Patanjali Yoga Sutras Lecture 022

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

OM YOGENA CHITTASYA PADENA VACHAM MALAM SHARIRASYA CHAVAIDYA KENA YOPAKAROTAM PRAVARAM MUNINAM PATANJALIM PRANJALI RANATOSME I bow to the eminent sage Patanjali, who removed the impurities of the mind through yoga, of speech through grammar, and of the body through medicine. Let me recollect what we had discussed in our last class. We are talking about Samadhi. According to Patanjali, Samadhi has been divided into four categories, the lower Samadhi and the higher Samadhi. The lower Samadhi is further subdivided into six types, Vitarka, Vichara, Ananda and Asmita. Four, to be very simple for those who do not understand Sanskrit language, that is, when we meditate upon any object, gross object, that is called Vitarka. Again, it is of two types. Meditation on these gross objects in time, space and causation, and meditation beyond time, space and causation. If it is within time, space and causation, they are called Sa-Vitarka. If it is beyond time, space and causation, they are called Nir-Vitarka. Similarly, these are gross objects. When we analyze any gross object, they reveal to us something behind them, their cause, which is called Sukshma-Bhutas, subtle elements. And meditation on those subtle elements in time, space and causation is called Sa-Vichara. And meditation on those subtle objects, so deeply absorbed that we are, we go beyond time, space and causation, which is called Nirvichara. Thus, four types on gross objects. Now, let me introduce you or re-bring the topic in my last class I mentioned. Whenever we have an experience, there are three elements. There is the experiencer and there is the object about which he has an experience that which connects the knower or the experiencer with the object. For example, if I am looking at this paper, I am there, paper is there. I am the knower, experiencer, Jnata, Grahita. And the paper is the object, Grahya or the knowable object. If I am there and the object is not there, no experience is possible. The object is there, I am not there, experience is not possible. I am there, object is there. But if the mind is not there, it is not possible to have knowledge. So these three must be present within every object. So what is the point of bringing this is Samadhis of four types, Pitarka, Pichara. They are related to objects, gross or subtle. What is the third Samadhi? It is called Sananda Samadhi, meditation on Ananda. What is Ananda? What is Ananda? Bliss. So it is a wonderful analysis which I will come to that. But before we come, what is important for us to know, it is also another name, that name it is mind. That's why we say bondage is in the mind. Liberation also is the mind. Expand this idea. Happiness is in the mind. Unhappiness is also in the mind only. Good is in the mind. Evil also is in the mind. I am a man, that is also in the mind. But I am a devotee, that is also in the mind. I am God, that is also in the mind only. When a person realizes God, he doesn't think I am God. He doesn't feel he is God. He just remains as God. Now no further description is necessary or possible. Like when we are all in deep sleep, do we make a statement, I am very peaceful, I am in deep sleep. It is for others to make, not we ourselves. So the third meditation, Ananda, means now focus the mind, the knower is focusing the mind not on any object but as the very instrument which connects one with the object. Objects are left far behind. Now the object of meditation itself has become the instrument. Until now the instrument of knowledge is used as an instrument to obtain knowledge of any object. Now forget about the objects and focus on the mind itself. That is called Ananda. And why is it called Ananda? Why can't you say I am meditating, I am focusing, I am concentrating on the instrument, on the chitta, on the mind. Why don't you use plain words? No, there is a reason for that. The reason is that all the Ananda that we derive is within the mind only. How it is there, I will come to that subject slowly. But what is important for us, in the third stage of the lower samadhi, the third stage, the focus is not on the object, the focus is on the instrument itself. Let me sharpen the instrument itself. And when we pass that examination, that means we have completely known the nature of the mind, then we move to the last step of the lower samadhi, which is called Sa Asmita Samadhi, means meditation on the knower itself. Now who is this knower? Not to be confused, you know, we are students of Vedanta primarily and Raja Yoga secondarily. So we are always confusing. Whenever Vedanta talks about thou art that, you are that knower, then I am Brahman. When a person says I am Brahman, just imagine the ridiculousness of it. Who really says I am Brahman? Does Brahman say I am Brahman? Ramakrishna gives a funny example. Does a gentleman ever say, look, I am