Unio Mystica Volume - 2 Lecture-10

We Shall Meet Again

The first question:

BELOVED MASTER,

Question 1:

JESUS TAUGHT HIS FOLLOWERS TO LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF. COULD YOU GIVE US YOUR VIEWS ON CARING, COMPASSION AND SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY?

Ann, Jesus' statement is tremendously significant but has been totally missed by his followers. Let me repeat it: Jesus says, "Love thy neighbor as THYSELF." The fundamental question is whether you love yourself or not. You can love the neighbor only if you love yourself.

Christianity has been teaching you to love the neighbor, and the fundamental has been completely forgotten - not only forgotten, but just the opposite has been done. People are taught to condemn themselves: how can they love themselves? They are taught that they are sinners: how can you love yourself if you feel you are a sinner?

Christianity creates guilt in people, tremendous guilt. And if you are guilty you cannot love yourself; you will hate yourself, you would like to destroy yourself. That's what the so-called Christian saints have been doing down the ages - destroying themselves. Out of guilt, only destruction can arise; out of guilt, only suicide. And they go on teaching, "Love thy neighbor as thyself." You have never loved yourself: it is impossible to love thy neighbor.

Hence I don't say love thy neighbor as thyself. My teaching is simple: Love thyself. And my experience is this, that if you become capable of loving yourself, love for the neighbor will come of its own accord; it does not have to be brought, it does not have to be practised. All practised love creates hypocrisy.

Unio Mystica Volume - 2 Lecture-9

Beyond the Shadow

NOT ONE KNOWS HOW FAR IT IS

FROM NOTHINGNESS TO GOD.

AS LONG AS YOU CLING TO YOUR SELF

YOU WILL WANDER RIGHT AND LEFT,

DAY AND NIGHT, FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS;

AND WHEN, AFTER ALL THAT EFFORT,

YOU FINALLY OPEN YOUR EYES,

YOU WILL SEE YOUR SELF, THROUGH INHERENT DEFECTS,

WANDERING AROUND ITSELF LIKE THE OX IN A MILL;

BUT, IF, ONCE FREED FROM YOUR SELF,

YOU FINALLY GET DOWN TO WORK,

THIS DOOR WILL OPEN TO YOU WITHIN TWO MINUTES.

GOD WILL NOT BE YOURS,

AS LONG AS YOU CLING TO SOUL AND LIFE:

YOU CANNOT HAVE BOTH THIS AND THAT.

BRUISE YOUR SELF FOR MONTHS AND YEARS ON END;

LEAVE IF FOR DEAD, AND WHEN YOU HAVE DONE WITH IT,

YOU WILL HAVE REACHED ETERNAL LIFE.

REMAIN UNMOVED BY HOPE AND FEAR.

TO NONEXISTENCE MOSQUE AND CHURCH ARE ONE;

TO A SHADOW, HEAVEN AND HELL LIKEWISE.

Unio Mystica Volume - 2 Lecture-8

Dying in Wonder

The first question:

BELOVED MASTER,

Question 1:

YOU APPEAR TO HAVE MADE A POINT OF ATTACKING THE PRIME MINISTER, MORARJI DESAI, AND BACKING INDIRA GANDHI, THE FORMER PRIME MINISTER, WITH ALL THE SPIRITUAL POWER AT YOUR COMMAND. WHAT IS THE BACKGROUND? DO YOU WISH TO REPLACE MR. DESAI WITH MRS. GANDHI? IN ANY CASE, IS SUCH AN INTERVENTION IN INDIAN POLITICAL AFFAIRS BY A SPIRITUAL PERSON JUSTIFIED?

R.K. Karanjia,

Editor, BLITZ.

My dear Karanjia, I am not personally against Morarjibhai Desai. But I am against the rotten mentality that he represents, I am against the Hindu chauvinistic mind that he has. I am against his obscurantist attitudes, and approaches. I am against his stubbornness in imposing his personal fads upon the whole country. I am against his bureaucratic, autocratic, dictatorial methods. I am against his unscientific attitudes towards life. I have nothing to do with Morarjibhai Desai, but all these things combined together are a calamity for the country.

Basically I am against politicians. But we cannot discard politicians absolutely. Humanity is not yet in that state of growth and intelligence where politicians can be discarded. So they will be needed - it is a necessary evil.

