Teachings of Swami Brahmananda Lecture 03

Introduction: The Importance of Understanding Meditation

Yesterday I said we have to discuss a very important topic. What was that topic? Meditation. At least one person remembered it.

See, most of us do not understand what is meditation, what is the process, how do we know we are going forward. It is very important for us to understand this. You can call it also spiritual progress.

What Is Meditation?

First, what is meditation? So if we are meditating, the word meditation—the difference between concentration and meditation—we discussed already at one point. Concentration is focussing the mind on any object we like. Meditation is concentration but only on a sacred object—God, form of God, or a better quality, whatever it is.

And that should be approved by the scripture. You cannot choose—you say, "I will meditate on harmonium." That is, you can concentrate on harmonium, but you cannot meditate on harmonium because if you succeed in your meditation, a person who is meditating on a tree, what will he become? A tree.

And if a person is meditating on a harmonium, what does he become? Harmonium. If the person is meditating on a carpet, what does he become? That is the danger. Okay, second, we are all meditating.

Why Are We Not Progressing?

So now, why are we not progressing? We want to progress, you know. So you have to understand what is it that I am looking for. How do I know what I am? Unless you know where you are going, how do you measure your progress? You have to have a clear idea where you want to go.

So what is it? A simple example would be: "Okay, I would like to be like Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa or Holy Mother." That is an understandable thing. I do not dare to say "I would like to be Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa or Holy Mother." But the thing is, if you are exactly like Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, what are you? Is it not? Only thing is, because we have a low opinion about ourselves—"Oh, how can I ever be like Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa?"—but we would like to be like Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. That is more acceptable.

We think it is more acceptable: "I would like to be like Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa." This should be a clear idea.

Do you have that goal in your mind? You have to be very clear. "Yes, I want to meditate on Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa." There the clarity vanishes. Some vague idea is there: "I want to meditate upon Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa." So what do you mean by Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa?

The Gymnasium Analogy

Next point is, what is it that you would like to be? You know, it is like a gymnasium. Suppose ten people go to a gymnasium. Every gymnasium teacher knows these people want to strengthen their muscles, is it not? But everybody is strengthening up; the muscles will not be the same. If a tennis player goes, he wants to strengthen certain special muscles. If a musician wants to play, then he wants to strengthen certain muscles, is it not? So we will have to know, what is it that we would like to be? What is that likeness of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa?

Qualities, Not Form

Usually what does that mean? Only qualities. Here also, when we read stories like Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa meditated on Hanumān and became like Hanumān, do we mean to say his face and his everything became Hanumān-like? Only two things became Hanumān-like: there was a one-inch tail that grew, and his eyes became as restless as a monkey. He said, "My eyes like that, like that, moving like that." Because he was—Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's—do not worry, that will not happen to us. Only Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa can have that kind of thing. Do not worry about tail. If by chance it grows, do not worry; there is somebody to help you.

We must have a very crystal clear idea. What are the qualities? And in those qualities also, do we have a choice to choose what qualities we want or what type of qualities we would like to have? If a person, suppose a person with a headache goes to a doctor, so what is it he is expecting from the doctor? Does he want the doctor to cure him of something else or headache? So same thing with us also: which quality, if we are suffering from one bad quality, then we should not aim, "Oh, if I have the other quality it would be very nice." So whatever quality we would—and we know generally which quality we would like to develop. What is that quality we would like to develop? Whatever defect we are suffering from, the immediate goal would be to rectify that defect, is it not?

Identifying Our Defects

Suppose I am restless, then I should develop restfulness. Suppose I am suffering from greediness, then I have to develop the quality which will remove this greediness. Suppose I get angry very quickly, then we must get rid of that quality. If we are jealous, then we have to get rid of that quality, and these are not difficult to find out.

And if you have any difficulty, I have got a very precious advice for that, and it does not cost you anything. That is what people like me most about—because I always tell books which can be freely downloaded, and then freely, you know. You ask sincerely any friend of yours; he will not only tell, he or she will not only tell what defects you have, may tell something even which do not exist, or which you may likely have in future.

Yeah, so definitely it is good, but do we have the honesty to say we will not get angry with you if you tell honestly? And you know, we all like to give—if anyone asks, this is one area which we would be very sincerely giving our advice. No cheating here. Without asking, it is doubtful, but if we sincerely ask, so you tell me what is it that you find in me which is a defect which I can rectify. Yeah, universally people will tell correctly, but we should be honest in two ways. The first way, simply asking for the sake of asking, is totally useless; it will only alienate us. The second is, we should never—we should appreciate the other person, and we should not take offence at what—because we are asking for the defects. We should never ask what are the good qualities you are observing in me, then the other person may never tell. But to tell our defects, everybody—in fact if there are four, five people, there will be competition. Who would be, who would get the first chance to tell all these things.

Self-Awareness Through Meditation

This is the first thing—we should ourselves be able to find out, and if we do not know, then there is some serious problem with us. What is meditation? Insight. So the more we succeed in meditation, the more we illumine our own antarāla (inner space), and we will be able to find out our own defects. And sometimes we do it, sometimes we do not do it. Even when we do it, there are two ways we do it. Most of the time people are not having that insight to find out. So sometimes we would like to find out, but we quickly come out of it and close it. That is because if we know there is something and do not do something about it, we feel terribly guilty about it, and we do not want to feel guilty about it. That is why better not to—what is called—the closet should be closed, so that the skeletons will not be exposed. This is a fact. We are all having so many skeletons.

So we have to find out. What is that? Some wrong, negative, unspiritual qualities. So when we are wanting to meditate upon Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa or Holy Mother, what is it we should look upon? The quality which is opposite to it. Because they do not have this quality; otherwise they would not be Holy Mother and Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. If Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is also suffering from the same quality, how can he be helpful to us? God also suffers from defects. People do not understand it.

