Mental Layer🔗

The mental layer is associated with all our thoughts. Thoughts are much more powerful than we think they are. We think our thoughts can affect only us at the most. For example, our negative thoughts can put us in depression. Or when we are happy, we feel positive in our thinking.

But, we don't understand an important thing: our thoughts do not affect just us, they affect everybody around us and even affect the whole world. We may not be able to believe logically but all our collective thoughts are responsible for every single incident happening in this universe.

Nothing is an accident. Nothing happens randomly. We don't understand the science behind them; so we call them incidents or accidents or coincidences.

For this, we need to deeply understand these deep yet fundamental Truths about life that will change the very way we look at life.

First thing, all our minds are not individual separate pieces of the universe. They are all one and the same. All our minds are interlinked. Not only interlinked, they directly affect each other. This is what I call 'collective consciousness'.

Your thoughts are as infectious as your cold. People may escape from one's cold. It is not so infectious but your thoughts are more infectious than your cold. If you catch a cold from someone, you might suffer physically for a few days and then finally get over it. But when you catch thoughts from people, not only you suffer mentally but the suffering is forever. Similarly, anything you think, affects the people staying around. Not only those who are staying around but everyone living on the planet earth is touched by your thoughts.

Please understand, your intellect will definitely resist saying, how this can be true? But the truth is all of us are not different beings, different minds. We are all totally interlinked, closely networked. Any of my thoughts can transform you; any of your thoughts can touch me. We are not separate individuals, we are not an island. There is only one thing called Collective consciousness.

The second Truth:

You are connected not only at the mental level, but even at the deeper conscious levels. The deeper you go, the deeper you are connected.

We are all connected in the levels of all the seven energy bodies.

Figure 2: Relation of you, God and I in the seven energy bodies

Now, in the physical layer, you, God and I can be represented as three different points in the concentric circle, quite far from each other, say 120 degrees from one another. In the physical layer, the distance is too much.

If you come down a little bit to the Pranic level, the distance is reduced. If you come down deeper to the mental level, the distance between you and I is further reduced and so is the distance between you, God and I. When you travel deeper and deeper, and finally reach the Nirvanic level, these three entities finally merge into one.

Please be very clear that at the deep end of all these layers, God, you and I are one. There is no distance.

Let us go a little deeper into this truth. We all seem different entities at the physical level. When you love someone intimately, his or her love and suffering affects you. It comes and goes out of your being. At a deeper level, there is no individual entity; and each one of us is a part of the Collective Consciousness. You do not want the suffering; however, you cannot escape from the suffering.

Have you noticed that whether it is a physical pain or mental suffering or spiritual bondage, you get it again and again? This is because you are not aware that you are a part of the Collective Consciousness. Once you become aware and realize that you are a part of the Collective Consciousness, that you don't have an individual identity, you realize that you do not have a separate ego.

All of us think that we own our intellectual identity. However the simple truth is, in existence, no such thing as a separate individual identity exists. Once we know this truth, we go beyond pain, sufferings, depressions and diseases. Understand clearly, that as long as we have this concept of individual identity, whether physically or mentally or at the being level, we shall be continuously suffering.

The moment we start thinking that we are an individual body, which is separate from existence, our whole body becomes our enemy.

Be very clear about this, you are a part and everything is the whole. If you fall in tune with the whole, the whole behaves as your friend. The moment you start thinking, discriminating or behaving with the whole in opposition, it starts acting like an enemy. Remember, the whole isn’t here to kill you or destroy you.

The whole, the universe, is a hologram of which we are a part. Just as in a hologram, every single part of the hologram, even if split, reflects the totality of that hologram, we reflect the totality of the whole that is the universe.

The other day I read an interesting interview of this man who survived his jump into the Niagara Falls. This being an unusual event and a very daring one, there were all kinds of journalists questioning him. If you have been to the Niagara Falls, you can imagine the depth of the fact that someone survived jumping down the Niagara Falls. I cannot imagine someone surviving the Niagara Falls!

When asked how he managed this unimaginable feat, the man replied beautifully, ‘When I jumped I became a part of the Niagara Falls. I felt like I was a part of it. I never felt that I was different from those Falls.’

When we are in tune with the Collective Consciousness, when we become a part of the collective consciousness, nature is with us, nature is our friend, and nature protects us. Nature will not harm us.

When we start thinking that we are different from nature; that we are individual consciousness, nature will not protect us. Let us be clear that as long as we are in tune with the Collective Consciousness, nature protects us.

Wherever we want to achieve success, either in the social or economic world, when we tune in with the whole group, fall in tune with the Collective Consciousness; we will achieve whatever it is that we want to achieve.

As long as we feel that we are separate individuals, we want to keep that identity distinctly and we wish to have an idea that we are somebody, an identity, be very clear that we will be resisted and we will be resisting. The moment we start resisting, we make a hellish experience out of it.

Whether in the home, office, workplace or industry, this is bound to happen. However, if we disappear into the Collective Consciousness, we will be protected and taken care of again and again. We will attain complete success, not only socially and economically, but we will also experience it. It would be a feeling of fulfillment which is inexplicable.

A small story:

A man is told that his wife has fallen into the river and he needs to jump and save her. He immediately jumps and starts swimming against the current. Everybody is surprised and asks him, ‘Hey, why are you swimming against the current?’ He replies, ‘You guys don’t know my wife. Even if she falls in the river, she will float against the current. She resists everything so much that she will also resist the current.’

As long as we resist the current, whether it is our workplace, our house, our company or any other place for that matter, as long as we do not disappear into the Collective Consciousness, we will be continuously creating hell for ourselves and for others.

Tao, the ancient Chinese philosophy contains the same teaching. Tao is all about flow, it is about flowing with nature. Water is the greatest illustration of such a natural flow. Water simply flows with the landline, around obstacles, smoothly and energetically. Tao talks about the reeds in the water that bend with the flow and straighten up once the flow is less. That can only happen when we do not imagine ourselves to be different from our environment.

Even in the physical layer, if we think we are something separate, be very clear, we shall be inviting diseases. Another point here is that in the mental layer, if we think we are separate as an individual, we shall be sowing the seeds of violence again and again.

Seeds of violence are created whenever we feel we are an individual, unconnected or unrelated to others. We turn selfish, dogmatic, and violent. We turn into terrorists. With individual consciousness, we dissect, we cut things into pieces and such logic always breaks. However, with Collective Consciousness, we unify.

At the soul level, if we think we are separate individuals, spiritually, we cannot even take the first step. There is no possibility of any spiritual growth.

First of all, remember that at the physical level, we are not independent individuals. Our body and the body of the Sun and the Moon are pre-connected. Any small change in the body of the sun can make changes in our body. Any small change in our body can change the body of the Moon and vice versa. Some of us may have noticed that the phases of the Moon affect the state of our mind. We may not be able to logically relate these changes, however it is true.

In the mental layer, also, we are not alone. At any given point of time, any thought rising from anyone else’s head comes and touches us and any thought created in someone else’s mind goes and touches someone else. This is going on continuously.

Be clear, any thought sowed by someone else can touch us and affect us.

Thoughts are like ripples created on the surface water of a lake. If we are creating a strong wave, we shall be creating an impression with our thought. We shall be leading and inspiring others with our thoughts. However, if our thoughts are not solid enough, other waves will impress us.

Either we live as leaders or as followers. There is no in-between. The mind might think, ‘I will not be a leader as I cannot do that much. I will not be a follower either so I shall maintain my own stand.' This is simply impractical. There is no such thing as 'my own stand.' Either we lead or we follow!

