Be Inside Your Boundary … Help the Process.🔗

Upanishad…it is a very powerful process. I request you not to miss even a single session. Next thing, for Upanishad to happen, you need to be 'here and now'. It means two things: 1.) You can't sleep as you do normally 2.) You need to be inside your boundary. What do I mean by being inside your boundary? Currently, your bodies are not like your homes; they are more like hotels, your lodges. You put your luggage in it and start roaming around. That is the way you use your body. If you are physically at home, your mind will be in the office. If you are physically in the office, your mind might be planning a vacation. If you are eating, your mind will be watching television. You are never inside your boundary! But for these two days, you are expected to be at home inside your body … and no sleeping!

There is a small story. I always love to tell this story because I really enjoy this story!

A great preacher, a man who was preaching in the name of God all over the world, along with a wild taxi driver, maybe from Chennai, or New York or Calcutta...Calcutta is number 1, maybe Chennai gets number 2, then New York…Anyhow, a taxi driver died at the same time as the preacher, and reached Lord Yama's court. Yama is the Lord of death. Yama does the regular enquiry.

First the taxi driver came, as usual – fast! Yama asked, 'What were you doing for a living?' 'I was driving a taxi,' he replied. Then Yama saw the list of sins and merits. Now of course, they must have computerized these lists! He saw the whole list and said, 'Alright, have the golden key and go to heaven.'

Next, the preacher came. Yama asked, 'What were you doing? What's your name?' The preacher replied, 'I was spreading the Lord's name all over planet Earth.' He started giving his regular sermon, as usual - his fully well memorized speech. Yama said, 'Stop, stop, stop. Relax.' Then he saw the list of sins and merits and said, 'I think you need to go to hell.'

The moment the preacher heard this, he started shouting, 'What? Just for a taxi driver, you gave heaven. How dare you send me to hell? I will sue you.' Preachers are professional shouters.

Yama said, 'Relax. Let me explain to you. Here, up in heaven, we are not bothered about what you do. We bother only about the result.' This taxi driver, even though he was driving the taxi rashly, was so wild in his driving, that the people sitting inside the taxi and those who were outside on the road, were all the time praying to God for their lives because of him! He made so many people theists. He made them all believers in God. What he did is secondary. But, by the effect of his actions, he converted many of them into believers of God! But even though you were preaching about God, you were preaching in such a way that you put people to sleep!'

So understand, the problem is: if you sleep now, when I go up, I will have a problem! So at least, maybe not for your sake, but for my sake, don't sleep!

One more thing: if I am telling Ramayana or Mahabharata or Bhagavatam, then you can sleep, because you might have heard these stories earlier, and you may wonder how many times you will listen to the same story. You know the whole story of Ramayana: Rama is the one who will go to the forest, Sita is the one who will be kidnapped, and Hanuman is the only one who will go to Lanka. Then Rama will go and kill Ravana. Sita will be brought back, and then the coronation ceremony of Rama will happen. You know the whole story. And how many times will you listen to the same story? Naturally, you will think: for one session, I can take a nap. You can catch up, even if you miss a session. Not much is lost.

I have seen very funny things happening when these stories are staged. In January, we went to the Kumbha mela in Allahabad, where I saw these stories being enacted. Not only were the people who were listening sleeping, even the person who was singing on stage was sleeping sometimes!

Anyhow, now I am not going to tell you how Rama lived, or how Krishna lived, or how Christ lived. We are going to directly deal with how you are living. So now we can't afford to sleep. Neither can you afford to sleep, nor can I. So both of us have to remain awake. What you will do to keep yourself awake, I don't know.

First thing: no sleeping. Second thing: sitting inside your boundary. This sitting inside your boundary is a very important thing to be understood. Just observe your life. Early morning, when you wake up, when you get out of your bed and start brushing your teeth, your mind is already sitting in the office, thinking about your boss, thinking about the answers that you are supposed to give, thinking about work. By the time you reach your office, your mind is already on the beach, thinking about the beach, or the weekend vacation. If you are on the beach in the evening, your mind is already thinking about when to go back home. The mind will be saying, 'It is cold…and this…and that…' The funny part of your mind is that when you see beautiful scenery in the television, or an advertisement, like a beautiful beach, or a beautiful forest, or a snow covered mountain, you always feel you should be there, and that if you are there, you will be in ecstasy. That is the idea you get, especially with the resort advertisements. And you almost feel that if you are lying in that chair near the swimming pool or on the beach, you will experience heaven! But when you go there, you don't feel the experience the way you had imagined it to be. You don't feel that it is so heavenly. Why? What is happening? Why is it that when we see visually, it feels that we will be in ecstasy, but when we go there, it is not such an experience?

The reason is: the moment you are on the beach, your mind has already started thinking about home. When you are back at home, you have already started thinking about the next day's routine. If your body is here, one thing is sure: you are not here! Your mind is not here. That is what I mean by not being inside your boundary.

