Drg Drsya Viveka Lecture 07: Difference between revisions

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(Created page with "So in this class we will continue the discussion we had yesterday. From this afternoon I would like to talk about the 13th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. This text we have been following for the last few days is Dhrit Drishya Viveka. Now this discrimination, separation between the seer and the seen is a very scientific method. The whole of science is only based upon the system. What does a scientist do? He becomes an impartial observer, isn't it? Then only he can really...")
 
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So in this class we will continue the discussion we had yesterday. From this afternoon I would like to talk about the 13th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. This text we have been following for the last few days is Dhrit Drishya Viveka.
= Dṛk-Dṛśya Viveka and the Bhagavad Gītā, Chapter Thirteen =
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Now this discrimination, separation between the seer and the seen is a very scientific method. The whole of science is only based upon the system. What does a scientist do? He becomes an impartial observer, isn't it? Then only he can really observe.
== Introduction ==
So in this class we will continue the discussion we had yesterday. From this afternoon, I would like to talk about the thirteenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā. The text we have been following for the last few days is the Dṛk-Dṛśya Viveka.
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Observe means to find out the nature. He finds a pattern and that is how he classifies. First he gathers the data, then he classifies it, then he derives certain conclusions based upon which predictions can be made.
== Science as Impartial Observation ==
Now, this discrimination — the separation between the seer and the seen — is a very scientific method. The whole of science is only based upon this system. What does a scientist do? He becomes an impartial observer, isn't it? Then only can he really observe.


Now that is a science. A scientist is one, not merely a technician. Many technicians call themselves scientists.
To observe means to find out the nature of something. He finds a pattern, and that is how he classifies. First he gathers the data, then he classifies it, then he derives certain conclusions, based upon which predictions can be made. Now that is science. A scientist is one who does this — not merely a technician. Many technicians call themselves scientists, but they are not scientists; they are merely mechanical workers.


They are not scientists, they are merely mechanical workers. Now a true scientist is one who detaches himself from his old habits and tries to observe things properly. This is very, very useful for us in our day-to-day life.
A true scientist is one who detaches himself from his old habits and tries to observe things properly. This is very, very useful for us in our day-to-day life. If we do not do this, then we have to pay a hundred pounds per hour on Harley Street. What does a psychologist do? He just observes us. He can come to the right conclusions because he is not attached to us — he is only attached to the money he is going to get. So he is very careful to observe, and he doesn't do anything new. He simply says that these are some of the ideas which are obscuring your true vision. He doesn't make a new man. He merely brings us back to our original state.


If we do not, then we have to pay 100 pounds per hour in the Harley Street. What does a psychologist do? He just observes us. But he can come to the right conclusions because he is not attached to us.
So that is spiritual practice also. What is the first thing? We have to detach ourselves — not become one with our ideas or thoughts. The highest such detachment is the detachment from the body. But that doesn't mean we have to neglect the body or commit suicide. We should not say, "I am the body." We have to say, "I have a body." Do whatever you like — you enjoy thoroughly. In fact, you will enjoy better if you have that kind of attitude, because then you accept in its totality.
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He is only attached to the money we are going to get. So he is very careful to observe and he doesn't do anything new. He simply says that these are some of the ideas which are obscuring your true vision.
== Understanding and Acceptance ==
What is our problem? We only accept truth partially, not in its totality. Now, if you can accept the truth of the world in totality, then you will develop great detachment. Why? What is the nature of the world? Not only is it changing, it also consists of dualities. If you are happy, then what do you expect? "I will always be happy like this." But that doesn't happen. After some time, you will become necessarily unhappy. That is part of life, part of nature. That is why it is called dvandva — it is part of life.


He doesn't make a new man. He merely brings us back to our original state. So that is spiritual practise also.
Somehow we know it intellectually, but we never accept it. Some understanding is there, but acceptance is not there. In spiritual life, these two must be integrated: understanding plus acceptance, and modifying the behaviour according to that understanding. That is why the Lord says, "If anyone is devoted to Me, I grant him buddhi yoga" — ''buddhi yogaṃ dadāmy aham.'' What is buddhi yoga? Understanding we already have. Who doesn't know that death comes? Who doesn't know that death can come at any time it likes? Don't we have that understanding?


What is the first thing? We have to detach ourselves, not become one with our ideas or thoughts. The highest such detachment is the detachment from the body. But that doesn't mean we have to neglect the body or commit suicide.
But we lack one thing — acceptance. We have understanding; we don't have acceptance. We are prepared to accept that which is convenient, but that which is inconvenient, we are not able to accept. Svāmī Vivekānanda made a wonderful observation: "Happiness comes with a crown of misery on its head." So we are very prepared to accept the happiness, but not the misery — yet it goes along with it. These two are called twin brothers — they are always together. Not ordinary twin brothers. The word ''"sia"'' means twin brothers. If you take one, the other also has to be taken. So that comes only through spiritual practice.
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We should not say, I am the body. We have to say, I have a body. Do whatever you like.  
== Forbearance, Acceptance, and Sublimation ==
Actually, spiritual practice doesn't change anything. One doesn't grow two horns because of spiritual practice — even hair doesn't grow. If you practise too much spiritual practice, there is a danger of hair falling off, not growing.


You enjoy thoroughly. In fact, you will enjoy better if you have that kind of attitude. Because then you accept in its totality.
Is there any difference between acceptance and forbearance? Forbearance is an action. Acceptance is an intellectual outlook — "Yes, I accept it." After that, forbearance comes. In fact, without acceptance, the word forbearance is meaningless. What we cannot avoid, we have to bear. In fact, ninety-nine percent of the time we are only forbearing, because how many times are we actually able to get what we want? Even when you get things, you are only bearing it.


What is our problem? We only accept truth partially, not in its totality. Now if you can accept the truth of the world in totality, then you will develop great detachment. Why? What is the nature of the world? Not only changing, it consists of dualities.
But that is actually forbearance — it is not bearing, in the negative sense. You know why? If you analyse the fact, we want to enjoy the sensation of enjoyment. But we don't want it to stick there like a heavy burden. In five minutes it can be digested, and if we are ready for another, how wonderful it will be. But unfortunately, this is the payment we have to make — for this much happiness, I have to bear it for hours together. That we do not usually accept.


If you are happy, then what do you expect? I will always be happy like this. But that doesn't happen. After some time, you will become necessarily unhappy.
What happens when we take to spiritual life? Things do not change. You must always notice it. The world doesn't change. The same sun rises day after day — same sun, same food, same environment, same mosquitoes. Everything is the same. But what happens? A new outlook comes, and that makes all the difference in the world. When we accept something, life becomes marvellous.


That is part of life, part of nature. That is why it is called dvandva. It is part of life.
But it doesn't stop there. Forbearance is not meant just to carry on life. Forbearance is an instrument on the way to something much higher. And for that, we have to make special spiritual practices. That is why most of us know this, of course, but we do not pay attention to it. There are certain disciplines — they are not spiritual disciplines, they are preparations for spiritual disciplines. In fact, all the sādhana — ketu, sthāya, sampatti — are only preparations. Then only the teacher will come and tell you, "Now your instrument is ready, let us start the journey." Then he will give you: "This is how you will have to meditate from now onwards."
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Somehow we know it intellectually, but we never accept it. Some understanding is there, but acceptance is not there. In spiritual life, these two must be integrated.
== Spiritual Practice as Simulation (Upāsanā) ==
Very often I compare meditation to simulation. It is a very useful analogy. You know simulation? Microsoft Flight Simulator. It is a very useful example. Instead of you going into the actual plane and damaging it, what do you do? You sit, and everything that you are supposed to do in the real plane, you are doing in the simulator. So if you do it enough number of times, then your nerves, your thinking — everything becomes automated. So many types of simulators are there. Even for car driving, there is a simulator.


Understanding plus acceptance. And modify the behaviour according to that understanding. That is why the Lord says, if anyone is devoted to me, I grant him buddhi yoga.
And now psychologists are devising certain computer programmes — simulators — so that they can help people with phobias. You know phobias? Earthworm phobia, cockroach phobia, dry leaf phobia — you name it, it is there. Agoraphobia, claustrophobia — so many phobias are there. Now, what they do is develop a kind of virtual machine — a computer simulation. Suppose somebody has got earthworm phobia. They know intellectually that an earthworm doesn't do any harm, but somehow they developed this fear. So slowly, slowly, they put an earthworm moving on screen, and while going on talking, they ask the person to express, "Oh, I have this phobia." He is going on looking at it. Somehow the mind accepts it being close. Then slowly they ask him or her to go near and touch it — it is just an artificial one. So when this is sufficiently practised, then they bring an actual earthworm, and slowly the person will get rid of it.


Buddhi yogam dadamyaham. What is buddhi yoga? Understanding we already have. Who doesn't know death comes? Who doesn't know death comes at any time it likes? Is it not? Don't we have that understanding? But we don't, we lack one thing.
This is the exact simulation we are supposed to do, and this is called in Sanskrit ''upāsanā.'' All upāsanās are like that. These upāsanās consist of several factors, but I will only mention two: one, our normal situation; and second, where we are going to reach — our destination, our goal.


What is it? Acceptance. We have understanding, we don't have acceptance. It is acceptance that is lacking.
But we are now here, so we have to slowly remove all the impediments that we have. Let us take an example. Suppose there is a person who loses his temper very, very quickly. Now that is a great impediment. It snaps energy, wastes time, and brings bad reactions in others. No one is going to be spiritual without removing these impediments — that is not possible. Because saintliness means the higher the vision, and vision is knowledge, and knowledge brings simultaneously corresponding changes in behaviour. If there is knowledge, knowledge brings about change in behaviour. But if we want to have that knowledge, we have to change the behaviour so that it facilitates the manifestation of that knowledge.
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We are prepared to accept one thing, that which is convenient, we are ready to accept. But that which is inconvenient, we are not able to accept. Swami Vivekananda made a wonderful observation.
== Reverence Toward the Guru ==
Now, this is where upāsanā works out. You have heard about it? "Let your mother be God. Let your father be God. Let your teacher be God. Let any guest — by implication, everybody." Now you look at the krama, the order. Who is the nearest to us? Mother. Not even father, because nine months we are in the womb of the mother. We hear the mother's voice and we feel the emotions of the mother. We are nothing but ninety-nine percent our mother only — body and mind, everything. That is why: let our mother be God. But it is easy to think mother is God. Father, who comes next, is also easy, but it is slightly more distant.


Happiness comes with a crown of misery on its head. So we are very prepared to accept the happiness, not the misery. But it goes along with it.
If the father is absent for six months, it will take a few hours for the child to recognise him again. But the mother is instinctual — the child will never forget. You know the penguins? There are half a million penguins. Every penguin practically has a chick. The mother recognises the chick, and the chick recognises the mother, even though there is a cacophony everywhere. How does the mother recognise the chick, and the chick the mother? It is a bond.


These two, they are called twin brothers. Always they are together. Not ordinary twin brothers.
But for the father, because it is a bit more distant, he can be forgotten and recognised later only by association. Even further is the teacher, because the teacher-student relationship comes when? Maybe after four years, five years, only it comes. And then: consider everyone as God. ''Atithi'' means someone whom we encounter suddenly in life, for a short time. So you see, it is gradually enlarging our vision of divinity. If we can really see our mother as divine, then it is easier to look upon father as divine. If we see the father as divine, it is easier to extend that to the teacher. I am, of course, talking about the ideal mother and father. Normally, parental love is instinctual, and the children depend upon the parents.


Sia means twin brothers. If you take one, the other also has to be taken. So that comes only through spiritual practise.
So this is how we slowly try to see God in more and more people — those who are at a greater and greater distance from us. Now let us take one of these examples: the Guru. Without any contradiction, every religion practically — including Buddhism — emphasises reverence to the Guru, to the teacher.


Actually spiritual practise doesn't change anything. One doesn't grow two horns because of spiritual practise. Even hair also doesn't grow.
Many modern people have a lot of objections to this. After all, he is a human being like you and me. He also eats. But the point is: how much does Hinduism go into this? ''Gurur brahmā gurur viṣṇur guru devo maheśvaraḥ.'' And some devotees are having so much devotion that they catch hold of the feet and do not let go at all. I call it "pulling the legs of the Svāmī" — literally, I have to go on balancing.


If you practise too much spiritual practise, there is a danger of hair falling off, not growing. Is there any difference between acceptance and forbearance? Forbearance is an action. Acceptance is an intellectual outlook.
Now, seriously — why so much reverence? It is not about the Guru. The Guru is a target for practising reverence — whatever the Guru may be. The Guru may not have so much knowledge, he may have even bad habits, he may not know more than me — but that is not the point. The point is I want to become better. When you are practising archery, it is not the greatness of the target that matters. In fact, the more you are becoming better at archery, the smaller and more distant the target becomes.


Yes, I accept it. After that forbearance comes. In fact, without acceptance, the word forbearance is meaningless.
There was a Zen master who was considered the supreme master of archery. Someone asked, "Why are you called such a great master?" He said, "I will tell you the secret. You know what I do? First, I discharge my arrow and then call it a target." So every time, he is absolutely on target.


So what we cannot avoid, we have to bear so many things in this world. In fact, 99% of the time we are only forbearing. Because how many times we are able to get things.
The point is: we have to grow reverence. Now there is a law — if somebody is great, naturally we will have reverence for that person. But we don't often see greatness in the world. Very little greatness we see. But we have to learn how to revere — especially if we want to see God. Can you remain without reverencing God? Is it possible? But how will you see God? If you develop your reverence, then you will see only God. This is called seeing God. God is already there.
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Even when you get things, you are only bearing it. You know, nice first class pressure too. I am bearing it even now.
== Seeing Divinity Everywhere ==
In every object, God is there. Where is God not? Even in a pillar, there is God. Remember what I am talking about? Prahlāda. Prahlāda's father asked, "Is your God here?" Prahlāda says, "Where is God not? God is everywhere. This pillar itself is nothing but God — if you have the eyes to see."


You see, long time I am going to bear it. But that is actually forbearance, it is not bearing. You know why? If you analyse the fact, we want to enjoy the sensation of enjoyment.
So what Hinduism is teaching is not that God is hiding somewhere and waiting for you. It is that you have to open your eyes. Already God is standing — not only in front of you, you are that God. Usually, we don't revere ourselves, but we have to revere ourselves.


But we don't want it to stick there like a heavy burden. In five minutes it can be like that, digested. And if we are ready for another, how wonderful it will be.
There was an incident. Śrī Śāradā Devī was sitting, and some devotee was passing by. Inadvertently, the feet of that person touched the dress of the Holy Mother. Now that is considered a great offence, especially if it is a disciple — a disciple's feet touching the teacher's body. Then, immediately, the Holy Mother took the dress near her own feet and then put it on the head of the disciple.


But unfortunately this is the payment we have to pay. For this much of happiness, I have to bear it for hours together. That we do not usually accept.
You know, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa used to show: "This is where I practised Nirvikalpa Samādhi, this is where I did tāntric practices." Was he glorifying his own actions? No — because he knew that through that body and mind, God had manifested. He was only, out of his compassion, revealing.


