In the middle of that unmoving expanding energy space, be unclutched and witness Shiva Consciousness.🔗

The key in this whole sutra is 'be unclutched'. Shiva, straightaway comes to the subject. But sometimes I don't go straightaway into the subject because I need to prepare your mind. Shiva is speaking to Devi, but I am speaking to you. That is why I am not straightaway entering into the subject. Our mind is too much bothered about matter. Unless I prepare your mind, you don't start listening to the truth. It takes a lot of time for us to come and settle down into the hall itself. Be very clear, you may be sitting in the hall but you have not settled down into the hall. You may be sitting in the hall. It takes at least 20 minutes for you to settle down into the hall. I have always seen. At least 20 minutes. That is why I am not entering into the sutra. I am just playing.

Shiva is speaking to Devi, so he doesn't have to use more words. He doesn't need jokes. Throughout this book, not even a single joke! Not even a single small story! That is because he is speaking to Devi. She is already completely settled. There is no need for any story. There is no need for any jokes. She is straightaway concerned only about the essence. Actually, in our case, we are too much concerned about too many other peripheral things, and we miss the essence. We just miss the spirit.

A small story,

One yuppie stopped his BMW on the highway and opened the door. Suddenly, another car came and crashed into his. The door was completely ripped out. The yuppie started screaming. Police came, and the yuppie started weeping 'See what has happened to my car!' The officer looked at him and starting shouting 'You yuppies don't care about your life. You bother only about your materialistic things. Don't you see, your left hand is missing?' That guy looked at his left hand and screamed 'Oh my God! What happened to my Rolex watch?"

'What happened to my Rolex watch?'

Again he is only bothered about the matter. Now we are too much engrossed in the matter. We forget the life itself. That's the reason I first try to settle down before entering into the sutra. If you missed your Rolex watch it's OK you can get another, but you can't get another hand. You missed the BMW, it's OK, but you can't get your life. If you miss the introduction it's OK, but you can't miss the sutra itself.

If straightaway I start talking on the sutra, you will miss the sutra, because your mind takes little time. Just the other day one of our devotees was suggesting 'Swamiji, you should start the silent satsang (spiritual gathering).' It is true, I can sit in silence, but you can't. If I sit in silence you will start talking inside your head. Actually, I can convey much more beautifully and the transmission of energy can happen much better if I am in silence. If I am sitting here in silence, much more can happen in you then through speaking.

People ask me 'Swamiji, I don't know English, can I attend your meditation program'. I tell them, 'only you are qualified to attend, don't miss the chance.' There are so many people who come from France, who don't know English, who come from South America who only know Spanish or Portuguese, all these people, they come and ask me through translators, ' I don't understand English, can I attend your program?' I tell them 'you are the only person qualified. Don't miss that chance.' Those who understand English think they understand, that's all. And they will constantly be trying to get the meaning out of the words that I am expressing.

Let you be very clear, you can never understand anything, because I myself don't understand. I know for sure I am not speaking what I want to speak. I am not expressing what I want to express because words are too small to express these truths. Words are too small. You can't express through words. If you don't understand, at least you'll be clear that you have not understood. If you think you have understood, really you are missing. But I can't be in silence. I can't be in silence because if I don't speak you will start speaking in your head. At least you will be a little silent if I start speaking. I am speaking so that you will be silent. If I am silent, you will start speaking. That's the reason I don't do silent satsangs.

Of course, at the higher level, when people are really mature, I do sit with them. In teacher's training, sometime I sit with them even 10 hours silently. Not even a single word. Not even single word is shared. Not only are no words shared, nobody even thinks. Nobody even bothers about talking. We have Nithyanandam programs. It is a 15 days program. 18 hours each day people sat with me. Neither they felt that they needed to speak, nor I felt I needed to tell them anything. At deeper levels you will be able to sit silently. In the initial level, you won't be able to sit. If I stop teaching, you will start speaking in your head. You may not speak with others, but you will start speaking with yourself. And it is better even if you misunderstand. It's ok, at least in the end I can give you a little clarity.

One more small story.

One lady was speaking to her next-door neighbor. She was telling her 'Today I started my day beautifully, I really feel good. I gave \$5 to a bum.'

Neighbor asked '5 dollars? It's too much. Your husband didn't say anything about it? What did he say about it?'

'He just said thanks, and left!'

First you may miss what I am saying. At least at the punch line, you may get what I want to express. With the first line you may miss what I want to say, but with the punch line, you will catch what I want to express. That's the reason I am continuously speaking.

All right, it is time and let us enter into the sutra. I request all of you to be totally attentive. Please sit straight so that you won't miss. Here, Shiva is taking us word by word to the deepest experience. I tell you, one thing, if you can be aware the next one hour, if you don't miss a single word, I promise there's every possibility of liberation. You don't need to practice this meditation because this meditation doesn't need to be practiced. The very understanding will lead to experience. He leads you step-by-step into your core. Every word takes you to the next layer, and he's showing you the very nature of your being, to the core of your being. He is trying to express it. It is better if you don't close your eyes.

Usually if you close your eyes, you may think you are listening, but slowly you are lost. Moreover, I express more in body language than through words. So when you are listening to audio discourse, you can close your eyes, but when you are listening directly from the Master, sit with full awareness.

Ramakrishna always says, 'whenever I go to an extreme state, whenever I go to the level of expressing the truth, I feel suddenly that somebody is choking my throat'. Only to a certain extent, I am able to express. After that I feel that somebody is choking my throat. I am not able to say what I want to say. When I first read this about Ramakrishna I felt how can this be true? Who can choke your throat? How can you say you cannot express what you want to express. I didn't believe, but really now I am able to believe. Now I am able to experience what Ramakrishna means.

There are some things, when you try to express it through words, put it through words, so much comes up that a big traffic jam happens in the throat. The traffic jam of the truth happens in your throat. Your vak, energy of communication, loses the power to express. If one or two things are to be expressed, then your vak is alive, active. You can express. But if there are so many things ready to be expressed they crowd the passage. When the passage is overcrowded with the truths and the traffic jam of truths happens, you really feel your vak is too small.

Vak means the power to express. The ability to express is too small to tell the truth, to communicate it adequately. To tell you honestly, I am really feeling the same thing now. The vak is too small. The power to express is too small to express this great truth that Shiva is expressing in the sutra. So I may try to express it inch by inch, little by little, and layer by layer. Please be attentive for the next one hour. The understanding will lead you to the deepest experience of your being. And there is every possibility you will be liberated in that very moment of understanding.

In the middle of that unmoving expanding energy space, witness Bhairava and be unclutched.

Then one attains the Shiva consciousness.

You don't need to even practice this technique. All you need to do is just be aware of this technique. There are some techniques that you need to learn and practice to experience. There are some techniques in which the very understanding takes you to that level, takes you to that depth when you suddenly see that you are experiencing. In Vedanta, there are three levels. The first is sravana, which means understanding the technique by listening to it. Next is manana, which is meditating on it, contemplating, and practicing it. Finally it is nidhityasana, which is expressing the truth.

