'i' or 'I'?🔗

There are thousands of problems that one faces in this life…each one of us faces one problem or the other. Nobody is an exception. Though problems may vary from person to person, there is one problem that is common to all of us…the 'I' problem…a universal problem.

Someone asked Ramana Maharishi 'Bhagavan, I want peace.' Bhagavan just smiled and replied, 'Just drop the 'I' and the 'want' and what remains will be peace'.

Throughout his life, he gave only one solution to all the problems. He believed that only self-inquiry or asking oneself 'Who am I?', will lead to the ultimate experience. Almost all the religions and Masters have spoken at length about this universal problem. They have addressed this problem in great detail. When Jesus says, 'Be still and know that I am God' and Buddha says, 'Atman is light; I is the light', and Islam says, 'I am the Truth' and Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita says, 'I am Everything'…they are all speaking from a different level of Consciousness. They are in the ecstatic state of Enlightenment.

Some ardent Krishna devotees once asked me 'Master, do you believe in the Bhagavad Gita?' I replied…yes, the Gita is the ultimate expression of spirituality; it is the unabridged dictionary of world philosophies. There can be no other book better than the Gita. Hearing this, they said, 'If you think so, then Krishna is everything. Why are you then worshipping other gods? Worshipping Krishna will suffice.' I then explained to them that when Krishna said 'I am everything', He was in the inspired Consciousness mood. It was not Vasudeva Krishna, the son of Devaki and Vasudeva who was speaking; it was not Krishna the man, but the energy called Krishna…Parabrahma Krishna who was speaking. It was the Divine Energy. He was in the ecstasy of the state of Enlightenment. It had nothing to do with the form.

When you are enlightened, you feel that the whole world is you and you are the whole world. The energy which moves the sun, the moon and the earth, moves your body too. When you experience the Ultimate Experience, you will understand this Truth.

When I said that Krishna was in an enlightened state when He spoke those words, they immediately asked me to give proof that he was speaking from that state and not as an ordinary man and I had to substantiate this theory with an incident from the Mahabharata.

Two to three months after the Kurukshetra war, Arjuna and Krishna met to spend some time together. Arjuna asked Krishna to deliver the Gita once again to him. He said 'Krishna, I was so involved in the war when you delivered those beautiful truths and understandings to me. I have not been able to retain most of them. Can you please repeat them? If it could be recorded, it would be of immense value to future references.' To this request, Krishna just smiled and said, 'I have also forgotten. When I gave you the Gita, I was in the state of inspired Super Consciousness…the Enlightened Energy was working through me. I was Parabrahma Krishna and not Vasudeva Krishna.' Of course, Krishna promised to remember and recollect whatever He could. Whatever he recollected was compiled as the Anu Gita. This is a much smaller book and does not have all the teachings that are in the original Bhagavad Gita.

Sometimes I say that an Enlightened Master is God. When I say that, I am not referring to this body or form but I am referring to the energy that is moving their body. So, don't catch the form. Go beyond it; otherwise, you will get stuck. You will catch the Ego. Many devotees tell me…you are God, you have solved so many of our problems; you have healed us. Thousands of people perform arti (traditional offering of prayer lamps) to my photograph and chant my name as a mantra.

Someone asked me 'How do you feel when they do such things? How do you feel when you are being worshipped?' Honestly speaking, I don't feel that this body is mine. I don't feel that this form is me. If you feel that this body is yours, it means that you have ego. That is why when somebody worships my photograph and performs an arti, I also do a namaskar (joining of the palms in respect) to the photograph. Sometimes, when I visit a devotee's house, I perform a puja there. My photograph is also there along with those of other deities in the puja room! So, when I perform the arti, I do it for my photograph too…I cannot ask my devotee to remove only my photograph. Understand clearly… I don't associate myself with this six-foot body.

If the 'I' is understood, it becomes Divine, Bliss or God. If it is misunderstood, it creates enormous troubles. On the one hand, people are saying that it is creating trouble. On the other hand, Masters are saying, 'I am God, I am everything.' Most of the religions say that the Ultimate Truth is 'You are God'. Both the statements are true. Then, what is the difference between the first and second I? The Upanishad beautifully says 'I have known the Ultimate Truth, that you people are the embodiment of Consciousness. You are the expression of the Ultimate.'

There is a mahavakya (literally, great saying) in the Vedas "Aham brahmasmi" or 'I am God'. There is another mahavakya in Shankara's commentary 'Shivoham Shivoham' or 'I am Shiva; I am That.' The Devi Sutra says 'I am the Goddess of the Whole Universe'.

What do they mean when they say I?

In the ordinary sense, it is this I which creates all the troubles, however in the Master's life, it is treated as God. So, what is the difference? We continuously suffer with the I. In any situation or in any incident, if the I is pushed to the front, it smells foul. For example, some of the fluorescent lights in the temples have the names of the whole family that has donated it. So, when you switch on the light, you will see only the black lines created by the names! We never get to see the light. In whatever we do, we have a vested interest in it. 'What is there for me in it?' This question drives all that we do. Whenever we work hard to keep this I in front, we only get blows. In our life, the I creates so many problems. If this were not enough, this very I becomes a problem.

Why should we suffer because of this sense of I and Masters enjoy the bliss of I? Taitreya Upanishad which deals with the I problem in detail says, 'Ordinary people do not use the I totally. Only the Enlightened persons use it totally. There is no difference between you and the Enlightened Masters.'

If only we know how to use the I totally, we can expand. We can do so by understanding certain methods and techniques. If the I is not used totally, there is one more trouble…it becomes the cancer in your Being. Anything which is not becoming of our Being becomes a cancerous growth. Anything which is not absorbed in our system becomes the seed of the cancerous growth. Be clear…all of us carry the cancer of the I…the unused I…which can be named as Ego.

Have you noticed how when the river is flowing, it continues to be pure and whoever comes near it is also purified. However, if the river is stopped in its flow, it forms a pool. When this happens, the water gets dirty and contaminated. Those who come near it also become dirty and contaminated. Similarly, if we use the I totally, it will expand. There will only be joy and bliss. We will be in Nithya Ananda or Eternal Bliss…making everyone around joyful and blissful. If we don't use it totally, we become like the pool. We will be in a low mood and dull and others who come near us will also be disturbed.

How do we become the flowing river? How do we expand to become the big I? For you, it is the small i and for the Masters, it is the big I; that is the only difference. Once we start using the tremendous potential in our system, we will expand. We will reach the state of the big I.

