Post Aarathi Talk 06 on 4th June 2017

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

It is as though you are watching it in front of your eyes, and the effect also, you have to understand. Because whatever they do, they don't simply talk off. Whatever they do, as though they are giving something. There was a very interesting incident. Before Swamiji went to America, he promised one of his childhood friends, I will give you Samadhi. Do you want Samadhi? That person didn't understand. Then he said, no, no, no, I don't want Samadhi. Why do I want Samadhi? I want to see the world, I want to enjoy the world. Very interesting question. We will come to that later on. Then Swamiji went to America. He came back. By that time, this person understood what is Samadhi. Then he said, Swamiji, you promised that you will give me Samadhi. Swamiji said, you did not take it at that time. Now I don't have that power, because I have given all my power to people. Swamiji said, when I am talking, it is not talking. When we are talking, it is talking. Most of the time, we don't even mean it. You know, I am so glad to see you. How many times you are glad to see somebody? Even mothers get annoyed at their children. Is it truth? No, no, not sometimes. You see, suppose this boy, you feed him, he eats. And then at about 8.30, 9 o'clock, dutifully he goes to sleep. And he doesn't get up until 8 o'clock. That is, you experience the bliss of Mukti. You know, you have got lot of other things. You are a person. You have got your own problems. You have got your limitations, your desires, your suffering. Child doesn't understand. And you understand that child doesn't understand. So mother's love is there. And mother's love also is Maya. But taking for granted our normal experience, supposing this fellow insists that he will sleep only at 12 o'clock. And until 12 o'clock, you have to play with him. What would be your reaction? What would be your reaction? Sometimes I get tired and I get annoyed. If this persists every day? No. What no? No means... Even the thought itself will make you... There is a limit how much we can tolerate the other person. There is a limit for everything in the world. There is a limit even for enjoyment. There is a terrible limit. How much can you really enjoy any object? Just imagine, even if it is the most favorite food or delicacy or whatever it is, how much time do you really enjoy it? Not only that, I very often give this incident, which has actually happened in Jamshedpur. We have an ashram in Jamshedpur. And that Swamiji who was in charge of that ashram was a very, very loving Swami. He was called Kali Maharaj. And he was a disciple of Holy Mother. And high respect everybody gave him because of his saintly life. And ultimately I saw him only, I heard about him a lot, but I could see him only when he was at Belur Mutt in a chromatic condition for one and a half years. Then he passed away. But all sadhus respected him highly. Now what happened, once it was Shri Ramakrishna's birthday celebration. And you know, Bengali payasam is the best payasam. No other state in India could prepare payasam excepting Andhra. You know, there was a school. It was a Christian school. One day suddenly the teacher asked one of the boys in the class, Who is the greatest man on earth? Whoever can give correct answer, he will get ten dollars. So the teacher announced the question and asked one boy, especially a Jewish boy, Hey, who is the greatest man on earth? The boy said, Jesus Christ. Of course, Jesus Christ. The teacher was highly pleased, gave ten dollars. And then he asked, How come you Jews never recognized Jesus Christ? You crucified him. According to you Moses is the greatest man. How come? So I said, Business is business. Nothing to do. I want ten dollars. There is also another joke about Jews, you know. So, how the Jews got ten commandments? How the Jews got ten commandments? So, one saint got these, Moses got these ten commandments. And then first he went to Italy and he said, Here are ten commandments. Who want to take? The first question they asked was, How much does it cost? He said, It costs ten dollars. It is on sale. What? For all of them or for each one of them? He said, For each one of them, ten dollars. They said, We are not interested in it. Then he went to Africans and asked, Do you want commandments? Okay, give a sample of the commandments. And honor thy father and mother. He said, We even don't know who is our father. It is a question of honoring them. We are not interested. Then he came to France. Do you want to have these ten commandments? Then they said, Give a sample. He said, Thou shalt be faithful to your spouse. They said, We are not interested. He went to Jews. He said, Are you interested? The first question they asked was, How much does it cost? He said, It is free. They said, We will have all of them. Anything free, we want to have. So, the truth is, you know, we are all in the maya. Even the highest enjoyable thing, time falls. So, this incident I was narrating. There was a brahmachari. It was Jamshedpur. Sri Ramakrishna's birthday celebration. And they prepared poise, excellent poise. And then it was noon time. The brahmachari tasted it. If I get this kind of poise every day, I will not want anything else. The Swami was sitting. He heard it. He did not say anything to the brahmachari. Night came. Everybody was served, you know, night puri, luchi, tarkari and other things, suji poise. But this brahmachari was given a big bowl of exactly the same poise. He looked at it. And somehow he ate. Next morning, breakfast. Everybody was having special breakfast. Puri, dum. He was given again one bowl of poise. So, he looked here and there. Nobody was serving him anything because the head Swami instructed everybody he should be given only that one, nothing else. Noon came, again one big bowl of poise. Then he got wild and said, What? Do you think I am a demon? The Swami said, We don't know. I only heard it yesterday that you said if I get this thing that I don't want anything else. You only told. He said, That is one way of appreciation. It doesn't mean that everyday. The truth is, anything we get, any object falls. It falls flat. This is the truth. We cannot enjoy unless there is a contrast. That is why we tell the secret of eating sweets. Teach to your husband. You get some Andhra pickle. Then he can eat as many sweets as he wants. You know how? Let him eat one sweet. After that, eat a little