75. Understanding from Eastern mysticism impact of engrams on productivity

Billions of dollars are spent by companies globally to enhance human productivity. Most of these efforts are centered on providing new skills specific to training in a particular area of the organization's focus or improving technology such as use of computers, internet or other forms of media and communications. Some companies also invest in developing 'softer skills' such as interpersonal skills, teambuilding skills, etc. But most of these trainings tend to address the conscious mind, actions, behaviors and perceptions that are just on the surface. But over 90% of our emotions and behaviors reside deep under the surface of our mind. This is what the psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud, calls the unconscious mind.

If we look at the mind, at a conscious level, there are thoughts and perceptions which are accumulated in our mind at a conscious level. But there are deeper memories and stored knowledge that we use to help us solve problems. Then there is a whole range of emotions and experiences that are embedded in the unconscious level. This is where the samskaras or engraved memories reside.

Most corporate training programs focus on the conscious mind to impart knowledge or particular skills. But actually it is as though we are sitting on a volcano of emotions that is just waiting to burst and erupt any time! These hidden emotions are what make us behave inefficiently and even illogically at times!

So samskaras or engraved memories interfere with the decision-making process, these can be called the inefficiencies present in the mind! The more the number of engrams, the more clouded is our thought process, and the lower is the output. In other words, to produce a particular output, having more samskaras will require more time or people or costs. So this results in lower productivity.

Freudian representation of the unconscious mind

Most readers who have studied psychology are familiar with the Freudian interpretation of the mind. Traditional training and skills development in various organizations address only the conscious mind which is just ten percent of your potential. Ninty percent of the potential can be actualized only when we address samskaras. This huge potential can be experienced through meditation techniques.

To give you an example of what I just described, I would like you to take fifteen minutes of your time on a simple exercise. Take a white sheet of paper and just write down whatever comes to your mind. Please do not edit, filter or pass judgment on any of the thoughts that come to your mind. Just behave as though a 'thought recorder' (just like a voice recorder) is attached to you and you are jotting down whatever comes to your mind. Now after fifteen minutes put the pen aside and read what you have just written.

If you have honestly recorded whatever came to your mind, you will realize the kind of stray, unconnected, illogical thoughts that go through the mind. These thoughts are like friction in a machine. They make the machine very inefficient and unproductive. This is the root cause of low productivity.

Several of my disciples, who have gone through this process and consciously worked on eliminating their samskaras, always come and tell me that they are now finding so much time in their busy lives since they are no longer troubled by the wavering mind and illogical thoughts.

The tool for elimination of these stray thoughts arising from samskaras is what I call meditation. Once these thoughts are eliminated, it is like reducing the friction in a machine and allowing the machine to be more efficient, more productive.

Thousands of people from all races, nationalities, social and economic backgrounds have gone through this process of eliminating samskaras in our meditation programs. Thousands of people come and tell me that in addition to improving their overall productivity, they are able to maintain better interpersonal relationships, feel less stress, and be more creative and innovative in their personal and professional lives. I have also had interesting conversations with leading corporate leaders and Nobel Laureates on this subject where they have shared amazing evidences of improved innovation and intuitive skills developed as a result of becoming free of samskaras.

So we can now elaborate on the equation to describe productivity. We can restate the equation as follows:

Productivity = Output/Input

Input = (Intellect + Technical Skills + Samskaras)

As you know, we live with our mind 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. For most people, the mind is constantly running, analyzing, passing judgment on individuals, having various emotions and responding to situations, all of which is dependent on the level of samskaras that may be 'haunting' us.

Without the load of these samskaras, you will find that your innate intellect and the skills you have developed through your education, training or life experiences will directly be used in delivering the output instead of being knocked around by your mind. You will see the productivity simply shoots up!

This is an area that has mostly not been looked at by companies and organizations. But there are simple tools and techniques from the Eastern mystics who have developed techniques to cleanse the mind of these samskaras.

Sometimes people ask me, 'If we are free of samskaras, will we stop thinking? Will we become lazy and complacent?' I tell you, it is actually the opposite. Please refer again to the experiment I gave you a while back on jotting down your thoughts on a piece of paper for fifteen minutes. If the mind is free from the effects of samskaras, you will see a quantum jump in intelligence, you will be creative and a whole new zone of intelligence will emerge. You will see that all of a sudden you will be able to develop skills of intuition and innovation that emerge from your being.

