Shiva Sutras: Capitalize your energy

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Capitalize your energy - Shiva sutra

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Capitalize Your Energy

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Shiva Sutras 2007 Discourse 4 Capitalize Your Energy

A Discourse by Paramahamsa Sri Nithyananda

Norwalk, CA, USA March 23, 2007

Sadashiva samarambham shankarachaya madhyamam Asmadacharya paryantam vande guru paramparam

I welcome you all with my love and respects.

Let’s enter into today’s subject. Capitalize on your energy. Today’s subject and today Shiva is giving us beautiful sutra, very beautiful technique, before entering into this technique just I wanted to say few words. There are different levels of human beings. Understand just because you are in a human body we can’t say all human beings are equal, no. Human beings are unique, we can’t use the word equal. Equal is not the right word. You are unique, how can you be equal? You can’t be equal.

Different levels, different beings, different techniques. This technique is a very simple technique, just one line. Let me read the translation, just as you have the impulse to do something, stop, and become enlightened.

Just like you laugh, I think Devi also would have laughed. Don’t know whether Devi laughed or the rishis laughed, anyhow it’s very funny. It’s like a, very simple thing. Further there are some techniques, you will be surprised, he says, feel one with universe and become enlightened. You may think what is he talking?

Actually the other day I was talking on an Upanishad, in the Upanishad there is a beautiful mahavakya, mahavakya means the ultimate word which gives you enlightenment. There is a mahavakya, the slokas of Upanishad, there is one mahavakya, tat tvam asi. The master says, ‘Tat tvam asi Swetaketo, tat tvam asi. Tat tvam asi Swetaketo, tat tvam asi.’ You are that. Swetaketo is the disciple’s name. You are that. And the story says the disciple became enlightened.

When I was speaking on this one devotee asked me, ‘Swamiji, maybe these techniques are for high evolved souls. These techniques are for the people who are highly evolved in spirituality.’ I told him, “No, it is for innocent people.’ Understand it is not for the highly evolved people, highly evolved people doesn’t need techniques. They don’t need technique. Just like the other day I was telling if you achieve yama and niyama then why do you need meditation? Why do you need yoga? You don’t need asana, you don’t need pranayama. No.

I always tell people ashtanga yoga means not eight steps, no, eight parts. All eight parts should be practiced at a time, it’s not step by step, you will do one and next and third, no. These techniques are given for innocent people who are tired of being cunning. Understand this one more word, tired of being cunning. Unless you are tired of being cunning you will not be able to achieve the truth or reality. You always again and again any, any method, any way, somehow you know how to escape from it. I’ve seen people no, whatever Swami is saying alright, but for practical purpose. The moment you say, but. Yesterday I was having a discussion with one of our devotees, he heard everything I said and then he’s telling, ‘But.’ I thought the moment you say but, over. Over.

Unless you are tired of being cunning, you can’t be helped. No technique can help you. Be very clear, people come and tell me, ‘Swamiji whatever you say is right, but please make me do whatever you say.’ What do you mean? Should I have two, three people to continuously beat you and make you do, or what? I tell them you are a grown up mature person, do it.

One person came to me and he was telling, ‘Swamiji I have the extra marital relationships.’ I said that, ‘You know it is wrong.’ He said, ‘Yes, I know it is wrong, and I am very clear that I am doing something wrong.’ I told him, ‘Then stop.’ He said, ‘No, no, you only have to stop.’ I said, ‘I stopped, I never had, only you are having. If I have I can stop. You are only having, it is you who is supposed to decide.’ I told him, ‘What do you mean by I should stop, you mean that I should take your car keys and not allow you to go there? What do you mean by I should stop?’ It is such a cunningness. And he told me, ‘No, no, no I surrendered me to you, you should take care.’ I told him, ‘This is a nice story.’ Then I told him, ‘Don’t eat. You told me you have surrendered everything to me then stop eating.’ He said, ‘What are you telling?’ ‘Arrey, you only told me you surrendered everything, then just do whatever I say. Don’t move from here, sit.’ That he is not ready to do.

You see it is like a selective surrender, very funny game. It’s like a very clearly knowing that we are cunning and using some of these philosophies to support the cunningness. I tell you just if you bring the honesty to your being that’s enough, nothing else is required. Ramakrishna says, ‘Saralatva’. The simplicity, nothing else is required. I told him, ‘I am not even saying your relationship is right or wrong. You only came and said.’ If you are very clear that it is nothing wrong then perfectly alright, you do. If you are very clear if it is something wrong, then drop it. But having the idea it is not right and telling that I am supposed to be responsible is cunningness. It’s a very funny thing.

See, I asked him either you should be very clear that you are not doing anything wrong, then there is no, I am not here to judge you. Who am I to judge? Your life who am I to interfere? When it is okay with you and the other person, who am I to come in between? No, I am not peeping tom. I am not going to interfere in your life. But if you say you feel it is wrong, then, now have little intelligence, just be little more intelligent, nothing else. Just be little more clear, nothing else.

But we are trained to be cunning. Mind is nothing but cunningness. The person who can’t think straight, who can’t act straight, he suffers in his life. Let me tell you a beautiful story. Story of a great enlightened being, how dedicated he was to the idea which he believed as truth. Understand, I am not even saying the idea which you believe should be right or wrong. There is nobody to judge the idea which you believe is right or wrong. How much you are dedicated to the idea is the main thing. How much you are dedicated to the idea is the main thing. One more thing your dedication itself will be so powerful that will purify the idea which you are carrying if at all there is some corruption in it. If at all there is some missing part in it. Your desire is powerful enough to lead you to the goal. Your dedication is powerful enough to lead you to enlightenment.

