I.J. Gita Dhyan Sadhana - Gds April - June 2012

A Quarterly Publication Volume Two Issue II April June 2012
International Journal
International Journal
A quarterly publication An International Journal Of GITA DHYAN SADHANA
Mystical Insights into Bhagavad Gita

An International Journal of GITA DHYAN SADHANA and
Taoshobuddha Meditations
All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the original publisher TAOSHOBUDDHA MEDITATIONS TM and TAOSHOBUDDHA. Printed and Published by: Cover design and graphics: CHIEF EDITOR: ASSISTANT EDITOR: ADVISORY EDITORS: TAOSHOBUDDHA MEDITATIONS Anand Neelambar SWAMI ANAND NEELAMBAR, TRINIDAD LARS JENSEN, STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN TAOSHOBUDDHA
Editorial Staff: Trinidad - Taoshobuddha India Anil Sohoni, Sadhak Sri Chinmaya Mission Hemant Moghe, Mumbai, India
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana Sweden - Lars Jensen, Stockholm, Sweden Australia - Rahul Vedi, Canberra, Australia USA Pt Mahendra Nath Maharaj, Hollywood, Florida
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana
Insight Talks on the Sutras of Bhagvad Gita by Enlightened Master Taoshobuddha
TADATMANAM SRAJAMHAM TAOSHOBUDDHA TALK ON BHAGAVAD GITA 4:7
http://youtu.be/au2eyrarr_o
PARITRANAYA SADHUNAM VINASHAYA... TAOSHOBUDDHA TALK ON GITA 4:8
http://youtu.be/Z09tonq8FuQ
YADA YADA HI DHARMASHYA.... TAOSHOBUDDHA TALK ON GITA PART 2
http://youtu.be/OtOYRdQdocg
KRISHNA THE CAUSELESS EXISTENCE TAOSHOBUDDHA INSIGHT INTO GITA
http://youtu.be/JSLGByyu4Bw
Contents
Title Editorial Insights into Gita Awareness growth from within Krishna the causeless existence Yada Yada hi Dharmasya The Wheel of Dhamma Beings of Light Paritranaya Sadhunam Vinashaya Tadatmanam Srajamhyam Bhagavad Gita Principles by Shankaracharya
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Editorial
This issue we go into insights into Chapter IV shlokas 7 and 8 - the promise of Krishna and the concept of avatara. The Purpose of Avatarhood 'Surely for the earth-consciousness the very fact that the Divine manifests himself is the greatest of all splendours. Consider the obscurity here and what it would be if the Divine did not directly intervene and the Light of Lights did not break out of the obscurity--for that is the meaning of the manifestation. 'An incarnation is the Divine Consciousness and Being manifesting through the body. It is possible from any plane. 'It is the omnipresent cosmic Divine who supports the action of the universe; if there is an Incarnation, it does not in the least diminish the cosmic Presence and the cosmic action in the three or thirty million universes. 'The Descending Power (Avatar) chooses its own place, body, time for the manifestation. The Avatar is necessary when a special work is to be done and in crises of the evolution. The Avatar is a special manifestation while for the rest of the time it is the Divine working within the ordinary human limits as a Vibhuti. 'Avatarhood would have little meaning if it were not connected with the evolution. The Hindu procession of the ten Avatars is itself, as it were, a parable of evolution. First the Fish Avatar, then the amphibious animal between land and water, then the land animal, then the Man-Lion Avatar, bridging man and animal, then man as dwarf, small and undeveloped and physical but containing in himself the godhead and taking possession of existence, then the rajasic, sattwic, nirguna Avatars, leading the human development from the vital rajasic to the sattwic mental man and again the overmental superman. Krishna, Buddha and Kalki depict the last three stages, the stages of the spiritual development--Krishna opens the possibility of overmind, Buddha tries to shoot beyond to the supreme liberation but that liberation is still negative, not returning upon earth to complete positively the evolution; Kalki is to correct this by bringing the Kingdom of the Divine upon earth, destroying the opposing Asura forces. The progression is striking and unmistakable.
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'As for the lives in between the Avatar lives, it must be remembered that Krishna speaks of many lives in the past, not only a few supreme ones, and secondly that while he speaks of himself as the Divine, in one passage he describes himself as a Vibhuti, vrsninam vasudeva. We may therefore fairly assume that in many lives he manifested as the Vibhuti veiling the fuller Divine Consciousness. If we admit that the object of Avatarhood is to lead the evolution, this is quite reasonable, the Divine appearing as Avatar in the great transitional stages and as Vibhutis to aid the lesser transitions.' 'Krishna opened the possibility of overmind with its two sides of realisation, static and dynamic. Buddha tried to shoot from mind to Nirvana in the Supreme, just as Shankara did in another way after him. Both agree in overleaping the other stages and trying to get at a nameless and featureless Absolute. Krishna on the other hand was leading by the normal course of evolution. The next normal step is not a featureless Absolute, but the supermind. I consider that in trying to overshoot, Buddha like Shankara made a mistake, calling away the dynamic side of the liberation. Therefore there has to be a correction by Kalki. 'I was of course dealing with the ten Avatars as a "parable of the evolution", and only explaining the interpretation we can put on it from that point of view.' 'I only took the Puranic list of Avatars and interpreted it as a parable of evolution, so as to show that the idea of evolution is implicit behind the theory of Avatarhood. As to whether one accepts Buddha as an Avatar or prefers to put others in his place (in some lists Balaram replaces Buddha), is a matter of individual feeling. The Buddhist Jatakas are legends about the past incarnations of the Buddha, often with a teaching implied in them, and are not a part of the Hindu system. To the Buddhists Buddha was not an Avatar at all, he was the soul climbing up the ladder of spiritual evolution till it reached the final stage of emancipation--although Hindu influence did make Buddhism develop the idea of an eternal Buddha above, that was not a universal or fundamental Buddhistic idea. Whether the Divine in manifesting his Avatarhood could choose to follow the line of evolution from the lowest scale, manifesting on each scale as a Vibhuti is a question again to which the answer is not inevitably in the negative. If we accept the evolutionary idea, such a thing may have its place. 'If Buddha taught something different from Krishna, that does not prevent his advent from being necessary in the spiritual evolution. The only question is whether the attempt to scale the heights of an absolute Nirvana through negation of cosmic existence was a necessary step or not, having a view to the fact that one can make the attempt to reach the Highest on the neti neti [not this, not this] as well as the iti iti [this too, this too] line. He [Buddha] affirmed practically something unknowable that was Permanent and Unmanifested. Adwaita does the same. Buddha never said he was an Avatar of a Personal God but that he was the Buddha. It is
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the Hindus who made him an Avatar. If Buddha had looked upon himself as an Avatar at all, it would have been as an Avatar of the impersonal Truth.' 'A Vibhuti is supposed to embody some power of the Divine and is enabled by it to act with great force in the world, but that is all that is necessary to make him a Vibhuti: the power may be very great, but the consciousness is not that of an inborn or indwelling Divinity. This is the distinction we can gather from the Gita which is the main authority on this subject. If we follow this distinction, we can confidently say from what is related of them that Rama and Krishna can be accepted as Avatars; Buddha figures as such although with a more impersonal consciousness of the Power within him. Ramakrishna voiced the same consciousness when he spoke of Him who was Rama and who was Krishna being within him. But Chaitanya's case is peculiar; for according to the accounts he ordinarily felt and declared himself a bhakta of Krishna and nothing more, but in great moments he manifested Krishna, grew luminous in mind and body and was Krishna himself and spoke and acted as the Lord. His contemporaries saw in him an Avatar of Krishna, a manifestation of the Divine Love. Shankara and Vivekananda were certainly Vibhutis; they cannot be reckoned as more, though as Vibhutis they were very great.' 'An Avatar or Vibhuti have the knowledge that is necessary for their work, they need not have more. There was absolutely no reason why Buddha should know what was going on in Rome. An Avatar even does not manifest all the Divine omniscience and omnipotence; he has not come for any such unnecessary display; all that is behind him but not in the front of his consciousness. As for the Vibhuti, the Vibhuti need not even know that he is a power of the Divine. Some Vibhutis like Julius Caesar for instance have been atheists. Buddha himself did not believe in a personal God, only in some impersonal and indescribable Permanent.' Extracted from writings by Sri Aurobindo Swami Anand Neelambar Chief Editor International Journal of Gita Dhyan Sadhana
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There are the five ages of the Dhamma. After each five hundred years, the Dhamma will be less and less in its potency and effectiveness. And then after twenty-five centuries the wheel will stop completely. It will need another Buddha to turn it for the Next - coming twenty-five centuries.
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, ,
Osho
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he insights through Gita Dhyana Sadhana Journal always come afresh as whispers of the unknown. You never know what the unknown and unknowable wants to communicate to you. You have to be open and utterly vulnerable. However people never accept the new in the first instance. There is always resistance in accepting new. And in fact we meet everything new reluctantly, with fear, rather than with joy and willingness? The new never arises out of you. Instead it comes from the beyond. It always comes as Whispers. It is not part of you. Your whole past is at stake. The new is discontinuous with you, hence the fear arises. You have lived in one way. Your
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana entire thinking has been in one way. You have made a comfortable life out of your beliefs. And then something new knocks on the door. Your whole past pattern is going to be disturbed. If you allow the new to enter you will never be the same again, the new will transform you. The fear is bound to happen. You cannot imagine anything beyond your cognition. It is risky. One never knows where you will end with the new. The old is known and familiar too. You have lived with it for long. You are acquainted with it. The new is unfamiliar. It may be the friend. It may be the enemy, who knows. And there is no way to know. The only way to know is to allow it to happen. This is the reason there is apprehension, or uneasiness. And you cannot remain rejecting it either. It is continuously knocking at the door. The old has not given you yet what you seek. The old has been promising, but the promises have not been fulfilled. The old is familiar yet still it has been miserable. Maybe the new is going to be uncomfortable but there is a possibility it may bring bliss to you. So you cannot reject it either and you cannot accept it either. This makes you waver. You tremble. Great anguish arises in your being. It is natural, nothing has gone wrong. This is how it has always been. This is how new will always be.
The insights through Gita Dhyana Sadhana Journal always come
afresh as whispers of the

