Pages 121–130🔗

Actually trishul is a great weapon to centralize, to create awareness on the third eye. I was shocked, oh God, I can't even see this small trishul at a time. That is the truth and he will keep making people look at the trishul. I have seen people sitting for three months, morning till night. He would not give them food also. He would not allow them to eat from morning to night. Poor brahmacharis, they have to sit and stare at the trishul. He had 12 trishuls. So whoever comes, he will first put up the trishul and make them sit and stare at the trishul. I was shocked.

Now I understand it's a great technique to expand awareness. As and now, you can see 120 degrees. If you start looking at one particular point, slowly it will become 30 degree. If you have to be aware deeply, it will become 10 degree, not more than that. You won't be able to see more than 10 degree without awareness. Through this technique of staring at the trishul, he was trying to expand our awareness.

If you center yourself on the third eye, slowly, not only 120 degrees your awareness will expand and you will be able to see 180 degrees, then 240 degrees and ultimately 360 degrees you will be able to see and experience. Creating awareness, centering yourself on the third eye means awakening your consciousness, awakening your awareness.

Actually, I was surprised, why should he make all people meditate. Not everyone comes to him to experience. Many people come to him to learn Vedanta. He used to teach Vedanta. He knew a little bit of English, of course he is a scholar of Sanskrit and Hindi, but he knew a little bit of English. He used to teach. One Western seeker came to him. I was there at that time. He unleashed his brahmastra, this nuclear test, on this poor guy as well. The baba asked him to stare at this trishul and told him that only when he can see all the third tips he will teach him. That guy got frightened. He just came to learn to some philosophy. He was not interested in this meditation and all these techniques. He said I came to learn some philosophy. I will sit in your class whenever you teach to others and I will listen. Baba said, 'No. Unless you see all these three tips at a time I will not teach you, I will not allow you in my classes.

I wondered why he was so fanatical about his technique. I couldn't understand but later on I read on a book on a great philosopher and fountainhead of mysticism in the west. In his life there is a beautiful incident. He went to Egypt learn spirituality in a gurukulam type of school. Before allowing him to the gurukulam in the monastery, the master tells him, 'Hey sit here and concentrate on your third eye for third months, only then we'll allow you inside'. Pythagoras says, 'I am not interested in your philosophy, I am not interested in your meditation, I want to learn only philosophy. I want to only study. I don't want to become enlightened'.

The master said, 'No. We won't teach you philosophy unless you are mentally mature because when people learn philosophy without maturity they become criminals'.

There are three strengths: the physical strength, the mental strength and spiritual strength. Without spiritual strength if you achieve physical strength you will become a gangster. Without spiritual strength if you achieve mental strength you will become a criminal, a politician, a legal gangster. Anyhow, without spiritual strength if you achieve physical strength or mental strength you will become a danger to humanity. You cannot be allowed to become a danger to humanity. You will be only disturbing people. That’s why the master says, ‘No. First meditate for three months only then we can allow you inside, only then you can learn philosophy’.

Philosophy is a weapon, and unless you are mature person if you learn the logic you will become a very dangerous guy.

A small story, then I will explain. It’s a little big so not a small story. I will read out. It’s a nice story and I don’t want to miss a single word.

A guy was reaching 25 and he had not dated a single lady. So his Rabbi called him to his office and asked him what’s going on. Why did he not go on a date yet? This guy blushed and replied that he always grew up with his brothers and has never spoken to a girl anywhere near his age. He always thought that it will disturb his learning.

The rabbi put a fatherly arm around him and said don’t worry about learning, it always happens. As far as what to talk to these young women, I can help you. The rabbi told him that he can talk on three topics: interests, family and if all fails talk about philosophy. So the guy was happy, he went home: family, likes, philosophy, family, likes, philosophy. He was happy that now he knows what to talk.

Finally the day comes and this guy goes on a date with a young lady from his congregation arranged by the rabbi. He sits in the restaurant with the girl, a little uncomfortable. He realizes that he should start a conversation. He went on the first item family. So he asks if she has a brother. The girl replies 'no'. Then he thinks what to ask and remembered that he should ask about family. So he asks her about her interests. He asks her if she likes baseball. The girl replies no. Then he starts thinking what to ask. Somehow he remembered philosophy. He comes up with a philosophical question and he started in a very low voice and asks her if you had a brother, do you think he would like baseball.

