Tantra Shastra – An Introduction🔗

There is a big difference between philosophy and Tantra (techniques).

I welcome you all with my love and respects

'Open the door let the breeze in' discourse series – Dhyanasatsangam (group of highly committed people who meditate for their spiritual evolution).

Let me start by giving an introduction to the word Dhyanasatsangam. Dhyanasatsangam is surely not an ordinary discourse or a spiritual discourse. Discourse means playing with words. In a discourse there will be a constant flow of words. Dhyanasatsangam is not a discourse. Generally from a discourse we will get to know various philosophies, rules and guidelines. But Dhyanasatsangam is not a place where we learn philosophies, but it is a place where we learn Tantra (techniques). There is a big difference between philosophy and Tantra (techniques). Philosophy is made of and decorated by words. It is burdened with words; it is derived out of playing with words.

Before beginning the discourse, let me explain the meaning of the word Tantra. Tantra means the techniques that are used for digesting the group of words that we have collected and stored in our heads, into experience. That is called as Tantra. Philosophy is made of or decorated by words. It is composed of and derived out of words and thus it is a magic played with words. However, to learn the way to transform such philosophies, whichever we have heard and are stored in us into experience and then to learn the lessons out of such experiences is why we need dhyanasatsangam.

So, we should deeply understand the word Tantra. In the language Tamil (One of the languages spoken by the Dravidians in South Bharat), the meaning for the word Tantra is given in a negative sense. Like for example, it used as Tantra nari, (Tantra means cunning, nari means fox), that is used as a word with a negative meaning. The word Tantra, as we think, does not indicate anything negative. Tantra means the techniques for meditation. This is what is meant by the word Tantra. Generally due to the words that we hear in the lectures and spiritual discourses our thinking keeps oscillating everywhere.

Swami Vivekananda (an enlightened Master from Bharat) beautifully says: It is a big mistake to tell a person to be good, to be a spiritual person and follow good messages. We may wonder how? Vivekananda explains: It is easy to tell a man to be good, to be honest and to be spiritual. However it is difficult to teach him how to be good. It is easy to tell a man to be good, but teaching him how to be good is tough.

Generally, we hear words like, control the anger, love all, involve in spirituality. However we also feel that it is not practical. According to us, those words have not become practically possible in our lives. It does not seem possible. Why is that? Though we hear those words again and again, why are those words not becoming experiences? Why are those words not becoming a reality in our lives? It is because the words which we hear are impacting just our brain. It is only an intellectual understanding. It is just a logical understanding. It is not being internalized deeply. It is not settling down in us deeply. Since we take in just the words, they just appeal to us intellectually. They have not become a conscious understanding. Learning the techniques and ways needed to transform such words into experiences at a conscious level, is what is called Tantra Shastra. Such techniques and ways are declared by the book Tantra Shastra.

Dhyanasatsangam is not just an ordinary discourse. Generally when we come out of a lecture or a discourse, we come out with the additional burden of words, in addition to what we knew before entering the discourse. The reason is that we would have heard the words from the person who was giving the discourse. Hence we come out with a heavier head due to weight of the words. In a way, discourses are programs which increase the weight of our head. Dhyanasatsangam is a program, in which we shed the weight in our head by learning the techniques to digest those words into experience. Dhyanasatsangam is not held for thrusting words into our head. Dhyanasatsangam reduces the weight of our head by transforming the words into experience and converting such experiences into life's lessons.

Generally most of us are under the wrong impression that we are all traveling towards the experience and that we do need spiritual experiences. But truly, we imagine about spirituality and spiritual experiences only in our dream. However in reality we tremble at spirituality. In practical life we are not accepting spirituality and spiritual experiences. We are ready to do any action superficially. We are ready to do any action and we call it as spirituality. But we are not ready to take any step that will transform us largely.

A small story:

A man went to the post office and held the collar of the postmaster and screamed: What are you doing? My wife is lost for the past two days.

The postmaster replied: This is a post office; you have to give a complaint in the police station.

But the man who complained said: No, I will not repeat that mistake again because the last time I complained in the police station, they promptly found her and brought her home. That's why I want to complain elsewhere.

Like this most of us are ready to take any action that will not give any result. We are afraid to do any action that will give results straight away. In the story above, though he was ready to lodge the complaint, he was not ready to face the result. He thought that they will find his lost wife and he will have to live with her ultimately. Because he cannot live with her, if they find her, he has decided to lodge the complaint in the post office instead of lodging the complaint in the police station.

Even in our lives many a times, though we know the path to truth and honesty, we have turned our focus, turned our attention to a different path and direction because of the lack of courage, strength, stability and dedication to face the truth and live in the path of truth. This has become quite a natural phenomenon in our lives. This has become quite common in our lives.

