A small story:🔗

There was a couple travelling with a group in the wilderness. They came across a rapidly flowing river. The wife thought it was beautiful. She went close to it and fell in.

The husband immediately jumped in and tried searching for her, but was unable to find her. He then started swimming against the current hoping to find her.

One of the members called out to him, 'Why are you swimming in the wrong direction? The river's currents would have carried her away. Why are you swimming against its current?'

The man helplessly replied, 'Yes, but I know her. She would have gone upstream only!'

This is exactly what we are doing every minute of our lives. Life is nothing but a river. It is continuously trying to carry you away. But what do you do? You swim against its current instead of flowing with it. There is a popular saying, 'Go with the flow'. It means nothing but this.

Now you will ask, 'How to flow with life?' Simply allow life to happen; that's all! Do not think about the future. Do not think about the past. The present should be the only thing for you. Just be in the present moment.

Allow your experiences to happen by themselves. Do not think about not having a particular experience. Do not worry about you not doing anything to help your experience happen. All this is nonsense! How can you help Existence give you an experience? You cannot do anything better than what Existence is already doing. Just offer yourself to the river; offer yourself to Existence. Allow Existence to do what it pleases with you.

One more thing: laziness and relaxation have been misunderstood; especially for these workaholics. When you sit under an umbrella on the beach and worry, you call it a vacation!

When you are in the office, you worry about the house. When you are in the house, you worry about when the next vacation should be. And then when your so-called vacation finally comes, you sit and worry about the office again! And this is happening all the time in our lives. Whether we are aware of it or not, we are continuously worrying.

So, as I was saying, laziness and relaxation have been misunderstood by people who simply don't know how to relax. Be clear: what you are feeling is not laziness at all. Laziness is only for those workaholics who don't know how to simply sit.

There is a Zen practice where you are meant to simply sit. You are just meant to sit with yourself and move into a deep relaxation. It is called Zazen - simply sitting.

Relaxation is to be at complete ease with yourself. It is to be unaffected by whatever happens outside of you. Actually, it is to be totally centered within yourself.

You say, 'Changes have been happening by themselves, without my trying, or doing anything. I feel as if something wants to express itself and that I should allow it. Am I waiting for something to grow strong enough, or am I just lazy?'

This shows that your mind is worried about what is happening. If your experiences grow, the mind will lose control. This is why it is going on questioning what is happening to you. The mind is always afraid of losing control.

You see: meditation is a deep waiting for the unknown, for the unpredictable. The more you wait the more purity there is and the more grace comes out of it. There should be no hurry, no expectation of what is to come.

Just wait and let what has to happen, happen. Let Existence decide what has to be done. Wait and let things happen to you; don't get involved!

Just wait for tomorrow, but be sure not to lose the spirit of today. Be sure that in your waiting for tomorrow, you don't lose today. Just wait. Every day holds something new.

Existence is extremely compassionate; it wants to share its beauty with all of us, but only gives to those who don't demand. Just wait with deep trust. Then all that Existence has to offer will be given to you.

Asking always leads to frustration. Only when you ask nothing of Existence, will it give you everything that it has. Just put your asking and questioning mind aside.

That is why there is a board outside the hall. Did you see it? It says, 'Keep your mind and footwear outside'. And this is a statement that should be followed.

Simply leave your mind outside.

Do this much; your desires will automatically drop.

Yes.

I really don't know how to express my gratitude for Your immense love and compassion! How does one be aware, especially during the time of anger. I mean, the feeling of anger is just so strong that I don't know how to handle it. And honestly, I am just fed up with the emotion! Please throw some light on this.

You are making a small issue big; that's all! That is the essence of the whole thing.

I ask you: how can you not be aware during the time of anger? After all, it is not such a big emotion to make such a fuss about. Anger is just a small thing.

If you can just watch yourself, you will be able to easily handle it. If you can watch it, it will leave you. It will enter your system and leave it without any effort. Patience along with awareness, is what is needed here. If you cannot be patient, the ego will start to magnify emotions like anger and brand them as 'difficult to handle'. Just discard it as nonsense.

