The Path to Enlightenment is as Sharp and Narrow as a "Razor's Edge"

I was finally watching the famous American movie about a spiritual seeker called "The Razor's Edge" from 1946 starring Tyrone Powers, and a number of discoveries occurred for me.

First, the film is about an adventurous man who goes off to find himself, and at first I was frustrated because the movie is vague about what he's seeking and what he discovers.

He finally gets some answers when he winds up at an Ashram in India. There, a guru tells him we're like "raindrops from Heaven being reunited with the sea that created us."

He also tells him about the three paths to God (faith/worship; good works/seva; and the pursuit of knowledge). Here is a link to the scene.

Later the guru can see that he has discovered that "You and God are one."

"Yes" he replies, with a look of wonder in his eyes. You can see it here.

His character gets challenged in many ways after this enlightenment, and he handles these challenges with amazing grace due to the deep peace he has found within himself.

SO THEN I researched the story, and it turns out the main character was based on Christopher Isherwood, a writer who was into yoga and Hinduism long before the Beatles discovered Eastern religions and helped popularize it in the United States.

"Isherwood became a disciple of the Hindu monk, Swami Prabhavananda, the leader of the Vedanta Society of Southern California. He was introduced to the Swami in 1940 by his friends Aldous Huxley and Gerald Heard. Isherwood studied Hindu philosophy, translated sacred texts, and practiced meditation and yoga from 1940 until his death in 1986. He also reviewed books and wrote articles for the Society’s newsletter, Vedanta for the Western World. His short story, “The Wishing Tree,” is considered a model of the parable form and a key to understanding the Hindu idea of karma."

I found this book for free on the internet and it's an amazing collection of essays that's easy reading for "westerners." Gautam Baiji agreed it would be a good book to share, so here is a link. Also here. Spiritual seekers will enjoy this book!

Isherwood even writes the introduction, which in itself is an excellent primer on divine spirituality.

God Gives You 24 Hours a Day - What Will You Do With Them?

Krishna in the Gita said, “If someone puts poison in your mouth, there is a chance to cure that. But if someone puts poison in your ear, there is no medicine for that.” So save your ears!

Poison can come from anywhere – negativity comes so fast, you don’t have to chase it down. It comes without asking.

How can we deal with these things (that threaten to distract us from our path)? The laziest and easiest way is to get satsang. Nowadays there are hundreds of mahatmas on youtube, so you can listen on your phone. Here you cannot turn it off, but with your phone, it’s easy.

So because it’s so easy, you can’t say, “I wanted to listen to satsang, but I didn’t have time.” God gives you 24 hours a day. It’s up to you how much of that time you’ll spend on yourself. Then you might even start singing bhajans!

When you have a good thought, it’s good to share it. Because if you have one dollar, some people might say “Give it to others.” What is left? Nothing, right?

But if you have one good thought, and you are sharing it with other people, what happens? You still have it – nobody can take it away.

While we are sitting here (in satsang) it’s up to you, you can think whatever you want. If you want, you think, “Oh my God, why do we come here? The baiji, she takes too much time. We get bored, we’re yawning, she never keeps track of the time.”

You can think that, or you can think, “We are so lucky. By the grace of God we get the opportunity to hear a good satsang. Our mind is not wandering here and there; we are able to keep our mind steadily in place.”

It’s up to you what perspective to take.

(to be continued)

When God Says It's Time to Go

From Gautam Baiji's recent satsang

When we are growing up, we think, "Let me get an education. Let me graduate."

"Now I'm graduated, let me get a nice job." So you get a nice job.

After that, "Now I want to get married."

And then? Children.

Why? All these things are to get happiness. To get peace.

And then... you know the link, right?

After that, you want education and a nice job, but not for you. For your children.

Again... marriage. Again... (grand)children.

What next?...

And the reason for these things? Happiness and peace.

I'll get education, I'll get peace.
I'll get a job, I'll get peace.
I'll get married, I'll have peace.
I'll have kids, I'll have peace.
And again and again the circle continues...

Then the time come when God says, "My dear son/daughter, it's time to go."

Then we start thinking, "What should I take with me? Let me fill my bag."

When we travel, we feel like our pockets should be full. Money, credit cards, so we don't get stuck, or have to borrow money. So we're careful to make sure we have what we need so we will have peaceful traveling.

But when God is ready for us to travel, we cannot even take our own body.

So how could we take a bag?

We cannot fill the bag with children, with wife or husband, or with money (because that currency doesn't work there).

What will we be ready to bring?

In another satsang, Gautam Baiji said that just as we brought our past karma into this life, we would be bringing our current karma forward that we achieved in this life... but that is all. To whatever level we developed our soul, that alone would come with us on this trip, which begs the question, are we prepared? If not, what should we be doing?

Om

Did God Ever Send You a Bill?

Satsang by Gautum Baiji ~

"Whatever we really need, God gave us.
What do we need the most?
We need oxygen.

