1. UK 77- 10 Gururaj. What shall we discuss tonight? And who will start me off with a question? Questioner. Gururaj, at the Hayes yesterday you discussed the question of celibacy............ marriage. Could you give some advice for young people who ...........but who ........another partner? Gururaj. What should a young man do? (General laughter) Yes. Yes. That is a very difficult question and I know it bothers people very much. Good. Now the concept of celibacy is mostly an Eastern one. It originated in Vedic times where there was a complete different structure of society, where life was divided into four different phases. You had the student phase where you were required to put all your energies in studying and every ounce of energy was to be used for studying purposes and no energy was to be dissipated. Good. Then from the student phase, one passed on to the householder phase, and in those times, marriages took place at a very young age. So the young men of those days did not have much to worry about as far as celibacy was concerned. After they passed the householder phase, they entered the phase called Vanprasti, which means the forest life, where many years used to pass in absolute devotion and study and where they extricated themselves from all aspects of the householder phase. Good. And then there was Sannyas, when they went beyond the three phases and lived their lives in absolute retirement. Fine. So the structure at that time was such that celibacy among young people could have easily been maintained. Fine. That was the structure of those times. The structure of today's society is so different that a child is subjected to so many onslaughts on TV, Newspapers, which has a great sexual bearing and from childhood, they are awakened to their own senses, and in this case of course the strong sense or emotion of sex. What is to be done? Now if the child is taught to curb that, to curb the urge then naturally curbing of the urge or suppressing the urge could lead to many inhibitions, as we discussed the other evening and those inhibitions could become detrimental. Fine. So a lot of psychological damage could be done to the young person. Good. Then from the other aspect if he is encouraged to do what he likes, then it would be against the principles of all morality and all ethics. So here is a question that is difficult to answer. It is a question like asking ‘Do you still beat your wife so much?’ If you say, ‘Yes’, you're admitting that you have been beating your wife and if you say ‘No’, it still means the same thing that he is not beating her so much. But the point is proven that he beats her, much or less. Fine. Now in the present circumstances and in the practical world, what can we do to restructure the whole society with moral values, to restructure the whole makeup of western society especially, with moral values? Can it be done? Can it be done? Can

2. UK 77- 10 the person's mind be overhauled so that it could stick to moral values? Here is a question of giving vent to one's urges and on the other hand, a control of the urges. But we don't want to give vent to the urges and we don't want to suppress the urges, but we want to control the urges. Good. But the environment is such that it defies all control. In every corner in Soho there is a cinema that shows nothing but sex films. Right. You turn round the corner and you find a porn shop. Good. If you study some of the magazines that are published in Europe, it is absolutely shocking. You study the behaviour of parents in front of their children, which in those times would have been absolutely terrible. So today's young man’s mind is conditioned to just give vent to his feelings and to do whatever he likes. No w one of the main principles, one of the main principles of all morality and ethics would say that one should be continent, one should be continent. Good. Now that is fine but the external circumstances are such, how to be continent. And we all know that nowadays, people tend to dress in such a way not to cover themselves but to expose themselves more. Good. And then on the other hand, the Ministers would say ‘Be continent’. Right. The, the Ten Commandments would say ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery’. This all falls in the same category. The world today is put in such a position that if you say, yes, you are creating problems and if you say no, you are creating problems too. Good. Now to develop the sense of celibacy in the coming generation and the sense of morality, would depend upon our generation. If we strengthen ourselves through meditational practices, spiritual practices, we can impart that something in the child that would take him away from permissiveness. And if the child grows up in that atmosphere where he is given the truth of the meaning of what permissiveness is, then there can be as much permissiveness in his surroundings, as much as possible, but he won't be affected. So to regenerate society, to reform society, is not an overnight thing. A young man becomes continent by sheer willpower, right. He might not indulge in the sexual act but his mind is thinking on those lines all the time. Good. So he is committing it already. There is no difference between thought and action, one is just in a subtler form and one is in a grosser form. Good. So if the mind can be remodelled which is the work of many, many generations to come then automatically one will not be led to permissiveness. Good. What is the most prized possession a woman could have? What is the most prized possession? It is her honour and her honour is her virginity. And today do we find that? I was speaking to a High School Teacher, one of my meditators, and she tells me that they have a free period a week where the teacher would discuss anything with the children, it is not on the curriculum, on the syllabus, but a free period and this lady being a meditator, would discuss, being a girl's school, she would discuss these things and if she would mention virginity, the children,

