If you are studying Ayurveda, then be attached to Ayurveda. Perfection comes only to the extent of your attachment to that field.

Many of us do not know Sanskrit well. If you read any of the 108 or 1008 names in praise of the Divine the Lalita Sahasranama or Vishnu Sahasranama - and read the names of the Divine written there. 

You will feel like closing your ears after hearing the gross descriptions of the various body parts - huge buttocks, hefty thighs, large breasts, the goddess with breasts like an elephant's head. 

Why were these descriptions used? Had the rishis lost their minds that they would think like this? Were their minds so sick? These questions come up. 

Only those who are daring and have clear, pure minds can say such things. You may have a Vrataratna mald. If you open it, you will see that it contains praises of each and every limb. 

In any vrata, or observance, whether of Ganapati, Vara Lakshml, or Svarna Gauri, the practice is to worship every limb of that form of the Divine. 

Worshipping in this way, the mind, which is attracted to a particular body part, is liberated from that obsession and becomes peaceful. That is why when we worship Vishnu, we start from the feet and rise to the head, worshipping every part. 

This is a great secret of adoration of the form of the Divine. Through this practice, we can gain victory over desire. If you want to gain anything or rise above it, this can only happen by honouring that object. 

Only with reverence can you rise higher in life. Hanuman worshipped Rama and by doing so became greater than Rama. Ravana fought with Rama and went down defeated. 

Hanuman knew 14 arts, while Rama only knew 12. Rama could not have accomplished anything without Hanuman by his side. There is a story that Parashurama fought with Rama and though he lost. 

Thus Rama bowed to him and called him bhargava. Rama won. Likewise, Hanuman, a devotee of Rama, offered himself to Rama. 

One who surrenders with reverence rises higher and becomes more powerful than the one he honours.So creation happened out of lust and is maintained by attachment. Perfection happens through a veil of attachment. 

This is such an amazing sutra, the likes of which is not found anywhere else in the world. You cannot put a value on this sutra. 

Siddhi, perfection, happens because of a veil of attachment. People abuse desire. Attachment is also abused. It is true that we should not hold on to attachment and that it brings misery. 

The same attachment though, brings protection. When a dog or cat gives birth, it protects its own offspring. How is this protection possible without attachment? 

Does a dog leave its pups and go elsewhere? A sparrow brings food and feeds its newly hatched chicks even if it does not have enough food for itself. 

The sparrow cares for its young because of attachment. Similarly, a tree spreads it seeds with full protection and care. If a coconut dropped from the tree without the protection of the outer husk, it would crack. 

But the coconut is made so that it falls with the husk, which is so light that it can float. So the water carries it away and deposits it somewhere on a bank where it sprouts and becomes a tree. 

That is how the tree spreads its seed. Cotton seeds go out with

the cotton, as though the plant says, "Fly in the wind." Similarly, animals protect their young. 

Wherever a cat goes, it carries its kitten by holding its neck in its mouth. Have you seen a cow that gives an angry glare to anyone that troubles its calf? 

It is only through attachment and the feeling that "this is my offspring, and I must raise it and protect it" that the young receive care.

To do any work in the world requires some attachment. In foreign countries, there is no attachment within the family, and that is why there is no family there. 

There is desire, but without attachment behind it. This is known as prostitution, where there is no permanence in the relationship. 

A relationship needs some attachment in order to be permanent. Children will not be cared for unless there is attachment for them. If the attachment is not there, the relationship will not last. 

The main problem in the West is that there is no bonding in the family, and so there is no happiness. Whether attachment is too much or not at all, it creates a problem, like having too much salt or not enough salt in food.

Attachment to knowledge is what brings you to listen to knowledge. Some people ask, "What is the use of bhajan and satsangs?" You will not reach perfection with an attitude of indifference, saying, "Let's give it a shot. 

Something might happen." You will not find fulfillment this way. Only when you feel attachment towards music can you learn to play an instrument, whether it is the veena, the taboori or the tabla. 

If you are learning how to use a computer, you will perfect your skills to the extent that you are attached to the computer. But where there is a half-hearted attitude or something is done just to pass time, learning will not be complete. 

If you do not feel attachment for a pastime, your efforts will not be successful. Even to pass an examination, you need attachment for the subject. 

If you are studying Ayurveda, then be attached to Ayurveda. Perfection comes only to the extent of your attachment to that field. 

Some obstacles may be there. On the way to achieve success, difficulties will crop up. See it as a test. Some have few problems and others have more. 

Yet the more attachment we develop, problems bother us less. We do not even look at them as problems. Even very poor people living in huts and under tin roofs by the road side have such attachment toward their children.

- Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

SHIVA SUTRAS

Your happiness and your consciousness are unlimited. To enjoy such vast happiness, you need to escape from attachment, let go of small pleasures.

Once a A Swami went and stayed as a guest in an elderly gentleman's home in Kanpur. Since the son and his wife both worked outside the home, this elderly man did all the household chores like sweeping and looking after the children. 

When the son returned home in the evening, he would scold his father, and once even slapped him in front of the Swami. 

The Swami felt pity for the elderly man and asked him, “Why do you struggle so much? I feel bad for you. Come stay at my ashram where I'll look after you and you'll live comfortably”. 

“At this age, after having lived 70 years, why do you stay with your son who abuses you? Why lead such a life? Please, come." 

The old man, who until this point had been pouring out his sorrows, suddenly became enraged and said to the Swami, "Did you not have any other home to break apart? Why did you come only to my house?”.

“Go find some other house to ruin. If I leave the house, what will happen to the children? What will happen to the grandchildren? My son and daughter-in-law work outside of the house”. 

“Who will feed the grandchildren? Who will sweep and clean the house? Please, do not ruin this house and leave”. Shocked, the Swami wondered, "What is this?" Out of compassion I offered him a place to stay, feeling that he is such an elderly man who struggles so hard. 

“I didn't want him to live in such conditions and offered him a better life, but he turned against me”. This is attachment. Even after being kicked around, you stay somewhere because of attachment. 

Even if it means dying, you stay there. There are some who refuse to leave their old house and move to a new home. They say, “Even if I die, I will not leave this place or this village”.

Such attachment for a place and for people. If attachment stays within limits, it will bring success. But if the same attachment exceeds its limits, it brings misery.

With victory over attachment, you find unlimited enjoyment, naturalness automatically arises in you, and you can succeed in any work. 

There is no use getting entangled in the abilities and successes you gain after winning over attachment.

So you achieved some success - say you became an expert veena player. 

If you hold onto the thought that nobody plays the veena better than I do, your ego gets bigger, and when you meet someone who plays the veena better than you, jealousy starts. 

Your calm poise and cheerfulness vanish. When you see someone close to you talk with someone else and smile at him. Your stomach churns because you feel that he should speak only to you and to no one else. 

A newly-wed couple keeps a close eye on each other just like a good watch-dog guards the house. They observe whether the other is looking at someone else or not. 

The way they keep an eye on each other, even dogs do not keep such close watch. What do they keep an eye on? If one smiles at someone else, the other suspects he is thinking about that person. 

They wonder whether their mind is being distracted, and they try to bind each others' mind. You cannot even control your own mind. Why do you try to control the mind of others? 

When you win victory over attachment, you find unlimited enjoyment. The satisfaction that we feel when you accomplish something through attachment is very little.

