Would You Allow a Mahatma to Wash Your Dirty Dish?

Satsang by Gautam Baiji

I want to share this with you - last week a bhajan singer came to the ashram. Dada (the tabla player) brought him along.

He was a very good classical singer. He sang so many nice bhajans here... and that guy was down to earth! He was so good.

He was here during lunch and I told him there was food ready, that he could join us if he wanted to. He said, "I already ate lunch, but I will have tea."

So I served him tea.

Afterwards, when he got up to leave, I also got up and started to pick up the plates and cups and everything...*

He said, "No no, please don't pick up my plate and cup."

I said, "No, it's okay, I can wash them."

He said, "I don't want to give them to you because my guru taught me not to give up a chance to do seva. Why should I give anyone, especially a Mahatma! - my dirty dishes? How can you think that?"

He's here, but still he remembers his guru! This is a small thing, not a big thing, but by that we can learn. There are a few things we cannot teach you directly,** but there are few things we can learn and accept.***

I feel so good about his guru. The guru may not have said, "Don't give up your dirty dishes." But he taught him well, and that even the small things matter.


* As a public place, they keep the kitchen very clean and wash any dishes immediately.

** The Mahatmas devote their lives to serving others, and yet they are so treasured as living saints that true devotees don't allow them to do very much work for them - they would do anything to help with their burden. Which is good, because they don't like to ask for help - they are the ones devoted to helping others, right - how can they ask? They are sooo busy - to run an ashram 24 hours a day, 7 days a week demands they receive and meet with visitors; take phone calls around the clock, frequently to counsel people; plan their satsangs; prepare meals; clean, clean, clean; lead yoga and meditation classes; plan future events; and much, much more, just to enrich our lives. Most devotees consider it an honor to be able to help in any way possible (seva).

*** No one has to do anything. This is simply for those who see the value in devotion and seva and its role in helping us conquer our ego and get closer to God. 

Should We Change?

Satsang by Gautam Baiji

"Like Vibhisina, who was the greatest devotee of Lord Rama, sometimes we think that when we keep good company, that's enough for us to get changed and do good things.

But sometimes our samskaras (our psychological imprint; our nature) don't let us change. A person could be listening to satsang for many, many years but if you look at him or her, the person is the same! There's no change.

Who's fault is that? The Mahatma's? The ashram's? Or the person's fault?

Sometimes the kids fight with the parents, or hear the parents fighting with each other, and then ask their parents, "What did you learn from the ashram? Why are you fighting so much?"

The secret? Only fight when you're alone - don't let the kids hear!

What if your son was going to school for a long time and still didn't know his abc's? What happens?

Questions arise in your mind. "I'm sending him every day to school, but still he is not learning his abc's. Something is wrong there!"

Maybe the kid cannot hear. Maybe he cannot see, or isn't giving attention to it...

Either you will come up with the solution to the learning problem, or you will let it go, saying, "Oh, that's fine. My duty is just to feed him, clothe him, give him supplies, that's it."

What would you do?

You will try to find out the problem.

You will try to make it better.

It's the same with us who attend satsang again and again.

(We must be diligent and willing to face the Truth of our weaknesses to get liberation. Who's going to do it for us if we won't?)

Wonderful Music and a Thousand Acts of Kindness

As the sun went down and the air cooled, the musicians at the Hindustani Classical Concert yesterday at Divine Art of Yoga Center performed music that transported you, even transformed you...

But behind the scenes, dozens of volunteers performed a thousand acts of kindness to help make the event happen.

With the inspiration of Mahatma Rammurti Baiji and Mahatma Gautam Baiji, a crew of devotees generously donated their time and resources to cook delicious homemade Indian food, set up chairs and tables, facilitate parking, and more, all for a good cause: proceeds would go to the ashram in Kathmandu for orphans and the elderly. We all worked together as one. 

Aside from meditation, I don't know any better way to experience oneness than working together with an exceptional group of people to create such an experience for 350 people. Seva is giving, but it's also a gift we give yourselves for our own spiritual path.