3. UK 77- 10 standard six, seven and eight, - I don't know what you would call them here in England - they would laugh, they would laugh. Yet, our forefathers attached all the importance to the honour of women, her virginity. Now how does that affect one's life in the future? If a man finds his wife to be a virgin when he marries her, that marriage seems to last much more longer, seems to become more stronger. There is a greater respect involved, there is a greater profoundness involved, right, and all those qualities go together in those people staying together. And as they live together and understand each other in greater and greater trust and so love develops. If a boy and girl gets married to day, they meet each other and they say ‘Oh, we love each other’. That's not love, yet. Love takes time to grow and it’s only after several years when a complete understanding takes place between man and woman, where their minds and bodies and hearts just merge with each other, then they can say "Ah, we love each other". So we are living in a degenerate society, so, so, so degenerate and permissive. The other day I read, it was pointed out to me, an article in the Time Magazine, where there is even a rage in some country on pre-teen porn. I was shocked absolutely shocked. Pre- teen porn. What a degenerate society we are living in? How can the young man of today be continent? How can the young man of today preserve the celibacy and every ounce of that energy to be devoted to his studies or his work, until the time comes when he really meets the woman who he loves and they could enjoy the conjugal bliss to its fullest? How can the young man do that today? And they even tell me that on the beaches bikinis are becoming smaller and smaller. Why should they even wear them, what are they doing, what a degenerate society we are living in? And that is the purpose of our lives, our Counsellors that could teach people meditation and through meditation create that inner harmony within themselves. And by creating that inner harmony, they would develop a sense of morality, a sense of priority, a sense of goodness, a sense where permissiveness would not exist, but things would come about by permission of their own inner conscious. And that is what we are trying to do. We are trying to regenerate, we are trying to bring back age old moral values that we have lost. And it only takes one drop of sour milk to make a whole gallon of milk sour. And that is how slowly and slowly, slowly these things have come about. Now that is of course talking from the worldly view, from the relative point of view where all these laws, though man made have to be preserved and that would form stability, greater stability, more and more stability in society. Then all those frictions will cease, where people will know what love is and not take lust to be love. They will know the value of love. Then society can progress or would know what life really is. So these are the values. That is a must, but unfortunately to repeat again, the circumstances are such, on the one hand the parent tells the child ‘Thou shalt not’ and

4. UK 77- 10 on the other hand, the child is being subjected daily, to films, to magazines, to talks, to books, to all kinds of things, that instead of helping him to control his urges, they only flare up the urges. So we are in a difficult position, we are in a difficult position. But here the individual man can control himself, the individual man can, through developing higher values of life which are strengthened by his meditational practices, can bring about not suppression within himself but control within himself and then life becomes better and better for the individual. And we know that individuals form the collective whole, so we have to begin with ourselves, from the individual to the collective. But fine, as I said this is from the relative worldly point of view where certain stability has to be maintained. But from the absolute point of view, nothing is necessary and when we reach the absolute then there's no such thing as permissiveness, there's no such thing as illicit sex, there's no such thing at all because no separation is found. Man exists within himself and the whole universe exists within him and then he becomes a law unto himself. But, that is perhaps one in four thousand million people. Good. A lovely question and that is, that is a very big sociological problem, a very big sociological problem, how to stop the rot. Yes. Okay. Questioner. Carrying on from that question, is it true that when one has intercourse with another person, one is in fact taking on their karma, some of their karma? Gururaj. No. You don't take on anyone's karma, you are not responsible for anyone's karma and karma does not rub off. (General laughter) One is responsible for one's own karma and when one person has an illicit