Now, for these next two days, you will not use your body as a lodge or a hotel. You will use your body as a home. Come back. Just be inside your boundary. Only then I can work with you. You and me, both of us need to sit with each other. You need to be here, only then I can work with you. You need to be inside your boundary. Your skin is supposed to be your boundary at least until you become enlightened. After you get enlightened, how much life you feel within your skin, the same life you will feel inside every other skin; inside this pillow, inside this seat, inside everything, you will feel the same life. But, for now, your skin is your boundary.

So come back. Be inside your boundary. Only then the Upanishad can happen. Both of us need to sit with each other. That is why this Upanishad starts with a beautiful mantra, which says: let both of us not hate each other; let both of us grow together.

The beauty of education in the Vedic tradition is that it is not egocentric. The Master says, 'Let both of us grow.' He is not saying, 'Let you grow, I will teach you.' No! He is saying, 'Let both of us grow.' That is the truth. So, let both of us work with each other. Let both of us not hate each other till we end the process. Let both of us feel connected, at least till tomorrow evening.

Be With Sincerity

Understand: you may sit here like you are attending a weekend workshop or a management course. Any attitude is alright; no problem. But decide that for these two days, you will sit sincerely with the whole process. I am not asking you to accept me as your Guru. Actually, people ask me, 'Swamiji, should I accept you as a Guru?' I say no. If I am your Guru, this question will not arise. As long as this question is there, I am not your Guru; forget about it. Search again. Seek again.

Someone asked me, 'When I accept you as my spiritual Guru, does that mean I have to give up praying to Shirdi Sai Baba, whom I have been worshipping for over fifty years now? I don't feel he is my Guru, but I remember him and pay my respects to him.'

I always tell people, even if you accept me as your Guru, there is nothing wrong in learning from some other source, or Master, or place. Pluck flowers from all gardens and make a beautiful bouquet for yourself. Nothing is wrong in that. After all, I am here to enrich your life. If somebody else is also enriching, just absorb whatever comes from them. It's not like a shop where if you come to my shop, I would prefer you not to go to the other shops! Just enrich yourself, wherever you can, or in whatever way you can.

The Happening

Just for these two days, don't bother about all your internal struggles or unnecessary and useless questions. Just sit with a deeply receptive and prayerful mood inside your boundary. The whole process will happen. The Upanishad will start happening. Till tomorrow evening, let us not hate each other. Because I am going to make you do all sorts of things, like for example, your food will be a little delayed, your sleep will be a little delayed etc. You may face a few discomforts. Do not grumble or grudge. Even if you grumble, I am not going to leave you...! See, the program is fixed. Either you go through with complete acceptance, or you go through with struggle. It is up to you. But you have decided to go through it. If you go through it without struggle, it will be a lot easier for you. So let us not hate each other. Let us feel connected to each other. Let us grow together.

That is the beauty of enlightened Masters. Enlightenment is the ultimate experience, but not final. Understand: the ultimate happening every moment is 'enlightenment'. So every moment, the enlightened being is exploding and growing … expanding. You may think, 'How can enlightened persons grow?' Maybe 'growing' is not the right word. It is the Ultimate Experience happening every moment. Enlightenment is the ultimate. But it is not that it happens once and it stops. It happens continuously. The right word is 'enlightening' not even 'enlightenment'. It is not a noun. It is a verb! That is the truth. Continuously, the experience is happening. That is why the Master says, 'Let us grow together.' For that, we need simple and honest friendliness. Feeling connected, feeling respect for each other, and taking a conscious decision to work together are all needed. All this is needed at least until tomorrow evening. I am not asking you for your whole life! No! And the important thing is, don't forget to be inside your skin, that's enough. Everything else will start happening.

The Master's presence is very powerful, even if you don't understand it. Whether you understand or not, when you sit around fire, you will have its effect; you will feel the heat. Similarly, whether you understand it or not, when you sit next to the Master, you will see that things start happening inside. Enlightened consciousness is much more powerful than your doubting logic. It can penetrate you. People ask me, 'Should I trust you? Should I believe you?' I say, 'No. There is no need. Your doubt and trust, both are shallow.' Neither is your doubt strong, nor is your trust strong. Both are depending on your mind. But enlightened consciousness is beyond the mind. It can straightaway work on you. Do not bother about whether you have doubt, or trust, or faith, or anything. Sit with a deeply receptive mood and 'the beginner's mind', with a willingness to go through the process. Be inside your skin. That's enough. You will see that the process happens. The Upanishad will simply start happening.

Owner's Manual for the Mind

I will just give a simple understanding about how the mind works and how exactly the Upanishad is going to help us. Let me once more explain the word Upanishad. It means: just sitting. If you want a commentary for that word, I could say: sitting with an enlightened being.

Let us first understand how our mind works with the help of a simple drawing. Your mind is nothing but 'making your future into past'. Understand: what you call as life is nothing but swallowing your future and making it into past. Am I right? The future becoming past is what you call your mind, or whatever you know as life; nothing else. This diagram is just a time shaft. The space where the future and the past meet is what we call the present moment. The future is just disappearing into the past. Every step of what I am describing, you need to understand completely; only then you will be able to go with it.

