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 |   As the first blog entry got exhausted. My second book |
| Evolution of Love Part 2 |
| The fall guy of spirituality is the ego. Since there is really no one to blame for everything that happens in our lives, we manufacture this idea called the ego to take the blame. This causes a great deal of confusion because the ego doesn't really exist. It is simply an idea, a label for a movement to which we have attached our sense of self. When we consider that the ego is just an idea that doesn't really exist, we can see that many spiritual people are blaming it unfairly for all the things they believe they should get rid of. They misunderstand that something arising inside of them—perhaps a thought, feeling, predisposition, or moment of suffering—is proof of an ego, thinking that just because it arose, ego exists. They think they have an ego because of all these things that point to it. All we ever find is this proof or evidence that ego exists, but we can never find the thing itself. When I ask someone to look for the ego, he or she cannot really find it. It isn't there. An angry thought or emotion triggers the belief, "Oh, I've got to get rid of that— that's my ego." It's as if everything that's happening in a human being, especially a human being who is interested in being spiritual, gets used as proof of the existence of an ego that must be annihilated. And yet nobody can find it. I have yet to have somebody show me the ego. I've seen lots of thoughts, feelings, and emotions. I've watched expressions of anger, joy, depression, and bliss, but I have yet to have one person present me with the ego. |
| Japanese surprising research... 1. *Acidity* not only caused by diet errors, but more dominated because of *stress*. 2. *Hypertension* not only caused by too much consumption of salty foods, but mainly because of errors in *managing emotions*. 3. *Cholesterol* is not only caused by fatty foods, but the *excessive laziness* or sedentary lifestyle is more responsible. 4. *Asthma* not only because of the disruption of oxygen supply to lungs, but often *sad feelings* make lungs unstable. 5. *Diabetes* not only because of too much consumption of glucose, but selfish & *stubborn attitude* disrupts the function of the pancreas. 6. *Kidney stones* : .Not only Calcium Oxalate deposits, but pent up *emotions and hatred* 7. *Spondylitis* : not only L4L5 or cervical disorder; but over burdened or *too much worries* about future If we want to be healthy then first 1) *Fix your Mind* 2) Do regular *Exercises*, 3) *Move* around, 4) Do *Prayers* 5) *Laugh* and make others laugh too. 6) *Make Friends* These activities will help you to strengthen your soul, mind and body... *Be Healthy And Enjoy Your Life.*👍💐 |
| God said “Adam, I want you to do something for Me” Adam said, “Gladly, Lord, what do You want me to do ?” God said, “Go down into that valley” Adam said, “What’s a valley ?” God explained it to him. Then God said “Cross the River." Adam said, “What’s a river ?" God explained that to him, and then said, “Go over to the hill …” Adam said, “What is a hill ?” So, God explained to Adam what a hill was He told Adam, “On the other side of the hill you will find a cave” Adam said, ‘What’s a cave ?' After God explained, He said, “In the cave you will find a woman” Adam said, “What’s a woman ?' So God explained that to him, too Then, God said, ‘I want you to reproduce" Adam said, “How do I do that ?” God first said (under His breath), “Geez …” And then, just like everything else, God explained that to Adam, as well So, Adam goes down into the valley, across the river, and over the hill, into the cave, and finds the woman In about five minutes, he was back God, His patience wearing thin, said angrily, “What is it now ?” And Adam said…. * * * * * * * “What's a Headache ?" 😄😋🤣😆💥🍻 And story continues😃😃 |
| So, what are the causes of desire? Let us go into it very carefully. What is desire? How does it arise? It doesn’t arise by itself. It arises through sensation, through contact, through seeing something—seeing a man or a woman, seeing a dress in a window, seeing a dress or a car or the great hills. There is immediate sensation. It is natural, healthy, to have such sensation, such response. Then what takes place? I see a beautiful woman, a beautiful man, a beautiful house, a beautiful dress. I see a beautiful shirt made most delicately. I go inside and touch the material. First seeing, then contact, and from that contact, sensation, right? Then what happens? Enquire into it: You have touched the shirt, you have the sensation of its quality, its colour. Up to now there has been no desire; there has been only sensation. Then what happens? You have touched that shirt or dress. Then thought creates the image of you in that shirt, in that car, in that dress. When thought creates that image, that is the moment desire is born. That is, desire begins when thought creates the image. I see a beautiful violin—I want to have it; the beauty of that sound that violin makes—I like