Causal Body🔗

The causal body is experienced in deep sleep, the deep darkness. We usually associate darkness with negativity. But, if you look little deep, you can see darkness is a beautiful energy we have been associated with right from our birth.

We originate from the darkness of the mother’s womb, get rejuvenated every day in darkness when we fall into deep sleep, and ultimately, we disappear also into darkness. Darkness is energy. In Vedic tradition, Mother Kali is represented as dark energy. Kali in Sanskrit means darkness.

Each and every one of us by our own nature has a layer of darkness around us. This body is called etheric body.

We should understand what exactly happens when we fall into deep sleep. Whenever your body needs rest automatically the mind is pulled down and inserted into the etheric body. It is like a cell; when it is discharged, that cell is taken out and is inserted into the recharger. There is a particular time for recharging.

Same way, after your excitement, after your enjoyment, the mind will be automatically pulled because it needs a rest, and it will be inserted in the etheric body.

Now, in the etheric body, you are in darkness, but you don’t want to rest in the darkness. So what do you want to do? Continuously you want to jump around.

When you fight with the darkness, when you don’t want to rest in the darkness until you get recharged for that recharging period of half an hour or one hour, you create side effects which are called depression and worry.

Actually, depression is a natural phenomenon which is supposed to happen, which gives you the rest. Nature gives you rest to get back your energy. If you really get depressed, you can really get excited.

Please understand: A man who can’t get depressed can never get excited. If you know how to travel with the low mood, low current, then you will know how to fly with the high mood. If you don’t know how to travel with the low current, low mood, you will never be able to go to the peak of the high mood also.

Darkness is the etheric body, darkness is the place where you get rejuvenated. Darkness is the layer actually from which you receive energy. Why sleep so totally refreshes your body is because you are actually inserted into the etheric body, into the darkness.

Two things happen when you cooperate with the darkness, one is you don’t resist the depression. You don’t create depression at all.

Be very clear: depression can never depress you if you simply depress the depression. As long as you resist it, it is depression. When you allow it, it is rest, it is a deep rest. It is just that you are with yourself. If you don't want to be there, but you are being pulled into it, then you fight with it. Then you name it depression, worry suffering, everything.

You must have seen in your life: when you are in the office, suddenly you get a call to come home immediately. Simply you obey the order, right? Then you don't not have any problem. Same way just know how to travel with the depression, with the darkness.

You see, whenever you have a weekend you just go around and enjoy everything, When everything is over and you come to the house, or when you get up the next day, your body and mind will have the hangover. It will feel like as if it wants to rest, it doesn't want to move anywhere. It just wants to lie down, your mind doesn't want to work, but what do you do? You forcibly enjoy something more. You forcibly say, let us enjoy something more.

You have a very deep hatred towards the laziness. If you actually stop hating the laziness, the laziness will actually disappear from you.

A small story: Once a man went to his friend's house. His friend was a very cunning fellow but diplomatic. Diplomacy and cunningness go hand in hand. You can always find the people who are innocent will never be diplomatic, they do not know what diplomacy and all these things are. But the cunning fellows know the diplomacy.

The friend somehow wanted to drive away this man. He suddenly called his wife, 'Bring coffee'. The wife shouted, 'There is no sugar, no milk; nothing is there in the house.' The man got up and gave a kick to his wife saying, 'Fool! You do not know how to treat the guests. You don't have anything to receive my friend. Is this the way to take care of him? Is this the way to treat a guest?' He started shouting and screaming. She started weeping and wailing.

The man saw this and said, 'Oh sorry! Because of me all this is happening. Don't worry; it is time for me also to go to another function, let me go.' He just started walking out.

When the man left, the host proudly with a smiling face said, 'See how I did the right drama and sent him out!' The wife retorted, 'No! Only I did the right drama and sent him out.' Then the host replied, 'I acted as if I had beaten you and he ran away.' She said, 'I acted so well as if I am crying and he ran away.' Now, the man walked back in saying, 'You see, I acted as if I have gone but I have come back.'

Whenever you don't take care of the guest, he simply disappears. The same way when laziness comes, don't pamper him too much, or don't even resist him. Don't bother. Drop the idea that you are lazy. If it is there, let it be there. If it is not there, let it not be there. Then you will see it disappears.

Your body is like a recharger. It is like a cell getting discharged, it will be just removed and put inside for recharging. But the cell is not ready to wait until it gets recharged. It again wants to just jump and play with the toy. So when you don't let the recharging happen, when you just resist the recharging process, then what you create is depression.

If you don't resist and you allow the process to happen for a few moments, then depression will drop you. You see once the batteries are recharged they will be simply thrown out. You will have the total energy to have the ultimate excitement.

The time for recharging differs for every person. But once you know the knack of how to cooperate with the charging process, then the time will reduce and the quality will improve. So it's the knack to cooperate, the method to cooperate with the darkness.

You see this is the darkness, the ultimate darkness.

If you allow yourself to be recharged for a few minutes, you will come out of the depression.

If you allow yourself to be recharged, if you cooperate with this darkness, you will come out of sleep.

If you totally work on the darkness you can come out of death.

Because all these three are the same expression, that of darkness.

Understand, depression, deep sleep and death all these three things are the outcome of the same darkness layer. If you know how to work with the darkness in the ordinary life, the depression will disappear.