Let us deeply understand the word, Tantra. Generally names of the books written in the olden days will end with words like Dharisanam (religious doctrine) or Puranam (sacred narrative) such as Vedanta (philosophical) dharisanam, Gnaya (honest) dharisanam, Yoga (physical exercises combined with breath control techniques) dharisanam, Koorma (an incarnation of Lord *Vishnu*, God responsible for protecting the universe) puranam, Varaha (an incarnation of Lord *Vishnu*, who is responsible for protecting the universe) puranam, Shiva (God responsible for dissolution of the universe) puranam, like wise all the books were named as a dharisanam or a puranam.

But first time this Tantra Shastra, is a book composed of the message as advised and delivered by Lord Shiva to His beloved, Devi Parvathi (mother of the world, according to Hindu mythology). This book is delivered by the first Master, an enlightened Master. This book contains Shiva's advice to Devi Parvathi.

Shiva has named this book as Tantra Shastra. Why? Why is this book named as Tantra Shastra? Generally, Dharisana or philosophies are fun with words and hence can be understood intellectually. Dharisana are derived out of intellectual understandings. Purana are derived out of the heart, written to appeal for emotional type of people. Tantra Shastra are derived out of consciousness. Dharisana are derived out of brains, they are from intellectual understanding. Questions and understandings like, ' What is meant by Aathma (soul)? Who is God? God is everywhere in the universe. Aathma is filled everywhere. The world is an illusion.' are derived from intellectual understanding. They are derived from the brain level. Tantra Shastra are the words from the experiential understanding of an enlightened Master. These are wonderful messages, when read deeply they give us great joy.

However in practical life, we are unable to experience this practically. Most of the times, not knowing the spiritual message is not a problem, knowing many spiritual messages is a big problem. Most of the times, knowing about Aathma(soul), Paramathma (God as the Supreme Being), we are struggling to follow it in practicality. There is a big gap between the intellectual understanding derived out of the brain and clarity in life. Intellectual understanding derived out of the brain and the clarity in life are functioning in different directions. Thus sometimes we suffer from mental depression. When the intellectual understanding of spiritual message is there but the clarity to apply that message practically in our life is lacking both guilt and depression crop up in us.

Many people tell me: Master, I love the whole world, I tell them: It is easy to love the whole world, but it is dif icult to love your wife or husband, who is near you. When we say we love the world, we just have to utter those words. We need not have to do anything to prove it. But when we say we love our wife then we will have to take care of her. We will have to smile at her. We will have to exchange some good words with her. We will have to maintain a good relationship with her. It is easy to just utter a few words saying that we love the whole world but it is difficult to love the person who lives around us, like our wife or our neighbor.

The reason for the big gap between the words that we utter and the practicality in our life is due to the fact that our spiritual knowledge is just an intellectual understanding.

Dharisanam means the explanation from an enlightened person about His enlightenment experience in words. We internalize those words, but we don't understand that for Him it is an experience but for us it is just words. If Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi (an enlightened Master from *Thiruvanamalai* in south Bharat) says that: The world is an illusion and it is God who runs everything, It is the truth and experience for Him. But when we listen to such words, can we sit simply without doing anything, thinking that the whole world is an illusion? We cannot do anything practical with those words.

A small story:

Once Ādi Śaṅkara (an enlightened Master, from south Bharat) went on a prilgrimage by foot. He suddenly felt thirsty. He is an enlightened person without any bodily senses. It was His body which felt thirsty. He did not feel thirsty. He turned and looked around everywhere. He found a grove where arrack was being made. The people there were sending the pot of arrack down to the earth.

Ādi Śaṅkara asked them: I am thirsty, give me something to drink.

They said: Sir, we have only arrack.

He replied to them: It is okay. Anything will do for thirst.

Uttering these words, he drank the arrack. He drank as much as he wanted, almost a pot full of arrack. Seeing this, whatever most of us here are feeling now was felt by some of his disciples too.

The disciples felt: Ādi Śaṅkara himself has drunk arrack, so even we can drink. So thinking all of them drank to their satisfaction. But even if Ādi Śaṅkara has drunk the pot full of arrack, his mind and walk were steady. But the disciples started stumbling after drinking. Shankara did not advise them. He laughed to himself and proceeded on his pilgrimage.

They continued to walk and it became evening. Again he felt thirsty. He looked around everywhere. There was an Ironsmith who was melting iron.

Ādi Śaṅkara went near him and told the ironsmith: I am thirsty.

That man replied: Sir, I do not have water, I only have molten iron.

Then Ādi Śaṅkara took the molten iron and drank the as though He was drinking water. Like the way he drank the arrack, he drank the molten iron also. After drinking it, He turned towards His disciples and said: If any of you is thirsty, you can drink this. Even when they were not thirsty they immediately drank the arrack. But when they saw Ādi Śaṅkara drinking the molten iron, they escaped from that place. For Ādi Śaṅkara, enlightenment was a reality; it was an experience for him. Both arrack and melted iron were the same for Him. Ādi Śaṅkara is an enlightened person, who has realized that both are one and the same for Him. Since He is a realized person and has seen this, for him it's a darisanam. When we listen to His words, for us it is just words.

