Wisdom from Australia - Spring Tour 2005

Australia May 4th

The programs of Babaji’s eighth tour in Australia opened at the home of some local devotees. As the great Yogi arrived, Pada Puja (washing of the Guru’s feet) was performed to the chanting of some slokas from the Guru Gita. Then lead to the altar, Baba performed Arathi to Swamiji at the altar, and seated Himself.

Praying to Swamiji for His blessings, Baba opened His short discourse.

“ Offering my unconditional surrender and prostrations to my Beloved Guru Shivabalayogi and all those great realized souls of the world. Greetings to you all. I’m happy to be here in Perth and in Australia again; with all the love you have shown to Baba, it is always a homely feeling to be here. Today is going to be a day of practice and sadhana. I always emphasize that you only have a thing when you practice it. If you want Joy, Peace, the Peace of the Immortal Soul, then you will have to practice. It has always been my aim to help the devoted true seekers to learn how to meditate properly. The mind has to become silent. It is the mind which has picked up this habit of nervousness, giving turmoil, ignorance and fear.

The mind always leads to ignorance. That idea may be amusing to you when you see humanity achieve so much in the world by using the mind to do things in the world. But one simple truth we fail to grasp and understand -- the understanding capability of the mind is limited by the imaginations of the mind. When there are no imaginations, the mind recedes. If the mind exists, it imagines. When one thinks, it is through imaginations only. The mind looks at the whole world, gives names to the things it imagines, to try to understand, but it really doesn’t know about the world. The real Truth is beyond your imagination. Whatever the mind imagines, it limits.
Take the example of space. Space is all pervading. The more we try to define space, the more we limit the space. But if someone tries to understand “all-pervading”, how can we understand and measure that? The great sages used the term ‘Anantam’ - boundless. It is beyond all imaginations.

The Divine has to be experienced. If one tried to understand ‘Supreme Peace’ it is very difficult to explain. If one comes in contact with a real guru, then they may experience supreme bliss and happiness, but they may be unable to express what that is. God is beyond all imaginations, only a person who experiences That can know. So it is important to practice.
In trying to teach, the purpose of meditation needs to be understood, or the mind will expect the wrong things in the process. When people ask about how they can tell if they are progressing, they need to understand that it is not by experiences such as visions and so on, that one can know one’s progress, but by the experience of peace. If the mind was brooding, then anxiousness will be reducing.

This doesn’t mean you’ll lose your ability to function with the mind in the world. You won’t lose your mind once and for all. People may be worried how they will live in the world when experiencing supreme peace. When you can control your mind through meditation, the mind recedes; when you come out of mediation, you can apply the mind in the world more effectively.

This is important. Think of whatever you do, and whatever you get. Whatever you get may not be in your hands. You may not get what you want, and in this way the mind becomes happy or unhappy. Meditation will neutralize this. The mind becomes happy and content. Meditation will help you lose your imaginations.

To do this mediation, focus and watch between your eyebrows, and simply do not bother what happens - you may get thoughts or visions - simply do not bother. Gradually over time, it will happen that the mind will recede and come under your control. The mind belongs to you. It is your conscious energy. By this I mean the real ‘You’ that exists beyond imaginations.
The mind has given all these sufferings and unhappiness. If everyone’s mind could be controlled, the whole society will be happier and a better place. “

Questions

Could You please speak about the Inner Guru?

“ If you pray sincerely to God then it is the Inner Guru who comes to you as the outer guru. The Inner Guru will direct you to the outer guru. The Divine within you is the guru, which guides you to the outer guru. When you practice meditation, the mind recedes, and the inner guru will guide you deeper. When you go into deeper meditations and samadhi, you will experience the inner guru. All the peace and knowledge is within you.
Like Swamiji who although He hardly had any formal schooling, after His 12 years of Tapas, He showed such amazing wisdom and knowledge. This came out of Him from within.”

Could you speak about karma?

“ Well karma is a very wide topic. Whenever you perform any action or work, that is karma. The mind absorbs the imprints of these activities. That’s why it is advised to be in the company of good and noble people, who will guide your thoughts and actions. Your actions are very important as it gives impressions to the mind - samskaras. These samskaras dictate your next life. When you meditate, then you will be guided to act properly, and then the mind’s impressions will be less. Karma is a very wide topic and some aspects of it are inconclusive.
There are two types of karma - a human-made form in which certain actions are prescribed by a set of rules, but this can often be twisted by human selfishness. And then there is a more subtle form, such as when one practices meditation; one will simply know what is best to do. Sometimes it is not easy to dictate what is best.
Try to help others. I always say that one should try to help others; but if one can’t help, then at least don’t bother them. If you really practice meditation, you will develop the ability to determine the right course of action.
It is very important to be careful with one’s actions, as they lead to impressions on the mind.”

What about dreams and intuition?

“ Dreams tell about the state of your mind, as the mind creates the dreams. They show what the mind has acquired. If the mind is panicked, then it will show those types of dreams. But a dream really is a dream. When one dreams of a thing and then it happens - sometimes there is a coincidence if such things happen, though the mind can be capable of imagining the future.
With intuition, it is sometimes correct and sometimes not. If one meditates, then one will get the right intuition for oneself through inner guidance.”

