65. Surrender.🔗

There was an enlightened Master sitting under a tree. A family man approached him and asked for some boons. The Master said: Go northward into the forest. You will see a big cave. What you want is available there.

He believed him and went there.

He carried off the silver materials lying strewn there, returned and thanked the Master. The Master said: Tomorrow, you go still further a little.

Believing this he went and found another cave filled with gold coins. He gathered them, returned and thanked the Master.

The Master again said: You proceed still further ahead.

This time, having found a cave filled with diamonds, and having collected them as much as possible, and while returning home, the family man got a new idea.

The question arose in him: Even after knowing the location of so much of treasure, without caring for all these, what is it that makes the Master calmly and peacefully stay under the tree?

This time, without thanking the Master, the family man fell at the feet of the Master. He surrendered to the Master saying: What is it that is with you, which is beyond all these treasures? I want that.

❖ Every one of us is trying in our own way to find out only that treasure of all the treasures which is within us. For that surrender is an easy path.

It can happen after we have lived, enjoyed and experienced all sorts of things. Or else, it can happen by mere devotion, by total wisdom, by understanding or by any means. All the meditation techniques, all religious teachings, strive to make only one thing happen - that is to make surrender be born within you.

----------

❖ Neither my body will be flexible for meditation, nor will my mind control itself by meditation. But I have full belief in spirituality. For a person feels this way, surrender is an easy path.

❖ Only a deep rooted love and wholesome respect are the very basic essential requirements necessary for surrender. ❖ Well beyond grief, for worry less, blissful life, the one that takes you quickly is the rocket of surrender. ❖ Surrender should not be born just from the lips. It should be born from deep inside the heart and be a conscious one.

Surrender, which is, the belief, 'You entrust yourself to me. I will look after you,' is certainly required by all people during some periods of life, to tide over some kind of helpless situations.

Such soothing statements which heal and give succour to the mind have come into being in all religions, based on the principle of surrender only.

Here is a beautiful incident which happened in the life of Ramakrishna. It was a time when the devotee Girish Chandra Ghosh had accepted Ramakrishna as his Master whole-heartedly.

Girish asked Ramakrishna: After this, what is it that I have to do in my life?

Ramakrishna said: Keep both the world you live in and the God with you. Continue to remember God both morning and evening.

Then, God or the world – any one of these will slip away from you. Whatever is to happen, will happen.

'I am not properly taking care of even bodily necessities of eating, sleeping and clothing. While it is so, if you want me to think of God both morning and evening! Is it possible at all? It is not possible for me to remain controlled by compulsions.' Thinking like this, Girish was hesitating as to how to tell this to the Master.

If Girish had expressed it out in words instead of merely thinking so, whatever reply Ramakrishna would have then given, Ramakrishna gave that very same reply now. Those present there were rather confused. But Girish was happy since he knew that his Master had read his mind.

Ramakrishna said, 'Yes, it is not possible only for you to think about God in the morning and evening.

Therefore, once before you take your food and again before you go to sleep, try to think about God.' Ramakrishna spoke in a graceful and peaceful voice.

'The case is dragging on in the court. As my own worries and frustration are pulling me up and down, on some days; I eat my breakfast after 10 o'clock and lunch after 5 o'clock in the evening.

As Girish went on thinking ...'Is it possible at all for me to think about God, before eating and before sleeping, when the actual situation is that, when I eat, I am never conscious at all that 'I am eating' since I possess a mind which is ever wandering here and there due to worries.'

Ramakrishna said with a loving and encouraging smile, 'All right, Girish, you want to tell me that even this is not possible. Well, you are not able to do that. Therefore entrust it to me. I will look after everything.'

Girish thought, 'Oh! How easy it is. I have no controls at all. Master will look after every thing. Whatever good and bad that happens to me is only due to his spiritual power's guidance. I have no worries hereafter'. Girish felt relieved and happy.

To trust one is not a matter of play.

Girish, who thought that to think about God for two times a day is rather difficult and that he will not get caught in such a net, got himself caught in the love- net of Ramakrishna.

After that, there was not a single moment when he was not thinking about Ramakrishna. He had stated with tears in his eyes later on, that he had got himself filled up fully with the blissful power of Ramakrishna.

Having come to know about the life of Girish, Mr. Anunithan got the desire, 'I should also meet a living Master, surrender to him and become filled up with Ananda or bliss.' He went in search of a living Master.

At last, he found one living enlightened Master. He had stayed in his ashram after deciding to surrender himself to him and be peaceful. He had told the Master about his desire and had asked him to accept his surrender.

On hearing this, the Master began to laugh. Anunithan got confused. 'Why is he laughing?'

‘Do you know about the trials and tribulations Girish had to undergo before he became overwhelmed with the blissful power of Ramakrishna? He could not examine his own good and bads after that. He should understand that whatever happens to him is only for his welfare and it is due to the blessings of the Master. When once Girish said, ‘I do this’, Ramakrishna told him, ‘When you have entrusted yourself to me, then how can you act by yourself? You should say only, ‘If God's grace is there, if God permits, I will do it. Do you understand?’

