Mysticism and philosophy🔗

This title really implies Eastern mysticism and Western philosophy. I have reduced the title to mysticism and philosophy. We have a general concept, mysticism means it is east and philosophy means it is west. It is not true. There are many mystics, many enlightened persons born in the West and many dull philosophers, dry intellects, born in the East. So both the East and West have contributed to mysticism and philosophy.

What is mysticism and what is philosophy? Philosophy is intellectual; the knowledge; the information; verbalization of experience; memories of the past; assumptions about the future; all these are philosophy. This is more based on logic; collecting and analyzing the information and coming to conclusion.

Mysticism is transforming your life. It is alchemy which happens in your being. The word 'alchemy' is something you need to understand. It is the science of transforming the lower metals into higher metals; copper into gold; mercury can be solidified. The lower metals are raised to higher level metals. Alchemy is the process which makes metals pure. The transformation of the inner being is what I call the ultimate alchemy; this is the alchemy which happens in your inner being. Man becomes God; Devil becomes Divine; Words become realizations. This process is what I call alchemy. Mysticism is more to do with alchemy than philosophy is.

Enlightened persons' philosophies are called darshanas. Darshanas do not mean philosophy or logical theory. It is just a recording of what they have seen. It is philosium. Philosophy is born out of mind. Philosium or mysticism is born out of no-mind. Philosophy is born out of matter. Mind is nothing but matter, bio-computer. Philosophy is born out of bio-computer. Mysticism is born out of bio-energy. Philosophy is an outcome of intellect. Mysticism is the outcome of enlightenment. Philosophy comes from intellect, Mysticism comes from intuition. Philosophy can see only 120 degrees. But mysticism can see all the 360 degrees. That is why the photos or statues of mystics, Buddha, Shiva, Jesus... all the mystics are shown with a third eye. Third eye means 360 degrees; the power of seeing in all angles. It is the complete vision.

With intellect you can touch only the level of head. Intellect is communication.

Philosophy is communication between student and teacher. To learn philosophy, just your head is more than enough. If you are little bit attentive, that is enough. If your logic is sharp you can learn philosophy.

But to learn mysticism - it is not even learning, it is picking up, picking up the mystical experiences from the master. Mysticism is communion between master and disciple. It needs your being. You have to experience. Just an intellectual understanding is not enough.

Philosophy is the outcome of conflict. If you are in a conflict, if you are confused even as to whether you are an intellectual or mystical, be very sure you are still intellectual not mystical. The danger is, people think themselves as mystics, or they are in mysticism but still they are philosophers. As long as you have confusion, as long as you are in conflict, be very clear you are still intellectual. Once, I was speaking on different meditation techniques, meditation for intellectuals and meditations for emotional people, one person asked me, "Swamiji, how I can know whether I am intellectual or emotional". I told him, 'the very question shows you are an intellectual. The very doubt shows you are intellectual'; because, only intellectual people have doubts. Emotional people will never have doubts. They are very clear from the day one. Mysticism is an outcome of love.

Philosophy cuts and analyzes; Mysticism unites and heals. That is why mysticism is always represented by the word 'Yoga'. Yoga means union. Mysticism always unites and heals.

Of course, philosophy has got its own use, utility. That is why philosophy is still alive. In the outer world, in the material world, doubt is the language; philosophy is the language; logic is the language; this is what can win; this is what can bring you bread and butter. But unfortunately man cannot live only with bread and butter. If man can live only with bread and butter, just philosophy can win. But unfortunately man cannot live only with bread and butter. In the Bible, Mathew 4:4 reads ‘Man cannot live by bread alone. He needs the words of the creator also’. If philosophy can satisfy, libraries are more than enough. There will be no need for temples, churches, and monasteries. If philosophy can satisfy, libraries are sufficient. But philosophy doesn’t satisfy. The language of outer world is philosophy; if you want material success, if you want to succeed in the material world, you should know philosophy. You should know logic. You should know how to cut and analyze.

In the inner world, the very language is different. For the inner world you need only mysticism or the help of a mystic. If you try to test the rose flower with a touch stone, what will happen?

Once, a gold smith went to a friend's house. The friend showed him a rose flower. This man being philosophical had a doubt. He wanted to test the flower whether it is a real one or a plastic flower. His friend told him, 'Go ahead, touch it, smell it, feel it.". But the Gold smith refused. He told, "We know how to test only by the touch stone, never by touching or feeling." He started testing the flower with the touch stone. You know what will happen.

Touch stone is useful to find the quality, the originality of the gold but not for flowers. Philosophy or logic is like touch stone. It is useful for the outer world, for the gold, but not for the inner world, the inner lotus. The language of the inner world is totally different. Life is totally different.

Mysticism can be learnt only by body language. That is why in schools of mysticism, called 'gurukulams' in Sanskrit, it is recommended that the disciple should stay with the master, throughout the day. From dawn to dusk and even round the clock. They should live with the master. They have to pick up the master's non-verbal communication. Here the verbal language is not useful. You learn by body language. It is more of communion than mere communication. Communication becomes useless in the presence of the Master.

In an ancient literature named 'Taitreya Upanishad' written 5000 years ago, there is a small incident. One student of mysticism, by name 'Brigu' asks his Master, 'Please tell me about God'.

