A Spoonful of the Highest Knowledge – Birthday Satsang

Mohanji’s Birthday Celebration in Sri Lanka, on 23rd February 2020

Thank you!

This trip to Sri Lanka was not really one of the planned trips.(Note- the trips that have been planned well in advance) When we thought of coming here, we planned it of course and my birthday happened to be during this time. Kataragama is also a very, very important location especially for people on the path of Kriya Yoga and those following Babaji and Lord Muruga. These kinds of things, even if you plan, may not work out well.

So I am really grateful for this group – all of you who have come from various locations together along with me to this particular place, at this particular time, and in 2020 when the decade has just begun. I believe there is a great significance, not just a spiritual significance, but a kind of inevitable larger unification because we have fragmented the world a lot especially in the last hundred years. With the rise in technology, we thought that the world would be united by now – that there  will be only one country which is called Earth, but that was not to be the case. We have fragmented more and more. We live in a fragmented world. We look at other human beings through the eyes of religions, the eyes of class, the eyes of communities, the eyes of hierarchies, through the eyes of discrimination – we look  at the world like that. That is not a typical ‘human’ existence, that’s not being human. That’s not being ourselves, totally.

What does it mean, to be ourselves completely? It is when we look at ourselves as one species, relevant to the whole world – not as dividing the world, but integrated into this whole world and for the benefit of all beings. That should be for all beings. That should be our defining factor, as a species.

There have been numerous habitations in this universe. Earth is not the only place where beings can experience an existence, this is just one of the many places. Our scriptures talk about when Creation happened – that the prajapatis, the people who had that ability to create, started working on this platform for the purpose of creating, with the only condition that perhaps harmony not be disturbed. Numerous beings decided to use this peripheral for their creativity. Some of them decided to create in water, some of them on land. And they created beings with evolutionary potential, so that those beings could evolve as well. So the technique of this whole infusement was similar to the technique of praana pratishtha, which we do now. Praana pratishtha is a process where a human-made structure, made in a particular size with a particular vaastu, is infused with a certain energy, and so that it can also transmit that energy. There was a time when in a similar way, people were equipped to create beings and infuse life energy into them which we call soul. The structures are very, very clearly defined. The driving force has been inclinations – like in human existence, we say the driving force are inclinations, not karma. We all have inclinations, tendencies. They are the driving force. They drive our system. They drive our existence. Karma comes later – karma is unfulfilled desires or what we want to experience within an incarnation and that comes later. But inclinations are unavoidable, they are more or less constant. Once you have inclinations and tendencies in childhood, the same things continue till death. You can probably see slight deviations, but more or less they remain – the basic character, constitution and tendencies. There is no point in blaming somebody: “Oh, you have these tendencies”. We all have tendencies, we all have inclinations. Nobody is immune to it.

The main motivational force of existence is instinct, which is across species. Every species is driven by instinct. The primal instinct is the survival instinct. Every being is equipped to survive. They have their nature to survive, their nature to live. Instinct cannot be compromised. There is no point in discussing that we have instincts. Human beings have instincts, all beings have instincts. And all other beings, except for the human being, are fully focused on their instinct or they are fully aligned with their instincts. Their imaginations, intellect and all their activities are linked to those instincts –  like a bird or fish knows where to go to eat or to find food; all these beings are driven by their instincts. But human formation, human beings are different. We have intelligence and imagination separated from instinct. We all definitely have survival instincts – we have instinct for when we become hungry, since the equipment needs nurturing. So we have the body which needs food, the mind that needs emotions, the intellect that needs information, the ego that needs materials, positions, possessions. These are all the feeds into those systems, those you can’t change. You have it, and you can’t change it. These fundamental things you can’t change, but for human beings, intelligence and imagination are isolated from the instincts. And because of that, we have a distinction, and the signs of that is all that we have created on earth. Human creations are a sign of a detached intelligence and imagination and to the level where we can realize and experience God – that means the subtlest of possibility is the God element. Our subtle-most possibility is the God element. We look within and we see that the soul part within us is connected to the God element. We have that power, we have that capacity to go deep within, to explore and experience God. That level of evolution we have.

But if you look at the world today, why do we have divisions? Why do we have separations? We have lots of divisions, lots of separations, color, caste, country creed, class, religions, language barriers; we have all these things. They all are not exactly signs of refinement of a species. They are signs of instincts, basically survival instinct – that instinct which is inherent in every being. And we are supposed to be human beings, detached from the basic instincts of survival, like food, sexuality, those kind of stuff. We are supposed to be evolving into a level where we look at the whole world and say that, “Because we have this intelligence, the world should be a better place.” But did we actually deliver that world? Did we? We haven’t!

Today, I wouldn’t recommend too much self practice, instead I would  recommend awareness. What you need more is awareness. The thing that we need today is a clear definition that changing into another religion, changing into something from one point to the other, is not going to change you. What you need is a total transformation where you wake up and decide – I will do something for this earth from now, it doesn’t matter who I am, it doesn’t matter what my capacity is, it does not matter whether I am rich or poor.  But the whole decision that you need to take is to make sure that the earth will be a better place because you have taken birth. If purpose is clear, inspiration is spontaneous. Purpose has to be very clear. Otherwise, we are drinking, eating, sleeping, dying. The same process – the same pattern, nothing, no change. We think that we as human beings are better off  than all other species, we believe so. We kind of control other beings, including other human beings. The more intelligent we become, the more things we control. All these things are not signs of refinement. They are all signs of ego existence. Are you with me? This is something which I want to give you as a thought.