unknown. You never know what the unknown and unknowable wants
Such is the case when new is to take birth. This is so even before the birth of a child. to communicate to you. When river is going to merge with the ocean it is vulnerable. There is tremendous fear. The You have to be open and known is disappearing. And in place something new never known is going to utterly vulnerable. happen. But then the moment you accept the new totally and lovingly serenity descends like something never known before. The river water trusts the ocean and this trust brings the revolution. The drop - becomes oceanic. The insights of the enlightened Taoshobuddha come like fresh breeze into the message of Krishna.
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wareness is the flowering of inner harmony and oneness. This flowering manifests in the outer realm as understanding. Also it becomes your selfknowledge. It is not influenced in any way by anything outside. And therefore it remains pure and fresh like breeze. Therefore in self-knowledge there is no question of any inuence. Rather, there is a similarity of experience, a similar resonance, the hearing of similar voices. If I am singing and the same tune is coming at the same time from someone else, my
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana rhythm and the rhythm of the other singer are one with each other that there is no room between us for being inuenced. This is resonance. However in order to be inuenced, or be a disciple, a distance is necessary or the other is necessary. However, as far as I am concerned there is no distance. When I start explaining a statement of Mahavira or when I speak on the Gita of Krishna, I am only more or less explaining my own statements. Krishna or Christ or Mahavira or Buddha simply provides an opportunity, or an excuse, or an occasion to speak, but I soon forget that I was speaking about anyone of them except me. I start with them, but end only on what I have known. I am not even aware of when I stop talking about them and begin to explain my own statements, of when I have merged totally with them.
Perhaps you would be surprised to learn that I have not read the Gita even once complete. I have started to read it often, but after reading ten or twelve sutras here and there sporadically I felt that it was enough and closed the book. And I have always found that none of the commentaries has done any justice to Krishna. None represent the totality of Krishna. Instead these represent one aspect or other
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana of Krishna. When I speak on the Bhagavad Gita, I am really hearing it for the rst time as I speak about it. As I have no background in it, I have no way of criticizing it. When something is your essence or heart beat then you do not study. In normal course you are not even aware of your breathing. You become aware of your breathing when there is any disturbance. One who has studied the Gita, who has pondered over and thought deeply about its statements, can only criticize or dene what he has read. Not having read the Gita, I can do neither. There is yet another interesting thing to this mention is that when I pick up the Gita to read I put it back after a few moments, but when I come across some very ordinary book I read it through from beginning to end because it is not a part of my experience. This may seem odd to you. I cannot restrain myself from reading through an ordinary book, because it is not within the range of my experience. Yet, when I begin to read the Gita, I put the book back after reading only a few lines of it, since I do not feel that it will open up anything new to me. If a spy story is given to me, I may go through it fully, because for me it may be something new. But Krishnas Gita seems as if it was written by me. I know it, because whatever is written in it is known to me. Without reading it is known. The Bhagavad Gita is my being, my essence and my heart beat. Therefore, when I speak on the Gita, I do not actually speak on the Gita. The script or Sutras are only an excuse. I start with the Gita, but I speak only about what I want to speak and only about that which I can speak. If you feel that I have dwelt a great deal on the Gita, it is not because I am inuenced by Krishna, but because Krishna said the very same things that I am saying. Thus, what I am doing is not a commentary on the Gita. What Tilak has said on the Gita, or what Gandhi has said on the Gita, or what Swami Chinmayananda has said was their commentary or explanation of the Gita. They were under the deep inuence of the Gita. But what I am saying does not come from the Gita at all. The tunes that are touched upon by the Gita are touched within me as well. They lead me to my own tunes; I begin to explain my own self. Bhagavad Gita is my essence and my being. The Gita only provides me with an occasion. When I am speaking on Krishna, during those very moments that I am most deeply revealing Krishna you will begin to feel that I am talking about my own self. It is in those moments that I am speaking only about me.
Thus, what I am doing is not a commentary on the Gita...what I am saying does not come from the Gita at all.
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Question:
Please explain, what were the social, political, moral and religious conditions that were responsible for the incarnation of Krishna?
Taoshobuddha:
or a consciousness like Krishna any time, situation and anything can just trigger the manifestation or incarnation. Indeed no time or situation can be responsible for such incarnation. It is an altogether different thing that a sublime consciousness like Krishna has to act in a unique manner under these situations. However such consciousness is not time dependent. Only unconsciousness is bound by time and space. Awakened one is never time bound. It is an altogether different matter that he adjusts to time accordingly. It is erroneous to think that Krishna was born because of atrocities that prevailed and bad time. Had it been so then Krishna is born as a Causal Chain. Krishnas birth is not guided by any cause. If that was the case that will mean that the birth of Krishna is Utilitarian. This means that we can only understand Krishna as Utilitarian but not otherwise. When the flowers blossom by the road side the one passing that way may think that flowers have blossomed because of me and its beauty and the fragrance is for me. May be he may write in his diary that the flowers blossom along the way I pass to welcome me. However the flowers blossom along the lonely way as well. The passersby may get the fragrance touching the nostrils or is captivated by its beauty. Certainly that is different matter. It does not affect the blossoming of the flower. Beings like Krishna are not born for anyone or any cause. They are born out of their own cause. Their manifestation is not bound by cause and effect theory or any karmic theory. It is a different matter that someone gets the fragrance. There is no such time or space when an awakened one like Krishna is relevant. Such consciousness is needed in each time and space. All spaciotimes are suffering and are unhappy. Who is not interested in the beauty and the fragrance of a flower? Flowers may blossom anywhere and those who are interested in beauty and fragrance will reach there. It is erroneous to think that Krishna is utilitarian as has been understood by your commentators. This is the narrowness and poverty of our understanding that we see the utility in each and everything. Anything useless has no value in our life. When clouds float in the sky we think that the clouds are going to rain in our fields. The wrist watches and the glasses if perchance may also think like you,
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana they will say that the wrists and the eyes are born so that we can adorn them. Human thinking makes everything egocentric. From the center of his ego he claims that everything is there only because of him. The flowers, sun, moon, and stars are there only because of me. The way of life is not utilitarian. To think in the language of utility is erroneous. All that is happening is life is for no reason or for anyone. Instead it is for the sake of happening. Flower blossoming, clouds floating, sun, moon and the stars are all for their own sake. It is only man who wants to give meaning to each happening or the event. If you ask man why he is doing this thing or that his answer will always be that it is for someone else. He cannot live for his own sake. And even if does so, the society will not allow him to live and he will be considered as selfish. A person like Krishna is living totally in his joy. He may exist any time it will be beneficial. Sun may rise anytime its light will reach each house. Clouds may rain anytime we will grow crop. It does not matter when flowers blossom certainly they will be used for the garland or the bouquet. Human thinking is wrong. We think that Krishna is born to establish righteousness, or protect the sages. This is utilitarian yet narrow approach. No society can create circumstances for the manifestation of awakened ones like Krishna, Buddha, and Mahavira etc. The consciousness of the society is far behind when the awakened one assumes human birth. The society is incapable to be the cause for the birth of Krishna. It is certain that with the presence of awakened ones, the level of consciousness of man changes. For me no circumstance is significant or important. Instead I give importance to the consciousness. Remember life is not utilitarian. Life is a play. You can play it consciously or unconsciously. Imagine a person walking on the road he has to go somewhere. He has to reach somewhere at a specific time. He meets another person on the road. He has nowhere to go. Instead he is there of the road just for a funwalking. Have you ever imagined the road becomes boring and tiresome when you are goal-oriented or you have to reach somewhere at a specific time. And when you come out for a leisure walk the same feet become light as if your gait has now wings. Krishna has not manifested for any cause. He is there just like the person who has come out for a walk. His life is a game a play or a Lila. Certainly along his way there may be many thorns or obstructions that he removes as he is traversing along the path. Removing the thorns is his joy not any compulsion. However one thing is certain that Krishna is not born to remove the thorns. Certainly he does and will remove the thorns. And if there is anyone who has lost the way he will show him the right direction. This cannot mean that Krishna belongs to traffic police directing the people on the road. All this is non-causal. And Buddha,
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana Mahavira, Krishna, and Christ manifest and exist for their own cause. This Hindus call the Yoga-Maya the free-will. Human soul and human consciousness implies that deep within man is totally free. Nothing binds him. I have heard that a great astrologer lived in a village. Whatever he said happened always. This made people fed-up of him. Two youth who lived in the same village once thought to prove the astrologer wrong. It was winter season so they reached the astrologer hiding a live pigeon under their woolen overcoat. They asked the astrologer that we have a pigeon hidden under our coat we want to enquire if the pigeon is alive or dead. They had approached the astrologer with the intension of proving him wrong. They had already decided if the astrologer said the pigeon is alive they will kill the bird inside before taking out. And if he said contrary that the pigeon is dead they will produce the bird alive. The old astrologer looked at the two youth from top to the bottom and whatever he said was unique. Instead of saying the pigeon is alive or dead he said, the pigeon is in your hands implying the pigeon can be dead or alive it is certainly in your hands. Life is in your hands. You can live as you want conscious or unconscious. A man of awakening lives his life as he wants. No society, time or space can influence his understanding. This is total freedom. However one thing has to understand that awakened ones live in the world. They are the part of the world that you have created with your understanding. As a result many things happen. The society, time, circumstances or anything else are all irrelevant for Krishna. To say that Krishna comes for this reason or that it is to belittle his oceanic presence. Alike any other awakened one Krishna is aware of is oceanic presence although he comes into the world as a wave. Whosoever comes into the world through birth always comes like a wave. However he is aware of his oceanic presence. This is the reason in Bhagavad Gita the sage poet used the word Sri Bhagvan Uvach instead of saying Sri Krishna Uvach. Sri Bhagvan is the oceanic presence of Krishna and Sri Krishna is the wave presence of Sri Bhagvan. Wave is born rises and falls. It is bound by birth and death. Ocean always is. It is immortal beyond birth and death. Oceanic presence descends when human consciousness transcends the finite boundaries of body and mind realm. Oceanic presence is of the beyond. It is not in your hands. It just descends when you cross the finite realm. Bodymind realm is finite. It is wave-like that goes on changing each moment. One moment your emotions flow towards this one and next moment that person is no more relevant for you. This is finite. You like those who appreciate you and they are friends and those who dislike you cannot be your friends. You live in finiteness. The awakened one lives by his own awareness that has transcended the finiteness.
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana And the moment the awareness transcends something descends or incarnates in you from the unknown beyond. This state when the ascension of consciousness is reached something descends in your consciousness that is your oceanic presence. Traversing along lifes roads sometimes you are touched by this beyondness. This is what happens to poets. However the awakened one lives in that state. Therefore to show this difference the Sage poet Veda Vyasa has allowed all the Sutras of Krishna to emerge as Sri Bhagavan Uvach. Man lives in cause and effect. Your love is also the outcome of this cause and effect. Love is cause-effect relation. You do not love someone without any cause. Remember as long as you live by this cause and effect relation Religion that is of the beyond will not descend in you. The day things begin to happen unconditionally in your life bliss surrounds as the inner fragrance or inner light. And then you are light unto yourself. It is at this stage of consciousness and to show the unconditional happening the sage poet makes Sri Bhagavan Uvach:
I have nothing to gain in the three universes. Yet I engage in action ceaselessly. If I do not engage in action there will be chaos and also men follow my path.
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Question:
You said the birth of Krishna is causeless. And also such is the case of enlightened ones. However, in The Bhagavad Gita Krishna declared whenever there is decline in righteousness I have to come. Please explain with insights.
Taoshobuddha:
ndeed Krishna declares: Whenever there is the decline of righteousness I have to come! Certainly what will then be the insight of Sage Poet Veda Vyas in letting this declaration come through Sri Krishna not as wave instead through Sri Bhagvan the Oceanic Presence of Krishna? This is significant and has deep mystical insight that only an Enlightened One can understand whose very existence is Oceanic.
Such declaration can only be made by one who is Totally Free. You cannot make such declaration or say if it is not so then I will not come. Your coming birth is bound by a long chain of cause. Such long chain of Karmas creates the Causal Chain. You cannot make such declaration or either make a simple promise. You cannot even dare to make such promise. Krishna makes such declaration and what is the reason. Krishna, indeed only Krishna, can make such a declaration because he is not bound by any cause. This is his freedom and out of this Total Freedom anything can evolve. Such declaration is only possible because of Total Freedom that is synonym with Krishna and Beings of Total Awareness. Awareness if freedom. When Krishna says that, I will come if the situation be so then certainly Krishna will come because of his freedom not because of situation. Krishna is not helpless in making such declaration. Indeed such is declaration but there is no compulsion or he is cause bound. But who can give such a promise.
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana In Mahabharata there is an incident, once Yudhishthira was sitting outside his house when a beggar came for alms. Yudhishthira asked the beggar to return tomorrow as he was busy in something. The beggar went away. However Bhima was hearing this. He picked up the nearby drum and beating the drum he ran towards the village. Yudhishthira asked Bhima, What are you doing? Bhima replied, Before it is too late and I miss or forget I must make the announcement that my brother Dharma-raja Yudhishthira has made a promise for tomorrow. I did not know that my brother has now won over time. He will be here tomorrow. The beggar too will be here tomorrow. Also he will have the will to give. And the beggar will have the need for alms again tomorrow. Both of them will meet tomorrow as well. Yudhishthira has certainly won time. That is why I am running towards the village with the drum because it is not certain if I will see the next moment. Hearing this Yudhishthira got shocked and said, I made a mistake. Such a promise can only be given by one who has attained total freedom. He requested Bhima to call back the beggar so that he can give all that was possible because time is uncertain. On the other hand Krishna is not making a promise for tomorrow instead his promise is a promise beyond time and space. He declares that he will come back whenever there is the need. No prisoner can make such a promise. One who is chained cannot make such promise. Such a promise can only be made by one who has attained total freedom not any chained one. And remember such promise is not because of any circumstance or situation instead it sis the outcome of Total Freedom. This difference is no ordinary one. Through this declaration Krishna makes only one thing clear that he is not bound by any situation, circumstance or karma or anything else. And another thing that he makes abundantly clear is that such declaration can be made by only a being that has transcended all finiteness and as a result beyondness has descended in him. Such declaration is declaration of freedom. However, sometimes such declarations prove false. You think Krishna too has to come back. When you heat water it turns into steam at 100 degree Celsius. Suppose one day water tells you not to worry if the heat is somewhat less or is even 90 degree Celsius it will turn into steam that will mean there is no bondage of 100 degree Celsius. Such declaration is the outcome or expression of total freedom. When dependence is no more, only then from deep within blossoms myriad flowers of freedom. A being like Krishna does not come for any cause or bondage.
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana Buddha too made a similar promise is the Diamond Sutra in to Subhati in response to the Wheel of Time. And this is significant for you to know to understand this Sutra.
ajrachchedika Prajnaparamita Sutra of Gautama the Buddha Continues with the Overflow from the Venerable Tathagata.
The wheel of dharma goes of losing its momentum every five hundred years. And then the wheel has to be turned to maintain the momentum. And in the process after twentyfive hundred years the wheel comes to a complete cessation then the wheel is set in motion once again. Such is not any ordinary thing that anyone can set the wheel in motion. This needs a Total consciousness that is uncontaminated and is beyond time and space.
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BECAUSE A BODHISATTVA WHO GIVES A GIFT SHOULD NOT BE SUPPORTED BY A THING, NOR SHOULD HE BE SUPPORTED ANYWHERE. THE GREAT BEING SHOULD GIVE GIFTS IN SUCH A WAY THAT HE IS NOT SUPPORTED BY THE NOTION OF A SIGN. AND WHY? BECAUSE THE HEAP OF MERIT OF THAT BODHI-BEING, WHO UNSUPPORTED GIVES A GIFT, IS NOT EASY TO MEASURE. THE LORD CONTINUED: WHAT DO YOU THINK, SUBHUTI, CAN THE TATHAGATA BE SEEN BY THE POSSESSION OF HIS MARKS? SUBHUTI REPLIED: NO INDEED, O LORD. AND WHY? WHAT HAS BEEN TAUGHT BY THE TATHAGATA AS THE POSSESSION OF MARKS THAT IS TRULY A NO-POSSESSION OF NO-MARK. THE LORD SAID: WHEREVER THERE IS POSSESSION OF MARKS, THERE IS FRAUD; WHEREVER THERE IS NO-POSSESSION OF NO-MARKS, THERE IS NO FRAUD. HENCE THE TATHAGATA IS TO BE SEEN FROM NO-MARKS AS MARKS.
OVERFLOWS Gautama the Buddha. These are strange words of Tathagata. Indeed these words are strange, because Buddha is addressing a bodhisattva. They would not have been strange if they were addressed to an ordinary human being. One can understand that the ordinary human being needs to listen well. To listen is so difficult. To listen means to be here-now. To listen means to be without any thought or pre-conceived conditioning. To listen means to be alert, awake and available to this very moment. If these conditions are fulfilled, only then you listen. And the message will enter your being. The mind has its ways and means. Mind continues like a fanatic inside. Mind lives in its self-created world of ignorance and negation of truth. And in the process it goes on spinning a thousand and one thoughts. The mind continues to move all over the world riding the vehicle of the past, and the future. How can then the mind listen? And whatsoever it listens to, it will not be right listening at all. Mind is you. It is your creation. You live the mind that survives on the past and future that exist no more. One is gone and the other is not as yet. In that case you will listen to
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana something else which has not been said at all. You will go on missing that which is said. You will not be in tune with now-here. You will listen to the words of course, because you are not deaf, but just that much is not listening. Remember words are the carrier of the eternal message. And the message will not reach you. This is the reason Jesus goes on saying to his disciples: If you have ears, listen. If you have eyes, see. Those disciples were neither blind nor deaf. They had eyes as healthy as you have, ears as good as you have. But Jesus words are not strange; they are relevant. He is talking to ordinary people. So he has to bring their attention, he has to shout. But Buddhas words are strange. He is not addressing to ordinary people. Instead he is addressing a bodhisattva, a great being, a bodhi-being; one who is just on the verge of becoming a Buddha. Yet still Buddha says:
THEREFORE, SUBHUTI, LISTEN WELL AND ATTENTIVELY?
What does it mean exactly when he say so? To listen well ordinarily means to listen in a receptive mood, in deep receptivity. When you listen, if you are arguing or judging, or inner dialogue continues like undercurrent, that, this is right because it fits with my ideology and this is not right because it does not appeal to me logically. This is right, and that is not right. This I can believe, and that I cannot believe. If you are continuously sorting out things inside, you are listening but then you are not listening indeed. Although you are listening but your past mind is interfering. Who is this judging? It is not you if awakening has come. Certainly it is your past. You have read a few things, and you have heard a few things too, also you have been conditioned for a few things. All these past conditioning will go on continuously interfering. The past wants to perpetuate itself. It does not allow anything that can disrupt its way of life. It does not allow anything new. It only allows the old that fits with it. That is what happens when you judge, or criticize, or discuss inside and debate too. To listen rightly means to listen obediently. This word obedience is beautiful. The word OBEDIENCE comes from the root OBEDIRE. It means a thorough listening.
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana Mind wonders why does obedience implies a thorough listening. Are they the same thing? Yes, they are same. If you listen totally, and thoroughly, you will indeed obey. If truth is there, you will obey. You will not need any decision on your part. Truth is self-evident. Truth is eternal. It is beyond time and space. There are three things that never change. The Sun, the Moon and Truth t never chance for any one, time or space. And once heard, it automatically becomes part of you. Then you will follow it. Once heard, you will become obedient to it. Hence this word obedience comes from Obedire - listening thoroughly. The Jewish tradition says, bare your ear'. If you have really opened your ear and there is no interference and no disturbance inside, and no distraction from anywhere, you have not only opened your ear, you have opened your heart indeed. And when the seeds fall into the fertile soil of the heart, sooner or later seeds will begin to sprout first and then grow into a tree, and when bloom comes you will reap the fruits at the dawn of new awakening. The seeds may take a little time for it to become a tree. It will have to wait for the right season, for the spring of consciousness to come, but it will become a tree. You will obey it if you have heard the truth. This is the reason the mind does not allow you to hear it. Remember the mind is aware of the fact that once truth is heard then there is no way to escape. So if you want to escape, it is better not to hear. Once heard, and you are caught into it then there is no escape. How can you escape when you know what truth is? Then the very phenomenon that you know what truth is, creates a discipline in you. You start following it. And remember it is not something that you enforce upon yourself. Instead it comes on its own accord. All blocks have to be removed from the ears. What are these ear-blocks? The fear of truth is the basic block. You are afraid of the truth - nevertheless what you say, notwithstanding that you again and again say, I want to know the truth. You remain afraid of truth. You are afraid of truth because you have lived in lies all your life. And you have lived in lies so long that all those lies are afraid, trembling - if truth comes they will all have to leave you. They possess you. Just as darkness is afraid of light, so too lies are afraid of truth. The moment you come closer to truth, the mind will become very restless. It will create much stir, and much dust, and also clouds around you so that you cannot hear what truth is. These ear-blocks have to be removed first. The basic block is FEAR. You are locked in fear. Buddha has said that unless you are fearless you will not attain to truth. And look at your religions, and what they have done. Your so-called religions are all based in fear. And through fear there is no way to truth. Only fearlessness knows what truth is.
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana When you bow down in a church or in a mosque or in a temple, or to a statue, or to a scripture, or to tradition, from where is your bowing coming? Just watch inside. And you will find fear at the base of all your actions, understanding and worship. Out of fear there can be no trust. Remember all so-called faith is all based on fear. That is why it is very rare in the world to come across a man who has faith, because faith happens only when fear has vanished completely. Faith is the disappearance of fear. Faith means trust. How can a fearful man trust? He is always thinking. He is always cunning. He is always protecting, and defending as well. How can he trust? To trust, you need courage. To trust, you need to be brave. To trust, you need to be able to risk. To trust, you need to move into danger. The Chinese Ideogram for crisis consists of two symbols. One is the symbol of danger, and the other is the symbol of opportunity. Indeed the moment is critical when you are facing danger and opportunity both. If you do not go into danger you will miss the opportunity. If you want the opportunity you will have to go into danger. Those who know how to live dangerously, only they are religious. Only such person is fearless. Fear is the basic ear-block. Then there are other blocks as well. However these arise out of the fear - judging, argumentation, clinging with the past, and not allowing the new any entry in your being. In many forms, and languages, the word for obedience is an intensive form of the word listening. All these words simply imply passionate, intense, or total listening. Yet still there is one thing more. You will be surprised to know that the word absurd is the exact opposite of obedience. ABSURDUS implies you are absolutely deaf. So if you say something is absurd, you are simply imply, I am absolutely deaf to what this is going to tell me. But it is good to say to an ordinary human being, listen attentively. But Buddha says this to Subhuti - why? There is something very significant in it and this has to be understood. Each word is meaningless by itself. The meaning is created only when the word is addressed to some. To whom it is addressed will determine the meaning. So you cannot find the meaning in any dictionary, because dictionaries are not written for bodhisattvas. All dictionaries are written for ordinary human beings. Now back to the sutra. What does this mean when Buddha tells Subhuti ?
LISTEN WELL AND ATTENTIVELY?
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana It implies a few things which have to be understood. First: when a man like Subhuti is there, there is no question of ear-blocks. There is no question of his openness to Buddha. And there is no doubt about it, he is utterly open. There is no doubt. He is no longer arguing with Buddha. He is totally with him, and flowing with Buddha-energy. However when a person has attained to bodhisattva-hood, when one has come very close to Buddha-hood, there arise a few new problems. Remember each new stage of consciousness has its own problems. This is the problem with a bodhisattva - he is open, receptive, and ready, but he has become uprooted from the body. His heart is open, his being is open, but he is no more rooted in the body. He has become detached from the body. The body is just hanging around. He does not live in the body. He is almost unidentified with the body and that is the problem. This is what has happened to Ramkrishna when he said I have nothing to hold me on this earth. To stay on this shore a Bodhisattva creates temporary anchors. And the moment the work is over the Bodhisattva disappears in the realm of Buddhas. When someone says to you, Listen well, he implies that your body is listening but you are not. When Buddha says this to Subhuti, he means, You are listening, but your body is not listening. It is just the opposite. When you listen, your body is here, not you. The words reach to the ear. They make sound and noise there, and from the other ear they go out. They never reach your being. Your being does not touch them. With a man like Subhuti just the opposite is the case. His being is there but his body is not there. He has lost track of the body. He forgets he tends to forget the body. There are moments when he will not think of the body at all. He will be there but the body will not be there. He has come to the state of body-less-ness. Remember for listening both body and soul, need to be together. In you the body is present, but the soul is absent. In Subhuti the soul is present but the body is absent. When a Buddha speaks or sermons both his body and soul are present. This is not the case with Subhuti. A Buddha can be in the body and yet not in the body. He knows well that body is the temple for the soul to be enshrined. This is a lesson in Buddhahood. This is difference between a Buddha and a bodhisattva. Although the bodhisattva gets the glimpses of Buddhahood these are still far away. This is the reason Buddha says:
SUBHUTI, LISTEN WELL. BRING YOUR BODY HERE. LET YOUR BODY FUNCTION. GET INTO THE BODY, BE ROOTED IN THE BODY, BECAUSE THE BODY IS THE VEHICLE, THE BODY IS THE INSTRUMENT, THE MEDIUM.
And Buddha continues, ... and attentively. Does Subhuti lack in attention? That is not possible otherwise he would not be a Bodhi-being. A Bodhi-being is one who
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana has attained to attention, who is aware, who is alert, who is conscious, and who is no more a robot. Then why does Buddha say. Be attentive, listen attentively? Again a different meaning has to be understood. A man like Subhuti tends to go inwards. If he is not making an effort he will drown into his being, and he will be lost there. To be outside he will have to make conscious effort. Just the opposite is with you. With a very great effort you can rarely move into your inner being. For a single moment thoughts stop and you are lost into the inner splendor. But it rarely happens, and that too after long and arduous efforts, meditation, yoga, this and that. And then only for a few moments you have that beauty, or the benediction. The sky opens, the clouds have disappeared. There is light, there is life and there is utter joy. But this happens only for a few rare moments. And then the next moment all is lost. This happens again and again. If you make great effort to be attentive, you attain the inner experience. With Subhuti, just the opposite is the case. He is lost in his inner substratum. He is utterly absorbed in his inner joy. Unless he makes an effort he will not be able to listen to all that Buddha is saying. He is perfectly capable of listening to Buddhas silence. If Buddha is silent there is communion. But if Buddha is saying something then he has to make effort, he has to pull himself together, he has to come out, he has to come in the body, he has to be very attentive. He is drunk with the inner wine. Hence Buddha says these strange words:
LISTEN WELL, AND ATTENTIVELY.
And this is for the first time that I am explaining these words to you. For twentyfive centuries nobody spoke on these words. They have been taken ordinarily, as if Buddha is saying to anyone else, Listen well, attentively. Here Buddha is not talking to an ordinary human being. He is speaking to Subhuti a Bodhisattva. Strangely enough for twenty-five centuries nobody has commented rightly. It was only in the last century that Osho spoke the essence of these Sutras. People have been thinking they understand the meaning of the words. The meaning of these words changes. The meaning depends by whom they are used, and to whom these words are addressed. The meaning of the words depends on the context and the circumstance. The words do not have any meaning in themselves. The words are meaningless. The meaning arises only in a particular situation. Now this situation is very rare. Buddha has used these words thousands of times. Every day he had to use these words while addressing the people. Buddha will begin the sermon with the words Listen well, attentively.
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana As a result point that addressing knew the situation. all those who have commented on The Diamond Sutra have missed the this time Buddha is not speaking to the common people. He is a Bodhisattva. None of these commentators were buddhas. They only language. However they were completely unaware of this strange
Buddha has not addressed The Diamond Sutra to any ordinary human being. Buddha has addressed this sutra to somebody who is very close to Buddhahood. One who is just on the boundary of it, just ready to enter the buddhahood. And he starts the statement with therefore:
THEREFORE, SUBHUTI, LISTEN WELL AND ATTENTIVELY.
Now this word therefore is also very illogical. The word therefore is only logical when it comes as a part, as a concluding part, of a logical syllogism: All men die. Socrates is a man, therefore Socrates is mortal. In this context the word therefore is perfectly right. It is part of a syllogism, a conclusion. But here there is no logic, nothing has preceded it, there has been no premise. And Buddha starts with the conclusion THEREFORE? That too has a unique strangeness about it. And that is indeed the Buddhas way. And this is his beauty as well. This is how in The Heart Sutra Buddha addressed Sariputra. Buddha begins the sutra: Therefore, Sariputra.... Sariputra is another monk who is Bofhisattva and on the verge of being a Buddha. And now in the Diamond Sutra he says, Therefore, Subhuti.... Subhuti has not said anything for which therefore is needed, Buddha has not said anything for which therefore is needed. However something is present in Subhutis being. Therefore is addressed to that inner presence. Nothing has been uttered as yet. A master looks within you first. And then he responds to what is present in you. A master responds more to your silence than to your words. A master is more interested in your quest than in your questions. The word question comes from the root quest. And in the process of time we have lost the origin. And probably we have forgotten the inner connection between the two words. A master is more interested in your needs than in your questions. This word therefore indicates a subtle need in the innermost being of Subhuti. Maybe Subhuti himself is not aware of it, maybe Subhuti will take a little time to become
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana aware of it. So Buddha addresses all that is needed for the inward journey of Subhuti. The master has to go on looking into the disciples being, and the master has to respond to the inner need whether expressed, or unexpressed. And that is not the point. Maybe left alone the disciple will take months to find out the need. Or he may take even years, or even lives. But the master not only looks into your past, or your present, but into your future as well. What is going to be your need tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, this life or the next life - the master provides for the entire journey. This word therefore is related to implicit need in Subhutis inner being. Now the sutras:
BECAUSE A BODHISATTVAWHO GIVES A GIFT SHOULD NOT BE SUPPOSED BY A THING, NOR SHOULD HE BE SUPPORTED ANYWHERE. HIS IS THE NEED FOR WHICH BUDDHA HAS USED, THEREFORE, SUBHUTI, LISTEN WELL AND ATTENTIVELY.
Deep down Subhuti must be having this idea, a very subtle idea If I give to people what I have attained, great will be my merit. This may not have yet grown inwards. This may not have yet become a thought. It may still be just a feel, a ripple, deep inside. If I give the Dhamma as a gift to people... and that is the greatest gift, Buddha had said. The greatest gift is to give people your enlightenment, to share it. It has to be the greatest. Somebody shares his money, it is nothing. Even if he is not going to share, the money will be left here when he dies. Somebody shares something else. But to share enlightenment is to share eternity. To share enlightenment is to share God. To share enlightenment is to share the ultimate. Buddha has called this the greatest gift. Now he is saying to Subhuti to share whatsoever you have attained. And create a decision. And this decision to share is called chittopad. Create a great decision in your being that you will not leave this shore unless you have liberated all the human beings. Make a great decisive act in your being before you start disappearing in the unknown oblivion. Before your boat starts moving to the other shore, create a great desire to help people. That desire to help people will function as a chain with
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana this shore. This is what all the Bodhisattvas or masters do before it is too late and they are caught in napping. But this never happens. A Buddha is aware of the time to his departure. In fact he chooses the hour of his birth and the departure as well. But Subhuti is Bodhisattva therefore Buddha tells him to create chittopad. Bring your whole energy into it - that I will not leave this shore whatsoever be the temptation of the other shore. And there is great temptation. When all has changed and you have become capable of moving to the other shore for which you have been longing for many lives. The temptation is great not to be here at all. There is a great pull from the other shore. For what? You have suffered enough, and now you have the passport to enter into nirvana. And Buddha says, Hold on. Deny the passport, throw it away, and make a great decision that you will not leave this shore until you have liberated all the human beings. Listening to this, a subtle desire must have arisen into Subhutis heart, at the deepest substratum of his being, that that will be a great thing. How much merit I will get out of it how much PUNYA, how much virtue. That must have been a small ripple. It is even difficult for Subhuti to read it, or decipher. It must have flashed, as an intuitive flash, just for a second or a split second, but it has been reflected in Buddhas mirror. Remember a master is a mirror. Whatsoever is in you is reflected in him. Sometimes he will not answer the question that you have asked because your question may be just a curiosity and has nothing to do with your inner being, or your question may be just an exhibition of your knowledge. Or your question may be just to prove to others, Look what a great seeker I am. I ask such beautiful questions. The question may not be existential, it may be just intellectual. Then the master is not going to answer lt. And sometimes the master will answer the unasked question. You have not asked yet, also you have never known this question ever existed in you. But it will relate to your innermost need and requirement. Buddha says:
BECAUSE A BODHISATTVA WHO GIVES A GIFT SHOULD NOT BE SUPPORTED BY A THING, NOR SHOULD HE BE SUPPORTED ANYWHERE.
The support means motive. The support implies that I will be getting something out of it. Then you have missed the whole point. Then it is a bargain, and no more
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana a gift. Remember nirvana can only be a gift, it cannot be a bargain. It is not business. You have to give it for the sheer joy of giving it. You should not carry any motive to gain anything out of it. If you are carrying any motive to gain anything out of it you cannot help anybody. In fact you yourself still need help. You are not liberated yet. And you do not have the passport for the other shore yet. You are bound to misguide because you cannot guide. The real gift is an overflowing. Overflowing implies you are so full that you cannot contain the flow. You are so full of your enlightenment that it simply goes on overflowing. It is for anybody who is vulnerable and open, to take. And you feel obliged when somebody takes it from you and in doing so he unburdens you. When a cloud showers on the earth, it feels thankful to the earth, because the earth has received and absorbed and in the process the cloud is unburdened. And the cloud feels obliged to the earth. Yes, it is exactly like that. When enlightenment is arising, it goes on brimming up as well. You can go on sharing as much as you want, and it goes on reaching to the surface again and again, and then again overflows continue. There is no end to it. You have reached the eternal the unfathomable. Now you should not be a miser and you should not be motivated and you should not have any idea to get anything in return.
BECAUSE A BODHISATTVA WHO GIVES A GIFT SHOULD NOT BE SUPPORTED BY A THING, NOR SHOULD HE BE SUPPORTED ANYWHERE. THE GREAT BEING SHOULD GIVE GIFTS IN SUCH A WAY THAT HE IS NOT SUPPORTED BY THE NOTION OF A SIGN.
He will not think, This is a gift, and he will not think that I am the giver and you are the recipient. No, all these ideas and notions should be dropped. There is no giver, no gift, no recipient. Only all oneness exists. There is no subject, and no object. Only there is a process that happens between the two. The one you are helping is also you. The one you are giving to is another form of you. It is as if you are giving with the left hand to the right hand. There is no need to feel great about it. There is no giver and no receiver and there is no gift either.
THE GREAT BEING SHOULD GIVE GIFTS IN SUCH A WAY THAT HE IS NOT SUPPORTED BY THE NOTION OF A SIGN. AND WHY? BECAUSE THE HEAP OF MERIT OF THAT BODHIBEING, WHO UNSUPPORTED GIVES A GIFT, IS NOT EASY TO MEASURE.
Now this is a problem you will have to face again and again. The problem is your merit is great if you do not think about it. If you think, it disappears. If you desire it you will never get it. If you dont desire it, it goes on showering on you. On the lower plane, Jesus statement is right. That statement has been given to ordinary people: Ask and it shall be given. Seek and ye shall find. Knock and the door shall be opened unto you.
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana But Buddha is speaking to Subhuti, and he is exactly saying:
AND ASK IT SHALL NOT BE GIVEN. SEEK AND YOU WILL NOT FIND. KNOCK AND THE DOORS WILL TURN INTO A CHINA WALL; THEY WILL NEVER OPEN.
And remember, the difference comes from the audience. Jesus is talking to common people while Buddha is talking to a very uncommon person.
THE LORD CONTINUED: WHAT DO YOU THINK, SUBHUTI, CAN THE TATHAGATA BE SEEN BY THE POSSESSION OF HIS MARKS? SUBHUTI REPLIED: NO INDEED, O LORD. AND WHY? WHAT HAS BEEN TAUGHT BY THE TATHAGATA AS THE POSSESSION OF MARKS THAT IS TRULY A NOPOSSESSION OF NO-MARKS. THE LORD SAID: WHEREVER THERE IS POSSESSION OF MARKS, THERE IS FRAUD; WHEREVER THERE IS NO-POSSESSION OF NO-MARKS, THERE IS NO FRAUD. HENCE THE TATHAGATA IS TO BE SEEN FROM NO-MARKS AS MARKS.
These will look like puzzles to you. However these are not in reality. But on those heights of consciousness from where Buddha is speaking everything becomes contradictory. Contradiction becomes the only expression. One has to be paradoxical on those plenitudes of being. Logic loses all meaning at the plane of Buddhas. If one still insists on being logical then one cannot move on those plenitudes and one cannot express the truth. That truth is bound to be contradictory. Buddha enquires,
Subhuti, is a Tathagata to be seen by the possession of his marks?
Buddhist scriptures say that a Buddha has thirty-two marks of being a superman. Those thirty-two marks, are there to be the deciding factor? For ordinary human beings it is okay, because you do not have any other eyes. You can see only the outward sign. You live by signs, and marks. But for a man like Subhuti, who can see inward, who can see in the Buddha, those marks should be no more relevant. And moreover, to possess anything is not the quality of a Buddha - not even those thirty-two marks. Buddhas have no possession worldly or otherwise. This is why Buddha enquires from Subhuti about these 32 marks of Buddhahood. They are irrelevant. A Buddha has to be utterly ordinary. He possesses nothing. And this ordinary-ness in is his real mark, not to possess anything. Not to possess even buddhahood, that is the real mark of buddhahood. This is how things become contradictory.
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana A real Buddha is one who does not claim even to be a Buddha. Remember all claims are fraudulent. To claim is to be a fraud. A Buddha claims nothing. He has no claim for anything. He desires nothing. He is not in any way interested in exhibiting. He is not interested in convincing anybody about who he is. He is utterly there blissful and overflowing. If anyone comes it is good and if no one come it is good as well. If anyone comes he shares his being, his presence and his awareness as well. And this sharing happens effortlessly. You can partake of him. You can join him in his dance. You can share his celebration. There is a subtle celebration around him. You can be part of this eternal celebration. But he is not there to prove anything. To prove anything only proves that you have not attained yet. He is not defensive. And those outer marks can be created by people who may not be Buddhas. And only pretend to be Buddhas. Anything can be created. For example, Buddhas breathing is utterly silent, as if he does not breathe at all. This is the outcome of inner happening. This is spontaneous and effortless for Buddhas. But that can be done by any yogi who is not a Buddha. You can practice breathing, you can practice exercises, and you can bring the breathing to almost a cessation. You can defeat even a Buddha. But in that case the innerness will not be illumined. His breathing is slow because he has slowed down. There is no thought or conflict. Instead there is bliss, harmony and oneness within. His breathing is the outcome of this innerness. He has not practiced any breathing exercises. His breathing is slow because he is not going anywhere, all desires have disappeared and there is no conflict of any kind. This is why his breathing is slow, almost invisible. The reason is not that he is a great yogi. No a Buddha is not a great Yogi. In Buddha all desires have vanished. There is no hurry. He is just on a morning walk. He is not going anywhere. He has no future, no worry and no hope. He is utterly devoid of any hope hence he is hope-less. Have you watched? When you are worried your breathing becomes disturbed. When you are angry your breathing becomes violent. When you make love and passion arises, your breathing becomes very disturbed, and feverish. In case of Buddha passion is no more and it has now become compassion. His desires have disappeared as if yellow leaves have fallen from the tree. And his breathing has slowed down, slowed down, slowed down. Actions no more bind him. For a Buddha all actions are like dried leaves that are no more needed on the tree of consciousness. But if this is the sign, then any pretender can exhibit the sign. Buddha sits utterly silently, his posture is unmoving, he remains in one posture. Even when he is sleeping he remains unmoving in one posture. But this can be done by anybody,
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana just a little practice is needed, but by that practice you will not become a Buddha. So Buddha continues:
WHEREVER THERE IS POSSESSION OF MARKS, THERE IS FRAUD....
If somebody claims I possess these marks of Buddha. Look, I am a Buddha! then there is fraud, because the very claim is a proof of fraud.
WHEREVER THERE IS NO POSSESSION OF NO-MARKS THERE IS NO FRAUD. HENCE THE TATHAGATA IS TO BE SEEN FROM NO-MARKS AS MARKS.
Why does Buddha suddenly ask this question of Subhuti? A desire must have arisen in Subhuti... mm? And these are the subtle things to be understood. A desire must have arisen in Subhuti. He is just on the verge of becoming a Buddha. A desire must have arisen: Soon I will possess thirty-two marks. Soon I will be a Buddha. I will be proclaimed a Buddha. I will have thirty-two marks. This may have been just an unconscious desire, arisen like a ripple on the surface of consciousness. Seeing the Buddha and his thirty-two marks, his grace, his beauty, who will not start desiring? And Subhuti is capable now. Subhuti is just on the threshold of buddhahood. While Buddha is talking about giving as if you are not giving, while Buddha is saying that if you can give without the notion of a giver and the gift and the receiver, great will be your merit and listening to this he must have longed. And this longing may have been a subtle seed, but he must have longed. Then with that great merit I will become a Buddha. I will have thirty-two marks - the same fragrance that surrounds the Buddha, the same grace, the same splendor, and the same benediction! Aha! He must have somewhere created the desire in him. And seeing that desire, Buddha says,
WHAT DO YOU THINK, SUBHUTI, CAN THE TATHAGATA BE SEEN BY THE POSSESSION OF HIS MARKS?
Unless you see this undercurrent in Subhutis consciousness or unconsciousness, you will not understand The Diamond Sutra.
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana These words are significant as these overflows the compassion of Buddha for what he had said 2,500 year ago that he is committed to bring nirvana to the entire humanity. Such is the promise or commitment of the awakened one to the entire humanity. Krishna, therefore, is not alone or unique making the commitment in the Bhagavad Gita. I have lived those moments and I know when an awakened one makes such promise the entire existence comes to support and fulfill that commitment. The awakened one nourishes and plants the seed of awakening in many ways in the barren soil. He nourishes the soil too. He is always ahead of his time. Therefore what he says maybe is understood sometimes in future. Subhati therefore asked a question to Buddha with you in mind. Indeed he is enquiring about you and Buddha responds Subhati. Buddha saying nothing about Subhati instead he assures him that there will always be one who will understand the truth hidden in these sutras.
SUBHUTI ASKED: WILL THERE BE ANY BEINGS IN THE FUTURE PERIOD, IN THE LAST TIME, IN THE LAST EPOCH, IN THE LAST FIVE HUNDRED YEARS, AT THE TIME OF THE COLLAPSE OF THE GOOD DOCTRINE WHO, WHEN THESE WORDS OF THE SUTRA ARE BEING TAUGHT, WILL UNDERSTAND THEIR TRUTH?
These words of Subhuti are very significant. Now you will be surprised. This is the time Subhuti is talking about, and you are the people. Twenty-five hundred years have passed. Subhuti has asked about you. Buddha has said that whenever a religion is born, or whenever a Buddha turns the wheel of Dhamma, naturally, and slowly the wheel starts stopping. It loses momentum. You turn a wheel, it will start moving. Then by and by, a moment will come when it will slow down first and then stop. When a Buddha moves the wheel of Dhamma, it takes two thousand five hundred years for it to stop completely. After every five hundred years it goes on losing momentum. So those are the five ages of the Dhamma. After each five hundred years, the Dhamma will be less and less in its potency and effectiveness. And then after twenty-five centuries the wheel will stop completely. It will need another Buddha to turn it for the coming twenty-five centuries. This is a rare phenomenon. It is really intriguing that Subhuti asked Buddha about this:
WILL THERE BE ANY BEINGS IN THE FUTURE PERIOD, IN THE LAST TIME, IN THE LAST EPOCH, IN THE LAST FIVE HUNDRED YEARS, AT THE TIME OF THE COLLAPSE OF THE
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GOOD DOCTRINE WHO, WHEN THESE WORDS OF THE SUTRA ARE BEING TAUGHT, WILL UNDERSTAND THEIR TRUTH? THE LORD REPLIED: DO NOT SPEAK THUS, SUBHUTI! YES, EVEN THEN THERE WILL BE BEINGS WHO, WHEN THESE WORDS OF THE SUTRA ARE BEING TAUGHT, WILL UNDERSTAND THEIR TRUTH. FOR EVEN AT THAT TIME, SUBHUTI, THERE WILL BE BODHISATTVAS. AND THESE BODHISATTVAS, SUBHUTI, WILL NOT BE SUCH AS HAVE HONORED ONLY ONE SINGLE BUDDHA, NOR SUCH AS HAVE PLANTED THEIR ROOTS OF MERIT UNDER ONE SINGLE BUDDHA ONLY. ON THE CONTRARY, SUBHUTI, THOSE BODHISATTVAS WHO, WHEN THESE WORDS OF THE SUTRA ARE BEING TAUGHT, WILL FIND EVEN ONE SINGLE THOUGHT OF SERENE FAITH, BE SUCH AS HAVE HONORED MANY HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF BUDDHAS, SUCH AS HAVE PLANTED THEIR ROOTS OF MERIT UNDER MANY HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF BUDDHAS. KNOWN THEY ARE, SUBHUTI, TO THE TATHAGATA THROUGH HIS BUDDHA-COGNITION. SEEN THEY ARE, SUBHUTI, BY THE TATHAGATA WITH HIS BUDDHA-EYE. FULLY-KNOWN THEY ARE, SUBHUTI, TO THE TATHAGATA. AND THEY ALL, SUBHUTI WILL BEGET AND ACQUIRE AN IMMEASURABLE AND INCALCULABLE HEAP OF MERIT.
These words are significant as these overflows the compassion of Buddha for what he had said 2,500 year ago that he is committed to bring nirvana to the entire humanity. Buddha is talking about you. The Sutra is being read to you. Twenty-five centuries have passed. Subhuti has asked about you. Many a times I had told you that you are all Buddhas. Many of you will become bodhisattvas as many of you are on the way. It is strange that Subhuti should ask such a question. And more strange is that Buddha says:
THOSE PEOPLE AFTER TWENTY-FIVE CENTURIES WILL NOT BE LESS FORTUNATE THAN YOU BUT WILL BE MORE FORTUNATE.
I have told you many times that you are ancient ones. You have been here before as well. You have walked on this earth many times before, and you are not listening to Dhamma for the first time. You have come across many Buddhas in your past lives sometimes as a Krishna or a Christ or a Mahavira or a Mohammed, but you have come across many Buddhas - many enlightened people. In your unconsciousness you never recognized Buddhas. And now you do not remember either. But I remember all those whom I have ever met in any life. Remember there is a power within that knows beyond our knowing. We are neither aliens nor as strangers. Instead we are bound to each other by a causeless force.
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana You are fortunate to know so many Buddhas, and if you become a little alert, all the seeds that have been sown in you by the past Buddhas will start blooming. And when these will sprout you will reap the fruits at the dawn of new awakening. You will start flowering. Buddha says:
KNOWN THEY ARE, SUBHUTI, TO THE TATHAGATA THROUGH HIS BUDDHA-COGNITION. SEEN THEY ARE, SUBHUTI, BY THE TATHAGATA WITH HIS BUDDHA-EYE. FULLY-KNOWN THEY ARE, SUBHUTI, TO THE TATHAGATA.
It is mysterious. Yet indeed it is possible. A Buddha can have a vision of the future. He can see through the fog of the future. His clarity is such, and his vision is such, that he can throw a ray of light into the unknown future. He can see. It will look very mysterious that Buddha sees you listening to The Diamond Sutra. From your standpoint it may seem almost unbelievable, because you do not know even how to see in the present. How can you believe that anybody can see in the future? You know only one capacity to look into the past. You can only look backwards. You are past-oriented. And whatsoever you think about your future is not a vision of the future, instead it is just a projection of the modified past. It is not future at all. It is your yesterday trying to be repeated as tomorrow. Are you aware that you move forward looking into the past? You are never open to the new. Something you have tasted yesterday and it was sweet and you want it again tomorrow - this is your future. You have been in love with somebody and you want to make love again in the future - this is your future. Your future is nothing but a repetition of the past. It is not future at all. You know nothing what future is all about. You cannot know what future is because you cannot even know what the present is. And the present is available and you are so blind that you cannot even see into that which is already here. Instead you go on lamenting for that which is gone or not yet. In both cases it is not there. And that which is in front of you never interests you. But then, eyes open, you can see even into that which is not present, or that which is going to happen. You can have glimpses of that. The way to see the future is first to see the present. One who can be absolutely in the present becomes capable of looking into the future.
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana This is ecstatic to even think that Gautama the Buddha had seen you listening to The Diamond Sutra. In The Diamond Sutra you are talked about. That is why I have chosen to talk on these sutras. Many years ago I spoke on the Discipline of Transcendence. And now once again I have chosen to overflow Gautama the Buddha. When I came across these words I immediately remembered, this is for my people. They must know that even they have been looked into by Gautama the Buddha. And that something about them has been said twenty-five centuries ago. Indeed Buddha had seen you all and this is all about you. Buddha had predicted your arrival on the path. The wheel that Buddha moved has stopped. The wheel has to be moved again. And that is going to be my and your life-work. Indeed that wheel has to be moved again so that the process of transformation of human consciousness or the birth of new man continues erelong. Once it starts revolving it will have again twenty-five centuries life-span. Once it starts moving it goes on moving for twenty-five centuries at least. And it has to be done again and again and again because everything loses momentum after some time. Remember everything functions under the laws of nature. This law of nature is called - ENTROPY. You throw a stone with great energy, but it goes a few hundred feet and then it falls down. Exactly like that Dhamma has to be made again and again alive. Only a living Buddha can do this. A living Buddha breathes life force into it. Then it becomes alive once again for twenty-five centuries and then again dies. Everything that is born has to die. So is Dhamma and before it dies life force is infused into it by a living Buddha.
But Buddha says: Subhuti, do not speak thus. Subhuti must be thinking,
Only we are fortunate. We have listened to Buddha, lived with Buddha, walked with Buddha. We are fortunate, we are blessed people. What will happen after twenty five centuries when the wheel of Dhamma has completely stopped moving? He is thinking about you unfortunate people. Buddha continues: Do not speak thus, Subhuti. Dont start thinking that only you are fortunate. That is a very subtle ego:
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana We are fortunate, nobody else is so fortunate. Buddha immediately puts his hand on Subhutis mouth:
DO NOT SPEAK THUS, SUBHUTI! YES, EVEN THEN THERE WILL BE BEINGS WHO, WHEN THESE WORDS OF THE SUTRA ARE BEING TAUGHT, WILL UNDERSTAND THEIR TRUTH.
And I know there are people who understand the truth. Slowly and slowly the morning is happening, the dark nights are disappearing. Slowly and slowly the seed is gaining the ground, and entering in your heart.