or a, the opposite, legal relationship with one another then each person is responsible for themselves. If it is illicit, they will pay for it. If it is legal, they could enjoy it more. Questioner. In there some draining of spiritual energy when each person has in fact not been promised to each other? Gururaj. Is there any draining of spiritual energy if you have not promised yourself to each other? Good. It is not a draining of spiritual energy because spiritual energies cannot be drained, but a great drain takes place within one's mind, within the mental energy because the mind, one section of the mind recognises that I am doing wrong, and the other section of the mind filled with the urge, says who cares. Yeah. So it creates a conflict, it creates a conflict. Any immoral act performed by a person creates a conflict. Now by continuously performing, a thief continuously stealing, to him it becomes a second nature, it becomes his second nature and he does not worry about it anymore, consciously. But the original conflict, at his first illegal or immoral act, created that conflict so powerfully that it still exists in his subconscious

5. UK 77- 10 mind. It still exists there and although, because of habit, the conscious mind does not acknowledge it, the conflict is still there. Good. So every time a person does something immoral, the mental conflict in the mind, the mental forces, does produce its karmic reward. It does produce a karmic reward for the person and the mental drain is terrible. To be drained mentally means that not only your physical energies but your nervous energies are depleted. Good. Now there is a difference between a proper relationship and an illicit relationship. In a proper relationship because there is no conflict, the same amount of energy goes physically but in an illicit affair, a greater amount of energy goes because of the conflict that has been created. One closeness is conflict-less and therefore rewarding, the other closeness is with conflict and therefore less rewarding and more draining and energy consuming. So we have to be careful, we have to be careful. And all forms of analysis or all paths of any belief, would never encourage anything that is of that nature. The modern trend today, things are becoming so common. For example we hear stories of wife swapping, that's terrible, its nauseating actually to me, how one could do things like that. It's okay for the self realised man, he can do anything he likes. Yeah. But for us, we have to preserve moral values and by preserving moral values, a greater bond is established in family life where the husband would love the wife more, intuitively. He does not need to think about it, think about how good she is or how well she cooks or whatever. She can do a million things wrong in the house, she can break all the pots and make a noise and burn your toast and not give you a clean hankie in the morning, whatever, but you will not care, you overlook it, because that trust has been inspired in you to love her, really love her. And that real love can only be based on sound moral values. Now if there are no sound moral values, then the most trifling, most smallest thing, will become an irritable thing. And they become at logger heads over absolute nonsense. Yes, these things happen. So we only benefit ourselves by preserving moral values and we, by preserving moral values, we are uplifting ourselves and at the same time by uplifting ourselves, we become happy and we add happiness to the environment, starting at home of course. Charity begins at home. The spiritual values are not drained but the spiritual force is blocked from flowing through. Yah. Okay. Questioner. Guruji, to what extent are moral values absent and to what extent are they determined by the society in which we live in, or the traditions? Gururaj. Fine. Moral values are determined by the time and clime we are born in. Good. One thing which might be immoral in one place, might be very moral in another place. Good. For example, polygamy could be quite valid in Tibet, while here in England monogamy is the standard set for us. Good. Now with a highly civilised people, monogamy is

6. UK 77- 10 more conducive. Now it has its values in one pointedness where all one's energies are brought together to one focal point. A man can say "I am capable of loving so many women". He is telling a lie. He is only capable of focusing his energies to one woman in real love, the rest is lust and infatuation, which passes. Good. So moral values are determined by time and clime and our upbringing, because all these laws are manmade. All these laws are man made and the Sages that formulated these laws could see how these laws could evolve man, could regenerate man, could bring him to a far higher standard of life, where all his energies become onepointed and without onepointedness nothing is achieved. Now the most important thing man has to learn is to cultivate his heart. Good. You can cultivate your mind as much, as much, as much as you like but you remain on the mind level only. But it is when the heart is cultivated and the heart is expanded then we can truly experience the meaning of life. And to be able to experience the meaning of life, one has to be one-pointed. So the belief of one wife is good for us because our whole society around us for centuries and centuries and centuries, has brought about the structure and we have to adhere to it until