Words of Wisdom

The first thing to be understood about happiness is
that it cannot be practiced. It has only to be
allowed, because it is not something that you create.
Whatsoever you create is going to remain something
smaller than ou, tinier than you. What you create
cnnot be bigger than you.

The painting cannot be bigger than the painter himself
and the poetry cannot be bigger than the poet. Your
song is bound to something smaller than you.

If you practice happiness you will be always there at
the back, with all you stupidities, with all your
egotrips, with all your ignorance, with all your chaos
of the mind. With the chaotic mind you canot create a
cosmos, you cannot create grace. Grace always
descends from the beyond; it has to be received as a
gift in tremendous trust, in total surrender. In a
state of let-go true happiness happens.

But we have been told to achieve, to be ambitious.
Our mind has been cultivated to be that of an
achiever. Our education, culture, religion , they all
depend on this basic idea that man has to be
smbitious, only the ambitious man will be able to
attain fulfillment. It has never happened, it will
never happen, but so deep is the ignorance that we go
on believing in this nonsense.

No ambitious person has even been happy; in fact, the
ambitious person is the unhappiest in the world. But
we go on training to be ambitious: ” Be the first, be
at the top, and you will be happy!” And have you ever
seen anybody at the top and happy at the same time?
Was Alexander the Great happy when he became a world
conqueror? He ws one of the unhappiest men who has
ever lived on the earth.

Diogenes was a beggar; he had nothing, not even a
begging bowl. At least Buddhe had a begging bowl with
him and three robes. Diogenes was naked – and wih no
begging bowl. He was going to the river one day with
his begging bowl. He was thristy, it was hot, and he
wanted to drink water. And then on the way, just when
he was on the bank, a dog passed by him, running,
panting, jumped into the river, had a good bath and
drank to his heart’s content. The idea arose in
Diogene’s mind: “This dog is freer than me – he does
not have to carry a begging bow. And if he can
manage, why can’t I manage without a begging bowl?
This is my only possession, and I have to keep an eye
on it because it can be stolen. Even in the night
once or twice I have to feel whether it is still there
or gone.” He threw the begging bowl into the river,
bowed to the dog, thanked him for the great message
that he had brought for him from existence.

This man, who had nothing, created jealousy in
Alexander’s mind. How miserable he must have been! He
confessed to Diogenes, “If ever again God give me
birth, I will ask him ‘This time please don’t make me
Alexander – make me Diogenes.”

Diogenes laughed uproariously and he called the
dog-because they had become friends by now, they had
started living together – he called the dog and he
said ” Look listen, what nonsense he is talking about!
Next life he wants to be Diogenes! What next life? Why
postpone? Who knows about the next life? Even the next
day is uncertain, the next moment is not certain- what
to say about the next life! If you really want to be a
Diogenes, you can be one right this moment, here now.
Throw your clothes into the river and forget about
conquering the world! That is sheer stupidity and you
know it.

“And you have confessed that you are miserable, you
have confessed tht Diogenes is in a far better, more
blissful state. So why not be a Diogenes right now?
Lie down on the bank of the river where I am taking
subath! This bank is big enough for both of us.”
Alexander could not accept the invitation, of course.
He said”Thank you for your invitation. Right now I
cannot do it, but next life..”
Dioegenes asked him “Where are you going? And what
will you do even if you have conquered the world?”
Alexander said ” Then I will rest.”
Diogenes said ” This seems absolutely absurd – becase
I am resting right now!”

If Alexander is not happy, if Adol Hitler is not
happy, if Rockefellers and Carnegies are not happy -
the people who have all he money of the world, if they
are not happy – just watch people who have succeeded
in the world and you will drop the idea of success.
Nothing fails like success. Although you have been
told that nothing succeeds like success, I say to you
nothing fails like success.

