Articles for Saadhana

Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru. Jai Guru.

Look at me. I will speak with open eyes. It is actually some verses taken from Yoga Vasishtha Ramayana. I don’t know whether you are reading it. Did you read? Prasāda literature is not read by all of you? English Moksha Sādhana?

See, we have taken verses from the conversation Vasishtha had with Lord Śiva in Himalaya peaks. There He says, “Worshipping me with material things like flowers, garland and all that, it is just like the children playing with play things. Actually the things to be offered to me should be inner things, products of the mind and the intelligence.” This is what He says. What I want to impress upon all of you is that when a person becomes a seeker of truth and a sādhaka, his whole emphasis should be to attend to his mind, attend to his mind, be focused on the mind and the mind is the one to be set right. If the mind becomes pure, it will be peaceful. If the mind becomes impure, it will be peace-less. Now, to make the mind pure, what is the way if you ask me, you have to do something mental to get into the mind. A physical action cannot get into the mind. You have to get into the mind.

Most of these physical exercises like going to the temple, worshipping, actually we are devoting that much of time to go to the temple, stand in front of the deity. Though all these are physical actions, these actions are effected by the mind. So, there is a mind application there. How well that application takes place will determine how much pure or beneficial your action is. So, that is very much individualized. That is why I repeatedly say, ten people go to the same temple, stand in front of the same deity and submit their prayers. Four people feel their prayers, they are satisfied. Six of them do not have the satisfaction. Here, the action done is the same by people, physically going, standing there, folding the hands, looking at the deity, closing the eyes. The difference in them is only in the mind. What they prayed and how they prayed, the content of the prayer and the manner in which it was prayed, it was done, that is the only difference between them, the other things are common, they have gone to the same temple, looked at the same deity, folded the same similar hands, spent the same time. So, when are we going to understand that it is the mind part, mind part, mind part that is important? I am wondering whether you are really conscious of this. I will explain it this evening.

He(Krishna) says.

Ananyāś-cintayanto māṁ, what is the word used there? Ye janāḥ paryupāsate, those people who worship me. The word paryupāsate can be, the upāsana should be an all fold upāsana. It cannot be a piece meal or a particular specific upāsana governed by time, place and whatever you do, the act. Now what is that upāsana which is all fold and all around? Is it not a point to be thought about today or tomorrow?

Ananyāś-cintayanto māṁ, so the "cintayantah", is the word used there. Cinta is always referring to the mind, not to anything else. So that cintayantah, cintayantah, in that "cinta" you must be "ananyāh". The word "ananyāh" means what? Exclusiveness. So, your thought about God should become exclusive. That exclusiveness in your mentation or thought, that is what makes "nityābhiyuktatva". The word nitya abhiyuktatva  means nirantara, constantly, united with me (Krishna). So, the constant unitedness with God comes through the mind’s exclusive thought, dependence and reliance. Don’t you think this is a verse that calls for sufficient introspection? Are you all spending some time to think about it?

We are hearing a number of śāstrās. I am not very happy. We are teaching, teaching, teaching. We are substituting your manana. That is good, we are helping you to do manana. But this helping you to do manana will be relevant only when you want to do manana. How many years have passed? And all of you will grumble and complain saying that “We have no time for manana, we are involved in work, involved in work.” Suppose we relieve you from work. I would like, if I were here, if all of them agree, I will ask one of you by turns, simply to be tied up in a room, do whatever you like, don’t come. The work will go on. Suppose you have died, what will happen? You go and huddle yourself in your room and then tell me after a month, how much of manana you have done.

Our physical activity is a very good diversion to do manana. Nobody can do manana throughout the 24 hours. See, our mind is, it cannot work independently. Our mind itself is associated with the body. If the body is not there, the mind will not be there. So, the mind requires for its existence and function, the presence and participation of the body. So, our physical work is a very good diversion for us which will help us to do right manana. Do you agree or not? What do you say?

There are occasions when the mind is focused on some writing or some thought etc. That I can understand. But most of the work in the Ashram is routine. It is only routines and while doing the routine work, can you not use your mind for manana? And what is the manana we want? It is not anything big. That the mind is the factor which has to become pure and you understand what is purity.