Girish had no independence even for that. ‘Have you taken this decision only after knowing all this?’ he asked.

Anunithan had hesitated a little bit and then said, ‘Yes’.

But after that, unable to stay there even for a week, he came running away from there. After that only he came to see me.

He said to Anunithan, ‘There is no limit at all for the deceptive nature of the ego. It will point out that path which does not affect or inflict pain to it as correct. Ego will make you run away from that place which was responsible for causing even a little pain to it. What has happened to you is only this. Surrender is only the technique which Ramakrishna had selected for the ego of Girish to dissolve and melt away. Surrender may look rather hard in the beginning. The reason is only that the ego is beginning to get dissolved. You should not be afraid. The action, laughter, talk of the living Master – all will be aimed at destroying the man's ego only.

I finished it, saying, ‘If you come over the hard times, like Girish, it is only possible to overcome it by blissful power.’

Surrender is a wonderful technique.

Moreover, for the modern man, who has been affected both psychologically and physically as well, it can be said that it is a great boon.

Anunithan understood the truth. Then he understood that living Master totally.

Surrender will melt away the ego, which has become a part of you... Only if you understand it!

----------

A meaningful incident.

If the wise men say, 'It is very easy to become enlightened.' Men struggle badly to understand it. Why?

When Dr.Nitty said to a blind man, in a free eye camp, 'If a small operation is done ... your blindness of many years will become all right. Thereafter you can walk without the stick. The blind man, it seems, said, 'I am able to understand that, after the operation, I will be able to see. But you say that I would be able to walk without the stick, I am not able to understand how I could do that.'

❖ For that blind man, the stick has become a part of the body. In the same way, the human mind which is full of sorrow and inability, believes that it is also a part of the man. Mind is only the root cause for all struggles.

----------

Meditation chisels. Chisel No.20.

Even if a tiny fish wants to remain still in the river water saying, 'No, I won't swim' as it lives in a flowing river, it will be pulled and drawn away along the course of the river.

Resisting that, even if that fish tries to be still, it will have to suffer unnecessarily.

The fish, which opposes the river, would struggle. It would be thrown away. It would think that it is being ill-treated by the water. It would unfortunately believe that the water drops surrounding it are snatching away its independence!

The natural power called God is many, many times faster than the river.

It is subtle.

Man, whose mind is many times subtler than that of the fish, has detached himself from nature.

Instead of being led along the path of nature, man wants only to go in a direction opposing the flowing river of life, according to his own imaginations.

Result - Unfortunately he believes that he is being made to struggle; all surrounding him are misusing him, and they are snatching away his independence!

It is celebration and celebration only all the way for the river, which has surrendered and offered itself to go along with the course of the river. Going along with the river flow will be continuously pleasant as the joy ride in a merry-go-round.

The man, who has surrendered himself to the flow of nature, will imagine himself as a drop of the pleasant river of life. He will be blissful.

A truth:

Whether you oppose or do not oppose the river of life, you will be pulled along. This is law of nature.

A meditation rule:

Good happens due to God. Bad happens when we oppose those goods due to our ignorance.

Begin to live life like the fish which swims along with the current.

Live, realising that, what all you got, were all given by God.

If you live like that, you will reach that blissful state where neither good nor bad would be able to shake you.

A wisdom statement:

Life is not in our hands. Joy is not in our hands. Opposing and grieving only are in our hands.

Then what next? You have to spread your hands and take a dive into the river only, Is it not...?

66. Right.....Wrong....

❖ Only a mind, which is inferior in quality, will be aroused when under pressure. It will act as per other's dictations. It will call wrong as right. It will argue that something that is right is wrong.

❖ So, it is an act of an inferior mind to estimate and judge others.

❖ Until the quality of humanity rises, differentiating people is a continuous serial novel.

❖ A man of fine quality cannot differentiate between people. There will be no need for that too.

❖ Praising the right thing rightly, taking efforts to make others understand the mistakes correctly - These belong only to a person who knows how to live a balanced and impartial life.

A family man asked an ancient Master, 'Sir, how to find out whether I show affection in the correct way and whether my affection is not wrong. Please tell me the means.'

The Master said, 'When you become mature enough to the extent of showing affection towards your enemy... then your affection reaches a mature state that such affection is not a wrong.

When you begin taking action like a friend for your enemy's pleasure... then your affection becomes correct.'

❖ The right love has the ability to make an enemy a friend.

The wrong type of love has the ability to make a friend an enemy.

True love is beyond all ' right and wrong'. The drama of affection enacted by man in the name of love is bound by 'right and wrong'.

----------

Just because Vivekananda ate fish, if one eats meat, he does a wrong in the name of right.

Because Gandhiji did not eat meat, if one stops eating meat, he also does a wrong in the name of right. Because it is not a decision taken out of experiential clarity, it is a hastily taken decision.

On matters other than the ones about which we are experientially clear, if we begin to adopt and implement certain things in our lives, just because some one did so, or said so, then, we will also be doing the wrong thing in the name of doing a right one.

1. If I do, it is right. If you do, it is wrong.

-- This is peak of ego. -- First type.