In Sanskrit (one of the languages spoken in Bharat. Most of the hymns and poetries in the olden days were sung in Sanskrit), there are two words which explain this further, Aparoksha Gnanam and Paroksha Gnanam. Aparoksha Gnanam means the reality, which has been experienced deeply. Paroksha Gnanam means the words delivered by a person who has experienced something. All darisanam are the darisanam as experienced by the enlightened people, however for us they are only words. They are nothing beyond words. They are just words. There is no direct transformation or direct experience in life from such words. The biggest problem in our life is, knowing too many spiritual messages without the spiritual experience.

In America a devotee asked me: Master, if you take the mathematics field, there is not too much confusion, when you add two and two it is only four. Whether it be in Bharat or America or Australia, anywhere you go, there is no big confusion in the field of Mathematics. Similarly in Science or Geography or History, there is no big confusion as such. However in the field of spirituality why there is so much of confusion? Every religion has different a message. When asked about re-birth, one religion says the concept of rebirth exists, another religion opposes it. Each one declares a different message, What is the reason for that? Why is there so much of confusion in spirituality? Understand, the reason for so much of piled up confusion and problems in spirituality is because of the spiritual preachers who just take in the words of the enlightened Masters, without internalizing it as a reality and experience. It is because they preach without being enlightened. They just play with words and spread such words. Really, the only problem and the biggest problem in spirituality is not ignorance but knowing too much. Knowing too many words and when such words don't become a reality and turn into an experience, they become a burden in our heads.

If the food that we eat in the morning gets digested, then it is good for the body. The body gets the energy; it is good for our stomach. Our stomach will also be light and empty. If it is not digested, then what will happen? It is not good for our stomach. There will be indigestion problems. Similar to this is, knowing too many spiritual messages. When we know the apt techniques and digest the spiritual messages properly then such messages will become energy. It becomes the energy that can give life to our life. But if such words are like the undigested food then such words will be heavy in the head, like the undigested food that is heavy in the stomach. Not only our head will be heavy, we will constantly vomit these messages on people around us. Like the way, the undigested food causes problem to us and to the people around us. The undigested spiritual messages will cause problems to us and to the people around us. These dharisana are just an intellectual understanding.

Purana are messages, which are based from the heart. Purana are derived from the heart. Both Dharisanam and Puranam indicate the goals to be achieved by man and the state after reaching the goal and do not specify anything else. Dharisanam indicates the goal to be achieved and Puranam indicates the state of bliss in which one will be after achieving the goal.

Seeing these two, Lord Śiva has clearly specified the techniques, guidelines, directions and ways, which every person may follow to attain in reality the truth, honesty, self realization, bliss, the divine state, the feeling of wisdom, all of which are mentioned in the Dharisanam. The techniques or the guidelines, which he has framed, are called Tantra. Such techniques are declared in the book called Tantra Śāstra.

If we understand this example, then it will be clear to us. Newton is a sage; he is a scientist of the outer world. Let me explain this further. To make everybody else understand that experience which happened to him, he devised and declared it as a rule to others. Let me narrate as to what had happened. When Newton was relaxing in his garden in an evening, an apple dropped down from the tree. An apple falling down is a casual event but his mind deeply analyzed why the apple fell down and why it did not go up? The result of such analysis is that he devised the 'Law of Gravity'. Newton is the scientist who has explained clearly the experience which happened in him in the form of techniques, so that it is useful for others to make it as their reality and experience.

Please understand this clearly. If a person writes the techniques to make others understand the experience which happened in him and also make others undergo such an experience which happened in him, then we call such a person as a sage or a great seer or an enlightened one. Based on this understanding, it is clear that Isaac Newton is a scientist of the outer world, who wrote the Law of gravity. Every scientist explains to others the experience that happened to him and has enabled such others to understand and experience it in reality by devising techniques.

Similarly, Tantra are the techniques, the ways, devised by the enlightened people to make such enlightenment experiences, spiritual experiences, blissful experiences which happened in them to bloom and become a reality in others. This is what is called as meditation. Because He felt that the deep, blissful experiences that happened in him, should happen in others also, Lord Śiva devised and provided the techniques which are called Tantra.

For example, Ramaṇa Maharishi, based on the death experience which happened in Him, and the enlightenment which happened due to this experience, has created the self enquiry technique, the question Who am I?, To make the reality and experience which happened in Him blossom in others, Ramaṇa Maharishi has devised the wonderful self enquiry question technique. Similarly, Lord Śiva, the great-enlightened Master, to make the enlightenment experience, the blissful experience, which happened in Him flower in others, has devised the techniques called Tantra.

