Spiritual Anchoring

If you are not able to anchor yourself in one, then you are like a floating boat. You’ll be floating everywhere. Each way/path will tilt you. Each shore will be your shore, but everything will be just an illusion for you. There will be nothing real. That’s why it is important to stay put, important to anchor in one place. Then even if the wind blows hard , you will still be there. The master takes care of you.

Mohanji Speaks – Zoom satsang – part 1

21 October 2018

Faith

Q: What is faith? How does faith work? How does one build absolute faith?

Mohanji: Faith is an internal thing; all emotions are internal. You cannot explain the taste of an ice-cream through words. You have to experience it. Faith is something which you have to feel inside. When you feel connected to something, say, some object, person, ideology or activity, or you feel connected to yourself very deeply and if you establish in that connection, then what develops is faith. You start trusting it. You start believing in it. You start acting on it. You start trusting it, believing in it, acting on it.  That is faith. It can’t be explained in words. Faith is something which you have to experience;  the stability which comes out of that connection is what we call faith. That faith will lead to further connections like surrender and other aspects. So faith is something which has to happen from within and the ideal way to develop faith is, through awareness – the awareness of yourself as a complete incarnation.  

You have come here to EXPERIENCE many things in this world, the “sum total” which we collectively call life, and then we are here to EXPRESS many things  in this world, which is what we are or from what we are,  in other words, our unique expressions into this world. While all this put together is life, faith is the pillar, the power, the solidity, the confirmation that takes you forward into it with confidence and stability.

The level of stability in your life can be equated to the level of faith you have. If you have absolute faith in something, especially yourself, you’ll be very confident – you can face everything in life without any problem. If you do not have faith in yourself, you will be afraid of most things. The other side of faith is FEAR. When you do not have faith, there will be a lot of fear. These fears will bind you. Fears usually suffocate you. Thus the flip side of fear is faith. Faith is something which you feel from within and you feel good about it.

Nature responds

Q: When I watch Your videos, I feel that You are conversing with me and can listen to and respond to my thoughts. Why is this?

Mohanji: That’s because when your question is genuine, when you really need an answer, nature responds in some way. In this case it could be through Mohanji, but it is the answer that is of importance to you. . Since you had a burning question, you got an answer. We need to stick to the reality that you had a question and nature responded to it. Each question gets its response   in one way or another. That’s why the entire nature is our guru. Every aspect of life is guru. Everything gives you a lesson. When you connect to a human being like me, you are getting answers and that’s basically as a  part of the nature, I am part of the nature, a part of your nature also, a part of your world. So this is the way the nature responds to you. If you are really in need of an answer, nature gives it to you.

Q: Is it ethical to sterilise pets and strays, does it have any karmic implication?

Mohanji: It is not ethical because it is against nature.  However, human beings have created a world which is unnatural, where animals and birds are domesticated or otherwise controlled by human beings. In fact,  most aspects of the world are controlled by human beings.   So in this human controlled existence it’s difficult to live a natural life. Even we are not natural when we live in the houses with air conditioners and so many such facilities. Most of our faculties are stunted or restricted. The same thing is happening with beings   which are connected to us.  Just as we have our unnatural existence, by creating an unnatural environment, so too we are forced to include all beings which are connected to us in the same way. In that context sterilising pets is the only way.

We can’t help it because if the reproduction happens in an alarming way, then we will have to destroy the beings, and this is happening in many places. Most of the shelters can’t keep the animals and they kill them, which is even more serious.  Every being has right to live on this Earth like we do. It is very unnatural to kill something just because we don’t have space. We have occupied all the available space. We have defined and demarcated the spaces as per human laws, for human needs. And animals are the victims . Not just animals, human beings are also victims of our occupation.

This is the contradiction that we are living in today. In that context it is better to have birth control rather than killing them after they are born. Because killing is extreme violence. It creates a different energy field. It releases a different frequency, which I do not think is the right frequency for the Earth, because that frequency will induce even more such action. Each frequency provokes a certain effect in everything. So when it is destruction, death or murder, it creates that  type of effect in the society and in the psyche of people. This is very important to understand and in that context it is better to control the birth of pets or strays.

Fear of emptiness

Q: How do I overcome the fear of emptiness overcoming me in meditation? Or should I ignore this and just continue meditating?

Mohanji: The emptiness is a state which is just before the fullness. It’s like a lounge at the airport, where you sit and wait before you catch the flight. After a while thoughts start reducing, and decrease to a level where they do not have any source to manifest, which means that the whole substratum becomes empty and thoughts are not being produced; that emptiness stays and then it converts into fullness. So emptiness is a state and it’s a good state to enjoy because you have no thoughts, no worries, no anxieties, no fears. The past memories of fears, the samskaras which you have already carried, which you are used to, the habitual feelings, these provoke  this fear that emptiness is bad. Because you are used to having thoughts. You are not used to having no thoughts.

This emptiness which is derived from the state of “nothing to produce thoughts”, where there are no impressions or they are not powerful enough to manifest as thoughts, that state is a turning point in our life. In that state where there is no thought (nirvichara), there is transformation. It means that it is a threshold that you cross over and then, you attain fullness. Emptiness is a state which is always temporary. Enjoy that state, indulge in that state and stay empty longer. Then the universe fills you up with completion.