You need three steps to internalize, which are understanding, practicing and expressing. Here, with this technique you don't need the three steps. The very understanding simply liberates you because he's taking us to such a deep level, to the depth of your being. He's taking us to the core. He's taking us to a different space that I call the 'Zen Zone'. Zen zone means the zone in which already you are liberated. It is the zone in which you are unclutched. It is the zone in which you exist as you are. He's taking us to the zone beautifully without any practice. As far as this technique is concerned, the very understanding is enough. You will suddenly wake up realizing, 'Yes, I am in that state'. Nothing else needs to be done. He's taking us to that zone.

The energy of breath should neither move out nor enter.

Yesterday I was explaining how to be relaxed or to feel comfortable in the neutral space. We feel comfortable with incoming breath or outgoing breath but we don't feel comfortable with the neutral space. That is why you just jump the neutral space. You don't give your attention to neutral space. Whenever the neutral space comes, you say 'quit', and you jump. Whenever the neutral space comes, you do fast-forwarding. You just fast forward it. Continuously you are fast-forwarding the neutral space. When you sit and watch a movie, if you don't like some scenes, you fast-forward it. You just jump. Same way, whenever the neutral space comes you jump and you fast-forward.

Yesterday I was asking you to feel a little comfortable with the neutral space, in the neutral zone. Now he is taking us to a different depth. He says you don't even have to feel comfortable with the neutral zone. Just understand you have neutral zone and relax. Whether you want or not, you are going to have neutral zone. Even if you do fast-forwarding or jump, the neutral-zone is your nature. Every moment, the neutral-zone is going to happen in you. That space is happening in you. The neutral space is constantly happening in you. Even if you avoid, the neutral space is happening in you.

He says:

In the middle of that unmoving expanding energy space, be unclutched and witness Shiva Consciousness.

Let me explain how your mind is moving and how you are thinking. First, in all the sutras so far he has spoken only about breath. He never used the word mind. First time he is bringing that word. First time Shiva is introducing the mind. First time he is bringing the word mind and first time he is uttering the word nirvikalpataya. This means, be unclutched. It is the state in which you don't have any vikalpa. You don't connect and see. Vikalpa means connecting the kalpana, imaginations*. Nirvikalp*a refers to the space where you don't connect anything. Kalpa itself means 'connecting' or 'imagining'. Imagining is what meant by the word kalpa. Here, he says nirvikalpa, where you don't connect. You are unclutched.

Let me just explain how you think, how you think you are thinking.

I am describing this zone. I am describing only this zone. This zone I describe in a detailed way, at a much deeper level. This is the close-up view. Shiva is taking us little further, so I am giving you the close-up view. This is what I call 'neutral-space'.

Every moment, every kshana, again and again you experience this neutral space. Constantly it is happening in you. Whenever your incoming breath turns around as outgoing breath or outgoing breath turns around as incoming breath, this neutral space is happening in you every moment. You are constantly changing gears. Whenever you change gears you have to go into neutral space. Let you be very clear, if you are constantly changing gears, this also means that constantly you are unclutched. Every moment you are unclutched.

Now one more thing you need to understand. Yesterday I was telling you that because you don't feel comfortable with this space you just fast-forward over it. You jump over it. You jump from here to there. You do not give your attention to this space. You give attention to this space and that space, but not to the neutral space. You give attention to the incoming breath and the outgoing breath. You don't give attention to the neutral space. You just jump. You fast-forward. You jump the neutral space. That is why you feel this gap of breaths is more and this gap of neutral space is less. That is why you feel the incoming breath time and outgoing breath time is more than neutral spaces.

One important thing you should know. You may think the incoming breath time and the outgoing breath time is more than the neutral space, but in actuality they are not more. The times are the same. You need to understand now about time.

According to the Western mind time is chronological. Time is measured in seconds. According to Eastern mind, let me say the Eastern 'no mind' understanding, according to the Eastern sages time is psychological, it is not chronological. Kshana is not equivalent to a second. Please be very clear, in Vedic system, we measure time with the unit called kshana. Kshana is not the same as a second. Kshana is the gap between one thought and another thought. Kshana means the gap between thoughts.

Please understand, if you can follow, if you can come a little deeper into this sutra, Shiva is straightaway showing you the ultimate truth of your very nature. Shiva doesn't believe in changing your activities. He believes in changing your belief about yourself. He doesn't bother about your activities.

Throughout this book, not even a single statement of morality is given. He doesn't say speak the truth; he doesn't say be non-violent; he doesn't say be a celibate; nothing of that sort. He doesn't give a single moral injunction. He doesn't give you a single instruction. He straightaway shakes your core, changes your idea about yourself. He just shakes and changes the idea that you carry about yourself. Done. Over.

He doesn't believe in cutting the branches. He straightaway removes the root. He goes straight to the root. Then naturally morality will flower in you. That's why I say that Shiva is the only solution for the modern day. He doesn't speak ill about anything. He never says what you should do or what you should not do. He gives no rules at all. He says just do it.

Let me tell you that rules make you schizophrenic. If you are interested in becoming schizophrenic, if you want bipolar disorder, start practicing some rules and regulations. It is a direct method for madness. With rules nothing sensible can be done.

With the truth you don't need to do anything; simply the whole thing will start expressing itself. Shiva just changes your idea about yourself. See, the moment your idea about yourself changes, you start existing in a different consciousness, altogether in a different space. Nothing needs to be done. No teachings are necessary to control you.

All teachings are like the police. They are just cops who are sitting inside you. Teachings are nothing but cops who are sitting inside your brain. Here, there is no reason to give you any teaching. Just this single understanding is enough.

Just this single understanding is enough; your idea about yourself will be completely changed. The moment your idea about you changes, there is no need for any morality, any teaching; you will simply start expressing the morality. You don't bother about anything else.

If you are given morality, if you are given teachings, you will be constantly bothered about the other half. For example, if you are asked not to do something, you will be constantly thinking about that only. If you are a grihasta, a householder, you will constantly be fantasizing about sanyas or monastic life.

People think about me, 'What a beautiful life he is leading. You see, it is a liberated life. See, he goes all over the world. People are always bowing down to him. When he says something people listen.' And if you are a swami, a monk, you just fantasize about the other zone. 'I think am I missing something. I don't know what all is going on in life.' On both the sides you will be missing something about the other half.

Of course, a paramahamsa is not a mere swami or sanyasi, be very clear. Paramahamsa is a person who has experienced the truth of his being, who is beyond the four ashramas of brahmacharya, grihasta, vanaprasta and sanyas; celibate, householder, forest dweller and monk. He is beyond all these four ashramas. Only then he is called paramahamsa. Any one else will always be bothered about the other half.

A small story:

A seven year old boy was taken to the psychiatrist because he was not eating. Doctor made him to sit and after one hour slowly he said 'whatever you want you can eat, please start eating something; have something'

The boy said 'I want to eat worms'.

He ordered a plate of worms and some worms were brought.

The boy said 'I don't want a plateful, I want only one'

The doctor threw away all but one worm.

The boy said "now, cut it in half"

It was cut into halves.

Then the boy said 'now, you eat one half. You eat half, only then I'll eat'

Finally, the poor doctor since he had to do something somehow swallowed one half.

Then the boy started crying "Oh, no, you ate my half!"

