Patanjali Yoga Sutras: Seeking the Right Knowledge

Title

Seeking the Right Knowledge

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Seeking The Right Knowledge

Transcript

I welcome you all with my love and respects.

6th sutra, Patanjali is explaining, that five modifications of the mind.

प्रमाण विपर्यय विकल्प निद्रा स्मृतयः ॥६॥ pramāṇa viparyaya vikalpa nidrā smṛtayaḥ ||6||

The translation is - right knowledge, wrong knowledge, imagination, sleep and memory.

01:10 These are the five modifications, which may lead to suffering or joy, anguish or non-anguish. Please understand, five modifications - right knowledge, wrong knowledge, imagination, sleep and memory. Let us understand one by one. He’s a real Master. He’s a real Master. Even in the second level teaching, he is not losing this truth. He might have put the sugarcoat but he is not reducing the strength of the medicine. That is the mastery you need. How much ever you compromise and try to relate to the disciple, the undercurrent, what needs to be transmitted should continue to happen. Should continue to happen. Patanjali is doing the job very beautifully. He says, “Right knowledge.” First thing he says, “Which can lead to suffering or joy, first thing is right knowledge.” You may think, “Right knowledge is also a binding.” He says, “Yes, it is binding.” Many time, even though it is right knowledge, even then it's a mind. Even though it's right knowledge, it's a mind. Going beyond right knowledge and wrong knowledge, that is enlightenment. Even the right knowledge is bondage.

02:51 There is a beautiful story by Ramakrishna, one guy was caught by three thieves in the forest. They robbed him completely. One thief said, “Let us kill him. Why to leave him?” The second guy says, “No, no, no, what is the need of killing unnecessary. Let us tie him in the tree, and go away.” Third guy, he waits after the other two guys leaves, the third thief, he comes near and releases him, says, “All right, I will show you the way. Go to the nearby village and escape.” He leads him to the nearest highway - release him. Then that guy who got robbed asked the thief, “Even though you are a thief, you helped me. Why don’t you come to my house and have a cup of tea.” Thief says, “No. After all, I am a thief. I can only help you this much. You go on your own. Now I'll go on my path.” So these three thieves are the three characters. The first thief who said, “Let us kill him,” that is a tamas, inertia energy, the depression energy. The second thief who tell, “No, we don't have to kill. Let us tie him,” that is the restlessness, rajas energy, restlessness, rajo guna. And the third thief, who freed him and take him to the nearest highway, it’s sattva. Means intelligence, right knowledge. Even though right knowledge liberates you, he’s a thief. It is a thief.

04:40 That is why Patanjali says, Patanjali puts even right knowledge as a modification of your mind. He says these five modifications can lead to suffering or joy. Even if it leads to joy, it is not enlightenment. Please understand, he says, “Only it can lead to suffering or joy. It cannot lead you to enlightenment. It can lead you to only suffering or joy.” One thing with the right knowledge, one good thing with the right knowledge is, it's like, it can liberate you. It can take you to the space, you can be free once for all. Like the third thief, he takes you and shows you the way, he leads you to the nearby highway, he says, “I cannot come further. I am going on my way. You please go on your own way.” He can do that much. Second thing, is wrong knowledge. Wrong knowledge all of us know. Whatever we have, whatever we have, you don’t have to say, “No, no, no, no, no, this is not a right knowledge. This is not right knowledge. This is not wrong knowledge.” I am not saying to classify whatever you have. It's a simple straight statement. Whatever we have is nothing but wrong knowledge. Whatever name you may give it, it is a wrong knowledge. You can say, when you associate yourself with the mood swings of pita, the liver function... see, your mood swings will be based on your liver function.

06:24 That is why early morning when you are out of bed, your mood will be different. In the noon, your mood will be different. In the night, your mood will be different. Means, your thought pattern, mood swings are based on your liver functions. Anything, which is out of your liver function is wrong knowledge. Please understand, any mood you go through, any knowledge you gained through the mood swings is wrong knowledge. It's like a, like drunk. When somebody is drunk, whatever he sees is a wrong knowledge. A small story. One guy is teaching his own son, how to drink moderately. He thought, “If I don't teach, his friends will teach him. If I teach, at least I can say where to stop. At least he will be in control.” So he continues the class. After some time, the son asked, “Father, when should I stop taking? When should I stop taking alcohol?” Father says, “You see, see the opposite table, four people are there. When you see them as dead people, you should stop taking.” Son says, “Father, no! Don't you see there are only two.”

