“Namo arihantanam namo sidhanam namo arharianum namo uvajaianam (chant…”

Jain Sutra – True Knowledge

Namo arihantanam namo sidhanam namo arharianum namo uvajaianam (chant at beginning, my Sanskrit is too elementary to transcribe this)

Today’s topic is true knowledge. Everybody, every master, every spiritual person claims what they are teaching is the true knowledge. How to find out what we are hearing is the true knowledge? There should be a scale for satya. There should be a scale for truth. What is truth? There should definition. There should be clear idea with which we can find out whether it is truth or not. Mahavira is giving the touchstone definition of satya here.

Today we are going to enter into satya sutra. He is giving the techniques, methods, to find out what you are listening is true knowledge or not through these beautiful sutras. Before entering into Mahavira’s sutras I want to discuss few things about this truth, so that you will understand the greatness of Mahavira’s words. See, one beautiful thing, Mahavira’s lived chatrya life, the life of a king. To tell you honestly, if somebody has renounced the life of a king he has seen the truth in reality.

Please understand, an ordinary beggar becoming a swami or renouncing the world, he has nothing to renounce, he has nothing to renounce. You can’t even say he has renounced the world, or he has achieved something. No.

A king renouncing, that is the greatness. King achieving. One more thing, when a king achieves enlightenment, even his expression will be very sharp and to the core, to the point.

He will speak to the point, because basically he is brought up without fear. King is a guy who only creates fear in others. He doesn’t have fear. He doesn’t bother. He’s not going to use the socially polite words.

But a guy who is poor, or a beggar, or a person who live in the forest, even if he becomes enlightened he will not talk the truth completely. He has to use the socially polite words. He can’t tell the truth which goes against the vested interests of society or king.

But when a king becomes enlightened he doesn’t bother. He says the truth in the best way. He presents the truth as it is.

Here the best expression is happening, because Mahavira was king. You see, one more thing, when you live a life with wealth and richness you know all the secrets of human mind. Understand wealth gathers around you only when you know the secrets of human mind.

How to handle human beings who are coming in front of you. Only a person who knows the basic secrets of human mind will acquire wealth, will become a leader. Only he can be a leader. Here Mahavira lived the life of a leader and expressing the truth of enlightenment. Very rare combination. Very rare combination.

There are many different expressions by different masters. One, a person who was a beggar, or who has never seen the world, just lived a life in forest and did meditation and became enlightened. His enlightenment will be the same, but his expression will not be sharp because his constitution, or his mind, his inner software is not created based on fearlessness.

One more thing, even after enlightenment, when you settle into the body, when you want to teach, you use the same mental setup, which you left. You may not have the greed and fear, which that mental setup was having earlier, before its enlightenment. But, the setup will be the same. The software programming will be the same.

Understand, this is a important revelation which you need to understand. Only then you will be able to appreciate the greatness of Mahavira’s expression.

If a beggar becomes enlightened, he may not have the fear or greed, which he had before enlightenment, but the mental setup of living without possessing anything, or the mental setup of living by begging will be the same. So, he has to use that mental setup only to teach, to relate with the world.

Understand, the mental setup which you created, after enlightenment, also, you use the same mental setup. Only one difference, after enlightenment, if you want you can use, otherwise you can drop. You may have that freedom, but the mental setup, the software itself, will be same.

Here Mahavira is having the best software to express enlightenment. The fearless, leader software, through which he can see the depth and express it.

The one thing what I expressed, that people who did not have anything, renounced the life, become enlightened. There are so many millions of examples I can give for this.

Second people, that became enlightened, but did not renounce after enlightenment. Example, Krishna, Janaka, all these great masters. They lived as kings, became enlightened, but they continuing to live as kings. This is the second kind of a mental setup.

One more thing, in this the difficulty is, they will express the truth with a clear software, with more clarity, better than the first group, better than the first group.

First group examples, all rishis who lived in forest and became enlightened. They have not seen the world. So that is the first group.

The second group, who lived as kings, became enlightened, but again continued to be as kings. Here the big problem is their teachings is interpreted, experienced, understood by the people who have vested interest.

Understand, when you are talking to your ministers, even if they don’t understand they have to listen. But Mahavir has no captive audience. Mahavir is not talking to captive audience.

When Krishna is speaking to his ministers, when he is teaching to Arjuna, practically they are captive audience. Even if Arjuna doesn’t want he can’t escape from Krishna. He has to listen because he is receiving some service from Krishna.

When your boss makes some joke, you have to laugh. You can’t do anything about it. You have to. Same way, when Janaka is teaching his whole court has to listen. They are captive audience. So, the person who is listening, whether he agrees or not he has to listen. So, complete truth expression is not possible, it’s not possible.

I don’t sit with my ashramites and take this spiritual classes. I give them only the instructions what to do. They ask me, ‘What is this Swamiji? You are not sitting and talking to us like this Siva Sutras or Jain Sutras and all these sutras.’

I tell them, ‘Already you guys are captive audiences. Whatever I talk you have to listen. No other way.’

That way truth can never be expressed. Truth cannot be expressed to a person who is bound to listen. Truth can expressed only to a person who has got the freedom to doubt and question, who has got the freedom to doubt.