bit of this pickle. Every experience of this sweet is a new experience. The enjoyment falls. Even suffering loses its virulence if it is done. A popular example is, Sri Ramakrishna used to give, you know a jaimedar who carries the filth. Wow! Uma, when did you come? Just now? Yes, not long ago. You came separately? Yes. Oh, mom came separately. Yes. Very good. So, now what is going on? Your training? Still training. Exam is over. Finished. Two more months left. But this is just a routine. Nothing else. As soon as two months is over, you will come to join the mom. She is, you know, waiting. You know how she is waiting? There was a wedding took place. You know wedding, first it takes place in the boy's home. Usually that is the custom. Then they go for three days to the girl's place and then along with the girl, the husband comes back and lives there permanently with the girl. This is some custom. So the mother-in-law, you know, big celebration, so many utensils and all that, lot of things, marriage was done. Then the boy and his wife went to father-in-law's house and then had three days gala time because only it is for three days. If it is more, it is not a gala time anymore. And then he returned and mother-in-law's face broke into a huge smile. She said, daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law, I love you very much. Welcome. All the utensils we used in the wedding, they are all waiting for you. So Thakur used to say, Jamedaar, you know, he carries filth, I have seen in the buckets. But Ramakrishna was telling, after a few days, they get totally accustomed to that. They don't get the smell, even we will not get the smell. Any bad smelling room or house or locality or anywhere you go there, the moment you go there, you become appalled. Start staying there. After some days, we become accustomed. Whether it is cold, architect area, people are living, and very hot place. And you ask them, it is very hot place, there is another place, little bit, only two, three miles, but very pleasant. They will not come. Do you know what I am talking about? You know the plains, and there are many places in India which have got hilly area. In Andhra Pradesh, for example, from Guntur... Bangalore. Bangalore is full of hills. Bangalore is a hilly area. That is why that Holy Mother... Nice climate. That is not only because of hilly climate. Certain areas are like that. But generally hilly, you know Tirupati, Tirumala, could be quite chilly in winter season, but very pleasant in the summer season. So there are some... What I am saying, there is a hilly area about six miles from our village which is called Kondavidu. You know Kondavidu is famous for all the kings. The moment it is just a small hill, you climb that hill, you will see the difference between the temperature, climate. It is very cool, pleasant, breeze is blowing, and there are so many people living here. Why can't they go and live there? They will not live. Such is the attachment. In Italy, you know what happened? In a village, there was a small river and there were flash floods and the village was about to be inundated. So the military had sent boats to rescue the people. There was one poor lady, she had lots of chickens and she refused to enter into the boat unless her chickens were also taken. They could not persuade that lady, you leave your chickens, you have to be saved first. But no. Like that, a lot of people in Stalin, when Stalin was in Russia, do you know what he did? He just moved down village after village. Did you know that? Do you know the reason for that? He wanted collectivization. In agriculture, one of the modern discoveries is if anyone is cultivating one acre, two acres land, it is very uneconomical. But if all the people, say about 100 acres, then you can use the modern tractors, then the harvest will be better and they can share according to the land they have. This was his idea. But the farmers were stubborn, this is from our ancestors, it is coming, we don't want to give it up. And so he had no option but he raised to the ground with tractors thousands and thousands of acres of land and so many villagers refused to leave. They had to be shot down. That was what Stalin had done. Do you know how many people Stalin killed? More than Hitler. At least three times more than Hitler. 30 to 40 million Russians. Hitler did not kill Germans. He killed only Jews. But Stalin killed his own people and he was a paranoid person, you know. He killed his own family members and the people who served him so faithfully, he killed all of them. Now, this is a historical fact, but what is important for us? Who is to be blamed? From a devotee's point of view, who has done all this? Divine Mother. We have to say Divine Mother. And if you don't accept that one, then we are not devotees. We are just like anybody else. Who elected, who made President of America? Yes. Call it Karmapala of America or call it Divine Mother's will. Yes, it is grace. Because people have to suffer and people have to become better. Without suffering, without going through avidya maya, nobody can go to... So this is an important point. I didn't elaborate there. I didn't want also. But here I can elaborate a little. What is avidya maya? Attachment. What is attachment? Parents love children. Children love parents. Husbands love wives. And wives love husbands. Hopefully. You know that joke? Two people, one man and one woman, they were dating. The man was for a long time, five years. The man was not saying anything. One day the girl herself could not hold her. And then she asked, John, say you love me. He said, yes, you love me. He did not say, I love you. He said, you love me. These jokes you can enjoy, you know. One man, there was one, dating was going on between a young man and a young woman. Five years passed. The man was not saying anything. So the mother of this girl got very agitated. She said, what is this stupid fellow? He is not saying anything. He is not saying anything. He is not saying anything. What is this stupid fellow? He is not saying anything. Tomorrow you meet him and finalize something. Otherwise I don't want this to continue. So the girl said yes, and the next day she met him. He was a very taciturn fellow. You know what is taciturn? Very little he speaks. Probably in half an hour, one word he says. Like that. Very silent type of person. So she asked him, are you going to marry me? So he stood silent for half an hour. He said yes. After that he didn't say