But evil it is. So it is better to choose a politician who at least has a flexible mind, scientific attitudes - one who at least has a contemporary mind.

Morarji Desai is just out of date. He does not belong to this century, to this time. All that he goes on saying is sheer superstitious nonsense. He is at least one thousand years back.

Unio Mystica Volume - 2 Lecture-7

The Sacred Explosion

LOVE'S CONQUEROR IS HE

WHOM LOVE CONQUERS.

APPLY YOURSELF, HAND AND FOOT,

TO THE SEARCH;

BUT WHEN YOU REACH THE SEA,

STOP TALKING OF THE STREAM.

WHEN HE ADMITS YOU TO HIS PRESENCE

ASK FROM HIM NOTHING OTHER THAN HIMSELF.

WHEN HE HAS CHOSEN YOU FOR A FRIEND,

YOU HAVE SEEN ALL THAT THERE IS TO SEE.

THERE'S NO DUALITY IN THE WORLD OF LOVE:

WHAT'S ALL THIS TALK OF ???YOU' AND ???ME'?

HOW CAN YOU FILL A CUP THAT'S FULL ALREADY?

BRING ALL OF YOURSELF TO HIS DOOR:

BRING ONLY A PART,

AND YOU'VE BROUGHT NOTHING AT ALL.

IT'S YOUR OWN SELF

DEFINING FAITH AND UNBELIEF:

Unio Mystica Volume - 2 Lecture-6

Back to Eros

The first question:

BELOVED MASTER,

Question 1:

I HAVE BEEN A DEVOTEE OF BABA MUKTANANDA AND RAN A CENTER FOR HIM. I EXPERIENCED A PERIOD OF EXTREME DIFFICULTY AND IT WAS NOT UNTIL I READ YOUR BOOKS THAT I UNDERSTOOD ALL THAT WAS AND STILL IS HAPPENING.

I QUESTION THE NEED TO BE ATTACHED TO ANOTHER TEACHER, ALTHOUGH I FEEL AND UNDERSTAND YOUR TEACHINGS DEEPLY. I KNOW I CANNOT GO BACK TO BABA'S METHODS. I'M CONFUSED - CAN YOU HELP?

Bernadette Brown, only a disciple can be helped. And the disciple has to become involved, committed. Without commitment there is no possibility of any help. A tree has to be rooted in the soil, only then can it grow. If it starts talking about not getting attached to the earth, it will die.

Why are you afraid of getting attached to a new master? Do you think you have gone beyond attachment? Is it really non-attachment? Or is it just the attachment to the old teacher that is hindering your path?

You are still attached to a person to whom you think you cannot go back. Now, this is unintelligent.

Remain attached to him by all means, if you feel you are growing there - that is intelligence.

Wherever growth is happening, wherever you are getting more and more mature, more and more blissful, remain attached by all means.

Unio Mystica Volume - 2 Lecture-5

The Forgotten Shepherd

FROM HIM FORGIVENESS COMES SO FAST,

IT REACHES US BEFORE REPENTANCE

HAS EVEN TAKEN SHAPE ON OUR LIPS.

HE IS YOUR SHEPHERD,

AND YOU PREFER THE WOLF;

HE INVITES YOU TO HIM,

AND YET YOU STAY UNFED;

HE GIVES YOU HIS PROTECTION,

YET YOU ARE SOUND ASLEEP:

OH, WELL DONE,

YOU SENSELESS UPSTART FOOL!

HE HEALS OUR NATURE FROM WITHIN,

KINDER TO US THAN WE OURSELVES ARE.

A MOTHER DOES NOT LOVE HER CHILD

WITH HALF THE LOVE THAT HE BESTOWS.

YOU HAVE BROKEN FAITH,

YET STILL HE KEEPS HIS FAITH WITH YOU:

HE IS TRUER TO YOU

THAN YOU ARE TO YOURSELF.

HE CREATED YOUR MENTAL POWERS;

YET HIS KNOWLEDGE IS INNOCENT

OF THE PASSAGE OF THOUGHT.

HE KNOWS WHAT IS IN YOUR HEART;

OR HE MADE YOUR HEART ALONG WITH YOUR CLAY;

BUT IF YOU THINK THAT HE KNOWS

IN THE SAME WAY THAT YOU DO,

THEN YOU ARE STUCK LIKE A DONKEY

IN YOUR OWN MUD.

