### **Be Reborn with Gods**

Please listen! Every birth is your declaration of completion. You decide, 'Come on! I declare completion. I will now work from the space of completion.' During the birth you declare completion and start the whole think anew; and if you fall from the space of completion, you bring some of those past incompletions back. That is what is *prārabdha karma*. *Karma* which you bring back from the past incompletions is *prārabdha*. Whatever bio-memory you brought with you when you assumed the body is *prārabdha*. The muscle-memory you are accumulating is *agāmya,* and all collective bio-memories is *sañcita*. If you come to planet Earth only with bio-energy, without bio-memory, you are an Incarnation.

In the Inner Awakening program, we study the root thought patterns in great detail. People sometimes ask me, 'What do you give during Inner Awakening?' I tell you, I give *you* your life. I give your 'life' to you in Inner Awakening!

Only when you have found your root thought pattern and removed it and regained your consciousness, you will understand, 'Oh, God! I have literally wasted my whole life!' Understand, in the *Inner Awakening program*, I give you your life, because I help you find your root patterns and destroy it! Many superficial and deep root thought patterns will be burnt out during the meditations that the participants go through in this program. Therefore, symbolically, I give them the option to take a new spiritual name at the end, signifying a rebirth.

Kṛṣṇa says that a person living in *satva* goes to higher spaces, the abodes of the realized sages. He becomes divine, *tadottama vidāṁ lokān amalān pratipadyate (*14.14)*.* When we are steeped in *satva*, we live in restful awareness, the space of enlightenment. We live in the present moment. We are no longer attached to the results of our action and we are no longer controlled by fear and greed root patterns. We stop thinking about ourselves and we start living for others.

When one is in *tamas,* in deep ignorance and darkness, one sinks lower in rebirth. Kṛṣṇa says such a person is reborn as an animal. The lowest energy center of a human being is the *mūlādhāra cakra*, the root center. Human beings are provided with intelligence to move upward in consciousness. We have the freedom to make mistakes and we do make mistakes. When Kṛṣṇa talks about being reborn in ignorance and as animals, it is not to denigrate animals. He means, a human being who behaves instinctively, out of a blocked *mūlādhāra cakra*, and out of an animalistic nature, is ignorant of his potential as a human.

We are not human beings striving for a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings enjoying a human experience. That is the truth. We can be in this state only when we are in *satva*. When we are in *tamas*, we forget our spiritual nature. When we are in *rajas,* we have a vague idea; however, even that spiritual experience becomes an attachment, another pattern, goal and desire. We become attached to something that is beyond attachment. Kṛṣṇa says that we are reborn into this human form, back into this cycle of life and death, this cycle of *saṁsāra*, with all its suffering.

It is our choice to be instinctive and unconscious, in deep *tamas*, like an animal, or to be logical and chasing objects out of *rajas.* The third choice is to be beyond attachments, in a super conscious state of completion, in an intuitive state, in tune with our sublime *satva* nature. This choice determines our next birth. In fact, it determines whether we will even be born again.

Kṛṣṇa, the Master psychologist is right on the mark: Purification and knowledge are from *satva,* distress and greed are from *rajas*, and foolishness, madness and illusion are from *tamas*!

### **Your True Nature is PūrṆa Beyond TriguṆa**

Our center is our true nature. Our true nature is divine. We are one with the universal energy, God, *Parāśakti* or whatever we want to call it. We cannot describe it. We can just experience it. We experience bliss when our focus is in that central core and not out at the edges of our personality. Throughout life we run away from that center, that core of bliss, that space of completion.

Let me define Completion.

**Completion is removing the delusion of incompletion, which makes you cognize the other is separate from you; the delusive cognizance, the delusive cognition.**

Our senses lead us towards the periphery where incompletions are, where material objects are. Our inner core is empty: it is *śūṇya*. But it is also *pūrṇa*, complete by itself with nothing else needed to top off the bliss. However, the outer periphery of incompletions is forever changing. Nothing is eternal about it. Even when objects are the same, our perceptions keep changing. This periphery is *māyā*, illusion, *tamas,* ignorance. Understand, incompletion has no existence. Incompletion is the delusive cognition that stands between you and the Whole. Complete with everything.

Our *rājasic* nature, the restless activity that strives to introduce purpose into something that is essentially without purpose, keeps driving us away from the center of completion into this peripheral darkness of incompletions, *tamas* and *māyā. Rajas* always drives us into *tamas.* Aggression, passion, attachment and aversion eventually take us into delusion and ignorance.

But from time to time we get that spark of intelligence that says there is more meaning to life than fantasies. We start searching. When we seek our true nature, we move towards our center, the core of bliss. Then something in the external space attracts us and we move out to the periphery. We keep moving in and out, from center to periphery, from periphery back to center. That is why I call human beings eccentric! They can neither be in the center nor in the periphery. They settle in between and keep oscillating. They are eccentric. They are neither in complete madness nor in completion with their divine consciousness.

The movement towards our core, our true self, *ātma* is driven by *satva.* The movement outwards is driven by *rajas*. When we are fully settled in the periphery, we are caught in *tamas*. We are no longer human. When we settle into the center which is the space of completion, we go beyond the three *guṇas*. We become the *triguṇa rahita,* the Divine one who is beyond the three attributes, who is *pūrṇa*—complete.

# Where Do We Go From Here

*   *14.18 Those situated in the mode of goodness, gradually go upward to the higher planes; those in the mode of passion live on the earthly planets; and those in the mode of ignorance go down to the worlds below.*
*   *14.19 When you see that there is nothing beyond these modes of nature in all activities and that the Supreme Lord is transcendental to all these modes, then you can know, attain My spiritual nature.*
*   *14.20 When the embodied being is able to transcend these three modes, he can become free from birth, death, old age and their distresses and can enjoy nectar even in this life.*

Kṛṣṇa provides the key to liberation here. Those who go beyond the three *guṇas*, beyond the activity-producing attributes, beyond the root thought patterns and become complete, free of bondages, enjoy bliss in this world. This is the assurance of the Master. This is a guarantee.

These words are a great technique.

Step one is when we realize that each of our thoughts, words, and activities arises from one of the three root patterns, *guṇas*—*satva, rajas* and *tamas.*

Step two is the understanding about which *guṇa,* root pattern it is and exactly what that *guṇa* is doing to us; what disempowering cognition that *guṇa* is building about our inner image (*mamakāra)*, our outer-image (*ahaṁkāra*), others' image (*anyakāra*), others' expectation about us, and life's image (*svānyakāra*).

Step three is to do the completion and the creation process; do completion with that *guṇa* or root pattern and do creation of the *satva* *guṇa*, the right inner space to create the reality that we want. Finally we transcend *satva guṇa* and enter into *nirguṇa* or 'no *guṇa* state'.

Whatever we are doing, whatever is happening to us, we need to become aware of the attribute, the *guṇa*, the pattern that is driving us and complete with it. If it is a fantasy, we work out of *tamas*. If it is fear and greed, we work out of *rajas.* And if we are complete, unattached and undisturbed by all that is happening in and around us, we act out of *satva guṇa.*

**Here Kṛṣṇa assures, 'Those situated in the mode of goodness gradually go upward to the higher planes—***ūrdhvaṁ gacchanti sattva-sthā* **(14.18).'** A continuous tireless completion process creates the basis for higher level practices, for higher planes.

We have talked about the *saṁskāras* or root thought patterns that are buried in our unconscious. They drive us through one of these attributes (*guṇas*). Conscious, logical and analytical procedures cannot easily identify them, let alone remove or repair them. That is why so-called catharsis processes that aim to rid us of negative emotions give only temporary relief. The basic negativity remains buried.

### **Only Enlightened Master Dissolves GuṆas**

Visualizing consciously or unconsciously does not take us out of *rajas* and *tamas.* We can be dragged deeper into the fantasyland of *tamas.* Those moments are the most dangerous moments you are spiritually vulnerable.

Listen. Crying out of powerlessness due to *rajas* or *tamas* is *not* okay. When your immune system is down, any wrong negative spiritual concepts can infect you. Infection by the root pattern can happen in you during those powerless moments. When the infection of neative patterns happens in you, it is almost incurable. **Only an Enlightened Master can do the surgery and cure it. That surgery is called Inner Awakening.**

The only way to move into *satva* and dissolve *saṁskāras* is to move into a super-conscious state through powerful meditations processes on root pattern completion. There is no other way that we can achieve it ourselves. Only the presence of super-conscious energy, the Enlightened Master can dissolve *saṁskāras*, the root patterns and burn out our *vāsanas*, the conflicting patterns developed through these root patterns. It is the only way. All other techniques do only one thing; they make money for those who promote them and put those who are seeking help into deeper trouble.

So first bring integrity to your thoughts and actions. Identify which *guṇa* they come from. If it is a fantasy, rooted in *tamas,* complete and drop the fantasy and move into the present reality.

Please listen. Every one of you has a fantasy deep down about you becoming all-powerful, all-knowing, *sarvajña*, that's all. I tell you, living as per the expectations of you, behaving as you expected about you, is the greatest joy you can experience in life. Completion does that to you! I tell you, nothing else can do *that* to you.

This realization and awareness that completion helps you move out of the zone of fantasies and creates your reality *as you want*, can only come as a result of learning the Science of Completion.

