London, UK, 28th June 2008: Q&A – Part Two
“You cannot show your mind to anybody – ‘This is the shape of my mind, this is the color’ – impossible. Simply based on the thoughts only you recognize your mind, ‘My mind wants to do this.’ Otherwise the mind is like a bundle of thoughts.”
Question:
I just want to ask, what’s the best time to meditate?
Babaji:
Actually any convenient time for you because the Divine has not prohibited or put any such rule. In ancient times early morning hours were recommended with the idea that you would have taken sufficient rest in the night; when you get up in the morning you should be fresh and rejuvenated. So depending on your lifestyle, if you can go early to bed then you can get up when the atmosphere is also peaceful, and the surroundings. That would be very helpful particularly for the beginner also.
The stomach also needs to be light. After if you have taken any meals you need to give a couple of hours for its digestion so that wind and all such things doesn’t form. If you look after this then any convenient time is OK, whenever you feel peaceful, whenever you feel the mood, whenever you feel the freshness you can sit. And if possible, daily if you can maintain one particular time would be better recommended, because at that time automatically the mind gets attracted, like if you are used to take your morning meal at one particular time you start feeling hungry, you feel mentally hungry, and sit down without fail. So that is recommended.
Question:
I have a practical experience to ask you. I had this once in India and sometimes very seldom through meditation, when I look with closed eyes through the third eye, then sometimes it seems to me like that I can see.
Babaji:
Actually you see you need to understand, when you close the eyes, always an awareness of your existence is also there along with the thoughts. So here you don’t have to see anything through the eyes, you cannot see the mind through your eyes, mind is so infinite. Just like you cannot show your mind to anybody – ‘This is the shape of my mind, this is the color’ – impossible. Simply based on the thoughts only you recognize your mind, “My mind wants to do this”. Otherwise the mind is like a bundle of thoughts.
Here, closing the eyes, you are trying to stop all those thoughts and then what remains is You, your Self. So you don’t have to see anything else. So that is the importance of the practice of meditation. So sometimes in the beginning it could be a little bit frightening and awful if you are not used to the silence and closing the eyes like that. But there is nothing to be afraid; nothing will happen to you, everything will be alright. If you reassure yourself and keep continuing then gradually you’ll become used to that situation.
It is important that you do not open the eyes during meditation. Because already there is a world inside the mind. If you open the eyes this another world also you will be absorbing imprints further. So double things you have to handle. So it is always recommended that you keep the eyes closed.
Question:
Babaji, when the mind merges with the Self, is it an experience of no-self?
Babaji:
What do mean by no-self? Do you mean no separate self?
Question (same questioner):
Yes. There is no separate self?
Babaji:
Yes. There is no separate entity. One Single Self. Like the droplet becomes one with the Ocean and the droplet no more exists, the Ocean exists. Droplet did not become the Ocean, the Ocean already existed. So the mind merges with the Self and you simply experience your Self, oneness, that All-Pervading Omnipresent thing. That’s the experience. You simply become aware of your Self. There is no thought or feelings of ‘I’, “This is I am, this is that”, because no separate entity. The seer and seen both vanish. As long as you are a seer you have a seen; when there is a seen you are a seer. So when you become one with your Self there is nothing to see anything else. It is just – ‘become aware of your Self’. The Supreme Consciousness of Existence will be there; you will always exist; you do not vanish.
Question (same questioner):
So it’s a kind of emptiness in a way?
Babaji:
Emptiness? It is not an emptiness because emptiness is there when you have a separate entity, when you have a thought of emptiness. Just now, like this space in this room, you have a separate entity, yourself as a body and through the eyes you are seeing this, that’s why you have imagined this as an emptiness.
See, depending on your attitude you can tell this room is void with space or this room is filled with space. Zero is absolute and absolute is zero. So any such experience of emptiness or blank, it is all the imagination of the mind. Your existence itself is such wondrous amazing existence that you are, you tend to think that it is an emptiness, but it is not an emptiness, it is an amazing quality of Existence. That is how in scriptures like Bhagavad Gita, Krishna talks, “No weapon can slay, you are that Immortal Soul”. The Existence itself is like that. Just for example, suppose you are this space itself, no harm can come to you, you are always intact. But this space is not an inert object. It is Supremely Conscious of its Existence. It is not easy to explain, only for sake of understanding a few words we use; you have to experience to know it.
