Articles for Saadhana

Harih Om Tat Sat. Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru. Jai Guru.

‘P’ from Bengaluru has written to me that during his efforts to increase the outreach of our Ashram, he encountered his erstwhile friends and classmates. They are doing some important business themselves, a knowledge business. When he spoke to them, they were asking what is the benefit of spirituality. My answer will be that every benefit that we have is from spirituality and we are all spiritual. If we are not spiritual, every one of us will fall dead as a body of matter and energy. The energy part will disappear in about two or three hours and we will all become a material mass. It is the spiritual presence that makes the body alive and active. Do you understand?

In the whole world we have only matter and energy. Tell me whether matter and energy have a feeling, thinking and knowing? They are inert and insentient. So they cannot feel, they cannot think, they cannot know. But we have feelings, thoughts, knowledge, enquiry. So obviously these are not coming from the body. Then, other than the body, there is a presence in the body which makes the body animate and active, and that cannot be matter and energy. That is why we call it a spiritual presence. So, we have our life because of spirituality. We have our mind, we are able to think, we are able to feel, study, understand and grow. All these are not bodily potential or potential of matter and energy. Is this point clear?

Your body grows. How long? Maximum 21 years. After that, the body itself stops its growth. Then from the next moment onwards, it is declining. It will not remain intact. But that is the time you become an adult and you have your own choices, selections, viewpoints, ambitions, aspirations etc. When as an adult you are ready to work and live in the manner you want, if the body has completed its growth, you tell me what in you will grow then? Tell me? Body has grown; mind and intelligence alone will grow. This growth and enrichment of the mind and intelligence will not be complete without spirituality. Not only that, spirituality will at every point strengthen your mind, enhance the potential of your intelligence, make your inner personality more and more versatile, more and more creative, more and more potent. Your performance or actions will be far far different.

Everyone has some mental and intellectual constrictions and constraints. These constrictions will be removed by spirituality. A constricted mind will not be able to work well. When the constrictions are removed, automatically your performance will be better. Suppose your legs are tied, will you be able to walk well? If legs are made free, you can walk freely and better. The same happens when the constrictions of the mind and intelligence are removed. For a spiritual man, nothing is impossible. But for a non-spiritual man, nothing is possible also.

A dozen youngsters go to a hill. The hill is substantially high. So they go there. And some of them said, “Why not we climb the hill?” “Arey! Such a huge hill! How can we climb? We cannot because it is very huge.” So your foot is about one foot long. And with a one-foot feet, you have to climb. All the others said that “We won’t be able to climb.”

One person said, “Why not? When we start climbing, the hill is not going to become taller, it will remain the same. When we start climbing, with every foot, the hill was reducing in height, the height was less and less, so we shall climb”. Two or three followed him. All the three of them climbed, climbed, moving one step at a time and they went to the top, bringing the hill behind their feet. You tell me why is it possible and how was it possible?

Spirituality removes laziness from your mind. It gives you fervour, enthusiasm and confidence. Mind you, the entire world is pictured by the mind and you feel the world in the mind. I don’t know whether I told you, every day in the morning, the sun rises and we see the sun rise. Where is the sun? It is lakhs and lakhs of kilometres away. Has the sun come to you? Have you gone to it? How is it that you see? Where is it pictured? In the eye or in the mind? Eye cannot picture it; eye only helps to take the image. The actual image is formed in your mind. So such a distant sun you are feeling very clearly because your mind makes you experience it. The same is the case with stars, moon, the sea, the sky, everything. So everything is pictured.

Body is very small but the sky is very, very huge. The huge sky you feel and experience that it is huge, No experience is in the body or outside the body. Every experience is inside - This point do you understand? Experience is within. So your mind makes you experience the whole world. So tell me whether the mind is big or small? Is it bigger than the world or smaller? It is bigger. Spirituality tells you that this is so.

You are all lost in the world trying to beautify the body, wear good dress and walk this way and that way, eat well and sometimes become bulky also. So this is what you do. But spirituality tells you to understand the gem and the pearl that the mind is. And a person who takes to spirituality, he will be able to read and understand better. I think a student who takes one hour to read and understand, the same thing he can understand if not in 30 minutes, at least in 40 minutes.

There was an Engineering student who suddenly came here. He came at about 12 o’clock. He said that “I am an Engineering student.” etc. It was time for taking food. So he took food and went away; I could not speak. Another time he came. Then he said, “Swamiji used to say that anybody who takes interest in spirituality can read and understand matters better. I heard it, I started listening to your talk, reading some books also. My friends, my classmates and myself, I used to get 3.2 and they were 6.2. Now the situation is I have got 6.8 and they are in still 6.2. So they are asking me, ‘What is the difference, my dear boy? You were getting only 3.2, suddenly you have got more than we do?’ Then he said, ‘I am taking interest in spirituality and Swamiji said that it is so.’ So I wanted to tell you.”

