India is called Bharat, and has been named after this person, called Bharata.

I am not going to explain the significance of part of the story but, if you are alert, you won't miss the lesson.

There was a very great king, called Bharata, in India; he reigned for a long time and, in acooradance with the ancient tradition, at a certain period of his life, he said, "All right, I'll crown my son king, and retire into the forest." He went to the forest, built himself a small hut, and engaged himself in austerities, meditation, study of scriptures, and so on.

One day, he had just had his bath, and was about to return to his hut, when he heard the roar of a tiger from behind. A tiger was chasing a deer, and this deer was running very fast. It was a female, big with child, and, out of fear, it tried to jump the stream. The effort was too much, and the child was delivered, and the deer was drowned. The little one fell just on the water's edge. The holy man looked at that, and was filled with compassion. You must not misconstrue the story to mean that compassion is no good. Compassion is good. Attachment is no good. Where does compassion end, and attachment start? How not to confuse attachment for compassion? A very delicate thing to remember.

Moved by pity, he took that little thing, washed it, and after seeing that the mother was dead, took it home, thinking, "It is my duty." Now a sense of duty might often be misleading.

He took it to his cottage, and looked after it. This deer became very dear to him. That is where attachment comes in. Somewhere, somewhere, I don't know. Only vigilance might enable us to understand the meaning of the story. As the deer lived there, and grew old, a bond of friendship grew between them, the master and the pet. It was no longer a deer now; it was a pet.

The time came for the old man to leave his body. The deer knew that the master was about to die; as he was lying on his death bed, the deer looked at him, and started shedding a couple of tears. Bharata looked at the deer, and said, "Oh, I have been looking after you for such a long-time. Now that I am passing, who will look after you, what will be your fate, I don't' know." As he was thinking along these lines, the spirit left him. He reincarnated as a deer in accordance with a wonderfull truth.

yam yam vaapi smaranbhaavam tyajat yante kalevaram tam tamevaiti kaunteya sadaa tadhhaavabhaavitah (Gita VIII-6)

Whosoever at the end leaves the body, thinking of any being, that being only does he go, O Arjuna, because of his constant thought of that being.

"Whatever be the state of your mind at the time that you leave this incarnation, that determines the next one."

So that this wonderful man, who had touched Self-realisation, because he had left the body thinking of a deer, had to reincarnate as a deer. But through the power of his yogic practices in the previous birth, he was aware, even that deer was aware, "I was the great King Bharata, who had attained to great, spiritual evolution in the past birth, but because of a foolish attachment. I fell. So this time I must be careful, otherwise, I will go down and down and down." So the deer had to be extremely cautious with whom it mixed, and so on, and in course of time, the deer died. By force again of the previous human incarnation, the same personality was born as the son of a Brahmin.

Now, right from childhood, is said that the child was aware of both the previous incarnations. "I was a sage. I committed a blunder, and became a deer. Now, this is another chance I have, so I must be very careful." One need not disbelieve such stories, if you know that even now there are terribly precocious children who display an IQ far above what their age and physical growth would warrant; there are quite a number of instances. Even as a young boy, he took no interest in any worldly activities. He pretended and behaved like an animal, an imbecile idiot.

In the Bhagavatam scripture, which I am quoting here, it says that, because this young man had no worries at all, he was quite round and fat. But he wouldn't do a thing that was not rational. That is, he was not inhibiting his actions, but he was not taking a positive interest in worldly activities. Then came a time when even the family was disgusted with him, and they drove him out. "If you can't earn your food, then get out of this house." That was what he was waiting for. He didn't want to take the initiative and go. When they drove him out, he said, "Very good. It is not my fault now," and he went away.

He used to wander about, constantly aware of the Cosmic Being. That was all. That was the only duty he had now. Constant awareness of God. He used to take some alms. In India, the holy men never die of hunger. Even so, he used to be looked after by the community, and he wandered about.

One day, he was wandering in the forest. In those days, there used to be pious dacoits, righteous dacoits. That is, even before stealing or robbing somebody, they would go and pray in a temple! They would pray to this God, "If I am successful, I shall offer a bull," or something like that. Sometimes even a human being, depending on what sort of a person was going to be the victim that night. If it was just an ordinary man, a fowl would do. If it was somebody very big, a goat. Somebody bigger than that, a bull. If they were going to rob a king, then the highest, a human sacrifice.

Something like that had happened; and just as they were looking for a human being to offer in sacrifice, they saw the man who was walking that way. They caught hold of him. They said, "A lovely human bull. Round and heavy, in the best of health. Lovely."

