A small story:
There was a Zen master who lived alone in a forest. One day, while he was meditating, a thief entered his house. The thief threatened the master at knife point and told him to part with all his valuables or to be prepared to die. The master said, 'There is nothing in my house. Let us both search.' They searched the house but couldn't find a thing. The thief was very upset and disappointed. The master then told him that there were a few coins in a pot which he had saved for his next meal and that he could have them. The thief took the coins and as he was about to leave, the master also handed him a sweater as it was very cold outside. The thief accepted it with glee. Just as he was leaving the house, the master asked him to thank him for what he had given him. The thief did so and left.
After a few weeks, the thief was arrested in connection with another theft. The police brought him to the master's house as the thief had also confessed his previous theft. When the police asked the master to identify the thief and confirm the theft, the master very calmly told the police that the stranger had visited his house and that he himself had given him some coins and a sweater. He also went on to say that the stranger had also thanked him for the gifts. Hearing this, the thief was shocked. After serving the sentence for his other theft, he came back to the master, fell at his feet and became his disciple.
This is not a story but a real incident.
A similar incident occurred in the life of Ramana Maharishi. Two burglars broke into Ramana Maharishi's ashram. To their dismay, they could find nothing but a few vessels. Just before leaving
TRUST – EVEN IF YOU ARE EXPLOITED
the place, in their frustration, they hit the master with a crowbar. They were arrested within a week and brought before Ramana Maharishi to be identified. Ramana Maharishi calmly said, 'Some people throw flowers on me, some compose verses about me and some criticize me. As the burglars had none of these, they substituted with the crowbar.'
These two incidents may sound far-fetched and illogical to us. But the fact is that these are real incidents and have tremendous meaning in them. How can we practice these things in our daily life? We think that it is impossible for us to do the same, and that only enlightened masters could be this way. We always separate ourselves from the masters. It is only an excuse for not attempting to follow their teachings.
Why was Jesus crucified by the Jews? They just wanted to escape from him. Jesus was preaching the Gospel, but people found it too difficult to practice the Gospel. His preaching demanded too much from them. People were not ready for it. When we are not ready to follow the teachings of an enlightened master, there is no point in worshipping him as we are only crucifying him. Just by decorating your wall with his photograph and offering arati (worship with lit camphor) to it, you will reach nowhere. We may accept that he is great and feel that he deserves the arati and worship. But we are not ready to follow his teachings. Only people who have not given a little space to spirituality in their lives come to conclusions like this. Worshipping is no different from crucifixion if we do it with this attitude. Hanging the master on the wall and hanging him on the cross are one and the same. Whenever we worship him without following his teachings, it is a subtle crucifixion.
If worshipping is done in a cunning way to escape my teachings, remember that hanging me on the wall and hanging me on the cross is one and the same. If worship is used as a technique to inspire you to follow my teachings, it is perfectly alright. When you create a gap between you and me, rest assured that you are just hanging me on the cross.
Trust even if you are exploited. The very title will make us wonder if it can be practiced in our life. It sounds too impractical. All sorts of questions arise in our minds, 'How can we lead a normal life on this planet? How can we protect ourselves? What is he teaching us?'
Let us understand what I mean by this statement. Let us go into the circuit of trust. We have consciousness in our being. Even if we don't accept Existence or God (because there is no proof), can we deny that we exist? Someone once came and asked me if he could attend the Ananda Spurana Program (ASP) and wanted to know what the requisite qualifications were. I asked him, 'Are you alive?' When he replied with a surprised 'yes', I assured him that it was the only qualification anybody needed. Every one of us has consciousness working in our system. If we can understand how it works at different levels and how it expresses itself, then we will understand what I mean by trust.
When consciousness expresses itself through the head, logic or intellect, our intellect becomes intelligence. What is the difference between intellect and intelligence? Intellect is always prejudiced. Intelligence is always fresh. When we pass judgment and collect evidence to support our decision, it is the intellect. When we first collect the evidence and then pass the judgment, it is intelligence. 99% of us make the judgment before we collect the arguments to support it.
All we have to do is just look at our life and see how our mind works. How do we act in our daily life? 99% of the time, our judgment is ready. For example, your son comes home late by a few hours. You make a judgment about him. You are not going to accept any of his explanations. It can't shake your judgment. On the contrary, you will only try to pick the arguments to support your decision. After that incident, whatever he does, you will always be biased by your previous judgment. Similarly, after living with your wife for a few months, you will create a concept about her. Then, no matter what she does, you pick up only those arguments that are necessary to support your judgment.
Recently, a man came to meet me and asked me to bless him for his divorce. In Bharat, a master is not only a spiritual person; he is also a marriage-broker, stock-broker, financier, counselor, psychiatrist and a doctor! Of course, masters are supposed to do these things. Whatever decisions are advised by an enlightened person are always for one's good. Compassion and responsibility of the world descends on him. I asked this man to tell me the real problem before I gave my advice.
I always try to patch up the differences between people. One should have a very strong case before one takes such a drastic step. He replied, 'One morning, when my wife brought me coffee in bed, she spilt the hot coffee on me. The fight started from there.' He then went down memory lane to dig up all his arguments against his wife. Some communities in Bharat have a custom at the time of marriage where the bride and groom try to grab a ring which is placed in a bowl of water. This custom is done more for fun, to act as an ice-breaker for the newly married couple. Whoever succeeds in grabbing the ring, gets to keep it. The man exclaimed, 'Right from that time, she spelled trouble for me. She scratched my hand.' See his mentality. He has forgotten how she used to bring him coffee in bed everyday; he has no gratitude for that. Instead, he blames her for spilling coffee on him once. We forget all the arguments which go against our judgment and pick up only those that support our judgment. If you scan your life and see how many times you do this, you will understand what I am saying.
Most of the time, if it is our emotion, we say it is love. If it is someone else's, we call it lust. For example, if we are angry, we say we are getting angry for the good of the other person. But we condemn others if they do the same thing to us. We say that the other person is egoistic. People come and boast about their deeds to me but they also quickly add that they are only informing me and not boasting. When other people do the same it is interpreted as ego but when we say the same thing, it is information. We have different arguments for others and for ourselves.
The prejudiced concept (collecting arguments for the sake of the judgment) will not allow us to live our life in an intelligent way. Whenever our consciousness touches the intellect, it becomes intelligence. Instead of living for the judgment, we start living for clarity. Right now, all our energy is spent on supporting our judgments.
We are carrying a 20-feet cut-out (a bill board) of ourselves all the time. Our cut-out is nothing but our judgments and our prejudices. All our energy is spent on carrying the cut-out. If we have a big cut-out in front of us, how can we see the world? How can we see reality? Has anybody seen any strikes (protests) in Bharat? (There is no need to see hell if you have!). These people can't see anything in the front. They are just guided. Similarly, when you live with prejudice and judgments, you will not see the world as it is. You will not see reality. When we carry these judgments, we can never forgive others or ourselves.
Forgiving others and forgiving ourselves is one and the same. Jesus says, 'Love thy neighbor as you love yourself*.*' Unfortunately we don't even love ourselves. Then how can we love others? When we torture others with our judgments and prejudices, we torture ourselves too. We use the same sword to kill others and to commit suicide. It is the same mind which deals with others as well as ourselves. When we try to poison others, there will be a deep sense of guilt in us because it is the same mind which is working. We use strong words when we are angry and once the anger dies down, the same sharpness which we expressed is turned inwards to create a deep guilt. The height of the anger and the depth of the guilt are equal. If the height increases, the depth increases as well.
Whenever we try to live for our judgments, our ego, our decisions, we make our lives as well as others' lives miserable. Most of the time, the miseries we face in our lives are not created by others. We may not even get any benefit from them. Just to prove our ego, we create them. Whenever we think that we are too big, we think that we are the judgment and all others are the arguments. When we realize that we are simple beings, we will start seeing the arguments clearly before passing judgment. We will start making decisions about our life as well as that concerning others in the right way.
An enlightened master, Suzuki, lived in Japan. When his master passed away, he started weeping profusely. One person asked him, 'You are an enlightened person; you shouldn't be crying at your master's death*.*' Suzuki replied, 'My master was the most extraordinary man on planet Earth.' The person asked him, 'What was so extraordinary about him?' Suzuki replied, 'I have never seen such an extraordinary person who thought he was the most ordinary man.'
In ordinary life, every average person thinks he is extraordinary. When one asks somebody to say something about his life, he will start off by saying 'Master, nobody in this world would have suffered like me. Even my enemies should not go through the same suffering. If I start talking about my life, you will not be able to bear it.' When one feels that they have undergone the maximum suffering, their ego feels good. Only when our enemy is big, do we feel big. When our enemy is small, we feel small.
That is why I say yellow journalism (writing about the personal lives of celebrities) is the worst thing a person can indulge in. Reading yellow journalism will spoil our minds. It is a direct visa to hell. These people target only the elite of the society. When they do so, they also feel elevated.
For the same reason, if our suffering is big, we feel good. Our ego is satisfied. We measure life by the amount we suffer. That is why we torture others as well as ourselves. Suzuki's master was extraordinary because he thought he was most ordinary, whereas in this world every other person thinks he is extraordinary. If one wants to check whether they are average or not, they can try this experiment. If one feels extraordinary, then quite clearly, one is average. If one feels ordinary, one is extraordinary. When people are depressed, they feel big and important. Whenever we have a judgment and then collect our arguments, we live intellectually. If we look deeply, we will realize that everybody thinks he is extraordinary.
A man who feels ordinary and believes in simplicity gives respect to everybody's arguments. He knows how to put himself in another's shoes. One's intelligence starts working then. When our consciousness reaches the intellect, whenever it works through the intellect, the intellect is transformed to intelligence. Whenever our intellect works through our heart and emotion, our love and passion get transformed to compassion. Whenever our emotion is expressed through the heart, our lust is transformed to love. Passion is transformed to compassion.
What is the difference between passion and compassion? When one advertises a product on a website, it reaches the entire world. Passion is localized but when we add the com, it becomes compassion and spreads throughout the world! Passion means focusing on one person. Compassion means focusing on the whole world. When everybody can access the passion.com, it becomes compassion.
A disciple once asked Buddha, 'Master, I have been listening to you for the last 30 years. You have been saying the same thing over these years. Why?' Buddha replied beautifully, 'Even after speaking for 30 years, only 3 or 4 people have heard what I have said.' That is why Buddha repeatedly said the same thing in different languages, different angles, different views and different versions so that at least a few people would be touched by one of these versions. Similarly, I also have been teaching the same thing from day one. If people listen with deep attention, they can understand that the message has been one and the same though I would have said it in many different ways.
When we don't pass judgment on others, we reach the state of acceptance; we reach the state of compassion. When intelligence happens, only then do we reach the stage of acceptance.
I read a survey of Bangalore in Bharat which says, 'Only 17% of the population filed for divorce in 6 months. The remaining 83% don't have the courage*.*' Sometimes, acceptance also happens out of fear because we don't have the courage.
Acceptance is only the first step but not the final step. When we welcome other people and situations, compassion happens. Beloved means being loved; it is not about bodily love. If it is true love, we cannot love somebody and hate somebody else. Love can never be an act. The word 'love-making' is simply false. An act can only be lust. When real love happens, it flows. It flows for everybody. It is not restricted to one or two people. If we feel it for only one or two people, we can be sure that it is not true love. It can however be called selective amnesia!
For example, the relation between a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, in most instances, is one of hate. The mother-in-law pretends that she is deaf but hears only what she wants to hear. I call this selective amnesia; remembering only what we want to remember. We forget other things. We can be sure that when we love somebody and hate somebody else, we do not know love. What we experience is simply different versions of lust. Lust does not only pertain to sex. Even a deep attachment to a son or daughter is a version of lust. When real love happens within us, our whole being flowers.
Some people come and tell me that out of love, they have given donations to temples and ashrams. They might have given donations but they also insist on having their entire family's names mentioned somewhere that everyone can see! A tube light may have the names of an entire family – 'Donated by Ramanathan, s/o Somanathan, wife Parvati in memory of Late Shri Shyamanathan on 20th December 1998. When one switches on the light, one can only see the black lines caused by the writing. Even if it is not written, they see to it that whenever they bring any guest to the temple, they become aware of the donation.
Never think of good deeds or attention to others as love. They are different versions of love. Freud says, 'Whatever you do, even writing with a pen, is a sexual act*.'* At first when I read it, I thought he was crazy, totally impractical. However, I then realized what he meant. What he meant was that they were all different versions of lust, not love.
Love is the flowering of our consciousness. Whenever our consciousness expresses itself through the heart, compassion happens; lust becomes love. The touch will become so vibrant, so soothing. I firmly believe that love is the greatest healing power on this planet. I tell my healers, 'If you can't spread love, you can never heal.'
When people come to meet me, I always stretch out my hands as soon as I see them. Many feel strange. They feel that spirituality means seriousness, being reserved, being unavailable. Here I am reaching out to people with my stretched hands. It doesn't match the picture of spirituality or the spiritual man. Spirituality is never associated with sharing or loving.
People from various backgrounds with various types of ailments visit our ashram to be healed by me; young people, old people, cancer patients, the disabled and even HIV patients. If a person has pain in their leg, I get up from my seat and bend down to touch their leg to heal them. I never differentiate between hands and feet. It is one body, the same body. An elderly, traditional and conservative Swami gave me some friendly advice about this practice. He said, 'You are a Swami. It is very unbecoming of a Swami to come down from his seat and touch someone's feet. It is against the tradition.' I replied very politely, 'The very seat on which I am sitting and the robe which I am wearing (saffron robes) mean compassion. I got this seat because of my compassion. I am not here because of my seat. I am here because of my state not because of my status*.*'
Spirituality means flowing. Whenever we don't flow, when we are not in the mood to stretch our hands out or to welcome people with hugs, we should stay in our rooms. Stay locked in it so that we don't pass on our negativity to the world. This is the advice given by Swami Vivekananda. Vivekananda said, 'If you are depressed, don't come out of your room. There is enough negativity in this world. Don't add to the existing negativity*.*'
Don't spread your negativity or depression. Spirituality means spreading love and compassion.
Whenever we serve out of compassion, we never feel that we have served somebody. We will always feel that we have been given an opportunity to serve others. Vivekananda said, 'The hand of the person who gives should be below while the person who accepts, his hand should be above*.*' In our case, the opposite happens. The giving hand is above and the receiving hand is below. We should be grateful to God that we have been given the opportunity to serve somebody.
That is why Vivekananda replaces the word seva (service) with puja (prayer). Seva puts one on a higher pedestal. In puja, you are offering, not serving. When compassion happens within our beings, we will offer, never serve.
When consciousness expresses itself through the heart, it is expressed as compassion. When it expresses itself through the being or self, it expresses as energy. When energy expresses itself through us, we will have tremendous trust in Existence.
Once I was questioned by a lady devotee, 'Master, however much I try to respect God, I am not able to do so. I only end up fighting with him. What should I do?' I told her, 'Don't worry. When you are fighting with him, it just proves that you trust him.'
So fighting with God is perfectly fine. Let me relate another incident; this happened in the ashram. One morning, a lady ashramite started fighting with me. When I asked her why she was doing so, she replied, 'When I worship you, I also have the right fight with you.' This is very true.
Have you heard the story of Sishupala from the Hindu epic, the Puranas? It is said that when Sishupala, an enemy of Krishna was killed, his soul entered the body of Krishna and merged with Him. Everyone was surprised as to how an enemy could be enlightened. Krishna explained that though Sishupala was trying to kill Him, he was constantly thinking of Him, constantly remembering Krishna and this was enough to make him enlightened. So fighting with God is perfectly okay if you can trust Him.
The devotion of most people does not have the trust. When our consciousness expresses itself through the being, it expresses itself as trust towards the whole of Existence. If the energy can move the sun, the moon and the earth, why can't it move our being? Why can't we trust Existence? Is our ego bigger than the sun, moon or the earth? Our life is much smaller and simpler than planet Earth. When the energy can move our planet, why can't it move us?
J. Krishnamurthy says, 'Trust always does good. Unfortunately, we don't have the patience to allow it to work in our lives. We should allow the seed to sprout, the flower to blossom. However, if we keep watching it, to check when it will flower, we act like security guards with a weapon in our hands; our very threat will not allow it to flower.'
Take the life of Buddha. He tried all possible meditation techniques and spiritual practices with the utmost sincerity to get enlightened. When nothing worked, he decided to relax and let go of everything, trusting Existence. That very moment, He got enlightened.
Even in my life, after going through rigorous spiritual practices, I decided to drop everything as enlightenment was not happening. That very moment, something happened in me and I experienced the ultimate experience. Only when we let go of everything, trusting Existence, miracles can happen in our lives.