We are born as human beings, an amazing and great blessing. It’s a great blessing to be a human being, but are we living as human beings? This is the question we need to ask. We see mad competition and comparisons, these are all signs of degeneration. Who do we compete with? What are we competing for? Who we can compare ourselves with? There is nobody the same. We all look different, we are all different creations – even two leaves of the same plant may not be the same. So we have our distinctions, and that capacity should be well used. It should be used well. And depending on external knowledge and feeling that we know everything, that is the highest of stupidities. The highest! Because external knowledge is only as much as your brain can hold, and lasts only until you reach the grave, until your death. Knowledge should sprout from inside. That’s yours, all the time. What is yours is what comes from within. For that, you need to be with yourself. You need to connect to yourself. Do not judge, do not compare, do not criticize, do not look at yourself as against or as non-aligned with any of the systems. Instead, feel yourself as a part of this flow of life. And then, what comes out will be great stuff. We have that capacity. We do. This is what I wanted to say in the beginning.

I would like to thank Sulakhe Maharaj. He has been extremely busy – if you go to Shirdi, you will know. But he decided to take off and come here with his wife, his life partner, and spend  two or three days with us. This is a great honor. I consider that Shirdi Sai Baba has come here.

Maharaj-ji comes from the place of Babaji, so that means that Baba and Babaji are united here. Maharaj-ji also came with us to Kailash, last year in 2019.

Thanks to all of you for coming here from various locations and being here. It’s amazing.

I’ll take your questions now.

I would also like to thank all the people who wished me, a day before in fact. For almost 48 hours since I have been getting birthday greetings. Each year there is more and more, and I am very happy. I am really happy that people remember my birthday (laughter in audience).

I am also really happy that on that day at least they remember to serve the world, to give something to the poor. See, this is not only our right – it’s both right and responsibility to share. You become very powerful when you share – the ability to share makes you really rich. Otherwise you can earn anything you want, you can probably have millions but you will feel poor. When you start sharing, it starts brightening the lives of other people. People means people of any species, they are all people – please don’t think that the only people are the human beings. Any species, all species have their character, their constitution, their own uniqueness, just like us. We are neither high nor lower than anybody else. We are not even the same, we are unique. We are unique creations. When we decide to help and support beings of any species with what we have, only with what we have in abundance, we become rich.

We are rich people, all of us, there is nobody poor. If we are at all feeling poor, understand that we are judging ourselves, comparing ourselves with somebody else. If at all you feel weak and insecure, you are already judging or comparing yourself – this you should remember. Otherwise, you will not feel weak. So it’s important to share what we have. It doesn’t matter what you have: if you have time to share, you can share that, if you have money, you can share money, if you have clothes to share, share clothes, skills to share, share skills. SHARE what you have, whatever that you have been given in abundance. That is your responsibility.

When Adi Shankaracharya told the meditating monks in the Himalayas, “You should share what you have, they replied saying,“We have nothing to share. We don’t have any money. We are sitting in these Himalayas meditating, we are trying to find God. But we have nothing with us, not even clothes.” Then he said, “But just share what you have.” They repeated, “Sir, we have nothing to share.” Then he said, “Yes, you have something. Then what is that? It’s the power that you earned with your penance. Your single-pointed concentration on God has given you a lot of powers – that you should share.”

That is a very important subject, a very important thing. It means that when you are using this earth to realise God, you must share what is given to you. Nobody takes anything from here. This earth is just a platform, just to experience. Where does the problem start? When we start owning. When we decide we should own earth, or own part of earth, or own things from earth, that is where the problem starts. Then ignorance settles in. But just like we are here, just as we came to Kataragama, we are not going to take this temple with us, are we? We came, we prayed, we surrendered, we respected, and we are going. What you are taking from here? Apart from memories, nothing. But that is the truth of our life. This is the way we are. We can’t take anything from here. So if you are clearly aware of that, whatever we have, you will leave it behind here. You have taken a body, mind, intellect, ego and you have a spirit, and you have a soul. That is only to experience many aspects of life. That is it. Who you are in this life is what you chose to be. You came with that plan.

I never thought I would be sitting in front of people and talking. I used to practise very sincerely for a long time, and I thought that this was my personal life, and I didn’t want to share it – this was my personal thing. But then once I settled down in silence, the first thing I was told is that: “Speak to people.” It took about six years to go deeper and deeper into layers of silence, and establish in silence. That is the time when I was told, “Ok, now you got what you wanted, now go and share it.” That is very painful. It’s very, very painful, because you took a lot of time to come out of all the noises, and establish in silence. Then you are asked to go back to noises, but as silence. I was with noises as a noise, but now I am with the noises as silence. That is the difference. You understand that? So, that is possible in a human existence. This thing is possible. So when we decide: “I can own these things, I can own the materials and persons, relations and all these things”, that “I own”, it is a big aberration. We own nobody. We cannot own anything. So what is the best we can do? Experience life and share beautifully. This is the best you can do. That really makes you rich. Life becomes meaningful. Life really becomes meaningful. Insecurities will come. We are habituated to it. We have habitual insecurities. Many of the habits are because we are used to them, not that we need them, isn’t it? Many things which we do is because we are used to them, we don’t know anything else. So if that thing is missing, then we feel something is wrong. It’s not that we actually need it, we may not need it. Like that, most of our insecurities are habitual. Some people love diseases. It might sound strange, but without diseases they don’t know what to do ! This happens to people.

