Become Shiva🔗

(2006 Shiva sutra discourses in USA)

Who is Shiva? What is Shiva?

Shiva in Sanskrit simply means causeless auspiciousness. It means prosperity, wellness and happiness with no premeditation, with no pre-determination and with no preparation. The auspiciousness just happens. Bliss just flows. This is the state of Shiva!

Shiva is the state of Shiva; it is the consciousness of Shiva. There is no need to worry about a god with a snake around his neck, covered in ashes, with matted hair and sounding a hand drum. Shiva is not a person; he is energy; he is a state; he is consciousness that you can aspire to reach.

We know Shiva as the Rejuvenator. Be clear he is not the destroyer he is made out to be. The destruction he is supposed to do as a part of the Vedic Trinity is the preparation for creation that is to follow. Bear in mind that no creation can happen unless something is destroyed first. This is what Shiva does. He recreates through destruction.

In the Vedic scriptures, there is a collection of aphorisms called Vijñana Bhairava Tantra, also known as Shiva Sutra. This is a collection of 112 aphorisms laid out as a conversation between Shiva and his consort Devi. Devi is also his disciple, so this dialogue is actually between a master and his beloved who is a disciple. These 112 aphorisms known a sutra in Sanskrit are techniques for enlightenment. Each sutra is in fact a technique of meditation that leads to enlightenment. As far as I know this is the only practical manual on enlightenment that has been written in any scripture, anywhere in the world.

In one sutra, Shiva says to Devi:

The energy of breath should neither move out nor enter. Let your center unfold by the dissolution of thoughts; may you be unclutched; you then attain my nature.

This is actually one of a series of breathing techniques that Shiva teaches Devi. Breathing is the right place to begin one's spiritual practice. There are so many masters who have taught on Planet Earth. All the techniques taught by them, the puja, yoga, all of them start through connection with Earth, the physical part. Then there are some techniques related to fire, such as homa and many such techniques to fall in tune with fire. There are mantras, the sacred sounds, which cause vibrations in the air element. There are other techniques such as meditation to help one fall in tune with the ether element.

The problem is this. When you straightaway try to fall in tune with ether, akasa energy, your own energy level is not subtle enough. Etheric energy is the subtlest of all energies and the most powerful. You will not be able to access this energy in your normal physical energy level.

Anybody can start from the energy level of prana, the air space. Nobody will miss it. There are many masters who directly try to work on ether. They straightaway want to work on this energy; they want to work on the consciousness. They say again and again 'no technique is necessary, nothing needs to be done'.

Yes, someone at the level of these masters perhaps can but not others. The big problem is that these techniques cannot help an average person. Listening to such masters becomes one more ritual, that's all. Many people go and sit and listen to them for years and nothing happens in their consciousness. It's like these masters are sitting on the 10th floor and asking them 'please come, come, come' without saying where the lift is or where the steps are. It's like they are telling you to come but they never give you the route.

J. Krishnamurti says, 'truth is the pathless land'. He is 100% correct. There is no doubt at all in what he said. But I tell you, people need a path to be shown. Trying to work straightaway on the consciousness may not help most of the individuals.

Here Shiva is trying to work through the breath, through prana. He is talking to us at the same height as we are. He is leading us to the same depth through the proper method, through the proper channel, through a proper technique, by helping us to work on the breath.

You need to start where you are. You can only start from where you are. You can't start where you have to end. You are supposed to end in consciousness, but you can't start in consciousness because you are not there. If you are already there, why do you need any one to teach you? You don't need anything. You don't need meditation.

Somebody goes to a great yogi and asks, 'Master, I want to learn meditation'

Master says, 'No, no, first you have to master yama, then niyama.'

Disciple asks: 'What is the yama, niyama?'

Master replies: 'Yama is to be truthful, practicing celibacy, not stealing, living a non-violent life and so on. You have to practice all these things. Only then you can start meditation.'

The disciple asks 'If I can do all these things, why do I need meditation? If I can do all these things then I am already a master!'

Masters aiming at the intellect put all their emphasis straightaway working on consciousness; but they forget that a person who can work straightaway on his consciousness doesn't need any help. He doesn't need a teacher. He doesn't need anything at all.

