1. U S 77 - 32 WHY HAVE WE SEPARATED FROM THE CREATOR? GURURAJ: Questi ons? VOICES: [Inaudible] It's kind of a long question, so bear with me. If our ultimate path in evolution is to unite us one wi th the creator, and if all in the universe has been manifested by the creator, then why were the pulsations or waves separate d from the creator in the first place? And, the fact that the pulsations or waves were separated, did this in fact cause that karma for that motion to go [?????]? GURURAJ: Beautiful. Ahh, that's right up my alley [laughter]. Lovely. The question virt ually means that if the creator is divine and infinite, how come this creation, which is undivine and so finite? What need did the creator have to create? If He did create, why was the creation not perfect enough to cause all this karma that man labors th rough? Why was all this necessary? Now, if the creator is divine, how come all these things which are not divine? If the nature of the creator is bliss, how come He has created something that is unblissful? Sixty four thousand dollar question. [Laughter ] Now, I could tell you that the creator did not create. The Creator, or what we term to be Divinity, has no need to create. Who creates? It is the imperfect one that creates. When a poet composes a poem, he composes the poem as self expression, and thr ough the means of self expression, he is trying to find perfection. So it means that the poet is imperfect, and therefore there was a need to find perfection. The same thing applies to a composer, and the same thing applies to a painter who being lost in the mood of the picture the painter has in mind, tries to portray it. And in portraying, finds some vent to expression to fulfill a need. And in fulfilling the need, perfection is assumed to be gained. So whenever we think of creator, then we think of creator in the terms of creation. Now the creator and creation are relative terms. And that which we regard to be the creator is also relative. Now when I use the word "creator," I do not mean supreme Divinity. Supreme Divinity is so perfect that it h as no need to create, whatsoever. Supreme Divinity has not created this universe. There is another factor that is part of the creation which we will go into now. Good. Now, supreme Divinity has no need to express itself because, it being perfect, we would rather not call Him the creator, but we should rather term that it is neither him nor her we should rather term that to be the unmanifest, transcendenta l existenc e, the force, the power, the energy behind everything else. Good. We have a clock in this room and it is giving us perfect time. Yet the clock cannot run on its own. The mechanisms in the clock could be very perfect, yet it cannot run on it's own. Someo ne had wound the clock. And yet, the winder of the clock is nowhere to be seen. Only the clock is seen, giving us perfect time. Good.

3. U S 77 - 32 tangible one, assumes all these various forms by the process that we have described. And that too we call creation. In re ality it is not creation. The manifestation too is just expressing itself. It is just pushing forward with this propulsion, its very inherent nature or its in built mechanism. And that is how from the primal sub atomic particle all this has come about. All this has come about. As we said before, from that particle, mineral stage, to the plant, to the animal to man. Good. And then when man came about with the ability to think, he forgot his essential nature. He forgot his essential nature that he is j ust a manifestation and started putting importance to himself. And as soon as that importance he has put upon himself. Now this is not entirely man's fault in the beginning, because this is also an in built mechanism; the mechanism of the mind which cont ains the mind contains the ego; the mind contains the discriminating power, called the intellect; the mind contains the carrier of impressions of past experiences; and these too in a very systematic manner started mixing itself with each other. And in this mixing itself with each other, within the framework of nature, which it has created itself, all different forms started taking place, and so from the primal unitive state, from the primal unity and oneness of the impersonal God we have reached the stage of total diversity. So from unity diversity has been brought about. Diversity has not been created, but the primal nature of the unmanifest self, the primal nature of the flower has given this fragrance. And this fragrance has started it all. And that is how creation began. But the trouble began with man. Troublemaker [laughs]. Good. Now, when man started using the power of discrimination, right,... Now the power of discrimination is like a knife. Sharp blade given to a person of ill intent it c ould kill someone. And given to a surgeon could perform surgery and save someone's life. But man still having the instincts of his past animalism through which he has progressed, tends to use the animalistic qualities more than the Divine qualities that i s within him. Now, being formed from the personal God, which is a manifestation of the impersonal God, naturally the power of the impersonal God must be inherent in man. But with all these things, the ego and the mind and the intellect being interwoven with each other, the mind has tended to forget the primal impulse which brought about its being. So in spiritual practices, what we are trying to do is reach back to the essence. Right. Now, as I said, the impersonal God, the abstract quality that is bey ond the universe, that is beyond it all, and yet within it, to reach that stage one has to reach the stage of the personal God first. When one reaches the stage of the personal God, or identifies oneself with the personal God, identifies itself with the f ragrance, then only will it know its source that I, the fragrance, have come from the source of that flower. That is self realization, self attainment. That is becoming one with Divinity. That is unity consciousness. Now this what I've told you in met aphysical and philosophical terms is verified by theology. And every religion in the world says, in the words of Christ, that no man reaches the Father but through me. Are those the exact words? Or something,