A devotee asked me: Master, you are saying that Lord Śiva is an enlightened person, is He not God? By referring to Him as an enlightened person, are you not degrading him? Is it right?

Let us understand this deeply. By referring to him as an enlightened person, we are not de-grading or disrespecting him. Surely we are not degrading him by referring to him as an enlightened person. Let me explain this with an incident which happened in Swami Vivekananda's life.

A devotee asked Swami Vivekananda: Master, you are saying that Ramakrishna (an enlightened Master, who lived in West-Bengal, in Bharat) is an enlightened person. But you are calling Him as God and an incarnation, is this right?

Vivekananda asked him: By the word 'God', what do you understand?

That person replied to Vivekananda: God is someone who knows everything. He can do everything. He is all pervading. He is omnipotent, omnipresent.

Vivekananda asked further: What do you mean by saying that he is omnipresent? That person replied: He is present every where, be it a big pillar or a small atom.

Vivekananda further asked him: If he will be there in a pillar or an atom, what do you mean? How will He be there?

Now that person was slightly confused and he asked: Master, I don't understand what you mean?

Next Vivekananda asked: Okay, you say God knows everything, He can do everything, He is omnipotent. He has all the powers. So tell me what you understand by those words clearly.

That person slowly backed off saying: Truly, Master, I don't understand it, I have read a few words about all this in some book and that's all I remember.

Vivekananda answered beautifully: By God we truly do not understand the broader and deeper meaning. Ramakrishna is bigger than our imagination about God. That's why I say Ramakrishna is bigger than your imagination about God.

That is, by saying that Ramakrishna is bigger than God, Vivekananda means that Ramakrishna is bigger than our imagination about God. Generally even many of us don't understand the bigger meaning for the word God. In many Dhyanasatsang, the often repeated question which people ask me is: Whether God exists or not? Understand, whoever argues that 'God does not exist', is ignorant and whoever says that 'God exists' is ignorant. Both the sides are ignorant. God is not an object whose existence can be answered through arguments. He is a feeling that should be experienced by one, by going beyond oneself and living inside oneself. Vivekananda says: Whatever we have imagined as God, Ramakrishna is beyond all that, that's the reason I call Him as an incarnation, which is beyond our understanding of God.

That's why I refer to Lord Śiva as an enlightened person. By referring to Śiva as an enlightened person, we are not de-grading Him. We are not insulting Him. He is a full composed energy, which is beyond all words. This energy cannot be intellectually understood. When I say Lord Śiva, what form people will think of? Utmost, people will imagine a man with four hands, a snake around His head, and a human figure in meditation. That's all we can think about. But understand that Lord Śiva is the energy beyond all this. He is the energy beyond whatever figure we have imagined as Lord Śiva. Whomever this energy possesses, such people have attained the state of Śiva. Such people are in Śiva consciousness. Same way, an enlightened person who has attained the state of Śiva consciousness has realized the divinity, God within Him. He who has attained the Śiva consciousness, who is in the form of Śiva, has delivered the Tantra Śāstra to Devi Pārvati.

One more point. Why Tantra Śāstra has been delivered to Devi Pārvati? Lord Śiva has given his advice to Lord Muruga (son of *Śiva), to Nandhi* (the bull, the mount of Śiva placed on a pedestal facing the sanctum sanctorum), to other great seers. To the great seers, Śiva has advised the Upaniṣad (embody the experiences and ecstatic realizations of great seers who perceived the reality and enjoyed it). Even to Nandhi and Muruga, Shiva has showered his advice. But only to Devi he has delivered the Tantra. Only the philosophies or word related messages are delivered to others, but He has showered the techniques required for transforming those words into reality only to Devi. The reason is because only Devi had the deep sense of surrendering. Only when the deep sense of surrendering is present, we can internalize the Tantra and accept them. To internalize the philosophies and words, surrendering is not required. Just intellectual understanding is enough. Logical understanding would do. But to internalize the Tantra, a mental setup for surrender is required.

Let me explain the reason to indicate the importance of surrender. Through a story it will be clear. There was a man who was born blind.

He went to a doctor and asked: Doctor, can you do something and help me get back my eye sight?

The Doctor said: Don't worry, it can be done. I will perform a small operation and then you will get your eye sight. After getting the vision you will not need your stick to walk. That blind man did not understand.

He asked: Doctor, I can understand that after the operation, I will get my eye sight, but I don't understand how I can walk without the stick.

The blind man is used to walking with the help of a stick, and so he asked further: I don't understand, what is the connection between the stick and the eyes? I can understand that I will get my eye sight back, but how can I walk without the stick?

The doctor replied: Sir, I cannot make you understand just by words, let me do the operation and after you get the eye sight, you will understand that you will be able to walk without the help of a stick. You will understand how you can walk without the stick only after you get the eyesight. Before getting your eye sight you will not be able to understand it.

