JAIN SUTRAS DISCOURSE 1🔗

From a Discourse by SPH JGM Bhagavān Nithyananda Paramashivam Buena Park, CA, USA March 6, 2007

DISCOURSE 1

I welcome you all with my love and respects. Mahāvīra, one of the greatest enlightened Masters, happened on the planet earth. According to me He is the only Master who is able to create a technology or the formula to reproduce not only enlightened beings, but also to create the purest tradition.

So if I have to see with this understanding, I can say Mahāvīra is the only Master who created the purest tradition.

His philosophy, his tradition, however much it may get degraded, can never accept a terrorist group. It can never be the base for terrorism. Because he has gone to the extreme, he knows how the human mind can slowly, slowly degrade and how the human mind can slowly, slowly do the 'text torturing'.

For example, in our tradition we follow vegetarianism. All our devotees are expected to be vegetarians. Somebody asked me, 'Swamiji, why can't egg be considered as vegetarian?' Okay, today you say egg is vegetarian. Then you will say, 'After all, a few days later, if I eat the same egg once it becomes a chicken, what is wrong? If I would have eaten it a few days ago, it would have been ok. Now I am eating just after a few days, then why should it be non-vegetarian?' Then you will go on to say, 'Okay, when chicken is vegetarian why not hen?' This is how misinterpretation and natural degradation happens. Degradation is easily possible if you allow any loopholes. Understand, if there are some terrorist groups in some religion, the enlightened Master or the person who created that religion is responsible. He did not have enough intelligence to create a system without loopholes.

It may be shocking but let me be very clear, if tomorrow some terrorist groups are created out of the teachings which I am creating, which I am giving, I am responsible. I should have the intelligence to talk, and to teach very clearly without allowing any loopholes. It is my responsibility to express my teachings very clearly.

Man actually needs little lies, little hope for his life. But you can't add this little bit of lies and hope with Mahāvīra. He is a pure energy, pure consciousness. How much you try to misinterpret, you can't do; he is very clear.

You can't entertain people with Mahāvīra. He is not an entertaining philosopher. No. He is Truth in its true form. So I thought let me have a right group, only then I should start speaking on Mahāvīra. Only then I should talk on Mahāvīra's sutras. Now we are going to see not only the sutras directly by Mahāvīra, but also some sutras from His disciples - the Akaranga sutras. The beauty with the Akaranga sutras is that they give you the techniques to apply Mahāvīra's teachings. They become like an applied science. So we will see the teachings from Akaranga sutras also.

Such pure, simple Truths expressed by Mahāvīra - for a normal man it is very difficult to digest. My close disciples used to ask again and again, 'Swamiji, why don't you speak on Mahāvīra?' Because I have spoken on Bhagavad-gītā, Ashtavakra Gita, the Upanishads, on Buddha, on the Sermon on the Mount. So they were again and again asking me, 'Swamiji, please speak on Mahāvīra.' I told them, 'I am afraid that you guys will run away!' Mahāvīra is a pure Truth. He is not compromising. Understand, he is not compromising. I always tell people, if I speak on Mahāvīra, I am afraid that you may run away because the Truth is in its purest form. You can't add any stories or jokes, you can't dilute. It has to be expressed in a clear, authentic way.

One more important thing, you can't edit Mahāvīra's sutras because there is no repetition. You can't edit. You can't say, 'Oh, these sutras are beautiful, and these others are all repetition.' You can't reduce them, you can't take away even a single word.

He is so clear, straight to the point of enlightenment. He is not starting his works with an introduction. No introduction. He is not preparing you mentally.

See, you need introduction if I am going to say something which I have not experienced, so I have to prepare you. If I am going to say the straight Truth, you don't need an introduction, I don't have to give a big introduction. I don't have to prepare you. Here Mahāvīra is not preparing. No introduction. He is telling the honest Truth.

Many times I am surprised even the so-called followers of Mahāvīra, even the people who are born in the Jain community, do not read or do not give much time to the philosophy of Mahāvīra. They spend more time in front of Mahāvīra's statue. See, you can easily escape from a statue. They spend more time with Mahāvīra's idol because he is just sitting silently, and you can do whatever you want. If you don't do also he will not ask you. But with his words, with his teachings, he will start working on you.

I have seen people go to the Jain temples, sit in front of that Mūrti, and from morning till night they will do all the rituals, but they are afraid to read the literature, the words of Mahāvīra! As long as you are playing with Mahāvīra's Mūrti, you can put flowers, you can put sandal, you can put Prasādam, you can put offerings - you will be working on him. But the moment you read his teachings he will be working on you. But we are afraid of that, we are afraid of allowing him to work on us. It is very easy if you work on him, if you just stop with idol worship.