to possess it. I look at it, touch it, get the sense of that old structure, and I would like to have it; that is, the moment thought enters into the field of sensation and creates the image, then desire begins. Now, the question is whether there can be a hiatus, a gap; that is, have only sensation, and not let thought come and control sensation. That is the problem. Why does thought create the image and hold on to that sensation? Is it possible to look at the shirt, touch it—sensation—and stop, not allow thought to enter into it? Have you ever tried any of these? When thought enters into the field of sensation—and thought is also a sensation—then thought takes control of sensation, and desire begins. Is it possible to only observe, contact, sensation, and nothing else? Do you understand that? And discipline has no place in this because the moment you begin to discipline, that is another form of desire to achieve something. So one has to discover the beginning of desire and see what happens. Don’t buy the shirt immediately, but see what happens. You can look at it; but we are so eager to get something, to possess a shirt, a man, a woman or some status that we have never the time, the quietness, to look at all this. So, desire is one of the factors of our disorder. We have been trained either to suppress or to change the object. But we have never looked at the moment of the flowering of desire. That is one of the causes of disorder in our life. Please bear in mind, we are not trying to control desire—that has been tried by all the so-called saints—nor are we talking of indulging desire, but we are looking at it like a flower, how it grows. |
| Working with Hua Tou – intense inquiry NDM: What did this Hua Tou practice entail exactly? Chuan Zhi: It’s an all-encompassing, all-consuming practice. Once you do it long enough though, it’s as if it practices you. In essence, it’s all about looking to the source of everything. That can only happen with the ability to first generate the Great Doubt ... which I think of as a Mind that is free of judgment, ideas, and opinions; one that’s detached from the object of attention at any point in time. Once the Mind enters that domain it can see things quite clearly, beyond their manifestations as purely sensory objects. I use the term "things" rather generally: it includes the reasoning mind as well. There were times when I was doing this practice that I got so consumed with it that I was literally unable to do complex things like driving a car or mathematics, or even offering a coherent conversation. I had to learn to nudge myself out of the rapture of practice (which was another challenge altogether). NDM: What kind of requirements would someone need to do this Hua Tou method? Would someone already have to have a relatively quiet mind, experience with Zen, sitting for example? Chuan Zhi: What's important is that one has experienced suffering. Without suffering there is rarely adequate willpower to devote to the practice to bring the real fruit. Zen is not a passive thing, nor is it "pretty" ... we don't do it to get peace/calm/quiet/tranquil/etc., we do it to escape from samsara. It’s a path of salvation and it’s the energy of fire that drives it. That fire comes from the force of will – that’s what makes the practice work. We do it because we are ready to die to ourselves because continuing on in the way we have is something we refuse to do. When we reach that stage in our personal lives, we are ready to do Zen. And then whether we do the Hua Tou practice or any other Zen (or equivalent mystical/contemplative) practice, it doesn't matter so much: progress is inevitable. When we do Zen practices without this intense drive to escape the torture of samsara, we can still have good experiences and learn things about ourselves, but Zen is a mystical journey, a journey of transformation, and that’s something altogether different. - Interview with Non-Duality Magazine Chuan Zhi was born in Lafayette Indiana in the United States in 1960, attended elementary school in Southern Illinois, and high school in Eastern Pennsylvania. In 1980 he attended Reed College in Portland Oregon where he graduated with an undergraduate degree in Physics in 1983. During his time at Reed he found the works of Robert M. Persig, D.T. Suzuki and Mircea Eliade which “planted the seeds” for his future foray into Zen. Following graduate studies in Nuclear Physics at Purdue University, he worked as an experimental physicist for a decade and later as a Computer Programmer for a variety of organizations. He continues working in this field for a division of the United Nations. Beginning in the late 1980’s, he began attending sesshins (intensive meditation retreats) and studying under a variety of Zen teachers in the Mountain West and East Coast of the United States. In 1997 he met Jy Din Shakya, then Abbot and founder of Hsu Yun temple in Honolulu Hawaii, and one of Hsu Yun’s direct Dharma Heirs. He was ordained and given the name Chuan Zhi (傳智) that year at Hsu Yun temple. He was also named the