Be very clear, if you are stuck with rules, you will be bothering always about the other half. You will be missing the other half.

Here, Shiva is not giving you any rules. He is just taking you step by step to the core of your being, and giving you the clarity, you are not what you think. You are not what you are thinking as you.

Now you need to understand the circle. There is the neutral space. This is the incoming breath. This is the outgoing breath. For you to understand, I expressed this as more space and this as less space, but Shiva says that this is not so. Both spaces are the same because the gap between one breath and the other breath is the same as the breath itself.

The gap between one thought and another thought is the same. Be very clear, kshana means the gap between one thought and the other thought. It is not one second as you think.

Gap between this thought and the next thought is what he calls as kshana. He says further that whether you give your attention or not, this space and that space, the NS the neutral space and the incoming or outgoing breath, all spaces are equal. We think that the breathing space is more because we give too much of attention to it. Even if you give much more attention to it, the space is not more.

Let me give you one small example. If you are sitting with somebody with whom you feel completely comfortable and in tune, you are just relaxed. Even if two or three hours pass you will not know how time flew. Suddenly you realize, 'Oh, god, it is already 8 o'clock. I have to run. I have so much of work.'

On the other hand, if you are sitting with somebody with whom you don't feel comfortable or with whom you don't feel relaxed, every five minutes what you will do; you will look at your watch. And you will say 'What is happening? Did my watch stop or what? Don't you have any other work?'

If the number of thoughts is more it is hell. If the number of thoughts is less you are in heaven. Be very clear, if the number of thoughts are more chronologically it seems to be the same time, but psychologically you feel time is more. It is because you give more attention here you think you have more thoughts here and you think this space is more than neutral space.

You think that the breathing space, breathing time is more than the neutral space. Please understand, this is because you think you are having more thoughts. Because you think you are interested in thinking. Because you give more emphasis to your identity you may think that the time of incoming breath and outgoing breath is more than the time of neutral space; but in reality it is not. It is just a psychological game. The kshana of breathing space and the kshana of neutral space are one and the same. .

Because you are having too many thoughts, you think this breathing space is more, but in reality this space is not more. Do note that you also miss the depth of this space. Here in the incoming breath space you have identity. In outgoing breath also you have identity. In both you have identities. Identity is the space that you know. However, in the neutral space you don't have identity. The big problem is that when there is an identity you are able to connect and see all the identities. You connect and see. Let you be very clear. Let me explain to you this way.

Between the incoming breath and the outgoing breath is the neutral space NS. Your identity exists in the incoming and outgoing breath spaces. Constantly you can connect and see you are connected. But because in this gap, this gap of neutral space your identity does not exist, you don't connect the gaps; so you jump over this gap.

For example, the thought which came to you 10 minutes ago, the thought which came to you 10 years ago and thought which came to you 20 years ago are all independent of one another. They are independent, unclutched and separate thoughts. But thoughts have got identity. Because they have identity you connect them and see.

The thought that happened 10 minutes ago is number one. Thought that happened a year ago is number two. The thought that happened 10 years ago is number three. You can connect all of them because they have identity. However, the gap between thoughts that happened 10 minutes ago, the gap between thoughts that happened 1 year ago and the gap between thoughts that happened 10 years ago are not connected because they lack identity; you don't connect them and see that you are constantly experiencing gaps.

Let me put it in a little deeper way, in a little subtler way. The depression that you had 10 years ago, the depression that you suffered 7 years ago, the depression that you suffered 3 years ago and the depression that you had yesterday are all independent, individual, unconnected thought shafts. But because they are thought shafts, you start connecting all of them and create the shaft of depression. You have an idea that your life is depression.

'For last 10 years I am suffering with depression, Swamiji'. You create a big shaft. You take all these unconnected, unclutched pieces. Each bit is a small unclutched bit. You just take all the unclutched bits. You connect all these small bits and create a big shaft.

Be very clear, the pain which you had 10 years ago, the pain that you had 9 years ago, the pain that you experienced 7 years ago, the pain that you experienced 3 years ago, and the pain that you experienced yesterday are all unconnected, independent, individual thought shafts. You connect all these thought shafts and create one big shaft; then you start thinking and you start believing that 'life is pain'.

The joy that you experienced 10 years ago, the joy that you experienced 9 years ago, the joy that you experienced 3 years ago and the joy that you experienced 1 year ago are all independent, individual, unconnected thought shafts. Now you connect all of those thoughts and create a big shaft of joy.

In life, the only thing that you do is either creating the shaft of pain or creating the shaft of joy. When it comes to the shaft of pain you try to stop it. When it comes to the shaft of joy you try to enlarge it. But you don't understand that you can neither enlarge the shaft nor stop the shaft; simply because the shaft itself doesn't exist.

The shaft is not there for you to enlarge or stop. The very shaft is your imagination. It is an imaginary connection. Please understand that this connection is just imaginary. Whether you want or not, in every moment there is an unclutched space. You are unclutched. You are unconnected. You are an unclutched shaft but just because of your imagination or fear of losing identity you create constant connection to maintain your identity. This identity or this connection is imaginary.

For example if it is a pain shaft with the pain experience 10 years ago, the pain experience 1 year ago and the pain experience 10 minutes ago, you connect all of them in your mind. Through your imagination you connect them and create a pain shaft. If it is a bliss or joy shaft, the joy that happened 10 years ago, the joy that happened 1 year ago, the joy that happened 10 minutes ago, you connect them through imagination and create joy shaft.

If it is a pain shaft you try to stop it. If it is a joy shaft you try to increase it. You don't understand that you can neither stop the shaft nor enlarge the shaft because this shaft does not exist. Whether you see it or not it is pure imaginary shaft. It is a purely imaginary shaft whether of pain or bliss. Whether it is a pain shaft or joy shaft you can neither stop it nor enlarge it because the shaft doesn't exist.

Just write for 10 minutes whatever thoughts come to your mind without any editing; do not touch them up, just write whatever comes out and then read. You will suddenly realize that all your thoughts are unconnected, irresponsible, completely unclutched, illogical and independent thoughts.

Be very clear, your first thought and your second thought are no way connected. There is no logical connection. There is no responsible connection. There is no link between the first thought and the second thought. If you just write whatever comes in your mind for 10 minutes and try to read that paper, suddenly you will ask: what is happening with me?

For example, if you see a dog on the street you get the same fear that you had when you were a young boy. Next moment you start thinking about your childhood and the dogs that you were afraid of in your childhood. Third, you start thinking of your childhood days. Then you start remembering the teacher who taught you. Then you remember the place where your teacher had his house. Logically, the dog that you saw on the street and your teacher are not connected at all. Of course, both of them have barked at you; that is different. But logically they are not connected. See from where your mind starts and where it ends.

Just write down, pen down whatever you think for 10 minutes without editing and read that paper. Suddenly you will realize that all your thoughts are unconnected, independent, illogical, irresponsible and completely unclutched thoughts. They have no connection. Logically they are not connected at all. By your very nature, you are unclutched.

