February 12th

February 12th, 2006

“Three Different Paths Leading to Divinity”

Part 2

OM…OM…OM…

Sai Ram

With Pranams at the Lotus Feet of Bhagavan,

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

RESULTS OF ACTIONS ARE LIMITED AND TIME-BOUND

Last week, we made an attempt to know the two different paths leading to Divinity. One path is the path of action, karma yoga; the other is the path of wisdom, jnana yoga. I made it amply clear the path to Divinity. I made it amply clear the outstanding implications, the effects as well as the limitations of karma yoga, or the path of action.

I was very clear last week that the path of action will help us for the purification of the mind, which is a pre-requisite for the experience of Divinity. And the other point I mentioned was that the fruits or the results of the path of action yield limited benefits, or dividends, or profits spread over a limited period of time. No matter even if there is a heavenly abode, even if one were to reach heaven, it will still be conditional. It is not an onsite placement. One has to return the moment the merit is exhausted. So, I made it clear last week that all the results or the consequences of actions are limited or time-bound.

Later, I said the path of wisdom is one of inquiry. One proceeds on the path of wisdom by constant inquiry on the Self; by putting to one’s own self the question, “Who am I?” That also I said last time. Finally I ended with the statement that the path of action and the path of wisdom are not separate, are not parallel, and are not contradictory. One leads to the other; one is the corollary of the other.

That which is result-oriented is the path of action. The moment you give up the results, the moment you are prepared to sacrifice the results and the consequences of your actions, naturally you are on the path of wisdom. So expectation, or anticipation of something to happen, or something promised makes you attached to the path of action. The moment you sacrifice the consequences or the results or what you call Karma Phala Pari Tyaga, sacrificing the results of one’s own actions, you will be on the path of wisdom or jnana yoga. That is the connecting link. One is result-oriented; the other is non-expectational, beyond anything. At that stage, we concluded last week’s session.

PATH OF DEVOTION

Now we have a few questions to answer this morning relating to the same subject. We often find people with no progress, with no improvement, with no satisfaction, although they are on the path of devotion. They say, “We are highly devoted.” They declare openly that they are very much attached to the path of devotion, that they are highly spiritual, that they are highly ritualistic. They are highly religious, but yet they are cautious. Yet they are not able to achieve what they want to. They are not able to enjoy that state which they really expect.

Therefore, the question is this, “Why are most of us not getting good results in spite of being devoted to God?”

I think I am clear. As devotees, most of us are not getting the expected results. Why? Some people say, “Yes sir, I am getting the results.”

Hats off to you. If you get it, hats off to you. My congratulations; but I am speaking about the majority of the people. What made me conclude that? Am I not selfish? Am I biased? Am I prejudiced? What made me conclude that we are not reaping the harvest? Ego, jealousy, rivalry, possessiveness, attachment, pride, spirit of domination — these are all enough of signs, enough of indication, enough of symptoms of the disease that clearly indicate that we have not been able to achieve the results, in spite of our being highly devoted. We are devotees, yet we have not achieved the results because of these indications or symptoms that I have brought to your attention.

EGO CAN HIDE LIKE A BLACK CAT ON A DARK NIGHT

Let me tell you my friends, point after point in this connection, why we are not able to reach the expected standards. In spite of our long period of stay here, in spite of being in service activity over a long time, in spite of our own sadhana, spiritual practice, why are we not able to reach the target? Why are we not able to achieve the results? Why? And yet talking aloud, we are all sailing in the same boat. No one is greater than the other. We are all pilgrims on the same path. We are all fellow travellers. We are trying to investigate together. We are trying to explore together. We are trying to find an answer to these questions together. That’s all.

My friends, the first thing that we have to do is this. When I do any service, when I take to any spiritual practice, the fundamental thing is that I should be non-egoistic. Non-egoistic, meaning there should not be any trace of ego, what you may call egoism, at all. By ego, what do I mean? Ego and pride are different. Pride is something that you can see automatically. By looking at a person, by talking to a person, by watching the gestures of the person, we can say that he is proud. Pride is identifiable. Pride can be detected. Pride can be found out easily.

