4. Practicing the Upanishad🔗

As I told you, this program has nothing to do with any technique or no-technique. It is a clear process. After this program, you are not expected to practice anything at home. You will not carry back any technique from here and practice it. No! It is a process that we are doing now, and you will carry back only the experience. That will itself do its work. So, just carry the experience that will become part of you.

Before entering into the Upanishad - that is the process, let us learn the Upanishad. What do I mean by Upanishad? "Just sitting', that"s all. Upanishad means 'sit'. You may think, "I am sitting already!" No. You are not sitting. You are only trying to sit. You are not "just sitting". Now, you will "just sit". Please do not ask questions like, "How long, why, what are we going to gain and what not…" I am not going to answer even if you ask these questions. Just sit, that"s all. Let us see what happens if we just sit. Many things might surface: maybe boredom or the thought that you came all this way just to do this…" Whatever your mind may tell … just sit. Don"t listen to your mind. It may tell you anything, but you just sit. No technique, no visualization, no mantra, no meditation, not even un-clutching from the mind, no technique needs to be done…do not do anything. Just sit. You can tie your eye bands.

Remember only one thing: you are sitting in the presence of a Master. Upanishad is happening. Just sit.

• (A few minutes pass)

Om Nithyanandam….Relax. You can open your eyes.

You might wonder why I am giving you such an extensive preparation. In this Atma Spurana program, the preparation is very important. If you internalize the preparation, you are done with the purpose of the program! That is why I am stressing these points so much. These points are the real truth of this program.

4.1 Be Inside Your Boundary … Help the Process.

Upanishad…it is a very powerful process. I request you not to miss even a single session. Next thing, for Upanishad to happen, you need to be "here and now". It means two things: 1.) You can"t sleep as you do normally 2.) You need to be inside your boundary. What do I mean by being inside your boundary? Currently, your bodies are not like your homes; they are more like hotels, your lodges. You put your luggage in it and start roaming around. That is the way you use your body. If you are physically at home, your mind will be in the office. If you are physically in the office, your mind might be planning a vacation. If you are eating, your mind will be watching television. You are never inside your boundary! But for these two days, you are expected to be at home inside your body … and no sleeping!

There is a small story. I always love to tell this story because I really enjoy this story! A great preacher, a man who was preaching in the name of God all over the world, along with a wild taxi driver, maybe from Chennai, or New York or Calcutta...Calcutta is number 1, maybe Chennai gets number 2, then New York…Anyhow, a taxi driver died at the same time as the preacher, and reached Lord Yama's court. Yama is the Lord of death. Yama does the regular enquiry.

First the taxi driver came, as usual – fast! Yama asked, 'What were you doing for a living?' 'I was driving a taxi,' he replied. Then Yama saw the list of sins and merits. Now of course, they must have computerized these lists! He saw the whole list and said, 'Alright, have the golden key and go to heaven.'

Next, the preacher came. Yama asked, 'What were you doing? What's your name?' The preacher replied, 'I was spreading the Lord's name all over planet Earth.' He started giving his regular sermon, as usual - his fully well memorized speech. Yama said, 'Stop, stop, stop. Relax.' Then he saw the list of sins and merits and said, 'I think you need to go to hell.'

The moment the preacher heard this, he started shouting, 'What? Just for a taxi driver, you gave heaven. How dare you send me to hell? I will sue you.' Preachers are professional shouters.

Yama said, 'Relax. Let me explain to you. Here, up in heaven, we are not bothered about what you do. We bother only about the result.' This taxi driver, even though he was driving the taxi rashly, was so wild in his driving, that the people sitting inside the taxi and those who were outside on the road, were all the time praying to God for their lives because of him! He made so many people theists. He made them all believers in God. What he did is secondary. But, by the ef ect of his actions, he converted many of them into believers of God! But even though you were preaching about God, you were preaching in such a way that you put people to sleep!'

So understand the problem is: if you sleep now, when I go up, I will have a problem! So at least, maybe not for your sake, but for my sake, don"t sleep!

One more thing: if I am telling Ramayana or Mahabharata or Bhagavatam, then you can sleep, because you might have heard these stories earlier, and you may wonder how many times you will listen to the same story. You know the whole story of Ramayana: Rama is the one who will go to the forest, Sita is the one who will be kidnapped, and Hanuman is the only one who will go to Lanka. Then Rama will go and kill Ravana. Sita will be brought back, and then the coronation ceremony of Rama will happen. You know the whole story. And how many times will you listen to the same story? Naturally, you will think: for one session, I can take a nap. You can catch up, even if you miss a session. Not much is lost.

I have seen very funny things happening when these stories are staged. In January, we went to the Kumbha mela in Allahabad, where I saw these stories being enacted. Not only were the people who were listening sleeping, even the person who was singing on stage was sleeping sometimes!

Anyhow, now I am not going to tell you how Rama lived, or how Krishna lived, or how Christ lived. We are going to directly deal with how you are living. So now we can"t afford to sleep. Neither can you afford to sleep, nor can I. So both of us have to remain awake. What you will do to keep yourself awake, I don"t know.