Master replies, 'See, my son, everything including food, the breath, eyes, ears, mind, speech, everything is God.' and adds, 'The one who has created everything, by whom, everything exists, in whom every thing is going to merge, he is God. You meditate and experience it for yourself.' Brigu meditates and then comes with the answer ‘Food is God’. Master tells him to continue meditation. Brigu after a strenuous meditation comes up with the answer ‘Prana or breath is God’. Master instructs him to go into further meditation. Brigu finally comes up with the answer ‘Bliss – the unending joy is God’ and by now he is enlightened. Mysticism is more an experience.

On the other hand, if you want to learn philosophy you can learn verbally, words are sufficient. To learn something verbally you need not stay with the teacher. In schools, you learn philosophy; you learn words from the teacher. Whatever be the character, the life-style of the teacher, you are not bothered. You are not worried. The concept is totally different. If the teacher can explain the contents of the book, it is enough. You learn and come out. That is why schools are and can be part time.

A small story: Once an American was caught by cannibals in an African forest. The American was in search of ways and means to escape. He was taken to their leader. By the side of the leader, there was a young man neatly dressed in American style. The American saw a ray of hope. If at all he knows a little English, he thought. I may have a chance. Just at that moment, that young man asked in a clear Oxford accent 'Tell me your last wishes, if any. I shall try to fulfil. These guys don't know the formalities.' The American was shocked. He asked. "You seem to be educated. Having lived in the most civilized society, haven't you changed even a little?" The African immediately responded indignantly 'Why not?' he added, 'Even now, when they have you roasted, I will use only fork and spoon.' The outer look may change by intellectual education, but the inner flowering cannot happen.

If you feel you have understood something from the Master's words, be very clear you have misunderstood. If you feel satisfied with the understanding of the master's words, you are misled. Somebody asked me, Swamiji, I do not know English, can I come to your discourses. I said, 'you are the right person to come and sit.' Because at least you know that you don't know. But where people know the language, they think they know but they don't even know that they don't know.

Most of the time if you think you are getting something by attending my discourses, be very sure, you are missing something. You are here to listen to my silence. If you listen to words, you will miss the silence. Then what is the purpose of a satsang? (meeting of group of followers to communicate, sing devotional songs, indulge in spiritual activities) My speech is not for you to hear. It is for stopping your inner speech. If I speak, at least your mind will stop speaking, you will start listening. I am speaking so that you may stop speaking within yourself. If you watch thoroughly, you may observe unnecessary gaps in my speech. A good orator will never leave gaps between his flow of words; but I am giving gaps purposefully. I am not here to orate; I am not here to teach you something. I want to give you something. The gaps are for creating vacuum. While hearing my speech, your mind will continuously yearn for the next word. A sudden gap will create a vacuum. This is totally different. If you know how to be aware of the gaps you will be able to feel my presence. You are here to have my presence. You will see something more; something more than just hearing the words, is happening. If you think you are learning you are missing.

If you attend 2 or 3 satsangs, you will know I am just speaking the same thing in different words; the same message in different angles and words. The message has not changed. The main message can never change. It is the same thing I speak about. Why I am speaking every day? My speech is a technique. It is not philosophy or teaching. It is a technique. It is a

technique to do something to undo what you have learnt; because, with the process of learning you have lost much.

Till the age of 7 children think by visualization. Not by verbalization. You need to understand the difference between verbalization and visualization. Children see the scenes, they just visualize. But once in school visualization is reduced to verbalization. Visualization is killed. The intuition is reduced to intellect.

There was a great mathematician from India by name Ramanujam. In his time, nobody was able to match his skills. Ramanujam was able to solve any problem in seconds. Tell him the problem; he will give the solution in a minute. He had no logical way of arriving at the solution. Others are concerned by the logic, logical steps; but he was in visualization. First scene is the problem. The very next scene is the solution. Ramanujam was in visualization and others were in verbalization. That is the difference between Ramanujam and others. Ramanujam never had formal education till 8; therefore he could retain his power of visualization. His thinking was more intuitive than intellectual. Every kid, when they come to earth, they visualize. That is why the eyes of the kids are so alive.

That is why they say the eyes are the index of the mind. Not only mind but being. Whatever is inside is shown by eyes. We never look into others' eyes. We dare not to be exposed. In words we can play, we can hide. You can think one thing and tell one thing. But you can't play in visualization. You can't hide anything in your eyes. That is why we dare not look at each other through the eyes. If you are courageous, you can gaze through eyes. It is a meditation to see through eyes.

Kids visualize. Up to the age of 7, as long as the visualization capacity is there the kids' eyes are vibrant. As soon as his visualization capacity is reduced to verbalization, the tongue becomes vibrant. At least till the age of 7 they should be allowed to learn from nature. They have an inbuilt mechanism to learn from the nature, from the trees, from persons around them. Their capacity to visualize will be retained. But in school, visualization is reduced to verbalization. After being in school they are forced to write and read. The mind starts working with words. With words, the length of time is more. In visualization the process is simpler. The solution is more or less immediate. But with verbalization the process is very long. It has to go through the logical steps to arrive at a solution. This is the difference between Ramanujam and others. Ramanujam thought by visualization and others moved through logic.

