Wake Up! – Part 2🔗

Living our life blissfully is the ultimate goal of our life

Next we shall get into the discussion on the eight steps. All these eight steps are the essence of Yoga (the technique for relaxing this restless mind). Let us begin the eight steps.

Yama Niyama Asana Pranayama Prathyahara Dharana Dhyana Samadhayo Vashtangani.

Beautiful Stotra (hymn). The meaning of the above stotra is 'The eight parts of Yoga are: Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Prathyharam, Dharana, Dhyanam and Samadhi'.

We shall learn the meaning of the eight steps as we discuss each one in detail.

Five thousand years back Patanjali has described the way in which life has to be lived beautifully. As early as five thousand years, he has explained to live our life very clearly. This is the beauty of spirituality. Our enlightened Masters and sages have provided the solution for life for the forth coming generations as well. That is they have showed how to live life for the people who lived, who are living and people who are going to live. For all the three generations they provide life solutions very clearly.

Let us see the meaning of this hymn step by step.

We shall begin with the first step. Let us see the first step of the eight steps: Yama (discipline). Technique for this first step: Ahimsa, Satya, Asteya, Brahmacharya Parikrahayamaha.

Patanjali explains about the five characteristics. Patanjali was so far explaining that wisdom is required, clear knowledge is required. He explained that we ourselves should free ourselves from sorrow and misery and thus keep ourselves blissful. There is no treasure, which is equal to knowledge. The straight way to attain the goal is wisdom.

A small story.

There was a hunter and a king who were entering into a forest. On the way they saw the dart boards on which archers shoot their arrows for aiming, while practicing. These dart boards will have circles drawn on it. There will be a big circle and there will be smaller circles drawn inside it and then a smaller one inside it, until it reaches the smallest circle. The drawing will look like a spiral. The archers use these kinds of dart boards for practicing shooting and aiming.

The king and the hunter saw ten boards like those and on all the ten boards, exactly at the centre the arrow had been shot. Both the hunter and king were surprised to see this. They wondered how one could shoot the arrow at the center on all the boards. As huntsmen it was impossible for them to shoot it at the center on all the boards.

They began to wonder: Who is the expert in archery here? Who is the soldier? Who is the expert whose aim is so perfect that he has shot all the arrows correctly at the centre. So thinking they start searching for the warrior. There was an archer who was shooting his arrows against the board.

The king went to him and shook hands with him, saying, Oh warrior, nice meeting you. Please join my army. How were you able to correctly shoot all your arrows at the center on all the ten boards? I am sure you must be a great archer. Tell me how you learnt the archery so well.

The archer replied: I first shoot the arrow and then accordingly I draw the center circle and other circles. That's all.

Even in our life, we search for the goal after living. If we had searched for the goal, before living, then that is different. But we start our search for a goal, only at the end of our life. That is like drawing the circles after shooting the arrows. That will not help in life. Before shooting the arrow, we should have drawn and observed the circle. Even before living our life we should know the goal clearly. The intelligence, wisdom and knowledge which shower the clarity on the goal. This will bring us out of the ignorance, worry and miseries in our life.

In the next Stotra through the words:

Ahimsa Satya Asteya Brahmacharya Parikrahayamaha

Patanjali explains beautifully the mode and the maturity of living. Firstly, he explained what Yoga is. Then next he explains the techniques to reach that. The ways to reach that are given in the eight steps. The techniques under the first of the eight steps are: Ahimsa Satya, Asteya, Brahmacharya, Parikrahayamaha.

The first step is a beautiful step. In which He explains five fundamental characteristics which are required for a man. To achieve anything these five characteristics are required. Here let us split the above verse for explaining them in detail one by one. They are: Ahimsa, Asteya, Satya, Aparigraha and Brahmacharya. He says all these five are required. Let us see every characteristic in detail.

Ahimsa means not causing trouble to others physically, mentally or consciously. It means not causing trouble to others and not putting others in sorrow. Ahimsa does not just mean not hurting anybody physically. But it also means, not hurting others through painful words. This is an important thing which we should understand. Ahimsa also includes not uttering words which will hurt someone.

One person asked me: Master, terrorism is at its peak, how we can eliminate terrorism? I answered him: Don't worry about the terrorism in the country. First handle the terrorism which happens at home. Let us worry about the terrorism in the country later. Let us see the violence in our own house. Look at the way we are hurting each other through our words. Look at the way we are causing pain and misery to each other through our own words. Nothing is going to happen if we talk about terrorism in the country. But there is every chance that we can eliminate the violence in our houses. But most of us have the habit of talking about something which we definitely cannot do. We never talk about something which can do.

One person told me: Master, I love the whole world. I told him: It is easy to love the whole world, but it is dif icult to love your neighbor. Is there any difficulty in loving the whole world? No. It is actually very easy. However it is very difficult to love our neighbor. We can utter impractical words continuously. Some people come and tell me: Master, I have not caused any harm to others or even to small insects. It is very easy not to hurt any insects or ants, but it is difficult to be without hurting our spouse. Of course, we think we should not trouble the insects and ants, but only as long as those beings don't cause any trouble to us.

If we see in our lives, we will involve ourselves in talking and even in doing impractical things. From morning till evening we keep talking that the country has become bad and violence has increased in the country. We don't do anything which is possible for us to do. It makes sense to talk only if we can do something about it.

One of our devotees had come from America. When I went to visit a town, he accompanied me. That was his first visit to Bharat. He was sitting in my car with me. We were crossing a few villages on the way. On the way in the corner of the road some people were sleeping.

Seeing this he asked me: Master the time is 11 O'Clock in the morning and how come people are still sleeping?

I told him: Don't worry about that. It is not a surprising thing in our country. After some distance we stopped for a break and we saw that there were about 20 people sitting in front of a tea shop and chatting for quite some time.

