0:00 Intro
0:12 Can Babaji explain the Deities at the Ashram Temple and why we worship them?
11:18 What is the significance of Shiva and Parvati entering Swamiji at the end of Tapas and why on the left and right side?
13:42 At death does the individual consciousness briefly touch the Higher consciousness and gets reflected back into the imagination?
14:42 By higher consciousness, can we equate that with supreme energy and supreme consciousness?
17:06 In the Yoga Vasistha, Vasistha says that creations are constantly being created all the time?
18:30 What is the significance of the crown on Vishnu’s head (in the temple)?
20:03 Why do people not want to get out of this illusion?
21:35 Are there different lokas where devotees go after death?
28:45 Did Swamiji know about this technique of Meditation (Jangama Dhyana) before His Tapas?
31:02 What is the symbolism of the cobra which is seen on Swamiji’s Dias when He was in Tapas and in depictions of Lord Shiva?
31:47 Did Swamiji get bitten by a snake during Tapas?
34:00 I thought it was Goddess Lakshmi rather than Lord Vishnu that was giving all the gifts of wealth? What is the difference?
34:30 Is it possible to go back to the source without meditation?
37:45 Does spiritual growth continue into the next birth?
38:38 Was it Swamiji’s rebellious nature that made him also establish Brahma-Vishnu temples?
42:45 When we reincarnate, what determines what parents we are born to?
44:25 Can Babaji explain the statement ‘The Self guides the Self to go back to the Self’
46:08 Has the Self imagined how and when it will go back to the Self?
47:35 Is a blessing that you receive just for that time and situation or will that blessing always be with me?

Discourse: DSM Meditation Retreat 2024
Day 4, Morning Q&A with Babaji Maharaj
Recorded: February 2024

Start of Questions and Answers

Question:   Can Babaji explain the Deities at the Ashram Temple and why we worship them?

Babaji Maharaj:   The first temple is known as the Ardha Nari Ishwara, means half-male, half-female.   Like your mind is made up of consciousness and energy.  The same Ultimate Truth of the mind, which is recognized as Divinity, is the combination of supreme consciousness and supreme energy.  These two things, recognized as Divinity.  To symbolize that, that Ardhanareeshwara; half-male, half-female, Shiva and Goddess Parvati, that is symbolizing that supreme consciousness and supreme energetic forces.  That’s what has been explained.  Because this form of an idol would have come later on in medieval times, but ancient times they explain the concept of these consciousnesses. 

Shiva word is used, means your existence in total thoughtlessness state.  That is the meaning of Shiva.  And Adi Para Shakti is the first name of Goddess.  So, Adi means ‘first’; Para means ‘invisible beyond all comprehension’; Shakti is ‘energy’.  That’s how it was recognized.  And later on, somehow it has come to be worshiped as Mother Goddess.  Because always energy, if it flows uncontrollably, it can be equally destructive.  Like a tsunami comes or floods come, earthquakes come, anything can happen.  That is always prayed to transform itself to be a mother concept who is always unconditionally loving to the Creation and forgiving also.  So, to denote and symbolize that concept, the woman concept is given as the half Shiva and half goddess Parvati.  That is the temple there, Ardhanareeshwara. 

   My Guru used to tell always that after Shiva and Parvati appeared before Him after twelve years of His tapas, they conversed with Him.  That was the first time He saw them as male and female.  Until then, every month Jangama Sage used to appear, guide Him and then would disappear.  Then He was woken up in the end of tapas.  Then He saw a male and female figure standing there, but there was a dazzling light around them, and it was dumbfounding for Him.  Yet He mustered courage and asked, “Till now only I saw a Jangama Sage. May I know who you are and why are you standing here?”  They said, Lord Shiva said, “In this world I am worshiped as Lord Shiva.  This is my consort Goddess Parvati.”  Then it came to Swamiji’s mind, “O, Divine has manifested.”  They said, “Because of your destiny we manifested as Jangama sage and made You to sit for tapas, and now we have manifested in this form because of Your destiny only.  Your twelve-year tapas is finished.  Now You can go back home and You do whatever You want.  Until now it was our duty to manifest and make You to do tapas because of Your previous resolutions.”  But Swamiji had lost all desires; His mind had become totally purified as consciousness.  He said, “I don’t have any desire to do anything now.  Earlier I wanted to do business and look after the family, but just now nothing is coming to my mind.  But if You have anything for me to do in this world for Your sake, I am happy to do as long as the body is available.”  He asked God instead, instead of God asking Him what He wants.  Then Shiva said, “You initiate people into this dhyana, meditation technique without any discrimination of religion, caste, creed, status.  Everybody is eligible to get this initiation.  You teach them the meditation because they have forgotten – humanity has forgotten themselves.  And that is the basic reason they are miserable in the world.  Once they realize themselves, they can overcome that miserable condition and they can achieve supreme peace.”  And then Swamiji used to tell that they entered Swamiji’s body. 

