Some selected favorites of knowledge that I've captured over the past year / two from Gurudev...
Knowledge
Wisdom is your quality of consciousness.
- Guru Poornima
7/12/14
Just be simple, easy, and relaxed. If
you don’t have a complicated mind, you won’t have bad thoughts. Just observe
the mind and relax. - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
All desires are for happiness. That is
the goal of desire, isn't it? How often does your desire lead you to the goal?
But have you thought about the nature of desire? It simply means tomorrow, and
not now, isn't it? Joy is never tomorrow. It is always now.
How can you have desires when you are
joyful? And how can you really be joyful now when you have desires? Desire
appears to lead you to happiness. In fact it cannot. And that is why it is
Maya. What do you say?
Buddha said that desire is the cause of
all misery. If your desire does not get fulfilled, it leads to frustration and
causes misery. Even if it does get fulfilled, it leaves you empty.
Vashishhtha said that desire is the
cause of pleasure. You get pleasure from an object or a person only when you
desire them. When you do not desire an object, you do not get pleasure from it.
For example, when a person is hot and thirsty, a sip of cold water gives him
pleasure; but not if he is not thirsty. Whatever gives you pleasure binds you
and bondage is misery.
Sri Sri says when you desire for truth,
all other desires drop off. You always desire for something that is not there.
But, truth is always there! Desire for truth removes all other desires and it
itself dissolves. And what remains is bliss.
From whomever you receive love, just
know that it from the Divine. You are getting love from the one supreme energy.
Your affection is also is toward that
one energy only, and you are simply receiving its love through this person or
that person. Know this and relax.
Whether that person is true or false,
right or wrong, don’t fall into these traps of the mind.
If you get sunlight through the window,
then you know that the light is coming from the sun. It is not the light of the
window. So just understand this much and relax.
Q: I often talk to you in my heart. How
do I satisfy myself that my words have reached you?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: My job is not to
satisfy you but to make you restless to get the highest knowledge. In that
restlessness, you achieve awareness.
When you are stuck with cravings and
desires, then you do not get the power to bless others. But when you become so
content from within and feel that ‘I do not want anything’, then a great power
dawns from within you, and you become able to fulfill not only your own
desires, but the desires of others around you as well.
You know, in airports and railway
stations there are lounges, and in a lounge, what do you do?
You keep your luggage and start eating.
You use the bathroom and freshen-up; but you don’t open your suitcase and hang
your clothes all over the place.
You don’t do that in a transit lounge.
You keep your things packed.
So this world is just a transit lounge.
Don’t mistake it to be your home.
The mind that is seeking pleasure cannot
be centered. You either seek pleasure or come to me. When you are centered, all
pleasures come to you anyway, but they are no longer pleasures. They lose their
charm.
The mind that seeks pleasure can never
achieve the highest. If you are after pleasure, forget about Satsang. Why are
you wasting your time? This is the Art of Living.
If you are enjoying your suffering, then
you also cannot be centered and you are far away from the path.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: First of all, let
us understand that spirituality is not something that is out there, that is
going to come into you. We are all made up of matter and spirit.
Our body is made up of carbohydrate,
protein, amino acids, etc. Our spirit is made up of compassion, care,
commitment, love and distortions of it, like anger. All these qualities.
Nurturing the human values, the qualities in you, is spirituality. It is seeing
life from a broader perspective, i.e., 'I am not just flesh and bones, but I am
scintillating energy. I am a fountain of love. I am feelings. I am
intelligence. I am thoughts'.
This identification with our
consciousness is what spirituality is. It doesn't take a long time for you to
invoke the spirituality inside you. You simply have to see your life from a
bigger perspective. Look at this planet, it is huge; unfathomable. From
billions of years it has been in existence. And what’s our life of 70-80 years
in comparison to this? See your life from the context of space and time and you
will see how tiny your life is. At the same time, go deep into it. Go deep into
meditation and you will find, 'Wow, there is so much energy. I am this
beautiful energy. My thought has power, my emotions have power, and I am a part
of everybody!'.
This feeling that you are part of the
entire living species is what exactly spirituality is. That connectedness with
the entire universe brings you enormous strength.
Don’t get into collecting things. Grasp
the knowledge that is being given. Don’t bother about getting some piece of
clothing, or some object of mine. Drop that. There is such deep knowledge being
given. Grasp the knowledge, because that stays with you for many lifetimes
Effort on the path brings limited
progress based on time...to overcome negative thought & emotions look to
the effortless aspect beyond time (sat / truth / Atma - all else being maya) -
the answer to overcoming negativity lies within this statement
Viparyaya - when they are cooking in
their own mind - activity of chitta - when people feel they are not being loved
Vikalpa - fantasy
‘Look my dear, what you are doing will
hurt you. So don’t do it. I am telling you this out of love and compassion for
you, so please do not make this mistake because it is going to hurt you even
more’.
every time before having food “Annadatta
Sukhi Bhavva” which says, Blessings to the Farmer, Businessmen and the Lady,
who in kitchen makes the food.