anything. Half an hour passed. The girl was waiting to hear something. So she asked him, are you not going to say anything more? After half an hour he said, no, I already said too much. So, everything falls. Suffering also falls. In fact, Swamiji gives an example. In China, the emperor had imprisoned a man for more than 60 years under a dungeon. And that emperor died. His son or somebody became the new emperor. And as a celebration of that, he said release all the prisoners. So after 60 years, this man who was for 60 years in dungeon, he was brought out. And then he looked at his son, he said, I cannot tolerate it. Please take me back to the same dungeon. Who was telling this? Swamiji. This example. What is the example for? He was not saying for entertainment. We are all like that, people in a dungeon. For Churasi Lakjana, we are all like this. What is the problem? If somebody like Thakur comes and says to us, you know, the Samsara is like that, you have suffered enough, why don't you slowly turn your mind towards God? No, the mind will not listen to it. This is our practical experience. If you want, whenever you sit for meditation, observe your mind. What is it doing? Thinking the same things. You know, there is nothing, it cannot think anything new. It does exactly, it repeats what it has been doing since so many of these things. Sometimes the objects, a little bit name changes, form changes. We call it creativity. Like in Bengal, you know, 19th century, there was no Rasagulla. Somebody became creative. What did he do? He discovered Rasagulla. And that has become so famous now, popular. Rasagulla, K.C. Das, he was the originator of this Rasagulla. What is the point here? Before K.C. Das, were there sweets or not? Were there not sweets made out of milk, chana? So what is his speciality? He changed a little bit of the size and shape and other things. As you know, once somebody in Houston, you know Mridula? She made, she is a good Rasagulla she made. But unfortunately, it was not of good shape. So her face was a little bit darkened. Like a South Indian gentleman, you know, at times his face darkens. Can you find the difference? You must be extraordinarily observant to find the difference before and after. Very funny things, you know. This fellow, South India, Chennai, summer season, black suit he wears, black boots he wears. Can you just imagine? And he thinks that he is in high fashion. He should at least go to Ramana Maharshi. You know, he used to wear only cow-peen. But Thakur went one step ahead. Why bother about this cow-peen also? You understand? Only when some people were there, hardly he was able to keep because he was a natural Paramahamsa. Absolutely devoid of body consciousness. So, what was he talking about? Rasagulla. What is its shape? A little bit of shape changed. Sweet is a sweet. But this caught the imagination of people. You know how many varieties. Then there are people, creativity. Indians are very good at copying, you know. They take this pizza. America took the pizza concept from Italy to America. And they packaged it. And then now pizza hut, pizza shop, pizza palace. So many things are there. And in India, it has gone to India. Pizza is one of the most popular things, do you know? But they changed the whole lot. Inside they changed everything. That old Italian, he could not... He is a grandfather, if he comes... He can't find out, you call it pizza? The whole thing changed. Hamburger. Indian hamburger, you know. When I went last time, first five, six years back, I went to Kadapa. And then I saw these carts, you know, they sell hot, hot pakoda, I never heard about chicken pakoda. You heard? Ah, see, new information. I was stunned, he was shouting, chicken pakoda, chicken pakoda, like that. You know, pakoda, he puts... Dips in the oil. No, no, chicken. You know, they cook chicken and put a small piece inside and outside fry it and then sell it. This is called chicken pakoda. And people were queuing. But the best thing I tasted was this sugarcane juice palace. Sugarcane juice and palace have some name in there. They sell only sugarcane juice in Kadapa. And you cannot believe, it's all, you know, cold, iced. But how many flavors? Do you want lemon flavor? Do you want strawberry flavor? Do you want this flavor, that flavor? That's what I'm saying. What is the point? We were discussing, we should never forget what is the point. Everything falls. You go on eating sweets, then you will lose all taste for it. That is how it happened to Sri Ramakrishna. Once he had, because of his spiritual practices, he had this one kind of disease. You know what is the disease? Unimaginable hunger. Whatever he eats is digested within few minutes. Because of, you know, whatever Sri Ramakrishna did, he did wholeheartedly and to the extreme. So he, at one point of time, I think this happened when he practiced Hatha Yoga. I don't know, I'm not sure. The details are not there. Anyway, Hatha Yoga. You know what is the result of Hatha Yoga? I will tell you an incident. There is one Swami Ram Das in Ananda Ashrama, Karnangal, in Karnataka. You heard about Swami Ram Das? His ashrama is called Ananda Ashrama and there Sri Ram, Jai Ram, Jai Jai Ram, 24 hours throughout 365 days. That is the one thing you will see. And every devotee, any devotee can go and stay there for three days totally free. After three days, they either require permission or they can move out to nearby hotels. In that ashrama, they encouraged donation, you know, you have to contribute to at least minimum two hours of chanting of Sri Ram, Jai Ram, Jai Jai Ram. All the devotees gladly they do it. 24 hours, how? One person doesn't do it. One person does for two hours, another person does for two hours. If there are more, two, three people do at the same time, but they take turns to continue doing this Sri Ram, Jai Ram, Jai Jai Ram, 24 hours, 365 days it is going on. And then they also encourage Likhita Japa. They print books, you know, notebooks like that with rules divided. What is called line? Ruled book. Ruled book, two, three columns. So that Sri Ram, Jai Ram, Jai Jai Ram can be written there. And if anybody completes all the blanks, it will come to some number, some 10,000 or something like that, it will come. So once in a year, they conduct what is called Likhita Japa. They announced before, we want your donation, we want total donation, 100 crores. Sri Ram, Jai Ram, Jai Jai Ram. How much the devotees are willing to donate. And if somebody