Bosphorus, Turkey, 23rd February 2021
Q1 Being in the now (20:13)
Q2 How to use any situation as an opportunity for positive transformation (22:38)
Q3 How to survive in competitive world without compromising integrity (36:18)
Q4 Destiny vs. free will (43:06)
Q5 How to keep peace when your most loved ones don’t seem to respect you for who you are? (48:05)
Q6 In old age, how to have peaceful death? (51:23)
Q7 How can I serve multitude of people? (1:01:06)
Q8 How to deal with people with narcistic personality disorder? (1:09:13)
Q9 How to stay calm in face of challenges and why they come although we live dharmic life? (1:12:33)
Q10 How to find clarity on the lost passion of our life? (1:17:25)
Q11 How to know who are the right people in our life and who are the fake ones? (1:20:37)
Q12 It’s your birthday today. What does it mean to you? (1:22:23)
Q13 What are the activities that could bring the same benefits as a person who attends fire rituals? (1:25:03)
SPEAKER:
Hello, dear friends!
It’s my great honor and pleasure to welcome you today on the occasion of Mohanji’s birthday at Bosphorus, in Istanbul, Turkey.
I would also like to use this opportunity to welcome our audience watching us on Facebook and other social platforms. You are all with us here in our hearts.
I hope you can feel this magnificent and festive atmosphere.
Now we will welcome Mohanji and Devi Mohan. A warm welcome to Mohanji and Devi Mohan…
I’m sure that the best person to introduce Mohanji is his wife, his life partner, who is also the Global Ambassador of Mohanji Foundation and President of ACT Foundation. Here you go, Devi…
DEVI:
Thank you, Dalila.
A loving welcome to all of you, and all our spiritual family and friends watching us online.
I will just take a couple of minutes to give a brief introduction into who Mohanji is, and what it means to be a part of the Mohanji family.
Yesterday I spoke at length that what’s really special about this family, is that it all started organically. We didn’t have any sponsors or mecenas as they say in Europe, or anyone who was backing this up.
It was just a pure intention that came from Mohanji’s heart, and support from a grand Tradition, intangible support.
In India, they say that everything that is measurable is maya or illusion.
And it’s exactly that grace factor – which is something that is not measurable, and something that comes only when we do things beyond ourselves, when we do something selflessly with purest of intention.
That’s what made this whole platform called Mohanji Foundation come to life.
Currently in more than 80 countries, we have Mohanji Foundation and registered as legal entities in 16 countries. And we had hundreds, now thousands of volunteers around the globe for Mohanji Foundation, ACT Foundation, and various other platforms like Early Birds Club (EBC), World Consciousness Alliance (WCA), Mohanji Youth Club (MYC). Across different age groups and strata of society, and beyond all boundaries, there is value addition happening to the world.
What’s really beautiful about it is that Mohanji is not doing this to promote himself as a personality or as a person – he is actually helping all of us to rise up to our highest potential, by finding different aspects that suit us.
We are here to overcome all frames just like he did, just like he came out of all frames, including the slavery to our ego, our mind, and our expectations.
As we rise up through selflessness, purity, social service, and expression of our uniqueness and authenticity, we are able to rise up to that higher potential.
And this platform was created as the booster, or as a means for many of us to rise up in that way.
So that’s what makes it very special…
I, as his wife, can also say that I was never forced by Mohanji to be or to behave in a specific way, or to be pretentious, or try to be something I’m not.
I come from the Balkan region and here among our participants, we have quite many people from the Balkan region – we are very unruly! And we have this ‘inat’ (inat in Serbian is similar to spite in English), you know if you try to push us into something, it’s not happening!
But we are all in the heart also… we are very spontaneous, and we celebrate life…
So I feel it’s a very beautiful connection between that passion, spontaneity, celebration of life, and courage and with the beauty, humility, and depth of India. When it all comes together, I think we make a pretty good family, globally.
And also as I said yesterday, we do have deep Vedic roots in the Balkan region.
Before Christianity came there in that region, there was a civilization with deep contact with the Vedic knowledge. So that’s somewhere deeply ingrained in us.
And this is not a religion – this is Sanatana Dharma – the basic ground rules of existence which boils down to the wisdom of yoga, and again further boiling down, into being natural.
Being natural, being you, is one of Mohanji’s core messages.
And also living in a liberated way, and leaving liberated. This is our aim.
We are not here to hoard wealth, we are not here to prove anything.
We are simply here to become more and more natural, more and more loving, and inspire others to radiate that kind of beauty and energy.
Mohanji lives his teachings and guides us through his own example, and all of us aim to rise up to that level of being completely natural, free, and just out there living our highest version and highest potential.
On this special day we are so happy to be in the beautiful Bosphorus, where nature celebrates unity, where we all can unite through that higher frequency energy, beyond all these restrictions that we are facing now during COVID challenges, and many other divisions that happen among the people.
We are here to celebrate unity, purity, and divinity. Thank you.
SPEAKER:
Thank you, Devi.
I would also like to use this opportunity to say how thankful I am to be a part of this beautiful platform, to be a volunteer, and to get the best salary in the world actually, the platform where you can grow so high. I mean, your Guru is putting you in very uncomfortable situations, like moderating a satsang for his birthday!! (laughter among the audience)
Today we have the honor also to present to you books that have been translated into languages other than English.
The first book is ‘Kailash with Mohanji : The Inner Kora’ in Marathi.
The book was translated by Dr. Mrs Vinaya Dharwadkar, a pediatrician and doctor by profession. She was awarded the prestigious Sahitya Bhushan award (Sanskrit sahitya – literature), and the Maharashtra State Award for literature. She’s 82 and took up the project of translation of ‘Kailash with Mohanji’ in Marathi, with the intention that the content of the book and importance of Kailash Yatra reaches a larger Marathi-speaking audience. Mohanji Foundation thanks her for her dedication and efforts. (Applause).
The second book is ‘Məst – The Ecstatic’ by Mohanji. Remaining always in inner ecstasy, and living in complete freedom and abandon, they walk the earth to remind you of your lost glory – to go within, to be in ecstasy within yourself, to be you, to be a Məst.