What happens when we take to spiritual life, things do not change. You must always notice it. The world doesn't change.
Arjuna heard everything about Śrī Kṛṣṇa from Śrī Kṛṣṇa's own mouth, if you have studied the Gītā. In the tenth chapter, the Vibhūti Yoga, Kṛṣṇa says: "Wherever you see something extraordinary, that is a manifestation of my own glory." Now, Arjuna heard all these things. But that is not only about special things — every manifestation is nothing but Himself.
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The same sun rises from morning till day after day. Same sun, same food, same environment, same mosquitoes. Everything is the same.
== The Vision of Arjuna: Divine Eyes and the Totality of Divinity ==
Arjuna had faith. Then he says, "O Lord, I believe in what you say, but let me experience it." That is the wonderful eleventh chapter. Then Kṛṣṇa says, "You cannot experience me as I described through your ordinary eyes. You need special vision — jñāna-vision." That is why he says, "I will give you divine eyes." Divine eyes behold only divinity.


But what happens? A new outlook comes. That makes all the difference in the world. When we accept something, life becomes marvellous.
So that change has to come within us. Now you see the wonderful chapter. It is not Arjuna's natural nature to have divine eyes — they are borrowed divine eyes. And he could not keep them for long because he got frightened.


But it doesn't stop there. Forbearance is not meant just to carry on life. Forbearance is an instrument on the way to something much higher.
Why was he frightened? After all, it was a divine vision. Why? Because he was not ready. We only want to see the sweet side of divinity — Kṛṣṇa playing the flute on a moonlit night on the banks of the Yamunā, wonderful. But when Kālī comes with a sword and dances in the crematorium, how does it look? Every shaking step destroys a world forever. What is divinity? Everything is divinity. Sṛṣṭi is divinity. Sthiti is divinity. Laya also is divinity — divine Līlā. How can you behold divinity and see only one side of it? Seeing one side is only humanity — Māyā, not divinity. Seeing everything is called divinity.


And for that we have to make special spiritual practises. That is why most of us, we know of course, but we do not pay attention to it. There are certain disciplines, they are not spiritual disciplines.
So Arjuna was not ready for that. That is why he prays: just as he prayed, "Give me the vision," so he said, "Take away your vision." And Kṛṣṇa, of course, understood. Otherwise he would have had a heart attack — and then whose chariot would he ride?


They are preparations for spiritual disciplines. In fact, all the sadhana, ketu, sthaya, sampatthi are only what? Preparations. Then only the teacher will come and tell, now your instrument is ready, let us start the journey.
That is the most wonderful thing for us to contemplate. Just imagine — if we behold everything as divine, then only reverence will be there. Wherever you look, that is God.


Then he will give you, this is how you will have to meditate from now onwards. Very often I compare meditation to simulation. It is a very useful analogy.
Now something wonderful happened. M visited Kāmārpukur even during the lifetime of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, and then came back. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa asked, "So, how did you find Kāmārpukur?" You know what he said? "Every particle of dust in Kāmārpukur appeared to be shining with divine light." And he was prostrating everywhere, because every place was manifesting the divinity of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. He enjoyed it so much. Actually, if you see the people of Kāmārpukur, they themselves never recognised Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. They said, "Our Gadāi — no improvement at all. Even after fifty years he looks exactly the same." But M had that wonderful vision.


You know simulation? Microsoft Flight Simulator. It is a very useful example. Instead of you going into the actual plane and damaging it, what do you do? You sit and everything that you are supposed to do in the real plane, you are doing it.
Then he wanted to go a second time. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa said, "No — first digest what you have been given."


You get the point? So if you do enough number of times, then your nerves, your thinking, everything becomes automated. So many types of simulators are there. Even I think car driving, there is a simulator like that.
How did M get that experience? Because Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa had given him that special gift. Coming back to our subject: divinity is already there. We don't revere because we do not see divinity. We hate. But if you hate something, from the Vedāntic point of view, whom are you hating? Yourself. Because God is not even a remote entity — you are the most immediate entity. If everything is God, you are also God. So if you hate something, whom are you hating? If you help someone, whom are you helping? That is the very essence of Karma Yoga: to see the divinity everywhere, and to feel, "I am not serving anybody — I am only serving my own Self." This is the knowledge that will come as a natural consequence. But until it comes, we have to presume. That is called simulation.
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And now the psychologists are devising certain computer programmes to simulate, simulators, so that they can help people with phobias. You know phobias? Earthworm phobia. Many devotees suffer from Swami phobia.
== Meditation as Simulation ==
So in meditation, there are two factors. One — you simulate the being of divinity with the help of the scriptures. The scriptures tell you: think of Kṛṣṇa like this, think of Rāma like this. That is why every follower has been given a Dhyāna Mantra. Suppose you have to meditate on Viṣṇu — how will you meditate? You don't know. That is why they give you step-by-step guidance. That guidance is called the Dhyāna Mantra.


In both senses. Understand? Both senses? Swami means husband. Both senses.
If you have to meditate upon Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, also you are given certain hints. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is sitting like that — but what is that Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa? This is only nāma-rūpa. What is the real nature of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa? He is beyond all these dualities. He is always shining in the heart. Do we feel him? No, we don't. But we have to feel him. This is one side — we always focus only on this side.


Now we are seriously, they are developing, some woman has got what is called cockroach phobia, earthworm phobia, dry leaf phobia, you name it, it is there. Agoraphobia, claustrophobia, so many phobias are there. Now what they do, a kind of machine they developed, virtual, it is a computer simulation, it is possible.
But we don't focus on the other side, which is even more important. That is real meditation. What is that simulation? Where are you now? What happened to you today? Did you shout at somebody? Did somebody shout at you? When someone shouted at you, what was your reaction? Just imagine — somebody shouted at you. What is our normal reaction? We shout back, or we get angry, or we suppress it. We may not even show it, but we suppress it. And that doesn't mean that we don't have adverse reactions. It only means we are waiting for the proper opportunity.


So slowly, suppose somebody has got earthworm phobia, they know intellectually earthworm doesn't do any harm, but somehow they developed it. So slowly, slowly they put that earthworm moving like that, and he is going on talking and asking her, him or her, to express, oh I have this phobia, he is going on looking. Somehow the mind accepts very near, then slowly he will ask her to go near to that and touch it.
There was a story: a wife was very angry with her husband. There was a photo of the husband, and she took some darts and went on throwing them at the picture. But all the darts were falling only here and there, not hitting the photograph. Meanwhile, the husband phoned. "What are you doing?" She said, "Missing you."


It is just an artificial one, go on touching it. So when this is sufficiently practised, then he will bring an actual earthworm, and slowly persons will get rid of it. This is the exact simulation we are supposed to do, this is called in Sanskrit language Upasana.
You see how many reactions come into our minds, and how many we suppress because of conditions. You can't shout at your boss. You can't shout at your colleagues. Every day, the moment there is a second person, there is going to be a conflict. But how are we going to resolve it? If you suppress, it will come out someday and it will damage you. If you express, it may be even more dangerous. But what is the way? Sublimation.


All Upasanas are like that. Now these Upasanas consist of several factors, but I will only mention two factors. One, our normal situation, and second, where we are going to reach, our destination, our goal.
How can you sublimate? The most wonderful example given is this: a child is suckling the mother. At that time, the child is kicking the mother all over. Will the mother get angry with the child? Because the mother knows this is her child, it is a child, it doesn't know what it is doing, and it is not really kicking. That is just its movement. Now, is it possible for us to take things in that light?


But we are now here, so we have to slowly remove all the impediments that we have. So how do we overcome that? Let us take an example. Suppose there is a person who loses temper very, very quickly.
Now if we have reverence, then we can bear anything. So that is what we have to do. Willingly we submit ourselves to the Guru. But we have to simulate it in the mind.
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Now that is a great impediment. It snaps energy, time, brings bad reaction in others. No one is going to be spiritual without removing these impediments.
== The Practice of Simulation in Daily Life ==
So, here is the example I was giving. Somebody has shouted at or insulted you, or done something to you, and you got very angry and you burst out, you reacted. That may be all right for worldly people, but it is not all right for spiritual people. That is not the ideal behaviour. We have to take the example of saints. How do they react? But we are not saints. What should we do? Simulate.


That is not possible. Because saintliness means the higher the vision, because vision is knowledge, knowledge brings simultaneously corresponding changes in the behaviour. If there is knowledge, knowledge brings about change in the behaviour.
How do we do it? Recollect the incident and then replay it exactly as it happened. Then sit back and say, "Is this the way I should have reacted? How would I like to react ideally?" Then you simulate: "I will simply not get angry. I will be smiling. I will be talking very nicely and very sweetly." Rehearse. Go on rehearsing. That is called simulation.


But if we want to have that knowledge, we have to change the behaviour, so that it facilitates the manifestation of that knowledge. Now, this is where Upasanas work out. How does it work out? You take one example.
When you do this, when an actual event takes place, then your reaction will not be as violent as it has been in the past. Do you get the point? We have to do that. If we don't do this — if we simply go on doing japa — and once we get up from the japa and go out, then we are the same old person. That is why people start wondering, "What is the good of your japa? I don't see any change in you. Fifty years before you started your japa you are exactly the same fellow." That is why people lose faith in religion. Religion is supposed to bring about transformation. When they don't see it, they say it is all nonsense. The priests themselves, the ministers themselves, they don't change. So long as they are on the platform they are excellent teachers. But the moment they come down, they are a different matter entirely.


You heard about it? Let your mother be God. Let your father be God. Let your teacher be God.
In Telugu there is a story about a Harikathā man. He was giving Harikathā, and he was describing the evil nature of onion and its effects. His wife was also there in the audience. He was very fond of onion — without onion, he would never put one mouthful of rice in his mouth. So his wife came to know for the first time how evil this onion was. That night she didn't put onion in the food, and he wanted to eat. It was horrible food to him, and he shouted, "Why did you not put onion?" She said, "I did not know it was so bad until I heard your Harikathā." He said, "If I ever see you in my Harikathā again, I will kill you!" You see — on the platform, everything is all right. Practical life is different.


Let any guest, means by implication, everybody. Now you look at the Krama. Who is the nearest to us? Mother.
Not only I, but all of you — you are listening. What is the change that happens to you? If it doesn't happen, it is not much effective. So we have to observe at least a little. I am not saying that the very next day you will be transformed into a saint. But a little bit of improvement should happen. That is how we progress in spiritual life. This simulation has to take place in the mind.


Not even father, because nine months we are in the womb of the mother. We hear the mother's voice, and we feel the emotions of the mother. Mother is the nearest.
Incidentally, this is not connected only with spirituality — even playing baseball, cricket, football, or any game, you can have this simulation. Ninety percent of the skill is simulation; ten percent is actual practice, they tell you. Nowadays everybody has a psychologist. A football player has a psychologist, a singer has a psychologist, a chess player has a psychologist. They advise people on simulation — deep meditation on what I am going to be. What is meditation? It is a simulation of what I am going to be in the future.


We are nothing but 99% our mother only, body and mind, everything. That is why, let our mother be God. But it is easy to think mother is God.
That is why, if you visit barber shops — modern hair-dressing shops, beauty salons — they will have computers. You go there for a hair-dressing, and they will take a photograph of you and show you various hair-dress styles — how you will look in each. When you say, "I want to be like this," then they will cut your hair like that. This is also a form of simulation.


But father, the next comes, father, that is also easy. But it is slightly distant. We recognise him only a little bit later.
And what about Ekalavya? How did he learn archery? His own Guru refused him. How did he learn? He simulated. He used to go, bow down to the image he made of the Guru, and as though the Guru was teaching him — "Now, my child, practise like this." Exactly that is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa also had done.


And if he is absent for six months, it will take a few hours for the child to recognise. But the mother is instinctual. The child will never forget.
There is a wonderful incident about Śibunāth — Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's nephew — who was the priest of the Dakṣiṇeśvar Kālī temple. He was a wonderful person, a great devotee of the Mother. He was the person who confronted the Mother and said, "Who are you? Are you Mother Kālī?" And she was forced to admit, "Yes." So he was telling Mahāpuruṣa Mahārāj: "Mahārāj, how can I describe the grace of the Divine Mother? Every day before going to bed, I pray to Mother: 'I may not be able to get up in the morning. Will You please wake me up?' The next morning, every day, Mother wakes me — 'Hey, Śibu, get up. Already the crow is crying. The birds are singing. Get up, take bath, it is time for pūjā.'"


You know the penguins? There are half a million penguins. Every penguin practically has a chick. The mother recognises the chick.
Mahāpuruṣa Mahārāj was telling him: "Śibu, is there any wonder? You are such a great devotee, and Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa loved you. What wonder is there that the Divine Mother is teaching you herself?" And who taught Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa? Divine Mother. It is only Divine Mother.


The chick recognises, even though everybody is a cacophony. The cacophonous, always tied in the asterisk, somewhere to the tree. Don't seem to ever enjoy the asterisk.
When Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was doing pūjā, as though she was so eager to accept his pūjā, she was trying to eat the food. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa said, "No, no, no — I have not yet uttered the mantra. Wait, wait."
----


Yes, you remember? Cacophonics, always tied, whenever they have a fish, he is tied, because he says, I will now sing for you. Put him there. So, cacophonics means so much of noise.
== Divine Protection and the Invisible Grace ==
Because there is complete reliance upon the Mother, if it happened to Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, will it happen only to Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa? Not to any one of us? If we have that devotion, Mother will protect. But it is a wrong thing to say "she will protect" — as though she is not protecting now. Do you know how many ways Mother protects us? Every time she comes and says, "Look — note down that I have protected you. This is the third time I have protected you today. Please note down." Do you think she is expecting thanks for that? She is already doing it.


How does the mother recognise the chick, and the chick recognises the mother? It is a bond. But for father, because it is a bit distant, he can forget later on, of course, by associating and recognising. So, even further is teacher, because the teacher-student relationship comes when? Maybe after four years, five years only it comes.
But because we don't realise how many times she has saved us from dangers — how many times she has protected us in various ways — we take it for granted. Still protecting, will protect. But she is doing it invisibly. We have to take it for granted. "Oh Mother, You are already protecting me. I can only express my gratefulness to You for doing these things."
----


Consider as God. Then, Atithi, means what? Anybody whom we encounter in life, suddenly, for a short time, is the Atithi. So, you see, it is gradually enlarging our vision of divinity.
== The Practice of the Observer: Sākṣī ==
But coming back to our subject — what we were discussing here — ''samādhis,'' what is the first thing? Be a good observer. Go on observing. After observing, if you wish, you may get identified with any of the anger or whatever it is. But you are doing it now as a master, not as a slave.


If we can make, really see our mother as divine, then it is easier to look upon father as divine. I am, of course, talking about ideal mother and father. If you hear all these stories nowadays, then you will never be able to consider anybody as divine, including mother and father.
In any case, this observation is wonderful — not only in spiritual life, but in every activity of life. For example, you are reading a book. Sometimes you observe that so many pages have been turned, but what has gone inside? Nothing. But if you observe — read one page and then say, "What did I read? Did I understand? How do I summarise this particular page? What are the important points?" — then move on to the next page. What is the relationship between the past page and the next page? The secret is this: you have to be an observer and at the same time a participant.


You understand? I am taking ideal situation. Normally, parents love, it is instinctual. The children also depend upon the parents.
If you are only a participant, that is fine. But actually, every concentrated practitioner simultaneously does these two things, and that is how he keeps things in memory. You are cooking. You have put a lot of salt in pāyasam, and then you bring it to me. "Mahārāj, how is it?" How important it is to be observant! We save a lot of time, and our memory becomes better. Same thing: observe life.


So, this is how we are slowly trying to see God in more and more and more people, those who are at a distance. Now, let us take one of the examples, Guru. Without any contradiction, every religion practically, including Buddhism, it emphasises reverence to the Guru, to the teacher.
There is a beautiful book. The whole of Zen Buddhism is based upon this simple principle. You know? Vipassanā. Observe, observe, observe. Nothing else — just go on watching.