But ego, however we deny it, however sure we are that there is no ego within us, the ego can manage successfully to hide itself in the inner chambers of our hearts or mind. Ego can hide -- something like a black cat in a dark night. The cat is black enough and the night is dark enough; so it is impossible to detect it. Add to that a power cut; the power supply is also not there. It is easy enough to imagine, because we have got used to it. So my friends, ego may be lying there in every one of us undetected. If you say, “I have no ego” yes, you are full of ego. Why? This ‘I’-ness is ego.

“I have no ego.”

Yes, that is enough of ego, thank you. His ‘I’-ness is ego.

If any one says, “Sir, we in our highly tense life are doing so much service activity, without any ego.”

Oh, I see. To say that we have done, we are doing, is the prime mode of ego, the headlights of ego, the projection of ego. So, ego means ‘I’-ness; whatever I say with the feeling of ‘I’-ness: “I have done…, I thought…, I…, I…., I…” that is ego. Spiritual sadhana or spiritual practice is aimed at one thing, and one thing only. Whether it is Christianity or Islam or Hinduism or any religion, be it any guru, the spiritual path prescribed by all gurus, by all sacred texts, by all religions can be just summed up in one sentence — to give up ‘I’-ness, to drop ‘I’-ness, to be free from ego. That’s all, the only one thing; but that is the thing that is impossible to get out of! Very difficult!

When Swami talks to a person, he refuses to mix with others the next day, because he thinks he is a higher celestial being; he cannot mix with we people, the mundane people, earthly people, because Swami looked at him and said, “How are you?” Now therefore, he is an angel himself. So, a gentle look, a few words from Swami makes him so egoistic and yet he still says, “I have no ego.” So, you are not only egoistic, you are also a successful hypocrite. Hypocrisy is also added on to that, my friends.

SELF-INQUIRY WILL DETECT EGO

Let us examine ourselves openly. See if there is an ‘I’-ness within me or not. Do I take credit for everything? Do I claim everything? Ego, once it is there, won’t keep quiet. It will raise its ugly hood or head at some time or other. When two are meeting, he starts declaring, “You know, I was a very big top official in service.”

Oh! Oh! You were, but now you are not. Past tense— why do you bother about it? This man wants to claim that he is superior to you, because he knows he was, but today you are equal; today we are the same. But we don’t want to accept equality, and therefore we go to the past. “I was, I was…” So what? So my friends, this kind of complex, this kind of psychology, this kind of thinking, that is within us unnoticed, expresses itself in someway or other in our thoughts.

Supposing I say, “How is your son?”

“Sir, my son is an engineer.”

“Where?”

“At my native place Chennai.”

“Oh, oh. My son is in the United States.”

So what? Both are on earth only, whether it is United States or Chennai. One is not in heaven. He wants to say that his son is in the United States of America; so he puts a question, something like an appetizer, a bait, to make you say where your son is, so that he can say where his son is. Aha, Himalayan ego, Himalayan ego! It will take a hundred lives to get out of it. He may be sitting on the lap of Bhagavan, yet He cannot save him.

Therefore my friends, to be non-egoistic is not an easy thing. Ego will remain with us because we don’t notice its presence. To notice the presence of ego within oneself is possible only by inquiry, vicharana or meemamsa, or investigation by putting a question to one’s own self, “Who am I?” It is by this inquiry only, Self-inquiry (not the inquiry office of the airport or railway station) that we can root out the ego. The inquiry within one’s own self only will help to detect ego, and thereafter one can attempt to get rid of it.

THE FUNDAMENTAL REQUIREMENT IS TO GIVE UP EGO

So, by inquiry, I will know what it is by an attempt to get hold of it; the very attempt is spiritual practice or sadhana. But our understanding of sadhana is getting up at 4:30 am, going around the temple 100 times, running very fast because time is very short (something like in the Olympics), or just turning towards the priest in a very fast way, faster than the wheels of the electric train. It is not any international welfare project you have undertaken. You are not establishing international peace.

