Meditation

Sri Sri: Meditation is like a seed. The better a seed is cultivated, the more it flourishes. Similarly, the more we practice meditation, the better it cultures the entire nervous system and the body. Our physiology undergoes a change and every cell in the body is filled with ‘‘prana’’. And as the level of ‘‘prana’’ in the body rises, we bubble with joy.


The culturing of meditation into our system is normal. Some people call it the higher state of consciousness, I call it the normal state of consciousness since we are endowed with the ability to live in that state. Meditation helps in two ways — it prevents stress from getting into the system and simultaneously helps release already accumulated stress.


Regular meditation also leads to happiness and fulfillment; to sensitization of the sensory organs (thereby intensifying the experiences of seeing, tasting, feeling, etc.); and to greater intuitiveness.


With the assimilation of meditation into daily life, the fifth state of consciousness, called cosmic consciousness, dawns. Cosmic consciousness is perceiving the whole cosmos as part of oneself. When we perceive the world as a part of us, love flows strongly between the world and us. (Love again is not an emotion but a state of being. It is not a melodrama expressed by endearments but our very existence.) This love empowers us to bear with the opposing forces and the disturbances in our lives. Anger and disappointments become fleeting emotions that occur momentarily and then vanish.

True seeker

Sri Sri: Truth always has value but you know what you need is a skill to express truth. We often say we are very honest, very truthful. But why do all these problems come to you? Because you are not skillful.


To bring the best in you, you have to become Arjun. Among so many, only Arjun got the knowledge. Why? What does Arjun mean? One who is thirsty for the truth. The true seeker. You don’t become a seeker just to show off, or to get your way around in the world. You can become a teacher and go on teaching and have nothing inside you. Just build up your own ego. Then it won’t help. The true seeker is Arjun — who wants to know truth.


There are so many gurus, but once you come to Bhagwan, your miseries end. And it’s not through the guru’s teaching that you get something; that is just superficial. Dronacharya and Kripacharya can teach you archery, but they cannot make you meet yourself. To a sadguru, you just come and just sit. In a silent way everything works. And then, for all the other gymnastics that you want to learn, you have to be with Dronacharya and Kripacharya.

Do the means justify the end

Sri Sri: In our History there was one King, Satyawadi Harishchandra, he always said truth,

so he got an ego that he always tells truth. So he had to undergo a lot of problems. No one says: ‘Why should I tell the truth and suffer?” this feeling can come, but people who lie, are they joyful in the end? Lies should be like salt in the food that is all.

In life four things are needed:

Mukti – Freedom

Bhakti – Devotion

Yukti - Tactic

Shakti – Strength

First, Freedom, without freedom there will be no love. In freedom mind has no conflicts, it is free from inhibitions. Then love comes, then Yukti happens and then Shakti.

There are different types of Shaktis –

Intellect, Mind, Body and Material.

If there is only Shakti and Yukti then life is not whole, feel that you have them all.
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: Commentary on the Raja Yoga Sutras by Sri Swami Satchidananda

Promote peace

Sri Sri: When you meet people, promote peace to them and to as many people as you can. And, every day keep thinking of new ideas to bring about peace. You know many people worry that when will children become adults, wonder when everybody will become like children. See your life with the three C’s:

1. Cosmology

2. Commitment

3. Compassion

Ask yourself are you committed to a beautiful planet, a life full of joy. These three C’s can eliminate corruption, cunningness and cruelty. All of you should sit some time and ask yourself:

“Who am I?”

“What do I want?”

“What is life?”

“What is Universe?”

You know there are two schools of thoughts for faith, first one says, you have faith and you will get it and the second one says, first experience and then you will get it. Spirituality focuses on the second school of thought. What is science of life? What is spirit made up of? Knowing this is meditation. An enquiry to the source of thought is meditation. Then you see how your mind will become sharp like a laser beam. Awareness, intuition, success and everything else will happen automatically.

Overcome your prejudice

Sri Sri:

Your prejudice against gender , religion, caste and class does not allow you to mingle with everyone around you. Often, you don’t sit with people who are not economically or socially at par with you. You have to learn to break that barrier. Also, there is age prejudice. Teenagers don’t like to have fun with elderly people and vice versa. Gender prejudice is more prevalent in rural areas. Caste system is also present in the royalties of Europe, UK and Japan.



Religious prejudice is well know. There are good people and there are bad people in every community, religion and every section of the society. Don’t be prejudiced against them. At the same time don’t be shy about your identity. When you overcome prejudice, you will be very natural, and your quality of life will improve.

