1. What Is Gratitude

When we recognize that we are part of the total scheme of Existence, and that we are lovingly taken care of by Existence every minute, we are overcome with gratitude. We become thankful for what we receive every moment, even if it as basis as the use of our limbs and senses.

Gratitude is your response to recognizing the abundance of existence. If there is an energy that takes care of everything in your life, it is the energy of gratitude! If you feel that there is something missing in your life, it is because you feel less gratitude. Gratitude connects you directly to the Divine energy.

Gratitude should become the very breath of a person. It transforms the happenings in you and around you. It is an energy that harmonizes you with the energy of the universe and brings tremendous prosperity to you. With gratitude you will see that Existence simply responds to you. It is the channel to commune with Existence.

Understand this: when you feel gratitude towards everything, it means you feel fulfilled, you feel blissful. So when you radiate gratitude, your energy of fulfillment attracts fulfillment back to you in the form of material gains, good relationships, good health and so on. The main thing is that gratitude makes you resonate with Existence and transforms you into a beautiful human being.

Society has taught us that gratitude is a social etiquette that we must all practice - to be thankful for what is received. When we want something, we pray and ask God or existence for what we want and when we receive it we express our gratitude.

What would happen if we shifted ourselves from the attitude of always

asking for what we want next, to the attitude of feeling and expressing or gratitude to Existence itself?

"Gratitude is our real nature…Gratitude is the energy that makes your life intense and exciting every moment. When you carry causeless gratitude in you, life will be sweet all the time irrespective of external circumstance." ~ THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM says, "You always think that whatever was given to you was either because you deserved it or because it was an accident.

When you start seeing and feeling that invisible hand of Existence taking care of you, you will understand that you are wanted here by Existence. Only then you will understand that you are being showered upon continuously by Existence."

Get ready to receive the gifts from Existence and experience the bliss!

The key to true happiness in today's world, any action needs a reason. When there is utility there is action, or else justifying the action becomes difficult. Real gratitude can never have a reason. It happens as a causeless flowering within you.

Does the flower bloom for a reason?

No! It blooms because it is its very nature.

Gratitude is our real nature. Layers of conditioning from society have covered it. Society doesn't know the language of gratitude. It knows only the language of utility. It straightaway instills greed and fear in us, so that we will give it the needed results.

Society doesn't know there is a path of gratitude that will give much better results than the paths of fear and greed. That is the problem. There are endless reasons to feel gratitude. This life itself is a gift that we have received. To be born with human consciousness is the first blessing we have received. Our gratitude should start right from there. Just for being we should feel grateful.

Understand, if ever you feel life is dull, that it is not as juicy as it should be, it is because gratitude has not happened in you. Gratitude is the energy that makes your life intense and exciting every moment. When you carry causeless gratitude in you, life will be sweet all the time irrespective of external circumstances.

When you miss gratitude, very often you will be gripped with the feeling that life is sour, but you won't know the real reason for that feeling.

Again and again people ask me, Swamiji, when I have so many problems, how can I be grateful?' See, we continuously pray, 'Oh God, please give me a diamond ring.' Do we feel grateful that He gave us this finger to wear the ring? No! The finger is not our birthright. There are thousands of people who don't have hands or fingers. It's not our birthright.

We continuously pray intensely, in all possible ways, 'Oh God, give me this. Oh God, give me that.' But we never feel grateful for the things that are showered on us. This very life is a blessing!

Can we say that our life has been given to us as payments for some job that we did in Vaikunta (abode of Lord Vishnu) or Kailash (abode of Lord Shiva)? No! It's not as if we worked for one hundred years in Kailash, and earned a check that says, 'Alright, have seventy years of life.' If we work in that army, they give us money to study. It's not like that; we did not get life as a salary. It's a pure blessing showered on us.

Every breath is a blessing! This very life is a blessing. Continuously we miss things that are not part of our possession. But we never experience the things that are showered on us by the Divine.

Each of us has a big list of things that God has not given us and we also have a big list of things that God has given us. If you take a paper and pen and start writing these lists, both lists will be endless. Every moment of our life is a gift from the Divine.

