Posts in Category: Captions
Ramakant Maharaj – Nashik Ashram – April 14, 2016
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Today’s news. Everybody’s got strong body confidence. Everybody’s having spiritual knowledge. Directly or indirectly we are having strong belief in body, and therefore spiritual knowledge is not absorbing. We say oh, ‘I can understand intellectually’, but that knowledge that is accepted intellectually is not absorbing. Because their is strong faith, strong belief, in the body, and therefore it is not entering inside.
So for which again I am repeating meditation, through meditation the body knowledge will be melted, dissolved. I am insisting meditation all the time, everybody repeating meditation, meditation, because such a strong body knowledge is there, so even if you wanted to escape or dissolve this, it is not dissolved because of strong feeling of body. So that strong faith, that power of body-knowledge is supposed to be dissolved slowly, silently and permanantly. Then you will be free from all concepts.
So many persons are coming here; ‘ok, ok, this is good knowledge, good knowledge I appreciate this knowledge’, but I am telling you, this is not only dry knowledge, try to absorb within you, it is your knowledge. If your listening and reading on the base of body-knowledge, it will not absorb. One thing is certain, some or other day, willingly or unwillingly you have to leave the body, it’s a fact. You can’t escape from this incident. I am not asking you to neglect your body. You must believe, prepare yourself, ‘Yes body is not my identity at all’ We are knowing everything but we are not preparing, at time of leaving the body getting some suffocation or something, a pitiable condition, that should not happen. At that time there should be strong courage, ‘Yes, I am not leaving body, I am not body at all, let the body go’.
Nisargadatta Maharaj used to say “When the body is going just think of passing stool.” You know passing, when your passing stool your not thinking, you just let it go. Suppose your passing stool, at that time you are having any grievances? Your refreshed. So he said like that just like your passing stool. Body is gone away forget it, ‘I am not dead’. So what he wants to say, at the time there should not be any grief or sadness inside. If any ambitions remain, subtle ambitions then another dream may be there. This is an opportunity, always requesting everybody, only listening is not sufficient, changing Master’s is not sufficient. Why are you wanting to change your Master, here and there? People say ‘Oh, I have to go to that Master, this Master, that one’. You are wasting your time, wasting your energy.
Because your not faithful with you. Be faithful with you. Be faithful with you and be faithful with your Master. That is the purpose behind spirituality, so you will always remain concerned with the spiritual knowledge, always remain in touch with the spiritual knowledge. You remember all these things, suppose you go anywhere, you may be there, suppose some doubts come, or some confusion or depression is there, unpleasant atmosphere, you remember when you were at Nashik Ashram, you remember all these things, and that concept will be dissolved.
But people are so much attached with the concepts, I’ve told about torturing, one person says ‘No I caused some bad something’, he’s not leaving his imaginations, not leaving concepts. ‘You say don’t worry, but how can I not worry?’ So you have to believe in your Master, Master says ‘Nothing is my property’ but he says ‘No something happened, I have done something wrong in my previous life, that life, that life’. After coming to me, after coming to any Master, if your not leaving your concepts, what is the use of that spirituality? Master says you have not commited anything wrong, you have not committed any sin, but if you say ‘No, No, I did sin.’, what to do? How can Master help you? My Master says I have not done any sin, I’m not doer, there is no deed, if your not accepting that, your own mind, own concepts will be torturing you, nobody is torturing you, nobody is torturing you, your own concepts are torturing you all the time.
You have done something wrong you are a sinner or something, try to mold into the light of this spiritual knowledge, therefore strong belief in yourself and your Master is required, it’s a closed situation, Master says nothing has happened, you are Ultimate Truth, but your not accepting it. Habbit of the beggars, you have a lot of money even though you are begging on the street, like that. That should not be there. So therefore all these great Master’s, they strongly believe in their own Masters. ‘My Master is final’, if God appears before you, ‘No, my Master is Final’ That reality is supposed to be absorbed. That is the principal of spirituality.