Responsibility and capacity

Sri Sri: In doing what you can do, there is nothing much about it, there is no growth. Stretching a little beyond your capacity will increase your capacity. If you can take care of your town or your society, there is nothing great about doing that because it is within your capacity or capability. But if you stretch it and little more and take commitment to take care of the whole state, then you gain that much more power. As much as you take on the responsibility on yourself, that much your capacity increases, your capability increases, your talents increase, your joy increases and that much you become one with the divine force. In whatever capacity you do something for the society, for the environment, for the creation, that much you progress further both materially and spiritually (value wise). The heart opens up with a feeling that you are part of everyone.

Yagya

Sri Sri: When many people get together and do something collectively, that is called
'yagya' or 'yagna'.
There are so many types of 'yagya'.
(1) 'Dravya Yagya.'- In which a lot of substances are used. 108 types of different herbs, fruits etc are used.
(2) 'Gyaan Yagya' - Discussing the knowledge
(3) 'Japa Yagya'- Singing and chanting of mantras.

These bring purity, prosperity, peace and harmony to all. The whole environment becomes lively. So just be with it. Do not have any bickering of the mind. Be with an innocent mind. Honor life as a gift, time as a gift, present moment as a gift .

The mind is very subtle, very subtle. The subtler your consciousness, the more honor it brings out.

Environment

Sri Sri: Man has become a victim of his environment. He is not in control of his mind but a victim of the environment. Is it not so? We pollute our environment in a very subtle way through our negative emotions. But it takes quite some time to clear the environment of this. It is inevitable that sometimes you feel stressed, sometimes you feel negative, sometimes you feel doubt, sometimes you get into all sorts of moods — it is inevitable. It happens. Nobody wants it. But when it happens how do we handle them? We hear a lot about other things in life but we spend very little time to hear about ourselves; how to handle our mind? How to be in the present moment? How to be happy and grateful? This we have not learnt. This is the most unfortunate thing. Then what is the solution? This is where we miss a very fundamental principle that governs our environment, our mind our emotions and our life in general. Our body has the capacity to sustain much longer the vibrations of bliss and peace than it does negative emotions because positivity is in the centre of our existence. Just like in the structure of the atom, protons and neutrons are in the centre of the atom and electrons are only the periphery, same is with our lives; the centre core of our existence is bliss, positivity and joy but it is surrounded by a cloud of negative ions. Through the help of the breath we can easily get over our negative emotions in a short period of time. Through meditation and certain breathing techniques you can clear this negative cloud.

Respect and Love

Sri Sri: How do you develop respect? Respect is an appreciation from the head. Love is an appreciation from the heart. Respect needs logic. Love doesn’t need logic. Knowledge is required for respect. But for love, no knowledge is required. You just look at something and just fall in love with it.

Wanting respect is a natural tendency of adults, even adolescent children. But do we know how to respect others? It needs a little sensitivity. If you are sensitive, you are able to respect others. And if you respect others you become sensitive too. Respect and love are different yet they are very close. You cannot hate somebody and have respect for them. When you respect someone you start loving them. When you love someone, you start respecting them

Hindrance to love

Sri Sri: Only through love can one experience infinity ,without the hindrance of lust and attachment. Love is coming together closer, merging together and dissolving. But the only way we have known the emotion through our lifetime is through sex. In sex you come to the present moment but, mankind has constantly been fighting lust and one has known through experience that it doesn’t lead you anywhere — it just brings inertia — more indulgence, and love goes down somewhere beneath.

But the more one fights lust, the less he is able to win over it. If you are angry, or have fought with somebody, they occupy your mind more than someone you appreciate, honour or respect. Lust means all desires. When a desire arises, you worship it, recognize it and offer that desire to the Divine. Desire that arises in you is Shakti (energy). Knowledge or wisdom is again the energy. Divine knowledge, the power to act, to perform, is the energy.

When you have the desire (Iccha) and the knowledge (Gyaan) but you cannot act (Kriya), it means there is no Kriya Shakti. When you recognize these desires that arise in you and honour them, you will be relieved of them in the most natural manner.

It is so difficult to get into bliss and so difficult to get out of bliss! There are so many obstacles to get into bliss. So many things get in your way — even at the gate. You think you’ve got it, you have it in hand, and then it goes; it gets that near. You get thirsty, so you get water in your hands. But, through just a few loose fingers, all the water is drained out. Life is so strange! So how do we be blissful? Give priority to the self, to self knowledge. Everything tries to keep the mind from sinking into bliss.

