Recorded on 11 April 2026 with worldwide participants
0:00 Intro
0:07 When things happen that are not according to our expectations, why do we lose control of our mind and experience tension and unhappiness?
6:30 Swamiji said, “Meditate, know your Self, and don’t be prejudicial.” How to avoid being prejudicial?
14:54 How to improve our observation power and understanding capability?
21:11 Peculiar relationship between the brain and the mind and how one must never stop the learning process.
31:21 How does meditation enable the consciousness to gain control of itself?
40:52 Stopping all identifications of the world
45:47 The stages during Babaji’s 25 years of sadhana at the Ashram
46:56 How to master the emotions of the mind in a healthy way.
48:50 How to know that the mind is watching itself, and who is watching the ‘I’?
49:51 Can one do meditation anytime, anywhere and without taking a shower beforehand? Also, do I need to get initiated?
51:01 What is the difference between acceptance and loss of hope?
52:08 Is hope a desire?
52:36 If life is like a long dream, it will end one day – so why the special sadhanas to become one with the Ultimate?
54:15 Is there a witness behind the witness when you are watching in meditation?
55:11 What is the difference between Parabrahman and Paramatma?
55:31 When things don’t happen according to our expectations, finally the mind gives up criticising itself and self-esteem drops. What is the best way to rebuild self-confidence?
Discourse: In Quest of Truth – online Q&A no.268
Mastery of the Mind
YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/FwjcIV7GF2U?si=lOo1RzQemUgChr9p
Recorded: 11 April 2026
Start of Questions and Answers
Question: So, Baba, if a situation happens that is not according to our expectations, or it’s against what we desire, then we lose our peace, we experience stress, tension, unhappiness, we lose control of our mind. Can Baba explain why does that happen, why do we lose control of our mind in these situations?
Babaji Maharaj: Always when we try to do something, we want to achieve, it is natural for anybody to have expectations. And when we become attached to that expectation, if the thing happens according to that expectation, there will be happiness. If it doesn’t happen, there will be unhappiness. Because there is no universal guarantee that all your efforts, no matter how much concentrated you were, whatever you put your best effort, the results need not be according to your wishes. Something else might happen. That is why it is always said, “You have a right to put an effort.” When you are putting in an effort, remain totally focused, and with total enthusiasm, motivation is definitely necessary. However, just be ready for any result that comes, so that you don’t get disturbed. That is how you have to think. And then if the things are not according to your wishes or desires, acceptance is the only way to have peace. Otherwise, the mind loses peace, it can become confused and panicked or even at times stressed out, so, important that you do not get panicked. And that is where perhaps in olden times ‘destiny’ word was taught; just to console the mind. “See, you are destined to undergo this. Accept it. It’s okay. You can try again.” As long as the mind is intact, you are not confused and you are not losing hope, you are not stressed out. You can remain focused. That is what is mind control. Means a control over yourself or your own mind.
So, if you practice this meditation regularly, that ability will come very naturally. You will do everything totally focused with all motivation and enthusiasm. If a certain thing doesn’t happen, you understand, you will reason out. Because the result is always beyond your capability. If it is beyond your capability, you cannot help, you have to accept it – “It’s okay. It is nature or it is natural. This has happened. So let it be. We will try again. We will not give up.” We all learned from childhood, “Till the last breath of life do not give up effort.” Even if you die, you will die with a satisfaction that you tried your best. You did not give up. So, you always went ahead to try. Not getting the desired result is a different thing. But we don’t accept defeat. But simply the result happened. It’s like getting killed in a battlefield. For a soldier, both are equally acceptable. He knows; he will not be confused; he will not be stressed out. Simply, he will keep his motivation upright to fight the enemy. He knows either he will do it or he will die. Both are acceptable. If he dies, he will die with the satisfaction, “I have died. I am dying for a larger cause of my country.” Something like that. And if he wins, it’s great.
So, like that, life is also a battlefield, always. So, leaving everything to the Divine, we must put in effort and keep ourselves intact. As long as you have the hope in the mind, mind is intact, you have the control over your mind, there is always a hope. Always we have to remain motivated; though it had been very difficult in life, it is not impossible. We can try. At least we will have the satisfaction we tried our best. Like if a person is ill, goes to hospital, a doctor will try his best. Till the last moment, whatever is possible. Then, if it happens, it’s in the Divine’s hands. Many times doctors also have to tell, “We have tried our best.” Then if it recovers, it’s wonderful, the grace of the Divine. Like that, we have to go to keep the mind under our control. And that is how we can achieve mastery and we become master of the mind. Mind will not be allowed to make us to dance to its tunes. It happens or if it doesn’t happen, we are not going to lose our peace.
