In order to dance with them individually. It was not merely one form, one body of Kṛṣṇa, but one hundred thousand forms manifesting simultaneously.

Please understand the deeper meaning in this *līlā*. Each gopī was so deeply connected with that divine consciousness, the Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that each one felt His presence. When we go within, into our core, we see divinity in everything. The gopīs saw Kṛṣṇa everywhere and in everything they did. This universal consciousness knows no physical barriers. That is why Kṛṣṇa says He is 'all pervading, *sarvam āvṛtya tiṣṭhati.*' He is all enveloping. He is omnipresent.

That is why I say, 'All those who I ordain as healers are my hands, all our *ācāryas* (initiated teachers) are my *vāk* (energy of power of words), and all our organizers are my mind.' I can only heal a limited number of people with these two physical hands. I can only conduct a limited number of programs with this one mouth, and I can only organize a limited events with this one brain. That is why I operate through my healers, teachers and organizers. The Cosmic THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM operates through them!

For a phone connection to happen from one country to another, we need to have the infrastructure: all the cables installed below the sea and so forth. But for this cosmic connection to happen, nothing is needed. If we simply connect to the Self within, suddenly there will be no barriers. We will simply fly!

Kṛṣṇa goes on to give further qualities of the Self. But understand that all this is said only to inspire us to experience it first hand ourselves. If somebody asks us, 'What does sugar taste like?' and if he has never tasted anything sweet before, how will you explain to him? You may tell him, 'It will be in the form of white cubes, transparent, very sweet.' When he asks, 'What does 'sweet' mean?' You can continue to tell him other things, 'Sugar is made from sugar cane, which is full of sugary syrup, it is fibrous, you can chew on it.' What is the use?

Instead if he puts a handful of sugar in his mouth, he will

automatically say, 'This is how sugar tastes! This is how something sweet tastes!' Unless he experiences what 'sweet' means, things will remain a theory for him, although the conviction about sugar might grow in him.

In Chapter 11, when Kṛṣṇa gives His Cosmic form vision, the *Viśvarūpa Darśan,* Arjuna feels intimidated within a few moments and cannot handle the energy. He pleads with Kṛṣṇa, 'I cannot understand You. I cannot withstand Your glory.' But Arjuna wants to know what Kṛṣṇa is talking about. So once again Kṛṣṇa gives all kinds of descriptions to penetrate Arjuna's doubts and fears.

The compassion of an Enlightened Master is so great. In spite of the doubts and skepticism, he quietly and patiently sits with the disciple until, one by one, all doubts are washed away. You see, our self-doubts and questions arise from our mind, forming a thick layer over us. A Master's grace gently dissolves this layer.

Kṛṣṇa says all life happens because of the thread of the Universal energy flowing through. You see, so many things are happening around us, on their own, beyond our awareness. The life force that conducts the whole show, that controls every breath we take, the same energy that maintains an order in the chaos of the Universe, is pure intelligence. In Saṃskṛit, there is a saying that means not even a blade of grass can move without the will of the Divine.

Kṛṣṇa is sending a message to us about how much we depend on Him, who is the Cosmic intelligence, for anything to happen. At the same time, without getting involved, the Universal energy is a witness to all activities and all life forms.

If we look deeper, we realize that whatever we see and perceive as objects, are creations of the mind along with the senses. We create a world of our own. Deep down, the true Self watches the whole thing without getting involved. The mind projects some people as good, some as bad, some incident as painful, others as joyful, etc. and then runs after or away from the people and experiences. For an enlightened being, a knower of the truth, everything is the same. He stops labeling because he has moved beyond names and forms, and beyond the dualities of good and bad.

Rāmakṛṣṇa Paramahamsa gives a beautiful analogy. When we stand in a valley, we see pits and depressions on the ground if we look down, and mountain cliffs when we look up. But when we climb up to the summit, we observe that all the ups and downs below no longer matter. We have transcended the ups and downs that we saw when we were on the ground. How to climb to the summit above all the ups and downs?

You must relax. You must realize that you are already on the summit. You are beyond the ups and downs. But no, we don't want to believe it. Our mind tells us, 'No. What is he saying? I have important things to do in life. How can I relax?' We love our tensions and problems too much. We like to clutch onto our lives. We do not want to let go because we think this is all there is. We do not realize that if we relax, we can fly.

A small story:

A hunter in a forest came across a clearing where there were many birds. He took a twig and tied a rope at the center of the twig. Then he took the two ends of the rope and tied them firmly to a pole on each side. Now the twig was hanging by the rope. He sprinkled a few grains around the setup. He was a clever hunter. Happily, he went away for a nap.

After some time, a bird was attracted by the grains and sat on the twig. The minute it sat on one side of the twig, the whole twig turned upside down due to the bird's weight. The bird now saw the whole world upside down and became frightened. It thought it was trapped! It clasped to the twig harder than ever and prayed to God to be set free.

After an hour, the hunter returned leisurely and caught hold of the bird. After that, you know what happened.

This is what we do in our lives. The bird did not realize that it was always free! All it needed to do was let go of the twig and fly away. We do the same thing. We grasp and clutch onto our past. We clutch onto the pains and joys and keep missing the space of completion. We miss eternity. We miss our Consciousness inside.

The supreme truth is inside and outside all living entities. It is moving and non-moving on account of being subtle. It is near and far. Kṛṣṇa uses all these terms and concepts such as moving and non-moving, near and far, inside and outside because these are the only terms we can understand. He is giving us an idea to tell us that Supreme Consciousness is beyond these concepts and terms that we know.

#### **The Indivisible Space Within**

You see the world full of objects with different qualifiers because you associate yourself with a fixed entity. You say something is far or near based on the physical boundaries, with respect to the coordinates of your body. Whatever you do, what you think, is based on this reference point. You live in this space enclosed by your physical boundary called *ghaṭākāśa*.

There are three spaces we can live in: The space that is covered by the body, the space that is covered by the mind, and the space that cannot be covered by body and mind. The first is *ghaṭākāśa*, or the space enclosed by this physical body. Most of us live in this space nearly all the time. The next is *cidākāśa*, the space that you are aware and conscious of. Right now, if you are aware of this hall it is your *cidākāśa*. This is the space of the thoughts and mind. The third is *mahākāśa*. This is the whole space, cosmos, everything put together.

The *ghaṭākāśa* is made up of the five elements that are: earth, water, fire, air and ether. These elements become subtler as we move up, from earth, to water, to fire, to air, to ether. None of the first four reflect consciousness. Ether, the subtlest element, connects with consciousness. It reflects consciousness. And that is the reason why we are alive. The problem is, we think consciousness is bound by *ghaṭākāśa.* We think it is limited to this body.

That is why we make this body the reference when we view the outer world. We think this body is the 'I' that sees the rest of the world. You see, all science had this as its basic foundation: we are separate entities defined by physical boundaries. Enlightened Masters who have moved beyond *ghaṭākāśa* into *mahākāśa* understand that all this division of space is due to our ignorance.

Please understand that space can never be divided. Yet we divide it into boundaries and associate terms: within, inside, outside, near, far, etc. because of our limited understanding. This is the cause for our suffering. First of all, we divide the space because of our ignorance. Second, we try to possess the space that we think is in our control. And third, we fear that the space might be taken from us. All fears, including the fear of death, happen because we constantly try to protect the space covered by our body and mind.

Understand the basic truth that space cannot be divided. When we understand that we are *mahākāśa,* we transcend all boundaries. Whatever space we may be in, the possibility of achieving a higher space is available to every one of us. Man, as such, is only potentiality. He is not actuality. He is not what he is supposed to be. As of now we are in seed form and have not expressed our potential fully. We have not become trees yet. But that does not mean we cannot grow and become trees. When we transcend these relative boundaries we will understand through experience what Kṛṣṇa says.

Kṛṣṇa says that the supreme truth is inside and outside all living entities, *bahir antaś ca bhūtānām*. It is moving and non-moving on account of being subtle, *acaraṁ caram eva ca* (13.16). This is the space of *mahākāśa,* which includes the space of everything. This space is absolute. Everything is included in this space. When there is no 'two,' how can we compare? How can we say something is near or far when there is only one? The truth is absolute and one.

> *avibhaktaṁ ca bhūteṣu vibhaktaṁ iva ca sthitam I bhūta-bhartṛ ca taj jñeyaṁ grasiṣṇu prabhaviṣṇu ca II 13.17*

Although the supreme spirit appears to be divided as the Cosmic and

individual entities, it is never divided, *avibhaktaṁ ca bhūteṣu.* It is the basis of generation, maintenance and destruction of life. When we pour water into containers of different shapes and sizes, it takes on their shapes. If we carefully examine their contents, all of them contain the same water. Similarly, the world of many forms and shapes, so many species of plants and animals, appears as though there is so much variety. Underlying them all is the same energy. The *prāṇa śakti,* life force, running in each of them is the same.

