6 days Teaching

Day 1st

THE DIVINE

Who is God...

Q: Who is god? Is God one or many? Bhagavan: "God is both the manifest and the un-manifest. The un-manifest God is unknown. The manifest God is known, as presence as light or as a form. God also manifests in places and icons, God also manifests through miracles, God manifests as the antaryamin, God also manifests in human beings as avatars. These are the expressions of God."

Antaryaminand...

Q: What is the Antaryaminand how does the Antaryamin awaken in us?

Bhagavan:

"We often use the word God, but God means different things to different people. But actually we can define God as your higher sacred self, higher intelligence, or higher consciousness.

Sometimes you might have seen hundreds of birds flying like one bird. Have you seen this? So, actually you can know that the whole group has got a single consciousness, but the individual bird will follow the consciousness of the whole pack. Sometimes you will find one or two birds dropping out and again they get back to the main flock. If we say that the individual bird is you, then that full total bird consisting of all birds is the Antaryamin. It can be called God or higher intelligence etc. So when we say you have the Antaryamin or that Antaryamin is awakened , what it means is you are the part, are in touch with the whole. In the flock of birds, if one bird drops out of the group, two or three birds come out and help that bird to go and join back. Only then the whole thing can function. So as long as the small bird is following the big pack, you can say the small bird is following the will of the group or the pack. So if you have the Antaryamin and can talk with Him, then, ‘You’, the part is following the will of the whole or the Divine will. So it is not enough if you are willing to follow the Divine will, you must know what the Divine will is, what the will is of the higher consciousness, without which you are like a bird fallen of the pack.

You are in fact an orphan. The Antaryamin is the Whole, and to have the Antaryamin means you are in touch with the whole. The whole of human consciousness put together is more than the individual’s consciousness. It is not 1 + 1 = 2 but it is 1 +1 = 4. That is what is “Synergetic emergence”. Hydrogen and oxygen fuse to form water, whose properties are totally and fundamentally different from hydrogen and oxygen. This emerging consciousness is called God or Cosmic consciousness. And this cosmic consciousness is what is the Antaryamin.

The Antaryamin is you inner guide and your supreme friend who can guide you and protect you. Today many a time you are in conflict. What is right and wrong? what is good and bad? You unable to decide this. Even when you decide, many times you regret your decisions. But when the Antaryamin is awakened, you will exactly know how to respond to every situation of life. At every step you will have someone to guide you, on whom you can trust and who accepts you exactly as you are. And also when you have the Antaryamin, enlightenment is very easy.

So until now we have seen what is the Antaryamin and why do you need an Antaryamin. Now I will tell you how the awakening of the Antaryamin actually happens. Basically in our society, the kind of schooling, education and life style one has, you are not allowed to experience and express your emotions. You are quite suppressed. That is why some have difficulty in getting in touch with their Antaryamin. So once you have got in touch with your suppressed emotions and if you invite the Antaryamin with your whole heart, it will awaken in you in the way it chooses or in the form you desire. To have the Antaryamin is the natural state of Man, it is your birthright; it is just like breathing or digesting. In the Ancient days everybody was in touch with their Antaryamin. There were tribes in Africa a hundred years ago, who where in direct communion with their Antaryamin. They lived a wonderful life. All that you must do is, from your heart, with emotion, with great feeling and with a bond, a liking, you must invite the Antaryamin and then it will awaken in you. It is not at all difficult. You think it is difficult and have all kinds of wrong perceptions. The Antaryamin is not bothered about what kind of a person you are. The Antaryamin is your friend and so doesn’t judge you or condemn you. All it wants is that you invite it with a feeling and a bond."

-Amma Bhagvan Sharanam.

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Day 2nd

ENLIGHTENMENT

Omniscient statement..

Q: What is the omniscient statement. Who is the experiencer behind every experience? Bhagavan: "The greatest contribution of India is that the exeriencer, the experienced and the experiencing are one and the same. It is an illusion to see the division of the experiencer and as separate as the object being experienced and the act of experiencing. Once you are enlightened, you would see that it is the mind, which is creating this strife, you would see that the observer, the observed and the process of observing is one and the same. There is no one observing the tree, what is there is merely the experience of the tree. There is nobody looking at the tree, you are inseperable from the the experience of the tree, that is why we say " Thou art that" However that does not belong to the realm of the mind, that has to be experienced."

Enlightenment in different cultures...

Q: Every culture of the world, has produced its own varieties of sages and saints, there is widespread confusion among seekers - as to what is enlightenment and whether enlightenment is one single state of consciousness or are there different states of consciousness. Bhagavan: "There are various ways to talk about oneness or enlightenment. If you are a neuroscientist, you would say it is the shutting down of the parietal lobes, if you a psychologist, you would say it is the loss of the sense of self, if you are a philosopher, you would say the sense of separation is gone, a mystic would say I am experiencing reality as it is, a spiritual person would say I am experiencing unity consciousness. With regards to the next part of the question, as to whether there is one state of consciousness common to mankind. It is not so. There are different states for different people. For some people it is like a noisy generator that comes to a halt, there is an immense silence, a silence that is not the opposite of noise, such a person would say" I am silence", yet another would be a total witness, a witness to thought and life at large. Others would land in a state of such love and compassion that there is no separation whatsoever. Another person would experience causeless love and limitless joy. Yet another would experience cosmic consciousness. Whatever the experience, the common dominator of personal suffering - problems would still be there but it would not affect you anymore because there is no person there cannot be personal suffering - you would nevertheless sense the suffering of the world but remember all this is talk which is not much use, you have to get there and I would get you there."