we are able to go beyond all structures, until we are able to go beyond all religions, then life assumes a different proportion, where all these man-made laws become unnecessary to us because we are in flow, in absolute at- one -ment with Divinity and we can stand aside where none of these manmade laws affect us or become necessary to us. Good. Now if we, - talking on the question of monogamy or polygamy, - fine, the structure, there where there is polygamy right, there was a totally different set up, there was a totally different sociological, economical set-up, right, where the structure, the whole structure was such, that this had to happen. Good. And it was not only polygamy that was practised but also polyandry, is that the word, polyandry, where that was also practised, where the husband or the man in the life of the woman could leave home, into the Himalayan hills to hunt and it might be the last time that she would see him. Those dangers existed. So therefore everything was valid for them and society itself was responsible for the offspring of society, all responsibility was assumed. But today even laws there have changed. Their social structure too has changed and very slowly but surely and mostly now have fallen in line with our concept of things. Who is actually behind this permissiveness? It is only commercial interests, really. Commercial interests have corrupted man, that is what it is, commercial interests, where they have found the strongest emotions in people. For example, sex is one of the strongest instincts in man and commercial interests play upon that, for money-making purposes and man as a fool, falls for it. That's all that happens, and that is how step by step things degenerate. This happens a lot everywhere, everywhere. It happens in India for example, where prostitution is legalised. In the city of Bombay alone, there are thirty thousand registered prostitutes. Registered prostitutes. So if there are thirty thousand

7. UK 77- 10 registered prostitutes, how many unregistered ones are there not? And when you speak to the Sociologists, the answer they give you is this, that India is composed of eighty per cent villages and the men have to come to the cities to find work. Good. What are they going to do? So, therefore this oldest profession in the world has been legalised and why is it to be legalised, is to prevent disease. So you see any form of immorality can also be justified. There is nothing in this world that cannot be justified. The greatest evil created by man's mind can be justified also by man's mind, he'll find a million reasons. My wife was unkind to me for this past week, so I will run to another woman – justification, unnecessary justification. Degenerate society - what to do, what to do? And that is what we, the Counsellors here are aiming at, to try and bring the balance in a person's life so that this form of immorality will not be necessary. What a subject we are on! Questioner. Expanding on this theory of karma and adultery, it is written somewhere in the Christian Scriptures or books which says that ‘The sins of the parents will be visited upon the children’. Is there any truth in it? Gururaj. Oh yes, oh yes. There is great truth in that, that sins of the parents will be visited upon the children. There is very, very great truth in that. But we can go further into the matter that when we say sins of the children are visited upon the parents it means hereditary values. Aide. The other way round. You said it the other way round. Gururaj. Sins of the parents, yes, would come onto the children, sins of the parents could come on to the children. Yes, true. Right that is very true, that is very true because what have been taken into account there is the hereditary value, bu t it could go much further back. It could go further back into previous lifetimes, where man chooses his parents and not the other way round. We have chosen our parents, we have waited in a subtle form in this universe, to be born through a particular channel, where the proper, where the genetic combination was just right to be born through. So naturally the tendencies, our soul before birth, the tendencies of our soul before birth, would be very similar to the tendencies in the parents. Good. So that argument is very valid but looking at it a bit further back, analysing it deeper, we have chosen that path for us through the parents. So apparently it seems, that the sins of the parents, the children suffer. No, we suffer because we have chosen, we have signed up for that, as Amrit would say. Yes. So it is our karma, not the parents' karma, the parents were just

