2. UK 79 -3 answered is this, what is a miracle? Now, I have said this before that there are no miracles whatsoever. Things that we cannot understand we regard it to be a miracle. What we are actually doing, when a person reaches a very high level of consciousness and is able to become one with subtle forces, he could direct these subtle forces into certain acts which to our eyes would seem to be a miracle. The common examples would be the aeroplane, the television, the telephon e which a hundred years ago would have seemed a miracle, and today it’s such a reality that we hardly notice it. So in reality there are no miracles. But what did Jesus really do? Now, at that time of his ministry there were I'm sure, thousands and thousands of people that were blind. There were thousands and thousands of people that were lame. And I'm sure thousands and thousands of people had died during that time. Why did he not cure all of their blindness? Why did he not make all the lame walk and why did he not raise all from the dead? That is the question to consider. We know that he was a man of love. Why did he love one more than the other? Why should he give sight to one or legs to another and not to others? So, therefore Jesus always said one thing, that 'Thy faith has healed thee'. It is your faith that heals you. Jesus was the focal point for you to gather that faith within you into a togetherness and when you were ready, these things just happened. When the child passes standard three, he goes to standard four, but if the child has passed standard four you cannot put him in BA. So, that faith was there, that faith which defies all analysis. Science demands proof while religion defies proof. I'll tell you a little story. There was a scientist, one of the world's most brilliant mathematicians. There was a philosopher and there was a man of religion. Now these three were contenders to become a Prime Minister of a certain country. The old Prime Minister had passed away and the old Prime Minister was a very, very wise man, a very learned man. You can be learned and yet not wise. But here there was a happy combination of being learned and wise. He passed away and it was difficult to find his equal. So, they searched and searched and searched and these three were the best choices that could be found. Now the King said that 'I will have to put you through a test and whoever passes the test will become the Prime Minister'. So, the King built a dev ice a room where all three were locked in. This lock did not have a key but it might have been one of the number combinations whereby safe doors are opened or some such device. Good. They were all locked in and a few days were given them so the scientist was worrying all the time what kind of problem is this going to be that I will have to solve. He worried and thought and thought and thought and he had sleepless nights and by the time he reached the Palace, he really tired. The Philosopher, the second contender tried to work all kinds of theories. He had studied Plato and Socrates and Sankaracharya and Aristotle and Ramanudja and Madava and the whole lot put together

3. UK 79 -3 and he said what possible problem could this King pose to me. And he was also worrying and worrying and trying to, even before the problem was presented, he created problems in his mind. And so did the Scientist. So when they both went to the Palace for this test, they were still worried and very tired. But the man of religion, he did not care anything. He did not do anything during those few days that was given to them to rest. He sang and he ate and he drank and he was happy. So, while on the way the Scientist and the Philosopher asked this man, he says 'Look, you have been doing nothing'. He says 'What is there to do? There's nothing to do really'. So these two felt so confident, well he's a natural loser. The three got locked in the room. The Scientist took pen and paper immediately and started working out all possible solutions, all the permutations of the numbers and he was so brilliant that if he was existing today he would have won every horse race with all his permutations. The Philosopher too with all his theories that there must be a theory how this door can be opened. There must be some theory because behind every problem there is a solution and that solution necessitates a theory to work upon. So he was busy there. Meanwhile, the man of religion just sat back in a corner and he was so happy within himself, meditating away and such a joy. A few hours passed and these two the Scientist and Philosopher looked around at him and said, 'Oh, he's out, he is just sitting still doing nothing'. Then suddenly the man of religion had a thought, let me go to the door and try and open it and he went to the door and he opened the door (Gururaj laughs) because the door was never