2. U S 78 - 20 A and the feeling, that energy, is forever rising. It is forever rising, not only in the waking state, but in the dream state as well. Now, when this feeling arises, when it has to do with a loved one, the mind associates itself to past experiences and that would become the emotion of love. We have seen now the difference between the emotion of hate, between the emotion of love, between the emotion of doubt, and between the emotion of trust. They are all emotions. We call them emotions because the mind is associated with the heart. What requires purificati on is not the feeling that wells up or the energy that wells up within ourselves, for without that energy no man can exist. What has to be put into proper channels or repatterning is the mind. And man's mind is a conditioned mind conditioned through ex periences in this lifetime, perhaps past lifetimes, and all the memories of all those experiences are there. And when this feeling rises, immediately it associates itself with that which is prominent in the mind at that time. The wife might have cooked a beautiful dinner, but you come home, and something happens in the home and there is a little quarrel, a little squabble, you are not going to enjoy the meal. Nothing wrong with the meal. What is wrong is the mind empowered with this feeling. And yet yo u could be very, very hungry, and your hunger could even disappear. So you see, the emotions a person goes through not only has a psychological effect, it also has a biological effect, it also has a physiological effect. So, we are not to control emotion s. That would be the wrong way round. And we cannot control the mind, either. There lies the problem. I gave an analogy the other day, that if there are monkeys jumping on a tree, and if we want to quieten them, it would not help shaking the tree. [L aughter] They will jump more. And thoughts are none else but monkeys. Yes, and most thoughts were invented by monks. [Groans and laughter] Monkeying around. We got to have a bit of fun. Monkeys like fun also, because they jump around. Good. Now, if we want them to settle down, what we do is we leave them alone. And automatically the monkeys the thoughts would settle down. So, the process here is not of control, not of control of that energy called feeling. You can't control it, it is always there. Emotion always have to have motion, otherwise it ceases to be emotion. The very secret is contained within the word emotion, containing motion. And where does it produce the greatest motion? In the area of the mind. Now here, on the other ha nd, the mind cannot be controlled. The more you try to control the mind, the more adverse effects you might have. You might have heard of the expression, all of you have heard the expression, "reverse psychology." You like chocolates, and you have a box of chocolates there. And you say to yourself over and over again, "I am not going to eat that chocolate, I am not going to eat that chocolate, I am not going to eat that chocolate." But then , just a moment, "Oh, well, just one." [Laughter] And this is e veryone's experience. This is everyone's experience,

3. U S 78 - 20 A because they are trying to control the forces of the mind. They are trying to re pattern the conditioned mind by force, and the mind refuses any form of violence, like everything else. Nothing likes vi olence. The nature of everything in life is non violent. The nature of everything in life is harmony, but we create the disharmony by creating friction. In the case of the chocolate, we are creating a friction there yes, no; yes, no; yes, no and y es wins! Because it is more powerful; the "yes" is always more powerful than to say no. Because no means self denial. You are denying something, and no one likes to deny. No one likes to go through denial because it is so much more difficult. It's ea sier to grab the chocolate than not to grab the chocolate. And that is the way the mind is patterned, the mind is habituated. So here man stands in the position of not being able to control this energy that wells up from within which we, for the purpose of this talk, could call feeling; and man can do nothing as far as controlling the mind is concerned. There are many systems that teach of mind control. There are many Eastern systems, and there are many Western systems that teach of mind control. Now with what are you controlling the mind? You are controlling the mind by the mind. And when you control the mind by the mind, how successful are you going to be? You remove the headache, yes, but you will create a toe ache. What we want to do is to produc e a tranquility in the mind. That should come about spontaneously and not by effort. Because, whenever we put effort to the mind, we are activating it more. We are creating greater and greater turbulence. Instead of stilling it, which is the goal, we a re activating it more. So, it reacts. It causes an effect, and the effect in turn causes a cause, which has its effect again. So, you go on and on and on. Now, mind control is nothing else but auto suggestion, and it could also lead to a form of hypnotis m, but the whole point is this: does it change the pattern, does it change the basis of the turbulence in the mind? Is the auto suggestion or the self hypnosis of permanent value? Those are the questions that ought to be considered. And the answer is n o, you are just rechanneling. You control the mind by auto suggestion, and it works, it can work. You control by auto suggestion, by using those same energies of hatred, and turning them, converting them, into love. Are you, perhaps, deluding yourself a nd just creating a mood that "Oh, I am so loving now. I have no hatred there." How do you test this? Test it the next day. Do you feel hatred the next day or not? And if you say, "No, I don't feel hatred anymore," then you can say that I have really r eplaced it. I have gotten rid of hatred, and infused filled the gap with love. But this is not happening. In any form of mind control, momentarily you try and convert a certain feeling in a certain manner, but tomorrow it arises again, so all your effort was in vain. What we want on the spiritual path, what we want in the expansion, the purification, the transparency of the ego so that the proper light could shine through, should be of permanent value. It is no sense wiping the window with a dirty cloth.

