1. US 80-1 THE INDIVIDUALIZED SOUL GURURAJ: Um hmmm. [Various unintelligible voices.] CHELA: Guruji, in Savita's book, The Path of Unfoldment, in the introduction she talks about the importance of both experience and understanding. And when I am with you I just want to melt into the experience, but I realize it's important to have the understanding too. So I have some questions about the book. On page twenty it reads, "The mental is a grouping of essential forces of an ever changing nature at a grosser level than the spiritual and is known as soul." And, and my question is: isn't the soul essentially non changing in nature? That is, didn't it exist before and beyond the mind? GURURAJ: Umhmm. Beautiful question. Now here we have to define the indefinable. Perhaps not so indefinable. The soul. What is the soul? Now there has always been a great confusion between soul and spirit. Now soul could be described as "jivatman," which is a Sanskrit word which describes the soul. "Jiva" is a force, a life force, and that life force in turn is connected to the mind of man. And in that very connection of that life force, the energies of the spirit is involved. So to put it in a different way, the soul can be termed mind. Now what is the mind? What is the extent of the mind? Is the mind an individual mind? When you say my mind thinks this, is it really your mind thinking that, or is it just an individual receptor? The extent of the mind is as vast as the universe. There are no millions of minds. There are four thousand million people in this world, and we think there are four thousand million minds. But in reality there is only one mind. Hmm? And that one mind is on the relative plane of existence. Good. Now the mind contains all the impressions of this universe. From the very beginning of this universe, all the experiences and all the happenings of the universe is contained in that mind. And man has the ability to tap with his individual mind the entirety of the universal mind. So you see what great scope the individual mind has. Now when that mind becomes individualized, we call it the soul. What has made it become individualized? There lies the question. That if there is only one mind, how come I have this individual mind? Now from the very start of the cycle of this universe which is none else but mind, in this vast creation... you can call it the Big Bang as the scientists would put it to you, the Big Bang theory, where this entire universe was created. And in this very creation millions of particles were propelled, propelled for an evolutionary purpose. Now in this very propulsion, this oneness of the mind broke up into millions and millions of pieces.

2. US 80-1 And those pieces are what we know as the individual mind or the individual soul. Now in its very propulsion, that very speck of dust, that very bit of subatomic matter, if you wish to call it, in its journey it has gained so many experiences. And it has gained experiences because it came into contact with other particles that were joined together, other particles that influenced it in some manner or the other. Then this very particle also has the ability to multiply itself, and many, many permutations occurred. And these various permutations are the experiences of that little particle. Now we use the word particle for the sake of explanation, but in reality it still remains connected with the whole. All the particles form a whole, and when particles that are apparently apart are really not so because there is no such thing as apartness. It is one solid mass. Hmm? But because of the experiences gained within various sections of this vastness, many different influences has occurred in different parts of this vastness. And it is these influences and experiences right from the prima l atom to the stage of man, progressing through the mineral, plant, animal kingdoms and then to man, and through all this, all this process that took millions of years, and these experiences caused separations. Now what are these experiences? Are experiences tangible? They are not. These experiences are none else but thought forms created. In the first instance the thought forms were created by themselves until the subatomic particle reached the stage of man. Now in this very creation of itself and its very replication and duplication created these divisions, and these divisions are known as individual minds. And the individual mind is the individual soul. So here we could put it in this manner: that the individual mind is the individual soul, and the universal mind is the universal soul. Fine. Now what reality is there in this creation? We regard it to be tangible because the reality we perceive are by our five senses, and the five senses of man can only perceive the reality of what it can feel and touch and smell and... Hmm? OK. And that we call real. Now from the relative viewpoint, there is reality there. You are sitting there. I am sitting here. And we are both real. How could unreality speak to unreality? Hmm? It's impossible! How could that which is intangible touch that something else which is intangible? So tangibility is required; solidity is required in all forms of relativeness from the subtlest