“‘You and Me’, this is the subject (DevaasuraSampatti paada Yoga, i.e.,…”

‘You and Me’, this is the subject (DevaasuraSampatti paada Yoga, i.e., the Yoga of discerning godly and demonic nature).

Sri Krishna goes much further in this chapter to explain the deeper level samskaras (engraved memories). In the 14th chapter, he spoke about Gunatrai vibhaga (three categories of attributes???), the sattva, rajas and tamas, the three layers of prana sarira, mana sarira and sukshma sarira (physical ???, mental and subtle body). In the 15th chapter (yesterday’s discourse) He spoke extensively about the causal body, in the Purushottam Yoga (The Yoga of the Highest Person), how (see verse below) the roots of the tree is centered , roots of the tree are in the physical world, and the branches are in the causal world, that is why he says in the first shloka (verse) of Chapter 15: ‘Urdhva moolmadhaha shaakhamashvattham praahuravyayam Chhandaansi yasya parnaani yastam ved sa vedavit .’

The roots of the tree are usually in the ground, the unknown space, and the leaves are in the known space. But this tree is the opposite. The leaves are in the unknown space, i.e., the causal layer, the underground area, and the roots are in the known space, the conscious space, the physical world. Krishna explains that the leaves are the Vedas; the words that you are using continuously in your being. He further explains how to remove the engraved memories in the causal layer, and how to program the causal layer towards bliss and eternal consciousness.

In this chapter, He goes one layer deeper, i.e., the cosmic layer.

He speaks about the ‘Deva Asura Sampad’, i.e., the qualities of the devas (divine) and asuras (demons). The beauty is that both the words have got the same root. Of course, it is not accidental, because both qualities are rooted in the same energy, just a simple decision, when you chose the word ‘you’, you become divine, and when you choose the word ‘me’, you become demon.

Sri Ramakrishna Paramhamsa speaks beautifully of the same energy. No energy can be destroyed, your love can never be destroyed. It has to be turned. One more beautiful example of Ramakrishna, he says that as long as the calf says ‘aham aham’ (‘me, me’) it has to work, suffer, be beaten, and tortured. Once it is killed and musical instruments are made out of its skin, then when you beat the instrument it will start saying ‘tumi tumi’ or ‘tum tum’ (‘you, you’). As long as it says ‘aham aham’ it will have suffering, when it starts saying ‘tum tum’ (‘you, you’), it will start singing the glory of the divine, it will be used for divine purposes.

A beautiful simile from colloquial Bengali (the language of West Bengal), he explains, as long as you have the idea ‘aham aham’ or ‘ami ami’, ‘me me’, you will continuously be a demon for yourself and for others. The moment the cognitive shift happens in you, (‘you you you’), you will be a blessing for yourself and for others.

In the causal layer, all the engraved memories are stored. However in the deeper cosmic layer, you decide: You or me.

Let me explain with a small diagram showing where we take the decision. How usually our mind receives the data and processes it and how the cognitive shift can happen in our being.

[swamiji redraws the drawing he has been making over the last few days – Ram we need to insert an image of the drawing here]

The same thing Krishna explains at a deeper level. You receive information through your eyes, for example, this scene. The file goes to chakshu (eyes), where it is converted into a digital or bio-signal file, so that it may be processed. The file goes to chitta (mind ???), where the excuding process of ‘neti neti’ (‘this is not, this is not’) happens. There you understand that this is not a tree, this is not a plant, and this is not an animal. Then the file goes to the mind, which starts to identify, ‘this is it, this is it’. For example, this is a man, he is standing in a saffron robe, he is taking a class, the idea comes. Then the file goes to buddhi (intellect). Buddhi compares with your past experiences with the person, in this case with me. If your past experience with me has been positive, you are happy, then the buddhi writes ‘Yes’. On the other hand if you feel it is a waste of time, or it is not in tune with my ideas, or the time which you spent was not pleasant, then the buddhi writes ‘No’. The file then goes to the ego. The ego decides ‘what is there for me’. ‘In what way am I related? What gain will I get?’ If someway I am going to gain, the ego says ‘Yes, let me sit here and listen’, and if there is no gain for me, if I am not going to be enriched, then the ego naturally says ‘No’. Then according to the ego’s instruction, you decide, your body either moves or sits.

This is the way the process happens. This is the spot where you choose ‘what is there for me’. Your vested interests come. Please understand that sometimes the whole process will say ‘Yes’ I will have to sit, but this one spot will say ‘My vested interest is getting affected’. Then you will never be able to sit. This whole thing may accept what you are doing, but if this one thing is not ready, then the whole decision will be changed.

Similarly, if the whole thing says ‘No’, but this one thing says ‘Yes’, you will decide ‘Yes’. Sometimes, when we do something, which is not moral according to the social standard, or according to your understanding, according to whatever data you collected in your life, (the data collected stays here, the samkaras or engrams, you have so much data or information, the data is available here, according to your data and your whole process), the final report comes ‘No’, but suddenly your ego feels that the ‘I’ gets strengthened by doing this activity, then it says ‘Let me do it’. So you simply decide to do that. This is the place where you decide ‘You or Me’.

That’s the only small difference, when you take the decision of ‘you’, you always radiate divine qualities. When you take the decision of ‘me’, you always radiate the demonic qualities. Whatever strengthens your ego, let me be clear, most of us sit here because it strengthens the ego. Now you know much more than others. You can go and tell him what you know. Many times, we sit and listen just for ego’s satisfaction. So if you sit and listen for your ego’s satisfaction, even if you are listening to the Gita, it will be trouble for your being, in no way will it help.

In the cosmic layer, this is the area you decide. If you decide with the attitude of ‘You’, the whole thing will become divine, on the other hand if you decide with the attitude of ‘me’ the whole thing will become demonic. And what you collected (the engrams are as such neither negative nor positive). The mind is neither negative nor positive, the chitta is neither negative not positive. None of these, including the gunas (attributes) are negative or positive. Even the tamas, by its qualities is neither negative nor positive. There are so many enlightened masters. You cannot distinguish between them and laziness. For instance, Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi throughout his life sat in one city (Tiruvannamalai), he never moved out of there, but you cannot say he was in tamas, since he never took any decision out of ‘me’.

The whole process was happening with ‘You’ as a center, not ‘me’. As such you cannot call the chitta or mind or samskaras good or bad. In the superficial layers they are neither. But the decision you make in the cosmic layer, that only makes them as good or bad. Please understand that passion and compassion are one and the same. When you decide based on ‘me’ it is passion, when you decide based on ‘you’ it is compassion.

One important thing, if you feel passion strongly in your being, but your compassion does not have that much intensity, then your compassion is just a pseudo-expression, maybe for name and fame’s sake. If your compassion does not have the same intensity as your passion, then all your activities are based on ego. Even this Gita gyanenya xxx ??? can become ego, when the decision is taken out of ‘I’ and ‘me’. When the decision is taken out of ‘You’ even ordinary daily activities (not just Gita gyanenya xxx ???) can become divine.