See you have a freedom, you can doubt me, and you have a freedom you can put the question. You have a freedom to go out. Only to you truth can be delivered. Truth can be delivered in its purest form, only to a person who is not receiving anything else from a master. If you receive something else from me apart from truth you may be sitting here for that. You can’t receive the truth. You are not qualified to receive the truth

Here, the whole thing, if you see, has come in a beautiful way. Mahavira is the ultimate category; was king, who became enlightened, and renounced the kingdom. He is teaching sitting on the platform of satya. Only one thing is holding him, satya. He doesn’t have that title. He doesn’t have any other title, like a king, No.

He’s heard by the people just because he is enlightened. See, after enlightenment if you are sitting on the throne of a king, people may hear you because you are king. You don’t know what for he is sitting. You don’t know why he is listening. You can’t say people are sitting just because you are enlightened. They may be sitting because you are a king. There may some other reason for you to sit.

In Bharat during all of our rituals, means the homas, yangyas, yaga we give free food, but I never give free food during meditation programs, because people may be sitting for food. I will not know whether they are sitting there to listen meditation or enlightenment or for food. I tell them give free food during yaga, during rituals, not during meditation. It is a disrespect to meditation. I don’t want that. There should not be anything else associated with the spiritual truth, no.

If you associate anything else with the spiritual truth the possibility is there the truth will not be heard properly, it will not be received properly. Here Mahavir is talking to people who are not bound to him in any way, who are not bound to him in any way, seekers. One more thing, seekers are the most dangerous people, because you can’t bind them, you can’t bind them and there is nothing which can bind them.

You can bind them only by love and gratitude. So, you can’t even use the binding, it can’t even be a bondage. You can keep them together only based on love and gratitude.

Here he is talking to a community of seekers, who are not receiving anything else from him but truth. They are not there for anything else except truth, and he is not carrying any title. He has renounced all the titles. So nobody is sitting in front of him because he has got some title, because he is a king of someplace, or he’s somebody. No.

People are sitting in front of him just to listen to the truth. He is a pure being without any personality, without any title. See, the word persona comes from a Greek root. In those days the drama actors they will use masks. That mask only is called persona. Personality means the mask, which you are using.

Janak has got mask he is a king. Astavakra has to listen to him, no other way, or the Sudabhrama. Sorry not Astavakra. Astavakra actually taught Janaka. Sudabhrama came to listen from Janaka. Sudabhrama has to listen, because Janaka is a king. Sudabhrama is a captive audience. He’s captured. He has to. Whenever a king speaks you can’t tell anything.

But, here with Mahavir there is no other relationship except the master and seeker. The purity of relationship is important to maintain the purity of the teaching, purity of the truth.

And one more thing, Mahavir has no vested interested, he’s not talking to his people to make them do something. No. There is no ulterior motive. There is no goal.

Whatever is said and done Krishna has got a motive to deliver Gita. All he needs is Arjuna has to fight now. So he has to talk, he has to express the truth in such a way that Arjuna will start fighting. There is an ulterior motive. And not only that Krishna is running a community, he’s running a kingdom. So naturally his words has to be heard. So the purity of relationship is not there.

One more thing, Arjuna was thinking himself as a friend. That’s why in Gita he says, ‘Krishna, forgive me I thought you were my friend. Hail Krishna, hail Yadiva, hail Shaketi. I called you as Yadiva, by your community name. I called you as my friend.’

Because he was thinking as a friend, so the purity of relationship is not there. You can’t deliver a truth to your friend. You can deliver a truth only to a seeker.

Here the best mental setup, best software and the greatest enlightenment, greatest experience of enlightenment, and right persons with right attitude sitting in front of Mahvir. So the best truth is being delivered.

True knowledge is coming out. He’s giving us the scale. He’s teaching us what is satya and how to find out whether something is truth or not.

One more thing, even Patanjali, the greatest scientist of the inner world, says ‘Apta pramana,’ the words of an enlightened beings can be accepted as the truth. So, that can be considered as a scale. If an enlightened being says you can take it for granted it is truth.

But Mahavir says, ‘No.’ He doesn’t even want to say that anything told by an enlightened being is truth, no, because who knows whether somebody is enlightened or not. God doesn’t give certificate. What to do? We don’t have a certificate.

So, Mahavir goes a step further. He is not accepting apta pramana. He’s not accepting Vedas are the ultimate truth, no. Apta pramana is not accepted in Buddhism and in Jainism. Both religions, apta pramana is not accepted.

Apta pramana is the words of the enlightened ones. No. They say everything should be scrutinized. There is no such thing as aptra pramana. There is no such thing as words of the enlightened beings, no. Everything has to be scanned. Everything has to be analyzed. He is giving beautiful teachings to find out what is truth and which is true knowledge.

One more thing, please understand, this true knowledge, this is like a touchstone. If you use these sutras and analyze all your decisions which runs your life, all your ideas which is base for your life you will achieve satya.

Latso says if you are established in truth you don’t have to do any spiritual practice. If you understand this one sutra and redefine all your decisions, ideas, concepts about your life, you don’t need to practice any spiritual discipline you are enlightened this moment. All you need to do is redefine all your ideas.

See, there are only a few pillars on which your life is standing, your life is established; your desires, your idea about yourself, means positioning yourself, how you position yourself in the inner world.

Understand I am not talking about how you position yourself in the outer world. That all of you know, it’s not worthy. Not only that, it’s a pure lies.

All of you know whatever you may talk about yourself to others, but you don’t believe that. You may make others to believe. You really don’t believe. Just look inside you can laugh at yourself. I always tell people really when you sit alone and start thinking what all you project as you, actually, if you really believe what all you project as you, by now you would have become enlightened, because Ramakrishna says, ‘Man muk ekro.’ Means the mind and the words, if you make it as one, you are enlightened.

