Bangalore Ashram

Q. What will happen after 100 years?

A. Good to worry like that. Give yourself a bigger dimension. There is no pleasure in small things.

Q. Why many spiritual organizations criticise each other when their goal is the same?
A. All to be wondered, not to be answered.

Q. What is required to avoid politics among college students?
A. Bring their focus to knowledge. Let students do some seva. Then they will not go to dirty politics.

Q. How to face criticism about AOL?
A. It’s not much. It’s a better time than that of Jesus. There is not a lot of criticism. During Kabir, Buddha and Krishna's time, there was a lot of criticism. This is a good time; there is not a lot of criticism.

Q. If my birth is for self-realisation then why do I have to pass through so many sufferings?
A. So that you will know, that all these sufferings are nothing. They just come and go. You are much beyond that.

Q. Here flies disturb me a lot, what to do?
A. If a fly can disturb you so much then how much others can disturb you. You are here to become strong.

Q. (Something about people and knowledge)
A. If you are so strong in knowledge, for every hurdle in life, make use of it and grow up in life. Don't think if someone is a teacher then he or she is perfect. They are also becoming better and better. You should support them. They also need support. Let everyone grow towards knowledge.

Q. (Something about praising somebody)
A. Praising someone is for your benefit. It’s a danger for whom you praise, it grows his ego. But it’s good for you.

Q. Is it right to elope with someone whom you love very much or marry somebody whom you don't love but just because your parents say so?
A. Very complicated. I better don't answer this. Choice is yours, blessings are mine.

Q. When will I get enlightened?
A. Do you have patience? Then I'll tell you later. Someone asked me, how to develop patience? I told, I'll tell you next year.

Ok.

Walk with a smile. Be free. Feel the air around you, doing this you will
expand. When mind expands body relaxes.

August, at Bangalore Ashram

Q. I want to be a perfect AOL person. What shall I do?
A. If you keep on looking at imperfection, it will always be there. Don't look at imperfection, you keep on moving from perfection to perfection. Move from one perfect state to other perfect state. It’s like moving from milk to curd, curd to butter, butter to ghee. Everything in itself is perfect, milk in itself is perfect. It moves from one perfect
state to other perfect state, that is curd, and the curd in itself is perfect.

If you are able to mix with everybody, can be one with the fool; feel at home everywhere, then nobody can take your smile away from you. That is the sign of Art Of Living, a smile that nobody can snatch. Don't compartmentalize yourself. You are intelligent, never consider yourself less intelligent and keep your stand.

Be flexible, have ability to be with everybody. You can choose the company you want, but at the same time you are at home with everybody.

Q. Our destiny is decided by karma, can Guru remove disciple's bad karma?
A. Yes, it’s all-possible.

Q. What is the ultimate?
A. You are the ultimate.

Q. How to observe total surrender to the master?
A. Don't worry. Just be at home.

Q. I'm doing advance course for the third time. We say we should not have desire. But while coming for the course my husband said, this is also a desire, please explain?
A. No need of explanation. 1st time you get very little out of advance course, 2nd time you discover something more and more.

Q. What to do when you develop dispassion in life?
A. Smile, you should smile. Only those are beautiful who smile.

Q. Rebirth is inevitable. Is it right? Does karma and the impressions
carry forward?
A. Keep some suspense. Don't worry.

Q. People those who have money can only take AOL courses, what about the poor?
A. You know, there is a lot work going on in the villages. We have adopted more than 15,000 villages. Lots of Navchetna Shibirs are also being conducted in the villages. So it’s happening, courses are happening there too.

Q. I'm not able to let go a pain. What to do?
A. It will go. Don't try to push it out. It will go away automatically.

Q. One of the fear that I recently developed is that more I become spiritual, more I'll run away from material. How to balance?
A. Spirituality is not running away from the material, but being unshakeable, powerful, relaxed and at ease with material. You don't have to run away from it.

Q. I keep getting negative thoughts during puja. What to do?
A. Don't run away from it. Sit with it, shake hands with it and observe the sensations.

Q. Why there is so much disparity in society?
A. There is parity also. Opposite things are complementary.

Q. We have often seen so many people die without any reason. Why is that so?
A. These all are big secrets. Life is a big mystery.

Q. What is the difference between fortune and destiny?
A. Both are same. When we like the result we call it fortune, when we don't like we call it destiny.

Q. How to use personal and impersonal?
A. If somebody hurts you, feel them as impersonal. Feel it’s just a bunch of carbohydrates and not something personal.

Q. (Something about mind manifesting as energy)
A. Energy can neither be destroyed nor be created. Mind is energy. Where will it go? It will come back. In NIMHANS they are giving past life therapy to patients. Now more and more people have started acknowledging
it.

Q. When do you get angry or feel sad?
A. I can show anger but I'm not very successful in that. When you are sad, I get sad, but I'm not moved from inside.

Q. (Something about realisation)
A. Love is the quickest and the easiest path to realisation. It’s not that outer love,"Oh! Dear, oh! Dear". It’s something very deep inside you.

