Post Aarathi Talk 25 on 28th Jan 2018

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

for God. So what is the difference? The difference is not in the desire. The difference is in the come, Mohan. The difference is in the direction. That's all the difference. So why God created this world, you know, husband, wife, family, children and all these people are directed because of what? Only one. What is the reason? We have to learn how to love. A person who doesn't love his wife, his parents, his children and all those people, they are not... you can sit here. There is a chair here. There is a sofa there. This is the truth. How do we learn to love God? Nobody can learn how to love unless somebody teaches us. So how do we, how do you learn how to love? Of course, we know that we have learned from past life and still past life. That's not the point. Imagine this is the life we started and we are born as babies. So how do we love? You know, mother is everything for us. That's why they say, psychologists say, in the beginning the child doesn't make any distinction between himself and mother until several months. Then he comes to know me and mother are not the same. We are separate beings. And then when he comes to the age five or six, then he develops the idea of reasoning, rational. First rationality, then rationalizing. One boy very fond of cookies. His mother knew it. One day she had to go out. So she warned, John, God is watching you. So don't take any cookies from the jar. There is a cartoon strip called Peanuts. You know that? And he gives a lot of definitions about happiness. You know what is one of the definitions? Happiness is reaching the cookie jar. Another definition. You know what is that? Happiness is the last bell in the school. Beautiful. So we are all looking for that, you know. For our devotees listening to my talks, what is the happiness? It's when he says good night. When he says good night, the happiness is Swami saying good night. So we are all like that. So why God created? Because we land. So we first, we are very selfish. Then we get a partner. Our love, our desire, responsibility, identity, it doubles. Then children come. So usually it stops there. Family. But then there are people. Then it extends to the village. Extends to the city. Extends to the state. Extends to the country, nation, and then extends to the whole world. Then we attain to that. The whole universe is none but mine. That is what the great Isavasya Upanishad is telling. Beautiful Upanishad. And it is only, is one of the short Upanishads. Shortest Upanishads. Mandukya Upanishad is the shortest, which is having twelve mantras. They are all mantras. Why do we call mantras? Because what is the definition of a mantra? By repeating constantly, that which transforms us, saves us, is a mantra. But there are mantras which do not save us, but which save us. You know what is this mantra? I am a fool. I am an idiot. Others are better than me. I am a human being. I am limited. I am man. I am a woman. That is called samsara. What does a Jeevan Mukta do? He says, he also says I am, but he changes. What does he say? I am not Jeeva. I am Atma. Aham Brahmasmi. Now also we are saying aham, that aham is exactly the same. But what is the nature of that aham? That is what makes the, either we are bound or we are free. So this is a wonderful concept. That is what you know, what we read in the, and what we have talked about. Nothing but each soul is potentially divine. Meaning what? Each soul is potentially Bhagawan. That means what? Each soul is potentially free. Potentially means what? We are already free. We are not aware that we are free. That is why I told you a beautiful story. It is worth repeating any number of times. There was a king called Janaka. One day he went to sleep and he had a horrible dream. The neighbouring king declared war. There was a fight. Janaka lost. He was chased out and he was running. For three days he ran out. And he reached, just after three days, non-stop marathon running, he reached the village in the next kingdom. So this king cannot chase him like he was. Arvind Ghosh, he ran away from British government. Where did he land? Pondicherry. Pondicherry belonged in India to whom? French government. There Maya came in the form of a lady. She is called mother. There are mothers and mothers. Two types of mothers are there. Those who mother, those who smother. So he was very hungry, very thirsty, very tired. And he found out in the village some good person who was distributing food. You have not heard this story? You have heard? He was distributing food. So Janaka also joined. No, he is not a Raja. He is Janaka. Then when his turn came, all the food was gone. There were some scraps. So the person who was distributing, he was hesitating because how could he give this burnt? Sometimes what I notice is that which is remaining at the end of eating food is the tastiest. Have you noticed it? That's why you put your hand like that. And that is the tastiest. First bite is tastiest and last bite is tastiest, in between degrees. So Janaka said, I am on the point of starvation. Whatever is there, he gives. So the man scooped a little and gave in a leaf plate. As he was lifting it to his mouth, a big bird came and just kicked it. So it wanted but it couldn't take. And Janaka could. It fell in the dust and he could not even take it. Then he was, you can understand what would be his state of mind. So he was otherwise Janaka Maharaja. How could he happen like that? But it can happen. What is a dream? I will tell you something interesting also. So what is the greatest disappointment? It's almost, you know, we are on the point of achieving it. All that he needs to do is just put it in the mouth and swallow. At that time he lost. And that was a terrible shock. Suddenly he woke up. Then he found he was in his own bed, his beautiful wife, hopefully in bracket, we don't know, was by his side. And he had eaten nice food and the dream, how long does a dream last? Only a few seconds, a minute, maybe two minutes. But their time measurement is different. Like Narada's story. So from his mouth only three sentences were coming out. Kya ae sach hai, means what he is experiencing now. Kya wo sach hai? What he was experiencing in the dream. Kya sach hai? Because that was as vivid as the waking state. Everybody whom he was looking at, he was asking this. Three days passed. Only these three sentences. Kya sach hai? What is the truth? One day a sage was passing by. So the people thought the king has become mad. Anyway they loved the king because he was really a great soul, loving soul. So they brought the sage and said our king is in this condition. Will you come and look into the matter? And he came. The moment Janakasa, same. Kya