1. UK 78- 56 Questioner. A man sits on the seashore and gazes at the beauty of the sunset. An alcoholic lies unconscious on the street. A child lies dead in Vietnam, beaten to death by a soldier. In the many lifetimes of our evolution, have we all experienced such joy, and have we all caused such suffering? Has the enlightened man in the course of his evolution experienced and caused every possible joy, every possible suffering, and every possible deprivation? Gururaj. Wow, what beautiful poetry? Beautiful. The question is, to reach enlightenment, is it necessary to go through all the joys and sorrows, and pleasures and pains of life? That is the gist of the question, so beautifully and poeticall y expressed, in the joy of the rising sun or the sunset, in the pathos and death of little child. It was to find the answer to these questions, that Buddha became Buddha. Where he saw death and suffering, where he saw joy, where he saw old age. For he had grown up in all the joys that the palace could provide, and yet the yearning was there for the enlightenment of himself, to be able to transcend all those things that befalls a common man. Are you sitting comfortably, Mrs. Young, good fine, because I see you bending your head all the time and I feel the pain? Yes, there is a common saying, that there's no Saint that has not had a past, and no sinner that does not have a future. From the very first big bang, from when the cycle started, as that minutest atom progressed on the path of evolution, before the big bang occurred, there was nothing but the tranquillity between the three forces, the three Gunas that constitute nature. So from that tranquillity which contained within itself, the current, the very fine minute current of the next explosion, the big bang as they call it. This fine current was there, the seed was there for this to take place. And o n this journey of that minutest atom, it has gone through all the sufferings and joys that has been described. Now some definition is required of what joy and sorrow is, what pain and pleasure is. An experiment was made, where a person was put under severe pain, and his face was photographed. And if you see the picture of the face, you would think that this man was in ecstasy. That very pain he was undergoing, was expressed through the expressions on his face, as ecstasy. Fine, but that is not what everyone can do. And then again the outer expression is not necessarily the true reflection of what is within man. Good. Now, here, karmic values are involved. So through this journey, from the silence unto silence again, man goes through the cycle of many ups and downs, all the upheavals of life, all the joys, sorrows, loves, hatreds, goes through all that, to reach that peace, that silence again, which could be termed enlightenment. That is the process for every normal person, for as I've always said, consciously or unconsciously everyone reaches his goal. Fine.
2. UK 78- 56 Now, in order to know, what pain is, of another, you must have necessarily experienced pain. Now this pain, might not have been of the same kind. But what you would experience and remember, and associate the little child that is beaten to death in Vietnam, your experience might have not have been similar, that you as a child in some lifetime was beaten to death, and because of that, you can identify yourself with the pain of the child. That is not the case. The gist of the whole matter is this, that in some lifetime you have experienced a pain, in a different form, which has some correlation. You might have been an insect, and some person passing by, trampled you to death. That pain, that impression that was felt and left so indelibly within your mind, is there experienced in the death of the child. Now the question is, is that experience necessary? That experience is not necessary, because if that experience had been resolved through actions in this lifetime, or other lifetimes, the pain of the child's death is not necessary for you to re-live or to feel again. It shows one thing, that you have not overcome, that, that very impression of that pain has not been resolved within you. Man's mind contains a memory box. Why must this shiver when I speak - can you see it trembling - (General laughing) - unresolved. You must really do something about this mike, and get it resolved. Good, good. You experience and relive the pain, because that pain has not been resolved through other experiences that you might have gone through. Good. The same thing applies to pleasure, for to experience the pleasure of the setting sun, or the rising sun, an association of ideas takes place within man's mind, to experience the joy and the beauty. It is an association of ideas, which you might have experienced in some form or the other. Perhaps in childhood, in some lifetime, where it was so dark, and you were so frightened, and you cried out, and mother came in and switched on the light, and you felt comfortable. You are re-experiencing that impression in the rising of the sun. So you have the alternative of experiencing all these various emotions, and any emotion experienced means that that emotion has yet not been resolved. It is necessary to resolve any impression that has been created on the mind. Without resolving it, you cannot eradicate it. Now the mind contains a memory box, or is a memory box, that has the knowledge of millions of years, since the time of the primal atom, until now. What you are now is the sum-totality of all previous existences, which are contained in the mind in impression form. That is what you are. You are nothing but a bundle of impressions clothed in flesh and blood, and bones, sometimes more fat also. So that is what a human being is. Some human beings are more happier. Now I'm not talking of apparent happiness, but I'm talking of genuine happiness, and some people are less happier. The reason is very simple. Now when I say genuine happiness, it does not mean a person that has a fifty-room mansion or whatever, or half a dozen Rolls-Royces. That is not happiness, but a person that is genuinely happy inside. Good.