a gentleman. It is left for others to say. But then, what about a knower of Brahman? That is also a reflected I only. That is not real Brahman. See Ramakrishna, when he says I am an incarnation of God, is he a Brahman or is he a reflected consciousness? He is not Brahman. Strange, he is not Brahman. Because Brahman doesn't, from the viewpoint of Brahman, there is no world. When there is no world, there is no problem. When there is no problem, there is no incarnation at all. That is why he says, not from your standpoint of Vedanta, I am Rama, I am Krishna, only from the viewpoint of duality. And that too, only from the viewpoint of a devotee. And that too, from the viewpoint of only some devotees, not every devotee. A Christian doesn't agree that Ramakrishna is an incarnation of God. In fact, many Christians don't agree that Jesus Christ is an incarnation of God. He is an exalted, very noble human being. That's all. If you ask a Muslim, is Prophet Muhammad an incarnation of God? It's a wonderful thing. If you ask a devotee of Ramakrishna, is Prophet Muhammad an incarnation of God? What does he say? Yes, we worship him. Do Muslims worship Prophet Muhammad? Do they ever say that this is an incarnation of God? He is an exalted, he is a messenger of God. He was a human being. He led such a marvellous life. He is an exemplar to every human being. But he is not an incarnation of God. Hindus accept him, but not Muslims. Christians won't accept Prophet Muhammad. They say Prophet, Prophet means what? A good man, good saint. And nothing compared to our Jesus Christ. It's their idea. What is the point? The point is, how many people accept Sri Ramakrishna as an incarnation of God? Very few people accept. And those who accept also, verbally they accept. Mentally they don't accept. Funny examples come, you know. A devotee of Ramakrishna. Oh, what devotion! He enters into the shrine. Frustrates. But when he has a problem, he runs to Sai Baba. Have you not seen? He will go to Sai Baba. Why? Because Ramakrishna is good for meditation, not good for medication. For treating diseases, for curing diseases, your cancer is cancelled. Ramakrishna never said that. So we have different ideas about Sri Ramakrishna. Especially in South India, we have devotees from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka. Now, these are the devotees. So whenever they have any problem, first thing they do is, run to the orthodox temple and run round, not even to the God. Nine planets are more powerful than the inside God. After doing all those things, they will go and perform Tadli. They just offer one pranam, Dandavath pranam, and then come back. And again they go round. Oh, Srini Devata, please take seven years, it is too long. Seven days, okay. I am a devotee, I accept seven days. He is a devotee of God. There was a saint called Purandar Dasa. He says, Sakala graha bala vella neene naya. Oh Lord, all these grahas, they derive their power, either to do good or bad, from whom? You are the source. Tulasi Dasa says, Janaki Natha sahaya kare jab kaunu bigad kare naradhere. When Janaki Natha, Sri Rama, is coming forward to help you, who can spoil, who can destroy you, who can do any harm to you? And then he goes on telling, this Shaneshwara, Rahu, Ketu, they have no power, because all the power they have works through them. Anyway, this point we are discussing now. In the fourth stage of the lower Samadhi, the meditation becomes, turns on one's own self. Who am I? I was meditating on the object. I was meditating on the mind. And now, I am meditating on myself. But, what is this? Who is meditating on oneself? Is this Atman? No. Who is meditating then? It is mind meditating upon itself. It is the highest state of the mind, where a person can meditate, can turn himself, at the same time, both into a subject and also an object. Not to speak of the highest type of meditation. Even when a mentally sick person goes to a psychiatrist or a psychologist, what does the psychologist do? He is analyzing for the patient, the patient's behavior, trying to find out this is what is happening. But if we are intelligent enough, we can turn into our own psychiatrist. In fact, all devotees are supposed to do that. The problem is our own selves. But we attribute it to outside causes. So, in the fourth stage of the lower Samadhi, which is called Asmita, the very Sanskrit word Asmi, understand what is Asmi? I am. Asmita means the state of being one's own self. And all this time, I am in bondage. I am limited. I do not have power. I do not have knowledge. Who is thinking this? Who is thinking? It is not the self. The self can never think, because the Atman, the Purusha, the pure consciousness, is nothing but infinite knowledge. It has no problem. It has no duality. Who is thinking? It is the reflected consciousness. That is what is thinking. So, when a person reaches, this is an important point. The point is, we are intellectually discussing what happens at the second stage, what happens at the third stage, what happens at the fourth stage. But truly speaking, we can never have correct understanding unless we go through this step by step. A baby, you can go on telling him, you see, 2 plus 2 is 4. 