Chronic Ailments – A Direct Outcome of the Pain Shaft🔗

People come and tell me, 'Swamiji, for the last twenty years I have knee pain.' No, it cannot be! Please, understand, it cannot be. I am not disrespecting you or adding more suffering to you by saying all the problems are in your head. No, I am not disrespecting you, I am just telling the truth: all the problems are in your head! I am just stating the truth.

The knee pain which you experienced two years ago, the knee pain which you experienced one year ago, the knee pain which you experienced two months ago, the knee pain which you experienced two hours ago are independent experiences. When you connect them and see, you stop the possibility of self-healing.

Please understand, you stop the possibility of self-healing.

Whether you believe it or not, medical science proves that your body constantly updates itself and replaces itself once in every 365 days. Your brain cells, the cells in your intestines are all replaced within a particular number of days. If you are carrying a particular disease for quite a long time, it means you have a strong belief that it is a continuous experience, it is a continuous shaft.

Your unconscious belief that something is a continuous experience forces your mind to bring the same pain and disease back.

For example, once in 47 days, your intestine gets replaced completely. Understand, I am not saying that Ayurveda is telling so. If I say Ayurveda says so, you won't believe. Medical science says so. The logical allopathic medical science is saying, once in 47 days your intestines are completely replaced. If you are carrying any disease related to the intestine for more than 47 days, even the new system which you create is carrying the same disease because you create it with the mental set-up, 'I have this problem, so I have to continue to have this problem. My new system should also have this problem.'

You might have heard about this story of a woodcutter:

There was once a woodcutter who was cutting a tree near the river when his axe fell into the river. A goddess appeared and she brought a golden axe and asked, 'Is it yours?'

He said, 'No'.

Then she brought a silver axe and asked, 'Is it yours?'

He again said, 'No'.

Then she brought his axe, made of iron and asked, 'Is it yours?'

He said, 'Yes, yes, it is mine.'

The goddess was very pleased with his honesty and handed over all the three axes to him.

Now, I will tell you the extension of the story, the second edition! The same hunter was cutting the tree by the same river. He was being assisted by his wife. Suddenly, by mistake, his wife fell into the river.

The goddess appeared, brought a beautiful woman, and asked the hunter if she was his wife.

The woodcutter replied, 'Yes, yes, yes!'

The goddess got very angry and said, 'How dare you, greedy fellow! Last time, when the axe fell into the river, you told the truth, but now when your wife fell, you are telling a lie.'

The woodcutter replied, 'No, no, you don't understand my problem. Last time you asked first whether the golden axe was mine, then whether the silver axe was mine, and then you showed me my axe. When I said the last axe was mine, you gave me all three. Now again, if you give three women to me what will I do?! I know what suffering I am going through with one! That is the reason I took precautionary steps. Anything is ok, but please just leave me with one wife, not more!'

Anyhow, just like how that goddess was asking the woodcutter whether something better was his, in the same way, every time Parashakti is asking, 'Is this your new body?' She is creating a new body. The nature, the self-healing energy which resides in you is Parashakti, your Mother part.

Understand, the energy which is inside your body and rejuvenates you is the part contributed to you by your mother. It is from your Mother, Parashakti. Your physical mother is the representation of your Cosmic Mother. When the Cosmic Mother comes and says, 'Is this new intestine yours?', you say, 'No, no, no, bring my old one!'

Our mental setup is such that we strongly believe that depression or disease is a shaft happening inside us. It is not. The depression you experienced ten years ago, the depression you experienced nine years ago, the depression you experienced eight years ago are independent, unconnected incidents, experiences. When you connect all of them and see, you create the pain shaft, the depression shaft, 'Oh, my life is depression!' Now you are ready to get defeated by the unknown enemy.

One important thing, this is a very basic truth: neither can you break the shaft, nor can you elongate the shaft, because the shaft does not exist. All you can do is just be aware that it does not exist; you created it in your mind.

Understand, for the sake of convenience and easy reference, you put all the depression incidents in one file; by and by you started believing all of them are existentially connected. No, they are not existentially connected.

One more thing, the moment you believe all your depression is connected, you are a depressed being. The joyful incidents that happened in between the painful ones will be forgotten; you will not even remember them. Understand, you will not even remember them. That is what I mean when I say that you don't have a clear picture about your past.

If you have a clear picture about your past, it will become a solid experience. It will not be a load; it will become strength. Undigested past is a load, digested past is strength. We don't digest our past. It just stays on us like a load, like a headache. When you connect all the painful incidents and create a pain shaft, you create an enemy who does not exist and you start fighting with him.

Please understand, I am repeating some of the words again and again because, suddenly, you might change the channel! If it is a little boring, please bear with me! I am repeating, so that it can enter into your system.

Somebody asks Buddha, 'Why are you repeating the same thing for forty years? He says, 'If you had heard the first time, why do you think I would repeat a second time!'