That’s why we tell, peace is your existence right. You don’t have to lose it. See that this peace doesn’t depend on any matter of this world or any happening of this world, anything of this world. Not even our own physical body; at all times, we should have peace. It is there today, tomorrow it may not be there. Like that if you practice meditation, you can achieve mastery over your mind. You will be the master.
Question: Thank You, Babaji. There’s so much valuable teaching there from Baba. One thing that Baba has said that Swamiji said before is that “Meditate and know yourself, and not to be prejudicial.” So, the mind often tells a story to ourselves which might not be true. And we might think that that is the right way of thinking about somebody or something. How to avoid this prejudicial thinking?
Babaji Maharaj: See, particularly in this world, today’s technology is so advanced, everything available online, information is available. So, we are likely to get so many definitions for the same thing. Different people may define in different ways. This could be confusing for people. “What should we do? Should we do like this, do like this? What is best for us?” So, that confusion is what is known as prejudicial. The mind presumes, “Yes,” it hears from somebody, and then it assumes “Yeah, this is it, this is the truth. This is what God means. This is how I have to do it.” So, like that.
Like, suppose we read books also, that is always welcome. Reading spiritual literature or anything that enhance our knowledge and wisdom is always good. But we should be able to select such books about first, sincerely what we want. If we want Self-realization, we want to know the Ultimate Truth, we want to know about the Divine, then we have to look for such books given by great sages, great Masters who had achieved Self-realization. And after that also, that is what Swamiji used to tell, don’t depend completely on the book. Read the book, use it so that you feel motivated. You will be enthusiastic. You know what to do, how to achieve.
Like a Guru‘s teachings, in these sessions question-answers we give. Ancient teachers also had this magnanimity. They used to do these question-answers, they used to answer the disciples’ queries. Then finally used to tell, “Whatever I have told is my opinion based on my experience. Now, I would like you to practice and achieve that truth and then you will see what the truth is.” That’s what Swamiji meant always, “Do not succumb to religious prejudices.” So many things will be told, one tells this, another tells this, another tells “This is how you have to do.” If a person is chanting a mantra, he tells “Without the mantra, you cannot achieve,” another tells “You have to chant only this mantra, this is the most powerful.” Like that, it’s like marketing things keep happening. But a real yogi will never impose.
Like when we initiate; in our lineage, Swamiji always told, “I initiate as a friend.” He wouldn’t even claim himself as a Guru, “I am the only Guru. You must not go anywhere here and there.” He used to leave it to the choice, “If you have been initiated by any other Guru, there is no conflict. You can practice that also. And in addition, you try to practice this meditation. If this suits you, suits your temperament, what you want, if you achieve peace, then carry on with this one. This can take you.” So, we can explain the things. Like any type of sadhana you undertake, no problem – the basic idea is the mind’s single pointedness. Mind’s application is important. Simply by chanting any particular mantra, nothing will happen. The power is not in the mantra, I have always told. Power is in the mind. That’s why we do not impose, means for a human mind, if a certain thing is acceptable, the inclination is there, the mind accepts easily. If it is imposed, it may not accept. To a certain person God’s particular form may be dearer; it’s okay, you go ahead with that one. To another, to another form, maybe. That’s why it is said, “One God, many names.” Don’t put God into one box. Simply it is all pervaded.
And if you want to go to that truth of Divinity as it is, then drop all ideas. Don’t have any imagination at all. Just watch in between eyebrows. Like that we teach. That’s what is “Do not succumb to religious prejudices.” Some people come and they will be holding it. Somebody would have told “You need to have a garland of such seeds and this type of seeds.” And they will be scared to take it out. So, nothing will happen. It’s your confidence; that is all needed. The Divine is in your mind. Where is the mind? Nobody can take out the mind. And you are not going to lose your mind; it is you, yourself. That’s why I tell “You and your God. Don’t bring anything else in the middle. Even I am not important.” So, you practice this. And then you will know the Truth one day.
That is another important thing I would like to tell. When you reach the Truth, you might find it totally different than your assumptions, prejudices what you had thought about it. A wonder, that one; such a wonder – hair-raising, amazing experience. Then we tell, Swamiji also used to tell, “Don’t try to imagine anything when you sit down. Don’t try to imagine about anything. If you imagine, you will see in your mind whatever you imagine. That thing only will come.” It is like measuring the space. You will end up limiting the space. Twelve feet, twelve hundred feet, twelve thousand, twelve million, twelve light-year distance, anything – it is always limited, it cannot be. So, you have to become the space itself.
