1. U S 77 - 10 GURURAJ: You see her in your mind's eye as healed. Let us meditate for five minutes on her. [long pause] [WHISPERS ] I'm ready. VOICE: Okay, we can have questions now. Anyone. Yes, [Betty?], go ahead. BETTY: Guruji, would tell us about bliss? GURURAJ: About bliss? Yes. Bliss is an experience, which, like love, is indefinable. But there are certain inferences which could tell us about bliss and not what bliss really is. For example, the same things happen in universities, where they would t ell you all about something but not really what something is. Now, that is the difficulty one has in trying to define a quality that stems so deep from within oneself. Now, we have all experienced joys, we have all experienced pleasures, and yet it is so difficult to define what joy is or pleasure is. We can say, "Oh, pleasure's such a pleasant feeling," and there it ends. Or you could say, "I feel joyful," and the person would understand what you mean when you say, "I feel joyful" because that person t oo has experienced joy. So when you describe to a person that I feel joyful, that person will know what you are talking about because that person has, to some measure, experienced joy. Now, when you tell a person, "I have a toothache," that too, that fee ling, is indescribable. You can call it a nerve pain, but that too means nothing. So when you tell a person that you have a toothache, that person will immediately know what your toothache is because he has experienced toothache himself, and he knows wha t the pain of toothache is. But now bliss is a quality that very few people has experienced in the existence of this world. So the description of bliss is not only, could not only be verbalized. And even if it could be verbalized, it could never be und erstood. To describe bliss would be synonymous with describing God. To describe bliss would be synonymous with describing God. Yet to infer to bliss one could say that a feeling wells up within oneself that becomes so universal that you could embrace th e entire universe within yourself, that you become identified with everything and everybody. Bliss contains so much joy that you feel the pain of others, and you feel the pleasures of others. Bliss contains all the elements whereby the pain of others cou ld be uplifted, because you radiate the quality of bliss. When you radiate this quality of bliss which you experience, then the entire atmosphere is enlightened. A self realized man could never explain to you what self realization is. He can tell you th at self realization, which is, too, synonymous with bliss, and self realization, as we know, is God realization. And it being synonymous, it defies all description, yet it is experiencable. So when a person experiences bliss and he cannot describe it, th en what purpose does that bliss serve? It would be very selfish for a person to experience bliss and not being able to share it. So the blissful person, even without trying to share it, automatically shares it, because one of the

2. U S 77 - 10 expressions of bliss is a love that is generated. Now, all of you on this course have experienced some of it. It can so clearly be seen on every face here. We started this course on Monday night? VOICE: Sunday night. GURURAJ: Sunday night. Sunday night. And the expressio ns on the faces of Sunday night, tense, indrawn, withdrawn, tight, stressed it's all gone. Everyone here seems to feel lighter. Is that true? VOICES: Yes. Um hm. GURURAJ: Good. Fine. So the bliss which I experience I cannot explain to you in wo rds. As I said, it would be like explaining God. And once you can explain any object, once you can explain any object, you are limiting the object, while bliss is an experience which is limitless. And if it is limitless, then the experiencer of bliss em anates it to the furthest extent of the universe. Now, those that are close to the experience of bliss naturally feels it. Does not understand it because it defies all mental analysis, but something happens in the physical, mental and spiritual chemistr y. As to put it, something just lights up. So bliss, though inexplicable, is definitely sharable. In Sanskrit we have one word which is called darshan. Now, most of you must have heard that word, darshan. Where people go and visit a holy person, and that person might not even say a word. Buddha's greatest teachings were done in silence. Buddha's greatest teachings were done in silence. But to be near, to be within the radius of the power that is emanated by the blissful person, is somehow felt. An d here to some measure we have all felt it. This is just a little demonstration, a practical demonstration, of something which is inexplicable. So that is the meaning of darshan. And that is why people on the spiritual path are always enjoined to be in holy company. It helps their spiritual path. It shows some form of light, even if the mind does not understand it, something just happens. And we partake of that bliss. If we go and spend half an hour in a perfume factory, even without rubbing perfume o n us, we will come out of the factory smelling like perfume. Commonly they say, it rubs off. So bliss, though being intangible, has its tangible aspects. And this we can experience in many other ways. We, for example, go into a church and the church ha s built up such an atmosphere there because of the good thoughts that have always been thought there. Because the name of the Lord has always been praised there, we feel a certain difference in us, a certain calmness descends upon us. Likewise, it is alwa ys good to be in the company of bliss. So, unfortunately, as sweetness of