A Song of Purandara Dāsa

See, there is one great saint called Purandara Dāsa. So he is praying to God: "Apply, apply, no reply," as usual. He composed a song because he could compose songs. "You see, people call You an ocean of infinite quality. Now tell me, rationally, if an ocean gives something to somebody, will it become less in any way? Will it become less? Then why are You holding tightly and do not let out?" Beautiful song, you know. Accusing God that "I know, I thought I was only suffering from miserliness. I do not know that You suffer from even more miserliness than me."

I think Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa also, in a different way: "You are helping everybody and You are not helping me. Am I outside You, the world?" Oh Mother, beautiful song.

Choosing the Most Urgent Defect

So, we have to meditate upon Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa or Holy Mother or anybody—that quality which is opposite to the quality I suffer from. But we have many defective qualities. We have to choose one quality which is most urgent, most virulent disease, you know. That is why, supposing a person is suffering from headache and stomachache, and the headache is tolerable, the stomachache is intolerable. So, what should be the first treatment he should run to? But what if the stomachache is the biggest—I mean, it is like huge, almost insurmountable—but the headache is still doable? So it is like a little victory achieved.

No, no. See, when I am suffering, my discrimination will not go and say, "Okay, let me first deal with small problem, then I will deal with big problem." We will not think like that. Whichever is bigger suffering—that is why they say, you know, funny thing, you know—supposing a person is suffering from headache, so no medicine is available. So, you know what is the remedy? You ask somebody and give him a big slap. So this pain from the slap is so bad, temporarily you forget the headache and focus. Is that the way to get rid of this? No, you have added another problem. Anyway, what is the point? We have to choose and meditate.

The Four Parts of Every Meditation

Here comes—there should be four parts in every meditation. Otherwise, we are not going to go much. Four parts. See, we only know one part. What is that one part? Think of God. But we are not thinking of the other part. The first part, of course, is to think of God. First part and end also we have to think. That is our main aim. But what is it that is obstructing our thinking of God? Some bad quality, some defect, is it not? So unless we remedy it, how are we going to fill up our heart with Rāmakṛṣṇa or Holy Mother? It is not possible.

So we have to deal with it. There is a way of dealing with it, especially all the old masters used to personally instruct people about this, because everybody has to go through the same thing.

First Part: Meditate and Pray Regularly

So, first find out. Supposing, as an example, a person is suffering from what is called—if somebody talks something, in a thought like that, the reply will come. React instantaneously in an offensive manner. And later on, a person regrets: "No, I should not have reacted like that. The person is right." So, how many times we go through this? So, what is the first part? Meditate, pray regularly.

Second Part: Find Out the Defect

The second part is, find out what is the defect. And no defect only remains in the mind. Every defect must express itself in some situation. Simple example: here is a person who becomes very, very angry quickly—temperamental. So, last time, some incident. How do you know a person is sleeping? When a person is sleeping, you will not know he is temperamental. Only when some incident happens, you know he is temperamental. Even one incident does not indicate. Maybe, but if it is repeating frequently, then only we know.

So, the second point is, you fix in your mind: "This is the particular defect I want to get rid of." That saṅkalpa (resolve) should be there. This is the second part.

Third Part: Recollect and Re-enact Past Events

Third part is, recollect the events where you have reacted and you regretted. Clearly bring out—it is in memory. So, bring out that and clearly re-enact it in your mind. This is, what is that called? Simulation. Simulation is the third part.

Fourth Part: Rehearse the Ideal Reaction

Then, part of the fourth part is, that what you should know—how you would like to behave. So, if the situation comes, if I react this way, then this would be what I would consider as perfection. This is the fourth part. What is the fourth part? Recollect the same situation, but instead of how you reacted, how you would like to react—and do it again and again and again and again. This is how flight simulator, you know, those fellows succeeded. Same thing will happen here also. This is how I would like to react, and if you do it, so next time such an incident happens—and it will happen because all these situations are created by God, not for the sake of others, for our sake. It may be for others' sake, but mainly for our sake. That is what is called Many Lives, Many Masters. You made a mistake and you are going to hear about it your whole life.

Countering Old Samskāras with New Ones

So, what happens next time the situation repeats, then you are—there is a definite betterment in your reaction. Otherwise, the same old reaction is going on because it has become endemic—saṃskāra. Now, through simulation, you are countering that saṃskāra, creating a new saṃskāra.

Example from Sports Psychology

How it works also, I will give an example. You know, there are psychologists for everybody—psychologists for sportsmen. So, there is a baseball game. So, I read somewhere how they train. The first thing is, there is a very famous American baseball player. He was interviewed. He was asked because he hits whatever way you throw, however speed. He said, "How could you do it?" Then he explained, "When I start looking at the ball, from the time that fellow throws that ball, I see the ball every second of its travel, and not only that, the small ball appears to me like a huge ball." So, a huge ball and he will not miss. That is the point of what is called like Arjuna seeing that.

Okay. How to achieve that state? So, here is where this simulation comes in. So, the psychologist training the sportsman: "In your mind you visualise the ball coming towards you. Focus only on imaginary ball because they have seen so many times. Same thing, that fellow is throwing the ball, and more or less they know how each person throws." This is something interesting. You watch the same video, every single player has some special way of doing it. You go on watching and next time, the moment you see that thrower, then you know his technique and you know where it lands because we are creatures of habits. So, go on seeing that ball in your mind trajectory. What I read about this: that visualisation is 75% of the real practice. The physical practice is only to coordinate it with real 25%. Can you imagine? That means you just sit in your easy chair and do it.

Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa as an Expert Simulator

Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa did it. I will give you one or two examples. He said in The Great Master, "Whenever I wanted my mind to meditate, I showed mentally the figure of Bhairava which is in front of the Nāṭa Mandir." You know what is called stone sculpture, small Bhairava. Stone Bhairava never moves. "Oh mind, you should be like that without movement." And Rāmakṛṣṇa was an expert simulator. That is why he could become Hanumān, he could become Rādhā; he had the capacity to simulate.

So, the moment he said that, he said, "I had no power to move my body as though somebody was physically locking all the joints of my body, and even if I feel pain, I had no power to remove." Every person who meditates, this is the simulation. This is the effect.

So, if it can be working in sports field, cannot it work in other fields? It works in every field.

Question: What About Subtle Defects Like Jealousy?

"But I have a specific question. Anger or blurting out annoyance—I have answered without thinking. This is an immediate reaction. That is what we discussed just now. But something like jealousy—you have talked about it many many times. That is also same. How?"

It is much more subtle; it is very difficult because we do not react immediately. No, you react immediately. Supposing, you know, one person, he sees another person—let us say, this lady sees the other lady. It is a beautiful sparkling diamond necklace. The jealousy comes after dinner? No, it happens inside, but outside the reaction is not showing. Jealousy? It does not show outside. It is all burning inside though.

Any piece of knowledge, experience, must produce instantaneous effect. Yeah, your eyes may be looking like this, your blood pressure may be building up, your body language instantaneous. You think that nobody is smiling sweetly, "Ah, how beautiful, how beautiful." It is instantaneous. People can sense it and their pleasure increases. They also know. In fact, they do all that only for one express purpose of irritating the other fellows. See, even he could appreciate. All right? Yes, let us finish this.

The Remedy for Jealousy

But we have to shatter that thought. What is the remedy? The remedy is absolutely like anything else. "I am feeling jealous." Recollect certain events, you know. So, when Swamiji praised somebody, then I was feeling downhearted. You can recollect any number of incidents like that. It is not an isolated event, you know. And then you say, "Is this how a devotee of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa should react?" So, like that, you go on rehearsing. Next time, if Swami praises somebody, "Ah, whatever—I will be happy." Opposite quality. This is—you know, go on simulating. It becomes natural. It becomes less immediately and it becomes less and less. But we have to persist until—when does jealousy go? That is why when a mother hears the praise of her daughter, then her joy grows and grows and grows.

Swami Vivekananda and Swami Abhedānanda

You see, Swami Vivekananda—there is a description. Swami Abhedānanda came from India, and one day, suddenly Swami Vivekananda—Swami Abhedānanda was sitting. He was supposed to deliver a talk. He got up and announced, "Today I am proud to say my brother Abhedānanda will deliver the talk." And Abhedānanda was not at all ready. But he was a very scholarly person. He really worked very hard. Very interesting incidents were there.

You know, Swamiji and Swami Abhedānanda, they used to argue. Because among all the direct disciples, it was only Swami Abhedānanda who was a scholar. He used to sit and then either do japa or study the scriptures with bhāṣyas etc. So, at no time, Swami Abhedānanda could defeat Swamiji. But there was one occasion when he argued, Swami Vivekananda had nothing to reply. That day, Abhedānanda started dancing. "I put down a rain like that." A lot of mānas was recollecting this. Then he said, next day the argument resumed, and within five minutes, Swami Vivekananda had put down the rain. Then Swami Abhedānanda was telling, "Kālī's face became small." See, Rāmakṛṣṇa also tells, you know, "Hey, Girīśa Chandra Ghosha says, yesterday I shut the mouth of—" no, no, he said, "I do not want to disturb the faith of Girīśa Chandra Ghosha," like that. Who can? He was given that extraordinary power by God for a particular purpose. So nobody can defeat him; only if sometimes he would concede just to encourage the disciples or somebody. If he wanted to put him down, he would put down anybody. This is the simple truth.

Any Defect Can Be Removed

So, any defect can be remedied. There is absolutely no remedy which cannot—because it is a defect. If it is a defect, it can be removed. But we have to do two things. What are two things? First thing is we have to determine beforehand: "I want to get rid of this." Not wishy-washy: "Ah, if I could get rid of it, it would be wonderful. I will do it, you know, next week onwards." And next week will turn out next month, next month will turn out next year. "Do not worry, I make promise every day, it is tomorrow." Ah, wonderful.

No, I said to them—you only said to them. I do not know. Anyway, so this is the thing.

The Four Parts Summarised

So, four parts I said. What is the first part? Meditate upon God. That is our normal meditation. What is the second part? Find out one's defects. Third part is to that determination. That is why before doing pūjā, we do saṅkalpa. We have to do saṅkalpa: "I would like to..."—and it should not be "today I will, next week I will keep my mind calm. After that I will let it go." No. Otherwise, we will be losing.

The fourth is simulate again how I should—and recollect, "This is how I behaved in the past. This is how I would like to be." This is how quickly conversion can come. These are the four parts in meditation. What do we do? We only go on thinking about God, but without getting rid of the defects, how can we progress in spiritual life? So, I would say, just think of God a little bit, more than enough. Find out what is spiritual progress—getting rid of the defects. Yama and Niyama: Yama is always getting rid of negative things, and Niyama is acquiring positive things. Think of it. Yeah, that is it for me.

Question: How to Know the Ideal Way to React?

"Maharaj, while simulating, to know what is right, how to really act right, do we have to take the aid of how Ṭhākur would have reacted?"

Yes, you can take that or find out some other person. You know, the same situation more or less all of us have to face. But all of us do not react exactly in the same way. Even most of us may react in the same way. There will be some person whom you admire. This person has tackled the situation very well. So, here also you have to be aware. One is we want to be spiritually progressive, but the second part is we also have to be realistic.

