“Q: Swamiji, yesterday you talked about internal and external wandering.”

Q: Swamiji, yesterday you talked about internal and external wandering. I understood external wandering as moving from the past to the future, just in the mind. Please correct me if I misunderstood. However, I am not sure if I understood what internal wandering is all about. Is it the association with what we identify as ourselves -- our language, our names, our profession, etc? Please help.

A: Any thought which happens in you, which you do not identify as an external wandering, which you do not think as external wandering, which you are not able to catch it as external wandering immediately, is internal wandering.

Internal wandering can be classified step-be-step. First, any thought which comes while your eyes are closed can be classified as an internal wandering. After that, if you slowly start looking deeply, then you will see the thoughts which flow inside you related to the outside objects will become external wandering, but the identity which you carry will become internal wandering.

The more subtle you become, the more deeper you go, you will catch the deeper and deeper layers of internal wanderings. As of now, for some people, the thoughts related to outside will be external. When you close your eyes, whatever goes on inside can be internal.

But after a few days of practicing, even inside, you will see many thoughts are external, you will reach deeper and deeper layers of internal wandering. Whether it is external or internal, wandering is wandering.

Any thought, any movement, you have to relax. You have to move out of it. In the beginning, whatever you think as external wandering will surely, slowly, you will realize, they are all internal wandering.

At the beginning, whatever you think as internal, they are all external wanderings. Slowly you will start seeing. It is comparison. It is comparative zone. The more you go subtle, even your name will look like external wandering.

And beyond your name, the conditioning will be about your form. That is why whole world is so much obsessed about the beauty. That is the subtlest conditioning. The idea that is put inside your head about how you should look or how people should perceive you is the subtlest conditioning. That wandering, that conditioning, is one of the subtlest internal wandering. You will be able to catch that, you will able to catch that thief only by going to the deeper and deeper zones.

All you need is pure awareness and the real true seeking, not professional seeking to answer others.

Even your internal seeking, if it is for the sake of pure seeking, the intense honest seeking, the attitude of a real scientist who is constantly ready to go into the new zones, who is constantly ready to change his opinions and ideas about the truth.

See actually, why seeking is so difficult, you know, because your whole idea about you, world and God will change. When your idea about you and the world changes, you may have to take many decisions to update your life.

Constantly doing research, exploring your inner space for truth and tuning your life towards the truth, making yourself feel connected, fall in tune to the truth which you discovered, that is the true seeker.

That is why seeking seems to be such a difficult thing because you cannot be settled. A normal, mediocre mind always wants a settled life. That is why whenever husbands are regularly attending spiritual classes, wives are frightened. When wives are attending too much regularly and wearing this mala and bracelet, husbands are frightened. Because now, your life is not going to be the so-called regular.

It is going to be discovering. It is going to be new. It is going to be changing your desires, your fears, your decisions and your moods. Your whole thing is going to change. It is like you are entering into the forest of Truth.

What you will discover, how you will change is naturally going to really shake the person who is living around you. Life is not going to be so-called normal or the routine. It is not going to be predictable. That is why seeking seems to be very difficult or people are afraid of seeking. I tell you seeking is a great adventure, unimaginable adventure. But, whoever missed that, they missed the very life itself.

Let me define exactly the word “seeking.” Seeking means entering into the silence, which is constantly available to you inside, which is constantly inviting you to come and experience inside. And through that “seeking,” whatever decisions, whatever understandings reveal to you, making those understandings and revelations as a reality in your life by putting your life in tune with the “seeking.”

Actually when you unclutch and start doing research and development inside your inner space, I want all of you to know an important thing -- meditation is not trying to silence yourself. If you are trying to silence yourself, you will only feel frustrated.

Meditation is actually a seeking, traveling towards some center, traveling towards the deeper silence, peace which exists in you.

When you travel towards that peace, towards that center, towards that silence, you may experience a strong clarity landing on you. That is called Sat, Truth. Or strong awareness about something that is going to happen or which happened. A new look may happen to you. That is called Chit. Or a strong ecstasy, or relief, or feeling relaxed or the freedom may open up to you. That is called Ananda.

All these three will be constantly happening in you when you start seeking, when you start going into the meditation.

Meditation is not silencing your mind. It is exploring into the reality, into the Truth, into the satya.

The internal or external, this idea, will constantly get refined. Today what looks like internal, tomorrow the same thought will become external. It is like how deep you have gone.

From the physical layer, if you see, usually we will all be in physical layer. That is where depression happens. If you are experiencing depression and lethargy, we are in physical layer. In the physical layer, external means desires related to senses, something you want to eat, something you want listen, something you want touch -- this can be called as external. And name and fame or subtle joys like acknowledged by people -- all these things can be called internal.

But when you go to subtle layers, the mental layer or etheric layer, even the name and fame will look like external wandering and just remembrance of your identity, your name and form can become internal wandering. This means you are becoming subtler and subtler.

We need to look a little deeply, then you will see, any movement will become external wandering. Only the deep peace which you experience will be internal, no wandering.

Whether it is external or internal, that idea will constantly get updated, get changed.

You see, what I am trying to do -- I am constantly using different words and inspiring you to go into that inner space and start seeking. I cannot give you the Truth. If I give you the truth, it will again only become one more religion, which is not directly useful to you. Only when you discover, when you explore, that will add music to your life, joy to your very being, and ecstasy to your energy, ecstasy to your existence.

Anything discovered adds joy, juice, all you need to do -- I can say the essence of this whole thing -- explore in your inner space. Sit, use your maximum ability not to let any thoughts or any movements to happen. Go into deeper and deeper and deeper layers of silence, you will see so many things opening up, so many things happening.

That is the essence of Mahadeva’s sutra yesterday.

Q: Yesterday you expressed that when you go in front of camera to be photographed, you are leaving your body. Could you please explain more of what you mean with that? Which part of you is leaving since you do not have an ego, it is not that part since your consciousness is infinite and everywhere? So which part is it?

A: Understand I gave you the answer from your angle. I should have used that word as an advice, or as an instruction to you. Sometimes it looks too condescending, that is the reason I have to use the word as if I am doing it.

I should have replied: “When you go in front of the camera, you leave your body.” Instead of that I just the word, “I leave the body.” I cannot. I cannot leave the body.

Let me finish the question. I will answer completely.

Q: It is not that the vibration of the divine energy that the photograph should capture if it is a good photograph. Please explain. I am confused.

A: This question is from my photographer that is why she is asking this question.

Understand I cannot leave the body, because I left long before.

Let me give you a story, not just a story, the Truth. There is a great Master in Andra Pradesh, Nisargadatha Maharaj. He wrote a very beautiful book, I Am That. He is a great Master, one of the real fruits from the tradition of Ramana Maharshi. Masters like Ramana Maharshi and all may not initiate disciples directly as I do, but they do the work of initiation. They may not publicly tell that somebody is initiated by them, disciples and all those things. But they do the work.

