Patanjali Yoga Sutras Lecture 089: Difference between revisions
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to become enmeshed more in samsara we'll from next class onwards we'll be | to become enmeshed more in samsara we'll from next class onwards we'll be | ||
talking about these powers. Om Shanti Shanti Shanti | talking about these powers. Om Shanti Shanti Shanti | ||
[[Category:Patanjali Yoga Sutras]] |
Latest revision as of 05:25, 23 September 2024
Full Transcript(Not Corrected)
Yoge na chittasya pade na vacham Malam sharirasya cha vaidya kena Yo pa karottam pravaram muninam Patanjalim praanjali rana tosme In our last class, we had been discussing three types of changes All in a particular way so that we evolve towards our own nature What is the first parinama? Nirodha parinama Means suppressing all undesirable thoughts Then Samadhi parinama That means developing a desirable thought which is, in other words, God And the last is Ekagrata Means, almost the yogi has been able to retain one particular goal in life God realization We can see in Sri Ramakrishna's life, the last, that Ekagrata parinama is In his mind, there was only the thought of the Divine Mother Two important corollaries have to be derived from this discussion The first corollary is that there is something which is never changing It is called Purusha And there is something which is always changing That is called Prakriti The second corollary is the Atman, the Purusha, the pure consciousness Never changes But Prakriti, always it changes There is no way you can stop its modifications If we can grasp these two fundamental points, what happens? First thing is, we become very restless Because nobody ever wants anything that changes Nobody ever wants Our whole life, our struggle is what? It is only trying to make something which is always changing As though it will not change What am I talking about? Body, mind, we want to keep unchanging Whereas we are forgetting it is not at all possible What happens when we realize that? Then our mind becomes mad Why am I running after these things which cannot be retained? I would like to get into that secure zone What is the secure zone? Purusha, pure consciousness If everything is changing and I have a choice Either to be with the changeful or with the changeless What do I think I am going to choose? In fact, is there a choice? If my nature wants me to become changeless Corollary is, do I have a choice? Can I remain changeful or can I remain changeless? Let us recall the law A mango seed can only produce a mango tree Because that is its nature If my nature is changeful, there is no way I am going to become changeless And if my nature is changeless, there is no way I am ever going to become changeful Now what is the problem now? The problem is what they call in Hindi, you know Naag harka, naag ghatka This is the struggle our whole life And this struggle has a very scientific name It is called evolution What is evolution? Trying to decide for the changeless How to remain changeless But one part of the mind says I am changeful, how wonderful it is Changeless, how boring it is Day after day it is the same boiled potato Now when we attain to that state We become so happy that one does not want to come back Again, the more I study Patanjali Yoga Sutras The more I appreciate Ramakrishna's teachings You know Ramakrishna gives a parable Once three friends were walking Suddenly they came to a place which is completely enclosed From within, sounds of revelry is spilling out So they were curious, one man procured a ladder Got up and then he said I will go there, have a look And then tell you what's going on inside And the moment he got up and saw what was inside He forgot everything What did he do? He just jumped into it Second man, same thing happened But third man, or it could be fourth man also He went there and said No, there are so many people who do not know This is a most wonderful state What is the point here? The point is, so long as we are not aware That there is something changeless Which is so pleasant, so happy, so blissful So long, we think we have a choice But the nature doesn't allow us In fact, the Sankhya Yoga tells us something so beautiful Says the whole purpose of this life Is to kick us out of life I am putting it a little bit spicy language Because Prakruti, like a mother Takes us by hand Life after life is a journey And she takes us to the borderland And says, my child, you don't belong to my country You belong to a foreign country And then gives a big kick This is what is called in scientific language Evolution We discussed it So these are the three changes that take place And when a Yogi becomes aware of these three changes And when does he become aware of changes? You know, again another law we discussed If you want to become aware of changes Then necessarily you will have to become a witness Who never changes That's what is called the state of Nirodha is a state when the Yogi Is capable of standing at the borderland And then look at both these and say This is always changing Therefore, this is what is called Something to be totally discarded Heya And then by God's grace Says, if I am not Prakruti Who else am I? By the law of exclusion There are only two If I am not this, I must be the other one He becomes illuminate This is called Nirodha state When a Yogi reaches this state of Ekagrata Parinama He reaches the peak of the powers of the mind And