2. UK 79- 23 Gururaj. (Gururaj laughs) Just in its raw state - fried? Questioner. (Cont'd). No, alive. In that case I carried to an extreme. Gururaj. Beautiful, yes. Good. Now apart from the little fun we're having, the question has very deep meaning. The first question to consider here or to ask is, did Yogananda feel pain? And if he did not feel pain, what was the secret behind it? Now, there could be two ways of not feeling the pain. The one way would be to put yourself under a hypnotic state, which anyone can do by auto-suggestion and many of you must have seen a hypnotist perform, where in that state of hypnosis, a pin or whatever, is driven through the man's foot or arm and the pain is not felt. Now, as far as Yogananda was concerned, he did not put himself in a hypnotic state, but what he did was the greatest thing that any man can do, he identified himself with the mosquito. Do you see the concept? Good. Now, when you identify yourself with a particular object, then the object ceases to be as an object, so here a oneness develops between subject and object. Now, as the oneness develops and no separation exists because it is only friction that causes pain, and when you have become one with something, there is no friction and in that oneness, no pain would be felt because by identifying yourself with the mosquito, you find joy in biting. So, the human mind has the ability to go beyond the conscious level of feeling pain. The same thing happens in hypnosis, where you go below the conscious level of the mind, that little ten percent we always talk about and then you still have the ability to go beyond the subconscious stratas of the mind and into the superconscious level, which is tantamount to the universal mind. So here the mind of the mosquito, for the mosquito too has a mind and although its mind may not function in the way a man's mind functions, because the man is endowed with what we call intellect, but the mosquito has an instinctive mind which in its own state of evolution is united with the universal mind. So here, Yogananda draws himself deeply to the level of the superconscious mind and there at that level finds oneness with the mosquito. So, there was Yogananda and the object at first and then the object and subject both ceased in the universal mind but a consciousness remained that a mosquito is biting me. And I feel, I identify myself with the mosquito and I am enjoying the joy the mosquito is having, therefore I do not feel pain. But that is not the end. One still goes beyond the level of the superconscious where still the differentiation is felt. That is a level which in other terminology could be called God consciousness. You can be very conscious of a Divine force, a Divine power, but still the 'I' and 'Thou' exists. So reaching the highest limits of the superconscious mind which still functions on the relative level, Yogananda was conscious of the mosquito existing and yet finding himself identified with the feelings of the mosquito. So his feelings were lost. Good. Now, to go beyond that process would be that neither Yogananda existed and neither did

3. UK 79- 23 the mosquito - I am getting one here. That is the highest level, that is the ultimate level in the evolution, not only of man but the minutest atom where there is a total unity and the individuality called Yogananda and the individuality called mosquito, both has disappeared. They both have merged away into a universality. So that in that relationship 'I' and 'Thou' has ceased. When I am conscious of God, I see Him apart from myself that I’m an individual and God is something beyond that which is individual but still I maintain my individuality. But the goal and the aim is to lose the individuality and losing the individuality does not mean losing oneself, it means merging away into universality. Now many people fear this loss. That is why they fear death for example. One of the basic fears that is behind all fears, is the fear of loss of individuality. But the thing that has to be realised and learnt is this, that by losing, losin g individuality and assuming universality, you become the master of the universe and you and your maker become one. I and my Father are one. Atman and Brahman is one. That is the ultimate stage that this minutest atom reaches. So where is Yogananda? Where is the mosquito? And where is his guru? Nothing remains. Now, the fear of losing the individuality is because of the fear of the unknown. We attach so much importance to our little selves, that I am such and such and I am such and such. I have so many possessions and I have that little mind of mine, that little individual mind , that little wave, that little ripple upon this vast infinite ocean to look after, and yet I think I, as a little wave think I am creating myself, I am creating my form, I am activating my form, little realising that it is the currents of the entire ocean, the infinity of existence that activates that little wave just dancing up and down, up and down, on this ocean. So here how fortunate man is or how fortunate every creature is that the entirety of all creation, the wholeness, the totality of that which is infinite, makes you even lift your hand, for the current cannot exist on its own. Now when the individual current merges away, subsides into this vastness of the ocean, it becomes the ocean, so you do not lose the individuality as a loss in the normal use of the word. But it is a great game. The beggar has now become a king. What a great game? Would the beggar, would he like to remain as a beggar? And here the opportunity is there for everyone through his meditational and spiritual practices to become the king. And that is why we pray every day, ‘Let thy kingdom come’, that is the true meaning of it. Where must the kingdom come to? To around us, forget that which is around us, let that kingdom come to us inside here and then all that around us will look after itself. For if that kingdom within is found, then the kingdom which is external is automatically found and so we keep on learning and learning and learning lesson after lesson. But how many lessons are we going to learn? I have a Meditator who comes to me every week. She says ‘Guruji, I've learnt this wonderful lesson this week’. I say ‘Very good’. Next week she comes, she tells me she has learnt another lesson. Very good. Third week, the same thing until I had to tell her ‘Look, you make a note of all the lessons you learn over a period of six months and bring the whole bundle to me’. Nevertheless, the