At any point of time, we should not become a rāga oriented or a dvesha oriented person. Let not your action be rāga oriented or dvesha oriented. Not kāma oriented or krodha oriented. Any time, make sure that you do not do anything out of kāma or krodha. Only these two words are to be remembered. So naturally a question arises. How can I do anything without kāma and krodha? Yes, there is a way of doing it. Think about it. If you don’t understand, ask me.

How to take away the kāma and krodha element from work and then make sure that the work is done in a purer and a more sublime manner? The entire secret is that. See, I am eating. Is it because of my kāma? The body needs food and it creates hunger. Very often I say, "I am not hungry, I don’t feel like eating." So they say, "How can it be with the time?" So, depending upon the time I am eating. Actually I don’t relish food. I would have relished the food after one hour or one and a half hours. But I am taking before hand. And the doctors have also something to say. “Don’t wait for hunger. Take it before hand.” And our Jandiala, he was giving so many reasons.

So I think, if I take food, it is for enabling the body to live. If I sleep, because it is fatigue and the fatigue has to be removed. I am doing only the work which I know and I can do and perhaps which is beneficial to the world. So, I don’t think it is desire. Suppose it is desire, I tell you that I would like to have an outreach of 25000, I said. It has not been done. By my desire, I can have it. I will desire again and again. Go to the temple and pray “May I have, may I have 25000 people outreach?” I can pray. I don’t think by desire anything in this world can be done. Desire is not a motivation. Is there any need for it and can you fulfill the need? Do you have the wherewithal for it?

So, I think unless you become conscious of the mind, mind, mind, see, we were reporting upon some failure, inattention, delay etc. Failure of what? Failure not of your body, failure in the way of concern, attention etc. Are these not mental qualities and mental exertions? Are things old? Things can become old. So, before they become old and unusable, we must be able to dispose them off. Is it not purely a matter of knowledge and reminder? Or is there any bodily element coming there? Now, unless you mind becomes attentive, see anybody who is appointed as a clerk, after sometime he becomes a supervisor and after he is a supervisor he becomes a manager. This is what happens in every sphere of life. But why not the same thing happen here? How long can you be a simple worker? Can you not become a supervisor from a worker? Can you not become a manager from a supervisor? What do you say? I don’t know what arguments you are bringing about? Why don’t you sit in a place and think?

What is meant by kitchen management? What is meant by store management? In the store, what are the items? Why don’t you write that what is a store? How many items are kept there? Am I conscious of each item being present there? Is it being properly used? Are they safe?  Why don’t you write? You write a book on store management. Who are the people who write? Who do the job, who know the job. How can we say this? I don’t know why. Repeatedly we are saying, go and see, go and see, and ultimately we have to give up saying that 'X' is not, that person will not be suitable to this. Anything beyond that is impossible. Is it right to come to such a conclusion about anybody? What is it that we require? We must be an adult, our body should be at least 25 years old. Secondly we must have minimum education to read, think, understand and also speak to others, listen to what others say, absorb what others say. What further qualification is necessary to become an efficient man?

Ālasyo-hi manuṣhyāṇām śarīrastho mahā-ripuh. That ālasya is there. Ālasya is there. That Ālasya is not something that we have to accept. So, we have to be conscious of removing it. Anybody, I also have ālasya. But we have to remove it. So, I think the whole process is attention, concern, feeling of love. I even now feel that our minds are bogged down with unnecessary things. We think more of others, more of others, more of others, and less of ourselves in the matter of correction and improvement. How many times should it be necessary to do an item properly? How can it be? So, wherever I read the scriptures, I find the call of the mind, the call of the intelligence, the call for correction, improvement. Why should we be not cheerful? You ask this question. "Why am I not cheerful? I must become cheerful whatever happens." You can come and tell us that, "We are not doing things properly but sometimes we would like to have some appreciation. Please somehow cheer us up." You are free to tell me, I will cheer you up. It is not right to always find fault with others. Does it make sense to you, what I talk?

Harih Om Tat Sat.  Jai Guru.