Chapter 7 - From Darkness To Light
Day 45
What is a sign of arrogance? Continual dreaming that this or that should happen. The second dream is for money- I should have bucketfuls of money.
How much is not at question, but it should be lots of money. How much do you need? One lakh? Two lakhs? One million? Two or three million?
Lots of money - there is no end to "lots of money." "Lots" is a word for lawyers. Someone might file a case against God, saying, "I asked for lots of money, but you have given me less."
This "lots of money" is one of the reasons for our unhappiness. The mind that is not full wants more. When the mind is full, it is contented.
The other preoccupation is for authority. What is this desire for authority? Only the weak, who lack strength, want authority. A strong person does not desire authority, but instead desires to serve.
Understand this fundamental difference. Those that feel that strength comes from a group or crowd are weak. Weak people are ambitious to get authority, and they fear that very thing for which they are ambitious.
A weak person is afraid that someone will shout at him. Those in a union are weak. They fear those in authority. They start union activity because alone they have no strength.
To show power they shout in a group. No individual is responsible when shouting in a group. A group is never responsible. If any work is done in a group, a person can say, "I did not do it.
Someone else did it," or, "I did it, not he. Saying this, they try to escape. All weak individuals join together to form a group. A strong person deals with criticism patiently and with an even mind.
Nobody can rob him of his happiness or contentment. If someone becomes mayor or chief minister, he will not be content until he becomes prime minister.
It is difficult to meet any chief minister in a state capital, but you can meet anyone in Delhi because they are all there. There is lust for power - they dream about it.
Only when this Just for power is released can there be happiness. Thirdly, we dream about sense pleasures. Why do some people have many affairs, even after marriage?
They think they would be happier with another man or they would be better off with a different type of woman. There is no contentment.
That is why kings of the past used to have several wives. Even today some people from Arab countries marry several times. In our country, no task is more difficult than searching for brides and bridegrooms.
In spite of this, people keep thinking about marriage. They wonder whether it would have been better if they had accepted an earlier marriage proposal.
Even on the day of marriage, they keep thinking, "Was this the right or wrong decision? I have tied the mangal sutra on the bride. Am I caught in a bondage now?
I had only one chance in life, and now it is finished." At that time they are very unhappy. That is the reason a band is tied around the bridegroom's head.
It means - let the mind be where it is instead of dreaming of something else. The headgear symbolises keeping the mind under control.
The headgear is put on the
forehead because the minds of men are more unsteady when it comes to marriage, whereas women accept what comes as a blessing and stay quiet.
So to keep the wavering mind steady and under control, men wear this headgear. Every moment we are moving towards the grave. One day, this body will be soil or ash, and that will be the end.
Remembering this brings knowledge. Whenever the food of knowledge decreases, dreams increase. In dreams, you are either in yesterday or tomorrow. Live in the present moment.
When we bring our mind into the present, we are full of happiness. We see ourselves as joy and happiness. When this happens, there is no distance between you and God.
Your own nature is bliss. The more you are in the present, to that extent you are one with God, to that extent you are established in the self, to that extent you are pure consciousness.
On a white cloth, dirt stands out. People wear coloured clothes to hide dirt. A bed will be covered with a coloured bed-sheet. Whether it is white or coloured, the cloth gets dirty.
But dirt cannot be seen on coloured cloth, whereas it is clearly seen on white sheets. Similarly, small matters in our mind appear big. Even a speck of dust that enters the eye can cause so much pain and irritation, while a pile of mud on the head will not bother us so much.
That means that one can ignore a big worry, but cannot tolerate a slight botheration. The mind is like that. It is so sensitive that it gets disturbed even by an insignificant remark.
And when the mind is upset, the surroundings affect it more strongly. If you go to a place where there was a fight earlier, the moment you arrive you feel tense.
When this happens, a sadhak gets frightened. He starts thinking, "What happened? I meditate and listen to knowledge. How did I get angry?" He starts to blame himself.
Some years ago, a 72 year old swami, a seeker and a pious man, visited our ashram. The ashram's atmosphere is uplifting - the mind becomes happy and it does not wander elsewhere.
One day somebody invited the swami for a meal in Bangalore, so he went and came back to the ashram. The next day he said "I was so disturbed I did not sleep the whole night. I started to have sexual urges. Why did this happen at this age?"
That such an elderly swami told this so openly speaks a lot about his honesty. Afterwards, he himself analysed the situation and explained that this was the effect of the food he had eaten.
His mind returned to normal the next day. When one's mind is cheerful, one cannot tolerate greed, jealousy, attachment, lust and anger. When you are happy and suddenly you see someone and become jealous of him, that is unbearable for you, is it not?
Then you blame your own mind. Our downfall starts the moment we start blaming ourselves. Why? Then we become ready to blame others.
At first, we blame ourselves, saying, "My mind is not in order. Then we say, "Others are wrong. He is no good. That person is no good." We start finding fault with others and hatred begins.
Self-hatred brings hatred for others, and with this, your years of sadhana will have been in vain. Your cheerful mind will be spoilt. Everything will be finished.