Your happiness and your consciousness are unlimited. To enjoy such vast happiness, you need to escape from attachment, let go of small pleasures. 

If you do not rise above attachment, the small mind will only think, "What about me, my son, my daughter, my mind." Just as your children belong to you, your neighbours' children also belong to you. 

“Everyone belongs to me” you can win over attachment only when this feeling dawns in you. Many times you have heard people advising detachment. Everyone, even sadhus, recommend finding freedom from attachment.

Many people become sannyasi, renunciates, out of fear of attachment. They leave everything and run away, imagining that they can escape attachment. 

Although they leave home, they become attached to their possessions - their water-pot, saffron robes, images of devotion, danda stick, etc. 

If someone touches or takes their staff, they get upset and shout. Then they become angry and hurl abuses at others. People tremble in fear of Gurus because of their harsh words. 

It's commonly said, "One should feel fear and devotion for an elder." Either you are afraid of him or you have devotion for him. There can be either light or darkness. 

Just as light and darkness cannot be present together, fear and devotion cannot exist together. How can there be fear when there is devotion? We say "fear and devotion" only as a figure of speech. 

To find greater happiness and unlimited enjoyment, you need to rise above small pleasures. If you drown in them, there is no use. 

The happiness or achievement you get out of attachment is limited, and what is limited comes with a tail, that tail is unhappiness. 

You cannot make anything with only pure gold. You have to mix it with some other material in order to make jewelry and ornaments. 

Similarly, a small amount of unhappiness is mixed in with all your happiness. But if you win

over attachment, you can have unlimited pleasure and the endless experience of the self.

- Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

SHIVA SUTRAS

Did you see atma? Who has seen it? Some people say they saw atma, but that is not atma. It is an illusion. Atma can never be an object of sight. If you see your shadow, remember that it is not actually you, but your shadow.

Knowledge can be acquired through analysis and logic. This is what science is. Analysis comes from logic. Knowledge of objects can be experienced, but knowledge of the self is only possible through vitarka. 

If you want knowledge of the self, then drop logic and apply yourself to vitarka, or special logic. This logic does not destroy anything. 

Spiritual knowledge and vitarka find unity in everything. It sees fullness and understands things as they are. Knowledge of the self is an all encompassing vision. 

It is the pinnacle of vitarka. With Vitarka we create questions that have no answer. You can ask yourself, "Who am I?" This question is very complex. 

Merely asking this question will take you to such depth. Vitarka has no answer in words. You can know that a person is asleep from his snoring. 

If that same person gets up and tells you, "I am asleep," it will mean that he is not asleep. Similarly, if someone asks you, "Have you seen God?" It will be better to be quiet. 

You can understand only with the language of silence. The essence of the Self cannot be captured in words. Vitarka makes you introspective. If you keep asking, "Who am I?" all answers fall away and there is only silence. 

In the depth of that silence it is possible to have knowledge of the self. It is certainly not possible through words. This is to be experienced, it is more important to experience it than to understand it.

One of the sutras says to move forward through love and feelings. Feelings and reasoning are opposite. There is no logic in feeling, and there are no feelings in logic. 

How many times is the same word used in songs? If you listen to music with the intellect, you might think that repeating words again and again is madness.

The mind questions, "What is the use of repeating the words so many times?" It is because there is love. The mind does not like repetition. 

That is why a person who is fully awake finds it difficult to listen to complaints. People do not complain once, but they complain over and over again due to lack of knowledge. 

Similarly, a person in love also repeats the same thing again and again. A rational person might not like this. He will become angry, and then boredom sets in. 

Someone who is caught in logic cannot enjoy bhajans. They ask, "What is the point of repeating, 'Ram, Ram, Ram?" The mind may have quite reasonably asked the question.

But only someone who chants,

Ram, Ram," with bhakti, or devotion, will understand the effect of such repetition. If you repeat, "Ram' with devotion, then that power energies every cell of your body. 

You experience happiness and you start to go deep into your self. However, someone who looks at it logically will say, "I have said 'Om namah shivaya' once. What is the use of repeating it?" 

Logic and feelings do not go together. Laya samadhi happens because of feelings. What happens with logic? You can find samadhi with the mind's logic, but the logic should be vitarka. 

Then the mind will become peaceful. "Who am I?" is the start of vitarka. Throw away all the answers and hold on to the question "Who am I?" until you are enlightened. 

The only path to enlightenment is vitarka. It has been given for those at a certain intellectual level. Ganesha's vehicle is a rat. What does the rat mean? The rat is vitarka. 

It nibbles on everything in its path and cracks the covering of ignorance. That is why Ganesha sits on a rat. Neither Saint Kanakdas nor Shishunala Sharief studied in any university or college, but now university students write theses on their works. 

How did they get such knowledge? It came from vitarka. If we look back on our life, we notice how time has flown by - 20, 30, 40 or 50 years have quickly passed.

Everything in your life and everything around you has changed. You can understand this change. When you try to understand change, you may feel that there is one thing that has not changed, which draws your attention. 

You can feel the presence of the self, which is unchanging, but you cannot see it. The phrase, "To see the self or God" has no meaning. Can the self appear in front of us as though a light has appeared and say, "I am atma, the self" 

Did you see atma? Who has seen it? Some people say they saw atma, but that is not atma. It is an illusion. Atma can never be an object of sight. If you see your shadow, remember that it is not actually you, but your shadow.

Through vitarka atmajnanam, knowledge of the self, is possible. The moment this realisation happens, someone who was making himself more ignorant by logic will stop his arguments and look to atmajñana.

Even if we receive only a flicker of light of atmajñana it is enough. Innocence, simplicity and joy enter life. They must come. If one who knows the self is unhappy, he does not really know of the self. 

A person shouting on a street corner cannot be a knower of the self, cannot be enlightened. He should have a cheerful mind. 

Joy should fill each and every atom of his body, just like a baby's. Look at a baby. How is it Suppose you did not get it, you did not realise self-knowledge.

- Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

SHIVA SUTRAS

Offer it to "Ishvara." Offer your self. "Atmatvah" means "Shivoham" - I am Shiva. Whether you say, "Shivoham" or "Shivarpanam" both mean the same. When everything has been offered to Shiva, we realise “Shivoham, Shivoham”.I am Shiva.I am Shiva

Chapter 14 - Offering To Shiva 

Day 69

There are four types of wishes - putraitava, vittaitava, lokaitava and jivaitava. "Putraitava" means "my son, mine, my daughter-in-law, and my daughter" and so on. 

It is over-attachment to one's children. People get so attached to their children that they do not allow them to leave the house. Those who have putraitava suffer the most and also ruin the lives of their children.

There was a famous family in Kerala, who sheltered their son so much and kept him at home that he was unable to do any work. He could not even go to the bank to withdraw money.

And if someone came to the house to visit, he was not able to speak to them, though he was 40 years old. Now the son is unhappy, and the family, including his parents, is also unhappy. 

They have made him a prisoner in the house. He has been raised in prison. He calls his 70 year old father to accompany him on a trip to the bank. This is how he lives. 

This family is not an exception. This happens in more or less all wealthy families. They protect their children so much that they become useless. 

