Patanjali Yoga Sutras Lecture 103

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

Yoge na chittasya pade na vacham Malam sharirasya cha vaidya kena Yo paakarottam pravaram muninam Patanjalim praanjali rana tosme We have been discussing a very wonderful topic. In the last chapter we discussed how a person can get extraordinary powers through very birth by taking some herbs as well as by repeating mantras or even by the practice of concentration and meditation. So naturally the doubt comes why should we go through all these things if we can get extraordinary powers just by swallowing a few medicines. In that context we also had discussed that it is the change of mood that comes but it is not the change in the consciousness. Spiritual progress is a change in the consciousness. Always a spiritual aspirant progresses from a lower state of consciousness to a higher state of consciousness and with each progress in the state of consciousness the outer behavior also would change. If we find someone claiming to be spiritually advanced and at the same time his character doesn't show it then there is something terribly wrong. Even we ourselves can understand it by looking at the person. The next point, very interesting point is there would be people who are enlightened or there may be people who have almost reached the highest state and according to the Hindu theory we are all endowed with different types of karmas from innumerable past births. That is why each one of us are totally different. So what happens to a yogi who had tremendous amount of karma stored in his life? After all just now he became enlightened or even progressed to a great extent. So what happens to this type of person? That is being discussed now. It is very important because how at all do we really recognize a saintly person? There is no other way to recognize a spiritually advanced person excepting by observing his external activities and conduct. And important thing is the character, the conduct as well as activities might differ. I will give an interesting example. Supposing Sri Ramakrishna was to fight. Just imagine. Our imagination of Sri Ramakrishna is always he is a very saintly person. He lives in a very holy place, in a very holy atmosphere and every now and then he assumes a beautiful posture and becomes unconscious, very holy man. But imagine him in the battlefield fighting ISIS. Can he do that? Yes. What did Sri Rama do? What did Sri Krishna do? What did so many avatars do? One of the things that they did in the past was to fight, to kill and to do all those things. Is it not a karma that they had to fight? They had to kill or maybe they could even be killed. Can you imagine an incarnation of God being killed? What happened to Sri Krishna? Was he killed or not? Not in a battle but he was killed by a hunter. So many things have happened. Interesting thing is what is the relationship between spiritual progress and karma? Vedanta gives a very conclusive answer and says just as if you had a car maybe it has given you tremendous joy or maybe it has given you a lot of trouble but so long as you think it is yours then you will have to go through those ups and downs, emotional fluctuations of happiness as well as unhappiness. Fluctuations, all of us go whether we are enlightened or unenlightened. We have to go through these fluctuations. Is there no difference? A tremendous difference is there. These great souls they seem to go through these fluctuations but they are not at all affected by them. Like a steady rock any amount of waves would be washed over them but nothing happens to them and they are ever established in a condition which Gita so beautifully describes sthita prajna, steadfast wisdom and brahmi sthiti. They never move from that state at all but we judge people from their actions, behaviour. If you can imagine Shri Ram Krishna standing in a battlefield and imagine he had got one of the most powerful weapons in the world. Suppose he has got. Will he be discharging towards his enemies or not? Will he be discharging or not? He would be discharging. An ordinary soldier would be doing it. What is the difference? The first difference is an incarnation of God will be able to finish off more number of people. There would be no error at all in his aim because he is perfectly focused and he knows most importantly he knows that he is not killing anybody. No one is being killed. He is not a killer. This is all a tremendous play, leela what we call it. Whereas we, we get elated if we can do something and if we lose then we become depressed. My point is so long as there is a body, so long as there is a mind there will be karma. Karma means activity and activity means it is mostly reaction to what has gone before. So even yogis, incarnations of God everyone has to go through this but with a tremendous difference. That is why Patanjali had brought up in this last chapter, fourth chapter that how do the yogis deal with karma? How many types of karma? And suppose some yogi decides that I would not like to have many more births then what can he do? Supposing there is a yogi he has so much of karma left out and he comes to know that he has to be reborn maybe hundred times more just to exhaust that karma phala. Some of the answers are given now which we are dealing with. In the fourth aphorism The ego sense alone can create minds. Though the activities of the different created minds are various the one original mind controls them all. Let