3. UK 78- 56 Did I tell you of King Agbar, who wanted to find the happiest man on earth - I think I must have told that story. But it could be worth repeating a lot of new people here. King Agbar wanted to find the happiest man on earth so he speaks to his Prime Minister, Bilber. He says ‘Bilber, I want to meet the happiest man on earth’. So Bilber sends out all his Generals and his Armies to all the corners of the world, searching for the happy man. So the first people they would approach would be the wealthy, and people with possessions and whatever, people in high positions as well. A nd whoever they approached, every one had a problem. Now a problem means a condition which is unresolved, that is a problem. An unresolved condition in your life is a problem. Good. So they travelled all over the world, and they could not find a person who was totally happy. In desperation, Bilber, the Prime Minister, a very brilliant man, went out himself, when he got the reports of all his people, research workers etc., and he went out himself. So he too in desperation was turning back, not finding the happy man. But on his way back, he had to cross a river, and there on a rock was a man, singing with such joy. The joy was just radiating out of him, a totally happy man. And Bilber being a brilliant man, knew how to cross-question this man, and examine the man's heart, examine his mind. And he truly found that this is a happy man, and yet this happy man, never even possessed a shirt on his back. Now here was a man, whose problems or impressions had been resolved. And having had all his problems resolved, all his impressions resolved, he was problem free. So that even without having a shirt on his back, even not having a shirt he was still happy. It was no problem to him. Not having a shelter over his head, was no problem, he was hap py. He could enjoy the cold water of the river, he could enjoy the sunset, he could enjoy everything, because without having any problem, he was totally non-attached to everything around him. Therefore the Scriptures say that man must reach a stage where happiness or good tidings must not elate you, and bad tidings or sorrow must not deflate you. You see, elation and deflation this could not occur to the man whose problems have been resolved. In other words, he has gone beyond all the impressions that he has gathered in his mind over millions and millions of years, during the time when that little atom developed, where it duplicated itself, triplicated itself, replicated itself through all the various forms of existences until he became a man. So the idea is this, that these problems have to be, these impressions have to be eradicated. Now, within the mind as I said, is the memory box which constitute the mind. And that box contains all these impressions. Now, there could be conflicting impressions. In some lifetime there was such great joy, in another lifetime, such great suffering. Those impressions are there, and it is the warring of these opposing impressions, the warring of positive and negative emotions that a person has felt, the wa r between these two opposing factors, is that which causes the turbulence in man's mind, and turbulence is suffering. The
4. UK 78- 56 essence of the turbulence is impressions. Impressions are there in substance form. Do never, ever think that impression has no substance, that impression is something abstract. Impressions are concrete, and they exist in a very subtle form of matter. Impressions as thoughts, is nothing else but matter. The difference between the physical body and the mind of man is a difference of degree of subtlety. The body is gross, the mind is very fine, but yet both the body and mind is composed of the same substance. Now, this substance contains within itself the elements of activity, the elements of inertia, and the element of light, or lightness. And it is the currents that have been created, the turbulence that has been created by opposing impressions in man's mind, that activate these three elements that constitute the entire memory range, or the entire span of man's mind. So what man has to do is to take the substance, this matter in its subtlest form, and bring it to a equilibrium. The inertia, the lightness, the darkness, the light and the activating force that creates this war has to be brought to a state of equilibrium of tranquillity. Then all problems cease. And when problems cease, all problems are resolved. Now, it is not necessary to experience, re-experience or be inflicted by things that you might have done before. Now, the analogy I always use is this, that if you have killed twenty people, does not mean that you will be killed twenty times, although the murdering of twenty people, that impression is in your mind. Now, how does one escape this? How does one eradicate this impression, so firmly implanted in your mind, in the various stratas, the various levels of the mind, right from the conscious, the sub-conscious, the unconscious, the superconscious? How are these impressions to be eradicated? How are these impressions to be brought to a tranquil state? The solution is simple. That if you have performed twenty negative deeds, try and perform twenty-one positive deeds. See how simple it is? And you rub your slate clean. The idea is always to be in the credit balance, for that bank manager will not stand your nonsense. That bank manager does not want you to be in the red all the time. He wants you to have a credit balance, yes, be in the black. You see, that is how it works. So all deeds that we have done, of which we are the sum-total today can be brought to an equilibrium, to a tranquil state, by the deeds, by the thoughts, that we perform here and now today. Many lifetimes of deeds, be they how negative, can be resolved in one moment of doing something good. A teacher might spend hours and hours and hours writing on the black-board, but it takes a few seconds to rub it all off. And that man can do. That is the greatest gift bestowed upon man. And that is why all religions give you the injunction, ‘Do good, be good’. Therefore they give you all these various commandments as guide lines, and every theology, every religion does that. So if we want to alter our life style, it is entirely up to us to alter the life style. All suffering of man can be eradicated, or brought to an equilibrium in this
