A Collection of SPIRITUAL DISCOURSES - Swami …swamidayanandgiriji.in/dgmadmin/files/a-collection-of...A Collection of SPIRITUAL DISCOURSES By Paramahansa, Veetraga, Shrotriya, Brahminishtha

A Collection of

SPIRITUAL DISCOURSES

By

Paramahansa, Veetraga, Shrotriya, Brahminishtha

Swami Dayanand Giri Ji Maharaj Vol.-1 (A)

Translated by:

Dr. A.C. Moudgil Retd. Additional Professor (Clinical Psychology) PGI, Chandigarh

Published by:

Devotees of Ambala, Karala,

Majri (Delhi-81) and other places

Price Earnest Study & Reflection

(For free Distribution)

All rights reserved

Note: Hindi version of Vol.1 consists of Adhyatmic Pravachans

delivered in Hindi by Revered Swamiji Maharaj at Ujjar Kuti near

Village Karala Delhi – 81, during 1986-87. These were tape-recorded

by devotees, Sh. Balwant Mathur, Sh. Sri Ram Sharma, Sh. Bal

Krishan Gupta, Sh. Aswani Kumar, Sh. Ganesh Shankar Dwivedi and

other. These were edited, reproduced, printed in book form, with the

approval of Swamiji Maharaj.

First English Edition: 1100 copies

Available from:

1. G.C. Garg 99, Preet Nagar,

Ambala City – 134003 Haryana (INDIA) Ph: 0171-2552761

Laser typesetting at: Royal Computers,

#5, Shalimar Plaza, Opp. Punjabi University, Patiala, Punjab (INDIA)

(i)

Publisher’s Note

I have the privilege to present to the readers this book; ‘A

Collection of Spiritual Discourses Vol.-1 (A)’, which is the English

version of ‘Adhyatmik Parvachan Sangrah Vol.–1’ by the Supreme

Saint Paramhansa Veetraga Swami Dayanand Giri Ji Maharaj, who

delivered these discourses during 1986-87 at Ujjar Kuti near village

Karala, Delhi-81. For the convenience of our learned devotees, and

for good and manageable binding, the English Version has been

divided into two parts : Vol.- 1 (A) consisting of the first twelve Spiritual

Discourses and Vol.–1(B) consisting of the remaining nine Spiritual

Discourses, respectively. Some of the devotees had recorded the

discourses on tapes during the Satsang which were later on written

down, edited and printed in book form with the help of all the

devotees of village Karala, Majri and other nearby villages (Delhi-81).

The credit goes to all the devotees of the villages who are the blessed

ones in this noble cause. Swamiji had his countless disciples far and

wide but he never kept a record of them. He walked on food, used to

have meals only once a day after taking Bhiksha from five houses in a

Khappar and stayed in deserted places without public notice. As a

true renunciate, he never touched wealth and led the life of Vairagya.

We feel that he had a detached love for the people of Ambala,

Jagadhri, Dhalwari (Chintpurni), Kurukshetra, Karala, Majri and

nearby villages of Delhi-81. At Ambala he used to stay at a deserted

place near S.A. Jain College, Ambala City and at village Karala, Ujjar

Kuti, Delhi-81. When people would come to know of his arrival, they

would flock to him to quench their thirst for spiritual knowledge. We

used to listen to him with rapt attention and impressed by his

(ii)

personality, his habits, his great ideas, his knowledge and realization,

we started feeling and inexplicable pull towards the celestial light in

him. By and by, we accepted ourselves as his disciples, though he

was never interested in making any disciples. He would come and go,

God knows where. But to our dismay, Swamiji discarded his mortal

frame for his heavenly abode in early hours i.e. at 4 a.m. of Devuthani

Ekadshhi on 23rd Nov., 2004. His mortal remains were consigned to

‘Jal-Samadhhi’ on 24th Nov., 2004 at ‘Neel Dhara’ of Ganga ji

Haridwar, leaving us alone to cry in the mundane world of hurries

and worries, flurries and scurries. But, soon we realized that he

continues to dwell in our hears and showers his guidance in the

hours of need of each individual. He is a constant guide of us all.

Impressed by the unprecedented response to the ‘Verses of the

Divine Spiritual Life (English)’ by revered Swamiji, devotees made

persistent demands for English Version of ‘Adhyatmik Parvachan

Sangrah’. We were inspired to approach Swamiji to seek permission

to translate it into English. After a little reflection, he granted his

permission and blessings, but not before expressing his ideas about

the complexities and difficulties in the effective and purposeful

translation of a book, especially of spiritual nature. He desired that

while translating the discourses the spirit of the discourses should be

maintained, by using simple language both in vocabulary and syntax

so that the message of the Discourses could be easily and

spontaneously understood and imbibed by the readers.

A sincere and arduous search for the right person for the

translation of the discourses was made fruitfully ended in finding an

ideal and spiritual person having good command over both the

languages, Hindi and English, and capable of maintaining the spirit

(iii)

of the Discourses and the nuances and delicacies of language. He was

none other than Dr. A.C. Moudgil, Additional Professor (Retd.), PGI

Chandigarh, who very graciously agreed to undertake the endeavour

to accomplish the translation with missionary devotion and zeal.

When a few pages of the Discourses translated by Dr. Moudgil

were shown to Swamiji, he signaled his satisfaction and approval to

continue with the job assigned to Dr. Moudgil. With the blessings of

Swamiji the translation work of Volume-1 (A) and Volume-1 (B) has

been completed within 21 2 years and the books are now in the hands

of the devotees.

With the blessings of Swamiji, when the devotees of Ambala,

Chandigarh, Nangal, Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar, Chintpurni,

Karala, Majri, and nearby villages of Delhi-81 were informed,

regarding the completion of Vol.-1 (A) and Vol.-2 (B) for printing, they

came forward in a large number and liberally donated money to

publish both the books. The donations made by these devotees for

this noble purpose would certainly help in spreading the teachings of

Revered Swamiji. How much love and respect the devotees carry in

their hearts for their Revered Swamiji is reflected by their actions.

We are extremely grateful to Dr. Moudgil for the completion of

this Vol.-1 (A) and Vol.-2 (B) within a short period with utmost care

and unmatched commitment and dedication. The quality of the

translation (keeping in mind Swamiji’s advice to follow the spirit of

the original text both in letter and spirit) is an ample proof how deep

and strenuous perusal he had of the contents and expression of

Spiritual Discourses, both in Hindi and English Version.

(iv)

In the end, I bow my head in gratitude before revered Swamiji

Maharaj whose invisible spirit came to my help and guidance

whenever there came a problem in my way.

Our thanks are also due to Sh. S.M. Moudgil of Ambala City,

who introduced me to Dr. Moudgil and inspired him for this noble

work. Thanks arte also due to Sh. A.S. Mahajan, Retd. H.O.D., GMN

College Amabala Cantt, Miss Neelam Luthra lecturer in English,

Sohan Lala D.A.V. College of Education Ambala City and Sh. C. L.

Puri, Correspondent Hindustan Times of Ambala Cantt for going

through the proofs before final printing.

I am also indebted to Dr. U.S. Bhardwaj, Director Vedant

Studies & Research Center, Faridabad and Sh. Shyma Lal Singla,

Lecturer (Retd.) S.D. College, Ambala Cantt for their guidance and

assistance for completion of this project.

To conclude, I express my confidence that these Spiritual

Discourses in their translated version [Vol.-1 (A) & Vol.-2 (B)] would

prove to be a treasure for the seekers of spiritual wisdom, for,

“Rishi or Seer can blaze the path of beauty,

But to walk on it, is traveller’s duty.”

G.C. GARG

Registrar (Retd.)

Technical Education, Haryana, Chandigarh

2nd Oct., 2006 Humble devotee at the Lotus Feet of

revered Swamiji Maharaj

(v)

MY SUBMISSION

This book is the English Version of the Hindi book entitled

‘Collection of Spiritual Discourses”, Vol.-1 (2002) by Shrotriya

Brahmnishtha, Veetraga, Paramahansa Swami Dayanand Giri Ji

Maharaj, which consists of all the 21 Spiritual Discourses delivered

before innocent villagers of Karala, Majri and other nearby villages of

Delhi-81. The English Version of that book has been brought out in

two volumes – Vol. 1 (A) consisting of first 12 discourses and Vol.-1

(B) consisting of the remaining 9 discourses.

There are total six publications of Swamiji, containing

discourses and write-ups as given below:

1. Adhaiatmik Pravachan Sangrah (Bhag-I) (Hindi Version)

2. Adhiatmik Pravachan Sangrah (Bhag-II) (Hindi Version)

3. Adhiatmik Jivan Padyavali with explanations (Bhag-I) (Hindi

Version)

4. Adhiatmik Jeevan Padyavali with explanations (Bhag-II) (Hindi

Version)

5. Explanations of some important spiritual and philosophical terms

used in Adhiatmik Jeeven Padyawali (Bhag-I and II) (Hindi

Version)

6. Verses of the Divine Spiritual Life with explanation. (English

Version)

Note: 13 more Spiritual Books have also been published in English

and Hindi after above noted books.

A succinct summary of Swamiji’s life-journey and his spiritual

thoughts derived through deep study of all the classical Hindu

religious texts (such as Puranas, Vedas, Upnishadas, Bhagwat

(vi)

Mahapuran, Bhagwad Gita, Ramayana and learned commentaries of

great Rishis) as well as his intense personal spiritual experiences

during travels and pilgrimages (all on foot) all over Indian sub-

continent, have been given in lucid English language by Shri. B.R.

Oberoi in the Foreword to the Verses of the Divine Spiritual Life.

I most humbly prostate at the lotus feet of the great spiritual

Guru with my body, mind and soul and dedicatedly submit this

English version of Spiritual Discourses (Vol.-I), for his ethereal

approval and permission to release this volume (posthumously).

The English version was very much needed and demanded by

my brethren of English-speaking flock of committed devotees.

My 70-plus age and failing health delayed the publication of this

volume. It was only Swamiji’s blessings, spiritual succor and subtle

motivation, which kept me going and this volume could see the light

today. I was doubly-blessed when Swamiji assigned me the sacred

task of translation of Spiritual Discourses from Hindi to English,

because thereby my life-attempt to mould my mundane existence into

the spiritual way of life as well as my intense urge to be of some

humble service to the spiritual Guru was full gratified.

During the course of translation, I reaped the richest spiritual

harvest of my whole life and selfishly ingrained in my inner being the

most beneficial spiritual lessons culled out by life-long sustained

Tapasya, expounded by Swamiji in simple language for the grasp of

innocent villagers without the frills of erudition, for the benefit of

mankind at large. These words of the English poet Browning on the

death of John Keats (English poet) most aptly befit the life of Swamiji:

“Life of long life, Distilled into a mere drop, Falling like a tear,

On the world’s cold cheek, To make it burn forever.”

(vii)

I am fully aware that I am a living example of human

weaknesses and worldly infirmities. My paucity of knowledge and

experience must have seeped into the translation. I openly accept and

acknowledge all the defaults and defects in my English rendering. But

I lovingly and insistingly seek the indulgence of a kind father by his

ignorant son from our compassionate Swamiji. So also I most humbly

beseech the loving indulgence of the learned scholars kindly to ignore

my lapses. I am sure the learned scholars and spiritually-advanced

devotees will forgive my short comings. Swamiji was himself a blazing

example of compassion and kindness before he quitted his mortal

coil, and so also are his committed devotees and saintly followers. I

humbly beg for their affectionate guidance and help.

I am specially very grateful to my parents, Late Mrs. and Mr.

D.D. Moudgil, who forcefully drilled in my being right from my

childhood the ethical and religious values to live and lead a spiritual

way of life.

I sincerely acknowledge the help and contribution of my loving

wife, Mrs. Usha Moudgil, who has been really objective, impartial,

analytical and critical in the correct use of linguistics and syntax. My

affectionate children took maximum care for keeping me healthy to

fulfil my life-mission of completing the book at all costs.

I am most thankful to my dear cousin, Mrs. and Mr. S.M.

Moudgil of Ambala City for proposing my name to Swamiji for

undertaking the task of translation.

Last but not the least, I am also indebted to my friend,

philosopher and guide, the indefatigable Shri G.C. Garg for all the

taxing and tiring leg-work during printing and proof-reading of the

book. His committed dedication and devotion to Swamiji is worth

(viii)

emulation. He proved of maximum help with his critical expositions of

Swamiji’s thoughts and values. Without the help and guidance of Shri

Garg, my dream would have shattered before its birth.

I must also give due credit and accolades to the publishers and

printers of this Spiritual Book.

At no cost can I ever forget to thank our Param-pita, Bhagwan

Shri, who motivated me to approach Swamiji for my spiritual

redemption.

Supplicant :

Dr. A.C. Moudgil

2nd, Oct., 2006 Retd. Addl. Professor

Panchkula PGI, Chandigarh

(ix)

SUPPLICATION

O Most revered, most honoured, benevolent Swami ji !

O Brahm-nishtha, Veetraga, Paramahansa Swami ji !

O ever-flowing, sacred Ganga of diving nector !

O disciplined soul, chiseled by Vairagya and Tapasya !

O fountain-head of everlasting spiritual Gyana !

O stalwart of Kriya-yoga, distilled into divine Smadhi !

O Saviour of bewildered, starved souls of mankind !

O personified spiritual Peace and divine Bliss !

O radiant flame of Renunciation and Bhakti !

O light-house of Pragya in this mundane world !

O realized Atma, completely one with Param-Atma !

O Celestial-being beyond the domain of Maya !

Guide the faltering ship of my life to the Param-dham of

Bhagwan.

I seek thy shelter to cross over the mundane Bhavasagar.

My ever-merciful Master ! Let, thy Diving Will prevail.

I most humbly prostate at thy Lotus-feet.

Supplicant

A.C. Moudgil

Contents

Publisher’s Note (i-iv)

My Submission (iv-viii)

Supplication (ix)

Spiritual Discourse - 1 1-24

Spiritual Discourse – 2 25-49











[Note : Remaining Nine Discourses continued in Vol. 1 (B)]

Detail of Donors and Expenditure Published

at the end of Vol.-1 (B)

Spiritual Discourse - 1

1


(16-12-1986)

This is a gathering (Satsang) of devotees who sincerely seek to

understand and learn as to what constitutes “inner spiritual life” and

how it can be successfully realized. The purpose of this discourse is

to help a person find that path which leads to his “inner self” and

thereby to know his “inner spirit” or his “soul”. A person has to lead

life in such a manner as enables him to look within his “inner self”

(mind) and to know his “inner spiritual life.” To achieve this objective,

the person has to concentrate and consolidate his mind, which got

scattered, disintegrated and dissipated during the pursuits of

external, worldly gains. In other words, his mind must get unified,

concentrated and consolidated within itself, after withdrawing and

segregating itself from external worldly activities. For example, during

sleep, the mind is fully concentrated and consolidated within itself,

because at that time, the mind is completely free from the

engagements and entanglements of the external world, and this helps

the person to experience unique peace and happiness of sleep. The

person is induced to sleep only after giving up all external, worldly

activities. In sleep, the person experiences so much happiness, that if

awakened, he feels upset and irritated, because his sleep gets

disturbed due to awakening. During sleep, the human mind does not

experience any type of doubts and fears, nor is there any type of

bondages. The human being breathes in an effortless and normal

manner. You might have also noticed that a sleeping person makes

long snores, indicating a worryless mental state. Such a mental state

is achieved when the mind is completely withdrawn from the external

world. During sound sleep, „Gyan Dev‟ (Lord of Consciousness) freely


2

touches, fondles and nourishes each and every cell of the body, and

thereby generates a feeling of freshness and rejuvenation. When all

the mental energy, which got scattered in the external worldly

activities, gets divorced from the external world during sleep and

flows back into the mind, you experience a sublime bliss. In order to

experience a similar sublime bliss during the waking state, you

should fully withdraw your mind from the external world and

consolidate and unify it with yourself or soul or spirit. The type of

bliss you experience while asleep, similar type of bliss you will

experience in your wakeful state. As a result, you will continue

experiencing this ever-lasting and ever-redeeming bliss of your inner

spirit or soul. Which will never be destroyed in this life and even in

the next birth. But to experience this bliss in your wakeful state, you

shall have to fully liberate your mind from the external, mundane

world, i.e. the mind shall have to be fully withdrawn and segregated

from all the network of worldly ties and fetters. This complete

severance of worldly ties is called „Salvation‟ (Mukti). After achieving

such Salvation (Mukti), you will always experience this ever-present,

ever-lasting, spiritual bliss.

Guided by religious faith, or after hearing sermons from others,

or after study of holy scriptures, we should examine our life, what is

its aim or end and wherein lies our well-being. We should examine

and learn from our spiritual life and follow its principles. In order to

adopt these, we should control our senses of seeing, hearing and

taste. We should control our powerful food-habits. We should not feel

jealous of others‟ comforts. We should develop sympathy for others‟

sufferings. We should recognise others‟ merits and also appreciate

them. We should not notice demerits of any one, i.e. we should not


3

pay attention to others‟ demerits and sins. We may ourselves undergo

some suffering, but we should never develop ill-will for anyone in the

world. In this way, all these practices will lead to our self-control.

Due to external selfish motives, man indulges in all types of

strange activities. Whatever he does in excitement, seldom proves of

any worth, i.e. anything done in excitement, cannot be of help to us.

In excitement, man thinks only of harming others. Whether

others are harmed or not, nothing can be said at this juncture. But

this type of thinking will definitely harm him. The thought of harming

others will always generate doubt and fear in his own mind, and as a

result, he will not be able to relish his food, nor will he sleep

peacefully. Under such conditions, even if he loses his ego (self-pride),

he should not bother, and tolerate this insult to his ego. This insult

should not instigate him to adopt wrong actions. The person who

adopts violence, aggression or ill-will, can never be comfortable

(happy) during his life-time, nor can he be comfortable in the other

world after his death.

The life one gets at birth is merely physical existence, which

survives only with the help of outside world. From the moment a

child is born in the world, his life consists of his ties with the external

world, i.e., he is dependent on the external world, because his five

cognitive senses – eyes, ear, nose, tongue (taste) and skin (touch) –

respond only to stimuli from the external world. With the help of

these five senses, he is able to recognise, see and hear everything of

the outside world. The persons and products, which give him comfort,

are accepted, and those others which give them discomfort, are

rejected. This process is termed as „Raga-Dwesha‟ or „Attachment –

Aversion.‟


4

This attachment-aversion reaction is produced by his

interaction with the external world. The Upanishads mention that

when Brahama (The creator in the cosmic trinity) created this

universe, he made all the senses extrovert. This fact, in a way, sets

the limits of the senses, which compelled the individual to look

outwards. That is why everyone knows the persons and products

existing in the outer world, and nothing is known about the inner

world. In other words, the bliss of the soul abiding within the person

remains unknown due to the wraps of ignorance. This happened

because the sense respond to stimuli from the eternal world. And due

to this (phenomenon), we suffer from diseases, afflictions and other

maladies.

Right from childhood, the helpless living being is attached to

the external world. Taking for granted that the external world is the

main source of his comforts and well-being, he is so much lost in the

external world that he is willing to sacrifice even his life-breath to

possess these small, insignificant comforts. This thought never

crosses his mind as to what will be the end-result of this world for

which he is so mad. How much delicious are the comforts of this

world? Is this deliciousness long-lasting or not? And ultimately,

where all this is going to end?

This means that human mind is obscured by the veil of

ignorance („Avidya‟). The living being is so badly trapped in this

ignorance that he even cannot disengage himself from that ignorance,

and willingly continues to obey its dictates. The fetters of ignorance

are so strong that he is afraid of breaking them. And if he breaks

them and gets free from these fetters, he would lose everything. He

spends his life time ruminating about these questions. He worries


5

about his children. He worries about managing his business. Thus

worrying all the time, his scattered and shattered mental energy will

lead to mental diseases and his heart functioning will be affected.

When such diseases attack, under such circumstances, although he

is a very rich person, his limitless money-power will prove useless,

i.e. money will be worthless. The sufferings produced by such

diseases prepare the person to die, rather he even prays for his death.

Thus all the money collected in his life-time fails to give him any

relief. Ultimately, all material wealth quits him even before he quits

his body.

The child has not as yet developed the pull of the external

world. He is not worried about his food during childhood. He lives in

his own make-belief world. He eats whatever he gets. After eating

food, he does not bother as to what is happening in this world or

what is not happening. That is why he plays, lost in his fancy-world

and does not bother much about the world. He does not bother as to

what topics are under discussion in the radio or newspaper, although

adult persons listen to them with full attention. The child little knows

where atom bombs are bursting or what is happening outside. He is

lost in himself. He is happy because so far he is not aware of any type

of doubt or fear. And he does not bother about anything, whether he

is born in a poor family. He does not ever think of any loss or gain

from anything. He does not care whether he gets tasty food or he is

not offered bread and butter. The child may be eating his food only

with salt (achar-chatni), and, at times he does not hesitate to eat only

roti, without any gravy or vegetables. The child is contented because

so far, he has not developed the love of eating delicious food of his

own choice. If he has not developed affection, then take it for granted


6

that he has not developed aversion too. So far, he does not have the

arrogance about eating good food. Similarly, he does not have

delusion that he does not ever get good food to eat. All these fetters

do develop in the grown-up individuals by observing each other.

Occupied with his playful, free existence, the child is sometimes

keenly listening to sounds in his vicinity. He is laughing to see the

rippling water. He is enjoying his play in the cool breeze. He has no

worry whatsoever about the world. The Power of Consciousness is

fancifully indulging in itself in that child. In other words, the Power is

in its ecstatic form in the playful child. That is why that child

experiences some bliss of that Power of Consciousness, which is

experienced in full by the spiritually liberated soul. In the child, that

Power is not much extended and scattered in the outside world. One

enjoys much more when his senses are functioning. One experiences

similar joy in sleep, because the senses have withdrawn from the

external world, and are dormant at that time. So also the life force too

has ceased to run outward.

While asleep, the individual is not conscious that the world has

form and colour too. When ears have stopped functioning, one does

not at all hear outside sounds, although these sounds are meant for

hearing. In the same manner, doubt or fear related to hearing and

seeing, these also cease to exist. Meant for noticing good and bad

external odours, the nose ceases to function. During sleep, the

tongue is of no help. And skin too ceases to respond to touch.

If similar mental state is achieved in meditation and in fully

conscious condition, and the Power of Consciousness (which is

scattered in the outside world) gets closely united, starts flowing

inwards, and gets concentrated inside, such a person experiences


7

bliss in the company of his own soul. After experiencing such a bliss,

the person prays in his mind, “O God ! I may not be deprived of this

bliss i.e. I must never lose it.” This state is termed as „Moksha‟ or

Spiritual Liberation.

To achieve this state of Spiritual Liberation, we should meditate

a little and examine our thoughts. In order to examine our thoughts,

we should study our deeds performed during the day, i.e. „What

deeds have I actually performed, and what deeds should be

performed? In what manner am I living my life in this world? i.e. how

much food do I eat and how much food should be eaten? For how

long I actually sleep and for how long should one sleep? etc. etc. We

should also examine as to how much our habits have affected our

deeds? And are the deeds good or bad, which have been affected by

our habits? If the bad deeds have been performed due to our habits,

then we should resolve that in future, we must avoid those bad

deeds, and under such a situation, remain fully alert and must make

all efforts not to indulge in them.

Only by resolving in our mind, we cannot give up our habitual

way of life. To achieve this, we have to be always heedful and make

great efforts, so that, whenever necessary, we may protect ourselves

from indulging in bad deeds, and instead we should adopt good deeds

at that time. The righteous way of life adopted with full faith, directs

us to examine our life and know as to what direction our life is

taking. With introspection, we shall develop that knowledge which

knows the inner hidden truths. And this very knowledge shall

annihilate our ignorance i.e. ignorance which is depriving us from the

bliss of our soul. With the help of introspection, the individual shall

start noting as to how he actually speaks to others, and how he


8

should speak. He should also recall as to what he has already

spoken. Then he will realize that he had spoken in that bad manner

under a fit of emotions. And how he is afraid that, due to his bad

words, the other person may harm him. He should teach himself that

in future, he will not use bad language. He should start

understanding his „self‟ and learn about good conduct and how to

practise it. He should start recognizing his duties, and accordingly,

teach himself to lead a pious life in this world. If you adopt this path,

then you have already sown the seeds of spiritual life, you have

already started living in your soul. Leading life in this manner, you

would reach the goal of highest spiritual attainment or spiritual

blessedness (Param Dham). With the help of meditation and

knowledge you would also learn that the materialistic modern way of

life leads nowhere and we gain nothing. Ultimately, the worldly

material comforts are not going to last, and only sufferings and

diseases we shall get. And anything in his favour for the next life, that

too becomes uncertain and doubtful.

For all the maladies and sufferings produced by the modern

style of life, whether these are related to the physical, mental or

spiritual spheres, the inner spirit has its own unique method to cure

all of them. No external medicine whatsoever can cure them. There is

only one sure treatment to get rid of these sufferings: by giving up

completely everything, whatsoever it is, and making your mind free

and completely forget that thing, as if you had never known it. When

your mind relinquishes that thing, your mind will start forgetting it

and then your mind will start returning within itself. The suffering

caused by the outward flow of the Life-Force and its getting scattered

in the outside world, that suffering will change into bliss by the


9

concentration of the Life-Force within itself. The root-cause of all

suffering is your mind which is lost in the external world and

scattered in the worldly things (objects). Such a mind will become so

much shattered from within, due to getting lost in the external world

that the body parts of that person will stop functioning properly. As

his mind functions, so his breathing would function in a painful

manner, hurting his body parts. In his mind, he is worried all the

time. Affection-Aversion are burning him from within, and fear and

anxiety are affecting him from outside. Under such circumstances,

his breathing would be suppressed i.e. his breathing would not

function properly.

The body parts need energy which is supplied only when the

breathing is functioning properly. The breathing would be suppressed

due to worry in the mind and full breathing would not take place,

which alone supplies energy to the body. The body will respirate only

that much as an ant respirates. But the body does not function

properly, without breathing at the optimum level. When there are no

worries, fears and fetters, the breathing is perfect. The breathing of a

person who is lost in the worldly affairs, is always suppressed i.e. is

not comfortable. The same person, when asleep, makes big and long

snores, because at that time his Power of Consciousness (Gyan Dev),

gets concentrated within itself after liberating itself from the external

world, and infuses fresh energy freely through each and every cell of

the body. That is why one gets up all fresh and energetic in the

morning. During sleep, after getting rid of the external world, the flow

of the Life-Force gets concentrated within the mind, and the person

experiences the divine bliss. But how long and in what manner will


10

sleep provide freshness and comfort, if due to worries, you are not

able even to sleep? Then what will you do to get some comfort?

Once there was a wealthy person. He was so much concerned

about his wealth, that he lost even his sleep. He spread this news

widely among the people, near and far, that whosoever cures him of

his disease, (sleeplessness) he would give as much wealth to that

person as he would demand. Many doctors started visiting him, but

nobody could cure him. Then somebody advised him that he should

handover the management of all his wealth to others and he should

not at all think about it. If he implements this advice, he would surely

get sleep. he should get free from the worldly affairs and start

worshipping „Harihar‟. In Sanskrit, the word „Harihar‟ connotes: “to

separate yourself completely from the outside world or to shed all

responsibility pertaining to the world or to develop dispassion for the

world”. One should make efforts to attain this dispassion quite early.

If you are able to achieve this state, you would save yourself from the

worldly worries.

First, the wealthy person felt hut by this advice, that the person

was recommending to give up all his wealth which he saved in his

whole life and which was the source of all his comforts. But later he

considered in his mind that if he has to suffer and die like this, then

of what use is all his wealth. In other worlds, all his wealth and

property was only a meaningless burden for him. Thinking on these

lines, wisdom dawned in his mind and he distributed all his property

among his children. They were made trustees of all the property and

he himself became a free bird. Once he became free from his burdens,

he started getting his sleep. His health too was restored and he lived

for a number of years.


11

The above-given illustration has only one message, that sleep

will give some solace to that mind which is not lost in the external

world. But if sleep itself abandons the person, then what would he

do? Under these circumstances, one has to seek shelter in death. And

then such suffering persons would prefer to consume poison and like

to die. To protect ourselves from such sufferings, we should sit in

isolation and consider that the wealth for which we are worried and

got so much lost in the world, how much useful it is for us? When

examined seriously, we shall know that it is not of much use to us.

And finally, it will make us cry in pain and lead to death. Due to his

ignorance, the individual does not realize this truth. In order to

understand the truth about this life, one should meditate. In

meditation, one should recognise the direction which his mind is

following, and recognise the things his mind is wishing to possess. As

his mind is fixing fetters and producing physical ailments, the

individual should first himself recognise those ailments and then

make efforts to uproot them completely. The root-cause of all these

ailments is the cultivation of the ten spiritual fetters (Bandhan)

whose names are as follows:

Viewing (Drishti), Doubts (Sanshey), Undue obligatory

considerations for rules and conduct (Sheelvrat Pramarsh),

Attachment (Raga), Aversion (Dwesha), Love of forms (Roop-raga),

Love of formless sphere (Roop-anuraga), Delusion (Moha), Ego

(Maan), and Ignorance (Avidya).

When you sit down comfortably after your dinner, at that time,

suddenly you develop a feeling in your mind that such and such

person will not let you live in peace. As soon as this feeling about that

person develops in your mind, your mind quickly starts fabricating


12

suspicions. This feeling itself ignites the fire of malice in your mind

against that person. Hence your get angry, your pride/ego stirs up

and you get lost in your fabrications. You are not aware that the

nearby radio is functioning, that there are many other things

operating. You are so completely engrossed in your fabrications that

you don‟t even bother how your sleeping hours are slipping by and

you need to lie down. As a matter of fact, you become so much

helpless that you do not want to sleep. under such circumstances, if

you want your true welfare, you should behave like a saint, become

thoughtful and give up malice. You should repeatedly ask yourself as

to why you consider that person your enemy. It is possible, you too

may have behaved in such a manner that the other person got

offended and retaliated. And then you developed this negative

attitude and malice. Ask yourself why your ego feels so hurt? The

answer to this question is the cure of your malice and negative

attitude. As a matter of fact, there is no other way to free yourself

from the fetters of your wrong attitude and save you from the fire of

malice against the other person.

This solution may not prove effective today, but it will definitely

be effective after some years. To get rid of disease, you have to take

medicines for a quite a long time. In reality, all diseases are caused

by our wrong thinking and worries. The root of all the worries is our

mind, which unnecessarily gets entangled in the world and scatters

its energy in the outside world. In the end, the mind gets completely

exhausted. All our body-parts fail to receive optimum quantity of

oxygen or life-breath, blood circulation becomes defective and all

body-parts start suffocating. When body-parts are suffocated, nobody

knows what type of thoughts are then generated. Doctors do advise


13

every patient not to brood about their disease and worry. But to

implement this advice is not under the control of the patient, because

the man is driven by the forces of nature.

Following such advice is possible only for that person who leads

a spiritual life, practices religious faith, is a bit of a renunciate,

tolerates some sufferings, sits in isolation to awaken the right

knowledge in himself and meditates in solitude and experiences

within himself the truth about life. This is the only way and all this

may be termed as spiritual way of life, which is opposite to the

material way of life. The materialistic life means living life in

accordance with the external world. It may also be termed as

extrovert life. Spiritual life means turning yourself away from the

external world, and living within one‟s self or soul. It may also be

termed as introvert life.

In materialistic life, you continue wandering in the world of five

elements (i.e. earth, water, fire, air and sky). There is no time to think

about the spiritual life, because you are so much engulfed by the

materials of the world. In what manner the results of our deeds

would appear before us in future, we never think and worry about

those results. But we must develop at least some religious faith after

hearing discourses from spiritual saints (seers) or after reading

religious scriptures. After the awakening of true knowledge within us,

we should adopt right conduct and always pursue it. Until now, we

have learnt through right faith. Later, we will start identifying the

spiritual truth through meditation. Meditation will teach us that our

right and wrong deeds definitely upset our minds. In this way, with

meditation, if you start understanding your mind and learn to

practise the right conduct, then definitely you have learnt the


14

spiritual way of life, or you have developed the path of living within

your spirit (Soul). Now you start making full efforts to perform each

deed very consciously and carefully. For example, if you are taking

food, then you know the food you are eating and how much and in

what manner you are eating. You should also know how much food

you should eat. When the individual is conscious about all these

things, he will also become conscious as to what deeds he should

perform and what deeds he should not perform. He will also know

how the actions performed yield their fruit and what evil tendencies

are growing in his mind. For example, when he is taking bath, he will

know how ill feelings are developing against a certain person in his

mind, how his mind is planning to harm someone, how he feels like

eating food while brushing his teeth and also what type of food he

wants to eat, which is not even essential. All these mental

entanglements (futilities) he will start understanding with the help of

meditation.

If you keep yourself mindful all the time and meditate in

solitude, you will know your own mind. In this way, after knowing

your mind with the help of meditation, you will recognise the inner

ignorance (Avidya), which misleads the individual. It will itself start

receding, and the individual too would make efforts to reduce this

ignorance. You will also start knowing many other inner truths, such

as the worldly fetters of affection and aversion (Raga-Dwesha), etc. In

the end, one day you will realize that you were engaged in mutual

bickerings to possess ordinary, futile material objects, which do not

provide lasting comforts. These worldly objects will produce only

sufferings, that is, diseases and disturbances in the body, grief‟s and

worries in the mind and a life full of various types of insults from the


15

external world. Ultimately, in materialistic life, the individual is

bound to get all this at the end.

This type of materialistic knowledge will attract your intellect

from all the directions of the world, and you will remain completely

absorbed (enticed) in it for long hours. As mentioned above, when

your thoughts get fully developed on those lines, then the knowledge

concerning existence (life) of all the living beings of the world, will also

develop in your intellect. In such a state of mind you will realize that

a common thread of life is running in the whole world (existence)

which is managed by elements of nature, such as Affection –

Aversion, etc. If you are liberated from them after realizing their

futility, then you will experience the eternal, divine bliss within

yourself. This spiritual knowledge provides limitless divine, eternal

bliss. Such a devotee will now realize in his mind that he has

achieved what he wanted, and the divine bliss that he wished for, he

has himself experienced. Whatever may happen, he is not going to

give up this divine bliss in his whole life-span. After experiencing this

diving knowledge and bliss, the worship of God, incarnated in the

form of life, will further intensify. It is so, because earlier the worship

was undertaken due to religious faith and duty and now it is

undertaken with some awakening of diving knowledge. With diving

knowledge, the worship has not become more enjoyable, comfortable

and practical. The individual who has experienced diving bliss, will

see God in the form of life in the whole universe. In the external

world, for social interaction, we have other individuals in the form of

friends, relatives, family members and other human beings. All these

social relationships are OK in themselves. But in reality, it is one and

the same Supreme Consciousness present in all living beings, in the


16

form of Diving Bliss, inside the physical bodies. When one attains this

Bliss, he becomes the Blessed one.

The materialistic life has led to many different views. Amid all

these views, only all-pervading Cosmological Consciousness (God :

organized whole) appears in different forms. On removing all these

views, one will experience that there is only one Consciousness. In

other words, when you admit and accept that the same

Consciousness exists among one and all, then you will experience

that Consciousness more closely in your meditation. In such a

situation, the person, who has experienced the truth, seeing God

(organised whole) face-to-face and everywhere, will declare : “Only He

exists everywhere.” In this world, the terms „me‟ and „you‟ (mine and

thine) are nothing but a network of misleading falsehoods.

Consciousness is one and the same everywhere. There is nothing else

left to be said or discussed any more. When there is nothing more to

discuss, that person, with his peaceful mental state and poised

within himself, is submerged in his divine bliss. He desires for

nothing else. Millions and billions of years may lapse in this state of

divine bliss, his mind can never feel fed-up with his inner knowledge

of Diving Bliss. All the worldly and external comforts and pleasures

are temporary and short-lived. For example, the comfort of sleep.

Sleep comes for 4 to 6 hours and later on, mind never wants to sleep.

thus the comfort of sleep is for a short period. When you wake up,

then the insatiable worldly passion Trishna says : „It is time to take

tea. And afterwards, a certain worldly job has to be done.‟ Now the

mind, having insatiable worldly passion, does not want to sleep,

because the mind is entangled in the outer materialistic world. Once

insatiable worldly passions become active, mind does not want to go


17

to sleep. It runs after comforts and pleasures in the external world.

All the external comforts and pleasures are bound with certain

conditions and they are not going to last forever. Your inner bliss is

not controlled by any conditions from outside. That inner bliss is

never going to get exhausted. It has saturated your mind so

completely that you do not even bother for any other object. Then you

will realize that you have known what is worth knowing, that you

have achieved what is worth achieving. There is nothing to struggle

for, to know, and to possess.

Every individual should himself understand these two modes of

living : the spiritual mode and the materialistic mode. All of us are

pursuing the materialistic mode of living which always culminates in

sufferings. The end–result of this materialistic mode of living is that

one day ears will become deaf (i.e. one loses the power of hearing), the

eyes will become blind (i.e. one loses the power of seeing), the mind

will always be suffering, the respiration will be suffocated and all

these factors will lead to a variety of cardiac, gastro-intestinal and

mental ailments. The one patent cure of all these ailments is: wean

the mind from all the materialistic fetters (objects) of the outside

world and thereby prevent the occurrence of all the ailments. In the

first place, we should not let any type of disease occur in the body,

rather than to seek its cure. In such a situation, one simple cure is

that we should gather our scattered mind, which is presently turned

outwards and yearning for the external material objects. And then

turn it inwards, so that our Life-Force may rejuvenate our body-

organs to function properly. That is why it is suggested that every

person, between the age-range of 25-40 years, should become careful

and responsible.


18

That person is very lucky who, with the maturity of his intellect,

i.e. during the age-range of 18-25 years, starts becoming careful and

responsible. If this suggestion is not followed, the it must be followed

strictly up to the age of 40 years.

All the bad habits can easily be eradicated before reaching the

age of 40. But after 40 years, all remaining bad habits become so

powerful that even if you want to get rid of them, the mind will react.

Even the body will suffer much, while eradicating them. If you can

tolerate the physical suffering, you will be able to eradicate them. But

if you cannot tolerate physical suffering, no bad habit can be

rectified. Your mind will then make lame excuses, such as “what

should I do? I cannot do anything”. Then you will only say that your

mind suffers in quitting a habit and it wishes to avoid that suffering

by gratifying that habit.

It is true that before reaching the age of forty years, you can get

rid of the habit of eating specific foods. To keep the body healthy, you

do need nutritious foods. But you have acquired the habit of eating

many other types of foods in addition, which you started eating due

to your bad company, even such foods which you had never thought

of eating. But foods eaten due to habit are never beneficial for you.

Such foods produce disturbances and diseases in the body and

anxiety and depression in the mind. Due to anxiety and depression,

your life is always in a chaos. In such a situation, if efforts are made

to get rid of those bad habits before reaching the age of forty years,

then you will not face much sufferings, because you posses both the

strength and the will of the youthful age to achieve anything and

these will enable you to eradicate bad habits. At times, you may again

feel the urge to indulge in those bad habits. But both body and mind


19

have enough strength to control the urge. Further it is not proper to

suddenly and forcibly eradicate those habits, because these powerful

habits can disturb your mind and your behavior with others in

society can become improper.

If you desire to get rid of bad habits, start making efforts at a

slow pace. It will not be difficult and you will easily achieve your

objective. Once the bad habits are eradicated, the mind too will get

interested to associate with the right objects. But to give up the

habitual comforts, you will have to make efforts to tolerate this

deprivation. Thus the thinking process, which had earlier gone astray

in the pursuit of outer, materialistic world, will restart. When your

mind is awakened, you will become conscious of your true self. Once

you develop meditation, you will start ignoring the products and

persons of the outside world. In other words, if you possess them, it

is alright; and if you do not possess them, even then it is OK. A

person who practises meditation, he does not miss them. Meditation

will indicate how you have discovered the right path to keep your

mind engaged. Your mind cannot turn inwards as long as you do not

develop right knowledge. Without the right knowledge, the individual

feels himself like a stone. But at times, your mind is misled. It

becomes busy in recognising persons and knowing objects of the

outside world, and starts developing emotional ties with them. All

these emotional ties, such as affection, aversion, lust and anger etc.,

are the product of strayed mind, which has scattered itself in the

outside world. Your life which is pre-occupied with the outside world,

does not need any driving force. Your life starts functioning

automatically with the force of its habits, nature and tendencies. As

age advances, habit-driven actions, controlled by past experiences


20

become so powerful that these actions cannot be altered. And as and

when you alter them, they will cause diseases in your body. Further,

your mind will be in constant depression, and you will look like a

lunatic. When you make right efforts to stop the wrong way of life,

your mind, conditioned by your old habits, starts threatening and

revolting.

If you have boldly started to adopt the right path and you have

become alert before the age of forty years and started moving on the

noble and religious way of life, it would be the best for you. As a

matter of fact, whenever the individual starts leading the religious

life, it is most welcome and auspicious i.e. pursuing the religious

path is always beneficial for the individual. But it is considered most

beneficial, when you become conscious of adopting this path before

the age of forty years, because till then the habits do not become so

strong. If an individual on his death-bed i.e. in his old age becomes

conscious of adopting spiritual life and religious wisdom dawns on

him due to understanding the correct path, this too is his great

achievement. When his discerning power, which was earlier scattered

in the outside worldly objects, retreats inwards and starts flowing in

his mind, and his life-breath too starts flowing in his body i.e.

concentrates within, then you will start experiencing eternal bliss. In

this situation, that devotee may get entry into any spiritual world,

such a sphere of Heaven (Swarg Loka), sphere of Cosmological

Consciousness (Brahm Loka) or any other ever-blessed sphere of

non-duality (Vishnu Loka). But such a devotee will never go the

spheres of devolution and degeneration (Lower Loka).

If the individual‟s mind is not weaned from the outside world, if

it is always overpowered by worries, if he seeks comforts in the


21

worldly products and persons and his mind is attracted towards them

i.e. he dreams about the worldly comforts and the worldly comforts

continue attracting his mind – all this is called attachment or

affection. This mental state is termed as spiritual fetter of attachment

(Raga Bandhan). Whosoever disturbs the worldly comforts, and

evokes envy, jealousy and anger, the mind starts planning to get rid

of such products and persons. It is called malice or aversion. This

mental state is termed as the worldly fetter of malice (Dwesha

Bandhan). When these material comforts get exhausted, the mind

starts to ruminate about them. The individual gets his identity

(status) due to these worldly comforts. When the individual is denied

these worldly comforts, his mind broods about them – all these

factors constitute the network of worldly fetters called Attachment,

Aversion, Pride, Bewilderment and Suspicion etc. This network of

fetters never lets the individual become free from them and enjoy

inner peace and spiritual bliss. After understanding these fetters, if

you have disengaged your mind from them, then you will be blessed

with the inward-flowing spiritual knowledge, which you will

experience all the time. The individual who has achieved this mental

status, will be known as the person whom Goddess Durga or God

Himself has blessed. If the mind has not developed concentration, it

is because the mind still continues flowing outward like the electric

current. Just as electricity flows hundreds of thousands of miles

within a second just by switching on, so is the case with the velocity

of mind. The mind may just think of somebody, and at once it

reaches there, even if that person is present in Kolkata or in a foreign

land. When you start collecting that mental energy, at that time the

mind will start diversifying it to many other channels. You should not


22

attend to these new channels, but make efforts to bring your mind

back to the place where it was earlier.

There is only one way to concentrate your mind : cut the roots

of the insatiable worldly passions which attract you towards the

worldly comforts. Make your mind aware by loudly, repeatedly telling

it that in reality worldly comforts are nothing, and these few, small

comforts which you see, all of them end in sufferings. You will learn

that it is futile even to think about these worldly comforts because

they will not provide you anything. These worldly comforts are time-

and-place bound. This truth you will realize with your right

knowledge, that there is no use of possessing these worldly comforts.

This type of thought in itself is the realisation of right knowledge. All

these thoughts are inner truths and help to realise the inner right

knowledge and we have to worship them. Right knowledge alone is

the truth-bearing knowledge i.e. that knowledge which we acquire

after repeated examinations of a topic, is the essence; on in other

words, that hidden knowledge which we cannot get with our worldly

means, but which dawns in our intellect with the help of deep

meditation.

By worshipping these inner truths, when your mind gets

liberated from the external world (i.e. gets disengaged) you will

experience the inner bliss. This inner bliss will ultimately lead you to

such a stage when you need not understand „you and me‟ (mine and

thine). You will also realise that just as your ego is meaningless,

similarly, the ego of other persons too is meaningless. There is only

one Consciousness-in-General (Paramatama) which is pervading and

controlling all the physical bodies. If you realise this Consciousness


23

and you are also experiencing its complete and everlasting bliss, then

this is the ultimate destination of spiritual life.

I started this discourse by saying that all are living the

materialistic life. Because you are leading this materialistic life, you

are also experiencing its problems and entanglements. Because of

these problems and entanglements, countless physical diseases and

disturbances and endless mental griefs and worries (for which there

is no remedy), continue occurring. Our life, lost in these problems,

reaches the end of its existence, without experiencing the supreme

eternal bliss. The spiritual life is just the opposite of all this visible

worldly (materialistic) life. The goal of spiritual life is to liberate the

mind from all the entanglements of the world i.e. to free the mind

from all the fetters and guide our soul to that stage where it

constantly experiences its inner bliss. You will also realise that the

inner bliss is permanent and ever-lasting. It is not dependent on

anything external and worldly. No money is required to get this inner

bliss. Only your personal effort is needed to experience this inner

bliss. You quietly pursue this spiritual life and there is no need to tell

or exhibit to anybody how you lead your spiritual life. But you have to

lead your life by observing certain rules, which are mentioned in our

religious scriptures and practised by our great spiritual gurus (seers).

This is what constitutes spiritual life.

You have to make sustained efforts to adopt and practise the

spiritual life from the time you have matured. You should awaken

your intellect within you and make efforts to understand your inner

truths. In this manner, you should improve your life. That is how

spiritual life is initiated.


24

Where this spiritual life culminates, that place is called the

highest spiritual attainment or the ever-blessed goal (Param Dham or

Summum Bonum). In other words, the ultimate goal of this life is to

achieve the supreme eternal bliss, which never gets exhausted. Just

opposed to this is the materialistic life which finally ends only in

struggles and sufferings. It is up to you whether you go on living the

materialistic life or you adopt and lead the spiritual life. This is the

essence of this „discourse‟.


25


(17-12-1986)

Yesterday, we talked about spiritual life. The child gets

materialistic life right since birth. All living beings exist within the

confines of the five elements, i.e. earth, water, fire, air and sky.

Whatever existence, is dependent on these five basic elements, is

called materialistic life. Human mind gets so much involved in the

materialistic life (i.e. it gets so much astray (scattered) in the external

world) that it stops enjoying materialistic pleasures in the end.

Instead, it gets only sufferings. Its energy gets so much scattered in

the external world that it produces mental grief and sufferings and

physical disturbances and diseases at the end. In the beginning,

materialistic life appears to produce pleasures, but finally, everything

ends in suffering. When the body suffers from disease, or when it gets

sick, the sick person may have limitless wealth, but it is of no help to

him, i.e. it proves useless for his life.

Two types of waves arise in the human mind on having the

company of a living being or on receiving some object. One is the

pleasant wave of happiness, which the sages call the feeling of

pleasure or positive sensibility. The other is the unpleasant wave of

pain, which brings sufferings in its wake or which is negative

sensibility. In Sanskrit, the word „Dukh‟ is a compound of two words

i.e. Du + Kh. Du mean „bad situation‟ and Kh means „senses‟. Thus,

the word Dukh means that senses are in a bad / unpleasant

situation. Similarly, the word „Sukh‟ is a compound word of two

words, i.e. Su + Kh. Su means „pleasant‟ and Kh „senses‟. Thus, the


26

Sukh means that senses are in a pleasant state, which means

pleasure.

The above-mentioned two sensibilities (the feeling of pleasure

and the feeling of suffering) are the two fetters (Bandhan), which bind

the human being and all other living beings. The mind starts liking

the object which attracts it. This liking has been termed as

attachment (Raga). This attachment, which enslaves the individual,

has been called as „fetter of attachment‟. The mind does not like

certain objects which are painful in experience. Those objects become

undesirable and the mind develops aversion (Dwesha) for them. The

feeling of aversion too has been called as „fetter of aversion (Dwesha

Bandhan)‟. We repeatedly make efforts to possess those objects for

which we have developed liking and love (Raga Bandhan) because

these objects are expected to give us pleasure. In the same manner,

mind shows anger and avoids those objects for which it has

developed aversion (Dwesha Bandhan). As a matter of fact, the

feelings of attachment and aversion are meaningless, futile reactions

in this world and all this causes disaster in the world. Anger destroys

the intellect of a person. He becomes so completely careless in this

state that he does not know how to behave properly. In this state of

confusion, whatever he does, ultimately leads to suffering. The

suffering person brings sufferings for others by his behavior. The

individual is not powerful enough in himself to control all external

influences and adjust them to his liking. Suppose it is extreme winter

or extreme summer, under such a condition, the mind gets

perturbed, as nobody can control winter or summer season. One has

to bear or adjust to them.


27

These two types of feelings of pleasure and suffering are internal

spiritual experiences. The preserved impressions of these two types of

experiences go on directing the individual in a subtle way. All this is a

hidden, internal drama. This hidden drama is a camouflage of

Ignorance (Avidya). Because of Avidya, the individual fails to generate

the real knowledge. Right from birth, every living being is over-

shadowed by the confabulations and confusions created by Avidya.

Until this Avidya is removed, real knowledge cannot sprout within the

human being, and the individual cannot be emancipated from the

fetters of Ignorance (Avidya). To know and understand the truth of an

object is called right knowledge. We fail to understand the inner

reality of an object because of this Ignorance. Everyone is affected by

the confabulations and confusions created by Ignorance is the

inherent companion of all living beings, right from the pre-historic

times when this world came into existence.

The child experiences and understands as to what is good or

what is bad and continues growing in the world by developing these

two qualities. Slowly, these two qualities develop roots in his mind,

and become his second nature (i.e. develop into habit) and do not let

the individual behave in any other different manner. The habit gains

a permanent foot-hold in the living being and as a result, the living-

being becomes a slave of habits. He has not personal freedom. He

continues behaving as per the diktats of his habits.

God has granted only to man the faculty of intellect (Budhi) to

gain and develop right knowledge. Only this Intellect can annihilate

Ignorance. No other living being has been granted Intellect. Only man

can think, analyse and understand as to what is ultimately good for

him. Man should not perform actions under the influence of habits to


28

acquire and enjoy some petty, trivial, personal gains, which may later

prove harmful for his well-being. Ultimately, every individual has to

comprehend all the inner truths of his own being with the help of his

intellect. The camouflage which is hiding all these inner truths, is in

the form of Ignorance. Developing your intellectual power or the

power of discretion and by comprehending with these inner truths,

you have to destroy this veil of Ignorance.

Sometimes, the good and bad habits instigate a man to perform

certain actions, and the outcome of these actions is realised later. For

example, if a man learns that a certain food is harmful during a

certain disease, he will surly remember to give up that food during

the disease (even though that food is good, delicious and of his liking)

in order to protect himself from the said disease. Only when he

courageously and determinedly gives up the said delicious food, he

will be able to protect himself from the said disease. Suppose

someone informs you that you are suffering from diabetes, and eating

of sugar is injurious for you. Even after learning about your disease,

you may not determinedly give up eating sugar. Knowing fully well

that sugar is not good for your health, consumption of sugar may

persist as matter of habit and you may continue eating sugar. Under

such circumstances, when the enjoyable habit of eating sugar has

tempted you to eat sugar, you will have to bear the ill-effects of eating

sugar. In the same manner, out of his pride and prestige, a person

may use such a bad language for others as he should not use. This

bad language turns others into his enemies. Then he develops fear

and worry that others may not harm him. Under such circumstances,

he will not have comfortable sleep at night and he will continue


29

thinking and worrying about his enemy. In this state of bondage, he

fails to understand anything about his soul and God.

God is present within every individual, whether he knows it or

not, God, in the form of Divine Consciousness, is managing and

controlling the life of every individual. It is God who is managing all

the bodily functions, i.e. all the bodily functions inside animals,

birds, trees, plants and all the human beings, are managed by God. It

is God who is managing even during sleep the process of inhaling and

exhaling. It is God who is digesting food within us.

This divine power of Consciousness-in-General (Paramatama)

itself is present universally in all of us. Although it is universally

present, it is completely invisible and hidden and nobody experiences

its presence. Its realisation is blissful. This power of Diving

Consciousness does not possess any such attributes as lust, anger,

thine-and-mine, etc. The bickering of thine-and-mine exist where

worldly social ties (such as father, son, relative, beloved, friend and

foe) exist. In other words, the bickering of thine-and-mine exist,

where we are mutually bound by our social relationships in this

selfish world. Further, these worldly bickerings exist only as long as

the individual does not disengage himself from this external world.

When one dies, everything related with his life, dies. But after having

born again somewhere else, the life-stream again creates a net-work

of social relationships. This world is in existence since times

immemorial, i.e. since countless crores of years, and it has been

dissolved/disappeared since that time. Similarly, the power of Divine

Consciousness, abiding in this world, is never going to

dissolve/disappear. But if is definitely true that the power of Diving

Consciousness in the form of Sanskaras or impressions accompanies


30

the individual in the most subtle, invisible form at the time of birth

and it leaves this world in the same subtle, invisible form when he

dies. Divine Consciousness is eternal and immortal. Even though the

physical body perishes, the Divine Consciousness persists and is

permanent. The individual remains quite unaware of this power of

Divine Consciousness throughout his life. This unawareness, as a

matter of fact, is the grand camouflage created by our Ignorance

(Avidya).

This failure to realise the power of Divine Consciousness is

called Ignorance. As a matter of fact, this Ignorance conceals this

Divine Power. This Divine Power transforms and expresses itself in

the form of human knowledge. Man recognises everything of the

external world, such as parents, relatives, friends, foes, plants,

animals, birds, etc. But he does not know that one and the same

common Life-Force (elan vital) is present in all living beings. It is

managing and controlling their breathing process. Man should

himself experience the existence of this Omni-present Life-Force

within himself. It acts as the refreshing and rejuvenating force during

his sleeping state, but man does not experience it during his wakeful

state, because, during the waking state, all his time and energy are

spent in engagements and interactions of the outer world. He remains

ignorant of his inner world. All the inner secrets and inner truths

remain concealed under the veil of Ignorance. Such a man does not

even know as to what is happening in his inner world and what

transformations and transactions are taking place within him, or who

is managing and controlling all the functions within his body.

The main reason for this ignorance, is that right from

childhood, man is pre-occupied with the persons and products of the


31

external world. He knows only this much that a certain person is

black or white in complexion or a certain product gives him comfort

or suffering. He regards himself a scholar by knowing the persons

and products of the external world, but in reality, this scholarship

only increases his level of ignorance.

Man should devote some time and make some effort to remove

and destroy his ignorance. Then he will realise that his mind is all the

time pre-occupied with outside, external worldly affairs. But all his

pre-occupations and worldly external activities lead to griefs,

sufferings, diseases and disorders in the end. Finally all his griefs,

sufferings etc. make him so much fed up and sick of his painful

condition that he starts praying and soliciting for his death, because

he is not able to bear this painful life. In order to protect himself from

all these sufferings and sickness, there is only one fool-proof and

sure medicine : man should consolidate and concentrate his mental

powers inside, within himself, which are presently scattered outside

in the external worldly pursuits; in other words, the Divine Power of

Consciousness should be weaned from the worldly, materialistic

activities and instead, it should be concentrated in itself. When this

Diving Power of Consciousness is consolidated and concentrated

within you, it will automatically manifest itself and force you to

experience and recognise as to what it truly is. Then you will know as

to who is actually managing and controlling all the functions of this

body and who is actually facilitating and performing inhaling and

exhaling of the breathing process. In other words, all the bodily

functions, are managed and controlled by the universal Divine Power

(elan vital) which we do not understand. As this Divine Power,

through its divine dynamism, exhibits itself every moment through its


32

ever-new revelations, similarly, this Diving Power of Consciousness

exhibits itself in new creations, productions, and reproductions. This

permanent process of generation and regeneration continues. Thus

the Divine Power of Consciousness is manifesting itself in the form of

life-force inside all the living beings. This faculty of knowing

(cognition) is, in reality, the Diving Power of Consciousness which is

also called God (who is omnipresent, omniscient, eternal and all-

pervading). Its divine bliss is expressed in the form of sensation and

experience. This Divine Power of Consciousness never dies; in other

words, it never ends. The seeker will himself experience all this (God

in the form of Divine Power of Consciousness).

With the help of meditation, we have to divert our mind from

the pre-occupations of the external world and direct it to consolidate

and concentrate within itself. Thus the mind will be able to

understand and realise (actualize) the Divine Power of Consciousness

(or Consciousness-in-General). We are not aware of our breathing

process during sleep, so also we should not be aware of our breathing

process during meditation. We should silently sit down, with all our

senses, mind and intellect completely inactive and dormant and fully

consolidated and concentrated within themselves. This spiritual state

is called the blissful state of God-realisation. It is actually possible to

achieve and experience this blissful state. This blissful state does not

require any visual, auditory or visionary experiences. This blissful

state in itself is the state of spiritual liberation. This blissful state is

the ultimate purpose and goal (Summum bonum) of our existence.

The attainment of this blissful state eliminates all types of griefs,

sufferings, diseases and disorders. All the diseases and disorders are

the products of this external world. When the mind is drowned in


33

worldly worries and pre-occupations, breathing itself gets suffocated

and suppressed, i.e. breathing itself is incomplete. When the

breathing is incomplete, then neither the body-parts nor the heart

will be able to function properly. When the breathing itself is

incomplete, how can the body function properly and normally. In

other worlds when breathing is abnormal, the body-parts too will

function in abnormal manner, thereby the body-parts will not have

proper growth and development. Such a situation becomes the root-

cause of all the various types of physical diseases and disorders.

There is only one formula to get rid of all types of diseases and

disorders : Keep your mind peaceful, poised and undisturbed.

Develop only that much interest in the external world as is essential

to satisfy your bodily needs. If you have a family and children, they

you have to take care of their up-bringing as per the demands of the

time and their age. The demands of the up-bringing should be limited

to meet the well-being and welfare of the children. We should not

entertain hopes that these children will satisfy our personal needs

and ensure our comforts. In other words, the up-bringing of children

should be undertaken without any selfish motive. If you opt to ensure

many external comforts, you are going to get sufferings in equal

numbers. Bhartri Hari Ji opined: “Bhogay Rog Bhayam”, i.e. as much

you indulge in sensuous pleasures, so much fear you are cultivating

about getting diseases and disturbances. The tendency to seek and

indulge in sensuous pleasures is in itself an open invitation to

sufferings and diseases. When you know that the end-result of

indulgence in sensuous pleasures is nothing but diseases and

discomforts, then it is not wise to let your mind hanker after them. If

you disengage the energy which you have employed in the external


34

worldly pursuits and turn it inwards and consolidate and concentrate

it within, it will definitely contribute to the emancipation (Mukti) of

the individual. If this energy is disengaged from the external world, it

will consolidate and concentrate inside, within itself, where God is

residing. At that place, it is all divine bliss and nothing else. In other

words, there is no worldly suffering at that place.

The gist of this talk is that the whole of external, materialistic

life ultimately ends in futility. This futility begins with our insatiable

worldly passions (Trishna). The insatiable worldly passion is such an

inner fire which is consuming the individual all the time. For

example, when an object has given some comfort once, the very

memory of that object will act like electric current. The insatiable

worldly passion will act like the electric current and strongly push the

mind outwards to possess that object. The mind will want to possess

that object time and again. It will yearn for that object all the time,

although the object may provide very little comfort. It happens

because the insatiable worldly passion to possess the object is

pushing the mind towards that object. The mind is all the time pre-

occupied with the thought of that object. This insatiable worldly

passion to possess that object, keeps the mind pre-occupied. This

condition of the individual upsets his breathing process. The

breathing does take place, but it is not fully functioning. The mind

gets strongly attached with that object. Similarly, if an object has

proven undesirable and uncomfortable, the mind remains pre-

occupied all the time to somehow avoid and destroy that object. The

fire of anger, hate, fear and worry etc. starts smouldering within the

mind. The breathing of the person with such a disturbed mental state

becomes abnormal. In this way, the individual remains smouldering


35

with the insatiable worldly passions of attachment and aversion

(Raga & Dwesha) and force the individual to behave in abnormal

manner.

If the individual is able to examine his inner thoughts himself,

this also amounts to right-knowledge. He will himself clearly perceive

that during his pre-occupations with certain objects, he did not have

enough time to breathe properly. The mind was so much pre-

occupied that he was not having full, complete breath. This type of

incomplete breathing is not good for health. As soon as you start

meditating about this truth, you will start breathing fully and

normally. Your worry will also reduce a little, because your mind is a

bit free from the conflict of attachment-aversion duality, and this

freedom from the conflicts of duality will bring some comfort to the

mind. If you fail to notice the conflict of attachment-aversion duality

(which is the by-product of insatiable worldly passions) and the

divine knowledge has not dawned within your mind, your breathing

process surely will function in a disturbed, abnormal manner. If the

individual goes to sleep during this disturbed, abnormal and anxious

mental state, he will visualize and experience his painful conscious

life; in other words, he will have horrifying, painful dreams.

Death is sleep, but of a longer duration. After death, just like in

dream, the individual will see some new world, i.e. he will see very

clearly all the deeds of his present life as well as the deeds of his

previous lives which were preserved in the form of impressions

(sanskars). He does not know as to what he will see after his death. If

the individual dies while harbouring ill-will and hatred for others,

then in his next life, he is likely to see himself being tortured by his


36

enemies. In such a situation, he will find himself facing great

problems and conflicts and he will also witness his own torture.