We do not need to work on the ‘doing’, we need to work on the ‘being’. Doing can never lead you to anything. As long as you believe that doing can lead you to the ultimate, you are called Karma???, a person with karma. It is called purvamimaamsi (belonging to Eastern school of philosophy ???) Only when you understand that being can lead you the ultimate, you are called uttaramimaamsi (belong to northern school of Bharatn philosophy ???).

In the Vedas, there are 2 major portions, people who believe in doing, as against people who believe in being. People who believe in transforming the being are known as Vedantins ???, people who believe the transformation to ultimate can be achieved by doing are called karmakandis ??? They continuously believe in doing. The ultimate can be achieved only by working on the being not by working on the doing. If you try to work on the ‘doing’, either you will suppress of express. You will be continuously fighting with yourself; nothing else will be achieved. Only a man who can transform his being can achieve the ultimate.

Whether demon or divine, is decided at that one point when you receive the data, process it and deliver the result or command, how is the command delivered, what is the center from which the command comes out? If the command comes out thinking, ‘What is there for me?’, then whatever you may do, including meditation, will be only ego satisfying.

Many people ask me, ‘Swamiji, at some point, I felt such a deep ecstacy in meditation, such beautiful bliss, but suddenly within two hours it disappeared, it never came back, why is this so? How can we get it back?’

Please understand that the bliss itself is choicelessness. When you are absent, you experience bliss; the moment you want it back, the moment you choose bliss, you have chosen. The moment you choose, you will always choose suffering. All choices are suffering; bliss is choicelessness. The moment you want to grab or have it, you suffer. When you are blissful, you allow the bliss to possess you. The moment you want to possess it, you will make it (into) suffering. When you wanted to possess, you wanted it to strengthen your ego, the decision is from the attitude of ‘me’. When ‘I’ or ‘me’ decides, it destroys the bliss. You can no more be divine.

When you are blissful, you said a ‘NO’ to ‘me’, you are relaxed in the ‘You’ idea. The moment you wanted to possess the bliss, you said ‘Yes’ to the ‘me’ idea.

We need to understand the ‘You’ and ‘Me’ properly. When I use the word ‘me’ I mean the ego, when I use the word ‘You’ I mean the whole existence. When you are not there, whatever is there is existence, it is divine. You make the demon by bringing the idea of ‘me’ in you. The moment you bring the idea of me, whatever is, is demon. The moment the ‘me’ idea is removed, whatever is is divine. With the me idea, whatever you do, be it meditation, rituals, learning, etc will only strengthen the ego, whatever is done to strengthen the idea of me, will lead to more ignorance and duhkha (suffering). Anything done with the attitude of ‘You’ will become divine and lead to bliss.

Pravritti Nivritti. Nivritti is centred on the idea of You. Pravritti is centred on idea of ‘me’. Whatever is done out of ‘me’, will lead to Pravritti, whatever you do out of the idea of ‘you’ will lead to Nivritti. As long as you feel this is your boundary, here your boundary ends and here the universe starts, you will be continuously fighting against existence, nature, or the whole. Please understand that the part can never succeed when it fights with the whole. Whatever you think, speak or do based on the idea of ‘me’ will lead to complications or duhkha (suffering).

Sri Krishna explains the demonic and divine nature beautifully. In this chapter, Sri Krishna is speaking; whereas in the earlier chapters Arjuna was speaking, and expressing his ego, a catharsis was happening, he was mad, confused, vomiting, quoting everything he has learnt. Slowly he came to the next level, allowing Bhagavan to speak, and the conversation began happening. Now in the 15th and 16th chapters Arjuna is practically silent, he is listening. No questions, only doubts. All the questions have disappeared, only small doubts are left. He is asking for clarifications, and more understanding. Sri Bhagavan Uvacha (Thus spoke Sri Bhagavan, the first, second and third verses of the sixteenth chapter) Abhayam sattva samshuddhir jnaanayoga vyavasthitihi Daanam damashcha yagyashcha svaadhyaayastapa aarjvam

Ahinsa satyam akrodhastyaagaha shaantirpaishunam Daya bhuteshvaloluptvam mardavam hrirchaapalam.

Tejah kshama dhritih shauchamadroho natimanita Bhavanti sampadam daivim abhijaatasya Bhaarata.

Bhagavan Krishna says ‘Fearlessness, purification of the being, cultivation of spiritual knowledge, charity and being centred on the being, performance of sacrifices, and accumulation of knowledge, austerity, simplicity, non-violence, truthfulness, freedom from anger and renunciation, tranquility, aversion to fault finding, compassion for all living entities, freedom from covetousness, gentleness, modesty, studied determination, more forgiveness, fortitude, cleanliness, freedom from envy, and from the passion of honor, these transcendental qualities, O Son of Bharata (Arjuna), belong to divine men, endowed with divine nature.’

Now when you listen to all these things with attitude of ‘me’, we would usually start practicing all these virtues. Be clear that if you start practicing all these qualities, one thing is sure, you will become mad. Nothing can be done, because you will be fighting with yourself. You will be controlling your senses to strengthen your ego. When you try to understand all these ideas with your ego, with the attitude of ‘me’ or ‘I’, you will be practicing them to strengthen the idea of ‘me’, to strengthen yourself as a better being. Again and again, masters prove that they are not better beings, they are totally transformed beings. There is a difference in better beings and transformed beings. The other day I was telling you the story of the lion and sheep-lion told by Swami Vivekananda, a beautiful story. The sheep-lion does not want to realize that he is a lion. He just wanted to be a good strong sheep. He asks the lion to give him some technique for becoming a strong sheep. Similarly, if you start practicing all these things, you may have a stronger ego. That is why all these tapasvis (ascetics, people performing penances), people who have repressed themselves, have a strong ego. People who perform penances, or who repress themselves, you can see clearly that they radiate ego, since they are doing all these things to strengthen their ego. When you are completely blissful and relaxed, then austerity happens. If tapas (penance, spiritual effort) happens in you, you will never expect others also to do tapas. I have seen so many sanyaasis (renunciants, ascetics), especially in Bharat, who keep blaming householders for not doing this or that, for not being pure, for being sinners. When you force yourself to do tapas, you are continuously burning inside, so often you will have doubts on yourself and your path. This doubt causes us to do something (to quell it), and we then make others guilty. When we make others feel guilty that they are not doing the right thing, then we feel what we are doing is right. This happens particularly when people come to us and admit their wrongdoings.

Listening to confessions makes a person’s ego very strong. Why do you think the confession idea is promoted? The listener feels strong. He feels the people confessing are doing wrong, whereas he is pure. When you do tapas (spiritual practise) out of ego, you want others to feel guilty and you want others to confess to you. You feel strengthened listening to others’ mistakes. You feel strong when you address others as sinners. Swami Vivekananda says that calling man as a sinner is the only sin. Tapas is supposed to happen naturally out of joy and bliss. Anything done by force is not going to help you, or society.