me first read out the commentary then we will come to the explanation. These two aphorisms, the fourth and fifth refer to the power of creating for oneself a number of subsidiary minds and bodies over which the original mind maintains control. Since it is the ego sense which creates an individual mind it is theoretically evident that this ego sense should be able to create subsidiary minds revolving like satellites around the original. The idea is that the yogi might wish to have several minds and bodies at the same time in order to exhaust all of his karma more quickly. But the wisdom of this plan would seem to be doubtful. This is the commentary made but it is admitted a yogi in order to exhaust a lot of karma he can create any number of bodies and with each body there would be a created mind. A created body must have a created mind. This has been stated. We have no right to doubt whether a yogi can do it. I will give some illustrations too. First let me deal with this with our own body. How many bodies we have? One. How many minds we have? Plenty. No. Mind is only one but it is changing very fast. Body is also changing. Mind also is changing. Whenever our body changes is it a same body or is it a different body? It's a totally different body. Most interesting discussion here is first of all we are not talking about any yogi. We are talking about ourselves. Who created this body? Each one of us have created out of what? Because of our own past actions we have created. But the only caveat that Patanjali points out here is it need not be the immediate past that creates these bodies. May be 5000 births back we had a type of body and we liked it immensely. Liked means what? Whenever we say we like something only one conclusion. We enjoyed. Because happiness and liking always go together. And experience of misery, unhappiness, grief means we do not like. It is so natural for us. So even 5000, 50,000 lives back I am not talking years back. Lives back. It could be any life. If we had enjoyed it is quite possible that we may wish to have that kind of body again and we create our bodies. We create our minds and our minds create our bodies. Therefore our wish would be fulfilled. That's why we use the word Kalpataru. You know on 1st January we worship Sri Ramakrishna with the name Kalpataru. Wish fulfilling dream. And everyday we become Sri Ramakrishnas in our dreams. Who creates our dreams? We create. Now the subject may seem a little bit confusing but I am coming to that point. First point. Who creates our own bodies? Each one of us. What is the material? Our karma phala of the past. And that past could be anywhere in the chain of births and deaths. Now can we create by the same criteria future births? Yes we are doing that. Through our actions we are doing it. Simple example. Supposing a person is tremendously interested in music and he pursues music. Day and night he is thinking music. He is living music. He is practicing music. What do you think he will become next birth? He becomes one of the good musicians. So on. You can multiply any number of examples. So only difficulty is physically we cannot create any number of bodies we like. You know we all wish. I also wish. If I had the power to create any number of bodies do you know what I would have done? With one body I will be enjoying my life in India. With another body I will be sitting in my room and reading nice books. With another body I will be watching first class TV. With another body I will come here and deliver lectures. And with another body I will be sitting in front of myself and I will be listening how well I have been doing. So you see I could do that. But can I do that? No, I do not have the power to do that. But in dream we all have this power. That is why even if you see a thousand people a crowd of thousand people in your dream all those minds were created by each one of us. By you. By me. This is my famous example. Any number of times I tell you suppose you are dreaming that you are sitting and listening to my talk here. Not actually you are dreaming. And then you are appreciating in the dream Swamiji today your talk is an excellent very interesting talk. And then you wake up. Now who gave the talk? Who was appreciating the talk? You are the creator. So I have to congratulate you that you have given such an excellent speech. What is the point? Here Patanjali Rishi tells us that a yogi can create any number of bodies and with each body he can exhaust supposing he had to be reborn hundred times to exhaust his past karma he will create hundred special bodies and with each body one one life's karma he gets exhausted. That means this would be his last birth. What's important first of all you know many of these fantastic things that have been told here they are all true but since we have never experienced we have never come across any person who could exhibit even a small bit of this kind of supernatural powers we almost seem to have lost faith in them. But it is possible because Sri Ram Krishna had exhibited this kind of thing. Now before that I will give you a small example. You know the powers of the mind Swami Vivekananda has delivered a beautiful talks on mind and its powers. Therein he gives one of his own experiences. Once Swami Vivekananda when he was in Hyderabad he came to know that there was a man who could produce anything you ask. Swami Vivekananda he was skeptical. Mind you he was a person who experienced Nirvikalpa Samadhi. So