London Oratory – day one, 2006

One more time and millions of times again and again we offer our unconditional surrender and prostrations with deep love and reverence at the Lotus Feet of our beloved Guru Shri Shivabalayogi and would greet you all with love and blessings. We appreciate your interest, your openness to be here with us. That you have set a priority to take out your time and be here with us to practice this unique, amazing meditation which will clear all doubts that the mind would be producing, which will clear all sorts of stress, unhappiness, the cravings and clinging on to habits of the mind, it’s tensions and so on. Ultimately eventually one day you would be able to know the truth of your own existence as the greatest wonder .Some have called this truth as God, some as Self ; the achievement as Nirvana or Moksha. Many terminologies might have been used but the actual truth would be when you experience.

Actually a Yogi  adopts the practice of meditation and goes into deeper Tapas; these things like meditation and Tapas  always help one both in the path of bhakti (devotion) and on the path of knowledge. One gains both. The knowledge is gained that it is boundless. We cannot understand by trying to know through our intelligence or through our mind, through listening, through reading, by seeing, watching, by any means. I always remember the beautiful example that Ramakrishna Paramhamsa used to give. A salt doll, when trying to know the depth of the sea, jumps into the sea and in the process dissolves and becomes one with it. That’s what happens when the mind or the individual soul whenever it is wants to know the Ultimate Truth, wants to know about God or achieve God’s Consciousness or achieve the Self Consciousness, whatever it is. That’s what happens. So all the ahamkara, all type of false pride, ego everything vanishes. Before that also one understands that it is not a thing or a subject or an object that we can understand by remaining as a separate entity. Just like by remaining as a separate entity from the space you can never measure, you can never weigh, you can never do any research and understand about space itself. About what it is. Whatever we try to do we always limit. If we try to measure it by a scale how long can you go on measuring the more and more that you measure, you are going to limit. 
 
If you take an earthen pot and if you try to limit the space inside this “I have arrested the space inside this.” How funny it would be for others who will watch. In the same way it will be the same funny situation if we tell that we can understand, we can measure or we can know, because it is impossible. At least for a while a particular imagination that has happened about the space, because of a certain type of training to the mind, is that it is void, it is empty. But you try to think and ponder over if we take an earthen pot, if it is empty that is one view point. There can be another view point if you try to look. It is filled with space. In the same way everywhere it is filled with space. Is it not this thing? That’s what the Vedas say. Those great sages told and all the Realized Saints and Yogis  always told that it is omnipresent, it is omnipotent. That is what we used to wonder as a child that how can it escape my eyes or anybody’s eyes if it is all-pervading, if it is everywhere. But yet it is invisible, why, what could be the reason?

So thus when one is able to adopt meditation, one can gain this knowledge and you become a real devotee. A real devotee means that your attention shall always be there. Just like a Yogi’s attention even after achieving that non-duality of Self Realization while being a Jivanmukta, means the liberated one while still alive in the physical body, because His mind does not go into cravings and get involved. It only watches as a witness. What does it watch? It watches whatever is physically available whether this world or the space but it shall not differentiate between the space and this world. It will see the oneness everywhere. That one energy. It will always see the sweetness in the sugar, the same way the existence the Supreme Consciousness everywhere, in everything, as everything.

So that is how one gains both the bhakti (devotion) and knowledge together. However when one achieves being in the human body even after coming out of that state, one would be really very humble and exercise humility. There shall not be any false pride because the droplet has become one with the ocean. The droplet did not become ocean. Ocean already existed. That’s how our Guru taught us to be humble always. He Himself achieved that amazing non-duality of advaita, Total Self Realization of Nirvikalpa Samadhi, yet when He came out of Samadhi, when He lived with all of us, with the devotees all over the world when He toured, He never claimed anything. He never claimed that he has become God. He spoke of worship, He spoke of devotion, He spoke of knowledge, He spoke of practice, and ultimately He spoke without trying to imagine, practice meditation then you will know the truth because before that when you try to know the truth with intelligence you are going to limit. Though we saw God in Him He never claimed. That is what the proper manners that one needs to exercise in this world He taught. He worshiped the Divine in the form of Shiva though He had become one with Shiva. He never claimed that.