This great master, this guy, he lived near my native place, he was a king of a small area. In his life he has taken a vow that he will not hurt any of Shiva’s devotees. I dedicate my life to Shiva and Shiva’s devotees. I will not hurt anybody who wears all these symbols of Shiva, rudraksha and this basma, the ash, and all those things. Whoever comes wearing all these things, he will give them food and take care of them, so all the beggars in the city, overnight conversion. They know that they will get food, but the beauty of all these things is after wearing all these things, you can’t do anything wrong in the public. People will catch you. No, that is true, it’s like you are practically arrested for the whole day. You can’t do anything wrong, at least in the public. You can’t be open criminal. Even if you do something wrong, you can do only secretly. You can’t do it publicly. So it’s a big bargain you see, you just giving food, and whole day he decides that he will not do anything wrong. It’s a big bargain, even socially.

That is why in India we created a system of the sannyasis. We don’t, we are not afraid of homeless people. I was surprised here, when we drive in the car, if homeless person comes near and stands and asks for a dollar, people raise their windows. They say, ‘No, no, Swamiji, don’t give, you don’t know, they may be having weapons.’ People are afraid of homeless people. But in India, either we give or we are not, we don’t care, that’s all. We are not afraid. We are not afraid. The fear does not exist. Homeless means not criminals. In India, when they take up the role of a sadhu, sanyasi, they are given everything, all the basic needs are fulfilled, and they also decide that we will not be anti-social elements. We will support if at all we can, otherwise we will keep quiet and eat and sleep.

Anyhow this king has decided whoever comes with these symbols, we will respect. And the whole city came to know, the whole city all beggars, overnight conversion. All of them have become Shiva bhaktas. After a few years his enemy thought I should kill this guy. If I go in any other way this guy will catch, they will kill me. If I go with all this rudraksha and all this basma, like a Shiva bhakta he will not kill me. And let me see his dedication for his ideology.

The story says, it is not even story, it is history, it happened. The guy came, the enemy came, with all that dress of a devotee and asked the king that, ‘I should speak to you alone, I want to teach you something.’ King said, ‘Sure.’ He told all the assistants, guardians to leave, security to leave. Then he stabbed, put the knife in the king’s stomach. The king was about to die, he called the security and told, ‘See that he is taken care, and nobody punishes him. Escort him till our territory is over. Because people may kill him, people may disturb him. He is wearing all these things of Shiva.’ Means he is wearing all the things related to Shiva, the basma and rudraksha. ‘As long as he wears all these things, it’s my vow to respect. So see that he is respected inside our territory. So escort him till our territory.’

See, understand he is dying, he is dying, and he understood it is his enemy, but dedication to the ideology. Understand at least one thousand kings ruled that province, that territory, his name is still alive. All South Indian Hindu temples will have his statue, still they have his statue. He is one of the sixty-three great Saiva saints. All South Indian temples, no other king would have had so many statues. Still his murtis are there, people worship him, remember him, the day he was killed, still they remember him. Big celebration means the puja and offerings are conducted. Just to understand and give respect to his commitment to the ideology, his commitment to the truth.

Understand you are also going to die and I am also going to die. All of us are going to die, but a person who is committed to one ideology, dies gracefully. Even if he dies he lives forever, he lives forever. Still we remember him. I remembered him, that’s why I am able to tell this story. There are so many other kings, its not that they have not died, they all have died, but nobody is remembered. He is remembered. Understand, having the clarity, putting the ideology as the main theme of the life, giving respect to the ideology much more than your fear or death. If the ideology or the honesty penetrates your being more than your fear or greed, more than your life, your greed for life, then the truth will start descending on you. You are ready for the truth.

People talk all nonsense, I have seen, people coming and trying to argue with me, some big, big words. Initially itself I stop them, you are wasting your time, just I stop them. Two things, either you know or you don’t know. People come and try to ask me big, big questions. And I tell them you see let us have the first clarity, if you think you know I am ready to listen, please teach me, or if you think you don’t know, then listen, I’ll teach you. But you can’t say you know something and you want me to add something more on that. No. That is just foolishness. Either you know completely or you don’t know completely. Be very clear about the truth. And no, no, I know something but I want you to teach little more or just trying to show that I know, that’s where the problem starts. Then nothing can be done, nobody can help you.

I always avoid this kind of arguments or this kind of a talk. The problem is always this kind of talk will lead to very bitter experience, because these guys have decided very clearly that there are few things which they know, or they want to prove, at least in the group, that they don’t want to show, to tell that they don’t know. Now what to do? And if you take the truth, core to the, if you take them step by step deeper and deeper, they will lose their grounds. Now either they have to show that they are ignorant or they have to use some violent word to protect them. That’s where it will end, some sharp word.

I always tell people, these kinds of arguments will end in bitter experience. Please let us not entertain. The difficulty is honesty to the ideology does not exist. We have too many big, big words, theories, but never true to the core, true to what we know. Never the truth has become such an important thing in our life. Go on and on and on, read something here and there, and just entertain yourself. See if you are just reading some books, it can be good entertainment, but not to enlightenment. Entertainment is different from enlightenment.

Just because you are entertained with some good books or some intellectual books, don’t think you are enlightened. Understand, these books which help you to sharpen your logic, or gives more and more words, they give you a sort of pseudo satisfaction that you know, that is where the problem starts. They give you the pseudo satisfaction that you know, no. See with this king, this great devotee, just one ideology, I will be devoted to Shiva’s devotees. He might have died, of course the story says, because he was cool and calm and integrated even at the time of death, he achieved enlightenment, and the Shiva appeared, and gave darshan and liberated him. Whether Shiva appeared or not I don’t know, I can be sure that he would have achieved enlightenment. For his integrity, so calm, integrated, even during the death, he is enlightened, and nothing else is required. That is the ultimate.

