If You Have Understood the Truth, There is No Need to Practice🔗

Be very clear, techniques are given only to fools who simply miss the truth. An intelligent man does not need techniques. When the truth is spoken, the intelligent man immediately captures it and understands it. It is only the person who misses it who will ask, 'Master, what you said is really a beautiful truth, but how do I practice it?' The moment you bring the words, the question, 'How do I practice?' you have missed the truth.

When you understand that fire can burn you, do you ask, 'Master, I understand that fire will burn, but teach me how not to put my hand again and again in the fire so that I do not get burnt?' No, you don't ask this question! The very intelligence that fire burns is enough for you to keep your hands away and you will never put your hands near the fire again. If you think, 'This is the truth, but I should know how to practice it,' be very clear that you have not understood the truth.

To tell you honestly, the whole gist of Bhagavad Gita is in the first two statements made by Krishna. The moment he starts speaking which doesn't happen until the second chapter, he says:

'O son of Partha, do not yield to this degrading unmanliness. It does not become you. Give up such petty weakness of heart and arise, O chastiser of the enemy.'

Just two verses - the whole gist of Gita is conveyed, but Arjuna simply missed it. And because Arjuna missed, Krishna has to continuously confuse him. Krishna has to completely tire Arjuna. Unless Arjuna's mind is exhausted, he cannot be helped; nothing can be done. So the first thing that needed to be done was to get Arjuna tired.

Arjuna was an intellectual person. He had lived with Krishna for more than thirty years. If you have lived around a master for

a long time and have not become enlightened, you become a dangerous intellectual. Arjuna had lived around Krishna for a long time and he had not become enlightened. This was a problem.

When you are an insider, without being an 'in-sider' you will create trouble. Arjuna was an insider; he knew the 'behind the curtain scenes'. But he had not realized the consciousness of Krishna. So naturally, he could have become a cunning criminal and a dangerous intellectual.

Dangerous intellectuals miss the truth. There have always been dangerous intellectuals. With Jesus, Judas missed the truth. I think he had become a dangerous intellectual. With Ramakrishna, it was a man named Hriday, and with Ramana Maharshi there was another such person. There are always a few people who live around the Masters and miss the truth. When they miss the truth, they become dangerous intellectuals. Here Janaka missed the essence of the teachings. That is the reason now Ashtavakra has to give a technique.

Sutra:

You, who have been bitten by the great black serpent of the egoism, 'I am the doer' Drink the nectar of the faith, 'I am not the doer' and be happy.

Ashtavakra gives the technique. He tells Janaka, 'You think that you are the doer. Now start thinking, I am not the doer.' Please understand, simply thinking that 'I am not the doer' or having faith that 'I am not the doer' will not liberate you directly. But it will create a tremendous pressure in you, that you will become completely frustrated and drop everything.

People always come and tell me, 'Master, I tried to start meditating but I am not able to. Please advise me what to do.'

Meditation techniques are given to you just to make you understand that you cannot meditate.

Let me be very clear, this is the case with any meditation technique. In the last two and a half years, more than one million people have taken my meditation techniques. But I am boldly declaring that all meditation techniques are given to you just to make you understand that you cannot do any meditation technique continuously.

I am making another bold statement and if you are offended, I apologize. But it is the truth.

No intelligent man can practice any technique for more than twenty-one days with inspiration. He can practice it with perspiration, but never with inspiration.

I say that because, by your very nature you are intelligent and by your very nature you understand the truth. Techniques are just to make you tired, just to wear down the mind.

Here Ashtavakra is telling Janaka, ‘Remember that I am not the doer.’ Be very clear, this technique by itself will not liberate you. It will just make you tired. You will understand that you are not able to remember this on an ongoing basis. The moment that you understand that you are not able to remember ‘I am not the doer’ all the time, you will be completely frustrated and will just drop the mind. The moment you drop the mind, the truth that you are not the doer will simply become reality!

Now I will tell you a few things about my enlightenment. On the first day of the Ashtavakra discourse series, someone asked me if I could talk about my enlightenment. I asked him, ‘Do you want an honest answer or a social answer?’ He replied, ‘Honest answer’. I said, ‘Then please wait till the third day of the discourse.’

This is because, unless you get the glimpse of the truth, you will not be able to understand that I have achieved the truth, I have achieved Realization. Unless you experience the

technology created by me, you can never understand that I have discovered the truth.

Another person asked me, 'Master, in those days there was only one incarnation during each age. But nowadays, how are there so many incarnations, so many gurus, and so many enlightened masters?'

