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We have called God, 'Sat-Chit-Anand' – truth, consciousness, bliss. Bliss is the ultimate definition for him. Bliss is above even truth and consciousness – Wherever and whenever bliss flows and we find ecstasy – we need not worry at all because we are near the truth. It is like someone nearing a garden and he begins to feel the coolness. The garden is not yet visible, yet these signs tell him that he is on the right path. Similarly, as we start approaching truth springs of bliss well up. The mind begins to cool down, we begin to be in equilibrium, and patience begins increasing, happiness increases. Exultation overwhelms us - uncaused.

HAPPINESS

This is a very strange world. There are thousands of reasons to be happy, we have all sorts of comforts; still, we are not happy. This world is a world of miserable people. So if we begin to laugh without cause here, people will say we are mad. And if we say,This laughing comes for no reason, its waves arise within, it just spreads,” people will say, Enough! Your mind is disturbed.” But if we pull a long face, look so dejected that seeing our face even ghosts are frightening, then we are fine, then everything goes smoothly for us. We are human the way human beings should be. But when we start smiling, start laughing, start humming songs, when we begin dancing – then certainly we have gone mad. Bliss has been boycotted. We have banished joy from our lives. We sit embracing unhappiness. Here, a pessimistic man appears intelligent, a cheerful man appears insane. Our whole criterion is upside down.

SANE and INSANE

The insane and the enlightened ones are a little similar. The insane laugh and are happy; they have lost their intelligence. Enlightened ones also laugh and are happy; they have gone beyond intellect. Both laugh – an insane person because he has fallen below, an enlightened one because he has gone beyond intellect. One has forsaken it consciously, the other in unconsciousness. Hence the difference is vast, and yet there is this similarity. So sometimes we see an enlightened person as a mad person and sometimes a mad person as enlightened. In India today many madmen are taken for enlightenment. These mistakes happen because of the boundaries between these two touches. My understanding and my criterion in differentiating between the two is simple: if our joy is increasing and at the same time we are not causing anybody’s unhappiness to increase, then we need to continue untroubled. Our joy should not be dependent on violence towards anyone, on aggression towards anyone, or on making anyone unhappy. We need to be concerned only when we begin to harm somebody. Nobody is bothered by our dance and chanting. Our joy should not be violent. This is sufficient. Our joy should be our own. We need not disturb anybody else’s life. We should let our flowers bloom, but in blooming, we should not let anyone be pricked by its thorns. If we always make sure of this, then we are moving in the right direction. When we feel that now others are being disturbed by our behavior, be need to be careful – because then we are not moving towards enlightenment but are on the path to insanity.

KNOW THYSELF

20 YEARS AGO THE SEARCH STARTED…

”I was searching for a song not yet on my lips, which would dance in my veins, boiling like lava. I was searching for a fire that will vibrate each and every cell with joy and reduce me to scattered threads, weave me into a fine net so I could become transparent. I was in searching for a fragrance to make me weightless, so I can float in the air and quiver in the soft shower of light rain in the sky of the darkening evening. I was searching for a flashy color....”