Did God ever send you a bill for that?
No, and he never cut the connection.

If you don't pay the electric bill, what happens?
One time, two times, then... they cut the connection.
We never pay any bill to God, and yet he never cuts the connection.

He gave us oxygen for free.
He gave us water for free.
And the sun, which gives us light and heat.
The most important things we need, God gave us free of charge.

But do we ever thank God for giving us all these precious things?



We never think about the beautiful body God gave us, and the intellect.
He gave us everything.

Yet still we try to get more.
And more and more and more.......

So satsang reminds us that every day, God gives us what we really need.
Everything else is extra."

God Wants Only One Thing; Can We Give It? - Satsang by Gautum Baiji

"Graciela said she was reading a story where God was going to come down to the Earth.

Everybody was so happy!

'God is coming, let's prepare, let's go meet God!'

When he arrived, everyone was so happy. And they asked him, 'God, you came to visit us, what can we do for you?'

One person said I can do this for you, another person said I can do this... everyone offered something.

Please tell us what you want, they said.

God said, 'I don't want any of those things from you. I only want one thing, if you want to give it to me.'

They said, 'What is it? Tell us!'

God said, 'I don't need your things. I just want you to be happy all the time. Give me your promise that you will always be happy.'

They said nothing...

So we have everything else to offer, but we cannot be happy all the time, and that's the problem in our life. We are never satisfied with what we have. We always think about the things we don't have.

If we don't learn how to be happy with what we have, we will always want more and never be happy.

Satsang and good company brings us positive thoughts. Only positive thoughts can we be happy.

If our mind is unhappy, we are unhappy.

With satsang, we can enjoy our life the most."

The Difference Between Belief and Faith - Satsang by Gautum Baiji

Gautum Baiji shared a story of Hanumanji and his great faith and devotion to Rama (God).

When Hanumanji was given a gift of a beautiful pearl necklace, he started breaking it apart. When someone asked why he was doing that to the precious necklace, he said he was trying to find Rama in the pieces. If Rama wasn’t there, why did he need the necklace?

People laughed at him and told him because he lived in the jungle, he didn’t know the value of the necklace.

Hanumanji was trying to show them that actually, Rama is everywhere; he is omnipresent. Rama is in my heart, in your heart, everywhere. At this point in the story, Hanuman opens his chest and shows that Rama is indeed inside his heart.

How can we get that kind of strength to have that kind of faith? That kind of bhakti and devotion? Hanumanji had no ego – how do you get that?

We all believe in God. But believing and faith are different. We believe there is oil underground, but is that enough to run our cars? No – we have to dig, look for it, pull it out, and then we can drive our cars.

So believing and faith are different. With Believing, we are not sure. With Faith, we are sure, 100%. We know. Hanumanji had that kind of faith.

To get that faith, that fruit from the tree (the kind you cannot buy in any stores), you have to put a seed in the ground. You nurture it by watering it, feeding it, cultivating it. This is the first thing to know.*

The second thing: If a stranger comes to your home, do you ever say, “Oh please stay at my house for free, we have so many rooms for you." We don’t do this because we don’t know anything about them. How can we have faith that they will be okay to stay in our home? You get to know them, you talk with them, you become friends, and then you have the faith to say, “You can stay in my home.” 

We would never invite a thief into our house, right? “I have so much gold jewelry, a diamond necklace – what time do you want to come, Thief?”

Yet why do we let negative thoughts come into our minds, to stay there and live? Why are we giving these negative thoughts a chance to steal our happiness? Steal our joy, our bliss? When we do this, we get depressed, tense, and worse.

What we want to bring into our life is up to us.

That’s why satsang is very necessary because it's a positive force for us. Listen to it as much as you can.

Rama asked one of the Rishi: show me the place where I can live so people will have joy and not have problems.

Rishi answered: Rama, you are everywhere. But still, if you are asking me, just live in those hearts of people whose ears are like oceans. Live in the hearts of those who love satsang, who listens to your glory. We can get all our questions answered only by satsang.

Cultivate Your Trust - Satsang by Mahatma Gautum Baiji

 

Mahatma Gautum Baiji told this story at satsang on Sunday:

Many years ago, a devotee and his wife went traveling by boat. They had just gotten married a few months ago and this was their first trip together.

It was a nice journey until suddenly, a storm struck. The boat rocked violently, and there were screams from the other passengers and the sounds of people crying.

There was only one calm passenger: the devotee. He was sitting very peacefully amidst all the chaos.

His wife was one of the frantic passengers, and she looked at her husband with surprise.

"How can you just sit there like that? Aren't you scared?"

He said, "No."

"But in a few moments we could all die. You're not worried about that?!"

"No."

"But why? What is the secret, please tell me!"

He slowly got up and pulled out a sharp knife.

"Are you scared of this?" he asked, as he put it near her neck.

"Of course not!" she said.

"Why?"