Modern man has become so complicated. Working with modern man has become so difficult. We need millions of masters. It is because we never listen when the truth is being stated.

Never think that you are listening to me. As long as I speak the words which relate with your logic or go with your vested interests, you will listen. The moment I say something that goes against it, you close yourself to these words. If you are courageous enough, stand up and question me. If you are not so courageous and want to be socially polite, you do not allow the words to enter into your being.

Either you stop and question, or you do not allow the words to get inside your mind. Be very clear, you are not listening. That is why I told the person who asked about my enlightenment that I would talk about it on the last day.

Let me tell you a few things:

I left home when I was very young, when I was seventeen. I started going to various monasteries, ashrams and wandered from village to village. I tried so many techniques, so many different methods. Of course, the ego and determination that I had at that young age helped me accomplish what I achieved.

To tell you honestly, if I talk about those experiences now, people call it tapas (ascetic practices) and what not, but actually it was not tapas. I was just enjoying it all. They ask me, 'Master, how did you do such great things? You are great. You are a Mahatma.' I tell them, 'Actually I think you are the Mahatma, to be living in the same house, with the same car, same routine, same husband or wife! I cannot imagine living in the same house for more than a few months!’

It was not tapas for me. It was just freedom and I enjoyed the freedom. Everyday I was in a new place. I was experimenting with all these truths. I was playing with all these techniques. I even stayed inside the Taj Mahal for seven days. I related well with the security people there and lived in their quarters itself. Can you imagine this kind of freedom in your life?

It is very easy to go to lectures and listen to all these concepts and go back to the same house, to the same spouse and live the same life. There is no need to take any risk. But I had gambled with my whole life.

Meditators are the ultimate gamblers. Ordinary people gamble with a little bit of money, a little bit of wealth. But meditators gamble with their whole life. I had sacrificed my whole life. The cream of my life had been sacrificed in this journey. Neither had I achieved the truth nor did I feel I was getting close to it. I was not able to convince myself that I was doing well. I was in deep depression.

My whole life was inspired by Ramakrishna. I had a beautiful photo of him, which I always carried with me. I used to offer puja (prayer) to this photo every morning. I used to constantly repeat a mantra twenty-four hours a day. I had mastered the technique of rolling the japa-mala (rosary) even in my sleep. Actually, it is not a big deal. Just try to sit and do japa (repeating the name of God); automatically you will learn the technique!

Once the frustration happened, it was so deep that I just picked up the photograph and threw it with full force. I also took both the malas that I was using for the repetition of the mantra and threw them into the Narmada river (sacred river in central India). Not only did I throw the mala, I said to myself, 'Along with these malas, I am throwing the mantra also; let it leave me.' I just threw the mantra along with the mala.

And let me tell you this: although it will be difficult for you to believe, this is honestly and exactly what happened. From that day, I forgot the mantra that I had been chanting for so many years. I simply forgot the mantra! It just left my mind completely.

I decided, 'Now I am neither going to do any further spiritual practice nor am I going to lead a life of sannyas (ascetic).' I decided to live as I wanted. First, I wanted to rest. Then, I thought I would get married or live a life as I wanted to, or live life as it comes. But I decided no more spiritual practice for me. I was convinced that the whole thing was a conspiracy against humanity. So I threw away the goal, the lifestyle, the practices, the mala, and the photos, and I rested.

Now, I know the view from both the sides, the view from that side and the view from this side. I know the struggles of that side, and I know the other shore also. That is why I tell you very clearly that no technique led me to the truth. Practicing different techniques only did one thing to me. It just made me tired and completely frustrated.

If some of you are frustrated, be very clear, blessed are those who are frustrated by meditating. You have achieved the results of meditation. If you are frustrated by meditating you have achieved the desired result. It is time to drop the meditation, so drop the meditation.

People ask me, ‘Master, you became enlightened because of your long tapas. How can I achieve enlightenment? How can that happen in us?’ People ask me this again and again.

Let me tell you very clearly, I did a lot of tapas because I was just foolish. Be very clear, there is no need for any of these techniques or tapas to become enlightened. I can tell you how you should live to accomplish your goal of enlightenment because I lived in a manner that was not necessary. Because I lived the life which is not necessary, I can tell you what is necessary for you.

I had 10,000 keys in front of me and only one lock. The opening itself took only one second. Finding out the right key to open the lock took nine years. The time I spent playing with the keys is what you call as tapas.

I was playing and playing with 10,000 keys. The opening itself took only one second. Why should you play with 10,000 keys? Here I am giving you one key; straightaway open with it.

