EVERYONE WILL REACH HOME

 

When a person is unkind, uncharitable, and intolerant, it is a sure sign that he only functions with a tiny part of his mind. At the same time, through meditation, one gradually starts to work in totality, body, mind and Spirit. Naturally, when you function in total, you would become the reverse of what you have been. If you are uncharitable, you will become charitable. If you are unkind, you become kind. If you are uncompassionate, you become more compassionate because you function in totality. So, there is no danger in meditation as far as the ego build-up goes because meditation rids one of the egoistic samskaras you have.

Your ego is formed of samskaras, which, as you know, means the impressions and the experiences that you have had. That builds you into an individual being. Once you recognise yourself exclusively as an individual being, you become a personal ego, expressing all the impressions already implanted in your mind, while meditation does the reverse.

Meditation takes you away from that exclusive individuality without discarding it, and it takes you away from that individual individuality, exclusive individuality into a universality. Therein lies the message of love. Because if you cannot feel that universalness of everything, then as I might have said before, you would not know the meaning of love. So, the process is to gain that awareness that all is one, and this process is simple.

You do not lose individuality. You are still human, and there has been no perfect human being on this earth. They could only reach ninety-eight per cent perfection, including Krishna, Buddha, Christ and the lot. Because without the two per cent imperfection, you would never be able to maintain this body. You would become unaware of your physiological and biological functions and things like that. So, that bit of “I-ness”, the ego, will remain. That little bit of “me and mine” will remain, rather than “Thee and Thine.”

For example, you take the word me, “ME”, and put a mirror under it, and the reflection would be we, “WE.” That is the sense we develop from that Me to We. One. That awareness does not only apply to human beings, but it also applies to everything where you identify yourself. Feel that oneness with the entire creation and existence, and when you can feel that oneness, all will be there in you. For example, if there is a flea in my bed, and travelling around the world, I change beds every few nights, I would not have the heart to kill the flea because it is life. I would pick up the flea and throw it out of the window. Let it go into the next-door people’s bedroom. You do develop that sense.

THE MEANING OF “RESIST NOT EVIL”

Everything is conscious; even a stone has consciousness, but in man, consciousness is more developed because it is more evolved than a stone, plant, or animal. But that consciousness could be misused, where you only become conscious of yourself. You feel that the entire universe revolves around you, that I am the most important person and to hell with the rest.

That is where the expansion of consciousness or awareness lies. Awareness and consciousness are synonymous. The more conscious you become, the more aware you become. All the consciousness is there in you, and to use a word, for the lack of a better word, you reach the area of pure consciousness where the consciousness is such that no evil thought could ever enter your mind.

That is how to live a positive life when no evil thought is allowed to enter your mind, and you do not block it off. You do not resist the evil idea. As the Scriptures would say, “Resist not evil.” This is what is meant. But at the stage of pure consciousness, that never happens; the evil thought never comes about, and another word for pure consciousness is total love.

MEDITATION GIVES YOU THE STRENGTH TO FACE YOUR PROBLEMS

All these things happen through meditation, and meditation can never cause any harm. In the beginning, stages, when a person starts, in that stillness of mind through meditation, you look at yourself squarely and discover your weakness. For example, if a doctor does not diagnose your problem correctly, he cannot give you the right medicine. So, this is self-diagnosis, where you find your weakness and try to correct your deficiency, which requires meditation and a certain measure of self-help. Many people are incapable of helping themselves for one reason only; they not have got the strength. Meditation leads you to greater integration, giving you the power to face your problems. Problems will always be there. But how we look at the problems is the critical issue. Through a more significant amount of awareness, we look at problems from a different perspective.

For example, if someone passes away, say a close one to me, my children, my wife, my beloveds, I will not tear up. I will not. Not because I have no sympathy, love, or feelings, but because I have realised that the person has not passed away. He is alive, has thrown off his body, and will take on another body, but that eternal Spirit in him is active and there. It is a matter of how we look at things. It is a matter of perspective. So, you go crying and moping for weeks and weeks; what will it help? It is not going to help anyone.

AT THE STEM, WE ARE ALL ONE

Therefore, a more significant amount of awareness is needed by the people of this world. When they develop this awareness, many of the world’s individual and international problems will disappear. If the people of America feel that the Russians are non-separate from us, we all belong to one human race, and the Russians feel the same way that we are blood brothers.

I am not talking of Adam and Eve, but if you go back in genealogy, you will find that we are all related. At the stem, we are all one and non-separate, and that stem is Divinity itself.

DIVINITY IS NEITHER MALE NOR FEMALE

This universe came about as a manifestation of the Manifestor. The Manifestor or Divinity is a neutral energy, like a flower that gives off fragrance or a fire giving off heat. It is the nature of the flower to give off aroma and the nature of the fire to give off heat. So, giving off the heat is the manifestation.