Nisargadatha Maharaj, was one of the persons initiated through the darshan or divine connection by Ramana Maharshi. Just a wonderful being.

Somebody asks Nisargadatha, “Bhagavan, you say enlightened beings do not have karma. Then how are you moving your body? You cannot even move your body without having karma.”

Understand? You need to have some karma only then you can even move your hand, or you can talk.

The disciple asks, “You say enlightened beings do not have karma, but how are you talking? How are you working?”

Nisargadatha said, “I am not doing anything.”

The disciple says, “No, no, you are not understanding my question. How are you talking to me? Even that is a work. How are you talking to me if there is no karma?”

Nisargadatha says: “I am not misunderstanding you. You are misunderstanding. Again I am telling you I am not talking to you.”

It is very difficult to talk to these guys. I understand many times what my disciples go through.

Nisargadatha says, “No, I am not talking.”

The disciple is really confused because He is talking and He is saying, “I am not talking.” Another big problem is that we have to believe they are telling the truth. The disciple cannot say, “Why are you lying?” No. That is another difficulty.

The disciple is completely confused. He asked Nisargadatha to explain, “You are talking and saying you are not talking.”

Nisargadatha explains beautifully, “Understand because there is some movement in you, you think there is a movement in me. You can never understand how talking can happen without movement in the inner space. That is why you think when the sound comes out of my mouth also there is the same kind of movements in my inner space.”

Nisargadatha says: “In you, you never had a time or a moment, where your body or your mouth can move without your being moving. In me, I have experienced my body or mouth, or even mind, anything can move, but inside me, my inner space, nothing moves.”

Understand. Having such a strong, clear peace inside you, even your thoughts cannot disturb, that is enlightenment.

I wanted all of you to understand, do not think enlightened Masters don’t have thoughts. I can say that the space is so big; it is a negligible part. In a normal mind, if you have a ten-acre mind, all ten-acres are jumping like a zoo.

With an enlightened being, they are a million acres; only ten acres is a zoo.

In a million acres, can you consider ten acres being a zoo, if something disturbing? Some movement? No. It is negligible. Practically it is not there, Just no more. It is not there. That is why Ramana Maharshi says, “For normal persons, I am body; for enlightened being, I am also the body.”

It is not that the idea that “I am body” disappears. It just expands. “I am also the body. This is also part. So I have no where to go.” It is a very important thing.

Judging the Masters based on their physical movements is the worst thing that can happen to a disciple. Because he will judge Master’s actions from his idea. If he does that particular action, what logic goes through his head? He thinks the same logic is going through the Master’s head.

Especially the people who live around the Master for a few days or few years. They claim, “I know Swamiji for so many years.” That is a big problem. These people who claim, “I know Swamiji for so many years,” what do they know? Nothing! First of all, they don’t know themselves. And they think they know me.

They think with their logic, the logic with which their head functions, with the same logic, my head is also functioning. If my head is functioning with the same logic, then why am I sitting here and why are you sitting there? No, there is no logic, which you can understand logically with which Master’s system functions. There is no logic with which you can understand logically the Master’s systems functions.

But slowly, slowly, you see same way only he walks, same way he talks, same way he eats, same way he laughs, sometimes much more than us. It almost looks the same. You start thinking the inner space, the inner programming, is also the same. That is where you miss. That is where you miss. Inner programming is not same. That is where Nisargadatha says, “I am not talking to you.” He says what you understand by the word talking is not happening in me. Just I am reflecting the movements, which are happening in you.

Whatever you want to see, you are seeing it in this body, like a mirror reflecting.

People often come and ask me, “Swamiji, many times I feel you are talking exactly to me, directly to me. It is not the public discourse. You know you are talking only to me.”

They ask me: “How did you read my mind? And are you answering all the questions, which I am having? Did you read my mind?”

I tell them, “first thing, I never do that job because I respect your privacy. Second thing is who wants to waste time with all the nonsense, which goes on in their head. Neither I am interested nor I am willing to read somebody’s mind.”

What exactly happens you know is the presence of the Master is so intense that any mind which comes and sits in front of it, just by the very presence here, your questions are answered, that’s all. Whatever questions you carry, just the answer comes out without me logically reading and answering.

Many times I ask people to talk so they will understand what their problem is, not for me to solve.

The Master’s enlightened mind does not work with the logic with which your mind is working. If you think the enlightened Master’s logic works in the same way your mind is working, you miss the whole truth. You miss even the Master. You will not be able to understand the Truth. You will not be able to raise yourself to His level. You will bring Him to your level.

In the Vedantic tradition, there is a tradition, once the disciple is initiated, he also is respected, the Master himself will do puja to the disciple, will do all the respects.

In Bharat, whenever we have a Healing Initiation, after they are initiated into healers, after the initiation, they will all be made to sit on the stage. Just like how the Guru Pooja is done to the Master, I will put garland for them, pour the water, just like Guru Pooja. I will do puja to them. After the puja, as per the tradition, I am supposed to do namaskar to the disciples

After the Healing Initiation, I used to do that. All the disciples are made to sit and I offered garland, flowers and the arati and did ashtanga namaskar.

It will be a very emotional and very strong moment where the disciples will have a shock. I have seen many disciples just open up and explode into such a strong, deep ecstasy experience. Just the Master respecting! Because your unconscious gets shaken. If that kind of a person is respecting means there is something in me also. I should look into it. And let that come up, let me experience that divinity.

But some fools miss the whole truth, the whole game.

One lady, a little egoistic, said, “Yes, yes, he can do namaskar to me; what is there? After all, he is my grandson’s age. I am elder to him. He can do the namaskar and touch the feet, nothing wrong.”

Anyway she made the comment. Then after all the programs are over, I told her, “When I do namaskar, I try to raise you to my level; but you are trying to bring me to your level.”

If she realized, “this divine being, if He is showing so much respect to me, it means, now I am also divine.”

If this is the thought process, you raise yourself to the Master’s level. That is what is expected by you having that knowledge and that initiation. Now you are expected to radiate, live the enlightenment. Live the spiritual knowledge in your life. Show that love, compassion and enlightenment in your life. Then you raise yourself to that level.

But when you start thinking with your logic, that dirty, ugly, old, idiotic logic, then naturally instead of you raising to my level, you bring me down to your level.

Understand, never ever apply your logic and judge the Master’s actions.

Afterwards I called her and told her, “You missed the whole thing that was supposed to happen in that one moment.”

I have seen it is such a strong moment, such a strong experience because your whole unconscious has to believe. See, giving a statement through the action is totally different. It is more powerful than giving a statement through words. Even if I say verbally, “You are Divine,” they think, “Okay, one more word. All right, I think he tells that everyday. What to do? Maybe that is his business and this is my business.”

