Today you witnessed your last journey. You have seen the treatment meted out to your corpse and your bones. You are pure consciousness, so subtle that even when death arrives, you become a witness to that death. Even when your bones burn, you are a distinct entity of effulgence. Even when your bier burns, you are pure consciousness aloof from the corpse. You are the eternal witness, the True Self. Today, as a witness you have observed your death too. You have been a witness to thousands of details like this.
Those, who become the witness to the journey of their death, find it a mere journey. The witness stays untouched.
After death, all those, who were yours, are no longer yours. Even your body is not yours. But your True Self is always yours; it can never be alienated from you.
Thousands of friends deserted you, lakhs of relatives deserted you, crores of bodies deserted you, and billions of deeds deserted you too. But your True Self never deserts you.
The body was taken to the cremation grounds but you are pure consciousness, the eternal witness, separate from the body. Now you have realized, ‘I survive even after the last journey of this body. I survive it being burnt with the bier. I was there before the birth of this body and survive its death as well. I am pure consciousness….I am Pure Enlightening Knowledge. I have renounced all attachments and affection towards the world. I have ripped apart this web of illusion.’
Go on intensifying this practice. The identification of Self with this body or the attachment with this body is the last hurdle. Destroy it by the above practice. If you get a chance, go to the cremation grounds. Show yourself the scene of a burning corpse (Women are not supposed to visit the cremation ground).
When I was at home, I used to visit the cremation grounds. I would occasionally show the truth to my mind and tell, ‘See! This is what is going to happen to your body as well.’
In the cremation grounds, discrimination and detachment crop up in your mind. Without discrimination and detachment, even Brahma’s precepts will prove futile. Without discrimination and detachment, you will not be able to ensure your speedy progress even if you submit yourself under the tutelage of a Self-realized accomplished Sadguru. If your sense of discrimination and detachment are dormant, what can the Guru do?
In order to arouse your discrimination and detachment make a visit to the cremation grounds once in a while. At times, take a mental trip to the cremation grounds even while sitting at home itself.
मरो मरो सब कोई कहे मरना न जाने कोय|
एक बार ऐसा मरो कि फिर मरना न होय||
‘Everybody talks of dying,
Nobody knows how to die,
Once die such a death that
You don’t have to die anymore.’
Let the flame of pure knowledge be lit. Get rid of the attachment of this body. Once the attachment of this body goes, the affection towards your kith and kin will weaken. Once ego and attachment evaporates, your behavior will become akin to the Lord’s behavior. Your words will reflect the Lord’s words. Your eyes will see through the Lord’s eyes. Your living will turn into Lord’s Divine play.
Just get rid of your ego, your identification of self with the body. The attachment of external, which is but illusory, will automatically wither away.
देहाभिमाने गलिते विज्ञाते परमात्मनि|
यत्र यत्र मनो याति तत्र तत्र समाधयः||
देह छन्ता जेनी दशा वर्ते देहातीत|
ते ज्ञानीना चरणमान् हो वंदन अगणित||
‘Once the identification of Self
With the physical body is removed,
One realizes the true nature of God.
Then, wherever the mind goes, it is in Samadhi;
Those, who are aloof from the body,
While still in the body,
I bow at the feet of such
Enlightened Souls again and again.’
Mentally ask yourself, ‘When will the time come, when I will experience distinctness from this body, while still in this body? When will the time come, when, sitting all by myself, I will see my mind and intellect distinct from my own Self and repose in the bliss of my True Self. When will the time come, that engrossed in the Supreme Bliss, I will be carefree in my dealings with this world?
When will the time come, that I will consider the behavior of friends as well as enemies as a source of mere amusement?’
Don’t have thoughts like, ‘when will the time come, when I get promoted….become President….become a Prime Minister…’
To hell with the desires of power and position! Think instead, ‘when shall I be established in the bliss of my True Self? When shall I experience unity with God?’
The president of America, Mr. Coolidge, lived in the White House. Once he was walking in the garden. A visitor came and asked, ‘Who lives here?’ Coolidge replied, ‘Nobody lives here. This is but an inn, a tavern. Many people have come here and gone. Nobody lives here.’
You have not come here for living! You are here just to pass through. This world is not your true abode. Actually your True Self is your real home, the home where the Saints abide. The place, where Saints established themselves, is the only one, where you can establish yourself permanently and nowhere else. No other palace, howsoever strong it may be, can accommodate you permanently.