If we honestly list the things that are not given to us, it will be an endless, infinite list. If we earnestly make a list of the things given to us, that will

Approach the Divine with the attitude of gratitude. We feel so grateful, so deeply connected to the Divine that our whole life changes. People approach the Masters from different levels.

I have seven kinds of people who approach me:

• 1. people who approach me out of greed;
• 2. people who approach me out of fear;
• 3. people who approach me out of worry;
• 4. people who approach me for name and fame;
• 5. people who approach me out of jealously and comparison;
• 6. people who approach me out of ego, to strengthen their ego;

7. there are a few, very few who approach me out of gratitude.

There's one problem with people who approach me out of greed. Not only do they have greed, they also have their own ideas and fantasies about a Master. When we have a strong fantasy about things we will not be able to relate with reality. People who come with fear will never be able to get rid of that fear. They will be stuck with that because fear itself is a fantasy.

At different levels people approach the Master of God. The more mature we are, the more we will feel connected to that person who will give us fulfillment. When we become mature, when we are above fear and greed, we will approach the same Master, the same God, with more maturity.

According to our maturity our attitude differs. The more mature we are,

the more the gratitude happens. The less the maturity, the more we fill our life with prayers. Prayer is greed; confession is fear! That is why I say, 'Gratitude is the greatest prayer, and 'Thank you', the greatest mantra.' Based on how we approach the Divine, the community system is created. How much we share with society depends on how mature we are. With the same maturity, we approach God also. If we miss money, we go to the God who gives money. If we miss knowledge, we go to the God who gives knowledge. If we feel insecure, we go to the God who protects us. If we miss spiritual experience, the ultimate experience, then we go to the Divine incarnations, the ultimate expressions of the Divine.

You will experience the Divine according to your level of maturity. As long as you are caught in fear or greed, you go only to those types of Gods. Starting at different levels is okay, but we should not stop and stay there. It is like failing to proceed to the second grade from the first.

Krishna (incarnation of Lord Vishnu) says in the sacred text the Bhagavad Gita 'The person who approaches Me out of love and gratitude, is the best person, for I am dear to him and he is dear to me'

In today's world, any action needs a reason. If I tell a small child to come near me, the child will look for some reason. If I hold up a chocolate, he/ she will come near! Utility has taken root very deeply within us. When there is utility there is action, or else justifying the action becomes difficult.

When I tell people to live with a sense of gratitude, they immediately start looking for reasons. Real gratitude can never have a reason. It happens as a causeless flowering within you. Does the flower bloom for a reason? No! It blooms because it is its very nature. Gratitude is our real nature. Layers of conditioning from society have covered it.

Society doesn't know the language of gratitude. It only knows the language of utility. It knows only the language of utility. It straightaway instills greed and fear in you, so that you will give it the needed results. Society doesn't know there is a path of gratitude that will give much better results than the path of fear and greed.

By its very nature our being is gratitude. If we relax into it, we can connect to it. There are endless reasons to feel gratitude. This life itself is a gift that we have received. Did any of us work for it and receive it? No! To be born with human consciousness is the first blessing we have received. Our gratitude should start right from there.

Understand, if ever you feel life is dull, that it is not as juicy as it should be, it is because gratitude has not happened in you. Gratitude is the energy that makes your life intense and exciting every moment. When you carry

causeless gratitude in you, life will be sweet all the time irrespective of external circumstances.

When you miss gratitude, very often you will be gripped with the feeling that life is sour, but you won't know the real reason for that feeling. That is the problem. These are the basic secrets of life.

This is a powerful meditation technique to experience gratitude as a prayer:

Sahasrara Dhyana (Gratitude as Prayer) Heals the chakra (energy center): Sahasrara ('thousand petalled') Location of chakra: On the crown of the head Chakra locked by: Discontentment Chakra unlocked by: Gratitude & Bliss Duration: 30 minutes

Sahasrara Dhyana is the simplest possible meditation technique! It involves the effortless process of paying our gratitude to Existence for everything we have in life, and which we have taken for granted till now. Although the meditation is deceptively simple, it has profound effects on our conscious and subconscious minds.