head of a new Chan order with the objective to disseminate the teachings of Chan Buddhism to the West. The order was named the Zen Buddhist Order of Hsu Yun, after Jy Din’s master, whom he also had named his own temple after nearly forty years prior. In 1998 Jy Din escorted Chuan Zhi to China where he received full ordination at Hong Fa temple, along with 500 others. Following the month-long ceremony, he became recognized by the Buddhist Association of China as an official lineage holder in the Linji (Rinzai) tradition and Abbot of the Zen Buddhist Order of Hsu Yun. Since then, Chuan Zhi has continued to work to spread the teachings of Chan to other interested persons. As of the writing of this biography, the Order of Hsu Yun (hsuyun.org) has grown to include local sanghas in Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia, Canada, Great Britain, France, Greece, Sweden, China and, of course, the United States. |
(1) ᴛʜᴏsᴇ ᴡʜᴏ ʜᴀᴅ ᴄᴏɪɴs, ᴇɴᴊᴏʏᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴀɪɴ. ᴛʜᴏsᴇ ᴡʜᴏ ʜᴀᴅ ɴᴏᴛᴇs, ᴡᴇʀᴇ ʙᴜsʏ ʟᴏᴏᴋɪɴɢ ғᴏʀ sʜᴇʟᴛᴇʀ. (2) ᴍᴀɴ ᴀɴᴅ ɢᴏᴅ ʙᴏᴛʜ ᴍᴇᴛ sᴏᴍᴇᴡʜᴇʀᴇ. ʙᴏᴛʜ ᴇxᴄʟᴀɪᴍᴇᴅ, "ᴍʏ ᴄʀᴇᴀᴛᴏʀ!" (3) ʜᴇ ᴀsᴋᴇᴅ, "ᴀʀᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀ ʜɪɴᴅᴜ ᴏʀ ᴍᴜsʟɪᴍ?" ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴇsᴘᴏɴsᴇ ᴄᴀᴍᴇ, _"ɪ ᴀᴍ ʜᴜɴɢʀʏ!"._ (4) ᴛʜᴇ ғᴏᴏʟ ᴅɪᴅɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ɪᴛ ᴡᴀs ɪᴍᴘᴏssɪʙʟᴇ. sᴏ ʜᴇ ᴅɪᴅ ɪᴛ. (5) "ᴡʀᴏɴɢ ɴᴜᴍʙᴇʀ," sᴀɪᴅ ᴀ ғᴀᴍɪʟɪᴀʀ ᴠᴏɪᴄᴇ. (6) ᴡʜᴀᴛ ɪғ ɢᴏᴅ ᴀsᴋs ʏᴏᴜ ᴀғᴛᴇʀ ʏᴏᴜ ᴅɪᴇ, "sᴏ ʜᴏᴡ ᴡᴀs ʜᴇᴀᴠᴇɴ?" (7) ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴛᴏʟᴅ ᴍᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ʜᴇʀ ғᴀʟʟ ɪɴ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ɪ ʜᴀᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ʜᴇʀ ʟᴀᴜɢʜ. ʙᴜᴛ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏ ᴛɪᴍᴇ sʜᴇ ʟᴀᴜɢʜs, ɪ ᴀᴍ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏɴᴇ ᴡʜᴏ ғᴀʟʟs ɪɴ ʟᴏᴠᴇ. (8) ᴡᴇ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ғʀɪᴇɴᴅs ᴀɴʏᴍᴏʀᴇ: ᴡᴇ ᴀᴅᴅ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɴᴏᴡᴀᴅᴀʏs! |
| *"Sankranti - Festival of Kites - Vitamin D"* 🪁🪁🪁🪁🪁🪁 *-vitamin D is made by the body with sunlight.*_ 🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞 _*-sesame seeds(tilli) have the highest calcium (975mg per 100g).* *Milk has 125mg only.*_ 🥛🥛🥛🥛🥛🥛 _*-the body is capable of storing vitamin D up to a year, and use the reserves.*_ _*-lastly, the body is capable of getting its viatmin D reserves full with 3 full days of sunlight.*_ 🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞 _*-the best quality of sunlight is end of winter & beginning of summer.*_ 👍👍👍👍👍👍 _*Now understand the link between all these, and see how wise our sages were of ancient India.* *They created a festival of flying kites where by our kids get excited to go in the open, under direct sunlight, throughout the day starting from early morning. And their mothers feed them homemade TIL laddoos.*_ 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏 _*Are we not a fantastic culture?*_ 🪁🪁🪁🪁🪁🪁 *Happy Sankranti to all.* 🤝🤝🤝🤝🤝🤝 |
| SUNDAR MUNDARIYE….HO! The Lohri leitmotif There is a large tract of semi-arid terrain lying between the rivers Chenab and Ravi called the Saandal Bar. (It now falls in the districts of Sheikhupura and Faislabad.) The people of this area were known to provide the stiffest opposition to the Muslim marauders. They never paid any taxes; rather, they openly defied the authorities and indulged in looting the royal caravans and treasures. 'Saandal', a warlord of Bhatti Rajput clan led these tribals. Prince Jahangir, the heir apparent, fired with zeal to prove his prowess carried out campaigns to consolidate the Mughal authority in the region. He captured and executed Saandal and his son,Farid. Their skins were peeled off and hung at the Delhi gate of the Fort of Lahore to instill a sense of fear amongst the rebels. However, the son of Farid, Abdullah or Dullah as he is fondly called, remained unfazed and continued his defiant activities. Dullah earned notoriety in the eyes of authorities. He, like Robin Hood, looted wealthy landlords and Imperial officers and distributed the booty amongst the poor. He came to be regarded as a father figure for the distressed and oppressed. and became a living embodiment of the chivalrous and secular, socio-cultural character of the region. Dullah was the contemporary of yet another Super Human, Poet Divine, Sri Guru Arjan Dev, the Fifth Sikh Guru, who sacrificed his life at the altar of humanity at Lahore. It is believed that Dullah had restored the prestige of an innocent girl whose modesty was outraged by a Mughal general. Dullah had adopted this girl as his daughter and arranged her marriage in the Jungles of 'Saandal Bar'. As there was no priest nearby to chant the Vedic Hymns and solemnise the marriage Dullah had lit a bonfire and composed an impromtu song: Sundari Mundariye…… The bride and the groom were asked to take pheras of the bonfire as Dullah sang this hilarious song. The 'ho's are in chorus….. Sunder mundriye