### Going Beyond The Gunas .

*   *14.21 Arjuna inquires: O my Lord, by what symptoms is one known who is transcendental to those modes? What is his behavior? And how does he transcend the modes of nature?*

*   *14.22,2*3*,*24,25 *Śrī Bhagavān says:*

*He who does not hate illumination, attachment and delusion when they are present, nor longs for them when they disappear; who is seated like one unconcerned, being situated beyond these material reactions of the modes of nature, who remains firm, knowing that the modes alone are active; He who regards alike pleasure and pain, and looks on a lump of earth, a stone and a piece of gold with an equal eye; who is wise and holds praise and blame to be the same; who is unchanged in honor and dishonor, who treats friend and foe alike, who has abandoned all result-based undertakings, such a man is said to have transcended the modes of nature.*

With great clarity the Master tells us what to do. He uses specific terms that cannot be misunderstood or misinterpreted. Kṛṣṇa explains the nature of one who has transcended the three *guṇas*, one who has gone beyond his natural attributes, one who has completed with his root patterns. He explains what we need to do to become a *triguṇa rahita*, to become liberated from the influence of the three *guṇas.*

One who is beyond the three *guṇas* is unaffected by their play. He is beyond the play of emotions. Whatever happens is right for him. Success and failure mean the same. Friend and foe make no difference. Poverty or richness has no influence.

Such an attitude of total detachment requires one thing: complete trust. When we trust that whatever happens is what needs to happen and we accept whatever happens as it arises, we are totally detached. Then whatever happens will be right. Such trust can only come from surrender.

I tell my disciples that because I have no home, every home that I visit is my home. Anywhere and everywhere I stay, whether it is under a tree or out in the open, is my home. Four walls, a door and a lock do not create a home for me. There is neither attraction nor aversion. Just as people admire the clothes or accessories on a mannequin, I admire the clothes and jewelry on this body. They have no connection to me.

Every movement I make is at the order of Existence. I cannot move a finger without the permission of that universal energy. When we are one with Existence, one with nature, nothing affects us. I walked tens of thousands of miles barefoot across the length and breadth of Bharat. People ask, 'How is it your feet are so soft, not calloused and broken as ours would be, if we walked barefoot even ten miles?' I tell you: If we trust Nature, Nature looks after us.

We create pain and pleasure through association with powerlessness, through conditioning. We create greed and fear through association. Our root patterns, our conditioned muscle-memories and bio-memories, create pain and pleasure.

Light and darkness, good and bad, right and wrong are based on root patterns. Our inadequate cognitions, the civilized education and refinement tells us that a person dressed in a particular manner is acceptable in society and another dressed differently is not.

No scripture ever said that one person is inferior to another. All scriptures affirm that every human being is a spiritual being; all of us carry the seed of Divinity in us.


When you complete with everything, animate or inanimate, you will experience the space of non-duality, *Advaita*. Relationships are nothing but your own extensions. Relationships are not outside; they are just your own extensions. The *you* extended outside *you* are your relationships. Completing with all your extensions, you learn to complete the incomplete *you* present in the other. Your negative cognitions disappear and from the space of completion, all that one can see is the Divinity in others, the space of non-duality, *Advaita*.

## Expression Of The Divine

- 14.26 One who engages in full devotional service, who does not fall down in any circumstance, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.
- 14.27 And I am the basis of Brahman, which is the rightful state of ultimate happiness, and which is immortal, imperishable and eternal.

Kṛṣṇa concludes the chapter by saying that the transcendental state beyond the three attributes of nature, *guṇas,* is *Brahman*, the ultimate Cosmic Consciousness, the ultimate space of Completion. He says you reach this through devotion. He says that He is that Brahman, the source of Eternal Bliss—*brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham*.

> *brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham amṛtasyāvyayasya ca। śāśvatasya ca dharmasya sukhasyaikāntikasya ca ॥ 14.27 ॥*

Kṛṣṇa speaks as *Parabrahma* Kṛṣṇa, the supreme energy and not as Vāsudeva Kṛṣṇa, the individual. He is in the expanded consciousness of Brahman, and beyond the three *guṇas.* He is the Source of the *guṇas.*

#### Your Level of Completion Decides

What is the difference between *Parabrahma* Kṛṣṇa (Ultimate Consciousness) and *Vāsudeva* Kṛṣṇa? In the case of an ordinary human being, even though he has the potential of Divinity, he has not realized it. That is the difference between *you* and an Enlightened Master, an Incarnation. Both of you are Divine to the same extent. Yet you are unaware of your Divinity, whereas the Enlightened Master, the Incarnation is fully aware of it.

In the case of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, He is the Master, the Complete Incarnation. Why then the difference? The difference is not to do with Him. It is to do with us.

Listen! In *Vedic* tradition, we narrate hundreds of Purāṇas, the recorded historical happenings, where Māhadeva Himself comes, where Kṛṣṇa appears to give victory and protection, to their devotees.

What is the gap between the life during *Vedic* times and now? Surely, our Masters are very logical, scientific people, never spreading superstition. But, in the modern days, all these things are thought to be superstitious. Why is it that all which happened at that time, is not happening now? Why is there so much gap? I tell you, the only gap, why it was happening then and why it is not happening *now,* the answer is incompletions!

**When you complete, complete, and complete, then everything what you read in the** *Vedic* **tradition becomes reality.** It can be reality. I tell you, completion is the bridge to reach the *Vedic* tradition, to reach extraordinary powers, to experience Divine expressions in your life.

**Completion is life at every level.** I can give you the whole list. The only difference between *you* and Śrīnivāsan Rāmānujan, the genius mathematician is the level of completion. The only difference between *you* and Ādī Śaṅkara is the level of completion. The only difference between Arjuna and *Parabrahma* Kṛṣṇa is the level of completion. I tell you, with completion you start living with God directly!

The frequency of *Parabrahma* Kṛṣṇa is not visible to and approachable by mortals. That is why Arjuna had to be given the Divine vision to perceive *Parabrahma rūpa* or *viśvarūpa*. In order for humans to perceive Him and interact with Him, *Parabrahma* Kṛṣṇa must become Vāsudeva Kṛṣṇa. To a certain extent He must subject Himself to the play of the *guṇas.* When an Enlightened being has merged with the Universal energy and incarnates in human form, that Incarnation must have some *satva guṇa* infused into Him in order to take human form. Within some time, this *satva guṇa* also disappears, leaving the being beyond the three *guṇas* and once again in an Enlightened state.

Each Enlightened Master, each Incarnation is unique in His expression of the experience as the Divine. Some express experiences and some don't. Our scriptures say that if two enlightened masters say the same thing, one is a fake! The experience is the same, yet the expression is different. Kṛṣṇa is different from Buddha and Śiva. Each has the same theme of compassion, yet the way the compassion is expressed is different. Buddha expressed it as contemplation and Kṛṣṇa in joyous loving completion. So we choose a Master based upon how we vibrate to His expression. If our path is devotion, we gravitate to Kṛṣṇa; He is lovable. If we are the meditative type, we go to Śiva, the Master who teaches in vibrating, alive silence.

#### Surrender out of Completion is Real Surrender

It does not matter who our Master is. What matters is our faith, trust and the attitude or space of surrender. Our Master can be an unenlightened being. If we trust him, we can become enlightened, even though he may not be. What matters more is our attitude and feeling connection based on the level of our completion, our *guṇa*, and not the Master's state. Even if we worship a stone and surrender to it from a complete inner space, cognizing it to be our ultimate savior, we will be liberated. It is true.

Please listen. When you practice the right reason, right results come. When you practice even the same values with smaller reasons, only the small results come. More than what actions you do, what matters is the space from which the actions are done. If you do not have the right context, even when you worship a deity or a God, it is useless. Listen, because even while you pray, if you strengthen the space that you are poor, you are weak, if that gets strengthened more and more, even your prayer will make you weak.

**Surrendering not even bothering to whom you are surrendering, as a quality of surrendering is Enlightenment.**

Understand, surrendering without even looking up to whom you are surrendering, like Lakṣman's surrender out of his completion is real Surrender.

> In Rāmāyaṇa, the great Hindu epic history of Lord Śrī Rāma's incarnation, Lakṣman is the younger brother of Lord Rāma, who devoted his whole life in selflessly serving the feet of Śrī Rama and Mātā Sītā.

> When Sītā is kidnapped by Rāvaṇa, some of the *vānaras* (monkeys) gathered some jewels thrown by her and brought it to Rāma for identifying them.

> Lakṣman could only recognize the anklets of Sītā. Rāma asked, 'why are you not able to recognize the jewelry?'

> Lakṣman said, 'No. I have never seen the Mother above the feet. I look at both of you only when I do *nāmaskār* (surrendering salutation), but I never looked directly or intensely.'

Lakṣman never even saw the upper jewelry of Mātā Sītā.

Whatever we understand, we understand; but it is true. I tell you, Lakṣman does not even know whose feet he is falling at, he just sees the feet. It means that you are very clear, you are not that big! It is the realization that you are not that big; that humbleness without the humility.