I have seen so many people doing tapas like Ravana (the King of Lanka who abducted Ram’s wife Sita, in the Bharatn story Ramayana). Ravana did tapas but all his powers neither helped him or others. He became a demon for others and for himself. He was killing others, and finally he destroyed himself. The tapas was from the attitude of ‘me’, ‘What is there for me?’. The whole story happened to strengthen the ‘I’ and ‘my’. Please understand that whatever you do, whether you study the spiritual scriptures, charity or social service, or puja (prayer), rituals or meditation, if done to strengthen the ‘I’ and ‘me’ will always lead to suffering.

The instinct to survive is what I call ‘I’, and the instinct to possess is what I refer to as ‘mine’. The person who understands that both are illusions, you cannot have the instinct to survive, whatever you may have you cannot survive. The instinct to survive is pure illusion; at the most you can survive as you think yourself 70 to 80 years. You can be alive for 70 to 80 years as you think you are, how you visualize yourself, in that form. But the instinct to survive tries to extend itself, make life eternal, naturally you are walking towards suffering. As long as you carry this instinct to survive you will be hurting yourself repeatedly. Today morning an ashramite was complaining to me that she is hurt by even small words coming from others. She said she was very sensitive. I asked her to stop using that word. I said, ‘You are not sensitive’. A really sensitive person will be porous; he will allow the words to pass through him. Only arrogant people get hurt. If you are hurt, please understand that you are arrogant. You are strong like a stone, which is why words come and hit you. A sensitive person will let words pass through him; he will never suffer. Suffering is always from arrogance, never from sensitivity. We suffer from words, when we stop them, when we resist them, when we make a meaning out of them. When we do not make meanings out of words, we do not suffer. It’s like playing with words. We always chose nice words to support our ego. We do not say ‘I am hurt because I am arrogant.’ We always use a polished word such as ‘I am hurt because I am sensitive.’

Please don’t cheat yourself with words. Let straight words be used. I see a lot of polished words, especially in America. People easily cheat themselves with such words. Don’t cheat yourself with polished words. Let things be straight and clear. You can use polished words to cheat others, but don’t use them to cheat yourself.

Let me tell you a small story. A contractor wanted to donate a sports car to an official. The official refused saying, ‘I am an honest person and thus I cannot think of accepting this gift.’ The contractor asked him, ‘How would it be if I sell you this car for ten dollars? The official replied immediately, ‘In that case, I will have two cars!’

Let us be clear and not play with words; let us not cheat ourselves with words. What is, let us use the same words. Ramakrishna says, ‘Let your words and mind be straightened’. Whatever is, let it be straightened with words. At least you will know you have a problem. When you use colorful, polished words, by and by, you forget you have a problem.

When you know you don’t know, at least you know you don’t know. When you don’t know that you don’t know, you don’t even know you don’t know. At least let you know that you have a problem.

Let us use straight words; the shortest distance between 2 points is always a straight line. To achieve anything the shortest way is straightforwardness.

Here Krishna gives all the qualities, one by one. One can’t explain all the qualities; let us take fearlessness. As long as you carry the instinct to survive, you will have fear. Fear can never be taken away from your being, as long as you want to survive. Surrendering to existence, surrendering to death is the one and only way, to achieve fearlessness.

There is a beautiful Upanishad (part of the Hindu scriptures), the Kathopanishad (or Katha Upanishad), which you all must read. One cannot compare any other system with Vedanta (essence or culmination of the Vedas), or Vedic rishis (sages). They have gone so deep into the science of death. The west had dedicated its entire energy to understand life, whereas the East has dedicated its energy to understand death. That is why rishis live even when they die. They live after death, too. They exist; they discovered the art of living even after death. But people who are caught in the material world die each moment, even as they live. The Upanishad is the science of death.

There is a beautiful story of a young boy, Nachiketa, who goes to the abode of Yama, the Lord of death. Yama receives him after 3 days (he was not there, his servants try to receive him, but he insists on waiting till Yama comes). Yama welcomes him. At this point, we must understand that no one goes to Yama’s abode, he comes to our abode. When we try to escape from him, he is death; he will take away your ‘I’ and ‘My’. All your possessions will be taken away from you, you cannot sign your check, you cannot use your car anymore; you cannot have your relations anymore. Everything that you think is ‘you’ or yours will be taken away from you; wealth, relationships, bank balance, everything. What you think is you, i.e., the body, even that will be taken away. When death comes to you, everything will be taken away, but when you go to death he becomes your host.

In the story, Yama receives Nachiketa with love and care. He is a loving host, and offers him three boons. Nachiketa first asks for relationship. He says ‘When I go back, my father should love me, accept me, and take me into his family’. Yama blesses him with relationships. After that Yama blesses him with all the wealth, and shows him the way to create wealth, pleasure and comforts. Now Yama is behaving like a God. Ultimately, he gives him atmajnana (knowledge of the Atman), he is behaving like an enlightened master. Since Nachiketa asks him for the secret of death, he blesses him with enlightenment.

Look at the paradox of life, when you run away from death, it will chase you, wherever you are. He will take away all your wealth, your relationships, whatever you think as you or yours. Here the situation is the opposite, when you surrender to Him, he is a loving host; he is not terrible as we think. We usually portray Yama with a big moustache, sitting on a buffalo, black, with a rope in his hand, and an arrogant smile, egoistic. But here the situation is different. He is welcoming the guest with the attitude of ‘Atithi Devo bhava’ (guest is God). Here atithi means one who comes without informing which tithi (date) he will come. One who comes after informing through email, fax, and telephone, and then has to be received at the airport is not an atithi, but a relative. He has to be received; it is like pure business. Please understand that all our relationships are pure business relationships. Atithi is someone who comes straight into your life. Unfortunately, in this country, the atithi concept is lost. In Bharatn villages, all the doors of houses will be kept open in the daytime – at least in the village in which I was born and raised. I can go to any house on that street and eat, and any kid can go to any house and eat directly. This concept of atithi has disappeared. When people tell me that Bharat is a poor country, I tell them that they do not know the value of the Bharatn culture.

In any developed countries, go to a new city. If you have to be received, taken care of, and stay for three to four days for your business purposes, how much will you spend? But in Bharat, if you have one friend, just one phone call and all arrangements are taken care of. However, due to cultural regulation ??? this is coming down. At least in villages where Vedic culture is alive, this atithi culture is still alive.

Yama tells Nachiketa, ‘You have come to my house in the form of Agni’ (fire that we worship). The Brahmana is considered to be the embodiment of Agni. He considers his guest to be the embodiment of the divine and asks for forgiveness for not receiving him for 3 days. Usually we postpone Yama (death); when we go in search of Him, he will not be there. That is the moral of the story.

For three days, Nachiketa could not find Yama. This story is significant, it has a tremendous truth in it. When you turn towards death, you will not find death as you imagined. Upon surrendering to death, whatever imagination you have of death will not be there. Now, because of your fear you escape, because you escape, he chases you. It is like a vicious circle. When you face him, your courage increases, and when it increases you can face him more clearly. This is called a virtuous circle, as against the vicious circle we are caught in. Let us turn our vicious circle into a virtuous circle.