He expressed his surprise to me saying: Why so many people are sitting here and chatting for a long time? Again I told him: This is quite common here.

In our lives we complain saying: The country has become bad and violence is too much in the country. We constantly worry about the country. But this is not in our hands. However, there is something which is in our hands and which is possible for us to do. And that is changing our own house. But we never do that. The moment we start reducing violence and terrorism in our homes, then automatically the country will change. There is no separate entity called country. All our houses put together form a country. Am I right? Country is a collection of all our houses. Only by bringing about change at home, we will be able to change the country. But without working to bring about change in the house, if we complain all the time, we cannot change the country. If any good has to happen, first we have to take the step towards it.

For example, if a village has to be cleaned, the first step most of us would take is going to the complaining mode and end up in blaming each and every official and authority. We always think of blaming others. We never think about what can be done by us. If we decide, we can actually clean one street at least. If we decide, may be at least we can keep one house clean or a garden clean. Without attempting to do something that is possible from our side, we blame as many people as possible. If we can usefully utilize that time which we spend from morning till evening for complaining on various things, that itself is enough, half of the problems in the country will disappear. Country will improve by fifty percent. Nothing else needs to be done. Instead of thrusting the responsibility on other people, let us bring the responsibility into our life.

Ahimsa means whether by words or actions or mentally protecting others by not causing any problems and sorrows to anybody. We may think: Okay we understand that not causing trouble to anybody is a good principle. But how is that going to make my life blissful? This question would have arisen in most of our minds.

Let me tell you a small incident, which happened in Paramahamsa Yogananda's life (an enlightened Master). One day He noticed a rose plant in His garden. There were few roses in the plant and many thorns.

He went near the plant and said: Oh Rose plant, why are you wasting your energy in generating so many thorns? Use your energy to generate flowers. Nobody will cut your flower or trouble you, I assure you, please don't waste your energy in generating thorns*.* Like this he spoke to the rose plant for about five minutes.

Some of us might think this is stupidity.

We might wonder: How can someone talk to a plant? Is he mentally alright? Please be very clear, it has been proved scientifically that our feelings and thoughts are understood by plants and trees.

Paramahamsa Yogananda is a great enlightened Master. He sat next to the plant and conversed with the plant for about five minutes. This incident truly happened. They have captured a picture of the plant. After ten days the thorns which were in the plant started falling.

After two months the plant was completely decorated by flowers. There were no thorns. This has been captured in the scientific records. He did not do any black magic. He had a deep conversation with the plant and encouraged the plant by saying: Nobody will trouble you, this is a place of Ahimsa.

The plant was inside his ashram.

He just said: You don't need your thorns, no one will trouble you. Use your energy to generate more flowers. Don't generate so many thorns.

Since the ashram was a place of Ahimsa and due to the effect of the good words and thoughts, without spending the energy on growing thorns, the rose plant spent the energy on growing flowers. If we could also generate good thoughts meaning generate Ahimsa in ourselves and not waste our energy on the thorns, that is on sorrows and chattering about the problems we face in our life then we can use our energy for creating a blissful flower. Thereby we can create a beautiful, blissful life.

Few days ago one man asked me: Master, my mind is full of sorrows. How do I come out of this?

I asked him: Did someone pass their sorrow to you?

He replied: No master, I have created the confusion for myself.

I asked him: Tell me the reason for that*.*

He said: I am unable to find the reason. Some times my mind keeps oscillating.

The moment I got the confirmation from him that he is confused from his own mouth, I asked him: If you are confusing yourself, can't you make it alright by yourself. He felt like he was given a shot and he said: That's true Master. It is me who has put myself in confusion, so I can make it alright. Then I replied: Good then make it alright. That's all. There is nothing else in life.

Please understand, the moment we get clarity that only we cause confusion then half of the problems will be over. Since we are unable to come to that clarity that we ourselves are the causes for our confusions, we are unable to arrive at the solutions.

A small story.

A King went to see Buddha. He sat before Buddha and he was shaking his legs. Some of us have the habit of shaking our legs. Understand when someone is shaking the legs, it means that the mind is oscillating. The restlessness which is inside is expressed out in this manner. Because the mind oscillates, the legs keep shaking. This is due to the inner restlessness.

Now let us come back to the story. During the conversation Buddha keenly focused on his legs. The moment the King understood that Buddha was observing him shaking his legs, he stopped shaking the legs. The legs that were shaking had stopped. After sometime the king asked Buddha: Oh Buddha, my mind keeps oscillating. It is always immersed in sorrow. Please tell me a way out. Buddha replied: Did you notice the incident which happened sometime back? You were shaking your legs. The moment you realized that I was observing you; you stopped shaking your legs. Similarly, if you come to the clarity that your mind is oscillating, the oscillation of the mind will stop.

The moment we come to the clarity, that we are immersing ourselves into confusion, the confusion stops. Only until we get the clarity, we will have the confusion. Once you have the clarity there will not be any confusion. In our lives, if we start using our energy towards clarity, there will not be any space for confusion. If we direct our energy towards Ahimsa, towards bliss, then we can avoid the generation of thorns of violence. Why am I stressing the need for Ahimsa? If we don't direct our energy towards the path of Ahimsa, then the energy by itself will find its path through Himsa (Violence).

If our energy does not go through the good path, then it will take the bad path. One important thing which we all should understand is that Ahimsa is not a message, which is told for the well-being of others. It is actually told for the well-being of every one of us. Uttering good words towards others means is not just good for others, it is good for us also.

Let me explain the reason behind this. In Psychology an important message is said. We use the same words that we use on others when we are angry with them, on ourselfves when we are angry with ourselfves. This is a very important message from Psychology. When we are angry and violent, if we use harsh words against someone, then we will be using the same words on ourselfves, when we are upset with ourselfves.

