Bristol 30th June 2011
One who is enjoying the Supreme Peace and such amazing Peace which is beyond all imaginations, who is above the dualities of this world, whose attention is always on the Self, who has transcended all emotions and every attribute; to such a great Master Shivabalayogi who is our beloved we offer prostrations with deep love and reverence. Appreciating your efforts to take out your precious time to be here, we greet you all with love and blessings.
My Master was a very unique teacher. He respected all faiths and religions as equal and honorable. The basic idea of teaching meditation He tried to teach in such a unique way. He also told that God is One. Many names, many forms – you can believe God in any form or formlessness, just do not condemn other’s beliefs, then there is harmony, there is peace. We all need to respect and love each other.
He tried to teach meditation so that we can slowly and skillfully go to experience the Truth of the Divinity as it is, without giving any name or without trying to see in any particular form, or any such thing. That does not mean that He tried to make any new group or new sect, nothing, nothing at all; just trying to experience the Truth as it is. Just like if you need to experience the space without naming the space as ‘space’, just try to observe and become one with the space. That was the idea of teaching meditation.
So in this process one’s basic efforts should be to silence the mind; to make the mind quiet. Just now the mind is constantly imagining, picturizing and dramatizing like a chatterbox within. It would have built a world of its own; its own beliefs, its own analyzations, its own judgments and thus one has become a victim of such beliefs and one is unable to see the Truth as it is. So in this process when we have our own beliefs we are likely to become a little narrow-minded. Just like when we have a box and we claim that the space exists only in the box that I possess. That type of possessiveness and narrow-mindedness is likely to occur, which can give rise to a loss of harmony and peace. Instead if we try to see the Truth as it is then we will know.
Everybody’s box has the same space, so that is how we realize if we try to know the real Truth and then we realize that God is everywhere. Whoever is claiming God in any name, in any form or formlessness – all are same and correct. Nobody is wrong. That was the idea of trying to make the mind silent. If this mind is totally preoccupied with its imaginations, that is what has happened just now.
If you observe your mind, always your attention is on that fact to which the mind has become habitually imagining. Only such things appear to be the True Existence and one is unable to become aware what that mind itself is because the mind is preoccupied into watching all its imaginations. It needs to give up its imaginations and become totally silent. Then only this mind can become aware of itself, of what it is. Its attention turns because attention means this mind is made up of Pure Consciousness and Energy.
Energy is very commonly recognized. Nowadays we do hear in different fields of science and technology about the presence of unified energy – all-pervadedness. But in spirituality, when we go deeper into meditation and achieve the total silence of the mind, we become aware that this Consciousness of Existence also is there, along with that Energy. Thus these both exist inseparably as one mass. That is the mind that we are recognizing.
The mind is nothing
but you, yourself.
Slowly we shift into the understanding that this mind is nothing but you, yourself. You, yourself means amongst those millions and millions of thoughts processes and visions that you have in the mind, the mind that has become preoccupied with its definitions about this world, about your own self as the body and surroundings, everything, there is one amazing Consciousness of your own existence. You always feel that you exist, but because the attention has been shifted to the physical body, it appears to be that you exist in the form of the body. This is an imagination that we exist as the form of the body but the original feeling of the Awareness of Existence of our own Self is not just a feeling, it is an Awareness actually. If you closely can observe, that’s the basic idea of teaching meditation, meaning you achieve a single-pointed focus so that you observe Itself, Your Self, thus mind is nothing but Your Self.
When you are thinking, you try to imagine yourself as a separate entity and the mind as a separate entity. Thus to begin with we can even try to understand mind is your own Conscious Energy. In deeper meditations one day when you are able to achieve silence of the mind – meaning mind giving up all its habits to imagine and remain preoccupied with its own imaginations – when it gives up because of the presence of the Consciousness it automatically gets applied to itself. That is what I mean by Consciousness, meaning when you apply your mind to any object in this world you become aware of such an existence.
Just like if you are able to pay your attention mentally, all your mind is here, then you become aware that a person called Babaji exists and He is sitting in front of you and He is trying to talk and make you understand certain truths about which you would have experienced. If this attention is not there, suppose even the physical body is sitting but your attention has gone somewhere else, it is wandering and running and speeding up and spinning, spinning somewhere. So in spiritual language wandering and spinning of this mind is recognized as the ‘wandering monkey’. So the mind is also referred to when one is unable to stop this mind into the self-attention.
Thus this mind itself is made up of Consciousness, meaning where you apply it you become aware. Through practice of meditation, eventually one day, when you are able to achieve the total silence of the mind, when this mind becomes totally quiet, meaning it becomes quiet when it gives up all its imaginations, then automatically it becomes aware of itself because it is made up of that Consciousness. That Consciousness is automatically present, that is not a separate thing that needs to be generated or needs to be brought forth, or needs to be imagined, only the thoughts and visions. And only when we have to work in this world we have to imagine.