then he gets crystal clear vision Of what is his true nature How does he become? I will deviate a little bit from here Because I know sometimes These ideas take time What was the definition of Yoga? Yogaha chitta vritti nirodhaha We are talking about Ekagrata Is the highest manifestation of Nirodha What is the next aphorism saying? Thada drashtu svarupe avasthanam When a Yogi reaches that state of Nirodha What happens? Then he realizes I am not Prakruti I am the Purusha And then ever afterwards He abides in that state Thada drashtu svarupe avasthanam Nowadays So many people are translating Patanjali Yoga Sutras I have come across some translations Where they say Thada When a Yogi's mind reaches that state Of Nirodha Then the mind beholds the Purusha So the mind has no capacity To behold the Atman Because it is nothing but inert Jada But what happens The drashta Who is always identifying himself With his reflection in the mind When he reaches that highest state of Nirodha Which is called Ekagrata or Samadhi His mind becomes so pure Pure sattva guna sampanna That is the word Then it becomes crystal clear mirror And when the drashta looks at it and says Oh I was thinking I was this and that And the other things so long But now I know I am none of these I am really a Purusha And that is called Kaivalya Kaivalya means aloneness Until this time He is moving in the company of two Himself in the company of Prakruti Now he becomes totally separated from Prakruti This is what we have been able to discuss it So again to clarify the points Nirodha or total concentration of the mind Has nothing to do with liberation But it helps It is a state of pure sattva What happens The mind becomes absolutely like a pure clean mirror And when the drashta, the Purusha, the consciousness Looks at himself and says Oh I was thinking I was the body I was thinking I was the mind Now I know I am neither of these I am nothing but pure Purusha The moment he realizes He doesn't need that mirror any longer You know in Vedantic language The mirror has been given such importance As an example Do you know why the mirror has been given As such a beautiful example There is a reason for that You see we all have mirrors And different types of mirrors In one of my day retreats I have discussed it We all suffer from multiple image This is multiple personality disorder Each image is a type of mirror I will give two examples One is physical mirror Another is social mirror How much our behavior Depends upon the social mirror What is a social mirror Society becomes a mirror Then I look myself And then I say Does the society approve me Am I dressing myself The way society approves Am I talking the way The society approves We are all slaves Born slaves To what the society decides This is the life of samsara Whereas a monk Who is a monk He doesn't depend upon society He depends upon what Only God God is his only mirror And nothing else Most important physical mirror We all use physical mirror What do you do Standing in front of physical mirror In bathroom or anywhere What do you do You make yourself refined If your hair is in a kinky way Odd way I should not say that because To keep the hair kinky way Is the latest hairstyle So you dress yourself And if you spot some unclean You clean it You make everything Afterwards what do you do Do you use the mirror What do you do With that Oh I am fine And then you walk out You renounce the mirror How long do you use So long as you are not Looking decent Is it not How long does a yogi Use this mirror called mind So long as He finds himself Oh now I am looking fine And how does he know That he is looking fine Because so long as you do not look fine You will not leave Your mirror The moment You are satisfied You are happy Then you kick out the mirror And come out Exactly That is what Patanjali Yoga Sutras is telling us That all these Sadhanas Spiritual practices Is only for one thing What for To refine the mind Once the mind is refined And it clearly reflects And then the Purusha The soul The self The Atman Pure consciousness It says Bye To the mirror called Prakruti That is called Tada Drashtuswaroope Avasthana Thereafter He abides In that state forever Because The dressing part is over When is the dressing part over How long do you dress Your body So long as it is Alive How long do you dress your mind So long as it is Alive But here is a Yogi And he Has gone beyond Body and mind And naturally Once he is dressed Properly Mirror is of No use For him At all What a wonderful Analysis Patanjali is giving us Let us keep in mind To understand The next Three Aphorisms That We are all talking about Changes Parinama Changes is called Parinama Aphorism number Thirteen Etena Bhutendriyeshu Dharma Lakshana Avastha Parinama Vyakhyatha I will read out Swamiji's Commentary And I will Pass a small Commentary Because it is Very clear After whatever We have discussed it By this Is explained The threefold Transformation Of form Time And state All changes Are sub-divided Into Three All changes Any change Anywhere In this whole Cosmos In the past In the present In the future Have been Divided into Three What are called Dharma Lakshana And avastha We will come What it Exactly means By the threefold Changes in the Mind stuff As to form Time And state Are explained The corresponding Changes In gross And subtle matter And in the organs What does it mean It means By understanding Whatever we have Understood