4. UK 79- 23 same. And funny enough, there is no differentiation in the lessons people have to learn. We discriminate that one lesson that we learn is different from another lesson. It is not. All lessons, the basis of all lessons is the same, the ways migh t differ, for all lessons we are learning is to lead us to happiness, to joy, to bliss. Now, there is a young man from China. He migrated to England and he was a tailor by trade. Being a young man he thought, let me go to other countries of the world and he might have not liked some of the ideologies in China perhaps, we don't know, everyone has his own motives. So he migrated to England. He came to London and found the place too vast and he couldn't feel at home, he came from a much smaller city. So he started travelling north, this young Chinese tailor called Ling, he travelled north and he landed up in Liverpool. So he started hunting for a job in Liverpool and he happened to come across a master tailor who was Greek, whose name was Stephanides, Stephanides, the master Greek tailor. Now, Ling was given this job in this workshop. And he worked, he worked, he worked but Stephanides being such a busy man, his mind was always preoccupied that when it came to Friday night, he always forgot the pay packet. So Ling, in his lovely sweet honourable way used to go to Stephanides and used to say ‘Sir, I'm taking my girlfriend out tonight, it is Fliday’. So Mr Stephanides, a very good man, the master tailor, used to say ‘Oh yes, yes, yes, your pay packet’ and would take the money and give him his pay packet. But every time he gave the pay packet he used to say, please learn this, not Fliday, Friday. So week after week, this thing went on. And every time Stephanides used to correct Ling in saying Friday, not Fliday. Now, he worked there for about a year and a half and Ling thought he'll start his own business and he wanted to progress. Right. So he, and then he was a bit fed up also of the type of work he was doing and he wanted to expand, as any young man would. Fine. So he was going to tell Mr Stephanides that Friday that ‘I am leaving’. And he was a bit angry with Stephanides because Stephanides used to be hard at times – ‘Look, I want this done, you are making Guruji's suit, for example and I want it ready because I've got to send it off right away’. Good. So this Friday, Ling gained enough courage, he says, ‘I'm going to tell Mr Stephanides, the boss, the Greek, that I am going to leave and I'm also going to show him that I don't say Fliday any more’. So, he goes to Stephanides and of course with the usual story he gets his pay packet first and he says, ‘Today is Friday, you bloody Gleek’. (Gururaj laughs) So, so this makes me wonder, this makes me wonder that in the English vocabulary how many words are there that has an R in it. So it is going to take poor young Ling a long time to master all the Rs. And that is exactly what we do, all of us, exactly what we do. We learn one lesson and then we learn another lesson and then another lesson and another lesson, all the time. But what is the secret? Now when we learn lessons, it means

5. UK 79- 23 that we are getting rid of a painful situation. That is what it actually means by learning a lesson. It also means that we are bettering ourself in some way, therefore we are learning. Now is there a way whereby we do not need to learn all the Rs in the entire vocabulary, in the entire dictionary and have it right from the start? Good. That way is of course meditation. For, what has to learn, is the mind. The mind is forever wanting to learn all kinds of lessons. It is the mind that feels the bite of the mosquito. It is the mind that will feel the caress of your beloved. So, wherever there is pain involved, there is also pleasure and the law of opposites forever exist in the mind. So when we think when we go through pleasurable moment, be sure to know that you are soon going to have some pain as well. Oh yes, it balances itself out. The forces within the mind are such and the mind are governed by the three Gunas that we have spoken about so, so many times, and to regain a certain kind of composure, it has to come to a certain level of equilibrium. If the mind is constantly subjected to pleasure, you will be driven insane. If the mind is constantly subjected to pain, you will be driven insane. Now these tests have been done. As a matter of fact, I am at the moment in South Africa busy with some Scientists doing some researches in this area. They do things from the scientific viewpoint while I add on the yogic, mystical insights into things. So, there's a saying among Indians I think it is mostly, that if a person is laughing too much, you say, ‘Stop laughing so much, you're going to cry’. It's quite a common saying, I think we hear it here as well. Good. So, so the mind is not capable of containing pleasure all the time. It has to be balanced by its opposite because the very nature of the mind, the very constituent of the mind, the very workings of the mind, is ruled and governed by the law of opposites. So, momentarily Yogananda reached the finest level of the mind, the finest relative level where although the consciousness of the ‘I – Thou’ relationship existed, he found the identification, he merged himself in the mosquito and felt the joy instead of the pain. Likewise, in every situation in life, we can do that. In the worst happening that happens to us, in the worst trials and tribulations, if you have sufficient awareness, you'd see great humour. You'll see great humour in every situation. For example, any trivial question could be elevated to its highest philosophical level and yet that philosophy could be explained in the most simplest of terms. And that comes when a person has digested, not only digested but assimilated knowledge and knowledge turns to wisdom. So, everything however trivial, has the greatest importance in it and everything however great has all the trivialities in it, for the great ocean is made up but of little drops and the little drops make up the ocean. So you see how beautiful life is. Life is nothing but joy. Life is nothing but joy but to recognise that joy one does not need to annihilate the mind. There's a difference between pleasure and joy. Joy is lasting. Pleasure is momentary. You go out for the evening on a Saturday night. You might see a show, dinner, dance, wine, dine, kind of thing, very pleasurable, very pleasurable, you find the pleasure in it, perhaps you need it, it has its uses. The whole week you have been working very hard, you have

