Liberation is exiting with the knowingness

🌷 Katho Upanishad 🌷

      

      Chapter 5

       

      Winning immortality

     🌻 Day 40 🌻

‘What’ – we discussed the Kena Upanishad. It comes in order. First is Isha, then Kena and then Katho – this comes third.

Bodh mantra, just the knowingness, not knowledge or the knower. From objects of knowing to knowledge to the knowingness to the knower – these are the four steps to the Self. You can never make the Divine an object of knowing. This is what people are trying to do in the whole world. “Can I see God? Have you seen God?” When people ask these questions, it is so stupid. The Self cannot be an object of knowing. It is the knowingness itself. 

It is in death that the knowingness is not there; just like in sleep your knowingness

is absent. Liberation is exiting with the knowingness, like witnessing your sleep. You might have had one or two glimpses here and there, maybe in an advance course sometime somewhere, that you are sleeping and you know that you are sleeping.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

Katho Upanishad 

Winning immortality

🌷 Katho Upanishad 🌷

         

       Chapter 5

       

       Winning immortality

      🌻 Day 39 🌻

Basically Nachiketa has been instructed two things. One is put in your self-effort. You need self-effort so that you don’t become a slave to your senses, you become the master of your senses. Will self-effort alone work? Yama said, “No, it is only grace that works.”

Since everyone is a combination of body and mind, matter and energy, the tangible and the intangible, the manifest and the unmanifest, you need two sets of rules to

follow. One set of rules for the body, the tangible, the limited. It works only with effort. Then another set of rules to handle the mind, the abstract, the unmanifest. That works through effortlessness. Often we confuse ourselves and do the reverse. In the mind we put effort and for the body, we say, “Let it be, whatever happens.” You have to exercise; it’s an effort. Only when you exercise do you built strength in the body. And you have to relax too. When you relax, you find strength in the mind. You don’t find mental strength by working our mind out. Mental strength or intelligence grows not by effort but by deep contemplation, relaxation. In the same way you have to do physical workout and only then body becomes strong. Just by eating and being a couch potato, you are not going to be strong. This discrimination is essential.  

Nechiketa was asked to look into this factor. If your senses are wild and untamed like horses, you will be ruined. You should tame the horses. You should have a say over your body. The way to train the mind and the consciousness is through meditation, breathing, and pranayama. And how would you

strengthen the intellect? He said, “Come on, wake up.” Waking up is also effortless. It just needs that call. When you are in deep sleep, do people have to take a stick and wake you up? Beat you up to wake you up? They just call your name. This is effortless effort. When you have to draw someone’s attention, how do you do it? You know children do it so well at home. They come and throw tantrums around you. If you are reading a newspaper and they have important things to show to you. How do you draw attention? Is it difficult? Hey, come on now, wake up!

See, you are sitting here and you mind is all over the place.

“Hey, come on wake up.”

How much time does it take you to come back. Just like that, “Wake up!” The Self is that way. You simply have to shake your head and get out of that cycle of the thought process. When you are awake, that is called Bodh mantra, just pure awareness. Bodh means that there is knowingness, awareness. Not knowledge,

knowingness is a quality of the Self. Wisdom is just the knowingness.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

Katho Upanishad 

Beyond the layers of existence

🌷 Katho Upanishad 🌷

       

      Chapter 4

   

      Beyond the layers of existence

    🌻Day 38 🌻

विज्ञानसारथिर्यस्तु मनः प्रग्रहवान्नरः ।

सोऽध्वनः पारमप्नोति तद्विष्णो परमं पदम् ॥

With that scientific temper and subtlety of feeling, one attains that abode of Vishnu!

Question: When you die will you recognize your friends and everybody?

Sri Sri : Yes, when you die , the first person you meet is your Guru. Then you meet your mother, ancestors, father, and grandparents. They all shake your hands and welcome you.

Question: why does the divine split itself into so many forms, make all this drama, and one day go back to its original form?

Sri Sri : it does, by its own grace. It blesses “Ok, you are gasping for breath. You legs

are tired, arms are tired. You have swam enough. Your skin is getting soggy.” Doesn’t your skin get soggy when you are in the water too long? Then you say, “Enough is Enough”, take a towel and wipe yourself, in the same way.

Question: What is suffering?

Sri Sri : If you know pain is just momentary – it just comes and goes, you don’t mind the pain. You go to doctor and he gives you a prick. You don’t mind the pain. You are doing exercise with dumbbells and it pains. You enjoy that pain. Why you don’t

like suffering, because in suffering you feel, “Oh! This is death.’ You associate death with suffering. That is why there is fear. Just simple pain doesn’t give you suffering. You willingly undergo many pains.

By understanding this, layer by layer, going scientifically, “I pay more attention to my mind than to the senses, and to the intellect more than to the mind.” Because the mind goes up and down. Sometimes, the mind likes this, doesn’t like that. You always justify what you like, justify what you don’t like. Like that you see mind, intellect, beyond that is ego. Why this is so? “Because its mine. Someone saying some words to somebody else doesn’t bother me.” But if they said that to me then “why did the say that to me?” if you go beyond that and see, it is just their opinion. If someone passes a derogatory remark on you, how do you see it beyond the ego? With compassion, “Ok, they are saying something because they are upset.” You don’t get hurt. When someone calls the person next to you stupid, you see it as a witness but when he does the same to you, there is a difference. Do you see the difference? If you can see that also from the same angle, as though they are fighting with somebody else, then you see it beyond ego. Then you say, “He must be tired, stressed out” , instead of taking it as a personal attack on you, you will see the state of mind, intention or

 consciousness behind the action.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

Katho Upanishad 

Brahman, the hidden Self is revealed to those who keep their mind one pointed on the Lord of love, and thus develop a super-conscious manner of knowing.