Previously All the Parinamas And all changes Are sub-divided Into Three What is called Change in the form Change in course Of time And change In the State Or status If we Understand this Nature of The Prakruti Or nature That Prakruti Is a Synthesis Of Three Gunas What are they Sattva Rajas And tamas And Constantly This Prakruti Is going Through Changes Because That is Its Nature In the Modern Parlance What is Prakruti Energy By Definition Energy Electronic Motion What is it I love you I love you One second Next second I don't This change is taking place Everything The body The mind The planets Everything The whole cosmos Is made up of Prakruti And Prakruti Is made up of Three Gunas And these three Gunas Are constantly Going through Change If we Understand that Then What happens There is a Tremendous Revolution In the Mind Says I don't want This I want Security I want A state Where I can Always be Happy What is the State of Happiness Where there is No Change That is the State of Happiness How Beautiful You know Different Words We use When we Have discussed So far You understood A fundamental Principle of Vedanta What is it Everything In this Universe Is constantly Changing And if there is Something changing If you Understand If I Understand Everything Is changing How did I Understand Just now we Discussed How did I Understand Everything Is changing And Any Type of Change Even the Slightest Change Not only That Not only There must Be We must Be Intensely Aware Awareness If you Are not Aware You are Not aware Of the Change At all So you Are separate From the Changefulness Of your Consciousness And when A Yogi Attains To the State of Ekagrata Highest state Of Ekagrata Then he Understands it So clearly And he Understands These two Points I am not Prakruti Because I Am not Changing And if I Am not Prakruti Who am I I am The Purusha He Abides For Eternity In His True Nature Now a Beautiful Question Comes Was he Not Abiding In His State Before This Realization Yes He Was But He Was Not Aware That He Was Not Abiding In His True Nature And So You Go Through This Happiness Unhappiness Etc And Then One Day You Are Going To Understand Definitely You Are Not Abiding In His True Nature And So You Are Not Going To Understand Definitely You Are Not Abiding In His True Nature And So You Are Not only form and according to the form the name also is given so the same gold you melt it put it makes rings the same gold you again remelt it and then make it bangles so you can change in a number of times important point is let this gold change into any number of forms any number of times it never changes the goldness it ever remains as gold only so from the gold's point of view it has never changed but from the form point of view change occurs that's very important for us to understand what is the second Lakshana Parinama, Dharma Parinama Lakshana Parinama, Avastha Parinama what is Lakshana means here is a peculiar technical name given for time Lakshana means time time what is time oh that is one year old this is another year old in future you know if it is time time then what happened some things the older they become they become more desirable artifacts they become the older it is the costlier it is it is not the value of the material it is the value of the time but there are certain things which are not desirable at all so what happens we are giving so much of value to time certain things old computer old house old car old cloth old everything old food so this is one change that takes place past present and future the last change that takes place is again Swamiji gives the example of the gold is very bright when it is new how does it appear almost shining and after some time what does it become dull so this is Avastha Parinama change in the state change in time and change in form name and form but throughout the changes what remains unchanged the object any object in this world that is why Prakruti as taken as a whole it consists of three gunas three gunas are always changing but the Prakruti remains exactly the same what does it mean does it remain changeless no what does it become changeful always changeful it can never become changeless at all this is according to Sankhya philosophy but according to Vedanta there is no such division called Prakruti and Purusha the Prakruti is nothing but pure Brahman endowed with certain gunas so Nirguna and Saguna with qualities and without qualities Brahman and Shakti but we are talking about Patanjali Yoga Sutras we have to understand we are not the body we are not the mind but we are the Brahman pure consciousness that is the goal of a yogi a Vedantin, a Christian, a Hindu, a Buddhist, a Muslim everybody in this world believer, non-believer it doesn't really matter now referring to this Swamiji is telling the mind stuff is changing into vrittis this is change has to form then the vrittis pass through past present and future moments of time and that is change as to time that the impressions vary to intensity within one particular period what it means is supposing you know one day you are very happy and it can be measured in intensity I will tell you suppose you bought a new car a new house next day for the next few days you are very very happy after 10 days are you so happy one example another example is you are taking lunch or supper and some item is beautifully made and you have a first helping intensely happy what about the second helping have you