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Let me give you an idea about karma. Whenever an action has been started, but not fulfilled, there exists a force that pulls you to fulfil it, to bring it to completion. This force is karma. Whatever you have tasted, desired but not experienced ultimately, will continuously draw you to repeat that very experience, till you feel fulfilment. You will keep repeating that action till you actually become that experience. Because you are fulfilment. You enter the body just to fulfil this action. In the course of fulfilment you meet all these things, these 'troubles'. This is the explanation which I give for karma. All the other words - it is because of my bad karma that I got this disease / it is because of my good karma that I met Swamiji - all these are just things we say after the event has happened. Whatever has happened, we give it the name karma. The word karma is much misunderstood. I am not giving you an explanation work towards being set free. Someone once asked me, what if the cow learns to bite and break the rope? First of all, do you know where the rope is? To which limb it is tied? Where it begins and ends? Where to bite? How to bite? With an ordinary cow and rope, the cow can see these things. You people don't even know what or where your rope is! So whatever I can give you is only a glimpse, an inspiration to enter into me, to enter into the experience. Dearest Swamiji, since the mind is Before I can answer that, you need to understand the working of the mind. The mind is a composite of 4 functions: manas (the part that recieves only 'inner chatter', is it necessary to drop the intellect in order to approach the divine? information about the outer world from your senses), chitta (the memory or record of cosmic knowledge), buddhi (intellect) and ahankaar (ego). Beyond all these is the atman (self). All information is tracked through these areas of the mind. For instance, when you see a marigold flower, the nonverbal information, 'yellow flower' is absorbed by your manas from the eyes. This information is sent to chitta, which matches it against all records of flowers previously seen, and determines whether this particular flower is a familiar one. The file then passes to the buddhi, which concludes that the yellow flower is a marigold, it is large, it is not a fragrant flower and so on. The comes the turn of the ahankaar, which is in charge of generating [When Intelligence awakens, the ego dies a natural death.] opinions based on self-interest, e.g. 'I like this flower', or 'I think the neighbours' garden has better marigolds' or whatever. Based on the information supplied by the ahankaar, the atman decides the Plan of Action: 'Pick the flower!' or 'Water the flower! or 'Throw it out!' The unfortunate thing about this arrangement is that by the time the information reaches the atman, it has already been filtered by the ahankaar - with the result that what you see and act upon is not reality, but only a subverted version of reality that the ego wants you to see. No wonder you remain in ignorance and confusion, and come to the conclusion that inner chatter is all that the mind is capable of! When intelligence awakens, the ego dies a natural death. For the first time, the atman takes direct conrol of the situation. It's like President's Rule! Tremendous sources of energy open up and become available. The absorption of information no longer depends only on the five senses. Consequently, information processing and decision-making become infinitely swifter and more efficient - with the result that it appears miraculous to ordinary eyes. This is the state in which yogis fly or teleport objects and perform other such miracles. This is the magical state which is perceived as being in harmony with the Divine. So you see, to approach the Divine, what you should be willing to drop is not the mind or the intellect, but only the ego. Don't make the mistake of throwing out the baby with the bathwater! Dearest Swamiji, when a relationship is not working out, when should we persevere and when should we abandon it and get on with our lives? I think what you are asking me is, just how much conflict should one be prepared to put up with in a relationship? Right? Love is the most dangerous path there is! Only those with great courage dare tread this path. At any bend on this path you have to be prepared for great joy, great pain, great beauty, great struggle, great understanding. Yes, there is bound to be conflict in every relationship, because every individual is unique, and no two personalities fit together so perfectly that no rough edges remain. If there is conflict, don't sweep it under the carpet out of fear that it will destroy the relationship. On the contrary, ignoring it can do just that. Allow the conflict. Examine it. See what you can learn from it. Is it stemming from something in yourself that you are secretly unwilling to acknowledge? It is only in an intimate relationship that you discover yourself. Your partner is like a foil reflecting your true nature. After all, who else dares point out your

So examine the nature of your conflict. Also remember, in every relationship, there is a time to stay together and a time to move on. What kind of love do you share? Are you really, truly, surely in love? Do you relate deeply with each other, being to being? Don't look for reasons and arguments, don't intellectualise the process - simply turn the question inwards with complete honesty and trust. The answer will arise on its own. If your answer is Yes, then understand that the issues of conflict are mere ripples on the surface of your relationship. These are just situations created by the ego to counter the sense of 'no-self', of surrender, that comes with love. Work around these situations with love and care. If the answer you are hearing is No, then maybe it is time to move on. To [There is a time for holding on, and a time for moving on.] remain in a relationship where there is no true relationship of being to being is sacrilege, unfair to you both. Love, for you, may be elsewhere. Don't search for it; just be open to the possibility. In the meantime, don't let the conflict destroy the relationship, destroy you both. Nobody deserves that. Accept that this is not the person for you, and move away without resentment or bitterness. Don't destroy your own capacity for loving. To become bitter will only cause you more suffering, and destroy your faith in Love itself. And that is the most dangerous thing that can happend to anyone.

To start with, it will help to realise that suffering is not an event in your life - it is a response to an event. Whether you suffer or not in a particular situation depends entirely on your reaction to that situation. When do you undergo suffering? When you fall ill? When your neighbour gets a new car? When your partner leaves you for someone else? Well, suppose you decided to just accept these situations without anger or resentment. Just as they are, so be it. Would you still suffer as much? After all, there is nothing inherently painful about your neighbour getting a new car. Even if there is pain in the moment, as when a loved one leaves, you cannot wish it away. Try to accept the inevitability of the moment, without reaction. [Nothing can make you suffer without your permission.] It is ONLY your negative response to an experience that allows it to hurt you. Don't you see, no one or nothing can make you suffer without your silent permission? Make a habit of witnessing experiences minus your personal judgement. [Suffering can be a shortcut to inner growth!] Because suffering can be a powerful catalyst to growth. Just like a seed first has to rupture before a plant can grow and blossom, intense suffering can break down the defenses of your ego, leaving you open and vulnerable to existence. With your usual thought patterns shattered, you begin to see things as they actually are. You begin to recognize a subtle distance betwen you and the pain - that it is not 'your' pain, someting intrinsic to you. In fact, pain is simply the response you've chosen to that particular situation. And once you see that, how can you suffer anymore? In consciously accepting your pain, you truly let go of it. Suffering is not necessarily the key to bliss. But if you learn your lesson well, suffering can certainly open your eyes to the unreality of suffering. It can teach you how unneccessary it is to suffer at all. This is what I call 'necessary suffering'!

List of Titles

A pictorial biography of Swamiji

A collection of Swamiji's most memorable quotes A Small Story... Swamiji's best-loved parables

Swamiji captured on camera

Insights from Swamiji

Insights from Swamiji

Your questions answered

A public address by Swamiji

A frank talk with the press

Insights from Swamiji

Swamiji's guide to simple living & high thinking

An introduction to healing initiation A Garland of Memories Devotees' reminiscences of time spent with Swamiji Voices of Gratitude Testimonials about healing miracles

A printed collection of devotional songs

you understand the secret of the flute and the bamboo, you will understand the secret of the universe.

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"In the wilderness that is Spirituality, always remember to carry a small torch of Doubt! Doubt is the journey, the path and the light."

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