August 23 2010

Title

Create your Destiny: Nithyananda morning message 23 Aug 2010

Narration

The Supreme Pontiff of Hinduism, Jagatguru Mahasannidhanam, His Divine Holiness, Bhagavan Nithyananda Paramashivam, expounded on the Cosmic Principle Integrity during the everyday live public talk - Nithyananda Satsang. In this talk entitled Reality TV or Integrity, His Divine Holiness explained that giving up the deeper desires for the sake of superficial desires is Distraction, meanwhile giving up the superficial desires for the deeper desires is creating our own destiny. He explained further that the techniques for internalising are Nithya, techniques for meditating are Dhyanam and techniques for understanding are Ananda. His Divine Holiness divulged that the hangover we carry when we sacrifice superficial desires for deeper desires is guilt. In the second public talk entitled Responsibility and Tapas, His Divine Holiness revealed that putting responsibility on others creates violence, putting responsibility on us creates guilt, meanwhile taking responsibility with no blame is power. He further expanded that Tapas is the process of burning one’s ego with the fire of truth. His Divine Holiness conducted E-Kalpataru Darshan and the Living Enlightenment process was announced.

Video and Audio

Create your Destiny: Nithyananda morning message 23 Aug 2010

Video	Audio

Title

Responsibility and Tapas

Video and Audio

Responsibility and Tapas

Video	Audio

Transcript

(0:13)

Welcome back. Let us now enter into a very interesting subject - Responsibility. Responsibility in simple terms is the ability to respond to life spontaneously. Please understand, we don't respond to life spontaneously. We always need a cushion, buffer spring between us and life. As a child you need fairy-tales, as a young adult you need fantasies, as a grown up man you need desires. These are acting as buffer springs, shock springs, shock absorbers between you and reality, life.

(1:12)

Meeting, responding, connecting with the life without these shock absorbers is responsibility. There are two ways in which you can do this. One is responding to life in a deep, welcoming and accepting way. The other is responding to life with resistance, reservations, judgments and attachment. Understand, these are the two ways you can respond to life. You can hit the reality - either you can hit in a very smooth, friendly way, it's like a beautiful landing or you can land in a very strong way. Of course, strong landing sometime takes away your very life.

(2:12)

If you look deeply, you will realize that most often, 99% of the time, you respond to life with resistance, judgment, attachment. This happens because almost all the time you consider the source of whatever that is happening in your life as something external or outside of you - whether it is a challenging or conflicting or an unpleasant situation, you always consider that the source of the situation lies outside of you. This is why you feel so powerless and helpless in most situations of your life. And almost always you blame the others to be responsible for the situation you are in. But what you need to understand is that whenever you are making the other responsible for your life, what you are actually doing is giving the control of your life to the other. You are making the other powerful by making him or her responsible for the whole situation. And the irony is that you keep wondering why you are so powerless and helpless.

(3:33)

We often relate to responsibility as a burden; something which makes us do more work, puts us under undue pressure or stress. But please understand that responsibility is actually a great power. You need to understand one more truth - putting the blame on others and responsibility on others creates violence, resistance. Putting the blame on you and responsibility on you creates guilt. Taking the responsibility, but not putting the blame on anybody is power. That is what I call freedom. It liberates you from the clutches of your own helplessness and from another's power on you. It leaves you with the power to respond to the life with creativity, intelligence and spontaneity.

(4:35)

When I talk about this subject, I am reminded of an incident. Some years back, there was an epidemic of Tuberculosis in Tamil Nadu in South India. Finally, medicines were found and the epidem...epidemic was conf...contained. The officials responsible for eradicating it proudly claimed, that they were the ones responsible for curing it. But did they take up the responsibility for the time...fact that it was allowed to spread all over the town in the first place? No. They were actually responsible for the allowing the Tuberculosis to spread also. Right? They should have prevented it to begin with and not just taken credit for managing the crisis.

(5:23)

Likewise, in our lives, we claim responsibility for anything good that happens. But we don't take responsibility for anything bad that happens. We take up responsibility with discrimination. We use God as a dust bin for all the bad thing happens in our life. Anything good happens, we take the responsibility; anything bad happens, we dump the responsibility on God. He is a poor dust bin which can't answer us back or which can't retard us back. So he is used almost like a dust bin. Anything wrong happens, bad happens, dump it on God. Oh God did it.