Happiness has nothing to do wih success. Happiness
has nothing to do with ambition, happiness has nothing
to do with money, power, prestige. It is a totally
differnt dimension. Happiness has something to do
with your consciousness, not with your character .
Let me remind you – character is not you, it is
something you have cultivated. You can becomes a
saint, and still you will not be happy if your
sainthood is nothing but a practiced sainthood. And
thats how people become saint. Catholics, Jains,
Hindus – how do they become saints? They practice
inch by inch, in detail, when to get up, what to eat,
what not to eat, when to go to bed….

We come with empty hands and will go with empty hands,
so what is the point of claiming so much in the
meantime? But this is what we know; what the world
tells us; possess, dominate, have more than others
have. It may be money or it may be virute; it does
not matter in what kind of coins you deal – they may
be worldly, that may be other worldly. But be very
clever, otherwise you will be exploited. Exploit and
don’t be exploited – that is the subtle message given
to you with your mother’s milk. And every school,
college, university, is rooted in the idea of
competiton.

A real education will not teach you to compete; it
will teach you to cooperate. It will not teach you to
fight and come first. It will teach you to be
creative, to be loving, to be blissful, without
comparing yourself to others. It will not teach you
that you can be happy only when you are the first -
that is sheer nonsense. You can’t be happy just by
being first, and in trying to be first you go through
such misery that by the time you become first you are
habituated to misery.

A real education will not teach you to be the first.
It will tell you to enjoy whatever you are doing, not
for the result, but for the act itself. Just like a
painter or dancer or a musician ….

Real beauty is not created you but it only through
you. Existence flows; you become only a passage. You
allow it to happen, thats all; you don’t hinder it,
that’s all.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says, Don’t think of the
result at all. It is a message of tremendous beauty
and significiance and truth. Don’t think of the
result at all. Just do what you are doing with your
totality. Get lost in it, lose the doer in the doing.
Don’t “be” – let your creative energies flow
unhindered. Thats why he said to Arjuna: “Don’t
escape from the war … because I can see this escape
is just an ego trip. The way you are talking simply
shows that you are calculating, you are thinking that
by escaping from the war you will become a great
saint. Rather than surrendering to the whole, you are
taking yurself too seriously – as if there will be no
war if you are not there.”

Krishna says to Arjuna, ” Just be in a state of
let-go. Say to existence, “Use me in whatever way you
want me to use. I am avalable, unconditionally
available.” Then whatsoever happens through you will
have a great authenticity about it. It will have
intensity, it will have depth. It will have the
impact of the eternal on it.”

In this world there is a constant repitition of
history of warfare and trouble. If we are objective,
we begin to behold events as a sort of continuous
cosmic motion picture wherein the same basic story is
played over and over again, only in different times
and places with different characters.

You wouldn’t sit through the same movie repeatedly, it
would soon lose its interest. So we can grant to God
that He has provided for changes in history and
contrasts in good and evil to give variety to the
entertainment in this cosmic movie house.

We can say that God should never have created this
world in which there is so much trouble. But on the
other hand, the saints say that if you knew you were
Gods, you wouldn’t mind it. If you watch a movie, you
like a lot of action rather than something dull, don’t
you? That is the way you should enjoy this world.
Look upon life as a movie, and then you will know why
God created it. Our problem is that we forget to see
it as God’s entertainment.

Through scripture, God has said that we are made in
His image. As such, we could behold this world drama
as a movie, even as He does, if we but look to that
soul perfection within and realize our unity with the
Divine. Then this Cosmic movie, with its horrors of
disease and poverty and atomic bombs, will appear to
us only as real as the anamolies we experience in a
movie house.

When we have finished seeing the motion picture, we
know that nobody was killed, nobody was sufering. In
fact, that truth is the only answer I see when I look
at the drama of life. It is nothing but an electrical
shadow-show, a play of light and shadows. Everything
is the vibration of God’s consciousness into
electromagnetic images.

The essence of those images cannot be severed by a
sword, not burned, nor drowned, nor suffer pain of any
sort. It is not born nor does it die. It only passes
through a few changes. If we could watch this world
as God watches it, and as the saints do, we would free
from the seeming reality of this dreaming. In that
consciousness I can understand that this world was
created for entertainment; and that it is not
necessary either to God or to us.

to be cont’d.