If God is love, then we surely experienced both for the duration of the event.

- Scott Ware

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)

Don't Be a Slave to Your Mind and Maya

Satsang by Gautam Baiji

Once we get knowledge, why do we still need spiritual instruction (satsang)?

When you see a farmer sow the seeds, we know his work is not finished.

He goes over and over his crops. He keeps an eye on them.

When weeds come up, he uproots them. Why? To protect the plants.

Satsang means the company of truth. How can we get that?

First we have to know what is truth and what is not truth.

Our saints say, "Truth is permanent." We cannot change it. Truth in invincible; it cannot be destroyed.

So we look at the world and ask, "What is permanent and invincible?"

Our body is always changing. Our house is always changing. Our mind and thoughts change. Everything in the world changes.

Except soul. Spirit.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says you cannot destroy the soul. You cannot burn it, it cannot get wet, it's invincible.

How can we realize that?

That's why great souls came into this world, to tell us: "Know thyself."

We have to learn who we are and understand why we came here.

What is the goal of our life?

The human body is the crown of creation. Why?

Because we have great potential.

To earn lots of money? Retire when we get older? Then what?

To get peace. Salvation. Liberation from... what?

What is binding us? Who is holding us?

Our saints say we won't get moksha until we get liberation.

Then maya, the illusion, is binding us, we say.

Once a guru saw a man walking while holding a rope attached to a cow. He said to his disciple, "Look at this. Who is bound to whom?"


The disciple said, "Simple. The cow is in bondage to the man. That's why he's attached to the rope."

"No," the guru said, "The person is in bondage to the cow. Why? Because if the person drops the rope, the cow will run away. Then the man will run after the cow. The cow doesn't need the person, but the person needs the cow."

The same thing with maya. Sometimes we say, "Maya is the bondage, Maya is binding us." Maya is not binding our mind, it's binding us.

That's why Krishna told Arjuna, "I don't need anything from you. Just give me your mind. If your mind is here, everything is here. If it's not, not matter how much I scream my discourse, you will go home and not remember anything. "I was there, but my mind was not there."

Our mind binds us. The mind is our friend and our enemy. 

How?

The mind is like a ladder. It can help us go up, or it can help us go down.

If you go upstairs, you can see far. If you go down, you can only see the basement. The walls, nothing else.

When is the mind our enemy? When it goes with worldly things. "Oh, that person is like this, that thing is like that, etc." All negative thoughts come. Our mind's tendency is to go downward, like water.

When is the mind our friend? When we allow satsang to elevate us.

Our parents and society taught us how to behave, but not how to think. Satsang teaches us that.

What is Your Heart Saying?

Satsang by Gautam Baiji

How can we make the right choices in life?

When you see a small child or baby, maybe one or two years old, whatever comes into his hands makes it into his mouth. He doesn't care if it's a pen, or paper, whether it's edible or not.

Pen and paper are not edible, but he doesn't know that. Whether it's good for him or not, he doesn't know. 

The same baby, when he's four or five years old, he never tries to do that anymore.

Why?

He has knowledge of what he should eat and not eat. Even if you try to force him, or say, "This pencil is so good and colorful" but no, he knows this is a thing he should not eat.

The same applies when we ask ourselves if this or that karma is good for us or bad for us.

We know if we do the right thing, we'll get happiness, and if we do the wrong thing, we will not get happiness.

How can we get happiness? We need the knowledge of what is good and bad.

How? Check your heart. What is your heart saying?

Our intuition will tell us what words to use, what foods to eat. If we have a sugar problem, or high blood pressure, or a cholesterol problem, and you are eating fried food a lot, you are enjoying it but your inner voice is saying, "Careful, okay? Don't each too much of this." 

But your senses are saying, "No no, it's okay now. Tonight I will walk for two miles or three miles. Just enjoy the kachori, enjoy the pakora... and what happens? We are ignoring the inner voice who knows.