Even if one dreams about the guru?

“ Yes - your mind is more devoted to your guru and it loves. Then the mind gets more and more receptive to the guru, and so receives the guru’s blessing and vibrations of the guru.”

When we sit in to meditation and the mind is restless with thoughts, is it all right to talk to the mind and tell it to settle down?

“Yes this is alright to do a little in the beginning. One part of the mind can talk to another part and tell it, ‘ One day this will recede’ - reassure the mind. “

If God is “Karuna Sargara” (ocean of compassion), then shouldn’t God’s grace be flowing automatically to us?

“ It is automatic, but you have to understand to be able to see it. If God slaps us - it is a kindness. If there are troubles in our life, it is God’s kindness. If there is suffering, it is God’s kindness. When you really understand God you will see HE is really full of Grace. HIS Grace is automatically flowing, HE can never do anything other than shower Grace, can never do anything wrong. Adi Sankaracharya says, and I have found this also in my life - Agony is universal law. The soul has jumped into this well we call the world. Suffering is the spring that throws us back to God. It makes us seek to go back. When a mother is taking the ice cream away from the child because it will make the child sick, she is doing so for the child’s own good. It is the same with God when He shows you to behave differently.”

What is the role of Guru in one attaining Realization?

“ Guru first initiates by showing the correct method. He will inspire you and clear your doubts. Guru can fill you with inspiration - ‘ If I have achieved, then you can also achieve.’ If one has faith and devotion to the Guru, then one will be serious in their efforts. Reverence to the Guru makes one serious in one’s efforts. Because you are serious, you are here at this talk with Baba, instead of making excuses to do other things.
If you were casual, you would not be here with Baba.
If God and Guru come in front of you, then to whom would you first prostate? One would prostrate first to the Guru, because it is the Guru who has shown you God. We were always taught when we were young, ‘ If God gets angry, Guru will protect; but if Guru gets angry, then not even the god can protect you.’ But yogis don’t really get annoyed and angry with people. If at all they do pull people up, it is for those people’s own good - only from love.”

What are the expectations for someone on this path who is not likely to be going into tapas in this birth?

“ Different personalities will have different ideas. In the legendary times, some people would do tapas to obtain powers and so would become demonic in their nature and behavior and would torture those around them. But if one goes towards God realization, and meditates well, they will still be elevated in their next birth. One needs to understand tapas before they start - one needs to understand what it is and what is the target, or one may stop too soon, before completing it. Doing tapas to obtain powers is like settling for having one single chocolate, when we are going to get the whole supermarket.”

8th May 2005

The evening program on the fifth day of Baba’s Australian Tour was held in the home of local devotees, and occurred on Mother’s Day. The great Yogi entered the gathering, performed Swamiji’s Arathi, took pranams, and spoke to the group assembled there.

Reciting the Guru Pranam Sloka, He continued,

“ Sashtanga namaskaram to my beloved Guru again and again.
On the path of spirituality one must be clear about the exercises and the target to enable one to find the Truth, or you might try to catch the wrong things. Over the whole world as I travel around, I see that spirituality flourishes; there is so much spiritual activity around the world. But still we don’t see the results of spiritual efforts - still we don’t see changes in the human beings. We don’t see the human beings being more loving, caring, considerate, peaceful. We don’t have a greater understanding of the spiritual truths. It is good to go into sadhana, but we must also know what and why and how to do it properly.

Swamiji spoke repeatedly about meditation for self-realization. When He had completed His 12 years of tapas and came out, so many hundreds of thousands of people gathered to see the great Yogi come out into the world, and he was requested to give a message to those gathered together. His message was , ‘ Humanity has forgotten who they really are. They must remember who they really are.’ Ramana Maharishi spoke also that only one single truth exists - a state in which there is no seen and seer. Adi Shankaracharya spoke the same thing as Advaita. Before that we think of God as separate to ourselves - that when God appears, then the satshatkaram happens. But really it is when the mind loses all imaginations and merges with the Self. This is inexpressible, nobody has been able to define it. When the mantra for Shivabalayogi came, it was mesmerizing for me. Right through my life it has given me everything, and so I saw God in the form of Shivabalayogi at the end of my sadhana, just before the ‘I’ merged into the Divine. Just like a droplet merges with the ocean. Because the mind exists, it has given the imagination of ‘I’ and the world. We want to enjoy the world by having it to ourselves, that is the problem. A Yogi realizes God is everywhere.

As an example, Guru Nanak as a child was helping His father in the shop, and was counting some items, and as He counted up in Hindi, He reached the number 13, which is pronounced “Thera” in Hindi - a word which also means ‘Yours’. When He got to that number, He kept repeating ‘Thera, Thera’ and His mind became so concentrated on the thought that all was God’s, he became realized. So this is how the mind gets involved, thinking everything in the world is ours, but even the body is not ours. One day He will take it back. Everything is God’s. But even these things are hard to overcome. Like an alcoholic who takes a vow that he will not drink alcohol again, but the mind keeps going back to that habit. This is how the mind works; it keeps going back, jumping to one shape. So it is necessary to do sadhana. Swamiji used to say ,’ Who are we to set right the world?’ You have to first rectify yourself, your own mind. When the mind becomes right, then everything will appear alright. Look within yourself. Sometimes people talk of the third eye. This is actually your own mind. The mind has to be present and active to activate all the senses, so for instance if you don’t pay attention to music that is playing, then you won’t hear it. The mind’s attention when it becomes focussed, comes to that point between the two eyes, and its perception is like a third eye.