Once when I was addressing Him in one of my songs that we composed as Shiva Bala Yogeshwara He corrected me “Do not try to call me Yogeshwara, only the Lord Divine Shiva is the Yogeshwara.”  He himself was Lord Shiva for us but however He told that you can call me only Yogendra. So that was the humility and humbleness that He exercised and showed us. So how can I claim that I have become Shivabalayogi? Whatever it is whatever achievement that we achieve so we are always at the Lotus Feet as a dust of the Divine Guru Shivabalayogi. We cannot think or say that we have become That or Him. We have become one with Him that is a different thing. We have not become Him. So that’s why we are always His child, His servant at His Lotus Feet. That was the humility that He taught us.

He taught that it is important that you always try to control the mind, that’s what repeatedly He spoke. By the practice of meditation you are taught to control the mind. And you shall not try to control anything else of the body by suppressing methods, He told. Because in our experience of Tapas what we saw was there is a peculiar battle between the brain and the mind. The relationship is that brain is the biological organ in the physical body. Well it itself is an amazing organ which has enabled humans to achieve so much in this world. But yet it can have its own limitations because it requires the mind for its own existence, for its own operations. Without the mind it cannot be active. One is active because of the other. The brain is alive and active because of the mind. That is the real prana, the real life. That is a conscious energy. Whenever I mention mind here it is for sake of understanding that it is your own conscious energy. Based on the thoughts you recognize it as mind. So that’s why I try to use it as mind so that you understand what it is easily. So thus mind always gets applied on to the brain’s waves and its reflections. Sometimes people do misunderstand if by some means if we can suppress these brain waves, control them they call it but it is actually suppressing. Temporarily the mind may get kicked of the reflections of the brain when there is nothing to reflect. That’s what really happens in deep, sleepy states when you go to sleep. For a while it can be enjoyable, a much greater peace but the clue is you enjoy the best of happiness when your mind is unconscious of this world. Means when it does not bother or go into a brooding or craving about this world. I am not talking anything bad or good about the world, I am talking about the mind and its habits.

You must understand this point. So when this mind becomes totally unconscious it is very happy. So when it bothers, goes into brooding about the past or is anxious about the future it gets into the turmoilness of craving, confusion, unhappiness all these things do happen. Depressions do happen. Sometimes when alcoholics or drug addicts think they are enjoying, that they are very happy, flying in the air, but unfortunately it’s only the suppressing methods, eventually the brain shall loose its health. It becomes immunized to such things and the person is neither here nor there. It can be such a disastrous thing. That’s why our Guru always was against any type of such thing even on the spiritual path also. After becoming a monk or coming on to this sadhana by a misunderstanding some people pick up such habits of suppressing the brain’s waves by taking certain type of medicines whatever they call it and they sit and go into meditation. They start thinking that they are going into Samadhi and they claim that they are getting Samadhi, becoming aware. But they fail to understand it’s only a temporary phenomenon of the mind enjoying happiness because it is unable to catch any of the reflections of the brain. But the mind itself does not get cleansed by the process. Its acquired habits are going to remain. It has acquired since time immemorial. Since so many lives. That is why a sadhak is always taught to just try to control the mind through a natural method where you shall not harm any of the brain’s functions. Simply you have to withdraw the mind. You shall not touch the brain in any way at all. Under any circumstances in any method that might appear easy for meditation sometimes but that can be totally disastrous. One can never achieve the mind control like that otherwise it could have become so easy. Everybody who goes into deep sleep could have become a Yogi overnight. That does not happen.

Even after the sound sleep when you get up the same tensions prevail. The mind goes into the same cravings. Observe these things and remember in whatever method that we suppress the brain after the effects of such things are over the mind is going to jump, the brain is going to jump back. So it is important to remember this because human beings greatest weakness is we want everything easy like an instant coffee. Mind is infinite, it is so slippery it does not come back easily. But all we need is our attitude. If it gives us a hard time, no problem, if it makes us struggle, no problem, if it is going to be a battle for us, no problem – like that. This important attitude is necessary when we go on the path of spirituality particularly to practice mind control exercises. This is the basic thing to which one needs to understand, God, Self Realization they all become easy afterwards. Before that it becomes so difficult almost impossible to communicate with God, to go towards the Self, to go on the spiritual path .