Attachment is a very strong fetter (Bandhan) and this

attachment does not benefit the individual either. If the individual

dies while ruminating about his attachments, then it cannot be

predicted as to what he will witness after his death. After rebirth, he

may acquire the life and physique of those insects and/or animals

whom we regard as very lustful and sensuous in this world. As a

matter of fact, this is how the next life (yoni) is determined. All of us

are possessing God‟s power of creation, i.e. we get the same type of

life created for us in the next birth, as we wished for us in the

innermost core of our mind. It is a great mystery : whatever we

resolved and wished with our truest, purest and sincerest heart, this

power creates for us exactly the same or similar life and world as we

had resolved and wished. After his death the individual will continue

to be pre-occupied with problems and fetters in the next world just as

he is beset with in his present life.

If you want that after getting freedom from all the worldly

fetters, you may merge in God for ever, and share his divine bliss

permanently, then you must understand all the inner truths within

yourself. You shall have to know as to how your life is managed by

the forces of personal nature (such as lust, anger, attachment and

aversion etc.) and how their waves and vibrations spread within you.

All these natural forces get settled within the individual and inspire

him to do something outside in the external world, i.e. his habitual

forces push him outwards and finally bring him sufferings. That is

why, after understanding within yourself all the inner truths, you

should make efforts to free yourself from worldly clutches. Also you


37

should breathe in the proper manner, so that the body should remain

healthy. In order to sever all the fetters, you must understand the

futility of your entanglements outside in the external world and the

emancipate your mind from these fetters. The emancipation of your

mind from these fetters is called worship of „Harihar‟. „Harihar‟ means

to „conquer mind, to withdraw inwards, to prevent or postpone‟. In

other words, you have to emancipate yourself from all the fetters,

such as attachment and aversion and their evil forces of lust and

anger, etc. After emancipating yourself, you have to practice the

correct way of inhaling and exhaling. As you withdraw yourself from

the network of fetters, your mind will experience and enjoy a unique

freedom. Thus emancipated, if you are not able to achieve the

ultimate goal of spiritual deliverance (Mukti), i.e. if you die during the

pursuit of this religious path, you will surely get a much superior

spiritual status at your rebirth (yoni).

Human mind is in the habit of running outside towards the

external, material world. All the time human mind is demanding : „I

need this object‟ or „I need that thing‟ or „That person is not desirable‟.

All these are false, meaningless thoughts, related with the external

world. Further, human mind is quite active and alert at the time of

brooding over these thoughts. As a matter of fact, mind studies the

external world with keen and sustained interest. But if you ponder

carefully, you will find that running after the external, material world

is useless and futile, as it leads to many sufferings in the end. You

should make sincere effort to wean your mind from the external

world. At that time, your mind will either start escaping into the

external world under some pretence or it will adopt the excuse of

sleeping. It is not good to sleep at that time. The individual should


38

make a little effort to avoid that false sleep, because that sleep is not

of very good quality. Those who are in the habit of enjoying deep,

peaceful sleep, will try to control and avoid that false, superficial

sleep. as long as the mind wants to escape into the external, material

world, the individual should divert his mind by repeated, loud

suggestions and with the help of enlightened thoughts. The individual

should also conquer the urge to escape into false sleep. In other

words, when the individual tries to shatter the fetters, his mind then

tries to escape into fake sleep, which becomes a hurdle in the path of

his spiritual salvation.

When the mind blindly runs after the material world and when

the mind seeks the shelter of sleep after getting tired of the external,

material world – both these conditions represent the insatiable,

worldly passions (Trishna). One is called „Bhav Trishna‟, i.e. the

passions pushing the mind towards the external world; and the

second is called „Vibhav Trishna‟, i.e. the irresistible urge to

withdraw, retire and sleep after getting completely exhausted from

worldly pursuits. In other worlds, „Bhav Trishna‟ means „being

something‟ in the world or „becoming something‟ in the world, (i.e. to

be the friend or foe of somebody or to become a benefactor for

someone). Thus „being‟ and „becoming‟ is insatiable worldly passion,

which is termed as „Bhav Trishna‟ (strong and passionate attachment

with the world) or „Bhav Sagar‟ (the ocean of strong and passionate

attachments). When the mind returns to itself after getting exhausted

and tired from the world, it gets lethargic and lazy and wants to retire

and withdraw. Thus attachment and aversion („Raga‟ and „Dwesha‟) is

a fetter. After withdrawing from the world, the mind seeks shelter in

sleep. Even in the sleeping state, it is the same worldly mind, now


39

hiding itself in sleep. The worldly mind has not died, and after coming

out of sleep and waking up, the worldly mind pushes the individual

back into the external world. That is why it is desirable to conquer

that sleep which is induced by the insatiable worldly passion. After

fighting with the desire to sleep for some time, the mind wakes up,

becomes active and alert. Right knowledge dawns only in the

awakened mind. Then you will start comprehending the truth. You

will realise that the blind pursuit of persons and products of the

external world and escaping into sleep after withdrawing from the

external world, all these are useless and futile efforts and donot lead

to the achievement of your ultimate goal (summum bonum). Your

mind will be inspired by the knowledge of the truth, that it is much

better to withdraw from the external world. So far, all your knowledge

related to the external world acquired since childhood and was gained

through the net-work of the insatiable worldly passions, such as

attachment and aversion. Now the inner spiritual knowledge will

establish that it would be as much beneficial for us, as much we

protect ourselves from material knowledge gained since childhood. By

educating your mind in this manner and inspiring it to pursue the

right path, if you then ponder, you will find that the sleep blessed by

God is the best sleep. That sleep is the purest peaceful sleep when

the mind wakes up rejuvenated after withdrawing from the external

world, and the mind starts experiencing the divine bliss. If you fall

asleep under these conditions, then it will be regarded as the best

sleep. True sleep one gets during the pursuit of God-realisation.

After understanding all the rules, and norms of spiritual life,

you have to mould your life accordingly. After leading your life in the

right direction, you have to develop right knowledge. Always


40

remember that the mind is affected by various forces which pull the

individual in various directions. The state to which these forces lead

the mind, that state in the world is not beneficial for us. The body

gets disturbed in that state. We develop diseases and disorders. The

mind develops griefs and pains. We spend all our life in crying and

lamenting because of the griefs and pains. We shall start

understanding all these facts when our mind looks within, when we

conquer sleep, when we subjugate the false, insatiable worldly

passions, and when we do not have any attraction and pull for the

external world. In fact, all this amounts to spiritual knowledge. Just

as someone possesses the external worldly knowledge and knows

various subjects, similarly, after weaning our mind from the external,

materialistic world, and after subjugating our sleep, the realisation

and comprehension of our inner truths starts, which is called

spiritual knowledge.

The awakened mind which is no more sleeping, will be able to

comprehend all the actions and reactions of the insatiable worldly

passions. The insatiable worldly passion repeatedly reminds the mind

about the object that kindles the desire to possess it and keeps the

mind running after that object. It forces the mind to adopt all fair and

foul means, till it possesses the object. In other words, all the efforts

to possess the object actually dump the individual into the pit of

sufferings. All this is still a mystery for the human being who is

wandering in the world. He does not as yet know that the insatiable

worldly passion of the mind to engage itself in the world, is going to

inflict a lot of pain and suffering in the end. That is why the

insatiable worldly passions are not welcome and desirable. These

insatiable worldly passions may give you some comfort, but the pain


41

you get at the end, is unbearable and too much. As you understand

all these inner truths, the Ignorance residing within you will cease to

exist along with the end of the insatiable worldly passions. All this

amounts to divine knowledge or spiritual education. As soon as we

realize the divine knowledge within us, the Ignorance is destroyed.

After getting rid of the Ignorance, the mind feels emancipated and

unburdened. Then it experiences and enjoys the divine bliss of God.

We have to understand in depth all the spiritual subjects and then

divert our mind to such an extent that finally all external fetters of

attachment and aversion cease to exist and mind achieves complete

freedom from the fetters. Only that mind which is consolidated and

concentrated within itself, will be able to experience God, i.e. such a

mind will be able to relish forever the divine bliss.

Nobody can realise God directly. The only way for God

realisation is by giving up all the struggles related to the external

materialistic world. One can achieve liberation from worldly

entanglements only by developing spiritual knowledge and with right

conduct or by living a good, moral life. So, first, one has to learn the

principles of moral life, and secondly, by living and leading life

accordingly. The insatiable worldly passions are as harmful as fire.

These passions entice the individual with the external world by

offering the various material comforts of the external world. These

passions mislead the mind to get inextricably involved in the external

world. It is much better for the individual to avoid these harmful

insatiable worldly passions. Thus mental energy and life-energy both

get shattered and scattered outside, in the materialistic world,

thereby producing griefs and worries in the mind and diseases and

disturbances in the physical body. If you have understood and


42

grasped the inherent, intrinsic truth, then you have surely gained the

spiritual knowledge, and thereby, you have acquired the correct and

better hold on your life by directing it inward. As a matter of fact, you

should withdraw from the external world slowly and gradually. In

other words, it is possible to withdraw your mind from the external

world. The withdrawal should not be sudden and hasty, because it

can prove harmful. The sudden and hasty withdrawal can create

disorientation in the mind and the disoriented, alienated mind can

lost its power of discrimination. By maintaining your intellectual

balance, you should withdraw from the external world in slow steps.

One need not show it to others as to how the individual was living

earlier, and how he was leading life in a different manner. Now,

keeping yourself minimally engaged in the external world and

performing all your essential duties, your mind should withdraw from

the external world. Adopting these steps and sitting in isolation, you

will realise that you no longer have the attraction for the external

world, that is, the mind is poised and enjoys perfect sleep. It means

that the insatiable worldly passions have lost their hold on you. When

the insatiable worldly passions are no more strong, the mind feels

completely free and without any external burdens. Now, even

breathing process will be effortless and comfortable, and the body will

feel and enjoy its freedom. The mind too will enjoy all its freedom.

When the mind starts experiencing this freedom and comfort, this is

the strong indication that the individual has achieved his cherished

freedom. In other words, the mind has started getting emancipated

from the fetters of the external world. Thus experiencing

emancipation in this manner, the mind will experience completely

liberated from the external world. As soon as the mind is liberated


43

from the external world, it means that it has achieved the most

exalted place of „sat-chit-anand’, the abode of supreme God

Almighty. But unless one is fully liberated from the external,

materialistic world, it is not possible to reside in the abode of God

Almighty.

God, known by the name of Sachidanand (Sat-Chit-Anand), will

manifest himself when you have already experienced all the inner

truths. So far, all the inner truths were lying undiscovered. No doubt,

the individual has become very knowledgeable by knowing the

external, worldly things. He knows even the smallest things of the

external world. He also knows in detail about other individuals, such

as „That individual is very cruel‟, or „what are the intentions of a

particular individual, and what he is planning to do‟. His mind is

alert for all these external things. This knowledge concerning the

external world, will further enhance his ignorance. As a matter of

fact, his ignorance will lead him only to sufferings and discomforts in

the end. The individual has to make efforts that his life should not be

full of worldly tangles and hassles. Under the influence of his bloated

ego, he should not indulge in undesirable things under the fit of

insatiable worldly passions of attachment/aversion, because these

worldly passions always entice and enslave him to the external world.

He should inculcate and practise forgiveness, and fellowship among

fellow-men. He should feel happy while sharing others‟ happiness. He

should be sympathetic to others in their sufferings. If his behaviour is

up-right and desirable, he will not face many problems in life.

Every individual should enrich his worship of the Divine by

cultivating the divine attributes in his personality. Worship of the

Divine means worship of that omnipresent God who is residing in


44

every living being. To achieve this goal, the individual should get rid

of all the entanglements of the external world. Only then he will be

able to recognise all the inner truths. In order to recognise the inner

truths, he shall have to sit in isolation and experience the divine

knowledge in his soul. For this purpose, he should also avoid

lethargy. He should also conquer his sleep as well. Just as an

individual repeatedly, again and again, recites a symbolic name of

God during his worship, similarly, on the pattern of worship, you

should adopt and loudly recite a token religious word in order to

avoid and overcome sleep.

During introspection you will realise how your mind is pre-

occupied with the fire of revenge against somebody in the external

world. At that time, you should repeatedly ask your mind thus :

“Behold, O Mind, why are you running towards the external world to

seek revenge? Have you assessed as to what you will gain or lose by

this revenge? If there is no gain, then you will definitely lose

something from this revenge. You will rather harm yourself, because

the other person will become your enemy.” When you will repeatedly,

again and again, address your mind in these words, these words will

act as your invocation. In nutshell, first you utter certain words,

understand their implications and then start thinking about them. All

this amounts to meditation in a way. In this manner, you have learnt

the working of your mind, how it ignited fire within you, how you

repeated to yourself „behold, O Mind, you just thought biasedly about

the other person and ignited the fire of revenge within you.‟ Now you

know that it is not correct to burn yourself in the fire ignited by your

own mind, because mind is in the habit of loitering in the outside,

external world and planning good or bad about others. Thus making


45

your mind understand by speaking loudly and repeatedly, this will

amount to „thoughtful meditation‟. You have to cultivate this practice

of „thoughtful meditation‟ within you, to the extent that you remain

consciously meditating for hours together and thereby reduce your

pre-occupations with the external world, and instead keep yourself

thus engaged in spiritual meditation.

Every individual should introspect as to why his mind remains

pre-occupied with the objects of the external world for such a long

time. Inspite of your best efforts to divert your mind, it still continues

with its pre-occupations with the external world, although there is

nothing to gain. If you ponder over all these facts in your mind, and

keep examining the stream of your thoughts just for five minutes, it

will be regarded as superior spiritual contemplation. When your mind

introspects in this manner, it amounts to becoming conscious. You

should brood : “Look ! I have experienced how during the last five

minutes, my mind remained pre-occupied with futile, insignificant

worldly objects. My mind behaved in this manner because it is a slave

of habit, and habit is very strong bondage.” Understanding your

mind in this manner, you should open your inner discerning eye, you

should acquire the correct divine knowledge. As you introspect, that

is, as you understand the inner truths, your ignorance will start

vanishing, and as a result, you will automatically acquire divine

knowledge. You will also strengthen your resolve to follow this

superior path of meditation, and your mind will become care-free,

because it has given up all the futile engagements of the external

world. As the mind becomes care-free, you will continue gaining

divine knowledge. In the end, after giving up the worldly

engagements, your mind will achieve its inner tranquility. What is the


46

meaning of „inner tranquility‟? just as the mind goes into sleep after

discarding all the worldly engagements and enjoys its inner peace in

sleep, in the same manner, when the mind becomes tranquil in the

waking state, you will achieve the supreme bliss of your soul. When

the mind becomes stable within itself, the individual will realise and

conclude: “I have no more yearning to know and acquire the external

worldly objects. Now I am fully, very much contented and peaceful.”

As long as the individual is bereft of the real divine knowledge, he is

enslaved by his worldly ties. When the individual achieves his inner

divine knowledge, his mind will become stable and tranquil within

itself.

In order to comprehend all the inner truths, the individual

should develop the habit of sitting in isolation and practice

meditation. In the beginning, one may not comprehend anything

while sitting in isolation, i.e. he may not realise divine knowledge.

Even then, he should, gradually and at a slow pace, increase his time

of sitting in meditation. Whenever the mind engages itself in the

external world, the individual should make efforts to disengage his

mind from the external world by reciting the words of wisdom. He

should utter such words : „There is nothing in the external world.

Whatever was to be achieved, has already been achieved. There is

nothing in the external world‟. If the mind remonstrates : „No, no.

There is as yet much to be thought about and many objects to be

acquired. I have many personal interests in the external world.‟ In

such a situation, the individual should suggest to his mind: „Alright,

you better think again and reconsider‟. During meditation, the

individual should examine his inner urges and should start

understanding them. Certain things we hear from others. Certain


47

other things, we have read in our religious scriptures. The individual

should ponder over those words in his mind and meditate on them. If

divine knowledge dawns in his mind during meditation, this would

ultimately lead to the annihilation of all ignorance. Every individual

should practise meditation to annihilate ignorance. When divine

knowledge destroys ignorance and the inherent urges of the external

world do not revive and rekindle, this is in itself the establishment of

peace and tranquility in your mind. When the mind is empty and

vacant, the inherent urges of the external world revive, as nobody

wants to live like a lifeless stone. All living beings cherish that they

should always be engaged in some kind of cognitive activity.

Life is only knowledge-oriented. The very recognition and

identification of the individual is related to the level of his worldly

knowledge. To develop some worldly knowledge, and to avoid the

stigma of ignorance, you will have to recall old ideas and thoughts

from your past and revive the inherent old urges and comforts

enjoyed in the bygone times. You will recall the intensity of childhood

yearnings and their gratification. Your mind will get energized and

rekindled by those past inherent urges and lead you to past worldly

pursuits. But when ignorance vanishes and the divine knowledge of

Almighty God is persistently present all the time, this would lead to

the firm and permanent establishment of spirituality. This spiritual

knowledge is not dead and lifeless like a stone. This spiritual

knowledge is full of bliss and devoid of all sufferings. But the recall of

worldly knowledge causes sufferings. If the mind is idle and empty,

this will surely lead to the revival of inherent impressions of the

external world. If the individual acquires the divine knowledge of

Almighty God and experiences his internal divine bliss, then his mind


48

will not be able to revive the inherent, old impressions of the external

world. That is why the individual should acquire spiritual knowledge

to get rid of the old, inherent impressions of the external world.

We should get rid of worldly ties in order to possess spiritual

knowledge. We are not able to get rid of these fetters because the

mind is strongly attached with the objects of the external world. We

should repeatedly resolve to break the fetters of worldly attachments

and the insatiable worldly desires. We should meditate to know the

inner truths. By knowing the inner truths, Ignorance will be

destroyed. We shall develop strong faith in God by destroying our

Ignorance, which gives birth to the insatiable worldly desires. All this

is the ultimate goal of spiritual life. In contrast are the results of

leading materialistic life, which always ends in sufferings produced

by diseases and griefs. In other words, materialistic life ends in all

types of calamities. The spiritual life grants us freedom from all

worldly sufferings and thereby establishing within our souls the love

for our God. That establishment always brings peace, contentment

and eternal joy. There are two-three pre-conditions for this, that is,

sitting in isolation for some time, awakening the mind by reciting

symbolic words and prayers so that the mind does not run towards

the external world, controlling a bit of sleep, and understanding the

inner truths through meditation. All this is called spiritual

knowledge. The continuous, persistent understanding of the inner

truths should motivate the mind to such an extent that it does not

even wish to go towards the external world. With the help of inner,

divine knowledge, the individual should realise that the external

world brings only physical diseases and mental disturbances. But

these are not visible as yet, because these are covered and


49

camouflaged by our Ignorance. All these essential spiritual practices

are undertaken to penetrate and destroy Ignorance. After destroying

our Ignorance, the divine knowledge, abiding within us in the form all

all-pervading Consciousness, reveals its spiritual bliss, which is our

ultimate goal or our ultimate destination. The acquisition of this

permanent bliss and permanent tranquility is the highest spiritual

attainment. This is the essence of this discourse.


50


(18-12-1986)

The individual is bound by the fetters of personal nature right

from his birth. Because of theses fetters of personal nature, the inner

forces of the individual – the cognitive force (Conscious Energy) and

the vital force (the life-energy) – both get so much involved in the

external material world that, instead of producing physical well-being

and mental happiness, these forces start producing sufferings in the

end. If life in the external world is not lived thoughtfully and

according to noble and religious principles, it gradually gets so

extremely involved in the external world that it ultimately ends only

in sufferings. Involvement in the external world does not always

produce happiness for the individual. That is why involvement in the

external world should be only to the extent of fulfilling your physical

needs and thoughtfully performing your duties in a disciplined

manner. The fetters of the external world should not become very

strong. You should be able to break these fetters, if and when

required. Your mind should not remain strongly attached with the

objects of the external world. In other words, do not let your

involvement in the external world become so very strong, that it

becomes impossible to get rid of this involvement. This involvement is

correct and desirable only to the extent that you are able to perform

your worldly duties and responsibilities in a disciplined manner as

well as gratify your essential worldly needs. Instead of achieving the

above-said goals, if your mind seeks personal gratification in the

external material world, such involvement is not good for pursuing

the spiritual path. Our mind is the creation of our inner personal


51

forces, in the same manner as the universe was created by the

universal material forces.

Nobody in this world is born out of his own wishing. There are

many forces which have joined to produce life in this world. Religious

scriptures have mentioned many names who contributed to the

generation of life such as Brahma (god of Creation or the Creator in

the Cosmic Trinity), Prajapati (god of Universal life or Life-in-General),

Indra (god of Heaven), Varna (god of air), Kuber (god of wealth) etc. All

these gods represent many different forces. The eight different forces

are earth, water, fire, air, sky, sun, moon and our sentient spirit.

Gradually, you begin to comprehend all these different forces. You

will definitely understand these forces within you. In other words,

there is no force beyond your understanding. All these forces are

managing and maintaining life. In other words, these forces have

created this physical body. The manner in which these forces

combined to create this physical body, in the same manner, these

forces have generated their respective inherent electrical waves. Lust

(Kama), Anger (Krodha), Greed (Lobha), Attachment (Moha) etc., are

such electrical waves. The physical body, functioning under the

control of electric waves (such as Lust and Anger), does not quickly

come under the control of any individual. A child begins to

understand life after a long time. But you, as an adult have

understood life to a great extent by now.

When the child experiences happiness, at that time, due to a

sort of mental development, he experiences contentment. When the

child is suffering, he cries, and along with crying, he starts shedding

tears. All these activities are not performed deliberately, in a pre-

planned manner. In the same manner, digestion of food, and


52

circulation of blood inside the body, etc. are not undertaken by the

individual by his own resolution, intention, wish or power.

The forces within a human being are primarily of two types: one

is cognitive force, and the second is vital-force. The type of knowledge

we possess will determine the type of action we will undertake. If

knowledge is related to happiness, then the type of breathing action

or breathing activity will be according to that happiness. If knowledge

is concerning various types of doubts, then breathing action will be

according to those doubts. If the mind is harbouring feelings, such as

love, aversion, pride and attachment etc., then the breathing action

will be according to that feeling. The type of breathing will determine

the quality of functioning of the body-parts. The action undertaken by

the body-parts will determine whether the body will experience

happiness or suffering.

If you are experiencing anxiety and continue living under those

unfavourable conditions which also generate anxiety, then how can

your mind be contented/happy under such conditions? In other

words, if your mind is not contended and comfortable, then your

breathing too will not be normal. If you are care-free, without any

worry and your mind is without burdens and is peaceful, if you are

suitably fed, without any hunger or thirst, then under such

conditions, your body will be full of energy and your mind will be

comfortable, contented and peaceful. As is your mental state, so will

be your breathing activity. As is your breathing activity, the various

organs of your body will perform their functions accordingly. The

heart will beat in rhythm, the lungs will respirate in tune, and all

other organs, such as kidneys, pancreas, liver, etc. will perform their

functions in consonance with the state of your mind. If knowledge is


53

related to the external world, take it for granted that mind is also tied

to the external material objects of the world. When both knowledge

and mind, are tied with the external world, the generation of energy

by the breathing process will also be restricted. When breathing is

restricted, there will not be any comfort anywhere in the body. And

when the body is uncomfortable, the mind too will be uncomfortable.

Our ancient seers and sages analysed the means for achieving

happiness and contentment. They practically realised in their very

own lives that mind should not be fettered to the external world to

such great extent that it spoils its own existence and destroys its

happiness and peace. Every individual lives for his own happiness.

Many individuals want to commit even suicide, if they do not achieve

happiness. Happiness is the only goal for which the individual wants

to maintain his existence. Happiness is possible, if there is no

suffering. Suffering is the result of the fetters of attachment, aversion,

pride and lust. If knowledge is limited, the power to act is also

limited. Whatever is attained with the power of limited knowledge and

restricted action, it is not beneficial for the individual.

Our seers have told us that we should first resolve in our mind

to achieve spiritual liberation, that is, we should make up our mind

to get rid of the worldly fetters. Right from childhood, we have been

tied to the external world by experiencing its comforts and

discomforts. Certain objects we like, and certain others we dislike.

This experience of comforts and discomforts is undergone by all the

insects, beasts, birds and human beings, equally and in the same

manner. As comfort and discomfort is experienced by all living

creatures, breathing process will follow suit accordingly, among all of

them. Where there is comfort, the emotion of attachment pushes us


54

towards that object. In other words, the individual works hard to

possess the objects of comfort. No individual functions in this

manner, deliberately. All these actions are motivated by the Divine

Power enshrined within us. In the same manner, the mind withdraws

from that object which produces discomfort. That discomfort

produces in the mind malice and anger. We have to resist this

sorrowful condition of discomfort.

All the actions are motivated by the Divine Power. All the living

beings are under the control of the Divine Power. God (Organised

whole or Cosmic self) in the form of Brahama (The Creator in the

Cosmic Trinity), personifying „Rajas Guna‟, is operating and

functioning among all. And the son of Brahma, called „Prajapati‟ (god

of life), is residing in the body of every human being, independently,

in the form of vital-force. Brahama is all-pervasive, and is present in

every being in the shape of „Rajas Guna‟. Desire, Anger, Greed, Lust

and Self-pride etc. are the forces of „Rajas Guna‟. Brahama with his

spiritual knowledge, is duty-bound to activate the world and the

physical body by releasing the forces of „Rajas Guna‟, arising like

waves of electric current. Unless you recognise this spiritual force,

you will assume, “I am performing all the actions”. But in reality, it is

the forces of „Rajas Guna‟ which control all actions. There is no „I‟,

which is performing all these actions. The words, „I‟ and „you‟, will

become one entity (synonymous), when the individual understands

(with the help of his intellect) the forces of Gunas (Sattwa Guna,

Rajas Guna and Tamas Guna) and liberates himself from these

fetters and works for his own well-being, happiness and comforts. If

we cannot work for our own well-being and happiness, it is because

of „I‟ or Ego (force of Rajas Guna). In other words, the individual is


55

exhibiting his ego (self-pride) in every situation. This „I‟ or ego, is

meant only for social interaction in the world. That which reveals

itself in the physical body in the form of ego (I), is in reality self-pride.

This ego which is restricted to the physical body, is not the real ego.

But the ego which is all-pervading in all beings and performs all

actions, is the universal Supreme Ego.

Everybody possesses within himself a part of Consciousness-in-

General (Paramatam) with its Divine Dynamism („Maya‟). This power

of Consciousness-in-General also called God is maintaining blood-

circulation inside the physical body. This power of Consciousness-in-

General also helps in the digestion of food, controls inhaling and

exhaling during the breathing process, and directs all organic

functions even during sleep. In other worlds, it is God or

Consciousness-in-General which manages and controls all actions.

As the power of Consciousness goes on developing, spiritual

knowledge (Cognitive Force), the Conative Force (action-force) too

goes on developing. As the cognitive force of Consciousness never

stops, so also the conative force never stops functioning. That is why

this world too will never come to an end. But it is fact that we do not

know why and how this material world disappears in sleep. in this

very manner, while fully awake, you can control your Consciousness

to such an extent that you become oblivious of the material world. At

that stage you also experience spiritual peace of God (the organized

whole) or Consciousness-in-General (Paramatma).

Things do not turn-up according to your wishes, and what is

happening, may be contrary to your wishes. In other words, things

are happening which are against your desires and wishes. All this

indicates that you are not leading your life on the correct course. If


56

you adopt wrong ways, then there will be only sufferings and sorrows.

For example, when you eat wrong things, you get sick; when you use

wrong language against someone that person gets angry and quarrel

starts; when you perform wrong selfish actions, you harm others in

many ways. Under such circumstances, how can you lead a peaceful

life? In other words, under such conditions, your life too will not be

peaceful and comfortable. If you want happiness in your life, you

must know as to what is beneficial for you and what is harmful for

you. In other words, you must understand and adopt in your life the

correct path that leads to your ultimate well-being or that path which

protects you from sufferings and sorrows. If and when you become

aware of all these facts, then take it for granted that the spiritual

knowledge of Bhagwan Krishna has descended in your mind and He

will control and drive the chariot of your physical existence. The path

that is not beneficial in the end, you should not follow, although

there are many visible comforts in the beginning. In other words, you

should not follow the path dictated by your habits, that path which

attracts you with temporary, external comforts. You will get only

sufferings by following the path controlled by your habits.

If you meditate a little and awaken Spiritual Knowledge within

you, then the God of Spiritual Knowledge (Bhagwan Krishana) will

control and drive the chariot of your body. You will become the

beneficiary like Arjun. In Sanskrit, the word „Arjun‟ means „the one

who earns‟ or „the one who is inspired to follow the correct path‟. In

other words, when the mind adopts the wrong path, then you have to

create conditions to bring the mind to the right path. This effort is

called the correct and religious earnings. In this manner, if you

inspire your mind to accumulate correct and religious earnings, then


57

God or Consciousness-in-General will also bless you with spiritual

knowledge to drive the chariot of your physical existence on the right

path. Thus, you will successfully attain your ultimate spiritual

destination (Param Dham).

The other path (the worldly path) is labeled “Kuru Kuru”,

(meaning, act, act, repeat the same act). In other words, follow the

habit you developed since your childhood and repeat the same act.

The famous story of Kuru, the king, and his blind son, Dhritrashtra,

represents and highlights this path. The essence of this story is that

the individual develops great pride in his body called his ego. This ego

has no spiritual knowledge concerning its ultimate well-being. The

ego is considered as blind because it lacks spiritual knowledge. In the

above-mentioned famous story, Dhritrashtra is proud of his body

represented by his ego. His ego is considered blind because it is

lacking spiritual knowledge. Dhritrashtra is blind to spiritual forces

which are operating in his physical body. His physical body

represents a country and his ego, representing his pride which is

blind. Dhritrashtra‟s son, Duryodhan, adopts wrong and unethical

ways in the war (Mahabharat yudh). His dictum is : “Whatever is

happening, let it happen. There is nothing to worry. I am ready to

face all consequences.” This dictum truly personifies Duryodhan. And

whatever indiscipline is there in the body-politic, is represented by

Dushasan. And all the deceits and deceptions are represented by

Shakuni. The Sanskrit words and their true meanings are reflected

and personified by the various characters and their names in this

famous story of Mahabharat. If you recognise all these negative forces

reflected in the characters, and vanquish the negative forces after

giving them a good fight, then you will definitely benefit. If you just


58

causally listen to the story, then it is just an interesting story. You

benefit only a little bit by casually listening to this famous story.

You must recognise and realise that this physical body is

created by God, the Supreme Divinity. In social life, we develop

certain habits which force us to live in the same old, set ways. These

acquired habits become a force and survive within us in the form of

hidden urges and tendencies, which direct and force us to continue

performing the same, old right or wrong acts. As already mentioned,

„Kuru, Kuru‟ means „what has already been done, continue

performing the same acts again and again. In other words, if someone

has been ill-treated and discriminated against, continue the

discrimination; if there is attachment for someone, continue

attachment; if you have practised greed, continue practicing greed. As

you have been eating, continue eating in the same manner; as you

have spoken to others, continue speaking in the same way. But how

can all these habits which were developed from childhood onwards,

prove equally beneficial throughout your life?

You have to develop within you some „Punda‟. In Sanskrit,

Punda means intelligence. It functions in the individual in two ways:

one way is that „intelligence‟ should enable the individual to take his

decisions. In other words, intelligence should prove beneficial in the

end or it should enable the individual to achieve the ultimate

spiritual goal. The second way is that „intelligence‟ should enable the

individual to protect himself from wrong and harmful objects. This

type of intelligence is called „Punda‟. The world „Pundit‟ has been

derived from the world „Punda‟. The person is called Pundit who has

this Punda (intelligence) in him. Punda denotes how an individual

should function according to ethical rules. Intelligence denotes


59

problem-solving ability. The ability to contemplate, think and reflect

is called Punda. It is relevant here to mention that Pandoo was a very

intelligent king and his descendants are called Pandavas (of

Mahabharat).

The second way in which Punda operates, is through the force

of compulsive habits, which demand „act-act‟. The force of compulsive

habits becomes as strong as a natural force. The two forces (the force

of intelligence and the force of habit) are always in conflict.

Deeds performed in previous births become strong latent force

in the form of Sanskaras, which influence and control deeds in the

present life. These sanskaras act as inner urges which have become a

veritable force, like the force of compulsive habits. On the other hand,

the force of spiritual knowledge, in the form of intelligence and

intellect, dictates that deeds should be performed as per its

directions, because spiritual force ensures spiritual salvation of

human beings. If you are leading your life according to spiritual

knowledge, then take it for granted that you have the blessed

protection of the incarnation of spiritual knowledge i.e., Bhagwan

Krishna. In other words, you have achieved and acquired spiritual

knowledge. If you are guiding your body, your senses, and your mind

as directed by the spiritual knowledge, then your life has adopted the

right spiritual path. You will vanquish all the evil forces personified

by Kaurvas. When the evil forces (Kaurvas) are killed, only then you

will experience the inner bliss and spiritual peace. Actually, the evil

forces (Kaurvas) entangle and exhaust all your mental energy by

engaging your mind in the external world, and then your mind has

very little control over your physical existence.


60

Only a human being has the chance to work for his spiritual

salvation, because it is only in human life where the power of

discrimination can be developed. We should critically think and

review our past deeds. We should peep within our mind and seek

answers to the following questions : when and where have I faltered?

With whom I used bitter words? In which situation have I thought ill

of others? Have I made fun of others‟ sufferings? Have I felt happy to

see others suffer? Have I felt jealous to see others‟ merits? Have I

highlighted others demerits? When others have hurt me a bit, have I

taken it as an offence and thought of retaliation or thought of

punishing them? After examining the various deeds involving his

mind, eyes, ears, nose and speech, and after recognizing his

weaknesses and biased tendencies, the individual, for his own well-

being, should resolve not to indulge in such weaknesses and

prejudices from the very next day and should become fully alert and

careful from that very moment.

If your resolve to be alert and careful is fully maintained and

your decision not to repeat weaknesses and prejudices is strong, then

take it for sure that Right Faith (true religion) has manifested itself in

your life. To accept and adopt piety sincerely and whole heartedly in

your life, is called religious way of life. You should recognise your

inner urges; after recognising, you should understand your

weaknesses; and after understanding, you should make some effort

to eradicate these weaknesses. While eradicating your weaknesses,

you should develop your power of meditation, and make efforts to

comprehend the inner truth. With the help of meditation, you should

develop the habit of living a solitary life in isolation and seclusion.

When you start really comprehending the inner truth during


61

meditation, or when spiritual knowledge awakens in you, then one

day, the omnipresent God, abiding within every being will reveal

himself. In other words, God will appear in the form of eternal,

spiritual bliss. After giving up your selfish worldly tendencies once for

all, if you have become one with God or Cosmic Self, your mind will

never feel the loss of these worldly mundane comforts because of

your God-blessed spiritual bliss, and you will never like to segregate

yourself from this spiritual bliss. But if you wish to know and possess

the objects of your material, worldly gratifications then it is a different

story. In other words, if you want to continue the cycle of birth-

rebirth in various forms of species, it is upto you.

The path of spiritual salvation demands that you should first

develop in you spiritual knowledge, make your mind somewhat

conscious through self-discipline, inculcate in yourself all the good

qualities of religious way of life and give up all the immoral deeds and

unethical practices. In this manner and by following good religious

principles and practices for his own well-being, if the individual leads

such a life, then this is the best way of spiritual salvation. Otherwise,

the only option left for him is to lead life as per the diktats of

compulsive habits. Great religious scholars and spiritual

philosophers have recommended that you should follow the active

way of spiritual deliverance (Upaaye Pratayey), which consists of the

following five factors : (1)Right religious confidence (Shradha),

(2)Spiritual energy (Veerya), (3)Presence of

mind/Mindfulness/Heedfulness (Smriti), (4) Meditation/Absorbed

meditation (Dhyana / Smadhi), and (5) Truth-bearing

knowledge/Superior Intelligence (Pragya). These five factors have

been named as the active way of Spiritual Deliverance. Right religious


62

confidence (Shradha) naturally has to be the first step. The you can

follow the ethical religious path. You can be free from the fetters of

this world in the end. You can also find the right path to God-

realisation, that God who is sublime ecstasy personified. This

sublime ecstasy has no end. You have to strongly maintain your

resolve and sincerely nurture your religious confidence (Shradha).

Always remember, that the comforts and happiness of this world can

wither and wane, but the spiritual bliss of God has no end.

Meditation is the only means to achieve the true spiritual

knowledge or knowledge of truth. To develop meditation, you need

energy (Veerya) as well as another merit called presence of mind /

mindfulness / headfulness (Smriti). If you are conscious and alert,

that is, if you practice this mindfulness (heedfulness), you will be able

to avoid wrong deeds at the spur of the moment. If you are not

heedful, then the force of compulsive habits will propel and push you

like the electric current. According to the need of the hour, these

compulsive habits, under the direction of the latent inner forces

(Sanskaras), will get their work done (will seek their gratification),

whether that work is for your well-being or against your well-being.

Sometimes, you express : “I became very helpless. Actually, I never

wanted to use those bitter words. But at that time, I was forced

(propelled) to use those bitter words. The other individual uttered

such evil worlds against me that I was forced to retaliate, although I

was trying hard not to use those bitter words.” Now, the question

arises : “What was the force that propelled you to utter those bitter

words? What force made you helpless to commit this mistake?” a

little self-examination will reveal that, in that unguarded, heedless

moment, the force of compulsive habits propelled you to use the


63

bitter words. The only way to avoid such a situation is that you must

remember to remain heedful. Your mind must always be watchful

and alert and must remind you: “What is my duty? What should I do?

In what manner should I behave during my life-time?” if you remain

heedful in this manner, you will never commit any mistake.

Otherwise, the old habits, developed from childhood to adulthood,

will drive the vehicle of your life in the direction in which these habits

propel, because at that time, your life (in the form of a vehicle) is

under the control of your habits (in the form of a driver). May be, you

have not developed within your mind heedfulness that will properly

drive the chariot of your life. If you have the energy and courage to

protect yourself from all the bad deeds, you have to always keep with

you Goddess Bhagwati in the form of heedfulness. This heedfulness

protects the individual from indulging in evil deeds.

First of all, you have to develop the right faith to pursue the

path of religious life. This will develop in you the needed courage. You

do need heedfulness to develop this courage. Then the evil tendencies

or evil deeds which the individual performs again and again due to

his compulsive habits, all such evil deeds can be avoided. You will

also be able to eradicate anger, lust, desire and greed. If this is not

practised, your compulsive habits will propel you to indulge in all

those, evil deeds. If you remain heedful, then inspite of the pull and

push of the evil deeds, you will be able to avoid them if you so desire,

because Goddess Bhagwati in the garb of heedfulness, is with you.

When you continuously avoid the bad deeds, your mind too will

become alert and awake and it will start recognising the inner

spiritual truths. Thus your mental heedfulness becomes active and

your inner spiritual knowledge is awakened. By continuously


64

knowing and recongnising the inner spiritual truths, you become so

much pre-occupied with them that you become oblivious of the

external mundane world. This stage indicates that you have

cultivated and developed the art of meditation. Then you will surely

experience the spiritual bliss within you, because the Life-Force along

with the cognitive force will start concentrating and consolidating

within you.

During the experience of spiritual bliss, you will start getting

the inspiration from within as why to listen to futile gossips and

observe meaningless extravaganza of the external world. In other

words, the mind will get the inspiration from within as to why

mislead your eyes and ears towards useless worldly sights and

sounds, just for deriving some momentary entertainment. It is much

better to experience the inner bliss through meditation. Earlier, the

mind attended to worldly activities which sometimes generated fear

and doubt. Now there is no need to listen, observe, smell and taste

things of the external world. When there is no need for objects of the

external world, then why to direct your senses towards them? When

the senses start experiencing the external world, then the mind too

gets pre-occupied with the external world. When knowledge procured

through the senses is not wanted, then why should mind seek that

knowledge? This stage would indicate that mind has been liberated.

After achieving liberation from the mundane world, the mind will get

the blessed company of limitless Cosmic Consciousness called

„Parameshwar‟. But the abode of the limitless Cosmic Consciousness

(Parameshwar) is open only to those individuals who practise and

inculcate meditation and renunciation.


65

The essence of this discourse is : Recognise the futile, useless

worldly knowledge and try to avoid it. When this futile, useless

knowledge has been successfully avoided, only then spiritual life gets

initiated. The futile and useless knowledge means that knowledge

which is deeply involved with the external world. It also includes the

mental energy and life energy, which got dissipated and scattered in

collecting that useless and futile mundane knowledge. Actually,

mental energy and life energy are closely connected with acquiring

and accumulating of mundane knowledge. If you ignore and avoid the

blind accumulation of worldly knowledge, then your mental energy

and life energy will get liberated and disentangled from the external

world. The bliss of the concentrated and consolidated mental energy

and life energy as well as spiritual knowledge is very apparent and

all-pervading. In other words, this bliss is visible and it can be

experienced by all. This apparent, visible, all-pervading bliss will be

very dear and precious to every individual. Actually every possible

effort should be made to achieve this bliss. This is the full meaning

and essence of this discourse.


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(19-12-1986)

This discourse, in the very beginning, refers to the fact that the

individual faces problems of various types during his life-span in the

external world. These problems are the by-products of his life in the

external world. That is why mind remains lost in the external world.

This disintegrated mind scatters all the strength of the body in the

external world. As a result, that individual‟s mind does not get

interested and involved anywhere. That person always remain

disturbed. The only remedy to bring peace to such a disturbed mind

is by consolidating and concentrating within itself all its cognitive

energy (intellectual power) which is scattered in the external world.

That person‟s life-force in the form of conative energy should also get

consolidated and concentrated in his body. Only then he will be able

to establish within himself such peace and happiness that even

during his sleep, he will not experience any painful dreams. He

cannot get so much happiness from all kinds of physical indulgences

and from all types of goods and gains of the external world, as he will

derive by consolidating and concentrating the psychic and mental

energy within his mind.

There are many types of comforts in the world. There are

material comforts, which the mind experiences through the worldly

objects. Because of these material comforts, the mind prefers and

gets attracted towards the worldly objects. But these material

comforts are temporary, momentary and short-lived. On the other

hand, there are situations/places, where the mind experiences

spiritual happiness and does not want any other alternative


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happiness. Such a situation/place is called the abode of God. The

individual reaches this abode of spiritual happiness when his psychic

or mental energy (scattered in the outside world) gets consolidated

and concentrated within his mind. This mental energy does not

consolidated and concentrated within his mind because the mind is

fully and completely engaged and entangled in the outside world right

from the individual‟s birth, and all his needs are gratified in the

external world. Hence he regards the external world as the only

source of his comforts and happiness.

The individual performs various deeds in the external world in

order to get comforts and happiness and avoid miseries and pains. He

constantly and continuously thinks about the material comforts to

such an extent that his five senses, his mind and his intellect, they

all remain pre-occupied and engaged with the external world. Due to

his constant and continuous pre-occupation with the external world,

the individual reaches a stage where the cognitive energy and the

conative energy within his mind, are reduced to a zero. The common

man is not aware of this fact. The individual becomes aware of this

fact when his mind is facing some stress and strain. During that time

of stress and strain, even his breathing process becomes abnormal

and incomplete. Because of the abnormal and incomplete breathing,

many diseases may raise their head. The person loses his self-control

and feels helpless and a slave of his situation. For example, the

eating of a certain food produces sickness in the individual. But that

individual is very much fond of and attached to that particular food.

Even though some wise persons tell the individual to stop taking that

prohibited food, the individual is not able to stop eating that food.

The poor-fellow has not that much energy to check himself because


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he is so much fond of that food. This helplessness of the individual is

called “fetter.”

To get rid of these fetters is called spiritual deliverance (Mukti).

It is not impossible to get rid of these fetters, if you make efforts to

lead life according to the spiritual principles or according to religious

scriptures wherein great spiritual scholars have expounded the

principles for leading a spiritual life. This getting rid of fetters has

been named as deliverance (Mukti). This deliverance is like the

deliverance of an individual from jail.

It is not possible to get rid of these worldly fetters all of a

sudden. The way the individual is pursuing the materialistic life in

the external world generates a force in him which secretly goes on

gaining strength. This secret force does not allow the individual to

lead life which is for his own well-being. You may give this secret

force any name, such as the force of latent impressions (Sanskars) or

the force of Ignorance (Avidya) or the force of divine dynamism

(Maya). Religious scriptures have given it the name of „Nature‟

(Prakriti). In the beginning you perform a deed with great effort. When

you perform the same deed again a second time, and further repeat it

ten times – this repeated performance of the same deed will produce a

sort of rut (trace) in the mind and henceforth you will perform the

deed effortlessly and automatically. Repeated actions lead to the

formation of habit which has been called „Personal Nature‟ or second

nature. With passage of time, this Personal Nature (habit) assumes

the form the temperament (Swabhav) of the individual. The individual

starts treating his Personal Nature (Prakriti) and his temperament

(Swabhav) as his true self. His Personal Nature (habits and

temperament) fully control his life and behaviour. His Personal


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Nature becomes so powerful that, when sleeping, it controls his

dreams and when awake, it controls his decisions / resolutions

(Sankalp). This Personal Nature of the person (his Prakriti) completely

controls his intellect, his emotions and his senses.

It is written in spiritual scriptures like Bhagwad Gita that

Nature (Prakriti) consists of two different forces : (1) External physical

forces, represented by the five elements (earth, water, fire, air and

sky) and (2) Internal personal forces represented by individual habits

and temperament. When the individual controls both these forces he

achieves the highest status in the world. The only way to control

these two Natures is by actively pursuing the path of spiritual

deliverance and by cultivating and developing the following five divine

qualities :

Right religious confidence (Shardha)

Personal energy (Veerya)

Heedfulness (Smriti)

Meditation or Absorbed meditation with serenity

(Dhayan/Smadhi) and

Superior intelligence (Pragya).

This way of spiritual deliverance was highlighted even

yesterday. Today the same is being presented in some detail : how the

individual can adopt and correctly practice heedfulness (Smriti) in his

life, and how he can adopt and correctly practise meditation

(Dhyana).

Personal Nature (Prakriti) stands like a hurdle in the life-track

of the individual. Personal Nature of the individual (human nature)

declares : “I will not let you function independently. If at all you insist

to function, you must function in the way which I prescribe – the


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habitual way. In other words, you must speak in the same manner,

as you used speak earlier”. This principle was illustrated with the

example of Kauravas, when they prescribed; “Kuru, Kuru” or “Act in

the same way you have been acting earlier. In other words, if you

were taking intoxicants earlier, continue taking them. If you were

earlier using foul language with others, keep using the foul language.

Take the same food what you were taking earlier. Live life in the same

manner as you were living earlier etc.” The fact is that all your

actions are affected and controlled by your inner nature (habits and

temperament) which you have yourself inculcated, and which you

have developed by repeatedly performing the same acts. Thus your

inner nature (habits/temperament) has become so much automatic

that all your acts are performed without any effort. In other words,

you have developed the force of your inner nature (the force of your

habits and temperament).

There are two varieties of natural force. One natural force is

your specific inner natural force (human nature). The second nature

force is the universal external natural force (universal force). Human

nature is propelled by the specific inner forces. The universal force is

propelled by the various external forces (universal physical elements).

In other words, both human nature and universal nature are

propelled , controlled and managed in almost similar and same

manner by forces.

All of us observe that in the external world, we do not see

anybody controlling and managing the physical phenomena of the

universe. All the events and activities in the external world are almost

automatically and independently happening. Trees and plants

(vegetable or botanical kingdom) are growing automatically. Living


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beings (biological kingdom) are born and perish automatically in their

natural course, and in-between birth and death, they grow and

develop at pre-meditated time-intervals. All these attachments (Raga)

and aversion (Dwesha), fights and quarrels with others, are the

outcome of inner temperaments and tendencies, and nobody is

controlling and managing these inner forces. It is the force of nature

which is all-pervading both in the apparent, visible material (external)

world in the form of „universal force‟ as well as within every living

being in the form of habits and temperaments as „individual force‟.

The visible, apparent, external (material) world is controlled by the

all-pervading universal super-natural force (universal nature) and the

personal, individual, inner force present in every living being is called

human nature or the force of his temperament and habits. When the

individual first gets liberated from the force of his own nature

(habits), only then his mind will stop wandering in the external

(material) world. This liberation will lead to his physical and mental

well-being and happiness. To achieve this happiness, the individual

should first cultivate right religious confidence (shardha) and resolute

courage (Veerya). He should adopt the correct means to conquer his

own nature. He should give-up all his bad habits and cultivate good

habits in his life. With the help of meditation, he should recognise his

own well-being. After recognising his own well-being, he will himself

get inspired to adopt and practise good habits in his life. But in the

beginning, developing such inspiration is perhaps just a vocal claim.

Cultivation of good habits is possible only when the individual

possesses the necessary energy (for such cultivation). But all his

energy is perhaps invested somewhere else. Immediately after waking

up from sleep, he starts investing his energy in his schemes and


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plans about the external world. When he tries to avoid those plans

(dear to his habits), his nature reacts with anger and agitation etc.

then he develops fear, lest this opposition to his nature leads to some

abnormal mental reactions. Under such circumstances, his nature

forces that individual to adopt and practise its chosen and habitual

ways.

What should the individual do to conquer his nature (habitual

ways)? To get rid of his habitual nature, his mind should always be

alert. He must develop presence of mind (Smriti) and this will lead to

the practice of good deeds. Presence of mind (Smriti) means to control

your mind and practise headfulness; in other words, to keep your

mind stable and concentrated. Presence of mind (Smriti) means that

you should be able to foresee as to what is going to happen, and then

how should you react. That mind, which is under the control of

nature (habitual paths), may like to follow the wrong path (habitual

path) for the sake of some minor comforts. If your mind is heedful at

that time, then you would be able to foresee that it is going to follow

the wrong path. You would be able to make efforts to redirect it. You

would also be able to tolerate that tension which is caused by that

redirection.

This small illustration can help us to understand the ability

(capacity) to tolerate the discomfort caused by the redirection of the

mind. A man was walking in the sun. it was summer. He was feeling

the sun very hot. Due to the natural reaction of walking in the hot

sun, his mind would either be thinking about his home or the „cooler‟

in his home. He might be imagining that on reaching home, he would

sit near the cooler and relish various cold drinks and thereby gratify

his habitual needs. His mind thus pre-occupied with such thoughts


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and plans for enjoying habitual comforts, he would continue walking.

It was just a short distance of one or two miles which he had to walk

in the sun and the sun was very hot. There were many other

individuals who were walking under the same conditions of hot sun.

But he was in the habit of enjoying comforts, and walking under the

hot sun was pinching his mind. He knew very well that walking in the

hot sun would not cause death, that there were many other

individuals walking in the hot sun, that his head and whole body was

protected with clothes and the sun could not cause any harm. Only

he was experiencing the discomfort of walking in the hot sun. Hence

his mind, which was in the habit of enjoying comforts but at that

time was experiencing the discomfort of walking in the hot sun,

started dreaming and planning how to enjoy the comforts (awaiting

him) at his home. Had that individual become a little heedful, he

would have learnt that his mind was pre-occupied with the comforts

provided by the cooler and the cold drinks at his home. He was so

much lost in his pre-occupations that he was completely oblivious of

his walk. He was walking automatically, as a matter of habit. He was

not mindful as to where and how he was stepping. That is why his

mind was forcing him to walk quickly and hastily. Because of walking

quickly, even his breathing was affected and this factor also added to

his discomfort. Under such conditions, had that individual

considered in his mind : “Let me learn as to how much is the

discomfort of walking in the sun? This discomfort, of which I am

afraid, appears painful only to my mind. And my frightened mind, is

upsetting my breathing process; my thinking power is also losing its

focus and direction; my cognitive power (knowing capacity) is also

weakening and is not fully active. That is why my walking is not


74

normal. My agitated (disturbed) mind is driving my body forcibly in

the same rash manner. This rash manner will not take me home

early. At the most, there will be a difference of only a few minutes for

reaching home.”

The individual should consider and decide as to how many

extra steps can the agitated mind take. Even if he starts running, he

will only harm himself. As a matter of fact, his mind is afraid of the

discomforts, because his mind is in the habit of enjoying comforts.

And this desire for enjoying comforts is not letting him walk

peacefully. The impression of discomfort engraved on his mind since

childhood, has now become his habitual nature and his nature prods

him : “Walk fast, be quick. The sun is very hot.” If he keeps his

presence of mind during the time of discomfort, then, with a little

concentration of mind, he will learn and conclude : “The discomfort

(of walking under the sun) of which I am afraid, cannot cause death.

Moreover, I have to walk in the sun just for one or two hours. On the

other hand, there are many other people who keep working under the

hot sun for the whole, full day. Let me see and learn as to how much

discomfort is there while walking under the hot sun.” If you continue

walking while your mind is busy with such thoughts, this indicates

that you have become heedful. Your mind is fully aware of every step

you take. Your mind is fully alert and active. Under such conditions,

your mind is having full control over the steps you take during your

walk. You will realise that walking under the sun is not going to prove

fatal. Your mind will get rid of fear and your breathing process will

also become normal. Walking peacefully and without any fear, you

will reach your destination.


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The child starts developing his habitual temperament right from

his infancy. Whenever he experiences comforts, it will get reflected on

his face due to his habitual temperament. In other words, the

experience of comfort and joy is visible on his face. On the other

hand, when the child is in discomfort, it makes him cry. Then other

family members gratify his needs and make him comfortable and

happy. Thus, with passage of time, the child develops his habitual

temperament of enjoying comforts. But this habitual temperament of

enjoying comforts is not good for the child. In other words, this

habitual temperament for enjoying comforts has to be discontinued

and discarded. If he persists with his habitual temperament, then

with passage of time, it will develop into addiction to comforts, so

much so that his body will be weakened due to indulgence and

addiction to the physical enjoyments of the external material world.

And thus, the child may develop a feeling of deprivation and

desperation.

If your remain heedful and watchful, you will develop a

disciplined life and you will also be able to conquer your life-style of

compulsive habits. In other words, with the help of courage (Veerya)

at that time, the individual will get rid of his compulsive habits. If you

remain heedful, watchful and alert while executing a deed yourself

independently or jointly with others, or the deed has just to be

planned mentally, then you will learn to be independent, self-

confident and develop a solitary way of life. It is not true that by

developing an independent, self-confident and solitary way of life-

style, the individual will start neglecting his social obligations and

ignore the external world. He will continue to be mindful of the

external world. The popular dictum (saying) is : “If you are heedful,


76

you continue your existence.” In other words, if you are careful and

alert, your body will survive. You must understand this fact. For

example, an individual gives up the habit of smoking. If he is not

heedful, then, because of his habit, he will get the urge to smoke or

he may even decide to smoke. Because he is not heedful at that

moment, he may automatically start smoking, even though it is

harmful for him. That is why, heedfulness is the most valuable asset

for the benefit and salvation of the individual.

Keep yourself mindful and alert while executing any deed in

order to conquer the shackles (fetters) of habits and emancipate

yourself from the slavery of their compulsions. Your senses will

mislead and misdirect your mind if they (senses) engage themselves

in useless and meaningless acts when/while you are just loitering

and walking around. You should always make efforts to keep your

senses under your control all the time. The senses should observe

only that object which essentially needs to be observed. And the

objects which do not require observing, they should not be observed,

even if your mind is attracted towards them. For example, an

ordinary individual is passing through a bazaar. He reads the various

signboards of the shops and keeps peeping inside the shops without

any purpose. All this peeping is alright and permissible for a child,

because he has to know and learn about the various objects. But that

adult individual who is just loitering without any purpose, should

consider and think : “My eyes are engaged in observing these useless

objects (which are not of any use to me). As far as loitering is

concerned, it is fine. Watching your foot-steps too is necessary.

Protecting yourself from the vehicular traffic is also essential. But

during loitering, it is not correct and desirable to keep your mind


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engaged in the external world and observe as to what is happening in

the external world around you or who is that individual or why his

face has that strange look. If you keep yourself engaged in this

manner, then all those deeds amount to misdirected heedfulness. To

maintain your heedfulness in proper, desirable shape and condition,

you have to become fully conscious. Then the individual will learn

about his mind, as to where his mind gets engaged or whether that

engagement is correct or incorrect? If he thinks that getting involved

in such activities is incorrect, then with a bit of courage, he will be

able to prevent and disengage himself from the external world. In

such like situations, he will be able to control his physical body, just

as you control and drive a vehicle. To control your body means that

you do not indulge in any wrong deeds. Getting engaged in actions

such as eating, drinking, gossiping and loitering etc. will then become

purposeful.

This indulgence in physical gratifications does not let us

maintain our heedfulness. If the individual learns this great truth,

then while being engage in simple actions such as brushing teeth, or

during a walk, or while talking or gossiping with someone else, he will

at once check and control himself from indulging in gratifications and

he will also perform his deeds in correct and desirable manner. If the

individual keeps and maintains his heedfulness, he will also become

courageous and careful. If you maintain heedfulness along with

courage, then surely you have discovered as how to conquer and

control your compulsive habits. Compulsive habits and personal

nature strongly tempt us to indulge in gratifications. First time when

you take a stand against the wave of compulsive habits, its strength

lessens to some degree. When you take a stand against them for the


78

second time, their strength lessens again a little bit. If you have taken

such a stand for the third time, their strength, lessens a little more.

Continuing this effort to resist them, you will realise one day that the

compulsive habits which earlier affected and drove you so forcefully

and made you so helpless, now you too are ready to resist them with

equal ease. As soon as you resist and give up your compulsive habits,

your emancipated mind will experience the satisfaction and

happiness of this resistance and emancipation. This happiness,

which is the resultant of emancipation from compulsive habits, is

known as the happiness of an emancipated soul.

All types of habits are acquired through our sense organs (eyes,

ears, nose, tongue and skin), our mind and our intellect. The intellect

makes decisions according to demands and whims of habits. For

example when someone hurts you a little bit, your intellect will at

once decide and declare: “That person is very cruel and dangerous”. If

you have taken this false decision, you must also consider this fact :

“I got that insult because of my own fault. Out of reaction, the other

person used those bitter words against me. Hence I too am equally

responsible for this insult.” But no one regards himself responsible

for his own suffering. Under such circumstances, the intellect will at

once declare: “No, no, that person is actually very cruel. If he is

completely destroyed, it will be good.” All this drama is played by the

compulsive habits. They force the intellect to make decisions as per

their demands. Our mind, which is pre-occupied with desire, anger,

greed and selfishness, forces our body-machine to function

accordingly. It is just like the electric current which makes the

machine to work and run as soon as it is switched on. Compulsive

habits are the forces (currents of electricity) which forcibly drive the


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individual to function under their control and direction. To weaken

and reduce the life-style of compulsive habits, you have to cultivate

and maintain heedfulness. If the individual is heedful, he will also

become courageous and alert. As he continues to be heedful,

courageous and alert, the forces of compulsive habits too will

continue to become weak and powerless. To the extent the

compulsive habits become weak, to the same degree the mind will be

emancipated and the individual too will experience happiness. That is

why the forces of compulsive habits need to be reduced, weakened

and eliminated.

You have to weaken your personal nature of compulsive habits

with full effort. For example, an individual has given up his habit of

smoking. He will again and again remember his habit of smoking. At

times, this memory will be very powerful. Even if he wants to resist

this recall, his mind will feel the discomfort caused by this resistance

to smoke. But when he is able to resist smoking completely by

repeatedly avoiding smoking in one or two or ten days or in a month‟s

time, then, even if he remembers his habit of smoking, the individual

will at once become heedful and alert to shun and ignore his urge.

Now he will not experience as much discomfort as he experienced on

the first day of resistance of smoking. In this way, his powerful and

compulsive habit of smoking, which he had cultivated for a long time,

will become weak. The forceful habit will become so much weak that

it will lose its compulsive nature. Earlier, he never even became

aware of the statutory warning : “Smoking is injurious for health.”

Now, he understands this fact as well as he knows the harms caused

by this bad habit of smoking. As soon as he gets the urge, he at once

develops this feeling : “Hence do not smoke. It is of no use at all. Do


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not bother.” A little heedfulness and carefulness was able to erase the

urge for smoking. The mind then regained its peace and calm.

Earlier, the mind remained over-burdened with such thoughts : “You

should smoke. You cannot live without smoking. There is nothing

wrong and bad about smoking.” Even your mind and intellect

supported your habit of smoking, and took decisions in its favour. In

the same manner, you may develop the habit to seek the company of

smokers in order to satisfy your urge for smoking.

The individual gets attached and tied to the world for the

satisfaction of his personal motives. In Gita, this tendency has been

called Kam or Kamma (Desire). As a matter of fact, the individual

does not know how to live in isolation and all alone. Just consider,

how much happiness and satisfaction God grants to an individual

while he is sleeping, isolated and alone. Following this analogy, if the

individual could live in isolation (in himself) while he is fully awake,

he would not lose and miss anything. If you so wish and desire, you

can witness the whole world in your meditation. In other words, in

darkness, you shut your eyes and sit in meditation. Sitting in

meditation, you open your ears (make your ears alert) and you can

listen to all the sounds and discussions taking place in the world. If

you want to see in darkness, the whole world will come alive, as it

comes alive before your mind in a dream. God is so perfect that in

Upanishads, he has been referred to as all-comprehensive, all-

pervasive, omniscient and omnipresent. First of all, you must

recognise and comprehend in yourself the Universal Force (God),

which is operating this human body-machine. It is a pity that living

beings do not even bother to know and understand that Universal

Force, but instead are lost in their bickering of „mine-and-thine‟. This


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story state of „mine-and-thine‟ exists only so far as we meet each

other face to face in this world. When somebody appears before you,

then you develop an identity. For example, when your son comes

before you, at once you develop the complementary role of a father.

You acquire the identity of a father.

Man always wants to become an important individual. In other

words, he experiences and relishes happiness by achieving a status.