says, I will donate one koti, okay, they will send so many books. And then these devotees, you know, sincerely, same, there are some devotees addicted to it. They go on writing. It is their way of spiritual sadhana and it takes longer time than doing writing. So many hours they spend. This is one kind of seva. So this is the Swami Ram Das, very great soul. Even Swami Yudhishanthi respected him. So this Swami Ram Das, once he tried to do pranayama. So what happened, he was living near Mangalore and he was living alone in a near village, not Mangalore city, somewhere near. And then there was one old lady who used to make this idli, dosa and sell. You know this is called breakfast. Morning they prepare it and go to, either people can go and buy there or she goes sometimes to the village and they can sell. It is very common thing in our villages. Early morning at 6 o'clock, hot, hot idli, they will come with chutney and idli and all that. Idli you have to pay. Chutney is free. So what happened, this Swami Ram Das, that lady took a liking for Swami Ram Das. She said, Baba, every morning you come and eat. I will give dosa, masala dosa. You can understand masala dosa. So at that time, Swami Ram Das started practicing this pranayama. Hardly 3-4 days he practiced. Then he went early morning and she fed him 2 masala dosas that day. He ate and his stomach was full. He was coming back. He said, about 1 mile or so he walked and ravenous hunger. He could not stand. He said, I had to run back. This was what he recorded in his autobiography. In the vision of God, some 5 volumes are there. You read it? You remember this incident? It is there. So he ran. The lady was surprised, because anybody who eats 2 masala dosas, he must be, at least for 6-7 hours, at least, and if it is Uma, at least for a whole day. No. What no? You would get hungry? After eating 2 masala dosas? Have you ever tried? Depends how big it is. No, that is a normal size. So, she was surprised. He said, I am feeling very hungry today. I don't know. And then she fed him another 2 masala dosas. Again he started back to his ashram. Hardly had he reached halfway, then again he felt faint. He ran back. 3 times, 4 times it happened. And he could not understand, that lady could not understand, what is happening to all these masala dosas. Then he understood, that is the result of doing this pranayama. When a person does so much of pranayama, this vaishvanara, fire, it just comes out. You know, there are certain yogic asanas, where they say, if someone is suffering from indigestion, then one way is pranayama, another way is, it is called Mayura asana. You know, Mayura means? Peacock. So, like that bird, the head will be here, and the back will be like that. You can understand? So, this is an asana. The practitioner puts both hands, and then his whole body is lifted. The head is lifted like that, the legs are also lifted like that. This is called Mayura asana. If anybody can maintain it for some time, they claim that this somehow stimulates that digestive fire. So, this is what had happened. He understood, because he has been practicing such hours and hours together. This is the result. So, Sri Ramakrishna was practicing. I will continue. Do you think you are putting him to sleep, or you are disturbing his sleep, by doing this one? No, he is sleeping. No, no, he is sleeping. Once he sleeps, don't go on doing it, because he will think, why this nuisance is waking me up? Because it happened to me. You know, when I was a small boy, 4-5 years old, my grandma came from her village. Then I was asked to sleep in her bed, or she was asked to sleep in my bed. And then, towards midnight, I must have got up. And she thought that I was frightened. So, she went on putting her hand on my back. I want to sleep, but she was not allowing me. And I couldn't say to her, stop doing all those things, I want to sleep. So, I think Sri Ramakrishna was doing this Hatha Yoga, part of which is this pranayama. And then, you know, insatiable hunger. You must have read about it, in Thakur's life. So, just fortunately at that time, Bhairavi Brahmani was present. And he went and told, Mother, I don't understand why this new disease has come. Now, unquenchable, this hunger. Insatiable hunger. She said, Baba, these things happen to other spiritual aspirants. I know how it was dealt with. And then, what she called Madhur Babu and said, Madhur Babu also knew about this. He said, you imprisoned Sri Ramakrishna in a room, which is filled with eatables, full. So, Sri Ramakrishna said, for three days, he went on eating, a little bit of this, a little bit of that, a little bit of the other thing. After three days, that hunger had subsided. So, these are some of the adverse effects of practicing, especially Hatha Yoga and other things. Or it could be due to some other practice, I don't know. Because Thakur had suffered from this burning sensation three times. First time, you know, the description was there, his whole body was burning, Bhairavi Brahmani was there, and she used to conduct him to take bath in the Ganges. She could not touch his body. She used to wrap him in a thick blanket. Even then, she was not able to hold his body. And then Sri Ramakrishna himself said, by so many months he suffered, he used to go and stand for hours together in the Ganges with a wet towel on his head, up to here in water, and then a little bit, you know, he has to breathe, and then put that wet towel. But don't worry, we are not going to get that one. Because of, you know, certain changes take place in the physiognomy, body. So, that was one time. Then, you know, what was she prescribed? Sandalwood and garland. That is one. Another time this came, then she called this somebody, I think Mahapurush Maharaj's father, to get one amulet with his Ishta Devata's name. And the moment he put it on, and then that burning sensation subsided. So, this is another time. Another time, terrible burning sensation. Then, he was describing later on, in Tantra, there is one process called Bhuta Shuddhi. That is the belief that within each one of us, a Papa Purusha is there. All the Papa's people do. It is in the form of... So, one day Sri Ramakrishna said, that I was trying to meditate, and then suddenly this Papa Purusha came out. And then immediately, another Paramahamsa looking just like me, he also came out. And I told him, you kill this Papa Purusha with his Trishula. And then he killed Papa Purusha, then I became free from this