Now, many modern people have a lot of objections to it. After all, he is a human being like you and me. He also eats.  
There is a wonderful novel — ''Siddhartha'' by Hermann Hesse. The whole book is nothing but an expression of this particular idea. There was one person whose name was Siddhartha, named after Gautam Buddha. He goes in search of enlightenment. So many things happen — it is a big journey. Then ultimately, towards the end of his life, he comes to a river. He recognises the boatman as the most enlightened person. He asks, "How did you get this enlightenment?" The boatman says, "This river taught me. I only ply the boat. This river taught me everything — it gave me enlightenment. And you also, observe the river by plying the boat."


In fact, he eats first place. You know, whenever you... Today, those who have eaten breakfast with me today, you understand, I was given first. Later on, only if anything remains, you will get.
What is the secret? When the river is flowing, sometimes flowers are flowing, sometimes corpses are flowing. When you are plying the boat, some good people get into it, some bad people get into it. Good people also get out. Bad people also get out. Then new people come. Every day, every minute, things are changing. Then what is the lesson you learn? There is only one thing which doesn't change. Who is that? Me. Me, the observer. Even the river is changing, but I — I am the observer.


And then, all attention is paid to me. So, whether he is eating... Everybody is glaring at me. What I have brought, he is eating or not.
All of life is meant only for one purpose: Who am I? If you observe, you notice that you — the observer — alone is the reality. Everything else comes and goes, comes and disappears. We learn lessons only through observation. And until we observe, the lessons will be repeated. When we learn the lesson, we will not be caught again. Renunciation is not running away. You learn your lesson, and then you can be a king, a husband, a wife — you can be anything. You can even fight in the most terrible war. That is what Kṛṣṇa taught Arjuna: "You fight, people will be killed, they will be injured, you may also be killed — but you have to take it like anybody else, because this is life. But just be the observer, and everything will come to you."


Not taking into consideration that the Swami has to eat others also like that. So, when you look at this kind of behaviour, how can you have reverence for the Guru? So, so many people, modern people... After all, what is there? He is also a human being. I am also a human being.
When a scientist observes without identifying with the materials of the experiment, he comes to truth. What does he discover? Scientific truth. That is the same rule — be the observer, be the observer. Sākṣī.


Why do you want to pay attention to him? The point is, how much the Hinduism goes, Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, Guru Devo Maheshwara. And some devotees are having so much devotion, they catch hold of the feet and do not leave at all. Even when the Swami is standing on a slippery carpet, I call it pulling the legs of the Swami.
Then a time will come. Once you become Sākṣī, the next step will come. This is the essence of beginning meditation. We talk about Samādhi and so many other things — we don't even understand intellectually what they really mean. But we can to some extent understand this teaching: let us be the observers. Observe everything. Observe your breathing, for example, and you will discover wonderful things.
----


Literally, I have to go on balancing. Their devotion is so intense for a long time and slowly they want to touch their forehead to the... Now instead of begging, their forehead... You see my condition. You see my condition.
== Symbolism of Goddess Kālī ==
Why did Ṭhākur become so enlightened after meditating upon the Divine Mother? Because he accepted the fact that if there is creation, there will also be maintenance, and there will also be dissolution. This is the most natural thing in the world. And you cannot go beyond nature. Why not accept it? Is it not happening? We all become old — it is going to happen. And one day we have to die. If we don't accept this fact, you know what happens? We go on struggling to stop this process. And do you think you will succeed? You will not succeed. In the process, you will only waste your time. Better to be prepared.


Okay, this is a wonderful subject. Why so much of reverence? It is not Guru. Guru is a target for practising reverence, whatever be the Guru.
That is why all these symbolisms are given — they are a type of meditation. Now, many people fear Mother Kālī. But what is the symbolism? Everything is a symbolism.


Guru may not have so much knowledge, he may have even bad habits, he may not know more than me, but that is not the point. The point is, I want to become better. When you are practising archery, then it is not the greatness of the target.
What does Brahmā do? What does Śiva do? What does Viṣṇu do? Brahmā doesn't have weapons — he has Sarasvatī. But Viṣṇu and Śiva have weapons. What are Viṣṇu's weapons for? To maintain order — he needs, so to speak, law enforcement, paramedics, everything. To maintain sthiti, two things are needed: protect and maintain the existing things, and defend against inimical things. Both are necessary.


In fact, the more you are becoming better at archery, the smaller and distant the target becomes. There was a Zen master and he was considered the supreme master of archery. So somebody asked, why are you called such a great Zen master? He said, I will only tell the secret to you.
Śiva is not the maintainer. Śiva is only the destroyer. That is why he has the Triśūla. What does Triśūla signify? He is called Tripurāri — the destroyer of three cities, or the three guṇas. What is your whole saṃsāra? It is nothing but sattva (creation), rajas (maintenance), and tamas (destruction). So if you want to get out of saṃsāra, it will have to be destroyed — that is why Śiva has the Triśūla. And also the Ḍamaru — the sound of the Ḍamaru indicates that your time is approaching.


He said, you know what I do? First, I discharge my arrow and call it a target. So every time, absolutely on the target. So the point is, we have to grow reverence.
Now, come back to Mother Kālī. All three — Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Maheśvara — are represented in one Divine Mother. Have you seen Kālī's image? Śiva is lying, and upon his body Kālī is standing, with her hair flowing. She has four hands — on the right side two, on the left side two. The right side two: one hand is in Abhaya (fearlessness), one hand is in Varada (boon-giving). On the left side, there is a sword and a severed head.


Now, there is a law, if somebody is great, naturally we will have reverence to that object. But we don't see that in common in the world. Very little greatness we see, but we have to learn how to reverence, especially if you have to see God.
The right side represents Brahmā and Viṣṇu. The left side represents Maheśvara, Śiva — that is the representation. The first gesture, Abhaya, means: your life is all right, you don't need to fear. The ultimate fear is only one: that we are going to be destroyed. Every other fear is secondary. And even after living, we want to live happily — we need many things. That is why the Varada gesture is there.


Can you remain without reverencing God? Is it possible? But how will you see God? If you develop your reverence, then you will see only God. This is called seeing God. God is already there.
But anything that is created also has to go back through maintenance and dissolution. The very word itself is so symbolic. What is it? Kālī. Kālī means Kāla — time. Kāla, not timelessness. Timelessness is Śiva. Sṛṣṭi, sthiti, laya happen only in time. ''Keśajāla'' — the flowing hair — symbolises all of this.


Every object, God is there. Where is not God? Even in a pillar, there is God. Remember, you understand what I am talking about? Prahlada.
Now, if one meditates upon this symbolism, that means we are accepting that this is the life-process. If you accept this, will you regret something? You know, when you buy an aeroplane ticket and go and sit — so long as you are travelling, you will not allow anybody to sit in your seat. You cling to it with a death-like tenacity. But the moment your destination is reached, you are too eager to give up your seat and rush out. Why? Because you have taken it for granted that this seat is only for a few short hours of the journey. Once you have arrived, you are not reluctant to give it up. A person who knows the secret of life is as eager, when the time comes, to get out — he is not frightened. But we, like children, are still clinging to the seat. Because of our ignorance — that we have not accepted the fact that the destination has come, and we have to get out of the train.
----


Prahlada's father asked, is there your God here? He says, where is not God? God is everywhere. This pillar itself is nothing but God, if you have the eyes to see. So, what Hinduism is teaching, it is not that God is hiding somewhere and waiting for you.
== Prāṇāyāma and the Steps of Meditation ==
Now, observing as an observer gives a great benefit. It isolates us. It breaks our old identity. Not only is it wonderful in spiritual life, but it is wonderful in every activity of life.


It is that you have to open your eyes. Already God is standing, not only in front of you, you are that God. Usually, we don't reverence ourselves, but we have to reverence ourselves.
And then there is breathing. Why are you restricting yourself? You can breathe fully — see how much it improves your posture, your thinking, your blood pressure, your intelligence. And it is all free.


There was an incident. One's holy mother was sitting and some devotee was passing by. Inadvertently, the feet of that person touched the dress of the holy mother.
That is why the very first teaching for meditation has these steps. What is the first condition? Sit straight — āsana. Then after āsana: prāṇāyāma. What is prāṇāyāma? Control the prāṇa. How do you control the prāṇa? You breathe in and out with full observation. That is why they make the mathematical formula: breathe in to the count of four, retain to the count of sixteen, breathe out to the count of eight, and so on. Why? Because by giving this number, you are forced to observe. And it has a lot of effects — many mysteries which nobody will reveal to you through a book alone.


Now, that is considered a great offence, especially if it is a disciple. A disciple's feet touches the teacher's body. Then, immediately, the holy mother took the dress of her own feet and then put it on the head of the disciple.
This particular type of regulation has an effect on different points of the body — like acupuncture. Why does this particular point affect that particular nerve? So many mysteries are there. Prāṇāyāma is wonderful.


Now, if any one of us look at this person, she thinks she is God. You know, one woman and her husband, wife and husband, were separated, divorced. Somebody asked her, why did you divorce? She said, on religious grounds.
So the sequence is: first āsana, then prāṇāyāma, then pratyāhāra, then dhāraṇā, then only dhyāna. And we are talking about dhyāna! Even yama and niyama — we don't know what they are. Yet we are talking about dhyāna. In that order we have to go, otherwise we cannot maintain even āsana. What happens if you try to maintain āsana without yama and niyama? You can't, because the mind is restless. Body becomes restless — then it slumps, or something happens. Āsana means steadfastness, and steadfastness can come only when the mind is steadfast.
----


Religious grounds, what is the religious grounds? He thinks he is God, I do not. Religious grounds. You see, Sri Ramakrishna, how much he reverenced himself.
== The Observer and the Question "Who Am I?" ==
So observation is the first point — observe, observe, observe. Let the mind run as much as it wants. Just observe; let the mind go, don't stop it, don't control it, let it do what it likes, but you observe. Surprisingly, when you start observing it, the mind also thinks, "My master is looking at me — I have to be careful." Fifty percent of its wildness is cut off. That is the beginning.


He used to show, this is where I practised Nirvikalpa Samadhi, this is where I did tantric practises. Was he glorifying his own actions? No, because he knows that he has manifested through that body and mind, God has manifested. He is only, out of his compassion, revealing.
Once you can separate yourself, then calmness and tranquillity will come, because you understand that it is a natural thing. Sometimes it is hot, sometimes cold, some people like you, some people dislike you — this is the most natural thing in the world. So once we know that we have the power of observation, lots of good results will follow. But that is not the aim of merely observing. The next step must follow.


Arjuna heard everything about Sri Krishna from Sri Krishna's own mouth, if you have studied Gita. 10th Chapter, Vibhuti Yoga. What was he telling? Wherever you see something extraordinary, that is a manifestation of my own glory.
What is the next step? Who am I? I know I am observing. I know I am the observer. But what further? What is my real nature? Do I know who I am? Until this time, I am thinking I know who I am — "I am the body, I am a man, I am a woman, I live in Cedar Rapids, I do this job" — that is my CV. But the moment you separate yourself, immediately you are confused. "If I am not the body, if I am not the mind, then who am I?" Observer means what? I am separate from the body and mind. Then who am I? How will you know? Because the world can never teach you who you are. And you don't know who you are.


Now Arjuna heard all these things, but that is not only special things. Every manifestation is nothing but himself. Arjuna had faith.
What is the way out? Then you necessarily take the help of the scriptures. The scriptures tell you what is your nature. This is upāsanā. So go on meditating upon it. Then slowly, slowly — the scripture is not making you something new. It is only revealing what you already are.


Then he says, O Lord, I believe in what you say, but let me experience it. It's a wonderful chapter, 11th Chapter. Then Krishna says, You cannot experience me as I mentioned to you through your ordinary eyes.
And to understand this properly, the scripture also gives us an object to meditate upon. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa used to meditate upon Kālī the Mother. But what does the image of Kālī represent? That is the meditation. If we can meditate upon this symbolism, that means we accept this is the life-process. If we accept, we will not regret. A person who knows the secret of life is not frightened when the time comes. We have to overcome the fear of death. Then what happens? The mind becomes calm. When the mind becomes calm, we can do better things with that mind. That is one purpose of upāsanā on all these symbolisms.


You need special vision, knowledge vision. That's why he says, I will give you divine eyes. Divine eyes behold only divinity.
Not to speak of spiritual progress, but even to live a happy, normal life, we need to accept the reality of life. Unfortunately, we are not accepting it. We are listening to Gītā talks, Vedāntic talks, everything. But first, be an observer. Then we discover so many defects within us: "Oh, why am I angry with that person? Why am I unhappy with that person? Why am I jealous? Because that person got something which I think is better than what I have." This is how we discover our own defects.


So that change has to come within us. Now you see the wonderful chapter. It is not Arjuna's natural nature to have divine eyes.
Holy Mother's teaching: "My child, if you want peace of mind, then stop finding fault with others." And when I start looking into my own faults, then I say: "That same fault which I was looking for in the other person, I have it also — in a much improved, latest, updated version. How can I, without any shame, try to find fault with others?" You see how many wonderful things will come? The moment we start doing anything like that, we are really observing. And the moment you observe, you are isolated. The moment you are isolated, the question comes — "If I am not this, I don't know who I am."
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They are borrowed divine eyes. And he could not keep them for long because he got frightened. That's a very wonderful chapter.
== The Role of Scripture and the Guru ==
When Ramaṇa Mahārṣi advises people: "Find out who you are" — and a person says, "Who am I? Who am I?" — what picture comes to his mind? Whatever CV he has, that is the only picture. Then if he is honest, he has to say, "I am a foolish fellow, I am an idiot." But is that what Ramaṇa Mahārṣi is really asking? He is asking to find out: "No, I am not this, I am not this, I am not this." That is the beginning process. Then who are you? When it comes to that question, you can never find the answer on your own, because that is not in our experience. Then you will have to take the teachings of the scriptures and go on repeating those things.


Though it is not connected with this subject, but it is nice to understand it. Why was he frightened? After all it is a divine vision. Why was he frightened? Why did Kuntanath Sanyal get frightened? Why did he get frightened? He was not ready.
As a result of so many jñānas, and after so many births — ''bahūnāṃ janmanām ante vāsudevaṃ māṃ prapadyate, vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti'' — after so many lives, the great soul surrenders to Vāsudeva, knowing that Vāsudeva is everything.


No, no. Yes, he was not ready. In what way was he not ready? You see, we only want to see what is the sweet side of divinity.
This is also one question that comes: "Why am I not progressing in spiritual life?" How many janmas have you been unspiritual? When did you start your spiritual life? And now you are expecting very, very fast results.


Krishna playing nice flute and at moonlit night on the banks of the Yamuna. Wonderful. But when Kali comes with a sword and dances in the crematorium, how does it look? Every shaking step destroys a world forever.
What did Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa teach? Suppose a room is in darkness for a million years — how much time will it take for it to get light? The moment you bring light in, it gets light immediately. And that is why it says: ''titikṣā'' — infinite patience you must have. ''Sahanaṃ sarva-duḥkhānām apratikarā-pūrvakam, cintā-vilāpa-rahitam, titikṣā sā'' — "bearing all suffering without resistance, without worry and lamentation — that is titikṣā."