However the doctor tried to explain that the blind person can walk without the stick after he gets back his vision, the blind man will still be confused and will still question constantly about the possibility of walking without a stick. Only after he gets his eyesight he will know that he can without a stick.

Similarly, when a Tantra is given to us we must try it. Until we experience it ourselves, we will not know the impact it can have on us.

Sometimes I tell my devotees: Do meditation you will get money.

They ask me: How is it Master? I can understand that if we meditate, we will be relaxed, we can get mental clarity, our body will be healthy, all these you have proved scientifically and we can understand these. However we don't understand as to how money will flow in? That is not clear. How will it happen? I tell them: Please, do the meditation without questioning.

Actually, when they do meditation by nature they get the clarity in the mind and the confidence. By nature their business will flourish.

What do we mean by business? It mainly involves the ability to make clear decisions. When we have the ability to make clear decisions with confidence, then by nature Goddess Lakshmi (Goddess responsible for showering wealth, as per Hindu mythology) will be with us. By nature money will be with us.

When we have the ability to make clear decisions with spontaneity and with the attitude of taking responsibility then by nature wealth will flow towards us. We will start feeling the fulfillment with whatever wealth we have. If I straight away tell you: Meditate and you will get wealth, the relationship between these two will not be clear. When I tell the above statement to people, they start questioning: How is it Master, we are not able to believe what you say.

I tell them: P*lease don't question, please do it and then you will realize.* If he does meditation for two months, he will realize it by himself.

One thing we should understand clearly, without the mental stability and clarity if we get money, it is very dangerous. It is very risky.

A small story:

A person has won five crores (*Crore*: Hindu rupee denomination to indicate 1 million) in a lottery, but the biggest problem is that he is a heart patient. His heart is very weak. So his wife is afraid to tell him this news.

She thought: What if something happens to him if he knows about this? He will not even be there to enjoy the money.

That lady is filled with worry.

She did not know what to do. Even if money comes, it is a problem.

There was a priest in the village temple.

She consulted him and asked him: Sir, please tell me what to do? Tell me a way out.

The priest told her: Don't worry ma, I know your husband very well. He is my friend for the last thirty years. I will carefully convey this news to him. Don't worry. I will tell him in the right way.

The lady replied to him: Okay sir, but please tell him slowly and carefully, take care that nothing happens to him.

The priest said :Don't worry; I will take care.

So saying the priest proceeded confidently. He was chatting with the man (the husband of the lady who requested him) for a long time. After some time the priest asked the man: Sir, what will you do if suddenly God makes you fortunate and showers money on you? The priest slowly began the topic this way.

The man replied to the priest: Sir, if I become fortunate, then I will be able to live a comfortable and peaceful life. The conversation between them proceeded in this manner.

At one point of time, the priest said: I feel you are going to be fortunate in a big way. I dreamt that you are going to win a lottery. Now tell me, what will you do if you get about five crores (equivalent to 5 million) in a lottery?

That man replied innocently to the priest: Sir, if I get five crores, I will give half of that amount to your temple. Hearing this the priest fell down and died out of shock!

Without the courage to face the situation and the clarity to safeguard the money, even if money flows in, it cannot be retained. If there is courage to hold the money, the clarity to safeguard it and the stability, confidence and solidity in mind, wherever be Goddess Lakshmi(the Goddess of wealth in Hindu mythology), she will come in search of us. By nature, this will happen.

If I tell this straight away, sometimes it will not be clear. That's the reason for the necessity for it being revealed as a technique or a way, that's called as Tantra. Such techniques that can unlock the spiritual treasure and the treasure of enlightenment which is within us is what is called Tantra. Such techniques are declared in the books called Tantra Shastra. For Devi, who surrendered to Him completely and for such Parashakthi (Supreme energy) who accepted Him completely, Shiva advised the Tantra Shastra. This is a very major Shastra. We are going to see the small portion of three parts of the Tantra Shastra in these three parts.

We are going to discuss about Tantra Shastra under the three topics called Nithyam (Eternal), Dhyanam (meditation) and Anandam (Bliss). Our discussion is going to revolve around these three small topics. These three are the basic requirements, for a person to live blissfully.

First requirement is Nithyam. What does Nithyam mean? The ability to analyze the difference between Nithyam and Anithyam (non-eternal or impermanent) and the stability, which we get due to the clarity in decision-making is what I mean by Nithyam. The strong, solid and stable nature for making clear decisions is what I mean by Nithyam. The clarity is what I call as Nithyam. That is, a clear mental setup.

Understand that our mind generally does not have the clarity of thought. We always thrust ourselves into mental depression. Truly, if we see deeply, we cannot be without worries. Only in the beginning we will worry based on some reason, then after few days we will start searching for reasons to get worried. Even if we don't get any reason and everything is going on smoothly then we start thinking: Today everything is going on smoothly. Don't know what will happen tomorrow.