My friends, that’s the reason why, though we are on the spiritual path, life is very, very disappointing. Still life is unsuccessful, still we feel frustrated in life, and still we are not happy because the fundamental requirement, the basic diagnosis, and the identification of the complaint we have not yet been able to know. Unless you know the disease, you cannot cure it. We look healthy but the disease grows within us. So, the fundamental requirement is to be non-egoistic, to give up ego, which should be our life-time aim, which should be our only target, the only aim in the spiritual life. There is nothing else.

“No sir, I want to see God.”

Please see God. Take me also along with you. Let us jointly see Him. Why not? But ‘I’-ness is the curtain there, the door is closed. Unless you open the door, you cannot get in. That fellow’s ego is always shut. The curtain of ego is always dropped. Unless the curtain of the ego is lifted, unless the door of the ego is opened, you cannot have the vision Divine. Therefore this is the first requirement. Since we have got this ego deeply rooted, we are not able to enjoy life even in the ashram, even in the spiritual field, because ego is interfering.

I may be in a sweet shop, where all sweets are sold; excellent types of sweets, of the standard of our North Indian canteen in Prashanti Nilayam, which is known for the quality of its sweets. Don’t mistake me, I am not their agent. No commission, no. People say it is known for its sweets quality. If a diabetic patient goes there, if he eats, there ends the matter. He cannot eat any one of them though there are so many sweets, because he is diabetic. The fact that he is diabetic will never allow him to taste any sweet, however nice they are, however good-looking they are, however tempting they are. He cannot touch.

Similarly, I may take to a number of spiritual sadhanas, like so many sweets — japam (repetition), dhyanam (meditation) reading the scriptures — any number of sweets. Good, but basically I am diabetic — having the diabetes of ego. With this diabetes of ego, no sweets can be tested, nor tasted, nor enjoyed. So, we should be healthy in order to enjoy good food. Similarly, to get positive results from spiritual practices, we should be free from this ego to start with. Then what will happen?

WHEN ‘I’-NESS IS DROPPED, HE COMES INTO THE PICTURE

What will happen? God is waiting for an opportunity within you. He is waiting for an opportunity. When once the ‘I’-ness is dropped, He comes into the picture. ‘Let Me run the show now. Let Me steer your vehicle now. Let Me take charge of the steering of the vehicle, of your body. Let Me run you, run after you. Let Me take full charge of your life.’ Therefore, God is prepared to take charge of our life; but we are not prepared to let Him. Why?

God will see all those but not see me. Therefore I want to do something, so that people will clap, so that people will praise, so that I will find my name on the headlines of daily newspapers, broadcasts and telecasts, if possible. I will have wide publicity and propaganda, prestige and status. Therefore, I am not prepared to leave anything to God.

“Oh God, You help me. I am doing this, so You join me, ok? I want to do this. I want to get a good name; I want to get very high position. You join me in my efforts. You strengthen my efforts.”

All our prayers are like that only. All prayers are only for one thing, “Oh God, You see that my desire is fulfilled. If You don’t fulfil my desire, You will not see me in church next Sunday, ok?” I am sorry. I am not doing this. That is our psychology. It is not a true prayer at all.

THE SECOND THING IS TO SURRENDER

A true prayer is readiness, preparedness, acceptance of whatever happens in our life, good or bad. If I am prepared to accept it unconditionally, what is called surrender, then that is the purpose of, the end of spiritual life. So the first thing is to be non-egoistic; the second thing is to surrender. Unless I am non-egoistic, I cannot surrender. A man of ego will not surrender.

There is another fellow, who is also the representative of modern society. He will say, “I have surrendered my property to Him.”