ae sach hai? Kya wo sach hai? Kya sach hai? What was the sage's reply? Oh king, wo bhi sach nahi hai, ae bhi sach nahi hai, tum sach ho. So is the dream real? No. Is the waking state real? No. But the person who says I had a dream and I am now in the waking state, I alone am real. This is based on the most fundamental law of Advaita Vedanta. Vedanta that whatever we experience is not real. And for that you don't need to be a philosopher. You are looking at the table. You are not the table. Otherwise danger is there. You are looking at a car. Then what do you think? I am a car. Not bad. You are looking at a donkey. Problem starts. So this philosophy is not philosophy, it is a fact. Whatever we are experiencing through our five sense organs is not. But this law stops at the skin level. The moment we come to this skin, this is me. This is me. I am the body. I am the mind. But this is not true only with the skin. It is also true with the table also. You know how? Scratch my table. Who feels the pain? Does the table feel or do I feel? So this is the truth Vedanta wants to tell. That's why he was called Videha Janaka. He became enlightened. All spiritual practices are meant only for this. But how do we realize this truth? God means this truth. How do we realize? We have to love the truth. We have to think about the truth and we have to meditate upon the truth. So who can really meditate? Only a person who loves. Because what is the nature of love? If you love something, you cannot stop thinking about that object. But can we do that? We can't do that. Because if any fellow declares I love you, he is a liar. You know why? How many hours are there in a day? How many hours? 24. Out of 24 hours, this fellow sleeps how many hours? 8 hours. The fellow who declares I love you always, 8 hours gone. Then how many hours are remaining? 16 hours. Out of 16 hours, how many hours he has to do? Working to get his livelihood. Then eating, sleeping, bathing and other personal activities will take at least how many hours? At least 3-4 hours. 8 hours work, 8 hours sleep. Out of the remaining 8 hours, 4 hours will be there. Do you think out of the 4 hours, all the time he is thinking only about? He will be missing. As the wife says, when the husband asks, I am missing you very much. Any bells ring? I told you, you know, in a house, husband and wife were there. Husband was doing. This lady was in a room where her husband's photograph is hanging and this lady was playing darts and she was not able to do it. Meanwhile, the husband called, honey, what are you doing? He said, I am missing you very much. He must be happy husband, thinking what was she answering. The woman executive story, do you remember Gayathri? Okay, there was this wife who was a high executive director in a big company and as any big company, you know, sometimes it goes through doldrums. So once such a thing happened, then the husband noticed that she always keeps a photograph of her husband in her purse. Whenever she is in this depressing conditions, she takes it out and looks at him for some time, smiles and she becomes her normal self. The husband unfortunately noticed and he became very happy. So he said, I am a great inspiration for you, isn't it? He said, no, no, no, no, no, no, something like that. So he was not happy. He said, am I right? Tell me, why do you look at my photograph? He said, you know, every company goes through, I also have to go through. Whenever I am in the most depressed conditions, I take out your photograph and I look at it and say, if I can live with this, I can live with anything. So keep a photograph of your husband. It will be a great inspiration for all of you. The truth is, nobody loves anybody. This is the greatest Vedantic truth. If anybody says, I love anything other than myself, it is a lie, damned lie. It is falsehood. There is not a bit of truth in it. Is that point clear? But you know, I love you, I love you. I scratch your back and you scratch my back. This is the arrangement we have. But don't we love at all? Yes, we do love. But what is the purpose of this love? In this world, we love only two things. You know what that? One is myself or one is Ananda. I love Ananda. What is the second thing? Any instrument which gives me that happiness. For example, I say, I love a sweet. Does a person really love a sweet? No. He loves because so long as that sweet gives happiness, pleasure, then he loves. The moment it stops and it stops giving, when does it stop giving? When you had a lot of pleasure. Very common experience, you know. Whenever you have tea or coffee or anything, the first sip is the greatest sip. Second sip, something greaseless. So you enjoyed it. And can you drink a second cup? But it won't give the same satisfaction. But if somebody forces a third cup of water, what would be your reaction? You hate it. There was one Swami who was a great eater. You know, chapati is night. Really it happened. So he went on, you know, the cook was preparing. You know, in India we just prepare, just fresh, karma karma. And as soon as, phulka, phulka. Phulka means what? It is all hawa. Phulka means, you know, this is meant for phul. Phulka. My invention, to give credit for me. So one, two, three. He is not saying anything. Twenty-one. The cook brought twenty-second. Do you think I am a devil? Demon? That I can eat twenty-two? Twenty-one, you are a good man, I am also a good man. Twenty-two. Yes, the same thing happens to us. If anybody forces us to eat more than what we can enjoy, not only it doesn't give that happiness, it is counterproductive. Is it a fact or not? And this applies to every experience in life. I can put it in a crude way. Supposing, you know, your husband loves you and always he will be with you and he sits near you and he doesn't talk to you for hours. How long will you tolerate it? You know that politician story? You know? So one priest, one lawyer and the one politician, they were stranded. It was night. So they had to, it was raining, so they had to go to a farmhouse and they knocked. And they said, we are in this dire, our car had broken down and tonight can you give shelter? He said, yes, no problem, but there is only one difficulty. There is a spare room, only two people can stay. One person has to stay in my barn with animals. So the Hindu priest, and he said, I have no problem. We worship, you know, cows and these things, so it doesn't really matter. I will sleep there. You both of you can sleep here. The arrangement was made and he went. After a few minutes, when they were about to fall, there was a knock. The Hindu priest came and said, I did not know there was also a pig. So we cannot live with the pig. So it's okay. Then the lawyer said, I can go. He was a Jew. So he went there. After