When you are really shown that respect which is given to the Divine, suddenly, it is like a whip to your unconscious. You have to awaken. You have to look, “What is going on? God! Whom we respect as Master and Divine, He is respecting us back or He is falling at our feet. What is going on? How can I be qualified?” If at all, we are a little sensitive.

How to respond? That shock, suddenly you realize, “Yes, it is the respect given to the teaching and initiation. Let me carry that in my heart and grow it.”

It is not the respect given to the identity, old logic which I was carrying in my head. That means my name, my person, my profession, my habits, thinking style, and my inner infrastructure.

No, it is the respect given to my initiation, my knowledge, my new inner space, my new software. Let me start expressing it in my life. Let my inner software become hardware. That is the whole spiritual practice.

All these teachings are like a new inner software put inside your system. If you just practice it, that will become part of your hardware. That will become part of your biomemory.

Then you are living enlightenment. Whole struggle is only until it expresses, opens itself and becomes part of your biomemory, your hardware.

These are all the techniques where Masters try to awaken that inner software and making it as a part of your hardware.

If you judge Master’s software with your software, corrupted software, you will miss you and Master. There won’t be any growth. There won’t be any explosion; there won’t be any possibility for the ultimate.

So your logic is different. Master’s logic is different.

Look at things through His logic. As you are asking in this question, “my part cannot leave; I am complete. There is nowhere to go. Only ordinary person’s parts can leave.” Instead of using the condescending words, I just expressed in a very simple way. That was the reason I was telling, “just move out of the body.”

I can say that moving out of the body is one technique, or completely becoming aware of the body is another technique. Both can be a grace to you. Only being half-half is dangerous.

If you become completely aware of your whole boundary, it will bring so much grace. Or if you completely become witness to your whole body, again it will bring so much grace. But the difficulty is you are half aware and half unconscious; that is where the problem is.

Completely if you become aware, conscious of even a simple action, an ordinary action like sneezing, it can lead to enlightenment.

I can say, you will be surprised, that sneezing can lead to enlightenment.

Actually today’s sutra is that only. Mahadeva is saying, “sneeze to enlightenment.” No, literally He is saying that.

Let me enter into the sutra. Today we will work on two sutras. Try to understand. Both of them are actually subtle and subtlest. Both of them must be understood together. Because one starts in the other, Mahadeva leads us to the deeper level.

“When vividly aware through some particular sense, keep in the awareness.” This is first sutra. Understand, Mahadeva says, “When vividly aware through some particular sense, keep in the awareness.”

And the second sutra is “at the start of sneezing, during fright, in anxiety, above a chasm, flying in battle, in extreme curiosity, at the beginning of hunger, at the end of the hunger -- all these are different situations in the life -- be uninterruptedly aware and liberate yourself. ”

I think Mahadeva is almost concluding his sutras. Whatever He wants to tell, He is opening up. It is actually last part of the book. We have only a few more sutras -- maybe some thirty or forty.

That is why He is almost giving every possible technique. He says, “at the start of sneezing, during fright, in anxiety, above a chasm, flying in battle, in extreme curiosity, at the beginning of hunger, at the end of the hunger, be uninterruptedly aware and let you realize the Truth.”

The first sutra is being aware of conscious, voluntary movements. Second sutra is being aware of non-voluntary, involuntary or unconscious movements. He is asking us in the first sutra to be conscious of conscious things, movements. In second sutra involuntary things happens in you suddenly like an explosion.

First thing we need to understand is how much we are we aware of our activity everyday. If you have some strong experience which you really like, for example, even coming to the evening discourses. If this is strong experience and enjoyment, you will see that from the morning, you are pushing your day for this sitting. From the moment you get out of bed, you will start calculating, “When will I go and see Swamiji? When will I go and sit in the discourse? Still four – five hours somehow I have to push.”

You will doing things just to pass the time, just to finish the time.

Or if some business dealing is the strong experience, then you will be waiting even now to go and do that dealing.

Whatever you think is a strong experience in your life, you will spend your time to go back to that same experience again and again.

All other movements in your day look very pale, very dull and unimportant. And somehow you want to finish it off; you want to get rid of it. Somehow you want it to pass as quickly as possible. Let it be done. Let it be finished. But Mahadeva says that is the first problem.

Understand, even if you are quickly passing your time to come to the evening session, or listen to these great truths, you are wasting those few moments. Do not push your day. Do not think, “Let the time pass as quickly as possible.”

If you know you are going to meet some friend, some person with whom you feel real feeling connected, in love that night. From morning, you will be pushing the time. You will be saying, “Quick, the watch is not moving. What is happening?” Whenever you want the time to pass quickly, understand you are missing the possibility for enlightenment.

Every moment – even waiting. There is a beautiful sloka in Bhagavata. Gopikas are saying, “Oh Krishna, after some time, waiting for you has become more tasty, more juicy than seeing you. Because when we are waiting, our whole inner space is occupied by you, by your sweet memories, such an ecstatic being. When we around you also, usually the trend of the mind is jumping away from the present moment. So even when we are around you, mind starts going somewhere. But when we are away from you, mind is filled with you. We are filled by you.”

Actually if you are aware, even the moments which you are away from the Master, expecting, trying to push, to go and be with Him. even those few moments can become intense meditation. Just like it happened to the Gopikas. If you can internalize and be aware. You don’t have to push those moments. You don’t have to tell, “No, No, No, let this time go quickly. So I can go and see him.”

People tell me when I leave Bharat, “When will I see you again Swamiji? When will you come back again?”

I tell them, “Only two things can happen: either you are always with me or you never have been with me.”

Be very clear, by me moving away or you moving away, you feel there is a distance. You never tasted the Master. Or you never tasted the Divine. There will not be any gap. There will not be any distance. The communion will only get stronger and stronger. It will only become very deeper and deeper.

If you see something is missing, understand still you are on physical plane. You do not experience the Master. Maybe for so many other reasons, you may be sitting in front of him. Not pure spiritual reasons. When it a pure spiritual reasons, there is no question of missing. It will be such a strong connection.

When you are in front physically, you can see through your eyes. When you are away physically, your inner space can see through your inner eye.

The inner space will be filled with such strong sweet memories, experience and ecstasy. You do not have to bother about the distance. In your life, look, many strong experiences make your whole day a waste. Because for that half-hour or one hour, you will be sitting and waiting and disrespecting all other moments. Disrespecting the twenty-three and one-half hours for the sake of that one-half hour experience.

It may being together with some friends, some person, some object, or some pleasure, whatever it may be. If you are rushing yourself, if you are pushing your day towards that experience from morning, understand you are wasting twenty-three and one-half hours -- precious moments for the sake of one-half hour, that one experience.

Mahadeva says here, “when vividly aware through some particular sense, keep in the awareness.” Remember how much time you are aware of life this moment. Do not waste the time by pushing you for the sake of some experience, in search of one same joy, same pleasure. Live every moment intensely; be every moment in this presence. You will suddenly see, every moment miracles are happening. Every moment the internalizing is happening. Every moment new, new revelations are happening. That is what they traditionally explain by the word Shiva. Shiva means auspicious energy continuously flowing with no reason.

