Chapter 9 Yet Another Way🔗

Beloved Master,

There is so much of magnificence in my ocean of experiences. And really, it is like an ocean. Waves keep coming. But although they keep coming, I still run for dry land. Is there a technique that You can tell me about to just let the ocean take me away and drown me?

Why are you running? When the ocean is descending upon you, why are you running away from it? And then when nothing happens, when there is no experience, you say, 'Nothing is coming. Give me some experience.' Do not run from what is coming to you.

And to tell you honestly, our very root is from the ocean. It is the very source of our life; not only from the physical ocean but from the spiritual ocean as well. So when you are running from the ocean, be clear that you are simply running away from your self; your essence. It is not like this ocean has just now come. It is not like these waves have just started coming. They have just now been discovered by you. The waves have always been there; they have always been coming. And this ocean, this spiritual ocean of consciousness, is very much like the physical ocean: waves upon waves. It is unending joy, unending bliss; bliss upon bliss.

So what is the need for you to run? Actually, it is not only you, but everyone. Everyone is afraid of something bigger than themselves. This is because the bliss will simply drown you; the 'you' will just disappear. That is why there is fear.

There is no technique that I can give you; there is no technique for drowning. The ocean will do the job. But you must allow the ocean to take over you. You shouldn't run; you should allow it to happen. Just remain silent and allow the ocean to do its work on you. Do not become afraid of what is going to happen next. This is the whole problem; you become afraid.

Your mind always wants everything to be familiar, nice and cozy. It does not want anything to come and disturb its nice coziness. And this is another reason for your fear. Obviously, if the ocean takes over you, everything will change. Nothing will remain familiar to you; everything will be indefinite. Your ego will be threatened. Now, in a way, your ego feels safe that nothing bigger than you is taking over.

Remember one thing: unless you people come out of this running attitude, you will simply miss everything that is of any value. You will miss the essence of love; you will only find yourself running away from it. Love is bigger than you; it is overwhelming. You will simply run away from the truth. But you will stick with your falsity, with your cozy lies. You see: lies are smaller than you, so you are very comfortable with them. You yourself have created them, so how can they be bigger than you? But truth has not been created by you; instead it has created you. It is bigger than you. This is why you feel uncomfortable any time you cross it.

You can really know yourself only if you allow the ocean to drown you. You should simply drown in love, in silence, in ecstasy. There is no other way of knowing yourself unless you are taken over by the very source of life.

The whole of life is oceanic. To be in the water, to be in the ocean, is like being back at your source. It gives you freshness and rejuvenation. So, there is no way that I can teach you to learn how to drown. First of all, there is no need for all of that. All that you must learn is how to sit silently and watch yourself drown into Existence. Do not run away from it. It is like this: when there is a flood, do you see houses coming and asking, ‘Teach me how to drown?’ No! They simply drown, that’s all. Now the ocean has come to you, the waves have come to you; simply allow them to drown you. That is all that is needed. There is no need for anyone to teach you. Simply accept the call of something bigger than you.

One more thing: even if you try to escape, you will not get far. You have been around me for so long that you will not even be able to escape. Even if you run for dry land, remember, I will be there. Even if I am not physically there, you will feel some force there, pulling you back. The ashram gates are always open, but once you come in, you are in; that’s all. Even if you go out for some time, you somehow manage to come back in. Why? Because Existence is calling you back. The waves are pushing you back. They do not want you to miss. So, there is no need to run away; you are simply wasting time! For so many lives you have been running away from the ocean. You have been running for dry land. Now run towards the ocean. It is waiting for you. It is waiting for you to jump in. The waves are pushing you.

Jump in. The waves will carry you away.

Beloved Master,

I read somewhere that there were two types of memory; a factual memory and a spiritual memory. Are there really two types? And if so, is there a connection between the two?

Yes, there are two types of memory. But they are not the two types which you are thinking. There is something like factual memory and then there are psychological memories.

How could there be any such thing as spiritual memory? Spirituality is your spirit, your being; it has no past and no future. It is always in the present. There are no dreams and no imagination; so how could there be memories?

Your spirituality is Existence, nothing more. The past is dead and dull and doesn't even exist any more. It was once there, yes, but it is not anymore. So just imagine: we are continuously holding on to something that is not even there!

So be clear: there can never be a spiritual memory. But yes, there are two types of memories. You must understand the difference between the two very clearly. If it is a factual memory, you will remain only a watcher. If someone shouted at you yesterday, if someone insulted you and if you simply remember it as someone just shouting at you, it is a factual memory. But if you are still upset, if you still want revenge on the person, then it is a psychological memory.

A person can have factual memories only if he remains a witness throughout the whole incident. He can drop his emotional attachment only if he was aware at that time. This is because when a person is aware, he experiences whatever is happening totally. Then when it is over, the bondage to that memory has left him. He carries no emotional hangovers. And this is such a freedom. That is why I am again and again telling you to remain aware and witness the whole thing. But you people will think, 'He is simply saying these things! He can do all of this, but not us.' What nonsense! You are capable of doing it; that is why I am telling you. I am not simply talking to you continuously and wasting time for no reason. There is a meaning for me to tell you to be aware.

So be clear on the difference between the two types of memories. Factual memories come only with awareness. And the more and more aware you become, the more detached you become. All of your memories will become factual. Every memory will become clear because your emotions will no longer cloud what is already there. The same person who insulted you yesterday will not bother you. You will speak to him as if nothing has happened. As a fact, you know that he has insulted you, but you will not feel as if he has done anything to harm you or hurt you.