Such things can be seen in society. "Vittaitava" - means only working, from morning to evening throughout one's life to earn money or to secure property. If someone asks what you will finally do with the money. 

The answer is - "I don't know, but without it. I am uncomfortable." This is "vittaitava." extreme attachment to money. A person who has this will not spend nor will he allow others to spend. 

He will not buy anything even for his children. If the children ask for toys, he will refuse, saying, "They will break any toys I buy. So why buy them toys?

"He may not need toys to play with, but children do. If his wife asks for a sari, he will say, "Why buy a sari unnecessarily? You have plenty. Wear what you have. Once those wear out, then we'll buy more." 

He will buy neither what he wants nor what others want. Once, some children were complaining "When we go for a trip with father, he won't stop the car when we say we want to eat something, but only when he wants to stop." 

All the food had been packed in the car that morning. The father did not stop the car for two hours, and the children did not get anything to eat because he wanted to travel farther before stopping for food. 

What is the use of having something when it is not available when we need it? You have enough money, but you do not spend it when it is needed. Instead, you hoard it for your grandchildren. 

What is the use of such wealth? Once a businessman called his accountant and asked, "How much money do I have? Till what generation will it last? When can I retire peacefully and relax at home”.

“My hectic schedule has given me diabetes, chest pain, stomach aches and pain in my hands, legs and all over”. After checking the accounts, his accountant said, "You have enough for the next four generations that they can live on without needing to work. You have amassed so much wealth”.

Immediately the businessman said, "Oh my God, it will last only for four generations? What about the fifth generation? Now I cannot rest. I don't have any time to waste”. 

“I could be born in the seventh generation. I have to earn enough for at least seven generations”. Vittaitava can also lead one downwards.

"Lokaitava" - this is the feeling that. 

Everyone should stop when they see me. They should praise and respect me. People should say that I am a good man." Otherwise, these people worry about what people think about them. 

When you are constantly interested in outside objects in the world, this attachment, lokaitava, starts. "Tivaitava" - where do vou see jivaitava? You find it in those who have not fully lived their lives. 

You say, "If I were to have such a disease or if I had lost my legs or my hands, I would have thrown myself in a river." Yet, at many places like fairs or in front of temples, you find people moving using a wooden plank

with wheels. 

They may not have both hands and both legs. They may have only a head and a body, but even in such a condition, they still desire to live. Some elderly people who have lived 80 or 90 years want to live for another 10 years. 

They have this wish. People who have not really experienced life feel jivaitava, the desire to live more. When a doctor says, “Everything is over for you. You are in the last stages. Pray to God. I won't be able to do anything more for you”. 

The patient cries, “Somehow, save me. I have to live a few days more”. These four wishes exist in the mind and in the environment and many times they affect us. 

So how can we guard ourselves from these influences? Always remember that the shivatattva, the principle of the Divine, is present in your body. What can you offer? Who will offer it? What is there to offer? 

Look at this closely. Shiva's first name is Pashupati, lord of the animals. What is "pashu"? This body is "pashu." "Pashu" is that which moves on its own without influence from the outside. 

This body is pashu, and its master is Shiva. This life-force sometimes bakes, sometimes burns and at other times it blazes. When we become aware of the burning of prana, of the life force, then we move from being an animal to being alive. 

Who is the master of this burning? Shiva is the master. Offer it to Shiva. Somanath - Who is Somanath? What is "soma"? "Soma" means mind, the principle of the mind. Somanath is the master of the mind. 

Who is the master of the mind, of all thoughts, good and bad? Shiva is the master. Offer the mind to him. What comes after the mind? The intellect. Gauri, the Divine Mother, is the intellect. 

The principle of Gaur is the intellect. Who is the master of the intellect? Again, offer your intellect. "Ishvara" means "atmanatha", the lord of the self. 

Offer it to "Ishvara." Offer your self. "Atmatvah" means "Shivoham" - I am Shiva. Whether you say, "Shivoham" or "Shivarpanam" both mean the same. When everything has been offered to Shiva, we realise “Shivoham, Shivoham”.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

SHIVA SUTRAS

You should have knowledge in meditation. Know, "I am knowledge. I do not need knowledge." The best knowledge is acquired through meditation. That knowledge is pure and flawless, and will make you content.

Chapter 14 - Offering To Shiva 

Day 68

Pure consciousness, pure understanding and pure knowledge start from love. Desires are below the navel. Imagination is between the navel and throat and between the throat and the head, in between the eye brows lies pure consciousness. 

Only one pure consciousness shines in us. This alone is called Brahma Vishnu and Maheshvara. Brahma is the creator and creates all desires. 

Vishnu is the protector everything in the world is sustained only by love. Shiva offers liberation, brings transformation and gives knowledge. 

Our lives should reach the highest level, like Mount Meru, and we should cultivate the essence of Shiva, innocence, auspiciousness. 

That light should glow within us, and for this to happen we need to keep going deep in meditation. What does it mean to go into meditation? So many techniques have been given up till this point. 

There are already many ways. Life is like a game of snakes and ladders. You climb up and fall back down once you run into a snake. Again, you roll the dice and climb higher. 

If you hold on to these sutras, they will help you in any place, at any time whether going up or falling down in the wheel of life. Earlier, the sutras explained how to get rid of worry. 

You cannot run away from worry. You have to sit down and analyse it. Your very mind is the mantra, and the mantra is the mind. Guru is the means. Using various sutras, a great effort has been made in the Shiva Sutras to guide us on the path. 

Therefore, they should be read over and over again. We have a tradition of repeating the Durga Saptashloki and other verses 11 21, or 31 times and so on. This is because when we repeat something over and over again. 

The knowledge it contains is made available to different parts of the mind. What is the mind? It is not one person, but 100’s, maybe 1000’s of personalities. Just as there are 100 of people in a community, there are hundreds of cells in your mind. 

All of them need to continually educated over and over again. When can we say that all the people in a village have been educated? For this, everyone in the village has to be educated. Is it not? 

Similarly, to have complete knowledge, we need to educate all the thousands of cells that are in our brain. This takes practice. By repeatedly going into knowledge, you will experience an evolution of consciousness.

If, for one day, you do not practice, then it means those atoms that came to school that day have lost a chance to learn. Only after one year will they regain the chance. There is a shift system even in a day.

Different atoms work at different times. That is why the consciousness needs the nutrition of knowledge again and again. What do these atoms ask you to do after gaining all this knowledge?

Offer everything, offer knowledge too. Become the embodiment of knowledge. You do not need knowledge, do not look for it somewhere else. Sit, meditate and see that you are knowledge. The last sutra says where knowledge resides. 

Is it in an object? Is it in the eyes? Where is it? It is in our

consciousness. The mind is filled with knowledge. Outside knowledge is only to blossom the mind, which is already filled with knowledge. 

You should have knowledge in meditation. Know, "I am knowledge. I do not need knowledge." The best knowledge is acquired through meditation. That knowledge is pure and flawless, and will make you content. 

You will be content to the extent that you have knowledge. Contentment and knowledge go hand in hand. You will be discontent to the extent of your ignorance. 

We need a small thread to fly a kite. With that thread, the kite can fly to any height. Likewise, every sutra has the ability to uplift our consciousness. So read the Shiva Sutras again and again. 

Question - How do we observe the chakras?