The book ‘Məst’ gives us a peek into the grand tradition, where the Master comes in search of the seeker when the seeker is ready.
Even though the book says that this is a work of fiction, the authenticity of the story is left to the reader’s imagination, intuition, or experience whatever we may call it, to unravel whether the mystical story is fictional, surreal or an epitome of Truth.
Apart from the English, ‘Məst’ was translated into the Tamil language. This book has been translated by Arun Vathavooran, Shyama Jeyaseelan and Jay Jeyaseelan, who are members of the Mohanji family based in the UK. Their passion and dedication to make this book available to the Tamil audience is very helpful.
Also, we have ‘Məst’ in the Marathi language. It was translated by Moushumi Patankar, a member of the Mohanji UK family. She worked really hard on completing the translation within a very short period of three months in order to get this book to reach the Marathi-speaking audience.
And the last but not least is ‘Guru Leela – IV’. I’m sure that everybody is excited about it!
‘Guru Leela- IV: Mohanji and I’ is a collection of testimonials from various Mohanji followers around the world. The core of ‘Mohanji and I’, is the deep connection of every follower with Mohanji. Every experience culminates in fulfilment of desires, enabling the seeker to walk the path of liberation. It takes the follower closer to the Guru on the outside, who guides us to the divinity within.
If you are interested in buying these books you can go to www.amazon.com and you can purchase either paper copies or Kindle versions.
There are two amazing projects that arose from this challenging year behind us which are a Loyalty Program, and an induction of people into Sanatana Dharma. Now I would like to hand over the microphone to Monica Dizdarevic to present the Loyalty Program.
MONIKA:
Thank you Dalila. I will just briefly explain the Mohanji Loyalty program.
It is basically to respect and honor all the people that have been standing by Mohanji’s side with conviction and dedication throughout all these years of the development of Mohanji Foundation. And how we will honor these people is actually that we will see the benefits in the future.
But basically, when we develop Mohanji Benevolence Centres, we will have a special place for these people.
Also, when we have retreats in the future, there will be some special discounts for these people of the Loyalty Program, to respect and reward the long-serving members who have consistently stood by Mohanji, contributed to the growth and development of the Mohanji platform through their time, energy, efforts, financial resources, and any other modes.
There will maybe be two kinds of memberships: the platinum membership for those who have been by his side for 10 plus years and the gold membership for 5 plus years. That’s just a brief introduction about our Loyalty Program. Thank you.
SPEAKER:
Thank you so much, Monika. The second amazing project that arises from last year’s challenges is to provide a structured path for those interested in Sanatana Dharma. It’s our pleasure to hear more about it directly from Mohanji.
MOHANJI:
Good afternoon to all of you.
Sanatana Dharma is the basic ground rules of existence and creation.
That means the whole universe is built with certain principles and Sanatana Dharma simply means those principles in action.
Now, human beings have refined intellect, and can create something from nothing – we have that capacity.
So, that also comes with responsibility. When you have higher capacity, that also means there is responsibility.
And understanding how the world and the universe functions and being in tune with that law, is following Sanatana Dharma. These are the basic principles of creation and existence.
When somebody decides to follow the Sanatana Dharmic principles, we would like to officiate them; not many organizations can do that. It’s like an induction into a pattern of life with certain oaths and vows such as non-violence.
We do not entertain violence in thoughts, words or expressions and actions.
Another thing is the ability to share what you have – being selfless.
Like that, the principles of the highest order or the highest possibility for a human being. These are the principles and then such things are taught to them.
This is not forced – no compulsion, but the facility is provided.
This year onwards because we have centres coming up, we will have places happening, our own locations happening. People can come, people can stay, and practice.
That’s why we wanted to define the system in such a way that they can merge with the system.
And the whole idea is simple: to create and maintain refined human beings in the world, which in turn helps the collective consciousness.
Many people believe that spirituality is activity, meaning you learn certain techniques, you follow certain techniques and that they’re fine – but evolution or experience is discarded.
Here our focus is on experience, such as human life defined well through scriptures, through practices, through orientation, and lifestyle. These are the Sanatana Dharmic principles.
So, it is completely voluntary and if somebody says, ‘okay, this is what I want to follow for the rest of my life’, then we orient them and initiate them into this.
This is not just like a simple initiation of Kriya. This is more like a system initiation. You’ve got to practice it, you’ve got to formally practice it. It’s like an education system, fully systemized without any compulsion – nobody is asked to follow it.
Each person can assess their own growth by being fully human, that’s the idea.
If you have a question, I’ll take it…
Can you please shed light on ‘being in the now’, on the importance of exercising patience, stability, and flexibility, and give guidance on how to maintain that in these turbulent times?
MOHANJI:
Life happens now – it’s not yesterday or tomorrow.
We think that we can have happiness tomorrow and we strive for that happiness.
And what happened during COVID times?
Many of those opportunities were taken away. We don’t have them.
So it’s important to be happy now, it’s important to cherish whatever is happening in our life right now.
The future is unpredictable – we don’t know.
So it’s very important to understand that this is a kind of constant awareness, with the presence of mind that life is happening right now.
Yesterday is over. You cannot go back and change anything.
The future has not happened as yet. And if the future happens the way you love it or like it, good enough. If it doesn’t, you’ve got to remain flexible.
Remain flexible, be in the present.
These are the two things you should remember when we talk about being in the now. That means you should be fully focused on this time.
Forget about the past or the future, and also accept a thing as it comes.
Just let it happen in life, experience it as it is.
Tomorrow if something new happens, enjoy it. That means you’ve got to be in the present.
Now, in the COVID situation this is what we experienced, most of our projects had to be redefined. We couldn’t just follow what we did, or continue to do what we did all these years.
We had to change, we had to redefine, we had to adjust to the present realities. Otherwise we could have had many retreats already. Here we are struggling to have one, this is the truth.
It’s not in our control anymore and since it’s not in our control, we’ve got to be aware and understand that all you need is flexibility.
Extreme flexibility.
When you have flexibility, you survive.