FOR EVEN AT THAT TIME, SUBHUTI, THERE WILL BE BODHISATTVAS,
There are many here who are going to become bodhisattvas. Just a little work more, a little more effort into meditativeness, more energy, and its concentration as well, avoiding distractions, and then it is sure to happen. And it is going to happen to many. And you are indeed the fortunate ones, Buddha says.
AND THESE BODHISATTVAS, SUBHUTI, WILL NOT BE SUCH AS HAVE HONORED ONLY ONE SINGLE BUDDHA, NOR SUCH AS HAVE PLANTED THEIR ROOTS OF MERIT UNDER ONE SINGLE BUDDHA ONLY. ON THE CONTRARY, SUBHUTI, THOSE BODHISATTVAS WHO, WHEN THESE WORDS OF THE SUTRA ARE BEING TAUGHT, WILL FIND EVEN ONE SINGLE THOUGHT OF SERENE FAITH...
If you can even understand a single word of The Diamond Sutra, or you can understand a simple look of my eyes into your eyes, or you can understand a simple gesture of my inner dance.... Buddha says:
... WILL FIND EVEN ONE SINGLE THOUGHT OF SERENE FAITH, BE SUCH AS HAVE HONORED MANY HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF BUDDHAS, SUCH AS HAVE PLANTED THEIR ROOTS OF MERIT UNDER MANY HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF BUDDHAS. KNOWN THEY ARE, SUBHUTI, TO THE TATHAGATA THROUGH HIS BUDDHA-COGNITION. SEEN THEY ARE, SUBHUTI, BY THE TATHAGATA WITH HIS BUDDHA-EYE. FULLY-KNOWN THEY ARE, SUBHUTI, TO THE TATHAGATA. AND THEY ALL, SUBHUTI, WILL BEGET AND ACQUIRE AN IMMEASURABLE AND INCALCULABLE HEAP OF MERIT.
And you are the people Buddha is talking about. And you are the people I am depending on. And it is for you that I go on overflowing in many a myriad ways and paths. Enough for today!
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uddha assured Subhati there will always be the beings of light who will understand when the words of these sutras are being taught. Certainly these people will understand the truth embedded in these sutras. Not only this Tathagata further assured Subhati beyond time and space nearly twentyfive centuries ago that:
KNOWN THEY ARE, SUBHUTI, TO THE TATHAGATA THROUGH HIS BUDDHA-COGNITION. SEEN THEY ARE, SUBHUTI, BY THE TATHAGATA WITH HIS BUDDHA-EYE. FULLY-KNOWN THEY ARE, SUBHUTI, TO THE TATHAGATA. AND THEY ALL, SUBHUTI WILL BEGET AND ACQUIRE AN IMMEASURABLE AND INCALCULABLE HEAP OF MERIT.
Indeed this is Buddhas way of saying what Krishna assured in Bhagavad Gita Yada Yada hi Dharmashya. Therefore it will be erroneous to say that Krishna alone made such statement. Almost all the enlightened one made such statement in different ways. When a Buddha moves the wheel of Dhamma, it takes two thousand five hundred years for it to stop completely. After every five hundred years it goes on losing momentum. So those are the five ages of the Dhamma. After each five hundred years, the Dhamma will be less and less in its potency and effectiveness. And then after twenty-five centuries the wheel will stop completely. It will need another Buddha to turn it for the coming twenty-five centuries. This is a rare statement that not only gives assurance of Buddha instead it also gives you the understanding of the ways of the existence. Once a Buddha makes a promise the entire existence supports this. Now the Sutra and its explanation:
SUBHUTI ASKED: WILL THERE BE ANY BEINGS IN THE FUTURE PERIOD, IN THE LAST TIME, IN THE LAST EPOCH, IN THE LAST FIVE HUNDRED YEARS, AT THE TIME OF THE COLLAPSE OF THE GOOD DOCTRINE WHO, WHEN THESE WORDS OF THE SUTRA ARE BEING TAUGHT, WILL UNDERSTAND THEIR TRUTH?
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THE LORD REPLIED: DO NOT SPEAK THUS, SUBHUTI! YES, EVEN THEN THERE WILL BE BEINGS WHO, WHEN THESE WORDS OF THE SUTRA ARE BEING TAUGHT, WILL UNDERSTAND THEIR TRUTH. FOR EVEN AT THAT TIME, SUBHUTI, THERE WILL BE BODHISATTVAS. AND THESE BODHISATTVAS, SUBHUTI, WILL NOT BE SUCH AS HAVE HONORED ONLY ONE SINGLEBUDDHA, NOR SUCH AS HAVE PLANTED THEIR ROOTS OF MERIT UNDER ONE SINGLE BUDDHA ONLY. ON THE CONTRARY, SUBHUTI, THOSE BODHISATTVAS WHO, WHEN THESE WORDS OF THE SUTRA ARE BEING TAUGHT, WILL FIND EVEN ONE SINGLE THOUGHT OF SERENE FAITH, BE SUCH AS HAVE HONORED MANY HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF BUDDHAS, SUCH AS HAVE PLANTED THEIR ROOTS OF MERIT UNDER MANY HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF BUDDHAS. KNOWN THEY ARE, SUBHUTI, TO THE TATHAGATA THROUGH HIS BUDDHA-COGNITION. SEEN THEY ARE, SUBHUTI, BY THE TATHAGATA WITH HIS BUDDHA-EYE. FULLY-KNOWN THEY ARE, SUBHUTI, TO THE TATHAGATA. AND THEY ALL, SUBHUTI WILL BEGET AND ACQUIRE AN IMMEASURABLE AND INCALCULABLE HEAP OF MERIT. THEREFORE, SUBHUTI, LISTEN WELL AND ATTENTIVELY,
These words of Subhuti are very significant. Now you will be surprised. This is the time Subhuti is talking about, and you are the people. Twenty-five hundred years have passed. Subhuti has asked about you. Buddha has said that whenever a religion is born, or whenever a Buddha turns the wheel of Dhamma, naturally, and slowly the wheel starts stopping. It loses momentum. You turn a wheel, it will start moving. Then by and by, a moment will come when it will slow down first and then stop. When a Buddha moves the wheel of Dhamma, it takes two thousand five hundred years for it to stop completely. After every five hundred years it goes on losing momentum. So those are the five ages of the Dhamma. After each five hundred years, the Dhamma will be less and less in its potency and effectiveness. And then after twenty-five centuries the wheel will stop completely. It will need another Buddha to turn it for the coming twenty-five centuries. This is a rare phenomenon. It is really intriguing that Subhuti asked Buddha about this:
WILL THERE BE ANY BEINGS IN THE FUTURE PERIOD, IN THE LAST TIME, IN THE LAST EPOCH, IN THE LAST FIVE HUNDRED YEARS, AT THE TIME OF THE COLLAPSE OF THE GOOD DOCTRINE WHO, WHEN THESE WORDS OF THE SUTRA ARE BEING TAUGHT, WILL UNDERSTAND THEIR TRUTH?
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THE LORD REPLIED: DO NOT SPEAK THUS, SUBHUTI! YES, EVEN THEN THERE WILL BE BEINGS WHO, WHEN THESE WORDS OF THE SUTRA ARE BEING TAUGHT, WILL UNDERSTAND THEIR TRUTH. FOR EVEN AT THAT TIME, SUBHUTI, THERE WILL BE BODHISATTVAS. AND THESE BODHISATTVAS, SUBHUTI, WILL NOT BE SUCH AS HAVE HONORED ONLY ONE SINGLE BUDDHA, NOR SUCH AS HAVE PLANTED THEIR ROOTS OF MERIT UNDER ONE SINGLE BUDDHA ONLY. ON THE CONTRARY, SUBHUTI, THOSE BODHISATTVAS WHO, WHEN THESE WORDS OF THE SUTRA ARE BEING TAUGHT, WILL FIND EVEN ONE SINGLE THOUGHT OF SERENE FAITH, BE SUCH AS HAVE HONORED MANY HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF BUDDHAS, SUCH AS HAVE PLANTED THEIR ROOTS OF MERIT UNDER MANY HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF BUDDHAS. KNOWN THEY ARE, SUBHUTI, TO THE TATHAGATA THROUGH HIS BUDDHA-COGNITION. SEEN THEY ARE, SUBHUTI, BY THE TATHAGATA WITH HIS BUDDHA-EYE. FULLY-KNOWN THEY ARE, SUBHUTI, TO THE TATHAGATA. AND THEY ALL, SUBHUTI WILL BEGET AND ACQUIRE AN IMMEASURABLE AND INCALCULABLE HEAP OF MERIT.
These words are significant as these overflows the compassion of Buddha for what he had said 2,500 year ago that he is committed to bring nirvana to the entire humanity. Buddha is talking about you. The Sutra is being read to you. Twenty-five centuries have passed. Subhuti has asked about you. Many a times I had told you that you are all Buddhas. Many of you will become bodhisattvas as many of you are on the way. It is strange that Subhuti should ask such a question. And more strange is that Buddha says:
THOSE PEOPLE AFTER TWENTY-FIVE CENTURIES WILL NOT BE LESS FORTUNATE THAN YOU BUT WILL BE MORE FORTUNATE.
I have told you many times that you are ancient ones. You have been here before as well. You have walked on this earth many times before, and you are not listening to Dhamma for the first time. You have come across many Buddhas in your past lives sometimes as a Krishna or a Christ or a Mahavira or a Mohammed, but you have come across many Buddhas - many enlightened people. In your unconsciousness you never recognized Buddhas. And now you do not remember either. But I remember all those whom I have ever met in any life. Remember there is a power within that knows beyond our knowing. We are neither aliens nor as strangers. Instead we are bound to each other by a causeless force.
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana You are fortunate to know so many Buddhas, and if you become a little alert, all the seeds that have been sown in you by the past Buddhas will start blooming. And when these will sprout you will reap the fruits at the dawn of new awakening. You will start flowering. Buddha says:
KNOWN THEY ARE, SUBHUTI, TO THE TATHAGATA THROUGH HIS BUDDHA-COGNITION. SEEN THEY ARE, SUBHUTI, BY THE TATHAGATA WITH HIS BUDDHA-EYE. FULLY-KNOWN THEY ARE, SUBHUTI, TO THE TATHAGATA.
It is mysterious. Yet indeed it is possible. A Buddha can have a vision of the future. He can see through the fog of the future. His clarity is such, and his vision is such, that he can throw a ray of light into the unknown future. He can see. It will look very mysterious that Buddha sees you listening to The Diamond Sutra. From your standpoint it may seem almost unbelievable, because you do not know even how to see in the present. How can you believe that anybody can see in the future? You know only one capacity to look into the past. You can only look backwards. You are past-oriented. And whatsoever you think about your future is not a vision of the future, instead it is just a projection of the modified past. It is not future at all. It is your yesterday trying to be repeated as tomorrow. Are you aware that you move forward looking into the past? You are never open to the new. Something you have tasted yesterday and it was sweet and you want it again tomorrow - this is your future. You have been in love with somebody and you want to make love again in the future - this is your future. Your future is nothing but a repetition of the past. It is not future at all. You know nothing what future is all about. You cannot know what future is because you cannot even know what the present is. And the present is available and you are so blind that you cannot even see into that which is already here. Instead you go on lamenting for that which is gone or not yet. In both cases it is not there. And that which is in front of you never interests you. But then, eyes open, you can see even into that which is not present, or that which is going to happen. You can have glimpses of that. The way to see the future is first to see the present. One who can be absolutely in the present becomes capable of looking into the future.
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana This is ecstatic to even think that Gautama the Buddha had seen you listening to The Diamond Sutra. In The Diamond Sutra you are talked about. That is why I have chosen to talk on these sutras. Many years ago I spoke on the Discipline of Transcendence. And now once again I have chosen to overflow Gautama the Buddha. When I came across these words I immediately remembered, this is for my people. They must know that even they have been looked into by Gautama the Buddha. And that something about them has been said twenty-five centuries ago. Indeed Buddha had seen you all and this is all about you. Buddha had predicted your arrival on the path. The wheel that Buddha moved has stopped. The wheel has to be moved again. And that is going to be my and your life-work. Indeed that wheel has to be moved again so that the process of transformation of human consciousness or the birth of new man continues erelong. Once it starts revolving it will have again twenty-five centuries life-span. Once it starts moving it goes on moving for twenty-five centuries at least. And it has to be done again and again and again because everything loses momentum after some time. Remember everything functions under the laws of nature. This law of nature is called - ENTROPY. You throw a stone with great energy, but it goes a few hundred feet and then it falls down. Exactly like that Dhamma has to be made again and again alive. Only a living Buddha can do this. A living Buddha breathes life force into it. Then it becomes alive once again for twenty-five centuries and then again dies. Everything that is born has to die. So is Dhamma and before it dies life force is infused into it by a living Buddha.
But Buddha says: Subhuti, do not speak thus. Subhuti must be thinking,
Only we are fortunate. We have listened to Buddha, lived with Buddha, walked with Buddha. We are fortunate, we are blessed people. What will happen after twenty five centuries when the wheel of Dhamma has completely stopped moving? He is thinking about you unfortunate people. Buddha continues: Do not speak thus, Subhuti. Dont start thinking that only you are fortunate. That is a very subtle ego:
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana We are fortunate, nobody else is so fortunate. Buddha immediately puts his hand on Subhutis mouth:
DO NOT SPEAK THUS, SUBHUTI! YES, EVEN THEN THERE WILL BE BEINGS WHO, WHEN THESE WORDS OF THE SUTRA ARE BEING TAUGHT, WILL UNDERSTAND THEIR TRUTH.
And I know there are people who understand the truth. Slowly and slowly the morning is happening, the dark nights are disappearing. Slowly and slowly the seed is gaining the ground, and entering in your heart.
FOR EVEN AT THAT TIME, SUBHUTI, THERE WILL BE BODHISATTVAS,
There are many here who are going to become bodhisattvas. Just a little work more, a little more effort into meditativeness, more energy, and its concentration as well, avoiding distractions, and then it is sure to happen. And it is going to happen to many. And you are indeed the fortunate ones, Buddha says.
AND THESE BODHISATTVAS, SUBHUTI, WILL NOT BE SUCH AS HAVE HONORED ONLY ONE SINGLE BUDDHA, NOR SUCH AS HAVE PLANTED THEIR ROOTS OF MERIT UNDER ONE SINGLE BUDDHA ONLY. ON THE CONTRARY, SUBHUTI, THOSE BODHISATTVAS WHO, WHEN THESE WORDS OF THE SUTRA ARE BEING TAUGHT, WILL FIND EVEN ONE SINGLE THOUGHT OF SERENE FAITH...
If you can even understand a single word of The Diamond Sutra, or you can understand a simple look of my eyes into your eyes, or you can understand a simple gesture of my inner dance.... Buddha says:
... WILL FIND EVEN ONE SINGLE THOUGHT OF SERENE FAITH, BE SUCH AS HAVE HONORED MANY HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF BUDDHAS, SUCH AS HAVE PLANTED THEIR ROOTS OF MERIT UNDER MANY HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF BUDDHAS. KNOWN THEY ARE, SUBHUTI, TO THE TATHAGATA THROUGH HIS BUDDHA-COGNITION. SEEN THEY ARE, SUBHUTI, BY THE TATHAGATA WITH HIS BUDDHA-EYE. FULLY-KNOWN THEY ARE, SUBHUTI, TO THE TATHAGATA. AND THEY ALL, SUBHUTI, WILL BEGET AND ACQUIRE AN IMMEASURABLE AND INCALCULABLE HEAP OF MERIT.
And you are the people Buddha is talking about. And you are the people I am depending on. And it is for you that I go on overflowing in many a myriad ways and paths. This is indeed means when Krishna says:
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Question:
In the preceding Sutra the declaration by Sri Krishna had a condition that for the protection of the sage and for the destruction of the wicked I rise from age to age. Please explain this.
Taoshobuddha:
or the protection of the sage and for the destruction of the wicked imply the same thing. When the wicked is really destroyed this need to be understood. This requires going deeper into the essence of the Sutra. Almost all the commentators have remained on the surface. Remember there is a vast difference between a commentary and the insights. The difference is like heaven and earth. The difference is not quantitative instead it is qualitative. Can wickedness vanish by destroying the wicked? Certainly the wickedness cannot destroy this way. You never looked at this Sutra like this. By killing or destroying the wicked the wickedness can never vanish. Wickedness is an inner process that never ceases by killing one. You kill one wicked a next one takes place. Wickedness is deeply
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana rooted in human unconsciousness. The root is complex and deep. By destroying the wicked is like pruning the tree. You have to uproot the tree from the roots. Krishna knows very well that by killing nothing changes only the form changes. The body will not be visible not. The wickedness is no more a physical manifestation instead it has reached a subtler level. The wickedness vanishes only in one condition when it is transformed into righteousness. This requires the process of spiritual transformation. Krishna is not only a warrior instead he is an enlightened master who understands this and is capable of bringing inner transformation in the wicked. According to Hindus when a wicked is thus killed full of awareness attains to salvation. This is a way of transformation. Without inner transformation the wickedness cannot vanish this Krishna knows. The ignorant one will kill the wicked and thus feel certain that with this the seed of wickedness too is destroyed. You cut a tree from the stem that does not mean that the tree will not grow again. The roots are there and the seed too. The moment the spring comes the tree will have new foliage and the growth will begin. The seeds too will sprout in the right environment. To destroy the wicked is easy however to destroy wickedness is an altogether different matter. This does not require a mighty warrior instead an enlightened master. Interestingly he made another significant statement in this sutra for the protection of the sage. This requires a meditative insight. You have to understand first who is a sage. Is he the one in a particular garb saffron robe, or a white robe, or changed the name or is inducted or ordained by an institution or has certain mannerism? This is the way we see the sage around us mushrooming. Is he really a sage? Krishna is speaking of the inner quality of the sage. Sage is one who is beyond the finiteness of body-mind realm. Sage is the one in whom the existence has descended. Inner lamp is lit. He lives by his inner light. Inner has blossomed into myriad flowers. And now its beauty and fragrance assumes the form or words and gestures in the outer realm. In him greed, vanity,
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana lust, ego, anger, jealousy, ignorance all are transformed into compassion. In such a being there will be no outer symptom. He is like woman who protects the virginity from any contamination and damage. Unless you have experienced something within yourself you will not be able to recognize him. Such an enlightened one lives by his inner light. The question comes does such a being needs any protection Certainly Krishna is not speaking of such a sage. A buddha needs no protection. He has no will of his. Thy will is his will. Then how can he need any protection. Indian national poet Hazariprasad Dwivadi has encompassed a conversation between Buddha and Purna Kashyapa. Purna attained to enlightenment and he comes to pay his gratitude to Buddha who is sitting is his usual posture with eyes half open and half closed. Purna explains his inner state of bliss that is overflowing. Buddha: While spreading the messages if people do not listen, then what will you do? Purna: I will consider them to be gripped by ignorance. And ignorance can only be dispelled by light and awareness. Buddha: If these ignorant ones abuse you? Purna: What can abuse do to one? It cannot harm physically and one who is empty within abuse cannot create any scar on his innerness. Such a person needs compassion instead. Buddha: Still the ignorant one does not understand and stone you. Purna: Stone can hurt the outer the physical but cannot damage the inner serenity and bliss. Buddha: Suppose they are still not satisfied with stoning and kill you then. Purna: Let thy will prevail and spreading the light that too is accepted as Thy Will. It is said Buddha opened his eyes that were half open and blessed Purna saying now you have. You can share only that which you have. Purna was sent by Buddha in the remotest area of Bihar called Sookha a criminal area to spread the message of Buddha. Such is the innerness or the quality of a sage that Krishna is referring to.
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana I am reminded of an incident from the life of Swami Vivekananda. He was encouraged by the Maharaja of Khetri to go to America to attend the Parliament of Religions. Vivekananda hesitated as he needs the permission from his master who was no more physically alive. He mentioned of this to the Maharaja and also said that he has to go to seek the permission from Ma Sharda before he can make any commitment. Thus Vivekananda reached Kolkata to visit Ma. Seeing Vivekananda after such long time she became elated. She started enquiring all about his welfare as she sat him near her in the kitchen. She kept him so engrossed in her loving talks that Vivekananda forgot all about the permission that he came for. Ma told him that she will prepare his favorite rice dish as meals. While Vivekananda and Ma were in the kitchen suddenly she asked Vivekananda to hand her the kitchen knife that lay near him. Vivekananda held the knife with the blade and facing the wooden handle towards the holy mother gestured to give the knife to her. The holy mother looked at Vivekananda compassionately and said, Now you have and you can go to attend the Parliament of Religions. Thus mysteriously the holy mother gave Vivekananda the permission for which he came but forgot to ask. Such is the inner state of a sage or an enlightened one or a master that Krishna is speaking of. And definitely he needs no protection. His awareness, inner light is sufficient unto itself. What was so peculiar in this incident that I mentioned? No scholar or your so called priest speaks like this. Such is the devise of the master. Remember the knife has to two sides the sharp metal blade that is used to cut vegetables. Certainly this side can harm as well if not used carefully. And the other side is wooden that is a safer side to hold the knife. The user always holds the knife with the handle. Vivekananda in a flash realized this devise. He held the knife with the metal blade and faced the wooden handle towards Ma. This is significant. The master used a devise and the disciple understood and executed with awareness. So too you consciousness is double arrowed. One side must face the other to whom it is directed and the next side must face you. Thus mystical connection is established between the master and the disciple. Normally when someone speaks the focus is on the listener and the speaker loses contact with his being. The quality of the sage requires allowing the bridge to be established between the two. This bridge is commune and the essence of the Satsang. Only when such commune or bridge is established then the master can bring about the transformation in the seeker through his awareness. Of course Krishna cannot understand a sage in any other way. Then the question comes why he is saying for the protection of the sage and protection from
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana whom. Sage is capable of protecting him. And this Krishna knows very well. Sages need no protection from the wicked or anyone else. His lives by the cosmic law the divine will. And when one is living by divine will and has experienced the eternal within he is not at all afraid of even dying. You may still think that Krishna is seeking the protection of the sage. This is the surface meaning. To explore the gems that lie hidden within the womb of the ocean you cannot remain on the surface instead you have to dive deep within the ocean. And in case to understand the essential or the message of Krishna that is deeply embedded in the Sutra first you have to explore your innerness only then the doors of the Sutra are unlocked for you. Before that you will simply remain on the surface. Then what does Krishna really imply by the statement for the protection of the sage. The day sage will be false. Sainthood will become false then I will have to come to establish the order of Dharma. When the wheel of Dharma is rotated it continues for 500 years then the momentum slows down. After every five hundred years the rotation of the wheel of Dharma needs a new force. And after twenty five hundred years the movement ceases completely. Then the process has to reactivate. He implies when these false sages begin to mushroom and the movement of the wheel of Dharma is slowing down I will return. And when he returns what will be his form? Will he return as Krishna? All the flowers be these of Krishna or Jesus are ignorantly waiting for their original preceptor in his original form. Remember nothing is repetitive in existence because God is the Creator not the manufacturer. Each time the He creates it is always fresh and new. There is never repetition. Only a manufacture is repetitive. He goes on producing the products on the assembly line because he is not creating. Even when Krishna returns to fulfill the promise the Sadhus will say to him not to worry because we are secure in our insecurity. We have understood the cosmic law that everything moves in synergistic harmony. What is the definition of a sadhu indeed one who is totally secure in his insecurity. His awareness and understanding and light are his security. One who is at ease amidst dangers and uncertainties of life is sadhu. Krishna need not protect such a man of awareness. This statement is very significant. Krishna says the day sadhu will no more be a sadhu instead a fake garb and all around are such persons that day I will have to come. And the inner insight is that day there will be the need to transform the wicked. To destroy the wicked is a simple act that anyone can do. For that Krishna
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana is not needed. The law is quite capable to destroy the wicked. All punishment and law is there to destroy the wicked. However your law and punishments cannot transform the wicked. Your prisons are Universities from where the wicked graduates. The law lords, lawyers are there to support and train the wicked. Otherwise there would have been no need for Krishna to come when the laws of the nation are there. Law cannot transform the wicked. For transformation, and birth of the new man awakening of the awakened one is needed. To transform wicked as sadhus needs awakening. Can you imagine the state when even the wicked comes in the garb of a sadhu? This statement is misunderstood. Your commentators and the priests propagate that Krishna comes to protect the sage and destroy the wicked. The sage or sadhus thinks that Krishna is coming for our protection. The wicked thinks Krishna is coming to kill us because the wicked can only think in terms of killing the other. However, a deeper understanding reveals that nothing can be destroyed. Form is energy and energy cannot be destroyed only its form changes. Take, for instance, ice, this is one form. In that form water remains frozen and is totally unmoving. The moment it begins to melt it becomes fluid like and then begins to move flow. When water flows it can move far. And when the water is put to heat at a certain temperature it begins to evaporate. It disappears and becomes the part of the entire cosmos. This is the subtlest form of water. Water is not destroyed in any state only its form changes. Energy changes the form and in the process it is not destroyed. Certainly the statement says, For the destruction of the wicked however the insight is not what you understand by it or you are told. Indeed wickedness can only be transformed when its form changes from wickedness to righteousness. This is needed when the righteousness remains only on the surface as appearance like a woman who is acting that she is carrying a new life within but she cannot deliver the new life. For something new to deliver a change has to take place deep within. When righteousness is fake just an appearance only then a higher force or energy or the awakened one is needed to set the wheel of dharma once again in motion or increase its RPM. But your custodians of religion and priests go in imagining erroneously sitting in their monasteries that whenever problems arise Krishna will come. The sage feels contended that all those who are troubling us are wicked. Such is the ordinary human understanding. In reality for a sage there is no enemy. Everyone is friend. He understands the Upanishadic dictum- Isavasyam idam sarvam God alone permeates through the entire creation. When the one troubling you or creating problems appear to you to be the enemy then there is no difference between you and him. You cannot trouble or create obstructions for the awakened
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana one. Awakening is the expression of righteousness. They go on thinking that Krishna promised to protect us and whenever we are in trouble he will protect us. I have heard during the British Rule once there was a curfew in a particular area. A Sanyasi was returning to his monastery late during the curfew hour as he lost the way. He had taken the vow of silence. Thus when he reached the curfew area it was pitch dark he was caught and quizzed but because of his vow he did not utter any word. And according to the law of curfew if the person does not speak at the count of three he is shot at point blank. He could not defend him because of silence and authorities were not aware of his silence as a result he was shot. And at the last moment when he was dying he spoke Swetketu you too. There was no fear instead he welcomes the death. When awakening dawns the duality of subject and object disappears. The subject and object are one. God killed God. The one who was killed and one who killed are both manifestation of God Isavasyam idam sarvam Ignorant they missed this statement. And the statement of Krishna comes as a satire for the ignorant sage. Whenever, an awakened one as Krishna is really satires, it has a deeper meaning. Theirs is no ordinary satire. Indeed this statement is deep satire for the sage that a time will come when protection will be needed for the sage. Statements of Krishna, Buddha, Christ, and Mahavira are no ordinary statements they are impregnated with eternal fire that requires awakening and understanding. To understand these statements first you have to plunge deep within your being and when the lamp is lit only then in your inner light everything gets incandescent and shows the essence.
Statements of Krishna, Buddha, Christ, and Mahavira are no ordinary statements they are impregnated with eternal fire that requires awakening and understanding. To understand these statements first you have to plunge deep within your being and when the lamp is lit only then in your inner light everything gets incandescent and shows the essence.
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Shrimad Bhagavad Gita In English (Full): http://youtu.be/L4GNYGzwZSQ Srimad Bhagvad Gita in Sanskrit: http://youtu.be/8kc_NW03d1k
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The title is the last two words of the famous oft used sutra of the Bhagavad Gita.