If we understand this simple *tattva* (principle) of life—that we came from the same Source and we return to it—we will realize that we are connected to something much greater than our individual self.

#### **I am the Source of All Light**

The Universal consciousness manifests in numerous ways and is also responsible for destruction. When the same Universal energy is unmanifest, unexpressed, it exists in potential form. This is referred to as *puruṣa* in the scriptures. When this energy manifests itself in this world, taking various names, forms, and shapes, it expresses itself as prakṛti. *Prakṛti* is the creative expression of *puruṣa.*

The life force that caused us to be born also maintains us. Every little thing happening within us is carried out by the same intelligence that brought us into this world. Similarly, the same intelligence accompanies us when we leave the body.

The water of the ocean is the *puruṣa* and the waves that dance and play are *prakṛti*. The water appears to be divided in the form of waves of many shapes and sizes. In reality it is one mass of the same water. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa reminds Arjuna that the supreme spirit appears to be divided into *puruṣa* and *prakṛti* because of the different creations and expressions of *prakṛti*. However, He is beyond all this and exists undivided. At their core, all are creations of the universal energy.

Kṛṣṇa says, 'He is the Supreme Self, or witnessing consciousness that is the source of all light in all luminous objects. He is knowledge, He is the object of knowledge, and He is the goal of knowledge. He is situated in everyone's heart.'

> *jyotiṣām api taj jyotis tamasaḥ param ucyate I jñanaṁ jñeyaṁ jñana-gamyaṁ hṛdi sarvasya viṣṭhitam II 13.18*

The sources of light as we understand them are the sun, moon, lightning, fire or artificial means like electricity. All these produce light, which makes life possible. An object that is around us becomes visible because of the light energy. The *cakṣu,* the energy behind vision, can perceive that object when the surroundings are lit up. The light energy from the sun is responsible for the birth and growth of all living beings. All beings on planet Earth depend on the sun for their survival.

What gives these sources of light the energy to run? What drives them? The Universal consciousness gives energy to all sources of light. Kṛṣṇa calls this Self the 'Source of light—*jyotiṣam api taj jyotis'*. The sources of light—the sun, the moon and lightning derive their energy from that self-luminous Self. That is why there is a common adjective given to the Self as 'effulgent' or 'luminous'.

In a deeper sense, when the Self is referred to as luminous, it is not what we normally understand. The Self is pure intelligence and this knowledge dispels ignorance. An Enlightened Master sees everything with clarity. He sees truth as it is. You see, when you are in a dark room you are ignorant of what is present in that room. When the lights are switched on, you become aware of things around you.

An Enlightened Master uses the lamp of consciousness to see the truth *as it is*, without any filters. Using this lamp, he experiences his surroundings in totality, in completion with the whole. This lamp is not like any other lamp; it cuts the layers of ignorance, however deep they may be. That is why the Master sees 360 degrees around him. He does not filter what he sees like we do. Please understand, the filtering that we do is the cause of our problems, our incompletions. We do not see whatever exists *as it exists*. We distort it to suit our inadequate, limited ideas, that are born out of our root thought patterns.

The ego is like darkness; it has no positive existence. Just as darkness is the absence of light, the ego is the absence of awareness. To struggle to kill the ego is like struggling to push darkness out of the room. To expel the darkness, what you need to do is to forget about dealing with the darkness. Focus your energy on light instead.


All our problems, all our incompletions arise due to the ignorance of our true nature. The understanding that we are beyond all petty things like fighting for name, fame, money or power liberates us from them. A cognitive shift happens that transforms and frees us from the bondage of material things. This cognitive shift can happen at any time, to anyone. It is not necessary that you be brought up in an ashram, listening to God's name all the time. You could be anywhere, doing anything. And when it happens, it is a quantum jump in the level of consciousness. It does not happen gradually. It is spontaneous enlightenment. It is like pressing a switch and the whole room is lit up in one shot.

Understand, your cognition is changeable, transformable is the first cognition you need. Whenever people realize that they are beyond the bondages of body and mind, that their cognition is changeable, spontaneous Enlightenment happens. When people who go on doing completion, with their body and mind, along with the basic root-pattern that their cognition is *not* changeable; then finally, at one point, they break and understand that cognition is changeable, they become enlightened. That is called Enlightenment process, gradual Enlightenment. People who immediately understand that cognition is changeable and awaken, are people who have become spontaneously enlightened, they have instant Enlightenment.

Please listen. You go on believing that because you are *seeing* from the time of your birth, seeing is hardware of you like the eyes. You don't separate eyes and seeing, you don't separate ears and hearing, you don't separate tongue and tasting. You don't separate *kṣetra* and *kṣetrajña* , the one watching the *kṣetra*. You think that if it is there, it is there, which is not the truth. Cognition is changeable. Cognition is transformable. With this clarity that the cognition is transformable, now decide and be liberated. Just an understanding that our cognition is changeable and transformable, that we are beyond material pursuits is enough to liberate us.

I tell you, just know your incompletions with this clarity that cognition is changeable, the incompletions of *kṣetra* will lose power over you. Incompletions will have power over you as long as you feel cognition is not changeable. With this understanding of *kṣetrajña*, start living and thinking. Regardless of your present position, your very thinking will be completion. This is the science of spontaneous completion, instant completion.

#### **Technique For Spontaneous Completion**

Completion does not mean blindly accepting everything that happens in your life, in the *kṣetra*. It simply means not resisting life as it happens to us. The root of all our incompletions is the idea we carry— Life should not be this way.

That is why we spend our whole life asking, 'Why, why, why? Why is life so bad? Why did this happen to me? Why do bad things happen to good people?'

Spontaneous completion or instant completion means simply dropping the wrong understanding that is creating conflict for you in a particular situation.

It is possible! Next time you face a crisis or conflict in life, don't ask, 'Why is life this way? Instead, decide: this is life, so now what? Do I want to accept it and move on? Do I want to reject it and move on? Or do I change it the way I want?

Whatever decision you make out of this cognition will be right for you. When you act out of completion, you are empowered to resolve any conflict that happens inside you or outside you.

# Manys People, Many Paths

*13.25 Some perceive the Paramātman in their inner psyche through mind and intellect that have been purified by meditation Or by metaphysical knowledge [sāṅkhya yoga], and others through working without fruitive desire [karma yoga].*

*13.26 There are those who, although not conversant in spiritual knowledge, begin to worship the Supreme personality upon hearing about Him from others. Through the process of hearing about the Supreme Self, they also transcend the path of birth and death.*

*13.27 Bhārata, know that whatever you see in Existence, both the movable or the immovable, comes into being only by the union of kṣetra, the field and kṣetrajña, the knower of the field.*

In this verse, Kṛṣṇa gives various techniques for the path to Self-realization. He says various methods or paths may be used to realize our true Self.

People say 'As many Masters, so many paths.' Actually it should be 'As many disciples, so many paths!' Each disciple can have his own path. This is what Kṛṣṇa says. We can attain the ultimate consciousness through different paths.

Kṛṣṇa says that through meditation or yoga or knowledge or contemplation or surrendering to the Divine, you can attain liberation. All the different methods lead to the same goal. Each chapter of the *Bhagavad Gītā* gives a different technique to realize the Self.

After our Inner Awakening meditation program, I give spiritual names to those who ask for it. I give the names based on the energies of the devotees. The names depend on how they connect to the Cosmic THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM. If I see that individuals act at an emotional level like devotion, I give names that suit that particular energy. The second category is intellectual people. Intellectual people are those who connect at a mental level. They need logical explanations for everything. The third category is of those who connect at the being level.

When I ask for their names, I meditate on their energies and give them the spiritual names. The spiritual name gives them a path, and the path is different for each one. The name has significance. The name reminds you of your path. We generally associate ourselves with our name. So whenever you utter your name or when somebody calls you by your spiritual name, it rings a bell in your head. It guides you to the destination.

Kṛṣṇa tells Arjuna about the paths. He gives alternatives: meditation, yoga, chanting *mantra,* learning and acquiring knowledge and surrendering to the Cosmos.

#### **Follow Your Own Path**

Listen. You should know which path is good for you. Lots of people take up a spiritual path without knowing what it is. You can have a starting point but you should find out if you are on the right path. You should not blindly follow someone because someone you know is following that guru or that path.

A small story:

On a dark night, a man discovered that the headlights of his car had failed. He decided to follow the car in front of him. It was dark outside and he could not see anything. If the car in front took a turn, he also took that turn. He managed quite well using the light from the car ahead of him.

After some time, the lights of the lead car switched off and

came to a sudden halt. The second driver bumped into the car and shouted at the driver of the first car, 'Why did you stop?'

'I've reached my house. What do you expect me to do?' replied the other driver.

You see, if you follow something or someone blindly, you will not reach the correct destination. You must know your own path.

There are different paths to realize the truth. However, we must understand what our path is. This is where a true Enlightened Master can enrich you. He knows exactly what the path is for you. He corrects you when you are on the wrong path.

