Brighton 1st July 2007
Prostrations with deep love and reverence at the Lotus Feet of beloved Master Shivabalayogi and this evening, welcoming you all, we greet you all with love and blessings. May you all be the blessed souls, always be inspired to go on this path of spirituality, to know about your Self.
Meditation is a process which will lead you back to regain the consciousness of that forgotten thing. That forgotten thing is your Self. To know about your Self – how you exist, in what way you exist and what is the benefit of that existence. How it can be an Eternal Existence. In fact, when we try to call this meditation technique ‘Shiva Balayogi’s Jangama Dhyana’, not that this is a new technique that has come into existence – this has been one of the highest methods of meditation practiced in India since very ancient times. This was discovered and rediscovered by our Master. Jangama means ‘Eternal Existence’. In this world to different people, different reasons could be bringing them onto the path of spirituality and eventually they have realised the Truth. If a Prince like Siddhartha became puzzled and sad about the death, illness and aging process of the physical body when He went around His kingdom, He went and became enlightened eventually and came to be known as Buddha to this world, who created such a great impact. Two thousand five hundred years later, even now, people can feel His presence and feel inspired to go on that path, to have an insight into the truth of their own existence and get liberated once for all from the calamities of illness, sufferings and all such things. And to great sages like Adi Shankara and Ramakrishna they wanted to know the truth. Ramakrishna wanted to know about God, wanted to see God face to face. Ramana Maharishi wanted to know the secret of death, “What will happen to me when death occurs to the physical body?” That was how they were all lead into the sadhana. Sadhana means ‘your efforts to achieve’. In spiritual terms sadhana is synonymous with your efforts to achieve Self Realization or know the Truth, to experience all such things and achieve Liberation or Enlightenment. So that was how they were all led.
To my Master it happened in a very, very strange way. He didn’t have any botheration about death or any such suffering because He was born valiant. He always believed in fighting back. If there was poverty, if there were any miserable conditions, with hard work, with our efforts, with honesty and with total determination we should be able to overcome and lead a beautiful life. But the Divine chose Him. He became the chosen one for a specific purpose. In a strange incident when He was trying to squeeze out the fruit, a Shivalingam appeared from the fruit and a Jangama Sage with matted hair appeared and made Him to sit for Tapas. Tapas means – when you close the eyes you shall understand how difficult it is to stop the mind, to still the mind, to quieten the mind. Mind is constantly wandering into the cravings and clinging on habits into this world. If you can keep it quiet then you are able to pay attention to the Self. The mind is normally unable to pay attention to any one particular thing. If you watch your mind, thoughts after thoughts; thousands and billions of thoughts would be coming constantly. The mind jumps from here to there, there to another – like that it never stops into one single entity. Meditation means when you are able to pay attention to the Truth, when you can have an insight into the Truth that is within you; that you, your Self IS. When you are able to do this meditation for a long time, like eight to ten hours at a stretch, if you can keep the mind quiet and totally concentrated. My Master said if you can keep this mind concentrated for one hour without allowing any thoughts to come, totally cleansed and in a purified way then that is the real meditation, that is when you are able to pay attention really and have an insight into the Truth. Your attention is there, but, when one is able to do it for eight to ten hours at least, minimum, in a single stretch of sitting then one can do Tapas and eventually get back to the Self and become Self Realised, totally the Consciousness.
Now, in the beginning I said ‘of the mind’, then I started talking of the consciousness going back. It is the same substance but as long as there are thoughts and visions in the mind they are all the imaginations – meaning as long as there are imaginations in that consciousness that becomes known as ‘mind’. So, in other words, mind is a bundle of imaginations. When all these imaginations can be got rid of, when it gets cleansed, when all imaginations come to an end then it becomes totally quiet, peaceful and concentrated – that is the Consciousness. That is simply Consciousness; it can become conscious of this world or the Self, anything. So when it becomes totally quiet it becomes concentrated and eventually on its own it starts going introverted – just like the Sun’s ray going back to the Sun and the droplet of the ocean going back to the ocean. This consciousness which used to be the mind earlier, but which now has become consciousness and has lost the imagination of the ‘I’ also, goes to the real ‘I’ and as you regain the consciousness of your Self – how you exist as the Immortal Soul, beyond existence of this physical body, how your existence is eternal. That is what ‘Jangama’ means – ‘Eternal Existence’. So that is how it can happen through the practice of meditation. However it has so many other benefits also.