Existence is synergistic harmony. The balance is the very essence of the existence. Whenever there is imbalance the divine forces set in motion once again to restore the balance. This is natural and effortless. When the darkness is at its peak dawn comes in. When there is excess heat rainy season comes in. Day and night, the
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana seasons, autumn and spring are all bound by a synergistic law. This is cosmic law. Nanak calls this Hukum the cosmic law. He is the only truth. He is true in the beginning. He is true in the end. He is truth now. He will be truth forever. His truth is beyond time and space. For this you have to move from the realm of the mind to another realm. Of this you know not. Neither by thinking can you attain. Also by your constant thinking you have missed the essence. Inner chattering continues unabated. And there seems no way to cease this chattering. How and when will the veil of ignorance or illusion vanish? This veil is ego and beclouds the manifestation of truth. Then a voice echoes deep within when will Truth manifest? But the voice is lost in the clatter of the mind. The methodology comes: to fall once again within this existential law. No one is doing anything yet it is existing rhythmically. Hindus have experienced this as the cosmic sound Aum. What is the definition of truth and non-truth? What does a master understand by truth? How to make you understand this? May be a problem with you! It is bound to be. However such is not the case with awakened ones. Having drunk the lifes elixir words simply flow effortlessly out of the awakened ones. The Bhagavad Gita is one such spontaneous overflow of the awakened one. It seems as if words are coming not from the mind. Although mind mechanism is working to continue the message but the words are forming from the deepest core of Nanak-the infinite, unfathomable realm of harmony, and oneness. Krishna sings this inner harmony as the Bhagavad Gita. He is the only truth. He is true in the beginning. He is true in the end. He is truth now. He will be truth forever. His truth is beyond time and space. Such is the only definition of truth. That which is now but not later is transient. That cannot be God. God is eternity. This is the definition of truth and untruth. Untruth is that which is ephemeral, short-lived, something that goes on changing. Untruth is that ceases to exist at the two shores. Look at the dream. Before you went to sleep it was not and when you wake up again it is not there. A dream exists only between these two shores of waking, and dreaming states of awareness. And these states are not permanent. Not in your control either until you are totally awake. And when you are awake totally then you will remain awake even in your sleep and dreaming state as well. Then dreams are more. And thus disappears the veil all that beclouds the manifestation of truth. The veil of ignorance and illusion as well! The dreams are when you are dreaming. In the morning it disappears. On waking you know the dream cannot be true. It was not there in the evening and again this morning this no more.
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana One day your body was no more. And one day again it will be no more. Your body is false. Truth is that which exists beyond time and space. This is the definition of all the awakened ones. One moment there is anger and the next moment it is no more. This is dream like. All awakened ones say when you allow this understanding to sink in you will be transformed. Do not be too much concerned with mind and its mechanism of veiling truth. Awakened one says search that which never dies and is never born. That which is beyond change! Such is the search inherent in Bhagvad Gita. Also the entire message revolves around this. What is that within that never changes? Seek that alone, says inner ecstasy. Certainly that lies within you veiled by your vision and cognition. And all changes happen around that eternal alone. Try to understand this. A wheel moves. How does this happen? The wheel moves around an axle. The axle remains fixedunmoved. You remove the axle. The wheel falls immediately. Without the axle the wheel can no more revolve. The change in the movement of the wheel happens around the fixed axle. So too the axle of soul remains ever fixed and body revolves around this axle of soul! This is the essence of truth beyond time and space. That alone is true. How can that alone be true? Because nothing else exists except that eternal, and immutable! All the rest is dream-like. This veils the manifestation of truth. Now the methodology follows. When anger plagues your consciousness! Hate inflicts you! Allow the words of the awakened one echo in you like the dissolving notes of an enchanting melody or an intoxicating awareness. Remember: Truth is beyond time and space. That which always is, know that alone as truth the eternal. Be a witness. You will realize slowly and slowly all that is futile will certainly begin to vanish. The essential will begin to evolve. The world will begin to disappear. Krishna says you cannot attain to this awareness or witnessing by thinking. And through thinking alone you have lost your serenity. God is not and conclusion of any hypothesis. Also he is not the conclusion of logic. God is eternal truth. The way is not through thinking. What will you gain through thinking? By thinking alone you have lost. Through thinking you are lost in the forest of words and duality. You have to attain eyes to see the essential. When your eyes are full of thoughts you will remain blind. Your eyes need to be nirvichar or thoughtless.
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana Zen calls this no mind. Kabir calls this as unmani dasha or the state of awareness. Patanjali calls this as nirvikar samadhi. All these are different ways to explain the same state of awareness. This refers to a state when all thoughts, opportunities, and alternatives are no more. Neither by thinking nor by a forced silence can you attain this. By thinking inner silence is not attained. Thinking is effort. You cannot fall asleep through effort. All efforts have to drop. And then suddenly you realize that you have fallen asleep. Your effort alone will become an obstruction in attaining inner silence. You can become statue like outwardly but inner dialogue and disturbance will continue. You will be like the one sitting on a volcano-ready to explode any moment. It happened once Nanak was the guest at the house of a Muslim chief called Nawab. Nanak is beyond religion. One who has known he is not bound by finiteness of caste, creed and religion. Knowing this the chief invited Nanak for Friday Salaat or prayer. Nanak agreed for the prayer only on one condition. He said I will certainly offer prayers, if you are going to offer the prayers. The chief could not understand this condition. He was going to offer prayer anyways. Entire village gathered. Hindus and Muslims gathered. Everyone wants to know what Nanak is doing. Hindus lamented as they thought Nanak is going to be a Muslim. Muslims rejoiced that a man like Nanak has now got senses. We see things as we are. And fear remains the guiding force of all our thinking and approach to life. This is how your so called religious ones are. Each ignorant one thinks that he can maul the awakened one. Indeed innocence is the ornament of the awakened one. And innocence cannot be manipulated. It is purest and the manifestation of that which is and also that pervades the entire cosmos. Innocence is your very nature. You do not have to become it, you are already it. You are born innocent. Then layers and layers of conditioning are imposed upon your innocence. Your innocence is like a mirror and conditioning is like layers of dust. The mirror has not to be achieved, the mirror is already there - or rather, here. The mirror is not lost it is only hidden behind the layers of dust. You do not have to follow a way to reach your nature because you cannot leave your nature, you cannot go anywhere else. Even if you wanted to, it is impossible. That is exactly the definition of nature: nature means that which cannot be left behind, that which cannot be renounced. But you can forget about it. You cannot lose it but it can be forgotten. And that is exactly what has happened. The mirror is not lost but forgotten forgotten because it is not functioning anymore as a mirror. Not that any defect has arisen in it, just layers of dust are covering it. All that is needed is to clean it, to remove those layers of dust.
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The process of becoming innocent is not really a process of becoming instead it is a process of discovering your being. It is a discovery, not an achievement. You do not attain to something new, you simply attain to that which you have always been. It is a forgotten language. It happens many times: you see a person on the road, you recognize him, and his face seems familiar. Suddenly you remember also that you know his name. You say, It is just on the tip of my tongue, but still it is not coming to you. What is happening? If it is just on the tip of your tongue, then why cant you say it? You know that you know it, but still you are not able to remember it. And the more you try, the more difficult it becomes, because making an effort makes you more tense, and when you are tense you are farther away from your nature, you are farther away from that which is already there. When you are relaxed you are closer; when you are utterly relaxed, it will surface of its own accord. So you try hard, but it does not come, so you forget all about it. Then lying down in your bath, or just swimming in the pool, and you are not even trying to remember that man's name when suddenly it bubbles up. What has happened? You were not trying to remember, and you were relaxed. When you are relaxed you are wide your consciousness is widest almost cosmic. Contrary to it when you are tense you become narrow and also your consciousness becomes more tense, and narrow. The passage between you and that which is inside you becomes so narrow that nothing can pass through it, not even a single name. All the great scientific discoveries have been made in this very mysterious way - in this very unscientific way, so to speak. Madame Curie was working on a certain mathematical problem for three years continuously and the more she tried, the farther and farther away the solution seemed. She tried every possible way, but nothing was working, nothing was happening. And there was somewhere a deep, tacit feeling that The solution exists. I am not struggling with something absurd. This tacit feeling continued all the time as an undercurrent; hence she could not drop the effort either. She was getting tired - three years wasted for a single problem. But deep down within her somebody was saying, The solution is possible. This exercise is not futile. Go on. And she went on stubbornly, she persisted. She dropped all other projects and she forced herself totally into the one problem. But the more she tried, the more impossible it became. One night it happened, almost as it happened to Gautama the Buddha; of course, the problems were different, but the process was the same. Buddha had struggled for six years to attain enlightenment and he had attained nothing. Then one night
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana he dropped the whole effort, went to sleep, and, by the morning when the last star was setting, he became Enlightened. That night Madame Curie dropped the idea, the whole project - and she closed the chapter. Enough is enough! Three years wasted is too much for one problem. There were other problems which were waiting to be solved. It was finished in her mind, although the tacit understanding was still there just like a constant murmur. But she had followed it long enough, it was time. One has only a limited time; three years is too much for one problem. Deliberately she dropped the idea. As far as she was concerned she closed the whole project. She went to sleep never to be bothered by that problem again. And in the morning when she got up she was surprised. On a piece of paper on her table, the solution was there, written in her own handwriting. She could not believe her eyes. Who had done it? The servant could not have done it - he knew nothing of mathematics, and if Madame Curie had not been able to do it in three years, how could the servant have done it? And there was nobody else in the house. And the servant had not entered in the night - the doors were locked from inside. She looked closely and the handwriting resembled hers. Then suddenly she remembered a dream. In the dream she had seen that she had got up, gone to the table, written something.... Slowly and slowly, the dream became clear. And she remembered that she had done it in the night. It was not a dream, she had actually done it. And this was the solution! For three years she had been struggling hard and nothing was happening - and the night she dropped the project, it happened. What happened? She became relaxed. Once you have dropped the effort you become relaxed, you become restful, soft, wide, open and flowing. It was there inside her, it surfaced. Finding the mind no longer tense, it surfaced. Such relaxedness is the essence of the teachings of the Bhagvad Gita. Arjuna became relaxed and in that moment of relaxedness Arjuna attained to that Krishna was trying to teach Arjuna. Innocence is there, you have simply forgotten it. You have been made to forget it. Society is cunning. For centuries man has learned that you can survive in this society only if you are cunning. The more cunning you are, the more successful you will be. That is the whole game of politics: be cunning, be more cunning than others. It is a constant struggle and competition as to who can be more cunning. Whosoever is more cunning is going to succeed, is going to be powerful. After centuries of cunningness man has learned one thing: that to remain innocent is dangerous, you will not be able to survive. Hence parents try to drive their children out of their innocence. Teachers, schools, colleges, universities exist for
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana the simple work of making you more cunning, more clever. Although they call it intelligence it is not intelligence. Intelligence is not against innocence, remember. Instead intelligence is the flavor of innocence. Intelligence is the fragrance of innocence. Cunningness is against innocence; and cunningness, cleverness are not synonymous with intelligence. But to be intelligent needs a tremendous journey inwards. No schools can help, no colleges, no universities can help. Parents, priests, the society, they are all extrovert therefore they cannot help you to go inwards. And buddhas are very rare, few and far between. Not everybody is fortunate enough to find a buddha. Arjuna found an awakened in Yogeshwara Krishna. And the message of such enlightened ones is the beacon light for human being along the inner path. Only a buddha the awakened one can help you to be an intelligent person, but you cannot find so many buddhas who want to become primary school teachers and high school teachers and university professors; it is impossible. So there is a substitute for intelligence. Cunningness is a substitute for intelligence - a very poor substitute, remembers. And not only is it a poor substitute, instead it is just the opposite of it too. The intelligent person is not cunning; certainly intelligent, but his intelligence keeps his innocence intact. He does not sell it for mundane things. The cunning person is ready to sell his soul for small things. Judas sold Jesus for only thirty silver coins - just thirty silver coins. And a Jesus can be sold. Judas must have thought that he was being very intelligent, but he was simply cunning. If you do not like the word cunning you can call him clever; that is just a good name for the same thing, for the same ugly thing. The society prepares you to be cunning so that you are capable of competing in this struggle for existence, the struggle to survive. It is a cut-throat competition everybody is after everybody elses throat. People are ready to do anything to succeed, to be famous, and to climb the ladder of success, name and fame. They are ready to use you as stepping-stones. Unless you are also cunning you will be simply used, manipulated. Hence the society trains every child to be cunning, and these layers of cunningness are hiding your innocence. Innocence has not to be achieved, it is already there. Hence it is not a question of becoming, it is your being. It has only to be discovered - or rediscovered. You have to drop all that you have learned from others, and you will immediately be innocent.
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Abandoning all the religions of body, mind and intellect come to me and me alone I shall liberate thee of thy. Who makes this promise really? You will sing at the top of your voice certainly it is Krishna. No it is not so. You think you have matured and are intelligent or understand Bhagavad Gita. Krishna represents consciousness awakening the innocence. And this is the entire message of Krishna to Arjuna attain to this undivided consciousness the innocence that is your nature. Hence my antagonism is towards all knowledge that is borrowed. Do not quote the Bible, or Gita. Do not behave like parrots. Do not just go on living on borrowed information. Therefore start seeking and searching your own inner intelligence. A negative process is needed. It is to be achieved through VIA NEGATIVA. That is the Buddhas way. You have to negate all that has been given to you. You have to say, This is not mine; hence I have no claim over it. It may be true, it may not be true. Who knows? Others say it is so; unless it becomes my experience I cannot agree or disagree. I will not believe or disbelieve. I will not be a Catholic or a communist; I will not be a Hindu or a Mohammedan. I will simply not follow any ideology. Because, whoever you follow, you will be gathering dust around yourself. Therefore, stop following. Being with me, you are not my followers, remember it. Friends certainly you are, but not followers in any way. You are in a love affair with me, but it is not a question of following. And my work here is not to teach you something, but to help you to discover yourself. Just drop all knowledge. It hurts because you have carried that knowledge for so long and you have been bragging so much about that knowledge. And suddenly I am saying to you: Drop all that nonsense. Just be as simple and innocent as a child. Just be again a child as you were born, as God sent you into this world. In that mirror like state you will be able to reflect that which is. Innocence is the door to knowing. Knowledge is the barrier and innocence is the bridge. For me this is the essence or epitome of Bhagavad Gita and not all that your commentators have been conditioning you with. Innocence is the ultimate flowering of your consciousness. Even a child is not innocent; he is simply ignorant. He does not know, but he is not aware that he
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana knows not. The child most probably will become stupid, because the society needs stupid people, the religions need stupid people, and the politicians need stupid people. All vested interests need the masses to remain stupid. Their stupidity is the opportunity for all vested interests to exploit them. It is very rare that somebody rebels against religions, politics, social structure, and tries to retain his individuality; chooses ignorance rather than to be knowledgeable, because ignorance at least is natural. In being knowledgeable you have gone far away from your nature. The person who rebels against all these vested interests and discovers that he knows nothing, that he only knows one thing that he knows nothing - he is the innocent man. When Bodhidharma was asked by Emperor Wu of China, Who are you Bodhidharma said, I do not know. It was not ignorance. Bodhidharma is one of those few people who have come to innocence. Socrates last statement is, I know only that I know nothing. Stupidity is common. It comes in all sizes, all shapes: Christian stupidity, Hindu stupidity, Mohammedan stupidity, Buddhist stupidity, communist stupidity. One thing about stupidity: it never looks inwards. It can see outside - for example, a Hindu can see that Jesus cannot be enlightened, for the simple reason that he drinks wine and moves with prostitutes. It is impossible for Hindu stupidity to recognize Jesus as enlightened. The Christian cannot see Krishna as enlightened. He had sixteen thousand wives, all forcibly taken from their husbands, from their children - and the man is the perfect incarnation of God! It is difficult for the Christian to see how Krishna can be the incarnation of God. He forces Arjuna to go to war, convinces him - against his will - to go into a war which is known in India as the Great War, which destroyed India forever. It broke Indias spine; since then India has never been able to reach any heights. It was available to all kinds of invaders, easily available to become enslaved. The whole responsibility goes to Krishna. Now, a Christian who believes, Love your enemy, and love even your neighbor... I am always wondering why Jesus has not said, Love your wife too, love your husband too - because the enemy is far away, to love the enemy is easy. To love the neighbor is more difficult, and to love the wife or the husband is almost impossible. The Christian teaching seems to be of peace, and Krishnas teaching seems to be of war, and violence. No, it is not possible for Christians to accept Krishna. They can see the stupidity of Indians who believe in Krishna. The Christian cannot accept even Gautama Buddha, for the simple reason that he never healed sick
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana people, he never gave eyes to the blind, he never raised the dead back to life. Then what kind of a savior is he? He never served anybody, and service is religion to the Christian mind. Just look from the other side. If you ask the Buddhist, Do you think Jesus Christ is a savior? he will simply laugh. He will say, Saviors are not crucified. Jesus could not save himself; he is a pretender, a hypocrite, claiming that he can save the whole humanity. And the Hindus, the Jainas, the Buddhists, all the Indian religions, believe that if a certain person is crucified, that means in his past life he must have committed really grave crimes, perhaps murders. Otherwise crucifixion is impossible; it has to be related to his life. Jainas say that when Mahavira, their savior, walks on the road, even thorns move away. Because Mahavira has not committed any crime in his past life, he cannot suffer even a thorn. Hindus say, if Mira is given poison, the poison turns into nectar, because she has not committed any sin in her past life. Therefore Jesus crucifixion, which is very significant to the Christian, is simply a proof for Hindus, Jainas, and Buddhists, that this man was simply a pretender. Stupidity has this trait: it can see in others, but it cannot look within wards. No Christian can see anything wrong in Jesus Christ, no Hindu can see anything wrong in Krishna, and no Buddhist can see anything wrong in Gautama Buddha. Suddenly their intelligence disappears; they become immediately retarded, they fall back. This is one of the characteristics of stupid people. Stupid people can become very knowledgeable. They can become great scholars, popes, Shankaracharyas, great rabbis full of knowledge, but no knowing of their own. All knowledge is borrowed. In themselves they are just empty and they are covering this emptiness with borrowed knowledge. It is not their own intelligence that has become sharpened instead it is only their intellectuality that has become too full of information. Remember, a computer has no intelligence, but it has memory. It can have as much information as you feed to it. The stupid person can become a great scholar, a world-famous scholar, but he is just a computer. All knowledge is information based on memory, not his experience. In his experience he proves very stupid. Innocence is not knowledgeable. Innocence simply means a clean clarity, insight with no preconceived ideas, knowledge. Innocence simply means just to be a mirror, which is empty but able to reflect anything that comes before it. Innocence is the greatest achievement. Only a very few people have been able to become innocent.
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana It is said, when a person becomes so innocent, he is just like a child. Remember the words like a child. He is not a child. There is a certain similarity. The child is ignorant, without knowledge, a clean slate, but he will soon gather knowledge, because he is ignorant and it hurts to remain ignorant. Hindus call this state of innocence twice born. Such innocence is the epitome to the oft used Sutra of Bhagavad Gita:
This is the beginning a new beginning that is called Sannyas or initiation. Socrates makes a beautiful distinction; it is worth remembering. He says, There is knowledge which is ignorant, and there is ignorance which knows. It looks contradictory, what he is saying: knowledge which is ignorant, and ignorance which knows. He is talking about innocence. Innocence has no claim to knowledge-ability, but it is open, available, and capable of responding spontaneously, just like a mirror reflecting. It is tremendous freedom, and tremendous individuation. Now you can commune with the flowers, with the mountains, with the clouds. You are so innocent that there is even a possibility of communion with existence. Knowledge is a barrier. Innocence comes as you become more conscious, more alert, and you start dropping unnecessary luggage. Have you ever thought how much unnecessary luggage you are carrying within yourself? A conscious man slowly starts dropping everything, because the most precious treasure in you is to be absolutely unburdened, clean, pure, and innocent. The innocent man is the only wise man. The knowledgeable man is the only stupid man. All your universities and colleges and schools create stupid people. The effort of an awakened is to undo what your universities, colleges and schools have done to you - to deprogram you. And he does not have any other program to replace theirs. He simply deprograms you and then leave you deprogrammed. That is innocence, and it is tremendous intelligence. It is such a great insight that there is no need of knowledge-ability the essence of the teaching of Bhagavad Gita. Nanak entered the mosque. Prayer began. Nanak stood behind the chief for the prayer. The chief was angry as Nanak just remained standing. Somehow the
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana prayer finished. How can you pray or fool a Nanak? And when you are full of anger there can be no prayer. The chief was angry with Nanak and complained that he did not fulfill his promise of offering prayers. At this Nanak reminded the chief of the condition. The condition was Nanak will definitely offer prayers only if the Nawab offered the prayer. At this chief responded, Are you in senses? Everyone knows that I offered the prayers. People are witness to my claim. Nanak replied, I am not concerned with all your understanding or the witness. I am concerned with all that is happening deep within. You were in fact buying horses in Kabul. And your priest or Imam was busy cutting the crop in the fields. Now tell me how I can offer the prayers when you did not. This surprised both the chief and his Imam. The most important and prestigious horse had died. And the chief was filled with agony. And he was wandering how to go to Kabul and buy another horse. And as far as the Imam is concerned his crop is ready. There is shortage of labor. This worried him. And he was cutting the crop. How can I offer prayers when neither you nor your priest offered prayers? Prayer is a state of awareness. It springs out of your inner serenity. Prayer, meditation etc., cannot be forced. It is not important what you do. What is more important what is going on deep within? You can be statue like. You can hold and discipline your body easily but not the mind. This is what happens when people go into meditation. More thoughts arise on the inner sky. Whenever you go to your religious place your inner disturbance surfaces! When you are engaged in work there is not much energy left for disturbance. And when you sit in meditation or prayers your energies are not divided. There is total energy available and disturbances surface. Thus when you are in a theatre or a part, or a discotheque you remain peaceful. However in meditation and prayers you remain twisting and turning-disturbed. Why does this happen? Theatre, discothques are all associated with your desires. There all that is being provoked which is part of your deep unconsciousness. This resonates with you. Hence there is enjoyment. And you are never bored. Whatever happens in temples does not resonate with you. This is why such things remain boring. The enlightened one says even by plasticizing silence you cannot attain. You may continue to meditate nothing will happen. The hunger of the senses will not vanish even if the mountain of foods is provided for. The hunger for God is not an ordinary hunger. Nothing can satisfy this.
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana How can we be truthful? And how can this veil of ignorance and falsehood are removed. The enlightened Nanak says; Hukum is the only way. This is very significant statement. Let me explain what is Hukum? Literally it means the order or the command. Nothing will happen by your doing. When you are false then all that evolves will definitely be false as well. It matters not if you are speaking truth. To Nanak Hukum implies the cosmic law, the synergetic harmony. Before I explain this, another anecdote: Once Nanak stayed in a village! The chief of the village had a religious function. Entire village was invited. Nanak was also invited. Nanak did not go. Instead he stayed at the place of a poor carpenter Laloo. Several times the chief send the message for Nanak. But he did not go. Ultimately the chief came himself. At his request Nanak accompanied him to his place. However Nanak refused the pure sanctified food. The food was prepared by the chefs who took a bath with holy waters before starting the cooking. At this Nanak said now that you insist bring your food and he asked Laloo to bring his dry rotis or bread without any vegetables. It is said Nanak took the dry food of Laloo in one hand and in another hand he took the delicious food of the chief and squeezed. It is said from Laloos food the stream of milk came out; whereas from the food of the chief blood came out. This is symbolic. I do not know it if happened this way or not. It is significant. If you are dishonest it does not matter if you bathe or wash the vegetable in pure and holy water. If your life is that of dishonesty, falsehood, exploitation and torture then every grain of your food is soaked in blood. It is not important if this really happened or not. However the anecdote is very significant. And gives an important message! Nanak Says nothing will happen on your own. When you are dishonest this will become part of you. You will speak truth only if this benefits your dishonesty. Even your truth will harm others. Nanak says leave everything on him. Let Thy will prevail. Whatever condition or state he keeps you remain pleased. His commandment or way becomes your way. Accept all that is happening. Flow with life. Life is given by God. Only he knows what is good and what is not. Be in harmony. Behind every happening there is a cosmic law, a meaning, a secret. Thy wish is my command. Then you will find that suddenly an inner harmony, oneness and silence begins to descend. No more worries. You are the part of this cosmic harmony.
