1982 Audio Satsang with Gurudev

Part II

 

Transcript:

. . . . Here are glasses, new glasses, and you see through those glasses. So, mind is the instrument of knowledge – though it is not the perfect instrument, but if it is more pure, if it has no prejudices, it has no hatred, it has no attachment then you have the right knowledge. If it is impure, then you have the wrong knowledge. The mode of knowledge depends upon the instrument, upon the mind. You know existence through your mind and through your senses and your mind has its own limitations. Even if it is completely purified, you cannot have perfect knowledge through your mind but the more it is purified, the more the knowledge will be right. But perfect knowledge you can have only when you transcend your mind. When you go into samādhi, that samādhi is the state of no-mind. You can call it, "the state of no-mind". That is what is called yoga. Yoga is chit vritti nirodhah. Yoga is where there is no mind. Yoga is the cessation of the modifications of mind.
            So when you are in a state of no-mind, then you have perfect knowledge, but you cannot go into the state of no-mind unless your mind is pure because you have to purify your mind, and then you can transcend your mind. You cannot transcend it, when the mind is impure. How will you transcend it because it is the impurities of the mind, it is the attachments which are moving your mind? You are being swept by your desires forcibly; you have no control over your mind. Now you are a slave of your mind. Through discipline, you will have control over your mind. Then you will use your mind. Now your mind is using you. The mind is exploiting you. You are a slave of the mind.
            So by discipline, by conscious effort, you can have perfect control upon your mind. So first you have to purify it. For purification you can chant the Lord’s name; by discrimination also. But how will you remove your desires, unless you see your desires, unless you see the seeds of desires which are in your subconscious. First you have to know your mind and ninety percent of your mind is submerged in darkness; you don’t know it. You are conscious of a very small part of your mind.
            So when you sit down and withdraw your mind from the outer activities, then what happens? Your subconscious starts coming to the surface. You become aware of it, you become conscious of it. Then you will find there are many, many seeds of desires which you will come to know. If you watch your mind, if you sit down calm and quiet and withdraw your mind from outer activities, then the subconscious will start coming up; you will come to know it. And when you know it, then you can overcome it. If you know your enemy, then the enemy cannot harm you. But if you don’t know your enemy, then he is very dangerous. If you don’t know him, and he is the enemy, then he can harm you, he will harm you.
            So first you have to know your mind – that part of the mind which is submerged in darkness which is your subconscious, which is your unconscious. And that you will come to know, when you just sit down and withdraw your mind from outer activities. Then your subconscious will start coming up, you will become aware of it and then through discrimination, then through the power of prayer also …
            The other thing I wanted to tell you is that you should pray to the Divine also, every day. And I have already told you that when you sit in a posture and you start your meditation, the first five minutes you should spend in prayer and invoke the grace of the Divine because there is a great power in prayer. Your own effort is very limited. You have to do what you can do, but your effort is very limited. So you have to also invoke the help, the grace of the Divine. So when you sit in meditation, for the first five minutes you can pray to the Divine, and then you can practise conscious breathing for five, seven minutes, and then you can follow the method in which you have to chant the divine name. For the first five minutes you have to pray, for the next five, seven minutes you have to practise deep breathing, and then you have to follow your method in which you recite the Lord’s name or you watch your mind. That you do afterwards. This is how you have to do your practice.
            These are the main points which I have repeated. We have been talking of these things almost daily. But what is the obstacle? The obstacle is desire, it is attachment. The obstacle is the impurity of the mind; the obstacle is the wandering of the mind, the instability. These are the obstacles due to which we are not able to reach the Divine.
            Otherwise, the Divine is here and now. He is not somewhere in the future that you have to create this fruit of sādhana; that you have to make Him. He is already there. He is everywhere. He is in you, but you are not in Him. You are in the world because you are thinking of the world. The Divine is in you, but you are not in the Divine in the sense that you are thinking of the world. For example, you are sitting here and your mind is thinking of France. So you are not here, you are in France. The Divine is in you, but you are not in the Divine, because you are thinking of the world. So if you stop thinking, if you become passive, if you become open to the Divine, you will find that he is here and now. You have not to make Him, you are already That, but you are not aware of your real nature.
            So the purpose of sādhana is to remove the obstacles, to remove the impediments, to remove your ego. When you drop your ego … What is the ego?  It is the idea that you are something. The idea of becoming something special; that is the ego and that is also the cause of all misery.
            That reminds me of an anecdote of a saint. There was a Sufi saint whose name was Bulleh Shah. You must have heard it. He was a Sufi saint, a mystic and he was established in his true nature. Now when you become established in your true nature, then you don’t follow any rules, then your life becomes very spontaneous. So because he came from the Mohammedan community … and in Islam, you know, there is one month where they keep fast. You have seen Mr. M here? He was keeping fast. So there is one month – they call it the month of Ramadan – they keep fast for one complete month. They don’t eat anything or they eat early in the morning before sunrise and then they eat after sunset. In the day they don’t eat anything.
