In this online satsang, on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri, Mohanji answers questions from participants of a 5-day global event preceding and leading up to Shivaratri.
Mohanji: Om Namah Shivaya. Om Namah Shivaya!
I talked about Shiva in an earlier video – I think most of you would have seen that video. The main point was that Shiva is a state.
So, anybody in that state of stillness can be considered Shiva. Do not look at Shiva as a unit or an entity.
He has to be seen as a Universe, much larger, much deeper, unfathomable; that Consciousness which is not bound at all.
He does not need any liberation because he’s not bound.
So that kind of power, that kind of state, that kind of stillness is what we call Shiva.
Another aspect is that the Ocean of Milk was being churned by the asuras (the negative forces/negative beings) on one side and the devas (the positive beings) on the other. They were churning the Ocean of Milk to get the Amrit, the celestial nectar.
What does Amrit give?
Eternity. So this was being churned and what came out first was a very powerful poison that had the capacity to burn all worlds. Just imagine, it had a tremendous capacity which can burn all worlds.
And when it came out, no deva or asura could handle it. They were only busy churning the ocean. They didn’t expect this poison to come out first! Once it came out, they couldn’t handle it. None of the beings could handle it.
Shiva took it in his hands, and he swallowed it. But he did not swallow it into the stomach – it didn’t go inside there. It just got saturated in his neck. And that’s the way he saved not only the Earth but all the worlds. Later on, came the nectar. Then the rest is history.
So always on one side is the negativity, and on the other side the positivity or positive thoughts. They churn our mind all the time.
What comes out usually is what’s stored: heavy poison, negative emotions, anger, hatred, jealousy, revenge. All these come out, and they have the power to burn our world, every aspect of our world.
And only a personality or a person or a state which has the power to contain it can save us. That’s why we have to have the connection to this kind of frequency, the frequency of Shiva. So, poison is everywhere. We can choose to handle the poison. And if Shiva had swallowed the poison, he would have died. If he had spit out the poison, the world would have perished. So, it stayed in the neck.
Many emotions may come out from inside, but your world will be destroyed if you spit them out. If you swallow it for a long time, that means if you suppress it, you will be sick. This is our life: churning of this milky ocean happens in our life all the time. So it has to be very clearly understood.
Shiva is a state that we aspire for. We all are trying to be in the state of Shiva: stillness, all-encompassing acceptance, oneness, oneness with Truth.
Satyam-Shivam-Sundaram.
The Beauty that emanates from inside when absolute purity stabilises in us, that’s Shiva. That’s why Shiva is amazingly beautiful. And Shiva is innocence.
When you are fully with yourself, your only expression is unconditional love. When you fully accept yourself, when you are fully settled in yourself, when you see that everything around you is your own expression, all you can have is total acceptance, total love, unconditional love. And that love is without boundaries, beyond all man-made barriers, beyond all the dimensions that we can envisage, and it’s a continuous flow of love.
This is why I call it a divine romance, all the time! Because all the time you are fully happy inside, fully contained inside, you see your brightness to the greatest potential or the highest brightness. And then you see everything around you having the same vibrance. Nobody is higher, nobody is lower, there are no differences of caste, creed, country, culture, species, gender. Absolutely no differences. There are no differences between lokas or worlds (all the worlds are frequencies).
So when we raise ourselves to the level of that frequency, we become one with Shiva. That’s why when people speak of the incarnation of Shiva, the incarnation of Vishnu, the incarnation of Datta, it means we have derived or arrived at a frequency. It is equal to the frequency, or similar to the frequency of those beings who we aspire to, or who we connect to. The frequencies that we connect to – we become that.
Where your mind is parked, that’s what you become. Where your body is parked, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter because the body is a tool for all these experiences, an instrument that will help us to experience Earth. But the mind – where it is parked, that becomes you. Hanuman parked his mind with Rama. And he became very powerful after all the siddhis, and nava-nidhis came to him.
We have the great potential to be the greatest of possibilities of not only this existence, but all existence in all lokas; we have that power. But we limit ourselves with our limited thoughts and identifications.
What is the main identification?
That “I am so and so, I’m this body”. The first identification is the limitation of the frame. The second limitation is the identification of the personality or the personality that we identify with: “I am this personality; this name”. The third identification is our relations: we identify ourselves in terms of others, in terms of relations. That limits us: “I’m so and so’s father”, or daughter or son or wife or husband or something like that, something which limits you. We are not any of these. All are role plays. This we have to understand.
When we actually realise we are not any of this, that’s a time when we start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. (Otherwise, it’s darkness because we are completely in the dark with our identifications and with our form, the frames.)