Visiting so many places, visiting so many sacred places, something places, what to do? Where are the sacred places prior to beingness? Talking about gods and godesses, and all the certain stories, and according to their stories your trying to go here and there. Waste of time. This is last destiny, last destination, beyond that nothing is there.
Why is knowledge required? So far body, therefore knowledge is required. Why body is required, why Master is required? If body is not there, why Master is required? Master is trying to identify yourself. You forgot your reality. Why Master is required, because you forgot your reality, forgot your identity. You are posing all the time as a man or women, a being. So beingness is supposed to be dissolved. How are you prior to beingness, after leaving the body? That is your identity. In spite of that, people are not following. Listening, reading, black magic, white magic, this magic, nothing is there. If somebody falls sick ‘Oh, some black magic is there, black power may be there’ where is the black power and white power? There’s no black power, white power. So far as you are measuring yourself in body form, therefore your considering the the black power or white power. No white power, black power nothing is there. But that belief so much sticked with him, he was not leaving that, and for which meditation is required. Meditation is slowly, silently, melting all concepts. You will remain always in touch. Bhausaheb Maharaj was very, had very strong foresight. All the prayers, morning prayers, early morning prayers, morning prayers, evening prayers, because the intention you always keep in touch with you 24 hours.
After leaving the premises, some thoughts may come. So you are to recite the Mantra all the time. Do your duties, do your job, while your doing your duties, job, recite Mantra, so it is always hammering you. What to do? What Master can help you? You have to act it. Master has placed before you delicious dishes, you have to eat it, not define it. So be with you. Only listening is not sufficient, have some courage, have some confidence, develop your confidence, develop you will power, spiritual will power. Like I said there won’t be temptation to go anywhere. God, Master, is not seperate from you. So far as your measuring yourself in body form your unable to identify yourself in a real sense. So be strong, OK.
Casual spirituality will not help you.
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Casual spirituality will not help you. “Oh, I’ve seen a good lecture, a Master is giving good lectures”, no. Who is listening to those lectures? Try to concentrate on the Invisible Concentrator within you. It is called Brahman, Atman. Therefore I have told you, besides your Selfless Self there is no Brahman, Atman. You are having so many concepts: ‘last birth’, ‘future birth’, ‘last destiny’, ‘karma’, ‘dharma’. What is ‘karma’? Who’s karma? Who’s birth? No birth, you are unborn. Forget about last birth, do you know anything about this birth, present birth? No.
So many illusory concepts are wrapped up on us. Be free. This human body is an opportunity for you. And therefore, not to depend upon literal knowledge. Okay, literal knowledge is okay, bookish knowledge is okay. I’m not saying don’t approach any Masters, approach so many Masters, but approach your own Master within you. You are neglecting your own Master. “Oh, this Master, that Master, that Master”,why? Approach your own Master. Because you are Ultimate Truth, there’s nothing ultimate except your Selfless Self.
You’re strong involvement is required. Not to sit like this “Oh…” (Maharaj pretends to meditate). It’s okay, in the beginning we are advising you sit like this. Just like we say “a-b-c-d” when we are learning a language, using some alphabets.
So, not to depend upon anybody else, you can stand on your own feet. The purpose of spirituality is to stand on your own feet. In the beginning, it’s okay, the Master is there. Until you identify your own Master. Bodies are different, Presence is one. Houses are different, sky is one. Why is all this required, again I am repeating. You’ve got a lot of fear of the death, always living under tension. No peacefulness. Everything is there, because we are neglecting our own identity. In some way or another we are depending upon somebody else. Directly or indirectly we are protecting our illusory concepts. Forget about it.
Spiritual Knowledge
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We are here to identity oneself in a real sense. Spiritual knowledge is just to identity oneself in a real sense. We are identifying ourselves in body-form, and that is illusion. And everybody knows it, the body is not your identity at all. The body was not your identity, the body’s not going to remain your identity. Just glimpses of ‘I’ is there, that appears upon your Spontaneous Presence. If Presence is not there, where is ‘I’? So, ‘I’ appears upon your Presence. It is called God or Master, Brahman, Atman, Paramatman, name is given to that Unidentified Identity within you.