Once your memories become factual, you will not feel as if the situation is happening to you. The whole memory will appear to be happening to someone else, but it will be vivid. If the memory was psychological, it would feel like it was happening to you. You would feel identified with it.

So, a factual memory is like the memory of a computer. It does not mean anything to you, but it will still be clear. But a psychological memory is what you identify yourself with.

Your head, your logical head, is what carries all of these psychological memories. As you go on meditating, these memories will be erased. Then, you will be left only with factual memories. And this is what we mean by being enlightened. A man with no psychological memories is enlightened.

Beloved Master,

As per my understanding, there are many ways to go beyond the mind. Is psychological therapy one of these ways?

There is only one thing that can lead you beyond the mind: meditation. Psychological therapy can help you understand the mind, but it cannot lead you beyond the mind. So, it cannot lead you directly into the experience but it can help to give you the understanding.

It is like a garden. Psychotherapy is like laying out the soil, but it is not the garden itself. You have to remove the weeds and all the unnecessary dirt. Psychotherapy can do this. But it is meditation that plants the seeds. If you take care of these seeds, they will blossom into beautiful flowers.

Psychotherapy is a good cleaning method, but nothing more than that. In order to go beyond the mind, mediation is necessary. Once you have gone beyond the mind, you have realized your being; you have understood yourself. Meditation is the only possibility for creating the space for going beyond the mind.

You see: there is nothing wrong with psychotherapy. In fact it is good, but only at the initial level. It is good to start with, but it is not an ending. It is a good start for understanding the mind. But in the West, it has been thought of as an end. It has been used as an end. This is why psychotherapy, especially in the West, never feels complete. In the beginning, it brings much clarity; it is a good stepping stone. But when you continue, you are doing nothing useful. It will feel like moving in a circle. The whole point is to get to the end, but where is the question of an end in a circle? Understand? There is no end in a circle. This is why psychotherapy should only be used as a stepping stone and not the final step.

Psychotherapy can be helpful, but it can also be dangerous. It can create a wall between you and the divine. It will help you realize that there is something beyond the mind, but it will not lead you out of the mind. You must be aware of this.

Yes.

Beloved Master,

Of late, I am able to relax and go deeper within myself. But for some reason, there seems to be a fear, a trembling that I feel could cloud the bliss of life. Does my ego need nourishment?

I have been telling you again and again to drop the ego. Have you even been listening to me, I wonder! I am telling you to drop the ego and here you are asking me if your ego needs nourishment! What are you talking?

You are saying that you are feeling relaxed more within yourself and then you are asking whether your ego needs nourishment. That will only destroy whatever relaxation you have. Not only that, it will stop this feeling of going inwards also. In fact, it will make this trembling that you are feeling stronger. If you are nourishing the ego, then you are only making it stronger. You are giving it more space. And if you do this, how will it ever leave you? If you are nourishing the ego, you are doing something against what you have been working for; to go beyond.

Ego is your falsity; it is not the truth. And if you have experienced silence, then you will understand. You should simply cut off this complete nourishing process. Just let it die. The death of your ego marks the beginning of your reality. But if you sit and nourish your ego, it becomes stronger. Then you are moving farther and farther away from reality.

This question that you are asking really makes me wonder about how much you have been listening. People only listen to what they want to hear, not to what is actually being said. Your mind interferes and doesn't let my words penetrate. My words should strike you; they should go straight to your being. But your mind comes in and does not allow what is being said to go past your head. And whatever actually sticks to your mind is the edited version. It has already been scanned by your mind; it is the distorted version. And it sometimes happens that what goes in is the complete opposite of what I am saying.

You must learn how to listen; not only you but everyone. And it is an art, a difficult one. This is because everyone thinks that they know it. They think that just because they can hear, they can listen. Be clear: they are two different things. Just because your dictionaries say they have the same meanings, does not mean that they are the same thing. You see: the capacity to hear only has to do with your ears. But the capacity to listen has to do with something beyond your ears. It involves a quiet mind, with no chatter. If there is a noisy mind, you are bound to have misunderstanding.

And one more thing: listening does not mean that you have to agree or disagree with what I am saying. This is what you are doing. You only hear what you want to hear. Listening means to simply sit, with no chatter, and to just absorb whatever is being said. So, the two are very different - listening and hearing. Listening is from the being with no judgments; hearing is from the mind with all possible judgments!

There is one thing that you must understand: the being is much deeper than the mind. Whatever has to reach the being goes through your idiotic mind first. And by the time it reaches, many things have already happened to it. It has already become distorted. So in order to totally listen or be, in order to imbibe everything that I want to say, you must drop your mind. It is the only way.

A small story:

A Master and his disciple were sitting together and talking. The Master pointed to a big stone and asked his disciple to tell him whether it was inside or outside of his mind. The disciple replied, ‘Our Vedic teachings tell us that everything is a projection of the mind. So the stone must be inside my mind.’

The Master then remarked, ‘Don’t you get tired of carrying such a heavy weight?’

And this is really the way in which you are living. You are always carrying such a heavy load in that head of yours that you don’t see what is really there. You miss the reality of the whole thing; you miss the truth.

So, you must drop the mind to realize the reality. You will be able to truly listen without missing anything only if the mind is not there. And once you begin to listen, you will simply be transformed.