If you believe what you speak about you, you are enlightened. Actually whatever you speak about you, start believing that in a strong way is also a spiritual practice. Whatever you are talking about you, ‘I am this. I am that. You don’t know me.’ All those things you start believing.

But the difficulty is you won’t believe, that is the problem. When you try to believe also the mind will tell, ‘Aaaaaaahaha. You can talk all these things to others not to me.’

People come to me, many time I’ve seen they come to me, and they just wanted to throw their weight, to impress me, and they come and tell me, ‘You know, I am this. I am doing that. I do so many philanthropical activities. I do this. I do that. I have so much wealth, and I give so much, and all those things.’

At the end of the conversation I ask them only one thing, ‘Sir, do you really believe now whatever you said?’ They say, ‘What, what, what? Yes we do believe, that’s why we are talking to you.’

I tell them, ‘Do this only one thing as a spiritual practice. Go back. Now whatever you told me write it down. Again and again help yourself to believe that, that is enough.’

Either you should tune your mind to your vak or you should tune your vak to your mind. Either you should tune your words to your mind or tune your mind to your words. Some one thing. All Ramakrishna says is let your word and mind be tuned.

You can do anything. Either talk only what you believe is you or believe what you talk as you, what you talk about you. Then you won’t have pus. You won’t have cancer.

The gap between the words and what you believe, that space is what I call cancer or depression. If you are carrying a depression in you, be very clear you have that gap between your words and your being, between your words and what you believe. If you can remove that gap, you will not have that tumor which I call depression.

See, any person who does not have depression is enlightened. If you are not enlightened, be very clear, you carry depression. The gap between your word and what you believe is you.

The other day one our devotee was telling me, another one devotee who has saw this latest movie, secret movie, he came and told him ‘I became enlightened from today’ and the guy that was talking to him, he’s a strong intellectual guy, he took him to task. Within ten minutes that fellow lost the enlightenment. He was trying to convince himself for years, or months that he’s enlightened. This fellow took away his enlightenment in ten minutes.

He’s only telling others he’s enlightened. He himself is not able to believe, because anybody can come and talk to you and in ten minutes you’ll lose your enlightenment. Then what kind of enlightenment?

Either you should have courage to really believe what you are talking, or talk only what you believe. See, one thing, important thing, this is an important truth, which you should know, sometime you may radiate enlightenment without even knowing the word enlightenment.

I’ve seen in Himalayas there was a great mahatma, one naga baba. Naga baba means doesn’t wear clothes. I had the fortune to be at his feet for six months. I was blessed, fortunate enough to be at his feet. He would always be smoking ganga, what your all marijuana, huh? You may think how can a person who is smoking ganga be enlightened? That is what I also thought.

When I went to serve him. You see, traditionally you are supposed to serve elderly sadhus to achieve enlightenment. So, before my enlightenment I was serving wherever I see some elderly sadhu. I’ll go and sit at his feet. I’ll give them whatever food I can collect, and beg and give, and wash their vessels, and whatever little help, small help I can do I used to do.

One thing, I was surprised I have never seen him eating. No food and no water. Except ganga, nothing else. I was shocked. But such a pleasing person. I don’t have any word. When you go and sit around him you will feel so beautiful and you will feel like sitting around him, because he was so innocent.

He is not even aware he’s innocent. He’s not even aware he’s innocent. I’ve never seen him wearing any clothes. He’s a avatuta, naga, no clothes and he is not even bothered, he’s not bothered about anything around the world, anything which is happening around him in the world. He’s just in a high state of samadhi.

One day I asked him, ‘Baba, you are such a great person, why are you smoking ganga? Don’t you think it is an immoral thing and people will start smoking seeing you and already they are doing, they want only some reference. They want only some reference, and especially a person with arrogance (31:21 not sure of word) if he becomes reference then you can do anything.’ I asked him.

He said that beautiful word, ‘Fool, you think a big elephant can be tied inside a small hut? I can’t live inside the body without any desire, so I have to just dull myself.’ Understand, when he said I saw the authenticity.

The other day, also, one more guy came and spoke to me. He said, ‘Swamiji, I am also smoking to put me inside the body.’ I told him, ‘ Do whatever that naga baba is doing, then do this also.’

He doesn’t wear cloth, he doesn’t eat, he doesn’t drink. You also do all those things, then do these things, then you can justify it. You can’t just do whatever you want unless it becomes your experience.

One important thing, I saw in him when he was telling that ‘I had to dull myself’ it was an authentic truth. His mind and his words were one line. Not only that when you live around him you realize he’s established in satya. He’s established in truth, not for any vested interest.

See, if somebody doesn’t eat or smoke, if somebody doesn’t eat or drink, they would have made a big business out of that power. But I‘ve never seen him making big fuss about it.

If people ask him, ‘Why you don’t eat, baba?’

He says, ‘Aaa, who will get up and go and cook and eat. Forget about it.’

He will not even show that it is a big power. You won’t even see that ego, that he lives without food and water. No. When you are really established in truth you will not be aware of your own powers. You will only radiate, but you will not know those words.

I asked him, ‘What is atmanyana?’ He does not even know that word, but he is an atmanyani. What to do? He’s radiating atmanyana, he’s radiating enlightenment, but he doesn’t know the word.

And he said, ‘I am fortunate I did not learn about bhraman. I achieved abhramanyana because I did not learn those words.’