Even if one decides there is no need for me to go to that Self Realization,”Let me live a beautiful life in this world first” – it is also possible. Even if you practice 30 minutes or 1 hour then the mind can remain under your control and you can be the master of your mind at all times. Like, when you want to drive the car you drive the car, and when you don’t want, you keep it back in the garage and remain at peace. In the same way the mind is. But today’s world why is there so much conflict and violence and insecurity feelings? It’s the simple way which I have always taught. You see, when you are driving the car, if it does not have any brake, if it does not have any gears at all, you press the accelerator and you don’t know how to stop it. Imagine how dangerous you and your car can become to others on the road and how disastrous you can become for yourself. That is how it has happened in this world of humanity. When we are unable to stop our mind, when it goes into imaginations it can go into anything, it can go into an anger, it can go into a greediness. My Master used to give a beautiful example. “In this world when you live, suppose you have 12 bananas. You eat 2, you eat 4, you eat 6, no problem. Try to give the other 6 at least to others. When you are hungry others are also hungry. When you want to live happily others also would want to live happily. Consideration to each other would be better and possible when your mind is under your control, when it is disciplined.” Do not misunderstand, control does not mean a forceful dragging back – that is not the thing. This meditation is not that you are forcefully trying to control your mind. You simply give it a habit, a practice to remain disciplined, to remain under your control. So simply when you apply the brakes to stop the car, that is how it is. So like that you can have a beautiful life because to live in this world you require your mind and application of the brain, everything, so when you daily practice this for 30 minutes to one hour your mind shall remain composed, at peace and concentrated. Whatever you want to think, when you think with that concentrated mind that is purified then your thoughts will always be in a purified way, an elevated way; meaning for yourself, you will only do such things that are needed, you shall never become greedy, and you gain the ability to consider about others.
So it is not so easy. Very often we see in the human world narrow-mindedness, selfishness. That also, my Master always used to warn. “Whatever you want to do you always want to do it for yourself. Sometimes there is really no such thing called charity. We try to do charity only if we become happy, if we were not happy we would not like to do it.” That is how He said.
So try to know who you are, how you exist – then all your problems get solved. Then, when you try to help others, you shall not have any expectations, you shall be totally contented. You shall be simply giving just like a mother gives to her child. When a mother gives to her child everything that is possible to her, she does not expect anything back from the child. Whether the child is going to be kind to me, whether the child is going to be loving to me, whether the child is going to care for me, she doesn’t bother about all such things. She simply gives it to the child. So then she has peace about her child. So that is how we can have peace and contentment.
Imagine if suddenly God comes in front of you one day and asks you what do you want to do? What would your mind think? Maybe a million dollars, maybe a big kingdom, maybe great power? And so on, of the worldly things the mind would like to ask. “God has come, we must try to ask the best thing that is possible”. But this boy, who sat for Tapas at the age of fourteen, my Master – I’m talking Shivabalayogi – after twelve years of Tapas He had lost all desires. Total contentment was there and peace had descended, Supreme Peace had descended. Earlier at the age of fourteen, before He sat He had the idea of doing business, He wanted to develop His family. “I must earn good money and make my mother comfortable, but that must happen with hard work and honesty.” That is how He thought. So the Divine must have thought, “This is the right person for My work. So many families will be waiting for Him in this world. So many are miserable and are suffering. Maybe He will be able to find the light at the end of the tunnel. So We shall make Him to find that light within Himself first.” So that is how for twelve rigorous years He sat for Tapas. Eighteen to twenty hours He used to remain in one posture by closing the eyes and also His mind used to be quiet. Not simply the body quiet, not simply the eyes are closed – mind also remained quiet. That does not happen easily for people when we try to sit with closed eyes – the mind is working, it is running, it does not stop. Try if you can stop your minds in this hall, then you can take better attention to Babaji, “What He is talking?” Try that it does not go out and roam on the streets and into the shopping complexes. So that are the tricks of the mind.
Guru means ‘the one who can dispel the darkness of ignorance’. Very often you would have heard that ‘ignorance is bliss’. But ignorance can very often lead us to wrong path, wrong things. Out of ignorance we might behave immaturely. When we are unable to consider about other beings in this world, that is because of ignorance that we are unable to see that oneness, that one Divinity everywhere, that one God is everywhere, that one brotherhood. One is unable to see. So that is because of ignorance. When we gain the knowledge and experience, knowledge meaning (my Master insisted) it should be always first-hand knowledge. When I am talking to you, when you listen to me, a certain knowledge and wisdom works, when you are able to understand. Still it is second-hand knowledge. When you, yourself, are able to experience the Truth, that is the first hand knowledge. My Master insisted, “Practice meditation and know the Truth to yourself. Do not succumb to the prejudicial definitions feeding to the mind unnecessarily”, He said. In the name of God, if anybody tries to feed you with the wrong definitions don’t get fed. Practice it and know the truth to yourself. It is like saying, “Go to visit London and know London yourself. No need to listen to somebody and keep imagining about it.” So that is the practice of meditation, that is what the Guru means. So when God appeared before Him, the Divine asked Him, “Your twelve years Tapas is over. You don’t need to do anything. Your mind has totally stopped into Nirvikalpa Samadhi. You can go back home and you can do anything you like in this world. And I can give you any boon that you want. You want to go and do business? Do you want millions of dollars? What do you want?”
