On Meditation, Charity and Healing

Life Positive Expo – Satsang with Mohanji –  Part 4

Q: I have been practicing TM (Transcendental Meditation) for the last 20 years and find it quite effective and fulfilling. What is your advice regarding such meditations?

A: I never ever say something is right or something is wrong. This is because  I am nobody to say that. I am nobody to say some guru is better than the other, or that some method is better than the other. I feel that everything has value in this world. This is my opinion and this is what I feel. If you have done TM for 20 years, I think it is good for you. Because actually, why not? However, I would like you to think about two things. Firstly, how much emptiness have you achieved inside? The clear signs of spiritual progress are fearlessness and silence inside. Nobody can deny this. People can have their opinion, but one cannot see the inner silence which one feels – the knowing that whatever happens, I am fine. If this is achieved, then it is definitely effective. If it has not been achieved, fine-tune it in such a way that you start shedding more. As I explained previously, when emotions come, shed the emotions. Again, do the practice, because practice has nothing to do with it. It has to do with your constitution. If you are not letting go and you are practising, then you are merely adding one more habit. Consider whether you are adding one more habit, or whether you are actually living it and attaining emptiness and fearlessness. These are the two signs which you can trust for any spiritual progress, for any path. However, my personal opinion is that all the gurus in the world, and all the programmes in the world have some value to somebody. We have no right to say that something is good or bad. My general criteria for good versus bad is that something which binds you, which gives you fear, is not good for you. A guru, method, or practice which binds you, controls you, or gives you fear, is not so good. This is because you are working on a fear basis. Fear is anti-liberation. Fearlessness is liberation, because there is nothing to fear. There is nothing to be afraid of.

So this is my general guideline about whether a guru or a master is good or not. Some people create a lot of fear in order to bind. This means there is something else going on. This is not liberation. Just be careful. Otherwise there is no problem with any method, or any guru, or any path of spirituality. You choose what suits you. I cannot say this is the shirt size you should buy, because it suits  me. It may not suit you. You buy what suits you. It is a prerogative of any disciple. The Upanishad says, “The guru that comes to you  is the one for you.“ If a method has come to you, practise it.

Q: Apart from meditation, should there be some orientation for a spiritual seeker ?

A: If a person is oriented towards bhakti, devotion, even a small thing can trigger the ultimate in them. Nobody is one thing. Each person is a complex character. Thus paths of bhakti yoga, karma yoga, jyana yoga, will all help. What ingredient you are, what suits you, is the main thing. I should not say that something is for you. Of course if somebody follows me, I guide them, that’s different. However the tap (sanskrit original of tapas = heat) is your daily life. You cannot separate from your daily life and do tapas. Penance should happen when you are not attached to the results of an activity. Renunciation is then spontaneous. Renunciation is non-attachment to the result of an activity. This is renunciation. It does not mean going away into the forest or elsewhere. The reason people go into the forest is to avoid contamination. However if you are a householder, this is not a method to follow. I would say that everything (tap, seva, etc.) should be done within your constitution, capacity, and position. Then it’s fine. However, if you try to imbibe something which is somebody else’s thing, it will never be yours. It will always be somebody else’s idea. Even an idea, a concept, if you are just trying to absorb it, it will still be somebody else’s.

Q: How do we redistribute our income?

A: This is not just about income. The scriptures say, “Give what you have.“ If you have knowledge, you give knowledge. If you have time, you give time. If you have money, you give money. Give what you have. Don’t confuse giving with money. It’s not just about money. What the scriptures want you to give is what you have in abundance. Everybody has something in abundance. Not everybody has money. Nevertheless it doesn’t mean they should not do karma yoga. They should serve, but give what they have. Sometimes people have time, or knowledge and skills, for example teaching somebody to earn more. This is it. Income is what you already have.

Q: I have applied this in my life, 10% of my income goes to helping others.

A: That’s good, and individualistic. When you give 10% you are already expressing non-attachment to the money part. Non-attachment is renunciation. Non-attachment is working, it helps. Everything helps provided you are aware of what it is. Many people tell me, “I have no money to do charity.“ I say,“That’s absolute non-understanding. You have the time, knowledge and skills to do charity. Charity is something where you give what you have in abundance, not what you think you must do.“

 
Q: What is the cause of widespread cancer and depression today in India?

A: There are a few reasons for it. Firstly, any illness happens because there is a blockage of energy. How does energy get blocked? It’s because you are suppressing your feelings and various things are then stored inside. Whenever there is a storage and no circulation of it, it means there is no free movement of energy. There is always a blockage and that blockage gives an ailment. This is one of the reasons.