   At this time, one time I had asked Swamiji significantly this question, “We have always heard and read – when the individual consciousness merges with the Divinity, that is what is known as Self-realization.  But Swamiji, you are talking that Shiva-Parvati appeared and they entered Your body.  So, what is this significance?”  To this Swamiji told, “You see, the droplet falling into ocean and merging with that is the same.  Instead, if the ocean flows on the droplet and engulfs it, is also the same thing.”  That is what happened with Swamiji.  “Shiva and Parvati engulfed me, simply.  The ‘I’ was lost and there was no individuality left.”  So, that was how this concept happened.  So, to respect and remember that concept and experience of Swamiji, I got the Ardhanareeshwara idol made and installed it. 

   And always in front of Shiva, this ox, bullock, small idol is kept.  That symbolizes the mind.  Always, we were taught in childhood -that is known as Nandi – to go near the bullock and in between the horns, you just try to have a look at the Divinity, the Divine’s idol there.  That is known as darshan.  Darshan means through the eyes you get to see God’s idol.  That means that is the mind;  if it is left uncontrollably, the bullock runs hither and thither; like that the mind also keeps running here and there.  So, tie it by meditation, by looking focused, watching in between eyebrows; that is the concept of watching in between eyebrows.  So, that bullock is actually the concept of mind. 

   The other one is Lord Vishnu’s form, Venkateshwara or Srinivasa He is known as. His main pilgrimage center is a place known as Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh state.  It is very world famous actually.  Millions of people go every day for darshan.  All my ancestors, my family people worshiped; since childhood I also worshiped God in that form.  Srinivasa it is also known as.  So that is why I installed. 

   Slightly Vaishnavites are more fuzzy people compared to Shiva devotees.  Means if I go to any other temple of Lord Shiva, being a saint they allow me to do aarathi also, but if we go to Lord Vishnu’s temple like Srinivasa’s temple, they don’t allow because my name is Shiva Rudra, Shiva’s name, so they don’t allow me to come closer.  “No, no, no, you are not eligible to do such aarathi, only the priest can do like that.”  So just to overcome so that I can do it myself, I got it installed here.  It is a simple story, that’s it. 

   The first one you all have seen, that’s my mother and my Guru’s mother’s idols.  Opposite one is Lord Rama, His brother Lakshmana and Hanuman’s concept is there.  So, that’s how these temples have come into this space.  

   A worship is a preliminary round exercise to practice single-pointedness of the mind, actually, that’s how it is taught. To simplify.  If it’s difficult for everybody to meditate and keep the mind into samadhi all the time, at least we keep it engaged to Divinity by doing some chants, some worshipping, some prayers, standing.  The idol symbolizes the all-pervaded Divinity only.  So, it is something like I have explained, if you all remember, first time when we went to school as kids, first time our teacher gave a definition for space: “The void place in between these two walls is known as space.”  Then we got into our high school, college, and as we grew up, we all realized that space exists everywhere, all-pervaded. That is the knowledge expanding.  But instead of that, if I tell, “Space exists only in the classroom of my birthplace”, you will all laugh; that is ignorance. 

So, here also, when you worship an idol, it simply symbolizes because mind is used to a form and sound, all these things.  Using the form, an imagination is given, “This is God.  You worship, you prostrate before that.”  As you prostrate, worship, slowly you fall in love with that, you become devoted, and you meditate also.  Then you will realize the same Divinity is all-pervaded.  That has to happen.  Otherwise, if you keep fighting narrow-mindedly that “God is only here; this God is different, this God is different”, it is ignorance.  That’s why it is said “Only one God, so many names, so many forms.”  Like my Guru said that “All religions are equal and honorable, simply terminologies change, forms might change, but Ultimate Truth is one, it cannot be two different things.”  That is the significance. 