The word oneness...

Q: Would you please clarify to us the meaning of the word oneness? Bhagavan: "There are several degrees of oneness. Let us first look at oneness within ourselves. Right now, you are not an individual, you are divided within. You are a crowd inside. You are the son or daughter of so and so, the father, husband or friend of so and so, you are the employer or employee of so and so - there are so many beings inside you that are all the time talking - and again there is the conscious and the unconscious self, your authentic and inauthentic self - all having a dialogue all the time. You are that dialogue. When the dialogue shuts down, you become all one inside. Alone means all one. There is no division. At the next level you would find oneness with all human beings, at the third level, you would discover you are one with the earth, tree, water, sky. When you are one with nature, you would discover you and the universe are one. Ultimately you would discover you are one with god, you would discover you are God. I intend to take you step by step to the final oneness."

Oneness...

Q: Bhagavan, you speak about Oneness. What exactly is Oneness? Bhagavan: "Man suffers alienation from his fellow human beings, nature and God; worse still from himself. To avoid this misery he has created varied forms of escape like going out to parties, reading books, watching television, gossiping etc. He has become an expert of managing suffering. Unless this fundamental issue is handled, there cannot be a massive transformation in the way we live and the way we experience life. That is why, inspite of the French revolution, the American Revolution, the Russian revolution and many others, the world has not made any progress in terms of peace and happiness. The root cause is that man is divided within and without. When this sense of division vanishes all problems in the world - religious, social, economical, political - would dissolve. Oneness starts basically inside oneself; this can be affected through a process of individuation. Man is divided within and he is a stranger unto himself. We do not love ourselves in the first place let alone loving others. We are constantly divided between the good and the bad, the right and the wrong, the perfect and the imperfect, the should-be and the should-not-be. When we achieve Oneness at a fundamental level, this conflict ceases. Then there is an inner silence, which remains undisturbed by external factors. This silence is not the opposite of noise. That is inner Oneness. This Oneness then extends to the world at large, to nature and finally with God. The ultimate vision of the Oneness Movement is to make man one with God."

Spiritual teachings...