When you start connecting to yourself, you will realise what sort of a bundle you are. And you will be suprised. You might be suprised to see that many of the things you thought as very important, have no value actually. It’s a bubble which we have maintained in life, which did not really matter. We will feel that. And also after a while when you think about the core of existence, all the noises have come out of silence. Noises are like the waves coming out of silence, and then going back into the ocean. Waves can’t stand there forever. Noises cannot have existence forever. They go back. So when you really start connecting to the core, that is silence. Where are emotions then? They are just like waves. They don’t stay. They come and they go. So you start witnessing them: “Oh, this man is now getting angry.” Watch your anger, “Now he is in a comparison mode.” Ok, compare. Experience that feeling. I have always said, some days when you wake up, you say, “I can’t get out of bed, its a bad day, I can’t do anything.” What should you do then? Just be like that. Experience that feeling totally. Another day you wake up and say, “I am very charged up today, I want to do so many things , I want to change the world.” Go out and change it (laughs). So, if you clearly follow your waves, the waves and the patterns of your life, you will understand that many of these things have been controlling you since childhood. Inclinations are controlling you. Inclinations are deciding what you should experience. Sometimes the government decides what you should experience. We have a government inside! Inclinations, tendencies, they decide what you should experience. Sometimes, even before we see something, we say, “I don’t like it.” We have not even seen it. What tells you that you don’t like it? What is the thing which tells you don’t like it? What is stored inside.

See, we are living in a world where there are three distinct operating modes of consciousness each time. Consciousness is one, but it operates in three different modes every day, in 24 hours. Waking state: when you source from the world outside. We have the world outside and you source from that world outside. Dream state: you source from the world inside. Whatever is stored, whatever is collected, whatever is secured that is what becomes ingredients for dreams. Deep sleep state: you have nothing. No world outside, no world inside, whether you are alive or dead, nobody knows. Then you wake up in the morning. Again you are waking up to the world outside, when you wake up – it is a waking up to the world outside. Then you are whoever you are. I hope you are in a waking state now! (laugh) Then you go to the dream state. Essential state. Why are dreams essential? Because that is also experience. Dreams give you experience. Whatever gives you experiences is essential because that is a part of your living agenda. Dreams are important. Then you go into deep sleep, for two or three hours – just sufficient time to charge your mobile phone. About one hour or two of deep sleep. Totally dead. Then you wake up into the same body. In the death state, you wake up in a different body – that is the only difference. That is how creation works.

So when the whole creation happened, various beings, great creators happened. They are called the children of Brahma, a lot of children of Brahma. They have the power. They can unify. Their skill was like the sculptors of today – they unify materials, they have the capacity to unify materials, to give it a form and give it an energy so that it becomes alive. That is what was called existence, the creation. So every creation was complementary, like because there are many deer they created a few carnivorous beings so the population is maintained. And all the plants, birds, seeds, everything – all these things are connected to life and living. So everything was synchronised. The basic elements were water, fire etc., using which they created. So, based on the capacities of the world, there were creations as well. Some creations could use the sky, some could use earth, some could use water. And they were built in those peripherals.

So with this understanding if you look at the world, you will respect all creations. We stopped looking at the world like that. We stopped looking at the world with this awareness. That’s where we decided we can kill certain species, we can destroy certain creations, and everything is for the sake of human beings. Absolutely not. Nothing is for the sake of human beings. But human beings have that capacity to admire and appreciate creations. We have that capacity. If we do not utilize that capacity to admire and appreciate creations, we are not living as human beings. Are you with me? This is all food for thought. Just think about that.

If you start looking at life in this manner, your whole heart will expand. You will look at every creation with awe, including yourself. Amazing creations. You will not discard your tendencies – “I have this tendency, I have this weakness, strength. Let it be.” All people have their weaknesses and strengths. Because somebody has a weakness and because they don’t fit into your frame, they are not bad people. We should not discriminate. Discrimination is ignorance. That means lack of understanding. We don’t see karma. If somebody is supposed to experience something in life, they will have that experience. Because duration is fixed. Time of birth and time of death are fixed. Within this time, we have to deliver. We have to receive experiences and deliver what we want to deliver. Like how the avadhoota said to Maha Kaali, “Can you extend my life for one more day?” He actually needed nothing from life. But he said, “If you want to give me a blessing, give me a blessing that I live for one more day.” There is no use, but still some blessing!  So she replied, “No, I can’t do that.” He said, “One hour?” The reply was, “No. At the appointed time you will go.” He said, “Then I don’t need your blessings.” (laugh) Because it is already determined. What will you give me? This  is exactly the situation. We have taken the time of birth which was not our choice, or probably it was chosen in a different level. And time of death, you can’t extend by one hour. And then, what are we conquering from earth then? From this world, what are you going to get? So, what you can deliver to this world is the only possibility that you have. So, deliver yourself.