2 into 4 is 8. Then you progress into trigonometry and all those things, and pure mathematics. He goes on listening, smiling. Does he understand anything? Do we understand anything? What is the point? The point is, this is a practical science. Sankhya Yoga is an intellectual exercise. But Yoga philosophy of Patanjali is to put into practice what we have understood. We are trying to understand intellectually so far as it is possible for us. And in this respect, all of us are not the same. Some of us know better than others. There are people who are very intelligent. They can understand far better than some other sophomores among us. So, this is what we discussed. There are four types of lower samadhi. And the lower two of these steps are divided into two more. Now, let us go into slightly more details. I started with what is the lowest of these called Tarka. Tarka means question, debate, think over, mull over, analyze. Savitarka means as it were, question. I want to know what is this object? What is this object? How do I know what is this object? Now, I want to find what is this real object? What is reality? Do I know it? So, tell me, clip, oh clip, what is your nature? I am focusing now. I am not asking you. I am not asking anyone else. I am not asking a book. I am asking directly. I am focusing my mind on this object. Last class, I have given an example. Perhaps it would have been better if I had, but you can easily imagine it. Let me introduce, reintroduce that subject to you. There was a flower, red flower. If you remember, I asked you to look at it and when you are looking at it, you have some knowledge. Here is a red rose flower. Here is a red rose flower. Now, very briefly, let me introduce some new concept. Whenever we look at an object, any object, that object contains within itself, from a gross point of view and also subtle point of view, three elements. No object by itself is single as we perceive it right now. It has three components. Sanskrit is called Shabda, Artha and Gnana. What it really means? Shabda means sound. You are hearing my words. I uttered this word just now, flower, rose. Did you hear it? As soon as that Shabda or sound entered into your ears, what happened? It exploded. It entered into your ears in the form of sound. That is called Shabda. But as soon as it entered into your ears, it exploded, transformed itself into an idea. The moment you heard flower, immediately that idea of a flower has come into your mind. That is called Artha. That is why in Sanskrit, every object is called Pada Artha. Pada means word. Pada means Shabda. Artha. Now, Ramakrishna issues a wonderful statement. Naam and Naamni are one and the same. The name and the named are one and the same. With regard to any object, this is true. But this is particularly true in the name of God. Let us say, Ramakrishna. Ramakrishna. The moment you hear Ramakrishna, you have an idea immediately. Ramakrishna comes. Interesting. Immediately an idea comes. Did it not come? Which Ramakrishna? Are you thinking about the baby Ramakrishna? Are you thinking about beardless Ramakrishna? Have you ever thought about beardless Ramakrishna? The name and the named you can never separate. Intellectually, you can separate. But in reality, you cannot separate them. It is one object. That is why Ramakrishna says, willy nilly, you just remember God's name and somehow, some part of your mind, even it be totally unconscious, the idea will come. Name means, every object should be given a particular combination of letters. Either verbal or written. It doesn't matter. To distinguish that object from every other object in the world. When you say, this is a book or this is imitation of Christ, then you do not mean Gospel of Ramakrishna. You don't mean any other book excepting that particular book. Just to give you an example, I am citing this. You don't think it is a cat or a rat or a mat or whatever. You only think about that particular. Always, for eternity, the Pada and the Artha are eternally related. Now, we used a special word that is called Nama. Name. What do you mean by name? What is this object? Just to make the point clear. What is this object? Clip? Suppose you are a Russian. Would you call it a clip? You have your own name in Russian language. In Hindi you have your own name. In every language of the earth you have a specific name for every specific object. Is it not? Is that the name of the object? If I say clip, is clip universally applicable in Russia, in India, in Germany, in everywhere? It is applicable only in one particular language. That too, if you go to Wales, I don't know. If I say clip, they look