Q: You said that the ajna chakra is associated with innocence and intelligence. How would you explain innocence and intelligence?

When you break free from the rigid mechanism of the mind, you become fluid, flowing, like a river; then you are intelligent. When you are able to think laterally, you are intelligent. When you are spontaneous, you are intelligent. When it is difficult to challenge you, you are intelligent.

When you know that life is a drama, you are intelligent. When you understand that Existence is the ultimate life force, you are intelligent. When you are aware and conscious of your inner silence, you are intelligent.

When you can smile and laugh spontaneously without applying your mind to it, you are intelligent. When you radiate energy by your mere presence, you are intelligent. When you are not stuck anywhere for a long time, you are intelligent. When you can feel your ego consciously, you are intelligent. When you know that you are rich not because of your riches but because of your being, you are intelligent!

When you recognize a master, you are intelligent. When you are ready to let go your ego to the master, you are intelligent. When you play the game of life enjoying every moment of it, you are intelligent!

A small story:

Three men were asked the same question, 'What would you do if you were told that you had only 10 more days to live?'

The first man said, 'I would put all my work in order, and tie all loose ends up so that my family does not suffer after I am gone.'

The second man said, 'I would enjoy life to the maximum doing all the things I have never done before.'

The third man said, 'I would consult another doctor!'

This is intelligence! When you can be spontaneous instead of getting caught in the familiar tracks of life, you are intelligent.

Another small story:

In a hospital, the telephone rang and the nurse answered it. A voice asked, 'May I know how Chanda Basu of Room no. 10 is doing please?'

The nurse replied, 'He is doing well and we are hoping to release him tomorrow evening. Who am I talking to?'

The voice replied, 'This is Chanda Basu. You never tell patients anything in this place.'

This is intelligence! When you are not stuck at a point for long, when you don't stay challenged for long, you are intelligent.

Now listen to this:

A man took his city friend to his farm.

He showed him around and later asked him, 'You must have found it amazing to see so many sheep! Did you attempt to count them?'

The friend replied, 'Oh yes. There were 300.'

The man was surprised and asked, 'How did you manage to count them?'

The friend replied, 'Oh, it was simple. I counted the number of legs and divided them by four.'

This is not intelligence! This is a way to show how we complicate simple things in life.

Next, coming to innocence: children are the best way to understand innocence. They just speak out without any editing. They don't calculate; they are so total in their behaviour, never cunning or hypocritical. This is innocence.

But what do we do to them? We try our best to teach them how to edit their words, how to manipulate. We teach them to move from their heart to their mind so that their pure innocence becomes contaminated by the mind.

A small story:

A boy was told that a wealthy aunt was coming to his home that day and that he had to be on his best behaviour. The aunt arrived and a grand dinner was served for her. The boy was watching her continuously throughout the dinner and finally asked, 'Auntie, when are you going to do your trick?'

The lady asked, 'What trick my dear?'

The boy replied, 'My dad said that you drink like a fish!'

Children simply say what they feel like! They express so freely. That is why they are so joyful to watch! Their innocence attracts us. But we don't understand this and we teach them to become cunning, to become manipulative.

A small boy went up to his grandfather and asked, 'Grandpa, can you really imitate a frog?'

The grandfather was surprised and asked, 'Why do you ask?'

The child replied, 'I heard my parents saying that when you croak, we will have a small fortune left for ourselves.'

We are hypocrites most of the time. We never express ourselves freely. We are thinking something and saying something else. We have become so ugly because of this. We have simply lost our innocence.

Another small story:

A mother was leaving her child with her friend for a day. She told her child to remember to thank the friend before coming away that evening.

The child returned home that evening and the mother asked her if she had thanked the friend.

The child replied, 'I didn't because when the other girl thanked her, she said, don't mention it.'

This is how children are! Of course, it is our duty to teach them basic things like gratitude etc., but I am trying to make you understand that we should not make children hypocrites. Let them understand the game and play it with awareness, with no ego, but only awareness. Give them the basic rules and intelligence to discriminate for themselves.

One thing to understand: The innocence of the child is due to its ignorance. This innocence is bound to be there in the child because it is yet to be influenced by societal conditioning. But once the conditioning starts happening and knowledge is gained, the child loses its innocence. But the child can reconnect back with the innocence that it loses over the years through deep awareness. This innocence regained is the real innocence, because this innocence is not out of ignorance now; it is out of a deep understanding.

