Patanjali Yoga Sutras Lecture 016

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

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. Last week we had discussed something very interesting. If we want to have perfect control over our own mind, then it must be preceded by two types of practices. One is called repeated practice, another is called dispassion. Once a disciple of Swami Brahmanandaji asked Swami Brahmanandaji, why do we need to go on practicing repeating the name of God, meditation etc. Is not God so powerful that He can bestow His grace upon us at any time? And Swami Brahmanandaji had given a most wonderful answer. He said God's grace is always available and He wants to bestow His grace and He does bestow His grace but have we the capacity to receive and to retain? Many times we discussed on 1st January 1886, Sri Ramakrishna had touched so many people and typically most of the people that were touched by him had wonderful experiences. But if you recall, they could not retain. In fact there was an opposite reaction in many of them. Why? Sri Ramakrishna had bestowed His grace and these people really wanted at that moment, all the time, we want all the time the grace of God and is God a miser, He doesn't want to give, bestow His grace upon us. He is bestowing, He wants us to receive. He is a billion billion times more anxious than us to bestow His grace upon us. He wants us for His own, He wants to bestow His grace upon us for purely selfish motive. You understand what I am talking about? What is selfish motive of God? That the earlier we get rid of this samsara, the less He will be troubled. And yet we are incapable of receiving. If we ask ourselves, all of us who are sitting here, do you not want to have the grace of God? Do you want to know what is the reality? Don't you want to be happy? After all this is what the scriptures are telling that you have no fear, you have no death and you are children of immortal bliss, eternal bliss. Amrutasya Putra, Swami Vekananda's first day address, children of immortal bliss at the Parliament of Religions. That was the essence of the whole Vedanta. We are all children of immortal bliss. Only it is put in different ways. Aham Brahmasmi, I am Brahman, Tattvamasi, the word that, this whole universe is Prajnanam Brahma, nothing but pure consciousness. But if someone were to say, this whole universe is nothing but Sachidananda and we are part of the universe. Therefore, we are not divine beings. Again Swami Vekananda, each soul is potentially divine. This is what we want to be happy. And how can we be happy? Not by having but by being. This is a statement which needs to be meditated upon, to be repeated, japa. What is it we want? Do we want happiness or do we want to be happiness? What is the difference between these two? One is to have happiness, another is to be happiness. What difference does it make? Accepting, twiddling with words, it makes an enormous difference. Remember, many times again, the law, whatever is us will always be us. Whatever is with us or whatever we are having, one day or other, it will separate from ourselves. So if we are happiness, then nobody can take it away. But if we have happiness, then it can be taken away at any given time. So this was the message that God wants us to be happiness itself. And how can we have that? By knowing that we are the divine. After all, what is the definition of God? He is existence, knowledge, bliss. He is not having existence. Swami Vivekananda was a superb Vedanta teacher. I have never found anyone who could put the essence of Vedanta in such crystal clear terms. He is not having existence, but he is existence. He is not having knowledge, but he is knowledge. He is not having happiness, but he is happiness. What is this table? Really speaking, it is nothing but wood in a particular shape which we call a table. So why not call it wood instead of calling it a table? Because this wood, you are sitting on a chair made out of wood. It is not really wood, but imagine that it is wood. On a wooden chair you are sitting. And if I call this wood, that also wood, the door also is wood, everything is wood. Then we can never talk with each other. Because to talk, to speak, to communicate and to have relationship with each other, there must be two separate things. Imagine younger sister, elder sister. Are they same? They are related. But are they same? They are totally different. How do you know? One is born earlier, another is born later. One is taller, another is shorter. One is intelligent, maybe another is not that intelligent. So you can distinguish. From birth to death you can distinguish. Yes, this is younger sister, this is elder sister. Even though as human beings they are same, but as two different objects. Only then they can have relationship. So what is the law? If we want to have a relationship, then we must be two separate objects. Now, can you have any type of transaction? If it is the same, always transaction means two separate here and there, now