In this verse Kṛṣṇa gives different techniques, like meditation, yoga, knowledge. Lots of people do these things. Some people ask, '*Swamiji,* I am meditating daily for 21 minutes. I am still unable to feel anything. Why is it?' I ask them, 'Tell me with integrity and authenticity, are you meditating with full intensity and full awareness? When you are meditating, is your mind with your body or are you thinking about the office?' Naturally, they do not say anything after that.

You see, all the techniques must be done out of completion. Meditation must be done with awareness. Everything you do can be meditation if you do it with awareness and intensity.

Kṛṣṇa gives it as a path to attain the Ultimate consciousness. In this verse Kṛṣṇa talks about *sāṅkhyena,* through knowledge or philosophical discussion. He says you can attain the goal using knowledge. Understand, gathering knowledge and philosophical discussions can be done in two ways. Many people read a lot of books. These people are the intellectuals. They collect knowledge like others collect stamps or coins. But if you look deeper, the knowledge will be just another manifestation of their ego. They would just show off. They would not have really assimilated the knowledge for themselves. If we discuss for the sake of showing our knowledge and ego, we have made no use of that knowledge.

At the end of the verse, Kṛṣṇa gives a wonderful technique. He gives the ultimate technique, the technique of surrendering. He says, '*Surrender the outcome of your actions to Me.*' This is the most effective technique. He talks about it throughout the Gītā.

**Just surrender the fruits of your actions to Him, the Universal Consciousness.** Most often, we take responsibility for the outcome of our actions. That is when our tensions and problems start. Just surrender everything to the Cosmic energy of Kṛṣṇa. Once we do, we will feel liberated. We will feel free. This is the easiest path to reach the truth.

Listen. A person need not have any spiritual knowledge to start on a particular path. There is no prerequisite. Even if the person is totally new to spirituality, he can follow a spiritual path. Only a cognitive shift must happen.

So many Enlightened Masters did not have any prior knowledge about spirituality. They just realized that their cognition is changeable. Let me tell you about the Enlightened Master, Mahaṛṣi Vālmikī who wrote the great epic Rāmāyaṇa.

Before Enlightenment, he was a highway robber. Whenever wealthy people crossed that jungle, he robbed them.

> One day the sage Nārada was passing through that jungle. Nārada is cosmically known for his devotion to Viṣṇu. All Nārada had was a small stringed instrument that he played while constantly singing the praises of Viṣṇu.

> When Vālmikī saw him, he stopped him and said, 'Give me everything you have, otherwise I will kill you!'

> Nārada told him, 'I don't have anything with me except this small instrument and God's name. So I can't give you anything.'

> Vālmikī thought he was bluffing. He asked Nārada, 'How can you not have anything?'

Nārada smiled and asked, 'What do you do with all these

things that you rob from others?' Vālmikī told him, 'These are for my family, my children, my wife and my parents.'

Nārada asked, 'You do all this for your children, wife and parents. Do you think they will stay with you forever?'

Vālmikī told Nārada, 'Yes, of course, they will be with me. I get them wealth and food. They will always be with me.'

Nārada once again asked him, 'Are you sure they will always be there for you?'

Vālmikī became irritated. He replied, 'Can't you understand? I am sure that they will always be there for me.'

Actually Nārada was only keeping Vālmikī engaged in a conversation and made him look at life from a different cognition. Finally Nārada asked, 'Okay, you have lots of trust that your family will always support you; they will always be there for you. Will they be there when you die? If you ask them to die with you, will they agree?'

Vālmikī confidently answered, 'I am sure at least one of them will come if I ask them. I am robbing people only to support them. They are surviving because I get them this wealth. I am sure if I ask, they will die with me.'

Nārada said, 'Okay, if you think they will do that for you, go and ask them and come back to me. If any one of them agrees, you can kill me. I will not go anywhere. I will stay here.'

Vālmikī agreed and went home. He asked his wife first if she would die with him. His wife said, 'Dear, it is true that I am your other half, but I don't think it is fair to ask me to die with you. When it comes to your death, it is your death only.'

Vālmikī was shocked. Anyway, he thought his children would surely go with him, as they loved him very much. They said, 'Father, we are young. We haven't seen the world yet. You have seen everything but we haven't. How can we die with you?'

Vālmikī became depressed. His wife and children were saying they wouldn't be there with him when he died. He then thought his parents would surely go with him as they had taken care of him and had raised him. So he went up to them and to his surprise, they said, 'Why should we die with you? We are enjoying our life with our grandchildren.'

This shocked him. He went back to Nārada and told him what had happened. Nārada listened and told him, 'The only person who can be with you always is God.'

This statement changed the whole life of Vālmikī. He realized the futility of what he was doing. He sat in the forest and meditated so deeply and for so long that an anthill formed on top of him. That is how he got his name '*Vālmikī',* which means 'born from an anthill'. When he came out of meditation, he was enlightened!

Vālmikī did not have any knowledge about spirituality. He was a robber. That one statement by Nārada made all the difference. He started looking inward after that, and became enlightened.

Please listen! Just because someone has spiritual knowledge, it does not mean that he is actually a seeker. Actually, all they have is intellectual knowledge, not spiritual knowledge. When they speak, they do not speak out of experience. That is the difference between an Enlightened Master and a normal person. When an enlightened master speaks about spirituality, he speaks from his experience of the truth. When a normal person speaks, it is his ego that is speaking.

That is what Kṛṣṇa says. You do not need prior knowledge about spirituality to embark on a path. Even if someone simply tells you about it and you start following a path, it is enough. But be very clear, you should know what you are doing. Don't do anything blindly. In the previous verse, we have talked about it. We should understand what our path is. That's all.

Whatever you see is a combination of matter and energy. The whole Universe is seen as *kṣetra* and *kṣetrajña*, *māyā* and *ātman*, *prakṛti* and *puruṣa*, matter and energy, body-mind and consciousness. Existence as we see it cannot be with only one of them. If we believe that what we see is simply matter, we are in illusion or *māyā.*

*Kṣetra* is the body that we associate ourselves with and *kṣetrajña* is the consciousness. What we see as a human body is a combination of both. If there is no consciousness, the body is useless. The matter that we call a body comes to life because of consciousness. Both must be there.


*Prakṛti* is the manifest and *puruṣa* is the unmanifest. *Kṣetra* is like *prakṛti*. It is the manifested, that which we can see. Along with what you see, there is something behind its existence. It is *puruṣa* or the unmanifest, the energy behind the matter, which we do not normally see.

We have seen in the earlier verses that all the millions of stars, planets and other celestial bodies exist in perfect harmony. How are they moving in such order? Look at our solar system. All the planets move in perfect paths. If we think they are rocks, dust or ice, if we think they are simply matter, how is such an order maintained in the Universe? They are not solely matter. There is something behind the existence of that matter. There is so much chaos; yet there is a beautiful order in that chaos. Order is present because of *kṣetrajña.* If it were solely matter or *kṣetra*, there would not be any intelligence. There is intelligence in that matter. That intelligence or consciousness creates this existence. So the combination of *kṣetra* and *kṣetrajña* is necessary.

Modern science has shown that matter and energy are the same. They are interchangeable. The outer-world scientists proved this recently. However, the inner-world scientists proved it thousands of years ago. Matter and energy coexist to create existence.

We should understand that *kṣetra* and *kṣetrajña* are not separate entities when we analyze them at a deeper level. *Kṣetra* and *kṣetrajña* are comprised of the same thing. *Kṣetra* is the gross form of the energy that also makes up the subtle form of the *kṣetrajña*. For existence to happen, both the subtle and gross forms must be there.

How we look at things around us defines our lifestyle. We again and again look at things as only matter. When we see only this gross level, fear and greed creep into us. We then want to get more and more of this matter. We live a materialistic life when we think that all we see is solely matter. When we live at the *kṣetra* level, we live in an illusion or *māyā.* We want to possess the matter.

But when we realize that it is energy also, we think, 'How can I possess energy? Is it possible to possess it?' No. We can't hold energy in a bag. When this realization happens, we recognize the futility of running after different things that we think are only matter.

### We Are Brahman

*   13.28 One who sees the Supreme Spirit accompanying the individual soul in all bodies, who understands that neither the individual soul nor the Supreme Spirit is ever destroyed, he actually sees.
*   13.29 When one does not get degraded or influenced by the mind and when he can see the Supreme Spirit in all living and non-living things, one reaches the transcendental destination.
*   13.30 One who can see that all activities are performed by the body, which is created of material nature, Sees that the Self does nothing, he actually sees.
*   13.31 When a person can see the Supreme Self in all living entities, then he will cease to see the separateness among the living entities. He will see that the whole Universe (Brahman) is an expansion and expression of the same truth.

Kṛṣṇa says, 'Anyone who has reached Self-realization or the ultimate consciousness sees that the Supreme Self is present in all living and non-living entities. He perceives the Supreme Self as the indestructible, beginning-less witnessing consciousness.'