Oho! You have surrendered your property? But you have not surrendered this ‘I’-ness. So you have not surrendered anything. Unless this ‘I’-ness is surrendered, even if you surrender your property or your possessions or acquisitions, whatever it may be, all that is nothing. It’s something like this: If the pulse rate is ok, and the body height-weight is fine, but something is wrong with the heart, that is enough to transfer him to the other planet. The body is ok, but something is wrong with the heart. Similarly, unless the ego is gone, totally rooted out, we cannot surrender unconditionally.

A TRUE INSTRUMENT

Then God will understand and He will make use of us as a powerful instrument. It is not enough if I say, “Oh Baba, please make use of me as a powerful instrument.”

But what is the inner feeling? “You make use of me only as your instrument, not other instruments, because they are rusty and dusty, while I am a very good instrument, totally sterilised, so You can use in Your theatre, oh Divine doctor.” So I want to be used as an instrument, but only I should be of use to You and no one else. That is ego.

So a true instrument is ready to be picked up at any moment, ready to be dropped at any moment; not to question why, not to reason why, but to do and die. Therefore, to call one’s self an instrument of God is more a political slogan than a reality.

All political leaders say, “We are servants of the people.”

Are we really servants? All of us know the fact. So to say that, “Oh Swami, I am your instrument”

is gas number one. Oh yes, first-class quality gas. Why? Because we have got an underlying feeling, ‘Only I should be your instrument, and not other instruments.’

Therefore to be a powerful instrument, one should surrender. Prior to that, one should be non-egoistic. Ok, then what happens? This is the thing.

These are all collected from Bhagavan’s discourses only, my friends. I have put it in my own framework, so that it could be found interesting to me and I can just instil, imbibe, and create this interest in you, and we can provoke each other to take action later. I think I am clear, because contextually I make preparation, and bring it to your attention. That is all. This is more to have clarity for myself; more to benefit myself first.

Therefore, non-ego leads to surrender, and that leads to a stage of being an effective instrument in the hands of God. That is the third point.

DETACHMENT

That leads to what? That leads to renunciation, or detachment, or vairagya. For example, here is an instrument, a mike. The mike here is not bothered whether you praise or condemn it.

“Oh dirty mike, you don’t look fine.”

“You talk to yourself, I am not bothered.”

“How nice you are.”

It is indifferent to my comment. The mike is an instrument here which is indifferent to my praise or blame. This is what is called detachment. Detachment, people think, is distributing property. Any buffalo can do it. You are not distributing property. You are distributing poverty, because your money is not enough for the whole globe. The whole world is not going to be free from poverty by distributing money. No, no, no!

What is detachment? Detachment is to rise above praise and blame. I am not interested even in praise. I am not elated, I am not bloated. As I am not frustrated, I am not deflated, I am not depressed by your belief. This is what is called detachment. One may have money, yet be detached. One may be in a good position, yet detached. One may be quite young, hale, healthy, handsome, and beautiful, yet detached. How is it possible?

A simple example: An officer, a top officer, a district collector, or top engineer or superintendent of a big hospital, he thinks and goes on saying, “My staff.” Oh, ‘my staff’ — good, ‘my office’, ‘my residence’; but he knows in his heart-of-hearts that the staff does not belong to him. After retirement, they may not identify him; they may not recognise him. He cannot say ‘my bungalow’, because next day after retirement he has to shift from there. So every officer knows that the bungalow does not belong to him, that the staff is not under him. They are with him. Some people use this hopeless word — ‘I am working under him.’

“Where do you come from?”

She said, “Some campus.”

“Which department do you belong to?”

She mentioned one name and the department, and said, “We are working under her.”

What nonsense you are talking? No one is working under or above. All are working with. Understand that first. Be it a peon or a boss, we are working with, not under or above. We got used to slavery and bureaucracy, and therefore we use such terms as ‘working under’.

Therefore, true detachment is enjoying everything, having everything with a feeling, with the conviction that nothing belongs to me. I stay in the house, but the house is not mine. I am working in this office, but this office is not mine. Fifteen staff works with me, but they don’t work with me until the end of my life. So having everything, with the feeling of having nothing, is detachment or renunciation.