Question:   What is the significance of Shiva and Parvati entering Swamiji at the end of Tapas and why on the right and left side?

Babaji Maharaj:   So, they were standing, like Parvati was standing to left, and Shiva was to the right.  When they entered, Lord Shiva entered the left side of Swamiji, Parvati entered Swamiji’s right side – that is one significance. Other thing also, because Swamiji was a yogi, He wanted to teach people to overcome blind-faithism.  It is always said that a woman should sit only to the left side of her husband.  And also, whenever wherever God and Goddesses are installed, if it is Vishnu, Vishnu’s left side is Lakshmi, if it is Shiva, to the left side of Shiva is Goddess Parvati.  But Swamiji had a bit of a rebellious mind also since childhood – “Why should that be, why can’t it be like this also?”  So, that is why first He installed in Adivarapupeta, in the temple where He did twelve-years tapas.  One year later He was installing Shiva Lingam, and to the right of Shiva Lingam, He wanted to install Goddess Parvati also.  Just to tell people it is not a hard rule; these things are only traditional practices.  If by chance, if a wife sits to the right side of the husband, nothing is going to happen.  So, one need not worry; to tell these things.  That is not the significant spiritual thing. 

   Spiritual truths are totally different; you meditate and you realize yourself is what it is known as.  Otherwise, these things are all human-made, traditional beliefs.  Then once traditional belief is done, they stick to that one, then the priest will argue.  There also the priests argued with Swamiji.  “How can You do this one?  This is totally wrong.  In the shastras, in the scriptures, it is written that Parvati has to be on the left side of Lord Shiva.”  Swamiji in a simple language told, “They are husband and wife.  Wherever They want, They sit.  Who the hell are you to ask, question Them?”   His nature was also like that – it was very true though. So that is the reason. 

Question:   At death does the individual consciousness briefly touch the Higher consciousness and get reflected back into the imagination?

Babaji Maharaj:   Briefly, it gets a chance to get in touch with the higher consciousness, but because it is full of imaginations it is carrying, it will not be able to merge or stay there.  It comes to this, its own world, it creates; another world gets created, then it becomes a micro speck of the created world.  That I was trying to tell.  Now you have become a micro speck; you have not been able to merge or stay stabilized with the higher consciousness, so that’s why with this mind you cannot make the world disappear and you cannot handle this one.  Only in nirvikalpa samadhi you will experience the universe disappearing; that’s when you will become aware, this is only an impermanent dream, longer dream type of state that has happened. 

Question:   By higher consciousness can we equate that with supreme energy and consciousness?

Babaji Maharaj:   A higher consciousness, what I say – like I have explained earlier in the story Swamiji used to tell – in the beginning of creation from the actual Parabrahman, the Ultimate Truth, that itself never created anything; that exists in itself, which is known as mahasamadhi.  From that, an enormous amount of consciousness arose, and the creation happened.  So, that concept is known as the Brahma, which created, Vishnu and Shiva.  Brahma means the one who creates illusion but doesn’t get involved with the illusion; He is totally outside, and He is aware, always aware.  Vishnu sustains that created illusion, that is why He is known as the protector, Palanhara.  Shiva withdraws back into the Self.  Shiva takes care that every individual soul eventually gets into detachment.  That’s why in the creation always it should be frustrating to the soul; everything that the soul wishes must not happen and always the soul must not be able to have supreme peace in the world.  You sort out one problem and tell now, “O God, please only give me this small piece of land and I will be very happy throughout my life”, but it doesn’t happen like that.  If at all God gives you that piece of land, for another piece of land the mind starts craving.  You want a bicycle.  If God gives you a bicycle then you want a motorcycle; you get a motorcycle then you want a car. If at all it has to happen in the imagination why not imagine the best car; BMWs and Rolls-Royce, and after a car you want a helicopter of your own then you want a Boeing 747 of your own.  Like that the mind keeps jumping and jumping and craving, craving; a never-ending process of unhappiness happens.  So, that is the concept to explain, that’s how it has happened. 

Question:   In the Yoga Vashista, Vashista says that creations are constantly being created all the time?