noticed the second helping is a second happiness not equal to the first happiness already changed in course of time yeah first time is first time second time is second time if we understand the mind is undergoing because it is also part of the prakriti that is what it really means 14th aphorism shanta udita avyapadesya dharma anupati dharmi that which is acted upon by transformations either past present or yet to be manifested means future is the qualified that is to say the qualified is the substance which is being acted upon by time and by the samskaras and getting changed and being manifested all the time it is an extension of what we had already discussed what it means is here is a lump of gold so it changes its status form then it changes according to the old gold, old gold, old gold, new gold what is new gold what is old gold and what is new gold when you polish old gold what does it become new gold but if you give cosmetic surgery to a old person not going to become a new person we have to understand the distinction between this lump what this aphorism really means is the gold remains gold in spite of whatever changes they take place what is the benefit of it the benefit of it is if we can understand the changes we can remain very peaceful our mind can remain very balanced this is what Zen Buddhism focuses upon there is a beautiful saying there was a Zen master and he was asked by one of his devotees or disciples master what is the cause of your peacefulness and the answer given was when it is winter I say it is winter when it is summer I say it is summer looks very deceptive type of words but it really what do we say when winter comes so horrible so cold why don't you say winter is winter sometimes it is more cold sometimes it is less cold if it is summer oh this is killing me especially if you are in Tamil Nadu oh this heat is unbearable I wish I was in Ooty and all that but when winter comes in Ooty what do you do I wish in Chennai but that's not also not true you ask this Tamil Nadu people Telugu people that okay it is so hot why don't you change your residence to a nice place no I don't want to change this is my ancestors are living here for the last so many hundreds of years even if it is cow dung smell and all the other smells are there how can I live without these smells that such is the attachment we develop to our country to our workplace of birth and however wretched it is to our language to our religion to our certain day-to-day things that we do we develop tremendous amount of attachment do not want to give up and that is the most important cause of our unhappiness what does a wise man do the moment change is needed he will adapt to that change and that is the greatness that is what called spiritual practice the essence of the 14th is whether it is the past present or future Shanta means that which is past Udita means present Avyapadesha means that which is about to come means past present and future all the time changes are taking place in fact is a redundant word we use because what does past present and future mean time means what change time means change change occurs if you accept it then you are not affected in spite of all that that upon which these changes are acting upon that is never change it remains ever remains the change for example a mango tree remains a mango tree whether it is old or new whether it is sweet or bitter whether it is good-looking or bad looking it always remains the change that is the way we are able to cognize each other if supposing such a change takes place there is a joke you know I don't know how much you will appreciate it two people met completely strangers so one man addressed the other fellow and said oh mr. so-and-so how are you I'm glad to see you after such a long time the other man said oh that's not my name my name is Tom oh you also changed your name not only changed your appearance you also changed your name in fact this fellow is mistaking somebody else for something the reason why we are able to cognize everything for what it is because in spite of the changes we know this is the same in our language you know you meet you meet a person your friend after 50 years and of course you know I met my friend here Dr. Reddy after nearly 50 years I couldn't recognize him of course and he could not recognize me we have both become when we were children we are going to the school here he came to know and he came to see me but by his way of talk I could immediately recognize oh this is my old friend because his way of talking has not changed in 50 years and whether anything else has changed God only knows I don't know but my point is even after 100 years we recognize this is a mango tree this is a man this is a woman this is the same person because in spite of all the changes that occur there is something which is abiding which is not changing even in Prakruti there is something which doesn't change now what is the use of this use of it is first I already mentioned that we have to accept all of us are going through changes the only point we have to remember is if something is going through changes that's not me I am a witness of the changes and second point we have to take care of is if there are at all changes taking place let them be for the better you know I should not be the same person you know there was this criminal he was caught by the magistrate and he was sentenced as soon as he was released again he did