See, I am not saying idol worship is wrong. It is beautiful if it inspires you to follow him. If it inspires you to follow his teachings and words, idol worship is a beautiful technique. But many times I have seen people use idol worship to escape from the teachings. Then it is dangerous. Understand, please don't work on Mahāvīra, allow him to work on you! Let him work on you. Let the teachings penetrate your being.

Again I request you all, if I hurt you in some way, please forgive me, because the teachings of Mahāvīra are straight Truth.

He is basically by blood a kṣatriya. Kshatriya doesn't know courtesy, because he is not begging from anybody. A Brāhmaṇa will always be courteous, because by his birth he is supposed to receive and eat. Understand, when I say these words, they don't have meaning for a modern society. In the modern day the Brāhmaṇa does not mean he eats from others. I am talking about those days when Brāhmaṇa was supposed to receive and eat. So naturally he would be a little humble and courteous. He would think twice before hurting people. But a kṣatriya, especially if he gets enlightened, he will not compromise. He will tell the Truth straightaway. And one more thing, kṣatriya is not afraid of death, he doesn't bother, 'If you kill me, that's okay but I am going to tell the Truth.'

Arihanta means who has conquered all the enemies, who has killed all the enemies. The first enemy is fear, your own fear. The desire to live, the lust for living is the first enemy. You may say, 'Then should we commit suicide?' No, I am not telling you to commit suicide. But too much of desire or too much of fear that you may die, is the first enemy. Mahāvīra has conquered that enemy, the fear. That is the reason he was able to tell the Truth as it is.

One more thing: before entering into any enlightened Master's teachings, or any great Master's teachings, you should analyze to whom it is delivered, for what purpose it is delivered - because you should see the ulterior motive of the teaching. What for are those teachings delivered? You should understand all this to evaluate the purity of the teachings. Understand, the purity of the teachings should be evaluated before you enter into the teachings.

One day Vivekananda was sitting and relaxing on the banks of Ganga enjoying a smoke on his hookah. One disciple was sitting at his feet and pressing his feet, doing pāda seva. An elderly gentleman came there; he was a well-learned pundit, a high intellectual. He came to Vivekananda and started boasting, 'I take bath everyday in Ganga three times and I do all the sandhya practices.' And he claimed that he would thus achieve the highest moksha, heaven. Vivekananda said, 'If by just taking a bath in Ganga you will become God, then the fish which are in Ganga are the gods and the holiest creatures. So I can’t say just taking a bath in Ganga will make you holy.' The pundit was shocked and he left the place.

After a few minutes one young man came; he was a graduate from Calcutta University. He said, 'Swamiji, I heard that you are a very modern person who does not bother about the traditional things like taking bath in Ganga, doing sandhya and all these kinds of things. I really appreciate your teachings and I am searching for a Master like you. I also don’t like all these traditional things.'

Vivekananda said, 'Who told you? Everyday I take bath in Ganga and I worship Ganga. Who told you I don’t acknowledge all these traditional things! I respect tradition. I live according to tradition.' The young man said, 'Oh, is it so?' Anyhow Vivekananda gave him a few teachings and the young man left.

The old man had received the teachings which were for him. The young man also received the teachings which were for him. Now the disciple who was sitting at the feet of Vivekananda and watching both the scenes, got confused. He asked, 'What is this? What are you telling? When that old man came you said something and when this young man came, you were telling something else. What do you mean?' Vivekananda says beautifully, 'That teaching was for that old man, this is for that young man. Who needs what kind of teaching, is given to him. As for you, you press my feet.'

Before entering into the great Truths of enlightened Masters, we should analyze to whom they are given, what the ulterior motive is, what the purpose is; then we should enter into the teachings. Only then we will be able to understand, assimilate and practice the Truth in its purest form. Here Mahāvīra's teachings are given only to liberate you, to give you enlightenment. The goal is achieving the ultimate level of consciousness, experiencing the greatest Truth. See the beauty of these teachings, see the whole philosophy of Mahāvīra - it looks negative but all the followers of Mahāvīra lived with such richness. See the Jain community - it is the richest community in Hinduism.

We should enter into this paradox. We should analyze how this happens. Here Mahāvīra is not giving any management techniques. He is not a management Guru. In the modern day all our philosophies and teachings are used for management. There are so many management books which came based on the Vedic tradition. Even the so-called Masters in the modern day became management Gurus only.

Mahāvīra is not a management Guru. He is not giving you any solutions related to the outer world. But when you follow the very teachings, the expansion of the inner space happens as a side-effect or as a byproduct of that expansion; wealth accumulates around you. Understand, Mahāvīra is the ultimate management Guru - not only for the inner world, but even for the outer world. He never speaks about how to create or manage wealth. All he does is, he creates the beautiful inner space in which you can accommodate many things. He is not talking about karma yoga, because if he talks about karma yoga you can use those words and make him a management Guru.