संसार तेरा घर नहीं, दो चार दिन रहना यहाँ|
कर याद अपने राज्य की, स्वराज्य निषकन्टक जहां||
‘The world is not your home,
You are to live here for a few days only,
Recollect about your own kingdom,
Where you are the unchallenged master.’
Once a stranger asked Mr. Coolidge, ‘I have come to know that Mr. Coolidge, the president of America, lives here. Everybody is just passing through.’
The Four-year term of Coolidge was nearing its end. Friends advised, ‘Contest the elections again. You have a very congenial influence in the society. You will certainly be re-elected.’
Coolidge said, ‘I have had the experience of living in the White House for four years. I have had the experience of being the President. There is no essence even in becoming the President. It is just fooling oneself. It is simply wastage of time. I have no time to waste anymore.’
All these positions and prestige are wasting your time. Your relationships, howsoever high placed or important, are too wasting your time.
Swami Ramatiratha used to pray, ‘O Lord! Save me from friends…save me from pleasures.’
Sardar Puran Singh asked, ‘What are you saying Swamiji? One has to save oneself from enemies, not from friends.’
Swami Ramatiratha replied, ‘No, I will take care of enemies; I will take care of troubles. One never has attachment or affection towards unsavoury things. Attachment and affection are always associated with pleasures, with friends or with loved ones.’
Friends waste our time. Favourable situations, happiness eat into our time. They make us unconscious of the real Truth. We are not able to carry out our original duty. We end up wasting our lives caring for unnecessary and unwarranted things.
Let us save our time from the so-called friends. Let us get rid of our attachment with the so-called pleasures. Keep an alert vision so that you can reside in God even while enjoying the pleasures; you can live with the Lord even while living with your friends.
ॐ Shanti….Shanti….Shanti…ॐ...ॐ...ॐ...
Your body has completed its journey. So you had the privilege of observing even your death. Being the witness to your own death how can you ever die? You are yourself to your own death how can you ever die? You are yourself Supreme Consciousness. You are the Soul Personified. You are beyond fear, beyond doubts. Death has devoured the body times without numbers. You never died. You have been only changing the outer bodies. You have just switched from one birth to another.
Fearlessly, experience for yourself, ‘I am the Soul. I will extricate myself from attachment. I will save my life from being wasted in pursuit of irrelevant and unworthy relationships. I will save my mind from expectations and dependence on others. I will not be a slave of expectations; I would rather be their master.
ॐ...ॐ...ॐ...
I will remain fearless. I will never care for the pleasures and pains of the world. I will be free from worries in all circumstances of the world because I am the Absolute Consciousness. O death! You can at the most, damage my body; but you can do absolutely no harm to me. How dare you frighten me?
O glitters of the world! O temptations of the world! How can you trap me now! I have seen your actual hollowness. O rituals and traditions of the society! For how long can you bind me? O pleasures and pains! For how long can you make me dance to your tunes? Now, I have woken up from the slumber of delusion….’
Thus awaken your real consciousness fearlessly, firmly, honestly and without any reservations. For how long will you continue to sleep in this body?
There may be thousands of obstructions on the path of sadhana; there may be lakhs of thorns spread out on your way. We shall tread on them all fearlessly. If those thorns do not convert themselves into flowers, how shall we justify our being called sadhaks?
ॐ...ॐ...ॐ...
In the face of thousands of incidents of upliftment and downfall, we shall keep our conscience awake. What will happen at the worst? Ups and Downs, both belong to this body which is but a subject to death, we are engrossed in the bliss of our True Self.
बिगड़े तब जब हो कोई बिगड़नेवाली शय|
अकाल अछेद्य अभेद्य को कौन वस्तु का भय||
‘Damage can be done only to that which is
damageable. What can damage the timeless,
impregnable and indestructible entity?’
What is there to lose or gain for my True Self, the Pure Consciousness? If the worst damage comes, it can only affect the body which is a moving-corpse anyway, isn’t it? Even if the best thing is available, who else will get it but the corpse like body itself. And I have just burnt down the corpse in the fire of enlightenment. Now why should I feel afraid or suffer inner diminution? Why should I yield before the troubles or temptations of the world?
Now, I will live like an emperor….. I shall be free from all worries and remain carefree. Once I have set foot on the path of sadhana. I will not relax before reaching the goal.
ॐ...ॐ...ॐ...