Why? Because we are so involved with the crowd, we don't hear the voice.

We have a small clock here. When it's quiet here, you can hear and even feel the TOCK TOCK TOCK like somebody is cutting wood! If you are sitting here peacefully, it is so loud. 

Now we can't hear anything because there is too much outside noise.

The same way: when we get too involved with the worldly things, with our senses, we can't hear what our soul is saying. We ignore it. And again and again, we get pain and sorrows. 

So how can we get rid of the obstacles? 

(to be continued)

Sri Krishna

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?

"It Keeps My Soul Happy" - Reasons People Come to the Ashram

Why do you come to Divine Art of Yoga Center ashram? 

Melina: The baijis are everything I want to be in terms of radiating love and warmth that all humanity should radiate. I love being around them because they remind me to stay humble, and I always feel uplifted when I visit. It keeps my soul happy. 

You're Invited: An Evening of Classical Hindustani Music - August 21 at 4:30pm

What Are You Doing With Your Life, The Crown of All Creation?

~ Gautam Baiji gave this satsang last week ~

One day a man saw his Mahatmaji, who asked him:

"Why are you not coming to ashram? You used to come all the time, but now not so much."

The man said, "I don't have time. I have to do everything for my family," and he told him all the things he has to do.

The Mahatma said, "I'm not saying you shouldn't do those things - you definitely should take care of your family. That is your duty. But what are you doing for yourself?"

The man said, "I don't have that time for myself. I'm too busy with my family. Plus I have to attend events with relatives all the time. But one day I will get a chance, and I will do it for sure."

Mahatmaji asked him, "Who told you you will get a chance later?" 

We say things like this a lot: "When I retire, then I will have time." But ask people who are already retired how much meditation they are doing, how much time they are spending on themselves..."

We think, "When everything is done, then I will do meditation."

Will that happen? No. One day your life will be over, but your work will continue.

So the man said, "Mahatmaji, you don't have a family, so you don't understand all that I have to do. I simply do not have the time."

Mahatmaji said, "You know, you are working for them day and night. Do you think they will help you with your karma?

"Why not? If I'm helping them, of course they would help me too."

"Let's put it to the test," and the Mahatma gave him a technique to use.

So the man went home and asked his wife to make rice pudding for him. She did this and served it to him.

Soon after, he started complaining of stomach pains. It got worse and worse. "I think I'm dying!" the man said. (He was pretending.)

After moaning in pain for a while, he said, "When I was a young boy, I would get this same pain and the only person who had the medicine was one Mahatmaji. Please call him." Then he stopped breathing and passed out.

The wife was scared, and she immediately called the whole family there and got her son to fetch the Mahatma. When he arrived, he said:

"It's true that I have the only medicine that can cure him, but it comes with one condition: I need someone to volunteer to drink the medicine for him. It will kill that person, but your Dada will live - that is the only way. Who is ready?"

The grandmother said, "If I do it, who will take care of my husband. He needs me, so I cannot to do it."

The wife said, "Mahatmaji, I could do that because I love my husband, but my kids are very young. If I die, who is going to take care of them? Because of them, I cannot die."

The Mahatmaji said, "Will any of the kids drink it?"

The mother said, "No, how can you say that?"

"Okay, so no one's ready for that, so let me drink it," the Mahatma said.

"Oh Mahatmaji, thank you so much," the wife said. "Mahatmas come into this world to help others. You already sacrificed your life once, and now if you sacrifice it again, that would be great."

"We even promise that if you drink the medicine to save him, when you die we will make a nice temple for you. We'll put a statue of you there, and we'll pray every day. Thank God you met us."

The man then opened his eyes and sat up, showing everyone he was not sick at all. He heard everything and realized that even though he did everything for his family, they were looking out for themselves, as people typically do.

"Do everything you can for your family, but take time for yourself. Sit alone, think about yourself, ask 'What is my life's goal?'"

Why do I have this beautiful life?