The Existence that we see is not comprised of individual entities. We think that we are separate from others around us. In reality, we are all one. The same Supreme Self, *Parameśvara* that Kṛṣṇa speaks about is present in all of us and in everything we see around us.

As I tell everyone, 'I am not here to prove that I am God, I am here to prove that you are God.'

This is the truth. When I say this, people say, 'No, no, *Swamiji*. How can we be God? We have done many sins. We agree that you are God because you have healing powers. But how can we be God?'

Please understand one thing. It is not that you are not God because you have committed sins. Understand that you do not become a devil if you commit a sin. You are still God. Sins do not qualify or disqualify you from being a God. Your nature is Godliness. Sin is a concept developed by society to control people. The soul of a robber has the same qualification to reach the truth as that of a priest in a temple.

We create a barrier between God and us. We are not ready to believe that what we call God is inside us also. We happily accept someone else standing in front of us as God; however, we cannot accept that the same God is inside us.

Society would find it difficult to keep us under control if we were to call ourselves Gods!

Let me tell you an incident from my own life:

I left home at seventeen with nothing, nothing at all, and traveled northwards in Bharat. As I had vowed to carry no money, I traveled without a ticket on train. In the northern part of Bharat, my saffron robe was a passport to free travel. No one bothered me.

However, once when I was traveling towards Kolkata, a ticket examiner asked for my ticket. In my broken Hindi mixed with the local language of Bengali, I asked him, 'What ticket? I am Brahman (universal energy). This train is Brahman. You are Brahman. Why ticket?'

He was a good man. Not only did he let me travel without a ticket, he also bought food for me!

Yes, we are all Brahman. God is everywhere. Divine energy fills and overflows in all places. The only problem is we do not see this. We only see one thing at a time. We see God as someone different and powerful. We create a big gap between God and us.

People in the West call Hindus 'idol worshippers'. They make fun

of them. Actually there are people in Bharat too who make fun of idol worship. All the so-called intellectuals and scientific people look down upon people who worship idols. Some so-called neo-vedantis preach *Vedānta* but consider idol worship unscientific. The same is true about performing rituals like *homa* (fire rituals) or *abhiṣekha* (water rituals).

We should understand there is more than an idol in front of us when we worship. When we worship, we worship *through* the idol. We do not worship the idol itself. When we see the energy behind the idol and worship that energy, that worship has value. That is the science also.

Let me ask you, why do we feel a great sense of relief after we pray to God sincerely? Why do we feel a sense of satisfaction when we come out of the temple after prayers? Why do we feel light? When we see the energy behind the idol and worship that energy, we connect to that energy. When I say we connect to that energy, we create a channel for the soul that is inside us to connect to the supreme Self. This brief time of connection relieves us from our burdens of duties. We see the Supreme Spirit in the idol and pour out our problems in the form of prayers.

We feel relieved because we have full faith in the Supreme Spirit, *Param Īśvara*. We have full confidence that the Supreme Spirit will take care of us. We believe in the supreme spirit but we do not believe that the soul that we see in us is also the supreme spirit! We are not able to internalize this truth.

#### **Everything Is The Supreme Spirit, Parameśvara**

Kṛṣṇa says the soul, *ātma* that is in us and the soul, *ātma* that is in others is the Supreme Spirit and the Supreme Soul. But what do we do? We isolate our soul. We define a boundary for our soul and separate it from the Supreme Spirit, *Parameśvara*. It is like this. There are ten pots of water and there is the reflection of the sun in all the ten pots. Each pot thinks that it holds the sun. All ten pots think that each one is holding a different sun.

In the same way, we think the soul inside us is different from the soul outside us. When we see the same soul everywhere in everything, when we break the pots, we see what the supreme Self is.

Kṛṣṇa says, 'When we see that the Supreme Soul that resides in us and in everything around us—*samaṁ sarveśu bhūteṣu tiṣṭhaṁ parameśvara*, is indestructible—*avinaśyantam*, we see the truth.'

The only thing that lives forever is the soul. We should understand that. Everything else must die one day. When we realize this truth, when we understand that only the soul can remain forever, our whole race to get more and more becomes worthless. We realize, 'What is the use of running after things that we know are not going to be with us forever?'

When this is realized, we see the truth.

The mind is the only obstacle on the path to reach the ultimate goal. In the previous verse, Kṛṣṇa tells us how we can see the truth. Here Kṛṣṇa talks about the hurdle that we must cross. He says that when we are not degraded or influenced by the mind, we can see the supreme spirit in everything. Only when we can do that, can we reach the final destination.

We talk about the mind as separate from ourselves. We say, 'It is thinking a lot.' We do not understand what the mind is and we start talking about it. What is the mind actually? It is only an organized structure gifted by God as a tool. The mind is man's servant that helps satisfy his needs and necessities in order to lead a happy life.

The reason for the incompletions is that the mind, which should be under the control of man, has become a structure that controls man. If a servant behaves like a master, what will happen? An immature servant becoming a master is like catching a monkey and putting it on the throne. If we can keep the mind aside for a while, we see the truth as it is. Our mind cannot accept that the Supreme Soul is in everything around us. Our soul inside us knows that the Supreme Soul is everywhere. But our mind creates a strong sheath around it. Our mind takes control over us. It harbors past memories (*saṁskāras*) and creates an illusion that leads to wrong cognition.

When we were children, the mind did not have much power. When we were children, we did not build new root thought patterns, *saṁskāras*. The conditioning by society builds layers and layers of these *saṁskāras* that give power to the mind. Actually when people say that a child is growing up, it only implies that the child is growing smaller and smaller, only the mind is growing up. The soul is being pushed into a corner and the mind, with its root thought patterns, is given more and more power. This mind prevents us from seeing the Supreme Soul in everything around us. Be very clear, if we are out of the clutches of the mind, we see reality.

We are safe as long as we can separate the Self from the body and watch as the body reacts to materialistic things. As long as we know that the soul is supreme and the body is a means to fulfill our worldly desires, we are safe. We are on the right path of completion. However, when we place the body over the soul, the incompletion starts.

We give so much importance to this body, but we don't really respect it. Instead we make use of it. We abuse our body. We consider our body to be a tool to experience the sense pleasures from the outside world. That is why we take care of our body. We want our body to be safe so that we can enjoy. We want our body to look good all the time.

We must understand why we assume this human body form and come to planet Earth. This birth that we have taken is to fulfill the carried-over desires of our previous births. These desires are called *prārabdha karma*. Our soul has taken this body to fulfill our *prārabdha karma*. When we die, our last thought decides our next birth. Our soul chooses the body that can fulfill the desires of our last birth. This is the truth.

Understand that we assume a body to fulfill the desires carried over from our previous life. However, what happens is that we create new desires in this life as well. We use our body to experience the sense pleasures and we create more and more desires. Because of this, we fall into the cycle of birth and death. Once we realize that our soul takes this body to complete a mission that it left unfinished in our previous birth, our attitude towards our whole body will change.

People ask me, '*Swamiji*, why do Enlightened Masters take human

birth? Why do they need a body if they are already enlightened, if they have fulfilled all their desires?'

> There is a beautiful incident from Rāmakṛṣṇa Paramahamsa's life, the Enlightened Master, Incarnation. He told his disciples, 'Once when I was returning from my village in an ox cart, some robbers stopped us. I started repeating all the names of Gods so that at least one would work.'

> He then explains why even Enlightened Masters hold onto their body. He says beautifully, 'A little of my mind is attached to the body so that it can enjoy the love of God and the company of the devotees.'

See how beautifully he says it. Please listen. An Enlightened Master holds onto his body out of pure compassion for others. An Enlightened Master wants to see transformation in others and he can do it more effectively when he is in the body. He does not have any other desire. He can leave his body any time. He holds his body through a thin thread of ego for enriching others.

We always want to get more and more out of our body. We want our eyes to see more television; we want our stomach to hold more food; we want our ears to hear louder music. We do all this out of greed. We want to experience more and more sense pleasures. Instead, if we look at our body with gratitude, when we thank our body every moment for the support it has given us, we connect with our body at a deeper level.

#### **The Self Does Nothing**

Our body is the temple of our soul. We should respect our body. We should look at our body with gratitude, not greed. We should thank our body, *prakṛti* for holding our spirit, our soul, *ātma*. Then, we will see a different dimension of our body.

Here Kṛṣṇa says, whatever we think we are enjoying, actually it is the body that is enjoying—*prakṛtaiva ca karmāṇi kriyamāṇāni sarvaśaḥ*

(13.30). Our body enjoys all the material comforts. Our soul can live without them. Our soul is pure consciousness. It does not need anything external to keep it happy.

Actually our soul is always in a state of bliss. It is always ecstatic. Our body is an embodiment of bliss. Whatever material things we think we need, whatever material comforts we think we enjoy, they are needed and enjoyed only by our body. Our soul does not need any of them.