Gurudev - Observing the chakras means that for every emotion in the mind, there is a corresponding sensation in the body. Sit and observe. Meditate and see the body as a pillar of light. 

This is a type of meditation. Do you know what happens in meditation? You are holding onto some idea and then you let go. When you let go, you feel infinite rest, and in that state of infinite relaxation meditation and samadhi become possible.

Say you are worried or have some regrets, and you have the idea that worry and misery are a part of you, let it be. Accept the feelings and move ahead. Life is not only this, it is vast and infinite. 

Let this be your attitude : "I have faced sadness, big or small, many times in my life. I can go through this too." How is this possible? Suppose you have a cold. You keep a handkerchief in your bag to wipe your nose. 

When this handkerchief becomes dirty, you still keep it on your lap or in your bag. You wash it only after reaching home. You do not throw it away just because it is dirty. 

Similarly, you may find some disturbances or restlessness in the mind, which sometimes happen because of you and sometimes because of the environment. You may be feeling fine, then someone who is upset passes you by and immediately your heart starts beating faster. 

Have you experienced this? Or sometimes, without any reason, you may suddenly feel upset. The mind has been filled with different thoughts, concepts and attachments.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

SHIVA SUTRAS

Look at happiness and misery as though it is happening outside of you. Remind yourself again and again that they are happening outside your mind.

Chapter 14 - Offering To Shiva

Day 67 

The river of life is not always flowing evenly. Sometimes it crashes like a waterfall and after hitting the rocks, it rises back up. It courses in between boulders and sometimes runs so softly that we hardly feel it

move. 

Until it reaches the sea, the river's currents and movements take different forms. Similarly, it is difficult to say what will happen in life and when. Life is just like a river. 

As long as it flows, it is shivamaya, filled with Shiva, and if it stops somewhere, it starts to stagnate. On certain occasions we float oil lamps on the river's surface or offer flowers to the water. 

Some people throw in garbage or planks of wood. The water carries anything you throw in it and moves ahead. Our lives should flow in a similar manner. This is the core of the Shiva Sutras. 

Now we are coming to the end of the Shiva Sutras. Let us look at the last sutra. "See happiness or misery in your life as though it is taking place outside you." This is an advantage of meditation. 

Suppose your mind is experiencing some pleasure or it is sad, can you look at it as though all this is happening somewhere else or being shown on a screen?

When people in villages watch movies and their favorite actor comes on screen, they laugh when he laughs, and they cry when he cries. 

When a viewer is engrossed in a scene, then he experiences happiness and sadness, but if you observe with the awareness that I am only watching a movie, the happenings in the movie will not affect your consciousness.

Look at happiness and misery as though it is happening outside of you. Remind yourself again and again that they are happening outside your mind. 

Even great people experience misery. After having compiled the four Vedas, the eighteen Puranas and the Bhagavathah, the great sage Vyasa wept inconsolably when his son left him and went away. 

There is nobody more knowledgeable than Vyasa. If Vyasa had not been born, today we would know nothing about Krishna, the Puranas, or the Vedas. 

This one sage, Vasa, laid the foundation of India's culture and is responsible for the Mahabharata, works on the Vedas and other books. That is why when people take the stage to speak, it is called vyasapitha.

Even such a sage fell into deep sadness. He called everyone, saying, "Come, take from this knowledge. With this knowledge of Brahman, you will find everything, righteousness, wealth, fulfillment of desires

and freedom. 

I am offering knowledge that will give you happiness in this world." Even when he called, please come," nobody came. He wept, thinking, "What can I do? Whatever work I have done until now, is it all useless?

Similarly, when Christ was crucified, he cried, "My God, why have you forsaken me?" But there is a vast difference between that cry and a cry in the mind of an ordinary person. 

Suppose you are looking at your reflection in a lake's smooth surface, you can see yourself clearly. If you throw a stone, it shatters the reflection. Now if you start crying that your image shattered and thinking, "I am gone," then that

crying is out of ignorance.

There is a story about Mullah Nasruddin. He was under the delusion that he was dead. Many people spoke to him, but he kept insisting that he was dead. Everyone got tired of telling him, "No sir, you are alive and talking." 

He would reply, "No, no. Even corpses can talk." His family took him to see a psychiatrist. He said, "See, I am dead, but nobody believes me. You at least can convince them that I am dead." 

The psychiatrist tried several arguments with him, saying, "No sir, you are alive. You have walked here, you are sitting and eating." No sooner would he say these things than Mullah would reply, "No, I am dead." 

The doctor thought for a moment and took out a blade. He made a small cut on Mullah's hand, which immediately started bleeding. 

The doctor said, "See, you are bleeding. Do dead bodies bleed? No, but there is blood on your hand, so you are alive. Aren't your arguments wrong?" Mullah said, "Today I realised a great truth." 

The psychiatrist was happy, thinking, "My God, his disease is cured, he has realised the truth that he is alive. Mullah continued, "Yes, I realised a great truth. Do you know what it is? A dead body also bleeds."

Similarly, when we have foolishness in our heads, no matter how many discourses you hear or whatever you do, it is of no use. Ignorance should be gotten rid of naturally, with an innocent mind. 

In an ancient scripture, the results that come from studying it are given at the very beginning. The body will shine. A bright consciousness inhabits the body. 

It is initially in the form of desires and habits. Then, these desires transform into love, and love transforms into pure consciousness.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

SHIVA SUTRAS

Krishna describes the special qualities of someone who is established in wisdom. An enlightened person is always equanimous. He does not cry, laugh or become distressed.

Chapter 13 - Embers Covered In Ash 

Day 66

There is not much difference between you and an enlightened person. If you consider his external knowledge, actions and moods, you may not see much difference between your actions and his actions. 

But it is difficult to understand the enlightened. We have made up different measuring rods for the enlightened. We think that it is one who does not sleep or does not smile or cry. 

Krishna describes the special qualities of someone who is established in wisdom. An enlightened person is always equanimous. He does not cry, laugh or become distressed. 

Yet we impose all the qualities that we want to see on the enlightened. Take a look at the Gods and enlightened saints of the past. 

Rama became so upset and lost his mind after losing his wife, Sita. Do we not consider a person mad when he starts asking questions to leaves and trees?

These days, what would you say if you saw someone who lost his scooter keep on asking, "Oh doors, tell me did I leave my scooter in front of you," or "Oh gate, tell me if I left my scooter parked in front of you."

And if he continues and asks the street signs, "Have you seen my scooter?" what would you say about him? You would admit him into a mental hospital. Rama was in the same state, more or less. 

As soon as Sita was lost, he started crying for her and questioning the trees, birds and other creatures on the way, asking whether they saw her. 

If anyone had seen Rama in that state, they would have wondered what happened to him. But we have faith in Rama and do not pay any attention to this story. Instead, we call it a play.

If you look at Rama's actions closely, you can find many flaws, and sometimes you might feel that you are better than Rama. You may think, "What is this? 

He should have advised Sita in the first place : This golden dear is not real, and I am not going to get it. You can cry if you want to." If he were really God, he could have ended the matter by saying so. 

What were all the problems for? Dasharatha did not intend to send Rama to the forest. He felt he had made a mistake and was trapped in his promise to Kaikeyi. 

