Guru Purnima 2023 | Mohanji
The essence of Guru Purnima
Happy Guru Purnima to all of you! It’s a wonderful day, right? We’re also releasing a book by Rajesh Kamath called ‘Baba’ today.
Guru Purnima is a very auspicious occasion, as you know. It’s a day of commitment – a commitment to connecting to the highest possibility of human existence, our existence. Guru Purnima is extremely important or especially important because today, we are remembering what we are, essentially, what we are made up of.
Every creation, you look around, all creations – whether it’s human beings, birds, or animals, every creation has two major aspects. We have this gross – body, mind, and intellect, which are very, very tangible because, without this, we cannot live. For most of our lives, we just follow our minds. Am I right? We only follow our minds. The mind tells us, “This is okay”; we do it. The mind tells us, “This isn’t okay; don’t do it.”
So, completely occupied by the mind, we live our lives for the mind. What does the mind connect to? Materials, position, or relations – things like that. The mind cannot connect to God. Please remember, the mind can think about God but cannot connect to God per se.
The activator inside
What is spirituality? Knowing what’s running or activating the body, activating the mind, activating the intelligence – activating everything. To know that thing – the energy which activates our life, to know that is spirituality. The whole journey of spirituality, or especially what we should remember today – the whole journey of spirituality is understanding more and more what’s activating us, what’s running the show called ‘life’.
When you connect more and more to the energy inside, which we can call a soul or any name you call it, and once we start recognizing that it’s this energy which is maintaining or activating this personality called us all the time, it should be a constant remembrance. When you’re more and more connected to that energy, you realize everybody has the same energy. We connect to the entire world. All creation – don’t look at the shell or the personality; it doesn’t tell you anything because that’s temporary. But there’s energy which is making that personality function; that’s more real, and that’s permanent.
When we understand more and more each day that this energy is truly me, not the personality, which has many, many issues, like you have ownership of things, relations, positions, or possessions, it’s really suffocated by so many things of life. ‘Oh, this is mine; this belongs to me; I have to do this.’ All this – me, mine – this is suffocating our life, and that’s what we are exactly not.
We aren’t the body; we aren’t our position. We aren’t what we’ve accumulated from this life, nor our relations. We are pure energy. We are pure; remember this. That state we should remember today. Understand that one thing that you are pure energy inside a body called ‘me’. You have existence and relations – all those things, but everything is connected to one aspect – pure energy inside you. That’s the Guru Tattwa or Guru principle; that’s Guru.
So, today, on Guru Purnima, you are remembering that ‘I’m the energy inside me which is making me experience life’. Of course, also what you experience in the morning and in dreams, when you are sleeping, and also experience nothing. You sometimes experience nothing every night. There’s a space – three hours or so when you don’t know who you are. You’re in a deep sleep – no dreams and no outside world. Even that state is activated by this energy. You can call it soul if you like. You can call it any name if you like, but there’s an energy.
Understanding death
When that energy leaves you, what happens? Death happens. A dead body simply means the energy has left that body – finished. What’s dying? What’s actually dying? A personality. Nobody is dying; the energy is actually activating our bodies. It’s energy; it’s not dying; it’s moving from this body to another body. It’s not dying, right? What’s dying is personality. Once you understand that, you understand the Guru principle.
The Guru can light us up
In this book, which we are going to release today, I was reading one chapter – not a chapter, a small part, where the Guru said, “Give me dakshina.” The disciple said, “I have nothing.” “No, no. You have something.”
Why did the Guru say so? Because he [the disciple] has an ego. When you have an ego, you have ownership. When you have ownership, you have possessiveness; you possess something. So, the Guru said, “There’s something.” The disciple said, “No, I have nothing.” “Okay, give me nothingness. I’ll fill you up.”
What do you mean by that? What’s nothingness? Empty mind. When the mind is empty, when you feel empty, the Guru principle fills you up. Then you become the Guru; you become the Master. It’s like a candle made ready for the light, for the spark. It comes close to another candle; it touches it and becomes a live candle. We are all like that.