Then we start seeing the Truth, finally. Then, liberation starts. Freedom starts when we unbind ourselves from all these things. Then, freedom starts to take root. Until then, we don’t know freedom. We think that freedom means freedom of the senses to do whatever they like. No. That’s not freedom; that’s slavery.
They (senses) are only operating as per the vasanas or the inclinations. They will continue to operate as long as you have tendencies and inclinations. That’s not freedom. That’s binding.
Freedom is when you are unbound from all things, all people, all relations, even yourself. That’s the state of Shiva. I hope this is clear. Now, I’ll take your questions.
Q: Thank you, Mohanji. Mohanji, today on Maha Shivaratri, we have a very auspicious homa that’s happening in the evening. You have very gracefully agreed to initiate this homa. People all over the globe are joining this homa from a distance, not physically. Could you please tell us the significance of Mahashivaratri Homa and how we can all still benefit even from being distant participants?
Mohanji: For this particular homa that we are planning today in Bangalore, a few people have already come here. All of them will be participating and continuing till morning. We have basically programmed it in such a way that this should help all the people who are positively connected to me (and their families) – so they be protected from all kinds of negativities, plus help to enhance their awareness to the highest possible in this lifetime. That is the intention or the Sankalpa of this homa.
But many other factors come in the path. So, many different things will happen. This is particularly for protection and enhancement; these are the two things we need. Please remember: anger, hatred, jealousy, revenge are all our weaknesses. So we are not sponsoring any of this; we will not even look at them.
What are we looking at?
The highest dimensions of a human existence: compassion, kindness, selflessness, non-violence, all those kinds of things. We are trying to enhance the greatest potential in people so that they can have an effective existence.
A lot of people are born here, and a lot of people die here. When they are born, people know a child is born. When they die, people know somebody has died. But while living, they do not have faces.
We all have faces, and how we can have faces?
We can by adding value to society continuously. I am trying to empower you for that, individually. All of you have the power – you have the potential, you all have equal strength, nobody’s higher, nobody is lower. I am not different from you.
So, what we need to do is to sharpen the Iccha Shakti. There is no weapon in the world more powerful than your Iccha Shakti – will power, power of will. If you take one decision: “Every breath I take, I will add value to my society”, I guarantee it will happen. It has to happen – the whole universe will configure itself to facilitate that for you.
So that’s the whole idea, to strengthen you, support you, protect you. That’s why we are doing this fire ceremony. The only thing we are requesting from the greater and more powerful forces than us (our limited us) is to help us and protect us. This is a collaboration.
Please remember – we are not here begging an invisible God saying, “Please give me something”. We are not telling any beings or any unseen, invisible power that we have a deficiency. We will not do that.
What are we saying?
“We intend to do something great on Earth. And please be with us”. As a team, as a family, we’re very powerful. Individually we could be weak, but as a group, as a family, as a global family, we are infinitely powerful.
So we add more strength to ourselves, and we add more value to society. The strength that is added, is not for individual purpose. (Our individual purpose is continuing anyway.)
What is our individual purpose?
Experiencing life. Expressing what you are in this world. This is happening; whether you like it or not, it’s happening. You can only express what you are in this world. You cannot express anything else. And experiences are as per what you contain, what you are made up of. So, this is happening.
But this is not what we are asking for, or this is not what we are recommending to a very powerful Source. We say:
“Strengthen us further. We will do more for the world. And we will not be another faceless unit on Earth. Instead, we will be a substantial game changer or trendsetter in this world”. So this is the whole point.
Q: A question from one of the participants from this global event that we had for the last five days (Shivaratri online program):
After five days of purification practices and keeping Shiva in our heart, how does one maintain this state? How does one sustain this communion with Consciousness?
Mohanji: Intensify this communion with yourself. And the path is very simple: self-acceptance; through self-acceptance. Forget about all your weaknesses. We all have weaknesses. Forget about all that you expect yourself to do. Instead, you accept what you have to do. Expectations sometimes give you disappointment. Acceptance gives you stability.
This is the shift that you should make within your own life. You need to intensify the communion to accept the Shiva within you – your soul, your atma, and your atma-tattva. Then you start connecting to every aspect of it. And you start its action in every cell of you. The whole synchronisation of various organs comes together to give you the experience of life and your personality (which is a projection you are giving outside of you).
Also, what you are in your dream state when you are dreaming is real for you. (Deep sleep, of course – you can’t really have an awareness of it, that’s okay.) But in the two states, be fully aware and fully connect. Be you, be totally you.