I was writing recently that I decided to give to God what I have. Then I decided to check what I have. When I checked, I found nothing. Because the body is temporary, it is taken from here for the sake of experience. My mind, intellect and ego are connected to ether, they are born from ether, I can’t hold it. And, I can’t even feel it as tangible in all the three states. Then materials – they are outside of me. Whether I am living or dead, they still exist – so those are not mine. Then what is inside of me is what comes as a guest from the outside world – all the memory, all the likes, dislikes, all the feelings, they all come from outside as guests. They will leave at some point of time. Guests don’t stay. So that is not mine. Then the soul – and soul belongs to God anyway. Then what do I give Him? Him or Her, whatever is God. So what do you give? So it is arrogance to think that  God needs us. It is better to realise God. To be aware of the God factor, where you stop existing. You stop to exist. When you become aware of the God factor, you dissolve. That is a good idea. Because that’s worth it. Because we have taken this birth, use the time well and try to understand the God factor in you. The God particle in you. Try to be with it longer. This is the only way you can dissolve.

You could associate with positive things longer in life so it helps alignment. When you are associated with powerful, aligned people you will become aligned. That is the beauty. When you sit with the smokers in a room at the airport, even if you did not smoke, people will think you smoked. Because your clothes will absorb it. Likewise, when you are in the aura and company of powerful people, you will become aligned. So the Sanskrit phrase ‘satsangatvey nissangatvam’ – that means that through the satsang or company of good people, or positive, energetic, and vibrant people, you learn to detach. What is detachment? Detachment is that awareness that nothing outside of me belongs to me, they are only triggering my own experiences which are inside. So whether that thing exists or not, I am still the same. That is detachment.

When detachment happens, desires become less. Desires are mostly connected to ignorance. I want this, I want that. If this thing also comes to me, I will be happier. If I have two cars, I will be more happy, and if I have three cars, better. If I have a jet plane that is even better. Like that, the desires never end. It upgrades itself. So, when you are detached from the world outside, what you basically need is just four wheels to move from one place to the other. So if that is there, you are happy. Detachment leads to less desires. Desires have a problem – they have bubbles coming out. What are the bubbles? Thoughts. They create thoughts -numerous thoughts, which leads to various other things but we will not discuss that now. Thoughts leads to insecurities, to restlessness, to so many things. Numerous thoughts. When you have less desires, you will have less thoughts. What happens when you have less thoughts? Stillness of mind. Mind is not a bad guy. Mind depends on what is spread in it. If you feed the mind with lots of thoughts, the mind becomes overactive. If no thoughts come through the mind, the mind is free. Mind is like a movie projector – if you put in a film roll, it projects the film on the screen. If there is no film roll to project, the mind is free, the mind doesn’t project anything. The same with the intellect.

The intellect is overwhelmed, actually running overtime processing information today, because we are in the internet age. You are getting tons of information, 80% of which you don’t even need, the vital statistics of the president of the country etc. We don’t even need all that information. But these kinds of information are fed, and then it is processed. What is processed becomes knowledge. Information processed becomes the knowledge. Knowledge experienced becomes wisdom. So, lots of information,some of it becomes knowledge, and that also has to be processed while you have your habits, likes and dislikes, and tendencies. Then it becomes knowledge. And knowledge sitting as knowledge has no use. It has to be experienced. Once it is experienced, it becomes wisdom. We are so limited. We are in that kind of limited mode. That is what we are.

In this whole game, what you get when the mind is reasonable still – you get liberation. It is good to have good company, so that you have a chance for liberation. The good company should be yourself. The most reliable company should be yourself.  Because the other company you can’t trust fully. They should have time for you and you should have time for them. Instead, you have all the time for yourself. Make well use of it. What should you do? You should recognize yourself as a unique creation, fundamentally. Second, you should appreciate and accept all your weaknesses, before the strengths. The strengths we are eager to accept and post in the world. I have so many strengths, we are even making posters and putting that on the website. (laugh)  But with weaknesses we hide them under the carpet and sometimes they become a nuisance. But we all have weaknesses. Who has only strengths? I have never seen anybody in this world who has only strengths. We have weaknesses, we have strengths, this is part of us. That level of acceptance makes the mind at ease. Otherwise, one mask, another mask, third mask and we forget who we are finally. Everytime you look in the mirror, it’s a mask. Then we wonder who we are. Like an actor busy playing many roles, each day. Finally he forgets who he is, because he gets attuned with the roles he played. We all play various roles and we are none of these roles. We are none of these roles perpetually, truly. We must understand this.

We are everything. We need to accept ourselves. Who is the true master? The one who is within you. That one which when it leaves the body, we call the body a dead body. When this fellow leaves, we call it a dead body. Until then, we call it a person. So probably the personality in that person is really you. When that  personality goes, the body is useless.

Yesterday, we went to that place where Hanumanji burnt a part of the palace of  Raavana. Raavana had all the ego. What are the main ingredients of the ego ?  One is position, one is possession – these are the signs of ego. Because it helps ego, what you have and what you are. Raavana was a king, a very powerful man with great power. Plus he was a brahmin, the head of the priestly class. Big ego. So he said, “What is the source of ego for a monkey? The tail.” So Raavana gave orders to tie a long piece of cloth on the tail, pour some oil and burn it. So that his (Hanuman’s) ego will be hurt. What did Hanumanji do? He had nothing to lose. What did he do? He set the place on fire, put his tail in the ocean, extinguished the fire, and left. So Raavana did not know what to do then. Because his ego was seriously affected. Because a part of his beautiful palace was burnt. That is connected to his ego, his stature. That’s the place we visited. When what is connected to ego is burnt, it means ego is affected. Usually when ego is affected, it spits venom. When somebody insults you, what do you feel? You become angry, venomous, you want to take revenge. This is human nature. When somebody attacks your ego, and you are able to sit back and watch, “Oh, here the ego goes. Here it is getting dissolved. Melting like ice in the sun.” If you are able to watch it, you win. Because there is nothing you have here that you brought.