level... from the grossest level to the subtlest level. Now because of these various divisions that took place, various gradations also took place. Therefore we find grossness and we find subtleness. So when we say he's a highly evolved soul, what is meant there? That that person, that individual soul has become so refined that it has reached the subtlest level of relativity. And when the person is not highly evolved or that subatomic particle is still in the mineral stage, we would say it is gross. But I can tell you this, that even the stone has a soul. Even a stone has a mind not a thinking mind. People have a wrong impression of mind. Mind does not think. But within the mind, there is a constituent called the intellect. That thinks. The mind just is. The mind is the manifestation of the Manifestor. The mind is like the fragrance of the flower. The mind is like the heat of the fire. It just is. But within that because of these various permutations and

3. US 80-1 experiences in the path of evolution to try and reach back home again this individualness that is created, that is the cause of all the problems and miseries in the world. So that is how we come to understand the individual soul in its relative sense only, but in the Absolute sense, there is no individual mind, only a universal mind. In the Absolute sense, this mind is not real. In the Absolute sense, all that we see and touch and feel is not real. It is only real in the relative sense. Now through meditation and spiritual practices we go beyond the mind. Firstly, beyond the individual mind, the individual soul. And then we progress further to reach and find our mind is not separate from the universal mind. And we ourselves have created the divisions, and in the very act of creating those divisions, we have made it individualized, and the very individualization has another name for it called the ego. See? So now when in this evolutionary process, that primal little force reached the stage of man, he started thinking. Where does the intellect come from? What is the cause of the intellect, the intellect that boasts of thinking, the intellect that says this is blue, and that is red, that could discriminate? Wh ere does that come from? Is there really an intellect that is discriminating, or is it just a thought filter that governs past experiences and associates itself with that which the senses and the ego perceive as the present? Does the intellect know the meaning of what is present? No, it does not. The intellect only knows and understands and draws from the memory box of experience and tries to associate that with that which seems here and now. Were you existing in the past? Are you going to exist in the future? From the absolute point of view, you have not existed in the past and you will not exist in the future. You are in the now, that momentary flicker. But why do we perceive this time? That I have been in the past? There, there was a past, and there is going to be a future? And in this battle between past and future, the present is forgotten. And when through spiritual practices we touch the area of the present the here and now do we perceive that which is Absolute! So this means that relativity has created the ego, and the ego has created relativity. It is paradoxical. Hmm? What came first, the chicken or the egg? What came first, the chicken or the egg? And that is the riddle of life that man is going through. And because of this riddle, because of this misery, man suffers. And he is in this whirlpool swirling round and round and round with this vast storehouse of relative memory. He, with his relative, individual intellect, draws upon, draws upon experiences throughout the world that has happened. But as the saying goes, "There is nothing new under the sun." So what does the intellect do? It only dissects and tries and put together. Like a small boy. Give him a clock, he' ll take all the parts apart and then tries to put them together again. But is that sphere real, or is it unreal? In other words, is the individual soul real or not real? I'm so unhappy that we have souls. Yes. That we have the so called individual minds which is the cause of the ego and the ego in turn the cause of all misery. There is no misery in this universe! There is no misery. There is only assumed

4. US 80-1 misery. We feel, we think that we are miserable, and because our thoughts tell us that we are miserable, it in turn influences our feelings and all our emotions. What is the way out? What to do? Huh? [Laughter.] What is the way out? Because if you try and destroy relativity, then you have to destroy the Absolute, which is impossible. If you try to destroy the heat, you have to destroy the fire. And if you destroy the fire, then there is no heat. Now how can you destroy that which is indestructible? How can you destroy it? For it is eternal. Forever existing. It is! The Absolute is. So throug h our meditational and spiritual practices we are trying to reach that "isness." We are trying to move away from the soul which is none else but the mind. So, many philosophies, for example the Advaitic philosophies of Vivekananda and others, monistic philosophies, they talk of existence, of