Day 3: 16ᵗʰ April🔗

T he crowd gathers and enters into an enthusiastic and informal discussion with Swamiji on general topics.

(from audience) Swamiji, why is it important to follow vegetarianism? Which are the most intelligent communities in the world? Come, name a few! Jains, Brahmins, Parsis, Jews... all these communities are mostly vegetarian. Vegetarianism and intelligence have a deep connection. So much research has been conducted in this area. Again, human beings have been physically designed for vegetarianism. Herbivorous animals have only one type of mouth movement – jaw movements are sideways, just as in our case. Our teeth are designed for chewing, not for cutting and tearing. Even the length of our intestine is like that of herbivores, not carnivores. Nature has intended us to be vegetarians. The third thing – a meditative person simply cannot enjoy non-vegetarian food! When you eat consciously, with awareness, with sensitivity, do you think you can allow non-vegetarian food to enter your system?

In South India, the basis of religion, of spiritual growth, has been emphasized as vegetarianism. Ramanujam writes that food can be contaminated in three ways. These are called the three doshas. The first is jaati dosha, where the food is toxic by its very quality - for example, onions, garlic, etc. These kinds of items are acceptable in very small quantities, as medicines, but should not be consumed as food. The second dosha is the nimitta dosha, which means that the food should be prepared hygienically, without hair or dust. The third dosha, the aashraya dosha, is the one I want to emphasize. It says that the person who cooks and handles the food leaves the imprint of his thoughts upon it. So if you have had a fight with your wife, don't eat at home that day! Whether you realize it or not, along with other ingredients, the thoughts of the cook are also being added to the food. So when your angry wife cooks for you, you can be sure to land up with indigestion! By projecting our thoughts, we can affect not only our own health, but the health of others also! This has been experimentally proved. In an experiment conducted on plants in an American University, researchers exposed three rose-plants to different human emotions over 15 days and studied the results. The first plant was bombarded with negativity from the caregiver. Whenever he watered the plant, he would throw out all his negative emotions (anger, frustration, and so on) capacity to turn into an animal. But will that happen with milk? (laughter) Anyway, all these are only logical answers. I can tell you on my own authority, that milk has the same energy as vegetarian food. Of course, even among Eastern mystics there are some sects who don’t touch milk. But I assure you that milk is good for health and for meditation. I can tell you out of my own experience in meditation. It is only a matter of time before these things are proved scientifically!

How do we develop a correct eating routine? When you practise (this) meditation, your body intelligence is naturally awakened. Then you need not follow any system – your body itself will tell you when to eat, what to eat, how much to eat. Just follow your body’s advice. The needs can differ from person to person, from day to day in the same person. All you need to do is eat with full awareness, full consciousness. I want you all to go home and try this – this is today’s homework! Before you start, close your eyes and take the vow that you will not use your mealtime to worry about the past or plan for the future. You won’t allow your past or future to invade your meal. When the food comes before you, look at the food with love, with deep feeling. This is the stuff that is sustaining your life! And when you start eating, do it with care. Taste every mouthful completely. Take time to taste the food. Chew slowly, enjoy the juice of the food. You will find that you may take more time, but you eat less, and with far greater satisfaction! And you will discover that all our food is actually amrita – life-sustaining elixir that we say is available only to the gods. All we eat is amrita – if we know how to eat it. Be very clear, when we change the quality of eating, the quality of the food also changes. Don’t think that food is a dead thing! It is also a live energy, a live consciousness. Annam brahma, say the Upanishads. Food is God. It has its own intelligence. When you eat with respect, it helps you to grow. If you eat without being totally present, you feel only ‘filled’ (or full), not fulfilled! So tonight, go home and try this practice. Write down how you felt, and bring it to class with you tomorrow.

Okay, will someone tell me, why do we eat?

(from audience) To energise the body.

Yes! To energise the body, we say. But after we eat, do we feel energetic? (A mass NO! from the audience.) We feel sleepy, Swamiji..!

Yes, you feel sleepy! But to say that you feel sleepy after eating, is like saying that it grows dark when the sun rises. It

So this mala is a meter that we use to measure the energy level in the food! (Swamiji demonstrates with his mala over the 3 different kinds of food.)

Why doesn't someone volunteer? Anyone can do this! You can use your own mala also – rudraaksh or red sandalwood are preferable, but a gold chain is also okay. (Participants test the food) By blindfolding yourself and getting someone else to place the food before you, you can be sure that your opinion is not influencing the movement of the mala.

