The Space between Inhalation and Exhalation

Satsang with Mohanji in Novi Sad, Serbia, 1st March 2015, Part 2

Q: Should we introduce meditations in schools and why?

A: I would say that meditation is a process, not the end. But because people started using the word ”meditation” (dhyana) very commonly, many people start thinking that this particular thing as sitting quiet in one place watching breath etc  is meditation. 

What you need to teach children at school is that competition is not life. You do not have to use force in life. This is a wrong understanding we teach children. Love is much stronger that force. You can change the world inside and outside with love.

So what is the meaning of meditation? Withdrawing the mind which is used to going outside into yourself. Mind is usually going outside searching for pleasure of the world, we are withdrawing the mind and going inside and searching inside. This is all. 

The first step for any child is to accept themselves. They should feel comfortable with themselves. Introduce themselves to themselves. This is the first thing which should happen before meditation. When you do not accept yourself, when you do not understand yourself, when you are trying to become somebody else, there is always conflict. 

Every child is born with a distinct character, distinct idea, distinct constitution. There is nobody same as the other. All are unique creations. There are seven billion people and numerous kinds of other beings, they are all unique creations. Why are there numerous different types of people in the world? Because the world is full of dimensions. 

Everyone is experiencing a different dimension. There is no comparison. There cannot be any comparison because of difference in constitution of each creation.The world has multiple dimensions. Each person contributes their own dimension into the world. We need that kind of variety. 

Just imagine, if a person is peaceful with himself, the whole world is peaceful. They are not peaceful with themselves, that’s why they are finding fault with other people. And why is there always difference in opinion? There is difference in opinion and lack of tolerance because we try to impose our knowledge and understanding on  the other person. 

I always say, “You can show a person where to look, not what to see.“ There is a huge difference here. You have seen the light, so tell the person ”Look there, there is light.” But you should never tell them what light is or how to see. That is their job. Don’t underestimate people. They are all the same, all brilliant. 

We are never something better than the other person. If we feel that way at all, understand that ego is working. Understand that it is ego which makes you feel better than another person. Stop it immediately for your own benefit. Learn humility.

I like the question, ”Which is the best religion in the world?” The answer is very simple, what you are used to, what you are comfortable with and what you are perhaps born in. It may be that the religion you are born in may not be what you are comfortable in. 

But what suits you is good for you. There is nothing absolutely good or nothing bad. By changing into another religion or following another religion, there is no guarantee that you will be happy. Jesus Christ was not a Christian. Based on him further generations founded Christianity. Buddha was not a Buddhist. 

Can you call Krishna a Hindu? This is exactly the point I’m saying. All masters are universal. They cannot be bound to any religion or path. They travel the pathless path based on sheer purpose and need of the hour. We have based the teachings of great masters and we have formed a certain way of living. 

This way of living is like a rope with which you can climb to the highest level of awareness. This is why we have religions. But the moment we start looking at religion as ”My religion… yours is different…” and we start having conflict, the whole idea about religion is finished! So what should we introduce to the children? Themselves. Not meditation.

Introduce children to themselves. Let them understand themselves. Let them understand that 90% of their vital functions are not in their control – heartbeat, blood circulation, digestion, activity of the brain, the system working – all these are happening spontaneously, automatically as per the inherent programming. 

There is no room for ego here. Once they realize such truths, that these are not in their control, there will be less ego in life. What will be in their control? A given situation, a time, knowledge and we are only working, acting in it. They should learn humility. 

They should learn tolerance. Then meditation happens. It becomes automatic. The result of every meditation or every spiritual activity should be inner silence. 

When mind is at peace, meditation is spontaneous. It is easy to withdraw our mind to the peace within. When mind is agitated, its impossible to gather the mind. Hence, avoid agitation through awareness. Be aware of every moment and accept them as they come. 

If inner silence can be achieved through anything – any activity or inactivity, e.g. some people achieve it through serving people, serving the world. Some people achieve it through meditation, prayer, or chanting… anything is fine as long as you have inner silence. Silence means mind is silent.

And when is the mind really silent?
When the mind has nothing do with you or you have nothing to do with your mind. When you are in absolute realm of acceptance. There is a tangible way to connect there. You have to catch the space between your inhalation or exhalation. 

And the same space re-appears between your exhalation and inhalation. This is the space worth a billion dollars. 🙂 The space that leads to stillness of mind. In this small space between you inhalation and exhalation as well as exhalation and inhalation, there is a bit of stillness. That bit of stillness if you can develop, that can consume you and lead you to enlightenment.