This strong urge has been called as the “Bhav-Sagar” or the Sea of

Insatiable Desires (Bhav-Trishna). In Sanskrit, the word „Bhav‟ means

„becoming‟ or „being‟. Man wants that he should attain (become or be)

„something‟ in this world. He relishes and enjoys in „becoming or

being somebody important‟. Sometimes, he is called the learned

person, the intellectual person, or the wealthy person. When he gets

some respect and honour at some place, he becomes respectable and

honourable. When he gets some contentment, he is called a

contended person. If he suffers a bid, he is called the sufferer and

referred to as the person who is making efforts to escape from his

sufferings. In some situations, he becomes the brave one. Thus the

main objective in the world is „becoming or being somebody or

something significant.‟ And this insatiable desire (to become

somebody important or being something significant) is called „Bhav-

Trishna‟. This insatiable desire for becoming or being somebody or

something important, is so strong and paramount that when the

individual is not able to become or be somebody important through

honest, right and ethical means, he adopts dishonest and devious

ways to achieve his objective. For example, the individual has not

performed any act of bravery but makes false boasts of bravery, and

declares himself brave. In the same manner, an individual has not


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given anything in charity, but he declares himself charitable and

generous. In the same way, one person was narrating to another

person: “Mr. so-and-so – talked to me. Then I replied in the same

manner. When I scolded him a bit, he was set right and he came to

his senses.” Now see, the individual who was narrating, what was he

assuming and „becoming‟? In other words, he was trying to exhibit

and establish his ego in this way. Everybody in this world is busy in

developing and flourishing his ego. The desire of the ego „to become or

to be‟ somebody very significant in the world, is so strong that right

from childhood, the ego goes on developing and expanding. The ego

declares thus: “I must always exist and survive. At no time, I should

be ignored, lose my identity and significance. I must never be

neglected.” Actually, the ego has no definite way to ensure its

significant existence for ever. In other words, the ego does not know

how to survive independently and maintain its glory, except through

making false claims. The person does not know that he can lead a

happy and comfortable life by living within his soul. As soon as the

individual who worships and adores his ego, sits in isolation and

alone, he will think in this manner : “Look, two persons are sitting

there. Let me join them. I can get recognition from them.” After

joining the two persons, he starts listening to their dialogue. He starts

participating in the discussion and also expresses his view-point.

Thus, he is able to manifest his ego either in the form of a listener or

in the form of a talker. In this world, your „becoming someone

important‟ is not going to last forever, and in the end, you have to

become a non-entity, ignored and neglected. You should always

remember in your mind that the desire to „become somebody


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significant‟ in this world, is only for social and mutual exhibition. It is

only in relation to each other.

But you must pay attention and recognise that one Supreme

Force which is abiding within you, and performing and controlling all

the functions of your body, which is also managing and controlling all

the events of the whole universe. All the philosophers, seers and

saints have extolled and recommended to recognise this fact. And

once you witness and recognise this Supreme Force (this ultimate

reality), all your ignorance (Avidya) will be dispelled and dissolved

forever. Ignorance (Avidya) means the covering over the real soul or

the camouflage on the soul. Because of this covering, the real soul is

not experienced, although it is making the heart beat with its force, it

helps in digestion our food, it assists in the growth and development

of the human body, it is managing and controlling all the works of

this world with its cognitive power (knowledge). But this Supreme

Force is not perceptible. We can comprehend and grasp this Supreme

Force, when our mind gets free from the futile objects of this world.

To achieve your goal, you have to conquer and control your

sleep a bit. It does not mean that you have to give up sleep

completely. In other words, you should sleep during the hours meant

for sleeping. But it is not correct that whenever your mind has no

work (whenever you are not engaged in work), you go to bed and lie

down. This type of lying down produces only lethargy and laziness.

When you control your sleep with your own effort, then your inner

eye will open and you will be able to know and recognise that

Supreme Force which is abiding within you. With your effort if you

once comprehend this Supreme Force, you will come to know all the

various ways of your mind. The split-second reaction to every


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momentary action is the most important function of mind, because it

is recording and registering each and every thing. Because mind

exists in every living being equally and uniformly, it is given the name

“Prajapati”. And Prajapati is Brahama‟s son. Mind gives birth to each

and every type of feeling. It controls and operates the human body-

machine in a uniform manner. Some thinkers hold that mind exists

only in living human beings. But the fact is that mind exists in all

living creatures. It is not the monopoly of living human beings.

Because mind exists universally inside each and every living creature,

it has been given the name “Prajapati.” Mind imposes a very rigid

regime of its rules and conditions. It forces every living creature to

adopt its set standards. For example, when mind is not engaged with

the external world, it induces sleep. The one great weakness of a

human being is that he starts enjoying the comfort of sleep too much

and thereby becomes a bit lazy and lethargic. Because of laziness, the

memory power of the mind becomes weak and the mind starts

neglecting its main function of recording and registering each and

every action and reaction. In other words, mind does not pay full

attention to “Prajapati”, because of its laziness, induced by sleep.

First you should control your sleep. Then you should awaken

Consciousness within you and make efforts to comprehend and grasp

the reality abiding in you. By abandoning the comforts of sleep, and

instead, if you start making efforts to recognise the inner reality, you

will learn this fact : as soon as you disengage your mind from the

world, your mind starts going to sleep. And sleep is a universal

phenomenon. Prajapati is enacting this drama universally among all

the living creatures of the world.


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The day you are able to recognise this inner reality, you will at

once suggest to habitual nature: “Ok, I do not get angry and take ill of

your demands. But now I have different goals to pursue.” After this

decision, you do not follow the demands of your habitual

compulsions. The religious life can be practised and lived by opposing

the demands of your habitual nature with courage and by adopting

the correct, ethical way of living. The mind starts inducing sleep at

such a time. You have to oppose your mind in order to conquer the

desire to sleep. The mind, affected by lethargy and laziness, will like

to shut your ears. If you try to listen to something from the external

world, your mind will get annoyed and irritated. By abandoning the

comforts of sleep, if you oppose your mind, then slowly and slowly

your ears will start functioning and become active and you will start

listening the external sounds. In this manner, your mind will become

active and alert by abandoning your sleep. When your mind becomes

active and starts thinking, then during thinking and meditation, you

will get flashes of the inner, divine knowledge and you will

comprehend and grasp the inner reality. The divine knowledge will

enable you to learn : “What constitutes a living being? How and why

he is tied to the external world? What are the various problems faced

by a living being? How these various problems push the living being

in different directions? In other words, how and why the individual

gets attracted towards the external world?” Nature is concealing all

this divine knowledge concerning the inner reality.

The individual, who is lost in the worldly engagements, is not

aware of his inner existence. He thinks that comforts of life exist only

in the external world and in the company of other persons. That is

why he develops relationships with others in order to gain and enjoy


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those worldly comforts. In other words, he develops relationships

such as father, son, brother, etc. Even in his lonely moments, he

continues remembering those ties till he goes to sleep and gets up

next morning, again remembering about those old relationships.

Thus he keeps the world within himself even while he is sleeping and

wakes up with his feelings for the world. In this manner, he keeps

thinking and worrying day and night (all the times) about the persons

and products of the world. He does not try even a bit to understand

that immortal God who is abiding within him, and these are His

Forces which are managing and controlling the world as per His

orders and His will. You have to be heedful in order to understand

your inner powers. Further, you have to be brave and courageous in

order to remain heedful and also to understand the Divine Power

abiding inside you. If you remain heedful, you will also become

conscious of your fetters as well.

For instance, there is an object of your interest. You carefully

view and survey that object and a perception is established in your

mind. This viewing and surveying is the first fetter (Drishti-Bandhan).

The moment the perception is formed, many kinds of doubts and

fears will appear with regard to the attainment of those objects that

bring happiness and the avoidance of these objects that bring

suffering. There will be an apprehension, a fear that such a situation

may not arise that should prove an obstacle in the way of achieving

that particular worldly object in future. This „suspicion‟ is the second

fetter (Sanshey-Bandhan). Then the individual will start worrying

about his obligations, duties and responsibilities. He worries that “he

should have done like this or he should not have done like this. It is

not correct to do this, etc.” This constitutes the third fetter of undue


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obligatory consideration for rules and regulations (Sheel-Vrat

Bandhan). Due to love and attachment with the persons and

products of the world, human mind is always lost and entangled in

them for getting happiness. Mind cannot forget them. In other words,

mind is always attracted towards them. This is called the fetter of

Love and Attachment (Raga Bandhan). Where-from the mind gets

some unhappiness, it develops bitterness and hatred towards them.

Such persons and products become very undesirable and mind wants

to get rid of them. Even these undesirable persons and products keep

the mind entangled in them. In other words, even these persons and

products keep the mind tied to them. Mind keeps on ruminating as

how to get rid of such objects which bring unhappiness. This is called

the fetter of Malice and Hatred (Dwesha Bandhan). These two fetters

of Attachment and Aversion (Raga-Dwesha Bandhan) are present in

the form of „Chita‟. „Chita‟ is the very deep and strong fortress of the

mind. „Chita‟ personifies constant thinking and pre-occupation with a

certain topic which flows within the individual like a stream of

consciousness. In this manner, the fetters of Attachment and

Aversion (getting attached to objects which bring happiness and

avoiding and getting rid of those objects and situations which bring

unhappiness) keep the mind entangled and engaged. When the fetter

of Attachment seeps deep into the mind and the mind is compelled to

act according to the fetter, then that state of the mind (yearning for

happiness) is called „Moha-Chita‟, or attachment consciousness.

When the mind is not able to perform according to its plans, it

experiences unhappiness to such a great extent that it becomes

oblivious of its surroundings. Mind ruminates : „What should I do? I

am helpless. I have lost control on everything.” This state of the mind


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is called “Moha Bandhan” or fetter of attachment. You should advise

your mind by loudly proclaiming : “O mind, do not get upset if things

are not happening according to your wishes. Forget such things.

There is no use to worry about events which occurred under the

compulsions of the time and the circumstances.”

Controlled by the forces of his irresistible habits, the individual

proclaims : “Today, it so happened with me that I could not even

smoke a cigarette (Beedi), nor I could drink tea.” In such a situation,

you should advise and direct your mind thus “Why should your

bother? If you could not satisfy your habit of smoking or drinking tea,

what loss is there? You have not died by missing them. Food is

essential for survival. But the habit of smoking or taking tea is not

essential for survival.” It is only the thoughts of attachment and

aversion which keep your mind busy and ruminating about them. It

is these fetters of useless objects of this mundane world which do not

let the individual pursue the path of divine deliverance (Mukti) with

his sincere efforts. If you examine and study the world very carefully,

you will conclude that it is the network of fetters such as attachment

and aversion which is spread over the whole world. There is nothing

else in the world. The individual is so much entangled and engaged in

these fetters of the world that he has risked even his own spiritual

salvation.

To give an illustration. Mr. A once spoke harsh words to Mr. B.

Even though Mr. A happened to be Mr. B‟s father, yet Mr. B took it ill.

At that time Mr. B forgot all the good and sweet words spoken earlier

by Mr. A as his father. Mr. B forgot how much care and love Mr. A

took in bringing up Mr. B. All those facts completely disappeared

from Mr. B‟s mind. After hearing the harsh words, Mr. B‟s mind got


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pre-occupied : “Why such harsh words were used against me? It is

very undesirable.” In this illustration, you can notice and see how a

few harsh words have affected the attitude of Mr. B and how much

his mind is smouldering due to the harsh words. At that time, Mr. B

is not able to recognise and recall all the love and care of his father.

His mind is pre-occupied and ruminating the few harsh words

spoken by his father. This illustration highlights how the acquired

attitude affects one‟s outlook towards the external world. At that

time, that individual is not able to recall and recognise the good

qualities of others. This weakness is known as the fetter of wrong

feelings or wrong attitude resulting in the generation wrong behaviour

(Drishti-Shrishti Bandhan). If the individual gives up a little of his

pride or ego, then he will not react to the harsh words used against

him and thereby feel hurt. Then he will find everywhere the one and

only God. He will find only One Consciousness-in-General, only one

Supreme Spiritual Power, controlling and managing the whole

universe, infusing life into the physical, material body, organizing

everything and all the deeds of mankind in the whole world. When

the individual accepts and acknowledges that one Supreme Power,

his mind, which is all shattered and scattered in the external world,

will experience complete peace and become free from all the worldly

burdens. He will realise that all fetters have dissolved and

disappeared. In such a state of mind, the individual will not find

himself entangled and enslaved anywhere in the external world.

When the individual is alone and awake, he will experience unique

divine peace and happiness and he will achieve spiritual stability as

well. He will comprehend and grasp this Supreme Power, only when

he gives up the fetters of this mundane world.


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God in the form of Cosmological Consciousness is ever present

and all-pervading, everywhere in the whole external world. You

should formulate and develop such pious attitude and respectful

sentiments for this intangible and imperceptible reality. You should

be happy in others‟ happiness. You should develop and cultivate

loving kindness and friendly attitude (Maitri). You should be

sympathetic and compassionate in others‟ sufferings (Karuna). You

should be heedful that at no time, others may suffer because of your

behaviour or others‟ happiness gets upset and spoiled. You should

praise and applaud others‟ merits, and good qualities (Mudita). You

should ignore others‟ demerits, defects and sins. In other words, you

should not notice and bother about them. This attitude is known as

„Upeksha‟. You should also develop mental tolerance for others‟ minor

mistakes (Kshama). In other words, you should not develop negative

feelings of punishment against them. Instead of negative feelings, you

should develop capacity for tolerance and peaceful acceptance for

them. In this manner, you have to develop and practise respectful,

pious and religious attitude for others. You should lead this type of

life in the external world. In other words, such an individual with

spiritually awakened soul will appear to an ordinary person like other

common people of the external world. In reality his soul always

remains stable and constantly established in God Almighty. He

sincerely manages his life by heedfully performing his deeds in the

external world. But he will not be able to lead a fully devoted and

pious spiritual life. He may think : “I am living a heedful life. I am not

interfering with others and I am leading life alone and in isolation. I

keep myself to myself. I do not bother others, nor I bother about

others.” But leading this type of life in the world is not very


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commendable and the best life. Instead, you should mingle and mix

with others to realise and recognise the all-pervading and

omnipresent Spiritual Force in the external world. Leading this type

of life will be regarded as true initiation into devotion and dedication

for God. If you are more concerned with your own happiness and do

not bother about the sufferings and discomforts of others, this

situation will indicate that you are more selfishly attached to your

own personal worldly comforts and material happiness, and you have

not as yet started spiritual and godly way of life. You are living in

society, but you neglect and ignore your next-door neighbor and do

not observe social etiquettes and courtesy. You always feel : “Do not

bother about that neighbor. What do I have to gain from that

neighbor?” In such circumstances, your poor, helpless neighbor will

definitely feel hurt and he will develop negative attitude for you :

“This man does not even bother about his neighbours and is very

asocial.” Remember, if you want to worship the manifest, tangible

and visible manifestation of God Almighty, then you must give and

observe due respects and regards for your neighbor. If you talk to him

in endearing and affectionate words, you too will experience the

satisfaction and happiness generated in him by your loving words.

You should always behave with him in a friendly and fraternal

manner. By this practice, you lose nothing. When your behaviour

expresses love and affection for him, it takes only a little, limited and

brief period of time. After that moment, you are not interacting with

him. In other words, he will not develop a negative attitude towards

you because of your respectful and affectionate behaviour towards

him. Thus, he will not develop negative impression about you,

thereby you will not be affected by the fetters of negative feelings and


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biased attitude. When you adopt this pious way of life, your mind too

will remain unperturbed, calm and serene, when you sit in

meditation. This type of mental poise will be the most congenial

atmosphere for meditation.

Selfish motives keep people engaged and lost in the world. That

selfishness keeps them entangled in their worldly pursuits and these

worldly pursuits are mostly of the nature of fetters. Always keep in

sight and remember that it is the same Divine Consciousness which

is omnipresent and all-pervading in everything and every being. It is

also abiding within you as well. That is why you should worship and

adore that Divine Consciousness by practicing the great ten merits

for liberation, such as loving kindness and friendly attitude towards

others. You must not feel jealous of others‟ happiness and comforts,

nor you should ever disturb and spoil their happiness. If you notice

pain and suffering among others, you should develop and cultivate

sympathy for such people. Even if you have no means and are not

able to mitigate and eradicate others‟ sufferings, you should not be

bereft of the feelings of sympathy. Nor you should even hurt others‟

ego by flourishing and flaunting your sympathetic behaviour. If you

observe and notice even small minor merits in others, you should

highlight and appreciate those merits. If others lack merits, and have

only demerits and defaults, then you should ignore such demerits

and defaults, intentionally.

Once a saintly person was travelling on foot. He was passing

through a village. Someone enquired from him : “Mahatma Ji, how

did the people of the village behave?” The Mahatma replied that the

people of the village were very nice. That person again enquired :

“Why do you declare them as nice people? Did they serve you


93

properly and looked after you nicely?” The Mahatma replied : “There

was no occasion for serving me nicely, with care and courtesy.” That

person reacted : “If there was no occasion to serve you or to take care

of you, then how and why do you call them a nice people?” The

Mahatma replied : “The people of this village are nice in the sense

that nobody hurled stones on me, nobody spoke ill-words and abused

me either, and nobody stopped my passage and created hurdles in

my way. If they had not been nice, they would have created problems

and blocked my passage. In other words, they would not have let me

pass through their village comfortably and peacefully. They would

have looked at me with suspicious eyes, and would have put

undesirable and unpalatable questions. That is why the people of this

village are really nice.” The moral of the story is : If nobody served you

anything good and in desirable manner, but then nobody treated you

badly and in undesirable manner either. Thus the conclusion is : If

one has not behaved badly, this also amounts to good behaviour in a

way.

When an individual does not harm and injure others, then his

behaviour should be treated as good behaviour. And if he behaves in

a bad manner, in that case, his bad behaviour should be ignored.

You should adopt this attitude : “Do not take notice of the bad

behaviour. The helpless, poor fellow could not exercise control over

his bad behaviour, because perhaps his mind was entangled and

engaged in many rigmaroles. For the sake of achieving his own

happiness, he was indulging in strange and unacceptable behaviour.

He might have behaved in the bad manner unintentionally and

mindlessly. Let us ignore it. Let us not pay any attention to his bad

behaviour.” If you adopt this attitude, it is called “affecting ignorance


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towards others sins and weaknesses (Upeksha)”. If you remain

upright in your behaviour with others, you will feel both comfortable

and courageous while pursuing this path of piety. If you fail to

remain upright, then take it for granted that your bad behaviour is

the result of your forceful, irresistible habits (Nature/Prakriti), which

ensure only their own gratification and convenience. In other words,

your bad behaviour was controlled and dictated by your acquired,

irresistible habits which are mostly bad in themselves. When you lose

a bit of your comforts and happiness, your habits will at once protest

and revolt. When you experience a bit of discomfort, suffering, and

inconvenience, even then your habits protest and revolt. At that time,

your habits start making wrong resolves and start understanding and

analyzing facts wrongly; your habits start exciting and inciting your

mind rashly, and your mind starts planning, thinking and pursuing

wrong deeds. When you start living and leading your life completely

pre-occupied with thoughts of the world, then this life will be wasted,

and you will not achieve anything good and great at the end. You will

not be able to concentrate and consolidate your mind. Under such

circumstance, how can you achieve and enjoy happiness and peace?

Everybody wants to enjoy comforts, happiness and peace in the

world. Our great saints, seers and sages too have recommended that

the mind must be withdrawn from the external world without any

pre-conditions. The real meanings of the words “withdrawal of mind

without any pre-conditions” can be understood and grasped by the

following illustration and explanation : On getting a cigarette (Bidi),

the mind of the smoker experiences satisfaction and happiness in the

hope of gratifying his conditioned and irresistible habit for smoking

and thereby for a short time, his mind withdraws and gets liberated


95

from his habit. In other words, on getting a cigarette, the mind of the

smoker gets liberated from the bondage of smoking for a short time.

There are many other similar examples, such as attractive eatables.

The mind wants to enjoy sweets and the individual gets them from

the market and gratifies his mind. In this manner, his mind gets

liberated from the discomfort of his unfulfilled desire for eating

sweets for a short time. In a similar manner, you have to liberate

yourself from the desire for enjoying respect and honour, etc., in

society. If somebody bestows on you respect and honour, your mind

will experience a lot of happiness and satisfaction. These small, little

comforts and joys are mostly controlled by the conditions of the

external world, i.e., these are dependent on the outside worldly

factors. But when your mind becomes calm and peacefully satisfied

without the gratification of any such pre-conditions, only then you

achieve salvation (Kalyan). Salvation means getting liberated without

any pre-condition of gratification of desire for status and honour or

the pre-condition of satisfaction of habits and addictions fro material

objects. Only then the mind will experience both divine peace and

ecstasy (Ananda).

The divine ecstasy, without any pre-conditions of the external

world, is granted and bestowed only by Almighty God. When the mind

gets liberated from the external engagements of the world and the

liberated mind gets fully concentrated and consolidated with the Life-

Force, then you will experience the unique divine ecstasy in your fully

alert and awakened mind. Such divine ecstasy is bestowed only by

Almighty God. After achieving and experiencing this divine ecstasy,

the individual will at once declare. “I have achieved, whatever I

wanted to achieve. It is the supreme, ultimate achievement. Now,

there is nothing left to know, to do or to achieve. In this regard, I do


96

not heed and bother whatever other people of the world may say”. But

unless the individual experiences this divine ecstasy, he can

experience only the limited and conditional joys of the external world.

The mind remains engaged and entangled in the chores of the

external world, saying : “I have not achieved my cherished goal. I

should go to a different, new place and try my luck there. Meanwhile,

I should first complete this work. Then I should complete the other

pending work.” All types of happiness, achieved through the persons

and products of the external world, are not going to last forever. The

inner spiritual happiness is bestowed only by the Supreme

Consciousness. You can experience this divine ecstasy during your

waking state and you fully know, comprehend and understand it. You

do not feel anything lacking in this divine ecstasy. And this divine

ecstasy bestows an everlasting peace and serenity.

You should make all-out efforts to achieve and experience this

divine ecstasy. You should be always heedful in all your deeds. As

has been narrated in the illustration of walking under the sun, in the

same manner, you must remain heedful in all your daily activities.

You should take care of both your body and mind. Your mind gets

entangled in many things of the external world. It has also been

explained in the illustration of vocal interaction and conversation,

how the mind gets upset and excited by and through hot

conversation and how it reacts with such rash and uncivilised words.

If you remain heedful at that occasion, you will be able to avoid and

stop your uncivilised and rash words, even during the time when you

are uttering them. In this manner the individual must remain heedful

all the time in all the situations, so that he may not indulge in any

undesirable and wrong deed in the external world. This is the essence

of this whole discourse.


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(20-12-1986)

This discussion has been continuing for the last two or three

days as how to keep the mind free from all types of anxieties and

fetters. The calm and peaceful mind experiences a unique

contentment and bliss. If the individual remains entangled in the

external world, then his Life Force and Spiritual Knowledge get so

much dissipated, shattered and scattered that he develops physical

diseases and mental disorders, to such great extent that he remains

upset and worried all the time. To get escape and relief from these

concerns, the individual should remain careful and heedful all the

time. With the help of meditation, he should also understand that the

goals and gains for which his mind remains engaged and entangled in

the external world, are not at all meaningful and important. All the

worldly means and materials which you garner and gather for your

comforts and enjoyments, these will last only for a short time. These

means and materials are not permanent and ever-lasting. Every

comfort of the external world is temporary and limited. Most worldly

comforts are constrained and controlled by age factor. For example,

some comforts are available and enjoyed during childhood. Certain

comforts are available and enjoyed during youth only. Some other

comforts are related to the available physical energy, such as the

enjoyment of delicious foods and drinks and the ego-satisfaction by

social status and social recognition. There are some other comforts

which are dependent on the health status of the individual. The

breathing process too is affected when the mind is engaged and

entangled in the external world. His body parts too do not perform


98

their functions in a normal way at that time. All these facts have been

repeatedly mentioned in the earlier spiritual discourses. You should

mend your habits. Even if you experience a little inconvenience and

discomfort during that time, you should be able to tolerate all that.

You should also be able to renounce willingly some material, external

comforts, for which you are habitual and from which you will be

deprived later. All these steps you have to undertake and ensure

yourself. Remember that you are living along with other persons in

the social environment in this world. You as an individual have duties

and responsibilities towards this social group (society) as well. If the

individual does not behave properly and according to social norms,

he will antagonize the minds of the social group. When the individual

fails to behave properly with others in the society, then the members

of that social group (society) will restrict and restrain your improper

behaviour. In such a situation, you must get free from all such

restrictions, restraint and from the social stigma and social

ostracism. Only then your mind, which is now free from the fetters of

social status, social prestige and social recognition, will become

poised and stable in itself. For example, suppose you misbehaved

with another person. You did not talk to him as you should talk in a

civilised manner. Perhaps you were agitated, you were excited and

angry or your wish was not fulfilled, etc. Thus an agitated and excited

mind perhaps would fail to behave properly. If the individual remains

very heedful and his mind is under control, then he would be able to

behave properly, as socially expected. Remember, God is present in

every individual in such a subtle way that He is not visible, but He

can be felt. He administers and rules over the whole universe with

His unique power of divine dynamism (Maya) in such a manner, as if


99

you would come face to face with Him physically, fully tangible and

perceptible. And remember you will get reciprocal behaviour, that is,

the same type of behaviour and reaction as you had manifested

yourself. Had you made efforts to control and guide your behaviour

heedfully, had you restrained your mind in your reaction and

behaved properly and carefully, then Almighty God, who is abiding

and present within the other person as well, would have rcognised

how you were making efforts to be heedful and control your language

and vocal behaviour. This effort made by you would generate in the

other person love as well as confidence in your sincerity. If you react

in excitement with anger and out of pride, and then talk to the other

person, then Almighty God, dwelling within the other person will at

once recognise and comprehend your mental state. It is actually

Almighty God who experiences and recognises your latent, hidden

feelings and inner, concealed intentions. He will, with His divine

dynamism, make the other person react in the same manner and

behave with you as you behaved, and this reciprocal reaction of the

other person will not be palatable and comfortable for you.

You have to devotedly practise the ten great divine qualities in

order to conduct yourself properly outside in society or in the social

group. Why are these called great divine qualities? By cultivating

these divine qualities in himself, the individual will not remain

mentally weak in the outside world. For example Person A sometimes

bosses over Person B to establish and show off his personal

superiority. Sometimes, Person A may even harass Person B. And at

times, Person A may even utter unsavoury and undesirable words to

Person B without any reason, because thereby the ego of Person A

will be satisfied. May be the mind of Person A was feeling bored with


100

his idleness and he started behaving badly. As a result of the

undesirable behaviour of Person A, Person B also got irritated and

concluded that Person A has disturbed and upset his peace of mind

and thereby his meditation. In such a situation and with his irritated

frame of mind, he will not be able to attend to anything, whether it is

prayer or Pranayam or any other important task. His mind will not be

able to concentrate because his mind is pre-occupied with such

thoughts: “This person is behaving rudely and in uncivilised manner

out of his pride. He is misbehaving and making my life miserable.”

When your mind gets disturbed and upset with such thoughts, you

should divert your mind by thinking on these lines : “I should not

bother. If this poor fellow derives happiness by behaving in the rude

manner and flourishing his ego and does not know any other

alternative way to derive happiness, it is fine. I too should feel happy

because he is happy. I should not feel jealous of his happiness.”

Thinking on these lines in your solitude, you should not find fault

with his manifest, overt rude behaviour. You should experience and

worship God in all His overt manifestations in the form of living

beings. You should remain unaffected. Your mind should remain

undisturbed and undistracted under every situation. For example,

outside in the world, the birds are chirping, the buses are running,

the aeroplanes are flying and cassettes are playing music. You do not

feel bothered and upset by all these distracting conditions. You mind

keeps its calm, and remains unaffected. Your mind should

understand and accept that God is omnipresent and all-pervasive.

When your mind does not feel disturbed and distracted by anything

in the external world, and instead remains unaffected and calm, it

indicates that your mind is free from the fetters. This state is called


101

Liberation (Mukti). The liberated mind is always enjoying immense

happiness, and this happiness is ever-lasting, it is limitless, and

boundless.

There was a Mahatama (Sadhu). He lived in a hut in the midst

of fields. There were factories at a little distance from his hut. These

factories worked at night also and produced noise. Even if the

Mahatama got up in the middle of night to meditate, his mind would

get distracted by the noise of the factories. He used to brood : “I get

up in the middle of the night so that my mind should not get

distracted and disturbed. The whole world sleeps at night, and the

middle of night is the best time for meditation. But these factories are

operating even during night and making noise and thereby it

becomes uncongenial for meditation. People, like this Mahatama,

start condemning the world because of their own selfish needs and

motives. Such people developed hostile strange attitudes. In the

situation mentioned above, what is the use of finding fault with the

functioning of factories? The factories will not stop their operations.

As a result, the Mahatama will never get congenial conditions for his

meditation. Then where in the world will the Mahatma go to get

noise-free, peaceful environment for his meditation? The fact is that

where- so- ever he may go, there will be much more distracting and

distributing environments. The Mahatma kept brooding about his

uncongenial environments, which were disturbing his meditation, so

much so that he got much worried and anxious. When he was all lost

in his worries, he came across another Mahatama and narrated to

him his predicament, requesting; “Please help and guide me as to

what I should do. I built my hut in the midst of fields, away from the

humdrum of life, in solitude to practise meditation in peaceful


102

environments. But now- a-days, people are setting up factories

everywhere, so much so that even my hut in the midst of fields, has

lost its solitude and peace. There is noise throughout the night and

this noise disturbs my meditation.”

After hearing the narration of the first Mahatma, the second

Mahatama put a question: “Do you really very much love

meditation?” The first Mahatama replied: “Yes, I experience maximum

happiness in meditation.”

Then the second Mahatama replied: “If you so much love

meditation and really want to experience happiness, then you can get

happiness in sleep as well. But if you really want to reap the harvest

of spiritual and divine fruits only through meditation, you should

meditate on this topic: „When these factories are operating, hundreds

of persons are working in them. They earn money every month. And

with that money, some persons purchase clothes for their children.

Others purchase sweets. Thus, so many people experience

happiness.‟ Meditating about the happiness of all these persons, you

should forget your own mind. Meditate about others‟ happiness and

thereby let your mind experience its happiness along with others‟

happiness. Your mind should develop the sentiment called „friendly

kindness‟ (Maitri Bhavana). You should make your mind strong by

cultivating the sentiment of friendly kindness. All this amounts to

meditation and you so much love to practise meditation. Remember

that you should not go against the scheme of things of the world

which is planed and organised by God. God is all-pervading,

omnipresent, manifest in everything and everywhere. Any you should

worship God in his manifested form.” The first Mahatama started

thinking and examining the advice and came to the conclusion : “The


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advice is indeed correct. Many persons are working in these factories.

I can even hear the sound of their laughter. When the noise produced

by the machines does not affect and spoil their happiness, then why

am I, sitting at a distance, getting agitated and upset by the noise?

These workers are human beings like me. I should rather get affected

by their happiness. All of them are happy in the midst of all the noise.

At this time, some workers might be enjoying their smoking. Other

workers might be enjoying their gossip. And some workers might be

happily engaged in their work. All these workers are poor and needy

people. By working in these factories, all of them will get their salary

on time. With the money they have earned, they must be happy to

meet all the needs of their families.” The Mahatama got deeply

immersed in such thoughts. He started meditating on these lines. His

mind started experiencing happiness when others felt happy. He felt

sympathy for them when they became upset and unhappy. Due to

meditation on these lines, the Mahatama, who earlier felt distracted

and disturbed by the noise of the machines, was now so much

immersed in his meditation that he even failed to notice the noise.

The philosophy of Yoga declares that unless you earnestly

cultivate and practise these four divine virtues of (1) Friendly

Kindness (Maitri) (2) Sympathy (Karuna) (3) Praise-worthy attitude

towards good qualities of others (Mudita) and (4) Affecting ignorance

towards sins and bad qualities of others (Upeksha), your mind is not

fit and ready for meditation. Divine and willful, earnest meditation

means that you should not at all bother about the condition of

external world, whether good or bad and you should withdraw your

mind completely from the external world with the help of honest and

sincere commitment to meditation. In this illustration, when the


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Mahatama started cultivating and practicing the divine virtue of

friendly kindness (experiencing happiness when others felt happy),

then instead of getting upset, he started withdrawing and retracting

his mind from the external world which facilitated his meditation. He

always remembered the words uttered by the second Mahatama as to

how the people working in the factories would earn salary, how with

the help of salary, these poor, needy workers would purchase toys,

sweets, and clothes for their children, how they would purchase other

articles and things for up-bringing their family members and how the

whole family would derive and achieve happiness. By engaging

himself deeply in such thoughts for one or two hours, the Mahatama

would get immersed in deep meditation. On the contrary, now his

meditation would get upset and disturbed whenever there was no

noise of the factories. Then he would enquire whether the factories

were closed for a holiday as there was no noise. He became so much

used to the noise from the factories that he never felt disturbed and

distracted in his meditation. His mind would get completely

concentrated in his meditation and he would become completely

unaware of the external world, exactly in the same manner and to the

same extent as is the mind of a sleeping person. After making efforts

for quite some time to hear the noise, only then he could hear a mild

and weak noise-like sound and realised that the factory was

operating. He felt that perhaps the noise had lost its intensity and

had become mild and weak, and less audible. Then immediately he

became conscious and asked himself as how-and-why the noise

would become mild and weak. In the end, when his mind came out of

the state of deep meditation and became fully alert and active, he

started hearing the loud, distracting and disturbing noise of the


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factories. Then the Mahatama at once declared : “Now, I understand

and fully know the formula of practicing real and true meditation as

enunciated and advised by that Mahatama.” This formula is :

„withdraw your mind completely from the external world and

concentrate it on only one object or idea.‟ This is the definition of

meditation. It was your own mind which was malicious, and because

of this fault, it would get angry, it would develop wrong and negative

attitudes towards others. And for the same reason, it would suspect

others. Your mind imagined : „This world is functioning in a bad

manner. This world is full of miseries, and sufferings and you should

seek your own happiness. In the world, the people make each other‟s

life miserable. How can they develop and collect some divine merit

(Punya) ?‟ In fact, all these are bad or wrong personal attitudes.

Because of your negative and wrong attitudes, because of your

distracted mind which is already affected and pre- disposed to ill-will,

and because of your senses, activated and alerted by your pre-

determined malicious mind, even the small minor sound appeared as

a big noise. But when the Mahatama concentrated and consolidated

his mind, the senses too stopped their hostility, ill- will, and anger

and the mind stopped paying attention to the noise. With the

continued practise of meditation, even his senses withdrew and

became dormant and neutral and the Mahatama stopped hearing any

sound or noise anymore. Then the Mahatama thought: there is no

need to sit and practise meditation. My mind feels more peaceful and

happy with my senses withdrawn from the external world than when

I used to sit and practise meditation earlier ( in a solitary place and in

the middle of night). So this is what is proclaimed as Happiness of

Liberation (Mukti Ka Sukh) , which can conveniently be achieved


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through control and withdrawal of senses from the external world. In

brief, what is meditation? When the mind attends and concentrates

on only one thing (idea or objects) at one time, so much so that the

mind ceases to notice or acknowledge its own existence, it is called

meditation. But remember, meditation is not possible without the

cultivation and practise of „friendly attitude‟ (Maitri). Hence the

cultivation and practice of friendly attitude towards other people is

fundamental and most essential. And further, thereby the world will

not become hostile to you. With your peaceful and calm mind, your

meditation practise will also get established and enriched.

Similarly, another yoga disciple used to complain; „Records and

tapes of devotional songs are played and replayed on loud- speakers

in temples in the early morning hours. The loud- speakers disturbed

the sleep of many people. And the person who wants to practise yoga

in the early morning hours, the loud- speakers also disturb his

meditation. The loud-speakers also disturb the studies of students

who have to appear in examinations.” He was also sympathetic for

those people who had to work for late hours and went to bed to sleep

very late. Can an individual ever get free from the philosophy of

criticism and condemnation of the scheme of things in the world?

Rather the individual gets more entangled in the world by practising

this philosophy. He will never experience the joy generated by the

practice of meditation. This yoga disciple too sought guidance from a

Mahatama, who advised: “My dear fellow! Many people must be

deriving benefit by hearing the cassettes of devotional songs. Many

others must be experiencing happiness. That is why the cassettes are

played and replayed. There are many others who must have

developed appreciative attitude, declaring that the cassettes contain


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and relay devotional songs in praise of Almighty God, so it is much

better to enjoy the devotional songs.” The Mahatama further advised

the disciple: “Why don‟t you start appreciating the merits of the

devotional songs? And why don‟t you relish and share the happiness

experienced by so many devotees? First of all, you must cultivate and

develop friendly attitude towards everybody (Maitri) and Love of the

Lord (Bhakti) who is all-pervading and omnipresent. The awakening

and cultivation of „Love of the Lord‟ is the foremost deed of divine

merit. You will successfully develop and practise your meditation, as

well as you will also experience eternal peace and divine ecstasy.

Cultivation and practice of friendly attitude towards all (Maitri) is the

foremost divine merit, which is the primary characteristic of God.

„Friendly attitude for others‟ (Maitri Bhava) is one of the merits

of the Spiritual Power (Bhagwan) and He lets the world exist without

any interference whatsoever. He blesses them with peace, without

getting ruffled : “It is all fine. All living beings are innocent children.

They may be possessing weak minds. And the whole world is

comprised of such living beings. Perhaps they are not aware of their

ultimate goal and destination. That is why they are crazily pursuing

material goals and indulging in old sensual pleasures. Why should,

the Spiritual Power feel upset when the living beings feel happy with

the acquisition of temporary and ephemeral gains in the world?”

Similarly, whosoever may be the living being, without any

discrimination and distinction, you should remain happy and share

happiness of each and every living being of the world. This is called

„friendly attitude towards all‟ (Maitri Bhava).

Let the world continue as it used to exist. Be happy, when the

world is happy. You should not regard it as essential that you too


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should experience that same happiness. Rather you should renounce

that happiness which others are experiencing. But you should remain

happy when others are experiencing happiness. You should not get

jealous. You should not notice others‟ defects and defaults. If you

remember and recall others‟ sufferings, you should generate in your

mind sympathy and compassion (Karuna), even if you do not have

any means to mitigate their sufferings. Nobody can eradicate

sufferings from the whole world. But you should not be bereft of, and

be stingy with the emotions of sympathy. You should at least feel that

this person is suffering. Just as the Mahatama failed to notice the

noise produced by the factories when he got completely absorbed in

the comforts and happiness of the workers and their families and

developed feelings of sympathy for their sufferings, in the same way,

you too should get concerned with others sufferings and develop

feelings of sympathy and compassion for them. The sufferings of the

other person, even if he is your enemy, must evoke in your mind

feelings of sympathy and compassion. For example, suppose

somebody used to be your neighbour. He used to misbehave and hurt

you feelings. You had many complaints against him. Whenever you

remembered his sufferings, your mind experienced satisfaction and

happiness, thinking: “It is good. God has punished this cruel person.”

If your mind gets rid of such negative feelings of revenge and ill-will,

then you have adopted the path of God-loving and saintly people.

Those who are God-loving and saintly, they quietly bear and tolerate

the sufferings inflicted by others. But they never derive satisfaction

and happiness when others are suffering and are in pain. But

remember, this principle is not valid when somebody is inflicting fatal

blows. Our society consists of civilised human beings. In human


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society, it is not permitted to inflict fatal blows to each other. Many

times, it has been discussed and you have seen, that those who have

built houses, only they are the owners. Nobody can autocratically and

forcibly snatch this property. But among birds, it is a contrary

picture. When some bird builds a nest, it is destroyed and dismantled

by another bird, because birds do not possess the sense of justice;

they do not possess the essential ingredient of sympathy and

affection (Karma) as the human beings are blessed with. This world,

constituted by human beings, is the world of spiritual entities. This

world does not have so much fear, as is normally supposed and

imagined by your mind. Sometimes, you feel and declare : “This

person does not let me live in peace.” But you should not be afraid.

How can that person prevent you from enjoying peaceful life? Even at

this moment you are alive and kicking. What is actually required and

needed is that you should develop some tolerance power. You should

not get excited. You need to pacify your mind a bit, by having such

rational thoughts : How can anyone forcibly impose his will and alter

the world according to his own wishes? There will be reaction and

opposition from others against such a dictatorial behaviour. And this

reaction and opposition will prove the death-knell and root-cause of

the destruction and fall of the dictator. Even if somebody is suffering

as a result of his own evil deeds, we must have sympathy and

compassion for the sufferer, even though we are not able to render

any material help. On the other hand, suppose you derive some

satisfaction and happiness when the other person is suffering, then

in what manner this hostile attitude benefits you ? At best, your mind

will develop hostile, negative and revengeful feelings. And God forbid,

whenever you undergo sufferings, the other person will derive


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satisfaction and happiness from your painful state. That is why it is

preached that you should always exhibit and practise the feelings of

sympathy and compassion, even if this feeling lasts just for a moment

and is of short duration. You should cultivate and develop within

your mind the capacity to experience happiness when others become

happy, without bothering about the sources and means the other

person employed in achieving his happiness. You should protect your

mental peace and mental health. You should never bother about such

gossips and reports : “This man is a thief.” Or “This man tells lies.”

You should not get upset and become miserable by such reports

against the person. The maximum you may do for such a disreputed

person (and that too if the person is willing to listen and heed your

advice) is to guide him, affectionately and respectfully and make him

aware of the possible results of his deeds. If he accepts and values

your advice, well and good. And if he does not care for your advice,

what can you do? You are helpless. Under such circumstances, what

will you gain by spoiling your own peace of mind, by making your

mind worry and suffer for such a person. Instead, you should develop

such-like attitude : “This person is happy and satisfied with his way

of life and living. Why should I unnecessarily worry about such a

person and his life? I need not.” And if his evils are very prominent

and discernible, you should not worry about them. Rather you should

ignore them (Apeksha). In other words, there is no need to get upset

about his evil deeds. This is the best solution under such

circumstances. Develop and adopt the following positive outlook

towards life : Always feel happy, when others are happy. Never feel

jealous. Develop sympathy and compassion when others suffer. Do

not derive satisfaction out of others‟ sufferings. As much possible,


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observe and appreciate others‟ merits and good qualities and deeds.

Do not take note of others‟ misdeeds. And contrarily, if you record

others‟ bad deeds, your own tainted mind will give birth to ill-will and

generate anger. In your solitary moments, these negative and hostile

feelings will not let you live in peace. Cultivate and develop the ten

divine merits essential for Spiritual Liberation. Out of these, the first

four merits, that is (1) Friendly kindness (Maitri) (2) Sympathy and

compassion (Karuna) (3) Praiseworthy attitude towards good qualities

of others (Muditha) and (4) Affecting ignorance towards others‟ sins

and bad qualities (Apeksha) – these four merits control and regulate

your conduct and behaviour with others. Always remember that a

person behaves with others according to his mental outlook, mental

disposition and mental make-up. When your mind is angry and

annoyed, when your mind does not feel happy with the happiness of

the other person, and if convey your true, actual mental outlook to

the other person, you will realise that the other person feels hurt by

your mental outlook and that he does not like and approve it. And

when you talk to the other person, you will find that he regards you

as a double-faced person, that you have two different personalities –

one, visible, external personality and the second, hidden, internal

personality. You are not, as you should be – an integrated

personality, because internally (covertly) your mind is hostile and

bitter and externally (overtly) you somehow try to be friendly and

sweet. Internally, you feel contented at his sufferings, because you

are jealous of his happiness. But externally, when face to face with

the person (concealing your internal hostile feelings for the person),

you show much concern and anxiety for his sufferings, and in your

overt behaviour, you become generous and kind towards him. By


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maintaining two different, contradictory attitudes (mental outlooks)

for the other person, you can never be peaceful neither internally,

within yourself or ownself, nor externally, outside in the world. Let

me assure you that from what you externally pretend to be, from that

appearance the other person somehow understands your true, actual

internal intentions (feelings) and after understanding those intentions

(feelings), he will accordingly adapt his behaviour, either friendly or

hostile. But when you decide not to adopt the two contradictory

attitudes towards the other person (that is, covertly, feel contented

and happy at his suffering and overtly, feel concerned and worried for

his sufferings) and when you do not feel jealous of his happiness,

then your real, honest friendly attitude and outlook will produce and

transfer in the other person automatically a similar real, honest,

friendly attitude towards you. This silent, invisible, intuitive

transformation is the miracle of the Spiritual Power. Just as you

experience happiness within your own self by enhancing and

enriching your meditation, you should influence others in the world

in such a way that their life becomes more comfortable and happy.

Leading such a life is both great and glorious. If a person has

achieved happiness in this manner, then you too should feel happy

along with him. Thus friendly attitude (Maitri Bhava) towards others

is the first spiritual power. In the same way, you should develop and

cultivate sympathy and compassion for those who are suffering.

Thus, sympathy and compassion for others is the second spiritual

power. Sometimes others may hurt you because you cannot peep into

their minds and understand their true intentions. You should forgive

others for their evil intentions. In order to practise forgiveness, you

should think in this manner, “Done is done. I should ignore the hurt


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inflicted by the other person. Bickering with the other person is not

going to yield any good.” If you apply physical force, the other person

will not lag behind. He too will think to follow suit. Thus, it will result

in such a situation that you will never have spiritual happiness or

mental peace. You should sit in isolation and meditate about friendly

attitude. Gradually, with passage of time, when you develop and

inculcate the power of tolerance and forgiveness, then there will not

be negative hostile reaction from the other party as well. On the other

hand, if you keep your mind focused on the evil intentions of the

other person, you will never be able to sit in isolation and practise

meditation. Under such circumstances, how will you be able to

recognise the great spiritual truths of your inner world?

Anger does not let heedfulness to remain fully active and alert.

If your heedfulness does not remain fully active and alert, how will

you be able to conquer your bad habits. This entire palpable, visible

existence in the external world is the manifestation of Almighty God.

You must not commit any blunder or crime or sin against this

palpable, visible existence in the external world, which may block

your path to Spiritual Salvation (Moksha). If you are leading life

according to the worldly demands and needs, it indicates that your

precious life-breath and your mind have got entangled in the

external, material world to such a great extent that you cannot enjoy

peace and happiness in your solitary moments. You have to liberate

your mind from the material world. Your behaviour, controlled by the

afore-said fetters such as Affection and Aversion (Raga-Diwesha)

binds you with the material world. Let the other person behave in any

manner he likes, but your behaviour and temperament must be most

congenial, upright and excellent. Nobody should point out that you


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have committed a mistake. Normally, it is the fetters which are to be

served. All the Hindu Scriptures declare : “Only Consciousness needs

salvation. Only Consciousness achieves salvation. Only

Consciousness can be fully liberated. The dead matter needs no

salvation or liberation.” Consciousness means „to be aware and alive,

or to make yourself aware and active.‟ It does not mean „dead and

inactive‟. The whole of divine dynamism (Maya) of the external

material world makes your mind immune, inactive and ignorant of

the spiritual life. For example, when you see the other person enjoy

material comforts, you feel jealous. At that time, you should question

your mind : “O mind ! Why do you feel jealous?” By repeatedly

questioning your mind, you are making your mind „aware‟ or you are

„awakening‟ your mind. Your mind becomes aware of the feeling of

jealousy when you start pondering : “O mind ! Why do you feel

jealous? By feeling jealous of the other person‟s happiness, you will

not be able to spoil his happiness. Instead, you will spoil your own

happiness which you derived from relishing your food. Jealousy will

spoil your digestive system. It will also spoil your breathing system.

Your breathing will become abnormal because of your feeling jealous.

Instead of feeling jealous of the material comforts of the other person,

it is much better to be calm, peaceful and happy, O mind ! Also

remember that there are many individuals who do not have material

comforts. They are suffering. Whosoever is suffering, he deserves

sympathy and compassion, even though he is suffering because of his

own deeds.” Happiness, jealousy, sympathy, compassion … all these

are emotions. Anybody, who makes his mind „aware‟ (conscious) of

such emotions, he „awakens‟ his mind to such emotions. When you

repeatedly make your mind „aware‟ or „conscious‟ of something, and


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when you repeatedly ponder and think about something, it amounts

to „meditation‟. In this manner, your mind automatically gets

„awakened‟ or becomes „aware‟. Practice of meditation is no more a

problem for such a person. Meditation becomes so easy, because he

knows how to focus his mind, how to make his mind repeatedly

ponder and think about something. You are experiencing a variety of

emotions. Your mind is all the time flooded with emotions related to

the external material world. These emotions are called „mundane

emotions‟. Sometimes, you get upset and annoyed by seeing others

enjoy material comforts. Sometimes, you make fun of and laugh at

others sufferings. At times, you do not appreciate and admire others

merits out of jealousy. All such emotions are called mundane

emotions. These mundane emotions are usually experienced by

immature minds during childhood. An individual must make his

mind conscious and aware of these mundane emotions. In other

words, he must protect his mind from the mundane emotions.

Instead his mind should experience the right emotions and in the

right manner. Such an individual will automatically become

conscious of the great, glorious and rich joys of his inner, spiritual

life.

Keeping in mind the bigger benefit, you should give up the

smaller benefit. The bigger benefit means : you are able to sit in

isolation, fully awake, alert and meditate, and thereby you are able to

achieve and relish the spiritual peace and ecstasy within your soul. If

your mental attitude is not correct, then how can your behaviour

with others be correct? Your correct behaviour with others has been

named in Sanskrit as „Sheel‟ – „noble and right behaviour with others

in all events.‟ You do not know as to how the other person would


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behave with you, but your behaviour with that person must be

civilised, upright and correct. You must behave in the most civilised,

noble and gentle manner. Do not indulge in false pride, (Although you

do not possess a certain merit, yet you show off and pretend as if you

possess the said merit : this is called „false pride‟). Give up this false

pride. In other words, renounce your false ego. Surrender your false

ego at the feet of God, saying : „O God ! whatever you have blessed me

with, I am only that much. I have nothing of my own. I surrender my

self-pride, my ego at your feet.” Let us put this thought in more

simple words. God has blessed you with the merit called „Sheel‟. You

should behave with others in a civilised, noble and gentle manner.

Naturally people will recognise you as civilised, noble and gentle

person. And consequently, you develop and acquire the ego or self or

mental attitude of a civilised, noble and gentle person. Actually, it is

not other people who have bestowed on you the merit of „sheel

temperament‟. It is God residing within other persons who first

blessed you with the merit of „sheel temperament‟ and then He

Himself recognised your merit through the acknowledgement of other

people apparently. Thus, it is all a divine drama. You do not possess

anything of your own. You should always remember that all your

merits are granted by God or all your merits are blessings of God.

Always cultivate and practise the merits granted by God. Then other

people will recognise you as the person possessing those merits.

When other people recognise you as a civilised, noble and gentle

person, do not acquire this false self-pride that you have yourself

acquired and developed your merits. Instead, always remember that

all your merits are blessings of God. You should always continue to

practice your „sheel mental attitude‟. You must continue behaving


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with others in a civilised, noble and gentle manner, without any

affectation of self-pride. Renounce all your self-pride, your ego, your

„I‟, at the feet of God. Completely surrender yourself to God and

declare, “O God, whatever you have blessed me with, I am only that

much. I have nothing of my own. I have nothing acquired by my own

efforts. I surrender all my self-pride, if any, at your feet. I surrender

my ego at your feet. Howsoever you will bless me, I most humbly

accept and acknowledge it.” The essence of the pre-mentioned

thoughts is that the Spiritual Power or God resides in each and every

person, and the same Spiritual Power or God recognises the merits

and virtues inherent in each and every person. Your ego or self

consists of the merits and virtues ascribed, recognised and

acknowledged by others in your person and not by the merits and

virtues you pretend to possess or the merits and virtues you yourself

project and show-off to other persons. In other words, your Ego or

Self is bestowed on by the external world through the merits and

virtues ascribed and associated with your person, or in short, what

you mean to other people in the external world. An ordinary person of

the world usually maximizes and extols even small, minor merits and

virtues of his own child and suppresses the good virtues and merits

possessed by another child. Even if it is just a small good deed, but

the good deed always remains a good deed. The merits and virtues

will always be recognised and extolled as such. It is your nature or

your personal temperament which force you to perform bad deeds.

Living all alone in isolation can never reveal your bad deeds. If

someone performs a good deed, then you should recognise and

appreciate the good deed. Do not point out the bad deeds of others all

the time.


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On the other hand, you should always recognise your own

weaknesses. Remember, the physical body of every person is

primarily dirty and ugly intrinsically. If you notice all the time the

inherent, inner ugliness and stink of the physical body, can you ever

sit together near each other any time? You should observe and notice

only the Divine Consciousness in every person. You should always

notice, observe, recognise and adore the glowing Diving Light within

every person. You should always admire the glimmering, pulsating

flame of life, which indicates that the being is alive, sensitive, alert

and conscious. The ever-shining Divine consciousness, which is the

main source of knowledge in the world, is very attractive, engaging

and enticing. [The main source of all knowledge, our omniscient, all-

pervading Consciousness, present in every living being, is so very

attractive, engaging and enticing]. In the same manner, the opposite

is equally true. There is no need to notice and point out the ugliness

and mental sleaze of other persons. Instead you should observe,

appreciate and emulate the merits and virtues of others. You must

awaken, activate and consciously cultivate such noble, virtuous

feelings within you. If you neglect and ignore these virtuous feelings,

then you will exhaust and waste your life in the darkness of

ignorance, just as a drunk, intoxicated person remains unconscious

and ignorant of his surroundings. To shed your ignorance is called

becoming conscious and cogniscient of your inner spiritual truths

and divine knowledge.

When an individual is wielding the weapon of mental tolerance

and intellectual forgiveness (Kshama), then how can an evil-minded

person harm, irritate and enrage him? You should always and all the

time practise mental tolerance and intellectual forgiveness (Kshama).


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When a sadhu is richly endowed with the virtue of mental tolerance

and intellectual forgiveness, he may travel and visit any place

anywhere, without any fear, worry and anxiety. And when he is prone

to anger and is short-tempered, which is opposite of the virtue of

mental tolerance and intellectual forgiveness, he can never stay and

settle at one place for long. He cannot comfortably live among his own

loving ones, friends and relatives. That is why the virtue of mental

tolerance and intellectual forgiveness is regarded as a great spiritual

power. It is a virtue and hall-mark of godly persons and saints. God

who manifested, revealed and incarnated Himself in earlier times, he

consistently practised, propagated and propitiated this noble and

divine virtue of mental tolerance and intellectual forgiveness.

The virtue of „Noble and Right Conduct in all events‟ (Sheel)

means that the other person should not raise his finger and point out

your undesirable behaviour. And harbouring your misbehavior in his

mind, he may entertain feelings of revenge against you or plan

something evil and harmful against you. When a desire for a certain

object arises in the mind, counter it with the feeling of renunciation,

saying: “O mind, you have been relishing all varieties of things all

these years. Still you are yearning for this object. Have you not

enjoyed all types of material comforts? Have you not fulfilled all your

wishes and desires?” Ruminating and concentrating on such

thoughts, you should divert your mind to renounce your desire for

the object. Meditating in this manner, one day your mind will become

conscious of the need for renunciation. Even if the individual dies

while practising meditation in this manner and fails to attain the

highest and most-cherished goal of Deliverance (Mukti), he will surely

achieve his goal one day.


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There are ten Powers of Liberation (Mukti) for achieving freedom

from worldly bondage. These Powers have to be cultivated and

achieved with great efforts. These powers are not inherent in the

child. Nobody gets these Powers by birth. When you possess or

acquire these Powers of Liberation, then do not bother for anything

else. In whatever condition the world may be, there is no need to

worry at all. There is a story: Once God was loitering in the garb of a

Mahatama, when a person started teasing and troubling the

Mahatama without any reason. The Mahatama considered in his

mind as to how much can this person tease? The Mahatama thought

that he had already tolerated the maximum discomfort while sitting

to practise and perfect his meditation. He decided to examine and

study as to what degree this person could tease. Ruminating in this

manner, the Mahatama went on tolerating all the teasing and taunts.

In the end this thought came to the mind of the person who was

teasing as to why he was harassing the Mahatama unnecessarily

without any reason. Then the person started seeking forgiveness

because he realised that the Mahatama had the wonderful capacity of

toleration without any protest. The Mahatama demonstrated the

Power of Toleration. The Mahatama reconsidered and formulated this

opinion in his mind about the person : “This poor fellow was deriving

some comfort by teasing, because of his ignorance. It is a better

opportunity to cultivate and acquire some more power of toleration.”

This story illustrates as to what degree a person can develop his

Power of Toleration. A person can gradually maximize his Power of

Toleration to such a great extent that, in the end, his mind becomes

completely immune to all types of teasing, troubles and harassments,

and he ceases to regard anybody his enemy. He stops entertaining in


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his mind any desire for revenge against any one. This mental stage

reflects the true and exact meaning of the Virtue of Forgiveness. You

should let the world in status quo, in its own course. But the person

who had developed and acquired in himself this Virtue of

Forgiveness, can easily withdraw his mind from the external, material

world and can easily consolidate and concentrate his mind for

practicing and perfecting his meditation.

You should also apply your mind to the thought that you

should not devote all your time to achieve your selfish goals. The

work undertaken to satisfy the needs of your body is not a selfish

work. This work is undertaken to keep your body alive. The needs of

the body are satisfied by performing very little work. But the big net-

work of mental needs is seldom fully satisfied. The mind demands

everything which is the best and top-class. The comfort you achieve

through the work performed by other persons is called selfishness,

and it is never permanent and ever-lasting, whether the comfort is

achieved through other persons or through material products. The

physical body is always changing right from childhood, so also are

changing its needs accordingly and so also the modes and means of

achieving satisfaction of the needs. Hence everything is in a flux and

changing. Nothing is permanent.

If you do not possess the earlier-mentioned ten divine powers

and Virtues to the right degree, you will face opposition at every

place. You need to cultivate and develop positive powers which God

(Parameshwar) Himself revealed and practised. The dedicated practice

of those divine power is called God‟s adoration and devotion (Bhakti).

These ten divine powers have been suggested for the adoration and

devotion of God. These ten divine powers are : (1) Loving kindness or


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Friendly attitude (Maitri), (2) Sympathy or compassion (Karuna), (3)

Praiseworthy attitude towards good qualities of others (Mudita), (4)

Affecting ignorance towards Sins/Bad qualities etc. of others

(Upeksha), (5) Mental tolerance and intellectual forgiveness (Kshama),

(6) Spirit of renunciation of Self-sacrifice or Charity (Daan), (7) Noble

and Right conduct in all events (Sheel), (8) Right efforts or Energetic

occupation to put forth energy (Veerya) (9) Meditation or Truth

seeking observation and absorbed meditation (Dhyana & Samadhi)

(10) Truth-bearing knowledge (Pragya). These ten Powers were

cultivated and developed by saints and seers, who easily and

conveniently detached their minds from the material world, even

though they were living in the midst of the material world; and they

also achieved and experienced the most sought-after Spiritual Bliss

and divine peace. They never made anybody their enemy in the whole

world. And whenever they sat in meditation in their solitary isolated

places, they never felt that they missed the material, comforts or the

mundane world. Even death had no meaning for them. When death

loses its meaning, this stage then is the highway to salvation and

spiritual liberation.

Meditation or Truth-seeking behaviour (Dhyana) and Truth-

bearing knowledge (Pragya) are included in the list of the ten Powers

which facilitate salvation. These two powers will be referred to and

discussed at many places, as you proceed further. In simple words,

meditation means to disengage and withdraw your mind when it is

absorbed in interaction with the material, external world or when it is

seeking sleep or when it is becoming lazy and lethargic. Instead you

have to consolidate and concentrate your mind continuously to know

and learn about the inherent, internal spiritual truths. In other


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words, the word „meditation‟ means to keep your mind focused and

concentrated, continuously on one particular point and not letting

the mind wander away in any direction and indulge in all types of

worldly, material distractions.

The goal of meditation is to know and learn about the inherent,

internal spiritual truths. In other words, meditation means to focus

and concentrate the mind to know, learn and understand, correctly

and completely, the inherent inner spiritual truths. And when these

spiritual truths are understood and grasped, correctly and

completely, these spiritual truths should inspire the individual to

adopt and pursue the correct spiritual way of life. This knowledge

gained through the revelations of the hidden, inner spiritual truths is

called Pragya or Truth-bearing knowledge. Without acquiring and

achieving „pragya‟ or Truth-bearing knowledge, it is not possible to

penetrate the darkness of human ignorance. This ignorance is

camouflaging and concealing all the inner spiritual truths. This

ignorance may be due to either your own misunderstanding and

misinterpretation or your wrong information. It is this ignorance

which first conceals the spiritual truths, twists and distorts them and

then reveals them in strange, distorted, disfigured forms. In the end,

this ignorance transforms the pain-giving unpleasant objects into

comfort-giving pleasant objects. This is called „False Knowledge‟ or

„False Understanding‟. Because ignorance conceals and distorts

spiritual truths, the individual is misled and creates for himself all

the pains and sufferings in the material, external world. When an

individual consolidates and concentrates his mind, disengages and

withdraws himself from the external, material world, reduces and

controls his sleeping habits, sits in the upright posture in isolation,


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and seeks the inner spiritual truths through meditation, he will

definitely be able to realise all the inner spiritual truths. This

realisation will further inspire him to continue his search for the

spiritual truth. This type of meditational practice cannot and does not

yield the desired fruits in a few days. The individual should continue

enhancing his meditational practice persistently, and devote his life

to the meditational practice for a long time. In the end, he will

definitely be successful in his mission. After knowing and realizing

the inner spiritual truths, the individual will automatically get the

inspiration to disengage and disentangle himself from the worldly

objects and engagements, because these are actually the sources of

all his pains and sufferings, and not the sources of his comforts and

happiness. With his earnest efforts to withdraw himself from the

worldly objects and engagements, and by severing all his mundane

ties and attachments, one day the individual will fully comprehend

the complete oneness of his own soul (Atma) with the universal soul

(Parma tama), and thereby, he will attain within himself the ultimate,

divine ecstasy forever. This divine ecstasy is the resultant spiritual

blessing granted jointly and unitedly by the truth-seeking meditation

(Dhayana) and the truth-bearing knowledge (Pragya). As a matter of

fact, the individual needs to cultivate all the ten Divine Powers,

because these Powers help the individual to achieve spiritual peace

and bliss throughout his life. But the Power of truth-bearing

knowledge (Pragya) attained through the sustained and continuous

truth-seeking meditation (Dhayana), is essential for penetrating the

veil of ignorance (Maya). In other words, the black-spot of ignorance

cannot be washed, erased and removed without the detergent of the

Power of the truth-bearing knowledge (Pragya). This ignorance (Maya)


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has camouflaged the divine ecstasy of the soul, and instead, has

created duplicate, false material comforts to mislead, misguide and

entrap the individual in the mundane world. These material comforts

are not going to last forever, but the individual is dying to posses

them. He is repeatedly born and he repeatedly dies in order to gratify

his lust for mundane, material comforts. But he seldom becomes

conscious of his inner divine ecstasy and spiritual life. Nor he can

remain in the inert, inactive state of death for ever, because he must

attain his spiritual heritage. As the individual is completely oblivious

of his divine origins and spiritual destination, he repeatedly gets birth

and repeatedly returns to the material, mundane world in order to

seek his spiritual moorings. All the living beings of the world are in

search of their spiritual moorings and divine heritage. It is only when

a living being attains the status of a human being, that he acquires

the capacity and ability to seek and reach his spiritual destination.

