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Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru. Jai Guru.
Yesterday I spoke, and at one point I stopped as to how interactional sādhanā is itself in a way an extension of the absorptional sādhanā that you do sitting in a place. In the absorptional sādhanā you remain physically inactive, non-active and you are able to handle your mind alone, exclusively. There is no sensory involvement for the mind. But what you are handling is the mind itself. But mind not in conjunction with, mark my expression, not in conjunction with sensory activities and interactions. The physical body is made to rest, still, be still, orally you don’t speak anything, the hands are interlocked, the eyes are closed. So, the entire body and bodily limbs remain inactive. Whatever will then be active in you is only the mind. And this mind is what you are trying to deal with, with your mantra, anusandhāna etc.
But what you are dealing with in meditation is your own mind and mind’s vibrational effects. But you get an opportunity away from sensory involvement, physical actions, to deal with your mind. Actually that is very difficult. That is why many people do not take to meditation. If they meditate, they report saying that, “My mind is restless. It is running here, running there.” Poor people do not understand what meditation is. The idea of meditational absorption or absorptional meditation is to deal with the mind, separating the mind, so to say, freeing the mind from sensory interactions. Now, are you not doing the same thing in interactional sādhanā ? Yes, with one difference. The mind is involved in interactions. Whether the mind is involved in interactions or not, what you are dealing with is only the mental effects and outcomes of the interaction.
Suppose you speak to somebody and he counter speaks to you. Now, some of his words you don’t like. Are you treating his words by entering into his mouth? Certainly not! Are you replacing his tongue? No! You feel that he is speaking in a rude manner. The content of his speech and the tone of his speech, both are unacceptable. This sense of unacceptability, you tell me, is it a creation of your ears, or is it a response and reaction of the mind? That, "He is speaking rudely, that he is making accusations, both of them are not right, I don’t like them, I cannot approve of them." Dislike from the mind, disapproval from the intelligence. Now, it is this kind of an agitation or getting ruffled that you are trying to sublimate in interaction.
So, though coupled with interactions what you are going to deal with is only your mind. In the meditative state, the mind was dealt with exclusively without the involvement in interaction, now the same mind is treated in conjunction with interactions. Tell me, what is the difference now? If you are able to do this interactional sublimation, I would like to say, it is many steps more than mere meditative absorption or absorptional efforts. There also you were trying to deal with your mind. In which manner? The mind will produce memories. The mind will produce plans, aspirations, different types of emotions will crop up in the mind, it may be desire, it may be hatred, it may be fear, it may be intolerance, all to your own mind and its handiwork. There also the same sublimation is taking place. With what process? You will chant your mantra. You will think about the self, do the anusandhāna. So using the anusandhāna counter-force you will try to dispel or replace the mind’s agitational thoughts. The same thing you can do in interactions also. Anusandhāna can be of help for you there.
When somebody speaks wrongly and you get agitated, "Why am I getting agitated, am I not the peaceful and the harmonious self?" So, this anusandhāna will inspire you, compel you, persuade you to deal with your mind in the interactional level.
So my dear souls, if you introspect properly you will find, one is an exclusive treatment of the mind, another is treatment of the same mind in a level of interaction. Tell me, what is the difference between the two?
If you are able to do this interactional sublimational process, I don’t think there will be any necessity for meditation. Simply you sit. Without any effortful meditation, the mind will remain absorbed. Because it has been able to deal with the triple effects or reactions – desire, hatred and fear during the course of the interactions. The subject treated is the same mind. So, if the mind is treated in interactional sādhanā, it is the same mind that you are treating to get absorbed into the self. So, the meditation if at all will be greatly facilitated. Interactionally you are sublimated. When there is no interaction you will not have anything to sublimate. Even in the interactional level you have sublimated your mind. So, when you sit in meditation there is no sublimation necessary because the mind is already sublimated during the course of the interactions. Then free of interactions what is there to sublimate?