3. U S 77 - 10 sugar cannot be defined but experienced, so the quality of bliss that is experienced defies all definition. But those around a blissful person can share the joy and the bliss that is experienced by him. Now, to attain this bliss requires a total amount of integration, the integration of mind, body and spirit. Now, between mind, body and spirit the most powerful element is the spiritual element. And the nature of that spiritual ele ment is bliss. And it starts permeating the mind, every thought and every cell in a person's body. So that intangible quality of bliss coul d have its mental and physiological counterpart. The mind and the body could be used as vehicles to convey that in ner light, which is bliss. And therefore, therefore, people that have reached self realization we call them illumined, lit up. Yes, that's what it means. So when practices are given by a person that has reached a state of self realization, when a perso n lives in that bliss...for example, I give you a mantra, based on your vibration, to practice on. Now, it is not only the verbal mantra that is given, but at the time when in a state of meditation the mantra is perceived by the guru and he utters that ma ntra, at that time his whole being is contained in that sound put forth. So when you practice the mantra, when you practice the mantra, the entirety of the guru, the entirety of the spiritual force, is sent forth in bliss form in that mantra and it is rec eived by the chela, by the meditator. And when that meditator sincerely practices that mantra as instructed, so that with gradual practice the person becomes the mantra and experiences not only the grosser form of the mantra but the subtler form of the man tra, and at its subtlest level it is not only you, but also the guru's bliss mixed in that mantra. And that is why the benefits are felt. The benefits are felt whereby through a tangible vehicle of the audible mantra, one reaches the subtleness of the ma ntra where your spirit and the guru's spirit becomes one. And there starts the awakening of your internal guru. There starts the awakening of the internal guru, which is forever internal and eternal. Now, that is the stage, through our spiritual practic es, that we have to reach. Some people tell you that giving you a technique, immediately you are taken to bliss. Do not believe that. It is a process, but a worthy process. What is worth attaining is worth striving for. We know that. So what the guru does, the real guru we have a lot of bogus gurus around, remember that. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. They start on various kinds of schemes, be they for money making, or be they for self aggrandizement, or whatever selfish motive there is. But the real guru, ha ving experienced this bliss, which he cannot describe to you in words, but he can allow you to experience it. His purpose, the purpose of the light, is to rid darkness. And the light is so powerful that all the dark corners of our heart is lit up and dar kness disappears. And that is the purpose of attaining to that blissful state, so that the blissful state can be shared with those that are earnestly seeking bliss. And finding bliss is finding God. That is the goal, that is the aim, that is the purpose of our lives.

4. U S 77 - 10 The purpose of our lives is not material accumulation. Now, there is nothing wrong in material accumulation. There is nothing wrong in it. But do remember one thing, let man have sufficient to his needs. That is the basic principle. F or you will find that you want a million dollars, once you have the million dollars you will surely want two million dollars. When you have two million dollars, you will surely want five million dollars. Yes. And it's a never ending process of being enme shed in total materiality. But if we have in mind that these are my needs I need shelter, comfortably. Why not? We're entitled to it. Good. Good food, sufficient to look after our families. Perhaps a bit for the rainy day, hm? In this modern society nothing wrong with that. So that is natural want. Useful need and not the accumulation of something that is needless, because I would still like to meet the man that has made ten million dollars and taken it with him when he passes off. Yes, yes. So we live our lives according to our needs. And if our lives are well regulated in the path of spirituality, you will find that the needs become more and more simpler. And more simpler the needs become, the more simpler our lives become. And the path to joy and happiness and bliss is to find the simplicity of life, for within simplicity lies Divinity. And Divinity is another name for bliss. To have a blissful existence is the birthright of each and every one of us. Essentially, man is not born to be unhap py. Within man are all the elements that constitute bliss. And the veils of samskaras that we spoke about just cover up this bliss, yet this highly polished diamond is there covered with dust. And through the spiritual practices what we are doing is blo wing the dust away so that the sparkle, the bliss, of this diamond is experienced. We are orientated a lot towards mental analysis. Good. Nothing wrong. Let us have our analysis, but let us also try and experience that which we analyze. And the experien ce grows so much that it not only reaches the level of analysis, but goes far beyond it. The analysis is the stepping stone. Good. Did Buddha or Christ ever go into deep analytical philosophies? No. Hm? No. They spoke of personal experience. They sp oke, not of knowledge, but they gave forth wisdom, and wisdom does not require analysis. Wisdom is at a level where analysis falls short. So at that level of wisdom, which is another aspect of bliss, another aspect of bliss is love, so all these are diffe rent, not different qualities, but different aspects of bliss, and bliss is Divinity itself. So we want to experience. We do not take the sugar to the laboratory before we put it in our tea. We know sugar is sweet and by putting it in our tea we experie nce the sweetness of sugar. We know intuitively, without analysis, that there is bliss, and we do our practices to experience the bliss. And experiencing something means to become one with something. To become one with that which is forever existent and eternal. That is something about bliss. Okay? [LAUGHS] VOICE: Okay. I have a question here, and then we'll get this one. Excuse me.

