Hello everyone! Namaste. Wish you a great Guru Purnima (also known as Vyasa Purnima). This is a very auspicious day and time to think about ourselves as we are today, in this present condition (of the Corona pandemic).
Last year, we had a conglomeration; we had a meeting. We spoke everything about Guru Purnima and its various aspects, as well as the Guru Tattva. But this time, we are sitting in one location for a long period of time, since March. And we don’t know when we will come out of it, because of the unprecedented virus situation. But this situation gave us a golden chance to connect to ourselves. This is a very important thing to understand. We have been suffocated by all the frustrations of being unable to be what we were before or exercise all the aspects of our existence as we could in the past. Many of us do not know how to handle it. On top of that, we saw job losses, economic meltdown, psychological meltdown, and frustrations coming out in multiple dimensions.
At this point in time, we are celebrating Guru Purnima of 2020. It is almost like saying, in the extreme chaos, we are celebrating something which is not tangible. Isn’t it ironical? It’s very interesting because this is the truth. There is a celebration happening in all our lives every time. There is a celebration happening when our heart is beating each time. We may not see it. We may not see the wonder that is happening in our system, every moment. The heart is beating, circulation is happening, breath is happening, lungs are working, kidneys are working, and stomach is working. The whole system is working, the whole universe inside us is working all the time, even when we are asleep.
We are now looking at the subtle aspect of our existence. Firstly, all the things connected to the physical body are happening. Then we look at the subtle body, the processors, including the organs which we cannot see; and the mind, intellect and ego which we cannot see but we perceive. The great masters have guided us to this awareness and understanding. Had they not guided us, we would have taken a lot of effort to identify and understand this. Thus, we must thank them; we must respect them. This is the day for respecting them. This is the day that we remember to respect them because most of the days we take them for granted; we take their teachings for granted. We take Gurus for granted. We take ourselves for granted. Hence, this is the beautiful day to remember who we are, who they are; and eventually, how we are together.
There is no Guru outside of you apart from the Guru inside of you. If you are eligible for a Master, the Master has to happen; you will create that Master. The Master manifests by itself because you deserved a Master. If you’re ready for an information, that information must reach you. This is the law of nature. This is how creation has happened. Every moment, we are creating our reality. Every moment, we are realising ourselves. Life is the greatest Guru.
Guru Purnima is also called Vyasa Purnima because it is the birthday of the celebrated, illustrious sage, Veda Vyasa who authored many of the Hindu scriptures and epics. Vyasa means life, Vyasa is life. Through generations, we are basking in the glory of the beautiful, timeless epics that he has given us, which have been gracefully delivered to humankind; through generations. A great master who delivered great, timeless scriptures. We have understood its dimensions as we are, and many of us have practised it. Many of us are also practising it, unknowingly. We don’t even know that we are practising it, but this is a good time to remember.
Respect. Respect is the keyword. When you gain more and more wisdom, humility will overwhelm you, just like a tree bends down when it is full of fruits. Similarly, when we are overwhelmed with knowledge and wisdom, we bend down in humility. This is how life works. All that glitters is not gold. In the Guru principle, this must be clearly understood because we chase glitters. Senses take us to glitters, the mind follows it and we chase glitters which often leads to disappointment. Why does disappointment happen? Because most of the things that are shining are not gold. Thus, we must understand this, assimilate it, and align it with ourselves.
We have a tangible gross body; along with its senses to sense the world outside. Then, we have a subtle body which has the processors – the mind, intellect and ego – that are processing everything that comes through the senses into us. Just as the organs of our body process the food that we consume, mind processes emotions, intellect processes information and ego processes aspects related to ownership. This is our sukshma (subtle) aspect. Then, we have the consciousness aspect which operates in the three states (waking state, dream state and deep sleep state) and processes and supports our subtle aspects (mind, intellect and ego) in the above three states, twenty-four hours every day. Then, we have the very, very subtle soul aspect; the subtlest of the subtle. The soul is filled with peace and is completely peaceful all the time. The soul is peace. Nothing disturbs it – neither life nor death. The soul aspect is absolutely still and peaceful. The soul aspect energises the consciousness aspect, that in turn energises the mind-matter aspect (mind, intellect, ego), and that in turn energises the physical aspect. When physical goes, the others may not go. They travel along with the soul, the soul packs it up and takes it.
We cannot take anything from the Earth. Not even a pebble. Nothing belongs to us here. We are just tourists here, but we carry the experiences, the emotions, and the desires connected to these things and we return to Earth as bundles of patterns; fears, phobias and various types of emotions that we express in the world; a whole constitution of multiplicity, various dimensions and character traits, inclinations and tendencies. We see that in the world, right? We see that in life – me and mine. Wars related to me and mine, “This is my territory, that’s your territory.” Bitter enmity. We go after people. We discriminate people. We hate people and situations. We wage wars.
Why do we do all these things? If you connect to yourself and identify yourself as the soul, you cannot fight with anybody because everybody is the same. If you see the soul of each being, not just human beings,; the inner core, the deepest aspect is the soul. You won’t be able to see anything else. All the things outside are superficial, they come and go. But the thing inside, the ati sukshma (the subtlest of the subtlest) is the reality. If you are able to understand that reality, you cannot see differences. There are no differences. It’s the same. No difference between human beings and any other species. All have the same core – subtlest, stillness, not influenced by anything, stable, full of knowledge.
We are knowledge incarnate. All this knowledge is within us. Vyasa is within us; Guru is within us. If we really, really understood that aspect, we have understood everything. That’s it. That’s why great masters have said, “Tat Tvam Asi” (You are That). Whatever you’re looking for, is you. This is the journey which these masters have recommended time and again. Go within. Go inside. You have everything inside you. We are all one. Nobody is higher or lower. Then, what are the masters or the people who have realized this, doing on Earth? Just being reminders; just reminding everybody who comes to them that, “You are That. You are everything. Now, I’ll hold your hand and I’ll show you who you are.” This is what they’re doing. Many times, those people who have realized themselves, and told people the truth, the ultimate truth, have been character assassinated or assassinated. Both are the same. This is the ignorance of humankind.
All the scriptures, all the things which they have spoken and demonstrated through their lives are for one reason alone – to show the ultimate truth to mankind that every being is the same. You cannot discriminate. All lives matter. Live that. Every being matters. It’s neither about caste, country, culture, colour, community, nor about any divisions like language or religion. No divisions. They are all expressions, but there’s no division. We are all one. One species. One world, one family. The family is the species and the larger family is all species put together who live on Earth on various planes – in water, or on land, or in the sky. They are all one. If you are able to understand, assimilate and fully imbibe this in your system, you will have no sorrows. You will be still and happy in any situation. Nothing can affect you. Nothing can touch you, and nothing will ever bother you, ever after. This is the ultimate.
It’s not about the things that you will earn from Earth. Only the experience that you collect, matures you. What you earn from the Earth in the name of a property, in the name of various gadgets, or things that you take from Earth for some time, goes away. When they go away, we have sorrows. This is the law of nature – you can own nothing on Earth including your body. You have to leave it here. You have used this body just like you rent-a-car for transportation when you visit a new place or because you want to move around when you have to travel and experience. This is the reason for this body. Don’t think you are the body, that’s a big mistake. The body is yours, you are not the body. Senses are yours but you are not the senses. Mind, intellect and ego are yours, but you are not them. Just like a car, every aspect of the car is yours for some time, but the car is not you. This is what the great Masters have told us all the time, time and again. Shamelessly in a way, they have repeated this – you are not what you seem to be.
Freedom – they have defined beautifully. What is freedom? Freedom is freedom from the senses and mind; not freedom of the senses and mind. This is to be understood clearly. We think that our freedom means we can go anywhere and do whatever we like. Is this freedom? Absolutely not! That’s actually another expression of binding to the patterns that we have already stored inside. We have stored patterns inside, and we are just expressing those patterns. Our patterns push us to go to places and do things consistently and continuously. We are bound by patterns. We know that. Thus, real freedom is freedom from the senses and freedom from the mind, intellect and ego. That means you are more connected to consciousness. Consciousness is not affected by your likes and dislikes, your inclinations or tendencies, or your desires. It just delivers what you deserve.
These are good thoughts especially during Guru Purnima, if you are able to digest and assimilate them. That’s why Masters have said, “Contemplate more.” Do manana (contemplation) more than meditation. Contemplate on these aspects, “Hey look here! What am I really? I seem to be a personality in the society, and society has opinions about me, that sometimes affects me and sometimes not, depending my mood, Who am I in this whole bargain? There are so many dimensions which I experience every day. I play various roles. Who am I? There are people who like me and there are people who dislike me. The people who love me unconditionally will not leave me, no matter what happens, and there are people who leave me for no reason. So, what is this “me”?” This question must be asked at some point in time because this is a very relevant question. Engage in self-analysis, self-inquiry. Go within and find yourself.
I’ve explained the aspects of you. This is food for thought – good things to think about. If you really assimilated it, you will be completely stable. Your awareness will rise above everything. Your awareness will peak. This awareness will take you into the dimensions of existence. This life will be well utilised – not exploited but utilised. Exploitation is not our path. Proper utilisation of every moment is our path. We have to do that. Sitting idle, not knowing what to do, fully confused – these are all a play of the mind. That’s not the play of consciousness. The play of consciousness is clear. Every moment, do what best you can do and then move on. Because you can’t carry this time anywhere. It happens now, it ends now. Time starts and ends right now. The moment starts and ends right now. We can’t take it anywhere. We know that very well. If this is the time I can work, I work. Then I move on. If you are completely assimilated; if you’re completely aligned; you will do likewise. These are good thoughts during the time of Guru Purnima.
Once again, I wish you great awareness, great enlightenment, and stability always. There is only one enlightenment. When I say great enlightenment, i mean assimilating that aspect of enlightenment into this life. Be always conscious that you are everything. You are the universe you’re looking for. Secondly, respect. Respect yourself totally because you are born, you have a body, and you can do everything. You can achieve the highest in this life because you are born as a human being and because you are getting this awareness from the sources.
Thus, it’s a big deal; it’s a great thing. Use this chance. Use this time. And assimilate yourself. Collect yourself completely from the scattered world. The mind is scattered in the world, bring it all together. Bring it together. Go within, enter yourself. Stay there. Stay there! This is the only place you can settle down, really. The only property which nobody can snatch is inside you; outside is not yours. Temporarily you can park yourself there, that’s fine. But permanently if you want to settle down, it should be inside. This has to be understood. This should be very clear.
Now, think about it, assimilate it and align it into yourself. Wear this awareness completely. You don’t need any other dress. This dress is enough. Wear this dress of awareness all the time. Whenever you’re doing anything, be aware. Whenever you’re talking, be aware. Whenever you’re thinking, be aware. Be aware of everything. That’s the dress you wear and you will reach the highest. Use this life for that. This life is for that.
I wish you great happiness. Thank you for listening to me and thank you for being with me to listen to this. I think we will walk further on this journey as long as it takes. Let’s walk together.
Saha naav avatu, saha nav bhunaktu, saha viryam karavaavahai, tejasvi naav adhitam astu, Maa vidvisshavahai Om shanti shanti shanti ||
Transcribed by Ulla Bernholdt
Proofread by Rekha Murali