In the office or anywhere, you have to be realistic. What is realism? You may be all right, but how do you know that the other person? That is why Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's teaching is very valuable. He gave some valuable suggestions, guidelines. If you want to buy something, you just do not go and buy from the first shop. You know, if the shopkeeper comes to know that you are going to shop around and then only buy, then he will automatically reduce his price. Only exception will be there—some Mārwāris, there is exception. You know, some new man, they set up—they all cooperate. Some new Mārwāri has opened a new shop. All of them want to encourage him. So they decided: you go into his shop and he will tell you the lowest price. His lowest price will be quite profitable for him. You say, "Let me—yes, yes, sure. You enquire in ten other places and come." You go to the next place. He will increase by ten percent. Then that fellow will go. By the time he goes around, he knows this is the only shop which gives at the lowest price. Not knowing, all of them made an agreement. They will be watching for the customers who are entering. There you cannot do anything. But in general, you go and enquire, and whoever is giving—not only that, what is that? Pau—extra. If they are giving that, do not come out without getting that extra. My God, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is giving the advice how to shop. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's philosophy on shopping—write a book on that.

So, you have to be realistic also. But at the same time, you have to progress in spiritual life. So, the simulation is always the best thing. Easiest thing is to simulate. That is part of meditation.

Question: When the Right Way Is Not Clear

"Maharaj, in order to simulate the right way to proceed, the right way to react, you need to also have certain knowledge of what is the ideal way."

Yes, that is not difficult.

"Sometimes it is not clear, Maharaj. And to reach that ideal way, it is not a one direct jump. You have to first get a little better at this. I do not know if I can give a specific example. Not all situations I would react in the same way, but take some situations, get your control over those situations, and then next situations, how you felt about those, and then..."

No, no. The point is, whatever be the situations, we want to maintain a certain standard. Maintaining that standard, you may deviate a little bit. That does not matter. But you do not want to come down from your standard. That is important. Okay.

See, it is not—sometimes the situation is not clear. That is also not right. What I just now said, certain things, we do not want to come below that level. The point is, you can react very angrily. That is not a problem. Our misunderstanding is, if you act calmly, it is fine; if you act angrily, etc., that is a problem. This is our normal understanding. That is not correct. The correct is, you can pretend you are very angry. If you become angry and agitated, that is bad. But if you pretend, but keep your mind calm—because you have to get certain work done, or otherwise the other people will take advantage of you—in that situation, you will have to pretend that you do not like these things. That is fine. But if you allow those emotions to control you, then you are gone. So that is how we will have to do. It is very difficult, but you will have to do it. And pray.

Suppose you are not at all clear, pray to Ṭhākur: "How shall I react to this situation?" Invariably, you will get something.

Question: How to Rank Defects

"What is the matter? You are exercising your left hand too much? Every second it is rising. Okay, Amma, what is that? Swamiji, how do you rank these defects?"

Yes, it is not difficult. Whichever defect is becoming a bigger block in our progress, in that order we have to tackle it. It is not difficult. We find out, you know, there are so many variations here. Some of the blocks are very temporary, you know, depending on the situation. Maybe generally you do not lose your temper, but in one situation you lost your temper. That is occasional, minor defect. If it is what is called endemic—if it is a nature—then definitely it is not a good thing for us to do.

So the thing is, each one of us must develop what is called the ability to understand, to be aware of our inner mind. We have to find out, witness, which thought is recurring again and again. Usually we can find out.

Question: Can Meditation Help Determine This?

"Can we use meditation to determine this, for this exercise?"

In fact, these Buddhist meditations—they only, they do not teach you anything else. They will teach you: "Go on observing, observing, observing. First observe how you sit." I gave you one example, you know, you remember? What happened in our Vedanta centre. One devotee came to the Vedanta centre many years back and after that he did not come for many years. Then he came. Then I asked him, "Why do not we see you?" He said, very interesting. He said, "Swamiji, there was no trouble." That means people visit Vedanta centre only when there is trouble. Generally that is the truth. Second he said, "You know, when I came, Swamiji, I was very restless. But now I am so calm and quiet." He went on doing this, you know, that sofa—went on doing like this. He was not even aware how his body is moving. That is why bodily movement, observing bodily movement is very, very important. There is also something—body and mind are interconnected. So what happens, if we sit down slumpy like that, our mind works in a slumpy manner. Relaxation, yes. Not like that, very tense and thought and like that, no. But at the same time, relaxed but not slumpy. It is very strange, you know, according to the Western idea, that thinking figure. Have you noticed? If Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa sees that figure, he will say, "What is eating him?" Not what he is thinking—what is eating him? It is a morose state.

Anyway, so observe your body, observe your breath. Breath is a very good indicator. You know, breath is a wonderful indicator. That is why prāṇāyāma is so important. If your thoughts are negative, your breath always indicates. If the breath is—if your thoughts are very calm and quiet, your breath will be much better, provided you do not suffer from asthma or allergy or something like that. That is an emergency situation; that is a different situation.

Observing Thoughts

Okay, so it is—be observant. Then be observant of your thoughts. And if there is any defect, the thing what happens is, same thought recurs. Same thought comes around. If I am jealous—that person. And if I am angry—that person. If I desire that object—like that it comes. So I do not see any problem. Why we cannot detect our own problem? That is why it is our belief—anybody who is a meditator, good meditator, he need not go to any psychiatrist. But if there is a problem in the body, one has to go. You know, there are certain mental problems because of certain physiological defects. You know, some gland, some things are there. For that, correction is—what is that? Thyroid is one gland. No, some kind of dopamine or something like that. Some people produce some chemicals. So the reaction would be, it brings some bodily reaction. So for that, even whether he is a sādhu or a spiritual person or meditative—because this is not a problem of mind. The problem is some defect in the body. So he can go, and if they can detect, they can get rid of it. So in fact, even Parkinson's disease and all those things—it is a defect in the—if medical advances take place, then it is quite possible that they can control all those things. Already they are doing some research and other things.