But you will say, ‘When you played with 10,000 keys, why not us too?’ Then go ahead and play; what can be done? Have the whole bunch and play. If you are really interested in getting liberated, there is no need to play with all the 10,000 keys.

But if you are interested in postponing the experience, like these professional seekers who claim to be seeking and studying for the last 30 years, then you are free to do so. These are the kind of people who come up to compliment me after my discourse, saying that I spoke very well. They will not be listening to me when I speak because they are busy creating words in their heads about how to come and compliment me after the discourse. Somehow they want to get attention and this is one way for them to do so, that is all. There is no need to compliment me.

Just digest the truth that is expressed. If it can enter your very being, then I will be content that whatever has to happen has happened.

A master also grows with the disciple. To tell you the truth, as the disciple grows, the master also grows. That is why, in the Vedic system we say:

The Vedic prayer does not start as, 'May you be liberated.' Instead, it says, 'Let both of us grow.' Understand this one simple thing: a woman is a woman until she gives birth to a child. It is only after that she becomes a mother. When she gives birth, not only is the child given birth, the mother also goes through the birth of motherhood. Only after that she can be called a mother. Until then, she is just a woman. It is only at the time of the birth of her child, both baby and mother are delivered; the baby and the mother are born.

In the same way, when a disciple opens up, the master also happens. The disciple teaches the master and the master learns from the disciple. The master also grows with the disciple. If he can't grow or update himself, then he can never be a master.

Be very clear, enlightenment is not the end. It is the ultimate experience but not the final experience.

You need to understand these two words; they are very different. For example, let me tell you this: after the first day of discourse in this series, one person came to me and said, ‘You have said everything. Why do we need one more class?’ Yesterday another person said, ‘Master, on the first day, I thought you could not take us much deeper; it is over. And today, suddenly I felt that you have taken us deeper than yesterday and you cannot take us any deeper than this. Everyday I feel that you cannot take us much deeper than this, but we do keep going deeper.’ Everyday he felt that his experience was the ultimate.

Ultimate means living every moment totally, completely. Ultimate is not final, it can be updated.

Krishna is courageous and bold to declare, sambhavaami yuge yuge - again and again I will come down. He is courageous to create space for the next generation of masters. He is not only concerned about the business of His time. Krishna understands that humanity needs spiritual masters at all times.

Any one can stand up and boldly express the wisdom of Krishna and anyone who expresses the wisdom of Krishna is Krishna. Krishna creates the space for other masters to come. This is the greatness of Krishna.

This is also the greatness of the Vedic rishis. They are not interested only in their own business. They are not egoistic that only their photos or only their influence should be there. They are ready to allow the next generation to update their work. Growth is possible only when you update.

Vivekananda beautifully says that freedom is the basic condition for any growth. I am questioned again and again in the West as to why we have so many Gods in India. I respond that it is because we had spirituality in the Indian cultural system. That is why we went to the heights and depths of spirituality.

The West has experienced social freedom for some time. As a result, they can change everything in their lives such as car, house and wife as frequently as they wish. They can constantly change things because of the social freedom.

In the Vedic system, at the age of seven, the child is given the Gayatri mantra (Vedic prayer to illuminate the intellect) that says, ‘Let me meditate on the light that creates intelligence in me; let that intelligence help me meditate on it’.

Only the torch is given. You have to start your journey with that.

Let me give you an example. If someone comes to you when it is dark, and asks you for directions to cross a forest, you could say, ‘When I crossed earlier today, I walked seven miles straight ahead until I reached the place where there was a big snake. I walked four miles further until I saw a lion. At that point, I took a left turn and proceeded to walk seven more miles until I reached a river and crossed it. I walked four miles further in the same direction and then reached the other side of the forest.’ Could anyone cross the forest with these instructions?

The snake would have left the place long ago and the lion would have moved somewhere else by then. Instead of giving directions in this manner, simply give him the torch and he will cross the forest by himself.

The Vedic culture had tremendous spiritual freedom, which is why there were 33 crore (330 million) deities. I think the population of the Earth must have been 33 crores at that time! Each one could have a customized God

and the people had the spiritual freedom to seek fulfillment in their own way. That is the beauty of the Vedic culture.

For any growth, freedom is the basic condition. Here, all techniques are created and given to you to make you understand that techniques cannot help. Instead, you need to go straight to the understanding.