ho! ( Oh, you pretty lass) Tera kaun vicaharaa ho! (Who is your protector, you pitiable one? ) Dullah Bhatti walla ho! (There's this man called Dullah, from Village Bhatti) Dullhe di dhee vyayae ho! (Dullah's getting her married as his own daughter) Ser shakkar payee ho! (He gave 1 kg sugar!) Kudi da laal pathaka ho! (The girls is wearing a red suit!) Kudi da saalu paatta ho! (But her shawl is torn!) Saalu kaun samete ho ! (Who will stitch her shawl?) Chacha gaali dese ho! (Her Uncle will scold her) Chacha choori kutti ho! (The uncle made choori{a Punjabi dish}!) zamidara lutti ho! (The landlords ate it!) Zamindaar sudhaye ho! (Dullah gave the landlords lots more to eat!) Ginn-ginn bhole aaye ho! (Lots of innocent guys came) Ek bhola reh gaya! (One innocent boy got left behind) Sipahee pakad ke lai gaya! (The police arrested him!) Sipahee ne mari itt! (The policeman hit him with a brick!) Phannve ro te phannve pit! (Now, you may cry or howl!) Sanoo de de lohri te teri jeeve jodi! (Give us our Lohri & may you live long as a couple!) Til (Sesame seeds) and Rorhi (a form of sweet jaggery in Punjabi) are meant to keep the body warm. These two terms Til+ Rorhi combined to form Tilrorhi, which was eventually corrupted to ----- Lohri |
| Mother was sitting on the eastern veranda of the Ashram. We also were squatting there. Prof. Shyama Charan Babu of Agra College was amongst us. He asked Mother why She had been laughing so excessively the day before. Mother: "Smiles and tears are indeed such with this body. You saw me laughing only at the time of reading. In the evening also I laughed heartily on hearing the sounds coming out of the water tap in the Ashram yard. You must have noticed that when a water tap is turned, air often comes out of it with a hissing sound. Yesterday evening the tap of the Ashram yard was emitting a similar sound. When I heard it I was convulsed with laughter. This is because there are some screws loose somewhere in this head. Again, when Swami was reading at night, a slight touch of his hand turned the bookstand upside down. This gave me more convulsions of laughter. But the incident itself was nothing to laugh about. That shows that laughter comes to this body without any apparent reason. Anything may give occasion to a fit of laughter. Any attempt to check it at the time has the effect of only pouring oil on fire." "…Once at the Dacca Ashram there was a Kirtan party. The Kirtaniya was singing in an inspired mood. His face was suffused with tears. The listeners were visibly moved. Though the singer had plenty of emotion, his literary attainments were no better than those of this body. While thus singing he mispronounced a word. Though the slip was slight and did not affect the emotional flow either of the singer or of the listeners - it made me laugh. Khukuni tried hard to compose me. She whispered to me that it would hurt the feelings of others. But it was all in vain. They then felt compelled to remove me to some other place. Even there I was rolling with laughter. This may give you some idea as to the character of my laughter. It is not that this body laughs only when there is something comical. It is shaken with laughter even when there is little or no occasion for it. At the sight of people's grief this body has often burst into laughter. Those who are unacquainted with the vagaries of this body may very well be offended. They may think that I simply laugh at them, which would be far from the truth." Sometimes it so happens that the incident which seems to move this body to laughter is not the real cause at all. Some incidents of the past or future swim into my ken and give occasion to the laughter. There was a Gujerati lady amongst us named Miss Mani Ben. She asked: "Mother, you have just referred to your visions of the past and future. How do you have them? Do you see them with your two physical eyes, or (pointing at the space between the two eyebrows) do you see them with the third eye that is here?" Mother: "How do I see them? Why, the eyes are all over the body. Don't you know that everything has in it (the essence of) all other things? Hands, legs, hair, in fact every part of the body can be made the instrument of sight. Of course, it is quite possible to see through the two eyes, which all possess; and the existence of a third eye of which you speak is also true. People do possess such eyes. This may sound strange to you, but nonetheless it is true. Once this body lived on three grains of rice daily for four or five months. Nobody can live for so long on such a meagre diet. It looks like a miracle. But it has been so with this body. It has been so, because it can be so. The reason for this is that what we eat is not all necessary for us. The body takes in only the quintessence of the food, the rest is thrown out. As a result of sadhana the body becomes so constituted that though no food is taken physically, it can imbibe from the surroundings whatever is necessary for its maintenance. In three ways the body can be maintained without food: One way has just been