Nothing that you own today is yours, actually. You did not bring it. It came to you, so how can you own it? Imagine your personal relations, people, materials, time, space, all these things. Have you brought them? Did you bring them when you came? You didn’t. They all came to you but you started owning them, because you thought you are the boss. So if you are aware of this need for clear awareness, this clear awareness will help you stabilize yourself. Then nobody can insult you. Or if they insult you, it doesn’t matter. Whether they criticize you, betray you, or steal from you – it doesn’t matter. What do you own anyway? This awareness will stabilize you.  It will keep you steady. These are all pointers which I am giving so you understand that this trip is also connected to it.  Where we went today, Guru gave himself to Babaji. The best that a Guru can give to a disciple is himself. Not the teachings. Teachings are nothing. Teachings are just to align, to bring the mind to a certain platform to alignment. Teaching, coaching, guidance, this is all for bringing to a certain alignment. When this alignment happens, when emptiness takes place and you are stable in that empty space for some time, Guru transfers himself to you.

Just like this: you see so many lamps here. Are we going to pour more oil in them? These lamps here – a matchstick was required to light only one lamp. Am I right? Then how did the other lamps get lit? One from the other. Just like that, a ripe and ready disciple is like dry wood. One spark is enough to catch the fire. The problem is that these ripe and right disciples are very few, because they are all minds. They only know practices. So they practice eternally. And they feel they are very spiritual. They are doing puja, they are going to different places etc. They are busy entertaining the mind, but not stabilising the mind. That is what is  required for a Guru to deliver. You need to stablilise your mind, you need to be stable. Mind, intellect, ego, spirit, and body should be together. Just imagine how powerful you become. Mind, intellect, ego, body and spirit, together. So when you look, everything looks. When you hear, everything listens. When you smell, everything smells. Not like you catch the mind for some time, you smell then your mind goes away. It’s like a restless monkey: “I have to look”. Then the mind looks. Or “I have to see this”. So the mind comes for sometime, until this vision goes and then your mind goes away. Our life is like that. Here that is not that case. Mind is steady. If you choose to look, mind, intellect and ego look together. Then your words become commands. Everything will become commands. You will not be bound by life, you are life. Otherwise, we are bound by life. If you have even one percent ‘Me’ and ‘Mine’, you are bound. ‘Me’ and ‘Mine’ : position and possession or ownership. Ownership creates karma. Thought plus emotion becomes karma. Words plus emotion becomes karma. Action plus emotion becomes karma. Minus emotion, it does not become karma. Simple. Thought, word, action – standing alone, they cannot produce karma. Only when ownership attached, and emotion is ownership. Where are emotions coming from? Expectations. Expectations are coming from what you are, where you are operating from. I expect so many things from you means I am bound by you. If I am independent, everything is a bonus for me – means, it’s all complementing fact. We are all walking this path. Nobody owns nobody. Nobody can own anybody. We don’t have the right or responsibility to own anybody. We are all individuals, just individuals, joined together in this space and time for some reason. We may not even know the reason, we don’t have to. Just be grateful we are here. That is it.

I will take your questions now.

Q: Today we were at Kataragama at the temple, and there were several samadhis there. One of them was of Palkudi Baba, from 1898. I was just wondering if you could explain more about the masters, who they are, what makes a master eligible to actually have a samadhi? What is the purpose of samadhi? Second question is about what Boganathar actually taught Babaji, what was their relationship?

M: You want to put me in trouble! (laughter) Well, samadhi is a state which is already in everyone. Samadhi is a state where the mind is still, or where mind has no feeds. That’s the first level of samadhi. The first level of samadhi as we say is savitarka samadhi. Savitarka samadhi is the state which is very normal. Savitarka samadhi means you have a desire that gets fulfillment, and for the time being, the mind is at ease. Mind is still. Again you have a desire. You need and then get fulfillment, and then mind is at ease again. So like that, it goes on. This is the first level. Then it reaches the second level where you have a desire but it is not powerful enough to ask for fulfillment. Desires are there like – “Oh, I would like to have it”, but it’s ok. Not because you don’t have money or resources, and also not because of your inertia, or laziness – not because of that. You have the full potential to accomplish it but you don’t need it. You have already attained the second level of samadhi. Third level of samadhi is that if you go through this process, your thought itself will not materialize, because you are not asking for fulfillment. When thought cannot become an action, and further experience. First of all, chronology of action goes like that. A thought happens. Before the thought there is a desire. Before desire there is an impression. Numerous thoughts happen everyday. Everything will not become powerful as an expression. So if it becomes an expression, and for example you have a thought, “I need to have a cup of coffee.” Then you have an expression, “Can you get me some coffee?” Then you have a cup of coffee. That is the third: action. Thought-expression-action. Then what comes? Experience. Action also needs time and space. We have time and space, that is why you need earth for your experiences. Then experiences become memories: “That place I went to, the coffee was good.” That’s a memory. Then again, it’s not only the coffee, it’s probably the place, probably the person who served the coffee, whatever. That becomes a memory. And memory again brings back thoughts. When this process continues, it becomes patterns. This is how human existence happens.

States of samadhi

First level: you have a desire for coffee, you had the coffee and for that time, mind is being ok. After a while you say, I would like to have another coffee. Again the mind asks for coffee. Not mind, but the thoughts came for coffee. Mind is just a platform, mind is just a projector. Then fulfillment.