If we can understand this one story, our whole concept of death will be transformed. First of all, when you seek him, he is not there. Second, when he appears he is not as you imagined him to be. Rather than an arrogant, terrifying man, waiting to take all your possessions, he is then a humble host, welcoming you graciously. He then, behaving like a God, blesses you with relationships, wealth and atmajnana, knowledge, enlightenment.

You may ask me how to go towards death, ‘Should be commit suicide?’ Please understand that committing suicide is not going towards death, nor are such people fearless. They are the most cowardly people. They commit suicide because they are unable to live this life. Rather than facing death, they are escaping from life. These two are very different.

The way is to face the fear, when the fear is created in you, go though it, don’t allow it to frighten you. Some people tell me that they are afraid of their fears. Fear is enough trouble, why be afraid of fears. Sit with yourself, be yourself. Let the fears come up, how long will you postpone or control your fears, how long will you escape from your fears? Allow them to surface, your whole being will shake, tears may roll, you may have a deep depression. Whether you allow the fear to happen, the incidents will happen.

Fears may be classified into five major categories. First, fear of losing your wealth and comforts. Second, fear of losing some part of your body in an accident or due to disease. Third, fear of losing your near and dear ones. Fourth, fear of losing your mental wellbeing. Fifth, fear of unknown, fear of death, ghosts, God, hell, heaven, everything. These are the five major categories of fears we face in our life. Let it all come out; let your mind face it. Give it half an hour. Let it happen. You may feel depressed, tears may roll, the body may shake, what can be done? You can’t do anything, if you could you would have done it.

Your existence, your being quiet proves that you are unable to do anything. Let the fear come up to your conscious layer, without suppressing. There is a possibility for all these fears to come true, such as my wealth being stolen, my facing an accident, a near or dear one dying, or a possibility of me dying. This is life, this is what I call facing the reality as it is.

Only children need imagination or fantasy to face reality as it is. But we need to understand and face reality as it is. You can escape reality or the truth, the more you try the more it will haunt you. When you allow the fear to come out, suddenly you will see that they will leave you, and when they leave you, you will become more responsible, more intense.

In our second level meditation programs, we have a meditation called ‘death experience’. It is based on Ramana Maharshi’s experience. People feel frightened going into the meditation, but on coming out they say that they really feel responsibility. They say ‘ I have been postponing so many things, now I have decided that when I go from here, I will do all those things.’ These people have become intense, they understand the value of relationships. Many people have reported that after that meditation, they began respecting their spouse; they do not take them for granted any more. When you think of the possibility of death, you will never take life for granted, or your spouse for granted. You start living.

Similarly when there is a possibility of your well-being being taken away from you, you will not take your wealth for granted, you will start living it intensely. You will not take things for granted when the possibility of death, of them being taken away from you, enters your being. You start realizing your responsibility.

Let me tell you a small story of how we take things for-granted. There was a king who felt completely bored after 45 years. He had whatever he wants – comforts, luxuries, women. What was there for him to do? All the excitement was lost; he was bored.

Let me tell you, all kings live in Hell, when I say all I mean ALL. If you want to live like a king, go to Hell. Straight away you will become a king, because you will have everything. Tremendous boredom will happen. If you don’t have something, you will have excitement, you will work for that. There is a need for continuity. There is a need to live. You will have some goal. When you have everything, what for should you live? Nothing. Never imagine that when you have everything, you will be happy. You will be in Hell.

This king entered Hell because he had everything. He was totally depressed, bored. He didn’t wish to come out of his room; he was lying there the entire day. His ministers tried all their best, whatever they could do they tried, to bring him out, to make him alive, to give him a little excitement. They brought the best comforts and luxuries from all over the country, all possible pleasures. However, nothing worked on the king. He said ‘No’. Finally they decided to do one thing. They said, ‘King, there is an enlightened master in the forest. He may be able to help you. Why don’t you come out, and see him at least once, he will bring you out of your depression. Many have been helped by him’. The king said that he was not interested in going anywhere. The ministers asked him to try once. He agreed. He said, ‘You are all telling me so much about him, let me try.’ He went but with full of doubts and questions. He was not willing to trust that master. He thought ‘Who knows whether he is enlightened or not?’ He met the master and asked him straight away, ‘ I just wanted to know whether you can help me to come out of depression.’

That is the way people question, since they have come just to check out. They have not come to learn, they have come to verify. So many people have come and asked me, ‘Can you show us some path to achieve God?’ I tell them ‘I will try, why don’t you be seated’. They come as if they have come to check me. One young person who was very well read in modern day books, the lives of modern day saints such as Ramakrishna and Vivekananda, asked me, ‘Swamiji, Have you seen God?’ I just smiled at him. I asked him, ‘Did you read Vivekananda’s biography?.’ He said ‘Yes, I have read Swami Vivekananda’s biography. I know how Swami Vivekananda asked Ramakrishna, and I am asking you in the same way.’ The first thing I did was to catch hold of his shirt so that does not run away. When Ramakrishna told Vivekananda that he had seen God, Vivekananda simply followed him. He gave his whole life to Swami Ramakrishna. Now I am not only saying I have seen, I am saying ‘I will show you, come.’ The fellow ran away, he escaped. He was not willing to take the responsibility; he just wanted to check out.

Similarly, the king just wanted to check out the enlightened master. The master told him that if he could bring all his wealth in one gunny bag then he could teach him. Immediately the king decided that this master has nothing to do with enlightenment. ‘He is a cheat, a bogus fellow, as he is asking for all my wealth.’ He went away without giving a reply. But that night he started wondering why the master should have asked him for his wealth. ‘There is some grace, something about him that is working on me.’

And one more thing, people often ask me how to find out if someone is enlightened or not. You can never find out by intellect. Always try your best to suspect. If he is really enlightened beyond doubt his form, his being, will be in you. You will not be able to forget him. Never remember him. People ask me if they should remember me. I say ‘No. Try your best to forget me, to doubt me.’ If at all I have ever had a divine experience that will work beyond your intellect. If I am going to help you, if you are going to be helped by me, beyond your intellect you will simply fall. Through intellect you can never analyze or understand. With your intellect try your best to say ‘No’. That is the best thing. If you always say No, you will never be cheated, that is the best thing to do. And if the person is really enlightened, he will be able to penetrate you beyond your intellect. He will be there just in your being. He will be there in your mind in the daytime, and in your dreams in the nighttime. He will just be there; he will be haunting you. You cannot escape from him.

So this master had started haunting this king. The king was lying on his bed, rolling this side and that. ‘Shall I try? If he takes away my wealth, I can easily catch him. After all, it’s my kingdom.’ He started doing all the calculations. ‘In any case, I am not happy with all this wealth, if he takes it away what is there to lose? It is not useful for me, let him have it.’ So the king decided to take the risk. The next day he converted all his wealth into diamonds, and put it in one gunny bag, and brought the gunny bag to the master. He stood in front of the master. Suddenly the master snatched the gunny bag and started running. The king understood that this master is a cheat. He started chasing the master.

You cannot chase a person who lives in the forest, since he knows all the secrets of the forest. Which is why professional people can never catch bandits. Not only in one country, all over the world, professional police can never catch bandits. The bandits know the secrets of the landscape.