at me. What do you mean by clip? Many, many English people can't understand my language. You know? We say the name. We have to be very clear about what do we mean by the word name. It doesn't mean the conventional name we give in any language. By name is meant that particular type of sound which invariably point to that specific object. Whether a Russian uses the word clip or German, they have their own names. But there is a particular sound which whatever shape it may take in different languages, invariably it means in their idea, the moment that word is uttered, shabda enters, then that object spontaneously appears in their mind as an idea. That is called name. To give a specific example, God. Sri Ramakrishna gives an example. That water, water, pani, all this. So what is the meaning by the word name? Nama and namni, name and named are one. Not this particular type of word, but that shabda in whichever language, by anybody, young or old, man or woman or anybody, by hearing which in our mind, only that particular idea, universally it arises. That is called Nama. So it is a God. Whichever language, the moment a Muslim hears the word God, Hindu hears the word God, Christian hears the word God, even an atheist hears the word God, only one particular idea comes. Name means that particular shabda or sound, hearing which only that particular object just spontaneously flashes in the mind, that is called Nama. I am talking about those who believe. There are people who do not believe. Of course we don't talk about God. Even they have an idea about God. What you think God, what you mean by God, I do not believe in it. This is what we say. But we get the idea what I am talking about. So what is Nama? Nama is that sound hearing which only one particular object comes into mind universally in the past, in the present and in the future. This is the Avinabhava Samparka an invariable relationship between the name and the named for eternity. Because that is why wherever there is the named, there is the name. Wherever there is the named, there is the named. This is only one component of any object. What is the second component? Idea. For example, the moment I utter Ramakrishna in your minds, in our minds, an idea comes. Some idea comes. I mean that. You mean that. We all mean that. That is how our practical life is going on. If I mean something and you understand something else, then what happens? Misunderstanding comes. But we have agreed this is the idea. Now, what is the point? The point is the idea is not that object. Idea is related to that object. Where is this clip? Where is this clip now? In my hands. The moment I ask, I utter the word clip, all of you invariably you have an idea. What is a clip? Where is that clip? Idea. In your mind. That is second component of an object. What is the third component? This name, this idea. In Sanskrit, what is the equivalent word for idea? Artha. What is the third component of every object? It is called Gnana. What is Gnana? Knowledge. Idea is not knowledge. For example, a stranger comes. I show him this picture of Ramakrishna and I tell, you know, this man's name is Ramakrishna. He has seen the object photographed. He has an idea of this photograph. Does he have the knowledge of Ramakrishna? No. That knowledge comes only through particular study. So, there is the name, there is the idea and there is the knowledge. Every object is a combination of these three. For example, the moment you hear about this is Rama, devotee. I am giving example to the devotee. So, the object Rama, the idea Rama and the knowledge which you have about Rama, all these three are combined in that object and then immediately some of you will bow down and say, oh, this is God. I must bow down. Some of you say, these are nonsense. I do not believe in it and you go away. Whatever, you have a knowledge of that object. So, these three are not one object. These three are separate things. The object is separate, the idea is separate and the knowledge is separate. Now, whenever we interact with any object, unfortunately, they are all combined into one and that is why we have a problem. I will give you some example how it is different. You know, two people, young people, they fall in love and they marry. They cannot understand that both of them are three, have three components. There is the name, name is fine. There is an idea, you look like that, I look like that, that is also fine. What is the problem? Knowledge. So, there is a misunderstanding. First, I thought like this. Then, oh, now I think, I know you somewhat differently and I don't like it, etc. Now, that is the fourth component of our experience of any object. What is the fourth component? Reaction. And this reaction takes two forms, Raga and Dvesha. I like and I don't like. If it contributes for my happiness, then I like it. If it doesn't, then I do not like it. So, let us keep this in mind, these four. Every