Same way, Ramana Maharshi, when people asked him, ‘What is abhramanyana? What is atmanyana?’ He said, ‘I am fortunate I did not learn those words before my enlightenment.’ Because learning some words may postpone your enlightenment. Sometime learning too many words will postpone your enlightenment. I always tell people, ‘Never read any book which is written by an unenlightened person. Don’t read anything, which is written by an unenlightened person.’

No, because you may create words which will stop your enlightenment. You will create a negative software, which is not supporting the enlightenment process.

Enlightened person’s words will create a positive software in you, which is constantly inspiring you toward enlightenment. See in the end, all enlightened masters will be pushing you towards sadana, towards enlightenment.

One of the Ramakrishna’s disciple, his name is Bhramananda. He says, ‘If you read Ramakrishna’s words...’ There is a beautiful book called Katamrita, Sri Ramakrishna Katamrita. We call it in English, Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. He says, ‘If you read that book every day for one year I assure you will have the darshan of the ultimate. You will experience enlightenment.’

You will be shocked. How can a person assure, how can a person say that enlightenment in one year guaranteed?

I tell you when you read these master’s words again and again, when you listen these great master’s words again and again, you create a new software, you create a new mental setup, which reminds you the ultimate truth again and again, which inspires you towards that higher ideal again and again.

Every day you are again put on the track. You are again inspired to run. You are again given the enthusiasm to take up the journey. It’s like a every day inspiration and it creates a new mental setup.

It is true when you read or listen to the master’s words for one year - one year is too much time - one year is enough to create a mental setup, which will radiate enlightenment.

It like a, see, there is a light. In every one of you that light is there. In front of the light if there is a wall that light can’t shine. If there’s a glass that light can penetrate and it can shine. Putting glass instead of wall is reading enlightened beings words.

As of now you have a big wall in front of your light, the swarumprakashi jyoti (37:37), the self-effulging light, which is inside your being. You’ve put big wall. That wall is your mind.

If you just put a glass instead of that wall, the glass means the mental setup which can allow that light to express itself. The mental setup which does not block of stop that light expressing itself. You will see that enlightenment is radiating through your senses. It is radiating through your being.

See, I can’t even say enlightenment needs to be achieved. No. Your senses are supposed to be purified, so that that light can penetrate and express through it, that’s all.

All of you are having it. No doubt about it. All you need to do is purify your body and mind, so that you can allow that to express through it, so that you can radiate. Nothing else needs to be done.

The purifying mechanism, or the alchemy process, you can’t even call as mechanism, alchemy process is what I call flooding yourself with this truth, satya.

Vivekananda says, ‘Flood your whole being with the truth. Whatever can be washed away, let it be washed away. The early they are washed away better for you and the people who are around you.’

See, one thing, if you have a clear idea about what you believe is you and what you talk about you. What you express as you and what you believe as you, you will attract that same kind of people around you and you will live completely ease.

You see, one thing, there is no such thing as morality. If you have the wrong ideas about morality, only then you need to hide what you are and you need to project what you want. What people want you. You need to project yourself as society expects you to be, if you have the wrong ideas about morality.

The only, one thing, you need to understand is just be what you are. This is the ultimate morality.

If you lose some friends because of that, perfectly alright, nothing wrong. It is better to lose your friends than your self. If you present your self as your friends want you to be, you will lose you. You are more valuable than your friends.

Understand one more important thing, if you start talking about you, which is not you, by and by you will get confused who are you. No really. See whatever you speak continuously you start believing that as a truth.

That’s a big difficulty. Really. Take this as a simple spiritual practice and try to do. Just ten days, again and again tell everybody that you are an honest person, you are a person with the truth, you are a person with the truth. Just continuously, even if they are not ready to listen, you talk. Just say. After ten days you will start really believing it.

And another one difficulty is whatever you start telling, you start believing and what belief you had about you already, if that is same then you fall in tune. This becomes a spiritual practice, but what you are believing is different and what you are saying now if it is different, then there’s a conflict between you and You.

Whether to create conflict between you and You or create easeness between you and You is in your hands. Constantly if you say something you will start believing and the difficulty is if your unconscious is already believing something else you have difficulty between, war starts between your conscious and unconscious.

One more thing, person who is established in truth will not have dreams. All dreams is a fight between your conscious and unconscious mind. Whenever the frequency of your consciousness raises you will come out of your dreams.

Conscious mind is waiting to overcome the dream state and the dream state is waiting to overcome the conscious state. Your life is nothing but the struggle between these two. The moment your conscious mind rests, dream state takes over and the moment your dream state is exhausted with the material, your conscious mind takes over.

Understand, it’s like a, the dream state is exhausted if it doesn’t have any more material, no fuel, then conscious state takes over. If the conscious state has no fuel the dream state takes over. If both them has no fuel then deep sleep state, sushupti, comes up.

Your whole life is a fight between these three. Whoever is strong, whoever has got more samskaras they rule you that’s all. If you are suffering without deep sleep, without sleep, means your conscious and unconscious, means that your jagrat and swapna has got too much of samskara. They are not ready to relax. They are not ready to give space for your sushuputi.

They say, ‘Enough, no, we don’t need sushupti. We have enough fuel. We have enough of desires. We have enough of anxiety. We have enough of fear to create again and again more and more scenes in front of us.’

One more thing you need to understand, what you see during the waking state: this auditorium, me sitting in front of you, your friends, the chair on which you are sitting, everything is created out of the same stuff in which dreams are created.