So, this understanding is needed. And then you can practice any type of sadhana. That is why Swamiji used particularly this word, “In the name of religion…” He used to tell, “It is often misused, misinterpreted to suit their convenience. They try to create fears. At least out of fear, somebody can do it. Otherwise, humans don’t become serious. “Ah, there is nothing to do. Let Babaji conduct Zoom. We can attend next week, some other time. There is no scare. No need to be afraid.” But if you understand that time is impermanent, an opportunity is there. Little bit of time is left when your body will go away. Before that … That is how the ancient teachers taught, Sri Krishna taught Arjuna, “Before death shall claim thee, go to the knowers of the Truth…” They should know about this Truth. If they are not Self-realized, they would not be able to teach this Truth at all. They will try to teach whatever they know a little bit. They will end up telling “Oh, space is about fifty thousand light years. I have measured. I know that one very well.” That is all they can tell. They will tell; when ten people are ready to accept, they will start telling anything. It becomes free for all. But the real Master gives a clue how to go for that. You go and then you see what the truth is. Then you decide. That’s why Swamiji said “Meditate and know yourself. Don’t become a victim of religious prejudices.”
Question: Thank You, Babaji. Like Baba has just said, we see the world according to our own ideas and preconceptions. And Baba has spoken before about your observation power, understanding capability are important. And one person can take something from Babaji’s teachings, but another person can take something else, according to what they believe.
Babaji Maharaj: See, this is one thing, always a real Master would depend [on]. Like in Katopanishad, to Nachiketa Lord Yama says “One time I will go on narrating the truth. You must pay total attention. If you cannot understand, then don’t blame me. That means you are not concentrated. You are not focused on my teaching. Don’t ask me questions.” That was the condition ancient teachers would give, “apt attention”. All the students in the class, when I am teaching, when I am answering the question, pay your attention to the question, then you will be able to understand. Many people half-heartedly, fifty percent their mind is here, fifty percent it will be running somewhere. So, then what happens? They come back afterwards, “Something vague…” – I would have taught something else, but they add up something else, “Baba, You told like this, something like this, something, something,” like that they tell. I have to correct them, “Not like this. I wouldn’t have told this at all, because this is nothing to do with the Truth. This is what the Truth is.” Again, I have to repeat.
So, this is very important, paying attention when I am talking. Very often, in some places, when people ask a question, they don’t have patience to listen to my answer. They just want me to endorse what they are talking. They go on talking their experience, their things. They don’t ask any question at all. They just want me to endorse completely. I tell, “How can I do that one?” That’s it. If you are not interested, it’s up to you. If you are interested in learning, then pay attention. Even Ashtavakra also tells to Janaka, among the conditions, first, learning process; for learning, humility is very important for the student. That is what is known as surrender to the Master. You surrender to the Master means, you become humble. You won’t have any arrogance, ego, cunningness, all these things with the Master.
We were taught as a simple saying, “Don’t tell a lie to the doctor, to your lawyer and to your Guru.” This is the thing. Then only they can help you, they can protect you, they can seeyou through; this happens to the Guru also. Many people try to pretend and they talk something, they tell, “Oh Master, you can beat me up, you can do anything.” But when we try to scold, they will have nurtured their own ego and arrogance becomes so dear to them. They even leave the Master and go away. This humility is also another very important point apart from the focusing. So, if you are humble, then you will surrender. You will take up the learning process. Otherwise, half of the time, “Oh, I already have heard all these things, I know.” Some people tell, “Oh, I have been hearing Babaji since twenty-five years, I have heard everything he has told, whatever he has to tell he has told, he will be only repeating, I have heard, I know everything.” But actually, they don’t know anything. They cannot even sit for one-hour meditation, let alone quietening the mind; five minutes also, they cannot keep their minds quiet. This point itself, people forget very often.
We have seen in Swamiji’s time also. Everybody talks, this is a big talk, flash talk, “Meditate and know yourself, that’s what Swamiji said. They all sat for one hour of meditation; four hundred people came, five hundred people came” – statistics they will keep talking. But nobody meditates actually. They should learn, they should learn what it is. So thus, since ancient times, Masters always demanded humility and focus. Until that humbleness did not come in a student… when the students used to be sent to the Master’s institution, learning institution, known as Gurukulam, first point, they would try to remove that ego and arrogance in the student. Because at home, if they had been pampered and they had nurtured, and “I won’t be doing this thing, I cannot take this one,” all this would be taken care of; till then they would not even initiate the student into the sadhana.
First, that is important – humility. This is what now also we try to see. So, those who are serious, those who are humble, they win. Those who become cunning and clever with the Master, always nurture their own cunningness, they don’t want to give up, because they start thinking, “Like this only I can dominate over others. I can achieve my things.” So, if they do that, then they will be the losers. We have nothing to lose.