This is the idea we should get, because some people think detachment means growing a beard, wearing orange robes, not taking a bath, or not eating regularly. That is not detachment. That is a suicidal process. Self-torture is a suicidal process. Some people say they don’t shave their head; they just pluck their hair. Please pluck your hair like that, but not the neighbour’s at least, nor the fellow next to you. You are free to pluck your hair; please do it. Self-torture is not religion, my friend. Self-torture is suicidal, because the Self is supreme. Body is a temple of God. Life is Divine. Life is an opportunity. Life is wonderful, supremely enjoyable, fantastic. Life is music. Life is melody. Then why do you torture yourself in the name of religion?

BE IN LIFE, YET OUT OF LIFE

Therefore my friends, you can be in life, yet be out of life. Be the life, yet out of life? How is it possible? Don’t think I am mad, not yet. A boat that sails on a river is on the surface of the water. It floats. Water will not get into the boat, nor will the boat sink into the river. The boat simply floats on the surface of water.

Similarly, we are in life, yet out of life. Be like the lotus flower which is born in water, yet its leaves and flower are untouched by water. That is to be in life, yet out of life. That is what is called renunciation or detachment. It is not distributing whatever we have. It is not running on the street naked, not combing the hair, or fasting continuously. That is not detachment. You are attached to fasting.

I tell, “Sir, I fast because I am highly attached, or highly religious.” Oh. If you are attached to fasting, how can you be religious?

Some people say, “I sleep on the floor only, no bed, you understand, because I am a yogi — detached.” Oho! So you are attached to the stone!

Some people say, “We left our families, we left our relatives, we left everybody, and settled in Prashanti Nilayam.”

Very good, but they are attached to the stone on which they sit everyday. If they find anybody sitting in their place, then they become very serious. They lose their temper, balance, everything.

Then, “You are really great because you are attached to a stone.” What a life it is! Having met everything, people get attached to stone, the Cuddapah slab on which they sit everyday.

And the stone says on which they sit, “Thank you very much for sitting regularly here because I am polished, not like you. I am polished, not you. I am much better than you. Please occupy this seat, because your weight will help polish me sooner than otherwise.”

That is what it is, my friends. Our conscience must change; our ideas much change. What we think of as detachment, what we think of as renunciation is nonsense. We never have to run away from family in the name of detachment. You may run away from one family here and get attached to another family there, because it is the mind that matters. It is the mind that comes with you. That is what happens.

With this detachment, what happens? Because we know what happens with attachment. With attachment, what happens? We have so much property, so many people around, and finally the end is tragedy. No man with so many people around, no man with a very high position, no man with a very big bank account, in human history, is ever continuously happy. No man can be happy on earth with this relationship.

My friends, I am really grateful to you, because Bhagavan is prompting me from within to recall, to go back in memory for what I said earlier, so that I can share those points with you.

RELATIONSHIP AND LOVE

There are two words — relationship and love. Cultivate love, drop relationship. But what happens with us here. Love ends in relationship. We start love, and then we establish relationship, and that relationship takes us to misery. No relationship is ever happy. No relationship is blissful at any point of time. Relationship is always tragic. Relationship is always miserable, whereas love is bliss.

Relationship is conditional; love is non-conditional. Relationship is time-bound; love is everlasting. Relationship has expectations; love has no expectations. Relationship is selfish; love is unselfish. Relationship always gets and forgets, whereas love gives and forgives. Relationship is physical; love is spiritual. Relationship is limited by time and space, whereas love is beyond time and space.

Therefore my friends, this spirit of renunciation, this spirit of detachment will help me to know what true love is. What is true love? Love is bliss. Love is God. Love is Divine. Love is awareness, and Love is knowledge of the Self. We love non-self, which is nonsense. True love is the knowledge and awareness of the Self or Atma Jnana. So if I am aware of the Self, that is bliss, that is Love, that is God, that is spirit. That is what we call spiritual awareness. This is possible if only we are detached, if only we renounce, as I explained a moment ago.