The master ran this way and that, knowing the forest. The king was new to the forest, and tried his best to follow. This chase went on and on. The king wondered why he took the risk. He was blaming himself and suffering. ‘When I return to the country I will have nothing. I will be like a beggar, I will have to beg and eat.’, he thought. He began visualizing scenes of his poverty. He began suffering his poverty. Poverty had already entered his mind. When he was rich he was suffering, now he was suffering due to poverty. That is the paradox of money; when it is there it gives suffering, when it not there again it gives suffering. When it became evening, the king was about to give up. He thought ‘Now I cannot do anything. This master knows the forest too well’. At this point, the master stopped running. The moment the king saw that the master had stopped he caught hold of him and the bag. The master laughed. The king could not understand what was going on. The master said, ‘Fool, now take this and enjoy’. Suddenly, the king felt that he had become rich. Just because he had missed his wealth for one day, he felt he had become rich. The master said. ‘Fool, you were depressed because you took it for granted. Now the same wealth that you lost for one day, you have got it back, go and enjoy it.’ The king came out of depression, just because of missing his wealth for one day.

Please understand that if you allow insecurity consciousness to happen to you, you will never take your life for granted. You will start enjoying life intensely. Just miss what you have for 12 hours, one day; you will never take your life for granted. Live one day without eyes (as of now you take them for granted), live even 12 hours without eyes, live without opening them, you will never take your eyes for granted. Similarly, you will never take your life for granted if you know it will be taken away. You suppress the fear, the insecurity idea in you; that is why you never enjoy life, you take it for granted. The moment you experience insecurity, that life will be taken away from you any moment, you will start living intensely. If you are depressed or bored, lose everything for 12 hours. You will suddenly understand this truth; you will never take life for granted.

When you face death, or insecurity, you understand how you took life for granted, and you start living intensely. That is what this story means.

Yamadharma gave relationships, wealth and finally enlightenment to Nachiketa. When people come out of the death meditation, they tell me that they understand the meaning of relationships; this means they have been blessed by Yamadharma. They say they now know the value of their wealth; it means Yamadharma has blessed them with wealth, now they will start living. They realize that life is the ultimate blessing, and naturally that blessing has been showered by Yamadharma. And they understand that the body may die and that there is something beyond the body and mind that exists in them, that is what I call atmajnana (self-knowledge).

You will have all the blessings of relationships, wealth and enlightenment when you face the fear; when you face Yamadharma. Here when Krishna speaks of fearlessness, he means, ‘Face it, only then fearlessness can happen’. Only when you face the instinct to survive, and to possess will you enter the zone of fearlessness.

Till then it can never happen. You can face the instinct of survival, or the instinct of possessiveness only by taking decisions based on the concept of ‘You’, not on the concept of ‘Me’.

As long as you work, act, speak, think centered on ‘me, me, me’, you will be a demo; you will be working for the instinct of survival and the instinct of possessiveness. When you start working on the concept of ‘you, you, you’, you radiate a new energy.

Just try for one week to live for others, just try a simple experiment, I am not asking you to give away all your property, or anything else. Usually you always think ‘What is there for me in this?’ For example, if you wife calls you up to see a movie, you will say ‘No, I want to go to the beach’. You always stand with your preference. Just for one week, in your office, in your house, wherever you go, try to work and decide with the attitude of ‘You’ instead of ‘Me’. Just try this on simple things, simple decisions, not things like giving away your property. Try this on simple day-to-day life decisions. Immediately the mind will start thinking, ‘If I start thinking based on ‘You’, people will take me for granted, people may exploit me, people may cheat me’. Alright, right now no one is cheating you since you are living centered on the idea of ‘me’; you are protecting yourself. Are you happy? Come out, are you happy? No. Then why not try the other option. Just try a simple experiment. We live throughout our life with this ‘asuri sampat’ what Krishna calls demonic nature; the attitude of ‘me, me, me’.

Now just for one week, why not try this? Always when we come back (into this room) we grab our seat. We leave our kerchief also to block the seat. First, we grab our seat. When prasad is given, we first grab our plate. Just for one week, take the plate and see that the other person receives it. See that the next person is comfortable. When you get up in the morning ask the other person, ‘Are you okay? Why don’t you use the bathroom first, then I will go’. Always we say, ‘Wait, I have to go, I have this work or that work.’ Instead of that, with just simple, small things try this experiment of letting others use (or talk etc) first. ‘Please go ahead and use that, I will use it after you’. Or ‘You have been working continuously, let me help you with this small task.’

Just for one week, try to put that You into your being. You will not know from where bliss will come. Suddenly you will feel that your whole being is relaxed. When you don’t give attention to ‘me’ you will never be ‘at tension’. As long as you are giving attention to ‘me’, you will be continuously at tension. The moment you put the ‘You’ in place of ‘me’ a deep inner healing will happen in you. What I am talking of is not morality; please don’t think I am teaching you how to live happily. There are many others to write books like ‘How to stop worrying and start living’. I am not the person to teach all this ‘How To’. I am not giving this as morality; I am giving this as spiritual practice. If you are working towards spiritual growth, if you are a ‘professional seeker’, then please try this one practice. I use that term (professional seeker) because there is a group of people, especially in the West, who are profession seekers. If any swami comes, they will be there to attend his programs. Any swami, any book, any spiritual event, and they will be present always. People come to me and say, ‘Swamiji for the last 30 years, I have been seeking’. Don’t feel proud about that. I have seen within our ashram, our mission, our movement, senior devotees telling the junior ones, ‘Do you know, I have been with Swamiji for 3 years.’ When juniors comes and tell me this, I call the senior and tell him ‘Please don’t spoil my name. You are with me for the last 3 years and you are not yet enlightened. Don’t go out and say that you have been with me for three years, that is spoiling my name. That is not spreading my name, it is spoiling it. You are here for three years, and still you do not know how to respect a junior devotee, still you don’t know how to care for him, then don’t say you are here for three years. You will spoil my name. It is repairing (???) my name, not spreading my name’. So don’t be proud that you are a professional seeker. Please be clear that if you have the pride that you are a professional seeker, or that you know this swami or that swami, or you have attended this discourse or that discourse, this program or that program, especially these NRI’s (non resident Bharatns), they don’t miss any programs, so that they can have all the certificates. (sentence not completed ???)

If you are a professional seeker, if you think you are seeking spirituality, then do this one spiritual practice. Just this single spiritual practice for seven days, If you think there is any way I can help you take this single practice, forget about everything else. Take this single statement: instead of deciding based on ‘me, me, me’ decide based on ‘You, You, You’. I am not asking you to give away or renounce anything; just simple, day-to-day decisions. You will see something happening in your being. The tension, or that solid weight that is there in you, will simply melt, loosen up and you will experience inner healing and a tremendous cool blissful breeze. Naturally when you get a glimpse or taste of this mood, automatically you will start expressing this attitude in your day to day life, every day, every moment.