2. If a friend does it, it is right. If an enemy does the same thing, it is wrong.

-- Second type.

3. Even when a friend does wrong, wrong is wrong only. When an enemy does a good thing, it is good only. All right!

-- Third type.

First category of persons is pitiable, since they obstinately believe, 'I am right.' They believe that what all they think is correct and true. They believe as right those things that are totally and fully wrong!

Poor people! They have a mind which acts erratically, having been afflicted with various types of negative thoughts.

They will not understand their pathetic condition even though so many great souls have come and taught these things time and again.

That person will not know the truth that the 'inferior thoughts' which come from a confused mind will be wrong only, as long as that person has a feeling, 'I am all right'. It will appear as though the whole world is committing wrongs.

Many times many people fall into the pit of thought 'I am all right'! Result: We prick, tear and destroy the gem-like minds of people around us and make a hell of those few minutes. For the hell to become a heaven, in that sentence, 'I am all right', the 'I' should be broken away and 'right' alone should be understood.

The second type of people is 'prisoners of circumstances'. For them, the wrongs of their friends will not appear as wrongs. Further even very correct things done by the enemy will not appear as right.

We understand about life only from those around us, that is, from those whom we like and those we don't like.

When we separately divide persons as those liked by us, and those not liked by us, we will begin to accept as 'right' even the wrongs of those liked by us.

Result: Wrongs would begin to get settled in our minds. Because the mind becomes wrong, we will begin to change as a 'wrong person'.

Because, by wearing the glasses called 'wrong', we look at the activities of those whom we don't like, things which are actually 'right' will appear to us with a changed quality and we will see it as 'wrong'. For the question, 'Which is right?' the mind will give only a confusing answer.

Since 'right' does not get settled in our mind in the correct manner, the possibility or opportunity of our becoming a correct person will begin to decrease.

Third type of persons is those who tow the middle paths, they are the neutral people. They are bold. They will prosper in life by utilizing life and the people for their own growth.

Nobody can ever shake the minds of those people, who have learnt to live in a balanced and neutral manner, duly assessing and grading the people, and at the same time without degrading themselves.

Boldness is required to point out the mistakes in a friend. A mature mental attitude is necessary to accept the right things of an enemy.

Both these are the expressions of a person who lives life nicely, towing a middle path.

If one practices to stand in between right and wrong, likes and dislikes, pain and pleasure, good luck and bad luck, it is enough. Peace will come in search of such a person. This is what Buddha calls as the 'Middle path'. Meat eating was all right for Vivekananda, but it was wrong for Gandhiji. Abstaining from eating meat was right for Gandhiji but was wrong for Vivekananda.

Before Vivekananda's energy and power of his penance, food was not a worthy matter at all. The energy which was frolicking within him had the capacity to protect him beyond food, sleep, words.

Looking at saints or great men and saying, 'That person did this', 'This man did that', and trying to do the same, if an ordinary person begins to do various things, then, depending upon the energy level of such a person, it will result only in dullness and exhaustion.

Under any circumstances, without examining by ourselves just because someone said so, we should not allow anything that is not acceptable to our heart to enter within us.

❖ The wrongs which have occupied our minds, through persons we like, are many in number.

❖ Like wise, the right things done by persons whom we do not like that have not caught our attention and slipped away from our minds, are also many in number.

❖ The phrase, 'persons not liked by us' will apply to such persons only till such time they do things that are not to our liking!

❖ In the same manner, 'persons liked by us' also applies only as long as they do things to our liking!

Persons liked by us. Persons not liked by us.

-- Both are not permanent. With your glasses of opinions, stamping the people as good or bad, separating them, leaving away the truth, doing a wrong thing under the name of 'right' - It is enough if you begin to stop doing this mistake. You have started coming closer to the 'Middle path' of Buddha. The gentle breeze of peace has already begun to blow.

--------

A meaningful incident.

Mukundan asked his wife, who was watching a serial.

'Life is more interesting than the serial. Are you born to live joyfully or to weep and cry? What is there in that to get so much drowned?'

Next day, while Mukundan was reading the newspaper, the wife asked,

'Life is more confusing than the news paper. Am I the wife? Or, is the news paper the wife? What is there in that to get so much engrossed in it?'

❖ The reason for the quarrels with those we like is because of our limits, saying, 'This is right' and 'This is wrong'.

-------------

Meditation chisels. Chisel No.21.

Mantra to drive out fashion stratagem.

An animal which has been denied the opportunity to at least later on bring back the food to the mouth as cud, then chew and digest it, is man.

Still, he only swallows without chewing, fashionably! Is there a grinder inside the stomach, which will grind whatever is put in?

Eating with finger tips.

Drinking without wetting the lips.

Walking without the heels touching the floor

-- All these are fashions.

These are techniques to decrease our oneness with nature.

Why? Even breathing stops with the chest. The inhaled breath does not occupy the lungs fully. It does not even go deep up to the bottom of the lungs.

What you read above are only some examples to point out that 'man lives an imperfect life'.

Such behavior has merged with your body, life and being to such an extent that it cannot be pointed out. Every thing has become polluted.