The whole social training is to make you believe that you have continuity of thoughts. Society constantly trains you to hold onto either the shaft of pain or the shaft of pleasure. If you start believing the shaft of pain, you will spend your whole life trying to stop that shaft and waste your life. If you start believing in the shaft of pleasure, you will spend your whole life trying to enlarge that shaft and destroy your life.

The one and only maya, illusion, is in believing that your thoughts are connected. That is the only illusion. Let me be very clear and honest. Whatever spiritual techniques you may practice, whatever meditation techniques or anything else that you may practice to enlarge this shaft, let me tell you that you will never be successful.

Please understand, I am saying the truth. I did what all need not be done and so have the right to tell you what can be done and what needs to be done. I have done things that were not necessary; this is why I say I have the right to say what is necessary. Whole day and night I would chant; actually after some time even when I am sleeping I am able to rotate that mala. Even if I was sleeping, one part of my mind was constantly moving those beads. By constantly repeating you are trying to create a shaft; it may be of pleasure or what you think as pleasure or what you believe as pleasure.

See, at some point when you suddenly entered into some new experience you must have felt joy by singing 'Rama Krishna' or 'Govinda' or 'Shiva' or some name. You must have felt some ecstasy. You are trying to reproduce that ecstasy by repeating that mantra; then the whole experience disappears. It is just like the way a person feels really happy and blissful when he dates and he then tries to reproduce that experience by marrying. Now you will understand. Now you understand what I mean. It is the same thing; exactly the same experience.

See, you feel joy when you are dating because you experience the gap. You experience the unclutched state. You feel the joy when you are singing that name or chanting some mantra at some moment because you relax in that unclutched space. It is not because you are repeating the mantra but because of the unclutched space. Suddenly, somehow you fall on that NS, neutral space. That is the reason you experience joy. When you try to make it as a ritual all you will have is depression.

Let me be very clear, however many years you may practice you can never make your mind concentrate on anything. Let me be open and clear. I tried my best. I spent years. I was not able to concentrate. Only two things happen. You either suffer with the shaft and die or realize that you are unclutched by your very nature.

The shaft doesn't exist by your very nature. There are only two choices. No other choices. You can never enlarge that shaft or stop that shaft because that shaft doesn't exist. The connection itself is imaginary. How will you fight with the imaginary enemy? If you have the shaft, you can enlarge or stop, but the shaft doesn't exist.

The shaft is purely your belief. The pain that you had 9 years ago, the pain that you had 10 years ago and the pain that you had 20 years ago are independent and separate incidents. When you start connecting them and try to create logic and try to create an understanding, then you create the shaft that 'life is pain'.

When you try to generalize your experiences you create a shaft of pain or joy. The moment you start believing in the shaft of pain or in the shaft of joy you have created hell for yourself. Then you will always be behind that shaft, either to enlarge or to stop.

Your whole life is nothing but playing with the shaft which doesn't exist. That is what Sankara means when he says 'life is maya'. Maya literally expands into 'ya ma iti maya'; meaning that which does not exist. You are fighting with a thing that doesn't exist. You are just fighting with imaginary shafts. You are trying to stop or enlarge the shaft that does not exist.

Let me be very clear, whatever techniques you practice to stop this shaft without understanding that the shaft itself does not exist, you will never be successful. Once you have this single understanding then you don't need any technique. This very understanding is a technique. You are liberated. With this very understanding any simple technique can liberate you. Without this understanding no technique can help you.

I have seen people chanting, 'Rama Krishna Govinda' or some such thing for years. Not years but decades, all they had is decay, nothing else; nothing else. See the people who chant sahasranama, the Lord's thousand and eight names. After a few minutes they will be singing the number; they will look at whether they have reached 200 or 300. What are they doing?

Honestly, tell me, is there any single person who doesn't look at the number when he chants sahasranama? I can't believe any one can do it without peeking at how far they have progressed. I know, because I have done it! I am talking the insider's view. It's not that I have not done it. I am speaking the insider's viewpoint. And nothing can be done about it.

A small story,

One young novice brahmachari, an initiate, young guy, he goes to an old monk and asked, 'Master, how can I control negative thoughts? How to get rid of these lustful thoughts? How long does it take to get rid of these lustful thoughts?'

The old monk says 'How long? I don't know how long it takes to stop, but not surely until 90'

So, be very clear, how long it takes I don't know, but even if you practice 90 years, you cannot concentrate. You mind cannot concentrate. No technique will help you unless you have this understanding. With this understanding there is no need for any other technique. Even if you practice a simple technique with this understanding such as lifting your hand or talking to somebody or just sitting quietly, you will be liberated.

This understanding is the base for the whole spiritual journey. All your thoughts are completely unconnected, independent, illogical, and irresponsible. Above all, they are unclutched.

If you write down your thoughts for just 10 minutes you will understand. Your thoughts are completely mixed up; sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometime this and sometime that. You don't know what is happening. You can always see that even in the peak of joyful moment there will be one negative thought and you try to think 'no, no, no, I should not think about this all this time. Let me divert my thoughts.'

Even in the time of some deep negative problem you will suddenly have a positive thought. Even in deep suffering you will have some positive thoughts; even in the worst suffering you will have some unconnected joyful thought. Even in the peak of joy you will have some unconnected negative thought.

By your very nature, you are unconnected. You are unclutched. When you start believing you are clutched by your imaginations and when you start believing you are connected and you start connecting the thought that happened to you 10 years ago, the thought that happened to you 7 years ago and the thought that happened to you 3 years ago and you try build the shaft, you are creating an idea about yourself.

You start creating an idea about yourself and you start creating an identity. The moment you create an identity, you have created a state of hell for yourself. You will try to work constantly to improve that identity. If you think that identity is painful you will constantly be trying to make it better. If you think that identity is beautiful you will constantly work to better it. The moment you try to create an identity, be it pain shaft or bliss shaft you have created hell for yourself. You can neither enlarge the shaft, nor stop the shaft because the shaft just doesn't exist.

The shaft doesn't exist. Every moment you spend in trying to improve your identity and your personality is a waste of time; all this self development is pure rubbish. Your self cannot be developed. You are completely unclutched. You may be given an idea that your self is being developed.

Let you be very clear. Because you carry one thought that your self is not good, I can just take away that understanding and give you one more understanding that your self is beautiful. You are instantly developed.

I always tell people, people come and ask me 'Swamiji, how do you heal us? You take away so many negativities, so many karmas, how do you heal us, please tell us Swamiji.'

Now I tell you clearly the whole business secret, let you all be very clear. The very first thought that you have, the idea of body mind is by itself is an illusion. When you come with that illusion then you have some pain or some disease, I just take away that illusion and give you one more illusion you are healed, that's all. I just take away the illusion that you have disease and give you another illusion that you are healed. You are so strongly attached with the first illusion that you naturally get attached to the second replacement illusion and become alright, that's all; nothing else.

Please understand first that the thought that you have a body itself is an illusion by itself. That's the first thought shaft that you create and suffer as a result. Now, neither do I stop that shaft nor I enlarge that shaft because neither can be done. I just add one more shaft that 'you are healed'. And now you struggle with this new shaft. You leave the old shaft and you catch hold of this new shaft. Of course, you think that this is little better shaft. You are made to believe that this shaft is little better shaft.