a few minutes, there was a knock and this fellow opened and said, I cannot tolerate this pig. Cow is okay, but pig is not all right. So the politician said, I have no such discrimination. I can live with anything. So he went there. After a few minutes, there was a knock. They opened and said, the cow is okay. So man, every man, every human being, every animal, every living creature, prani, they only love two things, ananda and the instrument through which the ananda comes. So the self is unconditional, but every instrument is conditional, conditioned by time, space and causation. That's why no object in this world can really give us happiness because it is changing. Another name for maya is changing. Everything changes. So a pleasant object changes into unpleasant object. Caused by what? Time, space and causation. That's why first class food, you keep it for two, three days, you don't want even to look at it. So every object in this world is like that. Every object. Why is it that we love ananda? And ananda is another word, just today's talk we discussed. What is the another word? Freedom. This is a wonderful word. That's what we call mukti. Nobody says, what are the four purusharthas? Dharma, artha, kama and moksha. Nobody says ananda. Nobody says ananda. Because even that word ananda, it has a problem. The word ananda brings us an emotional idea. You know happiness and unhappiness, emotions in the mind. Whereas freedom is not an emotion. It is an existential fact. And so what is ananda realistically? When we go beyond, to go beyond time, space and causation is called ananda. We discussed this subject many times. Is that point clear? Basically what happens, you are hungry. A desire comes. What is the desire? I am empty, I need to fill up some petrol. What is food? Fuel, energy. That's why pythons, they require only food once in a year. Because they are cold-blooded animals. And they require very little energy because they don't move. This is what is called warm-blooded animals. Warmth means what? Movement, energy. Energy means what? Activity. What is the difference between energy and activity? Do you know what is activity? Karma. No, no. Transformation of energy is called activity. You think about it. You know my hand is like that. So I feel like lifting it up. So what happens? I use energy to move this hand from this position to this position. So what happens? This change is due to what? Transformation of energy. Energy is expended, the hand is lifted. So this is activity. So warmth means heat. Heat means energy. Energy means activity. Activity means depletion of energy. Therefore it needs to be depleted. So this example, you feel hungry. Then what are you after? Are you after happiness or are you after food? Happiness. No. No. This desire has become a bondage. It is restricting your freedom. So what happens? You put food, sufficient food. The moment you put what happens? Your hunger disappears. The moment your hunger disappears, your desire for food also disappears. The moment your desire for food disappears, you feel happy. Why do you feel happy? It is an emotional expression that I am free from this particular problem. So what were you? In Telugu language, we have a beautiful saying. A man was sitting on the bank of a pond. It was a muddy pond. Suddenly he felt like jumping into the pond. He was quite okay. He jumped into the pond and his feet got all over, you know, mud. So what did he do? He took one bucket and drew some water, came outside, washed his feet thoroughly, all the mud has gone, says, now I am very happy. What was he before? This is the nature of happiness. Happiness means what? There was something which is pressing you and you felt free. That freedom is another name for happiness. Now you see, we are all after happiness or freedom? After freedom. That's why we use the word mukti. Mukti means what? Freedom. The desire for freedom is called mukti. And one who attains this freedom is called mukta, one who became free. So jivanmukta, videhamukta, we use so many words like that. So in this world we are always only after one thing. What is it? So now the question comes, why are we after this? What is wrong with it? No creature wants bondage. It is instinct. Do you find any creature who doesn't want freedom? Will you ever get any person who wants escape from freedom? Think over it. These are profound ideas. Nobody, no prani wants bondage. But no prani says, I don't want freedom. But there is one creature which craves for bondage. We, human beings. You know why? Because when there is a condition. If we do not know how to enjoy freedom, and if freedom is granted without our capability of enjoying it, it becomes a terrible burden. One of the first manifestations of this burden is called, you know what? Time. So Eric Fromm, one of the greatest social analysts, he was a social psychologist. He wrote a book. You know what is the title? Escape from Freedom. So he brings this beautiful idea. I will introduce you to two of his books. The first one is, one of them is Escape from Freedom. So man invented machines. What is the purpose? To be free. Free means he will not be bound by time. He will have plenty of time. He will have plenty of energy. This is the main reason. And the machine started taking the role of manual labor, etc., etc. And man has got a tremendous amount of freedom. Now it became a burden because he doesn't know how to use that freedom. So he wants to escape from that freedom. So he created more machines. This is called entertainment machines. Your MP3 player, your mobile phone, your TV, and your radio, gradually, and your internet, and now VR, and what is the other one? VR and AR. You know Uma, what is VR? Virtual reality. What is AR? Augmented reality. All this, essence of all this is what? Don't become burdened. We will think for you and we will make you happy person. All that you need to do is buy our gadgets and put it on and pay regularly some money and we will make you forget, you know, your husband, your wife, your children and all those things. What is the name of that writer? Eric Fromm. E-R-I-C-F-R-O-M-M. Eric Fromm, very famous person. And his writings are so beautiful. He doesn't use this particular word spirituality, but he is talking, all he is talking about is about only spirituality. So with regard to that, he wrote many books and one of the books I will not talk about today is To Be or To Have. So the essence of this book is, you are a happy person not because you have so many things. What you have is immaterial, but what you are is what makes you either happy or unhappy. But what I am going to talk about this is the sane society is one title of the book. Sane society. What is the essence of this book? Suppose it is a society, say 100 people are there. 