Friday, January 31, 2014

Revenge Is No Solution

July 16, 2013

Montreal, Canada

4372

How do you forgive someone that you have a close relationship with, who has betrayed you and let you down continuously?
Sri Sri: Well, what option do you have? If there is any other good option, tell me, I will go along with you. Let us say, we do not forgive, what is the other option? Hold it against them. Does it benefit you in any way? It does not benefit you! You get even more stressed and feel pulled down, isn't it?
Put yourself in their shoes. Suppose you have done something that you should not have done, due to some circumstances, and if someone holds a grudge against you for your entire life, would you like it?
You did not mean to betray somebody, but you made a mistake. God forbid such things should not happen, but suppose if it happens to you and someone holds it against you for your entire life. Even after you asking them to pardon, or forgive you, they say, ‘No’, how would you feel? You feel awful. You want to be forgiven, don’t you want to be forgiven? Anytime, sometime, yes! You want to be forgiven, so you must forgive.
If somebody has knowingly made a mistake and you hold it against them, does it help you? No! Okay, you may say that you have forgiven them once, twice, thrice, but they keep on making the same mistake.
Now you know that they are like that, then what do you do? If you keep on getting upset over their nature, is it going to help you? You cannot expect a cat to bark, it will only say meow. You cannot expect a dog to roar, it will only bark.
So this persons nature is like that; he or she just goes bizarre, his or her mind is not in his or her control, and that is how they are, accept it! You have told them a hundred times, and they do not listen! What is the point of you holding that against them in your mind day and night? You will lose your sleep, your peace of mind, your happiness, your joy. Is it worth it? Is it worth doing?
There are such people in the world, right from the beginning of time. It is your bad luck that you got in touch with one such person. There are thieves in this world, but if you are burgled, then it is your bad luck. Instead of being revengeful against the thief, you understand that they are there, and that time will take its course.
If there is any action you can take, you take the action and finish it. Do not let them betray you once again.
They betrayed you, okay, it is in their nature; finished! And you are happy! If you can be happy in the midst of people who betray you, this is intelligence. To be miserable amidst friends or faithful people is foolishness. To be happy in the midst of people who betray you is a sign of intelligence, it is wisdom. And remember, nothing touches you!
My dearest Gurudev, you have lost so much weight, what happened? Are we troubling you so much? I am concerned.
Sri Sri: No, I just lost a lot of hair, that’s all. It is natural to lose hair with travelling. The water is different in different places.
Do I look troubled? Sometimes I am troubled looking at the affairs of the world, this violence and the corruption. The same thing also troubles me in India; how the government and all these people have moved so far away from ethics.
There is so much corruption, I keep thinking about it. We have a role to play and we should do something. And still, I know things are going to work out well.
Gurudev, you mostly visit Canada in the months of April, July, October, and November. People born in those months always celebrate their birthday with you. Can you give opportunities to others?
Sri Sri: Any day, wherever you celebrate, know that I am with you!
Gurudev, you say we are all made up of love; how can we understand that even corrupt people are made out of love?
Sri Sri: Look, as a baby they were love; as they grew up, they had a lot of mud and filth around them, that’s it.
If a diamond has fallen in a drain, it will still be a diamond. It has only fallen in the drain. Similarly, the circumstances, education, culture or the lack of it, everything has made them behave in that way. They do not know it, they are in total ignorance; that is why they are like that. So, you feel only compassion, even with people who have betrayed you.
What are they doing this for? They are going to get it back. If someone has betrayed you, they are going to get it back ten times more. You only feel a little compassion for them.
Gurudev, do we need to have children to fulfill our marital duty? After my job and daily seva, I have very little time left. I do not want to reduce my daily seva or do injustice to marriage duties. What does dharma say in this respect?
Sri Sri: Do what you can do, nobody is asking you to do what you cannot do!
If you can do more and you are not doing it, then it is laziness. If you cannot do, then do not do it. However, when you can do, but you are simply watching television for an hour, or sitting at home for two hours, in that period you could have done something better. You should do it, rather than sit on the tea table and gossip.
Some people sit for breakfast, and do not get up before lunch! They are sitting on the table gossiping. At eight o’clock you came to table to have your tea and snacks, and you are still there till ten thirty. What company is keeping you there? I know how many of you are doing that! Come on, you are wasting so much of time and talking things that are irrelevant; that much time you could have utilized for something useful.
I do not mean to you rush with the German time, you can take it a little easy, no doubt, but at the same time, do not be a manyana person, everything person. You have to find some balance in between.
Gurudev, if we all get what we need in life, then why are the small children in Africa not getting food?
Sri Sri: Why are the children in Africa not getting food? So, we can all help them. If everybody is getting food, then who is to help whom? They are not getting food so that many others who are getting food can stretch their hands and help them out.
Gurudev, I understand that you are equally dear to everyone, but why don’t we all have the heavenly experience of talking, walking, chatting and playing with you? What kind of karma have some of the other volunteers done to be so close to you?
Sri Sri: Listen, do not worry, you have all good karma!
When I am walking, just elbow some people, come forward, and ask me what you want to ask. Do not be shy, stay in the back and expect me to call!
I do my visits; today one of the volunteers was crying in the kitchen. I went, spoke to her and gave her food. She is happy now! She was feeling so low, left out, nobody is talking to her or caring for her. I said to her, why do you think like that?
Many of the miseries are made in our own mind; the reservations and barriers that we put on our own self.
I make it a point to meet everybody, look at everybody, see who is happy and not happy, and where I should put my attention. I keep on doing this. However, if you feel that you want to talk to me, don’t compare yourself with others! I go for a walk, you come and talk to me. If the same people are around me even while I am walking, if they are bugging me, you come, elbow them and talk.
This is because sometimes the same person comes and asks me the same question five times; so, you can come, take your chance. It is open to all; nobody is going to think bad about you; you are most welcome, to elbow!
Don’t do gate crashing at the kutir. There I keep work meetings, so don’t bang on the door there! Send your request and come. Anybody who waits there, I do meet them from time to time. Here, in Canada, it is so easy, unlike in India.
Even in India, I make it a point to satisfy everybody, no one goes disappointed. In spite of hundreds and thousands of people, I see that I look at everybody and I somehow make everyone happy; at least I think so. Sometimes, practically it may not be possible, then you must understand the limitations of those things. Here, it is not as big a rush, it is a small party. Just join the party and enjoy. Don’t be a witness back there and expect an invitation from somebody, got it? This is a free for all party!