At the mental level also, if you continuously think that you are a separate individual, you shall be resisted, again and again. The moment you understand that you are a part of the Collective Consciousness; you will not be resisted; instead you will actually be welcomed and accepted.

The third Truth:

Finally, at the spiritual level, the moment we understand that we are deeply, totally, and intensely connected to the whole group, to the whole universe, not only do we start experiencing the bliss, but we also really start to live. This opening up leads to the opening up of the many different dimensions of our being.

Right now, we are stressed out and disturbed continuously, at the same time we also have to think too much. With this one body, we have to think so much and enjoy so much. Do we have the time or the inclination to go deep into our layers and expand?

We cannot even begin to imagine the many different dimensions and possibilities that will open up to us when we disappear into this collective consciousness. See, now with one body, it is a feeling of joy and you can enjoy so much. Imagine what can you do if you have two bodies? Just imagine what you can do when you have so many bodies!

Imagine that one body is an air conditioner and the other one is a heater; imagine three different bodies in different countries enjoying different cultures. Similarly if the multitudes of bodies increase, so would the joy, the bliss. Whatever we experience as individuals, we will be able to experience far more when we are a part of the Collective Consciousness.

consciousness

During the entire Nithyananda Spurana Program (NSP), you will realize that you are a part of the Collective Consciousness. It will not stop there as you will realize that not only are you a part but you are the Collective Consciousness.

Remember that you are not just an individual consciousness as you think. As you start traveling deeper and deeper, layer by layer, the realization dawns that you are just one with everything. As a result, you start feeling a sense of well being in the mental layer, the pranic layer, the etheric layer, the physical layer and all the other layers and automatically all diseases disappear.

When you really experience that you are the boundary-less consciousness, it is an unbelievable experience that is difficult to imagine.

I have seen people at the end of the program in such ecstasy that they forget their name, their identity, their social status, their education, their qualifications, their wealth, their religion, everything that they are and they have. They basically respect the other person, respect everyone and they fall at each other's feet.

I have seen the father-in-law falling at the feet of his daughter-in-law. In India this never happens. It is too much to ask for as per the traditions followed here! However, this has happened at the end of the program only because he is able to see the divinity in her. The mother-in-law sees the divinity in her son-in-law and falls at his feet. Grand parents touch the feet of grand daughters. Bosses or owners touch the feet of their staff or the persons working under them.

This experience of oneness or collective consciousness makes us forget all differences of name, wealth, social status, and prestige. Whatever we think of ourselves, all of it just disappears and what we truly are is revealed. I have seen that by touching the feet of their worst enemies, they forget the past, they are raised, they experience such a deep level of consciousness, such bliss that literally the ego disappears.

They just go around and see God in everyone and they are in bliss, ecstasy, Collective Consciousness. Mind you, it is not that they are visualizing or hallucinating. When the experience happens, the whole group realizes that they are all one and the same. They are not different entities.

Understand this clearly, only when we experience collective consciousness, we can realize and experience the meaning of the word bliss, eternal bliss, Nithya Ananda.

The unfortunate fact is from our childhood, we are trained to be separate from others. In schools, we are taught to be somebody, prove that we are somebody. As adults, we are then taught to compete with others.

We have to understand one thing: the people who have created the present system of education are not enlightened. The system of education designed and developed by the ancient sages in the East, the gurukul structure (a type of ancient Indian school that is residential in nature with the shishyas or students studying and imbibing the guru or teacher) is totally out of practice. It is no longer alive today.

Let me highlight a few points about the Gurukul system of education that was initiated by the enlightened masters. In this system, any child who belongs to the country belongs to the master, the guru. The guru takes care of all of them and parents have no rights over them. Let me explain a few rules here to elaborate on this.

Up to the age of seven children in the gurukul were not allowed to wear clothes. You will definitely laugh at this. But this was done so that they do not get the idea that they are individual bodies. They were allowed to relate with existence, with Ether straightaway. They were allowed to relate with flowers, forests, trees, and Earth. This ensured that until the child's seventh year the idea that they are somebody did not form itself in the mind.

This also taught them not to suppress the opposite gender that is alive in them. They were not given the idea that they are male or female. Understand that when we are born, all of us have the characteristics of both the genders within us. A man is only 51% male and 49% female. Similarly a woman is only 51% female and 49% male. It is our upbringing, dictated by societal rules that classify us into rigid gender differentiation right from birth. Therefore we end up suppressing the opposite gender within us.

In the gurukul system, children were encouraged to keep their gender commonality open. This system made sure that children were not given the idea that they are somebody. They were also not taught to separate their body from the environment.

Try to follow only these few things with your kids. First of all do not separate their upper and lower body with clothes at the waist. Make them wear clothes that cover the whole body. Next, do not continuously keep encouraging them to develop the idea that they are somebody. We believe that this is what builds their identity and self esteem, and this is where we are making disastrous errors.

In the ancient gurukul system, at the age of seven, the children, both boys and girls, were given a meditation technique. Even if they formed such an idea that they are male or female, they used this meditation technique to dilute that imbibed feeling. This meditation technique helped them to flush out the feeling of gender uniqueness out and again and again helped them tune into the collective consciousness. This is what we now call the Gayatri Mantra (a sacred chant or mantra taught before adolescence). From seven to fourteen they practiced the Gayatri through which they continuously connected to the collective consciousness.

By the age of fourteen, by the time they reached adolescence, they would have had a glimpse of the collective consciousness and its blue print. After they have had the glimpse of the blue print, depending on the intensity of their glimpse, they would be given deeper meditation techniques, so that they could go deeper and deeper into these techniques. Thus by the age of 21, they had every opportunity to become enlightened.

I’ll tell you honestly, there was a time when 70% of all the people were enlightened. The remaining 30% were working towards it. The social structure created by the enlightened masters consisted of people either already enlightened or others who were working towards it. There was no other category. Just two categories: achieved and working towards it: enlightened and seekers! Unfortunately, we have lost that system.

Now, we have already started a Gurukul system in the Bidadi ashram in India as well as a few other ashrams. We have some devotees whose children are a part of the Gurukul system here in the ashram. We expect to revive the Gurukul system soon, without disturbing modern education and without disturbing their link to the collective consciousness.

Collective Consciousness is what I call God. The whole is what I call God. When you are whole, you are holy!

You must have heard about the raas purnima described in the Bhagavatam (the night of full moon when the raas lila was performed) is a beautiful example of collective consciousness. Most of us have no idea or a wrong idea about the raas lila. It has got nothing to do with the physical plane. It was actually Radha and the gopis (women cowherds) experiencing collective consciousness. Krishna gave the ultimate experience of collective consciousness to the groups of gopis and Radha.

Our thoughts and energy flow have the capacity to create and attract incidents and people of the same nature. There is a beautiful research you should know about:

One Japanese doctor Emoto has done a beautiful research on water, and he has published a book called, 'Messages from water.' Beautiful book, he is a great scientist, not only a scientist, but he is a person who works on different possibilities - working on the power of the mind over matter.

He took ten different cups of water. Chemically all the cups were filled with the same kind of water. Chemically they were the same. He kept them in different rooms. All the conditions like the room temperature were the same. Everything was controlled.

Everyday, he would go to each room which had one bottle of water. In one room, he would create some positive thoughts like peace, bliss, joy for 5 minutes and come out. He would then go to the next room and create some violent thoughts like war, terrorism, violence, anger. He would go to the third room and chant some words from the Dhammapada, Buddha's teachings. Finally he froze the water in all the bottles and took pictures through a microscope.