To achieve the first step itself can be frustrating very often. So we need to remember and understand this point that’s only when the path becomes easier. That is why the practice of meditation is advised, a sadhana is advised so that you control the mind through the natural methods. Though in the beginning it could be awful and difficult and hard, it is not impossible if you have the attitude no problem. Ask a valiant solder is it a problem for him to go to the battlefield? Ask a champion sportsperson is it a problem for him to go to the sports field and play the game? It is not at all. In the same way for a wise person, for the one who has the patience, for the one who is devoted, for the one who has the intelligence, this life is not a problem. Many challenges may occur, problems may come, crop up but no problem. We keep doing we keep trying, we keep trying.

Hundred times, thousand times that I may have to talk like this, try to advice people to go into meditation. People may not go into meditation but we would not get frustrated. Till the last breath of life we will do for whatever we are here. It’s no problem even if people do not understand, no problem. We will try to make them understand again and again. We will try to talk the same points again and again in different ways. So that somewhere, sometime they will definitely catch. That’s what our Guru said. If it was a story He told me the same stories hundreds of times. Sometimes I used to wonder ‘Oh, I know this story already why is Swamiji again and again telling me the story.’ Perhaps He understood my mind. Once He Himself told me “Do you think that once I told you the story and you have heard and you remember that story that you have really understood? It requires repeated teaching.” He used to tell. Because this needs to penetrate into the inner layers of your mind that even in the midst of your wildest dreams you shall not forget the Guru’s teachings. Then your path will be easy and your practice will be successful come what may. Where ever you are if you know that method that the Guru teaches why the surrender is needed, if you understand what the surrender is then your path becomes easy. My Guru said, “That’s what my idea is, that’s why I want to keep repeating this story again and again. Otherwise ten times I will tell, on the eleventh time when the time comes, you will be doing based on your own nature.” Even Shri Krishna tells Arjuna this in Bhagavad Gita,”Arjuna, no matter I am talking of all this philosophy with such an interest because I love you so much I hope that you will pick the teachings, but I wonder whether you will adopt these methods and practice. When the time comes you might be acting based on your own nature. Beware of it. Again and again you might do the same mistakes. I might be telling beware Arjuna beware, be humble, pay attention when I am talking.” That’s what our Guru said, “If you pay 100% attention such a mind absorbs the teachings easily.” That’s was what happened.

Even today such small words, sentences He told have penetrated. It is always there. Not only about the Tapas  or meditation about this world also He spoke of His experience. He spoke that you won’t know now, you try to be childish, and you try to do a lot of mistakes when tomorrow I am not around physically, when you will have to run the mission. When you shall be teaching you will know the difficulties to deal with human beings. It’s not easy. Everybody will not be simply reverential to you. Everybody will not be admiring you simply. Everybody will not be ready to receive your teachings. Some may have reverence, some may try to think that they are the most intelligent and they can trap you. You shall face all sorts of things but you shall forgive and become compassionate to everyone, you shall love everyone. The Yogis  never curse. They will always love. They will pray to God that all souls may be inspired to go on this path of spirituality.

May you all be inspired to practice this unique method of meditation, may you all receive the Divine Grace, my Divine Guru’s blessings at all times. Because He used to say, “If you want to become a Saint you need to have the heart of a mother, the mother who unconditionally forgives all her children. That’s why once He told the concept of mother. How the Divine manifested as Goddess mother Bhuvneshwari. He said that once when the creation was happening when the Divine’s Supreme Consciousness erupted as Maha Rudra, Rudra means ‘eruption’. When your own mind starts thinking, it erupts, its energies erupt, thinking. So when such a thing happens Maha Rudra appeared suddenly and he shouted “Who am I?”. Just now in this world nobody would like to bother to think “Who am I? Why?” We would always think that I am born because of my parents. My parents were born because of their parents. Generations after generations that are coming nobody would wonder from where I have come and what is happening to me. But few such exceptional spiritual giants thought about this “Who am I? And why have I come to this earth? What is the purpose? What is my existence? Am I born with this body? Am I going to die with this physical body finish and become extinct? Am I going to be existing or non-existing what it is actually.”  Like this some have thought.