The other day I was reading an article in the Wall Street Journal. It says, the Bhagavad-gītā is taking a big shape, and is getting an important place in many corporate companies of the US where they are using it for management.

Mahāvīra is not talking anything about karma yoga. You can easily use the teachings related to karma yoga for management. He is not talking anything. He simply does something in your consciousness, you become a leader. He is not telling that you should become a leader. He just makes you a leader. He creates a beautiful inner space. One important thing you should understand: when your inner space is expanded, when you are living with inner richness, the outer richness follows you. The outer richness not only follows you, it even becomes your servant.

Let us enter into the words of Mahāvīra. We will understand how he does this great thing through His unique teachings and techniques. So before entering into the sutras let us all remember the great Master Mahāvīra and all other tīrthankaras, the other great Masters, by repeating this mantra. If you all know this mantra, you can repeat. Otherwise at least remember all the great Masters, all the tīrthankaras, all the sādhus, all the siddhas, all the acharyas who preserved the science of enlightenment, who protected this science of enlightenment. And let us offer our humble respects to them before entering into their teachings.

I bow in reverence to acharyas. I bow in Ācārreverence to upadhyayas. I bow in reverence to all sādhus. This fivefold salutation destroys all sins.

Manglananch savvesim. Padhamam havei mangalam Amongst all auspicious things this is the most auspicious one.

This mantra is an amazing mantra. We should understand a few things before understanding this mantra. See, this great tradition of Mahāvīra starts with this mantra and ends with this mantra. Whatever he has to say, the whole gist of this tradition is this mantra. Please understand they are not worshipping the gods who will give you wealth. They are not worshipping the gods who will give knowledge. They are not worshipping the gods who will give power.

You should understand the psychology of religion. The Truth is man created God in his own mould. If you are caught in ignorance, you worship the goddess of knowledge, Saraswati. Whatever you don't have, you worship that, because you want that. If you are mature, your worship or your ishta devata (favorite deity) also will be mature.

If you are greed-based it is very easy to exploit you. If somebody comes and gives you just a verbal promise, it is enough. If he creates such words that your fantasies will be fulfilled through him, you are gone. This is a real incident which happened: An astrologer used to come to our ashram. Earlier he used to come in a two-wheeler. One day suddenly I saw him in a new car. I asked him, 'How do you suddenly have a new car? Did you win any lottery?' He said, 'No, no Swamiji, these are all happening because of Lakṣmī yantra.' I asked, 'Lakṣmī yantra? I have never heard of this. Who gave you this?' He said, 'No, no, nobody gave me, Swamiji, I started giving to others!'

If you are greed-based you will worship the gods and goddesses who promise wealth.

If you are logic-based, you will be at the next level; you will worship philosophers. You will worship the people who give you words. The person who gives you words is worshipped, respected.

You can't call all these four levels as a religion. They are not religions. They cannot give you solutions. They can only give you support. Understand, these four levels will give you only support, not solution. Totally there are seven levels. The first four levels can't be called as religions. It is just a sort of support.

In the next three levels, you will see the true spirituality. Love-based system means you will worship a person who radiates love. You will be attracted towards the person who radiates love. The next is meditation-based. Here you will be attracted to a person who is sitting in meditation, who is radiating peace, who is radiating energy, who is radiating life, who is radiating consciousness. The last, the ultimate, is celebration-based. It is led by one who is not only radiating, but who can also make you radiate the same energy, who can share, who can create that ambience, who can create that energy in you also.

Arihanta means not only the person who has achieved himself, but who can also reproduce it, who can create it in you also. This is the religion, the tradition based on enlightenment.

Understand the seven levels: ignorance-based, fear-based, greed-based, logic-based - these four are preliminary levels. You can't call them as religions. They are support, not even solutions. It is like adding little oil to you and making you run in the same way. It is like when too much friction happens, you need to add little oil to reduce the friction. In the same way these four levels are like a little oil to run your machine. They won't give you solutions. The other three levels, higher levels, are love-based, meditation-based and celebration-based. The celebration-based systems are based on joy, bliss and ananda. Here they worship, bow down to the great energies and Masters who are love-based, meditation-based and based on celebration, enlightenment, ananda and ecstasy. One more thing, if your core message is love, meditation and enlightenment based, maybe outside your temples you can have few statues also, nothing wrong. They are like a visiting card – ‘Please if you are greed-based, fear-based, ignorance-based also you can come, you are welcome; we don't say you can't come. But please come beyond that. There is something beyond.' If you keep the love, compassion, meditation and celebration as the main mulavigraha or the main base, you can have few of the other things also on the outside, nothing wrong. But there are some traditions which started keeping the fear-based, greed-based, ignorance-based things in the main altar. That is where their corruption started. That is where dilution starts. That is what I call a dangerous distraction. As long as our focus is towards the main Truths, corruption or dilution is impossible. Somehow, Mahāvīra, a great Master, managed to create a tradition without dilution, without corruption. Still the main Truth even after 2500 years is the same. Still the core is the same, still the religion is love-based, meditation-based and enlightenment-based and celebration-based. Maybe in course of time there is a little bit of fear base or greed base but that is not the core. That is not the Truth. The dilution also is not able to affect the Truth or the core.