            So, it was the month of Ramadan, the month of fasting, and Bulleh Shah was going somewhere with one of his disciples. You know, Bulleh Shah came from a very high family. As with Hindus there are Brahmins, Kshatriyas,Vaishyas, Shudras – there are four categories, the caste system. Similarly, with Muslims there are different castes, too, you know and there is one caste which they call Sayyid. It’s a very high caste and Bulleh Shah came from that caste; he was a Sayyid. Just as there a Brahmins in Hindus, similarly, there are Sayyids in Muslims. So he came from a very high family.
            So, it was the month of Ramadan and he was travelling somewhere with one of his disciples. They reached near a village and they were very hungry. They had not eaten for many days, perhaps. Just outside the village there was a crop of turnips and so they took out some turnips and started eating. And now his disciple went, eating turnips, into the village; Bulleh Shah was behind, his      disciple was going ahead. And when the disciple entered the village, he was still eating the turnips so the people asked, "Who are you?" He said, "I’m a Muslim." Then they said: "Don’t you know that this is the month of Ramadan? All Muslims keep fast in the month of Ramadan and you are a Muslim and you are eating something in the day? It is very strange. You don’t seem to be a real Muslim. What is your caste?" He said, "I am a Sayyid." He was also a Sayyid. So the people said, "You come from such a high family, a high caste and you are a Muslim and you don’t follow the rules of Muslims?" So the people started beating him. He got very hurt and got many wounds. So he passed through that village and was beaten very much, mercilessly.
            Then Bulleh Shah came, he was following him. He also entered the village, so again the people asked "Who are you?" because he was also eating turnips. So he (Bulleh Shah) posed as if he were a madman. The people said, "It is the month of Ramadan and you are eating something? Are you a Muslim?" He kept silent; he didn’t reply. He posed as if he were a madman because he thought that these people are not enlightened people, they don’t know what a saint is, a realized person is. If I tell them that I am a realized person, or if I tell them that I don’t need to follow any discipline, they won’t understand it. So he didn’t say anything and the people of that village thought that he was a madman. So you don’t do anything to a madman, you know? So they didn’t do anything to him and he passed through and went out of the village.
            Then he met his disciple who was crying, because he had been beaten. Bulleh Shah asked, "What has happened to you?" and the disciple said: "They have beaten me up." He asked: "Why?" Bulleh Shah smiled and said, "You must have become something. When you have got a beating, you must have become something otherwise you cannot get a beating." When you become something … You know there are two: one is being and the other is becoming. Now you have become something and that becoming is the cause of all your misery. That becoming is the ego. When you become something special, then it is a law that you must be beaten, you must be miserable.
            When you are only a being, you don’t become anything. When you drop your ego, the idea of becoming something, then there is no misery, you are completely free. You go above all pleasures and pains. Don’t think there will be pleasures. When you are free, then there is no pleasure and there is no pain. They always coexist. Now the problem is that you want pleasure, but you don’t want pain and this is impossible. Either you have to go beyond both or you have to accept both. If you want pleasure, you must be prepared to accept pain also, because they cannot be separated. They coexist. But there’s another dimension of your being in which there is no pain, no pleasure; you transcend it. There is complete Bliss, perfect Bliss. So when you are established in your being, you will transcend all misery. The misery is there because you have become something. You have the idea of being something special, and that specialty is separating you from others, isn’t it? When you become something special, you become separate from others and separation is the cause of all misery.
            This ego is the cause of all misery so when you drop this ego … but you cannot drop it at once. First you have to purify it. You have to direct it to the Divine. Even when you think, "I am pure spirit, I am the Divine", this is also ego, but this is a pure ego. This is an ego based on truth because in reality you are the spirit, you are not the physical body, you are not the mind, but when you are thinking in this way, that "I am pure spirit", this is also due to ego but that ego is the pure ego. Ultimately, you have to drop that also but first you have to change your ego. It should be transformed. You will not be able to overcome your mind at once, to go beyond it at once. First of all you have to transform it; you have to change it. You have to change the old patterns. You have to purify it; and then, slowly and gradually, a time comes when you can drop the mind. You can jump out of it but you have to start from where you are. From the impure mind you cannot take a jump into the spirit. It is only that from the pure and silent mind that you can jump into the timeless, not from the impure mind.
            So these are the steps: First you have to purify your mind and for purification you can recite the Lord’s name, you can discriminate, you can pray. Look into your mind and you find your prejudices, your hatred, your attachments, and try to remove them through discrimination, through the power of prayer. Slowly and gradually your mind becomes more and more pure. And then a time comes that you can take a jump, you can drop your mind, you can enter the timeless; you can enter the Spirit but from the impure mind you cannot take a jump. That is why the transformation is very urgent, very necessary, it is a prerequisite; it is a must.
            So these are the five parts of sādhana which you have to follow, when you go back to your country. You are not to give up your sādhana; that you come to India and do something and then you go to France and you forget everything, because it must be a continuous and conscious effort, unbroken continuity. Then a time will come when your being will be changed. Now you feel many temptations in the world but when your mind becomes pure and you get even partial light in your mind, then your being will be changed. It will not be difficult to overcome temptations.