Taitreya Upanishad gives five techniques or understandings by which we can use ourselves totally or to the maximum. Let me tell you that the Upanishads are nothing but the research reports of the great Enlightened Masters; it is the report of the scientist working on inner science.

Note that there are two types of scientists…the outer scientist and the inner scientist. Outer scientists research on the outer world on aspects such as weather, genetics, physics, chemistry etc whereas the rishis are the inner scientists who research on the inner world. When they became Enlightened, they published reports on how they traveled, how they lived, what they did, what problems they faced and finally, how they had the Ultimate Experience. These reports are called the Upanishads. For example, Buddha's report to the world is Dhammapada. Shankara's reports are all His commentaries.

Coming back to the Taitreya Upanishad, it gives five levels to live life to the maximum. It describes the five layers of the I and how our small i can become the big I. The first layer is called the Annamaya Kosha. It deals with the body which we use. The second layer is called the Pranamaya Kosha. It deals with the breath and air circulation system. The third level is called the Manomaya Kosha. This deals with the continuous inner chatter that happens in our system. The fourth level is the Vigyanamaya Kosha. It deals with the sleeping hours. Finally, the Anandamaya Kosha deals with Ananda or Bliss. When you reach the fifth layer, you become the big I.

When you don't use all the five layers, you become a Buddhu (an idiot) and when you use all the layers, you become the Buddha (the wise one). This shift is available to everyone. It is entirely up to us to use it or not. It is our individual decision. Let me give you few explanations and understanding about these layers and how to use them totally. If not used totally, we run the risk of a cancerous Being.

Now, let us examine each layer one by one.

The Upanishad says, 'Food is God. Don't waste it.' The actual meaning of this statement is the opposite of its literal meaning. Whenever I visit a devotee's house, it is prestigious for them to serve me lunch. They even advise me not to waste it! Remember when the food is wasted outside…only the food in the plate is wasted. However, when the food is wasted inside your system, the whole system gets wasted! From the moment you get up in the morning till you go to sleep, you should be alive and energetic. It is a sad fact that we have forgotten the very concept of health.

Right now recall and examine if your steps are slow when you get up in the morning and go to the toilet. Be clear your steps should be as if you are dancing. Your body language and all your movements should be joyful and ecstatic. You should be bubbling with energy…only then can you call yourself healthy. If you feel otherwise, you are ready to be diagnosed as being ill.

Look at nature and its creatures closely. Early in the morning, we can see hear birds chirping; see the cat stretching its body, the dog verifying its boundary and the calf going around the cow. Man is the only animal who wakes up in the morning, pulls the sheet over him and goes back to sleep. Man is the only animal who needs an alarm clock to wake him up! He is the only animal who has lost touch with nature. He has lost his way. Man is the only being who is obese. Have you seen any other animal that is obese?

A small story:

A man who was over 40, wanted to get rid of his wife and her cat. He could not get rid of his wife…however he thought that at least he could get rid of the cat. He took the cat along with him in his car and left it in the street next to his. Even before he came back home, the cat was back. The next day, he took the cat and left it a couple of streets away. Again, before he reached home, the cat had returned. Finally, he decided to take it to a far-off place. He put the cat inside a bag, crisscrossed the roads and left it near a forest. On his way back, he called up his wife to confirm whether the cat was at home. She replied, 'Yes'. Sheepishly, he asked her to find out from the cat the way back to his house because he was lost! This is exactly what has happened to us. We have disconnected ourselves from Nature.

Since we are in the habit of getting disconnected from nature and getting lost I shall will now give a few tips about the food you eat to keep these koshas alive and active and remain connected to nature. There are 3 types of doshas (defects) in the food we eat. There are certain foods which by their own nature is not good for the system as they cause jaati dosha (defect based on birth). If we feel uneasiness after we eat a certain type of food, it is not good for us. All junk food and drinks containing soda belong to this category.

Have you noticed how vigilant we are…we are busy watching everybody else's system but not ours! We keep watch over what the husband…wife or child eats but never on what we eat! All the Masters say 'Speak to your body'. We never do so. We never relate to our body. Knowing the nature of man there is a meditation technique prescribed in tantra to relate to our body.

Be clear we are supposed to talk to our body, sense it and feel it if we want the best for it and for us.

Foods that can be avoided are meat based non-vegetarian food, onions, garlic, green chilly etc. Alcohol and smoking also come under this category. These substances make us tense. While we are eating some spicy food, our eyes may be watering; our body may be begging us to stop. Yet, for the sake of taste, we continue to eat. It is sad that we do not respond to our body's call and ignoring it we pamper our taste buds!

Understand clearly that I am not giving you any rules or regulations…I am just giving you some understandings. Follow them and see if it makes a difference to your body. I don't believe in morality. I believe in Consciousness and not Conscience. These understandings have come about only after practice and verification and are only the research reports of the rishis.

Interestingly…people come to me for healing and when I ask them to follow this diet (especially cancer patients) they ask for exemptions. I ask them to avoid these things so that the healing takes place faster and they reply, 'I have to go to parties and I can't avoid alcohol and I cannot avoid these types of food.' What can I say? It is their choice…choice to get healed fast or suffer. If doctors ask them to give up something, they do it without questioning. But, when the Master asks them to give up something, they think…He is doing it out of morality.

Remember…if you take something as a rule, you will try to go beyond it because it is your very nature. Your instinct is asking for freedom. If you take it as an understanding, it becomes your blood and bones. If it is taken as a rule, be clear it is only skin-deep and our laziness and misunderstandings will make us shift the onus of breaking the rules to society.

The second dosha or defect is called the nimitta dosha (defect based on reason). This is all about cleanliness and hygiene. We have a proverb that says 'Cleanliness is Godliness.' We forget this and treat our selves most of the time as a garbage bin by dumping all sorts of things into it. Even outwardly, cleanliness and hygiene we forget unless it is forced down our throat right from our childhood and we are forced into it.

The third dosha is ashraya dosha (defect based on reality). Recently, I read a book called 'Mind Matters'. It says that if you eat food cooked by an enemy who has continuous negative thoughts about you, your stomach will get disturbed. You will land up with ulcer within 21 days.

Be clear…when you cook, you not only put in the ingredients, you also put in your thoughts into the food. Your thoughts play a major role in all your deeds. Two physicists conducted the same experiment on a person with the same instruments at the same temperature but the reports showed different readings. It only proves that thoughts…the Being plays an important role in all deeds.