Q. What is God?
A. Generator Operator Destroyer (GOD). God is love. In Upanishad, a child asks his father, "How is God like?” The father says,” Its like space. Everything is born in it. Everything dissolves in it."

Q. How do we realise God in ourself?
A. Realise yourself.

Q. What is greater science or spirituality?
A. Scientific spirituality, neither spirituality nor science.

August, at Bangalore Ashram

Q. Why is spirituality the only way to true happiness and joy?
A. First lets understand what is spirituality. You are not just this body, your not just this mind, you are a spirit. Body and mind have their own food, so does spirit has its food. Its food is love, joy, compassion and beauty.

Spirit is made up of "Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram", that is "Truth, Love and Beauty". Spirituality is honouring this truth. Spirituality gives you love, joy, beauty, and strength. Strength to manage difficult situations, that inner strength, which always keeps you smiling.

You know how this word "Waheguru" came? When disciples went to the Guru, it automatically came out of them, wah-he-guru. It is an expression of love towards the Guru, rather than a coined term.

Q. I always go to the sleep while meditation. Does it happen with everybody? What experience do they have? How to solve this?
A. Don't worry there are a lot of flies here, they won't let you sleep [laughter]. Don't worry about what others experience. Be with your own experience, and experience varies from time to time. So don't worry, its ok.

Q. While making an important decision, whom to listen to mind or heart?
A. When doing a service listen to the heart and doing business listen to the mind. Don't mix the two.

Q. What is Aatmagyan?
A. I'm there, is Aatmagyan. The innermost of aatma is paramatma. Everybody has this gyan, people can deny god but nobody can deny aatmagyan. How can you deny you are not there? If someone denies, then ask, "Who has denied".

Q. Why do we need to get rid of negative qualities?
A. Because you don't like them. You can never be comfortable with negative qualities. Your nature is to be comfortable, so you need to get rid of negative qualities.

Q. There is a lot of 'black magic' happening at our place, can AOL challenge this and save us?
A. Yes. They won't come anywhere near you.

Q. What qualities should a leader possess?
A. One who is simple, at home with everyone, caring and responsible.

Q. Shall we demystify the clutches on Guru to go deep in ourself?
A. Don't worry so much about it. Be natural. Guru is your friend, father, mother, son; you can speak heart to heart with the Guru. You can open everything in front of him, all secrets, which you otherwise could not tell anybody.

I say you drop this word Guru also. Don't label, "pyar ko pyar hi rehne do, koi naam na do" (Let love be love, don't give it a name)

Q. I want to do seva but I get a lot of negative thoughts, what to do?
A. More you think you are getting negative thoughts, more they come. Let them come.

Q. I feel I'm running out of time. How shall I manage my time?
A. Read "Celebrating Silence".

Q. How to remain in the self?
A. You have no escape. How can you not be in self? Again and again return back to your soul. Mind is caught up in the scene and not the seer. Come back to the seer.

Q. How to be like you?
A. You don't have to grow beard [laughter]. Rest I'll tell you later. It’s a secret.

Guruji's speaks on Navratri

Ratri means resting, resting from all the problems. In "Navratri",
"Nav" means new and nine. We stay 9 months in our mother's womb, 9 months of rest and then a consciousness is born.

So in a year, during Navratri, we rest in ourselves for 9 days. This gives you rest from inside.

Here during Yagnas, you will feel very powerful vibrations. The energy from space will be transferred to the fire in the yagnas, from fire to the water and then to the earth element. The last day we will celebrate as victory day, victory of our good virtues over the bad.

This is very mysterious.

During these nine days you can dance also, its called Garbha. You celebrate yourself in the womb of the Divine. You celebrate that you are still in Divine's womb.

Anyway you have no choice you cannot come out of it [laughter]

Gurudev on 09-Oct (on the eve of the kannada advance course):

"If you ask smart questions, you'll get smart answers.Let's settle in our rooms. Let's put all the snorers together in a room. They can have a musical orchestra of their own! [Laughter]

What did you learn in the basic course? Accepting people as they are. It doesn't matter how they behave, you behave with warmth and belongingness. When we interact with belongingness, people will definitely reciprocate. Opposite values are complementary. Don't be a football of other people's opinions. Live in the present.

The nature of our consciousness is love. Tonight, sleep like you've come to your maternal home, like you're in your own home, in your own bed. Some people have such a strong sense of belongingness that they even take away the bedsheets when they leave thinking it's their own! [Laughter]

Question: How to increase faith in God or Guru. My faith fluctuates.

Gurudev: No problem. When you make an effort to increase or decrease it, then there's a problem.

Question: Havyaka Samaj dictates that women should not chant Om.

Gurudev: The men are afraid that women will become more powerful than them. In ancient days, women were very powerful. So the men began to feel insecure that if women start chanting mantras, they will be able to rule men also, that's why they brought about all these rules. It's nothing but the mischief of men!
[Laughter]

Question: I am from Bijapur. I find that in spite of all the meditation, bad thoughts still come & go.
Gurudev: They come & go? Let them go! If you struggle against them, then there's a problem. Invite them, embrace them, and seat them beside yourself and you'll find that they disappear.