Be very clear, we don't have two minds, we just have one mind. So please understand that the words which we use on others are the same words that we use on ourselves. When we are angry, if we scold others with harsh and violent words, then be very clear, when we are guilty of some mistake, we will be using the same words over ourselves. If we see deeply, people who are short-tempered will have more guilt feeling. Just observe the people, who are very short-tempered, if we get to know about their personal life, we will know that they have more guilt feeling. They will have guilty feelings like: Oh, I have made a mistake. They are always hard on themselves. Whenever they are guilty of any mistakes, they constantly beat themselves through words.

Ahimsa is not just told for others well-being, it is also told for our well-being. There are two words, sadist and masochist. Sadist is a person who finds pleasure in other's sorrows. A person who finds pleasure in other's sorrows will suppress himself also in sorrow. Why do you think we are causing problems for others? It is because of the pain inside us. We are trying to exhaust the pain in this manner.

Without any reason, one person was cursing spirituality, a devotee who was sitting next to that person complained to me: Master, he is disrespecting and insulting spirituality, I am sure he will go to hell. I replied to him: No, he will not go to hell, don't worry. Shockingly he asked me: How is that, Master? I answered him: He is already in hell.. He cannot go beyond that*.* Understand that the moment we insult others or put them in sorrow, then be very clear, that we are already in sorrow.

Only if we have something, we can give that to others. If we are giving sorrow to someone, it means that we ourselves are already immersed in sorrow. It means that we are already in hell. We need not have to go to hell separately. The mental setup that wants to immerse others in sorrow is by itself hell. That's what is meant by hell. There is no place such as hell. The anger, violence and pain that put others into sorrow is hell.

A small story.

A great warrior went to an enlightened Master.

He asked Him: Master, What is hell?

Without answering his question, he questioned the warrior: What is your profession? The warrior replied: I am a great warrior.

Sarcastically the Master laughed and said: You? Are you a warrior? Who appointed you as a warrior? You don't seem like one.

The warrior was mad in rage and pulled out his sword, and said: How dare you tease me? See what I will do to you in a minute.

So saying he was about to seize the head of the Master.

The enlightened Master laughed and said: Son, this is hell.

The moment the enlightened Master uttered these words, the warrior understood the message and felt bad for his action.

So begging for His forgiveness he said: Master, please forgive me for my actions. Then immediately the Master said: Son now this is heaven.

Understand when anger and violent actions are at its peak, we get the mental setup of suppressing others in sorrow and putting others in misery. Only when pain and sorrows enter us, we suppress others in sorrow. If we are getting angry with someone then first understand clearly, that there is some problem or some mistake from our side.

For example, if someone blames us by saying that we have stolen 100 million from a bank, will any of us get angry? No. But when someone blames us that we are a short-tempered person and we are impatient, most of us do get angry. This means, when we were blamed for stealing 100 million, we didn't get angry because we know that there is no truth in it. But when we are blamed for being short-tempered and impatient then we get angry. Then what does it mean? In the first statement there is no truth. But the second statement is true to an extent. That's the reason we get angry. When we were blamed for a bigger cause, we didn't get angry for that, because we ourselves know that it is a complete lie. But the second blame is based on minor reason, like being short-tempered and impatient. But the moment we were blamed, anger swells within us. The reason is that there is some amount of truth in the second blame.

If we get angry and we are taking a step towards putting others in sorrow or in misery, then please be very clear, that you are in hell. Without us entering into sorrow, we cannot pull someone else into sorrow. A man who is in bliss, cannot use harsh words on others and lead them to sorrow. He can never say that. Only when someone is in sorrow, he puts others also in sorrow. When someone is immersed in sorrow, then by nature he feels like suppressing others also in sorrow. He is called sadist meaning, putting others in sorrow and deriving pleasure out of it. Masochist means putting one self into sorrow and deriving pleasure out of that. We are not only immersing others into sorrow and misery, we are immersing ourselves as well in sorrow.

So please understand that Ahimsa is not a word which talks about the well-being of others from our point of view, but it also refers to the actions which we do towards ourselves. Do not put others in sorrow. We should not drown ourselves in sorrow. Not putting others in sorrow means not doing any action which immerses someone in sorrow, or the actions which insults someone, be it physically, mentally or consciously. Not drowning ourselves in sorrow means to maintain and run our body and mind in a proper way. We should not give sorrow to ourselves.

We should not always think about what others will think of us. Like for example: 'What will he think about me?' or 'Why was he gazing at me?' or 'What was he thinking about me?' or 'What would they have spoken about me?'

Some people will have spy armies to find out what others are thinking about them. They will send their spies to others to find out what he/she is thinking about them. It has become our job to worry about what others think about us. There is a beautiful proverb, which says: Don't worry about what others are thinking about you, because they are worrying as to what you are thinking about them. This is truth in our lives. We are worried what someone is thinking about us. That particular someone is worried as to what we are thinking about him. Like this, we are constantly torturing ourselves in various ways. Stopping to torture ourselves and stopping to torture others, is called Ahimsa.

Next is Asteya. Asteya means non-stealing. Then you will ask me: Are you saying that we are stealing? The answer is ,'Yes'. Though not directly, indirectly we are all stealing. Let us understand this deeply to know how.

The moment we eat one spoon more than what is allotted to us, then it means that we are stealing from others food. When we eat beyond a limit, then it means that surely we are stealing someone else's food.

Mahavir (an enlightened Master from Jainism) says beautifully: Whatever things and materials are required for us to live in this world are also sent along with us when we are born.

When someone hoards something too much then others are deprived of it.

Another beautiful proverb, There is enough on the planet earth to fulfill everybody's needs, but whole planet earth cannot fulfill one person's greed.