he wanted to test for himself so he went to that person and then he was a Brahmin and he had really that power. Swamiji and one or two other people went and they were asking various things. So one person has written something in a foreign language which the man never knew and the man without seeing the paper he could read what was written and somebody wished beautiful roses fresh roses with dew still on them specially imported by yogic power from France have become bunches of them and he distributed. Then someone had wished grapes and plenty of bunches of grapes had come and he himself started eating and he also gave this to Swamiji and others. If it is only a trick of the mind then they could see but they cannot really experience it but they did experience it and then Swamiji thought maybe he was hiding somewhere and who could hide bunches of grapes and bunches of roses like that and he was wearing a small thin a piece of cloth around him and most interesting thing was this man who had that power he was suffering he said just put your hand on my head so that my fever will go he had that faith what is the good of all these yogic powers if a man could not cure his own fever so it is possible people can have a type of power and yet may suffer from many many other problems and this state is available only in two ways you go into deep sleep no problem or you go into samadhi no problem in between we all have to go through this now coming back Sriram Krishna's life there are certain examples are there once Sriram Krishna appeared to one devotee in the Jnaneshwar at the same time he was also found to be a Tadhaka and I think Vijayakrishna Goswami and also Kedarnath both of them touched Sriram Krishna's body and they felt and they probably he talked he gave some instructions and it was so he said I could see my body rising and it travelled through the sky and then it went to the devotee solved the doubts of that devotee and came back as it is but the devotees of Ramana Maharshi were seeing him where he did not see his body and they thought that he was a Tadhaka and he was a devotee of Ramana Maharshi and he was a devotee of Ramana Maharshi and he was a Tadhaka and he was a devotee of Ramana Maharshi and he was a devotee of Ramana Maharshi and he was a devotee of Ramana Maharshi and man and two women are running after him and he becomes extraordinarily beautiful. Now how many women will be running after him? Now which is more difficult for if he wants to progress in spiritual life? What do you think? And do you think it had happened or do you think it is only just our imagination? My imaginary this thing. It happened to say Swami Vivekananda. It happened to Swami Vivekananda and many women used to look at him like an ordinary woman looks at a beautiful physical body and he used to understand because he was a yogi. He could understand their thoughts. He could see their minds as though it is a glass case. Everything he could see and he used to glare at them and say don't entertain those thoughts. You will become green frogs. What is the point? What about Sri Ramakrishna? You remember Ramakrishna once went to Jairambati and he was trying to leave that place and a huge crowd had gathered. Sri Ramakrishna asked Hriday why are these people standing here? He says mama when you chew betel leaf and then your lips are red and you look extraordinarily beautiful all the shawl etc. they have come to see you. It was not the shawl. A light used to come from the body of Sri Ramakrishna just like a glow. People were attracted like moths are attracted to light and then Sri Ramakrishna got so disgusted. What? People have gathered here to look at my this filthy body. I will not. So he covered himself with a thick piece of shawl, went inside and until everybody had gone then he had not come out. Then he prayed to the mother you know. Oh mother you go inside give me inner beauty not this outer beauty. Sri Ramakrishna could have been extraordinarily beautiful and attractive if he wanted but compared to you know he voluntarily withdrew this problem. Coming back what is the essence of these two? It is possible for a yogi to create any number of bodies necessary with each body having a controller mind and as soon as the karma is exhausted he becomes free and then there would be no rebirth. The second point is who controls? Who controls all these bodies? If there are hundred bodies who controls those bodies? That is where it says only one pure mind controls all the bodies. Just as an example I gave you in our dream who controls all the things created by us? Only one master mind. Otherwise what happens? If each body has its own independent mind then there will be chaos because every mind wants to control its own body, behave in its own particular way. This is first problem. The next problem that comes is if each mind, if each body has got a separate mind and different minds have different desires then he will be creating further karma instead of exhausting the karma. Here is a finer point and that finer point is the yogi can create any number of bodies but with this caveat they can only work at exhausting the karma but not creating new type of karma otherwise the whole purpose is defeated. These are the two verses saying but for us what is the lesson? We are responsible for the creation of our own body and who is completely happy and say I am so happy with my own body? Very few people. If we wish to have a better body in what sense? That