Elevation of a soul

Q: It takes 5000 births to become human human, then it is predetermined and takes a long time. Why should I do any spiritual practice?

Mohanji: This is exactly why you should do spiritual practice because it is not accurately defined as 5000 births. It is an approximate figure. If you practise and empty yourself more and more, the number of your births becomes smaller and smaller because the more thoughts there are, the more desires there are and the bigger effect there is, such as memories, corresponding further desires… So it’s a cycle. If you practise and try to empty yourself, become nothing inside, without compulsive desires inside, then the number of your births becomes smaller.

If you understood that it took a long time to reach this level of awareness, then it is your duty to reduce it further. Now you have reached here. You have taken so many births, we don’t know how many. 5000 is an approximate figure. If you had realised that this is the place you have reached, now you work on yourself. Just work on being yourself, accepting yourself, emptying yourself so that no further births take place. That’s how you can diminish the number of your future births further and  that is exactly why you should be practising more, once you have arrived at this awareness, this understanding.

Express what you are

Q: People are acting their karmic roles. Why do we try to help them become something else? For example, if someone is full of anger due to a past life, why do we try to make them lose that anger?

Mohanji: Answer to this is very simple. We help because that is the way we are. How do we express our compassion? Suppose you have a lot of love and compassion in your heart, but you think to yourself, “Why should I get involved?”,  then your compassion becomes an unreal thing. It remains just a theory. How do you express your compassion, your kindness, your love? Just as somebody has anger in them, you have compassion in you. So you express your compassion which will overcome the anger; that becomes you. We are all beings of expression, constantly expressing. And we express what we are.  

Somebody is angry, somebody is upset, somebody is revengeful, somebody is jealous, but we should not be affected by any of these. We always remain ourselves, stable, very loving and we always express that unconditional love towards nature. That shows that you are existing on this Earth; you are a powerful incarnation and you have come here to express what you have brought or what you are. That expression demands this incarnation. What you are, demands that expression. That is why you need to express.

If you keep quiet, then you will not be able to even feel what you are. Just like Para Brahma without any creation exists as it is; when creation happened, it realised there are a lot of dimensions to it. We have thousands, millions, trillions of dimensions that came into being only when you are away from what you originally are. If you do not express, you become only a theory. That means the incarnation is wasted. One of the basic reasons for our existence in the body is expression, so you must express. That’s the way you are. As you are, you express, that’s important, so you need to express yourself honestly, not in a conditioned way.

Selfishness vs. fulfilment

Q: What is the difference between selfish desires and completion or fulfilment of a desire? When this fulfilling a desire become selfish?

Mohanji: When you think that you are very important, all objects around you are only for your use and when you are concentrating on just your happiness, not worried about people around you or those beyond you, it is selfishness, because you crave more and more only for yourself. We see that in the world. Another word for this is greed. It means that we have accumulated  so many things; we are not enjoying them, we are not able to enjoy them because we do not know why we accumulate, it’s habitual.

Selfishness is a state where you are only asking for yourself, or you are too preoccupied with yourself in a selfish way. “Selfish” expressions could be, “only I need to have it” or “I should have it, it does not matter if somebody else does not have it” or “even if it’s not shared it’s ok”. That is selfishness.

The other side is “I am grateful. I have received a lot of things, or, I have a lot of possessions . Let me share it them with everybody and then let everyone enjoy.” That is the way a human human will respond. Selfishness is connected to more of an animalistic nature. See dogs and cats. They fight with each other, they steal each other’s food, etc. That’s the basic level where they are occupied with the idea that they should have this food and if they don’t get it, it will be a problem. As for us, we have not evolved beyond it either ; in many cases we see that happening: more property, more wealth, more money. Mostly, when we have all these, we express poverty consciousness.

We are very poor inside. We express deep poverty at times. We can often see that happening, because we do not share. We are afraid of people. That shows that our entire path and the system does not work well. Therefore it’s important that we share what we have, so that inner richness is not affected. We are always rich. When we share we are rich. If we do not share, we are selfish. The more you hoard and the fewer things you share, the more stagnation there is. It gives you stagnation and the objects stagnate.  

Then what happens? The next generation or somebody else will take it all away and then it’s squandered. This is how it works. It’s always important that you maintain inner richness as well as outer richness equally, with maturity.

The Power of Devotion

Q: In Hindu dharma it is said that a husband is Parameshwara. Is it true that a woman should consider her husband as Parameshwara?

Mohanji: In dharmic way, if you look at the entire Hindu tradition, every tree, plant, animal, stone… everything is connected to the divine. Rather, we consider all of them as divine sparks. In the ancient system, one who protects you is considered as a deity or a deity incarnation. That is why we see that in the Satyavan- Savitri story Savitri considered Satyavan, her husband, as God or deity. In the case of Atri and Anasuya, Dattatreya’s parents, Anasuya Mata considered Atri as god and she was only serving him,  worshipping him. She attained very great powers through that.