We always chose words and actions based on Me. For instance, when you are shouting at somebody you say ‘I am doing it for his good, for his sake’. When someone is angry we say ‘See, he is like a demon, he is mad at others, he is shouting’. On the other hand, when you yourself are angry, then you say ‘I am doing it for his sake only, I have to take care of him’. ‘If I don’t teach him, who will teach him, and I am doing it for his good only.’

Please don’t play with words, be straight. Try this for the next one week, not more. After that you can become your old self. Try it on very simple things. Instead of deciding on me, decide on you. The irritation that you carry will disappear. The instinct to survive, to possess will disappear. You will become an empty being. You will become a hollow bamboo, and then you will become a flute in the hands of the divine, whatever happens through you will be divine, you will imbibe the divine nature.

Krishna goes on, he explains further step-by-step, how to imbibe divine nature into you; how to do the cognitive shift in the very deep, subtle level.

Working at the level of sattva, rajas, tamas is very difficult. It is akin to changing all the servants in order to change the master. You will never be able to do that. Just change the master; all the servants will be changed. Here, Krishna is giving you the technique to change the master, the ego, which takes decisions. He is giving you the straight technique for the cognitive shift. At present, cognition is happening in us keeping the ‘I’ as the centre; this same system will be used for divine nature. Rama and Ravana both are energetic, both have got the brahmastra (the weapon of Brahma), the only difference is that one is centered on ‘I’ and one on ‘You’. That is the only thing that makes one person as divine and the other as demonic.

Krishna goes further to give you the subtle techniques to experience the consciousness of ‘You’, the ultimate consciousness, the consciousness of the whole, the ‘daivika sampat’ or divine nature.

Krishna continues to explain step-by-step all these great qualities. Don’t try to practice these separately or individually. If you try to practice these separately, you will become schizophrenic; you will be fighting with yourself. Just do something that will make you express these qualities in your life. Automatically you should become blissful, free from anger, full of dharmic (religious) qualities. When you do anything by force, or social conditioning, including charity, (thinking you will go to heaven), you will always be having trouble. Never do dana (charity) if you feel something is being taken away from you. I always tell people, the word dana is wrong, sharing is the right word. Because you have enough, you just share with others. With the word dana there is ego, the thought ‘I am higher, the giver, you are the receiver’. With sharing, the idea dana does not exist. The thought is ‘I have got it, let us share’. Sharing is the right attitude. If you do charity with the attitude of ‘I’, you will later check whether your name appeared in the plaque or not. ‘Has my name been spelled correctly or not? Is it the right size or not, is the font larger or smaller than someone else’s name.’ Especially in Bharat, even if a tube light is presented to a temple, it will be inscribed ‘Ramanathan, son of Swaminathan, in the memory of his father or mother, Saundarya Lakshmi, who passed away on this date, presented to this temple on this day.’ It will be painted with black paint; when you switch on the light you will just see a black line on the wall – no light!

Ramana Maharshi says beautifully, ‘When you don’t ask, you will be given.’ I always tell people, ‘When you don’t tell, I will tell.’ When people do things for the ashram but do not tell anyone, then I will tell the whole world, but when they tell, I keep quiet. When you don’t do from the attitude of ‘I’, you won’t feel like something is being taken away from you. Above all, you will feel a tremendous fulfillment. Anything you do with the attitude of ‘You’ will become like these beautiful, divine qualities.

Even Yashoda (foster mother of Krishna) had the small idea of ‘I’. Let me tell you a great story. It is about a great devotee named Tarangini, told to me by the Chief Minister ???. It is a wonderful expression of love, the ‘I and You’ is expressed exactly here. Within twelve hours of Krishna’s birth, he was handed over to Yashoda. At midnight he took birth, before sunrise he was brought to Yashoda. This was because of a prophecy that Kamsa would come to kill him at sunrise. Yashoda brought him up till he left his birthplace Vrindavan. Despite bringing him up, when Yashoda asked him to sing or play the flute he would not play. However, when Tarangini, a devotee of Krishna, from a lower, suppressed caste asked him he played for her (she would stand in one corner, she would not come in front of him, and she would quietly enjoy his presence and music from a distance). Once Krishna had gone, she would go and touch the feet dust. One day Krishna left the flute and went away. Of course, He would not have forgotten, He must have planned it, would Krishna forget? He would make others forget, but He would never forget anything! He was pretending He had left the flute and gone. Tarangini saw the flute and thought that she should keep it in the house and hand it over to him properly. She didn’t want someone taking it away from where it was left. With love and care she kept it in her house. The next day Krishna came and said ‘Someone has taken away my flute.’ He pretended to search. He came to know that Tarangini has the flute, and so He Himself went there. He needed a reason to go to the area of the lower community people, else Yashoda would ask Him or punish Him, since higher caste people did not go to that area. Krishna went and saw the area, full of mud, dirty roads, and a hut in which a thousand suns were shining, which implies that there were a thousand holes in the hut. Krishna entered and asked for his flute. Tarangini was totally shaken to see Krishna in her house. She was overwhelmed, she was unable to speak. She ran in, and brought the flute to him. Krishna continued his act, asking if he should play the flute. And who can refuse? She replied ‘Lord, even Gods and rishis come down to listen to your music, how can I say No?’ He sat there itself, on the steps, and started playing; she sat in one corner filled with ecstasy. Yashoda came in at this time, she had been asking him to play, she said ‘ I take care of you, I give you food but you don’t play for me, but you are coming and playing here for this urchin girl’. Please understand that the attitude of Tarangini is ‘You’, the attitude ot Yashoda is ‘Me’. Due to this all her seva (service) had no result. She shouted because of which the music was disturbed. Which is why that raga (tune) is known as the broken tune. Krishna told Yashoda ‘You served me, no doubt, but with the attitude of ‘I’. She is devoted to me, but you are devoted to yourself. As long as I am your Krishna you will take care of me; that means you are devoted to yourself, you are centered on yourself and not on me. That is why you are not able to digest five minutes of separation’.

This is the instinct to possess. ‘You have come here all the way; you are not even giving five minutes space to her. Tarangini never asked me to come to her house. She never expected that I would play for her, she is totally dedicated, only with the attitude of ‘You’.’ Then Krishna blessed her, saying ‘You will have Samipya Mukthi, which means you will become a shanbaga ??? flower and you will reside in my garland, and you will stay with me forever’.