In Ramana Maharshi’s life there is a beautiful incident. First time when he heard some of his, from his relative, one uncle, the word Arunachala, he did not even know Arunachala is some place, there is a hill and all those things. Just that word he says, just that word is enough. Very clearly I know that I am connected to it, that’s all. Sometimes just a word, that click happens.

Here Shiva is throwing all possible words so that as much clicks as possible let it happen. He is using all possible things, whoever feels connected to whatever thing, let them feel connected. I am also talking on all these techniques, if you suddenly feel connected to one technique, then start playing with it, start doing it.

Many people came and told me, ‘Swamiji, I felt very deeply connected to the technique of anger’, day before yesterday’s technique. Day before yesterday what we were speaking, ‘I felt really connected to that technique Swamiji’, because that’s an everyday problem for you. That’s everyday problem. Understand one more thing that technique is not given for anger management. Anger management happens as a side effect. What we do you know, usually when anger comes we just put our attention on the energy, instead of putting our energy on the other person, and we see in few minutes anger disappears. Because when you don’t visualize the person’s face again and again inside your mind, inner space, the anger will not be there. The anger will disappear. Immediately we think now the anger has disappeared why should I practice? Leave it. No then you will have anger again. You will have anger again, no.

Even when you don’t feel the anger, just try to find from where that emotion came, what was the source, and go into the source. Till you achieve the source do not leave that technique. Do not use the technique just for anger management. If you are using that technique just for anger management, it’s like using a diamond just to cut your brinjal. You got a beautiful diamond and all you do is you cut your brinjal and potato in the morning. Do not use meditation techniques just for stress management. It is not just for stress management, it has got far more greater utility and truth behind it. Stress management is one side effect.

The big problem in the west, yoga has been reduced to just an exercise. Yoga has been not just used, abused. That’s the right word I have to use, abused. I always tell people, do not learn from unenlightened sources. Learn even if you take little time, because enlightened masters will always be, they will respect that method. They will respect the tradition. They will respect that reproduction method. They will not give you in one week teacher’s training certificate, no. I have done five teacher’s training and still I have not certified anybody. Still I am telling them, no, no, have one more training. For our two day workshop five teacher’s training we did, still I am telling, no, no, read little more. Reproduce authentically the words, because more experience oriented, not just certificate oriented.

I was surprised when these, I was really surprised, that just hundred hours training and you can become a teacher, and what these guys will do. Yoga is reduced just to a physical exercise, and meditation is reduced just as a mental exercise. No. One utility of yoga is health, but not health alone. Ramana Maharshi says, ‘Just that one word I felt so deeply connected, I know I am connected to it.’ Same way Shiva is using all possible words, all possible techniques, so that you may feel connected to some one, some one word, one technique, you may suddenly feel connected.

One more thing, you are not hundred percent cunning. Even in cunningness you are not hundred percent true that is the problem, so there is some part where you are innocent. He is trying to touch that part by throwing so many words. You see cunningness means not complete, that is the meaning of the cunningness. If you are complete in any one ideology, you will be innocent. Because you are not complete that’s why you are cunning. It means you are not cunning even hundred percent. Even in that there is a patch of innocence in you. Shiva is trying to touch that patch. At some point you are tired, by evening you are tired of your cunningness, and you want to be innocent. See sitting with kids and playing is nothing but your thirst, your quest to be innocent. Why do you feel so happy when you sit and play with your grandkids? Because again few moments you are innocent, your quest, your thirst to be innocent is fulfilled.

With kids you don’t have to play all your big games. They can’t judge you, they can’t find out you are intelligent or not. They don’t care whether you know all the philosophies or not. You can easily relate with them. Your thirst for innocence only expresses as a joy when you play with the kids. All of us have got a deep thirst, quest to be innocent. So naturally some moment you spend, you try to be innocent. When you are tired of cunningness, your innocence opens. This kind of great words, great techniques, suddenly helps at those moments.

Understand these techniques are given for innocent people who can simply relate. In one sutra Shiva says, just feel connected to the cosmic energy, universe, and become enlightened. You can understand this experientially when you feel connected to your grandchild, grandson or granddaughter, grandkid. When you are really sitting, completely melting, you can understand this word. If you sat with a master and melted at least once in your life, then you know how to feel connected to the universe. Some point if you really felt the overflowing gratitude to something.

The tantric tradition, before teaching the tantra, means the techniques related to physical relationship, they will ask you to practice celibacy for twelve years. Understand you may think why, why a person who is going to get married should practice celibacy for twelve years. According to the western logic he is supposed to practice something else, not celibacy. But here the tradition of tantra they are requested to practice twelve years of celibacy. You may think, why?

The whole system will become sensitive, to relate, to connect, and not only that, during celibacy you will have lot of things going on in your mind. Means the integrity will start happening. See the celibacy is such a powerful technique which needs your whole energy because you are trying to control something which is involuntary, which is not natural. You are trying to control the energies which is beyond your control. So when you try to do that so much of integrity happens. I always tell people, celibacy is not a lifestyle but it’s a powerful technique. It is not a lifestyle and it should not be a lifestyle. If it is a lifestyle then there will be failure, but it can be a powerful technique for enlightenment.

Even in the Eastern tradition, it was given only as a technique for enlightenment. When you are fighting with yourself, whether suppressing or unclutching or transforming or sublimating, anything, whatever word you may use, so much of integrity will start happening in you. It is used as a powerful tool for integration. The problem is you should use it only as a powerful tool for integration towards enlightenment, not just for your ego fulfillment or for name and fame or to claim something that you are great. No, that is where the problem starts. Then problem starts. It should be completely your private, personal life. I always tell even our ashramites, see the decision should be your private, spiritual decision. You have a full freedom to drop it. You have full freedom to drop it, only then it’ll integrate your personality.