🌷 Katho Upanishad 🌷

         

       Chapter 4

 

       Beyond the layers of existence

      🌻 Day 37 🌻

महतः परमव्यक्तमव्यक्तात्पुरुषः परः ।

पुरुषान्न परं किञ्चित्सा काष्ठा सा परा गतिः ॥

Beyond the intellect is ego. Ego arises from undifferentiated Consciousness. Consciousness arises from Brahman. Brahman is the first cause and the last refuge! Beyond the ego is Mahat Tattva. Take a strand of hair and cut it vertically 100 times. Take one of these strands and again cut it 100 times, the tip of that one strand is the size of an atom. Ego is a 100 times finer than the atom. They have described the dimension of the ego! 100 times finer than that ego is mahat tattva, the principle called mahat! The word Mahatma is a title, which means the one who has transcended the ego. All saints are called mahatmas. In Sanskrit, mahatma means one who has become one with the mahat tattva. Many times finer, 1000 times or more, is the Brahman, the Divinity.  

Brahman, the hidden Self in everyone doesn’t shine forth. It is revealed to those who keep their mind one pointed on the Lord of love, and thus develop a super-conscious manner of knowing.

Why love? They have scientific reason for love. It makes your consciousness very subtle, refined. Hatred, negativity makes your consciousness very gross. But love makes you very subtle. This is the only cause. If you could get subtle through hatred

then they would have told, you can know through hatred. Hatred doesn’t make your mind subtle. You can’t make a rope go through a needle. You need a small thread that can go through a needle. Thread is subtle, rope is so thick. Gross mind can’t attain the subtlest state of consciousness, Brahman. It says the Lord of love because love makes you very subtle. Subtler than subtlest being can be known only through subtle state of mind, of consciousness. At any cost, don’t let hatred of any sort enter the mind, with any justification or reason! 

I have spoken to many terrorist. Do you know how much hatred they are filled with? If you listen to them for half an hour, you will join their gang. They are so convincing, their level of commitment is so high. I tell you, you can’t win over Maoists and Naxalites in India in an argument. You will only nod to what they say. They are so full of hatred and violence. They justify everything they do. It is the intellect which justifies hatred and allows it to be kept there. They will give you such beautiful arguments. One-third of India is in that sway. Last year, one of the commanders came and met with me. He had 1000 people under him and ruled 6 districts. He came and did the basic course and advance course. He surrendered

along with 1000 other people. Logic cannot win them. It is only silence that makes

them realize that what they were doing is wrong.

A simple question they ask, “If people can put you into power, they can bring you down also. What power is that? Did Napoleon go on asking for vote from everybody? Did Mao go door to door in China to become powerful? We will come to power by our

own strength.” What do you say? What reply you can give? It is correct, very logical. Even the Mahabharat war was fought and so many people were killed. If some people die in the process of betterment of society, what is wrong in it? What do I say to them? They ask, “What has 60 years of democracy done? Nothing. No water, no electricity. All politicians are corrupt. What do you want us to do? Be subservient

to these people? No. we want our own rule.” What do you say? Do you say, “Ok, sign me up?”

- Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

Katho Upanishad 

The Self this can be attained only when you have a scientific temper. One whose mind is even, reposed, one who is pure, he attains this Self

🌷 Katho Upanishad 🌷

       

      Chapter 4

 

      Beyond the layers of existence

     🌻 Day 36 🌻

इन्द्रियेभ्यः परा ह्यर्था अर्थेभ्यश्र्च परं मनः ।

मनसस्तु परा बुद्धिर्बुद्धेरात्मा महान्परः ॥

Giving more importance to the senses, than to the objects of senses is wisdom. Senses are incapable of performing but mind wants it. Eyes are tired but the mind

wants to see the movie, complete it. Your brain is tired, but the mind is very curious to watch the movie. How many of you have watched movie like that? You have given importance to the movie, more than the eyes. 

Give more importance to the senses than the objects of senses. Give more importance to the mind than to the senses and more importance to the intellect than the mind. When the intellect that is beyond the mind, say this is not good for you, just don’t do it. We often don’t listen to our intellect. We go by what our mind says, and it goes with its likes and dislikes. 

Beyond the intellect is Self. Give more importance to the Self. These are the layers that you go through. From the sense objects to the senses; from sense to mind, which experiences through the senses; from the mind to the intellect, which judges,

discriminates, decides, says this is that. And from intellect, to That which is beyond it. The Self this can be attained only when you have a scientific temper. One whose mind is even, reposed, one who is pure, he attains this. Knowing is different and attaining is something very different. He attains this and he doesn’t have to be born again.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

Katho Upanishad 

On one hand It is unknowable and on the other hand, if you don’t know it then life is good for nothing. It is not straight mathematics.

🌷 Katho Upanishad 🌷

        

       Chapter 4

       Beyond the layers of existence

      🌻 Day 35 🌻

यस्य ब्रह्म च क्षत्रं च उभे भव ओदनः ।

मृत्युर्यस्योपसेचनं क इत्था वेद यत्र सः ॥

None else can know the omnipresent Self whose glory sweeps away the rituals of the priests and the powers of the warriors and puts death itself to death! To which the knowledge and activity both are food, death eats away that life. Death eats away all events. Death takes time in its lap. In Indian languages, if somebody dies, they say, they have been taken away by time. In Tamil they say kalamaita – they merged into time. Death eats away all the impressions, eats all forms. And this Self, this Brahman eats death itself! You can neither acquire the Self by knowledge nor by action. Nor can death deny it. Because, death, knowledge and actions are food for the Self. It eats them away. It is much bigger than them.