Here Mahāvīra starts, Namo arihantanam, I bow in reverence to arihantas, who achieved the highest Truths. They are not only who achieved, but who are also radiating the Truths so much that others who go near them are also inspired to achieve.

Understand, an important Truth, arihanta does not mean a person who teaches, it means a person who inspires. You can't reproduce enlightenment by teaching, no. If you can, long before we would have started selling enlightenment. We would have created stores, created websites saying, 'Please visit our website to get enlightened!' And we would have created an 'enlightenment guaranteed' shop. No. Fortunately or unfortunately, you can't create enlightenment in some being by teaching, no. Only by inspiring you can create enlightenment. You can reproduce enlightenment only by inspiring.

Arihanta is the person who radiates the Truth so powerfully, so strongly,His presence is so intense that anybody who comes near him, even if they spend a few minutes around him, they are inspired. The fire is ignited, the transmission of the lamp happens. They feel this is the best state to live in, this is the best space to exist in, this is the best thing which can happen to me in my life. Understand, if you go near an enlightened being, even if you have spent just two or three minutes around him, suddenly you will feel this is the best thing which can happen to me. If you had that thought in you, only then he is enlightened. Otherwise be very clear, something is seriously wrong with His enlightenment! If he cannot radiate, if he cannot create that inspiration in you, forget about him, there is something seriously wrong in His enlightenment.

Arihanta is a person who has not only become enlightened, but who also radiates it. Just inHis very presence, you will feel God. He will become a fantasy in you. He will inspire you so much. He will occupy your inner space so much, either you start working towards achieving that state or you feel I am not able to. Even if you feel 'I am not able to' that's okay. At least you have taken the first step, you have started.

Understand, respect towards an enlightened being is the first step towards enlightenment. It means you wanted that state, because you will not respect anything unless you agree with that ideology. Unless you have a little bit of attachment and feeling towards that ideology, unless you get the subtle feeling that you should also have the same, you will not have respect for that.

If you respect somebody beautiful or handsome, be very clear, you have a subtle desire to be in that state, to have that quality. In the same way if you respect a rich person, there is a subtle desire to have wealth. Anything you respect automatically enters your inner space. When you say, 'I bow in reverence to an enlightened being,' you give respect to enlightenment. Here you are not bowing down to someone who will help you when you are in fear. No. You are not bowing down to a king. No. You are not bowing down to a rich person who will give you money. No. You are not bowing down to a person who will give you logic, philosophy or words. No. You are bowing down to a person who inspires, who puts the seed of enlightenment in you, who helps you to achieve enlightenment.

There is a beautiful commentary or explanation of the Jain Sutras which says, when you sit in front of an arihanta, the ultimate conscious being, without your knowledge, without even your conscious understanding, your whole being is integrated towards that one goal, enlightenment. Understand, as of now you are not one being as you think. Your head is pulling and calling you in one direction. Your eyes are pulling you in the other direction. Your ears are pulling you in another different direction.

Just the other day I was facing a question, 'Swamiji, in all organizations there is so much of politics. Why are you creating one more spiritual organization? And you know there is going to be so much of politics.' I told him, you need to understand this important Truth, you don't need even two persons to create politics, one is more than enough. See, in the morning you will be doing something and in the evening your mind will be telling something else, it means there is politics inside you.

You don't need two persons for politics, one is more than enough. In the morning your mind will be telling something, and you will work towards that. By evening your mind will be telling something else, and you will try to put your effort towards that. What does it mean? You are already a politician!

You are afraid of politics because of too many different opinions. And you think you don't have politics inside! So you don't need two persons for politics, one person is more than enough to create politics. A single person is more than enough to create politics.

The other day I was reading an article in the Wall Street Journal. It says, the Bhagavad-gītā is taking a big shape, and is getting an important place in many corporate companies of the US where they are using it for management.