6. UK 79- 23 been working very hard and that little evening out adds a different dimension where you forget everything, the whole week's work and you are diverting your mind. But remember that pleasure is very temporary, for Sunday morning you might wake up with a headache, or if not, Monday the whole routine starts all over again, in whatever work we are doing. You might be Professors at the University or artisans or street sweepers, whatever does not matter, work is work and there is no work that is ignoble that provides us with an honest living. So anything one does, does not matter. As a matter of fact an entire (noise) - (General laughter) - shall we start your noise again? Maybe it'll stop. Now don't worry. Yes, so work is work. One does not need to be proud of one's station in life as that is called. Good. You can be a General, you can be a Private. That doesn't matter. The whole idea behind it is this, how much can we enjoy what we are doing? There lies the secret. Then you won't need that weekend Saturday night out. For the mind is still. (more noise) - (General laughter). Good. Because the mind is still and when any action is performed with that stillness, then everything becomes enjoyable including the mosquito bite. Yes, because here, we would be dealing with the situation on hand for what it is. Every time we do something, whatever work, the typist is typing a letter, the carpenter is sawing a piece of wood, the shoemaker is stitching his shoes, but that's not the only thing he's doing. While the carpenter's sawing wood, while the cobbler is mending his shoes, while the teacher's teaching, his mind is not totally involved in what he is doing. There are several things associated with it, all the time, several things. You might - the typist might be typing and while she's typing, she would be thinking, ‘Oh well, what shall I cook for the old boy tonight?’ Yes. She might be thinking of the children or her various obligations or the little dinner that's arranged for the weekend. A whole lot of things are going through the mind and if not that, then she's thinking of last week when she went to visit Carol's home and ‘Oh, the food wasn't nice and oh what a pity, she's such a nice woman’ - really saying to herself that she is incompetent. Yes and by saying ‘Oh, the meal wasn't nice’, she's saying to herself that Carol is incompetent and by saying that, I am more competent. You see? You see? Yeah. Then past, all kinds of associations, goes from Carol to barrel to whatever. So the typist is not typing at that moment. She's either living in the past or she's living in the future and the act of typing is robot-like. She's an automaton. Now that is how human beings are living, as automatic robots, performing things mechanically. There's a lovely film I enjoyed some years ago, Charlie Chaplin, I think it was called ‘City Lights’ - he used to work on this belt system where he just had to do one thing and perform one movement, so even after work, he used to walk out just doing that. Yes, yes, yes. Such people really need real mosquitoes to try and get them awake. Because it's actually sleep and that is why we live as the living dead. We are the living dead, for life can only be lived in the moment, not in the past and not in the future. Living in the past and the happenings of the past, that is a reflection and collection of memories. Living in the