If you feel Shiva, the auspicious feeling, only in the presence of the Master, do not think you experience Shiva. No. The translation of the word Shiva means “causeless auspiciousness,” “reasonless ecstasy.” Even if Master is the reason, you are not experiencing the real Shiva energy. No.

I can be a starter. I can start that in you. But I should not be having the key. I can be a starter; that is okay, but I should not be having the key for that experience. It should be constant in you. That is what we call “causeless auspiciousness,” “reasonless ecstasy.” For no reason, the Shivatwa, auspiciousness, will happen in you only when you live every moment, live everything, whatever is happening, as if it was the last moment. There is not going to be any other moment. There is not going to be next step or breath available to you.

You will see. Actually if you understand this moment -- this is the last breath, this is the last breathing you are going to be doing -- suddenly you will see the depth of breathing will increase. It will reach the Muladhara. It will reach all the seven energy centers.

Anything you understand as -- “this is the last moment” -- the depth will increase.

I have always seen the last day of the discourse there will be heavy crowd. Because they know today is going to be the last day. If they know Swamiji is here, they say, “okay, if not today, tomorrow. If not tomorrow, the day after tomorrow.”

I have always seen the long programs will be less crowded. It’s the same Shiva sutras, seven days or five days. You will see the whole hall is packed and full.

Of course, this time, I am speaking for the sake of people around the world. I want this to be completed so that volumes come out and this knowledge can be useful to the millions of seekers around the world.

Usually that is the mentality, the mental setup. Only if it is really urgent: “emergency, attend that file”, otherwise let the file be in the back corner.

The urge should become urgent. Then the being will open up. Then the exploration, the seeking, will end in finding. Otherwise it will be just a professional seeking.

“When vividly aware through some particular sense, keep in the awareness.”

First sutra. Understand He says, you are inside your body: you are constantly seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching through the body. He says, just be intensely aware when you do those activities. It doesn’t seem to be very difficult, but very difficult because you are not again and again back to the awareness that you are seeing through eyes, you are smelling through the nose, you are hearing through the ears.

Understand, seeing is different. Having the awareness that you are seeing is different. When you get up from bed, from that moment, you start seeing. But having awareness that you are seeing through the eyes does not stay with you forever, for whole day. You miss that.

A small story:

One painter gets appointed by highway department. He is supposed to paint two miles of the centerline per day on the highway.

First day, he paints four miles. Supervisor was very happy. He says, “Very nice.”

Second day he paints only two miles, the supervisor says, “Okay, this is what we expected. Even this is okay.”

Third day he paints one mile. The supervisor is puzzled and asks, “What happened to you. Why only one mile?”

He says, “No. I have become further and further away from my bucket. I have gone further and further away from my paint bucket.”

Understand, you also go further and further away from your awareness, from your paint bucket. You forget to carry the paint bucket along with you. You come back and go back and you forget your paint bucket can be carried with you.

When you are living your whole day, you forget that you can come back to this moment and refresh yourself. You can relax from the whole day’s load on you.

The dust that is forcefully put on you during the whole day’s activity, you forget you can relax from it. You don’t have to go further and further away from the bucket. Everyday you can take your bucket along with you. Remembering that you can take your bucket along with you is what I call meditating and cleaning yourself and getting back to the center again, getting back to the fresh, new space again so that we can start the life.

Whoever misses that clarity of getting back to the center only they carry the load and enter into depression. Blessed are those who can update themselves everyday. Updating yourself is what I call meditation. Just sitting and deciding to unload and bringing the bucket closer to you so that you don’t have to run and run and run.

Understand we are also doing the same bucket drama. Before making one simple decision, you run to the whole bucket before painting one strip, he runs to bucket which is there in the other corner. Same way before making decision about one person, you see whole file about him for last ten years and you do not understand that the bucket can be brought near. That person has transformed. There is every possibility that he can think in a new way.

Decisions can be done in a new way. Things can be looked at a different way. You forget. Bucket is there every time you are running, running, running.

See inside you, before taking decision, how many times you are running to the bucket. Sometimes by the time you go to the bucket and dip your brush and come back, the brush is dried. And you again run, without even touching the ground. And you again run. That is what I call rajas, restlessness.

Before even making one decision, you altered, changed, disturbed that decision twenty times.

I have seen people around the world, not superficially, very closely because they come and open up their problems to me – their desires or their fears. They come and open up all those things to me. I have seen so many different mental set-ups, inner space.

I tell you, if at all, I would be given a chance by God, “which mental set-up do you want?” I would really choose only the Bharatn villager’s mental set-up.

Such a strong spontaneity. I have not seen such a strong spontaneity. The village farmer who is working physically doing agriculture in Bharatn villages carry such a strong spontaneity. And the energy to balance their body and recoup -- come back to the reality.

They carry such a straight, simple mental set-up. Sometime I wonder, without that surely their life would have been hell. But somehow whenever God puts people in some situation, He prepares them also.

When He ordains, He sustains. When God puts people in that kind of situation, He naturally balances them by giving something else. Otherwise I cannot imagine how people in that condition survive. Not just surviving, living with such a deep fulfillment, with such a deep ecstasy and joy.

The whole essence of this sutra is carry your bucket in your hand. Do not leave it where you start the painting.

Have a break, then we will enter into the other sutra. Both sutras form two parts of the same meditation technique.

In first part, you become aware of voluntary actions.

In second part, you are expected to become aware of the involuntary actions, like sneezing, hunger -- things which are beyond your logical control.

So we will come back and explore the other sutra also, then enter into the meditation technique.

We will enter into a few questions. Then we will enter into both the slokas.

Q: You told us how to establish a connection with the deities through their murtis. Can you elaborate on this?

A: The other day I was reading a beautiful article. One scientist went to the deep jungles in the Amazon forest and stayed with a group of tribals. He says they have a strange tradition of creating an effigy, a statue of someone, and healing that person through that statue. If they heal the hand, that person’s hand gets healed.

And not only that, they even kill their enemies through those statues. They create the statue of the enemies, and invoke with some mantra and traditional rituals. After thirty days, they destroy this effigy and the person is dead within three days.

They have this strange kind of belief. And not just human beings, even animal and trees. If there is some animal disturbing their village continuously, they make the effigy of that animal. For thirty days they create a connection between animal and this effigy by chanting some mantra and ritual. And after thirty days they destroy the effigy and in three days, the animal is dead.

And not once or twice. He studied three hundred times their ritual. He spent at least ten years around them. Except four times, completely everything was successful. Only four times it was a failure. Can you imagine? It means 99% success, they were able to heal or kill, disturb or damage, or help animal or human being just through the clay effigy and connecting it through some sounds and rituals.

If you can connect with the normal human being through the effigy, can’t you connect with the ultimate divine through the idol? That is the essence of our tradition of worship.

First the idol should be used as a representation of the God. Then after sometime that very idol itself will radiate that divinity. You will feel the very deity itself is God. There is no God represented by the idol. The idol itself will become God. That is the ripe devotion, intense devotion. This is the basic sutra.

Naturally your way of worship, everything will change as you evolve. In the initial level, it will be decent, formal worship. Because you think this idol represents God. And slowly, slowly you will see it becomes very intimate, not formal. That is what Ramakrishna says, “Puja should ripe into seva.”

In normal puja, once you cook, you put the fresh food in front of deity. And you offer the food to God through the idol and eat. Once it ripens and really becomes intimate, when Ramakrishna used to do puja, he would first taste the food and see if it is good food or not. And then he would put it in front of the God. It means the relationship has become mature. And the intimacy has grown. The devotion, the connection has happened.

If you evolve in your devotion, the connection also, the way in which you do worship, that also will evolve.

For example, after 10 pm, in our temples, all the deities will be put to bed. You will see in front of deities, there will be a small, small statue. In front of Vishnu, there will be small Vishnu. In front of Shiva, there will be small Shiva Meru representing Shiva energy.

They will all be put to bed. You may ask, “How God can sleep?” If He sleeps, what will happen to us? He has conquered sleep. No sleep for Him. How can God be put to sleep? If logically we see, we will end up with that confusion. That devotion, that relationship is not logically analyzing, feeling, thinking that idol represents God. The intimacy has grown.

So it is no more puja; it is seva. The advaita will not be useful anymore. A deep relationship, personal connection will start happening. That is the deeper level experience.

So I can’t say something is lower or higher. Puja is also beautiful as long as it is useful. Seva is wonderful when that is the way your heart feels connected. It is like different steps. For logical mind, they will not be able to feel connected to seva.

The other day I was telling the story of that lady bringing food and feeding Krishna. You can’t imagine. And the same way, I told you about how I took a brick, thinking it was an ordinary brick and put my head on it, and started lying down. And that villager came running, “How dare you sleep on my Shiva!”

From the Advaitic standpoint, the person who is sleeping, the pillow and the villager all are Shiva.

There is another story. Once there was a great, enlightened lady, her name is Avvaiyar. She lived in Tamil Nadu. One day she was sitting and stretching her leg toward Shiva in the temple. The priest came and told her, “Move your legs. You are turning towards Shiva. Turn it to the other side.”

She was an elderly, enlightened lady and said, “I am too tired. Why don’t you put my leg where the God is not there.”

This priest. with all the anger, he just pushed her leg with a stick towards the other direction and the Shiva linga turned towards that direction. And he pushed her leg in the other direction. Again Shiva linga turned towards that direction. Because Shiva is in that consciousness.

All you need is authenticity with your heart; that’s all.

The story about putting the brick under my head and farmer who came running, this is truth. And this story of Avvaiyar pointing her leg and the Shiva Linga turning towards that direction is also true. Both are true. Because we were completely, authentically connected with our emotion. It was clear. At this bhava, this attitude, that was the truth.

Avvaiyar was in a complete realization. She was completely connected. She was constantly radiating the experience of the ultimate. Still this Shiva temple is there near Salem. You will see every direction God will be there. Because He turned for the sake of Avvaiyar every direction.

Shiva is in that state authentically. So naturally the deity responded to that state. So all you need to do is be authentic in whatever state you are in now.

If you feel now like doing formal worship, do that. If you feel so intimately connected, have a deity in your home, and do whatever you feel like. There is no rule for you. There is no bhava for you. You are beyond visualization or rules or regulations. There is no rule for you. It is like living with the divine. It is like seva.

Of course, in our Bangalore ashram, every morning, for Anandeswara, they give oil for hair and tooth powder. Then they will do song for waking up. They will sing for the divine, “Please wake up and bless us all.” It is like good morning.

One day, this pujari forget. That night Anandeswara appeared and asked, “Where is my toothbrush? Where is my toothpaste?” That guy had the shock.

And not only that, they use the fan at end of aarti. I always tell them that the fan should not be kept on ground; if kept on the ground, there will be dust. And when you do fanning with that, naturally you will sneeze. If you do that for me, naturally I will sneeze. So you should be careful when you do seva for deity, also. Because the pujas done in monasteries and done by the unpaid priest is a seva.

When it is just paid and a job, it is a puja, formal.

But all our temples, we are fortunate to have our own spiritual seekers, swamis, who are trained in the traditional puja. It is a life for them. It is living with the divine. He is not doing puja seeing and looking who is coming and what is falling on the plate.

If it were a paid job, naturally when you are looking at deity’s face, you will see George Washington whose face is printed on dollar. What to do? It is a natural difficulty. That is why in those days, priests were taken care of by kings. They were never paid employees. Of course, anyhow that is a different tradition.

In the ancient tradition of Bharat, even doctors were never paid. If someone falls sick, more work for them. Whether people fall sick or not, they are paid. Every month, they got their share. So if people fall sick, more work, but same payment. So naturally they would pray, “Let people not fall sick. Let everyone be healthy.”

So this guy one day did not clean that fan. He fanned. That night in his dream, he saw such a huge deity sneeze, “Achh!” This fellow had the shock of his life. He ran to temple and prayed. He sent me an email, “Swamiji, what has happened?”

I said, “It is okay. In Ayurvedic tradition, we have something to get rid of the cough and cold, just offer that as a remedy. Don’t do this once more.” Because the attitude is so strong, he responds to it.

In Bhagavad Gita, a beautiful sloka says, “Whatever attitude you may have, whatever form you may worship I accept. I appear to you in that same form; I respond to you in that same mode.”

There is another wonderful story, which I always love. It happened in Varanasi, the main pilgrimage center of Hindu tradition. It was the traditional university. It was oldest city of Bharat, Bharat. Even now the floating population is 300,000 per day. People enter or leave that city for pilgrimage purpose. Traditionally it is believed that all Hindus should visit that temple at least once in their life.

It happened there. The so-called untouchable or so-called person who cannot be initiated, but very highly qualified. He is uneducated, but he has evolved himself. He wants to have initiation from a local priest, but he is afraid to ask.

The priest himself was a highly evolved soul; he would not have said, “No” if that person had asked.

But anyhow, this guy decided to have a tricky way of initiation.

Usually initiation is done by guru putting foot on head of disciple and utter a mantra.

Now in modern day, of course, we put the hand and give the mantra; otherwise it looks too disrespectful.

Every morning, priest comes to take bath in the Ganga. So early morning, it will be very dark. This poor guy thinks, “I will lie down on steps of Ganga. And naturally the priest will step on me.” And usually people who are living in a high mood, even if they make small mistake, they will say, “Om Namah Shivaya” or “Ram, Ram.” Some God’s name only will come out. Even if they slip and fall, they will only say, “Ram Ram” or “Shiva” or something.