When we recognize that we are part of the total scheme of Existence, and that we are lovingly being taken care of by Existence every minute, we are overcome with gratitude.

We become truly thankful for what we receive every moment, even if it is as basic as the use of our very limbs and senses.

Gratitude is your response to recognizing the abundance of Existence. It is a wonderful flowering energy within you.

Everyday, just sit by yourself for half an hour. Close your eyes and allow any thought, person or situation to come to your mind. If it is a positive thought, a person you love or a situation that you cherish, feel deep gratitude for it and see it go away. If it is a negative thought, or a person you don't like, or an unpleasant situation, feel gratitude for that too and bless it. Anything that comes to your mind, bless it with deep gratitude.

You will see that in a few days, your whole attitude becomes soft and compassionate. You will start seeing things with great compassion and receptivity.

Gratitude is the Ultimate Prayer. Gratitude is the Greatest Attitude.

Gratitude is the Greatest Attitude that you can have towards God, towards human beings, towards life, towards people, and towards situations.

The main reason why you miss experiencing gratitude is that you take everything for granted. You feel anything that people do for you is your birthright. Understand, people could be doing something else instead of doing things for you. You have to thank them for it.

Receive every small thing in life as a gift. When you take your plate to eat, see the plate as a gift. When you serve food on the plate, see the food as a gift. When you sit down on the chair to eat, see the chair as a gift. When you wash your hands after eating, see your fingers as a gift. We never see

There are people who don't have a plate on which to eat. There are people who don't have fingers with which to eat! Have we ever thought about that? We only look at those who have a diamond ring on their finger. We never look at those who don't have fingers. That is the problem. That is why we don't feel anything in our life is a gift.

When we start feeling grateful for small things, our whole sensitivity will increase. We will become more refined. Our whole attitude towards life will move to a different plane. Remember, a person who isn't thankful

for small things will never be thankful for big things either.

Even big things will be taken for granted. Currently, we feel we have a right to everything that we receive. Because of this attitude, we miss seeing the benevolence of Existence or God. We remain insensitive to the gifts showered upon us by Existence.

This is how insensitive we are in life! We keep taking everything for granted. If we sensitized ourselves with gratitude, we would never take anything for granted, whether it is our fingers, or our wealth, or the timely benevolence of Existence. When sensitivity happens, every moment passes in deep awe of the happenings of Existence.

A ll your life, you use the words Thank You. Right from childhood, you are taught to say Thank You. By the time we grow into adults, it has become a part of us. We use the words mechanically, in a businesslike way. The words Thank You rarely carry the emotion that they are supposed to: gratitude. In fact, we base our whole life on the opposite emotion: expectation. In our relationships, we demand love. In society, we demand attention. From ourselves, we demand better and better performance. And from God, we demand everything that no one else can give us! We keep on asking, demanding – without giving thanks for what we already have.

Gratitude is not some kind of morality that is imposed upon you. It is a basic principle for your own happiness! As long as you keep wanting, you are under the control of external events. When you live in gratitude, no one or nothing else can touch your happiness.

When you live with expectations, there is bound to be a gap between your expectations and their fulfillment. The moment one desire is satisfied, ten more will spring up. Of course, in everyone's life, there will be some ups and downs. There will always be some unfulfilled desires. It is natural. As they say, it's simply a questions of whether you choose to see the glass as half full or half empty!

As long as you focus on what you don't have, you will sense a vacuum in your life. The words, "I want…" is like a black hole. It is sure to swallow up whatever you already have in your life, and leave you feeling empty.

I am cracking an important knot which keeps ignorance alive in you. I am cracking the head of the ignorance. If you are aware that trillions of possibilities are in front of you, you will not have any desire. You will experience anasayam; means where not only there is desirelessness, the possibilities of desires gets burnt. You may think how can it be.

If there are billions of possibilities in front of me, naturally I will be having so many desires to have this choice, that choice, that choice, that choice. No.! When there are billions of possibilities in front of you, billions of choices in front of you, suddenly you will feel like resting in choicelessness.