His results are published in his book 'Messages from Water'. You can see the results of these experiments in the book. The results are simply shocking. The water on which he used positive words was shining like diamond. The water on which he used negative words looked like a ghost, dark and dense. The water on which he used Buddha's teachings look just like a Buddhist temple. Not once or twice, but he did this experiment for more than 300 times. If you find time try to go through that book, 'Messages from Water'.

Understand, if your thoughts can affect the water in the outer world, water in the cup, can't it affect the blood which is flowing in your body? First thing, your thoughts can affect the outer world. Second thing, if you can affect the water in the outer world, why not the water flowing in your body? 80% of your body is filled with water - blood.

If five minutes of one person's negative thoughts can affect one tumbler of water, what will happen when so many of us are having so much of irritation and negative thoughts, ? Why will not nature be disturbed? Natural calamities are just because of our collective negativity. When we release so much of negativity, where do you think all this will be deposited? How will it be expressed?

Today science proves that one glass of water can become negative energy just by one man's five minutes of negative thoughts. Then imagine, billions of people constantly radiating negativity, negative thoughts, negative words, negative energy; why will not the ocean be affected? Why will not tsunamis happen? Naturally, we are abusing nature by our negativity. We are imbalancing nature by our negativity.

A small story: A great rishi (sage) was doing penance in a deep forest. Suddenly one night, he had an unexpected guest. One man came and knocked at his door. He requested the rishi, 'Can I stay here tonight? Tomorrow morning I will leave you. I will leave from this place.' The rishi said, 'You are welcome. Please come and stay.'

Next day morning , the rishi casually inquired, 'Who are you? Where are you from?' The man said, 'Please don't be frightened. I am a thief. Last night, I robbed the palace and escaped. I came to your hut straight away. I am really very happy that you took care of me by giving food and shelter. I am leaving. Please bless me.' So saying, the man left.

The rishi felt very disturbed, 'What a big sin I have committed by giving shelter and food to a thief!' He started weeping not knowing how to atone for the sin. He wanted to wash away his sin. He started praying. 'Oh God, please forgive me. I don't know what I should do to remove the sin. I gave shelter and food to a thief for one full night. Please forgive me.' He was weeping and wailing.

Suddenly he heard a voice from heaven. The voice was also weeping. He was surprised. He asked 'Who is weeping?' From above he heard the voice, 'I am God. I am weeping.' Surprised, the rishi asked, 'Why are you weeping?' God replied, 'You have given shelter to the thief for one day. You think that is a big sin. I am giving him food and shelter everyday. Where will I go and wash my sin? That is why I am weeping.'

You need to understand there is a beautiful thing to be understood from the story. The rishi had a concept that he is holier than the thief. He had more ego than the real feeling of compassion. His ego was only corrected by God's message.

All our guilt, all our rules, all our morality, all our idea of right and wrong is created by only this type of rishis. Not all rishis, but this type of people who think they are holier than others, they are purer than others or they are greater than others. They created the rules which created the guilt in you.

According to me, guilt is the greatest sin. At least other sins will punish you after your death. Guilt will punish you when you are alive.

The guilt that retards your growth and puts you into a vicious cycle of misery and suffering is what society feeds on, what religion thrives on. It condemns all the basic emotions all humans have instead of giving the technique to transform the base emotions into the higher emotions.

An important thing we have to notice: all so-called activities of social service are to get rid of the guilt feeling due to having ‘too much’ money. But you don’t realize it is not money that is the problem, but it is your mind that is dilemma by nature.

Look little deep. What is the root cause of guilt? It is our idea about right and wrong. Our understanding about what is right and wrong. Only from that, the guilt starts. What is right? What is wrong? Let us start analyzing.

After all, what is the scale to measure right or wrong? In Hinduism, vegetarianism is right; and in Christianity non-vegetarianism is right. In Hinduism you can marry only once; in Islam you can marry four times. In Hinduism, you can’t drink alcohol and liquor; but in Christianity, Jesus himself consumed wine.

There are so many rules, so many regulations in different places, different situations, different societies. In South India, fish is considered as non-vegetarian food. In Bengal, they call it Gangaphal (fruit from the Ganga). Bengali brahmins (priestly class) eat fish. There is no Bengali house which doesn’t have a small pond infront of their house. They grow fish. They eat fresh fish. Ramakrishna used to eat fish. Bengali brahmins take fish and fish is considered as vegetarian food. For Bengalis, fish, sweet, and tobacco are the basic things. Ramkrishna used to smoke. Vivekananda used to smoke. So, where is so called morality? It is just local customs! In course of time, they become morality.

If you see the ancient scriptures, epics of India, Mahabharata, Draupadi was married to five men! So many different kind of life systems, so many different kind of customs. Kunti was married to five men! Kunti had five sons from five different men! Draupadi lived with five men! There are so many different kinds of morality. So many different kinds of life structure. So many different kinds of thinking systems.

Different times, different rules were formed by different leaders. In some society, some thing is morality. In some other society, same thing is immorality. In some society, some thing is right and in some other society, the same thing is wrong.

Here, in the US, I saw something that was really funny. In one state, casinos are allowed. In the neighbouring state casions are illegal. A river separates the two states and the border line between the two states passes through the river. So, inside the river itself, there is a big casino!

On one side it is legal, and on the other side it is illegal! Something is law in some place and the same thing is illegal in some other place. So, where is the scale of right or wrong? For somebody a particular food is amruta (nectar), for some other person the same thing is poison! Where is the scale to measure what is right and what is wrong? There is no scale.

Morality should happen out of integrity, not through guilt. Guilt is a wedge inserted into your inner space. It makes you schizophrenic.

People who hide their personal life create rules and regulations to create guilt in you so that they can rule you, exploit you. Once you have guilt you can be cheated and exploited.

They can not make you do things logically, so they create guilt in you by hiding their personal lives and make rules for you.

In Santana Dharma (eternal religion), we have two scriptures. Sanatana Dharma is the only courageous dharma(religion), to have two kinds of scriptures. In all other religions on the planet earth, they have only one scripture, one book, ultimate! That is all. There are many religions, which say their holy book can't be updated. Even software can be updated! There are many religions that say their book can never be updated. But Sanatana Dharma is the only courageous religion, which says their book can be updated.

They divided into two portions; sruti (veda) and smriti (sacred traditional books). Smriti means the ultimate laws about enlightenment; Atman, the concept or realization, about the universe. Smriti means the social laws, day-to-day rules and regulations. The courageous people declared smriti can be changed. Time to time enlightened masters can create new smriti, because we know that no morality can be morality forever. No law can be law forever. Because, morality and law are based on the situation!

For example, if the deer population becomes too much, you are allowed to hunt. Same way, once upon a time in India, cows' population was too much. That is why they started giving cows in the sacrifices. Once the cow population became too low, they started to worship the cows.

The rules are created to maintain equilibrium in the society; to maintain harmony in the society. When we all live together, we need a few basic understandings to live happily. For example, you will not try to kill me so that I will not kill you. That is all. You will not try to kill me so that I will not try to kill you. We both can live happily without fear. Like this, a few basic understandings are assumed or come into being. Slowly, by and by, they become rules. They become morality.

The problem is, as long as you understand the root of morality, you neither behave immorally nor you get disturbed by this morality. Once you don't understand the rule, once it becomes just a spoon feeding, a sort of forced rule, then not only you try to escape from that rule, but also you create a deep guilt in you. When it is a forced rule, you always try to go beyond it; for example, you always over speed when you don't see the cop!