99 people are travelling this way and one person is travelling the opposite direction. What do those 99% of people, 99 people call this person? Abnormal. Because whatever most people do is called normal. That's why we have a saying, in a village where there are 99 people are one eyed, if one person has got both eyes, it is abnormality. And Aesop's fables also, one day a fox lost its tail and it became ashamed. But it doesn't, it is a clever fox. And so it came there and strutting like a king and, hey, you have lost your tail. It said, I have just been to the London city. This is the latest fashion. And all other foxes, you know, they have no idea, they cut off their, now it was very happy, now I am normal. What a wonderful idea. So now if one or two people are behaving in a different way, society labels them as abnormal. That's what we all do. Anything, you know, supposing you are all, everybody in the house is getting up at 5 o'clock or 6 o'clock and one child starts getting up only at 9 o'clock or 10 o'clock. What do the whole household call that person? You are lazy, you are abnormal, there is something wrong with you, is it not? First politely, then a little more directly and ultimately by the scruff of the neck, we do all those things. Anyway, I have to narrate to you a very interesting incident. We have a centre in India called Chirrapunji. It's supposed to be the highest rainfall area, 500 inches of rain per year. You understand what is 500 inches? It was there in the beginning. Is that what you are saying? Do you know what is 500 inches of rain? Fall means? They say the amount of water falls on one acre of land, if it is one inch throughout the year, measurement, then that is called one inch of rainfall. Just imagine 500 inches. But what happens is, five minutes after the rain stops, you will not get one drop of water because it is a hilly area, the whole thing flows into Bangladesh, which is only five, six miles away. And the peculiar rain, it rains from all sides, so your umbrella will not work because even it rains like this also because of the wind. So you have to wear these gumboots and there are lots of jokes there. Joke means leeches, they call them jokes. An Englishman went there and these leeches got into his boots and were there sucking, he understood it and some khasias were passing by and they said, oh jokes, you rascals, I am suffering from loss of blood and you call it a joke. So we have an ashram there. There was a Swami from Kerala and there is a head Swami and the Swami from Kerala used to get up at eight o'clock. The head Swami went on telling him, no, no, this is not our rule, you have to get up at four o'clock, like that, like that he went. Several years passed, the junior Swami got very annoyed. He said one day, Swami, let us have a one-to-one talk. And then, alright. So the junior Swami started grilling him. Before you joined the centre, what time were you getting up? He said, I was getting up at four o'clock. And now what time, no, no, I was getting up at five o'clock. Now what time you are getting up? At four o'clock. How many years you are in this monastery? Fifty years. Do you know, Swami, before I joined the order, I was getting up at 12.30. Now I am getting up at 8.30. Who made more progress? Yeah. From that day onwards, the senior has nothing to say to me. You see, how we have to, what standard we apply to judge other people. So Eric comes back to this subject and he says, if small society, one or two people behave this way, we call them abnormal. If the whole society, whole nation behaves exactly in the same way, how do we judge? Because every nation is behaving exactly in the same way. Here, judgment is differentiation. Ninety-nine people walking this way. One person walking this way. But here, 100% people, whole nation, whole society is only behaving in a particular way. What is your standard? That was his beginning. This was the question with which he starts the book, the same society. Then what is the criteria? How do we determine who is a sane person, which is a sane society? And then astonishingly, all the spiritual qualities that our scriptures describe, if majority of the members of society possess those qualities, that is a sane society. How do we know? We raised this question and we are also studying sthita prajna lakshanas. So how do you know a person is spiritual? Maybe he is doing japa, maybe he is doing meditation, maybe he is doing puja, so many things. How do we know? He is a spiritual or worldly person? How do we know? There must be some criteria by which we make a judgment. So what are the criteria? Three criteria. Very useful. What are these three criteria? He doesn't get disturbed either in happiness or in pain. Yes, that is beautiful way, a long-winded description. But I will give you. The shloka is there. Yes, that is what we explained in the last class, sthita prajna lakshanas. But I am making it even simpler. What is the name of God in Sanskrit? Best name of God in Sanskrit? Sat, chit and ananda. Sat means goodness. Sat means existence, health. Chit means knowledge, even better wisdom. Sat means happiness. So sat means goodness and existence. Health, wealth, existence, goodness. And ananda means bliss. So if somebody is thinking what is spiritual life? To think about God. And if a person is thinking about God, he should become like a God because yad bhavana tad bhavati. Whatever a person thinks most of the time, he is likely to become that, isn't it? So if a person thinks of ghost, what do you think he will become? Ghost. If a person thinks of, his name, his title is Ghosh. Joy Ghosh. So if a person thinks of Ghosh, what did I say? If a person thinks of ghost, he becomes a ghost. And if a person thinks of Ghosh, he becomes Ghosh. You think of Bill Gates. See? Spontaneous expression. So when a person is thinking of God, he must become God like. Ultimately he becomes God. Aham brahmasmi means what? I am God. That means I am sat, I am chit and I am ananda. Not that one day suddenly he becomes that. Suddenly he is 1%, 2%, 10%. So growth in sat, growth in wisdom, chit, growth in ananda. Now you see, sat means goodness. Growing in goodness. Growing in wisdom and growing in happiness. This is the criteria for a spiritual person. And when a person doesn't show this, then there is something seriously wrong. Not in God's name, but in his practice. So that is what we have to always say. Am I growing in goodness? Am I growing in wisdom? And they go together. You say, this life I will grow in goodness. Next life I will grow in wisdom. And some future life I will grow in ananda. That's not going to be. These are all 3 ways of describing the same state. So here is a beautiful secret. Who can be happy? Only he who is wise. Wise. Who can be