8. UK 77- 10 vehicles. Why should our karma be thrown on to our children? Why? What has the poor child done to us for us to inflict such cruelty upon it? The child comes into the world finding the proper vehicle whereby it could work out its karma and this conditioned soul with its karma will find the kind of vehicle which is necessary to it. So the parent's karma does not fall on the children but on surface value it seems so, that they l have inherited the characteristics of the parents. Okay. Questioner. Guruji, there are many different spiritual paths and practices and clearly a man must evolve by finding his own, the one that’s right for him. So is the power of any spiritual practice in bringing about spiritual development purely derived from the fact that the practices that are suitable on that individual's personal path or are there some practices which are inherently more powerful than others which would develop anybody, if they practised those? Gururaj. Good. Now there cannot be one kind of practice or one path inherited by everybody. Good. Every human being is a unique person. There are no two people alike and I have said this over and over again if there are four thousand million people, let there be four thousand million paths, because every man has to evolve himself. Now he can take the guidance of all those religions and find in them the path most suited for him. Good. Now that could involve a lot of trial and error. I have known a Taoist person who studied Taoism and found the way therein not suited to him, good, so he became a Christian or the Christian would follow Confucianism. Or someone might take up Buddhism, that he would take up because he feels more convinced of that. Fine. With our Foundation, we are non-sectarian, we take the teachings of every path and we give the man the choice, the meditator the choice, to believe or have faith in, whatever he wants to. Good. If he wants to believe in Jesus, yes, encourage it. As a Christian become a better Christian, if he is a Buddhist become a better Buddhist, that is what we say. Our teaching has nothing to do with the man's individual belief. We encourage that belief, but we show him a way, which could be said, a scientific way in a sense, whereby he could dive deep within himself and by doing that, he is strengthening his own convictions. Now if his convictions are not based on a firm solid foundation then by gaining the self integration, he will see the weaknesses and he will search more until he finds what he is looking for. Our main purpose is to activate the inner spirit, to light the inner flame and that flame once it is lit, will see surrounding it every religion and in the light of that flame, every religion to him becomes one, because in essence the truth is one. Questioner(Cont’d). I meant not so much in terms of religion as such but the actual techniques of meditation and spiritual practices. Say, for example, would the chanting technique you know we do in groups, is that something that is effective if it’s right for the individual's personal path or is it something which is universally valid as it were for anybody who tried it?

9. UK 77- 10 Gururaj. Yah, right. Now the purpose of the chant we do, is to raise the vibration of the atmosphere. The sounds of the chant is so scientifically worked out that it represents in a such grosser, audible, speakable form the entire manifestation the universe because Scriptures do prove this too that ‘First was the Word and the Word was God’. You know that quotation fine - so here, by doing this chant, we are uplifting the vibrations of the place we are gathering at. Fine. By uplifting the vibrations there, we have found people tell us, and most of them tell us that they find it so beneficial to them, they experience a beautiful silence. Fine. They experience a beautiful silence because after a while - I have gone into this before though, - after a while they would find that the chant goes on automatically and they are observing the chant. Good. The experience of the separation of the small ‘i’ and the big ‘I’ comes about, where the big ‘I’ observes the small ‘i’ in action. Fine. The distinction between the lower self and the higher self is found and this too is just a technique, a method, a method so that when you do your meditation proper, your personalised technique proper, the very vibration, that you have created becomes more powerful. Questioner. (Cont’d). Yes, I can see that it does work for certain people. I can't see why it works? Is it because of those people or is it because of something in the technique itself? Gururaj. Yes, it is something in the technique itself because it has been well balanced and well worked out. In the very chant you are automatically doing a pranayama. When you do the chant you will find that you are exhaling, good, and we know proper exhalation is the first step to proper inhalation. And the beat is so scientific that a rhythm is created in you , and when that rhythm is created in you, then you would feel rhythmic with the entire universe. Good. So you are in fact uniting yourself with a higher power. But that is generalised and not sufficient on its own. So therefore, we always do the chant first and then we come on to our individual meditation because that chant is a pre-runner, the creator of the vibrations. It lifts up the vibrations, like you go in a church, try this sometime, go into a church and do your meditations there. The vibrations in the church are so nice that automatically your meditation assumes a greater depth. So the chant primarily cleanses you because it is a pranayama exercise, because the sounds are so scientifically worked out by the Sages, that it attunes you to cosmic vibrations because the abstract can only express itself in the concrete. Good. And the word itself is concrete. That sound is concrete and can be crystallised. So, although we use it as a general practice but that is only a way. The proper, the completeness of it, only comes about when we do our individual techniques. That is the preparation to find greater depth in the individual technique. And most people tell us that even in the chant, they feel very uplifted. You have had these things told to you all the time. Okay.