One needs to do sadhana and look within you. Meditation is the blanket remedy for all our ills. Dhyana itself leads to Jnana ( knowledge)and Bhakti ( devotion ). Finally when the Truth is revealed, then the Yogi will say , ‘ Oh! So that is God.’ As Adi Shankakracharya expressed, ’ Aham Brahmasmi’. Prahlada was ridiculed by his father, a demonic king, ‘Where is your God?’. In Advaita philosophy one will say that the body is God, but the problem occurs when we think He is limited to only that body. The total surrender can occur only through Tapas. Through any sadhana the mind should recede. If the mind gets excited, it jumps back into the world, and any sadhana that does that, is a waste of time. In meditation, if the mind recognizes thoughts and visions, these are not the real experiences. The mind has billions of habits, samskaras, and when we meditate, the mind replays them and they can show as visions. When the vision occurs, the mind tends to recognize, analyze and then judges. So when you see a vision the mind can get involved. In the same manner, the Yogi really doesn’t see people as bad or good. The mind has to understand that it should not get involved - it should be just a witness - ‘Sakshi Bhutam’. So when you are meditating, one should concentrate, focus and not get involved. One instruction given is,’ Do not imagine anything’. - Don’t imagine what it is. If there is no job for it, the mind will recede. Until that stage, when the mind recognizes something, it gets involved. Mind and Illusion - which came first? We can’t know, there is no conclusive answer to this. In meditation, to try to overcome these two, we control the one we can control. We are unable to control the illusion, so we control the mind. When we withdraw the mind, the illusion drops off. The mind has to remain quiet, and when that happens, only pure consciousness remains. The ancient sages have said that the soul is immortal - there is one immortal Self which is God. These are the same.

As long as there is ego, there are thoughts. ‘I am ...this and that’. When that stops, only the real Self remains. Ramana Maharishi when He was a young boy, went through a death experience, felt His body was gone, and tried to see what remained. Similarly with the senses, the mind...what remained ... only the Self which is ‘I’ remains. And so when His family were all grieving and crying loudly at an uncle’s funeral, He asked what they were crying for. He suggested that if His uncle was the body, then that was still there; and if it is something else, then we really can’t know what has happened to it.
These sorts of things inspired me when I was young. If you really are interested, then God will send a Guru. Everyone these days wants to be the guru first. Swamiji used to say that we should try to be the perfect disciple first. If you are genuine, God will help, he will send the Guru to your doorstep. All that is needed is that you need to be sincere.

Remember when you commit a wrong act, even though nobody else may be able to see it, the mind stores the impression of that, deep in a corner of the heart. So Vasistha recommends meditation to clear this away. May you all be inspired to serve God and Guru.

Today is Mother’s Day. The concept of ‘Mother’ is perhaps God’s greatest concept. When the creation came out of the Divine, a tremendous eruption of consciousness, Rudra, occurred and with that consciousness, an enormous energy came out, engulfing the whole of creation. The huge fireball of energy threatened to consume the whole of creation. So Brahma and Vishnu together prayed to the Divine to convert this enormous energy into the concept of Mother. Mother will forgive unreservedly. This Mother is referred to as Adi Parashakti - ‘Adi’ meaning ‘first,’ ‘Para’ meaning ‘invisible’ and ‘Shakti’ meaning ‘energy’. So it is with gratitude to the Divine that we think of this, and honour the Mother. Mother is the kindest, but still when she sees the children on the wrong path, she will pull them up. In the same way, a Yogi is like a Mother and Father. He is affectionate like the Mother, but if we go on the wrong path and get caught up into the dualities of the world, then the Yogi will pull up His children as a Mother. The Guru is always an ocean of Grace. If Guru shows he is annoyed, it is only to help. If he gets angry, it doesn’t mean he rejects or destroys the child. A Mother will never reject the child. So we are grateful to the God for the creation of the Mother. Just as every child is totally secure with the Mother, so also every soul is totally secure with the Guru.”

Following this, Baba sang the song ‘ Anantha Roopini’ - ‘ Mother Your forms are boundless, the creatures that have come out of You are also boundless, and Your names are boundless. You are the source of all worldly enjoyment, and the source of liberation also. You live in the heart of Lord Shankara. Oh Mother, protect me. Mother, protect me.’