Don’t confuse yourself with your personality
Don’t ever confuse yourself with your personality. That’s the biggest mistake you’ll be making. Don’t confuse yourself with your ownership. If you think, ‘I’m what I own’, it’s a complete illusion. We own nothing here. We can own nothing. Everything is passed on to other hands, different hands each day. Each day, as we talk, so many people are dying; so many people are taking birth now while we are talking. We don’t know how many people are taking birth at this moment. We don’t know how many people are dying at this moment. They all had ownership, possessiveness, possessions, and relations. Where are they?
When they die, when they leave their body, is it important? We leave everything where it was. We come with nothing in our hands; we leave with nothing. While we are living, we carry a lot of things.
You are what runs you, activating you
This is the Guru principle you should understand. It’s not complicated, is it? Is it complicated? Who you actually are is what runs you. What’s activating you, your body, your life, your experiences – that’s what you exactly are. Are you with me on this? Ask me questions if you don’t understand because this is fundamental – the understanding of the energy is spirituality; there’s nothing else. Don’t think about religion; religion is only a roadmap.
Jesus walked that path; Buddha walked that path; Krishna walked a particular path. You walk this path; you’ll achieve this. This is okay. This is individualistic; you can follow whatever you like. Nobody can question that. That’s your individual choice. But what is spirituality? Spirituality – there’s only one – the energy that runs life. Very important to understand.
If you’ve understood this, you’ve understood everything. Then when you read it, you realize this is what all the masters exactly spoke. All the masters of the past have said, “Look inside. You will find it.” What do you see inside? Usually, what you see is your personality and what’s creating that personality and maintaining that personality all the time. That’s what you see all the time, right?
Who you actually are is what runs you. Spirituality – there’s only one – the energy that runs life.– Mohanji
What do you see when you look at you? What do you see in the mirror when you look at yourself? Did you ever think, ‘Today could be my last day’ and live like that? All our priorities will change, right? If you think, ‘Oh, this is my last day of life. What do I do?’ every priority will change. Why are the priorities changing?Ownership – we try to own things, spaces, and people. ‘My people, my things’ This mine is a very, very tricky thing. This is why people take rebirths.
The second point – why do you come back? One reason – mine. When you keep repeating mine, you can’t go anywhere. Can you? You still want to come back, take a body, experience life – that’s it. It keeps going or moving like that, right? Ownership brings you back.
Raja yoga is about awareness
Now, what’s this path that we follow, the Raja yoga path? It’s about awareness. What are you being aware of? What will you be aware of? The energy inside you. Just be aware. ‘Hey, it’s not me; it’s not my personality. It’s not Mohanji.’ What’s activating Mohanji is the energy inside. This remembrance is enough. All the time, you’re remembering, ‘I’m not this personality which I’m projecting, but I’m the energy which is activating this projection.’ If you constantly remember that, you’ll start connecting more and more to the subtle aspect, the sukshma inside.
One of the gayatris of Datta is ‘Athanu sukshma prachodayaat’- ‘let that subtle activate me’. The Master is ‘the subtle’. Why do we call him a Master? Somebody who has recognized the subtle and living as subtle – sukshma, that’s the Master. You can also be a Master. Why are we not being a Master? Because we are associating with the personality.
Our entire lives, we are living the personality. So, we cannot understand or feel the energy. That’s why we don’t feel the subtlety, but we can feel the subtlety. The moment you start feeling the subtlety or being aware of the subtlety, you start accepting life as it comes. We aren’t rejecting, resisting, or fighting. We are accepting life as it’s coming and flowing through us; we’re experiencing life. Let anything happen: positive, negative, or different situations – no problem because we are completely occupied with the energy inside.
Freedom and ownership
You’ll want nothing, or you’ll never own anything. Of course, you’ll need food and water to survive. That’s a different story, but basically, possessions will not be of importance to you. Owning things will not be of importance. At that time, what do you experience? Freedom.