wise? Only he who can be good. Goodness, wisdom and happiness cannot be separate. Just imagine. So apply it to any person and say, have you seen a person who is not good, but he is very happy? We have to understand, also we need a little bit deep thinking to distinguish between excitement and happiness. You know, you eat rasagulla or you eat, anybody, you know, wicked person also becomes excited. That's not happiness. Happiness is a state of mind which is constant. When a man drinks, temporarily he is in high heaven. You know that joke, you remember? One man was asked, do you drink? He said, yes. Do you drink occasionally or regularly? He said, only occasionally, but the occasion occurs regularly. So this is a very important point to remember. Growth in sat, chit and ananda. This is what Sri Ramakrishna says so beautifully, as a person approaches the seashore, he experiences more and more cool breeze, cool breeze. Very, very wonderful expression. So this is what, why do we run after it? Because this is our nature. How do we know what is our nature? Whatever is our nature, we are trying to become one with our nature and whatever is not our nature, we struggle against it. So, life is our nature, not death. Therefore we struggle against life or death? Death. Happiness is our nature. Therefore we struggle against happiness or unhappiness. And wisdom or knowledge is our nature. That's why we struggle against knowledge or ignorance? Ignorance. This is the standard by which we have to understand. Maharaj, in today's class, I have a question. When you said that God is the person who guides us or drives us in our activities, by saying the Bhagavad Gita is like Ishvara Sarvabhutana, then where personal ichcha or wish exists? No. That is why Sri Ramakrishna has given beautiful explanation. So what is his question in essence? Has man free will or he is bound? This is the essential. And nobody other than Vedanta was able to give this answer. Every saint he knows the answer, but ordinary people. So he gave a story of what? Which story? Cow. The story of a cow. You know that, Gayatri? Sri Ramakrishna gives the answer to this. A farmer had a cow in the field and he tied it with a length of rope to a tree. Now is the cow free or bound? It's both. Its freedom is the length of the rope the farmer has given. But can you say that it has freedom? Because that freedom was given by the farmer, by the owner. It's like, you know, I told you in Bangalore, we went to one devotee's house. He invited us for lunch and we saw a flag. I am the master of this house with the kind permission of my wife. Who is the master? Secret of married life. You know what is secret of married life? A man was asked, you are married for 50 years, what is the secret of your successful marriage? He says, as soon as we got married, me and my wife, we made a pact that all the big decisions I make, all these little, little small choices, she has got freedom to make, small decisions. The listener got a little bit doubtful and said, please explain further, what do you mean by small decisions and big decisions? The big decisions like whether we should have idli or dosha, whether I should get up, take bath at 8 o'clock or 8.30, these huge decisions I make. Whether we should buy 7 bedroom house, Porsche car or ordinary jeep or whether we should go on a 6,000 pound cruise for 3 months or these small decisions, my wife will make for me. This is the secret of marriage. Nice joke, I remember, you know. There were some men who were in the bathroom. Suddenly a phone call came, this is for Mr. Jones and he was handed over the phone and he took it and everybody was listening. What is the conversation? One lady said, honey, I am thinking of buying a 7 bedroom house. Today I was passing, it was so nice, shall I buy? Fellow said yes. So I saw a beautiful F1 formula car, so I am just wanting for your decision. So what do you say, it will only cost about 200,000 pounds or something like that. He said yes as go ahead. Like that, many, many things he was saying yes. Everybody, my God, what a wonderful husband. Then he called another man and said, this is for you. Then why Shri Holy Mother or Shri Ramakrishna they have said to different devotees that you should strive for your goal? That's what I am saying. Shri Ramakrishna's story continues. So the cow is being observed. If it is a good cow, it will use the freedom it has been given. You know whatever grass is available, nicely it will eat. And once it has eaten, the farmer observes and says it has used its freedom to the fullest extent. Then he can do one of the two things. Either he can make the rope very long or he can totally leave the cow free. This is the answer to this age long debate called freedom versus determination, determined. So what is the answer? It is not one or the other because whether you are bound or you are free is decided by God created us and he gave us certain freedom which is called our self-effort. He gave us also directions. He created us, he gave us free will and he also gave us the manual. You know this is a hardware. How to use this hardware? He gave a software. What is the software? Scriptures. And if we read this software before we start operating the hardware, the task would be easier. But if we go on messing up, then it will be a real mess up. This is what we are doing. I don't believe in scriptures. I don't believe in saints. I don't believe in anything. I know what to do, what not to do. This is called foolishness. But that also is God's will. Let them play a little bit. Then this is the meaning. So even that little freedom who gave? God. But when will he be pleased? When will he give more freedom? When the freedom is used properly. When the freedom given to us is used properly, then he will increase the scope of our freedom. Bent on lengthening the rope. And what is this rope? Do you know? There is a Sanskrit word. It is called guna. One meaning of guna is quality. Another meaning of guna is rope. The word, Sanskrit word. So first he will give tamo guna. Then afterwards, rajo guna means what? He lengthened the rope. Sattva guna means what? He says much, much more freedom. But one day we have to go beyond these three. That is called complete freedom. But when do we become? As we are, we cannot become free. We have to get rid of the idea we are not the body, we are not the mind. Then if body, mind is not in the equation, what remains? Only pure consciousness. The rope is the free will. The rope is the free will that God has given you. The length of the rope. The length of the rope. So he has given us the intelligence to understand that we have freedom. How do we know? Because whatever we do with this freedom, we feel either elated or depressed when the result comes. You know if