19. FOR A REALIZED ONE, THE WHOLE FUNCTIONING IN THE WORLD IS A BHAJAN


VISITOR: What does Maharaj think of the materialization and dematerialization of physical objects, as demonstrated by Satya Sai Baba? However, I do not want to restrict this phenomenon to Satya Sai Baba. 

MAHARAJ: It is just entertainment. Leave it alone. What “you are” and what “I am” are also concepts. 

V: Without concepts, the world could not function. 

M: The world is going on. Nevertheless, whatever has appeared in worldly life is only illusion. An event which has happened already (or whatever is gone), does it come back? 

V: No one knows. 

M: Similar things may happen, but they will never be identical. 

V: Can you tell me about reincarnation? 

M: According to one’s firm conviction, the one who dies will have another dream, in which he will be reborn. 

V: What is the apparent cause of rebirth? Is it due to past karma? And is there such a thing as karma at all? 

M: Karma comprises your physical and mental activities. But actually they are happenings due to the three gunas: sattva, rajas, and tamas; that is, beingness, dynamic quality, and the claim of doership, respectively. 

V: How does one get away from oneself? Most people seem to be stuck in patterns which are fetters of concepts. 

M: Who says that? 

V: My observation. 

M: So long as you know “you are,” it is always with you and it never leaves. 

V: How should I be liberated from the concepts? 

M: First, you must come to know what “you are.” 

V: Can you suggest some techniques? 

M: They are tantra, mantra and yantra. Tantra is a technique, mantra is a fixed series of sacred words, and yantra is a machine for spiritual progress. You should understand and assimilate what I expound and advocate; then be yourself and let go. 

V: I cannot easily translate into action whatever you tell me. 

M: It is not that you should transform yourself. You have actually converted yourself into something other than yourself. Now you should reconvert yourself into your original self. Stabilize in yourself. 

Because you want “to be,” you occupy yourself with talk- ing and all else. To sustain this “you are,” you carry out various activities; thus, you keep your mind busy. But to the realized one, the mind-flow is like the release of obnoxious gases from below. The one who is stabilized in the self looks down upon the mind-chattering as though it were dirty and unwanted like those gases in the stomach. 

When you are in the ignorant state, questions arise about good and bad and about making choices for accepting or rejecting. But in the state of knowledge, things happen spontaneously and there is no choosing and discarding. Even the apparently ritualistic actions of a realized one, such as bhajans, singing or chanting in praise of gods etc. are spontaneous expressions. They are not planned but just happen. For the realized one, the whole functioning in the world is a bhajan. All the happenings are the result of “you,” the motive force. Although activities are happening spontaneously, you want to claim doership for them. But such a claim arises from your identity with the body-mind. 

Having acquired spiritual knowledge, what are you going to do for the benefit of the world? 

V: I will just be. 

M: People who have a liking for social work want to do some good. They want to transform the quality of the intellect of other people so they live in harmony with each other. 

V: The world is the expression of the truth and people should be helped to understand this. 

M: If that is to happen, it will happen by itself. That which is changing continuously is the unreal. Change can be brought about only in the unreal. No change can be made in the real, the truth. In the world you can effect improvement in the concepts, but do not dare call the concepts the truth. 

The truth can understand untruth; but can untruth understand truth? Just as you change garments, you change your concepts, and then you feel happy. The truth cannot be seen or perceived; but the truth can observe the untruth. 

V: With concepts I shall not be happy. Is it correct? 

M: You think that with concepts you can be happy. The happiness or bliss which reveals itself in the “no-concept” state cannot be perceived. 

V: In life, there are moments of peace when we get a glimpse of the truth, and the faith developed as a result influences and guides our life. 

M: These are only words, and words do not contain the truth. The truth does not need the help of words. Whatever you say is experience. But you are the experiencer, and without it also “you are.” Experiences come and go, but the experiencer remains. You experience the world, but you are prior to the world. World is experiential, but “You,” the Absolute, are non-experiential. 

At present, the sense of “you-are-ness” is felt, but it is a temporary state; it will go. A hundred years ago—that is, prior to birth this “you-are-ness” was not associated with “You,” the Absolute. This “you-are”-experience has come as a fever. How and why this fever has come, for this there is no explanation or reason. 

V: In an instant, you came out of the sickness “you are.” Is there any hope for me, too, to experience such a sublime moment? 

M: Yes, provided you understand and assimilate this talk. Whatever is now, is the sense of being for all of us. First, one has to abide in it and finally, it is to be transcended. 

V: This morning in meditation I felt I was not in the body-mind but only in the beingness. 

M: That is the consciousness. It is the manifest state, in which there is no personality, no male or female. It is the knowledge “you are.” 

V: For some time, there was no sense of beingness also. 

M: That was a state of stillness and only the consciousness was there. 

V: Some say that the sense of “I am” is to the right side of the chest, about four fingers away from the center. 

M: That depends upon individual experience. The location may vary according to the person. But do not understand or locate it with reference to the body. 

[An Indian seeker comes to Mabaraj’s place after roaming a lot in the neighborhood in search of the address.] 

M: Do you know this locality? Did you walk around a lot to find it? 

V: Yes, Sir. I used to visit this area, a few years back, to meet a sage-like fakir. 

M: Did he teach anything? 

V: No. But he had certain powers. A few years ago, there was an explosion on a ship at anchor in the Bombay harbor. This fakir, who happened to be close by before the explosion, had a premonition. He shouted at the people around him and ordered them to rush out of the area immediately. 

Once he blessed me by patting me on the head, and I felt as if my kundalini energy rose upward. 

M: That reminds me of another fakir of great attainments, by the name of Tikku-Baba. He lived in the Colaba district. Though I had not seen him personally, we used to have communication with each other through a messenger-fakir, who often used to visit my bidi' shop. Tikku-Baba had great powers for doing miracles. One day the messenger-fakir had gone to see Tikku-Baba late one night. To his consternation, he found Tikku-Baba’s body dismembered and his limbs stacked together. Fearing that it might well be a case of murder, he ran away from the place where the fakir lived. Out of curiosity, he returned the next morning and to his great surprise found Tikku-Baba hale and hearty. 

One day the messenger arrived at my shop with a message from Tikku-Baba that I should come and meet him at the earliest moment because his end was near. It was further conveyed that before he was to leave the body, he would like to transfer all his powers to me. In response I offered my thanks and told the messenger, “Please tell Tikku-Baba that the bargain is struck only once.” By this I meant that a true disciple accepts a guru only for once and remains devoted to him and that he does not run after other gurus. When this message was received by Tikku-Baba, he remarked “Oh, he has reached the destination and is beyond any needs.” 


October 22nd 1980 

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