Many religions and theologies regard this manifestation as female, and He that we call Divinity is the only male. Whatever He has produced is viewed as female, and you find in many religions the worship of all the Goddesses, in Hinduism, Kali, Durga, Lakshmi, blah, blah, blah, blah, and in the Christian faith, Mother Mary. And if you go back into anthropology, Divinity was first worshipped as a woman, and then later on, it started to be honoured as a He. I think that is unfair, male chauvinism. He is neither a he nor is He a she.

I have seen many meditators on the borderline, hermaphrodites, transvestites, hermaphrodites, whatever. And they say, what can we do about this? I say, “Look, you have been born that way and cannot do much about it. But do not worry about it. You combine Divinity within you; he and she part.” For in every man, there is a bit of woman, and in every woman, there is a bit of man. In you, there is a balance. You are neither man nor a woman; you are on the borderline. Do not feel sorry for yourself; you are born that way, so enjoy it.

I am speaking without any sexual connotations whatsoever. I am talking about the psychology of that person who feels like an outcast from normal society. Divinity, a neutral force, would naturally inhabit or become a he or a she. And I tell you one thing no person can become one with God or one with Divinity if they have not lived in the bodies of a woman. You have to take birth as a female to develop certain qualities, and you have to take birth as a male to develop other qualities. The combination of all these qualities makes up that manifestation which is Divinity.

WE WANT TO EXPERIENCE DIVINITY

As you know, man’s mind has three sections, the conscious mind, the subconscious and the Superconscious level. The Superconscious level of the mind is the finest stage of relativity and the highest stage man can reach. It is not total God yet, but the finest stage of relativity, and you cannot go any finer. Once you get to the finest stage of relativity, then automatically, you merge into Divinity, total Divinity.

Yet it must be remembered that you are just mind; this body is just concretised mind; that is all it is. Everything from the finest stage of relativity to the sub-conscious stage of the samskaras to the thinking conscious mind to this physical body is Divine. That is the message that everything is Divine. Unless he is a nut, can you tell me of anyone who would say Divinity is bad? No one would. Through your practices, you approach that good because you believe that God is good. It is fine to believe. So the second part of our teachings is that we want you to experience that goodness within yourself, not only believing; it is not enough.

You can believe anything. You go to a magician show, and the chap performs wonderful things on the stage. The magician is cutting a woman in half and making an elephant disappear, making a motor car disappear on the scene. These are illusions; they are not the truth. But you believe that they have made that elephant disappear. So, the point is that belief could be erroneous, and it could be filled with errors. But the inner experience cannot be erroneous. It is not an illusion.

Some Monists or Mayavedantists regard the entire creation as an illusion, which is wrong. This is a chair, and I can feel the chair, and I can smell the chair, and I can sit on it. It is not an illusion. The illusory factor is that substances are subjected to name and form. You take a piece of wood, make it into a chair and the same wood you make into a table. So, the one you call table, the other you call chair and not realising that it is wood. Or another instance, you take gold, you could have it made into a bracelet or a necklace, and you ask your maid or daughter or whoever, “Where is my necklace?” So, you have given it names while it is nothing but gold. We forget the reality of it. Only when you want to show off, you say, “Ah, twenty-two carat, pure gold.”

If it is gold or mud or whatever, it is still constituted of Divine substance of that Divine energy. So, man is essentially Divine, but because of name and form, he is more involved in the illusion than in reality, for there is only one thing that is totally real: Divinity. Other things are also real but in a relative way, in a limited way, in a finite method. It does not lose its reality. Only when you reach that stage of self-illumination that you look at it from that angle will you find the world to be an illusion? What do you notice, like the ocean, you go to the seaside? You just see the waves on the surface, up and down and up and down. You notice the waves, but you fail to notice that there is such a calm sea under those turbulent waves.

THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING TO GUIDE YOU INSIDE

We fail to recognise that because we do not want to dive deep enough into those waters or ourselves where all calmness resides. Remember one thing for sure whatever problems you are going through; they do not stem from that which is within you. It is only surface level like the waves. The more attention you give to the surface waves, the more would you feel those waves as if they were dashing and crashing against the rocks of life. But if the attention is just slightly turned deeper, you will not take notice of the waves. What is wrong with waves? Let there be waves but become a surfer and enjoy surfing on the waves, for everything can be turned into beauty. Everything in life, never mind what. Because there is no such thing as a problem, and if you find anything problematic, be sure to know that the solution is inbuilt into the issue. A problem cannot exist without a solution. The solution is inbuilt into the problem.