The problem starts when we think that our soul needs these material things. We associate the happiness from the external materials with our soul. This is where the problem begins. We think the happiness that we gain from material comforts is because our soul feels happy to have them. That is when we accumulate more and more of these material comforts. We run after them.


Brahma is the Lord of creation. Creation is of the past. To exist in the physical plane, we need to have been created. To maintain is the job of Viṣṇu. Maintenance is about the future. It is about how we wish to be, what we wish to have, our desires, our expectations and everything related to the future. Śiva is the Lord of the present. He is the Destroyer of the future, making it flow into the past, by way of the present. He is the Master of the here and now.

Śiva is the Rejuvenator, not just the Destroyer. The present always rejuvenates. In Saṃskṛit, Śiva means 'causeless auspiciousness'. The present is the most auspicious; whatever happens in the present is auspicious. We should develop the attitude of accepting what happens in the present as auspicious.

Past, present and future, all three are in the same DNA seed of Kāla! Listen! If Kāla is the seed, past, present and future, all these three are in that seed, in the form of DNA. Your attitude towards the past and your attitude towards the future will be same. If you think that you are powerless, you were powerless in your past and you will be powerless in the future also. Understand, the impact of the past enters as a perverted inadequate cognition in your present and destroys your future.

Listen! Your inner space experiences the past and future in the same language, in the same way. I will tell you how your past is built. Incidents, your perceptions and your self-assessments are the pillars on which your past is built. If you complete yourself now, if you complete your perception and self-assessments, sixty percent of your past will be burnt! Then can your past stand as it is now? No! It will just be with facts. So, your past will lose its power over you. Your past will be transformed. That is the way your future will be transformed.

You need to catch it and live it! The words you utter inside and outside you is hundred percent you. It is not bad news. It is good news. Understand, because you can change now! If you utter the word now and complete, 'I drop the past; it has no power over me' 'I am declaring and committing to myself that I am a winner. I am a success. I am Śiva— *Mangalatva* (auspiciousness)!'

You can be complete now! By declaring that you are complete, just once in the present, you can finish off all your millions of declarations in the past. Because when time and space cross, the declarations you make are alive and powerful! Time and space always cross in the present moment. In any legal system, the latest order will be the order that will be executed. Even in your life, only your latest declaration will be executed.

Śiva is completion. Completion is auspiciousness. If you declare completion now, you are complete. When you complete, you transcend the past and the future. Wherever you go, you are going to be carrying this auspiciousness, radiating it. You will be a moving auspiciousness.

There are two kinds of people. The first type looks at everything suspiciously. They find everything unsatisfactory, incomplete. These people say, 'All very well, but…' They cannot say anything without 'butting'. Such people can never be happy. Their logic gets sealed in inadequate cognitions when incompletions drive them. They live with an idea of what life should be, rather than accepting it as it is. They are purely materialistic.

When you are driving out of incompletion, you may have one dimension success in the life. But you will fail in life itself! Listen! One dimension success in life is not success. For example, if you have a root thought pattern of fear or shivering in you, even if you make billions of dollars out of that root pattern, you will not achieve satisfaction. Because the reason why you are making money is to feel secured. You will feel secured only when you break that pattern, not my money! It is wrong strategy, for the wrong reason!

#### **Life has no 'ifs' or 'buts'! But our fear does not even allow us to think that there is a space where there is no 'ifs' and 'buts'. This space of no 'ifs' or 'buts' is Enlightenment.**

The second type finds everything to be auspicious! Whatever happens is as it should be. They welcome life as it is. They carry the space of completion. These are the people who Kṛṣṇa says transcend creation and dissolution, past and future—*sarge api nopajāyante pralaye na vyathanti ca.* They live in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

# **The Great 'why'**

Kṛṣṇa is trying to answer philosophical questions that can never really be answered: How is the whole Universe created? If everything is God, why is the Universe created? How are we born? Whoever tried to answer these questions just created another philosophy.

Out of frustration, someone once asked me such questions, 'Why are we born? Why this whole drama of taking birth, meditating, then achieving enlightenment? Why? For whose sake is this drama? If we must end up working out our *karma*, why do we create karma in the first place? What is the reason for this?'

You need to know one important truth. When it comes to Cosmic questions, unless you discover your answer, you will never be in peace. 'Why', 'the why' related to the outer world can be answered by others. 'Why should I drive the vehicle from the left?'; 'why should I drive a vehicle at all?' 'Why' related to the outer world can be answered by the law of the land or the outer world science. But all the 'whys' related to cosmic law, all the 'whys' related to life can be answered only by yourself by discovering it. I tell you, the religion you discover is your religion, not the religion you are born in, is your religion. Answer you discover is your answer!

For this great 'why' you have to discover an answer. If you accept my answer for 'why', you will be living for my answer. At the most, my answer should be an inspiration for you to find out the answer for 'why'.

Kṛṣṇa tries to answer these questions as an inspiration for Arjuna to find his own answer for his 'why'. However, this answer is not the ultimate Truth. He says, 'Please wait until the teachings are over.' Normally when we don't receive an answer for our philosophical question, we will be stuck with that 'why'.

Kṛṣṇa says, 'I am the seed-giving father, the *pitā*, I am the root cause for everything—a*haṁ bīja pradaḥ pitā* (14.4).'

'Why', this 'great why' is Kṛṣṇa's seed put inside you and sent, so that you won't rest until you become a tree. Understand, each seed has an energy called '*vīrya'* that does not rest until it produces more seeds. Until then, it cannot rest. Even if you destroy the seed or eat the seed, that *vīrya* goes into your body and does its job in some other way! Here, Arjuna also comes back to the same great 'why' again and again and gets stuck. For the sake of inspiration or just for the sake of giving him an understanding, Kṛṣṇa gives an answer.

Listen, Kṛṣṇa's words can be fully understood only when we experience the consciousness of Kṛṣṇa. Until then, it is just a cognition. Even if it is a cognition, it is okay. Proceed with this new cognition into the next chapters, into the next verse. Suddenly, when you see the result, we will understand that whatever you have cognized is the truth. Kṛṣṇa makes this declaration so that you can understand the truth. You can discover the root cause based on which you cognize your whole life, based on which your consciousness functions.

# Natural Attributes,

Gunas

.

*14.5 Material nature consists of the three modes: goodness, passion and ignorance. When the living entity comes in contact with nature, it becomes conditioned by these modes.*

- *14.6 O Sinless One, the mode of goodness, satva, being purer than the others, is illuminating, and it frees one from all sinful reactions. Those situated in that mode develop knowledge, but they become conditioned by the concept of happiness.*
- *14.7 Kaunteya, know that the mode of passion, rajas, is characterized by intense craving and is the source of desire and attachment. Rajas binds the living entity by attachment to work.*
- *14.8 Know, O Arjuna, that the mode of ignorance, tamas, the deluder of the living entity, is born of inertia. Tamas binds the living entity by carelessness, laziness, and excessive sleep.*

Material nature consists of three modes or attributes: goodness, passion and ignorance. These are called *Guṇas* in Saṃskṛit. Kṛṣṇa explains how we are operate through three different types of root thought patterns. One is *satva*, the other is *rajas* and the third is *tamas*. These are translated as goodness, passion and ignorance; however, these are not exact translations.

Let me explain these concepts: *Satva* refers to the root patterns that lead us to bliss, the space of completion. These root patterns lead us to joy and ecstasy. *Rajas* refers to the root patterns that lead us to restlessness, excitement and to work intensely. They make us active and materially productive. The third attribute, *tamas*, refers to the root patterns that lead us to depression, laziness and to dullness. Root patterns that lead to ecstasy and bliss form *satva.* Root patterns that lead to restlessness, anger and emotional imbalance form *rajas*. Root patterns that lead to depression, dullness and low moods form *tamas.* Those root thought patterns that automatically arise and imbalance our cognition, and lead to depression are called *tamas.*

Sometimes a thought suddenly comes up, 'I will not let him off so easily. I will see that he learns a lesson. I will not let him go.' We may unexpectedly make an angry gesture with our hands while engrossed in this thought.

Patterns that make us active or cause anger or violence and imbalance our cognition are called rajas. We are normally caught between rajas and *tamas.* Very rarely do we get *sātvic* patterns. *Sātvic* patterns do not disturb us. They give rise to a memory of deep completion, bliss or joy that we have experienced. If we are pulled inwards, if we are made to do something good that leads to bliss, ecstasy and peace of mind, it is due to root patterns of *satva*, *sāvtic* memories.

For example: if we go to the Himalayas for a few days, we may experience joy and peace. Then later when we see pictures of a mountain, the memory of the Himalayan experience suddenly comes up and we think, 'Oh, I should spend a couple of months in the Himalayas again. It was so peaceful.' Patterns that lead us to peace, bliss and ecstasy are *sāvtic* patterns.

## **The Science of Completion**

These three different types of root thought patterns or *saṁskāras* rule our entire life. Knowledge of these root patterns is the basic knowledge that must be possessed by anyone who wants to live successfully. Ayurveda, the *Vedic* science of health and wellness, is structured around the concept of *guṇas* and their effect on our body-mind system.