All emotions such as anger, jealousy and greed are all very small. It is our ego that magnifies and makes them big. The ego has to make everything big, everything great. With its great anger and great guilt and great greed, it becomes great itself. This is the game which your mind, your ego, is playing on you.

And the mind - what a cunning guy! It simply wants to rule over you. And what do you do? You simply allow it to rule over you. And through this ruling, you yourself begin to feel that you are the ego! What a fluke for the mind!

But you are not the ego; you are nothing but the witness. So if you become the witness in times like anger, what can it do to you? Nothing at all, because it is not doing it to you! You are only the witness! And it cannot do it to the witness because it is only supposed to witness!

You are just like a passerby. The whole incident is happening to someone else; you are just an on-looker watching the whole thing.

Think of your life as a movie. You are sitting in the theater and watching the whole thing. It is not happening to you at all. You are completely on a different plane. And you should have the intelligence to understand that none of this is true. It is not reality! How can a movie that has been conceived, directed and enacted be reality? But somehow, you have begun to think that it is the truth. You laugh when there is a joke; you cry when the hero is dead, even though you know that he never died and he is still alive doing his next movie!

So what I am telling you to do is to do nothing at all!

I can see many blank faces looking at me.

Let me explain a little more.

Just watch your emotions. Watch your thoughts. Don't say anything for something or against it.

A small story:

A young girl became pregnant. Her parents were extremely upset with her. They went on pestering her in hopes of finding out who the child's father was.

After a lot of questions and a lot of scolding, the girl named a Swami who lived close by. The parents went to the Swami, yelled and literally abused him for his criminal act.

The Swami listened to all their accusations and calmly asked, 'Is that so?'

After this incident, everybody started speaking ill of the Swami. He became a man whose name, when merely mentioned, would make everyone uncomfortable.

When the baby was born, the girl's parents took it to the Swami and asked him to bring up the child by himself.

The Swami took the baby without a word. He took good care of the baby, getting it milk and clothes from his neighbors. He did whatever was necessary to bring up the child.

About a year later, the girl confessed that she had lied to the parents. The actual father of the baby was a young man. The girl's parents immediately went to the Swami. They apologized endlessly for their behavior and requested him to return the baby. They told him that the actual father of the baby was another man.

The Swami said, 'Is that so?' and returned the baby.

This is a beautiful story.

Just watch how the Swami reacted to the things that happened to him? This is what I mean by 'witness'. Now, do you understand?

Just be a witness to everything that happens. That is why I say, 'Don't say anything for something or against it.'

When you become the witness, you will be simply shocked! Whatever you have always thought to be a very big thing will start looking small. It won't seem to matter at all. But what have you been doing all this time? You have thought that even small things like anger are very big!

When anger comes, it is not that it is going to kill you. It has never killed you, and you have been through it many times before. You have come out of it perfectly well. The only thing is that every time you get involved in anger, you fight with it; it leaves you with a very bitter feeling. Now I am asking you to do only one thing in a new way; just watch it! The next time anger comes, just watch it. Don't be affected. Watch it as if it doesn't belong to you. When you do this, you will see that the anger simply disappears in a matter of seconds!

It is only when the anger disappears in such a peaceful way without any struggle does it leave behind a loving feeling. An extremely beautiful, silent and peaceful love will take over your whole being. Earlier, the same energy that would have taken over your whole being as anger, has now turned into love. And it is such a beautiful love, so you won't fight with it; you will enjoy it.

Anytime that anything arises in you, it is a great chance to watch it and see it transform into this pure love, this pure energy. So just watch, that's all! That angry donkey will simply run away!

Just watch and the emotion will be transformed.

Thank you.

I know that the question that I am going to ask is foolish, but it has been lingering within me for some time now.

I am afraid of enlightenment.

What comes after enlightenment? What do we do after the goal of life is finally reached? What am I aiming for? As of now, I just feel like I am falling into an endless pit. I literally feel like I am falling with no bottom, with no goal at all.