You have to start where you are. You cannot straightaway think of the goal. Goal is the truth, no doubt. But, you can't start from there, the end point. Shiva is practical person. I have read thousands of spiritual books. If at all I am asked to choose a single book amongst these thousands, I will choose this Shiva Sutra as the ultimate book of practical spirituality. It is the pure essence and not only that it is so practical. Shiva is taking us to the same height as he is in, but in stages. He is beautifully leading us step by step to the highest truth. In this sutra he is opening up and declaring the highest truth, but not in a shocking and impractical way. He prepares us first. With the earlier sutras he has prepared us. Now he is opening up with the truth.

The energy of breath should neither move out nor enter. Let your center unfold by the dissolution of thoughts. Let you be unclutched. You then attain my nature.

As I was telling you the other day, a scientist is the person who creates a formula to reproduce the understanding that happened to him. A master is the person who creates a formula to reproduce the experience that happened to him. A scientist is a person who creates a formula to reproduce the intellectual understanding related to the outer world. A master creates a formula to reproduce the intellectual understanding related to the inner world.

For example, Newton saw an apple falling in his garden and all of a sudden he had some understanding. He had the glimpse of truth. Why should the apple fall? If we see an apple fall, we would either pick up and eat it or forget about it. Why unnecessarily think about all those other things? Why does it fall? Why should it be attracted towards the earth?

Anyhow he had some understanding. Why is it falling? He had the glimpse of truth. He created the formula for us also to understand the truth. He created a formula to reproduce the same understanding that happened in him regarding the outer world. He created the law of gravity. This was a formula related to the outer world.

A master is a person who creates formulas, one who creates a technology to reproduce the experience related to the inner world. Here, Shiva is just reproducing the technology to achieve the Shiva consciousness. He says 'one attains my nature of Bhairava'. He says that you too will achieve the same consciousness in which he is. He says that you will achieve the Shiva consciousness.

There are so many levels of the experience of liberation, mukti; there are many levels of achieving mind body spirit integration and the realization of one's own Self. These states are called Salokya mukti, Samepya mukti, Sarupya mukti and Sayujya mukti.

Salokya mukti means that you get to live around the master. You stay in the same space in which the master stays. I always tell people, it's like becoming an ashramite, an inmate of the ashram. You live around me. That is the salokya mukti. You enter into his loka, you enter into his world. That is salokya mukti. Lot of problems will be avoided because you don't have to think through your life. He will do the thinking for your life. Your responsibilities are taken over by him. He takes care of you. He takes over your responsibilities.

The next level is samepya mukti; living closely around him. I compare this with my crewmembers who always travel with me. You are 24 hours with the master, in his presence.

Third is sarupya mukti. Sarupya mukti is taking the master's own form. You are in the same form and do what he does. It's like becoming an acharya, the teacher of our philosophy and courses. They do the communication and presentation of my form and experiences. They become teachers and start taking classes. People associate the acharyas with me. That is why you can see in all the temples that the guardians, dwarapalaka, will be carrying the same weapons that the deities will be carrying. If the god is wearing a specific mark on his forehead*, the kumkum* or vibhuti or namam, the dwarapalaka also will be wearing kumkum or vibhuti or namam. They achieve the swarupa, the same form and attain sarupya mukti.

The next, last and the ultimate is sayujya mukti. You achieve a master's consciousness. You become him. You start staying in the same space where he is staying. You achieve the same consciousness, the same state.

Shiva doesn't believe in the other three levels of mukti. He doesn't believe in salokya, he doesn't believe in samepya, He doesn't believe in sarupya. Straightaway he takes us to sayujya. He gives us the techniques to sayujya. Beautifully he says, 'bhairava rupata'. You achieve the same consciousness in which Shiva, Bhairava, is. Bhairava does not mean, as it is commonly understood, the fearsome aspect of Shiva. Bhairava is the true consciousness of Shiva. When one becomes a Bhairava, one achieves the same space in which Shiva exists. One achieves Shiva consciousness, sayujya mukti.

The energy of breath should neither move out nor enter. Let your center unfold by the dissolution of thoughts; may you be unclutched; you then attain my nature.

The key to this whole sutra is 'be unclutched'. Shiva straightaway comes to the subject. But sometimes I don't go straightaway into the subject because I need to prepare your mind. Shiva is speaking to Devi. Devi is prepared. She is not only the beloved, but also a disciple who has surrendered to Shiva. I am on the other hand speaking to you all, each in a different state of preparation. That is why I am not straightaway entering into the subject.