When you eat something that means it is smaller than you. You obviously can’t swallow an elephant. You can only swallow something which is smaller than you. This is to say, death is very small in front of the Self. The Self eats death itself. Neither through action, nor knowledge, can you get the Self. When that is the case, who can ever claim that they know the vastness of the Self?

The inner journey is so delicate that it needs some skill. It is a bundle of opposites.

On one hand they say – there is no point in living if you don’t know the truth. On the other hand they say – you cannot know the truth. It is so contradictory.

When British came to India and looked into the scriptures, they got so confused.

They said – this is bunch of nonsense. Their scholars, the theologists could not accept what was being said in them. They said, it must have been written by bunch of crazy people. They completely discredited the whole knowledge. In the last century, some brilliant scientist read them and said, “Wow!” on one hand they felt, It is unknowable and on the other hand, if you don’t know it then life is good for nothing. It is not straight mathematics.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

Katho Upanishad 

The Self can be attained only by those whom the Self chooses. The Self can’t be known by anyone,

🌷 Katho Upanishad 🌷

      

      Chapter 4

 

      Beyond the layers of existence

     🌻 Day 34 🌻

अशीररँ शरीरेष्वनवस्थेष्ववस्थितम् ।

महान्तं विभुमात्मानं मत्वा धीरो न शोचति ॥

What is required to see the Formless in the form? It needs great courage. One who is able to see the Formless in the ocean of forms, in the ocean of emotions,

which the world is, sees the quiet, Non-changing, subtle bliss. He is dheera, the brave one, the courageous one.

नाविरतो दुश्र्चरितान्नाशान्तो नासमाहितः ।

नाशान्तमानसो वाऽपि प्रज्ञानेनैनमाप्रुयात् ॥

The Self can be attained only by those whom the Self chooses. The Self can’t be known by anyone, who desist not from unrighteous ways, controls not his senses, stills not his mind and practises not meditation. 

‘One who has not retired from unrighteous things’ – what is unrighteous? That which you don’t want anyone to do to you, if you are doing that to others, it is unrighteous. Simple definition. You don’t want anyone to steal your things and you go stealing somebody’s thing - it is unrighteous. You don’t want anyone to hurt you, so hurting others is unrighteous. In the process of growth, in the common man’s day-to-day life, one who is engaged in unrighteousness, one who does not want to retire or justifies it, one who does not let go of the negativities, one whose mind wavers too much, has not settled goes through unrighteous things. He goes through all these negative emotions. But at some time, he has to retire from that. Who has known this consciousness where knowledge dissolves, action dissolves, where death also dissolves? It is simply unknowable.

Look at the way they bring the knowledge, step by step. It is so amazing. If you say, in the very beginning itself, that God is unknowable, then it is finished. Why would

you want to study? It becomes a futile exercise. You can’t know how deep this universe is. It is unknowable, unthinkable. Then why would anybody go with a Hubble telescope and find out how many stars are there. Just say there are so many universes, which are ever expanding; and you can never know it all. Forget about it. They will have to close NASA. What is the point? It is unknowable, unreachable. No. they take you step by step. You want to know the Brahman, capture the Brahman. Even that slightest doership might cling on to your mind and try to grasp something. They say, “No, it can’t be grasped.” You can’t claim, “I know it.”

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

Katho Upanishad 

Ignorance is the inability to see the changes in the changing world and inability to see the Non-changing in your Self

🌷 Katho Upanishad 🌷

        

       Chapter 4

 

       Beyond the layers of existence

      🌻 Day 33 🌻

The Self is formless in the midst of forms. All these forms – one is yelling, one is

shouting, one is calm, one is crying, one is laughing; all these forms behaving in various ways are all just permeated by one form that is my Self!

It is Changeless in the midst of change. Everything is changing but that One Thing is not changing. When you are so hard on yourself you say, “Oh! Nothing is changing. I am not changing.” My dear, look a little deeper. When you feel you are not changing, that too is the true! There is something in you that is not changing. Forget about your behaviour, your feelings and other things. Everything around is changing and what is not changing is the True Thing inside you. Instead of looking at the unchanging, you are saying the changing is not changing. That is ignorance. “Nothing changes, nothing is different nothing is changing,” – you are focused on the form and still you are unable to see the changes in the changing world. This is ignorance. And that makes you unhappy, “Nothing changes. I did pranayama, but nothing changes. I did this but nothing changes, Oh, my God!”

Ignorance is the inability to see the changes in the changing world and inability to see the Non-changing in your Self. There is something that is not changing. Even if

you have grasped it yet, still I tell you, everybody has had glimpse of that experience – that “something in me has not changed” or “I have not changed.” Acknowledge happily. We acknowledge unhappily, “Oh, nothing is changing in me. I am hopeless.” Stop lamenting that “nothing is changing in me, I behave the same” right from today. Why do you be hurt and blame yourself on that issue? Instead of

miserably saying “nothing is changing in me” with your attention on change, put your attention on the Non-changing and happily say “nothing is changing in me.”

Twist “I am not changing” – to “I am Non-changing.”