We thought as a child about this. Such things happen. In the same way Rudra thought when he appeared in the space because nobody had produced him, he did not know about his parents. There were no parents to tell him that you are born to us. When he shouted, the legend says that the ashiravani, the sound from the sky, came asking him to sit in the lotus posture, concentrate the mind and sight in between eyebrows and you will know who you are, what’s the purpose. He went into deep Samadhi and the creation did not happen, it says, but along with that enormous energy also got created. That is the shakti, the big fire type of ferocious energy. So when Vishnu got created, Brahma all this things came in the legend so the creation started happening. The fiery energy engulfed everything. Everything went into the fire. Something like what you hear of a black hole, like it sucks up everything that it comes in contact with. The creation could not go on again. Then Brahma and the first Yogis  called Sanata, Sanadana, Sanath Sujata, Sanath Kumara they were born out of the mental resolution of the Divine . They prayed to that energy to manifest as the Divine Mother because they thought that mother is the kindest concept always. Who would forgive unconditionally all children? Everybody in the creation, everybody is likely to commit mistakes known or unknown induced by the things that comes to the mind.

This is what our Guru said that a human being can be so helpless. You think of free will. Even if you don’t want to sleep if you feel sleepy you are forced to sleep. Where is your free will? My Guru used to ask then. When you are hungry you are forced to eat. Where is the free will? Whether you want or don’t want you have to live in this world. You cannot afford to keep quiet. Like this. So the people would be doing mistakes and right and wrong things. It is essential that the Divine be kind so that concept of mother came, Buvaneshwari appeared. The same Divine energy appeared as the Adiparashakti. Adi means the first; parashakti means the invisible energy of the Divine . So that’s how the mother’s concept came.

So a Saint has to be like a mother, that’s what my Guru used to tell me. We come back to that point we have to be unconditionally forgiving even if somebody criticises you, are you ready to forgive and pray for the Divine’s grace . So this ability can come to forgive others only when you practice meditation. That’s what I assure you. Only when you practice meditation, it’s not easy. So that’s what one can achieve. One needs to understand to progress on the path of meditation and then things become easy. One needs to set a priority. It is the most important thing. Just like when you are hungry you will set a priority to eat the food. You set priority for so many things, that’s how my Guru used to tell. If you have to come for meditation you try to give a hundred and one excuses. I need to go for a wedding in the family; I need to go for a ritual for this friend’s things, for those things. I need to go there, I need to go here. But set priority and try to give excuses to other things, “Oh, sorry I cannot come I need to go and practice meditation.”  “Oh, sorry I cannot be with you right now, I have to go practice meditation.’ The day that you are able to set priority things become easier He said always. Otherwise how can it happen? Everybody will have to do sadhana. This is the thing that is needed for you. You need to understand about this thing. So that’s why perhaps He always advised us talk as little as possible. Don’t go lecturing on. Just give them some clue and points that is enough and then help them to practice. Then let them know the truth.

Question and answers

Question:

Can you tell us how important is it to have initiation from a Guru, from a teacher in order to progress spiritually in meditation?

Babaji:

It is a recommended thing because initiation itself means that the Guru takes an initiative and will motivate you to progress on the path by giving the method and all such guidance on how to proceed on the path. As I told, the Guru-disciple relationship is a recommended one though ultimately it will be the individual’s choice. The Guru can always be there because on the path confusion is likely to occur. A person is likely to become casual and take things lightly. That’s where the Guru’s role is to inspire the student and always keep guiding on the right path. Become like a torch bearer. So that way the initiation is always helpful and it is a recommended one.

Question: 

 If one has a negative thought or even any thought in meditation, what should one do with those thoughts because you said it is not good to suppress the thoughts because that thing will come back. So what should one do?

