Dharmic Existence

Satsangs from Serbian Retreat with Mohanji, 9-14th May, 2014

Q: I underwent a personal trauma- my brother died and it turned out that it was not an accident, but he was killed. At that time I didn’t read spiritual teachings. How to go back and apply what I know to that which happened in the past?
A: This is what you need to put here, in this box, the mind trash.
Even though he was your brother, he only experienced his individual karma. If you could have helped, you would have, 100% sure. Since his karma was stronger than your power for helping, what happened, happened. Accept it. Otherwise, this blockage itself will reduce your speed of travelling ahead in time. Offer the food you consume three times a day, to all the people who left before you, ancestors. And constantly express gratitude for him. You felt what it is like to be a brother. Furthermore, surrender all the traumas, all the pains, at the feet of your masters or god, whomever you worship. Awareness is the key. If you are aware of all these experiences in your body, mind and intellect, and you understand that you have no control over it, that itself will settle you. Whether experiences are good or bad, it doesn’t matter, express gratitude.

…

Mohanji (to the group): Do you feel the difference from when you came here, worried about time. You were worried about how much time you can spend here, ”I’ve so many other things to do…” But now there is a big shift. You are saying, ”Can we spend a couple of days more here?” Please look into yourself and understand how the mind is shifting. These are subtle things you may not recognise in the regular life. But there’s a shift which has happened already. There’s something which the mind loves now. If you look at that and if you concentrate on that, you will understand that this is a kind of thing the mind is looking for. Either stillness or calmness of the mind, or protection, tranquillity, continuity, consistency, healthy lifestyle… something is clicking. I can show you where to look, but I don’t want to tell you what to see. You see yourself. That’s the most important thing. You must see.
One important thing I want to warn you about, the mind has had a beautiful shift within and it needs just a little bit of exploration. But it’s possible that when you leave this place tomorrow and go back to work with memories of the good peaceful times, your mind will say this was all fake. And usually what happens is a good bit of feeling that, ”Oh, I wasted my time.” Or a thought can happen, ”Was it just a kind of illusion?”
Go to your awareness and see where you stand. You will understand what is real and what is unreal. Because the real world in which you operate is gross. So, the dense world will not allow any light. So any kind of light is considered as illusion- the mind will tell you didn’t have it, you didn’t experience it. That time, bank on your experience. Stay with your experience. Experience should talk. Ideally, all of you should write down your experience on a piece of paper and read it. Because tomorrow, or one month later, mind will say, ”This never happened. I never felt anything. It was just an illusion. Was I imagining?” These questions will come 100% sure. So write your experiences, put them on a piece of paper and then read it.
I have worked on everybody who has come here. As I said yesterday, I cannot take things away unless you allow them to go. So I have worked on every individual through shaktipat and otherwise, and those changes will definitely be visible in life ahead. But understand that sudden, drastic or a revolutionary change inside is often painful. So I cannot do things of that level because you may not be able to take it. I have to do something which is acceptable and which you can handle effortlessly. I would like to remember and reiterate what I explained yesterday. If you just are in the bright path, you will evolve and stay safe. There will be tests for sure. And never go after powers or things like that and compromise your soul.
I want you to remember two things. One question has been, ”How can we access you?” You can write to office@satsangs.mohanji.org. When you have a burning issue and you start writing to me, it happens in my consciousness and I respond. So probably, before you get my reply, your problem would have already been sorted out. Because it’s inside my consciousness. When you write, you are connected to my consciousness, I receive it, I respond to it, so I do my job. Second thing is, some people asked me how they can serve me or my mission. There are so many ways. There are two different organisations in which I am involved in. One is my spiritual activity, which is Mohanji Foundation or Mohanji group, the other one is ACT Foundation which is completely and 100% charity. Biba is heading ACT Foundation. I am more involved in the Mohanji Foundation. But both are connected. So depending on what you would like to do, you can get connected to any of these. This is yours also. It would be easier that you suggest, ”I would like to participate in this way,” rather than to get an offer. South Africa and Serbia are very active. You may be from other countries, but we have activities in many countries, so depending on where you want to do what you want to do, we will find a way. Even with activity or without it, we are connected. Once connected, remains connected.
Fundamentally, it is not an accident that we met here. We have been destined to meet, and there is continuity. There is a past, present (that we are experiencing now) and future for every relationship. So consider that all of us are soul mates. We are all connected soulwise and we have transcended time to reach here. So please feel and understand that there is a familyship involved which is based on unconditionality. If you understand that, then most of the questions are answered.

