78. Before your time expires, come away running.

Next meal you are going to eat is in a five star hotel.

You are going to eat very tasty food!

They serve you the best dishes of the world.

You are enormously satisfied.

But, at the very end of your meal, you happen to bite a hot green chilly.

The irritation and burning sensation given by that single chilly would wipe away in a second, the joyous feeling you had had, as well as the dream of satisfaction which you felt from your mouth to your brain, saying, 'Oh! What taste! What taste!'

From the state of mind you had prior to your having the royal feast, you would now be pushed to a very bad state. Do you understand?

Man has seen all the possibilities of world's happiness.

That life is a royal feast for him.

If pain catches hold of him when the feast of life is about to end...

If pain and dis-satisfaction catch you at the time when life is going to leave the body, what is the use of having lived?

The few moments when our end is near should be pleasant moments.

When the feast ends, it should be a tasteful ending. Death is an art.

To say it more correctly, the very living itself is to meet that auspicious incident only. Is it not?

Should we not prepare for that!

The deep secrets about this 'art of dying', I will explain in NSP (Nithya Spurana Programme) meditation programme. Pages are not sufficient to express that here.

To say it briefly, it is possible to prepare man to die comfortably. For that it is enough if certain specific meditations are done. Both body and mind will become prepared for that.

Before your life ends, come running towards the path of meditation.

You will learn the art of remaining blissful while living as well as while dying.

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90. Duty, compassion, control.

In France, the cost of education of the children is borne by the government. There Kuljith's wife told Kuljith, who was living lazily, 'I feel ashamed.'

Kuljith said, 'I too feel ashamed!' When the wife asked, 'How do you say that you too feel ashamed, even without knowing which subject I am referring to?' Unable to reply, Kuljith was just looking here and there. Then he said emphatically, 'All right, first tell me what you wanted to say.'

His wife said, 'The government looks after the children. You are not going for any work and your company gives you mercy pension. My dad looks after house-hold expenses. Your brother buys us clothes every year. My brother takes care of the car expenses. Don't you feel ashamed because of these things?'

Kuljith said, 'Yes! I also feel ashamed. Even though so many have done so much, your younger brother alone has not spent money for us. This is a great insult to us.'

• It is the duty of others to do anything for me. To accept it is my mercy. This is the manner in which every one's sub-conscious mind functions. There is no other folly other than getting caught in the net of duty and mercy. To do your duty, you have to go past this folly.

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• Duty! Duty! Having run like this, the lives of many have changed for duty. They have begun to live for duty. This is cruelty.
• Mercy (Compassion) is a zealous energy. Only when duty remains as an expression of mercy, life will be interesting. One can live with enthusiasm.
• If you help your relatives out of compulsion instead of helping them out of enthusiasm due to compassion, then the service may well be completed. But your individual need which is bliss will not be fulfilled. Bliss only is your true individual need.
• It is duty only if service is done out of compassion. If done due to compulsion, it is not duty. It is folly. Is your service a duty or a folly?

For a lady who was doing service as her duty for 30 years towards a religious preacher in Bengal, suddenly a doubt arose in her mind, 'Is he truly a spiritual person?'

Immediately in order to test him, she made an agreement with a prostitute. As per the agreement, that night the prostitute should trouble the preacher. Make him lose his mental balance.

As decided, that night, the young girl arrived there. 'Whom are you testing, foolish girl. I am fire. Immediately vacate this place', the preacher shouted angrily. And without giving it due thought not taking into account that it was night time, he sent away that trembling girl.

The lady came to know what had happened from the prostitute. The lady said, 'Being 50 years old, he should have some maturity. He should practice what he has preached so far. By sending you away he has prevented both of you from committing a sin. But what a greater sin he has made by sending you away in the middle of the night without any thought for your safety. He has behaved like an ordinary average man by shouting angrily without having any self control.'

The lady thought to herself, 'Have I served a person who does not have even the basic spiritual quality of compassion, all these days? How does it matter if such a person is alive or dead?' Having said this with dejection, the lady vacated that place that night itself and went away.

• Mere duty is imitation. Doing your duty without compassion, will act with some aim of the sub-conscious mind as its centre. It will give disgust sooner or later.

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Moorg Mukundan had gone to attend a wedding. He was talking to everybody at the wedding. Opposite house Rajan, on seeing Mukundan, asked, 'Then, are you fine?'

Mukundan said, 'Oh yes. By God's grace, I am fine'. Saying this as he dragged on, Rajan said, 'Oh, no. Mukund! I just asked you that because it is my duty to ask you if you are fine. Living opposite your house, do I not know your troubles? Don't trouble yourself to tell me very big lies.' So saying he winked with meaning and made fun.

Mukundan laughed with embarrassment.

After talking about some common topics, when he was taking leave, Rajan said, 'Tell everyone in your house that I asked after them.'

Mukundan said, 'Surely I will tell them. But ...' as he was dragging, Rajan eagerly asked, 'What is it Mukundan?'