Things are there in this earth to satisfy our requirements. All the things which are required to fulfill the need of millions of people are in this earth. But the whole world is not enough to fulfill one person's greed. Assuming in this world six billion people are there. Then all the things which are required for them are definitely there in this planet earth. However we cannot satisfy the greed of a single man even by giving him the whole planet earth.

Need is different from want. God has given whatever is required for us, to satisfy our needs. But it is not enough to satisfy our wants too. Even if the whole earth is given to someone who is greedy, even then he will not be fulfilled. Need is different from want. When we live just with 'need', then it means we are non-stealers. However, when we go beyond the needs and start hoarding things, we start stealing though not directly.

Thus Patanjali gives a beautiful social philosophy. Our sages and enlightened Masters have given societal rules. We all should understand this. Our sages and enlightened Masters care greatly about the society. That's the reason they have given so many societal guidelines, disciplines and truths.

When I was talking to one of our devotees I was telling him: All our youngsters will know the value of our country, only when they are sent to other countries and made to stay there for a year. They will realize the worthiness of our social philosophies. Like respecting elders, taking care of elders, taking care of parents. Some of us think, the moment the parents get old, they are a burden. But in foreign countries, people go into depression for not being able to live with their parents. Living as a joint family, taking care of elders, respecting elders, all these are ways through which we can avoid ourselves from falling into depression. Please don't think the elders are a burden.

Generally some of us think that our parents or elders are a burden. We will know when we go to other countries and live there. After becoming old and facing loneliness, they will begin to feel bad that they have not taken care of their parents. The social setup of those countries itself is different. Only when we go there and see the pain they are undergoing, we will know the value of our social setup. Immediately after getting married, leaving the parents behind is a horrible mental setup. Most of us will not know the impact of it now. In our old age, when the next generation does not take care of us, only then we will know the impact of it. The life style as designed by the sages and enlightened Masters is a beautiful way to live. This life style is designed based on the solid truth.

Now let us come back to Asteya. Just this one word, Asteya meaning non-stealing, is a social philosophy. Stealing does not just mean taking others things without awareness. Hoarding beyond our requirements is also stealing. Living with whatever we need is freedom. That is actually the biggest freedom in our life. This is a wonderful quotation by an enlightened Master which all of us should know. He says: If you have any thing in your house which you had not used in the last six months, then please donate it to some charitable institution. If you have not used it for six months then are we ever going to use it? That is true. We are not going to use it. But we fill our lofts with all the things.

Apart from this, going for shopping is a major disease. The moment their purse gets heavy some people cannot sit quietly. Actually it's really a disease. Only when they empty the purse, they feel satisfied. Buying something and stuffing the house. Actually if we see, to hide the insecurity which is inside us, we keep buying and stuffing the house. Psychological analysis has been done on this. Going for shopping is a major disease in foreign countries. Psychologists who have done the research on this say: To hide the insecure feeling which is inside us, we buy the things from outside and stuff our house. Buying things giving some reason like: When my daughter or son gets married, we need this. For an event which is not going to happen in the immediate future, hoarding and storing things much earlier in time, is an expression of the insecurity. The expression of insecurity is in the form of stuffing things, which are beyond the immediate requirement. Hoarding things beyond the requirement, is called Asteya. Patanjali says: Hoarding things beyond our requirement is a mistake not only at social level but it is a mistake at the mental and spiritual level also.

If we can implement this message in our life to an extent, may not be at a bigger level, then our life and social setup will also change. But most of us don't think that this is possible. Even before beginning to do something, we ourselves decide that it is not possible to do it. We ourselves decide that all those are difficult things to be achieved. Please understand that possessing things beyond our requirements will remove the bliss and joy from our lives. It will make our lives dull. If we see, a person who lives with too many comforts, a person who brings plenty of comforts into his life, he loses the nature and sensitivity to enjoy the comforts.

Initially when we are using a two-wheeler, we will dream about a Maruti car. After buying a Maruti car, we dream about a Maruti esteem car. If we buy the Maruti Esteem, then we dream about a Qualis car. If we have bought the Qualis, the moment we sit in the car, we dream about a Benz. The mental setup which asks: What next? what next? will make us insensitive to enjoy these things which we already possess. It will make us insensitive to enjoy the things which we already possess.

A small story.

A person is highly absent-minded and is very forgetful. He was reminding himself that moment he reaches home, he has to do three things. He tied three knots in his dhoti (a traditional dress worn by Hindu men), so that he will remember to do these three things. Once he reached home, he could remember only two of the chores. After doing the two jobs promptly, he removed the two knots. But he was unable to remember the third job. He kept thinking as to what it was. He thought: Oh God, I was able to carry out the first two jobs, but I am unable to remember the third one, what it could be? Like this he was thinking about it the whole night. Ultimately the next day morning at 4 o'clock, he was reminded of it. The first point which he wanted to do was to go home and eat well. Second thing was to settle the accounts of the house and the third point was that he has to sleep well. He had done the first two jobs. He had taken his food and tallied the accounts also. Only in the early morning he was reminded that he wanted to sleep peacefully. Thinking that he may forget to sleep, he had tied the knot, finally he had lost his sleep.

In our lives also, we spend our life and ultimately lose our life. Trying to buy a big mattresses, we forget to sleep. We sell our eyes to buy an art. We sell our legs to learn how to dance. We sell our sleep to buy a mattress. Most of us are doing this in our lives. Immediately after getting something, we run to get the next thing. Therefore the thing which was got first is not experienced and enjoyed. If we have an ordinary chair, we never sit and relax on it. The moment we sit on it, we dream about a sofa set. Then is it possible to sit peacefully on this chair? Not possible. If someone cannot sleep peacefully on a mat, then he cannot sleep peacefully on a mattress. Please be very clear about it. The quality of sleep does not depend based on the mat or mattress. It depends on our mental maturity. Most often, some of us lose our sleep in the process of trying to buy a mattress. We begin to spend our whole life trying to buy things beyond our requirements and ultimately end up losing our lives. We lose the sensitivity to enjoy things. When we add more and more comforts, both the mind and the body lose the sensitivity to enjoy the comforts.