When you do not have flexibility, you are in the hangover of the past: ‘Oh, last year was like this or the year before was like this. I’m not able to do all these things now’.
All these things work in your mind and make the present miserable.
If you live in the present, accept the present as it is, it’s still edible. You can still survive. This is very important.
Being in the now is all the more important at this time – more than ever.
QUESTION (22:38):
In times of adversities and calamities, one can choose to take two approaches.
The first one is an old repetitive pattern motivated by fear and guilt, or the second one, to evolve and expand in consciousness.
Can you comment on how one can use any situation as opportunity for growth and positive transformation?
MOHANJI:
Yes, I touched upon the subject of flexibility right now.
You see, we are unique beings.
We have our likes and dislikes, we have our personalities; we are quite unique.
But have you ever accepted that fact?
Mostly not.
Because we compare ourselves to other people, we try to compete with other people.
The education system that we have, the political system that we have, and also the religious system that we have – these have not created individuals as far as I can see. What have they created? All these systems, what have they created?
Obedient slaves!
We have not made individuals in this world.
Of the 7.5 billion people out there, how many are individuals? Can you see individuals?
If you see individuals, they would stand out!
Why 7.5 billion people are not standing out? Because everyone has refined intellect, all people are unique – perfect and beautiful creations, but why are they not standing out?
That’s because systems so far have created only slaves.
Now with these masks, the coffin is sealed. Your personality itself is covered. It doesn’t matter who is behind the mask because you can’t see them. Behind the mask, it could be anybody. Impersonal. We can’t even connect to those people, because we can’t say that it’s the same person we met yesterday. It’s the mask…
This is a very important thing for you to understand – where we have reached.
The Covid situation should not be blamed for our restrictions only. You should also think about the education, the learning that we have with this situation.
This is an urge, a wake-up call for you to be individuals. Independent individuals – where you have to depend on your uniqueness.
We are all unique. That’s why our thumb impression is unique, the structure of the retinas of our eyes is unique. It’s very important to understand that we are unique. And it’s time for us to be individuals.
And experiences are always, always, always individualistic. I cannot say that my experiences can be transplanted to another person. It’s not possible, because experiences are totally individualistic, very much so.
When experiences are individualistic, how can you be another brick on the wall? How can you be? Isn’t it a question? Do you know what I am talking about?
But then why are we bricks on the wall?
I am not trying to create more followers. What I am telling the world is: Find Yourself.
If you found yourself, only then will you find me.
If you have not found yourself, you will only see an image.
You can call that image – father, brother, guru, or whatever you like. And it doesn’t matter – whatever you call, it doesn’t matter.
Your connection with me matters. Your love matters. Your feeling of oneness matters.
Otherwise what really matters?
You really matter to yourself because you are sleeping with you, from birth till death. You have no choice. You can avoid everybody around you, but you can’t avoid yourself.
So all that I’m saying to the world all the time, is to find yourself – by removing all the comparisons, all competition, all the things which make you ‘not you’. Take it away, remove it.
And then what you get is the Real You, as pure as it takes.
If you have found that in this life, you have reached the top of Everest. That’s the highest possibility in this life.
But don’t think that practices can help you with this. Don’t think that other people can help you.
Nothing external can help you.
There are only mirrors, everything around you are only mirrors – just showing you your own various possibilities or forms.
You’ve got to take time to find yourself. You’ve got to take time to go within, deep within.
Some experiences come, don’t get stuck with experiences, they also can change. Yesterday’s experience may not be today’s.
So you’ve got to be very, very neutral. Observant like a witness, watching over you, accepting you, and progressing through acceptance.
Only through acceptance can you progress.
We are habituated to be against somebody, against something all the time. In the bargain, what happens is that these likes and dislikes are really confusing our life. We either like or we dislike.
You know, ‘I like this person; I don’t like this person’ – this is the game we are playing.
Does it really matter whether you like somebody or not, for that person? It doesn’t matter!
Whether you like that person, or not like the person, it’s the same. His life will go on – he will have appetite at the right time, he will go to the toilet, he will take a bath, he will sleep whether you like it or not, isn’t it?
We’ve got to be aware. Our likes and dislikes are our problems. So, take them out.
We try to compare, criticize, judge people.
And because we have concepts inside us, we have made frames. We try to put the person in the frame, and if the frame is big or small, that person cannot be fitted in. When the person cannot be fitted in, we complain: ‘That’s not the guy I wanted, not my sort, not my type’.
They are not supposed to be your type! They are themselves.
Where is the problem now?
It’s inside – within us.
We are trying to break all sorts of frames and try to cut the person to fit the frame, and the person will run away. And then we complain: ‘I expected a lot from him; it did not work out’. Just imagine how our thought processes work.
Why I explained all this is because it’s just a mirror turned to yourself, so you can see who you are. Everything is illusory!
We are really struggling to prove to the world we are somebody, but the world doesn’t accept you, what do you do?
We try to do so many things to the world, to tell the world: ‘Hey! Look here, I am a great personality’. But the world is not looking at you! The world has something else to do, what do you do?
These are questions you should ask yourself.
The world is like that! The world is your mirror.
If you do not accept yourself, the world cannot accept you. If you are in resistance with various factors of life, the world will reflect the same thing to you.
If you have anger, the world gives you anger; if you have hatred, the world gives you hatred. What you have within you in abundance, that’s exactly what the world projects on you.
Don’t blame the world. This is what you have inside.
If you clearly understand that, then only through acceptance, can you clear them out of you. You can remove them slowly, through acceptance, through time.
You need to have a hell of a lot of patience, so much patience. It takes time. It’s not easy to take you off the habits from the world, to be ‘you’. It takes time – it will take a lot of time.
Once you have found ‘you’, then you are totally at peace.
Whatever happens in the world outside, no problem – you will help if you have to. You shift from sympathy to empathy. You become effective in the world.
Effective life is the ‘real life’.
I’m coming to that now.
It’s not the number of years you spent on earth – eating, drinking, sleeping, and doing nonsense stuff. It’s the effective times you spend on earth. How effective have you been?