But Swamiji, onion is supposed to be good for health? As a medicinal food, yes - in very small quantities. Not as a regular food.

Can the food be energised and eaten? Perfectly possible. Of course, poisoned food cannot be eaten, but neutral energy food can be energized through meditation and then eaten.

What is the meaning behind some rituals and mantras that we follow before meals? All those rituals have a meaning. When you take the water in your hands and rotate it above the food, you increase the positive energy of the food. But now, we do all this totally in unawareness.

No! When the mind relaxes, the body also automatically relaxes. The same two hours will be more than sufficient for the body as well.

What about when we overwork? The body is designed to work 22 hours a day, ma! Tiredness, hunger – all these are psychological concepts. We are used to a certain cycle of eating and sleeping. It is only when you look at the clock that you feel hungry or sleepy. Three full meals and eight hours of sleep are too much for us!

So this is only a psychological cycle? No. Our body has its own physiological cycle. We have imposed a routine on our body according to our convenience. When you let the body intelligence function independently, it will fall into its own natural cycle. But we are not aware of this cycle.

Do you know, men also have a monthly cycle like women? Not physically, of course – but mentally, they undergo the same mood swings, the same depression as women have during their period! Unfortunately for men, they have no way of being aware that these are the three days. So they unnecessarily get stressed without realizing why.

In fact, very rarely, extremely sensitive men start

Today we will repeat the same meditation as we did yesterday. I want you all to enter into the meditation with more involvement, and do it perfectly.

(the group practises Dukkha Harana meditation and later disperses)

Swamiji enters. He draws a small diagram on the whiteboard, marking the three lower chakras of the human body – Muladhara, Swadishthana, Manipuraka.

What are the chakras?

The chakras are the subtle energy centers of our body. We don't have only one body, as we think. We have seven bodies! Here we will deal with the first three bodies. The first body – the one in which you have come to this class, in which you are moving, talking, writing – this is called the jagrat shareera (the waking body). The next body, the sukshma shareera or swapna shareera (the dream body) is the body you use in your dream state. It is the body which you employ to travel from place to place in your dreams! The third body is the kaarana shareera (causal body), which you use in deep sleep. This body doesn't move, it is made completely of tamas. The other two bodies meet the physical body at seven points along the length of the physical body. These points are what is known as the chakras.

These are the three lower chakras: The Muladhara chakra, located at the base of the spine. The Swadishthana chakra, located two inches below the navel. The Manipuraka chakra, located in the navel region.

The chakras were discovered in ancient times. Today science has proved that there is a gland located near, and corresponding to, each chakra. The chakras supply energy to the glands. There are 7 major chakras. They deeply influence our physical, emotional and mental activities. The chakras have great power. Right now, most of us use our bodies as if they were bullock carts! If we know how to utilize the chakras properly, we can use our body as aircrafts.

Let me tell you a small story. In fact, you could say this is a modern fable! After World War I, a biplane was found abandoned near a remote tribal settlement in Asia. Never having seen an aircraft up close earlier, the tribal folk assumed that it must be some strange sort of bullock cart - which was all they had seen on wheels. News spread in the village about the new bullock cart. The biplane was proudly taken around the settlement yoked to bullocks, and people came to see and admire it. Some weeks later, one intelligent young tribal boy who had returned from a trip to civilization, inferred that all those buttons and switches on the display panel must have some

Muladhara = 'the root and base of Existence' – from mula (root) + adhara (base)

Location: Base of the spine

Locked by: Imagination & expectation (fantasy)

Unlocked by: Acceptance of the other, acceptance of reality

Meditation technique from: Shiva Tantra

Name of technique: Dukkha Harana (Destroyer of Misery)

The Muladhara chakra is concerned with Sex.

The most talked about, thought about, written about subject is sex.

The most misunderstood, misinterpreted, confusing subject is also sex.

What is sex?

We try to avoid the subject, or we try to indulge in the subject.

Sex is buried in the darkest corner of our unconscious minds! Right from the start, we find no one to enlighten us on the truth about sex. And sex, more than any other subject, needs to be illumined! It needs to be illumined with the light of consciousness.

Our condition right now is like that of a man walking in a forest on a dark night. Somewhere in that area is a big pit that has been dug to trap elephants.

The man who tries to avoid the subject is in unawareness. He doesn't even know where the pit lies – then how can he avoid it? The man who indulges in the subject is aware of the pit, but can't see any other way than to jump straight into it. Can either of these be the solution?