Understand. Let me repeat once more. Whatever you are seeing now: this auditorium, the person who’s sitting in front of you, and the person who is sitting next to you, and the chair on which you are sitting. Everything is created out of the same stuff, same stuff out of which your dreams are created. Now you have difficulties. Now you have a lot of difficulties.

‘Ah-ray, for this only I am working from morning ‘til night. No, no maybe this auditorium is created out the same stuff, but not my house and my car.’ No. Whatever you are seeing, whether in dream or in waking state is created out of same stuff.

Understand, I am just thinking what words to use to tell you the authenticity of this truth, because this one understanding will put you on satya, will just put you on satya, the truth.

One more thing, this one understanding will liberate you from all your anxiety and you’ll become the best manager. If you know you are creating your wealth. If you know you are projecting and seeing things around you, you can create miracles. You can make miracles happen around you.

See it is like any slide which is kept in front of a projector light becomes reality in the screen, it appears as reality in the screen. So, if you want to change the scenes in the screen going and scratching the screen will not work, or trying to fight with the lights will not work.

Just do a small correction on the slide. It is done. Your life is just like that. Projector light is your consciousness and the slide is your samskaras and the screen is the life, which you are living.

Now you are fighting with the screen or the light beams. You are trying to push the light beam, ‘No, no, move, move, move.’ But you don’t understand you can’t even grasp it. Fighting with the screen is not going to work.

A small story:

One guy, fully drunk, came back to house late night and fell on the way, but he doesn’t want to create any sound. So, he came very politely, silently, entered the house, covered himself with the blanket.

But suddenly realized that blood is there all over his face. Ran to the bathroom, tried to put bandage, tried to dress himself, put some medicine and bandage and everything. So, came back. Somehow managed to sleep.

Next day morning wife started shouting at him, ‘Fool, did you drink and come last night.’

He said, ‘Drinking, why?’ He started acting he doesn’t know anything. He is innocent. ‘No, no, no, no, no. How do you know I drank and came? No. I came a little late, because there was too much work in the office.’

She said, ‘No. I can be sure you were drunk, you were drunk.’

He asked, ‘How, how do you know? How can you be sure?’

‘Because you put the bandage on the mirror, not on your face.’

Seeing the mirror, he put all the bandage on the mirror. Understand you working with the outer world is nothing but putting the bandage on the mirror. That is not going to heal you. That is no way going to help you. No.

You may have an idea that you put some bandage, you have put some medicine. You may try to sleep with the idea that you will be OK by tomorrow morning. No.

Working with the beam, light beams, is not going to help. Fighting with the screen is not going to help. Just do a little small correction on the slide and I tell you doing small correction on the slide needs intelligence.

That is where the problem starts. You do not have that much of sensitivity, look into you life that you are creating it. You are projecting it. You are expressing it, because you never connected and verified all the outer world incidence and your inner world thoughts.

You neither gave that much time to yourself, nor had the intelligence to connect and see. Sitting, connecting and seeing how your thoughts are creating your world is what I call meditation.

People come and tell me, ‘Swamiji, in meditation I am getting too many thoughts. What to do? ‘

Please understand, meditation is not trying to create thoughtless state. It may happen in the end, but when you sit in the beginning, you will not have thoughtless state and you are not asked to meditate immediately to get the thoughtless state. No.

Whenever I ask people to meditate, first thing I expect them to have is thoughts which creates intelligence, thoughts which creates clarity and the thoughts which gives life solutions.

First in the beginning, when you sit with yourself you will have only these things inside you. You will not experience thoughtless state immediately. You will have pratiyahara and dharana. Only then dhyan will happen.

In the beginning when you sit you all your problems will come up and you will start having life solutions. All the thoughts about solving your problems, you will have that clarity.

So I tell people, ‘Even if thoughts are not disappearing, don’t stop sitting.’ Because, first time when you sit with yourself, it is like an appointment with yourself. All the things which needs to settled, all the things which needs clarification, all those things will be happening inside you. You will be falling in tune with satya. You will be falling in tune with the truth itself.

Here, Mahavir is giving beautiful sutras, beautiful teachings, to measure some idea or some truth is satya or not. Understand, he is not teaching you to speak truth, because if you position yourself in satya, if you are established in satya, speaking truth will be a automatic thing. It will become a natural thing for you. I

f you are practicing just verbal satya, please understand that is not the ultimate satya. If you are practicing only verbal satya, any time you may escape from it. You may move away from it. Even to so-called dharmaraja, who is considered to be a great satyavan, (53:58) means the satya established, great speaker of truth has lied.

A small story:

In Mahabarata, such a wonderful story. Mahabarata and Ramayana the great epics of Bharat. Still world’s longest poems. Mahabarata and Ramayana remains as world’s longest poems still.

Beautiful story in Mahabarata. To kill Dronacharya (54:37) you have to depress him mentally. Unless you depress him mentally, you can’t reduce his power. If you put somebody in depression they will have shoulder pain and they will not be able to handle their hands powerfully and they can be defeated.

As long as Drona’s hands are powerful he can’t be defeated, because his power, in handling the bow and arrow is so powerful. You need to put him in depression. Only then he can be conquered.

Dronacharya is the teacher of Ghandava’s and Pandhava’s (55:18). Now Krishna wants Drona to be put into depression, otherwise he can’t be killed, he can’t be conquered. He can’t be conquered directly. Physically his power is extraordinary, because he’s a teacher. Naturally no student can cross a teacher.

