0:00 Introduction from Babaji
0:44 How can we protect young people from distractions in the modern world and guide them to spirituality?
13:18 Is it important for spirituality to be taught at school? Can it be taught without a religious connection?
23:13 When should parents start teaching their children meditation, and are there some preliminary exercises for them to start with on the spiritual path?
27:59 Babaji talks about His upbringing and what He learnt from His mother
33:16 What is the importance of in-born qualities on the spiritual path?
37:58 What is the foundation on which to build a spiritual society?
42:52 How can a human being avoid laziness and be disciplined in any path?
46:51 How to talk to a son who has stopped communicating and is always on the phone?
48:32 How to deal with family members who are afraid that I might go too deep into spirituality?
49:18 How to receive initiation from Babaji
50:22 Visiting Babaji
51:40 What is the origin of this dhyana and is there a connection with advanced practices from Yoga Sutras called Samyama and Shambavi?
53:57 What to do if light, heat and sounds increase in meditation?
54:44 What about art, is it an imagination and could it be a source to keep the mind quiet as well as meditation?
56:42 Aham the individual and Aham the cosmic Self.
58:09 Until there is Self Realization then there is no peace.
1:00:16 How can one proceed in life without any desires?
1:02:36 How to introduce a son who is going to college to spirituality?
1:04:51 How to differentiate between ego and self-respect?
1:07:57 Is the Self different from the mind?
1:10:42 How does meditation purify the mind?
1:11:50 Does one have to look upwards to keep the eyeballs in between eyebrows?

Teaching Spirituality to the Younger Generation
In Quest of Truth, Q&A with Babaji, No. 191,
13 July 2024, Worldwide Participants

Shri Babaji:

Another opportunity for you all just to try and keep quiet mentally, that’s what ‘watch’ means. If you are watching, you are not thinking – remember this point. Use your eyeballs through the mind, so that you can watch through the mind.  When you watch through the mind, the mind doesn’t think. Should not be able to think, should keep your mind so busy just watching, then it slowly becomes silent, then the wonders will be revealed, right? 

Questioner:

To start with Babaji, Baba, You’ve talked about as a young boy You were not exposed to the world so much, Your mind was quite peaceful, and easily You were able to go into meditation. And Babaji has jokingly said that nowadays we’re born into this world with a mobile phone in the hand. With all the many distractions in today’s society, how can we protect young people from the many distractions in the world, and guide them towards spirituality? 

Shri Babaji:

Certain important points; one is a secure existence. We need to remind ourselves that one day the body through which we live in this world is going to die and disappear. Then what happens to us? Are we also born with this body, are we going to become extinct, die when the body dies, or are we going to exist in some other form, do we really exist in such a way? So, this one thing we need to ponder. 

Another thing for the younger generation, they would like to get the fruits when they put an effort, so they would like to know the benefits of meditation. If we ask them, “You meditate,” means they want to know what are the benefits that we can get, particularly, probably in this world. So then we have to explain to them, as we have a physical body we have a mind, and we have been blessed with a brain in this body. So, through the mind we have to use the brains. For this, we need to have the mind best concentrated. The best concentrated mind, when it applies the brain, it can utilize the brain’s services to the maximum, to the best possible extent. 

Like, I keep telling youngsters, if you meditate you can live like a genius in this world. Means you go into any field – your concentration focus power will be tremendous, it will increase. And you will not lose patience, you can keep yourself, remain focused onto anything that you want to do. Means your efforts, energy, its focus, everything will tremendously increase like that one. And of course memory power also increases, all these. 

Other benefits are there. You can achieve peace. Any youngster, anybody, they will face stress in today’s world. If they are studying academically, when they need to face examinations, they need to give a paper and they need to pass on to the next class, it can be a big stress for them. In our days we had very few books, now I can see so many subjects are taught in one class itself, it can be very stressful for them. So if they meditate, they can very smoothly and easily concentrate in studies, and perform best in the examinations when they face. 

Also, they need to understand, as they understand the need to take care of the health of the body – any smallest problem happens we try to consult a expert in medical, a doctor either through the help of our elders, or our own self, that we understand there is some problem, some pain is there, something is there. In the same way, mind also needs to be taken care for its best health. So they need to understand, if the mind needs to be healthier, means what it is.

The mind must not give you any stress ever. And it should not make you emotionally weak also, it should keep you strong, with an inner strength. Anything, whether it is facing an examination, or any challenge of life, academically, sports or anywhere you go, whatever you want to achieve in your life, you need to have inner strength. Smoothly, composedly, you need to face the challenge, and you need to have that confidence that you can do that one, and you should be able to dedicate. 

And if you think, you should be able to think of a larger cause, your longer long time benefits, not simply a short time. The old saying is that, “It’s not that you plan to win your small battles, you need to plan to win a big war.” That is the life. 

These things youngsters need to understand. Because mind is the powerhouse which enables a person to live as a warrior in this world, and that mind needs to be purified, concentrated, healthier, under your control. Means, whenever you need to think you should be able to think, when you don’t need to think you should be able to keep quiet. You should not simply become addicted to thinking all the time, which is not necessary, which is likely to give you stress, an anxiousness about the future, or brooding about the past, so these things are what happens to the mind. 

So now, going to spirituality is like going to a medical expert to know the health of your physical body; you would like to learn body exercises, like yoga, or physical exercises. Even academically also, when we went to primary and middle schools also, there used to be one specific period for a physical education, PT we all did, exercises were taught physically to keep ourselves fit, like that. So this is also necessary. So you go to an expert in meditation to learn meditation is like you go to an expert doctor to know the health of your physical body. Understand what are the benefits of keeping yourself healthy, and what are the foods that you need to undertake, what are the exercises that you need to undertake. That also you need to remind yourself, ‘Prevention is better than cure,’ is the old saying we all read and tried to understand since childhood. Like this, mind also.