you passed your examinations beautifully, then you say I worked hard and I gained the result. Or otherwise I did not work so hard, so I am responsible for that. This is there. Even if we don't tell it, the others are there. Just like you know when I was talking about Holy Mother's teaching is stop finding fault with others and find your own faults. One fellow had asked me how to find out my own faults. Then I did not know what to answer. One devotee said, very easy Swamiji, let this fellow go and find one fault of his wife. Not only she will find all his faults, she will find seven generations. Easiest way to find out what faults we have and very economical because no money is needed. Not only that, every day she will remind me. So this is the truth about it. This is what Vedanta tells. Our nature is freedom. Anything that binds us, we want to get out. And that struggle is not thoughtful, willing and after long thought we want to struggle. Automatically. If somebody puts his foot on your foot or something like that, you don't think what is happening and what should I do now. You don't think hundred times. Instinctual reaction would be to be free from this. So everything that we do, we breathe. Do you breathe instinctually or you think over it and breathe? Shall I breathe now or not? How long shall I? Your name is okay. But you have to be very intelligent. Otherwise pranayama becomes pranayama. Yes, many people suffer, you know. It is not wise. You read books, extolling, do pranayama. Many health problems can come. One person, he phoned to me several years back. Swamiji, I started doing pranayama very intensely, hours together every day. I have developed a problem. What is it? Constantly he hears some noise in his ears. I said, have you approached the ENT doctor? He said, yes, I went there but he tried but nothing. And when did it start? Soon after he started this pranayama business. Then only thing I said, you should never have practiced without some guidance. And as soon as there is a limit, you know, you should not go beyond that limit. And he, by reading books, he did it. Now it might have become psychological. Previously it might have been physiological. Now it becomes psychological and that is very difficult. Anyway, I gave that advice but what happened to him, I don't know because he never came back to me. This is what happens. In taking God's name, you are completely free. You cannot go wrong. With bhakti, with shraddha, you take God's name. But these kind of practices, pranayama is not only dangerous, sometimes it is counterproductive. I think I mentioned the incident of Swami Ramdas. You know, there was in Kerala, there is an ashrama called Kannan God, Ananda ashrama, Swami Ramdas. Have you heard his name? Very great soul. He would only, in his ashrama 24 hours, his Ramnam is going on. Sri Ram, Jai Ram, Jai Jai Ram. And anybody goes there, 3 days they can stay. But the condition is, they should at least spend 2 hours repeating. That is their donation. And they also organise Likhita Japa. They distribute books, Sri Ram, Jai Ram, Jai. That is his mantra. It is public and he initiates only with the mantra. Before he established this ashrama, he renounced the world and he was a very sincere person. So he read about pranayama and he might have taken, I don't know, this is what he writes. He started doing pranayama very earnestly and he was living alone in a kutiya and there was one lady who used to sell these doshas and other things. So she took a motherly affection towards him and she started giving him, Baba, you come morning, I will give you breakfast and then afterwards you can go back. So he said, soon after, hours together he started and he went one morning and she fed him with masala dosha, 2 masala dosha, very heavy. He was a very frail man, like Mahatma Gandhi. Then you see, he started coming back full. It is only about 1 mile or something. Halfway, he felt, I am starving. He digested 2 masala dosha. Before, halfway, about 1 mile or something. So he said, I could not stand, I had to run back. She was shocked, just now you have eaten, what is the matter? I am starving, I am very hungry. So again she gave 2 masala dosha. Again he was satisfied, he is dead. Before he reached his ashrama, again he felt starvation. Again he ran, third time. She must have been shell shocked. Anyway, and she thought, this is so much of punya, I also want to live. Not only I should earn punya, but I should live to enjoy it. Then she fed him and then he thought, why is this happening? Then he understood, it is the result of excessive pranayama. You see what happened, this jataragni, we call it, it will be aroused. And it is very true, I tell you something, whenever I give a talk, after 1 hour, I feel hungry. You know why? Because constant talking, I have to breathe in and out and this is a kind of pranayama. So it is arousing the jataragni and it is digesting and this is very true. You also, after talking for 1 hour like that, but it should not be conversation, it should be a talk. And this is some kind of this one. And musicians, they also make pranayama. Music and pranayama, they go together. What is pranayama? Rhythmic, regulated rhythmic breathing. So because it is rhythmic breathing, rhythm conserves energy and produces lot of changes. So that's why military always marches, you know, rhythm, left, right, left, right, that is one beat, two beat, third beat, fourth beat, it is, it is. So in music, why does music calm our mind? What is the secret? One of the, no, no, one of the chief reasons is this rhythm. You sing unrhythmatically, that is why he said shruti, not shruti. Bhava, sahitya, raga. Shruti, laya and thala. These are the six ingredients of perfect music. Bhava means, whatever we sing, that feeling should come. But for the bhava to come, the lyrics should be appropriate. And for the lyrics to express themselves, it must be set to the appropriate raga. You understand raga? Bhairava raga, Bhairavi raga, Malkosh raga, Mohan raga, etc. These are the three upper what is called ingredients. Then they must be accompanied by shruti. That means a particular pitch where the person is very comfortable. So he has to find out if he wants to go up or if he wants to go down. Otherwise if he starts, his normal pitch is very high, he cannot go high. He can come down. If it is too low, he cannot go low, but he can go high. It should be medium, madhyama. That is called shruti. Then it must be always rhythm. This word rhythm has come from the word ritam, om, hreem, ritam. The whole universe is moving in rhythm. But our Vedic ancient rishis, they discovered it is ritam. Ritam means the sun rises and sets. The seasons start and then the end, one after the other, year after year. So the whole universe, here is a