Kali the mother. Swamiji is Kali the mother. But what is divinity? Everything is divinity.
That is why Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa tells the story of two yogīs. Nārada was going by. One yogi asked, "When am I going to see God?" Nārada said, "One more life only." And he started weeping. The other yogi asked the same question, and Nārada said, "As many lives as there are leaves on a tamarind tree." And he started dancing. What is the meaning of that parable? The second person is prepared to wait any number of years. And that very acceptance brings the grace of God instantaneously.


Srishti is divinity. Stithi is divinity. Laya also is divinity.
So if you are impatient, you know the result — you take more time to do anything if you are impatient.
----


Divine Leela. How can you have divinity and see only one side of the divinity? Seeing one side is only humanity. Maya, not divinity.
== The Role of the Guru: Mantra Upadeśa and Tat Tvam Asi ==
So I would wrap up what we have discussed today. What is it? If we want to progress in any field of life, be scientific. What is to be scientific? First of all, to be an observer — and really be observant. Not identifying, not interpreting. We are never pure observers. We are what is called motivated observers. We interpret everything. Without observing, we don't receive anything. But we are always coloured — we put on coloured spectacles and then observe.


Seeing everything is called divinity. So Arjuna was not ready for that. That's why he prays.
Don't put on any spectacles. Just be an observer. Good or bad — whatever is there, accept it as a fact. Then that itself is a great spiritual progress. Then we notice that we have more problems and defects within us than anywhere outside.


Just as he prayed, give me the vision. And he said, take away your vision. And Krishna, of course, he understood.
The scriptures give two types of teaching. One teaching is to accept ourselves as what we want to be: "You are divine." But much before that, they also give a method — what is called simulation. Simulation means practising what we have to exhibit in our day-to-day life. As I gave you the example — I should not get angry. So if I go on practising a certain scenario, in the course of time, if that scenario happens, because I have practised it so much, it becomes easier for me to improve myself. That can be done through what you call meditation — which is simulation. Do that.


Otherwise he will have heart attack. If his heart is attacked, whose chariot is he going to ride? He will be jobless. Unemployment problem.
Then, after that, you take the help of the scriptures and find out who you are. You will not have immediate realisation. But go on meditating until you know, "I am this," from the scriptural statement. Often this scriptural teaching comes in the form of the teacher — the Guru. That is called mantra upadeśa. Or, according to Jñāna Mārga, the teacher will tell you ''tat tvam asi'' — "That Thou Art." When does he tell this? He will not tell in the very beginning. He will make you go through the whole scripture — śravaṇa, manana, nididhyāsana, in a general way. When the right time comes, then he will say: "You read all those things? You remember? ''Tat tvam asi'' — you are That."


That is why he said, alright, I will bring you back. It's the most wonderful thing for us to contemplate. Just imagine, if we behold everything as divine, then only reverence will be there.
And even then, a disciple may not be one hundred percent sure. He knows through faith, but he doesn't know through experience. A time will come when that experience also will come. But for that, we must have faith. To create that faith, the Guru is an aid. That is why what the Guru is, is not important. How I look upon the Guru — that is the secret of Guru worship. You are not worshipping the body. Every child knows the image you worship is a piece of metal or a piece of wood. But is that what the worshipper is looking at? He is looking at that which the image represents. That is why it is called an icon, a symbol. Nobody is worshipping a piece of metal. Everybody is worshipping what that image suggests, what that idea conveys. So the Guru is such an ideal. If I can see God in the teacher, then I can extend that vision very easily to everything, in the course of time, wherever it is.
----


Wherever you look, that is God. Now something wonderful happened. M visited Kamarpakur even during the lifetime of Sri Ramakrishna.
== The Story of Gopālā's Mother: The Extension of Vision ==
Now I will illustrate very briefly this process — how it has taken place in the life of a close, intimate devotee of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. I am referring to Gopālā's Mother. She had a vision. Where did she have a vision? In her own home. That was her private vision. Then she came to Dakṣiṇeśvar. Then this image was going into Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa and coming out of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa — what you see here and what you see there is one and the same.


And then he came back. Sri Ramakrishna asked, so how did you find Kamarpakur? You know what he said? That every particle of dust in Kamarpakur appeared to be shining with divine light. And he was prostrating everywhere.
After a few days, the vision extended further. In all the important devotees of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa — like Narendranāth, Rākhal, and so on — this same image was entering. First it said only Rāmakṛṣṇa. That is why she got the name Gopālā's Mother — because she used to call Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa "Gopāla," and he used to call her "Mother." Gopālā's Mother — meaning Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's spiritual mother. But that vision didn't stop there. It went on going. "My Gopāla is Narendranāth, my Gopāla is Rākhal, my Gopāla is Tārak," and so on.


Because every place is manifesting the divinity of Sri Ramakrishna. He enjoyed it so much. Actually, if you see Kamarpakur people, they themselves did never recognise Sri Ramakrishna.
The vision was extended until, finally, when there was that chariot festival at Kāmārhāṭī, that day, her Gopāla was present in the chariot, in the people who were witnessing the chariot festival, in the priests who were sitting on the chariot, in the image on the chariot — everywhere. With that, her vision was completed.


He said, our Gadai, no improvement at all. Even after 50 years he is looking exactly the same. But M had that wonderful vision.
Similarly, Jaṭādhārī Sādhu: first he was seeing only Rāma in that image. Later on, he discovered Rāma everywhere. So this is the process. At least let us start with one person upon whom we can bestow reverence — not because he is revered, but because I choose to bestow reverence and love upon him. You see the difference? Otherwise: "You prove your reverence-worthiness, then I will show my reverence." That is not the way. Whatever you are, I don't care — I have decided to revere you. So I only get the benefit.


Then he enjoyed it. He wanted to go a second time. Sri Ramakrishna said, no, because you digest what you have been given.
You take food and decide to offer it to God. Then what does that food become? Prasāda. Then who gets the benefit? I only get the benefit. So this is the secret of mūrti pūjā — any mūrtī. It is not that the image is God. I have chosen to look upon it as God. And one day will come — then we will see the whole universe is nothing but Brahman. And that is the fact. You are not imagining it to be Brahman. It is Brahman. You don't see it now, but you are becoming capable of seeing it. That is called spiritual progress.
----


So how did he get that experience? Because Sri Ramakrishna had given him that special enjoyment. You know, similar stories go on. Sri Krishna says this thing.
== Conclusion ==
From this afternoon to the evening onwards, we will deal with the thirteenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā, which is a very interesting chapter. Only three sessions are there, and therefore I can only give you the very essence. And in fact, that is enough actually for us to understand. With the help of what we are going to discuss, you can understand the thirteenth chapter more or less easily.


Coming back to our subject. What is it? That divinity is already there. We don't reverence because we do not see divinity.
'''Oṃ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ.'''
 
We hate. It is worse. How can you hate divine? If you hate something, from the Vedantic point of view, whom are you hating? Yourself.
 
Because God is even a remote entity. But you are the most immediate entity. If everything is God, you are also God.
 
So if you hate something, whom are you hating? If you help someone, whom are you helping? That is the very essence of Karma Yoga. What is Karma Yoga? To see the divinity everywhere. To feel that I am not serving anybody.
 
I am only serving my own self. This is the knowledge that will come as a natural consequence. But until it comes, we have to presume.
 
We have to... That is called simulation. So in meditation, there are two factors. One, you simulate the being of divinity with the help of scriptures.
 
Scriptures tell you, you think of Krishna like that. Think of Rama like this. Think of Krishna like this.
 
That is why every follower has been given a Dhyana Mantra. You know Dhyana? Suppose you have to meditate on Vishnu. How will you meditate on Vishnu? You are asked to meditate on Vishnu.
 
Do you know how to meditate on Vishnu? You don't know. That is why they give you step-by-step guidance. What is that guidance? That is called Dhyana Mantra.
 
All this. If you have to meditate upon Sri Ramakrishna, then also you are given certain hints. What is that? Sri Ramakrishna Mantra You cannot meditate otherwise.
 
You know, you can imagine the form. Sri Ramakrishna is sitting like that. But what is that Sri Ramakrishna? This is only Nama Rupa.
 
What is the real nature of Sri Ramakrishna? He is beyond all these dualities. He is always shining in the heart. Do we feel him? No, we don't.
 
But we have to feel him. This is one side. We always focus only on this side.
 
But we don't focus on the other side, which is even more important. That is real meditation. What is that simulation? Where are you now? What happened to you today? Did you shout at somebody? Did somebody shout at you? When someone shouted at you, what was your reaction? Just imagine.
 
Somebody shouted at you. What is our normal reaction? We shout back, or we get angry, or we suppress it. We may not even show, but we suppress it.
 
And that doesn't mean that you don't have adverse reactions. It only means you are waiting for the proper opportunity. It only means you are missing him.
 
It only means you are missing him. You understand what I am talking about? Most of you don't understand. It is a joke, you know.
 
The wife was very angry with her husband. So there was a photo of the husband. So she took some darts, you know, went on throwing at him.
 
But all the darts are falling only here and there, not hitting the photograph. Meanwhile the husband phoned, what are you doing? He said, missing you. You see, how many reactions come into our mind, and how many we suppress because of conditions.
 
You can't shout at your boss. You can't perhaps shout at your colleagues. Every day, the moment there is a second person, there is going to be a conflict.
 
But how are we going to resolve it? If you suppress, it will come out someday, and it will damage you. If you express, it may be even more dangerous. But what is the way? Sublimation.
 
How can you sublimate? So the most wonderful example given is, see, a child is suckling the mother. At that time, the child is kicking the mother all over. You see that? Then will the mother get angry with the child? Because the mother knows, this is my child, it is a child, it doesn't know, and the child is not really kicking.
 
That is its movement. But it can only do it with the legs, because it is busy otherwise. Now, is it possible for us to take things in that light? In fact, the whole Tirupati story starts like this only.
 
I won't go into it now, but the thing is we must sublimate, because you cannot go on getting justice in this world. That's not possible. So many things we have to forbear.
 
In fact, life is meant to teach us how to forbear. But forbear means not to... Now I don't have opportunity, but when I get opportunity, I take out. That's what you... In America, there is an expression, you know, when two small children quarrel, one fellow gets the blow and he cannot retaliate.
 
He says, you know, my daddy can lick your daddy. The expression is, or you just wait until I grow up. And many times it happens also, they grow up and then they do something more damaging.
 
What is the point? The point is if we have reverence, then we can bear anything. So that is what we have to do. Willingly we submit ourselves to the Guru.
 
But we have to simulate it in the mind. So this was the example I was giving. Somebody has shouted or insulted, did something to you, you got very angry and you burst out, you reacted.
 
That may be all right for worldly people, but it is not all right for spiritual people. That is not the normal behaviour. We have to take the example of saints.
 
How do they react? But we are not saints. What should we do? Simulate. How do we do it? Recollect this incident and then replay it exactly as it happened.
 
And then sit back and say, is this the way I should have reacted? How would I like to react ideally? How would I like to react? Then you simulate. I will simply not get angry. I will be smiling.
 
I will be talking very nicely. I will be talking very sweetly. Rehearse.
 
Go on rehearsing. That is called simulation. When you do this, when actually an event takes place, then your reaction would not be as violent as it has been in this case.
 
Do you get the point? We have to do that. If we don't do, simply go on doing japam. And once you get up from the japam, and then you go out, then you are the same old person.
 
That is why people start wondering, what is the good of your japam? I don't see any change in you. Fifty years before you started your japam, you are exactly the same fellow. At every turn, if anything, you only became worse.
 
That is why people lose faith in religion. Religion is supposed to bring about transformation. And when they don't see, it is all bunk.
 
The priests themselves, the ministers themselves, they don't change. Many so-called religious teachers, they don't change. So long as they are on the platform, they are excellent teachers.
 
But the moment they come down, they are horrible. In Telugu there is a story about Harikatha man. He was giving Harikatha.
 
And he was describing the evil nature of onion and the effects. His wife was also there in the audience. He was very fond of onion.
 
Without onion, he will never put one rice buddha in his mouth. So his wife came to know for the first time how evil this onion was. That night she didn't put onion.
 
And he wanted to eat. It was horrible food. He shouted, why did you not put onion? She said, I did not know it was so bad until I heard your Harikatha.
 
He said, if I ever see you in my Harikatha, I will kill you. You know, platform, everything is all right. Practical life.
 
Not only me, all of you, you are listening. What is the change that happens to you? If it doesn't happen, it is not much effective. So we have to observe at least a little.
 
I am not saying next day itself you will be transformed into a saint. But a little bit of improvement should happen. That is how we progress in spiritual life.
 
This simulation has to take place in the mind. Now incidentally, this is not connected with spirituality, even playing baseball, cricket, football, or any game for that matter, you can have this simulation. 90% of the skill is simulation.
 
10% is actual practise, they tell you. Nowadays everybody has a psychologist. A football player has a psychologist.
 
And a singer has a psychologist. A chess player has a psychologist. Everybody has a psychologist.
 
They advise people. You make this, what is simulation? Deep meditation of what I am going to be. What is meditation? It is a simulation of what I am going to be in the future.
 
That is why you visit barber shops, you will understand better what I am talking about. Modern barber shop. You know barber, hair dresser shop, exotic term.
 
In barber shop, it is not there. Hair dressing shop, beauty salon. Wonderful world.
 
You go there, they will have computers. You go there for hair dressing. They will take a photograph.
 
And they will put various dresses, hair dress, how you will look. When you say, I want to be like this, then they will cut your hair like that. Have you seen that? I heard that they are like that.
 
What is this? Because for me there is no problem. Anybody can dress my hair. And I can do it myself.
 
Actually Maharaj, they have an app for that. Linda has it on her iPod. Different hair you can put on your own picture.
 
Is it? Yes. Anyway, it is a good example. Meditation is what we would like to be in the future.
 
Ekalavya. What was he doing? How did he learn archery? You know that? His own Guru refused him. How did he learn? Because you see, he simulated.
 
What did he simulate? What did he simulate? He used to go, bow down to the Guru in the image he made. And as though the Guru was teaching him, and you, my child, you practise like this. Exactly that is what Sri Ramakrishna also had done.
 
There is a wonderful incident. Ram Lal Dada. No, not him.
 
Shibudha. Shibudha, Sri Ramakrishna's nephew. And he was talking with Mahapurush Maharaj.
 
And he was the priest of the Dakshineshwar Kali temple. So this Shibudha was a wonderful person. Mother loved him.
 
He was a very devotee, great devotee of Mother. He was the person who confronted Mother and said, who are you? Are you Mother Kali? And she said yes. She was forced to admit yes.
 
So he was telling to Mahapurush Maharaj, Maharaj, how can I describe the grace of the Divine Mother? Every day before going to bed, I pray to Mother, I may not be able to get up in the morning. There were no alarm clocks in those days. So will you please wake me up? He said, next morning, every day Mother wakes, Hey, Shibu, get up.
 
Already the crow is crying. The crow is crying. The crows, the chickens and all these are starting, the birds are singing.
 
So get up and take bath. And it is time for puja. And while doing puja, he said, no, no, no.
 
That will come next. This will come first. He was telling how to do puja.
 
Mahapurush Maharaj was telling, Shibu, is there any wonder? You are such a great devotee. And Sri Ramakrishna loved you. What wonder is there that the Divine Mother is teaching you herself.
 
And who taught to Sri Ramakrishna? Divine Mother. It is only Divine Mother. When he was doing puja, as though she was so eager to accept his puja, see the wonder of it.
 
She was trying to eat the food. Sri Ramakrishna said, no, no, no. I have not yet uttered the mantra.
 