As a youngster, one might try to think that “I am perfectly all right, I don’t need a meditation.” But when you grow up, when you come out of academy, after its qualification, when you go to a job, a business, or anywhere, then you start facing challenges. There will be stiff competition, cut-throat competition often. In workplaces many youngsters come to us with their problems, in workplaces they call it as a politics. I tell, wherever there are human beings there will be politics. One would like to put down the other, one would like to look down at the other, one would like to cut the throat and go ahead with their competitions. So there is no healthy competition. Healthy competition is always good, but there is no consideration nowadays. 

So these things, you will be able to face this type of challenge very smoothly. So when you grow up, by the time if you are an expert in meditation, you can very easily face the challenges, you will have that inner strength. Otherwise, you will be bewildered when you suddenly go to the world like this, you will be so confused, you will be squeezed out, you don’t know what to do. We can see the people have to sit in front of computer whole day to earn their livelihood, and companies squeeze them out. They don’t get time to sit and eat food on time properly, sometimes they eat at one o’clock, sometimes they eat at four o’clock, sometimes they eat at ten o’clock, like that. There is no disciplined lunch time, dinner time, or breakfast time for them, like that. They have to be so much engrossed. 

So to face all these problems, you can be an expert easily if you start practicing spiritual exercises. One of the best is the meditation, where you practice concentrating your mind, keeping the mind concentrated, and not allowing the mind to go run like a monkey aimlessly, wandering, spinning and thinking, like that. This thinking often gets converted into worrying – so these things you can avoid. So we need to talk on these points to youngsters. 

I have addressed youngsters many times, in colleges, or some training places, newly recruited officers for banks, like that I have addressed to them. Then when I have given them the chance to ask questions, one of the basic thing is indecision. They are unable to choose what is best. They are so confused. Because always they want the best thing, and they don’t want any failures, they are scared to face any failures. And that’s why they want to know what is the correct decision, how to do that one, how to take a correct decision always. I advise them, there is no such thing called a correct decision. You have to take a decision based on your temperament, mentality, and then you go ahead. If there is a failure, we were taught, ‘First failure is the beginning of success.’ Think like that positively, never think negatively always. Today you could not do it, tomorrow you will be able to do it. Go ahead again, try again, try again. 

So these are the things spirituality also teaches us. That’s what one needs to learn.  So we don’t have to be worried. So take a decision. While taking a decision, whatever suits your temperament, whatever you visualize that you want to achieve, choose that one, and go ahead with that one with full force – full force means, remain focused. Your efforts in the present can shape your future. That’s why we teach, if you think positively, you can shape a better positive destiny for yourself. 

So as you go on asking questions, I hope we will be able to discuss more on these topics. These are some of the important topics that youngsters need to know, why they have to meditate, meditation is recommended for them. First they need to know themselves better. They can know themselves better if they meditate. 

Same Questioner:

Thank you Babaji, lots of really helpful tips there for youngsters. 

Baba, how about teaching spirituality at school within the education system, is this an important thing, and how can schools teach children without a religious connotation?

Shri Babaji:

Definitely possible. You see, the meditation we teach is that silently you focus your attention in between eyebrows as I instructed in the beginning of meditation to all the participants; this is how you have meditate. In that, I did not give any religious name, any mantras, anything, or any God or God’s name, nothing. Just concentrate. So this enables the mind to become more focused, become more single-pointed. If one wants to pursue, they can go for a Self Realization, they can know about themselves, how they exist as the Immortal Soul, beyond the birth and death of physical body. That is another thing, but before that they can know much about themselves, and how they can live in this world with the mind. As I have always told, mind is the powerhouse. 

So all governments, all countries must understand. We all understand today, many youngsters and many people may be averse to the word of religion. Our own Guru Swamiji never wanted to be called as a religious teacher. Not for the reason that He did not like religion. He always used to say, religion is a misunderstood word, misinterpreted, very often misused to exploit the masses, to exploit the groups like that one. 

Instead of that, we need to try to understand. If we go into spirituality – spirituality means you see, mind is Infinite form. This also we need to understand. Mind is recognized by people; whenever we talk or if we ask them, quickly they talk about the thoughts and visions that are in the mind, “My mind wants to go there, my mind wants to do this thing.” But seldom they try to think what the mind itself is. Suppose when there are no thoughts and no visions in the mind, then what is that mind become? Nobody has seen or can see it with naked eyes, and you cannot touch with hand. As I tell always, you cannot show your shape of the mind, or location of the mind, color of the mind. You cannot show. Nobody knows, nobody can show “This is the shape of the mind” [Baba holds out the palm of His hand]; this is only a hand and fingers. But what is this mind? 

So when we meditated deeply like a Tapas, what we realized is mind is the combination of consciousness and energy. Energy everybody understands, science also has recognized and understood the energy and its work in this world. But consciousness, many times many people may be confused, though they use the word, they may be confused to exactly what it is. 

When I talk the mind is combination of consciousness and energy, here, consciousness means wherever you apply your consciousness – or in other words, wherever you apply your mind. Like when I am talking, with the help of your sensory organs, ears or eyes, you apply your mind also onto me, then you will understand what I am trying to convey through this class, zoom classes. Otherwise you can be sitting here physically in the zoom class, your photo might be coming here live, but your mind would have run away anywhere in the world, or any other worlds, anywhere. It is one of the fastest other than the soul itself, as the spiritual teachings describe. So this mind if you are able to apply it to me, that is the application of consciousness – that is the definition of what consciousness means. So thus, your mind is a combination of energy and consciousness. 