If you are already tired of techniques, now is the time to drop your mind and look into yourself. Just understand this one truth, that by your very nature you are un-clutched. Again and again because of your social conditioning, fears and worries, you are trying to clutch yourself and make a shaft. Neither the shaft exists, nor does the continuity. You are just un-clutched. By your very nature you are un-clutched. The person who understands this does not need any technique. If you cannot understand, then you are free to torture yourself with the technique of constantly trying to remember, ‘I am not the doer’.

Sutra:

Burn down the wilderness of ignorance with the fire of the knowledge, I am the one and pure intelligence And be free from grief and be happy.

Again, Ashtavakra comes up with one more technique. I think, when Ashtavakra spoke to Janaka saying, ‘You are unattached by your nature’, he did not see the light in Janaka.

This inner healing had not happened in Janaka at that point in time. That is why Ashtavakra had to compromise and create more techniques.

Burn down the wilderness of ignorance with the fire of the knowledge, I am the one and pure intelligence And be free from grief and be happy.

‘I am the one and pure intelligence’ -be very clear, the moment you start saying this, these words will start creating more and more words in you. It is one of the beautiful techniques to completely tire you.

Instead, if you can straightaway understand and penetrate the truth with intelligence, you will see that by your very nature you are un-clutched. It does miracles in your being, in the physical level, mental level and in the being level.

When you understand the truth that by your very nature you are un-clutched, a tremendous, quantum transformation happens; transformation happens in a quantum manner, not in a step-by-step fashion. With just one leap, you can take a quantum jump and experience the truth, the awakening in yourself.

All your physical and mental problems can be addressed by this single idea that you are un-clutched. The moment you understand that by your very nature you are un-clutched, that very moment your depression will simply disappear. The very idea of depression is created by you by constantly linking all your moods.

People ask me, 'Master, it is clear to me that the moment I understand that I am un-clutched by my very nature, depression will disappear. But how can physical healing happen?'

Be very clear, your body is directly guided by your mind. Let me explain two important things so that you can understand how the un-clutching brings better health or the healing effect in our body.

First, it is not only Yoga but medical science also that says that our body constantly rejuvenates; it also replaces itself. Please understand, it not only rejuvenates but it also replaces itself. We are constantly replacing ourselves. This is the first truth.

The second truth is an important truth that is again proven not only by yoga, but also by

biology and medical science - our mind creates our body. Five thousand years ago Yoga and Ayurveda sincerely started believing and experiencing that our mind creates our body. In this modern day, many scientific studies are proving that our mind creates our body. Our body is directly guided by our mind.

There is a book called 'Biology of Belief' written by Dr. Bruce Lipton. After 30 years of research in the field of biology, he came up with a powerful research report, in which he clearly proves that our positive and negative emotions play a major role in our body. They control our body in a bigger way than DNA and cells. Our body is guided by our beliefs, faith as well as positive and negative emotions. He says that even our body structure can be altered by our mind.

Step by step, he proves very clearly that all our genetic problems and all our physical and mental problems are created by our faith alone. He conducted several research studies, including some with children who had been separated from the biological parents from birth. The children would grow up thinking that the parents who had adopted them were their real parents. In these cases, the children even expressed all the symptoms of the diseases thought to be hereditary. He has done several studies similar to this. He has come up with a clear report that the body is directly guided by our faith, our beliefs as well as positive and negative emotions.

Biology repeatedly says that once in every 6 months, we create completely new body parts. Once a year not even a single cell of our liver is the same; the liver is completely replaced. And once in twenty-one days, our intestine is completely replaced. The skin gets renewed every five weeks and the skeleton is entirely new every three months. There is a specific number of days for each part of the body to get renewed.

Our body gets continuously updated. Our body has enough intelligence to replace itself. Our body is constantly replacing itself.

You may ask, ‘Then why am I creating the same disease again in my body? If my body is again and again replacing itself, rejuvenating itself, then why are we carrying the same disease?’ Because, you strongly believe in the same mind. Because you are carrying the same mind, you reproduce the same problems in the body. By clutching, by connecting, you stop the self-healing happening in your body.

The moment that you allow the inner healing to happen, the outer healing will simply start happening. The moment you understand that you are an un-clutched being, that moment the depression will disappear and I promise that you will create a completely new body. You will not carry your diseases forward to your new body.

It is because of your belief that you are connected and that you are a continuous flow, you carry the same disease. When you create the new part, you carry the same disease in the new part also. Just understand that you are completely un-clutched, you are disconnected and you are completely independent every moment.

Understand these two truths:

First, our mind creates our body and the second, our body is continuously replacing itself.