That is the difference between the innocence of children and innocence of masters. Mundane knowledge squashes the innocence and nurtures ego. But intelligence and awareness can put knowledge aside and bring out the innocence once again. When this happens, you have found the way.

Q: How should we relate with God?

God is not any separate entity for you to relate with Him. Understand that first. He is not sitting above your heads in a place called heaven and waiting for you to relate with Him. He is there in each and every thing in this universe. Everything has been created by him.

432 He is the creator, creation and the created. He is the experiencer, the experienced and the experience. God is the name that we have given to Existence, that's all. When you understand this, you have started experiencing God; then there is no question of relating with God.

People ask me if I feel close to God. I tell them that I am God! I tell them that they are also God! But of course they are not willing to accept it. They want to know how to get close to God. Close itself means there is a small distance separating you and God. I am telling you that you are God! Then where is the question of close? Do you understand what I am trying to say? God is nothing but the name that you have given to Existence, and you are a part of Existence.

When you live in tune with Existence, when you have found your connection with Existence, you are God, that's all. When you live with a feeling of intimacy with anything and anyone that comes your way, you become pure consciousness. When you can feel the same love towards everyone around you irrespective of whether you know them or not, you are experiencing God in you. This is a simple scale to tell you how far away you are from God consciousness.

When you start falling in tune with Existence, you will start hearing the inner voice in you. Then no other guide is needed. You don't need people to tell you what to do and what not to do. You will simply know; your intelligence will keep guiding you. A master is the one who can awaken that inner voice in you. He works on you to awaken your intelligence.

Most of us can love only with a reason. This is how strong our ego is. When you are like this, be very clear, you are very far away from God! We claim that we shower love on our family and friends. Just look at all the masters who have happened on planet earth until now. What is the common quality that have drawn them to their mission? Pure love, that's all. If they experienced the ordinary love that we feel in your day-to-day lives, do you think they would have been able to set up their mission?

Is it possible to set up a worldwide mission with just ordinary love? How much drive would ordinary love give? It would in fact make you tired soon! If masters have time and again reached people across the world, transforming lives, it is because of the divine love and oneness that they feel with every single human being on planet earth.

In fact, if you read their biographies, you will see that almost all of them have put their family aside, have incurred the wrath of their family and have gone about reaching out to people. Family always resists in these cases. Of course, once maturity and awareness come in, they start accepting and following like the rest of the world.

Anything that makes you feel separate from God is ego. When there is ego, you cannot love consistently and with the same deep feeling all the time; your love will be highly subjective. It will keep moving between extremes.

Watch the body language of masters and you will know what resonating with divine love is. The easiest way to fall in tune with Existence, is by watching the master's body language. A master is in tune with Existence all the time. He exudes love all the time, irrespective of who is in front of him. When you watch his body language, you will imbibe the qualities behind it.

If you watch the master over time, you will be able to perceive how he flows like a river, so beautifully, so poetically, so synchronously, in tune with Existence. Every action of his is in perfect synchronicity with Existence. That is why it is so beautiful to watch! Simply by watching the master, you can understand and feel the beauty and flow of Existence.

Because a master is ego-less, he flows without blockages. Because he does not have consciousness of 'I' and 'mine', he flows. Because he radiates nothing but love, he heals. Healing is nothing but concentrated love. That is why time and again, we have heard of the miraculous healing powers of masters. That is why masters are looked upon as God. Be very clear: Masters are the only living God. They are the supreme manifestation of the ultimate energy.

So, stop worrying about how to relate with God. Start falling in tune with Existence, and become God.

Remember: You cannot conquer Existence. You can only be conquered by Existence. When you lose your entire ego, you are conquered, that's all! When you become a conducive womb for God, He will reside in you. In the initial stages, you are a guest and he is a host. Ultimately, you have to become the host; you have to become a womb to receive Him. Becoming a womb means, melting and becoming vulnerable. Becoming vulnerable means, shedding your entire ego and dissolving into God or Existence. Then, life becomes music and an eternal celebration!

We will now do a beautiful and very effective meditation technique called the Divya Netra Meditation, for this ajna chakra.