Understand the other day I was talking about the Vasishtha and Vishwamitra. The Vasishtha’s celibacy has integrated him, he stayed with Arundhati. Arundhati is Vasishtha’s wife. Still now in all Indian marriages, this Vasishtha and Arundhati are remembered as ideal couples. You will laugh, a celibate monk, a celibate person is remembered as an ideal couple. In all Indian marriages Vasishtha and Arundhati are remembered and saluted. There is a ritual called having darshan of Arundhati, means the star Arundhati. The couple are supposed to have the darshan of Arundhati star and do namaskar to them and remember them, and take a vow that they will live like them. You will be surprised Vasishtha was celibate. Vasishtha achieved celibacy because he had a full freedom, he did not have social pressure to be a celibate.

It was a free choice. It happened because he was integrating himself towards enlightenment. But with Vishwamitra it was just a proof for his power. He wants to be celibate just to prove that he can also do what Vasishtha has done. He can achieve what Vasishtha has achieved. Vishwamitra thought himself as a competitor of Vasishtha. But Vasishtha never thought, Vasishtha never thought he’s a competitor. Vishwamitra thought he was a competitor. It is like a conquering. You can never achieve if you are thinking of conquering, then it will become ego satisfaction.

Great masters always use the right method, right technique, the right system. But in course of time it gets diluted. Gita says, Krishna says in Gita, ‘Yogo nastah parantapa.’ In course of time truth is lost. That is what has happened even with the idea of celibacy. Even with the idea of celibacy, that’s what has happened. This great truth when Shiva gives, understand that you do not dilute any way in your life, because any dilution is dangerous. Not just no use, it will become dangerous. When you are tired of being cunning, when you are not really feeling like that much cunning, when you are innocent, these techniques can click. Something can click, that is why Shiva is trying all the possible methods, whatever he thinks, whatever he feels, he is expressing.

Just as you have the impulse to do something, stop, very simple thing. Very simple thing, the only thing you need, is you need to be a little innocent to do this technique. Just an innocent being, like a child, like a kid, that is where the difficulty starts. A little bit of innocence is enough. Patanjali says, Patanjali says in one yoga sutra, ‘Just sit straight, you will enter into meditation’, just the padmasana. He says you will enter into meditation. You may be surprised how can that be? Just if you sit straight and you will enter into meditation, impossible. Because we many time tried. We tried to sit straight, but we never entered into meditation. We never fell into meditation. We might have fell into sleep, not meditation. How can Patanjali say that? How can Patanjali say that sit straight, you will enter into meditation?’

There is one more beautiful Zen saying. The master goes to another one master, both of them are sitting, and one disciple comes to him, comes to the masters, the disciple asks, ‘How can I achieve enlightenment?’ One master replied, ‘Just sit.’ The disciple asked, ‘Just sitting? How can I just sit?’ The other master just gave him a blow. Zen, you can’t relate with these Zen things, what these guys will do. And the story says the disciple understood how to just sit and became enlightened.

It may look like stories, but I tell you whenever you try to sit, you only try to sit, you don’t just sit. Whoever comes to me and asks, Swamiji how to do this, how to do that, no, no, no, that’s right, but how to do it, means still you have not become tired of your cunningness. See whether it is devotion or meditation technique, anything will be successful only if you have become tired of your cunningness, nothing else.

Let me tell you from my experience. How to become enlightened, its not that I was not knowing, I know it very clearly at the age of twelve, because at the age of twelve I had my first experience. But I was always working on how to encash on my enlightenment, means how to express it for some benefits in the outer world. See, how to express it, how to use enlightenment, only at the age of twenty-two I realized, after ten years of struggle, I am not able to get my experience back, which I had at the age of twelve, just because I am trying to use.

Understand in your life also the big problem is you can become enlightened at this moment, but all your thinking, if I become enlightened how will I express, how I can rule my wife. How I can prove to my husband I am some way superior to him. How I can stand out, from the group. How I can prove I am some way better. Constantly you are thinking, planning, to encash your enlightenment, that is where the difficulty starts. Understand.

People ask me, Swamiji, the stories we read, the moment some devotee called Lord, Lord appeared. Gajendra moksha’s story says, the Gajendra, elephant, called Narayana, immediately Narayana appeared, we are shouting, nothing is happening. I don’t think Gajendra had a cell phone or a hotline connection, but how, how it happened in their life and why it is not happening in our life. The problem is you are constantly planning, if he comes what all I should ask, if he comes, what all I should ask. How can I use, how to convert enlightenment into a utility.

See always you are planning to use enlightenment to achieve your ends. That is where the difficulty starts. Only when you drop the ends enlightenment happens. But here you are thinking, planning, planning, planning, to fulfill your ends with enlightenment. So it becomes a vicious circle. Enlightenment is waiting, let you drop your ends, then I will come, and you are saying no, let it come I will use for my ends. But you don’t understand God is little more intelligent than you. That is where the difficulty starts. When I tell people, just be little innocent, just be little straight. Actually if you are a little innocent, you will be more straight. You will be honest.

Innocence and honesty is directly connected. You will be a little simple. You will not have too much of energy to think too many steps further. People who sit and play the chess game, they can think even five, six steps further. If I do this, if he does that, then if I do this, then if he does that, then if I do this, if he does that, they can think even five, six steps. Playing chess on the board is okay, but not on the life, you will miss the life, you will miss the life. I always tell people little bit of innocence, these great truths you will catch it.

Ten years it took for me that unconsciously I am sitting and planning constantly, if that experience comes back, if that enlightenment stays with me, how I’ll be, what I’ll do, all those things. That is why I was working so hard, so the driving force which was working, which was driving me, which was making me to do all tapas, was greed, not the truth. Understand that was the reason my enlightenment was getting postponed, postponed, postponed. Many of us, not many, all of us are postponing our enlightenment just by not being little innocent and simple.