Actually, there is some taste in doing what you are not supposed to do. Once, a man became addicted to smoking. He came to me. He came to me asking for help, 'Please help me to quit smoking. I don't know how I became addicted. Please help me.' I asked him, 'How did you start?'

He replied, 'I never wanted to smoke. In fact, I hated the smell! One day my friend and I were talking in a street corner. My friend was smoking. My father saw from a distance and thought I that I was also smoking. When I went home he started firing me. He started shouting at me. I tried my best to explain him that I was not smoking. But he was not ready to listen to me. Then I thought, anyhow, he already shouted and is not willing to believe me, why not smoke? That is why I started smoking.'

Most of the time you have a taste if you are asked not to do something and you do it. You feel a kind of a joy, satisfaction by doing it. That is the basic tendency in every human being. When you say 'no' to your parents, you prove you are a man. As long as you say 'yes', you are only a child. You feel you are not mature. When you say no, you think you became mature! It is a basic tendency.

You can see in teenagers: the moment they say no, they think they are grown up and mature. You feel you have become mature and you have become man or woman by saying no to your parents. That is why so many rebellious groups; so many gangs. Because, there is a deep taste in saying no! Saying no is almost like addiction. When you say no, you try to prove you are somebody special; you are somebody different. As long as morality is given to you like a spoon-feeding, not with an understanding, you create two things.

First, you try your best to escape from it. Next, you create a deep guilt inside your being.

A small story about how things became superstition or moral setup: There was an ashram in India, where everyday the guru(master) used to do regular worship, morning puja(worship). He had a pet cat. The cat used to jump and play around on him when he did the puja. He felt the cat was a big disturbance. So, before starting the puja, he called one of his disciples and told him to cover the cat by a basket. Everyday it became a routine to cover a cat before the puja.

Suddenly, one day the guru died and the cat also died. The disciples were wondering how to get a cat to cover before the puja! They started searching for a cat. Somehow they could manage to get one cat; and before the puja, the cat was kept in the same place and covered with basket. The puja started. By and by, after some time, it became very difficult to get a cat. They were not able to get a cat to cover, before the puja started.

Slowly, they started thinking, without a cat, you can't do the puja, that it was sacrilegious. Slowly, they stopped doing the puja because there is no cat! This is what happens if things become superstition.

One more small story: One great pundit(learned man) wanted to take bath in the Ganga. He had a kamandalu(water jar) with him. He had to keep it in a safe place. He searched here and there. There was nobody trustworthy to whom he could entrust the kamandalu and go for Ganga snanam (bath in river Ganga). Because there was nobody, he made a small pit in the Ganga sand, put kamandalu, covered the pit, and just to remember where he kept kamandalu, he made a heap. He went to take bath.

There was some farmer who was watching the pundit from distance. He thought, 'Oh, before taking bath in Ganga, I should make a small heap!' He made a heap before he went for a bath. The third person came. He thought, 'Oh, it is tradition to make a heap before taking bath in Ganga.' He made a small heap and went to have bath. By and by, all people started making heaps before taking bath in Ganga. When the pundit came out, he saw hundreds of heaps all over Ganga bed! He had a problem now: where is his kamandalu? Under which heap is it? He started searching. He started to destroy the heaps. Suddenly the farmer came and shouted, 'Why are you destroying our Shiva lingas (symbol of God Shiva)? Why are you destroying our heaps? You are a pundit. You should have sense! Don't you know that you are supposed to make a Shiva linga before bath? And you are disturbing our Shiva lingas. Don't you have sense?'

The heap of sand naturally looks like a Shiva linga. The pundit thought, 'When did this ritual start? It is me who started the ritual. It is for sake of my kamandalu I started it.' Finally, it became a big trouble for himself. Anyhow, he was not allowed to destroy the heaps. He had to move without his kamandalu.

If you look into your life, there are so many heaps that entered the same way. There are so many speed breakers; there are so many obstacles that entered your life, without your understanding. In course of time, many regulations which had meaning, became rules without even having any meaning now!

In India, in the olden days they will not stitch clothes after sunset, because the stitching was done with a needle. Naturally, in the nighttime, in the dim light of candle or lantern or some other small lamp, you will not be able to stitch. But, even now, in India you can see after sunset they won't stitch! Not even in the tailor shops! There are so many tailor shops where lights are available. They won't stitch with hand after sunset.

When you don’t have understanding, things become dead rules. When you have understanding, any rule can become a technique to live life happily. When you have understanding, you will understand that all rules are created just to have a happy and blissful life for yourself and other people around you. Today these very rules create hell for yourself and others.

I have seen a few people. Before starting their meditation they create so much of noise in the house before the meditation; ‘Keep quiet, don’t shout, switch off the calling bell…do this, do that,’ they will practically turn the whole house just for the sake of ten minutes meditation. Do you think that they will do ten minutes meditation also? The moment they start, they will start dozing; after two to three minutes, they will start squatting the mosquitoes; after two minutes they start scratching. Then, they will think, ‘I think I can do my meditation tomorrow. It is enough for today.’ For this drama, they will make such a big drama that they will practically turn then whole house without understanding that the very meditation itself is done for the sake of peace and silence. Some people, when they try to silence others, they themselves create so much of noise. Their sound will be much worse than others. Their words, ‘Hush, keep quiet’ will be louder than the people who are talking. In schools you can see the sound of kids will be less than that of teachers.

Most of the times when you don’t understand the root of morality and you start living in a dull and dead way. According to me, any rule, if it is internalized, will create guilt in you. Understand: any rule. When I say any, I mean ANY. Any rule if it is internalized, it will create a deep guilt in you; because, by your nature, you are the person who aspires for freedom. Svabhava swatantraka(Free by nature). Means your nature itself is freedom. You are a nitya mukta(eternally free). You are eternally free. You never wanted to be caged! You never wanted to be slave of any rule! You can see all the society is struggling, working only towards freedom. Your entire struggle is nothing but struggle for freedom. Even your search for money, is the search for freedom. If you have more money, you have bigger choices; bigger house, bigger car, more comforts. You have more choice; you have more freedom. Your choice or freedom is the real search. Your search for money is nothing but search for freedom.

By very nature you are searching for freedom. You never wanted to be encaged by any rules or any morality. When some morality is given to you as a rule, either you try to go beyond it or if you can’t, you take revenge on the people who imposed the rule on you. You always take revenge. May be, you wait for a right time. You wait for a right time; you take revenge on them.

People again and again come and tell me, ‘My son is not taking care of me.’ Be very clear, your son may be the first enemy for you, you may be the first enemy for him; because you have given him so many rules, so many regulations. You had given him so many laws, so almost you were master for him when he was young. Naturally, one part of his mind will have respect; the other part will always feel against you. The other part will be just waiting to take revenge on you. It is a basic rule; naturally he will be against you because you gave him rules and regulations.

There are few people who try to give you the rules in a very subtle way or in a very cunning way. They exploit your fear and greed by showing you the ideas of hell and the heaven; desire for heaven and fear of hell. There create so many concepts of hell and heaven in you. They say, ‘If you practice these type of things you will be rewarded with heaven; if you practice these type of things you will be rewarded with hell.’ This concept of heaven and hell is a subtle way of exploiting your being. When you are given some rules based on greed and fear, you start creating a deep guilt in you.

There is a subtle difference between fear and guilt. When you accept the fear, you go beyond it. But, when you suppress the fear, reject it, it transforms into guilt. Anything suppressed, that goes against nature, leads directly to guilt. The feeling of not being true to oneself is the root cause of guilt.