The great saint Ramanuja says, 'Never eat the food even touched by an enemy or by the wrong person.' Thoughts not only play a major role in your deeds but you also radiate your thoughts. That is why you feel attracted by some people and get disturbed by some. Your thoughts radiate energy around your body. This makes you feel attracted or disturbed by the person. So, don't think that thoughts are mere dead energies. They are live energies. Remember never to disturb your cook or driver. Keep them in a good mood. Even if you cook, have the Divine name in your thoughts or at least good thoughts. Then, you will see that all the members of your family have good health. You will have no stomach problem. When you are eating outside of your house, meditate for a few minutes and send positive energy to the food before you eat it. You will have no problem…your body will feel light.

A small story:

Once a king went to an Enlightened Zen Master and asked him, 'I heard that you are an Enlightened Man and you radiate energy around you. You are always in bliss. What do you do?' The Zen Master replied, 'I eat when I want to eat and sleep when I want to sleep.'

Have you noticed that in our life only at the time of eating, we bring in all our worries and all our problems? Our mind is constantly engaged in mentally planning our whole life! We shove in the food in because we are hard-pressed for time. When we are eating, our Being never feels the food. Be clear…if we eat without paying attention to the food, we are disrespecting the food. We are treating our stomach as we would a dust-bin.

When the Upanishad says, 'Don't waste food', it only means eat food with respect. When you disrespect food, you are just wasting the food. Give at least 10 or 15 minutes for eating or drinking. You will notice that the food is tastier and you become alive.

If food is eaten with awareness, we will never feel the heaviness or nor will we overeat. Our body has its own intelligence to control it. We can very clearly find out which food suits us and which does not only if we eat with awareness. That itself is a great meditation and through this our whole body cycle will be regularized.

The Upanishad says, 'Prana is God. Don't waste it.' Don't think Prana means just air. It means Energy. The subtle energy, which is carried by the air in and out of our system, is called Prana. Though we breathe throughout the day, we are never fully aware of our breathing. Our breath is always short. Ganesha is the God of Muladhara charka (the third in the series of the 7 main energy centers of the body). He is also the God of Intelligence. If we breathe deeply, we will also become intelligent like Ganesha and our Muladhara will also be awakened. All the energy centers will be alive.

As of now, only when the Muladhara is active…that is when you are in the act of sex or fantasizing, your energy is at its peak…your whole Being is alive and active. However, through deep breathing, your body can be alive throughout the day and throughout the year. When you do the Dukkha Harana meditation technique that we teach at our ASP programs for energizing the charkas, many people experience the orgasmic experience happening in their Being.

People ask me 'How can meditation take a person to such an experience?' I tell them it is nothing to do with the outside system or being with a man or a woman. It has got everything to do with your energy system.

There is a book called 'Discovering Love'. The back of the book carries a quotation 'When I say surrender to love, I don't mean surrender to the partner. I mean surrender to the experience which is love.'

We always feel that we derive joy because of the man or woman with whom we are. However this is not so…ecstasy is because of the inner alchemy happening in your system. Your energy is awakened and you feel ecstatic.

Ramana Maharishi relates a beautiful story of a dog where a dog gets hold of a dry bone. It bites and bites till it causes a cut in its mouth. The blood starts oozing out and the dog licks it thinking the blood is coming from the bone. Like the dog, we also think we get joy from outside.

Actually, we get joy from our own system. It is the ultimate alchemy where you can be in this orgasmic joy for 24 hours provided you are willing to choose to rise from the state of mere lust to the divine state of love.

An elderly, intellectual person asked me, 'According to the Sastra, the first 25 years should be spent in Brahmacharya (bachelorhood), the second 25 years in Grihastha(life of a householder)

and the next 25 years in Vanaprastha(life of retirement in the forest). So, according to the rule, you should have become a Grihastha. Then why have you become a sanyasi?'

I told him…According to the rule; you should have become a sanyasi since you are above 75. Since you have not become one, I have become a sanyasi to compensate for people like you.

He pitied me by saying, 'You are missing all the joy of enjoyment of your youth.'

I replied…Only you are missing something. You don't know the joy, the ecstasy I am in. Don't feel sorry for me.

You are still suffering in the world, being caught up in its bondage. An Enlightened person is in ecstasy for 24 hours…365 days. Every cell of his body emits joy. I don't need the outer joy. This is how renunciation happens. When you are bubbling with so much joy inside your Being, you don't need anything from the outside world. You are totally at ease with your system.

When we breathe with awareness, our muladhara chakra will awaken. If we continuously chant the beeja mantra (gam) of Ganesha, the ruling deity of the muladhara chakra, the vibration produced by the mantra will hammer the muladhara and awaken it. If we breathe deeply, our second layer, the pranamaya kosha expands.

Whenever you are relaxing, sitting, walking or whenever you remember, breathe as deeply as possible.

As you do this, you will notice that your whole body is getting awakened and throbbing with life. Notice, how whenever you are alive, the pace of your breathing turns fast…when you are caught up in situations of anger, sex, violence, or whenever you remember someone you hate, your breathing becomes alive rather than monotonous or mechanical. Your Being is flooded with life.

If you breathe deeply throughout the day, be sure you will become more active and more alive without having to be in states of anger, violence of sex. All that is required is for you to breathe… pay more attention to how you breathe…do you have the time and the inclination?

I pray to the almighty to bless all of you…may all of you attain the Ultimate experience of Nithya Ananda. Thank you.

The Laughing Buddha

As I understand it, laughter is one of the greatest meditation techniques. Almost every intelligent individual has recognized the power of laughter and the transformation it can bring to our body, mind and soul. The healing effect of laughter can be felt almost immediately.

One does have to believe in this mediation technique to know its full effect on our being. However, there are two aspects to its effect which prove the power of laughter as a meditation technique. Firstly, unlike with other techniques where we first need to believe that the technique will help, with laughter as a meditation technique, the effect is immediate. The next aspect is that we hardly need to practice laughing…it is spontaneous. We may need to practice other techniques to see its results. However with laughter the result being instant nothing more is required. It does not need our faith, it does not need our belief in it…we don't need to wait to experience its results. We experience the effect that is created by laughter, both physically and mentally… immediately!

Almost all great mystics and Masters realized the effect and understood the transformation which happens through laughter. It is a subject that has been analyzed by all great Masters. Yet, somehow, man has never taken note of laughter as a meditation technique. Sadly enough… laughter is never understood as a spiritual quality because we always associate spirituality with seriousness.