10th May - Day 6

Baba entered the hall, his long matted hair cascading over his broad shoulders, and making the hall seem like the sun had just risen inside. He performed Arathi to Swamiji, took His pranams, and began His address -

“ Brahmanandam Paramasukadam
Kevalam Jnanamurtim
Dvandvaateetam Gaganasadrisham
Tattvamasyadi Lakshiyam
Ekam Nityam Vimalam Achalam
Sarvadhi Sakshi Bhutam
Bhava Teetam Triguna Rahitam
Sadgurum Tvam Namami

Offering my unconditional surrender and prayers at the Lotus feet of my beloved guru Swamiji, Shivabalayogi, to grant refuge at His Lotus Feet, and I pray to Him to inspire you all to undertake the right path towards spiritual truth. May He grant you real yearning for spiritual truth and make you able to adopt right methods to attain self-realization. In this spiritual field, as in every field in the world these days, everyone is in a hurry to become gurus, instead of trying to learn things to achieve the Truth. We need a yearning to get to the Truth and adopt the right attitude. Very often in meditation also, people when they get a little advanced in meditation, they can go into a blissful state. That can happen, but don’t stop there. Peace is the recommended goal. Sometime ago I have explained bliss and peace. When bliss occurs, the mind is likely to get excited. This can happen when you achieve something in the world also - you feel excited and blissful. This same blissfulness is misunderstood as the goal of meditation. But since ancient times, the vedic sages have recommended Peace (Shanti) as the goal. This is a natural peace - the mind should be able to remain in the Peace effortlessly.

Actually it is not the mind’s true nature to be wandering in the world like a monkey - the mind has lost it’s own real nature. Really we should use the mind and apply it on the brain to work in the world, and then when your work is finished, the mind should go back to its origin, and remain in peace. But it does not go back to its origin. It is in ‘Viyoga’ - away from the original. ‘Yoga’ means re-union of the mind back to its origin. ‘Viyoga’ is when the mind is distracted away from original true state. That is why the path of spirituality is also known as the path of Yoga - reunion.
Yoga sadhana is a 3-fold path. Firstly we should look after the body by performing certain exercise and observing certain prescribed things to keep body as healthy as possible. The body has to be naturally healthy. But the body does have limitations. It is not in our hands to keep the body completely free of disease always, but as far as possible we shall try to keep the body healthy by doing exercise and looking after the food intake. The aim should be to generally not harm the body. The next part of the path is with the mind - the mind is supposed to be at peace in the Self, just like the sun’s rays in the sun or the droplet of the ocean, resting in the ocean. But the mind is out of control - it is in constant imaginations. It has gone into wrong habits. It has gone an unnatural way - viyoga. This mind sadhana is the main section of Yoga on the spiritual path. We honour all the methods taught by the great self-realized masters of the world which help you to control the mind, and help the mind recede to its original state. So many paths Sri Krishna taught in the Bhagavad Gita. He taught Karma Sadhana, the path of service. Live a worthy life ...that is what He taught - keep the mind in control under the original Yoga. Do your work simply as a duty, then the mind won’t get agitated with the work. Then you will find the mind doesn’t brood or get anxious. If you are doing a duty your mind is not supposed to go into agitation. It’s your job, you simply do it. Just like when I am doing the mission work, I do it as a duty - not because I want fame or want a large following. Whoever comes in front of me and is ready to listen to me, then I will help them to practice, and guide them. Even if it’s my own brother or sister I would be teaching them the same way. There are no conditions, no demands, no charge for my teaching. It can be anyone - a businessman, a student, anyone - all that is important is that you should have a yearning to know the spiritual truth. When you do work as a duty, it becomes Yoga Sadhana.

Like that 20 years in the ashram, every evening I did the bhajans and Arathi - it was my duty. I didn’t bother how many people came; whatever number came along I did what I had to do; whether 20 people came or two people came, or no people came. For very many days, I had one mentally retarded boy with me and I taught him to play and hold a particular note on the harmonium, and then I would play the dholak while I sang bhajans. For 20 years it was a sadhana - my duty - my God was there, my Guru was there. If my Guru was there physically I sang; if He wasn’t there, I did it. I did my duty and did the sadhana. When I did this, the mind became peaceful. So all the work in life should be done like this; simply go ahead with the life you have chosen. So My Guru didn’t prescribe sadhana other than ‘Meditate’ - just 1 hour a day and the rest of the time you just live your life. He said if you practice meditation, you will become better in all aspects of your life.
Bhakti Marga, the path of devotion, also has it’s own rules - Surrender, Devotion, Faith. Every human mind has emotions, so if all the thousands of thoughts are trapped into one single thought, one emotion, one faith, then the mind becomes focused. We must live for what we believe and die for what we believe. We have one God, one Guru, and do not give up the faith even if it means death - never give up. Just like a tiger who would die of starvation, rather than eat grass. We simply say, ‘We will do this’, and then go ahead. I did this, and because of this, meditation was very easy for me, because the mind had already learnt to be quiet.

The third path is the Moral Yoga Sadhana. My Guru used to say, ‘ First become a better human being, then afterwards you can become an angel or god.’ We should be considerate to each other, forget and forgive.... so many noble qualities exist. If we can behave like a perfect human being, that is Yoga Sadhana. Sometimes you might have heard people calling others as behaving like an animal - instead of that, behave like a perfect human being. With meditation it will be easier to do. If we are behaving in a natural way, that is Yoga. If we are behaving in an unnatural way, that is Viyoga. So adopt faith and inner strength and look ahead for the inner target. If we get distracted in meditation, with the mind thinking, ‘What is happening?’ again and again, then the mind gets distracted from the target. Then we get stuck in the path and we cannot progress in that path. So when we do things as a duty, then the mind settles.

