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….

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

CONT'D FROM 52

I do not and cannot know anything about my 'MOTHER',
Her name, Her biographical details and her
characteristic features etc.  Unfortunately I am too
illeiterate a person to read and understand what
others have said about my MOTHER.  But fortunately I
believe that She is not unkind to me.

One thing I never doubt is the fact that I am Her
child and She is my MOTHER.  And of the rest I am
totally ignorant.  I am more grateful to Her slaps
than to Her smiles.  Had She showered more smiles and
given fewer slaps, I would have become a greater fool
than I am now.

Sometimes I feel like crying - "Thank God I am not
free!  I am imprisoned in your embrace.  Every
footfall of my life is kindly and carefully controlled
by you."  I am not sure whether I could have fully
utilized my freedom in the right way, had the
free-will been, unfortunately, given to me.  I really
do not know what I really need.  My MOTHER knows
better than I do.  Thank God!  I am denied my freedom
but given a MOTHER.

Now, for all the apparent cruelty, my MOTHER inflicts
on me, whom should I blame?  I do not know whether I
should blame my MOTHER or myself or somebody else!  I
do not even know whether Her cruelty is worth blaming!
Sometimes I feel it is worth praising.  But for Her
apparent cruelty, I would not have survived at all.
The real solution to the non-existent cruelty in my
MOTHER seems to be the fact that I should remove
blinkers from my eyes and correct my mental lenses so
as to see the kindness inherent in Her cruelty.  All
Her cruelty is nothing but Her kindness, convenienty
misunderstood by our ignorant mind.  She has always
been right.   I have always been wrong but I have felt
I have been right and She had been wrong.

Now I am totally baffled and humbly sit on
bended-knees before Her and question Her "MOTHER, why
did you make me so intelligent as to understand you?
MOTHER  are you a sadist."  MOTHER seems to
whisper..."dear child, it is all Divine Leela.  Had I
made you as intelligent as I am this Divine Drama
would not have come into existence.  This is only a
'Drama" meant for the Dramatist's pleasure, actor's
pleasure and the spectators' pleasure.  Why are you
worried? YOu are not really ignorant.  You are not
really unhappy!  You are not really denied anything!
I have simply made you feel so, since you are made an
actor in my Drama.

You were and you are my child.  Realize this.  ACt
your role well, always remembering me.  Please me,
please yourself.  Please other actors.  There is no
real sorrow in the DRAMA.  You appear to weep; you do
not really weep.  You are the glorious child of
immortality.  All the evil in the world is my
misunderstood wisdom.  Don't unsuccessfully try to
annihilate evil.  You better try to understand its
dramatic inevitability in my Drama, just as you, as an
adult now, understand my rods of wrath descended on
you back in your childhood".  So saying, She
escstatically hugs me to Her bosom.  I forget
everything; I forget to blame Her and forget to praise
Her.  I get dissolved into Her.

to be cont'd

Crucifixion and Resurrection are the legs of Christ's
Life.  It is 'Resurrection' that made Christ a real
Son of God, that made the whole world worship Him,
that made you and me visit churches.  But without
'Crucifixion' Resurrection would not have been
possible.

So ultimately, it is 'Crucifixion' which made Christ
spiritually so great. Otherwise, He would have died
like any other ordinary man, would have died as a
non-entity.

Though He is divine, our mortal eyes would have failed
to perceive His innate Divinity and we would have
treated Him as any other person, if He had not proved
the presence of His innate Divine spark by his
Resurrection.

It is our mental myopia that drove Christ to the
cross.  It is only after Resurrection that we opened
our eyes wide enough to recognize his Divnity that He
allowed Himself to be crucified.

In a word, the fulcrum of Christhood is Crucifixion.
Crucifixion led to Resurrection which made Christ the
real son of God, which inspired us to become Christ's
sons.  But for Crucifixion, all this spiritual beauty
would have been lost.  So Christ on the cross is the
most fascinating figure.  The spiritual prettiness of
Christ on the cross is irresistible.

When He was being put on the cross and was being
nailed, for us it was horrifying sight, we shudder to
see it.  But for Christ, it was cosmic beautification.
He was spiritually being beautified by God, the
master beautician, to attract us.

Once Resurrection had been over, His 'spiritual
beautification' or His 'cosmic-make-up' was complete.

He was now irresistibly handsome.  He started now
attracting us, just as Krishna had attracted Gopikas
in the Brindavan.

Christ came to restore man and got him hooked back to
God's love.  Thus Christ was a 'bridge' between man
and God; between devotee and divinity.  ThRough Christ
we reach our father, 'God'.  Walking over the bridge
(Christ) we reach God.  So it became inevitable for
Him to bear our weight of sin (as a bridge) so that we
are allowed to go over Him in order to reach our
father.

Since He acted as a bridge, He had to shed His blood
for our sake.  Out of sheer love, acting as a bridge
He could bear our weight which made Him  bleed.  So
His blood is His concretized 'love'.  So it had
miraculous power.  Love is a miracle.  In fact the
only miracle is love.  Crucifixion is the height of
that unalloyed, purificatory 'love'.  Only love
purifies.  Only love cures.  Only love is capable of
miracles.  It is Christ's intense love for us that
drove him to crucifixion.  It is again father's love
for the son (Christ) which made Resurrection possible.
Crucifixion and Resurrection are "lub-Dub' (heart
beats) of love.  In other words  'the festival of
Christmas is nothing but the Dance of Love'.

JESUS OFFERS US LIFE,
EVEN THOUGH WE CAUSED HIS DEATH.