“Look into yourself, every word which I’m going to tell is for you not…”

Look into yourself, every word which I’m going to tell is for you not for your next person. That is why even in the class I always tell, if you are husband and wife, if couples are here, don’t sit next to each other. Why you know? If I support some way the husbands. Immediately the wife: “Listen!”

Some way the wifes are support, immediately: “How many times I told you! When Swami tells it goes in your head.” Instead of you listening, you will be just poking the next person: “Listen, careful, don’t forget!” So better for these two days, don’t sit next to each other so that you will listen for yourself. The most of the time I’ve seen even if the friends they sit next to each other, what they do? They just call: ” Hmm.” You understand? “How many times I told you?” But see instead of listening to the theme, they will start discussing with each other. While discussing with each other, by discussing with each other what can they create? Little more confusion. That’s all, not any solution.

So put your all effort, think everything is for you. Not for the next person, nothing is for next person. Everything is told to you. We always think Swami says we are not so bad, we are only half-half. Yesterday somebody was telling me: “ Swamiji, I’ll ask you a question. Swamiji we may not be totally enlightened but don’t you think that we have a little bit of stuff? Don’t you think that we are half wise?”

I tell you there is only two things in the world: either Buddha or budoo, either totally enlightened or total fool. There is no between. There is no fifty fifty. Either steam or water, that’s all. Maybe hot water but that does not mean it’s not water, even if it’s hot water, it will just put the fire off. Throw the hot water on the fire, you think the fire will not burn, you think the fire will burn? No. Even if it’s hot water, if you throw the water to the fire, fire will be quenched, fire will be put off. So hot water means: Don’t think that it has lost its quality. Either steam or water that’s all, either buddha or budoo, that’s all.

So put your effort totally. Only then you can have the glimpse of total experience of this course and one more very, very big plus point or a great opportunity. Of course, a few of you who have got relatives in Tamil Nadu, they know how fortunate you are. In Bharat, a meditation camp means thirty thousand people attend, thirty thousand people attend. Of cours ASP we don't allow so much but even then hundreds of hundreds, so it is very difficult to get the personal attention or the direct touch, and here you are fortunate. Even if US, I think yours is the smallest crowd. You’re only in the smallest crowd. You are fortunate, be very clear. Sure you are fortunate. So any time if you don’t understand anything or if you don’t feel what I say is applicable to your life, you can immediately stop and put a question. You are welcome to crisscross. If you just sit as if listening to Ramayana or Bharata. It is not that, it will going to help you

Be very clear. See, when you go and listen to Ramayana or Bharata. You don’t need to wake up, you don’t need to remain awake. You know the whole story. Even if you sleep for half an hour or an hour, you can pick up. You know the whole story. Ramyana is going to go to the forest and then Achanaya will be making a Homa and the Sita will be kidnapped. Rama, Achaneya will go to Lanka, then Rama will go to Lanka, Ramana will be killed, again Rama will have a Pattabhishekam. You know the whole story. Even if you miss one session or two sessions, you are not going to miss much. Half an hour you can sleep, half an hour you can attend. You can have both and you have and you don't need to ask any question. There’s nothing to ask, the story is a story that’s all. So a religious discourse does not need your involvement but a spiritual class needs your involvement.

You need to understand the whole thing. It is not that I’ll be speaking continuously and you will be sitting, no. It is something more like an interaction. So whenever you don’t find something is directly applicable in your life, you can directly stop me and question me. You are welcome to question. Only then you will have that effect. Unless you are convinced, unless you understand the whole thing, how you will be able to put your own effort in meditation? Iwe always seen the people; “No, no, no Swamiji. I don’t need to understand, whatever you say, I will do.” But that is not going to help you. If you just do because I say, you will put only your conscious effort but what will happen to your unconscious? It will remain untouched. Only if you are convinced totally and then do the meditation it will have total effect of your whole being. So whenever you have a doubt, immediately raise your question.

One thing, doubt is the energy clot. Like a blood clot, energy clot, so as long as energy clots are there, the full circulation of the energy never happens. Doubt is energy clots, so don’t let doubt through your mind. Any question, immediately you are open to ask. You are open to raise the question and you are a very small group, you are fortunate you can ask any question. If the group is big then you will have your own reluctance or your own shy feeling, but here you don’t need to boter. The group is very small; you can always be free or open out.

In Bharat not only thousands attend, I will not even know who is doing what because of such big hall. How do you know? I can’t even get down or go round, but here it is not like that. Everyone can have a direct attention, so you are really fortunate. Use it totally. If possible, Ill them to show some of the videos in the gaps. Internal times, gaps times. You can see one or two Bharatn discourses then you will see the crowd. So then you’ll understand how fortunate you are to sit or to have the instructions or the meditations directly one to one. It’s almost like a one to one because there's hardly thirty people. Thirty or thirty thousand? Understand, so we are hardly thirty people, so really you are fortunate. So put your all effort, think everything is for you and interact totally.