Gurudev, why and how did you come up with the Shakti Kriya? Can you please explain a little more about it?
Sri Sri: Why and how? Just like I came up with the Sudarshan Kriya, this dawned on me some two-three years ago. I mentioned this last year after Navratri that we are going to experience something beautiful, and so we did it.
The technique is there, knowledge is there, it is only that we need to link it with that intellectual understanding, why, how it works. Even I don’t know much about these things, whatever I know, I tell you. I have no idea about why energy moves up, or why water comes down.

Thursday, January 30, 2014

The Decorations For Celebrating Life

December 31, 2013

Bad Antogast, Germany

4320
Often people who are celebrating cannot appreciate silence. And those who enjoy silence don't celebrate. They don't look that joyful and celebrative. People who are in silence are very morose and melancholic. But our specialty is, we are in silence and we are celebrating. This is so beautiful. A great way to welcome the New Year!
 
 
Celebration of New Year
is to honor time. Honoring
time means honoring the
mind, and honoring the
mind means honoring
yourself.
The way to honor yourself, 
is to know that you are
neither a culprit, nor a 
victim.

 
 
Now let us thank the year 2013.
2013 with all its events has brought us together. It has posed many challenges which made us strong in some ways, and with many of its gifts, it has made us happy in many ways.
No year passes without some wisdom. So like every year, this year also which is just going to pass, has given us some wisdom; has made us wiser. Now we need to move on.

Time is like a flowing river. Even with a river you can put a dam, but you can't stop it totally. If the river is gushing, it will overflow the dam as well. So you have to leave it. You can only store a certain amount of water, but with time, that is not possible.
Time is like a fast flowing river. Time is like the wind which nobody can stop. Time is like the Sun around which the Earth revolves. Time is like our mind, ancient, yet very fresh and very new. Our mind is very ancient, yet very fresh and new.

So the celebration of New Year is to honor time. Honoring time means honoring the mind, and honoring the mind means honoring yourself. And the way to honor yourself, is to know that you are neither a culprit, nor a victim.
What stops you from honoring yourself? When you think you are a culprit, you did something wrong. You carry guilt in you and think you are a sinner. If you are a sinner you can never celebrate yourself. You can never be at peace with yourself. It will always eat you up deep inside. Only when you get out of the culprit consciousness, the guilt consciousness, there is peace and there is spiritual light within you.
You should know that there is light inside of you; you are part of the light, and part of Universal Love.
Yes, you are a spark of Universal Love.