One more thing, each one of you will have a special relationship with me. This is not only here. Some people asked me, ”Can I call you father?” If that is you want to call me, why not. There is no need to think, ”How can I call you guruji or master…?” What is comfortable for you is fine. First of all, understand, a relationship should be completely unconditional. The heart, purity and intention matters. The purity matters. The intention matters. But how you address doesn’t matter. But be spontaneous. What you feel, that you express, so there is no mask in it. Masking is the problem. The moment you start putting a mask, ”Oh, what will the other person think?”, you will never be spontaneous. You will always be pretending. The moment you start pretending, you will never know how to stop it or where to stop it.
This is the practicality of life… Understand that whatever I do belongs to you as well. Never wait for invitation. Some of the things suit you. It is not Mohanji does something and I connect only through meditation. What I’m saying is that in unconditional family, there’s no barrier. There cannot be a barrier. There is unity. So as I was explaining, this association has a symmetry with a past, present and future.
I want to explain to you why I operate in this mode. Number one, purpose. Second is, I have to lead by example. What am I leading by example? If you have the will power, nothing is impossible. And I am not a person who will sit and preach. I am hands on. And I should be. Because there are many masters or gurus who say, ”Make a lot of money, then come to me.” For me it’s very important that you are financially stable, spiritually stable, and charity-wise stable. You have to be complete. If you are not complete, it’s not worth it. Some people are extremely greedy for money and extreme poor in spirituality. Some other people are extremely spiritual, but with zero money. Neither of it is good. I am not creating all these platforms for me. I only insist on one thing. 10% of your profit should be given for charity. This is the dharma I ask from every company which is started by my followers.
Third point is, if you have clarity, why should there be delay in action? And I feel clarity is your birthright. If you can go beyond your usual mind, you will have that clarity. Many people will say tomorrow, ”You have been preaching so many things. You didn’t do anything practical about it.“ I do the opposite, I am doing much more practical than I’m preaching. I have worked in corporates, and corporates do not take care of the people. So I said, we have to establish companies worldwide, which should establish dharma in business. So I mean what I say. And there is no compromise. The moment you deviate from dharma, you have no Mohanji with you. When every employee is like a partner, is taken care of, protected, nurtured, with the family safe, then you will do your best. Your work is a pleasure, your life is secure. This is the dharmic business that I want to see in the world. It is time for such business to happen. If somebody decides to take a walk, I provide the grace. Many people procrastinate. They expect everything to be delivered on a plate. I never cater to it. And I suggest you don’t either. Because you create people who cannot do anything in life. Individual strengths are tremendous, if you pull the experiences, it’s substantial. But everybody may not understand the philosophy, and I do not get involved in business, because I don’t have time, but I reply to all emails, at a reasonably fast pace, ha, ha. The point I’m saying is, if you decide to move on, I supply the grace, I move on with you.
I want to tell about the forthcoming restaurant chain called “Ahimsa Vegan’’. How it happened, I was in a car going from California to Nevada, Las Vegas. There was no vegan or vegetarian food available. Absolutely nothing! So I said, ”Amazing“. I was talking to people- avoid food which contaminates you, reduces your prana, so that you can be healthier. Then I went to Washington, and to Cape Town, South Africa, so there was one person who was arranged to cook for me. I asked him, ”What is your speciality?” He said, ”I’m a vegan chef.” I said, ”Amazing! Start a vegan restaurant, I’ll help you.” But I would like to see it running on wheels. We paid the bus, put a restaurant inside, and run it. You take the bus to places where people will come, and I’ll support you. He got excited, and he was cooking more for me, ha, ha, and two days before I left Cape Town for Durban, he said, ”But Mohanji, I want to add fish to it.” I said, ”Forget it then.” Because the moment I leave, it may become a completely non-vegan restaurant, because he would put his ideas. I want clarity of purpose. I immediately called the people running Madhuban, a vegetarian restaurant and said, start vegan. And in three years I want to see thousands of restaurants worldwide. Plan it that way. I think the first one is coming soon in Dubai, then in Kathmandu, Morocco, Germany, Spain. So, we have three years’ time.
I gave you these examples to give you an idea. Just to tell you, do not accept No as an answer. There must be a way. This is equally important in spirituality. If you are in a deep down depression or without the energy to move on, it is not meditation that helps you, it’s activity. You need to move into positive, purposeful activity, with conviction and clarity. Meditation can be done when everything else is ok.

Q: You often say that one shouldn’t be bound by concepts, but be fluid and spontaneous. How does it apply in following dharma according to which one is to live?