A little bit of introduction about the mind is good. It is like an owner's manual. Owner's manual for mind! We use the mind without reading the owner's manual even once. Even in the car, there is information about the airbag, and it says: for further details, see the owner's manual. How many of us have referred to the owner's manual about the airbag? With airbags, it is alright to ignore the owner's manual, because you may feel it is useful only when you have an accident. But if you don't read the owner's manual for your mind, you will create accidents! And you will not even know that you are going through accidents every day. That is the problem. So it's better to have the owner's manual for the mind.

(points to the board) This is the present moment where the future is disappearing into the past. e s e

See, in the law firms, it is a best kept secret that the senior lawyers have forgotten how to argue, because they have started managing. Only juniors go and regularly argue. Just like that, I have forgotten how to write, because I don't normally write; I only speak. Sometimes, I have to refer to someone for the correct spellings! Anyhow, in the laptop there is no problem, as the spell-check is there. But that creates a new set of problems. When I type 'Devi' and do a spell-check, it gives the option of 'Devil'! Because it can't nt understand the Sanskrit words! Anyhow, now understand these few statements. If you completely grasp them, you will realize the truth.

Your mind is nothing but a jumping back and forth between past and future. If you just observe your mind for a few minutes, you will understand what exactly I am saying. Thought is nothing but jumping from past to future or future to past. Only when you are shunting between the past and future, you can think. In the present moment, you can't think. Try to create a single thought in the present moment. You can't! Either you create a thought or be in the present moment. The two are mutually exclusive. The moment you come to the present moment, thoughts will disappear! Thought, and the present moment are mutually exclusive. If thinking is happening, it means that you are jumping from past to future or future to past. If you are jumping a 100 times from past to future or future to past in one second, you have 100 thoughts per second or 100 TPS for short. Are you able to grasp what I am saying?

If any of you have any doubt, put it down in writing. At the end of the session, I will answer, because this needs to be completely internalized by you. Understand, only if the internalization happens, you will involve yourself in the whole process.

The problem is, you will do all sorts of illogical and nonsensical things for any pleasure, but even to move one finger for spirituality, you will ask one thousand questions. And you think you are very intelligent in doing so. You keep justifying your foolishness by thinking that you are intelligent. That is the problem. Many people come and tell me, 'I know that smoking is bad, but I am not able to drop it. What do I do?'

What do I do? I give them honey. I give them a drop of energized honey specially energized for de-addiction. Even when your logic says that something is not good, you will do the same thing when it comes to pleasure. But when it comes to meditation or spiritual things, even for a small thing, you will ask so many logical questions. And you think that because your questions are very logical, you are very intelligent. Sometimes, you have the pride, 'I don't believe in superstitious things.' You are dangerously unaware of actually how many thousands of nonsensical and superstitious things are there within you. You are the body, is the first superstition that you are carrying! You are not even aware of this! Anyhow, at least now, internalize this, so that you will be ready for the process.

When you are having 100 thoughts per second (TPS), you will be away from the present moment by that proportionate distance. The present moment is where the future and past meet. If you are jumping too many times, which is what is going on now, naturally you will be away from the present. You will never be in the present moment, because in the present moment, you can't think. There is no space for thoughts in the present moment. If you come back to the present moment, there will only be a beautiful silence. The more number of times you are jumping between the past and the future, the more number of thoughts you will have. 100 TPS means you are completely away from the present moment. You are just not concerned about what is happening in the present. Even if I am standing and talking here, you just pick up one thought, and compare it with all that you have heard in past lectures, discourses, classes, and books, and you remain judgmental about what you hearing now. You will be sitting and having big comparison notes and missing all my statements. That is the problem. See, I am not saying that whatever you heard is wrong, but sitting and analyzing at this time is wrong, because you are missing my continuous flow of statements.

And the problem with so called spiritual seekers is that they are well read, and completely confused! For any statement that I make, they will be sitting and having 10 dictionaries and 10 references and compare my statement with the statements there. They will be doing two things: either they will refer to all those books, and if they find some relationship with what I am saying, they will say, 'What he is saying is right,' or if they do not find the right quotation or match for my references, they will say, 'This is not the right thing. I don't think he knows the subject fully. He is too young.' This is the problem!

See: whether you say 'yes' or 'no' to my statements, by comparing notes, you are not going to grasp. Even if you say yes, you are going to miss the other statements which I am making. By the time you finish your analysis and come back I would have gone 10 steps ahead.

So for now, just keep all the things which you have read, or studied or heard, in one corner, for two days. When you go back from here, you can pick it up. I am not asking you to completely throw it away. I am only saying, just for two days, go into my words completely, and understand and internalize. If you are jumping between this and that, you will be away from the present.

Sometimes, because of some meditation that you do, because of some technique that you sincerely practice, you might manage to bring down your TPS to say, 80. This means that instead of moving 100 times between the past and future in one second, you move 80 times between the past and the future in one second. You come down a little towards the present moment. If you do work further and reduce the TPS further down to 60, you move a little more to the present moment. Sometimes, very rarely, by powerful techniques or by the blessings of an enlightened Guru, you can bring it down to 20. See, these are just example values. It is not that you are currently in 100 TPS. You are probably in 1000 or 2000 TPS. Or it may even be a million.