Second level: you have a desire for coffee but it is not powerful enough for action. I would like to have coffee but it doesn’t matter. Again as I said, it’s not because of laziness or lack of resources.

Third level: Because you are not getting fulfillment, thoughts themselves are outside of you, just like the people walking on the street. You will have thought but thoughts are distant from you. “I need a coffee” is almost like somebody is telling, not like you are telling from inside. Do you get that? Third level – that distance happens. Because the thoughts are not within you, and almost like outside of you.

Fourth level: there will be no thoughts. That is a state of nirvichaara samadhi. No-thought state. From that state onwards, you can’t reverse. When nirvichaara samadhi happens, that means the fourth state happens. Thoughts collapse completely. Thoughts are like pillars holding the mind. Along with the thoughts, mind collapses. Minimal mind, mind collapses. When mind collapses, you will not get it back again. Until the mind fully collapses, you will always reverse back, you can go back. That is why you need to be extraordinarily connected to the Guru, who has stabilized his mind. Because as I told you, it was tremendous exercise to dive deep into silence. Five to six years of constant practice. After that when you interact, you will be  interacting from that point of silence, not from the point of noises. The fourth state is when the thoughts have declined. Thoughts have subsided and mind collapses, then you cannot have the mind.

Fifth state: you have a body, you have an existence, you are probably functioning. But you are not owning your body, you are not owning the existence, you have no ownership. You are free already. Freedom sets in the fourth state. Totally free. You are not bound by anything. Your body, mind, intellect, ego, all the gadgets are there. Everything is there, but you are not bound by any. You are not bound by materials outside, you are not bound by things inside. You are totally free. Usually there will be nothing inside. No thoughts. Where do thoughts come from? Stored memories. There is no memory. The fifth level is that you have your body, you have your existence, but it is almost like you are not there.

Then comes the sixth state. You are not even aware of the body – like Neem Karoli Baba, Bhagavaan Nityananda, and various masters from the past.  They are not aware of the body. When somebody gives food, they will eat. Sometimes you have to put food in their mouths so they eat, otherwise they don’t eat, because they are not aware. Now, in that state when death happens….. First of all, understand that all the three states become one in that state – there is no waking , sleep and deep sleep separately. When the mind dissolves, then dream state completely goes. Because dream state is connected to data inside, stored data that doesn’t exist. The waking state will be there or probably an extended waking state, and deep sleep state or probably an extended deep sleep state. After the fourth state, the dream state itself collapses. Dream state is taking materials from stored data – memories for example, impressions, memories. Nothing is stored because whatever is stored has been exhausted. Some of the stored data are the acquired fears, agonies, etc – they all die. Then it’s only two states mostly. It’s an expanded state – you are already totally absorbed into the truth.

In that (sixth) state when you are leaving the body it is further expansion, there is nothing leaving. Leaving usually happens on a karmic state, when you have to shed one thing and take another one. Here you are not shedding anything. You are in one body and there is no more body to be taken. So what do we do? We expand. At the time of death you expand – that is why samadhi places are powerful. Like for example, Shirdi. Baba has not left. Baba has gone nowhere. There is nowhere to go for him. As he is, he is more active today. As he was existing in Shirdi at that time, he is existing even now because he does not need a body to communicate. Body is just an expression for people to connect to. See the image which we have here – if you connect to that particular form (form is just a connection point) then you will start experiencing the presence. Because you are not going, you are not leaving. Especially because there are no more incarnations to take.

When the usual karmic being who is full of mind, dies, it dies with a bundle of desires which need fulfillment. So what can you do? Come back in another body, that’s all you can do. And again ask for fulfillment. So where you left off, there you start. This is the usual situation. But when you are in a higher state of samadhi? How do you know whether you are in a state of samadhi? Less t.p.s. – thoughts per second, to a level of no thoughts. Level of no thoughts at all. Now with the samadhis here in this place, it must have been very powerful. I would presume that this place was a forest. This temple is standing alone there, this place became this temple probably later. People found a location suitable for a transfer. Boganathar especially would have found this place suitable for a transfer – isolated and away from people, so that you have continuity with the connection. As I said, for a Guru to transfer anything, you need to have a consistent connection. Consistent connection. Zero thoughts in between, especially no doubts. If you have one doubt, you are already separated. So, no doubts, continuous, consistent connection – then transfer is spontaneous. From the transformer outside, electricity is coming in, to finally light this bulb. Electricity is coming into this room, into this building, into this room, into this bulb. It needs continuous connection, that channel should be clear. Otherwise, it will not be consistent. It’s the same, when a student is well-connected to the Master, and is without doubts and fully connected all the time. Then the transfer is spontaneous, there is no formality for that. Number one – consistent connection. Number two – emptiness. These are the two things. When you are consistently connected to a Guru, spontaneously you will become Him. Then transfer is just a natural process. What a Guru is really giving to a disciple is Himself, fully.

But today, disciples see so many faces on television, so they keep wandering, they are getting nothing from anybody. Because there is no consistent connection. If you are consistently connected, then there is no way a transfer doesn’t happen. Transfer has to happen. Once you go into a certain state of samadhi, then you leave the frame behind in that location, that’s about it. Unless there is a reason, like when Sai Baba told Baba Ganeshaananda Giri to go to Chennai and leave the body. Sometimes when Guru sends the disciples to different places, that is for a purpose, that will be for a reason.