referred to viz. the body can take from the environment the nourishment necessary for its maintenance. Secondly, one can live on air alone. For I have just said that in everything there are all other things; so that the properties of other things are in the air in some measure. Therefore by taking in air alone we get the essence of other things. Again, it may so happen that the body is not taking anything at all, yet it is being maintained unimpaired as in a state of samadhi. Thus you find that as a consequence of sadhana it is quite possible to live without what we call food. In a similar way sadhana can effect such transformation of the body that by virtue of it any part of it can discharge the function of the eye. Shyama Charan Babu: We hear that sages can take over the sufferings of other people. Mother: "This is true. Sages can mitigate the sufferings other people in three ways: they can take the suffering upon themselves and thus relieve the sufferer; or without taking those sufferings upon themselves, they may distribute and apportion them amongst some other persons. This lightens to some extent the intensity and acuteness of the suffering. Also, it may so happen that sages out of supreme Grace can relieve an individual from all the consequences of his actions and restore him to Life Divine, which is his true Self. But such incidents are rare.. Hence it is said that purification comes through suffering." Myself: Mother, how is it possible to distribute sufferings amongst others? This looks like sheer injustice. Mother: "No, there is nothing wrong in it. Sages would divide the sufferings only amongst those who are only too willing and anxious to share them." Shyama Charan Babu: Why should I allow a sage to bear my cross? Mother: "That is well said. A bhakta would speak in this way. A devotee would not have the object of his devotion share his sufferings. He would rather bear his own cross. But sometimes such sufferings are too much for him, and his only concern then becomes how to get rid of them. In such cases only the question of mitigation or extenuation arises. With me, however, everything has happened spontaneously. I have seen that this body has taken upon itself the sufferings of others, not purposely, but without an effort of the will. Once I went to see a patient who was attacked by a severe type of dysentery. On my return I found myself attacked by that very disease. I had frequent motions and passed blood and mucus. This went on for twelve hours. Then I was all right again. For some time something like a blizzard passed over this body, then everything was quiet. The man who had the original attack came round as soon as this body had the disease. At another time this body took upon itself the fever from which another person had been suffering. Every third or fourth day I used to have a violent paroxysm of fever which lasted for three hours. The temperature shot up to 1030 or 1040. We were then at Cox's Bazar. The nature of the fever convinced Dina Bandhu Babu that it was nothing but malaria. Bholanath was of the same opinion, and was anxious to administer quinine. But I flatly refused to take the drug. Dina Bandhu Babu had an almost paternal affection for this body, which used to address him as father. He often would humour me by complying with my requests. Though a Brahmin himself, he had given up the Brahminical practice of uttering Gayatri Mantra. But I induced him to resume. However, when he found me suffering from repeated paroxysms of fever he lost all patience and wrathfully declared: "These devotees have conspired to kill my daughter. I won't listen to anybody. I intend to administer by force, if necessary, quinine this very night." I heard all this, but said nothing. In the afternoon this body fell into a trance-like condition. True to his words Dina Bandhu Babu came with quinine at night. Seeing me in a state of unconsciousness he shook me hard. Though his shaking and hustling made me open my eyes, they remained unmoved in a fixed stare. This pricked his curiosity. He examined me by focussing the light of an electric torch on my eyes and even thrusting his finger into them to see whether they would wink. When all his endeavours failed to restore me to a state of consciousness, he gave up the attempt to administer quinine that night. But he could not abandon the idea of trying the drug on me. Of course I knew how long the fever was to last. So I told him that if the fever persisted beyond a certain period I would take the medicine. But I did not take it, because within the specified period I was all right. I have just now referred to the incident of my living on three grains of rice per day for four or five months. That is an illustration of how creature comforts can be overcome by renunciation. I have not had that sort of renunciation, which you understand by the term in its ordinary sense. For this body has lived with father, mother, husband, and all. This body has served the husband, so you may call it a wife. It has prepared dishes for all, so you may call it a cook. It