In Sanskrit bravery and patience have the same word. The brave on is never impatient. Patience should not be mistaken for lack of courage. One who is brave is not aggressive. Who is aggressive? The one who is weak. These are two different concepts between the Orient and the Occident. In the Occident, bravery means aggression, not patience. In the Orient, bravery means patience, not aggression. A brave one doesn’t have to be aggressive; he knows it is very simple and can handle anything. He will never lose his calm, never act in a hurry. For him it’s like lifting a finger. All the martial arts are developed on this principle – patience. Someone is coming to attack and the martial artist is just focused. He is patient holding the hand in a particular way. He is not shaking, shivering, going aggressively, yelling and pouncing on them. He patiently waits for opponent to attack them he defends. And in defence he just one thing and the other person falls apart. The law of martial arts is that the attacker is the weaker one. The one who comes to attack, the aggressive one is weaker. One who resists the attack is the strong one. Defence is the best offence.

- Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

Katho Upanishad 

The intelligent one probes beyond the appearance to see the Existence which is unison.

🌷 Katho Upanishad 🌷

         

      Chapter 4

 

      Beyond the layers of existence

     🌻 Day 32 🌻

We are all a combination of form and formless. Our body is form, the mind is formless. Similarly, the universe is form, Divinity is formless. Energy has no form but matter has form. The entire universe is a perfect combination of form and formless. You must have heard about the new theory of dark matter and dark energy. What physics says is that the space between the objects in the universe is much more powerful than the objects themselves. The space in between two objects is thick, is a substance as well. If the sun is round, it is because the space around it is full of energy that makes the sun round. Have you seen bubbles in the water? Why is the bubble round? Because there is water pressure around it and that makes a bubble round inside the water. Similarly, all the planets, all this celestial substances are spherical because the space around them is filled with dark energy, which is not visible but is much more powerful than the substance itself. 

The mind, the Consciousness is much more powerful than the body. It is the existence of

Consciousness that makes the body grow in the womb, makes it move and function. The moment that Consciousness gets lifted from the body the body is dead; it is a corpse. So which is powerful – the body or the Consciousness? But what does the world think? Ignorant people think that the body is more powerful than Consciousness. The visible is more powerful than the invisible – this is the ignorant thinking. The knowledgeable know that the Consciousness is more powerful than the body. 

One Consciousness is permeating the whole universe. The wise realise that the formless is permeating the form. The wise shift their attention from the individual mind to universal mind. 

There are 3 layers – sattvic, rajasic, and tamasic knowledge. In the tamasic knowledge, there is no knowledge at all. The body is important; the mind has no place there. In rajasic knowledge, one thinks of different bodies and different tendencies as beings – “This is good man, this is bad lady,” etc; different feelings, different entities and different people. Seeing the difference is rajasic knowledge. Sattvic knowledge is- seeing the One Consciousness

functioning in various ways in various bodies. Isn’t that fantastic? It is One Consciousness which is expressing itself in various ways. When light passes from stained glass, instead of thinking, “that is a violet light, that’s red light, that’s yellow

light” – no doubt it is visible like that think that is one light. The intelligent one knows that it is one light which is reflecting in different ways. The intelligent one probes beyond the appearance to see the Existence which is unison.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

Katho Upanishad 

If the Self chooses, if you are utterly, totally open. Craving realisation, craving liberation is the last impediment for self- realization

🌷 Katho Upanishad 🌷

         

      Chapter 3

        

      The grace of the diivine

     🌻Day 31 🌻

नायमात्मा प्रवचनेन लभयो 

न मेधया न बहुना श्रुतेन ।

यमेवैष वृणुते तेन लभ्यः 

तस्यैष आत्मा विवृणुते तनूँ स्वाम् ॥

The Self cannot be known through the study of scriptures nor through the intellect nor through learned discourses. It can be attained only by those whom the Self chooses. Verity unto them, the Self reveals himself!

Relax! It is a futile exercise. Forget about it. This is the last straw of the ego because the ego wants to do something, acquire it, grab it. Now when it is said “No, you can’t,” the last hope is ditched.

This is so amazingly beautiful. You are first kindled and coaxed to have interest in it. You would have been immersed in name and form in life. “Oh! Leave all this. You

have to look something great – Self, self-realisation. Go for it.” Then you say. “I am going for it.” You are galloping and running, “Yeah, I want it,” try to acquire it. Then you realise, it doesn’t exist. This is releasing from the clutch of ego, doership, wanting to possess, wanting to have. For that last strain of the ego to go, you have to relax. That is why it is said, “No, you cannot have it,” but only if the Self chooses, if you are utterly, totally open. Craving realisation, craving liberation is the last impediment for self- realization. Till now you are galloping on the horse. At some point you say, “Stop,” and everything totally breaks down.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

Katho Upanishad 

When the wise realise the Self, Formless in the midst of form, Changeless in the midst of change, Omnipresent and Supreme, they go beyond sorrow.

🌷 Katho Upanishad 🌷

       

       Chapter 3

     

      The grace of the divine

      🌻 Day 30 🌻

अशरीरँ शरीरेष्वनवस्थेष्ववस्थितम् ।

महान्तं विभुमात्मानं मत्वा धीरो न शोचति ॥

When the wise realise the Self, Formless in the midst of form, Changeless in the midst of change, Omnipresent and Supreme, they go beyond sorrow.

If you really dislike somebody, hate somebody; just imagine them in your mind without the head. This is one of the tantric techniques. When somebody has great

animosity, hatred against somebody, what do they want to do? They just want to

take the sword and chop their head off. Instead of physically doing that, just imagine that his head is chopped off. This is a human tendency from ages. What did

they do in the middle ages? Anybody they didn’t like, they chopped their head off. In the tantric technique, imagine that the person who is bothering you has had his head chopped off. Then your whole relation with that person finishes. You can’t have a relation with just the head and you can’t have relation just with the body without a head. Your problem with that person is gone. You are free!