One more important thing…please do not sleep! Sleep does not mean zero TPS! Sometimes…in the silence… people wake up. See, my talking sometimes feels like a lullaby, so you feel relaxed and taken care of. When I give a break, suddenly you understand that something is wrong, and you wake up. And the fun part is, when these guys wake up, the first thing that they do is: look at others! If you are looking at others, understand that you are the person who slept, not the others! These people who doze off, they will start with, 'Let me listen with closed eyes.' They will have the justification, 'I am meditating and listening'. Soon, the person next to them will see them sitting with closed eyes, and they will nudge them. But these people will not even open their mouth to say, 'I am listening', because then, their sleep will be disturbed! They will say, 'You attend, you listen, I am ok. I am listening.' What to do? I always tell people that 'meditative listeners' are the ones who are thinking about something else, or lost somewhere else.

Anyhow, coming back to the subject, rarely, in the presence of a Master, or through some process or some initiation, you come down to 20 TPS. When you come to the present moment, suddenly you will have the intelligence of seeing the future and the past clearly! From a higher TPS point, you can't see the past or the future clearly. When you come down, you may be able to see a little better. The lower your TPS, the better your vision of the past and future will be. One important thing: now it feels like I am giving you a big promise, but let me tell you: if you come to the present moment, you can see your future so clearly!

Let us analyze one important thing. Sometimes, when you are at a party, suddenly you think that some person is going to appear in the next few minutes… some old friend or some one… and you will see that the person is suddenly there! Or sometimes, when the telephone rings, suddenly you will remember someone who was not there in your memory for the past few years. When you pick up the phone, that person will be on the telephone line! Or when the door bell rings, suddenly you remember a relative who has not come to your home for the past five years or whom you have forgotten for the past five years. When you open the door, you will see him standing there. How many of you have had these kinds of experiences, at least once or twice in your life? So many of you are raising your hands! But when it happens to you, what do you say? You usually call it a coincidence. If it happens in one person's life once, it can be called coincidence. Am I right? Practically, 98% of you, say that you have had this experience. When 98% of you have had this experience, how can it be called coincidence? You can't brush this aside in the name of coincidence. Then you will have to change the meaning of the word 'coincidence'! Coincidence means rarely, it may or may not happen in one or two person's lives. But now, the evidence says 98% of the people are experiencing it. There is something more than coincidence in this. This is actually what we call 'intuition'. It means, when that door bell was ringing, or when that cell phone was ringing, maybe due to a sudden jerk or due to some other reason, your TPS suddenly dropped. TPS can be made to drop even by force sometimes. When the TPS dropped, you were able to see the future, may be the next five minutes of the future clearly. You had a glimpse of the time shaft! That is how you were able to see the person on the other side of the door or phone.

When the TPS drops, you see the future. I think you are able to connect with what I am saying. This is the reason why you will be able to see what is going to come or what is going to happen. See, suddenly, due to the door bell ringing or the cell phone ringing, or probably because you were really relaxed and happy, maybe because in a party, where you don't have your direct relatives or your in-laws, you were very relaxed…for whatever reason, your TPS suddenly drops. Then, you will have a glimpse of the next five minutes of the future. Just imagine, if your TPS falls down, just accidentally, if you can glimpse the future, if your TPS can be consciously brought down, then understand the value, understand the clarity which can be added to you!

Now, the next few statements which I am going to make, are very mystical. Until now, whatever I said looked very logical, and they are logical, but the next few statements are going to be mystical.

An enlightened person is the person who is established in the present moment, whose energy is in 0 TPS. He is neither lost in the future nor lost in the past. Understand this. The first statement which I am making is: an enlightened person is the person who is established in the present. It means that if you can bring down your TPS and establish yourself in the present, you are enlightened. Second thing: the future, past and present all these three put together are called 'eternal.' Eternal means 'nithya'. You can touch eternity only in the present moment!

The Master's Effect on Your TPS

See… eternity can be touched only through the present moment. You can't touch eternity through the future or past, because both of them do not exist directly under your control, as you think you know it. The past you cannot touch, because it is not there. You can't catch the future also, because it is not there! You can only touch the present moment. You are in the present moment. If you want to enter into eternal bliss, or the present moment, or enlightenment, or whatever you want to call it, the only way is to bring down your TPS.

One thing: an enlightened person is a person who is established in the present moment. The next few statements which you need to understand are: if you are in 100 TPS, and you are in the presence of a being who is in 0 TPS, something happens in you. Your time shaft also starts slowing down. This is what I meant when I said that I will be making a few mystical statements. Understand: the person who is in 100 TPS, if he sits with a being who is in 0 TPS, suddenly the TPS drops drastically. Fortunately, enlightened persons cannot be raised by you! Only you can be dropped by them.

TPS and Koshas – the Relationship

Now you need to understand a little deeply. How does the TPS drop?

Let us now understand these koshas. Koshas are energy sheaths in our system.

The outermost sheath is called the annamaya kosha and refers to the physical body that you have.