If the mind is free from the effects of samskaras, you will be creative and a whole new zone of intelligence will emerge.

Understand, this is not a mystical zone you are going to enter into. Be very clear, the skills of intuition reside in all of

us. They have been clouded by the impact of samskaras. Let me now describe how a mind-body system that is free from samskaras will improve intuition and innovation.

Impact of samskaras on intuition and innovation

Intuition is a wonderful subject. If you ask modern day CEOs, how they took major decisions in their lives, what caused the turning point in their lives, again and again their answer surprises us. Again and again they tell us that their success came from something beyond their intellect, something that gave them the energy or the guts to take the decisions. This is not just the case with successful CEOs, it is the same with scientists also.

The other day I had a chance to have lunch with Dr Charles Townes* . I asked him 'Sir, how did your discovery happen? How were you able to do it?' He answered in a beautiful way, 'I was just sitting in a park in Washington DC; suddenly something happened. The conclusion was there in me. Suddenly the conclusion was revealed to me. I penned down what I experienced. Now I had a big difficulty. I had the conclusion but not the steps. I was not able to present this to anybody else because I knew only the conclusion, I didn't know the steps.'

This happened not only with Charles Townes* , it had also happened with Albert Einstein* . He says, 'Whatever new happened to me, came through intuition and not through intellect.' He summed it up beautifully, saying, 'The intuitive mind is a sacred gift, the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.'

Whether we believe it or not or accept it or not, there is something called intuition. Of course, even Albert Einstein says this is a gift, because we are not sure when it will come and whether it will come or not.

But yogis, the mystics, say again and again, you can work for it and you can be sure about it. You don't have to think that intuition is a gift. You canwork for it. It

Dr Charles Townes - Nobel laureate in physics for work related to MASER and LASER. Albert Einstein - Scientist and Nobel laureate.

can become a part of your life. Whatever new things have happened, have happened only through intuition, only when something has happened beyond your intellect and your whole being is integrated.

When you are at your peak, something opens. You may call it revelation or intuition, which happens beyond intellect. Mystics have again and again said that it is a science. If you can tune yourself to this intuition or this energy, which is continuously available in your being, you can use this in your regular life. Mystics again and again say it is an incident, you can make it happen. They know how to make it happen. We will see how you can awaken that power inside your being. We will see how the intuitive skills can be linked to the workings of the mind which I discussed earlier.

Before we discuss intuition in greater detail, let us first dispel the myths that intuition is some kind of a 'fluke' of nature. I would like you to understand that intuition is a skill that can be developed just as any other skills that you acquire. It comes from you, from no one else! Because we have not experienced that zone, that part, that dimension of our being, we have forgotten it.

Someone asked me in a meditation program, 'I remember someone and the next moment the phone rings and he is there on the line. I remember someone at a party and next moment I see him.' I asked the people in the program if this kind of an incidence had happened to them at least once in their lifetime. More than seventy percent of the people said this had happened! If it happens in one person's life once, you can say it is a coincidence. But if it happens with seventy percent of people, it cannot be called a coincidence! There is more to it. There is some logic behind it.

We may not be able to know logically but we cannot brush it aside. When you know the logic, we call it an incident. When you don't know the logic, you call it a coincidence. Nothing can happen without a cause on planet earth. It is always cause and effect. When you know the cause and effect link, you call it an incident. When you don't know, you call it a coincidence.

In trying to understand the process of intuition, let us refer back to the mind map we discussed earlier. We talked about how the process of taking information from a sense such as the eye works through chakshu* (Digital Signal Processor), chitta* (memory), manas* (mind) and then takes a

Chakshu - Energy behind the power of sight. Chitta - Memory. Manas- Mind.

quantum jump to the ego where the decisions are clouded by samskaras or engraved memories.

The process in the gap between the eye and mind is conscious. You are aware of this process. It happens with your awareness. But you are not aware about the mind to ego process. Many a time, the process happens without your awareness. You decide against your logic. You decide against your thought process. For example, according to the data that you have collected, you know that smoking is injurious to health, it is not good for your body or mind. But when the mind takes an unconscious leap to the ego, you simply take the decision to smoke!