Anyway, it is quite easy. And if anybody says, "I cannot find my own problems," there is something seriously wrong with that person. Definitely.

Question: Is Consciousness the Root Cause?

"Swamiji, I feel that each of the defects, but there is a root cause. When you discussed Vedānta the day before yesterday, you talked about upāsana. You mentioned about how we need to meditate on the consciousness. So that is where we would be tackling the root cause, I think."

No, we should be clear about this idea. We would like to progress in meditation. What is meditation? We would like to express, manifest more and more of our consciousness. That is the only purpose of upāsana or meditation. But some things are stopping our progress. For example, if somebody is, say, angry—that is a defect. Why is it a defect? Because when you are angry, are you focussing upon your consciousness or are you focussing upon an object? And what is an object? The opposite of consciousness.

So, the consciousness is not the root cause of the problem. Manifestation of the consciousness is stopped because of these defects. Like when you are going, there are so many obstacles you will have to remove to make your path easier. And that is why the very first two steps for any meditation and yoga system is nothing but a meditative system. What are the first two steps? Do you really believe seriously that without tackling these two, you are going to go into meditation? You cannot even sit. What is the third step? Āsana means what? Sitting quietly. And that is not possible unless these states, to some extent, are mastered. You see the logical step. Consciousness is not the real problem. These are the things which stop our manifestation of consciousness. So, we have to be conscious of what are the obstacles. Consciousness is the solution to the problem. They are not the root cause of the—solution to the root cause. Ah, solution to the problems. So, first thing is diagnose. Second thing is treatment. As soon as we treat, that is why it is said, what is Samādhi? You are not going to attain Samādhi. You remove the obstacle for Samādhi, and you are always in Samādhi state only.

The Gap Between Two Thoughts

Very interesting question. "Have you ever entered into Samādhi?" People will say no. But between every two thoughts, what are you doing? You are in Samādhi. How do you know? Because how do you know this is the second thought? You said we are in deep sleep state. No, no. I am not talking about deep sleep state. See, when we are thinking, you say "my mind is restless"—very normal expression. Restlessness means what? Many thoughts. Many thoughts means more than one thought. So, this thought ended and this thought started. In between there must be a gap. And what is that gap? Consciousness. It is nothing but pure consciousness. Focus on that. That is why it is said the longer the gap, the better our meditation. Do you follow? Yes.

This thought is continuing, continuing, continuing—one half a second and one second, then two seconds—and then there is a break, and then the... So, this gap will increase means what? Thoughts become less and less and less. That is called concentration. And then it becomes into meditation. And then it becomes into lower Samādhi. And then finally it will be higher Samādhi.

Consciousness and Thoughts

Now, the thing is, if it is worldly thoughts, the point is the thought is a specific Nāma-Rūpa or limitation of consciousness is called a thought. There cannot be thought without being conscious. If you are not conscious, it cannot be a thought. Even to think that this is a thought, you need consciousness. So, that means if it is one thought persisting for quite some time, what does that mean? I do not know whether I am making any sense. You see, you have to be conscious. How do you know? Here is one book and here is another book. How will you know? You have to be conscious. "Oh, here is a book." And you look there. You are not conscious of the book. Will you say, "Oh, here is a book?" You have to be conscious, is it not?

What I am trying to tell—during meditation what happens—how do you know there is a gap, there is a small gap between two thoughts? That means you are aware, you are observing: "Oh, this thought is continuing; there is no break in this thought. And then, oh, this fellow has forgotten this thought and the second thought has come." And then you become—only when you become conscious. So, what happens when you are unconscious, whether it is 200 thoughts or 2000 thoughts, it makes no difference. No, it makes a difference. Simply said, yes. There cannot be any thought without being conscious. I am not paying attention to it; it is going on. If you are not paying attention, can there be a thought at all? How do you know that it is a thought? Only when you pay attention, it is a thought. Not otherwise.

Continuous Consciousness in Meditation

Do you see what happens? That means, in meditation, when you are continuously conscious, only that consciousness is not pure consciousness; it is associated with a particular object, which you call God's name or God's quality or God's form or whatever it is. But you are conscious. "This is God's hand, this is God's hand, this is God's hand"—like that. You see the point? So, the longer the thought, the longer your consciousness is unbroken. What is our problem? One hundred thoughts means consciousness starts, stops, starts up. But here, continuously going. If there is only one thought, it is called what is it called? Brahmakāravṛtti. That means continuously only one consciousness comes. And that is what the mind can do. It cannot go beyond that. Now, I will think of Brahma. What will it be? Brahmakāravṛtti. You cannot go beyond Brahmakāravṛtti, because it is a limitation of the mind. And then, you do not need to worry. Something takes over and it will take us to the others.

Question: Samādhi vs. Deep Sleep

"Well, I am still confused about that one. You said, between two thoughts we are in Samādhi, but I thought that, by Swamiji's definition, when a fool goes into deep sleep, he comes out as a fool, but when a fool goes into Samādhi, he comes out as a sage. But because, how can there be Samādhi, because I am the same old fool?"

Okay, let me put it this way. You are absolutely right. Two points. One point is, in between two thoughts, I said there is a consciousness, because without that consciousness, how did you come to know? "This thought ended and this thought started." So, the in-between space—between saying "this is the last thought" and "this is a new thought"—it is nothing but pure consciousness. So, let me put it this way. This is, one millionth of a—in between two thoughts, one millionth of a Suṣupti state. Problem solved? Just as from Suṣupti, you wake up exactly the same person, so from this one millisecond Suṣupti also, you wake up the same person.