If we see there are people in the rural areas or people who live in huts and in the cities. People live in the river banks amongst the mosquito bites or amongst other bacteria. We don't even have 1% of the resistance power that they have. When we become more and more comfort driven, more and more dependent on comforts, both the mind and the body become weak. We don't have the mental energy and physical energy as much as those people in the huts. We don't have the maturity to live life as much as they have. We don't have the ability, the confidence and the solidity to experience the life, which they have.

The reason is as the number of material things or the quantity of the things increases, the quality of life decreases. In our lives as and when the number of comforts increases, the quality of such a life decreases. A man, who lives a simple life, lives his life completely and thus he is fulfilled.

We shall end with these two techniques, Ahimsa and Asteya in this part and we shall see the rest of the techniques and other steps subsequently. May these messages deeply immerse in you, may these messages act in you, and grant the eternal bliss to you and I pray that you may attain the eternal blissful state, the Nithya Ananda state. Thank you. Be Blissful.

Mind! Present moment! Bliss! – Part 1 Live with reality

I welcome you all with my love and respects.

Today's topic for discussion is Agam (mind), Igam (Present), Sugam (Bliss). We are in such a situation that we have to understand these three words deeply. What is meant by Agam? Where is Agam located? Where is the source from which Agam is created? Asking all these questions, if we can search for the form, source and the reality in Agam, then truly, Agam will reach Igam completely and finally merge with Sugam.

Until we start our search, Agam i.e. our mind makes us dull and dizzy. But if we start searching for its location, if we can try and find its depth, then by nature, it will fall into the Igam i.e. present moment and give us the state of bliss or the Sugam. Until we start our search, Agam will stay behind the screen and keep torturing us. When we start the search it will end in Igam and gives us the Sugam or the bliss.

Ramana Maharishi (an enlightened Master of the twentieth century from Thiruvannamalai, in southern Bharat) says beautifully in a song, Manathin uruvai maravadhu usaava, manam ena ondru illai, undhipara. If we start searching for the location and the place of our mind, the depth of our mind and go more deep into this search, we will be down to the present moment and thus experience the blissful state.

What is mind? Mind is nothing but a collection of past memories and expectations or anxieties about the future. Mind is a grouping of the past memories and imaginations and expectations about the future. If we can stay without our past memories and our future expectations for a minute then we can go beyond our mind and reach the state of bliss.

Some people even come and tell me :Master, is it possible for me to go beyond the mind and stay in the state of bliss? It is possible for enlightened people like you or it is possible for people who can afford to spend time for this. How can I do it? Understand that even before starting the process of trying to stay in the present moment and even before starting to proceed, we decide that our life is over and we cannot do it. That is the reason why, most of us don't achieve anything in our lives.

A small story.

There was a Zen enlightened Master. He and his disciple went to a river to take a bath. The disciple accidentally fell into the river and began screaming to the Master for help. Without making any attempts to help him, the Master stood on the shore and said: You stupid fellow, stand up, help yourself.

The disciple screamed again: Master, this is not the time for your philosophy. First save my life. I am drowning. First save me then you can teach me philosophy. Please save me. Again the Master said: You idiot, you can save yourself. You don't need my help. The disciple cried: Master, I am drowning, please save me.

There reached a point when nothing else could be done. The Master screamed at the top of His voice: You stupid man, get up!

Hearing the Master scream, the disciple stood up. He just noticed that the water in the river was knee deep!

He understood that the water was just knee deep after he stood up. Not knowing the depth of the river, he was under the imagination that he was drowning. By his imagination and illusion, he was just drowning himself into sorrow by drowning in the river.

Truly most of our problems are just knee deep. Even in our lives, the moment we just stand up courageously, we will know that whatever we think as hurdles in our lives which cannot be crossed are just up to the knee level. Whatever we think as sorrow, or as problems, or as impossible ones is all so small in size. They are similar to the insignificant knee level water. Similar to the disciple who fell in the river which was knee deep and was struggling to stand up; we also struggle in our lives. Even if we get the simple and ordinary clarity in our life, that's enough. We will be able to stand up. The truth declared by all the people who have stood up in their lives is that all the problems in our life are just up to our knee level.

Not only one enlightened person from each religion, but all the enlightened people, sages and ascetics from all the religions declare that this world is blissful and this life is blissful. We can run and operate our lives beyond all the sorrows. It is enough if we get the confidence that we can run our lives beyond sorrow. It means that we have won fifty percent in our life. Nothing else needs to be done. We just have to achieve the maturity to be in the present. We need the stable ability and the courage to be in the present moment, without being pulled by the past memories and the future expectations. This is enough to change the direction of our life.

A beautiful Sufi story.

There was a Sufi enlightened Master who was doing penance in a forest. A disciple went to visit Him in the evening. He chats with him for a long time. Suddenly he realizes that it is dark. The disciple was worried as to how to go back.

He said: Master, I will have to walk for about ten miles to reach the city. Please do something and show me the light to go back, so that I can reach the city safely. The Master said: Don't worry, keep this lantern light with you, it will show you the way as you walk and you will be able to cross the forest and reach the city safely.

The disciple was puzzled and said: Master, this forest is about ten miles long; you are giving me the lantern light which will throw the light rays only for ten steps. How will this lantern light show me the way for ten miles? Please show me a way through which I will have light for ten miles.

The Master replied: Don't worry; this is the magic lantern. Take this in your hands and move on, you will see the light for all the ten miles.