There are the three instructions. This starts the whole session. Now we will be entering into the meditations sessions. Before entering, I want you to introduce yourself, introduce yourself to every one of you. Please go round and introduce yourself to everyone. You may ask why? Because the next two days you are going to be next to each other. Someone will be sitting here, someone will be sitting there. Someone will be sitting there, you will be sitting next to somebody, next to any person, anybody may be sitting next to you. If you don’t know their names or at least a small, simple introduction you will not feel comfortable

I’ve always seen in the meditation class, I tell them: “Close your eyes and tie the ribbon.” When I say close your eyes and tie the ribbon, I’ve always seen people just verify whether others have closed their eyes or not. They look at everybody else instead of they closing their eyes and somebody make complaints: “ Swamiji, he’s not closing his eyes and he’s not closed his eyes.” How do you know he’s not closed his eyes? Because you are not closed, you are not closed, you know others are not closed. Why it happens? Because you don't feel comfortable. You don’t know the other person. If you know the other person you will feel comfortable. You will start directly closing the eyes instead of looking at others. What he says or what she does. Instead of looking at other things. You’ll be directly meditating.

So I request all of you just to introduce your name. Where you are from, what you are doing. A few words. Please don’t catch that and start telling your whole biography. There’s one more problem, I’ve seen some people, they just catch. In 1962, I was in the army …. So please go round and introduce yourself, after ten minutes, we’ll start the next session. Fifty-third ASP in last one year alone, fifty-third ASP. I tried sometimes to change some of the material. Of course, there is not that all ASP be same. Only meditation technique be same, always the discourse I change. The material change, the percent always change but how many times I tried to replace this one story with a proper other story. I couldn't get a proper story. They're so potentially meaningful. This story has got so much of meaning in it, I’m not able to change the story. Through many sources I tried. Will I get any story with the same potential meaning. I couldn’t get.

So let me give the story and start. It’s actually not even a story, it is a fact which has happened. After the second world war a group of tribals, a group of tribals were living in a forest. Army the people, they left their open aircraft in the tribal village. After the war army people don’t pack up anything and take anything and take it away. They leave many things and here and there and go away. Just like that, they left their small open aircraft in the tribal area in the tribal village. The tribal people, they do not know anything about the aircraft or anything about the outer world. They know only one or two things: the first thing - the trees and few fruits. Next tame - pet animals and wild animals. Peet animals they keep, wild animals they kill, that’s all. Nothing else, they don’t even have an idea that there is something called civilization exists outside their tribal village. Totally excluded tribal people. When they saw something new in their village, they’re not able to grasp, they’re not able to understand what it is. They are not able to realise that it is. They thought something new has come to their city. The whole village gathered and started arguing what it is. What they’ve got something new. Everybody started giving their opinion, this must be that, this must be that and this must be that’.

Somebody said; “It may be God that has just come down to our village. Somebody said it may be the devil.” But no argument could support with the logic, no argument could stand. Everybody is telling: it may be this this, it is maybe that, but is able to to find out what it is really. Finally, one small boy came and told: “ It must be a bullock cart because a bullock cart is also having a wheel and this also is having a wheel. It must be a bullock cart.”

When he gave some logic, when he gave some reason, people all thought: yes it must be a bullock cart. It must be a bullock cart. So the villagers decided that we got a new bullock cart. God has sent a new bullock cart for the village. They put a two big bamboo in front of him and put a bullock, started pulling all over the village. It went on for a month. After a month a young boy from the other village. He came to the tribal village. When he came and saw, he also does not know about aircraft, but he knows about tractor.

So he thought this must be a tractor. This can not be a bullock cart, this may be a tractor. He started driving and using it as a tractor. And again the whole village declared we have got a bullock cart which can move without a bullock. Which can go on its own. It went on for one more month. Third, a man came who is a retired army pilot. A pilot from the army, who is a retired man. He came to that village for some reason. When he saw what they were doing with that aircraft, he laughed and told them. It’s neither a bullock cart nor a tractor. It's an aircraft. First, they are not ready to understand, they’re not ready to accept but he used it and assured them how it could fly. Once he showed, the whole villages agreed and all villages understood what they are using as a bullock cart is not a bullock cart. It is an aircraft.

Understand this one story, this will give you the total meaning. the total understanding of what you are going to learn for the next two days. Let me give you the inner meaning of this story. What I want to convey through this story. The body which you have is a vehicle given to you by God. Ninety percent of us, no ninety-five percent of us will use the system as a bullock cart, ninety-five percent of us will use our system only as a bullock cart. People who just use their system for eating, reproducing, and death. Nothing more than that. You take birth, just grow, get married, earn a little bit of money, one or two children and … death over.

If you see your life nothing much is achieved. If you read your life it's nothing more than a few bends and a few bungalows that’s all. Few bends, few bungalows. Nothing more than that. One side you are, other side a few bends and few bungalows that’s all, but that’s not the totality or reality of the life. A man who just uses his system for outer comforts, a little bit of comfort, one or two children and death. The people who use their life, use their body in a minimum of way, just for the outer comfort and a little bit of money, one or two children, they use their system as a bullock.