burning sensation. What other experiences Thakur had, we don't know. Because he told only an infinitesimal part of what he really experienced, not everything. But even that became this great master, Sri Ramakrishna Leela Prashanga. So, during Sadhana, we can have many of these things. So, that is one more danger. If there is no real proper guide, and then we don't know, some people can go mad. Supposing this burning sensation continued, what would Sri Ramakrishna have done? For him, Divine Mother provided Bhairavi Brahmani, who knew the problem, who also knew the solution. And she also told, in course of this Sadhana, many, many incarnations, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Jesus Christ, blood used to ooze out from every joint of the body. Blood. These are the reactions of the body because of that intense Sadhana. You know what you call psychosomatic disease? What is psychosomatic? It's more to do with the mind. The effect of thoughts upon our physical body. This is very commonly experienced, this thing. Suppose you are worried. Can you sleep when you are worried? When you are too happy also, you can't sleep. You know that? That's why during the three days of wedding, hardly some organizers, hardly they sleep. The bride and bridegroom also, they also can't sleep. You know why? This fellow is thinking, did I commit any mistake? Because the last chance. One of our Swamis, you know, it's a joke, I don't know whether it really happened, but I heard like that. One of our Swamis was there in a small ashram and a wedding party was going on. So many Swamis were witnessing. One Swami ran forward, he was addressing the bridegroom who was going on a horse. You stupid fellow, even now there is a chance. You know, he is right from his own point of view, but unless we go through that avidya maya, and after so many births, through all this sometimes happy, sometimes unhappy, sukha, dukha, the discrimination doesn't arise. That is the truth. That is why avidya maya is not our enemy. Vidya maya is the only thing which brings us to vidya maya. When did Billo Mangala get that awakening? When this prostitute told him. So, before that he had to go, he had crossed a river, taking the help of a corpse. Then he climbed to her room. The same story goes round. Our Indians, you know, ditto, ditto, copycats. Like Uma, you know, I sing a song, next day she produces it much better. Previously, I was of some importance because nobody heard this song from anybody excepting me. Now everybody hears from Uma. They forgot me totally and run after Uma. What can I do now? Yes, because of her so many songs have become. Our Namavali, you know, Thakurs, mothers, Shivas, Rama and Krishna. Five Namavalis. But your Namavali of Shiva, it is appreciated like anything, you know, it has got that rhythm. Last time, Kishundra Vaishnava, and also Dimi Ki Dimi Ki Dimi, that is also very beautiful. So, avidya maya is the only way to vidya maya. In other words, suffering alone brings awakening. Nobody has ever turned to spiritual life through merely enjoyment. That is never possible. My practice manager went for a pilgrimage to Belgium. There were millions of people there. Jesus Christ's blood was in a tube, glass tube. They go for a procession. Never heard about it. Stupid fellows. Jesus Christ's blood in a plastic tube? In a glass tube. And the bishop, you know, with a chain, it was tied up with his neck so that people cannot snatch it away. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. You know what is unbelievable? People cannot kill the bishop and snatch away the blood. That is unbelievable. Nowadays. All over the world, she said, millions of people were there. Anything that is associated with Thakur, it is so sacred for us. You know, from our museum, somebody has stolen Holy Mother's, some things. I don't know. Some people say it has gone to Malaysia or somewhere. Somebody, I don't know. Anyway, we all cherish it. But about this Jesus Christ's blood, you know, I will tell you a story, which has really happened. Anything that is reputed to be associated with Jesus Christ, whether it is hair or a bone or nail or whatever it is, it is highly respected. And miracles take place there. So, everybody is paying money and buying. You know, monasteries, they pay huge amounts of money. So, in the, I think, 16th century also, especially from Spain, if you collect all the bones and nails and hair of Jesus Christ, reputed to belonging to Him, at least there would be 100 Jesus Christ. You know, so much is there. Anyway, what happened was, this one bishop, he commissioned one merchant, what is called ship owner, what is called pilot or what? Captain. Captain, that I will give you so much money, if you go and buy that thing. And this fellow went, he paid the money, and he was transporting it, and he had to cross the Mediterranean Sea. So, what happened on the way, there was a shipwreck. This is his ship. And all those so-called purchased things have gone. Now, if he returns without those things, he had to go. So, he looked on the beach. There were some bones of the dogs and other things. He collected it and put it in a golden casket, and then he brought it and handed it over. Nobody dares to open it. And then, immediately miracles started to happen. Yeah, like this, you know, many things will happen. It is faith. Faith can work miracles. Who knows whether there is any real blood of Jesus Christ, or it is all in Turin. There is a place in Italy, you know. The Shroud. So, there is a faint image of a person like Jesus Christ. They gave that one. So, there is a lot of research. Could it be? How this impression came on the Shroud? Nobody has ever found out how the impression comes. You know, they covered Jesus Christ after his passing with this cloth. And that cloth got the impression of this man. Is it ever possible? There are some people who proved scientifically it is possible. Anything is possible, scientifically. If you simply say it is, then people will not believe. Scientifically proved means immediately, Oh, yes. This is our tendency, human tendency. But what is the truth is, whether that is real Shroud or not, but the people have faith. So, they go there with so much of reverence. And there will be, if that cloth really belonged to Jesus Christ, there will be some holiness. Whether the image is right or not, there will be some holiness will be there. Ramakrishna himself used to say about one thing, you know. They found out the