What polluted it?

Right from childhood, under various circumstances, certain lines, 'This only is right', 'This only is wrong', have been inserted within you.

They have entered within you in the name of fashion.

Even when a man is doing a wrong thing, the one that makes him say, 'I am doing a right thing only' is only these fashionable methods.

These should be found out and rooted out.

The Mantra to search for the fashionable methods, which have created many quarrels in your body and mind, and drive them away, is to:

'Perform those methods and techniques wholly and fully.'

It will disappear.

Bring to your attention all those times at which you live imperfectly.

Remove and push away the very bad techniques which can be recognized only if you examine very thoroughly and meticulously. Make all the actions during these times 'whole, perfect and full'.

Don't even think about fashion.

If you begin to live fully and wholly, those technique-applying times also will become meditation times.

67. Sweeter than honey, is human life.

Sakyas and Goliyas were fighting for the waters of Rohini River and even prepared for a war.

In the midst of that hurly-burly, Buddha entered there very calmly and asked, ‘Do you respect this water because it is Rohini river water or is it for the benefits given by this water?’

They replied, ‘Who will respect mere water? It is respected because of its benefits only; it is loved.’

‘This water which is responsible for the war between the two sides, does it do good or does it do bad in this particular situation? Are you going to fight for this water which triggers the blood-shed filled war?’ so saying, the Buddha went away. War also got dispersed.

❖ If you are fighting with your close ones for their certain wrong actions whom do you respect? The one close to you... or the wrongs...think for yourself and stop fighting.

----------

❖ ‘Quarrel in relationships between lovers is necessary’ – Those who said this are those who did not know how to live with zeal.

❖ Lovers' quarrel is only the trial run or rehearsal of hatred deep in the mind.

❖ As long as one is attracted to the other, lover's quarrel will be there like smoke, in human relationships.

❖ The moment the attraction disappears, the deep-hearted hatred will burst forth instantly.

❖ The reason for the formation of hatred deep in the mind – the disagreement between the illusory ideas of the mind of dreams about life and actual real life.

❖ All lovers' quarrels, all enthusiasm shown towards each other, all temporary joys happen only to those who drink the dream in real world.

❖ Ego is a collection of confused ideas. Ego is the master of imagination beyond limits.

❖ As the ego disappears, lovers' quarrel will go away. Enthusiasm will bubble up. Human life, sweeter than honey, will fructify.

----------

Lines written by the lady Zen Master Seeyano about the moment she got enlightenment....

'There was moon in the water in the bamboo bucket, which I was holding on my hips. At an unexpected moment, the bucket was broken. The moon as well as the water - both disappeared. There was nothing at all in my hand. I got drowned in the floods.'

We can understand these lines easily, if we know about Seeyano's life.

She was not accepted in any monastery, just for only one reason. The reason: Seeyano was very beautiful.

They refused her saying that it was dangerous to admit a beautiful lady into the ashram due to the atmosphere which existed then.

But, Seeyano had a sincere and severe spiritual quest.

We would not have thought even in our dreams, what she did to become a monk.

She thought, 'Is it that the beauty of my face is the obstruction?'

She went to the kitchen. She scratched her face here and there with a burning torch of fire wood and made it ugly! It will require a few minutes to conclude that Seeyano was a girl. The face had become ugly to that extent. Saying, now there is no harm, they admitted her in the monastery.

Continuously for thirty five years she had learnt many faiths. She also did all penances so as to say that there is no more left. But she could not get any salvation.

Then one day, Seeyano was walking, appreciating the reflection of the moon in the water in her bamboo bucket, she was carrying in her hips. Then at an unexpected moment, it happened. She got enlightened. She describes it as follows:

‘That bamboo bucket, which was with me for twenty years, had lost its strength. At an unexpected moment, the bucket just broke down. Next second, the water and the moon disappeared. A wonder happened within me. I also disappeared.

At the time when the bamboo bucket broke up, my ego, which was made up of my mental ideas and illusions, also broke up. For both these things to break and fall off, the reason was that I was with my full awareness then!

Just like the fish which was in the river suddenly realizing that it was in the river only, I realized that I was surrounded by a flood of bliss or divine energy. I got drowned in the flood.’

The lady enlightened Master has written about her enlightenment experience, saying:

For so many years, the one that had been an obstruction was only the bucket made of bamboo splints called the mind.

Like the water which was isolated within the bucket, I got entangled and trapped in the mind and was isolated. The mind got broken at that moment.

We gather only from our life experiences all about our future, opinions about various people and other illusions.

This gathering starts right from our adolescent age and as our mental ideas and opinions which shatter our peace of mind, enter into us; then and there only ego gets created in us. Peace is lost.

The future is going to be very great; spouse should be like an emperor/empress - such mental ideas enter into a man at a young age itself.

Too many expectations which are absolutely impossible to fulfill in real practical life, suck away our peace of mind. And discontentment boils within us.

It is only the honey-moon days time when the dreams of very long times come to reality.

Why do they call it as honeymoon instead of honey sun?

To find out the answer, continue to read this further attentively...

Here only, for the first time in their lives, they come to meet with realities.

