Knowledge is Eternal – Bhagvad Gita – 5

So Duryodhana after singing his tune, complaing all these things – how they are strong and we are weak….  when such complaing is happening non-stop his grand father was there, he blew a big conch.

Blowing a conch making a big sound, you shift your awareness, your consciousness.

Every instant in gita is universal in nature, it is not just a phenomenon which happens just at one time,  it a perenial pheonenom, it is continuoulsy happening everday.  This is the beauty of the whole thing, when this knowledge, it is not limited to time and space,  it is eternal . The song enternal is called because its value holds good at all generations to all people everywhere.

So when the mind starts growling and complaining what a wise man would do, he blews a conch, created a sound.  And that sound energy uplifted the whole atmosphere, uplifted the spirit of Duryodhana,  to make him happy.

The great grandfather Bhishma blew his conch.

And other names of different conch that different great men of those day blew was  so mystical,  when Bhishma blew his conch and made him happy then it was responded by Shri Krishna.

Panchajanya – he blew a conch called Panchajanya – born out of five.  Divine blows a conch which is  born out of five, what are the five?  The five elements, the whole universe is a conch of the divinity and the song or blow out of a conch is present in every atom of this universe.

So Krishna blew a conch called Panchajanya.  Our body is born out of the five elements, and the voice that is arising from this body is that of a Krishna, is that of  the Divine.

When you realize you are the divinity, you are part of the divinity then you are blowing a  panchajanya.

Dealing With Conflict – Bhagavad Gita 2

Life is a struggle when you don’t know the harmony. 

Everything here appears to be conflict.  The five elements are in conflict with each other.  Fire does not like water, water does not like fire, air does not like fire and vice verse.  All the five elements in creation, actually four elements, the fifth one is just a witness – the four elements all in conflict.

In the same way, in your body there is conflict, in the world  there is conflict, in the society there is conflict, family there is conflict.  There is conflict between young and old, wise and foolish.  Because the universe is made up of opposites.  When it is made up of opposites, conflicts are bound to arise.  War is inevitable then.

But what is that which can change this whole scenario?  This is the intervention of the divinity.  This is the divinity which can raise your eyes to the fact of there is harmony, there is  beauty, there is music, there is all the beautiful things in the planet.

This is your spirit which appreciates a thorn and makes it a decorative piece or throws out in the bush.

Your perception changes, everything changes.  And when you are blind then there is disharmony.

That is what exactly happened.

The King Dhristarashtra was blind.  When the king is blind, there is war, war is inevitable.

When the head of the family is adamant, arrogant and blind, everybody in the family suffers.

When a professor, head of the department of a college or a university is foolish, does not recognize the real talents, then the frustration fills up through the whole set up… same with any business set up, anything you take..  the head is blind there is suffering throughout.

But the suffering does not just remain down the line, it comes back to the head …but that is exactly what happen in Mahabharata, of which Gita is the core, the central core of Mahabharata.

The king was blind, does not know what is happening and the gita began put the question.

QA with SriSri

Don’t make an effort to see the divinity in someone. Divine contains all the qualities. You have a concept of divinity in your mind as someone gentle and nice and then someone is not gentle, you don’t see them as divine. Divinity consists of all the opposites because divinity is totality. So see the whole world as a play, as a drama then you will be able to give a big laugh.

Q:Guruji, tell me what to do with my ego. It is disturbing me so much in my life.
Sri Sri:Just give a big hug to your ego. Let it be there. Why do you worry about the ego? Why do you want to get rid of it? First lesson in art of living is accepting. Whatever you don’t accept will be on your neck….will be bothering you.  Accept and it will stop bothering you. Wake up and look at the whole universe.
Wake up to the fact that time is enormous. Time is infinite and see that in contrast with your life. These 60-70-80 years of your life is so insignificant in this vast ocean of time, then what is ego, where is ego? You are nothing.  You are nobody; you are so insignificant in this planet. The planet will go on. 6 billion / 6 and a half billion people like ants dying and again being born.  So what! Who cares whether you live or die …it’s all finished.
Anyway it’s going to be finished in a few years. Now the environmentalists are even warning you. The word will end in 2012 or 2013. Another five years to the planet. Scientists are saying water is going to go up, sea level is going to rise. Many countries in the world are in danger. Where is your ego? What is your ego?
Wake up and see this whole existence. If you can’t, if you are little sleepy, drowsy then just make friends with your ego. Keep it. Oh I want to have a big one. Let it be there. Grow your ego as much as you want. Don’t fight it. When you wake up and see it dissolves. If you don’t want to wake up, sleep with your ego. Keep it hold it tightly. There is no problem.
In between when you feel you have an ego and want to get rid of it that’s when all the problems come. Just be natural. Being natural is the antidote for ego or agree to be foolish.  Why can’t you be foolish? You’re anyway foolish. When you are not conscious then somebody anyway calls you foolish. Because if there are some people who are more intelligent than you…in their eyes you are anyways foolish.  If you consciously agree to be a fool this trouble of yours will disappear.
I think it’s an important role that everyone should play in their life.  Act being foolish for some time….then you will not be afraid of someone calling you a fool. Biggest armor for ego is it doesn’t want to be called a fool by anybody. So if in your eyes you are a fool the ego has evaporated. That’s it or it has expanded…. limitless.
I think that’s the best thing. In your own eyes….you know in your heart that you are a fool, but you don’t accept. You don’t agree with it. You don’t want to exhibit, show that you are foolish. One day act being a thorough fool. You will see you are free from this ego troubling you day and night. Be a buffoon.
Just for a day and then you will be so natural. No point in being a buffoon in closed doors…out in the streets. There should be hundreds of people seeing you being a buffoon…and call ‘Hey fool’ be a laughing stock of people even for a day you will find yourself at peace.

