Ayurveda Initiative For Global Health

Weekly Knowledge 127 Jaipur, Rajasthan 13 Nov 1997  India YOUR EXPRESSIONS OF LOVE You feel a lot of love for someone and they do not take it. What do you do? 1. Get frustrated 2. Turn the love into hatred and wish for revenge 3. Again and again remind them how much you love them and how little they love you 4. Become fussy and cranky 5. Throw tantrums 6. Feel humiliated and try to protect your respect 7. Resolve never to love again 8. Feel hurt and mistreated 9. Try to be aloof and indifferent ...and you have seen that none of these work. They only make the situation worse. What is the way out of this? How do you maintain your lovingness? 1.Have patience and change your expression of love. 2. Be centered and limit your expression of love. Sometimes over-expression of love puts people off. 3. Take it for granted that they love you too and accept their style of expression. For example, a mother with three kids. One child talks, one child does not talk, one child throws tantrums. ...

Weekly Knowledge 128 Banglore Ashram 20 Nov 1997  India EGO When is there Ego? 1. When you don't get attention. 2. When you seem to be losing attention. 3. When you get attention (Laughter). Ego causes heaviness, discomfort. It doesn't let love flow. Ego can be transcended by knowing the Truth; by enquiring "Who am I?" Often, your attitude towards one who has ego is of contempt or jealousy. But rather you should have compassion, or even pity, isn't it? There is also a positive aspect of ego. It drives one to do some work. A person will do a job either out of compassion or out of ego. Most of the work in the society is by boosting the ego. But in Satsang, work is done out of love. Ego is separateness; non-belongingness. It is wanting to prove and to possess. And when you wake up and see, there is nothing to be proved and nothing to possess, ego dissolves. 🌸Jai Guru Dev🌸 साप्ताहिक ज्ञानपत्र १२८ २० नवम्बर, १९९७ बंगलौर आश्रम, भारत अहं अहं कब होता है ? १. जब...

Weekly Knowledge 50 Bangalore Ashram 21 May 1996  India ENLIGHTENMENT  Enlightenment is beyond seasons like the evergreen coconut tree.  Sometimes the question comes up "What's the use of all these courses? Your behavior has not changed!"  The Knowledge acquired by a human being cannot be measured or judged by external behavior. Someone may behave as though they have absorbed all the Knowledge but internally they have not. The reverse is also true. Someone who seems to have not changed at all may have absorbed a lot.  Ordinary people would just look at the behavior, but the intelligent looks beyond and is amazed by the play of the consciousness (Brahman).   Behavior affects relationships Attitude affects behavior Knowledge or ignorance affects attitude Grace brings forth Knowledge. Your inside is like a tree; in some seasons barren and at other times blossomed.  Enlightenment is beyond seasons like the evergreen coconut tree which yields through...

Yog of Knowledge and Action  Chapter 4, Verse 25   daivam-evāpare yajñāṁ  yoginaḥ paryupāsate  brahmāgnāv-apare yajñāṁ  yajñenaivopa-juhvati   Some yogis resort only to sacrificing to the gods. Others offer sacrifice into the fire of Brahman solely by means of sacrifice.   “Others offer sacrifice into the fire of Brahman solely by means of sacrifice.” The sacrifice itself is Brahman. If one has the knowledge that one’s duty is to free oneself from attachments and desires for the fruit of action, and that one’s only aim is God-Realisation, is to receive a vision of the Lord, then one will attain the supreme state.   “Some yogis resort only to sacrificing to the gods.” Here again, Lord Krishna is referring not to God, but to the demigods, the devas, the entities of nature. He says that some people always pray to gain material things. They are constantly doing rituals, and offering sacrifices, but their minds, due to ignorance, are focuse...