We are so clear that if on a particular day everything is going on smoothly, then we think that the next day we are going to face a big problem.

Let me explain more clearly. If there is a reason then we will get worried for that reason. But if there is no reason, then we think about the next day and get worried. Whether there is any reason or not, to worry is our routine mental pattern. It is a strong and stable mental habit. First, we decide to get worried. After that we start looking for reasons. Only in the beginning we worry for a reason, then after getting the PhD or doctorate in the field of worrying, we don't need any reason, we create reasons within ourselves for getting worried.

Some people come and tell me: Master, I am not able to find the reason, but my mind is filled with worries. Don't know what to do. This is nothing; it is just that we have got used to worrying. Because we got so used to being in the low mood, even if there is no reason, we just sit with a sad face. Even if there is no reason, kids will always laugh. But for us even if there is no reason, we will be dull. That's the reason why we never sit alone. Either we will be sitting with someone or will be in front of the TV. We never sit alone. We do not have the courage to sit alone. Always we spend time with all the people in the world, but we never spend time with ourselves. We never do that. Even if there is no other work, even if there is no program to watch in the TV, we will read the newspaper from morning to evening. We will read the same newspaper from the first page till the last page.

Sometimes, I have seen retired old people, who don't have any work, they cannot sit with themselves. From the morning they will be reading the same newspaper till the evening, without leaving a line in between using big glasses. Even the editor of the newspaper would not have read it so much. The old man's sons and daughters would have been married, even his grand children would have been married, but he would be going through the matrimonial column. He does this because he is unable to sit with himself.

Even we are unable to sit with ourselves alone, constantly we are occupied doing something because we are just unable to sit with ourselves. Anithyam is the mental setup, which travels downward or takes us in a downward direction. The mental setup which goes down day by day towards worries, low mood and takes us to a lower plane is called Anithyam. The mental setup which travels towards the higher plane, bliss, happiness and joy, day by day is what I call Nithyam.

The first thing that we have to get in our life is the clear mental setup that is Nithyam. By clarity of mind I mean knowing what Nithyam is and what Anithyam is and hence taking clear decisions.

The second thing is the intellectual understanding which we get regarding the clear mental setup and which has to be transformed to a conscious level and that's called Dhyanam. Nithyam means just an intellectual understanding. It is very important as a first step. For example, knowing that smoking is injurious to health is Nithyam. To get the ability to come out of the smoking habit is called Dhyanam. Very often, we stop with the intellectual understanding.

One person came and told me: Master, a week back I read a book which speaks about the harmful effects due to the smoking habit. After reading that, I stopped. I asked him surprisingly: Sir, so you have left the habit of smoking? That's really good to hear*.*

He replied: No Master, I left reading such books which confuse the mind.

More often, we stop with intellectual understanding; we don't take steps to make transformation at the conscious level. The intellectual understanding is Nithyam and to transform such intellectual understanding to a conscious level is called Dhyanam. The technique and way to transform such intellectual understanding is called Dhyanam. If Nithyam and Dhyanam happen in our lives, automatically Anandam (bliss) will be expressed. The reason why I use the word bliss is because in every one of us the bliss is always flowering in us, we just have to experience it.

To do this first we have to get a clear mental setup and we have to internalize it by understanding it at the conscious level. When we act in Nithyam and Dhyanam, by nature bliss or the Anandam is expressed. Bliss starts flowering in us.

Dhyanasatsang should not be a place where we just come and collect news and get an intellectual understanding. However if it becomes a place where we understand at the conscious level, then this book will change our life. How much we internalize is what is important. How much the message helps the individual to change his life is important.

A person asked me in one of our programs: Sir, I am reading your articles in this magazine called Kumudham (Magazine in Tamil, in which THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM's messages are published); I saw your picture in that book, in which you look young. But the articles that you write in that magazine are very solid and mature. So I had a doubt, whether is it you who is really writing those points or your picture is just pasted there and someone else is writing in your name.

Some people come in only for checking out the truth. Some people who attend my discourse come with this attitude of doubting.

Please understand that I am not saying it is wrong if you come here with a doubt. Naturally, the relationship will start in that manner. It is not wrong, however if you stop with such intellectual understanding then you will not get the complete result of the Dhyanasatsang. Please do not stop just with the intellectual understanding, be courageous to go further.

One young man asked me: Sir, have you seen God?

Without answering him, I questioned him: Are you asking this after reading about the stories of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda?

Then the young man replied: Yes, I am asking you like the way Vivekananda asked Ramakrishna. So similarly, I am asking you. Have you seen God?

I replied to him: The moment Ramakrishna said that He has seen God, Vivekananda left everything and went behind Ramakrishna. I am not only saying, that I have seen, I will also show you, please come with me.

The moment I said this that person disappeared from the crowd.