He becomes vaguely conscious that he has been „created‟ and granted

the corporeal, physical body of a human being with a specific mission

(to realise his spiritual destination). But his physical, corporeal body,

cannot last forever. The physical, corporeal body dies, and after

death, it is again „created‟ i.e. it gets born again to realise and attain

its spiritual destination, God‟s Abode (Bhagwad-Dham). This cycle of

birth-death-birth-death has to continue till the human soul (Atma)

merges with the universal soul (Paramatma) and attains the Spiritual

Bliss. But ignorance (Maya) is concealing and camouflaging the

Spiritual Bliss and instead offers the short-living material comforts.

Thus ignorance (Maya) will bring repeatedly birth-death-birth to the

human being (Jiva), till it realises and attains its ultimate goal of

salvation. That is why it is essential to know, seek and attain the


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Divine Truth – the all-pervading, omnipresent, omniscient Universal

Consciousness, and liberate the human soul which is lost in the

mundane world. All this is possible by piercing and shedding the veil

of Ignorance (Maya), so that the human soul acquires the eternal

divine knowledge and eternal divine ecstasy and quits the circle of

birth-death-birth. Both the power of truth-seeking meditation

(Dhyana) and truth-bearing knowledge (Pragya) are essential to

facilitate spiritual salvation and attain the ultimate spiritual destiny.


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(21-12-1986)

A person‟s life is considered successful only when he achieves

inner happiness and spiritual bliss which never leave him and which

are ever-lasting and permanent. But whatever worldly happiness and

mundane comforts a person gets in the external, material world, they

are always short-lived and temporary. Even if you try your best to

make them permanent, you cannot do so, because all the worldly

happiness and mundane comforts are dependent upon factors which

are not stable. Rather these external factors are always changing. For

example age, it never remains the same. The level of physical strength

and power of the five senses never remain the same. When all these

factors never remain the same, and are subject to change, then how

can the worldly happiness and mundane comforts be permanent,

(when these are dependent upon these changing factors)? It has

already been expressed that only that person‟s life is considered truly

successful who is able to realise inner happiness and spiritual bliss

which never depart from him. Indian scholars and saints called them

as “the sources of ecstasy experienced in salvation” (Moksh Ka

Anand) or “the bliss experienced in liberation “ (Mukti Ka Sukh). The

world “liberation” connotes “emancipation” or “freedom”.

Emancipation or freedom from what? It is freedom or emancipation

from material and mundane fetters (Bandhan). When the fetters

(chains) are removed, a person experiences emancipation and

freedom. Right from birth, the human mind is fettered to many

material objects or passionately attached to persons or enslaved by

his habits and addictions. As a person grows and develops, these


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fetters become very strong and do not let the person be independent

and free. Let us understand the exact meaning of the word „fetters‟.

For example, take a piece of flat paper, role it into a circular tube-like

shape, tie it with some thread, and leave the rolled-up-and-tied paper

for some days in that very shape. You will notice that when the

thread is removed, the previously flat paper has automatically

adopted and acquired the shape of circular tube. Exactly in this very

manner, the innocent human mind, right from childhood, got

exposed to the material comforts and the mundane happiness of the

external world, and with passage of time developed habits for the

material comforts and mundane happiness and got addicted to them.

These habits and addictions act as „fetters‟ and chains. Thus the

human mind, which was innocent in the beginning (in childhood),

becomes a slave of his habits and addictions subsequently at the end.

During childhood, the individual did not have enough knowledge of

the external world. His intellect had not matured and he could not

exercise his faculties of discrimination. The intellectual abilities and

the power of discrimination are the sole prerogatives of human beings

(and not of animals). These mental power and the intellectual

abilities grow and develop in due course of time and also appear and

mature at their scheduled age-level in the life-span. The innocent

mind of the child started seeking and gathering material worldly

objects which gave him physical comforts and material happiness.

And contrarily, in the same manner, the child started withdrawing

from and rejecting the worldly objects which brought him pain and

suffering. The human mind goes on ruminating and contemplating

about those objects which bring physical comforts and material

happiness and ultimately, it develops strong attraction and


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attachment for such objects. All this is called the Fetters of

Attachment (Raga-Bandhan). In the same manner, the human mind

goes on ruminating and contemplating about those objects which

bring him pain and suffering, so much so that it starts rejecting and

develops aversion for such objects. This is called the Fetters of

Aversion (Dwesha-Bandhan). But Attraction or Aversion, both are

fetters (Bandhan) from which the human mind needs emancipation.

The human being wastes all his precious life, entangled in the

fetters of Attachment and Aversion and their progenies, Desire and

Anger – (Kama and Krodha). The human mind should develop that

divine knowledge, propounded by Hindu religious scholars and

saints and as demonstrated by God (Bhagwan) in The Gita and

Upanishadas. When the human mind fails to awaken that divine

knowledge through his faculties of discrimination (Viveka), then it is

very difficult to subjugate his natural instinctual behaviour and

habitual ways of interaction. All this is called Human Nature

(Prakriti) or the fetters of instinctual urges, irresistible habits and

addictions. Human nature is a force which is not visible, but in itself,

it is an uncontrollable tendency; in other words, it is an irresistible

urge and formidable force which is seldom pacified and fulfilled. It is

working like an automatic machine, working according to its

inherent, intricate mechanisms, rules and regulations, it is very

difficult to stop it.

Universal Material Nature (Maya) is the most potent force which

creates the whole universe, sustains it and finally destroys and

demolishes it. Universal Material Nature is nothing but God‟s „Divine

dynamism‟ (Maya). God knows all the activities of Universal Material

Nature, through his omnipotent Divine Power and omniscient Divine


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Consciousness. It is only through His diktat that the divine

dynamism (Maya) acquires different forms and appears in different

shapes all the time. If God conceals his diktat and withdraws his

divine powers conferred on Maya (Divine-Dynamism), then it

automatically ceases to exist. In other words, the very existence of

Universal Material Nature (Prakriti) depends on the goodwill of God.

In reality, God controls all the powers of the divine dynamism. God

manifests Himself in the forms of divine Ecstasy, all-pervading divine

Consciousness and omniscient divine knowledge. Maya or divine

dynamism is in fact a panorama of Almighty God, in all His

manifestations and revelations. Nature (Prakriti) is only a deputee of

God and it represents God by creating the various, different forms in

the whole universe. And Nature or the divine dynamism is always in

flux, continuously creating, sustaining and destroying-demolishing.

You can yourself observe how after his birth, the child goes on

changing through the various stages of growth and development.

Plants and trees and all the other living beings are always changing.

In fact, change is the main characteristic of Nature, and that is why it

is called „divine dynamism‟.

The fetters and forces of human nature are indeed very strong.

If your nature dictates you to love, then you have to manifest

emotions of love and longing (Raga-Bandhan). If your nature orders

you to be hostile, you have to manifest the emotions of hostility and

hatred (Dwesha-Bandhan). It is Nature which compels you to

cultivate the emotions of prestige, love, attachment, aversion,

suspicion and fear. Then you have to express all these emotions and

pursue corresponding deeds. All these are „fetters‟ and the individual

becomes helpless, and enslaved. Your mind is pulled and pushed by


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these fetters. It gets shattered and scattered in the external world

and becomes completely dissipated, weak and hollow-husk like from

within, so much so that the individual fails to breathe normally, and

his body parts stop functioning properly. When you are not healthy

and happy, all your medals and rewards, your wealth and property,

your friends and associates, your prestige and privileges, all these are

of no use to you. The individual starts wishing that it is much better

to die than to suffer from physical pain and suffering. If you probe an

old aged person, he replies that he does not want to live anymore,

because there is no charm in living, as pain and sufferings are

increasing every moment. If you dare to tell him : “You have your

loving family and you also have all the means of wealth, money and

relatives, which are needed to ensure both comforts and happiness.

Then why do you feel so helpless and hopeless?” His usual reply is

“All these factors (wealth, money, relatives, family etc.) are of no use

and cannot help to recover and regain my health and happiness.”

This clearly indicates that the individual honestly wants to

sever all his worldly fetters and be free. All the fetters entangle and

enslave the human mind to the external, mundane world. Human

nature enacts a very interesting drama at the birth of a baby. First

there is overt celebration for the new arrival, then its welcome charm

for some more time, followed by happiness as well as worries during

the interesting and engaging stages of growth and development of the

child. The individual feels as if he has discovered a hidden treasure,

and as a result he will get immeasurable happiness. The birth of the

baby has also given birth to so many fetters. As the individual

expands with zeal his mental horizon towards the external world,

surely his inner cognitive powers will get scattered and dissipated in


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the external world and his conative powers, which follow in the

footsteps of his cognitive powers, they too will get scattered and

dissipated. In other words, it can be concluded that the conative

powers represent Maya, (divine dynamism or natural forces) and the

cognitive powers represent Consciousness (spiritual knowledge).

When the individual learns or becomes conscious that he will get

comforts and happiness in a certain place/situation, he will hotly

pursue and run after it. When the individual becomes aware

(conscious) that a certain person can harm, at once he will get angry

with that person. And when the individual learns (becomes

conscious) that a certain person can prove helpful and useful in

future, he will start paying special attention and flattering that

person in advance. It may be concluded thus : When the individual

undertakes to execute some deed as a matter of habit (habitual

reaction); it denotes the Conative Force (Divine Dynamism or Maya).

And when the individual first, analyses the situation, undertakes and

after due consideration, consciously undertakes to translate that

knowledge into his response, it represents Cognitive Force (Divine

Knowledge). When the human mind gets involved in the selfish world

of „mind and thine‟ and when it gets entangled and engrossed with

the innumerable persons and products of the external world, then,

with passage of time, it will get so much shattered, scattered,

dissipated and weak that it will not be able to concentrate and

consolidate its mental energy within itself to enjoy the inner divine

bliss. The individual will be like that torch which has exhausted its

cells (electric cells). At that stage, the individual is under such a great

stress all the time that he cannot get rid of his insurmountable

worldly worries. Many people will advise him. “Please stop worrying”.


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But is getting rid of worries under the control and power of any one?

The human mind is fettered. Once the fettered mind starts moving in

any particular set direction, it persistently continues to move in that

very direction. And when the fetters are removed, the mind will

experience and enjoy the same divine bliss even in its fully conscious

state, as it enjoys the divine bliss in its sleeping state (when the mind

is completely rid of all fetters and it is fully concentrated and

consolidated in itself).

The best solution is that both the Cognitive Power and the

Conative Power, which are so much scattered and entangled with the

external, mundane world, should be concentrated and consolidated

within the human body. Who are the representatives of both these

Powers within the body? Their representatives in the body are the

Force of Consciousness (Gyana) and its accompanying Vital Force

(Prana). These two Forces get so much scattered and entangled in the

external mundane world during the waking hours that the individual

faces only extreme tensions and conflicts. The individual garners just

a bit of respite and some feeling of well-being during his sleeping

hours. But for how long will sleep ensure a person‟s happiness and

well-being? Ultimately even sleep will stop contributing to happiness.

Consider the old and aged persons. Many of them do not get sleep

because of their old age, and they do feel upset about it. Further

many persons do not get sleep during their youth because of their

worries, and they start taking medicines and drugs to induce sleep.

the loss of sleep (insomnia), as a matter of fact, is the result of their

disturbed Vital Force (Prana), because of which none of their bodily

systems functions normally. Sometimes, there are neurological

problems; sometimes there are gastro-intestinal disorders. All such


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diseases end up only in death. All these various diseases are mostly

generated by the scattered and disintegrated mind and its collateral,

scattered and disintegrated Vital Force (Prana). If these two Powers

(Cognitive and Conative Powers) get concentrated and consolidated

within the person, then he will not suffer from the physical and

mental maladies. But these Powers can get concentrated and

consolidated only when the individual gets emancipation from his ten

fetters. The individual should understand that the other means of

achieving spiritual salvation (Prayer and Pranayama, etc.) are rather

waste of time and energy, and he should not pursue them. Even birds

know that grass and shrubs are no their food material and hence

they do not even look at them. In the same manner, the human being

should know, or in other words, he should become conscious of the

reality that all the products of the mundane world entice and enslave

the human being and his mind gets scattered and disintegrated in

their relentless pursuit. These worldly products do not prove useful

and helpful with passage of time. They lead to pain and sufferings in

the end. These worldly products give limited pleasure and only for a

limited time.

Withdraw your scattered Cognitive and Conative Powers from

the mundane, external world. Concentrate and consolidate both these

Powers within your body. Purify, develop and enhance your Divine

Knowledge, and restore, replenish and revitalise your body with Vital

Force (Prana), so that in the present life-span you may experience

your inner Divine Bliss even during your waking hours. You will at

once experience when your divine knowledge gets revived and your

ignorance gets completely removed.


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You will know that you have achieved what you wanted to

achieve in your present life span. In this state, you do not see and

fear anything such as death. At this time, you will realise that the

vital element within your body, your soul (Consciousness) is a part of

the Cosmological Consciousness which is all=pervading and

omnipresent in the whole universe. This Consciousness is present

not in just one human being. Rather it is equally present everywhere,

in every living being, throughout the entire existence. It is the same

Cosmological Consciousness which makes the blood circulate in the

body, helps in digesting the food, energises the body-parts during

action, is active even during the sleeping hours and is energetic

during the wakeful state. It is present in birds and animals. It is

present in plants and vegetables, in the form of vital juices and

florescence. It is equally present in grass and shrubs. In vegetation,

Consciousness is in its undeveloped, expressionless and thoughtless

form. Among birds and animals, Consciousness is in under-developed

(less developed) form. Among human beings, Consciousness is in

fully developed form and hence intellect is more advanced. At the

human being level, Consciousness has achieved both intelligence

(problem-solving ability) and intellect (power of discrimination),

because of which the human being has attained and acquired the

means to serve and get rid of his fetters.

You should first understand how human nature (or habitual

ways) affects and control human behaviour and human life. In the

beginning, human nature or habitual ways (the path of least

resistance) offers some comforts. These comforts produce fetters

which entice the human mind. The human mind starts feeling that

his comforts lie in adopting and pursuing the path of human nature;


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in other words, the human mind regards that the comforts lie in

adopting his habitual ways. The individual (living being) gets

attracted and attached to the mundane comforts, and starts pursuing

them. His mind starts ruminating about those comforts and a strong

desire is born to possess those comforts. This strong desire become a

strong motive and goads the individual, just as a stick goads an

animal. That is how the individual starts pursuing the mundane

comforts. When a child experiences some soothing comforts, he

smiles and feels happy and starts demanding and chasing his

comforts. Contrarily, whenever and wherever the child experiences

pain and suffering, he starts weeping and getting angry and starts

avoiding that object. The grown-up adult does not weep, but he gets

angry and wants to destroy the source of his pain and suffering. With

passage of time, all this human behaviour develops into a habit. All

these habits control and regulate human behaviour. And finally, the

individual blindly adopts his habitual ways in all his behaviour and

reactions. What is so important and special about this situation?

Remember, God is supreme and rules over the whole universe. Then,

what is the role of God or how does God control and regulate human

behaviour? God‟s representative in the form of Intellect (Budhi) is

present within the individual, which controls and regulates his

behaviour. It is strongly expressed at various places in Gita that the

individual should depend on his intellect (and not on his habits). The

individual should always follow the advice and command of his

intellect and ignore and avoid his irresistible habits. Intellectual

power means that whenever habits suddenly start asserting,

controlling and regulating the human mind, the intellect should at

once step-in, and check-mate the irresistible habits and become the


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decision-maker. The intellect should guide and counsel the human

mind not to follow the dictates of habits, because dictates of habits do

not prove helpful and useful. If at this stage the human intellect

becomes alert, then take it for granted that you have acquired the

power of Divine Knowledge which will henceforth correctly guide,

regulate and protect the individual in his day-to-day life. This is God‟s

blessing. The one who is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent, is

called God. Then what is God? God is the Universal Consciousness

which controls and regulates the irresistible habitual undertakings.

Universal Consciousness is the repository of Divine Knowledge, which

purifies, controls and regulates all the irresistible, compulsive

undertakings of habits, and emancipates the individual from the

fetters. And how does Divine Knowledge get purified? Divine

Knowledge get purified when the individual becomes alert and aware

of the fact that the habitual ways of behaviour are not going to prove

helpful and useful in the end. When the inherent, previous

impressions (sanskaras) become potent and powerful, the Divine

Knowledge will also become potent and powerful. For example, a

person starts smoking. He smokes for one day, two days, for a fort-

night, for a month and continues smoking for a long time. Then this

practice of smoking will develop into a habit. And ultimately, when he

does not gratify his habit of smoking, he will experience pain and

suffering due to his addiction and habit of smoking.

Had you visualised and understood in advance the pain and

suffering that you discovered after developing the habit, in that case

you would have made full use of your intellectual power. The

individual has the capacity to grasp the compulsive nature of his

irresistible habits by using his intellectual power or by developing the


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knowledge to distinguish between good and bad. Then he would at

once conclude that obeying the dictates of his irresistible, compulsive

habits will not prove useful; rather it will always prove harmful. The

individual has to make a firm resolve to avoid and circumvent his

compulsive habitual ways. Only then he will be able to awaken his

latent, previously-acquired knowledge about the Divine Truth, and

also concentrate and consolidate his mind. As long as the individual

has not awakened his latent, previously-acquired knowledge about

the Divine Truth, as long as he is not able to concentrate and

consolidate his mind, as long as he has not experienced and realised

the Divine Truth himself, the individual adopts and follows the path

of ceremonial, ritual dedication and prayerful devotion. Our seers of

yore had followed and adopted this method since times immemorial.

All these rituals and devotional practices have been recorded in

Upanishadas, in Gita and many other religious tests and scriptures.

The individual should first give up his materialistic temptations and

mundane urges and concentrate and consolidate his mind in

meditation. After realising the Divine Truth, he should see for himself

the apparent reality as to how the compulsive, irresistible habits

enslave, disable and incapacitate the individual. Unless the individual

realises this fact, he will not possess the means and methods to shed

his latent ignorance.

Following in the footsteps of the enlightened, God-realised and

spiritual saints of yore and by developing full faith, conviction and

devotion in their teachings without entertaining any doubts and

suspicions, the individual should prepare himself to lead such a life.

If the individual once develops such a yearning, he will automatically

cultivate the habit to sit in isolation and practise introspection and


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meditation. It is true that the human mind is extrovert. In other

words, the irresistible compulsive habits of the individual engage,

entice and entangle him in the external, mundane world. It is

mentioned in the Upanishadas, that Brhama, the god of creation,

when He created the human being, He made the sense organs of the

living-being „out-ward looking‟. That is why the human-being knows

everything of the external, mundane world, but he does not know

anything about his inner, spiritual existence. That is how the human

being is not naturally inclined to know himself and examine his

inner, spiritual existence. He knows everything about others in detail,

for example, „that person has a bad temperament‟, or „the face of that

person is tarnished‟, or „that person has a bad habit‟, etc. But the

individual fails to notice his own weaknesses. He is quite ignorant

about his own self.

The religious way of life means to examine your own inner-self

or to become „Atam Darshi‟. „Atam‟ means „the inner-self‟ and „Darshi‟

means „one who sees‟ or „one who inspects‟. In other words, the

individual should develop and practise „introspection‟ (or meditation).

For example, he should inspect and know as to what he is doing. In

other worlds, in which direction his eyes are looking, and what

external objects his eyes are observing or what his ears are listening,

or how his language is vocalizing, or why/what his mind is thinking;

whatever he is doing, is he having interest in that work? And

wherever his interest is, will it prove useful or harmful at the end?

Consider all this a bit. This is the first step towards meditation when

you sit in isolation and examine (inspect) all these things. Meditation

begins with „introspection‟. Adopting this method, the individual shall

first develop his intellectual powers in order to get rid of some of his


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worldly fetters. What is intellectual power? Intellectual power means

the ability to separate two inter-related things and then examine and

understand each thing separately. For example, the person should

examine and understand as to which direction his irresistible and

impulsive habits (spiritual fetters) are leading? And how far and how

much his fetters shall bind him? And ultimately, what is the correct

method to get rid of his fetters? All such analysis is the main function

of the Intellectual Power. Remember, the intellectual power (Viveka) is

possessed only by the human species (and not by any other living

species). And the Being who possesses all and full, complete

Intellectual Power, is called the Supreme Being, the omniscient,

omnipresent, all-knowing and all-pervading God. The individual must

have full and complete faith and trust in God. Otherwise, the

individual being will feel very lonely and isolated. There is no life in

isolation. In that situation, the individual must have full faith and

also depend on God. God is present from times immemorial and He is

all-pervading, omnipresent, everywhere. Religion has been

established by Him. All the great Rishis and Prophets have been

extolling this truth and we have been hearing this fact that the

universe is the creation of God. God is infinite, boundless, without

end. And no one knows, as to how many committed followers and

devotees He had in the past, over the centuries and how many

followers and devotees He will have in future, in times to come. The

individual must never feel lonely, isolated and alone. Keeping this fact

firmly in his mind, the individual should pursue his profession, his

worldly chores. He should make honest efforts; in other words, he

should work hard. The individual must make sustained and sincere

efforts to understand his „inner self‟ (Atma) and integrate it with


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Paramatma (God). The individual should practise some introspection

(meditation) and rectify all his deeds. If the individual does not rectify

his mundane deeds, he can never adopt and pursue the moral and

ethical life. In that case, the individual will harvest only pain and

suffering in the end. Motivating himself in this manner, the individual

should plan and get rid of his fetters. When he becomes heedful and

carefully conscious, he will definitely become brave and audacious

(courageous).

When the mind is excited and when some irresistible wish or

strong unattainable desire stimulates and over- powers the mind, at

that time, the mind does not easily adopt the path of salvation. The

deep impressions of past experiences inherent in the mind push the

person strongly to pursue his irresistible, compulsive habitual ways

and the person prefers to adopt and follow the same ways through

which he had gratified and fulfilled his habits. At that time, the

person does not possess the intellect to make him aware of the

consequences of his habitual behavior. Under such conditions, it is

only a brave person who fights against the irresistible, compulsive

habitual ways and gets rid of them and does not let these habitual

ways to subjugate his intellectual power. You should throw out of

your mind all such wishes and unattainable desires. But this is

possible only when your mind is heedful and alert at that particular

moment. The habitual ways destroy even your heedfulness. To face

bravely such a situation, it was suggested that you should develop

the habit to perform all your deeds, great or small, with fully heedful

and alert mind. You should make your whole life follow this principle

so that you develop a strong habit to be always heedful, alert and

careful in your mind. If you become carefree and heedless, your mind


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will follow its habitual ways and will not remain focused,

concentrated and consolidated. It would wander away under the force

of compulsive habits. Your impulsive habits may set your eyes on

every sundry object, or your mind may start thinking and planning

about all types of good and bad things. That is why, whatever you

may do, you must do it with utmost care and heedfulness. When you

perform your deeds heedfully, even this will prove a means and

practice for concentration and consolidation of your mind. You will

know the working of your mind and your mental tendencies. For

example, you will at once know where your mind is wandering, when

you are brushing your teeth or when you are having a walk, how your

mind is busy traversing its own different pathways. In this very

manner, when you are visiting a market place, observe the working of

your mind : how your eyes are busy noticing and observing the

various objects, how your eyes pay heed to objects which do not need

such attention. Notice how you walk without bothering about your

footfalls. While in the market place, you can easily notice the working

of your mind. But later on, while sitting in isolation for meditation,

you should critically examine how-where-why your mind was

roaming hither and thither. Critically examine what and why your

mind was preoccupied while you were busy brushing your teeth.

Critically examine how your mind reacted when someone uttered

some undesirable words. In this manner, go on observing, bit by bit,

and go on critically examining your mental preoccupations and

mental engagements. Through introspection and meditation, you will

learn about your weaknesses. Improve your life by increasing your

self-awareness every day, so that this practice may lead to your self-


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improvement and salvation. This practice for self-improvement

should become a life-lasting principle.

Juxtaposed to these mundane weaknesses of the living being,

are God‟s divine merits and divine powers. The living being is the

storehouse of all the mundane weaknesses and God means the One

who possesses all the divine merits, the One who is without any

mundane weaknesses, the One who has established the religious

(ethical) principle in times immemorial for all the creatures of the

universe. What is meant by the term „religion‟? Religion (Dharma)

means that principle which you have accepted and adopted or the

ethical principles which you have adopted of your own choice,

willfully, to lead life in the world. To lead life according to the

religious, ethical principles, willfully and of your own choice, needs

great effort and courage, because the religious, ethical principles are

not easy and convenient to practise. It needs conscious cultivation.

On the other hand, Universal Nature (Prakriti) makes life flow and

continue so automatically, without any willful, conscious effort,

which is the by-product of natural instincts and impulsive urges. Life

in the whole universe is controlled by these natural instincts and

urges. But you adopt the religious, ethical principles willfully, of your

own choice and make great effort to implement and practise these

religious, ethical principles, because they are for your benefit and

well-being. With passage of time, the willful practice of these

religious/ethical principles will gain great strength and ultimately,

one day, it will lead to meditation and reveal to your mind all the

hidden inner Divine Knowledge. For instance, a natural instinctual

urge arises in your mind and you decide to fulfil and gratify it. Under

such a situation, you can awaken in your mind the Divine Knowledge


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with the help of meditation and, thereby, weaken and subjugate the

natural, instinctual urge. In other words, the habit to fulfil and gratify

your natural, instinctual urge will prove harmful and painful in the

end. The little comforts that you earlier enjoyed by gratifying your

natural instinctual urges, will exist only in your memory and

imagination. You must keep your mind focused on the Divine

Knowledge. Suppose an instinctual urge remains active and animated

in your mind for five minutes, it will keep reminding and stimulating

your mind during those five minutes. For those five minutes, you

should keep your mind focused on the Divine Knowledge and

ruminate: “When the comfort provided by the gratification of the

natural instinctual urges is of least consequence, then why to ponder

and ruminate about those comforts at all.” This process of thinking is

called „weakening of the natural, instinctual urges,‟ or making the

instinctual urges impotent. Gradually, the natural instinctual urges

will become completely weak and impotent (and may cease to exist),

so much so that you will not have to make conscious efforts to avoid

them; rather you will derive pleasure when you will completely get rid

of the natural instinctual urges. In this manner, the natural

instinctual urges will exist only in the dormant, recessive state. Your

mind will not even notice them, because by repeatedly and

continuously ignoring such urges, your mind will develop a specific

„spiritual nature‟. When all the natural instinctual (animalistic) urges

become non-existent or extinct, this condition is called the bliss of

renunciation or spiritual salvation (Moksha).

The human mind can never remain idle (vacant). The Universal

Nature (the compulsive instinctual urges) is limitless. It cannot be

annihilated. Its vibrations (waves) will always continue. Opposed to


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the Universal Nature (Prakiriti), is the adoption of a Religion (the

ethical principles) of your own free will (without any compulsion).

Your adopted Religion (ethical principles) becomes very strong with

practice and passage of time. As soon as the Universal Nature (the

compulsive instinctual urges) starts stimulating the mind, at once

your adopted Religion (the ethical principles) should automatically

start making efforts to subjugate it. The individual need not make

any extra efforts to remain unaffected by the compulsive instinctual

urges. His mental peace will not be disturbed, if he continues to make

efforts to lead his adopted religious way of life. Such adoption of

ethical principles of your own free will and of your own choice is

called Religion.

The first step in the religious way of life is to adopt and practise

renunciation or to give up irresistible desires and insatiable worldly

passions (Trishna). You will have to give up all yearnings for comforts

provided by the external, worldly, mundane objects. To give up all

such yearnings, you must first acquire Divine Knowledge. If you want

to enjoy the worldly, mundane comforts, then enjoy only to limited

extent so that they do not prove harmful and addictive. But if these

worldly, mundane comforts are ultimately going to prove harmful and

addictive, it is better to give them up and renounce such comforts.

You should practise renunciation of mundane, material comforts

right from the start, right from the initial, first step. You should

possess only that much material objects, as are essential for

continuing physical existence and maintaining life. The insatiable

worldly passions and the unending yearnings originate from the

various multiple sources, such as the yearning to enjoy prestige and

status, to wield authority and power, to possess wealth and riches.


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There are many other yearnings related to mundane comforts,

originating from your physical (bodily) sense organs and your mental

predilections (demands). Thus, there is no end to enjoy worldly

comforts and to gratify your mundane yearnings. You should dilute

and reduce the power of each and all types of yearnings. With the

help of Divine Knowledge, you should gradually understand all the

yearnings which arise in your mind. You should keep your mind

focused on the sufferings, which result from the gratification of the

mundane yearnings. You should make efforts to develop and practise

renunciation for all the worldly objects and material comforts.

Whomsoever you regard and consider as divine incarnation, such

individuals had developed complete renunciation for worldly objects

and material comforts. The divine incarnations (Avtar), had cultivated

and developed in their personalities all the divine merits essential for

achieving spiritual salvation. The religious and ethical way of life was

established and recommended by all the divine incarnations. The one

who established the religious way of life (the ethical principles) right

in the very genesis of creation and who himself adopted, practised,

organised, arranged and evolved the ethical principles during his own

life-span, is called an incarnation (Avtar). The religious way of life is

the true reflection of the life of the incarnation. The religious way of

life reached its zenith and its ultimate, perfect form during his life-

period. When He prescribed the religious way of life for the living

beings, He made it sure and certain that the living beings are capable

to practise it and lead life conveniently. The living-being must have

full faith and trust in the religious way of life and practise it most

valiantly and courageously. Even if he dies while leading life

according to the prescribed religious principles, he will surely attain a


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better and higher spiritual status after his rebirth. On the other

hand, if he leads life according to the instinctual, animalistic urges,

he will become a slave of the compulsive instinctual urges. These

instinctual urges have various, limitless goals and forces the living-

being to pursue and achieve them. All the animals, birds and insects

live life according to the compulsive, instinctual urges. A living-being

acquires its species according to his own cognitive, affective and

conative evolutionary status. The living- being, who courageously

chooses to lead life carefully and thoughtfully, taking into account his

future (ultimate) well-being and who persistently follows the religious

principles, only such a living-being will be able to break the bonds of

compulsive instinctual urges and lead life according to the prescribed

and recommended religious principles laid down by God Himself.

What is the difference between a living- being and God? The living

being becomes restless and anxious on losing a small, minor worldly,

mundane comfort. On the other hand God is all calm and perfect

peace, fully stable and settled. There may be any loss or suffering, He

is never affected. God never loses his limitless, perfect composure.

The living being should cultivate and develop within himself such a

godly quality of peace and calm.

In the same manner, there are God‟s spiritual powers. God is

not upset and troubled to see another person happy and prosperous.

God never wants to disturb and spoil another person‟s happiness and

prosperity. He is not unsympathetic when he sees another person in

trouble and suffering. Rather he is very compassionate. There are ten

such spiritual powers: (1) Friendly attitude (maitri) (2) Sympathy and

compassion (Karuna) (3) Praiseworthy attitude towards good qualities

of others (Muditha), (4) Affecting ignorance towards bad


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qualities/sins of others (Upeksha) (5) Intellectual forgiveness

(Kshama) (6) Noble and Right conduct in all events (Sheel) (7)

Charity/self-sacrifice, Spirit of renunciation (Daan) (8) Right efforts

(Veerya) (9) Meditation (Dhyana) (10) Truth- bearing

knowledge/Superior- intelligence (Pragya). These spiritual powers

have already been mentioned at various places, and their true

connotations and meanings have already been explained, and shall

be further explained according to the context. Excluding the last

three spiritual powers-(1) Right efforts (Veerya) (2) Truth-seeking

observation and Absorbed meditation (Dhyana) (3) Truth- bearing

knowledge/superior intelligence (Pragya) , the first seven spiritual

powers have to be cultivated and developed by the individual for

dealing with the external world. The individual who is devoted and

dedicated to God, should feel happy on seeing another person‟s

happiness and prosperity. The individual should feel sympathy when

he sees another person in trouble and suffering. He must cultivate

compassion in his heart. The cultivation and practice of the spiritual

powers amounts to devotion and dedication to God. But instead, in

general, an ordinary individual expresses such feelings: “That person

is hostile by nature. He is out to trouble others. It is good if God

inflicts sufferings on him.” Such negative feelings are not conducive

towards salvation. Such negative feelings are the product of

instinctual behaviour in the mundane world. The individual will not

gain anything by cultivating and practising such negative feelings.

Nor such feelings will affect the other individual. Nut these negative

feelings do affect and vitiate the practice of the religious way of life.

„Consciousness‟ is all-pervasive and without any limits. It is the

same Consciousness which is present and existing in one and all,


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everywhere, in all living beings, throughout the whole existence.

When you develop and practise such catholic and liberal feelings for

the whole living existence, then you have started recognising and

accepting the all-pervasive, omnipresent, Almighty God, the Supreme

Being. On the contrary, if you are completely neutral and

unconcerned for other living beings, if you are not affected by the

happiness or sufferings of other living beings, if you entertain such

selfish thoughts : “Let anything happen. I must not interfere‟ or „why

should I bother myself for others?‟ or „In no way, I am related to all

this‟, then consider yourself as a person living a restricted, selfish life,

leading a limited existence. With your restricted, selfish life, you

cannot receive and relish the blessings showered by the Supreme

Father, the all-pervasive, omnipresent Almighty God. In order to

receive and relish divine blessings, you have to cultivate and practise

the catholic, liberated and fellowship feelings for all the living beings.

If you come across a suffering person and understand the cause of

his sufferings, then you must not remain neutral, unaffected and

ignore him. You must have sympathy and compassion for him. And

when you come across a happy person and understand the source of

his happiness, then you must mentally feel equally happy for him,

(and mentally share his happiness) without any such consideration

whether you want to develop any visible friendship or any close

relationship with him. When you come across a meritorious person,

you should appreciate and encourage him with, such words :

“Wonderful ! Keep it up. It is of great merit.” When you keep your

mind contented with such positive thoughts and feelings for all the

living beings in the world, you are earnestly expressing your devotion

and dedication to God, as well as you are cultivating and developing


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in yourself the visible divine merits and spiritual powers of God. By

adopting this approach, you will not get entangled with the mundane

world. If you do not develop and practise positive thoughts and

feelings for your fellow living beings, you are not fit to live together

with others. You will also experience fear from others because they

too will react negatively, according to your selfish attitudes and

feelings. Thus, you too will not lead a happy and contented life in the

world. Other persons will have suspicions against you, because they

will notice your asocial attitude and negative feelings on your face.

On the contrary, if you are sincere, open, co-operative, responsive

and positive in your behaviour with others, they will recognise and

respect you as such. If you are compassionate with others in their

sufferings, they will regard you as their friend. If you appreciate their

merits and plus-points, they will respect you and seek your

comments. And when you willfully, knowingly choose to ignore and

avoid pointing out others‟ weaknesses and demerits, they will bestow

on you the respect and regard shown to a father. Generally, the

divine, spiritual powers are not present in an ordinary, common man,

because he is selfish and too much engrossed in the pursuit of

mundane, material gains of the world. But the person who cultivates

and develops the divine, spiritual powers, he is able to recognise and

witness God in the physical, tangible from via (through) the living

beings of the universe, as all-pervasive and omnipresent. Such a

person is free from the worldly fetters of Attachment and Aversion

(because he finds God present among all living beings). Nor does he

experience fear and apprehension from others because he has

understood and given up the fetters of Attachment and Aversion, and

hence no reaction formation among others. On the contrary, because


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you have been reacting negatively to criticism by others, hence you

have developed negative attitude and hostile feelings for them. You

too develop the habit to find faults and weaknesses of others and

highlight and pass negative comments, and thereby you develop in

you the fetter of Aversion. Others will react to your aversion, and

hence this reaction will generate fear in your mind. Consequently,

this fear will disturb your meditation. When your own mind is

polluted by negative feelings and thoughts for others, then these

negative feelings and thoughts will generate fears and suspicions in

your mind as well. Always recognise and remember this fact that you

will not reap any fruit without making earnest efforts in this world

created by God. If you remember and reform your negative feelings

and thoughts for others, you will not be afraid of any other individual

or any other object in the world.

Under no condition you should behave badly with others. You

should not let your ego dominate your good sense. An individual

manifests his ego even in minor, little things and acts. At times, the

ego poses as a brave man. Actually, there is no limit to postures

adopted by the ego. Sometimes, the ego adopts a posture which is

contradictory to the reality. You must not pamper and bother too

much for your ego. Suppose an individual gets insulted and

experiences some pain or suffering. Under such a situation, his ego at

once props up and protests as to how-and why that particular person

could dare to insult him and give him pain. At such a time the

individual should maintain the uphold God‟s divine merits and give

up the demands of his ego. The individual who gives up his ego, is

recognised as a renunciate or a Sanyasi. Giving up your ego is the

greatest sacrifice and offering at the altar of God. What is meant by


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the worlds „Renunciation‟ (Tyaga) and „Austerity‟ (Tapa)? In the

present context , the word „Austerity‟ means to tolerate pain and

suffering after due analysis and understanding the source of their

origin with the help of intellect (Budhi). Such tolerance will prove

beneficial ultimately.

The word „Renunciation‟ means „to give up‟ the worldly comforts

and happiness, because these ultimately lead to and end up in pain

and suffering. Renunciation is a voluntary decision, made after a

thorough examination of the facts with the help of the discerning

intellect and the innate divine knowledge. In the beginning, giving up

of worldly comforts and happiness is both difficult and unpalatable.

But with practice and conditioning of the mind, a person happily and

willingly, accepts both austerity and renunciation in the end. Why

does not the individual wish for and willingly cultivate these great

qualities of austerity and renunciation? And why does not the

individual voluntarily give up his ego? It is because the individual

thinks that both austerity and renunciation are difficult and painful

to implement and practise. But the discriminating intellect

thoroughly examines, concludes and recommends that the initial

pain and suffering caused by giving up and withdrawing from the

worldly comforts and happiness, will ultimately lead to satisfaction

and contentment. For example, a bitter, painful, unpalatable

medicine is prescribed to cure an ailment. In this situation, what

harm and suffering is there in willingly accepting and eating the

bitter and unpalatable medicine? The individual should persuade his

mind to willingly accept the bitterness of the medicine, to tolerate this

little suffering caused by the bitter medicine and not to lose his

patience and peace. All this amounts to austerity or practice of


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austerity. Austerity is implied when the mind revolts against and

rejects to accept a certain situation and protests. If eating of food is

prohibited (is not permitted), does the mind accept this advice? The

mind will happily and willingly accept this painful advice, when it is

convinced that avoiding food will cure his disease.

All the comforts and joys of the world are connected with

persons and products of the external world. These comforts and joys

are dependent on external factors. Whatever is dependent on external

factors, is naturally under the control of external factors. Whatever is

not dependent on others and is not under the control of external

factors, is called „spiritual‟. In other words, „spiritual‟ means

pertaining to the spirit (soul) or which is not under the control of

external conditions. The Eternal Peace and the Divine Bliss which are

ordained by Almighty God, are called spiritual. Spiritual implies

„which never dies‟ or „which has no end‟. The individual should yearn

for, seek and cultivate in himself the divine spiritual qualities. He

should also become somewhat a „Tapasvi‟ or practise austerity.

Austerity means the power to tolerate pain and suffering. The

Universal Nature (Prakriti) demands and directs : “Pursue that

activity which leads to comforts and joy. Never pursue that activity

which leads to pain and suffering.” The individual should give up all

those material objects of the world which provide only limited

comfort, which are not essential for continuing existence, and which

finally prove harmful and painful. He should also tolerate the pain

and suffering caused by giving up these material comforts. All this

amounts to austerity (Tapa). To practise renunciation and austerity is

within the voluntary control of the individual. To achieve both these

objectives, you should control your speech as well as your mind. It is


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possible that you may appear to others as disturbed and irritated

because you have given up certain material comforts or because you

have given up the food of your choice as it was proving harmful or it

was not of your liking any more. Finding you in that disturbed and

irritated state, suppose someone feels tickled and laughs at you,

because he himself is full fed, satisfied and contented. On seeing that

person in his hilarious mood, you may react with anger and

irritation, thinking that he was perhaps laughing at you, as your face

was not reflecting happiness. Through this example; you can see for

yourself how in the real social world, your own relations with others

get affected. You have to maintain and preserve your noble and right

conduct (Sheel) under all conditions. In other words, your behaviour

with others should be perfect, so that the other person may not raise

an accusing finger towards your behaviour, and then entertain

hostile feelings in his mind and become your enemy. That is why it is

your duty to behave with others in the best possible manner, so that

you may live a peaceful and productive life. „Best behaviour with

others‟ was one of the divine merits of the incarnations, which

everyone should cultivate and practise according to his capacity and

necessity. Friendly attitude (Maitri) is a latent and invisible mental

quality. But right and noble conduct under all events (Sheel) is a

visible and apparent quality which is reflected in your behaviour with

others, which is mostly manifested in your speech as well as in your

actions. When „best behaviour with others‟ becomes your habit or you

develop the temperament never to indulge in misbehavior with

anyone, then it is called „Right and noble conduct‟ (sheel). By this

time and at this point, your mind would become fully heedful and

alert. When the heedful and alert mind acquires the power to


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understand itself, then it would start making efforts to reform itself. It

would also start to notice and recognise its inner mental prejudices

(barriers and fetters), and how these mental prejudices lead to pain

and suffering. You will also automatically get the inspiration to

renounce (give up) such mental prejudices. After this automatic

inspiration and renunciation of mental prejudices, you will experience

the supreme inner joy or the Divine Bliss of your Soul, which is the

ultimate destiny of Spiritual Salvation or Divine Liberation

(Moksha/Mukti). This ethical pilgrimage leads to the Abode of God in

Heaven (or Oneness with God). Spiritual contemplation with the help

of conscious and alert mind or Meditation (Dhyana) is not something

unachievable or beyond realisation. In other words, the conscious

and alert mind will also understand itself and its working, with the

help of meditation. To understand your own mind through meditation

means to divert and withdraw your mind from the external world. All

these activities represent meditation (Dhyana).

So long as your Divine Knowledge is incomplete or it has not

fully developed and matured, and so long as you have not recognised

and removed your fetters with the help of your Divine Knowledge, till

that time you cannot claim to have experienced and understood your

liberated Soul, which reveals itself in the form of Divine Bliss, and

your ignorance of your Self or Soul continues to persist. When finally

this ignorance is removed, your Divine Knowledge concerning your

Self or Soul can never be annihilated. Further, once you experience

and understand God, (the Divine Force), who is activating, energizing

and infusing life in all the physical bodies. He will automatically

reveal Himself. Just as you automatically experience Divine Bliss in

your sleeping state, similarly, you can experience the Divine Bliss


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even in your waking state. Once you achieve such a mental state,

there will be no necessity to seek worldly comforts. Every individual

can experience and achieve this wonderful state of Divine Bliss. Every

individual can achieve and experience this Divine Bliss when he

liberates himself from the fetters of the external world with the help of

his intellect and Divine Knowledge. Otherwise, the human mind will

remain scattered, entangled and engrossed in efforts to acquire

mundane knowledge about the external world and all his mental

capabilities will be wasted in such worldly pursuits. All your actions

and activities are riveted to the objects in which are interested, and

which you have understood. For example, a child observes that his

father has arrived and the father is holding a toy in his hand. As soon

as the child comprehends this situation, at once a feeling awakens in

his mind and happiness and smiles appear on his face. With great

joy, the child starts running towards his father. The child does not

first plan and then start indulging in all these activities. Actually, he

does not even know as to how the human body-machine functions.

The knowledge of the toy in the hand of his father acted like an

electric current inside the child, and his face brightened up, his eyes

started reflecting happiness and all his aspirations and demands

appeared fulfilled. Another example : your friend arrived. As soon as

you get this information, at once you feel happy and contented. In the

same manner, an evil person or a bad element arrives and you are

duly informed. This too is a piece of information. But in this case, you

become anxious, because the bad element can cause you harm. At

once your personal nature started reacting in the negative manner.

Again, when the child starts weeping, tears start flowing

automatically from his eyes. Can anybody bring tears in his eyes of


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his own choice, voluntarily? All these examples amply prove that

these are involuntary reactions of human nature. Human nature at

once reacts, when it gets information and becomes conscious of

certain facts. In other words, the reaction of human nature is in

proportion to the information and knowledge it receives. With the

information is strong and colossal, the reaction of human nature is

bound to be strong and colossal. When the information and

knowledge is scanty and limited, the reaction of human nature will be

subdued and scanty (restricted and limited). In this very manner, the

awareness of consciousness of the external, material world always

entangles, engages and engulfs the human mind, and it gets enslaved

and enticed to the persons and products of the external world.

As long as the human being is a child, he is very happy. Why

and how is he very happy? Because during childhood, there is no

worry, no anxiety; there is no attachment or aversion; the child eats

very little and becomes fully contented and satisfied. That is why, he

enjoys good health. As the child grows and develops, his fetters also

increase and become strong. These increasing fetters create

unexpected situations and demands. These fetters indicate as to how

his mundane knowledge gets misdirected and as to how his

intelligence and understanding gets misled. When knowledge and

understanding lose direction, it means that all his efforts will get

misdirected and so also will be the results. The main aim and efforts

of the individual should be to free and liberate his mind and get rid of

the fetters of the external world. To achieve this goal, the individual

should cultivate and develop such spiritual qualities as friendly

attitude towards all living beings. He should learn in detail about all

other fetters with the help of meditation. If you live your life in this


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manner, your life will enjoy the blessings of meditation. When you

cultivate and develop this positive quality, then your mind will start

becoming careful and heedful. By becoming careful and heedful, you

can cultivate and develop your Divine Consciousness, and Divine

Consciousness leads to Liberation and Salvation from this worldly

existence. When you donot become careful and heedful, how can you

achieve Divine Consciousness? You should make your mind so much

alert and heedful that if it follows and obeys the commands of the

external, material world, it may at once become dead matter and

senseless substance, because it is not making any efforts to free itself

from the shackles of the material world. You should repeatedly warn

your mind and make it fully aware of this fact. In other words, by

following the religious path, you should develop your mind to such

extent that your alert and awakened mind is able to experience and

comprehend God in His full spiritual glory. You should also not worry

for and hanker after the comforts provided by sleep. You should sleep

only that much as is necessary and needed. You should become to

some extent mentally contented and develop detachment. Instead of

feeling deprived and constrained, you should develop tolerance and

become a renunciate (Tapasvi) and give up the comforts of the

material, external world. You should develop equanimity and

tranquility (peace) in your agitated and ruffled (troubled) mind. In this

manner, strengthen your mind and fortify your meditation practice,

by cultivating and developing voluntary caution and heedfulness. It

will open the highway to Divine Liberation and gateway to Spiritual

Salvation. During this endeavour, if the individual dies without

achieving his ultimate objective, he will surely achieve martyrdom

(Veer-gati), that is, he will be blessed with entry into some sublime


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spiritual sphere on rebirth. He will enter into Heaven (Swarg Loka). If

he develops complete devotion and surrenders himself with

unflinching faith and intense emotional commitment to God

(Nishkam Bhakti Marg), he will be granted welcome entry into

Braham Loka. If the individual cultivates and, develops Divine

Knowledge and deep Spiritual Insight (Gyan Marg), he will ensure

auspicious entry to the abode of Lord Vishnu, that is, Balkunth Loka.

And if the individual achieves Spiritual Peace and Divine Bliss during

his corporeal existence, he will gain unity and oneness with God and

merge within Him. Thus, the individual will quit the Circle of Birth-

Death-Rebirth and Trans-migration of soul. In other words, he will

realise and achieve the most-cherished, most sought-after, ultimate

destiny, that is, Divine Liberation and Spiritual Salvation (Mukti and

Moksha). All these sublime, spiritual spheres (such as Swarg Loka,

Braham Loka, Baikunth Loka, etc.) are situated along the golden

path of Spiritual Realisation. Every individual and devotee wants to

culminate his life-journey by achieving and settling in any one of

these sublime spiritual spheres. When the individual achieves his

spiritual objective, it is called „Uttam Gati‟. The individual fails to

achieve „Uttam Gati‟, because he fails to cultivate and develop his

Intellect (Viveka) as well as his Intelligence (Budhi), during his life-

time. The individual fails to cultivate and develop his „Viveka‟ and

„Budhi‟, when his life is controlled and dominated by his irresistible,

compulsive instinctual urges (Prakriti). This fact is evident in the life

of all other animals. In that case, as per the laws of Birth-Death-

Rebirth and Transmigration of soul, the individual soul will continue

its existence, quitting one physical body at the time of death, and

acquiring another physical body at the time of rebirth. The individual


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will continue revolving in the never-ending Circle of Birth-Death-

Rebirth, leading a life controlled and dominated only by compulsive

instinctual urges (and not by Vivek and Budhi), and completely

ignorant about the sublime spiritual spheres and God-Realisation.

Thus, the individual will never achieve „Uttam Gati‟. He will fail to

achieve God-Realisation. The individual will always repent that

though he was blessed with higher intelligence (Budhi) of a human

being, he failed to cultivate and develop his powers of discrimination

(Viveka). Instead, the individual had let his higher intelligence (Budhi)

be controlled and dominated completely by the compulsive instinctive

urges (Prakriti) like other animals and insects, living and leading a

life full of Attachments (Raga) and Aversions (Dwesha), fighting and

harming others (like other animals) for enjoying selfishly the material,

worldly comforts, which are surely not going to last for ever. Thus,

the individual will lose his gold opportunity (as a human being) to

work for his Divine Liberation and Spiritual Salvation

(Mukti/Moksha).

The individual must awaken his mind by comprehending and

understanding as to what leads to his Spiritual degradation (Dur-

Gati) by renouncing the life controlled and dominated by his

irresistible, compulsive instinctual urges, by voluntarily giving up the

temporary worldly, material comforts, and by meditating on the

divine merits and spiritual powers of God. Only the fully alert and

awakened mind is capable of meditation and achieve emancipation

from the external world. Everywhere, it is one and the same Divine

Consciousness pervading uniformally in the living existence. At

present, the human mind is much engaged, entangled, scattered and

lost in the external world. It is not able to comprehend and


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understand the inner life, and the inherent spiritual truths. Once

your mind is able to comprehend and understand the inherent, inner

spiritual truths, then the material, external world will automatically

lost its significance, it will cease to attract. Then your mind will not

experience the joys and sorrows of the external world. You will

achieve Spiritual Liberation (Mukti). And finally, when the mind is

free from all such worldly joys and sorrows, the individual will

experience the Divine Bliss. It is just like the bliss and comfort

produced by sleep, when you completely ignore the external world.

And when your mind ignores the external world while being fully

conscious and in the awakened state, how can your mind be bereft of

the Divine Bliss? The individual has to practise all these steps

himself. He must himself decide as to how he should develop his

mental and spiritual powers within himself by withdrawing from the

external world. In order to achieve this goal, the individual should

understand, cultivate and develop within himself all the spiritual

merits with the help of such deep and intense meditation that he

becomes completely oblivious of the external world. Such meditation

has the same magnetic, self-absorbing quality as when you are

reading a book which contains very interesting and absorbing topics,

so much so that you become oblivious of the world around you.

There are various stages in the practice of meditation. In the

beginning, with conscious effort, you should loudly repeat some

token religious word or „mantra‟ and concentrate your mind only on

the repetition. This stage is known as „blind repetition meditation‟.

When then mind gets fully interested and involved in meditation, this

stage is called „self-absorbing meditation‟. When you first understand

the full meanings of the token religious word or „mantra‟, and then


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enjoy the meaningful repetition, this is called „meaningful meditation‟.

Is it not as yet full and complete meditation, but it is surely of better

quality. At this stage, the mind will be disengaged and divorced from

the external world. This achievement of „meditational ecstasy‟, should

not awaken and excite your self-pride or ego. You must not become

boastful and drag about your experience of meditational ecstasy and

you must not lose your mental equilibrium. Thus remaining heedful

and careful and by renouncing even your self-pride and ego, you have

to reach and realise the Supreme spiritual Power, the Almighty God.

This self-effacing, most purified, crystalised meditation is the fifth

stage of meditation. This fifth stage of meditation will enable you to

realise your ultimate spiritual destination. The individual has to pass

through all these stages of meditation, whether he takes thousands of

life-spans, or one thousand life-spans, or one full life or just a few

years. But the individual must achieve his ultimate spiritual

destination with his own sincere and sustained efforts and personal

commitment.

This is the essence of this spiritual discourse.


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(23-12-1986)

It is heard everyday that the mind which has gone astray in the

external world, or which is entangled and enticed in the external

world, and which is not concentrated and consolidated within itself,

then all its mental energy gets scattered and dissipated in the

external world. The common, ordinary person who has learnt to lead

a social life in the company of other persons, cannot live all alone,

within himself. When a person is all alone and solitary, his social

isolation (loss of contact with others) will disturb him. He will either

prefer to sleep or his mind will become lazy and lethargic. And when

the person is not sleeping, he will start imaging and getting mentally

engaged and entangled in the worldly struggles of mine-and-thine. In

this manner, his life-energy goes on dissipating and weakening even

in loneliness, just as it was getting dissipated and weak in the visible

struggles and engagements of the external world, which though so

huge, colossal, gigantic and limitless, are completely ephemeral and

subject to destruction and dissolution.

The more you think about the external world, the more you get

attached and emotionally involved and hanker after the external

world. The more you direct your senses towards the external world

and force your body to act accordingly, your mind will dream about,

remember, recall and ponder about only the external world. All this

leads the mind to go astray in the external world. A child does not

know anything else to pursue in his loneliness, except to engage

himself in the external world. Life in the external world leads only to

tensions, anxieties, worries, sleeplessness (insomnia), mental


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disequilibrium and loss of mental peace. A person goes on suffering,

physically and mentally, by leading life in the hot pursuit of worldly

engagements and entanglements. The mind that has gone astray and

is completely lost in the external world, runs after those objects for

which it has developed liking and interest, and it shuns and avoids

those objects which bring him pain and suffering. But the individual

does not know about the specific places and persons with which

these worldly comforts and sufferings are related. Nor does he know

as to how long these worldly comforts and sufferings are going to last.

The knowledge and awareness about comforts and sufferings is

equally present among all the animals, birds, insects and moths, as a

matter of their inherent nature and temperament. But beyond this

instinctive knowledge and habitual awareness concerning comforts

and sufferings, there is another knowledge which only human species

possess and which is the sole, singular prerogative and privilege of

human species, that is, to sit in isolation and (with the help of his

past experiences and future expectations) examine, evaluate and

judge as to what is most suitable and beneficial for the person. This

faculty and capability is in much and greater abundance in human

species as compared to other living species.

The small, minor comforts, emanating from the Universal

Nature (Prakriti) appear very relishing and pleasing on the face,

externally, but these small, minor comforts are not pleasing and

relishing for ever. For example, the sweet poison is both enjoyable

and relishing in taste but of what value and use is this taste when

the individual dies after eating the poison. Universal Nature adopts

and practises such deceptive ways. The individual is easily misled.

But his inner Divine Knowledge can recognise such deceptive ways of


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Universal Nature. Only the all-knowing, omniscient God has full,

complete, detailed and exhaustive knowledge concerning the tricky

and deceptive ways adopted and practised by the Universal Nature

(Prakriti). But the individual who possesses a little of this inner

Divine Knowledge should be able to recognise the deceptive ways of

the Universal Nature, its compulsive and inherent tendencies, how it

blinds the individual with the help of its two valiant servants

represented by “comforts” and “sufferings” and how it suddenly

misleads the individual by attracting and enslaving him to the worldly

comforts. The individual develops liking, love and attachment (Raga)

for the material comforts of the world, thereby the individual is

misled and goes astray, because he starts ruminating and pondering

all the time about the material comforts, and develops positive

attitude and emotional attachment with them. The individual starts

hankering after these material comforts with all his physical might

and means, and his mind remains completely pre-occupied, engaged,

engrossed and entangled in activities to collect and consolidate his

material, worldly possessions. After learning these tricky and

deceptive ways of Universal Nature, the individual should realise that

Universal Nature does not reveal and introduce itself in a straight-

forward manner to the ordinary, common person. The most venerable

God, whom the living beings regard as Supreme and Almighty, He

knows fully and completely, all the tricky and deceptive ways of

Universal Nature. Inspite of knowing these misleading, misguiding

and deceptive ways of Universal Nature, God always maintains His

blissful tranquility and poise and even today, He maintains the same.

As to where and what is the Abode of God, should not become the

main concern and objective of the common ordinary being (man), as


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God is not visible and physically tangible to him. Instead, he should

start cultivating in himself the divine qualities of God, adopt the

spiritual and religious life-style, develop and establish in himself, bit

by bit, the Divine Knowledge, and lead life accordingly. Take it for

granted that all this amounts to true, sincere and dedicated worship

of God, who is Divine Knowledge personified, who conquered and

subjugated all the forces of Universal Nature, who never developed

and experienced all the painful fetters. Every individual should adore

that God who is Divine Knowledge personified.

Only the human species possess that Divine Knowledge which

enables the person to recognise and evaluate the true worth of

everything. The comfort provided by the material objects of the world,

is short-lasting and limited, and finally, all the material comforts are

going to end in suffering. When every material comfort of the world is

going to end in suffering and pain, every person should make efforts

to identify and achieve that comfort which will not finally end in pain

and suffering, and this should become the main goal of meditation.

Every person should develop this insight, by sitting in isolation and

understand the purpose of life with the help of meditation. Every

person, working in any environment, can practise meditation. For

example, a doctor, a teacher, a lawyer, an employee – all of them turn

their profession into a success story with the help of meditation.

Whatever is happening in the external world, is taking place as a

matter of routine and almost automatically. But the individual should

withdraw himself a bit from the external world, or in other words, the

individual should disengage and disentangle his mind from the

external world. Instead, he should pay attention to and recognise his

inner spiritual reality. Only that individual will recognise and learn


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about the inner, spiritual reality, who is able to control and subjugate

his temptation and attraction for the external, material world. There

are mainly two types of ties and relations with the external world : (1)

attraction and attachment with sweet and pleasant objects, which

keep the mind preoccupied and entangled with them, and (2) aversion

and repulsion from bitter and painful objects, from which the mind

withdraws and retreats to such an extent that it develops aversion

and hatred for them. The individual who understands these two types

of emotional reactions with the external world, (that is, attachment

for sweet and pleasant objects and aversion for bitter and painful

objects) and who also recognises his inner spiritual reality, that

individual has definitely started to worship God and seek and acquire

the Divine Knowledge. You may identify and recognise that individual

with any such title – Gyan Yogi (one who follows the path of Divine

Knowledge) or a Dhyana Yogi (one who believes in Action and Practise

of Spiritual Meditation). Without adopting and sincerely practising

the religious and ethical ways of life with other human beings, other

persons will not let you practise spiritual meditation. For example, if

you have spoken harsh words and behaved badly with the other

person, this fact will disturb your mind when you sit in isolation to

practise meditation. You will become apprehensive that the other

person may not develop negative and hostile feelings for you. That is

why, you have to perform only good deeds in the external world with

a concentrated and consolidated mind. This has been given a name

and identified as „the performance and practice of honest conduct

(Karma Yoga). If the individual does not pursue, perform and practise

honest conduct, his performance and practise of spiritual meditation

(Dhyana Yoga) can never prove successful and fruitful.


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Dedication to the pursuit of ethical conduct (Karma Yoga) will

enhance a little your ability to pursue and practise spiritual

meditation (Dhyana Yoga). As a result, you will become aware of and

able to realise your inner Spiritual Reality as well as to know and

realise the Divine Knowledge. After associating and dedicating himself

to the ethical conduct, if the individual sincerely and earnestly

pursues and practises the path of Divine Knowledge, he will definitely

be regarded as the staunch seeker of Divine Knowledge. After getting

rid of all the fetters, such a dedicated seeker and committed devotee

of God will experience, achieve and realise in himself the same Divine

Bliss and Spiritual Peace as is permanently abiding in and attributed

to God from times immemorial. All the Vedas and Scriptures describe

and delineate with one voice, simultaneously and untidily, this

spiritual path of Divine Bliss and Spiritual Peace.

As already mentioned, the two compulsive attributes of Persona

Nature (Prakriti), (that is, Attachment and Aversion), are present in

every individual right from birth. Attachment is indicative of comfort

and happiness, and Aversion is indicative of pain and suffering. As a

matter of fact, these two emotional states should not be called

Attachment and Aversion. It is just an experience of comfort and

happiness or pain and suffering. The true and real comfort and

happiness is realised and achieved only in the company of and

granted by God. The real pain and suffering is that which follows

comfort and happiness. For example, the individuals who used to

shower love and affection, they start showing disrespect. The

individuals who seek and yearn for the temporary comforts and

happiness, they receive only pain and sufferings. In reality, the

individual continues pursuing and hankering after the mundane


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comforts and happiness from his false, unreal, and imagined

situations, and as a result, ultimately, all this is bound to end in

miseries, pain and sufferings, such as diseases, depressions,

disorders and disrespects (insults). In other words, the real pain and

suffering is that which the individual gets in place of the cherished

comforts and happiness. As a matter of fact, the individual

experiences the Spiritual Bliss only after getting rid of all the worldly,

material pleasures and pains.

Universal Nature has two channels through which it functions :

in one channel, Universal Nature exhibits and offers material

comforts and happiness; hence it is the best and most cherished

channel. In the second channel, Universal Nature manifests and

offers pains and sufferings, hence it is unwelcome and unwanted. All

the living creatures, that is human beings, insects, moths, animals

and birds, continue their existence through these two channels

offered and prescribed by Universal Nature. For example, when an

animal or a bird experiences and feels the pinch of cold season, it at

once goes towards and sits in that place where there is warmth of the

sun. and when the sun appears very hot and painful, it shifts to the

shady and cool place. Further, animals and birds have the natural

tendency to kill and eat other for their personal well-being. For

example, the crow eats the young ones of other birds. In this manner,

all the living creatures feed on each other and become mutually

hostile and enemies. Universal Nature is enacting all this worldly

drama through its two channels through which it functions.