Sublimation becomes relevant only in the level of interactions. When the mind is sublimated in interactions, then when you are sitting alone, what is there for you to sublimate? The mind has become pure, it has become sublime, it has become harmonious and even. In that even mind only harmonious thoughts will come. That is how one Vyasa Deva could write 125000 verses. That is how Valmiki Maharshi could write 24000 verses. That is how Vasishtadev could engage Sri Ramachandra Mahaprabhu for eighteen days from morning to evening because his mind was clear and pure and sublime. And from the sublime mind, what thoughts will come? Only thoughts of enlightenment, thoughts of sublimity, thoughts of purity.
Vasishta spoke only about the mind. What is the mind? How does it function? What is to be done with it? What is meant by spiritual sādhanā? How many different stages are there? How can each stage be identified? What happens to the mind in the first stage, second stage, third stage, fourth stage? How does it become enlightened? The post enlightenment phases – what are they? All these things he (Vasishtadev) was explaining. Suppose his mind was not yet sublime, not yet pure, and not yet self seeing, do you think he would have been able to hold Sri Rama with a discourse for eighteen days? Eighteen days and almost multiply it by ten. 150-180 hours he was speaking to him (Sri Rama). What do you say?
So, my dear children, you don’t value what is purity of the mind. You have no idea. Better understand it. The purity of mind is equal to, if I say this it will be too much, first – desire extinction. The second is extinction of possessiveness. The third is effacement or extinction of the ego. Your ego may be with regard to anything. “She told me something. I am an elderly person. How can she speak to me like this? I am hurt.” Maybe that person has done something wrong. Very good. It is his wrong or her wrong. But in you, what works is the ego. A person spoke to me rudely without any respect. Okay, understand it. But never allow your mind to get ruffled. The heat of the effect should not be there but the brilliance of the effect can be there. Let the fire be not hot but only brilliant. We want to have a light without heat. Even the illumination from the bulb, to some extent it is hot also. The sun is hot and brilliant. But when we get the reflected rays from the moon, it is not at all hot but it is very brilliant.
So, that she has said and acted wrongly is very good. Only know it. But never have the heat effect of what she talked. Can you ensure this for me? That heat effect is in your mind, produced by your mind. If it is only impropriety, the intelligence will say it is improper. You can tell her that you have spoken to me in a very improper manner. But you cannot talk to her feeling agitated, depressed, denied, suffering. You should be able to smilingly tell that person that, "What you have done is improper but I am not under distress at all." My dear souls, this is the sādhanā that you want to do, nothing else.
We read a lot, we write a lot, we speak a lot under the name of spirituality. We can speak quite a lot about spirituality, write also. But the point is the lurking mind in you should give you the sanction, “No, I am not getting heated. I am only having the brilliance of my interactions and interactional effects." When you are able to interact well you will be happy. When others are able to interact well you will be happy. When the interactions are proving bad, only understand it as improper. The intelligence should assess it as improper.
See, when the customs officers assess the appraisement of tax: “Now, you have to give 40% tax for this or import duty for this.” do they have an emotional attachment? Suppose they say: “No. It is not twenty as you have applied for. It is forty.” Is it not purely a decision of the intelligence? Do they get happy or unhappy about it? Now the giving person should loyally give without feeling hurt by him. Put in a simple manner, this is called sādhanā. Just like you will say 500 + 1000 is 1500. 1000-500 is 500. In saying this, do you have any emotional creation in your mind? No. In the same manner you must be able to interact yourself very well but never getting hurt by the interactional impacts you get from the world or the others. If you are constantly on this, then you tell me, is it not a perpetual and ceaseless meditation?
In meditation what do you do? You handle the mind devoid of interactions. You handle the same mind coupled with interaction. Please tell me every one of you, which is better, which is more effective? Don’t tell me which is harder, I don’t want to hear it. You have to treat your mind whether with meditation or without meditation. If your meditational sādhanā and absorption helps you, well and good, do it. I repeatedly say, you are not doing your meditational sādhanā. That is why this awareness and compulsion to sublimate your interactions are lacking. You should not tell me anything about meditation. It is left to you. You have to. The number of times, the duration, all these things are left to you, you are elderly people, adults. But my point is that your interactional life should get sublimated, enriched, harmonized, integrated and enlightened. Reflect upon what I have said.
Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru.