“Q: ‘I have been practicing yoga, chanting and meditation since 1984.”

Q: ‘I have been practicing yoga, chanting and meditation since 1984. I have had numerous spiritual experiences yet I am still not enlightened. What do I need to do to obtain the final Enlightenment?’

A: I think...the question from professional seekers. Seeking is a profession for them, seeking is life. Understand, the urge should become urgent. These spiritual experiences gives you a sort of an idea, ‘I think now it is enough. We are really doing well.’

The traditions which teach us the gradual Enlightenment, they contributed really a lot. It can be really an inspiring way for starting for a new seekers, but these gradual paths have a danger. They will not give you that ultimate break, the ultimate opening.

There are two major traditions. I can say all spiritual traditions can be classified in these two. One is the tradition which gives gradual progress. Slowly, slowly there will be clear cut defined path - yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, very logical. It will appeal for the normal mind. You can start and slowly progress, progress, progress, progress, continue to progress. Easy to start, difficult to end. But there are some other traditions especially this Vijnana Bhairava Tantra or the Shiva Sutras. This book is all about the techniques which gives straight away Enlightenment, but starting will be little difficult because logically you can’t feel connected. Very simple things, Mahadeva says very clearly can lead you to Enlightenment, especially yesterday’s Sutra.

Yesterday’s Sutra says, ‘Be intensely aware when the sneezing happens to you, you will become enlightened.’ Practically He says, just a sneezing can lead you to Enlightenment. How can you believe? Logically you will not be convinced, logically you can’t understand. You can go on listening and you can go on sneezing. You may catch cold, not Enlightenment. There are some method, some techniques which gives you sudden Enlightenment like Shiva Sutras but, one important thing you need with this sudden Enlightenment technique is the courage and feeling connected.

With the professional seekers the big problem is, whenever professional seekers come, I speak everything related to society, social but never spirituality. Because unfortunately, they lost the respect for Masters’ words. The professional seekers, they will be checking Me also out. I always take care that I am politically correct with them, receiving, taking care and the whole thing, and the all the discussions about the society and everything, but never spirituality. They lost sensitivity for the Enlightened Beings’ words. Too many Gurus and too many words when you hear. Actually, one great advantage with too many Guru system is, constantly the inspiration is kept alive but one disadvantage is, people don’t stay with one Master and go till the end, go till the end.

Whenever people come and ask Me, ‘Swamiji, can I go to this Master, learn from that Master?’ I always tell them, ‘Go to all gardens and pluck best flowers and make a garland for you.’ It is the teaching given to the people who are just starting in the initial level, no other way. But with this kind of a lifestyle, you will become a professional seeker. You will have some experience here, some experience there, wonderful, okay but the final break, the final opening, no other way. It has to be only from one Being, or one Master.

That final opening needs a very strong commitment, means it is practically like Master and disciple both of them commit with each other and start working. It is literally a spiritual surgery removing the ego. If Master starts doing that job, these guys will start looking into the other windows, start looking into the other direction.

There is a beautiful story, between Mahavira and Buddha. Both of them had tremendous respect for the other person. Buddha will never stretch the leg towards the direction where Mahavira is travelling, and Mahavira will always do namaskar everyday morning towards the direction where Buddha is travelling. But both of them will be criticising about each other publicly. One day, somebody asked Buddha, ‘You don’t even stretch your leg towards the direction where Mahavira is travelling, but why do you constantly criticise?’ Beautifully Buddha says, ‘Because the disciples on whom I am working, they will start running there if I acknowledge Him. The moment I acknowledge Him, they will run away. They will neither grow here nor there. If He acknowledges me the same crowd which is there, the so-called dissatisfied crowd, they will jump and come here.’

The professional seeking brings some difficulties. Maybe you must be having few qualities of professional seeking- constantly judging, analyzing the Master’s words and applying only as much as your logic accepts.

I always tell people, ‘When you leave your shoes there, please leave whatever you learnt about these words, not spirituality. Whatever you learnt about spirituality would have become part of you. It would have become juice in you. That you don’t have to leave and you can’t leave but the words which you are carrying in your head, if you leave it and come inside, if I utter the same words, you will give the meaning which I am giving for those words, not the meaning which you are carrying for the same words.

You are supposed to use My dictionary for the words which I am uttering, not your dictionary for the words which I am uttering. So maybe some quality of professional seeking, when it happens in you, you will not see that final opening happening, the final experience happening. Relax from that professional seeking, relax from that judging the Master’s words and choosing from Master’s words and following it. Then you will see the final Enlightenment happens to you.