bliss... That fly! So it's a female. [Laughter.] We had a similar instance last year at Windsor. DOUG: Yes. GURURAJ: I wonder if it's the same one that came over? [Laughter.] DOUG: Probably. GURURAJ: Probably. Probably. We'll take his word for it. Good. Now, there is only one way out. It is to go beyond. And once one goes beyond, then that which is unreal can become real. But you will be viewing it from a totally different perspective. That unreality lies in reality, and reality lies in unreality. For you could never have reality without unreality. Reality is the producer of that which is not real. And that which is not real is the producer of that which is real. So reality and unreality coexist. Coexist. But from the unreal viewpoint you can never see what is real but from the real viewpoint, you can see that which is unreal and understand it to be real. Now here is the difference: that from the relative viewpoint of man, all this is real. From the Absolute viewpoint all this is real too, but it is viewed from a different angle. That is the difference. And when it is viewed from a different angle than that, reality which is found in unreality assumes a different perspective. It allows the mind and the body to function as it wants to function; and yet, having reached the real inner self, nothing affects. Nothing affects. If you cut open a jack fruit... I don't know if you know... if you get jack fruit here in America. Jack, jack fruit, well, it's difficult to describe it, but it has a kind of milk in it which is very sticky. But if you dip your hands in oil, you can open up the jack fruit, and that sticky milk won't stick to you. So, we're all sticky. [Laughs.] We're stuck. We're stuck with this bloomin' misery! What for? Are we so hopeless when all theologies talk of hope! Are we so hopeless? So let us find that

5. US 80-1 oil, the oil not of the soul, not of the mind which is the same thing, not of the ego that's all individualized, and from tha t individualization we reach universalization. It's a new word: universalization. Ahh, and then beyond that relativity do we stand once. Where do we stand? In the Absolute. And that is the spirit which forever is! So if we function from the level of the spirit, from the spiritual level, then the soul and this mind and the body and the ego and all that rubbish just melts away into it. And by melting away into the spirit, it finds a reality. So you see how the unreal becomes real. So therefore, all is real. Not the kind of reality we know now. Not that kind of reality. Not the kind of reality filled with suffering and misery and torturing of the mind, belaboring the mind unnecessarily. For what can touch the spirit of man, the universal spirit in man, the Divinity in man? What could touch it? Yet the mind and soul and the ego will be touched because it is existing dangling down here, and you view it from up there. So let it dangle. Let it have its fun. Let it go through its misery and happinesses and unhappinesses. All the polarities. Because if you have pain... if you have pleasure, you will have pain. If the sun shines, it will rain. If there is darkness, there must be light. Where there is light, it has to have its shadow. These are all opposites, polarities. For you can't have one without the other. As you can't have God without man, and you can't have man without God, in the same way these polarities exist on this relative, low field of life. But we have to arise! "Arise! Awake and stop not 'til the goal is reached!" That's a quotation from Vivekananda. So we have to arise, and not arise meaning waking up, no, but to rise up, really rise up, to rise beyond the body, the mind, the soul. And that is where meditation and spiritual practices lead you. Where you experience, you experience that Divinity within you. But that's not all. That's not complete. That is only part of the way. It is only part of the way where you experience Divinity. Who are you to experience Divinity? What for? Why? But you are allowed to experience Divinity by the grace of That, by the grace of God. You are allowed to experience it. Your little mind is allowed to experience it. Your body is allowed to experience it. Your ego is allowed to experience it. And in that very experience that you are given by Divinity through grace, you come to realize that all this is in vain. All this is in vain. Then the attachment ceases which is the root of all misery. You're attached to this, and you're attached to that. And from attachment arises expectation and the daughter of expectation is disappointment. If you do not expect, you cannot be disappointed. It’s natural. But because you expect, and that expectation has arisen from the attachment, from the clinging we have to this individualness from which we have to arise, to go beyond, to transcend. And yet in the very transcendence to the transcendental we still view from a different perspective that which is immanent. We always say God is immanent as well as transcendent. How is God immanent? Here. Here. Right in front of me. He is immanent. You are gods. None else. Nothing else. The only thing that stops you from realizing your godliness, the immanentness, is delusion and ignorance!