Devi: The question was, as far as I know, Mahavatar Babaji is the only master who actually retained the youthful body. That is not the common practice.

M: It’s not. He is an incarnation of Muruga. That’s why you saw the image of Muruga, then Babaji, and Boganathar sitting next to Him. Boganathar was clear that he (Babaji) is the reincarnation of Lord Muruga/Karthikeya, his form is like that. The techniques like kayakalpa created by Boganathar is to maintain youthfulness. But this technique is definitely possible, others have done that. That’s why in the original Nath tradition, the induction is below ten years. A student only below the age of ten years is taken. By the time they become fifteen or sixteen, they are kind of stabilised. Babaji is an incredible avataar. In the Avadhoota tradition He is called Mahatapa. In the Kriya Yoga tradition, He is called Babaji because he has no name.

Q: The second question was : what did Boganathar teach to Babaji? The question is actually, in those times of evolution and elevation, what did the master teach a disciple compared to..like You and Him..What would he have taught those days?

M: Every Guru teaches so many things starting from cleaning the floor, cooking, washing clothes (laughter). There weren’t many clothes because being very tropical, one loincloth was enough. The techniques are connected mostly to kriya. One thing I will tell you. It depends on the disciple what Guru teaches. Every disciple is not taught like in school today. They look at the disciple, the capacity of the disciple, inclinations of the disciple, and teach accordingly. That is the system. That is why if you look at Babaji today, he has empowered each person differently. It’s not the same thing. It’s never ever one set of teachings. Depending on the caliber of the person, capacity of the person, they teach different things. So, it is very difficult to say what he taught. And what he taught Babaji, Babaji is displaying already. Whether he taught Babaji we don’t know, because did Sandeepany teach everything to Krishna? Are we sure? Krishna was an Avatar, and Sandeepany knew that Krishna was an avatar. Like the Guru of Adi Shankaracharya, Govinda Bhagavatpada, answered when he was asked who could teach Brahmajnaana – knowledge of the Brahman to the world. He replied, “Those who can contain the ocean in a bowl, they can teach.” What is that ocean? Infinite knowledge. What is that bowl?  One atom. If he can contain the infinite knowledge of the Universe or the whole knowledge in an atom, he can teach. Nobody else is eligible, they only have partial knowledge. They are not eligible to teach. This is what Govinda Bhagavatpada said. When Krishna came as an avatar, Sandeepany knew Krishna was an avatar. What could he teach him? Don’t think in terms of a teacher and disciple relationship, in terms of Boganathar and Babaji’s relationship, and that kind of thing. He would probably have taught something, but mostly what he would have taught was that he would given him time to empty himself – if he had something inside. I doubt whether Babaji had anything inside of him to empty. What is the usual thing we carry? Memories, expressions, impressions, so many things which are inside. Masters give time to expel them.

Make yourself empty. When ego rises, hit the ego. When ownership rises, hit the ownership. That’s probably what Masters will do – not maybe sitting and teaching. One or two techniques they can teach – maybe how to sit properly, how to lead a normal life, how to clean the floor, wash your dishes. Some of these things you can teach, but apart from that, the time is needed for what? To become You. More time is spent to be yourself. Modern education is making you as somebody else, not you as you. Today, we are learning about ‘twinkle, twinkle, little star’ and all these kind of things. How will you use it in daily life ? First of all, you are made stupid. Then we are expected to become a very intelligent person – that is the modern system. That is not education. Education is that everything should be that you are totally you. You become 100% you. That is the highest you can give to a disciple. Give time, situations, and guidance to be you. Then what comes out are unique expressions. Amazing revelations. They come, because you have it already. Then what can Guru give you finally as a graduation? Himself. Like one candle lights another. Flame is given. Now you go and don’t look back. That is the best a Guru can give to a disciple. But the disciple should stay – first of all. Mostly, like we saw that in a feature film, the disciple is basically an escapist. He decided to become a spiritual man. He went to the ashram and said, “I have decided to become a renunciate, a saint.” Guru said, “Good enough,” and the next  day he said, “Ok, now you wash the toilets.” The disciple  said, “I never even washed the toilet in my own house. How would I wash toilets here?” So, he left the ashram. These are the types of people who look for spirituality sometimes. Or look for spiritual awakening. You need to have total stability for that.

Now coming back to this question of Boganathar, what would he have given? If you want to see what Boghanathar has given, you should look at the techniques and the systems which he has delivered. This is all delivered through people, right? Various people. He has sculpted the idol of Palani with Babaji as the model with nine poisons. Each of those poisons can separately kill a person. But united together, it becomes a medicine for all diseases. So he created that. Extraordinary intelligence, right? He never killed a lot of rabbits to make these things. No experiments done in laboratories. This is exactly how they have delivered supreme stuff in totally non-violent environment. This is all part of it. It’s very difficult to say what he would taught Babaji. What Babaji displays today is probably from himself. See, if you are given the environment, and the time to stabilize into yourself, you will become that. You will become your absolute yourself. Then, when you are ripe and ready, the Guru just transfers himself, Guru can work through you. That’s all that he does. It’s not about the teaching. We need to forget the idea that we need to learn from outside to know. It’s actually stabilizing in yourself so that the knowledge comes from the inside. That’s true knowledge that is yours. That is your answer.