and then, this and that, always. See, even language betrays that difference. Now, I was giving the example of this table. It's made out of wood, but it is not merely wood. Wood plus certain form and certain name is a table. But is the table really something different from the wood? Now, but the point is very interesting point and very useful for our discussion also. What is this? Here is a table and this table consists of two things I said. One is substance, another is qualities. What is the quality? What is the substance first of all? It is wood. What is the quality? It is square. It is of such and such a height. So, it is different color, different shape, different size and most importantly different utility. A chair is not a table and a table is not a door. Why? Because these all are made out of wood only, but they have different prayojana we call it. Prayojana means utility, different utility. Now, what is the interesting subject here? Every object that we see in this world consists of these two substance and qualities. Substance and qualities. Now, substance is what is called its nature. Qualities are what which comes and goes, disappears. I imagine this table has become old and I do not feel it is that useful. What do I do? I can reshape it into a chair. So, what happens to the table? Table is dead. What is born? Chair is born. But is wood born or dead? Always the wood is there. So, in this world everything that is, every single object is made up of substance and qualities. The substance in Sankhya terminology is called Purusha and the qualities in Sankhya terminology is called Prakriti. Prakriti and Purusha, these are eternal realities in this world. Now, what is yoga? Yoga is to separate these two. We are distinguishing between having and being. If I have happiness, it is a quality. If I have happiness, that is a quality. How do we know? Because, simple example, babyhood is one of my qualities. Youth is one of my qualities. Old age is one of my qualities. Vedanti is one of my qualities. You understand Vedanti? Without teeth. So, usually every person has got, every single person has got, he becomes Vedanti twice. First, when he is born. Lastly, when he is going to die. Unless somebody happens to help him become teethless. What is the point? I was a baby. I was a young man. I was a middle-aged person. Now, I am an old man. And after some time, this body will not be there. But at least, let us stay. Babyhood, youth, adolescence, youth, old age. Now, are all these not qualities? Are they not? How do we know qualities? Because they are changeable. Changeable. When a person 60-70 years old and half of their, three-fourths of the head is white, but suddenly next morning you will see jet black hair. Qualities change. Appears to be very young. Not really becoming young. Appears to be young. Seemingly young. This is a very interesting word. You meet somebody and you are having lot of expectations of that person. If this person tells me something about myself, I will be very happy. And that person also wants to oblige you. And he tells you, you are seemingly beautiful. Will you be happy or unhappy? Or he says, you are seemingly intelligent. Do you see the difference? You are intelligent and you are seemingly intelligent. What is the difference? If you are intelligent, you are intelligent. But if you are seemingly intelligent, it is a quality which comes and disappears. So you see the point we are discussing now. This is what Eric Fromm discusses. To be or to have. We are not able to understand, the modern people are not able to understand that our happiness doesn't depend upon having things, but upon being happy. And being happiness, you cannot buy, you cannot borrow, you cannot steal. That is a quality that we have to manifest. That is what Swamiji meant. Each soul is potentially divine. All the things that we ever wish, not only now, but in future is already within us. So here is one more law. Whenever we have any wish, that wish depends upon our true nature. If you have any desire, either now or after billion years, if you have a desire, if you have a wish, if you feel, I wish, that means you are already that. But you do not know, you did not know how to get it. So if you say, for a simple simplest example would be, say, I want to be happy. Is it a quality or is it your nature? Do not forget it. Is it a quality or is it your nature? If it is your quality, what happens? It comes and it goes. That is why you say, oh, you are very happy. Somebody says, when I met you 20 years back, you were a very happy person. What does that mean? You see, ordinary simple language. Oh, when I met you 20 years back, you were very young. What is he telling indirectly? You have become an old goose. Only, it does not express in that, this is a type of language. You appear to be very beautiful. You appear to be very intelligent. You appear to be rich because these things, by common sense we know, they come and then they go. So if we are happy by our very nature, then it will