1. U S 85 - 1 TIME GU RURAJ: Good. What shall we talk about tonight? To the new people, I'd like to say that I never prepare any talks. And ask any question you like. The more deep or philosophical it is, the deeper would the answer be. Oh, you're ready. ROOPA: Guruji, my question's about time. It is said that time is God's way of keeping everything from happening at once. Is time real? What is the value of time? GURURAJ: Very beautiful. Time is real only in the relative sense. But in the Absolute sense there is n o such thing as time. Time is timeless because each and every one of you are eternal. If you're composed, every cell of your body is permeated by Divinity, then there is no such thing as time. For time is a measurement in a very linear fashion. You proce ed from A, B, C to Z. It is horizontal, while timelessness is vertical. And in that vertical timelessness, the totality of existence is there. But both are necessary. Take the example of the cross where in that timelessness, the vertical bar the tim e, the horizontal bar is balanced. Now, if the vertical bar was not there, then the horizontal bar could never be there. Where would the space be for the horizontal bar to stick itself or nail itself on? For when you talk of time Ten to nine. [LAU GHTER] when you talk of time, you will automatically talk of space. How do you measure space? I come from South Africa, twenty two thousand miles, right. Now, the twenty two thousand miles cannot be measured by itself without the inclusion of time. So time and space go together and, to repeat again, they operate only on the relative sphere of life. We measure our lifetime three score years and ten, which is nothing but [SNAPS FINGERS] a flicker. It is nothing longer than blinking your eyelid, compared to the reality of eternity. So where have you come from and where are you going to? You have come from nowhere, and you are going nowhere either. You are just here. If this concept can be well understood, if it could be realized and assimilated within yourself. Like we eat food, then we digest the food, and further along it gets assimilated within every cell of your bodies. So with this realization of timelessness you'll find you rself atoned, or at one ment, with divinity. And when you come to that realization, you could call it self realization, God realization, but there is still a stage higher than that; is to know the fullness of unity consciousness where you do not pray to God any more. Praying to God is one of the steps very necessary. But w hen you become one with God, when you develop that unified state, then there is pure consciousness uncluttered by the mental concept of time. You become eternal, because you have merged into eternity. But time is necessary to live in the day to day world that we exist in. How many people really live? Very few people live. They only exist. Because when you say you live, it assumes a different meaning altogether. When you say you live, you

2. U S 85 - 1 have mastered life. But when you say you exist, there is no mast ery for existence because it is beyond your control. So when you can really start living, everything is under control. You are the master of life and there is nothing else but life . Everything is living, even this chair, this table. Everything is fille d with life. But we do not recognize it. In this table here, there are millions and billions of molecules swirling around, and that very swirling, that very motion is life itself. Now, you proceed from life to lifelessness when you discover, or unfold, the eternity that is within you. For life has its limitations. It is only functional as far as the universe is concerned. But you go beyond the universe. You go to that source, th rough your spiritual practices, into non motion. And non motion is lifeless. People are so worried about their lives. Did you know that 99 percent of your time is spent worrying or being concerned about life? Ninety nine percent of the time. Because you develop the sense, or you have the sense, of me and mine. But once you progress further and you say thee and thine, when that stage is reached you reach God consciousness. And from there you still proceed further where you go into that sublime consciou sness. Modern psychology talks of the unconscious. There Carl Jung, hmn there is no such thing as unconscious. Because if there was unconsciousness, then this entire universe would just collapse. So everything is conscious. To me this table speak s to me. To me this plant speaks to me. This might grow about two inches more tomorrow. Yes. So everything is conscious and, therefore, life is conscious. It's very easy to become unconscious if you use a baseball bat. You'll see the beautiful stars. [LAUGHTER] And yet, seeing the beautiful stars, while you're conked on the head with a baseball bat, that too is consciousness. Those stars, huh, do you see? So time has its own particular value. But we put so much emphasis on time. That is where all our problems start. By putting too much emphasis on the thing which has no total reality of its own. For example, you travel around the world and you can leave one place on Tuesday and arrive at your destination the previous day, Monday. Where's time? You see? Say, for example, there's an elderly person, right, and the person knows that life is soon going to end. When a person reaches a certain age they start developing a greater fear within themselves that, my life is going to end. Not life, exist ence. My existence is going to end. And this creates so much fear within the person that it could make life unbearable. But if the realization dawns that I am eternal, the spirit within me can never die, it is eternal, infinite, the n having that idea, yo u'd find the fear of death will be gone from you. And that is the basis of all our fears we have in life is the fear of death. But there is nothing to fear, because existence and death all fall under the same category of time. But the idea that I am tim eless, I am immortal, and when that realization dawns, you will know. You will realize that you are immortal.