So, humility, focus, remain focused. That’s when you are serious. That’s when the Guru-disciple relationship comes in. If you revere, if you have the reverence to your Master, that is the demand. Then only, you will be serious. If you take the Master casually, just casual, “Okay, every day we keep looking at Him. We keep talking to Him. We can listen to Him every day. This is very common.” Then you are not serious. You won’t do anything. You won’t meditate at all. So, that’s what it is. Important, these two things, what Swamiji meant also.
Question: Thank You so much, Babaji. So, Babaji, to achieve quietness of your mind, one needs to have control over the mind to be able to keep it quiet. And Baba, You’ve said the mind gets delinked from the clutches of the brain. The mind is withdrawn from the brain and you can keep the mind in itself. Could Babaji talk about this?
Babaji Maharaj: The peculiar relationship between brain and the mind. Brain is the biological organ. Mind is you, or your conscious energy, we can tell. With the help of the brain only, you have the consciousness of the outside world surrounding you, what is happening about your own physical body. That’s wonderful. Thus, the brain is a wonderful instrument that we have been blessed with. That is why always based on this only, we tell, “Human life is a rarest of rare gem.” You have this well-developed brain if you have that one. Then, your discrimination power. How much you can apply the concentration, how much you understand that you need to learn. That is another thing Swamiji told; “Never stop the learning process.” Means if one thinks, “Oh, I have learned, I know everything,” then that person is egoistic and he doesn’t know anything, such a person knows nothing, nothing. And they will not learn anything further. They will remain in that lower KG [kindergarten], upper KG schools only. They won’t come to middle, high school, university, like that; will never happen.
But this is another important thing. Learning process must not be stopped – ready to learn. If a learned person is telling, if you understand “Yes, this is a realized Master,” and He is talking to you without charging; freely we are giving an answer, advice. But this is valuable. Often people think if they have paid, then only, “Oh, it is valuable because we have paid, then we are getting this one, facilities.” Here, it is not like that. The Ultimate Truth, the spiritual knowledge between Master and the student. Master gives this knowledge considering the student as His own children. Like a mother would love, compassionate to the children, “May my children also achieve Self-realization, liberation from all calamities. May their egos and arrogance all disappear. May they surrender to the Divinity. May their mind become purified.” Like this, the Master also prays.
So, this is very important thing that the Master would always tell. So, this has to be understood. The Master and the disciple relationship, learning process, and having reverence to the Master, then only you will be serious. If people are serious only they are here in this meditation class. More than one hundred and sixty are here. They all want. They keep waiting for the whole week, “Hope this week Babaji will not miss appearing live. Hope He is not travelling.” So, opportunity doesn’t come every time. It is given. It should be utilized. Suddenly something might happen to the body through which I am able to be with you all and teach you all. Or sometimes I might become busy with something, if I am traveling. Like last Saturday, last two Saturdays also we couldn’t conduct Zoom because I was traveling. That was an important traveling that was needed, that I had to visit my Master’s birthplace. The Mahasamadhi Aradana that was conducted there, they had invited, I had to go. It takes a lot of time and energies. But as soon as possible, I try to come on the Zoom. With all your help, all of you are ready to help me.
So, this is such an opportunity you can understand. This won’t come again and again every moment – precious opportunity. That’s what people need to be serious on this. Coming to this class on time. You always announce, “Please be there ten, fifteen minutes before.” That’s one thing the Master always checks. As soon as I come, I have a gallery look; means I see the discipline of the students, how many are disciplined, how many are there. Some are still rushing, rushing in the last moment. When they understand “Oh, Babaji has come live, then we will have to rush.” They keep rushing. But many are there waiting for Babaji, waiting for the Master. That first shows that you are disciplined.
We used to wait for hours. In those days, Swamiji would leave from Delhi by road. And there were no cell phones. Evening He would reach here. One message used to come. If He was delayed starting from there, sometimes whole night we have waited in the portico sitting with the aarati plate, “Oh, Swamiji can come any moment.” Early morning four thirty He has come, suddenly we had aarati. But in today’s world, nobody has that much of yearning or patience. They tell, “Please, a hundred meters distance when Babaji comes, give me a call, I will come out.” So, that is the trend; has changed.
With the achievement of science and technological thing, we have become more casual in approach, not very serious. Because the instrument is there. “When Swamiji comes a hundred meters distance, you call, then we will come. Why to wait all the way unnecessarily? Four hours; it is waste of energy.” That is the thinking that has changed of people. We never thought waiting for the Master for eight hours. That eight hours was like a meditation. Sitting for meditation eight hours, except Swamiji, nothing else would come to the mind. Such things, that was how we spent with our Master. That was how we gained the spiritual path and sadhana happened. So, we didn’t have any such instruments, cell phones, anything. But we were waiting. No information would come. There was nothing.