In certain moods, everyone does this, even to one's wife and Dasharatha had three wives. It was difficult for him when Kaikeyi asked him to send Rama on an exile to the forest. 

In his mind, Dasharatha wanted Rama to refuse. He thought, "As king, I cannot break my promise. I would be held accountable, but Rama, as a young boy can say that he will not go, and the whole matter will end there." 

If something like this had happened, if Rama had firmly refused to go into the forest, there would have been no Ramayana. However, Rama, who understood his father's words, but not the feelings behind them, caused his father to face so much difficulty and pain. 

Then, he went on to create more problems when he set out to catch the golden deer that Sita wanted. Is it not? Was it proper to kill Vali while hiding behind a tree? 

Look at each of Rama's actions. He did not have a kingdom when Vibhishana came to him, but was wandering in the forest and himself needed help. 

Still, he made Vibishana sit in the sand and pronounced him king of Lanka before the war even started. This is nothing but politics. And just because a washer-man said something, he sent Sita, who was pregnant, back into the forest. 

Is this protecting the family's honour? What could be lost? It is laughable to be so concerned about caste and family. Seen in this way, you cannot see any virtue in Rama, but only flaws.

Similarly, look at Parashurama. What good qualities can you see? You cannot find anything. First and foremost, we say, "Matri devo bhavah," meaning "Mother is the first God." 

But just because his father told

him to behead his mother, he went to do so. A warrior king who was a little insane created some problems, and so Parashurama set out with an axe to cut off the head of every king. Is this intelligent? 

Is it not foolish? Look at Krishna's life. He did not follow the rules throughout his whole life. His mother and father were tortured before his birth, and when news of his birth became known, they were locked up in jail. 

Before Krishna was even born, all the children who had been born to his parents before him were killed. And after his birth also there was no happiness. He put up with so many difficulties. 

Nobody else could have lived Krishna's life, putting up with so many miseries. Even as a small boy he had to face the demon Putana who tried to kill him, and he also had to fight with his own uncle and kill him.

In Krishna's life, there was no non-violence or truth at all. He told lies from the very beginning. Where can you find the principle of not stealing? 

Krishna stole everything from butter to his wife, Rukmini. Nothing was acquired in a proper way. What about brahmacharya (celibacy)? He had 16,000 wives. 

And as for aparigraha, this was not one of Krishna's qualities. Aparigraha means I do not want anything, and I will not take anything. In the Gita he says, "Offer everything to me." 

Nobody in the world can be greedier than Krishna. He says, "Give me your mind, intellect, and not only what belongs to you, but also your soul and everything else." 

He tells Arjuna, "Be careful. Do not look anywhere else. If you do, I will not look at you again," and "Give whatever you want, but offer everything to me - leaves, flowers, fruits, water - if you cannot find fruit, then offer leaves. 

And if you do not have leaves, then water. Give me something." Where is aparigraha? If you look at it this way, then Krishna has not followed any rules, is it not? 

Yet we worship him as an avatar, an incarnation of the Divine. So do not analyse the enlightened by their actions.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

SHIVA SUTRAS

"I have created all this from my energy, in the same way I will sustain it and when it is no longer required I will destroy it." This is complete knowledge.

Chapter 13 - Embers Covered In Ash 

Day 65 

The power, by which water transforms into water vapour, rises up and falls down as rain is the same power by which we see with the eyes and hear with the ears. 

There is no difference between these two, the energy of life and the energy of the sun. In the Gita, when Krishna was asked where he is. 

He replied - "I exist in everyone's stomach as hunger. I am also the power of digestion." After saying this, he told Arjuna, "You think that you are Arjuna of the Pandavas? Even Arjuna is me. 

The one who is speaking is me, and the one who is listening is also me." The whole word is created through one energy. I am the center point of that energy." 

This is the essence of Vedanta and the essence of the Shiva Sutras. Even if only a part of this sutra enters your mind, it will automatically create complete faith, trust and confidence in you. 

Krishna goes on to say, “I am not only creating all this, but I am also annihilating it. The end of creation also happens through me. I alone am responsible”.

How does this come about? Imagine that you come back from the office in the evening and switch on the TV. You are the one who turns it on, right? If you do not turn it on, it will not start automatically. 

And who watches TV after turning it on? Who switches it off after watching? The TV is switched on by you, you watch it and you alone turn it off when you finish watching. 

Say you are ready to have a meal, and all the items are placed nicely on a plate or a banana leaf. You will eat to your heart's content and after finishing, you will fold the leaf and throw it away. 

You do not keep the leaf, saying, “The food was so nicely placed on this leaf. This would be foolishness. Is it not?” There is an end to any work that has started. 

We breathe in, and we also have to breathe out. Can you say, "Let me hold onto all the air that I inhale"? If you say "Let the air that breathe out stay out," can life continue?

It is the same with creation. "I have created all this from my energy, in the same way I will sustain it and when it is no longer required I will destroy it." 

This is complete knowledge. You make decoration for a marriage by building an arch and placing banana tree stems. After the ceremony, you remove all the decorations. Is it not? 

Another example is when you arrange dolls for the festival of Dassera. All the preparations are carefully made, elaborately arranging the dolls and making steps with wooden planks, boxes and bricks. 

There is festivity in each house when the dolls are decorated. A miniature park is created, fountains are turned on, and sweets are distributed to children. 

Children cry when all this comes to an end - after the tenth day, Vijaya Dashami, everything goes back in the box. The elders say, Everything is over. How long do you want to keep it for?" 

Then they take down everything. We created it, kept it for a few days and took it down. Why? This is just like a game. Suppose you draw beautiful rangoli (traditional decorative designs made with powder) in front of the house. 

Do you keep the rangoli intact forever? No, it is not. It is so natural for us to draw rangoli and afterwards wipe it away. Similarly, an enlightened person creates a world of his own and brings it to an end when it is no longer required.

You wear new clothes and later discard them. Likewise, you make friends with someone, and after some days as the friendship becomes closer, it is possible that it may become sour and end. Is it not? 

Yet when both people have a deep understanding of the Self then the relationship will not have problems. In any other relationship, which may be so strong that both say, "I am here for you, and you are here for me," a time may come when each says, "I do not know you." 

Maybe not today, but one day it will happen, for sure. If a friendship is not so deep, then it has less of a chance of going sour. Is it not? Suppose new neighbours move in next door. 

You welcome them with homemade treats and talk with them. You share plates and boxes across the wall that separates the two houses. On some days you eat in one house, and sometimes in the other. 

This will continue for some days, and then a separation will occur, and the story will change. This is only natural. Do you understand? Do not think that spiritual knowledge is some great thing that exists somewhere outside you. 

Only when we go deep in knowledge is it possible to keep harmony and unity intact. Until we find the source of knowledge, as long as we are missing spiritual knowledge, or knowledge of the self. 

We will only wander along the periphery of life. If this is the case, our friendships will not deepen nor will our problems find a resolution. Even though an enlightened person is involved in action, he is beyond action and has attained a higher state.

These are the words of an enlightened one. Sometimes we try to understand others when it is difficult even to understand ourselves. We do not understand our own mind, but we still judge others, what they are feeling and what they are doing. 

There is nothing more foolish. It is like trying to extract oil from

sand. We have not understood this properly. The phrase "extracting oil from sand" means that oil is extracted from the desert, but not from the sand. 