would be more suitable for our spiritual practices then we have to take care and see that how we can improve our life. Now we move on to the sixth aphorism Tatra Dhyanajam Anashayam. Of the various types of mind only that which is purified by Samadhi is freed from all latent impressions of karma and from all cravings. In other words karma can only be exhausted by spiritual realization never by mere satiety of experience. Two important points here karma can never be exhausted if we are not spiritual and how is it? Because if we are not spiritual that means we are worldly people. If we are worldly people we wish to perpetuate our worldly experiences. Each fulfillment of desire brings in its own with compound interest another strong desire and that is how our life becomes extraordinarily complicated but if we become spiritual if I aim is to realize God then how many types of desires will be there? Only one desire. What is that desire? I want to realize God. I want to progress in spiritual life. Progress in spiritual life is equivalent to destroying every other type of desire excepting that one desire. Therefore only by progressing in spiritual life we can really get rid of all karmas. Now karmas are produced by desires but if our desire itself is clouded, is impure then it will not help us. Therefore one of the things that we need to do is to examine and say what is my desire? Why is this caution necessary? Because there are people who take God's name, who meditate, who pray, who repeat God's name but we know what is the motive. Let us become more worldly. Let us get more money. Let us get better positions. Let us fulfill our worldly desires. They are also devotees of God but they are not spiritual people. That is why in the Bhagavad Gita we have four types of devotees. Devotees are classified into four types. The first is those who are in distress, artha. The second is those who are not in distress but they have lots of unfulfilled desires and so they pray to God. Now here there is no choice. If we are in distress can we say to God I don't care whether I am distressed or not I want only to think about God. For most of the people it is not possible but if it was Ramakrishna he would do that. Example he had this incurable cancer. Many devotees advised him unwarranted, gave unwarranted advice. Why don't you pray to the mother? You know the well-known reply. Do I have a separate mind that I can pray to the mother? I have offered this will, this mind to the Divine Mother long back and do you think that I have to take back that mind and again pray to the mother? That is well-known reply that we have got. Accepting that each one of us we have no choice but to say Oh Lord I am in trouble please rescue me. Then he moves up one step higher in the ladder of evolution. He is not in distress. He is not suffering but unfulfilled desires are there. Plenty of them. These are named as Artharthi. One first category is Artha. Second category is Artharthi. He is a desirer of desires not spiritual. Spiritual desire is only one but worldly desires are plenty. Why you know why plenty? Supposing we say I would like to eat a sweet and you have somehow God provided you with a sweet and you have eaten this sweet. Your desire will disappear. For how long? Only for a few minutes, few hours maybe and after that again it will come with a virulent energy with a vengeance it will come. Now I want to double because it was so nice. That is why desires are innumerable and in the Chandi, in the sacred book of the Shaktas, you know there is the story of Rakta Bija. Bija means seed. Rakta means desire here actually. You sow one desire, you sow one apple seed and it will grow into a huge apple tree and how many apples does it give and each apple will contain how many seeds and years year after year or if all those seeds were to fall into the ground again, just imagine how many number of apple trees it goes on multiplying. So that is the symbolism. One drop of the blood from the Rakta Bija falls into the ground, another demon equivalent to him or even more powerful will arise from there. What is what is the book referring about? It is referring about desires, worldly desires but strangely the same principle applies also to spiritual desire. If you have one spiritual desire it will lead you to even stronger spiritual desire and that will lead you to still stronger spiritual desire. With each experience our desire for a spiritual life will also grow because the principle is the same but for some time we have to see that these weeds will not choke our spiritual desire. What are the weeds? Worldly desires, non-spiritual desires are the weeds that come. Now if there are so many minds and through birth or through meditation etc. if one can have those supernatural powers and powers invariably lead to downfall. There is a beautiful saying, I think it is, power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely and we see innumerable examples. I'll give you some example. Ramanasura, he had power through austerity and what happened? He had to go to death in the hands of fortunately Ramachandra himself. So many innumerable demons we get in the Puranas, in our Hindu mythologies. There are worldly desires that become like rakta bijas but if there is one mind and this mind has acquired somehow some powers but it also has acquired purity of mind. What is the whole point? Whole point is supernatural powers can be had by even impure minds. Let me dwell