So, this is seriousness. You mean business, important; discipline is what the Master will see. How much disciplined these people are? How much serious they are? Then He will be ready to open up, to give all instructions, clues, the secrets of sadhana, of the mind, achieving mastery over the mind. That is the greatest secret, one’s own mind. Mind can create such havoc on you. If you don’t have the control over your own mind, it can drive you mad in this world. So stressful. It can be prejudicial. It could be your own friend, but that friend might appear as a foe for you. That is the common thing in the teachings that has come always. And this is the real sadhana you need. You need to quieten your mind. But that point itself, you may not understand even after years of being with the Master, that you have to silence your mind.
Openly we tell, because your mind is preoccupied with its own imaginations, it needs to be silenced first. Then see the wonder of the mind going introvert to itself. Then you will also notice consciousness of your own existence. That is infinite. At that time, that will be awesome. You cannot make any drawing of that. You cannot locate where it is exactly. Yet you will feel it is there. You will be wondering, “Where is this?” Many teachers may tell, “It is heart, it is in the right heart, it is in the head, it is here or there.” It is everywhere. Wherever you concentrate, you will find it there. This is possible when you don’t have millions of other thoughts. So, this is how you can achieve mastery over your mind.
And at this time, like a disclaimer, I would like to tell, you will not lose your mind to live in this world. It is always available, its creativity will be available. You can live in this world, in whichever way of life that you have adopted. In fact, you can live a better life like a genius. You will be a matured person. You will not be selfish and you will lose the narrow-mindedness. You will not just do it for yourself. Many people we have observed around us, they just mind their own business. They try to do it for themselves. That’s when they are always stressed out. And they start thinking that “The whole world is wrong and I am the only one who is right.” They never think that “I might be wrong. Let me also correct myself.” That’s how we thought, “Why the happiness is not there at all times, twelve months, twenty-four hours? Something wrong in me or something wrong in the world? I need to find out; if there is something wrong in me, I need to rectify myself.” Swamiji said, “Those people who can find out their own faults only can become great in this world. Those people who spend simply finding fault with others, they will never know their own.” Some of the points.
Question: Amazing, thank You, Babaji. Could Babaji talk a little bit how technically this meditation technique can purify the mind of these habits, these preconceptions; the tendency to think in particular ways? How does just watching enable the consciousness to gain control?
Babaji Maharaj: You see, I kept telling, mind has two aspects, means it can think, means it can be creative. And it can watch. Watching through the eyes is different. Eyes watching is different. Sometimes you can put your eyes on me. I would be thinking, “Oh, you are watching me,” but your mind might be watching something else in its imagination. Like that, it can happen to anybody. So, watching through the mind, it has this power. So here, we don’t give any target that you have to watch this thing. We don’t tell, “This mantra, or this God, or this form, this location,” nothing. Just watch in between eyebrows. Means using the eyeballs, fixing the eyeballs, see that the mind also comes there. Eyeballs can be very helpful when you fix it. That is why in meditation instructions, we also tell, “Take care that your eyelids and eyeballs do not move.” They must be steady, actually. Apart from the body needs to be stationary, first thing you achieve that you are able to sit quietly in one position, body.
Then next important is your eyelids and eyeballs. Then as you concentrate, the breath has to go smoothly by practice. It should not stop also. You cannot starve yourself of oxygen; that is so important. And you cannot be concentrating on the oxygen all the time so your focus and silencing the mind effort goes. Like driving the car, you cannot keep looking at the brake and then apply the brake, then you would have hit onto some tree or some other car coming on the road. So, you have to be attentive on the road always, your concentration. By practice, you are holding the steering and your legs are performing when you have to press the clutch, when you have to press the brakes, all these things. By practice, automatically the bodies can do. That is the help of the brain. That is the amazing gift of the Divinity to us that we have this brain. So many jobs this brain can perform. But we need to be the master over the mind. That is what is also important. We are the thing as we were discussing.
And I think we left that topic, we needed to discuss how the brain works and we need to be the master. If the brain becomes master, that is very bad. If you can be the master, then you can utilize the brain wonderfully. Like a soldier can be a very good subordinate soldier to the commander. But if the soldier himself tries to become commander, he might misfire. He might mistime his firing. It is the commander who works out the strategy and gives command, then the soldier fires, “Now this is the right time. Aim at and look there and keep firing now.” So that is how; the servant.