something wrong he was caught five times he was caught five times he was brought in front of the same magistrate and this time the magistrate got very angry and said why do I keep on seeing you again and again the man folded his hands and said your honor if you don't get promotion don't blame me if you don't want to see me you better get promotion now we will move on to the 15th kramanyatvam parinama anyatve hetuhu the succession of changes is the cause of manifold evolution we are briefly talking about evolution even biologists accept evolution evolution means what a continuous state of change but for the better always for the better now Patanjali is talking about this evolution how many years since how many years back when when was this Charles Darwin discovered the theory of evolution only about 100 years back and here is Patanjali is telling that this has been going on since the creation always the evolution is going on and on and on the important point in this aphorism is this nature has a way of bringing about evolution if left to nature it will take a long long long time but if we can adopt certain intelligent practices we can hasten speed up this process what is yoga a scientific way of bringing about this evolution for the better in a short amount of time this is called spiritual practice now there is another point the whole nature is absolutely same it never changes means it never changes its changeful nature and all the changes that are taking place are because of name and form time and state these three changes now the commentator says so beautifully if a yogi knows this secret he becomes a master if he becomes a master he can change anything into anything else I repeat a yogi can change anything into anything else we can change a lump of clay into gold strangely science also had to discover do you know what science had discovered you see they can now produce diamonds you call it artificial diamonds what is the difference between artificial diamonds and natural diamonds there is really no difference because the same process but there they have done it very fast within hours or within days they can produce beautiful diamonds which are much better than the natural diamonds that is how something can be changed into something else totally now the future holds a tremendous mystery you know you all know how much of research is going on about genes one thing that you all know you can replicate an animal you know dolly the sheep and so many in plants we are already replicating it if a knowledge advances further you know what we can do you can change a neem tree into a mango tree you can do so many things this is what Patanjali is giving us a yogi who has mastered the Prakruti by bringing about these changes can bring about change any object into any other object how does he do it my explanation and others also explanation is you see after all what does Prakruti consists of three gunas or five elements five elements is a better example you know five elements space, air, fire, water and earth now this whole cosmos is nothing but a combination of these elements isn't it and so these are the five basic materials if we can bring about if we know the secret of by mixing which material more with another material we can make anything simplest example is water what is water H to O what does that mean two molecules of hydrogen with one molecule of oxygen so before that what was it hydrogen and oxygen what is it now water so if this is possible is it not possible to make a diamond or a gold or a man or a woman or anything you want you can change it that is how yogis have been able to change but they don't care for this kind of changes what yogis do if they are gracious they change a lower personality into a higher personality that is what is called cultivate satsanga if these sath people great people do not possess that power then our associating with them will be totally useless now what is the assumption here I am here to be molded and you are there to mold me so if you go into Shri Ram Krishna is a wicked person also can become a holy person the only condition is the wicked person or low low personality lower personality must be willing to be changed into to be molded into he has to be willingly this is called surrender so I surrender myself to you shape me into any way you like and they can shape into only one we know why a great person cannot shape a wicked person into still worse wicked person he can only shape him into do you know why because he made a mold and there's only only mold he knows so whoever is put into that mold he is bound to become that personality somebody has jokingly said you know Ramakrishna mission is Ramakrishna mission one end of it was the lower personality and on the other side comes the higher personality it's wonderful thought this is one of the most important things that if a yogi can do change anything in fact that is how miraculous powers are also attributed Totapuri if we have to believe Swami Sharada and he had the power of converting any metal into gold it's possible in the Middle Ages here people were mad running after how to change the other metals what is it called alchemy it's called alchemy have they succeeded yes they have succeeded because we cannot disbelieve the stories of these great people that is the most wonderful thing what does this really mean is for the mind after all we are dealing with the mind it is possible even the