locked. Do you see? So the Scientists and the Philosophers were creating problems that were non-existent, but the man of faith just knew within himself, without the use of analysis, without the use of any logic. Because the Scientist, he experiments, the Philosopher uses logic, but the man of truth, the man of religion, he experiences. Experiment, logic, experience. So there while he was meditating, he just experienced let me go something pushed him and he doesn't know and he doesn't care either what pushed him. He just had that faith inside him to get up and open the door. He was appointed Prime Minister. So, to come to the point, you see how great a part faith plays in our lives. So those during the time of Jesus’ ministry, those that were cured had faith. And it is the combination of the Lord's grace combined with the faith of the man that created these miracles. One cannot work without the other. The man of great power and force can send you the shakti, that if you are not receptive for the shakti, you will not benefit by the shakti for there are no miracles. Put a stone in water, it will not absorb water, but put a sponge in water it will absorb the water. So here in the miracle cures there was a two-way action. There was a two-way action where there was, perhaps not total faith but a certain amount of faith in the patient and the power in the physician. Many times people ask me, you have so many problems, this one writing of that problem, this that problem, that problem whole day from morning till night, you are going through problems and problems and problems. Then I tell them I say that is good, that is my dharma. If problems are not presented to me then I would

4. UK 79 -3 not be doing my work. For the Physician is there for the sick and not the healthy. The Physician comes for the sick and not for the healthy. So, it was not a miracle on the part of Christ. That man born as man, Son of man, had reached the stage of evolution where he could communicate and be in communion with subtle forces of a Sattvic nature and by conscious will this could be sent forth. If the receptivity is there then they would be received. And yet the Bible says, and this is the greatest miracle, a greater miracle than all the blind seeing, ah, for the real teacher as he was, he said, ‘Go on sowing. Some seeds will fall on barren ground, some on rocks, picked by the birds of the air and some on fertile ground’. So when we want miracles in our lives let our grounds be fertile, the seeds would always be sown. And the sower passes along sowing, sowing, sowing that and who is receptive will find the benefit of it. That's the whole theory behind it. This we find in our daily lives all the time. I experience this from morning till night. All these little beautiful miracles happening. I go in a for example and I get stuck and from nowhere a few people come along and they don't know me they just help me and in five minutes I am gone. Something is very much needed and I really need, something just happens and the need is provided. You see how miraculous, to use that word, this Divine force this is, how miraculous grace or gurushakti is that it will fill every need if we allow it to be filled. Now this has nothing to do with wishful thinking. This has to do with genuine need. And if a person has the faith that my genuine need will be fulfilled, it does not need an incarnation to come in front of you and wave his hand. It will be fulfilled because that force, that Christ consciousness is a living presence all the time. Now and then it embodies itself for a purpose, for a mission. So, it means that the living presence of Christ or that Christ consciousness is eternal but at times in the period of history, it crystallises itself in some form or the other to help the plan, to help the Divine plan, to bring about a balance. So when it comes to miracles, people attach so much importance to it. Most of our Scriptures are so, so misinterpreted. We should not attach importance to miracles at all. But we attach the importance to the power of grace and greater importance still that am I worthy of that grace. Then that becomes a practical life. Miracles are so easy, so easy. Here in Denmark a woman was walking on crutches for four years. She couldn't move without crutches. Here are some Danish people, ask them. I said 'You leave those crutches behind and come to me' and she walked right across the room. The first time in four years. And she walked back. I don't call that a miracle. It’s no miracle at all. And like this it goes on and on and on, all the time. It’s not a question of miracle. But this woman when I spoke to her, when I commanded her 'Come to me', she felt something, she felt a spark in her heart that united with mine and she could do it. So you see miracles, miracles. Nah! What's the second part?