has done all sorts of scrubbing and menial work, so you may call it a servant. But if you look at the thing from another standpoint you will realise that this body has served none but God. For when I served my father, mother, husband and others, I simply considered them as different manifestations of the Almighty and served them as such. When I sat down to prepare food I did so as if it were a ritual, for the food cooked was after all meant for God. Whatever I did, I did in a spirit of Divine service. Hence I was not quite worldly, though always engaged in household affairs. I had but one ideal, - to serve all as God, to do everything for the sake of God. At that time I lived as one who had taken a vow of silence. I found enough time at my disposal even after the completion of all my household work. Usha lived near our house. She used to read out the Mahabharat at noon. One day I went to hear it. She handed over the book to me for reading. I took it in my hand but could not read; because at that time God's Name always bubbled out of me as from a spring. Somehow it got itself tacked to my natural respiration. Hence I found that any attempt to read the book only resulted in my suffocation. Moreover, you have some idea as to the range of my literary attainments. In order to read I had to spell through every word. When I attempted to read I found that I could not take in two syllables at a time. Suppose I was to pronounce 'aim. I could pronounce 'a' all right, but when it was time to pronounce "ml" I found that I had cleanly forgotten the 'a' and the effacement was so complete that I could not trace its existence in me. In this condition no intelligent reading was possible. But when I sat down to spin, I found that it was no hindrance to repeating God's Name. Both could go on simultaneously. I have spun a good deal of yarn. When I was at Bajitpur I myself prepared a towel and, with the help of a weaver, a pair of dhotis with my hand-spun yarn. At this stage a lady remarked: "Mother, once I have seen you singing and weeping." Mother: "There is nothing uniform with this body. Svabhava (Nature) takes Her unhampered course. The singing and weeping you mention are possible at a certain stage of sadhana. Suppose I sat down to sing. At that time my idea was that it was through God's Grace I was uttering His Name. As I went on repeating the Name, another idea took possession of me, and I thought: "Alas! I am praying so fervently and for such a long time, yet God is not revealing Himself to me!" This sense of frustration created a pang m my heart, and at once tears would trickle down my cheeks. These are, of course, stages of ignorance, for with the dawn of Knowledge prayers and sadhana cease. When the different stages of sadhana were being manifested through this body, what a variety of experiences I then had! Sometimes I used to hear distinctly: "Repeat this mantra". When I got the mantra a query rose in me: "Whose mantra is this?" At once the reply came: "It is the mantra of Ganesh or Vishnu" or something like that. Again the query came from myself: "How does he look?" A form was revealed in no time. Every question was met by a prompt reply and there was immediate dissolution of all doubts and misgivings. One day I distinctly got the command: "From to day you are not to bow down to anybody." I asked my invisible monitor: "Who are you?" The reply came: "Your Shakti" (Power). I thought that there was a distinct Shakti residing in me and guiding me by issuing commands from time to time. Since all this happened at the stage of sadhana, Jnana (Knowledge) was being revealed in a piecemeal fashion. The integral knowledge which this body was possessed of from the very beginning was broken, as it were, into parts and there was something like a superimposition of ignorance. At that time I was mouni (observing silence). This was also due to particular commands. The father of this body came to see me at that time. I could not make obeisance to him. Not that I refrained from doing it intentionally, but this body refused to do anything contrary to the commands it received from time to time. When the father of this body saw that I was not doing my duty by him, he took it to heart. But as I was mouni at that time I could not explain the situation to him. He came to regard me with suspicion. He argued that if my various moods and experiences had a spiritual origin, there was no reason why I should be disrespectful to those to whom respect was due. This led him to consult different persons regarding my condition. In the meantime Siva Ratri (auspicious night for the worship of God Siva) came. On such occasions it was customary with the father of this body to sit up the whole night and worship the God Siva. Corresponding to the four quarters of the night he used to perform puja four times. Each puja was meant for the wellbeing of a particular individual. This time also he proceeded as usual with the puja; and I sat up with him to make arrangements for it. When after finishing puja three times during the first three