Mahāvīra is not talking anything about karma yoga. You can easily use the teachings related to karma yoga for management. He is not talking anything. He simply does something in your consciousness, you become a leader. He is not telling that you should become a leader. He just makes you a leader. He creates a beautiful inner space. One important thing you should understand: when your inner space is expanded, when you are living with inner richness, the outer richness follows you. The outer richness not only follows you, it even becomes your servant.

I should tell you a true incident about how God suffers by the politics of the trustees. There is politics amongst the trustees but ultimately God is put to suffering. In a famous South Hinduism temple, there was a fight between the trustees who paid for the rituals and the pujaris who did the rituals. The fight started for the simple reason

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Now the pujaris were very strong with their ideology, they went to the Supreme Court.

Really, understand, I am not telling a story, I am telling the history! Finally the Supreme Court gave the judgment: whenever god is traveling on the elephant it should have the mark of the god which is U-shaped, and whenever the elephant is free without the procession, it can have straight line.

And an important thing, two days after the judgment the elephant died - because the process took fifteen years!

Don't think the story has ended. The story does not end here. Somebody donated one more elephant. Now the pujaris came and wanted to put the mark according to the Supreme Court judgment. The trustees said, 'No, that judgment was for that elephant, not for this elephant. Let us go to the court again!' And till now, for at least twenty five years god is going in procession by walk, not on an elephant! For the last twenty five years he stopped riding on elephant! The fight is between the trustees and pujaris and who is suffering? God.

The same thing happens to us. When your indriyaiḥ (senses) suffer, when your indriyaiḥ fight among themselves, your consciousness suffers. Understand, when your senses and your mind fight among themselves, your consciousness, your inner space suffers.

Arihanta is a person in whose presence all your senses and the mind are integrated by themselves. Understand, in front of a warrior, automatically you will feel that you are supposed to behave with respect. Just by his presence, you will not talk anything. It is called sthana bala.

Arihanta is a person in whose presence all your senses and the mind are integrated by themselves. Understand, in front of a warrior, automatically you will feel that you are supposed to behave with respect. Just by his presence, you will not talk anything. It is called sthana bala. In Sanskrit we use the word sthana bala. Anybody who holds that seat, that very sthanam, you just go in front of him and sit silently and come out. Just the very sthana bala, you will be frightened.

In the same way, in the presence of the arihanta, just the very presence, just the sthanabala, your senses will be integrated. Your inner personality, your mind, indriyaiḥ, buddhi, chitta, everything will be integrated. Because all your senses know - he has killed all his enemies; and any moment he may kill me also, so let me be silent. For example, if you go and sit in front of a person who has committed a hundred murders, will you dare to talk? Will you oppose him? No, unless you are mad!

You know he has killed all his enemies, so if you give him an idea that you are also his enemy, simply you will be killed. You will keep quiet. In the same way all your senses and your mind know an Arihanta has killed his enemies. Arihanta is one who has conquered all his enemies, so naturally your mind feels he will kill it also.

So the mind says, 'Better let me keep quiet.' Your personality will be integrated just by his presence. Understand, this bowing down and remembrance will invoke the presence of these Arihantas. You need to understand an important thing, remembrance is not just thinking. In the case of ordinary things like a flower or a sweet, remembrance is just thinking.

They are waiting just to help you. Please understand, when you remember some object of the outer world, that object doesn't have the intelligence or power to appear in front of you, to be there in front of you. But enlightened beings are not objects. They are energy and intelligence.

One more very important thing you need to understand: enlightened Masters even if they leave the body, will have to retain their sukshma sareera, subtle body, till all their disciples and followers become enlightened.

They have to make themselves available. They have to be available for all of you. Please understand, till you all become enlightened, they can't disappear, even if they have given up their bodies.

Jain Sutras Decoded | page 31 Copyright © 2021 Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam All Rights Reserved

A small incident which happened in the life of Nisargadatta Maharaj, a great enlightened being who lived in India:

Somebody asked him, 'Master, you say enlightened beings don't have karma. Then how are you speaking with us? How are you able to talk without getting the karma of that action?' Nisargadatta Maharaj says, 'I am not talking to you.' He is talking and he is saying 'I am not talking to you!'