Yog of Knowledge and Action  Chapter 4, Verse 24   brahmārpaṇaṁ brahma-havir  brahmāgnau brahmaṇā hutam  brahmaiva tena gantavyaṁ  brahma karma samādhinā   Brahman is the instrument, Brahman is the oblation; by Brahman is the oblation offered into the fire of Brahman; Brahman alone is to be reached by one who meditates on Brahman in one‘s works.   This verse is the food prayer. For the bhakta, everything is an act of sacrifice to the Lord: there is no difference between the bhakta and what he’s doing, and there is no difference between the bhakta and God. He sees Brahman, the Divine, inside of him.   He sees that it is the Divine who is doing everything.   “Brahman is the instrument.” Brahman is the act of sacrifice. Brahman is the goal, “Brahman alone is to be reached by one who meditates on Brahman.” So He says, “Go and reach that state!” That’s the only thing one has to practice to reach God-Realisation, nothing else. Such...

Yog of Knowledge and Action  Chapter 4, Verse 23   gata-saṅgasya muktasya  jñānāvasthita cetasaḥ  yajñāyā-carataḥ karma  samagraṁ pravilīyate   When a man who is liberated, free from attachment, with his mind, heart and spirit firmly founded in the knowledge of the Self, does works as sacrifice, all his work is dissolved.   When an action doesn’t create any attachment, it loses its capacity to cause any harm. That’s why Krishna says that the action is ‘dissolved’. Such is the state of a karma yogi. When one is fully dedicated to the Divine, one is liberated. At the moment this knowledge of the Self appears, it embraces all, and reduces to ashes all the effects of karma. In this state, action is burned in the fire of knowledge: when one doesn’t have attachments, sense of possession or any desire for the fruits of the action, even the past karma is burnt away.   When one is practising Atma Kriya Yoga, all the karma is burned. The moment ...

Yog of Knowledge and Action  Chapter 4, Verse 22   yadṛcchālābha santuṣṭo  dvandvātito vimatsaraḥ  samaḥ siddhāvasiddhau ca  kṛtvāpi na nibadhyate   He who is satisfied with whatever gain comes to him, who has passed beyond the dualities, is jealous of none, and is equal in failure and success, is not bound even when he acts.   In every action, the one who is free doesn’t create any karma. He’s “beyond the dualities”, he doesn’t have any jealousy. Jealousy is something terrible. It’s through the evil of jealousy that one criticises, one aims to harm others, one starts to compare oneself with others, one goes into deep judgement and becomes miserable. But the evil of jealousy doesn’t affect the one who is beyond the duality. In that state, there’s no jealousy and one becomes “equal in failure and success.” A wise one, a yogi, doesn’t give way to this entertainment of the mind. Whereas other people, even if they think that they have known the...

Yog of Knowledge and Action  Chapter 4, Verse 21   nirāśīr yatacitt-ātmā   tyakta sarva parigrahaḥ  śarīraṁ kevalaṁ karma  kurvan-nāpnoti kilbiṣam   He has no personal hopes; does not seize on things as his personal possessions; his mind and body are under perfect control; performing action by the body alone, he does not commit sin.   When the body, the mind and the heart are in complete control and completely surrendered into the divine rhythm, whatever action one does is a service, a prayer to the Lord. When you practice yoga in such a state, without expecting a result, you can be a householder or a recluse. You can be anywhere in the world, and you will not create any karma. You can do whatever you want, and you are free! You can dance naked, people can beat you up, it doesn’t matter. You are not bound by anything. That’s what you see, for example, in the lives of the fools for Christ. They have renounced everything; they don’t care...

Yog of Knowledge and Action  Chapter 4, Verse 20   tyaktvā karma phalā-saṅgaṁ  nitya tṛpto nirāśrayaḥ  karmaṇy-abhi-pravṛtto’pi  naiva kiñcit karoti saḥ   Having abandoned all attachment to the fruits of his works, ever satisfied without any kind of dependence, he does nothing, though (through his nature) he engages in action.   After renouncing attachment to the actions and their fruits, the bhakta should give up the feeling of ‘I’ and ‘mine’, “I am doing this” and “I am doing that”, because this ‘I’ and this ‘mine’ always refer to the mind and the body. When one surrenders, all this ‘I’ and ‘mine’ have to be removed from the mind. If one has fully surrendered the body, mind and intellect, one should stop thinking that one needs this or that. One should trust and not depend on the world. Having reached this state, having realised this supreme bliss, one doesn’t long for anything from this world. Whatever one needs will be automatically pro...