upon this point because it's very important. It is not necessary only spiritual people will get powers. Ramanasura was not certainly a spiritual person in the ordinary sense of the term and yet he had extraordinary powers. So it is not necessary. What is necessary? Let the mind become absolutely focused, concentrated. Then powers will come and I also mentioned power doesn't mean you fly in the sky only. It also means you can capture other people, you can become a great statesman, a military leader like Hitler or Saddam Hussein and you have the power but power as we know if it mind is not pure what does power do? It corrupts and corruption always leads to downfall. That is what happened. History teaches us in every instance sooner or later everybody falls down if it is not used properly but look at the life of Jesus Christ, Buddha and other incarnations of God. The more power they have the more glorious they become. Where is the difference? The difference is not in the power but in the way the power is really used and they use this power only for the good of other people. That makes all the difference in the world. This is what is being said. Tatra dhyanajam anashayam. So we have to add a little bit. Tatra yoginah chitta dhyanajam anashayam. Of the various types of mind only that which is purified by samadhi is freed from all latent impressions of karma and from all cravings. If there is a pure mind what is the indication? It is devoid of all cravings. There is only one craving which Ramakrishna calls intense yearning for God realization. In other words karma can be only be exhausted by spiritual realization. So how does this happen? The most interesting point is it possible without creating hundreds of bodies to exhaust all the karma accumulated in the previous birth? Yes it is possible and so if it is possible why do we need hundreds of bodies? It can be exhausted. How is it exhausted? Two important points in this discussion. The first point is I gave the example if you have a car sometimes you are happy sometimes you are not happy. The moment you sell it what happens to you? You are free from the effects that car can produce in your mind. It is no longer your car. Whoever thinks it is my car it is that person's problem. Same way the moment a yogi says I belong to God and God is mine. The moment a spiritual aspirant, a devotee says I belong to God and God belongs to me. That very moment that this I belong to the body and mind and the mind and body belong to me that feeling is totally destroyed. I belong to God means I am not the body I am not the mind and whatever karma is dirt is clinging to that body and mind it goes only with that body. That is how a yogi need not even create. All that he needs to do is to separate himself and say I am not the body I am not the mind. But even more interesting thing Patanjali doesn't say that but Vedanta says it. You know what it is? Suppose there is a yogi naturally he will have some remnant of karma and because of that karma the person's life goes. Then says is it there will be lot of accumulated unspent karma going on then what happens to it? All karmas are divided into two categories. Punya and Papa. Virtue and vice. Those who are devotees, those who serve him, those who adore such a spiritual person all the Punya will be distributed among them and those who criticize, those who create problems, those who give troubles all of them will get Papa. That's why be happy if someone is criticizing you, your Papa is being exhausted. This is the most beautiful way of looking. Yes and then your face will bloom. The more criticism the more your face will bloom. Your karmakshaya is happening and who is taking that karma? The other fellow is freely taking your Papa. He is greedy. But be also careful. If someone is admiring you, your well-wisher, he will also take away your Punya. But if you don't have Punya and Papa, who are you? You become a free person. That is why in the Bhagavatam, there is a beautiful description that Sri Krishna's flute called all the Gopis and some Gopis they could go and enjoy His presence, divine presence. But many Gopis they were prevented from going. As a result of that the Bhagavatam describes that they were suffering from the grief of separation from Sri Krishna and that burning power of the separation from Sri Krishna burnt away all their accumulated karmas and they became free instantaneously. What a marvelous way of saying. This is Vedantic view. That is why if you want to get my karma, my bad karma, you are welcome to criticize me. The sixth aphorism is telling, when a Yogi has practiced spiritual disciplines for a long time, then his mind becomes pure. What is the characteristic of a pure mind? There are two characteristics. There are many characteristics but there are two characteristics. The first, it only wants to think about God. The purer it becomes, the more the mind is focused. It wants to think about God first and the second, it wants to think only, go only towards God. It becomes focused. Think about God and concentration on God. These are the two characteristics of a pure mind and if you want one more characteristic, the person becomes absolutely unattached, detached, whatever happens to him in this what is called samsaric life, family life. The seventh aphorism, karma asuklam akrishnam yoginah trividham itharesham. The karma of the Yogi is neither white nor black. The karma of others is of three kinds, white, black or mixed. The