never go away from us. That is what the Vedanta tells us. But we are not able to understand it. Why, you know? Why, because the worldly experience tells us, unless I have some things, I won't be happy. And the most curious thing about this habit is, if I want something, why do people spend millions of dollars in advertisement? You need this thing. Don't I know? A simple example is, should somebody advertise and say, you are going to be hungry, then you need food. Have you ever seen such a kind of advertisement? You are going to be hungry, so be prepared. Do we need to be told that? Because as we think of ourselves, we know by experience that we are going to be hungry, thirsty, tired, all those things. But the world wants to squeeze us. So it goes on spending lot of money in advertising. What is that all the advertisement? Do you know what is the essence of the advertisement? These are very interesting ideas to think about. What is the essence of advertisement? You are not happy until you buy my product. Have you ever seen any advertisement, you can be happiest person without my product. What happens to such an advertisement? If I am manager of the advertisement department and if I make this kind of advertisement, then what do you think I will be seeking next day? Another employment. So you see, the whole world is telling us, you are not happy, you are not happy. But there is somebody who is telling us just the opposite and we are not believing. Who is it that is telling us? The scriptures are telling us. The saints are telling. When Swami Vivekananda says, thou art divine, you are divine, what is he telling? That you have no death, you are not ignorant, you are absolute bliss. Satchitananda, this is what he is telling. He is not telling you are going to have happiness. What is liberation? It is to give up the idea of having and adopt the idea of being. I want to be. If I am by nature, by my nature. So this is the first law. What was the law? We said that whatever wish we have, that wish depends totally upon our forgotten nature. What is our forgotten nature? We have forgotten that we are divine. What does that mean? We have forgotten that we are immortal. We have forgotten that we are of the nature of knowledge. We have forgotten that we are of the nature of bliss. So what are the wishes that we have? We want to be for a long time. We want to know that we are and we want to be absolutely feel I am happy. I am happy. Who is a happy person? Language again, beautiful language is linguistic analysis is beautiful. If anybody says I was happy, what is the point we are discussing? I was happy means what? I am not happy now and I have lost my happiness. How did I lose my happiness? Because I did not become happiness. I had happiness. What it means is certain conditions which made me feel adequate, those conditions have changed now. Now what does the scripture say? Scriptures say renounce, have dispassion. What is the dispassion? Suppose there is an emperor and he is the emperor of the world and the scripture tells him have dispassion. What do you expect him to do? Do you expect him to put on some ochre cloths and run away from the home? Do you think that is called dispassion? What does that mean? There is a brilliant example of King Janaka, Videha Janaka we call him and he was the greatest of the renunciates. Why was he called the king of the renunciates? Why was he called? He was still ruling the empire. He was still having wife and children. He was still enjoying the very best things that this earth can provide for and he was called Videha Janaka. Videha means what? Not a dead person but a person who had absolutely who never thought I am the body. Videha means vigata, deha, spriha that is body consciousness. That he was not unconscious. He was not asleep but he simply thinks I am not the body. Sri Ramakrishna, did he give his teachings after his death or before his death? Did he ever use the sense I am the body? Now search the whole of the gospel and great master. Would you ever find him saying I am the body? In fact our experience is so wonderful. When are you happy? When are you most happy? When you forget that you have a body, this is the most wonderful thing. When do you remember your teeth? Only when you have got toothache. When do you remember you have a head? When you have got a headache, leg ache, joint ache, romantic ache, all these aches and aches. When do you remember? When they are giving us trouble. But when we are happy, what is the first thing that happens? Absence of their consciousness is what is called happiness. What is health? Absence of body consciousness. What is happiness? Absence of identity both with the body and the mind. This is the most marvelous thing for us to remember. What is religion? Religion is to attain to that state when we can forget that we have a body and we have a mind. Then we are not the body, we are not the mind but we must be somebody. That is why the whole Indian philosophy, it is condensed in this way. There are two