10. UK 77- 10 Questioner. Gururaj, I have a question. Okay. If one acknowledges or takes pride in his or her own humility, is he then still humble or is innocence necessary? Gururaj. Beautiful. If one takes pride in one's humility, what a contradiction? (General laughter) Humility is pride-less, so how can one be proud of one's humility. No such thing exists. Even the recognition of humility is pride. When we are humble and afterwards when we reflect and say ‘Oh, you know I was so humble’, (General laughter) that very recognition of that humility is pride. And then when that recognition dawns, then that humble act loses all value, it loses all value, then it just becomes an act, a enforced act, a facade put on. I have known people that would show no humility, they won't do their Salaams, not necessary, yet in their hearts they feel so humble and they don't even need to express that. Good. Humility is a quality which should come spontaneously. Humility must be there for the sake of humility. Humility requires no recognition, because the recognition will breed pride. And once you are proud of any act, anything you do, then humility ceases, then humility becomes a mockery, it becomes hypocrisy. A humble person can be recognised, oh yes, not by himself but by others. The others must say "Oh, what a humble person". But then too the judgement of others must be accurate. Good. Are they recognising humility of the opposite person with their minds or are they recognising the humility with their hearts? Now humility is a heart quality and that heart quality can only be recognised by our heart quality or else we can be bluffed. The person can act very humble, and our mind says "Oh, what a humble person" and yet he might just be acting, so our minds might not even be qualified to recognise that humility. But when we are in the presence of a real humble person, we feel his humility and even if he puts on a facade of haughtiness, we still feel his humility, because humility is synonymous with purity and purity can be felt. So therefore in the presence of some person, we just can't help loving that person. We pour our hearts and souls out to that person because that person, never mind what facade he puts on, in spite of what he does, we just spontaneously feel his spontaneity and his spontaneity is felt in the form of his humility, because humility is related to so many other virtues. If a person can really love, then only can he really become humble. Yeah. When a person can really love, then only is he humble. When a person can really love, then only is he virtuous. When a person can really love, then only is he kind. When a person can really love, then is he only compassionate. So all these are qualifications of that one indefinable quality called love. So remember the humble person is the greatest lover in the world because he is the

11. UK 77- 10 lover of life and life in its essence is simple and humble. The rest is a facade, a covering up. So you can never be proud of your humility. Okay. Gururaj. Please, so lovely to see you Martina and how are things in Germany? Keeping well? Good. Good. Good. Questioner. .......... (Inaudible) Gururaj. Every day you see a different colour. Questioner(Cont’d)...... (Inaudible) Gururaj. I wear a different colour every day and what is the purpose of it? No purpose really. I would love to walk around in a loin cloth. (General laughter) Yah, I would love that. Do you know that someone-told me that if Jesus should walk around down the street now in the robes he wore, they might arrest him for vagrancy? It is just to live with the times. I live in a society that would expect a person to be neat and fairly well dressed, that’s all, there’s no other reason. Questioner(Cont’d). ...... (Inaudible) Gururaj. No reason for it, and then when I come here and Gita looks after me so well, I don't even know what suit she is going to put out. Aide. Wait and see the loin cloth that is waiting for you tomorrow morning. (General laughter) It’s yellow with green stripes! Aide. ............you won’t be wearing anything............ (Inaudible) (General laughter) Gururaj. No, no, this is just to conform, just to conform. Good. And of course Questioner(Cont’d). ................ (Comment inaudible)

12. UK 77- 10 Gururaj. No such thing. Every day is holy and every colour is holy too and there is no such thing that a certain day must have a certain colour. No, no. It's just to be presentable and nice. It's also facade you know. Don't look at me with wha t I wear, look at my heart. There you will find all the days and all the colours and the essence of the universe, there. Okay. Thank you. Aide. Questions? Questioner. Guruji, we often hear of reincarnation in terms of linear time and is it also correct to think that we exist in thinking that all our existences are now? Gururaj. Beautiful. Beautiful, yes. There is only one existence. There is only one existence. The other day I explained that there is no past and there is no future, there is only now. Good. The past and the future exist in linear time but the now exists in vertical time and at the cross between the