The decision to rest in choicelessness happens when you see trillions of choices in front of you. When trillions of possibilities are in front of you, you just decide relaxing into choicelessness is the best. You feel the ability to choose is more powerful, important, energetic, fulfilling, than any choice you make.

Understand, the moment you start making choices your freedom of being in choicelessness is getting restricted. The moment you choose you will be choosing one language. Now you are in bondage of acting only in that language realm. Till you choose, you have a freedom of all languages. The moment you choose you will take birth in Bharat, now you are bound by the entire plus and minuses of this Hindu society.

Till you choose you are beyond the plus and minuses of Hindu society. Every choice you make takes away some part of being choiceless from

you. So when there are trillions of choices in front of you, you suddenly decide 'Wow being choiceless is the best thing. Being choiceless is the ultimate experience.' The person who is being choiceless will be the infinite creator.

Understand, try resting in choicelessness. You will see the amount of wealth you will create and attract around you without grabbing. Relax into the space of gratitude: 'you are showered with so much; trillions of choices are there in front of you.' When you realize trillions of choices are there in front of you, you will just relax in choiceless awareness.

Understand just a few days before we celebrated my enlightenment day. I am telling you very directly. All that happened on that day, I wanted to put it in very plain words to you. I just recognized I am alive and I realized that 'I am Alive'.

This opens thousands of possibilities in the realms of mysticism, in the realms of life; in the realms of physical health, mental health, wealth, knowledge, enlightenment, and relationships. In every realm that you feel is the essence of life or necessary for a happy life, and finally being happy without anything in all realms.

I suddenly felt in each realm thousands of possibilities are opening for me, because I am alive. All I did is, I recognized that I am alive and I realized that thousands of possibilities are opening in front of me, billions of possibilities are opening up in front of me, and I started celebrating.

Recognizing that I am alive is sat – truth. Recognizing that billions of possibilities are there in front of me is chit - consciousness. Celebrating 'Wow' is ananda; that's all. Just I experienced satchitananda, the glimpse of satchidananda, on that day. That's what I call enlightened, enlightenment. And just decide today you will recognize you are alive.

You are alive means what? Now millions of possibilities are opening in front of you. What millions, billions! What billions, trillions of possibilities are opening in front of you! You can be a good father or you can be a bad father. You can be a good brother or you can be a bad brother. You can be a good friend or you can be a bad friend. You can be healthy or you can be sick. But all are possibilities.

Thousands of possibilities are opening up in front of you. That is enough reason to celebrate. Understand, when you realize trillions of possibilities are open in front of you, you will become desire-less.

Your thoughts and emotions can alter your DNA. Scientist Daniel Winter and his heart coherence team found proof that human emotions can reprogram your DNA and shape your immune system.

Scientist and researcher Gregg Braden also gives evidence on how emotions can change your DNA. In case of gratitude, love and appreciation, DNA responds by relaxing and lengthening, becoming longer; just by simply feeling love.

Scientists have experimented that the change in emotions can change the shape of our DNA. They infer that emotions can change our physical DNA and when we change, the world around us changes.

Understand, emotions can change our physical DNA and when we change, the world around us changes. Again I always tell people, be blissful, wealth will be attracted towards you. You will attract all the right things, right situations and right happenings. The world around you will change. The scientists are saying the same thing in different, different, different words.

Understand, even diseases are linked to your emotions. If you are suffering with diabetes it is related to the suffering that your desires and thoughts are not going to bring fulfillment to you. Fear is responsible for blood pressure. Constant fear raises the blood pressure. If your survival instinct is constantly challenged, your blood pressure will go up.

If you are constantly suffering with the shrinking idea of guilt then this is responsible for arthritis. If you are suffering with the memories of physical, mental, and emotional pain, that is directly responsible for your relationships; you will be unable to expand in your life and the identity you feel. Understand, some emotional pain if it is carried strongly in your system you will stop expanding.

Therefore, every emotion can be connected, everything, can be connected to the major diseases people suffer. So altering your emotions can alter you DNA and even cure you of your diseases.