4. U S 77 - 32 you've got the sense of it. Right. Now man reaches the Father except through me. That means that one has to reach the stage of Christ or Krishna or Buddha, one has to reach the stage of that pure, undiluted fragrance, before one can know the source of the fragrance. Good. So therefore, firstly we aspire to reach the personal God. And therefore, whoever is of devotional temperament may his devotion be to Krishna or Buddha or Christ, or Rama, I encourage it. Because the essence of all those different names is but one. If we talk as Christians w e would say Christ consciousness. If we talk as Hindus we would say Krishna consciousness. If we talk as Buddhists we would call it Buddha consciousness. It's the same thing. So the first fragrance that emanated from the impersonal God was in such fine form, as fragrance is in such fine form, undetectable with the human eyes, so fine, so subtle, and so is that Christ consciousness. So subtle. So man in his aspirations to reach his real essence, to reach his real being, has to reach that stage of Chris t consciousness. Therefore, Christ said, "I am the life, I am the way," and that is the truth. Good. So the way to that consciousness could be symbolized as Christ or Krishna or Buddha; it is the same. What matters is the consciousness, and the conscio usness is the manifestation. Therefore, Christ did not say, "I am God," but "I am the son of God." I am not the impersonal unmanifest, but I am the personal manifested son. And so are we all. Because within us lies the ability to reach that state of co nsciousness, to reach that state of pure consciousness. But even when we reach the state of that pure consciousness, a separation, a duality, will remain. That I am the son and He is the Father. There is separation. And that is still not the end. We hav e reached somewhere, but we have not reached the totality. Good. Now in this progress, in this progress, in this force of evolution where one form of energy or another form of matter is continually combining and recombining within itself, and add to that m an's intellect that can discriminate rightfully and truthfully, he, for selfish ends, buries the power of discrimination because he has lost cognition of the original light. Th e original light is there, and without the functioning of the original light, w ithout the original light man cannot function. You cannot even lift a finger. But man forgets that. Man forgets that and thinks that I am the total being. And to him the tot al being is his ego that we spoke about this morning. Good. Now, it is that D ivinity that empowers the ego. Good. Now, there are certain stratas or levels in the mind. The one level we call "tamas," which is darkness, inertia, laziness, nescience, ignorance. Then on the other end we have "sattva," which is light, which is knowl edge, which is pure, which is uplifting. Good. Now between tamas and sattva we have "rajas." Now rajas is a quality of the mind. Rajas is a quality of the mind which activates these two forces. There is a factor called rajas which activities the forces of tamas and of sattva. Now through meditation what happens is this, that the activating factor within ourselves lead us more toward the sattvic state. And right action, too, leads us more to the sattvic pure state of living, while wrong living leads us to a greater degree of darkness. Right. The activating force is the same, but which direction we are putting it with our free will is th e

5. U S 77 - 32 important thing. Good. Now, the more we put that activating force, the rajistic force, the force of action towards tamas, the more darkness do we experience in life. The more darkness, and therefore more misery and more suffering. The more we turn that rajistic force, the activating force, toward the sattvic quality in man the more lighter life is, the more happier life is. So it is just a matter of turning the activating force in whichever direction we want it to turn. And man has the power to turn it in that way. Sometimes through ignorance he is in a confused state of mind and then what happens he just drifts. The activating force just acts, either way here and there you have all the highs and all the lows. Because we do not know how to master or control the activating force. Through spiritual practices and meditation we are leading the force to the sattvic s ide of life. Now this does not only effect the mind, which is of a subtle matter, but this also effects all gross matter. For the entire universe, from the personal God level, is composed of these three elements which science is trying very hard now to tr y and find. They've gone very deeply into the atom, and then to the subatomic particle, and yet they feel that they have not reached the end, they still cannot measure it. And we do hope perhaps with the advance of technology that too perhaps could one da y be measured. And it is being measured on other levels of existences, on other planets, in other galaxies, so why not here. That's a different point. Good. Now, on the one hand we have the personal God, through which is portrayed the fragrance of the impersonal God. So the more the energizing factor of the rajistic quality is turned toward sattva, the more the light of that force, of that pow er shines through. Now that personal God can also be called the superconscious mind. And on the other hand, the tamasic force can be called the average, ordinary conscious mind. And the middle section, the activating force, is the subconscious mind. Good. The conscious mind never functions without the activation of the subconscious mind. Every thought we think and thought is action too thought is the pre runner of every action we do. If I want to shift this mike away from me, first I will have it in thought form before I actually put it in action form. Good. So, now as this activating force, the rajas qu ality, the subconscious section of our mind is turned more toward the sattvic self or the superconscious mind, then the subconscious mind becomes more saturated with the light of superconsciousness. And as the subconscious mind becomes saturated with the superconsciousness or the sattvic qualities of life, the subconscious mind just cannot keep it there. It sends it forth to the conscious mind. And when that happens, spontaneously all our conscious thoughts and all our actions become sattvic actions. Bec ause here now the energizing factor is drawing upon the higher force and bringing it through to conscious daily living. And that is how, that is how the quality of life improves. And those are the factors which govern karma. You talked about karma. The se are the factors which govern karma. The impersonal God, the unmanifest, has nothing to do with karma. Has nothing to do with creation. It is beyond and above it all. Good. And therefore it is impartial, it has no partiality. But the slightest ves t ige of