The conscious process says, 'No, it is not good for health.' But the unconscious process says…it doesn't even say, it just takes the decision and you execute. These decisions are not under your control because the unconscious is very powerful.

The unconscious can be used in three ways – at the instinct level, intellect level and intuition level. As long as the unconscious is filled with negative memories and restlessness, it works at the instinct level. You decide just instinctively. You don't even know why you are angry. Suddenly you burst. Sometimes, when you see some activities or some words that you speak, you feel it is not me. You do something and then you think, 'This is not me, how did I do it? How did I allow this to happen?' This happens because the unconscious is working in the instinct level.

Many times, you just associate things without even any logical connection. For example, if you have been disturbed by somebody who was wearing a white dress, the moment you see somebody wearing a white dress, the past memory comes up and you feel the anger. This is the instinct level. Without your conscious mind, without even you understanding, just like that it happens.

If your unconscious is loaded with samskaras, if your unconscious is restless, you will be at the instinct level. The next is the intellect level. You are conscious but you don't have enough enthusiasm. You just go with a conscious mind but you are not creative, not innovative. You don't take big steps, you don't grow. It is just like a faithful servant as Albert Einstein* says. The intellect is a faithful servant. You can be a servant throughout your life. You can be just a servant, but nothing more or big can happen through you. You will be collecting the data, processing it and delivering it, nothing more than a computer. If you are standing only at the intellect level, you are not using your

Albert Einstein - Scientist and Nobel laureate.

potential to the maximum, to the extent to which it is supposed to be used.

The next is intuition. To understand intuition you need to go deep into the whole science. Only then you will be able to understand what I mean by the word 'intuition'. Intuition is something which happens to you beyond your intellect. Suddenly you know for sure that this is the right thing and you have enough energy also to do it. But you don't know the steps how you came to the conclusion but you know for sure this is right.

This energy is needed whenever you are faced with a situation where there is no precedence - when you are stuck with minimum data and you need to take decisions or you have a lot of choices and you are not able to decide what you are supposed to do. In these type of situations, the intuition energy can help you. The intuitive power can give you the courage or give you the right choice. Intuition again and again gives you the energy not only to decide but to execute what you have decided.

People ask me, 'How do I find out whether I am having intuition or I am just intellectual? Sometimes I am confused about whether it is intellect or intuition.' I tell them, be very clear, if you are confused, it is only intellect. The very confusion shows that it is only intellect. When you experience intuition, not only you get the intellectual clarity, the answer, but you also get enough power to execute it. The potential power which is inside your being is just unleashed. You open up and just like that you start expressing it, executing it.

Now the next question: How to awaken the intuition? How to awaken the intuitive power? If you can consciously give rest to it for a while, the energy which is in that unconscious level will open up. Usually when the unconscious level energy opens up, first whatever we suppressed will come out. Next, a pure energy which we call intuition will start to express.

When pure energy starts expressing from the unconscious level, you don't use the unconscious at the instinct level or intellectual level. You use it for intuition. The higher level energy starts happening in you. And of course, above all, the mystics demonstrated to us over thousands of years that the higher level energy heals you physically, mentally and emotionally. Apart from healing, this can help reduce the stress and help decide spontaneously.

Spontaneity has nothing to do with data which you collect, it is something to do with the way in which you process the data. The same data, same information can be processed in many ways. Intuition is all about how you process and how you come to the conclusion beyond your intellect.

We can prepare ourselves, we can tune ourselves to this intuitive energy through techniques and methods which we call meditation. In the East we use the word 'meditation' to tune ourselves with the higher energy, which is in our being, which continuously invites us again and again to experience it. Whenever you find time, sit by yourself. You can always see, we give appointment to everybody, but never give appointment to ourselves. If you have given appointment to yourself, you can always see that some part of your being wants to express, wants to do something more, but we never give chance or time to that part, to that portion of our being. We are so caught up with our intellect. We think that our intellect is the ultimate, but again and again mystics prove something more than intellect is possible.

In any discovery or invention, you can see that the role of intuition is always there. Whether it is Albert Einstein or Isaac Newton* , they have had something beyond intellect. Something beyond intellect has happened in them. This same energy exists in all of us. This energy can also express in all of us if we can tune ourselves to that energy. Tuning ourselves to that energy is what I call meditation.

