Catch The Right Guru For Liberation

Let's enter into the next Sutra:

pratyaksha anumana agamanah...agamah pramanani pratyaksha anumana agamah pramanani

It's a beautiful Sutra. It means, here Patanjali is describing more detailed way on each topic. He is describing what is right knowledge, separately. What is wrong knowledge? What is imagination? What is sleep? What is memory? He is describing in a very deep way. Because people ask, "Yes Swamiji, we know all these five can lead to suffering or joy. How to use them to lead to joy? How to use them?" Here, Patanjali is giving you, a description about each and every item and how to use them towards joy, towards raising your energy.

Please understand, all these five, right knowledge, wrong knowledge, memory, imaginations, sleep can be- all these five can be used to increase your energy and reduce your energy. Either they can bring you miracle powers, extraordinary energies or they can make you more and more dull, dead, depressed, sober. Imagination can straight away be used. Now scientists are saying, if you constantly tell your kids, "You are dull, you are dull, you are dull." They will become dull. If you are constantly praising them, "You are bright, you are bright, you are bright." They will become bright.

One beautiful incident: in Ramakrishna's life, when His young disciple, Vivekananda, used to come to Him. Ramakrishna will constantly repeat, "You are Incarnation of Shiva and Vishnu. You are Incarnation of Naranarayana. You are Incarnation of God." Disciple used to asked him, the other disciples, "What is this? He is a young boy who is going to the college. You are saying, ‘He is Incarnation of God. How can it be?’" Ramakrishna says, "Don't bother about that. Just by my word He will become. He will achieve that state. He will start living that state." Whoever you strongly believe, whatever they say will mold your personality, will mold your personality. That is why I always tell people catch the right Guru.

(03:24) He will constantly remind you, "You are the ultimate, you are God, you are living in the eternal energy." He will constantly remind you about your original state. There are two states in you, one is your original state, the Divine State, another one is the cloud which covers you. If you catch the right Guru, He will constantly tell you, ‘You are Divine.’ Because He is in the Divine State. If you catch the wrong Guru, He will constantly tell you, ‘You are covered by cloud’, because He is covered by cloud. He is in the state of cloudy state. So catch the right person. Catching the right Guru almost does 80% of your job. I can't say 80, I think 90%. No, not even 90, 100%.

(04:25) If you catch the right Guru and He also catches you, work is done, that's all. Now nothing else is needed. You need only one thing- hammock and lie down. Swing in your hammock, you are on your way to Enlightenment. Swing your way to Enlightenment. If you catch the right Guru and He also catches you, work is done. Because He will constantly kindle your right imagination. He will constantly make you understand the right truth. Understand working on imagination and all you don't need separate time.

(05:11) Sometimes people come and ask Me, especially the close devotees, "Swamiji, in other organizations more and more they get involved, they practice too many practices. They do lot of practice. They spend too much of time in spiritual practices. With us the more we get involved, we don't practice anything at all. Even one or two meditations we are doing, Nithya Dhyaan or anything, we stop. We don't practice. What is this?" Please understand, those Gurus do not know how to use the power of your imagination. I am rightly using your power- your imagination, because of that 24-hours you are in meditation.

(05:57) Your right idea you carry about you is a 24-hour imagination. 24-hour that imagination gets strengthened in you. 24-hour you are meditating. 24-hour you are growing towards the higher Consciousness. There are two kinds of teachings: one, teaching you, ‘you are a beggar. Beg everyday, only then you can become millionaire.’ Then what you will do? Everyday you will do three Pranayam or three-hours Pranayam. Either three Pranayam or three-hours Pranayam. It's more or less like begging. But are you ever seen a person begging penny-by-penny, dollar-by-dollar becoming billionaire or millionaire, no! It can never happen because what he makes everyday he has to spend for his survival. So this is one kind of practice, Sadhana.

If you look at them they will- you will see that they are very serious. Whole day they will be closing their nose and blowing the nose; doing all kinds of practices, standing upside down, topsy-turvy. Doing all kinds of Asanas, Pranayam, this, that. They can't waste even 10-minutes. They won't waste even 10-minutes. Even when they talk they will use measured words. When they get some time they will close their eyes and sit. Even that few minutes they don't want to waste. They will close their eyes and sit. I have seen very foolish ideas being taught to people. I have seen one group teaches their disciples: the more you keep your eyes open, the more energy you will lose. No, really. And those poor guys whenever they get even two-three minutes break. When they don't have any...anything to do directly, they close their eyes and sit.

Morrows, long faced. Wrong imagination, using the imagination to create more and more bondage. But instead the other side. The right Guru, He teaches, ‘You are already Enlightened. Nothing else needs to be done.’ The moment this thought is strongly put inside a person, he starts behaving like that. He starts living like that. He starts exp...he starts experiencing that courage. He starts experiencing the confidence. Even when one or two hurdles which comes, he handles them with that confidence, with that courage, with that brightness, with that knowledge, with that energy, with that enthusiasm. And he lives Enlightened.

(09:02) I am not interested in teaching you, first wrong concept that you are a beggar. Then second wrong concept: you have to beg only then you can become millionaire, no! Already you are millionaire. Not only millionaire, billionaire, trillionaire and what not. All you need is remember it, reclaim it. Live, remembering, reclaiming, living is all you need. So you are complete. That is why with our Sangha, with our group the more and more you are connected; the more and more you feel connected and more and more you come close, less and less Sadhana, less and less practices because, I am using your very imagination. Your 24-hours becomes a spiritual practice. You don't need separate practice.

(10:14) Here Patanjali is expressing beautifully. First, He is talking about right knowledge. Understand, what is right knowledge? Pratyaksha anumana agamah, it's a beautiful word: pramanani Pratyaksha anumana agamah pramanani. Means perception through senses, conclusions arrived at through that cognition, the words of an Enlightened Master are the three ways to gain correct knowledge. Direct perception, inference and competent evidence, constitute, right knowledge. It's very difficult to translate these Sanskrit words like Agama, Pramana. That is why I am using, I am using a book which has twelve translations. And I have My own translation. (11:33)

I am referring, it's a beautiful book. I wanted to give the credit and thank Mr. Salvatore Zambita, the author of this book. The book is: The Unadorned Thread of Yoga. It's a wonderful book. He has compiled different 12-translations. See each Master has translated this aphorism from His understanding. So he has compiled 12-translations, which can really give the complete or comprehensive idea about how these Sutras are perceived, understood. So I have My own translation. Apart from that I refer all these 12-translations. So that whichever suits or whichever is more close to the original Sutra, I am trying to use that translation. (12:40)