Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.2.5.1 Lecture 73 on 03 October 2026 Q&A

Discussion on Holy Mother's Teachings, Fault-Finding, and Unceasing Prayer

Question 1: Holy Mother's Statement "No One Is a Stranger" and Madhu Vidya

Participant: Maharaj, I have a question. The statement that Holy Mother made – her last statements, you know – "No one is a stranger." So when I think of this interconnectedness, can I, from the ultimate standpoint, everything is Brahman, so we are connected in that way, but this particular Madhu Vidya can be interpreted in that way as well.

The First Commandment: Do Not Find Fault

Response (Maharaj): Exactly. That is why you have to remember all the other four commandments. Do not find fault with anybody – because if you are finding fault, two problems are there. That means you are having that fault. If you don't have that fault, you will not have knowledge of that fault. If you don't have knowledge of that fault, you cannot recognise it in anybody. You see? So if you are criticising somebody, whom are you criticising? Oneself only. That is the first.

The Second Commandment: Find Your Own Faults

Response: Second, now try to find your own faults. So that is also significant. Then what happens, you know, when I really find a fault within myself, then I see that everybody else is free from that fault excepting myself.

That is what Christ said once beautifully: before seeing a small bit of fault in the other person's eye, remove the beam from your own eye. A beam is stuck in your eye, and you are seeing a small – say – bit of sand or mud in the other person's eye.

The Analogy of the Telescope

Response: That is why somebody funnily said, taking the analogy of the telescope: when we look at others' faults, we see in the normal way – that is, magnified millions of times. When we look at others' good qualities, we reverse the telescope. Even the ocean looks like a small drop.

So when we look at others, we look in the normal way, finding faults. When we look at our own faults, we look at the other way. We reverse the telescope: "Oh, such a small fault. It is nothing."

So that is connected with – then that is the second one. What is the first one? Do not find faults; rather, find your own faults. That is what makes spiritual progress.

The Third Commandment: No One Is a Stranger

Response: The third is: no one is a stranger, my child. Because:

ईशावास्यमिदं सर्वं यत्किञ्च जगत्यां जगत्

īśāvāsyam idaṃ sarvaṃ yat kiñca jagatyāṃ jagat

Everything is a manifestation of Ishvara Bhagavan. So this teaching of Holy Mother is a commentary in the simplest practical words possible of this first mantra of the Ishavasya Upanishad.

The Fourth Commandment: Make the Whole World Your Own

Response: And then finally, what does she say? Make the whole world your own. What does it mean? It means recognise that it is the same God who is in this whole world. Who – first you see that God within yourself, and then only you will be able to see the same God in everybody else.

So you are absolutely right. That is: no one is a stranger. We think they are strangers, but he is only me in that other form.

Question 2: What Does Unceasing Prayer Look Like in Practical Life?

Participant: Maharaj, I have another question, and maybe not related to this subject, but it's about Mahapurush Maharaj's statement. And I think he was guiding one of his very young disciples who comes to him – it's in The Seekers of God. So he tells him to repeat the name of the Lord, and those kinds of instructions, like do your japa and all that. Yeah. But then he adds – after that – "That call on Him unceasingly."

Response: Yeah.

Participant: And we see this unceasing prayer also in Christianity.

Response: Yeah.

Participant: And so, from a practical perspective, for people who are involved in the world in some way or another, doing different kinds of things, what does unceasing prayer look like? Which is not exactly japa, because he separates the two, at least in this anecdote.

Response: Correct.

Participant: Yes, Maharaj.

Awareness of God in All Activities

Response: So what does it mean? Be aware of God in whatever way. If it is being aware of God through japa – do you think people are aware of God when they are doing japa? No, no. Most of the time they are aware of many other things than God. Yeah. But japam is one way to remember God.

So when I am cooking, I have to remember: this is the food supplied by whom? Just now we discussed it – Vishvarya Deva. So when you eat food, what does that food become? You. So that is why some phrases are extremely expressive. Every piece of bread, someone said, is a piece of the sun we are eating. Every crumb of honeycomb that we eat – we are eating the honeycomb or not? So that means we are becoming one. What we eat becomes us.

Participant: Yeah.

Response: So if we are eating sun, what do we become?

Participant: The sun.

Becoming the Devatas Through What We Consume

Response: So we are breathing. What are we breathing? Vayu Devata. Then what are we becoming? Vayu Devata.

So when we are eating food, we are becoming prithvi or surya. When we are drinking water, we are becoming jala devata or not?

Participant: Yeah.

Response: When we are breathing oxygen – vayu devata. And whatever heat is there in our body, that is the manifestation of agni devata. And every part of our body is moving. Movement requires what? Space – space. So inside and outside there is plenty of space. Without space, we cannot survive.

In fact, the sun cannot, the wind cannot move if there is no space, isn't it? That's why they say: you close all the windows and doors of your room, air cannot move. And when the air moves very fast, that movement of fast-moving air is called what? Thunder, lightning, fire, everything.

The Example of Aruni and Friction

Response: Yes, as I gave the example, you rub your palms – don't you feel the heat?

Participant: Yes, yes.

Response: So you take two pieces of – what they call – some firewood like that and go on rubbing – it is called aruni – and sparks will come. Or two pieces of stones – fire stones, they call it. That is how our ancients used to make up the fire and then cook their food, etcetera.

Somewhere, sometime they discovered that – what am I talking – you require fast movement, and fast movement is possible with space or without space, with strings. So it is the wind which carries all the rain-bearing clouds and unselfishly goes on dropping that water in the highest areas, mountain tops, etcetera, and that flows down in the form of rivers, etcetera.

The Whole Creation as One Interconnected Unit

Response: So you see, the whole thing is one interconnected unit. That is the essence of this Madhu Vidya. So slowly we will see that we are dependent. And upon whatever we are dependent, and which is sustaining us, is called devata, God. Yeah.

That's why we call it – somebody donates blood, then we call it prana devata, isn't it?

Participant: Yes.

Conclusion: Non-Recognition of Interdependence Is the Cause of All Problems

Response: So everything is totally interdependent upon each other. We are not recognising that – that is the cause of all our problems.