He had no wishes left. “I don’t feel like doing anything just now. I don’t think anything is needed for me. I am feeling so contented and so much of peace. This was what we were looking for. This was what I wanted – this happiness – when I wanted to do business. Now I am at peace.”
So He asked God, “Do You have anything to ask me to do? Then I am ready to do it.” So that was the status He had achieved through meditation, such beautiful contentment.
Contentment is the biggest thing to achieve in this world. Always the mind is jumping into further desires, it does not stop. If you have a bicycle, it starts asking for a motor bicycle. If you get a motor bicycle, it starts asking for a car. If you get a car, it starts asking for a big car. And then it asks for a helicopter. Like that, it doesn’t stop, contented, anywhere. One day my Master told a beautiful story about this, it was amusing though. He was fond of mass-feeding meaning He just tried to teach, not to discriminate in the name of caste, creed, so many things, rich or poor. All human beings are same. Treat everyone as your own brother and as if you are treating a God. So He loved to organise mass-feedings. “Let everyone sit at one place and eat food. Everybody would be hungry.” He used to say, “Into your ashram if a robber comes you don’t give him money. But if he is hungry, feed him. Everybody would be hungry.” That is how He advised. So He was saying why He wanted to do this was it at least can give some satisfaction to the hungry. He said to me once, “Some Guru wanted to show what it means. Two persons were made to sit in different rooms. Both were served with some plate. To one plate in one room to one person food was served. In another room to the plate of another person they went on serving money. So this person who was eating food after some time he said “I am full, I cannot eat anymore, thank you.” They went on serving money to the plate of the other person, he went on pocketing it, and he never said, “Enough for me.” He even went on, “Please, please serve more, serve more.” So that is the desire of the mind He tried to tell. “The mind never stops, like that. It will never say, ‘Enough for me.’ If you ask God, ‘Give me a million dollars.’ If at all God gives a million dollars you start asking God, ‘Please, the second million; please don’t forget me.’ You won’t be thankful to God even then,” He said. So He said, “If you practice this meditation, it will be possible.”
In our philosophy, as I was trying to tell, the meaning of Guru – the one who can dispel the darkness of this ignorance of greed and anger, of hatred and stinginess, of false pride and jealousy – is equivalent to God. We were always taught like that. “God Himself descends to teach the humanity,” we were always taught. The one who has become a Yogi is equivalent to God because He has no individual imagination. His mind has become one with the Divinity. He sees the same Divinity everywhere. That’s when He becomes the ‘Awakened One’. He has realised that reality that the same Divinity lives. That doesn’t mean that a Yogi is going to claim that, “I am the only incarnation of God and not all of you.” A Yogi does not consider like that. “All of you are also incarnation of God,” He says. This Kingdom of God is within your heart. Look for that within you, when your mind can go introverted. So that is how the greatness of Gurus is prescribed.
The great saint Kabira, He talks about what His Guru means. “Guru Govinda Dono Khade.” He talks, meaning “Suddenly if a Guru and Govinda (means God) both come in front of you. To whom shall I prostrate first?” The mind is confused for a while. Who comes to be the first? But the mind gets cleared, then says, “My Lord, My Guru, let me prostrate to you, to your Lotus Feet first because it is you who taught me about God . Otherwise I wouldn’t have known what God is. So you are my first God.” Such is the importance of Guru that is given, because He is the one who can dispel the darkness of ignorance. However, my Guru said, “Ignorance itself is not a curse.” He said, “Ego is the curse. One should not have ego, pray to God. ‘God please, don’t give me ego, ever. Take away my ego.'” Because even if there is ignorance, one can always gain the knowledge and wisdom. Everyone, all of us, would have had ignorance at one time or other. There is no such thing to boast and claim, “I am the only one who has gained knowledge and wisdom. Everybody else is fools and stupid.” There is no such thing. It is the Divine’s play. Everybody is ignorant one day and they become knowledgeable the second day. So when one learns, one is ready to learn. He said, “Never stop the learning process. Keep learning as much as you can learn. Be humble, learn. In our philosophy it is taught,”Let noble thoughts come from all sides.” Whatever, something good in somebody, learn from that one. He said, “The more your mind goes towards God, you become more and more humble. Your ego decreases because there is nothing to claim, nothing to boast. That Divinity always was there. You don’t become Divine suddenly”, meaning when the droplet goes back to the ocean. The droplet did not become ocean – the ocean already existed. Simply the droplet joined the ocean, became one with it. So that is what Realization means – when the mind is totally cleansed of all its thought processes and visions, that is the basic idea of meditation.
Copyright © 2007 SRBY, All rights reserved.