THE FINAL STEP

Then what happens? What happens is this: We will have equanimity; we will develop a balanced state of mind; we will be steady-minded; we will enjoy tranquillity and equanimity. That is the final step.

So to sum up, what you have to end is one’s own self or ego, so that one develops the spirit of surrender. That will make God make use of you as an instrument, leading to detachment, or renunciation, where in spite of, in the midst of all pleasures and comforts, you are beyond. That helps us to have the awareness of the Self by which we develop equanimity and tranquillity. This is the spiritual journey. This is the spiritual path. It is not the number of days we fast, or the number of days we don’t sleep -- not the external things. We will change the external qualities; we may change the externals repeatedly. But unless there is some basic change, it will never take us to any successful goal or end.

This equanimity is what is called moksha or nirvana or liberation. Equanimity, steady-mindedness, the stage when one is undisturbed, is called liberation or moksha or nirvana. But our understanding of moksha is different. Some people say that moksha is something to come in the life-after-death. Who knows?

Somebody said, “ Sir, I want moksha.”

I simply asked, “What is moksha?”

He said, “What I am going to get after life.”

Oho! “How do you know that you are going to get moksha? Are you sure?” Then he put on a blank face.

Then I put another question, “Have you met any person who attained moksha?”

‘Moksha is so nice, so why don’t you join me? Please work for it from now on; do some extra homework.’

Has anybody told you how it is, what it is? Nobody! But you want that which you do not know of. See, that is humour of life. We don’t have to have any humour outside. There is enough humour in our own life.

“What do you want?”

“I do not know.”

“Why do you want?”

“How can we say?”

We don’t know. Even after coming here, “Why are you sitting in the front row?”

“Because there is competition for the front row, so I am also competing.”

Oho. “What is that letter you are carrying?”

“Because other people are carrying letters, why shouldn’t I also write a letter?”

“What do you want?”

“Since Swami is giving vibhuthi to some people, why shouldn’t I also receive?”

So, though there is nothing, no ideas in here, still he starts developing these ideas by watching the people around. That is not moksha. Inner bliss, inner joy, inner feeling, equanimity, tranquillity, a balanced state is moksha, not anything outside.

Because this concept has not gone deeply enough into our life, we are still restless. Even in a temple premises, even in an ashram, we do not know what we want. At least those who go to a shopping mall know what they want. Those who go to a departmental store know what they want -- a matchbox or toothpaste. But we, in the spiritual ‘market’, do not know what we want, because we want everything.

‘He got vibhuthi, so let me get it.’

‘He got a ring; let me get one too.’

‘He gave a letter to Swami; let me give one also.’

‘Swami looked at him; let Him look at me too.’ That’s all.

So it is something like a fellow going to the market, wanting to buy everything. Can he? And that fellow will say, “This is the not the place for you.”

So similarly, the thing we want is the bliss, which is our birthright, which is already there within; but it is clouded. There is sun, but because of clouds, we are not able to see the broad daylight. So still it is cold, because the sun is covered by clouds. Similarly, there is bliss within us. This bliss is covered by the cloud of ego, by the cloud of attachment, by the cloud of possessiveness, by the cloud of unawareness, by the cloud of fleeting pleasures. Therefore we are not able to find inner joy.

YOU ARE NOT IN BONDAGE

So my friends, all the steps which I explained till now are the different steps. As there are different steps in mathematics and chemistry, there are different steps in a chain reaction. I am placing before you some points mentioned by Bhagavan in one of His discourses.

All right, the question is this: Everyone says, “I want liberation.”

This remark was made to Swami: “Swami, I want liberation.”

You know Baba’s reply? It is quite interesting to talk to Swami, because He is witty and funny. His retaliation was quite fantastic, unparalleled.