All the platforms that I have created are to make people effective. Just one reason – to be effective! That’s real life. Effective life is the ‘real life’!
You’ve got to contribute to the world, not take from the world only.
Because you’re taking a lot of stuff, unconsciously thinking: ‘It’s our right’.
Change that idea!
Remove “right”.
Here, life starts to become effective! There, changes happen in life.
Every moment you are thinking: ‘What else can I do for this world, what can I give to this society’? There you have to explore your highest potential, consistently. There is no other way.
If you really change your focus from rights to responsibility, life changes. Life starts changing for the positive and to the effective. This is important.
And always ask, why certain things do not happen to you?
My question is: do you believe that they will happen?
If you really believe that this thing can happen to me, then it will happen.
But often we are not believing in ourselves. That’s why it’s not happening.
So many factors that are connected. We will explore those in the days to come. As I take you through various systems, I hope that will give you some kind of transformation. It all depends on how much you connect to me and participate in this thing. Transformation is simple. It depends on
1. availability
2. the involvement in the activity.
These two things are very important, we’ll work through that in the days to come.
QUESTION (36:18):
How can I survive in this cut-throat competitive world without compromising my integrity?
MOHANJI:
I touched upon that just a short while ago.
We all have our uniqueness, right?
Unique personality, unique talents, unique presence and unique relevance in this world.
That’s why I said that nobody is like another – even if you take all the leaves on one plant and analyze them properly, you know that even though they look alike, they’re not the same. This is how creation has worked.
Everything is different – all people are different, all people are unique, all people have relevance, they have space, and they have uniqueness.
So this is exactly what you should nurture.
Then you cannot compete with anybody else. Nobody can compete with you.
Only if you are all the same, can you compete (I can run slightly faster…here it’s not possible).
Your uniqueness, and your presence with your uniqueness – that’s your delivery.
That’s exactly what you’re offering to this world, not as somebody else. You can’t be somebody else.
You have to understand, you have to be clear, that your strength is your uniqueness.
That’s your strong point. All of us have it. Please believe me. All have these strong points.
I am not special and neither are you special, we are all special.
We are all unique, we are all having the same potential, power, and relevance on earth.
We have our spaces – nobody can take your space. You are you.
So, this is our uniqueness, and this is what we should understand.
Once you know that you’re unique and you start working on your uniqueness, if you do want to compare, compare from your yesterday to your today. Compare the transformation that you have attained over time, continuously. You were not the same ten years ago; now you are different.
People say: “After I met you so many things changed”.
I always tell them: “Clarity – that’s what I’m giving you”.
Take the nonsense out and you have everything clear. It’s like removing the fog from the road, and you have good visibility.
This is exactly the magic that can happen to you, provided you are up to it.
If you say: “I’m happy with the fog, I am used to the fog, I don’t like visibility”, then nobody can help you.
Transformation is your choice.
You can be transformed, provided you are able to take what comes to you. Use it in the right possible way and transform, evolve into something. This is possible. We have that power inbuilt.
We have that potential, we have that power inbuilt within us.
See, the thing is that habitual practices, habitual thoughts, and habitual expression that you have become used to for the last 40 years – that is exactly the detrimental factor.
Because we are used to something, we don’t want to leave it.
And this is exactly the reason why we cannot progress.
So, there is a potential for transformation.
If you want to compare – compare with yourself, from your yesterday to your today. And keep comparing your growth from your past, not with another person.
Secondly, compete with your yesterday, compete with yourself. Don’t look at another person and compete, that’s wrong understanding.
As I said at the beginning – that person is unique, you are unique.
You cannot call the other person a proper opponent, or somebody who you can compete with. That’s wrong understanding!
So, you’ve got to compete with yourself, you have to compare with yourself and evolve to the higher.
The more awareness you have, the more clarity you will have, the more potential you will have, and also more effectiveness you will have.
If you live for ten years, lead ten effective years contributing to the world, making a difference in the world.
Be game changers, trendsetters, with the power you have within you. You have that power within you.
And don’t think that only some people can do it. It’s not true, it’s not true.
You know, if you look at (I can tell from the context of Indian philosophy) all the people like Lord Rama, Lord Krishna – they all went through tremendous struggles. Jesus went through tremendous struggles, right from childhood. From the time he was born, he went through many, many struggles.
It has never been easy. Don’t expect that everything will be smooth and easy.
And don’t expect that: ‘Now I have found a Master or Guru, now he has to clean my clothes’.
NOT SO. That’s wrong understanding!
You walk. And if you fall, he will hold you, he will guide you, he will take you to your destination – provided you walk.
If you cannot walk, the Guru cannot carry you on the shoulder. The Master does not do that, that’s not his job.
If the Master has found light, he will tell you where to look. He will never tell you what to see. Why?
If he tells you what to see, then where is your individuality? You should see what you can see. You should see as per your capacity, as per your orientation, and as per your unique constitution.
Not exactly like the Master – he would have seen something and you may see something else. That’s the variety that you get from this earth. That’s the beauty of existence here. Clear? Thank you!
QUESTION (43:06):
If everything is already written – that we can’t change our destiny but as we change ourselves, can we change the timing of the events on our path through life?
MOHANJI:
The life path or journey, your destiny from your first heart beat to your last heartbeat is pretty much defined. And that also tells the duration of your existence, the purpose of your existence, what you want to experience or what you will experience over time, in linear terms. This is defined.
But one thing you can always change: the awareness pattern.
When you have more awareness, higher awareness, raised awareness, the flavor of your experience changes. Simple thing.
Imagine you stop resisting your daily life as it happens, as it evolves. You are not resisting, how will you feel? Imagine you are not complaining, criticizing, and blaming other people. Imagine you practice that. How will your life be?
Simple. It’s your attitude!
When your attitude changes, the whole flavor changes, the impact changes.
Once the impact changes, your life is different. You have that power already inside you!
Many people embark into projects they do not believe in and they meet failure.
If you do not believe in the things you do, you cannot attain success. We should believe.
You know, what I have contributed and given to this world is very simple: I have given to this world – Myself. I have not given to the world anything else.