See, what happens is from childhood till today we are measuring ourselves in body-form, and as you know body is not our identity at all. What is the purpose behind spiritual knowledge? We are reading so many books, we approach so many Masters. What is the purpose, what do we want exactly? The basic thing is we want happiness, peacefulness, tension-free life, fearless life. Because human body is not tolerable. We’ve accepted the human body as ‘I am’. The ‘I am’ appeared upon your Presence. Presence does not know ‘I am Presence’. It is subtler than sky, space. If there is no Presence what is the value of this body?
Through the human body we can identity ourself in a real sense. What is knowledge, spiritual knowledge? It means just to identify oneself in a real sense. It does not mean neglect your body, neglect your family responsibility. It is practical spirituality, it is not a dry spirituality, not a dry discussion on spirituality. Be practical. It’s not difficult at all. I’ve already told you: except your Selfless Self there is no God, no Brahman, no Atman, no Paramatman, no Master. But all the time we are measuring ourselves in body form, and that is illusion. And that illusory concept is supposed to be dissolved. ‘I am somebody else’, mind, ego, intellect, appeared along with the body. We are living within the circle of the mind, ego, intellect. Where was the mind, ego, intellect prior to beingness? Prior to beingness we were not having any happiness or peacefulness. After leaving the body, who wants happiness, who wants peacefulness? These are the words. Body-knowledge is not tolerable, ‘I am somebody else’ is not tolerable. So once it is identified perfectly, it means ‘I’m not the body, I was not the body, I’m not going to remain the body’.
Basically you are unborn. There is no birth and death. Birth and death are connected with the body-knowledge only. I’m not saying to neglect your body. Body is the media through which you can identity. If Presence is not there, what is the value of this body? So be practical, it’s not impossible.
What is practical? To identify oneself in a real sense you are to undergo the discipline of meditation, it is most important. We are insisting Nama Mantra, mantra, these are the words. ‘Soham’ is a word, ‘Aham Brahmasmi’, ‘Sivoham’, these are the words through which you can identify, through which you are hammering yourself all the time.
So, that is the only source. I’m telling you that meditation is also illusion at the advanced stage. But, to dissolve all body-based concepts, meditation is most important, the foundation. In other words, I am saying it is the anti-virus software, meditation is the anti-virus software. You have to go through this, without which you can’t identity. Only dry spiritual knowledge, “I’ve read so many books”, these are temporary reliefs, they’re painkillers. So this is a golden opportunity. Your Presence is invaluable Presence. Presence does not know ‘I am Presence’. I have given the name ‘Presence’, ‘Spirit’, or ‘Energy’, you can say anything. It’s just like space: space does not know ‘I am space’ or sky does not know ‘I am sky’. Then what to do? Try to identify yourself in a real sense. “I am somebody else” is supposed to be dissolved. You’re everybody. You’re beyond sky. Sky is everywhere. You go anywhere in the world, sky is there. But sky does not know ‘I am sky’. Likewise, your Anonymous, Invisible Presence, the Invisible Listener within you is everywhere just like sky – not limited to the body. The body is having some limitations, some stages. You’re a child, then grown up as young man, then old man, and some or other day, willingly or unwillingly, we have to leave this body.
There’ll be always silence, no violence.
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How you are living, under the force of violence, that violence disappears spontaneously. It can happen. There’ll be always silence, no violence. And you’ll feel it, after having Conviction, you’ll feel it. That’s the principle of spirituality. Only listening, only talking and approaching so many Masters will not help you. Some changes are required. Then you’ll get realistic silence, peacefulness, no tension will be there – why tension is there? We’re having some expectations, and if something happens against your expectations you’re getting irritated. Everybody has so many expectations, from anybody, from family, from friends, from society, so many expectations are there, it’s the nature of the mind.