Every individual wants to experience this universal love; to be a part of it, a spark of it, and that can only happen when you are out of culprit consciousness.
The other thing is victim consciousness. If you feel you are a victim, you can never express truth, you can never express the Divinity.
The purpose of being here is to express all facets of life, i.e., love, joy and wisdom. And to fully express life is celebration. These are all the different facets of life and you are here to express that. But if you feel that you are a victim of situations, of time and of other people, you can never do that.

So how to get over the victim consciousness? Know that all the unpleasant experiences in life has given some depth to me and thank them. And the pleasant experiences have a given me an opportunity to do more service for people, and thank them too.
Life is always a mixture. We must thank the unpleasant days, because it has centered us. Nobody gets more centered than in unpleasant situations. Unpleasant things take you out of the external and puts you with yourself; so that gives you depth, and it adds to your personality.
So instead of saying, 'Oh I wasted 20 years of my life', or, 'That person created some problem for me', drop all that and say, 'I thank all those bitter days cause they gave me strength, and I thank all the pleasant days that made me realize my true potential, and helped me express my true nature which is joy'.
By thanking the pleasant and the unpleasant, we get over the victim consciousness.

 
 
How to get over the victim
consciousness?
Know that all the
unpleasant experiences in
life has given some depth
to me and thank them.
Life is always a mixture.

 
 
Welcome the coming New Year with a resolution. Resolve to do something excellent, something very good. Resolve to be of use to others. Resolve to be happy and spread happiness, because that is important.
You know, you cannot be unhappy without a reason, but you can be happy without any reason. This is the wisdom that we must bear in mind, 'I can be happy without any reason!'

If I am unhappy I will search for the reason, why am I unhappy. You have to do it, nobody else can do it for you.
This is when you find that your unhappiness is due to physical dependency, or emotional dependency; or physical want or emotional want.
It is your physical and emotional wants that make you unhappy.

First we need to know how to handle the emotional wants. What are emotional wants? Appreciation from people. Let others appreciate me, let others praise me; adoration, and appreciation. Then the inability to handle the altercations of others. These are the emotional needs.
Also, thinking, 'Oh I am so good, I always think good about everybody, but everyone thinks bad about me'. This is the sort of emotional mess that we create for ourselves. We only create this, nobody else creates it for us.
Knowledge and meditation is the way to get out of this. Knowledge and meditation helps you to overcome the emotional dependency.

When you have overcome that, then physical dependency has its own parameters.
Work hard, have confidence in your talents and abilities, and then reduce your wants and desires.
If your wants and desires are high up there, and your physical ability is low, then you will be unhappy. See that your wants and desires match your physical ability.
Suppose you don't have hard teeth and you want to crack the shell of a walnut using your teeth, I tell you, the shell will not crack but your teeth will definitely crack. So you must first see how strong your teeth are, accordingly you should choose.

If my physical ability is only to lift 15 kilos, I should not venture to lift 50 kilos. I should limit myself to 15 kilos, and then slowly rise up to lift more by working towards it.
So, you should look into your physical ability, and then your desire should match with it. If there is a mismatch between your desire and your capability, then you will be unhappy.

 
 
Hold on to faith, and let go
of cravings. If you let go
of cravings, you will be
happy.
Hold on to the faith that
only good will happen to
you. If something
unpleasant is happening to
you, it is because nature
wants to make me strong.

 
 
Suppose you are a heart patient and you want to venture climbing Mount Everest, what can I say to you? I would say, write Mount Everest on top of your staircase and climb. Just climbing the second floor will be like climbing Mount Everest for you.
So, you need to match your desires to your abilities. Somewhere you need to let go, and somewhere you need to hold on. Hold on to faith, and let go of cravings. If you let go of cravings, you will be happy.
Hold on to the faith that only good will happen to you. 'Only good things can happen to me. If something unpleasant is happening to me, it is because nature wants to make me strong'. Have this faith in you.

If something bad happens, you should think it is just an accident. You should not think that it happened because I deserved it, no!
'If bad things happen to me, it is only an accident; but good things are bound to happen to me'. This will give you confidence.

So, taking these few pearls of wisdom and treasuring it is essential to make life a celebration. These are the decorations for celebrating life.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Taking Refuge Of The Divine

November 25, 2013

Bangalore, India

4335
Gurudev, in Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna said to take refuge in him. What does it mean? Please elaborate.
Sri Sri: Taking refuge means relaxing. Just like how a child feels when he knows that mother is at home. 
When the mother is at home, the child is confident. In the subconscious mind, a child is very comfortable knowing mother is at home. A sense of security, a sense of confidence, a sense of knowing that there is somebody backing me, guiding me and caring for me, all this brings a deep sense of security. This is refuge.