Yog of Knowledge and Action  Chapter 4, Verse 19   yasya sarve samārambhāḥ  kāma saṅkalpa varjitāḥ  jñānāgni dagdha karmāṇāṁ  tam āhuḥ paṇḍitaṁ budhāḥ   Whose undertakings are free from desire, whose works are burned up by the fire of knowledge, him the wise have called a sage.   Here Krishna says that a truly wise one has the true knowledge of God, which brings him perfection and discipline.   “… whose works are burned up by the fire of knowledge.” As fire reduces everything to ashes, the fire of wisdom reduces all desires to ashes. When one has this wisdom, one is “called a sage”, a saint, by the wise ones. If you take a pan and roast some seeds in it, you can try to plant them afterwards, but they will not grow. A yogi is like this – he has roasted all the seeds of desire, so that they won’t grow. They lose all the capacity to sprout and can’t bear any fruit. How then, can the fruit of action – karma – be created? It can’t be. This ...

Yog of Knowledge and Action  Chapter 4, Verse 18   karmaṇya karma yaḥ paśyed  akarmaṇi ca karma yaḥ  sa buddhimān manuṣyeṣu  sa yuktaḥ kṛtsna karma-kṛt   He who sees inaction in action and also action in inaction is wise among people. He is fit for liberation and has concluded all actions.   Here Krishna says that the secret of liberation is to see inaction in action. The wise person performs his allocated duties, renouncing attachment to the fruit of the action or any sense of possession. If one’s mind is hanging onto the result, one is not free. Whereas, if one performs every action without expectations, renouncing all its fruits, one is not bound by the karma. Such a person is wise among men; he has realised God. He is a yogi because he is doing all his actions with the aim of attaining God.   Here, Krishna is also referring to people who have done great sadhana in the past. They had the aim of liberation in their minds, without kno...

Yog of Knowledge and Action  Chapter 4, Verse 17   karmaṇo hyapi boddhavyaṁ  boddhavyaṁ ca vikarmaṇaḥ  akarmaṇaśca boddhavyaṁ  gahanā karmaṇo-gatiḥ   For verily one must understand the nature of action (karma), and the nature of prohibited action (vikarma) as also the nature of inaction (akarma) — profound indeed is the way of action.   Here Krishna says that one must know the truth about action. It’s only when one surrenders to the Guru’s Feet and takes the advice of the Guru, takes the words of the Guru, that one can know the true nature of duty, “the nature of action.”   “… profound indeed is the way of action.” People generally think that action is only outside action: they consider action to be the work people do. Inaction is usually understood as when you suspend all activities and sit for meditation, not doing anything; or you stop talking and calm your body through Hatha Yoga. However, this   is not real yoga.   ...

Yog of Knowledge and Action  Chapter 4, Verse 16   kiṁ karma kim akarmeti  kavayo’py-atra mohitāḥ  tatte karma pravakṣyāmi  yaj-jñātvā mokṣyase’śubhāt   What is action and what is inaction, as to this, even the sages are perplexed and deluded. I will declare to you that kind of action by the knowledge of which you shall be released from all suffering.   Here Krishna says to Arjuna, “A true yogi is beyond action and inaction. They have the true knowledge that there is no action or inaction which is not done by the Will of God.”   “As to this, even the sages are perplexed...” If one doesn’t completely surrender to the Divine, even if one is a sage, one will get deluded and not realise the Divine.   If we take the lives of sages in ancient times as examples, in the ashram, they would do their daily routine, but they would not think, “I am doing it,” or, “How will I do it?” If the sages would start to think like this, the whole ashram...

Yog of Knowledge and Action  Chapter 4, Verse 15   evaṁ jñātvā kṛtaṁ karma  pūrvair-api mumukṣubhiḥ  kuru karmaiva tasmāt tvaṁ  pūrvaiḥ pūrvataraṁ kṛtam   Having known this, the ancient seekers for liberation also performed action. Therefore, you also should engage in action alone, as the ancients did in days gone past.   Earlier Krishna says, “I am free from everything, yet I do My duty.” He was reminding Arjuna of this again and again. Until the mind is completely subdued, it’s good to remind people continuously. “The ancient seekers for liberation” were doing their duty, but they were engaged “in action alone” and were not attached to the fruit of their actions. They knew that by mere renunciation of action, one would not be free. They were truly, sincerely detached from the fruits of their actions, so they were truly free. They had realised God seated inside their hearts, so they knew that every activity that they performed as their dut...