Understand, humbleness as a fact not as a quality is the right context, the right space. Humbleness as a quality can bring ego, incompletion. 'I am very humble, I am very humble'. No! Humbleness as an effect of the space of completion, this is the way—'I am in humbleness without feeling humiliated.' These are different qualities, *guṇas.*

So, don't even bother to whom you are surrendering. It is the joy of surrender, the celebration of surrender. I can surrender in front any stone, I have no problem at all. Not just here, at any temple, anywhere, any deity, any stone. You can see very clearly, that is one job I do very sincerely. Because I have the space of surrender, I can surrender to Śiva, I can surrender to Viṣṇu. I can surrender to my own Pādukas (sacred foot-sandal of master). In *Vedic* tradition, we can surrender to even a tree or a tulasi plant (holy basil plant). In Hindu houses, even door-frames are worshipped, one lamp is worshipped.

The faith and the surrender help us transcend the nature of all activities. We surrender the result of our actions to that Master, whomsoever *He* may be, whomsoever *It* may be. We do everything meditating on that Master and surrender it all at His feet. That space of completion alone liberates us.

This is what Kṛṣṇa means by devotion, *bhakti-yogena sevate* (14.26)*,* which is unfailing in all circumstances. Nothing more is needed. Kṛṣṇa is not talking about the flute-playing, yellow-robed Kṛṣṇa. Anyone that we surrender to totally, is Kṛṣṇa and we then fall into Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the Consciousness of Completion.

Let us pray to *Parabrahma* Kṛṣṇa, the Universal Consciousness, the Ultimate Energy, to give us all this understanding in our life, to make us experience the truth that He teaches and to establish us in Completion, make us radiate Eternal Bliss, *Nityānanda.*

> *Thus ends the fourteenth chapter named Guṇatraya Vibhāga Yogaḥ, The Yoga of Division of the three Guṇas,' of the Bhagavad Gītā Upaniṣad, Brahmavidyā Yogaśāstra, the scripture of yoga dealing with the science of the Absolute in the form of Śrī Kṛṣṇārjuna saṃvād, dialogue between Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna.*

### No Questions, Only Doubts

When we question, we show our arrogance and violence. When we doubt, we reveal our authentic quest for the truth and readiness to receive the master. Arjuna, now beyond questions, allows krsna to give the experience of the Supreme Being, Purusottama. ... .

# No Questions, Only Doubts

Only Kṛṣṇa speaks in chapter 15 of *Bhagavad Gītā*. Arjuna does not utter a word. Arjuna's inner space has been silenced. He is in the pure space of listening. As a result, his questions have disappeared. Arjuna, who is *Puruṣa,* is now established in *Upaniṣad*, mirroring the Superconscious Supreme Being or Self, *Puruṣottama* Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

Kṛṣṇa expounds upon who He is and what He is. This chapter is traditionally titled *Puruṣottama Yogaḥ*, Yoga of the Supreme Being. Kṛṣṇa unveils the reasons why He is *Puruṣottama*, Supreme amongst beings and explains that what He has imparted to Arjuna is the most profound secret. Kṛṣṇa is convinced that Arjuna is ready to receive the Truth.

Arjuna has settled into his Self. His confusions have disappeared; questions have dissolved due to his cosmic experience in *Viśvarūpa Darśan Yogaḥ*—having the vision of Kṛṣṇa's Cosmic form—and his direct spiritual experience. He has achieved the depth of knowledge and the complete cognition required to intranalyze and radiate whatever Kṛṣṇa has taught him so far. He has achieved the intensity of spiritual experience. He is a new being. He can no more be called Arjuna. **He is expressing the power of living with enriching, overflowing with devotion onto Śrī Kṛṣṇa present in everything and everything present in Kṛṣṇa!**

With the revelation of Kṛṣṇa's cosmic form, Arjuna has the awareness of his own part in the collective consciousness. This experience of completion has put him in a devotional mood, which is now overflowing as enriching. This devotion is not merely towards Kṛṣṇa, but through Kṛṣṇa, to all of humanity. Only for enriching others, Arjuna speaks and listens on behalf of humanity and not for himself. From now on, everything that Arjuna does is enriching, enriching, enriching his own extension in others! He becomes the cause for creating the ultimate reality for humanity in the Cosmic play of the complete Incarnation, *Pūrṇavātar* Śrī Kṛṣṇa!

Arjuna doesn't have any more intellectual questions. He has reached a point where he is totally ready to receive and mirror Kṛṣṇa. He has moved forward from a state of thoughtfulness, where he is confused, incomplete and full of questions, to a no-mind state of completion where questions disappear.

#### Doubts Are Necessary

Masters convey their experience. It is an energy transmission that occurs. To convey an experience in words denies the experience. Once verbalized, the experience loses meaning. Kṛṣṇa is different. He is engaged in a dialogue with Arjuna for the benefit of enriching the mankind to resolve those conflicts and doubts that arise in all humans. After seeing Kṛṣṇa's cosmic form, Arjuna's questions are about the nature of the divine Kṛṣṇa and how to approach Him. Kṛṣṇa now explains to him what He is and how to reach Him.

Doubt means a person is ready to receive the Master, ready to live the Master, ready to express and radiate the Master. Whatever word comes out of the Master completes the doubt. Doubt makes the Master express himself. Questions make the Master close himself.

Man cannot handle too much truth. He can handle half-truths. Beyond that, truth starts transforming him. He feels that the ground he is standing on is slipping away. None of us wants to know the truth. If truth is given honestly, only a few will be willing to listen. People become frightened the moment honest truths are given. So, they question the truth. We feel that we cannot afford to be truthful in verbal language as well as body language. The truth straightaway gives us Enlightenment. It transforms us. The moment someone authentically intranalyzes or catches a single dimension of truth, it does wonders.

If we scan our whole day, we will find it is filled with lies and inauthenticities. Our smiles are false. When we smile, we don't want the other person to know what is in our mind; so we don't look into each other's eyes. Why? We fear that the other person will read our mind and our inauthenticity will be exposed to them. However, nothing can be hidden in our eyes. Eyes are the doorway to the soul. Straightaway we see the being in another person's eyes.

#### Truth Shines By Itself

Truth endures logical questions and arguments. It withstands the test of logical analysis. If someone needs to verify whether something is pure gold, we must put it in acid to test it. An acid test is required to test the truth of gold. In the same manner, if we wish to know whether something is pure truth, we must put it to an acid test of logical analysis. Our inauthenticity will simply burn out. Our logic will simply fall and fail. If it is the ultimate Truth, if it is authentic, it must stand the test of logical analysis and prove itself.

If the disciple is in the questioning mood, the Master must prove his words. He must be prepared to go through the acid tests demanded by the questioning disciple. It is a big load. If the disciple is in doubt, the Master will open up with the truth. He will not cover the truth with words. He will not play with words. The naked truth will be told directly. Any truth can be served and explained to a mind with doubt. To a questioning mind, nothing can be explained.


Kṛṣṇa points out that the death of the body is a certainty, however, the death of the spirit is impossible. The spirit lives on. When the spirit is evolved it doesn't revert to a mental setup and root pattern that it transcended in the previous birth, that's all.

# Mind Is the Conditioning

*15.7 The living entities in this conditioned material world are a portion of My eternal Self. In this conditioned material world they are attracted by the six senses, which include the mind, dwelling in prakṛti, the active energy principle.*

*15.8 The spirit in the body-mind living in this material world moves from one body to another carrying these just as wind carries fragrance.*

*jīva bhūtaḥ*—conditioned living entity, 'conditioning' is the new word that Kṛṣṇa uses here.

Recent research tells us that human beings walk on two legs due to conditioning. A group of scientists recently found a seventeen-year-old boy in a forest. Wolves had raised him. The scientists tried to teach him how to walk on two legs and speak a few words. They were unable to do this and he died within a year. Man walking on two legs is due to conditioning.

Everything we consider as human nature is nothing but conditioning.

*mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ I manaḥ ṣaṣthānīndriyāṇi prakṛti sthāni karṣati II 15.7*

Here Kṛṣṇa says, 'conditioned world, *jīva-loke*'. Everything is conditioning. Right and wrong, honor and dishonor, are all conditioning, all are patterns. We think of honor or dishonor because we are taught that way.

We are conditioned. If a group of people give us a certificate and clap their hands, we take it as an honor. That is the way we are taught. But never judge yourself by others' applause. This idea of honor drives many people mad. Never accept the judgment of the crowd.

## **Consciousness Carries the Mind**

Here Kṛṣṇa gives these meditation hymns to re-program your causal layer for completion of your *saṁskāras* and creation of space.

After crossing the three layers and going beyond the causal layer, you enter a space where you are free from conditioning. This is the space of completion and creation! May you be free from all conditioning!

Kṛṣṇa says: 'They are attracted by the six senses that include the mind—*manaḥ ṣaṣthānīndriyāṇi prakṛti sthāni karṣati* (15.7).'

There are five physical senses and the sixth sense is the mind, *ṣaṣthānīndriyāṇi*. However, according to me, the mind is the only sense and the so-called five physical senses are slaves to it. The mind jumps around. If the mind can be handled, all the other five can be handled.

A small story:

Queen Madalasa gave birth to seven children.

Each child became enlightened by the age of seven and moved out of the kingdom. Their father, the king, was puzzled. How did seven children in a row become enlightened? He probed into the issue and found that Madalasa had taught them one phrase, *Tat Tvam Asi* (You are That).

Just by internalizing '*Tat Tvam Asi'*, their mental setup changed. They were complete with the root thought patterns, *saṁskāras* in the causal layer. They became enlightened.

Enlightenment is the removal of root thought patterns, *saṁskāras* and the dissolution of conditioning. We return to our pure original state. This is why enlightenment is referred to as *samādhi*. The Saṃskṛit word *samādhi* means 'returning to the original state'.