07:56 So anything based on your pita, means liver function, is wrong knowledge. See, that is why when you want, when you want the food, your feeling, idea about food is different. After finished eating, suddenly your mood, your idea about food is different. Same way with the lust, when you want the experience, your idea about the other person, your idea about the beauty, your idea about lust, everything is different. When you are finished, suddenly the idea about the other person, idea about the lust, idea about the act, everything is different. So knowledge based on your body hormones. Same way taste, food or physical touch or anything - before having, your idea is different. After having, idea is different. It just changes. So anything based on hormone, the pita is wrong knowledge. It is wrong knowledge. But people enjoy wrong knowledge. Please understand, really. They enjoy wrong knowledge. They don't want to be in the right knowledge, because the right knowledge sometime hurts you.

09:23 It constantly reminding you to get enlighten. It's like a constant nagging, “Get enlighten, get enlighten get enlighten.” You just want to switch it off. That is why so much of alcohol. Understand, so much of alcohol in the humanity, why you know? Right knowledge awakens spiritual seeking in you, which is very costly. Your whole life will be different. You have to enter into a new zone, new space which is risky. You may, may not know about that new zone, so you want to be in your old cozy field. You say, “No, no, no, no, no, forget about it. This house is enough, this wife is enough, this car is enough, this office is enough. Let me run.” We are afraid to enter into that zone of seeking, because seeking is such, it’ll just take away your whole life. It is internal tsunami. It just changes you. Nothing else is required. You are new. You are washed. You are fresh. Whatever needs to be taken away from you, leaves you. Only whatever need to be left, is left. It's a very powerful internal tsunami, and you are afraid of that.

10:54 The right knowledge means reality always leads you to seeking. In the world you can only, there are only two category. One, seekers. Another one, people who are addicted. That's all. You can’t be between. Either you have to be a seeker or you have to be addicted. Because, you have to escape from the right knowledge, you have to put that off, you have to switch it off, you have to divert yourself. You can't be constantly in the right knowledge. Because right knowledge constantly asked you to seek further, seek further, seek further. It doesn't let you rest. So seeking does not let you rest. That is why all over the world, why do you think all over the world, in all cultures, alcohol is like a habit. Alcohol is next to food, consumed next to food. Because, man wants to be in wrong knowledge. He wants to be in delusion. He want to be deluded. He wants to be in imagination. He doesn't want right knowledge. He doesn't want to be in reality. How many laws, almost all countries have laws about the alcohol, but no country is able to stop. No country is able to stop. All countries, all cultures, all civilizations - all of them tried to ban alcohol. At least three times, they have tried.

12:38 But the moment they ban through the law, more is cons... more alcohol is consumed. It becomes a big problem. It becomes a big headache for the government, police, law enforcement departments. Then nothing can be done, they open it. There is only one thing which can liberate human beings from alcohol - that is encouraging spiritual seeking. Just like we have so many insurances, we should create one more insurance. If you are doing spiritual seeking, and leave something, they are insured. If the civilization can ensure spiritual seeking, if civilization can give you assurance - be a spiritual seeker, you will not lose anything. Our civilization, society set up is created in that way. In India, they tried. In India, they tried and that experiment was really successful. That experiment was really successful. If you are a seeker, you will never lose anything in that society. Anything in that society. In my case, I lived cream of my life, cream of my life is youth. Between seventeen to twenty five, I neither studied nor worked for the society.

14:01 If I was in any other country, I would have been put in the homeless asylum, homeless shelter. Or, mad people asylum. I would have gone, they would have put me in all psychotherapy, psychiatry, psychiapathy, all kinds of pathies and therapies and deprogramming programs. They would have put all possible medicines and doses on me. But the great civilization, the great society did not do that to me. When I was on my own, when I started seeking - it had sympathy, it had patience, it had compassion. Apart from that, it gave me food, shelter, clothe, everything with respect. Understand, not saying you are an unwanted guy but we have to maintain, what to do? No! Not with that feeling, how the homeless people are solved. The developed countries, how the homeless people are treated. Tsk! They will give you food, you are unwanted guy, what to do? We’ll give you what you need. At least don’t become a criminal. They will give you what you need, just keep quiet. Not with that unwanted feeling. No! The encouraging, please do it. You are right. You are right.