karma of ordinary people is either black, which means bad, which means wise, papa, white, good, punya, virtue or a mixture of both papa and punya. But when a man has attained samadhi, his acts will cease to produce karmas for him of any kind. Nevertheless, since the illumined Yogi continues to act, karmas are being produced and there may even be some admixture of evil in them. Indifference, as always, is the worst sin. Rajas is spiritually higher than tamas. By way of rajas, we may reach sattva. By way of hatred, we may find love. The ancient Hindus would therefore have disagreed with Dante when he put Zodas, Iscariot in the lowest circle of hell. Beautiful point is being discussed. All people, each one of us, all the people in the world can be classified into two, yogis and non-yogis. For yogis, there is no karma. Why? Because if you ask a yogi, who are you? What is likely to be his reply? I am purusha, I am pure consciousness, I am Brahman, therefore I don't have the body and mind. Not only that, he will go to such an extent to say I was never born. So all these karmas affect only whom? He who is being born, he who is again born and he is going to be born. Karma means birth. Birth means karma. It is a vicious circle. But for a yogi, his whole identity has changed. He says I am Brahman and when was Brahman born and Brahman will have death? That is why one of the titles, descriptions is Ajam, Avyayam. Beautiful words. Ajam, Avyayam, Anantam. Satyam, Jnanam, Anantam, Brahman. Or if you want easier words, Sat, Chit and Anantam. When did God become Asat? When did he become Achit? When did he suffer? Interestingly also, very interesting point here, that God is pure existence. Pure existence has no birth. Pure existence means eternally it is pure. But say here is a table. This table has a birth. What happened? That existence has become conditioned by time, space and causation and each object in this world falls under that category. But whereas a yogi, before he became a yogi, he was thinking I am an object. You are different, I am different, I am different from everything in this world. But after he becomes a yogi, what does he think himself to be? Pure consciousness. Purusha, I am Atman, I am Brahman. When a person understands and thinks I am the Brahman, he doesn't think really. Thinking is our function. He knows I am pure conscious and in such a person's mind, if at all there is a mind, there is no plurality. That is why even psychologists recognize, scientists recognize, consciousness is never plural. It is singular, always singular. This is a beautiful point. You just listen and then think on later on. But this yogi, he knows I am pure conscious. Then what about the world? There is no world. It is all nothing but pure consciousness. If you want a small example, in a theater there is a screen, there is a projector and the projector is projecting the light onto the screen. And this light, does it ever think that I have become non-light? Even though the light appears to be various figures on the screen, but from the viewpoint of the light itself, the light never thinks I have become anything other than light. Does the light think that I have become a man? I have become a dog? I have become a tree? I have become a building? I am burning? I have become ashes? It never thinks. Who thinks? We think. The light never thinks. And light can never be limited. It is unlimited. But we do not see the light. We see only the effects of the light. That is called bondage. And this interesting, we never see maya. We only see the effects of maya. The moment you come to know what is maya, you know what happens? Maya becomes yama. Maya is defined as yama. Ma means no, not. Ya means that which is not. When we come to know what is maya, then we are completely free from it. Because such a thing never existed. Like a snake never exists. All that exists is nothing but only the rope. But at this point, we are not seeing the rope. We are only seeing the snake. We are frightened. But when we get out of this maya, there is no samsara at all. It doesn't exist. For a yogi, there is no karma at all. Because karma applies only to body and mind. A yogi is one who knows I am not the body and mind. But for everybody else, karma is there. How many types of karma? Three types of karma. White, black and mixed. Punya, papa, a mixture of punya and papa. Based upon this understanding, our Hindu scriptures they predict the future life. Those whose proportion of punya is great, they will go to higher worlds like svarga loka, heavens. But those who are having that what is called black karma, means what? Evil deeds, evil karma, then it transforms itself into experience of hell etc. But most of us, we are not, we are only having a mixture of good and bad. That's why what happens you know, next birth we will all be born again as human beings. Karma, shukla, ashukla, akrishnam. Yogina, for yogis, karma is neither white nor black nor mixed. Ikaresham, trividham. For everybody else, means whoever is suffering from ignorance, maya, ajnana. For them, karma is of three types and we all fall under that category. How do we know? Whether we are yogis or not? Every human being at any given time will be in one of these three states. Only in one of these three states. Yogi, bhogi and rogi. Now you check in which category you fall and then take the next step. From rogi you have to become a bhogi. Always tamas is roga and rajas is enjoyment. Roga means