Question:
How will this state of Pure Consciousness help someone who wants to help change the world? And how do you combine going inside with being more effective outside?
Babaji:
When your consciousness becomes pure, you get connected with, become one with, that Omnipresent, that All-Pervading Self, which is also recognized as the Divine. So when you get connected you will be also definitely helping the world. Through the vibrations you can always be praying to the Divine to help the world and you can be inspiring others also to take up the right path. So if everybody practices meditation then we can change the world; it will be possible.
Through whatever experience we have obtained, we always try to inspire others. Efforts need to be put in. Simply by the wave of the hand nobody can change the world because everyone has their own imaginations. I can inspire, I can guide you, I can help you on the path, but you also have to put in efforts to achieve your own peace.
Suppose, for example, if all of us can practice the meditation and have that peace of mind – and we all live in one world, one home, one society – harmoniously we can always live, love and honor each other. There would never be any conflict. The conflict in the world is because of the difference in the mental thoughts because of the brain’s reflections, so narrow-mindedness and selfishness happens. As I told, we always want to do everything for ourselves. If we start thinking narrowly and selfishly that we are this body, we would like to do everything first to us only. Even charity also we try to do if we are going to be happy only. Other than that we don’t. But if we realize that we are everywhere, seeing ourselves everywhere, unconditionally we’ll be able to love. That’s how a Yogi can unconditionally love everyone without any difference and discrimination. So like that it would be possible if we all practice and dream of a better world.
Question:
Baba, you said that we can change the world through our consciousness. Means, first thing is that we have to control our minds?
Babaji:
It is definitely important because when we have a car at least we need to have the proper brakes and acceleration, gears in the car. If we ourselves don’t have the brakes properly we can be disastrous to ourselves and dangerous to others on the road. So like that if everybody practiced, so everybody have that one, then there is harmony. So like that when I practice, now throughout My life’s Mission or job is to try to help people and influence people. Whoever come in front of me I’ll be talking of this subject only. Mind your own mind and you control, you practice, you practice.
So if everybody listens and if everybody practice, there can be so much of peace and harmony and the stress-free life. So that is important. First we rectify our self, that’s what our Guru taught: “Who are we to change and rectify the world’s fault, first we need to change our own faults”. He said, “All such people can become great, who can find their faults first, that is important”. I remember having read in a magazine long ago when I was a child, “By paying too much attention to others’ fault, we die before having had the time to know our own”. So that is important. First we change ourselves.
Question (same questioner):
Whenever a wrong or bad thought comes to my mind, I should have that awareness to recognize that thought, that this is my thought I am thinking and this is harming me first and then the world. Is that right?
Babaji:
Somebody would be appearing a foe for us, that is because of my own thought. We should recognize, “Maybe he is a friend, how do we know?” Because my mind is thinking that is a foe, that’s why it appears as a foe. And as I told, “One man’s food is another man’s poison”.
Question (same questioner):
Baba, like you said just now, that the world appears to you the way you think of it.
Babaji:
Yes. And there is a small example story in Mahabharata, that Duryodhana was the wicked brother and his cousin, Yudhisthira, was a very noble person. Once they both were sent on a pilgrimage tour of the kingdom and when they came back they were asked, “How is our city?” Duryodhana complained, “Everywhere people are bad and wicked, they are all gambling and drinking alcohol, this is what it is”. Whereas Yudhisthira said, “I have found noble people everywhere. All are so spiritual, people are meditating, people are worshipping”. So that’s how it is. Whatever your temperament you get attracted to such things. A person comes to a city: if he is spiritual he would like to find such spiritual friends. If he is an alcoholic, he would like to find alcoholic friends. Depending on the temperament we always try to find such things in the world. It’s our own attitude that we need to change.