4. U S 78 - 20 A The window i s dirty, and using a dirty cloth to wipe the dirty window you are not cleaning the window, you are wasting your energy. So, what do we do? That is the question. The practical way is, of course, the meditational way, the way of spiritual practices, wher e we allow the mind to function the way it wants to function. And by spiritual practices, a greater integration takes place where the mind automatically regains its lost balance. Automatically, the turbulence of the waves subsides. It is a spontaneous ac tion. A spontaneous action. And all actions that happens spontaneously has a lasting value. But then we might ask that "I have the urge to kill. Shall I suppress that urge, or shall I give it vent?" By suppressing the urge, it will express itself agai n in another form. It would be a kind of inhibition, as psychologists would tell you. And, by expressing it in its natural form, natural form of the urge, you would be doing harm, not only to yourself , but more so to your fellow man. What do we do then? So here, control has some value. It is better to suffer the inhibition than to express the urge which could produce so much negativity within ourselves and more so in the environment. So here is the process, the mechanics. I love my wife, and she has b een a bit nasty this afternoon, wrong time of the month or something. [Laughter] The moon has some effect, I believe, that's what the astrologers tell me, I don't know how true it is. So, what do I do? Do I run off and get stinking drunk at the pub? [La ughter] That would be wrong. So here there is a desire to leave home, away from the argument. And sometimes it helps, instead of enraging the argument. Let her fume and fuss. Leave home, go for a walk, instead of a pub. So, you come back, and she mig ht be, after the steam has been let off, she might be in a quieter mood. So, what you are doing is using up that energy that could have been used in enraging the argument, you are using up that energy in doing something else. That is substitution. Fine. But now, you stay at home, and you let her rattle on. And you say, "I am not going to answer back, no mind what she says, even if she brings out the rolling pin, I'm just going to sit still." Meanwhile, you are boiling in yourself. [Laught er throughout the following part] You are boiling, boiling, boiling, but you say, "I'm going to control myself!" And you can, but what you are doing is allowing that rage to sink deeper, and deeper, and deeper. Now, when that sinks in deeper, you might bring it out on your wife the next day, you might bring it out on your co workers the next day. You know the old story of kicking the dog. You might do that. So that which has been sunk deeper has to come up, has to come out. So, now here I am sitting, boiling wi thin myself, controlling, I am inhibiting myself not to allow this rage to flare up more. What do I do? I try to achieve a tranquil state, not by control, but by doing a spiritual practice, and allow the energies t hat are now enraged to settle down. By doing that, you are creating a cause, you are eradicating the cause. And when the

5. U S 78 - 20 A cause is eradicated, there could be no effect. So, it does not mean inhibition; it does mean substitution; it means eradication. You see how far reaching the spiritual prac tices are. And, when a person becomes established in their spiritual practices, and greater harmony, greater integration, has taken place within oneself, when one can reach to deeper levels of the mind and draw greater and greater energy, then the wife ca n come with two rolling pins, and it won't affect you. It won't affect you; it won't enrage you. You become non attached to it. You will say, "Ah, this too, must pass. This, too, must pass." And it passes! VOICE: The rolling pins pass by [Laughter]. GURURAJ: "This too, must pass!" You develop that attitude. And, funny enough, when that strength is within you, created by your spiritual practices, then two things can happen. One thing is this, that you are automatically creating a situation, a vibr ation in the home where the home becomes harmonious, and your wife would not fuss and fume; and if she does fume away, you would have the strength to withstand it and not be affected by it. Now, when you are not affected by it, then all the power of the e nraged person is lost. If the person argues or swears at you and you swear back, that person will swear back again. Three words, you say four words, and he will say five words. Six words seven words. And like that, it goes on and on and on. And a sm all little molehill becomes a huge mountain. But right in the beginning you become non violent. And by you being non violent and not reacting because you are doing this not by control and not by inhibiting your rage, but now it has become your nature, bec ause of your spiritual practices. Then that very radiation, that emanation from you, that non violence, will automatically make him or her non violent, too. And