There are ten great lines of knowledge, “Dasha Mahavidhya”. In that, one is called, “chin mastha.” It is one of the mahavidhyas. Tantra is mainly made for people who are very gross, who cannot get wordly things out from their head. Today we hear that tantra means only sex. It is not only sex. People who are also obsessed with sex, for them tantra is a way to get out of that obsession. It is just a treatment for a short period of time. They would use these techniques so that they can get over the obsession and reach the light. One is sex, another is hatred. Some people can’t get rid of hatred. To get it out of their head, they sit and feel that the person whom they hate, their head has been chopped off.

In Indian astrology, out of the nine planets, one is without head and one is without

body. They are called rahu and ketu – the nodes of moon. 

Going beyond sorrow is most important. Our sorrow is our own making. Only we have to get rid of it. How do we do that? Knowing everything is maya, sound and form.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

Katho Upanishad 

The glory of the self is seen by the grace of the Divine, not by your effort

🌷 Katho Upanishad 🌷

       

      Chapter no 3

      The grace of the divine

     🌻 Day 29 🌻

कष्तस्य सुकस्य न कोऽपि धात्

I heard this from elderly people. I spent my young days with older people. All my other friends would wonder why I go and sit with elderly people. They wouldn’t understand; they would make fun of me.

Nobody gives you happiness and sorrow. Sorrow is a making of your own mind and when you go beyond sorrow and then the joy that comes out of you is your true nature! Nobody is giving you joy. When you are in touch with your Being, you are joyful. Why are you happy when you are in touch with the Guru? Guru and Self have same vibrations. Your innermost and the teacher have the same frequency. That is why you feel comfortable with the Guru, because you feel comfortable with the Self. 

Why does Guru give joy? Your self is joy. When you are with the Guru, your mind opens, your ego opens; it can’t stand there fully, unless you try so hard to keep it. Joy wells up. A streak of light shines through, that’s all. That’s the mechanism, that is the science behind it. 

पश्यति वीतशोको – One who has crossed sorrow.

धातुप्रसादान् – Here धातु has many meanings. In the material sense, we have seven धातु, seven substances in our body. Our body is made up of seven धातु. In metallurgy, metal is called धातु. In the body, blood, bone, bone marrow, muscles – all these aspects in the body are धातु. When these seven parts of the body gives way, they don’t obstruct you. धातु also means, the Divine, the giver. Everything is given through His grace or by the compliance of the seven धातु in your body. Layer by layer

there would be so many meanings that could come out of this. When there is balance in your body then your mind is calm and even and free from sorrow.

महिमानमात्मनः 

The glory of the self is seen by the grace of the Divine, not by your effort. You do all your effort and then finally it happens by the grace. Again, “I leave my dharma also at your feet.”

माम् एकम् शरणम् व्रज् 

Take refuge is Me. That refuge will bring that Grace. 

धातुप्रसादान्

At a very materialistic level, all your doshas have to be equal. If pitta is high, you get angry. If you vata is high, you have restlessness and you can’t sleep. With all the seven धातु, with their grace, with their gift you can know the Self.

आसीनो दूरं व्रजति शयानो याति सर्वतः ।

कस्तं मदामदं देवं मदन्यो ज्ञातुर्मर्हति ॥

Though one sits in meditation in a particular place, the Self can exercise his influence far away. Though still, he moves everything everywhere.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

Katho Upanishad 

Weakness of heart, weak emotions. Come on, wake up, drop this

🌷 Katho Upanishad 🌷

         

       Chapter 3

      

       The grace of the divine

      🌻 Day 28 🌻

At the end of 700 shlokas, Lord Krishna says,

सर्व धर्मान् परित्यज् 

Leave all Dharma to take refuge in Me. Have confidence in Me, and leave it. Arjuna was so righteous, he said, “Krishna, why are you telling me to fight this war. Do you have any sense?” Such was his tone. “What are you telling? I don’t agree with what you say. What you are saying is against dharma.” Krishna smiled and said, “You talk like a great knowledgeable pundit, but you are so foolish. You are crying. You are on an emotional roller coaster.”

त्यक्तवा ह्रदया दौर्बल्यम्

ह्रदया दौर्बल्यम् – weakness of heart, weak emotions. Come on, wake up, drop this. Then Krishna told him the Gita. Finally, he said, “Drop the dharma and take refuge in Me!”

Rights and wrongs keep our mind in the gross, in the name and form. To go beyond name and form, cause and effect, to the eternal, immutable Self, greater than the

greatest – though it exists everywhere, you are unable to see it because you are gross!

There is a simple principle- Be hollow and empty! We do this little process in advance course. Sometimes we take it for granted; we do it once or twice. Then we take it for granted. They are so valuable! Have you all have done likes and dislikes meditation? And how do you get over them? Gently. Our programs are made with such skill, I tell you. I don’t know how to make it more skilful. 

Lord of Death himself says, “Even after hearing this, many people do not know.” What to do?

अणोरणीयान्महतो महीया –

नात्मऽस्य जन्तोर्निहितो गुहायाम् ।

तमक्रतुः पश्यति वीतशोको

धातुप्रसादान्महिमानमात्मनः ॥

शोक् means sorrow. वीतशोक् – one who has gone beyond sorrow. Sorrow comes in life in one form or the other. Lord Buddha said life is misery. Then he said that there is a way to get over misery, it is possible to get rid of misery. If life itself is misery, you can’t change the nature. But he said there is a way to get rid of misery, it is possible. There is a cause of misery. Without a cause one can’t be miserable and there is a way to get rid of misery. What is the cause of misery? Sound and light, name and form! The way to get rid of that misery is 'Aum'. What Buddha said was meditation.