Q: Apart from the teachings and sadhanas (spiritual practices), what is your message in this path of Mukti (liberation)? Bhagavan: "See, basically my teaching is this. Though you have been taught some sadhanas and some teachings, as far as Mukti is concerned no sadhana or any teaching will take you to Mukti. That is why I insist that all sadhanas and teachings must ultimately be dumped into the waste paper basket. They just will not help you when Mukti is concerned. They can prepare you for it. It can be any teaching of Ramana Maharshi, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Buddha's teaching; any teaching for that matter will not take you to Mukti. Ramakrishna's disciples did not become enlightened, or Ramana Maharshi's disciples… Buddha's disciples did not become enlightened. So teachings can't give you enlightenment, no technique or sadhana can give you enlightenment. That must be understood very clearly through the yajna (course) you have attended. At best what can happen is; there can be a pursuit of enlightenment, a temptation to achieve Mukti and some clarity. I always maintain that psychology and philosophy, any teaching will fall under these categories. They will at best help to bring about transformation within the mind. That's all. Like we can rearrange the furniture in this room; but they'll still remain. So, we can do some kind of a decoration inside. We can bring some kind of happiness, get over some problems, adjust and readjust. Sadhanas can take you deeper and deeper into you consciousness but going deep into your consciousness is not Mukti. Rearranging your mental structure and framework, having improved relationship, better success in the world… all this is not Mukti. Mukti is to be completely free of the mind itself. That, no teaching, no technique can give you. It is because it is not a psychological process; it is not a philosophical process; it is not a meditative process. It is a neurobiological phenomenon. Fundamental changes must occur in your physical brain. That is why I tell you, do not follow any teaching. Then you become a 2nd hand human being. If you try to follow a Jesus Christ, you will become a 2nd hand human being. Jesus Christ could love the whole humanity. Can you love like Him ? Jesus Christ says *”love thy neighbour as thyself”. You can’t do it. He can do it because his brain is wired differently. But if you try to talk like Jesus Christ, you had it. Ramakrishna can be jumping in ecstasy and dancing away. Unless your kundalini is awakened you can’t do that. If you try to copy Ramakrishna you become a 2nd hand human being. His brain wiring is different. Ramana can ask “who am I”. If you do the same you will go mad and end up in the mental asylum! That's why I say, in one sense these are anti-teachings. You become a second hand human being. You develop conflict within yourself. You are something. You want to be something else; a Christ or a Ramana or a Sri Aurobindo. What not! You can read all their books, you can do all that, but you will not move an inch. Maybe you will get some clarity. Maybe you will feel nice. “Ah, I'm doing this sadhana”… you'll fell more secure. These benefits are there. But they will not take you to Mukti. Very often they induce conflict because you can only be yourself. How can you be something else? However much you try how could you be something else? You cannot become that other. This is the illusion from which we must become free. So, what I am telling you is ‘”Whatever you are, just accept that. When you accept it, there is no conflict. When there is no conflict there is plenty of energy. When you have energy, you see what is going on inside, you get joy. This is why, when all of you go back home, please fully experience that pain. Physical pain itself will become bliss. Sincerely experience all psychological pain. If you fully experience, it becomes joy. Don't try to escape. If you try to escape from pain, you are putting it under that carpet. After sometime it starts stinking. That is what most people are doing. They never confront their pain. Somebody dies in you family, you loose your job, some other problem, but you don't experience the pain. You run away from the pain through television, movies, going to a friend's house, doing some puja (spiritual clearing ceremony). This is what is called SORROW MANAGEMENT. It is good up to a point but certainly it will not rid you of pain. So, what you must learn is how to confront this pain. What I am telling is like this; Suppose a tiger enters this room, most of you would climb up the fan and hang on there! What I am telling is that “hanging from the fan is really pain because the tiger is here and you are hanging on there”. I am telling, “come down from the fan and let the tiger eat you”. If you are eaten the pain is gone. Allow the pain to eat you. The pain is the tiger. See what happens. It will become joy. Suppose there is intense jealousy in you. Jealousy itself is pain. You know how painful it is. So instead of saying “I will try to be non-jealous, kind and loving”; all this is false. You are you. You have jealousy, violence, hatred… all the doshas are there inside you. So confront it. I am not telling you be that or this. No! Be what you are. This is the purpose of this particular yajna that you have attended, to help you discover who you are like Ramana “who am I”, but his discovery is something else. Your discovery will be one that you are a Ravana! All the useless things in the world are inside you. That will be your discovery. That does not take much time. But people don't like that. You would like to have a nice image about yourself. It is all nicely covered up but if you dig you will se only rubbish. So confront that rubbish. If it is there; then accept it. How can you run away from it? It is painful, but behold and suddenly there will be joy. Where there is joy there will be no dosha. A happy man cannot cause pain to others. Only an unhappy man or wife will cause pain to husband or wife. Unhappy children will cause pain to their parents, unhappy employees will cause pain to employer. UNHAPPY PEOPLE SPREAD MISERY. Happy people cannot cause pain. If people are happy they cannot do anything wrong. They are happy therefore they cannot do anything wrong. It is unhappy people who land into trouble, who become ultimately thieves, criminals etc. So the basic thing is there must be a minimum of happiness and true happiness comes when you confront yourself. You are always saying “I am afraid of that person”. That is not true. Basically you are afraid of yourself. If you loose fear of yourself you loose fear of everything else including Veerapan! If a Buddha were there he would simply go and talk to Veerapan. Like he went and spoke to Aungulimai (a thief in the forest), since he had no fear. You are afraid of yourself because you do not love yourself. On the other hand you say, “I must overcome my fear, I must love somebody.” You do not love your self, that is the situation. So, as you go inside yourself you will discover who you are. So, accept. Once you start accepting, you start loving yourself. You will find there is a tremendous job that can be achieved in 21 days of practice. This is easy if it is difficult I do not talk about it. 21 days of practice and you will find it is like breathing. It is very natural and easy to go deep into your self, to discover and to accept, to love yourself and convert suffering into joy. If you do that your family will be excellent. The moment you see your husband or wife you will go into joy. When he or she sees you there will be joy. Your homes will become temples. That is when you are ready for Mukti. Mukti as I told you is a neurological phenomenon. Nobody has by following any teaching ever become enlightened, since they have been thinking it is a psychological or philosophical process. Ramana did not have any teaching. He had his death experience and he was there. For Buddha it was light. Only thing is he does not subsequently acknowledge what that light had done to him. Not through the teachings. Teachings are within the mind. Becoming free from the mind is enlightenment. That is when you are truly free."

What is enlightenment...

Q: What exactly is Mukthi (Enlightenment) Bhagavan?

Bhagavan:

"Mukthi could be defined in various ways. My general definition for Mukthi is - The liberation of the senses. Now when you see anything, you do not see without the interference of the mind. When you can see without the mind's interference, that is Mukthi. If you can hear without the mind interfering, that is Mukthi. The same applies to smell, touch and even thought.

Thought can also be observed without your getting involved in the thought. Now what's happening is, when you are thinking, you think you are thinking. But it is actually possible to notice thoughts flow as though they were independent of you. This is a physical reality - actually you can observe the thoughts. Any kind of thought would be flowing into you and going out of you.

When you can observe this flow of thoughts through you, this is the state of Mukthi. That is the complete liberation of the senses from the control of the mind. It's only such a being which is actually living.

Wherever the mind is in control, you are not actually living. When the mind is not there, then you are actually living. That's why, when people ask me - what is the purpose of life, my answer is - "if you are living you won't ask that question".

The purpose of life is to live. What does that mean? It means to live the life of the senses. The senses must be independent and free of the mind. Now what's happening is, you are not at all experiencing reality. Reality to you is what is flowing through the senses.

Now, all the time you are interpreting all the data that is coming into you. You look at a tree and you say - big tree, mango tree, green tree, this, that etc. All the time comments are going on. When you sit down to eat food, you are not eating food. You start worrying about your family, about your office or comment on the food itself. The food is not being experienced.