Because of the presence of energy, consciousness is able to become creative also; is able to think, use the brains, all these things are possible. Means, in other words finally now, consciousness and energy, mind means – it is you yourself. You are this Supreme Consciousness and Supreme Energy, that is finally when you are able to realize your Real Self. Just now we do not have to bother that. As we are talking for the youngsters, we can try to understand about this consciousness and energy. 

So if you can keep the mind purified, then that mind regains the form of consciousness. Otherwise as Ramana Maharishi said, mind is a bundle of thoughts. Always thoughts and visions are there, you cannot get rid of that because your mind has become habitual, addicted to keep thinking even when you don’t need also. When you are tired, you want to rest on a bed or a sofa also, but you are unable to stop the mind. Mind is worried all the time, spinning, spinning, spinning, stressful thoughts coming, “What if it happens, what if it doesn’t happen? How to finish this project my boss has given, when will I be able to finish this project? I don’t seem to be able to get some time for myself, how to get a leave? How to impress my boss?” Not one, or two, or three, millions, millions of thoughts, stressful thoughts keep coming. 

So if you practice meditation, when you are young, when you have vigorous physically strength there, and you can turn your mind to any way, if only you understand the technique that the Master tells. Every time I make you all to sit for meditation, I tell the technique. That will serve as initiation to any newcomers, I have always told. Consider this, until you are unable to meet me physically, you can consider this as an initiation; ‘dhyana diksha‘, that’s the term that is told. Master has taken initiative to tell you, impart the knowledge of the technique, the technical knowledge, without keeping it as a secret, without working out any deal, without trying to earn any money for this technique. Our Guru taught it free of charge, He said. Anybody can meditate. He never asked whether you are rich or poor, whether you belong to this faith or that faith, you need not commit to any particular faith. You just feel interested, you sit down and practice like this. 

Like Swamiji, a very unique Master, He used to say, “We give this initiation as a friend.” He even did not claim Himself to be a Guru; “I am the only Guru, you must not go to anybody,” there was no such compulsion in our lineage of Guru, such was the uniqueness of our great Master Shivabalayogi. He said, “First I initiate you as a friend” – we also continue. Afterwards it is up to you. If you want to pursue on this path, learn more things about this meditation, you want my guidance, my help, my inspiration, if it makes any sense, if you want to consider me as a Guru, as a teacher. Guru means as a Master, because if we have obtained the mastery over the technique we can clear all your doubts, any doubt that you ask a question, on this topic we can always elaborately explain and clear your doubts. So that’s why a Guru-disciple relationship is recommended, so you can ask for initiation. Through these Zoom classes We initiate people by giving the technique. So this is what one needs to understand. 

Practice this technique, and then you can achieve mastery. You can be the master of your own mind. You don’t have to be a slave of your mind. Whenever you want to think you can think, when you need to use the brain you use the brain. Keep the brain as your personal secretary type, as your servant, don’t become a slave to brain’s reflections. Brain is only a biological organ, whatever it comes across it simply reflects, it doesn’t know who is your friend and who is not your friend, it simply says “This is it, this is it.” Then you have to apply that wisdom, churn your mind, apply the wisdom, try to understand. That is the discrimination, Crest Jewel of Discrimination, Viveka Choodamani of Adi Shankara, on which we have written commentary. 

Same Questioner:

Thank you Babaji. 

Baba, for parents with young children, bringing them up, how should they know when to start introducing their children to meditation? When is a good time for a child to start with the practice of meditation, and are there some preliminary exercises for them to start with on the spiritual path? 

Shri Babaji:

You see, here, any like repetition of any name that appeals to them. We don’t try to impose. As I told, we don’t talk of much about religion unless any particular person is specifically interested. Like a name of Rama, a name of Krishna, any other name, whichever appeals. 

Even a number, or even concentrating on the breath; take a long inhale and exhale. I have told, whenever your mind is restless, if you are trying to meditate and it becomes stressful, then take a couple of minutes, take a long inhale and exhale slowly of the breath. For two minutes you do like that one, you can bring down the restlessness of the mind. 

Children can be taught like this. Any particular name, name of a God, name of a Saint, name of a Guru, name of a valiant person, anything it can be. So if they repeat, then their mind can become purified and become single pointed. The idea of this repetition is, I have told, preliminary round exercise of meditation, means to make your mind more single-pointed. They can try to teach. 

Children need to be taught. Need not be taught all the tougher things that I was speaking. Some of the points can be extracted from this, just to tell them, “You can be a genius, and if you practice meditation God will always protect you, will be with you in all your endeavors, and He will make you more courageous, a valiant soldier. So you practice this one, you can be a genius. Any field you go, sports or academically, anywhere, you can gain amazing self confidence.” That confidence is what is very much necessary. Like this, slowly, slowly we can talk to them, and help them. 

Even if they can sit for five to ten minutes in the beginning. In olden days in our culture,  seven to eight years was considered that a person can start learning something about these things. So they were initiated into certain mantras, and encouraged them to chant this mantra, so that their mind can remain more concentrated, more purified. Somewhere in that age when they are able to sit for five to ten minutes, slowly they can be encouraged. Sit down. Sitting down at one place itself is a big thing, with the body, keeping it quiet. First they can practice, and encourage them, “Pray to God like this, chant this name, any name you like, and then you can be a genius, see how God will help you in your life, always He will take care of you, He will protect you.’ Because everybody needs some anchor. 

