Resources

I would like you to understand that the mind is your friend. Let the mind think in its own manner. Whatever thoughts are useful and necessary, accept them. Whenever the thoughts are bad, undesirable, simply recognize them as such.

Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru.

There was a time when I perhaps thought that meditation or dhyaana was everything in spiritual life. I did not call it merely as meditation. For me it was the dīkṣā sādhanā. I was holding on to it assiduously, putting as much time as possible into it. Simultaneously, I also did the ātmā anusandhāna.

I found that both these were inadequate. Why was I meditating? What was I trying to get? Though the Self or Self-realization is the pursuit, the Self is not something to be got. The description of Self is: Oneself is the Self. If I am the Self, where is the question of getting It? And as the Self, I cannot be different. I was not different, I have not become different, I will not be different. The Self, non-different from me was only to be understood and realized as such. What is that power or the process by which this realization will take place?

In ordinary interactional life, there is an area where all experiences occur and that area is within the body itself. I may not be able to visualize that region, but it is within the body and it is evident to me. I know that I am. I woke up, I dreamt, I slept. I see, I hear. I am hungry and when I eat, my hunger gets appeased. All these experiences are taking place somewhere within me. Call it whatever you want. It is in that very place that Self-experience, the knowledge that ‘I am the Self’ should also be had.

Is the Self to be experienced? No, it is already there. We are already experiencing It. Then why do I feel that ‘I am different from the Self’? Is it that the Self is to be realized or the feeling that ‘I am different’ is to be overcome and dissolved? I found that the feeling of difference about oneself is to be dropped. If I am the Self, then I am so all the time. I cannot be different. Therefore the feeling of difference should be dissolved.

I found that desires and various allied notes are redundant. I understood that the mind holds the key to everything. And what should be done? Mind should be made clear, light and cheerful. Whatever is necessary for this has to be done. So all expectations and desires are to be dropped.

We should not be troubled by the mind. Why does the mind get ruffled? – Because there is something wrong in its function. We do not accept reality. Or, we doubt, expect, hope with a clinging mind. All these things are to be simply dropped.

Now, with this premise, I would like you to understand that the mind is your friend. Let the mind think in its own manner. Whatever thoughts are useful and necessary, accept them. Some thoughts you will postpone and act upon later. Whenever the thoughts are bad, undesirable, simply recognize them as such. That is sufficient.

When you understand something to be bad, does it not mean that you do not want it? So reject it. It is a question of looking at the mind and being happy with whatever you find. If bad thoughts come, simply dissuade them because you are not interested in them. After a few occurrences they will stop coming.

So, ultimately what is the saadhana? It is to be at home with your mind and see that the mind is pure, calm, gentle, delightful and poised. There is a way you can speed up this process. For that, you have to be straightforward. You have to be honest.

Your mind should be liberal. Let me illustrate this point of straightforwardness, honesty and liberality. See, yesterday, one N came here asking for a Daana Satra event to be held in the temple that they are building – primarily he is building it. I asked, “If Daana Satra is conducted, will there be any cooperation from the people there?” He said, “Yes”.

I told N in a light-hearted manner that he is a very stingy person. But it is a fact that he is stingy; a little rich too. Every time he only asks for conducting the Daana Satra, but he never shares any expenditure.

I was thinking about it. What did I mean by his stinginess? Even though he is rich, he does not participate in the Daana Satra. He could have said: “Swamiji, you please come and distribute whatever you have. At least for a hundred people, I would like to share and contribute. Here is my offering for that”. Then it would have been harmonious. But he did not say that.

Then again, another thought came to me when I was sitting here. Suppose I tell him that he too should participate, and after my telling, he gives some money – will I be happy? No. I will not be happy at all. So, I thought: If we conduct a Daana Satra there, we shall only think of the recipients. We may not ask others to contribute. If they contribute spontaneously, they may.

In this situation, between the two options – his sharing in this event after being told and his not sharing in it – I prefer the latter. Because the purity, greatness or goodness of what we do, does not call for any such forced participation. Any action done under compulsion will only be a defilement.

Now, in Jamshedpur, we have to have some land and a Centre. It is for the people of Jamshedpur to participate in the whole project heartily. For one person it may be ten rupees and for another it may be a lakh or two, for yet another it may be his time and effort. It is for them to participate liberally and heartily. Do I have to tell them? At best I can speak about it, as a piece of enlightenment.

Purity of my mind always flows in this manner. Let us stand by such refinement. I always say that I look at God as the greatest Landlord and the richest Person I could ever find. It is His ‘landed property’ called earth that people are trading in, extracting minerals and chemicals from. They process, manufacture goods, raise crops and sell their finished goods. What then should be the resourcefulness, riches, of this wonderful Creator? I tell Him: “Whatever is needed, you give me. My dear God, when you are there, I would not like to depend on anyone else.”

This is my hearty feeling and I would like to do it as another God in a Godly manner. Now, I do not know how you understand this and appreciate this. My point is that, it is simply a question of purity. My reliance on God or my reliance on my own purity should be unadulterated. I completely depend upon it.

Why am I saying all this? Understand that for Self-experience or for Self- realization to take place, the mind should be pure. It should be rid of stinginess, small-mindedness and desires. You must be liberal and generous in heart.

In this way, you have to find your own method. If necessary, enquire and find it out. And then improve, and improve again until you have a beautiful mind, a brilliant mind. In front of God, cry or weep whenever you want. But every time you weep, you should find more purity and there must be a note of relief. It is such a friendly mind that I want you to have.

When you are sitting in meditation or in solitude, all that you have to do is just be with the mind. Never expect. Never crave for anything. Do not grumble. Do not complain. Do not be egoistic. Do not be selfish. Be very, very pure. Let the mind think and you simply be. Allow all the thoughts to subside, subside….subside. This is saadhana, nothing else.

Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru.

Prabhata Rashmih–Vicharasethu Nov 2005