The first thing we need to understand is that no person has taken birth only to serve you. Every other person is also on the path of life just as we are. As a kind gesture, out of love, they do things for us. Even your own wife or husband is doing a very kind act of serving you, of providing for you or taking care of you.

Of course, marriage calls for give and take but the husband or wife can never be taken for granted. They can never be thought of as our birthright. Especially between partners, a lot of things are taken for granted.

Each individual plays an equal part in life. No one should be taken for granted. There has to be some gratitude for every person on planet earth. I always tell people that even if things don't work out between you and your husband or wife or between other relationships you have to part with gratitude.

Every relationship brings some good into our life. Every relationship is auspicious in its own way. Only, we are not able to see it that way. The problem is that somewhere we feel people are waiting to hurt us. It is not so. It is only our own insecurity that we project on others. We have a self defense mechanism that causelessly plays in every relationship. It is driven with the thought that others are waiting to hurt us. This very mechanism will disappear when gratitude flowers.

So many people feel ungrateful to their parents and society

for conditioning them in certain ways. In one of the gratitude meditations that we offer, we ask people to first give their gratitude to their parents and all of the people who gave then their mental setup, their attitude.

Understand, with the intelligence that you have now, you are able to see that you did not receive the right kind of mental setup earlier. You are now trying to transform to a new mental setup. That is perfectly alright. But it is not right to curse the people who gave you the earlier mental setup.

Those who gave us this body and mind did not have any intention to deprive us or disturb us in any way. Whatever they knew as their best, they just gave to us, that's all. We are going beyond it now because we have become more intelligent. Just feel grateful to them, that is enough.

Whenever you feel grateful to the people in your relationships, you will never try to possess them. You will look at them as beautiful individuals and leave it at that. Possessiveness happens only when you think of the other person as an object and not as an individual. With gratitude, you will allow the person to have his or her own space.

Whenever you feel grateful to the people in your relationships, you will never try to possess them.

Thanksgiving is one of the wonderful things that I learnt from the west. Understand, I am very open and honest, whatever is said and done somehow the thanksgiving idea was not there; the very idea did not get engraved so much in Bharat. Only in the west, especially this function, this thanksgiving function, I saw so much of importance and respect given to it.

Yes, there are some wonderful things we need to learn. So this was one of the great things at least I learnt from this country, from this tradition. And not only that, even verbally thanking is given so much of importance in this culture, which is needed.

In the Vedic tradition thanksgiving or gratitude has become more of a spiritual quality. It was never a social quality. It was there, but more or less a spiritual quality. But here (in the west) I saw, it's vibrant, alive in day-to-day life. It is a social quality that we need to really learn and imbibe.

Maybe I can say, this is a kind of constant meditation; everyday meditation. Whenever you say the word 'thank you' it is like meditation everyday, reminding yourself how gratitude becomes a spiritual practice. Today a very funny, but mystical incident happened. Today during the performance of the rituals and offerings, I was in such a deep silence and Samadhi. I saw, behind me the group that was sitting, one or two people were a little uncomfortable. Of course, I did not see physically, but because I was in Samadhi, I can see very clearly what is going on in the minds of people around me.

I saw that a few minds were a little unsettled, a little irritated. I was

thinking, 'arey, this presence anybody will fall in tune so beautifully, so wonderfully. What is the problem?' I saw a few guys were a little agitated, because that preist who was chanting the mantra, he chanted the name THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM also along with the mantra. These few, one or two people did not understand that in the traditional chants there is a word THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM. It is another name for Shiva (a Hindu God).

I was just casually seeing what was happening. Another funny thing is, I did not even remember or hear it is as my name, because I was in such a deep Samadhi. I never felt that it was my name.

And there were a few intelligent guys, maybe who had the click or initiation, who had the gratitude or the love, I saw, the more they heard that word, they were able to feel more and more connected. And the few people, it did not happen never knew or never had any blessings or never had any benefits from the Master. The gratitude, the thanking attitude has not started yet. If that starts, you will stop judging.