The society, from time immemorial, is just against visualization. That is why, invariably all the enlightened masters, let it be Jesus, Krishna, or Buddha, all were poisoned, crucified or stoned by the society. The entire society is in verbalization and it can not tolerate anyone beyond words, beyond verbalization.

Parents, as they themselves are in philosophical line, are unable to bear the energy of their children. They start conditioning. They go on conditioning till the kid learns logic, learns verbalization. Once the kid is dull, dry, just like the parents, they are satisfied that their heir is okay.

Let us see, how philosophy deals with a problem and how mysticism deals with a problem; physical, mental, and spiritual. If we look at it, we will be able to understand what mysticism is and what philosophy is, the angle of philosophy and the angle of mysticism.

The healing system born out of philosophy or logic, takes the human body for a bio-mechanism. It deals the body in parts. For these healing methods, the body and mind are two different things. But unfortunately, it is not so. If you have a disease, pain in some part of the body, all the medication systems born out of philosophy try to attend only to the particular part, by some chemical treatment, operation or replacement of the part.

For example, if one half of a mango is decayed. Do you say, it is part decayed mango; no, you will discard the entire fruit; but if one part of the human body is affected, philosophy says it is handicapped. Only that part is attended; but then, what happens? Pills taken for headache, for example, create stomach ache. After some time, there is knee pain. In other words, the pills transfer the pain from head to stomach. Moreover, there is no assurance that the pain will not recur. The time gap, the gap between pain in one part and the other is called 'healthy period'.

The philosophical view of the body as a bio mechanism is not right. The human body, as such is not a bio-machine. It is something more. The same energy is circulated all over the body. It can not be that some energy is there in the affected part and other parts are with some other energy. No. Even physically, the whole body is circulated with the same blood. The affected part is not getting a different type of blood. That is why these healing methods are able only to postpone the pain or transfer the pain.

On the other hand, the very view of the healing systems of Mysticism towards the human body is different. They see the human body as a whole. As they see the body as a whole, they are holy. Mysticism recognizes only two levels, healthy and diseased. There is no percentage problem. They see the root cause of the disease. It is not trying to heal the affected part alone. It is not trying to put off the symptom.

For example, if you want to destroy the thorny bushes, you have to pull them out at the root depth. If you go on cutting the branches, what will happen? The bush will not die. It may even spread out with new branches. (Crowd bursts into laughter) The same is the case of diseases.

Mysticism deals with only two things; high energy and low energy. If the energy level is low, the mind-body relationship, coordination is not at ease. It is un-eased. It is diseased. In mysticism there are no names for different diseases; it is not many diseases. It is simply one thing: low energy level.

Once, somebody asked me, 'Swamiji, what are all the diseases you can heal?' I simply replied them, 'I can heal the diseases you can name and diseases that you can't name.'

This is because the same healing technique is able to handle different diseases at the same time. In some cases, if certain

Next is the level of mind. According to philosophy, you are a mature person if you are aware of facts and figures; it’s enough if your mind is full of information. They speak only of collection of information, of memory techniques. They speak of analytical skills. They want your head to be full and your mind to expand.

One interesting point; there was a poll survey conducted on the standard of living of the gold medallists in the universities. They enquired about the life of gold medallists after a period of ten years after graduation. The purpose is to expose the effect and importance of education in society. The result was indeed shocking. About 70% of the gold medallists were found to live below poverty line or with broken relationship.

The reason is simple. They have become dry philosophers. You can never have a smooth relationship with a philosopher. Philosophy and logic make them dream. They seldom face the ground reality. They lose the wonderful moment of the present. The common man cannot relate with these gold medallists.

No philosopher can have pet animals. They can't play with kids. They are the worst perfectionists; because, to have a pet or to play with a kid, you should be spontaneous. You should have a sense of humour. You should at least have a smile in your face. But these are too much for a philosopher. They can't laugh. Even if you tell them a joke, they will start analyzing it.

One word of caution; by the name philosopher, I am not only referring to the students of philosophy, but to every one who are all conditioned to the rules in their respective profession and every moment of life.

Have you seen the philosopher's walk? It will be strict to rules. It mostly resembles the army march, that too dull and dry. They are always concerned about the head. They try to expand the head continuously. Their whole life is spent in collection, recall and analysis of the facts and figures. Mostly the later part of their life is full of frustration.

A small story: Once, there was a cat in a philosopher's house (of course, his wife's pet). It gave birth to a kitten. Both made noise at the door step trying to enter the philosopher's room. This sound irritated him. He called a carpenter and instructed to make two holes in the door, one for the cat and the other for the kitten. The carpenter was surprised. He said, 'Sir, one hole is more than enough'. The philosopher shouted, 'Fool, Can't you think logically. How one hole will be enough if the cat and the kitten is to enter at the same time.' (The whole crowd roars in laughter)

But on the other hand, the Ashrams, the mysticism school, trains to switch off the mind whenever not required. For them, mind is one of the parts and there is something more. They deal at the being level and train to handle the mind as you do with your limbs. For them, being is the ultimate. Mind or no-mind is an option. You can toggle between the two.