We have not understood our own mind, yet we try to understand the mind of others.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

SHIVA SUTRAS

Grace and control of the mind increase. Our consciousness gains the ability to bless and to curse. This is to say that through our intentions, we create our own world.

Chapter 13 - Embers Covered In Ash

Day 64

How does ash form? It is formed by burning charcoal. The same ash formed by the charcoal cinders finish off the charcoal. Similarly, arrogance, jealousy, desire and anger have come from the knowledge in our consciousness. 

You can only desire something that you have knowledge of. If you do not know what cham cham is how could you desire it? Is it possible? If in your mind there is a desire to eat gulab jamun, then you must know what it is.

Desire arises from knowledge and the same desire destroys knowledge. In a similar way, you get angry because of knowledge. Nobody gets angry without a reason. 

Does anybody become angry when they are sleeping? Why do you get angry? It is because you did not get something that you wanted. Your desire is unfulfilled. 

When this happens, you will instantly become angry. You become angry because of knowledge. Likewise, where does greed come from? It comes because of knowledge. 

Why did you get jealous? It happened due to awareness of something. You heard about something and felt that you should have gotten it, but somebody else got it. 

That is how jealousy begins. Just as the ash that is produced by burning charcoal finish off the charcoal, all these energies are produced by knowledge. 

The energies, which arise in this way, are not right or wrong. They are just energies. Without lust, there would be no birth. Without anger, there would not be strength to get work done. 

Often, people cannot move forward in life without some jealousy. Look at small children. Even they feel jealousy many times. All these are animal energies. All these energies are in us, and we need to use them in a proper way. 

Look at a child, it gets jealous. If there are two children, and the mother takes one on her lap, the other child will become jealous as soon as it sees and will come running. 

Do you know the story of Vishvamitra? Seeing the quiet radiance of Vashishta, he became jealous. Even though Vishvamitra was a great king, he could not prove himself in front of Vashishta. He was at such a loss that he could not even open his mouth to speak a few words. Vishvamitra's other name was Kaushika. 

After seeing Vashishta's glow, the king became so jealous that he started to do tapas, penance and after his penance, Vishvamitra gave the world the gayatri mantra, which is so valuable. 

After discovering the mantra he wanted the title of Brahmarishi. Where did this start? Jealousy, simply pride, jealousy and greed. 

What was the story of Dhruva? He was greedy. Is it not only out of greed that Dhruva became who he was? Dhruva did penance only out of greed and desire. 

So similarly, all the animal instincts in our life are shadows of knowledge. This needs to be understood. When the source of knowledge is known, then "Om namah shri shambhave" - the consciousness returns to its original state of bliss. 

It returns to itself. Observe this happening in the mind. One who is established in the Self understands the origin of knowledge. 

Many people have interpreted this sutra as they see fit. This sutra is misunderstood not just now, but since the 10th century. What is the source of knowledge? Where is the strength in knowledge? 

Look to the power of consciousness. When we look in that direction, even the ash on the burning charcoal automatically disappears. When ash is removed, knowledge shines. 

When you get angry, do not blame yourself and say, "I have done so much sadhana. I am meditating, but still I get angry." Immediately check where this anger started. Who is angry? 

Look at it two ways. Ask, to whom is this anger happening?" or "Who am I?" and you come closer. Or, ask, "Where did this knowledge arise from?" 

Look to the origin of knowledge, and when you do this, you will find that all knowledge originates in the consciousness, which is inside us. Then the goal of knowledge, the source of knowledge, is understood. 

Everything runs through the power of this consciousness. When we examine our consciousness, we come to know that we create our own worlds. When there is anger in our mind, then it reflects in other people. 

If you have some feeling in your mind, it will start to bear fruit through others. The power of intention in our mind starts to grow. 

Grace and control of the

mind increase. Our consciousness gains the ability to bless and to curse. This is to say that through our intentions, we create our own world. 

An enlightened being creates his creation with his intentions. There is one more secret in this sutra. Right now, at this moment, you are talking, listening, eating, gossiping or worrying - through what power are you doing all these activities? 

With the energy of consciousness. All the activities in our life happen through the energy of

consciousness. Without consciousness in the body, it would just be a corpse. 

Similarly, what energy is needed for this world to function? The sun's rays. Because of the sun the earth revolves in its orbit, trees and plants grow, and water evaporates and becomes a cloud and then falls as rain. 

The sun causes all this to happen. The radiance of being that is in the sun is not different from the radiance of being in consciousness.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

SHIVA SUTRAS

The origin, or root, of creation is sound. The whole world has been created from sound. The world in your mind is created from sound, is it not? That is why we have to quiet the mind with the help of sound.

Chapter 12 - The Body Is A Temple

Day 63

Do an experiment one day. When your mind is dull or bored, take something and give it to someone. Your mind will change. Have you observed this? 

Give something, maybe a blanket or a quilt, to someone in need, or if this is not possible, then give a few kind words. 

Only when you give more, will you be able to receive more, but do not give with the intention of getting more. Then it is not a gift at all. 

So make a decision to give and give a noble gift. There is a saying, which is very common here. "If we are happy today, it may be from some good deeds done by our ancestors. Our elders did good deeds, and that is why we are well off today." 

The benefit of the good work we do, the religious acts we perform and the gifts we give is not limited only to us, but extends to future generations. That is why this saying is so common.

If you just collect different things and give them away for business, you will not be completely contented. Have you thought about why they say that you will gain punya, or merit, only if you give? 

Imagine that someone comes to you with an empty stomach, and you give him something to eat. That person will feel satisfied, and then the spirit in that person will bless you - "Oh. This person has given me food. May he be happy." 

The positive feelings and relief that arise in his mind will bring satisfaction to your life. Do you understand? Just like the cool shade of a tree offers comfort and rest for the body, whenever a soul finds freedom, it offers blessings, and that is merit. 

The merit of giving small things is not great. What is higher is the gift of knowledge. What happens when knowledge is given? A person comes out of his misery and uplifts himself up. 

The soul, which is suffering everyday in the same condition, will feel free, as though it has been released and found liberation. A person in jail will feel great joy on getting released. 

He is like a bird trapped in a cage. The bird will be so happy when it is released from the cage. Similarly, every soul is searching for knowledge. When your life is over, you will face only two questions.

How much did you love in your life and how much knowledge did you apply in your life? How much knowledge have you gained? How much have you learned about your own self? 

To how many people have you shown love? This is sadhana, and this is what is meant by. Then, whatever a person does or gives, will give rise to self-knowledge. 

Seen from another angle, in an enlightened person, you can see self knowledge in every action and every gift he gives. With a mantra, knowledge spreads throughout the body and the consciousness. 

What is the use of the mantra? It affects three things - the self, the consciousness and the mind. We call it mantra snana, bathing in mantras. How do you feel when you sing bhajans? 

It is as good as taking a bath. People have slightly misunderstood the idea that a mantra should be repeated constantly. They have taken it to mean that they have to chant, "Rama, Rama," all day and night. 

If you do it this way, the mind will become dull because the consciousness will not be awake. While they are chanting, "Rama, Rama, the mind is thinking about what work needs to be done, but they end up not remembering to do anything else. 

This is not what is meant by "constant." We have misunderstood it. "Keep bathing" does not mean to bathe all day or staying in the bathroom for 24 hours. 