peace will reign. So be it. So that is the practical way how to deal with negative emotion s. That is the practical way to deal with positive emotions. For the goal is to pass negative emotions as well as positive emotions. Negative emotions brings one to a state of inertia tamas, that we spoke of, darkness; and darkness becomes more darker . Positive emotions leads one to the far more subtler layers of the mind where the sattvic self, or the lighter self, resides, so to say. And that dominates our lives. S o we start living a sattvic life. Now, to live the sattvic life spiritual practices are necessary in whichever form. And those that are most conducive to one would be those that are specifically prescribed to our needs. Then, the practical aspects of it, even if it has to start with a bit of inhibition, even if it has to start off lettin g off a bit of steam, it wouldn't matter. For greater and greater strength is gained day by day. And those fights will cease, those negative emotions will cease, because the mind, which is nothing

6. U S 78 - 20 A else but the ego, is more and more transparent; and that feeling that rises from within rises with light and not with darkness. And that is how the ego is clarified. That is how butter becomes ghee. You know that ghee is? Clarified butter. For those that don't know what ghee is, the process is this, you take butter and you boil it. You boil the butter until it comes to the boiling point, and you find impurities of the butter rising up. And then, I believe, you strain it, and you take all the impurities out. And then the pure butter is left, and that is call ed ghee. But now, it goes through a boiling point, remember that. I told you yesterday, nothing for nothing, and very little for two cents. [Laughter] So, it has to go through this b oiling point. The finest steel is produced in the hottest heat. So i f anyone tells you, "Oh, you meditate ten minutes in the morning and twenty minutes at night and everything is first class and fine," don't believe it. During the waking state of life there has to be a program of self help. Not total inhibition, not tot al control, just a little at a time. And, the person who is on the path of the spirit, the person that is on the spiritual path, naturally would take unto himself reading matter or listening to teachers that talk of goodness and godliness. They're automa tically attracted to it. Ask yourself, each and everyone of you, since you've started meditating, haven't you evolved from reading these little cheap paperbacks to a better kind of reading? [Laughter and No's] Everyone has. Everyone has. Yes. In some co untries the street booksellers have two counters the top counter and the bottom counter. And they ask you, "Would you like to have a book from the bottom counter" under the counter, rather. So even your reading matter improves because your mind is being attuned now, through your spiritual practices, to better thought, purer thought, thought that leads you further on, on the path to self realization. Thought that leads you on to experience the inherent bliss that is within each and every one. Thou ght that leads you on, that makes you realize the grossness of some of our conceptions. And, as we realize the grossness, that very grossness automatically becomes finer and finer and finer still. Where that very energy used in hatred turns so spontaneous ly and automatically towards love. And you, yourself, won't even know how it happened because it is a spontaneous happening. Realization is a happening. It happens! The flower grows, but it grows in a spontaneous happening. The sun shines in all its sp ontaneity; the wind blows in such beauty as it whistles through the trees. And just stand still and listen the most divine symphony you could ever hear! Have you ever seen a little baby suckling the mother's breast? Have you ever heard the little gur gle, the little murmur, in the baby's throat? Have you ever taken the time to see the fineries, the beauty that life contains, for life is nothing else but a [poem?] forev er expanding, forever expanding. Yes. And this is happening all the time, and we do n't recognize it because we try to inhibit and we try to control. It is good in a certain measure. But let life flow spontaneously, but before we allow it to flow as it wants to flow, it has to have a foundation, and the foundation is the spiritual found ation. So, spiritual practices, self help, listening to good talks, reading