Thus this mind itself is made up of Consciousness, meaning where you apply it you become aware. Through practice of meditation, eventually one day, when you are able to achieve the total silence of the mind, when this mind becomes totally quiet, meaning it becomes quiet when it gives up all its imaginations, then automatically it becomes aware of itself because it is made up of that Consciousness. That Consciousness is automatically present, that is not a separate thing that needs to be generated or needs to be brought forth, or needs to be imagined, only the thoughts and visions. And only when we have to work in this world we have to imagine.
So thus when you practice this meditation, when you achieve that silence, that does not mean that you lose the ability to imagine or use this as a mind, it will still be possible, always be possible. You can remain a normal person in this world. When you practice meditation you will be able to imagine, you will be able to think, you will be able to be creative in this world, do anything that you want is no problem. Simply by the practice of this meditation, you are able to think when you want, imagine when you want and be creative when you want. When the job is over or when you don’t want, then you will be able to keep that mind to its quietness, to its silence. You will be able to keep yourself under control, not allowing yourself to become a chatterbox at all times, even when you don’t want.
In my talks I have always told, for the whole day when you would have been working, you feel tired at the end of the day. You would like to relax naturally, take rest, when you go home you bring back your body to a total halt. You might be making it sit on a sofa or on a bed to lie down and relax. This is possible to do with the physical body, but if the mind is not used to remaining quiet, it remains in its unnatural, original position of habitual things of always imagining, spinning and wandering, wandering. You want to be relaxed, but you become unable to be totally relaxed, so that mind could become so torturing even when your physical body is lying on a comfortable bed. It may not be possible for you to really remain relaxed. It becomes so troublesome, so that is why the spiritual practices are taught, this meditation which is practiced silently without the help of any anchor of any sound or any vision, using the eyeballs by practicing to watch.
The greatest
secret of meditation.
In a short while I will give you the technology of this mind and help you to do some meditation. When you close the eyes you have to achieve that amazing thing called watching and observing. This is different from thinking, thinking is different, watching is totally different. When you are totally watching, without thinking when you are watching, then the mind stops, that becomes possible. Like when I will ask you to watch this, without thinking whether this is a black microphone or what it is, just watch it, then the mind can become quiet and silent. That is the greatest secret of meditation.
When one day it is possible to achieve this silence, then this becomes aware of itself, meaning that you realize in this process as you go on, that it was you who was imagining, you who had lost control of yourself and allowed your own consciousness, yourself, to keep spinning, spinning all the time and wandering with imagination; habitual things. And thus, when you gain that Consciousness Awareness, then you become aware of how you exist as the Immortal Soul. That is the terminology given since ancient times by those great Sages who practiced meditation and deeper Consciousness achievement. You will become Aware of Your Self as that Immortal Soul which is beyond the birth and death of this body, beyond the existence of this body too.
In this process one is able to achieve a Supreme Peace and harmony within. When we have peace within ourselves, it is also contentment. If there is no peace, no contentment; if there is no contentment, no peace. The mind always keeps searching, searching. Everybody’s mind, everybody is searching for peace and happiness in this world, either knowingly or unknowingly. Even when you are trying to have any object, any work, achieve anything, it for sake of happiness only.
When you want to achieve, but because such an achievement always may not be guaranteed in this world, whatever efforts that we put in, it need not be bringing in the same results that we expect. If such a thing does not happen, one is likely to go into a disillusionment, a disappointment, a frustration and a loss of total peace. These things can happen, but if that mind’s quietness can be achieved, it can remain at peace at all times, unmindful of what is going to happen surrounding us. We will be able to work for everything, that does not mean that we become insensitive to this world, it’s good or bad. You will be able to be sensitive. You will be able to help others. If somebody is suffering we will be able to help, however, we can remain unaffected mentally. So all these things will be possible when we practice meditation, apart from achieving that real Awareness of the Truth of Existence.
This is the basic sense of all faiths’ teachings, prayers, and so many types of worship, chants, repetition of God’s name and singing. Music can be such a beautiful therapy for cooling down the mind, to bring down the restlessness of the mind, to make it single-pointed. So all the methods that have been taught are equal and honorable.
We need to practice
everyday.
The basic purpose is; first to make the mind single-pointed, take control of that, then when we are able to make it totally silent, we can become Aware of Our Self. This is what a Yogi, a Realized Soul, achieves eventually. When He practices – a long time practice would be required. When we embark upon this practice we need to have a determination, a dedicated effort, a disciplined practice and patience. Until we achieve that goal, we need to have that patience; that is the important mantra we teach always. We need to practice every day. When we practice like this, when we are simply ready to watch and not think, then the mind becomes single-pointed and concentrated. It’s able to pay its attention introverted. Until then it becomes so preoccupied with its own habits and thoughts.
So the idea is, thinking itself is not a wrong thing or a problem, when we are unable to stop that thinking, that is the problem. Just like driving a car itself is not a problem. That is a beautiful thing when we need to travel around, but if we are unable to stop the car, then that is the problem.