Remember, our mind is most virile and in the present usually when it is entertained with negativity such as gossips, mediocrity, judgement about other people, criticism, hatred, anger, etc Mind thrives on them. These are the favorite cuisines of the mind, And these are all “fat building” dishes. 

It builds much fat and obesity in our system. It gives us “jaundiced vision”. It makes us immobile and inflexible. But, when you are on a strict diet, you will be healthier. If you shun these kinds of food, the system will remain clean and healthy. And we will experience a lean life and a clean life.

So when we ask which one is better, religion or humanity, I would definitely say humanity. Which is better meditation or humanity? I would always say humanity. Humanity comes first. Tolerance comes first. 

We should accept ourselves, we should accept people irrespective of their color, caste, creed, culture, country so on and so forth, we should accept our environment, and then raise it up, raise the awareness and elevate ourselves into subtler consciousness. 

This is the way to go. Meditation is good, it is definitely much better than competition, but understand what exactly meditation is. What we need to do in the schools now is avoid competition and make them be themselves 100%. Then their potential, their creativity, everything will be high. 

They will have a bright future. Bright future always depends on how comfortable one is in the present. When you are close to your own inherent nature, you are peaceful and comfortable.

In the scriptures it says, ”Meditation by itself has no value. But introspection leads to contemplation (manana), manana leads to dhyana.” So you have to contemplate on yourself who you are, what makes you happy, what makes you sad, some locations make you happy, some make you moody… 

There are so many complexities in us. We need to understand them, and we need to address them, from there you automatically slip into meditation. That meditation is real. Then you are meditating on the real you, not just on a concept or imagination. I am in support of meditation, don’t think I’m objecting to it, but I’m telling you do it with awareness.

Q: How to know if doing service cleanses and liberates us or accumulates karma of doing service in next life?

A: A very good question. It depends on how you do it.
When you feel you are served when serving other people, there is no karma. There are some very rich people – we all have come across some of them, who would say, ”Look, I’ve given a fat cheque for charity.” 

So they are happy. They have no idea what has happened to the cheque or how it has served the purpose. This is ego, ignorance or you are just escapism. We should feel what we do. It should be from the heart and we should mean it with all humility.

But if you feel yourself as served, which means you feel gratitude for being able to offer something to the world, then it’s fine because it’s humility. Ego keeps the karma. Humility reduces the karma.

Your participation, your feeling towards the world, your commitment towards the world is what makes you real. Otherwise you’re just following others’ instruction, like ”Mohanji said we should do charity, so “because Mohanji said, I am doing it.” 

It should not be so. It should be because you are feeling this myself. Otherwise you should not do it. Because somebody said you should do, then if somebody else says ”Don’t do it”, then you’ll stop, too.

As for karma of doing service for next life instead of liberation, don’t worry about next life. Because we do not know. Let’s not worry about what we do not know. What is the guarantee we will have a next life? This could be the last one. Let us consider what we can do today, this moment is our only reality. 

If tomorrow happens, we’ll do something better. But how can we guarantee tomorrow? There is no guarantee. So whatever we do, let us not talk about tomorrow. When we talk about tomorrow, it is non-understanding. 

Of course if you are a corporate manager of a corporate company, you may have to plan for the next year. Do that, because that’s a part of your job. But understand that is not your nature. Your nature is being here, now. Do whatever you can do right now.

Q: I am no longer in the darkness of unconsciousness and not yet there, at the end results you are speaking about.

A: You see, there is always evolution in existence. One day you did not become xy (your id in this life). If everybody could switch over to the other states so effortessly, then seven billion people would be switching states all the time.

Q: That was an introduction to my question. I am talking to my brother who tells me about things I haven’t done properly, which is perfectly true, he is right, but the problem is that I am aware of it, and still haven’t corrected it completely…

A: Nobody can say that you did not do something in the past right. You did what was “your right” at that time. Past is dead. You cannot bring it back to life. Do what you can do now. Make it better if you could. It all depends on your awareness or capacity at the given point in time.

Q: The person is literally yelling at me.

A: Avoid it if you could. Why do you accept somebody yelling at you? Brother means brother in this life… But the thing is everybody has their space. Every car has its speed or its particular constitution. So you can take an advice, ”I’m suggesting you do it if it is good for you.” 