Nothing is impossible for a person who nurtures such thoughts.
एक मरणियो सोने भारे|
One, who is ready to sacrifice even his life towards the cause he is striving for, becomes stronger than a hundred people opposing the same.
You must die in the end. Then, why not invite death right away? A true sadhak is the one, who does not stop in the face of thousands of obstructions, who cannot be trapped by lakhs of temptations. Thousands of fearful incidents cannot frighten him and lakhs of expressions of gratitude don’t get into his head. That is what makes a true sadhak. A sadhak must have the inner experience that enables him to say,
हमें रोक सके ये ज़माने में दम नहीं|
हम से जमाना हैं ज़माने से हम नहीं||
‘The world does not have the strength
to halt my forward march.
The world owes its existence to me,
I don’t owe it to the world.’
Prahalad’s father obstructed his path; Prahalad disobeyed his father. He moved towards God. Her husband and other family members obstructed Mira; Mira paid no heed to them. King Bali was obstructed was obstructed by his so-called Guru, Bali turned a deaf ear towards him.
Even if the Guru obstructs you from proceeding on the God’s path, disobey the Guru but don’t ever turn away from God.
Can there be a Guru, who will prevent you from following the path of God? Such a Guru probably had no Guru himself and is a Nigura Guru. If the Guru prevents you from moving towards God, remember king Bali and put your best foot forward. If your wife obstructs your path, remember king Bhartrihari and do away with the attachments towards her. If sons or other family members do it, slit apart the web of their affection with the scissors of knowledge. Even if the most adored of persons in the world becomes an obstacle to your pursuit of God or Self Realization….. how wonderfully Tulsidas ji has put it!
जाके प्रिय न राम वैदेही,
तजिए ताहि कोटि वैरी सम, यद्यपि परम सनेही|
‘One, who does not love Rama and Sita,
Treat him as equivalent to millions of enemies and shun him, even if he is your supreme beloved.’
In such matters, shun the most affectionate of persons like you shun the worst of your enemies. Rely only on your pure consciousness and chant ॐ with convictional vigour.
Grief and worry, desperation and troubles, failures and poverty affect us internally; they are not external entities. When you presume in your mind that you are a failure, you meet failure in the external world as well.
Never harbor feelings of despondency in your mind. Mentally, don’t ever give in to fearsome circumstances. Rely on the power of ॐ! Rely on the Sadguru’s experience of Absolute Truth. Muster so much divine strength so that you can trample for once even on the head of death when it arrives. How long will you live under fear? How long will you continue to promise offerings for the fulfillment of your desires? How long will you continue to please leaders, officials, rich men and servants? Why don’t you try pleasing yourself instead? For once, make friendship with your own Self. How long will you make friends with others?
कबीरा इह जग आय के, बहुत से कीने मीत|
जिन दिल बांधा एक से, वे सोये निश्चिंत||
‘Kabir says that people make so many
Friends after coming to this world.
Those, who have loved the One and only
One (the True Self), are free from all worries.’
Many friends were made; but one, who loved the only One, was blessed. You have to love your Self only. That ‘One’ is not sitting in the sky or beneath the ground. You don’t need to erect telephone poles or connect any wiring. That ‘One’ is your own True Self. You are the that ‘One’. You are unnecessarily constricting yourself, ‘I will be happy, if I get this…I will be happy, if I get that…’
Absurd! It is alright if you lose everything; it is all the same if you get the whole world. This world, in the ultimate analysis, is but a dream. Let the dream go by. What is going to happen in the worst case? You will not get a job? You will not get food? Does it really matter? After all this body has to die one day. If the worst happens, one shall die of hunger and thirst, pursuing the path of God. In any case, people do die even after eating to their heart’s content. Though in reality God Himself take care of one, who follows the path of God-realization. As and when you become free from all worries, God becomes worried about you, lest the enlightened one goes without food.
सोचा मैं न कहीं जाऊंगा यही बैठ कर अब खाऊँगा|
जिसको गरज होगी आएगा सृष्टिकर्ता खुद लायेगा||
‘I thought I will not go anywhere;
I will take care my meals here itself.
One, who is concerned, will come;
the Creator Himself will bring food.’
The Creator Himself can come. It is His responsibility to manage and provide the creation. When you become established in the Truth a thousand reproaches to the gods and goddesses, who don’t inspire people to serve you. If you repose in your True Self, reproachable are the kinnaras and gandharavas, who don’t sing your praises.