Mind – Independent, Un-clutched Thoughts

The shaft does not exist. Basically, your thoughts are independent, illogical, irresponsible, unconnected and un-clutched. No two thoughts are responsible for the other's existence or disappearance, but you are afraid to believe in such an undefined frame of mind. You are afraid to live with an undefined mind. So you try to define. Your trying to define is the first problem. When you try to define, you have to create some shaft, either as pain or as joy.

Understand, even with your spouse you live for a maximum of six months. Within six months, you create an idea about him or her. After that you live only with the idea which you have about the person, not with the actual person. Anything which the other person does, you will look through the lens of that idea only. In six months, you will come to an idea, 'Oh, this is the punishment given to me by God!' or 'I don't have to go to hell now; I am already in hell.' You will continuously see whatever he or she does through that mirror, through that glass. You don't live with a person, you live with a concept.

In the same way, you have an idea about your mind. You form either a pain shaft or a joy shaft. You live with that shaft, not with the experience.

One more important thing you need to understand: After every thought, there is a gap.

Understand, it is like a fish tank. The water bubbles come in the fish tank. After every bubble there is a gap. Because the gap is too small you think it is a stream. It is not a stream. Between any two thoughts also there is a gap. It is just independent, illogical thoughts moving.

The problem is, when you can't live or don't want to live with these independent, illogical movements, you create an idea of pain shaft or joy shaft and struggle with it. You create an enemy who does not exist and fight with it.

Now, all that we need to do is to stop creating this pain shaft or joy shaft, stop clutching all these painful incidents or joyful incidents and creating the shaft. The essence of whatever I was talking is, stop clutching and creating a shaft. That is enough, you will see, suddenly, the shaft disappears; the shaft does not exist.

Understand some of these important truths. Now we are coming to the initiation part. Any thought may suddenly click with you and you may feel, 'Yes! That is what is going on inside me; that is what I am doing.'

One important truth you should know: even if you want, even if you try consciously, you cannot possess or hold onto your suffering. Understand, it is a very important truth. Even if you try to hold, you cannot hold your suffering, because continuously, your suffering is also replaced by different thoughts.

One person came and asked me an important thing, 'Swamiji, I am suffering with lustful thoughts. Please give me some solution.'

I told him, 'Just sit half an hour, your mind should not go anywhere else, you should just meditate on lustful thoughts. Think only lustful thoughts, no other thoughts are allowed.' In ten minutes, he opened his eyes and said, 'I am not able to concentrate on lustful thoughts, Swamiji.'

I said, 'What are you saying? You told me just now you are haunted by those thoughts. I asked you to meditate on it; just be with it. Now you are saying, your mind is not staying on those thoughts. Your mind is going somewhere else!'

Understand: fortunately, you can have only one thought at a time, am I right? You can have only one thought at a time. The moment some other thought comes into your inner space, the earlier thought has lost its power or influence over you, am I right?

Fortunately, you can have only one thought at a time; the moment a new thought is coming inside your system, the old thought has lost its power or influence over your system.

For example, the moment you decided to stand up and leave, you renounced the thought of sitting and listening. The moment you stand up, you renounce the thought of sitting; the moment you decided to sit down, you renounce the thought of standing up. Any thought which comes newly in you replaces the old thought. The old thought loses its power or influence over you, am I right?

A person once came and asked me, 'Swamiji, I am haunted by death fear. I have so much fear about losing my wealth, and about my death. Give me some solution. Please remove my fear.'

I told him, 'Please have a cup of coffee.'

He said, 'What do you mean, Swamiji?'

I said, 'Just think of having a cup of coffee and have a cup of coffee.'

He was not able to believe and asked, 'How can that help me?'

I said, 'The moment you are able to think of having a cup of coffee and decide to have a cup of coffee, the death fear which is haunting your inner space has left your inner space. Am I right?'

Unless the death fear which is haunting his inner space leaves his inner space, he cannot think of having a cup of coffee, right? So naturally, a simple thought to have a cup of coffee can remove the so-called powerful death fear.

Then he said, 'No, no, no, Swamiji, it looks too simple! The death fear comes back, what should I do?'

If it comes back, have one more cup of coffee, that's all!

He protested, 'No, no, no, you don't understand how seriously I am talking. You are playing with me.'

I said, 'I am not playing. It is just a simple thing.'

Understand, it is just a simple understanding. Fortunately, you can have only one thought at a time. The moment a new thought comes, it means the old thought has lost its power over you; otherwise, the new thought cannot come inside. If the old thought is so strong it will just multiply and sit in you. It won't leave your inner space. The moment a new thought comes, it means the old thought has lost its power over you and has left you. Only because of that, the new thought can come inside. So, the moment you have a thought to have a cup of coffee or a cup of water, the so-called death fear has left you.

The man was not able to understand. He said, 'No, no, no, it cannot be so simple. I am really having fear, Swamiji. It comes back.'

I told him, 'Alright, now you know the method how to replace the death fear once, then do the same thing again and again, that's all.'

He said, 'No, no, no, it comes back. Once I can drink a cup of coffee, next time what to do?'

I said, 'Have a cup of butter milk, that's all!

He could not accept, 'No, no, no, it comes back the third time.'

I said, 'Then, have a cup of water, that's all!'