Listening to this, he took the lantern light and proceeded towards the city. After he walked ten steps, he could see the light for the next ten steps and so on. Peacefully and comfortably he reached the city.

The disciple was thinking that the Master had done some magic, that's why the lantern showed the light for ten miles. But truly, there was no magic. The message from the above story is that we should not club and combine all the problems in our life and see it in one shot. Most of us are trying to see the light in the whole of the ten mile forest at one shot. Similarly, we club all the problems in our lives and see it as a whole and try to find the solution at once, at the same time. In one moment, at the instance, like instant coffee, if we want to solve all our problems, will that happen?

Let us begin to confront our problems, minute by minute, one by one. Confront just the problem which we are facing now. Let us not burden our mind with all the problems. Let us not put our mind in sorrow, Let us not see our entire life as a burden. If we bring all our problems and all the matters to be solved within our eye sight and see it at one shot, we will portray our whole life as a big burden. But if we can see one problem at a time and solve the problem as it comes and if we can live our life in the present, our life will become free, complete, joyful and blissful.

The moment I say live in the present, the doubt which arises in most of our minds is :If we live just in the present, then who will solve all our problems which we may have to confront tomorrow?

Let me tell you a small example to make this clear. All of us have lived for a particular number of years in this world. Has any one of us lived without problems? No. We are living in this world even after having faced and solved many thousands of problems. Say for example, someone is fifty years old and they were able to face all the problems in their life for the last fifty years and were able to live beyond all the problems then they are living in spite of all their problems. Already, our mind has got used to confronting all the problems in the last fifty years. Can't it face the problems for the next fifty years? Definitely it can, now it has got the experience of facing all the problems in the last fifty years.

If we see our lives, failure is not a problem. But the problem is the fear of failure. Also, facing a misery is not a problem, but the anxiety about facing a misery is the problem. In our everyday life, due to the anxiety about facing a misery, fear of facing a problem, we create major sorrows in our lives.

Understand this clearly, whether we realize it or not, accept it or not, we have strong mental energy and mental strength. If this mental energy and mental energy is spent for fearing about the future, then we will start creating such problems for which we fear with our imagination power. The reason for this is that we have the mental energy to do what we think. Unconscious mind has unlimited power. If there is some fear about something or some worry about the future which is clinging on to us, then please be very clear, that we are not just worrying or fearing about it, it means that we have already started working towards creating the ground for the happening of that event which we fear about.

For example, if we fear about a business or a financial loss, the moment we face that fear, let us not think that we just fear about the future event which may happen. We are actually creating the mental setup, which will create that particular event which we feared about. A student who fears that he might fail in the exam will definitely fail. There is no other way out. But even if he passes the examination, he will not get the marks in accordance with his education, with his intelligence and ability. The moment any anxiety, any fear, any worry in life comes up in our mind, we will start creating the event for which we were scared or worried about.

As an example, let me tell you an incident which actually happened. A few days ago, a middle-aged woman was scared that someone had applied some black magic techniques on her. Due to that fear she was suffering from some diseases, physical problems and mental problems. Distressed she came to see THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM.

I gave her a mala (a string of beads which are made of red sandalwood) to wear around the neck and the yantra (a copper plate with a mystical diagram drawn on it for protection) and consoled her saying: Don't worry ma, all the black magic problems which were working on you are now gone, you are relieved of it, nothing will work on you from today.

After a month she became completely alright and there was no problem. She came and asked me: Master, what magic did you do? I am now completely alright. You have some miraculous powers. Please tell me what magic you did. I told her: I did not do any magic. Earlier you had the belief that you were being tortured by black magic and now you believe that you not af ected by black magic. That's it and nothing else. As long as you had the belief that you were possessed by some black magic, your mind was showing everything as black art and ghosts The same mind that made you believe that you were af ected by black magic shows you the clarity that it is not true that you were af ected by black magic. The belief may be due to going to temples or meeting some spiritual Master. Please understand that it is the clarity which has to happen in us.

There is a beautiful proverb which says: Anything which is negative has got no other power other than the power of our belief over it. It could be any thing negative like evil spirits or death fear or fear about life or fear of ignorance or any other fear or sorrow. The ghosts or evil spirits will have an effect over us based on our belief over it. As high as our belief is, that high would be its effect over us. The moment we stop believing it, then by nature it cannot rule us. Anything which happens in our life is based on our past memories or future expectations. If we can just seize the past memories and future expectations, the ignorance which is there in us will fall down without any base similar to the tree which has no strong root.

A small story:

There were two kings who were enemies to each other and lived in neighboring countries. One day they happened to meet in a forest. They both had gone for hunting in the forest. Nobody else was there except the two kings. The moment they met each other, a lion appeared there. As soon as the lion came there, one of the kings attempted to run. Then the other king asked him: Do you think you can run faster than the lion? The king who attempted to run said: It's not required that I should run faster than the lion. It is enough if I can run faster than you, because the lion will catch you.

Like the king in the story who thinks it is enough if he runs faster than the other king, similarly even in our lives, it is not required to solve all the problems. It is not required to cover up everything. It is enough if we can do whatever is required for now. It is enough if we can make this day happy. If we think that we will be happy after solving all the problems in our life, we can never be happy. Just make this day happy. The moment we run our life based on the Igam (present moment), then the bliss will start flowering in us.

The art of living in the present is explained by Patanjali in the eight steps. We have started our discussion with the first step of the eight steps called Iyamam. There are five parts in Iyamam. They are: Ahimsa Sathya Asthaeya Brahmacharya Parikrahaya maha. We discussed about two parts of Iyamam called Ahimsa and Asthaeya in the last section. In this section, we shall see the other parts.