When you don’t have that, when you are shaky, worried and tensed, then you need that much needed support. Taking the support when it is being offered is taking refuge.


Gurudev, spirituality is something that every person on this planet has his concept about. Some think that being religious is spiritual, or discarding this world is spiritual. How would you define spirituality?
Sri Sri: We are made up of both matter and spirit. In the sense of matter, we are carbohydrates, amino acids, protein and all this. As spirit, we are peace, love, joy, compassion, integrity, honesty and all these qualities. 

So anything that enhances these qualities of love, peace, joy, celebration, humor, integrity, honesty, knowledge, that is what spirituality is. Anything that uplifts the spirit and makes you feel that you are more than the body, you are connected to the whole universe, that is spirituality. 

Scientists today say the whole world is one organism, one cosmic body. Realizing this on the level of experience is spirituality, not just the concept. And love is same, when you feel that there is no other, everyone is part of you. This realization of Quantum Physics in your life as a reality is spirituality. 
Quantum Physics says that the whole Universe is made up of One wave. Matter doesn’t exist, everything is just waves. Have you experienced that? That is what spirituality is. 
It is possible to connect and realize that truth in deep meditation. So meditation becomes a part of spirituality
The same thing in action, is service. So service also is a part of spirituality.


Gurudev, can a person who doesn't believe in the idea or reality of God be spiritual?
Sri Sri: Yes, sure! One doesn’t need to have a particular belief system to be spiritual. One simply has to have the spirit of enquiry, then you are spiritual. 
You need to be bubbling with enthusiasm. If you are aware of the cosmic reality, that there is much more to be known and you know very little, then you are treading the path of spirituality.
If you have bubbling enthusiasm, joy and you are serving people, sharing the joy, that is part of spirituality. A deep sense of satisfaction, a sense of completeness is all part of spirituality.


Gurudev, can love and dispassion coexist? They seem to be contradictory.
Sri Sri: They should exist together, otherwise you will not be same. Like breathing in and breathing out is totally contradictory but it has to go together. 
You can’t breathe out the same time you are breathing in, they should alternate. Similarly love and dispassion. Love means passion. Passion is needed and dispassion is equally important to keep you wise and sane.


Gurudev, even after wearing the sacred thread (yagnopaveetham), people don’t bear the responsibilities properly. Do you really think that wearing this sacred thread reminds us of our responsibilities?
Sri Sri: It is just a symbol. 
It is not that just because you have worn a badge of Vande Matram, you become totally patriotic. Similarly you may wear a thread and you may still not be responsible. 
It doesn’t make any sense. Many people wear sacred thread without even knowing why they are wearing it. They have no idea about it.


Gurudev, which direction is most conducive for babies to sleep? East West or facing South?
Sri Sri: East West for sleeping is said to be very good because we are cutting the magnetic axis of the planet.

Gurudev, when you have enough you automatically share with people. I think the most difficult thing for the human mind is to know, what is enough for oneself. How do I know what is enough for me? The mind keeps wanting more.
Sri Sri: People have billions, still they are stealing. This is unfortunate. Greed kills oneself and kills others also. 

Whatever you earn, keep a little percent of it aside, don’t touch it. Suppose you earn x amount, keep ten percent of it aside. Ten percent you must save for yourself. And whatever expenditure you have, do it. Save some for future. Plan like this. 

The percentage that you save, may be three or five percent of that you should keep aside for charity. Everyone can do charity. It is not that you need to earn a lot of money to do charity. Whatever you earn, three percent of it you can keep aside for charity. 

I think you are getting pocket money from your parents. Suppose you are getting x amount, you can keep three percent aside from that. Instead of spending that whole pocket money for your food, cinema and different things, you can save a little bit so that this habit gets inculcated in you. You will find that lack doesn’t exist in your life. Lack disappears and you feel happier.


Gurudev, what is Raj Yoga? Is it only for kings?
Sri Sri: Raj Yoga means getting things without much effort. What you are doing is Raj Yoga. You are getting everything on a platter here. You didn’t have to do all that Lord Buddha did. How many years he walked miles and miles! What not he did! He fasted for so many months and did everything that everybody said. 

You didn’t have to go to Himalayas to get some experience, or to do something great there. Royally you sat and you got what you wanted. This is Raj Yoga. 
Raja means king. Raj Yoga means like a king, who gets everything with the snap of his fingers. Effortlessly getting things in your life is Raj Yoga. 