Spirituality is taken as something dead…something serious…something only for people who put on a long face. But according to me, spirituality has everything to do with life and the joy of living. We always think of spirituality as something for people who are old. Countless number of times we have thought to ourselves, 'I shall make time for this when I am old and retired and have nothing else to do.' When you don't have anything else to do except knit sweaters, you feel you need to pick up the bible or go to church.

Incidentally, there is a saying, 'Go to church by yourself, and don't wait to be carried by four men'. We always wait for someone to take us to church; we don't actually go…we wait to be carried by four men. We always think of religion as something old…something to do with dead things…to do with rituals and monotonous prayers. Whenever we think of religion from these angles…it too complicated…too serious and the juicy portion of religion which is spirituality is lost. Who says that religion is only old people and it has to be serious and boring?

Understand clearly…there are two important aspects of religion, religiousness and religion itself.

Religions based on fear have nothing to do with religiousness. Rituals constitute a religion, while the juice which is inside religion is the religiousness. Religions based on religiousness have always emphasized the beauty of laughter and use laughter as a technique for transformation at the deepest inner levels of the being.

Be clear…whenever religions are based more on rituals, rules and regulations… then the juice that lies within is totally missed. Understand that religion is a living entity, a part of our everyday life. It is not a part time job or only for old people. Our understanding of it and exploration of the religiousness in it is the quality of our entire life!

Laughter is not taken note of by intellectuals and serious people because it is so innately simple. We miss the importance of something so simple. We miss many things because they are simple and take more notice of things that are complicated. It is just as Woody Allen once said, 'I'm astounded by people who want to know the Universe when it is hard enough trying to find your way around China Town.'

Our egos feel satisfied by doing complicated things but whenever something is simple or ordinary, we miss it. Anything simple always escapes our eyes and we don't look deeper into it but instead we gloss over it. When you tend to forget this, remember the saying, 'the greatest truths are the simplest.'

There are so many beautiful things that can happen to us …to our being, through laughter. The most intelligent communities of the world are also the communities that have produced the most number of jokes. One such community is that of the Jews and the other of Sardarjis or Sikhs from the state of Punjab in Bharat. These two communities have produced many jokes and the beauty of it is that most of the jokes are about them. Strangely enough, you will find that they are also very intelligent communities.

Let me explain this through an example. There are only three fields in the world. One is the outer world which belongs to logic, mathematics and science. The other is the inner world of religion, mysticism and spirituality. The third one, which is psychology, lies between the two. Einstein, a genius in the field of science belongs to the outer world. Jesus Christ belongs to the inner world. Today, more than half the universe follows Christ. Sigmund Freud, a notable person dedicated to the study of the mind or psychology belongs to the third field that lies between the outer and inner world. While all three are different fields, if we draw a parallel between them we find that all the three are Jews. Intelligence and humor are deeply connected…do you see it?

My understanding is that laughter and jokes play a major role in intelligence. Communities which created more possibilities to laugh…to joke, to open up energy have created intelligent people. They have presented geniuses…intelligent minds to the world simply because when you laugh your whole being opens up and a new kind of energy enters the being which pushes us to explore unknown exciting frontiers and areas!

Here is a simple understanding about jokes…how they work and how jokes make us laugh. Actually when we listen to a joke, our mind is gradually tuned to a certain kind of rational thinking and we come to a conclusion. But the last word, the punch line is always something beyond our expectation. The moment we listen to something beyond our expectation, our logic is turned off; our rationality is relaxed…immediately we open up and burst into laughter. There is a willing suspension of disbelief for anything logical that happens here and remember that to create and tell a joke you certainly need intelligence.

A short story about someone telling a joke…

There was this fellow telling a joke to a group of his friends who were sitting and chatting with him. But somehow he missed the punch line and nobody felt like laughing. Everyone fell silent. Suddenly one fellow in the group started laughing uproariously…a full bellied laugh. The others were not able to understand why he was laughing. One of them said, 'Why are you laughing? Neither did we understand the joke, nor did he understand his own joke sufficiently to relate it to us.' The guy who was laughing managed to control himself enough to say, 'Laugh now or he will tell us the same joke once more.'

Understand that our logical expectation is different and the punch line gives a totally different view. The moment our logic is put off, the moment we see something different from what we expect, we open up. Whenever our logic is pushed aside, we open up. A ray of energy enters our being. It is like being in a dark room through which a ray of light shines through. Laughter is just like that. A ray of energy connects to our body from our atman (Self), the source of all energies. The moment our logic is pushed aside an ocean of energy is supplied to our body.

This is what happens when you laugh or when you listen to a joke. However, there are a few hard nuts that are continuously intellectual…who are continuously thinking. It is very difficult to make them laugh. Understand, when I say the word intellectual I don't mean they know everything. I mean they don't understand anything. They don't have sensitivity towards reality. They are continuously thinking and analyzing the logic.

Once, an unusual competition was held in Bharat. A group of five persons had the job of continuously cracking one hundred jokes. The people taking part in the competition had to withstand laughing at any of the hundred jokes to win a million rupees. All that they had to do was stand on the stage without laughing.

One of the competitors, in the competition somehow managed to remain straight faced through forty jokes. At the fortieth joke he laughed. The second one managed eighty jokes. The third fellow was a really hard nut to crack. He managed ninety, and then went through to ninety-five, ninety-six, yet the jokes carried on and people could not understand how he could remain without laughing. They had prepared really funny jokes from all possible sources. The people who were watching the program were laughing through the jokes so much that their stomach started aching. While they were all continuously laughing, the third competitor remained standing poker faced all through it, without cracking up.

By the ninety-eighth joke, a small smile appeared on his face. His wife who was sitting in the front row of the hall started shouting at him, 'Hey, keep quiet, keep quiet…don't open your mouth. There are only two more jokes, don't miss a million rupees…don't laugh.' But somehow, at the ninety-ninth he could not control anymore and started roaring with laughter and so lost the competition and the million rupees. The moment he came down from the stage his wife shouted at him. 'You fool; you missed the million rupees just by one joke. Could you not keep a straight face for just one more minute?'

The guy said, 'No, no…I had to laugh as it was only at that point that I understood the first joke!'