So this guy thinks, “Even if he slips on me, he will put his leg on me and naturally he will utter, ‘Shiva or Rama’ and I will take that as initiation and start practicing.”

But unfortunately, the day he lay down, this priest did not come. His disciple came to take a bath. That disciple was not a seeker; and he is there just for the sake of food.

So the disciple came walking. The whole scene happened as the poor guy expected. He put foot and missed; slipped. But after all, this guy is not constantly repeating the God’s name inside the mind. Only if you are constantly repeating that name, when you slip also, that same name will come out.

But after all, this guy is not constantly repeating God’s name. What he will do, he shouted, “Hey Buffalo.” Instead of saying, “Ram or Krishna,” he shouted, “Buffalo.”

But anyhow, this poor guy was very sincere. He said, “whatever is said and done, I think it is Shiva’s guidance. That is why the guru did not come. Disciple came. But I had my initiation.” He took that as initiation.

His sincerely was such that, he sat on banks on Ganges continuously for twelve years. Even now, if you go to the Ganga, you will see one temple that is a little imbalanced. That is constructed in such a way. Because on that step only, the disciple got imbalanced and initiated. Still the temple is there.

This guy sat and started chanting, “Buffalo, Buffalo, Buffalo” from morning til night. Sincerely, visualizing the golden-colored buffalo with all the divine qualities. His sincerity was such that Shiva did appear and give darshan in form of buffalo.

The story does not end here. Every Diwali day, the Shiva deity will be brought from the small entrance temple outside for puja.

He also went for that Diwali program. They are trying to bring the deity. Some four or five feet height entrance. They are trying to bring the deity through that. See deity size is smaller than entrance, but deity is not coming out. It is stuck somewhere. This side and that side. The priests are turning this way, turning that way. It is not coming out. But there is a lot of clearance.

This guy shouts, “His horns are hitting the wall. Bring it down, lower it down a little bit.” This means he is seeing Shiva in form of Buffalo. He is able to see. But the priests only see the small deity. Because he is having that vision, the buffalo is not able to come out of that small entrance.

He shouting from behind, “Lower the deity a little bit. Then the deity will come out.” The priests are not able to understand. They shouted at him, “Keep quiet. What are you saying?”

But the poor guy said, “No I am seeing.” The priests tried their best to bring the murti out. No, they were unable to bring.

This guy was not able to tolerate seeing Shiva’s horn hitting the entrance again and again whenever they tried. He rushes and just pushes the deity a little down and deity comes out.

Even now in memory of this great saint, his name is Ramdas, still now there is a beautiful buffalo picture stitched in silken robe hanging in the shrine with his photo with that. The devotion and the respect, feeling connected. Whatever may be the form, He comes down and blesses.

Still the story is remembered every year when they bring the deity out of the temple. And when the deity comes near the entrance, the puja is done in memory of that saint, Ramdas. Then the deity is brought out.

It is the authentic intensity. That is the essence of the whole worship.

Q: In one of your DVDs, when someone asked about karma, you said, “Let me spell, it is B U L L S H I T.” Why enlightened one says something like that? Please forgive me for asking this.

A: You see you are hypocrite! Either you should say courageously, I am challenging you, “Why an enlightened one should say this word?” Start with that!

Then why do you want me to forgive you? Who put the question? I think now the person will not say.

If you actually challenge me, I am all out ready to answer. I have no problem. You should be very clear: Are you a seeker? Are you a devotee?

You should be very clear, are you a real honest seeker? Then you should have courage, stand up. I will answer. If you are just a complete devotee, then you will not have this problem.

Whatever comes out of Master is such a wonderful thing; it is such a free-flowing thing. You will not bother. So it should come out. Only then can I answer you as the right bhava.

Either you should have put your name. Or you should at least now say.

If you don’t want to reveal your identity, then you are not a seeker. Then you are just a poker. That is a true thing. A seeker will stand up behind his doubt. He will be very courageous, “Yes, I had that doubt. Now I am asking you.” You have full right.

See the moment I sit in this throne and declare, “I am here to answer your question.” You have the right to ask. You are a seeker! It’s your freedom. You have the right.

But, if you don’t want to open your identity, if you don’t want to say you are the person who is asking the question, then you are a hypocrite. Then you are a hypocrite. Understand, you should be very clear whether you really need an answer or you are just making some passer-by comment.

What do you want?

I think the person is not here. Or he does not want to be here now.

All right, but I will answer. First thing, let me tell you a beautiful story. Then you may be able to understand.

Ramakrishna used to use a very simple, but very village, dirty language, very dirty language. He is not highly so-called cultured or the edited words. Whatever he learned at a young age, whatever he heard from others at a young age, he just uses straight away, bluntly to convey the point.

So at some point, He makes an innocent, dirty joke mentioning some parts of the body. One disciple asks, “what is this, you are an enlightened being. You are making such a dirty joke.”

Ramakrishna says, “No, no, I just made joke. You made it dirty.”

And not only that, the worst part is, Ramakrishna says, “if I tell eyes, it is dirty?”

The disciple says, “No.”

Ramakrishna says, “Same way I told about that part, also. What is there? For me the whole thing is body. I don’t have something separately dirty or right. It is you carry the dirt in your mind, not me.”

So understand only an enlightened person will be simple and straightforward, innocent to utter exactly what he feels.

I just wanted to drive that point deeply in you, do not waste your time thinking, uselessly analyzing karma. Just go into the next things to be done further. That’s all.

All I wanted to tell you get this same thing out of your head because you are not honest.

Q: Can someone become enlightened by constantly listening to discourses and receiving energy darshan?

A: Sure, only thing, not just constantly, but consciously sit here with authenticity. Surely the person who wrote question and is afraid to now admit he wrote the question. I don’t think even if you are here for months or years, you will be near me.

There is a beautiful example. The calf will go near the cow only one-half hour per day; only half-hour, it will be allowed. But it will drink the milk and come back. But the fly will be sitting on the cow twenty-four hours. It will drink only the blood, not the milk.

You may be physically sitting twenty-four eyes, but if you are not open, honest, straight, you will be like the fly drinking only blood, not milk.

If you are open, straight, even half an hour like the calf, you may come and sit, but you will drink the milk, get the real juice and go.

Using the logic in a right way, representing the Being as it is. See, the words which I utter, when you have the relaxed inner space, straight inner space, it will straightaway go inside.

Let me very clear, whatever I say, if I make one hundred statements, for all of you fifty will be your experience and fifty will be hypothesis. Half will be already what you know and half will be something which is not your experience.

The person who is open and available, he will always look at the fifty, this is my experience.” the other fifty also is going to become my experience. This is my reality. Then other fifty will become my reality. He will receive insight.