The third thing, the fear of death or the death experience as you think will disappear. You will not fall in coma before you die; you can consciously die. As of now 99 % of us die only falling in coma, it is the worst death you can have - falling in coma and dying.

Don't think coma means no pain. You have the pain. From outside you don't feel the pain, inside it will be excruciating. When the pain becomes too much, you have a built-in mechanism of pain killer. To make you forget the pain, coma is the inbuilt coma system.

Physically when you are excited, the other layer energy works. Whenever your body needs rest, but your mind is continuing in the excited mood, your body cannot rest. Your mind itself will be pulled inside the etheric layer, the darkness layer. So your mind itself will not work, your mind itself will not be active. Unless your mind is black your body will not be black. You will not let your body to be black. So your whole body will be pulled and inserted into the black hole.

If you resist that moment, then you think, ‘Oh I have depression.’ You create depression by thinking you have depression. If you don’t resist that moment, you will simply go inside and come out with fully regenerated feeling. So it will be more like a rest than depression.

The causal layer is also called the kaarana sharira. It is the layer which we are stuck in when we want to do something but do do not saying, ‘I know it is right but I am struggling. I know but...’

If you are caught in this, you are dead. Over! You will neither achieve this nor that. Nothing can be done by you. What can be done by you? You will be stuck with this one idea for janmas (births) and janmas. This is what we call ‘Kaarana Sharira’ - giving reason.

If you feel, ‘I know what you are talking is right but I am not able to do it’ means you are caught in the kaarana sharira. You will never be able to get out of this layer unless you take a strong step and put your foot down. If you are caught in this layer, be very clear – nobody can save you. Nobody can save you. Do not be caught in the causal layer. That is what I call evil.

Anything integrated only is effective. Else you are just schizophrenic. In my own life, I can say how integration, integrated devotion was responsible for everything. Integrated devotion is the devotion. Schizophrenic devotion is not devotion. If you say, ‘I know it is right but I am not able to get that; I’m not able to get there.’ Over!

The reason for my first experience is I never had that thought in my inner space. One of my great inspirations was the Master Annamalai Swamigal.

The great masters were my inspiration. I was so much inspired, impressed by those masters. The inner space was so pure also at the young age, there were no other heroes. The masters were the heroes and every step I used to think, ‘How he will behave? Let me behave like that. What and how will he do? Let me do like that.’

I used to go for a circumambulation of the Arunachala hill; I used to go round the hill. It is 16 kilometers. I used to go late at night. When I had a little fear I used to say, ‘How will Annamalai Swamigal behave? He won’t bother about fear. Then let me also be like that.’

Let me tell you about one incident: One day, maybe around the time when I had my first experience, it was raining heavily. I was going for a circumambulation. I had the fear – heavy rain thunders, lightning. Immediately I thought, ‘How will Annamalai Swamigal behave? He won’t bother. He’ll just walk. Let me also do the same way.’

And I was walking through the traditional crematorium where people are cremated in India. In India both cremation and burial are done in the same place. I was walking in that place because when you go round the hill the path goes through that crematorium of Arunachala, the city's cremation ground.

Suddenly I saw one dog biting something and eating. When I went near, the dog was trying to bark drive me out. At first when the fear came I thought, 'How will Annamalai Swami behave? He won't bother. Let me just go.' I started moving. Anyhow when I started moving the dog got scared and ran away.

When I got near I saw that it was a dead body which was not completely buried came out in the rain and it was lying on the road. Just imagine a 12-13 year old boy, midnight, dead body without head, because head is in the mouth of the dog.

The moment the fear started, it did not even reach my being completely. The shock, fear stroke did not even happen completely. The moment even the first thought started coming, the awareness was so intense I thought, 'How will Annamalai Swami react now? He'll just walk around and go. Just walk around and go.' I went; that's all. That's all.

Just I took a detour and walked. I did not even turn back and see. I just walked. The fear stroke did not even reach my whole body. The fear stroke, which was like a pebble, which was about to start did not even open up, did not even reach my body. The heat or the shivering, the shaking was not even there in the body. Just it died. It was not there.

Just the decision, 'If Annamalai Swamigal does, I will do. Over!' Nothing else, that's all. When any thought came up inside, I would think, 'How will Annamalai Swami respond to this thought? How will he respond?' If I get the response, 'He will not have this thought.' I will just say, 'Then forget about it. It's not mine.' Over!

See, who inspires or impresses you, they become the hero of your inner space, in the young age especially. These great masters, they impressed me so much. In every situation internally I would calculate, 'How would these great masters behave?' and I would do the same.

For example, if I had some fear I would remember, 'How will Annamalai Swamigal face this fear? He won't bother. He's enlightened. Let me also be like that.' The inner space was so inspired and impressed by these great masters, every step in my life I would think, 'How will he behave? Let me also do that.'

For example, if there were some sweets, my brothers would jump, 'Hey, I want this much share.' I would simply think, 'How will Annamalai Swami think? He won't bother. He'll just keep it in one corner. Let me also be like that.'

Intensely, the whole conscious inner space was ready for the spiritual experience. That's the reason, just a punch, just an inspiration was able to put me into the first spiritual experience. This is what I call 'Living Enlightenment'.