It is a paradox that if God is not compelled by the
relativities of this world as is man, then why did He
bring forth creation? If God needed this world, it
would imply that He is imperfect, not complete or
satisfied within Himself. And on the other hand, if
God is perfect, then whey did He create such an
imperfect world?

The ‘rishis’ of ancient India, having penetrated to
the Original Cause of Being, declare that God is
perfect; that He needs nothing, for all is contained
within Himself, and that this world is God’s ‘lila’,
or divine play. The Lord, it seems, like a little
child, loves to play, and His lila is the endless
variety of ever-changing creation.

I used to reason in this way: God was infinite
omniscient Bliss; but being alone, there was no one
but Him to enjoy that Bliss. So He said, “Let me
create a universe and divide Myself into many souls
that they may play with Me in My unfolding drame.” By
His magical measuring power of ‘maya’ He became dual:
Spirit and Natue, man and woman, positive and
negative. But even though He has creeated the
universe out of delusion, He Himself is not deluded by
it. He knows that everything is but a diversification
of His one Cosmic Conssciousness.

Experiences of the senses and emotions, the dramas of
war and peace, sickness and health, life and death -
all that happening in God as the Dreamer – Creator of
all things, but He is unaffected by them.

One part of His infinite Being ever remains
transcendent, beyond vibrator dualities ; there God is
inactive. When He vibrates His consciouness with
thoughts of diversity, He becomes immanent and
ominipresent as the Creator in the finite vibrator
realm of infinity; there He is active. Vibration
brings forth objects and beings interacting in space
in the motions of time – just as vibrations of man’s
consciouness bring forth dreams in sleep.

God created this dream universe for entertaining
Himself and us. The only objection I have to God’s
lila is this : “Lord, why did You permit suffering to
be a part of the play?” Pain is so ugly and
torturing. Existence then is no longer entertainment,
but a tragedy. That is where the intercession of the
saints comes in. They remind us that God is
all-powerful, and if we unite ourselves with Him, we
will no longer be hurt in this playhouse of His.

It is we who inflict pain on ourselves if we
transgress the divine laws on which He rests the whole
universe. Our salvation is to unite with Him. Unless
we attune ourselves to God and know thereby that this
world is but a cosmic entertainment, we are bound to
suffer. It seems that suffering is a necessary
discipline to remind us to seek union with God. Then
like Him, we will be entertained by this fantastic
play.

It is wondorous to think deeply of these things. I
delve in these realms all the time. Even as I speak
to you I am seeing these truths. It would indeed be
terrible if an Almighty Being had thrown us into this
delusive earthly existence without an escape or the
ability to realize what He realizes. But this is not
the case. There is an outlet. Every night in deep
sleep you unconsciously forget this world, it is no
more for you. And every time you meditate deeply, you
are consciously transcedent; the world doesn’t exist
for you. Thus do the saints say that to unite
ourselves with God is the only way we can understand
that this world is not something to which we should
give much importance.

It is a paradox that if God is not compelled by the
relativities of this world as is man, then why did He
bring forth creation? If God needed this world, it
would imply that He is imperfect, not complete or
satisfied within Himself. And on the other hand, if
God is perfect, then whey did He create such an
imperfect world?The ‘rishis’ of ancient India, having penetrated to
the Original Cause of Being, declare that God is
perfect; that He needs nothing, for all is contained
within Himself, and that this world is God’s ‘lila’,
or divine play. The Lord, it seems, like a little
child, loves to play, and His lila is the endless
variety of ever-changing creation.

I used to reason in this way: God was infinite
omniscient Bliss; but being alone, there was no one
but Him to enjoy that Bliss. So He said, “Let me
create a universe and divide Myself into many souls
that they may play with Me in My unfolding drame.” By
His magical measuring power of ‘maya’ He became dual:
Spirit and Natue, man and woman, positive and
negative. But even though He has creeated the
universe out of delusion, He Himself is not deluded by
it. He knows that everything is but a diversification
of His one Cosmic Conssciousness.