seed, here is a plant, here is a seed, here is a plant, it is going in a circle. This cyclical way of happening regularly without any disturbance is called ritam. So satyam is the nature. Ritam, how it manifests. And that word ritam has become English word rhythm. So this word rhythm is in everything. When you cook a dish, it should be ritam. Ritam means harmony. So how much rice, how much salt, how much other ingredients. You put anything less or more, then it will not come nicely. Beauty is nothing but harmony. Harmony is everything, ritam. Ritam means balance. So if otherwise the hunchback of Notre Dame. You have seen hunchback of Notre Dame? What is his speciality? His face, have you seen his face? Famous actor. I don't know how he acted it. I forget his name. Do you remember? Very famous actor. He also acted in the Silence of the Lambs. What a memory. Gita is not remembered. So ritam, you see harmony, everything, the eyes, the nose, the ears, everything is in perfect harmony. That is called beauty. Beauty is nothing but perfect harmony. Beauty of cooking, beauty of music, beauty of singing, beauty of poetry, beauty of nature, everything should be in ritam. So that is the secret satyam and ritam. And what is our progress? We should progress towards truth and towards ritam. And that ritam expresses it in harmonious development of goodness, wisdom and happiness. They are not three different things. They are parallel developments because they are three names for the same phenomena. Beautiful ideas. This is our ancient Vedic rishis. I am sure many rishis have discovered the same thing. That is how a saint means, by definition, he who develops through goodness, through wisdom and through happiness. If you see a sad person, he is not a saint. Anything but saint. That's why saint Teresa, you know, of Avila, not Lysiocs. There is another Teresa, not French. There is a saint Teresa of Spain. So she was very, what is called humorous person. So whenever she saw any nun who is sad, she used to say, a sad nun is a bad nun. That's why better use the word Sadguru in Sanskrit, not in English language. And some of the westerners, they don't understand this one, you know. What are they saying? Sadguru, Sadguru, Sadguru, Pahimam, Sadguru, Sadguru, Sadguru, Rakshamam. But they read English spelling, you know. How can Sadguru save you? If he has to protect you and save you, you become what? Sadguru. Yeah, he will bestow whatever he has got. So this is the secret of the ancient Vedas. That is why Thakur's name, Om is Satyam. Manifestation. That is why our body, mind and what we call three avasthas and Manasika and Vachika and Kaika develop harmoniously. Otherwise we become hypocrites. So one of the definitions of Rijitva, Arjava. Arjava means straightforwardness. Sri Ramakrishna's definition of truthfulness. What is it? Mon, Muk, Akhara. That means the thought, the idea and the speech and the expression in the form of action must be one. That is called straightforwardness. But he also twisted this, expressing highest devotee, how he behaves. So he is loudly chanting Shiva's name and he is going to Shiva's temple and doing Pradakshina. Constantly from his lips is coming Harina but secretly he is meditating on the Divine Mother. He doesn't want anybody to know about it. A real spiritual person doesn't want people to know. The more you are spiritual, the more you want to hide it from other people like a secret treasure. Only superficial people, they want the whole world to know. We are also very spiritual. There was a funny thing. Once a young man came to Swami Vekananda and he said, you know Swami, my Guru is one of the Avataras. So what is your opinion about him? He wants Swamiji to certify that your Guru is also one of the Avataras like Rama, Krishna, etc. And Swamiji understood. He was a bit deranged person, you know. So he said, you know, God has incarnated in so many ways, Vara Avatara, Macha Avatara, Korma Avatara, Kucha Avatara is your Guru. You want me to certify your Guru? Do you think Avataras are born in a street corner? That is not true. But we have to consider our Guru as greater than even God because it is only God who manifests to us in the form of our Guru. That is why we have to say Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, Guru Devo Maheshwara. There is a beautiful saying of Raja Maharaj Swami Brahmanandaji. One disciple asked him, what does a Guru do? He says, Guru takes you by the hand and takes you to your Ishtadevata. Then the disciple asked, what does the Guru do then? He will stand by the side of the Ishtadevata and he says, you look at it. And when you are looking at the Ishtadevata, you don't see the Guru anymore because the Guru himself, God himself has come in the form of the Guru because if he comes as he is, we will not be able to understand it. So he comes in an understandable way for us and then when we are slowly developing, our idea about Guru also differs. And then when we reach the highest state, then he says, look, here is your God, Ishtadevata. And what does he do? He himself reveals as the Ishtadevata. And that is why in South India, we call Hanuman as Mukhya Prana. Mukhya Prana means what? Guru. Another name for Guru is Mukhya Prana. How is it Mukhya Prana? You know Ramayana? So Rama sent message to Sita through whom? Through Hanuman. So Hanuman crossed the ocean because Hanuman is with God. Now he has to take God to Sita. You see the allegory? Then Rama cannot go there. So he sends Hanuman. Hanuman goes there. What does he do first? He assures Sita, you have nothing to fear. Rama knows your condition and very soon he is going to come here and destroy. Then Guru also says, half the work I will destroy. Half the work I will do. So he burnt all the gardens and all those things. Very funny stories also, you know. So he was caught. Was he caught? He was not caught. He himself allowed himself to be bound out of respect for Brahma. Brahmastra. Just one moment to respect him, it bound him. But only one moment. And the next moment he is free. But others did not understand. So he was allowed to drag himself and then Ramanasura did not want to accord any honor. So he says, what do I care? He started to make a big Simhadana and he was sitting there. And Ramanasura had to look like that. You know when you look down like that, that itself is psychologically damaging. Then Hanuman advises, what you are doing is wrong. If you don't reform, then you will be killed. What is that? You give up Sita. Here Sita stands for what? Maya. No, no. In this allegory, Ramanasura is the Maya. Sita is the Jivatma. Rama is the Paramatma. So the Maya, first Sita went and embraced Maya. I want golden deer. Ever since that time, don't use the word deer. Because it is Maya, Maya, Maya. Even