The saints say this human life is the crown of all creation. What are we doing with it?

Meditate For Oneness

"It's a Feel-Good Environment" - Reasons People Come to the Ashram

Why do you come to Divine Art of Yoga Center ashram? 

Serina: The ashram opens my mind, enhances my spiritual life and is such a feel-good environment with good, uplifting vibes which I take with me even when I leave. Everyone who comes to the ashram is so loving, it truly feels like home. 

Gautam Baiji Asks For Just a Few Minutes a Day - Satsang About Meditation

We all are like candles.
You know how much power is in a candle
A candle looks very small, but when we light it, it dispels the darkness, gives us light, and with light, we can get whatever we want

So when we get together, we learn good things from each other
You are not learning only from baijis

Sometimes we all learn from each other

This universe is like a university
And when God made us, he put good things in everyone
Everyone has good skills to teach
Once we collect and learn that good knowledge, our life will become good

And wherever we go we will spread the goodness and knowledge
And that way, we can help society

Because sometimes we think we should do some kind of charity
We might make food, or give to poor and needy people

But when you give someone food this month, what happens next time?
The person will have hunger again
But you cannot feed them all the time

So the best thing is - we don't need to feed them fish
We need to show them how to catch the fish themselves

If we are in peace, we can spread the peace

It's like perfume - people will get whatever scent you are using

The same way - if we have peace, we can give peace to others

How can we do that?
Whenever we go to any church, any temple, we feel peace
We feel happiness because we are getting something

But you have to go to your job, you have to go to college, you have to go home
What will we do there?

How can we bring the peace we get from the ashram everywhere?
How can we maintain that?

We have to make a discipline in our life
We have to make a rule in our life
We give importance to many things,
But we have to give importance to meditation

If you meditate every day...
I'm not saying for one hour, or two hours, or more than that
Just a few minutes

That means we are recharging our battery
And you all know how the cell phone needs that
If it's charged, we can do whatever we want
We can take video, we can record bhajans, listen to songs
And we can enjoy the whole day if we recharge it

The same way we can recharge our life

(to be continued)

Peace of Mind Ain't for Sale - A Poem

Peace of Mind Ain't For Sale

When life throws you lemons, and you just want to throw them back…

When the road splits in half, and demons leap out to attack…

When life pricks you, bleeds you, makes you tempted to cuss

When we’re too busy row-row-rowing-to-see life’s-but-a-dream-all-around-us…  

>And you’re feeling the squeeze…

In that dreamland we call reality there’s a temptation

To distract our self from life’s pain with medication

But if thousands of years of practice are any indication

The true alleviation for what ails us, is meditation    

>In lotus, if you please

Because the companies can’t bottle and sell soul rejuvenation!

So in desperation they push sedation on the population

To stop the contemplation that there’s a direct correlation between our agitation

from spiritual starvation that leads to a lack of liberation with no salvation  

>Possibly connected to all the new disease

Now I know there’s exceptions, just don’t let-em predominate 

Remember the goal, it’s for your soul-union I advocate...

So look around, you’ll see there’s no public indignation

People shrug and indulge their addictions with resignation

Big pharma media’s smoke and mirrors obfuscation

Ensures people will line up like sheep for slow-drip stimulation     

>Their reprise...

Is BRING DOWN YOUR HEART RATE

IMPROVE YOUR FLOW RATE

YOU’LL NEVER AGAIN GAIN WEIGHT

OPEN THE FLOODGATES     

>To your dis—ease

Causing us to say, “I got no time for self-realization

Don’t need to hear ‘bout karma and reincarnation

I reject meaningful conversation ‘bout sun salutation

Now let me go back to my inebriated hibernation    

>We’ve become whose devotees?

