Q: When we are in deep dreamless sleep and when we are in real meditation, are we in the same no-mind state?
No. In deep sleep, you go to the level of the seed and come back to the state you were in before going to sleep. No growth happens in you. When you are in real meditation, you go to the level of the seed, the seed ruptures and you move on to the next higher state. That is the difference. They are two extremes. Of course, when you look from outside, extremes always look alike. A madman looks like a mystic and a mystic looks like a madman! Both of them have lost their minds but in different directions.
Q: How is it that you are so beautiful always!
(THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM laughs!)
Yes, this is an interesting question! How do I appear beautiful always!
You see: If it was only this form of mine that you find beautiful, that you are being pulled to, the pull would waver with time. It would waver with situations, attire and what not. Just think: You see me in the same attire, listen to the same songs, hear the same voice everyday and yet you are here with as much eagerness as ever. Do you think you would be able to continue like this with anyone else in your life? Understand that it is not the person, it is the presence that radiates the beauty that you feel.
As far as you are concerned, you are a person. As far as I am concerned, I am simply a presence, that's all. The egoless presence is so powerful that it simply lures you. There are so many male models and actors who are so good-looking with a much better personality, am I right? With all of them, you might be attracted, but not with a longing from deep within, like in this case, am I right?
Here, the longing is from your being, because your being sees the divinity behind the form. It is the only concern of your being. The egoless presence is ecstatic for your being. That is why you come here again and again!
You see: The longing to feel God is in the depths of every man, but it is not tangible! When you see me, you feel a pull and wonder what that pull is. That pull is the call of your being. But you immediately start thinking what it might be; you know only to apply your mind and reduce everything to logic. God is beyond logic. That is why you cannot explain with your logic why you feel a pull to come here.
All of you simply sit here gaping and wondering what it is that makes you look for hours, without batting an eyelid. When the longing within is deep, this will happen. The longing is the longing to reach home. For many lives you have tried to fulfill this longing but have been unsuccessful and so you come back again; you take another birth.
When you feel this longing, some of you pursue it and start your journey inwards while some of you get scared and escape! Or you linger in the outer circles and keep watching so that if anything happens, you can easily run away altogether! I have to then cheat you and teach you and show you that you have arrived and that there is nothing more to be done except letting go – of your ego!
You always operate from fear because you have been taught that way. Fear is a passive form of ego. You are so afraid that you might give in and so you maintain a distance under the guise of fear. Don't think that fear is something humbling. Fear is a very deceptive form of ego. You are so afraid to let go. You are so afraid that you might dissolve.
Understand that Existence is love. It is only love and nothing else. Also, Existence knows you because you are a part of it. If Existence doesn't know you then who does? So there is nothing to fear.
You don't have to put on any pretensions with Existence. You can just be your own ordinary self and Existence will continue to shower on you. Existence knows only to love and forgive. It does not know any other virtue. You judge Existence by your own egoistic and so-called moral standards; that is the problem,
When you know you are part of Existence, you will feel liberated. When you think that you are separate from Existence, you will fall into misery. You know, it is such a great feeling being a part of Existence! Because of your ego, you feel you are different from Existence.
When you turn your journey inwards, you will become increasingly aware that you are a part of Existence. Awareness will slowly replace ego. When awareness takes over, ego has to dissolve. There is no other way. Until awareness takes over, you will feel you are a solid entity and disconnect yourself completely from Existence.
Actually, the whole sky is there for you to see. But you see it through your window, just how much your ego allows you to see, and you think that the sky inside the frame is the real sky. All such games are nothing but games of the ego. Being aware of this is the first step towards getting out of it. Awareness is the master key with which you can open any lock inside yourself. That is why again and again I say, bring in awareness.