Don’t try to become somebody else because that’s not important. You don’t try to become Mohanji. Don’t try to follow Mohanji. Instead, follow ‘You’ so that you actualise yourself in such a way that you don’t see a difference in the world. You can’t see anybody apart from you. All are your reflections, and all the emotions are projections from you. And like that, your life, the total sum, is you or your expression or what you are looking for. So, this is exactly how you can connect to this Consciousness – by living it.
How can you connect?
By living it, living Shiva, living you. This is the way you can connect to your own Consciousness.
Q: How does one differentiate between intuition and ego while taking action?
Mohanji: Intuition is something that would be natural.
What is ego essentially?
It’s the personality, the skeleton of your personality. That which holds the personality is the ego. This means it relates itself with your possessions and positions to what you are in this life. That is what the ego’s parameter is – the ego’s boundary. But intuition means you are entering into a state where you are able to see the past, the present and the future (even somewhat temporarily) in one position, as one unit.
So that you are able to feel something, “this is how it will happen”. But I always say: always ascertain, never assume. Many times, it’s a mental projection. Fear projects itself. Sometimes anxiety projects itself. Because of fear and anxiety, sometimes we refrain from positive action.
It’s probably a good idea that we take our time to understand the whole tapestry and ask ourselves: “Is this real? Is this thought real? Is it coming out of fear? Is it coming out of anxiety? Is it coming out of apprehension, prejudice or any of the emotions that bind?”
If the answer is ‘no’, then act on it. Observe yourself and connect to yourself. For example, the body only tells the Truth. The body always talks the Truth. The mind is influenced by prejudices, concepts, anger, hatred, jealousy, so many things. The intellect is often confused with the data entry – somebody gives you positive things, somebody gives you the negative.
What do we normally connect with easily?
The negative. People connect to negativity easily. That is why negative news sells well. You know, if people talk bad about people, people accept it more than people talking good about people. This is because we easily connect to gravitational energy. And good news, good things are levitational energy. We don’t connect to it because it’s almost like Earth and air.
The air you can’t see – but you have to feel. You know we can’t see air, right? But we feel the air because we are breathing; there is oxygen that nourishes our body. We feel the air, but we can’t see it – it’s a levitational thing that we don’t connect to air so easily. But we do connect to Earth easily because it’s gross and it’s tangible.
Likewise with negative aspects or negative news, bad news, news which is of sadness, or things like bad gossip and scandals and stuff. They’re all of gravitational nature; people buy it more because it’s more visible, more you can feel.
But the problem is that you get bound there. But levitational things, the things which elevate you – they are not easy. You’ve got to raise your subtlety to that level where you can connect to the frequencies that are levitational by nature.
What is the benefit?
You will be less affected by anything around you; this is the thing. Otherwise, you will be affected by everything. Imagine you’re practising for a long time and you’re progressing quite well. Suddenly somebody says, “Hey, you know, are you sure this is the practice you want to do?” Sometimes you forget that you have progressed, and then you slip. When I say ‘slip’, that means you try to change the path. So, all that you’ve done, all the efforts are taken, all the connections, the frequencies that you’ve arrived at, sometimes gets lost.
Then what happens?
You’ve got to climb up again. It’s like the snakes-and-ladders game. That happens in life: you go all the way, and suddenly the snake eats you; then you have to come all the way down. And then again, you have to climb up. So, this is exactly it. But when you meet a master or a person of higher frequency, then it’s like a ladder. You climb up faster. So this is how it is: life has to be looked at like the snakes-and-ladders game.
So, you’ve got to be very cautious: you should know what data you should enter into your system. It has to be very clearly understood. Like when you’re eating food: what food should enter your system? That which will help you to stabilise your health, right?
It’s not some food which will harm you, harm your body. Sometimes we consume such foods – fast food, junk food, or food that has crime or murder. All this food is not good for your health. But there is food that maintains your health, stabilises you, makes you more effective, and makes your experiences on Earth more clarified. Such foods are good for you.
Likewise, when you consume emotions, there also overconsumption is always dangerous. We’ve got to understand that all these things have something to do with us or they play some role in our life. We’ve got to understand that we have to be very cautious – which means we have to be alert, and we have to be aware.
Then nobody can touch us. We will not be affected by the bad news around us. We will not be affected by gossip, scandals, anything because our focus is very clear.
What is our purpose?
The purpose is to detach from the gravitational forces and marry the levitational forces; there is a transition, and there is an experience of that nature.
How do you know this is working?
You will be less affected by the world around you, the words around you and the emotions around you. And you will be focused on your purpose: more contentment, satisfaction, stability, stillness. This is the point.