One guy says, 'I was rich, now I am poor, I feel richness is better.' Same way, you were healthy and then you suffered with disease. You believed the health shaft is much better, so I just take that disease shaft away from your space and insert the wellness shaft, that's all, nothing else. The new idea about yourself straightaway creates your new body.

Let me tell you another personal experience.

I lived in the forests of Central Bharat during the days when I wandered as a monk. I lived with some tribal people for a while. I saw once that they erected a new hut in one corner of the village. A pregnant woman went into it in the morning and after a few hours came out with a baby. Then they celebrated. I was within hearing distance of this hut and there was no screaming, nothing at all. Then the woman came out with the new born baby.

I asked one of the elders in surprise as to how the delivery took place with no pain at al. in did not hear the woman utter any noise.

He was surprised at this question. 'Pain, what pain?' he asked, 'Why should a pregnant woman feel pain while delivering a baby?'

In that culture there was no conditioning. There was no connection between delivery of a baby and pain. This amazed me till I understood how this happened.

Recently, I read a beautiful book by Dr. Bruce Lipton called Biology of Belief. He says clearly 'your body is not controlled by cells and tissues as you are made to believe. Your body is controlled by your positive and negative emotions and your belief systems'.

Be very clear, he says very clearly that your body is created and controlled by your thoughts and not by cells or tissues. If you believe that you have disease, you create a disease body. When you are made to believe you are healed you start creating the healthy body. It is purely the shaft with which you are playing, nothing else. Nothing else is there. You first play with that shaft and then you play with this shaft.

That is why I tell you that in every gap you create your body. In every gap, in every neutral space you create a new body. But if you again and again bring your old identity, you will be again creating the same old body. Biologists say that once in every 6 months you have a new liver; not even a single cell or atom of the old liver exists in you now. Once in every 21 days your whole intestine becomes new. Your whole body is replaced within one year.

Whatever body you had a year ago you don't even have a single cell from that body today. It is completely new. 'Then why are we carrying the same diseases, Swamiji?' you may ask. When you believe that you are same person and when you believe that you have the same identity you also carry the same disease.

When you bring the same old identity, by your faith, by your imagination, by your connection and by creating the thought shaft, you also bring the same body. You reproduce the same body that you had one year ago. Constantly you are creating your body. If you create the same personality by connecting and creating the shaft, you will create the same body.

If you start experiencing the truth that by your very nature you are illogical, irresponsible, independent, unconnected and unclutched, you will start creating a new, alive and fresh body, like that of a child. Kids are so alive because every moment they create a new body. They are not stuck with a shaft so they don't have any idea about themselves.

That is the reason why even if yesterday you fought with them, today they will be smiling at you and they will be laughing. They don't carry records in their minds. They don't carry identity. They don't have shafts. They do not connect with yesterday's fight, day before yesterday's fight and the fight that happened one month ago. They are free from the shaft.

Now, Shiva says, very clearly,

When the energy of breath neither moves out nor enters, meaning it is neither incoming nor outgoing and when the center unfolds by the dissolution of thoughts, meaning when the neutral space is happening in you, become unclutched.

Realize that you are already unclutched. This thought and that thought don't have any logical connection. Except for your belief that you think that they are connected nothing else is working against you.

People come and ask me 'Swamiji, how to break my habits?' Be very clear, 2 days ago you were smoking, 10 year ago you were smoking, or 20 years ago you were smoking. All these three incidents are completely independent. They are not connected. Mentally, when you start connecting, when you start believing that you have the habit of smoking and that you are addicted to it, this is the belief that creates a shaft.

You then start fighting with the shaft that doesn't exist. Understand this one truth. The shaft that you create doesn't exist. You connect the smoking of 10 years ago, 9 years ago, the smoking of 3 years ago and how you smoked yesterday. You connect all these and create a thought shaft, a belief system that you have the smoking habit and that you are addicted to it. Then you start fighting with it.

If you believe it is joyful experience you continue to smoke more and more. If you believe it's a painful experience you start fighting with that shaft. Either way you don't win.

Even if you believe that smoking is joyful, try to smoke without restraint and see for yourself how you feel. When you smoke and inhale it can never be a pleasurable experience. It is not joyful. You can see this in your own life.

The definition of addiction is this. If you don't do it you will feel terrible that you are missing something. If you do it you won't feel the joy. If you do it, it will not be great; it is mechanical. If you don't, you will feel that you are missing it. If you start believing that smoking is joyful, if you don't smoke you will miss it.

When you do smoke, in that moment, see what is happening in your inner space. You are not enjoying anything; you are just trying to escape from something. You are just running. You are restless, that's all. You are not relaxing. You just believe that smoking is joyful. Even if you don't feel joyful when you are smoking, you try to squeeze joy out of it. You try hard to squeeze joy out of it.

See, deeply scan and screen your life to see whatever you think as joy even if you don't feel joy. Whether it is sex or greed or taste, any pleasure, even if you don't feel the same joy as you perhaps felt the first time, you try to squeeze joy out of it. You try to console yourself 'no, no, this is joy. What else is joy?' You try to cover the frustration by your belief that it is joy. You try to cover the frustration that it is not joy. You are not ready to believe it is not. You want to believe it is joy.

Same way, if you decide something is pain, if you start believing something is pain, even if it is not painful, you try to force yourself, you try to imagine, you convince yourself it is pain and continue to struggle.

Whether it is the habit of addiction or the concepts of joy or concepts of pain, everything is purely unconnected, unclutched and illogical thought shafts. You connect them. Now you have a tremendous fear 'If this is true, how I can live? My whole life is messed up now. Some thoughts are coming, some thoughts are going.'

Please be very clear, because you believe some thoughts are connected and that they are joy, you start giving life only to those thoughts. If you believe some thoughts are painful, you try to take energy away from those thoughts. You are not able to live your whole life, you are choosing with which part to live. You are breaking your life into parts. You are choosing.

If you understand that you are unclutched and that you are full of independent, illogical, unconnected and unclutched thought shafts, suddenly you will feel deep integrity in yourself. Suddenly you will feel that you are elevated to a different plane. Suddenly you will feel a discipline happening in you that doesn't need to be monitored.

You don't need supervision and rules. You don't need any balancing. You are flowing in a totally different way. As of now, you are afraid. 'If it is true that I am unclutched and unconnected, then what for am I running? Then where am I running? What for I am going? What for I am living? What is exactly happening? Then how will I live my life?'

Tremendous fear rises in you. You start thinking, 'if I am unclutched, how will I go back and do my work? How will I go back and live my life? Somebody may take away my property. Physically, I may be swindled, and mentally, I may lose my balance, I may start doing anything and everything, because I am unclutched, unconnected.'

Be very clear, these are fears created by your mind. Your mind never allows you to trust yourself. The moment you trust the gap, the neutral space, you will lose respect for the thought shafts. You can have trust either in the thought shaft or in the neutral space. Both the neutral space and the shafts influence you. If you trust the neutral space, then you won't be able to trust the shaft. If you trust the shaft, then you won't be able to trust the neutral space.