(6:06)

Only if we take up responsibility for everything that happens in our lives, will we start growing. Only when you take responsibility, will you take back the reins of your life from others. In Sanskrit, there is a beautiful book called ‘Swarajya Siddhi’ Reclaiming your kingdom. The first step for reclaiming your kingdom and achieving what you want is taking responsibility. When you start living with the attitude ‘I am responsible’, your whole life will change. If you sit and analyze each and every incident in your life, you will clearly see that you are the only one responsible for incidents in your life. Normally, we pass the responsibility to others and blame them for what has happened in our lives. Understand, that those who really wish to blossom, should feel directly or indirectly responsible for everything that happens around them and in the whole world.

(7:17)

So, the most fundamental form of responsibility is, taking responsibility for your own state of consciousness and the state in which you are living. Responsibility begins with you being established in total openness and acceptance of the view, that you are the source of everything that is happening in your life, both inside and outside you. Though it may just seem to be a view, when you start living your life from this view, then you will have the power to respond intelligently to life. You experiencing, being the source of all that happens in your life will make you powerful. Then your actions will be naturally aligned to your inner state of being - powerful and intelligent. You will have the intelligence and power to alter situations in life wherever you can. You will stop blaming others and yourself for the situation, you will not experience any guilt or shame when life does not work the way you want it to.

(8:44)

Tapas - I'll share few truths about Tapas. Once, a man went to visit a famous sculptor. He saw the sculptor sitting silently in front of a big marble block, smiling admiringly at it. When he saw the visitor, he turned to him and said, "Is it not she beautiful?" " Who?" asked the bewildered visitor. "This woman hiding in the marble block" said the sculptor. "Where? I don't see any woman." said the visitor. "You will...you will just as soon as I finish removing all the unnecessary stuff around her" smiled the sculptor.

(9:40)

On the spiritual path, this process of removing all the unnecessary stuff is Tapas. Tapas is the intense, joyful effort that transforms you from what you are to what you can be. Please understand, Tapas is the intense joyful effort that transforms you from what you are now, or what you think you are now to what you are really. Of course, the sculptor was working on the marble; but the material in which you will be working is you yourself.

(10:35)

The Sanskrit word Tapas, literally means burning. Tapas is the process of burning one's ego with the fire of truth. One burns oneself with the truth; letting the truth penetrate one's being, work on one's being, to remove all that is false in you. Understand, Tapas is not a spiritual practice to be added to you. It is the process of destroying all that is not you. So...so that whatever is really you, may be experienced. Tapas is only for the very courageous, because it is at the same time the process of death and process of rebirth. Understand, always the death leads to rebirth. Tapas, is a death for your ego, because it involves shedding all the false ideas, false concepts that you are carrying around, calling them as yourself or your life.

(11:53)

Tapas destroys only your false identities, not you. You must understand, what this process is called Tapas is about. Right now, your personality is entangled in too many things, in too many situations, in too many people. When you remove all these things one by one from your life, what remains will be your individuality. At so many levels, you are carrying ideas that you think of as you. At the outermost level, you are deeply connected to the world as you experience it. Please understand, at the outermost level, you are deeply connected to the world as you experience it.

(12:47)

Your social identity, your family, your profession - you are carrying all these in yourself as part of yourself. That is why, traditionally, seekers on the spiritual path choose a life away from family and society. I can say that, it is not necessary to physically be away from family and society. It is enough if you can psychologically disconnect from them. If..it is enough if you psychologically know how to unclutch from them and clutch when you are required without making yourself getting caught in it.

(13:35)

Understand, I am not asking you to become indifferent - no; to stop talking to them - no. Just become aware of the subtle influences that world is exerting on you. You are carrying the baggage of so many other people's ideas. Just become aware - how many people are living inside your head right now, telling you how to run your life. Just listen and see how many voices can you hear. We are living our life based on ideas of right and wrong which are given to us by others. We are living our life based on ideas of right and wrong, which are given to us by others. Understand, and we don't even realize it, that's the most funny thing. We don't even realize it.