dead body, a skeleton of a Sadhu, somewhere in... Then every part, Ram Nam is etched. It was found on every part of the bone of that holy person. So, is it possible? If Shri Ramakrishna says, we have to believe it. There is no other way. So many things we have to believe. There is no other way. But anyway, this is the thing that happens. Accepting faith. I've got a question. You were talking about discrimination. I'm reading the Gospel now, and sort of, wherever I am, the chapter I'm in, I want to know how to interpret this. Shri Ramakrishna says, always gives advice. You know, if you see a... How do you deal with a wicked man? You know, you sort of just say nice things and avoid him, and things like that. Now, like you said before when I asked the question, the context in which he said it, how should we interpret that? For us to know someone is wicked, that means we're passing judgment. No. You see, whenever we hear these kind of teachings of any great soul, you have to take, you have to understand it in the proper sense. First of all, is it meant for everybody? Or just because it is recorded, is it meant for everybody? Or was that the advice particularly given to that particular person? In this case, generally it is applicable to that particular person. But somebody who has been hearing all these things, it is his duty to record it, and he recorded it. Okay. The second scenario could be, supposing you know a person, either your office person or boss or whoever it is, not necessarily always the boss is the wicked person. Even a peon could be a very wicked person. He will respect you only if you take bribes and then give part of it to him. Otherwise, no. Especially in India it is true. They don't respect bosses who don't take bribes. Yes. Now the point is, supposing you have this realistic situation where people are wicked. Now, two scenarios under that circumstance. The first is, have you got the power to counter that wickedness? Will it harm your job, your situation? So if you can say, I can counter this person, I can discipline him, or I can do something without endangering your job, you go ahead and do it. Supposing you are not in a position, he can dismiss you, which means your whole family, your job will be problematic. In that case, you will have to say nice things as Ramakrishna says, but that doesn't mean you are condoning him. You are only saying why unnecessarily increase the conflict instead of keeping it at a certain level. Maybe sometimes, you know what happens, he may be doing bad things to other people. He may not be doing it to you, but you know what he is doing. Then how do you tackle that person? Do you see the point? According to the situation. So if you are a weak person, you say, I cannot do anything, you have to adjust. I will just give one example in this case. I will close this. You know, one disciple of Holy Mother had written to Holy Mother. One letter, Mother, I am working in an office where I have to tell lies. And what is the teaching of Sri Ramakrishna and Holy Mother? Observe only truthfulness. And he was a householder, he had got children. I am thinking of giving up my job because he cannot change them. Then Holy Mother received the letter and dictated the answer through her attendant. You know, you write to him, he should not give up the job, but he should adjust to the best of his ability. Let him stay. So the reply was sent. But the disciple was troubled. You see, how much of faith we must have towards our Guru? This apparently contradicts. What type of Guru? A Guru has to encourage people to observe truthfulness and that very Guru is encouraging this disciple to go on staying and then continue telling lies instead of doing something about it. So the attendant was troubled. Mother, for 2-3 days she didn't say anything. After 2-3 days she called and she knows everything. She said, my son, do you know why I asked you to write like that? Today, in a heat of emotion, he is ready to resign. Tomorrow, if he doesn't get any job and his children are starving, then he won't even hesitate to commit decoity. So which is better? To tell some lies or to commit decoity? And then one thing you have to understand. This is our faith, of course. When such a thought comes from Holy Mother's mouth, do you think it is going to be true or not? That means if he resigns, what do you think he will be? You know, we don't understand our future. If that person now is thinking that I am this and that, but suppose he resigns and he feels for 2-3 days he will carry on, after that he is not a rich man. Rich man means an independent person. Okay, I don't like it, I will live my own life. But suppose he is a poor fellow and dependent upon this kind of job, and then nobody else will give him a job, because which fellows will not tell a lie? It is a question of discrimination that comes there. Which fellow asks us to tell less lies? Yes, your bank. You know what is the advertisement? We are here to make money for you. Bank advertisement. Do you believe it? More money for them. There is no need to tell. Not more money. You are wrong. I don't agree with you. Most money. I will also tell you another instance. This I heard from Mahapurush Maharaj's life. Somebody one day came to Mahapurush Maharaj and said, Maharaj, I heard that such and such a person is committing some theft and other things. Mahapurush Maharaj felt very sad and said, Look at that fellow, to what a state he has gone down. You know who that fellow? He was a monk. He was a disciple of Mahapurush Maharaj. He was a monk and he left and got married, and he could not get a job and he is doing these things. If a former monk could do these kind of things, what to speak of normal householders? So Holy Mother went, but do you think that Holy Mother will give the same advice to everybody? Suppose there is another fellow and Mother knows the future of these people, and you can say, this person is a lucky fellow. If he leaves this job also, he will get a better job. For example, M. You know M was working under Eshwar Chandra Vidyasagar. Remember, these things we don't remember from Gospel. Gospel, high praise. Vidyasagar doesn't know what he is. Just gold is lying just beneath the surface. A little bit of scratching, gold will come out. But what happened, this Vidyasagar passed a remark to M that school standard has gone down because M was frequently visiting Sriram Krishna. The moment he heard this, you know he is Guru Ninda. Immediately, without