Next we shall see about Sathyam (truth and honesty). What is Sathyam? Sathyam as thought by most of us means speaking the truth. Thiruvalluvar (an enlightened Master who wrote the great book, *Thirukural) gives a beautiful explanation for Sathyam.*

Vaaymai enappaduvadhu Yadhenin yadhondrum theemai iladha Solal.

This is a beautiful explanation for Sathyam. The above verse means that: Truth through words includes those words that do not cause harm or does not insult or disrespect others.

Only in the language Tamil (One of the languages spoken by the Dravidians in South Bharat), there are three words to indicate Sathyam. They are Vaaymai, Meimai and Unmai. Vaaymai means holding on and following the truth through the mouth or verbally. Meimai means holding on and following the truth through body or physically. Unmai means holding on and following the truth through the heart.

Sathyam does not mean just speaking truth through words. Speaking the truth through the mouth alone cannot be considered as truth. Truth has to be followed at all the three different levels. Being truthful from the heart means living our life with a clear flow of thoughts and not being a hypocrite. It is knowing what our thoughts are, knowing how to treat someone, knowing how the relationship between us and someone else should be, the way our life should be run and coming to clear conclusions and following the same. That's what is meant by being honest from the heart.

There are two kinds of relationships. The first one is where one always thinks :'How would someone be useful for me?', 'How to exploit him?', 'What to get from him?' All these questions are asked if we lead a selfish life. That is we are bothered about our benefit alone. The second kind of relationship is where we ask these questions: 'What can I do for him?', 'What can he do for me?' This is a business. The first kind of relationship is really terrible and selfish. The second kind of relationship is a business relationship. The second kind of relationship is okay. The third kind of relationship is when we ask: 'What can I do for him?'

For the people who belong to the first category, truth will never appeal to them. Such people, like blood suckers will just think as to what they can take from others. They will never think whether they can contribute something towards the well-being of someone else. This is one kind of mental setup. The second category of mental setup is based on business, as to what one can get from someone else. That at least is okay. There is nothing wrong in that. Socially it is good. But the mental setup which can completely change our life comes when we think: 'What can I do?' The moment we think what we can do? Unmai (truth) will start flowering in us. That is following the truth at heart level will start flowering in us.

Next is following Vaaymai (truth through the mouth, i.e. through our words). I need not have to explain much about this. All of us know about this. Truth through the mouth means expressing whatever we are thinking as it is. Understanding what others say as it is, without adding any juice to what others say and also expressing what we think as it is, is called Vaaymai.

Let me tell a small story to explain Vaaymai.

There was an farmer in Punjab, in Bharat. He was very proud and egoistic that he owned a large acreage of land. For some reason, he went to America. There he met another farmer. The friendly conversation began among them.

Punjab farmer was constantly boasted about himself and said:, Our land is called 'land of five rivers'. We are doing agriculture three times more than what is being done here, The American farmer did not speak much. He was very simple.

Slowly the Punjab farmer spoke about his vast agricultural land. He started talking about his vast agricultural land. Finally, the American farmer asked the Punjab farmer: How much land do you have?

Punjab farmer answered that he had about 10 acres at the front of the house and 10 acres at the backyard. He was very proud while declaring this. Having 20 acres of land in Punjab is a big thing.

The Punjab farmer asked the American farmer: How much land do you have? The American farmer replied: For me? After having breakfast in the morning, if I start my tractor and go around my land, I would be able to reach the end of my land only during sunset.

Punjab farmer could not bear the answer and so he said: Oh is that so. I also had a tractor like that. But it was worn out and would not run properly.

Since the mind of the Punjab farmer could not accept the size of the land of the American farmer, he was blaming his tractor. That is, not understanding something which was told in the same manner as it was intended to be conveyed, doing jugglery with the words, is false. Not doing such jugglery with the words, understanding the words in the same manner as it was intended to be conveyed, and expressing the answer or the explanation to such an understanding accordingly, is called Vaaymai. Not only we are expressing the truth, but also being on the same understanding and taking the direct meaning of the other words is called Vaaymai. We speaking truth, but not being on the same understanding with what others say is not called Vaaymai.

Next is Meimai. Meimai means following the truth physically i.e. through the body. This is something very important which all of us should know. If there is Meimai in our lives, we can solve any problems in our lives. Only when Meimai is missed, all problems begin. The root of all sorrows is because of missing Meimai. Meimai means following the truth through the body. The courage to live the way we think is right and apt for us, is called Meimai. We might wish to be a doctor, we are clear that we can take up that only. But if we take up the engineering profession for the sake of our parents, then what do you think will happen? Our whole life will become a lie. Using our body for the reason for which we want to live and using our body for achieving what we wanted to achieve, is called Meimai. Courageously living the path which we want to live is called Meimai.

Most of our lives, we wait for the acceptance and certificates or praises or recognition from others. To get such recognition we even change the direction of our whole life. For the words which others utter towards us, for the acceptance from others, we don't hesitate to change the direction of our life. That is the biggest problem. Truly, all the sorrows in our life are because we do not live based on this truth (i.e. truth through body). The courage to live completely the way we think as right is called Meimai.

Let us see a small incident which happened in the life of the great scientist Albert Einstein. If we listen to this incident then we will understand the truth in Meimai. He was a great scientist of the last century. Nobody else could go beyond him in the field of physics. He is still considered to be the greatest scientist of the century. Though he is not there today, all his principles are still alive and being used in different ways by others.

When Albert Einstein was in his death bed, his assistants and students were around him. They asked him: Sir, if you take the next birth, what do you want to be born as? The moment this question was asked, everybody thought that Einstein would want to be a great scientist.

But much to the surprise and shock of everyone, he answered that he wanted to be a plumber in his next birth. Everyone was surprised.

They asked him: Why sir? Are you not fulfilled being a scientist? Being born as a scientist and having earned so much of praise and recognition, why do you want to be born as a plumber?