Unio Mystica Volume - 2 Lecture-4

A Buddhafield in Spring

The first question:

Question 1:

BELOVED MASTER,

IN YESTERDAY'S LECTURE YOU SAID THAT PROGRAMS, NAMES AND LABELS AND BECOMING CRYSTALLIZED AND IDENTIFIED ARE HINDRANCES AND LIABILITIES IN THE SEEKER'S SEARCH FOR THE SUPREME SELF. THIS IS SO FOR ME. I DON'T WANT A LABEL. I

WANT TO BE VAST, UNLIMITED. I DON'T WANT TO BE CRYSTALLIZED. I WANT TO FLOW LIKE A MOUNTAIN STREAM. TO BECOME ACKNOWLEDGED BY THE ORGANIZATION AROUND YOU AS A DISCIPLE, ONE MUST ACCEPT A PROGRAM WHICH IN PART CONSISTS OF WEARING THE MALA AND ORANGE CLOTHES AND HAVING YOUR NAME CHANGED WHICH SEEM TO FUNCTION AS BADGES OR LABELS IDENTIFYING ONE AS A SANNYASIN.

PLEASE EXPLAIN WHAT A NEO-SANNYASIN IS AND WHAT, IF ANYTHING, IT REQUIRES TO BE ONE. THIS IS IMPORTANT TO ME BECAUSE YOU ARE A LIGHT IN THE DARK FOR ME, BUT THE ONLY WAY TO GET CLOSE TO YOU, TO TALK TO YOU, IS TO BECOME A SANNYASIN WHICH SEEMS TO INVOLVE CARRYING SOME EXTRA BAGS BEYOND THE SIMPLE WISH TO STAND IN YOUR GUIDING LIGHT.

Roland Seeman, sannyas is not a program at all: it is a process of de-programming. But because you are programmed already, you will have to accept the process of de-programming.

You say you don't want to get identified with a name - then who is this Roland Seeman? You say you don't want to become a label, but you are one. The question is not of becoming a label, a name - you already are one. It is as if a hypnotized person says, "I don't want to be hypnotized." Neo-sannyas is a process of de-hypnosis: the person who is already hypnotized needs to be de-hypnotized - if he says this again is a kind of hypnosis, then he is going to remain hypnotized forever.

Unio Mystica Volume - 2 Lecture-3

The Death of the Seed

IF YOU KNOW YOUR OWN WORTH,

WHAT NEED YOU CARE ABOUT

THE ACCEPTANCE OR REJECTION OF OTHERS?

WORSHIP HIM AS IF YOU COULD SEE

HIM WITH YOUR PHYSICAL EYES;

THOUGH YOU DON'T SEE HIM,

HE SEES YOU.

WHILST IN THIS LAND

OF FRUITLESS PURSUITS,

YOU ARE ALWAYS UNBALANCED, ALWAYS

EITHER ALL BACK OR ALL FRONT;

BUT ONCE THE SEEKING SOUL HAS PROGRESSED

JUST A FEW PACES BEYOND THIS STATE,

LOVE SEIZES THE REINS.

WHILE THIS WORLD REMAINS,

THAT ONE CANNOT BE;

WHILST YOU EXIST,

GOD CANNOT BE YOURS.

THE COMING OF DEATH

IS THE KEY WHICH UNLOCKS

THE UNKNOWN DOMAIN;

BUT FOR DEATH, THE DOOR OF TRUE FAITH

WOULD REMAIN UNOPENED.

Unio Mystica Volume - 2 Lecture-2

Defeating Buddha

The first question:

Question 1:

BELOVED MASTER, WHAT AM I LOOKING FOR?

Deva Parmita, man is a search for the self - not for A self but for THE self. Man is constantly seeking the lost paradise: somewhere deep in the recesses of human beings, the nostalgia persists. We have known something that is only a far faraway memory, The memory is not even conscious; we have lost all track of it, where it is. But the fragrance goes on arising.

Hence religion is not an accidental phenomenon. It is not going to disappear from the world; no communism, no fascism can make it disappear. Religion is going to remain, because it is very essential. Unless a man surpasses humanity, unless a man becomes a Buddha, religion remains relevant. Only for a Buddha is religion irrelevant. He has arrived: now there is no need for any search.