To see the light, effulgent Being inside, you cross the sorrow. If you are caught up in sorrow your mind is gross. A gross mind can’t perceive the subtlety of the Being, the subtlety of love. Why are unhappy people not loving? It is possible for love to shine through unhappiness. Unhappiness and sorrow is a thick cloud, a thick covering on the Self, which is love. Sorrow is of your own making.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

Katho Upanishad 

When your heart is reverberating, your consciousness is merged with the Universal Consciousness.

🌷 Katho Upanishad 🌷

         

      Chapter 3

   

      The grace of the divine

      🌻 Day 27 🌻

When the Buddists meditated, they found Aum. Jains meditated and they found Aum. Sikhs found Aum. Zoroastrians found Aum. Aum is very similar to Ameen. In the Jewish tradition, it is Shalom. Aum is there in Shalom. Aum is the eternal sound, Aum is what one hears.

So that which cannot be expressed by any name or form is represented by sound. That sound is Aum! Though it is beyond sound, it can be identified with the sound Aum.

When I was in Connecticut, one lady came back to me and said that she did an experiment with the sound Aum. They recorded the sound and frequency of Aum, it is exactly the same as that of earth’s rotation around its axis. Aum also has the same cycles. This just testifies what we hear all the time, that this universal sound Aum is always there. We were part of that before birth and that is where we will go after death, if we are not clogged by other cravings and aversions. ‘What that guy said, what this lady told and how bad they are’ – if all this is gone, what remains is Aum.

What do you get by realising Aum? Aum is glorified a lot. Not just chanting Aum, but realising it. So much is said about Aum. Whatever is that you want, you get through Aum. Realising it, one finds complete fulfilment of one’s longings. It is the greatest support to all seekers. Those in whose hearts Aum reverberates are unceasingly blessed and deeply loved as one who is the Self.

एतदालम्बनँ श्रेष्ठमेतदालम्बनं परम् ।

एतदालम्बनं ज्ञात्वा ब्रह्मलोके महीयते ॥

When your heart is reverberating, your consciousness is merged with the Universal

Consciousness. The universe is reverberating with Aum like the tuning fork. When you hit the tuning fork, it makes a sound and when you bring a string instrument near it, then it starts reverberating by itself. So one sound which is already being reverberated, when that reverberates within you, you feel the unity, the merger of that.

If it is within everybody, why doesn’t everyone see it? Because we are caught up in the gross. The mind is thick and gross. It is filled with names and forms, cravings

and aversions, right and wrong, likes and dislikes. Right and wrong, likes and dislikes are pairs. They go for holiday together in the mind. It needs death to take them away. Sometimes even death can’t take them away. You have to be born again for them to be taken away. As long as you are holding on to “things are wrong, wrong”, your mind is gross. When you are gross, you are agitated, thick. You can’t see the subtlety. Similarly, when you are holding on to, “I am the most righteous, most righteous”, even then you cannot see.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

Katho Upanishad 

Every day sit and wind back till the time you woke up. Do it before you go to bed

🌷 Katho Upanishad 🌷

       

      Chapter 3

     

      The grace of the divine

     🌻 Day 26 🌻

ॐ इति ऐतत्

That is Aum. In all eastern traditions, all those who meditated experienced the sound Aum. All other sounds merge into this one sound Aum. Before birth you were in Aum and after death you will be in Aum. This is the sound of one hand clapping, one sound remaining. 

So, at the moment of death, when someone says Aum and leaves the body, he will be immediately absorbed in Aum. When one dies, first he is able to see what is all around. His entire life comes before him like a film. All the sanskaras (impressions) open up. This is normally for people who are not deep meditators. If you are a deep meditator, all impressions are already gone! That is why you are dead while being alive. You usually hear, “Kill the mind”, “man maro” in Hindi. What does “Kill the mind” mean? It means to remove all the impressions.

In the Jain tradition, they do ‘pratikraman’. They sit after sunset and take their mind backward, unwind. What did I do one hour ago? If there are any impressions, they are erased going background in time. Jains are supposed to do this every day, but they don’t – sit, unwind themselves and let go of the whole thing. Every day sit and wind back till the time you woke up. Do it before you go to bed. People do it for half an hour or even one hour. This is their meditation technique. In the Hindu tradition, they say, “Why do you want to go on doing that? Forget about it. Everything is maya! It is all just nothing, no impression at all.” It is a way of seeing that everything is maya. When you think everything is maya, nothing comes into you. But it does not happen by thinking like that. In India, sadhus and saints study all the scriptures and keep saying that all is maya. 

Once, we brought two swamis (recluse monks) from India. We took them to Disneyland. I wanted them to experience the world, have some fun. The first ride was ‘splash mount’ roller coaster and that really scared them. The came out and said, “Guruji, all our Vedanta went back to India. We keep saying everything is maya but we were so scared.” They accepted it with such innocence. It is easy to say everything is maya when we sit somewhere comfortably. But when we are falling

from such height! “My heart was beating so fast. All the scriptures we studied ran away to Bangalore. We were left shaking.” And they were laughing. 

Body-mind complex can go through all these. They said, “Guruji, it is so scary.” When they saw next ride, they went off in the other direction. “No, no, no more rides. We just want to walk.” We had to convince them that ‘small world’ ride was good.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

Katho Upanishad 

“That which is required for this, which is eternal is that secret I am telling you.”