The only way to put Drona into depression is to telling that his son has died, because he is too attached with his son. That’s the only samskara in him, which can put him in depression.

He’s unclutched, detached from everything else. Putrasoga (56:06) can put him in depression. Means the suffering related to son can put him in depression. That is the only thing, only possibility.

Now somebody has to tell Drona that his son, Asotama (56:22), has died, and if normal people tell him this information he may not believe. He may go to verify. He may not immediately believe.

The only person everybody believes is dharmaraja. This dharmaishtiva (56:43) is supposed to be a person who speaks only truth, nothing else. He’s established in the verbal truth. He speaks only truth verbally. Everybody believes that. So Krishna wanted the dharmaraja to tell Dronacharya that Asotama has died.

Now when Krishna requested Dudishtra (57:11), Dudishtra says, ‘No, I can’t tell a lie. It is absolutely against my life and my policy.’

Krishna says, ‘Alright, we will kill an elephant that is called Asotama. You tell, “The elephant called Asotama died.” Elephant which name is Asotama, which has got the name Asotama has died and I’ll take care of everything else.’

Dudishtra asked, ‘How can that happen? If I tell the elephant which has got name Asotama has died, how can Drona be put into depression?’

Krishna said, ‘That you don’t bother. When you say the word “the elephant which has got name” I’ll blow my conch. I’ll create some noise and Dronacharya will not be able to hear that word. He will hear only the word “Asotama died.’’

The moment he hears that word from you he will not go for verification. He will take it for granted and 100% he’ll believe and he’ll fall in depression. We will kill him.’

Dudishtra agreed. He said, ‘OK, because I’m not telling lie.’ But he may not tell a lie verbally. Verbal truth he has not crossed, but he can’t be called anymore a satyavan (58:45).

The moment he told this word, ‘Asotama adakunjanaha.’ The elephant, which has got the name Asotama, has died. The word ‘the elephant which is called’, that time, as planned, Krishna blew his conch, Shanka (59:59)and Drona was not able to hear those words.

Those words Drona was not able to hear and Drona heard only these two words, ‘Asotama died.’ As they planned, Drona literally believe and fell into depression and immediately lost the power of the shoulder, the shoulder power. You can see even in your life if you have too much stressed. (there is a break in the DVD here, it is not damaged, they just cut something and not very gracefully).

To always float. His chariot. Even if he gets into the chariot, the chariot will float. The moment he said, ‘The elephant called Asotama died.’ And Drona fell into depression and Drona was killed. The story says the dharmaraja’s chariot fell on the ground.

He lost the title he’s dharmaraja. Dharmadevi was holding him, has dropped him. Then dharma says, ‘How can you drop me. How can you leave me and go away. I did not tell a lie.’

Dharmadevi says, ‘No. You might be established in verbal satya, but you are not established in the truth itself. By knowing you did somethin, which is against the truth. You know.’

You see you may tell satya, but you should ensure that person understands as satya. You can’t tell some word, which will not give that same meaning, or like this cunning techniques. Even if you do that you are not dharmaraja anymore.

And the story says from that day dharmaraja’s chariot was on the ground. He walked on the ground.

See actually when you are really established in dharma you live so gracefully, you float. When the story says he did not walk on the ground, I don’t think he was flying. It’s a metaphysical explanation, that he was never touched by these worldly things. He lived in a different space, where he did not have all the problems.

See now, you do not have the problems, which the Bharatn people are facing in Bharat. There are so many things Bharatns are facing. Your problems are totally different. It’s not that you don’t have a problem. Your problems are different. Their problems are different.

Same way, dharmaraja was never touched by problems of this planet Earth. He had problems, only different level. That is what they mean by the word he was always floating. He lived gracefully, till he did this act.

Understand, truth does not mean just speaking truth by words. Establishing yourself on truth, satya pratishta. (1:02:30) Patanjali says, ‘If you are established in truth you achieve the results of the action without doing the action, for yourself and for others.’

It looks like a too big promise, too big promise, too good to be true. Let us analyze how it is possible with the words of Mahavira. Then we’ll understand what Patanjali promises is true. Not just too good to be true.

Mahavir says, (1:03:16)’Nichicala panam matenum musavaiya vivachanum bhasisyavumhiam satcham nitcha otaynadukharum’

Let me give you the translation:

‘Being continuously alert, one should renounce asataya and speak only truthful, honest words. Speaking such truth is difficult indeed. A true sage does not speak words which can hurt others. Similarly any true person should not speak sinful words, even in anger, greed, fear, or ordinary talk with friends and relatives.’

And he further explains, on satya with the next, next sutras. In the next, next sutras he gives a scale of how to judge whether something is truth or not.

I think we are running short of time. Maybe tomorrow we will enter into the sutras in which he is saying how to measure, how to find, something is truth or not.

Today we will understand only this sutra. On satya he’s got so many sutras. It means like the next sutras are called moksha and bhramacharya, so many other sutras. It’s like I’ve selected what I feel as important sutras.

Of course, every word from Mahavira is important, but we don’t have time to understand everything. So I’ve selected few sutras from Mahavira and talking on those sutras. They are beautiful sutras. We will see them further.

Today we will just see these few sutras.

Being continuously alert, one should renounce asatya. Understand being continuously alert means, establishing yourself on satya. Establishing yourself on satya. Being aware.

One more thing, if you decide just to speak the truth verbally you may do the mistake of dharmaraja Dudishtra (1:06:38). You may do that mistake. If you are established on satya you will never do that kind of mistake.