Some people behave very nice on the outside but are rough inside. And some people are very rough outside but nice inside. Some may be very polite and say, ‘‘Hello, how are you?’’, but inside, they are stiff. The Divine, unlike the world, does not care about your behavior, but how you feel inside. If you are like a flower inside, then outside too, you will become gentle, not stiff.

Like You

Q: Can anybody ever become like you?

Sri Sri: You only have to see in the mirror. You just don't have the beard!!

Don't be deceived by the outer appearance. Look at your own mind. Where is the clutch?

Where are you stuck? What are your concerns? Then all those little things will go off. You will laugh at your mind.

When you laugh at your mind, you become free from its clutches. How many times you had judgments and opinions

and how many times did you find them wrong? 99% of the times it is wrong, only 1% is right.

Ram Himself asked Hanuman, "What is it like being Hanuman?" Ram became curious...

Hanuman was such a great servant. Hanuman said that when you see from the body, I am your servant.

When you see from the mind, I am a spark of you. When you see from the soul, there is no difference.

The Certainties of changing world

You can be at ease with the uncertainty of the world when you realize the certainty of the consciousness. Often people do just the opposite. They are certain about the world but uncertain about God. They rely on something that is not reliable, and they get upset. Uncertainty causes craving for stability.

The world is of change; the Self is of non-change. You have to rely on the non-change and accept the change. If you are certain that everything is uncertain, then you are liberated. When you are uncertain in ignorance then you become worried and tense. Uncertainty with awareness brings higher states of consciousness with a smile. Often people think that certainty is freedom. If you feel that freedom when you are not certain, that is "real" freedom. Often your certainty or uncertainty is based on the relative world. Being certain about the uncertainty of the relative makes you certain about the existence of the absolute and brings a certain faith in the absolute.

Can one still be enthusiastic when one is uncertain? Yes, in knowledge you can be enthusiastic in uncertainty. Often people who are uncertain do not act; they simply sit and wait. Acting in uncertainty makes life a game, a challenge. Being in uncertainty is letting go. Certainty about the relative world creates dullness. Uncertainty about the Self creates fear. Uncertainty about matter brings certainty about consciousness.

Suicide

Sri Sri:

Just relax! and be dead now! shareer ko kyun marte ho ( why do u want to kill your body ?) Restlessness is in your mind. By destroying your body you are not going to get anything. Kill the mind , that is the real death you are looking for. If your mind dies you relax. If this does not happen you cannot relax.
By destroying your body don’t think you will be at peace. You have come to the right place. Killing your body, your restlessness remains. Your body is a sacred thing. It belongs to God ! What makes u so restless is your desire. Drop that craving of yours and your mind becomes calm. You want to compete with someone and when you cannot, you become restless. All ambitions make u restless.

Kill your ambition , throw your ambition out. If you are peaceful from inside you can do anything . aatma hatya karoge tho 400 -500 saal ghoomte rahoge (If you commit suicide you will keep going round and round for 400-500 years !) It is like - when u are feeling cold do you need more blankets or your taking off your clothes will help ???!!!

Suicide is taking off your clothes when you are already feeling cold !!!

Sincerity

Sri Sri:

If you are awake you can't be but sincere. If you have hidden desires, if your mind is clouded, you question your sincerity. Be centered. Is your entropy low? Acceptance brings sincerity. Don't label yourself. You don't know who you are. Simply accept that you don't know how great you are or how stupid you are. Don't analyze yourself too much! With too much sincerity you become intolerable. People can't stand you if you are intolerable. You can't stand yourself! You will be more unhappy

Playing your part

Sri Sri:

Be thankful if you have been bestowed with the qualities that you have, because it is not your own making. In the same way it depends on the part, which you have been given to play. Say, suppose in a drama, if you are given the part of a villain, and you play that role perfectly. A villain always knows that when I am playing the role of a villain, it’s just a role I am playing. I’m very sincere to my role.


There is a saying in Sanskrit, Durjanam Prathamam Vande Sajjanam Tadarantaram. First, worship the bad person, and then the good man. Because the bad man is falling and giving you an example, ‘‘don’t do what I did’’. Don’t hate a criminal in the jail, because he’s a criminal. In the prison, if there is a criminal, he is an embodiment of God. He has done you a greater service. Don’t ever hate a drug addict, because he has given you such a beautiful lesson, and he has been given that role. He is just performing his role that way.