God cannot save you from that. I told you I think one day, I explained to you, South Indian version of this. If you don't remember, we can do it another day. So Hanuman, he released himself, burnt half the Lanka and then he comes to Sita, takes leave of her and says, don't worry, you are safe and then I will go and bring you. So he comes back and conveys the message, I have seen Sita, she knows nothing but you. That's what Guru has to test and find out. So he assures, now your grace should come. Then Hanuman carries Rama and Lakshmana on his own shoulders and he builds a bridge. Who is a Guru? Who builds a bridge between us? Jivatma and Paramatma. Then Rama goes, finishes everything and then ultimately Agnipariksha, the last vestige of what is called attachment. And then he knows, this Jiva doesn't want anything else excepting me. And then he brings back. This is the allegory. We should not look only at the so-called story, external story. Padhyatma Ramayana and Yoga Vasishta Ramayana are two spiritual interpretations of Valmiki Ramayana. And Tulasi Das Ramcharitmanas is one of the spiritual interpretations. Beautiful, really beautiful. So this is how when we understand scriptures in a reasonable light, interpreted by a reasonable person, our whole idea about God, about ourselves, about the world should change. That's why Guru is necessary. Who is a Guru? He is an interpreter of God's words so that we can understand them in the proper light. That is scriptures are God's words. But we have to understand proper interpretation should be there. That is where we go on quarrelling with each other. I am right. I am fool. I am fool. You know when you are serving somebody, some people, for them the difference between fool and fool, there is no distinction. Do you want a little more? He says, I am fool. He says, we know it long back. You might have discovered it only now. He means that I don't want anything more. But that's why we say in life guidance is to Shastra and Guru. And Shastra should never be read directly. It should always be read, interpreted and explained by a teacher who knows what he is talking about. Because the same scripture tells hundred different things. They are not contradiction but they are meant for hundred different people. And that is the secret people don't understand. One place it says like this. One place he says you eat meat. Another place it says no, no, no. It is Mahapapa to kill animals like that. No, they are not contradictory. They are meant for different aspirants at different stages. For a child it should be explained in one way. For a grown up person in a different way. For a person who has advanced in a totally different way. And this truth has been expressed by Sri Ramakrishna in the form of Hanuman's words. How do you look upon me? Rama asked Hanuman. When I know I am body, I look upon you as my master and I am your servant. When I consider myself as small Atman, then you are the whole and I am the part. So, is he talking about three different truths? No, one truth according to the development of each person. Beautiful. And Ishta Nishta. Ramakrishna gives an example, you know. I told you this story. Rama was fighting Ravanasura. Then you see Meghana had discharged Sarpastra. Millions of snakes have come. And these small monkeys were being swallowed. And then somebody reminded Rama the antidote is Garuda. So as soon as Rama remembered Garuda, Garuda came. As soon as Garuda came, all the snakes disappeared. Then Garuda, his Ishta Devata was Vishnu, not Rama. Then Rama assumed the form of Vishnu with four hands, Shankha, Chakra, Gadha, Padman, all those things, and was blessed Garudaman and he went away, he discharged. Meanwhile Hanuman was visiting because he didn't like Vishnu's form. So, as soon as Garudaman disappeared, he resumed his Rama's form. Then Rama asked, Hanuman, you know that I am, that is, you know, like N. T. Rama Rao. Rajkumar. Rajkumar. He goes into the green room. What do you want to see? Krishna's dress, Rama's dress, Duryodhana's dress, Ravanasura's dress, whatever dress you want I am going to put up. So, why are you visiting? Then Hanuman said, this is an example of Ishta Nishtha, devotion to one particular idea. You know what he said? Srinatha Janaki Natha, Abhedaha Paramatmani. As Paramatma, Srinatha means Vishnu, Sri's husband. Janaki Natha is Rama. They are same. Rama, Krishna and Vishnu, they are all same. Tathapi, even then, Ramaha Kamala Lochanaha, Mama Sarva Swaha. I only like to think, meditate and act, interact with Rama. This is called Ishta Nishtha. For a beginner, this is very necessary. And after growing up, then he doesn't need any Vesha. And that is indicated by Sri Ramakrishna to one beautiful parable. There was a man who used to dye people's cloths. And one man comes and says, and the man asks, which color do you want? I want green. So, he takes his cloths, puts in his tub and it comes out green. Another man comes, which color do you want? I want red. Puts in the same tub and out comes the red color. Another man comes, blue. Another man was watching. So, at last he came and he says, you know, which color do you want your cloths? So, I am observing all these things. I want that color which your tub has got. What is that color? No color. Because if it is particular color, it cannot give other colors. But it is capable of giving whatever colors. Like that, you know the story of chameleon. One man used to sit under a tree and one man said, I saw a green animal, I saw a red animal, blue animal and they were quarreling. And then they went to the man who used to live under the tree and when asked, he replied, yes, yes, all of you are right. All of you are right. This animal sometimes is red, sometimes blue, sometimes yellow and sometimes no color at all. It is called chameleon. So, one of our Swamis, he told a joke here. Swahanandaji, who was head of Hollywood Center previously, now he passed away. So, there was a man, a manager and under him there were two clerks who hated each other. And there was a third clerk who was neither. So, one of the clerk came and said, you know that rogue, he is always doing this kind of things. And the manager heard everything and said, yes, you are right. And that fellow was very happy, he went away. So, his opponent came and he said, you know that other fellow, he is a rogue, he is doing this. And this man said, you are right. And he was happy, he went away. The third man who was hearing it, he could not put up with it. He said, what kind of man you are? And the first fellow came, you said, you are right. Second fellow came, said, you are right. Manager heard everything and said, yes, you are right. So, everybody is right according to their particular development. That is the most important thing.