6. U S 77 - 32 partiality starts from the personal God. It starts from the personal God because that consciousness can be put through various filters of the subconscious mind, and then through to the conscious mind. Now we use the word "partiality" of the imper sonal God more in a figurative sense rather than a literal sense because that, too, in reality is impartial. The impartiality is there. But the partiality is how we use it. So, all our karma is determi ned by how we use this energizing factor and to what use we put this energy. We used the word "electricity" just now. It can be put to use in a heater and we will have heat. It can be put to use through a refrigerator and we will have cold. It is stil l the same electricity. Likewise, we can use many ma ny examples to illustrate the same point. So what we are trying to say essentially is this, that the impersonal God, through which everything is caused, the impersonal God which is beginless and endless, which had no beginning, the impersonal God which is just but an isness, it just is, there is no reason. The intellect cannot reach it; the intellect cannot analyze it; the intellect can only analyze that which it can perceive or comprehend or conceive. So how limited the intellect is. Good. Now, we, in o rder to experience the impersonal God we purify our lives through right thinking, through right action, through proper meditation, we purify our lives and reach the stage of the personal God, which can also be called Christ consciousness. That is what we are doing, and that is the preparation. Everything we do is nothing else but a preparation. All the time is spent in making the candle, all the time is spent in making the match. But to light the candle is a single flick. The housewife stands over her stove for hours cooking a beautiful meal for her family. And yet in 10 15 minutes it's all gobbled up. [laughter]. See? Good. So all the time is spent in preparation. So what we are essentially doing in the school of life is learning, and that learni ng in itself is to prepare for the examination as the school boy does. And then in the final end, who examines us? We examine ourselves. We [ve?] [laughter]. That's some of the Indianism coming through. [Laughter]. We examine ourselves. We evaluate ou rselves. We determine the results of our karma. We are the sowers, we are the reapers. The impersonal God forever remains untouched. And He, being the source ("that," rather, is a better word), that being the source is all pervading. So self realizat ion means that we realize not by the mind, because the mind is a very little, small instrument but by experience we come to a realization of a knowingness inside that that power exists. And then, through these practices, we lead ourselves to that co nsciousness. And when that consciousness, Christ consciousness, pure consciousness, Krishna consciousness is reached, then that fragrance becomes one with the flower in a flash. So illumination comes within a moment. And the whole world, the entire un iverse, is just covered with a golden haze. And you are there; you are it. And then all differentiations cease, and you experience this joy and this bliss of the entire ty

7. U S 77 - 32 of all existence. And then you have gone beyond all karma. You have gone beyond a ll the laws of nature [coughs] (pardon). You have gone beyond the three elements of tamas, rajas, and sattva which governs natural existence. You have gone beyond that all. You have gone beyond consciousness, consciousness which is recognizable by the m ind. You have gone beyond that and you live in a state which is pure bliss. And this can be done here and now in this world. If one man can do it, everyone can do it. That is true. And if one man can do one thing, you can do it better perhaps. OK. Fin e. VOICES: [laughter] [Tape clicks off and then on.] GURURAJ: It is the consciousness which is communicating with the consciousness within you. Yes. I never appeal to a person's mind only. Every word I say, most of you here (99.999%) feel it. That is communication. Good. True. [Laughter]. Next questi on. VOICE: It's 9:00. We have the mandala meeting. One more. GURURAJ: Did I spend 45 minutes on this one? CHELAS: [laughter] [END SIDE ONE] [Tape must be rewound slightly to begin Side 2] VOICE: How do you feel about contraception? GURURAJ: W hat kind of conception is contraception? [Laughter] You got that [laughter]. VOICE: [Got what?] GURURAJ: We must have fun, as I always say. What is my opinion about contraception? VOICE: She wants your conception of contraception. [Laughter]