That's why I have said in the Mahavakyas, "when you experience the reality as it is, then you will just experience bliss". You will realize that this whole creation is perfect. It's the most beautiful thing. You are already in heaven. You have made it into a hell.

So the whole attempt of this movement is to help you experience reality as it is. When that happens you will discover unconditional love and unconditional joy. You feel connected with everything and everybody. You do not feel that you are a separate individual.

You do not live for yourself anymore. Because, `yourself' has become 'everybody'. You live for the sake of humanity, which is not a concept or an imaginary thing. This is a day-to-day reality, once you become enlightened. Thousands of people have already got into these states. This is the state I shall give you when you come to me."

-Amma Bhagvan Sharanam.

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Day 3rd

LOVE

What is love...

Q: What exactly is love, Bhagavan? Is love also an emotion like anger, like jealousy or is it a power that is hidden within man? Would love lead to suffering or to joy? Bhagavan: "The love that we are talking about is not an emotion, nor some power, as you say. It is none of these things. This love cannot be spoken about. We can tell you what it is not. The love of a parent for the child is not this love. The love between a man and a woman is not this love. Your love of your friend is not this love. It is not attachment, it is not possession, it is not concern, it is not caring, it is none of these things. It is the stuff with which this universe is created. It is the stuff of the universe. It is your true nature. It is that which is there. If you go deeper and deeper into reality what there is, it is emptiness. It is all emptiness. That emptiness is love. That is the love we are talking about. It has to be experienced. At the first level you have to become enlightened, at the second level a divine being must come into you, only then you will know what it is. Otherwise it is beyond your grasp. We are not condemning the love you are experiencing now. This kind of love is perfectly fine. What we are telling is, `that' love has no cause. If you see somebody, there will be `that' love. If you see an ant there will be `that' love. There is no cause for `that' love. For the love that you know there must be a cause. It must be your child, wife, friend, then there is love. On the other hand, when you experience causeless Love, you are in Oneness. You are no more separate from the dog, the leper, the beggar, or the rich.nobody is separate from you. There is complete Oneness. It is a love born of Oneness. So, It has no cause."

Love as a permanent emotion...

Q: What is love Bhagavan, and if love has to be a permanent emotion in me, what should I do? Bhagavan: "What is love - we cannot talk about that. What is not love - we can talk about. Love is not attachment, love is not possession, love is not controlling somebody, love is not making use of somebody, love is not all that you conceive of. You cannot know love but you can experience love. The only thing that we can talk about that it is unconditional. If you love somebody just because somebody is good looking, somebody is wealthy or popular or this or that obviously that is not love. But if you're not able to give any reason at all, then probably you have discovered love.That love is unconditional and such love is not an imaginary love. Thousands of people have discovered it and you can discover it. That is the purpose of human existence. Otherwise life is worthless. Genuine affection is to be affected by the other. This is the state of love that I give you as a personal experience in our Deekshas."

Causeless love and limitless joy...

Q: What should I do to discover causeless love and limitless joy? Bhagavan: "One of the most important teachings of the dharma is that the content is not important. How you experience the Content that is important. What ever is happening in your life, you must learn the art of experiencing it. That is the true ‘art of living'. The true art of living is to experience fully, totally and completely whatever is going on. So, mostly what is going on is human interactions, your friends, your relatives, your boss, your children and your family. You are all the time interacting with them because life is relationship. Without relationship you don't exist. So, in this relationship you are transacting some kind of interaction. You may get hurt, you may get provoked, and you may get back some memories, all these are happening. Whatever is happening, if you can experience fully, as I was speaking earlier, then you will find there is limitless joy. Now, what happens when there is so much joy? It doesn't stop there. It becomes love. Only a happy and joyous person can truly love. An unhappy person cannot love. That love is nothing but attachment, possession…true love comes only when there is true joy and true joy comes only when you experience what ever is going on inside. It is not very difficult. Practice this for 21 days, if you keep trying it will become natural. What is not natural, what is not easy, I don't teach. There is no point in teaching that. Only what you can do I am teaching. The brain must learn a new pattern of functioning. It takes 21 days for that. After 21 days of practice you will find it becomes easy. It becomes like alcoholic addiction or drug addiction. Why are you addicted? Because it gives you so much joy or happiness or freedom. Same thing happens here also. Only thing is there are no negative side effects. There are very good effects on the other hand. You discover love, compassion. All these things happen. So basically you must start with pain. You hold that pain like you hold a newborn baby. So carefully you must hold that pain you must know that it is a blessing. You must hold it, you must not condemn or judge it and strangely you'll find it is very painful. It will become pain in the chest region but slowly you'll find, you'll discover a freedom, joy and that will become love. That is the way to get this causeless love and limitless joy."

True love...

Q: Bhagavan, could you please explain what is true Love?

Bhagavan:

"OK. Before understanding what is true love let us know what is the current state of man. Today, basically most of you are beggars of love. You want others to show you love. You don't give love. What you think is love, is actually craving for love. That is why when people love each other it is actually that, "She needed his need for her, and He needed her need for him." Of course, you also give love. But what kind of a love is that? It is very conditional love. Suppose your husband takes care of you very well, you love him. If he drinks and ill-treats you and doesn't fulfil your expectations, do you love him? No. If your parents are very nice to you, you'll love them. Similarly if your children are very successful, you'll love them.