All your philosophy is just assumptions. Big danger is unless you have spiritual strength the philosophy is very dangerous. You will do some foolish things like this. Anyhow, Pythagoras was not allowed to enter the monastery. He was asked to meditate for three months. After three months passed, the master says now you are ready. You can come inside and learn philosophy. Pythagoras says no. I don’t have the interest to learn philosophy. You changed me. I am no more the same person. Master asked, tell me exactly what happened to you.

Pythagoras says when I came to you to learn philosophy. I had so much of violence in me, so much of vengeance in me. I wanted to learn philosophy just to become a politician. I wanted to rule people. I know I am not strong enough to rule physically. But I know if I have little knowledge I can rule them through words. That's the reason first I came here to learn philosophy, but these three months of meditation has done something to me. Now I don't have that violence, now I don't feel like ruling anybody. I don't want to become a politician. So I don't want to learn philosophy. He says, Master teach me, or give me something more if you can in the same line of meditation.

The Master says that you are a right person to learn philosophy now. If I give you philosophy it will not be abused, it will not be misused. It will not be used to enslave others.

Buddha also used to say same thing. Whenever people used to come to him to learn spirituality, to learn about nirvana, he will ask them to go and sit in the burial grounds for three months and meditate, then come back. Only then he will teach you. Always these great masters have emphasized on meditating, not only meditating, meditating on the third eye before learning philosophy.

Pythagoras also learned this one technique. Actually he took this one technique and started spreading it in the West. That is how he became fountainhead of mysticism.

Let me tell you my experience with this naga baba who used to ask people to stare at his trishul. Whole day we will be sitting and staring. Unless he is very clear that we are able to look at all the three tips of the trishul without moving the eyeballs, without even a slight movement. He knows when you move your eyeballs. He will not even look into your eyes. He will just hold your hand. I have seen his test. He will hold your hand and put his finger on the tips. Are you aware where I am placing my finger, he will ask. If you say ‘yes Swamiji’, he will change the finger and say now are you aware. By that time your eyeball will move automatically, one movement and that’s all. He will feel that in your hands. He will say now sit again and start staring. Only when you practice you will understand really that you are not looking through both the eyes.

Please be very clear you may have two eyes but you are not using both the eyes. You use only one eye at a time, that also hardly ten degrees. Somehow you picked up this habit. Constantly you see ten degrees after ten degrees by shifting your eyeballs and that is why you think you see the whole. You are seeing 120 degree bit by bit. But as and now your awareness is not enough to use both the eyes.

When it comes to senses, we use the word chakshu in Sanskrit. Please be very clear, Chakshu is not a plural word, it's a singular word that refers to the energy of the senses. In English you use the word eyes and in Sanskrit, we use chakshu. They don’t use the word as a plural referring to two eyes, but as a singular word. Only for enlightened masters they use the word trinetra, one with three eyes. Either you have three eyes or you have only one eye. You don't have two eyes. According to the mysticism, they have only singular word or the three.

In Sanskrit we have three numbers for each word, single, dual and multiple. In English you have only singular and plural. Sanskrit is a very beautiful language. It's created only for mysticism. That's the reason the language is directly related to spirituality. In Sanskrit, we have the word chakshu, referring to eyes in the singular. As and now you have only one eye. Never ever think you have two eyes. You may have two physical eyes, but you can't use them. There is an energy that looks through the eyes, that is active only in one eye, because you are constantly jumping, you won't notice the gap. That is why you have so much of eyeball movements. Constantly your eyeballs are moving.

If you know a little bit of mythology you know, there is a belief that our god's eyeballs don't move. What does that mean? It means that the person who can see completely without any eyeball movement becomes God. The one who can see without eyeball movement, with full awareness, he becomes God. That's what Shiva means by Awareness, the gates of God.

In Hindu mythology, we believe the Gods don't move their eyeballs. Their eyeballs don't move. If you want to find out if somebody has come down from the heavens, if one is some extra ordinary being, watch his eyes his eyeballs will not move. They say that is the mythological belief.

Anyhow, one thing is clear, if we can see without moving our eyeballs; your awareness is exploded in the third eye. This naga baba, this Swami, he was such a beautiful, wonderful master. I have never seen him taking bath or eating or drinking. I have never seen him doing anything that normal human beings do. I have never seen him sleeping. All he will do is only one thing, smoking ganja opium, that's all.

I asked him, what is this, you are a great enlightened master, why do you smoke opium? Why do you smoke these leaves? He told me. See a big elephant cannot be tied in a small hut. My awareness is so much that unless I tie myself down I cannot enter this body. I cannot live in this body. So I have to reduce my awareness little bit. I have to bring myself down.