A mystic lives entirely in the present. He enjoys every moment to the fullest. He is always spontaneous and joy-filled. He merges completely with the nature. His walk is mostly floating. His walk is like dancing.

See, if you are learning driving, driving a car, the first thing you learn is to stop the car; to applying the brakes. Philosophers

fuel the car, drive it, monitor the speed, but they are unable to stop the car. If you are in a speeding car, in the driver's seat, does it mean that you are driving the car? It is the car driving you. Only mysticism trains you to apply brakes. It shows you to be in no-mind state.

Next, let us take the problems of the spirit, spiritual plane. For this philosophy offers psychoanalysis. Collecting, cutting and analyzing the other man's mind. For a philosopher, psychoanalysis is the end. They make you talk and talk. There will be a curtain between you and the doctor. You can't see the doctor. Once, you are exhausted, they will start analyzing your words and inject some new words.

Sitting after sitting, time roles by; one fine morning, the doctor may become psychic and you may be all right. You might have recovered due to the fear of going to the same doctor, repeating the same words; out of sheer boredom of speaking the same words again and again.

With philosophy your head is filled up. Your mind has become a dustbin. What else can you do? You have to vomit. You expect somebody to hear what you vomit. That is why you pay your psycho analyst. Once, they asked me, ‘Swamiji, can you see any major problem in psychoanalysis’. The analysis itself is a problem. After so many years of research, continuous analysis, no solution is arrived.

If you should attend to a problem in a vehicle, you should stop it and then try to set it right. But philosophers know of no brakes. They just keep the vehicle moving; of course, they even accelerate it and try to attend to its problem. It won’t work.

What else you think is our ‘listening’ in our daily conversations? Just a contract; you hear what I speak, so that I will hear while you speak. That is all; nothing else. All we need are only ears before us; even deaf ears will do; just silent hearers. We are least bothered even if it is really a deaf ear.

A survey was conducted among various professionals as to which profession is vulnerable to mental disorders. After a careful survey, they came out with the result; the most vulnerable profession is psychoanalysis and psychiatry. Through his entire life, as the Psychiatrist goes on gathering problems after problems, finally, he falls prey to one.

On an average, it is said that one third of the US population is under depression and one third is in the borderline. This indeed is a shocking fact in a society, where the psychoanalysis is a roaring profession, and the society is considered ‘mature, civilized and cultured’. In US alone, in one year (2003), the number of depression medication prescription touches the figure 103 million.

For depression, philosophy can only analyze, no solution is given. In mysticism, enlightenment is given as the solution. Mystics give enlightenment as a solution for the being level problems, spiritual problems. Enlightenment is not analysis. It is dropping. Say, you want to clean your house. Your dustbin is full. Will you sit and analyze the contents of the dustbin? Will you study your dustbin? If you do, will it help in

So, whether the problem is of physical, mental or spiritual level, the solution given by the mystics is total; it is holistic. The solutions given by the philosophers are temporary.

If you see superficially, philosophy seems to be good; philosophers' approach to the problems of the body, mind and the spirit seem to be okay. Their medication makes you feel good. Their education makes them earn a living. Their psycho-consultation feels nice. They have become established. They are mass oriented. Mysticism is not for the masses. It is only for the daring few. For the mystical solutions you require more time. You have to wait. You have to be patient.

Nothing is instant. But mind is restless. It is a monkey. It always looks for instant solutions.

A small story: once three monkeys found one mango in a forest. They wanted to share it. They went to a man near by and asked him to help them to share the fruit. That man told the monkeys not to share the fruit but to plant it. He said, 'if you plant it, water it regularly, put some manure, it will become a big tree and you can have more mangoes." The monkeys agreed. Time passed by. The fruit had not sprouted. The monkeys again had a quarrel. They came to the same man. He started enquiring. The first monkey said, 'I was watering it regularly'. The second one said, 'I was feeding it with manure' the third one said, 'I was watching it carefully. Daily I pulled it out to see whether it has sprouted.' This will not work. You have to wait for some time. You have to wait for your being to sprout into bliss. If you need a plastic rose, you can have it ready made. If your need is a natural rose from the plant, you have to wait for some time. But we have no patience. Everything should be instant. That is why we run behind the solutions given by the philosophers. The ways of the mystics not only solves the problem from the base, they dissolve you in the eternal bliss.

I wish you all the power to solve and dissolve your problems in the mystical way and to be, in, and experience the eternal bliss, Nithyanandam.

Bhaja Govindam Bhaja Govindam

Bhaja Govindam Mudhamathe

Samprapte sannihite kale

Nai nahi rakshati dukrunkarane

Lift the heart up to Govinda, the Lord, again and again, foolish mind! When death beckons the rules of grammar that you are so studiously swatting will not save you!!

_Bhaja Govindam 1_

What is a Miracle? What ever happens in the Universe has a reason, has a cause, nothing happens by accident. If something happens in one side of the Universe something else happens somewhere else. If there is a big bang in one place there is a black hole somewhere else in the Universe.

When you do not understand the cause and effect relationship you call it a miracle. If it is obvious, you call it an incident. When the relationship is too deep for you to understand, for your logic to penetrate you call it a miracle. There is no such thing as a miracle. Everything happens only with a cause.