illness, vyadi, disease. Rajas means a mixture of both happiness and unhappiness. That's a very interesting point because you cannot experience happiness without understanding what is unhappiness. Always they go together. The more you are unhappy, the more likely you are to be happy and vice versa. But for a satvika person, when you go beyond that, only one thing will be there. What is it? Only pure joy. And a yogi by definition is one who is endowed with more of sattva. Naturally such a person will be only experiencing happiness. But that is not a happiness of worldly experience. It is a happiness born and manifesting his own innate nature, sat-chitta. That's what it comes. A yogi, then how does he behave? He is free from punya and papa. But how does he behave? Is he not accumulating new karma? No, because he doesn't have that feeling I am the doer. For whom the karma clings, he who thinks I am the doer, for him the karma, good or bad, clings. A yogi is one who says I am not the body, I am not the mind. Therefore I am not the doer. If I am not the doer, I am also not the enjoyer. So kartha and bhoktha, doership and enjoyership always go together. That is how we have to understand. But on no account it is good to be tamasic. This is called indifference. The distinction between indifference and detachment is tremendous, like heaven and hell. Ramakrishna is sitting and the whole world is drowning and he will be indifferent and you are also hearing the news and you are also indifferent. Is it the same or is it a heaven and hell difference? Whereas for you, you are not even in a state to think what happens to the other person. You don't have that capacity to feel compassion, sympathy and much less to try to help. Whereas from the viewpoint of great yogi like Sairamakrishna, nothing is happening. It is not true. It is like watching a cinema on the cinema screen. Hundreds of thousands of people are killed. There are some movies where some aliens would come with a huge flying saucers like that and they can annihilate our whole earth into dust within a short time. And if you are watching that movie, will you be shedding tears? You will be thinking how beautifully this has been taken. Incidentally, I am sure you had watched this film Avatar. Some of you at least have watched Avatar. It's a beautiful film based upon this Hindu theory of Avatar. The tree people, these modern people went and tried to destroy the entire what we call human civilization for their greed. But ultimately they are defeated because always Sattva triumphs, goodness triumphs, truth triumphs. That is why one of the Ashoka pillars, Sathyameva Jayate, truth alone triumphs. It is absolutely true. How many stories you know? Satyahari's Chandra. He suffered a lot but ultimately his name became Timur. Indifference is the greatest sin. Even if you have to do something bad, a person who does evil or bad is far superior to a person who just sits like a foot rug. That is what Swami Vivekananda said. Eat meat. Many people criticized Swamiji. Why was he advocating meat? Because all these scriptures are teaching us you should not eat meat because you have to kill animals and meat is very bad. And he said it is not my aim to encourage people to eat meat. I am telling them because in the name of spirituality, the whole country is going down and down and down. At least if you eat meat, you can't sleep that much. Your sleep will be reduced. Then you do something good. Then you evolve towards higher nature and there would come a time when you yourself would decide this is not good. I am doing something wrong. So automatically it will be dropped. You know nowadays even people are giving up eating non-vegetarian for the sake of health and what to speak of the mental health or spiritual health is a most marvelous point. Another point here he says even if a person becomes Rajasik, then hatred, lust, greed, all these things will increase thousandfold. But according to Vedanta that is much better than being Tamasik. Why? Because the ancient Hindus would therefore have disagreed with Dante when he put Judas Iscariot in the lowest circle of hell. The point is here. Pravanasura, Narakasura, Bhanasura, Hiranyakashyapu, all these people were tremendously Rajasik people. They hated and through that hatred, through fear, through desire, through enmity, what did they get ultimately? They got no other than God himself. They became God. That's why Hinduism always, Vedanta always tells us that if you have these negative emotions, increase them a million fold but with one caveat. What is it? Direct all of them towards only God because it is a sign how wonderful it is even to be able to think of God in a negative way. In that sense there is no negativity. According to Hindu tradition our whole life can be divided into only two, positive and negative. What is positive? That which takes us towards God is positive and that which takes us away from God is negative. By this standard we have to judge. It is not how much time you are doing japa or meditation. What is the change that comes as a result of that in your conduct, in your character, in your day-to-day activities. This is what is being said here that we are responsible for our own karma. If we become yogis only then we get out of the clutches of the results of karma then only we become enlightened. Do whatever you want but get out of the clutches of karma and that can be done only through one way, by realizing God. Om Shanti Shanti Shanti