The spirit in the body-mind living in this material world, moves from

one body to another carrying these root thought patterns just as the wind carries fragrance. *Saṁskāras* in one body quit that body and take shelter in another. This continuous vicious cycle of movement of *saṁskāras* is what Kṛṣṇa refers to as *saṁsāra*, the life-and-death cycle.

Kṛṣṇa says 'taking these, *gṛhītvā etāni saṁyati* (15.8)'. What does He mean by 'these, *etāni*'? In the previous verse, Kṛṣṇa talked about the six senses, including the mind. He refers to them here.

When the spirit leaves one body and moves to another body, it carries the six senses, *ṣaṣthānīndriyāṇi,* the five physical senses and the mind, in the same way as the wind carries fragrances, *vāyur gandhān ivaśayāt (*15.8). Just as the wind carries fragrances, consciousness carries *saṁskāras*, causal level imprints, from body to body.

Kṛṣṇa answers a frequently asked question about sin. People ask whether sins come with them from one birth to another. Sins never follow. Only imprints travel. For example, if a man commits one hundred murders, the quantity will not follow, but the basic mentality of violence accompanies and tortures him. Only the mental setup is carried.

The concept of *karma* is often used to justify actions, by saying, 'It is our *karma*,' 'It is our fate,' 'It is our destiny, what can be done?,' 'Whatever had to happen has happened.' This is pure fabrication and justification of our negative deeds.

We have the freedom to act: the free will to decide and act. Ironically, only an enlightened Master has no freedom. Enlightened Masters are driven by Parāśakti's will; they are guided by Her, that universal power, into doing what they must do. Understand: I cannot take a single step on my own. My limbs move in accordance with Her wishes.

The ordinary human being, *jīva bhūta* is in control of his destiny. All that nature provides are paths in our lives and we choose the path we travel by. We decide the path. What drives us into taking one fork or another is *vāsanā*, the 'smell' that the spirit carries. It is the subtle imprint of our past actions, *saṁskāras* and *karmas*. It is not definitive or predestined.

We have the choice to redefine that *vāsanā,* that smell, into either a stink or a wonderful fragrance. It is in our hands only. Whether we wish to travel in the same merry-go-round or decide to break out and walk free is our decision.

Rāmakṛṣṇa beautifully says that the soul travels from one body to another like we move from one room to another. When He left His physical body, His wife Sārada Devi was about to remove her jewelry. (Traditional Hindu families do not allow a widow to wear jewels, especially the sacred thread signifying marital status, and bracelets.)

Just as she was about to remove the sacred thread, Rāmakṛṣṇa appeared and told her not to remove it. He said, 'Where have I gone? Just to another room. Don't remove your jewelry.' From that time till her end, Sārada Devi followed His words. This may seem easier today. But in those days, in an orthodox Hindu family in a small village, it was not so. She was highly courageous.

Someone who completes with all social conditioning, who sheds all root patterns in his causal layer, moves from body to body as easily as moving from one room to another.

We create big buildings. We accumulate a good bank balance. We have friends. Just as we start enjoying life, suddenly death appears before us. We fear death only because it takes everything away from us. If we are unattached, if our causal layer is not filled with *saṁskāras*, if we are not gripped by social conditioning, we will not fear death. We know it is like moving from one room to another.

As Kṛṣṇa says in *Sāṅkhya Yogaḥ*, 'It is like changing one dress for another.'

The s*aṁskāras* of this life are the result of *prārabdha karma*, the mindset and bio-memory, along with the spirit from the *vāsanas*, the imprints of the past birth that are carried into this birth. It is always a mix of pain and pleasure.

# You Are Your Samskaras

*15.9 The living entity, the spirit, leaves one body, takes another body and gets new eyes, ears, nose, tongue and sensing body according to the saṁskāras it had in its causal layer and enjoys the new mental setup.*

*15.10 Fools in ignorance do not perceive the spirit being united with the guṇas or modes of nature, as it enters, enjoys and leaves the body. The one whose inner eyes of knowledge is open, can see everything.*

The living entity, the spirit, leaves one body, takes another body and gets new eyes, ears, nose, tongue and sensing body according to the *saṁskāras* it had in its causal layer and enjoys the new mental setup.'

Here Kṛṣṇa reveals another secret. He says, 'You create a body according to the root thought patterns or *saṁskāras* in the causal layer, *adhiṣṭhāya manaś cāyaṁ* (15.9).'

There is a Hindu science called *sāmudrika lakṣaṇa śāstra*, the technique of studying body features. By observing our physical body structure, experts can read and reveal our mental setup. They know the relationship between mind and body.

Kṛṣṇa says that we create our sensory organs, according to *saṁskāras* in our causal layer. Kṛṣṇa says that living entities create all five senses through the mind or mental setup. This happens not only when we take another body. Every day when we wake up from deep sleep, our senses are recreated. If we change our mental setup, within a short time, our face changes.

# **You Create Yourself Every Moment**

Our 'mind, manaś ' is the intelligence spread all over our body. It is the intelligence that resides in our cells. Each cell carries genetic intelligence. Body and mind are not separate entities. It is just body-mind or mind-body, one system. Within this body-mind system, scientists say that every moment of your life thousands of cells die and thousands of new cells are created. This is a constant process that Nature, the universal intelligence, dictates. It does not happen because of us; it happens in spite of us.

In a period of a little under two years, every part of our body, every cell in our body, gets renewed. Our body as it was a year ago is not the body it is today. This is not fiction; it is a proven scientific fact. Then why do we behave the same way as we have for years? Why do illnesses plague us for years, even though the cells are no longer the same?

Each cell as it dies, leaves behind a memory that the newly created cell follows. That is the bio-memories, *saṁskāras* within us. The *saṁskāras* ensures the continuation of a pattern despite complete changes in the body-mind system. These *saṁskāras* are more powerful than the rest of the body-mind system. It decides and drives.

The deep sleep we go into everyday is a rehearsal of our death process. We die and are reborn. Our subtle body leaves the gross body and returns reenergized if we allow it to. It is in our hands to maximize this process of rejuvenation that happens automatically everyday.

Through meditation we can clear our *saṁskāras* and be reborn. We can change our features, our character and behavior, all by reprogramming our *saṁskāras*.

That is why people radiate grace after they start meditation. Beauty is created by make-up. Grace is radiated by meditation. Grace makes the occupant feel at home. It soothes the atmosphere. Beauty creates excitement. Beauty moves the other person into *rajas* (restlessness). Grace creates calmness, *satva.* Grace puts the other person in energy.

People reminisce about great Masters like Rāmaṇa Mahaṛṣi and say that He imparted wisdom through silence. It is the Enlightened Master's grace that penetrates the other person's energy and changes that person's *saṁskāras.* All that we need to do in an Enlightened Master's presence is just be, be open and silent and allow the Master's eternal grace to penetrate us. There is nothing that we need to do. The Master's grace does whatever is needed.

One version of the great Hindu epic Ramāyaṇa says that when princess Sītā, the incarnation of Devi Lakṣmi, entered the court of King Janaka, her father, all the great kings, monks and mystics stood up automatically. This was not a protocol. The grace she radiated caused this response in them. Beauty can create only temptation in the other person. Only grace can create respect. The grace radiating from Sītā's being made everybody stand up.

Zen Buddhism says that if we can walk on a lawn without killing the grass or creating a path with our footsteps, we are eligible for Sannyāsa. I doubted this. After all, the whole body weight is there. How can grass bear such a load and not leave imprints?

Once I went on a safari in South Bharat.

I sat on an elephant and the caretaker came along with me. It was evening. It became dark. The caretaker had no torch or light. I asked him how he would find his way back home.

He replied, 'I have created a path by my daily walk that I can follow even in darkness.'

I asked about the elephant because it traveled with him everyday.

He said, 'The elephant's feet do not create a path. The elephant and other animals do not destroy grass as they walk over it.' I started calculating the load exerted by one foot of the elephant. At the least, it works out to four times that of an average man. However, it did not create a path. It did not kill a single blade of grass. In spite of the physical mass, there was no damage to the environment.

The negativity, arrogance, violence, negative *saṁskāras* in our causal layer, makes us feel heavy on earth. If we feel heavy around our navel area, we carry negative *saṁskāras*. The feeling of heaviness is not connected to our weight. It is due to imprints in our inner space. A person who feels light radiates grace from his being and he never creates a path on a lawn. He never kills a blade of grass by his walk.

We are spiritually evolved souls only when our feet do not create a path, when we float while we walk, when we do not go against nature.

Here Kṛṣṇa says, we create our senses according to our root patterns, *saṁskāras.* This happens not only when we die and take birth; we redesign our senses to suit our root patterns everyday, when we wake up too. If we wake up with the right mental setup, we will have our senses accordingly and for the whole day we can enjoy it. If on the other hand, we get up with negativity, we suffer.

The few moments immediately after we wake up are crucial. Whatever we feel will be reflected the rest of the day. If we radiate joy, our whole day will be joyful. If we are irritable, our whole day will be irritable.

Do this with the space of completion everyday at least for twenty-one days. You will be amazed at the changes that happen within your bodymind. You will develop grace and equally important, you will learn to love yourself, which means that you can love others without difficulty.