The annamaya kosha is very closely related to the next layer that is the pranic layer or pranamaya kosha. Pranic layer refers to the movement of air, the air circulation that is happening in you all the time. Air circulation is not just inhaling and exhaling. When we come to that layer, I will explain more about it. The third layer is the mental layer or manomaya kosha. Your visualization is your fourth layer - vignanamaya kosha.

Finally, the fifth layer is your silence or peace or bliss that is within you, which you rarely experience. It is called the anandamaya kosha.

The outermost layer, the annamaya kosha, you can think of as the physical layer. You can visualize it as the physical layer. The second layer, the pranamaya kosha, visualize it as air. Prana is not actually air. It is the air energy that is carried by air. Air is simply the medium to carry the energy, that's all. It is the air energy that is required for us to sustain life. The third layer is the manomaya kosha – the mental layer. Visualise it as the constant inner chatter that goes on inside you. Inner chatter is your inner or mental layer. The fourth is the vignanamaya kosha or the visualization layer. The fifth layer is the anandamaya kosha or the bliss layer – the bliss or joy which you rarely experience. Most of the time, you experience only blisters not bliss! Causeless bliss has become a rare thing in our life.

Understand: we are not disconnected and separate islands as we think. Even though civilization constantly teaches us that we are separate entities, we are not disconnected and individual islands. Maybe in the physical layer, we are all individual islands. For example, if the food is poisoned, only the person who eats it will suffer, not everyone. In this sense, you can think of yourself as an individual. But if the air is poisoned, whoever is breathing will suffer. This means that in the pranic layer, in the second layer of our energy bodies, which is to do with our breath, the distance between us is reduced. Going further, if the mind is polluted, a much bigger group will suffer. For example, if one person who is disturbed in the manomaya kosha, that is, if one person who is disturbed in the brain, sits as a leader, you know what will result in that entire city. Now, going still further, if one corrupted visualisation leads to any action, for example take the visualization of the atomic theory - corrupted visualization – what happens? It can destroy the entire planet Earth!

Albert Einstein, the famous scientist says, 'I am successful because I did whatever I did by my visualization. I am successful because I can imagine well.' He did not discover atomic theory, E=mc2 through his logic. He says the formula came first, and after, the truth of the formula came out, he developed the logical steps behind it! This means that it was done through visualization. But corrupted visualization can disturb the whole planet Earth. We are all now threatened by this one theory, by this one invention. Today, planet Earth has got atomic weapons enough to burn itself 700 times over and over again. Just imagine: burning once is enough, but there are enough weapons to burn planet Earth 700 times! Fortunately, the bliss layer cannot be corrupted since it is in the control of enlightened beings! Otherwise, planet Earth would have perished long ago. Fortunately, the bliss layer key is kept with us. It is not available to the public. That is why planet Earth exists today.

One more thing… this is a mystical prophecy: don't bother much about these things, you will never perish. Global warming, and such things will come and go, but it will affect only those people who have created collective negativity. Nothing will happen to planet Earth because this layer is still under the control of enlightened beings. They manage the whole situation!

All you need to understand is that you are not islands as you think. When you come under a corrupted mental layer, whether you want it or not, you suffer with it, am I right? In the same way, when you come under a person with a pure mental layer, you will see that he is a great leader. Whether you want it or not, you will be touched by all the pleasures and joys created by that person. In the same way, whether you want it or not, when you come in the presence of a bliss layer person, your TPS will come down. That is what is meant by Upanishad. Sitting with an enlightened person, brings your TPS down.

Because the person has gone beyond the mind, he has entered the bliss layer. As long as you have the mind, you will be disturbed. When you enter the bliss layer, the person has no mind to get disturbed. Rivers can dry up, but the ocean cannot dry up. An enlightened being has become the ocean. In his case, the river has entered the ocean. That is why, instead of others affecting him, he effects everybody! He influences everybody. The person who effects everybody (positively of course) is an enlightened being. Anyone who comes into his presence gets effected in a positive way, but he remains the same. He is not affected by anyone. As the Bhagavad Gita says, this person is established in the Self.

The TPS coming down happens when you sit with the Master. You might ask, 'Then let us sit for half an hour and go back. Why 2 days, unnecessarily?'

The problem is, you have forgotten to just sit. I have to teach you for 2 days how to just sit! If I tell you to just sit, you will do some sacred syllable repetition or you will sleep or you start praying or you will just become restless. You don't know how to sit with no mantra repetition, no technique, nothing… just sitting… You have forgotten the art of just sitting. In Zen they call it Zazen - just sitting. You forgot that. Just sitting is no longer part of your being. To teach the 'just sitting', it takes 2 days for me, because you know everything except just sitting, except just being. That is why I have to work 2 days to bring your TPS as far down as possible. For example, when you have 100 TPS, you are in the physical layer. When you have 80 TPS, you are in the pranic layer. When you have 60 TPS, you are in the mental layer. As your TPS comes down, you go deeper and deeper into the inner layers. When the TPS is completely down, you enter the anandamaya kosha – the bliss layer.