Our mind is too preoccupied with material things. Unless I prepare your mind, you don't start listening to the truth. It takes a lot of time for us to come and settle down into the hall itself. Be very clear, you may be sitting in the hall but you have not settled down into the hall. You may be sitting in the hall. It takes at least 20 minutes for you to settle down into the space. I have always seen that it takes at least 20 minutes. That is why I am not entering into the sutra. I am just playing.

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

A small story,

One yuppie stopped his car in the middle of the road and opened the door of his BMW. Suddenly, another car came and crashed into his car. The door was completely thrown out. The yuppie started screaming.

Police came over and the yuppie started weeping 'see what has happened to my car!'

The officer saw the whole scene and starting shouting 'you yuppies don't care about your life and you bother only about your materialistic things. Can't you see that your left hand is missing?'

Suddenly that guy saw the left hand and said 'Oh, my god! What happened to my Rolex watch?"

'What happened to my Rolex watch?'

Again he is only bothered about the material stuff. Now we are too much engrossed in material things. We forget life itself. That's the reason I first try to settle down before entering into the sutra. If you lost your Rolex watch it's ok you can get another, but you can't get another hand. Your BMW may be damaged, it's ok, but you can't damage your life. If you miss the introduction it's ok, but you can't miss the sutra itself.

If straightaway I start talking on the sutra, you will miss the sutra, because your mind takes little time. Just the other day one of our devotees was suggesting 'Swamiji, you should start the silent satsang (spiritual gathering).'

It is true that I can sit in silence, but you can't. If I sit in silence you will start talking inside your head. Actually, I can convey much better and the transmission of energy can happen far more beautifully if I am in silence. If I am sitting here in silence, much more can happen in you then through speaking.

People ask me 'Swamiji, I don't know English, can I attend your meditation program'. I tell them, 'only you are qualified to attend, don't miss the chance.' There are so many people who come from France, who don't know English. There are people who only know Spanish; all these people come and ask me through translators, 'we don't understand English; can we attend your program?'

I tell them, 'you are the only persons qualified. Don't miss that chance.'

Those who understand English think they understand what I am saying, that's all. They will constantly be trying to get the meaning out of the words that I am expressing. Let you be very clear, you can never understand anything, because I myself don't understand. I know for sure I am not speaking what I want to speak. I am not expressing what I want to express because words are too small. These words are too small and too inadequate. These truths can't be expressed through words.

If you don't understand, at least you'll be clear that you have not understood. If you think you have understood, really you are missing, but I can't be in silence. If I don't speak you will start speaking in your head. At least you will be a little silent if I start speaking. I am speaking so that you will be silent. If I am in silence, you will start speaking. That's the reason I don't do silent discourses!

Of course, at the higher level, when people are really mature, I do sit with them. In teacher's training, sometime I sit with them even for 10 hours. Not even a single word. Not even single word is shared. Not only no words are shared; nobody even thinks. Nobody even bothers about talking. We had Nithyanandam program; 15 days program. 18 hours every day people sat with me. Neither did they feel the need to speak nor did I feel that I needed to tell them anything.

At the deeper level you will be able to sit silently. In the initial levels you won't be able to sit. If I stop teaching you will start speaking inside your head. You may not speak with others but you will start speaking with yourself. It is better even if you misunderstand. It's ok; at least in the end I can give you a little clarity.

Another small story.

A lady was speaking to her neighbor. She was telling her, "Today I started my day beautifully, and I really feel good. I gave \$5 to a bum."

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

"He just said thanks and left"

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

All right, it is time; let us enter into the sutra. I request all of you to be totally attentive. Please sit straight so that you won't miss. Here, Shiva is taking us word by word to the deepest experience. I tell you, one thing, if you can be aware the next one hour, if you don't miss a single word, I promise there's every possibility of liberation. You don't need to practice this meditation because this meditation doesn't need to be practiced. The very understanding is enough.

Shiva leads you step-by-step into your core. Every word takes you to the next layer, and he's showing you the very nature of your being; the core of your being. He is trying to express it. It is better if you don't close your eyes. Usually if you close your eyes, you may think you are listening, but slowly you are lost. Moreover, I express more in body language than through words. So, when you are listening to audio discourse you can close your eyes; but when you are listening directly to the Master do sit with full awareness and sit straight.

Ramakrishna always says, 'whenever I go to an extreme, whenever I go to a level of expressing the truth, I feel suddenly that somebody is choking my throat'

Only to a certain extent, I am able to express. After that I feel that somebody is choking my throat. I am not able to say what I want to say. When I read this about Ramakrishna I wondered how this can be true. Who can choke your throat? How can you say you cannot express what you want to express. I didn't believe but really now I am able to believe.

Now I am able to experience what Ramakrishna meant. There are some things, when you try to express it through words, put it through words, so much comes up, a big traffic jam results. The traffic jam of the truth happens in your throat. Your vak, the energy of speech*, loses the power to express. If only one or two things are to be expressed then your vak* is alive and active. You can express. When there are so many things that need to be expressed, when the truth is overcrowded and the traffic jam of truth happens, you really feel your vak is too small.

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

The energy of breath should neither move out nor enter. Let your center unfold by the dissolution of thoughts; may you be unclutched; you then attain my nature.

Then one attains the Shiva consciousness.

You don't need to even practice this technique. All you need to do is just be aware of this technique. There are some techniques that you need to learn and practice to experience. There are some techniques the very understanding of which take you to that level, take you to that depth that suddenly you see you are experiencing.

In Vedanta there are three levels of understanding. The first is sravana, which means understanding of the technique, listening to its description. The second level is manana, meditating on it, contemplating, and practising it. The third and final level is nidhityasan, expressing the truth, expressing it after internalizing it.

You normally need these three steps of understanding, practicing, and expressing. Here, with this technique you don't need the three steps. The very understanding simply liberates you because he's taking us to such a deep level, to the depth of your being. He's showing us the core. He's taking us to a different space which I call 'Zen zone'.

Zen zone means the zone in which already you are liberated. It is the zone in which you are unclutched. It is the zone in which you exist as you are. He's taking us to this zone beautifully without any practice. As far as this technique is concerned the very understanding is enough. You will suddenly wake up feeling 'yes, I am in that state'. Nothing else needs to be done. He's taking us to that zone.

The energy of breath should neither move out nor enter.

Yesterday when I was speaking to you, I was explaining how to be relaxed and to feel comfortable in the neutral space. We feel comfortable with incoming breath or outgoing breath but we don't feel comfortable with the neutral space that is the gap in between the breaths. That is why you just jump the neutral space, you rush through it. You don't give your attention to neutral space. Whenever the neutral space comes, you say 'quit', and you jump.

Whenever you reach the neutral space you fast-forward. You just fast forward it. Continuously you fast-forward the neutral space. When you sit and watch a movie, if you don't like some scenes, you fast-forward them. You just jump over them. In the same way, whenever the neutral space comes, you jump and you fast-forward.

Yesterday I was asking you to feel a little comfortable with the neutral space, in the neutral zone. Now Shiva is taking us to a different depth. He says you don't even have to feel comfortable with the neutral zone. Just understand you have neutral zone and be relaxed.

Whether you want or not, you have the neutral zone between breaths. Even if you do fast-forwarding you still have it. Even if you fast-forward, the neutral-zone is your nature. Every moment, the neutral-zone is going to happen in you. That space is happening in you. The neutral space is constantly happening in you. Even if you avoid, the neutral space is happening in you.

He says:

The energy of breath should neither move out nor enter. Let your center unfold by the dissolution of thoughts; may you be unclutched; you then attain my nature.

Let me explain how your mind moves and how you think. First of all, in all the first three sutras, Shiva has spoken only about breath. He never used the word mind. For the first time he brings in that word. For the first time, Shiva introduces mind to us. For the first time he is bringing the word mind in and for the first time he is uttering the word nirvikalpataya. This word means 'to be unclutched'. It refers to the state in which you don't have any vikalpa. It is the state where you don't connect and see. Vikalpa means connecting the kalpana. Nirvikalpa means where you don't connect anything. Kalpana refers to 'connecting' or 'imagining'. Here, he says nirvikalpa, where you don't connect and you are unclutched.

Let me just explain how you think. Let us see how you think you are thinking.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A small story:

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

The boy said 'I want to eat worms'.