Sanathana Dharma - eternally valid
values
‘Annadaata Sukhi Bhavah’ (May the
provider of my food be blessed with peace and prosperity)
The wise one knows that he owns the sun,
the moon, the stars, the air, all of space and the Divine in its entirety
Be passionate to serve when you are
happy. Have dispassion when you are miserable, and be compassionate all the time
Are you selfish, egotistical, &
judgmental or are you selfless, loving, & unassuming? Listen to
what's not being said & build your awareness & intuition.
If you are loving, then you are welcome
everywhere in the world. If you feel and be one with people anywhere you go,
then people are ready to do anything for you - Sri Sri.
Q: How do we let go of unpleasant
memories and limitations?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Accept the past as
it was, be dispassionate and centered, do service and Be in the presence of
Divine company.
The four Pillars of Knowledge
The four Pillars of Knowledge
You have heard “Everything is God. There
is nothing outside of God.”. Then why is this not your experience? This is a
fundamental question. Why is God not an experiential reality for you?
To reach the self, there are four major
tools, the four Pillars of Knowledge:
The first one is calledg Viveka. Viveka
is grossly translated as discrimination, but it’s not just discrimination.
Viveka is the understanding or observation that everything is changing.
Whatever you consider as stationary or solid is neither stationary nor solid.
Everything is changing. Existence is an ever changing reality.
Our own bodies are changing. Every
minute new cells are born and old cells are dying. Every time you breathe, old
energy goes out and new energy comes in. Our body is a bundle of atoms and
atoms are always disintegrating. Our thoughts and emotions are changing. You
are not the same person you were yesterday. You cannot maintain the same degree
of happiness or sadness all the time. It fluctuates. Emotions, feelings, view
points are all changing.
But there is something different from
all this that is not changing. The one who is observing the change is
non-changing, otherwise how can one recognize the change? The reference point
to recognize change has to be non-changing. Discriminating between that which
is not changing, and everything else which is ever changing is “Viveka”.
Understanding that everything in this world is changing would reduce 99% of the
misery in this world.
The second pillar is called Vairagya.
Vairagya is translated as Dispassion. Behind every misery there is hope. Hope
is the fuel for miserable people. There is deep desire for some joy in the
future: If I change my town, I will be happy. If I change my relationship, or
my job, or my company, I will be happier. People who are single think they will
be happy if they get married. Married people think they were better off when
they were single. A child thinks when he/she grows up and goes to college they
will happy. A college student says “Once I get a job I will be happy”. A
manager says “When I become the director I will be happy” Postponing happiness
sometime in the future can make you miserable right now.
Pleasure can also tire you. How long can
you look at something beautiful? Eventually you will get tired of it; your
eyelids will fall off. How long can you smell a beautiful fragrance? People
working in the perfume factories are sick of perfumes. If you like donuts, how
many can you stuff through your mouth? How much ice-cream can you enjoy? Music-
how much can you hear? Touching, and being touched, how long can you enjoy? The
world is full of pleasure for the five senses, but the senses have their
limitations. But the mind wants endless joy. An attitude of “So what! Let it
be, whatever” takes away the feverishness in you and brings you to that pillar
of dispassion.
Dispassion is NOT apathy! Often we think
dispassion means being unenthusiastic, depressed and not interested in
anything. This is not dispassion! Dispassion is lack of feverishness.
Dispassion is full of activity and enthusiasm, yet devoid of feverishness.
Dispassion towards the enjoyments of the five sense or the spiritual enjoyment,
towards the seen and the unseen, the outer world or the inner world, is the
second pillar of knowledge.
The third pillar consists of the Six
Wealths. The Vedas have mentioned six types of Wealths: Shama, Dama, Uparati,
Titiksha, Shraddha, and Samadhana.
The first wealth is Shama. Shama is
tranquility of the mind. When the mind wants to do too many things, it gets
completely scattered. When shama is established, you are able to focus and your
mind is more alert. When dispassion is firmly established, shama automatically
starts happening, the mind is tranquil.
The second wealth is Dama. Dama means
control over senses, the ability to have a say over one’s senses. May times you
don’t want to say something, yet you do. Many times you don’t want to look at
something, yet you look anyways. You decided you are full and you will not eat
anymore. Then some nice food is served, and it smells so good that you go ahead
and take a bite, and another. Soon, to your surprise, you find that you have
stuffed in more than your tummy can take. Having Dama, you are not carried away
by our senses. You will say “Yes” or “No” to the senses, not the other way
around.