Babaji Maharaj:   It talks of the concepts of this world and so many times this type of worlds have come, so many times things are happening and the worlds keep happening and keep disappearing and keep happening,  so before death comes to you, you must try to merge with the Self so that you get rid of the entire process.  Otherwise, if you get involved, if you try to know what are all these things then you will get involved there, this happens.  Even while talking so, Vashista tells – like Ramayana and Mahabharata, so famous in all Indian scriptures – He said, “Sometimes Krishna had come first and after that Mahabharata, Ramayana happened, Rama came.  In some creations Rama came first and then Krishna came.”  Means, these things are mind boggling.  Anything can happen anywhere.  So, in one creation you might be sitting here answering the questions, I might be there asking the question; in another creation you are sitting there asking the questions I am answering the question sitting here.  It is all mind-boggling illusion.

Question:   …and then there is the wrestling match…

Babaji Maharaj:   Suddenly you will remember a football match you want to go and watch that.

Question:   What is the significance of the crown on Vishnu’s head (in the temple)?

Babaji Maharaj:   Generally, creation… and Shiva is the withdrawal force, so Shiva is shown always as a detached force – living in cemeteries, He doesn’t have His own palace or loka, world, all such things.  But whereas Vishnu is shown symbolizing He protects and this world He can give you.  The Vaishnavites have tried to spread so that you all can worship Vishnu more than Shiva, that He can give you all the wealth and empires and everything and He himself is very rich, to tell that – He is not a poor man; they try to tease.  Whereas Shiva is a very poor person.  He doesn’t even have proper clothes, so He wears only a tiger skin so that is why He cannot give you anything; He can give you only detachment.  So, if you come to Vishnu you will also get everything.  So, their lord is always very nicely civilized and dressed very well.  He has to have the emperor’s kiritam.  Devotees donate millions and millions of rupees for kiritams that is made of gold, gold, gold.  So, that is the significance, simple, spiritually what I can add.  But if you ask a priest he will tell a different story of his own. So, this is it.

Question:   Why do people not want to get out of this illusion?

Babaji Maharaj:   Your thinking is different – ask millions and billions of people, ask Vladimir Putin, ask Blinken and ask Joe Biden, [laughs] “Why do you want to be the president, why don’t you get out of this illusion?”  People have their own assumptions; they want to live in the world.  Many times people after listening to my talk also have asked “What is wrong if we want to be in the world and we want to come back to this world?”  You are most welcome, you can come back, you can stay.  Only when you are tired. Some blessed people realize the futility of this impermanence of this world; finally this is going to end.  That is what – like Nachiketa insisted; after 5000 years he dies and he has to come back.  Anybody, any other politician, he would have been very happy to accept; “Please give 5000 years, I am happy to go back.  We will see after 5000 years what happens.”  So the thinking is different between human beings.  You would definitely wonder.  I also wondered – “Why is that people of this world are miserable?  Simply if they find out about themselves, they can be so happy and at peace.” That doesn’t happen.  That is the power of illusion that works, drags.

Question:   Are there different lokas where devotees go after death?  

Babaji Maharaj:   I have heard stories from the Vaishnavite priests and all such people, they have their own concepts for total liberation. Whereas the Self-realized Master and the Self-realization teachings are this.  Because the Ultimate Truth, it cannot be visualized what it is. You have to merge with that one.  Just like, you need to explain what your mind is; simply you will end up explaining the thoughts and visions that are in the mind, but not mind itself.  It is almost impossible to tell what the mind itself is.  That’s what we try to explain; nobody can show “This is my mind.”  You can show your hand; in the mind this figure is there that if you are an artist you can write it also, but the mind itself, what will you write?  

The nearest clue is if it is a combination of consciousness and energy.  Energy also, science also accepted energy, but nobody has seen energy as it is in the naked eyes.  Simply, through the elements or through the instruments, through the matter that it operates it is recognized, “Because of the presence of energy this is happening; this is the energetic force.”  Who has seen gravity?  He only saw the apple coming down and said ‘gravity.’  Gravity is infinite, invisible.  “Because of gravity” he said, but was it possible for him to show “This is the gravity, this is what is pulling”?  He simply explained the theory.  