But… become the hero of your story and you’ll stay free through meditation

You’ll realize it’s nature’s most organic vaccination

Against life’s roughest and toughest tribulations  

And the only place you’ll hear this kind spiritual articulation   

>Is in rooms like these

But wait – society has other distractions to fill up our God hole

With things that steal the present moment and-I-think-you-know-exactly-what-I-mean - but our goal

Should be to look at ourselves with God’s eyes before we need real damage control

Nothing should divert us from hearing the voice of our soul       

>And that voice is saying please…

And even you Matrix escapees, spiritual devotees, spiritual sojourners who aren’t just sightseers

Can sometimes relapse and let in that insidious ego puppeteer

Let it distract us, extract us from our inner seer

And all that realization just… disappears     

>It gets better but, the challenge never ceases

So listen well, because it’s never too late

To get your real power back and set yourSelf straight

That’s Self with a capital S

Tap in often, you’ve got the access

No need to guess or get distressed

Just Keep practicing, don’t digress   

>And at the very least increase your peace

Meditate, don’t take their bait

Meditate, don’t play their game,

Your higher self will be your guide

Go inside, the truth won’t hide

Meditate and your life

Will be

Blessed.

>Peace.                                                              

                                                          

© Scott Ware, 2016 (to be featured in an upcoming DAYC publication)

"To Serve and To Love" - Reasons People Come to the Ashram

 

Divine Art of Yoga Center = DAYC Ashram = Gyan Yoga + Karma Yoga + Bhakti Yoga.

Fortunately, I have been associated with the Divine Art of Yoga Center (DAYC Ashram) and the Baijis for almost over 25 years. Nothing happens by accident; everything and everyone we encounter in life, the people and circumstances are opportunities for us to serve and to love. This ashram started with a handful of devotees seeking spiritual growth on this land of opportunities. Rakesh and I were blessed to serve the Ashram in the early 90’s and our daughter Suryanshi was born here as a miracle child. The Ashram is a spiritual hermitage where we perform yogas, music study or religious instructions. Baijis at the Ashram are living examples of Yoga in threefold. They both live a yogic lifestyle and inspire me to attain higher goals to be a Yogi in true sense. Suryanshi loves to come with me to the ashram and enjoys her stay with the baijis. Baijis connect with the youth with their unique perspective and love for the children. Their way of teaching inspires youth to be Yogis and attain focus and goals in their lives as well.

Peace of mind is difficult to attain because our minds are always changing. We restlessly pursue happiness outside of ourselves, preoccupied with our own self-interests, egoistic ambitions and opinions. Caught up in this cycle of seeking fulfillment everywhere but within, we fail to perceive or remember our true nature, which is already Blissful and Perfect. This human condition of striving to find peace externally is depicted in Vedanta philosophy as a condition of darkness and ignorance. Besides the theory of karma and reincarnation, which describes that we are here to learn from our mistakes and will repeat the same life lessons until we learn the correct way to think and to see ourselves, Vedanta philosophy, Yoga and Ayurveda offer us valuable guidance on how to progress towards peace of mind.

The formula is simple and can be described as a way of working with the three gunas or qualities of nature: 

1) break through the tamas

2) calm down the rajas

3) nourish the sattwa. 

By practicing these three steps I can fill my life and the lives of those around me with peace, joy, contentment, harmony, and balance.

I come to DAYC to seek guidance in my spiritual path= Gyan Yoga = Meditation. Meditation helps me to reflect and take part in something meaningful, to empower myself with knowledge of the self and understand that what I do matters. I have a calling to seek knowledge of a higher way of being in this world. I want to give back to a community that is changing the lives of so many people who are also seeking. Coming to DAYC helps me to continue learning about disciplining the mind and strengthening my connection with the divine. What I hope to achieve during my stay is mindfulness, unconditional love for all things, and happiness as that is what we truly are and to get in touch with my higher self!

karma yoga=Selfless Seva

It is a service performed to bring one in union with God or their higher self. Personally, I feel there is no better way to burn the ego and have total appreciation and gratitude for one’s life, than to serve others. The practitioner forgets their finite self through their service for others and the universe. Yoga for me is freedom. When I come to DAYC and serve, I can continually open my heart, and connect to those around me, I am doing the selfless act of giving my complete self to whatever is in my immediate presence. I believe karma yoga to be a path towards true happiness. I learn more about karma yoga to figure out how I can be most useful in changing the world for the better. I seek every day to become selfless—that is, to lose myself, and to experience everything as it is, as One.