Wait, wait. The mantra is uttered. I see so many advanced spiritual people here.
 
They come and sit. Before I do marfanam, they already start eating. What a devotion these people have.
 
How was the Divine Mother teaching them? Because there is complete reliance upon the Mother. If it happens to Sri Ramakrishna, will it happen only to Sri Ramakrishna? Not to any one of us? If we have that devotion, Mother will protect. It is a wrong thing to say she will protect.
 
As though she is not protecting now. Do you know how many ways Mother protects us? Every time she comes and says, look, note down that I have protected you. This is the third time I have protected you today.
 
Please note down. Do you think she is expecting thanks for that? She is already doing it. But because we don't realise how many times she has saved us from dangers.
 
How many times she has protected us in various ways. Still protecting, will protect. But she is doing it invisibly.
 
We have to take it for granted. Oh Mother, you are already protecting me. I can only express my gratefulness to you for doing these things.
 
But coming back to our subject, what we were discussing here, Samadhis, what is the first thing? Be a good observer. Go on observing it. After observing, if you wish, you get identified with any of the anger or whatever it is.
 
But you are doing it now as a master, not as a slave. In any case, this observation is wonderful. Not only it is wonderful in spiritual life, it is wonderful in every activity of life.
 
For example, you are reading a book. Sometimes you observe that so many pages have been turned. But what has gone inside? Nothing.
 
But you observe, read a book, one page. And then you say, what did I read? This is the best way of reading. What did I read? Did I understand? How do I summarise it, this particular page? What are the important points? Then move on to the next page.
 
What did I understand from this page? What is the relationship between the past page and the next page? So what is the secret? You have to be an observer and at the same time a participant. If you are only a participant, if you are a good participant, that's fine. But actually every concentrated practitioner, he simultaneously does these two things.
 
That is how he keeps in memory. Oh, that page, I have got that point. This page, it is this point.
 
So I am doing it. Is it not useful? You are cooking. You have put a lot of salt in payasam.
 
And then you bring it to me. Maharaj, how is it? Now you made pranams and asked him the question. How do I reply? And you are also threatening.
 
What did you say? I didn't hear. Excellent, excellent. Hari, Hari.
 
They don't believe me. Do you see how important it is to be a bit of observant? So what happens? Oh, that point I didn't understand. Let me try to understand it better.
 
Then we save a lot of time and our memory becomes better. Same thing, observe life. There is a beautiful book.
 
The whole Zen Buddhism is only based upon this simple principle. You know? Vipassana. Observe, observe, observe.
 
Nothing else. Just go on watching. There is a wonderful novel has come.
 
Was that Siddhartha? Herman has said. The whole of Siddhartha, the book Siddhartha is nothing but expressing this particular idea. There was one person, his name was Siddhartha, named after Gautam Buddha.
 
He goes in search of enlightenment. He goes to so many things happen, a big issue. Beautiful book.
 
Then ultimately he comes, towards the end of his life, he comes to a river. And he recognises the boatman as the most enlightened person. So he asks, how did you get this enlightenment? He says, that this river taught me.
 
I only fly the boat. This river taught me everything. It gave me enlightenment.
 
And you also observe the river by flying the boat. What is the secret? The secret is when the river is flowing, sometimes flowers are flowing, sometimes corpses are flowing. And when you are flying the boat, some good people get into it, some bad people get into it.
 
Good people also get out. Bad people also get out. Then new people come.
 
Every day, every minute, things are changing. Then, what is the lesson you learn? There is only one thing which doesn't change. Who is that? No, no.
 
Me. Me, the observer. Even the river is changing.
 
But me, I am the observer. All life is meant only for one purpose. Who am I? You notice.
 
If you observe, you notice. You, the observer, alone is the reality. Everything else comes and goes.
 
It comes and disappears. Where was your husband until you got married? You know, about marriage, what a fine things you observe. One husband observed very wonderfully.
 
Me and my wife were very happy for 25 years until we met. What a wonderful observation. You know, we learn lessons only through observation.
 
And until we observe, the lessons will be repeated. When we learn the lesson, what happens? When you get involved, it doesn't matter. But now, you will not be caught.
 
You see the point? Renunciation is not running away. You learn your lesson, then you can be a king, you can be a husband, you can be a wife, you can be anything. You can even fight in the most terrible war.
 
That's what Krishna taught to Arjuna. You fight, people will be killed. They will be injured.
 
You may be also killed. But you have to take it like anybody else. Because this is life.
 
But just be the observer. And everything will be, comes to you on a plate. The whole life is meant only for observation.
 
When a scientist observes, not identifying with the materials of the experiment, then he comes to truth. What does he discover? Scientific truth. Until that time, it is only data.
 
You see, you understand it better. So that is the same rule, be the observer, be the observer. Sakshi.
 
Then you understand, a time will come. Once you become Sakshi, then the next step will come. This is the essence of beginning meditation.
 
We talk about Samadhi and this and that and so many other things. It is only, we don't even understand intellectually what it really means. But we can to some extent understand this teaching, that let us be the observers.
 
You observe everything. You observe your breathing, for example. You will discover wonderful things.
 
What wonderful things? You observe the human nature. You know, there are persons. Why is Devata free? Is it putting a restriction on you, how much you can breathe? I will only allow you to breathe this much only, because you displease me.
 
You can breathe, but why are you restricting yourself? That is all breathing that comes out. Why can't you breathe? Fully you breathe. See how much it improves your posture, it improves your thinking, it improves your blood pressure, it improves your intelligence, and it is all free.
 
That is why the very first teaching for meditation, what is the first condition? No. Sit straight, asana. Then after asana what comes? Pranayama.
 
What is pranayama? Control the prana. How do you control the prana? You breathe in and out with full observation. And that is why they make a lot of mathematical palimony, no? 2, 8, 4, 4, 16, 8, means breathe in to the count of 4, retain it to the count of 16, and breathe out to the count of 8, etc.
 
Why they have done this? Why can't you just simply breathe in and breathe out? Because by giving this number, you are forced to observe. And it has a lot of effects. There are so many mysteries, which nobody will reveal to you.
 
By reading a book by Iyer or Swami Vivekananda, you won't get. They are mysteries. This particular type of regulation, they have an effect with different points of the body, like acupuncture, you know? The Westerners know about this.
 
Why this particular point affects that particular nerve? So many mysteries are there. Pranayama is wonderful. So first asana, then pranayama, then pratyahara, then dharana, then only dhyana.
 
And we are talking about dhyana. Even yama and niyama, we don't know what is yama and niyama. You see, one fellow, a young boy, got initiated into Gayatri Mantra.
 
Morning. Evening, he wanted to repeat. So he had some doubts, whether he heard the mantra properly.
 
He went to his father, repeated the mantra and said, Father, is this alright? Father said, I remember having heard it a long time back. See, how poor we are, we are talking about dhyana. Yama and niyama, in that order we have to go.
 
Otherwise you cannot maintain even asana. What happens if you maintain the asana without yama and niyama? No, you can't maintain, because the mind is restless. Body becomes restless.
 
Then it slumps, or something happens. Restlessness. Asana means, what is the meaning of asana? Steadfastness.
 
And steadfastness can come only when the mind is steadfast, not otherwise. So, observation is the first point. Observe, observe, observe.
 
Let the mind run as much as you want. This is another method. Just you observe, let the mind go, don't stop, don't control it, let it do what it likes, but you observe.
 
Surprisingly, when you start observing it, it starts also, my master is looking at me, I have to be careful what I am doing. 50% of its life is cut off. But that much is the beginning.
 
So, once you could separate, then this calmness, tranquilly will come, because you understand that it is a natural thing. Sometimes it is hot, sometimes it is cold, some people like you, some people dislike you. This is a most natural thing.
 
So, what do we think? This is not a natural thing. What is a natural thing? Everybody will like me, that is the most natural thing. Isn't that? That is what the greatest Brahma, Brahmati, in the world.
 
The mother also doesn't like us, most of the time. That is why if you don't sleep, she will put you to bed and go on doing like this, my child, please sleep, please sleep, because I am tired, I want to be rid of you for some time. Wonderful it is.
 
So, once we know that we have the power of observation, lots of good results will follow that. But that is not the aim of merely observing. The next step must follow.
 
What is the next step? Who am I? I know I am observing it. Now I know I am the observer. But what further? What is my real nature? Do I know who I am? Until this time, I am thinking I know who I am.
 
Do you get the point? I am the body, I am a man, I am a woman, I am living in Cedar Rapids, I do this job, that is my CV. But the moment you separate, immediately you are confused. If I am not the body, if I am not the mind, then who am I? Observer means what? I am separate from the body and mind.
 
Then who am I? How will you know? Because the world can never teach you who you are. And you don't know who you are. What is the way out? Then you take necessarily the help of the scriptures.
 
It tells you what is your nature. This is Upasana. So go on meditating upon it.
 
Then slowly, slowly, the scripture is not making you something new. It is only revealing what you already are. And to understand this properly, the scripture also gives us an object to meditate upon.
 
Take the example. See, Sita Ramakrishna used to meditate upon whom? Kali, Kali the mother. Forget about Divine Mother, later on.
 
Kali the mother. That you know. What is that image? Have you seen Kali's image? What do you see? What do you see? That you know, Shiva is lying, and upon his body, Kali is standing, and then her hair is flowing.
 
She has how many hands? She has four hands. And what do the four hands consist of? You know, there is a krama. Right side two, left side two.
 
And right side two, one hand is like this, one hand is like this. This is called Abhaya. This is called Vara.
 
On the left side, there is a sword and a severed head. That's why many people fear Mother Kali. But actually women should be glad about it.
 
That is the first feminine movement in the world. That is the only way to control your husbands. You understand? Okay.
 
So what is the symbolism? Everything is a symbolism. Brahma, Vishnu, Maheshwara is a symbolism. What is the symbolism? What does Brahma do? What does Shiva do? What does Vishnu do? That's why, you see, Brahma doesn't have weapons.
 
He has Saraswati. But Vishnu and Shiva have weapons. What is the weapons of Vishnu for? Because to maintain order, he needs, you know, law enforcement agency, police, and all these people, you know, paramedics.
 
Everything should be there. Yeah. What is this Garuda? Ambulance.
 
Emergency ambulance. Yeah. Simply Vishnu remembers, 999, immediately something comes and wherever there is an accident or emergency, there the paramedic will be present.
 
You see, all these weapons are meant for sthiti. Sthiti needs two things. Protect and maintain the existing things and defend against inimical things.
 
Both are necessary. That's what, you know, defensive system. One whole defensive system is there in your government, isn't it? That is necessary.
 
Shiva is not the maintainer. Shiva is only the destroyer. That's why he has got Trishula.
 
What does Trishula signify? He is called Tripurari. Tripurari. He is the destroyer of three cities or three gunas.
 
What is your whole samsara? It is nothing but? What is sattva? Creation. What is rajas? Sthiti, maintenance. What is tamas? Destruction.
 
So one, if you want to get out of samsara, then you will have to be destroyed. That is why Shiva has got and also this Damaru, Damaru Dhwani. And it indicates that your time is approaching and then Trishula is there.
 
And then why is Kailasa preserving the dead body for a long time? You see, after death, you know, what is that? Mortuary. For some time, until you decide what to do, it has to be done. Come back to Mother Kali.
 
All these three are represented in one Divine Mother. So this right side is Brahma and Vishnu. Left side is Maheshwara, Shiva.
 
That is the representation. The first thing is this one. Means what? Your life is alright.
 
You don't need to fear. That's why it is called fearlessness. We have only, ultimate fear only is one.
 
What is it? That we are going to be destroyed. Every other thing is only minus. Then even after living, we want to live happily.
 
We need lot of things. That is why, this is what? Giving. That is why we always give like this, you know, like this.
 
That is called Varada. But this is, we are only focussing on this. But anything that is created has also, go back to maintenance.
 
You know, maintenance, hangers will be there. All the parts will be taken out. And MOT.
 
And then oiled and cleaned and changed and all those things. And reassembled. So that will be done on the left hand side.
 
The whole mother's, this one. Keshajala. Kala.
 
See, the whole, the very word itself is so symbolic. What is it? Kali. Kali means what? Kali means Kala.
 
Time, not timeless. Timelessness is Shiva. Srishti, sthiti, laya happens only in time.
 
Now, if one meditates upon this symbolism, that means we accept this is the life process. If you accept, will you regret something, you know, like when you buy an aeroplane ticket, you go and sit there. So long as you are travelling, you will not allow anybody to sit on your seat.
 
You see, you cling to it with death-like tenacity. But the moment your destination is reached, so you are cursing everybody why they are not moving forward. Have you noticed this? You are too eager to give up your seat and rush out.
 
Why? Because you have taken it for granted. This is only for a few short hours of journey. Once you have gone, you are not only not reluctant to give up, you are too eager to get out of that place.
 
A person who knows the secret of life, he is as eager when the time comes to get out of, he is not frightened. But we are like children, you know, we are still clinging to the seat. Because of our ignorance.
 
What is ignorance? That we have not accepted the fact that the destination has come to an end. Then we have to get out of the train. One fellow was travelling in a train.
 
He was a heavy sleeper. So he called the conductor and he said, Baba, I am a heavy sleeper, but my destination is reaching at 4 o'clock early in the morning. When the time comes, you please wake me up, otherwise I will be missing.
 
So the conductor issued, no, no, I will do that. And the fellow happily went to sleep. And when he got up, it was 8 o'clock, and he was ending up somewhere.
 
He got terribly annoyed and went to the conductor and then caught hold of him. And I am going to kill you. He said, no, you don't need to kill me.
 
I am about to kill myself. He said, why? He said, you see, that fellow whom I tried to wake up and he didn't wake up, and I threw him out of the train. I heard he is coming out.
 
I better kill myself. Anyway, much better joke is there. Wife, I will die.
 
Husband, I too will die. Why? Why do you want to die? It is too much happiness, I can't bear it. All right.
 
So, why Thakur had become so enlightened after meditating upon the Divine Mother? Because he accepted the fact of, if there is creation, there will be also maintenance, there will be also... This is the most natural thing in the world. And you cannot go beyond nature. Why not accept it? Is it not happening? We all become old.
 
It is going to happen. And one day we have to die. If we don't accept the fact, you know what happens? We go on struggling how to stop this process.
 
And do you think you will succeed? You will not succeed. In the process you will only waste your time. Better be prepared for that.
 
That is why this symbolism is... All the symbolisms are given only because of this. This is a type of meditation. If we can meditate upon this, then we overcome the fear of death.
 
Then what happens? Mind becomes calm. When mind becomes calm, then we can do better things with that mind. That is one purpose of this symbolism, Upasana, on all these symbolisms.
 
Not to speak of spiritual progress, but even to live a happy, normal life, we need to accept the reality of the life. Unfortunately, we are not accepting. We are listening to Gita talks, we are listening to Vedantic talks, we are listening to everything.
 
What I wanted to emphasise is, first be an observer. Then we discover so many defects within us. Oh, why am I angry with that person? Why am I unhappy with that person? Why am I jealous? Because that person got something which I think is better than what I have.
 
So this is how we discover our own defects. Holy Mother's teaching. My child, if you want peace of mind, then stop finding fault with others.
 
But that will not do. It is a wonderful thing, wonderful habit. To find fault with others is a wonderful habit.
 
Improve that habit. Because if you don't know how to find fault with others, how will you try to find fault with others? It is the same technique. So then start finding fault.
 
And one thing happens, you know. When I start looking into my fault, then I say, that same fault which I was looking in the other person, I have it also in a much improved version. Latest version.
 