5. UK 78- 56 lifetime. Every man has the potentiality within himself to reach enlightenment in this lifetime, but one has to work for it. ‘Nothing comes for nothing’, and as I said the other day, 'Very little for sixpence'. (Gururaj laughs). You see, you see. So, the karma that we have gathered in the form of impressions, over all these lifetimes that form are present tendencies can be altered, or else, words like kindness, compassion, grace, forgiveness, Jesus dying for your sins, all this would be worthless and valueless. You see the great hope humanity has, you see the great hope humanity has. He has all the tools. All the tools are given to him, to eradicate the negativity of thousands of lifetimes in one lifetime. A thousan d misdeeds can be rubbed away by one good deed. How fortunate we are, how fortunate we are to have attained the level of human-hood, human-hood. But of course we remember so much, the impressions are so deeply planted of animal- hood, and we live in that way, rather than as humans. Ah, humans, what a beautiful, beautiful word. And that hu-man can become a new man, ah! in this lifetime. You see, you see, but we have to work for it, we have to work for it. Meditation is easy, meditation is simple, meditation is effortless, where systematically we take the mind to the deeper and deeper levels and gain the strength, and the energy for self-integration whereby it helps us in our daily waking state of life, to make the necessary effort to better our lives. And that is how one life's style is changed. If man has wronged his fellow being, say his neighbour, or the person that works with him in the office, it is a strength to go to that person and tell him, 'Brother I have wronged you, I did this. You might not know it, but my conscience knows it'. And telling him that, 'And is there anything by which I could make amends?' Just try doing that, and you'd have such a peaceful sleep that night. Boy, yes, yes. Now like that, you know all analogies are never perfect, but I want you to get the idea that amends can be made, and the greatest amends that must be made, is within oneself. And when we become a whole person within ourself, then all the outer actions become very easy, then you have what is called courage, then you have what is called bravery, then you have what is called fearlessness. And you are rid of problems. And then the sunrise becomes a real sunrise. Then you are not only the observer of the sunrise, but you become the sunrise. You become the sun, shedding its light to all those around you. For, self-improvement, self-betterment makes a valuable contribution to all those around you. And many of you who have attended Courses here with me have experienced this. There is a certain radiation, there is a certain emanation, for one who is constantly in communion with God, he radiates a force, a power, call it by any name that definitely effects. And that is why when people go home, whilst they are driving home, or when they reach home, they feel lightened. They feel some weight has been lifted off. They feel lighter, better inside, more cleaner inside ,
6. UK 78- 56 more loving. Is there anyone that has not had any of these experiences? Put up your hands, and put it up damn high! And if that is not happening, then I'm not doing my job properly. I have failed my Father. (Coughing in background) Yes, Chamberlain’s cough syrup, tonight. (General laughter). So you see, so you see, in the normal way of life, in the normal way of life, if we try drift through this life purposelessly, or many lives to come, as we just drift through it, like driftwood then all those experiences, all those impressions that we carry in our mind, will manifest itself in one form or the other. The pain that you might have caused to someone, you will receive the same pain in some form or the other. Whatever you sow, you will reap. Whatever you sow you will reap, except of course the amateur gardener. (Gururaj laughs). And he too, the amateur gardener will also reap, he will reap by not having a good crop. Who says he must remain an amateur? Make an effort to become a professional, that's the idea, yeh. Good. So whatever action we perform, there has to be a reaction and that is the law of nature, that every action must have a reaction, but man has the inherent ability within himself to modify and modulate the reaction. You see the message I bring to you for this age, that man, whatever he sows he will reap, but there are ways of reaping. We have the means within us, you can use primitive methods, and you can use modern machinery, where it will make things easier for you. Do you see the point? Make it easier, by using the modern machinery at your command, press of a button. Right, so every action must have its reaction, but man has the ability within him to modify that reaction, by re- styling, re-patterning, his life. And by re-patterning his life, through action, through thought, word, deed and action, the effects of the reaction will not be felt as intensely as it should have been felt. You see. So you have committed twenty negative deeds, try if you can, and even trying, even trying is good enough, because by trying it means that you are on the path. So perform twenty negative actions, perform twenty-one positive actions, and you have one in credit, and all the accumulation of the twenty negative actions are eradicated, and you have the one in the credit balance. Now the other little story I always tell is this, that during the day, for ten seconds your mind is filled with negativity, let the next eleven seconds be filled with positivity. After that you can't keep that up all the time, the mind is so patterned. Another five seconds negativity, thereafter six seconds positivity. Then negativity comes again, positivity bring it to you consciously, you can bring it to you consciously by acts of kindness, thought of kindness - 'Oh how wonderful that person is crossing the street. How lovely that flower is growing, bless the gardener for watering it'. Things like that, simple things, simple things. The greatest beauty in life, lies in the most simplest things.