8. U S 77 - 32 GURUR AJ: It all depends upon my perception [more uproarious laughter and applause]. Would you like me to talk about sex. [Laughter]. Good. Now, contraception has its own validity. [Blows nose. Audience laughs]. And... and... oh, we're having fun tonight [m ore laughter]. QUESTIONER'S VOICE: [Fine with me?] GURURAJ: Contraception is valid in its proper context. Good. Now, if a man or a woman is filled with lust and just wants to give vent to his or her animal instincts, and uses contraception as a means to avoid responsibility, then it has not become valid. Because here is a means in pill form or whatever form to shir k responsibility. Fine. Then on the other hand, you would find that there are certain needs between a man and a woman, biological needs that have to be fulfilled. And not fulfilling them could cause a lot of psychological problems such as repression and inhibitions. Yet, the urge is so strong that some vent must be given to it. And to give it vent one has to evaluate what the effects would be. Now, if contraception is not used and one conceives a child, one has a child, not because of the need of the child, but one has a child but because of the urge, that too is valid. But then one has to really rationalize that the arrival of the child, will it be conducive to the environment and to the man and woman themselves? Will we be able to look after the ch ild as a child should be looked after? Are they physically, financially, and mentally equipped to look after the child? Now if the answer to that is negative, then contraception could be valid. I do not advocate celibacy. Good. I do not advocate celiba cy for the simple reason that man is born with these biological needs. Such as, man is born with the ability to have hunger, with the ability or the capacity for thirst, so he also has a capacity for sexual union. Good. Now the strongest urge in man is t he sexual urge. This any psychologist or psychiatrist will tell you. But they will tell you, theologians will tell you, that this strong urge in man is because of procreation, to engender the species so that the species does not become extinct. Good. B ut that is only half the answer; that is only half the answer because even behind that biological need there is another need. Another need of expressing the Divine factor that lies in man. He loves the woman and he wants to be as close to her as possible . And interpenetration with each other is the closest physical proximity that they could ever attain to. So here one has to discriminate very well between lust and the spiritual need. Good. Now even if the spiritual need is there, accompanied with a lit tle measure of lust, it is still to be condoned. Good. If it is 75% a spiritual need of self expression and 25% animalism, we can condone it. But not the other way round where it's 75% animalism and 25% spirituality. Good.

9. U S 77 - 32 So on contraception there could not be a generalized statement. This is a very individual factor, a very very individual factor that two people must decide upon themselves. Or decide by themselves. Now, when there is a close relationship between husband and wife, they would like to space their family. They might not want too many children. Here's a little story I'll tell you which I have quoted before, and it's just quite amusing so you'll like to hear it. I don't know if you'v e heard it before and it's from my personal experie nce. I met an Indian family in India who had a large brood, hm? Step ladder [laughter]. Yea. And they were a poor family, they were a poor family. So talking to the husband you can't talk about these things to the women in India, it's taboo talking to the husband I say, "Why? You can't afford such a large family." So he says, "What can I do? God gives." I say, "God gives? Did you sleep in separate bedrooms." [laughter] And it is this whole idea that has cost Indira Gandhi her election. This whole population explosion in India has cost Indira Gandhi quite a lot and why she was chucked out. Because she started interfering and forcing upon people the do's and don'ts of their personal sex lives. Now, it was not by law that men must be sterilized. Yo u were not forced to be sterilized. But such conditions were created that if you wanted to have anything done in any government office you had to produce a sterilization certificate. So it was an indirect compulsion. And this no one likes to be interfered with in their personal lives. And so she was voted out. That was the main factor in losing the election. Right. That's besides the point. But we have seen that this is a personal matter and no one has the right to interfere with it. Now contraception is useful, is useful. Say a family, as we said before, can plan to have three children, right, and they space them out at three, four years after one another, or five year gaps. And now during those five years we don't expect that couple to become celib ate. We don't expect that. So in spacing the family, contraception is very valid. It's very valid. And I could tell you this for sure, that the person that invented single beds, twin beds, did the world a great amount of harm. [laughter] Yes. Did the world a great amount of harm. Whoever wants to get married and wants to buy a bedroom suite, my recommendation is buy double beds. Yes. [laughter]. Double bed [Laughter]. Not single, not twin beds, but a double bed. [Laughter]. You can have a bit of a squabble early in the evening. And now you go to bed and just the warmth of each other many a time and most times can solve problems. Yes. But now, if one had to stick to the principles of celibacy, that would not be possible. So here, too, contrac eptive devices are valid. So there are many instances, and even nowadays I believe the heads of certain religious orders have consented to the use of contraception. They have consented to that. So there is nothing wrong with contraception as long as it is not misused. If a man uses contraception in having an affair with