"Because I know you! Yes, the knife is very sharp and dangerous, but the person holding it loves me so much! You can never harm me - that's why I'm not scared. "

He put the knife away and said, "Exactly. And I know the storm is very dangerous, but I'm not looking at the storm, I'm looking behind it at the person who is there: God. I have the kind of trust in Him that you have in me. You know the knife is dangerous, but you have faith in me, and that's the kind of faith I have in God."

So many problems and calamities come into our lives, and what do we do? We start running here and there. God is within us, but we try to get relief through outward means.

We run to the temple or church and we give an offering. "If you help me this time and solve my problem, next time I will donate even more money." The bigger the problem, maybe we will donate more money as if that will help. 

That is not unconditional love. "If you do this, I will do that" is conditional love. 

For the unconditional love we need to get self-realization. To get that, we need to practice meditation."

-Mahatma Gautum Baiji 

God Decides How it Goes - Satsang by Rakeshbai Pandya, Part 2

Saint Rammurti Baiji asked Rakeshbhai Pandya to give satsang about his experience with spirituality, part 2: 

"When I do meditation, I get so many things. God gives me different messages. 

In 1990 I took photography classes as part of my GE requirements. I went to Self-Realization Fellowship in Los Angeles on Mount Washington. 

It's such a peaceful place there. Parmahansa Yogananda used to sit there in meditation under the pepper tree, which is still preserved there. I saw some devotees working there, and I said, "What if I get a chance to work in this kind of place for seva, for service." 

Within a year or two we got connected with the baijis, the saints,and their elder sister. Their satsang was going on at the Norwalk temple where we went every Sunday. We got more into it and we received the knowledge.

During the Northridge earthquake we lived in Sun Valley. Just three weeks before that, we received the knowledge. You won't believe, the earthquake epicenter was 14 miles from where we lived. I felt like the townhome was lifted and just... pounding. 

Me and my wife sat under the door and we started doing meditation. All the books and bookshelves were (shaking and falling), and after that, whatever was the lesson or message from God, we don't know. 

Then this ashram property was purchased, and they needed someone to take care of it. So we decided to rent our other property and we will move here and do seva and whatever we can. 

The reason I'm saying this is I started from Babaji, who was in my mind as I wanted to do seva. 

So God arranged this. We both moved here. We did seva here for four or five years. We had a daughter here and stayed nearby after that. And we still did satsang and meditation. 

So what I'm saying is that middle part of that breach... I started with Babaji and came back full circle to Babaji. 

I'm not just believing that. How it starts, how it ends, God decides that."

We Can Only Know The Holy Name Through Inner Experience

The baijis teach spirituality, not religious practices. What is the proof of this?

It is in their teaching of the Holy Name. That we should discover it inside ourselves, and always keep it in mind because it brings lasting peace.

But what is the Holy Name?

Is it God? Rama? Spirit? The Universe? Om?

The answer, actually, cannot be spoken in words of English, Hindi, Gujarati, or even Sanskrit. 

Nonetheless, it is inside of us.

It's the language of the connection we have with the Infinite. It is most easily realized when we meditate, because we are putting all thoughts aside and communing with the All.

It's a language of sorts, but there are no words. We are like a drop of rainwater that falls into the ocean - there are no words to describe it. 

There is only the experience. 

Some might say this is a benefit of being separate, that we get to have this uniting experience, this communion.

But no one can tell us how to achieve it. They can't give us a pill, they can't trick us, or force it. 

We have to discover it for ourselves.

It may help to know that our individual soul is One with the larger Universal Soul - that the separation is an illusion - then we are simply realizing the connection that is already there, from which our ego normally keeps us separate. 

So when we let our mind quiet, the ego fades, and we can have this Self-realization.

When we do this, a miracle happens:

Half an ounce of this kind of meditation reduces a ton of sins to ashes. We can clean all the detritus of the mind in a heartbeat. We can rid ourselves of "the accumulated karma of a thousand actions." 

We just have to experience it for ourselves, and keep experiencing it.

That is why the baijis encourage us to concentrate our mind on the Holy Name within: when we work, when we play, when we meditate, and every moment we can remember to.

What is Satsang?

Satsang is a Sanskrit word that means "gathering together for the truth" or, more simply, "being with the truth." 

Truth is what is real, what exists. So all there is, is Truth. 

Whenever something increases your experience of the Truth, it opens your Heart and quiets your mind. 

Conversely, whenever something, such as a thought, fear, or judgment, limits or narrows your experience of the Truth, the Heart contracts and the mind gets busier. 

We are all equally endowed with this capacity to discriminate the Truth. Thus, the true teacher, or satguru, is within you, and satsang, or being with the Truth, is endless. 

The first step to complete peace and liberation is listen to the Satsang carefully and ask inquiring questions of yourself with a guileless heart.

These discourses on the nature and Knowledge of God in the company of Saints vanishes sorrow and brings us joy.