Babaji:

If you simply watch and do not analyze. You know mind has a tendency to analyze so with its imagination only it thinks that this is a negative, this is positive, this is good, this is bad. So if you simply watch at that moment and do not allow the mind to start analyzing or start thinking. Then such a thought gets evaporated it will get sublimated, it would not get suppressed. That is how the meditation is a cleansing process. It cleanses all the mind’s acquired habits. It will be a very silky thread of difference. It is quite difficult to understand when the thought occurs in the mind, mind recognizes and analyzes. Both appear as the same but there is a difference. A thought appearing and you start thinking that this is a negative thought. Just like even in bhakti marga also it is taught that God is everywhere when God is everywhere where is the question of anything that is positive or negative? While practicing meditation you have to consider like that. And then the mind is able to remain quiet. While we try to recommend these things, while you are alive in this world it is a different thing. You might deal with the good things as good, bad things as bad, positive as positive, negative as negative. But while trying to meditate you are trying to raise this mind about the dualities of good and bad. So even if it is a negative thought you do not think that it is negative. It is not your botheration and it is not your fault also that the thought is coming. It is simply going out. So just keep quiet and watch them that is enough.

Question:

How does one detach oneself from the body and also how does one let go of fear?

Babaji:

The attachment is in the mind’s consciousness. So gradually if you try to ponder over the truth of impermanence, that it is transitory. That is what is recommended spiritually. Spirituality does not prohibit you to adopt any way of life or to live in this world but it simply alerts you that you cannot depend for your happiness or peace permanently on any thing of this world including your own physical body because it is all impermanent, transitory. One day it is going to go away. So like this if you ponder over some times then the detachment becomes a bit easier if you understand these things.
 
This fear is also because of ignorance. Just like when you are watching a movie your mind’s consciousness gets sucked into it even though you are not at all connected. Nothing is happening to you but the story and the sequence in the movie can sometimes create happiness within you, an unhappiness, a sorrow, a fear sometimes it can be panicking, where as nothing is really happening. So that unhappiness or fear is because of the ignorance of mind trying to visualize it as a truth. So that is what one of the aspects of illusion is. Because of this only there is a fear, an unknown fear of what’s going to happen tomorrow. What will happen to this body? What will happen to me? Am I going to be happy knowingly or unknowingly? Everybody is looking for this peace, happiness and liberation only. So if you practice meditation, only that is the blanket remedy, you can overcome once and for all. However before that also you can try to ponder and think it over. That there is nothing to be afraid of. Like our teachers used to teach us when we were in primary school “Do not be afraid, think that if anything is going to happen after all my head is going to be cut off that’s all.” Means, you need not die but you gain enormous inner strength to face the challenges of life and it becomes quite easy for you. So like that you can always overcome the fear.

Question:

I enjoyed meditation very much.

Babaji:

Very good.

Question:

I find it much stronger when I am in Your presence than when I am at home. I find it rather complicated my having to try and conceive God because in meditation one is dissolving into God as if God is within, and in prayer when one is praying to God as if God is over there. We are here, God is there. In service, it is almost as if God is behind one and one is using one’s hands to do His work. So sometimes I wish that God would stay still because He is in three different places. I just like to have things simple and that confusion how to relate to God. I’m trying to decide on my daily practice because it is impossible to do everything. I like to do prayer and meditation and japas and prana exercises and yoga and visualization exercises and service but I wouldn’t have time to work. So what advice have you got for that?

Babaji:

One thing is about My presence. If you can feel Me within you, you will always feel My presence and you will feel inspired to proceed on the path of meditation. It will become easier.

Confusion about God; that confusion occurs when your mind is trying to analyze. Trying to think, trying to know. If you sacrifice this, just go on doing the exercises that you mentioned. If you want to do japa, do the japa. Don’t think where God is, What God is, What I’m doing, What I’m not. Just do the japa. And if you are doing any worship, any yoga at that time do that one simply. So then the mind comes out of this confusion and you will know that God is everywhere. He can be behind, He can be in front, He can be within, and He can be out. It’s up to God wherever He wants to appear let Him appear. There is no need to be confused. He can come as a human; He can come as something else. Let Him come as He wishes. Why should we bother? So if you adopt this attitude then your mind recedes and loses this agitation of confusions. So then your sadhana becomes more effective and progress becomes easy for you. It’s like if you have to jump in the river means simply jump in it. Don’t bother about what the river is. How much is this like that here. It’s the attitude in meditation otherwise the mind gets involved into this and the meditation process becomes curtailed.

Question:

How do you think which practices to do, sometimes it seems to me that prayer is far more important than meditation and other times it seems that meditation is far more important than prayer. Should you be spontaneous?