All expectations, needs, came along with the body only. Because body-knowledge is not tolerable, it’s a food-body. So far you’re supplying food, water, the body survives. It is an open fact, this (body) is not going to remain constant. Spirit, Presence, likes to continue the life, it’s it’s nature. Even an ant: if you pour some water (on it), he’s running here and there for survival. It’s the nature of the Spirit or Presence. Your Presence knows itself through body only. And for which, again I am repeating, the only source is meditation. Only through meditation can you identify yourself, have Conviction. Knowledge will be absorbed totally. And therefore I am repeating: dry knowledge, dry discussion on spirituality, if I talk hours together, years together with you, it is meaningless. It is your identity, not the identity of Brahman, Atman, Paramatman, God, Master.
What is the sign of Realization?
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I never said neglect your food-body. This is the media through which you can identify yourself. There are so many concepts from childhood till today: ‘I am born’, ‘I am a man or woman’, so many concepts are there, social concepts, religious concepts. And within this circle we are living our life. After perfectly identifying (yourself) there will be dramatic changes within you, called signs of Realization. Spiritual science says there are six symptoms of Realization. There is the question: ‘How can I identify whether I’m Realized or not? What is the sign of Realization, what is the sign of Enlightenment?’ After having Conviction, after absorbing the knowledge of Reality, some changes are taking place. ‘Shama’ means to forgive and forget. (inaudible) petty matters are giving irritation. After having the Conviction you’ll be calm and quiet, just like Gautama Buddha or Jesus Christ, you know them? There’s no irritation. ‘Shama’ means forgive and forget. If anything happens against your mind, you’re not getting irritated, no anger is there. And ‘Dama’ means tolerance or patience. Tolerance comes spontaneously within you. Where petty matters would irritate us, there may be some violence inside, patience will appear. You will feel it. If any incidents happen against your mind, you’re not getting irritation. There’s tolerance, patience, ‘Shama’, ‘Dama’. ‘Titiksha’ means just to know the Reality, anxious to know the Reality: who am I? And then ‘Uparati’ means there is no attraction of the world. There are so many attractions to the world: publicity, money, sex, there are so many attractions to the world. No greediness, no attraction to the world. You’re living in the world, but there’s complete calm and quiet. And then ‘Bhakti’ means devotion, total devotion. After knowing the Reality there is total devotion. And ‘Shraddha’ means full trust and faith. These are the six symptoms given in spiritual science. You can measure yourself. And after having the Spontaneous Conviction about the Reality, these changes are taking place. What you are prior to beingness, how you will be after leaving the body, at that time there was no anger, nothing is there. And these symptoms will appear spontaneously within you. You’ll be calm and quiet.
Q: Does it matter how one quiets one’s mind?
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Q: In ‘I Am That’, Nisargadatta says “A quiet mind is all you need. When the mind is quiet, all else happens as it should.” Does it matter, therefore, how one quiets one’s mind?
Maharaj: It happens, but after knowing your Selfless Self the mind will not remain. The existence of mind appeared upon your Presence. The existence of mind, ego, intellect appeared upon your Presence. Presence does not have any mind, ego, intellect. And therefore, try to identify yourself in a real sense. These are the words, through words I am conveying. After having Conviction, mind, ego, intellect never remains. Where was the mind prior to beingness and after leaving the body? Mind does not have it’s own identity. You have given birth to the mind, ego, intellect. Without your Presence, how can you identify ego, intellect, mind? It was not there prior to beingness, and not after leaving the body also. And therefore I am insisting on meditation. Through meditation you can control your mind, mind will be controlled spontaneously. Mind means flow of thoughts, continuous thoughts are there, which you define as ‘the mind’. Thoughts are entering the mind, they go to the intellect and make a decision, and through ego you are implementing that decision. It’s a process, functioning. You are separate from that.