Parmita, there are not different searches for different human beings. The search is singular, it is one, it is universal. The search is for the self, the supreme self. One wants to know, "Who am I?" because everything else is secondary. Without knowing oneself, whatsoever one is doing is pointless. Unless I know exactly who I am, my whole life is going to remain futile. It will not bring fruition, it will not bring flowering, it will not bring fulfillment.

The first step has to be that of self-knowledge. But the paradox is that if you start searching for A self you will miss THE self. By "a self" I mean the ego, the process of egoing. That is a false self: because we cannot find the true, we start creating the false, just to console ourselves. It is a substitute. But the substitute can never become the truth, and the substitute becomes a bondage.

Unio Mystica Volume - 2 Lecture-1

On the Road of Sighs

MY FRIEND, EVERYTHING EXISTING

EXISTS THROUGH HIM;

YOUR OWN EXISTENCE IS A MERE PRETENSE.

NO MORE NONSENSE! LOSE YOURSELF,

AND THE HELL OF YOUR HEART BECOMES A HEAVEN.

LOSE YOURSELF, AND ANYTHING CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED.

YOUR SELFISHNESS IS AN UNTRAINED COLT.

YOU ARE WHAT YOU ARE:

HENCE YOUR LOVES AND HATES;

YOU ARE WHAT YOU ARE:

HENCE FAITH AND UNBELIEF.

HOPE AND FEAR DRIVE FORTUNE FROM YOUR DOOR;

LOSE YOURSELF, AND THEY WILL BE NO MORE.

AT HIS DOOR, WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE

BETWEEN MOSLEM AND CHRISTIAN,

VIRTUOUS AND GUILTY?

AT HIS DOOR ALL ARE SEEKERS

AND HE THE SOUGHT.

Unio Mystica Volume - 1 Lecture-10

Something To Be Remembered

The first question:

Question 1:

THE MASSES WERE AGAINST JESUS, THEY WERE AGAINST BUDDHA, THEY ARE AGAINST YOU. WHY?

The masses live in a kind of non-individual existence. They live like sheep. So whenever a man like Jesus or Buddha is there, asserting his individuality, his rebellion, his freedom, he is naturally disliked. The masses become afraid; their foundations are shaken. If Jesus is right, then the whole life pattern of the masses will have to be changed. It is too much work, and people have invested too much in their slavery.

The presence of Jesus makes people feel bankrupt. The moment you come across a Buddha, you are reduced to a very ugly kind of inhuman being. You lose all dignity, you feel humiliated. If you are intelligent you will rise to the occasion: you will see the point that up to now you have lived in ignorance, in sleep. And you will feel grateful to the Buddha that his presence has become a ray of light into your dark night of the soul.

But that much intelligence is very rare. People are stupid and stubborn, they immediately react.

Rather than rising higher and taking the challenge of the peak the Buddha is, they destroy Buddha, they destroy Jesus, so that they can again fall asleep and dream their so-called sweet dreams.

That's why they are against me: I am a kind of disturbance. My presence cannot be ignored: either you have to be with me, or you have to be against me. Whenever you cannot ignore the presence of a certain person and you have to choose, great turmoil arises in your being - because no choice is easy. Choice means change.

Unio Mystica Volume - 1 Lecture-9

A Wedding and a Wake

FOR THE WISE MAN

EVIL AND GOOD

ARE BOTH EXCEEDING GOOD.

NO EVIL EVER COMES FROM GOD;

WHENEVER YOU THINK TO SEE

EVIL PROCEEDING FROM HIM,

YOU WERE BETTER TO LOOK ON IT

AS GOOD.

I'M AFRAID THAT ON THE WAY OF FAITH,

YOU ARE LIKE A SQUINTER SEEING DOUBLE,

OR A FOOL QUARRELING WITH THE SHAPE OF A CAMEL.

IF HE GIVES YOU POISON, DEEM IT HONEY;

AND IF HE SHOWS YOU ANGER, DEEM IT MERCY.

BE CONTENTED WITH YOUR LOT;

BUT IF YOU HAVE ANY COMPLAINTS,

GO AND TAKE THEM TO THE CADI

AND OBTAIN SATISFACTION FROM HIM -

THAT'S HOW THE FOOL'S MIND WORKS!