principles, I and everything else. The seer and the seen. The experiencer and the experienced. The knower and the known. Everything including this body, including this mind because I am able to witness it. We often use the language, I know myself like that. So what is Samadhi? Samadhi means to have that kind of mind where it can forget itself or in positive language it shows, it acts like a clean mirror and when we stand in front of it, it doesn't say you are the body or you are the mind. It says you are Purusha or the soul. You are separate from me. You are separate from me. That's what the mind is able to say. What is it saying to us now? What is the first idea the mind reflects about ourselves? You are a body. You are young. You are old. You are beautiful. You are ugly. You are intelligent. You are unintelligent. You are rich. You are poor. You are this. You are that. You have this and you don't have this. But when a person becomes wise, his mind becomes absolutely pure as a crystal like a mirror and then in front of that mirror says, oh, I am not the body. I am not the mind. It is not something we have to ask ourselves. It is something which we have to instantaneously recognize as easily as we recognize ourselves. So in uniformity, but for you, do you have any problem? Why? Because the most natural thing is this is me. Whereas a person who has attained to Samadhi, what is the most natural thing for him? This is me. Not the body. Not the mind. But I am the self. Because wherever he looks, whatever he looks at, it reminds him only of that particular identity with him. So that is our goal. And to attain to that goal, we have to start with faith. The faith in the scriptures that you are not the nature, you are not the prakriti, you are the purusha or the soul, you are potentially divine. You know how many times we read Swami Vivekananda's works and yet do we ever come to really believe what he says? You know we give lectures. We go on quoting hundreds of times. We read it. We tell to other people. We write articles. We do everything. Do you really believe if you are potentially divine? Does anything in this world, can anything in this world make you happy or unhappy? I am not saying only unhappy. Can anything in this world make you happy? Because who needs to be made happy? A person who is not having happiness, he can be given happiness. A person who is not having money, he can be given money. But a person who has knowledge and who has that happiness, what can you add to him? There is nothing you can add. But somehow we have to reach that goal. And our goal is to reach that goal whereby we separate our identity and say, I am not the nature, but I am divine. I am the purusha. In Patanjali's language, I am purusha. That attainment is called practice of yoga. Chitta vritti nirodha. And how can we attain? And this is for two conditions. What are those two conditions? Repeated practice, abhyasa. And that we will not do. But just now we discussed, what is the repeated practice for? It is for the reception and retainment of God's grace when it dawns upon us. Otherwise we will not be able to, even if God is bestowing his grace, we won't be able to retain it. But in order to be able to repeat it, to retain it, to receive it, to retain it, we need one more quality. One is called abhyasa. The other is called viragya. Viragya means dispassion. In my last class, I said there are five conditions. To attain to the highest type of dispassion, we need to fulfill five conditions, if you remember. What is the first condition? Without passion, there can never be dispassion, first condition. That is why Sri Ramakrishna used to divide people into mainly two categories. In one category, a real person. The other category is flattened rice soaked in milk. Do you understand what is flattened rice? You know rice is flattened and when you soak it in milk, what happens? It becomes soggy. So according to Sri Ramakrishna, there are people who are called soggy people. There is nothing there. No substance there. Now the idea is unless we have passion, there can never be dispassion. What is the first condition? Intense enthusiasm. Swami Yudhishthira Ramji Maharaj used to tell scientists are nearer to God than ordinary people because he explained it. He said scientific people, first of all, I am talking about truly scientific people, they are dedicated, enthusiastic people, whole lives, you know, Madam Curie, who discovered that principle of radiation. She herself got the radiation, she and her husband actually. Every scientist, how much whole life they are dedicated, whether they reached the goal or not is secondary affair. But what we are talking about, they are dedicated and full of enthusiasm. They are life. But even more important quality, one is enthusiasm, one is lifelong dedication, the third quality is most important. What is it? They are highly disciplined. What is discipline? You know we use the English word discipline. In fact, the word disciple is derived from the word one who