Because I realized that the only authentic thing I can give to this world is myself. Everything else will come and go!
So if I say that I will give you something which I have acquired, that’s temporary anyway. It doesn’t have permanent value.
All of you, please remember: what you can give to the world, to life, to the mission, to the purpose, is yourself, only.
You are the only authentic capital you have, no other thing. You don’t have any other capital, please understand.
Even this body is not yours. You have taken this body for some time, for the experiences and then you will leave. So what can you give to this world?
You – as a constitution, as a potential, as a unique being.
If this is clearly understood, we are all clear.
Definitely, we can have changes, transformations, and all those things possible.
So many people wanted to come here for this program. But many people couldn’t, due to whatever reasons. But now this group is here.
We are not assessing: ‘why this group’, right? We are here. This is more important.
Your presence here is important. Your presence had to happen.
Somebody configured this. Somebody made this happen. It doesn’t matter who made this happen. But the reality is that we are here.
So, acceptance – simple, straight acceptance.
That’s exactly where you start – accepting yourself, accepting your situation, accepting what has come, accepting what has gone.
Everything goes through acceptance, no resistance.
Then, evolution takes place. You start evolving. You start becoming better aware.
When you become better aware of your realities, the impacts are different.
Imagine you’re resisting everything – ‘why this happened to me, this cannot happen to me, and that person is not good, the situation is not good, stars are not good’.
All the time, we are resisting, fighting…
What do you get out of it?
More such calamities, more such experiences because we are resisting.
When you resist, you postpone. You push it aside.
They come back at another time. They do come back.
You’ve got to accept: ‘this is happening, this is fine’. Keep moving.
QUESTION (48:05):
How to keep your peace when your loved ones, most dearest ones, most close ones, don’t seem to get you and respect you for who you are and what you would like to do?
MOHANJI:
I have touched upon this question a little bit earlier.
Your realities of this life are what you project.
If you project anger, you get anger.
You project insecurities, you receive insecurities.
You project anxiety (many people project anxiety now with the COVID situation), what do you get from others? The same anxiety.
We are creating certain ripples in the society with our expressions, with what we are, without our knowledge. We may not understand that we are creating it. This is exactly what we are getting back.
How do you become more and more accepted in society?
Ask one question: have I accepted myself as I am, with all my deficiencies, with all drawbacks, with all weaknesses and all strengths?
If I have accepted myself as I am – exactly as I am – then society starts respecting me as I am. Very simple.
The recipe for acceptance is: self-acceptance, self-respect and self-love.
This is important.
That’s why, I started this program by saying: you are unique, please remember this, all the time.
When you feel you’re not up to the mark – remember, you are unique. There is something in you, which deserves to be explored. Are you exploring it?
If you are exploring it, you will see a different you every day when you wake up in the morning. Every day will be different, every day will be unique, and you will have a fresh you each day, not the hangover of yesterday.
Most of us are hangovers of our past. That’s exactly the wall, which prevents us from being new.
This is the point. Self-acceptance, self-respect and self-love.
This makes a difference in the world.
People look at you differently. They may become awed by how much you’re accepting yourself. This is not pride, ego, or one up-manship.
We are not trying to become superior to somebody.
We are not superior to anybody. We are not inferior to anybody. We are not even equal to anybody.
We are unique. If that’s understood, there you go…
QUESTION (51:23):
For those people in old age, and who’re facing death, how to have a peaceful death?
MOHANJI:
Well, death is something which is inevitable. If we are born, we have to die.
Not only die, we evolve through time.
This means that as a child, we are different; as a teenager, we have been different; as a youth, we are different. At every level, we are different.
We are evolving. The body is changing, the mind is changing, the intellect is changing. All things are changing.
This is the truth that we have to live with. We are living this truth.
One part of this truth is that we live as if we won’t die.
Then what do we do? We compete, we compare, we fight and we make a lot of problems in the world.
And then we suffer. If not, then we make problems and others suffer.
More than others, we suffer. When we are angry with somebody, we suffer. When we have anxiety, we suffer. When we hate people, we suffer.
Should we suffer like this? If yes, why?
It’s important to ask this question. Why are we suffering? Why are we choosing to suffer? Wrong choices or lack of understanding. Correct?
So, here goes the thing ..
Perfect awareness: ‘Today is my day. I love or I accept things that come to me’.
Like the food that came to the table. The people we meet.
What the day brings to you, or what the day brings to your table, accept them. Love them. Experience them.
And then tomorrow, it’s a different day, a new day.
That day will bring new things to your table (the table means life). The day will bring a fresh new world to you. Accept it.
Through acceptance, if you have lived well – that means, not through resistance, fighting, comparing and competing – then you are living, peace, happiness, acceptance.
Then at the time of death, you will be smiling and dying. Because it’s like a sleep state.
You had your life, you had your days, you’re happy, and you have evolved, you have matured. Then, effortless death.
This is your choice.
I was telling our doctor that at the time of my death, don’t put me in the hospital with all the pumps and stuff on my face.
I have the right to die peacefully.
At the time of my death, I don’t want all these things… keep pumping the heart and keeping you alive for what? I’ve delivered. What I’m supposed to deliver, I’ve delivered. Now if you keep me pumping, I will deliver nothing. Just a waste of time.
This clarity, we should always have.
Right now, we live. This is a time given for living. Live. Don’t worry about death.
At the time of death, be aware that the show is over. Now, let’s get out. Bye.
It’s not a tragedy. There’s no tragedy in it. This is an inevitability.
All that’s born will die.
Millions of people existed before our birth, and millions of people will exist after our birth. At some point in time they appear; for some point in time, they will be existing; and after a while they will be leaving.
What is the best thing to do in life?
Love. Accept. Feel. Feel the life in people. The aspirations of people.
That’s exactly what I said. This is your time for it.
If you live now, you will have no problem leaving at any point in time, because you had your life already. This awareness is important.
What happens is the anxiety connected to old age, which is mostly helplessness. They are helpless, like small children. When you are in old age, you are also helpless. This is exactly what happens with people: the moment you stop earning, or you become less relevant in society, you start having anxieties.