If you decide very clearly I will not use if God appears in front of me, this moment you will have the experience. You think no, no, no, now I will decide, when he appears then I will take care of him, whatever I need to do. Let him appear, after all after that he can’t say no. You have your own extension plans, underground plans. But you should know he is beyond your underground, he can know, he knows about you much more than what you know about you. He knows about you much more than what you know about you.

People come to me, many times I’ll have a lot of funny games, these guys who come to me they think they are really intelligent. No really, this crow thinks it is very intelligent, and finally it will be caught in a very poor way. The other animals can be caught if you give some good things like a good food or some nice things. Crow can be caught for very cheap things. In India they catch these birds. They will use nice things to catch like a dove and all other birds, if they want to catch deer, dove or other animals. But for crow they will use only dirty things, because it will come and sit only if the dirt is there.

So this guy thinks he’s very intelligent and finally he will land only in the dirt. I’ve seen many people thinking very intelligent and they will try to play all the verbal, that word games. Finally I tell them, arrey, you are playing with mind, I played with the mind. Only a person who can play with the mind can go beyond the mind. If you play with your mind, if you have played with your mind, if you know the secrets of your mind, you will know the secrets of the whole world and everybody’s mind. People ask me, ‘Swamiji teach us how to read other’s mind.’ Simple technique I will tell you. No this truth, it’s a powerful technique, the technique which I am going to give you now. You can read everybody’s mind, no really, all you need to do is just read your mind. No, really. See, just analyze your mind and just try to create a little bit of witnessing, try to see your mind how cunning you are, same way others are cunning, that’s all.

See what all the way your mind is playing game, same way never think only you are so intelligent, others are not that intelligent. Never think that. Be very clear, I always tell people, one of my brahmacharis asked me, ‘Swamiji how do you feel in this young age so many thousands of people sitting in front of you and wherever you go such big crowd gathers.’ It was very intimate conversation, he asked me. I told him, ‘Fool I am teaching you important business secret, because you are also going to sit in the stage, you are also going to take classes.’ He is going through training for sannyas. ‘Never believe people are listening to you just because they are sitting in front of you.’ No, truth, never believe they are listening to you just because they are sitting in front of you. Never believe they are expressing their devotion just because they are touching your feet, no.

Be very clear just like you are intelligent, they are also intelligent. They are also intelligent. I told him that is the reason whenever people come to me and tell, ‘Swamiji I want to do this for the ashram’. I tell them, ‘I will meditate and tell you.’ That’s what will be the answer. ‘I will meditate and get back to you, please talk to the secretary.’ Because the words which they utter I can very clearly say, can very clearly see they are just from here, not from here. I tell them, go little deep, go little deep. If you want to know, if you want to read other’s mind, a simple technique, just read your mind.

Vivekananda says beautifully, ‘If you know what is there in one handful of clay, if you’ve analyzed completely, you have thorough knowledge about one handful of clay, now you have the knowledge of the whole world, the clay which, the whole world clay, clay which is all over the world.’ If you have the knowledge of one handful of mud, you have the knowledge of mud which is all over the world. You know the basic things now, only you have to apply that formula in a different way in different place that’s all. But you know the sutra. You know the base. You have a mind, just read your mind, nothing else is necessary. Just read your mind.

I always tell people, if you feel threatened by somebody, be very clear you are threatening him unconsciously, that is why you are feeling threatened. He poses himself as a threat for you because he is threatened. If you read your life, your mind, you will be able to read anybody’s mind. Because I read my mind thoroughly, I studied my mind thoroughly, I played with my mind, I can play with anybody’s mind. I know what the mind will do, it’ll say when it comes. When I want to teach something to our brahmacharis, I tell them, ‘Just sit next to me when I meet the public.’ In India sometimes even two, three thousand people I will be sitting and blessing. Answering the questions, sometimes even twenty, thirty thousand people, in the public darshans, answering their questions, I tell them, ‘Just sit here, for two hours, and see how I talk to people, how I answer.’ They said, ‘Swamiji its mind boggling how you handle.’ I tell them, ‘Simple thing, all you need to know is how you will handle your mind, handle, that’s all, nothing else.’

How you handle your mind, of course to understand how your mind is cunning, and how it is playing, you need innocence. Only if you are little innocent, you can understand the games of your mind. Only if you can look the mind little behind, as an observer, you can understand the cunningness of the mind. A little innocence will add so much to your mind, so much to your being, so much to your self. That is why Patanjali is able to tell, sit straight and you will fall into meditation. Because to whom he was talking, they were innocent people, they were completely connected, they were tired of all the cunningness. They are tired.

Now Shiva is giving a technique for people who are tired of cunningness. See you need very big, big, powerful techniques if you are too cunning. The more you become cunning, the more stronger technique is necessary. If you read some of the Shiva’s techniques, they will be so simple, because they are for innocent beings. Straight, if you feel something is clicking, the moment you hear this word, just stop when an impulse comes, you will become enlightened. If you think, ‘Oh God, so simple, I think what he is saying is true.’ If you feel that click happening in you, this technique is for you, this is for you. If you are innocent, if you are tired of being cunning, understand being cunning, never think you are intelligent. No.

There is no such thing as intelligence on the planet earth. Be very clear. All the fellows who are thinking they are intelligent are cunning. They think, see how I did, how I handled, others means they wouldn’t have handled with so much of intelligence. Everybody thinks like that only. People come and tell me, ‘Swamiji, you spoke very well, such a high philosophy, I understood but I doubt others, whether others understood or not.’ Really they come and tell me, ‘I understood Swamiji, but I don’t know whether everybody else understood.’ They say, ‘I don’t know whether others understood or not.’