A: I maintain that one shouldn’t be bound by concepts, fears, any factor which you have accumulated or inherited into your life. I would say that you should be free, flow with time, through situations, with people… If you have to be spiritual, you should be spontaneous and flowing. Because wherever there’s a blockage, this is from the mind. When I say mind, it refers to ego, intellect, or both together. The difference between your full awakening and less awareness, is mind.
Concepts are acquired over a period of time, from education, parents, situations, religions, society and it has actually made many strong cages for you. You do not know how to break it or what to do apart from it. It is important that we destroy the concepts, and be real. How does it apply to following dharma? Dharma is not a concept, dharma is not a theory, dharma is reality. So how does the conflict happen in the mind and dharma? Dharma is the ground which you are walking on. Dharma of sun is to shine on Earth for a particular time, and then disappear. Dharma of water is to evaporate with the rise of sun, go to the sky, become rain and come back. There is dharma for every aspect, every element, like wind… Parents’ dharma is to nourish the children, that is why they are called parents. Likewise, children’s dharma is to look after parents when their assistance is needed, so we are actually operating in terms of dharma. The moment we deviate from dharma, we have a problem. Likewise, cheating, stealing, killing, selfish pleasures, or egoistic activities, or sadistic behaviour, these are all against dharma.
So when you follow such activities, you are automatically deviating from dharma. Even if it is a concept conveyed by religion, people or parents, understand whether it extends your heart, whether it expands you or whether it contracts you. If it makes you more sensitive, happy, real, it’s good for you. So, you automatically merge with the dharma. You automatically help people, because it expands you. You will not be happy if you disturb other people. This way it is all mixed or merged, there is no conflict in here. Concepts should definitely be diluted and dharma will shine forth. When all of the things are removed from the mind, you will be operating perfectly on dharmic principles. And dharmic principles are not created by man, they are the existence. Morality is written by people- ”You should do this, this is sin, this is blessing”. The gods that we understand are created by the people. How do you know that god has human form? And why should the god have human form?
A human form is required for people to recognise something higher, so we created that. We are creating everything with which we can relate to. We create a shirt which we can wear. If you look at yourself, you will understand what is dharma. The dharma of the heart is to purify blood. The dharma of the soul is to begin new life. Every organ of our body is performing its own dharma. When we have a very active mind, we deviate from dharma. And we feel the mind is supposed to be in tune with your destiny. But instead it deviates into various things, so we deviate from dharma as well. That is why Lord Krishna says, ”Whenever there is decay in dharma, I happen. Avatar happens.” This is to preserve dharma. The duty of all the masters who are connected to the source is to preserve dharma. There are no dos and donts on that path. If you look at Lord Krishna’s life, many of the things he did, might create objection by moral standards. But he just went on with his mission. Every aspect leads to fulfilment. There is no residue left. If you have to complete something today, do it, move on. You can’t leave loose ends and come back again. You will not come back. You’ll be just completing, moving on. So there’s nothing like “I’ll do it next week.’’
One last thing about this is, when the mind is still, you have no karma also. There is only dharma. Truthful duty, for the sake of society. You have no special personal agenda. You have completely nullified yourself. Then if your heart is still beating, if you still have the body, that is for the sake of society. That is a 100% dharmic existence. So if the mind is totally still, you are only operating in dharma. When there is karma, there are attached emotions, there are attached dos and donts, why, where, how…
We must understand that dharma is in operation at every point in time. There is no question ”If all the concepts are gone, how will dharma exist?” Dharma need not be a concept, it’s your life. The heart will beat anyway, it’s dharma of the heart. Like that digestion happens, circulation happens, thought processes happen, brain works… We are not controlling them. If we controlled them, they will stop working.

Q: Is a man accountable for the thoughts he thinks, especially if there are some violent or reactionary ones, or is he accountable only for the thoughts that he put into actions?