Sometimes when I meet some children's parents, whose son is in the US, a software engineer, they are thrilled about it. They refer to their own children as "AAP". But if he is a porter in the railway station or airport, they will use "TU" or some such word. So what is your love for your own child? That is why 2000 years ago Avvaiyaar said "Kondu Vandal tagappan"(i.e. Unless you succeed, your father doesn't care for you.) The son must succeed, only then the father respects him. Similarly, if the wife is very nice, very beautiful, the husband loves her. If she gets small pox or cancer and she is disfigured, there is embarrassment and discomfort. There are always thoughts like there is nothing more to life, there is fear of society and dissatisfaction. So what happened to that love? So this is conditional love.

There are yet other people who think they love, for e.g. some social workers. They feel they are compassionate and want to give up their lives for people. But what they don't understand is the so-called compassion and love they feel is coming out of a concept, conditioning and a trauma. These people can be called self-righteous people.

So where you are begging for love, that is not love. Where there is attachment and possession and making use of people that is not love. Love born of concepts and conditioning is not love. So, what you know is conditional love. You can see it in your own relationships.

But there is also a causeless love. There is no reason for causeless love, it is simply there. That is the love I am talking about. Only if you discover THAT love you can enter Sathyaloka. Otherwise you just cannot enter because your body frequency will not vibrate with Sathyaloka. So you should love your wife just because she's there. That's all. Not because she is beautiful or she is a rich man's daughter or that she cares for you or as a duty. It is spontaneous. That is causeless love. It is your true nature actually. It is not something to be acquired. You can never acquire anything. You can only be what you are. That is your real nature. Some of you would have experienced this love sporadically in your lives. But unfortunately the mind takes over. So if you discover this love, then the world will be a different world.

Bhagavan with your grace we will try our level best to discover this causeless love.

(Sri Bhagavan laughs) See, you cannot try to love, that will never happen. What do you know about love? All that you know is, you have jealousy, selfishness, anger, hatred, lack of love and therefore craving for love. That is the truth about you. You are not a Mahatma Gandhi, Surdas, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. You are only what you are. Isn't it? So all that you must do is, "become aware that you don't have love, love starts happening automatically. You have been trying to love, but where have you changed one bit? You are exactly where you were. So now stop trying to become, BE exactly what you are. See the terrible things in your heart. How when somebody comes to you, you smile and say hello sir welcome... but that is not the truth. Inside you are thinking, why did he come now? Actually you are putting on a nice mask. You have never faced the actual you, the truth. The truth has gone far behind. I do know devotees, they wear a mask even before Me and I also go along with them. (Bhagavan says this smilingly) Why should I take out their masks? That would be too painful for them. That mask is there because of the society, education, culture etc. People think that is the only way to survive. We cannot help it.

When people get married, there is joy in their relationship in the beginning. Slowly the mask (images) sets in the wife and the husband also develops the mask. And the mask begins to relate. The real person has withdrawn. There is no more joy in the relationship. That is how your hearts get closed.

So, all that we are telling you is ‘become aware of your games.’ Just do that. That's all. I am not asking you to be a saint or a sage. You are horrible people, terrible people, isn't it? (everybody laughs). Embrace that thing. 'Yes, I am horrible, I am terrible.' Love that. Love yourself and you'll see the great miracle happen. You will discover love."

-Amma Bhagvan Sharanam.

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Day 4th

RELATIONSHIP

• What to do in relationships..

Q: You give such importance to relationships. No amount of trying to understand seems to help. People are as far away from each other as ever, even in their most intimate relationships, would you please educate us on the right course of action? Bhagavan: "You suffer because you try to understand. Trying to understand and finding fault would never help. It is like peeling an onion, you could keep on peeling and arrive nowhere. If you were to read psychology or philosophy to try to explain understand the other, there is no hope for you. You judge bx you do not feel connected to the other. If only you would have learnt the art of experiencing the other, whether your spouse, parent or child - you would be in joy. I often give an example of a strange couple I met. He was a dean of a medical college, she was a vegetable vendor. He was handsome, well-read, cultured and prosperous. And she was the opposite. There marriage was strange because they got into an agreement before marriage that neither would ask the other to change. He experiences her wild and rustic ways, while she experiences his dignity and calmness. Neither trying to change the other. It is one of the most successful marriages I have ever seen. 25 yrs of marriage, they still have life in their relationship. If you could experience your wife as she nags, screams or yells at you, that would be most beautiful Similarly as your husband bothers, troubles you or is indifferent, if you could experience him without trying to change him, you would experience joy. This is the only way you could set right your relationships bx relationships then become a source of joy. If you know this art of experiencing your spouse, you are then not only happy with your spouse, you are happy with everything in life. You would then experience a cup of coffee, the banana you eat, and your everyday morning walk - you would know you are walking in heaven - it might look difficult to you, well it is not!"

• Life is relationships...