We had a beautiful system in Bharat, in India.
Brahmacharya: the youth time, as a child. You are taught skills. Please remember, not educated.
With today’s education as I said in the beginning, we create bricks on the wall. You teach a lot of different stuff. The children do not know what they are. This is exactly what is expected out of the education system: you should not know who you are and what you are. You remain confused. Everybody can manipulate you.
That’s not the education system.
Skill, as per your orientation.
Imagine a person is oriented to be a doctor, teach him medicine. If a person is oriented to be a carpenter, he loves to do carpentry, teach him carpentry.
What happens then, in that system, is that all his life, a person does what he loves to do.
Imagine – every day you wake up and do what you love to do.
What is the result?
You have a great life! Every day is engaging and entertaining!
Otherwise, a big-money job is the motivation now.
What gives you big money? Are you happy with that big-money job?
Probably not.
That’s where calamities happen. Anxieties and fears happen. Competition has to happen because of this big-money pursuit.
Children are taught to compete, compare and even kill, to win.
Here, you’re taught the skills which suit the person. You don’t have to compete because you are already up there. And you will grow because you will innovate, because you love to do it.
So, Brahmacharya – taught the right skills as per the orientation.
Then comes the second stage, Grihastha. Grihasta is the time when they execute what they learnt in the world, because they love to do it, they will do very well in life.
Third stage is Vaanaprastha.
In the second stage, when you execute your skills in the world, you start earning. You will have benefits coming from there. What you sow, so you reap. That means when you give good stuff in the world, people will buy. They will say, ‘We love it. We love your products. We buy them’.
Whatever skill you have, as per your presence and your actions in the world, you start getting rewards out of it.
Then the third stage comes when you decide: ‘This has come to me – all that I have earned, all my positions that I experienced in life, all the possessions and the materials I have collected and all the relations that I have, are temporary. They have come to me at certain times’.
This awareness is very important at that stage, adulthood.
When you reach 50 / 55 / 60, you should remember: ‘Everything that has come to me, has reached me at certain points in time and they will go at certain points in time. I can’t hold on to anything from here. I can’t take anything from here. I’m here, like on a tourist visa’.
Can you stay in Turkey, unless you are a Turkish person?
After a while, they throw you out. We are here on a tourist visa.
Like that, we are on a tourist visa in the world. At the time of death, you’re out.
This understanding, that all you have in your hand – positions, possessions, relations, they all go away.
That awareness makes you detached from them. You start detaching from all that you’ve called as “mine”. You start staying away, watching them.
The fourth stage is old age. That stage comes when you are fully settled in that understanding, ‘nothing is mine’.
Then, death is normal.
There is no struggle to die because you already know: ‘All these things are for my experience. I experienced them at the right time. Now they will go to somebody else’.
That understanding is enough for us to be stable at the time of death also. This is the right thing to happen.
QUESTION (1:01:06):
You said that the best thing is to serve the world and serve the people. It will be nice if I can clearly understand and learn how I can serve a multitude of people?
MOHANJI:
I will make it simpler.
The best thing is to serve yourself.
If you cannot serve yourself, you cannot serve the world. This is very important to understand. What do you mean by serving yourself? Not eating, drinking, sleeping, etc.
Look at what makes you content, and how effective your life is. That is serving yourself. Serving yourself… people get deluded with the thought that it’s things which satisfy your mind.
The mind can never be satisfied.
Your senses can never want more. The ego wants more.
Beyond all that, there is a contentment factor. What makes you feel rich inside – your contentment factor, satisfaction factor.
If you follow that, if you understand that, if you clearly connect to that, then you’re serving yourself well.
If you really want to serve yourself well, or if you really serve yourself well, you will be serving the world.
That’s the understanding that comes automatically: ‘I feel good when I share. When people around me are not hungry, I feel nice’. Things like that.
If I eat more food, if I have two lunches, I can’t even walk. Like many of you are sleepy here. I’m hundred percent sure, that is because you had a great lunch! Yawning, dozing off, I see this. Only thing is that you had a great lunch.
What does food give you? Laziness. Food beyond a certain stage, makes you lazy.
How much food is good for you?
One-third of your stomach. That’s good for you. It makes you energetic.
Now you definitely have two-thirds full.
There is a fourth stage also, up to here (pointing to his throat). You can’t even speak – somebody has to take you and put you in a bed! It’s like a snake – you hibernate for some time until it’s digested and then you go to the toilet and come back and eat again. This is the human mechanism. (Laughter in the audience)
Why do we eat like this?
Because there is an insecurity inside. We try to cover the insecurity with food.
In the bargain, what happens: laziness. We have a bad life. Our life gets wasted.
This is exactly why I said in this context that you should understand what makes you satisfied. What brings you satisfaction, contentment? What makes you energetic?
When you get up in the morning, you have something to do, something great to do.
We have greatness sitting in us, but we don’t exercise them. We don’t explore them.
Hence we don’t experience them.
We have greatness within us. Greatness is everybody’s gain. It’s there.
Since we don’t explore them, we don’t believe in them. And we don’t experience them.
But we are great by birth, we are. There is no other way.
If somebody says, ‘The other person is better’, they don’t know. This is a complete illusion, they don’t understand.
The point I’m making is that serving the world is actually serving yourself!
There is no world apart from you!
At the end of the day, where is satisfaction, where is happiness, where is anger, hatred, jealousy, revenge?
It’s all within us. There’s nothing outside.
The whole story is about us: how we are, how powerful we are.
We are powerful. We are really powerful.
If we have the attitude to transform the world, to be game changers, it will happen.
But are we really taking the effort to do that?
This question should be asked all the time.
Just for the tiny little space in time for taste buds. We are ruled by the taste buds, a tiny little space! The food on the table has no taste. Once it’s eaten, it has no taste. When is the taste then? While you are in the process of eating. When the food is travelling through your tongue. That’s the only time. For that sake, we are doing all this stuff in the world, right? We must understand where we stand. It is important.
So who are we serving actually?
Ourselves.
We are not serving the world, are we?
Don’t be in an illusion. We are not serving the world.