Experiences of the senses and emotions, the dramas of
war and peace, sickness and health, life and death -
all that happening in God as the Dreamer – Creator of
all things, but He is unaffected by them.

One part of His infinite Being ever remains
transcendent, beyond vibrator dualities ; there God is
inactive. When He vibrates His consciouness with
thoughts of diversity, He becomes immanent and
ominipresent as the Creator in the finite vibrator
realm of infinity; there He is active. Vibration
brings forth objects and beings interacting in space
in the motions of time – just as vibrations of man’s
consciouness bring forth dreams in sleep.

God created this dream universe for entertaining
Himself and us. The only objection I have to God’s
lila is this : “Lord, why did You permit suffering to
be a part of the play?” Pain is so ugly and
torturing. Existence then is no longer entertainment,
but a tragedy. That is where the intercession of the
saints comes in. They remind us that God is
all-powerful, and if we unite ourselves with Him, we
will no longer be hurt in this playhouse of His.
It is we who inflict pain on ourselves if we
transgress the divine laws on which He rests the whole
universe. Our salvation is to unite with Him. Unless
we attune ourselves to God and know thereby that this
world is but a cosmic entertainment, we are bound to
suffer. It seems that suffering is a necessary
discipline to remind us to seek union with God. Then
like Him, we will be entertained by this fantastic
play.
It is wondorous to think deeply of these things. I
delve in these realms all the time. Even as I speak
to you I am seeing these truths. It would indeed be
terrible if an Almighty Being had thrown us into this
delusive earthly existence without an escape or the
ability to realize what He realizes. But this is not
the case. There is an outlet. Every night in deep
sleep you unconsciously forget this world, it is no
more for you. And every time you meditate deeply, you
are consciously transcedent; the world doesn’t exist
for you. Thus do the saints say that to unite
ourselves with God is the only way we can understand
that this world is not something to which we should
give much importance.

When we examine the mechanism of a watch, we know that
there was an intelligent being who created that
instrument so that it would work according to a
mathematical plan. The maker coordinated all the
little cogwheels and other parts to produce a certain
motion that measures time. Keeping time is a
necessity in a universe whose very existence depends
on the relativities of time and space.

The entire cosmos is one gigantic watch with myriad
cogwheels of galaxies, stars and planets, sitting in
space, measuring the passage of time with the motions
of past, present, and future. Just as the man-made
watch is the product of human intelligence, so the
vast universal watch is the handiwork of a higher
Intelligence. We cannot doubt it. Inspite of some
things that are not to our liking here on earth, we
cannot deny that there is a mathematical harmony in
the universe.

Why God created this earth is always a very
thought-provoking question. From a a relative
standpoint, we cannot counter, “why do we carry a
watch?” The answer is to measure time, to measure
events and our movements throughout the day.
Breakfast, work, dinner, caring for the body,
entertainment, sleep – all consist of certain motions
in time. So we can say that the watch is required for
measuring the passage of our time. Such measuring is
necessary because this world in which we have been
placed is conditoned by time. Our existence and
actions are subject to the divisions of past, present,
and future. As human beings, we have to act or we
become human vegetables; and our behavior must be in
orderly way that is harmonious with the universal
motion of time and its man-made constraints. A watch
helps us to do this.

Now, is this cosmic watch a necessity to God? Must He
too be circumscribed by past, present, and future?
The answer is both yes and no. Time, the orderly
ticking of the cosmic clock, is an integral part of
‘maya’, delusion, “the Magical Measurer”, the only way
that God could create a variety of forms and events
from His one consciouness and display their
progression in space for our participation and
wonderment. But no, God Himself is not limited by the
relativity of past,present and future and the changes
inherent in the passage of time. In Him there is
naught but the eternal now. And though delusion comes
from Him, it is not ‘in’ Him.

to be cont’d

..cont'd from 54

I do not know whether the world is now passing through
'Cosmic Autumn', And probably, it is spreading its
naked branches bereft of all values.  How long can a
farmer try to adhere back the falled leaves in Autumn?
Do hundred farmers succeed in doing so ?  It is not
the farmer's failure.  Farmer is not meant for that.
It is its nature.