When this fellow wanted liberation, He immediately said, “Are you in bondage? If you are in bondage, then you need to be liberated. If you are in bondage, you can say I want liberation. You are not in bondage.”

It is something like this story: There was a fellow who was a very successful locksmith. He could manipulate and manage opening any door locks. He may have had a tool of 10 levers or 15 levers, or 100 levers. He was an expert in opening anything. So, all the people in the town came to know that he could open any lock.

Suddenly he stopped at one door, which he could not open. He was fighting like anything. He could not open it, so he was completely depressed, though he had been successful till now at opening any lock.

“How is that I am not able to open it this time?”

He was highly restless. Someone amongst the visitors said, “It is not locked at all! It is not bolted at all! You idiot, it is not bolted. You think somebody bolted it. You think that somebody locked it. You are not able to see how to unlock the lock, and therefore you are fighting. But it was never bolted or locked in the first place.”

Similarly, we are never in bondage. We think that we are in bondage and we want to get out of this bondage, and therefore everyone starts saying, “I want liberation.”

Then the question will arise, “Is everyone forced to think that one is in bondage?” No, no, no, no. What is bondage? If I know what bondage is, the very definition satisfies the other word moksha also. Same thing. What is it? Bondage is ‘I’-ness. This ‘I’-ness is a three-phased plug, as current flows. This ‘I’-ness is three-dimensional or triangular. I identify with the body, so I have body consciousness. I identify with the mind, which is mind consciousness. I identify with intellect, the intellect consciousness. Body, mind, intellect — BMI.

So, identification with BMI, is the triangle of our life. ‘I’-ness is the sum total. With one line, I cannot say it is a triangle. I should have three lines for a triangle. So, this is body; this is mind; this is intellect. So, this is ‘I’-ness. When once this ‘I’-ness identification is dropped, it is liberation. Liberation has no other separate definition. With ‘I’-ness, there is bondage; dropping ‘I’-ness is liberation.

Absence of light is darkness. Presence of light is the absence of darkness. Am I right? Same thing. So similarly, when once the ‘I’-ness is gone, it is liberation. So long as the ‘I’-ness is there, it is bondage, same thing. At 10 o’ clock or so, when sunlight is there, I cannot say it is dark. It is not. Please have your eyes checked if you say otherwise. That is what I tell you. So with the sunlight, there is no darkness; but in the night when there is no sun, there is darkness.

Similarly, it is this ‘I’-ness that makes the difference. Cultivation of ‘I’-ness, adherence to ‘I’-ness, the strength of ‘I’-ness is bondage. That is a field for science. Total vanishing of ‘I’-ness is what is called ‘liberation’, as the scriptures say, and as Bhagavan has put in the best way.

‘I’-NESS IS IDENTIFIABLE BY DOER-SHIP AND ENJOYER-SHIP

“Swami, give me some clue to identify ‘I’-ness. How am I to know the ‘I’-ness within me?”

As I said earlier, it is hiding in some corner. How to identify it? We can identify it by two signs. As Baba has put it, ‘I’-ness has two important expressions. One is doer-ship. “I do this. I have done this. I will be doing that.” Doer-ship means, “I am doing. I did. I will be doing. I continue to do.” This is called doer-ship. This is one side of ego.

The other side of ego is enjoyer-ship. Enjoyer-ship in Sanksrit, in Bhagavad Gita is bhogruthva. Doer-ship is kartritva. Karta bhava – ‘I am doing’, means doer-ship. Bhogruthva is the enjoyer-ship. Bhogtha is enjoyer. Bhogruthva is the enjoyer-ship.

A simple example: Today the hall is very nice, very neat. Somebody may come and say, “You know, I cleaned it. Look, so clean. Enjoy it.” It means, ‘Oho, I want to take the credit.’ I think I am clear.

Today the food is very delicious. You know, I did tell that to the housewife.

“Why do you credit me, you fellow?”

So, to claim the credit, to take the credit, to have the feeling of owning the responsibility, is what is called enjoyer-ship, bhogruthva.