When you can understand how do you think others don’t understand? Mind it always thinks I am some way special. Especially all husbands believe the wife did not understand. Wife never believes husband understood. It’s like a thumb rule, they always, when they come together for darshan, they tell me, ‘Swamiji whatever you said I understood, bless her also, she also should understand.’ It is something like a standard thing, and she talks to me separately and tells that, ‘I completely believe and feel connected to everything Swamiji, but how to live with this guy I don’t know.’

It’s like you do not understand that others are also cunning like you, your mind. If you have a little bit of innocence, if you can look your mind little from a witnessing mood, you will realize, you will be able to read what goes on in the other’s mind. So understand this one technique, the best way to read other’s mind is read your mind. Any situation, just put yourself and see how you will react, do not calculate with all your morality which you learnt, naturally how you will react. Understand same way the other person will react. Just that much of clarity is more than enough.

Let’s enter into the technique. Just as you have the impulse to do something, stop. Shiva says, when you have the impulse to do something, feeling hungry you are about to eat, feeling thirsty about to drink, or feeling like sneezing, you are starting, the impulse starts, stop. Georg Gurdjieff has used this technique. In Taoism also they use, of course in Zen they use. The big problem with these kind of a techniques is they give you enlightenment immediately. You never expect you never believe that you can become enlightened now.

You are all sitting here because you are sure that you will not be enlightened when you go out. I am very clear. If I say there is a guarantee I don’t think even two, three percent will be here. No, because there is so many things, after enlightenment you do not know whether you will go back to your house or not. I do not know whether you will feel connected to the same family or not, now when I start telling all the other aspects of enlightenment, now they say, ‘No, no, no, its okay, we will take darshan Swamiji, and get back to you later on.’

Even for initiation, the moment I say the initiation, I have seen half of the crowd will disappear. I have seen, ‘No, no, no, he talks, let us listen, but not initiation and all too much, leave it.’ I always tell people, who feel connected to the message, but don’t want the initiation, cunning fellows. Cunning fellows, even if they are around me, useless. That is what Shiva says, Shiva says when he starts this whole literature, the tantra, he is teaching sixty-four tantras. In that one tantra is this vijnana bhairava tantra. None of these techniques is useful unless you are initiated by an enlightened master. Why you know just to check the courage, just to check the power of, the courage or the ability to take the risk. Actually initiation is nothing it is a very simple process.

Beautiful story, one great leader from Sikh tradition, spiritual leader from Sikh tradition, he said that, ‘I am going to leave my body, before that I want to initiate five people. But the big difficulty is this initiation, for this initiation you may have to give your life. I have to cut your head. Only then you can be initiated. I want five people who are ready to take initiation.’ There was a big crowd in front of him, who will come?

One more small story, let me tell that story and then connect with this story. One spiritual, one religious leader, very big organized religion, the religious leader was having some heart trouble. Doctor said if somebody donates their heart, if heart transplant can be done, he can be saved, but the person who donates the heart will die. So the announcement went all over the world, big crowd gathered in front of his house, the assistant of that leader came out, he saw from the first floor that such big gathering.

He thought that people have come here to donate the heart. They have come there to see who is going to donate the heart. Anyhow the secretary assuming that people have all come here to donate the heart, he just said, ‘Oh I am so happy to see so many people, ready to devote, sacrifice their life for our leader, but now we have a big problem how to select? I’ll drop a feather from here, whoever, on whoever the feather falls, we will choose that person.’ So all the people shouted, ‘Yes, yes, let our leader be saved.’ The assistant dropped the feather from top, and all the people are, ‘Let God save him, foo, foo, let God save him, foo, foo. Let God save him, foo, foo,’ using the whole energy to blow the feather away.

And this Sikh leader, he is the enlightened master of the Sikh tradition, he is asking, ‘I want five people.’ But finally one courageous young man said, ‘I am ready, he came out.’ The master put the curtain, after few minutes he came out with a sword with blood, and he said, ‘Next.’ Slowly, slowly, one by one, five young people came out, and after finishing all the things, the master came out and said, these five will be in charge, responsibility of the whole tradition I created, and he opened the screen. Inside they saw the five goats were killed and all the five guys are standing alive.

All the five people are standing alive. When he went inside he cut the goat, came out and showed the sword. He did not kill them, but wanted to see how many have got the courage, how many had the courage, how many had the courage to take that risk. Ramakrishna, before initiation he will ask the people, before putting the mala, ‘Eh, this is Kali’s khadga,’ khadga means the sword, Kali’s sword, Kali Devi used to have a sword, ‘Eh this is Kali’s sword, if you want to escape this moment also you can escape. Run away, but don’t repent after that.’ You are going to disappear, means the enlightened. The Kali’s sword falls on you, naturally you are enlightened. And only after warning he will initiate them.

Courage, you see to take that step you need to be innocent, a cunning fellow can never do that. See if you are completely very clear that you don’t agree with the idea at all, then don’t come here, over. That person will not be here at all, but I have seen many people, they come regularly, listen, read all the books, when it comes to initiation they say no, no, no, not that, let us wait. It means this knowledge is just a utility, so that they can go and tell these stories to others, or they can brag that they know more. They can use this idea somewhere in the life, to develop their ends.

I always tell people, using the knowledge of enlightenment to develop just your ends is abusing. It is abusing. You are not using that knowledge for the purpose, or you are not allowing that truth to work on you. You are working on the truth, not truth is allowed to work on you. I always tell people, it is just seeing the courage, courage to enter, courage to be innocent, courage to face the truth, courage to jump.

See, unless you became tired of the same games which you are playing. Whenever I tell people to practice some big techniques, like a one hour, two hours techniques, I know they will come back telling me that they are not able to practice. I give them bigger techniques, and inspire them also, ‘No, no, you should do, only then this will happen.’ Only when they are tired of their cunningness, means the game which they are playing. Even you can see in your life, how many years you will play the same game, ‘No, no I am not able to meditate, I try this, I do that in the morning, but after a few days I stop.’ How many days you will go to this corner and that corner, and this end and that end, are you not tired? Are you not bored? Are you not tired of the same thing?