What exactly am I aiming for? What is beyond the goal?

This is a nice question!

See: it is not just you who is scared of enlightenment; the whole of humanity is. Why else do you think that so few people have attained?

And these few people who have attained have been spreading this message to the world. They have been preaching about this bliss for thousands and thousands of years. But what do we do? We simply ignore them! We have been ignoring their messages for so long. Humanity has simply not paid any attention to their message. And your question comes from the deeper core of humanity.

It is not only that you alone are afraid, but all of humanity is; everyone is afraid of enlightenment. It is very obvious why. It is because we are all scared of losing ourselves. And this is what enlightenment is, just losing yourself.

This is the same reason why we are all scared of love. This is the reason why we are scared to trust. It is all for the same reason; we will lose ourselves. But this doesn't happen while we are in depression, while we are in anxiety. At this time, we have complete control over ourselves. At this time, we will not be lost. Do you understand? The more difficult your life is, the more you feel yourself. The more comfortable you are.

Just look at the kids, how beautiful they are! Why do you think they are like this? It is for the simple reason that they lose themselves. They are just lost in their joy.

Have you seen children whirling? They practically lose themselves in their own bliss. They offer themselves to Existence. It is such a small activity, whirling, but they do it totally. That is the beautiful thing.

But you fellows - what do you do when you see them whirl? You get uncomfortable and shout to them to keep quiet, to simply sit. 'You will fall. Sit down!' you say.

Actually, you want to make them buffalos just like you! And when they finally do become buffalos, you feel that you have done your job! You feel that they have become mature! Nonsense!

You have become so fully suppressed that you feel uncomfortable when someone else is expressing themselves. That is the truth.

It is your very nature to lose your self. It is your birthright. The only way to find your 'Self' is to lose your 'self'.

But you are afraid of what might happen next. On one hand, you want whatever is being offered to you. On the other hand, you are afraid. It is like this: you are stuck in a prison. You are trying all possible ways to get out, but the bars are too strong; the prison simply does not want you to leave. And understand: you are the bars; you do not want yourself to leave. You are the prison. This is why you are afraid to get out of it. You yourself have created this prison and at the same time, you want to escape.

Just imagine: you are afraid of the same thing for which you have a deep longing! And not only this; you start consoling yourself by saying, 'This is where I belong.' Just see the game that your mind is playing on you!

So it is like you have simply become accustomed to suffering. Although it may be painful, it is familiar to you; it is nice and cozy. Actually, the only reason why you are not able to live in a peaceful way is that you are afraid to come out of your cozy environment. The idea of coming out creates a sort of insecurity within you because you are not familiar with the free feeling at all. Just imagine: you are not familiar with being peaceful!

But there is one thing that you are very clear about: you know that there is something beyond your personality. Then why are you watching on the sidelines? All that is needed is to take the plunge into the mainstream, that's all! Don't think before you jump because if you think first, you will never jump! Your thinking takes the very juice out of what has to be done. The moment you think, the juice in it is lost.

Again and again I am telling you that before you do anything, you must lose your self. Again I am telling you: you must lose yourself to find yourself.

A small story:

A disciple asked his master, 'What is enlightenment?'

'It is right before your eyes,' the master replied.

'Then why can't I see it?' the disciple asked.

'Because of your 'I,' the master said.

'If I don't have this idea of 'I', will I reach It?' asked the disciple.

'If there is no 'I', who wants to reach enlightenment?' the master asked.

Do you understand? First lose yourself before worrying about enlightenment. Only when you have lost yourself will enlightenment dawn on you. Enlightenment is all about losing yourself. It is all about becoming Nothing. How can you become nothing when you are still something?

I am reminded of something that happened while I was speaking in a college.

During the questions and answers session, one girl raised her hand and asked, 'What is the difference between you and me? Why should you sit on the throne and all of us here on the floor?'

I just smiled at her and said, 'You are right. There is no difference between you and me. It is just that you are something, and I am Nothing.'