The Master is like a window or a door, feeling connected to Him or being grateful to Him will open a new door of being grateful to everything, feeling connected to everything.

Thanking or gratitude is one of the very powerful qualities. In our first meditation program, the seventh technique, the quality to open the sahasrara chakra, the ultimate chakra, is gratitude. In gratitude, you will stop judging and fall in tune more and more and more. I saw today beautifully the power of thanksgiving consciously.

Your mind always stands between you and Existence. It prevents you from hearing, seeing, feeling and emoting with Existence. Once you go beyond your mind and see the beauty of Existence, gratitude will become your prayer and bliss your being! You will enjoy liberation and permanent joy!

When you drop the mundane logic of your mind, you will flow like a river – choicelessly, effortlessly, joyfully with the flow of the current. You will then play your role and enjoy every moment of it. You will understand that you are part of a wonderful drama, where the most sensitive you are to the director, the more effectively you can play and enjoy your part!

When you go against the current, you need to put in effort and exercise choices. When you go with the current, you don't need to make any effort; you will not feel tired; you will not feel frustrated; you will only feel a flowing lightness. Everything will then appear beautiful.

Instead of feeling gratitude towards everything around us, we are asking and questioning all the time. We need to get back this connection with Existence again. Gratitude can help bring back this lost connection. It can help find your roots once again. It can help you commune with nature and with Existence.

Somebody once asked me, 'why should you be there and we should be here?' I told him very beautifully; actually understanding these few ideas will really give you the deep insights about gratitude. Where we miss and what we miss.

I told him 'because I am nobody, I am here. Because you are somebody, you are there'. Understand, if you are somebody, even if you are made to sit here, you will think, 'I think for my qualification, it should be little better'. Wherever you go, whatever way you are respected, you will feel that something more has to be done, should have been done. If you are nobody, whether you are respected or not, you will never be bothered, you will be in such easiness, comfort, there will no disturbances.

A person who has become a 'nobody' wherever he is he will be comfortable. A person who has become 'somebody', wherever he is, he will have some complications, some misunderstandings. Gratitude will make you a nobody; just you will be a flowing energy.

I have seen that flowing energy in the poems of Sufi mystics. Sufism is completely the tradition based on gratitude. And the way in which they flow, it was such a wonderful flow, it was such a gratitudebased tradition. It does not take any training at all to have the divine experience through Sufism. With all other traditions to have Divine experience the mindless, the experience beyond mind, it takes quite a lot of time.

So understand this one great quality; it can really transport you to different plane.

Understand, whenever the one simple quality of gratitude, if it starts, gratitude is like a small fire which can burn all your karmas. What is Karma? It is an unfulfilled action on your part that pulls you again and again to fulfill it.

In order to fulfill and exhaust all such karmas that we have accumulated, we take birth again and again on this planet. Just by being with the energy of gratitude, these karmas get burnt! All the karmas, anything which you carry on; which you brought, which you are accumulating, anything can be burnt.

A simple remembrance of gratitude; not only to the Master, to every being, to everything, it brings so much of sensitivity. It brings so much of love and so much of settled feeling, so much of connected feeling. It can burn away all your karmas. Such is the power of gratitude.

Gratitude will make you a nobody; just you will be a flowing energy.

When we work with expectation all the time, we will carry a subtle violence in our body language. It is not deliberate violence, but inherent violence. If we become a little sensitive to our body language, we will be able to catch this.

Watch yourself when you type or on the computer, when you handle phone calls, how you place the phone receiver back in its cradle, with what aggression you walk, how you close the door behind you, how you hold your child's hand…everything. You will see that everything carries a subtle violence in it.

With gratitude, your entire body language changes. When you start experiencing deep gratitude, your responses to situations change. You start resonating with Existence. Your body will flow with that resonance, with a cool grace and softness. All your actions will arise out of this grace. There will be no violence.

Only joy will be flowing. Then everything you do will only make life sweeter.

Authenticity is something more than honesty. It is not authenticity by itself. Please understand, honesty is only one ingredient for authenticity. Authenticity is something more than honesty. I will give you the difference between honesty and authenticity.