Selfishness arises from us failing to realize that we gain more from giving than from taking. Our mistaken belief that we are separate from others leads us to behave selfishly. We fail to consider the deep interconnectedness and oneness of all life, and act from the small perspective of our own egos or personalities, creating more separation. Yoga teaches us to open up our awareness beyond our small and limited perspectives, and to begin to recognize the divine Self that is in all. Yoga teaches us that we are far more than our ego and the stories we assemble about who we are and what we like or don't like.

It teaches that we are happier when we begin to move out of our egoism and away from these thoughts, beginning to serve others, regardless of whether the mind likes it at first. Through this service, one begins to experience an expansion of his or her sense of self, feeling the deep joy that comes from moving beyond separation.

In life we often strive to define ourselves through our personalities, seeking to stand out in an egoistic way; but this is a mistake that leads to suffering. We forget that the way to get love is to offer love, not to try to be loved based on the limited personality. The more love we give, the more our lives will fill up with love. At DAYC We perform various offerings to God like singing bhajans, preparing bhog, reading and understanding various scriptures. This is called Bhakti Yoga which imbibes inner stillness that I believe brings true peace and fills my entire being with love and compassion. We all know this great feeling when we manage to let go of our individuality and feel a sense of oneness with another person or a group, and we also know the feeling of separateness that leads us to feel of isolated, unsupported or unloved. Therefore, the secret to happiness is to love selflessly. This love in action that leads us beyond selfishness is called Karma-Bhakti Yoga, or the Yoga of Selfless Love in Service.

Every Sunday, I feel like I must go. The universe has been pulling me on this path for many years—to open up my full heart to give my offerings to God, expansion on the deepest level. The power and knowledge within me can serve a community. It only needs ignition. My reasons for wanting to come to the ashram are for personal growth, learning, and exploration into deeper waters than I have been exposed to thus far in life. I consider this a unique and welcome opportunity for a weekly tune-up” in mind, body, and spirit. I think the ashram provides the perfect space for reflection, renewal and a platform to lessen my ego while working with a smile and an open heart.

Jai Sat Chit Anand to you all. May Peace and Harmony Prevail.

Your Favorite Place(s) to Meditate

Whether we meditate every morning for ten minutes or an hour, we usually have a place at home that is quiet, dark and private.

We prefer no distractions, because the mind is distracting enough.

We may also have a place outside our home we like to visit where it is easy to meditate.

It could be a temple, a church, a park, a forest, the mountains, or the beach. There's something about being out in nature...

We can't get there as often as we'd like, but we can imagine it in a heartbeat, and remember the good feelings we have when we're there.

And then there are the places in between. Smaller, more accessible places that still manage to put us in a meditative mood.

It could be something in our own backyard, perhaps a fountain or a garden area near the patio.

This a photo I found that I'd like to recreate one day. It's been a very nice screensaver.

Do you have favorite places you like to go?

Finding Onions When You Expect Oranges

Satsang by Mahatma Gautumbaiji

When we pray, we say:

"Oh God, please lead us from darkness to light.
Lead us from untruth to truth.
Lead us from mortal to immortality."

But we never think about that.
We only sing it (in our bhajans) - we never try to walk on that path.
We cannot get anywhere just be reading about it

But if we practice, we can get whatever we want.

Someone asked Buddha, "What do you get from meditation?"

"Nothing," was his reply. "But if you ask me what I lost, I will tell you I lost my anger. I lost my desire. I lost depression, anxiety, fear of old age and death." 

When a person starts doing meditation, he or she starts moving into reality.

Life is a dream, and dream and reality are very different.

