If the guru asks for any dakshina (honorarium given to a spiritual guide), he is not worthy to be a guru.
Gurus are supposed to give the spiritual wealth that they have acquired from their gurus or from whatever Source is there.
It is meant to be shared, not transacted, for this kriya, this much money and for that kriya, that much money.
It is so wrong.
Guru is never supposed to be worshipped.
Our country has been, our people have been
misguided, time and again by these so-called yoga merchants.
And because of such crooks, the real ones are suffering.
Somebody says, “Oh, all gurus are pathetic.
They do take advantage of people.” But where there is no transaction,
you have nothing to give, what are you going to lose anyway?
Nobody is going to ask you for money.
Nobody is going to say, “You do this or you do that.” Only thing is, like
exercise, do this mental gym, every morning and every evening and see where it takes you.
Our India, our land, is so rich with spiritual heritage.
And it is meant to be distributed for free, totally free.
If the guru asks for any dakshina (honorarium given to a spiritual guide), he is not worth being a guru.
Gurus are supposed to give the spiritual wealth that they have acquired from their Gurus, or from whatever Source is there.
It is meant to be shared, not transacted
- for this kriya, this much money and for that kriya, that much money.
It is so wrong.
It is time, our people get enlightened with this, that Brahma Vidya (Divine Knowledge) is for free.
One of our associates, many years back, in early eighties, when my Guruji went to the US for the first time,
and that was his last time also, someone asked him, “How much
do you charge?” I mean, it is a practical question.
But he said, “God is not for sale.” If God was for sale, how much would you pay?
And if you could pay, why do you need God?
It is as simple as that.
Very recently, I was watching a YouTube video of very famous guru of India.
Sometimes I do visit these YouTube videos.
And someone asked this person a question, “Why do you charge money, and that too so hefty?
Each session is one lakh rupees, or two lakhs rupees, or something like that.” It is a very small amount though.
If you go for a week-long program, it can go into double digits, in lakhs.
He says, “ If I do not charge, they will not attend properly.
They would just go out for a few minutes and come back, maybe the next day.”
But then, if I was present there,
then I would have asked, “If I stay completely all this, during the entire session, would you refund my money,
if you are so genuinely concerned about my attending the program, every single minute,
and I learn everything that you speak?
I give you money.
If I stay there, would you refund it?” So they gave a very logical explanation, that “Had
I not have charged, they would not have appreciated it.” But that is wrong.
Again, fundamentally, Brahma Vidya (Divine knowledge) cannot be sold.
Experiences that I have, experiences that you will have,
you should be able to transmit, without speaking about it.
When you become peaceful at heart, when you meditate in the morning, without speaking about it,
you are radiating that peace And I have seen, in raising my two boys, waking up early,
when we (adults) meditate together, the kind of vibrations it sets in the house, it is so joyful.
And children also wake up with so much of joy.
Versus, when you were cranky and did not meditate, they also wake up cranky and crying.
So it has this indirect impact, of the environment
that we create, because of who we become, every single day.
So, meditation is a process, where we move on from mere thinking of God, then later
on, we start experiencing the various conditions on the way, spiritual states on the way.
And then a moment comes, when peaceful vibrations
settling on me every single day, makes me even more peaceful.
I become more peaceful.
So experience is now translated into becoming, that becomes our second nature.
There can be a lot of troubles brewing around you, but you will be
as if you are settled, like the eye of a hurricane or a tornado.
You are well settled, so peaceful and only with a peaceful and calm heart, you will be able to make right decisions.
If you get troubled and somebody is creating a hassle around you
and you become disturbed, you would not be able to make right decision.
Only when you
are challenged, then you will realise how this ‘inner calm’ can help you.
Even the worst of your enemy, you can turn him around and make him your best friend.
So, many people, they say, “You talk of God Realisation.” I say, “Forget God Realisation, for a moment.
This thing has a lot to offer.” It does not matter whom you believe.
You may believe in Sai Baba, or Lord Krishna, or Shiva.
It is good to believe in someone.
At least it will have a placebo effect.
My main essence of talking to you is to create that heart,
make that heart an abode of peace and calmness,
so that people around us can at least have trust.
They can come to us and say, “Oh, I have this problem.
This man is trustable.
I can confide in this person.
He is so calm and he is peaceful.”
And do not try to order anyone, however great you become.
Work with them, hand-in-glove.
The moment you say, “oh, do this” they may do it, but not with the heart.