In astrology, there are many permutations and combinations. If you have some particular combination, then that is Raj Yoga. Means, you are born in a good family, you have got a good career, good money, good children, or talents. All these are counted as an impact of Raj Yoga. Everything; name, fame, talents will have some sort of Raj Yoga. Many Raj Yogas are there.


Gurudev, how could Krishna teach Dhyan Yoga (meditation) or Karma Yoga (Service) without actually making him do meditation?
Sri Sri: When one is a Yogeshwara (Lord of Yoga), the effect of that gets translated almost immediately. You don’t have to do much. Say it and it immediately registers. 

There is a saying in Sanskrit, 'Rishinaam yatchittanaam vaacham arthonu dhaavate', which means, when you are established and you say something, its meaning fends behind the words. If you are not established in the self, you say a word a hundred times, it doesn’t have an impact.


Gurudev, my ambition is to change the world and do seva. My unmarried friends are telling me to get married and my married friends say forget about changing the world, you won’t even be able to change a TV channel. Whom should I listen to?

Sri Sri: Listen to your own needs, your own heart. There are people who are married and miserable; there are people who are unmarried and miserable. Whereas there are people who are unmarried and happy and there are people who are married and happy. You better belong to the latter category.

Monday, January 27, 2014

How To Pray?

December 25, 2013

Boone, North Carolina

4321
It struck me when the name David was mentioned, is there any meaning to the name David in English or in Hebrew? What does David mean? (Audience say: David means The King of Wisdom)
In Sanskrit David, Dev-vith means one who knows God. That’s the Sanskrit meaning of David. Dev-vith becomes David.Vith means to know.

God has no form but he is in all forms. God has no eyes but he is watching everything all the time. God has no ears but he listens to you even before a thought arises. Even before you need to speak it out, he already listens to you. God doesn’t have to speak in a language, he conveys the feeling directly.
 
 
Let our life be like a
Christmas tree. Whether
in winter or summer, fall
or spring, the Christmas
tree remains the same.
So in life in every situation,
keep yourself green!
The Christmas trees bears
gifts for everybody. All that
you are given in life is for
everyone. So serve, smile
and celebrate!

 
 
What happens when you hear knowledge is, your brain processes it and then you understand. Words get into your ears, then it makes sense and then you understand it. God doesn’t have to do that. There is no speech, but he gives you a direct understanding. Isn’t that beautiful?
There is a beautiful name in Sanskrit called Virupaksha, which means eyes without a form. He looks at everybody without eyes.
Aksha means eyes, virupa means no form; formless eyes, that is, awareness; that presence which brings the awareness.
When you close your eyes, what do you feel? You feel awareness right? The knowingness. So that is Virupaksha. That is the Shiva Tattva, that is the Divinity.
Shiva means one who has no eyes but sees everything. There is no form but still no form can exist without him; he is in every form. This is so beautiful!

Everything is giving you a message. The Christmas tree is telling you, 'Be like a Christmas tree, evergreen'.
Let our life be like a Christmas tree (which means being equanimous). Whether in winter or summer, fall or spring, the Christmas tree remains the same. So in life, in every situation, keep yourself green!
The Christmas trees bears gifts for everybody. All that you are given in life is for everyone. Any gift you possess is not for you, it’s for the world. All your talents, all that you have been bestowed with, it is all meant to help others. So serve, smile and celebrate!

This is the message of Jesus Christ: Find love within and all around.
You can be in two positions. One is, you’re able to live knowledge.
When you’re able to live the knowledge, don’t be proud that you are able to live it. Know that you are blessed to be living the knowledge; you are blessed to be wise. When you recognize you are wise, see that your recognition of being wise or perfect doesn’t bring arrogance or ego in you. Humility should be there.
You may be a better speaker, a better organizer, a better person in many ways, don’t let that knowledge of your being better than anyone else make you stiff, hard and arrogant.

When you don’t have that quality. Suppose you feel that you have a very weak resolve, very weak will power, you don’t have talent, you’re unable to live wisdom and you’re succumbing to old habits and you feel utterly weak or helpless, then you pray, ‘Oh my God, I cannot! Only you help me out of this mess!’
Humility and gratefulness when you have wisdom, and in the lack of it, feeling the pain and being prayerful. I don’t see any third option. If there is some, tell me. I would like to know.