1. U S 78 - 20 A DEALING WITH NEGATIVE EMOTIONS (SIDE ONE) QUESTION: This is a very practical question. How is the best way to deal with emotions that are generally classed as negative? If we suppress such emotions, they may stay with us and even become stronger. If we express them, we may injure others. Perha ps different situations demand different responses, but are there any general rules we can follow? GURURAJ: No. [Laughter] Now, we have to define what are emotions, what are negative emotions, what are the positive emotions, how they take place, what a re the mechanics of emotions, how emotions are expressed, how to correct them, how to direct them, how to prevent them from hurting others what a question! Lovely! Emotions are necessarily mixed up with feelings. When the feeling side of man expresses itself through the limited boundary of the mind, then that is called an emotion. When the feeling side of man is expressed beyond the boundaries of the mind, that is called a state of bliss, a state of consciousness which is beyond description. So, in th e enlightened state one experiences feelings in its purest form. In the ego state, emotions are experienced in its limited form. One is limitless, the other is limited. Now, why do we call emotions negative? And why do we call emotions positive? Now, f eeling the energy involved in feeling forever remains the same. There is no difference whatsoever. The same electricity used in a refrigerator brings cold, and the same electricity in a stove brings heat. So, feelings the energy that is put out through feeling is always the same. But the discoloration takes place on the mind level. So, here, instead of feelings governing the mind, the mind is governing the feelings. You might have an overwhelming feeling, sometimes, but if you are in a bad mood, that feeling turns negative. You would experience this you could go to a beautiful concert or a nice film show, but if you are not feeling too well, or if you are in a mood, you are not going to enjoy the concert, neither the film show. So, ther e's nothing wrong with the film show, and neither the concert. What is wrong is with you and your mind. Now, the mind is nothing else but compacted impressions, as we have said over and over again. Now when this energy wells up and the mind is associat ing itself with a particular object or a particular experience, then that feeling will take that particular channel. So, we have come to the point where emotion requires association. When the mind is thinking of say, jealousy or hatred, how the feeling t hat emanates from within goes through the filter of hatred the hatred that is in the mind the impression of the hatred that is in the mind is brought alive, is enlivened, and we have the emotion of hatred. When we are with a loved one, the mind is a ppreciating the beauty of the loved one, the mind is associating the ideas that has been connected, or are connected, with past experiences with the loved one, then the feeling that rises from within

7. U S 78 - 20 A good books all these are aids. As I said the other day, illumination is instant, but the preparation lies in making the candle and making the matches. To light it is there, e asy, quick, immediate. So, it is not a matter of control; it is not a matter of controlling negative emotions. It is a matter of repatterning the conditioned mind. And when the conditioned mind is repatterned, when it becomes more clarified like the ghe e, it is purer; and the purer mind can only use those welling up energies in a far more practical, positive way. Until one day we even go beyond the positivity of life. We go beyond into an area where there are no opposites: no heat, no cold; no white, no black; in that area where all is bliss and all is true. And all is just a happening. The wife quarreling with you is also just a happening. How do you know that quarrel is not just an expression of love? Then we gain these understandings. Then after a while we might even get fed up and say, "Why doesn't she quarrel with me this week?" [Laughter] The perspective that is dawning upon us, the perspective that we develop, and everything, everything in this universe is beautiful. There is nothing, not hing at all that is ugly. Ugliness is from your vantage point. Everything is beautiful when we reach that stage, nothing is ugly. There is no sinner. There is no sin. There's no devil, only God, for he is omnipresent. And then our views change. But, w e have to start, and we have to start somewhere. We start with meditation. We start with a little program of self help, and doing that, as I say over and over again, we draw the power of grace to us. And that, in turn, gives us the push. And believe yo u me, it's not only a push, it can really zap you. [Laughter] I know, I know it can because I've seen thousands of people zapped in our organizations. Zapped for betterment, for goodness, for godliness, greater happiness, smoothness, sweetness, nectar [ Laughter]. So, therefore that Sanskrit prayer, [SANSKRIT PRAYER], "Lead me from mortality to immortality." That's what we want, for man is immortal, man is eternal, man is blissful, and all this other complexities we add on ourselves. It is so simple to be happy! I always say this, "It's so simple to be happy, but so difficult to be simple!" [Inaudible one short sentence]. We've got another meeting. Two meetings tonight. What's [???] What time is the next meeting? Half past. So people can have a little break. Half an hour break. O.K. ***END OF SIDE ONE***