You don’t have to buy yelling from anybody, even from a close relative. Nobody has the right to impose anything to anybody. In spirituality, definitely. Because that doesn’t work.

Q: But how should I answer? How should I behave?

A: Behave quietly, with calmness, and say, ”Don’t worry, I am addressing this issue. I have taken your point, it’s well noted, ‘you honour’.” It takes two hands to make a sound. When you are not affected, it is like one hand waving through the air. What happens? No sound. When you are affected it means you have something to do with it. 

When you are not affected, ok, he is expressing his character. I told you a story in the last retreat, remember? One person was calling another person donkey, monkey, jackal… all sorts of names, and the other person replied with you apple, orange, banana… 

When asked the calmer guy why he is using the names of fruits, he said – I am expressing my character, he is expressing his character. You have every right to express your calmness. You don’t have to be affected. Just watch it closely. What is happening here? You are not affected, only your ego got affected. 

This is a god given opportunity to grow beyond your ego. Reply with calmness, you have to practice it, it doesn’t fall from the sky. i often do not respond to people’s mails filled with ego, arrogance and comparisons. 

I also do not reply to mails echoing ingratitude from people who have been immensely benefited from me in the past and because of someone’s opinion, words or guidance, ignore all the good experience and slander. Better to allow them to keep their opinions and lead our own life in peace and do what best we can do for the world. 

When we are focused on what more can we do for the world without discrimination, life becomes more purposeful. These kind of things happen in everybody’s path. I met one girl during one of my programs. She approached me saying, ”I do pujas three hours a day because one guru told me. 

I am not finding sufficient time to study.” And she was suffocated because of this. She was scared. She thought that if she missed it, she would have a problem – like curse from the Gods or Gurus. Fear has fallen into her. I told her to remove these three hours, and I assured her that if God has any problem, I’ll talk to him. 🙂 🙂 She said, ”Can you tell this to my father?” 

I told her father the same thing. Let her study, she wants to study, because she’s got examinations coming up. Her father understood. No true God wants anything from you. God is within you. Your inner peace is most important. And Godliness will shine forth when you have inner peace.

Unfortunately, this is not how the world operates, the world gives fear and controls people. Whether it is a relative or anybody, it is all the same. Whatever binds you is not good for you. Whatever liberates you is good for you.

Q: Can we achieve higher levels of consciousness not only with initiation by a guru, but also on our own?

A: It’s very simple. Most (ALL) of us have carried certain seeds of enlightenment or spirituality in us. It doesn’t matter which religion, which parents, which society, but we brought them when we were born. 

So we automatically have a road map in hand. We travel through that and some people reach very high, like in the case of Adi Shankaracharya. At the age of eight he chanted ”Mano budhyahankara…” I’m not the mind, I’m not the body, I’m not the intellect. 

If at the age of eight he could say that, he had already brought it, which means no guru has taught him. But generally, people who are seeking something outside of them, need somebody to tell them, ”Look, what you are seeking is inside you.”

Q: What is discipleship?

A: Humility. When you feel you don’t know, there is humility. Discipleship is a state where you feel you need to get guidance. It is not a permanent state. 

It’s a state which gives you that feeling, ”I need to get some information, knowledge,” and you connect to the person who can give you that knowledge. Not only knowledge, it can also be guidance, companionship, anything… but discipleship is something which is truly beautiful.

There is no perpetual disciple or a guru. Only when one feels like a disciple, another becomes a guru. It’s all situational. They are all states and let them be states rather than concepts. There are no people, there are only walking and talking concepts. Who wants concepts?

Q: What is darshan? What happens to a person during darshan?

A: Darshan means to see. To witness. If you meet god or a guru, I would say, it is fulfillment for you.

Q: What is the difference between self-realisation and liberation?

A: Self-realisation is like graduation. You’ve attained a state which is not shake-able. It will not change, it is perpetual. Liberation is an everyday thing. You can be liberated now, you can be staying liberated from your mind, your ego, situations, time… This is liberation. 

Liberation is more on a general basis. If you are totally liberated while existing, you are totally liberated while leaving. But enlightenment is a state where you achieve a certain level of stability.

Q: Is there a level over which we should not go?
A: There is a saying, “My eyes are already up, what am I doing on earth?” The same thing. Your frequency is already high, so your dependency on earth is less. You will be walking on the Earth, you’ll be doing everything, but your frequency is already connected to dimensions much subtler and intangible on earth. 