5. U S 77 - 10 VOICE: Guruji, would you talk about meditation as a method to uncover the bliss? GURURAJ: I think that has been covered about the uncovering, huh? That has really been... VOICE: He's just a visitor. GURURAJ: Oh, just a visitor. If you would attend one of the introductory lectures it would be very fine. VOICE: We have it on tape here. GURURAJ: Yeah, we have it on tape, and it would be.... Now, all these people have been listening to this all the time, and it would be a bit of a repetition, but meanwhile when we take a walk just now in the gardens we could always chat about it. Because meditation is one of the paths that lead us deep down within ourselves, that lead us beyond the boundaries of mind and body, into the realm of being where bliss is experienced. Okay. Fine. VOICE: Okay. Go ahead. VOICE: Guruji, I've experie nced with, I don't know everyone here, but in Las Vegas we as a group of meditators seem, somehow or other on a very deep level, seem to be connected. Like if I would be very unhappy or something and I would say I don't want that [??????????], very funny. But someone else in the meditation group down there would call me on the phone, and they might not say, "Is there anything wrong," but they might say, "Hey, listen, you're giving this lecture, could you..." and it would be like eleven thirty at night. A nd it's happened so many times. I don't if anyone here's experienced it. I just feel just very instinctively that through you, sort of, we're all connected to one another, and we se em to fulfill each other's needs in certain ways. GURURAJ: Yes, beaut iful. That's a beautiful experience. Because as a person through meditational practices achieves a greater degree of sensitivity, the separation only exists at the broad base of the pyramid. But as one advances, all that

6. U S 77 - 10 separation, all that vastness, r eaches one point and all humanity becomes one. Not only humanity, not only this world, but the entire universe becomes one. Good. VOICE: Guruji, could you describe prayer? Whether, for example, there's a personal deity, or a deity in view of the person al consciousness, who listens to our prayers? GURURAJ: Ah, yes. Yes. Beautiful. Now, very few people know how to pray. Very few people know how to pray. They don't pray, they do business. [LAUGHTER] Yes. They would start off saying, "Oh, Lord, if my son passes his examination I will donate a hundred dollars to the AMS" Hm? [LAUGHTER] If my son passes the examination. If. Then I will donate the hundred to the AMS That's doing business with God. Fine. Why not donate that first, hm? And have the faith that, Lord I have done my duty, right, and do whatever You think is right if my son deserves to pass or not." So that is the kind of prayer that is commonly done. We are forever requesting, not only requesting but demanding. But nothing wrong with that. Request and demand. But one factor must always be taken into consideration: do I deserve what I demand? It is very good, it is very good to demand the moon. But do I deserve that? Now, if a person goes through self analysis, which is a ve ry good thing, it's a very good thing to evaluate where one stands, and if the demand is based upon real need which circumstances has brought about, and we know that my actions in life, and thoughts in life, has been such that that need must be fulfilled, it will be fulfilled. Because we ourselves have created conditions that will automatically fulfill the need. So in prayer we do not make demands. We do not do business. The best way to prayer...the best way to pray is by certain kind of affirmations. Now, these affirmations are not necessarily repetitions of certain formulas. Good. When you sit down in your meditation, and just as your meditation is about to end, you picture in your mind's eye the position you want to be in. If you want a new motor car, then after your meditation when the mind is quiet, picture yourself driving that new motor car. Picture yourself possessing that motor car. Fine. Now, that does not mean that as soon as you come out of that meditation that Buick is going to stand outside. [LAUGHTER] Right. But by repeatedly putting yourself in that position...we have said the other day, man is master of his destiny. By repeatedly putting yourself in that position of seeing yourself possessing that motor car, driving it, going on the seventeen mile drive and all. We're doing that this afternoon. Good. Now, with having this repeated affirmation you are imprinting your desire in your mind. You are imprinting your desire very strongly in your mind by the repetition of the pictu re you are creating. Good. Then what happens is this, that your mind is so attuned to what you want that the force of your mind now the mind is very powerful, as we said the force of your mind will attract to you, and around you, certain circumstances. It will attract to you