quarters of the night, he proceeded to perform the puja for the fourth quarter for the benefit of this body, a curious thing happened. He found that as he was proceeding with the worship, this body was uttering aloud all the relevant mantras and prayers quite automatically. This surprised him very much. Though he said nothing, he could not help looking at me from time to time. However, to proceed with the account of my sadhana. After some time I again heard the voice within myself which told me: "Whom do you want to make obeisance to? You are everything." At once I realized that the Universe was all my own manifestation. Partial knowledge then gave place to the integral, and I found myself face to face with the ONE that appears as many. It was then that I understood why I h been forbidden for so long to bow down to anybody." Myself: How long was the period intervening between these two stages? Mother: "Quite long. But in the meantime various Vibhutis were being manifested through this body. These manifestations have again occurred in various ways Sometimes they have been manifested in ignorance, e.g., I found that as soon as I had touched a particular patient he recovered in no time; but I did not know beforehand that he would be cured in that way. Sometimes the manifestation occurred with knowledge mixed up with ignorance, e.g., on seeing a patient I used to argue in this way: "I know from my past experience that my touch has a healing effect. If I touch this patient he may also get well." To verify this I touched him and found that he was cured immediately. Then again manifestations of Vibhuti have taken place with full knowledge and consciousness on my part. Thus I knew for certain that I could cure a disease by a mere touch, and I touched in full confidence of success." Jiten Babu: In what other ways have your Vibhuti been manifested? And how do they manifest themselves now? Mother: Vibhutis have now become a part and parcel of Svabhava. Jiten Babu; I do not quite follow you. Moiher: Vibhutis becoming a part of Svabhava means that everything is now regulated by Svabhava or the Supreme Self. Here there is no scope for the play of a limited self. This was so with this body from its very infancy. Such disclosures are not always made by this body. Since they are coming spontaneously now, I give them out. Let me tell you that what I am, I have been from my infancy. But when the different stages of sadhana were being manifested through this body there was something like a superimposition of aja (ignorance). But what sort of ajnana was that? It was really Jnana masquerading as ajnana. Let me tell you a story relating to my childhood. In childhood, when this body was at Vidyakut, a woman became pregnant, and her child was born when I was still there. I knew from the beginning that the child was not to live long. He came only to complete his cycle of births and deaths. However, the child became one year old. He was not very nice to look at. His complexion was jet black, but his body was very soft. That is why he was always seen in the arms of others, who all wanted to have the luxury of the touch. And the child was all smiles. When he was over a year and a few months old, his span of life came to an end; and he became seriously ill. I went to see him on the day he was to die. On my way I took with me a hibiscus flower, but rubbed it so that the people might not know what I had in my hand. I left the flower under the child's pillow. Those who were present there thought that I had left some 'nirmalya', seeing that the child was near his end. I did all this under the urge of Svabhava. At the stage of sadhana, Vibhuti first manifests itself as joy which comes from the recitation of God's Name. When people experience this, they think that they have got everything that sadhana can yield; and their upward progress is thereby arrested. But he who keeps himself always on the move without being overwhelmed by such manifestations of joy, finds himself in possession of various miraculous powers. But those powers are not meant for display. They should be carefully kept under control. He alone can know his true Self, who keeps alive within him an insatiable thirst for the Divine without being contented with the possession of supernormal powers, powers which enable him to cure any disease by a mere touch of the hand or which lead to the instantaneous fulfilment of all his desires. |