When the challenge comes, instead of we running here or there, if we practice this well before, then that faith… I have always told that the faith means self-confidence. That faith gave a self-confidence always. “There is some divinity with us.” Nobody could disturb us mentally. Nobody could disturb us mentally about this faith. So that gave us enormous self-confidence to go on spiritual path, to meditate, to go to the Guru, to learn things, and to achieve things finally; we never doubted anywhere. 

I have always told, when we go to school, like a teacher wrote ‘A’ and ‘B’ – we never doubted, we simply learned in good faith. Then we learned, “Yes, that is ‘A’ and that is ‘B’, everybody uses it as ‘A’ and ‘B’ in English language.” So first we need to have faith, then we will understand by experience about that truth also as the truth or not the truth. 

Same Questioner:

Thank you Babaji. 

Could Baba speak a little bit about Babaji’s upbringing? Babaji has always told about how with His Mother He used to chant, and that was Babaji’s sort of real first introduction to devotional practices and spirituality. Could Babaji speak about the upbringing that Baba had? 

Shri Babaji:

Yeah. We learned some of the chants sitting next to our mother as a small child. And mother used to tell one sentence I remember even now, “Apply your mind when you are chanting this prayer,” she used to tell, “Don’t allow your mind to run away.” Then I used to think, “What is this application of the mind? Oh… concentration, you concentrate. Keep the book and chant, when you are chanting through a book, you concentrate.” So this is the first thing we understood, application of the mind. Through the mind, that is what we have to chant. The mind becomes powerful. And when we chanted like thus, we saw our mind become more purified and quiet.

At that time even we did not understand that quietness of the mind, or concentration of the mind, but some unknown peace descended – we enjoyed, that gave an enjoyment. When that enjoyment came, we started loving God. Though we did not see God at that time, we started loving God automatically. So these are a few points which helped us. 

And Mother used to talk about bhakti marga, about listening to the Saints. She used to tell, Saints are the ones who would have experienced the truth and who give the teaching; always follow the teachings of Saints. Sometimes priests may misinterpret to suit their selfishness. Always in every religion, she used to tell, one important thing, two sets of teachers are there, one is the priest class which may interpret and misinterpret to suit their convenience. If they want to eat a certain sweet, they may tell that “You have to offer this sweet to God.” God never asks you which one He wants. When you offer the food, you take it as an offered blessed food. So this is what human beings… whichever is tastier for them, then they make it a tradition, then people are scared not to offer anything else. 

But we learned; anything that we eat, we offer it to God, so that the food becomes purified for us, our mind also becomes purified. There is no such thing that God likes only this food and not this food. God likes our mind’s love, the love that we offer to the divine, the devotion through the mind that we offer to the divine – that’s what God wants, that’s what we understood from our elders, from our mothers. She said, “God has not demanded gold or silver. You pour water or milk on Shiva Lingam, no problem, but you apply your mind, that’s what God wants.” 

So that’s what was the upbringing we learned as a child. We didn’t question much because we were not exposed too much to the world. Even a telephone was a luxury, if we had a bicycle at home that was a big luxurious thing; “This is a very great pride position to go on the bicycle,” it was so helpful. Those were the days, everything was so valuable. But today children don’t understand the value of the things because they get very easily. And if they start earning at a young age an enormous amount of money, they don’t know where to spend, where to save, and how to do things; eating healthier things, they don’t know. They start eating junk food, and so many habits we have seen. It’s a practical experience for me that we come across, youngsters, many youngsters come and complain to us and discuss with us. I sit on the Dais, that’s why I know all these things.

So that was our upbringing, and we grew up listening to beautiful, moral, value stories of Ramayana, Mahabharata, about the Divine, and consequences, and duties, these were the things we understood; that’s from the history that we always can learn. People did so much of mistakes, that’s why such thing happened, and we should take care that we do not repeat such mistakes. Life is precious, our mind is precious, our physical body is precious, so that is so important that every step we need to take care of the health. Like this we learned and we grew up.

Same Questioner:

Thank you Babaji. 

Baba, along with the environment that a child is brought up in, what’s the importance of the inborn qualities of such an individual to go on the spiritual path? Even if they’re born in not a conducive environment, they still can go towards the spiritual path if there’s such an inclination, somehow? Can Babaji talk about that? 

Shri Babaji:

Exactly. This thing to conclusively tell is very difficult. We have seen historically in life. One thing I have always told, every soul is bringing a basic nature from previous lives, whatever their habits were there, their sadhanas, or exercises.

See, to be born to particular parents who are learned in spirituality, who know the spiritual psychology, bhakti marga, all these things, and who can talk to the children, explain to the children correctly in the right sense, not simply shout at them or make them, try to force them to do, but they should be able to explain. And then the surroundings that we get blessed to. When we go to school, the teachers, the quality of such teachers, apart from the school subjects they taught us moral values, they spoke about Ramayana, Mahabharata – in schools we heard also. From our mother’s we learned. So, this is a great blessing. 

Above all this, with a basic nature, understanding capacity, observation capacity differs from person to person. Even if a person who doesn’t have such an inclination for spirituality, who is born with a wrong basic nature – let us call like that, even if they are taken to a monastery, an ashram, to a Guru, or to any temple, such people start thinking badly, wrongly only, they won’t be able to absorb the spiritual meanings. But if there is a basic nature, even if for some reason, for some destiny you call it; they are born at a wrong place to wrong parents, historically some people have shown that through their basic nature they have become great Sages, great Saints, great Self-Realized Jnani Masters. They have shown such inclinations. Even there were no surroundings, but they have tried to teach others, such things have also happened.

So it’s very difficult to conclusively talk about this subject, but this is what is our observation; both are there equally. To be blessed with such parents and surroundings is also very important. To teachers; our childhood teachers are very important.