2. U S 77 - 32 Now, it is the nature it is the nature of the manifestor, not the creator, the manifestor, to manifest itself. Now thi s is not in the form of creation whatsoever. This is its nature. Now, to use analogies, fire does not create heat; it is the nature of fire to have heat. A block of ice does not create coldness; it is the nature of the block of ice to give off the coldn ess or the coolness. The flower does not create fragrance; it is its nature to give off fragrance. Fine. So as far as the supreme Divinity, the Impersonal God, is concerned, He has not created. Fine. Good. But having a nature that would give of the fr agrance as the flower does, what happens to the fragrance? What happens to the heat of the fire? What happens to the coldness of the ice? That is what we will be concerned with now. Good. We have spoken very briefly of the impersonal God that has no ne ed to create. But the impersonal God manifests. So the totality of manifestation, the fragrance of the flower, is the medium that keeps on replicating itself, duplicating itsel f, and that we call creation. So now, here is a division. The division is th is, that the impersonal God, because of its own nature, like the flower giving off fragrance, has brought into being another entity called the personal God. And that is the personal God which many religions worship. The Father in Heaven. Good. All reli gions talk of that. When they talk of the Father in Heaven, they mean not the impersonal God, but they mean the personal God. Now, the fragrance can assume various forms. And the fragrance that has been emitted, or a generator emitting electricity, can be used because the very generation of the electricity has to obey laws which are not created by anything else, by anything exterior, but the laws of electricity are inherent in electricity itself. And being inherent in electricit y itself, it diversifies its activities. And as it diversifies its activities, it assumes various kinds of forms. So, the fragrance, being tangible, or the primal cause, or the personal God, that can be measured... the personal God can be measured and science will one day measu re the manifestation at its subtlest level. It cannot measure the manifestor, but it can measure manifestation. Good. Now, as we explained in electricity or in the fragrance, it is not activated by an external law, but it has an internal law b y which it f unctions. And with the functioning of the internal laws it is forever replicating itself, duplicating itself, like certain cells that keep on multiplying itself. Now, when one set of cells start multiplying itself, it gets together with another se t of ce lls. All those sparks of electricity are flying out, and each spark is capable of the replication and duplication of itself because it is inherent in its nature. Now, when you have a lot of sparks doing this at the same time, they have an attraction tow ards each other. They attract each other. And so attracting each other, more multiplication or replication takes place. And that is how this entire universe has come about. That is how through this duplication, this replication, etc., these various for ms of existences have been formed. Now, the original fragrance or the original electricity which we would call the personal God, the

10. U S 77 - 32 someone else, then that would be wrong because firstly the affair should have not been there, and secondly, using contraception to hide his sins. So there are a lot of factors that woul d point to us that the use of contraception is valid and good. And if, as in everything else, if it is used wrongly, then contraceptive devices are to be avoided. How do you feel about that? QUESTIONER'S VOICE: Well, I just had one thing [???]. If, al right, you said yesterday there are no accidents. If, for instance, you were using contraception and a child was concepted anyway, was that.... [Voice: ??] conceived, then... [laughter]. GURURAJ: Well, look, if it was concepted, it's accepted [laughter] . VOICE: Would that be considered accidental? GURURAJ: No, no. It would not be considered accident at all. Because the ways of nature are so fine that man's mind does not understand them. And sometimes you'd find that using the finest method of cont raception can still lead to conception. The ways are very fine. It's comparable to the saying that the mills of God grind slow, but exceedingly fine. In a similar way, the laws of nature work in such a fine manner that the mind cannot analyze it. But b e sure that if there has to be a child, there will be a child, contraception or not. OK. I'm ready to go. A quarter to nine. Have we got another meeting? AMRIT: Yes we have another meeting. GURURAJ: OK, right. **** END ****