Like my usual example is that you are lying down and somebody knocks on the door, your servant goes and sees. Then comes back and tells, “Sir, one of your friends came. I told that you will not meet him and I sent him away.” That is not the servant’s job. Servant’s job is just to come and tell, “Sir, such and such person has come. Person has come. What should I do?” Then you will decide whether you want to meet him or not meet him. You may tell, “Tell him I am sleeping.” And then he will go and tell. Then that is a good servant. But if he tries to become a master, he is a bad master. That’s when the Guru tells, if He commands, if everybody listens, then things will go smoothly. If everybody tries to become boss unto themselves, then they will create chaotic conditions. Anywhere also; in the ashram also, in a temple also, in a hotel, in a wedding, anywhere in the world. When everybody tries to become boss then they will spoil the show. One person needs to command and understand what is happening.
So, these conflicts can happen like this. So, that is the important thing between mind and brain. You need to achieve mastery over your mind so that you handle the brain. Don’t allow the brain to handle your mind, you, means. That means simply in good faith, if the mind registers everything and starts believing… You should be able to verify, understand. Suppose somebody comes and tells you, “Oh, Zen, Babaji is a very bad man, he is very wrong, he is not like this, he tells like this.” You know Babaji since twenty years. Do you need somebody else to tell about me? You have been watching me. You know my character. You know my culture. You know my nature. So, that is the servant; he is trying to brainwash. So, this type of brainwashing, the brain keeps doing. That’s why we call it brainwashing. Brain doesn’t get washed, brain washes the mind, actually the mind-washing. Then the mind believes. Such important aspects these are.
So, like this the mind has both aspects; it can think and it can watch. So, here, the technique of meditation given is, you just watch using the eyeballs. Successfully, when you achieve the watching in due course of time. So, your effort must be the moment you sit for meditation, your effort must be just to watch through your mind, not only through the eyeballs; fixing the eyeballs and eyelids, apart from that, then start just watching. That means, if any thoughts appear, don’t bother about them, don’t get engaged about them. Just be a witness, just be quiet – then that thought will disappear. If you get involved with that thought, that thought will stay back there, “Ah, I am here.” It will remain there.
So, it will trouble you. You start analyzing. You become stressed out. You become annoyed or you become this, that, anything. You lose your peace. You lose your concentration. And the meditation doesn’t progress at all. Years after people keep wondering, “What is happening to me? I am sitting every day.” You are sitting every day, but are you watching every moment? That is important. Sitting is important. After sitting, are you able just to watch? That’s what I have told – the Master says, “After sitting, then closing the eyes, are you able to simply watch and not think?” That’s why, “Don’t repeat anything” also we tell, “Don’t imagine anything.” If any student understands this, then the amazing things will happen about the mind’s secret. That’s why in this technique, no target is given, but you are asked to just watch. Then the mind becomes quiet. When that becomes quiet, next you will notice the consciousness of existence in that. And in that, that is awesome. Because you will notice, it is there and it is not there, yet the consciousness of existence is there, but you cannot catch hold of it. You cannot show somebody, “Yes, I have found this consciousness of existence. It is here in the laboratory.” You cannot put that one, impossible. Infinite thing, that is what it is. But you go on.
Then the actual meditation tapas starts. What you go on just concentrated on that consciousness of existence. That is the ‘I’ that many other teachers have taught. “Who am I?’ Watch the ‘I.’” That is what the ‘I’ is. Then you go on observing; watching and observing both are same. That’s what is observation power. So, like that when you watch, then the mind will get absorbed into that One. Then eventually Self-realization, if you pursue. So, that is how this technique is such an important thing. And not different from some other great teachers, great masters, who have given the technique “Just observe from where the ‘I’ is coming,” like that.
Question: Thank You, Babaji. So Babaji, You mentioned that all ideas have to go. All ideas about the world around us eventually have to be purified from the mind. And Babaji, You said “Everything in this world is the mind’s identifications imagined for the sake of worldly understandings.” So Babaji, are we able to stop identifying anything in the world even, but we can use our mind when we need to, to identify?
Babaji Maharaj: Yeah, you see, in this world, like Ramakrishna said, “Water in the bathroom, water in the kitchen are definitely different.” For that we have to identify this water in the bathroom is different. So this kitchen water is different. Like that, a good person, a bad person. We want this one and we don’t want this one. All these things have to be identified. But we must also understand all these identifications are born out of pure imagination. That is what I try to tell, “Nobody knows what this world is.” Simply, we have named it. We have assumed this is so only for sake of our communication and understanding. We cannot be simply selecting like this, pointing out. We have to tell “I need the apple.” Then you give that thing, apple. Though we don’t know what it is, we have named it ‘apple’ because that is convenient for us. So, like that.