Einstein is a super scientist. It is because of Einstein that scientists started respecting mystics. Otherwise scientists had a prejudiced idea of all spiritual things. They felt that what they knew of the universe was correct. Einstein was the first to state that the end of science is the beginning of spirituality. Einstein says: There are only two ways of living; either as if everything is a miracle, including all with relationships of cause and effect; or live as though nothing is a miracle.

I am trying to make you understand that nothing is a miracle; then I want you to understand everything is a miracle. How does a lotus seed change mud into a lotus? How does a piece of bread become your blood? You may explain scientifically your understanding, but your knowing how does not change anything, the process is still a miracle.

For children, the universe is wonder-filled because they don't have logic. They don't think that this is the same Sun that they saw yesterday. They don't think that this was the same chair that was there yesterday. They don't think that this is the same room that they sat in yesterday. They know the Truth - the Sun is new, this room is new, this chair is new, I am new, you are also new! You are changing continuously; continuously you are getting updated.

An enlightened Master had a stomach problem and his Doctor advised him to stick to the same bland diet every day. He had no problem. But the disciple cooking for him got fed up cooking the same food every day, and complained. Master said: I don't eat the same food every day. How can I do that? How can I eat the same food every day? I eat different food every day.

We label things, we take them for granted.

Like the master, for a child every thing is new every time it looks at it. Children never wait for your answer, they are not bothered about your answer, and they keep asking new questions. We try to either shut them up or make them intellectuals. By questioning they explain to you that they are growing. They don't want you to answer. They don't take things for granted; they don't take people for granted; they don't take situations for granted. When they look at things they do not verbalize. When you look at a rose you start associating it with your memories, you don't see the real rose in front of you. By verbalizing you miss reality. Only children see reality.

Freud says: all your thinking is association. If you see a dog in the street, you start thinking about all the dogs you have seen from childhood. Then you remember your childhood, you remember a teacher when you were a child. There is no logical connection. When you start verbalizing you miss reality. Every day sun rises; every day sun sets; every day something new happens. To you it's one more Friday, one more Saturday, and another Sunday. What do you know? The moment you label it as Friday, you think you know everything about that day. You just take it for granted. Because you take people for granted you don't enjoy your relationships. You judge people first and collect arguments to support your judgment. You can never step into the same river twice, because by that time the river has moved. People also move, they change, and they are not the same as the persons you met before. By the time you meet them again your husband or wife has changed; something is added to them; either intelligence or foolishness. But you don't agree. You hold on to the same mental set up.

Sushruta wrote 5000 years ago. He talks about open heart surgeries and transplants. He was a great enlightened Master. He said: every six months your liver replaces itself completely. Not even one part is same. Once in 21 days your intestine replaces itself. Modern day physiologists agree. Every cell is replaced continuously.

Sushruta says: your mental structure plays a major role when these changes take place. A disciple asks him: why do we carry diseases over a number of years? Why does the new liver carry the same disease? Sushruta replies: You don’t believe you have changed, that’s why. You carry the same mental frame despite body change. That mental frame retains the disease. You don’t let go that frame, you don’t let go that disease. You don’t let go your samskara. Samskara is the powerful mental root that drags you to travel the same path. Like Pavlov’s dogs which came running and salivated even when no food was served but the bell was rung. Whenever you remember that past situation or person you react the same way, you move in the same rut. In the morning you worry about office, by evening you worry about you wife and children, unconsciously, without reason. The mood remains low even if you do not realize why. You do not live based on intelligence, you live based on information.

Ability to respond spontaneously is responsibility. Responsibility is not name and fame or status. Only those who have spontaneity can survive in this world. You may have had education, money yet you may not be successful. Intelligence is not based on information that you have or received. That's only intellect, Intelligence is about how you can let go, be spontaneous, be without prejudice. It is not the totality of your experiences, it is the lessons learnt from experiences; difference between anubhava which is experience and anubhuti which is intelligence is this: anubhuti is the sum total of the lessons from anubhava._You do not need to touch many different types of fire, from a match stick to a blazing fire, to know that fire burns; even one experience will do. You need the lesson of just one experience. But we trust only experience, not intelligence.

Our entire education system is based on evaluation of information, not intelligence; only intellect and verbalization, not visualization. When you try to move on information you lose the ability to be intelligent. If you are logically logical you will understand that logic itself is not logical. Life is not logical.

Day by day you underestimate yourself, because you underestimate others. Past is always a golden past. There was never a golden past. Hinduism says there was a Satya yuga; Christianity says there was an age of Adam and Eve; all these are only ideas; ideas for you to escape from the present. They also give hope for the future; The Gods will come down to redeem you; incarnations and avatars will come again and again to save the world. They give you these ideas about the past and present to escape. You do not want to live in the present, that's why you wish always to escape to the past and future. These ideas about yourself that you do not let go, which is your ego, which are not true, all these false experiences, which are not real, therefore you miss reality. When you miss reality you feel nothing is a miracle. You take everything for granted.