Q: I think the next question really is answered by what you say. But I will still read it. This is also from one of the participants.“Why do I not feel like I’m going forward even if I practice sadhana every day? Why do I have crises and, from time to time, want to quit the spiritual path?”
Mohanji: Expectation. That’s the answer. One word is an expectation; you are putting a target. So that is one word and the second aspect is that in life (if you take – right from your birth till now), while we are living, each experience that we had was unique.
What you experienced at age five, at age 10, 15, 20 (take any age you have been) – the experience pattern was unique to that time, that age, that whole system, or the environment. That never got repeated. Like that, when you are looking to achieve a state of liberation (let’s say a path of Shiva), what is the measuring tape? Or how do you know you’re progressing? It is usually on what you’re losing. This is not easy to understand.
I ask people: “What did you gain by connecting to Mohanji? Why are you connected to Mohanji? Why are you following me?” And I always tell people, “Do not tell me it’s because of some meditation, some yoga, or some Kriya or something like that”. It’s about transformation. If transformation is not happening, it’s not worth it. Eventually, essentially, you have to follow yourself, not another person. My job is to show you to yourself.
So when you are connecting to yourself, it has to be from the standpoint of acceptance. You can’t put a boundary to your practices. You can’t put a boundary or a definite expectation about results because each day is different. Suddenly, sometimes, enlightenment can happen. We don’t know.
I’ll give you an example. Have you heard about Papaji? Papaji was a great master. He was a great Krishna bhakta, a devotee of Lord Krishna. He chanted the mantra of Krishna all the time and was fully immersed in it, but he did not have that ultimate experience.
Once, he was in Lahore (current-day Pakistan). One day, he was staying there, a wandering monk came to his house and asked for money or some food. Papaji came out, and he usually would ask every monk, “Can you show me God”? So many people would say that whatever you see is God. And that is true.
But Papaji wanted that experience of God. But nobody could give it. He asked this monk also: “Can you show me God”? The monk said, “I can’t show you God. But if you go to Tiruvannamalai, there is one saint who can show you God”. Then he asked, “Who’s that” He replied,” Ramana Maharshi”. And that was it.
Then in his mind, it was his urge to go to Tiruvannamalai. And fortunately for him, he got a job in Chennai. He came to Chennai, got into the job, got a house and settled his family. Then he rushed to Tiruvannamalai and he saw Ramana Maharshi. He understood that this was the same man who came and invited him in Lahore. And he was so disturbed.
He thought, “Oh my God, this is a propagandist. He is going around, collecting disciples for himself”. He was disappointed. Still, he asked Ramana Maharshi, “You came to my house and told me to come here. Okay, show me God!”
Ramana Maharshi didn’t even look at him. He just walked away. Papaji was even more angry and upset. And he decided to go back, thinking that I don’t want to be with a propagandist. (28:48)
When he was coming down from the ashram of Ramana Maharshi, a few people asked him, “You just came in; why are you going back? Stay on. I mean, you can hear his talk”. Then Papaji said, “You know what? This person came all the way to Lahore and invited me to come here to show me God. And I don’t want to follow anybody who is canvassing people, students or disciples for himself.”
Then this person said, “My friend, you’re totally mistaken. This Master has never left this place in the last 35 years, at least. How can you say that he came to Lahore?”
Then it dawned in Papaji’s mind that this Master can reach anywhere and do something without actually moving from here. That means he is very powerful and has the capacity and power to be anywhere at any time and do work, which means he is a great master. Since Ramana Maharshi did not tell him anything, he went back (to Lahore). He went back, and he was sitting and chanting, chanting the whole night, all the time he was chanting.
And at one point in time, suddenly he heard some knocks at the door. Usually, nobody disturbed him. When he opened the door, he saw the apparition of Lord Rama, Sita and Lakshmana. They said, “We came to see a great devotee of Krishna. We came to bless you.”
Ever since then, he couldn’t remember any names of Krishna. His mind became completely blank, empty, with no thoughts. Papaji panicked – what to do now? He rushed to Ramana Maharshi, to Tiruvannamalai, and reached there early in the morning.
When he was climbing up the stairs to Ramana Maharshi’s place, Maharshi was going to take a bath. He was walking away when he heard the commotion of somebody coming running up. Ramana Maharshi just turned and looked. Just one glance. Standing there, Papaji got enlightened. It’s like the dry wood ready to be lit – one spark caught fire.
Let me tell you: if you keep expectations, if you have disappointments about your practices, the road ends there. Instead, you believe in yourself, you believe in the path, believe in the practice, and have the willpower to travel all the way. This is an unknown path. Remember: nobody – no guru- can guarantee you enlightenment.