So, we don’t know anything. So, in meditation, that is what is “All ideas must be dropped.” Means our mind would be holding as a reality. That’s when, say if we tell, the Divine, Ultimate Truth is all pervading, many people may not accept, rational people. And other people also may not accept, “How can that be? These are all different things that all exist.” It is okay. It is all in different forms. For that I tell, see, whatever is in your mind, it is created by the mind. So those things that are in the mind, millions of characters, thoughts and stories, they cannot be different from the mind. Because it is born out of the mind. Mind is the raw material. When the mind itself is infinite, how do you think that these raw materials came? In illusion. That’s what is the illusion.
I tell, you think, a thought appears. Watching that thought, you start believing that thought to be a fundamental reality. You will forget that thought is there simply because you had imagined it. This is such an important thing; I will repeat. You will forget this thought is there because I imagined. Instead I start considering, “O, this is the reality,” and I start acting accordingly. That’s when I get involved into happiness, unhappiness, good and bad, all these things. So, this is what we are trying to overcome in meditation, what dropping all ideas means, to go to the Ultimate Truth. Don’t have any imagination about the Ultimate Truth. It is beyond. ‘Parabrahma’ means it is beyond all imaginations which you cannot relate with imaginations at all. It is beyond that one.
When there is no relativity; always an imagination can be given only when there is a relative existence. So that is why this world is always made of dualities, I told. If the Divine wants a Ramayana to happen, first He brings Ravana into existence, then He brings in Rama. All the movies, stories, producers, everything. First they will think about the villain, who is going to be the villain. That is the most important thing. Then to deal with the villain they will bring the hero also.
So, now, both ideas to be dropped if you want liberation totally, Self-realization. That’s what one needs to understand of dropping all ideas. So, never get confused with the worldly things. Inside the meditation, silencing your mind can happen only then. You will observe the consciousness of existence. Then you can go to the realization. Then you will wonder that as you, beyond the birth and death of the physical body; there is so much to know about ourselves.
Question: Babaji, Ashtavakra in the chapter in the beginning says three kinds of people are there, an agnani and a seeker and a Self-realized. But later on there are only two, an agnani and a Self-realized. This He changes from three to two. And don’t mind me asking, Babaji, like Babaji, when You were in tapasya five years, twenty-five years You were in the ashram. So, what was Your phase like?
Babaji Maharaj: You see, I always remained as a witness, because we loved the Master, means we had surrendered. Whatever the Master wanted, we simply went on doing it without questioning “Why I should be doing like this, why I should not be?” It was not always sitting and closing the eyes to meditate. So many other types of works, odd works which may not appear to be connected to the ashram also we had to do. But at all times the mind was quiet, because we surrendered, “Let this service reach our Master.” That’s it. We never questioned “Why this has to happen?” So, always there was only a witness. What I was doing, that imagination never sat in the mind. So that is important.
What Ashtavakra says, first in the beginning, you can be an agnani is no problem. But at least you need to be wise. That’s what I keep telling, my Guru tells, “Ignorance is not a curse. Ego is the curse.” If you have ego, you will never want to learn anything. You start thinking, “I know everything.” Then you narrow it down. The person is wise, but ignorant. So, he will become a Self-realized one day. So, then the ideas ends. All the three gets dropped. Right?
Question: So, a long time ago, someone unintentionally or intentionally destroyed something precious that belonged to me. So naturally, I feel grief and rage. So, my question is, how can I master these emotions of the mind in a healthy way?
Babaji Maharaj: You must think, the past is over. Under any circumstances, there is no such technology that it will come back. This you have to understand. So, past is meant so that you learn lessons. You don’t allow anybody to destroy anything that is precious to you. You learn to defend yourself. So, for that, if you meditate, you can have the acceptance, will come. You will gain your peace. That’s important.
Question: Namaste Babaji. I am a very confused mind and I am a newbie. I have watched Your videos and you have said that “You will realize the mind is watching itself.” How will I know it’s not an illusion, and also who is watching this ‘I’?
Babaji Maharaj: You will know that it is not illusion when all imagination stops, when you don’t start thinking anything. Simply, you will gain the awareness; at that time, enormous amount of peace will descend. There won’t be any doubt at all. As long as there is a doubt, that means the total silence has not yet happened. That’s why the doubt also arises. When total silence happens, the doubt coming itself stops automatically. You won’t have any doubt to ask at all.
Same Questioner: Thank You, Babaji. So, can I do meditation anytime, anywhere without taking a shower or anything? Also do I need to get initiated to start this?