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

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

The doctor threw away all but one worm.

The boy started shouting "now, cut it in half"

It was cut into halves.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I have seen people trying to work through concentration. I have seen people seriously chanting, 'Rama Krishna Rama Krishna hare hare Krishna Krishna hare hare Rama Rama hare hare' again and again. I myself have practiced these for years. I will be repeating constantly the whole day. I had only one effect: depression.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A small story,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Let me tell you another personal experience.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Now, Shiva says, very clearly,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That is what it is. All these are feel good factors, nothing else. Do not be cheated by the feel good factor. Please understand the truth, the reality, as it is.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

May you all become paramahamsas.

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

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

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

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

If you know it is unclutched, independent and separate, you don't think the enemy as a huge guy who is sitting in front of you. You don't even feel like fighting. His head is separate, his leg is separate and his body is separate. You don't think of fighting with him.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Please close your eyes, and tie the eye band. Sit straight. First few moments, inhale and exhale, as deeply as possible.

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

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

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

Intensely, be aware of both the neutral spaces.

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

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

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

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

Om shanti shanti shantihi

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

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

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

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

Q: Swamiji what is God and what happens during enlightenment?

A: Whatever I say will be a lie, let you be very clear. Whatever I say about God will be a lie, because I will only be able to give partial answer. It is too big to be discussed. It can't be discussed; it is too big a word and loaded with meaning; nothing can be done about it.

I can tell you only one thing; be unclutched and you will experience God, nothing else can be done. When you experience and come out you will also have the same trouble and you will tell others that you are not able to explain. Actually, before enlightenment before I read all these great books, I used to think that these fellows were playing a game. They don't have a definition for the main product they are selling, whether god or enlightenment. None of these fellows are able to give explanation. They are selling something that they can't even define. I thought, what is happening? What kind of business is this? But after I entered into the business I also understood. Nothing can be done about it. I can do one thing; I can put you in the same problem. I can put you in the same space where you will have same problem. Otherwise I can't explain. And whatever I say will be the half-truth.

What happens during enlightenment again it is difficult to explain. Let you be unclutched and experience for yourself. See, all these questions you ask because you don't have confidence that you can be unclutched. You don't have confidence, you think, no, no, what he talks is right, but I can't experience all those things, so let me at least have a little knowledge and go back to the house.

Please be very clear, you can be unclutched. Constantly your belief that you can't be unclutched is also one more shaft. It is just one more shaft. Perhaps ten years ago you tried and you failed and again 9 years ago you tried and failed. Why are you connecting all of your failures and connecting a shaft? Those failures are independent, individual incidents. Do not connect them. The moment you connect them and create a shaft, you will be a failure this time also. Why do you create and try to live, why are connecting it? Why are you connecting again?

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

A: Please do not connect your past teachings and these teachings and make one more shaft. When you connect my words to Krishna's words and Jesus' words you will create one more shaft and you will do the same thing, which you have done to their teachings.

Be very clear, when you heard their teachings, you have not become enlightened. You put them in one corner of your mind and somehow you managed to play a hypocritical game. They are in one corner and you are living your life now. If you connect my teachings with their teachings and create a shaft you will do the same thing to my words; you will not allow my words to work on you.

That is why you when people come and ask me, Swamiji, are you the incarnation of Shiva, are you an incarnation of god, are you the incarnation of Krishna, I feel like suing them for defaming me. I'll sue you for defamation. When you connect me with them you will dump me in one corner. See, no Krishna, no Buddha has given you enlightenment. You survived Buddha, you survived Shiva; nobody could help you. You heard all their teachings. You did everything. But they are not able to give you enlightenment.

When you connect me with the same shaft, you will dump me also in the same corner. I am not associating myself with Jesus, Buddha , Krishna and all those names.

Let you be very clear, this time I am not going to leave you. This time I am not going to leave you. And don't connect me with all these teachings. If you connect me with all these teachings, you will do the same thing you have done to them. You have survived Buddha. You survived them. You abused them. You disrespected them all, let you be very clear, I am very clear when I say you abused them all. You never heard their teachings. You never allowed them to give you enlightenment.

You say, 'Are you saying the same thing like Krishna?' Did those words shake you? Have you realized through those words? No. If you had, you have to sit here in my place, not there where you are. You have not realized. Somehow you made your own understanding and kept in one file in one corner.

Buddha says, Krishna says, Jesus says and it is all there in one corner. Whenever you don't have any work, you go into your house library and see all those things and you pick up some book and read a few lines and throw it away somewhere. When some work comes you say bye, enough, and you just play with the books. Just like that you are playing with all of them.

Do not put me in the same shaft, do not connect me with the same shaft, then you will dump me also in one corner and you will also be lying there. Even this will not help you. Do not create shafts; that is the reason I always tell people, come fresh, if you come without reading all this nonsense you can be helped easily. If you heard all these things, then you will connect with them. You will say his teachings are almost like Krishnamurti, Osho, Ramana Maharishi and you will be sitting and validating.

Validating me is not going to help you. It may help my mission, you may start saying to others he is the embodiment of Ramakrishna , Shiva , Buddha, Krishna but that is not going to help you. That is not going to help you.

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

Now, let you see what is going on in you. You are playing so many hypocritical games, how you are doing all these things, how you are trying to escape from me with all your techniques. You are trying your best to somehow escape from the truth. Somehow you are trying to protect your identity. You are trying to put so many shields in front of you. Some way you are trying to create something.

Your mind is so cunning that it will start creating something or other. During and after meditation I feel good and energized; that good feeling inspires me to meditate the next day. Be very clear, you are trying to create that shaft, that good feeling. You are trying to create that shaft again you are in danger.

Can I use this shaft in the initial stages of my spiritual path? This is an important thing. Nobody is in the initial stage, let you be very clear. It is all words used by the so called masters to cheat you. No question of initial stage or ending stage. Spirituality is not like a cancer. In cancer only 4 stages are there; in enlightenment no 4 stages. Either you are enlightened now or never.

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

Let you be very clear, thinking that in the initial level you are the seeker, you are in the beginning level, all these things are cunning words you are using to postpone the transformation. You just want to play around for some more time. You do not want the truth straight away. Then better at least go back to your house and enjoy the TV. Why you are unnecessarily wasting two days here?

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

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

Let me be very clear, you will never feel you are progressing with your mind. You will always feel that you are in the initial stages. This shaft also doesn't exist. This shaft that says 'I feel good and energized after meditation' just means that you are simply gullible.

Let me be very clear. Anybody can come and give you some technique and tell you that you are having spiritual progress. Spiritual progress means straight away having enlightenment. Anything less than enlightenment straight away you're having a nice game. You are having a nice game. You may think I am very impractical and that I have no problems. It is up to you. I also have so many programs, ASP, NSP all of those programs. I'll have your business; you will not have your business that's all.

Let you be very clear I am also giving so many meditation programs. It will all give you the feel good factor. Nice thing. It's like you go to some temple and sit for half an hour and chant something and you feel very relaxed. You feel relaxed because you forgot about your mother in law, your family and your wife, nothing else. Just that feel good feeling, it is no way related to spirituality. If you are happy with that, I have no problem be in that level.

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

You say, 'Oh, no, no, Swamiji, I am sorry I wanted to have some identity'. With that you want to play the game. No, you also don't touch me, I also won't touch you, let's have a good game. Then I have no problem, that good game I can also play. I also have big idols in our ashram. I also have the biggest Balaji idol in our ashram. If you come to our LA ashram you can see. I don't miss anything. You can play with all of them. I have big big idols, you can come and play with them all day from morning until evening.

I also sit and play with them, but let you be very clear, you are not in the spiritual lane. Be very clear you are not spiritual. Just know where you are standing. Good entertainment, nothing wrong. Much better than sitting in any show or disco club. It is much better than all those things; but it is not spiritual.

Let you be very clear, you are playing. You are playing. Here also, you can play with that feel good feeling, nothing wrong. Better than any drug or LSD. At least it won't disturb your health. With drugs and LSD you will disturb your health. With this you won't disturb your health. But never think this is spirituality. Never think it is spirituality.

There are levels of truths. Physically doing anything, physically offering yourself is worship. Verbally offering is japa. Mentally offering is the visualization. Now I am saying completely offer your being, offer your identity itself. Only then you will be able to transform your being. Otherwise part by part you will be just playing games. You will be just playing games. You have played enough of games, and I tell you you've played enough of games. There is no need to have one more game.

Q: When talking about enlightenment, are you talking about the omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, Self-realization?

A: All the 'omni's you want to, put all those 'omni's together. I am talking only about that Self-realization. I am not talking about small "s" I am talking about "S". Be very clear, in enlightenment there is no variety. It's not like a pizza you can have. According to me, enlightenment is only one.

I don't use those big words like atman because they are too much loaded. People are afraid of those words. Constantly people are asking me again and again. Swami should I become sanyasi, should I renounce everything to achieve to attain enlightenment.

Just renounce what you don't have. That is enough. There is no need to renounce what you have. Whatever you have, keep it. Just renounce what you don't have.

The one important thing that you don't have, I mean the shaft that you don't have, but you are constantly creating. Drop it. Just renounce that shaft, that's enough. One more thing, as of now, out of 10 000 flowers you just pick a few and make a garland and you start identifying yourself with the 10 flowers. You give power and attention only to the 10 flowers. If you stop giving power to the 10 flowers the whole heap, 10 000 flowers will have energy.

There is a possibility of all your thoughts becoming reality. All your thoughts will have tremendous power and strength. I'm talking about an important thing. In tantra they say that to achieve the state of enlightenment there are two ways, either you have to make all your dreams into reality or you should understand all your reality is nothing but a dream.

If you make all your dreams into reality suddenly you will realize that all your reality is nothing but your dream. If you do the first step, the second step will happen. If you do the second step first will happen. Both are directly connected. If you realize what you think as reality is nothing but a dream, all your dreams will be realized. If you realize all your dreams, all your reality will become nothing but a dream.

As of now you just pick up a few flowers and create a shaft and give power to that. Give your attention to that. You think you are only that. You're identifying only with that, that is why all the suffering. If you stop identifying with that selected thoughts, you have a big selective amnesia problem. If you stop identifying with those selected thoughts, suddenly you will see all the thoughts get the power. Your whole being is energized; whatever is happening in you is having the same attention, energy.

First thing, you will be able to realize all your thoughts into reality. Be very clear, this a very simple powerful method to make your dreams into reality. Whatever dreams you have about future or life, if you can relax, if you can unclutch, you will see suddenly a new kind of energy flowing through the thoughts. Even to achieve what you want, unclutching is the ultimate technique. That is a powerful technique, even to achieve what you want; whatever you want. Let you be very clear, the unclutching is the ultimate technique, which can give you everything.

Understand the shaft is a lie, and once you do even if you create a shaft what is there to worry? Even when you create a shaft and suffer, remember, even this idea that I am creating a shaft is one more shaft. The shaft which I created 10 years ago, the shaft which I created 9 years ago and the shaft which I created yesterday, they are not connected. Connecting all these shafts is one more shaft. That's all. Connecting all these shafts is one more shaft.

Let me be very clear, even connecting and creating these shafts is one more shaft. This understanding when it goes to the deeper level, that itself is enough. You don't have to think that emotions override rationality. Understanding once again to form shafts you will need to practice. Do not practice. When you remember this moment that shaft is a lie don't create shafts.

Don't bother about the next moment. The big problem is that you want to be assured now itself that you won't create shafts once and for all in your future. You can't have that assurance. When you want to have the assurance that you will not create shafts, you should achieve a state where you will never create shafts any more. You can't do that.

Let you be very clear, when you try to create that state you create problems. When you don't create shafts you feel some inner relaxation, an inner healing. You will see if you are tortured with your mind, if you are suffering with your mind, this truth will give you such an inner healing, relaxation; now you will become greedy about this joy. Now you have become greedy about this joy, you are then afraid in any moment you may forget this truth; you will start getting caught with this shaft again.

So, now you wanted an assurance, Swamiji, tell us some way that we should always remember and not to create this shaft. When you are trying to create that assurance, be very clear you are creating one more shaft. The moment you decide this is joy and you want this to be permanently with you, what you have done? You have started creating one more shaft. Then you are in trouble, whether it is joy or pain, the moment you create shaft you are in trouble. You are in trouble.

He is asking how do you deal with it. You don't have to deal with it, why should you deal with it? If the shaft is there then you can deal with it. Here there is no shaft so why should you deal with it? All you have to do is know that you are constantly telling yourself that there is a shaft. You are doing everything to yourself to believe that there is a shaft.