Maharaj: Man takes upon himself all these concepts of sin and merit. He binds himself with all sorts of concepts. The consciousness takes an infinite manifestation of forms according to the concepts of the individual. What I am trying to do is to correct that concept idea.
Questioner: What is the cause of the next birth?
M: Once this beingness, the “I Know,” has been extinguished and merged into the universal consciousness, what do you point to as the seed of the next birth?
Q: Isn’t it desire which causes rebirth?
M: Haven’t those desires and passions been assimilated into what is called the atmosphere, and has it not been universal in that sense? Where is the individuality? Where is the seed for rebirth? If you look at what matter is, it is solidified water, so when you talk of rebirth, what is it that is going to take rebirth? See this metal; is it water? You will not call it water, though it has come out of water ultimately. So if you want to find out about yourself, discriminate properly. Find out exactly what you are. Why worry about the next birth? Find out what you are now. Leave out all irrelevance.
All these creations are taking place out of that principle which is subtler than space. That ancient principle itself takes birth in various forms. These are the incarnations; there are no other reincarnations.
You come here wanting some kind of palatable knowledge. I am not going to deliver it; I am going to place factual knowledge before you. Right from childhood you have attained various stages and all of them are gone. Whatever you have attained will go, so what are you going to hold onto as yourself?
If you want to be what you are, it is free and plentiful and available without any difficulty; but if you want to be something other than what you are, it is difficult.
Q: But we read and hear of rebirth.
M: Have you experienced death and rebirth? Those are the ideas of others. Find out for yourself what you are; you should not accept the answers from other people. You can think for yourself. Ponder it, find out what you are.
Presently you are the manifest knowledge. When you try to imbibe that, that itself will give you all the knowledge, but you must dwell there only.
Q : What does “I Am” connote?
M: It means there are three states, waking, dream, and deep sleep. “I Am” means you are these three states; when these are gone the memory is also gone, so where is the question of reincarnation? When the body is dead it decomposes, many worms are formed. They are formed because the essence of the five elements is present and out of it life emerges. How is the life indicated? Everything, the whole cosmos, is full of this life force that is expressed through the food body. Therefore the ‘'I Am,” the life force of insects, animals, etc., is already present, only the expression is attained through this objective food body.
The appearance of this primary concept “I Am” is the beginning of duality. I started counting with myself, before this counting starts, That has no number, That is the Absolute. With that little movement “I Am” this counting started.
Q: I understand completely, intellectually, but how can I realize it?
M: Who understands the intelligence—and with what?
Q: Our need is to enter into that fully conscious state— we call it super-consciousness. Can we enter into that superconsciousness consciously? Or must the consciousness be tied down to enter it?
M: I drop into sleep spontaneously, I have not studied the art of sleeping. Similarly this consciousness subsides into no-consciousness.
Q: Are we to make efforts? Is this art of entering superconsciousness by Grace?
M: Did you put in any effort to get this body shape? It came automatically, spontaneously. This is also spontaneous, but you want to make effort, to employ some special skills to go into that Absolute state, to be.
Q: What is right meditation?
M: The right meditation is when you contemplate your Self. There should be no concepts or images while you are contemplating. Brahman is without concepts.
Q: I try to allow my mind to wander and slowly it comes to steadiness for a second. I can sometimes witness the thoughts, but I am not reaching the “I Am.”
M: What you must witness is not your thoughts but the consciousness “I Am.” Everything is an expression of the “I Am,” but you are not that J you are prior to the “I Am.”
Q: “I Amness” means all this chaotic worldly state; so when am I in a position to just observe the “I Amness”?
M: Follow Arjuna. Could there be more chaotic conditions than on the battlefield? Right in the midst of the battlefield Arjuna attained ultimate understanding.
Q: We have to observe the chaotic condition without naming it chaotic, just bear with it quietly, within and without. Can we go beyond chaos and bring the new order within ourselves, without our knowledge?
M: Yes. When you are apart from consciousness it is peace only. Whatever you try to design out of your own concept or intellect is useless. The Eternal has no fragrance of “I Am” about Itself. It does not know It is.
Q: I want a little help of the communion type to be spiritually influenced, just for expediting the process of concentration within me.
M: It is already happening, otherwise you would leave. Why are people coming here, spending a lot of money, traveling many miles? Why do they sit here? Is there any attraction of beauty here? People come here when the Absolute is opening up. It is opening up unknowingly—what happens knowingly will not last. It is unknowingly, spontaneously opening up and you will not understand that. Whatever you understand is not going to remain. As a child did you know that you were taking a shape or a design and that later you would undergo all these stages? Everything happens spontaneously.
Q: What does seeing purple light in meditation mean?
M: These are all images created out of your own illumination. That light might take the form of Lord Krishna, Christ, Rama, etc., but it is Self light, your creation.
Q: It has no particular purpose?
M: You are seeing your own light. All scriptures are sung in praise of that principle, but you, the Absolute, are not that principle. No doubt that is a very significant step; that principle is great, but I, the Absolute am not that.