Why are we not experiencing freedom? Because of ownership. Everything I’m trying to keep to myself while nothing belongs to me. Even the body doesn’t belong to me. It has come at some point, and I’ll leave the body at another point. Right? This is a temporary attachment – attachment to the soul, the energy. Energy occupied this body for some time. When the energy leaves, the whole story ends; end of the story. Are you with me on this? Does it make sense?
This is what we should remember exactly today. I’m talking about serious matters today because today is Guru Purnima. I don’t want to dilute it today.
The nature of the mind
The mind will always judge and waste time. The mind will analyze and be restless; that’s the nature of the mind. Do you worry about the mind? The mind is like that. The mind has to be restless; it has to be like a monkey, jumping from one thought to another. That’s how the mind is. So, what do you do with the mind? Accept the mind.Themind is like that; accept it so your problem is sorted. When you know the mind is a monkey, treat the mind as a monkey. Do you have a problem with a monkey in the wild? Let the mind run around, and you watch the mind.
Just watch; let it be like that. The mind sometimes brings you anger, comparison, or hatred; let it bring. So what? At that point in time, experience that – variety, different things. Experience. Let go. Don’t keep anything here. There’s no point in storing anything.
The purpose of life
Please understand: the purpose of your life is experience. Simple. Why did you take birth? Experience – experiencing many aspects of life. Each person’s experiences are different. That’s how it should be. Everybody’s experiences are different. Otherwise, everybody will have one experience. Then why do we need so many people? Eight billion people on earth; we don’t need them, right? One man or one woman, or maybe a couple – enough.
We don’t need eight billion people. They are experiencing life in eight billion ways, different experiences. That’s the beauty of creation. Everything is different. Now I’m speaking. Each of you will understand it differently; not exactly what I said. Am I right?
All understand it differently. This is important; that’s how it should be. That difference, that understanding, and that flavour is important. That is life; that’s the beauty of life.
Memories and negativity
What do you store? What’s your saving? As I said, the purpose of birth is to experience life. So, what do you store? What’s your earning from life? Memories. Whatever you keep inside or whatever you store inside becomes your savings. Whatever you’re storing inside becomes your savings; important to know and important to understand.
What should you save for the future? Think; a very important thought. What do you want to save in your mind for the future? Something nice, enjoyable, or positive. Are you interested in storing things that create more and more pain in life? Then why are we doing it?
We are addicted to negativity. Addiction to negativity, addiction to fears – we are addicted to fears. We entertain them. We like to have them. Not because we choose them, it’s habitually, by habit. Partially unconscious – habits are partially unconscious. You don’t think that I should do this. Like a smoker, the first cigarette you’re actually experiencing because it’s something new. Tenth cigarette – already a habit. 15th, 20th – after five packs, you may not even know you’re smoking. You’re just doing the exercise. We are habitually negative; remember this. We are sometimes habitually negative. That’s what’s causing all the traumas.
People may have great visions or great ideas, but they don’t articulate them. They don’t write them down or talk. What happens, then? They die. Great thinkers, sculptors, or painters – a lot of people with a lot of great ideas, but many of them never expressed them. Maybe circumstances? That’s okay. If circumstances didn’t permit you, that’s fine, but if you could, you should. Then what happens? Life is made.Your own creativity is what you’re giving to the world. Your own personality is what you’re giving. You’re already giving your personality, right?
We project our personality onto the world
What are you projecting into the world? Your own personality. Nothing else you’re projecting. Whether you like it or not, all that you’re projecting to the world, giving to the world, is your personality. Agree or disagree? Are you projecting anything else? Even if it’s a new day for you, you’re only projecting old things to the world. You’re not projecting anything new. You look at the world from your past experiences, right?