One person asked me, Swamiji, if they can smoke, why not us? Be very clear, you have to bring yourself up, they have to bring themselves down. There is a big difference and one more thing; you are already down, where else can you go down?

There is a beautiful Zen saying, don't do what masters do, do what they say.

There was a great Zen master who used to smoke continuously. He will always tell people not to smoke, don't drink. A disciple asked him, what is this, master? You always tell us, don't smoke, and don't drink. But you are smoking every day. You are a chain smoker and you are not even hiding it. You are smoking in front of us.

Master replies beautifully, I don't have to follow what I teach, because I am not in the same plane as the people to whom I am teaching.

This is a beautiful truth. I don't have to follow what I teach because I am not in the same plane of the people to whom I am teaching. It is a great truth.

Anyhow, this baba will ask everybody to sit and do the same thing. Unless he is very clear that person is aware of all the three points without moving his eyeballs, he will not allow them to his class. But once he accepts them into the class he will take care of them and see that the person achieves some spiritual experience.

I wanted all of you to understand about this 120 and 360 degree vision, because that is the basis of this whole technique. This whole technique is about awareness, especially awareness of the third eye, the idea about the third eye. One more important thing, if somebody's third eye is awakened, you will see a totally different grace around him. Apart from the physical measurements, you will see a different grace.

See beauty comes and goes by age, but the grace is totally different. It's no way related to body, it's no way related to age. It's something beyond age.

A small story.

One actress asks the photographer. What is this? Last time you photographed me, it was so nice, now you have done such a bad work. What is happening?

Photographer says, 'Yes. Last time I photographed you, I was 10 years younger'.

Be very clear, beauty comes and goes with age. It is directly related to spare parts. In the West especially, everything is spare part. Everything is given on a hanger. Morning you put on and night everything is back on hanger. Everything is a spare part. Beauty is related to spare parts and the grace is related to your being.

When your third eye is awakened, something radiates around you beyond the body. I have seen that grace in that great naga baba. He was a dark tall person with long hair. If you see him first time, you will feel frightened. But there was something around him, tremendous grace, just like a child. His whole body and his whole being was so alive, just like a child. I can imagine how Shiva would have looked like by remembering him, a great mahatma.

Anyhow, let us understand about this third eye. As and now, we have only vision on 120 degrees. If you concentrate on something, you will be reducing your vision and the degrees of vision will reduce. The more you concentrate less the degree of your vision.

Instead of concentrating on something else, if you put your attention on the third eye, instead of concentrating on the object, if you turn the awareness on the subject, the degree will start expanding. It will not reduce the vision. It will start expanding. You will start seeing things much more clearly, in a detailed way and an expanded way.

Here Shiva is telling us to bring our attention between the eyebrows. Concentrating on the third eye will awaken your awareness, you will be able to see more and more in a detailed way with much more awareness.

He says one more thing: let mind be before thought. You will be aware even before the thought is rising. As and now once the thought comes up you may try to suppress or follow. Once the thought comes up you will try to suppress it or follow it. You will not be aware before the thought comes. Here Shiva says let mind be before thought. Let you be aware before the thought is coming.

There is a beautiful commentary of Abhinava Gupta on Shiva Sutras. Abhinava Gupta was a great Kashmiri Shaivism master. He comments on the sutra: he says creating, maintaining and destroying, these three are the responsibilities of the trinity. Brahma creates, Vishnu maintains, and Shiva destroys.

In your mind, you do this work continuously. You create a thought or maintain a thought or suppress a thought, kill a thought. If you don't do all these three, you go beyond, you will become Para Brahma. You will become enlightened. You will go beyond Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma. You will go beyond Existence. As and now you are doing these three things: creating, maintaining and destroying. If you don't create a thought, if you don't maintain a thought or if you don't destroy a thought, suddenly you will be awakened to the reality, to the ultimate reality that you are Para Brahman, you are existence.

Shiva says here, if you are concentrating on the third eye, you will be aware of your thoughts. Even before your thoughts are rising you will be in Shiva Consciousness. You need to understand this one thing: this is a greatest liberation. Being aware before the thought rises is the greatest liberation.

Usually always you are by the thoughts. See even before you look into something clearly, you decide. I always tell people, 2 things: collecting arguments and passing judgment and having judgment and collecting arguments to support your judgment. Usually we never collect argument and pass judgment. Your judgment is ready about anybody and anything. The moment you see, you decide, you pass a judgment. Once the judgment is ready then you just collect some arguments to support the judgment, about a person, or about a situation or about anything. You create a judgment and then you collect arguments to support the judgment.