A: There are many questions in it. It is certainly difficult to control our thoughts. Because thoughts are produced by inclination which in turn is produced by karma. If there is no karma to smoke cigarettes, you will not have an inclination for cigarettes. If you do not have an inclination for cigarettes, you will not even have a thought to smoke. If you do not have a thought, you will not have a word about it. You will not even tell somebody, ”I want to have a cigarette.” And if you do not have a word, there is no further action. Word means a particular activity, like, transaction, not just speaking. And it leads to actual activity, to actual smoking. So, what is in the beginning karma, end is fulfilment. Karma takes a course and it gets fulfilled. And if it is not fulfilled, it becomes another desire. E.g. ”I smoked this particular brand and I want to smoke another brand.” That is desire which is pending, the next movement is towards that one. Like this, we are going in circles continuously.
You said, ”Thoughts which invade our mind are uninvited.” Thoughts are created by inclination or vasanas. They happen only as per the linear time- from the first to the last birthday. We travel through time and all our experiences are according to time. So a particular thought can happen only at a particular time. For example, you cannot experience motherhood at the age of five. You have to attain a particular age to be a mother. So, each thought or activity will happen only as per the right timing. Thoughts are happening without our knowledge because that is the right thought at that time. If a 90-year-old man decides to do activities of 20 year old like “I want to go to college and get educated, or play football’’, it is impossible. Because the time has already passed. Likewise, everything is linear to time. Because the time induces the thought, and the vasana will become a thought only at that time. It cannot happen before or after. But these thoughts are uninvited because this is coming as per your destiny, the path of destiny called prarabda karma. Thought is the first level of creation. Energy is released with thoughts. So, the more positive thoughts you have, the more positive results and realities you will have.
Your question is, ”Is the man’s karma accountable for the thoughts?” Yes, it is accountable for the thoughts. The base of thoughts is karma. Karma becomes an inclination, vasana, then it becomes a thought. Thought has potential. Why are we blessing people in our meditation? It has positive potential. The blessing reaches them. Thought plus emotion is equal to karma. Thought minus emotion has no value.
The question is, ”If the thought stays as a thought, is the person accountable?” If there is an emotion attached, it can become a reality, sooner or later. Even if you are watching a television and you become very angry or upset, that can happen in your life. You may attract that emotion, it need not be what you are doing in life. But what you see, hear, gather from other people, are all inputs in your system. Please understand this clearly. All these things you people talk, you may think it is an innocent gossip, it is not so, you are storing its essence. Some day it will manifest, and you will probably suffer.
So it is very, very important to shed the bad company before you go to the good company. Bad means somebody who pulls you down, only talks gossip, pessimism or only adds oil to the fire of insecurity. There are many people like that. It is important to segregate into the positive. And if you can help them and bring them it’s ok, good. But you should not be try to rescue somebody who is drowning in the water, and you jump and they drown you. To those who have worked with me, I always say, ”Don’t tell me things which you cannot do. Tell me things which you can do. Let’s start working there.” People always come back and say, ”I cannot do this, I cannot do this…”, when you observe in the society. There are more ‘Nos’ than ‘Yes’. Where is this coming from? Insecurity. Inertia. Lack of energy. Lack of fire. So, this becomes their destiny. Nobody can help them. If you choose to bring the fire back, definitely a lot of people will help you. But if you choose to be in that inertia mode, it’s very difficult for anybody to help. And you can also think how many deep and dense and negative people I handle every day. But you can stay uncontaminated. You can stay pure. This is your choice. The right choice helps you.
Coming back to the question, ”Especially if there are violent and reactionary thoughts, is the person responsible for them?” I say yes. Because violent and reactionary thoughts are expressions of emotion. If the person is peaceful, there will be no violence inside. They will never hurt anybody. They will only love. So, all the violence inside is expression of emotions of the past. You have kept the violence inside. At some point in time the seed is emerging as anger, insecurity, hatred.
Someone asked this morning, what kind of person I support. And the answer is very simple. I support those who are helpful to the society wholeheartedly. I assist those people who assist more people, birds, animals. If a person is evolving to higher dimension, I support them wholeheartedly. I do everything possible to take them higher. Because this is my dharma. Second, if a person is helpful to the society, or doing something for the world, I support them. Because this is extended dharma. If I empower that person, that person becomes valuable for the society, and it is extended dharma. I support all those people who support other people. This is my generic answer. And you can see that in various aspects in life. And I do not discriminate in this, whether Biba does it or another person does it, I look at it objectively. Is it valuable to the world? Yes? I support. This is very objective. This is number one. I never support those who are selfish because there is no need.

And one more person asked a question, ”What sort of a person you value, or what can attract you?” Answer is very simple – Purity attracts me. If a person is pure at heart, whatever the person is, a drunkard or a womaniser, it doesn’t matter to me. If his operating level is purity, I get attracted to the person. I do whatever I can for them. Operating level should be purity. And second thing is that I love elegance in anybody. I really love elegance. I tell people, be elegant, 80% of your problems will be solved. That means, if you are elegant, you are operating more from the intellect rather than emotions. It is not suppression. Do not entertain suppression at all, because it will come out at some other time. Go through your experiences, but be elegant in every aspect. Elegance is a statement of strength, of character you are giving to the world. It’s a very important statement.
Regarding the question whether you are accountable only for thoughts which we have put into words and action. You are accountable for thoughts, words and actions plus emotions, for they become karma. Just keep that in mind, so there is no question whether it’s just a thought. Thought plus emotion is karma. If it is just a thought with no emotion, no problem. Then you are not storing it anyway. Many thoughts happen, many things you don’t even register. But the moment you start sitting and sensoring them, ”Oh, this are bad thoughts, this is dirty,” then emotion comes. Censoring, criticising, judging, these are all situations where it binds, or you bind the thoughts to your system. So, this is the answer to it.

Recorded and transcribed by Biljana Vozarevic
Edited by Aviral Srivastava