Babaji:

Everything will be useful. There is really no conflict. When you feel like praying, you pray so that the Divine’s Grace might descend on you and a conducive atmosphere will be available so that the inspiration comes. So there is no problem. So when you feel like meditating meditate. That’s it. 

Question:

I would be grateful if you kindly explain the similarities and dissimilarities between prana and consciousness and so on.

Babaji:

All are same, at different stages, different terminologies are used. So when it is thinking the terminology used is the mind. And when you are alive, because of that your body is alive, so that is what the prana is, that energy, that consciousness is the prana also. That is the terminology used. As I told, this is a peculiar relationship between mind and the brain. The mind is the food for brain to be alive. As long as this body is alive we say there is a prana in this body. When it becomes quiet the prana is gone, that’s what people normally say. But it is the same consciousness called the mind and the prana, all are the same. The Soul is the ultimate truth of this mind. If the mind is like a droplet, soul is like the ocean. The ocean’s droplet, that’s what the relationship is. Mind is to the soul just like the sun’s ray is to the sun. That’s what the connection is. So the sadhana starts so that the mind loses all its imaginations. If it loses imagination it becomes quiet, concentrated, purified and goes introverted and gets absorbed into the Self. This is the process that happens. That’s why sadhana is taught so that you can achieve the quietening of the mind. So different stages there name are like that. They are all connected to each other.

Question:

Can I just ask what is Your view on the use of music or concentration on the breathing to help with meditation. If one finds it difficult to do it for a long time as we have done today without anything.

Babaji:

The music can always be helpful if you can play. You see music, if it is soothing, if it can be non-violent, beautiful rhythmic music that can always be helpful in meditation. You can adopt all such natural methods which are conducive for soothing effect to the mind is always welcome before or after meditation. Initially, for sometime during meditation, also you can play some music and listen to it. But eventually, gradually afterwards you must give the mind a practice to remain quiet in silence. That is the ultimately recommended thing. So silence is the best thing finally. Before that you can always use. So that it is helpful in achieving concentration, warming up, like the breathing exercises are also there. That will also be helpful in concentration and the mind getting receded a little bit. So that it warms up eventually to go into meditation.

Question:

When we are on the move for example in the train or car, what is the best way of controlling the mind.

Babaji:

If you are sitting quietly you can listen to some good devotional music or within the mind try to remember some of God’s name. Any such mantra they are always helpful. And for all the mind wants to think, try to ponder over the Self and what am I? Am I born with this physical body? Am I going to become extinct when the physical body will die? Or am I going to exist in some other form? So these types of thoughts are also helpful. The impermanence of the world like this if you can ponder over. And ultimately, if it is possible when you are travelling, to sit back with neck straight you can try to close the eyes and try to meditate also. So in meditation you need not be sitting on the ground cross legged. You can sit on a chair if it’s possible. Anyway like that.

Question:

Thank you, Babaji. Is it preferable to have a vegetarian diet during sadhana?

Babaji: 

Yes, it will be definitely helpful. Though my Guru really did not try to touch this subject, He did not prescribe anything. For such reasons like He thought all over the world different cultures and different weather conditions, different availability, people have different type of habits so it can always be controversial, disputes might arise, arguments, logic this that one. He used to say if you are used to a particular type of food and if I restrict you, “Don’t take that one” during meditation such thoughts only could be coming to you that you are missing that one, instead of meditating you would be there. Better to eat and then sit down. So apart from that if you practice meditation gradually the inspiration will come to you from within, only inside. Only then you will be able to adopt. However in My opinion try to adopt a lighter variety of food which would not be very heavy for you because, you see ,the food has to produce the blood and that blood has to go to the brain also. If the blood is of the best quality then the brain’s reflections will also be light and more conducive for meditation. So I would recommend if possible green vegetables, leafy vegetables, wheat products like cracked wheat these types of cereals. So lighter variety would always be helpful

Question :

Thank you, Babaji. Sometimes when I am meditating I might want to say a prayer like spontaneously and so I said a prayer and then I got back to meditating. Is that just a trick of the mind?