Are you looking at the world afresh any day? No. You’re bringing your past always with you. From your first age till now, you’re all these things. Nothing is good, bad, right or wrong. It’s all individualistic. My right might be wrong to you. It’s mostly connected to a lack of self-love. If you don’t love yourself, you’re happy when somebody insults you. You’ll be happy when somebody is attacking or fighting with you or abusing you because the reason is a lack of self-love, self-respect and self-acceptance.
The moment you accept yourself, the world will accept you. Simple – the moment you start respecting yourself, the world will respect you. Understood? I want you to think about it and tell me if I’m wrong. Don’t worry about telling; don’t think that, ‘Oh, how can I tell this to Mohanji?’ You should say, “Mohanji, this isn’t right.” Tell. Then only there’ll be communication or interaction, right? It’s very, very important. Today is Guru Purnima; let’s talk about basic truths. That’s really important.
Your whole storage is your memories of the past. Then you look at the world through the eyes of your stored material, whatever you collected and stored. This is what you do. Am I right? That’s what you’re doing.
Be original and individual
What’s spirituality? First of all, it’s an individual journey. We’re all walking individual paths. That’s why I said, “Be You.” You have to be you to walk this path. If you become me, you’re not walking. I’m walking, but you’re not walking. Don’t try to imitate. Be original; be individual. Walk – if you fall, I’ll hold you; you’ll not fall. That’s my responsibility as a guide, but keep walking – I can’t carry you. Nobody can carry you; you walk – keep walking.
Now, analysis is paralysis. When you keep analyzing, ‘Why did this happen? Why does this person behave like this, or why is this person not smiling?’ All these questions we ask each day, right? This leads to paralysis. What’s paralysis? Stagnation. What’s stagnation? You’re stuck in one place, one thought, or one time. So, please understand this very clearly. Stagnation happens when you over-analyze. There is nothing called ‘why’ in life. If you have a question, ‘Why’, what’s the answer? One-word answer – karma. Very simple.
If you’re asking, ‘Why is this happening in my life?’ It’s simple – your karma. Are you satisfied with that answer? If you aren’t, don’t ask. But it’s the truth, right? Everything in your life has been brought – from birth till death; it’s defined. The whole journey is defined. Then what’s your freedom in it? What’s your purpose and freedom? To be aware of the subtle, which is running the show.
Ownership brings you back
Then what happens? You come out of karma because you don’t own anything. Ownership maintains karma. When you come out of it, when you say, ‘Okay, this is happening through me’, then you’re out of it. Not like, ‘Okay, I don’t have karma anymore’, but you may not even want to come back because ownership brings you back.
‘I want this; I want that; this is mine’. This ‘me‘ and ‘mine‘ – ‘me‘ means the personality; ‘mine‘ means the possessions. These are the two factors which are very binding with ownership. Ownership brings them. Can we own anything? This breath, this life, or situations – nothing we can own. We own nothing. The place of birth, lifestyle, the experiences of life – everything is happening.
Fifteen years ago, did you know you would meet me? 15 or 20 years ago, I didn’t know I was going to speak to people. This is all happening, right? Everything is happening. Then why do we maintain ego and ownership? This is causing us to slow down, to sometimes stagnate, or at least retard the progress – slow down the progress. This is happening because we own everything. Are you with me on this? Does it make sense?
Today, on a very auspicious day, Guru Purnima, especially tonight, is very, very important – this evening. Guru Purnima is running through to the next day – tomorrow, so very important.
Life is a marriage between the gross and the subtle
Please remember: Use this life to understand that your life is a marriage between the gross and the subtle. The more and more understanding you have about the subtle, the sukshma, the more and more you’ll be liberated from karmic existence. The more and more you’re aware of the sukshma, the energy which is running the show and ownership will go away. Acceptance will increase, and you’ll start experiencing life as fresh as possible. If not, what happens? You come back again and again – different bodies, same show, repeated.
Look at our own lives now. Similar things are coming back, right? Why do they come back? Because we are holding on to them, the memories are stuck here, so we keep repeating them, or we ask for them.