But the person who is closed, arrogant, hypocrite, he will think, “Oh, this fifty is not my experience. Then the other fifty is also not going to be my experience. The other fifty is also not truth.”

“The fifty percent is not truth. Oh something. I think feel connected. The other fifty is also okay, that is all.”

There cannot be anyone here for whom 100% whatever I utter can be experience or 100% whatever I utter can be nonexperience. Because I am leading you from the known to the unknown, beyond knowing. From the known, you are being led to beyond knowing. So naturally fifty percent will be your experience and fifty percent of the statements will be leading you to the beyond experience.

So your inner space, if you are conscious, relaxed, very connected and not bothered by this ordinary, simple word, B U L L S H I T. If it is hurting you so much, I think you must be carrying it in your head.

If someone tells you, “You swindled millions of dollars in some corruption,” you will not get angry.

But if someone tells you, “You are a person constantly getting irritated,” immediately you will get angry. Because the second statement carries some truth.

The first statement, you are sure it does not have any truth. The second statement has some truth.

So if you are getting a little disturbed, maybe there is some truth in that.

A small story dedicated to person who did not put his name on the question.

One day, a guy, I think the same guy, goes to the Bar, about to order a drink. There comes a homeless bum, the guy who doesn’t have money.

The bum comes there and asks, “Sir, can you give me a dollar?”

He says, “If I give you the dollar, will you drink?”

The bum says, “No, sir.”

The man asks, “Will you gamble?”

“No sir, surely not.”

“Will you use it for drugs? No, sir. I neither drink, gamble or use drugs. I don’t do all these things, sir.”

The guy asks, “Will you come with me to my house?”

The bum asks, “Why?

The guy says, “I wanted to show and tell my wife what happens to people who don’t drink, gamble or use drugs.”

Understand, you can use the same logic for different purpose. When I utter that word, I wanted to convey a strong truth to you. You can understand that word and take that message and understand what I really want to convey. That can also happen.

Or you can start in, “How can an enlightened being utter this word? I think he is not enlightened.”

Or you have your own idea about enlightenment.

Actually I should ask you, “How should an enlightened person behave? Please give me the manual.”

Because only an enlightened person knows how he should behave. And surely not the person who cannot even put his name when he asks a question.

Someone asked me, “Swamiji, where did you get all these stories?” And not only stories, coming out in proper time.

Actually that can happen. All you need to do is do not carry an idea of impressing somebody. Suddenly you will see so much of freedom is available in you.

The ideas will beautifully fall in shape, when you start expressing.

Just be very clear.

Many people ask me, “how to be an orator or a spontaneous person giving so many different ideas so beautifully? And please give us some sessions about how to teach?” Especially my teachers ask me.

All you need to do: first talk only what you strongly believe and experience. Never touch the subject which you just half doubt and half thing. Do not try to convince the people about things which you are not convinced. You will miss the game.

Talk only the things what is your strong experience. And if some place, if it is not your experience, be very clear and honest to tell that.

Do not have the stress or the pain of impressing others. Just open up and make yourself available. Express as you are. You will see your authenticity, the honestly which you radiate in your eyes, the courage which is expressed in your body language that will straightaway penetrate into that person. Whatever is your experience will become their experience.

Why do the so-called traditional preachers have the podium up to their neck?

Because they don’t want people to see they are stammering.

I always see that nothing is there between me and the disciples, me and the people who are listening. Because the courage and honesty of the Master’s body language must enter you, must penetrate you.

Only 2% of what I want to say I am conveying through words. 98% comes out in the body language, in the honesty and the strength, which is expressed in the body language and through the eyes.

When vividly aware through some particular sense, keep in the awareness. This is the first sutra.

The second sutra: at the start of sneezing, during fright, in anxiety, above a chasm, flying in battle, in extreme curiosity, at the beginning of hunger, at the end of the hunger, (I may add one word: “when cop stops you”)be uninterruptedly aware and liberate yourself. Because Mahadeva is talking about situations which was there in His time, we can add one or two more which really takes you away, which shakes you. Please be uninterruptedly aware during all these moments and realize the Truth.

Let me bring out the science, the rationality behind this sutra.

See the sneezing, hunger, or escaping from a fear – from the place -- means your body is filled with adrenalin. All these moments are involuntary. Not under your logical control. It means your whole being is involved. Whatever you know as you. Everything is involved.

Understand, in those moments, if you can be aware, suddenly the unclutching will happen.

There are only two traditions in the world. The whole spirituality can be classified as two traditions: the traditions that gradually leads you to enlightenment and the traditions which gives you the sudden experience of enlightenment.

The Tantra, Shaivite traditions, the teachings of Shiva, give techniques for sudden enlightenment

That is why He is so practical. That is why His book has not become popular. Anything that is practical will never become popular. Please understand. Because practical means you need to do something. Practical means you need to be doing straightaway things which you cannot afford to.

Understand, everyone wants to talk about weather because they don’t need to do anything. They can’t to anything and they do not need to do anything.

But start talking about things they can contribute some way, they can do, they can alter. Then nobody wants to listen. Then nobody wants to talk.

The difficulty is the practical things are not marketable. Here Mahadeva is giving a very practical technique. Everyday you are going to face hunger. Hope. Because many people make eating as a routine. They do not wait for hunger to happen in the system.

One more important thing we should know. Hunger does not happen from navel center. Hunger happens from throat center. We never allow or we never have that awareness from where that hunger starts originating.

We are made to believe it starts from the navel. And the moment you see a little uneasiness, you start thinking it comes from navel. No.

The first subtle signal starts from throat center, Vishuddhi. That is the place where the feeling starts, the moment energy goes down. You see the first layer energy is coming down to reserve level. This is the place, like a fuel meter. If you want to open the second level energy also only, you have to work on Vishuddhi.

If the first level energy is coming down to the reserve level also, the signal will be given here only. But we are not that sensitive to see the signal. Maybe you can try fasting for one day.

Surely we won’t die if we don’t eat one day. If we are really healthy. And of course, let me put a disclaimer here itself: “Consult your doctor.” I have to put a disclaimer, “Ask your doctor if enlightenment is right for you before you start practicing.”

There are many ads -- medicines the doctors prescribe for their families --which means which they themselves trust. This is a technique which I myself trust. That is why I prescribe for my family. I tell all my swamis to practice this technique once every fifteen days. I ask them, do not eat from sunrise to sunset on Pradosham day, one day before new moon or full moon. There are so many other reasons for it. Because that is the day very easily the cleansing will happen, physical and the engram level, both.

You can try the next Pradosham: one day before the new moon or one day before the full moon. Try. Do not eat and do not drink, also. I have seen people drink three liters of milk, nicely boiled and reduced to one-half a liter, and ten bananas and they say they are fasting. And sometime some other snacks, if you go somewhere outside, here and there.

Anyhow, not that fasting. No drinking or eating. You may take a little water; that is all.