For example, if you are angry with somebody you will express directly to that person 'I am angry with you' - it is honesty. But that is not authenticity. Authenticity means really two beings may understand each other, where even the anger will not happen.

Understand, there is a difference between honesty and authenticity. Honesty is a socially good quality. Authenticity is a spiritual quality. It is not a socially good quality. Honesty is only the first step, the initial step. Authenticity is the spiritual quality. Authenticity means living the spiritual truths authentically.

See, a husband lying to his wife - neither there is honesty nor authenticity. A husband telling the truth to his wife that he is a womanizer is honesty, but not authenticity. A husband living just as a husband is authenticity. So each person's role if he or she is completely living, it is authentic. When he is failing and revealing the failure to the other person it is honesty. Revealing the failure is not living successfully; understand. Revealing the failure is revealing the failure. It is honest no doubt, but not authentic. You may be keeping your balance sheet properly with the country or nation. Are you keeping your balance sheet properly with the cosmos, with the Universe? What is the meaning of the word 'keeping the balance sheet in tune with the cosmos'? Means just remembering continuously you are not qualified for anything, everything is showered on you.

Understand, remembering everything is a gift given to you by the cosmos in your life is what I mean by keeping your balance sheet straight with the cosmos. You don't need to pay anything back. The attitude that everything is a gift to you, is keeping the balance sheet authentic to the cosmos.

You do not know that gratitude is such a powerful ingredient. The moment you add gratitude, honesty becomes authenticity. I have seen many times people making mistakes from honesty into authenticity. No! Honesty is not authenticity. Honesty is more like hot love. Authenticity is like a cool stream. Understand, honesty will always be demanding. Authenticity will always be flowing – 'I am flowing, I don't bother about you'.

Authenticity fills you and others. Honesty burns others and you. Many times I have seen the people who are honest, within few days or few weeks or few months they will torture and kill the other person in the name of honesty. God! Honesty is a foolish substitute to authenticity. So gratitude makes you more authentic.

We relate and we worship through the idol; not the idol, understand. When you see the deity the idol is not remembered. If you remember the idol, the deity is not remembered. When you see a stone elephant, you will not see the material. If you see it as a material, you can't see it as elephant. An artist will see it as an elephant, but will not see it as a material.

If there is a wooden elephant, a elephant carved on the wood, a person who is involved with the wood business, if he sees it, he will say 'oh sandalwood, wonderful wood, high cost, this must be the cost.' He will be talking about the wood, but he can never see the elephant. If an artist, if he sees it, he will say 'oh beautiful sculpture, beautiful carving, elephant, amazing.' He will not see the wood.

So the moment you see the wood, you will not see elephant. The moment you see the elephant, you will not see the wood. It cannot happen at the same moment. It can happen only in the next, next moments. Even if you see wood-elephant-elephantwood one moment you can see only as elephant, only in the next moment you can see it as wood, the next moment you can see it as an elephant.

When you see this as God you will not see it as the world. When you see this as the world, you will not see it as God. If you see this whole cosmos as the world giving you fear and greed, you cannot see this as God. If you see this whole thing as God, you can't see this as the world; there won't be any fear and greed.

The whole thing happened in Ramakrishna's life; just an ordinary deity, statue, he started seeing it as God. He was never able to see it as a stone or a statue. And it might have started in a very raw level, but slowly, slowly, slowly, just because of his very intensity, the whole thing became alive and led him to ultimate enlightenment.

In the villages of Bharat they burn the dead bodies using a big stick to turn the bodies. Once the whole body is burnt, they will throw the stick also in the same fire and that will also get burnt. Same way the Master's form or God's form is used to burn the attachment with all other forms.

When all the other attachments to the form is dropped, this form is intelligent enough to disappear by itself or to guide you beyond the formlessness. The Master's form or the God's form is intelligent enough to lead you to beyond all the forms, and to lead you to the very form itself.

This is the moment of ultimate gratitude. The Master's or God's form has liberated you from everything and liberates you from himself also. Then suddenly you will see that His form will not be there anymore in your inner space; but you know He is there, He is there, He is there, intensely present, intensely present.