See, if you analyze this dharmaraja’s incident, that itself shows there was a hidden greed for kingdom. That is why he has to compromise.

Mahatama Ghandi says beautifully, ‘As long as I did not start practicing spiritually, my satya, my truthfulness was not perfect. I was not able to achieve perfection in my truthfulness till I started practicing spirituality.’

See, many people come and tell me, ‘Swamiji, I am not a spiritual guy. I do not believe in spirituality, but I live an honest life, a moral life. I do good things for others. I speak truth and live a good life. Is not enough?’

I tell them, ‘No. Because what you are saying is a lie. If you do not have a spiritual base, spiritual seeking, you will never be moral.’

Be very clear, you may think you are moral. You may think you are living a good life. No. You will not even be able to scan and find out whether you are playing cunning games or not with others, unless you are that intense.

Here that’s what Mahavir says, ‘Being constantly alert.’ When Ghandiji says, ‘Till I started my spiritual practices. I never realized I’m not perfect in my practice of satya. Only after practicing spirituality, after my spiritual sadhanas, I’m able to perfect myself in the practice of satya, also.’

Practice of satya needs continuously being alert - nichicala panam matenum . There is a beautiful word, because it is not sanskrit, I’ll tell the English translation – being continuously alert one should renounce asatya and speak only truthful, honest words.

Understand, not just truthful - honest. Dharmaraja was truth, but not honest. He’s truthful, but not honest. He said truth, but he was not honest. That is why his chariot fell on the ground, it was dropped on the ground.

Truthful, honest words. Honesty means you should be established on dharma. You should be established on truth. You should not have cancer inside your being. Cancer inside your being means depression. Depression is the cancer inside your being.

See, at least cancer will take away only one life, but the depression will swallow your genmas after genmas. Cancer will not come to your next life. The moment the body is dropped the disease also will disappear.

But the depression is not like that, it will come with you forever. I always tell people even if you die out of cancer, don’t die out of depression. Depression is the worst thing.

If you don’t attend anything else, don’t bother, it is OK, but do not allow depression in you. Anything can be sacrificed, but not your bliss, not your bliss, not your joy.

If you are depressed, first thing even if you lose everything OK, but correct yourself. Flood yourself with the truth and remove the depression from you. Do not compromise this one line. Do not compromise in this one step.

If you compromise with anything it is OK. I always tell people, even my ashramites, that if you compromise on your other vows it is OK.

Sometime you may miss the ahimsa. It’s OK. Sometimes you may miss even the celibacy, even that is OK. Of course I’m not telling you to go and do whatever you want. Even if you compromise in that one or two things, or you miss, it’s not that that big sin. You can come back.

But if you compromise on this one thing satya, you can’t be helped at all. You can’t be helped at all.

If you compromise on honesty then all other vows are questionable. If you compromise on other vows the honesty, you can’t think that he is completely gone. But if you compromise on this honesty, you are gone, you can’t be helped. Then you will allow all other possible negativity to happen in you.

I always tell people, ‘To be around me the only one thing is necessary.’ All our ashramites, I tell them, ‘Only one thing is necessary, honest relationship between you and me.’ Whatever you feel, if you are able to open up, nothing else is necessary. Master’s energy is such it’ll straightaway penetrate you and heal you.

I always tell people, ‘If you can go and talk to the god or goddesses murti. If you can go and sit in front of Mahavir and completely open up. Understand, when I say open up, really feeling and saying, telling him, ‘This is what I am.’ I promise you will be healed.

Ramakrishna says… There was a devotee called Girishendergosh (1:13:34). He was the father of Bengali drama, Bengali drama. He used to go to Ramakrishna and he used to live different kind of a life; wine and women and whatnot, and once Ramakrishna tells him, ‘Go to Ganga and tell her all your life, whatever you did and just have an honest relationship with Ganga, the mother Ganga, the river Ganga. You’ll become enlightened. Everything will be washed away. You will become a mahatma.’

Girish was not able to understand, ‘What is this. Me going and just talking to a river? How he thinks that I’ll become enlightened, I’ll become mahatma, all my sins will be washed away?’

But Ramakrishna says, ‘Go and do.’

Girish says beautifully in his reminiscences, ‘I went and told everything to Ganga. Suddenly I felt, now I’m not able to see her anymore if I am not able to correct myself. So whenever I crossed Ganga I started feeling that guilt. Now I know somebody is watching and after a few days whenever I started drinking water, Ganga water, I felt the same thing. Somehow, I don’t know how it happened, simply the purity has happened in me. Now I know I can face Ganga honestly.’

Understand, if you really open up, even with your teddy bear, that’s OK. Even with your teddy bear, nothing wrong, but you should have honesty to open up. You should have honesty to open up, at least with something.

If you open up in front of a milestone, or in front of a brick, in front of a stone, anything OK. In Bharat all milestones are gods.

See in those days the milestones used to be painted with a yellow and red, people started worshipping it. That’s why now they change the color.

No really! In Bharat anything you get they will start worshipping. And that is true. You see the culture, which has dedicated itself for worship.

Opening up and feeling connected. If you feel connected even with your teddy bear there is a possibility. At least with somebody you are honest you are straight.

When you feel connected to the great masters like Mahavira. When you sit in front of their murti’s and feel connected and open up, and maintain the honesty with them, suddenly you will see they are working on you. Their presence is working on you. Allowing the masters to work on you is the best way for enlightenment.