So, like that the Ultimate Truth is almost impossible to exactly tell.  So, many people whom usually we call half-baked beans, they are not fully realized; they would have read the books or heard talks, all these things – generation after generation they try to explain in a different way.  Goloka; ‘go’ means cow.  The cows are in this world also.  Because Sri Krishna was born there as a cowherd boy in that community, and He used to take cows every day so that they could take the grass and all such things.  What Sri Krishna taught was, precisely to the Western minds, “Respect the tools of the trade.”  You all understand this sentence, you know? In the olden days cows were considered great wealth and they were in abundance and the milk was considered a great nutritious food for everyone.  From the milk, butter and ghee, all these things, but they were hard workers, agriculturists, they could digest when they drank the ghee also.  For this reason, Sri Krishna taught them.  They were neglecting.  Humans were selfish.  They were simply milking the cow but not looking after the cow properly.  So, everything needed to be taught to those people in a religious way.  So, that is why Krishna said, “This cow has this angel in here, this Brahma here, this God here, this Shiva here, this Shankara here.”  Then you worship.  So, then everybody started worshiping.  Worshiping here means ‘show respect’.  Show respect means ‘look after,’ ‘take care.’  If you all respect Baba, means you take care of this body, its need, then you can sustain this body long time and this body can be useful to all of you and many others also. But often people misunderstand.  That is the same thing – the plant Tulasi is also a medicinal plant.  Lord Krishna only taught to worship Tulasi, means look after Tulasi, “That has high medicinal quality.  Don’t take it lightly.”  But now what people do, they will offer some red kumkum powder and some turmeric powder and wash, but they forget to put water properly.  Even if the plant is dying they will come and put all the turmeric powder, everything and worship.  To cow also, they may not give proper food to the cow, but they will put a tilak on the forehead – “That needs to be worshipped”.  That is what is known as blind-faithism.  So, now to attract some people, “If you worship our Krishna you will go to Goloka” – where the cows go after death.  They also don’t know where is that Goloka, the one who dies also doesn’t know.  It is something like, “If you kill those people who don’t believe in our religion, you will go to such place where the angels will be waiting”.  They never bother to verify or try to think whether angels will be waiting or who will be waiting, “Where will we go if we die?”  They simply go on cutting people’s heads here calling it their own fight.  So, this type of blind-faithism has happened in the world.

So, actually what will you do going to Goloka – in this body or in which body? “After some time, you will have to come down”, they will say again.  You are stuck to them.  Is a Goloka permanent, can you stay there in this world?  They will tell “If you worship Lord Vishnu…  Liberation means you cannot become Lord Vishnu Himself, but you will obtain a physical body as good as Lord Vishnu’s.”  That is their explanation.  This did not enter my mind when I was a child also.  This doesn’t seem to be a real liberation; this doesn’t seem to be giving peace.  Again, you have another body.  There will be a conflict.  That’s why I have told “Luckily there is only one God.”  If there were so many gods there would have been conflict amongst themselves for supremacy, just like humans keep fighting.  So, if you imagine a Goloka, you will get to see a Goloka, but you are delaying your actual liberation of the Self-realization.  So, you will go to Goloka, then you will come back to the world.  Again, you will be born as a human being.  Then again you have to quieten your mind.  This has to happen.  Then only the actual truth is visible, when the mind becomes quiet, not until then.  This is my experience and my opinion.

Question:   Did Swamiji know about this technique of meditation (Jangama Dhyana) before His tapas?

Babaji Maharaj:   Swamiji did not know about that.  He had not read any scriptures at all.  He was just weaving sarees and dhotis so that He could earn money.  That was all.  Then He was given this technique and before that He did not know also.  If anybody had told Him to say, He didn’t go to any spiritual school any gurus, anybody.  

Question:   Did that technique exist…

Babaji Maharaj:   Perhaps it existed in ancient Rigvedic era.

Same Questioner:   But it was not very common…

Babaji Maharaj:   Not very common because medieval times the devotional path had come in India also.  People knew the mantra chants, to repeat the mantras only. So, that is why very many people, masses did not understand what Swamiji wanted to teach, particularly in India.  Even now also, when we initiate in India, some definitely understand, exceptional cases are there, but many Indians; “By just closing the eyes and silently watching, which God are we trying to call?”  They think to call God means you have to chant a mantra with a sound effect, with an imagination.  I try to explain to them, when your mind becomes silent that is the real worship of God. Because whenever it becomes silent its attention turns to its origin which is recognized as Divinity.  If you can maintain the silence for as long as possible that is tapas and meditation, it starts going towards its origin.  Eventually, it will merge.  This process is what is called achieving nirvikalpa samadhi, all such things that happen. But not many people know –  many teachers don’t teach this silent meditation.  They give you a mantra, they try to teach different body parts, the kriya yoga, this yoga, that yoga, Sudarshan chakra, this chakra, but not this silent meditation.  Very rarely.