From a young age, through your school, college, university and office, everyone has taught you to trust the thought shaft and to develop the thought shafts, work on the thought shafts. You call this self-development. Now you know the meaning of the self-development. Constantly you are taught to work on yourself and on your thought shafts that do not exist. Even if you try to develop yourself, even if you attend thousands of seminars, unless you understand this truth, your self can never be developed.

You cannot develop the shaft that you think constitutes the self because it doesn't exit. How can you develop anything if it doesn't exist? It is purely your imagination. Somebody asked me, 'Then how do we feel so good when we go to these self-development courses, Swamiji?' You have the idea that you have low self-esteem and they just take away those words and give you new words. It is just the feel-good factor, nothing else.

Somebody goes to Ramana Maharishi, "Bhagavan, I'm so happy to see this Arunachala, I'm in heaven, the moment I see this Arunachala this whole beautiful energy field and space."

Bhagavan says "Be here for three days, everything will become alright".

Three days after the self development course you are back to normal. That is what it is. All these are feel good factors, nothing else. Do not be cheated by the feel good factor. Please understand the truth, the reality, as it is.

By your very nature, you are unclutched, unconnected, illogical, random and independent thought shafts. When you understand this, suddenly you will see that witnessing consciousness is rising in you.

When you understand you are neither this space nor that space, when you understand you are neither the incoming breath nor the outgoing breath, when you understand you are neither the breathing space, nor the neutral space, you will realize that you are just this paper where both are written and when you understand you are neither the pain shaft nor the bliss shaft, then suddenly you realize you are the witnessing consciousness in which the whole drama is being played.

When you understand you are neither this shaft nor that shaft, suddenly you wake up to the reality that on you all these shafts are drawn. You realize you are not the movie that is being played but that you are just the screen on which the movie is going on. If you are engrossed, if you are completely lost in the movie you forget the screen.

When you open up, when you wake up you realize that you are not the movie but that you are the screen on which this movie is getting played. Your mind will never allow you to believe that you are unclutched because of two things: Whatever you possess as your identity, your outer-world, your wealth, relationship, everything is based on the idea that you are connected thought shafts. This is your collective identity. If you relax from that identity you may lose all those things, who knows? That fear is the first thing.

Next thing is your morality, your idea about what you should be doing, is it right or wrong? If you lose the identity, if you don't trust that you are connected thoughts, your identity about yourself itself will be lost. The identity that you show to others will be lost and the identity that you have about yourself will also be lost. How will you then realize what is right and what is wrong for you? There is no basis to judge. Mind will never allow you to believe that you are unclutched.

Be very clear, as long as your mind doesn't let you trust you are unclutched, it can control you and it can play its games on you. The moment you trust yourself and trust your consciousness, your mind cannot control you and it cannot play its role on you.

One important thing, even you can see in your profession is this. The person who wants to exploit you will first make you believe that you can't run your business without him. He will give you the impression that you cannot survive without him, that's the first thing. Then he can go on exploiting you and he can play all his games. You can't do anything about it. The moment you start believing that you cannot survive without him, you will put up with him.

Same way, the first thing your mind does to you is to convince you that you cannot be alive without it; that you cannot survive without it. It makes you trust that you cannot survive without it. The moment it convinces you that you cannot survive without it, you are lost; you've created your hell. The moment it convinces you of this, then nothing more can be done. Then you will never try to drop the mind. You are caught with the fear. You are gone. You are finished.

Your mind will not let you believe so easily that you are unclutched. It'll try to bring all possible logic and if it can't bring any logic it will bring tremendous fear: 'What will happen to my property, what will happen to my personality and what will happen to this and that?'

Be very clear, nothing bad will happen. Everything will happen in a much better way and much more smoothly. Just understand this one simple example, and then you will be able to understand what I mean by the fear of mind.

Understand this one simple example. In Hindu forests, hunters will place a stick on a string to catch birds. To catch parrots and sparrows they will just hang a stick tied by a string between two trees. When the stick is hanging between the trees the parrot will come to sit on it. The moment the parrot sits, because of the parrot's weight, what will happen? The stick will just turn topsy-turvy, upside down. The moment it turns upside down on the stick, the parrot will start thinking 'Oh, if I let go I'll die!' and it will hang on to that stick.

The moment it turns upside down and loses its sense of balance it will feel totally shaken and just catch hold of that stick. It will hold on to that stick and hang on to that stick. It will think 'If I unclutch my feet, if I let go, what will happen? I'll fall and die', because it is hanging upside down. Now, because the bird thinks, 'If I let go, I'll fall and die or hurt myself' it will just catch the stick tightly, and hang on to it.

The hunter will come leisurely after 4-5 hours and will pick the parrot up, put it in the cage and go. The foolish parrot doesn't know that if just relaxes, he could have flown out and be liberated. He doesn't know that he can just open up and be liberated. This is not fiction. I have seen this done with my own eyes.

Similarly you do not know that if you just leave your mind, at that moment you can become paramahamsa. At that moment you can be liberated. At that moment you can start flying. The same fear that the parrot had is what you are having now. Your fear and parrot's fear are one and the same. The parrot believes that he can't let go and if he relaxes he will die. Similarly you too hold on to your mind and you feel, 'I can't let go, if I start trusting that I am unconnected, unclutched, independent and illogical thoughts' I am lost.

You will have the fear, 'what will happen to my identity that I project to the outer world, what will happen to the identity which I'm projecting to myself?' The tremendous fear that the parrot experiences, is the same fear that you feel; nothing else. One important thing lesson is that the parrot is not flying by holding on to that stick out of fear. What is happening? Slowly the hunter will come, take the parrot away and put it in the cage. The parrot neither has the freedom to fly nor the stick to balance.

In the same way, Yama, the god of death, will come to remove you from your identity. You will neither be a paramahamsa, a liberated soul, nor will you be able to hold on to the identity that you have. You will neither have the freedom nor will you have the stick that you are holding.

Be very clear, the hunter is Yama. He will come for you, for sure. When the hunter comes, the parrot will lose the freedom it had and the stick that he held. He will lose both. Same way, when Yama comes, you will lose the freedom that you had, the inner space, or the consciousness and the identity that you hold on to now tightly. Both will be lost.

Let you be very clear, just the same fear the parrot has, you too are having. You too are holding on to your identity and hanging for dear life. This moment, trust yourself, do not bother about losing your identity, trust that you will never have any problem, just trust yourself and let go your identity. You will become paramahamsa straight away and you will be liberated.

All you need to do is to trust that you are unclutched. Even if you don't trust that is the truth. Even if you don't trust, that is the truth, nothing can be done! But you have a vested interest in your false identity. If you trust that you are unclutched, it is too much to believe. Your vested interests are getting shaken.

Let you be very clear, even if you try to avoid the truth because of your vested interests you cannot save yourself. The hunter will come today or tomorrow, just pick you up and put you in the cage. You are exactly in the same situation as the parrot is. You are just a parrot hanging with the identity, nothing else. You believe so seriously that if you let go you will fall and hurt yourself or die and so you hold on to your identity.

Let me tell you, if the parrot lets go and relaxes, just for a moment or two it may flutter to balance; one or two moments it may have to balance itself but it will never fall and die. Let you be very clear, let go and you will never fall and die; you will only become paramahamsa.