lower personality through proper spiritual practice with faith devotion and sincerity can change himself into a higher personality until he comes to know I am pure consciousness I am the Atman that is the purpose of all Vedanta or any religion any path of yoga etc from the 16th aphorism onwards until the end of this chapter Patanjali yogi is focusing upon powers different powers I'm not going to explain scientifically because it is possible to some extent but there is no need for us to go through because that is not our interest what's important is living in this present scientific age most of us have lost faith I want to dwell a moment upon this have lost faith now what does faith mean does faith has a limit can we confine and say I have faith in this but I do not have faith in that you know Hindu scriptures tell us Christian scriptures tell us almost every scripture tells us there are higher worlds what we call angels then heavenly worlds hells devils Saturn etc is there is it true that there is a Saturn I asked some of our devotees do you believe in Saturn? no I don't believe in Saturn you take any Vedantic book there is mention of a Saturn but then we don't use the word Saturn we use the word Saturn very interesting this fellow says I don't believe but whenever he enters into the temple he may or may not see the Lord inside but Navagraha he goes round especially Shani graha the Saturn you know graha so many people have got faith even if they see a black cat as soon as they step outside they will sprinkle their head beat their head three times and this fellow says I don't have faith what does faith mean faith means life continues after death faith means there are so many unknown things unknown worlds unknown beings everywhere in this world faith also means there are people with tremendous powers they can do anything they like they can move especially in the West when I mean West I don't mean UK or America I mean that attitude of the mind oh I am a scientific person I'm a rational person I don't believe in all this one do you believe in God yes do you believe in Saturn no I don't believe in Saturn do you believe in life after death maybe it may not be I don't know so many religions do not believe in reincarnation now what is my point the point is what does faith mean faith means it is not your experience but you are trusting something it could be scriptures it could be your guru it could be somebody else when your so-called faith is so much dependent upon somebody and that somebody himself or scripture itself is telling us there is life after death and there are devils there are ghosts there are so many things what right have we got to say that I don't believe in them in fact it's very unscientific it's very irrational to say just yesterday I was just going through and this Stephen Hawking says there is no God as though he knows that there is no God how does he know there is no God and what right have you got to say there is no God all that you have a right to say I do not know but to give a pronounce pronouncement about something which you don't know you have no authority to tell it is completely wrong thing why did I bring up this subject because we see in the lives of many many saints including Sairam Krishna, Holy Mother, Swami Vivekananda as I said as we discuss I'm going to give concrete examples of these things now again it is not your experience here you are hearing from me or you are reading in a book you have a choice you have only one choice what is that choice you have no choice to say there it is true or false you have a choice to say I believe I choose to believe or I don't choose to believe if you pronounce there false then there's something seriously wrong with your brain with this background and a little more what is that little more we don't care for miraculous powers simple example I will give you once somebody asked Swami Vivekananda, a direct disciple can I read another person's mind and he said yes not only it is possible that I can teach you but I have to warn you and then he asked the person with your present state of mind are you free from worry he said no Swami I'm a samsari I have got so many worries crowding in my mind now if you focus on other other person's mind what are you doing you are only adding more worries even other person's worries also you are carrying is it desirable no so it is one thing to have the power is another thing to be able to bear them is another warning what is another suppose you have a power and you can you can acquire this power is it's possible to acquire this power it is possible now suppose you acquired the power now before acquiring the power let me put it in a mathematical way your egotism is 50% after acquiring the power what percentage would be your egotism yes it is possible it's a bondage that is why for two reasons great people do not encourage us to focus acquisition of in these powers unfortunately the truth is if a monk or a holy person or anybody happens to know you know he can predict my future or he can bring about some miraculous powers he can save me he can cure me of some disease or he can get my daughter married all these things then they will be flocking to that person and after some time that person also realizes previously I had so much of peace of mind now what happened my mind has broken into previously I had peace now I have pieces this is what happens it is though it is alluring it is