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana What is the worry? The worry is that you are not in harmony with all that is happening. The only sutra of peace in the East from Lau Tzu to Nanak is TOTAL ACCEPTABILITY. Omar Khayyam says: Moving finger writes and having writ moves on. Nanak says: Hukum Rajai Chalna Nanak Likhiya Naal. There is a law the cosmic law. Everything happens according to this cosmic law. Flow with this cosmic law. You can float in the sky that Nanak calls as Ek Omkar Satnam. And there is only one methodology - the Hukum the wish of God. This existential primordial sound creates the cosmic law and therefore guides and create synergistic harmony both within and without.
Once it happened. In Bulkh there was chief Ibrahim. He had a slave who was very vibrant and loving. Ibrahim brought him home. Because of his ways Ibrahim fell in love with the slave. Ibrahim enquired how he wants to remain, what would he like to eat etc. It is said the reply of the slave was beautiful. The slave replied, My wish does not matter. Whatever the master wants really matters. I am your slave and you are my master. It is said with this reply Ibrahims life transformed. He bows down to the slave. Ibrahim got the secret that he had been searching for so long.
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana This is hukum rajai chalana Nanak likhiya naal or flowing with the cosmic law. This is Nanaks methodology to attain inner oneness, harmony and bliss. Thus Nanak blocked all doors for ego. First Nanak emphasizes the Guru kripa or parsad and now he gave the next one: hukum rajai chalana Nanak likhiya naal. Be within the existential law! Flow with the Ultimate will! He alone knows what is right! This is the way of surrender the essence - the surrender to consciousness. Life is unique combination of struggle and surrender. When the struggle dominates you move towards the world. And when surrender begins to take roots inward journey begins. Out of this evolves two ways of life. First is the way of struggle. This implies I am separate from the whole. So too my will differs from that of the total. Surrender on the other hand implies I am part of totality. Therefore question does not arise for my will to be separate from the will of the total. When you are separate from the whole struggle is natural. And when you are the part of the whole surrender becomes natural. With struggle breads in tension, worry, disturbance, agony, and chaos! With surrender peace, harmony, bliss and ultimately an understanding descends. Surrender is the quality of a religious person. By going to a temple, mosque, church or a Gurudwara one does not become a religious. If you are following your will! And your way is the way of struggle. You want to attain to your will through prayer, worship etc. and then you are not religious. When you do not have any desire of your own! You begin to flow with the will of the unknown and unknowable. You are in tune with all that is or is happening. You move effortlessly. No more swimming! You are simply floating! Life moves in a different dimension. This is the dimension of the unknown! The dimensions of the unknowable! This is the dimension of religion. This is the dimension of Nanak. Nanak is not religious in any ordinary sense. There is nothing apparent in Nanak that seems religious. He is not religious in your sense of the word. He is religious because of his tremendous awareness and understanding of that which is. Nanak is flowing in divine placenta that he calls as Hukum. What is the nature of surrender? Have you seen the birds flying in the sky? For flying the birds need wings. Birds flap the wings and thus soar high in the sky. And then a state comes when the bird does flap the wings no more. It simply lays its wings stretched. And then just floats high in the vastness of the sky. So too when your consciousness attains to such a state of floating! No ripples! No struggle! You just begin to float with the wind. You are weightless. This is surrender. This what Krishna means by surrender. You cannot surrender to that which is not tangible and because of your stupidity Krishna tells you through Arjuna to surrender to him. Remember surrender is always to consciousness that is the replica of God within.
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana Individual will is merged in the infiniteness of the divine will. You are light like a feather. Egoless! Just floating! Remember weight comes with struggle. Weight comes because of ego. The more you are ignorant the more your struggle continues. And also ego nourishes ignorance. And ignorance protects ego. Together ego and ignorance creates a veil or a barrier. Nanak calls this Maya or illusion. And when this veil dissolves, truth manifests. The more you struggle, the more despondent you are. Struggle strengthens ego and creates misery and thus veils truth. Weight drowns you. And weightless you float. Or, reach the infinite heights. The moment you drop struggle, you attain to the abode of godliness. Ego is the stone hanging around your neck. And the more you struggle the more your ego strengthens. Nanak says be weightless and you will attain to oneness. It happened. Once Nanak came to a village of Sufis! He stayed outskirts. The whole village belonged to Sufi followers. When the Sufi Sheikh got the message that Nanak is staying, he sent a glass of milk brimmed to top. Outskirts Nanak was staying near a well. Seeing that the attendant brought a glass of milk brimmed, Nanak picked a small flower from the nearby bush and placed in the cup of milk. The flower floated on the surface. Thus he returned the cup with the flower floating on the surface back to the Sufi. A flower is weightless. The flower requires no space in the glass. This surprised Mardana. He wanted to know the reason for Nanaks action. Nanak explained the Sufi Sheikh has sent the message that the village is full of the enlightened master. Therefore no one else is needed. This is the meaning that the Sheikh communicated through the glass of milk brimmed to top. And what about your action, Mardana enquired further. Nanak said, I sent him the message back. I am weightless. Therefore I will not occupy any space at the physical plane. Like a flower I will float on the surface. Like the fragrance of a flower or its beauty I will sanctify every being and fill the aura with an infatuating fragrance. Such is the way of a master. And Nanak is a master. One who is weightless is indeed the man of awakening. Only such a person is Gyani- the learned one. Only an ignorant one can harm the other. When you are weightless then your life undergoes transformation. Life changes! Such a person can harm no one. Love springs forth. Non-violence springs. All these are the outcome of weightlessness. Like shadow compassion, love, and understanding follows such a being. Only such a being is capable of transforming all those who come in association. Hatred, jealousy, anger, violence etc. follows the ignorant one like a shadow. Nanak says the basic question is of dissolving the ignorance. How can ego dissolve and you attain to weightlessness? Only one way is for this. Hindu scriptures: Vedas call this as Rik. Lau Tzu calls this as Tao. Buddha Called
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana this as Dhamma. Mahavira called this Dharma. Nanak calls this as Hukum. These are various names for that which is existential. No name can really explain or encompass the magnanimity of that which is existential. Love all these names. Love all these expressions. Understand this. Live a life beyond duality and ego. Only then you can understand a Nanak, or a Buddha, or a Lau Tzu. Only then you are religious really. One who lives in Hukum is indeed religious. One who is in harmony with Hukum-the existential law; the synergistic harmony attains to bliss. Indeed this is the only way. This implies you are now facing God. How can you see the light of the sun if you go on running away from the sun with your back facing the sun? The moment you are facing that light - ignorance of many lives will vanish and you can really get the glimpse of the magnanimous. The only way to face God is be in harmony with the existential law, or in hukum. Unnecessarily you are carrying a weight. And what is the weight that you carry? All your failures and successes are the weight that you carry. This is the disease arising out of ego. I have heard. Once a chariot was moving! A common fly was sitting on the axle of the wheel. As the chariot was moving dust was filling the atmosphere. The chariot was huge. It was yoked by twelve horses. It was moving with a speed. With all this the fly considered itself to be magnanimous. The fly is sitting on the axle. The chariot is moving with great speed and dust is flying. Naturally ego is bound to inflate. The fly thinks itself to attain greatness. Whatever you attain in life is by His grace. You are no more than the fly sitting on the axle. Never consider that it is you who is raising the dust. Dust fills the atmosphere because the chariot is his. Never bring yourself in the picture. I have heard the story of a lizard that lived in a house under the ceiling. One day it happened friends invited the lizard for a stroll. The lizard pondered and finally refused the offer saying that it will not be able to accompany. I am concerned who will support the ceiling once I go for the stroll. If I move the ceiling may fall. And then I will be responsible for the situation, replied the lizard very wisely. The lizard thinks so. It may be true from the angle of the lizard. Ego is no more than the lizard. I have heard another story of a woman who lived in a village. She owned a cock. Every morning the cock crows and then the sun will rise. This gave the old woman the impression that it the crowing of the cock that sun rises every morning. The woman got arrogant. She convened the entire village and told everyone to respect her. She said, If you are not paying respect or taking care of me I will leave this village and migrate to the neighboring village. Once I move out of this village the
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana sun will not rise in your village. And then it happened the villagers got her vex. The old woman migrated to the neighboring village. It was night when she moved out of the village. The very next morning her cock crew and the sun rose in the east there. This confirmed her belief that the sun rises only because of her cock. She was convinced that now sun will not rise in the other village. The logic of the woman is straight forward and crystal clear as well. It never happened that sun would have risen and the cock did not crow. And now that the woman has moved to the neighboring village and the sun rose when the cock crew! Then how can the sun rise in the other village. With your intelligence you think within the narrow boundaries of your limited intelligence. God does not exist because of you. Instead you are because of God. You exist and float within this divine placenta. Your breath is because of God. Not because of you! You pray. However it is He who gives impetus to your prayer. In fact it is He who becomes a prayer within you. If you really understand this, only then you can understand the message contained in the words of the awakened one. Every syllable is filled with tremendous insight. Flow with such energy field and grace will unfold the hidden mysteries. Now the sutra! It is the cosmic law that created all forms and name. Hukum cannot be put in words. Try to understand this word - hukum. It is the cosmic law. The principle that guides everything! The principle that creates synergistic harmony! The principle that moves from chaos to cosmos! Nanak calls this principle as Hukum. It is because of this Hukum the entire creation came into existence. All fame and name happens because of this Hukum. When you attain something, or achieve success, or gain, or lose something all is happening because of this cosmic law or Hukum. This is why Hindus call this world the play or leela of God. It means all changes happen on the axle that is god. You are simply the instrument. The problem comes when the instrument or the equipment begins to consider it the doer. It is something like the electrical appliances considering it the doer. It is the electrical current that cooks your food. Your stove is the equipment that has the capability to manifest one of the qualities of electrical energy. It is the electrical current that cooks the food on the stove. This cannot happen otherwise. As an aspirant you need to understand this. This is what Krishna is making Arjuna to understand. It is He who is the only doer. This is so simple. However only simple things become complicated! The entire message of Bhagwad Gita is based on hukum the cosmic law. Be in harmony with all that is happening. There is an impeccable harmony. This is the essence of cosmos. This is what all the enlightened ones are saying.
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana It is He who is creating everything-big and small. And when He is the creator then why is there this duality. When a sculptor makes a big and a small statue there can be no difference between the two. The two statues are made by the same person. The purpose of the two statues may differ. The entire creation is permeated by one doer. However man creates the duality. This is the cause of your pain, misery, and despondency. This way you will never attain to bliss. When you vision is of the outer! When you can only see the name and form! You will never attain fruition. On the contrary if you are able to envision the invisible hands of the creator behind the creation you attain to magnanimity the very moment. It is these invisible hands that create the insignificant blade of grass and also the tall pine trees. Awakened one says when He creates the two significant and insignificant then how can there be this duality. We are all like the chess pawns. All victory and failure is His. Such is not the way of your religious ones. More than often religious claim all success, fame etc. belong to Him and all failure belongs to me. It seems humility. In reality this is false. These are the subtle ways of ego. How can failure belong to me and the success to Him? The two belong to the same. Observe when someone claims that he is the speck of dust at your feet. There is a desire to be something reflecting through his eyes. The entire creation comes into existence because of this cosmic principle that binds the entire creation. This cannot be put into words. Nothing exists outside this law. Words are incapable to express the magnanimous. And that which is magnanimous cannot be expressed in any way. Try to understand this. First: all that is magnanimous can only be felt in deep silence. And that which evolves out of your inner silence cannot be put in words. When an aspirant experiences this deep within there is no word. Only silence is there. There is no way to express in words. I have heard a Sufi story. Once a sheep-keeper was taking care of his sheep on a hill top! Everyday his wife will bring the food at lunch time. It happened that this day his wife did not bring food. He felt hungry. Many thoughts began to creep in his mind. Maybe she is sick! Maybe she met any accident! And thoughts like these began to plague his mind. He looked around if he could find someone nearby who could take care of the sheep and he could reach home to bring the food. Suddenly he spotted a woodcutter on the branch of a tree cutting wood. He went by the woodcutter to ask him to take care of the sheep until he could reach home and bring the food. But the woodcutter was busy in his work so he found this quite disturbing.
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana The sheep keeper asked the woodcutter to take care of his sheep until he comes back from home. The wood cutter who was deaf did not listen anything. Just to avoid the man he signaled him to go away -- meaning not to disturb him. This sheep keeper thought to be the tacit consent for his request. So he ran towards home to pick up the food. On returning he counted the sheep and found correct. He was filled with gratitude. Amidst his flock he had a lame sheep. This he decided to present to woodcutter as his gratitude. The deaf woodcutter thought that the sheep keeper is blaming him for making his sheep lame. None could understand the other. So both went on blaming each other and kept on putting their point but all in vain. Suddenly a horse rider who lost his way came nearby to enquire the way. Now seeing the rider the sheep keeper and the wood cutter tried to explain their point. The wood cutter tried to prove his innocence that he is not responsible for the lameness of the sheep. The traveler had stolen the horse and thought these two to be the owner of the horse. He was also deaf. So he pleaded his case. Without understanding the other each was pleading his case. This complicated the situation further. Three deaf argued their point without understanding any one. As they were arguing a Sufi passed by! The three got hold of the Sufi who had taken the vow to remain silent. He listened to the three. Now how can the matter be resolved? The Sufi used a methodology. First he looked deeply in the eyes of the horse rider. The rider began to feel restless and hypnotized. He rode the horse and disappeared into the woods. Now the Sufi looked into the eyes of the sheep keeper who felt almost intoxicated. He too vowed to the Sufi and chased the sheep homewards. Now was the turn of the woodcutter. The woodcutter could not understand what was happening. Whenever the unknown happens you are frightened. There was tremendous force in the eyes of the Sufi. Whenever an individual attains to inner fruition there is different glow in the eyes. The entire life energy gets centered and eyes are the only medium of expression. The woodcutter also got frightened and left for home. The master resolved the matter without uttering a single word. Such is the problem with the masters. Masters have to deal with deaf. This deafness arises because of inner dialogue. Everyone goes on speaking and no two persons understand one another. Masters communicate through eyes. This is the reason the commune or the association of the master is considered essential. Nothing can be said. That which is can only be indicated. Whatever the masters say are like the mile stone. These indicate you are in the right direction. Along the inner journey never hold on to the mile stones.
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana I have heard of a Muslim king. He had a slave. The slave was very loving. The king loved him dearly. The salve was very devoted. One day the two were passing through the forest. On the way the king picked a fruit and gave a peg to the slave. The slave went on asking more and more. And the king kept on giving until he reached the last peg. This too the slave wanted. But the king wanted to taste at least one peg as there was no other fruit. So instead of giving the last peg to the slave the king tasted himself. And as king put the peg in his mouth he could not eat. The fruit was very bitter. This surprised the king because the slave did not complain of the taste of the fruit. And each time the slave ate the fruit he relished. The fruit was bitter like poison. It was difficult even to taste the fruit what to talk of eating. Surprisingly the king enquired from the slave, How could you eat the entire fruit joyfully. Why you did not complain? The reply of the slave is beautiful. The slave responded, These hands have given so many joyous moments. Then how can I complain for one bitter fruit. This is the response of one who knows. This is the reply of a religious. The day you understand all that happens in life is because of the cosmic law or Hukum, how can you reject sorrows and afflictions. You are not able to see the truth. When the leaves fall from the tree during autumn and the tree becomes bare, this is not the end. This is the way of the tree. Each time autumn comes old leaves fall and again during spring new leaves grow. This is the way of the growth of the tree. Both sorrows and happiness are two shores of the river of life. The river of life cannot flow without these two shores. The day you are beyond the duality of happiness and sorrow, bliss or anand happens. When duality is no more oneness remains. Nothing is beyond this cosmic law. Both happiness and sorrow are the outcome of Hukum. It is the Hukum that brings blessings for someone. It is because of Hukum that someone remains within cycle of birth and rebirth. And one who really understands this cosmic law or Hukum is free from ego and attains to oneness. This is the essence of all religions and the understandings of the Buddhas. This is religiousness. Religiousness does not come by going to temples, churches, mosques, or Gurudwaras. You can put on the garb of the religious one. But this cannot make you a religious really. It happens many a times realizing the futility of ego you want to drop ego. Yet still you cannot drop ego. What can really be the cause of this? Ego gives you happiness. This alone is the problem. This is true as well. All suffering, misery, and pain come because of ego. And when you feel pain you want to drop ego. And when the same ego brings happiness you want to nourish ego. Both happiness and
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana sorrow are two sides of the same coin. Both stay together and dissolve together as well. One moment you want to throw and the very next moment you preserve. Ego is the false entity. Ego appears to exist. However, in reality ego cease to exist! If you leave everything in the hands of God-the very source life then how ego can remain! Try to understand this. Ego is the sum of all your actions, and thinking. Ego is nothing tangible. All that you have done knowingly or unknowingly accumulates to give birth to ego. Ego is the concept of all your doings. Ego is your dead past. From the very beginning Krishna says He alone is the only doer. However out of ignorance and negation of truth you consider yourself a doer. The moment you consider yourself an instrument ego dissolves. Can you really find a person who considers himself an instrument? And there is a vast majority of pseudo who claim them to be religious. No they have not understood Nanak. This is really the essence of understanding. The moment you understand this there can be no wrong. Your problem arises because you do not know the divine will. This negation is the cause of your conflict and misery. Out of this arises sin. This negation creates the situation of self-suffering, and pain to others. Considering yourself the doer is the veil or Maya or illusion. And the realization of this is knowing or knowledge or Gyan, Ecstasy and the essence of the Bhagvad Gita. One, who understands Hukum, is free of Ego. Devotees sing His glory in many ways. However none can really explain the magnanimity. How can you glorify the Totality? Part can never glorify to Total. All your scriptures are incomplete description of that which is the cause of the entire existence. He is unsayable. Sun is shining. An artist paints the sun. It may be beautiful. But in no way it can give light. The poet can sing the glory of rising sun or compose beautiful poems. All these may touch your heart. May create ripples in your heart. Certainly all these cannot bring light in your inner darkness. All songs, narrations etc. are all incomplete. When you are really thirsty the word water cannot quench your thirst. If you are not thirsty then the word water will do. So when you are really thirsty then you will search that which is existential. The poets, singers, philosophers go on incessantly in their efforts to manifest the glories of God. You go on singing thousand times. You may get tired. But his bounties are never finished. Only you have to have the heart to feel. Yet still much remains unsaid. This is significant. He alone is life giver. It is He that becomes the life force through your breath. It is He who is the cause of our existence. He keeps on sharing never demanding anything in return.
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana You got your life so easily that you can never realize this. The day you come to realize that all that you have is beyond your own capabilities your life will transform. You will be filled with gratitude towards Him. The moment you are filled with gratitude prayer springs forth from deep within. That day your prayer will be the expression of your gratitude not demands. You have only known gratitude for small things. Your handkerchief falls, someone picks to give you; or gives you a cup of tea you are thankful. In all cases you are thankful for such trivial things. And you never feel gratitude towards God who keeps on giving you. In your religious places you visit to get your wishes fulfilled. Never for moment have you paused to express your gratitude for . This is atheism. Atheism means now your demands have multiplied so much that you cannot feel gratitude for God. Because of your unwanted demands you have killed God. Theism implies you are filled so much with gratitude that you see the invisible hands of God all around. Theism is the highest state of gratitude. And atheism is the ultimate in complaints. Indeed a religious person is one who is thankful for even small things. And whatever you have you do not deserve really. Such is the nature of His bounties. You have been enjoying the fruits for eons and yet still these never come to exhaust. This creation is run not by your whims and pleasures, instead by an infallible law. He is constantly sending you the messages. But you go ignoring out of your intelligence. You claim to be religious. In reality you are not. You can be religious only if you understand the Cosmic Law. Come within this cosmic law. Your life will be meaningful. Each time you are going to commit mistake an admonition comes. This you ignore. You remain ignorant and unconscious. You will never come across even a single sinner in whom such admonitions do not come. And when you go on ignoring the effect is reduced. It matters not whatever be the extent and the nature of your ailment there is cure. He never disappoints you. It has never happened that He has ever ignored you. I have heard of a Sufi master Bayazid. In his neighborhood lived a criminal. This man was a thief, deceit, a murderer. He had committed all kinds of crimes. The entire village was inflicted by his atrocities. One day during his prayers Bayazid asked God to remove such a person from the earth. Suddenly Bayazid heard a voice within, Bayazid when I am not yet fed up of this mans atrocities then how you can. And when I have not lost faith in him then how can you lose faith. All that comes as His command remains hidden deep within your unconscious. Your unconscious and subconscious is the instrument of God. He speaks from
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana there. Therefore before beginning anything listen to such small voices. And when your life moves according bliss certainly is the outcome as grace. If you ignore this voice and turned your back towards Him then you are creating a self erected hell. Once you have achieved this key infinite doors and possibilities open. This secret remains hidden deep within. Every child comes with this key. However in the process of growth, your education etc. this key is lost. Your education system adorns you with degrees and remains incapable of making you a balanced and harmonized human being. Your education system develops intellect. Many thoughts are imposed and thus this key is lost. This art of listening to the inner voice is meditation. To understand the divine will and then allow life to flow accordingly is the essence of meditation. God is concerned about you. The entire existence is pulsating for you. The existence is waiting for your inner blossoming. And if you are still delaying He is not worried. He is not worried for your wanderings. Some day through someone you will definitely be on the path. This is His certitude. Knowing all your shortcomings, He still remains blissful and continues to expand. This ever expansion is His nature. And Hindus call this consciousness. The ever expanding Brahman! Or Aham Brahmasmi! This concerns us. How can we be unconcerned and yet still remain blissful. This human intelligence cannot understand. Such understanding separated world and Sanyas. This is your problem how can you remain in the world and yet still remain unconcerned. The child may get sick you will worry. Wife dies you sink in a state of pain of separation. So you say if we are to remain in the world such things are natural. And the wheel continues. So you want to relinquish. When the child is sick take utmost care. However there is no need to remain worried. Do the most of what you may. The awakened one says when He is the inner guide then how can you really remain disturbed. Outwardly remain in the world but deep within allow the remembrance like an undercurrent. This should remain like an undercurrent. He is there like the one who knows there can never be anything wrong even if you feel your entire world is falling apart. Experiment with this. Only then you will know. The moment I understood this life is benediction despite physical constraints. Go to your work place. But deep within maintain a distance. Let there be a gap between your work and your being. Let your work, actions be an act on this vast stage that we call world. Let this be a play or Maya or illusion. You are no more the doer. This art of being the actor in the play of life performing your role to your best without any concern of its actions
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana you have the secret. And actor in a movie or the stage is not concerned of the death of his dear one or his own. For him this is an act. So too the wise understand this and therefore lives his life with this understanding.
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Bhagavad Gita Principles by Shankaracharya