So, we have to experience it consciously. Identify ourselves and say, "I am that consciousness." You are doing it unconsciously. Unconsciously, you are identifying yourself as consciousness. That is what Suṣupti is. Paradoxical. But what is it? That ahaṅkāra-vṛtti—that is the problem with us. Okay, let us complete this.

Suṣupti is analogous to Samādhi, Advaita state. Only thing is, āvaraṇa-śakti is not there. In Samādhi, not only Vikṣepa-śakti is gone, āvaraṇa-śakti is also gone. Then you know "I am." Nothing else. So, that is our goal.

Obstacles to the Goal

What is obstructing our goal? The defects. What is the defect? Anything which takes our attention away from consciousness is a defect. Anger, jealousy, whatever it is. Now, unless we remove this obstacle, so what happens also you will notice in a beautiful way. This is what yoga tells: every thought is an obstruction, good or bad, because every thought breaks the consciousness. You see the point? Good thought also breaks, but good thoughts disturb us less and we get thoughts. So, our goal is to get rid of every single thought. There is a yoga—not one single thought—but when we succeed one single thought, that is called Brahmakāravṛtti, but ultimately that is a vṛtti. It has to be broken.

So, instead of just trying to repeat God's name which is not really productive—because without removing the obstacles, do you understand? I am just trying to peep and see what is there, but the problem is the window is there. I am trying to jump and see what is outside. That is not possible. So, that is why we have to remove the obstacles. Slowly we remove the obstacles, then a time will come and absolutely it will be wonderful, without removing the obstacles.

Pratipakṣa-Bhāvanā

So, how do we remove the obstacles? Pratipakṣa-bhāvanā—produce the contrary thoughts. For lobha (greed), what is the contrary thought? Generosity. For krodha (anger), what is the contrary thought? Love—śānti. For kāma (lust), what is the opposite thought? People do not understand. In the English word they use the word "love." These stupid fellows do not know what is the difference between love and lust. Vedānta clearly this is kāma and this is prema. This is expressed so beautifully, the definition in Bengali language—that is, if I am doing something for my own pleasure, that is called kāma. If I am doing the same thing for the love of Kṛṣṇa, that is called prema. This rhymes—Bengali, this thing rhymes really.

So, the point is that for every negative thought there is a positive thought. So, first you get rid of the negative thought, and the only way is to get the positive thought. Once we get the positive thought, then the way will be found even to rid of that thought. So, from tamas to rajas to sattva, there is no other way. But we are focussing on the goal without removing the obstacles.

The Story of the Snail

So, where are you, Futrag? Where are you, Gungali? You know what is that snake, Vama? Story—you know that story? Very interesting story. I think umpteen number of times—I thought I am getting old. See, one man was sitting in a room; the door is closed. Suddenly he heard a scratchy noise at the door. So, he went and opened and looked—nobody was there. So, he closed the door and came and said again scratchy noise. Then he went and opened—nothing was there. Again third time. So, then he looked down and saw a snail was trying to enter. So, with his bottom weight rotating, he flicked like that and it fell somewhere. So, he went and sat. Ten years passed. One day he heard scratchy noise. Then he opened the door and found the snail. The snail looked up and said, "What was all that about?"

So, without removing—this is our problem, real problem in spiritual life. We are not trying to remove our defects. We are not even trying to find out our defects. Whereas, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa—what was the first thing he did? He tried to find out his defects and said, "Oh, these are my defects," and immediately he does saṅkalpa.

Even Great Souls Stumble

Even Mahāpuruṣas are stumbling because of this non-finding. How much time did it take for Bhairavī Brāhmaṇī to find out her jealousy? Remember? Such an advanced soul. She had so many visions. She was not aware. She was jealous of all the persons. She was jealous about Holy Mother. Poor thing. In what way—you know, this Bhairavī Brāhmaṇī was supposed to be a very beautiful lady. That is why Mādhur Bābū, when she saw, then she said, "There must be Bhairava. How is it possible for such a beautiful lady to be without any?" He asked—how audacious he was. "Where is your Bhairava?" Do you understand? Then she said, "He is there in the temple—Śiva." Then he said, "What? That stone Śiva, your Bhairava?" He said, "If I have not made that acala into cala, what do you think I am seeing—eating grass?" He was very intelligent, you know. Bold, intelligent, learned. But what happened? She did not find out. Do not ask me, but this is the story.

And what happened to this Brahmajñānī Totāpurī? He was preaching, "Everything is Brahma." The man came to take a little bit of fire and he became fiery. He forgot Brahma. Ṭhākur started rolling on the ground, laughing. And Totāpurī did not understand it. "Why are you laughing?" He said, "The extent of your Brahma—just now you are lecturing, 'Everything that you experience is Brahma,' and now you are going to beat that poor fellow. Why this distinction?" Then he was a great soul, but he understood, "Oh, I was not even aware. I became angry." He was not even aware he became angry. This is called the power of Mahāmāyā. But immediately he says, "I will never ever become angry." So, "never ever to become angry"—what should he do? He has to cultivate the opposite quality. That means he has to watch, but the same thing will not repeat itself.

The Subtlety of Jealousy

Yeah, these are all lessons we have to learn. Even great people fall for jealousy. It is probably the last obstacle in spiritual life. Even bigger than arrogance, Maharaj? Bigger than arrogance? Yes, bigger than arrogance. It is very subtle. Because it is so subtle, it is dangerous. The sādhus are jealous of other sādhus. Even monks are jealous. You know, if one monk has got only five students, devotees, and with great difficulty he is keeping them there, whereas the other sādhu is getting rows and rows of sādhus, always—"Maharaj, what can we do for that?" Then it is possible the other man will—he may not, he will not say anything. He will say, "Oh, wonderful, wonderful." But inside he will be thinking, "You know, why am I not getting all these disciples like that?" This is endemic. Gods became jealous. Indra always—this is our old case. Dismiss.