There is this story of a woman called Chandi. She was very stubborn and head-strong. Her husband, poor fellow, aged 6 years in just the first 3 months of their marriage! No matter what he said, she'd always do the opposite. If he requested that she shouldn't cook brinjal on a certain day, then she would certainly cook brinjal that day.

Finally he went to a wise man and told him his problems. The wise man whispered a solution into his ears. 6 months later, when the wise man met the husband again, the husband looked very relaxed and cheerful. He saluted to the wise man and told him how much his solution had been of help. The solution was simple. Whatever he wanted to do, he told her the opposite. If he didn't want to eat brinjal, he'd ask her to specifically cook brinjal. And true to her nature, she'd cook anything but brinjal! When he wanted to travel eastward, he'd tell her not to travel eastward and he could be sure that she'd accompany him eastward etc Realizing the nature and living accordingly is viveka.

Question: Whenever I sleep, I'm troubled by nightmares. I take sleeping pills, but it doesn't help much. What to do?
Gurudev: Don't worry. Now that you've come here, it's as good as gone.

Question: How to bring my husband into AOL?
Gurudev: Try all kinds of tricks. Tell him that he cannot do it because only mature people can do it. Like the Chandi story!

Question: I have a mentally retarded daughter. How do I deal with this?
Gurudev: Serve her with love. Some people come into this planet just to be served.

Bangalore Ashram

Today is Radhashtami, Radha's birthday.

If you read Radha the other way round, it’s Dhara. Dhara moves away fromthe source. When it moves towards its source, its called Radha. Coming back to the source. The source is Krishna. When you move towards yourself you move towards Krishna.

Longing for the source is Radha. Without Radha, Krishna cannot be reached.
That’s why we sing "Jai Jai Radha Raman" in Satsang - moving back to the source.

Its like sweetness in the sugar, sweetness cannot be separated from sugar.
Light and Sun, water and fluidity, gravitation and earth, flower and fragrance, they cannot be separated from each other, such is the bond of Radha and Krishna.

Just one month back we had Janmashtami and today is Radhashtami.

Bangalore Ashram

Q. People whom I trust, betray me. What to do?
A. Pray to God. Have a sankalpa that God helps them. Don't be disturbed by this. Be calm.

Q. What best can we give to the world?
A. Peace. And, you can give this when you all unite.

Q. (Something about love and hatred being the same energy)
A. Though Ram and Ravana fought. Ram sent Lakshman to learn wisdom from Ravana. There is no 2nd event of this kind. This was done without hatred.

Q. Is it really past karma, which gives you good things in this birth? Today, we see that corrupt people only get good things, why is it so?
A. It is an illusion. For corrupt people, it is a short-term gain and a long-term sorrow. They will fall one day.

Q. Are you God? If yes, then where is heaven?
A. This is heaven.

Bangalore Ashram

Today there is no dinner in the Ashram, today is "Ekadashi". On "Ekadashi" we fast thus we give rest to our body every fortnight. Even the kitchen and the cooks will get rest (laughter). Yesterday we inaugurated our first centre in Baghdad.

So many things are happening; recently we established 13 mobile agriculture universities. Now farmers can graduate from these universities. So many farmers have been and are committing suicide; we will take knowledge to their doorsteps.

Mobile Agriculture Institute...hmmm.

Should we put out the Navratri tapes [BIG yes from the satsangees]

we will inaugurate a language school, we have teachers who can teach German, French, Japanese, and Sanskrit. We can also start classes for chanting, music, martial arts [huge laughter], and yoga.

So you come up with more ideas, we can also start classes for water management.

OK.

His message on Dhanteras

Dhan tera itna rahe ki dhan tera ras na ho. dhan agar tera ras ho jaye to jeevan
mein mushkil ho jayega..!!

---

His message on Diwali

hum phatke kyon jaltate hai..? nai maloom aare itne saal se tume phatake phodrahe ho yeh bhi nai maloom kyon phodte ho??

saal bhar ka rag devesh aisa lagta hai jaise phoot ke nikle man ka devsh ko ya mansik roop ka ..jo bhi devesh hai man mein woh ek visphot ke roop mein bahar aaye..tum us phakate ke aapne dushman ka naam likh ke jalao phir samjho woh sab dushmani khtam ho gaya..phot gaya us phatake ke saath lekin hum dushmani nai dushmano ko ki phodte hai is diwali tum jab bhi phatake jalao...socho ki jis kisi ke bhi saath tumhara rag ya devesh hai uska naam likh do us phatake pe..aur usse phodo..phir us visphot ke bhitar se bahar ek jyoti prakat hoga diya jalao khushiya manao..ja ke us duhman ko mithai khilao saccha diwali wahi hoga

jisne zulam kia hai usko us phatake mein samjh ke phod do avgun ko phatkae jaisa phod dena admi ko nahi uska avgun ko udao yehi sacha diwali hai

Wishing All the members of my loving family a very Happy and a Prosperous
Diwali..

May His grace be always shower upon all of us