The third wealth is Titiksha. Titiksha
means endurance or forbearing. When difficult things come, forbearance allows
you to go on without getting completely shaken. In life, some pleasant events
happen, some unpleasant events happen. So what! None of them stay forever.
Health comes and sickness comes. Moods come and go. Profits come and losses
come. People come and go in life. Titiksha is not getting shaken by what
happens. Of ten what is unpleasant can become pleasant later on. What you
thought was very bad, later on was found to be very good for you. It made you
strong. Understanding this helps not hanging on to the past and not judging
events as good or bad. The ability to not get carried away by the events is
Titiksha. When you play a game, winning and loosing is a part of it. The game
has more value when it is a little tough. If you already knew who will win the
game, you will loose interest in the game. Look at life as a game. Just turn
back and look at all the difficult situations you have gone through in life. In
spite of it all, you are complete today. The difficulties could not destroy
you. They only made you stronger. You are more powerful than them.
The fourth wealth is Uparati. Uparati
means rejoicing in your own nature, being with your nature. Often you are not
with your nature, you or doing things because someone else says or does
something. Often people do things for approvals from others. Being in the
present moment, being the joy that you are, the ability to rejoice in anything
that you do, that is Uparati. Letting go of everything, being playful is
Uparati, and then taking everything seriously is also Uparati. These are
completely opposite values, but taking them together, living them together,
that is Uparati.
The fifth wealth is Shraddha. Shraddha
means faith. Faith is needed when you have found the limit of your knowledge.
You know something this far, and you don’t know anything beyond that. Your
willingness to know the unknown is Shraddha, the faith. If your mind is fixed,
and says “That’s it. I know it all”, that is ego. The more you know, the more
will be the feeling that you don’t know. Recognition of the unknown is
Shraddha. Faith in your self, faith in the Master, faith in the Divine, faith
in the infinite order of things, faith in that love of infinity, is Shraddha.
Observe the nature of doubt. Doubt is always about something positive. When
someone says, “I love you”, you doubt asking “Really”? But when someone says,
“I hate you, I am angry at you”, then you don’t doubt it, you don’t ask
“Really?”. Doubt the negative, and be confident of the positive. Without faith,
it would be like someone saying, “First let me learn how to swim, then I will
get into the water”. You have to get into the water to learn swimming. The
entire world works on faith. For example, any system, whether a credit card
system, airlines, banks, even a medical system, although there is no guarantee,
there is a high probability that everything will work the way it is meant to.
If there could be 100 percent probability, then there would be no need of
faith. When there is less than 100 percent probability, that means the result
is not knowledge, it is based on faith.
The sixth wealth is Samadhana. Samadhana
means being at ease, being content. How do you feel when you are at ease? How
does it feel when you are totally at ease, calm and serene? Being at ease with
you, at ease with the people and situations around you, with the whole
existence, is Samadhana. This is a great wealth by itself.These six wealths
together form the third pillar.
The fourth pillar is called Mumukshatva.
Mumukshatva is the desire for the highest, a desire for total freedom, for
enlightenment, whatever you want to call it. First of all you can desire
something only when you feel it is possible for you. When you think it is not
possible, then you cannot even desire it. When you think enlightenment is not
possible for you, then slowly you eliminate the possibility, and then the next
possibility, and then the next. Mumukshatva is present when there is a deep
desire for the highest, a burning desire, a longing for the Divine.
When there is a desire in someone to
learn, it should come from within. Don’t think you have to attain it. Think you
already have it. To some degree, to some extent, you have all the six wealths
also. If you put a little more attention on them, they become stronger and more
solid in you. The pillars are already there, you only have to make them
stronger, build them a little higher.
|| Jai Guru Dev ||
Man often becomes what he believes
himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing,
it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the
contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the
capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.
― Mahatma Gandhi
Sattvic intellect is seeing that there
is one thing, one truth, one reality, one consciousness that is underneath the
whole creation. When this truth is well lodged in the mind though you see the
differences, dwell in differences, you will be unshaken. ~ Sri Sri
I am not the body; I am bliss,
satchitananda; I am unbounded space; I am love; I am peace; I am light.
Feel blessed
Yoga is uniting...unity - body, mind /
intellect, and breath.
Ask the divine for forgiveness each day.
Ask the divine "may I do some good
with these hands today."
5 knowledge points:
1. Accept people & situations as
they are
2. Opposite values are complimentary
3. Do not be the football of other
people's opinions
4. Do not see intention behind other
people's mistakes
5. The present moment is inevitable
5 principles:
1. Forgiveness
2. Sincerity
3. Compassion
4. Contentment
5. Truth
Gurur Brahma Gurur Vishnu
Gurur Devo Mahesh Varaha
Guru Sak shat param Brahma
Thusme shree guruve namaha