Question:   What is the symbolism of the cobra which is seen on Swamiji’s Dais when He was in Tapas and in depictions of Lord Shiva?

Babaji Maharaj:   Cobra also symbolizes the mind going wild.  So, that’s why Lord Shiva can control and keep it on His throat so that it doesn’t run away.  So, you become a devotee, so that symbolizes, that is the thing, that’s all.  And during Swamiji’s time also some devotee has seen some cobra moving around there so they got out of brass that type of several headed cobra and they placed it on the dais where Swamiji was doing tapas.  

Question:   Did Swamiji get bitten by a snake during tapas?

Babaji Maharaj:   He got bitten; in fact few times he got bitten, and He had gone unconscious also.  His body had become blue.  People even thought He was dead.  But Jangama Sage came and removed that effect and helped Him to revive and go back to samadhi again.  So that blood was there.  It was still in his blood also all that time.  So, sometimes any wound would become difficult to heal also for Swamiji’s body.  So, He was bitten by a snake; before that he was bitten by scorpions also.  But the snake was the most significant.

 Once, He was coming back to His temple where He was doing tapas after a bath in the canal bund, then He saw a snake there.   No, I think He was going to have a bath in the canal bund, He came out; a snake was on the way.  He said that “A yogi should not have a resolution; ‘Because a snake appeared I should go back’, that means he was scared to protect the body.”  He simply tried to go crossing the cobra, and it bit Him, and it was a lot of poison that came out and then He fainted.  Then Jangama Sage came and helped Him also to revive that one.  

Mata Ambaji:   Babaji, there is a story that Swamiji used to say that later the cobra used to come and visit Him. 

Babaji Maharaj:   Yeah, this Swamiji told me; I have heard from Swamiji’s mouth. When Shiva and Parvati had appeared, Swamiji recognized the same cobra that was on the neck of Lord Shiva.  Swamiji told “This cobra troubled me a lot.”  Then that cobra came down and it spoke like a human, and said “After I beat You I had lost my peace.  I was very much stressed out.  I seek Your forgiveness.  Now You are equivalent to Lord Shiva.  You have become a yogi.”  It prostrated and went back to Lord Shiva’s neck before He (Lord Shiva) disappeared.   Swamiji used to tell this.

Question:   I thought it was Goddess Lakshmi rather than Lord Vishnu that was giving all gifts of wealth?  What is the difference?

Babaji Maharaj:   Lakshmi is Lord Vishnu’s wife. And it is always said Lakshmi resides in the heart of the Lord Vishnu.  That is the Goddess of wealth.  So, Lakshmi was ATM for Lord Vishnu [laughs].

Question:   Is it possible to go back to the source without meditation?

Babaji Maharaj:   You see, with the thoughts that are in the mind you cannot obtain a permanent peace.  Sometimes, what happens, morning after a good rest you would have been feeling fresh and mind is quiet for a short while.  Then suddenly it starts imagining, if you have observed.  When it starts imagining, it imagines all the pleasant things, nobody wants unpleasant things; that gives a very refreshing feeling for a while. But as the time passes by, mind jumps into positive, negative, good, bad, happiness, unhappiness and that peace is gone, is over.  So, it is not permanent.  

So, now what one needs to understand, by an imagination you can never obtain permanent peace because mind can give only what it imagines.  If the mind could have remained in one type of imagination twenty-four hours, twelve months, then everybody could have gone for one positive imagination, but the mind never stops like that for anyone.  It is positive and it is negative; it is into happiness; it is into unhappiness.  So, that is why it is recommended you need to get rid of this imagination totally in whichever means that is convenient for you, you feel. Not necessary you should sit and close your eyes.  If while active in this world this technique is, if you develop acceptance, any situation, any result, anything should be acceptable to you. Whether this body is alive it is acceptable, if it is not going to be alive it should be acceptable, then only the mind becomes quiet.  Only that situation can give you supreme peace, final peace once for all, where always it is silent and never any stressful thing happens to the mind at all.  