Nobody – nobody can tell you, “I will show you God”. If that’s a true guru, or a guide or a master, he will never tell you that I can show you God. It depends on whether you are ready to see God or feel and experience God.
That’s because if the mind is ridden by desires, inclinations, tendencies, vasanas, it’s not easy to see God. When everything dies down; when desires are gone, the mind is empty, thoughts are gone – you’re in a state of stillness. Then you witness the energy which is omnipresent. You become one with it. You can only merge with it. That’s the experience you have.
When you identify the energy within, and you realise and feel that all that’s happening within you are initiated, supported, activated by this energy – we call it self-realisation – that is the ‘self’ we are talking about. It takes time. You cannot put a roadmap because there is no roadmap; it’s an individual journey. That’s why we call it the Path of Pathlessness.
Secondly, you cannot keep any agenda. You cannot doubt. Doubt is a very serious thing here. If you should doubt your Master, if you doubt your path, if you doubt your practice, there is no progress; the road ends there. So please understand all these things.
Spiritual practice is a lifetime commitment. It’s not just for some time. If you feel, “Okay, I’m done with this. Now I go to another master”. You have to start again from the beginning! Many people do not achieve or attain anything in life, in the path of spirituality, because they have no consistency, no continuity, no conviction. These are the reasons you know.
Sometimes they fear. Plus, somebody will say that was a fake master or that was a fake path, or that was a fake practice. Somebody will try to put these thoughts in you. Again, you get derailed because you are open to such thoughts.
I’ll give you another story. There was a great scholar who spoke about Supreme Consciousness in many programs, on many stages. And there was one totally illiterate man serving him and travelling with him. He had no idea, no clue, and he was not even literate. He couldn’t even read or write.
One day while he was walking with the Master, he asked him, “Master, please tell me – every place you go, you are explaining about Parabrahma, Supreme Consciousness and riding on a billion suns. What is this thing, Supreme Consciousness? I don’t understand what you’re talking about. You go everywhere, you give lectures, and everybody appreciates it. People are happy; they come and touch your feet, you are respected. But what is this thing?”
The Master thought that this man, he is a foolish guy, he is illiterate. What will I tell him about Supreme Consciousness? The Master said, “You see that buffalo there? That buffalo is Supreme Consciousness, that’s Parabrahma”.
And this poor guy – he believed it – because he didn’t know anything else. And he started worshipping the buffalo because he did not know Supreme Consciousness, right? He started respecting and worshipping the buffalo (or the Supreme Consciousness in the form of the buffalo).
And you know what? He realised it. And one day, they were walking through a very narrow path. Very narrow between two walls, and there’s hardly space for one person to walk through. And this man is standing behind; he’s not crossing over. He’s not crossing to the other side.
So the Master said, “Why are you standing there”? Then he said, “Sir, the Parabrahma cannot come with me. He’s bigger than this, this entrance. He can’t join me”.
Then the Master said, “What are you talking about? “You know that buffalo, you said is Parabahma, that buffalo…he can’t come. I can’t go without him because he’s following me.”
And then the Master understood that this man had attained much more than himself. He had only been talking about Parabrahma. But this servant who did not have any knowledge about anything – the servant had realised it.
The Master said, “Can you show me?” Because he couldn’t see. Then the disciple, the servant, said, “Touch me.” The Master touched him and looked, and he saw a huge buffalo behind him. Only then he could see.
So please understand: it doesn’t matter who you are, which religion, which caste, which country, which locality, culture – nothing matters.
It’s your conviction. It’s your belief, the faith and consistent, continuous application that gives you that realisation. Whenever you feel tired of something: “I’m tired of this master, I’m tired of this practice, I’m tired of this, this whole spirituality”, think again…
Where else are you going? You may go and jump into another water; you’re not going to see any shore.
This has to be very clearly understood if you’re walking the path of spirituality. It may not be Shiva; Shiva doesn’t care. It may not be Vishnu. Vishnu doesn’t care. Jesus, Allah, Buddha – nobody cares about all these things. It’s for us; it’s for you to get there.
You can choose the right path. You can choose the right Master; you can choose the right practices. This is all your choice.
It is very important to understand. And once chosen, that’s it. Once chosen, it’s like a lifetime thing. You’re not going to change it because if you change it, you’re wasting time. All the time you wasted will not come back because life has a timespan. Life has a limitation. Birth till death, you cannot extend it. You can’t expand it even if you live longer in a state of coma, etc. (that’s useless).
I’m talking about effective times of life. Effective times of life should be used judiciously, purposefully, and with full awareness.
And that does not include any kind of deviations, detours or anything. I mean, you can take a detour for the sake of progress. But otherwise, you are following one path. If you follow that path and have to take the detour, please do. But for the sake of detour, don’t leave the path.