Understanding the three different root thought patterns or *saṁskāras* is the operating manual for the mind, the inner space. The science of completing with these roots thought patterns is the owner's manual for life. This is the basic life science! Kṛṣṇa calls it *Guṇatraya Vibhāga Yoga*.

 When we don't comprehend this manual, we are not able to catch the whole understanding of life. We miss so many opportunities. We miss expansion in life, growth in life. We miss many possibilities in many dimensions. We miss the actual life itself! Because we have never learned or understood about the *guṇas,* we live only a very small fraction of what is possible in life.

Listen! At the outset, root patterns are not dead memories. *Mūla vāsanas* are living bio-memories and muscle-memories, not dead memories. The more we travel with these memories, the more we live with these memories, the more they become a part of our being. They take up residence in deeper levels of our consciousness. They get engraved into our brain structure.

Kṛṣṇa explains step-by-step how we become caught in these three levels of root patterns and how, we are pulled and pushed by these patterns. It is almost like having three wives. If we have one woman in our life, enlightenment is a luxury. If we have two women, enlightenment is an option. If we have three women, enlightenment is compulsory! With three wives or husbands, one cannot live without enlightenment.

Someone asked me, 'Why did Kṛṣṇa have so many girlfriends?' I answered, 'This is solid proof that He is enlightened! The fact that He survived despite having so many girlfriends is evidence of Enlightenment. No doubt, that is also solid proof that He is God!'

Here, He gives us an understanding of how to find these root thought patterns and complete with these bio-memories and muscle-memories. Another important point is that because these memories are living energies, they can be used for creating powerlessness, the space of incompletion or powerfulness, the space of completion.

**Understand, the inner space you carry is such a powerful space.** When a person has energies to do powerless acts out of incompletion, we can tap into those energies and make him do powerful acts out of completion. From my experiences of conducting meditation programs in prisons, no one puts in as much effort into meditation as a prisoner. When prisoners take up meditation, they really take it up. They are intense. When they are transformed, their whole life is transformed!

**You are hypnotized to believe that your past has influence over your future. No!** Till this moment if somebody is a sinner, in the next moment he can become a saint. Till this moment if somebody is a saint, next moment he can become a sinner! That is the beauty of Mahākāla, Time. If we look at the lives of Hindu *Ṛṣis* like Vālmikī or the great saint Aruṇāgirināthar, Pattināthar, Tulasidās and Angulimāla, they and many others were sinners.

Look at Vālmikī! What was his history? He just decided for a moment that he is disassociating from all the powerlessness space, he became a saint. See Aruṇāgirināthar, the great saint who lived in Tiruvannamalai. Till the age of thirty, he was a drunkard! In one moment he decided to live in the space of completion. The whole cognitive shift happened. He became a saint!

Same way, there are millions of stories where people decided to be in incompletion only for a moment and fell down. I can give a big list. Hṛdaya Cattopādhyaya in Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's life served him sincerely for almost twelve years. Only for one moment he decided to live in incompletion out of anger and disappeared from Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's life. Perumal Swami in Bhagavān Ramaṇa Mahaṛṣi's life served him so much. Just for a moment he decided to be in incompletion and fell down. One moment of incompletion, you can vertically fall down. In one moment of completion, you can vertically fly up; because completion or incompletion does not work logically in a horizontal way, it works in a vertical way.


Please understand, how the science of completion and incompletion work, how powerfulness and powerlessness work, how the space of *satsaṇga* and *nissaṇga* work. When you associate yourself with powerfulness, you are in *satsaṇga*. When you associate yourself with powerlessness, the wrong association, you are in *nissaṇga*.

When you allow incompletion, you cannot say, 'Oh! I allowed incompletion only for three minutes, then how can thirty years of completion be destroyed?' You cannot say, 'Oh! I put only a drop of poison in the milk!' Same way, in one minute of deciding to be complete, your *janmas* (births) of sins will be washed away. You cannot say, 'What is this? It is unfair. This person was in completion space for only one minute! How can all his sins be washed away?'

When we entertain and associate ourselves with powerlessness, powerlessness is so powerful that it can destroy us. Powerlessness is worst than alcohol and poison. Poison destroys our physiology. Alcohol destroys our psychology. Powerlessness destroys both our physiology and psychology. If we entertain powerfulness, if we complete, the same way completion will raise us so quickly! See Aruṇāgirināthar! See Pattināthar! See Vālmikī! Please understand, even for a few minutes if we decide to be in incompletion, it can put us in a space where we will stoop so low, all the *janmas* (births) of spiritual achievement will be destroyed. And the same way, if we decide to be in the space of completion for a few minutes, it can open a new consciousness for us.

The powerfulness and powerlessness, completion and incompletion doesn't work logically, it works miraculously. Miraculous changes happened to these sinners and a cognitive shift took place in their being. The shift usually happens in the way that our mind receives data, processes it and delivers the result based on the root patterns.

Once the cognitive shift takes place, we receive data, process it and go inside instead of outside. We respond from the complete cognition we carry inside and create more and more completion outside also. As long as we operate from the incomplete cognition, we react externally and we work towards depression, powerlessness. However, once we go in and complete with our root patterns, and associate ourselves with powerfulness, we move into bliss.

# **How the Mind and Senses work**

Kṛṣṇa explains how root thought patterns disturb our inner space and through this understanding, we can transform our being.

Before explaining these verses, let me present a small diagram through which we can understand how patterns affect our cognition, our decisions and how to come out of the influence of patterns.

Please understand how we receive information or data from the outer world, how we internally process it or cognize it, and how we make decisions.

I am defining Cognition.

Cognition is the process of receiving information through our five senses, processing that information internally, relating with it based on our root patterns, and responding to life based on our patterns. This is known as cognition.

First, we see something through the eyes. I have taken the example of sight but we can replace it with any other sense: like hearing, smelling, tasting or touching. Among these five *jñānendriya* (senses of perception), any one can be used here.

There are five *jñānendriya* and five *karmendriya* (senses of action) that are the means of communication between the external world and us. *Jñānendriya* are the senses of perception, the five senses of smell, taste, sight, touch and hearing. The *karmendriya* are five actions of elimination, procreation, locomotion, grasping and speaking. Each sense is related to one of the energy centers (cakras) in our body-mind system.

Let us say we see this scene of this discourse happening. You see me talking to you. First your eye captures this whole scene like a picture and this picture goes to the *cakṣu* (the energy behind the eyes). Understand, we don't see with the eye, we see through the eye. There is an energy that is inside or behind the eye that actually sees. There is an energy inside or behind the ears that hears. The ears by themselves cannot hear. That is why when we are engrossed in a book, we may not hear the alarm or doorbell ring. So, there is an energy inside the eyes that sees. We call this energy *cakṣu*. The whole scene is converted into a file like in a digital signal processor in a computer so that our mind can process the data.

The *cakṣu* is almost like the digital signal processor or DSP in electronics. In a computer, whether it is an audio or visual file, it must be converted into a digital file. In the same way in our inner space whatever we see or hear is converted into a bio-signal file like a digital file.

Then the file starts moving up, step-by-step. The file goes to the part of the mind called *citta.* If we understand this, our whole life can be transformed. We will know why we do the way we do, and how we react. We will cognize how we make big decisions based upon our root thought patterns, and consequently suffer.

The file goes to *citta*, the place where past bio-memories are collected. *Citta* means mind, inner space. This area is where the work of excluding happens as—'*Na iti, Na iti*'—this is not, this is not. The process of *neti neti* (this is not, this is not) takes place in this area. Upon seeing this file, our *citta* starts eliminating whatever the object is not.

Take the example of this scene: First you see me, the whole scene is photographed. It goes to *cakṣu* and becomes a bio-signal file. The file is then taken to *citta*, bio-memory. *Citta* says, 'This is not a tree. This is not an animal. This is not a plant. This is not this. This is not that.' The excluding process happens in *citta*.

Next, the file goes to *manas*, another part of the mind. The manas tries to positively identify, 'This is a human being. He is wearing a saffron robe. He is standing on a stage.' The identification process, '*iti, iti*' (this is it, this is it) identification process happens in manas. In *citta,* '*neti, neti'* or the 'not this, not this' elimination happens.

Once this positive identification happens, the file goes to a third part of the mind called *buddhi* or intelligence. *Buddhi* is where the trouble starts. Here the analysis starts, 'How am I related to this file? How am I connected to this scene? How is it relevant to me? How should I respond to this scene?' If past bio-memories about me have been good or pleasant according to your intelligence, you cognize and respond in a positive way. You immediately refer to those past memories and review, 'It was so good at yesterday's discourse.'

Your intelligence refers to the past bio-memory and muscle-memory and makes a decision based upon your cognition of these experiences. If your cognition about the past experiences with me has been positive, your intelligence tells you to stay and listen. If your cognition of the past experiences has been inadequate, unpleasant and you felt bored, your intelligence tells you that this is not the place for you and that you should leave. These are logical decisions based on conscious memories retained by your mind.