Every human being is influenced and controlled by these two

channels of Universal Nature. For example, the individual gets upset

by the bitter and harsh words used against him and he gets angry.


170

Out of anger, when he reacts and responds with equally bitter and

harsh words, the individual does not know as to what results his

bitter and harsh words will lead to. All this points towards human

ignorance (Avidya). The individual should first of all understand his

inherent, inner ignorance. Universal Nature envelops the whole

universe with the darkness of Ignorance (Avidya) and its divine

dynamism (Maya) and thereby continues with its processes of

creation and destruction. Universal Nature does not let human soul

(Atma) reveal itself through its palpable Divine Consciousness and

Divine Knowledge. In other words, human soul remains camouflaged

and concealed under the wraps of material Universal Nature. It is

only Almighty God who is fully aware of all the latent (hidden)

schemes and undertakings of Universal Nature. Almighty God

possesses the power to dissolve and destroy all the illusionary fetters

of Universal Nature and emancipate the human soul from the worldly

bondage. But the individual himself has to decide that he has to

cultivate and develop within himself (with the help of prayer) devotion

and dedication to God and thereby develop the spiritual power to

uproot and eradicate all his Ignorance (Avidya). To achieve this goal,

it is essential for the individual to develop the ability to recognise the

difference between good and evil and he must also always keep in

focus this distinction. Even if he has to undergo pain and suffering in

this pursuit, he must not pay heed to the demands of Universal

Nature, in the same manner as a patient has to give up the palatable

food and resist the strong temptation to eat that food during his

illness. The individual has to give up many other things dear to him

and maintain a strict discipline and regimen. If he fails to maintain a

strict discipline, his disease can get aggravated and it can even lead


171

to death. The patient still has the desire to enjoy eating that palatable

sweet food, but he is not conscious of the pain and suffering that will

follow the pleasure of eating that sweet food. The patient does feel

deprived by giving up his desire to relish the sweet food of his choice

and he may even feel disturbed and enraged. But if he maintains his

control and discipline by keeping his mind and intellect fully alert

and heedful to check the temptations, then regard this caution as

equivalent to worship and devotion of God.

Only that person is a real heedful and conscious person who

fully understands how his mind pulls and pushes him in various

directions, who is aware of the possible consequences and the place

where his mind is leading him under the influence of temptations of

worldly comforts and pleasures. The child cannot comprehend

(recognise and know) this fact, because his intelligence and intellect

have not as yet developed to that extent. But those who are grown-up

and mature, even these adults are misled by the temptations

proffered by the forces of Universal Nature. Universal Nature

possesses and controls a multitude of temptations to lure the human

mind. The individual must comprehend the various tempting forces of

Universal Nature, which operate like the electric current and lure the

living being to interact with the external world. In other words, these

temptations lure the mind to act in a compulsive and irrational

manner. All the deeds performed under the influence of Universal

Nature in the external world are both compulsive and unethical, such

as indulgence in intoxicants or taking revenge as tit for tat, etc.

Universal Nature camouflages all such deeds as good and noble. All

these are the compulsive waves of Universal Nature. Just as the

waves or currents of electricity pull- and- push, in the same fashion,


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the waves of Universal Nature pull-and- push the individual mind. If

the individual maintains his poise and equilibrium during the pulls-

and- pushes of Universal Nature, regard this achievement as divine

Knowledge. If the Divine Knowledge remains stable and poised within

you even for a moment, then that Divine Knowledge is nothing but

Almighty God Himself present at that moment. But the reality is that

pain- and- suffering donot permit Divine Knowledge to remain stable

and poised within you.

If you donot gratify your addictive habits, your mind would feel

disturbed and hurt. This mental hurt gives to evil mental tendencies

and evil Knowledge. The gratification of addictive habits and the

resultant false pleasures generate only evil tendencies and evil

knowledge. The addict at times declares that there is not much evil in

the gratification of the said addiction, nor there is much apparent,

specific sanctity and nobility in giving up the pleasure and

satisfaction provided by the addiction. All these evil and false

tendencies, the evil and false gratifications, and the evil and false

resolutions, excite and disturb the mind as well. In the beginning,

Universal Nature does not let the individual develop a resolute mind

to recognise the evil tendencies and the evil knowledge; or in other

words, Universal Nature does not permit the mind to peep within

itself and introspect to understand and grasp the inherent, inner

spiritual truths. Universal Nature keeps the mind fully engaged and

entangled in the external world. Only that person can develop a

resolute mind who sits in isolation at times, to unravel and

understand the mysterious ways of Universal Nature, who questions

himself as to what type of actions he performed during the day, how

he behaved and what he uttered during his conversations and


173

discussions with other people. All these situations do arise in life,

because you are living in human society. You must mentally

comprehend and recognise as to how you reacted with your

neighbours, with your dear ones and even with your adversaries and

opponents ; in other words, how you behaved with other people.

When you try to become heedful and careful in that situation, your

lethargic mind will not let you be heedful in the first place. Your mind

will suggest that since you are not engaged and busy, hence it is

much better to enjoy sleep. in such a situation, you have to overcome

and control your lethargy and lassitude. When you decide to

overcome the lethargy, your mind will adopt and offer other emotional

excuses, such as fear (the mind may not get disturbed and become

abnormal because of loss of sleep) or the mind may not become

short- tempered and irritated or the mind may not become prone to

anger. When you are able to overcome and pacify these natural

mental hurdles and emotional evil tendencies, this too amounts to

the practise of meditation. When you develop and acquire spiritual

knowledge with the help and practice of meditation and maintain or

sustain this life- style, this achievement becomes the highway to

realise and reach your cherished goal of permanent union and

oneness with the Omniscient, all- knowing God. The useless

emotional excuses and mental obstacles generated and adopted by

Universal Nature, such as fear, irritation and anger etc. will force the

individual to behave in such a way that he becomes very helpless. In

other words, this helplessness forces the individual to behave like a

slave of the excuses and obstacles adopted by Universal Nature. Then

the individual reverts back to the same, old lifestyle of pursuing false,

meaningless mundane comforts and feels helpless and impotent


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within himself. His intelligence and intellect also fail to help and

guide him. Under such circumstances, the individual should try to

eliminate his mental and emotional weaknesses and reduce his

sleeping schedules gradually by one to two hours. He should examine

and mentally review how he used to waste his precious time for hours

in gossips at night. When his mind is idle and unoccupied, he will

recall and ruminate about his engagements of the day, such as „How

so-and-so talked to me in a haughty manner and out of reaction, how

I too responded with equally angry, hostile words,‟ or „How the other

person manifested his anger out of his pride to establish his

superiority.‟ Instead of caring for and maintaining his own mental

peace, instead of fortifying his meditation and committed, sincere

devotion to God, the human mind gets engrossed, entangles and

enticed to the external world. Such mental pre-occupations always

prove harmful to the end. At this juncture, if the human mind

becomes heedful and cautious, then take it for sure, that it has

realised its most cherished goal of Spiritual Knowledge and Divine

Awakening (Divine Consciousness). Every person has learnt from

religious scriptures that the Divine Consciousness is fully liberated

and beyond the jurisdiction of fetters. Consciousness means to be

aware and heedful. In other words, to be aware and heedful means to

equip and establish yourself firmly and permanently in Divine

Knowledge. In opposition to consciousness (cautious and heedful) ,

when the forces of Universal Nature and the external world attract

and entice the individual, at that time, his mind becomes least

cautions and heedful, his becomes impotent and lifeless, like dead

matter. The individual with the heedless mind always gets entangled

and enticed to the external world. But you should become heedful


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and know as to where the forces of Universal Nature and the external

world are leading your mind. In other words, your mind is

preoccupied and engrossed with those objects and events which took

place earlier in the past and which have nothing to do with present

moment. You should be able to recognize the forces of Universal

Nature which are goading and pushing you towards unwanted and

unnecessary pain and sufferings. From this very crucial point begins

the awakening and heedfulness in the mind of the individual. This

has been universally recognised and declared as realisation of

Spiritual Consciousness. When the mind is not alert and heedful, it is

just like a piece of dead, lifeless matter, which under the forceful and

compulsive impulsive tendencies of Universal Nature, is forced to

blindly interact with the external world.

With the help of meditation, the individual should awaken his

intellect and intelligence to become extra heedful and cautions. As

soon as the emotions of pride and greed arise and appear in the idle

and un-engaged mind, he should start planning as how to control,

subjugate, and get rid of these emotions. He should also some-how

make the best use of his spiritual impressions of his past experiences

(Sanskar) stored in his mind. When the driver is not an expert, alert

and heedful, how can be control, manage and drive a wayward

vehicle which has gone out of control? That is why it is recommended

that you must awaken and acquire Divine Knowledge and Spiritual

Consciousness. Divine Knowledge and Spiritual Consciousness,

should have complete control to manage and drive the vehicle of your

life. Just as Bhagwan Krishna (the incarnation of Spiritual Knowledge

and supreme repository of Divine Consciousness) was the expert

driver of the chariot of Arjuna (the living being) in Mahabharat, in the


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same manner, Spiritual Knowledge about the Eternal Truth (Divine

Consciousness) should control and drive the vehicle (physical body) of

your life (the living being) in the world. How will this take place? The

Divine Knowledge will make your mind to be heedful and cautious

and warn : “O mind ! what will you ultimately gain by recklessly

pursuing the worldly objects of your choice?” or “O mind ! When you

wish for others pain and sufferings, similarly your opponents too will

pray for your pain and sufferings with double the intensity.” Or “All

animals and birds are jealous of each other. When you too behave

like these animals and birds, then in what manner are you better

than these animals and birds? Your behaviour is equivalent to the

behaviour of animals and birds.” If you are able to awaken your

intellect to this level, you will also have to learn to live with and

tolerate some pain and suffering as well. The mind which is too much

engrossed and entangled with the external world, will not let the

individual live with and tolerate this pain and suffering, and further,

it will never let the individual experience and enjoy spiritual peace

and divine bliss.

The mind which is grossly engaged and entangled with the

external world, may experience some form of spiritual peace for a

short while during his sleeping state, but when the individual wakes

up and comes out of sleep, his mind will again get grossly engaged

with the external world. The individual should never think that all the

living creatures existing in the external world donot form a part of his

world (existence). Universal nature is continuously creating and

demolishing every moment, material objects in the external world.

Just as the human mind creates in his dream a world very similar to

the world he experiences during his waking state, exactly in the same


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manner, the individual harbours a multitude of emotions his

subconscious mind which he experienced with his conscious mind.

Every individual should always conduct mental analysis and

understand his life situations and worldly experiences. For example,

you feel aggrieved and insulted by some minor bad behaviour meted

out to you by some person, and you cannot tolerate that burning

insult, or in other words, you fail to digest the poison of that insult,

and you start fuming and fretting against that person, and thereby

your mental peace goes hay-wire and gets disturbed. On the other

hand, if your tolerate that burning insult, then where is your

emotional burn? And how can the said bad behaviour meted out to

you by the other person cause any emotional shock and harm to you?

Only your false impression and negative attitude concerning the bad

behaviour of the said person is persisting in your mind, which does

not let you digest the poison of the said insult. If you are able to

destroy or alter and transform your negative attitude with the help of

introspection, then spiritual peace will manifest itself. But instead, it

is the habitual self or personal nature which wants to sustain the

negative attitude and forces the person to pursue its diktats of

habitual nature.

Just as you can goad, direct and divert an animal in the desired

direction with the help of a stick, similarly, Universal Nature or divine

dynamism (Maya), wielding the powerful wand of the three-pronged

inherent propensities (Gunas) and the insatiable worldly passions

(Trishna), is goading and directing all the living beings of the world,

demanding : “All living beings must obey the commands of their

inherent Gunas and gratify their habitual demands which they have

been following right from their childhood.” It is only the Almighty God


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who has subjugated Universal Nature or has gained full, paramount

power over Universal Nature (Prakriti) by understanding and

unraveling its mysterious machinations. With sincere dedication and

intense devotion, when the individual cultivates in himself and

acquires all the divine merits of God, His Spiritual Knowledge

(Gyana), His all powerful, spiritual energy (Veerya), then it is as good

as passionate prayer. But Universal Nature (Prakriti) does not permit

the individual to cultivate and acquire God‟s divine merits, because

then Universal Nature is afraid of losing its control and supremacy

with the spread of the celestial qualities such as Non-attachment

(Vairagya) and Contentment (Santosh).

The all-pervading, omnipresent, Universal Nature (Prakriti) has

enshrined itself in the human mind right from childhood. This force

of Prakriti dictates and directs the human mind to follow the same

path as the rest of the mankind is following. On the contrary, the

individual must make efforts to awaken and actualize his personal

intellectual capabilities (Panda) and only then he will be called

„Pandit‟ (a learned person) and recognised as „Pandoo‟ (the progeny of

the learned king). The world „Panda‟ or intellectual capabilities is

etymologically the root (origin) of the word „Pandit‟ (the learned

person).

But as a matter of fact, a persistent, constant war (a sort of the

War of Mahabharat)1 is continuously raging inside the human mind,

1 For reference sake, the allegory of the War of Mahabharat is most aptly and usefully

employed here in this context. The War of Mahabharata was fought between Pandavas

(the judicious people) and the Kauravas (the wicked people). Pandavas employed

thoughtful and judicious tactics in the war, whereas the Kauravas employed deceits and

deceptions. Pandavas became victorious in the War of Mahabharata and became

sovereign rulers of Mahabharata (India). Auruna, the great warrior, was a Pandava (the


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between the forces of Universal Nature and the forces of Divine

Consciousness; or in other words, between the compulsive, blind,

instinctual forces, and the alert, judicious, conscientious forces.

The human mind must align itself with the heedful, alert and

conscientious forces, by cultivating and developing Spiritual

Knowledge and Divine Consciousness. To achieve this goal, the

human mind must first recognise the false, pseudo worldly

knowledge, how this pseudo knowledge has enticed and enslaved the

human mind and how this pseudo knowledge is mis-leading and mis-

directing the human mind by igniting attraction for the external,

mundane world. You will at once realise that this pseudo knowledge

has tarnished and clouded both human intellect and understanding.

You should clean your mind with the help of introspection,

meditation and Divine Knowledge.

In day-to-day life, the individual forms wrong opinion and

negative attitude towards other persons because of his pseudo

knowledge and false understanding. His incorrect information forces

him to think and conclude: „So-and-so misbehaved with me‟ or „so-

and-so is an evil person‟. But the reality is that all persons are almost

similar and alike, and all are blessed with the same power of

descendent of the learned king Pandoo) and a very honest, decent, judicious warrior.

Bhagwan Krishna, the repository of all Divine Knowledge (Gyana) and the epitome of

omniscient, all-knowing Divine Consciousness, acted as the non-fighting charioteer of

Arjuna. The word „Arjuana‟ means the devout follower of sublime spirituality. Arjuna was

a devout disciple and faithful friend of Bhagwan Krishna. In a way, the War of

Mahabharata was a war between the good forces and the evil forces, and finally good

forces became victorious. The evil forces got death and destruction, whereas the good

forces were blessed with peace and plenty.

Addition by Translator.


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consciousness. By misbehaving with you, a certain person does not

become an evil and bad person. The same person is a friend, a loved

one, a good and kind person or certain other persons. When you are

guided by objective reality, you will realise that no person is

inherently bad and evil. The person appears bad and evil only to your

eyes because of your biased view generated by your pseudo

knowledge and wrong information about that person. The objective,

factual reality is that the Supreme Power which makes your body-

machine function, the same Supreme Power is also making the body-

machines of all other individuals function in the same and similar

manner. The same Supreme Power is regulating blood-circulation,

digesting food, controlling the breathing-process (even during sleep)

and managing many other functions inside the human body. That

Supreme Power is not operating like you and me who are mostly

controlled by set, biased attitudes and prejudices of mine-and-thine

and are running mad for worldly possessions. For example, when the

individual goes to sleep, he does not know as to how, wherefrom and

who is controlling his breathing process. When two animals are

fighting, nobody knows as to how their body-machines continue

functioning. What is this Supreme Power, which is managing and

administering the whole universe so well with such a great expertise?

When you know that Supreme Power, you will then realise that its

name is Almighty God. Every individual must focus his mind on the

Almighty God. Donot bother about such attitudes as to who is an evil

person or who is your enemy or who is very cunning. Universal

Nature (Prakriti) does not let the individual know and recognise the

Almighty God, personified as Divine Knowledge or Supreme

Consciousness. Instead of acknowledging the One Universal Supreme


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Consciousness functioning throughout the whole universe, Universal

Nature misleads the individual by introducing and identifying so

many different, diversified and independent material forces,

functioning separately in the whole external universe. The living

being has acquired this pseudo knowledge about Universal Nature

right form his childhood.

You should advise and loudly admonish your mind that its

attitude towards the other person is not correct. It is true that the

said person misbehaved with you for a short moment. But the said

person behaved nicely and gently with a third person. Then will you

call that person an evil individual or a gentleman? It is not correct to

identify someone as „evil person‟ or as „gentle person‟ by his

momentary behaviour. That person is a „conscious being‟, whose

mind is active and alert at every moment, and who is consciously

operating and controlling his behaviour. He is blessed with an iota of

the Supreme Consciousness, which is universally present in all

living-beings, in you and me and every person. Further, an element of

the Supreme Consciousness is active inside a running dog. It is true

that inside the physical body of the dog the conscious element is

forcing the dog to run after food to satisfy its hunger. From the point

of survival instinct, one dog will not tolerate and accommodate

another dog, so far as food is concerned. In the same manner, human

beings are competitively involved in their selfish worldly pursuits and

are afflicted by the feelings of attraction and aversion, as seen in the

animal mentality. The animal instinct is quite visible in mankind as

well. Attachment-Aversion is a drama of Universal Nature enacted

throughout the universe. But you as a „conscious‟ person, must

recognise that it is one and the same „conscious element‟ which is


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present throughout the organic, living world, all the time and

everywhere, among all types of living creatures.

When the individual starts analyzing and understanding all the

machinations of his mind, this faculty is called the discriminating

power of intellect (Viveka). You should cultivate and develop in your

mind this discriminating power of intellect. It may take hours to

develop your intellect. It is just possible that you may fail to develop it

or it may take years or a life-time to develop it. You must persistently

continue your efforts in this direction. Even if you fail to develop your

intellect in the present life-span, the fact remains that you should

continue making sincere efforts to develop your faculty of intellect,

and even at the time of your death, you were honestly busy to evolve

your intellect. Further, among the animal species, it is only the

human being who is blessed with the power of intellect, to examine

and weigh the pros and cons of your mundane and spiritual well-

being. The individual may not be able to comprehend all the pros and

cons at a particular moment. But he can devote his mind to unravel

and unfold the mystery. This is called „mental discipline‟ (Mano-yoga).

The individual who at least makes sincere efforts to develop his

discriminatory ability (Viveka), who practises meditation to develop

his intellect, who has strong faith in Omniscient God, he will surely

continue his status of a human being even in the next life after his

death. Even if he had made unsuccessful efforts in this direction in

the present life, he will surely be reborn, as a human being to pursue

his efforts till he achieves his goal. You have to cultivate self-control

to achieve this goal.

For example, a certain good may be very delicious, but if it is

contra-indicated for your health, you donot eat it, considering that it


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may prove harmful. You develop the will and capability to avoid and

ignore that food. In the same manner, you have to develop the

spiritual capacity and divine power to patiently bear the bad

behaviour of the other person, even if it is as harmful and painful as

poison. In other words, you have to digest the poison of the insult

inflicted on you in the form of bad behaviour and evil words. If you

decide never to take any revenge, physically as well as mentally, then

it means that you have learnt the art of digesting the poison of injury

and insult inflicted on you in the form of the bad behaviour and evil

words. (As per Hindu mythology) Shiva, had consumed all the poison

produced at the time of churning of the ocean. This whole universe is

a sort of ocean of emotions (Bhava-sagar). If you churn this ocean of

emotions or in other words, if you analyse and examine critically as

to what is the objective and purpose of emotions in human existence,

you will come to the conclusion that, emotions universally generate

the sensibilities of both pleasure and pain. The poison of insult and

injury generates only hate, pain and suffering. This poison spreads

like infection, when the individual responds and reacts equally

negatively with bad behaviour and evil words. The poison of hatred

produces a very abnormal mental state which compels and forces

human beings to adopt hostile attitude against each other.

This hostile attitude never proves helpful and beneficial for any

individual. Only Lord Shiva could consume and withstand the poison

of hostility because he is the epitome and harbinger of peaceful

serenity and absorbed meditation (Dhyana/Samadhi). Shiva has been

given two other alternative names (in religious scriptures), that is

„Shambhu‟ and “Shankara”. Shambhu means that person who has

inherent, inborn, natural temperament and tendency to remain


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peaceful, calm, unruffled and non-reactive. Shankara, on the other

hand, means that person who makes conscious efforts to keep his

mind peaceful, calm, unruffled and non-reactive, who makes willful

efforts to control his mind to remain peaceful and unruffled , to

remain un-agitated, unprovoked. When an individual decides to keep

his mind peaceful, un-agitated, unprovoked and non-reactive, it

means that he has started paying sincere, devoted obeisance to

Shankara. Through this devotion and dedication, when your mind

becomes completely peaceful, un-ruffled, un-provoked, calm and

quiet, it means your mind has successfully cultivated and developed

the mental faculty of peaceful serenity and absorbed meditation.

When your mind remains settled in absorbed meditation (Samadhi), it

means that your mind has developed and achieved the capabilities

represented by Shankara; in other words, you have developed the

capabilities of consuming and digesting the poisons and insults of the

world. Why and in what manner this amounts to consuming and

digesting the poison of insults? The following example answers this

question. When someone misbehaves with you, your mind starts

regarding that individual as a cruel and evil person. Your mind starts

ruminating about the misbehavior and getting angry and then

resolves to take revenge. The fire of revenge starts ragging in your

mind and the poison of hostility starts consuming your mental peace.

You start making schemes to avenge the insult. Who is instigating

and compelling you to become hostile and revengeful? When you

examine your mind, you will realise that it is the poison of that

misbehavior. But a devotee detoxifies the poison in the same manner

as you cure some headache or as a child tolerates without protest

and reaction the pain of the slap received from his father or as a


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subordinate bears and tolerates the admonitions of his senior without

remonstrations. As a matter of fact, all of us calmly bear without any

protest the rigours, the agony and the misery produced by hunger,

thirst, thunder, storm and physical debilities and disabilities. The

fact remains that there is more pain and suffering in the world, and

as such, all of us must learn to tolerate without protest all these

mental agonies and physical miseries. The person who wields some

power or authority, is capable of indulging in misbehavior and evil

words, under the influence of his power and authority. The

misbehavior and the evil words do inflict insult and injury. You

should not keep in your mind such insult and injury. In such a

situation, you should suggest your mind : “The individual who

inflicted the insult and injury, is actually not a bad person. It is the

official power and authority, which compelled him to misbehave at

that moment. O mind, donot bother about it. Instead, let us research

and find out the duration (time) for which his insult and injury is

going to hurt you”. Consider another example. You never wished for

the hurt caused by the prick of a thorn or the pain and suffering

caused by a burn. But you have to tolerate it. Gradually, with the

capability of toleration, you will realise that the hurt is not going to

persist for ever. Finally, your inherent, natural spiritual power will

completely cure the said pain and suffering.

The truth is that the other person misbehaved with you under

the spell of his personal nature (habitual forces). You should cultivate

and always entertain positive and peaceful thoughts and resolutions

(Sankalapa) and affectionate sentiments and emotions (Bhava) in

your mind, such as “That hostile person is weak, but why should I

prove myself weak?” After cultivating such affectionate sentiments


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and emotions in your mind, if you react correctly and adopt the right,

positive behaviour with the hostile person, your positive behaviour

will surely neutralize the poison of misbehavior of the other person.

When you ignore and donot bother or negatively react about his

misbehavior, you mill will remain peaceful and unruffled. When you

cultivate such positive attitude and behaviour, this would amount to

sincere devotion, dedication and worship of Shiva in the actual sense.

When your mind is calm and peaceful, it will not entertain, cultivate

or experience useless, futile and hostile ideas. On the other hand,

when your mind entertains and cultivates good, positive and peace

ideas and thoughts, this type of mental set and thinking is equivalent

to meditation (Dhyana). In Sanskrit language, etymologically, the

world „Dhyana‟ originated from the root „Dhiaya‟, which means

remembering and thinking (Sansmaran and Chintan). (The word

„chintan‟ gave birth to „chita‟). Thus, there are two, different words

„Dhyana‟ and „Chintan‟, and both words denote thinking process. But

there is a subtle difference in their connotation or meaning and use.

When your mind is cultivating and engaged in futile, useless,

purposeless, random thoughts under the spell of your personal

nature or habitual tendencies (Swabhava), it is called „Chintan‟ and

represents the word „Chit‟ (Sub-conscious mind). When your mind is

cultivating and engaged in useful, purposeful, meaningful and

positive thoughts, and intentionally, with efforts and due

understanding, reinforcing them with loud repetitions and recitation,

this is called „Dhyana‟ or Meditation. Dhyana involves specifically the

repetition of a token symbolic word, representing a certain thought

and its full content and connotation (meaning). Thus, you should

recognise and understand the difference between „Chit‟ or „Chintan‟


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(engaging your mind with natural or habitual futile, useless,

purposeless, meaningless random thoughts) and „Dhyana‟ (effort-fully

and intentionally engaging your mind with useful, purposeful,

meaningful, and positive thoughts for your well-being or „Kalyana‟).

You recognise and know in detail many things of the external

world, because your ignorant mind (ignorant because your mind does

not know your inherent, inner divine reality) cannot resist seeking

information and knowledge about the external world. This blemish of

ignorance (about the inherent divine reality) is tarnishing the minds

of all the human beings right from their birth. With his wide open

eyes, the human being continues surveying, scrutinizing and

studying the external world. With his eyes fully alert and with keen

interest, he goes on recording all the sights and scenes of the external

world. With his ears fully alert and with keen interest, he goes on

recording all the sounds and speeches of the external world. The

human being continues seeking information and knowledge of the

external world to establish and prove to himself that he is still alive

and existing in the world. If the human being fails or ceases to gather

information and knowledge about the external world due to some

reason, his mind prefers to go to sleep (instead of sitting idle and

unengaged). And if he fails to go to sleep, the human being feels lost

and listless. Nobody wants to lead a lost and listless existence. That

is why each and every human being, according to his capacity and

capability, continues gathering information and knowledge of the

external world. When the human being fails to make efforts,

intentionally and willfully, to gather information and knowledge about

his celestial, origin (his spiritual antecedents and divine moorings),

his mind reverts back to his natural, habitual tendencies, and his


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past, preserved experiences (Sanskaras), to seek and gather

information and knowledge of the external world. All human beings

have always employed this convenient technique. The human mind

must keep on gathering information and knowledge, whether it is

divine spiritual knowledge acquired through Dhyana or it is worldly,

mundane knowledge gathered through natural, habitual ways,

through Chintan.

If you start scrutinising (examining and understanding) within

your mind as to what constitutes lust, anger, attachment, aversion,

pride, delusion, envy, jealousy, and ignorance, as well as if you

cultivate and develop interest in meditation, you will soon achieve

and realise the stage of absorbed meditation (Samadhi), so much so

that you will become completely oblivious of the external world. But

this stage (that is achieving and realising Samadhi) does not mean

that you have severed all your ties with the external world. If you stop

your meditation just for a moment, you will at once become aware of

the pulsating external world. All your senses will start functioning

and responding to the external world, just as these senses were

responding earlier. If you have not as yet cultivated and developed

your faculty of meditation, your mind will continue to remain

entangled and engaged with the objects of the external world, and

your Life-Force (elan vital), which is active in the form of vital breath

(Prana) in your body, will continue to remain entangled and engaged

with the external world. Because your mind is engaged in acquiring

the knowledge of the external world, your Life-Force too will remain

entangled and engaged with the external world. In other words,

wherever your Cognitive Force is involved, your Life-Force too will get

involved. Because the mind is engaged in knowing the persons and


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products of the external world, the Life-Force too will get involved

with them. When the Cognitive Force starts getting consolidated and

concentrated within your mind after securing emancipation from its

involvement with the external world, then, along with the Cognitive

Force, your Life-Force will also have a chance to get consolidated and

concentrated within you. For example, during sleep, your Life-Force

and Cognitive Force give up and forget their involvement with the

persons and products of the external world, and instead get

consolidated and concentrated within your body and mind. That is

why sleeping becomes both refreshing and rejuvenating. In the same

manner, even during the wakeful state, both the Cognitive force and

the Life-Force prove refreshing and rejuvenating after securing

emancipation from the external world when these forces get

consolidated and concentrated within the body and mind. The crucial

question arises : how to get emancipation from your involvement with

the external world and then enjoy the same freshness and

rejuvenation even during the wakeful state, as you experienced

during your sleeping state? In such a situation, Ignorance (Avidya)

declares : “I will not allow the individual to survive without acquiring

mundane knowledge of the external world”. If the individual does not

cultivate and develop within himself for his own well-being the

Spiritual Knowledge with the help and practice of meditation, then

the misleading and false knowledge of the external world will start

reviving and generating false inclinations and attitudes in the human

mind. For example, you start branding and calling someone as a

cruel person or a thief, etc. This is false attitude, because this is your

own, personal opinion. With the information of false attitude, you will

also develop false inclinations, false tendencies and false resolutions


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(decisions). Then anger and excitement will raise their heads to fulfill

and achieve the objectives of the false resolutions and decisions, and

along with them, evil schemes and plans will be formulated. This type

of pseudo worldly concerns are nothing but „false and misleading

forces of the biased mind‟ and thereby your whole life will be wasted.

Ordinarily, the life of a common man is controlled by his natural,

habitual inclinations and tendencies. As a matter of fact, life should

be controlled by religious and spiritual inner realities and not by

natural, habitual tendencies and impulsive urges. To achieve this

objective, every individual must recognise his false intellectual

inclinations as soon as they raise their head and then uproot them

completely with the help of meditation. Then his mind will experience

such a wonderful peace as soon as his fake intellectual tendencies

and false sentiments get uprooted and annihilated. Then the

individual will automatically experience and relish the celestial

ecstasy and Divine Bliss. Only the religious and pious devotees are

blessed with this celestial ecstasy and Divine Bliss. In other words,

the celestial, ecstasy and Divine Bliss is experienced only by the

sincere, selfless seekers who live life according to religious and ethical

principles.

Once you cultivate and develop such religious and pious

feelings strongly in your mind, then gradually, your outlook and

attitude will be transformed. The person whom your mind regarded

as cruel and evil person, that person will start appearing gentle and

friendly. Your mind will start realising that the said person appeared

cruel and evil only because of your false, negative outlook and biased

attitude towards him. Then your mind will coax you to experience

and share his happiness and feel sympathetic, kind and generous


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when the said person is suffering and in pain. You start considering

whether the said person behaved with you so badly and cruelly under

the spell of his momentary weakness and under the fit of his poor

habitual disposition. Hence you should not give much weightage and

importance to his negative behaviour and not to harbor any ill

feelings towards him. When you develop the habit of analyzing and

vivisecting your mind in your solitary moments in this manner and

develop kind feelings and generous attitudes towards other beings,

you will surely experience and enjoy spiritual peace and divine

contentment for long hours, and you will not even notice how time

passed away. Even if a person dies while experiencing and enjoying

such spiritual peace and divine contentment, he will straight get

settled in the celestial world of Braham-Loka (the much wished-for

and universally sought-after spiritual destination after one‟s death,

mentioned in religious Hindu Scriptures as Braham-Loka). When you

detach your mind from the external world, when you donot negatively

react but instead start tolerating the minor insult and injuries

inflicted by others, when you donot harm others and always perform

good and noble deeds, then you are existing and leading a much

better and nobler life. You start living and leading your life without

the blemishes and weaknesses of the physical corporeal, material

bodies, like the existence of angels. Angels lead a non-physical, and

non-corporeal existence, possessing the powers of the physical sense

organs such as eyes, ears, nose, etc. in a subtle manner. Angels lead

a subtle existence even after the death of the physical body. When

you start living a detached life, your existence will become as noble

and sublime as the existence of angels (Devtas). You will continue

exercising and enjoying the capabilities of physical senses. You will


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continue witnessing all the activities of the external, material,

physical world, but you will not be subject to and under the control of

compulsive, instinctual, animal, natural forces, which control the

existence of ordinary living creatures. Such a noble, peaceful,

dispassionate and detached life is called existence in heaven or

heavenly existence (Swarg Loka). This is also called Sphere of

Meditation (Dhyana Loka), where you senses remain detached from

the external world, where your mind remains concentrated and

consolidated within you, where your soul (Spirit) remains absorbed

and submerged in the inner, eternal Divine Bliss. In this manner, you

will have to cultivate and develop your Spiritual Knowledge through

the practice of meditation. You will have to develop noble,

affectionate, human, sympathetic and sacred attitudes towards all

the living beings of the world, instead of harbouring and entertaining

sectarian, biased, false and fake reactions and resolutions towards

them. You should give up your natural, habitual, mundane evil

inclinations and tendencies, such as lust, anger, greed, attachment,

aggrandizement, jealously and ill-will. In their place, you should

cultivate and develop in yourself the sacred sentiments, associated

with and attributed to God. Godly qualities constitute friendliness

and brotherhood, sympathy and kindness, appreciation and

encouragement, humility and politeness (gentleness), forgiveness and

tolerance, sharing and charity, contentment and satisfaction, and

deliberately ignoring and disregarding others‟ weakness. This mental

achievement is called “becoming conscious in your solitude”.

Consciousness implies “Without any fetters” (Bandhan). If a human

being does not become conscious, he can never achieve Spiritual

Deliverance (Mukti). Inert and dead matter can never experience and


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achieve Spiritual Deliverance. Consciousness means to make yourself

conscious and aware of your natural, habitual propensities

(inclinations and tendencies). It is just like igniting fire from that

spark which is lying buried under the ashes, by covering it with dry

grass and blowing your breath with force, repeatedly, over it. You can

produce fire by employing this technique. Exactly in this manner, you

have to rekindle, rejuvenate, liberate and make your mind conscious

which is lying buried, inert and dead under the ashes of your natural,

habitual, evil, animalistic prosperities (inclinations and tendencies).

The spark of Spiritual Consciousness is within you and not lying

hidden somewhere outside your mind. The ancient spiritual scholars

and seers (Rishis) during the Vedic age (period) used to ignite fire in

this manner to perform spiritual rites and ceremonies (yagya). To

accelerate the ignition of fire, they would pour some „ghee‟ (cooking

oil) over the spark. Actually, the performance of yagya was a great

symbolic spiritual practice. The ignition of fire implied that you have

to burn and destroy all the mundane, evil propensities of your mind.

In order to accelerate the destruction of these mundane, evil

propensities of the mind, it is essential to pour some symbolic oil of

love and compassion in the fire of consciousness, willingly, without

any hesitation and ulterior motive, after fully understanding and

gasping the negative implications and effects of the mundane, evil

propensities. In other words, you should get rid of all the mundane,

evil and negative propensities of your mind, willingly, consciously,

without any hesitation and resistance, after fully understanding and

grasping their evil implications and effects. Thus, you will get

liberated from all your fetters (Bandhan). When an individual trains

and purifies his mind in this manner, it automatically amounts to


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acquisition of higher and noble Spiritual Knowledge. By destroying

the evil propensities and liberating your mind, you will surely achieve

complete Spiritual Salvation and Divine Deliverance (Moksha/Mukti).

Every human being should ignite the fire of Spiritual Knowledge in

the Consciousness of his mind with the catalytic agent of love and

devotion. Gita admonishes : “O Arjana! If you ignite the fire of

Spiritual Knowledge, this fire will consume the evil effects of your

actions, so far undertaken blindly under the influence of your

compulsive habits and natural tendencies. Mind develops false and

wrong attitude due to pain and suffering. The words „wrong and false‟

prefixed to attitudes, are indicative of mental hurdles erected on the

path of welfare and well-being of others. It is not correct to be afraid

of pain and suffering. You should not be worried about the pain and

suffering generated by your wrong and false habits or by the insulting

and depreciating words spoken against you by others. Rather you

should prepare and educate your mind to tolerate these pains and

sufferings. You should direct your mind to perform all good actions

and tolerate the pain generated by avoiding and ignoring your wrong

and false emotions and habitual reactions. You should tolerate the

pain of deprivation by pacifying and restricting the demands of your

senses, and there gratifications. You should not feel upset while

following this regimen. Remember the venerable example of Shiva

mentioned in the ancient religious classics (religious literature). As

Shiva had voluntarily and willingly drunk the poison for the welfare of

Devtas, in the same manner, you should tolerate your mental agony,

quietly and peacefully, without any remonstration (protest or

complaint).


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If your mind is engaged and attached anywhere in the world

even a bit, that is, if your mind is strongly enticed and enslaved by

the mundane world, that very attachment and entanglement drags

the mind towards the mundane world. As explained earlier, because

of just one wrong behaviour of the other person, your mind developed

wrong and hostile reactionary attitude towards that person. This is

an incorrect and wrong attitude. The universal reality is that God is

ever present within every being. To conclude that someone is hostile

and cruel etc., is not beneficial for developing an attitude of love and

compassion, because your negative attitude will give birth to more

hostility and anger etc. And this will disrupt and block all efforts for

common human welfare. That is why all negative attitudes have been

called wrong and undesirable. Anger, prestige, pride, etc. are wrong

emotions in human nature, and enslave and drag the human mind to

the external world with a bias. The saintly and spiritual qualities

such as politeness, humility, tolerance for minor sufferings, penance,

worship, renunciation of material comforts, feeling happy in others‟

happiness and feeling merciful and kind in others‟ sufferings – all

these are uplifting saintly sentiments. The mundane emotions, called

worldly emotions, bind the human mind with the external world and

are manifested in worldly actions and reactions. In the same manner,

there are uplifting and saintly emotions which are related to and

experienced within the spirit. The individual develops devotion and

dedication towards God by cultivating and developing some tolerance

for sufferings. You cannot develop devotion and dedication towards

God without developing Spiritual Knowledge and without developing

tolerance for sufferings, pain and discomfort experienced during the

practice of spiritual discipline. God lives in His Abode of Bliss (Anand


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Dham), savouring His unique and complete, boundless, unaffected,

untarnished Spiritual Bliss. The whole universe is a laboratory to

practice peaceful existence, love and compassion under His domain.

Life is equivalent to a pilgrimage (Tirath Yatra). In other words, the

words „Tirath‟ means „to swim‟ and the world „Yatra‟ means „journey‟.

Thus „tirath yatra‟ figuratively means to perform the journey and

swim across and over the ocean of existence in search of God and

achieve the cherished destination of „Moksha‟. The world „Moksha‟

means „emancipation or liberation from all the fetters (Bandhan) and

deliverance from all the sufferings of birth-and-death, resulting from

fetters.

When the mind is emancipated from all the fetters which

enslave and bind it to the external world, then treat this mental state

as achievement of Spiritual Deliverance (Moksha), in other worlds,

the mind has achieved deliverance or salvation from worldly bondage.

When the mind severs (cuts) itself from the mundane external

material world, the mental energy gets concentrated and consolidated

within the mind. Just as human mind experiences happiness and

peace after completely withdrawing and disengaging itself from the

external world during sleep, in the same manner, human mind

experiences the same happiness and peace even during its wakeful

state, after cutting itself from the external world. Human mind will

automatically realise that it has acted in the manner it wanted to act,

that it has achieved what it wanted to achieve (that is Moksha or

Spiritual deliverance), and there is nothing else in the world to

achieve and acquire (possess). Life and existence is boundless and

limitless, and so also is Spiritual Bliss, equally boundless and

limitless, because this Spiritual Bliss is not dependent on any


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external material conditions. Spiritual Bliss comes from within,

automatically, as a matter of personal temperament (Svabhava). The

soul, in the form of Spiritual Consciousness, never dies. Spiritual

Consciousness is boundless and limitless, without an end. Similarly,

every individual can easily realise and experience Spiritual Bliss

without any external factors, automatically, just by cutting his

fetters. Then this Spiritual Bliss too will be boundless and limitless.

When God is eternal and omnipresent, when He alone is controlling

and dominating over the whole of existence and the complete

universe, then how can His Spiritual Bliss ever die? The individual

who realises and experiences this Spiritual Bliss, is said to have

become immortal or the individual has achieved Spiritual Salvation

(Moksha). But Spiritual Salvation is achieved and realised only

through your own, personal, committed efforts, and not through any

proxy.

When you are able to recognise all your fetters, one by one, then

you definitely have developed your spiritual insight. The third eye of

Lord Shiva (as per Hindu legend, the third eye personifies the

spiritual insight) has opened. And you have started to consume and

digest (tolerate) the poison of suffering (like Shiva as per the Hindu

traditional legend). If you continue your devotion and dedication

(Bhakti) to God in this manner (by cutting and severing your fetters

and severing all your attachments with the mundane world), then

your soul will reach such a place where God is ever present (your

soul will realise Spiritual Salvation). This is the ultimate fruit (result)

of your honest, sincere, continuous devotion and dedication (Bhakti).

It is such a reward that after achieving it, the individual never feels

that “he is lacking anything, he is missing anything. He is not afraid


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of death anymore. His soul (Atma), in the form of Spiritual

Consciousness, can never die, because his soul (Consciousness) is a

part of the Eternal Supreme Consciousness (Parmatma or God).” This

Supreme Consciousness is energizing all the physical bodies in the

form of Life-Force (elan vital). It is flowing inside all the trees (and

vegetable life) in the form of vital life-syrup. Inside the living beings, it

is controlling their blood-circulation, helping in digesting food and

performs all other organic functions of their physical bodies. This

Spiritual Consciousness in the form of Life-Force has not fully

developed and matured among the trees (and vegetative life), and it is

in the dormant state in the physical matter. And this Consciousness

is eternal and it is never going to die. This Consciousness has no

limit.* This Consciousness is infinite (has no end). If you acquire and

possess the Spiritual Knowledge relating to Consciousness, you will

relish and experience the ultimate Spiritual Bliss and the ultimate

Divine Peace. You will automatically realise within yourself that “you

have achieved and acquired everything that you had wanted to

achieve and acquire.” This Spiritual Bliss is eternal and nobody can

deprive you of your Spiritual Bliss. But you have to personally work

hard, toil and struggle to achieve it. No one else can substitute you or

work for you.


* (The basic law in the science of Physics openly declares that matter can neither be created nor

destroyed – Translator)


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(24-12-1986)

It has been discussed and described many times earlier that

wherever the human mind goes, the life-energy (Prana) follows it, and

starts flowing in that direction. When you are sitting quietly but

absorbed in thinking about the external world, or when your mind is

pre-occupied with the thoughts of the external world, your life-energy

and breathing would be functioning accordingly in a restricted and

stifled manner. But when you are sitting without any concern and

worry about anything, without any pre-occupations, your life-energy

and breathing will also be very peaceful and normal. It is so because

your mind is free from all the occupations and entanglements of the

external world, because your mind is idle, unengaged, un-occupied,

peaceful and quiet. When a human being becomes aware of some

fear, worry, attraction and attachment or ill-will and repulsion for

anything, his life-energy (the energy which controls the functioning of

his body) and his breathing gets affected accordingly. If your mind is

pre-occupied and lost in the persons and products of the external

world, your breathing too will be affected and influenced by the pre-

occupations of your mind. Your breathing will be disturbed because

your mind is disturbed. When the mind and its energy are intensely

engaged in the external world, and thereby get fragmented, shattered

and scattered, then how can the mental energy get concentrated and

consolidated within the mind itself? When the mind is affected and

disturbed by the external world, the breathing too will get affected

and disturbed, according to the pursuits and pre-occupations of the

mind. When the mind disengages and disentangles itself from the


200

external world (or when the mind gets emancipated and liberated

from the external world) then the mental energy will get concentrated

and consolidated within the mind, and the life-energy, which is

invested in worldly pursuits, will be spared and will get consolidated

within the body. The concentrated and consolidated life-energy will

provide the same type of comfort and rejuvenation as a human being

gets in sleep, because the mind is withdrawn and disengaged from

the external world.

Right from his childhood, a human being develops the habit of

deriving happiness through the material comforts provided by the

persons and products of the external world.

As a child, the human-being does not know how much and how

long the worldly comforts will last or what shall be the end result of

the worldly comforts. If a human-being develops awareness and

knowledge within his mind that “all the material comforts derived

through persons and products of the external world, are temporary

and transitory, and finally end-up in pain and suffering,” this

capability of the mind is called „intellect‟ (Viveka) or the power of

discrimination. If this intellectual awareness and knowledge brings to

the person freedom from his bondage of the external world, or if the

mind gets emancipated from his addiction to material comforts of the

external world, then the mental energy will get concentrated and

consolidated within the mind, and the mind will enjoy the peace and

happiness of this freedom. But a human being always remains

entangled and engaged in deriving happiness through the material

comforts provided by the external world, and remains completely

ignorant and unmindful of their ultimate reality.


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All the deeds (actions and reactions) repeatedly performed by a

person (such as his relationships and ties with other persons and his

attachments with the material products and worldly possessions) as

well as all the deeds the person had performed in previous lives and

their accumulated awards, which exist and persist in the mind as

impressions (Sanskar), constitute Persona Nature (Prakriti) or the

Force of habit of the person. The Force of habit acts like a rope which

binds the person strongly with the external world.

The Force of habits or the Force of Personal Nature enslaves a

person very strongly to the worldly comforts, so much so that the

person spends all his life-energy in acquiring and accumulating these

worldly comforts. The person gets so much engaged and entangled in

the pursuit of possessing the material comforts that he completely

ignores and neglects his spiritual peace and inner bliss. In other

words, the person becomes incapable of enjoying his spiritual peace

and inner bliss, so much so that his mind gets distorted, disoriented

and disintegrated. The person starts feeling that there is no such

thing as peace and joy in the world for him. The person who is all lost

in the blind pursuit of worldly possessions experience no peace of

mind. That is why he remains dissatisfied and discontented. He

experiences within him a strange discomfort and unrest, and

undesirable, unwanted anxiety and worry. In order to get rid of his

unwanted anxiety and worry, he again switches back to the worldly

comforts, so that he may derive some bit of inner peace and

happiness, whatever little peace and happiness it may be.

The mind is maintaining within itself the memories of these

small material comforts which it derived through the persons and

products of the world. The mind has failed to forget them. The mind


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keeps brooding about those material comforts, which bind the person

to the external world. This enticement to the material comforts is

called the fetter of Attachment (Raga-Bandhan). If your mind gives up

its attachment to material comforts of the world, you will stop

thinking and brooding about the external world, and then your mind

will again start concentrating and consolidating within itself. But

because of Personal Nature (or the Force of habits) and ignorance, the

mind will activate the impressions of the past worldly comforts, which

it is preserving in a latent form. The mind will be motivated to think

and brood about the persons and products of the external world

which had provided material comforts. Ignorance means that human

mind has become bankrupt, and it is not aware or conscious of the

objective reality. In other words, ignorance implies that the human

mind has been reduced to a vacuum and there is no production of

knowledge of any type. Non-production of knowledge implies that

ignorance has covered and camouflaged the mind. Knowledge is

nothing but consciousness or awareness. A human being cannot

exist without consciousness. Consciousness denotes inner self or

soul. A human being will produce knowledge to gratify his needs and

urges as well as to enjoy life with the help of material comforts.

Material comforts leave their impressions in the mind which lie

hidden, in latent form in the human mind. With repeated enjoyment

of the material comforts over a period of time, the mind gets addicted

to the material comforts. The mind repeatedly, again and again,

desires to enjoy his material comforts. It starts brooding about those

objects which provided the material comforts. This type of brooding is

called false meditation (Mithya Dhyana). False meditation is nothing

but entangled and enslaved consciousness.


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When your mind is fixated on the worldly comforts, which you

enjoyed in the past, it is called „fixated attitude‟. In other words, you

have developed a fixated attitude towards the worldly comforts and

objects. As soon as you develop a fixated attitude towards the worldly

comforts and objects, your mind at once and automatically recalls

and remembers those material comforts and objects, and their

memory persists in the mind, and the mind keeps brooding about

them. This mental state is called „mental distraction‟. This is also a

form of mental pre-occupation, but it cannot be termed as

meditation, because it is concerned with the pre-occupations of

material world and it is false meditation. You have to give up and

avoid this false meditation and instead, you must practise the

uplifting, spiritual meditation. Uplifting spiritual meditation implies

that the mind should brood and think that “there is no utility and

gain in the worldly comforts, which are both temporary and

transitory, as well as which always end in pain and suffering”.

Human nature and the Force of habit always produce false

meditation. Human nature implies that force which has gained

strength by doing some deed repeatedly, again and again, and which

has acquired the status of a habit. Human nature has taken the form

of temperament in the human mind. And the temperament is

automatically enforcing false meditation, without any specific

purpose or goal, and without any specific effort.

You have to practise the uplifting spiritual meditation by mutely

repeating a sacred, pious token-word in your mind as well as you

have to keep ruminating and thinking about the short-lived vain-

glory of the worldly comforts. Unless you persistently practise the

uplifting, spiritual meditation (in opposition to the Force of habit and


204

your strong compulsive Personal Nature), you will keep your mind

enslaved and un-awakened, enticed to the worldly comforts dictated

by your compulsive Personal Nature. You must ignite and awaken

your indiscreet, slumbering mind, just as you ignite and awaken the

spark of fire buried under the ashes by putting some dry grass over

the ashes and repeatedly and forcefully blowing your breath-air over

it. In this manner, your Spiritual Knowledge lying latent in the

slumbering mind will wake up and become conscious with persistent

efforts. In other words, the flame of Spiritual Knowledge will glitter

which was camouflaged and shrouded under the veil of your

temperament and compulsive Personal Nature. The compulsive

Personal Nature adopts and pursues the path of worldly comforts

(which are dependent on the persons and products of the world), but

these worldly comforts always end in pain and suffering. To overcome

pain and suffering, a human being remains enticed and entangled in

the external world by persistently pursuing false deeds and

discriminatory and partisan behaviour, by developing hostile and

revengeful attitude, by seeking and demanding recognition, attention

and privileged status from other fellow beings. It is essential to

recognise the demerits of your own compulsive Personal Nature

through meditation and intense introspection.

When you force your mind not to follow and adopt the path of

compulsive Personal Nature and impulsive habits, your mind will

seek shelter in the sweet comfort of sleep. In such a situation, your

meditation will never take place. If you fight the urge to sleep by

effortfully keeping awake, then your mind usually starts indulging in

the impressions and images of the previous worldly comforts. This

happens because the mind is addicted to comforts of the world. Now


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you should adopt a different and alternate path : you should oppose

your mind when it adopts the path of your compulsive Personal

Nature dictated by the Force of habit. Instead your mind should

adopt the path which leads to the development of uplifting and

redeeming Spiritual Knowledge with the help of meditation. Your

reverential Spiritual Knowledge will establish the fact that material

comforts always end in pain, anguish and suffering. Your mind

should at once recognise this fact, even if you have to face and

tolerate some minor, trivial inconvenience and discomfort. Thus, in

this manner, if you willingly accept the minor discomforts of

meditation and introspection, then you have surely graduated and

qualified yourself in the field of spiritual realisation and divine

awakening. To accept and tolerate, willingly and knowingly, the minor

and trivial inconveniences and sufferings in the pursuit of spiritual

realisation, has been given the name of austerity (Tapasya). The

inconvenience and suffering in the pursuit of meditation are not of

that magnitude as the austerity (Tapasya) of standing continuously in

the hot sun, or the practice of strict and long fasting, or exposing the

body to extreme cold and unnecessarily carry heavy loads on the

head, etc. You should accept and tolerate only that much

inconvenience and suffering which arise during avoiding and

discontinuing your addiction to material comforts of the world as well

as the gratification of your habitual demands and your compulsive

personal nature. You should tolerate the trivial, minor

inconveniences and sufferings without any negative reaction and by

maintaining your intellectual balance and mental peace.

First of all, you should develop an attitude towards an object

because of its utility. In other words, you should develop an attitude


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towards an object because of its inherent value and worth.

Thereafter, you develop attraction towards that object. If the object

gives comfort and happiness, you develop the attitude of attachment

(Raga). And when the object produces and causes pain and suffering,

then you develop an attitude of avoidance and aversion (Dwesha). The

development of the attitude is sometimes followed by the generation

of anger. When you are yearning for having prestige and privileged

status in society, your mind gets more and more entangled and

enticed in the external world. And when you try to stop your mind

from getting entangles and enticed in the external world, your mind

usually tries to escape into sleep, (as has been explained earlier). In

that situation, you may have to fight and resist sleep for a long time,

may be for hours. And to achieve this end, you will have to increase

and enhance your practice of meditation by adopting erect sitting

posture for the practice of meditation.

When your urge to sleep ends and your mind becomes active,

your senses too would become alert to attend to the external world.

You may be able to recall and remember that dream- world distinctly

which you saw during your sleep, as distinctly as you are observing

the mundane world in the daylight in the wakeful state. This mental

state indicates that your inherent mental power to visualise and

witness the sublime spiritual spheres such as Swaraga Loka has

become active. This happens when your senses and mind wake up

and become active in the darkness of deep sleep, after getting a bit of

freedom from the stronghold of your Personal Nature (temperament)

and the Force of habit. This fact also indicates that your mind, which

is addicted to enjoy the worldly comforts through the gratification of

your senses, has been liberated from the external world. This fact


207

also indicates that you have to maintain your sincere efforts to

liberate your mind from the material world. With the help of

meditation, you must realise that the worldly comforts enjoyed

through the various sensations such as speech, touch, vision, taste

and smell, are temporary and transitory. In other words, the material,

worldly comforts enjoyed through the gratification of your senses are

not going to last forever. If you are able to recognise this reality with

the help of meditation, then your mind will get liberated and

withdraw from the sources which provided the material comforts,

that is, the external world. „Liberation of the mind‟ means that the

mind should disengage itself from the external world, (which was

earlier engaged in the gratification of the senses of speech, touch,

smell etc.) as soon as the person wakes up from his sleep. This state

would indicate that the mind has been liberated from its addiction to

the material comforts. When your mind is liberated, your breathing

too will achieve liberation and will function freely. Even your mental

energy will start getting concentrated within the mind (which was

earlier invested in the external world). Exactly this process takes

place when you go to sleep (or when, your mind withdraws from the

external world). Your mind becomes completely oblivious of the

external world and starts concentrating and consolidating the

mental- energy within itself, which provides mental peace and

spiritual satisfaction. If you control your sleeping habit, you will be

able to control compulsive Personal Nature (Prakriti), and thereby

your life- energy too will get concentrated within your body. Your

mind will start concentrating and consolidating the mental- energy

within itself even during your wakeful state, and your body will enjoy

health and the resultant peace and happiness. This is the end-result


208

of „Liberation of the mind‟ or freedom of your mind from the

entanglements and enticements with the external material world. The

life-energy, which was earlier invested in the pursuits of the material

comforts, that too will be saved. In religious parlance (language), it is

called “spiritual peace and divine bliss achieved through deliverance

of soul (Mukti)”. This is also equally valid that some persons

withdraw their minds from the material world with the help of formal

worship and with the practice of breathing exercises (Pranayam). But

the peace and joy achieved through worship and Pranayam is not

going to last forever.

The mind which is fully entangled in the fetters (Bandhan) of

suspicion, lust, ill-will and pride, may undertake and practise intense

worship and prayer, but it will revert back to the same fetters. If you

want to disengage and divert your mind from the fetters, without the

support of religious crutches such as worship and prayer, then you

must acquire and cultivate Spiritual Knowledge and reinforce it with

repeated and strong, vocal reminders : “O mind ! What for are you

getting entangled in the external world? What will you gain from the

external world? What do you plan and propose to achieve in the

external world? Remember, all the worldly, material achievements are

not going to last forever. And whatever comforts these worldly

achievements are going to provide, all of them are temporary, and

ultimately, all the material comforts are going to end in huge pain

and suffering. Hence, all your struggles and efforts to achieve and

acquire material, comforts are waste of life-energy”. When you are

able to understand and experience this universal truth with the help

of deep meditation and introspection, then your false attitude and

false knowledge will be replaced by uplifting attitude and Spiritual


209

Knowledge. In religious terms, it is called „truth-bearing spiritual

knowledge‟ (Pragya). This Spiritual Knowledge or Pragya will cut and

destroy all the fetters of your false knowledge. False knowledge

implies that the person regarded the gratification of his habits as the

main source and chief means of achieving and experiencing comforts

and happiness in the world. Spiritual Knowledge could eradicate and

erase all his false knowledge. The person could achieve Spiritual

Knowledge only after persistently and effortfully eradicating and

erasing his false knowledge which was acquired through the Force of

habit. Spiritual Knowledge cannot be achieved by a lazy and lethargic

mind. It is true that the desire to relish the peace and sweetness of

sleep does definitely divert and distract the mind from blindly

pursuing and hectically running after worldly, material comforts.

Such sleep definitely generates some freshness and energy in the

physical body, but such sleep does not provide Spiritual Bliss, nor it

leads to superior achievements and beneficial results. In other words,

when the lustful mind gets tired, exhausted and satiated with

continuous indulgence in worldly, and sensual gratifications (which

always end in anguish and misery), then the mind urgently seeks the

lap of peaceful sleep. In sleep, the mind recuperates and regains its

lost energy and peace. Because of this reason, sleep appears to

provide some comfort, peace and freshness. But the Spiritual Bliss

has no parallel and it is most exalting and uplifting. The peace,

happiness and comfort provided by sleep cannot be matched with the

Spiritual Bliss.

The huge network of the mundane desires and worldly

attractions start ensnaring and entangling a person right from his

birth. As soon as the person becomes aware of his mundane desires


210

and worldly attractions, he starts believing that all these mundane

desires and worldly attractions are essential for achieving comforts

and happiness in the external world. These mundane desires and

worldly attractions are the main obstacles in the practice of

concentration and absorbed meditation (Dhyana and Smadhi), as well

as in the realisation of Spiritual Salvation (Mukti). You have to

recognise and understand this fact with the help of meditation. That

is why you have to free yourself from this snare of mundane desires

and worldly attractions as well as you have to subjugate your

weakness for the peace and comfort of sleep. you must comprehend

this basic truth and further fully realise that getting rid of these

mundane desires and material comforts is the most venerable and

adorable religious path to be persistently adopted and followed. In

this manner, if you have learnt to practise meditation after activating

your Spiritual Knowledge, it indicates that you have definitely

discovered the correct, noble and venerable religious path. If you have

not as yet discovered this noble and venerable religious path, then

you should know that you are still following the path of compulsive

habits and Personal Nature (Prakriti). The path of compulsive habits

and Personal Nature does not let a person remain inactive and

neutral. In other words, your Personal Nature and Force of habit will

compel you to adopt the path governed and controlled by the

impressions of past joys and sorrows. Your Personal Nature and

Force of habit will push and pull you to adopt their chosen direction

and pursue their beaten track. They will distract and misdirect your

mental energy to get lost in the external world. But the pursuit of the

path of your Personal Nature and your Force of habit lead only

towards misery, anguish, pain and sufferings.


211

Your “I” or “ego” is born when you experience some comfort or

pain from something. For example, someone gives you respect and

regard. Then you will experience within yourself that “I do have

something within me which is very unique in this world”. What you

appeared before the other person who gave you respect and regard,

that appearance gave birth to your “I” or “ego”. This ego is not visible

but is lying latent within you, all hidden and camouflaged. Now the

ego within you, which got and enjoyed respect and regard, starts

expecting that it should continue enjoying same or similar respect

and regard, and this sweet experience of „self-regard‟ should never

end. But this is not possible in the vast world, to always experience

the sweet feeling of self-regard and self-respect. You will soon realise

the falsehood of the “ego” (which this world had bestowed on you),

when that person ignores you who had earlier shown you respect and

regard (or when you will not be respected by the same person who

had earlier given you respect and regard). You will feel so much hurt

when you experience this neglect and non-recognition. Your ego will

feel hurt and insulted. You will painfully realise that the ego born out

of bestowed respect and regard, was only temporary and for a short

duration. Sometimes, ego is generated in the child with the sweet and

loving words of the father. At other times, ego is generated by the

respect and regard shown by a close friend or by the love and

affection shown by a relative. At times the ego is born when you eat

and drink costly food or when you exhibit your pelf and power or

when you are honoured and respected by others. Remember that the

ego born in this manner, is always transistory and temporary. The

ego bestowed on you by others, is not going to survive forever. A

person who practices meditation, should realise the true worth of the


212

bestowed ego. Gradually, when you start realising the actual worth of

the ego which was bestowed on you by the external world, or when

you become aware of the worthlessness of this false and temporary

ego, from that very moment you will start renouncing your bestowed

ego, after fully understanding and analyzing the actual worth of this

ego with the help of your intelligence and intellect. The bestowed ego

is very similar to the wave which rises in a big lake or in the sea. That

wave is visible just for a second and then disappears at once. That

wave cannot exist forever. The wave rising in the sea, exists only for a

second. In the same manner, the waves of ego, arise and exist for a

short period. The waves of ego manifest their existence for some time

and then disappear after a short time, automatically. Nobody can

keep alive permanently the waves of his ego. Strong attachment and

love for the ego is both false and undesirable. Every person possesses

a big ocean of knowledge within himself. In this ocean of knowledge,

there is at times a wave called ego which is born of respect and

regard bestowed by others at certain times. This wave of ego is

temporary like the waves of the ocean. If “I” or ego demands to relish

the same feelings of joy generated by the respect and regard bestowed

by others ten years ago, it is simply impossible. That bestowed

respect and regard which gave birth to your ego, was only timely and

temporary. Every person should analyse and understand the vain-

glory and the falsehood of his ego with the help of meditation and

self-analysis. Every person should drown his ego in the ocean of his

Spiritual Knowledge, so much so that his soul, which is in the form of

consciousness, gets disenchanted and alienated from the mundane

world. Because of its selfish attachment with the mundane world, the

ego and the intellect of the person want to further strengthen their


213

attachment with the mundane world. Such ego and intellect want to

remain entangled with the external world. Along with the selfish ego

and the intellect, the life-energy also remains entangled and attached

with the mundane world. Because of the entangled life-energy, the

mind of the person also gets attached and entangled with the external

world. That is why the mind remains disturbed and distracted. This

disturbed and distracted mind can never experience peace and

happiness. When the mind gets consolidated and concentrated within

itself and withdraws and disengages itself from the external world,

only then the life-energy will revert inside the body and then a person

can prove the age old dictum : “a healthy mind in a healthy body”.