Q:How can I know when my action is right? Maybe it is better to wait and let things happen in their own time?
Sri Sri:You have a question. You have the answer. How do you know when action is right? Wait for its result. Some results will show immediately. Some results will come in it’s own time.  What all you need to see is whether your intention is correct. If your intention is right, action will always be directed.  But if in the intention there is something wrong, even though the action seems to be good at face value it is not going to yield good results.

Q:Thank you Guruji. I saw you getting out of the car smiling today. At that moment I felt love for life and you.  What to do to feel like that all the time?
Sri Sri:Treasure those moments in your heart. Don’t crave for them. Craving will be an impediment but treasuring those memories will be of real value.  In life you get few moments where the spark gets ignited, where the fountain bursts open, that initial moment when the fountain bursts open is so important so beautiful. If a fountain is running for several hours you don’t pay attention.
Same way moment you jump into hot tub the first moment is really the thrill. If you are remaining for 5-10 minutes you don’t feel it any more. Those initial moments of contrast are so valuable. Those moments are to be treasured.

Q:How can I get courage to reach my goal ?
Sri Sri: First of all, you think you don’t have courage ? You simply have to know you don’t know what you have! If you think you don’t have your trying to have it is not going to work.  Next thing, know you have it. You have the courage. Even then you can’t do it. You have fear.  Know you are not alone. The divine is with you….a greater force is your great strength. Ok?

Q: What happens when people die. Where do we go after that?
Sri Sri:We will take up this tomorrow.

Q: Guruji what is infinity ?
Sri Sri:   <<   >>.  That is it !!!! Where words cannot touch, words and thoughts return that is infinity. That’s why in Sanskrit they said infinity is truth and knowledge ” Satyam Gyanam Anantam”   God is infinite.

Q: Guruji, of the five elements , two are male (fire and air), two are female (earth and water) so what is space ?
Sri Sri: Space is neutral (laughter) Actually this is just one form of understanding. This is beyond gender. Mother earth is represented as female again akash (space) cannot be classified as any gender, but we have to look beyond this. Don’t get caught up with this.

Q: when do we know we are becoming a deciple from a devotee?
Sri Sri: Next !!

Q:Guruji, to ask you an intelligent question, we need to plan. It does not happen spontaniously. How does one balance spontaneity and planning?
Sri Sri: This is spontaneous !!  (laughter) but you can be planned an yet be spontaneous. This intelligence is to be spontaneous and yet be planned. Ignorant one gets caught up in planning and there fore losses spontaneity.

Question : Guruji, when does doubt rise in love ?
Guruji : you know doubting is the nature of the mind. For e.g . when someone says you are too good, we start doubting. When some one says oh you are no good, than you don’t doubth that. You doubt your happiness n=but you dongt doubt your probl;ems. You have to simply understand that life is love and love is not just an emotion, it is your very existence.