Because Swamiji used to tell, if bhakti marga is taught for a child, they can pick up easily. That’s what He felt. Means, He said, because in childhood mind is innocent. You can mold in any way that you want. If you teach them the right thing, they will pick up the right things. Any wrong thing if we did, our mother used to point out immediately, “This is wrong,” she used to explain. In your body also, language also, “It is very wrong, you should not be doing like this in front of elders, you must not sit like this in front of elders. This is disrespectful to your master or any elders.” Like that. Like that we were taught. So this is very important. That’s how children pick up, they get a chance.

These are very important. So that is how things go, along with the basic nature is definitely important, and above that, if the extra teachings one can get.

That is why in our culture, Mother, Father, Guru and God, in that sequence are recognized; ‘Matha, Pitha, Guru, Devobhavaha.‘ Culturally this is what is recognized. A child learns from the Mother first, then Father comes, then the Guru comes, and then end is the Divinity, Divine.

Same Questioner:

Thank you, Baba. Babaji, in order to build a spiritual humanity, what would be required for that, what’s the foundation on which to build a society that can be spiritual? 

Shri Babaji:

Human beings need to understand, we all on this earth need each other. That’s why this sentence was taught to us, “If you protect the dharma…” dharma means your duties, obligations, that’s what the religion means, “…the dharma will protect you.”

Like, if you protect your country, your country will protect you. If we respect our parents, if we respect our teachers, they will make us eligibly good citizens, they can make. So like this, that’s why Guru-disciple relationship. Like if all the participants here, they have reverence to the Guru, they will be serious to learn. Otherwise, they will take things casually, they won’t learn anything. We will simply end up talking for one hour, answering the questions. So some people may not pay attention at all, their mind might be running anywhere. But if they have that reverence to the Master, they’ll be seriously listening. Even if they are unable to ask a question, and they don’t have a question, but these questions that are being asked can be useful to all humanity. That’s what humanity needs to understand. 

That’s why I also dreamt as a very youngster, young boy, I used to think, “Why is it that humanity is always against each other? Why cannot they live for each other?” All humanity need to understand. They all talk of peace, but nobody practices peace. So this is the first foundation. This comes through spirituality. 

That is why I have always told, through science and technology we have tremendously advanced, definitely. That’s very good, wonderful. So many discoveries, inventions have been made. But we have forgotten spirituality, that is why we are into conflicts, wars, human hatred, human mistrust, all these things are there in the world today to see. Why? We have forgotten spirituality. We need to take spirituality and science together. 

Like, science goes for existence value to the truth. Spirituality also goes for the existence value to the truth. Mythical things, magical things, false claims, boastings are not at all spirituality. They have no meaning. They are the pseudo-gurus who try to exploit the masses. That I have told – if you are ready to get fooled there are people ready to fool you, beware in this world. 

You must be sincere. If you are sincere towards spirituality nobody can fool you, because you will not compromise to a pseudo-guru, you will very quickly understand, this is clear and this is not clear. That is why Swamiji said, “If anybody, any Guru says, ‘I will do it for you,’ never believe.” The Guru says “You have to put in efforts. I will give you the path, I will give you the technique, I will tell you the way, I will stand by you, I will be with you to inspire – but you have to stand up and start walking with me.” That’s what, you have to do it, ‘purushartha,’ self-effort is very necessary. Only such a person is the right Guru. That’s what Swamiji used to tell, “That is the one Guru who can make the disciple to stand on his own feet.”

So, like that. We need to talk to humanity, it needs to understand; the day humanity understands that we all need each other. 

Same Questioner:

Thank you so much Babaji. I’ve reached the end of the questions for today, can we open up Baba, to the participants for a bit? 

Shri Babaji:

Yeah, we have about 20 minutes and I can take some questions. 

Our blessings.

Questioner:

First of all, thank You so much. Thank You so much for this session, and we really appreciate Your efforts, and we know what it takes. So thank You so much. 

Babaji, from many days I’m trying to understand this thing. Like, when we are doing certain sadhanas, when we are initiated into different methods, meditation, or we are doing yoga and some practices – I have completed vipassana, I have completed certain other yoga courses, but the basic nature, as You have also discussed; mind is consciousness plus energy, and by that you use your brains. So, in that terminology, I just wanted to understand one thing, why the basic nature of a human can’t change by doing all these things? How he can throw away that laziness, and be disciplined in any path, like work, like spirituality, and all those things. Thank You so much. Thank You. 

Shri Babaji:

One important thing you need to understand, if one wants to change, they can change themselves, definitely possible. 

Now second point, you spoke about you have learned so many methods, like you have done the vipassana also. As you spoke, you need to understand what the course you did about vipassana or anything was, that you understood or you learned the technique. Not that you completed the sadhana itself. Now the sadhana has to go on. They will give you for a week of course, or 10 days course, in that they will try to teach you the methods, tips are given, technique is given. Then you have to go on and do the sadhana. That you have to continue regularly every day. Like Ramakrishna used to tell, you have to watch the utensils every day otherwise dirt will sit, so that is the mind. So if you practice like that regularly, and then with a willpower that “I need to change myself,” then you can change yourself. 

So you need to do a long time sadhana, everyday. Make it as a way of life. Like that, you get up in the morning, you have a shower, you go to office, make it a way of life. This is also a part of an exercise, every day you sit down and do it, then you will be, or anybody, will be able to change themselves. They need to have a determination, they should not become egoistic, then it is definitely possible. 

Same Questioner:

Thank you. Thank you so much Babaji. And I come from Maharashtra, so here is a Saint’s land. Like Dnyaneshwar, Tukaram, Panduranga, this whole legacy is there.