There are four mukthis or enlightenments, Salokya Mukthi , Sarupya Mukthi, Samipya Mukthi, Sayujya Mukthi. Salokya means you will be allowed to stay in Vaikuntha, you will have a residence there. Sarupya means you will have the same form as the Lord (your own form???). You can see jai-vijaya there, they will have the same shankha, chakra, gada, padma, all the ayutas ??? of Lord Venkateswara, same swarupa is given to them. Samipya is being in the inner circle; the chakra that Vishnu is carrying has achieved Samipya Mukthi. Becoming oneself enlightened is Sayujya Mukthi. Samipya Mukthi is the best enlightenment because you can enjoy Him. It is like an ant forever enjoying sugar candy. Sayujya Mukthi is like becoming the sugar candy itself; that is for all the rishis (sages) and vedantis, For devotees the ultimate state is Samipya Mukthi. So here Krishna blessed her with Samipya Mukthi. ‘Let you becoming a flower in my garland and be on my body. Let you be on me.’ He then turned to Yashoda and said, ‘Because you served with the attitude of ‘me me me’, let you have no temple on the planet Earth’. Yashoda served Krishna so much, but have you seen a single Yashoda temple. No. Everywhere you will see Radha temples. If you go to Vrindavan, Radha is worshipped more than Krishna. Even a milkman will say ‘Radhe Radhe’, not ‘Krishna Krishna’. Despite all her service, since it was centered on ‘me’, she was unable to achieve enlightenment. But Tarangini, being born of a lower community, was never even close to Krishna, she would not have been allowed to serve him, but since she lived with the attitude of ‘You, You, You’, Krishna went to her house, and blessed her with eternal closeness to Him, he gave her liberation.

People who live with the attitude of ‘I’, if they even run after the divine, the divine will run away. If you live with the attitude of ‘You’ even in you live in a hut with a thousand holes, you will see Krishna there waiting for you on your steps. There are many stories to illustrate how the ‘I’ drives the divine away, and the ‘You’ attracts the divine. Just one small attitude change can take care of the cognitive shift.

Let me tell you one more, small story. It is about the fight between the shankha (conch), chakra (wheel) and paduka (sandals). Vishnu has got a shankha, chakra, and padukas. One day when he returns from some picnic or dating, (you know Vishnu, everyday he goes out with some new person, and he’s a blissful energy, unlike Siva always sitting in that old shamshana (cemetery) with nothing to do, one or two old bulls are there, and nothing to see or enjoy. But Vaikuntha is a totally different place, a fun place; continuously dance goes on and all varieties of food are served; Vaikuntha is great, the atmosphere itself is different from Kailash (abode of Siva) where old fellows with long beards are sitting, always chanting ‘Aum Namah Sivaya’, how long can He hear, after a few years he will be bored and will ask for some entertainment. So Vishnu returns and leaves his padukas outside his bedroom and goes in to rest on his beautiful serpent bed, Adisesha ???. Shankha and Chakra look at the padukas and laugh. ‘See, you may carry Bhagavan all day long, but when it comes to the room you have to stay out, and we will go near. You are not really at samipya (close to the Lord), we are the ones who are with Him 24 hours a day. For the 12 hours of the night, you are out, so you have only half samipya Mukthi, we have full samipya Mukthi. Paduka replies ‘Alright, what can I do, whatever Bhagavan wants, let it be’. The next morning when Vishnu comes out, Paduka asks Him, ‘Bhagavan, Shankha and Chakra are making fun of me. Is it true that you are angry with me, that I have only fifty percent samipya Mukthi, what mistake have I made?’ Lord Vishnu laughs and tell Paduka, ‘Attitude and time does not mean that you are unimportant, or they are important. Attitude and time do not show favoritism, I have no favoritism, each of you have a different place, work and things to do.’ He then adds ‘By worshipping Shankha and Chakra people cannot get Mukthi, but by worshipping you people can get Mukthi. Paduka worship can give enlightenment. Chakra kills, shankha declared the victory, that is their role, worshipping them cannot give liberation. Your duties are different. Your place is different. Only by holding you people can attain Moksha. Since they have made fun of you, let them be born on planet earth and worship you for 14 years. Shankha and Chakra take birth as Bharata and Shatrughna and worship and worship the padukas (of Lord Rama) for 14 years (when He is banished to the forest). Let them worship you and understand that only you can liberate them.’

In the Ramayana story, the paduka is placed on the throne and worshipped (as the king) by Rama’s brothers Bharata and Shatrughna in his absence, and that is how they get liberation.

We must understand that all people around the master have different responsibilities. If they think that some are important and some unimportant then there will be difficulty. The person who thinks he is important will be made to stand in front of the person who thinks he is unimportant. Shankha and Chakra started thinking ‘me, me, me’, so naturally they had to suffer, the Paduka thought ‘you, you, you’ and so he received worship. Then Bhagavan blesses the Padukas saying ‘ Let Shankha and Chakra worship you and attain liberation, and then they will never talk about you like this’.

How we are centered is what makes our life demonic or divine. Divine or demon is only one concept ‘You or me’.

In the next shloka (verse) Lord Krishna says, ‘Daivi sampad vimokshaya nibandhaya asuri mataa Maa shuchaha sampadam daivimabhijaatoasi pandava’

‘The transcendental qualities are conducive to liberation, whereas the demonic qualities make for bondage. Do not worry, Pandava (Arjuna), you are born with divine qualities.’

Now, an important point. After hearing all this about ‘you and me’, the next thought that may come to your mind is ‘Swamiji, I do not know whether I am working based on ‘You’ concept or ‘Me’ concept? I am afraid whether I am a demon or divine. Please guide me, tell me based on what quality am I working.’

Let me assure you that if this fear is arising in you, then you are divine. The person who is ready to look into his mind, the person who is afraid whether he is living rightly or wrongly, will always live rightly. Only the person who is arrogant will be demonic. The person who is demonic (asuri) will never even consider whether he is doing right or wrong. He knows for sure that he is right. Here Arjuna is also having that fear, ‘Bhagavan, am I living with divine or demonic nature’. He is not expressing, but his face reveals his fear. Now Lord Krishna expresses the above verse, in which he explains that living with transcendental qualities, that is, the attitude of ‘You’, one achieves liberation or enlightenment (nivritti). By living with the idea of ‘I’ you will create more bondage. The demonic qualities make for bondage, meaning pravritti. Lord Krishna assures Arjuna that Arjuna is born with divine qualities.

If during the intermission you contemplated whether you were living with ‘You’ or ‘I’, if the doubt arose, if you have suffered, if you felt fear or guilt, be clear that you are born with divine nature. On the other hand if you feel that you are living properly, and that you came here because you had no other entertainment, (‘let me listen to whatever Swami is saying’), if you have that attitude, then you know your nature. If you have once looked into your being, and thought ‘Am I living with demonic nature? What is my nature?’, if you have once looked you’re your being and tried to measure yourself then you are Arjuna, you are in the position of Arjuna, you too are born with divine qualities (daivimabhijaatoasi pandava). So if you have felt worry after hearing about the qualities, then you are born with divine qualities and you do not need to worry further.

When a person who is dharmic (religious), listens to such words, he will try to verify his own self, since he is centered on dharma. The people who are adharmi, they will think ‘Oh, he (Swami) speaks all these things as though he is living them. Let us go and see how He is living, then let us see if his living is in tune with his ideas.’ A person who is divine tries to chisel or correct himself, whereas a person who is asuri (demonic) tries to correct others. With asuri sampad (demonic nature) the person is holding the hammer and chisel towards others, whereas with the divine sampad (nature) he is holding the hammer and chisel towards himself. When you carve yourself you become God. Thus if you looked within yourself, you are born with divine nature. Now Arjuna has become mature, the moment he hears these truths, he starts looking into his being, so naturally Lord Krishna says you are born with divine nature.