The duration of time when the dreams of, 'Life should be like this; life-partner should be like this' coming face to face with reality viz. 'Life is only this much' - is honey-moon.

The growing numbers of divorce cases confirm that, even thirty days are too long to realize that there is no connection at all between the dreams about life and real life.

'Love is for 60 days, infatuation is only for 30 days' are not adages said in a joking way. They are the expressions of psychological maturity of our ancestors.

A moon will not last longer than 16 days. Oh man! Your dreams also will not last longer than 16 days - this has been indirectly indicated as honey-moon in Tamil.

Do we dream really to see that life becomes sour in 16 days! The very nature of the dream itself is to exaggerate the natural and normal state and make sour the reality.

It is only the same ego that aids in the uncontrolled creation of dreams which prevents dreams from being experienced and enjoyed in real life.

If the dreams begin to become a reality, then it is destruction for the ego. Therefore, for the ego to survive, it will encourage you to dream. But the same ego will plan and make all prior arrangements to see that the dream is not realized in real life and that too through you only! It is so cunning!

What got broken inside Seeyano, was only this ego.

Just as the bamboo bucket had lost its strength since it was many years old, when we involve ourselves in the path of meditation, the illusory feet of the ego, that is the wrong notions and ideas will lose their strength.

Since the bamboo bucket of Seeyano broke down at an unexpected moment, one day the ego will break down within us. For a person, who does meditation consistently, this will be a surprise gift for him!

After that a life without dreams will be born. Going beyond the celebration for thirty days, called honey-moon, it will be a life-long celebration.

Then the celebration of life will be there through-out the year. Honeymoon will become Sun during the entire life.

We can enjoy all the 365 days of the year.

There is no chance at all for the life or life-partner to become boring for a man who has gone beyond dreams.

Begin to live beyond your mental notions. Let your life begin to be sweet as honey. Let the human life which is sweeter than honey belong to you too.

----------

A meaningful incident.

A reader's question: 'How the meditation done only for a short duration daily will make the strong mind lose its strength?'

Reply: Meditation and mind - are like the Indian mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. Both will not agree with each other. Somebody should win. Meditation is a new addition for you. Admit it daily! It knows the trick of bringing you and your mind under grip and control. Just allow meditation and see.

❖ For a sweet and pleasant life to ripen...

Even if you voluntarily go and do 'simple meditation' it is good only.

----------

Meditation chisels. Chisel No.22.

Mental opinions which kindle cravings should be cut off.

Before you get it, even if it is as small as mustard seeds, the mind will make it appear as a mountain... After you get it, even if it is a mountain, it will make it appear small as mustard seeds.

That is a foolish mind.

Those who are addicted to smoking, alcohol drugs will crave for it to the extent that they will think that there is no life without it. Till they get it, it will appear like a mountain.

The moment it is obtained, the craving will get shrunk.

What appeared like a mountain so far will now appear as small as mustard seeds.

This is one of the very basic qualities of the mind.

All the people are affected daily by this quality of the mind only.

Having a cup of tea, a sweet, tasty food, a small nap, a new dress, chatting with a friend or relative – Such aspects of life have kept man tied up.

All these things will appear to be interesting and joyful till they are got or done.

But, once you get them, immediately that interest, joy will disappear and it will become an ordinary one.

The difference between the amount of craving and the joy after getting it has always been the difference between the mountain and mustard.

Reason: The mental idea that creates the hurry before getting a desired thing vanishes once that is obtained.

This mental idea of creating the desire and the idea vanishing after the desire is fulfilled, is present in everybody.

It is a pity that man runs and dances just for the wrong mental notions.

Hereafter, be very careful during the times the desire takes control of you. Reason: They are the instigations of a wrong mental notion.

That which instigates must be cut away.

Go up to the place wherefrom the instigations come. As a side-effect of this going, you will learn the art of cutting away the instigations themselves.

Only after the instigations are cut off and gone, will the man begin to live his life for the first time.

Make the times of your being instigated as meditation times. You will begin to live your life as per your desire.

68. Bones of the mind.

❖ Just like the beautiful statue which remains hidden in a stone, an illusory statue which lies hidden within man is the mind.

❖ Shaping up of a beautiful sculpture depends upon the sculptor's skill. The shaping up of a healthy mind depends upon the individual's mental maturity.

❖ The consciousness that helps to sculpt the mind is just like the chisel which helps to sculpt out a beautiful statue from a stone. (Chisel consciousness of the mind)

❖ The one who makes the rock a statue is a sculptor. The one who makes the mind joyful is a meditator.

❖ We can sculpt our mind as per our requirements by awareness.

A rare species of chimpanzee brought from the forests of Amazon, was subjected to intense research continuously for three and half years by the scientists of California University.

In that research, its life and activities were shrunk and compressed within its cage of twenty five feet.

After the research was completed, its mate was also brought in. The cage of twenty-five feet was changed as a sixty feet one.

Only after that change did the researchers discover one surprising matter.

Even though the cage was increased to sixty feet that chimpanzee utilized that twenty five feet of space only, which it was used to earlier, for the entire period of the rest of its life.