object within itself is a combination of these four. What is this? Shabda, Artha, Jnana and Pratikriya. That is, name, idea, knowledge and reaction. Let us keep in the mind. Now, with this introduction, let us take up the lowest part of the Samadhi which is called Savitarka. Swami Vivekananda beautifully comments and says, Savitarka means you are a flower. I would like to know something about you. Give me knowledge. Now, here is a point very important. Why should we focus? Why should you train our mind in focusing on any particular object? And in this idea also there are two components. One component is I want to particularly focus on this particular object. The second even more important idea is I want to train my mind it does not matter what the object is. I want to train my mind in such a way that I can focus it on anything I like. I discussed it in my last classes. Focusing or concentration has three benefits. What is the first benefit? Discipline. What is the second benefit? Knowledge. How do we get knowledge? The more we focus on a simple example. Two students are studying a text book. One person gets better understanding than the second student. Why? Where is the difference? In the power of concentration. So what is the first thing? Nobody can focus his mind if there were to be no discipline. Focus your mind. I am not disciplined. I go on doing like this, looking like this. What would be my concentration? What should be the discipline? Whether the mind sits or not, let the body be steady. Look at the book and try not to think of anything else. Very interesting. Swami Vivekananda during his talks, again and again, especially in India, he says, teach a child to concentrate. Don't go on asking him to mug up certain things, text books. Focus. Why? Because once the mind is focused, then he can get knowledge of anything. You, all knowledge is within us. It's very important to keep this point in mind if we want to understand Patanjali Yoga Sutras because where is the knowledge? Now, according to our present understanding, there is an object, so the knowledge is associated with that object. But according to Vedanta, the object is an embodiment of knowledge. Then what is the object for? It is a key. It is a key. I am fond of giving this analogy. You know, in airports, railway shops, there are self-pending machines. You want to buy chocolate and it's written, 50 pence. What do you do? You take a 50 pence coin or something and only you put 50 pence coin. What happens to you? It is lost. So, we are like that vending machines. What is the coin? Object is there. Coin. I want to eat a sweet. That sweet is like a key. But what does it do? It unlocks the machine. But at this stage of our development, we are not having that capacity to focus within ourselves. So, we need the external help. We need a key. We need a key. No, no, every vending machine is locked nowadays with a password. This is the idea of Vedanta. Each one of us, we are of infinite knowledge, though it is not directly related. I want to make a statement here to connect this yoga with Vedanta. At the moment, if we are asked who are you, say, I am so and so. Where are you? I am so and so. Is he in UK only? Is he not everywhere? Is he beyond time or within time? He is beyond time and beyond space and they are of the same nature. I also explained. I won't go into that. That which is everywhere is also everywhere. How can it change? So this idea is connected. Sri Ram Krishna, God, is everywhere and He is infinite. Right? What about us? What does Vedanta say? Vedanta says the what? That. Our idea, we are unable to understand that we are that. But in reality, they know that we are that. Very familiar. Suppose, imagine you are in front of Sri Ram Krishna and Sri Ram Krishna is asking you or me, who are you sir? You say, I am so and so. Then you ask Sri Ram Krishna, what do you think about me? Listen carefully. You are not asking who are you. You are asking, what do you think about me? He says, I am Brahmasmi. If he says I am Brahmasmi, does it mean that accepting you, I am everything? Is that what he means? He means besides me, nothing exists. Therefore, who are you then? You are me. I am you. This is what meditation is called. As it were, you are questioning. Questioning means you are not sitting there and questioning. Here, questioning means you are focusing your mind and say, I want to think only about you, nothing else. What do you do? You are only focusing on Sri Ramakrishna. What happens? A time will come when you will not notice anything but Sri Ramakrishna. Let me give you practical examples cited from the life of Sri Ramakrishna. I would always be trying to quote from Sri Ramakrishna's life, first I could see only the feet of the mother. Then afterwards I could see the face. When I see the face, the feet do not appear. When I see the feet, I do not see the face. And when I see some other part, the