Unnecessarily are you constricting yourself before the gods and goddesses, seeking their blessings and grace. How long will you go on begging, disrespecting your True Self and its latent powers? Now you have to wake up. Once you have come to the Guru’s door, you cannot be allowed to sleep any more.
You may perform thousands of Yagnas, you may chant lakhs of mantras; but until and unless you get rid of your stupidity, you cannot achieve deliverance. Three hundred and thirty million Krishnas may come to preach you but until and unless the enlightening knowledge is reflected in your behavior and dealings, you will continue to be miserable like Arjuna. Let the lion of Vedanta roar in your life. Twang the bow ofॐ. And you will not find grief and worries in your mind, even if you try looking for them.
You are so great; why do you consider yourself to be diminutive? You are the Atman; why do you consider yourself to be the body? For how long will you consider this corpse as ‘I’; this corpse is after all destined to be burnt down? How long will you continue to see happiness in circumstances favorable to it and grief in the unfavorable ones? Your life should be such that the facilities covet to serve you and feel fortunate to get an opportunity to do so. The problems of life will turn favourable merely by your presence.
You may go to the densest of forests; the things would still be favourable. And if they are not, your bliss and peace should remain un-disturbed. If you get bhiksha eat it; if not, wonderful! It’s an opportunity for observing a fast.
राजी हैं उसमे जिसमे तेरी रजा है|
हमारी न आरजू है न जुस्तजू है||
‘I am happy in what You like to hand over to me.
I have no desires or longing of my own.’
Taking food or not affects the corpse alone. Are you worrying about the body, even the bones of which are mistreated? You are the beloved of God, are you still worried about food? The darling of Saints, are you worried about clothes? The darling of Fakirs are you worried about money? The darling of accomplished yogis, are you worried about your kith and kin?
You have carried the burden of worries far too long. Now be free from worries. When you have come in company of the fakirs, let go all thoughts and worries. Immerse yourself in sadhana.
A Fakir does not mean a beggar. A Fakir does not mean one who is helpless. A Fakir is the one, who has the strength and courage to play on the Lord’s chest. One, who has the courage to kick the Lord at His chest, is a true Fakir. Bhrigu kicked Lord Vishnu at His chest and see the Lord, He is massaging his feet. Bhrigu was a Fakir. Beggars are not Fakirs as such. Anyone who covets anything cannot be a Fakir.
Bhrigu did not have any ill will towards Lord Vishnu. He kicked the Lord only to test His equanimity. And what did Lord Vishnu do? Was He angry? No. he held Bhrigu’s feet in His hands and comforted them saying, ‘O sage! I hope your foot is not hurt.’
Fakirs are like this. But even in their company people don’t stop lamenting and begging, ‘give me pebbles…give me stones (pebbles and stones here imply transient worldly things)…..what will happen to me……what will happen to my children…..what will happen to my family….?’
Everything will be all right. First of all, realize the grandeur of your own greatness. Realize your True Self.
Does the judge sweep the floor in the court? Does he have to call plaintiffs, defendants or advocates? He simply comes to the court and gracefully occupies his chair. Rest of the things happen automatically. If the judge leaves his chair and starts filling water, sweeping the floor, or calling the litigants; what sort of justice will he be able to deliver?
You are the judge of all judges. Occupy your rightful chair. Realize your pure consciousness.
You have performed a number of big and small pujas. Now get involved in the puja of your own Self.
देखा अपने आपको, मेरा दिल दीवाना हो गया|
ना छेडो मुझे यारों! मैं खुद पे मस्ताना हो गया||
‘When I saw myself I was enamored with it.
Don’t disturb me friends, I am intoxicated with the Bliss of my Self.’
Such songs will emanate from your heart. Realize your true grandeur. How great you are! Power and position of Indra, the king of gods, is trivial, extremely trivial in comparison to your true grandeur. So great are you. Still you are nurturing the feelings of inhibitions! Jostling for small favors! ‘Be kind to me…give me small promotion…promote me from head clerk to officer…from officer to the collector…from collector to the secretary…’
But…those, who give you these posts, will obviously be bigger than you and you will still remain small. The creator is always bigger than his creation. Will you keep somebody at a higher pedestal than yourself? Why to keep corpses at a higher pedestal? Dear brother! Know that your true Self is the greatest of all, so much so that you should not consider even Indra to be bigger than you.