Just sit for whole day with awareness: where the hunger starts. See throughout, the hunger raising in your system. Then you will have irritation, and all kinds of low mood thoughts: “what nonsense I am doing. I am feeling hungry and you are not giving food.” All these conflicts. That is the initial thing that will happen.

Then slowly it will turn. The number of thoughts will come down. Slowly you will see the intensity, the power of thoughts over you, will come down.

I tell you twelve hours is too long a time. At least, just one glimpse of silence you will experience. I can say, one satori guarantee in twelve hours. Actually we do this practice in Bharat also with Panchatapas. Panchatapas is same thing. For twelve hours, they cannot eat. They sit in center of fire circle. So they cannot go out and they will be monitored. And constantly they will be aware of what is happening inside the system.

See if you are really sincere, try some of these techniques once in a while. You will see so many new things will open in you; so many new understandings will happen in you. Just twelve hours. Once the sun sets, you can eat.

Til sunrise to sunset, just sit. Do not be watching TV. Then your whole awareness will be in TV not in what is happening inside your system. Not only you should be hungry. You should not be entertaining yourself in some other engagement, some other distraction. You should be completely aware of whatever is happening in your system.

One more thing, sneezing you cannot even expect when it will come. Human beings are so powerless that they can neither will a sneeze or stop a sneeze. You can’t will and you can’t stop.

Try your best. Many people don’t want anyone to see the face, the different movements the face is taking. They call it astavakra, all the eight turnings the face is taking. They will try their best to cover or whatever. But you cannot stop.

When next time, you are about to sneeze, don’t get ready to say, “God bless you.” Be prepared. You will see God blesses you. That moment can be used. Be aware. Just close your eyes and be aware. See how it is raising. How your whole body is getting prepared.

Understand, in a strong sneeze, one moment, your mind stops.

That is why using snuff has become an addiction habit. Why? When you use the snuff powder, you will sneeze. That gives you sort of a relief, a glimpse of that settlement and no-mind state. One moment. That is why using snuff is a deeper addictive habit than smoking. This is worst habit than smoking. Because it gives you a big relief.

You are again and again inspired to have that taste. Don’t use snuff powder.

Next time you are about to sneeze, just witness. Just create a distance. Close your eyes. Just see how it gets created. It is rolling in your system, and coming to the peak, your whole being is now squeezed and now, “Acch.” The release happens. The whole pressure building and that big relief. In that gap, you will see a deep sense of relaxation.

If it consciously experienced, just by remembering the sneezing, you will be able to get back to that silence. Sneezing will become like a key.

When you add that one moment silence with awareness during the sneezing or the adrenalin release, here Mahadeva says beautifully: during fright, in anxiety, above a chasm, flying in battle. Flying in battle means what? When you get the voice from the kitchen, “Honey!” Just be aware. In the initial level, it will be, “Honey!” Then it will be, “Listen!”

Anyhow, “flying in battle” – when the adrenalin release happens, when swadhistana is awakened, when swadhistana is shaken, awakened, “in extreme curiosity” that will happen so many times in our life. In extreme curiosity, that means you are waiting for some important person to come. You have never seen him, but you have heard so much about him. He is coming to your place. You will so curious: how will he be? How graceful he will be? Or how his actions are going to be? That extreme curiosity. Even at that moment, the moment he comes inside, you will see you are thrown back to your center and you are relaxed.

That is why so many people feel a high reduction in their thoughts per second (TPS), when they have the first darshan of the Master. The first glimpse of the Master suddenly puts you silence, puts you back to your center and a strong ecstasy because even those moments if you are aware, you can go back. Especially when you have darshan of Master, you don’t have to be aware. His awareness itself creates awareness in you, His awareness creates fire in you. That is why you are thrown back to your center.

At beginning of hunger and end of hunger -- one more thing -- strongly the hunger will be awakened and spread in your body within a muhurta, one and one-half hours. One muhurta is the maximum time it will take for your hunger to begin and end. Even if you do not give food or water, within one and one-half hours, your system will automatically create awareness and settle down. It will not send you signals of irritation, worry, low mood, which are the side effects of hunger. You will not have those symptoms.

Within one muhurta, the hunger will settle down. Your system will relax. Please understand, when you do the fast, hope you will be doing, next Pradosham day: sit when the hunger begins, the moment you feel the hunger starts, please do not move for at least next one and one-half hours. You can sit in a very comfortable way in a chair. Do not distract yourself. Do not lie down. Just sit. Witness where it is starting. Where is the space or which chakra in the body it is starting? It is gaining its momentum. It is sending you the message.

Actually you can diagnose your biomemory by fasting. The first signals that come to you is the first layer of biomemory you have, whether it is irritation, or something like an inability to do something, inferior feeling, or then the anger towards yourself, or the next feeling, slowly the courage to face, “let me face, what is there?” Then the next feeling will be the silence.

You can diagnose the layer of your biomemory when you are fasting. During fasting, your whole being will be available to you. During digestion your whole being will not be available, because half of your energy is already engaged in digesting the food which you have eaten. Even while you mobilize all people living with you, all the family members, half the crowd will not be there because they are busy with the other work.

But when you are fasting, all the fellows will be at your disposal. They will all be sitting in front of you and listening to your words, waiting for your words with the awareness.

Just witness that one and one-half hours; see how the hunger is gaining the momentum, going to the peak and slowly falling into the silence.

Same way -- whenever the adrenalin release happens, or when your are extremely curious for some experience, or during the sneezing, all these moments -- be uninterruptedly aware.

Today Mahadeva is giving two different techniques, but the same message. The first message is be aware of your conscious moments like seeing or touching somebody. If you are touching somebody, see how many square centimeter area of your body is touching that person. Be aware, alive only in those few square centimeters. All other parts of the body, forget about it. Just forget. Be alive only in that part, that few square centimeters.

Suddenly you will see that part has become alive intensely.

If any part of your body becomes alive intensely just by your awareness, that will lead to higher consciousness.

If it becomes alive through external experience, it will lead you to dullness. That is why the tenth sweet will not be so sweet, so tasty because the sweet comes by external object.

The tongue comes to life by the external object touching it. If the same tongue comes to life by the awareness, you will see it leads to higher consciousness.

So first step is being aware in conscious actions. Second step is being aware in involuntary actions. These are the two powerful methods Mahadeva is giving for sudden enlightenment. That means catching the glimpse suddenly, catching the thread, catching the truth, catching the core suddenly.

Of course, you will only be able to practice this technique when sneezing happens only when anxiety happens, only when extreme curiosity happens.

Sneezing, during fright, in anxiety, above a chasm, flying in battle, in extreme curiosity, at the beginning of hunger, at the end of the hunger: these are the situations – use, be aware and catch the truth, the glimpse and experience.

Let you all experience, achieve and radiate the Eternal Bliss. Nithyandam.