The disciple was completely confused. He said, 'What are you saying 'I am not talking to you?' You are talking to me, and you are saying 'I am not talking to you!' Then Maharaj says, 'Because you want, you are getting the answers from this system. This system is programmed to respond like a voice mail, it is an automatic intelligence which responds to you, that's all. Otherwise this system itself does not have an ego like you.' Understand, you can't say an automatic replying machine is a living mechanism. No. It just responds to you because you wanted somebody to respond. Maharaj says, 'I am responding to you because this is the way you wanted.' And he says beautifully, 'If somebody approaches me with an attitude of dasa bhava, as a servant, I look like a leader. If somebody approaches me with the attitude of a disciple, I look like a Master. If somebody approaches me with the attitude of a son, I look like a father. So whatever attitude they have, I just reflect it. I just fulfill what they want. Otherwise I myself don't have any identity or ego.' He says, 'I am not talking to you. You are listening to the answers which you want to listen, which you need to listen.' That's all. It is an automatic replying system. So enlightened Masters are not present as we think. In the same way, enlightened beings who have left their body, are not absent as you think. When they had a body, their presence had a body. When they leave the body, their presence does not have a body, that's all. Otherwise having a body or not having a body is in no way going to disturb or change your connecting with that Master. Understand, as far as Masters are concerned, whether they have the body or not, it does not disturb them. It does not change anything. They don't miss anything. So do not think, just because they don't have a body, you can't experience their presence. This simple remembrance can invoke their presence immediately, in that very moment, wherever you are. Remembering them will simply create their presence because they are waiting - they are waiting to be called. In the advertisements you see, 'Operators are waiting for your call, please call now, call now, call now!' In the same way Masters are waiting, 'Please chant now, chant now, chant now!' They are waiting, available. All you need to do is remember them. .

Just the remembrance is enough. You will see that their presence is in front of you. They are not absent as you think. Just because you are not able to see the stars, you can't say the stars don't exist. In the same way just because you don't see them with your eyes, you can't say Masters don't exist.

Only one benefit if the Master is with the body is, you may be able to feel him with all your five senses. If he is without the body you have to feel him, experience him only in the inner space which is beyond body, that's all. But you can verily experience him because Masters can't disappear till you become enlightened.

Before every initiation, all the Masters, enlightened beings, take a vow. Understand, during initiation don't think only you take vows, or only you make commitments. Master also makes commitments.

He says, 'Till you become enlightened, the energy which is working through this body, even if this body is dropped, will help you and assist you till you reach the same state in which I am living.' That is the commitment all the Masters give. Till you reach, achieve that same enlightened state, even if the body drops, the energy promises to guide you. That is the commitment that a Master makes.

Understand, even if Mahāvīra left the body, he has to make himself available to all of us till we become enlightened, till we achieve enlightenment. He has to make himself available. The moment you remember these great Masters, you will see their presence is there in front of you.

Now the next line, 'I bow in reverence to siddhas, means the liberated souls. You should understand the word 'namo' also. 'Namo' means you offer 'I' and mine, ahankar and mamakar. Na mama. Ahankar and mamakar, you offer both 'I' and 'mine'.

You see, an important thing is it is very easy to offer 'mine', which means wealth. You can very easily give wealth. At some point in time all rich people feel the futility of wealth - because then you can buy anything which money can buy. But after all the basic things, what will you do with the money? Maybe more and more zeroes get added in your bank balance sheet. Only in the pass book or the bank balance sheet you see more and more zeroes getting increased. For those zeroes you give your whole life and you are constantly running, running, running. Finally only the ego of the person who is making you run ends up expanding. And suddenly one day you will leave all those zeroes and yourself become zero!

After some time all rich people feel the futility of wealth. Once they have wealth, they feel it is very easy to give money. I have seen almost all rich people erecting temples in every city. Why? They understood money has no value. Money is valuable only till you achieve all your basic needs.

Understand, we have everything that we need. A right strategy is all we need. Right planning is all we need. And we have enough intelligence. For the first time in the history of humanity, we are facing a situation where so much of intelligence is available, and so many miracles of technology and science are available. We have everything and we can take care of the whole society. All the basic needs can be taken care of, it is not a big thing.

A rich person knows money is valuable only for a common man who has not achieved fulfillment in his basic needs. Giving up the 'mine' is not a big thing for him, it is very easy. But giving 'I' is the real thing. If you give 'I' you become god in that temple. If you give 'mine' you become the person who builds temples, that's all.

Mahāvīra became Mahāvīra because he gave 'I'. He gave away the 'I'. He dropped the ego. He went beyond the ego. He went beyond the 'I' and 'mine'.

Understand, do you want to be a donor or do you want to be the one who is sitting inside the temple? Do you want to become a worshipper or the person who receives the worship? The moment you give away the 'I', you become the one who receives the worship. If you are giving away only the 'mine', you are a worshipper. The person who gives up 'I' and 'mine' both, becomes the arihanta.

Now when you give away your 'I' and 'mine' to the arihantas, you achieve the same state in which they are living. You see, the 'I' and 'mine' is the only thing which separates you from enlightened beings. When you drop this boundary, you become one with them.