We are only ready to check the Master, to see if he has got the requisite qualifications. We should also check whether we have the courage and the quality to follow His teachings. Some of us who check the qualifications of the Master never check our qualifications before checking the Master's qualifications.

So it is not wrong if we check the Master. The moment we check the qualifications of the Master be ready to see the feet of divinity as well. Don't stop just looking for the capacity; be ready to see the feet of divinity. We must be ready to go into these messages deeply for the spiritual messages can transform our life. Spiritual messages can penetrate into our lives. The power of meditation can transform our life. So for this bliss to flower in us, we must be ready to let the bliss flower in us.

Only when the seed ruptures, the plant will sprout. Similarly, only when our old mental setup breaks, the new mental setup can enter. Only when the old mental setup breaks the new life style, the blissful way of life, divine way and spiritual energy will start expressing in us. However, we are not ready to let the old mental setup break. We might do meditation, listen to few discourses, read one or two books and visit one or two temples; but we still retain the old mental setup. We are tightly holding onto the old mental setup. We do not let the old mental setup break.

A lady asked me: Master, there is no peace in our house; please tell me a way out. I replied to her: Ma, the first thing that you have to do is that every night start having dinner together in your house. Just start talking to each other, start chatting with each other and start playing small games amongst yourselves. Let a good relationship flower within you. By nature, peace will start flowering in your house.

That lady said: Master this will not give any results. All these will not be okay. Please suggest some other rituals or Pooja (adoration of the deities with rituals such as lighting lamps, chanting the sacred words). Currently, everyday I do Varalakshmi fasting, please suggest any other fasting methods. Please suggest some other rituals.

Understand all the rituals or fasting is all good. But such rituals should bring about a change in us. The moment she enters the Pooja room (prayer room), she will start performing the pooja (prayer) for Goddess Lakshmi. The moment she is out of the room her husband will get the offerings in the form of scolding. How will there be peace at home?

As long as our mental setup does not change, no rituals or fasting will change our lives.

Generally we hold onto the old mental setup, we do not let it change. We just polish this side and that side of the mind, mend it a bit and we see if we can carry on with this mended mind. That is not possible. Only if the seed bursts out, the plant can sprout up. Only when we leave the old mental setup, can the new life style bloom in us. A new clarity will be born in us.

Some people tell me, I will retain half of my old frame of mind and the balance I will have it from the new one. Please understand, only if half of the seed bursts, the plant will not sprout up. The plant says: Only if the seed bursts, I will be able to come up. The seed says: Let the tree come out first and then I will burst. What happens first? Only when the seed bursts first, can the plant shoot up. Similarly, only when our old mental setup breaks, we can enter into the new mental setup. We can enter into the blissful state. For the old mental setup to break and the new frame of mind to be created, the clear techniques or ways given by Lord Shiva are called Nithyam.

Be very clear that this is not advice. Everyone wants to give but nobody is ready to take. Guess what that is? That is advice. These points are not advice. These are techniques of alchemy. In the alchemy process to convert copper into gold some chemicals are added to copper. It is heated in fire and then by nature, the copper becomes gold.

Similarly, with our confusion (copper in our example above) filled mind, if we add these messages (the chemicals in our above example), and if we heat it with meditation (fire in our above example), then our mind and consciousness become twenty-four carat gold. We have to add these messages in our lives to transform our consciousness and mind into twenty-four-carat gold, to transform our lust to spiritual energy, to transform our anger into love energy, to transform the arrogance into kindness, for this spiritual alchemy to happen in us.

Please play with these messages. We do not have to believe in these messages. Please don't believe in these messages. If we believe in these messages, it will do no good to us. Two things, if we don't believe in these points then these points will do no good to us. Even if we believe in it, again it will not do good to us.

If a person does not believe then he will ignore the words and let it go into the air, he will only think: Let THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM speak, let Him say whatever he wants, I will leave it. We came here to spend time. We listened to it. That's all, it's over. This will be the thought flow of a person who does not believe. On the other hand, a person who believes may think: Whatever message THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM delivered was good. Truly they are all good messages, but those are for enlightened people like Him and not for us. Those are for great seers like Him and not for us. Is this all practically possible for us? Let's leave it.

We can escape from an enlightened person in two ways. One is by crucifying Him to death. That is, by killing Him, that's what Jews did. They did not like Jesus. They did not like His teachings. So they crucified Him to death and thus escaped. The other way is to escape is by praying to Him. One way is to kill Him and escape and the other way of escape is by praying.

Let me explain the second technique of escapism further. In Bhagavad Gita (a spiritual book, in which Lord Krishna, explains the science of self-realization and the exact process by which one can establish the eternal relationship with the supreme), Lord Krishna (the incarnation of Lord *Vishnu,* who is responsible for protecting the universe) delivers a beautiful message. Most of us think that these are beautiful messages and we believe that we can't practice all these. We also think that it is true that Krishna is a great God, so we can decorate Him with a garland around His neck. We can light camphor in front of Him. However we cannot follow all his messages in our life.