Similarly, if someone tells you to brush your teeth every day, it does not mean to brush your teeth all day. When we brush our teeth every day, we are brushing them constantly and without interruption, right? 

Similarly, if we hear "remember constantly," it means remember every day and let that thought stay in your mind. This is the use of a mantra. Everything is born from mantra. 

The origin, or root, of creation is sound. The whole world has been created from sound. The world in your mind is created from sound, is it not? That is why we have to quiet the mind with the help of sound. 

When you sit and sing bhajans at least once a week that is bathing in mantras. If you go to satsang every day, that is even better. Join together with three or four people and do it every day. If you do it alone, then you lack the strength of the group. 

The energy of the group can uplift everyone, whether people are at a lower or higher level. Consider how a necklace is made with beads. A thread can pass through the beads only if there is empty space inside. 

If it is full, it is filled with ignorance. Being empty is knowledge. Similarly, when the mind is empty, pure consciousness enters into it. 

This is why Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, "You are all the pearls. I am only the thread." All planets and their satellites are pearls. 

The principles of space and consciousness have entered into everything and made them into a necklace. Similarly, all bodies, all of you, are pearls. 

The consciousness, which is present in the body, is me. I am like the string. There is no use just having a thread. The thread cannot become a necklace without pearls, and the pearls are useless without the thread.

But when the thread and pearls come together, it becomes a necklace. So, value the body, the world, the self, the mind and the breath.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

SHIVA SUTRAS

They honour all the happenings in the body and do not blame the body. Every word they speak is full. When our consciousness is vibrant and alive, then our words will have value.

Chapter 12 - The Body Is A Temple 

Day 62

I met a married man in Delhi, who had fallen in love with a woman, who worked in his office. What to do? He could not share anything at home since he had a wife and children. 

He did not know what to do. The same thought kept coming again and again. Her name was Rama. So he kept writing her name, "Rama," "Rama," in a note pad. 

When he was asked for a signature, he wrote "Rama." It became such a problem that he started seeing her face everywhere. 

Even the cat's face looked like Rama, and when he went out on his scooter, he would see her face in the streetlight. He would see her face even in the moon. 

When he saw her face in the cat, he became afraid and so he came to me, asking, "Guruji, what has happened? Have I lost my mind? I think about her 24 hours a day. 

Even in my sleep, I call, "Rama, Rama," and my wife is angry, demanding to know whose name I am calling. It has become a japa. 

I do not say "Om namah shivaya" or any other japa. My mind is filled only with her. When I went to the bank to sign a check, I wrote her name and left. 

Even if I resist it, the same thought comes to mind. What can I do? What is the problem?" This thought has become a japa. 

When the mind is in love with something or when it is totally absorbed, that same thought will come again and again without any effort. That is what is known as japa. 

Usually, what happens during japa? We may be repeating "Ram, Ram," or "Shiva, Shiva," but the mind is elsewhere, and there is no connection between the words and our feeling. 

This cannot be called japa. Only when a word arises naturally over and over again with feeling and meaning is it japa. Each and every word that we speak arises out of love. This is the sign of a siddha. 

If you look at the sutras from another point of view, you can say that each sutra describes the qualities of a siddha, one whose sadhana, or spiritual practices, is complete. 

They honour all the happenings in the body and do not blame the body. Every word they speak is full. When our consciousness is vibrant and alive, then our words will have value. 

Somebody may casually tell you, "I love you very much," but it is no use if you say it as though you are acting in a play. 

In films, actors show lots of love and affection, even though there is not a drop of love or affection between them. It is just an act. 

Many of our words are like lines from a play - life has become so formal, so ritualistic. There is no depth in people's lives. 

There is no warmth when people ask, "How are you? Are you fine?" The question is repeated superficially, and the person who said it does not even remember that he asked the question. 

People ask three or four times as a formality, "Where are you from?" And if the reply is, "I told you five minutes ago," they still go on asking. 

In large functions and celebrations this happens regularly, it is all formal talk, formal business, and life becomes formal. Speech itself is japa. 

That is to say, it is filled with so much life. Sometimes, when you gossip, there is no life in your voice because your spirit is not in it. 

When you watch the television and hear the news, about some violence, do you feel any life in such news? Even a newsreader does not put his heart and soul into it, but just reads whatever was written. 

It is more or less dry. All our speech is dry. Usually, we ask, "What did you cook today?" You may get some reply, but you do not even care to listen to it. 

This kind of talking is useless, is it not? An enlightened person's life is not like this. He speaks with love. His words are like japa. Each sentence he speaks is full of love and truth. 

Speak every word with care and with love. Do not talk simply as a courtesy. When those who are established in knowledge speak, even if it is just a few words, it will touch our hearts. 

Although you speak less, speak well and with dignity. Even when you correct someone, or when you praise them, your speech should be filled with life. 

Otherwise, your speech is lifeless, it is useless. Rise above such talk. That is why it says, "japa." In the past, people would see a Guru when life became colourless. 

He would give them a mantra, a sound, and after hearing it, their lives would be filled with enthusiasm. A fountain of love would gush up in a dry life. This was known as japa.

When you remember the mantra, life will no longer be dry, it will be filled with juice. The best gift is self-knowledge.

In this world, there must be some give and take. It is a constant. We breathe in and we breathe out. We cannot just stop once we breathe in. We have to breathe out. 

Similarly, everyone is involved in giving and taking. We give some things to others and we take from others too. Whether in small or big ways, give and take is a continuous process. 

Yet for how long does the gift last? What is the best gift? The best thing that we can give is atmajñana, or self-knowledge.

What happens at a wedding ceremony? The host looks at the gift, notes the price and reciprocates accordingly. 

Someone who brings a gift will get a coconut in return, while someone who comes empty handed will receive a sweet lime. 

Even there, there are two gift categories. This is not giving.

In the Vedic culture, no work can happen without gifts. Whether it is a happy or sad occasion, gifts have to be given. 

When someone dies, we give a gift and we also give a gift when a baby is born. Gift giving is an essential basis of this culture. Gifts are given at any festival. 

It is customary to give something to neighbours, older and younger brothers, older and younger sisters, sons, daughters, daughter-in-laws, and son-in-laws and so on. This is a very prosperous custom. There is also a secret behind it.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

SHIVA SUTRAS

Complete Happiness | Experience life anew every day. Then life becomes a proper offering. "You do not accept offerings from those who are not transforming.

Chapter 11 - Complete Happiness 

Day 60 

When you are doing these practices, do not worry if obstacles come up. It is natural that they come. You say, "Gurudev, I meditated and did everything, but I'm the same person I was. I haven't changed." 

Not only you, but your wife, children and the people you know say, "What is the use of going to satsang? You haven't changed a bit. Show us what has changed in you. What is the point of going?" 

This is the question that the young ask their elders : “What did you learn by meditating? You aren't peaceful. You still get angry”. 

“There was some change - you were better for a while, one or two months, then you returned to your normal behaviour." It is not surprising if people say this. 

It is possible that in between, at some places, you will come across such problems. It is not necessary, but it is not unusual if you encounter such problems. It is natural. 

Accept it as part of the process because in time everything will be all right again. Sometimes you will be lazy, and later laziness will disappear. It is not possible to always be lazy. 