Yog of Knowledge and Action  Chapter 4, Verse 14   na māṁ karmāṇi limpanti  na me karma phale spṛhā  iti māṁ yo’bhijānāti  karmabhir-na sa badhyate   Actions do not taint Me, nor have I desire for the fruits of action; he who thus knows Me is not bound by karma. Krishna says, “I don’t have any attachment, any sense of possession, or desire for the fruit of My actions”. If one has the sense of possession or desire for the fruit of one’s actions, one will be automatically bound by the law of karma. But the Lord says, “I am not bound by karma.”   “He who thus knows Me is not bound by karma.” He says that the ones who are completely surrendered like the saints, who have come to know God’s Reality, by becoming pure and detached, they become like Him and are not bound by any karma. Whoever becomes a yogi, does their daily duty, surrendering it to the Divine. They still do their duties, but are not attached to them and don’t desire the fruit of their actions....

Yog of Knowledge and Action  Chapter 4, Verse 13   cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ  guṇa karma vibhāgaśaḥ  tasya kartāram api māṁ  viddhy-akartāram avyayam   The system of four castes was generated by Me according to the division of gunas and karma. Though I am the generator, know Me as a non-agent and immutable.   Here, Sri Krishna reveals to Arjuna that the system of the four castes is based on the gunas and karma. He places everyone where one has to be, according to the gunas and one’s karma. He determines the birth according to these qualities, so that those who have sattvic qualities are born as very high sages, saints. That’s why I said that a saint is born a saint, because the saints have good qualities, good punya, from past lives. Saint Francis refused to be born inside the house, because he wanted to be born in a stable like Jesus. Saint Francis was born already realised, even though he had to go through a worldly life like a normal per...

Yog of Knowledge and Action  Chapter 4, Verse 12   kāṅkṣantaḥ karmaṇāṁ siddhiṁ  yajanta iha devatāḥ  kṣipraṁ hi mānuṣe loke  siddhir-bhavati karmajā   They who desire the fulfilment of their works on Earth, sacrifice to the gods, because the fulfilment that is born of works is very swift and easy in the human world.   “They who desire the fulfilment of their works on Earth, sacrifice to the gods...” Here Krishna says that people who are attached to worldly desires, who seek to attain worldly possessions due to the greediness of the mind, can’t long for God. Their worship is only to the demigods, to the devas like Indra, in order to fulfil their desires. The devas are pleased by these sacrifices that people offer them. But once the ritual is done, and the devas have given them what was asked for, finished! The duty of the devas is to give what one has asked for. However, they can only help one on the material level. They can’t bring one to a higher stat...

Yog of Knowledge and Action  Chapter 4, Verse 11   ye yathā māṁ prapadyante  tāṁs-tathaiva bhajāmy-aham  mama vartmānuvartante  manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ   As men approach Me or seek Me, so I accept them to My love; men follow in every way My path, O Arjuna.   “As men approach Me…” Here Krishna says that whatever Names one calls Him, in whatever forms one worships Him or prays to Him, He will appear and reveal Himself before the devotee, in that form. Before a devotee of Maha Vishnu, He will appear and reveal Himself in the form of Maha Vishnu. Before a devotee of Sri Rama, He will come in the form of Rama. To the devotee of Krishna, He will appear as Krishna. To the devotee of Shiva, He will appear as Shiva. To the devotee of Devi, He will appear as Devi. To the devotee of Jesus, He will appear as Jesus. To those who pray to Him in His formless state, He will also reveal Himself to them accordingly. Because His formless state, which is all-pervading, i...