7. U S 77 - 10 certain kind of work. We don't believe in lotteries. It will attract to you certain kind of work, and certain kind of circumstances where you will be the proud possessor of that Buick. Yes. Now, that is prayer. So who answers your prayer? You, yourself. You yourself are answering the prayer by conditioning your mind to a certain set of circumstances. Now, Divinity is a neutral energy. Divinity is a neutral energy. Now, when we say God gives, there is some truth in it. Theol ogically there is some truth in it. But Divinity being a neutral energy, it depends upon you how to use this neutral energy, and this neutral energy has to be filtered through your mind. Orientate yourself to the thoughts of poverty, poverty, poverty all the time, and you will become poor. Orientate your thoughts to riches all the time, and you and you can become rich materially or spiritually, that is your choice. Now, we have seen the pitfalls. We have seen the pitfalls of putting too great an empha sis on materiality, and we have seen the advantages of putting a greater emphasis on spirituality. One could be a very temporary happiness. I still have to meet a rich man who is happy. No. But I can show you spiritual men that does not possess more t han two shirts while one is being washed he wears one that is totally happy. There's a lovely story about the Emperor Akbar that lived in India about six, seven hundred years ago, I think it is. And he wanted to find the happiest man on Earth. So he sent out all his generals and advisors, and everyone went everywhere with a questionnaire. Good. So they went to rich people and asked the question, are you happy? Are you really happy? And every one had some problem. At last all these soldiers and ma rket researchers, they would call them today, went [LAUGHS] went out questioning people, and they could not find anyone that was really happy. So then [Berbul?], his prime minister, thought, "Look, they've all tried. Let me go out now, and see what I can find." He went out and traveled and traveled and questioned and questioned, and he found no one that was really happy. And then he, in desperation, as he was coming back crossing the river, he saw a man sitting on a little boulder in the midst of the ri ver, and just being in joy and singing away and splashing the water. He went up to him and he said, "Are you happy?" This man said, "Yes, I am happy." And of course Prime Minister [Berbul?] was no fool, he questioned the man from various angles, and he really discovered that this man was happy. And yet this man that was so happy did not possess a shirt on his back. So...so when it comes to prayers, when it comes to prayers, there's no one that answers our prayers but ourselves. When we try and condit ion our mind to certain circumstances or material possessions, let us also be sure that within the material acquisition let there be a spiritual element also. So in prayer, the way we described it, what we are doing is we are using this divine energy, whi ch we are filtering through our minds and using our minds to make the maximum use of this energy in whichever way we want, the choice is ours. And that is why man has been given a free will. Okay? Good.

8. U S 77 - 10 VOICE: In other words.... May I ask something? In other words, when we pray we're praying to the Divine within us? GURURAJ: Right. We are praying to the Divine in us. In other words, we are using the Divine as a focal point of our attention. And the purpose of using a focal point of our attention is so that all the scattered energies of the mind could be brought to one pointedness. And that is what the practice of tratak does for us. It teaches us how to take scattered energies to bring it to one f ocal point. And when we have achieved a certain measure of how to get together the scattered energies to a focal point, then we can use it in whichever way we want to. Then our thoughts become more powerful, our prayers become more powerful, and everythi ng we do becomes more powerful. It is my personal experience that I need to think of something and it happens. This is personal proof of the teachings I teach. I never teach anything without having experienced it first. All my teachings, as you have h eard in this past few days, and at various other courses we are doing I'm sure some of you are attending those courses too you will find that whatever I say I have practiced first. And whatever I say it comes from deep experience which I have experience d and lived. Hm? Fine. Good. You said quarter to? So shall we? VOICE: It's a quarter to now? GURURAJ: Yah. Because we have to clear away at twelve. Let us spend about fifteen minutes in the sun together and chat a bit and ...hm? It would be nice I think. Well I must really thank you very, very much for your wonderful hospitality, and the wonderful organization by Rishi and all his helpers. And these past few days have been very, very pleasant in every way. And when I see the love flowing from y our hearts, then I feel that the little mission here there has been some result. Bless you all. **** END ****