There is a beautiful stotra, a beautiful line by a great enlightened master, Ramana Maharshi. Let me repeat the words and then I will translate. It is an amazing line!

This is a verse in Tamil. He says, 'I gave 'me' and 'mine', and got you and what you are having. Who is the winner in this game? Tell me Arunachala. Tell me O Lord!'

Understand, 'I gave up 'I' and 'mine' but achieved you and what you are having. Now who is the winner in this game?' You got only what I had. See, normally what will you have?

Sareera rogamaya, mana sogamaya, atma dukkhamaya, that's all. These three are our property. Sareera rogamaya means the body with sickness. As long as you have head, you will have headache. As long as you have knee, you will have knee pain. As long as you have a body, it will be rogamaya. Sareera rogamaya.

Mana sogamaya. Mind means depression. Understand, if you don't have depression you will feel something missing in you. If you don't have anything to worry about, suddenly you feel empty, a vacuum. And you think, 'What is happening? I don't have anything to worry about. What is going on in me?' You feel lonely, and you catch something and start worrying. And atma dukkhamaya. Your inner is space filled with pain and suffering. This is what is our property.

Now let us see what are the properties of an enlightened being, an enlightened master, the arihanta. Sareera tejomaya, means body with which they are not even connected. Tejomaya means the consciousness-filled body.

See, there is a beautiful verse which says Mahāvīra’s body is filled with milk. Understand, it is a metaphysical example. You need to understand that it means he is filled with that consciousness. Do not visualize in a physical way he is filled with milk. The story says when a snake bit him, only milk came out ofHis body. It is a metaphysical example.

The moment you start appreciating somebody else's body, it means you are not completely comfortable with your dimensions. You try to work on your dimensions. Be very clear, the other person may be handsome or beautiful but you can't enjoy even a cup of coffee through that body. You have to experience that only through this body you have.

Sareera tejomaya means filled with consciousness, completely comfortable inside one's body. If you are completely settled and completely comfortable - sthiram sukham - then it is tejomaya.

Masters don't have a mind, so there is no description about mind. Atma anandamaya - radiating the bliss.

Understand, surrender whatever you have - means actually what you have. We don't even have something worthy of surrendering, that is the Truth. We don't even actually have something worthy to surrender also. We may think that we have something. All you need to do is have a little bit of intelligence about what you really have. Simply you will surrender. All I am telling you is to see the accounts properly, with open eyes. You will surrender. You will realize sareera rogamaya, mana sogamaya and atma dukkhamaya, simply you will surrender.

There is a beautiful sutra in which Mahāvīra speaks about the past life. The bhashyakara, the later acharyas explain beautifully that the intelligence about the past life will help you to surrender because you will understand you are doing the same nonsense again and again.

When you offer whatever you have with the word 'namo' - let me surrender the 'I' and 'me' at the feet of arihantas, immediately you will achieve what they have. See, to tell you honestly, surrendering is the best way to get the ultimate thing. When you offer whatever you have, simply no other way, they have to open whatever they have. There is no other way. The moment you open up they have to open up. Actually they are already open, only you are stopping them.

I bow in reverence to the arihantas.

I bow in reverence to siddhas, liberated souls

The group indirectly inspires you and gives you confidence and courage.

Recently we had a Kumbha Mela in India. I took all my brahmacharis and swamis to the Kumbha Mela. I told them, 'All of you should come.' They asked, 'Why Swamiji? We have so much work in the ashram. One batch can go and one batch can be here.'

This Kumbha Mela is attended by two million sādhus. Totally the estimated crowd is 90 million with two million sādhus and sannyasis. I told them, 'Only when you see the two million sādhus, you will understand and have courage and confidence on this philosophy of sannyas.'

So acharyas are also responsible for enlightened beings happening on the planet earth, for people achieving the arihanta state and siddha state. That is the reason we bow down to acharyas also and I bow in reverence to upadhyayas.

Whoever is carrying that philosophy, whoever is carrying those Truths, may not have experienced them inHis life. A librarian may not have read all the books and become an intellectual person inHis life, but he takes care of the library so that other people can experience it. If somebody becomes a great scientist by using a library, the librarian has also contributed. He himself may not have become a scientist, but the person who preserved all the literature is also responsible for that scientist becoming great. So we bow down in reverence to all the upadhyayas.

I bow in reverence to all sādhus, all the monks and nuns who have dedicated their life to this goal. Understand, this is the only tradition which respects the people who are even traveling in the path of enlightenment. I bow in reverence to all sādhus, namo loe savva-sahunam. It is actually a great inspiration for all the people who are in the path, who are in the spiritual journey. He says, 'I bow in reverence even to the sādhus, monks and nuns who are working towards the great goal, the great Truth.'