6. US 80-1 (There she is again. Yes.) Yes, ignorance. Where is ignorance born? Where does ignorance come from? Ignorance comes from knowledge. Did you know that? Yes. Ignorance comes from knowledge. The more you know, the more ignorant you are. Yes. Because that very little knowing will make you feel there is so much more to know, so more ignorant you feel. Ah, what bloody fools we are! Hmm? Yes. Where does the shadow come from if light wasn't there? Same thing, isn't it? The shadow could never be there if the light wasn't there. So the light is knowledge, and the product of knowledge is ignorance. So we even go beyond knowledge. You don't need to know nothing. I'm giving you a different kind of philosophy tonight, totally different from preconceived ideas. If you tell someone your ignorance is because of your knowledge, they would say, "Oh, you must be mad!" Yes, they'd say that. So we even have to go beyond knowledge. We even have to go beyond the experience of Divinity that is perceived or conceived by our minds. By our minds. We have to reach the stage where experience experiences itself, for Divinity knows of no experience! Divinity just is. So here you even go beyond experience. Here you go beyond the attributeless. And the attributes given to Divinity, Brahman, is absolute existence, absolute bliss, absolute knowledge. Even go beyond that! The world's philosophy up to today has only reached the stage that I have spoken of. But that too is not enough. We have to go beyond that where Divinity just is. No experience is left. No mind is left. And that is how one knows the totality. Now, there are various forms of totalities, where you can experience yourself with at one ment with the universe. That means that you in the relative plane of existence have reached the subtlest level of relative existence, and having reached the subtlest level of relative existence, you become one with relative existence. In other words, you experience the entire universe within yourself. That too is just a stage, a stage of the soul. They say that the soul must merge away into the spirit. True, it merges away. It merges away as the drop of water merges away in the ocean and becomes the ocean. Yet, the drop of water is in the ocean. It can still find its individuality. And applying to man, it can still find its individual consciousness. But from this individual consciousness of the conscious mind one hasty reach the superconsciousness. And where does the superconsciousness reside? Also in the mind, but at its subtlest, most refined level. And that being close to the manifestor, it enjoys joy. At that level you have just about gone an inch beyond opposites, and yet even in the superconscious level of the mind you are still conscious of the opposites; and even being and having that consciousness of the little conscious mind, you will still find that slight trace of individuality. And until the spirit in man is embodied, there has to remain that little soul, nowso refined, or ego at its most finest level, for without that thisbody cannot be. But yet it is so wonderful that momentarily one can merge away into the Absolute, into the spirit. The soul flows away into the spirit where it ceases its existence for that moment. Ceases. By ceases I mean it has gone into this big room andthen it goes

7. US 80-1 out again. For if it has to remain in that nirvikalpa state or in that big room of the Absolute, then within twenty one days the entire body will disintegrate. The force is toopowerful for man at this stage of evolution. Do you see? So those are the ramifications of the individual soul. So now, I like always to take philosophies and bring it down to its down to earth, practical level. Otherwise, it's no use. I always say that the thousand pounds in weight of theory is not worth one ounce of practice. Right. Now why do you want to practice all kinds of things in... [END SIDE ONE] [REWIND TO SIDE 2] GURURAJ: So now, so now why do you want to practice all kinds of things including meditation and spiritual practices? Why? Because we want to alleviate the sufferings we have. We do not necessarily do practices for experiences. They come on their own. You don't need to experience anything, but it is there. When you are fast asleep, what do you experience? Nothing while you are still asleep. So the experience is not important, but how the quality of life changes, that is important. The practical value of day to day living so that our miseries become less, our suffering becomes less. And our perspectives in life are changed, our attitudes are changed. Our attitudes are chang ed. I don't know if I told this little story here. Two men were digging holes in the road, and when one man was approached, he said, "I am digging a grave." When the other was approached, he said, "I'm digging the foundation for a cathedral." Let us build those cathedrals from similar holes. So attitude towards life. That's important. Attitude! And it is the very attitude that will change misery into joy. Nothing else. Nothing else. Nothing else. You're feeling sad now and, you know, with a certain kind of thought that Auntie Mary ran away with... nevermind who. [Laughter.] OK. Talking about running away, Fasladin with his adventures in the dessert was telling the story to his friends. He says, "You know, I made a whole tribe of blood thirsty savages run!" So they asked Faasladin "How did you do that?" So Fasladin said, "I ran, and they all ran behind me!" [Laughter.] They all ran after me. Yes. So, Auntie Mary ran away. You're sitting here, you know, terribly sad and worried and all kinds of things. So here a friend walks in, a jovial person like me, you know, who'll come and make you laugh, you know, and, and make you forget. Now you're feeling happy. But as soon as I'm gone, Auntie Mary is back into your mind, and the same sadness starts again. So we don't want temporary relief.