(14:30)

Becoming aware is the only first step. That is the first step. Many times we are already aware, but we don't have the courage to free ourselves of these influences. We know that we are simply acting out ideas that have been given to us by our parents, by friends, by society, by TV, by media. But we don't want to let go of those ideas because we are afraid of living without a social identity. See, social identity adds kind of a spice, juice to life or you think that is juicy part of your life. We are afraid of being alone, Kevala-means, being alone.

(15:25)

As you may move from ego to spontaneity you will surely experience some pain, some fear. There is nothing...this is nothing but the process of transition happening in you. Naturally, the ego will resist the process and you will experience this transition as pain. You will undergo pain. That is your penance, your Tapas.

(15:52)

Tapas is delicious pain. Before any birth, pain has to happen. Before the tree happens, the seed has to suffer the pain of opening up. The seed has to break and give way; only then, can the tree happen. Any process of transition will be both painful and joyful. I can say, it'll be a delicious pain. When you start letting go of your social identity, you will suffer the pain of loneliness. This is what is meant by Tapas. To feel the pain of loneliness, you don't have to go and sit in a pa..forest. When you let go of your social identity, you will go through the same pain of loneliness.

(16:40)

You will experience only freedom when you stand with the Tapas. Remember, whatever is really you, cannot be taken away from you. Only the ideas which you are hiding on to can be taken away. Only your social identity has been taken away. Such a crisis is actually a beautiful opportunity for transformation. At such times, is... you can just remember, whatever is happening in you, "Is it really happening to me? All the things which I am going through is it really me or is it just my social identity that is being destroyed? Am I really this identity?" If you have this awareness, you don't even need to go through any sadhana or practice any technique. If you can remember, just this remembrance is enough. You don't need a separate technique or method or Tapas to awaken yourself.

(17:45)

Of course, I am not saying it'll be easy to be aware. Whenever you fall out of awareness, it is going to hurt. Even at such times if you can just witness the pain of losing what you felt to be one part of yourself, if you can just witness the pain of loneliness, you will see a new strength happening in yourself. For the first time, you will see yourself stripped off your outer identity, your social identity. If you can go through that and come out, you will be succeeding in a huge Tapas. Whenever you feel the pain of loneliness, undergo it totally. With a total acceptance, you will move from loneliness to aloneness - to Kaivalya, aloneness that is complete. Accept and welcome this loss of personality. Whenever it happens, you will see you will give birth to yourself as individuality.

(18:51)

Tapas is intelligent effort. Please understand, I am not saying that Tapas has to be always painful process. Sometimes, if life is gracious to you it gives to...gives to an intense crash course. So Tapas, need...need not always be a painful process. In fact real Tapas happens naturally, out of your intense longing for the truth. Anything done by force is not going to help you or society. When your seeking for the truth is intense, each false identity that is removed from you, can only bring joy not pain.

(19:39)

Many times people undergo Tapas, just to prove something into themselves or to society. In such cases, there is a big danger of Tapas itself, becoming an act that comes from the ego. Many seekers fall into the trap of trying to make some extraordinary spiritual effort, just to prove that they can do it. It's really dangerous. They torture themselves to prove something to the world.

(20:09)

See, there are two types of people. The people who are caught in the attractions and sufferings of this world. These are the people who are tortured by their desires and fears of their body and mind. Their life is completely controlled by the desires and fears of the body and mind. But at least these people know that they are caught. Then there is another set of people. These are the people who continuously torture their body and mind in the name of Tapas. I...I have seen myself in India, people sitting on the nail bed and standing on nails for five years, twelve years, ten years. I have also seen people standing on one leg, torturing the body for thirty years; rolling on the ground or walking on hot coals. There is no need to do this and torture your body. Actually you torture your body because you think that it is torturing you.

(21:15)

A person who knows how to enjoy the body and the mind, is totally at ease with himself. He feels relaxed with his body and mind. He enjoys intensely all the pleasures and the comforts, but he never abuses the body. One should know the difference between enjoying the body and abusing the body. Tapas is allowed. Tava is okay, but not Avam. Tavam means really working towards enlightenment. Avam means abusing the body. So, at one extreme you have a person torturing his body in the pursuit of sensual pleasures; and at the other extreme you have people torturing the body in the name of penance or suppression. Both do not know how to handle the body and the mind.