All of you are extraordinarily powerful. Whatever boundaries you’ve set for yourself aren’t true. They’re set by your mind.– Mohanji
Please remember: You’re very powerful. Why do you feel weak? Because your connection is with your personality: Simple. All of you are extraordinarily powerful. Whatever boundaries you’ve set for yourself aren’t true. They’re set by your mind. The mind cannot understand you, the sukshma, destiny, or karma. The mind can only handle emotions, analysis – these kinds of things.
Connect to the energy that we call God
Many things, many questions – people ask, “Where’s God?” etc. It doesn’t matter where God is. That’s not important. First of all, understand where you are, and then you’ll know where God is. The most important thing that you should know in this life is about you, that you are a marriage between the gross and the subtle. The subtle is the activator; the energy is activating. The energy is initiating and maintaining, and we call it death when it leaves.
At least, if this is understood and we connect more and more to that energy, whatever you call it, any name you can call it – soul or God or anything, then you start experiencing life more. Beyond your personality, there’ll be no pains in life, no agonies in life; acceptance will be very high. Whether you’re happy or sad, you’ll be fine because this is all activation. Whatever comes through the mind, it’s okay. When people smile at you or frown at you, you don’t feel anything. Why? Because of different people, different activation, and different experiences. That’s the variety of life. Clear?
This is what you should remember today andstart being aware today about the energy inside. Just five minutes or ten minutes, you think, ‘Hey, I’m this energy. I’m actually this energy, not the body’. Because the body has requirements, the body is changing. This is all fine. Please don’t think anything is good or bad. Nothing is good or bad. Everything is as it is. Nothing is good or bad, so don’t try to say, ‘This is okay, this isn’t okay’.
As I said, two things: one is intoxication, that which makes you unconscious, is bad because you’re trying to become conscious on one side, so if you do the other thing the other way, it’s a waste of time. That’s one. The second is violence in thoughts, words, or actions. That’s bad because the penalty is heavy. When you hurt somebody, you’ve to pay for it. If you talk bad about somebody, the penalty is heavy. So, don’t enter into gossip and talk bad stuff. If you don’t like something, walk away.
Always remember, there’s an energy activating the good and the bad. Everything is activated by this energy – everything. You can call the larger activator as God, who’s activating the entire universe. In our body, there’s an activator, but we’re like a small ant when you look from the outside, from outer space. If you look from the outside, we aren’t even visible, like a tiny bacteria walking, but when we come close, all we see is ego, isn’t it? Huge ego – small man, but big ego. That’s what we see.
But look from the larger perspective. The earth itself is a small ball – a very small ball in the whole galaxy, right? Tiny, like a pebble. Inside we are living. All we have is a great ego. Nothing we have.
Guru is a reminder of who you are
Do you get what I’m saying? Look at the irony! Then why have we placed these idols and stuff? They are reminders; all are reminders. Guru is a reminder of who you are, that you are the ‘subtle’, and that’s where you should connect. Guru isn’t going to carry you on the shoulder. That’s not the Guru’s job. Why should there be a Guru? As an example to you that this is possible. That’s all. The Guru is an example for you that being subtle and existing in subtlety, existing in freedom, is possible. When you connect to sukshma – subtle, everything is the same.
Like an ant, an insect, a dog, an elephant, or a human being, a blue whale is the same energy but different bodies. We start recognizing that. Because it’s different bodies, the energy behaves differently through that body. They’re all different bodies. Like different eight billion people – same energy, but when it comes to another person, a person A, it’ll be different; B will be different. Each person’s energy – it’s all the same energy, but each person’s personality is different, and that’s what’s activated. So, we think it’s different, but what’s activating it? One thing – energy.