Emotion: Ego

Chakra: Ajna chakra

Location: Between the eyebrows

In Sanskrit, ajna means 'will' or 'order'. The ajna chakra is known as the master chakra.

This chakra is locked by seriousness and ego and it can be made to flower by innocence, simplicity and intelligence, and by shedding all forms of ego.

Meditation Technique to be an innocent and egoless being:

Divya Netra Meditation - a Zoroastrian meditation technique

The Divya Netra Meditation

(Total duration: 30 minutes)

The Divya Netra meditation is done to awaken the higher intelligence in you. It works on the ajna chakra – the energy center located between your eyebrows – called the 'third eye', and connects you to the cosmic intelligence. The ajna chakra is known as the chakra raj – the master of all the chakras.

This is such a significant chakra that there is no religion that has not worked on activating it. When the ajna opens, the whole being enters into a different realm. A whole layer of faculties opens up. That is why all the oriental gods are represented with a third eye in their forehead. The third eye is a symbol for the awakened ajna.

There is an old saying, that if you die in Varanasi, a sacred city in India, you will automatically get liberated. Varanasi is not just the city as we know it. It is also the region where the vaarana, that is the eyebrows, meet the naasi, that is the nose, which is the exact location of the ajna chakra. It symbolically represents the death of ego in the liberated or enlightened state!

This meditation technique is taken from Zoroastrianism. This technique has two parts: One to cleanse the ajna chakra and the other to energize it. The ajna chakra, or the third eye, is known as the destroyer of illusion and lust. It helps open the super consciousness in you.

There is a lit prayer lamp in front of you. It has been lit using sesame oil or clarified butter from cow's milk. You may use a candle also, but ensure that it is made of vegetable fat. This is a guided meditation technique. Just follow my instructions closely.

Sit cross-legged on the floor with your eyes closed. Those who cannot sit on the floor may sit on a chair.

Focus on your ajna chakra as if to penetrate it. (5 minutes)

Open your eyes and look at the flame of the lamp through your third eye between your eyebrows. Your eyes may blink or burn or tears may flow; just allow it to happen. (5 minutes)

Close your eyes and again focus on your ajna chakra. Penetrate it deeply.

(5 minutes)

Open your eyes and look at the flame of the lamp through your third eye between your eyebrows. (5 minutes)

Close your eyes; do not focus on your ajna chakra; just relax. (5 minutes)

Slowly, very slowly, open your eyes.

We will meet for the next session. Thank you.

439 Drop the ego

ray out of gratitude not out of fear

A man prays to God every day, 'O God, I don't have enough money. Please help me win a big lottery worth at least ten million rupees! If I win, I promise you, I will offer 20 percent of my winnings at your shrine. If you don't believe me, please deduct 2 million for yourself, and give me only the remaining 8 million.'

All our dealings are exactly like this – a mere business! It may not be so obvious in our lives, but if you deeply analyse your attitude of prayer, you will understand that you have a business deal with everyone, including God.

A small story:

One day a poor man went to Emperor Akbar's palace.

He wanted to request Akbar to give him some money for his son's studies.

Akbar was known for not turning away anyone who asked for help.

When the man reached the palace, he saw that Akbar was offering his prayers to God.

He turned away without asking for anything.

But Akbar spotted him and called him back.

He asked him, 'Why are you leaving without asking for anything?'

The man replied, 'Your Majesty, I came to ask you for alms, but saw that you yourself were begging!'

If you observe our prayers, you will realize that we actually only beg. We simply ask, ask and ask. Our prayer is nothing but a begging bowl. We beg for material things, for smooth relationships, for power, for achieving our goals, for physical beauty, and what not.

We are asking for something or the other continuously in our minds. In fact we are so much in tune with asking, that it has become an unconscious process within us and we might not even accept that we are asking. We don't even see it as asking. It has become a natural way of life! We have become very involved in it and therefore unable to distance ourselves from it and see it with a fresh mind.

Understand that there are only two kinds of religion in the world; religions based on prayer, and religions based on gratitude.

The religion of prayer is all about asking God for something or other. It can be followed by the masses, because it is very much in tune with our asking attitude. It is in tune with the conditioning that has gone on inside us from a young age. Asking is the prayer that we have been taught since we were children. It seems like the most natural way to approach God or Existence.