Hard nuts! They are not very intellectual. When we don't have the sensitivity towards reality, when we don't have sensitivity to what is happening around us, we put on long faces. And I tell you, a man who is alive cannot keep a long, unsmiling face for long. When you are continuously thinking, if your entire energy is sucked by our mind, if you are great intellectual, just thinking continuously, you actually stop living…living in reality. Those people who have become great intellectuals, by disconnecting themselves from reality miss the whole joke of existence…the whole universe. They miss the whole joy, the whole play that is life!

Existence is the ultimate joke. Existence is also the ultimate bliss. If you have the sensitivity while in this human body, the sensitivity to see and hear things around you, the sensitivity to feel about what is going on everywhere; you will find that your life will be filled with laughter. Laughter is an important quality through which existence expresses itself. When you laugh, for that one moment you become one with energy!

A great story of Bodhi Dharma, Buddha's disciple says that when he became enlightened the first thing he did, the next thing he did, the last thing he did was to laugh.

Be very clear…when you laugh, you fall in tune with existence. When you fall in tune with existence you start laughing!

You may wonder, 'What is this all about?'

The story goes that early one morning; Buddha arrived to give his daily discourse. Ten thousand sanyasis were sitting in front of him. (It has always been believed that Buddha had ten thousand enlightened disciples with him, even when traveling.) He sat for some time looking at the flower without speaking. In one of the rows sat a disciple who was yet to become enlightened. Suddenly Buddha called him forward and giving him the rose told him 'Do you understand?' The disciple began laughing uproariously. He didn't give Buddha any answer but continued laughing. Buddha then told him, 'Yes, I can see that you have understood.'

Zen Buddhist scholars and Buddhist scholars have been writing volumes and volumes ever since, about this exchange between Buddha and Bodhi Dharma. They question, 'What was the reason the disciple laughed...W*as there a deep meaning to that instance…*' So many volumes have come out about this; however note that these volumes are totally serious!

My understanding of that whole incident is a simple one. It was a mere moment of simple clarity. Bodhi dharma had been in search of the centre of consciousness for enlightenment, himself. The moment Buddha gave him the rose he immediately understood that it is himself, so when he stopped searching he got it. Then he might have laughed with the thought, 'Oh, in what foolishness, in what rot I was wasting my life. I was searching everywhere for myself, except where I am presently…my own inner being.' Very simply the moment he turned himself inside his inner being, he experienced himself and the total simplicity of it all made him laugh.

Understand clearly…this whole existence is nothing but a great joke.

When you continuously think intellectually, you cannot understand the play of existence. A great professor of philosophy once went to a Zen Master and asked him, 'Master, please teach me the secret of the universe. Why do all these things happen? Why is there so much suffering? Why did God create the world? Please teach about all these things.'

The Master started laughing uproariously. You do not know how these Zen Masters laugh. Their laughter is so strong and infectious. It is said that Zen Masters don't only laugh with their mouths, they laugh with their whole being. It has been recorded that they roll on the ground and laugh. Seeing this, for the first few minutes the professor felt uncomfortable. He was wondering what had happened to the Master and whether he had gone mad. Of course, for thick heads you need a few minutes! After a few minutes he slowly began analyzing to himself…He is a Master after all…he will not do anything without a proper reason*.*

After a few minutes the Master's laughter was so much the professor too could not control himself and began laughing. You must have notices that when you see someone laughing you cannot stay for long without joining. You either have to leave the hall or you have to join in the laughter, there is no other way. The story goes that at one point the professor became enlightened and never stopped laughing till his death.

Of course, logically we cannot understand the last line, because we are also professors. You may not be professors literally but we are professors by nature. So much of our energy is sucked by our heads. So much of our energy is stored in our heads…we almost stop living. Mind you, there is nothing wrong with being a professor professionally. But being a professor twenty four hours a day is wrong. Let me narrate a small incident that actually happened.

The other day someone came to me and started weeping. He said he was having marital problems. He introduced himself as a Doctor. I asked him what his wife was doing. He said she was a B.A. B.L (Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Law). I asked him if she went to the court regularly and he replied, 'No, no, Master. She argues in the house itself.'That was their whole problem.

You see, if you are a professional in your professional place of work, there is nothing wrong. But when you bring your profession into your life and home, then things can go seriously wrong. There is a small method to find out whether you are a professor or not throughout the day...try it out on yourself. If you see a rose, immediately the word 'rose' comes to mind. You start thinking about the roses you may have presented to someone, or the roses presented to you by someone. The next thought will be how he reacted or how you reacted. The third will be the loving moments or memories or disturbing memories which are associated with that incident. The fourth is how you related with that person, lovingly or not so lovingly. The memory goes on and on until you reach a stage where you have forgotten the real rose at hand and are lost in the thoughts of associated memories. You have missed the real rose.

Now you are lost, having missed the real rose which was smiling at you, which was welcoming you to appreciate it, which was giving its being to you to enjoy. What happened here? Simply put the moment you start arranging the words, the moment you associate thoughts continuously, be very clear, you are a professor twenty four hours. When I say you are a professor, I mean you are continuously playing with words and not with reality.

Sigmund Freud says beautifully that all our thinking is through association, it has no logical clarity. For example, when you see a dog in the street, you then remember the dogs you may have seen when you were a child. You remember the teacher who taught you lessons when you were a child. Then you remember where your teacher used to live. You then remember your school. Logically there is no connection between the dog you saw on the road and your teacher, even though both of them may have barked at you. There is no logical connection…yet the mind associates. If you continuously think based on association not based on logic, then be very clear, you are a professor for twenty four hours. This is the perfect path to lose the live connection, the live experience of existence.

The story of the professor recounts how just by laughing hard and long, he became enlightened… and he never stopped laughing until his death. You may wonder how laughing can make someone enlightened. According to Zen Buddhism, if you laugh continuously for 42 seconds you can become enlightened because laughter brings us back to the Now, Here…the Present!

People may think, and naturally so, we are all laughing sometimes for one or two minutes, but we have not become enlightened!

Understand clearly…what the Zen masters mean by laughter…it is total laughter. When you really laugh, your mind stops thinking. For that one minute, that one second, that one moment, that kshana, you fall between the gap of one thought and the next.

You can do only one thing at a time, either you think or you laugh. If you think, laughter cannot be complete and wholesome. Your being is not totally into laughter. Laughter brings you to the present moment. By thinking you travel into the future or you think about something in the past. However when you laugh, you are automatically brought to the centre of your being, in the present moment. You experience the consciousness of the present.