If you are aware before thoughts rise only then you will be free from the judgmental attitude. You will be liberated from constantly judging. You will be above the judgmental attitude otherwise you will not even be aware of the thoughts raising and falling in you. You may suppress the thought, but after the thought comes, even if you are suppress you are not going to be out of your problem. Be very clear, whether you express or suppress, you are with the thought. If you express, you will create a chain outside, for example, anger. If you express your anger, you create a chain outside. If you don’t express and suppress, you will create a chain inside. That’s all.

Either you create a chain inside or you create a chain outside. But you will be having some chains. Neither expressing nor suppressing will help you. Being aware before the thought comes; being aware before the anger comes is the only way to liberation.

Liberation means not suppressing. Be very clear, I have seen people suppress, how much they suffer. At least if you express you will not carry that in you. You will not carry that smell in you, but if you suppress you will be constantly carrying that smell, the dirty smell in you. I have seen people, if you express your anger, at least you will be angry to that person straight, over. If you suppress the anger, you will be banging the door, throwing the shoes, and shouting at people for no reason.

Be very clear, suppression creates more problems. If you suppress, your whole body language is changed. Your whole body will change. Suppression is no way going to help you. Suppression is not going to solve the problem.

Shiva is giving you first time solution for the problem. Again and again they come and ask me, Swamiji, how I can control myself. How can I escape from these emotions? How can I save myself? Be very clear, neither expressing nor suppressing will help you, being aware before the thought raise is the only way to liberation.

Let you be aware of yourself before even thought arises, otherwise you will be lost. Be very clear, the moment a thought comes, your consciousness is lost. Your consciousness is no more pure. You have started entering in the space mind. You are not in the no-mind zone. You are not in Zen zone. You are in the zone of your mind. Before you lose your consciousness, before you lose your Zen zone, let you be aware of your neutral space.

Small story.

In a crowded cafeteria there is a large sign that reads, ‘Watch your hat and overcoat’. One guy entered the cafeteria he started turning this side and that side, every minute, constantly taking care of his coat and hat. His friend, he was also sitting with him. After half hour, he got really irritated. He said stop, enough of your nonsense. Stop looking at my overcoat. You don’t have to take care of my overcoat. Stop looking at the overcoats.

This guy said, who said I am looking at your overcoat, I am looking at mine. Yours was lost half an hour back.

Yours is not there. I am only watching mine. Yours is gone for over half hour. Let you be very clear, after thought comes, you can’t do anything. Your inner space is gone. If you are aware before thought rises in your inner space, then you are intelligent. Let you be intelligent, be aware before thought rises in your inner space.

One more thing: you need to know about this, third eye, as long as your third eye is not awakened, as long as you are using only these two eyes, let you be very clear, you will have constant inner chattering, you will be constantly judging. Your eyeball movements and the movement of your mind, both of them are very closely connected. If you are using only two eyes, it means that your eyeballs are continuously moving. Then naturally you will be creating more and more thoughts. Even if you don’t have any reason to create thoughts, even if you don’t have any reason to think, you will be thinking.

Let you be very clear, you suffer because you are constantly thinking even when you don’t need to think. You can’t switch off this tape recorder. It goes on and on and on. You can’t do anything; continuously it is going on. Even if you don’t have any subject, new material from outside, you take old material from your old files, you take something from the past files and you start chewing the cud like a cow. Cows bring up their food from their stomachs after eating back into their mouths and start chewing.

Same way, please be very clear, this chewing gum also is directly related to inner chattering. People who are in habit of chewing gums continuously, you will see that they are deeply depressed. Depression and chewing gum are closely connected. I am not joking; I am telling you the truth. When you can’t handle your inner chattering you want some way to relax. Same is the case for biting the nails. It is expressing your violence. You are expressing your violence. You see, the nails and the teeth are both directly connected to violence. When you are an animal you use your nails and teeth to express your violence. Now, you are cultured, you can’t bite anybody. Somebody will sue you. You can’t bite others and you can’t attack others. So what to do, bite your own nails. It’s an indirect way of expressing your violence.

Chewing gum is directly related to inner chattering. Your tongue movement is also directly related to inner chattering. Eyeball movement is also directly related to inner chattering. If you are using these two eyes, let you be very clear, constantly your eyeballs are moving and thoughts are rising in your inner space. You can’t do anything.