Now you are going to sit with the Master in every layer. We are trying to reduce the TPS to bring the frequency of thoughts down. The whole process which we are going to do for the next 2 days is sitting with a '0 TPS being' so that our TPS can drop drastically. One more step you can do is, balance yourself to come down to a low TPS in order to sit with him, since you have forgotten to just sit. You will be consciously balancing yourself so that your TPS falls. We are going to do something just to stop you from doing something else. This doing is what I call 'process'.

You can write questions about this subject alone.

The moment I tell you to ask questions, you will ask about vaastu shastra, astrology and what not. Please do not ask questions such as whether vaastu shastra is true, astrology is true, will this stone work for me etc. If a stone can change your life, then you are nothing more than a stone. So ask questions only on the science that I have spoken now. All other FAQs, I will answer in the evening or tomorrow.

Understand, when I say figures such as 100 TPS and 80 TPS, I am saying them only for you to understand the concept. Don't start thinking: I think I am between 61-80 TPS and so I am probably stuck in such and such a layer…no! These kinds of analysis are for professional seekers who seek all their lives without getting even one glimpse of the truth. Some people make seeking as their part time, if not, full time profession. The whole day they will go around and find some stone, some pendulum or some crystal and experiment with it. They will say, 'Oh! This is radiating energy, I could feel the energy,' etc. Sometimes, even I will not be able to feel the energy, but just to keep them happy, I say, 'Alright, take it and go.'

Energy is the experience that happens inside you, not anything that happens through a stone or a pendulum. So many books and theories are being sold today on energy play. One thing I have understood: anything highly impractical that you write, sells! I can give you three tips to become a big philosopher and author of bestsellers. First: write what you yourself cannot practice! Second: just keep on talking only about the problem in different ways. Third and most important thing: never give a solution! If you follow these three things, you can become a great philosopher and author in just 30 days. The problem is, you don't need enlightenment to teach professional seekers; if you are a philosopher, it is enough. For the fortunate ones who have been brought up in a spiritual environment, truths are engraved in their inner space.

Understand: unless you have walked the path, do not talk. Unless you know it completely, its side effect, after effect, everything… do not talk. Unless the person is enlightened, it is considered as the worst conspiracy against humanity to teach. In Bharat, if you are still a seeker, a wanderer, there is a beautiful tradition where you are taken care of by the public. You are not forced to take care of your own survival. You are given food, shelter and respect anywhere you travel within Bharat. But remember, the seeking should not be just an outward profession. It should stem from a deep thirst, an urgency to know the truth.

Questions and Answers

(Questions to do with TPS have been grouped together for convenience)

Q: Sometimes, what we see in our dreams come out to be true the following day. Is it because of 0 TPS?

A: No, it is not because of 0 TPS. In the dream, you pass through the vignanamaya kosha to anandamaya, that is, from the 4th to the 5th layer. The space between the 4th and the 5th layer is where you fall asleep - deep sleep. When you pass through, you pick up one or two rare truths from vignanamaya kosha. Vignanamaya kosha is where you dream. You pick up one or two things from here. That is all. It has nothing to do with 0 TPS. What happens during the waking state is 0 TPS. If you see your future in the waking state, it is 0 TPS. In the dream state, it is not 0 TPS. It is just an accident.

Q: You said that the TPS is reduced by sitting in the presence of an enlightened Master. You are here now. We are able to sit quietly with reduced TPS. But apart from this, is there any other way to reduce TPS in day to day life?

A: Nithya Dhyaan is a meditation technique that will create the Master's presence for you. That is the meditation I prescribe to bring your TPS down. It is an everyday meditation technique. All our ashramites do it everyday in the ashram as the first thing in the morning.

Q: There have been many times during the past two years, when I have thought that I have experienced the near 0 TPS expansiveness – bliss or spaciousness. But the mind, the identity, always comes back. How does one become fully established in the 0 TPS state without returning to the mind or ego or identity?

A: Getting established is a thing achieved by practice / sadhana.

Q: Do artists have high TPS or low TPS?

A: They have low TPS; maybe 20 or 40 TPS.

Q: I understand that I can have 0 TPS only in your presence, or when I get enlightened. Am I right?

A: In the Master's presence, 0 TPS will start happening. When you get enlightened, it will still be there. I can give you a glimpse of 0 TPS. If you choose to stay there, you will get enlightened. When you become enlightened, you will stay in the same state forever.

Q: Is 0 TPS, a state we always need to stay in? If yes, then how does one do the day to day activity, job etc.

A: In the real 0 TPS state, you will be the most productive! That is the truth. You will be highly productive because you are not wasting energy in unnecessary jumping between past and future. Your decisions will be very sharp. 0 TPS is the high energy zone; you will never become mentally fatigued. You will never say, 'I am done.' You will be so joyful. You will become more productive in whatever you are doing.

