Play of Consciousness

09/02/1978

Consciousness can observe only what undergoes change. That which is eternal cannot be observed by consciousness and therefore it cannot be known. The concept 'I am so and so' is not permanent, one who knows this truth is everlasting. Concepts and desires appear with the body, and also disappear with the body. All that is known is a concept, however great the knower of Self may be, what he teaches is still a concept which pleases him. 

All your actions are transient. It does not matter how long they last. What is today, not a trace of it will remain tomorrow, as nothing is everlasting. What will one do when the mind-flow stops?

The one who knows what 'he is', will never censure anyone. The world is bound by three Gunas, one who knows the Gunas, does not censure the gunas. So long as you consider yourself a body with a name, there is no direct knowledge of the Self. Without that knowledge, one becomes a tattler, who blames things on someone else. All the worldly attacks are the result of body consciousness. The feeling 'I AM', which everyone has, is God. So whom will you criticize?

The respect you give to Guru, the same will be born in you. Guru means the Consciousness. Guru means Parabrahman. Atman is the self-luminous knowledge itself. It is the very nature of God. This knowledge is his very form. Behave like human beings, but let the humanness be replaced by godliness. The feeling that 'You Are', is the soul of the world. Remember this constantly. Put aside what you have learnt from all the books. As long as you think you are separate, you have engage in Sadhana (penance). Whatever happens or does not happen is within God, and by God. You are not concerned with that. To keep this awareness through waking hours is constant meditation on one's own nature. Whether Prana leaves today or 10000 years from now, there is no profit or loss for a Jnani.

Faith in the Guru and understanding received through Guru's word cannot be compared with anything else. It is so clear. The Consciousness is spotless, formless and prior to intellect. The Worldly knowledge is born out of the world. Without your Consciousness, would the sun exist as sun? As you identify yourself with the body, you cannot even imagine that immense Consciousness. All this is transitory. One who knows this is eternal. What you take yourself as, its effect will be felt by you. If you live with the understanding the you are the Brahman, the same will be your destiny.

The Consciousness as "I AM" is very small. The moment it comes into being it becomes self-luminous and creates an immense world. How can you dismiss things that have been created by your own Consciousness?

Follow your Guru.

When you look at the moon, what do you see between your eyes and the moon? The space in between is not seen. Similarly, your own light, through which you look, is also not seen. They are one and the same. Your consciousness is of the nature of space. Your true nature is beyond that.

The creation is in descending order as follows: First comes the seed consciousness ie., the feeling 'I AM' , then the space followed by other four elements.This is the sequence of creation.

The one who has realized his own consciousness, its cause and its duration, is the knower. The knower does not act. When the king is seated on the throne, the administration goes on, just because he is. Similarly, the knower does not act. Along with the birth, the feeling 'I AM' arises. Before birth there was no such feeling. The vital energy carries out all the actions. The knower is beyond the known. After listening to this, compare it with the present state of being. (The knower means the Supreme Self or the Paramatman who is prior to consciousness). It is the un-manifested state of being. It is the true nature of everyone. One who has realized this state is called the  Jnani or Sadguru. The ignorant person takes the feeling 'I AM' as the body, the seeker takes it as pure consciousness but the Jnani does not identify with anything.

The immense consciousness and the eternal peace are the true state. The concept 'I AM' comes through Sattva Guna. [quality of sattva, refinement, harmony] The power of that Guna makes it happen. The knower is beyond knowledge. It is only the ignorant who enjoys the body-consciousness. A seeker enjoys it as knowledge itself. A realized sage is beyond that enjoyment altogether.

It is said that a remedy can be an obstacle, yet there is one remedy available to you. Chant your Mantra. With faith in the one who has given you the Mantra, your consciousness will become stronger. As a result, there will be no weakness in your actions. The greater the faith in the Guru, the earlier the success. If you take your Guru as a human being, your consciousness will harass you. One who follows this faithfully will enjoy liberation in this very body. To surrender means to be without body-consciousness. To offer everything to Brahman means to be without quality. Act with the conviction that the life force that sustains the Universe is within your body. On your own, you are unable to do anything. All the actions are carried out by this life-force only. Guru introduces you to this life-force.

By your presence (the presence of you as pure, universal Consciousness), the places of your  pilgrimage become holy. There is nothing more sacred than this Consciousness. When you realize your Self, there will be nothing as holy as You will be. When you get this conviction, there will not be any need for associating with others. One who has pride in  his (so-called) enlightenment is ignorant. How can one have any pride when he realizes that nothing has happened?