To become paramahamsa all you need is trust; to trust yourself and let go. You will never mess up anything and you will never miss anything because you have never tried even once. You never had anybody to tell you.

Let me be honest, I tried. I relaxed. I never missed anything. You never had anybody around you to advice. Now you have. Relax and let go. You never had any courageous words. You never had anybody before to tell you. Relax. Let me tell you, I was in that space and I know what will happen. You will never fall and die and you will never hurt yourself. All you need to do is to let go and you will beautifully start flying. You too will become a paramahamsa.

Society can never accept what I say. It cannot tolerate your freedom; that is why it never gives you the courage. You cannot then be enslaved. You cannot then be manipulated. You cannot then be exploited, if you are a paramahamsa.

If you are in their cage, they can play with you and they can make you repeat all the words that they want you to. They can feed you when they want, what they want. And they can make you fly as they want. They can make you sit on their shoulder. You will be useful. You will just be a utility.

That is why you are never given the confidence that you are a paramahamsa. You are paramahamsa. Just relax; you may have one thousand fears rising in you about losing your identity; don't worry. All those fears are just those parrot fears. Even if the parrot falls two three feet and then balances, it is worth risking. It is a worthy risk. Understand, even if you fall for few minutes, if you are not able to balance for a few minutes, nothing wrong. It is worthy risk. May you let go and be liberated.

May you all become paramahamsas.

It is now time to enter into the technique. To tell you honestly it is not even a technique; it is just entering into the space, because no technique can guide you into that space. It is not even a technique. Now we are going to enter into that space. Now we are just going to realize what we understood. We will enter the same space in which Shiva exists. Shiva gives a beautiful technique in this sutra to experience that space of 'be unclutched'. Once you experience this space, no technique is necessary.

Actually, to tell you honestly, this whole truth is the wisdom of Shiva. Don't even mistake it is mine. Let me offer the whole thing humbly at his feet; at the feet of the great master who landed on the planet earth. Never ever think it is mine or anything, if at all you feel grateful for knowing this truth; just be grateful to Shiva*.* It is his wisdom, his truth.

Let me be very clear, when I myself experienced this I felt so much of gratitude. I wondered how he could think so deeply and give a solution exactly suited for modern man. See whatever you think as your problem, whether physical, mental, emotional or health, straightaway this technology can solve. The moment you experience this space, straightaway physical healing starts happening. All your irritations and mental health issues of addiction or depression will disappear the moment you experience this technology.

The moment you experience this space they will disappear, because the depression which happened one month ago, the depression which happened 1 year ago, the depression which happened 3 years ago are unconnected and unclutched. The problem is when you start believing that you had depression and same depression you are having continuously, that is when you start fighting with it.

If you know it is unclutched, independent and separate, you don't think the enemy as a huge giant who is sitting in front of you. You don't even feel like fighting. His head is separate, his leg is separate and his body is separate. There is no huge giant. You don't think of fighting with him.

Only when you imagine you have a huge problem in front of you, you start fighting and getting into more trouble. Your fighting with depression is the root cause for your depression. Let you be very clear. It is the same way with fear. Your fighting with fear is the base support for fear.

In Ramayana there is a beautiful story. Whoever stands in front of this monkey king Vali and fights with Vali loses half of his power to Vali. Same way, whoever stands in front of that shaft and starts fighting with that shaft, half of their power will go away to that shaft. Vali and thought shaft are one and the same. You will never win. You can never win.

You create the shaft because you fight with the shaft. You create the whole thing because you fight with the whole thing. The moment you experience this neutral space, the healing starts, because the inner healing starts happening. The moment inner healing starts, physically also you are healed. This technology, this space, is the best space to heal the depression. It is the same with your addictions.

All your addiction as well as attitude towards addiction will disappear. You will even forget the idea that it is joy. Then naturally where is the question of going and running behind that habit. It simply disappears.

See, habit is a beautiful word. If you remove 'h', 'a bit' will remain, if you remove 'b', 'it' will remain, only when you remove the 'I', which is the shaft 'it' will die. Only when you remove 'I', only when you throw 'I' away, it will die. It will disappear.

It is the same with all your problems of guilt. This one space is enough. You will lose completely the idea about guilt, because the guilt of yesterday, guilt which happened one month ago, guilt which happened on year ago, they are unconnected, unclutched, independent thoughts. Only when you connect and create you give power to the thought shafts, which by themselves they don't have.

In Bharat, in every town one gangster will rise. Every year, new gangsters will come up. If you are living in any town in Bharat you know this. One gangster, one don dies or goes to the jail, next don will come up. They either will die fighting amongst themselves or with the police or they will go away to jail, then the next person will rise.

See, first day when the gangster comes out, he himself will have a little fear, but the moment people know he is a don, they will start obeying him. When everybody obeys him, though at first he himself may not have confidence in himself, but when he sees everybody obeys him, he will then get the confidence. 'Yes, now I can take these guys on!' His whole body language will be transformed.

Same way, when mind comes to attack you, it will not have enough confidence. When you are afraid of it, when you are caught by it, then it gets the confidence. You give confidence to mind to attack you. Once you show your fear, once you show that you are very fragile, that's enough for your mind. Now you are caught. Now it gets its seat.

For spiritual growth as well this is the ultimate space in which you can experience the pure witnessing consciousness. When you understand you are unconnected, illogical, random and unclutched thoughts, you realize that you are the space in which the thoughts and the gap are happening. You are the space in which the incoming breath and the outgoing breath and the neutral space are happening. You are beyond all these three. You are just beyond all these three.

This neutral space is neutral space only as long as you have the incoming and outgoing breaths. When that is diffused it can't be called anymore as neutral space, because it is the nature; it is your original state. This is what I call eternal consciousness, Shiva consciousness.

Now it is time. Let you understand and liberate yourself, let you all become paramahamsas. The moment you understand this truth, the moment you relax, the inner healing or the bliss comes out and you feel the freedom. Once you start feeling that freedom that is enough; it will give you tremendous confidence and courage to fly, to spread your wings in the sky. You will see that your being just becomes paramahamsa in mahakasa, in the pure cosmic consciousness.

Let us enter into the Shiva consciousness. Please close your eyes. Sit straight. Now you can wear your eye bands. One more thing, now, the technique that you are practicing, once you have that experience, after that you don't even need to practice the technique. Just remembering this experience is enough, you will be again in that same space. Only in the initial level, you need to relax. Just like a parrot, taking off. Once you take off, you don't need to bother about anything.

Meditation

Slowly start witnessing only the incoming breath. Do not bother about any other movements, or neutral space. Just witness the incoming breath first. Be the witness. Be aware of incoming breath.

Slowly start witnessing only the outgoing breath. Now forget about the incoming breath, just witness, and be aware of outgoing breath.

Slowly, very slowly, be aware of both the neutral spaces; when your incoming breath turns into outgoing breath; when your outgoing breath turns into incoming breath. Be aware. Witness both neutral spaces.

Intensely, be aware of both the neutral spaces.

Be aware of neutral spaces and incoming and outgoing breaths. Just be aware of incoming breath, neutral space, outgoing breath, and neutral space.