One should know where the pit lies, and then take the right steps to move around it.

What is sex?

Sex is a tremendous creative power! The whole world arises out of sex energy. we may be fathers, mothers, grandparents – but still we may know nothing about sex. Vatsyayana says, only an enlightened person, a sannyasi, has true authority to speak about this subject – for one more reason: Have you watched two people playing a game – say, chess? Very often, the right move suggests itself to you – but somehow never occurs to the two players! Have you observed this? Hmm? What do you think could be the reason?

(from audience) Because we have no involvement? Yes, in a way. Actually, the man who is witnessing is not under pressure to win! Stress makes the mind dull. So, only the man who has come out of the game, who is outside the samsara chakra, can give you the right idea about it.

Let us return to the subject, What is sex? Today, biology has proved that no man is 100% man, and no woman is 100% woman! In fact, each man is just 51% man, and 49% woman. Likewise, a woman is only 51% woman, and 49% man. Just a difference of 1% this way or that way! Did you know that?

After all, you have taken birth from the Muladhara of your father and the Muladhara of your mother. How can you be only male or only female? The qualities of both are bound to

At 14, the search begins again. I think these days the age is coming down? Due to the influence of media! These days children are exposed to TV and internet from a very young age, that’s why they grow up faster. That’s not a healthy sign. Anyway, at about 14 years, the search begins in the outside world. The child now begins to collect images from outsiders and media. The media is perfectly aware of this. That’s why you’ll see that all advertisements, especially those aimed at teenagers, always has sexual undertones – an attractive woman or man will be modeling the product – even if the product has nothing to do with them. Almost all motorbike ads show women – and how many women ride motorbikes?! Whatever the product, you’ll find a smiling woman recommending it. And when you go to the market, you promptly pick up that product – forgetting that the woman doesn’t come with it! This is the media’s way of cashing in on your suppressed desires.

The more society tries to suppress your needs, the more they grow. Because society aims at suppressing the symptoms without getting down to the root cause. Just like a tree grows and flourishes when you just chop the branches and leave the root as it is! During these years we collect ideas from movies, TV, etc. and build up an image of the perfect woman or man. From each person we collect the best nose, the best eyes, the best personality, and create our own ‘ideal person’.

This stage lasts around 7 years, till the person is 20 or 21. By then the identification with media wears off – but the ideas are already deep-rooted in our minds. Then a fresh search begins – to find that perfect person in our real life. This is where expectations start.

For the next 7 years, this search continues. Person after person we try out, and get disappointed.

A few intelligent people figure out after a while that dreams cannot become reality. That's why they are called dreams! But most of the people still keep searching.

A small story:

An old man used to go to the beach everyday. He would sit there the whole evening. He never got into the water, he never took a walk. He just used to sit and look at all the passersby.

Then one day another person who used to come there asked him,

Why do you come here everyday and sit for hours? Are you waiting for someone?

Yes, the old man replied. I’m waiting for my perfect woman. Oh, where is she?

I don’t know, I haven’t met her yet. I’m still searching for her!

The other man was shocked.

How old are you, sir?, he asked politely.

I’m 75 years old.

Imagine! At 75, his life is practically over – and he’s still searching for the perfect woman! changing. Green fades to pale green, and then to yellow. We don't want to accept that our imagination has turned out to be a lie, so we start making excuses for the situation – This is life! Everything can't be perfect! – and so on. It requires tremendous courage, tremendous intelligence to live with reality. So we use these excuses instead, as a buffer system, to shield ourselves from reality. Finally, when we get close enough, we find that the yellow has faded to white! Where is the comparison between green and white? The fantasy and the reality are totally different. From close, we realize that no living person can live up to the image we carry in our minds, no image can be translated into reality - because it is an image, a fantasy! Is it possible?

That is why, ALL love, without exception, ends in pain. We end up feeling cheated, exploited by the other. Our basic instinct is to blame the other for what has happened. But is it the other’s fault? Never. The blame always rests with you – because you expected something, and you tried to force your imagination upon the other! Who is responsible for the failure? Do you understand that what I say is the basic reality, what is actually happening in our everyday lives? But we never try to look into it. We never like to deal with truth!

A small story: A man gave his friend a puppy as a wedding gift. hammer have become the emblem of married life!