3. U S 85 - 1 So we measure time by three score years and ten. We measure it that way and the body drops off. So what? In any case it will be taking on anoth er body in another dimension. Your mind will be evaluating all the happenings of your present life, and perhaps past lives as well, and you will formulate to be reborn through the proper channels. Parents don't choose us, we choose our parents. There ha s to be the right chromosomic, genetic combination to be used as a channel for us to take birth. The only person that does not require the proper channel would be the avatara, who comes to us to help mankind. He can be born through any channel whatsoever. And channels does not interfere with him in any way, neither heredity or anything. There is no samskaras or karma that the avatara comes with because he is karma free. He is karma free. Freedom, that is his kingdom. So they say time passes by. Where does it pass to? Where does it go to? Where does time go to? Time exists only in your mind and nowhere else. And because of the existence of time in your mind, life in most, most, most cases becomes uncontrollable because we are too much mixed up in t ime. You go into meditation like I do, and Vidyaji and quite a number here has had that experience, while in a deep state of meditation two hours would pass, and when you come out of meditation it seems like two minutes. Why did it not seem like two hour s? Because you were beyond time. Therefore, the two hours seemed like two minutes. You, your real self, was never born and it can never die. This little body, flesh and blood, means nothing at all. Means nothing. And yet, we care so much about it. We try and make it pretty, we put on rouge and lipstick and all kinds of (Oh, by the way, lipstick is made, the main ingredient of lipstick is rat's tails [LAUGHTER]). So regard yourself to be timeless. Develop that sense of timelessness. And you would soo n be very close to the immortality which you really are, and which is your true nature. You're immortal beings. Immortal beings. Nothing is ever destroyed. Even when we discard this body it goes back to its various elements: the fireyness goes back to fire, the water to water, the earth to earth. It goes back to the various elements. So even after discarding your body, you are still alive because the various elements that composes you merges away in like elements. So how can you think of death? Even this body's immortal. And then what about the spirit within man which is infinite, eternal, and immortal? So that is the least thing one must fear is death. Because what we call death is just a limitation put upon us by our value of time which, in real ity, is valueless. Say you are in the company of your beloved. Hours can go by and you'd feel it's just a few seconds. Where's your time? Where is time? Time is only in this fractional moment when you feel you are here and now, and not projecting yours elf over so many years to come, and they might never come. Do you see. When Krishna, Buddha, Jesus let's take the example of Jesus. I've also done it many times, but nevertheless... Lazarus. He brought Lazarus to life. Do you know the mechanics of it? It's so simple. He drew Lazarus back from the limitation of