Here Mahavir is saying, honest, being honest and speaking only the truth and he is again telling, ‘speaking such truth is very difficult indeed.’ It really needs intense awareness. You need to be alert. You need to be aware.

One more thing, unless you raise your very frequency in which you are staying, unless you raise the very consciousness in which you are staying, you can’t be truthful.

You can’t be truthful, because if you are living in the same mood, you will forget, many time, that you are telling a lie. Only after telling a lie you will realize that you are telling a lie, because you are habituated to tell lies.

Even a simple thing, for not reason, the moment you open your mouth nothing but lies will come. Just try to record one day whatever you speak. Tell somebody else to record, without your awareness, and next day sit and edit and tick and see how many lies you told.

You will be shocked there is no word which is truth, there is no word, for no reason. You are habituated. Even small. small things you plan, how to present to get maximum out of this situation. You do not tell what exactly happened. No. There is an automatic sensor system inside you.

People ask me. The other day some one professor asked me, university professor, ‘Swamiji, every day you are talking hours together somewhere or other in the world.’

If you see the web site there won’t be a single day gap. Somewhere or other I am constantly talking and he asked me, ‘I don’t see that you use any hints.’ Here only sutra is there, no hints actually. Only the sutra and translation is there.

He told me, ‘Swamiji, I have to speak one hour, means I have to prepare three hours. The same subject I am teaching for years, but every time I have to prepare three hours and I know for sure you don’t have time to prepare every day you are speaking. How you are speaking, Swamiji?’

And he told me another one thing, ‘The moment I finish my lecture, two thing happen to me. One, tired. Second thing, repenting that I forgot this point, I should have presented in that way. Guilt. Tiredness and guilt is always the result after my lecture.’

And not only for him, it is for all speakers, any public speaker. In the end he will repent, ‘I should have done this. I should have done that.’ And he will be tired. Not only the speaker, audience also, usually.

And he asked me, ‘How you are speaking for hours together, Swamiji?’ Only one truth, I don’t have a sensor system inside. There is no automatic sensor system. That is why I don’t feel tired.

One more thing, you have a sensor system, because you are afraid that you might tell whatever you are thinking, and you carry, you have to prepare notes, and prepare and carry notes, because you are not supposed to speak what you are thinking. You are supposed to speak only what you are supposed to speak.

Understand that is why you carry notes. Your carrying notes means you are not supposed to speak what is going on here. You are supposed to edit and present. If you edit and present you will become tired, because such a big process happening inside you.

First, words will come. You have to edit them and see the hints and connect with them, then speak. So naturally three or four processes is happening inside. You will become tired in one or two hours and the person who is hearing also will become tired.

But in my case I don’t have editing system. I just speak, because what I am speaking has become part of me. It has become part of my blood. It has become part of my inner software. It has become part of my system. That is the reason I can continue, continue, continue, continue. Not only I don’t become tired, people who listen they also don’t become tired.

They suddenly realize, ‘Oh God. So many hours passed, what happened?’

When you speak without editing, the power of ojas expresses through you. Vivekananda says, ‘When I speak I don’t have inner chattering, because of that state when you hear you also will not have inner chattering.’

If I am speaking without editing, without two activities, you will also listen without two activities. The intense tuning will happen when you sit with an enlightened being.

If you become honest in the being you don’t need to prepare. You don’t need to use notes. You don’t need to edit.

He says, ‘Speaking such truth is very difficult indeed.’ Because your very inner conscious has to be raised to a different level. Just speaking truth is impossible by you, unless you’re constantly being alert, as he starts, ‘being continuously alert.’

Maybe you can take this as a small homework. Just try. Till tomorrow evening, you come back, till you come back. Try with full alertness. Maybe you can have a small notebook. Whenever you miss note down. Now 1, just one line. How many times you missed. You don’t have to show it to me. I’m not going to see. I’m not interested in somebody else’s sin. I’m not asking you to confess.

Confession is a cunning method, enjoying other’s sins. I tell you, it has got two purpose. One, to keep you under the fold. You can’t escape and go away, because he knows all your sins.

Second thing, its a nice, you see enjoying the celebrities lifestyle. Why do you think that so much of the tabloid journals are selling. All these defamer. All these…people are so interested in somebody else’s sex life, somebody else’s lifestyle. Why do you think? Because it is sort of a juicy thing.

Whatever you can’t do they are doing it and it is a sort of enjoyment. When somebody else does all these things you just enjoy…even listening and enjoying is a sort of enjoyment. This confession gives a sort of subtle joy to people. That is why that system is created. Exploiting.

I am not interested in your sins. I’m not going to forgive you. I am not sitting here to forgive. No, and no eastern tradition is interested in listening to your sins. All they ask is, you be aware of it, that’s enough.

There is not need for somebody else to be aware. You just be aware of…just try to mark. Until tomorrow evening, just try to see. Then you’ll understand what I mean by the word, what Mahavir means by the word ‘being continuously aware.’

If you try just for twenty-four hours, only then you will understand the meaning of the word ‘being continuously aware.’ Today you need to carry only one message, only one line, ‘being continuously aware.’

Please try to experiment with this one idea. Till tomorrow evening be continuously aware and see how many times you’re failing. That’s enough. You will learn what Mahavir wants you to learn. You will learn what you need to learn.

That is more than enough. Instead of carrying one thousand ideas on your head and not practicing, experimenting with anything, just carry this one idea and experiment with it. You will see the transformation simply happens in your very being.

Let you experience this truth, achieve and radiate eternal bliss, Nithyananda.

Thank you