Q: What are punya and paap?
Whatever fills you with love and joy, expands your personality, whatever makes you feel love and compassion for others, is punya.
Whatever withdraws you from others, makes you feel unhappy and depressed, is paap. Joy is your true nature. Whatever takes you away from that, whatever turns you into a masochist or a sadist, whatever makes you feel unhappy for yourself or others, is paap.
Q: In spiritual matters, should we worry about others' opinions or not?
As long as we are not a nuisance to anyone else, as long as we don't interfere with the functioning of their lives, there is no need to bother about others' opinions.
Q: Why do those who are enlightened set up establishments?
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At one time, this path was meant to be traveled alone. Today, I feel it is my responsibility to spread the joy and benefits to all. Of course, you may say this is not true spirituality. All I can tell you, from my deepest personal experience, is that as Vivekananda says, true spirituality is not just to get enlightened but to spread the benefits of enlightenment to all. That is what I took this birth for! For that, whatever is necessary - including an establishment - I need to maintain.
Q: Is the spiritual tradition still relevant in our times?
It is relevant in all times. Where would our country be today without the spiritual tradition? For centuries, they have been the protectors of our entire culture – from Sanskrit and scriptures, to bharatanatyam and kalaachara, to ayurveda and siddha, to religion and spirituality, it is the legacy protected by a handful of these people.
As the Bhagavata says, the very existence of the earth is because of enlightened masters. They have protected these sciences and arts by pouring their lives into it. Almost everything that civilization possesses today, all that you enjoy in the name of culture, is their gift. Even in our century, they were responsible for preserving the learning in an untainted form and maintaining the continuity. That is equally important.
Q: But because of a few wrongdoers in saffron robes, their name has been tainted…
Ok, let me ask you a question. When Harshad Mehta – I am sure you remember him from the Mumbai stock-market scam – when he cheated the country of millions, he was wearing trousers and shirt. Does that mean that everyone wearing trousers and a shirt is a Harshad Mehta? And if you think so, is that the fault of those who wear those clothes, or a fault in your perception? There have been cases where hundreds of false doctors have been arrested for defrauding the public. So do you now look at every doctor with suspicion? Have you stopped going to the doctor? COME OUT! Forget the old arguments. These are just escape routes.
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The spiritual masters don't lose anything because of your ignorance. If you miss me, you lose me, that's all. In every field there will be frauds. Use your intelligence, check out and choose properly, instead of denouncing the whole community as frauds. Because of this misconception, even the genuine masters are not recognized.
See now, how much clearing work I have to do – sorting out your false concepts, working past your prejudices, giving proof, etc., etc. I have to establish my credentials first before I can get to the point and give you the new religion, which is spirituality. It is a gradual change, but it must happen. Our social concepts about spiritual figures have to change. Otherwise the masters will be forced to turn their attention to countries where people are ready to receive their message with an open mind. That will mark the decline of the Hindu society.
See, you are journalists. You are going to carry this message to society. Before you do that, I want you to be very clear about what I am saying. I want to know whether you yourself are convinced about what I say. If not, question it. Please question it.
The only thing is, keep an open mind. Don't come with your prejudice and foregone conclusions. Alright, so are you convinced?
Q: [One journalist] No, I am not. I once surrendered to a guru but it didn't work out...
Did you really surrender?
Journalist: Well, I tried my best to surrender.
One thing you need to understand. When you say you tried your best to surrender, it means surrender did not happen. If surrender had truly happened, this question, this doubt would not be there. It is only a means to hide confusion and hypocrisy.
We all happily keep some beautiful idea of religion in our minds, but carry on with our practical life in any way we please. Religion is something you have to tune your whole life to; it is not a part-time amusement.
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The truth is, whatever life you are leading, that is your true religion. It may be money or power or sex. That is your religion. That is why you are living your whole life according to that ideology!
Do you understand? Try and find out what your religion actually is. To keep your ideology and your life separate is hypocrisy. Whatever you call your religion, you must be willing to practice it completely in your life.
Journalist: But I had a strong belief in this particular guru's ideology. Still...
A: See, I told you, religion is not that which remains a belief. It should turn into your very life. To keep religion and life separate is a kind of schizophrenia. Hypocrisy takes over our being. If you believe that a certain way of life or a certain ideology is right, you should be willing to transform your whole life in that way. Otherwise, search for whatever you feel is the truth.
Something that does not change your life cannot be the truth to you. If something is the real truth, a mere touch itself can transform your life. If it doesn't transform you from within, let go of it. Don't hold on and complain. That ideology was not the right one for you, that's all.
Q: Up to the 1970s, many spiritual institutions were doing excellent service in maintaining the places of culture and religion, temples, sacred books, etc. But this has declined. Is it due to external interference?
Again, since agnosticism has taken hold of society, the number of people who come for this service has drastically decreased. Instead of removing the flaws in the system, the whole system itself has been destroyed. It is a sad thing ultimately for society itself. It doesn't realise that.
Try to understand the reality of whatever I am saying. Whether you use these ideas in this article or not, try and follow it in your own life. Use your pen to spread these ideas to the public. It is your privilege and your duty.
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Q: We hear stories of many miracles performed by various masters, like predicting the future. How does this happen?
Let me give you an example. Suppose you are standing at the side of a busy road. Look on either side of you. You can see the movement of traffic for say, 200 metres.
Now suppose you climb onto the terrace of a nearby house. You will be able to see the movement of traffic for a much further distance, is it not? In the same way, the ordinary mind can perceive the past and future only in a very limited way. The elevated consciousness (that comes after enlightenment) can see infinitely further into both past and future. It is a simple thing. The truth is always simple. Only the ordinary mind can't comprehend these things, so it seems like a miracle. Jnaanis (masters) and jnaanshakti (the energy of enlightenment) don't have any limitations of time and space. That is how many of my patients get healed in countries which I have never even visited. All over the world, people who have never seen me before, see visions of me in their meditation.
Q: Why do enlightened masters also promote rituals?
The misery of man is that when great truths are presented in a simple manner, he refuses to accept them. He can only understand complicated rituals because the mind is complicated, and it loves complicated things.
If I ask people to do half an hour of meditation, just sitting silently, they cannot do it. But if I ask someone to do 108 pradakshina (circumambulation) of a certain temple, they will do it happily, because doing complicated things gives much ego-satisfaction. But enlightened masters are not concerned with the methods, they are only concerned with results. While you are busy doing rituals, your mind is engaged in that. At that time, your inner being is left open to me, and I can give you whatever I have to offer. It is a subtle technique. The mind that questions, the mind that resists, is kept engaged in some other activity. Then my actual message is allowed to sink into you. At least in this way, if I can get through to the maximum people, if I can benefit them, then so be it! To enter into meditation for its own sake requires a very mature mind. It requires an elevation in the maturity level of society as a whole. But it is happening. Slowly but surely, around the world, a subtle change is happening.
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One more thing: rituals when done with deep understanding and intensity, can cause a solid integration to happen within you. This integration is needed to pursue your journey in the inner and outer worlds with untiring will and inspiration.
OK, I think we are running out of time. Last question?
Q: Is meditation a practical alternative for today's generation?
Of course. Especially in today's society, when stress is too much, family relationships are failing, meditation can make a tremendous difference. And it doesn't require too much of your time and effort. These days everybody is too busy to think about spirituality. I understand! But keep aside at least half an hour every day for meditation – any meditation is fine. It is not necessary that you should follow the techniques I am giving you. Follow whatever suits you best, whatever you feel tuned to. You will surely see a transformation, not only in your own life, but also in the ways you reach out to others and bring about a definite change in society.
Thank you.
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UNCOMMON ANSWERS TO COMMON QUESTIONS
Love is that which risks everything, gives anything and asks for nothing.
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UNCOMMON ANSWERS TO COMMON QUESTIONS