Love implies our need for beingness. Love is infinite and unlimited. It is so, after the beingness arises. Love means the Consciousness that has arisen in us unknowingly. It is without shape, without caste or creed. It is the pure quality of the vital energy.It is power of this love by which we feel 'we are.'


A Jnani never competes with anyone else. Therefore he is beyond criticism. Those who dislike a Jnani are unripe due to their attachment to body-consciousness. They do not understand what a Jnani says. With the grace of the Guru, the understanding could come in an instant. Do not impose body-consciousness on the Guru, who is without quality and without form. What you are hearing now is the knowledge of the experience of the nature of Self, it is not  heresay.

Whose is this voice? When was it created and why? It is the voice of Prana [vitality, Life force]. It is not your voice. Meditate with your consciousness, not with the body. Only Love moves around in the form of three gunas and the five elements. It is Self-love. (Loves means our own consciousness.)

Devotion to the Guru opens your eyes.'That' which is seen without the eyes is superior. Before the eyes open, that light has got a dark blue shade. As soon as the eyes open, the light has no color. Be loyal to the Sadguru. After recognizing the seed-consciousness, everything becomes an offering to Brahman [Reality]. (Such a person becomes unattached to the worldly affairs). Who is talking? The 'word' belongs to the space. And you are beyond space.

My Guru used to say, no matter how old you are, you are only a child. (The body gets older. Yet, the consciousness is always in the present moment. It is like a newborn child at all times).

There are various kind of practices in the world. To work miracles after getting spiritual powers is also a type of learning. I did not get into that. I only studied  the nature of Self, as taught by my Guru. In comparision to the realization of the Self, all else is meaningless. Without faith in the Guru, you will wander about, going to various teachers and holy places. If you follow your Guru's teaching it will not be necessary to go anywhere.

The Guru liberates you

22nd January,1978

Your true nature is not different from Brahman (The Absolute). Your self-identity is based upon your body and you consider yourself as a Male or a Female. It is a mistake that you call yourself a human being. 'THAT' which is listening now is your true nature, it is pure consciousness. It is a mistake to call it a body. Your true identity (non-manifest principle) is there prior to your knowledge. Whatever form you take yourself to be will not last. Actually, you have no birth or death. They pertain to the body.

Your consciousness is the result of the movement of three Gunas.(qualities). It is transient. It is not understood properly because of the three Gunas (qualities). Because of this consciousness, you have a sense of happiness and sorrow. But this consciousness will disappear just as fire gets extinguished. The supreme fire is self-realization.

Does the sun know that its brightness varies? You experience that fact by virtue of you own light. The most important of the three qualities is the quality of knowing. You know all through this quality. Who creates all these houses, machines, roads etc.? Is it not someone's knowledge of his beingness,

You enslave yourself because of your needs. You will be free from this slavery when you realize that the consciousness that is listening is free and formless. It is your true nature.Recognize 'that' by which you feel that you are alive. To tell you about your true nature as to what it is and how it is, is the meaning of the word 'Nirupan'.

Whatever you conceive through the mind will not last. The sense of me and mine is the natural (inborn) characteristic  of consciousness. Catch hold of the main Guna - the quality of knowingness. Live a life without expectations. Then, automatically, the feeling of 'mine-ness' will fall off. Recognize that you are without requirements. Your true state is spontaneously there. Do not disturb the mind.

You have always taken God as your support. That does not mean that you know God. Rama, Krishna, Vishnu are name for the bodies. They command great devotion because they had realized the Truth.

A devotee can have visions of the deities if he meditates on them according to what he has heard. What is the source of that vision? He himself is the source of it. Whatever you have taken for granted has no value. Worldly dealings are not under your control. They will keep on going. Once you are stabilized in your Self, you will never feel a want for anything.

Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are the names of your own Self. Jiva (individual self) is born as a matter of course, along with time. All these individuals have their passions. Your knowledge of the world depends upon your consciousness.  When Someone says, 'I go to the subtle', what does it mean? It, of course, implies consciousness. It has no shape, no color. It has a taste - the awareness that 'you are'. What is the relationship of this knowledge to you? Does it die when the five-elemental body ceases to be? Think of how you would appear if you were not the body. Keeping in mind what you have heard and pondering over it is the greatest penance. Through the practice of this kind of meditation, you will go on changing continuously and you will reach a stage where there is no further change.