We are serving ourselves. That’s all.
But we are under that illusion that we are serving the world, and we feel great about it.
Greatness is not that. Greatness has to happen, like respect. It has to happen.
Through your consistent action, through your conviction and through your relevance on Earth, it will come to you. It has to come to you. It has to happen.
By adding value to society, greatness happens to you.
See, I said in the beginning that my investment in this world was myself, and I still maintain that. I didn’t change my mind. That’s true.
Second point. When you are living this life on Earth, at some point in time, you need to take stock.
This stock-taking happens at the time of death. I think you have read in some books that at the time of death you suddenly get reminded of all that you did, all the major things you did or the major emotions you went through in life.
At the time of death, there is a quick rewinding happening, it’s a recalling.
What happens is that all these memories are stored and at the time of death, while you pack the bags, you get to see them again.
This happens at the time of death for sure, for everybody.
And also, it continues through the death process because memories go with the soul. Then in the womb state, as the child is in the womb, these memories come back into the children. And you can see, when children are born, they cry and they laugh in sleep because the movie is still going on from the past.
So they get to see, and their only thought would be: ‘Thank you. Enough is enough. No more of this’.
But we do the same thing again in life.
Same attachments, same position, same position, same relations and same experiences again in another life, continuously. We don’t even get to see them.
So while living, it would be a good idea to take stock.
What have I done on this earth till this time?
Maybe it’s a good idea to sit down and write it.
What have I done so far on earth apart from eating, drinking, sleeping, going to the toilet etc.? What else have I done?
Then probably you can redefine yourself. It might be a good idea.
QUESTION (1:09:13):
So the question is about people who have narcissistic personality disorder. Is it possible for them to change their behavior?
MOHANJI:
Everything is possible.
Everything is about awareness. There is nothing permanent.
If something has happened to you, that has come from somewhere.
Probably repeated habits, probably some kind of suppression.
All disorders have their roots in suppressions or some kind of experiences. So if there is a correction possible through life, it has to begin with acceptance.
When acceptance happens, correction happens.
When resistance happens or if resistance is the continuous thing, correction is very difficult.
Because first of all we deny, saying it’s not existing while it’s existing.
Secondly, we always feel that we are better, or we are fine. Many people say ‘I’m okay’. And especially when people say, “You know, I have a great wife, or I have a great husband, I have great children” etc., understand there is some problem. Otherwise, why do you go around and say that you have a great family?
Because it’s obvious in your smile, in your brightness, it’s visible.
What you are is definitely visible in your life.
Some people are always constipated. The face shows they didn’t go to the toilet for a long time. That’s exactly what they are feeling in life, that’s how they’re taking care of life. That means they’re not allowing life to flow. They put a dam somewhere. And it’s fallen.
So everything is like that – our face tells what we are.
If you talk with somebody for five minutes, you will know where they come from. In the course of time, there are a few points I can tell you, where you can really understand a person effectively. It’s very simple. It’s not difficult.
People like people or dislike people as they are, not as the recipient.
I like somebody. I like this person, I don’t like this person.
That person doesn’t care.
But it’s in you. The like and the dislike factor is sitting in you.
This has to be very clearly understood.
So everything can be changed. I believe that.
First of all, right from childhood, right from school days, we should be able to talk to children. Or there should be somebody to discuss with children, talk to them, understand them, orient them.
We don’t have to train them or teach them, because they know how to go ahead with their life.
What we have to do is to allow them to be natural. To be themselves. Then, many of these things won’t happen.
Today we are struggling to break them up and put them up as bricks on the wall. That’s exactly why all these problems happen now, because they are unnatural. When you are unnatural, you will have fears, phobias, anxieties, disorders, everything.
Being natural is the solution.
QUESTION (1:12:33):
This is a question from Facebook. How to accept when you get some great challenges in life, even though you have not done any harm to anyone knowingly in this life, and helped everyone whatever way was possible. Still huge challenges come to you. How can you stay calm?
MOHANJI:
It’s been quite answered already.
It’s about attitude.
See, the world offers you a variety of experiences, but it’s up to us what to buy.
If the world is consistently offering you pain, you can give solace to people. You can do the other.
If the world is offering you situations which are seemingly negative, you can offer positivity.
This is what people like us do. We try to bring light into people’s lives. We try, but how much light you will get depends on how much you open the curtains, right?
So we all can bring light to people. We change our attitude.
I’ve talked many times in many places about the lion aspect – the animal lion. Why I keep repeating it is because this is very important for us to understand.
The lion is not the tallest animal, not the strongest animal, not the fastest animal in the forest, but still we call the lion the king of the forest.
Why? Attitude.
The lion has perfect belief in itself.
When the lion attacks, an elephant thinks, ‘Oh my god, this is a lion attacking’.
Actually it’s a very small animal compared to the elephant. But in the elephant’s mind comes: ‘a lion is attacking’!
You can sharpen your attitude in such a way. I’m not saying to be like a lion and you keep roaring.
You can have the right attitude of a winner, of a kind person.
Express compassion, express kindness, express selflessness, consistently in the world.
That will change the society around you.
Please understand: all the people who have done something on earth have been crucified also in various degrees, at various levels.
Nobody had a cakewalk. Nobody.
If you decide to do something great in the world, do expect criticism, judgment and all sorts of stuff, often negative by nature. Don’t expect society to accept you straightaway.
Look into history. Why was Jesus crucified? What did he do?
He was considered a rebel by that society.
And rebels are unacceptable even now.
If somebody brings some new thoughts to society – straight away it gets rejected. New faces are not accepted, until the face becomes familiar over a period of time.
So if you decide to do something on earth, you need to always prepare yourself. You need to also prepare yourself to circumvent or face society’s backlash or society’s disapprovals.
If you can do that, you will become great. Honor comes to you.
Why?
Because you believed in yourself, you believed in your thoughts, you were a lion.
You decided to have the right attitude – the right attitude to make a difference. And the difference will be visible in the world.
It doesn’t matter, you’re not trying to make everybody like you.
That’s a wrong idea. Don’t try to make people like you.