divine mother started to smile. If you remember properly, he said, am I seeing or am I hallucinating? Then he said, I carefully saw around whether there is any shadow of the divine mother. Did he find a shadow? Whether she is breathing or whether I am hallucinating that she is breathing. So I went and put my finger below her nostrils. I found her taking breath. Now it passes my understanding, one who can breathe she must also, must be having some shadows. After that, what happened you know, the hand went up automatically onto my own head and then the flowers fell on myself. I started worshipping myself. And then you know that funny story, I wanted to offer food to the mother. I said, Ma, you want me to eat first and she won't leave me alone. That object alone remains the focus all the time until even the self-identity is achieved. But that's a very higher, I am talking about, I am jumping the boat as it were, jumping the queue. Coming back, when we are focusing on any gross object and that person is focusing on any object and in his mind for a certain period of time, no other object intrudes excepting that particular object. But in time, space and causation that is the, what is called highest peak of Savitarka Samadhi. In this world. To give you an example, our ancient Rishis, they didn't have telescopes, they did not have the equipment to record. What did they do? They went on meditating on the sun, on the stars. What happened as a result of that meditation? The knowledge of the stars could be chemistry, it could be physics. That is why in Indian tradition, a Rishi is a discoverer of some type of truth, not merely spiritual truth. It could be any type of truth because God, the embodiment of knowledge, has manifested God, devotees. They were great pandits and yet Sri Ram Krishna used to visit them if he was a great musician, if he was a great physician or anybody. He respected that Mahendra Lal Sarkar. Why? Because he said, I saw a mass of dry knowledge but nevertheless it is knowledge and through that knowledge it manifests in all of us in various ways. So we have to respect. Someone asked, Sir, why did you go there? That fellow didn't care to see you. He didn't respect you. He said, I have not gone to see him. I have gone to pay my respects to the Divine Mother. She will feel insulted if I go to see her. I have not gone to pay my respects to the Divine Mother. I have not gone to pay my respects to the Divine Mother. I have not gone to pay my respects to the Divine Mother. I have not gone to pay my respects to the Divine Mother. I have not gone to pay my respects to the Divine Mother. I have not gone to pay my respects to the Divine Mother. I have not gone to pay my respects to the Divine Mother. I have not gone to pay my respects to the Divine Mother. I have not gone to pay my respects to the Divine Mother. I have not gone to pay my respects to the Divine Mother. I have not gone to pay my respects to the Divine Mother. I have not gone to pay my respects to the Divine Mother. Or take another example, the sun. We see the sun. Where is the sun? Far up in the space. And how big is he? According to our knowledge, how big is he? Some measurement is there. What does he give? Knowledge. That means, you know, he is in the morning, where do you see him? Here. At noon, where do you see him? There. Before sunset, where do you see him? The other place. So, space, time, measurement, but of all these things, one important point is there. What is that? Brilliance. Light. He is an embodiment of light. But in the first instance, what happens? You see nothing else. You don't see any stars. You don't see any moon. You don't see anything else. You see only the sun. That is, when your mind is able for a fixed length of time, only to hold on to that idea of the object called the sun, you have reached the peak of the Savitarka Samadhi, Samapatti. Another word I would like to introduce, Samapatti. It is a yogic word. Samapatti means engrossment. Engrossment means absolute absorption in that particular idea. You go on taking the sun as your object of meditation. What happens? You become engrossed. You don't see anything. You will see the sun. But the sun is in a particular space. He is there. He is of this size. And he is of this brilliance. And this brilliance also differs from time to time. The sun will reveal its knowledge. And you have much better knowledge of the sun. The idea of the sun, immediately it flashes. The moment you hear the word moon, immediately you imagine moon. Did you not come? That idea, the name, the idea. What is, along with name and idea, what is the third component? Knowledge has come. This is moon. This is moon. Very soothing. Four days back, it was very brilliant, etc. Now, they are not one. They are three things, Khechuri, mixed together. Now the second stage, higher stage, of the Savitarka Samadhi, you separate these things. Can you do that? Yes. When you