From OrganicDesign Wiki
Questioner:
When asked about the means for self-realization, you invariably stress the
importance of the mind dwelling on the sense 'I am'. Where is the causal
factor? Why should this particular thought result in self-realization? How does
the contemplation of 'I am' affect me?
Maharaj:
The very fact of observation alters the observer and the observed. After all,
what prevents the insight into one's true nature is the weakness and obtuseness
of the mind and its tendency to skip the subtle and focus on the gross only.
When you follow my advice and try to keep your mind on the notion of 'I am'
only, you become fully aware of your mind and its vagaries. Awareness, being
lucid harmony (sattva) in action, dissolves dullness and quietens the
restlessness of the mind and gently, but steadily changes its very substance.
This change need not be spectacular; it may be hardly noticeable; yet it is a
deep and fundamental shift from darkness to light, from inadvertence to
awareness.
Q: Must it be the 'I am' formula? Will not any
other sentence do? If I concentrate on 'there is a table', will it not serve the
same purpose?
M: As an exercise in concentration -- yes. But it
will not take you beyond the idea of a table. You are not interested in tables,
you want to know yourself. For this keep steadily in the focus of consciousness
the only clue you have: your certainty of being. Be with it, play with it,
ponder over it, delve deeply into it, till the shell of ignorance breaks open
and you emerge into the realm of reality.
Q: Is there any causal link between my
focussing the 'I am' and the breaking of the shell?
M: The urge to find oneself is a sign that you
are getting ready. The impulse always comes from within. Unless your time has
come, you will have neither the desire nor the strength to go for self-enquiry
whole-heartedly.
Q: Is not the grace of the Guru responsible for
the desire and its fulfilment? Is not the Guru's radiant face the bait on which
we are caught and pulled out of this mire of sorrow?
M: It is the Inner Guru (sadguru) who
takes you to the Outer Guru, as a mother takes her child to a teacher. Trust
and obey your Guru, for he is the messenger of your Real Self.
Q: How do I find a Guru whom I can trust?
M: Your own heart will tell you. There is no
difficulty in finding a Guru, because the Guru is in search of you. The Guru is
always ready; you are not ready. You have to be ready to learn; or you may meet
your Guru and waste your chance by sheer inattentiveness and obstinacy. Take my
example; there was nothing in me of much promise, but when I met my Guru, I
listened, trusted and obeyed.
Q: Must I not examine the teacher before I put
myself entirely into his hands?
M: By all means examine! But what can you find
out? Only as he appears to you on your own level.
Q: I shall watch whether he is consistent,
whether there is harmony between his life and his teaching.
M: You may find plenty of disharmony -- so what?
It proves nothing. Only motives matter. How will you know his motives?
Q: I should at least expect him to be a man of
self-control who lives a righteous life.
M: Such you will find many -- and of no use to
you. A Guru can show the way back home, to your real self. What has this to do
with the character, or temperament of the person he appears to be? Does he not
clearly tell you that he is not the person? The only way you can judge is by
the change in yourself when you are in his company. If you feel more at peace
and happy, if you understand yourself with more than usual clarity and depth,
it means you have met the right man. Take your time, but once you have made up
your mind to trust him, trust him absolutely and follow every instruction fully
and faithfully. It does not matter much if you do not accept him as your Guru
and are satisfied with his company only. Satsang alone can also take you
to your goal, provided it is unmixed and undisturbed. But once you accept
somebody as your Guru, listen, remember and obey. Half-heartedness is a serious
drawback and the cause of much self-created sorrow. The mistake is never the
Guru's; it is always the obtuseness and cussedness of the discipline that is at
fault.
Q: Does the Guru then dismiss, or disqualify a
disciple?
M: He would not be a Guru if he did! He bides
his time and waits till the disciple, chastened and sobered, comes back to him
in a more receptive mood.
Q: What is the motive? Why does the Guru take
so much trouble?
M: Sorrow and the ending of sorrow. He sees
people suffering in their dreams and he wants them to wake up. Love is
intolerant of pain and suffering. The patience of a Guru has no limits and,
therefore, it cannot be defeated. The Guru never fails.
Q: Is my first Guru also my last, or do I have
to pass from Guru to Guru?
M: The entire universe is your Guru. You learn
from everything, if you are alert and intelligent. Were your mind clear and
your heart clean, you would learn from every passer-by;. It is because you are
indolent or restless, that your inner Self manifests as the outer Guru and
makes you trust him and obey.
Q: Is a Guru inevitable?
M: It is like asking 'Is a mother inevitable?'
To rise in consciousness from one dimension to another, you need help. The help
may not always be in the shape of a human person, it may be a subtle presence,
or a spark of intuition, but help must come. The inner Self is watching and
waiting for the son to return to his father. At the right time he arranges
everything affectionately and effectively. Where a messenger is needed, or a
guide, he sends the Guru to do the needful.
Q: There is one thing I cannot grasp. You speak
of the inner self as wise and good and beautiful and in every way perfect, and
of the person as mere reflection without a being of its own. On the other hand
you take so much trouble in helping the person to realize itself. If the person
is so unimportant, why be so concerned with its welfare? Who cares for a
shadow?
M: You have brought in duality where there is
none. There is the body and there is the Self. Between them is the mind, in
which the Self is reflected as 'I am'. Because of the imperfections of the
mind, its crudity and restlessness, lack of discernment and insight, it takes itself
to be the body, not the Self. All that is needed is to purify the mind so that
it can realize its identity with the Self. When the mind merges in the Self,
the body presents no problems. It remains what it is, an instrument of
cognition and action, the tool and the expression of the creative fire within:
The ultimate value of the body is that it serves to discover the cosmic body,
which is the universe in its entirety. As you realize yourself in
manifestation, you keep on discovering that you are ever more than what you
have imagined.
Q: Is there no end to self-discovery?
M: As there is no beginning, there is no end.
But what I have discovered by the grace of my Guru is: I am nothing that can be
pointed at. I am neither a 'this' nor a 'that'. This holds absolutely.
Q: Then, where comes in the never-ending
discovery, the endless transcending oneself into hew dimensions?
M: All this belongs to the realm of
manifestation; it is in the very structure of the universe, that the higher can
be had only through the freedom from the lower.
Q: What is lower and what is higher?
M: Look at it in terms of awareness. Wider and
deeper consciousness is higher. All that lives, works for protecting,
perpetuating and expanding consciousness. This is the world's sole meaning and
purpose. It is the very essence of Yoga -- ever raising the level of
consciousness, discovery of new dimensions, with their properties, qualities
and powers. In that sense the entire universe becomes a school of Yoga (yogakshetra).
Q: Is perfection the destiny
of all human beings?
M: Of all living beings -- ultimately. The
possibility becomes a certainty when the notion of enlightenment appears in the
mind. Once a living being has heard and understood that deliverance is within
his reach, he will never forget, for it is the first message from within. It
will take roots and grow and in due course take the blessed shape of the Guru.
Q: So all we are concerned with is the
redemption of the mind?
M: What else? The mind goes astray, the mind
returns home. Even the word 'astray' is not proper. The mind must know itself
in every mood. Nothing is a mistake unless repeated.