At the end of this chapter I have given you a simple technique to cleanse yourself of the samskarasand awaken this dormant energy just after a few days of practice. When I say a few days, I mean just 2 or 3 days. This is more than enough to tune yourself with this intuition. As of now, we are using this unconscious energy either at the instinct level or the intellect level. It can be tuned and you can use it at the intuition level to make the decision.

Let me give some more information on the subject of intuition since it is very important for you to convince yourself that:

1. There is something called intuition that exists in all of us.

2. It exists in you and you can express it in yourself!

Your mind works through instinct, intellect and intuition. Through instinct, your mind decides unconsciously by negative memory and restlessness. If you are disturbed by a white dress, a nurse would disturb you unconsciously. Through intellect you work at the conscious level but not energetically, not enthusiastically. You work as a computer, as a robot.

In intuition, you suddenly know what is right. You don't know how, but you have energy. You have minimum data, no precedence. You have many choices, and suddenly one pops up. Intuition gives you the power to decide and implement.

Isaac Newton - Physicist and mathematician, pioneer of classical physics.

Let me explain this in another way.

We have two levels of consciousness and two levels of thoughts. In the waking state you have 'I' consciousness and thoughts (conscious state, called jagrat in Sanskrit). In dreams you have thoughts but no 'I' consciousness. The frequency of thoughts is more than the frequency of 'I' consciousness. That is why in the dream state (subconscious state, called swapna in Sanskrit), you cannot control your dreams. The dreams will happen as they want.

But in the waking state, you can control your thoughts. In deep sleep you have neither 'I' consciousness nor thoughts (unconscious state, called sushupti in Sanskrit). There is a fourth state which you have never experienced, what I call intuition or meditation. In this state, you have 'I' consciousness but no thoughts. There is no term in the domain of psychology to describe this state. In Sanskrit this state is called sushupti. This is what I call meditation or intuition or thoughtless awareness. This state is also called the state of samadhi. If you can experience this zone, this fourth state, you can experience the consciousness, what I call beyond intellect. It is the state where there is bliss or peace or intuition.

The practical use of this fourth state is it can give you so much of creativity, courage and confidence, you can decide spontaneously. The ability to take spontaneous decisions is what I call responsibility. The more you are able to decide spontaneously, the more you become responsible. There are so many situations where you cannot work with just data. First of all, data will not be available, or very little data will be available. There will be no precedence like decisions taken by your elders etc. So in these type of situations, you need something more than what you call intellect, you need something beyond just your data. You need what I call the 'thoughtless awareness'. If you experience just a glimpse, not only in your life at office or at the corporate level, even in your relationships, it can totally transform you.

There are so many other benefits when this state is experienced. You will see tremendous improvement in your relationships at all levels, in the organization and in your personal life. Relationship failures happen because of

Sushupti or samadhi where there is thoughtless awareness is the space where intuition and intelligence is expressed.

our unconscious mind. The unconscious mind is sometimes also called the reactive mind. In the reactive mind we are always

collecting arguments and then passing judgments on some person or a particular incident. You decide he or she is wrong, then you go around collecting some arguments to support your judgment. It means you are only working at the instinct level.

Sometimes instinct and intuition look the same. People ask me how to differentiate. In intuition, you will be tremendously energetic and alive. With instinct, you will feel tremendously drained. Whenever you use your intellect and feel drained, be very clear you are working at the instinct level. Many times, when you work from anger and other emotions, you just decide instinctively, then you understand and think: why did I do this? Then you feel guilt. Guilt is the gift from the unconsciousness or the unconscious decision-making.

If we can experience this fourth state what I call meditation, surely we will be able to harness the energy, which is in our being, what I call intuition. This fourth state was not explored by the modern Freudian system of psychology. But this fourth state of sushupti or samadhi where there is thoughtless awareness is the space where intuition and intelligence is expressed. It is an untapped state in most people and organizations. Those who can consciously tap this state can get tremendous personal and organizational benefits.

In conclusion, being a true leader is to be able to function from the plane of intuition rather than logic, to have complete clarity in decision-making, and thus to make decisions and execute efficiently, accurately and in a stress-free manner.

Meditation technique

Mahamantra meditation

The Mahamantra meditation is an ancient Tibetan Buddhist technique to awaken the anahata chakra, located at the heart center. This meditation makes your mind firm and stable. Your mind is all the time oscillating with thoughts. This meditation makes your mind still by making it enter into the zone of no-mind. It is like a jumping board into infinity.