Q: What do you mean when you say life is relationships, could you please throw more light on this? Bhagavan: "What else is life, if not relationships? Could you conceive of yourself without any relationship whatsoever. You arise in relationship with your father, mother, brother, child, husband, education, nation, gender, home. In fact you are relationships. If you remove all these relationships, where are you? Think about it and find out if you exist or not. Bhagavan, world over there is apprehension of the growing violence and ever increasing wars. The reasons have always been political, religious and likewise. What would we as individuals do to stop these calamities? Why do wars and calamities happen, they happen because human beings are violent. We are not talking of individual human beings, we are talking about humanity as a whole. What is the amount of violence each of you has. Each one of you is a divided house, there is conflict in you, there is violence in you, there is hatred in you. It is this that erupts as wars, communal conflict, drought, flood or any kind of calamity. You could even destroy the earth if you wanted to from you violence. The external world merely reflects your inner world. That is why we tell you to improve your relationships. If there is love and peace within you, very naturally the environment would also change. The atrocities you come across would cease to exist. If people change, the world would change. Otherwise you would destroy yourselves. It is your conflict that is erupting, through a terrorist or tyrant. Just like water flowing through a weak pipe, would burst out somewhere - so as the collective violence of humanity would emerge through an individual or a group. There is only one mind and each of you is a part and parcel of this one mind, do not blame someone else, you are responsible, if you would discover this, the world would certainly be a better place."

• Relationship with parents...

Q: Bhagavan, what is the most important factor in keeping a good relationship with one's parents? Bhagavan: "The basic thing you must know is that whatever they, as parents, have done to you, whatever you do not approve of, was not that they did willfully; they were made to do those things because they were being controlled by several factors. You must realize that you are nothing but robots. You are a robot and your parent is a robot. If you can see that, you wouldn't blame them at all. The way they behave with you would depend on what happened while they were in their mother's womb, their fundamental childhood decisions, past life vasanas, later day conditioning etc. If you realize this, then would come acceptance, then would come love and the relationship falls into order. Once the relationship falls into order, everything else falls into order."

• Setting right relationships...

One of the fundamental teachings of the Dharma is to set right relationships. Exactly how can we improve or set right our relationships?

Bhagavan:

"It is essential for you to first understand that “ Life is relationships”. Now coming to your question how to improve relationships? The problem of relationships cannot be solved through psychology. All effort to understand the other person completely can never help. It is like peeling an onion. As you go on peeling an onion nothing remains. Say, you are eating khova (a south Indian sweet dish), you don’t try to understand, but just experience the eating of khova. In the same way, you need to experience the other person just as he or she is.

A husband trying to analyse or understand his wife will take him nowhere. “Analysis leads to paralysis”. Everybody is constantly trying to understand, analyse, judge others while struggling to change the other person. Unfortunately, people fail to realize that this is impossible as all of you are like computers who have been programmed and hence have no free will of your own. Your past lives, birth traumas, childhood, education, culture and all your conditionings are in possession of you and your lives. Your life flows according to this program.

So, when you are trying to understand and change the other person; it is only one program trying to alter another program. This game goes on from birth to death. Supposing you are going to a movie everyday, hoping that there will be a new ending, a new climax. Will it really change? All of you are trying to change each other in the same way!

What you need to do is experience the other person fully.

When the husband returns home to find his wife screaming; he must experience her like watching a movie or drinking a glass of juice. What happened? Why it happened? Why is her nature that way cannot be really known. Remember, it is like peeling an onion.

If you experience – life becomes Joy!

It does not matter what the event is. You have to only experience the program. Stop judging and being critical. When you experience the other person, you would know exactly how to respond.

Abraham Lincoln was shot. Who is to be blamed? The person who shot him, the person who made the gun, or the person who invented it or somebody else. No person can really be blamed, for, a situation is dependent on so many factors. It is not possible to pinpoint a single reason. If you look at The Bible, it also tells us “ Judge not least ye be judged”.

Unless something happens to the program itself, say through Grace, nothing can change. If the wife screams, experience it… is it possible? Thousands have done it. It is simple and practical. If you experience people, your heart flowers and synchronises with Earth’s heartbeat. My Grace flows and your problems would be solved.

If you don’t set right your relationships, I really cannot help you to the extent I want to help you. So start experiencing people and events."

-Amma Bhagvan Sharanam.

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Day 5th

SUFFERING

• Confront the suffering...

Q: What is the best course to follow when one encounters suffering. Bhagavan, please also give us more clarity on what is running away from suffering. Sri Bhagavan: Well! There is no need to give clarity on running away from suffering, because you are doing it all the time. Whenever you say I am suffering, it means you are running away from suffering. Because if you could turn around and confront the suffering, soak in it, embrace it, fall in love with it, be with it, accept it, do all these things. Then, see for yourself what happens!

• Running away from suffering...

Q: Bhagavan, how exactly do we experience suffering? Sri Bhagavan: When we use the word suffering‚ what we mean is you are running away from suffering. That is what you call suffering‚ and you are not aware of it. Supposing somebody is dead in your house, your near or dear one, you don‚t want to face that fact, you keep running away from it. That is what is you call suffering. Not the actual thing which happened. On the other hand if you were to turn around and embrace the event which happened, initially it is tremendously painful, you could even develop tremendous chest pain. Some times the body itself could become very violent and go into convulsions as you embrace that suffering, without internally moving away from it, that is, not trying to understand it, not trying to explain it away but to jump into it. This we call jumping into the tigers mouth. At the moment you are hanging on to the ceiling and the tiger is growling and you are afraid that you might fall anytime into the tiger‚s mouth and that is what you call suffering. What we are telling is please jump down from the ceiling straight into the tigers mouth and be eaten. Strangely if you are eaten, you are gone, who is there to suffer? So, that is why we say, you don‚t have to understand suffering. You do not have to bring in psychology and philosophy, they would never ever help you. They would only help you escape. Because again the tiger is going to pounce on you some day. The best thing is to embrace it and the strangest part is you will find sooner or later you will develop this art and every time suffering comes, you would embrace it and it becomes joy. One who has completely mastered the art of converting suffering into joy is almost enlightened. Not enlightened but almost enlightened!