Even after my tapas, I still follow this - Just simply go ahead and do my duty, and do not worry about what others say. I just go ahead and do what I have to do for the Mission - as a Duty.

We need to be careful of the Ego - as an example, I will tell you a story.
Once an old lady who lived in a village had a hen, and every morning it used to crow and wake up everyone in the village and the villagers all knew it was morning and the whole day’s activities would start up. One day the old lady got angry with the people in the village, and so decided to punish them. She thought, ‘ If I take the hen away, then they will all not know when the day has started, and so they will all just stay asleep and their lives will be ruined.’ So she took the hen away thinking that if it didn’t crow, then there will be darkness in the village all the time. For 6 months she stayed away, and was thinking there was darkness in the village always. After 6 months she went back to the village, to see if they had learnt their lesson. She was so surprised to see that their life was simply going on as usual. She went to one of the men of the village and asked if someone else had bought a hen to enable the village to start up each morning. The man replied, ‘ How foolish you are. Morning happens anyway, with or without your hen being here.’ That is ego. We think that because of me, this and that things happen; but actually it is God that does everything.

I am grateful my Divine Guru has given me this role to play in the cosmic drama; and I am happy that every one of you has come here this evening.
All that is needed is, look after your mind; then it will recede, and you will see God within you. You will see your true Self within you and you will see Peace within you. Peace is what you really want. Knowledge you also want, but this knowledge cannot be acquired from books. The real Jnani is IN the knowledge; so the sloka describes Him as ‘Kevalam Jnanamurtim’ - He is the personification of Knowledge.

The Guru teaches and gives you the hint to the path; but ultimately you have to take up the path and DO it. Never believe in this world that anybody else can do it for you. Even Guru or God cannot do it for you; but they can guide and inspire you. It is difficult to analyze who is the real Guru - only the Divine can lead you to the real Guru. Once someone asked Swamiji,’ Who is the real Guru?’ and He replied, ‘ The real Guru is He who will help the student to stand on his or her own two feet.’
If you practice and adopt the methods you will know the supreme truth, the supreme God, you will find supreme Peace - within you.
People sometimes ask why the mind is dragging us towards the world. The Illusion of the world is very powerful. It sucks the mind into the world. But YOU are much stronger - it is possible for you, just as it was for me. If you make up your mind, you can do it. Pray to your God and Guru to give you strength and to inspire you. Our mind magnifies the problem and terrifies us. If we think too much of the problem, we can be overwhelmed by it. We imagine it to be bigger than it really is. Face the challenge and see what happens. Meditation may appear like a difficult task in the beginning, but with practice it will be easy to do. Though it is difficult, it is not impossible. So many of you now can sit still for 45 minutes or longer. How did this happen? - by PRACTICE. So Practice, Practice, Practice. The first day you sat for 45 minutes of meditation it might have been awful, but over time it becomes easier. If you practice you will win this. I will always pray for you that my Divine Guru Shivabalayogi’s Grace will favour you. Time is precious, everything is important. One must always be yearning for the truth. Do it now - this moment is yours.

My Divine Guru sent me so many obstacles and troubles in my life. I thank the Guru for all these, because they were part of making me stronger, more refined. He was so kind. If he was not so kind, He would have left me in this world. He is so kind even now; He keeps teaching me lessons. He sends His agents to teach me still. My life is full of lessons and every moment He is protecting me.

God is always with you. Ultimately it is definitely guaranteed all of you will get it one day. Have faith in your Self, in the Guru, and in God. Practice and have faith, and you will achieve it. “

Questions and Answers

Q. Baba, in Your previous talks You have described the mind as a tape and the brain as a tape-recorder. Can You please talk more about that?

A. The mind is your own conscious energy. The brain is a physical organ in your body. Which came first? - The mind exists and is active because of the brain; and the brain exists and is active because of the mind.
The mind catches all the scenes, like in a movie, and the brain reflects those. Because of the brain only, you are conscious of the universe. It processes and reflects the imprints and these reflections are caught by the mind. When did it all start? - There is no firm answer for that.
The mind gets habits, which in India we call samskaras. These imprints are carried to the next life, and the strength and type of these, causes the next life. Meditation clears these imprints of the mind and reflections in the brain, so the mind goes towards God.
When you sit to meditate, the mind gets absorbed into the brain and the brain’s tape recorder decodifies these imprints, plays and erases them - this clears the mind’s imprints, and they evaporate. So while this process is going on, you need to have patience.
We tell you to not analyze these thoughts as they occur, so that the mind doesn’t pick up new habits and imprints. Otherwise it becomes like the hen and the egg - one comes from the other, and so on. So do the sadhana, and then you will withdraw the mind, without harming the brain.
Unnatural methods like alcohol and drugs, suppress the brain’s functioning, so the mind simply gets kicked off from the brain. This can feel like bliss, but in the process, the blood and brain’s health is affected, so these methods are not recommended.
This is the secret technology of meditation.