MY UNDERSTANDING TODAY…

”We are the one observer of all, and in reality always free. Our bondage is this: we see the other – not our self – as the observer.”
 Ordinarily, we perceive our lives through the eyes of others. We use the eyes of others like a mirror. We forget the observer and become observed. We cannot see our own faces; we will have to look in a mirror. When we look at ourselves in the mirror we become observed, we are no longer the observer. How much do we know of ourselves, obviously as much as the mirror reveals? That is why our knowledge of us seems to be so confused – because it is made of many conflicting voices. Someone says, ”You are beautiful,” Someone says, ”You are very intelligent, and someone else says, ”I have never seen such an idiot!” All voices are taken in and collected. A great uneasiness arises, and a deep split is created. This is why we are not certain about who we are. We have collected such a crowd of opinions. We have looked in so many mirrors, and each one has given us a different message. Mirrors have no message about us, their message is about themselves. Conflicting opinions go on accumulating. We begin to believe that we are this accumulation of conflicting opinions. That is why we are always shaking, always afraid, and always fearful of public opinion! ”What if people think badly of me, think me a fool or immoral?” We become worried because we have shaped our being according to others. ”If we want to know our soul, we will have to leave other people alone.” If we want to know our self we will have to stop looking for our image in the eyes of others. As I see it and understand it many seekers and explorers of truth left society not because it is impossible to know the truth while remaining in society, but because it is very difficult to know one’s own face correctly while living in society. Here people go on giving feedback as to who we are. Whether we ask or not, images of who we are going on pouring in from all sides. And by and by we begin to live by these images. What others say has become so important that we do not even ask who we are. We collect cuttings of what others say and make our self-image. This image is bound to be very unsteady because people’s minds go on changing. Not only do people’s minds go on changing, their reasons also go on changing.

BE REAL

Not everyone will understand us. Not everyone will appreciate our uniqueness. Sometimes our genuine energy makes people fearful because it challenges them to be real and honest with themselves. Not everyone is ready for that kind of growth. Some people rather fight, argue, and cause problems before they even look in the mirror and face themselves. This is the place where we have to realize our worth. Our level of vibration is not meant to match everyone we meet. Some people are teaching us lessons only. Some people are just reminders to show us that we deserve better and are worth so much more. We should not take anything personally. We need to just let go with ease, and focus on our inner peace.

BE HAPPY

Be happy. Be happy right now. It can happen right now. There is no need to delay even a single moment. There is no reason to leave it for tomorrow, no need to postpone it. This happening does not occur in the future, it happens now or never. When it happens it happens right now, because there is no time except NOW. Where is the future? When it comes, it comes as now. Do not leave it for some other time – that is the cunning of the mind. The mind argues: ”How can it happen so fast? Get ready first.” ”Someday” never comes. Life is now, liberation is now. Ignorance is now, knowing is now. Sleep is now, happiness and awakening can happen now. Why someday? It is difficult for the mind, the mind says, you will have to make preparations. The mind argues, ”How can anything happen without preparations? In this world, nothing happens right now. It happens in orderly steps. But there is one phenomenon in this world which takes place right now. It is happiness and godliness. It is merely a question of opening our eyes. The sun has already emerged. The sun is not waiting for our eyes, saying that until our eyes open he won’t come out. The sun is already out. Light is spread all over. His music is resounding day and night. The sound of ”AUM” is vibrating in all directions. The unstuck music is echoing everywhere. Open your ears! Open your eyes! How much time does it take to open our eyes? It takes even less time to attain happiness. It takes a moment for the eyelid to blink. But it does not take even that much time to attain happiness. ”... we are the witness of the whole universe. Know this and be happy.” Be happy right now.

Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes. Change alone is eternal, perpetual, and immortal.

Swadesh

What we could be if we stop watering dead plants, and prune our dead leaves! There is no time better than now to start making changes in our life! We constantly need to remind us how important it is to ourselves to let dead things go. We should make this moment a time of revelation, adaptation, and cultivation. To understand life we must understand that change is the only constant in life. We should be arriving at a truer authentic version of ourselves constantly. Our fear and complacency are what lend way to our inability to let go and free ourselves from the shackles of our past. We need to look toward tomorrow, yet stay in the present moment of today. I know the process of landscaping a new life can be an arduous one. For some seeds are planted by the hands of chaos. Nevertheless, it's our responsibility to draw down the sun - by choosing happiness - and cultivate those seedlings into painfully beautiful flowers. We are the keepers of our garden. Create a garden where our frequency will attract the beauty and love we are capable of bringing to this world. One where butterflies can land and the effect is Grande!

Our spiritual journey to wholeness begins when we decide to rediscover:

Who we REALLY are,
where we REALLY are,
and what's REALLY happening in this place we call our reality!

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