So, this is the science of existence.  So, that is why all sadhanas are recommended.  It need not be meditation itself.  It can be bhakti marga, it can be any other chant, but what has to happen is either you directly get rid of all imaginations just by watching – that is the highest technology; you are just watching you stop thinking and thoughts and visions all dissolve and you will experience enormous amount of peace which is inexplicable.  You would never have experienced by any thought process, by obtaining any matter, anything in this world – or, first you have to make the mind become concentrated totally, then abandon that thought also so that it becomes quiet.  Only then a peace is obtained.  In no other way a peace or happiness can be obtained.  

Question:   Does spiritual growth continue into the next birth?

Babaji Maharaj:   So, when you are doing sadhana, any type of sadhana, it is carried to the next life also; it will continue.  Say, suppose if you got a chance to have the spiritual inclination at the age of 30 or 40, you might get an inclination at the age of 5 or 10 itself, and you will be able to do more vigorously.  You will try to wonder “Why this is like this, why this is like this”, and you will go for it. So it is always carried, it never goes to waste.  Whatever you do in this life it will never go to waste.  For any reason if the body dies and comes to an end, the mind carries its symptoms always. Until it doesn’t achieve the final liberation, it will carry.

Question:   Was it Swamiji’s rebellious nature that made Him also establish Brahma-Vishnu temples?

Babaji Maharaj:   Yeah, not simply the rebellious nature, He wanted to teach people these things are human made and blind-faithism for politically motivated ideas; that was the reason.  Like He said, “There’s a lot of political movements between Shaivites and Vaishnavites.  Both got rid of Brahma by telling the stories that Brahma told a lie.  In Vishnu Purana, it comes, “When they went to find the end and beginning of the things, both Shiva and Brahma, Brahma came and told ‘I have seen the end’, whereas Shiva came innocently and said ‘I could not find.’”  In Shiva Purana it is Shiva whose end they wanted to find, Vishnu and Brahma. So Brahma came and told a lie, thus He got cursed “You will not have any worship in the world, bhulokam.”  So, people believed, and they stopped worshiping.  He got sidelined; no temples were built and now for competition and fight, only two parties.  Like in America, Republicans and Democrats type, so Vaishnavites and Shaivites.  So, these are all politically motivated.  

That was one basic reason He wanted to establish Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva.  Means, His philosophy was “You can worship God in any form, any name.  Simply do not condemn others’ beliefs.”  Because it is all the same finally, one Truth.  That’s what He tried to tell.   To do that His nature was rebellious. Rebellious means if people threatened “If you worship Brahma you will be cursed, you may lose your limb, you may lose your hand.”  He never bothered.  “Let me see if I lose my limb.”  For this is a story that He used to tell – in His childhood many people used to come hypnotizing people and claiming to be this and that.  One person came to the village.  He used to claim, “If you don’t give me proper alms and money, I can turn you into a tiger.”  He used to threaten, so villagers were innocent people, ignorant so they will be scared and they will be wondering.  Then Swamiji told His uncle “Look, I don’t want to believe this man.  I will challenge him, but you do one thing.  Keep a big rope in your hand, Uncle.  If at all he turns me into a tiger I will definitely recognize you that you are my uncle; I will not harm you, but immediately you must tie me to a tree so that I don’t run away to the forest.”  As a child that was His thinking, that was His mind, but He was not afraid.  “Let me challenge, let me see what’s going to happen.”  Then He challenged, “Now come, I’m ready.  You turn me into a tiger.  He did  “Ha, mu, moom”, nothing happened.  Then Swamiji took a stone, “Now bloody fool, I am going to break your head if you don’t run in two minutes.”  Then he ran away, galloped. Swamiji used to tell.  So, that was the rebellious nature, means He was bold, ‘do or die.’  That’s it.  “After all, you are going to cut my head.  What else you can do?”  To find the truth; often He used to tell, often we accept the non-truth as a truth out of panic, out of fear that they might curse us, they might do something wrong.  You don’t even want to question the gurus, “What is the truth?  Why is like this?”  Many gurus, if they don’t know they don’t answer properly; they will simply shout at you, they will be annoyed, “You should not be asking all these questions.  You are not supposed to.  Just do what I am going to say!”  Like that they will shout.  