So all questions will be solved within you. You do not need to go anywhere or to any Master also, I’ll tell you. Because the Masterly essence is within you. My Master said: “I’m not making you a disciple, I’m making you a Master”. Nisargadatta Maharaj says that “I’m not making you a disciple, I’m making you a Master”. You’re already Master, but you forgot your identity.
You know the story of the lion? Famous story, spiritual story. One lion got brought up with the goats and sheep and started considering: “I am a goat or sheep” and was afraid of the dogs and foxes, etc., etc. It’s a famous story, you know? So far we have association with this body, even though body is not our identity, and therefore we are considering ourself in body-form. You are formless. There’s no shape, no form, it’s fact. And to absorb this fact, you are to undergo the meditation, again I am repeating the same thing. You may read books, you may listen to the various Masters, but not to neglect your Inner Master.
How do you practice devotion?
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Anybody want to ask any questions, you can ask it. Yes? Okay, welcome.
Q: Maharaj, what is devotion, how do you practice devotion?
Maharaj: Yes, good question.
You have to involve yourself. After knowing the Reality, you have to involve yourself, you have to concentrate. Concentrate on the Concentrator, the Invisible Concentrator within you, the Invisible Listener within you.
Through words we are trying to identify ourself. We have created language, and through this language we are trying to identify ourself. Through devotion you can identify the Deity within you. Your Spontaneous Presence is a Deity, it is God, Ultimate Truth, Brahman, Atman, Paramatman, God, not separate from you. This happens because we are all the time measuring: ‘I am somebody else’, ‘I am man or woman’, or something else. You are not man or woman you are Brahman, Atman, Paramatman, God, Master. It’s fact, but you are not accepting the facts.
So many questions appear upon your Presence, body-based questions. So all questions will be solved the moment you identify yourself in a real sense. It’s open fact, forget about spirituality. Even if you think intellectually, body is not your identity at all. After leaving the body what remains? What is knowledge? Who requires knowledge? Who wants knowledge? Who wants peacefulness? What is peacefulness, what is happiness? Body-knowledge is not tolerable, therefore we want happiness.
There are three concepts for happiness: publicity, money, and sex. We are trying to extract happiness through these three elements. These things are not there prior to beingness. After leaving the body, who wants all these things?
There are so many concepts! ‘Karma’, ‘dharma’, ‘religion’, so many things. ‘Destiny’, ‘earlier birth’, ‘future birth’ – nothing is there, absolutely it is illusion. But since childhood, because of long association with the body we’ve accepted so many concepts, body-related concepts. “I am somebody else”. That ‘I am somebody else’ is supposed to be dissolved.
You’re nobody, you’re everybody. You’re Presence is everywhere just like space or sky. After having Spontaneous Conviction, all concepts will be dissolved, all questions will be solved within you. I said to you: You’re not a beggar, you’re a multimillionaire. We’re begging “Oh God bless me, Oh, somebody bless me”, “Put your hand on my head”, why? Because you’re always neglecting your Selfless Self. Accepting some happiness or blessing from somebody else. Okay, you respect everybody. But there should be Spontaneous Conviction: I was not the body, I’m not the body, I’m not going to remain the body. It’s Reality, but you’re not accepting that Reality because ego is there, so-called mind is there, intellect is there. These are functional organs. Where was that mind prior to beingness? After leaving the body mind remains? Nothing. Any ego is there? No. Any intellect? No. Mind, ego, intellect, needs, requirements came along with the body only, and dissolve along with the body.
Q: Can you give some instruction by which meditation can be made incessant?
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Yes? Anybody having any question? Yes, yes, welcome.
Q: Can you give some instruction by which meditation can be made incessant?
Maharaj: Meditation…?