Up to this point, your cognition, the transmission of what is perceived by the senses and what is the response based on that pattern is relatively straightforward. It is a conscious process.

From the conscious mind, the information is passed to the unconscious space of the mind, the ego. I call this unconscious space of the mind as the ego, not because it is arrogant, but because it provides you the identity of who you are.

Your identity stems from your unconscious incompletions which are

your root patterns. You project who you wish to be, never who you are. You do not even know who you are. Who you are is deeply buried in your unconscious. All the major decisions that shape your life are consigned to this unconscious space. This is the repository of all those emotionally-filled memories, the root thought patterns and beliefs about yourself; which constitute what you believe as you, what you project as you, what others expect you to be, and what you expect others or life to be for you and therefore, create your identity. This is what I call the ego.

Identify your root pattern! Listen! I am defining 'root pattern' once more.

> Root pattern means the first time in your life when your cognitions were imbalanced, disturbed by some external force; and your terrorized being started defining yourself with a disempowering word and started defining the world in that disempowering powerless state; and to compensate from this death, the disempowering inner identity—the inner image, you create a pseudo alternative compensating cognition—the outer image. This is what I call root pattern.

When your root pattern starts, that is moment you feel yourself as an individual identity. If it starts in an accidental moment, your life will be an accident forever. It is an eternal accident. Till you complete with that root pattern, you will continue to have accidents in your life.

**Completion takes away the agitated confusion and the alternative compensating image we create in our life.** Understand, this example of your life.

Please listen! Because we have a very disempowering cognition about ourselves, we go on creating an alternative compensating cognition to compensate with our inadequate cognition. It is like you first declare you are a beggar, forgetting the billions of dollars you have in your bank balance, and then you yourself try to project the rich image to cover your belief that you are a beggar. But unfortunately, the final thing is you will project that your whole life—that you were a rich man, but lived as a poor man, but in reality you were the richest man.

Understand, you project and you try so hard to prove to the world that you are a rich man, but you always believed yourself and lived as a poor man; but in reality you are the richest man. You never knew about the wealth you had in your bank balance. It is like you kept all your money in some Swiss Bank and you forgot the number. To compensate the inadequate cognition which got created unconsciously inside you, which is your inner image, *mamakāra*, you create an alternative compensating cognition which is your outer image, *ahaṁkāra.*

Till the end you never feel satisfied, because you feel the guilt you showed, which is not true, without realizing your true identity is much more than what you can imagine and show. So, your whole life ends in deep incompletion and the trial and error methods you do with these incompletions.

If you complete now, the first thing you will realize is that the alternative compensating cognition is a lie and it will melt down. Second thing, your disempowering cognition about yourself will melt down. Third, you will realize that your original self is much more than what you projected as your outer image, the alternative compensating cognition. And you will have complete easeness between *what you feel* as you, *what you show* as you, and *what you are* as you.

The conscious mind does not make important decisions. It makes a few decisions that can be reached by its limited intellect. Anything important moves to the unconscious ego or root patterns. Our unconscious handles all life-threatening situations with the disempowering cognitions, the so-called fight-or-flight decisions. Our conscious mind is too slow to handle them.

For example, the file travels to the ego, and the ego makes the decision, and we execute it. If there are more incompletions, the file travels to every table like in a bureaucratic office. Each incompletion stamps, puts its signature and writes its opinion. Take the example of attending this discourse and seeing me. One conflicting pattern says, 'I had a master in my life. He was a blessing. He helped me a lot. I think I should sit here.' So this pattern signs, 'Yes, I will sit here.' The next conflicting pattern says, 'I read in the newspapers that these masters do this or do that.' So, the second conflicting pattern signs off saying, 'doubt'. Then the file goes to the next table, and the third conflicting pattern says, 'I attended his discourse yesterday. What he says makes sense, I think I should stay.' This conflicting pattern signs, 'yes'.

Listen. The effects of your root pattern are your conflicting patterns. Conflicting patterns are the branches which sprout from the root pattern.

When the file reaches the ego, the ego comes to a conclusion based on all the 'yes' responses and all the 'no' responses based out of your conflicting patterns. Yes or no is not a problem; however, we have wasted so much time and energy on this small decision. Not only that, any decision you take out of powerlessness, restlessness, will lead you to more and more powerless space. Understand, it is very important. Any decision, whether you get into some challenge, or you get into any relationship, or you get into a business decision, any decision, please see to it that you are in the space of powerfulness, completion!

You break relationships, you break businesses, you break partnerships, you break families, you break life itself when you are powerless, incomplete! Powerless moments in life create more and more powerless moments in life. For example, when we sit in our office, not doing anything, just sitting and worrying, we become stressed. Within fifteen minutes, we have pain in our shoulders. Worrying about simple decision-making leads to shoulder pain.

Continuously, again and again, look into the reasons for your powerlessness—why are you in conflict? Why are you in a powerless space? Whenever you are possessed by powerlessness, confusion, agitation, and you don't know what to do, please don't take any decisions in your life. All restlessness is powerlessness. The more patterns you have, the more powerless you feel, the more restless and *rājasic* you will be.

Take the example of smoking: According to the data collected at the conscious level, we know smoking is injurious to health. However, when the time comes, suddenly we decide to smoke. How does the file take such a quantum leap? How is the decision totally changed? When the file travels to the unconscious space, patterns say, 'No, no! The last time I smoked, I felt really good, I felt relieved from all the stress.'

We make countless decisions based upon root thought patterns. We repent and suffer later on. Suddenly we shout and after ten minutes, we repent, 'Why did I shout? I always wanted to keep a smiling face. Why did I shout?' We reacted suddenly due to these patterns.

We will see later how root thought patterns disturb and torture our decisions. Kṛṣṇa says that we should ask our being how we missed reality. Why are we deluded by root thought patterns?


Next, let us see how two desires conflict one another. We want to lead a peaceful life and we want wealth. With wealth comes responsibility as well. If you actually analyze your attitude towards wealth with integrity, you will understand that you are actually afraid of wealth. You hate wealth!

The fear of responsibility and the greed for wealth always go hand in hand. If you look in, you have greed for wealth, but you are not ready to take responsibility that comes with wealth. This is the self-conflicting desire. Either decide to take responsibility or decide to relax from that desire and restore your integrity by completing with it and accept whatever happens.

Only one thought should be strengthened when two desires conflict. When we have both, we have a self-conflicting mental setup. In the *satva* space, when we create self-conflicting patterns, we are automatically thrown into *rajas*.

Let me describe what Kṛṣṇa says about *rajas.* The mode of passion is born of unlimited desires and longings. This is a beautiful verse.

Kṛṣṇa says, because of this *rajas*, mode of passion, born of unlimited desires and longings, the embodied living entity is bound to doing result-oriented actions.

> *rajo rāgātmakaṁ viddhi tṛṣṇā saṅga samudhavam I tan nibadhnāti kaunteya karma saṅgena dehinam II 14.7*

He talks about desires and longings. What is the difference? Desires and longings—*rāga* means desire; *tṛṣṇā* means craving, longing. Some memories have our emotional support whereas some memories have been inserted into our being by advertisements.

Advertisements are not only on the television or in a movie theatre. If our father repeats something time and again, that is an advertisement. If our mother says again and again, 'This is right, this is for us, this is for you,' that becomes an advertisement. Some desires have our mental support. We feel these will give us fulfillment; we feel these are our genuine needs. Some desires have been sold to us by someone else. That is the difference between desires and longings.

Desires, *rāga* are ours and longings, *tṛṣṇā* have been given to us by society. Desires are inborn. They are our nature. If we fulfill desires, we feel fulfilled, relaxed and complete. With longings, the moment we fulfill them, we feel empty, incomplete. This is the difference between desire and longing. Desire gives us fulfillment, completion. Longing gives us emptiness, incompletion.

Kṛṣṇa shows us how self-conflicting desires lead us to *rajas.* When

desires contradict each other, we get confused. We fall into *rajas,* restlessness.

I have a small story for you.

One barber asks a man, 'How did you lose your hair?' The man replies, 'Worry!' The barber asks, 'What did you worry about?' The man says, 'About losing my hair!'

Your worrying makes you lose your hair. And in turn, you are worrying about losing the hair. It is a vicious circle. The more patterns you have, the more time it takes to make a decision. We will suffer and be in a dilemma. Man is a dilemma. Continuously we think, 'I should have done this,' or 'I should have done that.' I tell you, life is a failure, if in your old age, you think that you should have done all this when you were young. Dilemma is due to too many conflicting patterns

Dilemma is what Kṛṣṇa calls *rajas* and restlessness. All restlessness is powerlessness.

In rajas, we have tremendous anger, violence and inner restlessness. A person caught in rajas shouts at others and experiences an irritable mood. He has a poisonous tongue. He waits to vomit out his irritation and anger on others. What is agitation? Not taking the responsibility for what you mean to others is agitation. When you don't take responsibility for your commitments to others, you get agitated. You get irritated. If you take the responsibility for your commitments, you will not be agitated or irritated.