• Escape from suffering...

Q: Most people think that the pursuit of truth or enlightenment is a luxury for the contented or an escape from suffering from their lives. Could you please explain to us the need for enlightenment? Bhagavan: "Unless you are enlightened and your heart is flowered, you are not living. Only a person who is established in oneness and whose heart is flowered in love is truly living, otherwise you are living the life of the mind, which is nothing but craving and fear. The greatest tragedy of the human existence is that you are not even conscious of your present condition, you could be the president of the most powerful country or the richest man on the planet, you would still be suffering because so long as you are living the life of the mind, your so-called happiness is merely pleasure which will soon turn into fear and pain. I am not criticising you, I am merely awakening you to joy and love, which are possible when the heart has flowered. You could be poorest man and nobody in this vast world but with love in your heart, you are in heaven, an unenlightened being though he has spiritual, economic or political power would still be in hell."

• To be free from suffering...

Nobody in this world is free of sufferings. To be free from sufferings what should be done?

Bhagavan:

"That’s very simple. Please follow seven truths to be free from suffering:

1. Everything comes from a single source. It could be God or Energy. There is no beginning and end to life.

2. If you identify this source, you’ll not differentiate between good, bad, right or wrong. All these things are our views. Everything came from one source.

3. Life is nothing but your search for ‘ Self’. In your life, things that happen to you, people you see, everything reflects your ‘ Self’. If you are suffering from poverty, it means there is something wrong within yourself. You have to correct this to get out of poverty. If you have hatred, then who ever you see will exhibit the same quality. If you have evil thoughts, people you meet will also have evil thoughts. Try to understand yourself first.

4. Realize that anything you experience in this Life is by God’s grace. Supposing you slip while walking, try to realize that as God’s grace too. If you see God in everything, your life will become wonderful.

5. Realize that anything you experience in this Life is just a ‘test’ for you by God. It is not a bad experience. If it is considered as a bad experience then it would mean that God is not compassionate. If you experience a problem, consider it an opportunity for you to face it and come out of it. You’ve been given people, wealth and confidence to face challenges. If you understand this, your confidence will improve. Just to test your confidence God gives you a test.

6. If you realize that anything you experience is a test for you by God, then you’ll be able to think deep about the problem and handle it in a better way. You’ll understand its result. Then you’ll have no fear.

7. If you understand the above 6 truths, then there will be an enormous transformation in your body. From then on, you’ll not only have compassion, but you’ll become that ‘ compassion’.

If you follow these, your relationships would improve. It’ll be filled with love. If you attain this stage you are ready for the ‘operation’ I mentioned. You’ll experience the divine grace experienced by saints like Ramana, Adishankara. You’ll have no fear or sorrow. You’ll have only Joy. Don’t try to analyse this logically. Our aim is Mukthi. If you follow these truths for even 21 days, you’ll be joyful. The problem with us is we spread just the sorrow and sufferings. That’s why Earth is dying. After you experience Joy and Happiness you’ll be able to spread only Joy and Happiness to others."

-Amma Bhagvan Sharanam.

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Day 6th

THE MIND

• Concentration...

Q: Bhagavan, why doesn't the mind stay concentrated on one thing? What should I do if it has to stay put at one point? Bhagavan: "See, the mind, breath and kundalini form a triangle. If you tamper with one you'll be tampering the other two. Suppose the breath is not constant or steady, the mind also will not be constant and steady. Similarly if the kundalini is vibrating too much, then also the mind will be unstable. Kundalini will start vibrating depending on the temperature, air pressure, depending on the kind of people around, depending on the food you've eaten, the clothes you are wearing - so many factors. So as the kundalini is vibrating, the mind also becomes unsteady and becomes unfocused. So also is breath. In fact breath is a crucial element and most people do not even know how to breathe. That's why I often say that, children must be taught in school as to how to really breathe. When this is done, you'll actually find that the mind becomes steadied. Without setting right these two things the mind will be very very shaky. And of course if you are not able to do these things, you can very well ask me inside and I will steady it. And you'll have a very focused mind. It's not very difficult to achieve."

• Surrendering...

Q. What is surrender? How to surrender? Bhagavan: "When we use the word surrender what we mean is that you should understand that this mind cannot really help you and that you have to get beyond the mind. If you let go of the mind, that letting go is what we call, surrender. You must realize that the human mind is limited and there is no use wasting your time with the mind. It is only going to create obstacles for you. If you can see that, the mind would stop interfering. If that happens, then we say you have surrendered. That is all. It is not some kind of slavish surrender. It is never used in that sense. God would not like you to surrender like a slave. He is after all your friend. So, when we use the word surrender it means putting aside the mind, knowing its limitations. You discover surrender when you feel you are helpless. When you feel you are totally helpless you will discover surrender. That is when Grace comes pouring. Imagine that you are struck on the railway line and the train rushing at you, then you will certainly surrender! Many people have surrendered to me like that. Most people surrender onlyin dire moments. That is why miracles too happen only in those moments."