WHATEVER BEFALLS YOU,

MISFORTUNE OR FORTUNE,

IS UNALLOYED BLESSING;

THE ATTENDANT EVIL

A FLEEING SHADOW.

Unio Mystica Volume - 1 Lecture-8

The Great Palace of Consciousness

The first question:

Question 1:

CAN COWARDICE AND HYPOCRISY ALSO BE BEAUTIFUL? CAN I ACCEPT EVEN MY COWARDICE, MY HYPOCRISY, MY MISERLINESS AND A TENDENCY TOWARDS PRIVACY THAT YOU YOURSELF HAVE CALLED "IDIOCY"? AND IF I ACCEPT SUCH TENDENCIES, ALL OF WHICH TEND TO BOTTLE ME UP, HOW WILL I GET FREE?

Deva Ashoka, the very desire to be free keeps one unfree. Every desire is a chain, a bondage, an imprisonment. No desire can ever be fulfilled. By dropping the desire, its fulfillment happens.

Now, the greatest desire in the world is that of inner transformation. The desire for money is nothing, the desire for more power, prestige, is nothing. The greatest desire is the so-called spiritual desire.

And once you are caught in that desire you will remain miserable forever.

Transformation is possible, but not by desiring it. Transformation is possible only by relaxing into that which is, whatsoever is. Unconditionally accepting yourself brings transformation.

We will have to go deeper into this phenomenon, because this is not only Ashoka's question, it is everybody's.

Man is in misery, man is in anguish. Hence everybody is searching for a state of bliss, a state of unity with existence. Man feels alienated, uprooted. Hence the desire is natural - to get roots into existence again, to be green again, to be blossoming again.

Unio Mystica Volume - 1 Lecture-7

Cooked and Burnt

A RUBY, THERE, IS JUST A PIECE OF STONE:

AND SPIRITUAL EXCELLENCE THE HEIGHT OF FOLLY.

SILENCE IS PRAISE - HAVE DONE WITH SPEECH;

YOUR CHATTER WILL ONLY BRING YOU HARM AND SORROW -

HAVE DONE!

BELIEF AND UNBELIEF

BOTH HAVE THEIR ORIGIN

IN YOUR HYPOCRITE'S HEART;

THE WAY IS ONLY LONG

BECAUSE YOU DELAY TO START ON IT:

ONE SINGLE STEP

WOULD BRING YOU TO HIM:

BECOME A SLAVE,

AND YOU WILL BE A KING.

THE DUMB FIND TONGUES,

WHEN THE SCENT OF LIFE REACHES THEM

FROM HIS SOUL.

LISTEN TRULY - AND DON'T BE FOOLED -

THIS IS NOT FOR FOOLS:

Unio Mystica Volume - 1 Lecture-6

The Bridge of Love and Laughter

The first question:

BELOVED MASTER,

Question 1:

WHAT IS CREATIVITY?

Deva Mohan, action is not creativity, inaction also is not creativity. Creativity is a very paradoxical state of consciousness and being: it is action through inaction, it is what Lao Tzu calls WEI-WU-WEI.

It is allowing something to happen through you. It is not a doing, it is an allowing. It is becoming a passage so the whole can flow through you. It is becoming a hollow bamboo, just a hollow bamboo.

And then immediately something starts happening, because hidden behind man is god. Just give him a little way, a little passage, to come through you. That is creativity: allowing God to happen is creativity.

Creativity is a religious state. That's why I say that a poet is far closer to God than a theologian, a dancer even closer. The philosopher is the farthest away, because the more you think, the greater the wall you create between you and the whole. The more you think, the more you are. The ego is nothing but all the thoughts accumulated in the past.

When you are not, God is. That is creativity.

Unio Mystica Volume - 1 Lecture-5

The Fire Test

THE PURE MAN UNITES

TWO IN ONE;

THE LOVER UNITES

THREE IN ONE.

BUT I AM FRIGHTENED

LEST YOUR IGNORANCE AND STUPIDITY

LEAVE YOU STRANDED ON THE BRIDGE.

HE IS THE PROVIDER

OF BOTH FAITH AND WORLDLY GOODS;

HE IS NONE OTHER

THAN THE DISPOSER

OF OUR LIVES.