4. U S 85 - 1 time. Yes. And all of us can do that any time, any time. [LAUGHTER] We all can do that. We have that capacity. We have that capacity. I was supposed to be dead at the age of fifteen, havin g a congenital heart problem and being diabetic and cancer and all that. And the doctor says... doctors, the best specialists, said to my parents, "He's only got about three months to go." When I heard that I says, "Not a damn. I'm going to extend it as long as I want to extend life. I will not exist, but life will be there as long as I want it to be there to fulfill the mission of this lifetime." Time, hm. And yet, can life really be measured by time? There's a lovely story about Abhimanyu, who wa s the son of Krishna. Krishna knew that the... you know during the Kurukshetra War, it was a world war, and Krishna knew that Abhimanyu just had one day to live, because he was going to be slain the next day. So father and son discussing these things, an d Abhimanyu said, "I just got married yesterday to someone who I love so much. Is there no way in which I can live longer?" Krishna said, "Okay, fine." So in one night, the one night was extended to twelve years. And husband and wife had spent twelve y ears in one night. They even had two kids. Do you see? Where does time come in? Time is of the mind. When I look into my beloved's eyes there is no time left. You are merged into your beloved, and you feel totally timeless. How many people have dev eloped the art of not seeing, but just looking? When you see something you are objectifying it outside of you. You are there and these leaves are there; objectification and not identification. A n identification comes about when you become the leaf; and then you look. Because in looking there's a total innocence. But seeing is cluttered with our mental make up. For example, you have five people, right, and you ask them all to see a certain object. And everyone's interpretation would be different, beca use they are seeing and not looking. Because looking, as I said before, contains the quality of total innocence. And that total innocence can be brought about by our spiritual practices. When you look, and when you can really look, you'll find everythin g around you to be innocent, because you are being innocent yourself; and therefore, everything around you would be filled with innocence, and time ceases. Time ceases when you can really look. Have you ever tried to look into your beloved's eyes without any cluttered feelings, without any lust, without any dependency? And when you look into her eyes, you just melt away into her eyes because you are not seeing, you are looking. And once one has developed the ability to look, you become one with the spirit in him or her, for the spirit is but one. There are no divisions. There is no you, and neither me. There is no us either, because us would have its opposite quality. When two people, you and I, combine we say us. But when the spirit within is realized , even us ness disappears. Because you are just one. The indivisible one. Indivisible, invincible. That is where everyone will reach one day. That's for sure.

5. U S 85 - 1 The forces of so called nature, or evolution, is so powerful that it's pushing you on and on and on into that oneness. And then when you reach on top of the hill and you turn back and look behind you, then you will find that I have not traveled anywhere because the path on which I've traveled has merged into the hill. So we come from nowhere and we are going nowhere. The eternal spirit is all pervading, and it is just here. Do you see. And to find that hereness, one goes beyond the limited conception of time. That's about an hour. [LAUGHTER] How many of you caught that one? Sometimes my hum or is very subtle. I hope so. Let's have a few laughs. You know, Michael used to be a cab driver. Have we got any Michaels here? There in the back. So Michael used to be a cab driver, and you know with today's unemployment, you know, he just took on wh atever came along. So he was driving the cab and in one week he quit the job. So his friend asks him, "Why did you quit the job?" So Michael replies, "I don't like people talking behind my back." [LAUGHTER] There were these two judges, and they colli ded in their cars. And, of course, the arrangement was this, that the one judge tries the other judge, and the other one tries this one. So judge A was brought into the witness box, and after considering his case he was fined fifty dollars. Judge A gladl y paid it. Now, it came for judge B to be in the witness box, and judge A was on the bench. Fine. So after listening to the case he fined this one five hundred dollars. So his friend, the other judge, asked him, "Look, I fined you fifty dollars. How c an you fine me five hundred dollars?" So the one says to the other that, "Look, this is the second case of accidents today, and if I don't put on a heavy fine on you, we might create an epidemic. [LAUGHS] So this lady went to the fruitress, and she bough t a pound of apples, and a pound of pears. And she was charged three dollars seventy five cents. So she says, "You are very, very expensive. By the way, here is a five dollar note because I just stepped on a grape. [LAUGHTER] So, of course, this guy had as accident. This guy had an accident, a car crash, fine. So he goes to the nearest garage and says, "Would you have a look at my ford Consintina." So the mechanic says, "Sir, you are making a mistake. It's a Ford Cortina." So this chap replies, "Wel l, have a look at the car first. See if we can find another. So the mother tells Charlie, "Charlie, you must go to school." So Charlie says, "I'm not going to school today." (How does it go?) Says, "I don't like the teachers. I hate the boys, and the b oys all hate me." And then mom says, "You have to go to school, because you're the headmaster and who's going to lead the prayers?" [GROANS AND LAUGHTER] Now, there's a society in America which is called Gamblers Anonymous. You have the Alcoholic An onymous and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So Gamblers Anonymous, right. And this chap took up this course, who was an inveterate

6. U S 85 - 1 gambler. And he took up this course. And when the course ended he thanked the leader of the course. "Thank you very much. You have helped me a lot. And I bet you ten dollars I won't gamble again!" [LAUGHTER] Oh, it's such fun. Life, love and laughter. That's what we stand for. *** END ***