can be disciplined alone is worthy to be called a disciple. The Guru does nothing else but to discipline the student. What is this? They are highly disciplined. What is the discipline? What are we talking about discipline? Discipline means scientists, so far as their subject is concerned, they are highly dispassionate. They have tremendous amount of dispassion. That means what? They would not think of anything outside their subject. That is called dedication. That is why Yathushananda Maharaj used to say that scientists are because if by chance they turn their mind towards God, then immediately they will attain. So this is the second condition that passion must be redirected. That is the second condition. The one law we discussed in my last class. There is a law I said. What was that law? We can never turn our attention to something else unless it is something higher and better than what we have now. You will never wish to have something which you already have. We always wish to have something which is much better than what we have. This is the third law. So that is where a new habit must be established. We understand intellectually. I am not having such a discipline. I must have discipline. What is the problem? Immediately I have passion and I want to redirect that passion. I have the desire and I also have a higher goal. But what is the real problem? What is the problem? The problem is because we have already become terribly entrenched in the old habit. Old habit of thinking. Old habit of doing. Old habit of acting and reacting. And it comes so naturally to us we do not even want to think. But anything new you need to be fully focused to redirect. That is why a new habit must be established. But above all there is a fourth condition. That is this point also we discussed in our last class. You know what it is? Nobody desires anything unreal. You may think something as real but always it must appear to us as real. And so you know nobody wants a most beautiful golden ornament seen on the TV. If it is, do you think that you will go and grab it? No. It must be available really in some shop. Then only we have that desire. It must be like real. These are the five conditions. And then we are going to shortly discuss about this. This is what we discussed until our last class. The highest type of dispassion means I do not want this. That is called highest dispassion. Will not come unless we have a real glimpse of something real which is our own soul. In this terminology it is called Purusha. Purusha means unless we know we are Purusha, we are not going to get this tremendous dispassion. That is impossible. This is what is being said now in the 16th aphorism. That is to say the highest extreme non-attachment to everything in this world and to this body and mind which gives up even the qualities and that comes from the knowledge of the real nature of Purusha. Until now what is our dispassion? It is hierarchical dispassion. What is the hierarchical dispassion? A person says this my house is very poor house. I want to have a better house. And the next step is I want to have a palatial house. The next step is I want to go to heaven and then there is higher heaven. There is still higher heaven. Go on. It is called hierarchical change of values. Higher and higher values all falling within what is called from Vedantic point of view that which is unreal. From a lower step of unreality to a higher step of stage of unreality. That is why Vedanta is very hard nut to crack. Even if somebody, even if God offers you Brahma Loka, Brahma Loka means the highest enjoyable state within the dualistic nature or within the world. Highest enjoyable. There was a very interesting incident. Swami Turiyananda, one of the greatest disciples of Ramakrishna, all his disciples were greatest in their own way. And Swami Turiyananda was noted for his dispassion, for his austerity, for his tremendous amount of meditation etc. He was living in his old age at Varanasi, Banaras. And he was a most learned person. Very, very of all the direct disciples, the person who was the most orthodox pundit, Swami Turiyananda. So wherever he goes, the scriptural classes used to be held in his presence. Either he takes or in his presence somebody takes and occasionally he will explain certain things. So at Varanasi, they were having this scriptural classes and the class was, there is one special Advaitic book called Yoga Vasishta Ramayana. You remember that there are Ramayana, there are types of Valmiki Ramayana, Vasishta Ramayana, Adhyatma Ramayana. You heard about Adhyatma Ramayana? We have the book translated by Swami Tapasyananda. That is allegorical interpretation of Valmiki Ramayana. This Vasishta Ramayana is again highly philosophical, non-dualistic interpretation of Advaita Vedanta. Now it is supposed to be what is called the best book on Advaita Vedanta and it is such a huge book. It takes whole life even just to finish it. Anyway, the class was going on. Somebody used to read the verses and he used to explain