The person will enjoy the same peace and relief which he enjoys in

sleep by withdrawing his mind from the external world and its

entanglements. A person goes to sleep, when his mind gets exhausted

from his engagements with the external world and decides that there

is nothing pending to complete or nothing much can be achieved in

the darkness of the night. Whether it is an animal or a bird or a

human being, every living creature experiences peace, freshness and

happiness when it withdraws within itself and the life-energy

concentrates and consolidates within its body.

The mind fully understands the pain and suffering which is the

result of its excessive engagements and entanglements in the

mundane world. The person who accepts the falsehood of his ego,

(which is the resultant of his company with the persons and products

of the world) only that person can easily dissolve his false ego by

disengaging himself from the mundane world. When a person starts

treating his ego as a wave in the ocean of consciousness and

understands this fact with the help of self-analysis and meditation,


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he will definitely achieve the real reward of his meditation. When all

types of ego-waves disappear and get dissolved and there is no “I” left

any more, such mental state indicates that you were only watching

and witnessing the celestial drama enacted by God. The Supreme

Consciousness (God) was manifesting its illusionary scenes and

situations. When you come across another person, the Supreme

Consciousness awakens in your mind one specific type of wave of

awareness. When you come across another or a different person, the

Supreme Consciousness awakens in your mind a different type of

wave of awareness and generates in your mind emotions such as

happiness or indifference, or sadness. When you meet different

persons in a social situation, you greet a specific person with loud

hilarity, whereas you greet another person in a subdued, or neutral

manner. Your emotional reactions were manifested and controlled by

the Supreme Consciousness, and your mental states were the waves

of awareness generated by the Supreme Consciousness. All these

emotional actions, reactions, interactions and transactions are

manifestations and manipulations of that unique one-and only

Supreme Consciousness. No human being can simultaneously

generate, discriminate and differentiate between one wave of

awareness and another wave of awareness. No worldly agency has the

capability of manifesting so many different and discrete emotional

waves or emotional states, in various, different persons. In other

words, the waves of awareness are the same and of similarly type

(though these waves give rise to different types of emotions in

different persons and give rise to different types of mental reactions,

actions, transactions and interactions). There is one and the same

Consciousness present in the bodies of all the living beings.


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Discrimination and differentiation is created when one person

confronts the other person in mutual social relationships and inter-

personal emotional ties. In other words, discrimination and

differentiation is generated by human relationships. But the spiritual

force, which is sitting hidden and latent inside the bodies of all the

living beings, is one and the same spiritual force, present in the form

of Consciousness. This Consciousness is like the electric current,

which is invisible but very much present. Consciousness is a

Spiritual Force, invisible but very much present in all the living

beings without any discrimination and differentiation. It is keeping

alive all the living beings, without any differentiation or discretion,

with its waves of Spiritual Force. This Consciousness or the Spiritual

Force never dies. When a person discards his ego (which is generated

by the external world) and when he completely blocks all the

channels of its manifestation, only then his mind can become one

and united with this Consciousness or this Spiritual Force. It is very

true that this Spiritual Force or Consciousness does indicate its

presence, although sitting hidden and latent inside all the living

beings. This Spiritual Force or Consciousness indicates its presence

inside the physical body when the living being severs all its

relationships with the mundane world. There is only one single mind

inside the physical body of a living being. If this one, single mind is

engaged and entangled with the external, material world, it cannot

understand and comprehend the inner Spiritual Force. When you are

harbouring the emotions of friendship or hostility for other living

beings and your behaviour and interaction with others is controlled

by such emotions, then how can this Spiritual Force or

Consciousness get the chance to manifest its divine light. In other


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words, how can the Supreme Spiritual Force or Celestial

Consciousness manifest itself? The Supreme Spiritual Force or God

Almighty will sever the fetters of a living being only after manifesting

Himself. The living being will experience the Spiritual Force only

when God Almighty will manifest Himself, at His chosen time.

If you want to worship God in His manifested form, then you

should first understand that God is visible in the manifested form in

the shape of “consciousness”, everywhere and at every moment. In

other words, God is manifesting Himself in the form of

“consciousness”, sometimes in one shape (body), and at another time

in a different shape (body). Wherever and whatever form

“consciousness” adopts, God manifests Himself in that form. And

further, whatever form “consciousness” has adopted, that form in

only for some time, and temporary. Nothing exists, before or after

that manifested form of “consciousness”. Whatever form

“consciousness” has adopted and you have kept that particular form

and shape permanently preserved in your mind as if it is going to

exist for ever – this is false knowledge. Only that person can realise

this truth who practises meditation. It is during meditation that a

person learns this eternal truth that body, mind, knowledge,

emotions, thoughts – these never remain the same. These are

changing every moment. But many times, you preserve in your mind

that form or shape of Consciousness in which God has manifested

Himself, as described and experienced by religious seekers in their

meditation or described and delineated in religious literature or heard

from some preachers casually. This belief and attitude forces the

person to get entangled and lost in the illusionary manifested

creations of “Consciousness”. To get rid of these illusionary beliefs


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and attitudes (that manifested Consciousness is permanent and

going to exist for ever), every person should examine and analyse his

beliefs and attitudes to the minutest detail and know the ultimate

truth. Not only the person has to know the ultimate truth, he should

also experience this ultimate truth. The person should delve deep in

his personal experience of the ultimate truth so that he develops

unshakable and unquestionable faith in that ultimate truth.

The most unique thing worth realising and experiencing in the

whole of life is God (called Supreme Consciousness) who is present

everywhere (omnipresent), inside every living being or thing in the

form of consciousness (called soul or spirit) and who never dies (is

immortal). Everything else of this world (except Consciousness) is

temporary, subject to death and destruction and ultimately brings

pain and suffering. The comforts and happiness provided by the

mundane objects, are not going to last forever. You should always

remember this eternal truth (all the time and to the greatest extent),

in the core of your heart, so much so that you donot forget it even in

your meditation and when you are sleeping. You should ruminate

about this eternal truth while sitting fully awake and alert, without

speaking a word, without thinking about anything, with a mind

completely free from the worldly engagements. This state is called

absorbed meditation (Smadhi). Smadhi indicates that your mind is

completely concentrated and consolidated in the eternal truth, known

as all-pervading Consciousness or God. During Smadhi, you will be

completely oblivious of the external world, with all your senses

inactive and withdrawn, as if you are in deep sleep, completely

insensitive. That is why it is called Smadhi – “absorbed meditation”.

When you completely give up your selfish, worldly pre-occupations,


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and external mundane activities, when you have understood and

grasped the futility of emotional relations, when you have achieved

complete freedom from your fetters, when you have no attachment

and aversion, lust or greed, pride or prejudice, love or hatred, etc.,

only then you will experience Spiritual Salvation (Mukti). Then you

will also learn that there is no need to be afraid of the mundane

world. Actually the mundane world is what your mind has conjured,

created and confabulated. Hence there is no need to be afraid of the

worldly demands and challenges. A person comprehends and

understands the world in the light of human interactions and mutual

social relations. In other words, you understand another person in

the light of your mutual social interactions, when both persons

confront each other. Actually, “you” and “me”, and all such words

have no existence. Only God in the form of Consciousness, is present

everywhere and in every living person. This Consciousness or God is

manifesting Himself, every moment in different, new forms, according

to the time and the situation. In Gita, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna : “O

Arjuna ! The worship of the manifested Consciousness or God, is

most noble, reverential, and sublime”. The word “manifested” implies

that there was only universal, all-pervading, Consciousness in the

whole universe. But man assumes that he has an ego or self.

Actually, there is no ego or self. Your ego or self is born when

something is confronting you. Your ego acquires emotions according

to the situation or the person confronting you. In other words, you

manifest the same type of emotions as you assume or witness in the

person confronting you. Ego is nothing but manifestation of your

emotions in the light of the emotions expressed or manifested by the

other person who is confronting you. Your ego does not manifest itself


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knowingly, deliberately or willfully. For example, you come face to

face with another person. His face expresses some feelings. You

develop and manifest your feelings as a reaction to the feelings

manifested on the face of the other person. Then you develop a

mental attitude accordingly and you start behaving according to your

mental attitude. Your mental attitude came into existence only at that

moment and it is not going to last for long. You should acquire this

knowledge with the help of meditation and also realise that the whole

mankind behaves in this manner. In other words, God is nothing but

Consciousness or manifested Consciousness. When two persons

come face to face or meet, they observe and understand the emotions

expressed on each other‟s face, and then react and retaliate

accordingly. Thus emotions which were latent and hidden within,

they manifest themselves in retaliatory, reactionary and external

behaviour. Thus God or Consciousness manifests himself in the

visible form at that time. And if you get entangled in the momentary

manifestation of God and fix that momentary manifestation

permanently in your mind in the form of attitude and remains

enslaved and entangled in your personal attitudes and propensities,

then it is most incorrect and undesirable. Rather you should

recognise and appreciate this fact that all living beings are governed

by their attitudes. This drama is enacted right from childhood till old

age. You should remember that everything is subject to change and

there is nothing permanent and everlasting. All this explanation

makes it clear as to how God manifests Himself all the time in

various forms and figures which are subject to change, transitory and

temporary.


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God enacts a wonderful and unique drama in just a moment,

when two persons come face to face. That drama is God‟s momentary

illusion which produces excitement or anger in that chance social

encounter. When a person understands the illusionary drama

enacted by Omniscient God and also seeks shelter under God‟s

spiritual wisdom, without raising any doubts, it can be concluded

that the person has achieved Spiritual Salvation (Mukti), because the

person treats all social encounters as a drama enacted by the

manifested God, and man himself is only a spectator, enjoying that

illusionary drama. The manifested emotions of friendship or hostility

are only illusionary. He should not give any importance to the

manifested emotions such as attachment, aversion, pride, lust, anger,

and greed etc., nor he should react to them in his external deeds.

When the person ignores this suggestion, he will get enslaved and

enticed in endless fetters. His mind will remain lost in the external

mundane world. All his energy will get wasted in the external world.

As long as he survives, his wasted and debilitated energy (both

physical and psychic) will not provide any happiness to this person. A

person who is completely enticed and entangled in the external world,

he will experience only negative and painful dreams. Even after

death, such a person will encounter hellish and painful life-after-

death. Therefore, when you witness some emotional experience in

social encounters, you should at once understand that all the

emotional drama is enacted by the Omniscient God. In the social

encounter when your mind gets affected by emotions such as love,

hate, pride and lust, etc., then prepare your mind to face the pain

generated by these emotions and decide that you will not adopt the

impulsive and/or reactionary path dictated by your mind, because


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the mind is lost in the illusionary external world. Whenever your

impulsive and reactionary mind dominates and leads, it will always

lead to false, illusionary external world, and your energy will be

wasted in the pursuit of worldly, mundane activities. You should

direct your mind to focus, study and assess the pain and sufferings

encountered in the pursuit of worldly, mundane activities. Focusing

of mind is called „concentration‟ (Dhayana). It appears difficult to

stabilise, focus and concentrate your mind, but with patience and

persistence, it is possible to stabilise, focus and concentrate your

mind. This wander-lust of the mind compels the mind to pursue the

path of impulsive and/or habitual tendencies, leading to the external

world. Your impulsive and/or, habitual tendencies declare that if the

path dictated by said tendencies is not adopted, the individual shall

have to suffer deprivation and its pain. For example, when a person,

addicted to smoking, does not gratify his habitual urge for smoking,

he will suffer from the pain of deprivation, due to non-gratification of

his addiction. While facing such a situation, the smoker should

vocally announce : “O addiction, you are not allowing my mind to

attend to any activity. I donot bother at all. I will face and tolerate the

pain of deprivation.” This attitude indicates that he is prepared to

face the pain of deprivation. Deprivation is not doubt very painful and

every moment of deprivation is difficult to pass. He should pass and

out-live the moments of deprivation with patience. He should

maintain his intellectual balance and his resolve not to smoke.

Ultimately the pain of deprivation will disappear.

The main function of Universal Nature is to keep the person

engaged in the external world and inspire his mind to achieve

something in the mundane world. But a person who wants to pursue


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spiritual life, should learn and practise to live within himself and in

isolation. He should learn to tolerate the minor pain and suffering in

opposing the Force of habit and Personal Nature. The Force of habit

which has fortified itself within the person, does not let his mind to

adopt any alternative route. You should practise to sit in yogic

posture with your spine erect, and during yogic posture, you should

study and tolerate the inconvenience faced by your body. And if you

cannot sit in yogic posture, then focus your mind to examine and

study the bodily inconvenience, of yogic posture, while loitering in the

room. In other words, you should examine both your mental and

physical inconvenience all the time, from moment to moment, till that

inconvenience disappears. You should have complete conviction that

the direction in which the Force of habit wants to lead your mind,

your mind will not adopt that direction. The mind knows that it will

not perish if it does not pursue that direction. When your mind starts

protesting too much and the inconvenience becomes intolerable, then

you should let the Force of habit prevail a little and only for a short

time. Gradually, you have to stop this practice of letting the Force of

habit prevail even for a short time. Gratifying your addictive habits is

called letting the Force of habit prevail. It is not correct to gratify your

addictive habits, because such a gratification is harmful as a matter

of principle. Any action or deed performed repeatedly, time and again,

acquires the status of force and becomes an irresistible habit. For

how long will you let your principles lapse? For how long will you let

your mind indulge in the gratification of your addictive habits and

impulsive urges? It is better to demolish the Force of habit and

develop toleration for pain and non-gratification and deprivation.


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Just as lack of material comforts and worldly possessions cause

inconvenience, pain and suffering, similarly, deprivation of sleep

causes mental disturbance and intellectual discontentment. Sleep

deprivation can also produce suspicions, anxieties and other mental

disorders. It is just like a drama, sometimes enacted by the non-

gratification of the compulsive habits and the irresistible instinctive

urges. When you avoid sleep, you have to tolerate the painful

symptoms of sleep-deprivation. These painful symptoms will come

under your control after some time, if you continue your practice of

avoiding sleep without any lapse. In this very manner, the non-

gratification of your compulsive habits can come under your control,

after some time. You should regard yourself as that person, who has

resolved to oppose the gratification of his compulsive habits and his

instinctive urges with the help of his intellect and intelligence. Such a

person is expected to be reborn as a human being after his death.

But a person who surrenders his mind to the gratification of his

addictive habits and instinctive urges, he is sure to be reborn in the

form of any lower species out of the eighty-four lakh species (as

mentioned in Hindu religious texts). At the time or rebirth, his form

and figure cannot be predicted. He may be reborn in the form of a

snake, a scorpion, a lion, a wolf, a fox or a dog, etc.

It is God (Supreme Consciousness) who is enacting the

universal drama of creation and who is controlling the principle of

birth-rebirth. But it is only the human species who have evolved

maximum among the animal species and who possesses that

Spiritual Consciousness, which considers, thinks and evaluates as to

what will be helpful or otherwise for the human species in the present

time or in the future. It is only the human species which thinks and


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plans to renounce the comforts provided by pursuing the

gratifications of compulsive natural tendencies and habitual

propensities. Human beings have the capability of learning to tolerate

the pain of deprivation of the material comforts of the external world

and thereby achieve emancipation from the fetters. That is why a

human being should awaken his mind, that is, make his mind

conscious of the ultimate spiritual reality. The human being should

awaken his mind and make the mind conscious to such an extent

that the mind achieves full and complete emancipation from all the

fetters, such as attachment and aversion, etc.

You should accept the anguish of deprivation of that happiness

which you were deriving from gratification of your compulsive habits

and impulsive tendencies. Then you will slowly and gradually start

tolerating the pain caused by deprivation of food and drink and

deprivation of your material comforts and sleep it is neither

demanded nor recommended that you should give up sleep. It is

neither demanded not recommended that you should sleep

completely. It is suggested that you should not sleep when the force

of habit compels you to sleep. You should oppose your force of habit

and enjoy only that much sleep as is necessary and needed. Leading

life in this manner for some time, you will realise that your physical

and psychic energy has started concentrating and consolidating

within you, inside your body and mind. You will realise that your

mind has become very calm and peaceful, that your mind has

withdrawn from all the activities of the mundane world, that there is

nothing in the external world which can provide spiritual happiness.

Such a state is called “Spiritual Deliverance” or freedom and

emancipation from worldly bondages (Mukti). In this condition, the


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mind becomes stable within itself. Then that God, who is running

and operating the body-machine of all the living beings, who is

present within us, keeping us alive, who is maintaining our breathing

even when we go to sleep, that God will manifest Himself and

announce : “Now see who I am.” Earlier, you were not knowing as to

what God is, because your ego was completely absorbed, engaged and

entangled in the external, mundane world. In the emancipated or

liberated state of the mind, God will manifest Himself in vividly

luminous, resplendent, glorious and celestial manner, as if He is

Himself saying : “Now see for yourself, as to who I am. I am Divine

Light and Spiritual Bliss, which is infinite, limitless and has no end,

from which you will never want to separate yourself and which you

will never want to give up.” You may have been experiencing and

enjoying maximum material happiness earlier, but that material

happiness is no match to Spiritual Bliss. Those great saints and

spiritual scholars who have experienced this Spiritual Bliss, have

declared in one voice that after realising and relishing this Spiritual

Bliss, there is nothing in the whole universe more enjoyable, and you

donot seek anything else in the whole world, after realising and

relishing this Spiritual Bliss. It is written in Gita : “After achieving,

realising and possessing this Spiritual Bliss, the god-realised person

does not desire to possess any other bliss of the mundane life, nor

does he regard any other happiness superior to the spiritual

happiness,, and his mind never feels upset and disturbed even

during the time of greatest sufferings after becoming stable in the

Spiritual Bliss.” This happens because he had achieved the Spiritual

Bliss after tolerating great pain and suffering caused by deprivation of

material and mundane gratifications. When the pain and suffering


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caused by the deprivation of material and mundane gratifications

start subsiding and disappearing, then the Spiritual Bliss starts

shining and appearing at that time.

When you start tolerating pain and suffering, then during the

practice of toleration, gradually and slowly, that pain and suffering

will start reducing and ultimately the pain and suffering will cease to

exist and completely dissolve and disappear, and then Spiritual Bliss

will start appearing. In order to develop toleration, first you should

start tolerating pain and suffering for just one or two minutes, and

then go on increasing the time of toleration gradually. Surely, there

comes a time when pain and suffering will completely dissolve and

disappear. Those persons who have undergone this experience, they

have narrated that the major cause of pain and suffering is

deprivation of the mundane and material comforts. With the help of

your intellectual ability, when you learn to tolerate this pain and

suffering arising from non-gratification of your instinctive urges and

your persistent and addictive habits, you will start becoming aware of

your inner spiritual truths, and start realising and experiencing the

Spiritual Bliss. This Spiritual Bliss is never going to end, because you

have realised it after undergoing much pain and suffering. After

realising and experiencing this Spiritual Bliss, your mind will never

feel upset and disturbed under any type of stress. You will also

realise that this Spiritual Bliss is your birth-right and that it is the

permanent abode of your mind. The above-mentioned method is the

high-way to realise and experience the Supreme Reality and the

Spiritual Bliss within your own self. There is no other path or place

for God realisation.


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In nutshell, you have to conquer your persistent, addictive

habits and vanquish your irresistible instinctual urges. You have to

overcome and achieve emancipation from all your fetters. You have to

concentrate and consolidate your mind within itself (because it has

gone astray and got entangled in the external, mundane world). The

mind which is concentrated and consolidated within itself, definitely

realises and achieves Spiritual Bliss and Divine Peace. All this is

possible when you start accepting and tolerating some pain and

suffering and will not run away from it out of fear. Toleration of pain

acts like a bitter medicine to cure the disease of birth-and-death. A

child feels attracted towards an object, thinking that it will provide

him comfort and happiness and he shuns and runs away from an

object out of fear of pain and discomfort. Thus comfort and pain

produce within the individual the emotions of attachment and

aversion. The progenies of these two emotions (Attachment and

Aversion) are lust and anger which propel a person to indulge in

immoral and ignoble deeds in the external world. All the fetters entice

and entangle a person with his fellow social beings in the world and

he gets enticed and entangled because of his own spiritual fetters.

For example, you use harsh and bitter words against another person

to show off your ego or to demand some physical comforts or some

social attention. But in your mind, you will also be afraid of the

negative reaction or realisation of the other person to your harsh and

bitter words. Your behaviour will entangle and entice you to the

external world. Thus your own deeds get you entangled and enticed

to other living beings in the external world and the retaliation and the

reactions of other persons also entangle and entice you because you

are afraid of their retaliations and reactions to your deeds. You are


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also enticed and enslaved by your fetters of greed for physical,

mundane comforts.

Your persistent, addictive habits as well as your compulsive

instinctive urges are very strong fetters. Only that person is called

spiritually liberated (Mukta) who has achieved emancipation from his

persistent, compulsive habits and his dominating instinctive urges.

But your Person nature (temperament) does not let you get free from

your fetters and these fetters demand and declare : “O man, you have

always obeyed my dictates throughout your life and you have always

followed my directions. At this juncture, I will not let you ignore and

neglect my orders and follow some other path and obey some other,

different authority.” Thus, it is a fact that your force of persistent,

addictive habits and your compulsive instinctive urges will not let you

adopt and pursue any other path, that is, the noble path of religious

and ethical life for spiritual salvation and God-realisation to achieve

spiritual bliss and eternal peace. Therefore, you should develop

acceptance and tolerance for the pains, sufferings and

inconveniences resulting from opposition to the path of gratification

of your addictive habits and instinctive urges. Adoption of the middle

path by developing toleration of pain and suffering (which is

bearable), constitutes the best path for pursuing the spiritual life. It

is written in the Gita : The amount of eating and sleeping should be

regulated and fixed intelligently and according to need and necessity

of the person, and not according to the individual inclinations,

personal whims and compulsive temperament. You should critically

examine and let your intellect decide as to what is beneficial for you.

You should eat only that much as is needed, necessary and essential

for survival. You should not go on munching food out of your greed,


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taste and liking for certain favourite foods. You should adopt healthy

principles of eating. Then your mind will definitely feel comfortable,

peaceful, satisfied and contented. You should enjoy life even when

you are lonely and isolated, by practicing meditation. This type of life-

style is the golden path for achieving Spiritual Salvation and Divine

Bliss. When a person starts sitting in yogic posture for about three

hours every day and starts practicing meditation in isolation and

develops toleration of all inconveniences, it will help him in God-

realisation. But he will face certain hurdles and inconveniences. The

inconveniences will first direct his mind towards the external world;

in other words, the mind will remember and recall the comforts and

happiness of the mundane objects enjoyed in the past. The mind will

not be able to divert and detach itself and it will continue to ruminate

about those mundane comforts and happiness. The mind will also

feel upset and disturbed. Observing and tolerating this mental

disturbance continuously for a certain time, gradually, the mind will

start mediating about the truth as to what is this pain and suffering

and what for is this pain and suffering? With the help of meditation

you will learn that pain and suffering is produced by your immoral

and ignoble habits which you have been gratifying in the past. In

this manner, if you start experiencing and realising your inner truths,

it indicates that you have discovered the path to concentrate and

consolidate your mind within itself. With the help of Spiritual

Knowledge and meditation, and by observing, experiencing and

tolerating pain and suffering, and thereafter, by getting freedom from

this pain and suffering, you will experience and achieve your inner

Divine Bliss, which is the hallmark of that all-pervading,

omnipresent, Almighty God who is abiding within all the living


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beings. And when you realise and experience the Divine Bliss, then

take it for granted that you have reached Param Dham, the celestial

abode of Almighty God, that you have become one with the all-

pervading Divine Consciousness, that the ultimate goal and purpose

of your life has been achieved, that you have acquired and possessed

the object that you yearned to acquire and possess. Now, after

achieving and acquiring the Divine Bliss, you will not feel sorry for

renouncing all the, material comforts and mundane happiness of the

world. There is nothing in the world to meditate about, to seek and

achieve. This is the ultimate goal of your existence, which you wanted

to achieve by the end of your present life.

The mind feels much upset and disturbed when you indulge in

excessive eating and drinking, when you indulge in unnecessary,

excessive sleeping. You should not get unduly angry and upset

against your personal weaknesses, nor you should notice and

criticise the weaknesses and blemishes of others persons. Instead,

you should maintain your mental peace and tolerate your own bad

habits and the evil ways of other persons. You should not perform

any ignoble and immoral deed. This is the ideal and best method

through which, gradually, you can realise and experience your inner

spiritual realities. Then your mind will become introverted.

“Introverted mind” means that the mind has started looking inwards,

that the material comforts, to which your mind had got addicted, has

started dissolving and disappearing. In this manner, a person can

redirect his mind which has gone astray in the external world by

pursuing the path of addictive habits and instinctive urges. The

mundane materials and means cannot prove helpful to control and

discipline your mind. Thus, the ideal and the best path to control,


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discipline and liberate your mind from habitual addictions is by

withdrawing your mind from the external world and turning it

inwards by concentrating and consolidating your mind within itself.

In other words, you should understand and grasp the vail-glory and

the insignificance of all the social tensions and the economic

competitions of the external world. The end-result of all the material

comforts obtained through your persistent efforts, and the

gratification of your instinctive urges and habitual tendencies, is

always painful. All these mundane comforts are not going to last for

long. Spiritual Knowledge and awareness you can achieve with the

help of your personal study of religious scriptures and by listening to

the spiritual discourses, but this approach is not very helpful. You

should awaken you Spiritual Knowledge and your awareness of the

divine through meditation and self analysis. You love of excessive

sleep and your gratification of compulsive habits, instinctive urges

and selfish tendencies donot let you meditate and concentrate and

consolidate your mind within itself. You have to boldly face these

personal weaknesses. You should practise to tolerate the pain and

suffering caused by intentionally and effortfully avoiding and ignoring

the gratification of your personal weaknesses. You will be able to

concentrate and consolidate your mind by tolerating a bit of pain and

suffering and by vanquishing your excessive demands of sleep.

Thereby you will realise your Spiritual Knowledge and divine

awareness. When your love for meditation gets fortified within your

mind, you will achieve liberation from the mundane, world for ever.

Just as the mind becomes peaceful and tranquil after achieving

liberation from the mundane bondages of the external world, in the

same manner, you will experience and relish the divine bliss and the


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spiritual ecstasy, without any effort. Now, take it for granted that the

fetters of nature and habits have been fully severed from their very

roots. It is possible to achieve this goal just in one life-span or you

may take lot many repeated births and rebirths. This should be the

full essence of your efforts.

In brief, it is essential to understand this fact : you have to

achieve full freedom and emancipation from the fetters of the two

types of Nature (Prakriti). One type of Nature is „personal nature‟ of

the living being, which is specifically his own and completely

individual. You have to seek salvation from this personal nature. The

second type of Nature is the „universal nature‟, manifested in the

whole universe. You have to seek salvation from this second type of

nature as well. In brief, you have to achieve salvation both from your

personal nature and the universal nature. Just as a human being is

enslaved by his various types of habits related to his worldly

comforts, in the same manner all other living beings and creatures

are slaves of their different types of habits related to their worldly

comforts, due to their different likes and dislikes. At times, one

person‟s comforts are juxtaposed to another person‟s comforts.

Because of the various types of personal comforts and their

gratification, a tough competition has arisen. Because of such

competitions, a human being gets more entangled in the external

world. By observing some rules and ethical practices of competition,

some people may remain less involved and entangled in the external

world and enjoy some mental peace and happiness by controlling

their involvements and entanglements in the external world and

thereby enjoy their solitary and independent life. But many other

persons, who are excessively entangled and involved in the external


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world, they may indulge in unethical ways of competition to gratify

their selfish needs and demands. Because of such selfish and

indisciplined people, the person who is less entangled in worldly

competition and wants to preserve and protect his ethical and

religious values, that person may not be able to enjoy his chosen

isolation and independence. In other words, such a person cannot

remain unaffected by the unethical practices of selfish people. One

person may achieve freedom from his compulsive habits and his

personal nature with the help of his religious and noble life, his

disciplined life-style, his spirit of renunciation and by observing other

ethical rules. But there are other persons, who lead life completely

under the control of their strong habits and selfishly seek

gratification of their own needs and personal requirements by

completely ignoring their fellow beings. Because of the influence of

such selfish greedy people, the person loving his personal freedom

and who isles involved in the external world, he may find it very

difficult to lead his life in the company of such selfish, greedy people.

But the world has majority of such people who are selfish, greedy and

slaves of habits and their gratification and who completely ignore the

needs and requirements of their fellow beings. Then, how can a

person lead life independently and without getting involved and

influenced by the life-style of selfish fellow beings. If a person wants

to be free from the unnecessary worldly involvements and lead his life

in the midst of other people peacefully and happily, then he has to

lead life according to the ten noble and spiritual principles delineated

in the life-styles of godly and saintly persons, that is, he must

cultivate, develop and practise the following ten spiritual qualities :

(1) friendliness, (2) sympathy, (3) praise-worthy attitude towards good


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qualities of others, (4) deliberately ignoring others‟ sins and bad

qualities, (5) mental tolerance and intellectual forgiveness, (6) noble

and religious conduct, (7) spirit of renunciation, self-sacrifice and

charity, (8) right, honest efforts, (9) meditation, and (10) super-

intelligence. A person has to cultivate and develop these ten spiritual

qualities and lead life accordingly, so that the life-style of his fellow-

beings may not affect his life adversely and negatively. By cultivating

and practising the first eight spiritual qualities, you can remain free

from the fetters of the external world. You will remain free from all

types of social conflicts. Meditation and super-intelligence are the last

two spiritual qualities, through which you can experience the

spiritual truth in the manifest form. These two spiritual qualities will

keep you free from all the mental and emotional excitements and

their ill effects. You will enjoy your inner, spiritual peace and

experience your cherished divine bliss.

This is the essence of this religious discourse.


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(25-12-1986)

During the last two days, it has been described and discussed

as to how you have to withdraw and emancipate your mind from the

external material world to achieve and experience Divine Bliss. What

happens after mental emancipation? The eternal Spiritual Truth or

Divine Entity, which is present in your inner being in the form of soul

since times immemorial and which has been given various names

such as Almighty God (Brahman) or Supreme Consciousness

(Paramatma), reveals itself as infinite Divine Bliss and after achieving

it, the human being never considers anything else worth achieving. In

order to achieve this infinite, eternal Spiritual Bliss, it is essential to

concentrate and consolidate your mind within itself, because it is

scattered in the external world . The phrase “Scattered mind” implies

that your mind and its energies are too much engaged, and involved

in the external world, which results in divided and diluted attention

and concentration. The scattered mind leads to and automatically

results in disturbed and disrupted breathing which produces debility

and weakness in the body. Similarly divided and diluted attention

indicates an exhausted and debilitated mind which is unfit and

incapable of achieving and experiencing the Spiritual Bliss. You may

possess all the material objects and physical comforts of the

mundane world, but when your mind is exhausted and hollow from

within, when your mind is too much entangled in the activities of the

world, when you mind is all the time over-powered with anxieties,

sorrows and worries of the external world, the psychic energy of your

mind gets so much dissipated that you feel as if there is no


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happiness, no peace for you, in the world, although you possess all

the material objects and physical comforts. Under such

circumstances, you may get afflicted with mental and cardiac

problems which may produce many other evil effects in the body. And

when your badly entangled mind gets emancipated from the external

world, psychic energy will get concentrated and consolidated within.

But this concentrated and consolidated psychic energy will first

induce sleep. The comfort and peace induced by sleep should be

regarded as nothing but illusionary, generated by ignorance, and

misinformation. But if your mind gets emancipated from the

mundane world when it is fully alert and awake, it will be regarded

that you have achieved spiritual deliverance. As soon as the mind

gets emancipated from the mundane world and starts getting

concentrated and consolidated within, you will start experiencing the

spiritual bliss.

How can you achieve emancipation from the mundane world?

You will achieve emancipation from the mundane world when you will

get freedom from the fetters generated by your personal nature or

temperament. What is meant by the term „personal nature‟? When all

your deeds and actions in the external world are performed as a

matter of habit (and even at present you are behaving mostly as a

matter of habit) the repetition of habitual actions produces your

personal nature or your temperament. With passage of time, your

personal nature or temperament becomes a force in itself. Personal

nature forces your mind to follow blindly the path dictated by your

habits, without any rational consideration. Personal nature is active

even during your sleep. Your personal nature or force of habit

(Prakriti) will remind you of the external world and dictate to the


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mind to know and become familiar with the objects of the external

world as well as to ruminate about these objects all the time. These

material objects also produce in the mind fetters, such as greed,

(Lobha) and anger (Krodha). If your mind refuses to obey the dictates

of habit, it will have to face pain and suffering. And if you gradually

start tolerating this pain and suffering produced by noncompliance of

your personal nature or non-gratification of your habits, if you donot

lose your intellectual balance during this pain and suffering, if your

mind remains alert and active to fulfill your duties and commitments,

if you cultivate and develop keen awareness about all the fetters

(such as attachment, aversion, prestige, lust and suspicion) which

entangle and entice your mind to the mundane world, if you gain an

insight about all the forces which entice and engage your mind with

the external world, then you will positively achieve emancipation from

the external world. For example, it is essential to have complete

knowledge of the disease, which you want to cure. A medical doctor

or physician is needed if the disease is related to the physical body.

But there is no doctor to diagnose and cure the inner, spiritual

problems. You will have to become your own spiritual healer. To

diagnose and cure your inner, spiritual problems, you will have to go

deep into the causative factors and analyse them. You will have to

study the extent and the intensity to which the spiritual problem has

spread. It is possible that you may have heard other people give

various, different labels and names to the causative factors of the

spiritual problems, or you too are somewhat aware of such causative

factors and their implications. You may feel that you do understand

your spiritual problems. But when you search deep in your heart as

to what factors are affecting, controlling and causing your spiritual


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problems, or what factors are restricting and restraining your

spiritual health and psychic energy, you will find that you do not fully

comprehend and understand such spiritual problems, and you donot

know much about your spiritual well-being, and you are quite

ignorant about the functioning of your spiritual forces. At the time of

birth, your mind was not at all aware of the spiritual forces and it will

remain ignorant even at the time of your death. You should make full

efforts to understand these spiritual forces and during this process,

you will also become aware of the Supreme Spiritual Power (God). But

instead, your mind remains all the time entangled with the external

world, because it wants to learn more and more about the mundane

world. That is why your mind gets divided and scattered in the

external world and its psychic energy starts dissipating and diluting

in the mundane world, and ultimately leads to your spiritual

problems. Why is the mind rushing outside and getting entangled in

the external world? Because the mind is not aware of its own

spiritual moorings. The fact is that it is your inner spiritual power

which is infusing life in your physical body. It is your spiritual power

which is maintaining and controlling your breathing process and

hence all your body-parts are operating and functioning normally.

Had there been no Spiritual Power, then what could energise the

physical matter? How could the entire external universe come into

existence without the omniscient and omnipotent, all-pervasive

Supreme Spiritual Power? The Supreme Spiritual Power is energizing

everything of this universe. For example, consider this illustration of

sleeping. When a person gets good sleep at night, on waking up he

declares that he enjoyed a very refreshing and deep sleep, so much so

that he was completely oblivious of the external world. And if the


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person had slept poorly and fitfully, on waking up, he would tell that

he did not have peaceful sleep. This illustration establishes that there

is some inner entity, some Spiritual Power which noticed as to how a

person slept, fitfully or peacefully. This inner entity or Spiritual Power

is so much shrouded and camouflaged that the mind is not aware of

its existence as well as its spiritual bliss. In sleep, this spiritual bliss

manifested itself a bit in the form of peace and freshness. In order to

comprehend spiritual bliss, you have to study and understand to the

minutest detail your fetters which camouflage and conceal this

spiritual bliss from the human mind. In order to emancipate your

mind, you have to remove all layers of ignorance which shroud and

hide this spiritual bliss.

What is meant by the term „Ignorance‟? Ignorance means „the

state of not-knowing‟. For example, when you are at a road-crossing,

you donot know as to which road you should choose and pursue in

order to reach your destination. You are facing „the state of

ignorance‟. You lack knowledge. To acquire knowledge, you have two

alternative methods : one method is to let God (who is existing since

infinity) reveal knowledge spiritually. If you donot want to follow this

method, you have to follow the second alternative. You have to seek

help of your mind. Mind never sits idle, in the state of not-knowing or

without gathering knowledge. When the mind is ignorant, it makes

all-out efforts to acquire knowledge. When there is neither spiritual

revelation, nor the mind is getting knowledge through any external

sources, when the mind is in a stone-like inactive state, then

ignorance propels the mind to wander and loiter in the external world

to gain some information and knowledge. The worldly sounds and

spectacles help the mind to explore the external world. When it gains


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knowledge, it feels as if it has gained its existence. As a matter of fact,

ignorance can never conceal, even for a second, the all-pervading

Supreme Spiritual Power, which is permanently present in the whole

universe. God reveals knowledge spiritually to the minutest detail,

and the revelation comes suddenly and unexpectedly, like a flash of

lightning. God know, all the time, everything of the world through his

divine power of cognition. And then God activates his principle of

divine dynamism (Maya). Human mind should examine and

understand this basic principle :”Knowledge leads to action” (or

theoretical knowledge is followed by practical wisdom). Many

examples from day-to-day life can be quoted to illustrate this

principle. Observe a sleeping person. Sometimes he starts snoring

loudly, and at other times, he sleeps very peacefully (without

snoring), as if he is not even breathing. What do these states of sleep

indicate? As soon as the person started reviving and reviewing the

latent impressions of his past deeds, his mind became active and

busy in gathering information and knowledge about his past deeds.

The person started breathing very peacefully and slowly, so slowly

that it became difficult to say whether he was breathing or not. Thus

the pre-occupied mind ignores even the normal breathing process. On

the other hand, when his mind stopped recalling and reviewing his

latent past deeds, the person started snoring loudly, because of his

free and emancipated mind. This example from everyday human

behaviour upholds the validity of the above-said principle,

“Knowledge leads to action.”

When the mind is entangled and involved in the external world,

the inner bodily systems of the person get affected, and may start

mal-functioning and thereby the body may develop physical and


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mental diseases and disorders according to the degree and intensity

of his mental involvement. To the extent the mind gets emancipated

from its engagements and involvements in the external world, to the

same extent the human body will get free from all the physical and

mental diseases and disabilities. The free and unrestricted knowledge

leads to free and unrestricted action. Every person should establish

and practise this principle in his life. But how should he adopt and

implement it? When a human being disengages his mind from the

worldly involvements and sits in meditation with a peaceful mind, he

will come face to face with many different inner realities. But he will

witness these inner realities only when his mind is able to surmount

the following two hurdles. One hurdle is his mental involvement in

the external, mundane world and the second hurdle is his mental

sloth and sleep generated by ignorance. Only then he will be able to

know all his inner spiritual realities and become conscious of his full

psychic energy. His mind should become conscious to such an extent

that he is able to visualise the pain produced and inflicted by these

two hurdles. For example you learn through your meditation: “that

particular food or that particular behaviour always leads to pain”.

Then you will never want to indulge in that food or in that behaviour.

In this very manner, you should recognise and know your other inner

spiritual truths and motivate yourself to implement and practise

these spiritual truths in your life, so that you may achieve

emancipation from all your fetters. If you donot get this inspiration

from within yourself, then your habitual way of leading life and your

Persistent Nature will never permit you to get rid of your fetters. As a

matter of fact, all the fetters of the world keep the human mind

engaged, entangled and enticed to the mundane, external world. But


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when you completely disengage your mind from the external world,

you will feel as if you have lost your very existence. When you just

imagine even in your lonely moments that you will have to completely

withdraw your mind from the world to achieve spiritual salvation,

your mind will react somewhat in this manner : “Of what value is this

spiritual salvation, if one has to lose this world? What type of

happiness you will experience if there is nothing to discover in the

external world?” In this manner, the cognitive power of your mind to

know and discover everything of the external world, never gets

blunted. But it is essential that you should discover all your inner

spiritual truths to the maximum detail. A person who is in the habit

of knowing only superficially and casually his inner spiritual truths,

usually goes to sleep during meditation. This sleep tantamount to the

shroud of ignorance. Sometimes, the person does not go to sleep and

is fully awake during meditation, but he fails to recognise or realise

his inner spiritual truths. This condition also amounts to the shroud

of ignorance. He could not recognise the inner spiritual truths

because these were hidden under the shroud of ignorance. When the

person fails to realise and experience his inner spiritual truths, he

again gets attracted and entangled in the mundane, external world.

He will again get over-powered by his ignorance, because he could

not discover his inner spiritual truths. His mind would get confused

and confounded. Thus his attraction of the external world will revive,

and he will again start getting enticed and engaged in the objects of

the external world. His ears will start attending to the sounds of the

external world and his mind will get busy to understand and identify

these sounds. His eyes will start appreciating the sights and shapes

of the mundane world. His nose will start enjoying the scents and


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smells of the external world. He will also experience the soothing

touch of the cool air. In this manner, with the activation of his sense

organs, the person will realise that “he is still living and existing in

the world”. This mental condition indicates that though ignorance

has dissipated and diluted to some extent, yet it has not fully

disappeared. In other words, ignorance cannot be uprooted

completely and fully, even with the help of meditation and

introspection. Ignorance can be fully wiped out when the person

understands and comprehends his inner spiritual truths, i.e., his

soul and its relationship with God. But ignorance is so powerful, that

it compels the person to keep his mind engaged and involved in the

external world, whether awake or asleep. An ordinary person is

usually completely oblivious of his inner spiritual truths. He does not

understand anything about the all-pervasive God. But once God is

realised, there is nothing else left in the universe worth realising. The

realisation of the inner, spiritual truths is the be-all and end-all of

this world. In order to realise the inner spiritual truths, you have to

concentrate and consolidate your mind within itself to such an extent

that it willingly accepts and tolerates the minor anguish and suffering

produced by disengaging itself from the external mundane world. And

if possible, you should observe and experience this anguish and

suffering bit by bit. Just as a person pacifies his strong urge to

scratch, by just passively pondering about his urge, without

practically indulging in it, and thereby, the urge gets dissipated and

finally completely disappears, in this very manner, your mind should

overcome the anguish and suffering caused by its withdrawal from

the external world, without experiencing any negative reaction. After

all, this mental anguish and suffering caused by the withdrawal of


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the mind from the external world, is not of such a magnitude that it

can lead to death, nor it is such a poison that it cannot be digested.

Even a sick person spends a number of days lying on his sick-bed,

alone and completely cut off from the external world, and tolerates

his pain and suffering. Then why cannot your mind tolerate the

anguish and suffering caused by withdrawal from the external

mundane world? Perhaps your mind considers : “When the worldly

comforts are available, then why to withdraw from these worldly

comforts.” But if your ponder in your mind that the material

comforts, which you are seeking so madly, are not going to last

forever, this thought will at once activate and alert your intellectual

faculties. You should thoroughly examine and analyse this fact, while

sitting in solitude. You should keep reinforcing in your mind this

eternal reality. Some people do repeatedly recite a certain token

religious word during their prayers. In the same manner, you should

select a word or thought to practise meditation. At that time, your

mind may opt for and seek the comforts of sleep. You should become

more watchful and alert against this mental tendency. As long as a

person is blindly in love with the comforts of sleep, it is not possible

to conquer his weakness for sleep, nor he will opt for avoiding and

relinquishing the comforts of sleep. Let us examine how a person

would behave, when he succumbs to the comforts of sleep. “First, the

person experiences some heaviness in the eyelids. He finds this

condition very soothing and comforting. The person starts

disengaging his mind from the external world in order to experience

and understand this comforting condition. Finding it very relishing

and desirable, the person disengages his mind completely from the

external worldly engagements and activities. Thus, the person


245

becomes oblivious of the external world in order to fully relish the

comforts of sleep.” This is the method how the human mind enjoys

the comforts of sleep. When you are able to recognise this sleep-prone

condition of your mind, your ignorance about the sleeping-process

will stand completely wiped and removed. In other words, when you

find that your mind has started relaxing to indulge in the comforts of

sleep in order to escape from the pain and suffering produced by its

withdrawal from the external world, or as soon as your knowledge

and awareness of the worldly objects starts becoming hazy (due to

intoxication of sleep) as if the external world has been hidden with a

cover, you should at once alert and awaken your mind to renounce

its weakness for the comforts of sleep and banish the desire to go to

sleep. You should order and dictate to your mind. “This is not the

time to go to sleep.” In this manner, you will develop the habit to

postpone your urge to sleep. Otherwise the path of spiritual salvation

will get blocked. The above suggestion does not indicate or imply that

you have to give up sleep completely. You must sleep. But you should

not sleep whenever the urge to sleep arises.

“I am an intelligent human being. I should recognise as to what

is the best for me with the help of my intelligence. After recognising

my well-being, I must pursue and practise all these things which help

to achieve it. Whatever inconvenience comes in the way, I must

tolerate that as well. I must get rid of my habitual nature, and thus I

have to get free from my fetters”. If you decide to achieve your above-

given resolution, then you should repeat these words loudly, time and

again, to keep your mind focused on your objective. In this manner,

you should develop the habit to spend your time in isolation. You will

get as much freedom from your mundane, worldly tangles as you will


246

practise to sit in isolation. But this does not mean that you have to

give up all your efforts to achieve something in the world. You should

make sincere efforts to fulfill your worldly duty or whatever is

essential and necessary. You should not keep yourself involved only

to achieve your selfish motives which you inculcated right from your

childhood. For example, a child feels bored when alone and he will

start weeping. He will desire that somebody should give him company

and keep his mind engaged and occupied, even with futile words and

actions. It is a fact that a child is dependent on others. As such, give

the child a toy. The child will become busy by rattling that toy. It is

this external dependence which the child has acquired and

inculcated right from his birth, that is, to depend on the persons and

products of the world. A human being remains dependent on others

till his death. Because of this dependence on the mundane external

world, the human mind remains engaged and involved in the external

world, like a battery-cell. Press the button, and the battery-cell, at

once and automatically, produces and showers light all around.

Similarly, the human mind, at once and automatically, becomes

engaged and involved in everything around him in the external world.

But how long can the cell-battery produce light? The cell-battery has

only a limited energy and at some stage, all the energy will get

exhausted. Exactly in this fashion, the human mind has only limited

energy. The human mind accumulates and stores up mental energy

(i.e. spiritual peace and bliss), when it is concentrated and

consolidated within itself. But all its spiritual peace and bliss gets

dissipated and exhausted when it becomes too much involved and

engaged in the mundane external world. The physical body grew and

developed slowly and gradually, according to the biological principles.


247

In the same manner, the human mind develops and matures with

experience. With the passage of time, the physical body as well as the

human mind become incapable of relishing the persons and products

of the mundane, external world. And what is going to be end-result?

When the person will be deprived of the company of the persons and

products of the world, he will find it very difficult to spend his time in

loneliness. And the sufferings of such deprivations will go on

multiplying and increasing. Under such circumstances, to spend all

his lonely hours and to experience his inner spiritual bliss of oneness

with God, the only proper and desirable method available to him is to

happily and peacefully tolerate his loneliness just as a patient

tolerates a bitter medicine.

What is meant by the phrase “tolerate the suffering?” This

phrase means that whatever unnecessary attachment the mind has

developed for the external world or whatever useless actions the body

performs in the external world, you should understand all those

attachments and actions, and then you should detach yourself from

the external world and tolerate the suffering caused by this

detachment from the external world. Those doctors who follow and

practise the homeopathic system of medicine, declare that when a

person develops the habit to digest and tolerate the poison which

otherwise produces disease in the body, this digestion will develop

immunity in the body and the same poison will act as a curative

medicine for the disease. In the same manner the detachment of the

mind from the material comforts of the external world, is equal to the

poison which acts as a curative medicine. When the mind experiences

some suffering caused by its detachment from the material comforts

of the external world, the mind quickly reverts back to the external


248

world for those comforts. The suffering compels the person to

discontinue and give up the path which leads to his well-being or

proves a poison for his well-being. When the person starts tolerating

and digesting a little of this suffering, bit by bit, then one day, with

the help of meditation, he will be able to tolerate and get rid of all the

sufferings caused by the fetters of his habitual nature. But it is

essential to keep patience. In the beginning, the mind will protest: “I

donot understand anything about my suffering”. This stage indicates

ignorance. Much upset and troubled by its suffering, the mind wants

immediately to run away from its suffering and escape to a situation

where it may not have to face suffering. „To escape from suffering‟

means that the mind wants to avoid the cause of the suffering. When

the mind does not want to know the cause of the suffering which it is

facing, then the mind is seeking shelter into the darkness of

ignorance. Whatever your mental awareness may be, whether

awareness of suffering or awareness of well-being, the mind should

face it as a neutral observer. Then the mind will never want to escape

from the pain and suffering caused by disengaging from the external

mundane world.

God will manifest Himself to you ultimately in the form of

feeling or sensibility. God does not possess physical dimensions, but

God has emotive dimensions. But you must keep your patience

during your sufferings. During sufferings, you should patiently decide

to wait and watch as to how long you can withstand your sufferings.

You will realise that the Divine Power (God) which enables a person to

withstand suffering, that power is present within you. Otherwise, how

could you know that you are upset and suffering? The fact is that

suffering is nothing but your impatience to know and possess the


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mundane objects of the world (which gratify your habitual comforts),

and it is your mind which regards your impatience as suffering. You

should tolerate the suffering caused by your mental impatience. You

should tolerate the suffering, just as a person tolerates his urge to

scratch by patiently studying as to what could cause the urge to

scratch, without actually indulging in scratching. Just as the

suffering is caused by mental impatience, similarly all your fetters are

the creations of your own mind. For example, what is meant by the

fetter of attachment? Whatever object your mind likes, your mind

gets attracted towards that object. Your mind starts ruminating

about that object, as if your mind is chained and tied to that object.

For instance, during old-age or during sickness, a person cannot eat

and enjoy certain foods of his liking, but his mind cannot avoid

thinking about those foods and keeps ruminating about those foods.

This is called the fetter of attachment. In other words, you continue

thinking and ruminating about the objects of your choice, even

though you are not going to use those objects. For example, take this

urge to scratch, which give some comfort. With the help of

meditation, your knowledge tells you and makes you aware that the

gratification of the urge to scratch has no limits. Rather it is possible

that you may develop a wound by your endless scratching. And once

you tolerate the inconvenience and the minor suffering caused by

avoiding the urge to scratch, this urge will disappear automatically

after some time. In this very manner, through non-gratification of

your fetter of attachment for certain objects, you can eradicate your

addictions and compulsive habits by tolerating the inconvenience and

suffering caused by their non-gratification. The inconvenience and

suffering will automatically disappear with passage of time. This


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truth can be learnt only with the practice of meditation and

introspection. Further, you cannot relish the comforts provided by

such gratifications throughout your life-span, because a person

starts clearly visualizing the possible diseases etc. resulting from

over-indulgence in addictions and their gratifications. In this regard,

you canonot benefit from the revelations and reports of other

persons. You have to alert and awaken your mind through your own

personal efforts and experience. You should alert and awaken your

mind by loudly repeating such words : “The eating of that particular

food is not beneficial for me.” You should repeat the warnings to such

an extent that your mind actually starts practically experiencing the

meanings of the spoken words. You should meditate about the

meanings of the words, first by loudly repeating the words and later,

you should meditate silently, quietly, without repeating the words

loudly. This stage of meditation is called the “absorbed meditation of

spiritual knowledge”. During this stage, your mind becomes oblivious

of the external world. In other words, your mind completely

withdraws from the external world. This stage of absorbed meditation

will automatically lead to inner peace. Your spirit or soul or your

inner Self (which is the repository of knowledge) will become the

spiritual observer of the inner peace. When the spiritual observer will

start asserting and manifesting itself, then automatically your

ignorance will start dissolving and disappearing and Supreme

Consciousness (God) will reveal itself. During this stage, your mind

will feel that it has forgotten all its fetters, it does not experience any

mundane attractions and it is relishing spiritual peace and divine

bliss within itself, in its fully wakeful, conscious state. Your mind will

not like to part with this spiritual peace and divine bliss. But this is


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possible when your mind is completely emancipated from its

engagements and entanglements of the external, mundane world. The

question arises : What force is enslaving and enticing the human

mind to the external world? One such force is the fetter of

„Attachment‟. The other force is the fetters of „Aversion‟, a twin-

brother of Attachment. What is Aversion? Suppose a person spoils

your peace and happiness. Your mind will form a certain definite

opinion about that person. This mental state is called the fetter of

„Attitude‟. As soon as a negative attitude about that person develops

in your mind, his past bad behaviour will start irritating and inciting

your mind against that person. Your mind will start scheming and

planning to somehow harm that person. Under the influence of your

negative attitude, whatever evil plans and schemes your mind will

form to harm that person is called the fetter of Aversion. Just as you

emancipated your mind from its fetter of Attachment, in the same

manner, you should emancipate your mind from its fetter of Aversion,

by pointing out to your mind that it will not gain anything by

harming and injuring the other person. It has been earlier narrated

as to how the person could completely get rid of his strong urge to

scratch, just by tolerating the minor discomfort produced by resisting

his urge to scratch and without gratifying his urge. In the same

manner, you should get rid of your negative attitude to harm and

injure the other person by resisting your negative attitude by

continuously reminding your mind that it will not gain anything by

harbouring its negative attitude. Thus after sometime, your negative

attitude will start dissolving and disappearing. And once your mind

gets emancipated from its negative attitude, it will start experiencing

its inner peace and happiness, or at least it will get rid of its painful


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pre-occupations of evil plans and schemes of harming the other

person. The attitude of Aversion will completely dissolve and

disappear after some time, just as the urge to scratch, dissolved and

disappeared completely. It will surely happen because it is an

inherent godly blessing that human mind cannot remain occupied

with anyone thing for a long time.

It has already been mentioned that the mental waves to know

and explore the external world arise in the human mind at neck-

break speed and with similar speed, the mundane world undergoes

change. If the negative attitude develops, for how long this negative

attitude will persist? You must recognise it and continue to demolish

it with conscious effort, even if you have to spend some time in this

process. Remember that the Divine Consciousness, which is always

inherent in your mind, is all the time ready to demolish all your

worldly fetters. But your mind should maintain some patience. If you

lose your patience after five minutes, then your mind will develop

another hurdle of mundane attractions. It means that you have again

got entangled in the external world. But you should not entangle your

mind in the external world and your mind should maintain patience

to study and assess its resistance to the mundane world. Just as the

strong urge to scratch, repeatedly activated your hands to indulge in

scratching and your mind also felt the strain of resistance, but you

tolerated the strain and with passage of time, the urge to scratch

dissolved and disappeared completely, without any gratification, in

the same manner, with patience, your mind should emancipate itself

from all those fetters which enslave and entice it with the mundane

world. Your mind should pacify all the pulls for the external world. As

shown in the example of scratching, sometimes your mind may argue


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that there is no harm if it indulges in scratching just once to pacify

and gratify the urge, and why not scratch a little when it provides

peace and satisfaction. Under such situation, you should warn your

mind not to succumb to the urge. In this process, let some time

elapse, by resisting your urge to scrach, without gratifying the urge.

All your fetters, such as Attachment, Aversion, Pride, Prestige, Lust

and many other temptations of the senses and also ignorance, are

like this urge to scratch. But your mind must resist all of them,

without indulging in their gratification, not even once.

What is ignorance? When a person wants to know something or

when a person gets strongly attached towards something, but does

not know that thing, this state is called „Ignorance‟. For example,

when the mind is not busy and is idle and vacant, it does not like

that idle and vacant condition. The mind propels : “Let me see and

explore as to what is happening at that particular place”. At that very

moment, you should check your mind with a question : “O mind,

what will you gain by knowing as to what is happening in that

particular place? Donot bother at all”. But „Ignorance‟ demands :

“No, no. O mind, you should know everything of your surroundings.

When you make efforts to explore and know the environment, it

indicates and proves my existence, that I (that is, Ignorance) am still

alive and active”. Ignorance asserts and declares that a person never

acquires his Ego or Self without developing his capacity to know or

his ability to explore. For example, consider this situation. When

somebody gives you respect and regard, your “I” or Ego feels happy

and elated. And later on, when you do not get respect and regard

from that person, your ego will feel hurt and protest : “I called upon

that person, but he didn‟t show me any respect, regard or courtesy.”


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Since your ego had received respect and regard earlier, it demands

that the same type of respect and regard should be shown every time.

For example, a person had given you much respect and regard when

he was a child. But how can that person give you the same type of

respect and regard when he was grown into an adult. If you again

want to get all those things of the world, which you had enjoyed in

the past, you can never get all of them. Further, if you donot yourself

renounce and give up all those things, the God will take them away

after sometime. Under such a condition, you will have to pass your

time inspite of all your protestations. That is why it is recommended

that you should cultivate, develop and practise a religious and pious

way of life. Keeping in mind your ultimate spiritual well-being, you

should cultivate and develop full faith in the Almighty God, who is the

source-head of the everlasting spiritual bliss and divine peace. When

you get emancipation from your entanglements of the external,

mundane world, you will enjoy the divine happiness for ever. The

achievement of this divine happiness should be your life-goal. That is

why you should bear and overcome all the inconveniences and

hurdles for the realisation of this divine bliss, in the same way as you

tolerated and conquered the inconveniences during the non-

gratification of the urge for scratching.

God is manifesting Himself every moment at a great speed

through the ever-lasting and ever-new creations of the world. The

whole universe becomes visible and discernible through the ever-

changing and ever-new creations of the world. It is Gods‟ will to

always dazzle in the form of Divine Knowledge. The material world

undergoes changes and remains active every moment according to

the demands of the divine knowledge. God goes on manifesting


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Himself through Divine Knowledge eternally, without an end, and the

material world too remains activated, and goes on generating

happiness and sufferings. There is nothing permanent in the material

world. Only the Divine Knowledge of God Almighty is permanent and

eternal. The natural tendency of the material world is to go on

changing and altering every moment. At times, the material world

provides physical comforts and happiness, but with passage of time,

these physical comforts undergo so much change that they become

the source of suffering and pain. And again with passage of time, the

sufferings and pain switch back to take the form of physical comforts

and happiness. A person who keeps his mental balance and spiritual

peace both during the times of happiness and sorrows, will achieve

emancipation from the fetters of the material world and his mind will

always remain focused on the Almighty God who is activating the

ever-changing material universe. If God Almighty is the only One,

unique and all alone, the eternal source of ever-lasting spiritual

peace, and remains equipoised and unaffected by worldly happiness

and sorrows, then his sincere devotee too will remain equipoised and

unaffected by worldly happiness and sorrows and will enjoy spiritual

peace. For example, there is always some temple place of pilgrimage.

This temple represents the abode of God. During worship, the priest

sometimes puts a temporary curtain, separating the devotee and the

image of God and after sometimes, removes the curtain, which was

separating the worshipper and the worshipped one. This ritual

symbolizes that God is hidden (behind the curtain) but he is always

there, present within us all, forever and all the time. He is all-

pervading but invisible. He does manifest Himself (when the curtain

is withdrawn). The rise and fall of a wave is an apt illustration. The


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top of the wave is visible, but the bottom of the wave is invisible. God

in the form of Consciousness is changing every moment, just as the

top and bottom of the wave is changing every moment. The top of the

wave can be called the manifestation of God or Consciousness and

the bottom of the wave (the invisible dip) can be taken as the

Universal Nature. The momentary top of the wave (the visible part)

represents the Divine Knowledge and the bottom of the wave (the

invisible part) represents the Universal Nature. The top and the

bottom of the wave are changing and alternating every second. The

top of the wave or the moment of manifestation of God, generates and

activates the bottom part of the wave (the Universal Nature) and the

Universal Nature creates the whole universe. In other words, God is

all-pervading, everywhere in the Universal Nature, or God manifests

Himself in the whole ever-changing Universal Nature. The genesis of

the creation of the material world depends on the Will of God.

Consciousness or Divine Knowledge is all-pervading in the

whole of the universe, whether it is the invisible and ethereal spheres

of the universe or the visible and tangible bodies formed by the union

of five basic elements of earth, air, fire, water and sky. God in the

form of Consciousness or Divine Knowledge is latent in the minutest

part of Universal Nature. God controls the circulation of blood in the

physical body. He manipulates the supply of nutrition derived from

the digested food to every single cell of the body, and thereby the

various parts and organs of the body continue growing and

developing, so much so that even the stone-like bone continues

growing. God or Consciousness is present even in the stone-like bone

which continues growing and developing. If it is not the handiwork of

God, then how can all this growth and development be explained?


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The fact is that the human being is quite ignorant of the all-pervading

God. The human being is conscious only to the extent that the face of

so-and-so person has black complexion or the face of that specific

person is fat and big or that particular person talks in that particular

manner. The human beings are conscious of each other‟s existence in

this superficial manner. But they are not at all conscious of the all-

pervading, the omnipresent God, who is lying latent, hidden, inside

every person. The main reason for this ignorance is that the mind is

completely scattered, enslaved and entangled in the external world.

Every human being possesses just one single mind. He can apply his

mind either to gain knowledge of the external, material world or he

may utlise his mind to seek inner spiritual knowledge. A human

being can apply his mind only to one thing at one time. If a human

being disengages and dissociates his mind from the external world,

only then he can concentrate his mind to seek the inner spiritual

truths. And the only method to disengage and dissociate his mind

from the external, material world is that first of all a human being

must learn to tolerate pain and suffering. Just as a human being

tolerates the inconvenience of giving up foods of his liking during his

illness or just a as a human being bears the pain and anguish of

injuries and burns or just as a human being tolerates the pain

caused by a thorn-prick, in the same manner a human being should

develop the habit of tolerating pain and suffering, bit by bit. He

should tolerate the pain of sleep-deprivation. It is alright to engage

with the external world to the extent of discharging one‟s duties. But

a human being should not indulge in the gratification of futile whims

or eating, drinking and enjoying intoxicants or meaningless gossips

or useless social interaction. If a human being stops spending his


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time in such wasteful, futile activities and indulgences, he can easily

save a lot of time. There is a majority of persons who waste their time

in such futile activities. But whatever time is saved from such futile,

meaningless activities, it must be utilized in isolation, introspection

and meditation.