This is what I mean when I say 'lose yourself'.

Don't bother about what will happen next. Only when you worry about the next step, the step will never be taken.

Just jump!

Nothing more is needed!

Yes.

This whole enlightenment business is confusing me. You said that our search for it must be total. But on the other hand, my desire for enlightenment is so strong that I am getting impatient. What should I do to solve my problem?

You see: if you go on thinking about enlightenment, it will never happen. Enlightenment is right in front of you; just take it! But you will not! It is so easy that it is hard; this is the problem! Anything very easy becomes too hard for us because we are used to doing only hard things, never easy things. We are taught to struggle all the time, not just take things. Stop worrying and confusing yourself.

For example, can you make any effort to sleep? There have been so many tricks for sleeping, but do they work? You are told to drink a hot glass of milk, but what does the milk do? It makes you even more awake and alert! They tell you to take a bath, but that makes you even more fresh!

In order to sleep, you must lie down and sleep should come by itself. You should make no effort at all. But why should you go to sleep? There has to be a need, a desire for sleep; only then can sleep come. Because without the desire, you may feel, 'What is the point?' And for desire for sleep to come, you should get to a point where sleep is absolutely needed. Long hours of sleep is wasteful. If you work until a point when sleep comes naturally to you, then you just need to put your head on the pillow and you are gone! That is real sleep. The quality of your sleep will be profound.

So in the beginning, a desire is needed. But the problem is that in the final stage, the desire itself becomes the hindrance. So first, you must desire and then forget all about the desire! This is the only way that enlightenment will ever come.

And your search must be total. Otherwise, the longing will not be created. A deep longing must be there. You see: enlightenment is a desire which not many people have. People desire all kinds of things, but only very few desire enlightenment.

So first I emphasise: be total in your search for enlightenment. Create the longing for it first. But be clear: do not stick to the desire. This is what will stop you moving towards it. In the beginning, this longing is absolutely necessary. But as you move deeper, it will stop you. As you move deeper, it will become the stumbling block.

So, searching is only half of your search. If you go on searching, you will become frustrated because it is not like it is something that you can find outside yourself. It is within you. It is nowhere else. It must be discovered. But for this to happen, you have to have been a thorough seeker. You have to become frustrated completely. The search should be such that you feel you have practically given yourself to it. Your frustration should be such that you give up everything for this search. You should feel as if you have nothing else in this world except this one search which has now let you down.

This is what I mean by thoroughly searching.

So just go on searching till you become frustrated. It is only when this frustration comes that you will drop the search. It is here that you will automatically fall into a deep relaxation. This relaxation will be so deep that you will simply fall to your center. Rather I should say that you will rise to your center!

Now that I have said this, what will you immediately do? You will try to fall into frustration! This will not be of any use; it will only put you into further depression!

Let it happen at its own pace. There is no need to think about it. It will happen by itself.

Thank you.

When I sit in Your presence during Your discourses, when I hear You talking about silence and attaining, I feel blessed. Sometimes, silence even happens.

But here is my problem: the moment You leave, my inner chattering starts again. When I meditate in Your presence, my mind is silenced so easily, but when I meditate on my own, I don't feel the same silence at all.

Is this what usually happens in a Master/disciple relationship?

Understand: it is completely natural to fall into silence in the presence of the master. It is because the master is silence himself. He is the ultimate silence. He radiates it.

Being with the master will bring immense silence. It is bound to happen. What exactly does being in the presence of the master mean? It is being with someone that you trust. There is a deep love; a love from a completely different plane. It means being with someone who will take you into the unknown. You will simply forget yourself in his presence.

So naturally, you will fall into silence. There is nothing that can be done about it! Whether you want it or not, the master's silence will continue to embrace you! His silence is contagious; nothing can be done!

All of this is beautiful. But because it is disappearing without the master, be clear, it is not your own. Silence has to happen to you in your aloneness; only then can you call it your own. Otherwise it is just the master's reflection projected onto you. It is like you are overwhelmed and in this overwhelmed state, the master's silence is coming into you. Yes, when in the master's presence you are having a glimpse of silence; that is okay. But you must experience your own silence to really call it silence.