Please listen. How to complete with the *rajas* patterns? The first truth you need to know about completion—do completion just to be in the space of completion. All other reasons lead to more and more incompletions. Completion done in the space of completion transforms your personality, transforms your being; the intense, constant agitated violence you carry towards you and others due to *rajas* patterns.

## Bhagavad Gita Decoded

When you drop a stone in the water how the ripples are created; in the same way the moment incompletion is dropped in your consciousness, the ripples of violence towards you and others starts in your being. Worrying becomes your lifestyle. Worrying becomes the compulsive pattern in you. Not only worrying, because of worrying, the inability to handle life. At the most, you only push your life under the carpet. Pushing life under the carpet is not going to be the solution.

See, there are only three ways to handle your incompletions.

One, by pushing them under the carpet.

Second, by trying to forget them either by alcohol or by other entertainments.

Third, by completing them and liberating yourself.

Listen! Continuously completing for the sake of completion leads you to the experience of Enlightenment. I tell you, nothing can be done. When you try to push your incompletions into your unconscious mind, unfortunately, it reaches deeper and goes closer to your consciousness. Anything closer to consciousness becomes powerful. That is why a small incompletion that happened in your life when you are young or a small incompletion which you are suppressing without completing it, it explodes in you as a dangerous imbalance of your *rājasic guṇa* patterns.

Many times, your imbalance is such that you do not care about your destruction. You go on waiting in anger and expecting the other person's destruction. No! If you drink poison, how can the other person die? It is not possible. That is the biggest foolishness human beings get into. They drink the poison thinking the other person is dying.

No! I tell you, all vengeance is rooted in incompletion. Complete it. Trust the Cosmos and complete it. Once we do completion with the *rajas* patterns, we can make one thousand decisions without any stress, violence or suffering. That is why Kṛṣṇa says that when we don't expect the result, when we don't think of *karma phala* (result of the work done), we can do the work intensely.

When we don't expect or worry about the result, we work beautifully because there are fewer patterns. We will not suffer or be tortured by root thought patterns. We will be in the space of completion, which will lead to more and more completion.

### Consciousness can never be tired

In the next verse Kṛṣṇa talks about *tamas.*

He addresses Arjuna, 'Oh son of Bhārata, know that the mode of darkness, *tamas,* is born out of ignorance . It is the delusion of all embodied living entities. The result of this mode is madness, indolence and sleep, which bind the conditioned soul.'

This is a beautiful explanation of *tamas*.

> *tamas tv ajñānajaṁ viddhi mohanaṁ sarva dehinām I pramādālasya nidrābhis tan nibadhnāti bharāta II 14.8*

If there are more *vāsanas* or patterns, the file does not reach the ego easily or even fully. A powerful pattern may make the decision on the way. Why does this happen? Why do you decide unconsciously and regret later?

This unconscious space is filled with negative bio-memories, and powerlessness, restlessness. All our past bio-memory or root thought patterns are stored in your inner space as files without any logical connection between them.

This is what happens. When the file takes a quantum leap to this space, it does not reach the ego properly for a decision. It is as if your computer hard disk is loaded with high-resolution photographs and there is no further scope to work on your hard disk. Like that, when your unconscious is loaded with past root thought patterns and memories, it becomes inadequate, inefficient, and incomplete and makes superficial, illogical decisions.

Take this example: Why does drinking alcohol become a pattern, but drinking water is not becoming a pattern? Both of them, people drink every day. Water people drink more! Then, why does drinking alcohol becomes a pattern and drinking water never becomes a pattern? Because drinking water gives you completion and you are not stuck. After drinking water, you are out of thirst and are more energetic. But unfortunately, all alcoholics are either stuck with elated mood or belated mood, or depressed mood. It is the mood associated with alcohol that makes people stuck, not alcohol itself. Please understand, when a person drinks alcohol, if he feels elated or belated, he wants that mood again and again. That is why he starts and continues drinking alcohol.

Sometimes, people start enjoying even the self-sympathy, the victim mood, the depression! Even for that reason they start drinking alcohol! How do you think I liberate so many people from alcohol and smoking just through meditation, through the Inner Awakening program? Because, first I attack that mood pattern. I make sure neither they feel that elated pattern nor they feel that depressed pattern. When you break the pattern, they don't feel inspired to drink. Then addiction disappears.

Listen. When there are no patterns, there will be no need for the file to drop into the unconscious inner space for a decision. It straightaway meets the *buddhi* and ego after the mind. There are no blocks. The time taken for the unconscious process will be less than the conscious process. We will be intuitive or at the level of God.

**The level of an animal is the level of instinct; the level of man is the level of intellect; the level of God is the level of intuition. The level of instinct is the level of *tamas*; the level of intellect is the level of *rajas*; the level of intuition is the level of *satva.***

In *satva*, our mind works continuously and we make decisions, yet we do not become tired. We can be active for twenty-four hours and yet remain peaceful. This is what I call action in inaction and inaction in action. Kṛṣṇa says we will be centered when we are in *satva*. Though lots of activities go on around us, we will remain utterly relaxed in restful awareness.

The whole thing is dependent on one thing: our root thought pat-

terns or bio-memories. The number of root thought patterns determines whether we are caught in *satva, rajas* or *tamas.* These three are not enlightened states. Enlightenment is beyond these three.

If we are caught in *tamas*, we need to move towards *rajas*. If we are caught in *rajas*, make the move towards *satva.* If we are caught in *satva*, it will automatically lead us to enlightenment. How do we do this?

For example, we create a self-conflicting desire at the *satva* level. Because of that we create restlessness, the powerless space in the *rajas* level. When we feel too restless, we drop everything. We decide not to take any responsibility and we sleep instead. We fall into *tamas.*

*Tamas* is not only tiredness, sleep or depression, not taking enough responsibility is also *tamas.* Work does not need to make you tired. It is the wrong idea taught to you by the society. The only two enemies human beings have are boredom and tiredness. When you entertain them, you build wrong patterns. When you are bored of doing some work, you invoke tiredness—'Om tiredness swāha! ihāgachha! ihāgachha! (chant to invoke the presence of a deity or a quality). Please come here! Come here! Reside here! Reside here!' You invoke tiredness! You invoke depression!

Scrutinize your inner space with integrity. You will see that whenever you don't want to take responsibility, you invoke boredom, tiredness, and fear. Sometime, even greed is used as a substitute for enjoyment. Greed and fantasy are used as substitutes for alcohol and drugs. Listen, when you have a pattern of addiction and drugs, you go for it. When you are afraid that they will spoil your health, you use fantasy and greed as a powerful substitute for alcohol.

 For example, we are in tamas if we studied to become a doctor and we do not practice our profession out of laziness. If we don't practice for some other reason, that is fine. However, if we are avoiding because of laziness, we are in *tamas*.

If we drop out because of a spiritual reason such as to meditate, to go on a pilgrimage or to do spiritual work. That is fine. However, dropping out and giving up on you due to tamas means that we don't have enough energy and we cannot make a responsible decision. Why? Too many patterns block our decision process. By the time we make one decision, we feel tired and want to sleep. That is why we attempt to escape from life. Escapists are *tāmasic* people.

How many of you struggle with this *tāmasic* pattern of tiredness and laziness? It is just lack of integrity. Be integrated to your Soul. The Soul can never have tiredness, consciousness can never have tiredness. That is the truth. Whether you realize or not, you are Soul and Consciousness.

### Guarding The Senses

*14.9 The mode of goodness, satva conditions one to happiness, passion, rajas conditions him to fruits of action, and veiling of knowledge , tamas binds one to madness.*

*14.10 Sometimes the mode of passion becomes prominent, defeating the mode of goodness, O son of Bhārata. And sometimes the mode of goodness defeats passion, and at other times the mode of ignorance defeats goodness and passion. In this way there is always competition for supremacy.*
*14.11 When the light of Self-knowledge illuminates all the senses (or gates) in the body, Then it should be known that goodness is predominant.*
*14.12 O Bharatarṣabha, chief of Bhārata, when there is an increase in the mode of passion, the symptoms of great attachment, uncontrollable desire, hankering, and intense endeavor develop.*

Kṛṣṇa further explains the three modes. 'O Bhārata, sometimes the mode of goodness, *satva,* becomes prominent, defeating the modes of passion and ignorance, and at other times, ignorance defeats goodness and passion. In this way, there is always competition for supremacy.'

All of us are not completely caught in *satva* or *rajas* or *tamas*. We swing between *satva, rajas* and *tamas.* Sometimes we get up in the morning and feel fresh. We feel as if all our questions are answered; we are fresh, alive and we think we have become almost enlightened! Everything goes beautifully until evening. Suddenly we become restless. The very next day, we are in *tamas.* We don't want to do anything. These mood swings take place continuously.