Question:   When we reincarnate, what determines what parents we are born to?

Babaji Maharaj:   It’s the attitude in the previous life that spins, means violent thoughts or non-violent thoughts we can just generally tell to simplify this one.  The more non-violent, you are supposed to become a better person, matured noble person; for that your parents will also be determined – from whom you are going to likely get the first teachings or first observation that you learn from them.  So, that is how it gets determined.  Means you don’t have to think, it is not a thinking that “I’m going to have this person as my father, this person as my mother.”  Simply, by a habit of thinking, generally which forms such violent or non-violent, based on that good pious parents you might obtain or wrong parents who keep fighting with each other, and you are not influenced by parents, and you get affected, your childhood can get affected.  See, for many people childhood can get affected if the parents are fighting for selfishness and their own narrow-mindedness.  So, both are unable to look after.  If both parents are together, loving and caring, they look after the child also very well.  If the childhood is very comfortable, brought up very well, if it is not troubled, so imagine the difference, why.  So, this is all the previous lives.  

Question:   Can Babaji explain the statement ‘The Self guides the Self to back to the Self.’

Babaji Maharaj:   It is the same Self from where this individual consciousness has come out, but before coming it’s like a button is pressed, the Divine – this is the Divine, the Self that will suck back this.  It will be a matter of time; it is allowed to go for some time, but wherever it goes, except its source it will never find peace anywhere else in itself or in any other thing because it ends up in imagination.  Due to that imagination only it has gone.  Finally, this will only attract. Because another thing I have told, mind doesn’t stop because it is looking for the same peace that it had enjoyed by remaining in the Self.  That’s why you give it anything of the world or the creation or the universe, it will never stop into that totally satisfied once for all – never happens.  So, that is the reason.  So, the same source will help that to come back.  I have told in other words this Divine has fitted springs called agony.  In this world agony follows happiness; happiness follows agony. It’s a mixture and confusing all the time.  You are unable to decide whether this world is all the happiness or all the unhappiness; this is what happens.  So that, finally, it is the Divine’s grace; it will take you back to the Self.

Question:   Has the Self imagined how and when that will occur?

Babaji Maharaj:   It is from the source, the enormous higher consciousness, from that the soul imagined.  But this has a magnetic field.  For understanding only I am using the ‘magnetic’ terminology; that’s what is commonly used in the scientific world, astronomical world.  So, this cannot go longer because this is connected to this only. So after some time it will get into such a situation where it starts doubting whether whatever it was doing all this time was worthwhile or something else is there for itself.  So, then it comes back.  It has to put effort.  For that also the button is pressed already.  Means like you are there.  A Guru is coming to you and is trying to teach you.  Means your soul has already pressed “How I will go back to the Self.”  That is determined already.  It’s a matter of time.  So, you had resolved that you will find a Guru and from that Guru you will feel inspired, and you will get the teaching and you will finally go back to the Self.  So, that is how things will happen.  

Question:   Is it a blessing that you receive just for that time and situation or will that blessing always be with me?

Babaji Maharaj:   It is your destiny which connects to that one, such situations, such circumstances – in that way, that path, it takes you there.  And as you put an effort, as you develop more faith and are more inspired, more devotional, then the grace also, it starts catching the grace.  As I have told the grace is always flowing from the Divine.  It is there; this soul only simply catches that, it has to catch.  As it develops devotion and faith the grace descends on that one.  Then it gets to get that truth.

[Replying to a question]  It could have been a previous, previous life’s connection; somewhere you were connected, you were devoted, or you were doing that sadhana, that chant.  For some reason then you were born in the West, but it is bringing you to that again, you see? That got collected.  You had that experience unknown to you, unintentionally.  It is all the previous connection; that’s what we call destiny – you are destined to get and destined to come.  So, this is how it happens.  

Question:   So, should I keep going with something like that?

Yes, yes.  You take it seriously.  It will be beneficial for you because your mind takes it and it revolves around that one; it starts becoming more and more single-pointed; it gets more purified.  That is the benefit.  You should simply keep going.  

End of Questions and Answers

Babaji Maharaj concludes:

   I think it’s time. We have come to the end for this session.  Some very nice questions came helping me to express my opinions and give my experience, what I learned from my Guru and what I observed during my tapas.  

   May you all be blessed.

End of Session