Latest version. Updated version. More powerful version.
 
How can I, without any shame, try to find fault with others? Because the other person has maybe much less. You see, how many wonderful things will come. The moment we start doing anything like that, we are really observing.
 
How will you find fault? Because you are observing. How will you find fault with yourself? You are observing. The moment you observe, you are isolated.
 
The moment you are isolated, fear comes. If I am not this, I don't know who I am. So far, so long, I am thinking I am this.
 
At least some identity is there. Now I know this identity is gone. Then who am I? And you cannot remain like a person without visa.
 
What happens if your passport is lost? Will you have cease of mind? So the same thing happens in our mind, then what am I? Who am I? When Ramana Maharshi is advising to people, find out who you are, stupid people, go on, oh I am, who am I, who am I? What picture comes to his mind? Whatever CV he has, that is the only picture. Then if he is honest, he has to say, I am a stupid fellow, I am a foolish fellow, I am an idiot, I am a donkey. Because that is what he is.
 
Is that what Ramana Maharshi is really asking? He is asking to find out. To find out, no, I am not this, I am not this, I am not this. That is the beginning process.
 
Then who are you? Then the next things come. When it comes to a question of who are you, you can never find because that is not in our experience. Then you will have to take the teachings of the scriptures and go on repeating those things.
 
It is only then, as a result of so many janmas, bahunam janmanam ante vasudeva mam prapadyate Vasudeva sarvamiti After so many lives. This is also one question that comes. Why am I not progressing in spiritual life? So, how many janmas you are unspiritual? When did you start your spiritual life? And now you are expecting very, very fast and you have Sri Ramakrishna's teachings for enforcing your argument.
 
What did Sri Ramakrishna teach? Suppose a room is in darkness for a million years, how much time will it take for it to get light? You know what it is like? A fellow drinking in a pub is telling, usually only one glass will make me drunk. Only one glass. Usually it is the twelfth or thirteenth glass.
 
Only one glass. But to come to that one glass, it takes time. That is why it says, titiksha.
 
Sahanam sarva-dukkhanam apratikara-purvakam chinta vilaparaitam titiksha sa infinite patience you must have. That is why Sri Ramakrishna tells the story of those two yogis. Two yogis.
 
Narada was going. And then, when am I going to see God? One fellow, he says, one more life only. And he started weeping.
 
The other fellow, he says, as many leaves are there as in a tamarind tree. Oh, he starts dancing so soon. It's a wonderful parable.
 
What is the meaning of that parable? The other person is prepared to wait any number of years. He is a bhakta. But he knows what is the end.
 
What is the end? I am going to become sugar. But I don't want to become sugar. I want to enjoy sugar.
 
So God says, after so many births I am going to come. What a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the sugar before finally becoming sugar. That itself brings the grace of God instantaneously.
 
So if you are impatient, then you know the result. You take more time to do anything if you are impatient. Have you not noticed that? So, I would wrap up what we have discussed today.
 
What is it? If we want to progress in any field of life, be scientific. What is to be scientific? First of all, to be an observer. And really be observant.
 
Not identifying. Not interpreting. We are never observers.
 
In a way we are observers. We are what is called motivated observers. We interpret everything.
 
Without observing we don't get anything. But we are always coloured. Put on coloured specs and then observe.
 
So, don't put on any specs. Just remove. Just be an observer.
 
Good or bad. Whatever is there. Accept it as a fact.
 
Then that itself is a great spiritual progress. Then we notice that we have more problems, defects within us than anybody outside. In fact, if we don't have a particular fault, we can never understand that fault in others.
 
Do you know the truth? If I am not a thief, I will never recognise anyone as a thief. Do you see the point? Swami Vivekananda used to illustrate. Suppose, at midnight, a stranger enters through the window.
 
One man went to an ophthalmologist. And the ophthalmologist said to him, My God, your vision is so horrible. The patient was shocked.
 
Doctor, even before examining, How did you find that I have such a bad vision? He said, The moment I saw you walking through the window, I knew that your vision is real. So, a stranger enters into a room at midnight. If you ask the elder person, Who is this? Then he says, This is a thief.
 
You ask a child, Who is this? The child will never say he is a thief because he doesn't know what is called thieving. He will say, He is a stranger. I don't know.
 
If I don't have that fault, I can never find the fault with her. That is a sure proof. Because how will you identify this is this? Do you get the point? So, observing as an observer gives a great benefit.
 
That is the first benefit. It isolates us. It breaks our CV.
 
Then what is the second thing? The moment we are passportless, we are very anxious to get a passport. Then who am I? Then the only way is to take the help of the scriptures. The scriptures give two types of teaching.
 
One teaching is to accept ourselves as what we want to be. You are divine. But much before that, they will also give a method, what is called simulation.
 
Simulation means practising what we have to exhibit in our day-to-day life. As I gave you the example, I should not get angry. So if I go on practising certain scenario, in course of time if that scenario happens, because I have practised it so much, then it becomes easier for me to improve myself.
 
And that can be done through what you call meditation, which is simulation. Do that. Then after that, you take the help of the scriptures and find out who you are.
 
You will not have immediate realisation. But go on meditating until you know, I am this from the scriptural statement. Often this scriptural teaching comes in the form of the teacher, guru.
 
That is called mantra upadesha. Or according to Jnana Marga, he will tell you Tattvam Asi. When does he tell Tattvam Asi? He will not tell in the very beginning.
 
When does he tell? He will make you go through the whole of scripture. Shravana, Manana, Nidhidhyasana, in a general way. When the right time comes, then he will say, you read all those things, you know, you remember? Tattvam Asi, you are that.
 
And even then, a disciple may not be 100% sure. And he knows through faith. But he doesn't know through experience.
 
A time will come, that experience also will come. But for that, to do that, we must have faith. To create that faith, guru is an aid.
 
That is why, what the guru is not important. How I look upon the guru, that is the secret of guru worship. You are not worshipping the body.
 
Your body is only just like an image. Every child knows the image you worship is a piece of metal or a piece of wood, isn't it? But is that what the worshipper is looking at? He is looking at that which represents, that picture, what that picture or image represents. That is why it is called, it is a symbol, an icon.
 
Nobody is worshipping a piece of metal. Everybody is worshipping what that suggests, what that idea says. So the guru is such an ideal.
 
If I can see God in the teacher, then I can extend it very easily to everything, in the course of time, wherever it is. Now I will illustrate very briefly, this process, how it has taken place in the life of a close, intimate devotee of Sri Ramakrishna. I am referring to Gopala's mother.
 
She had a vision. Where did she have a vision? In her own home. That was her private vision.
 
For that you have to get information about the life. I am only briefly mentioning. Then, that is what exactly this book's teachings illustrate.
 
She had a vision from her own heart. Then she came to Dakshineshwar. Then, this image is going into Sri Ramakrishna.
 
And it is coming out of Sri Ramakrishna. Again it is going. I means, what you see here, what you see there, is one and the same.
 
That's what happened in the beginning. After a few days, what happened? It extended. In all the important devotees of Sri Ramakrishna, like Narendra, Nath, Rakhal, etc., this image is going.
 
First it said only Ramakrishna. That's why she got the name Gopala Irma. Because she used to call Sri Ramakrishna as Gopala.
 
And she also used to call her as mother. So, Gopala's mother, meaning Sri Ramakrishna's spiritual mother. But that vision didn't stop there.
 
It went on going inside, outside. Narendra Nath, then Rakhal, then Tarak, then... We don't know the particular. Then, not only Sri Ramakrishna, my Gopala is Narendra, my Gopala is Rakhal, my Gopala is Tarak, etc., etc.
 
The vision was extended. Until, we don't know how many people, how many people Gopala entered. And finally, when there was that chariot festival at Kamarhadi, that day, this Gopala was present in the chariot, in the people who were witnessing the chariot festival, in the priests who were sitting on the chariot, in the image on the chariot, that means, everywhere.
 
With that, her vision was completed. Jatadhari Sadhu. First he was seeing only Rama in that image.
 
Later on, he discovered demons. Why? Now he is able to see Rama everywhere. So this is... But at least let us start with one person upon whom we can show reverence, not because he is revered, but because I choose to bestow reverence and love upon him.
 
You see the difference? Otherwise, you prove your reverence, then I will show my reverence. That is not the way. Whatever you are, I don't care.
 
I have decided to revere you. So I only get the benefit. The poor guru may not get the benefit.
 
I get the benefit. That is the secret of puja. You know an image.
 
You take food. I decide to offer this to you. Then what does that food become? Prasada.
 
Then who gets benefit? I only get the benefit. So this is the secret of murti puja, any murti. If anybody ridicules you, if you want, you can give this answer.
 
It is not that the murti is God. I have chosen to look upon it as God. What is your headache? So this is the process.
 
One day will come. Then we will see the whole universe is nothing but Brahman. And that is the fact.
 
You are not imagining it to be Brahman. It is Brahman. You don't see it.
 
Now you are capable of seeing it. That is called spiritual progress. From afternoon to the evening onwards, we will deal with the 13th chapter, which is a very interesting chapter.
 
And only three sessions are there. Therefore I can only give you the very essence. And in fact that is enough actually for us to understand.
 
With the help of what we are going to discuss, you can understand the 13th chapter more or less easily. Om Shanti Shanti Shanti.
[[Category:Drg Drsya Viveka]]
[[Category:Drg Drsya Viveka]]

Latest revision as of 18:18, 21 May 2026

Dṛk-Dṛśya Viveka and the Bhagavad Gītā, Chapter Thirteen

Introduction

So in this class we will continue the discussion we had yesterday. From this afternoon, I would like to talk about the thirteenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā. The text we have been following for the last few days is the Dṛk-Dṛśya Viveka.

Science as Impartial Observation

Now, this discrimination — the separation between the seer and the seen — is a very scientific method. The whole of science is only based upon this system. What does a scientist do? He becomes an impartial observer, isn't it? Then only can he really observe.

To observe means to find out the nature of something. He finds a pattern, and that is how he classifies. First he gathers the data, then he classifies it, then he derives certain conclusions, based upon which predictions can be made. Now that is science. A scientist is one who does this — not merely a technician. Many technicians call themselves scientists, but they are not scientists; they are merely mechanical workers.

A true scientist is one who detaches himself from his old habits and tries to observe things properly. This is very, very useful for us in our day-to-day life. If we do not do this, then we have to pay a hundred pounds per hour on Harley Street. What does a psychologist do? He just observes us. He can come to the right conclusions because he is not attached to us — he is only attached to the money he is going to get. So he is very careful to observe, and he doesn't do anything new. He simply says that these are some of the ideas which are obscuring your true vision. He doesn't make a new man. He merely brings us back to our original state.

So that is spiritual practice also. What is the first thing? We have to detach ourselves — not become one with our ideas or thoughts. The highest such detachment is the detachment from the body. But that doesn't mean we have to neglect the body or commit suicide. We should not say, "I am the body." We have to say, "I have a body." Do whatever you like — you enjoy thoroughly. In fact, you will enjoy better if you have that kind of attitude, because then you accept in its totality.

Understanding and Acceptance

What is our problem? We only accept truth partially, not in its totality. Now, if you can accept the truth of the world in totality, then you will develop great detachment. Why? What is the nature of the world? Not only is it changing, it also consists of dualities. If you are happy, then what do you expect? "I will always be happy like this." But that doesn't happen. After some time, you will become necessarily unhappy. That is part of life, part of nature. That is why it is called dvandva — it is part of life.

Somehow we know it intellectually, but we never accept it. Some understanding is there, but acceptance is not there. In spiritual life, these two must be integrated: understanding plus acceptance, and modifying the behaviour according to that understanding. That is why the Lord says, "If anyone is devoted to Me, I grant him buddhi yoga" — buddhi yogaṃ dadāmy aham. What is buddhi yoga? Understanding we already have. Who doesn't know that death comes? Who doesn't know that death can come at any time it likes? Don't we have that understanding?

But we lack one thing — acceptance. We have understanding; we don't have acceptance. We are prepared to accept that which is convenient, but that which is inconvenient, we are not able to accept. Svāmī Vivekānanda made a wonderful observation: "Happiness comes with a crown of misery on its head." So we are very prepared to accept the happiness, but not the misery — yet it goes along with it. These two are called twin brothers — they are always together. Not ordinary twin brothers. The word "sia" means twin brothers. If you take one, the other also has to be taken. So that comes only through spiritual practice.

Forbearance, Acceptance, and Sublimation

Actually, spiritual practice doesn't change anything. One doesn't grow two horns because of spiritual practice — even hair doesn't grow. If you practise too much spiritual practice, there is a danger of hair falling off, not growing.

Is there any difference between acceptance and forbearance? Forbearance is an action. Acceptance is an intellectual outlook — "Yes, I accept it." After that, forbearance comes. In fact, without acceptance, the word forbearance is meaningless. What we cannot avoid, we have to bear. In fact, ninety-nine percent of the time we are only forbearing, because how many times are we actually able to get what we want? Even when you get things, you are only bearing it.

But that is actually forbearance — it is not bearing, in the negative sense. You know why? If you analyse the fact, we want to enjoy the sensation of enjoyment. But we don't want it to stick there like a heavy burden. In five minutes it can be digested, and if we are ready for another, how wonderful it will be. But unfortunately, this is the payment we have to make — for this much happiness, I have to bear it for hours together. That we do not usually accept.

What happens when we take to spiritual life? Things do not change. You must always notice it. The world doesn't change. The same sun rises day after day — same sun, same food, same environment, same mosquitoes. Everything is the same. But what happens? A new outlook comes, and that makes all the difference in the world. When we accept something, life becomes marvellous.

But it doesn't stop there. Forbearance is not meant just to carry on life. Forbearance is an instrument on the way to something much higher. And for that, we have to make special spiritual practices. That is why most of us know this, of course, but we do not pay attention to it. There are certain disciplines — they are not spiritual disciplines, they are preparations for spiritual disciplines. In fact, all the sādhana — ketu, sthāya, sampatti — are only preparations. Then only the teacher will come and tell you, "Now your instrument is ready, let us start the journey." Then he will give you: "This is how you will have to meditate from now onwards."

Spiritual Practice as Simulation (Upāsanā)

Very often I compare meditation to simulation. It is a very useful analogy. You know simulation? Microsoft Flight Simulator. It is a very useful example. Instead of you going into the actual plane and damaging it, what do you do? You sit, and everything that you are supposed to do in the real plane, you are doing in the simulator. So if you do it enough number of times, then your nerves, your thinking — everything becomes automated. So many types of simulators are there. Even for car driving, there is a simulator.

And now psychologists are devising certain computer programmes — simulators — so that they can help people with phobias. You know phobias? Earthworm phobia, cockroach phobia, dry leaf phobia — you name it, it is there. Agoraphobia, claustrophobia — so many phobias are there. Now, what they do is develop a kind of virtual machine — a computer simulation. Suppose somebody has got earthworm phobia. They know intellectually that an earthworm doesn't do any harm, but somehow they developed this fear. So slowly, slowly, they put an earthworm moving on screen, and while going on talking, they ask the person to express, "Oh, I have this phobia." He is going on looking at it. Somehow the mind accepts it being close. Then slowly they ask him or her to go near and touch it — it is just an artificial one. So when this is sufficiently practised, then they bring an actual earthworm, and slowly the person will get rid of it.

This is the exact simulation we are supposed to do, and this is called in Sanskrit upāsanā. All upāsanās are like that. These upāsanās consist of several factors, but I will only mention two: one, our normal situation; and second, where we are going to reach — our destination, our goal.