In the same way, when we are unable to stop this mind, all humanity needs to take responsibility as a whole, as a humanity. We have created conflicts for ourselves, loss of peace for ourselves, disharmony, mistrust amongst ourselves; all these things have happened. Everybody, every human wants to be loved, but we are unable to love the other because we want it for ourselves, we don’t want to give it. If we want to be loved we should know how to love. We want that somebody loves us unconditionally. We want somebody who accepts us in whatever way that we are. Everybody expects like this. Whatever talents we have must be accepted.
I may not be able to talk in such a way to keep everybody engaged with beautiful colorful talks because I just talk the Truth. I would like to expect that everybody accepts me in whatever way that I am then you will know the Truth. So in the same way, I understand that everybody would like to be accepted as whatever they are. That is when we are able to love unconditionally, selflessly, then there is harmony, there is peace for everyone. Love and honor each other as all those great Sages and the Realized Masters of this world have spoken of always. So that is the essence of the practice of this meditation that is taught.
“Try to become a
worthy disciple first.”
When a Realized Master wants to teach the Truth, He has to use the nearest imagination because the Truth cannot be explained. The thing that can be explained cannot be the Truth because it is the mind which imagines and explains. If it imagines it cannot be the Truth. Mind through intelligence can never give the Truth. It gives only such a thing that is based on its own imaginations. But yet a Master has to use; so that is why my Master used to teach, “Try to become a worthy disciple first. Do not be in a rush to become a Guru, or Master, because if you have not achieved that mastery you might end up diluting your teachings, you might end up telling wrong things to the other just to attract them. Try to tell the Truth, try to be responsible when you are going to teach or talk or any such things.” So that is how He used to talk to us every time.
When the people of this world will be able to understand, observe and practice and have such a Truth to themselves, when we practice as He taught us, as the Master taught us, when we achieved the Supreme Peace then we thought of sharing this experience with everybody in the world. Whoever is ready to listen to us so that you all also can practice and achieve this Supreme Peace, this contentment, this harmony, this love unconditional. Everything would be possible for you to achieve if you practice.
In a short while from now, I would invite you all to come for a vibhuti blessing which is a mark of initiation of our Guru’s legacy. I assure all the newcomers who would have been listening to me for the first time, who have come here for the first time to learn and practice this meditation, that this initiation shall not be binding or imposing on anybody in any way.
My Master was a very unique teacher who tried to give this technology as a friend. He never boasted or claimed Himself to be the only Guru. He never claimed Himself to be any incarnations or any such thing. Simply He tried to be one amongst the masses. He travelled around the country and around different parts of the world. He came to the United Kingdom also several times. In a simple way He tried to teach, “You must put in effort and you achieve and then you will know the Truth, what It is. When you have that peace then you can understand what that peace is. You understand the value of peace, when you lose the peace. But when you have that peace only you can experience much more what it is.” So that is how He tried to teach.
If you think this is worthwhile, if you think that you want to practice and achieve this for yourself, if you want me to help you, guide you, inspire you and clear any of your doubts then we are very happy to do that. That is what our job is, our Mission in this world to help people when they want. So that is what it is.
So after coming for the vibhuti blessing, please go back and sit at your places. Then I will tell a couple of breathing exercises called pranayama. These breathing exercises also can be very helpful in enhancing the concentration, the focus point in the meditation, because if the mind is restless it runs, it does not allow you to focus into itself, into single-pointedness.
The cleansing process
of the mind.
It is always awful, thousands of thoughts keep coming. They are all the cleansing processes of the mind. Mind has absorbed these habits. We call it as the ‘acquired habits of the mind’. When the mind recognizes, when it thinks it analyzes and it makes a judgment, ‘This is good, this is bad, why is this?’ all such things. ‘This is good, this is the bad,’ it judges with its own imagination and absorbs an imprint. All these things sit in the mind as a habit. Based on these habits a person’s behavioral structure also happens, a person’s character and culture. One might be very soft spoken and beautiful and kind and compassionate. The other may be quite rude, always into hatred and vengeance and violence. It all depends on the mind’s structured habits; what it has acquired since time immemorial.
When we practice this meditation, we will be able to cleanse the mind; that is when the mind’s thought-habits all start getting evaporated, but due to the nature of the brain, it gets de-codified and appears as a thought process or a vision. In quick succession, hundreds and millions could be coming. That is what happens. So when it is happening your ability to simply watch without trying to get attached to those thoughts and without trying to think what it is, is important. Even if it appears a bad thought, let it happen, it is getting evaporated. The garbage is being thrown out of the mind. That is what is happening. That is ‘your ability to watch’ I explained in the beginning.
So when we try to do this breathing exercise, if ever your mind is restless, take a couple of minutes and sit down, then take a long inhale and exhale of the breath for two minutes then you will feel a bit cooled mind. That restlessness is brought down, and then you will be able to think and sort out any problem. You will not get confused in life. These things will be possible. So that is how these couple of breathing exercises before meditation could be very helpful if you want to practice. When I teach, please pay attention and learn in its right sense then it will be beneficial.