horizontal and the vertical, that is the now. So in that nowness, i n that nowness, there is no reincarnation, there is no birth, there is no going and there is no coming but that is in the absolute sense. We are dealing with the other aspect which is the relative sense. Now all relativity is subjected to time, space and causation. Those are the factors which govern all forms of relativity. So when we speak of reincarnation, reincarnation can only be possible in relative terms, okay, only relative terms. We can go much longer on that really - half past ten. So Reincarnation exists only in relative terms. Now all relativity as I said and to repeat again is subject to time, space and causation. Good. Now what governs time space and causation, and what was the causation? Modern science would tell you of the Big Bang Theory that put forth into motion these millions and billions and trillions and trillions of trillions of atoms into, through the explosion, there is a perpetuation, a force that takes them on. Now before the prima l cause, before the explosion, there was the silence. Good. Right. From the silence came the explosion which propels these millions of atoms and the purpose of this propulsion is to bring those atoms back into stillness. Theologically speaking it would say, that from God we came and to God we return. That's theology. Scientifically it is explained in a different way. So in the path of this propelled atom, that atom goes through various combinations of other atoms. That atom, that cell, has within itself the properties of replicating itself, multiplying itself, and various multiplications converge upon each other and various kinds of forms are produced. Good. That is in the process of evolution. The primary form is said to be the mineral. The mineral evolves to plant, from plant to animal and from animal to man. Now this is in the process of evolution and therefore the reincarnation is necessary. Now here is something I will tell you that it’s not only man that

13. UK 77- 10 reincarnates but a plant and an animal also reincarnates. So reincarnation really means, because of this combination of these various factors which constitute the cell and its environment, it goes through different changes and those different changes is incarnation. And once you have incarnation and you assume a different shape in the linear process of evolution, then you say reincarnation. Good. So looking at it holistically, looking at it holistically, there is only one incarnation. Like looking at an ocean we see thousands of waves moving from the south to the north, thousands and thousands of waves but it is the same water, one ocean. So it is in the relative sense that this process takes place and even at the finest relative level, when that one primal self starts from that explosion and reaches the stillness, it has done one job, one incarnation, but it has processed, it has been processed through various changes. Good. So it is at the grosser level that we find millions of incarnations. I don't know where the Hindus get the theory from but they say that from that primal self to reach the stage of man, one has to go through eight million, four hundred thousand different incarnations. Wow! What they mean is all these various species and all these various transformations, these various forms taken on in its progression. Good. Now how this figure came about or who dreamt it up, I don't know. But what it basically means that there have been many, many, processes many, many, many changes to reach the stage of man. Good. So when that cell has evolved, starts small, blows up and loses its momentum and become the primal cell again, then it finds stillness. Therefore all relativity, all relativity, all Creation or all manifestation in Sanskrit terminology is described as ‘Herenagarba’, the golden egg, egg shape. It starts at a narrow end, widens its spectrum, and ends at a narrow end again. Fine. The width is in the centre. Fine. Now for this explosion to occur, before the explosion occurred, there was the silence. Now this silence had within itself certain currents that too evolved in the silence, good, and it is the working of these currents that caused this explosion. So, from silence we came and to silence we return. So where have we travelled? Silence to silence, here to here. Good. Now, these things operate in cycles, when one cycle ends, another cycle begins. The entire workings of the universe, the entire workings of all manifestation comes to that silence, in Sanskrit its called Pralaya, comes to that silence and because of the inherent currents in it, another cycle begins. That cycle ends and another cycle begins thereafter and so it goes on ad infinitum. And that is why we say that the universe is eternal. That is why we say the universe is timeless. That is why we say the universe has no beginning and no end. But within the beginninglessness and the endlessness, it is composed of various cycles. And this is so symbolically portrayed in all various kinds of theologies, where the world comes to an end and then the world begins again and Noah with his Ark took all the animals.