The activities of the monkey got shrunk within the twenty five feet.

It got hardened, toughened.

❖ The human mind shapes itself by the ideas and incidents grasped by it initially.

It becomes hardened and frozen within itself, whether it is good or bad.

The reason for a man to experience the same kind of pain and pleasure is only the bones of this mind – the thoughts.

-----------

As bones are to the human body, thoughts are to the mind!

If there are no thoughts, there is no mind. Mind is only a collection of thoughts.

The amusing thing in this is that if the bones become bent or twisted, man would become shortened or become a hunch-back.

If the thinking pattern becomes either blotted or any thing different from joy then the mind also will become bent or blind.

Different kinds of thoughts are thrust upon man by society and relatives. As the thoughts begin to accumulate, the child called mind begins to grow.

One small story.

Nawab often used to be worried thinking about his lame child who was lost when the child was five years old.

Whenever the Nawab's grief went to the extremes, he would call his army commander and send him away saying, ‘Go and find my son. You should not enter this country without my son. If you return without finding him you will be put to death.’

In this manner within a period of ten years, he had sent away thirteen commanders in search of his son. Hence, everybody in the king's audience hall began to become afraid whenever the talk about the post of commander arose.

For the fourteenth time a commander was appointed.

One day! Having gone to the peak of his grief, the Nawab told that commander also what he had told the other commanders in the past and sent him out of the country.

That fourteenth commander was intelligent. He thought differently and put a big full stop to the problem.

He told the guards who came with him to drag and bring all the lame beggar boys whomsoever they came across and who were aged about fifteen years. The commander bowed to that beggar boy and said, 'Oh prince! Your father is waiting for you.'

The guards brought twenty-five beggar boys. The commander selected one amongst them, who had the facial resemblance to the king.

The beggar said, 'What are you saying sir? I am an orphan, a beggar.'

When the commander said, 'Oh prince, don't say that. You were lost from our country at a very young age. You should return to our land.'

The fortune of the beggar having changed in a second began to talk commandingly and addressed him singularly, 'Do you say that? Okay. Bring the palanquin quickly...'

The beggar had not yet even put on the prince's dress. Even before that, mentally he had become a prince and was ordering everyone...'Do this; do that.'

The commander thought, 'Why should I care about how this beggar behaves; I have to return to my country'.

Seeing the assertive behaviour of the beggar who had just been told that he is a prince, the commander laughed within himself, saying, 'Oh! Is this only called ego?'

This is a beautiful story that explains the power of thoughts.

Observe the slight change that occurred in the thought to the person, who had been thinking so far that he is a beggar, in his mind, a new thought that he is prince, has entered. He changed as a prince himself.

If you observe deeply the character in this story, it will be known that both beggar and prince depend upon the thought!

The mind which lives by sucking various thoughts will change its colour continuously.

If four or five persons continuously tell a man or a woman, 'You are beautiful', it is enough. The thought that he is beautiful will change as ego within him.

If four or five persons continuously tell the same man or woman, 'You are bad', it will suffice, and the thought that he is bad will change as grief in him.

It is only because the human mind is not steady, the thoughts thrust by others, make him dance like a monkey. Men never relax due to this.

Firmness and clarity are the back-bones of the mind.

It required an army commander to instill the thought 'You are a prince' within the beggar. It was only after the commander gave the confirmation that he was a prince, he could boldly stand up firmly with the thought, 'I am a prince'.

Think just once...

Why? Should it be only outsiders who have to decide our thoughts, which are the bones of our minds? Why not we ourselves decide?

Reply: Yes. It is possible to decide!

First of all, you allow yourself to be relaxed. Discover the polluted thoughts.

Throw away the wrong thoughts, with full awareness, make good thoughts enter into your mind. You yourself shape up a new mind - with new thoughts. It is possible.

Every one of you is a prince!

Every one of you is a princess!

---------

A meaningful incident.

The logic professor was angry. 'I have already put on my shoes. How is it possible to put on shoes over that?' he shouted.

Seeing this, the Zen Master smiled and asked, 'When it is possible for you to carry in your hand the thoughts of others, why do you look with wonder when you have to put on another shoe?'

❖ Those who do not want even a speck of dust on them, accumulate cart loads of rubbish. They are not ashamed of things to be ashamed of.

---------

Meditation chisels. Chisel No. 23.

Standing at the corner of a room with four walls, a person shouted, 'Somebody save me. I have been imprisoned. How do I get out of here?'

'Oh fool! Look back' when he heard these words, he was shocked as he turned back. Because there was no wall on the fourth side!

If only that man had turned and looked back... could he have come out of the room, where he thought he was imprisoned. For him to get independence the only thing he did was turning and looking back.

You are also a person struggling within the prison called, thoughts, which are the bones of the mind. Meditation and wisdom truths have been created only for this single miracle to happen - for you to look inward at your self.

You see every thing except you. You examine. You understand. But you are constantly missing the real you.

Result: Your own thoughts and beliefs have imprisoned you.

Birth after birth, your life, your ability to enjoy, your joy and independence - all these have shrunk only because you have not looked back.