Shri Babaji:

Since younger days we have heard so much, and we were so inspired in all these parts from the Saints. 

Same Questioner:

And just Baba, I’m just wondering, just one thing. Like they all have their Guru, the living Guru, but I’m just trying to understand, could You please bless me with Your… I don’t know… please bless me, so I can follow this path and be on the track throughout my life. 

Shri Babaji:

Yeah. Whenever you need me I am there for you, and if you need guidance or anything, elaborate explanation to inspire, I will always be with you, my blessings. 

Questioner:

Pranams Babaji, pranams. Babaji, I want to say, while having dinner also, my son is on his mobile and my husband watches television, so getting inspired by this topic of today, yesterday for the first time I switched off their mobile and television a little forcibly. 

My question is, my mother says that I should talk to my son – uselessly because he doesn’t talk at all, he’s always on mobile. So what should I do? What should I talk? I don’t have any topic because the other side is a wall, my son is on mobile. What should I do? 

Shri Babaji:

See, all this time you neglected. Now you try to become a friend. Don’t consider him as a son, and don’t try to dictate terms to him. Try to talk to him, some good stories, anything that is interesting for him, about this worldly knowledge also; positively you talk… why the humanity is like this, you see wars are happening, conflicts are happening, we must dream that wars come to an end, that all humanity can live peacefully. Anything, the topic. Some historical topics, something from Ramayana, Mahabharata, some small stories you take up, and talk to him slowly, you become friendly, then it will work out. 

Don’t think that you are a mother and you need to dictate terms, taking a cane, such things will not work with present day children. Become a friend to him, talk to him like a friend, ha? Take care. 

Same questioner:

Yes, Babaji.

Babaji my second question is, I am meditating one hour in the morning, and one hour in the evening, nowadays. And everybody who comes to know; only my mother and my husband, nobody else, they are afraid that I might go too much deep into spirituality types. So I told them it is good for me, don’t worry.

Shri Babaji:

Yeah, tell them nothing such will happen, you will be a normal human being, and you will look after the home. You do work, everything, you be normal with your husband, and mother, or anybody. Work everything, don’t neglect any of your responsibilities, then they will be convinced, and it will be alright. Don’t worry.

Same Questioner:

Yes, Baba. Pranams.

Questioner:

My first question is, You touched upon the initiation, so what type of initiations You provide, or how can I receive the initiation?

Shri Babaji:

You see, in the beginning of the meditation, I gave instructions how to meditate. That is the initiation actually. If you are there you can consider it as an initiation. Whenever it’s possible if you physically come across me anywhere, then with the same instructions we apply a small tilak of vibhuti, and give this instruction, and bless. So that is the simple instructions. My Guru was a unique Master, He never went into big rituals. In a simple baptizing way He initiated. So that is what is initiation. 

For now you can consider the instructions I gave as an initiation, and continue with this practice. 

Same Questioner:

So next time when I come to India I can just visit where You are?

Shri Babaji:

Yeah, you can try to visit wherever I am, you can try to find out. 

Same Questioner:

Okay. Okay, so do I need to maybe any maybe pre-booking or something I need to do?

Shri Babaji:

No, no, just you need to find out wherever I am. Evening times freely anybody can come and see me. Ours is a small Ashram place, and we don’t have any such a big organization gimmicks like booking, this thing, that thing, you can straight away walk in evening certain hours. So when you are in India, you can contact through the email address that is given on the website, some phone number also is given, so then you will know where I am, you can be guided to reach that place if possible. So that is the thing. Right? Okay.

Same Questioner:

Thank You. And just need Your blessings that I can continue with all the practices, and control my mind and do meditation. 

Shri Babaji:

Certaintly. We will pray for you. My blessings are always with you. 

Questioner:

Can Baba speak about the origin of this dhyan, and is there a connection with advanced practices from Yoga Sutras called samyama and shambavi? 

Shri Babaji:

Yes. They are the ancient terminologies used. I simply don’t try to use such terminologies so that it should not become complicated for the student; simple terms I use of mind, consciousness – the same things were addressed as different things. And the method that we teach has been known as the shambavi mudra also, so this is all the same. 

The practice is since Rig Vedic era and much before probably, this was one of the highest methods practiced in ancient India. But my Guru got this technique by the manifestation of the Divine Shiva, who came as a Jangama Sage from a fruit in 1949. 

My Guru was born in a small hamlet of coastal Andhra Pradesh near Kakinada, and He was playing with His friends and He was trying to squeeze out juice from a fruit, when that fruit took shape of a Shiva Lingam. From that Shiva Lingam, a Jangama Sage appeared, and made the young boy of 14-year-old to sit for Tapas, and gave the same instructions that which we give for your meditation also. 

Then Swamiji, my Guru, did for 12 years from 1949 to 1961, and came to be known as Shivabalayogi. He established Ashrams all over India, and He traveled widely in India, and Europe, America, Sri Lanka, everywhere He traveled, teaching this meditation, and trying to bring people into bhakti marga. 

So that is the origin of the meditation technique that we give. 

Same Questioner:

Thank you, Baba. 

And just to let others know, on SRBY.org, Babaji’s website is the full story of Swamiji, Shivabalayogi, and also Babaji’s life. 

So, another question, what to do if light, heat, and sound increase?

Shri Babaji:

Light…?

Same Questioner:

Light, heat, and sounds increase. 

Shri Babaji:

It will subside. Whenever any such thing comes, you just concentrate on that. If a light appears, you concentrate on that one, then slowly it will be alright. So when you get up, you drink substantially water, one or two glasses of water, it will help in reducing the heat in the body also. And a light appears, you just remain focused on the light, do not try to think what it is, then the meditation will progress smoothly. 