Yog of Knowledge and Action  Chapter 4, Verse 10   vīta rāga-bhaya-krodhā  man mayā mām upāśritāḥ  bahavo jñāna tapasā  pūtā mad-bhāvam āgatāḥ   Freed from desire, fear and anger, absorbed in Me, taking refuge in Me, purified by the austerity of knowledge, many have attained My state.   The bhaktas who renounce all desires, fear and anger, the three modifications of the mind, and who focus through dhyaan, through meditation, on seeing the Lord within themselves, they take refuge in Him and serve Him in all their actions.   “... purified by the austerity of knowledge...” When one has this knowledge of the Self and merges into it, then Love awakens, then God’s Love is revealed. In this state, people don’t attach themselves to anything except God.   Whoever realises this Truth about Krishna, automatically sees and feels Him everywhere. One finds God in every being, in every object, in the whole creation and one becomes ever-free. Lik...

Yog of Knowledge and Action  Chapter 4, Verse 9   janma karma ca me divyam  evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ  tyaktvā dehaṁ punar-janma  naiti māmeti so’rjuna   Whosoever thus knows in truth My divine birth and deeds O Arjuna, is not reborn again, and after leaving the body comes to Me.   Here, Krishna told Arjuna that full Realisation will not be attained through one’s own effort. One can try one’s best, one can do one’s sadhana and train oneself to see God in whatever one does, in everything. But only when one is fully absorbed in serving God, will one attain liberation, will one reach Him, will one attain His Grace by His Will. Whoever realises this, is not separate from Him at any moment; after leaving this body, one goes directly to Him. This means that even in this lifetime itself, one can attain the state of a Jivan Mukta, a realised being who walks in this world and is non-attached to the action. Whatever one does, is out of Love for God. Because of one...

Yog of Knowledge and Action  Chapter 4, Verse 8   paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ  vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām  dharma saṁsthāpan-ārthāya  saṁbhavāmi yuge yuge   For the deliverance of the good, for the destruction of the evil-doers, for the enthroning of the right, I am born from age to age.   “The sādhūnāṁ, the ones who observe non-violence, and truth; the ones who have their thoughts on Me; the ones who perform sacrifice, charity, austerity; the ones who practice yoga; the ones who do good to others; the ones who are friends of God, devotees of God, to them I give full protection. I come to save them so that they don’t fall into illusion, so that they don’t delude themselves. I come to deliver them from wicked, evil-minded people, and demons. I come to purify and pacify them.” Here Krishna is calling everybody who is on the spiritual path sādhūnāṁ: they’re like the sadhus who long for the Divine. This longing for the Divine is the first step on the path to God-Realis...

Yog of Knowledge and Action  Chapter 4, Verse 7   yadā yadā hi dharmasya  glānir-bhavati bhārata  abhyutthānam-adharmasya  tadā’tmānaṁ sṛjāmy-aham   Whenever there is the fading of the dharma, like nowadays, and the uprising of unrighteousness, then I bring Myself forth into birth.   As I said earlier, there is no fixed time or period for God to manifest Himself. It can’t be positively asserted that He will manifest in a certain yuga or place, or in a certain month or year. There is no rule about how many times or in how many forms the Lord will manifest in a certain yuga. Yadā yadā: He can manifest Himself whenever He wants. He can take any form He wants. He can manifest in any place He wants.   “Whenever there is the fading of the dharma and the uprising of unrighteousness.” He alone knows when the world is in danger of destruction, when there is the decline of dharma, and virtue, and the rise of vice. Then by His own Will, He manife...

Yog of Knowledge and Action  Chapter 4, Verse 6   ajo’pi sann-avyayātmā  bhūtānām īśvaro’pi san  prakṛtiṁ svām-adhiṣṭhāya  saṁbhavāmy-ātma māyayā   Though I am the unborn, though I am imperishable in My Self-Existence, though I am the Lord of all existences, yet I stand upon My own Nature and I come into birth by My Self-Maya.   Here Krishna reveals Himself to Arjuna as birthless and deathless. He tells him that He has never taken birth or died as an ordinary human being, even if it appears so. Though the Supreme Lord, the Ultimate, creates everything, He also manifests Himself on Earth and appears as ordinary as all humans. But He’s not born, He manifests Himself. People think that whenever the Lord incarnated as Matsya Avatar, Kurma Avatar, or Varaha Avatar, He disappeared at the end of His incarnation and it was finished! No. There is no beginning or end to Him: all Avatars are just manifestations of Him.   “... yet I stand upon my ...