reach the peak of the first stage, you will have, as it were, a knife, which can say, this is name, this is idea, and this is knowledge. You can separate them as clearly as you can cut bread or apple or anything like that. Now it is impossible for us even to imagine how I can remove that. But it is possible. That means what are you doing? You are removing the sun from time, from space, and from causation. How do you do it? Time means what? You don't think of morning sun, noon sun or night sun. You are only thinking about sun. You don't think about the idea associated with time, space and causation. You are only thinking about the sun. And what knowledge do you have of that sun? Only brilliance. Only brilliance. And when you have reached that state of meditation, when you are able to focus on the sun, removing time, space, causation, then you have the ability to separate name, idea and knowledge. You have reached the peak of Nirvitarka Samadhi. You removed time, space and causation. This is the peak of the very first lower step of Samadhi. Now take the example of Sri Ramakrishna. As we read the books, he was born in India. He was a Dakshineshwar. And he had these disciples. Whenever you meditate on Sri Ramakrishna at this period of our development, what more ideas do you have? He liked this thing. He didn't like this thing. And will he like me? Suppose I go there in our imagination. If I go there, will he say, go and see the buildings? Or will he accept like Holy Mother? That's why we like to think of Holy Mother. Because she never said to anybody, go and see the buildings. I always like Holy Mother because she will accept me as I am. Whereas Sri Ramakrishna accepts me if I come up to his measurements. Not really. Because who is Holy Mother? Was it not Sri Ramakrishna's light? Ramakrishna Tapo Surya Kirana Bimba Chandrike. Who is Holy Mother? She is the moonlight which absorbs the harshness of the sunlight and reflects back to us only the cooling, the soothing light of the sun. Ramakrishna Tapo Surya Kirana Bimba Chandrike. The beautiful, soothing moonlight that comes to us. Anyway, so the first stage, if you are asked to meditate on Ramakrishna, what do you meditate upon? Here is Ramakrishna. He was a man and he lived in Calcutta. He led only a spiritual life and he had practiced so many spiritual disciplines and he realized God in all these aspects. All these ideas run riot in our minds. In the first stage, Savitarka Samadhi. But when you go to Nirvethkar Tarka Samadhi, the first thing that happens is I am meditating on Ramakrishna. You are meditating on Ramakrishna. You don't think he is in Dakshineshwar. Where do you think he is? There is a beautiful Kannada song by Purandhar Das. The song goes like this. Ranga means Narayana. Where is Narayana? The answer given is wherever his devotees are, there is Narayana. Not that when there are no devotees, there is no Narayana. But they don't get it. Wherever his devotees are calling on him, there is Narayana. Wonderful song. So do not worry. Where is Narayana? It is an illustration of this talk. Hiranyakashyapu Pralada. Where is Narayana for Pralada? Everywhere. Where is Narayana for Hiranyakashyapu? Nowhere. He has been searching. Stupid fellow has been searching. He is searching. Why is he not getting? Because he had no eyes to see Narayana. If a blind man goes on searching, will he see anything? Pralada is a man who has eyes to see. Hiranyakashyapu is a man. He has no eyes like a blind man. So he asks ultimately, where is your Narayana? I have been searching for him. Pralada says, tell me first where he is not. Then I will tell you where he is. Is he here also? In this pillar? He says, if you have the eyes, yes, he is right here. When Pralada said he is right here, Hiranyakashyapu's eyes opened. And then he breaks to see whether his son's words are. And then, did he not see Narayana? Don't ask me what happened after that. Because there is something important for us all to know. We are all Hiranyakashyapus. Don't misunderstand me, I told you. We are all Hiranyakashyapus, not Praladas. We are wanting to become Praladas, not yet. So we are searching. What happens? Where is he hiding? What is that pillar? We are our pillars. Where is he? Inside us. We have to break this. What is God? I am the body. That is the pillar. You have to break that pillar. Then we will see God everywhere. So, a time will come. Some Guru will come. Some grace will come. Guru means grace. And then we ask, where is Lord? And then we say, he says, the Lord is everywhere. Oh, is he inside me? Why only inside me? Inside me, outside me, everywhere. So then our eyes are opened. That is called really Diksha. Really Diksha. Real Diksha means when our eyes are really opened. Otherwise it is a formality. So, he opens our eyes. Gnananjana Vimalanayana Vikshane Mohajai Every day we are singing. Gnananjana Vimalanayana. Sri Ramakrishna's eyes are decorated