One thing must be clearly understood: the silence that you are experiencing near the master is just a reminder that you too can experience the same type of silence. You see: this is not just a glimpse for you to enjoy and move on. It is not there for you to just enjoy and say, 'How beautiful!' No! It is there for you to gain the understanding that the same thing can happen in you all the time.

As of now, you are existing in your body; you are existing in your mind. But your center is completely different from the two. Your center has a completely different quality. It is its very nature to be silent. It is its very nature to be immersed in stillness.

The problem is that now we have become confused. Because of being caught up with the mind, we are not able to tell the difference between 'me' and 'I'. This 'me' is the real you. It is your birthright. But it is this 'I' that causes all the problems!

How to come out of this?

Meditation is all that is needed. Awareness is the only key. Again and again, I give you the same technique: just watch yourself. Don't drag behind a thought; don't try to stop a thought from coming. Let everything happen as it is supposed to; you just watch. Whether a thought is negative or positive shouldn't be your business at all. Just remain cool and untouched. You will be surprised about what will come.

When you become just a witness, the number of thoughts slowly begin to decrease. The gap between thoughts becomes greater and greater. These gaps hold so much silence within them. But when your thoughts slowly begin to decrease, what will you do? You will think, 'Good job!' Don't do this, because it is just one more thought.

The longer you go on witnessing, the bigger these gaps become. And finally, the thoughts will cease. You will be in silence all the time. Now, it has become your silence. Now your silence and the master's silence have become one. Now you don't depend on the master to give you silence. The silence will be with you always.

Next!

When I sit with You, I feel as if I am drinking from a mountain stream. Whenever I try meditating by myself, the most I get is city water!

How can I receive Your clarity and silence within myself?

We will talk later about this clarity and silence.

First, understand that there is actually not much difference between water from the city tap and water from the mountain stream. If you yourself taste, you will understand. If you have tasted, you will know. The stream water will be fresh and alive. It will be rich. The water itself is fresh and is coming directly from the melted snow. It is completely pure. The city water will not be as fresh.

There is one thing that you should know: even if you have started to taste the city water, you are all! You will reach; you have to reach.

Be alert and aware when you climb. Be filled with devotion; be receptive to what is happening to you; you will surely reach the top.

A small story:

After 9 years in China, Bodhidharma, the father of Zen, was going back to Bharat. Before leaving, he asked his disciples what they had learned from his teachings.

Dofuku said, 'Truth is beyond all. It is beyond yes and no. It is beyond life and death.'

Bodhidharma offered him his skin.

Soji said, 'It is like how Ananda saw the Buddhaland - once and forever.'

'I give you my flesh,' Bodhidharma said.

Doiku said, 'No-thing is reality.'

Bodhidharma said, 'You have my bones.'

Eka the last disciple came before the Master, bowed and stood in silence.

'You have my soul', said Bodhidharma.

Thank you.

How are centeredness, concentration and meditation related to one another?

Centeredness is just another word for concentration. But meditation is the complete opposite of concentration. Concentration means nothing but centeredness. It means focusing on one point without thinking of anything else. It is completely an act of the mind. Only when you have the mind, you can concentrate. But meditation is different. Meditation is no-mind. Concentration is mind, meditation is no-mind.

Meditation is going beyond concentration. Concentration is in no way related to meditation; they are complete opposites. One is with the mind and the other is without.

Concentration will reveal secrets of the outer world. Meditation will reveal secrets of the inner world - of yourself. You may be wondering, 'What is he talking about? Of course I know myself!'

And this is what everyone is thinking. But you would be surprised; you know nothing of your self. What you think you are is different; what you are is totally different. As of now, you only feel yourself in this body. But you are much more than that!

Let me give you an example. Every time I leave the Bangalore ashram to go on a world tour, all the ashramites will be sitting and weeping. And when I leave the Los Angeles ashram, all those fellows will be sitting and doing the same thing!