Ultimately, the sheer load of expectation leads to disturbances in the Muladhara chakra. This is the way this chakra is locked. When you try to fulfil your fantasy through another, try to impose (project) your expectation upon another, this chakra is locked. It has nothing to do with sex as you imagined. It has nothing to do with the outer conditions of life. Nothing to do with so-called celibacy. Who can be called a true celibate? The man who has dropped his inner image, his inner woman. If you drop the image, you can be a celibate even in grihasta (married) life. Yes?

Swamiji, we don't even realise that we are carrying an image inside... Yes. Because we have never looked in... we go everywhere but in. Do you know, upto 80% of our energy is locked in this chakra! What a waste! This chakra doesn't even need to be energized. It simply needs to be opened, to be activated, and the flood of energy flowing from it can transform your life!

How do we open this chakra? Just drop the expectation, and the chakra will open automatically. serials! And when they come and see me, they are unable to accept that such a young person can be a real Master! So I too face the same trouble, I too have to free people of their expectations about the guru and get them to accept reality.

Swamiji, sometimes we need to chisel, like when we are handling our employees at work. Is it wrong? Do your chiseling consciously. Be aware of what you do – then you will not do more than necessary. See if your expectations of your employees is realistic. Check if there is any alternate solution. Only when it is absolutely necessary, should you try to mould the other person.

Whatever power has been given to you, learn to use it with awareness! Even anger and lust are great energies given to you by God. When you have respect for that energy, you will not waste it, misuse it. Kama (lust) is a great energy! It is Shakti, capable of producing another life! But we misuse it, dissipate it – because we have no respect for that energy. You never misuse money, because you respect it. If a person does a job worth ten rupees, you never pay extra. But with anger, you always ‘overpay’. If a person makes a mistake worth ‘ten rupees’ anger’, you always pay him with fifty rupees’ worth anger! Don’t you? Why? If you use your anger consciously, you will have no need to feel guilty about it, I assure you!

My poor foolish friend!, said the sadhu. I only asked you not to bite the people! Did I ask you not to hiss at them?

Anger is a tremendous energy, if we know how to use it rightly. Knowledge about anger reduces anger. In the same way, knowledge about lust reduces lust. Because both are the same energy! When your lust is not accepted by the other, it turns into anger against that person. That's why you read newspaper reports of teenage boys throwing acid on the faces of girls who have rejected them.

Many people come to me and tell me, Swamiji, I love my wife so much, that's why I want her to change for the better! I tell them, You don't love your wife, you love the image that you carry in your mind. That's why you love her only when she acts as you expect. Your real love is not for your wife, it's for your mental image. That is the truth.

The way to unlock the Muladhara chakra is this: drop the image! Drop your expectations completely. Accept reality as it is. This chakra will open on its own.

(from audience) Swamiji, what you are saying is that we things you can practise at home. Till the age of 7 at least, allow your child to use both hands – for eating, for writing and handling things. Children can easily become adept with both hands. If they themselves develop a preference for one hand, let them use it without interference – whether it is the left or the right. Another thing, allow the child to be free of clothes for some time every day. Maybe at night, or whenever he is alone. Clothes separate the upper and lower body. This separation separates consciousness itself! That’s why we get used to thinking of ourselves as only the upper body. If we are asked to suddenly recall ourselves, our identity, we usually remember only our upper body! For children, wearing a single dress covering both upper and lower body is also okay. One important thing: never instill fear in your child! Let him be free, let him climb and fall. If you constantly discourage the child, it can lead to height phobia – which can later translate as the fear of climbing in life, of taking new decisions. If you have noticed, all children enjoy whirling. Whirling is nature’s way of allowing centering to happen. Allow whirling without disturbing the child! At the age of seven, teach the child to chant the gayathri mantra – both boys and girls. There is no problem with girls chanting it. After all, Gayathri herself is female! If you notice the pictures or idols of the Devis (goddesses), they all wear the upanayanam (sacred thread signifying the individual’s to run your life. If you cannot take responsibility for your own life, you have no authority to live!

When people come to me with questions about their future, I tell them - don't approach me to predict what your future is going to be. Approach me if you want my help to design a good future for yourself. So all these predictions are only for the weak-minded.