with Kulireem of knowledge. And when he looks, whose delusion is gone? His delusion or our delusion? Whose delusion? You see, that is our delusion. Whose delusion? It is Sri Ramakrishna's delusion. If Sri Ramakrishna puts on the Kulireem, then whose delusion goes? His delusion or our delusion? When he looks with that, then he who is within us, in the form of us, when I get knowledge, who gets knowledge? Sri Ramakrishna gets knowledge or I get knowledge? What are you talking about? If Sri Ramakrishna is everything, who am I? So, if my ignorance breaks, whose ignorance breaks? That is the truth. He knows it. And he is playing. Who am I really? Ramakrishna only. That is the final truth. Though I am putting it in a funny way, that is the real truth. He is only assuming our forms and he thinks he is playing games. I am not Ramakrishna. I pretend I am not Ramakrishna. We say that. Coming back to our subject. The first stage is, you see only Ramakrishna. Your mind is filled with Ramakrishna. You want to think about Ramakrishna. You want to read about Ramakrishna. You want to hear about Ramakrishna. You want to dream about Ramakrishna. That is the peak of the first stage. What is the second stage? The moment you pass this first stage, then you isolate him from time, space and causation. That means what? Wherever I am, I see him. In whatever condition I am, I see him. Is he not here right now? This is the essence of story of Prahlada. And is he not there all the time? Only now? I thought of him and he came running through supernatural power from Dakshineshwar. Is he only at Dakshineshwar? He is everywhere. And he is all the time. Where did he go? Where did he ever go? Ramana Maharshi was about to die and his disciples were naturally, they were sad because they were not yet enlightened. Bhagwan, you are leaving us and going away. What was his reply? What did he say? Where can I go? When holy mother was sad, she had a vision of Sri Ramakrishna. What did he say? Where have I gone? From this room to the... What does he mean by this room? How many rooms are there? You know, I am trying to, not only to make fun, but also to make you understand. From our viewpoint, how many rooms are there? This room and the other room. From his point of view, how many rooms are there? In fact, that is also wrong. There are no rooms at all. That is the truth. If you say one, then also many are there. No. There is only, if there is only one, there is no space, there is no time, there is no causation. What is the third factor? Causation. What is the causation? If I am good, then he will bestow his grace. If I am not good, he won't bestow his grace. Who is thinking like this? It is only me, the ignorant one, who is thinking. Do you think God will think, this fellow is bad, I will not bestow my grace? In fact, who needs more light? Only those who are ignorant. Who needs more attention? Only a mother pays attention to whom? A sick child. A philosophical meaning is there. The people who suffer, that suffering is what? The grace of God. Who says this? Don't blame me. I am not saying this. Who said this? Holy Mother said. What did she say? What did Holy Mother say? Misery is the gift of God. Meditate on it. If there is a misery, if there is suffering, then it is the grace of God, because misery makes us think. Happiness makes us forget. This is the truth. That is why when God wants to bestow his grace, first he gives us misery, then we think, and then we become better people. It is a different fact and philosophy. I will not go into it. But what is the point? When you reach the second stage, and start thinking about Sri Ramakrishna, then you forget about, he was not an Indian, he was not a Hindu, he was not a man, he was not this, he was not a spiritual person. All these ideas, you will totally lose concept. The only thing that brilliantly flashes is, he is God, he is God, he is brilliance, like sun's brilliance. He is God, but manifested through that particular instrument. And when we reach that state, we have reached the peak of the second stage, of the lowest stage, which is called nirvitarka, vitarka means no time, no space, no causation. First. This is the first. You take this knife of discrimination, and peel off these three layers of time, space and causation. How do you do that? Because you separate shabda, artha and jnana. Sound, idea, and knowledge. You peel off those things. What remains? Infinite, eternal, truth, Ramakrishna, shines. And what is the nature of that infinite, eternal truth? This is also not the highest step. This is only the highest step of the lowest ladder. Savitarka Samadhi. What is the next step? The third, that is, we have overcome the first step of the ladder. Four steps I said. First step. What is the second step? Vichara. Vichara means focusing the mind on the subtler aspect of any object. I will come to that point in my future classes. Om Shanti Shanti Shanti