🌷 Katho Upanishad 🌷

        

       Chapter 3

   

       The grace of the divine

      🌻 Day 25 🌻

एतध्द्येवाक्षरं ब्रह्म एतध्द्येवाक्षरं परम् ।

एतध्द्येवाक्षरं ज्ञात्वा यो यदिच्छति तस्य तत् ॥

'Aum' consolidates all that I am telling you. Death gives you the sound 'aum'. In Buddhist tradition it is called the sound of one hand clapping. Go deep in meditation, there is a sound that resonates in you–'Aum'. When you die the sound that remains with you is Aum. 

I said two things will stay with you – sound and sight. Sound is Aum, sight is light. So, death is nothing but a light and sound show! This world is nothing but a light and sound show. Just remove all the images from your mind – images means light, and there is no world! Remove all the sounds, there is no sorrow. What is sorrow? When somebody blames you, someone says something wrong to you. What is that? It is sound. Remove all the sounds and sorrow is gone. Remove all the light and all the forms are gone.

There are five aspects to reality – Asti, Bhati, Preeti, Nama and Rupa.

Asti is existence.

Bhati is effulgence, truth, consciousness, shining. 

Preeti is Love.

Nama is sound and Rupa is light.

Nama and rupa are of the relative world- maya. Asti, Bhati and Preeti are the nature of the Spirit, the Self. Spirit is Existence, Consciousness and Love. Love is not an emotion. Love is not what we call love these days. It is only a shadow of love. Love, the emotion, is just the shadow of the Existence. 

If sound and light are removed, then your subtle body dies and only the causal body

remains. And the causal body is all basis. It is the subtle body that makes you miserable. It is sound and light. How to cross over the sound and light? You can only cross over the sound by sound.

Yama said, “That which is required for this, which is eternal is that secret I am telling you.”

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

Katho Upanishad 

That One Word which envelopes everything is Aum. ॐ इति ऐतत्

🌷 Katho Upanishad 🌷

       

      Chapter 3

        

      The grace of the divine

      🌻 Day 24 🌻

सर्वे वेदा यत्पदमामनन्ति

तपाँसि सर्वाणि च यद्वदन्ति ।

यदिच्छन्तो ब्रह्मचर्यँ चरन्ति 

तत्ते पदँ सङ्गहेण ब्रवीम्योमित्येतत् ॥

Here, the Lord of Death gives the Word that all scripture glorify, which all spiritual disciplines express to attain, for which aspirants lead a life to self-restraint.

Why do people practise charity? Why do people practise self-restrain, why do people take monkhood, stay in monastery? Why do people become nuns and fathers or swamis? Why do they all do this? What is the purpose?

They want to attain something higher but they get lost in their way. They simply become recluses, become monks, but they don’t get it. The purpose of them doing all this is to see that which is beyond death. 

The Lord of Death told Nachiketa, “This is why they all are doing it and I am going to give it to you right away because you are a capable student. You don’t become a monk but you are even more than a monk.” You don’t have to leave everything and run away from this world. You can be in the world, yet your mind can be completely

unblemished by possessions. Don’t think those people who have renounced everything are greater than you. They might have greater craving than you. They are so hell bent on getting something which they don’t know. It is so simple, so innocent, so pure and it is within you. All the Vedas are talking about it. All actions that people do are to attain this. All prayers are to attain this. All the recluses and the celibates are searching for this. That One Word which envelopes everything is Aum.

ॐ इति ऐतत्

It is said that, when you finally meet God after all your struggle, then you say, “Oh! He was my neighbour, I knew him all the time. Oh! You are God, I knew you all through.” After all the gymnastics, after all the beating around the bush, you say, “Oh! You are God, I have known you for so long.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

Katho Upanishad 

”

What is the cave? It is the stillness in meditation, which is beyond emotions, beyond thoughts

🌷 Katho Upanishad 🌷

        

      Chapter 3

       

      The grace of the divine

     🌻 Day 23 🌻

तं दुर्दर्शं गूढमनुप्रविष्ठं 

गुहाहितं गह्वरेष्ठं पुराणम् ।

अध्यात्मयोगाधिगमेन देवं

मत्वा धीरो हर्षशोकौ जहाति ॥

For those who go deep in meditation, there is no fear of death. For others there is only one fear, that of death. All fear is about death. Behind the fear of losing money, fear of losing reputation, fear of losing attention, fear of losing status – behind all that, there is only one fear that is of death! Meditation is confronting that. When you are in meditation, there is stillness, nothing exist. This is what takes you away from the fear of death.   

When they say heart (cave of heart), it does not mean emotion and love. “I want to open my heart” – please don’t do that. “O! My heart is closed; I want to open my heart.” This is a big problem, especially in the new age community. I tell them that they are getting qualified to become blue stars! Don’t try to open your heart. 

What is the cave? It is the stillness in meditation, which is beyond emotions, beyond thoughts. That is the cave. You go every night in that cave, my dear. You go there in sleep, but you go unconsciously in deep sleep. When you wake up you are peace. You get such a deep sleep from that cave. What is that cave? It is where you take rest, where you hide. Cave is not a place where you are active, it is place where you are resting, hibernating. 