Now you tell me what is the difference? You have no idea of your mind. People only tell you about the body. Your mother nourishes your body, makes it grow and the teachers in the schools teach you some subjects. But nobody tells you about the inner personality of yours which alone does everything, everything and everything. Every action is designed and initiated by the mind. Do you understand my words? And as the action goes on, it is resting on the mind. When the action is over, the mind remembers having done it. The body doesn’t remember nor the eye. So, mind is the source of action, mind is the support for action and mind is the termination for action. That I have a body is an experience of the mind. Body doesn’t tell you that you have a mind. Mind says that I have a body. This simple difference between mind and body, do ordinary people know? Yes or no? What? Do you know it is the mind that tells you I have a body? That is what I am saying.

The mind image makes you feel the body. It also makes you unfeel the body as in sleep. You have the body now. For nine hours, did you have the body? You slept for nine hours, is it not? Were you conscious of the body? Were you conscious of the world? Of your mother and sister? So you tell me whether the world really exists or it exists only for 15 hours of the day? The world exists, the world doesn’t say, you say that it exists, the world doesn’t say that!

Suppose you go and look at the sea. You see the sea. Does the sea see you? You have to answer me. Ask the sea, “Are you seeing me?” So we see the world, we sense the world, the world doesn’t sense us. So when we are awake - the world is, when we are asleep - the world is not. It is a fact nobody can question. So the mind is so powerful that it makes you feel the body and feel the world.

That wonderful mind which is the source of everything, if you are able to understand it more and more, a small percentage, may be 0.5%, 0.75%, may be 1% or 2%? Tell me 0.5% of infinity, how much is it? Is it small or big? What is infinity? 0.5% of infinity, is it not very substantial? Infinity is countless, it is so huge. Even if you make a small percentage of it, it will be very great. 0.5% of 100, how much is it? 0.5. 0.5% of 200, how much is it? 1. 0.5% of one thousand? One lac? One million? One crore? Hundred crores? One thousand crores? Crores Crores? It will be bigger and bigger. So 0.5% of infinity is very great. So if you understand the mind to some extent, even 0.5%, you will find your ability will grow, understanding will grow, confidence will grow, your actions will improve, your capacity will increase.

There are many people who do work well. Is it because of their body or because of the mind and intelligence? You are studying; is it to improve the mind or to improve the body? So the intelligence is what decides. There is a river. We have to construct a bridge. People think about, calculations are made and they construct a bridge. That bridge is constructed by the body or by the intelligence? Now spirituality makes you understand your mind more and more. It makes you stronger. It makes you in every way better, better, better and better!

Then spirituality will enable you to forbear, to bear any kind of a fortune or a misfortune in the world. We will not cry, sob and lose. Anything that comes! Like the sea receiving all kinds of river flow, anything that comes into our life, a spiritual person will be able to receive it, assimilate it and grow. We will always grow. Every day will be a day of greater growth, growth, growth! You tell me whether you are growing every day. I don’t think! In what way do you grow let me know? I never asked you about your body.

Growth means inward, in the inner personality, in your maturity, in your confidence, in your capacity to do things, in developing so many emotions like love, sympathy, sacrifice, adjustment, accommodation. In all these things, you should grow. Whatever is to be done, when somebody asks me, “Yes, I shall make an effort.” So many Vānarās assembled and they were asked to jump over to Lanka. Everybody said, “I cannot!”. There was only one Hanumān who said, “I shall try” and he did it! I think you are not Hanumāns now, but spirituality will make you a Hanumān. This is the difference.

Spirituality doesn’t tell you anything about your body, it tells you only about the mind about which you don’t know. Do you know where is the mind? Have you seen it? Go and stand in front of a mirror! So mind and intelligence can be improved only by introspection. You have to think about, think about, reflect upon, that is the only way to grow! That is what spirituality always instills.

Arjuna came to the battlefield of Kurukshetra, and he was afraid, he started shivering, shivering, trembling, trembling, mouth went dry, everything went wrong. He kept his bow and arrow down and said to Krishna, “I will not fight”. Krishna said this is not right and He started giving him spiritual lessons. In about two and a half hours, Arjuna said, “My mind is clear, I am courageous, I will take back my bow and arrow and I will fight” and he fought for eighteen days. This is the effect of spirituality!

Your mother was wondering how children should be brought up. My feeling is that the children should be brought up in a manner whereby their mind and intelligence will grow! All that I want is you should all have a sterling, sterling mind! And a sparkling intelligence which will never get fearful and which will not turn back! Build the qualities of the mind and intelligence. There are a number of qualities.

Harih Om Tat Sat. Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru. Jai Guru.