5. UK 79 -3 Questioner. Well it’s a continuation of the first part but it develops into, it’s a question about healing. Christ healed many people but by doing so, did he take on their karma and does this explain the necessity of his suffering on the cross? Did he literally take on the sins of the world? Gururaj. Right. Fine. By healing what is meant is to bring about a wholeness. Healing does not necessarily mean that if you are lame your leg grows again and starts walking. It does not mean that really. That's just part of it, apparently so, we call it healing. A person has cancer and healing is done and the cancer disappears. That is just a very superficial, superfluous physical manifestation of a force that already exists, that is always there in everyone and everywhere. The real healing is to find wholeness, wholeness of mind, body and spirit. Now, when we ask the question that by doing these healings or bringing a wholeness to a person, did he take over their karma. This is an impossibility. No one can take over anyone else's karma. This principle is difficult to accept, because we have been brought up in a tradition where we have expected something for nothing. Why should any being, how evolved he might be or the incarnation of Divinity take over your karma and not the karma of someone else? Man has not changed so much in history. People are the same today as they were two thousand years ago or as they were two and a half thousand years ago when Buddha existed or five thousand years ago when Krishna existed. People today are still basically the same and technological advancement is no criteria, is no measure of evolution whatsoever because people commit the same follies. People do the same things that they did ages ago as they are doing today. So, where is the question of karma being taken away. There's one thing that does happen it is this, that a child writes an examination and the teacher knows that the child has been doing very well throughout the year, but at the time of examination, the child might have been nervous. People get these frightened feelings at the time of writing an exam and instead of getting his pass mark, fifty percent, he gets forty eight. So the teacher knowing the history of the child throughout the year, knowing the record would award those two or three percent extra and push the child over to the next standard. That is possible. There is a little pushing but not taking away of karma. Now, in the presence of a holy person, in the presence of a righteous person and he cannot be judged by us if he's holy or righteous because we could never understand his actions. His actions might seem so contradictory to us. But he knows what he's doing. He's a law into himself. But in the presence of such a person, there is a force that emanates. He does not do it consciously. It is an automatic emanation like heat from fire or fragrance from flower. It’s an automatic emanation by being in close proximity of that person. Good. And that force definitely has some effect upon us. And the

6. UK 79 -3 effect would be enlightening. It gives a lightness of heart. It spurs one on to betterment, to better ourselves. That one little thing happens. But the true removal of karma has to be done by oneself. And by being bathed by this force, by this grace that automatically emanates from this being, it helps us to smoothen our path. So, the karma is not taken away but because of that spiritual force, because of the attunement of mind to mind, heart to heart, it makes the repayment of karma more easier. Now the word karma is always very confused with bad action. Karma is good action as well as bad action. Karma means action. So what happens is this that good action is enhanced more. The beautiful flower is there but it is so well dressed up in the vase with the lovely leaves and it looks so lovely. The beauty of the flower is enhanced. So, in the company of a righteous holy person and he might not need to be near because that grace, that universal force is forever there, everywhere although people are thousands of miles apart. But there has to be that attunement, that attunement whereby we open the window to allow the fresh air to come in. Good. Now, good karma is enhanced by giving it greater beauty and by giving it greater beauty, life can become more joyous. Every joy becomes more enhanced. It’s like having a meal. The Missus might cook a lovely meal, but if the table is not nicely laid, the meal will loose some value. So dressing the table for that lovely dinner is very important. So that is how good karma is enhanced. Now when it comes to bad karma what happens there by this force, it is this, that we lose the sting of the reaction for every action must have a reaction. Good action will have a good reaction, bad action a bad reaction, but by being attuned to that grace, by being aware of our bad action we are automatically repenting. If I realise I have done something wrong, that realisation itself is a form of repentance and that repentance is strengthened by not performing that same action again. Of course most people don't do that. To use an analogy from Ramakrishna, he says 'The camel eats, loves eating thorns. It knows that it's mouth bleeds but still keeps on eating the thorns'. Many people do that. But the sincere seeker as soon as he realises that, look this action is not a good action he has a realisation within him, a dawning realisation that I should not perform this again. Now the mind is so patterned that because of the patterned mind, he will want to perform that action again. How many alcoholics are there not in the world that hate every drink they take? They wish they could get out of it. They suffer but because of the chemistry built up in their system, it could be physiological as well as psychological, that they just cannot do without that drink. The same thing applies to drug addicts. They hate themselves for it. Good. So what can they do because they can't unpattern their patterned mind. So they need outside help and that outside help is grace and to draw that grace one has to have some faith, as the people had in Jesus. They have to have some faith that, 'Look, I