Be very clear, the ancient jyotisha shastra was a pure science. There was truth in it. Do you know how jyotisha evolved? In the past, when a child was sent to the gurukul, jyotisha was used to diagnose what kind of personality, what kind of attitudes and natural aptitudes he possessed. Accordingly, he would be trained for a kshatriya life, for sannyas or whatever suited him best. The caste system was based on a person's natural abilities. Earlier, the caste distinctions were not based on birth – be very clear. They were based on character. When a boy was admitted into the gurukul, they would see what his natural tendencies were. If he had Brahman tendencies, he would be initiated into Veda Vidya (studying of the scriptures). If his personality was that of a Kshatriya, he would be trained in martial arts. If he showed Vaishya tendencies, he would be imparted business skills. If he seemed to possess Shudra qualities,

They come and ask me, Swamiji, if I wear such and such a stone (gem), will it be lucky for me? How can you depend on a stone! See the chit, the live consciousness, the Brahman, the Parashakti! You are nothing but God! I can't imagine – I am teaching you the science by which you can use this whole prapancha shakti (cosmic energy), and you ask me about stones!

Have you heard about Swami Yateeshwarananda? A great man, an enlightened person. When he traveled abroad for the first time, he started out during rahukala (an 'inauspicious' hour of the day, calculated using the positions of the planets). Someone asked him, Swamiji, how can you start during rahukala? He answered, You fool! I am the energy that guides the grihas! (planets). How can they control me? See the courage of the man!

I am teaching you the science by which you can control the grihas! So why do you bother about where the grihas are, how they will affect you, and all that? Pick up the science of meditation, that's enough. Then nothing can touch you.

But this has become part of our value-system, Swamiji... Be very clear: all our values are nothing but a substitute for Consciousness. If you are conscious, aware of what you are doing, you don't This laziness is not what we normally know as laziness. It is not physical laziness. It's a kind of – mental laziness! If you can completely –I mean completely – calm yourself, you can verily be spiritual.

To be spiritual is neither easy nor difficult. It's just the idea you have. If you think it's easy, it's easy. If you think it's difficult, it's difficult. To be as you are, what is needed? Is it difficult or easy? (from audience) Easy... You cannot even use the word easy! It is as we are! You are already that, then how can you say it is easy to become that? Just look in. Turn inward. A little trust in spirituality, a little meditation, that is enough. When you drop the fear that to be spiritual is very difficult, you will get the confidence that Yes, I can be spiritual. I can be Conscious. Then the question of Is it right to drop my values? will not arise at all.

Right now you are afraid to drop your values because you have nothing else to hold on to! We know, once we drop our values, all the suppressed desires will jump out, the Pandora's Box will open! And we know, if the Pandora's Box opens, what will happen! So we are afraid of our subconscious. The fear of the subconscious is what prompts your own expectations are dropped – so that from four people sharing one house, you at least come down to three!!

How to change the other person...? These days marriage counselors suggest even hypnotic suggestion! I think it's a gross interference in the other person's freedom. It's completely wrong.

The other day, I read about a case where a woman wanted to bring down her husband's anger levels. You may have read, Chicago University is now performing some research where they implant electrodes in a person's brain and completely control anger!

When they asked for volunteers to participate in this research, it seems hundreds of women forcibly brought their husbands!

(laughter)

After the experiment, 72 women – this is a fact – 72 women came back and told the university, Please remove these electrodes. I want my old husband back! I want my old angry husband back!

They say, Life has lost its taste! Unless we fight, there is no interaction. He pays me no attention!

Because everybody needs attention! Behavioural psychologists say that a normal man can survive without food for up to 90 days, but without attention from others, only for 14 days! He will start going insane.

But nowadays, we have forgotten how to love each other, care for each other. Love is a forgotten language! So the only you've never experienced. You will actually realize that your husband, your wife, is a celestial being.

Heaven and hell are not geographical places. You can't locate them on a map. But psychologically they definitely exist. It's up to you to transform your life into heaven or hell. When you are full of expectations, you are carrying your own hell inside your head! So wherever you go, you'll find that your personal package of hell travels with you! There is no escape. And when two people meet, there is a great clash of hells! Why do you want to carry this load around with you? JUST DROP IT!

All it needs is a change in attitude.

Just think of all the energy you waste, trying to chisel the other person to suit your expectations. Isn't it much easier to just drop the chisel? If even 10% of that energy is channeled into meditation, your life can be transformed into true living.

Living is life led with awareness, with freedom.

We have a choice!

We have a chance to become conscious.

Now it is up to you to decide.

Shall we move into the meditation to unlock the Muladhara?

It is a powerful techinique to awaken the Kundalini shakti.

You have already practised it, yesterday and the day before also. It is the Dukkha Harana meditation. Shall we start?

(The group practises Dukkha Harana meditation and later disperses)