10. *Three Types of Knowledge*

You see: there are three types of knowledge. The first is intellectual knowledge – the knowledge of the mind. For this, you need only your mind, nothing else. If you are attentive and have a good memory, it is enough. If you can apply logic well, if you have a little common sense to connect things and understand, it is enough. This is the kind of knowledge that you gain in school, with your books. To learn mathematics and science, your mind is enough. You can become a great mathematician or a great scientist.

The second type of knowledge is knowledge of the heart. Here, you need to use your heart also, not just your mind. Art, music, poetry, dance – all these come under this category. If you use only your mind, nothing will happen. You have to use your heart also. To paint, to write poems, to sing, you need to emote. All these are creations. They are expressions from your heart. Can you write a poem with no feelings at all? Can an artist draw and paint with just his mind? No! He needs to connect with his heart, then he will simply flow.

With only the mind, you can pick up certain points, certain techniques about writing poems or about painting, but ultimately the stuff will come from only your heart.

The third type of knowledge is spiritual knowledge – knowledge that is neither of the mind nor of the heart, but of your being! Actually, we can't even call it knowledge; it is just a deep understanding beyond your logic. It can neither be taught nor picked up. It can happen simply out of a deep communion - at the being level.

I always tell people: I cannot teach you spirituality, but you can learn! You can learn by just absorbing these words at the being level – like energy. The energy behind the master's words is so powerful that if you allow it, it can penetrate you and touch you at the being level. It can bring about a transformation that cannot happen with just words of the mind and feelings of the heart.

Guaranteed Solutions

When I talk, I talk from my experience of the ultimate truth; from my being. So when you listen, listen totally, from your being. Only then can you get a glimpse of the experience behind these words. I am not here to give you just words. I am here to take you beyond words. If you are here with acute awareness and silence, you can go beyond words and get a glimpse of your own being.

Trust and Be Open

Alright, let us alter the seating arrangement a little. When you sit, don't sit with your relatives or friends or people known to you. Sit at random, next to anyone whom you don't know much, with whom you are not very familiar. When you sit with familiar people, you will be compelled to exchange glances, exchange words while I am talking. If you sit with strangers, you can absorb me better, by yourself.

One more thing: When the session is happening, there will be a beautiful flow, there will be an energy that is created and vibrating in the room, a deep communion between you and me. Don't interrupt it by coming in late. The flow will be broken. It is just like encountering a speed breaker when you are going smoothly on the highway. The speed breaker is only a small interruption, but to cross it, you have to slow down, go over it and pick up speed again. The smooth flow will be broken.

And please switch off your mobile phones. They are another very common speed breaker today! In fact they can cause the journey to be totally bumpy, one speed breaker after another! I am sure each of you has a cell phone here!

Next, when you are here, don't be serious and heavy. Be sincere in listening and listen with an open mind. Don't expect that in the very first session, you will experience God! Just be with a light and easy mood, without expectations, you will be able to receive much more.

The next thing: decide and leave your social ego outside and try to be an ordinary person while you are here. The ashram and the presence of the master is the best laboratory for you to experiment with yourself, to let go of your ego, to shed your illusions, and understand that you are just a beautiful part of Existence. So even if you are somebody in society, try to be ordinary here and mix with everyone from your heart. Not only my words, but every moment of interaction, every moment of just being here, can cause a transformation in you. You just need to be aware, that's all.

A small story:

There was a great Zen Buddhist monk, an enlightened master.

One day, the Governor of Japan came to visit him.

The Governor sent in his visiting card to the master.

It had the words, 'Zak-San - Governor of Japan'.

The master took one look at the card and said, 'I have no business with this idiot!

Ask him to leave this very minute!'

Zen masters can be very harsh when they want to break somebody's mind, somebody's ego. They will never hesitate to use harsh words. The energy behind their words can simply pierce and transform a person.

The disciple came back to the governor, gave back his card and repeated what the master had told him. The Governor saw the card and understood. He was an intelligent man…not just intellectual, but intelligent also! He quietly struck out the words, 'Governor of Japan', and gave back the card to the disciple, who took it inside again. The master took one look and said, 'Show him in!'

All our titles, our designations, are mere labels pasted on us by society. And we go about thinking that we are these labels. We forget that we are not the labels but the stuff inside! We feel great about the labels. But you can never approach a master with these labels. You can never know Existence with your labels! A master is Existence in human form.

What the Governor did cannot be called wrong. It might have been the right way to approach society, to be in accordance with the social protocols, but with a master, awareness must step in and you must leave your ego behind!

Something transpires between the master and the seeker. They share something of the inner world. When this happens, labels of the outer world will stand in the way. Forgetting your personality is spirituality, because personality is societal. We are here to find our individuality – our inherent nature, our aloneness that we enjoyed in our mother's womb, our connection with Existence – the only connection we need to find and celebrate!