Doctors, who have done research on laughter, have amazing reports to give. They say that it is the least expensive means to slow down the ageing process. Have you noticed …there are some people who even after reaching the age of seventy continue to look very young and healthy, full of enthusiasm and spirit. They have a curiosity to learn and are always engaged in knowing new things. They are alive and vibrant with life. On the other hand there are some who are out of it all by the age of forty.

Why does this happen? A good question…let us look at the reasons. One of the reasons for this is the main ingredient which we add to life which is 'laughter'. We add so many things to extend our lives, but of all of these, laughter is the most important. Many Doctors who have done research on this aspect and they give vital proof of the importance of laughter for longevity. How many of you have ever given serious thought to the old proverb 'Laughter is the best medicine?'

Another important reaction of our system is that anti-depressing chemicals are released into our system. In other words, chemicals that alleviate depression pour into our body and mind system. Biologically also changes take place. In the process of the act of laughing, endorphins and other chemicals essential for the brain are released…giving us a sense of well being. At the same time, we inhale deeply providing extra oxygen to our entire system. Understand clearly…laughter is a catharsis for negative emotions to be harmlessly released.

The third and most important effect of laughter is that our body starts radiating a beauty.

Laughter is an important ingredient to become beautiful…even without make-up. According to me, laughter brings more grace to a person. Beauty comes because of make-up but laughter brings grace to this beauty and your being. Notice how many advantages …even from the physical point of view laughter brings to our being…to our body.

Another school of research says that laughter can rejuvenate our whole system. It can balance all components of the immune system, helping to fight off diseases. Any other refreshing technique whether it is yoga or exercise or any other system takes care of only some parts of our body. However, laughter is such that it takes care of our whole body. The whole body is flooded with energy. We can see it in our own lives. That is why every now and then Laughter Clubs are being inaugurated all over the world!

I see a tremendous appreciation for the importance of laughter. People have begun to realize the importance of laughter on our health…both physical and mental. People are now making it a point to gather in the mornings at a particular time, laugh loudly together and then go their way.

Laughter is known to heal a number of diseases, especially those diseases that related to the nervous system and the Vishudhi or throat charka. I have personally worked with laughing meditation Techniques. I have seen so many people getting healed just by this one meditation. It is such a powerful meditation…almost every person feels the effects from this, except the 'twenty four hour professors'. And even they too somehow open up and cannot resist the powerful effects of a hearty laugh. The group energy is so infectious that few can resist joining in. It is only if you are alone or only with your spouse where you can tell your partner to keep quiet or behave that laughter can be resisted. However when you are with a group it is difficult to resist. The beauty of this meditation is that when you laugh as a group it brings in energy as laughter is infectious. When you laugh alone, it is like having ten dollars and spending the ten dollars…that is all. However if ten people put in ten dollars at the same time it becomes a hundred dollars. If it is a real amount of one hundred dollars, all cannot enjoy it at the same time. Only one person can enjoy those hundred dollars. If each one is to benefit and enjoy the hundred dollars then it

All of us place so much emphasis and effort, give so much importance, spend so much money and energy…only to cure diseases. However, we do not spend even one percent of our effort to prevent diseases.

This is not only as an individual, but even as groups, as societies or as a country. All the governments of this world build so many hospitals…spending so much time, effort and money in curing diseases. We do not do anything to prevent diseases because for what ever reason we do not believe that they can be prevented. Medical people…scientists or doctors…either in psychology or physiology, are constantly working only with patients. They finally have come to the conclusion that man, as such, is illness. There is a poignant letter written by Sigmund Freud considered by many as the father of Psychology, after 30 years of research, that in his experience, man as such is sickness and cannot live happily.

Of course, the specimens on whom he did his research were all sick people, his patients. He did not have an opportunity to interact with a Buddha…a person who has achieved spiritual bliss in himself. Since he did not have this opportunity he came to the conclusion that life is misery; and human beings cannot be healed, therefore a human is nothing but a bundle of suffering. He arrived at this conclusion only because his exposure was so limited!

Eastern mystics, the Rishis, however have declared 'Amrutasya Putraha' which means human beings are the embodiment of immortality by nature, and the embodiment of energy and bliss. After so much of research, psychology has concluded that the nature of human beings is sickness, but the rishis have declared the opposite…that the nature of human beings is bliss. Be very clear…depending on which point of view you take your whole life will be changed.

The rishis speak of potentiality whereas Sigmund Freud speaks of the reality in which we live… and the reality is sickness, be it physical or mental. Even though we may have sickness, life itself is not suffering. Can you say that the sky is nothing but clouds, just because you see a cloud? There is some space beyond the clouds which we call 'pure sky'. This is the space in which the sun shines, and where the silence, beauty and bliss of space prevail. The rishis declare that any disease is nothing but a cloud in your mind and body.

Just like the clouds, these too will pass…they will move on. We work intensely on cure once we fall sick but somehow we do not ever think of prevention…we take our health...our body for granted. We do not even remember our body when we are healthy. A simple definition of health is that if we are able to tolerate our boundary, to tolerate our body, be at ease with our body we are healthy. When we are unable to be at ease with our body we reach the state of dis-ease or disease!

A beautiful saying in Taoism goes like this…'When the shoe fits, the foot is forgotten; when the belt fits the belly is forgotten; when the chain fits, the neck is forgotten!' When we are healthy, we forget our body and boundary and do not think that we need to maintain the body.

Another point in this context is that we always think of health as no diseaseness…the absence of disease. Have you noticed we place a lot of emphasis on not going to any hospital, not taking any medicine, managing the day to day routine well, to think we are healthy? However, according to me the definition for health is positive; it is 'well – being-ness.' It is not merely no diseaseness. No diseaseness is only part of health; there is something more than no diseaseness; a positive well-being, a state of ease going beyond the state of no diseaseness. This is what I call health.

If you look at life from the point of view of the ancient masters, the rishis, they say that life is to be lived in a blissful way .They say 'Anandam Paramaha Nabhyajaanaath'. In Sanskrit it means existence is bliss; do not waste it by missing it. The very existence, the very life and breath is bliss. They say that the body is filled with nectar and life is bliss. Therefore ensure that you do not waste it by not enjoying it…by not experiencing it.

If we are experiencing life as only misery, as a totality of clouds, we are missing life somewhere seriously. We are sick somewhere. Only when we feel that life is a great blessing, we feel that it is an overflow of energy. This is when we are living life….understand clearly…Existence is bliss! We cannot exist without bliss as anything in the world can exist only in the hope of achieving bliss. Bliss is the one and only inspiration…joy is the one and only hope with which human beings are still alive on planet Earth. Only when we understand that life as such is bliss will we be able to move ahead in our journey of preventing diseases!