Adi Shanaracharya was one of the most prominent teachers of the Vedanta philosophy and one his major contributions was his commentary on the Bhagavad Gita. The foundational principles of the Gita were prescribed by him in simple terms, as stated below. na yogena na skhyena karma no na vidyay. brahmtmakabodhena moka siddhayati nnyath.. . ..
Purify Your Heart

The core summary of the principles of the Gt is that man should perform all his tasks and duties with a positive frame of mind with an attitude of detachment towards the rewards of his tasks. This attitude toward work will help him purify his inner being or heart. The only way to purify the heart is to perform work while removing the expectation of rewards from the psyche. Until and unless the heart is purified, man will not develop the burning desire to know the truth - and without this burning desire to know the truth, it is impossible to develop the desire for moksha or liberation.
Develop True Detachment

After the heart is purified, vivek or inner knowledge arises in the man of truth. The development of vivek simply means the ability to distinguish between the transitory (or variable) and the eternal (or absolute). All the constituents of the world are transitory (or variable), and only the aatmaa, which is separate from these constituents, is eternal (or absolute). When one can experience this truth,
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana their vivek gains immense strength. This strong sense of vivek leads to the development of true detachment towards the world in the seekers heart. ,
The Path of Renunciation

Mans progress towards the strengthening of true renunciation is not possible until he becomes detached towards the attainment of happiness and pleasure - in this world and beyond. Renunciation is the primary path to moksha or liberation - and it is through renunciation that sham-, dam-, titeeksha- and karma- liberation are made possible. It is only after one is liberated from these four elements that the gyana or knowledge which is necessary for attaining moksha arises or dawns onto the seeker. It is impossible to reach the state of moksha without obtaining this gyana in it is purest form. , , ,
What is true Moksha?