I hope this is very clear. If this is not understood, take time, listen to it again and understand it. This is very, very important. It’s definitely not about the guru, not about the path, not about the practice.
It’s about you. It’s you, only you, because you are the one who needs realisation – not the object of worship nor the teacher. You need realisation, and you need to have stability. You need to attain the highest possibility in human existence. Nobody else is responsible.
If you become angry with the Master or if you scandalise the Master or if you talk bad or if you’re affected by somebody’s gossip or doubts, the Master loses nothing. The path loses nothing, the practice loses nothing. What you lose is all these things, please understand. And this is exactly how you should look at life, especially when you aspire to be in the Consciousness of a bright, great being.
Q: In a situation, one person may surrender, and other family members don’t. Does one person’s heartfelt surrender override opposing attitudes?
Mohanji: I think it shouldn’t. If the purpose is strong, if your willpower is strong and you know exactly where you’re going, if your roadmap is right; if you want to attain what you want to attain in this life, how can outside disturbances affect you?
I think all that would be considered as excuses. Not something very important, I feel. Please understand that when we know where we are going or where to go, what to achieve, even though we don’t know it experientially if we have the roadmap, I think everything else cannot be excuses. There can be tests on those levels because when you want to sit and meditate, somebody is playing music on the other side.
So it’s a challenge, but then you can learn to meditate even with that music. Like for example, I can sleep when lights are on, and people are walking – it doesn’t disturb me. That’s because I learned to sleep amongst all calamities. We can train ourselves to be ourselves, and in any way, we can practice.
I think there are no excuses for this. Once you choose your path, once you choose the journey; once you have found the path or the method, I think nothing else affects you. This is my conviction.
Q: With so many responsibilities and a hectic lifestyle, it becomes very tiring, and I cannot do spiritual practices. How can one manage it then? Is it a mind trap or a real challenge? What to do in either case?
Mohanji: It’s a mind trap. It’s a habit to think that spirituality is an option. I would say, spirituality is a priority.
What is spirituality?
Spirituality is to connect to the only Truth within you. Not your mind projected truths, not your desires or your inclinations. The Truth which runs all this – that’s the only Truth. That connection that awareness is spirituality; I don’t think this is an option. When it is an option, you can choose to do the practices or not do practices.
I would say that it’s very important to be connected to ourselves.
You don’t have to connect to me. You don’t have to connect to any beings outside because we are all existing only when we are awake (when we’re sleeping, we don’t exist – so it doesn’t matter). Our existence is all relative. We are relatively connected; we are connected in relativity.
But you are always connected to you. That awareness and understanding should be a constant thing. Not just one time or two times or sometimes. It has to be constant. When I say it’s constant – this being aware of yourself – if it is constant, it’s not an option! It can’t be an option. Very important. Please understand that we have to accept ourselves in this regard.
All the external activities can wait, except God inside. If this is your priority, you will get there. You will definitely reach there. Otherwise, you won’t get there. You will get stuck with the whole confusion of the world outside; sometimes, you will feel entertained also. But you will not arrive at the right place. This is very important to understand.
Most of the time, we are content with these calamities. We have some role to play, so we feel important. Sometimes, we feel that we have done great in life. Somebody says you’re a great personality; somebody says you have done well in life or that you own property. You have great relationships, and then you think, “I’m great”. But how long, how far? If you have not realised yourself or understood yourself or actually connected to yourself in this lifetime, the whole thing is wasted.
We are only talking about relative existence, the relative kinds of glory: relativity related existence – all the awards, recognitions, accolades and the experiences connected to relativity. We think “this is fine, this is final.” That’s not true. We are a complete being each day, each moment. We have a waking state, a dream state, a deep sleep state – all are equally important. All these states put together becomes one day, for one unit or for a person.
What is the most important thing in this whole thing?
You as a person.
Where are experiences happening?
Within you.
Where are you experiencing the agony and ecstasy of life?
Within you.
How can you say that knowing ‘you’ is less important?
You need to do manana/contemplation before meditation. You need to connect to some being who is very powerful, who has realised himself, has attained stability. Connect to that being.
As I said at the beginning, you become where you park your mind. When you park your mind on a stable being, someone completely stable and stabilised in his Consciousness, then you become the same thing.
Some people like dead Masters. We see that in life, right? Why is it so? It is because they do not interact with you physically! You can assume what they said as you like and practice as you like. Sometimes what happens is that you get stuck with those practices because people who are dead don’t really say that you’re wrong. They are not there to talk to you, to correct you or guide you on some things.