One of the reasons there is a lot of depression today is because the education system has made people “run the race“ rather than develop their individuality. The system is not worried about the individuality of a person. Everybody is created as another brick on the wall. All you do is run and win the race. Furthermore, what often happens is that people cannot accept failure and thus commit suicide. This is because failure is completely unacceptable in our society, and if these people feel society doesn’t accept them, then they go to the extreme. Another point is that if you look closely at society, nobody is really happy because the main thing they are feeling is the emotion. Media sell emotions. All the novels, programmes, television shows, et al. are giving you inputs which are of an emotional nature. When you sponsor emotions too much, depression is the result. The spiritual quotient is very, very low. There are a lot of religious quotients. This is creating wars outside. My religion, your religion, this religion, that religion… All this is creating a lot of confusion outside. As I said, religion is only a method for spirituality. Spirituality however, is missed. True spirituality is not addressed. If a person is truly spiritual, he will be kind, compassionate and satisfied with what he has. There will be no depression. If you are dissatisfied with what you have, then it’s a problem.

So how do we address all of this? It’s very, very simple. Increase the awareness. First of all, we lack the awareness that this is not just a human world. It is a world for every being, for every every species. Humans have occupied the whole world. It is only due to the mercy of humans that other species survive. We should start from there. It all begins with the concept of coexistence, of being one with the whole species, with all beings. From there we develop a fundamental outlook on education. We used to have it in India, until we destroyed the backbone of Indian education. This began with the destruction of sanskrit. Sanskrit is not a language, it is a culture. With the destruction of sanskrit, the culture was destroyed. Another example is the fuss that has been made about banning cow slaughter. Nobody has been telling the truth behind it. Why did the ancient rishis support the preservation of cows? There is no other animal whose dung you can use as an antiseptic, or to pave the ground and have a clean space. No other animal’s dung is used, including human. Furthermore, a cow is supposed to be similar to a tree. A tree absorbs all the carbon dioxide and releases oxygen. A cow in its fifteen years of life, is supposed to absorb all the negativities of society, but it leaves the dung which is pure. This means it stores everything and keeps it in the body. That is why they say, “If you eat that meat, you eat all the contamination of the world.“ They also say it’s an injustice to an animal which is preserving the composition of the atmosphere. Just like when you cut a tree, you are actually cutting down your option for oxygen. The cow is the only species which can absorb all the negativity and release only the positive. The dung, the urine are good for Ayurvedic medicines. Its milk and butter are edible. We should respect cows because they are good to us. They are always meditative and non-aggressive. There is God in every portion of its body. This is because each deity has a particular character and constitution. So each part of the body has a character and a constitution which absorbs negativity into the body. This has also been told by rishis, but I have never heard anybody talking about it. Debating whether we should kill cows or not was very, very silly.

Why did we lose all this tradition? When did we lose it? We lost it when we started looking outside. If you look inside, you have the answers. This is logical. Why did all the rishis have this? Even in our house, when you have a cow or a calf, it automatically protects the house, preventing any entities from coming inside. The people are healthy because the cows absorb all the negativities. They store them, then die and leave. In fifteen years, they remove a lot of things. This is what has been told by the saints. We must understand the truth behind all this, then there will be no confusion. No other animals are in that category, because they don’t have that capacity, including humans.

Q: How do you explain unexpected death?

A: Unexpected for whom? There is nothing unexpected. When it’s time to go, you go.

Q: Please tell us about healing techniques to relieve us from sickness?

A: There are numerous healing techniques, and everything is of value, but please understand one thing. As a general instruction I give to all the healers in the world, the more you get emotionally involved with a patient, the more easily you attract that illness. I have seen that in the auras of a lot of people. You attract the effect of that illness and it stays with you, while the patient will be happy, and healed. HA HA. It’s because you collected it. So when you heal, please understand that you are only serving as a medium.

You are being a channel. Stay as a channel and heal a person. You must say,“If it is karmically ok, then let the person be healed.“ That should be your attitude. Your attitude should be one of goodness for sure, to help people. However understand that your attitude should not be one of healing – healing is happening through you and you are just a channel. When you remain as a channel, and when you remain objective and neutral, this is ok. Otherwise you will become baggage for garbage. You will not know what to do with it. Understand that each soul comes with a life plan. The soul completes its plan during a lifetime because it takes a number of breaths, just like the amount of money you need at the supermarket. You have to complete it within this lifetime. There is no other way.

Q: Can the next incarnation start in the current life itself because of an individual’s spiritual development during one lifetime,?

A: It is possible. This is a good point. This can happen in one life also. Take for example Shivananda. At one point in time, once a lifestyle is finished, another is called. In the same body. In astrology it is called death. Astrology says you are supposed to die at this time, but you do not physically die. You change tracks. Astrology said I was supposed to die at the age of 35. Now I am 51, but life has changed the track. This is possible, definitely possible, because you stop being what you were after death. Then you are in a different track, a completely different mode, and the people who knew you before would not know what you are doing. That person’s death has finished them. Now it’s a different being. That is because the purpose has changed. So it is not taking two lives, sometimes it happens in one life. This is definitely possible.

Transcribed by Biljana Vozarevic