Productivity is never disturbed by the 0 TPS state. To tell you the truth, you guys do not spend time on showing productivity. You spend time only on selling yourself. What do I mean by 'selling yourself'? You sit and spend all your time on project plans, deadlines, projections and fooling the bosses. When you are in the 0 TPS state, you will excel just out of your 'quality', not out of your 'marketing ability'. When you excel out of 'quality', you will feel so fulfilled. Dharma or righteousness always gives fulfillment. The person who can sell himself can get into politics or a high posting in an organization, but he will never have fulfillment. The person who is dharmic, is the one who will be productive and fulfilled. He will attain levels out of his own quality, not out of his marketing. Excelling without selling yourself always gives fulfillment. Put your energy more on being; you will see that you become more productive. Apart from just becoming more productive, you will feel deeply fulfilled in your personal life. You will start living a beautiful life. A real 0 TPS person will be dharmic and productive.

Q: If I meditate with another person who also meditates regularly, both of us get to a higher state. If I meditate with a restless person, will my TPS become higher?

A: Group meditation will always cause low TPS. And especially in our satsangs… I have given a promise that wherever our people gather to meditate, I will be there. If people gather and dance, I will be dancing in their midst, in spirit. When they gather to talk about my teachings, I will be there. So group meditation will always bring down your TPS.

Q: If every teacher and student both become changed through interactions, how is it that the TPS is not increased for an enlightened Master?

A: This is a nice question! Understand: when an enlightened Master or rishi says, 'Let both of us grow together,' it does not really mean, 'I am going to grow by you.' It just shows their humbleness, their openness. It does not mean: I am going to learn from you. It just shows the humbleness. So, just be relaxed. You see: when I do namaskar to you, I am not coming down to your level. Instead I am bringing you up to my level! Understand this clearly every time you see me doing namaskar.

One day, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was doing Kali puja to Sharada Devi whom he later married. The puja was the same that he generally performed to the Goddess Kali. Sharada Devi was a young girl at that time, and was living just like any other girl of her age. She had not yet attained enlightenment.

One of the disciples asked her, 'Mother, Gurudeva did puja to you. Don't you think that he has come down one step by doing so?'

Sharadha Devi's reply to this question made people become aware of the level of her maturity and understanding, and why Ramakrishna did puja to her.

She replied, 'He did not come down one step, but instead, he helped me step up by one plane in spirituality. From this moment onwards, my responsibilities have increased.'

If someone accords you a similar respect, what will you do? You will not stand on your feet. You will start flying in the air!

Once in Bharat, when I was entering the meditation hall with my palms joined in namaskar, an elderly man was standing there, and instead of doing namaskar, he simply blessed me! The person who was standing next to him asked him, 'Why are you blessing, when THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM is doing namaskar?' He said, 'After all he is a young person, younger than me; I can bless him.' I told him, 'When I do namaskar, I do not come down to your level. Instead, I bring you up to my level.' When Masters say that, they show their humbleness, their openness and respect for you. If I have to learn from you, you will reproduce yourself on me! That can never happen, don't worry!

Q: People treat you as God, and people worship you as God. How do you feel Master?

A: Firstly, I do not have a mind to feel anything! In the way you enjoy seeing my form, I also enjoy seeing my own form. Now, I am sitting on the throne. I can get down any time from this throne, as and when I feel like, is it not? Similarly, I may also go out of his body any time I feel like, and then come back to it!

Look at this handkerchief in my hand. There is a small thread hanging from one of the sides. Although the thread is a part of the handkerchief, it cannot be the handkerchief itself. The Master's body is like the thread whereas he himself is the all-pervading energy. Once a person becomes enlightened, the body is only the thread.

Understand: the power of the Cosmic THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM is what drives the body of the six foot THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM. What does Cosmic THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM mean? The true state of THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM is Cosmic THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM - this is like the whole handkerchief. The thread which hangs from the kerchief is the six-foot body of THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM. The decisions of the Cosmic THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM control this six-foot body.

As soon as enlightenment happens, there is no separate thought, action or decision of one's own. The annamaya kosha is transformed completely during enlightenment. It becomes completely blissful like the anandamaya kosha! Ramakrishna says, 'For the modern day man, just looking at the Guru's image itself is a great meditation technique.' Just looking at the blissful image of the Guru can lead you to enlightenment.

Q: Your great words are so assuring. I feel connected and in bliss. Does it mean that I am thinking of the past and living in the present?

A: You are living in the present. Bliss can never be felt based on past. Bliss is always to do with the moment.

Q: How can I prepare myself psychologically for enlightenment?

A: Psychologically, preparation has no significance in enlightenment. Enlightenment is actually blasting you every moment. Whether you have one candle in the house or not, it will not make any difference to the whole thing. Your psychological preparation is nothing but like having one candle. It will help only till I blast you! After that it won't matter whether you had the candle or not. The psychological preparation is not going to make a big difference. Don't bother about it.

Q: Does enlightenment seem far because of my own fear?

A: Yes, your own fear is the only problem. Don't bother. Just relax and sit here. If you relax with trust, everything will be taken care of.

Q: On the same day that ATSP ends, I am visiting relatives in the evening. They will ask many questions. I am sure that I will not feel like answering them. What should I do? How do we keep quiet, even when social pressure is on us to respond?

A: Normally, these kinds of problems are more prominent in the Hindu society! Of course, in the Western world also, it is there mildly these days.