• Thoughts and feelings...

Q: Bhagavan, the kind of thoughts I have, the kind of feelings I have, are they all designed by God? Is God putting those thoughts inside me? Is God putting desire into me? Is God putting violence into me? Bhagavan: "All these thoughts come from the thought sphere. The thought sphere is as old as man and every single thought of every being that has ever been on this planet, is recorded there and it is still there. These thoughts are flowing into and out of you. What thoughts are flowing inside you and what thoughts are flowing out of you depends on your health condition, the place in which you are staying, the people around you and many other factors. It is like tuning into a television channel. There are so many channels there and you could tune in to any channel. If you tune into a channel called negative thoughts, you will be getting so many negative thoughts. If you tune into a channel called violent thoughts, you will be getting those thoughts. Once you get this insight that you are not your thoughts, and these thoughts are not yours, then strangely you will find that you tune into a channel which is broadcasting silence and you receive that silence. Otherwise you would be getting these thoughts and they are as old as man. They are not your thoughts. Some body could have had fear ten thousand years ago as he was being been chased by a tiger. That thought could now enter you. It would not be fear of the tiger but it would be fear of the share market. But the same fear comes into you like that. Once you realize that your thoughts are not your thoughts, you could actually see how they are coming, how they are flowing through you and then you become very detached. That is how you could be free of these things."

• Accepting things...

Q: Bhagavan, how do we accept things? Bhagavan: "See, the mind is a very good businessman. It naturally does what is profitable to it. What is not profitable to it, it does not do. When you do not accept something, the first thing is, it's a fact that it is there. You cannot wish it away. By fighting with it, you are creating a lot of conflict. By conflict there is a lot of dissipation of energy. When energy is being lost you become unhappy and also you become a failure. On the other hand, if you accept what ever is there, there is no conflict. No conflict means there is no wastage of energy. When energy is still, there is no movement of energy as wastage. That becomes joy and happiness. It leads to greater success. If you can see this whole process, then naturally you'll accept because it is a better choice for you. You cannot do unprofitable things. Somehow you are imagining that if you fight with it, it is good. Therefore you fight with it. When you observe that fighting is not profitable, the mind naturally will drop it. You must see how all the fighting is not profitable to you then it's all over. It is very simple but because you are not used to this observation, the situation is going to be difficult. But once you learn it, it is as easy as breathing but, until then, it looks "Oh! how am I going to do it ?". It takes some effort and understanding. Still it will be difficult but, I am there! If you know how to ask me, I can make you actually do it."

• negative thoughts...

Q. Bhagavan, I suffer with a lot of negative thoughts, what should I do about them? Bhagavan: "According to the natural principle,there is nothing you could do about them, except to become more observant, to become more aware that they are there. If you try to fight with them or to push them out, they will become powerful. All fights with negative thoughts must be avoided. The more you fight, the stronger they become. The only way is to realize that they are there and then accept them. Just accept the truth. Because the truth is that, they are there. How could you deny that? By accepting them, they become weaker. As they become weaker, they have a chance that they would slowly fade out. So, please try to avoid all fight, all struggle with negative emotions. And as you gradually go into it, you will realize that they are not your negative emotions but, they are just there in the thought sphere and it so happens that your brain is picking them up. They are not your negative thoughts, that is why we say - They are just thoughts, like that building is there, they are there. They are not your thoughts but humanity's thoughts. And you will soon become free of them. This is the process that takes place in the courses at the Oneness University. Through our Deekshas here it becomes a very tangible experience to you and you no more identify with the thoughts as your thoughts. The present negativity that is within you ceases thereafter."

• The mind and negativity...

Q: Why does the mind always go towards negative thoughts and negative things?

Bhagavan:

"You live in a world where the whole system is so structured. See, your negative thoughts are not your thoughts. That’s the fundamental teaching of the Dharma. So, like in TV depending on the channel you are switching on, you attract certain programs.

In this thought sphere there are also both negative and positive programs. Depending on the way your chakras are aligned, you start attracting negative thoughts. If the channel is changed, you start attracting positive thoughts. So, you are not really responsible for that, as you tend to blame your self. As I told you, you are like a robot, a computer. You are being programmed continuously from the thought sphere or the earth’s magnetic field. So, if you do certain kind of dhyanas (practices), we can realign the chakras, whereby it will automatically turn into positive thoughts.

One terrible thing is the media of today. In the newspaper and magazines they must also publish positive things. But everywhere they talk only about accidents, murder, looting, cheating. The whole thing is negative. As these inputs are going into you, the chakras acquire a specific kind of alignment. Thereafter you start turning only to the negative things in the thought sphere. That is the problem with our society. You must talk more positive things. You must have newspapers where there will be separate pages only for positive things or TV channels where they will be allotted only for positive news. If that goes on, the chakras will be realigned. That’s why you must speak positively to children and not allow them to see all kinds of TV programs, newspapers and magazines. Because that is a part of the problem."

-Amma Bhagvan Sharanam.