Man is a slave with many controls. To change the thoughts, to insert good thoughts is equivalent to drilling holes in the walls of the room. For this, effort is necessary.

An easy and simple solution for this is to look back. Look back at the self, which is a collection of wonders and which is beyond all your thoughts.

Close your eyes and try with sincerity. At any moment, 'Looking back' can happen.

One small turn will give you total independence. Examine and see.

-----------

69. Live at the peak.

❖ Oh! How tasty a Rasagulla (Indian sweet) is!

Oh! How joyful it will be if we taste one! If we have two... three... four.....seven, eight.... Soon the joy turns sour and one is not able to enjoy the sweet with the same relish that one had initially when eating the first sweet.

❖ Enjoy! Must enjoy!

❖ Why is it, that man gets caught again and again in difficulties? Is it possible to get released from this web that man gets caught in? Reply: Yes. It is certainly possible.

----------

An e-mail which came to a lover...

My dear! My life! My breath! I will come and see you this Friday.

Then,

Making a garland with the sands of the beach as thread and the plucked stars from the sky as flowers, Tearing off the blue sky and folding it to make a sari (Indian traditional costume) for you, To affix on your forehead as Thilak (a mark on the forehead with vermillion-An Indian tradition), and enjoy your beauty, I will surely pluck and bring you either the sun or the moon!

Yours,

Living just for you.

Post script: If the weather is rainy on Friday, I will not come on Friday. Thanks.

❖ It is easy to speak dialogues bubbling with emotions and feelings; but living those words.....?

❖ It is easy to say, 'I will do this; I will do that.' – But doing it???

❖ Don't speak about impossible things. Do what is possible. Even that you perform at the peak. When you do your best you will begin to live.

----------

Remaining at the zenith of joy is certainly possible – Meera was a lady enlightened Master who lived and showed that it is possible.

Meera was one who experientially realized God through Krishna (An incarnation of Lord Vishnu in Hindu mythology).

Meera is the peak of poetic quality, peak of devotion, peak of ecstatic devotional dance.

Meera lived at the peak with the clear understanding that all the persons in the world are females (Gopikas) waiting for the divine power and that Krishna, the male, is the total expression of the divine power.

She lived in that peak and consciously felt that blissful energy present within herself.

Krishna is the virtuous Master. Those who are with the spiritual quest are all gopikas. This is the Krishna – Gopika concept.

Wherever Meera went, devotional ecstasy would catch up. All of Meera's singing, devotional ecstasy and dance will together change the atmosphere of the place where she was present.

Those who were watching casually would be attracted and drawn by Meera's blissful dances. Those who were so attracted would get drowned in devotional ecstasy even without their knowledge.

It was a time when this news was spreading through entire India like forest fire.

'Coming of Meera to Mathura' - On hearing this news, the head priest of the Krishna temple of that town was upset.

Reason:

Admission was permitted strictly for males only, in that temple. This was the rule they had been following for quite a long time.

But for Meera, Oh! She was a unique and revolutionary woman. A Krishna devotee! A woman who always met only with success in whatever she undertook.

So, if Meera came to Mathura, she would certainly enter the Krishna temple. What would happen to the rule followed so far? Somehow it had to be prevented.

This was the reason for the priest's fear. The priest kept two men at the temple entrance to stop Meera there itself.

Meera had entered Mathura. As she entered the town, the first thing she started towards the Krishna temple with devotional singing and dance.

The news reached the ears of the priest. His fear increased.

Meera reached the entrance of the temple along with the devotion-filled crowd with all the songs, bhajans, devotion, dance and musical instruments.

In a few minutes the enthusiasm and the ecstatic dance surrounding Meera caught up with the two persons who were guarding the entrance. Those guards were attracted even without their knowledge, by the bhajan (devotional Hymn) tunes and dances and became one with the crowd. Those guards, who stood there to block Meera from entering, changed as ushers to take her inside. Guards became ushers! They took all of them welcomingly inside saying, 'Welcome, welcome!'

The chief priest was sweating profusely!

The crowd had come right up to the place where the priest was doing puja (worship). After a few minutes, entire crowd finished singing devotional bhajans joyfully and became calm and silent.

The priest asked Meera angrily, 'Only males can enter this temple; women should not come in. That is the rule in this temple. Don't you know this?'

The reply given by Meera is proof enough to make us understand that Meera was not an ordinary person.

Meera asked, 'What? Males? So far, in this entire world, Krishna is the sole male. And all others are only females (Gopikas) - This is the way I was thinking. The first male after Krishna I am meeting in this world is you. Then you are not a gopika. From today, we will come to the conclusion that there are two males in this world. One is Krishna. The other is this priest!' she finished saying in a loud and bold voice.

The priest began shivering. The priest felt guilty from deep within his heart. 'Have I acted so far contradicting the Krishna concept? What a big mistake I have committed?'

The priest asked to be excused with great regret, saying, 'I am not a male... I am not a male... I am only a gopika. I am only a Krishna devotee. All of you please excuse me.'