This Bharata knew he was being taken to be sacrificed. He thought, "All right. If I have to die, all right. If I have to live, also all right. What does it matter. All these things pertain only to the body."

These bandits took this young man to the temple, a Kali temple, put him there, and bathed him nicely. Poor man, he had not had his bath for a number of days, so that when somebody rubbed his back, he must have felt very nice. Again, such was the custom ritual, that they laid a good big plate full of food in front of him. He was hungry, as he had not had any proper food for days; so he ate the whole lot up. These bandits were standinglaughing. "We are going to kill him in a few minutes, and look at the way he eats. Idiot!"

But he was not an idiot. He knew that his throat was going to be cut; but still the food was there, so why not eat? Simple logic. He finished eating, then they grabbed him, offered some prayers, and lifted the sword.

You must now visualise the whole altar. It looks like Abraham's sacrifice. There is the image of Kali, and here sits the holy man, Bharata. The priest raises the knife to chop off this holy man's head. It is said that Kali actually came out of that image, caught hold of the sword, and chopped off the priest's head. A man had to be sacrificed. Better the priest. Why this holy man?

When this happened, the dacoits ran away, and this man was sitting still meditating upon the Supreme Being, knowing that the moment the head fell, he would attain liberation. But nothing happened, and he was perplexed. He looked up, he saw the priest lying dead, and Kali dancing. He thought: "All right, all right, if I have to live for some time, also all right. If death comes now, all right, if death comes fifteen years later, also all right. What wrong? God's will had to be fulfilled." And that's the motto of the story, perhaps.

There was something more to be done. Again he was walking, singing, dancing, constantly sustaining awareness of the Self. Through that forest, a king was being taken on his palanquin. The king also was a seeker, a very good man, but still a king. He was going in search of a Guru, a holy man to teach him. Four hefty palanquin-bearers had been employed to carry this palanquin, and they had to keep moving. If one man wanted rest, he had to find a substitute for his job. If he saw someone walking along the road, he would ask him to carry the palanquin while he took rest.

The fellow in front was fatigued. Just then, Bharata was walking that way, and was called by the tired bearer. He went. No reasoning, no botheration here. All natural activity. Somebody calls, "Take this and carry it." So he did. That again, is egoless action, non-volitional activity, extremely difficult to even grasp. There is neither a longing nor a rejection. But, as he was carrying this palanquin like a porter, this holy man was careful no to trample under foot any living being, because that would be volitional activity, avoidable killing of any living being, which might involve Karma. So he was walking along carrying this palanquin, and if he saw some ants, he would stop. When he stopped, nobody could move, so the palanquin stopped. If he saw an army of ants marching along, he would leap over them; and so, all the bearers would have to leap.

You can visualise that the king sitting inside the palanquin had a very rough ride. Every time the palanquin jerked, he would be thrown round inside, and the royal head began to ache. He shouted, "Hey, behave yourself. The bearers said that it was not their fault, it was the new man who seemed to be a bit temperamental. So the king said, "Hey, if you don't behave yourself, I will kick you." The king was a good man; but still he was a king, with a royal prerogative to kick all underdogs. As soon as the king said that, a complete hand-brake was applied. The palanquin came to a full stop. This wonderful Bharata started speaking, "O king, you say, "I will kick you". Do you understand, who will kick whom? Who am I? Who are you? And what this business of kicking?"

As soon as he heard these words, the king jumped down from there. Nobody except a great sage could express such thoughts, "Who are you, who am I. Who is going to kick whom?"

Supposing somebody turns round, "Ah, I'll kick you." Would you answer in this manner? No, you would also feel, would you not, "You kick me? I'll kick you now."

But here, a very philosophical enquiry has started. The king instinctively knew that this was a holy man. He jumped down from the palanquin, caught hold of this man's feet, and said, "Please, sir, who are you? And why are you carrying this palanquin here?"

Then, in the Bhagavatam, comes one of the most inspiring sections. This was Bharata's mission, which had remained to be fulfilled. The enlightenment of the king. It had to be done, that was God's will; and so he was saved from the bandits, dacoits. Then he enlightened the king on the nature of the Self.

This is Freedom. This is Freedom. Freedom from egoism, freedom from vain activity. Vain activity does not mean useless activity. Vain activities have come to mean activities that don't bring money to us, glory to us. Vain activity means activity that increases egoism. That is vain activity.

Total freedom is what we seek. But before we can achieve this state of freedom, we must find out who is it that asks for this freedom. "I want to be free. I want to attain peace of mind, I want to be happy all, the time."

What do we mean by, 'I want to be happy, I want total freedom from all possibilities of misery.'

Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita:

tam vidyaadduhkhasamyogaviyogam yogasamjnitam (Gita VI-23)

Let that be known by the name of Yoga, the severance from union with pain.

What is Yoga? Yoga is the cutting of the possibility of contact with pain. Even the possibilities must go. "I want freedom." Freedom from even the possibility of a suffering, possibility of unhappiness, possibility of restlessness, ossibility of insecurity. "I want freedom." But who is this 'I' who wants this freedom? I must know, first of all, who it is that aspires for this freedom. "I want to be free. What is this 'I'?"

The next question. What is the nature of this bondage? If I don't know the nature of this bondage, how am I to attain that freedom? Now, if I am locked in here, I must know that this is a wooden door, that is a certain type of lock, this wall is made of bricks, the windows are of glass. If I know the nature of the bondage, of the prison house, I can escape from it. But if I don't know - I may have been asleep, and someone may have put a cardboard wall around me, painted like rock, like in some modern houses, and I might sit there, crying, "Oh, I am finished!" I am not finished. Why? All I have to do is to touch that wall and find it is cardboard; one kick and it goes.

Again, who has bound me? By what am I bound? Does the bondage spring from me or from an external agency? If it is a bondage created by an external agency, I must go to it and say, "Please release me." If it is a bondage that I have created myself.

I must wake up and desillusion myself, I must wake up and disillusion myself. we are part of the cosmic energy, we can't escape. Cosmic energy has no death. While we are still engaged in activity as part off this wolrd dream, as part of this play of cosmic consciousness, as part of the manifestation of cosmic energy, while we are part of this game, we must ask ourselves the third question. Freedom to do what? Freedom from what? To do what? Freedom is not is not merely from external authority. I may escape from certain external authority; "I don't want to obey him." All right, you don't want to obey him. Then, what do you want to obey? You want to obey your own egoism. You want to obey your own vain desires. No. You are creating another bondage; a more powerful bondage perhaps. Now, therefore, we must analyse these three questions:

1. Who asks for this freedom?

2. Freedom from what?

3, To do what - to be what?

This is discussed in such great elaboration by Bharata. And that is what is taught by the Gita. The teachings are all the same. The situations differ, the idioms differ, the language differs; but the basic teaching is the same. Towards the end of his teachings, this Bharata says, "O Raja, O King, I have told you what the Truth is. You nod your head and pretend that you have understood. But no. It is beyond the grasp of common being. It will come into your grasp, you will be able to comprehend it, you will be able to understand it only when you bathe yourself with the dust of the feet of the holy ones, when you go and surrender yourself to a master, to a Guru, and learn the truth directly from him. Humble yourself, be humble, surrender yourself to a Guru, and get the Truth transmitted from him. It is only then that it becomes clear."

That is the story of Bharata.

Now, coming back to the Bhagavad Gita, this total self-surrender is the note with which Krishna closes his teaching.

sarvadharmaanparityajya maamekam sharanam vraja aham tvaa sarvapaapebhyo mokshayishyaami inaa shuchah (Gita XVIII-66)

Abandoning all duties, take refuge in Me alone; I will liberate thee from all sins; grieve not.

"Arjuna, don't fear. Surrender your ego. The ego which says, "I will not fight." The ego which says, "I fight." Surrender this. Surrender yourself to Me. To God. I will liberate you."

Liberation is not attained by us. It is God's gift. Liberation is God's gift. But surrender is our duty.

After having said this, Krishna goes back to the first theme, The Law of the Genesis. He says, "Look, I have told you what I consider is the Truth.

vimrishyaitadaseshena yathecchasi tathaa kuru (Gita XVIII-63)

Having reflected over it fully, then act as thou wishest.

"Think over this, and do what you like." This the basic freedom that God has given us. We are not compelled to do this. We are not compelled to be good. We are not even compelled to do good; it is up to you, each one. As Adam and Eve were given the freedom to do as they liked, you and I have also the same freedom to do what we like. But we have the freedom to choose what is right.

Arjuna, realising this, says,

nashto mohah smritirlabdhaa tvatprasaadaanmayaachyuta sthitosmi gatasandehah karishye vachanam tova (Gita XVIII-73)

Destroyed is my delusion as I have gained my memory (knowledge) through Thy grace, O Krishna. I am firm, my doubts are gone. I will act according to Thy word.

"Now, by your teaching, my delusion is gone. I will do Thy will." These were probably the very last words of Jesus Christ also. "Thy will be done. Not mine, but Thy will be done." That is the key to the teaching of the Bhagavad Gita.

Om

In the spirit of the Bhagavad Gita, I offer this service as a flower of worship of the Lord who is seated in your heart.