Many times, you justify your guilt as responsibility. How to differentiate between the two? Guilt will make you feel depressed, in low energy. Responsibility on the other hand will show intensity and make you feel integrated.

A guilty person can never be at ease with himself. He never has self-confidence. So, he then looks for a leader to guide him. This is where religion steps in and exploits people. It fills in the deep void inside people with morality, do’s and don’ts.

If you live from moment to moment, there is no question of repenting what you have done, guilt has no place. Guilt is not real; it has no existential reality. You can choose to drop your guilt at any time because if is not natural. We carry the load of guilt most of the time because of our nonsensical thinking.

An important thing: This is one of the ultimate laws, which is very difficult to understand but one of the ultimate laws. Nobody can live their life based on any law. When I say nobody, I mean NOBODY. When I say any law, I mean ANY LAW. Because life is something that is far more superior than the laws. All the laws, rules, regulations are based on some understanding of life. But life is beyond all our understanding and beyond our logic.

People ask me, ‘Why is this life created at all?’ I tell them, this WHY can never be answered. Because this WHY is based on your logic. But life is based on God’s logic. Your logic and God’s logic can never meet with each other. His logic is so big, so vast, and, so infinite. You can never meet his logic.

Life is created by him. Rules are created by you. Life is created by him. Laws are created by you. Naturally, your laws can never match or fit with God’s logic or God-created life. Life is natural. Laws are societal.

Life is physical. Laws are mental.

All your ideas, all your dos and don’ts, all your morality, all your right or wrong is given to you by society. You are called as a saint or as a sinner, only by society. As long as society titles you as a saint, you are a saint. The moment society titles you as a sinner, you are a sinner.

If you kill someone in the society, you will be called murderer, you will be punished. If you kill someone in the war front, you will be called a hero. You will be rewarded with a big award! So, the social structure is societal.

When you start internalizing the laws of society inside your mind, you create a deep wound in your being. You destroy your intelligence. According to me, rules and regulations are only superficial. All your morality- look a little deep! It is only skin deep. It is just skin deep!

Your nature is always struggling to express to go beyond all rules, all regulations, and all morality. Your consciousness is always trying to break through your conscience. Your consciousness continuously fights with conscience. Conscience is societal. Consciousness is natural. Conscience is a pure substitute for consciousness.

People ask me, ‘What is this Swamiji? You are breaking the basic laws. You are pulling the whole social structure. You are pulling the whole rules and regulations. Then, how can we all live morally? How will people live with morality? What are you doing?’

I tell them, be very clear: only for kids, you need forced morality. For them you need to say, ‘Keep quiet, I will give you candy.’ Of course, nowadays kids say, ‘I am happy, I don’t need your candy. I am happy by jumping around. Who cares for your candy!’ For a kid you can say I will give candy or I will beat you. For kids you can impose morality based on fear or greed. Now, it is time! You are not kids anymore!

It is time to stand up and be moral based on understanding, and not based on fear and greed. As long as your morality is based on fear and greed, be very sure that it is just skin deep. It is just skin deep!

You can never be moral based on fear and greed. If fear and greed is the base for your morality, you will try all possible ways to escape from it. For example, you just go ten miles over the speed limit thinking, ‘Even if I see the cop, I can press the brakes.’

As long as your morality is based on fear and greed, be sure you are just a child not physically, but mentally, in terms of maturity. You are not mature. If you are really grown up, your morality should be based on understanding, not based on fear and greed.

According to me, mature person means the person who lives happy, blissful, quiet life without fear and greed. When you drop your fear and greed, a new kind of morality arises in your being; the morality which is not social morality; the morality which is not just skin deep. It arises out of your whole being. Your whole being experiences a different kind of well being.

A beautiful story: Once there was a Zen master. For some reason, the king declared, next day morning, he should be killed. This was informed to the master. But the king said, till tomorrow morning he can do whatever he wants. He can live as he likes. He is given full freedom.

The master was seen following the same routine. He was doing the same gardening, fetching water from the well, doing the same cooking, serving the disciples. He was living in exactly the same way as before, doing the same routine.

Some disciples asked the master, 'Tomorrow morning you are going to die. Don't you want to do something else?'

Master replied beautifully, 'My life is from my understanding. This is the best way I can live. I am totally fulfilled. I have nothing else to do whether I am going to live for 24 hours or 2 hours. This is what I want to do. I have nothing else as enjoyment.'

If somebody gives us this deadline, 'You will be alive till tomorrow morning; you can do whatever you want,' just look inside your mind as to what all you will do. If you will do anything other than your daily routine, be very clear that your morality is just skin deep. Your morality is just skin deep. What does it mean? You are controlling yourself for some reason. You are not living your whole life for some reason.

As long as you don't live your whole life, you will always feel that you are missing something. The feeling that you are missing something is the root cause for fear of death. Mostly, we are not even afraid of death. We are afraid that we have not lived our life. Actually, it is not fear of death. It is the fear that I have not lived my life. Guilt is the root of fear of death.

One deep thing you should understand: guilt is the root for greed! As long as you have guilt, you can never enjoy anything.

One of our devotees came and told me, 'The moment I see ice-cream, I start having cold. I don't even have to eat it. If I see the ice-cream, I catch cold.'

Now, this was a very serious thing. For the last twelve years she had been suffering. I started talking to her to trace the root of the problem. Almost like psychoanalysis, but in a little deeper way.

Slowly I traced that her mother had created a deep guilt in her about the ice-cream when she was a child. The mother didn't want the kid to have more ice-cream, so she created a deep guilt; a deep negative attitude towards ice-cream. The negative attitude created allergic reaction just by seeing the ice-cream.

When I was talking to her, she said, 'Sometimes when I see the ice-cream, I hear my mother's voice saying, 'Don't eat!' Even now I am hearing the voice.'

After talking to her, then finally, I analyzed; finally I came to the conclusion, it is her mother's voice which is creating the disturbance. I gave her a simple technique, just get 5 ice-creams; don't bother about your mother. If you listen to your mother's voice, just be angry on her and eat the ice-cream. Just in a few days, she was not only out of the reaction, she was able to enjoy eating as many ice-creams as she wanted without any problem.

You don't know in your life also how many times you are hearing voices. We are not so sensitive. That is why we don't hear. Our being is also a crowd of voices. Understand: your being is not only your being. You are a totality of a crowd of voices. All the voices are there: your mother's voice, father's voice, teacher's voice, neighbor's voice, professor's voice, your hero's voice, etc. All these voices are there. You are a totality of crowd of voices. That is why you feel so much of noise inside.

If there is only one voice, you will never have any problem. Your mind will move like a river. This is a beautiful example you should understand. Your mind is almost like a river, like a stream. Guilt is like a rock. It blocks the flow; creates a whirlpool. It creates energy block. Any guilt you carry in your being is a blockage of energy. Just like a blood clot, it is an energy clot.

All the voices, which are inside your mind, are the root for guilt. Any guilt will kill your intelligence. As along as you flow like a river, like a stream, you will be expressing extraordinary intelligence in your life. You will express a different kind of intelligence; a different kind of energy; a different kind of bliss.

The moment you start creating guilt in you, the moment you are stopped in your free flow, you create energy clot inside your being; you create energy clot inside your mind. Especially, the older your culture, more is the guilt. We always think if our culture is old, we are something great. But if you look a little deep, if your culture is old, you start following dead books. The older the roots, the more they are dead.

If you don't remove dead bodies from your house, not only they will be occupying the space, they will start smelling; it is a very dangerous thing. For example, if you use last year's train timetable for this year, where will you end up? You will end up only on the platform. The older the timetable, less is the benefit. If you live based on the past rules, without having the understanding why the rules were created, you will create a deep wound inside your being.