Meera said, 'Then, let this temple's rule change from today. Hereafter there will be no admission for males in this temple. Admission is only for women (Gopikas). Only those who have the feeling, 'I am a gopika' can enter this temple. There will be no admission for those who come with the feeling, 'I am a male'.'

Declaring in this manner she changed the very rule which was being followed for very many years before. Meera lived at the peak of Krishna - Gopika concept.

Meera is a wonderful example for all.

The one that changed Meera from amongst the ordinary women to the blissfully dancing flower was only 'living at the peak'.

Whatever the work you do, whatever be the path that you follow, live with total involvement and be absorbed in that entirely.

No haphazard methods. Nothing should be left undone. No balances.

An easy method to live life properly, coming out from all sorts of boredom and difficulties is to 'live life at its peak'. Whatever it may be, it should only reach the zenith.

Try to experience the taste of a rasagulla (sweet) at its peak. Eating four or five rasagullas at a time in one bite or eating just a single rasagulla for many minutes in such a manner that the full taste of the rasagulla dissolves in the mouth itself - both is same.

If you tasted the peak of the tasting itself just once, only one rasagulla is enough. Ten are not necessary. Satisfaction will be obtained.

If the peak of tasting had not been experienced, then there won't be any satisfaction even if ten are eaten. Only boredom and trouble will remain.

Merely reading the above few lines, you may not understand. Taste it with awareness to such an extent that the sweetness gets dissolved entirely in the mouth itself. Then you will understand what is meant by 'living at the peak'.

Experience and enjoy steadily and carefully each and every thing at its peak Do this for all things about which you are extremely eager to such an extent that it should and must be enjoyed. A feeling of subtle dis-satisfaction - 'some more' will not be there. Boredom will not come near you.

Lastly one great truth.

It is only because of not reaching the peak of experience, the portions remaining un-experienced and un-enjoyed, trigger the feeling "some more again..." and later on give the feeling of boredom and frustration.

The root-cause of frustration is now known. Then, why do you hesitate still? Do not keep left-overs remaining in any thing. Begin to live at the peak.

----------

A meaningful incident.

Outside the palace of Krishnadevaraya when a person said in an escapist manner, 'Mind is wavering like a kite...For that what can I do?' Tenali asked, 'Why did you allow your mind to such an extent as to flutter like a kite? Answer me! If God asks you this question, what reply would you give?'

He struggled being unable to reply.

For a person who lives at his peak, his mind will be at the peak. As for the mind of the person who lives partially, because it has no other work to do, it will grow feathers and fly and flutters like a kite.

-----------

Meditation chisels. Chisel No. 24.

'An ecstatic state experience', which will squeeze the juice of bliss within you. - A meditation.

A hot air balloon will remain in shape, up to an optimum limit up to which air can be blown inside.

The moment it reaches the peak state of air pressure, the next moment it will burst. Such a big shape will be lost!

It is only ego that is root for all pains and distress. Only those who wish to come out of this state may continue to read further....

As long as you experience everything partially, ego will continue to be in a big form.

It is enough, if by some means or the other, peak-state experience is enjoyed, the very next moment the ego will get busted. Ego cannot bear the peak.

Because it will get destroyed, the mind does not allow man to reach the peak-state experience in any action.

Man has also forgotten experiencing the peak-state altogether.

To recollect what is forgotten, an easy meditation technique...

For this meditation select your negative feelings:

Utilize those minutes when such feelings boil up within you. At such times lie down as it is.

After lying down, if it is anger, change yourself as anger itself. At the conscious level, let it go up to the peak.

But, let the body remain in a lying state. Let the negative feelings be seized wholly and totally and let it be ground inside.

If all the materials put in a mixie are to be ground well and properly, the mixie should be closed on all its sides. But the articles inside should move about in all directions, crushed, broken and dissolved. Then the consistency we require will happen.

Same way, the feelings created within the body also, if allowed to be beaten, broken, the alchemy will happen within you very easily.

The blissful juice within man will be ready!

If the top lid of the mixie is not closed and mixie is operated, what will happen? All the materials inside will scatter on all sides and all will be wasted.

The awareness of man is not total. Some part in that is devoid of its fullness and is constantly opening again and again.

Result - Agitated feelings occur. From him, negative feelings boil up and scatter away.

In this meditation technique, particularly when the negative feelings surface up, lying peacefully.... will enable your awareness to become whole and full.

The agitating feelings will get ground and mixed thoroughly and fully in the mixie jar called awareness.

You have to just wait till it is thoroughly ground.

Also, if you permit just only once, for those various feelings to reach their peak and just wait, it will happen.

Blissful juice or essence will become extracted within you. You will change as a new man.

J.Krishnamurthy says, 'A peak-state conscious experience will make that man take a new birth.'

The blissful juice that is formed within you will be many thousand times bigger in volume than the volume of your ego.

Being unable to bear the bliss that is formed due to that peak-state experience, the ego will burst itself and scatter away in no time.

You will become a new person. You will be immersed in blissful feelings.

You will become so joyful to the extent of shouting 'Aha! We can live. Life is worth living.'

Hereafter make times of negative feelings as meditation times. Even tomorrow, that wonder can happen. You will touch the peak-state.