The Guru’s inconsistency is a sign of his stature
If you’re confused that a Guru who has already become the activator, meaning the energy, he’ll behave differently with two different people, or he’ll look inconsistent. Why? Because he isn’t holding on to one personality. Normally, a person who thinks he’s the personality will hold on to that personality. Am I right? If you think you’re the personality, you’ll try to maintain that personality. But a Guru who has dissolved the personality and understood what he actually is – the energy aspect, will not maintain the personality because it doesn’t matter. Why should you maintain a personality? He’ll behave as per the requirement.
When you’ve started experiencing the subtle – fully, completely, you’ll just respond as per the situation. That inconsistency is the strength of the master.– Mohanji
If you look at this and say that person is inconsistent, you’ll never understand the Guru. That inconsistency is a sign of his stature. Inconsistency in that aspect is a sign of his stature. But a person who is completely personality becomes inconsistent; what does that mean? That’s the weakness of that person. Are you with me? Do you understand these two things?
When you’ve started experiencing the subtle – fully, completely, you’ll just respond as per the situation. That inconsistency is the strength of the master. But when a person, who hasn’t understood the subtle, not recognized it and still is a personality and still behaves inconsistently, that’s his weakness. If this is understood, then you’ll understand all Masters.
Meaning of a Guru’s anger
Sai Baba used to show extreme anger sometimes. Do you think he was angry? He was responding to a situation. A situation had to be diluted, dissolved, or broken. He used intensity that would come out as anger. That’s broken, it’s gone – finished. ‘Oh, why are Masters angry?’ Masters aren’t angry. They’re responding to situations. As a person comes, the Master becomes that person and responds accordingly. For that to happen, you’ve to connect to the sukshma (subtle). Only then can you dissolve your personality and become universality, only then. Otherwise, it’s a pretension.
Many people try to pretend, but then they can’t contain it; they can’t hold it. When you pretend, you can’t carry it forever. You’ve to become that. You’ve to become sukshma (subtle). When you become subtle, you’re consistent in inconsistency. You are consistently inconsistent. That’s your strength because you are flowing with life as per the situation, as per the time; you’re being ‘you’. But otherwise, you’ve to be disciplined to reach the subtle. You’ve to have determination and discipline. Like the temple – we have a time of opening, time of closing, and methods. All this is connected to learning to be disciplined. When you’re disciplined, it’s easier to connect to the subtle.
If you’re indisciplined, you’ll go with different things; then personality becomes like that. Personality catches that, the mind catches that, and habits happen. But when everything is dissolved, your personality is dissolved, and habits also get dissolved. You have no agenda or no plan; then you become natural, and at that point in time, that inconsistency is your strength.
Most of the Masters, if you look, they’ve been inconsistent. Buddha, for example – one person came and asked him, “Master, should I get married?” Buddha said, “No, no! Marriage is a terrible thing. Don’t get married.” So, he went away. Later another person came and asked,” Master, should I get married?” “Yes, yes, you should get married. It’s a very nice thing.”
The disciples who were sitting next to him said, “Master, you’re so inconsistent. You told two different things to two different people.” The Master said, “That’s what they exactly wanted to know. The first guy wasn’t mature to get married. He didn’t have the kind of stability to accept and accommodate another person in his life. The other guy was ready.”
Sometimes, like Sai Baba used to show anger, that was to break some things – an ego, a situation, or to ward off negativities from the space.– Mohanji
This is exactly this inconsistency that we should understand. What’s the inconsistency here? Talking to the person as per the person, or communicating as per the time, as per the need. Otherwise, you’re just flowing.
But sometimes, like Sai Baba used to show anger, that was to break some things – an ego, a situation, or to ward off negativities from the space. Like when they were doing ceremonies, they put grains around the head to ward off all the evil or negative energies from the space, to purify. Just like that, the Master may use extreme force to purify for the sake of the entire people who come. It’s all for the world, not for him. Right?
Okay, does anybody have any question, burning questions?
Thank you. Happy Guru Purnima to all of you and to all those who’re listening from various parts of the world. Happy Guru Purnima to all of you.
Love you.
Transcribed by Nada Rakovic
Proofread by K.S. Geetha