Be unclutched. Whatever thought comes in your mind, do not connect. Do not even think you are thinking constantly. Even that idea comes because you connect your thoughts. They are just completely independent thoughts. Do not connect them and create one more thought that 'you are thinking'.

Let independent bubbles rise and fall. Let independent thoughts come and go. Do not connect them and think you are thinking. Be unclutched. If they come let them come, if they go, let them go. Do not think you are thinking. Every thought is independent, illogical and separate thoughts. Do not connect them, and think you are thinking. Your idea that you are thinking is a lie. Relax from your mind. Let go. Be liberated.

Be unclutched. Do not even try to be unclutched. If you are having thoughts, let them come, let them go. Just understand that they are unclutched. They are independent, individual thoughts.

Om shanti shanti shantihi

Relax. You can open your eyes. Try to be in that same space. Just see. Even these thoughts are completely unclutched. Your inner space is beautiful and purely unclutched.

Now when you come back to your identity, let you understand one more important truth. Now you know that this is your identity from which you fly. Once you learned flying, then it is no more a trap, then you can just come and sit on this stick and swing. The trap can become a swing for you.

Same way, once you know that you are unclutched your identity is no more a trap for you, it can just become a swing for you. When you come back to your identity, just be very clear, you are unclutched. That space will give you the tremendous freedom that your identity is no more a trap on which you are hanging, it is just a swing on which you are swinging.

Now, whether you are flying as paramahamsas or you are playing with your identity, you are liberated. Let you be liberated, and celebrate this great liberation from Shiva himself.

Q: Are you saying, just unclutch, detach, do you duty, don't expect any reward, things will take care of themselves, just like Krishna said, like Jesus said, this too shall pass?

A: Every thought passes. Each thought is independent, random and unconnected. Therefore, every thought shall pass, when the next thought takes over.

I am not asking you to do your duty. Duty is a word of conditioning. It is something that you feel you must do because that is what you have been brought up to believe. It is not something you do out of awareness and intelligence.

Responsibility is a better word. I always tell my disciples that spontaneity arises out of the responsibility that you feel to all that is around you. You do not define your responsibility as in a job description. It is not a boundary. It is not that you will go this far and no further, and let someone else take care of what lies thereafter.

The same definition holds good, not only in space, but in time as well. When you are in the present moment, unclutched, you automatically take care of the future and the past. After all it is the present that reaches out to the future. Once you take care of the present in awareness, your past cannot haunt you and the future will not disappoint you.

This is what Krishna meant when he said not to worry about the results of your actions. He said to renounce the results of actions to him not because he is going to get rich by collecting all the stuff that you think you worked for, but because he wants to lessen your suffering arising out of expectations.

When you are unclutched and in the present moment, you allow things to unfold as they ought to. You do not renounce action but the results of action. You become more energetic since thinking about and worrying about the results of your actions no longer stress you. You are constantly double-checking, constantly second-guessing. No, that is not what Krishna meant.

This too shall pass can be interpreted in two ways. If you interpret it in a fatalistic manner thinking what can I do, everything is destined, then you are misunderstanding the statement. Nothing is destined. You have the free will to shape your destiny.

What it means is that life is not an even climb or an even descent. Life is a roller coaster. If you accept whatever happens as normal and with equanimity, you will stay centered. Alternatively, if you are centered, you can take everything as they happen to you without flinching. Joy and sorrow are the filters we use to create those emotions. They are the slides we project, not the screen. The screen is blank. You can change the slide.

We create pain and pleasure shafts by connecting thoughts that happen randomly. Once you truly understand this concept that each thought is independent, random and unclutched, you become liberated from these pain and pleasure shafts and develop an energy that allows you to do what you think is the impossible.

Comparing me to Jesus and Krishna is just another clutching on your part, that is all. You only read Jesus and Krishna, you do not understand them nor imbibe them. Please do not do the same thing to me. When you understand me, you will also understand Jesus and Krishna. Our words may sound different but the energy is the same.

If you had really understood Jesus and Krishna, their words would have by now woken you up from your slumber. You would have been enlightened by now. Since that has not happened, you have become my responsibility now! So, don't let me down.

Be very clear, these teachings are given to penetrate you. Do not make one more shaft out of them. Let them straight away touch your being, let something straight away happen in you. Let you not be the same person, when you go back tomorrow after the program.

Someone asked, could I use this shaft in the initial stages of my spiritual path? This is an important issue. Be very clear, none of you is in the initial stage. No question of initial stage or ending stage. Spirituality is not like a cancer. In cancer only 4 stages are there; in enlightenment no 4 stages. Either you are enlightened now or never.

Patanjali says beautifully about the 8 steps. Until Samadhi, you have not even taken the 1 st step. After Samadhi no steps are required. He says very clearly, even though he has described 8 steps, until Samadhi you have not taken even the first step. After Samadhi no step is required.

Let you be very clear, thinking that in the initial level you are the seeker, you are in the beginning level, all these things are words that confuse you to postpone the transformation.

Let you be very clear, the idea that you are in the beginning level and all these things are just consolation. See, I have seen people who say, 'Swamiji, after 30 years only now I've started growing'. It will never happen. These are all words. Why do you want to come to that stage after 30 years? Let me tell you the truth now itself.

I have a big Research and Development department. I have so much of data available from all the professional seekers and seekers who are seeking for the last 30 years 40 years. I am making the whole thing available to you. Why don't you use all these things? Why don't you update yourself? Why don't you update your intelligence with all this available data? Why do you want to wait and after 30 years come to the same understanding? Update yourself with the intelligence available.

Let me be very clear, you will never feel you are progressing with your mind. You will always feel that you are in the initial stages. This is also a false shaft that doesn't exist. This shaft that says 'I feel good and energized after meditation' is just another pleasure shaft. You should feel like that all the time and you can.

Let me be very clear. Anybody can come and give you some technique and tell you that you are having spiritual progress. Spiritual progress means straight away having enlightenment. Anything less than enlightenment straight away means that it is an empty guarantee. It is a feel good promise.

Let you be very clear I am also teaching so many meditation programs. It will all give you the feel good factor. Nice thing. It's like you go to a temple and sit for half an hour and chant something and you feel very relaxed. You feel relaxed because you forgot about your problems, your mother in law, your family and your wife, nothing else. Just that feel good feeling, it is no way related to spirituality. If you are happy with that, do that. I have no problem for you to start at that level, but please do not stay there, don't get stuck there in the empty hope you are making progress.

But, if you are really serious about your transformation and if you really wanted dhyan, try to understand what I am saying*. When I use the word dhyan*, I mean the experience of samadhi. If you are really interested in the ultimate experience or the truth, understand that what I am saying is the truth.

There are levels of truths. Physically doing anything, physically offering yourself is worship. Verbally offering is japa. Mentally offering is the visualization. Now I am saying completely offer your being, offer your identity itself. Only then you will be able to transform your being. Otherwise part by part you will be just playing games.

So, nothing needs to pass except your thoughts. Just unclutch from them. Understand that they are your bondage if you connect them and that you can be liberated once you understand that there is no connection at all between one thought and another.

Let you be liberated!

Discourse 4