I tell them, 'I am with you.' When I say this, they think, 'Oh, he is just trying to console me.' No! It is the truth.

Do not tag me to this six-foot body which you think I am. I am much more. That is why I am able to say, I am with you.

Forget me; you yourself are much more!

Simply stop associating yourself with this five-foot something body of yours! Feel your self as the whole world, as the whole universe. You are the whole world. You are the divine and the divine is there everywhere. But why do you go on associating yourself with this body? The divine energy is present everywhere.

There is a beautiful story:

A young girl became enlightened after studying with a master for some time.

One day, she was sitting on a box, meditating, when her father came and shouted, 'What are you doing? There is a Krishna statue in that box!'

The girl replied, 'Father, take me to a place where there is no Krishna.'

This is a beautiful story. This is what I am talking about. The divine is everywhere. The divine is in you right now. It is you!

The problem is that there is something stopping you from realizing this. And this problem is the mind. The mind thrives on division. It is forever dividing, making things two when they are one!

And what do you do? You play along. You say, 'This is my body; this is my mind; this is the Earth; this is me; this is you.' What nonsense! Just see the game that your mind is playing!

Go beyond the mind. What are you waiting for?

When you look at something, just be aware of the segregating thought. Be aware of the emotion that says, 'This is different; I am different.' Do not listen to these nonsensical thoughts.

When you look, actually look; don't think!

Yes, next.

I have noticed that when I am not around You, I have so many questions which I feel the need to ask You. Then, when I finally come near enough to ask You, either the questions seem to be of no use or I forget them altogether. Why is this? Why do questions simply vanish in Your presence?

Nice question…!

There are many answers to this question; there are many reasons. But the main reason is this: when you are near someone whose mind is no more, you too enter into the mindless state. Just being in his presence can put you in this state.

This is the case with almost everyone. For example, when you are near someone who is always angry, who is in constant depression, what happens? You also fall into a low mood. But when you are with someone who is cheerful and charismatic, what happens? You also begin to feel happy and energetic.

It is the same way with this no-mind state. When you are with someone who doesn't have any inner chatter, you also begin to have fewer thoughts. And what are questions? They are nothing but thoughts.

So, what you are feeling is perfectly natural. You may have all possible questions when you are not in my presence. But the moment you come close to me, your questions disappear. Your questions vanish. In fact, your thoughts reduce by themselves. You simply fall into the silence which is radiated through the Master's presence.

And this is good; allow it to happen.

Do not start thinking about what is happening to you. This will just create one more thought within you.

Just allow things to happen on their own. Do not bring yourself into the situation.

This is living in silence.

This is living in the moment.

Yes.

Can You please speak to me about fear? What exactly is it? Will meditation help me to get over my fear of death? And also, why am I afraid of letting go and falling into something more powerful than me?

You are asking me about fear. Actually, there are many fears, different types. But even though there are many fears, all of them have the same root cause: fear of death. Every fear that you can imagine has death as its center, as its core, nicely disguised though.

Let us look into it. You may have the fear of losing all your money and going bankrupt. But fear is just the outer covering of what you are really feeling. Actually, if you lose your money, you are becoming more vulnerable to death. We all keep holding only money as our protection. We all know that there is no protection against death. When it has to come, it will come. But still we want something to hold us back; something to keep us busy.

This is the problem with these workaholics. These guys must always be involved in some kind of work. They cannot sit quietly with themselves. And to tell you honestly, they are scared of vacations!

From the moment they get up in the morning and start reading the newspaper, they need something to do. And they will go on reading the same newspaper over and over, just to keep themselves occupied sometimes! I feel really amused looking at these guys!

They want to remain engaged in something continuously because it creates a boundary against death. When they continuously have something to do, it creates a curtain between themselves and death. Whatever it may be, the sole reason behind the whole thing is the fear of death.