The Truth has no knowledge of itself (it is unmanifest). You must keep your goal constantly before your mind. Drive away your body-consciousness from your mind. No matter how much you insist, you can never be a man or a woman, forever. The five elements will merge into the five elements.

Even if you do not understand all this, at least understand 'That' by which you know you are. Once again, meditate on your goal constantly. Your mind needs some support. You cannot bear your consciousness without having something else to think over. To meditate on one's self is possible only with the grace of the Guru. Such meditation is unique, not commonly found in the world.

The nature of time is such that it will not allow anything to remain steady. If you cannot focus your attention on the goal (consciousness), call it as Guru and say, 'I am meditating on my Guru'. This is simple. The world is the creation of your own consciousness. The Purusha is the passive witness, the Seer, and Prakriti (the power of Prana) is doing everything through the body. Mind, Intellect and Inner sense are all names of the energy of Prana. There is no separation between Jnana (consciousness) and Prana (Life force). They are two sides of the same coin. Hence if the Prana is pleased, the consciousness is also pleased. Meditate on the life-force, then the meditation on consciousness will take place indirectly. Both have no form. All activities take place because of these. How can one say that they (Jnana and  Prana) are dead when the body dies?

Your thoughts of 'me and mine' do not allow you to know your Self. Hence, you live in an undignified manner. At least remember what Purusha and Prakriti are. Achieve union with Prana. Prana is God. It implies movement. In the end, the knower of the movement and the movement itself, both merge into that non-qualitative state. For the sage, the occasion of Prana leaving the body, the occasion of great departure, is a celebration.

 'Wait for a moment at the door of God. All the four kinds of liberations are there'. The meaning of this quotation is, if for a moment, your attention is fixed on your Self, you will be liberated. The Guru liberates you. He told you in the first meeting that 'Your true nature is like my own', while giving you initiation. He gives you the Mantra, not taking you as a male or female, but as the consciousness that listens. Whatever abuses you fling on the Guru, will rebound on you.

Jiva is perfect [as the play of Siva] and yet he is moaning with the fear of death. The sage feels compassion for the Jiva, for his condition. That is why he gets impatient and angry sometimes.

Be faithful to your Meditation.

19th Jan,1978

Both reading & listening are necessary, but what is read and listened should be in accordance with the knowledge received from the Guru. ‘I am exactly like what I have heard and read and what Guru has told me.’ This is the way. That which remains after dismissing one’s own consciousness is the truth. Union with God is Yoga. After the union, both of them get extinguished and the one who witnesses is the Supreme Self – The non-manifest state of being.

The body is Prakriti (nature) and the one who resides in the body is Purusha (Self). The one who acts is Prakriti, while Purusha is the passive witness. In other words, the Prana (vital force) is the movement and its knower is consciousness. Both the energies have no form. Prakriti and Purusha are not separate. So long as you take yourself as the body, there is no peace. Keep in mind what you have heard, and discriminate constantly. One who has realized Prakriti and Purusha becomes liberated.

In the body, God is experiencing himself with the feeling ‘I AM’ . The Guru’s word means you beingness; this should be your conviction. Surrender yourself to the Prana; drop the identification with the body. One who knows the power of Prana is a Jnani. The meditation continues all through the waking hours when the consciousness understands. Concentrate on the source of the Vital Energy (Shakti). This meditation is carried out with the same energy. Everlasting peace is the great accomplishment. When both Prakriti and Purusha are forgotten, the [that] is real rest. By virtue of meditation, the feeling “I am so and so” is lost. To make meditation successful, be faithful to it. Concentrate on the energy of the Prana. When this energy is arrested, the consciousness becomes one with it and Samadhi ensues. The knowledge received from the books has to be tested with one’s own experience. 

When we get up from deep sleep, first appears the microscopic consciousness with the feeling ‘I AM’, before any words. This seed consciousness is the cause of all the experiences. In no time, it takes on the form of the Universe. But you have to see how this consciousness in unreal. The experience goes along with the one who experiences. When an operation is done under anesthesia, there is no pain. If a man dies in that unconscious state, is there any pain of death?

While listening to these talks, you forget yourself and thereby forget the world. You remain in your natural state of being. Is it not a great benefit? The devotion to the Guru rewards you with Self-realization.