14. UK 77- 10 Th ose were the currents in that silence when the world came to an end, and because of those currents, the world, well there it says the world, we look at it in terms of the universe, it all began all over again. So even on our little planet, we can observe these things working, where civilisations begin and end, civilisations come and go, civilisations are born and they disappear. So even on our little planet, it is not even a speck in the universe , the same law is operating everywhere, all the time and forever. Okay. Fine. Gururaj. Shall we call it a day? I had a very long day, it was my timing. I’ve done - before I came England, I did two courses in South Africa, you might have heard the names Johannesburg and Pretoria, they're about a thousand miles away from Capetown where I am and of course I had to do these two Courses. And we just finished the Course at five o'clock and then I had to get on the plane at seven to come here. And then immediately, well they gave me a day’s rest, say two and a half, perhaps two and three quarters, talking about fractions of a day. It was so kind and so lovely, it was so beautiful out in the country there. It was very, very restful and we spent, and some of you were with us, spent some lovely days at Hayes, the Hayes Conference Centre. It was a pity all of you couldn't come, it was very nice indeed. So, I am looking forward to spending a lovely weekend with you all, where being a Counsellors’ Course, we will not only discuss philosophy but also the problems you might have come up against in teaching, the meanings of things you want to know, perhaps, the methods of teaching and all these various things. I'm sure Amrit has gone into great detail with all the Counsellors, but if any thought just strikes you, we can always discuss it in greater detail perhaps. So I look forward to a nice weekend with you all. It's so beautiful to be here. Ah, yes and of course many of you are due, - you see I need a Secretary, don’t I, to remind me, - many of you are also due for some Advanced Practices and of course certain tests and things will be given. Now the one test which would be very useful would be this, it’s called closing off of the senses. Right, now what we do in that is this, I will demonstrate it to you. We close the ears, - some of you have done this at the Hayes but those that are new now on the Course - you close the ears with the thumbs, I can't hear myself, you close the ears with the thumbs and with these two fingers, you close the eyes with slight pressure on the eyebrow and of course you close the nose with these two fingers. Right, you got the idea. Close the ears and the eyes and the nose, fine, right and of course the mouth as well, until you can't breathe. Good. By that, what I mean, retain the breath until you can't retain it any more and then you breathe out, fine. Now during this period when this is done, you’ll have some experience. Good. Have a piece of paper and a pencil right and you note down the experience. This must be done for three times. Now I know exactly who has progressed,

15. UK 77- 10 how much and what the present form or status is, but this is a test for double check, as we would call it. But now, when you do this for three times, don't plan it, just do it spontaneously. It takes half a minute because how long can one keep his breath in. You just do it for half a minute or a minute, as long as you can keep your breath in, but don't plan for it. Just all of a sudden, even while you're sitting around and talking to a meditator, you know get the thumbs into your ears and your - (General laughter). Yes. So do that and it would be nice if we could have it tomorrow, tomorrow. Aide. ....... (Inaudible) Gururaj. So, of course if they get up at four in the morning, let me see now they can do it at five o'clock or six, an hour later, two hours later and then we can have those Forms and I have to work on those reports you bring me. Now sometimes you will see some designs or patterns. Right, if you like, you can make a little sketch of the patterns. I have seen some interesting patterns at the Hayes Course, it was really beautiful and of course the experience that is gained in there. Now this is a very important test, it’s very, very important and do it three times and write down your experiences at each time but the most important thing of course to remember is not to, not to plan for it. Just you write it down and tomorrow before satsang if you could hand it in, to Caroline or Rita, - Rita’s here of course – hard working Secretaries that we have, Questioner............. (Inaudible) Gururaj. After Questioner............ (Inaudible) Gururaj. Yes, yes. Inhale, it’s alright and then see what happens but try and keep your breath in as long as possible until you just can’t anymore even if the face gets red, don’t worry about that. We want to know the experience that you are going through. So then of course we see each other tomorrow morning and we’ll have our chanting which he likes so much. END