There are so many miracles happening to you every day. We are watching TV and suddenly you feel that the character you're watching is about to say something, and sure enough she obliges. You are about to sit down for dinner, the doorbell chimes, and you know who is at the door; sure enough, it's the old school mate you haven't seen in years.

I find that in my discourses often over 50% of the audience responds positively when I ask if they had experienced a similar phenomenon at any point of their lives. When this happens, most of the time we brush it off saying that it's a coincidence. When to some this happens repetitively we attach the tag of a 'gifted' person, similar to those who see auras and sense the vibrational energy of people and places.

When the magnitude of the experience is far greater we no longer term it a coincidence. Some one predicts disasters rightly time and again, and forecasts deaths. Others heal people given up as lost cases by doctors. Some produce substances out of thin air. We then call them miracles. When you do not take everything for granted everything is a miracle. That you are alive is a miracle. Thousands of miracles keep happening within you.

There are no miracles in life. It is just that we do not yet understand the laws that govern occurrence of such incidents that seem to defy 'scientific' laws. Once we understand that this universe supports laws that go beyond the 'scientific' laws that have been so far discovered by humans, we start understanding the cause and effect linkages behind many of these inexplicable happenings and start appreciating the mysteries of our Universe.

Astrophysicists talk now about the parallel universe. They have discovered that each time a star system dies as a black hole another start system is born in a big bang somewhere else in the universe. Every action produces a reaction.

Chaos Theory now says that action and reaction do not need to be proportionate. There is no linearity in nature. A butterfly fluttering its wings in China causes a tornado in Mexico! This is science, not imagination.

Matter and energy were totally different entities till Einstein established their linkage. Even after Einstein, it was either matter or energy, never both in the same time and space. It is only recently that the principle of 'singularity' that allows matter and energy to exist simultaneously in a common time and space framework has

Making contact with Brahman is not impossible, once you know how. With thoughts crowding our mind, all that we normally do is to flit from one zone to another, from regrets to speculations, with no time to ground ourselves in the present. However, once we allow ourselves to settle in the here and now, in the present, thoughts gradually disappear. When thoughts disappear there is an expansion of our ability to expand in time and space, which allows us to traverse the past, present and future simultaneously.

Once we are the present miracles become common place, and we do know that they are no longer miracles but a natural flow of the universe.

If some one complains that he cannot change, I say change is your nature; I am surprised that you are holding on to the same character. Let go and you will change. Your body is changing. Your mind is changing. You are becoming more mature. You just have to let go, relax, allow yourself to change. Existence will change you. Life will change you. Trust yourself and relax. When they don't listen and insist I give them advice to confuse them. If you let it, your heart will transform you. The air you inhale and exhale will potentially change you. If your body, which is so gross and matter can change, don't you think your mind, which is subtle, and energy can not change? If you trust your intelligence you will be transformed immediately. You will be enlightened when you drop your mental setup, like dropping a fire pot. But you can not believe so easily. You say give me a technique. It's so difficult. The word difficulty is the greatest difficulty. When you know fire burns drop the fire. Where is the difficulty? Be a little more intelligent. Drop what hurts. When you understand that the mental setup causes you trouble, drop it. You will then transform your being.

You ask, how will I survive if I drop? The seed always wonders what will I do if I break? Unless it breaks the plant can not grow. Trust and open, trust and break, you will grow. If you make mistakes it’s worth making mistakes. Perfectionism is madness. The more you are far from perfect the more God has grace for you. Search for perfection is search for madness. Graveyard is the perfectly secure place. But it’s not the place to live; it is only for the dead. A ship is secure in the harbor, but it has to move out to function.

As you move from ego to spontaneity you will undergo pain, transition, that’s your penance, your tapas; that’s the price you pay for a better life. Everything will be a miracle. When you take life for granted, what results is boredom and depression. You seek to acquire not to enjoy. You can increase the height of your bed not the depth of your sleep.

Meditation is the key to spontaneity. Do not keep track of what you have undergone.

It's better to let go and grow without worrying about what happens. Enlightenment is not a step by step growth process, it is a quantum phenomenon. Living moment to moment, in the present, without worrying about past and present is meditation. It's a quality to be added to your life, not a quantity to be added to your life.

A Zen master is sentenced to death by his king. He is unconcerned. Disciples ask are you not bothered you are going to die tomorrow. He says, how can I worry about a day later, even the next moment is a new miracle for me.

When you live in the present all your fantasies drop, all your fears drop. If result is exciting you call it a miracle; if you do not like the result you call it a coincidence; if it's average you call it an incident.

When your ego is rooted in one place it does not get rejuvenated. If some one is always worrying he is centered in his navel chakra; if he begs attention he is rooted in his heart chakra; if on sex, on his muladhara. These centers do not rejuvenate if you get rooted in them; they get blocked by your emotions, your experiences. It is important that you get uprooted or derooted so that you can grow. You get to clear these blocks and energize the chakras, which are the centers of your energy. Meditation techniques will help remove these rooted emotions and blockages so that you can let go and grow.

Bhaja Govindam 10

Ananda is bliss. Nanda is something that can die out, disappear and is related to suffering. Ananda is that which can never disappear from your being, it is bliss. It is not joy. Joy brings suffering in its wake. Ananda is beyond joy. It is eternal bliss, nithya ananda.