Saints go a step further. They say, ‘a stage comes when even Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva are not bigger than you. And that stage is realization of your True Self.’
Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva too embrace the enlightened one, knowing that this jiva has now become Shivaswarupa. Realize the Truth that elevates you to such a Supreme plane of existence is the sole purpose of the human birth. And you are seeking petty things, ‘give me a job…take me in your service’? Dear friend! If you have prepared yourself adequately, it is not difficult to realize to your own pristine glory.
यह कौन-सा उकदा है जो हो नहीं सकता|
तेरा जी न चाहे तो हो नहीं सकता||
छोटा सा कीडा पत्थर में घर करे|
और इंसान क्या दिले दिलबर में घर न करे||
‘What goal is there that cannot be attained?
The only impossible is that which
You don’t really want to attain.
A small insect bores its way into
the stone to make a home for itself.
Can the man not enter the heart of his
Beloved God to abide therein forever?
The net results of all your virtues, good deeds, righteous conduct and visits to the temples is that you feel interested in the knowledge of the True Self. Even the agnostics or wretched people may meet the enlightened Saints physically. But it is only with the faith of the truest nature that you can identify a genuine Saint, who is beyond the body.
ॐ...ॐ...ॐ...
One, who doesn’t reflect on the precepts of enlightened Saints, will simply have to wander in the world. He will have to go through the cycle of birth and death. He may be in the copany of Sri Krishna or Mother Durga; but as long as he has not attained the knowledge of Supreme Tuth…
Narsi Mehta says,
आत्मतत्व चीन्या विना सर्व साधना झूठी|
‘So long as you don’t know your True Self, all sadhana is nothing but a sheer waste.’
Narsi Mehta says this after having done all types of sadhana. How much of sadhana can you do after all?
In my early days of sadhana, I too had performed a lot of puja and worship. I would not take anything, not even water, before performing Lord Shiva’s puja. Even when I went to Param Pujya Sadguru Sri Lilashahji Bapu, I took Lord Shiva’s arrow and puja material along. I believed in piety to such an extent that I would, at times, wash the wood before burning them. Even then, till the time, I did not attain the supremely pious knowledge of the True Self; all this piety was but a secondary attainment. But now…Now what should I say?
15 Dotials were taking a house on rent in Nainital. The rent was 32 rupees, and they were 15 people. Pujya Sri Lilashahji Bapu gave them two rupees and said, ‘Include me also as a member. The rent is 32 rupess; we will be 16 tenants.’
Pujya Sri Lilashahji Bapu, the master of countless universes, lived with those Dotials for a number of years. He had become supremely pious. No impiety could touch Him.
Once one attains supreme piety, then what on earth can defile him? If a piece of iron is lying in the mud, it will get rusted. Even if you keep it carefully in a cupboard, exposure to humid air willrust it as well. But the same piece of iron, when brought in contact with paras, gets converted into gold and then it does not rust, irrespective of whether you keep it in the mud or in a cupboard.
Similarly let your mind realize the True Self for once. Then it is completely immaterial whether you engage it in Samadhi, keep it in a pious atmosphere, or take it to the hell. Wherever it is, it will be established in its absolute Self. Such a person is called an Enlightened One. You may acquire a whole lot of supernatural powers and boons, you may have even the power to bring a corpse into life; but so long as you don’t attain realization of your True Self, all attainments are but futile.
Your statements may turn true or you may get something happen by the sheer power of your will; but such powers are not your final goal. Such powers can be best termed as mere milestones on the path of sadhana. This is not the fruit of enlightenment. The fruit of enlightenment is that you experience the splendor of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh in your own Self and even that appears ordinary to you. Such is your True Self. Realize it.
ॐ…! ॐ…!! ॐ…!!!
The only cause of sorrow and attachment is the superimposition (Adhyaropa) of different feelings on different individuals. When a man considers one to be a pleasure-giving dear friend and to be a pain-giving enemy and starts hating the latter, invariably will he experience the blows of grief and sorrow within. But when he starts visualizing the experience of the same indivisible Conscious Being within all and starts loving all as sons of God, attachment and sorrow do no more have any sway over his heart. That sadhana is always cheerful. He has neither friends nor any foe. He considers all to be the children of his beloved Lord and serves them accordingly throughout his life. None is able to harm him. Even a poisonous snake forgets its dangerous nature before him.