If, in spite of Buddhas and Christs, the world is what
it was, it not their failure, it is the inevitable
nature of the world.  If thousand stars  do not dispel
the darkness of the night, let us not blame the stars;
nor is it their duty to do so.  In the unalterable and
ununderstandable 'Cosmic Scheme' everything has a
role.  One has to realize this and smile.

Aututmn is necessary for the existence of Spring.
Summer with its scorching heat lifts water drops up
from the sea, only to drop them down in rainy season.

Night is there to enhance the beauty of the day.  We
sleep only to wake in the morning with invigorating
freshness.  We sometimes beat our children only to
make their lives blissful.  We fall ill and realize
the wealth of health.

There are patients so that doctors can exist.  There
are sinners so that saints have a role to play.  Our
houses are clean becase there are dust-bins.  Let us
not hate the dust-bins.  There is what one may call
'dualistic interdependence of realities'.

Human life is an unending dance of dualities.  This is
necessary for Divine Drama.  Dualistic essence is the
centripetal core of Divine Drama.  Once, dualistic
essence dissolves in non-dualistic natue of you inner
self, the Divine Drama disappears.  You will become
one with Him.

Gandhi and Godse disappear into each other.  The
victim and the victimizer become one.  The sword and
the shield, prepared by the same blacksmith, and
fought against each other so far lie hugging each
other in the corner.  A real 'Jnani' ( the enlightened
ones) is aware of all these apparent contradictions
and that is why sorrow is afraid of touching him.

May the new year make more and more spiritual wind
blow into the window of your life.  May you
successfully pilot across the uncharted waters which
stretch ahead of you !

Life always, like the imponderable immensity of the
star-filled sky, fills us with awe and wonder.  WHAT
WILL BE SHALL BE.  There is a general belief that if
one reaches the transcendental stage, one can escape
the clutches of pre-determinism.  It is true also.
But when one reaches that stage he 'can' escape but he
'does not' want to do so, as he realizes that whatever
is existing is the best available form.

A king living in a palace can enter a hut but he does
not do so as the palace is better than the hut.  That
is why Rama and Krishna, though they were spiritually
elevated to the transcendental stage, though they
could mould the pattern of their lives, never did so.
They gladly Bore what they were made to bear.

'The Cosmic-Map Is so perfect' that the transcendental
man, inspite of the fact that he is potential enough
to redraw and redesign the map, does not do so because
he is also potential enough to realize that the
existing map can never be improved upon.

If a transcendental person tries to rewrite the cosmic
story he is 'bound to fail' because he is not  a
really transcendental man.  A real T.M. (
transcendental man) is eternally aware that there are
no and can never be better revised or enlarged
editions of the Cosmic story.  So the T.M. in spite of
his ability to go beyond pre-determinism, is  a
willing victim of its tentacles.

In other words, what is predetermined  equally
applies to all.  In still other words, the unalterable
sheet of fate- reigns supreme even in transcendental
lives like Christ, Rama, Krishna etc.  In a word, the
accurate and infallible index of a transcendental man
is that he will, with all the humility, bows his head
before what is cosmically predetermined in spite of
his ablility to do.  Even if he appears to have gone
beyond predetermined pattern, it is only apparent, not
real.  Even if he appears to have really done so, he
is predetermined to go beyond pre-determinism to that
extent, paradoxically.
********************

"what has happened has happened for the best
what is happening is happening for the best
what will happen will happen for the best
Do not brood over the past
Do not worry about the future
The  present is on"

MAY THE ONE TO WHOM EVERYONE BELONGS AND WHO BELONGS
TO EVERYONE BLESS YOU WITH WHAT IS DESIRABLE TO YOU.