Babaji Maharaj: Yeah, you can sit and meditate with this technique anywhere, anytime, is no problem. And getting initiated means, like today you participated when I uttered the instructions, how to meditate. So, that you can consider as an initiation. Simply, your faith and devotion, that which can give yourself self-confidence is what really matters. There is no need to go for a formal initiation at all. Anytime if you happen to meet me, if you want it, then that can also happen. But for now, you can keep meditating anywhere. Even if you are unable to have a shower also, you can. Wherever, whenever you can have a shower you might feel fresh, that is all the difference. Otherwise, from God’s side, there is no such obstruction that you cannot meditate if you haven’t had a shower. So, you can meditate.
Question: Babaji, what is the difference between acceptance and loss of hope, like a disheartened mind? Let’s assume that in both cases, there is no thinking.
Babaji Maharaj: When acceptance is there, you always have a hope automatically. You can put an effort. When there is loss of hope, it means you become frustrated, you don’t have any hope at all; that is totally different. Acceptance; at that moment, for that result, you accept, then you have a choice to retry again always. Like that, you have to go till the last breath of our life. That is the final thing after which we cannot try in this body. As long as this body is available, you can keep trying. So, till then, you don’t have to lose any hope at all. Simply accept at that moment, “Oh, this has happened. Okay, it’s okay. No problem. We will try again.” That is acceptance.
Same Questioner: Okay, Babaji. Just for another clarity on the same topic, hope is not desire, right? So, keeping hope doesn’t mean that we are engaged in desires and then have expectation?
Babaji Maharaj: Not necessarily be. Hope will give you motivation to put effort again. You will not lose hope.
Question: Namaste Babaji. You mentioned about the causal scenario and technologies. Here a question is, the life is a long dream. As such we observe dreams, like that this life is also a long dream. When this is a long dream, anyway it’s going to end. If it’s going to end on its own naturally, why these special sadhanas to become one with the Ultimate?
Babaji Maharaj: This is recommended if you want peace and that knowledge of the Self just now, you can go for that. Or you have a choice. You don’t want to go for that, you just want to wait till the entire everything ends. Because you won’t have a control once your physical body goes. You can carry on again and again being born, again and again dying in the body, that can happen. So that is left to the choice of the person. When there is a choice now that you can get rid of the happiness and unhappiness of this world, you don’t have to wait for the end of the world. We don’t know when it will come to an end. Who knows? Nobody knows. It’s all speculations. It will come to an end, this will happen that will happen. So, if it is here, today if there is a problem that there is a loss of peace, we want peace at all times – you go for that. Know yourself is that recommended thing.
Question: Namaste Babaji. When You say “Watch,” I’m in the position of a witness because I’m not analyzing, I’m not judging. But is there a witness behind the witness who’s watching the witness?
Babaji Maharaj: Nothing else, you will realize that is all. That will be simply an imagination that is there is a witness behind the witness. The one who is trying to witness, that is all the truth is. You will realize when that witness that actually happens that you stop analyzing anything. These dualities all will disappear.
Same Questioner: What is the difference between Parabrahman and Paramatma?
Babaji Maharaj: Paramatma is Supreme Being. Parabrahma is the one beyond all imaginations. It is for the same entity these words have been used.
Question: So, the question is, when things don’t happen according to our expectations, even when all possible effort has been put into it, maybe ten years of trying, finally the mind gives up criticizing itself. Self-esteem and confidence drops in this situation. What is the best way to approach our mind and rebuild self-confidence? And what is the next step?
Babaji Maharaj: Mental stamina. You know, to run a marathon, running, you need the physical stamina. In the same way, the mental stamina needs to be maintained till the physical body gets dropped, it dies. Then you cannot do anything. Until then don’t give up hope. You keep trying. You have the attitude of a soldier. “We will keep dying because we are doing it for a larger cause. We will do it. We want to know the Self,” or any such desire. Never give up hope. There is always a possibility. It may be troublesome but always think positively – though it is very difficult, it is not impossible. If a certain thing is impossible, then no point in putting effort. When death happens to the physical body, it is impossible to revive. Then you have to take leave honorably. That’s it.
But here, as long as there is a hope, you carry on. Never give up. Look at such people who would have struggled much more deeply than you, who would have undergone much more difficult situations than you. This is what always historically, in legendary stories, people said. A sage tells Yudhisthira, “You have four brothers and a wife with you.” Then he narrates the story of Nala-Damayanti, all such things. Nobody was with Nala when he underwent all such difficulties. But yet, with sheer purushaartha, having that courage, he overcame all such things and help also pours. So never give up this attitude. As long as you are alive in this world, if you have that desire, keep trying. Keep trying. The Divine will definitely help you.
End of Session