And the next line, beautiful line, this five-fold salutation destroys all sins. Naturally, when you respect the great Masters, the idea to respect their teachings also starts going in you and those teachings will naturally destroy all the sins, engrams in your life. Understand, sins does not mean the acts which you committed. It is engrams which you carry, samskaras which you carry. When you bow down, when you offer the 'I' and 'mine' to arihantas, simply the samskaras which you carry will be destroyed.

Patanjali says beautifully, 'You don't have to create a canal to get water, just remove the obstruction.' Just remove the obstruction, the water will flow towards you. So you don't have to achieve enlightenment, just remove the obstructions which you are having, the 'I' and 'mine', and you will have enlightenment. It will simply happen in you. You are only stopping it.

The 'I' and mine is the blockage, surrender it at the feet of arihantas. One more thing, when the arihanta is alive, it is difficult to surrender. You will be afraid that he may take your 'I' and 'mine' away. It is very difficult to surrender when a Master is living.

Let me tell you a small story: A blind man was trying to find a stick for walking. He was searching for something to hold on to; somehow by mistake he got a frozen snake. He was staying in the Himalayas; in the cold a snake had frozen. He thought that was a stick and he started using it for walking.

An enlightened Master saw this and told him, 'Hey, drop that. In one hour when the sun comes up, the snake will come back to life and it will bite you. You will be killed, please drop the snake. You are not carrying a stick, you are carrying a snake.'

The blind man said, 'No, no, I know it is a stick, you take care of your work, leave me.' The Master said, 'No, no, you are carrying a snake, leave it.' Then the man started shouting, 'I think you don't have a stick, that's why you are asking me to drop mine. The moment I drop it, you will pick up this stick!'

But the Master felt it wasHis responsibility to protect the blind man fromHis ignorance. So he forced him to drop the stick even though the blind man beat the Master with the same snake.

Understand, in the same way when an arihanta says drop 'I' and 'mine', you may think, 'He doesn't have what I have. That is why he is asking me to drop it so that he may pick it up when I drop. If I drop my 'I' and 'mine' he might take it away!' No.

The arihanta is not asking you to drop for himself. And now we don't even have that problem, because we have only the presence of Mahāvīra. So understand, sincerely offer yourself at the feet of these great Masters. You will see the conscious transformation starts from this moment. From this moment, whatever samskaras, sins you have will be washed away, will be destroyed.

Understand, the best thing you can ever do in your life is dropping your 'I' and 'mine' at the feet of enlightened beings. The sutra says the best thing which can happen to your life is dropping the 'I' and 'mine' at the feet of arihantas.

So now maybe we will take a few minutes, integrate the whole being and offer the whole thing at the feet of the great enlightened Masters, arihantas, siddhas, acharyas, upadhyayasyas and sādhus. Let us do it with full sincerity.

Understand, do not think, ‘I chanted this mantra lakhs of times, what is going to happen now? I know this mantra.’ No. Now do it with intensity. Tell the Masters, ‘Please use this body, radiate in this body. I have abused this body enough. I abused whatever I have, ‘I’ and ‘mine’, it is time you all take charge of this, and let you all use this. Let me offer the ‘I’ and ‘mine’ at your disposal, at your feet. Let you all fill this body and mind, whatever I have, ‘I’ and ‘mine’.’

Please let us sincerely offer ourselves at their feet. You will see this destroys all samskaras. The ultimate thing, the best thing which can happen to a human being, which can happen to you, will happen this moment. It says, manglananch savvesim, padhamam havei mangalam - the most auspicious amongst all auspicious things. The best thing which can happen to your being will happen the moment you bow down and you surrender the ‘I’ and ‘mine’ at the feet of these great Masters.

Let us take a few moments, a few minutes. Close your eyes. If you know this mantra you can repeat or at least offer yourself with intense devotion. First feel connected to these great Masters, all the twenty-four tirthankaras and arihantas, siddhas, acharyas, upadhyayasyas, sādhus. First feel deeply connected towards all of them for bringing the science of enlightenment to the planet earth and keeping it alive for so many thousands of years through which we are enriching our life, our inner space.

Carry this one feeling, this one Truth with you now. Just try to retain this attitude that you offered everything at the feet of the great Masters. Just next twenty four hours try to be in the same inner space. Try to retain the same consciousness. Try to retain this same mood for the next twenty four hours till you come back for the next sutra, the next words from these great Masters.

You will see all these sutras do a great alchemy in your being and transform you and lets you all achieve. Let us pray to the great Masters to bless us all to achieve the same eternal bliss, the same higher consciousness. Let us all achieve and radiate the eternal bliss, nithyananda. Thank you.