So be prayerful. When you recognize your weakness and feel the pain of it, then you become prayerful. And when you feel powerful with knowledge, be grateful, then the strength of your wisdom becomes many fold. When you feel powerful, strong and grateful then your strength increases many fold.
Life is a swing between these two things, and when the swing has stopped, that’s it, you’re liberated from life! There is no more swing and you can declare 'I am liberated. I am free'. Nobody needs to give you a certificate!

Every moment of helplessness, weakness leads you to prayer and the prayer keeps you out of negativity, and keeps you from falling deep down into depression. Otherwise whenever you recognize your helplessness that is when you get depressed. Isn’t it?
When do you get depressed? When you know the knowledge and you are unable to live it. Now don’t get depressed. Instead of falling into depression, be prayerful.

 
 
When you’re able to live the
knowledge, don’t be proud.
Humility should be there.
When you don’t have that
quality and you are unable to
live the wisdom, and you feel
weak, then you pray, ‘Oh my
God, I cannot! Only you help
me out of this mess!’
Humility and gratefulness 
when you have wisdom, and 
in the lack of it, feeling the 
pain and being prayerful.

 
 
That is the whole message of Jesus; be prayerful.
How to pray? Then he showed to pray. He prayed even in the last moment when he was crucified. He felt helpless and said, 'Oh father, have you forsaken me?' That feeling of helplessness; even God has forsaken me! But immediately that turned into prayer. Forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing.
He felt utterly helpless at that moment. Spirit is willing, but flesh is weak. ‘God has forsaken me, let alone my disciples!’
That was an incident where all the disciples had forsaken the Master. Everyone ran away. See how much pain he would have had at that time. Everybody had forsaken him! But that utter helplessness immediately turned into prayerfulness.

So, remember these two situations: Gratefulness when you feel strong, and when you feel weak, prayerfulness, and not getting angry.
When you are powerful you don’t feel angry. When do you get angry? When you feel weak, and helpless. That is when you feel angry and frustrated. You feel like banging yourself. You don’t know where to go, what to do. That moment is when you can melt into prayer.

If you look back and see, the days when you felt very powerful, you never got angry, you never got upset. If someone does something, you feel, ‘This is nothing, I can take care of it. Oh, come on, it's an ant on an elephant's foot. I don’t mind it!’
But when you’re upset, when you feel you are helpless and weak, you get angry, agitated, and feel like banging your head. You cry! All these extreme emotions come when you feel helpless. When you feel, ‘I can’t do anything’, at that time when you feel that way, it is the most powerful moment for it to become a prayer.
You don’t know what power prayer has. Prayerfulness brings you total power. It completes the circle. One who prays and one to whom he is praying becomes one in prayer. It turns everything around. It is such an amazing phenomenon, such a mechanics of the consciousness. Very interesting!

Jesus faced both these situations. When he went to the temple to throw out the vendors, he felt absolutely powerful. When he was giving knowledge, he was absolutely powerful.
At some time he felt absolutely helpless and weak because he could not do what he wanted to do. He could not change the society the way he wanted. He could not make people understand what he was to communicate to them. He told them in many ways, in many stories, still people wouldn’t get it.
Just imagine if you’re a teacher and you’re giving some great knowledge, and they are asking some very silly questions;should I breathe through my nose, or my mouth, or my ears.
You will say, 'My God! I taught you breathing exercises for so long and still you ask where my tongue should be!’

A similar situation was felt by Jesus. His close disciples kept doubting him for a very long time. St. Thomas was one of them.
If you tell someone several times, ‘The kitchen is there and the food is ready. If you don’t believe me, you go and see for yourself.’ This is exactly what Jesus said, ‘If you don’t believe what I am saying, you ask someone else.’

The same happened with Thomas. Jesus said, 'Why don’t you go to India and see for yourself'. So after crucifixion, Thomas went to India and he died there.
Do you know this? When St. Thomas went to India, he landed in Kerala and he started his own church there called St. Thomas Church. They are called Mar Thoma. Even today they wear saffron robes. They don’t wear white robes. The Bishop there wears saffron robes and they have the rudraksha beads. They have adopted almost all the Hindu sanyasitraditions. It is not connected to the Catholic Church but they do exist there. They have kept their distinct identity; Mar Thoma Christians. The church is there since 62 A.D.

 
 
How to pray? 
Jesus showed us how to
pray. He prayed even in
the last moment when he
was crucified. He felt helpless
and said, 'Oh father, have you
forsaken me?'
That feeling of helplessness;
even God has forsaken me!
But immediately that turned
into prayer. Forgive them for
they don’t know what they
are doing.