thinking, he renounced. But he had complete faith in Thakur because Thakur told him, just rely upon God and do some things. Then what happened, he came to Sriram Krishna and told him. And you know what is Sriram Krishna's reaction? Best courage. You have done very well. And within 2-3 days, a peon comes from a college and says, now we will be honoured if you accept a lecturership in the college. But before you resign such things, make sure Sriram Krishna is there. Simply you want to show your bravado, that is not going to work out. M had to work very hard. Swami Vivekananda had to resign from Vidyasagar school. So there are so many hard facts are there. Reliance upon the person. If he has total reliance upon God, then like that reliance of the son-in-law. One man had a daughter. She had to be married. So the man was searching for a bridegroom. So he heard about a boy. So he went to interview the boy. After interview he came back. His wife was eagerly waiting. How did the interview go? And the man said, I have good news and bad news. First bad news. He said, I asked the boy, what about your further studies? He said, I have complete faith in God. What about your getting a job? No, no need. I totally rely on God. And what about maintaining your wife, etc., if his daughter is married? For everything he says, I have faith in God, I rely on God. This is the bad news. The wife asked, what is the good news? Good news is, that fellow thinks I am God. In that case, yes, you can resign. You know, these are very dharmic questions. Very difficult to solve because if the society as a whole is very dharmic, then one can take. But if most people are like that, where, which company people are not wicked? You know, this is also a very peculiar thing. So long as we don't have anything to do, a person may not be wicked. You understand? Excepting these terrorists and other suicide bombers. Most of the people are good. I don't know you, you don't know me. We are good to each other. How nicely we say, if I say, oh, I will show you, I will even take you there. Remember when we went to Tokyo? We were asking a policeman how to go down underground and buy some things. You know, he came. You remember? And said, you go down this way and the shop is there. Very good. He will be very good. But suppose you start living in his home. How good he will be. So the point is, the moment a person joins an office, or some way you are forced to work with that person, then the wickedness will come. Jealousy, competition, and scrambling for the attention of the boss, all these things come out. But suppose you are just a friend, then I am also good, you are also good. This is the point. So when most people are wicked, what are you going to do about it? So many people say, OK, you resist this fellow, you go somewhere. He is also like that, if not worse. Bhavyanand used to tell a story, you know. One day a man was sitting in a park on a bench, and he was a non-smoker, and he didn't like anybody smoking. So very soon one fellow came and sat on the same bench on one side and started smoking. So this fellow looked like that, and there was another bench, he went and sat down there. Soon two people came, sat by his side, and started smoking. Now, where will you go? Go... home. And there also, his wife is maybe waiting with a big broom. He wants to have some relief. So he went to the park. So these are all individual questions, and the answer should be individual, depending upon... even the same person's answer may differ from situation to situation. So we have to be good. But we have limited freedom. What happens when other people are not so good? If you are very strong like Bhima Sena, even what can Bhima Sena do? What could he do? When his wife was being insulted by everybody, what could Bhima Sena do? So many times he could not do anything, even though he was powerful. Arjuna could not do anything. What could Rama do, Sri Rama do? He had to wait such a long time. Very interesting. If I go on, it will take a long time. Ramayana is the most interesting story. You know, Rama helped Sugriva to kill Bali, and then Sugriva became... You know, the moment Bali was killed, previously Sugriva's wife was staying with Bali. Now Bali is married to Bali's wife. Married or not, I don't know. I just finished Ramayana. Okay, okay, okay. So he got her. Now the point is, he totally forgot mutual help. Totally forgot. He was not even coming home. Then Lakshmana became... The rainy season was coming to an end. And then Lakshmana got very... Rama got very angry. He sent Lakshmana. See this story. Lakshmana went angry, roaring. And who was that Tara? Tara. Tara. Bali's wife. She was a very wise lady. So she got the news. And then she decorated herself very nicely and then came to meet Lakshmana. You know why? What they call in Hindi? Naram karne ke liye. To make him, to soften him down. So he came and bowed down, you see. Then she told lies. Already Sugriva don't think he is lying down. Lying down means not L-I-E. L-I-I-N-G. Lying down and he is very anxious. He was waiting for the rainy season to end. Already he called these all nonsense. But meanwhile, Sugriva got frightened. Because if Rama could kill Bali, what was Sugriva for him? He immediately called secretly Hanuman. Hanuman also came and told him. He didn't care. And then immediately he sent. Within 15 days, all the Vanara Sainya should come. I already sent like that. This Postmas. After receiving the email, he did it. Before meeting Rama, Lakshmana. So what is the point here? Supposing Sugriva had met Lakshmana instead of Tara. See the power. This lady went. So nicely, sweetly she was talking. Immediately, not only Lakshmana's anger had gone down, he was feeling guilty. Such a good man. I have suspected him. Actually that fellow was not doing anything. Totally forgot, drunk. And merged in all these things. This side also you have to understand the Ramayana. Anyway, what is the other lesson? Who asked you to marry three wives? First hand personal experience of Rama. Because his father married three women. He also died. And all this Vanavasa had come. So what is the lesson? Marry only one wife. That said, one vana, one word and one wife. Rama Swamy, you know, one arrow. And one word. Once word is given, it should not be taken. But the highest wisdom is marry only one wife. There is a chance you may be happy. But the moment you marry two, you are in for trouble. Like that Muslims who marry twice. You know that? Old