Kṛṣṇa further says, the type of senses we create determines the type of sensory objects we enjoy. If we create positive senses, we enjoy a positive life. If we create negative senses, we suffer a negative life. The type of senses we create determines what type of objects or pleasures attract us, and we experience that.


What Kṛṣṇa implies here as well is that food is divine since it has His imprint on it. We tend to take food for granted. Offering food to other living beings, has been considered a form of worship in Hindu tradition. Food has always been considered the repository of the Divine.

# From Me Comes Memory And Knowledge

*15.15 I am seated in everyone's heart and from Me came memory, knowledge and their loss. I am known by the Vedas; indeed, I am the creator of Vedānta and I am the knower of the Vedas.*
*15.16 There are two things, the perishable and the imperishable, in this world. There are the living beings who are perishable while there is the unchangeable, the imperishable.*

Kṛṣṇa says that He is seated in everyone's heart, *sarvasya ca aham hṛdi sanniviṣto.* He is memory, He is knowledge, He is forgetfulness, *mattaḥ smṛtir jñānaṁ apohanaṁ ca* (15.15). What does this mean? How does our mind work? How does it invent beliefs? We don't even know where our mind is. If I ask you where your mind is, you will point to your head. That's not your mind.

Every cell in our body has inbuilt intelligence. These cells constantly regenerate themselves. These cells present everywhere make up our body-mind system. Therefore, there is no one place where our mind is definitely located; certainly it is not in our head!

#### **Intellect and Intuition**

All our decisions are influenced by our past experiences that are stored as root thought patterns in our unconscious mind.

This unconscious area or the root where the mind is born is powerful enough to make you feel powerless or powerful. It can be used in three ways: at the instinct level, intellect level or intuition level. As long as the unconscious is overloaded with negative memories and restlessness, it works at the instinct level. We decide instinctively, unconsciously, just like an animal does.

Next is the intellect level. Here, we are conscious; we make decisions logically, but we don't have extra enthusiasm or energy. We are not creative or innovative; we don't take big steps; we don't grow. We don't experience the space of possibility and expansion. We make decisions in a logical and conscious way, that's all.

When we are at the intellect level, we are not tired; yet we are not energetic either. We are in a break-even state. At this level, we do not use our potential to the maximum. Constant completion with our root thought patterns, and bringing integrity in our words, authenticity in our actions melts the intellect layer.

The level where we can actualize our entire potential with power of thinking, power of words, power of feeling and power of living is the intuition level. This is the space of completion and creation. If we can infuse deep silence and completion into the unconscious zone and replace root thought patterns, then we are at the intuition level.

Please listen, if you come to a decision without a thought, you are living in the space of intuition. If you come to a decision after multiple thoughts, it is ignorance. If you come to a decision after one clear flow of thoughts, it is called intelligence. If you come to a decision without any thought, it is called intuition.

Please understand, I really tell you, completion is equivalent to inner cleansing. All your muscle-memories come to peace and rest in peace.

The greatest wealth lies within, not outside. The greatest joy lies within, not outside. In the outside world, every experience of joy is followed by sorrow. Joy creates expectations and when expectations are not fulfilled, they lead to sorrow. When the search begins inside, expectations drop, attachments drop and a new joy of completion happens. That joy is eternal, never ending. It is *Ānanda, Nityānanda,* eternal bliss.

Because we are unaware of this, we search outside for happiness, because that is the only way we know.

In his commentary on the Gītā, Ādī Śaṅkara says that memory and knowledge come from Kṛṣṇa to those who do good enriching deeds and loss of memory and knowledge to those who do evil deeds. The reference to memory and knowledge here is to the understanding of our true nature, the understanding and realization that we are one with the Divine, that Kṛṣṇa is seated in our hearts.

#### **Perishable and Imperishable PuruṢa**

Kṛṣṇa takes Arjuna into a deeper understanding. Kṛṣṇa talks about *puruṣa*, the principle of energy that underlies our existence. *Sāṅkhya* philosophy talks about *puruṣa* and *prakṛti. Puruṣa,* in one sense is energy, and *prakṛti* is matter. *Puruṣa* is the unmoving, passive energy principle, whereas *prakṛti* is the active material principle. *Puruṣa* is the male principle; *prakṛti* is the female principle. *Puruṣa* is Śiva and *prakṛti* is Śakti.

Kṛṣṇa goes beyond that philosophy. He says *Puruṣa* is twofold, one imperishable and the other perishable. He says all living beings are the perishable *puruṣa* and they are situated in the imperishable energy.

> *dvāv imau puruṣau loke kṣaraś cākṣara eva ca I
> kṣaraḥ sarvāṇi bhūtani kūṭa-stho 'kṣara ucyate II 15.16*

In earlier chapters, Kṛṣṇa has covered in depth, these aspects of *prakṛti*, which operate through the mind, senses and the attributes, the three types of *guṇa*. Here, He expands upon *puruṣa.*

#### **Puruṣa is the Ultimate Energy from which all emanates.** *'īśā vāsyaṁ idaṁ sarvaṁ'* **says the Īśāvāsya Upaniṣad , 'All that exists is energy.'**

When Einstein read this verse from the Upaniṣads, written possibly tens of thousands of years ago, he said, 'I felt proud that I had discovered that matter is energy. Many thousand years ago, these Sages knew this, and also knew that matter arises from energy. The last step in science is the first step in spirituality.'

More and more, scientists are beginning to sound like the Eastern Mystics. They no longer have the attitude of scientists of a hundred years ago who felt that they were rewriting the laws of Nature.

Our *Vedic* scriptures said this over thousands of years ago. Śaṅkara has said again and again that the *Seer* influences what is *seen*. That was over a thousand years ago.

The primal energy principle, *puruṣa* is like potential energy. It is energy, but passive. It is the operating principle behind the entire Universe. Without this energy, nothing will exist. Nothing will live.

Kṛṣṇa says that there are two kinds of *puruṣa*: one is eternal, *akṣara* and one perishes, *kṣara.* The *puruṣa* that perishes is the body-mind energy embedded in all beings, including humans. This energy has a definite, limited lifetime. It is always changing. There is nothing permanent about it. It is programmed for deterioration and destruction.

The *puruṣa* that is *kūṭastha* is the imperishable aspect of this energy. It is the energy of the spirit that is indestructible, *akṣara.* It is the Soul that is forever, that which cannot be destroyed.

Kṛṣṇa points out that primal energy manifests in different ways, as perishable and imperishable. Both are aspects of primal energy. One is destroyed and the other lives. One who realizes this difference and understands the true nature of puruṣa is liberated.

Rāmakṛṣṇa Paramahamsa beautifully narrates:

An arrogant scholar was very proud of his learning. He was a great Advaitic (non-dualitistic) scholar and did not believe in the various forms of God.

Then, God came to him one day.

The mother goddess appeared before him in all Her splendor. She came as the primal energy, *Parāśakti*. The scholar was in a swoon for a long time.

When he woke up, he shouted, 'Ka, Ka, Ka.' He could not

fully pronounce 'Kāli,' the name of the goddess whom he had seen. Words cannot describe the Divine!

Scholars argue endlessly about the nature of *puruṣa,* the various aspects of *puruṣa*, the difference between *prakṛti* and *puruṣa*. It strengthens their ego. When the Divine presents itself before them, they cannot recognize or cognize what they see.

# Collective Consciousness

*15.17 Besides these two, there is the Supreme Puruṣa, the Lord Himself, who pervades and sustains these three worlds.*

*15.18 As I am transcendental, beyond both the perishable and the imperishable, and the best, I am declared both in the world and in the Vedas as that Supreme Person, Puruṣottama.*
*15.19 Whoever knows Me as the Supreme, without a doubt, is to be understood as the knower of everything, and he worships Me with all his being, O son of Bhārata.*
*15.20 This is the most confidential teaching disclosed by Me, O Sinless One, and whoever knows this will become wise and his actions will bear fruit.*

Kṛṣṇa says that beyond these two aspects of *puruṣa*, the perishable body-mind energy and the imperishable spirit energy, there lies another level of energy that is the Supreme *puruṣa*. He goes on to say that He is that Supreme puruṣa, *Puruṣottama.*

*Puruṣa* is the energy that pervades us. *Puruṣottama* is the energy that pervades the entire Universe. *Puruṣottama* in that sense is no different from *Parāśakti*, the cosmic energy. It is only a play of words to separate *Puruṣa* as male and *śakti* as female, while describing the ultimate Cosmic Consciousness.

### **All-pervading Energy Behind Life**

The Universe is imperishable. The energy behind the Universe is imperishable. Kṛṣṇa says that He is that energy, the *Puruṣottama,* that drives the Universe eternally—*prathitaḥ puruṣottamaḥ* (15.18).

Modern astrophysicists speak about many universes, not just one. They say there are millions of galaxies in each universe, millions of stars and planets in each galaxy. Even with the aid of advanced equipment, we cannot determine where the universe starts and where it ends. It will never be possible with material aids. The energy behind the Universe is spiritual. It is intangible, invisible and immeasurable.

Kṛṣṇa says, 'Beyond perishable and imperishable, I am *Puruṣottama*.' He is not talking about the Yādava king Kṛṣṇa, *Vāsudeva* Kṛṣṇa, son of Vāsudeva and Devaki. He is talking about *Parabrahma* Kṛṣṇa, the *Īśvara*. He is *saguṇa*, the universal form and *nirguṇa,* the formless energy. He is that Brahman into whom both the soul, the individual imperishable Self and the perishable body-mind, merge.