15:28 Anywhere, if I am given food without they touching my feet, I am not supposed to accept. And that is the way I lived. Understand, you can't imagine giving food to a homeless guy and touching his feet with the respect. Can you imagine? No! You can't imagine in the developed countries, he will give food and shelter and clothe and whatever needed to homeless guy, and fall at his feet and do namaskar, arr... offer your respect. Saying, “You are right. Please, you are encouraged, please do whatever you are doing.” No! But this civilization did it. This society did it. When I go around all over the world, I understand. I am surprised, this civilization was built for enlightenment. It is built to create enlightened beings. Many time people ask me, “Why only in India so many enlightened Masters are there? Why we are not spread all over the world? They should have been spread, God should have sent here and there. Why they are all completely concentrated in India?” Please understand, it is not an accident. It is an incident. The civilization itself is prepared, trained, created for enlightened Masters.

17:00 Same way, there are many things missing. They don’t have 911, as I tell you yesterday. They don’t, they are, they don’t have many things which other countries have. But there are few things which no other civilization can produce. The insurance for seekers. The whole society is an insurance for seekers. Whole civilization is insurance for seekers. Billions and billions of hippies have spent in creating infrastructures, basic needs for the seekers who wander all over the country. Billions of dollars they spent, by philanthropies. The first philanthropy activity in India is not creating education infrastructure or medical infrastructure - infrastructure for seekers. That is a first priority. In India any rich man, see in the developed countries any rich man, if he is fed up with the money, he wants to do charity. Only when he fed up, feds up with the money, he will do charity. When he fed ups, feds up with the money, he wants to charity. In the developed countries, he may create a hospital, or he may create a school. But in India, if he’s fed up with the money, and if he wants to do charity, first thing will be, he will create a monastery or a temple. Means, infrastructure for seekers. The whole civilization is directed towards enlightenment, towards seeking.

18:35 So only if you give assurance and respect for seeking, only the civilization which gives assurance and respect for seeking can be liberated from alcohol. If any civilization needs liberation from addiction of alcohol, if it wants to save its citizens from alcohol - the one and only way is encourage seeking, encourage right knowledge, lead people to, towards enlightenment, lead them towards the conscious growth, lead them towards superconsciousness. That is the one and only way to liberate from alcohol. Till then alcohol will continue to rule. The addictions will continue to be there. The drugs, the products which gives a kind of the illusory feeling will continue to exist either directly or indirectly, legally or illegally in the society or under the, undercover. It’ll continue to exist. Because, man cannot live without right knowledge or wrong knowledge. Right knowledge always leads to seeking. If that is not encouraged, that is not accepted in the society, if that is not the right track which he can take up, if he is not respected, taken care if he takes up the right knowledge - naturally what he will do? He has no other option, he has to take the wrong knowledge. He has to take the other side.

20:25 So any civilization wants to save its citizens, its people from the addiction or products which creates delusions and illusions - the one and only way is encourage right knowledge. Let that civilization think about encouraging seeking. Let that civilization think about supporting the seeking. In India, I have seen every thirty mile, you will have a place for resting and food if you are a seeker. Because, I walked. I walked length and breadth of India. Maximum I can walk only thirty miles per day. So I have to rest. I’ll always found the temple or monastery where I can rest, I am respected, supported just because I am a seeker - no other qualification, no ID card is required. In India, there is no social security number. Please understand, but first of all there is no security, what about social security number. There is no social security number. There is no way to track, there is no way to find out information about you. Nothing exists. The only social security number is this color dress. That’s all. You will be surprised even in the train, government trains, the government officials who are supposed to take care of whether, TTEs, ticket checkers will not ask for your ticket; if you are wearing this clothe; I am giving you some tips. You try in India.

22:18 No, I am telling you from my experience. If you are with this clothe and sitting, I have never seen any TTE asking me ticket. They will ask only one thing, “Baba, have eaten?” Means, it's a very respectful word. Baba means father. “Oh father, have you taken food?” That's all. I have wandered nine years. Nine years I did yatra, means pilgrimage. So, whole length of, breadth of India. Every thirty miles, you have a stoppage. You have food with respect, that is the main thing. With the respect, they touch your feet, that's the first thing. They touch your feet and offer, and they encourage what you are doing. They support what you are doing. They respect what you are doing. So only a civilization, which can support seeking, which can encourage seekers - this is one aspect of seeking I am saying. Even otherwise, even when you are living with your family, if the peo... if the society knows you are a seeker - you have a different position, you have a different place, you have a different respect. That whole society it's a, it is in their blood. So any civilization encourages seeking, support seekers will liberate itself from the wrong knowledge and the products which creates delusion. The products which creates delusion. So civilization which encourages right knowledge, helps their citizens to go beyond wrong knowledge, to go beyond addictions. 24:15