Why do we see that when we get angry, the guilt reduces? The moment you express your anger, your guilt also is released. Actually, anger and guilt are two sides of the same coin. The moment you become angry with the person who created guilt in you, you come out of guilt. If you create guilt based on somebody's opinion, how do you create it? It is based on the respect you have for that person. The moment you become angry naturally the respect is lost. You understand you have been exploited and disturbed.

One more thing, even that person will not know he is exploiting you. One more incident: one American boy was brought to me with a complaint. Mother said, 'My son is not obeying my words. Please advise him.' I felt a little awkward. I myself never obeyed my mother. How can I advise him to obey? The boy looked very intelligent. Somehow, the mother was pestering me. I had no other way.

So, I started talking to him; 'Why don't you obey your mom? She even made me obey her. Why don't you obey her?' Suddenly he asked, 'She herself is not happy. If I follow her words, where will I end up? I will also end up in the same way. Why are you asking me to obey her? Why are you asking me to listen to her?'

I was shocked. Somehow, I managed to convince him. I think the next generation kids are going to sue their mother or father if they fall into depression. They will say, 'These guys didn't give me the correct mental setup. That is why now I am very depressed.'

We have to find out some method by which we will not create guilt in the kids' minds, by which we will create only more intelligence, more understanding, and more bliss in their life. According to me, experience is more solid than morality. Consciousness is more solid than conscience.

Of course, you need little patience to create consciousness. You need to work on them; you need to explain every step to them; you can't just give teaspoons. You can't give consciousness in teaspoons. You can give conscience in teaspoons; just dos and donts. But consciousness, you can't give in teaspoons. You need to work with them. Unless you have so much of patience, you have no right to bring one more life to planet earth.

People come and ask me, 'It is very difficult, you don't know. If you have one kid you will understand. You speak all these things. It is very difficult to manage them, very difficult to give intelligence. Naturally we have to create guilt and give them rules.' If you can't take the responsibility, think twice before you give birth to a kid.

Understand: have you solved your life’s problems? Did you find solutions to all your life’s problems? If yes, then go ahead; bring the next generation to planet earth. Otherwise, wait. There is every chance the next generation will catch your neck and say, ‘What are you doing? Why did you bring me?’ Already kids have come to the level of asking, ‘She herself is not happy. Why should I follow her?’ There is every chance tomorrow kids are not going to listen to our morality.

According to me, Vivekananda is the most courageous master who happened on planet earth. He had nothing to do with the so-called social setup, who broke everything. He gave new light to the whole humanity. According to me, he is the Manu (the sage who coded a book on social laws) of modern day. He is the smriti kara (creator of social laws) of modern day.

He says in one of his discourses, Reason and Religion, ‘Let the logic be flooded on the religion. Let your religion be flooded by reason and logic. Whatever can be washed away by reasoning, let it be washed away. The earlier they are washed away, the better it is for humanity.’

He says, flood the religion by reasoning. Allow the reasoning to be the main thing. Let your consciousness be the torch. Flood it. The earlier the superstitions are washed away, better it is for humanity. If they can’t stand the flood of reasoning or logic, let them be washed away. It is better for humanity.

A small story: There was a time when it was thought that the earth is flat. There was a scientist Galileo who discovered that the earth is not flat but it is a globe. He wrote in his book, after the research, that the planet earth is round; it is a globe and it is not flat.

But, in the Bible it is said that the earth is flat. One more thing, Bible says the sun goes around planet earth, not the planet earth around the sun. See, Bible is not wrong. At that time, that was the information available. So, Bible recorded it.

And one more thing; when you experience enlightenment, you will experience that the whole existence is moving around you. When Jesus said that the whole existence is moving around him, he became a center. When you become enlightened, you become the center; you feel, you experience that the whole universe is moving based on you. When Jesus became enlightened, he declared his experience through these statements. That is the reason he declared that sun is going around planet earth. It is a metaphysical statement. But the disciples later recorded it as a physical statement. What Jesus declared is the truth. Disciples took it as a fact.

So, when Galileo declared that the earth is round, the Christian court summoned the scientist. They called him and said, ‘No. You can’t say planet earth is going around the sun. Bible says sun is going around planet earth. You have to change your statement. Otherwise you will be killed!’

Galileo said, ‘Alright, I will change my statement.’ He changed his statement, ‘No, my statement is wrong. Sun is going around earth.’ He made a small footnote in his book; ‘See, because I am Christian, I changed my statement. But the sun and planet earth are not Christians. So they go around only as they go around. They are not going to change the direction based on my statements.’

When someone shows you the moon by pointing with their hand, if you catch the hands, naturally you don’t look towards the moon and instead you change the direction of the hand. The next generation looks somewhere else. Not only you miss the moon, you take care that the next generation also misses the moon.

As long as they are understandings, they are nectar for your life. They create a tremendous intelligence in your life. The moment they are reduced to a superstitious belief, the moment they are reduced as a morality, they create deep guilt in you.

Guilt is the sure killer of intelligence. According to me, guilt is the worst killer of intelligence.

Guilt will never let you move in your life.

Once, one of our devotees had a tumor at the end of her spinal cord; near the root chakra. For twenty years she suffered. She came to me complaining, ‘ Please help me, heal me. I am suffering with this tumor for so many years.’

And she said, even after surgery, it came back. I started talking to her slowly to trace the origin of the problem. Finally, she opened up and started weeping.

I asked her, ‘Do you have any guilt related to your sex energy?’ She slowly opened up and started weeping. She said she was abused when she was very young. When she was a kid, she was sexually abused. One of her close relatives abused her for so many years.

And that guilt stayed with her and she said, ‘I started hating that part of my body. I started feeling that part of the body should not exist in my body. I felt that part to be not part of my body. That is not my being. My hatred towards that person turned towards my own body.’

When you start hating some action, you start hating that part of the body also. Her hatred became so deep. I was speaking to her. Slowly, slowly she opened to me. When she brought the guilt out, I started talking to her. She came out of the guilt. She was psychologically healed. I explained to her how this is a usual thing, which is happening.

Now, they say one in four are getting sexually abused, especially in America. I read a report just the other day; one in four! Of course, kids don’t open up. Kids don’t tell you. Anyhow, she was psychologically healed, when I explained the nature of all these things. And you will be surprised, in just 10 days, simply the tumor disappeared!

I gave her a small meditation technique: to meditate on that area. I told her, 'Express your anger towards him. Weep, shout, cry, hit. Close the doors, take a pillow, imagine that it is him, and weep, cry, shout and hit. After that sit silently, feel that part of your body is also your body. Stop hating that part of the body.'

You will be surprised; in just 10 days the tumor disappeared. It never came back. Difficult to understand but it is the truth.

Same thing happens in our life psychologically. It is not that you always get physical ill health. Psychologically you get disturbed. Most of the time, your energy gets blocked based on your guilt. You have psychological illness because of your guilt. If you look deep, wherever you have fear, wherever you are not able to move, wherever you are not able to take decision, there will be some guilt.

There are three kinds of guilt:

The mental layer which is related to thoughts is specifically associated with the feeling of guilt. Guilt is nothing but your past decision being reviewed with updated intelligence.

For example, as a child maybe you were called by your mother to stop playing and eat you may have cursed her. Now with updated intelligence you feel guilt. But, you are then deciding based on your intelligence at that point in time.

Below the age of 7, guilt is created by the immediate family. Rules are imposed by the family because they cannot logically answer and make you understand. This leads to guilt. The guilt about sex will be created by the immediate family. That is the first guilt. The guilt based on greed will be by the immediate family.