Unconsciously, we encounter death every day. I remember when I was with my grandfather, in the village, as soon as you get up, they would role the bed and sprinkle water where you slept and mop it. Sleep is like a mini death. When you take the dead body out. You clean and mop that place. As children coming from an urban area to a rural area, we would wonder why grandmother is saying all these things. ‘You should not touch that place. You should keep the bed rolled. Mop the place, clear the vibration.” You don’t do this in the cities. In villages, the earlier

generations used to do this. The place where you slept has tamas. So, you have to clear the place and then you can use it. We were never allowed to eat food on bed. “Get up, brush your teeth and take bath. No more getting in the bed till night. You have to be dynamic the whole day. If you lie down on bed that means and you are impure again. Go and take bath.” It appeared to be utter superstition to me. As children, we would say this is superstition. You can sit on the mat but on the bed because that is where you sleep and go to another state of consciousness. In brahmin families it is like that. If you touch the bed, you have to take bath. But it is not prevalent anymore.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

Katho Upanishad 

“Teach me of That you see beyond right and wrong.”

🌷 Katho Upanishad 🌷

       

       Chapter 3

      

       The grace of the divine

      🌻 Day 22 🌻 

अन्यत्र धर्मादन्यत्राधर्मा–

त्रास्मात्कृताकृतात् ।

अन्यत्र भूताच्च भव्याच्च 

यत्तत्पश्यषि तद्वद ॥

What nachiketa said next is very beautiful. A student usually says, “Teach me what

is right.” But Nachiketa said, “Teach me of That you see beyond right and wrong.” He has transcended the limited logic of the mind. There is beautiful quote in Sanskrit,

दुर्जनम प्रथमम् वन्दे, सज्जनम् तदन्तरम्

I bow down to the wicked, for he is teaching me the lesson at his own cost. The one who is teaching me the lesson by falling into the pit needs to be appreciated first.

Then, I thank the wise, who guides me to the right path. How beautiful is this! Doesn’t make your emotion light and uplifted? You are left with no other emotion than gratefulness and thankfulness. Nothing else it left. 

We used to learn these couplets in schools. They are so useful. They are called subhashita. 

There is one more couplet. The more a piece of sandalwood is ground, the more fragrance it emits. If you walk by a sandalwood tree, you don’t get any fragrance. Similarly, the sugarcane is so hard, it does not smell sweet. Only when you crush the sugarcane, the sweetness comes. The more you beat the gold, the more it shines.

If you think the world is crushing you, know that you are a sugarcane. If the world is beating you, know that you are gold. If you think people are taking advantage of you, think you are getting glorified. Know that you are a sandalwood and you are being ground. When you think something is wrong that makes you unhappy. When you think something is right that makes you unhappy as well.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

Katho Upanishad 

“Those who know, they are neither body nor mind but the immortal Self, the Divine principle of existence, find the source of all joy and live in joy. I see the gates of joy opening for you.”

🌷 Katho Upanishad 🌷

       

      Chapter 3

        

      The grace of the divine

     🌻 Day 21 🌻

Body has the limitations, so does the mind. Good thoughts come, bad thoughts come, and emotions come, so what? You are happy sometimes, you are upset sometimes. Sometimes they are not your emotions, they are somebody else’s emotions, which get on to your body and mind. How many have experienced this? This is body-mind complex, these things happen. “I want to get rid of it, I want to be pure.” This is another problem. For a moment those vibrations come to you, so what? Be brave, this is where you need courage. Those emotions come and go, you watch them. Sometimes you react, “O! I reacted, I did this, and I did that.” Never mind that you reacted, it is finished. Don’t be hard on

yourself. Remember one thing – the present moment, come to the moment! Jealousy comes inside you and you think, “I am a seeker, I am doing sadhna, meditation, pranayama, but again jealousy is coming, My God!” Skilfully move through it. The skill is, - “Ok, it has come, never mind.” Come to the present. Have total faith in the innocence of the present moment. Can you remember this? Your spirit is innocence; deep inside, you are innocent. Don’t mind what is happening in the mind, never mind. Believe in the innocence of the spirit that is in the present moment. To show this, in the puranas, even gods are shown getting angry and jealous. This is happening even among the devas. Why? Just to show that there is divinity inside you. Do not undermine that for passing emotions. You think about an ideal state in your mind where no emotions should come. If it comes, it comes on its own. Don’t be hard on yourself. Either you are hard on somebody or hard on yourself. Balance is like walking on a razor’s edge. You lost your temper. So what? You got upset. So what? Now, this moment, your Being is pure. Latch on to this, then you realise that this whole thing is maya. What does maya mean? It is that which is temporary, that doesn’t stay, it is impermanent. Maya comes and tries to grab you. You need to swim above that. When you are in the ocean, waves come gushing – you can’t stop waves, but with the surfboard, you go over it.

Don’t blame yourself at any cost. Yama says, “Those who know, they are neither body nor mind but the immortal Self, the Divine principle of existence, find the source of all joy and live in joy. I see the gates of joy opening for you.” Now as a student, he didn’t say that gates of joy are opened for you. He said that they are opening for you. A word like that from the Master gives comfort to the student. This is a Master of a higher order. He does not blame. He doesn’t say, “You are stupid,

a fool, good for nothing.” Such approach is needed for a very tamasic type of people, someone who is totally dull. Take a stick and wake them up, and even then, there is no guarantee that they will wake up, because they are dead. If they are sleeping they will wake up. If they are dead they won’t wake up. This is one style of waking them up. Sattvik style is through praising them and giving them hope. “You are great, wonderful! Look at the beauty deep inside you!” It is an easier path to go on. I am not saying it is good, or it is bad. Everything has its purpose. A skilful teacher doesn’t need to take a stick and beat people, blame people, though it may work sometimes, though it is needed sometimes. But they go by saying, “The gates of joy are already opening for you. A little more patience is necessary and that’s it.”

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

Katho Upanishad