Pleasure is what you feel through your senses based on an outer object; music, a fragrance, a beautiful sight, physical touch. When you meet nature, a mountain, a sea, a forest, you feel joy. When you feel ecstasy without sensory inputs or nature, not even inputs of forms of God, only from your inner core of energy, your atman, without any external input, it is bliss. It can be with no reason. It comes from within. That is Ananda.

Yoga: it's important to understand what yoga is not. Yoga is not physical exercises or breath control; these are but parts of Yoga. Yoga is union; the union with the divine; union with the cosmic power. It is Chitta vritti nirodaha: it's the cessation of the mind, to take it beyond the mind, to be one with existence. The blissful technique to unite your own self with the divine is ananda yoga, using bliss itself to unite.

Ananda Yoga is the path of ecstasy, not the path to ecstasy. The very path, the very travel is ecstasy, not just the goal. Life has no goal, it has only purpose. It is not something you find at the end, you find it all along the way. Living has a purpose. If life is a goal it's a rat race; even when you win this race you are still a rat. The very living is bliss when you go without a goal, only with a purpose of enjoying the path.

You can not look at God as a goal. You can not run towards God. In inner world, logic is very different. Goals are not reached by running towards them. Vivekananda says: Arise, awake, and do not stop till the goal is reached. I say: arise, awake, stop; goal is reached. Zen masters say when you stop seeking you will find it. Seeking makes you tense, it makes you miss your purpose. In a relaxation course you are so tense that you lose the purpose.

I say accept all guilt, all mistakes, and all failures; even if you can not accept, accept that you can not accept. You will then relax; guilt will drop from your mind. Yoga is cessation of the mind. If your mind is tense it can never stop. Only when you relax it can cease. You have to drop goal orientation. If you accept what you are, what is, mind will lose its roots. Mind and bliss are like a daughter in law and mother in law; they can not stay together. When you come and say that Swami, my mother in law does not understand your teaching, be very sure that you have not understood. When mind is, bliss is not. It is either mind or bliss.

In path of Ecstasy the very living is ecstasy. What is bliss path? What is the goal? What is to be achieved? Why are there so many religions, so many cults, so many sects, so many masters, and so many teachings? There are many masters, very few disciples. What is the purpose? It is Satchitananda. Sat is that truth which always exists; chit is consciousness; ananda is bliss. All meditators search for the Truth, that which is permanent. Path of Consciousness is when you surrender yourself to the Master, to the Divine. In the path of ananda, bliss, the start, the path and the end, all are bliss. When your consciousness is surrendered to the ultimate truth the path is blissful, the travel is bliss, and its end is also bliss.

Religion, which is dull and dry, is a punishment. After a long dry sermon the priest announced that there would be a congregation of the Church Board in the next room; soon after when people assembled in the next room, there was a stranger and the priest asked why he was there since it was a meeting of the Board, and only for members of the Board. The stranger replied that he thought it was a meeting for the bored, and since he was bored by the sermon he also came in. That's what mostly religion is; boring.

Religion has become a ceremony, and a ritual forced on people through greed and fear; greed of heaven and fear of hell. Its objective is anti life.

In an ashram in India the Master had a pet cat, which every day came for the puja and played and disturbed the puja. So the Master ordered that the cat be covered in a basket during puja. This practice continued. One day the cat died. Disciples went and got another cat because they thought puja can not happen without a cat. Even after the master's death the practice continued. It became a standard operating procedure. If one day they could not get a cat, there was no puja.

There is a yoga group where the practice takes months to open the chakras through long dry techniques. Those people who practice this yoga, when they came to attend an ASP with me were surprised that chakras can be opened in 2 days. I said these old techniques were designed in olden days of bullock carts; but Ananda Yoga is a jet age technique where things happen at the speed of light.

The very beginning of Ananda Yoga is bliss. All mystics say God is Satchidananda. Even Jesus says: Be still and know that I am God; he is talking about Truth, the Christ consciousness within Jesus, not about himself. When Masters talk about I, they mean their spirit, not their body. A fanatic group of Krishna devotees called me to a meeting. They asked, do you believe in Gita. I said, of course, it is the ultimate book. They then asked why do you then worship Shiva instead of Krishna. I have a temple to Dakshinamurti in the ashram. Sankara says in Dakshinamurti Stotram: What a surprise, under the big banyan tree a small boy is sitting as a guru, and people who are sitting in front of him are as old as his grandfather; the very presence of the guru destroys all their doubts and negativities. This is true of many Masters like Sankara, Vivekananda, Ramana and others.

I said Krishna and Shiva are the same energy. They said in Gita Krishna says: I am God. I said no, when Krishna says I, he does not refer to the body, the son of Vasudeva, but his super consciousness. I told them to read Anagita, which follows Gita. After the Mahabharata war, Krishna and Arjuna went out together. Arjuna says: I have forgotten all you said earlier, can you repeat. Krishna says: you forgot, oh, but I also forgot. Arjuna says how is that possible? Krishna says the person who spoke to you then was not the Vasudeva Krishna but Parabrahma Krishna. I spoke as the Parabrahman then. Now I am in the normal state. I am now in the Form. Then I was Formless. Gita was delivered as energy.