Just to find the solution, and you know the famous saying. A businessman wants to make a deal, so he gets handed the documents to sign and says, “Let me sleep over it. I will let you know tomorrow.” The reason is that you do not get swayed in that discussion by the man selling you something. You get some intelligent talkers that can sell you anything. They can take a piece of mud and wrap it in beautiful chocolate paper and sell it to you as chocolate because what you are buying is the wrapping and not what is inside. You must still open the wrapping to see if it is a lovely chocolate or a piece of mud. So, you say, let me sleep over it. That means that you want to think it over, and in the stillness of your mind, you decide whether this deal is worthwhile. That only means you want to reach the tranquillity where you can choose correctly and hear the inner voice in that quietude. You could be very impulsive and sign the wrong papers when doing the deal. While calm, you would be more careful. There is always something to guide you inside. It is always there. But to discover it, that is the secret.

REAL LOVE IS A BRINGING TOGETHER

My most important secret is realising why people cannot find the secret of this simplicity of diving inside. Even if you start with the belief that everything existing is Divine. You will start at first with duality, I and Thou, but as you progress further, you will merge into the Thou, and you become that Thou. And you say, “Brahmas me” or “Tat Tvam Asi” – these are Sanskrit terms meaning “Thou art That.” That means Divine. Thou art That.

When we are talking about God for the sake of explanation, I would call Him a He perhaps, but it is It since He is neither He nor She. It is It, and you are It. That is the way I live my life. If I love someone deeply, it will never be for any other reason except just for loving. Anything else happens, it would just be a natural flow, but the intention or feeling of total love for the person because of Thou art That. I see the Divinity in you, and I love that Divinity.

A man says to a woman, “I love you,” it is a false statement. It is said every day, but if you analyse that statement, it is wrong. I love you. That means we are separating, while love is bringing us together. I and I are separate. But real love is a bringing together, and in bringing together, proceeding further away from that duality, the I and you, me and the Thou, you become one with Divinity, and you experience it. It cannot be analysed with the mind. The mind is too finite to experience that which is infinite. But we have to work with the tools we have on hand. I would like to have fifty self-realised people and send them worldwide. “Go to teach” and take your partner with you; go teach in pairs. It could be male or female; it does not matter; the female is better, at least she can cook and wash your clothes.

WE ARE ALL DIVINE

So, we are all Divine. Anyone wants to defy that. It cannot be disregarded; we are all Divine. We just got to uncover the veils of ignorance that put us into the illusory state of not knowing that we are Divine. By knowing, realising and experiencing that I am Divine, all your sense of guilt will disappear, which is the most significant disease in the world. All the other negativities and misdeeds you might have done will melt away, and you will become a real positive being. But until that stage is reached, there is nothing wrong with negativity.

For example, this burning light requires a positive and a negative current to create the circuit to produce this light. But that negativity, the negative current, is used correctly. A course is created with a favourable current. Many of you that do a little work at home with putting in light bulbs and repairing the fuses would know that you cannot run electricity just with a favourable current; you must have a negative current to form the circuit. So, why not regard life that way? That look, these negativities that I have, are necessary, but let me join that wire of negativity onto that other wire of positivity.

Everything in life can be looked at differently as soon as you lose the idea of “me and mine.” My chair, my table, my flower, my this. Nothing belongs to you; not even your body belongs to you. Everything is Divine, and you cannot possess Divinity, and you cannot own Divinity. You can become Divine and merge into Divinity but never possess it.

THE DESTINY OF EVERYONE IS TO DISCOVER WHO YOU ARE

People want explanations of what God is. You cannot explain it; you can only experience it. People cannot even explain what electricity is. People cannot even explain what an atom is because the deeper they go into an atom, they find sub-atomic matter, and when they go still more profound and deeper, they find still more sub, sub, sub, sub, sub, sub, sub, subatomic matters and they can never reach the end. Because once they reach the end, the essence of that atom, they will have found God. That is not possible with science. It can take you a short way, but the natural way to lead one to the totality of things is found inside here and finding it inside here, you will find it everywhere.

So, the message that we are all Divine is the truth and nothing but the truth. At first, you will find duality, and the Bible says that also. To the peasants that could not understand him, Christ used to say, “Pray to Thy Father in Heaven.” Duality. To some who could understand a bit more, he would say that “God is like the trunk, and you are the branches of the tree,” called qualified Non-Dualism. But to those close to him who could understand him, he would say, “I and My Father are One” because he had found that unity.