Babaji:

During meditation if a prayer comes on its own do not worry, let it come. But you do not plan to pray and do it because if you plan to pray and do it your mind would get diverted during meditation. You have to be concentrating during meditation, means if the Master tells you, “Concentrate in between the eyebrows” means just concentrate. Watching is your job then the concentration is achieved. On its own if something comes there is no problem. It is always a trick of the mind. You just watch do not bother what it is. Then it will be alright.

Question :

Is there a difference where we meditate in groups or on our own and which is better?

Babaji:

Well it can depend on a person’s temperament also whether a person is more prone to solitude or group. However, if it is a group all the like minded people are there you are likely to feel more inspired. If people are meditating very well for more than an hour it could be inspiring you also to go for such meditation. So groups are always helpful. That is why we do encourage such group meditation always.

Question:

Babaji, I would like to know what happens after we die. When we say our aim after death is to attain Moksha. What exactly does it mean? Can you ever get out of the cycle of birth and how can we stop our existence of rebirth?

Babaji: 

I can give you some clues about this. Actually, you see, based on your mind’s habits only this world would appear to you. Whatever thought processes the mind is habitual culturally, so the mind would visualize this one. When death happens, when the brain totally dies, then the brain would not be able to reflect anything. The mind gets kicked off temporarily but its own habits, its acquired habits, are all there. Based on the intensity of thoughts it would assume next birth. That’s what usually happens. So the sadhana starts. If you can cleanse the mind make the mind as non-violent as possible… non-violent means clear all its thought processes it would have acquired since time immemorial – maybe since so many lives all are sitting in that like a tape recorder, everything. So this type of meditation and other exercises prescribing religion like repetition of mantra or any such thing are all important. The idea is to control the mind, make it non-violent. The day when the mind totally gets cleansed of all these thoughts, habits and there is nothing else there, it becomes pure consciousness. It gets absorbed into the Self, and that time when death occurs, like for a Yogi’s  body if death occurs to the physical body there would not be any such imagination or desires. The Yogi’s  mind would not have any cravings, picturising effects. The ordinary mind would be constantly picturizing. It cannot keep quiet even for a moment. If it is clear totally then rebirth does not happen. You simply exist as a Supreme Consciousness. That is Supreme Peace also. That is the recommended goal, that’s what Moksha means. You do not have to be reborn and die in a physical body. You simple exist in yourself. That is what is called liberation, Nirvana, Moksha all these things. And it is possible for everyone to achieve.

Question:

Babaji, is the way to achieve that only through Tapas  or are there other means?

Babaji:

Tapas means that mind needs to get cleansed. If in any other means it is possible also then it is possible. Like some people take on the bhakti marga just to give a few clues how through bhakti marga it can happen. Like great souls like Mira Bai, Sur Das they all went through bhakti marga only. They had their deity in their mind. Like Mira Bai became conscious of only Krishna, for her Mira Bai never existed as a separate entity. Only Krishna existed everywhere. When a mind can reach that highest stage that is called Tapas. Tapas  means you put in to the fire your imagined individual self that was illusion. Then that one entity you can call it Krishna, you can call it simply Divine, you can call Self, you can call it something, and you can call it nothing. That it is. Then that can happen. That’s what you need to take care. So that is what is called Tapas.

Question:

Babaji, can you please speak a little about the relationship between love and meditation.

Babaji:

You see you love, when you love somebody your attention shall always be on that somebody. Suppose if you love God. If you love your Guru your attention will automatically be there because you love, because you keep thinking with imagination. So when you meditate automatically your attention is on God so you automatically love God. So through meditation you gain the love. Through love you go into meditation so both are interconnected to each other. If you meditate you will go into the real love. Automatically your mind goes into attention beyond all imaginations. Before, if you do not meditate, you will have to imagine and then only you have to love. So when you imagine you will limit. Suppose you might be limiting My Guru into this photo or you might be limiting Babaji into this physical body, then your mind will start loving only this physical body. Whereas it will get cheated into being unable to love Babaji as He is; all-pervading. So this is what happens. So in meditation your mind shall gradually transcend all imaginations and pay attention to the real truth. So then automatically it falls into love, attention. So they are always interconnected. God has love, God has enjoyment, God has peace, and everything is there. That’s how the love is always there. If you meditate you will have God in His real sense.