They have spoken some things, we take it in, and we start thinking, “I’ve understood everything.” Experientially, have you? If you have not experienced it, you have not understood. Information processed becomes knowledge; knowledge experienced becomes wisdom. So, experience is very important.
It’s like the food you consume. It goes into the stomach, but how much nutrition the body derives from food is the only thing you have. The rest goes as waste. It is very important to understand that if you have not experienced whatever we are talking about, the whole exercise is wasted.
When you follow a master who is in the body, it is not easy because he will correct you, even hit your ego. You may be hit hard on your ego. He may destroy your comfort zones.
In our education system – what are they teaching us?
To reach comfort zones as fast as possible. You study something, immediately get a job..” now I’m comfortable”…then, get married, then a house, then children. All these are comfort zones; one after the other, this is what we are trained for.
But there is a ‘You’ amongst all these. That ‘You’ if you do not realise – who is experiencing all this in the waking state, dream state and deep sleep state, then you don’t know ‘You’.
Most people die without knowing themselves, and they call it a great life because they might have earned some wealth and property. And they left everything behind! They might have had great relationships, but they all end at the time of death. Then, is it great?
But if you have understood yourself, accepted yourself, settled in yourself, you found yourself, then when you are leaving or when you are expanding further – you become a unit, and then you become the universe – then there is no death. You attain immortality, eternity. That’s exactly what we are all looking for. That’s what we are here for. So, having a clear understanding of this is very important.
What is this whole thing about?
Knowing yourself. Understanding yourself. Experiencing yourself. When you experience yourself, you experience the entire universe. When you experience yourself as a unit, as an atom, then you know the cosmos. This is exactly how it is. This is very important to understand. I hope this is very clear. Is this question fully answered, or do you need more clarification? Did I deviate from it?
Q: It’s clear to me.
Mohanji: Please feel free to guide me if I’m expanding further and you’re not understanding. Please get me back on track.
Q: I have been doing Sudarshan Kriya now for 11 years. I like your breathing exercise in five stages. So can I do this process if I do Sudarshan Kriya too?
Mohanji: I have no problem; I have no objection. But you need to ask the people who are guiding you in Sudarshan Kriya. I have no problem. There’s no problem with this.
Q: Okay, thank you. Don’t you think that’s too much for me?
Mohanji: You try. If you feel that this is actually not helping you, don’t do it. Just feel it. If you are comfortable, you can continue. Otherwise, you don’t have to continue.
Q: I feel that is very good for me because it is energising.
Mohanji: Wonderful.
Q: Shivaratri – this kind of religious or spiritual celebration in the current state of the world, the pandemic and everything, is this the right way or the best way to purify ourselves? Or are there any other ways that we should actually be doing?
Mohanji: I wouldn’t call this a celebration. This is more of an acknowledgement of a frequency. Shivaratri means that we are at a particular frequency level. We are making use of this time for our own elevation. As I told you earlier, all that we do here in the path of spirituality is for actualisation.
We are trying to find ourselves through practices, through bhakti (devotion), through jnana (knowledge) and through Karma Yoga, the service path. All these are done so that we can feel ourselves, know ourselves, actualise ourselves. This is the reason. This particular day which brings a particular frequency helps us to find ourselves faster.
That’s why we are seemingly celebrating. I don’t know whether you’re celebrating. We are actually grateful that we could acknowledge this time, this frequency so that we could take one more step or a few more steps towards that actualisation. I think that this is very important that we acknowledge this.
Most of the celebrations that we talk about shift our energy, right?
What energy do we normally have now? You open the television, what do you see?
So many people died, and this country is on lockdown, you can’t travel, you can’t eat food, you have certain restrictions. It is not something which you like to hear. So, we have all these situations which we cannot control. What is happening now in the world, we can’t control it.
In fact, whatever happened in the world, we could not have controlled it anyway – World War 1, World War 2, and this war with the invisible virus, we can see. We are fighting shadows many times. We are helpless, most of the time.
In this context, one thing you can really help is to be you or find you. All these are important to find ourselves and use each frequency shift, each powerful time like Shivaratri and Ekadashi, to enhance your connection with yourself to realise yourself faster. That’s probably the right reason for it.
It is more, much more than a celebration. I think it’s more of a realisation of a frequency and actualisation of what we are or coming closer to that. Not probably that you will get enlightened today, but at least you are coming to that frequency someday. You can take the walk. At least we are clear about it. Clarity is also very important. If you take a journey with no clarity, that’s dangerous because you don’t know where you’re going.
Anyway, all these are good. I would say that you celebrate as much as you can in life. Don’t miss any chance. Otherwise, the other side is gloom. No celebrations mean what? Lethargy, tamas, all those kinds of things.