7. UK 79- 23 future is a projection of one's own desires or whatever, or one's needs or one's, that is, one is the recollection, the other is projection. Then where is the living, the living should be now. If the mosquito bites me, I want to be totally conscious of the mosquito and I can only be totally conscious of the mosquito if I can feel the pleasure of the mosquito bite as well as pain. Hah. For at that moment, I am identified with the pleasure of the mosquito and yet I am conscious of my pain. That is on a little lower rung to that of Yogananda, where there, from there, the pain and the pleasure exist simultaneously. The mosquito's pleasure and my pain exist simultaneously. From there we progress where my pain disappears and only the pleasure of the mosquito remains and I enjoy that. From there I still progress where now the pleasure too has disappeared. And I and that mosquito am but one, powered by that same energy and all is one. So, with this attitude, if people live in life with this attitude, where the typist types the A, B, C’s and what have you, dear sir, thank you for the letter of the fifteenth instant, etc, etc. - to be totally involved, that is the point, to be totally involved in the moment. Here, many people sitting listening to me, they are listening, yes. How many are listening with two ears? Not many, because we will reach that stage, where the very sound, you will identify yourself with the very sound and with whatever is said. That is how wisdom dawns, for even while we sit in a cinema or a theatre or work or anything, we participate in all activity in half measure, perhaps quarter measure, one eighth measure, depending upon our interest. And the other part of the mind is ruminating on all kinds of things. Driving down to the Course, the young man is thinking while he's listening to me ‘Ah, that was a lovely girl I passed on the road’. Hah, yes, yes. So, to gain this integration is the purpose of our teachings, the integration of body, mind and spirit so that we function in totality and by functioning in totality, we experience and enjoy the joy of the moment. That is the secret of life where every moment is beautiful in itself. A moment becomes ugly only by association. You either associate it with the past or you project yourself into the future and try and take that moment out of its context. And you either magnify it or make it much smaller than what it is. So, the moment is lost. And then the next moment begins, same thing happens all over again, all the time. But remember when you are planting that seed in the ground - how do you feel 'Robin'? As if you are one with the seed and going deep into the womb of Mother Earth, so that it could germinate into that beautiful flower, that plant, that life. And you, in planting the seed, have given some of your life force into that seed that will create mor e life. For creation is an ongoing process all the time, all the time and to be able to enjoy the moment to its fullest, is to enjoy the entirety of creation. So like that we keep on learning and learning and learning. Now the conscious mind that was aware of the mosquito bite, does not need to keep on learning and learning and learning. There is a direct line, a hot line, which Yogis use through their, the powers that they have acquired through their meditations and spiritual practices. That, underlying the grosser nervous system which Neurologist, Neurologists speak about, there is a far subtler nervous system which mystics talk about and this nervous system has a direct link from the conscious level of the mind bypassing

8. UK 79- 23 or penetrating right through, like a tunnel in a mountain, otherwise you have to travel ten miles around the mountain. Now the tunnel is made and you only need to do one mile, you're saving nine miles, direct route. So this fine, subtle nervous system is activated which is directly connected from the conscious mind to the superconscious mind, the area which is light or Sattva. And from there, being closest to the source within man, it reflects the greatest amount of light, the greatest amount of purity, so all the things within the subconscious mind, all those impressions of millions and millions of years do not need to be re-experienced. And this is the greatest gift that has been given by Divinity to us, the gift of forgetfulness. In some lifetime you might have been a murderer. In some lifetime you might have done good things and in other lifetimes you might have done many, many vile things, animal-like things. Now, if all this is brought to the conscious level of the mind and thrown at you all the time, then it would cause great disturbance in the mind and it could very well lead to great mental damage. And that is why man does not remember his past lives. What a great gift. There are Yogis who have developed sufficient strength within themselves to be able to go back into past lives and know their past lives and have the strength because of the integrated self, to have the strength to withstand and recognise the past lives for what they were, for past was past, past is past, they live in the moment. Sometimes Yogis don't do it, they don't want to do these things, it's idle curiosity. What do you want to know the past life for? How is it going to help you in this life? Someone might say that "’Oh, by knowing of the mistakes of the past life, then I will not make the mistakes again’. That is not the way, that is not the way. When the spiritual self is concerned, you don't analyse darkness, you switch on the light. Those mistakes vanish, darkness vanishes. Light is there. So the greatest gift given to mankind is the ability to forget. That is why I discourage all these different kinds of mediumships, all kind of 'ships', - the only thing I encourage is friendships, ah yes, not mediumships and warships and things like that, we don't need them. You see? So now, that is why we can't remember our past lives. Thank God for that. Because by remembering, if we are not even prepared to forget what Auntie Mary said three months ago, then what would you do if you could remember what happened one or two lifetimes ago? The mind would be driven mad. Oh yes. There was a rich woman, she became wealthy, she married into wealth, but now she also had that big ego that she wanted a title. So she wrote to this firm that dealt in this - they would make researches, genealogical researches and find out who your ancestors were. So, they found out about this woman's ancestor. And they replied ‘Dear Madam, We take great pleasure in forwarding to you the following information, that your great, great grandfather passed away from that lifetime of his while occupying the chair of applied electricity’. (General laughter) This woman was very happy, oh yes, that my great grandfather was professor of electricity. All the time he was electrocuted in an electric chair as a murderer. You see? You see? So how wonderful to be able to forget.