            Now it is very difficult, because there is no centre, there is a crowd in you. Now you are just a Rotary club. At one time one part of your mind comes up. For example, you take some vow. In the day or at night, you take a vow that you will get up early in the morning at three o’clock so now this vow is being taken by one part of your mind and when it is three o’clock in the morning, another part of the mind is in charge and it will say, "Alright, it’s very early now, it’s very cold now. I will start it from tomorrow, not from today." So you go to sleep. The part of your mind which took the vow is not the same part which is saying that I can start it from tomorrow; it is the other part of your mind, which is now in charge of your house.
            There is a story that the owner of a house went abroad to some other country. He had many servants so he told the servants that he will come back in two, three months, and that they should take care of the house. So off he went. And so because the servants knew that the owner will come back, for two or three months they kept the house very properly. Three months passed, but he didn’t come back. Then four months passed, then six months passed, then one year passed – he didn’t come back, and there was no news. Then the servants started thinking that he is dead somewhere and will not come back, and said, "Now the house is ours." They started quarrelling with each another. One would say, "This is my house!" The other would say, "This is my house!" And they started fighting with each other. So, one servant would control the house for some time. Then the other would try to defeat him then the other would control the house for some time – this is the case with you. The master is out. There is no master in your house and the servants are fighting you. There are different parts of your mind and sometimes one part of your mind takes charge of this house, and at some other time the other part of your mind is on the surface, and there is no harmony between the servants, between those parts. That is what is called chaos theory. They are fighting with each other. You are fighting with your own energy. Your mind is broken. It’s a complete chaos now and your energies are being dissipated. If all the parts of your mind are fighting with each other – there are different desires, paradoxical to each other, contrary to each other – then what will happen? The energy of the mind will be dissipated. There is one example: There is a chair and there are many forces on all sides trying to pull it on each side. So the chair will not move, it will not go to any side. The energy is being applied, but it is being neutralized, because on all sides it is being pulled, so it will not move anywhere; it will stay there. The energy is being applied, but that energy is being neutralized, because one man is pulling it from one side, the other is pulling it from another side. It will not move.
           Similarly, your mind is broken. There is a crowd in you. You are not one, there is no centre; there is no crystallized centre. So when you follow a certain discipline, then you create an order. The purpose of discipline is to create order in you. Now, there is no order. It’s chaos. And the energy is being dissipated. When all the parts of your nature aspire for the Divine, then the Divine is ready to come. Now intellectually you want the Divine, but the heart doesn’t accept it. Your vital being doesn’t accept it. It not only doesn’t accept, but it resists. It refuses to accept. So that is why the Divine cannot come in you.
            It is just like when you invite me to your home. You want to invite me, but Gerald doesn’t want it. So I will say, ‘Either you first make a compromise … because when I come to your house, there will be a quarrel between you; because you want me and he doesn’t want.’ So I will tell you, ‘Alright, I don’t go to your house. If you want, you come to me. I will come to your house only when all the members of the house will call me, will accept me. Then, I will come to your house.’
            So actually this sādhana has two types: One is that you go beyond your mind and meet the Divine. In that method there is no need for harmony and there is no need for order. By certain methods, by certain techniques you go beyond your mind and you meet the Divine. But when you come back, there is again chaos in your mind. But so long as you are out of the mind and with the Divine, you will be in bliss. But when you come to your house again, there will be chaos, there will be disturbance.
            The other way is that the Divine comes into your house. All the members of your personality become open to the Divine. They aspire for the Divine and they accept the Divine and then the Divine comes in you. Or you come first to the Divine and then you bring the Divine into your home.
            The first thing is that you have to, in any way, go beyond your mind, if you want Bliss because the mind is not a perfect instrument. Even if it is completely purified, even then it has its limitations. You have to transcend it. There are some techniques, some mantras by which you can go beyond the mind, even if it is not completely purified but then you cannot become a jīvanmukta because when you come back to the mind level, then again you are disturbed; because the mind has not been transformed. The members of your house are quarrelling with each other; there is no harmony in your mind. But when you go beyond your mind and you are one with the Divine, at that time you feel bliss. But when you come to the mental level, there is no order; again you are disturbed. So if you want a bliss which is always with you, whether you are beyond the mind or whether you are in the mind, then there must be a complete transformation.
            The purpose of sādhana is to create an order within you. Now there is chaos, there are paradoxical desires, you want many things. You don’t want only God, you want many things.
            I have told you the story that an aspirant went to a saint and he requested, "Will you please show me God." The saint said, "Alright. Are you prepared; are you ready to see the Divine?" He said, "Yes, I want the Divine, I want his vision." The saint said, "Alright, close your eyes." So the seeker closed his eyes. Then he started hearing voices coming from within. One voice said, "I want riches", another voice said, "I want woman", the third voice said, "I want status, I want position, I want chair". He started hearing many voices coming from within. Then he found that it was his mind. And there was a very, very feeble voice which was saying, "I want God". Then he came to know that actually he didn’t want the vision of the Divine. He wanted the world, he wanted riches, he wanted comforts; he wanted a very rich life. So actually you don’t know what you want. An ordinary person doesn’t know what he wants. . . . [recording ends]