Every time after six months, when I come back they will come and tell me, ‘When last time I attended your course, ten days I did, Swamiji, but not regularly.’ And now they are again fully inspired, and they decide this time, I will not miss. But next time when I come back after six months, ‘I thought I will do Swamiji, but what to do, my wife went back to India.’ Last time when I asked them why did you not do, my wife is not allowing me Swamiji. Now why are you not doing, no she went back to India. You have some reason. You have some reason, only when you are tired of the cunning games which you are playing with yourself.

Many times you don’t even realize you are cunning, it has become so unconscious. You don’t even think you are cunning. You just justify, you just justify. Or you don’t even look that much. You don’t give that much of importance to the games you are playing. When you are really tired of the cunningness, this technique is for you.

He says very simple thing, just as you have the impulse to do something, stop. He is not telling try to stop. No, stop. Just stop. You will be surprised, how can this lead to enlightenment. First understand the signs of your being and doing. See in you there is two space, one is space of being, space of doing. You know the doing, because constantly you are doing. You can’t be doing anything unless you have a being, because only with being you can do. Whether you are walking or sitting or standing, or eating, you have to be, only then you can do.

Being is the root of doing. Being is the base of doing. You can’t do without being. Whenever the being enters the territory of doing, you can jump from the space of doing to being. Understand very clearly, whenever the being enters the territory of doing, you have two spaces, one is being, another one is doing, you are doing, constantly, and your being. Your being, you would have never experienced your being because you never stopped doing. Even in your sleep you are constantly doing, your dreams are doing. You are constantly doing.

The moment you stop doing you fall into sushupti, deep sleep. The moment you are out of deep sleep, again start doing. You don’t stop doing at all. That’s why you never experienced being. Without doing, if you are aware, you will experience being. In your case either you are doing, doing, doing, doing, doing, if you stop doing you are unaware, means unconscious, deep sleep, never aware. If you are aware, you are doing. From being space, when your energy penetrates the doing space, that door opens, you can just jump in. When this door opens, you can go out and you can come in also.

Any impulse, when it starts, from your being space your energy is moving towards the doing space. When you are about to sneeze, when a sneezing, when you get that feeling that you are going to sneeze, just see, visualize. From your being, that strong impulse to sneeze is raising, and it is slowly becoming action. Same way, when you are about to express your anger, when you are about to express your lust. In the Vedic tradition, we ask people to fast to experience this only. Fasting is the easiest way to experience the impulse. Within a day you will experience that impulse, that impulse to eat. If you fast just one day, the impulse to eat will rise. When it raises, just see, how your being is pushed towards the doing. Simply you will walk to the kitchen and start cooking or grab something. Just to witness, the fasting was used for this technique only. It was used to practice this technique only.

Fasting, sneezing, all these things are very authentic impulses. And the hunger, sneezing, all these things are straight from being, they are all very authentic impulses, you can use those opportunities to jump into the being. Gurdjieff used this technique in a very powerful way. He used to tell people, tell his disciples, whenever he whistles, he creates a whistle sound whatever they are doing they have to stop, just stop. They can’t adjust, if your eyes are open, open, you can’t close. If you are standing like this, stand. Just freeze, you can’t adjust your hands and stand, no. If your one leg is above, up in the air, it has to be, you can’t just put them down, no. All these things are techniques only. Understand all these murtis are describing those techniques only, freezing the body as you are. If they are dancing, and if they are dancing with one leg up in the air, they have to stand just like that, over. If they fall, the body can fall, but they should not cooperate or adjust with the falling. It’s a very powerful technique.

And once the story says, his disciples are writing reminiscence, he sent three of his disciples to make a canal inside the ashram, and he shouted, ‘Stop.’ They stopped. The disciples were working, all the three stopped, and he opened the water, he opened the water. Now water is getting filled through that canal. Water came up to the knee level. One disciple thought, I think master doesn’t know the water is flowing, if he knows the water is flowing he would have told us to get out, let me jump. He just jumped and got out, he came out. The water came up to the nose level. The second guy thought, no, no, no, who wants all this meditation and enlightenment, better let me be alive. If I am alive at least some other technique I can practice. I think this fellow has decided to kill us. I am not going to die, I want to live. And later on I will practice some other technique and become enlightened. He just jumped out. The story says third disciple stayed, in few minutes he floated, because there was no ego inside his body.

You may think only in stories all these things happen Swamiji. No. Enlightened master is a living proof that stories happen on the planet earth. Stories can happen in your life. He is the reassurance. He is a promise. He is the guarantee that stories can happen in your life. Nothing is a story, he is here to make stories as a history. Understand when you are little less cunning, when you are little innocent these words will directly connect with you. These words will straightaway work on you.

You will not be thinking, again and again to open up, to take the next step. I always tell people, people ask me, ‘Swamiji why should we charge for meditation programs?’ I tell them, ‘Either give completely free or charge highly.’ It is just to see how this fellow is committed. Whenever we get some people saying that we are not able to, I tell them either completely exempt. Enquire if it is a real case, completely exempt or charge high, because if you charge the middle level, they will judge you only to that extent. People respect only how much of money they pay. The truth, it’s the truth.

They don’t understand, and one more thing, just to see how much of things, how much of risk he can take or how much he respects, how much he can open. It’s very easy just to open your mouth. People tell me, ‘My whole life is yours Swamiji.’ I tell them, ‘Please come for a weekend workshop.’ ‘No, no, no, I have some other engagement already Swamiji.’ They tell me I surrendered to you, my whole life is yours, but if I tell them to do the weekend workshop, what they do, they say, no, no I have some more commitments, I already made some work Swamiji. It’s a very easy thing.