But we are now here, so we have to slowly remove all the impediments that we have. Let us take an example. Suppose there is a person who loses his temper very, very quickly. Now that is a great impediment. It snaps energy, wastes time, and brings bad reactions in others. No one is going to be spiritual without removing these impediments — that is not possible. Because saintliness means the higher the vision, and vision is knowledge, and knowledge brings simultaneously corresponding changes in behaviour. If there is knowledge, knowledge brings about change in behaviour. But if we want to have that knowledge, we have to change the behaviour so that it facilitates the manifestation of that knowledge.

Reverence Toward the Guru

Now, this is where upāsanā works out. You have heard about it? "Let your mother be God. Let your father be God. Let your teacher be God. Let any guest — by implication, everybody." Now you look at the krama, the order. Who is the nearest to us? Mother. Not even father, because nine months we are in the womb of the mother. We hear the mother's voice and we feel the emotions of the mother. We are nothing but ninety-nine percent our mother only — body and mind, everything. That is why: let our mother be God. But it is easy to think mother is God. Father, who comes next, is also easy, but it is slightly more distant.

If the father is absent for six months, it will take a few hours for the child to recognise him again. But the mother is instinctual — the child will never forget. You know the penguins? There are half a million penguins. Every penguin practically has a chick. The mother recognises the chick, and the chick recognises the mother, even though there is a cacophony everywhere. How does the mother recognise the chick, and the chick the mother? It is a bond.

But for the father, because it is a bit more distant, he can be forgotten and recognised later only by association. Even further is the teacher, because the teacher-student relationship comes when? Maybe after four years, five years, only it comes. And then: consider everyone as God. Atithi means someone whom we encounter suddenly in life, for a short time. So you see, it is gradually enlarging our vision of divinity. If we can really see our mother as divine, then it is easier to look upon father as divine. If we see the father as divine, it is easier to extend that to the teacher. I am, of course, talking about the ideal mother and father. Normally, parental love is instinctual, and the children depend upon the parents.

So this is how we slowly try to see God in more and more people — those who are at a greater and greater distance from us. Now let us take one of these examples: the Guru. Without any contradiction, every religion practically — including Buddhism — emphasises reverence to the Guru, to the teacher.

Many modern people have a lot of objections to this. After all, he is a human being like you and me. He also eats. But the point is: how much does Hinduism go into this? Gurur brahmā gurur viṣṇur guru devo maheśvaraḥ. And some devotees are having so much devotion that they catch hold of the feet and do not let go at all. I call it "pulling the legs of the Svāmī" — literally, I have to go on balancing.

Now, seriously — why so much reverence? It is not about the Guru. The Guru is a target for practising reverence — whatever the Guru may be. The Guru may not have so much knowledge, he may have even bad habits, he may not know more than me — but that is not the point. The point is I want to become better. When you are practising archery, it is not the greatness of the target that matters. In fact, the more you are becoming better at archery, the smaller and more distant the target becomes.

There was a Zen master who was considered the supreme master of archery. Someone asked, "Why are you called such a great master?" He said, "I will tell you the secret. You know what I do? First, I discharge my arrow and then call it a target." So every time, he is absolutely on target.

The point is: we have to grow reverence. Now there is a law — if somebody is great, naturally we will have reverence for that person. But we don't often see greatness in the world. Very little greatness we see. But we have to learn how to revere — especially if we want to see God. Can you remain without reverencing God? Is it possible? But how will you see God? If you develop your reverence, then you will see only God. This is called seeing God. God is already there.

Seeing Divinity Everywhere

In every object, God is there. Where is God not? Even in a pillar, there is God. Remember what I am talking about? Prahlāda. Prahlāda's father asked, "Is your God here?" Prahlāda says, "Where is God not? God is everywhere. This pillar itself is nothing but God — if you have the eyes to see."

So what Hinduism is teaching is not that God is hiding somewhere and waiting for you. It is that you have to open your eyes. Already God is standing — not only in front of you, you are that God. Usually, we don't revere ourselves, but we have to revere ourselves.

There was an incident. Śrī Śāradā Devī was sitting, and some devotee was passing by. Inadvertently, the feet of that person touched the dress of the Holy Mother. Now that is considered a great offence, especially if it is a disciple — a disciple's feet touching the teacher's body. Then, immediately, the Holy Mother took the dress near her own feet and then put it on the head of the disciple.

You know, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa used to show: "This is where I practised Nirvikalpa Samādhi, this is where I did tāntric practices." Was he glorifying his own actions? No — because he knew that through that body and mind, God had manifested. He was only, out of his compassion, revealing.

Arjuna heard everything about Śrī Kṛṣṇa from Śrī Kṛṣṇa's own mouth, if you have studied the Gītā. In the tenth chapter, the Vibhūti Yoga, Kṛṣṇa says: "Wherever you see something extraordinary, that is a manifestation of my own glory." Now, Arjuna heard all these things. But that is not only about special things — every manifestation is nothing but Himself.

The Vision of Arjuna: Divine Eyes and the Totality of Divinity

Arjuna had faith. Then he says, "O Lord, I believe in what you say, but let me experience it." That is the wonderful eleventh chapter. Then Kṛṣṇa says, "You cannot experience me as I described through your ordinary eyes. You need special vision — jñāna-vision." That is why he says, "I will give you divine eyes." Divine eyes behold only divinity.

So that change has to come within us. Now you see the wonderful chapter. It is not Arjuna's natural nature to have divine eyes — they are borrowed divine eyes. And he could not keep them for long because he got frightened.

Why was he frightened? After all, it was a divine vision. Why? Because he was not ready. We only want to see the sweet side of divinity — Kṛṣṇa playing the flute on a moonlit night on the banks of the Yamunā, wonderful. But when Kālī comes with a sword and dances in the crematorium, how does it look? Every shaking step destroys a world forever. What is divinity? Everything is divinity. Sṛṣṭi is divinity. Sthiti is divinity. Laya also is divinity — divine Līlā. How can you behold divinity and see only one side of it? Seeing one side is only humanity — Māyā, not divinity. Seeing everything is called divinity.

So Arjuna was not ready for that. That is why he prays: just as he prayed, "Give me the vision," so he said, "Take away your vision." And Kṛṣṇa, of course, understood. Otherwise he would have had a heart attack — and then whose chariot would he ride?

That is the most wonderful thing for us to contemplate. Just imagine — if we behold everything as divine, then only reverence will be there. Wherever you look, that is God.

Now something wonderful happened. M visited Kāmārpukur even during the lifetime of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, and then came back. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa asked, "So, how did you find Kāmārpukur?" You know what he said? "Every particle of dust in Kāmārpukur appeared to be shining with divine light." And he was prostrating everywhere, because every place was manifesting the divinity of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. He enjoyed it so much. Actually, if you see the people of Kāmārpukur, they themselves never recognised Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. They said, "Our Gadāi — no improvement at all. Even after fifty years he looks exactly the same." But M had that wonderful vision.

Then he wanted to go a second time. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa said, "No — first digest what you have been given."

How did M get that experience? Because Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa had given him that special gift. Coming back to our subject: divinity is already there. We don't revere because we do not see divinity. We hate. But if you hate something, from the Vedāntic point of view, whom are you hating? Yourself. Because God is not even a remote entity — you are the most immediate entity. If everything is God, you are also God. So if you hate something, whom are you hating? If you help someone, whom are you helping? That is the very essence of Karma Yoga: to see the divinity everywhere, and to feel, "I am not serving anybody — I am only serving my own Self." This is the knowledge that will come as a natural consequence. But until it comes, we have to presume. That is called simulation.

Meditation as Simulation

So in meditation, there are two factors. One — you simulate the being of divinity with the help of the scriptures. The scriptures tell you: think of Kṛṣṇa like this, think of Rāma like this. That is why every follower has been given a Dhyāna Mantra. Suppose you have to meditate on Viṣṇu — how will you meditate? You don't know. That is why they give you step-by-step guidance. That guidance is called the Dhyāna Mantra.

If you have to meditate upon Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, also you are given certain hints. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is sitting like that — but what is that Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa? This is only nāma-rūpa. What is the real nature of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa? He is beyond all these dualities. He is always shining in the heart. Do we feel him? No, we don't. But we have to feel him. This is one side — we always focus only on this side.

But we don't focus on the other side, which is even more important. That is real meditation. What is that simulation? Where are you now? What happened to you today? Did you shout at somebody? Did somebody shout at you? When someone shouted at you, what was your reaction? Just imagine — somebody shouted at you. What is our normal reaction? We shout back, or we get angry, or we suppress it. We may not even show it, but we suppress it. And that doesn't mean that we don't have adverse reactions. It only means we are waiting for the proper opportunity.

There was a story: a wife was very angry with her husband. There was a photo of the husband, and she took some darts and went on throwing them at the picture. But all the darts were falling only here and there, not hitting the photograph. Meanwhile, the husband phoned. "What are you doing?" She said, "Missing you."

You see how many reactions come into our minds, and how many we suppress because of conditions. You can't shout at your boss. You can't shout at your colleagues. Every day, the moment there is a second person, there is going to be a conflict. But how are we going to resolve it? If you suppress, it will come out someday and it will damage you. If you express, it may be even more dangerous. But what is the way? Sublimation.

How can you sublimate? The most wonderful example given is this: a child is suckling the mother. At that time, the child is kicking the mother all over. Will the mother get angry with the child? Because the mother knows this is her child, it is a child, it doesn't know what it is doing, and it is not really kicking. That is just its movement. Now, is it possible for us to take things in that light?

Now if we have reverence, then we can bear anything. So that is what we have to do. Willingly we submit ourselves to the Guru. But we have to simulate it in the mind.

The Practice of Simulation in Daily Life

So, here is the example I was giving. Somebody has shouted at or insulted you, or done something to you, and you got very angry and you burst out, you reacted. That may be all right for worldly people, but it is not all right for spiritual people. That is not the ideal behaviour. We have to take the example of saints. How do they react? But we are not saints. What should we do? Simulate.

How do we do it? Recollect the incident and then replay it exactly as it happened. Then sit back and say, "Is this the way I should have reacted? How would I like to react ideally?" Then you simulate: "I will simply not get angry. I will be smiling. I will be talking very nicely and very sweetly." Rehearse. Go on rehearsing. That is called simulation.

When you do this, when an actual event takes place, then your reaction will not be as violent as it has been in the past. Do you get the point? We have to do that. If we don't do this — if we simply go on doing japa — and once we get up from the japa and go out, then we are the same old person. That is why people start wondering, "What is the good of your japa? I don't see any change in you. Fifty years before you started your japa you are exactly the same fellow." That is why people lose faith in religion. Religion is supposed to bring about transformation. When they don't see it, they say it is all nonsense. The priests themselves, the ministers themselves, they don't change. So long as they are on the platform they are excellent teachers. But the moment they come down, they are a different matter entirely.

In Telugu there is a story about a Harikathā man. He was giving Harikathā, and he was describing the evil nature of onion and its effects. His wife was also there in the audience. He was very fond of onion — without onion, he would never put one mouthful of rice in his mouth. So his wife came to know for the first time how evil this onion was. That night she didn't put onion in the food, and he wanted to eat. It was horrible food to him, and he shouted, "Why did you not put onion?" She said, "I did not know it was so bad until I heard your Harikathā." He said, "If I ever see you in my Harikathā again, I will kill you!" You see — on the platform, everything is all right. Practical life is different.

Not only I, but all of you — you are listening. What is the change that happens to you? If it doesn't happen, it is not much effective. So we have to observe at least a little. I am not saying that the very next day you will be transformed into a saint. But a little bit of improvement should happen. That is how we progress in spiritual life. This simulation has to take place in the mind.

Incidentally, this is not connected only with spirituality — even playing baseball, cricket, football, or any game, you can have this simulation. Ninety percent of the skill is simulation; ten percent is actual practice, they tell you. Nowadays everybody has a psychologist. A football player has a psychologist, a singer has a psychologist, a chess player has a psychologist. They advise people on simulation — deep meditation on what I am going to be. What is meditation? It is a simulation of what I am going to be in the future.

That is why, if you visit barber shops — modern hair-dressing shops, beauty salons — they will have computers. You go there for a hair-dressing, and they will take a photograph of you and show you various hair-dress styles — how you will look in each. When you say, "I want to be like this," then they will cut your hair like that. This is also a form of simulation.

And what about Ekalavya? How did he learn archery? His own Guru refused him. How did he learn? He simulated. He used to go, bow down to the image he made of the Guru, and as though the Guru was teaching him — "Now, my child, practise like this." Exactly that is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa also had done.

There is a wonderful incident about Śibunāth — Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's nephew — who was the priest of the Dakṣiṇeśvar Kālī temple. He was a wonderful person, a great devotee of the Mother. He was the person who confronted the Mother and said, "Who are you? Are you Mother Kālī?" And she was forced to admit, "Yes." So he was telling Mahāpuruṣa Mahārāj: "Mahārāj, how can I describe the grace of the Divine Mother? Every day before going to bed, I pray to Mother: 'I may not be able to get up in the morning. Will You please wake me up?' The next morning, every day, Mother wakes me — 'Hey, Śibu, get up. Already the crow is crying. The birds are singing. Get up, take bath, it is time for pūjā.'"

Mahāpuruṣa Mahārāj was telling him: "Śibu, is there any wonder? You are such a great devotee, and Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa loved you. What wonder is there that the Divine Mother is teaching you herself?" And who taught Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa? Divine Mother. It is only Divine Mother.

When Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was doing pūjā, as though she was so eager to accept his pūjā, she was trying to eat the food. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa said, "No, no, no — I have not yet uttered the mantra. Wait, wait."

Divine Protection and the Invisible Grace

Because there is complete reliance upon the Mother, if it happened to Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, will it happen only to Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa? Not to any one of us? If we have that devotion, Mother will protect. But it is a wrong thing to say "she will protect" — as though she is not protecting now. Do you know how many ways Mother protects us? Every time she comes and says, "Look — note down that I have protected you. This is the third time I have protected you today. Please note down." Do you think she is expecting thanks for that? She is already doing it.

But because we don't realise how many times she has saved us from dangers — how many times she has protected us in various ways — we take it for granted. Still protecting, will protect. But she is doing it invisibly. We have to take it for granted. "Oh Mother, You are already protecting me. I can only express my gratefulness to You for doing these things."

The Practice of the Observer: Sākṣī

But coming back to our subject — what we were discussing here — samādhis, what is the first thing? Be a good observer. Go on observing. After observing, if you wish, you may get identified with any of the anger or whatever it is. But you are doing it now as a master, not as a slave.

In any case, this observation is wonderful — not only in spiritual life, but in every activity of life. For example, you are reading a book. Sometimes you observe that so many pages have been turned, but what has gone inside? Nothing. But if you observe — read one page and then say, "What did I read? Did I understand? How do I summarise this particular page? What are the important points?" — then move on to the next page. What is the relationship between the past page and the next page? The secret is this: you have to be an observer and at the same time a participant.

If you are only a participant, that is fine. But actually, every concentrated practitioner simultaneously does these two things, and that is how he keeps things in memory. You are cooking. You have put a lot of salt in pāyasam, and then you bring it to me. "Mahārāj, how is it?" How important it is to be observant! We save a lot of time, and our memory becomes better. Same thing: observe life.

There is a beautiful book. The whole of Zen Buddhism is based upon this simple principle. You know? Vipassanā. Observe, observe, observe. Nothing else — just go on watching.