From 7 to 14, society creates guilt through its rules. The guilt based on fear is created by social laws.

The third guilt is the worst, which you create for yourself. When you internalize the greed and fear guilt, you create new types of guilt for yourself. If you analyze whenever you are stuck or wherever you are stuck, these three kinds of guilt will be there.

Break free from the past. The past is dead. Not only is it dead; it is a dead weight on your being. As long as you have guilt, you can never proceed; you can never have a deep blissful life. Be very clear, you can never be moral based on guilt. If you are based on guilt, all your morality is skin deep. It is time to be mature. You are not going to be immoral if you understand that rules are created for our own sake.

For example, you come to know that there is no punishment in this country for murders; do you think you will kill the next person? If yes, then be very clear that you are immature, you are not grown-up. Your life is not worth living because you are much worse than dead people. At least dead people don’t disturb others. But living dead people always disturb others. You are living dead.

Throughout my life, I stayed in graveyards. Nine years, I walked the length and breadth of India; from Tapovan to Kanyakumari; Ahmedabad to Gangasagar. Length and breadth of India I walked. I always stayed in graveyards. Because, I don’t have to make reservations! People always ask me, ‘Were you not afraid? Have you been disturbed by ghosts?’ I tell them, dead people don’t disturb others. Only living people disturb others.’

If your morality is based on greed and fear, be very clear that your life is not worth living. You are much worse than a dead person. Let your morality be based on your understanding, on consciousness, not on conscience.

As long as you are based on dos and donts you are just a child. These dos and donts are buffer between you and enlightenment. As long as these buffers are there you can never reach enlightenment.

A total freedom, a total bliss, a total ecstasy happens the moment the buffers are removed and naturally enlightenment will reach you. You don’t have to reach enlightenment. Simply, enlightenment will reach you.

Understand that guilt is the sure killer of intelligence. May you kill the guilt and experience the ultimate intelligence.

Please understand: whatever you may do in the outer world, it is just housekeeping in the dreams. When you wake up, what will happen to all your housekeeping in dreams? It will simply disappear.

When I say housekeeping in the dreams, I don’t say don’t do housekeeping. Do it. But understand, so that you will not be perturbed by the housekeeping. Have a simple understanding that your whole life is nothing but housekeeping in dreams. Continue to do the same housekeeping with this clear understanding. It is more than enough to express enlightenment.

You don't need to work to suppress your greed, or to suppress your fear or to suppress anything. You need to work only in this one line or idea. Let this idea totally sink inside you: your whole life is just housekeeping in dreams. Feel, 'I am doing my housekeeping because I am enjoying it.' Over.

You played with toys. When you became 10 you threw away all the toys. Just because you threw away the toys, are you not giving toys to your kids now? Do you tell them, 'No, I always played and threw them away. Don't play.' No, you don't say that. You say, let him play as long as he wants till he matures.

The moment you accept and understand, 'Let me play the housekeeping in the dreams till I understand', the very acceptance will lead you to enlightenment. If you are not able to accept, accepting that I am not able to accept is enough to get you out of the rut of past and future.

You are pulled towards the past or future because you don't understand what is. Just the other day, one of my close inner circle devotee, he was asking, 'You are so casual, so innocent, so much playful. But any word, which you utter simply becomes true. How can so much of intelligence and intuition happen continuously?' He is my inner circle devotee.

Before coming to the class I was playing chess with the host's daughter. I had not finished when I had to come for the discourse. I told her I would come back and play. The devotee asked me, 'How you can be so playful, so joyful? Your words are so clearly coming to reality!'

One thing you should understand: you are not able to experience that intuition because you are not able to fall into the present moment. You are always pulled by the past or future. Either you work and worry about the past or you work and worry about the future. Something or the other is continuously going on.

Time is like a shaft. Visualize this one thing and understand: time is like a shaft. You are either pulled to this side of the shaft or that side of the shaft. But, eternity penetrates time only in the present moment.

You never feel relaxed; a deep craving exists all the time, either to achieve something in the outer world or inner world. Please understand: the craving to achieve something in the inner world is also craving for future. Your craving for enlightenment is also worry about the future.

You never fall into the present moment. Eternity penetrates only the present moment. First thing: accept the whole thing of the outer world; accept the whole thing of the inner world. Whatever problems you have in the outer world and whatever problems you have in the inner world, accept the whole thing. As long as you don't accept, it is a problem.

Just try this small experiment:

Totally relax just for 3 days. Inside your inner world or outer world, 3 days if you live a satisfied life, will you lose all your wealth in just three days? Surely not! In three days you are not going to lose anything. Why don’t you give it a try? Just 3 days, sincerely, utterly, 100%, drop, accept.

If you are not able to accept 100%, accept that I am not able to accept 100%. Even the acceptance that I am not able to accept myself in the inner world and outer world will make you drop from the rut of being pulled between past and future.

The moment you understand, ‘I am not able to accept my reality. What can be done?’ even the very push and pull will become your reality.

Anything, if you accept, you will simply fall into the present moment. The moment you fall into the present moment, the time shaft will become simply a servant for you. As long as you are below the time shaft, it will rule you. You will be pulled or pushed by the time shaft. The moment your consciousness is raised to the present moment, you will see that you are penetrating the time shaft.

When you penetrate the time shaft, the future is also clearly known to you. The past is also clearly known to you. Tremendous realization comes to you that the time shaft is only your projection! Just for 3 days try it as experiment: if you can fall into the present moment, relaxing the headaches related to the outer world and inner world, in three days you will have a glimpse: what is life? What does it mean to live in the present moment? Such ecstasy, such a different space; such different life.

Just for three days, don’t try to alter anybody in the outer world. You lived based on your philosophy for the last 30 years. Give me just three days for a trial. You will see when you experiment with these great techniques how they work miracles in your being, how they start working alchemy in your being.

If you are not able to be sincere, accept that you are not able to be sincere. Even that sincerity is enough. You will start seeing a different space in you. That different space is what I call Nithya(Eternity).

Many women face the guilt of killing a life when they go through an abortion. Please understand: when they decide to get aborted their intelligence was at that level. If their intelligence gets updated it is not their mistake.

A simple understanding: what makes you happy and people around you blissful is moral. What makes you and others suffer is immoral. If something makes you happy and others suffer there is something wrong in your understanding.

What makes others suffer will also make you suffer. Religions cannot define morality; each religion has its own rules.

According to the Vedas, life happens just before birth. Till then it is the mother alone. Only 3 kshanas before birth Abhimanyu was born. The body records the memories; what kind of body you create will attract the right soul. Unless you are mature enough you should not give birth to a child. Why bring another life and make that child suffer? If you do not have a child you have not sinned.

Once, a guy came to me and was complaining, 'I am suffering. I have 14 children.' I asked him why he chose to have so many children. He replied, 'Why? God gave me!' We do all that we want in the name of God and use Him as our 'dustbin' literally. We do all nonsense and place responsibility on him.

So also, the guilt related to extramarital affairs. Be very clear: extramarital affairs show disrespect to another being. You have no right to disrespect. Will you let the other person do it too?

What is the reason for relationship? Man is centered on muladhara, woman on swadishtana. Man promises before agni (fire as the representation of God), 'I shall give you security and release you from insecurity.' She promises to release him from the samskara of lust. Both decide to liberate the other from their samskaras. Now you play on the weakness of the other person. Each tortures the other person. Vedic marriage is sacred. Knowing the other person's weakness should make you compassionate.