Q:Dear Guruji, how to protect myself against negative emotions of other people. I’m very sensitive and quickly overwhelmed by negative emotions of other people.
Sri Sri:Know you are such a positive person that any negative emotion comes you turn it into a positive. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be scared of others negative emotions.  You don’t know. It can come to you anytime…waking, dreaming or sleeping. But it doesn’t affect you when you are sleeping, does it?  Because you don’t know, when you are sleeping any negative emotions from anywhere in the world can pass through you.
You have the ability to transform negativity into positivity. You are much more than negative and positive emotions. Nothing can touch you. A cloud cannot do anything to a rock. Be like a rock. Emotions are like clouds they come and caress the stone and move away.
No rock on top of a mountain is scared of a cloud saying ‘Oh dark clouds are coming. Or white clouds – O I love them!’ Be solid. You are radiating sun. You radiate energy. The negativities are like clouds. Observe it…know it.
Someone is angry and they pass by, their anger catches onto your mind. You feel that anger is welling up inside.. watch it as a cloud.  Laugh at it or take a deep breath and say ‘Hmmmm’. But don’t keep doing it all day. ‘O negative energy is coming so I am going to say Hmmm’. They will send you to a mental hospital. Look at anybody and say ‘Hmmmm’.
You observe….watch. You will see emotions come for a second and vanish.  When they seem to grip you take a couple of deep breaths and sometimes make Hmmm noise you will see it has transformed, vanished. Don’t be scared of others negativities.

Q:Advaita and bhakti we need both in daily life. How can we effectively incorporate this in daily life even though they seem contradictory?
Sri Sri:Life is full of contradictions. …sometimes you eat cold ice cream, sometimes you want hot tea. If you ask me how can I eat cold ice cream and hot tea, both are a part of life. You want both, sometimes this…sometimes that.
In the same way it happens in your life naturally and that’s how it is in nature. On the atomic level there is only one thing “the whole universe is made up of one substance but on the molecular level they are different, there is duality”.
Molecules are a reality. The diversity is a reality. When you go further deep into diversity you find the uniformity. There is union, the oneness of atoms. That is also a reality.
The oneness of sub-atomic particles is a reality and diversity of molecular structure is also a reality….they coexist at the same place, at the same time.  In the same way, Bhakti and love and devotion can co-exist with awareness. It is all one…because bhakti and devotion is not an action. It is a state of mind, not an emotion. Bhakti is the nature of one’s being. It is a pinnacle of emotion and the nature of one’s self, so that doesn’t vanish, though it is experienced in duality more vividly.  As reality it dos not contradict the oneness or Advaita.

Q:If everything is changing what is it that which is untouched, permanent?
Sri Sri:Everything is impermanent. This is what is now…and only then you can know.  It is easy to know, to see that things are impermanent. So when this understanding becomes clear then you see the reference point by which
you see change.  There has to be a reference point which is not changing in order to know everything is changing. If everything is changing, there is no way to know unless there is something that does not change. When you know everything is changing, and then turn inward you will see that there is something so unique…so beautiful that does not change.
It is an indirect experience. Adi Shankara, the exponent of Advaita philosophy called it aparokshanubhuthi – indirect experience. Paroksha means indirect. Anubhoothi – the non indirect experience.  You can’t directly experience and not indirectly. It is neither this nor that, you can neither catch it nor miss it. Nobody can miss it. Yet nobody can catch it. That is the real mystery and that is what life is all about.
[Nobody can say that I have never slept in my life, yet no one can say I know sleep. It is in your experience yet you do not know it. That one thing is sleep…that one thing which causes the sleep, which is in sleep and which enables you to wake up from sleep is the self. That is even more a mystery, without which you can’t exist. There is no existence at all and yet it is not felt or known.  Through knowledge, through grace, that is self knowledge.

Q: Guruji, Why am I not like you?
Sri Sri: This is my wonder too!! But I feel you are like me. If you look from my point of view you will see we are not different. You and me are not separate. Can air be like yours cand mind? Like can you say this is my air and that is your air?!?! No! Sunlight, water, cannot be two. The one which you think is yours and mine actually they are not separate.

Q: Guruji, can you please explain the meaning of Gyatri mantra?
Sri Sri: Oh! Gyatri mantra encompases the whole universe. There are 24 letters that make gyatri mantara. There are 24 vertebra in our spinal cord. One is omkar, two becomes So hujm, then like wise 16 and then 24 becomes Gyatri Mantara. Gyatri Mnatra is the expansion of that one omkar. If one is instructedyou can can certainly chant the mntra. The meaning of the gyatri mantra is let the divinity sink through my intellect. Let our life be purified. But again if you just say Ohm, that also means the same.

Q: Guruji, this mandap is like a Srichakra. Can you explain the essence of Srichakra?
Sri Sri: It is nice no?!?! Then just sit and meditate. Why do you wantto know the meaning and the essence etc!?? I myself don’t know the meaning!! (laughter!!)