There is a wonderful novel — Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. The whole book is nothing but an expression of this particular idea. There was one person whose name was Siddhartha, named after Gautam Buddha. He goes in search of enlightenment. So many things happen — it is a big journey. Then ultimately, towards the end of his life, he comes to a river. He recognises the boatman as the most enlightened person. He asks, "How did you get this enlightenment?" The boatman says, "This river taught me. I only ply the boat. This river taught me everything — it gave me enlightenment. And you also, observe the river by plying the boat."

What is the secret? When the river is flowing, sometimes flowers are flowing, sometimes corpses are flowing. When you are plying the boat, some good people get into it, some bad people get into it. Good people also get out. Bad people also get out. Then new people come. Every day, every minute, things are changing. Then what is the lesson you learn? There is only one thing which doesn't change. Who is that? Me. Me, the observer. Even the river is changing, but I — I am the observer.

All of life is meant only for one purpose: Who am I? If you observe, you notice that you — the observer — alone is the reality. Everything else comes and goes, comes and disappears. We learn lessons only through observation. And until we observe, the lessons will be repeated. When we learn the lesson, we will not be caught again. Renunciation is not running away. You learn your lesson, and then you can be a king, a husband, a wife — you can be anything. You can even fight in the most terrible war. That is what Kṛṣṇa taught Arjuna: "You fight, people will be killed, they will be injured, you may also be killed — but you have to take it like anybody else, because this is life. But just be the observer, and everything will come to you."

When a scientist observes without identifying with the materials of the experiment, he comes to truth. What does he discover? Scientific truth. That is the same rule — be the observer, be the observer. Sākṣī.

Then a time will come. Once you become Sākṣī, the next step will come. This is the essence of beginning meditation. We talk about Samādhi and so many other things — we don't even understand intellectually what they really mean. But we can to some extent understand this teaching: let us be the observers. Observe everything. Observe your breathing, for example, and you will discover wonderful things.

Symbolism of Goddess Kālī

Why did Ṭhākur become so enlightened after meditating upon the Divine Mother? Because he accepted the fact that if there is creation, there will also be maintenance, and there will also be dissolution. This is the most natural thing in the world. And you cannot go beyond nature. Why not accept it? Is it not happening? We all become old — it is going to happen. And one day we have to die. If we don't accept this fact, you know what happens? We go on struggling to stop this process. And do you think you will succeed? You will not succeed. In the process, you will only waste your time. Better to be prepared.

That is why all these symbolisms are given — they are a type of meditation. Now, many people fear Mother Kālī. But what is the symbolism? Everything is a symbolism.

What does Brahmā do? What does Śiva do? What does Viṣṇu do? Brahmā doesn't have weapons — he has Sarasvatī. But Viṣṇu and Śiva have weapons. What are Viṣṇu's weapons for? To maintain order — he needs, so to speak, law enforcement, paramedics, everything. To maintain sthiti, two things are needed: protect and maintain the existing things, and defend against inimical things. Both are necessary.

Śiva is not the maintainer. Śiva is only the destroyer. That is why he has the Triśūla. What does Triśūla signify? He is called Tripurāri — the destroyer of three cities, or the three guṇas. What is your whole saṃsāra? It is nothing but sattva (creation), rajas (maintenance), and tamas (destruction). So if you want to get out of saṃsāra, it will have to be destroyed — that is why Śiva has the Triśūla. And also the Ḍamaru — the sound of the Ḍamaru indicates that your time is approaching.

Now, come back to Mother Kālī. All three — Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Maheśvara — are represented in one Divine Mother. Have you seen Kālī's image? Śiva is lying, and upon his body Kālī is standing, with her hair flowing. She has four hands — on the right side two, on the left side two. The right side two: one hand is in Abhaya (fearlessness), one hand is in Varada (boon-giving). On the left side, there is a sword and a severed head.

The right side represents Brahmā and Viṣṇu. The left side represents Maheśvara, Śiva — that is the representation. The first gesture, Abhaya, means: your life is all right, you don't need to fear. The ultimate fear is only one: that we are going to be destroyed. Every other fear is secondary. And even after living, we want to live happily — we need many things. That is why the Varada gesture is there.

But anything that is created also has to go back through maintenance and dissolution. The very word itself is so symbolic. What is it? Kālī. Kālī means Kāla — time. Kāla, not timelessness. Timelessness is Śiva. Sṛṣṭi, sthiti, laya happen only in time. Keśajāla — the flowing hair — symbolises all of this.

Now, if one meditates upon this symbolism, that means we are accepting that this is the life-process. If you accept this, will you regret something? You know, when you buy an aeroplane ticket and go and sit — so long as you are travelling, you will not allow anybody to sit in your seat. You cling to it with a death-like tenacity. But the moment your destination is reached, you are too eager to give up your seat and rush out. Why? Because you have taken it for granted that this seat is only for a few short hours of the journey. Once you have arrived, you are not reluctant to give it up. A person who knows the secret of life is as eager, when the time comes, to get out — he is not frightened. But we, like children, are still clinging to the seat. Because of our ignorance — that we have not accepted the fact that the destination has come, and we have to get out of the train.

Prāṇāyāma and the Steps of Meditation

Now, observing as an observer gives a great benefit. It isolates us. It breaks our old identity. Not only is it wonderful in spiritual life, but it is wonderful in every activity of life.

And then there is breathing. Why are you restricting yourself? You can breathe fully — see how much it improves your posture, your thinking, your blood pressure, your intelligence. And it is all free.

That is why the very first teaching for meditation has these steps. What is the first condition? Sit straight — āsana. Then after āsana: prāṇāyāma. What is prāṇāyāma? Control the prāṇa. How do you control the prāṇa? You breathe in and out with full observation. That is why they make the mathematical formula: breathe in to the count of four, retain to the count of sixteen, breathe out to the count of eight, and so on. Why? Because by giving this number, you are forced to observe. And it has a lot of effects — many mysteries which nobody will reveal to you through a book alone.

This particular type of regulation has an effect on different points of the body — like acupuncture. Why does this particular point affect that particular nerve? So many mysteries are there. Prāṇāyāma is wonderful.

So the sequence is: first āsana, then prāṇāyāma, then pratyāhāra, then dhāraṇā, then only dhyāna. And we are talking about dhyāna! Even yama and niyama — we don't know what they are. Yet we are talking about dhyāna. In that order we have to go, otherwise we cannot maintain even āsana. What happens if you try to maintain āsana without yama and niyama? You can't, because the mind is restless. Body becomes restless — then it slumps, or something happens. Āsana means steadfastness, and steadfastness can come only when the mind is steadfast.

The Observer and the Question "Who Am I?"

So observation is the first point — observe, observe, observe. Let the mind run as much as it wants. Just observe; let the mind go, don't stop it, don't control it, let it do what it likes, but you observe. Surprisingly, when you start observing it, the mind also thinks, "My master is looking at me — I have to be careful." Fifty percent of its wildness is cut off. That is the beginning.

Once you can separate yourself, then calmness and tranquillity will come, because you understand that it is a natural thing. Sometimes it is hot, sometimes cold, some people like you, some people dislike you — this is the most natural thing in the world. So once we know that we have the power of observation, lots of good results will follow. But that is not the aim of merely observing. The next step must follow.

What is the next step? Who am I? I know I am observing. I know I am the observer. But what further? What is my real nature? Do I know who I am? Until this time, I am thinking I know who I am — "I am the body, I am a man, I am a woman, I live in Cedar Rapids, I do this job" — that is my CV. But the moment you separate yourself, immediately you are confused. "If I am not the body, if I am not the mind, then who am I?" Observer means what? I am separate from the body and mind. Then who am I? How will you know? Because the world can never teach you who you are. And you don't know who you are.

What is the way out? Then you necessarily take the help of the scriptures. The scriptures tell you what is your nature. This is upāsanā. So go on meditating upon it. Then slowly, slowly — the scripture is not making you something new. It is only revealing what you already are.

And to understand this properly, the scripture also gives us an object to meditate upon. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa used to meditate upon Kālī the Mother. But what does the image of Kālī represent? That is the meditation. If we can meditate upon this symbolism, that means we accept this is the life-process. If we accept, we will not regret. A person who knows the secret of life is not frightened when the time comes. We have to overcome the fear of death. Then what happens? The mind becomes calm. When the mind becomes calm, we can do better things with that mind. That is one purpose of upāsanā on all these symbolisms.

Not to speak of spiritual progress, but even to live a happy, normal life, we need to accept the reality of life. Unfortunately, we are not accepting it. We are listening to Gītā talks, Vedāntic talks, everything. But first, be an observer. Then we discover so many defects within us: "Oh, why am I angry with that person? Why am I unhappy with that person? Why am I jealous? Because that person got something which I think is better than what I have." This is how we discover our own defects.

Holy Mother's teaching: "My child, if you want peace of mind, then stop finding fault with others." And when I start looking into my own faults, then I say: "That same fault which I was looking for in the other person, I have it also — in a much improved, latest, updated version. How can I, without any shame, try to find fault with others?" You see how many wonderful things will come? The moment we start doing anything like that, we are really observing. And the moment you observe, you are isolated. The moment you are isolated, the question comes — "If I am not this, I don't know who I am."

The Role of Scripture and the Guru

When Ramaṇa Mahārṣi advises people: "Find out who you are" — and a person says, "Who am I? Who am I?" — what picture comes to his mind? Whatever CV he has, that is the only picture. Then if he is honest, he has to say, "I am a foolish fellow, I am an idiot." But is that what Ramaṇa Mahārṣi is really asking? He is asking to find out: "No, I am not this, I am not this, I am not this." That is the beginning process. Then who are you? When it comes to that question, you can never find the answer on your own, because that is not in our experience. Then you will have to take the teachings of the scriptures and go on repeating those things.

As a result of so many jñānas, and after so many births — bahūnāṃ janmanām ante vāsudevaṃ māṃ prapadyate, vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti — after so many lives, the great soul surrenders to Vāsudeva, knowing that Vāsudeva is everything.

This is also one question that comes: "Why am I not progressing in spiritual life?" How many janmas have you been unspiritual? When did you start your spiritual life? And now you are expecting very, very fast results.

What did Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa teach? Suppose a room is in darkness for a million years — how much time will it take for it to get light? The moment you bring light in, it gets light immediately. And that is why it says: titikṣā — infinite patience you must have. Sahanaṃ sarva-duḥkhānām apratikarā-pūrvakam, cintā-vilāpa-rahitam, titikṣā sā — "bearing all suffering without resistance, without worry and lamentation — that is titikṣā."

That is why Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa tells the story of two yogīs. Nārada was going by. One yogi asked, "When am I going to see God?" Nārada said, "One more life only." And he started weeping. The other yogi asked the same question, and Nārada said, "As many lives as there are leaves on a tamarind tree." And he started dancing. What is the meaning of that parable? The second person is prepared to wait any number of years. And that very acceptance brings the grace of God instantaneously.

So if you are impatient, you know the result — you take more time to do anything if you are impatient.

The Role of the Guru: Mantra Upadeśa and Tat Tvam Asi

So I would wrap up what we have discussed today. What is it? If we want to progress in any field of life, be scientific. What is to be scientific? First of all, to be an observer — and really be observant. Not identifying, not interpreting. We are never pure observers. We are what is called motivated observers. We interpret everything. Without observing, we don't receive anything. But we are always coloured — we put on coloured spectacles and then observe.

Don't put on any spectacles. Just be an observer. Good or bad — whatever is there, accept it as a fact. Then that itself is a great spiritual progress. Then we notice that we have more problems and defects within us than anywhere outside.

The scriptures give two types of teaching. One teaching is to accept ourselves as what we want to be: "You are divine." But much before that, they also give a method — what is called simulation. Simulation means practising what we have to exhibit in our day-to-day life. As I gave you the example — I should not get angry. So if I go on practising a certain scenario, in the course of time, if that scenario happens, because I have practised it so much, it becomes easier for me to improve myself. That can be done through what you call meditation — which is simulation. Do that.

Then, after that, you take the help of the scriptures and find out who you are. You will not have immediate realisation. But go on meditating until you know, "I am this," from the scriptural statement. Often this scriptural teaching comes in the form of the teacher — the Guru. That is called mantra upadeśa. Or, according to Jñāna Mārga, the teacher will tell you tat tvam asi — "That Thou Art." When does he tell this? He will not tell in the very beginning. He will make you go through the whole scripture — śravaṇa, manana, nididhyāsana, in a general way. When the right time comes, then he will say: "You read all those things? You remember? Tat tvam asi — you are That."

And even then, a disciple may not be one hundred percent sure. He knows through faith, but he doesn't know through experience. A time will come when that experience also will come. But for that, we must have faith. To create that faith, the Guru is an aid. That is why what the Guru is, is not important. How I look upon the Guru — that is the secret of Guru worship. You are not worshipping the body. Every child knows the image you worship is a piece of metal or a piece of wood. But is that what the worshipper is looking at? He is looking at that which the image represents. That is why it is called an icon, a symbol. Nobody is worshipping a piece of metal. Everybody is worshipping what that image suggests, what that idea conveys. So the Guru is such an ideal. If I can see God in the teacher, then I can extend that vision very easily to everything, in the course of time, wherever it is.

The Story of Gopālā's Mother: The Extension of Vision

Now I will illustrate very briefly this process — how it has taken place in the life of a close, intimate devotee of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. I am referring to Gopālā's Mother. She had a vision. Where did she have a vision? In her own home. That was her private vision. Then she came to Dakṣiṇeśvar. Then this image was going into Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa and coming out of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa — what you see here and what you see there is one and the same.

After a few days, the vision extended further. In all the important devotees of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa — like Narendranāth, Rākhal, and so on — this same image was entering. First it said only Rāmakṛṣṇa. That is why she got the name Gopālā's Mother — because she used to call Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa "Gopāla," and he used to call her "Mother." Gopālā's Mother — meaning Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's spiritual mother. But that vision didn't stop there. It went on going. "My Gopāla is Narendranāth, my Gopāla is Rākhal, my Gopāla is Tārak," and so on.

The vision was extended until, finally, when there was that chariot festival at Kāmārhāṭī, that day, her Gopāla was present in the chariot, in the people who were witnessing the chariot festival, in the priests who were sitting on the chariot, in the image on the chariot — everywhere. With that, her vision was completed.

Similarly, Jaṭādhārī Sādhu: first he was seeing only Rāma in that image. Later on, he discovered Rāma everywhere. So this is the process. At least let us start with one person upon whom we can bestow reverence — not because he is revered, but because I choose to bestow reverence and love upon him. You see the difference? Otherwise: "You prove your reverence-worthiness, then I will show my reverence." That is not the way. Whatever you are, I don't care — I have decided to revere you. So I only get the benefit.

You take food and decide to offer it to God. Then what does that food become? Prasāda. Then who gets the benefit? I only get the benefit. So this is the secret of mūrti pūjā — any mūrtī. It is not that the image is God. I have chosen to look upon it as God. And one day will come — then we will see the whole universe is nothing but Brahman. And that is the fact. You are not imagining it to be Brahman. It is Brahman. You don't see it now, but you are becoming capable of seeing it. That is called spiritual progress.

Conclusion

From this afternoon to the evening onwards, we will deal with the thirteenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā, which is a very interesting chapter. Only three sessions are there, and therefore I can only give you the very essence. And in fact, that is enough actually for us to understand. With the help of what we are going to discuss, you can understand the thirteenth chapter more or less easily.

Oṃ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ.

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