So, if I give up these two, once one of them is given up, the other is also gone. Once I know that I am not the doer, I know that He is the doer and that He makes me do. Swami makes me do. ‘I am not the doer’ means that you have given up the doer-ship feelings. When once the doer-ship is given up, there is no question of enjoyer-ship.

We had one lecturer long back, 50 years ago, a funny man known for his English, which was also equally funny. He was an absent-minded professor, as most professors are. (If one is not absent-minded, he cannot be a professor!)

He asked the peon again, “Is the first bell given to the class?”

“No sir.”

“How about the second bell?”

“When the first bell is not given, where is the question of the second bell?”

“Is the first bell given?”

“No sir.”

“How about the second bell?”

Without the first bell, how will the second bell be given? So similarly, once you give up doer-ship, enjoyer-ship is automatically given up. It is deemed to have been given up. Therefore, Bhagavan clearly tells us that ‘I’-ness is identifiable on the basis of doer-ship and enjoyer-ship, and when this doer-ship is given up, that is the end of the matter. That itself is liberation.

MIND IS THE CAUSE FOR BIRTH AND RE-BIRTH

Alright, all this is the gimmicks, the mechanics, and the play of the mind. That’s all. The problem is not outside. The problem is here in my mind. We always consider problems as coming from another.

“Why have you failed in the examination?”

“My room-mate did not allow me to read.”

“Why did he die at an early age?”

“He didn’t have his health checked regularly.”

“Why are you so weak?”

“Preparations made in the hostel are not tasty. Therefore, I am not eating.”

We are always interested in blaming the other, other and other!

“Why are you spoilt?”

“That fellow spoilt me.”

Always others. We do not want to take the responsibility. If we develop the spirit of responsibility, we say “I have done it; it is my mistake. Therefore I am suffering.” Or, “I have done it. Therefore I got this reward. Therefore I got this credit.”

Yes, because we don’t want to own this responsibility, we run after people.

A simple example: I committed some sin, some mistake and I must be punished. Naturally. When there is any mistake, you will be punished. But what I do is I go to some temple and pray, “Oh God, please relieve me from the punishment.”

You have made the mistake, and you want Him to make you free from the punishment. See that. We think we are very intelligent, forgetting the fact that God is more intelligent than all of us. We forget that point.

I kill one fellow, so I will be hanged. But I am not satisfied. I go to Thirupathi to Venkateswara.

“Oh God, see that I am free.”

That is what it is. Therefore my friends, we are not prepared to own the responsibility. That is the reason why people run after priests, pastors, maulis, temples, and pilgrim centres, because they are not prepared to bear the responsibility.

I select one convenient Sunday, go to the church and tell the pastor, “On Monday, oh Father, I drank one bottle. On Tuesday, Father, I have stolen some money. On Wednesday, Father, I robbed a fellow. On the fourth day, father, I just gambled for sometime, not a long time.”

The priest hears all these things. “Go forth, my son. All your sins are forgiven.”

Monday to Saturday, I go to a temple, asking the priest to do some pooja in my name. I don’t do pooja; I want him to do pooja in my name. So he does my pooja in my name, just as the pastor hears all our prayers, Monday through Saturday -- and they give NOC, No Objection Certificate. That way from Monday I can start gambling again; next Sunday, he is sure to go the temple or priest again.

This is all in the mind, my friends. Though we are religious, our actions are irreligious. Though we are spiritual, our attitudes are non-spiritual. That is why we are not happy when we are supposed to be happy. That is why we are not blissful. We are not jumping in joy, even in the presence of God, because it is the game of the mind. Mind is the cause for birth and rebirth.

There are other steps to follow. God willing, next week we will meet. Thank you for being with us this morning. Thank you very much.

OM…OM…OM…

Asato Maa Sad Gamaya

Tamaso Maa Jyotir Gamaya

Mrtyormaa Amrtam Gamaya

Om Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu

Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti