Day 1
Head-to-head communication is through thoughts and words, while heart-to-heart communication is through feelings. People, throughout the ages, have felt that they cannot communicate their feelings.
If we could communicate all our feelings through words, then we would be living very shallow lives. Life is rich because feelings cannot be captured in words. So we use all these gestures - we hug, so that hearts come closer, we give flowers, so that feelings are conveyed.
We put all our efforts into expressing our feelings and still, feelings remain unexpressed. Soul-to-soul communication is silence. When we transcend the feeling level, we become still.
Stillness is at the peak of any experience - that's why the saying, "Be still and know your God". When our eyes are open, we are lost in activity, and when our eyes are closed, we fall asleep. So we miss the point - the point is in between closing our eyes, and not falling asleep.
Meditation means seeing God within you, and love is seeing God in the person next to you. The two complement each other. The more you serve, the deeper you are able to go within.
We find two types of people in the world - those, who are just focused on themselves, on improving themselves, and those, who are lost in serving. Those, who are lost in serving, get tired, frustrated, angry and then their service also suffers.
Some boy scouts were at a Sunday service, when the Father (Priest) said, "You should serve." They asked, "What is this service?" He said, "Suppose, an old woman wants to cross a road, go and help her cross the road."
So the boys went and looked for a whole week, but there was no old woman, trying to cross a street. Finally, four of them found a woman walking on a footpath. One of the boys went and asked her, "Madam, would you like to cross the road?"
She turned and said, "No." He was disappointed. So another boy went and asked her again, thinking, perhaps, that the first boy hadn't asked properly. He asked, "Would you like to cross the road?"
The woman was now a little bit confused. She wondered why she was being asked this. So she said, it was all right for him to take her across the road. Once they'd reached the other side, a third boy came and asked her, "Would you like to cross the road?"
Now it really bothered her. When the fourth one approached her, she almost screamed, and ran away. We think this is service. Service is not just doing something. It is that consciousness within you, where you are readily available to do something.
Often people first say, "No" and then, they think of saying, " Yes" You know, if someone asks you, "Would you like to give me a ride?" you first say, "No" and then, "Okay".
You may give the person a ride, but when you have already said "No" in the first place, the consciousness has already twisted somewhere. Service is seeing God in the next person, and when we serve, we are able to go deep within.
The deeper you go, the more you are able to serve. They complement each other. Now tell me, what topic, would you like me to speak on?
Audience - Abundance.
Forgiveness. Seeing God in everyday activity. Appreciation. Love. Courage. Rivalry. Trust. Does it really matter, what topic we speak about? Are you all here, 100%?
If you're hungry, you may be going to a restaurant, in your mind. You're sitting in this church, but thinking about lasagne and pizza. How does one feel abundant? Right? Know, you belong to God, and all that you need, will be given to you at the moment you need.
What is the sign of success? Everyone wants to be successful, but what is the sign of success? Worries, tension, diabetes, ulcers, blood pressure, fear and anxiety? No. A smile. A smile that cannot be stolen by anybody.
So, suppose you're in business, and you make one million dollars in profit. Do you know what a successful man would do? What will he do? Keep the one million dollars with him?
No. He will borrow nine million more from the bank. That's a sign of success, right? Getting into greater debt. Now, who is richer - one who has a $1000 debt, or one who has a one million dollar debt?
See, America is the most successful country in the whole world today and it is America that is in the greatest debt too. Do you see that? So abundance is not just amassing money, or keeping a big bank balance, abundance is a state of consciousness - when you feel you have plenty.
Remember the saying from the Bible : "Those, who have, more will be given to them. Those, who do not have, whatever little they have, will also be taken away from them." Feel the abundance within you and you can only feel this, when you feel connected to the Divine.
There is no other way. When you feel connected to the innermost God within you, then nobody can take your smile away from you, no one can ever induce any fear into you, and then, you will have compassion, for the world, flowing out of you.