You should utilise your spare time in mindful breathing, that is,

consciously watching your breathing in and breathing out (inhalation

and exhalation). You should sit in isolation peacefully, for meditation,

after sparing time for digestion of food. If you have nothing to do,

then you should start analyzing the cause of your sufferings and

troubles, if there are any. When you start this self-analysis, you will

develop some self-understanding. When you will start understanding

and grasping the cause of your suffering and trouble, this stage

indicates that you have cultivated and developed the higher mental

faculty of insight, your wisdom. Now you donot need an experienced

and wise person to guide you, to tell you as to what is best for you.

Now you have to follow and practise whatever you have learnt from

your self-analysis. You should go on practising introspection and

developing insight, but you must be careful and watchful that your

actions are not harmful for others, that your resolutions are not

injurious to others and that you are not spending too much time in

making schemes for your personal, selfish gains and interests.

It is essential that you should tolerate the inconveniences and

sufferings caused by giving up your personal and selfish gains and

interest, in the manner it has been explained in the earlier-mentioned

illustration of tolerating the urge to scratch without indulging in it. If

you are able to tolerate the inconveniences and sufferings and

continue sitting in erect yogic posture in isolation, fully awake, and


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continue your meditation, gradually increasing the time from a few

minutes (3 mts.) to a few hours (3 hrs) , then God will start

manifesting the desired results. In place of earlier inconveniences and

sufferings, God will start creating the feelings of comfort, peace and

bliss. As soon as you start experiencing the feelings of comfort, peace

and bliss, you will automatically realise the inner spiritual realities

and Divine Knowledge. Earlier, you were experiencing and expressing

your ignorance about the causes of your pains and sufferings. With

the help of meditation, you will recognise that the fetters of

Attachment and Aversion, of Pride and Privilege, of Greed and

Avarice, were the causes of your pains and sufferings. And thereafter,

you will be able to recognise your inner spiritual truths and spiritual

knowledge. Similarly, when you will start realising and relishing your

inner, spiritual bliss, you will also come to know that main source of

your inner spiritual bliss. When you will delve deep to know the

source, you will learn that you could achieve your inner, spiritual

bliss only after getting rid of your fetters of attachment, aversion,

pride, prestige, greed and avarice. You will also known as to why and

how these fetters developed. The fetters developed out of your

attraction and attachment for the minor and momentary satisfaction

and happiness. With the help of meditation, you will realise that the

satisfaction and happiness derived from the external, material worldly

sources, is both temporary and ephemeral (short-living), you will be

somehow compelled to give up your mundane pleasures. If you donot

give them up at this stage, you will be forced to give them up in your

old age. Hence it is better not to bother and indulge in such, material

worldly, short-living satisfaction and happiness. You should willingly

bear the inconvenience and anguish caused by losing and missing


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them, in the same manner as you tolerated the non-gratification of

your urge for scratching. By adopting this method, you should

continue awakening and alerting your mind all the time, and you

should daily and without fail practise this style of life.

“To be alert” means to be conscious. „To be constantly and

continuously alert‟ implies that you are going to gain strength and

energy every moment. Even in Upanishads it is mentioned that a

person without strength has no soul. What is meant by word

„strength‟? The word „strength‟ does not imply physical or bodily

strength, which you can increase by nutritious food and physical

exercise. With reference to the context, the word „strength‟ refers to

„mental strength‟ in order to tolerate all types of sufferings and

anguish produced by deprivation or non-gratification. Your mind

should resolutely and with strong conviction and determination

declare: “It does not matter, if I did not get the food of my choice. At

least I have eaten to my fill, and now I will not die of hunger”.

If you are feeling pained by the bad behaviour of some person,

you should develop the capacity to tolerate even that pain. Your mind

should start pondering and evaluating : “How strong is this pain? It is

not going to prove fatal. I can tolerate it. I should study the time-

period, for how long it is going to last”. Your mind may declare : “This

pain will last for one hour.” Under such a situation, you should argue

and reason out with your mind : “What if the pain is going to last for

one hour? I can easily tolerate it. During illness, patients have to

tolerate pain and suffering from a few hours to, may be, a few days at

times. At least, my pain is much less in comparison”. You should

pacify your mind with the argument that when it could tolerate the

pain and suffering of shorter durations, it can also tolerate pain and


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suffering of some longer duration as well. This is what is implied in

term „Endurance‟. In other words, you should pacify your mind

whenever it gets upset and disturbed due to pain and suffering. Your

manifest and overt behaviour should not be negatively affected as a

reaction. Your mind should not think negatively on witnessing the

evil ways of others. This is called „pacifying of mind‟. This is realised

internally, within your own self, and with your own efforts. That is

why one person cannot realise it for the use and benefit of another

person. And during this process of your mental pacification, if your

mind learns and develops the art of spending time in isolation, it

amounts to ensuring a life and place in heaven. Unless you train your

mind and intellect and develop your inner, spiritual power to realise

mental peace, you cannot learn to spend your time in isolation, and

practise meditation. Your mind cannot remain concentrated and

consolidated within itself. It is essential that you develop the habit of

spending time in isolation and withdraw your mind from its

engagements and entanglements in the external world in order to

achieve the objective of your mental and spiritual peace. Ignorance

will force and push you back in the humdrum of the worldly

activities. It is essential to develop the habit of sitting in isolation and

practise meditation in order to achieve emancipation from

engagements and entanglements of the external world. The best

method to develop the practice of meditation is by learning to tolerate

the pain and suffering produced by the non-gratification and non-

indulgence in your habitual, daily material comforts (or through

renunciation). Meditation will develop your insight into your inner

spiritual, realities and it will help you to realise your divine peace and

spiritual bliss. Then you need not recite your habitual, daily prayers.


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You need to recite only such words you have understood through

your meditation.

If your mind feels upset and troubled about the pain and

suffering produced by the deprivation of its daily material comforts,

then you should argue and advise your mine : “Suppose you had

fallen sick and were bed-ridden, you would have to tolerate the

suffering of deprivation of your daily material comforts during the

period of sickness. As you were forced to tolerate the deprivation

during your sickness, you should tolerate it now of your own choice”.

There is no harm in trying this argument with your mind. Today,

your mind can try the toleration of deprivation for 10-15 minutes.

Your mind may protest that it can tolerate no further. You can stop

trying. For today, it is sufficient toleration. Tomorrow, you should

increase the time of toleration to 20 minutes. During 10-15 days of

practice, the time of toleration of deprivation will increase to half an

hour. In this manner, bit by bit, a person should continue increasing

his practice of toleration of the pain of deprivation.

But there is one caution: Your mind must not entertain any

doubts about its capacity to tolerate the pain of deprivation of

material comforts as well as its capacity to sit in isolation. For

example, there is no work and you are sitting idle. In such a

situation, your mind may suggest : “You are sitting idle without any

work. Let us join the company of others. Let us pass time happily in

sharing gossips.” But this suggestion of the mind is not a good

approach. You should educate and advise your mind : “O Mind ! No

doubt, you are sitting idle without any work. At least, you are not

scheming and planning evil things for others. It is much better to sit

idle than to waste time in meaningless gossips and aimless


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discussions. O Mind ! You are upset and feeling uncomfortable

because you are sitting idle, without any work. That is why you are

suggesting futile things to keep you busy and occupied. In such a

situation, it is much better to recite the holy name of God”. You must

also remember that you have to keep your mind alert and active

about fetters. Unless your mind understands the implications of the

fetters, you can never get rid of them.

It is your earnest persistent motivation which can help you to

know your own inner divine Self. The vast and wide external material

world cannot and does not provide enough spiritual knowledge. The

spiritual knowledge is in excess and abundance within you and not

outside in the external world. But this inner spiritual knowledge can

be realised only when your inner divine eye opens. The opening of the

inner divine eye implies that you are “able to shed the veil of

ignorance and lack of spiritual awareness”. In order to shed the veil of

ignorance, you must pass through the portals of suffering and pain.

Universal Nature manifests some hardships and thereby

reminds the human being about the comforts of the mundane

external world and pushes him towards the external world to search

and acquire those mundane comforts. All this leads to ignorance of

the inner spiritual Self and the development of the fetters of

attachment and aversion, which further generate the strong waves of

lust and anger and compel the mind to gratify them. It is possible to

comprehend how Universal Nature enforces its regimen, because all

this is happening inside, within your mind. But you will comprehend

it only when your inner spiritual eye opens and gets activated. In

order to open and activate your inner, spiritual eye, you must first

invite and experience hardships. As the hardships appear, you


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should start understanding the hardships in little measures, bit by

bit. Your understanding will go on developing and increasing from

moment to moment, to such extent that your mind will comprehend

clearly God‟s spiritual knowledge flowing at great speed, like electric

current, through the minutest particle. In the same manner, God‟s

divine dynamism (Maya) or Universal Nature is working in the whole

universe and the entire creation. Everyone can easily witness how

God speedily distributes nutrition and energy throughout the body.

God is controlling and performing all the vital functions of the body,

because He is existing inside everything. Although God is

omnipresent, yet he is not visible to the naked eye. What is that

entity which is camouflaging and concealing our inner spiritual

knowledge? That entity is human mind and its attraction for the

external world. The energy of the mind got scattered in the external

world and generated inducement and excitement for the mundane

attractions. You should completely overcome the mundane

attractions bit by bit, gradually and slowly. You should not overcome

these mundane attractions because you want to subdue the

happiness and comforts provided by the mundane objects of the

external world. Rather you should subjugate the inducement and

excitements for the mundane attractions because all these ultimately

lead to pain, sufferings and anguish, and hence you want to get rid of

this disease of mundane attractions.

You should develop the habit of sitting in isolation in order to

counsel, guide and direct your mind. You should develop a positive

attitude towards the hardships which you experienced while sitting in

isolation. After developing a positive attitude towards the hardships,

you will automatically start understanding the implications of such


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hardships and their root-cause, in the form of insatiable worldly

passions (that is,Trishna), will become very evident and visible. This

state is achieved with the practice and help of meditation. When you

start spending your time in the practice of meditation and gain

insight into your inner spiritual truths, this amounts to achieving

deliverance from the bonds of the mundane world. At the end of this

stage, you will realise that all the pains and sufferings of the

mundane world have simply evaporated, and instead, you have

started experiencing the eternal spiritual peace and divine ecstasy,

and all your hunger for the worldly, material comforts have

disappeared. Who can tell you as to what is this spiritual peace and

divine ecstasy? Only that person will be able to tell you about the

spiritual peace and the divine ecstasy who has achieved and

experienced them first hand, personally, from the closest quarter, in

their full intensity.

The salient features of the last three discourses are as follows :

If a person wants to realise the everlasting spiritual bliss of his own

soul, if he wants to concentrate and consolidate the Divine Knowledge

within himself, then it is essential that his mind must be completely

free from the entanglements and enticements of the external world.

There are various ways to achieve this freedom, such as right

religious confidence (Shardha), energy (Veerya), heedfulness (Smriti),

absorbed meditation with serenity (Smadhi) and supreme intelligence

or truth-bearing knowledge (Pragya). But along with these five factors

for realisation of salvation, the main and most important factor is to

willingly accept and develop tolerance for the hardships which are

faced in the pursuit of this path of spiritual well-being and divine

regeneration. In other words, you must develop tolerance for the


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hardships which a person has to face and experience for not obeying

the undesirable demands of Universal Nature. You must not seek

shelter in sleep in order to escape from and forget these hardships.

You must not indulge in intoxicants in order to escape from these

hardships. You should slowly and gradually go on intelligently

avoiding and discarding your compulsive habits and addictions,

which a person usually inculcates right from his childhood to forget

and escape from these hardships. It must be remembered and kept in

mind that every person has to counsel and guide his self personally,

himself, for his own spiritual well-being and divine regeneration. In

other words every person has to himself (personally) understand and

decide as to what best means and methods he has to adopt for his

own spiritual well-being. It is possible that another person may help

to understand such means and methods. But no one else can

completely and forever guide you for your spiritual well-being. You

have to personally, yourself decide and choose your means and

methods and implement and practise them.

You will definitely develop insight into your inner spiritual

truths with your own, persistent efforts. In the pursuit of this

spiritual path, you will also personally find your own solutions for all

your doubts and misgivings, if there are any. You will thus reason out

with your own self : “I am not entertaining any negative feelings for

others. I am renouncing some bit of my own, personal, material

worldly comforts, and that too because all these material, worldly

comforts always end up in pain and suffering. Then why and what for

all these doubts and misgivings?” In this manner, you should analyse

and develop insight into your inner self, bit by bit, slowly and

gradually. You should avoid sleep only to the desirable extent. You


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should make efforts to solve your problems, which at times confront

you. For example, watch a businessman or self-employed person.

How diligently and intelligently he works to make his business a great

success. In the same manner, you have to intelligently work for your

spiritual progress. Then you will discover vividly all your inner

spiritual truths, as if you are watching a painting.

For example, you are sitting for meditation and your mind

realises and recognises in your fully conscious state : “So, this is the

fetters of attachment. What is the function of this fetter?” The fetter of

attachment gives birth to its son, Lust. Lust means Desire. What is

Desire? When something attracts your mind, it makes efforts all the

time to acquire that thing. And when the mind fails to acquire it, the

mind feels upset and restless. The mind feels so much upset that it

makes persistent efforts to acquire that thing. All birds and animals

have this tendency. All these happenings are taking place inside your

mind, and appear like a drama. And ultimately, you will realise: “O

brother ! the end result of all the fetters is really so drastic and

painful.”

Keeping in mind the drastic and painful end-result of the

fetters, you should go on increasing, gradually and bit by bit, your

tolerance of pain and suffering and also continue inspecting and

analyzing the implications of the fetters, with the help and practice of

meditation, sitting in yogic posture in isolation. Continuing this

practice, when a person realises spiritual knowledge and actively

performs all his responsibilities, his higher mental faculties and

intellect will automatically go on progressively achieving spiritual

consciousness. In other words, his spiritual consciousness and his

dutiful activities, in this order, will go on gaining strength and these


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will automatically guide and direct his mind as to which is the correct

method for his spiritual awakening and divine regeneration. The

correct method of his spiritual awakening is that method which will

at least protect his present life from degeneration and devolution

what is meant by the words „degeneration and devolution‟? The words

“degeneration and devolution” means “to follow the path of Universal

Nature and compulsive habits. When lust arises, you follow the

dictates of lust. When greed for food arises, you eat food in excess,

even if eating food in excess leads to illness. When anger arises, you

speak unsavoury and evil words to others. In this manner, under the

spell of compulsive habits and Universal Nature, a human being

indulges in strange and undesirable behaviour. If you follow blindly

the path of compulsive habits and Universal Nature, it can never be

presumed that you will achieve spiritual salvation. Compulsive habits

and Universal Nature are affecting equally all the animals, birds and

mankind in the same, identical manner. As compared to animals and

birds, man possesses a special, unique, higher faculty called

intelligence (Budhi) in the form of inner spiritual power or capability

of his inner spirit. This faculty of intelligence impels mankind to

search and realise the ultimate spiritual truths with the help of his

power of thinking, and avoid with utmost caution and care the

dictates of his, compulsive habits and Universal Nature. Even

Upanishads (Hindu religious scriptures) suggest and advise mankind

to recognise and pay heed to this unique divine capability (Samarth).

In Sanskrit language, the word „Samarth‟ is synonymous (with the

word, „Ish‟ and „Ish‟, means „the higher unique divine faculty‟. The

word, „Ishwar‟ (God) is derived from the word „Ish‟. This higher,

unique faculty (Samarth) is of two types : one type represents


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capability to know the Divine (God), and the second type represents

the capability to create‟ (Universal Nature). A child does not know

whether the material comforts created by Universal Nature in the

external world will end up in happiness or in sufferings. As long as

the child is ignorant about this truth, it indicates that his intelligence

(capability of knowing) has not developed and matured. But when the

adult learns through meditation that all worldly, material comforts

end up in pain and sufferings, it is said that his intelligence

(capability of knowing) has fully developed and matured. This power

of intelligence does not develop and mature without the concurrent

development and maturity of his power of thinking, meditation and

intellect (power of discrimination).

It is mentioned in the classical ancient literature, that “Human

species possess intelligence.” If human beings had not possessed

more/higher intelligence, how could human beings be differentiated

from animals? Possession of more/higher intelligence means “the

ability to know in advance the evil end-results of the worldly, material

comforts”. Even though a human being possesses the capability to

know and recognise (in advance) the evil end-results of the worldly,

material comforts, the force of compulsive habits and Universal

Nature is attracting, enticing and pushing the human being into the

external material world to madly and blindly desire to acquire these

material, worldly comforts. Under such conditions, and with the help

of his inherent spiritual power/knowledge, if a person is able to

tolerate and withstand the powerful pulls of compulsive habits and

Universal Nature, then it should be regarded that the person has

achieved the ability and knowledge to understand the inherent

imperfections of the material, worldly objects and their comforts. This


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ability and knowledge about the inherent imperfections of the

material worldly comforts and their evil end-results, acts as the real

powerful restraint on the pulls of potent, compulsive habits and

Universal Nature. As your spiritual power/knowledge goes on gaining

strength and maturing within you, you go on becoming a pious,

devoted and religious person. You should go on developing your

spiritual power/knowledge to such an extent that you become one

and merge with God who is the embodiment and abode of eternal

spiritual bliss. In this manner, with continuous and consistent

efforts, you should make your mind both pious and pure, to such an

extent that it starts sharing and actively participating in others‟ joys,

that it should not mock at others‟ sufferings and sorrows, that it

should not convert others‟ merits into blemishes and instead it

should always mentally appreciate their positive and good qualities,

that it should never feel jealous of others‟ material possessions, that

it should not pay much attention to others‟ weaknesses, that it

should cultivate and develop the sentiment of forgiveness and mercy.

In other words, you should openly and abundantly exhibit that you

can willingly and happily share the sorrows and sufferings to fellow

human beings, and you will never hurt and injure any one. This style

of life is reflecting in the lives of all great and God-fearing persons.

You should always be heedful and considerate. Those persons who

cultivate and practise such pious and sacred sentiments, never feel

the necessity of showing off and publically parading their pious and

sacred sentiments. If such pious and sacred sentiments are exhibited

openly and proudly, then it will give birth to self-pride and self-

importance. When a person quietly continues to practise such sacred

sentiments for his own satisfaction, without any vested interest,


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without any selfish motive, then, with passage of time, he will

become, fully enlightened with complete spiritual knowledge. But the

foremost and immediate fruit of such a pious and sacred life-style is

that the person will escape from spiritual degeneration and

devolution. Such a person will be reborn as a human being after his

death. He will achieve spiritual salvation and he can achieve the

status of a saint and angel. He can qualify for entry into other higher

spiritual spheres or divine religions. But the highest goal a person

can aspire for and attain, is the goal of eternal spiritual salvation,

emancipation from the cycle of birth and death and the attainment of

everlasting, eternal divine bliss. Once all these objectives are realised,

you will never feel the loss of the worldly, material comforts. In this

state of spiritual bliss, you will experience and enjoy the blessings of

the eternal divine knowledge. Divine Knowledge is eternal. It has no

end. It is always active and all the time functioning. If it stops

functioning, the whole universe will come to an end and the whole

existence will cease to exist. But the universe has never come to an

end and the existence has never ceased to exist so far, since times

immemorial, nor this is likely to happen in any imaginable future

time. The Divine Knowledge (in the form of Supreme Consciousness)

continues to survive and exist and remains active, functioning and

operating eternally. The whole realm of Universal Nature, which is

visible and tangible in the form of the external, material world, which

is manifesting itself in ever new forms every moment, is actually

functioning and operating only under the supreme guidance, control

and management of the one and only Divine Power, that is God

Almighty.


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Everything of the universe functions and operates according to

the divine principles laid-down by Almighty God Himself. Thus

functioning and operation of an object is dependent on the principles

of its creation or production. In other words, Universal Nature

(Creation and the principles on which the creation is based) is part

and parcel of Divine Knowledge. Knowledge and creation (theory and

practice) are twins, since times immemorial. You may call these by

the names of Naraina and Lakshmi or Shiva and Shakti or Purush

and Prakriti. (as per Hindu, religious lore). All these god-heads of

Hindu religion have been mentioned and described according to the

personal likes and fancies of the authors of the classical, ancient

religious texts and literature. You should be able to visualise, grasp

and understand within your own mind the inner, latent meanings

and implications of the theory or the philosophy, and it is not

necessary to get lost in the verbal jig-saw puzzles of the language.

Ultimately, you will learn that Universal Nature and its principle of

creation are not changing and altering every moment. The physical

body of a person undergoes a drastic change and his figure and form

at the time of birth gets completely changed and altered at the time of

death. But the power which affects this change is very much present

in the physical body, without any change or alteration. This Divine

Power has been called God, the abode and embodiment of the eternal

spiritual knowledge, who is effecting this change in the physical body.

As a result, in the light of the quickly-changing speed of the mundane

creations of the Universal Nature, your soul is permanent and

immortal. Every person must devotedly try to achieve his ultimate

destination, that is, become one with God in the form of spiritual

knowledge, although God‟s agent, Divine dynamism (Maya) through

permutation and combination, is creating and controlling the


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minutest, intangible particle of the material world, and thereby

creating this universe. Every person should activate and energise his

spiritual knowledge and divine consciousness to the maximum

extent. When you are able to get rid of all the fetters and also achieve

and experience at personal, first-hand level the spiritual knowledge

and the divine consciousness, it will then be said that “You have seen

and met with Almighty God.” The spiritual bliss (Ananda) of Almighty

God is everlasting and eternal. It is immortal and imperishable.

The essence of this whole discourse is that ultimate goal of

human life is to reach the abode of Almighty God. In what way can a

human being achieve this ultimate goal and reach his spiritual

destination? The unique way is by getting rid of the material bonds,

entanglements and enticements of the mundane external world. The

cardinal and most important technique to get rid of the mundane

entanglements and enticements of the external world is by accepting

and learning to tolerate some hardships. What type of hardships one

should learn to tolerate? It is that hardship which Universal Nature

and compulsive habits create because of the non-compliance and

non-gratification of their demands. And during that phase, you must

adopt, uphold and practise the best, most desirable and most

congenial, good behaviour. You must not let your mind react in an

undesirable, negative manner. You must not succumb to the pulls

and pushes of the compulsive habits and the demands of Universal

Nature. If you practise your meditation in this manner, bit by bit, you

will surely save and protect yourself from spiritual degeneration and

moral devolution, and the you will definitely achieve spiritual

salvation, and finally you will realise your ultimate goal, your divine

destination (Param-Dham).

This is the essence of this discourse.


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(26-12-1986)

Nobody can experience spiritual happiness without the

concentration and consolidation of his mind. Hence it is very

essential to first have concentration and consolidation of mind in

order to experience spiritual peace and happiness. The concentration

and consolidation of mind which is dependent on the persons and

products of the external world is not everlasting, and it always leads

to sufferings and grief at the end. It is true that a person does

experience some comfort and happiness for a short time when his

mind is concentrated in the persons and products of the mundane

world. But the real happiness is that which the person experiences

when his mind gets disengaged and disentangled from all the persons

and products of the mundane world. The happiness which is

dependent only on his mental concentration and consolidation, shall

never leave him, just as his inner, personal „self‟ never leaves him.

When your inner, personal „self‟ always remains with you, then how

can that happiness ever leave you which is dependent on your inner,

personal „self‟? But the happiness which is dependent on external

worldly factors, shall never remain the same, because the world is

ever-changing. The worldly factors which brought you happiness so

far, shall undergo such a drastic change after some time, that the

very same worldly factors shall prove painful. Rather, your mind

should not feel the necessity of external worldly factors. After getting

freedom from ignorance, sleep, etc., your mind should remain

concentrated and consolidated within itself for relishing and realising

your inner spiritual happiness. For the realisation of inner, spiritual


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happiness, your mind shall have to concentrate and consolidate

within itself for relishing and realising your inner spiritual happiness.

For the realisation of inner, spiritual happiness, your mind shall

have to concentrate and consolidate within itself with the help of

yoga, religious worship and spiritual recitations. There are many

other methods to achieve concentration and consolidation of mind.

But religious worship and spiritual recitations etc. will prove effective

only as long as doubts, fears and insatiable worldly passions donot

raise their head. But when doubts, fears and insatiable worldly

passions become active, at that time, even religious worship and

spiritual recitations will become ineffective. All other methods of

concentration and consolidation of mind too will prove helpless. The

best and most effective method of concentration and consolidation of

mind is that which is not dependent on external supports and aids.

In ancient Hindu religious books, this non-dependence on external

supports and aids has been called Spiritual Liberation (Mukti) or

freedom from worldly bondage has been called Spiritual Deliverance

(Moksha). Today, we shall describe and discuss the role of fetters

which donot let the human being achieve “Mukti” or “Moksha”.

Religious seers and scholars have identified these fetters after

detailed personal experience, so that a human being may himself

experience and understand them in his lonely and spare moments in

isolation. He should make efforts to seek deliverance (freedom) from

these fetters, after identifying and finding them as the main and root-

cause of sufferings. Normally, an idle mind without any work has the

tendency to go to sleep or become lazy and lethargic. That is why

some token words of incantation should be recited silently, so that

the mind may become aware and understand their spiritual


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connotations and religious implications in his meditation. When the

mind fails to identify such token words which inspire and infuse

intense spiritual awakening and divine knowledge, “a person should

start reciting and repeating the name of any God of his choice” as

recommended by the preachers of jap-yoga (followers of the method of

praying by reciting and repeating the name of God). Jap-yoga too

aims at achieving awakening of soul, through concentration and

consolidation of mind with the help of devoted recitation and

repetition of the name of the God who had identified the fetters. God,

whose name is devoutly being recited and repeated, had achieved

complete spiritual liberation from the said fetters. But if the human

being remained lazy, lethargic and engulfed in the darkness of his

ignorance, even while reciting and repeating the holy name of that

God, and who failed to identify and recognise his fetters, then the

very goal and purpose of those devoted religious incantations and

recitations would prove of no use. The full and complete achievement

of the goal and purpose of the devoted incantations and religious

prayers implies that all the divine and spiritual merits of God should

be realised and reflected in the human mind and thereafter all the

mental garbage of fetters must get completely wiped out so that the

human mind may get purified and sanctified. In such a condition,

completely stable in its own serenity, the mind will experience within

itself the spiritual bliss of the Divine Reality whose name the human

being is devoutly reciting in his prayers and incantations. When the

mind realises and achieves this spiritual bliss, then there is no more

necessity of recitations and incantations of the divine name. then the

role of meditation will become really very subtle and sublime. At this

stage, it becomes all the more essential that the human being must


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know and identify all the fetters which tie him down and enslave his

mind, so that whenever these fetters manifest themselves during his

religious recitations and prayers, his mind may easily and at once

identify them and quickly get rid of them. Suppose, the evil behaviour

of a certain person is going to affect negatively your spiritual well-

being and disturb your inner peace. Naturally, you will desire to

quickly and quietly get away from such a person. That is why it

becomes equally necessary to recognise your latent, inner negative

tendencies as well as your fetters so that you may get rid of them as

quickly as possible. All these demerits of the mind (or fetters) remain

hidden in their remote recesses of the human mind. There are two

such hidden recesses of the mind : one hidden recess is called the

“Un-conscious mind,” which is almost unfathomable and is never

completely known. The second hidden recess is called the “Sub-

conscious mind” or the semi-conscious or pre-conscious mind, which

can be known with some effort. For example, one such demerit (or

fetter) is called the irresistible desire (Kama). The Sanskrit word

“Kama” means the desire for an object which appears to the mind as

very good and forces the mind to somehow acquire it. The mind

becomes elated the moment it thinks about that object and feels very

eager to acquire it. “Kama” or the irresistible desire remains hidden in

the mind. When it remains deeply hidden in the inner recesses of the

mind (the Unconscious mind), it is called attachment or love (Raga).

In other words, when something has given comfort and happiness

once upon a time, then the mind constantly and continuously thinks

about that thing, and that thing never disappears from the mind. For

example, a child does not know at the time of birth that a certain

fruit is sweet in taste. But as soon as he once tastes it, he learns that


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the fruit is sweet. This impression remains hidden and latent in the

mind. This condition of the mind is called “Raga”. There are three

types of mental pre-occupations or fetters. The first fetter is this

already-mentioned “Raga” or Attachment. In other words, the mental

pre-occupation for the object which once provided comfort and

happiness and which the mind strongly desires to possess, is called

“Raga” or Attachment. The second fetter or mental pre-occupation is

to destroy or to get rid of the object which is the source of pain and

suffering. It is called “Dwesha” or Aversion. The third fetter is a

typical mental pre-occupation called (“Moha” or Delusion). When you

donot possess or cannot posses the object of your liking, or when you

cannot get rid of a painful object, then your mind remains pre-

occupied with the ideas of repentance, grief and fear all the time.

Such a mental state is called “Moha” or Delusion. In other words,

Delusion represents mental pre-occupation with persistent and

painful ideas, so much so that the person does not at all brother

about the external realities and his social obligations, but instead

continues suffering. Thus, in all these three mental pre-occupations

(fetters), the mind keeps ruminating and constantly thinking all the

time and in great detail, whether a person is sleeping or engaged in

some work. As a matter of fact, the mind reacts to the external world

in its own typical manner. For example, the mind first develops a

desire or liking for something, and then it starts pursuing that thing

of his liking, or the mind first develops anger, and then starts

quarrelling and fighting, or the mind first develops greed, and then

starts making efforts to satisfy his greed or the mind first notices the

material comforts and happiness of another person, and then starts

suffering from the feeling of jealousy and then starts uttering


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undesirable, unsavoury words. In this manner, all the ignoble and

negative feelings and reactions of the mind are called “Vikar” or Vices.

And the root-cause of these ignoble and negative feelings and

reactions, which are buried deep and hidden in the unconscious

mind, are called fetters (Bandhan). There is still another force, which

gives birth to these fetters and which lies hidden in the still deeper

and unfathomable recesses of the unconscious mind, which is called

ignorance (Avidya), because of which the person remains engaged and

enticed to the external world, to know more and still more about the

external world. The mind regards that if it withdraws and disengages

itself from the hustle and bustle of the external world, it will get lost

in the darkness of ignorance. Hence, the mind must always gather

information and knowledge, it must try to know at least a few things

of the world, and experience their utility. When the mind fails in its

fundamental, essential function to know, then it starts feeling very

impotent, as if its very existence is under threat, and very soon it will

be ignored and obliterated and annihilated. All the time, there is great

demand and persistence to know things of the external world

throughout the life-span of a person. The moment the mind is

withdrawn from the external world, ignorance forces the mind to

know at least a few more things of the world. Ignorance is such a

subtle and strong fetter that it starts distracting and disturbing the

mind as soon as you sit-down for meditation.

Thus, the four important fetters are Ignorance, Delusion,

Attachment and Aversion. Because of these inherent fetters (that is,

Ignorance Delusion, Attachment and Aversion), the usual mental

tendency is to run towards the external world. The mind wants to

know and learn as to where the objects of material comforts are


280

found. Right from his birth, the child has acquired knowledge only

from the external world. That is why the mind develops the tendency

and attitude to rush towards the external world in search of the

objects of material comforts. The mind makes all the senses

completely out-going and extroverted in every aspect, to locate in the

external world the objects of material comforts. All this is nothing but

the fetter of Lust (Kama). There is another fetter, called „Doubt‟. As

long as a human being is engaged and enslaved to the external world

for the gratification of his selfish personal interests, his mind never

gets free from doubt and suspicion. All the time, his mind is pre-

occupied and busy in examining and assessing as to “What is that

object? Who is that person? Can that person injure my interests and

prove harmful?” The mind remains so completely suspicious and

doubtful all the time that it cannot look within itself (introspect) even

for a moment. The mind is facing this predicament because it is

doubtful and regards that its existence depends on its knowledge of

the external world. The mind feels that if it loses knowledge of the

external world, its very existence will be under threat. Actually, a

human being acquires his ego or self with the help and means of his

knowledge of the external world. This is called the fetters of Self-

pride. The meanings of the term „Self-pride‟ can be understood with

this example. Suppose, some person showered love and respect on

you and you too started treating that person as your father, friend or

brother, etc. The love and respect showered on you, gave you much

happiness and mental satisfaction, and this experience of happiness

and mental satisfaction gave birth to your unique and wonderful ego

as well as the feeling of self-recognition and self-pride. You start

recognising and acknowledging that your meeting with that particular


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person proved really enjoyable. Just possible, that the respect and

regard shown to your person (or ego), was just one-time behaviour of

the other person, and only for that particular time. And it is also not

essential that you will be given the same type of warm welcome

always and at every place. The self-recognition that the person

received at a particular place, gave birth to the fetter of Self-

recognition. And then this fetter started expecting and demanding

that as long as you are alive, you must always receive self-recognition

(so that your ego may remain happy and satisfied). When you do not

receive self-recognition, you feel upset and emotionally disturbed. All

this is called the fetter of Self-love and Self-recognition. As explained

in the above-given example, the one-time love and recognition led to

the birth of an ego which started expecting and demanding love and

recognition at every occasion and all the time. But it is not possible to

fulfill such a demand. And when such a demand of the ego is not

fulfilled, the person feels upset and disturbed. This is called the fetter

of Respect and Recognition (Maan) or the hunger of the ego for

privilege and prestige.

It is not sufficient to only read or hear about these fetters or

personal vices (Vikar) in order to understand them. For this purpose,

it is necessary to sit in isolation for a little time and let your mind

analyse and grasp the full meanings and implications of these fetters.

For example, your mind should fully know as to how much it gets

disturbed and pained when it is not shown respect and recognition.

Your mind should know that it is developing a negative attitude about

those persons who had failed to show you respect and recognition,

and that it is feeling angry and annoyed with those persons who

ignore you. In this manner, you should develop your inherent


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intelligence and intellect by understanding and openly announcing as

to how and why your mind developed a negative attitude and felt so

much disturbed and pained. Similarly, when your mind gets much

disturbed and pained when it is denied the material comforts of the

world, then you should make your mind aware and alert with these

words of warning : “Will these material comforts of the world last for

the whole of your life? In other words, for how long these material,

worldly comforts will exist? When these worldly comforts are not

going to last forever, the O mind ! Why are you hankering after them?

Your precious life is passing so quickly. How will you manage your

life when these worldly comforts are not available (on which your life

is depending)?” In this manner, heeding such words of warning and

grasping their intent, you should develop your spiritual awareness.

All this is called Introspection and Meditation. You have to develop

and realise spiritual awareness and insight by analysing your

thoughts with the help of introspection and meditation. Every human

being must cultivate the habit of introspection and meditation, in

order to recognise, comprehend and understand his inner spiritual

reality. Introspection, or self-analysis means to study your own mind,

or your own mental processes. In other words, a human being should

repeatedly and regularly, every day, make efforts to analyse and

understand as to “how these fetters entice and lead him on the path

of degeneration and self-destruction.” He should make serious and

persistent efforts to understand and experience within himself the

existence of this inner reality. If he is able to experience this inner

reality and his mind gets strongly convinced about the existence of

this inner reality, such conviction will surely liberate him from all his

fetters. During such a self-analysis, you should be careful about your


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sleeping habits. The mind fond of sleeping will suggest: “You have

spent 10-15 minutes in sitting erect in yogic posture. You have also

analysed your mental processes. Is there any need for further self-

analysis? It is better now to go to sleep.” All such arguments and

suggestions will be made by your mind for gratifying your weakness

for sleep. But you should activate and awaken the higher intellectual

faculties of your mind by withholding and postponing the gratification

of your need for sleep. Your mind should start experiencing: “It is

meaningless and wasteful to vigorously pursue the mundane goals of

the world. Rather, it will prove harmful. By pursuing the paths of

worldly fetters and by following the undesirable and evil ways of the

world, I will earn only a bad reputation. I should seriously consider

as to why I should make efforts to lead such an ignoble life.” In this

manner, if you are able to stabilise your mind in spiritual awareness,

then it will be considered as cultivation and realisation of spiritual

knowledge, which will later become the means of spiritual salvation.

But for the realisation of this spiritual knowledge, it is essential to

learn and practise „meditation‟. The word „meditation‟ means “to

mentally study in depth a definite, particular thought or a topic”. In

other words, “meditation involves complete withdrawal of the mind

from its engagements and involvements with the external world, and

instead to fully devote the mind in the study and analysis of a definite

thought and topic”. But you must become very capable in the

art/practice of meditation, whether through the devoted recitation of

the name of a God such as Hare Rama or Jai Shiva, or through the

repetition of a word such as Hari Om or through the repeated

invocations of a religious „mantra‟. When your mind becomes fully

alert and active after establishing control over your sleeping habits,


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and when your mind has fully grasped and understood the ill-effects

of the fetters, then your mind should focus on any thought or topic

for inducing and practising meditation, even though you have given

up the practice of loud repetitions and recitations of pious and

religious words and the name of a God of your chosen faith and

conviction.

All topics and thoughts of your meditation will automatically

lead you towards God, because meditation will unravel and expose all

the hidden evil-effects of fetters which are concealing the spiritual

bliss of God. Unless you understand and achieve the Divine

Knowledge and experience and enjoy the spiritual bliss of God, your

mind will always remain attracted towards the mundane comforts of

the external world. With the help of meditation, you may have

achieved the knowledge “that all the fetters ultimately lead to pain

and suffering”, yet your inherent and deep-rooted ignorance will not

let your mind sit peacefully, divorced and disengaged from the lures

of the external world. Under such circumstances, you should practise

your meditation with much more commitment by resisting your urge

to sleep and by tolerating all other inconveniences. You should

consider in your mind : “Human mind is always eager and anxious to

know in much more detail about certain mundane objects. When all

mental engagements and involvements of the mundane world always

end up in pain and suffering, then why should I think about these

mundane objects.” In the beginning, your inherent ignorance will

start disturbing and disrupting your meditation by reviving the deep-

rooted past impressions of the material comforts. Your inherent

ignorance will compel your mind to ruminate about these mundane

comforts by reviving their preserved past impressions and by


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stimulating your old positive attitudes about them. But when your

mind develops insight into their real worth through persistent and

regular practice of meditation, you will develop within you more

strength and resolve to achieve spiritual salvation and your mind will

start concentrating and consolidating within itself (to a greater

degree). Then you will realise that everywhere there is only spiritual

knowledge and nothing else, that spiritual knowledge is all-pervasive,

infinite, boundless and limitless, because now you have completely

wiped out of your mind all the inherent ignorance, which was leading

you on the path of self-destruction by engaging and entangling your

mind in the mundane external world. Just as a person witnesses the

waves rising one after the other in the ocean and no wave exists

permanently, exactly similar is the mental condition of the

practitioner of meditation. He continues witnessing the appearance

and disappearance of the waves of fetters, but he adopts the attitude

of a neutral observer. He continues sitting in the yogic posture,

passively witnessing his mental drama, without, any reaction and

patiently tolerating all the inconvenience, like that person who

passively tolerates the inconvenience caused by the irresistible urge

for scratching without actually indulging in scratching and gratifying

the urge. Ultimately, when a person achieves his set-goal, the

achievement of spiritual bliss and divine ecstasy, he feels that he has

achieved his cherished goal, for which he had struggled so hard

(tolerating all the inconveniences of meditation). You should

persistently practise meditation till your inherent intellectual faculty

is able to recognise and identify your fetters and also conclude that

they always end up in great sufferings. Your mind will achieve

concentration and consolidation within itself without any external aid


286

when it is able to recognise and control these fetters. The ancient

Indian philosophical literature refers to many different methods for

achieving concentration and consolidation of mind, such as by

chanting and reciting of „Mantras‟ (words or phrases for inducing

supernatural effects) or by consuming and eating of intoxicating

drugs, etc. But such concentration and consolidation of mind with

the assistance of these external means and methods cannot last

forever. And such concentration and consolidation of mind will also

not prove useful and helpful when it is most wanted. All these

external means and methods will not be able to face and resist the

powerful pull of mundane attractions and temptations when they

invade and over-power the mind. But the meditation which is

undertaken and practised without any external assistance to achieve

concentration and consolidation of mind, such meditation is natural

and spontaneous meditation. Once this natural and spontaneous

meditation is achieved, it cannot be disturbed and destroyed. Once

such spontaneous meditation gets established with practice, then you

will realise that other human beings too faced the same and similar

type of hurdles of worldly fetters and mundane temptations, which

earlier used to disturb and upset your meditation. Actually, the

power which affected and influenced the mind was none else but the

power of divine dynamism (Maya) of Almighty God. The only thing

needed for spontaneous meditation is just a little bit of persistent

austerity and continuous effort. Then you will automatically

understand the drama enacted by the divine dynamism.

To achieve perfection in meditation, you have to inculcate

enough inner resolve to oppose fetters and develop divine merits to

oppose moral weaknesses. Your will have to cultivate the feelings of


287

universal brotherhood and social fellowship for achieving common

welfare and mutual happiness. You must not feel jealous of others‟

prosperity and comforts. You should not harbor feelings of aversion

for any one. You should have sympathy and compassion when others

are suffering. You should appreciate others‟ merits and ignore others‟

demerits. In this manner, you should develop all the merits as

opposed to the demerits, that is, renunciation as opposed to desire

and lust, mercy as opposed to anger, contentment as opposed to

greed and forbearance as opposed to impatience during sufferings

and illness, etc. You must also be able to tolerate the hardships and

inconveniences which will arise during the cultivation and

implementation of these ethical qualities and moral merits. When in

trouble, you must not behave like a child. As long as an adult

behaves like a child, without care and caution, the adult is mentally

just like the child, even if he has become aged as per years. In this

manner, every human being should make maximum efforts for the

cultivation and development of ethical qualities and moral values.

You also need to develop your capacity for meditation by sitting in

isolation and keeping awake at night, so that you may become aware

of your inherent weaknesses and develop strength and courage to

overcome those weaknesses. In this connection, here is an

illustration :

Once there was an officer. He was allotted a big house for his

residence. This house also had a big open lawn which could easily

accommodate about 200-300 people. Once many people from other

places had gathered in that town in connection with some festival.

Some poor people with their families and small children had also

come from outside to celebrate and enjoy the festival. Because of the


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heavy rush of the crowd, these poor families could not find a proper

place to pass the night. Since night had fallen and these families

could not get a proper place to stay, they decided to pass the night in

the open lawn outside the officer‟s residence. The officer was in the

habit of leading a comfortable and peaceful quiet life and did not

allow anyone to disturb his sleep during the night. Because of the

noise of those families saying in the lawn outside the house, his sleep

got disturbed. The officer came out and noticed that the families were

also throwing garbage everywhere and making his lawn insanitary

and dirty. He told the families to vacate that lawn. Those poor

families with their helpless little children started vacating the lawn

and left that place. But failing to find another place to pass their

night, they again returned to the lawn. Again the officer ordered them

to vacate the place. He threatened that he would call in the police, if

they did not comply. In this tussle, 2-3 hours elapsed. The officer felt

enraged and his peace of mind was disturbed. He was fuming and

fretting because these families did not comply with his orders. Time

and again, he thought of calling in police. Just by chance, a saintly,

kind-hearted person was also staying nearby, who witnessed all this

drama. The saintly person felt pity on the officer‟s mental condition

and advised : “These families had come to enjoy the festival. They are

poor people, they could not get accommodation in the inn. Finding

this lawn unoccupied, they decided to camp here for the night.

Tomorrow, they will vacate the lawn. It is only under compulsion that

they had occupied the lawn. Hence donot feel emotionally disturbed.

Your fuming and fretting may not lead to some physical illness. Just

consider their helplessness and be kind to them. You have yourself

seen that these people did not revolt against your threats. They did


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not pelt stones on your house as a reaction to your threats. Even

now, they are not misbehaving and quarrelling with you. They have

no intention to disturb your sleep and peace of mind.” The saintly

person was personified compassion and kindness. He advised the

officer to be kind and considerate for those little children. He

suggested to the officer that if these families threw garbage and make

the lawn dirty and insanitary, that can be got cleared just by paying a

little money to the sweeper. He told the officer that by being kind and

considerate to these poor, needy and helpless families and little

children, the officer will perform a real pious and religious act. But

the mind of the officer was very excited and enraged. His ego was so

much hurt, as if his authority was under threat. He was fully aware

that he could easily get these families punished, because these

families had trespassed into his private premises. But the officer

started heeding and considering the advice and suggestions of the

saintly person. He decided to keep his peace. This would also project

the officer as a kind-hearted and noble person. Moreover, that saintly

person too would not carry a negative impression about the officer. In

this manner, the officer developed insight into his behaviour and

resumed his mental peace.

Mind always incites a person to react immediately in the

external world. In the just-quoted example, the officer felt that his

authority was challenged. His ego was hurt. His mind got excited and

agitated, as if engulfed in fire. Even his face reflected his mental

disturbance. This type of mental reaction is called “Bhava-Trishna”,

which means, “the uncontrollable and irresistible desire to react

emotionally in the external world.” In other words, “the irresistible

and insatiable worldly passion, repeatedly motivates and impels the


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person to somehow achieve some result in the mundane world. In the

given example, the irresistible and insatiable worldly passion was

motivating the officer to take some action against the trespassers.

The officer did react, got up and went outside. The irresistible worldly

passion suggested to the officer to approach the police. His mind had

started thinking as how to approach the police, and get the

trespassers punished. His mind had become revengeful. It is well-

known fact that irresistible desire and worldly passion always impel a

person to behave rashly and irrationally. Insatiable worldly passion

(Trishna) always force the human being to get attracted, engaged,

entangled, enticed, engrossed and engulfed in the mundane world.

Thus, the insatiable worldly passion for possessing material objects

and mundane comforts of the world, is given the title of “Bhava-

Trishna”. But a human being never feels fully satisfied and contented

even when all his insatiable worldly passions and mundane desires

are fulfilled. At that time, his mind is strongly impelled to indulge in

sleep-inducing drugs and other intoxicants, in order to achieve

forgetfulness and oblivion and seek shelter in „non-activity‟, or

„passivity‟ or „neutrality‟. Death, which comes at the end of hectic

engagements and involvement in the mundane world, is nothing but

a part of complete non-activity or complete passivity or complete

neutrality. Death can be described as “the irresistible desire for non-

activity and passivity.” In religious jargon, this irresistible desire for

death, is given the name „Vibhava-Trishna‟*. In order to get rid of

these two types of irresistible desires („Bhava Trishna‟ and „Vibhava

Trishna‟) the saintly person had suggested to the officer to somehow

* [In terms of Freudian psychology, the two terms, i.e. Eros (the instinct for life) and Thanatos (the

instinct for death) can be regarded as near-equivalents of the terms of ‘Bhava Trishna’ and ‘Vibhava

Trishna’ – Translator]


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tolerate the pain experienced by his injured ego and not to react.

Even though the officer decided not to react, his injured ego

continued to experience the loss of prestige. His mind remained pre-

occupied with such thoughts : “I am Class I officer, bestowed with so

much power and authority. I had told these trespassers three times

to vacate my lawn, but these people did not at all bother, and ignored

my orders. They stayed put in my lawn.” But his mind also

remembered the words of the saintly person : “Your ego is dependent

on the power and authority vested in your high office and status.

That power and authority is not recognised all the time and in every

situation. Now, you can see yourself. Your power and authority is not

effective even in the present situation. You have the power to call in

the police. After getting your place vacated, the police will depart. But

these people may again return and reoccupy this lawn, because they

will not find any proper place to pass their night. Remember, this is

festival time and there is a huge crowd everywhere. Under such

circumstances, who will dare to stop these poor families with small

children from spending the night at this available place? Decide

yourself. When a person decides to selfishly enjoy the material

comforts, which have been bestowed on the person by virtue of his

high office and authority, and he also starts exhibiting and flaunting

his super-ego, such a person should be regarded innocent and

immature, like a child. To call such a person mad, perhaps it will not

be proper, because this tendency is both natural and universal

among the whole mankind.” Even after the decision to keep quiet and

not to proceed against the trespassers. The fetter of prestige and

status continued disturbing the officer. In the same manner, he

continued feeling the fetter of attachment for his personal comfort. He


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continued experiencing the poisonous and destructive fetter of

aversion for the trespassers. He continued feeling that he could not

enjoy the comfort of sleep because of the noise of the trespassers. He

continued feeling the unnecessary botheration of calling in a sweeper

and the burden of the unwanted expenditure on getting his place

cleaned. The officer was forced to tolerate all these agonies and

anxieties with patience. He continued recalling the kind and

compassionate words of the saintly person: “It is just a small matter

of one night only. Tomorrow, the festival will be over and the

trespassers will vacate your lawn. Why not earn the blessings of God

by performing a kind and generous deed. So many families and small

children will benefit by comfortably spending the night in your vacant

lawn. The problem of garbage is a minor problem. It can be got

cleared by calling-in a sweeper tomorrow and paying him a little

money for cleaning and removing the garbage.” Thinking on these

lines, the officer took very little time to regain his mental peace. His

inner tension gradually dissipated and finally completely

disappeared. As soon as the tension was over, the officer at once

started feeling sleepy, and enjoyed a sleepful night. He got up early

next morning quite fresh. After getting up, he first of all called upon

that saintly person and thankfully said: “sir, your wise advice save

me last night. Otherwise, the trespassers would have disturbed me

the whole night. Now, I too realise that you have helped me to

perform a kind and generous deed as well. So many families and their

little children were benefited. At least, they could spend the night

comfortably.” All Hindu religious scriptures ordain that just as the

officer trusted the wise advice of that saintly person and started

tolerating all the mental agonies caused by his fetters and selfish


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fixations and finally realised both inner peace and happiness,

similarly, every human being should introspect and witness a similar

drama being enacted within his own mind and life. Every person has

within him an evil part, representing Ravana (the evil-minded king in

Ramayana), or Kansa, (a cruel character mentioned in Bhagwat

Purana). All these evil and cruel forces are present within every

human being, which are always disturbing and disrupting his

spiritual peace and mental equilibrium. All human beings should try

to settle down in the peaceful capital city of Ayodhya (the peaceful

city of Dashratha‟s kingdom) where Rama (the eldest son of king

Dashratha and the crown prince, who is regarded as God incarnate

by Hindus), was born*. This reference to the city of Ayodhya means

the place and the kingdom which propagated universal peace and

never declared war against other kingdoms. Just as the officer

avoided revengeful action (as shown in the given example) and

thereby, his incited mind gradually became tranquil and peaceful and

finally his anger against the trespassers completely vanished, in the

same manner, each fetter will vanish. Finally, your mind will get fully

concentrated and consolidated within itself, as you may have seen

Lord Shiva (one of the gods‟ of Hindu trinity) sitting in Samadhi

(posture of absorbed meditation). When your mind attains such

Samadhi, it is as good as enjoying the elixir (nectar) of internal bliss

or as if you have permanently migrated to the divine sphere of

internal spiritual bliss under the domain of Lord Vishnu (second god

of Hindu trinity). Once you attain this eternal spiritual bliss you will

at once realize that “the object of your quest was actually within you

* (This allegorical reference implies that all human beings should become pious and peace-loving,

bereft of all evil, selfish tendencies, leading a harmonious existence, accepting the fatherhood of

God and brotherhood of man – Translator)


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(your mind can gain the desired objective by withdrawing itself from

the mundane engagements and by concentrating and consolidating

within itself)”. But to achieve mental concentration, you must first

comprehend and give up your fetters and renounce your mundane

fixations. In other words, you must restrain your mind from rushing

outwards to acquire material objects which provide physical comforts,

(in the same manner as the officer of above-given example, restrained

and disciplined his mind from indulging in revengeful reaction

against the trespassers). You must control and restrain your mind

from blindly pursuing the rat-race for material comforts. Otherwise,

the agonizing fire of demerits (vices) will not let a human being

experience mental peace even for a moment and the human being will

continue to struggle under the burden of his demerits (vices), so

much burdened that he will develop many incurable diseases and

finally dies a painful death. Leading life in this manner, one day the

human being will realize that “the greed for mundane objects is fit

only for the immature mind of a child, but it is not desirable to have

an immature mind for the whole of life.” The main cause for the

sufferings of a human being is when his mind blindly indulges in the

rat-race for the material comforts. But how can anyone get this

awareness without personally experiencing spiritual awakening,

without making courageous and sincere efforts and without

renouncing his material comforts? That is why it is essential that a

human being has to make sincere efforts, personally, and open his

inner divine eye at the earliest. In order to open your inner divine eye,

you will have to renounce your love for sleep as well as you will have

to alert and awaken your mind with the help of the suggestions

already given. These suggestions were given by divine, enlightened


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godly persons, who had personally experienced the divine eternal

bliss, after fully controlling and subjugating all their instinctual urges

and natural tendencies, and who had shed all their fetters; in other

words, who were completely liberated from their worldly bonds or who

had achieved Spiritual Deliverance. These pious suggestions have

been passed on from one generation to the next generation, till the

present times. You too should recognise your fetters with the help of

these pious suggestions. You will have to renounce somehow your

worldly, material comforts. You should also learn to tolerate the pain

caused by renunciation. Living and practising such life-style of

renunciation, one day you will suddenly realise that all your

mundane, worldly worries and agonies have simply evaporated, and

that you have already started enjoying a unique spiritual bliss. You

will also realise that the imprints of the fetters, which were lying

dormant in your unconscious mind for ages and had become almost

indelible, these imprints have started fading. Gradually, with the

practice of renunciation, these embedded imprints will completely

fade out and disappear from the unconscious mind as if they never

existed. You will not be able to recognize or remember them.

The essence of today‟s discourse is that the mind remains

engaged and enticed to the outside world because of your (1) inherent

ignorance, (2) hunger for social status and prestige, (3) greed, (4)

attachment, (5) aversion, (6) suspicion and doubt, (7) lack of

consideration and sympathy (8) paucity of cogent conduct and

congenial attitude. There are two more very significant forces/factors

because of which the human mind remains entangled in the external

world that is, (9) attraction for various, different forms and figures,

and (10) obsession to possess those forms and figures. Thus, there


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are ten fetters which further give birth to their mental progenies,

such as desire, anger, lust and other emotional weaknesses, along

with jealously, depreciation, impatience and different types of fears,

etc. Whenever these emotional weaknesses raise their head, they

force the person to blindly follow their pre-determined path, as if the

person is pulled and pushed into that path. These emotional

weaknesses will not let the person exercise his intellectual faculties.

The only, and perhaps the best choice for the person is, to remain

cautious and watchfully recognise those powerful emotional waves

and then decide as to what could be the destination of those powerful

emotional waves. If you are able to recognise their destination, then it

can be said that you have located your hidden enemy. Just as you

have the ability to recognise and locate your emotional weaknesses,

similarly you must have the ability to know as to which fetters give

birth to these weaknesses. Still further, you must have the ability to

recognise as to what type of deep-seated and unfathomable inherent

ignorance gives birth to these fetters. With the help of introspection

and meditation, you must recognise and control this deep-seated

inherent ignorance, (in the same manner as that officer of the above-

quoted example could control his strong urge for revengeful action

against the trespassers, and overpower his fetters for status and

prestige). When you are able to control and reduce your ignorance

without getting perturbed and by adopting the attitude of a passive,

neutral observer, you will definitely achieve spiritual peace at the

end. You have to adopt this method for acquiring spiritual knowledge

and leading your life in this manner (that is, by adopting the attitude

of a passive, neutral observer).

This is the essence of this discourse.


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(27-12-1986)

Since the beginning of this week, the topic under discussion

has been an individual could experience his inner, peace and

spiritual happiness only after concentrating and consolidating his

mental energy within himself, which had got enticed and entangled in

the external, mundane world. As long as the mental energy is enticed

and entangled in the external, mundane would, the individual feels

hollow from within like an empty reed and does not experience any

inner peace and spiritual happiness within himself, even if he has

achieved great material wealth in his worldly life. What is the main

cause of this enticement and entanglement of the mental energy to

the external, mundane world? It is due to the fact that the individual,

right from his birth and childhood, developed the habit of gratifying

all his personal needs with the help of persons and products of the

external world. And thus, his mind remains enticed and entangled

with the persons and products of the external world and all his life-

energy gets dissipated and exhausted in his constant, material and

worldly pursuits and mundane engagements. The life-energy does not

get stored within the individual to the same extent as it is dissipated

and exhausted in his constant worldly pursuits. This life-energy can

get stored within the individual only when his mind gets free from his

worldly, external enticements and entanglements. Just as an

individual starts going to sleep and starts experiencing and enjoying

inner peace and happiness, as soon as he gets completely free from

his worldly pursuits and mundane engagements, in the same

manner, the individual can experience and enjoy his inner peace and


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happiness even in his wakeful and full conscious state by deliberately

and intentionally disengaging and disentangling his mind from the

external world. But it is very difficult for the individual to suddenly

disengage and disentangle himself from the external world and start

concentrating and consolidating his mind within himself, because the

fetters of attachment, aversion, lust, anger and his irresistible

habitual tendencies have acquired such a strong foothold in his mind

that the individual blindly follows the dictates of these fetters. In

other words, the mind of the individual gets conditioned to blindly

follow his habitual tendencies to such a great extent that he is forced

to get engaged and entangled in the mundane, external world even

against his own will. He gets so much absorbed and lost in the rat-

race of worldly possessions that he cannot even freely and

comfortably breathe and finally, he starts injuring and harming his

bodily organs and thereby starts losing his physical health. And his

mental peace and happiness.

All this was explained yesterday as well. Every individual must

develop the habit of introspection and meditation as a matter of daily

routine and with the help of introspection and meditation, he must

make serious and sincere efforts to learn the inner truth as well as

how to concentrate and consolidate his mental energy within himself,

which leads to the realisation of his inner spiritual bliss, just as an

individual seriously plans and then makes sincere efforts to make his

business successful in the external world. In other word, God, who is

all-pervading and present within every individual, reveals Himself in

the form of inner spiritual bliss. This inner spiritual bliss has been

given various different names such as Inner-Soul, Almighty God or

Brahman, etc. in the ancient philosophical and religious literature of


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Hinduism. Although this inner spiritual bliss is a factual tangible

reality, yet the individual does not ever feel the need to know it, nor

he ever seriously thinks about it. But you must now try to know in

depth as to what is this inner spiritual bliss, with the help of your

inner Divine Power (the Omnipotent God), both in its cognitive and

conative forms. In order to activate your inner Divine Power in its

cognitive and conative forms, you must first concentrate and

consolidate your mind within itself. Currently, your mind is fully

scattered outside in the external, material world. When your mind

gets concentrated and consolidated within itself, your inner Divine

Power will automatically get activated within your being. When the

inner Divine Power gets activated within your being, you will

automatically and definitely experience the spiritual bliss within your

own being. In this manner, every individual will himself start noticing

and understanding as to what this inner spiritual bliss is? And what

is the source of this inner spiritual bliss? When the individual himself

starts understanding as to what this inner spiritual bliss is or when

he starts realising that the insatiable worldly passions could provide

only minor, short-lived mundane comforts or when he concludes that

his full commitment to his worldly occupations, instead of providing

happiness, leads only to sufferings at the end, then mind of such a

person will automatically start withdrawing from the external,

material world, just as a person would never eat that food which is

injurious for his health, even if the food consists of milk and butter

etc. Unless the individual is aware of the end-result, his habit, (which

has been established right from his early childhood, and which has

become his irresistible, powerful second nature) will push the

individual towards the mundane comforts of the external world,


300

because he derived some comfort and happiness only from the

material worldly objects. In the absence of the mundane comforts, his

mind gets upset and irritated. To avoid this mental distress, the

individual continues seeking his mundane comforts in the external

world. His irresistible habits and compulsive personal nature will

push him towards the material world. This leads to the dissipation of

his inner divine energy. With the dissipation of the inner divine

energy, no one can keep enjoying his inner spiritual bliss. In other

words, the weakening of the power of his sense organs due to old-age

and the loss of physical strength, which had earlier helped the

individual to enjoy the mundane comforts, are bound to happen

ultimately.

Therefore, you must understand all these well-known realities

and mould your life accordingly. You will have to live in harmony and

peace with your social environs. For this purpose, you will have to be

extra careful and cautious in your social dealings and interactions

with other people. If you donot remain careful and cautious at the

proper time, in other words, if you fail in your social responsibilities

due to lack of brotherly and friendly feelings for others, your social

life will be badly affected. Even if other people are your own children

and friends, they will turn against you and become hostile, because

all of them liked and loved your sweet and affectionate dealings. And

when you fail to manifest your sweet and affectionate attitude, they

will not remain dutiful and respectful towards you. Nobody can guess

as to what they will think about you. Just possible, they may start

thinking and wishing : “It is better for the world if such an asocial

person ceases to exist in the world. One should never seek the

company of such an asocial person”. The Universal Divine


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Consciousness, which is all-pervading and uniformally present

throughout the sentient existence in a most organised, well-knit

manner, is called Almighty God. It is most essential to have

harmonious, affectionate and fraternal relationship with the world

created by Almighty God. A solitary, single being has no life. Life has

its meaning and value only when you cultivate and maintain healthy

and harmonious relations with other being in the universe. For

example, someone is called “son” in the world only when there is a

“father”. There cannot be a “father” without a “son”. Similarly, the

word “friend” pre-supposes that there is someone else also who is

playing the reciprocal and complimentary role of “friend”. Thus, the

most organised and well-knit universe of mutually dependent

relations represent the Almighty God. A single solitary being has no

significance or value without the “collective whole” (Gestalt), the

Almighty God. The single, solitary human being represents one spark

of divine life in the physical body and the total, full, divine whole is

Almighty God. All the human beings are attached to each other in an

organised, well-knit, mutually dependent world. This colossal, well-

organised, well-knit world personifies Almighty God.