The paths which lead to anitya or impermanent results cannot lead one to the state of moksha. One needs to assimilate the knowledge that man and the supreme brahman are one and the same, before one can move towards moksha. The complete understanding of this truthful knowledge is indeed the state of moksha. ,
What is Maya?
The apparent (false) distinction between man and brahman is because of nature. The removal of this falsehood is only possible by the dawn of knowledge or gyana. Those who believe otherwise remain trapped in the realm of maya or ignorance.
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana And that maya is the cause of a lot of confusion and misery. It is neither the truth - nor is it the untruth - but it is the abode for dvaita or the philosophy which separates man and brahman.
What is Truth?
That is why it has been deemed as unattainable. The truth is that maya is also deception. Since untruth cannot be created from truth and truth and untruth can never meet - this means that untruth has no inherent strength. Hence the world is indeed imaginary and dream-like in nature.
Gita leads to liberation

Bhagwan Shankaracharya is the preacher of the path of liberation and nivritti. He has prescribed that the Gita is the primary path or means for obtaining nivritti. According to him, it is not possible to obtain moksha without committing to sannyasa. This is his repeated teaching. One must keep in mind that Shankaracharya preaches that the path of action or karma is necessary for the purification of the heart and mind.
What is true Sannyasa?

Shankaracharya does not believe that everyone is deserving of or is entitled to the path of sannyasa. The true sannyasi that in which one does not deliberately give up or relinquish his possessions; instead, just like a ripened fruit naturally falls
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Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana from the tree, the man of sannyasa also becomes automatically detached from the world when his time is ripe. Does one need to wait for instructions on when to release a ball of golden hot metal from his hands?
Even Krishna is not free from what it means to be a human being. He says, Now that I have come as a human body, I am subject to all the limitations of being human, though I am capable in a different way. When I wish to, I can move to another sphere. But I am born out of a mothers womb. I will die and I will go through everything else that every human being goes through.
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
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I.J. Gita Dhyan Sadhana - Gds April - June 2012

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A Quarterly Publication Volume Two Issue II April June 2012

A quarterly publication An International Journal Of GITA DHYAN SADHANA

Mystical Insights into Bhagavad Gita

Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Insight Talks on the Sutras of Bhagvad Gita by Enlightened Master Taoshobuddha

TADATMANAM SRAJAMHAM TAOSHOBUDDHA TALK ON BHAGAVAD GITA 4:7

Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana

The insights through Gita Dhyana Sadhana Journal always come

afresh as whispers of the

Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Quarterly International Journal Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Bhagavad Gita Principles by Shankaracharya

Purify Your Heart

Develop True Detachment

The Path of Renunciation

What is true Moksha?

Gita leads to liberation

What is true Sannyasa?

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