A disciple asked sometimes you look divine, unfathomable, other times you look like an innocent child. There are two dimensions. Enlightened Masters keep a small thread to keep them selves in the human form. They can come and go. Krishna when he opened his mouth showed the universe to Yashoda. When he closed it he starts eating mud.

Krishna said I shall go back and bring back that memory. That memory is Anagita. When I explained it to the Krishna fanatics they finally accepted that Shiva and Krishna are the same.

When the path is Truth, it is all beyond form. Koran says: I am the Truth. Upanishads say: Aham Brahmasmi. Zen: Very being is Buddha. Everywhere concept of truth is accepted. In this path untruth has to be renounced. No one follows it these days.

In the path of consciousness you have to be devoted. You have to sing songs, be very devoted to practices; these too are difficult for many.

In the path of ananda there are no restrictions, nothing to renounce. Your living, every moment of your life, has to be ananda, bliss.

I was sitting with kids today (this was in a city in the USA). None laughed. I told them a few stories. They never laughed. They behave in such a matured way that I thought I will grow old if I spend more time with them. Every one was talking like an adult. In the US they have forgotten to be kids. I want to take them to India and show how kids laugh and enjoy themselves. I was shocked that they did not laugh. I was bored. In India I went to attend a meeting with kids and I was asked to speak. One kid did not understand what I was saying: he came and pulled my dhoti; he made me stop and pay attention to him. He was clear what he wanted; he acted like a child should. Here in the US they are too cultured. They will become depressed. Depression is the gift of logic to the educated. You even measure your laughter. You start talking to someone only after you have verified who that person is. It is sad. They were all expressionless; they think they are Buddhas; they are Buddhus. They were all asking philosophical questions. Nothing was practical. They learn from adults. They learn from our body language.

I shall give you now three small keys from Tantra to make your life blissful. Forget all your ASP, NSP and Healers' Initiation techniques and meditations; just carry these three keys, that's enough.

First key is acceptance of life; never grudge, grumble. If you accept you will have intelligence to accept life. This is ‘Thatata’ which is ease, ease of acceptance.

A middle aged lady went to Buddha with her son's dead body one early morning, and pleaded: Lord please revive him. Buddha knew what ever he could say would be unacceptable to her. He said go and get a handful of mustard seed from a house where no one has died. She goes from house to house, without finding even one such house. What she is suffering from every one else has suffered too. There is no house in this world where someone has not died.

We worry because we feel others do not worry. If we realize every one has worries we won't worry. We need to see others unhappy to reduce our unhappiness.

When this lady understood this truth she became a nun, a bikku. She said even if you had given my child life, my life would have gone on as usual. Now I am transformed.

Giving life is not a miracle, transforming a person is the miracle.

A boy became a Sanyasi. His elder brother came to take him back. Whenever some one wants to take up spiritual life there will always be problems. If there is no problem then being a renunciate won't suit you. Husband grumbles about wife spending time at ashram. Wife thinks husband will become a sanyasi. Only when there is a problem, you come without telling the other person, only then it is worth it. In India husband and wife both come separately without telling each other and meet at the ashram. Some people do not want to show publicly that they go to ashram, since people may think that they have a problem; they will want to make sure that some other persons they know will not be there; then they will meet them there; that's life.

Thata happens when you accept. Accept life as it happens.

The elder brother kept insisting that the younger come back. The younger brother said: what will happen if I come back. We will fight for father's property after sometime. I shall give you all that property now. Take it and go away. The elder brother understood, accepted and went away.

If you do not accept, are things going to change? No. Nothing will change. Wherever you can change you will change.

Next is a conscious decision to live joyfully.

Here's a Sufi story. The great master Abdullah was always happy, in laughter, in bliss. Some one asked him how you are so joyful. Please teach us. Every day when I get up I ask Abdullah Abdullah Abdullah, what do you want today? Joy or Suffering? Mind says I want bliss. I say have bliss. That’s all. Disciple says but there is so much suffering. Abdullah said so what? If you suffer does it help? No. If you live in bliss miracles happen in your life.

Never decide for two days; decide only for one day; that day; the next twenty four hours. You know almost always what is happening in the next 24 hours. For most people it is the same thing that happens for the next 24 years; same wife, same house, same children. It is like the radio that is tuned to a particular station. You get what you are tuned to. If you are tuned to bliss you will get bliss.

Next 24 hours accept what ever happens. if some one calls you a dog , bark and show you are a dog. That’s Thatata.

The third is this. Abdullah is asked what if the mind chooses suffering instead of bliss. Abdullah says if your mind wants suffering,

enjoy the suffering. The problem is the conflict that you have when you want something and you can not enjoy when you get what you wanted. It’s like ordering food in a restaurant and not wanting to pay the bill. You do not like the consequences of what you desire. You forget that there will be pain after pleasure.

So if suffering happens, enjoy as it is your choice.

Follow these three techniques, and your path will be bliss and your goal will be bliss.

Repeated birth, repeated death, and repeated lying in mother's womb - this transmigratory process is extensive and difficult to cross; save me, O Destroyer of Mura, through your grace!

Bhaja Govindam 21