As long as you feel connected with the form, sometimes you will see that He is present, and sometimes you will see He is absent. You will struggle to feel connected; maintaining that feeling connection continuously. You will struggle to feel the connection continuously.

When you are able to feel connected to Him beyond His form, you are liberated even from that form, you will suddenly see His presence is there intensely, continuously and guiding you and radiating.

Question: What is the reason we do puja at the Gurus feet? Why do people want to touch the Gurus feet?

Swamiji answers: It's an ancient tradition in the Vedic tradition. When you are showered so much by the Guru with His knowledge, experience, love, blessings, and everything. When He showers you, out of overflowing gratitude, you don't know what to do, so you offer whatever you have at His feet. That is the way the tradition of Guru puja started in the Vedic tradition. This is the oldest ritual.

Understand, the oldest and sacred ritual is Guru puja. The moment the first disciple was initiated; Parvathi-Adi Shakthi is the first disciple. The moment she was initiated with the experience of Shiva, in that extraordinary gratitude she fell at Shiva's feet, and offered whatever she had at His feet. So the first ritual of Guru puja started

Because of the overflowing gratitude you pour yourself at the feet of the Master. And the same way touching the Guru's feet is also the feeling of offering yourself at His feet. There is no logical reason for why Guru puja is done, why people touch the Guru's feet. It is an emotional feeling connection. For some people it looks like why should I do it? For some people it is life; they can't live without it.

Understand, it is the individual's emotion. I also wanted to tell you one more thing. Do all this only if you feel intensely connected to it; not otherwise. It should not be done as a ritual. See, as far as yoga is concerned, whether you want it or not, it has to be done, because you are working on the body. But when the Guru puja comes, it is in your mind. Your mind itself should feel it. Out of ecstasy and joy, you should be pouring it.

So there is no logical reason for – 'what is the reason we do puja at Guru's feet? Why do people want to touch the Guru's feet?' There is no logical reason. Just, that's the way it is; that's all. That is the way it is.

Gratitude is Prayer. Generally our religious life starts in prayer and ends in gratitude. Prayer has got different dimensions. It gets matured as you get matured. Prayer is the bridge towards your higher Consciousness. Prayer is the bridge to take you beyond the sufferings of the planet earth. Prayer is the technique, is the method to lead you to the Super Consciousness state. Let us understand the various dimensions of prayer step by step. Prayer has many different forms. Nothing is higher, nothing is lower. Whatever way you can start, you can start. But naturally you will be growing towards the higher level of consciousness.

First thing prayer starts in the physical level – going to the temple, praying to God, praying to the moorthis of Gods and Goddesses and doing some puja, doing some havan. The first level of prayer is the physical thing. Prayer should be started in a physical way. First prayer starts in the level of physical worship.

Then next it goes to the level of verbal worship - you chant the stotras, you chant the mantras, you do the naama japa - chanting by words, you worship the Divine, you pray. Now you come to a little higher level. First puja then japa - stotra and repetition of mantra. All these things are verbal prayer.

Verbal prayer plays a major role in keeping the mind in higher form, in the higher level - remembrance of some sacred syllable - continuous repetition with awareness. That is an important thing; without awareness repeating will become an unconscious habit. Please don't do that.

The more your mind is filled with some sacred syllable, sacred words the more your inner chattering will be cleansed. Your inner chattering has almost become like junk. So much unnecessary things you throw into it. So much suppression, so much anger and violence you suppress inside your being. Where will all that go? It will go and disturb your inner chattering.

Your inner chattering is made out of the stuff that you suppress inside. If you suppress too much of violence, if you suppress too much of sex, if you suppress too much of anger, those things only will come out in your inner chattering unconsciously.

All your inner chattering is made of the same stuff that you suppress inside. What you put inside, that only will come out. If you put mantras inside, the sacred syllables inside, the Divine words inside, the stotras inside, good words inside, you will see you are radiating the same beautiful words, the same beautiful feeling, the same beautiful bliss. The more you chant the right words; less you will be chanting the wrong words.