Seeking for this Entity that dwells within, we call Antaryamin [InnerSelf],
and trying to seek that Entity outside will only defeat the purpose.
We are giving credits to the external, but the actual credits, actually, it goes
to this inner deity that is within us.
So, it does not matter whom you worship outside, be it Vishnu, be it Shiva, be it
Krishna, be it Ganapathy, whomsoever it be.
Ultimately they will have to be felt within ourselves.
And this ‘they’ - the multiplicity, will become One.
Namaste ji.
…..how, when soul incarnates, for the first time when baby is born and mother has the
baby in her lap, the baby continues to cry.
It is a sign.
Mother is happy, for the first time, so happy that the baby is crying.
It is great.
It is a sign that the soul, the Life Force, the Self with capital ‘S’,
has come along, Atman[Soul] has come along.
Without this Atman [Soul], there would not be any breathing, the baby would not cry.
It is a sign and this signature continues on.
It remains with us until we breathe our last.
That Entity is within us, it is not outside us.
Seeking for this Entity that dwells within, we call Antaryamin [Inner Self],
and trying to seek that Entity outside will only defeat the purpose.
We are giving credits to the external, but the actual credits, actually it goes
to this inner deity that is within us.
So, it does not matter whom you worship outside, be it Vishnu, be it Shiva, be it
Krishna, be it Ganapathy, whomsoever it be.
Ultimately they will have to be felt within ourselves.
And this ‘they’ – the multiplicity, will become one.
It will all be unified when we experience that Entity as Oneness within.
If we make our approach externalized, there is the danger,
danger of attributes, the danger of being grateful.
It is like, all your life your wife has been serving you, all through
your childhood your mother worked and slogged trying to raise you.
If you do not know this much, then this is a bigger tragedy, you see.
Instead of giving credits to your mother or to your spouse, and you continue giving credits
to somebody else for your happiness, how would your mother or your spouse feel?
The Entity, Antaryamin [Inner Self] is within us, and we keep on worshipping, adoring,revering,
surrendering to all those external things, then the purpose will be defeated.
Do you know why a wife loves her husband?
It is not for the sake of her husband but for her own sake.
Do you know why a husband loves his wife?
Not for his sake.
Not for the sake of his wife but for the sake of himself.
He loves his children for the same reason, for the self.
Without the self, nothing is possible.
It is not selfishness.
It is that in loving the other, the self is recognized; the self finds its purpose.
Without this purpose, that self will be lost.
It will form only complexities and impurities.
There is another argument here between Yajnavalkya and Maitreyi,
I will read that to you here.
“ O, Maitreyi!
Those who know Brahm, Ishwar, Veda, sons, and the atman, not with their own
viewpoint but with the viewpoint of Brahman, Ishvara, etc., are destroyed by them
Those who do not know the status of God and their own status, and worship
God not with their own but with God’s viewpoint, to them Vishnu becomes Rudra.
Ultimately, what is it that confuses us?
What is it that destroys our intelligence?
It challenges our intelligence.
When we start externalizing the whole thing, when you have found that this is the ‘Self ’,
then all the rest ends there.
The ‘Self’ merges and when the ‘Self’ merges in the Ultimate, there is no more quest left.
If you are still looking for something after that, that will be a tragedy.
Actually, it will not happen.
All the questions will be resolved.
Why does Vishnu become Rudra?
Because you have not understood him.
You kept on following.
Imagine someone, after whom you have invested so much.
And that person is not understood by you even after that;even
after many years of association, there is no harmony, there is no recognition,
that person remains misunderstood.
Similarly, here too, Vishnu remains misunderstood,
you do not become one with ‘That’.
And because of that, you remain under an illusion.
And this illusion will destroy us the way Rudra would.
So the key is in understanding, realizing the truth within ourselves.
If that does not happen, we remain slaves to this external world.
So let us not go on insulting this Inner deity that is within us.
The moment we find the Heartfulness way, Sahaj Marg way of our practice,
and when we begin to go inward, what happens first?
Whenever we go inward, after each session, we find immense peace.
Why?
Becauses, it is the natural thing that is to happen when we go inward.
There is no any other explanation except to say that you are doing just the right thing.
Doing the right thing grants you peace.
Doing the wrong thing grants us restlessness.
Whenever we externalize things, we become restless.
Ego, when we consider it as external to the real ‘Self’, we become arrogant.
You identify yourself with this lower self, called ego.
You become restless, though you might prevail because of your arrogance.
But you remain restless; you lose peace of mind and you lose harmony.
When you are too busy with your mind, thinking, thinking, thinking, even during
meditation, that will not grant you peace.
This is another proof that the mind is still external to our real ‘Self’.
When we are too obsessed with our bodies, a similar problem happens.
Obsession with the body makes you restless.
‘How do I look today?
How is my hair?
How is my beard?’ We are too busy with all these external things.
Not that we want to look ugly, but preoccupation, obsession,
will make you restless.
Your attention goes outward.
Your identification is away from the ‘Self’.
That is destructive.
No one becomes Rudra, actually.
No Vishnu would waste his time in destroying us.
Ultimately it is us, who are destroying the ‘Self’.
So the key is, after all these things that we have discussed, is that interiorization
is important for a Heartfulness practitioner, that as we move on,
we have to first study ourselves, absorb what has been given, analyze what is
blocking this absorption, what are those traits that are creating the problems.
So we have to become our own critics.
We have to inspire ourselves also through this criticism and bring about
or enforce certain changes willingly.
So this study of the ‘Self’ – ‘I have to study myself, I have to study my nuances.
Where have I gone wrong?’ - That is ‘Swa-adhyaya’ [self-study].