Some people may not like you. Some people like you, some people dislike you. That’s how society is.
Those who love you will love you, those who do not love you will not love you. Don’t try to make them love you. A waste of time.
What should you do?
Be you. Be perfectly you. Be totally you with total acceptance.
And then what happens?
Some people who like that frequency will like you.
At least, people will notice you because of your consistency, conviction, presence and relevance.
QUESTION (1:17:24):
This is also from Facebook. How can we find clarity on the lost passion of our life?
MOHANJI:
That’s a lack of purpose.
We sometimes have expectations and when expectations have not been met, we have disappointments. And then we decide that we are a failure.
That’s wrong movement.
We are not failures. Nobody is a failure.
We had expectations and we probably had disappointments and if things did not work as we expected, there are only lessons, there are no failures.
Do you know when the failures happen?
When you do not walk further.
If you stopped where you fell, then it’s a failure.
If you got up and walked, then another situation comes, another application, another engagement comes and suddenly another result comes.
So there are no failures in life. Failures don’t exist.
If our attitude is that of the journey, if we truly become a true traveler, it doesn’t matter what the terrain is, doesn’t matter the climate, doesn’t matter the season. The season, the climate, terrain, do not matter.
Then what comes?
Experiences of various nature. Life is all about these experiences, many different types of experiences, that’s it.
So, passion comes if you have a firm goal: ‘Okay, this is my goal, I would like to be there’. And then you keep walking.
Some people may say: ‘You will not succeed’. That is their opinion, don’t buy it.
Some people may say ‘I walk with you’. Don’t expect them to.
If they walk, good enough. If they don’t walk – keep walking.
It’s an individual journey.
We are here – we are born at a particular time and we will die at a particular time.
Make good use of the time on earth, it’s very important.
And passion will come, provided your purpose is clear.
Make your purpose much higher than your potential, so that if you target reaching the moon, at least you will reach the treetop.
You aspire to reach the moon. If you can’t reach the moon, no problem, at least you’ll be on the treetop, you’ll not be sitting down on the ground.
So, keep walking, keep moving.
And passion will come, provided the purpose is clear.
The purpose should be just one thought: ‘What have I delivered to this earth so far? What have I given? I’ve been taking a lot from this earth, all these years. Now, what have I contributed’?
If you have clarity on the contribution, you have a purpose of life. You’re very clear.
You’re not here just to eat, drink, sleep. You’re here also to deliver, to express your highest potential.
There’ll be self-inspiration. You can do more and more each time.
QUESTION (1:20:37):
One more question from the Facebook audience. How do you know who are the right people in your life and who are the fake ones?
MOHANJI:
Well, there are numerous methods to know… But most of the relationships are transactional now.
People come to people for something.
But there will be a few people who want nothing from you, but they still love to be with you. These are the right friends. They come to you, because they love your frequency, they stay with you because your frequency suits them, and they will walk with you all through.
Time is the right measuring tape.
So you can definitely be yourself. That’s the best thing you can do, and do not try to compromise.
Compromise doesn’t mean that you don’t try to resist, means it’s not non-acceptance. Compromise in the sense you bend backwards, forwards and sideways to make somebody like you.
If you don’t do that, the right people will come to you.
And if you maintain truthfulness, people who do not like truth will run away.
If you maintain truthfulness, sometimes you will not have all the people who will probably come with you.
But if you are clear and if you are sure and if you are walking the path, the right people will come. The wrong people will leave, because they don’t get anything out of you.
So automatically this will happen.
I feel that your whole job in this world, or the only job in this world is to be true to yourself. True to yourself and truthfully yourself.
And the right people will come, the right people will support you, the right people will walk with you, and live with you and share with you and grow with you.
QUESTION (1:22:23):
It’s your birthday today, what does it mean to you?
MOHANJI:
Well, every day is a birthday! (laughs).
I don’t think today is any different.
But one thing I like is that in numerous parts of the world, so many activities of kindness have taken place which really makes me happy. There are so many acts of kindness, so much feeding of the hungry, various such things have happened. That makes me really happy.
But every day is important, all days are important.
Each day is important. Every day is somebody’s birthday, right? 365 days will be somebody’s birthday.
So it’s a good idea that you keep feeding poor people, animals, birds, beings of the water, beings of the air, beings of earth, human beings.
If you really care for the world, let it show. Let it be visible. This is very important. If you really care, let it show.
And don’t sit down, criticize, judge, gossip, compare, and waste your time.
Instead, get out into the world and see what you can do with this world.
One more thing is that today, we are in a situation where we don’t have much control over what’s happening around. We have restrictions on travel. We have a lack of freedom for various things.
So we must understand today the need for support. We have to support more people around us.
We need to be available to the world more.
Because of a lot of insecurities, anxieties, fears. And a lot of things are topsy-turvy, in a way. So we need to support people more, we need to be more available.
I’ve created all these platforms so that more and more people in different walks of life get benefited.
That’s because one platform is not enough for the different types of people. Those with different flavors and different constitutions can work, explore, and experience themselves better. This is why it’s done.
So we need to do much more, we need to walk together.
And yeah, that’s about it. What else to say? ☺
QUESTION (1:25:03):
What are the activities that could bring the same benefits as a person who attends fire rituals?
MOHANJI:
The main fire ritual is always happening inside – the food. When we eat, the food is getting digested. And that is like a fire ritual happening inside.
So start with yourself. Start with yourself, feed yourself, consume what is good for you, or what is enough for you, and try to bring yourself out of this anxiety mode or insecurity mode, or poverty consciousness rather, and bring yourself to the level where you share what you have, selflessly.
Express selflessness, express love unconditionally and all those things which are higher-elevation-oriented, like compassion, kindness, selflessness.
Live this.
That will elevate your awareness, much higher than any ritual. This is what I feel.
Thank you so much.
It’s been great to speak to you.
And to all the people who are listening to me in the world,
I just want to say: I LOVE YOU.
Transcribed by Ulla Bernholdt, Padmini Ravi Kumar, Seema Jamakhandi and Nada Rakovic
Proofread by Geeta Iyer