A mature person cannot disrespect another person like a commodity. If you see your wife as a being, you will realize that she has contributed so much in your life. You will never think of extra marital affair. It is a disrespect for your own body and inner space. People who sell their body have no respect for themselves. You reduce spirit to matter. When man has insecurity the woman becomes a mother. When woman is centered on fear the man should play father.

Reliving is relieving. Relive your guilt. Write down. Relive and relieve. Do not console. Sit in a meditative mood. All the wounds that you are carrying relive them. Close your eyes and enter into the guilt. Relive them one by one. Relieve them by writing them out.

How not to get caught in the trap of guilt? Respond with your intelligence to any situation. When a situation presents itself in life, instead of deciding based on what you have learnt as 'should do' and 'should not do', decide to do based on your intelligence but realize you are responsible.

To be in guilt is to live in hell. Drop your guilt and you can see your natural intelligence simply expressing itself. Life becomes a celebration.

We are taught by society that being happy, ecstatic and enjoying life is not our natural state. Just look at yourself: when you feel really happy about something, you start fearing how long this will last. A guilt starts arising inside you that life is not meant to be enjoyed and here you are enjoying it. Instead, when you feel sad and depressed, do you ever feel guilt? No! You feel this is how life is meant to be - a suffering and you start feeling pity for yourself.

When you are enjoying doing something - say dancing or relaxing at the beach, just around the corner of happiness what do you find? Guilt rising inside you about all the work that you have, the responsibilities you have to get back to.

There is also a different type of guilt - if you feel there is something more in life and you are not working hard to get to it. When you feel you are lazy and you are not working to your full potential, you experience guilt.

When you feel you are not actualizing your potential, the guilt that arises in you is actually reminding you of the responsibility that you have to yourself. This is the only real guilt that will remain even after all other guilts are removed.

All guilt is foolishness. Why do we feel guilty? Because we feel we have done something wrong. But, there is nothing called right and wrong. In Existence, the basic law is mangalatva

Understand good or bad cannot be defined, cannot be decided with your logic. Whatever your logic has learnt as good or bad is limited only to the life of you and the people directly around you. But life is not just limited to you and the people who are around you.

If you look little deep, life is beyond your logical comprehension, your logical understanding.

In Sanskrit we have a word Shivam. That word means auspiciousness but the activity of Shiva is destruction. In the Vedic tradition, the word Shiva has the dictionary meaning of auspiciousness – Causeless auspiciousness, energy; that is the exact translation of the word Shiva but his activity is destroying.

In Sanskrit we have beautiful word for destruction; actually it is not destroying, it is creating space for new things to happen. Understand, you can see destruction as destruction or creating space for new things to happen. If you see the destruction from the other dimension, it is like creating space for new things to happen.

If you look at the same destruction, the destruction energy from the other angle, the possibility for rejuvenation keeps the whole thing alive.

Understand: if you look with your logic, with a small vision, you can always complain, blame that whatever is happening cannot be called auspicious. If your vision expands, if you start looking at life with a bigger picture, from bigger perspective, from the greater understanding, you will realize the truth: whatever is happening is auspicious.

Anybody who feels the whole life is auspicious, mangala, is enlightened, liberated. He doesn't have fear. He doesn't have difficulties. He doesn't have problems. He doesn't need any help. That very understanding, whatever happens is auspicious is enough.

There are only two kinds of people on the planet earth. One is the spiritual people who feel whatever is happening is auspicious and nothing needs to be added. The other kind is the materialistic type who feel in whatever is happening something is less and we need to do something.

A small story: A preacher gave a long and very inspiring talk about charity. Then, he sent his hat for collection. The hat went around all over the group, came back as empty as it was sent. After two hours of talk, the hat came back as empty as it was sent.

The preacher simply took his hat back and said, ‘Thank God, my hat came back.’ Understand: you can make anything auspicious. When you are really in tune, you will understand whatever is happening is auspicious. The best thing possible is happening. If you trust your logic, you will always be complaining. If you trust the cosmic intelligence, the cosmic logic, you will be always relaxing and appreciating.

You can feel the cosmos as order or as chaos. It is your freedom, your choice. You can feel it as a beautiful order. Just see there is no traffic signal in the cosmos. All the planets are moving so beautifully. You can also say, ‘There is so much chaos, so much of fighting in every home, so much of trouble in every house.’ You can look at this angle or that angle. It is your freedom.

Whatever is happening is auspicious. In all our life at least once or twice we must have experienced this. Just look back at the moment where you took a major positive decision. In those moments you would have had confidence, courage. At some point you would have surrendered either out of joy or high energy or the decision that nothing better, nothing greater can happen to your life. When you experience that kind of moment in your life, you start thinking whatever is happening is auspicious.

All your fear, all your greed, all your guilt, all these things are just because your energy is taken away by the past memory. Your inner space is occupied by too many high resolution pictures. These high resolution pictures are again and again popping up in your inner space. That is why you are not able to completely relate with the present moment, with the pure consciousness, with the pure energy, with the pure being, in the present moment, in this present experience, with this present truth. Anybody whose inner space is not filled with too many emotional attachments like high resolution pictures will be able to feel connected to anything.

So, understand these few Truths about life and carry these understandings with you: Guilt is baseless. Live out of your understandings of life, not based on rules. Everything happening in life is auspicious. Existence wants you to be your true self every moment, which is eternal, pure bliss - Nithya Ananda.

Reliving is relieving. Relive your guilt. Write down. Relive and relieve. Do not console yourself. Husband and wife, relatives etc please sit separately. Sit in a meditative mood. All wounds that you are carrying relive them. Close your eyes and enter into the guilt, relive them one by one. Relieve them by writing them out.

Let me explain the meditation technique very clearly. First slowly, slowly, consciously, feel that your head is being pressed inside your heart. Then clearly visualize that your head has been totally pressed, your head is in the heart region. Visualize you look through the heart, you are seeing through the heart. You are seeing through the heart and you are breathing through the heart, you are relating through this world through the heart.

Feel that the heart is totally pressed. The head is not there, it is no more just empty space above the neck.

Above the neck, it is just empty space. Just trust. Till all of you lose your head you have to go on with the mediation.

First you will lose the head, and you will sit in the sitting posture. Then you will know how to breathe without head. See without the head, how to smell without the head. These are all very simple actions. Then you should learn how to move your hands without head, how to move your body without your head.

Finally you will end up with a peak movement, maybe running or dancing, all your movements will be done without the idea or without the remembrance of the head.

Now, we will start with the meditation. Sit, tie the headbands. You will need a little space for movement. Take slow deep breaths, just for a few minutes. Feel your head is being pressed into your heart, into the chest region. Totally become headless, you have no head.

Feel that you are breathing from heart. Feel that you are seeing through heart. Feel you are seeing through the heart, you are smelling through the heart. Feel very clearly you are breathing through the heart. Smell through the heart. Listen through the heart, listen to this music through the heart, not through the head. Listen through the heart, see through the heart, feel through the heart.

Stand up. Have the consciousness from the heart, let your movements be as slow as possible. Remember that you are moving from the heart.

Your centre is from the heart, not from the head. Again and again, forget the head. Move from the heart. Move as slowly as possible, but from the heart. Move from the heart. Remember you are a headless being. Move only from the heart , you are a headless being. Just moving without head. Move from the heart.

Stand in one place, there is no need to walk, just increase the speed slowly, slowly. Move from the heart. Not from the head, forget your head. You are a headless being moving. Stop. Sit down where you are. Just be, without head. Sit only with your heart. Relax.