 
 
St. Thomas died in Chennai, in Mylapore. That is where Jesus studied the Vedanta and the Upanishads for 12 years. Then St. Thomas went and studied them, learnt and met many yogis.
Even today that church is there, and his body is there. There is a small mountain, atop of it he sat and meditated to realize that I and my father are one; I am that! So Hum! That is what So Hum is, I and my Father are one! He gained that knowledge there.

Actually Jesus was not born on Christmas day. How many of you don’t know this fact? Christmas is not his birthday. Jesus was born in March, he is pieces. That is why Christianity had the symbol of two fishes. He was born in that month because the immaculate conception was in June. Jesus was not a premature baby born 6 months after conception.
Actually like Lord Buddha, Jesus' birth and resurrection was almost at the same time. Do you know Buddha was born, got enlightened and died on the same day? That is onBuddha Poornima. A very similar thing happened with Jesus. He was born in March and around the same time he was crucified. Just a week’s difference may be. That’s all. This is very interesting.
You must know that it is not the personality, it is the message, it is the knowledge that is most important. We are all here and we all will go one day, but what we give to this world will remain in the world. So what we should take home is, how can I be useful, what good things can I do as long as I am on this planet.
This one thought, if it pops up even once a week, life will be different. Otherwise we are so engrossed in our routine and in small things.
Routine eats your life away. Somewhere we need to wake up. Even few hours of wakefulness, ‘I’ve come to this planet for a cause, let me do something good here’, this will bring juice in life. Otherwise routine can ruin life if you get totally drowned in it. At the same time, routine is essential.
I am not saying you shouldn’t have your routine. It is impossible to live without a routine. You need it, but don’t be drowned in it 100%. At least keep your nose above it! These are such occasions.

All the festivities are trying to tell you, ‘Come on, keep your nose above the routine.’ Unfortunately even festivities have become a routine! Time and again just wake up and see, life is more precious than me getting caught up in my routine and in other small things. Let me be useful to people. Let me spread some happiness.
This thought we should take with us. What do you say?

Will you remember these two things? It shouldn’t just go out from the other side. What is it? When I feel helpless and weak I will pray, and when I feel strong I will feel thankful and grateful. That is also a prayer.

How do I realize that I am God?

Sri Sri: You should not go on saying, 'I am God, I am God'. People will put you in mental hospital. It is not a fact to announce. It is only an innermost realization. 
There is nothing other than God. In this space, is there anything other than air or space? Air is in space, you are in space, I am in space, every cell in your body is in space. This is the realization.
Just know that nothing exists except that One thing, and that one thing is what I am, and what everybody is. 
To feel and realize this, the heart has to blossom and that happens by singing. That is why when you sing, or when you dissolve in meditation, then what exists is only bliss and bliss is the nature of God! 
When you are with truth, you are with God. When you are in a blissful state, you are in God.



Saturday, January 4, 2014

The Decorations For Celebrating Life

December 31, 2013

Bad Antogast, Germany

4316
Often people who are celebrating cannot appreciate silence. And those who enjoy silence don't celebrate. They don't look that joyful and celebrative. People who are in silence are very morose and melancholic. But our specialty is, we are in silence and we are celebrating. This is so beautiful. A great way to welcome the New Year!
 
 
Celebration of New Year
is to honor time. Honoring
time means honoring the
mind, and honoring the
mind means honoring
yourself.
The way to honor yourself, 
is to know that you are
neither a culprit, nor a 
victim.

 
 
Now let us thank the year 2013.
2013 with all its events has brought us together. It has posed many challenges which made us strong in some ways, and with many of its gifts, it has made us happy in many ways.
No year passes without some wisdom. So like every year, this year also which is just going to pass, has given us some wisdom; has made us wiser. Now we need to move on.

Time is like a flowing river. Even with a river you can put a dam, but you can't stop it totally. If the river is gushing, it will overflow the dam as well. So you have to leave it. You can only store a certain amount of water, but with time, that is not possible.
Time is like a fast flowing river. Time is like the wind which nobody can stop. Time is like the Sun around which the Earth revolves. Time is like our mind, ancient, yet very fresh and very new. Our mind is very ancient, yet very fresh and new.

So the celebration of New Year is to honor time. Honoring time means honoring the mind, and honoring the mind means honoring yourself. And the way to honor yourself, is to know that you are neither a culprit, nor a victim.
What stops you from honoring yourself? When you think you are a culprit, you did something wrong. You carry guilt in you and think you are a sinner. If you are a sinner you can never celebrate yourself. You can never be at peace with yourself. It will always eat you up deep inside. Only when you get out of the culprit consciousness, the guilt consciousness, there is peace and there is spiritual light within you.
You should know that there is light inside of you; you are part of the light, and part of Universal Love.
Yes, you are a spark of Universal Love.

