14. Faith does Move Mountains!🔗

It is easy to acquire intelligence. If we work continuously using our intellect, it matures into intelligence.

Emotions arise from the heart. Ancient masters have developed many meditation techniques to work on our emotions. Any of these meditation techniques will change our emotions to faith.

Our thoughts have tremendous power. Be clear about one thing: if you believe in a particular God or Guru, believe in them with all your might. Do not bother about whether the God or Guru has power or not. Your faith has the power. An unenlightened master in whom you have faith can enlighten you!

A beautiful incident from the great Hindu epic Ramayana will help understand this idea better. Rama, the hero of the epic Ramayana, had to reach Lanka in order to rescue his wife Sita. Ravana, the demon king of Lanka had kidnapped Sita and taken her to his island kingdom.

An ocean divided the two kingdoms. Rama had to cross the ocean to enter Lanka. Rama decided that a bridge had to be built across the sea. Rama requested one of his devotees, Jambavan, the great bear, to oversee the construction of a bridge across the ocean. Rama asked Hanuman to fly across the sea to locate Sīta.

Hanuman said, 'Oh Lord, you are asking Jāmbavān to construct the bridge, but asking me to fly to Lanka. How can I do it?'

Rama replied, 'Hanuman, simply chant the name of Rama. With that alone, you will be able to accomplish the mission. Chanting the name of Rama is more powerful than my physical form.'

Hanuman did as he was told and flew to Lanka!

At a later stage in the same Ramayana epic, Hanuman, the greatest devotee of Rama, moved an entire mountain, the Sanjeevini mountain that housed medicinal herbs, to revive a stricken Lakshmana! The entire epic, Ramayana, is the song of the glory of Rama. The name of Rama is so powerful that it provides tremendous boost to our faith. Through our faith alone, we can accomplish many things.

There are two versions of Ramayana: the Tulsi Ramayana by Tulsidas and Valmiki Ramayana, the earlier version. In the Northern part of Bharat, especially in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, even the sweepers recite the verses of Ramayana, while sweeping the roads.

Faith has the power and remedy to overcome all our deficiencies. Let us cultivate faith in our favorite God or Guru. Then you will see that life becomes tremendously simple and enjoyable. Having faith does not mean having dependency. Real faith actually solidifies one's own being. That is what real faith does. People misunderstand it as dependency on another person. No! It actually solidifies oneself.

15. Experiment with the Truth

My search for spiritual truth began when I was about 10 years of age.

My family went to see Annamalai Swami, an ascetic and a close disciple of Ramana Maharishi, the great enlightened master who lived in my hometown, Tiruvannamalai, many years back.

I went there to listen to Annamalai Swami giving a discourse, although secretly I was waiting for the candy that he would give at the end of the discourse. Annamalai Swami was talking to a group of seekers. On that particular day, in his discourse, he was saying that we are not the body but something beyond it. He further explained that pain and suffering are beyond the body. They do not affect us. I forgot all about the candy.

I was surprised to hear this theory. I immediately thought, 'When my mother slaps me, I feel the pain. Then, why is he saying otherwise?'

His words continued to ring in my ears. I had an intense urge to experiment and verify his words. I ran back home, took a knife and cut my thigh with it. It started to bleed and I was in terrible pain. My parents were livid. They rushed me to a hospital. I still have that scar on me. After a few days, I went back to meet the Swami.

I said, 'Swamiji, you told us that we are beyond the body, and pain and suffering don't exist. But, when I cut my thigh, it bled, and I had intense pain. Why?'

The Swami was surprised to hear of my experiment. He was very compassionate. He consoled me and taught me a simple meditation technique. All I had to do was to search for the source of my thoughts or see where my thoughts began. Though I had never meditated before, I decided to try it out.

Gradually, I realized that endless thoughts in our mind formed the first hurdle for spiritual growth. We all have problems with our thoughts. They seem to go one way when we want them to be another way. When we are at work, we are thinking about home. At home we think of work. When we greet people, we are thinking of something else. We edit when and what we speak.

Just be a little aware! If we are established in the truth, our inner chatter and outer chattering will disappear. All our thoughts and thinking will disappear. If we are completely truthful, we never have to think, we just need to be and relax. Why do we need to continuously think?

If we have to prepare continuously, whatever we prepare is a lie. When we speak too much, please be very clear that we are lying. We are hiding the truth. We are decorating a lie. Start becoming aware today.

Be aware! Be blissful! Experiment with the Truth I have told you just now and you will experience liberation from your very mind.

16. Increase your Memory Without Effort!

We are constrained by our mind. Our memory is like a library.

If we are attached to a single subject, thought, or memory, we will never have the freedom to access other memories or subjects. The world is filled with unlimited potentiality. Our minds and brains will be functioning at lower levels than they are capable of.

We need to have the emotional freedom from our memories. If we have total emotional freedom, we will have total access to any memory that we want. You can simply download any memory and start playing it instantly! There is a thumb rule for this process: No memory, when downloaded, should create any emotional bondage. Emotion filled memory is like a heavy video file; emotion free memory is like a light text file!

Remember, if we are emotionally free from any memory, we will be able to access and store any information we want from anywhere. People often ask me how to keep pace in this information driven world. It is hard to keep pace with the constant deluge of new information. My advice is the same. Don't create an emotional bondage with any memory.

Before enlightenment, I had read a few books about the Upanishad in Tamil. English was truly a foreign language for me.

After enlightenment, the entire scenario changed. I could access any language and information about various things in the past and present whenever I needed them. The moment I needed some information, it got downloaded. It seemed as if there was an encyclopedic CD package in my memory and all I had to do was to accesses it whenever necessary!

If we have an enlightened mind, there is no need for a formal education. Information will come seeking us! With my limited educational background and limited knowledge of English, I speak around the world. I give discourses and conduct so many classes. How is all this possible?

Ask the residents in my ashram or close devotees about my schedule. I have a busy day. I hardly find time to read. So, where do I get all this knowledge? I speak to thousands of people all over the world. I answer so many questions. It is the enlightened state which causes this to happen.

Be free of emotional bondage. Be aware. Your memory will grow incessantly.