You can see in your life that the moment you see a rose, immediately you get a thought. Oh! This is beautiful. Next all the old memories are kindled. At some point, the roses that you gave to somebody, whether that person rejected it or accepted it, the memory of that person, how that affected you, all these things start rising in you and you will simply forget the real rose that is in front of you. You will not be able to enjoy the real rose that is in front of you.

One more thing, the moment you label, the moment you think this is the rose, immediately you start thinking about the rose. You miss the very flower itself. The beauty, the very flower, you simply forget about it. You don't enjoy the flower anymore. You simply start verbalizing. Only your memories related to roses will come up. You will be sitting and talking to yourself about all these things.

Let you be very clear, the moment you start creating words in you, you stop enjoying the flower, you stop enjoying its reality. You are no more connected to the flower. The flower is there but you are thinking about something else, you are no more connected to the flower.

One important thing: the moment you create the word rose, you think you know everything about that flower. Let you be very clear, rose is not a rose; the word rose is not the flower rose. When you create the word, the moment these two eyes are active, the moment you create the word rose, the moment your eyeballs move, more words are created. You are simply with the words; you are not connecting with the reality.

Try this simple experiment. Look at the flower without creating any words, without creating any words about that product in your inner space. Do not think that it is a rose. Witness that it is red in color and it is beautiful. Do not create any thoughts. Just look at it. Just try to relate with it without any words. Suddenly you will see you are in a different space. You are able to connect with the flower much more deeply than you ever imagined.

Let you be very clear, you do not relate with the world, constantly you are playing with the words between you and the world. Constantly words are coming in your inner space. If you are looking with two eyes, it is equivalent to blindness. According to Tantra, either you use one eye or three eyes.

According to me, either you use three eyes or no eyes at all.

Even if you see with your eyes, you are not seeing what is. You are just playing with words. The moment you create a word, you are no more connected to the world itself, or the product itself. That is why if you see kids, whenever something is brought in front of them, you see their whole body flowering, they enjoy with the whole body. But once you grow, hardly your eyes will open, little bit, not more than that. Once you create words, all the excitement is lost. Adults verbalize, children visualize.

One more thing, the rose that you are seeing today is not the same rose you are saw yesterday, the moment you create the word rose you connect all the roses you have seen and you think I know everything about roses what is there to enjoy. The excitement is lost. Let you be very clear, the moment you verbalize them, the excitement is lost. You are no more in reality.

There is a beautiful story of a great master who lived in Madhya Pradesh.

He used to take only one kind of food, same variety of food everyday. After 10 years, the devotee who used to cook for him, she was bored. She told him, ‘Master, I am bored of cooking the same food, how are you able to eat the same food everyday? Don’t you feel bored?’

Master replies beautifully, ‘What same food? I am not eating the same food. How can I eat the same food everyday? I can’t eat the same food everyday’.

He says beautifully, everyday for me it’s a new food. It can’t be the same food. But your mind plays a big game. The moment you start holding on to the words, the excitement is lost. Then you start looking out for new excitement, but within two-three days that excitement is also lost.

That is why I always tell people, changing partners will not work because all excitement will be lost after the honeymoon, because you will start creating labels. You will start analyzing that person. Oh this person, this much only, over. The moment you start creating labels, the whole excitement and the joy is lost. Never create a label. The moment you start creating labels, the joy is lost. Changing partners is of no use, changing your mind alone will work.

That’s why you can see that kids whenever they see something, their whole body expands. They are just bubbling, alive. You can see their eyes, how they expand. When they see something new, their eyes expand. Eyes expand at least three times when they are in high energy, when they are in high emotion. Once you grow nothing can excite you. That’s what they say your mind is so powerful.

Never think if you have mind you can enjoy things. If you have mind, it only makes you dull. You can never enjoy anything with mind, because mind means logically connecting two things. Naturally you will not be able to enjoy. You won’t have that excitement. You won’t have that feeling of new.

In Zen they say, Buddha’s mind is the beginners' mind. Beginners' mind is Buddha’s mind. When you begin something in what state you are, that is what they call the Buddha state. Joy, excitement, curiosity to be open, to express excitement is what they say is the Buddha state.

Awareness and the third eye are directly connected. Either you see with all three eyes or you don’t see at all, because even if you see with ordinary eyes, your mind will be there before awareness, before you are aware, thought will arise. Thoughts are like curtains, they will not let you see the reality as it is. They will not let you understand the reality as it is. You will start giving your own meaning to things.

One small story.