One girl loves a boy. They are very happy. But when they get married, they notice they change. Same person, different perspectives.  

One says, "When we met, you were a totally different person. Why the change?" 

Change should come, especially if you are sowing any seeds. 
Are the seeds changing, or not?

Why don't we accept that change?

The seed is changing slowly, slowly. 
You nurture the plant to help it along
You make a nice planter, you water it every day. 
But after a certain time, you don't need to water it every day. (change)
Then maybe you transfer it into the ground because it needs more room to put down roots.
And it grows into a big tree.

Sometimes in this world, we forget to face this reality.
Everyone wants the truth in their life, but we don't want to face the reality.
We want it our way, a way that causes no pain or sorrow.

We want to change the onion into an orange.
That's our problem - we are trying to change it.

We may think we didn't want the onion, but what goes better in soup?
The onion. It will make your soup more tasty.

Why are we coming here (to satsang at the ashram)?
What is our goal?

We are using our time, sitting here for two hours.
Our time is precious, it's hard to do.

But we know we are coming here for our goal: peace.

But how will we get it?

A new person came here, and I said, "This place is unique. You will get everything here. Everything means everything. But always remember and don't forget your goal. What is my goal?"

Just like shopping at the mall. You never forget why you are there. Are you buying a nice dress? You do that right away, especially if you have a time limit, and then if you have extra time, you do other things. You achieved your goal.

The same way we came to this planet. We must remember our goal.
It's a big mall, everything is here, but always keep in your mind your goal.
If you remember that, then you will achieve it. You will fill your bag with what you want and be able to enjoy your life deeply.
But if you fill your bag with other things...

Your "glass" will be full, and you'll run out of time to get anything else...

So we must practice.

Can I play tabla like Dada? Not without practice.
Can I sing like Baiji? Not without practice.

No time? We always make time to feed our belly. We just open the refrigerator and eat.

Why don't we make it a priority to feed our soul?

You Will Be the Happiest Person on the Earth if You Do This One Thing

Satsang from Mahesh Shastri

You will be the happiest person on Earth if you can keep your thoughts, words, and actions aligned.

If you're thinking one way, and doing something else, you're going to get tangled.

As Gandhi said:

Who's In Control?

A satsang by Gautam Baiji

"One person had a beautiful house. It was the most beautiful house in town.

One day the owner travelled to another town. On his return, he saw that his house was on fire.

As we know, when a person builds a house, so many dreams are wrapped up in it, and there are so many personal belongings inside that we are attached to.

So the man started crying. "Oh my God! All the hard work I put into my house, and now it's burning down."

So many people in the town had gathered to watch it burn - there was nothing they could do.

His son approached him and said, "Dad, you don't need to cry. I already sold the house!"

"What?"

"Yes, I got an offer that was three times what it's worth, and I accepted it. I'm very sorry, I couldn't ask you because you were out of town."

"Oh yeah, you sold it?" He was suddenly a very happy man.

Now he turned to watch the house burn with the others, but this time he was a silent watcher, completely detached. Same fire; same house; same person. But now his feeling has changed.

His second son approached. "Dad, why are you smiling? Your house is burning and you're just watching?!"

"Don't worry, son, your brother already sold the house for three times its worth. We got a very good price."

"No, Dad! The buyer only gave us a small amount down! He didn't pay it fully. When he sees it's burned down, he won't pay us the balance!"

The man was suddenly sad again, and he continued crying. "My house is burning!" (Same fire, same house, same person, but the feeling changed.)

His third son approached. "Dad, don't cry. I just came from the buyer, and even though he knows the house is burning, he is a good man and agreed to honor the original price. He said no one knew the house would catch fire, so he will still pay you in full."

The man was suddenly happy again. Same house; same fire; same person; different feeling. No more tears.

This is the situation in our life. Whenever we say, "This is mine" we start thinking we are in control and set ourselves up for suffering.

My wife. My husband. My kids. My things.."

The ego wants to own and control. The soul only loves.