7. UK 79 -3 cannot do anything anymore, I've tried my best. Now you Lord take over and help me.' And as soon as this thought becomes strengthened in the mind, as soon as this thought is really felt as a burning desire, as a yearning within oneself, one is automatically attuned to that focal point through which this grace can come. So that is how we get helped in life. That is how our karma becomes easier. Now I have said this before that all the bad actions we have performed we do not need to pay for them. And this would constitute forgiveness. Forgiveness does not come automatically. Divinity, why should Divinity forgive one and not the other? If he wants to forgive, he forgives the whole bang lot or not. Yeah. But when we have performed certain actions and we know that these actions are not conducive to us or our neighbours and we are instructed to love our neighbours as ourselves, then we perform other actions to counteract the bad actions. I always say if you've killed twenty people, that does not mean you will have to be killed twenty times. No, no. Save twenty-one lives and you have one in the credit balance. And all those actions without any need for any kind of analysis is automatically rubbed clean. That is progress. That is evolution. It is a shortcut without it being a shortcut. Only thing the path becomes smoother. Its not a bumpy road, not a corrugated road but a well tarred one and the car just sails along, sails, no that's a boat, nevertheless it goes along smoothly. You see. So that is forgiveness. Christ or any Avatar in which that Christ consciousness manifested, it is a consciousness that we are concerned with and that consciousness can have any label, Christ consciousness, Krishna consciousness, Buddha consciousness. It depends from what background we have come, in what religion we were born, and what our childhood training had been. That is why we put on these labels. Actually speaking it’s the same eternal consciousness and by the expansion of awareness through our spiritual and meditational practices, we come closer and closer to this consciousness. In other words, the mind opens up. The substratas of the mind which we discussed last night I think it was, becomes more and more clarified and that light shines through. Now the man that shows the way should he not be worshipped as a God or even God incarnate like Krishna and Christ and Buddha. I worship them. Oh yes. For they have shown the way and by showing the way, they have helped to alleviate our suffering. They have not taken away the karma, but they have shown the way how to make the reaction more amenable, more easier, more softer. If you have to jump down from this roof on to a cement floor you'd get hurt, but if there was a thick foam mattress, then the hurt would not be so much. The fall would be broken as they would say. But we have to create that mattress. We have to create it. And we can order it, oh yes, we can order it. We can order our lives in such a way that whatever our past has been its not to be examined. Whatever trials and tribulations we have gone through is not to be examined. We only found that lifestyle or the things we have done troublesome because we did not have the right perspective to it.

8. UK 79 -3 My mother- in -law comes and visits me, so I feel upset, I don't want her round the house. Why? When I was a young man I used to think that for example. I use myself as an example, it sounds better instead of saying you because I found her a nuisance, a disturbance because any little squabble there with the wife, she runs to mother. She was a nuisance. (Gururaj laughs) But when the perspective developed, when greater understanding was gained, the mother in law was very welcome to the house. Okay, why shouldn't the little wife, you know have someone to run to. Let her go and cry on her mother's shoulders, I can occupy myself doing something else. (General laughter) Perspectives change. It’s the same old girl visiting. So, the mother in law hasn't changed but I have changed. But now I welcome her - 'Oh come more so we cook for five people in the house, so what's the sixth one'. That comes after you have a couple of children, when you become more mature. So we encourage larger families in BMS (Gururaj laughs). So it is our own maturity, our own reaction that governs our karma. When we say that these great personages and that is such an understatement to use the word personage, when these great men teach us these lessons and if we attune ourselves with the spirit of the lesson, not the lesson itself, not the teaching itself but the spirit of the teaching, we op en ourselves to that grace which makes the reaction much more smoother, much more joyous. As I always say we pay off not cash on demand but easy instalment plan. You see. In that sense we can say that our karma has been taken away. In that sense. But in reality we are responsible for our actions. Why should we make someone else responsible for our actions? That is not reality, that is wishful thinking. So I will go on doing all kinds of things, bad things and then say 'Oh well, when it comes to the last stages, I will just pray and do these things and that chap up there will forgive it all'. Forget it. To find forgiveness depends upon ourselves. Yes. For why should we be forgiven? Why? What is the reason? What right have we? We can ask for forgiveness yes but how do we ask, not just verbally, by action, by righting ourselves, by what we call self help which has nothing to do with mental analysis, by self help within ourselves, where we change our life style. One man came to me and he was living with a lady for three years. So we discussed things he does and what she does. And then the question came on marriage. He thought ‘Should I marry her or should I not marry her?’ So I told him that 'If that woman is good enough to live with for three years, then she's good enough to marry'. And he did. The whole perspective, the whole atmosphere of their home changed. There was a certain sanctity, a certain responsibility developed, a deeper togetherness developed where each felt a deeper feeling perhaps. There's no description to it, but each felt responsible and more caring for each other. Like this, they lived together and did everything which married people would do, but one element was missing. That uncaringness was there. They had left one door open exit, that if it

9. UK 79 -3 doesn't work out, I can escape. Now that is not responsibility. Burn your bridges behind you, as the old saying goes. She's good enough to live with for three years, she's good enough to marry and for you to accept as your wife. And why should you always have that escape hatch, that exit? Be responsible for yourself and for the contract that you have entered into in that partnership. Their whole life changed. It assumed a different meaning. When the baby came, that too assumed such a beautiful flowering. So when the escape hatch was closed they became more responsible to each other and to themselves. You see how beautiful? You see how beautiful. So we are the one's that are responsible for our karmas. We are the one's that change our karma and no one else. Great Teachers come to guide. They come to teach, not to preach, that is church ministers, they preach. But real teaching constitutes one thing, that you must have experienced everything yourself in some form or the other by a heightened awareness or by experiencing the totality of consciousness, then only are you allowed or only should you then teach. And that is what these great Masters have done like Jesus, experienced it all, experienced it all. And therefore their teachings over thousands of years still holds the greatest truth. We cannot improve upon them. We cannot improve upon Buddha, neither Krishna, neither Christ, neither Mahavir. We can't. The problems of course lies with the different kinds of interpretations. But basically we could not alter those teachings. You see how eternal they are. And that is the meaning of saving humanity by showing them the way, showing them the way of life. For the way is the life. Life is not stagnant. It is forever flowering and that very flowering is life, is the way. And therefore when these great Masters say ' I am the way, I am the life', it is true because they have lived it, they have experienced it in one form or the other. And they have realised the true meaning of the words, 'I am that I am'. They have flowered to fullness and they want to see every bud flowering to fullness. And when they see that the buds are not flowering, they lack the elements of thought and action in their lives. When they see the buds, the plant is withering away, it pains, it pains them that 'Here I have come', Jesus would say, 'I give these teachings that could help humanity that could take them towards my Father, that could make their lives smoother, happier and they heed not my words. What can I do? Therefore, I'll go on sowing, if the seeds fall on fertile ground they will grow. But I will do my duty'. You see? So, these men, these great personages when they see the suffering of others, they get hurt. The hurt is not of their own but the hurt of others, because of the compassion, com-pass-ion. Because they have realised the oneness of all humanity. They have realised the oneness of all creatures on earth. They have ceased to find, - that supper can wait Yvonne, sit down. I don't mind waiting a half an hour. I've been eating all my life. Yes. Because they realise the oneness, because to them no separation exists, therefore they feel, they feel the pain of others. But that to them is not suffering in the sense that we use the word suffering. I cry with your tears, I laugh with your laughter. When a great

10. UK 79 -3 Indian Sage was asked 'Aren't you going to eat?' He says 'I'm eating with thousands of mouths. Do I really need to eat?' You see. You see the meaning behind that. Of course a person has to eat to sustain the body. But something deeper is meant, that all is one. All is one. And knowing that oneness, experiencing that oneness your tears become His tears and when those tears mingle, when those tears mingle, the power of grace flows. Have you even kissed your wife or your husband when he or she is crying? Have you ever done that, so the tears flow from your eyes too and mingles with hers. Do you know the spark that is set off at that moment? It is just an ordinary example of communion, of togetherness where the tears of the wife are but the tears of the husband, and the tears of the husband are the tears of the wife. Where do you end? Where do I begin? Where can you end? Where can I begin? It is a oneness and as this feeling grows more and more, our consciousness becomes more and more refined. We reach deeper and deeper levels, higher and higher levels until the level of Christ consciousness is reached, where everything is felt in its true perspective. But one knowledge exists in such a man that all this is necessary. But the seed as I said this morning has to explode in the ground for it to grow. The tree, the sampling has to weather the storms