Generally what we do instead of following Krishna's Bhagawad Gita, we garland him and start adoring Krishna. Then we proceed to say: Wow, such a wonderful book is this the Bhagawad Gita where Krishna has declared great truths, but we cannot follow all that. May be we can just pray to Him. So thinking we pray to Him: O Krishna, please help me to follow all these messages. Thus by adoring and praying we easily escape from the truth.

A small story:

There was a principal who was sitting near the school and praying to God. The school was on fire and his eyes were closed and he was in prayer.

A person came running fast towards the principal and asked him: Sir, what are you doing? The school is on fire and you are not taking any action.

The principal replied: What are you talking? How can you say that I am not doing anything? I am praying to God, to shower rain. Is this not enough? The moment I start praying, am I not taking the steps towards solving the problem?

Please be very clear that prayer will not straight away be a solution to a problem. If we truly want some solution to take effect then understand that three things are required. They are physical energy, mental energy and spiritual energy. Physical energy means that we have to work hard with our body. Mental energy means using that physical energy with clarity. Spiritual energy means the divine power. Only when the physical work and mental clarity are present, divine power will be showered on us. However, without physical work and mental clarity if we just think that it is enough if we pray to God, then will it make God buy us vegetables? Will God shower a fortune over us? Surely not! If we think that we could simply sit and pray to God, it is enough and that God will shower a fortune over us, surely nothing will be showered upon us.

Be very clear that only after we exhaust the body strength and only after using the mental clarity completely, if we surrender to God saying: O, Lord, I have done my best, the rest I shall leave at your disposal, only then the spiritual energy will be showered upon us. The spiritual strength will be granted to us.

Truly if we see, we are easily escaping from God in the name of prayer.

I have seen many people including our devotees. They will have a big picture of mine in their house. They would have put a garland also around the photo. When I see them, I ask them: Sir, are you meditating? They would answer me: No Master, I put a garland on your photo everyday and I do the prayer everyday. They do not follow the meditation, which I had taught. They do not listen to the messages delivered. They think: Master is a great enlightened person and all His words are wonderful. So we can start adoring Him and praying to Him.

Through these rituals like Pooja, we escape from God. When we do Pooja the mind will say: He is a great seer. Whatever He says will be applicable for Him and not for us. It is not practically possible for us. This is a very tricky way to escape from enlightened Masters and spiritual messages. There is a saying in English: Worship is the worst form of crucification! I tell such devotees, Please understand crucifying in the cross and hanging my photo on the wall are both the same! I also tell them: If you cannot do meditation, please do not hang my photo in your house. Just hanging the photo in your house will do no good.

There is a beautiful word in Tamil, Vazhipadu, which has two meanings. One of the meanings is performing Pooja and adoring and the other meaning is following God or the Master's steps. Only when we follow the way as shown by the Master, performing rituals or pooja will be meaningful. Only when we follow the message as told by Krishna in the Bhagawad Gita then there is meaning in performing the Pooja for Krishna. However if performing pooja serves as an inspiration to follow God or the Master's teachings then it is okay. Then pooja will help us and as well as help others. But without following His teachings just garlanding His photo and lighting the camphor are all just rituals. That will not help in our life.

Whatever our ancestors have created are techniques. These techniques will transform our lives. One of the techniques given by our ancestors is that on the full-moon day we should to go around the sacred hill called Arunachala in Thiruvanamalai in south Bharat. That is a beautiful technique or a Tantra. The reason is that generally when we sit, our mind will not be relaxed. It will be oscillating. However when we move around giving work to our body, we can make the mind sit and be calm. If we move our body fast and make our mind calm, then the mind will be calm. That's a beautiful technique.

In our meditation camps (Ananda Spurana Meditation – ASP, in which seven different meditations to deal with the various emotions are taught by an acharya(person who lives the teachings of the Master) ordained by THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM), we make people do this meditation. We ask people to make the mind focus in one direction and ask them to just move the body. Within 10 minutes, the mind will be relaxed completely. Just within 10 minutes, the mind will be relaxed. When we make our mind focus on divinity, focus on the supreme energy and move our body alone then what will happen is, by nature our mind will be relaxed completely.

The act of going around the sacred hills of Thiruvanamalai, by itself is a technique. Whatever our ancestors have devised is a technique or a way to experience the ultimate truth. To enable the enlightenment experience, which happened in them to flower in others, the techniques that they expressed are the techniques or ways or the Tantra. Let us not think this is an ordinary phenomenon. Let us contemplate on these thoughts. Let us ask ourselves and contemplate often: Truly, is this world an illusion? Truly is the world a dream? How can that be? Some say it is a reality, and some say it is a dream? What can it be?

Let us think about these messages and keep debating about these points within ourselves and we shall discuss the result in the next chapter. Thank you.