Innocence means, doesn’t bother to take next step. If you are bothering to take next step, be very clear, you are not innocent, and this technique is not for you. And if you don’t bother, if you just feel or God, I was only not knowing what is the next step, I was only waiting, will he not tell me to take the next step. If you are in that mood, this technique is for you. You can be only in these two moods. Either, no, no, no, I can’t take the next step or I’m just waiting for the next step, he is not telling me. If you are in the mood I am waiting for the next step, he is not telling me this technique is for you, you are in the space of innocence.

Understand, to practice this technique, just try even with fasting, you can try with fasting, or just sit under the ac, cool air, you will have the sneezing mood. Just simple things is enough to awaken, to awaken your being, to the level of doing. You can penetrate the inner space when you feel like sneezing or when you are really thirsty. I am not saying psychological thirst or hunger. Whenever you see that McDonald’s tower you will fell hungry. Whenever you smell that pizza you will feel hungry, that is a psychological hunger. Understand that is not the true hunger. When the time comes you will feel hungry. No. That is not the real hunger. The real hunger comes even if you don’t remember the time has come. Even if you did not see the time, the real hunger will be there.

Whenever you feel that real hunger, really when you are about to sneeze, of course sneezing, you can’t imitate or you can’t control, just see what happens to you. Just stop, freeze your whole thing, system. You will see, you experience a glimpse of that thoughtless awareness. But before entering into this technique, prepare yourself to be little more innocent, to be little more innocent. Innocence is the basic truth which is taught through this technique. If you are innocent, any moment this will happen. You will open up.

Zen stories say, just one leaf falling from the tree, the guy who was sitting and watching became enlightened. Just a leaf floating in the air, and when it reached the ground, he reached his being. When you are completely innocent, open, even a small leaf floating in the air, you may feel connected and just relax. Just you will relax. Feeling connected, feeling innocent is the basic requirement for any spiritual experience, any truth. Stop using too many words.

I request you at least do not use enlightened master’s words just to enrich your knowledge. Just to enrich, just for your own ends. Let this great master’s words work on you. If you want to achieve your own goals with this knowledge, there are enough of self development books, all those nonsense. But with the master’s words, if you allow them to work on you, you will achieve the ultimate personality, you will achieve the truth, the core. All you need, just be little innocent, nothing else.

So before entering into the technique, this beautiful technique, just be little innocent, a little bit of straightening yourself, and this will happen if you are tired of your cunningness, if you are tired, bored, of the same rut in which you are traveling, the same thing. Many times I think, how can people say, I want to meditate, but they are not able to sit. If you want to meditate and you are not able to sit means pure cunningness, means inside you, you are playing a game. One part of you wants and one part of you doesn’t want, that’s all.

When you want to sit how can you be not able to? As long as you have these two, you are playing with cunningness. All I wanted to tell you, just drop that, just become little more innocent. There is beautiful incident which happened in a great master, Ramdas, in his life. His master just chanted that word, ‘Sri Ram, jai Ram, jai, jai Ram.’ He did not even tell the meaning or he did not even initiate him. Just that word, he was awakened, and he says after that I never forgot that mantra. Never forgot that mantra. So innocent, his very being could experience different space just by one word.

So I think all we need to know or all we need to do is little bit of innocence. This technique is for the people who are innocent. First day Shiva was giving the technique to work with the pain, second day he was giving technique to work with the pleasure and joy, third day he was giving technique to work with any emotion raising, any emotion, now he is giving us technique to work with impulse which is raising. When your being penetrates the space of doing, how you can jump from the space of doing to the being. Whenever your being penetrates the space of doing, a new door opens. You can use that space to get into the space of being.

You are in the space of doing always, so whenever the door opens, when you have an impulse, for sneezing or hunger, or anger, or thirst, that being door opens and it penetrates to the doing, and use that door, just stop. If you feel that hunger, don’t eat, just be with that hunger, go into it. And if you feel that thirst, just feel, go into it. If you feel that sneezing mood, just go into it, stop. Just be. You will suddenly see, you experience a space of being without doing.

People tell me, ‘I understand the devotion is a great thing Swamiji, but somehow I am not able to be devoted.’ And the people who are intellectual type, they always think these devotees are fools, they are too emotional, they are taken for a ride, or they are gullible fellows. I say no, to trust, to be devoted, you need intelligence. To be questioning and constantly to be doubtful, you don’t need intelligence, any fool will be like that only. Any fool will be doubting, questioning, but only to trust you need intelligence, you need to open up.

People who suffer in insomnia, who are not able to sleep, they are not able to trust that they will be alive even if they relax. You are not able to trust that you will have life even if you relax, that’s the reason you suffer with so much of sleeplessness. If you are not able to relax, you need this technique, means you need little bit of innocence. I always tell people, simple, innocent, devoted people are thousand times better than these so called intellectual, spiritual guys. Who is well read, seen enough of gurus, almost half guru. Almost half guru, knows all the business techniques, just waiting for the right place, these type of guys, will never achieve anything, will never reach the truth, will only continuously be radiating the cunningness and vomiting the cunningness on others.

So now with this great technique of Mahadeva, just as you have the impulse to do something, stop. Your cunningness is also one more impulse, one more impulse, for your survival. You always think you will survive only if you are cunning and planning. Now stop first that cunningness, let us stop being cunning. Let us be little innocent, and second step, whenever you get the situation, whenever an impulse, like hunger, hunger, anger, thirst or sneezing, anything happens to you. Anything is about to happen, just stop that impulse, move to the space of being, from the space of doing. Let you all achieve the space of being, achieve and radiate the eternal bliss, nithyananda. Thank you.