Same Questioner:

Thank you, Babaji. What about art? Is it an imagination? Could art be a source to keep the mind quiet as well as meditation?

Shri Babaji:

You see, art is word used for the way that you live, the way that you do certain things, like art of living, art of meditation. So that’s what the art is. It is the creativity, in which way you do that. Art of talking, art of asking a question, art of answering the question. Like this, art is a common word. You can be an artist, you can be a painter, or you can be a sculptor, any such thing. So it is a common word used in many fields. 

So here some spiritual Gurus are likely to have used ‘art of living’ or ‘art of sadhana,’ ‘art of meditation,’ like this, that is all. So art is a common word. 

Same Questioner:

So Babaji can art, or painting, or some drawing, can that be a kind of meditation? 

Shri Babaji:

For a certain extent, definitely. If you want to go for Self Realization, you have to go beyond. But for practicing concentration… If you want to be a painter, how much focus, concentration, and patience is required, you see? So that you can call it as a meditation. 

That’s why Patanjali is said to have told of 108 types of meditation – counting a number, and watching steadily onto a picture, or when you do certain work and remain focused, that can be a painting or sculpting or any such thing, that can be called a meditation. It will definitely be helpful to keep your mind concentrated, single-pointed. 

Same Questioner:

Thank you Babaji. Another question on chat, “Please say something about Aham, the individual, and Aham with a capital ‘A’, the cosmic Self.

Shri Babaji:

You see, Aham is the word used for ‘I’. Means ‘I’, ‘I am.’ So this Ahamkara; if we have misunderstood the Aham as this body, that becomes Ahamkara. Means akara is the form of the Aham. 

In other words, Adi Shankara spoke about Aham Brahmaasmi, that is the cosmic thing that you are talking. 

Aham means not the body, single individual becoming the Brahman or God. The Aham, the ‘I’, hither to which I had been thinking as the body and an individual, all such egos, actually is not me, but that Truth, that Ultimate Truth. 

So that is how we need to understand about the Aham. We need to overcome the Aham as me, individual imagined self – it should not be there. If you overcome that, you become one with the cosmic things, Ultimate Truth. 

Same Questioner:

Babaji, I came with so many questions, but after a lot of thinking I will go with only one. 

Babaji says in the start of this chat, that with constant spiritual practice concentration of mind happens, but if somebody wants to be a genius in this world they can learn spiritual practices and concentrate their mind. 

But Babaji, as one grows into the meditation, one realizes that until there is no Self Realization there is no peace. So, if we are going for peace, then we have to go for Self Realization. 

Shri Babaji:

Yeah, definitely. So, that’s when what you want, it depends. That’s what I was trying to tell. If you suddenly ask somebody to meditate, practice meditation, they would like to know the benefits. Usually a person would bother about worldly benefits; how powerful they can be in this world, how genius they can be in this world, how much they can achieve. Then somewhere on the sojourn of the life, they understand the essence of peace, the need of peace. 

Because this peace is understood generally by human beings when there is a loss. When you lose peace, you understand the value of peace. Otherwise, if it is easily available you don’t understand the value. Like the money also, if you are born with the money as a rich person, you have not earned it, then you may not understand the value of the money. But if it is a hard-earned money, you understand the value of it. In the same way, independence also, if it is hard-earned then you understand the value. So, peace also, when you understand that there is a loss of peace, then you would like to hard-earn that peace, then you understand the value. 

You have to go for Self Realization, if that’s what you want. 

Same Questioner:

Yes, Babaji. 

Babaji, from the last time, there was this question which I had asked and it was left because of the network issues. I asked that, in the path of meditation slowly and gradually desires disappear, and my conundrum was that if there are no desires than how can one proceed in life?

Shri Babaji:

See, having a desire itself is not wrong thing what I have told, but if you become addicted, if you are unable to accept the result, then that becomes problematic. And mind in this world is like that one, as long as the body is alive, there will be some desire. Even for Yogis like us I have told, having a sattvic ego, like in the name of my Guru, that attachment will be there. Or wanting to share the knowledge that I have obtained through the help of my Guru, we want to impart this knowledge, this itself is an ego for me which enables me to keep this body for some time. Like that, something will be there. 

But as you progress spiritually, you will become more mature, and you will not keep any such desires which are harmful, which will be troublesome to you, but it will be acceptable. Like I have a desire to impart the knowledge of spirituality, but if people don’t want to accept this knowledge, I don’t mind. Whoever is ready to receive as a student, I am happy to teach them. If somebody on the road tells me, “I don’t need your spiritual teachings idiot, you get out,” I don’t mind, it’s up to them. Those people who are interested, they come on to this Zoom and they want to learn, and they find the answers very useful, questions and the theme we select as very useful, then we do that one. So like that, if you live in this world, you will not have any problem at all. 

Same Questioner:

Thank you Babaji, it’s always a blessing to be inspired from You. 

Questioner:

Pranam Babaji. I’ve got two questions, one is that I have a son who is in his late teens, and he’s doing his college. So I was wondering, what would be a starting point to introduce him to spirituality, in terms of a book or a video? What would be Your advice? 

Shri Babaji:

Same thing that in the beginning for the first question I answered, you can talk to him like a friend, that “You might be good but you can become better, you might be already doing well academically but if you meditate you can do like a genius, you can be the champion. Any field that you want to go it will help because this meditation helps you to keep your mind totally concentrated, because your mind is your powerhouse to live in this world. As you grow up, you come out of academy also, you will start facing challenges – when you accept a job or if you want to do a business – that atmosphere, that place, workplace, will have different challenges. You study something in the college is different. When you go to workplace, totally it will be different. Again, you will have to learn from square one very often. So these things it will be helpful if you practice meditation now. By the time you come to the middle age, you will be a champion.” 