7. UK 78- 56 Right, now, as this positivity increases, then when you go to bed at night, and you total up all those seconds of those hours, those waking hours, and when you do your total before going to bed at night, and if in the balancing you find there has been a little more positivity than negativity, you have the credit balance. And do it over a period of a year, and you see the big bank balance. Then the bank manager by that time has even forgotten your phone number. Yes, yes, oh yes. That is how it works, it is so simple, so, so simple. Illumination is around the bloomin’ corner. Yes, yes because it blooms, forever growing it's blooming, life itself is blooming in the glory of that divinity. Who can stop the blooming? Wh o can stop the growth? The current, the force is so powerful, that on and on and on - I like that hymn, 'Onward Christian Soldiers'. Onward, that is the idea, to be onward. Move forward not the other way, not backward. And yet it is so simple, to live a spiritual life, to live an integrated life. If once you have the understanding of it, it will not seem difficult to you at all. Once you have the understanding, you will see how one little positivity will breed another positivity. And it snowballs, it snowballs. An d life becomes more and more and more and more smoother, and then you can observe that child beaten to death in the Vietnam war, or you could observe the greatest beauty around you, and feel the empathy with the dying child, feel the joy of creation of the rising sun, and yet be apart, for those impressions do not effect you any more. It is the impressions which is karma. Karma only leaves impressions, and it is these impressions which bind you, which brings you into bondage. Good. Now good impressions all the time, can only take you to heaven, and that's not too far, but you want to go beyond the heavens, to illumination. By heaven, I mean a state of existence, where things seem very smooth, where there is a state of equilibrium, between all the Gunas, between darkness and light and the activating force. That is heaven, that is here, nowhere else, and can be created here. It is here all the time for us to appreciate and recognise, but that is not the end. You don't want to go and live in another place, place called heaven. No, no, you even want to go beyond that, yes. And to go beyond that is to become one with the Father. Heaven might be the place where the Father lives. I don't want to go and live in my Father's city only. I want to become one with Him. So you see the range man has is even to go beyond the theological concept of heaven. And this concept is in every theology, in every religion, every religion. Yet we want to go even beyond that, and be one with the Father. That is where Buddha reached, where Krishna reached, Christ reached, that oneness, that is where we want to be. So, we, that are filled with the impressions, our minds that have these, all these impressions of millions and millions of years of existences, various kinds of existences, we can in this lifetime bring all those impressions into a state of
8. UK 78- 56 equilibrium. The ripples in the pond have been quietened, but the pond is still and the sun shines and reflects its true glory in the quietness of the pond, and every man has that silence within him. And when one achieves that silence, not just a glimpse, or a temporary experience, but when man achieves that silence in its permanency, in its every breath, in his every word, his every action, his every smile his every lifting of a hand, when he exists in that permanency, then he lives a life of freedom, and he is not bound by all those impressions, because he has transcended, gone beyond those impression, for all those impressions for him, for him has achieved a tranquillity. And when man lives in that freedom, then he enjoys everything in the world, and yet he does not become attached to it. That is the secret of non-attachment. And that is what the Scriptures say, ‘To be in the world and yet not of the world’. Okay. We've reached nine, have we? They tell me Guruji works too hard. I've never worked in my life, would you believe that? I've never ever done a bit of work in my life, because once you take the 'erk' out of work, the 'w' is left, and 'w' is wonderful. (Gururaj laughs) They want to show me the lights of London tonight, so therefore we had a bit of an early Satsang. Okay, so it’s just about nine now, and do you think we should end or carry on? I don't mind, to me it’s fun, it’s joy. END