In the sixth verse, Lord Krishna says: Dvau bhutsargau lokeasmindaiva aasuraiva cha . Daivo vistarashaha prokta aasuram parth me shrinu.

‘ Partha (Arjuna) In this world there are two kinds of created beings, one is divine and the other is demonic, I have explained to you the divine qualities, now understand the demonic qualities also so that you will understand and live your life blissfully and happily. ‘

He describes the qualities of a person who lives based on ‘I, I, I’. I don’t think we need to understand these qualities because we already have these qualities. There is no need to read these qualities, because we know enough of them. All that we need to know is how to live with the attitude of ‘You, you, you’.

Please understand that when you completely live with the attitude of ‘You, you, you’ you completely forget yourself, you disappear into existence.

Let me share with you one important technique, which Lord Krishna speaks of. Just for three days try this: think you are somebody else. It may seem funny! For instance if you are a doctor, for three days when you are on vacation (not when you are on call!) clearly visualize you are somebody else, not a doctor. The moment you change the idea about you, a tremendous freedom will happen to you. Whatever you think as your tension will disappear.

Before taking sanyaas, all aspirants have to undergo a meditation called ‘bhoota sarira vasa’ meaning they have decided they are giving up this past janma (life), their entire past. And they do shraaddha (offering of food to dead parents) to their own parents, even if their parents are alive. This is because if the parents die after his taking sanyaas (renunciation), who will do it for them. He also does his own shraadha since he has no issues, so who will do it for himself. After the shraadha you have to lose your identity, whatever it might be (doctor, lawyer, engineer). For that they will smear the entire body with ash (bhasma), and like a bhoota (ghost) they will put rudraksha malas (necklace), the complete identity should be lost and they should go for begging, madhugari bhiksha. ??? They will not associate themselves with their identity. They will completely break their identity. For three days they have to meditate that they are somebody else. Only if they are able to pass this meditation, break from their identity for three days, will they be given sanyaas. This is ‘bhoot sarira vasa’, breaking away from all your past identity. Just for three days (I am not asking you to become bhootas, or to take sanyaas) try this meditation. For three days think that you are somebody else. Whatever you think as your property forget it, whatever you think are your problems, throw them out, whatever you think as your profession, throw it out, just for three days. You can come back and pick it up, but for three days throw it all away. You will see a new consciousness arising in you. If you throw away the ‘me’ that itself liberates you, and if you start working on ‘You’ you will experience tremendous bliss. When you drop me, you will experience peace, when you start working with ‘You’ you will experience bliss. Peace and bliss. This is the straight path for peace and bliss.

Here Lord Krishna goes on explaining (in the eighth verse): Asatyamapratishtham te jagadaahurneeshwaram Aparasparasambhootam kimanyatkaamahaitukam.

He speaks about the qualities of demonic nature. People with such qualities think there is no ultimate energy or intelligence which is running the universe, and that this whole creation is produced out of lust and desire. They believe in the material.

In this modern day, even scientists have started understanding this and are giving new concepts. Even they are suggesting that there is a cosmic intelligence that is running the universe. It is not dead, it is not just matter, not just pure chemistry. People who think the world is just pure chemistry become demons. Naturally, if you think this whole world is dead you try to acquire more and more, by killing everybody, by hook or crook, right or wrong, do what you want. Only when you understand that this universe is intelligence, that it responds to your thoughts and your activities, will you start living properly, or will you start really living.

Here is a small story: A group of scientists, slightly arrogant, think they can do anything and everything. They challenged God, they said ‘Now you are not necessary, whatever you do we can do, even we can clone human beings. What do you say? Now we can also develop whatever you have created on earth. Our department has developed everything. We can do anything’. God was surprised to see the size of a banana, the size of fruits, all scientists’ creations. The scientists called God for a competition, ‘Come face us, we will do whatever you do. It is better you go and rest, we don’t need you any more’. God agreed to face the scientists. God created a plant, immediately they created the same plant, that too in a much better way. One by one they kept creating the same thing that God was creating. Suddenly, God took a little dust and created a man out of it. The scientists said ‘this is not a big deal, now that we have the ability to clone’. They took the dust and were about to create a man. God said ‘Stop. Bring your own dust and do. Don’t do with my dust.’ Whatever you may achieve, wherever science may go, divine is alive. God exists and there is a cosmic intelligence which runs the whole universe. You may create man out of dust, but from where will you get the dust? You cannot create dust. Be clear that there is a pure energy and intelligence that exists, but people who are demonic, who think everything is ‘I, I, I’ , they think everything is me. They think they know the logic and calculation of the whole world. They think they know everything.

A person, who thinks he knows everything, should simply be married off. These young people will come, their parents forcing them to fall at my feet, I never like people being forced to fall at my feet, if they want they can go, but they will not go, they will stand there and ask questions, such as ‘why should I fall at your feet?’ I tell them, ‘ I have not asked you. Why should you stand here and argue’. But there arrogance is so much that they will stand here and argue. I will just think, let him get married. After a year when he returns (after marriage), he will simply do a saashtaanga namaskaar (full prostration, all eight parts on floor), because in one year he has been completely trained. What we cannot do in ten years is done in one year of marriage. The fellow will simply fall flat, and now he knows how to listen. He will be polite. He will be saying ‘Yes, Swamiji’; he now knows the power of the ‘Yes mantra’.

That is what should be done to asuric people, simply get them married, and all the demonic qualities will disappear. Perhaps that is why God created this institution of marriage.

People with demonic qualities say the world is unreal with no foundation, with no God in control, produced out of sex desire, and purely by lust. Lust is the reason for the whole universe, they say.

Please be clear that lust cannot be the reason, it is intelligence, the divine shakti (power) that is the cause and effect of this whole jagat (universe), the karana and karya (cause and effect) is divine which is responsible for the universe. But when you think that lust, or that you, are responsible, then you start living with the idea of ‘me, me, me’.

Here Lord Krishna explains the same concept in a deeper way, and he gives a beautiful punch line.

‘Chintaamaparimeyaam cha pralayaantaamuaashritaaha. Kaamopabhogaparamaa etaavaditi nishchitaaha.’

‘Taking the shelter of ecstasy and anxiety that ends only with their death, (with some even at that time it doesn’t end, they will still think of the money they paid for insurance, for the casket, for the marble etc), engrossed in satisfying their desires, and regarding gratification of desires as their sole objective in life, they believe in these, bound in hundred loops of hopes, wholly occupied by lust and anger, they use immoral means (adharma) to accumulate wealth for the satisfaction of their desires.’

These are all the qualities of demonic nature. Please understand that if you have any of these qualities, change the attitude (not the qualities). Change the being, this is time to start living the attitude of ‘you, you, you’ and experience the bliss.

Let us pray to the ultimate energy, Parabrahma Krishna, the divine consciousness, to bless us all with the experience of ‘daivi sampat’ (the divine nature), and establish us in eternal bliss, Nithyananda.

Thank You.

‘Vasudeva sutam devam gamshachaanora mardanam devaki paramaanandam krishnam vande jagat gurum.’ (??? please check this, I dont have the source. )