As long as we believe that life is misery, whatever we do will be against life; we will be going against the current to escape from the misery that we perceive. However, if we perceive it as bliss we will try to relax more and more. There are only two options for us. Either we can think of life as misery and try to escape from it…or think of life as joy, and relax more and more and enjoy it in the state of 'well-being ness.'

Meditation…when I use this word, I mean putting your mind totally at ease with your body and your consciousness. Now, our body and mind are not at ease with each other. Let me give you a scale of what is ease of mind and body with each other…if you are living comfortably within the boundary of your body, your mind is comfortable with your body.

Have you ever noticed how does the mind live with our body? Observe your now. When we are in our house, we are thinking of our office. When we are in the office, we are thinking of, say a beach. If we are in the house, we can be sure our mind is not in the house. If we are here, we can be sure our mind is not here. Wherever our body is, we are not. Our mind is not comfortable with our body which is why it keeps moving here and there. We are not happy or totally in the present moment!

This is why we are either in the past or in the future. The pull towards the future or being caught up in the past happens because we are not happy with the present. If we are happy with the present moment, we will see that our mind is naturally at ease with our body, without any botheration of the future or the past.

A vast majority of our time we spend in two kinds of thinking. It is either planning or worrying. Planning happens based on our body. Chronological planning is what we are to do today, tomorrow and so forth. This is perfectly alright. This happens keeping our body as the centre. Our consciousness stays inside the body and it works. Planning never drains our energy; it does not tire or depress us…we do not feel bored or disturbed about life. It continuously gives us energy.

People who are in the field of construction or engineering feel a deep satisfaction of creating because an important part of planning is creativity. Understand, only God can create; so whenever you plan and create, you are experiencing a moment of Godliness. That is why great poets, dancers, musicians or any creative person has such a deep satisfaction within their being…a deep fulfillment…the joy of creating. Even in the field of art, so many thousands travel the path of art, however not all of them get paid! Many of them do it as a hobby. They do it as a hobby because it gives them fulfillment. Fulfillment can come only when you experience the Godliness that is inside you. Only those people who experience Godliness can create. When a woman becomes a mother she feels totally satisfied…she reaches her fulfillment, as she has created and realized her potential. When a seed becomes a tree, it gets a deep satisfaction because it has realized its potential. So when we create, we realize the God within us. Creativity makes us realize our potential energy and rejuvenates us constantly.

There is a second type of thinking, which is worrying. Note that in this type of thinking, we will not be the centre of our mind while worrying. Our mind will be centered elsewhere thinking and brooding over the future. Our imagination is based on greed or fears, and phobias based on fear. When we travel in these two zones, greed and fear it is sheer hell on the mind. Is it any wonder that the rishis have described the travel through greed, fear, anger, and jealousy as our journey through hell!

We must understand that hell is psychological, not geographical. It is just a state in which our mind stays, the space within which our mind is stays. When we are filled with greed and fear we are definitely worrying…we are in the space of hell. We are not comfortable with our self or our body. Naturally we end up with a deep feeling of discontentment. This is how we create more trouble for our body and mind.

Understand very clearly that when I use the word meditation, I mean that your mind is living totally at ease with your body…you are living totally at ease with your body and that you are living inside your boundary comfortably. And mind you, there are thousands of meditation techniques to reach that state of ease.

Let me explain how meditation can cure us and how it can prevent us from contracting sicknesses. Physically there are thousands of researches which have proved that meditation cures ailments. I have seen this not only in my own body but in that of others too…how meditation effects miraculous cures!

Just a month before I left for this trip, a lady came to meet me. She had been suffering from psoriasis for the past 20 years. She had tried every possible medication but in vain. Now she had come for my help. As I sat talking to her, I realized that she had a deep sense of self contempt and a very low self esteem. I suggested that she should stand in front of a mirror and scream at herself for 15 minutes every day, to bring out the anger and self condemnation she had for herself. She resisted…saying that this was impractical.

I again asked her to try it just for 21 days which she did. Amazingly enough, it has been medically recorded that after 15 days she has been totally healed! This technique which I gave her is from Sufism.

We have similar testimonials attesting to the power of meditation to cure many other sicknesses.

Mentally there is no need for a testimonial…to know that an apple is tasty, we only need to take a bite. Likewise we only have to meditate to know what miracles it creates. Almost all our psychological disorders are based on greed and fear. Excess of greed and expectation always leads to hopelessness. Any hope leads to hopelessness…hope is the path and hopelessness is the goal. If we hope to have some money, we have been saved if we have not achieved it! Achieving money only leads to depression of success. We never achieve the joy that we had hoped to achieve on achievement of money. It is an endless trip for the mind which keeps searching for newer and newer achievements…and endless journey of 'what next'.

We do not work solely for money…we think we will have something through the money. Only when we have achieved that status we sought through money, only then do we feel that we are fools; that we have gained nothing. Only when we achieve our hope, we understand that it has ended in hopelessness. This may sound very radical or contradictory…be very clear…till we achieve our hope; at least we have a hope.

Once we have achieved what we hoped for, we realize the hopelessness of it. This is why people who have enough of the outer world of material and money…turn to the inner world having seen that fulfillment of hope only leads to hopelessness.

Only meditation takes us beyond fear and greed…it gives us a deep sense of fulfillment and well being…it shows that life itself is ecstasy and life is too short to be spent in worrying…that the present moment is too valuable to be spent chasing the past or the future. Meditation makes us realize the value of the present moment. It makes us feel and experience the ecstasy of the present moment.

However, we rarely experience the present moment. Buddha calls this 'Thathaatha', which means 'suchness'…that which is…just is…now and here. We are nothing but a link between the past and the future. We are never an entity, an individual in the present moment and therefore never experience the 'suchness'. Only when you experience the suchness will you understand the beauty and grandeur of it. Only then you can begin to understand my statement that life is bliss… it is joy…it is ecstasy! The rishis have declared just this.

When we experience the bliss of the present moment we feel such a deep contentment…such a deep fulfillment…such a deep satisfaction, that not only do we prevent diseases from happening, but also the basic disease of the feeling that 'we are the body' is cured. There are two kinds of diseases in us: one is sickness related to the body and the other is the sickness related to the idea 'I am the Body'. Sickness relating to the body can be cured and prevented by meditation.