Every individual wants to experience this universal love; to be a part of it, a spark of it, and that can only happen when you are out of culprit consciousness.
The other thing is victim consciousness. If you feel you are a victim, you can never express truth, you can never express the Divinity.
The purpose of being here is to express all facets of life, i.e., love, joy and wisdom. And to fully express life is celebration. These are all the different facets of life and you are here to express that. But if you feel that you are a victim of situations, of time and of other people, you can never do that.

So how to get over the victim consciousness? Know that all the unpleasant experiences in life has given some depth to me and thank them. And the pleasant experiences have a given me an opportunity to do more service for people, and thank them too.
Life is always a mixture. We must thank the unpleasant days, because it has centered us. Nobody gets more centered than in unpleasant situations. Unpleasant things take you out of the external and puts you with yourself; so that gives you depth, and it adds to your personality.
So instead of saying, 'Oh I wasted 20 years of my life', or, 'That person created some problem for me', drop all that and say, 'I thank all those bitter days cause they gave me strength, and I thank all the pleasant days that made me realize my true potential, and helped me express my true nature which is joy'.
By thanking the pleasant and the unpleasant, we get over the victim consciousness.

 
 
How to get over the victim
consciousness?
Know that all the
unpleasant experiences in
life has given some depth
to me and thank them.
Life is always a mixture.

 
 
Welcome the coming New Year with a resolution. Resolve to do something excellent, something very good. Resolve to be of use to others. Resolve to be happy and spread happiness, because that is important.
You know, you cannot be unhappy without a reason, but you can be happy without any reason. This is the wisdom that we must bear in mind, 'I can be happy without any reason!'

If I am unhappy I will search for the reason, why am I unhappy. You have to do it, nobody else can do it for you.
This is when you find that your unhappiness is due to physical dependency, or emotional dependency; or physical want or emotional want.
It is your physical and emotional wants that make you unhappy.

First we need to know how to handle the emotional wants. What are emotional wants? Appreciation from people. Let others appreciate me, let others praise me; adoration, and appreciation. Then the inability to handle the altercations of others. These are the emotional needs.
Also, thinking, 'Oh I am so good, I always think good about everybody, but everyone thinks bad about me'. This is the sort of emotional mess that we create for ourselves. We only create this, nobody else creates it for us.
Knowledge and meditation is the way to get out of this. Knowledge and meditation helps you to overcome the emotional dependency.

When you have overcome that, then physical dependency has its own parameters.
Work hard, have confidence in your talents and abilities, and then reduce your wants and desires.
If your wants and desires are high up there, and your physical ability is low, then you will be unhappy. See that your wants and desires match your physical ability.
Suppose you don't have hard teeth and you want to crack the shell of a walnut using your teeth, I tell you, the shell will not crack but your teeth will definitely crack. So you must first see how strong your teeth are, accordingly you should choose.

If my physical ability is only to lift 15 kilos, I should not venture to lift 50 kilos. I should limit myself to 15 kilos, and then slowly rise up to lift more by working towards it.
So, you should look into your physical ability, and then your desire should match with it. If there is a mismatch between your desire and your capability, then you will be unhappy.

 
 
Hold on to faith, and let go
of cravings. If you let go
of cravings, you will be
happy.
Hold on to the faith that
only good will happen to
you. If something
unpleasant is happening to
you, it is because nature
wants to make me strong.

 
 
Suppose you are a heart patient and you want to venture climbing Mount Everest, what can I say to you? I would say, write Mount Everest on top of your staircase and climb. Just climbing the second floor will be like climbing Mount Everest for you.
So, you need to match your desires to your abilities. Somewhere you need to let go, and somewhere you need to hold on. Hold on to faith, and let go of cravings. If you let go of cravings, you will be happy.
Hold on to the faith that only good will happen to you. 'Only good things can happen to me. If something unpleasant is happening to me, it is because nature wants to make me strong'. Have this faith in you.

If something bad happens, you should think it is just an accident. You should not think that it happened because I deserved it, no!
'If bad things happen to me, it is only an accident; but good things are bound to happen to me'. This will give you confidence.


So, taking these few pearls of wisdom and treasuring it is essential to make life a celebration. These are the decorations for celebrating life.