Einstein replied: All my life from my childhood, I always dreamt of becoming a plumber. I dreamt of working for a few hours and then having fun and enjoying the rest of the time. Since my childhood days, I dreamt of being a plumber. Due to some circumstances in the place where I went for a job, my boss beat me and I escaped from him and started studying. Since I had to live amongst the scientists, looking at them and observing them, I got inspired to compete with them due to jealousy. I studied hard, became a scientist and achieved everything. Of course because I was a scientist, I have earned wealth, recognition and social status. Even after achieving all these, I feel that I have lost my entire life. So if I have a chance to take the next birth, it will be enough if I have the freedom to live my life the way I want and feel the fulfillment in such a life.

Truly if we see, whatever we think as big things in our life and are running behind it, like may be, money, recognition and social status, the moment we achieve these, then we will know that there is no juice in our life. Until we acheive these, we won't understand. Because Einstein achieved all these, he says: There is no juice in whatever I achieved, at least had I lived the way I wanted, I would have felt the fulfillment of having lived my life. He also said beautifully: If we have achieved the fulfillment of having lived our life, even if we happen to die in a platform, we can leave the body courageously with the complete satisfaction of having lived our life and thus can face death boldly. But instead if we don't have the fulfillment of having lived life, but have earned the wealth, recognition and social status, even if we die in an upscale hospital, we will have to struggle while leaving the body. Looking at the way some one has died, we can come to know the way he must have lived. The nature of his death will show the nature of the life he lived. Had he lived with complete fulfillment, then he will leave the body with complete satisfaction. But had he lived without fulfillment and lived his life in a dull way, he will struggle to leave the body at the time of his death.

We all should understand something which is very important. The most important thing which we all have to achieve in all our lives is the fulfillment of having lived our life. The fulfillment of having lived life is an important thing which we all have to earn in our lives. Whatever other things one has achieved in his life, will not accompany him at the time of his death. But the fulfillment of having lived life will change our life and the consciousness and take us towards the state of bliss. The moment we have the fulfillment of having lived life, we can understand the inner meaning of the words satisfaction, joy and bliss.

But we don't have the fulfillment of having lived life. How ever happy we think we are, we will only be thinking that we are in joy and bliss. We can never actually attain the state of bliss. The gap between two wars cannot be considered as peace. If a war ends in 1900 and in 1901 another war begins, then the time gap between 1900 and 1901 cannot be considered as peace period. It only means that during the gap, they are getting ready for the next war. Similarly, the gap between two sorrowful situations cannot be considered as a blissful state. It is we who call this period between two sorrowful situations as joy and bliss. That's all. Understand the time between two sorrowful situations or two miseries is not a joyful period. That is the time during which we are getting ready for the next sorrow. The time gap between two diseases cannot be called a healthy period. It is the time gap during which we are getting ready to be infected by the next disease. That's all.

In our life only when we get the fulfillment of having lived life and having the fulfillment of having achieved what we wanted to achieve, we can have a conscious understanding of bliss. Until then, we cannot consciously feel the state of bliss. Meimai means living life as we think it to be right, as we consciously understand it to be true and thus living life courageously. Some people come and tell me that they want to attend the meditation camps, but they are not permitted to attend by their relations at home. It is true that we have to adjust to many things in our life. It is true that we have to take care of our family.

But if there is something which will help our mental and physical well-being, only we can take care of it. Just because someone is not permitting us to meditate, if we are not meditating or progressing in our spiritual life, then if we are affected physically or mentally, who will be there to support us? May be the people around us can provide us with medication or food, but who will bear the pain? Only we have to face the pain.

That's why, however societal we may have to live our life, life as such is an individual life. Even if the trees are in a grove, every tree is an individual tree. Meimai is living our life the way we want. The courage and the confidence to live our life the way we want, will give the fulfillment of having lived our life. Attaining Meimai and being in Meimai, is the basic requirement of everyone who wants to live his life, be it a normal life or be it a spiritual life.

Next is Aparigraha. Aparigraha means living a simple life. Why should we live a simple life? As said in the first part as the quantity of maerial things and comforts increases the ability to enjoy reduces. If we stuff our tongue with too may sweets, then the tongue will lose the sense of tasting. When the body is experiencing comforts beyond limits, the body will forget the sensitivity while experiencing the comforts and become insensitive to the pleasure derived out of such comforts. It will go the state of insensitivity.

That's why, Patanjali has devised this principle of enjoying the comforts in a proper way, and enjoying with as much comforts as is required. One more important thing which all of us have to understand is that whenever we don't go along with the mind and whenever we say 'No' to our mind, and bring our life into our control, during such times, we are taking a step towards bliss. We take a step towards misery, whenever we follow the mind and say 'yes' to the mind. Whenever we say 'No' to mind it means, that we are taking a step towards bliss. If we just follow the footsteps of the mind blindly, we will not know where we are going to end up.

In Kato Upanishad, there is a beautiful comparative poetry. In our body there are five sensory organs, i.e. the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and the sense of touch. These five sense organs are like the five horses tied to a chariot. Intelligence is the charioteer. Mind is the bridle with bit and reins. If the bridle (the mind) can be handled by the charioteer (intelligence) to tackle the five horses (the five sense organs) then we can reach the destined place. But if we handle the bridle (the mind) in a haphazard way then we will reach the place where the horses (the fives senses) take us. We will not reach the place where we want to reach, but we will reach the place where the horses (the five senses) want us to reach. If we want to reach the place where we actually want to reach, then the bridle (the mind) has to come to our control. Whenever we say 'No' to our mind and bring the mind into our control then in all those times, we are taking a step towards bliss. Whenever we are just following the mind then at all those times, we are taking a step towards misery. Patanjali explains this through Aparigraha.