Q: Guruji, the imbalances in the body, (vata,pitta, kapha) causes a lot of other problems. How does one handle the vata Imbalance?
Sri Sri: Consult a Ayurvedic doctor, and triphala, it will bal;ance the imbalance. Also drink a lot of water. Eat food on time. Do asanas do pranayama, do Sudarshan Kriya. All this will help.

Q: Swami Ramakrishna had said that Vivekananda will have to go once he comes to know who he was. How did he know this?
Sri Sri: No no that is not correct. It is not like that.

Q: Guruji why does congeneital disorder happen?
Sri Sri: I don’t know. Question continues.

Q: Why did God do this to the children?
Sri Sri: Will put up a complain against God. Sometimes because of improper food this may happen. 

Q: Guruji, when interest starts developing towards devotion, what should one do?
Sri Sri: Good. Very good. But simultaneously you must take care of the responsibilities as well. One should not run away.

Q: Guruji, we are asking you questions everyday. Can you please let us know what have we missed out on asking you!?!
Sri Sri: You should only have one question. “Who am I?” And that question you should ask yourself. That question itself is good enough to get that dive in you to go inward.

Q: Guruji, is it ok to donate some body parts after we die?
Sri Sri: Yes.. yes. It is definitely ok.

Q: (Question asked by a physically challenged person) Guruji, what is moksha?
Sri Sri: Good .. good very good!! The desire to know what is moksha is a good thing. Are you doing better now? Yes! Wow!! How much better do you feel now? 75% Wow!! Very good!!

Q: Guruji, how do you become more disciplined?
Sri Sri: Be less feverish. If you are attached to the benefits then you become feverish. But when you have a commitment, then you automatically become more discipline.

Q: Guruji what is prarubdha?
Sri Sri: I have spoken about it in ‘Intimate note to a sincere seeker’.

Q: Guruji is it necessary to go to temples periodically? Does not worship happen when we are doing seva and meditation?
Sri Sri: Yes yes seva is a form of worship.

Q: Guruji, can you tell us about the swami who is sitting next to you?
Sri Sri: Swami yogananda ji is 99 years old. He does wonderful yoga. His teeth, his eyes, his stomach, everything is perfect. He has been with Bhagat singh, during those times.. He wants to live for more 100 years.  Ask him what he eats, and he will tell you, you should eat only once.  (laughter!!)

Q: Guruji you have given so many techniques. Are techniques important to pursue in the path?
Sri Sri: The root meaning of the word technique is ‘tantra’ these techniques are there to help one overcome obsession and other things in the mind It is not just a way of life.

Q: Guruji, we have so many profound experiences. What is its significance of experiences in our life?
Sri Sri: Don’t spent so much on your experiences so much on your experiences. Commitment is more important. There is a connection between the mind and the mood etc. Like the moon waxes and wanes you experience feelings accordingly. Pleasant feelings come and go, unpleasant feelings come and go Who cares how you feel? Love is your very existence. Love is not just an emotion. Don’t get caught up with feelings. Become strong. Your smile should be so strong you know. How many of you feel really strong? Many of you could not relate to the person who you were before? Is n’t it?

Q: What should be our goal in life? What does this hall (Referring to Vishalakshi Mantap) signify?
Sri Sri: Goal in life? Good question. Its good for you to ponder. This hall (laughter!!) Tell me something, you come from the city how do you feel after coming inside this hall? You feel energetic, yeh you feel good right? That’s the objective. That’s the significance of this hall.

Q: Guruji, we are always smiling since the time we met you. How do we spread this smile around?
Sri Sri: You have to talk to people. Bring people to knowledge.

Q: Guruji what is the difference God and Guru?
Sri Sri:God is like space, and space is everywhere. Inside you there is space, inside me there is space. God is the space ok let me put it in this way. There are electromagnetic waves. But you cannot actually see them right? But you can experience through television. Do you see what I am saying? The electromagnetic waves manifest in the form of television. You can only see the sky through the window. You cannot see the sky if there is a closed wall!! Can you? No. We are all made up of love and the guru is the embodiment of love. That’s why they say, God, atman, Guru, self are all one and the same. That means we don’t have to worry about anything. You simply become compassionate and spread love.and smile.]

Q: How to get out of entanglements?
Sri Sri: By doing pranayamas, sudarshan kriya, meditation. Because when you do these your vision expands and the smaller things drop away.

Q: Around the Guru, there are always distractions. How to overcome these?
Sri Sri: The moment you recognize that you have got distracted, then you have started coming back to the source. So when you are here for meditation and you feel like doing something else, know that you are moving away from knowledge, the Guru.and when you recognize that, you become focused again.