The Body & the Consciousness

The movement of Prana and the movement of God are not different. Watch your breathing. Without the vital life-force, the feeling ‘I AM’ will not be there. The consciousness in the body is the characteristic (Guna) of the Prana (they are not separate). Once you have realized self, it is not at all necessary to put on a special pose. That would be an indication of ignorance. To grow a beard, to look impressive, etc, are the fancies related to the body. They are not the characteristic of the Self. The concept that you may take for your meditation will be realized and you will have visions accordingly. They are all unreal.

There is no method comparable to listening to such talks as these. Once you listen to this, liberation is within reach. The manifest principle has movement, but the non-manifest does not. It is without characteristics.

As old age comes, childhood and youth go away automatically. It is not necessary to renounce them with purpose. Similarly, you ego should automatically fade away. No experience is lasting. There is no creator of the world, nor is there a sustainer, nor a destroyer. All happens automatically.  What we know becomes the source of our happiness or sorrow. ‘That’ which is not known to us can not be the source of happiness or sorrow.

The mind is a concept and the concept is mind. The concept gives birth to whatever it likes. Such is the kingdom of the mind. The Self is alone. The knowledge based upon the concepts uncovers ‘That’ which is without concepts. This becomes possible even with mere listening. What you have heard from childhood has become the real world for you. ‘Jiva’, ‘Jagat’ and Brahman – (Individual soul, the world and the Supreme Self) are concepts. The concept expands through concept, and it becomes all the three qualities (Gunas). At the root there is the manifest consciousness. When the consciousness becomes active through dealings, the mind is created. The manifest consciousness is the base on which the mind floats.

When we get up from sleep, at that moment we feel ‘we are’ prior to any words. The feeling ‘we are’ is the basic thought. How did this world come into existence? It is like a dreamer creating a dream world without doing anything. We feel the world to be real, because we feel our body to be real, and vice-versa. Though the world is immense, there is not an iota of truth in it. The non-manifest became manifest and created the mind. The mind created the world, which appears to be real.  The one who goes beyond the manifest and remains in the non-manifest cannot quite say, ‘Now, I am unknown to me’. First comes the consciousness then the mind is created through it followed by all the activities. In absence of consciousness, is it possible to do anything? The feeling ‘I AM’ is the natural concept. That concept is never satisfied. When you try to be one with your Consciousness, the mind comes in the way. Keep trying. Pay attention to the source from which the consciousness has appeared. It is untrue.

The listener should watch himself rather than interfering in the affairs of others. However, he should take the opportunity to see or know what he is. After knowing the meaning of the concept, you will know that this world is a joke. ‘Absolutely nothing has happened, I have not seen anybody, nobody has ever seen me’, this will be your conviction.

With whatever desire you do penance, it projects on your mind and everything appears accordingly. The life-force takes shape and then comes the visions etc.,  if you operate with body-consciousness, the concepts will proliferate. If you make friendship with your pure consciousness, it will uncover its true nature. When consciousness knows what it is, it vanishes and what remains is ‘Vijnana’ – true direct knowledge that has no name. If you behave accordingly, sooner or later you will realize that you never had any experience of the world. Then, where is the question of going about is such a world? Till such time that you know this, do all your dealings, as you like. Look after the household. Do not run away from it. When you were born and before you started hearing words , you were in your natural state. After what you heard, which you believed was true; you have come to the present situation. What has entered your mind so far is behaving in different ways.

The greatest self-interest is to understand oneself. That you must achieve. Then the secret of the whole world will be understood. When you realize yourself, you will understand the world at the same time. You will know what ‘I AM’ is. Have a firm conviction that I AM what Guru told me. In worldly dealings, you can use your identity as a man or a woman. But do not keep it within your elf. Everything depends upon whom you are going to die as.

Death is only a word. It is never an experience. What will you experience other than Brahman when there is nothing else? You have become  a slave of the mind. The mind is designing you . The mind does not know its source. Your locus standii should be your Guru’s word. ‘Guru initiated me’, means he told me about his true nature. Believing it to be true, if one behaves with conviction, then the truth will be known. From others'  point of view, a man is dead. From the point of view of a Jnani, he has become free from his delusions. ‘I am such and such, a woman or a man.’... is a delusion.

First the food gets ready, and then the Jiva takes birth through that. The nature of food is the same as that of Jiva. The body is only a transformed food. It is the food for the consciousness within the body. So long as there is consciousness, there is hunger and thirst.