something miraculous is very mysterious very attractive but it is terribly burdensome I'll give you some examples also but it is possible to acquire these powers but Ram Krishna and our tradition is totally forbidden us to acquire but it is not to say they do not exist they do exist because it is the power of the already the nature has the power if I know that secret then I can do it is a simple example I will give as an illustration you know supposing you are in a such a place where is water is scarce and there is no rain and you are suffering from water and you want to produce water suppose you are a chemist and you have hydrogen and oxygen and you put up some beard is necessary you know to impress people but I can miraculously produce water and then you do like this and you put these two molecules what happens miraculously water starts coming and you will be considered as a saint in fact what has happened it is as scientific as anything else in this world if a yogi looks up and then oh there is no rain I am praying Oh Varuna Deva, Varuna is the in charge of rain and if I do this prayer continuously and then downpouring comes so what happened for two and half days this fellow is praying apply apply no reply then some American fellow he brought some silver nitrate and poured it on the clouds and then it started raining and that fellow went away who gets the credit the yogi gets the credit because of your prayers and all these things what am I talking about I am talking about what we call miracle is a miracle only so long we do not understand the explanation of it the moment you give the explanation anything is possible that is what we have learned if you know the secret and if you are the master you can change any object into any other object that is the power one can acquire this is what we call miraculous power etc now from next class onwards we'll be discussing about these powers with examples but today I want to entertain you how dangerous how useless it is miraculous powers are there there was a man and at that time Moses is supposed to be alive so this man suddenly took it into his head that he would like to acquire the power of understanding animals language this man was a farmer he had a cow he had two chickens and he had a donkey and he wants to know somehow how to understand the language of the animal sounds of the animals so he went to Moses and Moses Moses you are such a holy man give me the power of understanding what the animals are talking about so Moses said he was a holy man said what are you going to do with this they are just as you talk they also talk you are confined in your realm and they are confined in their realm what good will it do to you no no Moses I am I will get lot of benefit I am a poor man and so Moses got disgusted and he gave him the power of understanding animals languages the man was very happy he went to his farm next day he was about to go and then these two chickens were talking with each other two chickens one chicken is telling to the other chicken you see our master doesn't know that his horse is going to his cow is going to die the man understood so happy so he took his cow to the market sold it next day of course he died it was not his fault he was so happy he profited by that after a few days again the chickens were our master doesn't know his donkey is going to die so he went and sold his donkey and became still got more money he was so happy oh what a wonderful gift after a few days as he was going out he heard the chickens talking our master doesn't know he is going to die after one or two days he became panicky and he went to Moses Moses this is what is happening what shall I do Moses said what did you do when your cow and your donkey when you came to know they are going to die oh I sold in the market go and sell yourself in the market and make some profit miraculous powers are completely useless not only useless they are most dangerous if we are not wise they can do us terrible harm not only in a physical way more importantly in our spiritual progress it's very important tell you something very interesting also you know there was a brahmachari in our order he stayed for a short time then he in this Ramakrishna order they don't encourage miraculous powers and other things so he went to a tantric organization joined it and practiced very seriously some number of years and he acquired the power of attracting people is called Vashi Karana Vidya in Tantra it is very popular they can simply attract people like Krishna attracted or any rock star attracts women and other fans now he became a Swami and he started what is called millions of dollars from America everywhere his pictures are there all over in the YouTube he talks on subjects I can teach you how to attain Samadhi I can and when you look he's sitting on a golden throne like a Maharaja king and then one day somebody has filmed that he was having an immoral affair with cine actress he's still there he's functioning people still go there so he had really done some practice and he attained that powers and I know some heard of some Swamis who have attained this most marvelous powers but always they used only first of all they were truly genuine holy people secondly they only occasionally used these powers to help other people overcome obstacles not to become enmeshed more in samsara we'll from next class onwards we'll be talking about these powers. Om Shanti Shanti Shanti