8. US 80-1 There are many kinds of temporary reliefs. Hmm? Shall I point them out? Oh, never mind. [Laughter.] Yes. Many kinds of temporary reliefs. So the thing is within me to alleviate that sadness and suffering by changing my attitude. I would say, "Oh, Auntie Mary ran away. Let the old girl have a nice time. So what! Yes. Who the devil is going to... once again tonight." [Laughter.] So once the attitude is changed, then the entire perspective changes, the entire situation changes. The entire situation changes. Do you see? So when the situation changes because of your attitude, it will reinforce your attitude. Everything goes in cycles. Your attitude changes your situation, and then the situation in turn strengthens your attitude into a greater positivity. And that is how these little problems of daily living are overcome. But then we talk of the soul merging away into the spirit, that is something different. That comes further on, further on, further on, until you become the Absolute. Until you become immanent as well as transcendent. But now here, here, now, here today, what shall we do with all these problems? Are there really problems? Are there really problems? No, no problems. None whatsoever. You regard things as problems. You assume things to be problems. You assume things to be problems. Why not have a different assumption? After all, it's all relative. Why not have a different assumption that uses the same energy: that this is a damn challenge? Hmm? Why not have that? Same energy required. And it becomes exciting. The problem makes you worry more, but if you say, ah, this is a challenge, then your worry is gone, and excitement comes. And with that excitement there is fun in life, there is joy in life; for what is more exciting than joy? For joy is produced by excitement, and excitement produces joy. Everything. Everything works in cycles. So on the path of spiritual unfoldment all these things are there on the path. Do you think it's easy to realize the Absolute? It's a very difficult path, but, "kindly light, lead thou me on, one step at a time." One step at a time. Hmm? A person meditates for three months or four months or six months and say, "Oh, all my problems are not gone." The bloody fool! Ohh! Ohh! Call [unintelligible.] [Laughter.] See. That does not happen because you have been... as we sit here to day, we are the product of our own making. Through millions of years, through previous... so many, many thousands of lifetimes if you believe in that, we are the product of our own making. We have patterned ourselves, and now we have to unpattern. All the suffering man goes through, you can call it negative patterning, and by unpatterning, you come back to the source where there is no negativity. So life cannot be a vacuum. If you take negativity away, then positivity will be there automatically. And if you take positivity away, then negativity will be there because it is an automatic process. Do you see? So attitude towards life. And why must you change your attitude towards life? It is to make yourself happier. So my girlfriend leaves me. Why am I going to sit and mope? Why should I sit and mope? So she has left me, OK, right. But

9. US 80-1 we rather assume the attitude that if it was so, OK, let it happen. Let it happen. What is really being touched? This little, stupid mind of mine? These little thoughts of mine? These little attachments of mine? And where will they get me in any case? Because in a couple of years time, gone and dead and buried. Do you see? So for this little three score and ten, as we would call it, it's just a flicker of a second. And within this flicker of a second we form all these millions of attachments. So my girlfriend has left me, physically, mentally perhaps, OK, but spiritually no because no one is ever apart from each other. No one. No one. One spirit, and in that one we are all together. We are all in that one. We are all in that one. So these are attitudes. And one, if one develops these theories just as theories, they remain hollow and they remain empty because it is just words that are swirling around in the mind, beliefs created in the mind. Now if a person meditates and does his spiritual practices, those very thoughts, those very beliefs, becomes firmly implanted not in the conscious mind only but to the deeper and deeper levels of the mind through the subconscious to the superconscious where it becomes firmly established. Now you can establish negativity in the same way and positivity in the same way, but by meditational practices when we reaches the areas in the mind of finer refinement, we are opening the window for more air to come in, more fresh air. And then we stop complaining that this room is stuffy. So we are doing something about it, not just sitting and looking. So attitude and action and meditation! [Singing] Meditation! Meditation! [Laughter.] Yes. Yes. That opens the door. That's the key. That is the key towards greater and greater happiness. That is the key toward greater and greater happiness. For our nature is to be joyful. Our nature is to be happy, but we are covering that beautiful diamond with the dust of our wrong thinking and wrong attitudes. Do you see how simple it is? Now, how does one get rid of wrong thinking? How does one get rid of wrong thinking? You are placed in a certain situation, and this situation, this situation stimulates this wrong thought. What are we to do about it? Hmm? Let the wrong thought come. Let it come. Don't push it away. Play with it. Don't push it away. How do you play with it? How do you play with a wrong thought? It is by observing it. When the wrong thought comes, a miserable thought comes... And meditation and spiritual practices will give you the strength for this. It is, this is its main aim as far as daily living is concerned. Of course, meditation has its vast impact upon the human being to allow him to reach God. But through meditation we have this strength, and when a negative thought comes, then we start viewing it as if we are sitting in a cinema watching the screen. For there is nothing we can do to change what's happening on the screen. We can't, we cannot change it, but we do not get affected by what is happening because we are viewing it. Now when the negative thought comes and we have the strength within ourselves to view it, then the sting goes away because you are the viewer now and not the thinker, not the feeler. That is how negative emotions are done away with. Negative thoughts are done away with.