The Story of Swami Prabhavānanda

You know that story? This is our old case. Dismiss. Prabhavānanda used to drive. So many times he was taken to the court, you know. One time he dashed against the compound wall, against a tree. Like that once he had lost control. So he sat in Padmāsana: "Maharaj, Maharaj, Maharaj," like that. Fortunately the car went and then dashed against a tree. And he was taken to the—I mean he was issued a warrant. And then the judge, he was dealing with other case. Next case: "Swami Prabhavānanda versus—oh, this is our old customer, let him go. Let us not waste our time." Like that.

We have to be very careful. Otherwise meditation—you are not going to go anywhere.

The Four Stages: Ācāra, Niṣṭhā, Śraddhā, Dhyāna

Padma? When we first make a preparatory stage for meditation, we sit. How ideal should we start? How do we anchor the mind first? Collect our thoughts and start. How do we start? Saṅkalpa and ācāra. That is why there are four stages are there. The first stage is ācāra. What is ācāra? You set out a well-organised routine: this time I get up, this time I do pūjā, this time I do read, this time whatever—office work, whatever. Do not deviate.

Then this ācāra matures at some point into niṣṭhā. Niṣṭhā means like, you know, you brush your teeth. In the beginning, it does not come easily. So you put your finger in the mouth of your son or whatever it is, and then afterwards he goes on doing it. Then one day if he does not do it, he feels bad. One day if we eat without brushing our teeth—emergency is different, like aeroplanes, you know. Yeah, that is different. Early morning four o'clock, you know, five o'clock, you are approaching London. They will give breakfast—English breakfast. So this is called niṣṭhā. What is niṣṭhā? You know that you attain the state of niṣṭhā when you know that without doing that you feel bad. This is mechanical, but you feel bad because of abhyāsa (practice).

Then the third stage is called śraddhā. Śraddhā means now you do not have direct knowledge, but you feel that it is wonderful, it will do me good. That faith—that is called śraddhā.

And the fourth stage is once śraddhā comes, your mind will be fixed in, on God. That is called dhyāna. Ācāra, niṣṭhā, śraddhā, and dhyāna—these are the four steps. Swami Ashokananda has outlined this—"Four Pillars of Wisdom" like that. It is a beautiful thing.

So first, to fix a routine—whether you like it or you feel like sleepy or whatever—forcibly, you do it. There is no way. "One day I will love God and then I will sit for meditation." It is not going to happen. You do this, then feeling will come.

Desires and Defects

Part of the simulation when we sit down for meditation is also not only becoming aware of our defects, but it is also becoming aware of what are the desires that cause restlessness in the mind. The defects themselves will help us. The moment you remove that defect, then that particular desire also—you see the psychology behind it. A good habit is always preceded by a good thought. A bad habit, defect, is always preceded by a bad thought. So without that thought, there is no habit at all. So you do not need specifically to focus on that. Repeatedly you remove these defects, and the only way to remove this defect is first you become aware. We said Pratipakṣa-bhāvanā—you are automatically introducing it.

Simple example: you are angry. Behind that anger there is always a thought—"This person is frustrating my desire or not allowing me to go forward"—something like that. So Pratipakṣa-bhāvanā—the moment you do that, this habit also will go, this thought also will go. Both will go. Habit is like a foundation and the thought is like the structure. If you remove the foundation, the structure also will fall down automatically.

Question: Can This Change Situations?

"Swamiji, defect is one thing, but sometimes life itself puts a lot of situations which you are putting. So can this be used to even change the situations?"

Yes, this is the law of karma. You are in a bad situation because you behaved badly. You behaved badly because you reacted in a negative way, expressed negative qualities, and you expressed negative qualities because your desires may be okay, but using those desires in a wrong way—that is the cause. So that produces wrong karmaphala. You understand?

Supposing you are angry—this is a defect. You are angry. Why are you angry? "Oh, such and such a person has prevented me from say getting promotion, etc." Whatever—simple example. So the thing is, why did you not get the promotion? Is that man the cause of stopping your promotion, or your karma? So if you want promotion, that is a reward. If you want a reward, what should you do? Some good karma. You have to do some good karma, as simple as that. So instead of doing good karma, not only are you not doing good karma, you are developing bad karma because anger is a bad karma. The thought anger will take you to good karma or bad karma. You will react negatively; it becomes a habit. Then what would this produce later on? So it becomes a cumulative effect.

Two Ways of Looking at Life Situations

So always in life situations we have to think. So two ways are there. One is the life situations as they are. Another is our ambitions added to it. Let us say jealousy—another example. So why is this person jealous? Because the other person has got more beauty or more talent or better ornaments or whatever it is. How did that person get it? Do you think that they just fell from the sky? So that person must have done something good. This is a point we always forget—always. Here is a celebrity, and that person has something in her or him that made him get recognised as somebody, is it not? Every Tom, Dick, and Harry will not be recognised. There is something, some quality in that person. Even a thousand people cannot promote a person unless that person has something there. Promotion—first comes talent, then comes promotion, not the other way around.

We have a saying, you know, like that: you bring one black rat and get that dough soap—it is not going to become white. It may be possible it will be white for a short time, like that Tom and Jerry. Tom and Jerry—that Jerry falls into this one paint and it becomes invisible. And then this Tom wants to eat an apple. Suddenly only the seed comes out because this Jerry comes and then it is looking—nothing is there but the whole apple. And then this fellow wants to go. There is one stick in the corner and the stick automatically gives it. This Tom is blinking. One day it finds out because he is detective, you know—he puts white powder and observing. Like this, and he is going to beat it. But this fellow is running away, like that. Ultimately it catches him and then because that does not last long.