When you understand these basic laws of truth, then your inner perfection becomes so stable that nothing on this planet can shake your inner perfection. Nothing can shake you

To make a violence free society

Sri Sri:

Our breath can play a vital role in cleansing the negative emotions a person has. We have experimented this, tried this in many prisons around the world. Hundred and twenty thousand prisoners around the world have done some breathing exercises and are able to get rid of the hatred, anger, that revengeful feeling that clogs them or blocks them. Inside every culprit I see a victim crying for help. It’s the stress, lack of broad vision about life, lack of understanding, bad

communication- all leads to violence in society. Love, being the very central force of human life gets covered by stress and distress. So the spiritual knowledge or what I would say as human values, education in human values would help an individual stand up to the demands of the day and it will help one to manage the problems one faces in their daily life.

I see man is on that crossroad today- on one side he becomes violent or frustrated and on the other side depressed or suicidal. And it’s the knowledge about our spirit, which is all love, which is beauty, which is peace, which transcends the boundary of our concepts and imaginations and identities that can bring a freedom from this frustration and violence. So I would say a violence free society, disease free body, quiver free breath, inhibition free intellect, trauma free memory is a birth right of every individual. And as responsible citizens we need to bring that responsibility to our society, to our community wherever we are, to our people, to make people.





Sri Sri responds to an attempted attack on his life that occurred on 30 May 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9PdMgb-J-U

Buddha

Sri Sri:

In the spiritual path, there are three factors: the Buddha - the Master or the Enlightened, the Sangha - the commune or the group, and the Dharma - your nature, your true nature. One of the main things in the Buddhist practice is taking refuge in all these three. Buddham Sharanam Gacchami means ‘I take refuge in Buddha’. Sangham Sharanam Gacchami means ‘I take refuge in the assembly, the Sangha’. And Dhammam Sharanam Gacchami means ‘I take refuge in the true nature of things as they are’.

Buddha or the Master is the Enlightened. The closer you go to Him the more charm you find. You will never be tired of the Enlightened. The closer you go the more newness, the more charm, the more love you feel. It’s like a depth without a bottom. Buddha’s company will always be new and charming.
Master is the Presence. World is relativity. And relativity has limitations. Presence is unlimited. Presence is vast, infinite, and all comprehensive, all inclusive. And the presence of the Master in one’s life will bring fulfillment to all relations. Every relationship will become complete with the presence of the Infinity if the Master is in your life.



Sangha has a reverse nature than Buddha - completely different. Once you are used to a Sangha you lose the charm in the Sangha. That is essential because while Buddha makes your mind one-pointed, Sangha, because it is of so many people, can scatter your mind. It will fragment it. Sangha’s nature will be such though it is very supportive. If it is only repulsive all the time then nobody will be in the Sangha because our nature is not to be in repulsion. Buddha uplifts you. Just by Grace, by Love, by Knowledge He pulls you up. The Sangha pushes you up from down below. Buddha from above pulls you up and the Sangha pushes you up. And the Dharma is to be in the middle. Your nature is not to go to extremes. Your nature is to be in balance. Your nature is to smile from the depth of your heart. Your nature is to accept this entire existence totally as it is. Do not crave or be averse. Often you crave for Buddha and you are averse to the Sangha. And you try to change. By changing Sangha or Buddha you are not going to change.



The main purpose is to come to the centre deep within you which means to find your Dharma. This is the third factor. What is Dharma? Knowing this moment is what has been offered to me and that is how I take it. A sense of deep acceptance for this moment, for every moment is Dharma. When this has come up then there is no problem at all. All the problems generate from our mind; all negativity comes in from our mind.

The world is not bad; the world is beautiful. It is our world that is bad because our world has ‘us’ in it. We make our world ugly or beautiful. So when you are in your Dharma, in your nature, you won’t blame the world and you won’t blame the Divine.

The difficulty of the human mind is that it cannot be part of the world totally and it cannot be part of the Divine. It feels a distance from the Divine. It’s its own creation and yet it feels like blaming the world. It’s not comfortable with the world. Dharma is that which puts you in the middle and which makes you comfortable with the world. It causes you to contribute to the world, be at ease with the Divine, and feel that you are a part of the Divine. That is true Dharma.

Love

Sri Sri:

Love devoid of knowledge gives rise to imperfection. You love perfection and get angry at imperfection. If you love somebody, you become jealous and possessive. Love is the cause of all problems in the world. Through love, jealousy, anger and hatred all come out. But we cannot live without love. Even a dog may not like to live without love. It would refuse to eat food, if it is not able to see its master. So love is the most wanted thing for everybody. Yet all these imperfections and all these problems arise out of love. So what is the answer ? We need such a love
which is free from imperfection and that can be attained only through knowledge."So love minus knowledge is problem and love with knowledge is bliss.