and occasionally if they have doubts, they ask Swami Turiyananda or sometimes he feels like adding some note and then he will do that. So one day that is being read and explained and the topic is about dispassion. So a definition of dispassion has been given. What is dispassion? If God offers Brahma Loka, means the highest enjoyable dualistic world, if the spiritual aspirant rejects it like the droppings of a crow, that is the indication of the highest type of dispassion. Only such a person is fit for liberation. That is the idea. Thevara Vairagya, intense dispassion. Now this was being read and explained and Turiyananda ji stopped the class and he turned to an inmate and he asked, look here, suppose Ramakrishna comes and offers you Brahma Loka, what will you do? Because just now it is being read and this Swami just now he heard about it. He said, oh Maharaj, I just spit it, like that I will spit. And Turiyananda ji started laughing and laughing and laughing. Why? Because he said, you stupid fool, do you know what is Brahma Loka? If even you see Brahma Loka from one billion miles and Sri Ramakrishna, you are running towards it and Sri Ramakrishna comes on your way, you will kick out Sri Ramakrishna and run towards that Brahma Loka. Because you have not seen, you don't know what is Brahma Loka, you are simply talking, I will spit it out like that. The day I read this incident, a great understanding came to me. We are, what are we talking about dispassion? We don't even know what a higher happiness is. If it comes, even a billion Sri Ramakrishnas, we will just burn them if necessary and then run towards it. The power of Maha Maya. I will not go into the story but you remember Narada's story, Narada's Maya. He was, he asked God, what is Maya? And God said one day, let us go for a walk and he said, I am thirsty, bring some water, I won't go into the story. But the idea is within a few seconds, this Narada is a wonderful character, he was unmarried and he instantaneously fell. What is the beauty of that story, that Sri Krishna was by his side, Krishna was God, he knew, Narada knew that this was God and God asked him to fetch some water and within a second, whom did he forget? He forgot God and then what did he fall into? He fell into the clutches of an ordinary woman. You know, this distinction is very, sorry, I am repeating all those things, but it is very highly interesting, you know, who is a beautiful woman or who is a beautiful man. You think that there are certain definite characteristics by which you can judge this person is beautiful and this person is not beautiful? No. You see, it is all beauty is totally individual and personal. That is why you see so many people, a woman falls for a man who is like a crow and vice versa. But if you ask, how did you fall in love with this person, he says, don't ask such a question, look at that person through my eyes. Anything like that, whether it is food or clothing or anything like that, it is purely personal and individual. Not two of us would agree in total on anything in this world, whether it is sweets or dress or anything like that, that all depends. So how do we form our individual opinion? Whatever brings us happiness and that is good, that is beautiful, that is marvellous, that is in fact God himself, this is the criteria. Anyway, coming back to our point, this Narada wanted to taste what is the power of Maya, you know Vedanta uses the word Maya, Maya means divine delusion, that is to say Maya makes us, it makes the reality as unreality and it makes the unreality as real. Does it really make? No. It seemingly it makes, but we fall for it, like our dream. Anyway, what is the point that this highest type of dispassion is possible only when we have seen the reality. In the realm of unreality, these are hierarchical values and certainly the hierarchical values are good because there is another law. What is that law? If we want to get something higher, we have to pay for it and the payment you cannot cheat. There is one thing about this most beautiful idea. Just now we were discussing, what was that, the difference between having and being. Now if all of us want happiness, tell me if I ask you, can you buy happiness? Can you borrow happiness? Can you steal happiness? What would be your answer? You can steal, you know a book, you can steal even houses, homes. In America it is a very common thing to steal houses. Anything can be acquired, anything can be also lost, but there is one thing nobody can give, nobody can take. What is it? Nobody can give us life. Nobody can take away our life. Nobody can take away our knowledge. Nobody can give knowledge, understand. No one can give knowledge. Books cannot give knowledge, teachers cannot give knowledge, even God cannot give knowledge. It is an important point Swami Vivekananda makes because knowledge is your very nature. Then what does a teacher do? He doesn't give you knowledge, but he removes the obstruction for the manifestation of the knowledge already within