He is the Brahman into whom the six-billion humans and countless billion living beings on Earth as well as countless trillions od entities in all the Universes merge. He is *Puruṣa*, the energy, and *Prakṛti*, the matter. Without Him, nothing moves.

We see *Puruṣottama* in different ways, depending upon our upbringing and capabilities. We see Him as the six-headed, twelve-handed Kārtikeya or Murugā, or the two-handed Rāma or the two-handed, peacock-feather-adorned, flute-playing Kṛṣṇa. We see Him in a way that is comfortable for us to see Him, so that we can reach Him.

 What difference does it make whether we call Kṛṣṇa '*Brahman, Puruṣottama, Parabrahma, Prakṛti*,' or any other name? By whatever name He is called, He is the supreme energy who causes us to move.

**It is the unbounded authority of Kṛṣṇa, with which He declares Himself as** *Puruṣottama***, that makes Gītā a scriptural authority.** It is not the wisdom nor the eternal truths in it, but the courage of that *one* person, who declared Himself to be the Transcendental Being, that defines this work as an eternal scriptural truth. May that *Puruṣottama*, that *Parabrahma* Kṛṣṇa, bless us all!

### **Know Me as the Supreme and Know Everything**

Now, Kṛṣṇa presents the great truths about His true representation as the collective consciousness, the Supreme Self.

This may surprise you or it may be something you already know. Irrespective of whether this concept is new or old, analyze this Truth for the sake of internalizing, until your logic fails.

#### *The first Truth:*

All our minds are not individually separated pieces of the Universe. They are all one and the same. All our minds are interlinked. Not only interlinked, they directly affect each other. This is what I call collective consciousness. Anything we think affects people around us. Not only are those near us touched by our thoughts, so is everyone living on planet Earth.

Listen. We are not individual islands, separated from each other and uninfluenced by each other. Only one truth called collective consciousness links all of us.

#### *The next Truth:*

Not only at the mental level, even at the deeper level of consciousness, the deeper we go, the deeper we are connected. In Existence, there is no such thing as a separate individual identity. Once we know this truth, we will go beyond pain, suffering, depression and disease.

Understand that as long as we hold onto the concept of individual consciousness, we will be continuously suffering, physically or mentally or on the being level. Why do we continuously resist Nature? Whatever Nature offers, we resist. When the weather is cold, we resist. We think we are different from Existence. I never thought that I was different from the atmosphere, never had the feeling of separation from Nature. It is only when we think that we are different from the atmosphere, from the air around us that we resist it.

**You see, we are a part of the Whole. If we fall in tune with the Whole, the Whole behaves as a friend.** The moment we think, discriminate or behave with the Whole in the opposite way, it acts like an enemy. Be very clear, the Whole is not here to kill or destroy us.

An example is what happens when a person dies of drowning. The dead body floats. The dead body is heavier than water. Yet, it floats. But, a living body that is lighter than water, does not float. It drowns. Why is this so? As long as we are living, we are unable to relate with water. Our ego prevents that. Our mind prevents that. In the dead body, there is no mind and no ego. It is the mind and ego that causes our heaviness.

When we are in completion with the collective consciousness, when we become a part of collective consciousness, Nature is our friend and Nature protects us. When we think that we are different from Nature, as long as we think that we are an individual consciousness, Nature protests against us.

 If we disappear into the collective consciousness, we are protected and taken care of. We attain complete success, not only socially and economically, but we experience it as well. It will be a feeling of fulfillment, an experience of complete completion.

A small story:

Once there were two ants sitting on the rim of a cup that contained *amṛta*, the nectar of immortality. As they were talking, one of the ants lost his balance and was about to fall into the cup. He somehow managed to get back on the rim.

The other ant asked him, 'Why don't you want to fall into the cup? Even if you drown in this, you will become only immortal.'

The first ant replied, 'But I don't want to drown!'


Kṛṣṇa says that when we are unable to recognize this energy, we are demonic. We do not believe everything operates out of this energy; instead we believe we make things happen with our greed, lust and desires. We believe we run this world with our puny intellect that we consider intelligence.

For years, many religious institutions believed planet Earth was the center of this Universe. They killed millions for believing otherwise. They assumed that they ruled earth, and that there was nothing beyond them. We need not even be irreligious to be demonic. We just need to be so self-centered that even our God is at our disposal. Then we are demonic.

Such a belief is different from the concept of believing that *you are God* and that God resides in you. This belief arises from deep awareness and completion instead of dark ignorance and is totally selfless. Once you become God, the rest of the world is part of you and you are part of that world. There is no longer the duality of 'I' and 'You'. Both merge into the non-duality of either 'I' or 'You'; it does not matter.

People who think the world is pure chemistry become demons. Naturally, if we think this whole world is just inert matter, we try to acquire more and more by killing everybody, by right or wrong means, and we do what we want to. Only when we understand that this Universe is intelligence, and that it responds to our thoughts and actions, will we live in the space of completion, and start really living.

A small story:

A group of scientists thought they could do anything and everything. They challenged God, 'Now you are unnecessary. Whatever you do, we can do. We can even clone human beings. What do you say? Now we can also develop whatever you have created on earth. Our department has developed everything.'

God was surprised to see all the scientists' creations—the sizes of the bananas, and other fruits they had created, and so forth! The scientists then challenged God to a competition. 'Come face us. We will do whatever you do. We are better than you; you can go and rest. We don't need you anymore.'

God agreed to face the scientists. God created a plant, and immediately the scientists created the same plant in a better way. One by one, they created the same thing God created. Suddenly, God took a little dust and created a man.

The scientists said, 'This is not a big deal, now that we have the ability to clone.' They took some dust and were about to create a man.

God said 'Stop. Bring your own dust and create. Don't use My dust!'

Whatever we may achieve, wherever science may go, the Divine is alive. God exists and the Cosmic intelligence runs this whole Universe. We cannot create dust! It has to be God's dust! Listen. There is a pure energy and intelligence that is the Source, the thread of the whole Universe.

When a person is living within the limits of the intellect and 'me', he cannot experience the Whole. He knows only logic and calculation and with that arrogance thinks he knows everything.

People with demonic qualities say the world is produced out of sexual desire and lust. Please be clear that lust cannot be the reason. Intelligence, the divine energy is the cause and effect of this whole Universe; the cause and effect is the Divine that is responsible for the Universe. However, when we think it is lust or that we are responsible, we live with the idea of 'me, me, me'.

Kṛṣṇa says firmly that when we believe that we are the cause of this Universe, this Existence, we are so deluded and locked in our own little identities, with small intelliegence, we destroy the world and ourselves as well.

Our ancient sages, the great *ṛṣis*, were not fools. They did not retire to forests because they had nowhere else to go. Many were great kings, rulers of this planet, and they voluntarily left behind all that they had, so that they could understand where they came from. It was not enough for them to read and listen to the experiences of others; they chose to experience the truth themselves.

In the process, they realized themselves and became liberated. As many others over thousands of years have discovered, they discovered that *they too were Gods.* They found that the same energy that operated in this Universe operated within them. They experienced that every living being on earth came from the same Source, and is the same Source.

Now, what do we do when we need water? We dig a well and, as if by magic, water appears. Now our neighbor wants water; he too digs a well and finds water. Yet are these waters different? The locations are at two ends, but the source is the same. Not merely the source, the water is also the same. Yet, we fight over common resources, thinking that we created them and therefore we own them.

This cognition of selfishness leads only to destruction of everything, *kṣayāya jagato 'hitaḥ* (16.9)—the environment, the world and all living beings. One part of this world, perhaps with less than one-sixth of the world's population, the so-called developed world, the so-called Western world, consumes more than half of the natural resources of this world. What right do they have to do this?

When we are not in the present, we are in a state of low intelligence, *alpabuddhi;* we become demons. Low intelligence leads to cruel deeds, *prabhavanty ugra karmāṇaḥ* (16.9). When we have no awareness of who we are, we do not care about anyone else.

All this can be changed. All that is needed is the cognitive shift from the demon to the Divine, from 'I' to 'You'. The environment we live in, the oxygen we breathe, the water we drink, the soil that gives the food we eat, all this is energy. This is what we call *pañca bhūta* in Saṁskṛit, the five elemental energies that sustain us. When these are destroyed by our low intelligence, out of our selfishness, the world around us collapses.

## How To Save Ourselves

*16.10 Filled with insatiable desires, hypocrisy, pride, and arrogance; holding wrong views due to delusion, they act with impure motives and for impermanent objectives.*

*16.11,12 Obsessed with endless anxiety lasting until death, considering sense gratification their highest aim, and convinced that sense pleasure is everything; bound by hundreds of ties of desire and enslaved and filled with anger, they strive to obtain wealth by unlawful means to fulfill sensual pleasures.*

What Kṛṣṇa says here is applicable to a vast majority of people today.

Times have changed since the days of the Vedic educational system where, from childhood, one was guided toward self-completion. Modern day education is based upon logic, science and rules, and is short on self-completion and *dharma*, righteousness.

When we are caught in the material world, focused on 'I' and 'me', we are stuck in the *mūlādhāra* and *svādiṣṭhāna cakras*. Greed and fear rule us and we are forever in the bondage of attachment and aversion. Whatever we do is with selfish and impure motives, and results in consequences that are mostly illusionary.

In the earlier verse, Kṛṣṇa explained how a person with demonic nature could destroy this world. Here, He shows how such a person can destroy himself. Out of pride, arrogance and hypocrisy, such a person moves in a path directed by purely selfish and material objectives, and derives results that produce suffering.

When we focus on matter, we tend to lose sight of the energy inherent in matter. When we focus on the form, we cannot see the formless that enables the form. What is permanent in both cases is the formless energy that drives the form and matter.

Science has moved a long way from the Newtonian model based on matter and form. This model is no longer relevant. From the days of Einstein, when matter and energy were linked inextricably, the concept has changed. Today all sciences accept that matter and energy not only co-exist, but also that the same object or event can be perceived or experienced by the observer as matter or energy or both.

So, we are back to the Hindu master Ādī Śaṅkarācarya's theory that the observer determines what is being observed. We may think this is fanciful. However, this is an accepted theory in the most advanced form of Quantum Physics today. Elementary subatomic particles, when observed in identical conditions with identical tools, appear differently to different observers. As yet there is no explanation for this phenomenon.

Our ancient Sages, Ṛṣis explained that this happens based on our deep root cognitions, which colors our perceptions. When science is sufficiently advanced, it will accept this truth.

Listen! Just as the army tanker has teeth in its wheels, and leaves its footprint when it goes on the road, in the same way, you leave the imprint of the guilt from your past, when you plan your future with fantasy, without responsibility. When you take responsibility, it is no more a fantasy. But when you don't take responsibility, it is a fantasy. When you plan for your future without responsibility, you leave the imprint of the guilt from your past!

Once we know how to lead our life without fantasies with responsibility, the fear of death disappears. Then suffering and misery dissolve automatically. We move from the demonic into the divine realm.

Here Lord Kṛṣṇa explains the same concept in a deeper way, and gives a beautiful punchline.

Many take shelter in pleasures and pain that end only with their death. With some, even at that time, it doesn't end. They think of the money they paid for insurance, casket, marble gravestone, etc. They regard gratification of desires as the sole objective in life.

The nature of the unconscious mind is to react to the senses. We may think we respond consciously. But almost all the time our reactions are instinctive, decided by *vāsanās* and *saṁskāras*, conflicting patterns and root patterns, rather than by conscious application of our rational mind. This is what Kṛṣṇa refers to as the nature of a demonic person. Instinct is the nature of animals, and because it is their nature, it works well for them. They flow with nature.

Instinct is not the nature of humans. Human consciousness can rise to the intuitive level, in which awareness results in high action. This is the potential of the Divine inherent in all of us. Instead of rising to the intuitive level, the super conscious level, most people find it easier to descend into the instinctive or unconscious level.

The problem is that we do not know how to fulfill desires. We go through peaks of emotions goaded by our desires and then slip into valleys of depression and guilt. Our emotions are not authentic because they do not touch our inner core. If we intensely experience these events born out of desires and perceived by our senses, we find that neither the peaks thrill us nor the valleys sadden us. We don't need to suppress or ignore these emotions; we can experience them fully without differentiation and move on.

We rush towards pleasure and away from pain. We are so eager to fulfill our desires that we go to any length to amass wealth and do any deed, however questionable it may seem. As Kṛṣṇa says, this goes on until we die. If we expect that we will suddenly be filled with thoughts of the Divine at death, even though our whole life we chased only pleasures, this is another foolish fantasy.

If all our life we have been chasing money, at the point of death also, we will be obsessed with money, even if we realize that we can't take it with us. If all our life we have been obsessed with lust, we will die in lust. If we live as a demon, focused on 'me', we cannot suddenly take the leap to 'You' at the point of death. That does not happen.

Only if man blossoms in his consciousness, he is God; he is Bliss. He is in *Nityānanda.*

### Sensory Traps

*16.13 They think: This has been gained by me today; I shall fulfill this desire; I have this much wealth and will have more wealth in the future;*

*16.14 That enemy has been slain by me, and I shall slay others also. I am the Lord. I am the enjoyer. I am successful, powerful, and happy.*
*16.15 I am rich and born in a noble family. Who is equal to me? I shall perform sacrifice, I shall give charity, and I shall rejoice. Thus deluded by ignorance;*
*16.16 Thus confused by various anxieties and caught in a net of illusions, one becomes too deeply attached to sensory pleasures and falls into hell.*

Kṛṣṇa does not let go. He wants Arjuna and mankind to understand how deeply the human psyche is damaged by the ego. Śaṅkara defines *āhāra* or food, in one of his commentaries, to mean all sensory inputs, whereas traditionally *āhāra* is translated as food. Food, as we normally understand it, is what the mouth consumes. This is the sustenance upon which the physical body feeds and grows. Many live only to eat, but a few aware ones eat only enough to sustain them, so that they can live.

Every sensory organ has its own *āhāra*, inputs, upon which it feeds. Based on these inputs, the eye, ear, tongue, nose and skin develop their desires and convey these desires to the body-mind system. Control of these senses and the desires that they weave is what Sage Patañjali prescribed as *pratyāhāra*, one of the eight methods of his *Aṣṭāṇga Yoga.*

*Pratyāhāra* is not suppression or starving the senses. Just as we need to eat in order to live, the senses need inputs to function. However, these inputs can be regulated so that the fantasies they weave are kept in control.

The average human is led by his senses; he does not lead his senses. His *karmendriya*, the organs of action that are responsible for movements are driven by these senses without the need for input from the conscious mind. Instinctively, they avoid pain and welcome pleasure.

A small story:

Two friends met in the street. One of them looked sad and almost on the verge of tears. The other one asked, 'What happened? Why do you look so sad?'

He replied, 'My uncle passed away three weeks ago. He left me fifty thousand dollars.' His friend said, 'That's not bad.'

He continued, 'Two weeks ago my cousin died and he left me ninety thousand dollars.'

His friend cried, 'This is great!' He went on, 'Last week my grandfather died. He left me a million.'

His friend asked, 'Then why are you so sad? He replied, 'Because this week, nobody died.'


*17.24 Therefore, acts of sacrifice, charity, and austerity prescribed in the scriptures are always commenced by uttering 'Oṁ' by the knowers of the supreme being.*
*17.25 Various types of sacrifice, charity, and austerity are performed by the seekers of liberation by uttering 'Tat' (or He is all) without seeking a reward.*
*17.26 The word 'Sat' is used in the sense of Reality and goodness. The word 'Sat' is also used for an auspicious act, O Pārtha (Arjuna).*
*17.27 Authenticity in sacrifice, charity, and austerity is also called 'Sat'. Selfless enriching for the sake of the Supreme is, in truth, termed as 'Sat'.*
*17.28 Whatever is done without authenticity, whether it is sacrifice, charity, austerity, or any other act is called 'Asat'. It has no value here or hereafter, O Pārtha (Arjuna).*

In conclusion, Kṛṣṇa moves on to a different plane altogether. So far He explained the distinctions between sacrifice, austerity and charity—*yajñas tapas tathā dānaṁ tesāṁ bhedam imaṁ śṛṇu* (17.7). He clarified what needs to be done and how. He spelled out the different modes based on the nature of people in relation to performing sacrifice, austerity and charity.

Please understand that all kinds of food, penance, sacrifice or charity fall into the basic three categories explained by Kṛṣṇa—*sātvic, rājasic* and *tāmasic.* These translate as the modes of goodness, passion and ignorance. But the important thing is that as long as they are done in the materialistic world, they are conditioned. When they are done from the space of completion with the attitude of gratitude to the Divine and Existence, only then you encounter spiritual progress or spiritual elevation. Our scriptures explain that anything done in the nature of *rajas* or *tamas* cannot give the ultimate result. Only the act done from the space of *satva* or goodness gives the final result. One who does such acts without this awareness has temporary results but not the final result.

In the days of Mahābhārat, sacrificial rituals were a part and parcel of daily life. This is not the case today. The *brāhmaṇas* (highly learned sect of people) were the keepers of the sacred knowledge that connected the physical ritual with the metaphysical truth expressed by the great sages in the *Vedas*. They were the keepers of the flame, in a real sense, since most *vedic* rituals invoked and addressed the fire energy.

Sacrifices or *yajña* were directed towards enriching the elemental energies and celestial beings. Austerity or *tapas* was directed towards enriching your own self. Charity or *dāna* was directed towards enriching those around you.

The brāhmaṇas were expected to lead an austere and charitable life in keeping with the spirit of their profession. In this chapter Kṛṣṇa elaborates on these concepts so that everyone can move forward on the path to completion or liberation. It is not only for the *brāhmaṇas,* it is also for *kṣatriyas, vaiśyas* and *śūdras*—the other castes. Any member of any caste is qualified for completion if he follows these principles. Completion has nothing to do with birth.

The prime requirement is authenticity, *śraddha*. Śraddha refers as well to the understanding that the enriching act of sacrifice, austerity or charity, *yajña, tapas or dāna* is not directed towards oneself or a material goal. They are directed to the enrichment of Supreme consciousness.

Commit to complete with yourself and others. When I say 'others', I don't mean only the friends and family and relatives who are present in your life. Complete with your *kula devatā (*family deity), complete with your *kula guru* (family guru), complete with your house, complete with the plants with which you are living, complete with your pet, complete with the different energies of the Cosmos, complete with everything! Continuously complete and continuously enrich others!