This is the state of many great yogis. Understand that this is all spontaneous, just like the scenes that we see through the window of a running train. States and experiences keep shifting and changing.

There is nothing like a level over which we should not exceed. Because it is not that you are choosing. It’s happening. The moment you start meditating you are connecting, evolving, growing, shifting states… 

For example, in the early 2000s, I was living alone and I was having a job, no family, nothing, so at that time I was meditating from 3am every day. I used to wake up at 2:30am, take a bath, meditate at 3am, up to 8am I was meditating. I was the head of a company, so I had some freedom. 

I was completely cut off from the world for five hours, in total meditation. Then it also shifted to the evening. But normally in corporate jobs, we had parties and business meetings in the evening, I started losing interest in all these things. I would attend the party just for the sake of it because I was the head of a company, but otherwise I used to meditate. 

When I would come home, I sometimes used to meditate until 11 or midnight depending on the mood. There were times when I meditated the whole day till the next day. This was spontaneous, not that I chose it. I don’t choose it. If there is an opportunity, it happens. 

Being spontaneous is the key. Purpose should be clear total liberation. It is like setting your navigator for a particular destination. Then, if you will not take detours, the navigator will take you to where you want to go. So you are neither bound, nor you are committed to anything, it just flows. 

And frequency shifts are spontaneous. I cannot say which frequency I can shift to because I don’t know the frequency. I don’t know what is possible. But it’s spontaneously shifting to different dimensions and that is why I never told anybody until now that I’m enlightened, or even a guru, because these are all concepts which you don’t have to carry. 

Why to keep a lot of weight on your head? we don’t have to prove anything to the world. What can you prove to the world? Something tangible.Right? I can only give you something which I can bring or deliver. I cannot give you an experience, which means I can guide you to an experience and the experience has to happen within you. 

I can only give you what is outside of me, which is temporary. But if you are connected to my consciousness, you’ll probably achieve the state I am in, which is relatively permanent. You understood the difference? So frequency shifts are spontaneous, automatic and inevitable. 

You don’t have to do anything for it. All you have to do is, I always say, keep going ahead. Do not stagnate. If you happen to come across or connect to a master of higher frequency and you are convinced about it and you are sure that he is not pretending or you are infatuating, until death, don’t leave him.
I have met many great souls who look like nothing in real life. 

There is a saying “Great lovers of the world looked nothing in real life”. Like wise, great spiritual masters lead extra ordinarily unassuming existence. One of my experience – It happened last year. One person, a master, who wears normal trousers and shirt, goes in public bus, you would not even know that he is a master, but he is a very, very evolved person. 

I connected to him. He was in his 70s, hospitalised due to a stroke. I was doing a programme in Bangalore. He was in the hospital – in another city about an hour away by flight. He thought about me.“If only I met Mohanji.” It was just one thought. He was just wishing inside, he didn’t tell anybody. 

He just thought “I want to meet Mohanji.” I could not sit in Bangalore. I took the next flight. Something was telling me, “I must go now.” I told the people who were organizing the programs to get me the ticket that very day. I immediately took the flight, went there, reached the hospital, and saw him. 

Then he said, “I was thinking, oh, if only I met Mohanji, I would be happy.” His thought was so strong, I could not sit there! I went there. So this is the connection we are talking about. You don’t need to say anything, it is so strongly felt. Then he told me, “You should give me shaktipat.” 

I told him, “You are a great master, I am a small person, I shouldn’t …” He said, “No, you must give me shaktipat. This is my wish.” I remember giving him shaktipat. I have given shaktipat to thousands of people in this world. 

I touched his third eye with my thumb, and this is what I was feeling, I my eyes were closed, a golden ball left my hand, went into him, it fell down into him, inside him, from his head, which was completely empty. He was like an empty pot. 

There was nothing inside him. It fell down, hit the bottom and it just came up like a wave. Such an amazing experience! I went into trance, I fell into a meditative mode, he also went into a trance state, and we sat like that for half an hour… And then he told me, “You have arrived.” I said, “Thank you.” 

This is the beauty. I can cross the seven seas to meet one person who is really ready and eligible. This is my satisfaction. But a person who is empty like this, and just completely vibrant, that is amazing! 

That is why I say your frequency is all spontaneous, and it’s such a beautiful feeling. It’s not a ritual, no doing, nothing. It’s connection from the heart, and you love for no reason, you just love. Love is what we are!

Recorded and transcribed by Biljana Vozarevic