Just don't talk to them that's all. What is there in it? What are relatives, really? Each one is an individual. 'Relatives' is nothing but a badge that you give them. Each one is an individual, traveling the path alone. You need not disrespect anybody, but you are also not answerable to them in such matters. It is your own personal matter. No one but the Master can help you in this matter. When it comes to spiritual life, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa says that anything can be sacrificed. He goes to the extent of saying that even your wife or husband can be sacrificed; even father or mother can be disobeyed.

In the journey of enlightenment, let me tell you one incident that happened in Ramakrishna's life:

One of his young and very close disciples called Rakhal or Swami Brahmananda, was married at the age of 14 before meeting Ramakrishna. He had a kid too. There was a custom in Bengal to marry at a very young age.

Of course, after meeting Ramakrishna, he felt that his parents had made a big mistake by getting him married at the age of 14. He felt very bad that he could not tread the path of sannyas.

He went to Ramakrishna and said, 'I want to get initiated into sannyas very badly. My wife is not allowing me to. She is forcing me to live the worldly life. There is constant argument and grief happening. Somehow, I am not able to digest the whole thing.

Ramakrishna said, 'Go and pray to Mother Kali.' The man prayed. There is a small ritual of offering beetal leaves and beetal nuts to Mother Kali and then throwing it into the sacred Ganges river. The man did this ritual.

Eight days after that, the wife died! Please do not think anything negative about this story at this point. Let me continue…

When the disciple came and told this to Ramakrishna, Ramakrishna says, 'You are born for sannyas. She came just to finish some of her karma. Her karma is over, so she has left the body. I did not kill her.'

He did not kill her. You have to understand this very deeply. You can very easily think that Ramakrishna used some supernatural powers and planned her death. Just understand: things happened according to the laws of Existence.

Ramakrishna finally told the man, 'You take sannyas,' and he initiated him into sannyas. One more very surprising thing: after sometime the son also died! The son probably died after 10 to 20 years, but the wife died just 8 days after the ritual!

Q: When I do a meditation, I start feeling different within me. I feel anxious and afraid.

A: Don't bother. It is just an initial level feeling. It will go away. When you start meditating, you will feel yourself dissolving. You will feel as though your identity is dissolving. So, you start to feel afraid. Just allow the dissolving to happen. That is the whole idea. The very idea of meditation is to lose your solid identity and merge with the Whole.

Q: Are you the 'Mother Kali' avatar?

A: Don't bother about whether I am an avatar or not. You have to realize that you are an avatar! That is my mission. My mission is not to prove my divinity. My mission is to prove your divinity.

Q: Is there a correspondence between chakras and koshas?

A: No, there is no correspondence. Let us keep the discussion on koshas, only.

Q: If, to be in the present implies 'not thinking', then how could a scientist or wise man take decisions and still live in the present moment?

A: Whatever they discovered, they did in the present moment, without any thought. It was a sudden revelation. The revelation itself happened in one moment, in the present moment, not based on the past or the future. The rest is logical analysis.

Q: Sometimes we have a bad dream. Does that mean that the vignanamaya kosha is corrupted?

A: Yes.

Q: Is eternity what is being in the present moment?

A: Yes, if you are in the present moment, you are in eternity.

Q: How do you stay in the eternal present, and deal with the future or past for working sake, as you do?

A: I do not work with past and future. When you actually establish yourself in the present moment, you can just stop and see the past and future as you wish to. Time shaft is like a video game. You can rewind or fast-forward!

Q: If some older people are going to speak of good and bad experience again and again, and not accept the present, how will it affect the younger generation on which they force it down?

A: I think you are talking about in-laws or grand parents! Somehow, when the present is not enjoyable for them, they are caught in the past, in the good and bad of the past. So they will catch you, and start telling you stories: in 1963, when I was in the army….etc! And sometimes, they will tell the same stories everyday. They forget that children have a good memory! Not only that,sometimes people listen to them because they will get candy from them at the end of it. What do I mean by candy? Money… wealth! With me, just because I don't shout at them, they tell me, also these stories! Even if I tell them that I know the story, they will insist on finishing the same old stories again and again. They will not even be creative and tell new stories.

You have to know how to handle it. They will not handle it. Nothing much can be done about it. Just be ready to sacrifice the candy that you get in the end, that's all. As long as you want the candy, you have vested interest in their stories, so you have to suffer. If you are ready to renounce the candy, you will not even ask this question. You will simply handle it yourself, and be relieved. In most cases in Bharat, the older people will hold property. Unless you listen to their stories and keep them in a good mood, you can't get the property at the end of the game! So until they die, you will be putting up with them. Sometimes, relatives even pray for their death! If you are a girl, when you get married and leave, you will get a portion of the wealth, like jewels etc. If you are a boy, you have to please them in some way or the other all the time, so that you are assured of your share of the property.

Q: Why do we bounce back into the mental and physical layers soon? Why can't we go deeper and experience bliss completely?

A: I should ask you this question! When you can have a glimpse, why can't you stay there? It is because you want to come back, that you are coming back! Maybe your samskaras, that is, your engraved memories, are bringing you back again and again.

Chapter 2 ANNAMAYA KOSHA - The Physical Layer Created from Memories