Like that you can try to talk to him, hopefully somewhere he will understand. 

Same Questioner:

But he thinks he’s already perfect.

Shri Babaji:

Yeah, you can tell him, nobody should think that they are perfect. None of us. There is always a scope for learning. Like that’s what our Guru also told, “Never stop the learning process.” Never think that you have learned everything. I cannot think that I have learned everything. There might be something to learn from you also, as you are trying to learn from me. So like that, we have to go. 

Same Questioner:

Okay, I’ll talk to him again. So the second question from my side is, how do we differentiate between ego and self-respect? 

Shri Babaji:

Yeah. Ego is always rudeness and showing arrogance, combined with these things. But when you have self-respect, you can remain composed, and you will not lose your temper easily, at least easily if not not losing at all. And you’ll be like a gentleman. So these are some of the points I can tell. But you will not compromise. For principles, for your principles, or any such thing, as much as possible. That is self-respect. 

Same Questioner:

So in a situation, like you have in a personal space, where if you are not getting your point of view across, would that be because you are trying to be egoistic in getting your point of view close to your heart, or is that something that you can always leave for a greater cause? And if you keep doing that, then your space decreases, decreases, decreases, and you don’t know when you lose yourself, and you’ll have a very low self-esteem at one point of time. 

Shri Babaji:

I understand, this is a very tricky situation in work places, certain things can always happen. Say you have a principle, you have a point of view, you think that the way the works are done there will be more success, but you might have a boss above you, and that boss may not agree with you, he might be egoistic, because everybody will be selfish and want to put on their own point of view. Sometimes you may have to put up with it for sake of work culture and other things, like this we call it as diplomatically dealing with the situation. 

Wherever you get a chance, with your subordinates, if other places, wherever you get an independent chance to do things, you can try to do your own principle, your own viewpoint. Wherever it is necessary you may have to put up with it, that is the diplomatic way, for a larger cause finally. One day you may take the place of your boss when the boss retires, so you might get an opportunity; at that time you will be able to do what you want to do. 

In this world, in the life, we have to wait for opportunity, for that you need to have enormous patience. The pain we all understand, we all understand the life is like that, but it’s a part of life, we have to carry on like that. 

Same Questioner:

Sure, very nice. Thank You Babaji.

Questioner:

Pranam Babaji. Pranam to everybody.

Babaji, I have one confusion from all the talks and that I’ve heard and read, even about Yours also. Is the Self different from the mind? You said the mind is consciousness plus energy, agreed. But is the mind itself the Self in its calmer form, or is it different? Because even to Realize that Self, I have to use the mind, right?

And again, the mind has got a good part of it and a bad part of it. When it starts thinking the bad part of it there is something else telling “This is not right, this is wrong,” things like that. So, this mind is so complex. So, how different is the Self from this complex mind? 

Shri Babaji:

Please listen to me now. Mind is actually Self, but not the total Self – how, I will explain. Mind is like a droplet. This droplet’s ocean is recognized as the Real Self, that which is the Ultimate Truth, or also recognized as Divinity. 

Like, this mind is a droplet which has come out of the ocean. That is why it has become corrupted in this world, thinking and having desires about this world, having its own ego and all such things, thoughts and thoughts are coming. 

Now, we practice spiritual sadhana like meditation to purify this mind. When this mind gets purified, gets rid of all the thoughts and visions that are there, then that regains the pure consciousness form and starts going and getting absorbed into the Self. So, that’s what happens when you practice and pursue on this path. 

Like when you are able to do Tapas, when a Yogi does Tapas, the mind becomes totally purified, then it gets absorbed into the Self. Just like the droplet of the ocean going back to the ocean, this mind will also go back to the Self, then only the Self remains. That is how a Self Realization happens. 

Thus, this mind is nothing but a part of the Self only, but temporarily it has been corrupted with the worldly thinking so it has forgotten about itself, it’s Real Self. That is why spiritual sadhana is taught so that you can purify the mind and make the mind merge with the Self, that’s when you will Realize that Self is you. 

Same Questioner:

Okay. So, this meditation purifies the mind basically?

Like, I thought the meditation we are doing to to Realize that Self, and how do we actually purify that? 

Shri Babaji:

You see, just now, why you are not Realizing the Real Self, your mind is totally preoccupied with its own imaginations and visions, right? This meditation, when it purifies the mind of its thoughts and visions, when it becomes purified, automatically the mind’s attention goes to itself, and thus it merges itself, and it becomes aware of itself as the Self. 

So that’s what. As I told about consciousness, wherever you apply the consciousness you become aware, but just now your consciousness is applied to its own imaginations, that’s why you are not aware of the Self, you have forgotten the Self. But you purify the mind, automatically its attention goes to Self. 

Same Questioner:

So, one last question on the technique part of it. During meditation You say that we have to concentrate between the brows. Now in which case even if I am closing my eyes, I’m actually visualizing, I’m seeing something. The eyebrows are up here, so, it so happens that I have to look up, kind of. So, that’s a bit of a strain to keep it for long. 

Shri Babaji:

Yeah. In the beginning it will be like that, because eyeballs move parallelly, it won’t come into one direction easily. That’s why we try to tell, if it is painful and difficult you can try to look at the tip of the nose for a while, and after some time, few months later, the eyeballs will get lifted up and your vision will come. Or even you just watch the front portion without bothering to try to locate the central point, just keep watching the front portion. In due course of time, as the eyeballs become more concentrated and steady, it will bring the mind also towards the center. Either of the one, whichever is easier, you can try to practice like that, and it will be alright.

End of Session