Anybody, no matter how lazy he is, will one day feel like getting out of his bed and doing something. At some point he will be filled with consciousness and life. 

Similarly, even a man full of consciousness could become lazy one day. Even Vishnu slept, and not for one or two days but for an eternity - eternal rest. 

We also sleep, and we put God to sleep to and wake Him up for ten days. Go to a temple and you can see them celebrate shayanotsava, the festival of sleep. 

It is like we are saying, “It is a problem if God is always awake. So we pray for him to give us what we want and then go back to sleep”. 

Even Venkateshvara of Tirupati cannot open his eyes because of all the sandalwood-powder we have put on him. He only has varadahasta, gift-giving hands. 

It is as if we have requested, "Please, keep giving, but keep your eyes closed. Do not open them. Do not discriminate when you give." 

There is a good lesson here. Whatever you give should be free from any strings. Do not differentiate between good and bad people. 

What would happen if God started discriminating? "Keep giving me your grace and keep being kind, whether or not I have done good. If you do not do good, who will? Do not look at my karma," 

They said, and after a lot of thought, they placed a mark on his forehead. It is not a small mark either, but a very big one. It not only covers his eyes but stretches down to the tip of his nose. 

There is some humour in this and also some fun. The mark on Venkateshvara's forehead was not made just like that. It came after lots of thought in the past. 

We think that God does not like fun. Actually, God loves fun, and that is why there is so much diversity in nature. Look at nature. Everything undergoes transformation. 

New desires keep arising. That is nature's secret and its beauty. The self is changing. Similarly, you should also be transforming. This is the way to progress in our sadhana. 

That is the reason the poet Akka Mahadevi said, "You do not accept offerings from those who are not transforming." Why do we say "naivedya," offering? 

When an offering is placed in the mouth, it will not stay in the same form once it is in the stomach. A banana changes the moment it enters the mouth. 

Some chemical reaction takes place, and as it passes through the throat, stomach, small and large intestines, it keeps changing, and by then it has transformed and had an effect on the entire body. 

When it leaves out the other end, it will have an entirely different form. Any offering that you take in has an effect on the body. This is a truth. Have you ever thought about this? 

Just as an offering or what is consumed gets transformed, life is being swallowed by time. As time swallows you, if you move ahead with the wish to transform you will arrive at the ultimate happiness. 

That is why it says, "You do not accept offerings where there is no transformation. Do you know why nobody eats stones or sand? Stones and sand will not be changed by a chemical reaction or undergo transformation once you eat them. 

So they cannot be offerings. Similarly, if you are like sand or like a stone, what is the use? It is better to be an offering, like a fruit or a leaf. 

However your life may be, whether like leaves, water, the harvest, fruits or flowers, however it may be, offer it with devotion. Your life itself is like the fruit, like the harvest. 

It is not just that you go to the market, buy a banana and offer it to God. You become an offering, and it is only when you are transforming that you are qualified to be offered.

If in your head you carry the past around - thoughts from yesterday, the day before yesterday, or 10 years back - then you become like sand, you become absolutely inert. 

Experience life anew every day. Then life becomes a proper offering. "You do not accept offerings from those who are not transforming.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

SHIVA SUTRAS

"Whatever is happening in the body does not belong to me, and because the happenings in the body are not mine, I have no right to punish it." So, do not punish the body

Chapter 12 - The Body Is A Temple

Day 61 

This sutra is for advanced seekers. Who is an advanced seeker? This is for those who have already overcome laziness, who do not get angry or jealous and who feel a certain amount of contentment. 

Since they are not yet fully content, the flower has not yet fully bloomed, but the bud is ready to blossom. This sutra is for this category of seekers. 

Some people say, “I go to satsang, but something is missing. I am not content. There is some lack in my life. I sing bhajans and have organised many satsangs”. 

“I've meditated, taught others meditation and had them sit and practice. Still, I am not satisfied”. This sutra is for people in this category. 

Looking at all the happenings in the body with love and care is an observance. What has happened to us? We not only abuse others, but we abuse ourselves. 

When children make noise the elders shout at them and the women swear. It is sheer chaos what happens in a house. In this situation, people see no other solution except to punish themselves. 

So they either cry loudly or make others cry. We have been abusing ourselves in the name of righteousness. We trouble our bodies to a great extent.

Although a person is so lean that the wind could blow him over, he fasts for several days - Monday for Shiva, Thursday for Guru, Friday for Devi, Saturday for Hanuman, and Tuesday for Ganesha. 

They may fast for three days in a week. Not only that, but they do not observe the fast in the right way. They do not eat rice, but they eat more than their capacity of everything except rice. 

Others fast very severely, not taking even a single grain. In this way they punish their body. If you keep punishing your body like this or shocking your system, then how can you create light or brightness.

When you look at sadhus and saints, you might not find happiness, peace, brightness or innocence on their faces. Why? It is because they are torturing and punishing their bodies.

There are two types of people. The first type think that the body is everything and will spend their whole lives protecting the body. The second type completely neglects his body. 

They punish and abuse it and even find some pleasure in it. This cannot be enlightenment. Both type of people have bodies that are hungry, thirsty and sleep-deprived. 

We should provide for these requirements, right? We observe vrata, observances. What do we mean by vrata? Anything we do with love and affection is called vrata. 

But anything done out of force, thinking, "Oh, I have to do it," is not a vrata. Whenever the mind is filled with joy, it is vrata. Suppose you are extremely happy. 

That day you will not feel like taking food. People who are about to host a marriage ceremony for a loved one in their house cannot eat properly, but will be content to take care of the guests.  

The elderly women of the house will go on feeding everybody without worrying about themselves. They will take only very little to eat, is it not? 

Vrata is that which is undertaken when the mind is filled with joy and kindness. The activities of the body are to be treated with respect and kindness, that is vrata. 

Do you understand? The Divine dwelling in the body is saying that he needs food, let us eat food with this feeling because the body is dear to us. The body is only a body. 

It cannot be said to be "me" just because it is so near. At the same time, you cannot say the body is not "me" because it is separate. 

Because this body is near, you can experience the happiness, pleasures and pains of the body more. As a person becomes more sensitive, he feels more pain when others have a problem. 

Suppose you are travelling somewhere by bus, cycle or car and you see an accident. You feel as though it happened to you. If someone has broken his leg, you say, “Oh God”. or even if someone cuts his finger, you feel for him.

As a person becomes more sensitive, he will feel other’s pain and pleasure as his own. Likewise, one feels "Whatever is happening in the body does not belong to me, and because the happenings in the body are not mine, I have no right to punish it." 

So, do not punish the body. Each word is spoken with love, like a prayer. "Tapa" means that which is born in the mind and makes the mind pleasant. "Ja" means to be born and "pa" means to care for. 

That which is born in the mind, sustains our life and leads to an increase in spirituality is japa. If each and every word that we speak elevates us, then each word has become japa.

Do you understand? Let there not be unnecessary, negative thoughts in your mind. For this, do japa. When you do japa, then you rise higher, and consciousness flows through your body.

A word that when repeated over and over again raises consciousness in the mind and body is called japa. You may have seen that these days in colleges if someone loves someone, that person's name is written everywhere, all over the walls and also in stones in the park

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

SHIVA SUTRAS