First thing: no sleeping. Second thing: sitting inside your boundary. This sitting inside your boundary is a very important thing to be understood. Just observe your life. Early morning, when you wake up, when you get out of your bed and start brushing your teeth, your mind is already sitting in the office, thinking about your boss, thinking about the answers that you are supposed to give, thinking about work. By the time you reach your office, your mind is already on the beach, thinking about the beach, or the weekend vacation. If you are on the beach in the evening, your mind is already thinking about when to go back home. The mind will be saying, "It is cold…and this…and that…" The funny part of your mind is that when you see beautiful scenery in the television, or an advertisement, like a beautiful beach, or a beautiful forest, or a snow covered mountain, you always feel you should be there, and that if you are there, you will be in ecstasy. That is the idea you get, especially with the resort advertisements. And you almost feel that if you are lying in that chair near the swimming pool or on the beach, you will experience heaven! But when you go there, you don"t feel the experience the way you had imagined it to be. You don"t feel that it is so heavenly. Why? What is happening? Why is it that when we see visually, it feels that we will be in ecstasy, but when we go there, it is not such an experience?

The reason is: the moment you are on the beach, your mind has already started thinking about home. When you are back at home, you have already started thinking about the next day"s routine. If your body is here, one thing is sure: you are not here! Your mind is not here. That is what I mean by not being inside your boundary.

Now, for these next two days, you will not use your body as a lodge or a hotel. You will use your body as a home. Come back. Just be inside your boundary. Only then I can work with you. You and me, both of us need to sit with each other. You need to be here, only then I can work with you. You need to be inside your boundary. Your skin is supposed to be your boundary at least until you become enlightened. After you get enlightened, how much life you feel within your skin, the same life you will feel inside every other skin; inside this pillow, inside this seat, inside everything, you will feel the same life. But, for now, your skin is your boundary.

So come back. Be inside your boundary. Only then the Upanishad can happen. Both of us need to sit with each other. That is why this Upanishad starts with a beautiful mantra, which says: let both of us not hate each other; let both of us grow together.

The beauty of education in the Vedic tradition is that it is not egocentric. The Master says, "Let both of us grow." He is not saying, "Let you grow, I will teach you." No! He is saying, "Let both of us grow." That is the truth. So, let both of us work with each other. Let both of us not hate each other till we end the process. Let both of us feel connected, at least till tomorrow evening.

4.2 Be With Sincerity

Understand: you may sit here like you are attending a weekend workshop or a management course. Any attitude is alright; no problem. But decide that for these two days, you will sit sincerely with the whole process. I am not asking you to accept me as your Guru. Actually, people ask me, "Swamiji, should I accept you as a Guru?" I say no. If I am your Guru, this question will not arise. As long as this question is there, I am not your Guru; forget about it. Search again. Seek again.

Someone asked me, "When I accept you as my spiritual Guru, does that mean I have to give up praying to Shirdi Sai Baba, whom I have been worshipping for over fifty years now? I don"t feel he is my Guru, but I remember him and pay my respects to him."

I always tell people, even if you accept me as your Guru, there is nothing wrong in learning from some other source, or Master, or place. Pluck flowers from all gardens and make a beautiful bouquet for yourself. Nothing is wrong in that. After all, I am here to enrich your life. If somebody else is also enriching, just absorb whatever comes from them. It"s not like a shop where if you come to my shop, I would prefer you not to go to the other shops! Just enrich yourself, wherever you can, or in whatever way you can.

4.3 The Happening

Just for these two days, don"t bother about all your internal struggles or unnecessary and useless questions. Just sit with a deeply receptive and prayerful mood inside your boundary. The whole process will happen. The Upanishad will start happening. Till tomorrow evening, let us not hate each other. Because I am going to make you do all sorts of things, like for example, your food will be a little delayed, your sleep will be a little delayed etc. You may face a few discomforts. Do not grumble or grudge. Even if you grumble, I am not going to leave you...! See, the program is fixed. Either you go through with complete acceptance, or you go through with struggle. It is up to you. But you have decided to go through it. If you go through it without struggle, it will be a lot easier for you. So let us not hate each other. Let us feel connected to each other. Let us grow together.

That is the beauty of enlightened Masters. Enlightenment is the ultimate experience, but not final. Understand: the ultimate happening every moment is "enlightenment". So every moment, the enlightened being is exploding and growing … expanding. You may think, "How can enlightened persons grow?" Maybe "growing" is not the right word. It is the Ultimate Experience happening every moment. Enlightenment is the ultimate. But it is not that it happens once and it stops. It happens continuously. The right word is "enlightening" not even "enlightenment". It is not a noun. It is a verb! That is the truth. Continuously, the experience is happening. That is why the Master says, "Let us grow together." For that, we need simple and honest friendliness. Feeling connected, feeling respect for each other, and taking a conscious decision to work together are all needed. All this is needed at least until tomorrow evening. I am not asking you for your whole life! No! And the important thing is, don"t forget to be inside your skin, that"s enough. Everything else will start happening.

The Master"s presence is very powerful, even if you don"t understand it. Whether you understand or not, when you sit around fire, you will have its effect; you will feel the heat. Similarly, whether you understand it or not, when you sit next to the Master, you will see that things start happening inside. Enlightened consciousness is much more powerful than your doubting logic. It can penetrate you. People ask me, "Should I trust you? Should I believe you?" I say, "No. There is no need. Your doubt and trust, both are shallow." Neither is your doubt strong, nor is your trust strong. Both are depending on your mind. But enlightened consciousness is beyond the mind. It can straightaway work on you. Do not bother about whether you have doubt, or trust, or faith, or anything. Sit with a deeply receptive mood and "the beginner"s mind", with a willingness to go through the process. Be inside your skin. That"s enough. You will see that the process happens. The Upanishad will simply start happening.