times. No, no. It's a story, joke, joke story. Janet must be remembering. There was a Muslim village. And then, you know, there was one young fellow. He got married, one wife. But he was friendly with another elderly man. And this elderly man was trying to brainwash him. What is this one wife? How boring it is. You look at me. Morning, one wife serves me. Evening, another wife serves me. And you get entertainment from first wife in the morning. Or last wife in the evening. Maja hi maja hai. So went on brainwashing until this fellow lost his brain. So he went to the next village, got married, came back. So he reached about before sunset. He had only one house with two rooms. First room, that first wife. Second room, he installed the second wife. So he wanted to enter into the newly married wife's room after eating food. So he entered happily. She was waiting with a broomstick. Gave and said, until you get rid of that old hag, you are not entering into my room. He had no option. But he went into the first wife's room. And she was holding one iron rod. Oh, I have become too old. Until you get rid of that new one, you are not entering into this room. It was winter, it was night, it was raining. Very cold. He had no option but to go to the local masjid to sleep. So miserably, as he was about entering, a booming voice came out, Welcome brother, welcome. He recognised that was the fellow who brainwashed him. He said, what, you? Yes. Since how long you have been sleeping here? Ever since I married second wife? Why? Why did you brainwash me? You have been suffering. He said, you know, I feel bored sleeping alone. I want some company. Anyway, Ramchandra understood. You know, I am not joking. Because there is hardly any man who would treat all the wives with equal love. Your whole Dhruva story. What is your Dhruva story? His mother. His father was the trouble. Father was treating only one wife as favourite. And the other one, Sunithi, he was not caring at all. And the effect was also on the children. He was not allowed to sit on daddy's lap. That is why he became one of the biggest devotees of God. And that is a beautiful story. But the moral is that it is very difficult. Even Prophet Muhammad, he did not treat all his wives equally. You know, he loved his youngest one, Aisha. He slept in her cottage most of the time. And he died only. He died in that room only. So, where is that? He only preached. No man should treat wives partially. They all must have the same kind of treatment. Who is going to do it? So, that is why Rama said, this will give future problems. Everyone should marry only one. And it is true. It is practical wisdom. Recently, I listened a lecture of Subrahmanyam Swami. He researched on Ravan. And he found out that Ravan was born in UP in a Brahmin family. And he was doing tapasya on Lord Shiva. And got the boon. And he said, you go to Sri Lanka, which is a beautiful island built by Kuber. And you become the king there. So, he went there and became the king there. So, Ravan does not mean that. I don't know the first part. But I agree completely with the other part. Sri Lanka is a very beautiful island. Even today. You know that science fiction writer, Clark? Arthur C. Clarke. He lived there and he died there. It is a beautiful place. Our ashram is there. But whether he was born somewhere in the... He was born in a Brahmin family. That is right. But where exactly his parents were, who were his parents, we don't know. He was born in a very great family. The parents were devotees of God. Only he became one of the worst fellows. But Kumbhakarna, only... He joked, you know, he must be a Bengali fellow. You know why? Because it is only Bengali saying, Kazeer modde doi, khai har chui. Anyway, it is Tamoguna. And Ravanasura represents uncontrolled Rajyoguna. Rajyoguna is, no guna is bad. Every guna is good for certain purpose. And Vibhishana represents Sattva guna. So this is actually a gradual progress from Tamoguna to Rajyoguna and ultimately to Sattva guna. So anyway, uncontrolled Rajyoguna is really bad. So Ravanasura represents that. But anyway, these things, historically there is no such thing. In this village, in this family, they were born and we don't know. Even Thakur's birth is just because his Kushti, you know, it was lost. Later on, second was even taking some of the information, they got it cast. And that is how we get these things. But Swamiji, Arudhanandaji heard these truths from the mouth of Hriday Ramlal Dada and many of these colleagues of Sri Ramakrishna, including that Rukmini and others. Laha's family. So they went after Thakur's passed away. Because Thakur passed away only at the age of 50. And these were young people. That means they were nearing 20. The age difference is only about 30 years. That means quite a number of elderly people in the Kamarpukur village and their village, they were still alive. So that is how Swamish Arudhanandaji collected all the information and wrote this Ramakrishna Leela Prashanga. But in the Shankaracharya, there is a controversy whether he was BC or AD. There is a controversy. And how many Vyasadevas? Any book written is written by Vyasadeva. Any hymn written by Shankaracharya. And how many Shankaracharyas are there? They call Adi Shankaracharya. Adi Shankaracharya, he has written all these stotras. Nobody knows. Because anybody could write imitating his style. Like you know what they call nowadays? Ghost writer. You know ghost writer? Not that a ghost comes and writes. A person becomes like a ghost and when a person writes 2-3 books and becomes very popular, thereafter he gives a synopsis and says, you follow the style of my writing and I will give you quite a good amount of money. Because it is a skill. Yes, it is a skill. And there are people who could paint like Da Vinci and others. But you can get for 1000 pounds or something their imitation paintings. Now it is even better because they can take photocopies and then do some improvements and then do these things. Nobody will know. And Mona Lisa is smiling like this, you know. They say it is the most beautiful smile. Do you agree with it, Janet? No. Mona Lisa's smile? Definitely I will not agree because there are so many other people. Our Uma's smile is more beautiful than Mona Lisa's. At least for now. We don't know what will happen afterwards. Okay, thank you very much. The only blissful person. He is the only person who is thoroughly enjoying my talk. Mataji, we will see you tomorrow at 10.