us. That is why he says Dawa to that. You are already having that knowledge. We did not know about it, now we know about it. Anything whether it is science or art of cooking or whatever it is. What is the another thing? Happiness. No one can give us happiness. Nobody also can take away our happiness. We can cover it or we can uncover it. Even from a spiritual point of view, even worldly happiness we can have through spirituality. That is to say, if you can feel I am happy, you are happy. If you feel in spite of everything, if you say I am unhappy, who is unhappy? Other certificate, oh you must be very happy person, you have got a wonderful house, wonderful husband, wonderful children, wonderful job, everything. But does the person himself say yes, I am a very happy person? It is a nice joke, you know. It is also a fact, psychological fact. The so-called standing comedians, stand-up comedians, they are the most unhappy people on earth. So this is a joke about them. There is one man who went to a psychiatrist and the psychiatrist examined him and said man there is absolutely nothing wrong with you. You need to be a little bit more happy. So do one thing and every Thursday night this comedian comes up on the TV and you watch him. You will be a happier person. The comedian said, but doctor, I am that comedian. So you think, you know, I am not joking in a way, have you ever seen comedians? And you must, what is your idea about the comedian? You must be thinking, if this man can make me so happy, he must be a happy person in himself. But that is often not the case. The truth is often these people have to take drugs, they have to take something to forget themselves, they have a lot of worries because this is a talent, this comedy is a talent. It is not a nature, it is not their nature, it is a talent and somehow they acquired like a musician, like a good scientist, like a good cook, organizer, a CEO, these are special talents. These talents can be lost. So these people, somehow they could tell nice jokes, they can make other people happy and all that, but they have never, some of them at least, they have never mastered the art of being happy. This is very important for us. This is what the scripture tells us. My friend, you are of the nature of happiness, bliss, but it is at the moment covered. Why is it? What is the covering? Covering is all the other things with which you are identifying yourself. Now here is an important point also. When we say dispassion, we are not telling we should run away from things, it says do not have, you understand, have a proper relationship with them, you enjoy them, but never depend upon them saying that you are the cause of my happiness. You say I am quite happy with you, either with you or without you, but at the same time I am quite happy to squeeze all the happiness I can get from you, but I am not dependent. If you are not there, I am equally happy. That is the point. That is called dispassion, not running away. In the beginning, of course, we have to run away. Anyway, this is the point. What is the point here? That extreme non-attachment means what? Total non-attachment, not for a short time, but permanently, thereafter never any attachment comes, can be achieved only through one condition only. What is that? By experiencing at least once the real nature of our own self, as self, as the divine self. Purusha khyati, khyati means knowledge, purusha khyati means knowledge of our own real nature as the self as opposed to the prakriti, then only supreme, that ultimate dispassion can come to us. I will just conclude my talk with a beautiful last class I promised you. I said Ramakrishna's parables are full of meaning. Here is the parable. There was a poor man. It was old times. It was a kingdom. There was a poor man and the poor man had never seen the king of his country and he had a desire, deep desire, I once at least I want to see my king. So he requested somebody who knew the king, sir, will you please take me once, I want to see him. The man gladly agreed and he took him one day, he made appointment, he took him and when they entered into the first place, there was an officer gorgeously dressed which the poor man had never seen. Now you just understand, not only this fellow had not seen the king, but he had not seen even a higher officer who could be so gorgeous. So this man, he saw, he was wonderstruck, the cloths, the bearing, all the people scurrying here and there at this man and all that. So this in wonderstruck, he said, is this the king? And the friend who took him said, no, this is only an officer. Then he go takes him to the next higher room and again this, the second officer was even more gorgeously dressed than the first and he said, is this the king, he said no. Then so seven places they go on taking, is this the king, is this the king, no, is this the king, no, is this the king, no. So six officers he had seen and then they entered into a chamber and then the poor man saw and he did not ask the question, is this the