Dr. Muralikrishna from Oklahoma, whom I know personally and who has done research on the mind, has in his report called 'Mind-Matter', given many scientific proofs as to how wrong thinking and wrong mental set ups can disturb one's health. In moments of anger, violence, and vengeance we have a 220% greater chance of a heart attack!

The mind has so much power over the body. If we look deeply there are no two separate entities called mind and body. There is only one entity called mindbody. One end of our being is mind and the other is body. What we experience is the mind, what we express is the body. Expression of the mind is body and experience of the body is mind. Be very clear that it is the same thing… outer end is body, inner end is mind; they are not two separate identities at all!

When we understand how to handle our mind, it can do wonders on our body and our health; to cure and prevent diseases, including the ultimate disease, the idea that 'I am the Body'.

Once we start feeling 'I am the Body'… we start feeling the boundary and very simply this feeling the boundary is nothing but sickness. When we forget the boundary, we are in health. When we are in total health, we seem to be flying. In Zen Buddhism, it is said that when somebody walks he cannot be Buddha as Buddha floats. Understand that it is not physical flying…it is the being which floats. When we are really healthy, in bliss and in ecstasy, we do not walk…we float because our being is so light, like a flower!

Normally all communities, societies and governments work to cure the people but do not work to prevent the diseases. What is totally missed by them is the fact that meditation will prevent and destroy the very root of diseases. There is another fact to be noted which is that people want sick people so that they can serve. I used to ask voluntary organizations why they could not invest in preventing diseases to which they replied they would have no more business if they did! They wanted people to fall sick so that they could serve and cure.

Meditation is a wonderful technique to prevent illnesses because it never allows suppression or repression in our system. Meditation continuously rejuvenates and cleanses our whole being. Why spend so much money on this when it can be done with a little investment of time for yourself ?

Do give that much importance and time to yourself…take up a little bit of meditation…some technique as a part of your life, not only to cure but also to prevent the illnesses and reach the state of eternal bliss…Nithya Ananda.

Questions & Answers

Q: What do you mean by bliss?

A: Bliss! I can describe in two ways; one is, not feeling caged or bound, 'Swatantra'…this means freedom. The second is feeling blessed to have this body. You have a deep feeling that the Divine has blessed you…that the existence has blessed you… that your very life is a blessing…this state of feeling is bliss.

A small story:

A young man…poor and unemployed went to church and prayed to God, 'O God! Please have mercy on me; help me…somehow give me 100 dollars. I will be able to manage for a week. I shall then get a job and repay you'.

The Priest, who was passing by, heard this prayer and felt sympathy for the man. He placed 50 dollars in an envelope and gave it to the man, saying that this was a gift sent by God to be given to him. The man rushed home, opened the cover and saw the money. He then prayed to God, 'O God! Next time you send me money, please send it directly; the priest has taken half of what you sent as his commission!'

Notice that this man is looking at what is missing, not what is given! He feels life is a suffering even when he gains. He is not able to enjoy life even when he gets something. When this attitude is set mentally within you, whatever you gain makes you feel the same way as this man.

A person came to me and said, 'Master, you say that life is bliss…but I have lost my diamond ring! What do you have to say to my suffering?' I replied, 'Fool, feel happy that you have not lost your finger! Enjoy…feel the joy…the bliss of being alive. Can you earn your life, even a single breath as you do money and material things?'

Life is a pure gift from existence. You must feel blessed for having this body and life. First feel that you are not bound or caged…feel a tremendous freedom…inner freedom. Next, feel blessed for having this life itself.

These two put together and something more, is what I call bliss. In Sanskrit there is a word called 'ananda'. I broke it and gave you the meaning. 'Aa' means a feeling of blessedness, 'ashirvada' and 'nanda' means a feeling of freedom…unboundedness. By your very nature, you are in bliss. That is why you work for it. If you get a headache, you try your best to come out of it. Why? You know that this is not your nature therefore you take a tablet, tie your head tight, apply balm….do all sorts of things just to be rid of it. Your nature is headacheless-ness. If your very nature were to be with headache, would you try to get rid of it? You would not even be aware of a headacheless state. You would simply be in it. You now work intensely to come out of the headache by taking medicines, by resting; because that is not your nature and you want to go back to your true state.

In the same way you know for sure in your heart of hearts that bliss is your nature. You work for it…strive for it. Whether you search for it through the outer world of money and material benefits or through meditation…it is still the search for bliss. Search for money is also nothing but search for bliss. You want to expand your boundary because you have more choice. That is the reason for your desire of wanting more money…because you have more freedom to choose, your boundary is big. Money as well as meditation…both are nothing but paths to bliss.

If you strive for money you work through the outer world, and when you work through meditation, you strive through the inner world. Both are techniques to achieve bliss. But the trouble with money is that you get a choice of sufferings instead of the bliss you seek, whereas meditation puts you in choicelessness, which is the ultimate bliss!

Q: Can you explain the difference between pleasure and bliss?

A: Pleasure is that which rests between two pains. Bliss, when it is marked and limited between two pains is pleasure. The gap between two wars can never be called peace; it is merely a truce where in preparation for other wars are made. Similarly, the gap between two pains can not be bliss…it is merely pleasure.

To put it more clearly…bliss is eternal, but a small portion of it is pleasure. Bliss experienced for a very short time is pleasure. When you try to hold bliss, it slips away from you; this is pleasure. Anything which is experienced for a short time is pleasure. Be clear…part time bliss is pleasure whereas full time pleasure is bliss…nothing more…nothing less!

Q: Is this why we greet people as 'It is a pleasure to meet you'!

A: (Master laughs)...See, bliss itself is choicelessness. People around me are greedy for the state I am in! It is not that they do not know of my problems. I have enough of them. Just yesterday somebody asked me after seeing the way we work, 'Are you a spiritual master or a CEO? How do still live in such a continuously joyous state?'

I answer...it happens because I do not have a choice. Choicelessness is bliss. When people choose bliss consciously they suffer. When you choose choicelessness, you are trapped. Therefore drop the idea of choosing the idea of choicelessness. Drop even the choice towards choicelessness. You will then see that bliss just happens to you. Bliss is like a breeze…you cannot make it happen…you can only open the door to let it in…you can only make space for it. Drop the choice between choice and choicelessness; then you will see the bliss happening to you. Just open the door and let the breeze in! Be in that state of Eternal Bliss or Nithya Ananda!