There are a few things which have to be considered here in the path of dharma. One of them is concentration. You concentrate on one object. It’s not the personality of a husband or the person we are talking about here. It is a larger aspect, a larger philosophical aspect, where a concentration is directed to one individual. For example in the story of Vithala of Pandarpur, Pundalika and his wife were quietly serving their parents with complete devotion and Lord Krishna came there because of the devotion of the son to his parents. Like that, when the object of worship is constant, transformation happens inside because there is no energy loss. Secondly, when you are concentrating on one object for a period of time, it transforms you into an alignment. It aligns you, i.e. your body, mind, intellect, ego, spirit, everything comes into one alignment, you become one unit. That is one of the main reasons for this theory.

Parameshwara is the Lord. You consider your protector or the head of the household as your Parameshwara, the Supreme Lord, then you connect to him, not necessarily by performing pujas, prayers or chanting. It is not done like that. Rather, you look after household matters with full diligence, complete concentration, a lot of love, and plenty of affection and that transforms you,  aligns you and then you become very powerful. Anasuya Mata and Savitri are two examples, but there are  numerous examples in the Puranas, where just by concentrating on one object, in this case, the husband, they became more powerful than rishis and munis who were meditating and doing penance for thousands of years; hundreds of years at least! Such women did not do any kind of tapas or penance. They were concentrated on serving their guardian, their husband and they attained all the powers.

First and foremost, Babaji said this very clearly, concentration is very important to develop any kind of spiritual prowess. It is like you expose lens to the sun, the sun’s rays go through the lens and it develops the power, or, it brings forth the fire to burn the grass. Like that, when you are fully concentrating on one thing, you are developing your aspects, such as senses; in other words, your organs of perception , organs of action, mind, body, intellect, ego, everything in one line, you become very powerful. Then you are able to attain, or, you attain a very high spiritual level. This is why these women who were connecting deeply to their husbands became very powerful. It is in this context that the Hindu tradition talks about Pati (husband) as Parameshwara.

Spiritual anchoring

Q: Is it ok for seekers to seek blessings, grace, energy, initiation from multiple masters?

Mohanji: What is the use? Multiple masters means mind is wandering. There are no ‘multiple masters’. There is only one master which is inside YOU and that is called your soul. Your soul is already awakened. It’s aware. It’s full. It’s complete. It needs nothing. Then what is coming in the middle is mind matter. Mind is taking you to various forms and says this master, that master, another master, or “he is more powerful than this master”. All this is in the mind. That way, just like I explained earlier, you focus on one object with full concentration – mind, body, intellect, ego – all concentrated. Even if the master is not good, you will still attain great heights. In the story of Dipaka which I’ve explained many times.

Dipaka was very devoted to his Guru and was focused only on serving him. Shiva came to see him. Shiva said, ”I have never seen a disciple like you. Your guru is abusing you. He is throwing you away. He is doing everything possible to hurt you and your sentiments, but you are still serving him. You are an amazing disciple.”

He asked Dipaka, ”What do you need?”

Dipaka answered, ”I don’t need any boon.”

Then Maha Vishnu came to see him. He said the same thing, “I’m really impressed with your service to your guru.” The Guru is not kind to you, yet you are very kind to him. You are serving him. You have no ego. Then He asked, “Can I give you any boon?”

Dipaka said, “If I have one thought of ego, please remove it. I want to serve my Guru better.”

The Guru said, “I am pleased with you. You have become larger  than me. You’ve grown higher than me. Because of your loving service to me, you brought Shiva and Vishnu to you! In order to be blessed with their glimpse, many go through years of penance. But because of your dedication, your conviction, and your service to me, they came to you.”

So, this shows that if you are focusing on one object, let it be whoever, and then you are concentrated on that, you are dedicating your life, you are fully concentrated on that only, without any kind of deviations,

Ananyas cintayanto mam

(without any deviations, diversions)

Mam ekam saranam vraja

(if I am the only object of your worship, I release you from the sins, I take care of your karma, Lord Krishna says in “Bhagavad Gita”)

This is exactly the point. If your only object of worship, your only connection is with one master, that master becomes responsible for you. Otherwise no master is responsible for you because you are wandering any way. If you bring the bowl to various houses, everyone will drop one coin, but that coin will not suffice for you to buy a meal. This is how mostly we wander and get nothing. Because we wander all through life, we get exhausted. And there is not even a step of progress in many people’s life because there is nothing steady. Nothing constant. There is no concentration, there is no consistency. These are very important on the spiritual path.

Respecting various masters is good, but, like Yogananda said, “If you consider me as your teacher, I am all teachers. I am all masters. I am all gurus.” If that is not acceptable, there is no point in your sitting here. Because there is nothing I can give you. Mind is everywhere. It’s scattered. If you are not able to anchor yourself in one, then you are like a floating boat. You’ll be floating everywhere. Each way/path will tilt you. Each shore will be your shore, but everything will be just an illusion for you. There will be nothing real. That’s why it is important to stay put, important to anchor in one place. Then even if the wind blows hard , you will still be there. The master takes care of you.

Transcribed by Biljana Vozarevic                                            Proofread by Vidya Rajagopalan