king? This is the parable. What is the inner meaning of this parable? It is most marvelous even to meditate. That is to say, so long as there is any slightest doubt, is this real, is this real, na, neti neti means not this, is not real, is this real, no it is not real, is this real, no it is not real. But when we come to that state, when we come face to face with reality, who is going to ask the question, is this real, no, because the nature of the reality is svayam prakasha, svayam jyoti, that means it reveals its truth by itself. You don't need, see do you see the beauty of this parable. Now how many people were there? First officer, this poor man was there, the friend who conducted him was there and this officer was there. So this poor person was asking the officer, is this the king? He said no, he is not the king. So it went on. That means what? The man had doubts. Why did he have doubts? Who can have doubt? What is the psychology of doubt? What is the psychology? The first psychology of doubt is maybe this is not the truth. What is the second psychology of doubt? Unless there are two things, you will never ask, is this this? Let me illustrate it. You know how wonderful even this thinking deeply, suppose myself and yourself, we are sitting in this room and imagine, just imagine that there is one book we can all see and I say, will you please give me that book, hand over that book to me, will you ask any questions to me, immediately you take the book and then you give it to me, is it not? Suppose there are two books, what do I ask you, give me that book, what would be your question? Will you bring the book? What would be your question? Which book you want? Because if there is one book, is there any doubt? No doubt. If there are two books, the moment two books come, then there will be, now which particular book you want, simply saying book will not do, you see what I am telling? So long as there is dvaita, duality, there will always be a doubt. But the moment we come across truth, means truth is always non-dual. How we can connect these things together, you know, truth is always, how many truths can be there? Can there be two truths? Truth is always, how many lies can be there? Any number of lies can be there. What is the point? If this person is asking, is this the king? That means he had a doubt. Why did he have a doubt? Because somehow his inner conscience did not satisfy, I think it is not the king. That means there must be some real king, just observe the parable. When he came into the presence of the king, did he have duality? There was no doubt at all. It comes automatically. That is why he did not ask. He did not ask because he was thunderstruck. No, he did not ask because he knew this is the real king, is the truth. The others were seeming kings, not real kings. So this is the inner symbolism. When we see through all these practices, when we come across our own, our mind reflects us without the least bit of doubt, the function of the mind is gone. How Sri Ramakrishna, I just said, I will conclude this talk, Sri Ramakrishna's again parable of three robbers, at least you remember that, three robbers. So one man was walking in a forest and soon three robbers, mind, all the three are robbers. Who is a robber? One who robs is called a robber, steals from you something, maya. So the three robbers, they came, they bound him. One of them said, let us, he might betray us, he has seen us, let us kill him. The second man said, no, no, there is no need, let us bind him and we got what we wanted, let us run away. And they went away. And very soon a third man comes out and says, my poor man, you have suffered a lot, come on. And he unbinds him, takes him by the hand and brings him to the edge of the forest and tells, there is your village and you can go, say you are safe now. The man was so grateful and he says, you have saved my life, please come, we will honour you at my home. He said, no, I am still a robber. I may be a good robber, but I am still a robber and the police will catch me and I am not going to come there. What a wonderful parable. Who are the three robbers? One represents tamo guna, which destroys, another is rajo guna, which binds, another is sattva guna, which helps us, which does not release. Their power is completely limited. They can only come at the edge of the forest. What is the forest? This world of duality. So the soul has to be alone. Even the sattva guna, our mind is consisting of these three gunas. Through practice, we wash off the tamas, wash off the rajas and ultimately when it becomes pure sattva, almost pure, then it becomes like a clean mirror reflecting our own real nature without any covering and then says, oh, I am the purusha. When that knowledge comes, the sattva guna says, I can only come until this place. After that, I cannot accompany you. You must go alone. That travel of the alone to the alone is called spiritual progress. This is such an interesting subject we will discuss in our next class. Om Shanti Shanti Shanti