HE IS NO TYRANT:

FOR EVERYTHING HE TAKES,

HE GIVES BACK SEVENTY-FOLD;

AND IF HE CLOSES ONE DOOR

HE OPENS TEN OTHERS TO YOU.

HE TREASURES YOU MORE

THAN YOU DO YOURSELF.

Unio Mystica Volume - 1 Lecture-4

A Pearl of Exceeding Beauty

The first question:

Question 1:

BUDDHA DID NOT HAVE A MASTER, JESUS DID NOT HAVE A MASTER, YOU DID NOT HAVE A MASTER. WHY DO WE NEED A MASTER?

Devamo, because you are not yet capable of allowing life to be your master. Because you don't know how to listen, how to learn. Because you are incapable of learning, that's why you need a master.

The need arises out of your insensitivity, out of your unintelligence. If you are intelligent then life is enough. Then there are sermons in the stones, and every leaf of a tree is a message, and the river going to the ocean carries all the scriptures with it. You need not go to the Vedas and to the Koran and to the Bible, there is no need. The whole existence is every moment singing the song of the divine.

But you are not able to listen to it, you are not yet capable of opening yourself to it. Hence the need of a master. The master is only a beginning. He will teach you how to listen, he will teach you how to be open. He will give you love so that you can warm up - you have become too cold. Once you are warmed up a little, there is no need for a master, then the whole of life is the master. The master simply becomes a jumping-board.

You say: BUDDHA DID NOT HAVE A MASTER.

That is wrong - Buddha had many masters. His last master was Alar Kalam, a very rare man.

Unio Mystica Volume - 1 Lecture-3

Crying For The Light

HE DOESN'T KNOW HIS OWN SELF:

HOW SHOULD HE KNOW THE SELF OF ANOTHER?

HE KNOWS ONLY HIS HANDS AND FEET,

HOW SHOULD HE KNOW ABOUT GOD?

THIS IS BEYOND THE SAGE'S GRASP:

YOU MUST BE A FOOL

IF YOU THINK THAT YOU KNOW IT.

WHEN YOU CAN EXPOUND ON THIS,

YOU WILL KNOW THE PURE ESSENCE OF FAITH;

TILL THEN,

WHAT HAVE FAITH AND YOU IN COMMON?

IT IS BETTER TO BE SILENT

THAN TO TALK NONSENSE

LIKE ONE OF THE LEARNED;

FAITH IS NOT WOVEN

INTO EVERY GARMENT.

YOU WERE MADE FOR WORK:

A ROBE OF HONOR AWAITS YOU.

Unio Mystica Volume - 1 Lecture-2

On the Altar of the Real

The first question:

Question 1:

TODAY IN LECTURE I LOOKED AT YOU AND I FELT MYSELF SO SHALLOW AND PHONEY AND FALSE. THERE DOESN'T SEEM TO BE ANYTHING DEEPER INSIDE OF ME. DO THESE FEELINGS SHOW THAT I DON'T HAVE A CENTER YET? IT ALSO SHOCKS ME THAT THIS SEEMS TO BE MY FACE AT THE MOMENT.

Bhagavato, nobody can exist without a center. Life is impossible without a center - you may not be aware of it, that's another matter. It has not to be created but only rediscovered. And remember, I am not saying ???discovered', I am saying ???rediscovered'.

The child in the mother's womb remains perfectly aware of the center. The child in the mother's womb is at the center, vibrates at the center, pulsates at the center. The child is the center in the mother's womb, he has no circumference yet. He is only essence, he has no personality yet.

Essence is the center, that which is your nature, that which is God-given. Personality is the circumference, that which is cultivated by society; it is not God-given. It is by nurture, not by nature.

As the child comes out of the womb, he comes for the first time in contact with something outside of himself. And that contact creates the circumference. Slowly slowly, the society initiates the child into its own way. The Christian society will make the child a Christian, and the Hindu, a Hindu, and so on and so forth. Then layer upon layer of conditioning is imposed on the child.

Basically, if you enter into a well-developed personality you will find these three things. First, a very thin positive layer - positive but phoney. That is the layer which goes on pretending; that is the layer where all your masks are contained. Fritz Perls used to call that layer the "Eric Berne layer". It is where you play all kinds of games.