Q: …becomes incessant. Meaning, you can meditate for a few hours but after that…
Maharaj: See, meditation doesn’t mean sitting like this, meditation means involvement, total involvement. I am giving some small example: somebody abuses you in very bad language. You always think “Oh, I will take revenge of that person!”, twenty-four hours a day you are thinking of that person. Someone says “Oh, forget it” – “No, I will not forget! I must take revenge of that person!”. This is called meditation. Master abuses you: ‘You are Brahman’, you take it that way. Master abuses you: ‘You are Brahman’, take it that way. You’ve got to think it twenty-four hours. ‘Brahman’ is a word, we say ‘donkey’ – “Ohh”. If somebody calls you a donkey you are slapping him, but if he says “You are Brahman”– “Oh, how can I be Brahman?”
Your involvement is most important: “Yes, Master says “You are Brahman”, spiritual science says “You are Brahman””. In the light of that, you find out: ‘So that I, I am That’. Brahman, Atman are not separate from you, it’s fact, open fact.
Q: Why Spirit forgot himself?
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Q: Why Spirit forgot Himself?
Maharaj: There’s no reason at all – Spirit does not know ‘I am Spirit’. Spirit does not know ‘I am Spirit’. Spirit is the name given to the Presence, Invisible Presence, Power, Energy. Does electricity know that ‘I am lighting all these things’? There’s no reason ‘why Spirit’. Because we are trying to guess with the intellect. Your Presence in the world is Spontaneous Presence. Everyday you see dreams, you know? Are you planning ‘I will see this dream today, this dream tomorrow’? And who is acting in that dream? Who is watching that dream? And you are acting in that dream as somebody else. You see the sun, moon, and everything, you see narrating. How is that dream world projected? You are sleeping. And who is taking the video-shooting of all the dreams? Likewise, this is a long dream: ‘I am somebody else”.
Q: You say it’s not difficult to achieve this ultimate truth?
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Q: Maharaj?
Maharaj: Yes?
Q: You say it’s not difficult to achieve this ultimate truth…
Maharaj: Of course.
Q: But yet it takes time for most people…
Maharaj: Why? Suppose in a cave it is dark for five hundred years. If you take a light, will you say “I’m here and after five hundred years it has gone away”? If it is dark in a cave for five hundred years, and you take a torch, will you say “Oh, I’m here after five hundred years, where did it go”? So like that, after having Conviction, nothing is impossible. It is open fact, even if you think intellectually, body is not your identity at all. What is the value of this body? If there is no Presence, what is the value of this body? The body is having value because of your invisible Presence. Why ego is required, why mind? When did you come across mind, ego, intellect? “My mind, my mind” what mind? Mind is the flow of thoughts. They are functions, mind, ego, intellect, through which you are functioning through the body. Where was mind, ego, intellect prior to beingness? After leaving the body, any mind remains? You are giving so much importance: “my mind, my ego”. They are basic concepts, this is basic Reality. After accepting the Reality, as I told you, you’ll be Master of the mind. We’ve become slaves through mind, ego, intellect. Thoughts are entering, then directed to the intellect, and are implemented through the ego. You are beyond that.
Your Presence does not know ‘I am Presence’. It is beyond imagination. We are trying to guess at how we are Brahman – not to guess. It’s fact, it’s open fact. And therefore, it is not difficult at all. You can hold your body, no problem, do all activities. Not to take the touch of any concepts. Suppose in a dream you have done something wrong, “Oh, it is a bad dream”. Are you taking ego? Are you repenting for that act? There is no deed, there’s no doer! Because we are measuring ourselves in body form therefore we say “I’ve done something”. Basically you are formless, there’s no shape, it’s fact. Birth and death are related to the body only.
So you are subtler than sky, subtler than space. Be spiritually strong, have some courage! What happens is we’ve got lack of courage. Everybody knows ‘I am Brahman’. Everybody has knowledge, spiritual knowledge, but a lack of Conviction. You have to absorb it, implement the knowledge within you. What is knowledge, spiritual knowledge? Just to identify oneself in a real sense. Then all concepts will dissolve. No fear of death. Because of long association with the body, you’ve accepted body as your identity, that is the problem. So respect yourself!