and the sunshine. All these are aids for it to grow. And yet the compassion exists, the kindness exists and yet such a man stands apart and observes the play ah. My Father's play. My Father is playing. He has created the stage. Look at all these actors, just a pity they don't play their parts well, they miss their lines. That's all. That's all that religion is about, missing the lines. That's all that it is about. So we do our parts well, what a beautiful play this could be. So a man like Jesus in that consciousness feels your suffering and still feels it now for that consciousness is an eternal living presence. Because without that consciousness, you yourself cannot feel any joy or sorrow. Because your joys and sorrows are intertwined, intermixed, interpenetrated by that consciousness. For without that consciousness, nothing could exist. Nothing could be manifested without the Manifestor. He permeates everything and therefore all the things we do is a play. We are children playing games that what we are in reality we play games because we are forgetting the basis, we are forgetting the basis of the Divine consciousness which is forever residing within us. So now the realised man he feels the joys and the sorrows, the pains and the pleasures and yet can stand apart. And standing apart he knows that these children of mine are so involved in the law of opposites. For that consciousness does not know any opposites. It knows only oneness. There is no polarity. It’s like a stick, two ends of a stick, black on this side and white on that side, pain on this side pleasure on that side. But as we approach the centre, the stick remains in perfect balance in equilibrium. So a man of that nature is in that equilibrium and yet seeing the polarities on either end, sees the joy, sees the sorrow and stands still because he has known the meaning of the phrase, 'Be still and know I am

1. UK 79 -3 Gururaj. Are those the expensive seats up there? Voice. ................ (Inaudible) Gururaj. Good. All the various layers, does it represent layers of consciousness? Voice. Those are non-transcenders upstairs. (General laughter) Clear transcenders at the front and lazy transcenders at the back. Gururaj. Yes, I think we must issue badges, (General laughter) I believe other people are doing it. Voice ........ (Inaudible) Gururaj. I love to learn things. Good. Now if we are all settled, if anybody has a question or else we could sit all night and remain silent. It’s just as good. That's what Buddha did. Questioner. I have a question that's particularly topical Guruji in view of the time of year, being Easter time, in view of the fact that there is a television series running called 'Jesus of Nazareth', depicting the life of Christ and it’s about his ministry. In fact it’s three questions in one. The first part, I'm trying to get my money's worth (General laughter), the first part is why during Christ's ministry, did he perform so many miracles perhaps more than any other Master in the history of mankind? The second part is, Christ healed many people but by doing so did he take on their karma and does this explain the necessity of his suffering on the cross? Did he literally take on the sins of the world? And the third part, wh y was his ministry so short? Gururaj. Very beautiful. Yes. Where should I start? What was the first part? Questioner. (Cont'd). Why during Christ's ministry did he perform so many miracles more than any other Master? Gururaj. Good. Fine. Now the answer to that would be that he did not perform more miracles than other Masters. We feel that, because we are more orientated to our background and what we have learnt. But if we do study other Scriptures for examples, other mythologies we would find many, many more miracles being performed. Now the question to be

11. UK 79 -3 God'. You see. So the opposites don't affect him as it would affect the ordinary person. For the ordinary person, the opposites create karmas, actions with reactions, good or bad. That man who's in the world and yet not of the world whatever he does is unaffected. He's a law unto himself for he has reached supreme consciousness. Ah, what a joy. It is indescribable. I wish I could tell you more about it, I just can't, but I could make you feel it. Ah, but to know that Christ, to know that Krishna, to know that Buddha, to have Him within you all the time, to be so merged in that. To be merged in that-ness, that-ness which is an is-ness which is a being-ness. No more and no less could be said about it. It has to be experienced. And that everyone will, in time to come. Yes. In this lifetime, another lifetime, two hundred lifetimes but who wants to wait so long. Who wants to wait so long when it is here and now? We have the tools. As I said the other day, why use the can opener when that ring is there to open the can. You see? So that all pervading spirit, that all-pervading Christ consciousness is there. Today is Saturday. These are very important days for me. These are very important days for me. Next Easter Sunday we will be, even if I'm not here in England, we will be doing something very, very special but I'd like you to have just one little glimpse, one little glimpse of the vastness of that glory. St. Paul on the road to Damascus experienced it. Am I quoting it right? If he could, why not you, you, you. Why can't we all experience that because after practising meditation for a few years, there is definitely a certain readiness. There is certain readiness and for some perhaps it requires just a bit of pushing, gently so. It can be known, not in totality now perhaps but some little glimpse can be had of the vastness of the glory of God, of Yahweh. Beautiful, beautiful. Okay. We'll speak again tomorrow. Good. Namaste. END