(22:11)

Usually, people who have spent their whole life running after the material world; when they enter into spirituality, also they will carry the same mental set up. They start chasing peace, chasing enlightenment. It becomes an ego trip, ego game for them. Whether their Tapas develops or not, they develop a huge spiritual ego. They feel they have done something extraordinary.

(22:43)

Please understand, the moment we think that we are doing something extraordinary, that very act becomes a burden for you. Tapas happens without even you knowing you are doing Tapas. That very achievement will stop you from making any further progress. The moment we think we are doing extraordinary meditation, we will try to get up from the seat. You see, when we are starting and doing Japa, when we are counting our beads, the moment we think, "Oh I think I've been meditating for a long time." What's the next thought that comes up? "It's enough for today. I can't do anymore. My knees pain. My backs ache...back...back aches. Let me get up." Just see, in your...in your own life. Just see in your own life. Whenever you have achieved something extraordinary or you think you have achieved something extraordinary, it has happened only when you did not feel it to be extraordinary at that time. Please understand, you only realized that it was extraordinary after you do...done it.

(24:00)

During My days of Tapas, My spiritual wandering, I endured all kinds of rigors. Many times, I had to go without a meal for days. But, I never even understood or thought I am doing Tapas. Understand, I lived in so many kinds of harsh climates, wearing just a single piece of cloth on My body. When I talk about it people say, "Oh! You have done so much Tapas." But to tell you honestly, at that time I never felt it was something extraordinary. I tell you, just the withering away of the will happened spontaneously. Understand this word, 'withering away of the will'. The will, the individual will, "Am I doing or not" has withered away. I never felt that I was doing some great Tapas, extraordinary - no. Actually, I was enjoying My life. Because there was such a deep longing in the heart to experience the ultimate, experience the experiencer. If I had realized at that time that it was extraordinary, that idea by itself would have been too intense to let Me achieve the results.

(25:25)

One problem with the spiritual seekers is, we do not know the art of being playfully sincere. Understand. I was not feeling I was doing something great. I was just being playful, enjoying, sincerity was happening. We do not know how to approach our seeking. Somehow, we always feel that unless we act in an extreme manner, the goal cannot be achieved. We cannot believe that en...enlightenment can gai...enlightenment can be had so easily. So we plan all kinds of ways in which we can torture ourselves, in order to prepare ourselves for enlightenment. It's the nature of the mind, to make us feel that enlightenment is very far away and we have to torture ourselves for it.

(26:20)

Even Buddha, during his Tapas, made the mistake of falling into extremes. For many years he performed all possible Tapas, exposing himself to the hot sun, starving himself, torturing his body. Then it is said that one day, he came across a musician tuning his instrument. This was a revelation for Buddha. When you are ready for it, even a small incident can be a revelation for you. He saw, how carefully the musician was tuning his instrument; because if he tuned the string too tight, it would not...it would snap. If he kept it too loose, he could not play the instrument, no music. Too tight or too loose - both don't work. When Buddha saw the musician, he immediately understood, realized the truth. He understood where he had gone wrong. From the Buddha...from the musician, Buddha learnt the importance of walking on the Madhya Pantha - the middle path - the path of balance. Later he taught the same, ‘In the same way as you tune the strings of your instrument, so should you hold your mind in meditation - not too tight, not too loose.’ This is Tapas or intelligent effort.

(27:48)

When you add intelligence to your effort, your effort will become effortless. You will not be acting out of ego, thinking that you are performing something extraordinary, nor will you be acting out of confusion, doing unwanted things that do not produce results. Understand. Do not have the idea you are performing something extraordinary; same way don't have the confusion that your acts may not give results. No. Having the right understanding - neither having the ego that you are extraordinarily performing, nor having the doubt, what you are doing may not bring results. No. Tapas is passion with patience. What do I mean when I say effortless effort? What do I mean when I say, be playfully sincere. Does it mean that you have to be 50-50% in your spiritual effort? No. No. Understand, intensely passionate and deeply having the patience. (29:02)

Title

In french: une définition de jeevan mukti (Enlightenment 101 by Nithyananda)

Narration

Jeevan mukti est une possibilité qui est disponible à chacun de nous à tout moment... Dans cette vidéo, Paramahamsa Nithyananda donne une brève définition de l'état de jeevan mukti, vivre l'illumination.