It should be done on an empty stomach, preferably early in the morning, or two hours after any meal. It can be done either alone or with a group. When done with a group, it effectively energizes the place where it is done.

Instructions

Total Duration: 30 minutes

Step 1: Duration: 20 minutes

Sit cross-legged in a comfortable position on the floor. Your head, neck and spine should be in a straight line. If you are not able to sit on the floor, you may sit on a chair. Feel relaxed and close your eyes. Even after we close our eyes, we see forms and images from behind the eyelids. To handle this, imagine that your eyeballs have become stone-like. Just harden them with mental pressure, then the images will die. The movement of our eyes is very closely related to the movement of thoughts in our mind. That is why you are asked to arrest the movement of your eyeballs. Don't be too worried about keeping them arrested. Just proceed with the meditation.

Keep your lips together and produce the sound 'Mmmm…' from inside. If you were to put your face inside an empty aluminum vessel and make a humming sound, the sound generated would be like this. Note that this is not 'Hum…' or 'Om…', it is simply keeping your lips together and producing the sound 'Mmmm…'. This humming should be as lengthy as possible before taking the next breath. It should also be as deep as possible, from the navel center, and as loud as possible.

Don't make an effort to take in a deep breath after every 'Mmmm', the body itself will take breaths when needed. Don't become tense. Put in your whole being and energy into creating this vibration. Just become the humming. Let your whole body be filled with the vibration of the humming. After some time, you will feel that the humming continues without your effort and that you have become simply a listener to it!

The humming is a powerful means of bringing your awareness to the present moment. If you hum intensely, you cannot have any thought at that time. So your Thoughts Per Second (TPS) automatically comes down. The energy generated by the humming cleanses the energy blocks in the mind-body system.

When you are intensely humming, all the ideas which you have about you will be completely shaken. Like an earthquake, this is a technique for a 'mind-quake'!

Step 2: Duration: 10 minutes

After stopping the humming, keep your eyes closed and remain silent and inactive with a smiling face and blissful mood. If any thought comes to you, let it come. Simply watch your mind as if you are watching the television, without resisting your thoughts or passing any judgment on them. Remain silent and blissful. During this time, the energy created by the humming will enter all the corners of your being and cleanse it deeply. It establishes you in the awareness of the present moment. This awareness is all that is needed to dissolve the negativities, bring clarity and enable you to experience your true potential.

Whether we lead or whether we follow, in order to be fulfilled in whatever we do, we need to be intense.

A small story:

A Zen master and a disciple were walking along the banks of a river. The disciple, as he had done a few times before, asked the master very longingly, 'Master, please give me enlightenment.'

Suddenly the master turned, held the disciple's head in his hand and pushed it into the river. The disciple was shocked and started struggling to get his head above water. The master continued to strongly hold his head in the water. Now the disciple started gasping for breath. The master then released the surprised and completely shaken disciple.

The master asked, 'Do you feel you want enlightenment with the same intensity that you felt you needed air to breathe when your head was in the water?'

Only when the urge becomes urgent, when the question becomes a quest, does the Ultimate happen. The key factor needed for enlightenment to happen is intensity.

What is Intensity

You see, usually we feel a terrible restlessness towards the outer world, 'I have not done this, I have not done that' and so on. The same restlessness when directed to the

Only when the urge becomes urgent, when the question becomes a quest, does the Ultimate happen.

inner world is called intensity.

You do not know what is happening, you do not know what should be done, but the deep dissatisfaction about what is there in the inner space is what I call intensity.

You may be wondering why I am teaching dissatisfaction. I am supposed to teach satisfaction, right? I tell you, your dissatisfaction, which is now directed towards the outer world, has to turn towards the inner world, and only then it will lead to satisfaction.

First thing which needs to happen is not satisfaction but the turning of direction, the psychological revolution. Restlessness should become intensity. If it is towards the outer world, if your consciousness is constantly moving towards the outer world, it is called restlessness. If it is moving towards the inner world, it is called intensity.

The meaning of intensity is that desperate feeling that something needs to be done immediately, to break free from the clutches, or to break free in the inner world.

Intensity does not create conflict inside or outside. It flows smoothly and yet very strongly.