Once you have realized that all your fears are only to do with death, you can see how to transcend them altogether. If death is the basic fear behind all fears, then only one thing can be done: an experience within you of deathless consciousness. This may not be practical for most people. But repeated intellectual understanding combined with awareness can make you a mere watcher of fear instead of becoming fearful of it.

Understand, nothing is important; not money, not prestige, not power, nothing; only your true nature is. This is because it is the only thing that is real. The mind may die; the body may die; but you will not. Understand this. You are beyond both the body and mind. So what is this talk about death? What is left to die? You will never end because you have never even begun!

Existence is beginningless; it is endless.

It has just always been. It has never started and it will never end. You started the same way and you are still the same way. You have never started and you will never end. The forms may come and go, but you will live on.

Your infancy was once there and now it has passed. Childhood has left you and now you are in adulthood. The death of childhood is the beginning of adulthood. Soon you will enter old age; death will come and then you will start all over again. Do you see what I am talking about?

So many things will go on happening to the form, but not to the essence; not to you.

Your form is changing every moment. The changes are so quick and so fast that you don't know what is happening to you when it is happening. Just see, your childhood left you and you entered into your teenage years. And then from your teenage years, you entered into adulthood and then into old age. And then finally, what happens? Death comes. It all happens in just a fraction of a second. It is all change - nothing more than that.

Death is just a jump from one body to another body. But be clear, it is not the end for you. You were never born and you never died. You were always here.

Meditation brings you face to face with your own reality. Once you understand what your own reality is, you simply won't bother about death.

So, come face to face with your own reality. Do not be afraid. After all, why should you be afraid of what you are?

Be clear: you are only afraid because you have fear of death.

But you will never die.

You will only be here.

Do you understand?

Can You please explain to me about how a meditator is meant to pass through death? Will he see death more like a joke or as a serious affair?

Actually, it is only a meditator who is capable of passing through death as a joke. In fact, only he can pass through it smiling and laughing because he knows that death is just part of the process. He knows that death cannot hurt him in any way. He knows that life will just come and go but his life is eternal.

To tell you honestly: death is nothing but change of houses. It is just changing your location.

Here is the difference: to the non-meditator, death is the end; to the meditator, it is the beginning. Every death, every new life is like a fresh start; a fresh beginning. But the problem is that if you don't understand this, you will pass through death unconsciously without opening your eyes to the beauty of the whole thing.

If you can die consciously, death will seem like a new door found for the same room. It will just be a fresh beginning. But in order to die consciously, you must live consciously. A conscious death is a gift for living a conscious life.

Another thing: whether you run from death or face it, it doesn't matter; it will come. There is nothing that you can do about it. Death has been approaching you every moment, every second from the day you were born.

A meditative person will be able to see the secret behind death. It will appear like someone is dying from the outside. But it will be very clear that in the inside, nobody has ever died.

Yes.

What is the mystery behind the silence in Your words?

All that I want to convey to you is in the gaps between my words. I create the words only for these gaps.

Have you noticed that I speak very slowly? People usually think, 'Oh, he must be scrambling for words. That is why he is pausing so much!'

No! It is not like that! I am creating as many gaps as possible. I am trying to make these gaps as long as possible in order for you to receive the message which cannot be transferred through words. And this message will take you beyond words.

But what do you fellows sit and do when these gaps come? You think and do all possible things. You never remain calm and receptive.

Silence can only be transferred from one silent being to another. The possibility to share, to merge into the unknown happens in complete silence.

The same goes when I crack jokes as well. The purpose for me cracking jokes is not for the sake of the joke; it is for the laughter that follows. This is because in laughter, your thinking stops. In the peak of laughter, your mind is no more. This is why I always tell people: even if you miss the joke don't miss the laughter.

In the peak of laughter, your mind just stops; there will be no thoughts. And then after the laughter, there is a very small gap where you become totally receptive and totally open. At this time, the silence will go to the core of your being and do wonders to you.

While sitting before me, all that you must do is to let your mind remain still. Do not allow your mind to wander here and there.

It is as simple as that!

Thank you.