I would say that don’t miss any chance for celebrating. Celebrate everything. Especially celebrate your birthday in such a way that you realise you’re born, and you’re alive. And also, another important thing is that as you celebrate your birthday, you give a lot of love and kindness through food or clothing to other people or other beings, so that you feel that your life is worth it.
Small children like to get gifts and like to celebrate their birthday with cake, cutting cakes and getting gifts. Take them out and then say, “Your birthday should be celebrated by nature.” Take them out, give food, give clothes for the poor, food for the hungry. Make them do it. They will feel: “The whole world is happy because I’m born. My life is worth it.”
If you cultivate that, they will never enter into depression in life. Instead, if we teach them to compete, compare, fight, and win, there could be many expectations that will lead to disappointments, leading to depression or various other things like that. We can actually make a change. Please celebrate. Do celebrate.
Q: On these auspicious days, why is it recommended to be fasting or to have fruits or something like that?
Mohanji: The fundamental is concentration. While we are trying to connect to one particular energy or a particular frequency, it needs concentration. Food is one thing that completely takes that away.
A person who has eaten a lot cannot concentrate on anything because the food will occupy the maximum time and energy, and it completely distracts the person from that track.
I didn’t say complete fasting. I said you could eat fruits if you like. Something which is organic, not cooked food, so the stomach is light. Have lots of water, as much as you want, and then concentrate on the chant to be in that frequency much more effectively.
Babaji also says one thing very clearly: before you meditate, before you start contemplation, learn concentration. Concentration is extremely important. For the sake of concentration, you should have a light belly; it’s very important. Otherwise, the stomach really occupies your time, your energy. It pulls in all the energy to the stomach because you have eaten too much.
Usually, when you eat a lot, you want to sleep. Why? Because you cut off from everything else, and the stomach is occupied with the digestion and its process. It is very important that you have a light stomach; light food like fruits or something on such occasions to concentrate on the frequency through chanting mantras, all frequencies. To sharpen that, it’s nice to have fasting. It is up to you.
If you have acidity or stomach issues, you can have light food. I don’t say complete fasting. It depends on your health. It’s up to you how you manage it. Probably you can have light food; you can have a little food in some gaps or something like that. It’s all up to you.
Q: Especially on an Ekadashi day, how do we observe fasting? Because I go on fasting the whole day.
Mohanji: Actually, with Ekadashi, originally or traditionally, you stop eating the day before at noontime. Then the whole Ekadashi day goes by, and then you start eating only on the next day after the offerings or the poojas. You start with fruits. You don’t need to eat a lot. It’s almost 48 hours of fasting.
Q: Exhausting, very exhausting, Guruji.
Mohanji: Nobody does that now. Nowadays, because we are working and are busy, we have a lighter meal or something. That’s okay, I would say, don’t punish yourself.
Q: No punishment, I mean, I do enjoy that.
Mohanji: Be kind to your body. Listen to your body and do what is right for the body because the body never lies. It tells you, I’m hungry, I’m thirsty. Please take care of the body well.
Q: I would just like to add one more thing, Guruji, that CGB, during these days of Shivaratri, just before Shivaratri, was something very ‘wow’! And very, very elevating. I thank all the Acharyas, especially Guruji Mohanji.
Mohanji: The credit goes to them. They did this whole thing.
Q: It was very, very elevating, I should say. Thank you.
Mohanji: Wonderful.
Moderator: Thank you, Mohanji. We are really thankful for your time today. We are looking forward to being with you for the homa.
Mohanji: Wonderful. Bless you, all. I wish you great success in life, great concentration, and may you all have great attainment.
About attainment, please remember as I said in the beginning: count on what you lost.
If you lost your anger, if you lost your urge to possess more and more, if you lost all these negative emotions from life and became more peaceful, more stable with your practices and connection with this family, you have achieved a lot. Don’t count on what you earned (earned in the sense, like if you attained enlightenment or whatever).
The earning is peace of mind, stability and also not being affected by anything around you. If your expectations are less, you have attained a lot. If your acceptance level is more, you’ve attained a lot. Please look at the spiritual journey along with those guidelines. Don’t have too many expectations of anybody outside. And don’t have too many expectations of yourself. Instead, accept yourself, flow like water.
Be flexible and always shine bright. Be available to the world outside. Keep helping the helpless as much as you can. Share and share, and then you become and always stay rich inside.
I love you all.
Om Namah Shivaya!
Trannscribed by Ulla Bernholdt, Diljeet Kaur and Seema Jamakhandi
Proofread by Geeta Iyer and Rekha Murali