Talent and Destiny

So unless there is a talent, there is something. Nobody can simply say, "Oh, this will make him a good actor or actress or celebrity." It is impossible. Something is there. This is one point. The other point also, even an ordinary person suddenly becomes so famous. It is not because of some hook or crook. That person is destined—like Oprah. You know, you read her life. She was abused and then so many things have happened in her life. Who can prevent? Now they say she can influence the presidential election. Somewhere I read like that. Any book she recommends, it becomes instantaneous. Such power she has got. Do you think that this power simply comes like that? So many people, you know, they are gathering around him, pouring millions of dollars. He had some power. Power is there. Something is there. You cannot simply, by hook or crook, do it.

So let us try to focus on that and say, "That person earned it. If I do the same thing, I can also get the same thing." This is one way of slowly getting rid of it. In any case, these are all things, you know. What do I get? Okay, you are jealous. What do you get except you lose your sleep? That is it.

The Problem of Waiting for Faith

So, niṣṭhā—set some routine. And then our problem is, we think, "First let me get faith. Let me get devotion. Then I will do sādhana." But I tell you, we have a saying, you know: a young man wanted to get married, did not succeed. He promptly became mad. Now the problem is, there is a remedy—if he gets married, his madness will instantly go. But unless his madness goes, nobody will get married. That is the problem. All right.

Okay, we can go now. 1:30. Anything?

Question: Defects and God's Grace

"Sir, if we will meditate for the defects, but the defect can only go away if your partner will help."

Huh? No, no, that is right. What did I say? We, first we have to find out. There is an obstacle. Secondly, we have to pray to God that, "Oh Lord, I want to get rid of this defect. Please bestow Your grace." In fact, God's grace comes only in the form of finding our defect. Always. If there is a defect, we are sincere, God creates a situation in which the defect comes out, so that we become aware of it and then we can struggle and overcome. Like Viśvāmitra I told—he did not know that there was kāma in him. God created—you see, he fell down, no doubt. But immediately he recovered. Then he did not realise that there was krodha. So the occasion came and he fell for it, and then he realised and then he got rid of it. Then he became Viśvāmitra. This is how God's grace comes.

Friends and Enemies

What do somebody else? In Bengali, we have a nice couplet for these defects. It goes like that: Doṣ yadi āpanāre, cāho jānibāra, śatrūra kāche pābe sandāna tāhāra. That means "Your friends will not tell you about your defects. If you go to your enemies, they will tell you about your defects." But here we are trying to remove the distinction between friends and enemies. It is wonderful, you know. Our friends will tell us, provided we request them to tell. The thing is, they know if they tell our defects, we will not allow them to become friends. In fact, they will become enemies. So then they will tell you all the defects. Friends will become enemies. You see, it is our problem. We do not want to hear about our defects. We have to hear our defects. That is the only—if we want really to become great.

The Sufi Story

Okay, that is why that Sufi story I told you, that story you also know. There was a Sufi master. So one day a man came there and said, "Master, you accept me as your disciple. I want to become a saint, spiritual progress." Then he said, "Yes, tomorrow. Come tomorrow." And next morning the man came. He said, "You know, you go to such and such a man in the town, pay him by the hour and get abused." So for six months. So this man had faith in the Guru. He paid and then for six months he was continuously getting abused—all sorts. That man was a super specialist in abusing the other fellow; he would not use the same language second time. So six months passed. This man came and said, "I obeyed your order. Now what can I do?" He said, "You go to Basra. There you will get a teacher who will take, show you the way to God."

So this man went to Basra and he reached next morning. As soon as the gates were open, he entered. The first thing he encountered was an ugly old man started abusing him right and left. And this disciple started to dance. That stumped the old man. He said, "I am abusing you and you are dancing with joy. Why?" He said, "You know, for the last six months I was paying to get abused. Now I am getting it absolutely free." Then he says, "Okay, now come with me."

The Modern Problem

You see, seriously none of us dare to tell the defects because people do not like. They do not even ask, lest we might take them seriously and tell them. This is the problem. But previously, you know, Rājā Mahārāj used to slap Nirvānānandaji. Mahāpuruṣa Mahārāj used to not slap, but he used to abuse every one of them. Nobody had left his disciples scot-free. Anyway, now times have changed. People do not want. Why? Because they do not want to progress in spiritual life. Simple. If anybody wants, then they will be ready for anything. If a person is determined to go there, by any means he wants to go there. If I get abhimāna—abhimāna means ego. I want to keep my ego. Abhimāna means what? "Do not scratch me; I will be injured." Even if you take a feather and touch also, the person feels it. Oh dear, this Mahāmāyā is there.

The Goal of Meditation

Okay, Nitya, what was that? Oh, um Yeah, so what is the goal of meditation? Is it to expand the interval between two thoughts or just have one thought, continuous thought? It is a simplest way of answering. Meditation is the pathway for God-realisation. What is God? Pure consciousness. Or even if you take it in a devotional way, we want to go to Ṭhākur and be with him. That is all.

Interesting, you know, if you go to Ṭhākur and be with him—and will you be conscious he is Ṭhākur? When is he Ṭhākur? Suppose you go to Ṭhākur. So when does he remain Ṭhākur? Only when you become conscious that he is God. The moment you think that he is somebody else, even God also becomes the other way around. That is what is happening. That is what is an object. So we must have that desire: "I want God only." That means I want full consciousness. Wonderful.

Om Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ. Jai Ṭhākur.