Q. If I focus and concentrate, the area starts to throb. Do you focus at the blackness inside the closed eyelids, or focus up at the third eye?

A. In the beginning, if it is difficult for both eyeballs to come to this point between the eyebrows, you might try to look at the front portion, straight ahead, without saying it is the blackness of the inside of the eyelids - remember I said not to analyze. Then slowly the eyeballs will come together in time. If you see light or visions or anything, then simply focus on that and the eyeballs’ vision will come together.

Q. What helps to sustain one during the hardships one encounters in meditation?

A. You get sustained by the first resolution - that you NEED this. Just as you require food for the body, and you’ll endure anything to get it. Then it is the same way in meditation - when you realize that you NEED this.

Q. Can You please speak about the chakra energy systems?

A. This chakra system is a terminology used in ancient times to discuss the rise of the kundalini energy. I’ll try to explain.
The kundalini is nothing but a part of the souls conscious energy which has gone out into the body, in the same way as the mind has gone out into the world. This gives us the body consciousness.
Sadhana is taught to control the mind, because the kundalini is less powerful than the mind. So if the mind is controlled first, then it draws up the kundalini, and as the kundalini rises, it passes through various chakras, each with its own name - Muladhara, and so on. At the Sahasrara chakra situated at the top of the head, the mind and kundalini become one, and the mind is then delinked from the brain. This happens just before samadhi.
But the sadhak should not worry too much about these things, as all these things distract the mind and can simply build up more new imaginations in the mind. If you bring back the mind to its source, this will all happen by itself.

Q. Could You please discuss the concept You mentioned of ‘Knowledge Personified’?

A. When you reach that stage, you do not remain a separate entity from the knowledge. Usually the knowledge one has about something, is like holding a chocolate in your hand. You may describe it in great detail, but you still don’t know its taste. In the same way, people may think that if they read scriptures about God, they will know; but if you experience IT, you become ONE with it.
Yoga does this. When I wanted to know myself, this ‘I’ vanished and only one single Self exists. If the intelligence is used to try to know something - the intelligence is a very small thing.
Sri Ramakrishna used to tell a story about two brothers who were sent by their father to a self-realized master to learn about God. When they came back, he asked the first son, “ What have you learnt?”. The son spoke at great length about all the things he had read and heard, and all the slokas he could recite. His father said,” Oh, you don’t know anything.”
Then when he asked the second son, that son simply remained quiet. So the father said, “Oh good, you know a little of it.”
If you want the knowledge, you must experience the Truth.
Swamiji used to say, “You have to experience the Truth.” As a student, I didn’t know much. Now as a Yogi, I can know something of why He did what He did with us. To know, to understand a Yogi, you have to become a Yogi.

Q. Can you practice this technique of meditation with the eyes open?

A. I would not recommend it. Perhaps just for a little time in the beginning, but not for too long. For instance, you might find that some dust particles come into the eyes, and could damage the eyes. I myself did very, very briefly. For instance before going to sleep at night, I would look at Swamiji’s photo for a little while, then close my eyes and sleep.

Day 4

The public program held on the fourth day of Baba’s tour in Perth, Australia was held at a yoga centre in Fremantle, south of Perth. The centre was opened many years ago by Swami Venkatesananda, who had been a direct disciple of Swami Sivananda of Hrishikesh. Baba entered the yoga hall as devotees sang Swamiji’s Arathi, offered pranams to Swamiji and took His place on the dais. Reciting the Guru Pranam Sloka, He then followed:

“Offering my unconditional surrender at the lotus feet of my beloved Guru, Shivabalayogi, and pranams to all the great realized souls of the universe. I am very happy to be here this evening in this ashram of such a great saint - Swami Sivananda. I remember in 1977, while a student of my Guru, Shivabalayogi, that Swami Ventakesananda came to the ashram to visit Swamiji. I recall I was surprised when he met me, that Swami Ventakesananada greeted me by saying that he had heard of me, and said, ‘I am happy to meet you. I see that like my Guru, you are a descendant of the great sage Ayyappa Dikshitar.’ I was surprised as to how he knew that without me mentioning it, as I had not introduced myself in such a way.

Greetings to you all here this evening.

My Guru, Shivabalayogi, in 1961, after 12 gruelling years of Tapas emerged to bring His message into the world. He was perhaps one of the greatest Yogis of India. During His Tapas, which He started in 1949, at the tender age of only 14 years old, He was in samadhi up to 20 to 22 hours a day. Other boys at this age are playing and unaware of spiritual things. Swamiji, Himself had no inkling before He started His Tapas, that He would become a great Yogi. Simply He was playing in the paddy fields with His friends and was trying to squeeze the juice from one fruit, when suddenly the great Omkakara sound, the Om sound, began to come from the fruit. The fruit was transformed into a Shivalingam, and then from this Shivalingam, there emerged a Jangama sage who made Him sit into Tapas, a deep meditative samadhi.