(Mohanji is answering someone’s question from the audience): “Witness it. You don’t have to address anything. Ego, intellect and mind are just the processors. What does ego process? Me and mine. Positions, possessions and stuff like that. When your ego is really high, watch that thing. You detach yourself and look at it. The antidote of ego is what? Humility. If you practice humility continuously: “I am not better than anybody.” It’s not like a depressive state where you feel useless. That’s a different story. Here you are not really positioning yourself higher. If you have deeper awareness, you will automatically have humility. Deeper awareness is connected to humility. I always believe that humility is the right antidote for ego. Ego for that matter is not a bad thing. In its elementary form, ego is good. Otherwise, if I ask you who you are and you tell me I am not sure, then it’s a problem, right? You need to know who you are in this life.

Q: The Datta tradition and the Guru Parampara – how does it differ from other systems or is it the same thing?

M: Well, the Datta tradition is one of the major traditions in India. The Datta tradition is usually according to me, connected to Raja Yoga path, total dissolution path. Lord Datta is the beginning, maintenance and the dissolution. As I have explained yesterday during Shivaratri about Lord Shiva:  Shiva is Supreme Consciousness, brightness, full awareness. We worship Shiva linga, li or la is connected to Layana – dissolution, dissolving. Ga means vast, unfathomable. So, the shiva linga is an expression of something which is vast and cannot be contained into any kind of form, structure or frame. We are worshipping Shiva, that state of being fully conscious. That is more or less the method of the Datta or Avadhoota tradition. They are fully occupied with Supreme Consciousness. Fully aware of Supreme Consciousness. Every movement of every atom, they feel. They are fully occupied, fully aware. Datta tradition is of that aspect of being fully aware, fully conscious but at the same time fully responsible, fully here. They are active like for example Sai Baba. He is available for everybody 24/7. Likewise, all avatars of Lord Dattatreya have been super powerful. Extraordinarily powerful, but very humble, very quiet, very insignificant. On one side, Datta is displaying total insignificance like normal existence, but on the other side He is extraordinary. He has got extraordinary powers. Datta tradition has a lot of significance in the Hindu tradition, Hindu path, because of one thing: you can have anything from this world but actually you need nothing. You can have positions, possessions, whatever you can get from this world, but that may not give you satisfaction, contentment. But even with having nothing, if you are totally content with what you have inside, you will be very peaceful. You can sleep peacefully. It’s not about the material wealth, or what you collect from the earth but what you are. That makes a difference in life. Datta tradition is very powerful as a reminder, a reminder of who you could be. That means – fully conscious of the whole Universe, at the same time you can have anything from earth because you are so powerful, you can acquire anything from the earth but you are not bound by anything.

Q: In one of your writings, you described the creation of Somaskandamoorthy in Switzerland as being crafted by Dakshinamoorthy out of silence. I would very much like to know more about Dakshinamoorthy, would you like to talk about it?

M: Dakshinamoorthy is the depiction of a state of Shiva as Guru. As I said earlier, the highest you achieve by deepest silence. The highest you gain through deep silence. Dakshinamoorthy is symbolic of being silent and being complete. In silence, everything is contained. Words have limitations, but silence has no limitations, no boundaries. Dakshinamoorthy is an incarnation or a depiction where you can see so many saints, they are connected to him and they are all silent and through silence they attain the highest. What is the highest? Consciousness of the Universe – where what is manifested and unmanifested, are together. Manifested universe is very small compared to the unmanifested universe. Manifestation has a duration. Unmanifestation has no duration. This is the main thing. The awareness of the unmanifested format and the manifested format together makes you complete. That is Dakshinamoorthy. Total awareness. This is also one aspect of Shiva. Shiva is fully conscious as well as fully operational. That means you are not just existing as immobile or a still form of  matter; you are also existing as invisible, active, the one who transfers knowledge, who guides etc.. Dakshinamoorthy is that aspect where He is the constantly-delivering aspect of Shiva, that is that depiction. Shiva comes in that form for that purpose. Shiva linga means it’s something which you can’t define. That is why all our atomic reservoirs are in the form of Shiva linga. That is the form which can contain the maximum of energy. No other form was a suitable form. Shiva linga is a depiction of the supreme consciousness which cannot be defined, which can’t be put in frames. In which knowledge aspect was that through silence you achieve the highest. For getting silence, which is basically lack of thoughts, it means no thoughts, that means lack of desires. That means lack of memories. If you backward integrate, connecting to the Dakshinamoorthy, you lose all the memories. Not memory loss. I mean you don’t have storage. Experience happens, corresponding memory does not get stored.

(Mohanji is explaining something to someone from the audience): Memory is connected to emotions of experience. An experience happens, but if you have a memory that means you have an emotion connected to that experience. So that emotion is not there, that is why it does not get stored. Information may or may not be there. For example if I ask you what you ate for breakfast two days ago, if you are always eating the same thing, you will tell me. Otherwise you may not even know. Because it would have been processed already. For an experience to get stored, it needs a glue called emotion. That is why I said thought plus emotion becomes karma, emotion is the glue. So, memory to happen, it needs emotion. So usually, we remember the emotion, not exactly the event, isn’t it? Events happen, they come and go, but we remember the emotion attached to that.

Thank you very much. Thanks once again to all the people who wished me today from all over the world. I may not be able to tell all of you that I love you individually but you know that. I love you and I am with you. And I really, really appreciate that you spent time and you wished me. I also really appreciate that you translated your connection to me as good service in the world, which I really like. Thanks to all of you for coming together here, taking time and being here. I really appreciate it. I love you.

Transcribed by Nada Rakovic
Proofread by Geeta Iyer