Various spiritual authorities have described Almighty God in

their own manner, according to their personal convictions and

inclinations. For example, the famous saint Ramanuja has described

God as the Supreme Being. In other words, God is most unique,

Supreme Being and there is no one else like Him. He describes God

as a well-knit, fully integrated, one complete whole (Gestalt). In the

same manner, another great spiritual authority, Vallabha, says that

God is over-all Supreme Power, representing all the forces of the

universe put together in their supreme form. In other words, God


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constitutes the amalgam of all the powers of the universe. He is One

and the only one power and there is no one else like him. When two

persons come face to face, God manifests Himself for a transitory

moment, just like a flash, and the two persons react to each other

under the spell of the almighty, all-pervasive, omnipresent God. The

two persons react to each other suddenly, at the spur of the moment,

without any pre-consideration and pre-meditation. For example, at

that moment, suddenly, God makes one person to personify as “son”

and the other person, to personify as “father”. At another time, God

makes one person to appear as a friend, and someone else to appear

like an enemy. In a different situation, God makes one person look

like a benefactor, and someone else to look like a harmful, hostile

person. This sudden, short-lived comprehension is just like a ripple

suddenly born at that particular moment. In reality, it is momentary,

sudden, fleeting manifestation of the all-pervasive, omnipresent

Almighty God himself appearing in both the persons. But because of

the inherent, ingrained Ignorance, having a strong foot hold in the

person, he starts treating all these reactions as generating from his

own person, from his ego or “I”. This ego or “I” is ever present in the

person. The human being is mainly entangled by the fetters of his ego

or “I”. When he gets liberated from these fetters of ego or “I”, only

then he will experience the all-pervasive, omnipresent Almighty God

everywhere. Even in the holy scripture Gita, God declares that He

manifests Himself most gloriously in a sudden fleeting moment and

thereby makes the human being behave and react as per His own

will. But human beings entertain false illusions that it was their own

ego or “I” which initiated their actions and reactions towards each

other. They are very ignorant as to what force compelled the human


303

beings to behave in that particular manner at that particular

moment. Actually, it was nothing but the momentary manifestation of

Almighty God at that particular moment in that particular situation.

This fact can be explained with another example. Two friends came

face to face. Friend A had come from one direction and friend B had

come from the opposite direction. Both were pre-occupied with their

own thoughts. The face of friend A was reflecting some feelings. On

noticing those feelings, friend B was tickled to make some jocular

comments. But friend A did not like the jocular comments and got

irritated. You can yourself decide that friend B had not pre-planned

to make jocular comments about the facial expression of his friend A.

There was nothing pre-meditated or intentional. It was only the facial

expression which inspired to pass jocular comments. Friend B had

not pre-planned his jocular comments. But friend A also had not pre-

planned his negative reaction of irritation. As a matter of fact, he had

no prior intention or desire to get irritated. All this happened

automatically, unintentionally. There is only one possible answer for

such a behaviour, that it was Almighty God, abiding in every human

being in the form of Divine Consciousness, who can generate any

emotion, followed by an equally unpredictable reaction, when two

persons confront each other, even if just by chance. Normally, it is

not possible to predict exactly as to how a person will act and react in

a certain situation. The person may sometimes get irritated or he may

start passing jocular comments. He may sometimes react verbally in

unexpected language. In other words, a person will react according to

his inner impulsion or his inner perception of the situation. Nobody

intentionally plans his inner impulsion, nor reacts in the same

manner every time. It is Almighty God, residing within every human


304

being, who controls and manipulates human actions and reactions.

You must always be alert towards this inner Spiritual force or

Almighty God. You must fully recognise and respect Him throughout

your life. This fact can also be explained through another example. A

father was coming at a distance and he was carrying in his hands

fruits, sweets, and toys for his child. When the child saw the objects

of his liking, which the father was bringing for him, the child started

experiencing emotional excitement. The child started running

towards his father. Can a child intentionally plan all such reactions

in advance? Can a child pre-plan such an ecstatic happiness in

advance? Had that child planned in advance as to how he would rush

and dash towards his father? Did the child know as to how his

physical body functioned? As a matter of fact, all the visible

emotional expressions of happiness on the face of the child, strongly

indicate that there is some inherent, internal, invisible Spiritual

Power which first generates some latent emotional stimulation and

then expresses the same openly in external, visible behaviour. This

external, visible expression of the internal, latent emotion has been

called in Gita as the manifested form (Vyakta) of the Divine Spirit

(Soul), in the visible, tangible form. Bhagwan Krishna has repeatedly

ordained and ordered Arjuna throughout Gita : “O Arjuan ! You must

devoutly worship the Divine Spirit, which is present everywhere and

in everything of the universe in the manifested, visible, tangible form.

You must acknowledge my presence everywhere and in everything,

whatever you are observing with your own open physical eyes. Only

then you will achieve spiritual salvation and eternal emancipation

(Moksha) from the fetters.” It is true that spiritual salvation is

possible only when the individual recognises and identifies all his


305

fetters with the help of meditation and introspection. This fact was

high-lighted yesterday also that you must recognise and identify all

your fetters (such as Attachment, Aversion, Pride, Lust, Ignorance,

etc.) with the help of meditation and introspection and then

completely ignore their existence, just as the individual overcomes

the urge to scratch by simply ignoring the urge and patiently

tolerating the inconvenience caused by ignoring the urge. But there is

still another problem. Let us suppose that you have achieved mental

peace after getting rid of your fetters through meditation. But you are

living in the company of other human beings. If your social dealings

get negatively affected because of your bad behaviour with other

fellow beings, and somehow you fail in your social obligations, then

you will not be able to properly meditate. Nor will you be able to

reduce your complaints about the negative reaction of your fellow

beings. Your behaviour will be adversely affected when you hold your

fellow beings responsible for their reactionary behaviour. You will not

be able to recognise that all-pervading Divine Spirit (God), who

twinkles like a flash and forces all living beings to automatically

follow His commands. By controlling the physical body and the

senses, He forces the living beings to behave in completely

unpredictable manner. Thus, when you start accepting and admitting

the presence of the omnipresent, omnipotent Divine Spirit (God)

within every living being, then your mind will not identify anyone as

“you” and “me”. The Divine Spirit (God) propels all living beings in an

unpredictable manner, thereby producing unexpected emotional

reactions. But if you have full faith in your strong, undwindling

conviction that it is Divine Spirit which is operating and

administering the whole universe through the medium of living


306

beings and there is no evil or hostile force stimulating their adverse

behaviour, then, in such a situation, you will never give up your

gentle and forgiving attitude and you will always diligently pursue

your social obligations. Then everything in the external world will

become a blessing in disguise and you will never feel upset and

disturbed during your meditation.

First of all, you have to give up your own ego or “I”. Only

afterwards, other people will start giving up their ego. To achieve this,

you must understand and realise within your own self that the mind,

which is changing every moment, goes on exhibiting a new and

unexpected ego every moment. When you were a child, your ego was

limited to that stage. Your ego knew only this much that you were the

most favoured one in the family, that you were the source of playful

entertainment for every family-member, that you were the object of

devoted attention for all. Although you were growing, your childhood-

ego sometimes continued persisting. But senior family-members

would point out and forewarn : “Dear child, it is now time to go to

school. Your time to play and enjoy all the time is now over.” But

when you ignored the advice, you were punished. Then you realised

that your persistent childhood-ego brought punishment and you

must give-up the demands of your childhood-ego. Thus, gradually

you were forced to give-up your childhood-ego. And as you passed

through the various developmental stages of life, you also developed

an ego, relevant to those developmental stages, such as the

adolescent ego, the adulthood ego, the old-age ego. All these egos

developed during the various stages and phases of life-span,

gradually replacing and substituting each other throughout the

individual‟s life. Thus, by the end of your life-span, the various types


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of ego, fully and completely disappear. Just as the various types of

ego are generated during long periods of the various developmental

stages of life, in the same manner, they go on dissolving and

disappearing, in the same order. Right from the birth of the child,

every day and every moment, the ego never remains the same type.

The Divine Spirit, which is eternal, omnipresent and all-pervasive,

goes on altering the human ego every moment, and similarly all the

knowledge, accumulated during the developmental stage, goes on

altering. Similarly, the knowledge related to his body, senses, mind

and intellect, goes on altering. You have to awaken this fact in your

mind with the help of meditation that you must surrender your ego at

the feet of God, because this ego also has been generated by God.

However your ego directs you to behave in your social dealings in the

outside world, you should very judiciously follow its directions. But

your must also essentially, sincerely and devoutly inculcate, observe

and practise the sacred and divine qualities of dispassion and

contentment etc. You should also prepare yourself to practise

austerity and bear the pain of renunciation. Without indulging in any

improper behaviour, you must sincerely practise and uphold noble

and right conduct under all circumstances in your worldly relations.

When you sincerely observe all the afore-said sacred qualities in

your social dealings, your mind will gradually become introverted and

withdraw from the external world. You will easily recognise that one

and the same stream of Divine Consciousness is universally flowing

everywhere. This stream of Divine Consciousness is flowing within

you as well as within all other living beings. Divine Consciousness, is

constantly present inside all living beings without any alteration,

although it is manifesting and adjusting itself every moment under


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the spell of the ever-altering divine dynamism. When two living beings

come face to face, it is not known as to what fleeting glimpse of

Almighty God they will observe in each other‟s face. Almighty God

starts operating his divine dynamism according to His pre-

determined plan. Hence there is unexpected facial expression and

unpredictable emotional manifestation in the physical body as well as

in the sense organs according to the divine dynamism. Actually, there

is no such personal element as “you” and “me”, which motivates

behaviour. In reality, it is Almighty God who manifests Himself in

that sudden, fleeting, momentary glimpse and controls and guides

human actions and interactions. This fact has already been

mentioned in the example of the two Friends, how Friend B felt like

laughing on seeing the typical facial expression of Friend A. Friend B

had not pre-planned to laugh on seeing the facial expression of

Friend A. In other words, there was something typical in the facial

expression at that particular moment on the face of Friend A which

stimulated laughter in Friend B. The reality is that the facial

expression which the Divine Spirit generated suddenly in Friend A, is

not under the voluntary control of any living being. Therefore “you”

and “me” cannot be held responsible for the specific behaviour of that

particular moment.

When explained in simple words, it can be said that there is

only one Divine Force (God) which manages and controls and

administers this whole universe. This Divine Force (God) manifests

itself in strange modes, and in unexpected places, adopting unusual

forms. This Divine Force (God) is manipulating living beings like

puppets, through its divine dynamism. If you completely surrender

yourself and start depending on the Divine Force (God), which is


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causing and controlling all the movements in the universe, you will

get liberated from the clutches of divine dynamism. In this regard, the

religious scripture, Gita, has warned mankind repeatedly in these

words : “O Arjuna ! It is very difficult to grasp and understand the

functioning of divine dynamism. This divine dynamism is dependent

on and controlled by Divine Consciousness or Almighty God. If you

start depending on me, if you submit and surrender yourself

completely to me, in other words, if you witness my presence in

everything of this universe or if you develop unflinching faith in my

all-pervasive and omni-potent Divine Power, then it will not be that

much difficult to grasp and understand my power of divine

dynamism.” Therefore, whenever you suffer from the mental agony

caused by your fetters and your personal vices, your mind should

tolerate that agony in the same way as that particular individual was

able to subjugate his urge for scratching by tolerating the

inconvenience caused by the urge without actually indulging in the

act of scratching. Just as the urge to scratch is only a mental

compulsion, in the same way all the fetters (such as Attachment,

Aversion, Prestige and Greed, etc) are mental compulsions. You

should first recognise your fetters and then develop the capacity to

tolerate the inconvenience and agony, caused by their deprivation

and non-gratification. Unless you first recognise these fetters, you

cannot develop your capacity to tolerate the inconvenience and agony

caused by their deprivation and non-gratification. Therefore, you

must make your mind fully conscious and aware of all these fetters.

You must also awaken your discriminating intellectual powers. You

should sit in solitude for some time, and also somewhat control your

urge to sleep. Through introspection and meditation, you should


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recognise all your mental compulsions and fetters and recognise

them with the same names as have been recognised in the religious

scriptures since times immemorial and also identified and

acknowledged by all great religious seers, scholars and dedicated

devotees. All great spiritual seers, religious scholars and dedicated

devotees have been discussing and analysing these fetters in their

discourses and sermons and you have been listening to them in

spiritual, religious gatherings. All these saints and seers have been

highlighting these inner compulsions as well as these inner fetters,

after experiencing them with the help of introspection and

meditation. They were able to turn their minds inwards by practising

meditation. Following the same techniques, unless you too recognise

all these inner compulsions as well as the inner fetters through the

practice of introspection and meditation, your mind will be forced to

get entangled in and enslaved by the external, mundane world,

because divine dynamism (Maya) will not let your mind sit in peace

and tranquility. Nobody in this world can remain neutral, sit like a

stone, without any action and reaction. Your mind will always

stimulate and activate the stored, latent impressions about persons

and products of the external world, and will continue ruminating

about the mundane world. In other words, your mind will pursue all

the activities of the external, material world. Instead your mind

should recall and remember all the sermons and speeches of the

great religious saints. You should meditate about these sermons and

comprehend the inner spiritual truths as well as implement and

practise all these religious directions and injunctions most sincerely.

Only then your mind will become fully conscious about the inner

spiritual world and then you will automatically start withdrawing


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from the external, mundane world. Your mind can adopt and

concentrate on only one path: either the path of external, mundane

world or the path of inner, spiritual world. Your mind can sincerely

pursue only one path out of these two paths. When once your mind

withdraws from pursuing the external, mundane world, then all its

energy, which was earlier getting dissipated and exhausted in the

pursuits of the external mundane world, will get fully concentrated

and consolidated in the pursuit of the inner spiritual world. Your

extroverted mental outlook will automatically get introverted. Then

you will definitely realise and experience the inner spiritual bliss

which is ever-lasting and eternal. This inner, spiritual bliss is not

dependent on any external worldly persons or products. That is why

it is called inner and spiritual. Once you realize this inner, spiritual

bliss, then take it for granted that you have found the master-key to

open the gates of eternal spiritual salvation. But to posses this

master-key, the one most essential condition is to withdraw

completely from the external, mundane world. Unless your mind

withdraws from the pursuits of the external, mundane world, your

spiritual energy cannot get liberated from its enslavement of the

external, mundane world. And when the mental energy remains

enslaved and entangled in the external, mundane world, it will

generate only worldly sorrows and sufferings.

If you want to liberate your mind, you must turn your mind

inwards and withdraw from the external world as explained earlier.

You must recognise your inner, spiritual truths and you must inspire

your mind thus : “O mind ! Be alert. If you will not persistently follow

your inner, spiritual truths, there is no other method for your

spiritual well-being and your ultimate divine welfare. Your well-being


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lies only in following your inner, spiritual truths. Further, there is a

definite time to practise concentration and consolidation of your

mental energy, which is scattered and dissipated in the external

world. If you once miss that particular time, then it will become really

difficult to concentrate and consolidate your mental energy within

itself. During this stage, you must also take care of your irresistible

urge for sleep, because when your mind disengages itself from the

external world, the urge to indulge in sleep gets activated as well as

you start feeling lethargic and lazy. At that time, the mind does not

want to think anything else except sleep. Except sleep, all other

things appear insignificant, so much so that any external sound

appears most jarring. If there is anything else in the external world

demanding your immediate attention, your mind will completely

ignore that thing as well. Under such circumstances, you should

control and restrain your mind and try to engage it in meditation.

This does not mean that you donot have to sleep at all. You must

sleep. But your must not be over-ruled by sleep. Sleep must not over-

power you whenever you want to practise meditation. Usually human

mind starts ruminating about the sleeping hour, or starts waiting for

the appointed hour of sleeping, or it starts awaiting as to when the

meditation will be over and you will be able to go to bed. As long as

your mind remains pre-occupied with sleep, it cannot engage itself in

meditation, because then your mind will start avoiding the very

thought of meditation. Your mind will not happily accept any

suggestion to organise a schedule for meditation. If you are able to

awaken and alert your mind with the help of spiritual thoughts and

develop the habit to control your sleep pattern, then you will realise

and understand as to how the fetters and personal vices were


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harming your inner peace and spiritual happiness. When you will

start examining closely your life in this manner, then take it for

granted that you have started pursuing the path of self-examination

and self-discovery.

In this manner if your mind starts experiencing the inner truths

and concentrating itself on those inner truths, then your mind will

start withdrawing from the external, mundane world and your mental

energy will start concentrating within itself, instead of getting wasted

and dissipated in the external, mundane world. You will start

continuously experiencing spiritual bliss, even if you sit in solitude

for hours together. When a person is able to achieve this mental

state, it amounts to living life within himself, without any external,

mundane material dependence. This type of life is called „spiritual

life‟. But the divine bliss of the spiritual life is experienced only

during the practice of meditation or when you completely dedicate

yourself to the service of the manifested God revealed in the form of

external world. To achieve this objective, you have to inculcate in

yourself dedicated service for the manifested God in the form of

universal existence. You must start recognising everywhere the

presence of Almighty God, revealed in the form of divine bliss which

you experienced within yourself during meditation. You must start

accepting that all the universal, manifested drama of existence is

nothing but God‟s own revelation, and whatever happens in the

external world, is somehow ordained by Almighty God. To exemplify

this fact, suppose you were passing through a festival crowd.

Unknowingly, and unintentionally, somebody stepped on your foot

and crushed your foot, thereby causing lot of pain. Because of the

pain, you at once got angry and pushed away that person so


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forcefully that he fell down. He immediately started apologizing: “I am

sorry. Please excuse me. I had no intention to hurt you. Because of

the rush of the festival crowd, I stepped on your foot just by chance,

and hurt you without any intention.” Inspite of the apologies, you

slapped that person as well as insulted him by hurling abuses on him

because of your anger. All that happened so suddenly. Neither you,

nor that person had pre-planned anything. Now look at this complete

occurrence from the spiritual angle. Had you been a bit calm, cool

and spiritually-inclined and analysed the course of events by

remaining tranquil and maintaining your mental balance, you would

have at once realised : “Whatever happened at that moment, it was

just the conspiracy of the circumstances. I rashly concluded that the

foolish person crushed my foot out of utter carelessness. Because of

the pain, I called him “idiot”. Had I tolerated the pain and used my

better sense, had I not reacted like other common insects and

animals, and instead kept my mental balance, then I would have

realised the truth that nobody was responsible for creating that

situation. There was nothing pre-meditated or pre-planned by

anybody. It was only the result of that specific situation, that is, the

festival crowd. Because of the festival crowd, the other person had

un-intentionally and unknowingly stepped on my foot which caused

the pain. Andy my reaction was nothing but the momentary flash of

Almighty God expressed in the form of spiritual consciousness and

my awareness of sudden pain and my reaction to the unexpected,

unwanted pain. There was no agent as „you‟ and „me‟ which created

that situation. I had unnecessarily called that person an idiot and

pushed him away so strongly that he even fell down. Even though he

had apologized for unknowingly stepping on my foot, still I abused


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and slapped him out of anger. Had I calmly and intelligently analysed

the situation, like an objective and neutral observer without getting

emotionally involved, and checked myself from indulging in the

negative and hostile behaviour, only then my dedication and devotion

to Almighty God (who manifested Himself in the form of external

world), would have been upright and perfect. Actually, whatever

understanding human beings have for mutual dealings and

interpersonal relation, it is nothing but momentary revelation of

Almighty God and Divine Consciousness, which generated the

concept of “you” and “me” with the help of divine dynamism (Maya). A

human being foolishly declares himself as the master of his actions,

and continuously and persistently, holds his personal ego responsible

for all his actions and reactions. Because of the persistent ignorance

of his ego, the human being never gets liberated and thereby remains

bereft of the spiritual bliss. His mental and spiritual energy which

was scattered and entangled in the external, material world, never

gets concentrated and consolidated within him, and he remains

deprived of achieving and attaining his ultimate spiritual destination.

Therefore as long as his devotion and dedication to Almighty God,

who manifested Himself through his worldly creations is not upright

and perfect, his mind will remain ignorant and under the influence of

the divine dynamism (Maya). The individual will continue wasting his

precious life in useless pursuits of the external, material world. He

will not be able to generate and accumulate spiritual energy through

the practice of meditation. What to talk of actual, practical

indulgence in evil acts in the external world, even the very thought of

such evil acts will disturb and distract his mind during the practice of

meditation. That is why it is essential to remain committed, devoted


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and dedicated to the manifested creations of God in the form of the

external world. When the mind is pure, and there is no ill-will and

aversion against anything and anyone in the external world, then the

mind will see and experience everywhere Almighty God manifested in

the external visible universe.

After recognising the fact that it is one and the same Almighty

God revealing Himself in the manifested form everywhere, in

everything and in every being, you should discipline your social

behaviour to such an extent that you never indulge in any type of

misbehavior in your social dealings in the external world.

Misbehavior and social blunders are committed under two conditions

: (1) When the worldly comforts and material possessions are

withdrawn, and (2) When physical pain and suffering are inflicted.

That is why you should practise to keep your mental balance and

accept both the conditions with equipoise, without any emotional

reaction. An individual does tolerate the pain and suffering caused by

cuts, burns and other diseases etc. Then anguish and suffering

inflicted by the disrespect and disregard meted out by other people,

should also be tolerated in the same manner with the same emotional

equipoise and peaceful mental attitude. You should cultivate a

positive social attitude. You should always mind your social dealings

and go on enhancing your strength for social tolerance and mutual

acceptance. Finally, your disciplined mind, after the realisation of

Divine Knowledge, will get so much motivated and inspired from

within that you will forcefully declare : “There is one and only one

Almighty God, manifested everywhere in everything and in every

living being, in the whole of the universe”. Then you will witness with

your open eyes and experience the presence of the all-pervading


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omnipresent Spiritual Consciousness (God) [in the manifested form],

everywhere. There is no confusion in this regard. It is a fact that God

reveals Himself in the manifested form everywhere and in everything

in the whole universe. Thus, when God is omnipresent and can be

seen everywhere in the manifested form, then why should you fail to

experience and accept this self-evident reality. With the experience

and acceptance of this self-evident reality, all the fetters will

automatically dissolve and disappear non-existence. Other fetters,

such as (delusion, pride and greed), will lose their existence. Under

such circumstances, the vital mental and spiritual energy, (which

was earlier scattered, engaged and entangled in the external,

mundane world at once starts getting concentrated and consolidated

within the mind. You do not experience that much comfort and joy

during the sleeping state, as you will experience and enjoy during the

waking and conscious state, when your mental and spiritual energy

is concentrated and consolidated within the mind.

All these things have been discussed and explained in the

ancient religious scriptures and all these things constitute the Divine

Goal to be achieved. In order to achieve and realise this Divine Goal,

it is most essential to persistently pursue the golden path of

“Religion”. What is “Religion”? The word religion means “to adopt”.

Certain things are adopted as a matter of habit without any effort,

automatically. But certain things are adopted with great, conscious

effort, knowingly and willfully. Religion is not adopted as a matter of

habit. For adopting a religion, a person has to strictly and with effort

follow the principles and practices of that religion. A child learns

many things automatically, without making any conscious effort, just

by observing the persons and products in his social environments,


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because he has lived all his life in their company. This is called

external life or life controlled by outside, external forces. There is

another way of life, that is, when the individual withdraws his mind

from the external, outside world, and through introspection and

meditation, studies his inner, spiritual life. This is called spiritual life

or life controlled by inner spiritual forces. Spiritual life means to live

life according to the divine, spiritual forces (which are not visible). In

order to experience spiritual life, you have to make conscious efforts,

even though as yet you donot know as to what constitutes spiritual

life. But you are definitely aware that spiritual life means to realise

the Divine Power which controls the universe, and which directs

human beings to experience His divine bliss by withdrawing from the

engagements and entanglements of the external, mundane world.

This inner divine bliss is definitely a reality and it is human duty and

responsibility to realise and experience it. To adopt this path of

spiritual life is called Religious Life. Religious Life also means to avoid

all evil tendencies and to pursue all pious and sacred tendencies.

Pious and sacred tendencies include the pursuit and practice of

Dispassion, Forgiveness, Politeness, Contentedness, Tolerance, and

all other religious practices such as Austerity, Renunciation, etc. All

these pious qualities are found in saints and seers. Juxtaposed to the

pious tendencies are the evil tendencies, which are represented by all

the fetters such as Attachment, Aversion, Pride, Greed, etc. and all

other compulsive temptations and instinctual tendencies, such as

Lust, Anger, Jealously, etc. While pursuing and practising the

religious way of life, you must also keep in your mind Almighty God

who is represented by all the pious qualities and who is all-pervasive

and omnipresent, even though He is imperceptible and invisible. But


319

your must keep your mind focused on Him all the time. Then you will

lead your life in the right direction. Just as Almighty God is a

veritable reality, similarly the religious way of life is also a veritable

reality. You should also cultivate respectful regards and full faith in

all those religious saints and seers who have devoutly and

dedicatedly practised and lived the religious way of life, whether they

lived in the past, or are alive at present, or are likely to be born in the

future times. You should treat all of them as part and parcel of the

religious, divine brotherhood; then you will not regard yourself as the

only, lonely devotee, pursuing the path of religious life. Otherwise, the

human mind, which is saturated with lust and prone to all types of

temptations or which is fully engaged and entangled in the external,

mundane world, will feel very lonely and lost as soon as it withdraws

from the material world. It will feel much bored and neglected. In

other words, inherent ignorance will pester your mind and your mind

will switch back to the entanglements of the external world. Without

feeling lonely and solitary, you should keep your mental peace all the

time during the pursuit of spiritual and religious life. Thus you

should have faith in the religious fraternity. The pursuit of spiritual

and religious life is the golden path for God realisation and when you

realise Almighty God, you will automatically achieve divine bliss and

eternal spiritual peace and enter His Divine Abode and get Spiritual

Salvation.

The essence of this spiritual discourse is: A human being will

achieve the eternal spiritual peace and divine bliss by concentrating

and consolidating all his mental and spiritual energy within himself,

which is currently enticed and entangled in the external, mundane

world. You should use your mental and spiritual energy to


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understand and comprehend your inner, spiritual truths, and you

must not waste this energy in acquiring knowledge about the

external material world. Your mental and spiritual energy

automatically gets concentrated and consolidated within your mind

when you try to discover and realise your inner, spiritual truths. It is

very essential to enrich and increase your power of insightful

intellectual and analytical abilities to probe and examine your inner,

spiritual truths. When you are able to cultivate and develop your

intellectual abilities with the help of introspection and meditation

(concentrated thinking), then your mind will automatically grasp the

meaninglessness or the insignificance of the external, mundane

world, where your mind unnecessarily got enticed and entangled. It

will automatically start withdrawing from the external mundane

world. Through sincere efforts, your mind should visualise the

insignificance and vain-glory of the material, worldly comforts, to

such an extent that your mind should conclude that there is no use

in wasting the mental and spiritual energy in the pursuit of mundane

activities. When your mind becomes active through introspection and

meditation to explore your inner, spiritual truths, then it will also

experience the inner divine bliss. First, the mind will become aware of

the fetters such as Attachment and Aversion, etc. which incline the

mind towards the external mundane world. It has already been

explained that your mind should start tolerating the pain and

suffering caused by discarding these all types of worldly fetters, in the

same manner as depicted in the illustration about the urge for

scratching. Your mind must not seek refuge in the external world by

getting enslaved to these forceful and irresistible fetters. When your

mind completely ignores these fetters, they will start disappearing


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and dissolving in due course of time. When these spiritual fetters will

disappear and dissolve, then automatically you will experience

internal divine bliss. This internal divine bliss will generate in you

strong conviction and faith: “The external, mundane comforts are no

match for the internal divine bliss. Further the internal divine bliss is

eternal and everlasting. It is essential to experience and enrich this

internal divine bliss. You should develop your devotion to Almighty

God who has manifested Himself in the external world. Your social

behaviour should always be perfect and upright. Your eyes must

witness, everywhere and in everything, the all-pervading and

omnipresent Almighty God in His manifested form in the external

world, so much so that you donot experience and witness anything

other than the Almighty God. To achieve this state, you will have to

tolerate the hardships faced during the practice of meditation. You

will also have to renounce your habitual worldly comforts. When you

will cultivate this type of devotion, then it is but natural that you will

achieve your ultimate goal, your Spiritual Salvation before your

death. Suppose you fail to achieve Spiritual Salvation by the end of

your present life, then by vigorously following the spiritual or

religious path, you will get all types of spiritual facilities to achieve

salvation in your next birth.



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(28-12-1986)

Throughout the last week, the main topic under discussion was

„spiritual peace‟. What is spiritual peace? What is the main method of

realising, spiritual peace? In other words, your mental and spiritual

energy is engaged and entangled outside in the external mundane

world. Which is the best and most effective method of concentrating

and consolidating your mental and spiritual energy within your mind,

which leads to the realisation of spiritual peace and divine bliss? The

best and most effective method is to detach and liberate your mind

from all its attachments and entanglements of the external, material

world. In other words, you should concentrate and consolidate your

mental and spiritual energy within the mind, which is at present

scattered in the mundane, external world. In this manner, as your

mind gets detached and liberated from the mundane external world,

your mental and spiritual energy will start concentrating and

consolidating within your mind, and the vital life-energy will also get

liberated along with your mental and spiritual energy. This will

provide you such a unique spiritual happiness that an individual

does not regard any other material happiness equivalent to the

spiritual happiness. It is true that a person does get some sort of

happiness from the worldly products and persons, but it is not

everlasting. The material happiness is definitely going to desert the

person, some time or the other. Furthermore, there are many other

unwanted harms because of the ties with the worldly products and

persons, such as diseases, disabilities, and disturbances, etc.

Moreover, worldly ties always undergo a big change with passage of


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time. Both love and attachment lose their intensity, and at times,

completely disappear. That is why it is important that you should

experience your inner, divine bliss, without depending on any

external, material factors. Every person must try to discover his

inner, spiritual reality, because without discovering this inner

spiritual reality, nobody can get emancipation from the external

mundane world. Your mind may be strongly attached to something,

because externally that thing appears very attractive and sweet-

looking. But once your mind discovers the poison hidden in that

thing, then that poison will overshadow all its attraction and

sweetness and your attraction and attachment for that thing will at

once evaporate. Unless your mind becomes aware of the hidden

poison, your attachment and attraction for that thing will continue

persisting.

In order to discover and know the inner, divine reality, it is

suggested that you should adopt the method of meditation.

Meditation implies that you should utilise your intellectual faculty or

mental power to grasp and understand your inner, divine reality,

which you are employing to grasp and understand the external

mundane world. Actually, there is only one Supreme Divine Power,

which is employed in grasping and understanding the inner, divine

reality as well as the external mundane world. Once this Faculty or

Power starts recognising the inner, spiritual realities, then the

individual will develop his attitudes and his emotions according to his

inner, spiritual realities and will pursue his life-activities accordingly.

For example, you have understood through meditation that a

particular tasteful food is not suitable for you and by eating that food,

you will suffer so seriously that you will apprehend as if death is


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approaching. The fear of the impending death will force you to avoid

that food to such an extent that you will never like to eat that food

again. But unless you become aware of the suffering hidden in the

eating of that food, and unless you resolutely decide to renounce that

food, your mind will continue getting tempted. In this very manner,

the human mind is continuously getting entangled in the external

mundane world and its material objects. You will have to make all

your efforts to free your mind from the external world. Thus, all

human actions and reactions are interplay of your emotional

involvements. If your mind once recognises and realises that the

inner, divine bliss is possible only by giving up the material comforts,

then your mind will make strong and sincere efforts to achieve

emancipation from the worldly, material comforts. As soon as the

worldly material comforts lose their strong pull and attraction, it can

be concluded that your mind has withdrawn from the material,

worldly comforts.

Now, let us understand human nature or the force of

compulsive habits, which we have cultivated and acquired since long,

and which is time and again pushing and thrusting us forcefully to

get entangled in the material comforts of the external world. It is

essential for the person to specially spare some time to sit in some

solitary place to practise meditation. He should also develop the habit

to tolerate some stresses and strains of day-to-day life. Without these

steps, it is not possible to eradicate and dissipate the force of his

compulsive habits. It has been already and repeatedly mentioned that

when a person for the first time tries to quit and give-up even a very

minor habit, it disturbs him and for some days, the mind becomes

listless and depressed, so much so that it becomes very irritated and


325

short-tempered for some days and the person does not behave

properly and normally with others around him. Whatever the habit

may be, it is cultivated and acquired slowly and gradually and it will

be eradicated slowly and gradually, in the same manner. On the first

day, you will tolerate a little of the pain caused by renouncing that

habit. On the second day, you will develop a bit more toleration. On

the third day, you will have much more toleration. And thus, slowly

and gradually, that habit will completely disappear and cease to exist.

But your must also keep in your mind that only that toleration will be

regarded as complete, full and perfect, when the person does not

lament in his mind about the loss of his habit, nor does he complain

and remonstrate to other people about the loss of his habit. Further,

he should also keep his behaviour with others very normal,

harmonious and praise-worthy. When a person fails to demonstrate

all these qualities, then instead of eradicating the habit, he will

develop some more compulsive habits. If the person keeps his

compulsive and irresistible habits up to his own person, hidden in his

own mind, then it is possible for him to analyse, control and modify

those habits while sitting alone in solitude. But if his habits have led

to some bad behaviour or undesirable deeds in the society, then the

person will surely have to face the consequences of his bad

behaviour. Other people will start regarding him as un-social and

undesirable person and give him a bad reputation that “this person is

of no use to society”, and once the person earns this bad reputation,

other people will start behaving with the person in equally bad and

undesirable manner.

It was discussed even yesterday that you should keep your

devotion and dedication to God as your prime-most duty. It is much


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better to recognise this fact that it is one-and-the-same Almighty God

dwelling and manifesting Himself in every person, instead of

recognising and respecting the ego of each person revealing itself in

its own distinct form and manner. It is one and the same Divine

Consciousness, which is keeping alive the physical body of every

living being. You have to recognise the existence of that one Divine

Consciousness, which glitters like a flash for a fleeting moment in one

physical body and forces the other confronting physical body to react,

in the same sudden manner. In some persons, it manifests itself in

the form of anger, that is, it makes some persons to react in an angry

manner. Sometimes, it makes the other person manifest love and

affection. Sometimes it motivates to speak gentle and kind words,

and at other times, it stimulates to utter unkind an unpalatable

language. During meditation, if you think and deliberate that it is

one-and-the-same Almighty God, who is all-pervading and

omnipresent, who is abiding in all places and in every living being,

then, with passage of time, you will be able to achieve emancipation

from the concepts of “you” and “me”. On the other hand, if you do not

think in above-said manner, and keep regarding and recognising

some specific sources and situations of the external mundane world

as evil, hostile, injurious and harmful, then your mind will remain

engaged and entangled in the external mundane world. And hence

your mind will make plans and proposals to alter those sources and

situations for your own welfare, in the external world. A person,

whose mind is pre-occupied with revengeful thoughts, cannot even

sleep peacefully at night. Such a person wastes his whole life in this

harmful manner, because he has remained entrapped in his wishful,

revengeful thoughts, leading and living his every present moment in


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this manner. Such a person never bothers about his “soul” which is

eternal and immortal, which is existing at this moment, today and

which will exist tomorrow also, and which will continue to exist after

a month or throughout the following years. In other words, your

should will continue to exist for ever. In Sanskrit language, the word

“Atma” denotes that element which is endless and which is always

alive and active. In other words, soul is not perishable, which never

dies, and which cannot be destroyed. There is never a time, when

soul or Atma ceases to exist. Every person must think for the welfare

of his soul. He must awaken his higher mental faculties and

intelligently analyse : “The way I am living and leading my life today,

completely entangled in the mundane world, will this life-style ensure

my inner, spiritual happiness in future? And keeping in mind the evil

results of addiction to material comforts of such a life-style, should I

mend and rectify my life-style?” When a person takes such a

precaution, then it is alright. Otherwise, it should be considered and

concluded that the person has not bothered for the welfare of his soul

and that he has bothered only for his present-day, immediate

material comforts. If the present-day material comforts and life-style

are going to prove injurious and harmful after ten days (after a short

time), then that life-style cannot be regarded as useful and helpful for

the welfare of his soul. A person who hankers after the momentary,

temporary material comforts, how can he be regarded as “spiritualist”

or well-wisher of his soul? Rather he is a votary and worshipper of

the temporary, short-lasting material comforts of the mundane world,

or he is a “materialist”. A person who is a votary of the material

comforts, hankers after those material comforts which appeal to him

and attract him at that particular moment. He never considers and


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bothers about the future consequences. But a person who keeps his

eyes focused on the goals to be achieved in the future, he will first

and foremost choose to achieve the permanent, and ever-lasting

spiritual bliss, and only thereafter, he will go for the short-lived and

temporary material comforts which are available at that moment. Nor

he will neglect his committed devotion and dedication to Almighty

God who has manifested Himself everywhere and in everything of the

manifested universe. It was mentioned yesterday also that the „spirit‟

or soul which is abiding within the physical body of every person, the

same spirit is abiding in the whole universe in the form of Almighty

God. Every person is a complete, harmonious whole within himself.

Similarly, Almighty God is one complete, harmonious Universal

Whole (or Gestalt) of the universe. Thus, every single human being is

a part and parcel of the Universal Whole and thereby all human

beings are closely and intimately related to each other in the

manifested existence. That is why Almighty God in His manifested

form is present everywhere and abiding within every living being in

the form of Divine Consciousness. You must maintain your devotion

and dedication for the manifested Almighty God.

Suppose there is an expert artisan. For the world, he appears

just like any other human being. But he is having the blessings of

Almighty God in the form of his skill. If your fail to recognise and

respect his skill, and treat him as an ordinary human being, then

just possible, he may spoil your assigned work. In this very manner,

every person is having some typical expertise or skill, which gives

birth to his ego or his self-pride. You will have to recognise and

respect his ego or self-pride. Thus, when you give due respect and

regard to the God-given expertise of the artisan by keeping your own


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ego subservient, then you may not make the artisan your friend, but

he will surely not turn into an enemy. When you do not make any

person your enemy, then as you sit for meditation in a peaceful,

solitary place, you will definitely get the chance to stabilize and

concentrate your mind. Otherwise in your lonely moments, your mind

will harbour only such fears and suspicions : “Is there anyone who

can harm me ?” Further, you will be able to learn about your inner

spiritual truths only when your mind is free from all types of worldly

mundane worries, suspicions and entanglements. Your mind should

also be bereft of all types of useless fetters, such as Attachment.

Attachment denotes intense emotional attraction for the persons and

products of the world. Suppose your mind is emotionally attracted

and attached to a certain human being. Because of your love and

attachment for the said person, your mind is all the time

remembering and recalling all those moments of happiness you

enjoyed in the company of that person, and your mind is brooding

about him all the time. Now decide for yourself : “When your mind

persistently remains engaged and entangled in the material comforts

of the vast world, then up to what age these material comforts will

provide you satisfaction and happiness ? Are these material comforts

permanent and everlasting ?” You have to analyse and evaluate all

these questions in your mind in your solitary, lonely moments.

Unless your mind honestly finds the answers of the above questions

and then decides to take proper action, your mind will never

withdraw from the mundane world and abandon the vices. You can

learn all the answers through personal study of scriptures or by

learning from experienced persons. But personal reading and hearing

from others, will not prove that much effective because the bonds of


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your personal nature or personal habits are really very strong. The

strong bonds of your personal nature and your insistent habits have

enmeshed and entangled your mind. How can your mind break these

strong bonds and become free, when your mind is convinced that if

cannot survive without the material comforts of the world. Only

meditation can enable you to grasp and realise that “all the material

worldly comforts actually lead to hell. These material comforts are

going to prove like burning fire at the end. It is much better to

completely get rid of all these material comforts.” The desire to

become some important and authoritative person in the world is

actually a big hurdle in the practise of meditation. The fact is that a

human being cannot live without performing some actions and deeds

in the world. That is why every person wants to remain active and

achieve something in the world and thereby earn both name and

frame. But both name and fame last only for a short time. Instead, a

person should seek that satisfaction and happiness which is

everlasting and permanent. Similarly, a person experiences some

satisfaction and happiness by sleeping. But a person should aim to

get for ever the same type of satisfaction and happiness even during

his wakeful state as he is likely to experience during sleep. You

should always work hard to achieve and experience that satisfaction

and happiness all the time both in the sleeping and wakeful state.

To achieve this goal, it is essential that you should first of all get

free from the worldly engagements and entanglements. It has been

recommended to cultivate, develop and practise constantly your

devotion and dedication to Almighty God. In other words, you should

not bother much about your ego. Rather you should surrender your

ego at the feet of God, because all sacrifices are offered at the feet of


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God. You should yourself analyse your mistake and weaknesses and

learn from your personal experiences, and further, you must not

repeat them again in future. You should always make efforts to

achieve this self-imposed goal. You should cultivate and develop your

cordial dealings and harmonious inter-personal relations to such an

extent that your day-to-day life permanently becomes fully satisfied

and contented. You should not engage and entangle yourself in

mutual bickering. Instead, you should inculcate cordial and

harmonious social qualities to such an extent that they appear to

reflect the blessings of Almighty God. You should not develop strong

attachments for the mundane world and its objects. Unless you

concentrate your mind in your inner soul, you will never experience

divine bliss and spiritual contentment. It has been repeatedly

emphasized that you should recognise your fetters and then get rid of

them at the earliest. Among the list of fetters, Ignorance, is the last

one. The mind which is overpowered by Ignorance always remains

pre-occupied to know and achieve something in the external world.

You should persuade your mind in this manner : “Whatever is worth

achieving, has already been achieved. In other words, you have

realised that happiness which you wanted to acquire with the help of

persons and products of the external world. But such happiness

never lasts for ever. Such temporary happiness always turns sour

and ends up in diseases, depressions and disabilities, as if these

constitute punishments for your mundane pursuits.” Always advise

and suggest to your mind : “O mind ! Whatever you achieved in the

external world , it is not going to last for ever. If you feel proud of

your physical body, this physical body does not remain the same. If

you feel proud of your intelligence and erudition, even these do not


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remain as the ultimate word. These will not provide you satisfaction

for ever. They bring and bestow name and fame only for a short time.”

Your mind should fully understand with the help of detailed and

critical analysis: “Is there anything in the world which can bring

permanent happiness and satisfaction ? In other words, is there

anything in the external world which is permanent and everlasting ?”

Your mind should finally come to the conclusion : “Instead of all the

time, blindly hankering after the material objects of the world, you

should seek material objects only to that extent which are essential

for survival. Too much lust for the material objects, is both useless

and harmful.” Your efforts should not stop at this stage, because,

though you have rightly and correctly understood the end-result of

the material pursuits, even then the power of Universal Nature will

not let you sit still and remain inactive. The power of Universal

Nature will propel you (under the influence of your past, already-

acquired, latent tendencies), to know and understand something new

and original in the universe. Sometimes, Universal Nature will project

in your mind the image of some appealing, alluring and inspiring

objects. At other times, Universal Nature will tempt your mind to

acquire the marvelous objects which you saw in your dream during

your sleep, and thereby incline your mind to remain engrossed with

those marvelous dream-objects. Universal Nature has an inherent,

inborn, compulsive tendency to discover and explore new frontiers of

knowledge in the universe. You will have to alert and caution your

mind to such an extent that even during the lethargic and lazy

moments, Universal Nature is not able to over-power and dominate

your mind. Under such conditions, you should awaken within your

mind spiritual knowledge (with the help of the religious sermons)


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concerning fetters, such as Attachment, Aversion, Pride, Lust and

Delusion, etc. these religious sermons have been recorded by the

spiritual seekers and scholars of yore in their unique, inimitable

styles in the ancient religious literature. Under such conditions, if

sleep and lethargy affect your mind, then control them with the help

of through self-analysis and self-evaluation.

When sleep and lethargy assert, then the mind does not want to

undertake anything. You should advise your mind thus : “O Mind !

You are getting lethargic and inactive, it is not correct at this

moment. Let me be active and alert,” You will soon realise that sleep

has not become less aggressive and assertive. Rather sleep has

become more irresistible and more assertive. If you further analyse

your mind, you will find that you are yourself getting lethargic and

inactive , so that you may easily go to sleep. When your mind is

dominated by the desire to sleep and you are yourself making your

body lethargic and inactive to easily go to sleep, then naturally sleep

will become more assertive and aggressive. Under such a condition,

what should be done ? You should mentally resolve to avoid and give

up sleep. You should resolve that you don‟t need sleep at that

moment. In this manner, you should go on postponing sleep from

moment to moment and thus keep yourself fully awake and alert.

Even if sleep asserts you should not welcome it. This is the only way

to keep your mind active and alert. When your mind is able to ignore

and postpone the demands of sleep, even then Universal Nature will

start reviving and raising the memories of past, latent experiences in

your mind, and thereby force your mind to ruminate about your past

days. Under such conditions, it becomes your duty to analyse the

factors and forces which drag you towards the external, mundane


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world. This fact has already been emphasized in the beginning of this

discourse. By adopting the analytical attitude, you will start grasping

the futility and the insignificance of the worldly objects. In reality,

your mind had got biased under the influence of your past positive

experiences of the material comforts. When such past influences are

erased and removed, then your mind will automatically declare that

“the material comforts of the world are fake. Such material comforts

always lead to inner devastation and desolation.” Right from his

birth, the human being has acquired the love of the material objects

and their comforts, and his mind is all the time dominated by the

material comforts. The material world has dominated his existence.

He likes to remain the centre of attraction. He prefers to be regarded

as intelligent, learned and wealthy person. All objects which bring

him worldly respect and recognition, even if temporarily, he wants to

posses them. He wants to show off his power and pelf, his name and

fame, without bothering whether he deserves them or not. The desire

for self-recognition and self-praise has its deep roots in his being.

Whenever such a person wants to disentangle his mind from the

external world, all his attachments and commitments will get more

entrenched and thereby disturb and distract his mind more

forcefully. The only suitable method is that your mind should know

and realise the evil effects and the negative results of material

existence. Your mind must become fully aware of the disruptions and

disharmonies that these material pursuits produce in the society.

You must know that even very minor involvements and

entanglements of your mind in the external world will lead to the

waste of your intellectual and spiritual energy and thereby also lead

to the dissipation of your life-energy. As a result, your mind will get


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disturbed, and this will further negatively affect your physical body;

in other words, your body-mind relationship will get upset.

What is meant by „body-mind relationship”? Sitting in your

comfortable posture, try to visualise and analyse this situation :

There is a beautiful objects outside and your mind gets attracted

towards that object. Your mind starts analysing and assessing

whether the object is nice-looking in appearance only or whether the

object is actually fake and of no use. As soon as your mind starts

dissecting and deliberating about that object, watch your breathing

process. Your breathing may get disrupted, as if you are being

strangulated. You many experience difficulty in breathing. Then you

will at once conclude that your breathing got disturbed because your

mind was entangled with the external object. In such a situation, you

do not need anyone else to tell you that “the external world was

producing bad effects, or the involvement and entanglement of your

mind in the external world led to disturbed breathing in the physical

body.” You have learnt this truth when you recognised the body-mind

relationship, or in other words, when you became aware of the vital

inter-dependence of the body and the mind. The body-mind inter-

dependence become visible when the mind emotionally reacts to the

external reality, and further, when the mind realises that “there is

nothing of worth in the external, material world and the comforts and

happiness provided by the material objects, last only for a short time,

and ultimately and always lead to pain and suffering, such as

diseases, depressions and disturbances etc.” In this manner, when

you understand and grasp the worthlessness and futility of the

material life, and when you quietly watch the external world as a

passive, neutral observer without any personal, emotional


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involvement, then the moment your mind tries to get involved and

entangled in the external world (because of its addiction to the

material worldly comforts and happiness), your breathing-process will

at once become laboured, the heart will experience strain, the

stomach will appear bloated, the head will feel tense and surcharged.

You will yourself realise that all these physical signs and symptoms

of the disturbed body-systems appeared because of the excessive

mental pre-occupation with the material comforts of the world. Such

an experience leads to only one conclusion : that you have recognised

your inner voices and fetters with the help of Divine Knowledge.

When you become aware of this reality, then you donot need

guidance and advice from any other person to tell you as to how the

lethal poison affect the human body. You will realise the arsenic

(Sankhya) in not that much lethal poison. The really lethal poison is

your excessive mental entanglement and involvement in the worldly,

material pursuits which completely exhaust your life-energy. As soon

as you get entangled and involved in worldly, material pursuits, the

various systems of your physical body start getting strained and

stressed. Your heart starts experiencing the stress and strain. This

cardiac stress and strain persists as long as you keep worrying and

straining about your selfish worldly gains. The moment you stop

worrying about your worldly commitments and involvements, your

breathing process will become normal and your mind will become

peaceful and tranquil, which will further lead to physical health, well-

being and happiness. Your mind will at once and automatically

become fully alert and active, and you will forget even your desire to

sleep and rest. In this manner, slowly and gradually, when your mind

will disengage and disentangle from its worldly involvements,


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entanglements and mundane pursuits, ultimately, the day will surely

come when your mind will declare : “It is most essential to completely

get rid of the love and lust for material possessions and worldly

comforts.”

Under such circumstances, even if the person dies, he will be

born in a higher spiritual sphere after his rebirth. He will be reborn in

any higher spiritual sphere, such as Swarga Loka or Brahama Loka

or Vishnu Loka, etc. If he fails to get any one of these higher spiritual

spheres, he will definitely be reborn as a more spiritually-evolved

human being, wherefrom he will resume pursuing his path of

spiritual salvation again. But if you continue pursuing your material

worldly activities and if you continue your complaints and protests

against your fellow-beings and their behaviour and thereafter die

under such circumstances, then it cannot be predicted as to what

type of rebirth you will get because your mind was so much

entangled and entrapped in the material world at the time of your

death. In other words, the next birth will be determined according to

the emotional and mental entanglements and pre-occupations of your

mind at the time of your death. This point is best illustrated by

understanding the following facts. In a way, sleep is equivalent to

death. A person creates a dream-world according to his emotional

and mental make-up while going to sleep. In the same manner, the

world after rebirth is determined by the emotional and mental pre-

occupations of the person at the time of his death. After rebirth, the

form and figure of the person will be determined according to his

emotional and mental make-up at the time of his death. All the

varied, different forms and figures, which are witnessed in the eighty-

four lakh species of living beings in the external world, all these were


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determined by the emotional and mental make-up and pre-

occupations of the dying being. If a person intelligently and

committedly keeps his mind completely engaged in his spiritual well-

being at the time of death, only such a person will get the form and

figure of a human being after his re-birth. Such a human being

continuously, constantly and judiciously controls his physical body,

sense-organs, mind and intellect and devotes and dedicates all his

time and energy in the prayer and worship of Almighty God. He

develops and cultivates the spiritual qualities, such as feelings of

fellowship and brotherhood for mankind etc. and thereby purifies and

sanctifies his whole life. The fetters such as Aversion, Attachment,

Anger, etc. force an ordinary common man to lead life according to

their diktats and demands. But an intelligent and cautious person

bravely faces and subdues all these fetters with great courage and

thereby eradicating and abolishing all his sins, he achieves spiritual

stability in his soul. If someone easily and at once gets affected by his

fetters (such as Lust, Anger, etc.) for the sake of experiencing and

enjoying some minor and insignificant worldly comforts, then all such

actions get enlisted and recorded in the log-book of his deeds and

decisions, and whenever the angel-in charge of the log-book will scan

the records, these records will definitely invite either prizes or

punishments.

Suppose, a thief committed a theft. After the theft, he

considered in his mind: “Nobody saw me committing the theft. Then

how can anybody harm me?” But his mind also felt that “the act of

theft was definitely a serious crime and breach of law. If somehow the

authorities find out his act of theft, it will invite severe punishment.

He will be beaten mercilessly and he will get a very bad treatment.”


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Having such thoughts and feelings, as soon as the thief went to sleep,

he witnessed in his dream that he was getting beatings, he was being

dragged and receiving punishment with batons (rods). During this

very time, he wakes up and his dream gets, disrupted. He started

analysing his dream. He realised that the punishment for the crime

committed during the waking state was executed during the sleeping

state in the dream. And in both the states (the waking state and the

dreaming state), it was his own mind which experienced both the

states. Similarly, it is very possible that the fruit or result of any

action performed in the present life, can get transferred to the next

life after death, because death is just like sleeping state. Thus if

becomes clear that our mental make-up and emotional pre-

dispositions before going to sleep determine our dreams. In the same

manner, our future existence and next life after death is determined

by our actions performed in the present life.(Sleep is a temporary

death and death is permanent sleep and the same mind experiences

both these conditions of sleep and death.) Whatever happens in the

next life (or future existence, after re-birth), is not determined by the

individual. The next life (or future existence after re-birth) is

determined by the Supreme Power, who has been given the various

names, such as Almighty God or Brahman, etc. That Supreme Power

or Almighty God is enacting all this drama of birth-death-rebirth, (or

next life and future existence after rebirth) through his Divine

Dynamism (Maya). But Almighty God enacts this drama of birth-

death-rebirth according to the accumulated entries in the log-book of

our past deeds. That is why it is always advised and recommended

that your must lead a pious life, so that all your actions performed in

the present life must not prove harmful and injurious for the future.


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Suppose you have already performed harmful deeds, then you must

try to locate and discover the cause of those harmful deeds. After

discovering the cause of harmful deeds, you must learn and resolve

never to perform such harmful deeds in future. And further, you will

never let such a situation arise again. A person who thus resolves

never to indulge in and perform any harmful deeds, even the effects

of his past, sinful deeds get dissipated and expiated. If your lead your

life in this noble manner, gradually, all your fetters will disappear,

then your mind will never feel tempted and emotionally attracted

towards the material gains of the external world. When the mind

withdraws from the external, material pursuits, it will automatically

cease to think about the mundane world and its material comforts. In

other words, your mind will not bother about the material comforts.

When there is nothing in the external world to know, learn, seek and

acquire, then Ignorance will automatically die its natural death, as if

strangulated.

As soon as your mind engages itself to discover and learn the

various things in the external world, it starts avoiding to discover and

learn the inner, spiritual truths. It automatically happens because all

your interests and objectives are strongly attached with the external,

material world. That is why your mind does not feel like knowing and

learning about the inner, spiritual truths. To know and learn about

the inner, spiritual truths is possible only when the mind withdraws

and gives up its attachments with the external, material world. That

is why it is suggested that whenever inherent Ignorance (Avidya)

pushes the mind to know the external world, you should postpone

your mental urge to know the external world, like that person who

postponed and avoided the urge to scratch by tolerating the


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inconvenience of the urge without actually indulging in scratching. As

soon as the strong urge of the inherent Ignorance to know the

external world is postponed, the inner, spiritual knowledge of

Almighty God will start manifesting itself. The inner, spiritual

knowledge provides similar type of bliss even in the wakeful state

which one experiences during the sleeping state. You will at once

experience spiritual contentment as soon as the inner spiritual

knowledge dawns. In other words, you will feel that you have

achieved that goal which you had wished to achieve, and there is

nothing else worth achieving. You will conclude: “I have fully achieved

what I had aimed to achieve.” How can this spiritual entity (Divine

Consciousness) ever perish which is ever present in the whole of

existence? You will yourself realise that it is present not only in your

own soul (Atma), but it is present everywhere, in the whole world, in

the form of Universal Soul (Parmatma). This spiritual entity (in the

form of Divine Consciousness or Parmatma) is present, equally and

uniformally, in all the animal kingdom, as well as in all the vegetable

kingdom. There is no discrimination or differentiation as far as the

all-pervasiveness of the universal spiritual entity is concerned. The

discrimination and differentiation is created by such terms as “you”

and “me”. In other words, this discrimination and differentiation is

the product of the society and social interaction, in the form of “you”

and “me”. When human beings face each other, this situation leads to

social interaction and social ties in the form of “you” and “me”. You

must get rid of this social discrimination and inter-personal bias. You

must stabilise your mind in the universal spiritual entity by quitting

the bias of limited social ties. To achieve this neutral mental status or

biasless attitude, it is essential to shatter all your fetters and


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withdraw your mind from the external world, to such an extent that

you no longer wish to know anything of the external world. Only then

the shroud of inherent Ignorance will be lifted. Always remember that

the universal spiritual entity or God Almighty is all the time gloriously

glittering. When God Almighty blesses a person with the spiritual

bliss during sleep, why will He not bless a person when the person is

fully awake and alert? However, God Almighty will not bless a person

with spiritual bliss during the wakeful, alert state, if and when the

mind of the person is entangled and entrapped in the mundane

world.

The factors and forces which entangle and entrap the human

mind, are the fetters such as Viewing, Suspicion, Attachment,

Aversion, Pride, Prestige, Lust, etc. (which were described and

discussed in the beginning of this week). It is essential that each and

every single fetter be examined and analysed independently, one by

one, with your concentrated and analytical mind, just as you

carefully observe and adjudge an object with your concentrated mind.

Only in this manner, gradually, you will be able to understand the

evil-effects of the fetters. The day will come when these fetters will

become impotent and irrelevant and then automatically dissolve and

disappear. Otherwise, there is no other method to make them

impotent, irrelevant, dissolve and disappear. In order to analyse and

understand these fetters, it is essential that you should get rid of

your excessive and undue attachment with the material comforts, as

well as you must get rid of your insatiable worldly passions (Trishna).

In other words, you should give up your over-powering addiction for

the material comforts of the world. You should also try to control and

reduce your irresistible urge to enjoy sleep. By controlling your urge


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for sleeping, you will be able to awaken and experience the spiritual

bliss in your mind. It does not mean that you have to give up sleep

completely. You must sleep, but according to planned, fixed hours.

Suppose, your mind is not inclined to sleep, then your mind should

start thinking. “I can recite prayers for the time being. This time I can

utilise for worshipping with the help of my rosary. Later, I can sleep

when I feel the urge for sleep.” And next morning, when you get up,

your mind should adopt a similar argument: “I can rest for a while,

then quickly finish my bath, recite my prayers and worship with my

rosary. Then quickly have a cup of tea, because I have to go out for

my work.” Remember, as long as your life is not controlled by such

self-imposed discipline, rules and regulations, your mind will never

experience within itself the spiritual bliss. Unless you acquire and

experience the essential spiritual knowledge, your mind will not be

able to implement and practise such self-imposed restrictions and

reservations and limitations. Unless your mind implements and

practises such self-imposed restrictions and reservations, it will not

cultivate and develop the sentiment of renunciation. Unless your

mind develops the sentiment of renunciation, your mind will not lose

its interest in the external world and hence it will not withdraw from

the external world. If your mind is not able to withdraw and

disengage itself from the external world, how will it be able to

concentrate and consolidate its mental and spiritual energy within

itself, which it is presently wasting in the pursuit of the mundane

activities and worldly engagements. Because the mental and spiritual

energy is not getting concentrated and consolidated within the mind,

the individual will remain distraught and anchorless. The poor fellow

will feel till the time of his death : “I cannot concentrate my mind in


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this place. Let me go to another place. Even in the new place, I may

not be able to concentrate my mind, because my prestige and

privileges as well as my food habits of eating and drinking may not be

filled as per the present routine”. Under such conditions even the

sleeping pattern of the individual will get disturbed. Such a person,

under emotional stress and strain, will ultimately declare. “O God ! It

will be best if you now take me away from this world.” So that such a

situation may not arise, it becomes essential that the person should

delve deep in his mind and awaken his spiritual knowledge through

meditation. The very first goal of meditation is that the individual

should recognise his inner spiritual realities. As the first step, the

inner spiritual reality may be limited to the analysis and

understanding of his daily life activities and thereby the individual is

able to cleanse his mind.

In this manner, by following the above-mentioned life-style and

by preparing your mind to receive spiritual knowledge, you have to

prepare yourself to achieve your spiritual goals. In other words, you

have to mentally resolve to withdraw from the mundane world to

achieve spiritual deliverance. Thus, you should continue, gradually

but constantly, pursuing this path of spiritual deliverance. It is also

essential that you should cultivate respect and regard for the

following three factors: First and foremost, you have to develop

intense love and complete submission for the Almighty God, who has

ordained this universe. All classical, Hindu scriptures, such as Vedas

and other ancient religious texts, have proclaimed Almighty God as

the Supreme Spiritual Power and the only Divine Authority. He is

ever-lasting and immortal, and is permanently abiding in his

Celestial, Heavenly Abode (Param-Dham). He has himself set up for


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the human world this immutable universal law for the spiritual

deliverance of human beings. Secondly, you must develop the

strongest motivation to reach the Celestial Abode, where Almighty

God is permanently abiding, and then humbly pay your sincere

obeisance, personally. The path which you have to adopt to reach the

celestial abode of Almighty God, is called “Religious Path or Spiritual

Path,” which ordains that you must cultivate all the noble qualities in

your being, and give up all the evil ways; you must continuously and

vigorously cleanse your mind; you must also develop your higher

mental and intellectual faculties. All these factors constitute the

“Religious Path”. You must also have complete devotion and

dedication for the religious way of life. The third factor includes your

sincere and respectful dedication for all those persons who constantly

and consistently follow the religious or spiritual way of life, whether,

these noble and saintly persons lived in the past, or are alive at

present or who will be born in the future. Even if such persons come

from the lower strata of society, you should have sincere and

respectful devotion and dedication for them and you should never

treat them with a bias or discrimination. Rather you should sincerely

admire all their great spiritual qualities. You must remain humble

and respectful towards all those noble persons who sincerely,

devotedly and dedicatedly follow the religious or spiritual path in

their life.

When an individual leads his life completely according to above-

given manner, then his material way of life automatically converts

into spiritual way of life. Remember that the spiritual way of life is the

one and the only way of life which leads to spiritual deliverance

ultimately. The secret of success for the spiritual way of life is that


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you must develop and practise noble social dealings with your fellow

beings. In other words, you must be humane, kind-hearted and

sincere with all the other fellow creatures in the whole world. In other

words, you must overcome all yours fetters by recognising your inner

spiritual realities. In this manner, you will experience the inner

spiritual bliss of Almighty God, as soon as you overcome the fetters.

This will lead to the concentration of your spiritual powers in your

mind.

This is the essence of today‟s Spiritual Discourse.

HARI OM TAT SAT !

Documents

A Collection of SPIRITUAL DISCOURSES - Swami …swamidayanandgiriji.in/dgmadmin/files/a-collection-of...A Collection of SPIRITUAL DISCOURSES By Paramahansa, Veetraga, Shrotriya, Brahminishtha