10. US 80-1 So as you view the thought, you will find the answers to the problem because now you are standing apart, and whenever you stand apart, you see the solution. When you are involved in a situation, you cannot see the solution. That is why the businessman wants to do a business deal, and he says, "No. Look, I won't sign the document now. Let me sleep over it." Because at that moment in that excitement in the sales talk of the salesman, you know, he could get so taken in by it that he would sign. But if he says let me, you know, sleep over it, meaning let me detach myself from it completely for a while, and then approach it. Like that. Like that viewing takes place, and to view means to be objective. There are not all things in life of which we could be subjective. There are many things in life of which we must be objective because subjectivity used in the wrong way could produce misery. One must have real spiritual strength to truly be subjective. But we that are not so strong, we have to view things objectively, and by viewing things objectively, we make our subjective self more stronger. Good. So we are viewing things, a problem comes. We view it objectively, and by viewing it objectively the sting of it goes away. By viewing it objectively, solutions come because we are now not involved in it. When you are in a mental turmoil, you can't make a decision. But when the turmoil is gone, you give it some time, the mind subsides, then you can make a decision. Like that. So attitudes, looking at things from a different perspective, objectifying the misery, these are the simple ways in daily living that could remove a lot of our problems and make life more smoother. And as we go on meditating and doing our spiritual practices, slowly, slowly, gradually, gradually we gain more and more spiritual strength until we reach from the conscious to the subconscious to the superconscious and even beyond where only the beyond exists within itself. Where only the beyond exists within itself, yet not denying that which is below. That is the mystery, the paradox of life which philosophers have been battling for ages. Philosophy is good for philosophers, not for we practical householders. Let them philosophize. So. So. So. So. Mere thought is not good enough because thought can also be a means of escape. Mere substitution is also not good enough, for that is temporary. We need that spiritual strength. We need to purify that soul so that through the individual soul the universal spirit can flow through and permeate our minds and our bodies and thereby seeing this world as it really is. So, so real and yet so, so unreal! So what are problems then? Unreal. Problems are really unreal. CHELA: Ohh! GURURAJ: Did they get that? [Laughter.] Problems are really unreal. Yes. Are we still carrying on? DOUG: We've been in a meeting for about two hours...

11. US 80-1 GURURAJ: Yes. OK. [Laughter.] Well, let us end this evening. Tomorrow we'll start working. We'll end with a story I said. This Fasladin he had an appointment with a philosopher. And this philosopher was coming to his home to have a discussion on some philosophical problem. Now Fasladin forgot the appointment, and when this philosopher came, he was not there. So this philosopher got angry, and he wrote on the door, "Stupid idiot!" and went away. So when Fasladin got home, he saw this on the door, "Stupid idiot!" And then he immediately ran to this philosopher's house, and he says, "Please accept my apologies. I've forgotten the appointment, but as soon as I saw your name on the door, I remembered." [Laughter.] As soon as I saw your name on my door, I remembered so therefore I came. [Laughter.] ***END***