From childhood He had always been honest and a hard worker. He was totally determined and always finished his tasks. Anything He started, He finished. For ordinary people it will take many years or maybe many lives, but from the beginning He started sitting more than 10 hours at a stretch, focusing between the eyebrows. He simply obeyed what His Guru had commanded; ‘ Focus, don’t worry about anything else.’ During His 12 years there were so many obstacles and tests. His life itself is a great message for the sadhak - someone who does sadhana. I always feel so blessed to be the student of such a great Master.
‘Sadhana’ is your efforts to achieve something. Dedication, Discipline and Patience - these were the great mantras He taught us. My Guru used to say, ‘ Time is so precious. If one moment is lost, it will not come back.’ So do not waste this time. Utilize every moment. Apply your will and do meditation. You have to take time and do it as a sadhana. These moments can’t be brought to a stop. Once they are gone, they’re gone. You have to offer yourself - just like you have taken time to come here tonight to listen to Baba. Today you are here listening to Baba - that is dedication. Without dedication, one takes it easy and makes so many excuses for not doing the sadhana. You must take the sadhana seriously.

One needs to be disciplined - body, mental, manners and every way - if you want to achieve something. At His lotus feet, Swamiji used to say that you must be disciplined if you want to learn something. You have to learn to surrender and accept whatever you get. Like a horse - its eyes will be covered on the sides to have a narrow view straight in front - in the same way, you need to keep your eyes on the target. Even when I was in Bangalore in the beginning, my only aim was, ‘ I want Swamiji.’ Similarly, when I went to the temple, I didn’t allow any distractions - I just wanted to see the deities - I was not interested in the surroundings. When you come to the ashram or temple, be yourself as a devotee - as a devotee, a disciple, a student; not as a businessman, an officer and so on - only then you can learn things properly. When you expect other things you won’t get mental peace. You will have to surrender - be ready to undertake sadhana. Don’t waste your time with futile expectations and other futile gossips.
Adjust to the circumstances. Learn to manage with whatever you get. Swamiji never spoke of scriptures much. He talked from His own experiences. One particular scripture he advised me to read was Yoga Vasistha. This is the yoga taught to Sri Rama by sage Vasistha. When Sri Rama and his brother Lakshmana went on a tour of the kingdom, Rama came back and was very withdrawn. Just at that time, sage Vishwamitra came and wanted Rama and Lakshmana to come to his ashram to protect a fire sacrifice that he was performing. Their father, Emperor Dasaratha said, ‘ They are very young to do this. I’ll send my whole army, and I’ll come myself.’ But sage Vishwamitra said, ‘ No, I only want Sri Rama and Lakshmana.’ Sage Vasistha added,’ Don’t doubt their strength, send them.’

Then Emperor Dasaratha answered, ‘ I’m also worried about Rama. Ever since he has come back, he has become dejected, he is not eating properly, not smiling; he is quiet and sits in the corner.’ Vasistha said,’ I will speak to Sri Rama.’ In his discussion, Sri Rama expresses his doubts about life and death, and why there is unhappiness in the world. He says that we need to eat to sustain the body, but even then, it will still die; if we don’t eat, also it will die - so what is the purpose of all this?

Vasistha talks to him and explains about the mind’s imagination. The world is as you have imagined it. If you imagine it as unhappy, then the world is unhappy. If you imagine it as happy, then it is happy. It appears as you have trained your mind to see it. If you train the mind you will know about the existence of the world.

From childhood I myself wanted to know about the existence of the world, I was fascinated by the idea of death. The song Bhaja Govindam mesmerized me, ’When death shall claim this body, then neither wealth, status, or anything of this world will save you. So before death takes you, sing the glories of God.’ So much time is wasted seeking money and fame. And so we have to come again and again, and again and again be born in the womb of a mother.
I used to think we can’t be truly independent. We have to work to get food to sustain our bodies in this world. We have to do all the mundane things such as sleep - if the brain is sleepy, we have to sleep then and there - there is no choice. So we cannot be truly independent.

Just like when you are watching a movie, the mind gets sucked into it and experiences it as though it is real. You experience the fear, sorrow, and even can get excited like you are the hero of the movie. Actually you are not involved in the movie - physically or biologically. It is simply because of your attention. In the same way, the mind absorbs wherever you are and in the process loses its happiness and peace. The mind starts brooding...as if it is happening to you. We get absorbed into the movie scene because of the power of attention. When you sit for meditation, the mind becomes quiet, and when it is quiet, it is peaceful, and in the process so many benefits also happen.

As human beings we need to know the benefits first - just like a businessman doing his business deals. Nobody can assure whether you can become a emperor or a billionaire or not, but I guarantee for sure that this will give you happiness and peace - which is what we all want.

Patience was the other great mantra of our Guru. These days we want everything to happen instantaneously - even if it takes 5 minutes, that is no good. But have patience. So it is said, ‘Patience pays rich dividends.’ Every time I talk about this, because the mind has gone out of control and we need to bring it back. For how long it has been out of control we can’t know. If a cloth has become very dirty it takes a very long time and a lot of patience to wash it clean. In the same way, the mind is tricky, slippery and infinite, and always out in the universe somewhere. So you need patience to bring it back. And so when Lord Krishna tells Arjuna to have control of the mind, Arjuna himself says, ’You have shown jnana and bhakti and karma as paths to God consciousness. But I can see that the mind is very slippery.’