Intensity is not emotion. When you are intense, one part of it may be emotional.

But intensity cannot be called emotion. It is like heat. The part of intensity that melts and comes out can be called emotion. For example, when you integrate yourself with intensity, one part of you melts. Let us say the heart melts, then that can be called emotion. Along with your heart, your intellect will also melt, your being will also melt. The side-effect of intensity is emotion.

Do not bother about what your intensity should be about. Do not bother about 'towards what'. It should become a quality. Anything you do, whether you touch something or somebody or some object, let the intensity be there, even in that touch.

If you are talking, let the intensity be there. In your relationships, in your decisions, in your memory, in your thinking, in your desires, even in your fears, be intense without escaping from this moment. That is what I call intensity.

Intensity means radiating the energy that does not create any conflict inside and outside. Intensity is intensely being inside you.

Intensity does not create conflict inside or outside. It flows smoothly and yet very strongly.

We always think if it is flowing smoothly like a river, it will not have intensity, and if it is intense like a stone it will not be flowing freely. No. Intensity is like a flood which is intense and flowing.

I have seen some people intensely creating conflict every moment! Anything you tell them to do, they will be ready to create a conflict.

A small story:

A prisoner escaped from prison after twelve years and reached his home. The moment his wife opened the door she started shouting, 'How dare you come so late! You escaped from prison twenty four hours before. Where have you been? You should have come straight back home!'

All that the woman was bothered about was why he was not back home right after he had escaped.

She certainly was intense, but only in creating conflicts.

Real intensity does not create conflicts. It is flowing but intense.

Intensity is integration. Intensity is focus. Intensity is sincerity.

The father of Yoga, Patanjali, says, 'Success is nearest to those whose efforts are intense and sincere.'

You see, no river needs a navigator to the ocean. There are no signboards needed for any river, 'Here is the ocean.' Yet all rivers reach the ocean. They reach the destination. When your whole energy moves in one direction as a whole, you can move easily. When you are intense and ready to flow you will achieve the goal, that's all.

Usually intensity leads to a solid feeling. You may be intense but you may have lost the ability to flow. Or you may be flowing but may have lost the intensity.

See, you may be intense but you may have lost the ability to flow, because you are driven by your ego. You are determined to achieve what you want but you have your own rigid ideas about how to get there. You fail to understand then that Existence can make events happen in a much more beautiful and effective way than you can plan.

I tell my disciples, plan in the best way to the best of your ability. Then, leave it. It may seem that all your plans are being completely trampled. Don't get frustrated at that point. Something much more beautiful than what you had planned will come to life.

The other possibility is that you may be flowing but may have lost the intensity. This is the

Intensity does not mean acting rigidly without scope for updating and change.

case with people who have no focus and waste their energies getting distracted by anything that comes by.

Understand, water becomes steam only at 100 degrees Celsius. Even at 99 degrees C, it is still water. It does not transform to steam. In the same way, if you are not integrated in seeking, all your energies are not integrated. The total transformation cannot happen.

Take up something and follow it with full intensity. Intensity does not mean acting rigidly without scope for updating and change. Only when you are open to change you can make your way like the river flowing intensely towards the ocean.

A small story:

A man moved into a small, remote county. One day while driving he stopped at a gas station to fill gas. The gas station owner started talking casually and started complaining about the local mayor. This man who had come to the city newly just heard him and did not reply.

If you are not integrated in seeking, the total transformation cannot happen.

After some time, he drove further and stopped at another place

to ask for directions. There also, he started enquiring about the county. That person also started complaining about the mayor. After half an hour, he reached his destination. There also the people were talking ill and complaining about the mayor.

The next day, the man decided to meet the mayor. He got an appointment with the mayor. In his conversation, he asked the mayor curiously, 'Sir, if I may ask, how much do you get paid for your job?'

The mayor replied, 'Money? I accepted this job just for the honor of it!'

Understand, the mayor is thinking he is doing the job for the honor of it but the people who are living in the county are experiencing something totally different.

You decide and take up something to do. You do not verify whether that decision is being executed or not and whether the purpose for which you decided is still relevant or not.

The burning Intensity

There is a beautiful story from one of the ancient vedictexts:

A disciple goes to a master and asks him, 'Master, give me enlightenment.' The master just says, 'Tat tvam asi' nine times.