Now we can understand this statement: if we carry the same mind, the same shaft, we will reproduce the same disease or the same problem in the new body also. Everyday our body is creating a new body; it is automatically replacing itself. But because we carry the same mind, we bring the same disease back to our body and we force our body to suffer.

Let me tell you very clearly: based on my experience of having worked with at least 100,000 patients in two and a half years, who have come to me for healing or meditation, the moment you understand that you are an un-clutched being, you create a new body. You simply heal yourself. You come out of

not only mental problems, but even out of physical problems.

Be very clear, if we understand that we are un-clutched, if we realize the truth that we are un-clutched, unconnected, independent, illogical thoughts, we will stop carrying the same old identity and mind within us.

When we stop carrying the same mind and the same old identity, we will stop reproducing the same disease in the new body. We will stop reproducing the same pain, the same depression, the same difficulties and same disease in the new body.

If you are un-clutched, you will allow your body to heal from the disease which you already have and you will create a new body, a new system, which will be more immune, energetic and alive.

You are bringing the same diseases into the body by bringing the same old mind, by clutching yourselves with your past. You are not allowing the body to heal itself. You are not encouraging the body to rejuvenate and replace itself. The body by its very nature constantly replaces itself. You are stopping the healing process by clutching and connecting to your past.

For example, if your mother has conditioned you in your young age that if you play in the rain you will catch a cold, the memory gets engraved in you and even after thirty or forty years, you do not even have to go out when it rains - if you see the rain through the window, you will start sneezing. When you bring the old engrams, when you bring the past conditioning, when you bring the past and connect it with the present and make a shaft, you abuse the future.

Un-clutching dramatically improves your health and brings a healing effect in you. Almost all the mental problems related to desires, guilt, fear, addiction, depression etc can be addressed with this single truth that you are un-clutched.

All depressed moods are nothing but clutching all low moods and creating a shaft of depression. For example, the low mood that you suffered ten years ago, the low mood that you suffered nine years ago, the low mood that you suffered eight years ago, the low mood that you suffered seven years ago, the low mood that you suffered six years ago - they are all unconnected, independent, illogical experiences that happened in your life.

When you connect all of them, clutch and see them as a shaft, you say, ‘Oh, my life was a depression.’ The moment you start believing that you are a depressed being, you will create more and more arguments, collect more and more data to prove your judgments, to prove your understanding. Then naturally you will label yourself as a depressed being, ‘I am depressed.’

Understand that all your mental problems, whether related to addiction, depression or low moods, everything is directly related to this clutching. If you understand this single truth, the ultimate technique that by your very nature you are un-clutched, suddenly you will see that so many mental problems disappear by themselves. You do not have to do anything; they will disappear by themselves.

When you understand you are un-clutched you can work on your physical aches and pains; they will be healed. For example, the knee pain you had ten days ago, the knee pain you experienced nine days ago, the knee pain you had eight days ago are all unconnected, independent experiences. But when you connect all of them and put a label, ‘I have knee pain,’ you make a shaft.

If you understand your un-clutched nature and stop creating shafts, you will see your pains dissolving. Pain becomes pain because you label it as pain. Depression is depression because you create a shaft of depression.

If you allow your mind to un-clutch from your past, you will create a new body without

old ailments. You will create a new body, which will be more balanced, more energetic, have more healing power and more immunity.

If you strongly believe that you had knee pain for ten years, naturally you will strongly believe you are going to have the same knee pain for the rest of your life. This faith is more than enough to reproduce and create a knee pain in the new body that you create every morning. Because you clutch with the same mind, connect with the same mind, you reproduce the same disease in the new body that you create everyday.

When you un-clutch from your thoughts, from this shaft, you will suddenly see a new inner healing happening in you. You will forget about whomever you were not able to forgive. You will not just forgive, you will even forget about the whole thing.

I am not only talking about forgiving others. Many times the most difficult person to forgive is yourself. You might not be able to forgive yourself for the decisions that you have made, the life that you have led, the relationships which you have maintained or the actions that you have done in your life.

When you cannot forgive yourself, it is called guilt. When you cannot forgive others it is called vengeance. When you un-clutch, both guilt and vengeance will disappear. Not only will you forgive, you will also forget because there is no connection between your behavior and these thoughts.

The mistakes that you made ten years ago, the mistakes that you made eight years ago, the mistakes that you made seven years ago are independent, unconnected incidents that happened in your life.

When you connect all of them and think, ‘I am the worst person because I have done all these things,’ you do not realize the hell that you are creating for yourself.