Even an elderly gentleman we have known for some time came and was talking, and said that though he is retired and has no commitments, still when he sits for meditation his mind does not keep quiet - IT will not retire. Even to recognize this as a problem is an achievement. Swamiji used to say we have 3 main responsibilities - body, mind and morals. And of these the mind is the slipperiest. The mind has become too much attached to the world. It has put too much consciousness into the world- there is no need for so much of attention to the world. This is the power of attention, and it is this attention that we utilize in meditation. You can sit in your own home and do the meditation - no need to go to the forest. If you are driving a car, then it must be controlled or it will be a problem to yourself and to others. If you lose your temper, you become a danger to yourself and to others, simply because the mind has gone out of control. That is when we become dangerous. If a person becomes selfish, he or she becomes dangerous.

My Guru was very unique. He respected all religions and all types of sadhana. He would say, ’ If you are doing any other sort of sadhana such as japa, singing bhajans and so on, then continue to do it. No problem. You can still do this method of meditation - there is no harm. In initiating you there is no binding. Swamiji said,’ If you like, you can take this as offered by a friend. That is enough.’ You can be of any religion or faith - there is no conflict. Any help or guidance that you require, then I am here genuinely to help.

I am here on my eighth visit to Perth, on the invitation of our children and the management of the centre here. Particularly I come for people who are interested in sadhana - genuinely interested. My Guru used to say to just give short talks. You can only give clues to the Truth. “

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Devotee:

With this technique of meditation, will it take you through the 8 levels of jnana meditation?

BABA:

With this technique, there is no need to worry about different stages. It is all taken care of automatically.

Devotee:

Can You give any clue or hint as to how we can recognize our thoughts as imaginations?

BABA:

Whatever is in the mind is only imaginations. Because the mind exists only when it imagines! The pure existence of the Self is peaceful. Anything else is imaginations - because the mind cannot exist without thoughts. The only real experience is Peace. But the mind cannot remain even on one thought. It constantly recognizes and makes judgments.
When all this stops, then you experience your Existence.

Devotee:

Please explain the path of service.

BABA:

This is called Karma Yoga. Normally whatever we do, we do for ourselves. When we try to serve God and Guru, still there can be the thought of ‘ I am doing this’. So on the path of service we must be careful about false pride. When doing service then surrender is very important - do it simply as a duty, with no expectations. The mind will not allow you to do anything except that it is always expecting. But we need to lose these expectations. Along the path, we eventually even need to lose the desire for liberation - then liberation itself can occur. Service can be in any form, but you need to lose pride and ego. When I first came to the ashram in Dehra Dun, I thought I would be simply meditating most of the time, but my Guru taught me to be ready to do anything in the ashram...clean toilets, office work, or whatever. Do it as a duty, with no expectation. Keep on doing things as you are told to, without questioning. The best service we can do is, do it without expecting. No need to ask God for anything - He will automatically give. There is no need to have expectations. God gives everything. Serve everyone as God; then you will see God everywhere. Always offer service to God. Baba is able to love everyone because Baba sees God in everyone. Surrender and service go together - when you are ready to serve you must surrender.

Devote:

Can you give any clues on integrating peace into our busy lives?

BABA:

When you meditate, through meditation, the mind recedes. When you get up from the meditation, the mind will remain calm. You’ll be able to use the mind - more effectively - and you can control the mind. If you meditate then the mind automatically gains that ability. So you can use meditation as the blanket remedy to be used in the everyday life.

Devotee:

Could You please speak about shame?

BABA:

To do a wrong thing is a shameful act. But it can be difficult sometimes to tell what is a shameful act. Generally an act which harms one either physically, mentally or morally is considered a shameful act. It can be easy to see a physical harm, and even mental. The ancient sages said that the mind can take different shapes - Kama (greed), Krodha (anger), Moha (attachment), Lobha ( excessive stingeiness), Matsalya ( jealously), M.....( false pride). Whenever the mind gets too much into any of these shapes, your own mind is the first casualty. When this happens there is moral damage. We humans are selfish - we have one set of rules for us and another for others. When moral values are lost we commit shameful acts. Be considerate about others - if you want to be happy, then others also want to be happy too. Greed and hatred makes us selfish, and we commit shameful acts and destroy others - we should be careful about our own minds so as not to become greedy.

Devotee:

Baba, You mentioned Ayyappa Dikshitar in Your talk. Can You tell us anything of His life story please?

BABA:

Ayyappa Dikshitar was one of the 64 ancient great saints of Tamil Nadu. I have not read much about Him, but I can recall one or two incidents that I heard from my mother. There was one incident in which He was going to perform a fire sacrifice and in this particular fire sacrifice, it involved animal sacrifice. This made Him very sad that the animals should be killed like this. But Lord Shiva appeared to Him and told Him, ’Don’t be sad at this. These souls are to liberated in this way, so don’t be sad. A second story is that He built a temple, but in the sanctum sanctorum, the centre of the temple, where the deity is usually placed, He placed a mirror, so when people came in front of the sanctum sanctorum, they saw themselves, meaning ‘ God is within you.’

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