'Tat tvam asi' means 'That Art Thou'. It is called a mahavakya, the statement that straightaway gives enlightenment. The 'vakya' or the statement that straightaway leads you to the experience of the 'mahat', the cosmos, is mahavakya.

Nine times, the master repeats 'Tat tvam asi' and the disciple is enlightened. The story ends.

Is it so simple? Then why is it not happening in us? What is missing in us? What is the difference between us and that disciple?

The disciple was fully integrated, burning to receive the truth.

Look at the oyster. It is waiting for the rain water to make the pearl. When the rain water falls, she just carries the rain water into her womb and goes down into the ocean. The process happens on the rain water, and the pearl results.

The oyster will be waiting with the mouth wide open on the waters of the ocean. She will be just waiting for the rain water. She cannot take the salt water and make the pearl. She needs pure rain water. The moment one drop of rain water falls on her, immediately she will go into the deepest layer of the ocean and she will start doing the process. She will come out with the pearl.

In the same way, those words the master utters will straightaway enter only into that person who is seeking intensely with open being for the initiation. He carries those words with him and sits inside his inner space. The process happens and out comes the pearl of enlightenment.

For the intense seeker, even a few words are enough. He will suddenly see the being blossoming, expanding and expressing itself.

The intensity and the openness of the disciple are like the wide open mouth of the oyster.

The words of the master are like the rain water. When the words of the master enter the being of the disciple intensely burning for the Truth, the pearl of enlightenment happens.

Becoming Vs Being

When you are intense, you just are. You don't need to become, you just need to be.

We know so many ways of becoming. Becoming is totally different from being. To become a doctor we know what has to be done, to become a lawyer we know what has to be done, to become a politician we know what has to be done. All our knowledge is all about becoming. Becoming is directly related to the mind. Being is When the words of the Master enter the being of the disciple intensely burning for the Truth, the pearl of enlightenment happens.

directly related to your nature. Becoming is related to society, being is related to you. We know only how to become something. We forgot an important factor, how to be.

Because our inner space has become too much corrupted with the concept of becoming, we lost touch with the idea of being. We lost touch with our very truth which is being.

The healing touch of being

If you can experience your being at least for one moment, so many things that you accumulated when you wanted to 'become' something like physical illness, mental illness, suffering, sorrow, and all those things - will be washed away. You will experience the inner healing. Whatever was disturbing you, all the wounds, will be washed away.

Above all you will have a real, concrete solid base to become something. Even

Being complete, total, integrated, expressing your full energy, is what I call 'being'.

becoming something will be a great success if you start after

experi-encing being. Without experiencing the being, if you start or if you try to become something, you will be an utter failure.

'Being' is Intensity

What is being? Being complete, total, integrated, expressing your full energy, is what I call 'being'. If you are partial in your experience or expression, be very clear you are being hypocritical.

Intensity in anger

Even your anger is hypocritical. You just choose whether to express your anger or not. Your anger is also directly related to your logic.

You never get angry beyond your logic. It is always managed by your logic. You analyze, 'Am I going to lose anything here in this situation?' If you are sure you are going to lose something, you just suppress your anger. If you are clear, 'I am not going to lose anything. I can shout at this person. What can he do?', then you just explode and express much more anger than what is necessary. Whatever you have stored in stock, you open up everything and give!

Not expressing, not suppressing – just be and get liberated

Be very clear, when your logic manages your anger, you will have two problems. First, you unnecessarily shout or unnecessarily show your anger when it is not necessary. Second, even when you are not expressing, you will be suppressing it.

First, if you are expressing, you will be expressing too much, much more than what is necessary. Next, if you are not expressing, you will be suppressing it. Be very clear, both are wrong.

Suppressing and expressing both are not going to help. You may ask, 'Then what are we supposed to do?' You are not asked to do anything, just be.

J. Krishnamurthi * says beautifully, whenever an emotion overtakes you, if even once you can just be without moving your body, without co-operating with your emotion, you will be liberated from that emotion.

J. Krishnamurthi - Renowned Indian philosopher.

If you stay without moving your body when you are flooded or overpowered by any emotion, even once, immediately you will be liberated from that emotion. I am not saying you have to constantly practice this. No, just once, only once, and you will be liberated from that very emotion.