Question:

Babaji, I would like to know a little bit about what God is like.

Babaji:

See God, it is impossible to explain God as it is. A little bit clues only can be given. Just like if you ask me what space is? It is impossible to show the space as it is. It is simple all-pervading. However when we were kids in our school our teacher said that the place in between these two walls is called space. As we grew up gradually we understood the same space existed everywhere. That’s how the knowledge grew. Suppose if I had not gained that knowledge today sitting here if I insist the space exists only in the classroom of My birth place that’s all. Then you would all be laughing. That’s how it happens. Suppose if I say that this is God. We show a idol, We show a photo and We try to explain God is like this. So your mind shall visualize and start loving and becoming devoted.

Gradually if you practice meditation and practice the devotional thing then your mind becomes conscious of the same God as everywhere. One basic clue is your mind . You see, you cannot show your mind to anybody that this is my mind, this is the color, this is the shape. Based on the thoughts you recognize your mind. My mind wants to think like this, my mind wants to eat, it wants to go there. All these things you recognize. If all the thoughts are removed what remains is the Pure Consciousness. So Ultimate Truth of this mind is recognized as God. That’s what God is. So if you resolve through any form of God so then God can manifest in the same form, in a physical form. He can come in front of you and give darshan. That is also possible. You can see God as if you are seeing Babaji sitting here now. The same way you can see God if you do Tapas. God can come in any form. That is what my Guru said, “You can believe God in any form or in any formlessness. Simply do not condemn others beliefs. Honor other’s beliefs.”

That’s how God is. He is all-pervading simply. So if you can use your intelligence, see what is it that is all-pervading, that is God. In Yoga Vashista, sage Vasishta used another important clue. All-pervading is very common to everyone. Every scripture talks of it, very often you would have heard in the lectures of Saints and teachings so on that God is everywhere. Vasishta says that it exists in itself. So now you all try to understand. Here for example, there is the space and there are so many object matters. This microphone, this table, this dais, this carpet, this wall all these things are here. All these items including our physical bodies all these exist in the space. This cannot go beyond space. You cannot escape and run away that I am going to go out of space, where there is no space, there I will go. It is not possible, because space is everywhere. So the space exists in itself. It does not require anything that is here, including oxygen also, for its existence. But every other item requires space for its existence.

Today all over the universe the struggle is for need of space. One army officer is doing a lot of research on this also. The need of space. The space theory. So much research is being done but one important thing to understand is that space exists in itself. It does not depend on anything. If you remove every object matter from here still the space will be as it is. This is what Vasishta talks. That is “What is God?” means. The Divine exists in itself.

Even there is another beautiful incident . Adi Shankara, the great sage, he was going for a bath to River Ganges when he was camping at Kashi somewhere. So the legend says that a little bit of ego had occurred in him so the Divine came in the form of an untouchable man with an earthen pot on his head which contained some country-made alcohol. He was like a chandala. So Adi Shankara was going he said “Give way to me, get out of here.” He thought him to be an untouchable person. Then he said, “Is there any place out of the brahmanda?” (brahmanda means the space. That’s what they meant in that terminology. Brahmanda means ‘which hold the universe’ that is what it means) So he asked that, “Show me if there is any place beyond this space? In the same space that you live,  I have to be there also”. So when he says this, Adi Shankara suddenly realizes if you have this knowledge you are not an ordinary person. And you are equal to my Guru. Thus saying Adi Shankara prostrates to him. The legend says thus he disappears. Then Adi Shankara realizes that, that was non other than Lord Shiva, The Kashi Vishveshwara . Vishveshwara is the presiding deity of the pilgrimage town of Kashi. That is what the Divine came and showed him that the Divine is all pervading.

So if we all can understand this phenomena all of us belong to the same Infinite Space, there can always be universal brotherhood, love and consideration to each other. Suppose you go out of this country somebody tells that I am from England, how much love it generates within your heart, “Oh you are from England,  I am also from England.” In the same way, you are also from the same space and I am also from the same space. How can we be different? We are all brothers and sisters to each other means we are all related to each other like one beautiful family. That’s when the consideration can happen. So how can we hate each other? We love automatically each other. This is what God is.

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