The real scale and measure of your completion is whether you are able to move the others' space and enrich others and life continuously. If you are not enriching constantly, be very clear, the completion has not yet happened in you.

I tell you, when completion happened in me, I just realized the authentic selflessness, *śraddha.* All our selflessness is also packed in our selfishness. All our selflessness is packed in our selfishness. When I completed, I discovered the authentic selflessness and enriching which never tires me. If you are getting tired, please be very clear, still you have incompletions in you. You have to complete! You have to complete!

Listen! This is the scale—having a tireless mind. The being happened in me is just because my enriching is out of pure selflessness. I tell you, once you complete, you will suddenly realize, 'Why should I live now?'— 'For enriching! Nothing else...Nothing else!' Complete! Complete! Complete!

In the last three verses Kṛṣṇa provides the technique to achieve this space of completion that expresses as the space of enriching, the shift of space from self to *Self*. He provides the method by which anyone can surrender the results of his activities, the fruits of his action called *karma phala* to the Divine. He provides the tool in the form of the invocation, *Oṁ Tat Sat.*

*oṁ tat sad iti nirdeśo brahmaṇas tri-vidhaḥ smṛtaḥ I brāhmaṇās tena vedās ca yajñāś ca vihitāḥ purā II 17.23*

### *The three words 'Oṁ Tat Sat 'are the words of the Divine.*

- '*Oṁ iti etat brahmano nedisthaṁ namaḥ*', shows the first goal, the beginning.
- '*Tat tvam asi'* indicates the second goal, the continuation.
- '*Sat eva saumya*' is the third goal or final result.

All three combined give the words: *Oṁ Tat Sat.*

This is why these words have such great importance or significance. Any person doing enriching or working with the space of addressing *Oṁ Tat Sat* will be with Existence, the Divine consciousness.

These three words simply imply: 'I offer all to that Truth. I surrender everything to that Divine. Let that be the Truth.' This is the *Mahā-vākya*, the great truth, handed down by the Master to Arjuna as the technique to ensure *śraddha*, authenticity in all activities of sacrifice, austerity and charity.

Please understand that any action, whether penance, charity or sacrifice, has no meaning when the purpose is not to achieve the Ultimate, the Divine.

The final aim in all the *Vedas* is to gain the experience of Kṛṣṇa or the supreme consciousness. No success, completion, fulfillment or happiness is possible without following this principle.

The Guru or spiritual Master is the only being who can enrich you and guide you into the space of completion to make your life successful and fulfilled.

Understand, people are conditioned to worship all kinds of deities or demi-gods or spirits right from birth. This is simply because their nature is from one of the three *guṇas*. Among the three *guṇas*, *satva guṇa* is considered the best and higher than the other *guṇas*, namely *rajas* and *tamas*. But the path of achieving the ultimate consciousness, the understanding of Kṛṣṇa, goes beyond and transcends all three *guṇas.*

This is where the role of a Guru or a spiritual Master is important. He directs and leads you on the path of complete cognition for an experience of the ultimate consciousness. Such an understanding, such a perception, leads to faith and ultimately to love for the Divine. This is the purpose and final goal of life.

Let us all pray to *Parabrahma* Kṛṣṇa with all authenticity to give us the experience of this chapter of the *Gītā* that leads to attainment of the ultimate consciousness, THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM!

Let us all experience *Śraddha*, the authenticity and imbibe and experience the truths of *Parabrahma* Kṛṣṇa.

Let us pray to Him to give us all the authenticity and experience of the truth that He is teaching through the *Gītā,* to all of us, and let Him make us experience and establish ourselves in Eternal Bliss, THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM!

> *Thus ends the seventeenth chapter named Śraddhatraya Vibhāga Yogaḥ, 'The Yoga of Discerning the Three-Fold Faith,' of the Bhagavad Gītā Upaniṣad, Brahmavidyā Yogaśāstra, the scripture of yoga dealing with the science of the Absolute in the form of Śrī Kṛṣṇārjuna saṃvād, dialogue between Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna.*

## Drop Everything And Surrender

Do not worry. There is nothing to surrender except the 'I' and 'mine.' Krsna reveals the final secret to experience and become Him—'Drop everything you know as dharma and surrender onto Me. I promise you liberation, moksa.' ... .

# Drop everything And Surrender

Drop everything and surrender. This is the gist not only of this final chapter of *Bhagavad Gītā*, but it is also the essence of the entire *Bhagavad Gītā.* In addition, throughout the ages it has been the basis of the teachings of all the spiritual Masters.

Kṛṣṇa concludes the *Bhagavad Gītā* with one subject: drop everything and surrender. Beautifully He says:

> *sarvadharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja I ahaṁ tvām sarvapāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā sucaḥ II 18.65*

Drop everything, whatever you know as *dharma*, whatever you know as life, whatever you think you know, just drop it. Drop everything and surrender. Whatever you know is only your knowledge, it is just what *you* know. It is not what *is.*

### **Knowledge does not prove Existence**

In fact, wisdom and truth are about what we do not know. That is all! What we know cannot lead us to the ultimate Truth. Knowledge of the mind, that we take so much pride in, functions like blinkers that we wear to shut out the truth of Existence. The mind is not the scale of measure of Existence. What we are has nothing to do with our thoughts. What we are is beyond our thoughts. If our thoughts alone could define what we are, we would be nothing more than a biomechanical machine.

Humans think. That is the problem. Our great Sages, the ancient *Ṛṣis* declare, 'Drop your mind and you will be complete. You will realize your true potential as a human.'

Ādī Śaṅkarācārya, one of the greatest Masters and Hindu philosophers, proclaims this so beautifully in the verses of his *Ātma* *Ṣaṭakam*. To define what He truly is, Śaṅkara negates his body, mind, senses, emotions and all his relationships. By negating all this, he declares his inner divinity boldly and beautifully.

Understand, we are spiritual beings in human form, and not human beings striving to be spiritual. Our potential is infinite. Our intelligence is unlimited. But our intellect is limited.

When we started the *Bhagavad Gītā* series, we learned what *śāstras, stotras* and *sūtras* are. *Śāstra* is knowledge of the intellect. It is acquired by reading and understanding. *Stotra* is knowledge acquired through learning, through the heart, that is through devotion. *Sūtra* is learning through the being, that is through meditative techniques that cut to the core of what is essential.

Even knowledge about God creates bondage when it is merely intellectual because we will only know about God. That is all! We will not know God. Please understand this. Knowing *about* God is not the same as *knowing* God. When we completely surrender everything, we will not even have the idea that we know God. When that idea does not exist in us, we know God. Otherwise we may know about God but we do not know exactly what the Divine is.

Words do not express God. No expressions can lead to the experience of God. God is when expressions cease. Masters say that the finger pointing to the moon is not the moon. It is only a pointer, a reminder. Words about God in any form, however sincere they may be, are mere pointers and reminders. The problem with religions is that they teach us *about* God. They do not teach us how to know God. Religions tell us a few things about God and instill fear and greed in us.

No spiritual Master preached violence. If he did, he would be no master! Great spiritual Masters and Incarnations happen with the mission to raise us to a super conscious state. They aim to cause our Inner Awakening, awakening the individual consciousness, so that we realize that we are one with the collective consciousness of this Universe. They come with a mission to make us understand that we must move from the

## Bhagavad Gita Decoded_English_part_27.md

space of 'I' to 'you' and 'us.' Unlike spirituality that spreads love among people, religion fosters violence.

**Understand: Enlightenment is a gift. It makes no difference what effort we put in.** We may have stood on one leg for hundreds of years. We may have fasted for thousands of years. We may have practiced meditation or yoga or some other technique. These are equivalent to buying the one-dollar lottery ticket. Anything we put in is comparable to that one-dollar lottery ticket. What we receive in return is a pure gift. Whatever we do is within the dream. How can that get us something beyond the dream?

Śrī Kṛṣṇa says, 'Drop everything and surrender—*sarvadharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja*.' First let us understand the word 'surrender'. The word itself frightens people. We must understand that we are not going to lose anything when we surrender. We are only going to gain everything. However, for lack of a better word, we must use this word.

### **Surrender and Understand**

Realize first of all that we have nothing of any value to surrender! We only think we have something to surrender. The truth is that we have nothing to surrender. We simply need to open our eyes and see that everything that *is,* is divine. It is Existence. Whatever we think is ours does not exist! The 'I' and 'mine' that we hold onto are mere lies. The moment we understand this, we surrender. The moment we surrender, we understand.

When we call something 'mine', legally it may belong to us, but existentially, it does not. Legally we can fence off a piece of land and call it ours. Legally we can own things. But Nature or Existence does not know that it is ours. When a cyclone hits, it does not care whose property it is. It does not know the law! It does not know that legally a cyclone is not allowed on someone's property! For Existence there is no law.

Your idea of 'mine' is protected by the laws of society. You cannot

truly use the term 'law of the land.' The land has no laws. Only society has laws. The land can have an earthquake at any time. We cannot have laws to govern Nature. The law of the land is beyond your comprehension. As long as you are caught with the concept of 'I' and 'mine', you will not understand the truth about Existence. You are caught in thinking that something is 'you' and something is 'yours'.

When Kṛṣṇa tells us to drop everything and surrender, He asks us to open our eyes and see the foolishness of the drama we play with our possessions and expectations. Listen! It is one thing if you play the game to cheat others; but, do not cheat yourself.