Why Should We Be Like a Non-Stick Pan?

Satsang by Gautam Baiji 

Problems result from ego.
Our saints remind us, Know thyself. What is my goal?
Sometimes we think, "I will get detached from things."
Only by saying that, can you get detached?
Ask your mind.
You are SO attached - that's why you're suffering.
When you cook, you have two kinds of pans.
One is steel, and one is non-stick.
And you are very clever - when you want to make pudla, you use the non-stick pan it doesn't stick and it's easier to clean.
Do we say, "Let's not make it at all?" No, we love pudla. We love pancakes. We know it will get dirty and we will wash it, and non-stick makes it all easier.

So why are we not using it (non-stick) in our daily life?"

Then Baiji talks about how we can't avoid getting tempted by attachments because we have to be involved with people and situations - we must risk attachment and then make sure we stay ultimately unattached.

In this world, we have to live together.
At the ashram, you all come here.
Should I say, No, don't come here, I will get more attached with you guys, that's not good for a saddhu (holy person).

If the farmer thinks, I will get dirty by the soil, maybe I shouldn't farm at all." "I want to get the nice fruits and vegetables and flowers, but I don't want to touch the mud."

Will he get fruits? Not even in his dreams.

Let the Satsang Go Through You/Learning How to Think

From a recent Satsang by Gautum Baiji:

"How can we tell if a person is good or bad: when we see their actions, not doing things the right way.

The behavior is not good. Then we can see this person needs some change if they want to do good.

Sometimes we change through circumstances over time, but Satsang has the power to change us now. Only by Satsang and meditation can a person create change.

Because we don’t need to change the body. We don’t need to change the color, the caste, or the creed. 

The only thing we need to change is our thoughts. 

Because whatever thoughts we have inside… those thoughts will become our actions. And we will be good or bad people because of our actions.

How can we change the thoughts? 

Because when parents raise their kids, they tell them this is good, or this is bad, you should do this or that. They taught us everything. How we should eat, how we should talk. How we should work.

But nobody taught us how to think.

Thousands of thoughts come into our mind all the time. Each and every second the thoughts are coming and going. How do we control them?

One way is to keep good company. Then good thoughts come automatically.

That’s why we have a need, a necessity for saints.

Saints are like clouds. When the cloud comes in the heat, it brings rain and cools everything down.

The same thing happens when the saints come into our life. They teach us techniques, they give us knowledge. Then we practice meditation, and we change our thoughts. And when our thoughts get changed, our perspective changes, and we can see the positive changes in our life.

Sometimes we think merely reading scripture is enough. Some people say, “I’ve gone through the Gita, I’ve gone through Ramayana, I’ve gone through all the scriptures…”

But have the scriptures gone through us?

If we are only reading, we become like a parrot. If we ask the meaning of Ram, the parrot can repeat the word but it doesn't know the meaning of Ram.

We chant so many mantras, we sing so many bhajans, but as long as we don’t know who we are, as long as we don’t experience meditation, how can we change our self and our thoughts?

If we’re sitting in the satsang, and our mind is wandering everywhere, what happens? We didn’t get any benefit from the satsang. 

But if we let the satsang go through us, we can change our life..."