Now the question arises why he started teaching when he was thirty, when from the time of his birth, he was born with all the Divine powers, with Divinity. Every Avatar, every Incarnation, can only start teaching when they reach thirty or forty because they, too, have to go through self-discovery. They, too, have to find their authentic Selves, and when true masters find their real selves and find themselves to be Divine, then only would they start teaching. That happened with all the great Masters, Buddha, Krishna, Christ; you name them. So even Avatars, I am telling you this as an encouragement that even a Divine Being that is born Divine still has to go through those years of experiences to discover who he is. So do not be discouraged, for you, too, will find out who you are, which is man’s destiny. Everyone eventually has to reach home, and that is home. I am talking of this home that all of you will reach because it is there, and if it is there, you must reach it. If it was not there, then you cannot. But it is there.

Man progresses step by step. First, Duality, as I explained and then qualified Non-Duality, and then Monism, Advaitism, that total unity, that I and my Father are one. Everyone can say that “I and my Father are one” when they experience that oneness. But bear in mind that “I and my Father are one”; that is my goal in life. That is the goal I have to reach, and you will – sooner or later. But the sooner you reach it, the fewer your problems will be. You would not have to go through all the various lifetimes of what you would call suffering.

Reaching that goal can be done in one lifetime. It can be done through total devotion, Bhakti. It can be done through Jnana, knowledge and wisdom. It can be done through Karma, doing good actions, and then you enter Raja Yoga, the royal path where all these three merge, wisdom, action and devotion. Devotion is another name for love where all these three merges and you are on the Royal path, which is accompanied by certain practices.

LIFE HAS TO BE VERY PRACTICAL

I have come across many people who are sceptical about meditation, and I always tell them, “The proof of the pudding lies in the eating.” If you do not like the pudding, throw it away. But do one thing, be good, do good, and you will need inner strength. Let every action be such an action which will not produce any friction, which will be harmonious, and that will lead you to the very action of life. It is no good just thinking, sitting at home and thinking about it.

I knew a man who used to sit from morning till night and study all the Scriptures, the Korans and the Tora and Vedas and the Upanishads and the Bibles and all works of the great philosophers, Descartes, Hegel, Kant, Schopenhauer, all of them, and his wife and children were starving. So, I said, “You better get off your backside and start working. What is the sense of you getting all this book knowledge if you cannot provide a piece of bread for your wife and children? Action, act, go and work, earn and provide for your wife and children, and then you can always find time to pursue your scriptural studies. You still can do that.”

So, life has to be very practical and practical means action, Achtung, action. But good action that is non-friction producing. If a child is naughty, you strap him on the backside several times. That is not friction because it hurts you more than the child. You are teaching. Friction is when your mind goes into deep conflicts. If those conflicts rule your mind and your action, you harm others, and by hurting others, look at the amount of karma you are bringing upon yourself, and that makes things worse. It becomes a vicious circle. Instead of discarding the samskaras, you are adding more and more and more.

DIVINITY IS NOT TO BE ACQUIRED; IT IS ALREADY THERE

That is why some of you teachers are doing one of the most incredible things in the world, leading a person in a very systematic, kind, compassionate way to Divinity. I would never promise anyone self-realisation, God’s realisation. If any man comes to you and says, “I will give you God’s realisation,” please run far away from that man. He cannot do it; you got to do it yourself. I say, “I will show you the path because I have been through it, and you can go through the same path for yourself to reach your Divine goal,” and then the beauty is that the path and the goal become one. Then you look back, turn around, and see the path which would seem Divine to you. And you will say, “Ah, the path and Divinity is but one. What have I been wasting all my time for?”

That is the beauty of it, and that oneness would be realised where the path and goal become one. So, it is the easiest thing in the world to reach Divinity, the most straightforward thing. Because it is not something that you are going to acquire, it is something which is already there.

THROUGH MEDITATION, YOU WILL REMOVE ALL THE STRAIN AND STRESSES

It is just a change of the attitudes we have in life, the perspectives, our spiritual practices and once you start practising regularly, you will find that you will get so hooked on to it, to use that stupid word, that you will not be able to do without it. I know thousands of people who go to work and watch the clock and say, “Ah, when is it going to be five so I can go home to meditate.” Because it gives you bliss, it gives you a particular joy. It makes you know that you are throwing off a lot of dirt. It also makes you feel and know that all the tensions of a hard-working day will disappear. You shed it in half an hour. All the anxiety and stress will disappear. Forget God, forget Him, do it just for your tension and pressures. The others will follow on their own.

Let us say, “I am going to meditate to remove all my strains and stresses and feel relaxed.” Just adopt that attitude, and forget God. Like this man who said he is an atheist, he says, “I am an atheist, thank God.” So that “Thank God” will follow in its wake. And as you go deeper and deeper within yourself, you will say, “Ah, there is a power greater than me. I thought I was so wonderful and mighty. But there is a power far greater than me, and I am that power, and through my practices, I will be able to express that power.”

… Gururaj Ananda Yogi: Satsang UK 1984 – 06