Mukundan said, 'In my house if I tell them that you asked after them they will ask me if I found out whether you needed anything. They would say that you are a shy person so you would not say what you wanted and that I should have asked you if you wanted anything. What can I do?" When Mukundan replied this way, Rajan managed, 'Hee, hee, I said that just for the sake of formality.'

In this manner only, in the name of duty, customs and formalities many matters continue to go on without any meaning.

Duty should not be done with the attitude, 'Oh! It is just a duty!' Duty should not become life's compulsion, and should not also bind or control man.

Duty should be done with great enthusiasm and joy. It should be done enthusiastically and it should be done independently.

Duty and compassion are inter-related very closely. If duty happens to be an expression of compassion, it will keep the person doing the duty in enormous joy.

If the duty happens to be an outcome of compulsion, it will make the person performing the duty, fall in misery.

Duty can create problems for man depending upon the motivating power or reason behind doing the duty.

Is the power or reason one of compulsion that it sucks away one's energy or is it the happy energy of compassion? Depending upon which it is, we can decide whether duty is a pain or a pleasure.

On account of boundless grace and compassion, Lord Krishna says, 'Do your duty, don't expect the result' this is Krishna's Ananda Tatva (Bliss principle). It is Karmanandam.

This statement of Lord Krishna can be easily misunderstood by Krishnaswamy or Govindaswamy.

The bliss which Krishna had will not be there with any average person.

Without bliss, compassion can never blossom.

Without possessing the causal energy called bliss, when our Krishnaswamy or Govindaswami go in for doing a duty out of compulsion, there is more possibility for the duty to give more pain than pleasure. It is very essential that compassion should blossom within us.

Mystics are the epitome of such grace and compassion. Here is the story of Zen Master on his last day which clearly explains this compassion that Masters feel all the time towards everybody.

Enlightened Masters (Mystics) can foretell their death. Moreover, the death of a Zen Master would be conducted as a celebration.

A Zen Master told his disciples, 'I have completed my duties. Today at 6 in the evening, I will leave my body.'

Right from noon, many were waiting to hear the last words of their 102 year old Master.

Time was ticking away. It was 5.30pm... 5.40pm... Till then, the Master was only sitting silently.

He blessed the disciples one by one. But he did not speak even a single word.

When it was 5.50 in the evening, the Master got up, and put on his shoes, and started along with his walking stick.

Disciples asked him, 'Where are you going? You said you were going to leave the body in ten minutes.'

The Master said, 'To my tomb'.

The disciples asked in shock, 'What? What do you say? Why should you go to the tomb now?'

'I don't want to trouble any one. After I leave the body, you have to carry the body on your shoulder. Then everyone has to be ready for the procession. Why this unnecessary trouble? That's why I am walking to my tomb.' As he was talking, the Master reached his tomb.

The time was 5.59pm. The Zen Master went into the tomb and lay by himself.

The time was 6.00pm. After a smile, he closed his eyes, and separated himself from the body.

Thinking about the manner in which their Master conducted himself even in his last moments, his actions speaking louder than his words, the Zen disciples celebrated their Master's death throughout that night.

Their Master rendered help to his students even in his last moments. He did not wish to trouble them even at the time of his death. The causal energy responsible for such behavior is the compassion of the Master.

• The rules and regulations of the society will drive one to do his duty.
• Because of having done the duty, mind will expect the result.
• The controls will condemn the expectation of the results.

The peace of mind of the man, who is caught up in the society, mind and controls will be attacked from all the above three aspects. His independence will be controlled.

The happy matter of, 'Do the duty with joy. Do not expect the results.'

Do the duty as told by the society!

Be happy as told by the mind!

Do not expect the results as told by the morals.

-- With these contradictions, when duty becomes compulsion, then only duty becomes difficult.

When duty becomes a compulsion, it controls.

A very easy way to remain peaceful and joyful and still do your duty is to make the compassion blossom within you.

If compassion blossoms, even work is joy only. While doing it with excessive joy, we can even do our duty with independence, with comfort and with our own volition.

Make compassion blossom within you.------------

A meaningful incident.

Taegu, who delivered a discourse under the heading, 'Who is a fool?' said again...

'You are born for your sake. You have grown up for your sake. But if you have lived for somebody or some thing, then what does that mean? Who is the fool? Should there not be justice...'

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Meditation chisels. Chisel No.45.

Let 'impossible' become impossible!

Do not pronounce the word 'impossible' immediately.

It is only this word that peeps out of the mind during such times when you are afraid to apply and use your full energy.

If you give importance to this word, life's rare opportunities will be slipping away from your hands. The mental discontentments will remain as it is.

Importance must be given only to the opportunities. Not for the words like 'impossible', which have the quality of making you lame.

Whether it is practice in the outer world, or practice in the inner world, let it be duty, or let it be compassion...

In order to succeed in whatever you take up, To be victorious in whatever job you commence,

Ignore the word, 'impossible' and continue trying...You will complete it.

Such a condition or state will arise when you will not be able to pronounce 'impossible'.

Even what is impossible, will be possible for you!