Either  you become determined through the Guru’s word or keep on chanting the Mantra. That experience to which you are attracted today is false. It is not everlasting. You may take the best nutrition and keep strong. Yet, when old age comes, the hands and feet are sure to shake. Think of that. Surrender to the Consciousness, which incessantly says, ‘Jai Guru’, ‘Jai Guru’. Because you believe you are the body, such concepts as ‘I am a child, I am a Youth, I am old’ occur to you. ‘I am surely here and always will be; body alone goes on changing.’ This is discrimination.

The True Nature of Self.

1st,April 1978

Thoughts come, and go the way they came. They linger if there is a need. A Jnani has not even the need for himself. How does the household of the Jnani work? The same One that nourishes the child for nine months in the womb makes the Jnani's household work. How is the child looked after and protected until he gets this knowingness that he is someone who has a body? The answer is, the universal Consciousness that he is, does everything. Even if you live for a thousand years, your identification with the body will still be there. How can the one who is light and pure existence be a body? The experience of your beingness without pronouncing a single word is correct knowledge.

The Body is made of five elements. Its essence is the consciousness that resides in the body. Know with certainty that you are not the body. You are without form; you are of the nature of light. You can see darkness because of your own light. Om symbolizes the hum of assent (of breath), the guarantee of our beingness. When you know Consciousness itself, you gradually become liberated. If you are not the body, how are you going to act and with whom? That is an unshakable, immovable state. Once it is known that your nature is of the nature of light then there is no further coming and going. You are of the nature of that self-luminous light by virtue of which you can see things, yet, you still believe that 'I am so and so, having a body'. When the body falls, the Prana (Vital breath) leaves. No one says that Prana is dead. If the Prana is pure, the mind and intellect are also pure. If the Prana is pleased, can one have the experience of pain or misery? The power of Prana is the same as power of life - the vital force. The Prana force is the same as the primordial Maya - it is same as the power of Brahman. Some on may become very great; it is only by the power of Prana.

There is Love for the word as long as there is ignorance. After Knowledge, there is no use of words. After realization, the news 'I AM' is still there, but the attitude of the mind is entirely changed.

Continue your chanting of the Mantra, taking in the meaning of it as it is. Think of who should worship whom and why? If you want Guru's grace, take the word of the Guru as authority.

Prana - The Life Force

25/12/1977

People keep themselves busy because they find it difficult to bear their own consciousness. People look for various entertainments to escape from themselves. The greatest challenge lies in looking at oneself, sitting alone by oneself.

A much greater number of people have died than those living now. Where have they gone, the burden of their bodies weighing millions and millions of tons? What must they be doing now? The answer is that they are now as they were before their birth.

The ultimate religion is self-realization. This is an unbroken and fearless state of being. It is concentrating on the consciousness that is within the body. The religions based upon the bodily behavior of human beings take them to their downfall. The highest religion is worshipping  the Consciousness with consciousness. This kind of religion means to live with the conviction that we are pure Consciousness. Liberation means to be free. The bondage of mind, intellect and ego does not affect us. One who follows this gets free from all concepts. The religion of one's own true nature alone will last to the end. "THAT" through which the worldly dealings are known is our true  nature. Though fully immersed in mundane activity, you are different. Understand this fact, be silent and at peace. All your needs will be taken care of. Krishna says 'I take the responsibility of sustenance for the one who follows the religion of his own true nature'. For him. all that is required is supplied automatically. The spiritual effort is as easy as it is difficult. One who holds onto the Guru's word that "I am the self-luminous Atman" will find it easy. The highest charity is to offer self-knowledge.

True Brahmin is the one who knows he is Brahman - the pure Consciousness. Those who are truly religious get the real reward of Self-Knowledge. All the dealings are done by Prana (vital breath, the life force), hence keep friendship with it. If the Prana is purified by the Guru-Mantra, then it mingles with the universal Prana when one dies. Others, who do not know anything about the Prana, deteriorate.

Prana represents all the types of speech (Para - inspiration, Pashyanti - thought-form, Madhyama - word unspoken and Vaikhari - word spoken). The Madhyama is called the mind and when it speaks it is called Vaikhari. Thus the mind is not different from Prana. Prana is Pranava - The Primordial sound OM. Prana, the lifesource, does not differentiate between a worm and a human being. It treats each body the same. The Jnani does not see Prana as an individual form. To Him all is one. The Prana of Jnani becomes the Prana of the whole Universe. Where consciousness is stabilized, the compassion works there. That is the only thing left with a Jnani. When your Prana is pleased, you will come to know, 'Who really speaks, is it you or your Prana.