9. UK 79- 23 If you 'Robin' could remember all the pain of that mosquito bite every day and every time, all the time, life would become unbearable because memory itself is the pain and you know yourself how in other life situations, the memories of things could become more painful than the thing that happened itself. A child, an innocent child, the mother and father loves the child so much and due to some reason, karmic reason or whatever, the child leaves its present state of existence, passes over, I don't like the word 'die', nobody dies, there's no death, passing over, being transformed into a different existence, to learn. Good. The memory that remains to the parents become painful to them. The actual time of death of the child or passing away was momentary. They cared so much, they did everything they could but the memory that remains for weeks, months, years becomes very painful, and perhaps with the passage of time, the pain diminishes. These people, mostly, most people are not attuned to the fact of acceptance that what has happened, had to happen. And of course we went into the theory how a child is born on the other Courses and the moment of conception and how the child chooses its own parents to come into the world for the purpose of gaining a particular experience, and then passing on, passing on. We view things as I always say, in a very narrow vision. I only see this microphone in front of me but when the awareness expands, I see the entire room, I am aware of the microphone, yet that is not the focal point. The entire room is focused into a oneness. That is evolution, that is progression. That is finding that oneness, that is finding that joy, that is finding that bliss, that is finding that God, that is finding Divinity. You see? So, that is how it really works, yes, is to be able to live for the moment and enjoy. If it's painful, if you view that pain objectively, that pain diminishes in size, the sting is taken away of the mosquito. So, with spiritual practices, meditation, as we become more and more integrated, pain becomes less and less and it is not supplanted with pleasure but supplanted with joy. So here we are slowly going beyond the law of opposites. Do you see how it works? Those are the mechanics, where if we are involved totally in the pain and if we are involved with the associations of past and future in that moment, then that will contain the seed, that pain will contain the seed of pleasure. But if that pain is experienced for the moment itself or the pleasure itself, then it will be supplanted, a greater balance comes about and nothing could remain a vacuum, not even the stupid mind. So it is supplanted with joy, with the essence of that which is within. And gradually the opposites cease and we are centred, polarity ceases and we reach the centre into ourselves. The search before, the attention was on the ends of the stick, on the seesaw. Whenever we go to a park and I love going to parks when I have a moment to spare, or even if I am driving from place to place and I see a park with children playing, I would stop for a few moments. I intend to stop for a few moments, sometimes a whole hour goes and I'm not conscious of it. And we see these children playing on the seesaw, on the

1. UK 79- 23 Questioner. When Yogananda was with his guru a mosquito bit him and he didn’t try to kill it. But his guru said not killing the insect was irrelevant because he wanted to. How does an ordinary person deal with this concept? Gururaj. Not killing the mosquito, sorry, say that again, your American accent is a bit, just a little bit Questioner. (Cont'd). Well, the mosquito was on his hand and Gururaj. And he bit him Questioner. (Cont'd) Yeah, and Yogananda didn't kill it. My question is, the fact that he didn't kill it, his guru said the fact that he didn't kill it was irrelevant, that because he wanted Gururaj. Was a relevant or irrelevant? Questioner. (Cont'd) Irrelevant Gururaj. Irrelevant? Questioner. (Cont’d) Yes. Because he wanted to, and how does an ordinary person deal with this concept? Gururaj. Good. Beautiful, beautiful question. Lovely. Have you ever been bitten by a mosquito? Questioner.(Cont’d) Yes. Gururaj. You have? Many times? Questioner. (Cont'd) Yes. Many times. Gururaj. What did you do, did you kill it? Questioner. (Cont'd) I swallowed it.

10. UK 79- 23 swings, on the roundabout, their laughter, their fun, frolicking, chasing each other, the one falls, bruises the knee, it cries. And then that cry turns into laughter as it gets onto the swing. It is so beautiful. Now you watch. How many people has watched the seesaw, really watched it, and what have they watched? They've watched the child with the blue shirt going down and they watched the child with the red shirt going up. And then the red shirt child goes down and the blue shirt child goes up, and that is what they are watching. How many of us bring the attention to the centre where it is still? And that is the secret of life, to go beyond the polarities and where there's mind, there's polarities. And when we go beyond the mind, we go beyond polarities and centre ourselves within ourselves. That area is joy and bliss. That is what all human beings strive for. Thank you. Namaste. END