“If you know how to handle or how to open the third, three layers of…”

If you know how to handle or how to open the third, three layers of energies, not only you will have the spiritual growth, your day-to day life, your practical life will become more alive. Now you can see, once it is evening eight o’clock, you are over! Finished! Anything after the eight o’clock looks like hell and our whole life we can see, how many times we suffer due to lack of energy. So many things we don’t enjoy or we don’t live. Why? Lack of energy. Already you are tired or you are bored. The lack of energy is a big curse for the humanity. It’s actually a big curse. Lack of energy is a main reason for stress. Stress will have no meaning if you know how to work on the third, the vishuddhi chakra, the vishuddhi center. How this energy center gets locked? Why you don’t use?

There are two kinds of ego: aggressive ego and passive ego. Aggressive ego is the thing which says, ‘I am this, I am that, I am big’ which makes you feel something more than what you are, which continuously says, ‘I am this, I am this, I am this.’ That is aggressive ego. The beauty in aggressive ego is, even if you are egoistic, society will teach you. You will have very good blows wherever you go, you get a good blows. So you understand you are egoistic and you adjust yourself. You work on yourself. There is a next thing, passive ego which says, ‘Oh, I am nobody. I am nothing. I do not know anything. I cannot do anything. I cannot do this. I cannot do that.’ Aggressive ego is the ego which shows you something more than what you are. Passive ego is the ego which shows you something lower than what you are.

See, the passive ego is never disturbed by the society. If you say you are nobody, nobody will disturb you. People will praise you, ‘Oh, you are a man of humbleness, humility.’ Whenever you take refuge with the passive ego, you do not even know you are egoistic but passive ego is much worse than aggressive ego. At least with aggressive ego, you will know you are egoistic. In passive ego, you do not even know you are egoistic. Passive ego is the wall of pier. Passive ego is the wall of that boat jetty. You have your own idea about yourself-low self esteem. Low self esteem is the wall which makes you not to enter into the ocean, which prevents you from enjoying the third layer of energy, enjoying your being. Passive ego is the root for the self, what to say...the low self esteem or comparison, jealousy. Comparison and jealousy are the by-products of low self esteem.

Once you understand you are something more than what you think, you are really something far, far, far beyond than what you imagine, you will never have jealousy or comparison because you know there is enough in the world for everyone. There is no need to have jealousy or comparison. Jealousy or comparison locks this chakra when you understand you are unique, you are something far, far beyond than what you imagine as you are. As on now, we have our own boundary. Mentally you have an idea about you. The idea which is given to you by others about you. Actually you do not know who you are. If somebody says you are beautiful, you catch that idea. If somebody says you are good person, you catch that. If somebody says you are talkative, you catch that. If somebody says you are good mother, you catch that.

Whomsoever has given certificates to you, you collect all those certificates and what you do? You create an imagination about yourself, idea about yourself. So the imagination or the idea about yourself is just nothing but the boat jetty wall, the low self esteem. This low self esteem is the ego or the wall which resists you from enjoying the ocean. You can see, in thousands of places you take decisions comparing with others. I tell you one thing, whenever you take decision comparing with others, you end up only in foolishness. The greatest problem in the rat race is, even if you win you are a rat. You are nothing more than a rat. Mark these words. Have it in your bedroom. The greatest problem with the rat race is, even if you win, you are a rat!

Devotee: A faster rat.

Swamiji: (laughs) That’s all. Nothing more than that but surely you are not a rat. You are something far, far superior than what you imagine as you are. A small story. What all the foolishness we do if we compare and decide, if you are jealous of others. So many times you can see, even you can scan your life. Just because your brother has done this, you will try to do that and end up in failure. Not only failure, foolishness. Just because your sister has done that, you will start doing that. Then where you will end up? In foolishness. You will look fool. Whenever you compare and start doing the things, you never grow. People ask Me, “Swamiji, should we not compare with our high ideals?” I tell you, whenever you compare and work, you will grow only as they have grown, not as you are.

Compare with yourself and grow. Then you will grow in unique way. You will not grow as they have grown. If you compare and grow, even if you grow, you will not have the satisfaction that you lived your life because you are living their life. A clear individual independence is the basic necessity for growth. Vivekananda says beautifully in one of his discourse freedom is the basic condition for any growth. So if you really want to grow in your being, in your life, a clear independence and clear freedom is the basic. If you are comparing and growing, you are psychologically slave. You will work only how they work. You will grow only in the line of they grow. You will never create a path. You will only be travelling in the others’ path. Yes?

Devotee: Where do you make the difference between say, comparing and learning from someone?

Swamiji: Why?

Devotee: How do you make a difference between comparing with someone and try to do it or learning from someone and trying to do it?

Swamiji: In learning, you will have your creativity. You will learn only the basic line. You will have your creativity. In comparing, totally you will be copying. Only you will have your name, nothing else but in learning, you will have totally your style, way. That is the basic thing. You can very clearly scan and you can differentiate and see. Whenever you compare and work, even if you accomplish some achievement, you will not feel the satisfaction that you achieved. You will not feel the bliss in your being that you achieved. If you work on your own, if you learn and do it, even a small thing will give you a tremendous satisfaction.

A small poetry, a small pottery, a small painting, a small art will give you so satisfied, so much of satisfaction you will be feeling fulfilled. A small design will be giving too much of satisfaction or it will be just too much of bliss but if you just compare and do, even if you accomplish thousands of things, you will not have the inner joy. I always tell the people, “Architect will have bliss; contractor will have money” because architect creates. A real designer is an artist. He just opens up his being and brings out his creativity. Real designer is a more or less like a poet. A real architect is more or less like a poet. He will always see a man who creates will have a tremendous satisfaction in his being, in his personality.