| Spring blossom. Now, why is it necessary to empty the mind in this way? Because if you are held back by even a single thought, the eighty-four thousand defilements will still arise. Therefore, Taego Pou said, ‘One does not do anything.’ Since what is past is gone, thoughts of it are forgotten. And any thought of what is yet to come does not occur. When all thoughts of past and future have been cut off, there will also be no thought of the present. But is such a state of emptiness a good thing? It sometimes happens that a practitioner who has been meditating on a hua-t’ou for a while becomes dazed. His hold on the hua-t’ou becomes weak and dull; all thinking stops and he finds himself in a quiet and vacant state. He sits very still and his body feels extremely relaxed. Even if he sits all day, he will not be aware of any pain in his legs; and at night he will not be aware of sleep. Occasionally the body is entirely forgotten and there is no consciousness of either the existence or nonexistence of the world. Such a person just sits in utter quiescence. Of course, one might think that such emptiness is very good. But in fact, it is a mistake to think that one is truly practicing, should one slip into this empty and vacant state. Should this state of emptiness occur, one must not just hold on to it and watch it. One must not even hold on to the thought that one must not hold on to it. And the thought of not holding on to this thought must also disappear. Even the thought of not holding on to the thought of not holding on must likewise be abandoned. If one can just hold the hua-t’ou alone in a state of vivid quiescence, then that vivid quiescence’ itself will reveal a brilliant spiritual light. Now here too one might very easily make the mistake of thinking oneself to be enlightened. This would be crazy. When reaching this stage, many people go and drown themselves in the thought that they have awakened. At this point, the practitioner finds himself at a very difficult stage. Although he may try to go forward, he cannot. And if he wants to go back, he cannot do that either. Neither is he able to go to the right or the left. It is indeed a very difficult period. Yet under no circumstances should he give rise to the thought that he has gained any realization or attainment. He must just continue holding firmly on to the hua-t’ou and inquiring very earnestly. When coming, the hua-t’ou is coming; when going, the hua-t’ou is going. Only when such a state is maintained throughout the twenty-four hours of the day in all of the four positions can the practice truly be said to be advancing. Although you sit all day, there is no sitting; although you sleep all night, there is no sleeping; and even if you eat all day and night, nothing will have been eaten. Now the hua-t’ou is one-pointed and you reach the stage where it becomes a single homogenous mass. This is a very good sign. But now there is the danger that you may think that you have attained enlightenment. It would be foolish to say that yet. At this stage, one’s practice truly starts to get underway. Prior to this time, one had never really taken hold of the hua-t’ou. Thus to have dwelt upon some little experience one may have had when in fact the hua-t’ou was absent was just a state of foolishness far from the true Way. Only now can one say that the hua-t’ou has come into one’s own hand. At this time nothing further can be added and nothing can be taken away. Now it is important to practice correctly and never let go of the hua-t’ou. In fact it is as though one is taking up the hua-t’ou afresh. In the course of one’s practice, it is as though one has to take hold of the hua-t’ou two or three times anew. At the stage of emptiness when nothing at all appears, one clings to the emptiness. Likewise, at the stage of vivid quiescence and the emergence of the brilliant spiritual light, one clings to this brilliant light. And again, at the stage of the single homogenous mass, one can be hindered once more. Thus three times one is hindered. At this time how should one take hold of the hua-t’ou? One must turn inwards and look back. But this looking back is not that of the physical eye but of the mind’s eye. In earnest, one must inquire into what Chao Chou (Jap. Joshu) meant. Why did he say ‘No’? One must behave like an old mouse entering the horn of a cow. Attracted by the smell of food, the mouse crawls into the horn without any thought of danger. But then it gets stuck and cannot move either forwards or backwards. Likewise, one must take hold of the hua-t’ou without any care for living or dying. When you practice in this way all thoughts of sleeping, eating and even dying will be forgotten. One just dwells single-pointedly on the hua-t’ou to which one has to awaken. Everything completely falls away — even the thought of awakening itself. If you penetrate the hua-t’ou with great determination, the path of words is cut off and any place for the mind to dwell disappears. It now becomes very transparent, bright and clear. At this time the mature person no longer has any doubts about the words of the great masters. But upon awakening in such a way, the time has come when he must go and see a realized teacher to determine whether his awakening is genuine or not. This is the moment when one has to cut and polish one’s understanding with a good teacher. Yet to people who do not know, one does not say a word. One behaves like a dumb and stupid person. Upon meeting someone else who also knows, a simple movement of the eyes is enough for each to recognize the level of the other’s understanding. In these ways, such people respect one another. |
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