The Lord of Transformation

You know that Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva form the Cosmic Trinity. Krishna, who is the Lord in the Bhagavad Gita, is an incarnation of Vishnu, the Preserver. At the same time, being the Lord, he is also Brahma, the Creator, and Shiva, the Transformer. We do not call him the Destroyer because God does not destroy, He transforms. In the ninth chapter of the Gita, Krishna plays the role of the Creator. In the tenth chapter he wants to show that he is the Preserver. In the eleventh chapter, one of the most important chapters in the Gita, he plays the role of the Transformer. Many Westerners have criticised this chapter. They say, “How can your God, your sweet Lord, be the Lord of Destruction?” Unfortunately, they have misunderstood. In the eleventh chapter, Sri Krishna is not the Lord of Destruction, he is the Lord of Transformation. He wants to transform Arjuna’s human consciousness into the Divine Consciousness, since Arjuna represents humanity. It is our finite consciousness that we try to transform into the Infinite Consciousness.

The achievement of perfection

Perfection has already been achieved in the realm of the soul, but in the outer world it is still a far cry. If we want to achieve perfection in the outer world without being inspired and energised by the inner world, we are merely wasting our time. Perfection can be achieved only when one has entered into the inner life, the spiritual life, and brings to the fore the Wealth of the inner life — Peace, Light and Bliss in infinite measure.

Identification

On the strength of his inner identification, Sri Krishna was able to say, “I am Arjuna.”

Ramakrishna identified his consciousness, body, mind and heart with Mother Kali to such an extent that his Consort, Sarada Devi, used to say, “Where is Ramakrishna? It is all Kali. Let him say that he prays to his Mother Kali. I definitely know that it is he who is Kali."

What benefit can we derive from identification? We can derive everything from identification. If we need purity, we can hold a flower, which is the embodiment of purity. If we then identify our soul and ourselves with the breath of the flower which is nothing but purity, we ourselves will become all purity. If we stand in front of a mighty ocean, we can identify our aspiration with the vast expanse and become the infinite. Yogis or great spiritual Teachers, on the strength of their identification, become one with each and every human being on earth.

How the Guru uses his identification with the disciple

On Thursdays, I used to stand in front of each person and the first thing I did was identify myself totally and unreservedly with that person. In the twinkling of an eye, at the very moment, I would enter and try to see where I could establish my identification. If I could identify myself with the soul of the person, then it became extremely easy for me to bring down Peace, Light, or Bliss from Above. But if the soul did not come to the fore and if the vital came with a little aspiration, I tried to establish my identification with the aspiring vital but that takes a longer time. If the heart came forward, it is much easier. But I always give preference to the soul. If the soul comes forward, then the Light that I bring from the Supreme is most divinely received and utilised.

The disciple is the Guru's protection

The word disciple in Sanskrit is Chhātra, but very often the disciples and the Gurus use the word Chhatra. Chhatra means umbrella and as the umbrella protects us from rain and sun, so also the disciple protects the Guru from the problems of the outer world. The disciples become the outer skin, the outer sheath, which guards and protects the inner world, which is the Guru.

Avatars and other spiritual figures go unrecognised

It was the fate not only of Sri Krishna to be recognised only by a few seekers during his lifetime, but it is the fate of all the Avatars. All the Avatars have been ridiculed and have had to suffer ruthless criticism from human beings. Sri Krishna was known as an Avatar only by five or six while he was on earth. Now the whole world knows him as an Avatar. Sri Ramachandra was India’s first Avatar and he was also known by only two or three. Ramakrishna was known by very few, as was Christ. All the Avatars have been known or, you can say, realised, only by a very few. The Avatars are ignored. The fate of Yogis and other spiritual figures is the same. Very often they are ignored and despised even by their dearest ones. Now, however, this deplorable situation is improving.

Experience, realisation, revelation, manifestation

Arjuna was extremely fortunate to have had the vision of Sri Krishna in his Cosmic Form. He saw the entire world in Krishna’s three aspects: God as the Creator, God as the Preserver and God as the Transformer of human ignorance into Divine Knowledge.

It is good to have an experience, but we have to know that experience is not the same as realisation. Even if realisation is not complete, it is infinitely better than experience. Experience is a lasting inspiration. Realisation is a lasting achievement. This lasting achievement does not necessarily embody all the divine qualities, such as Peace, Power, or Wisdom. When we embody the Vision in its totality we have complete realisation. The embodiment of Truth or Vision gives us an infinite confidence in our inner, as well as our outer, journey. Again, mere embodiment is not enough. We have to reveal the Vision. Someone may have inner power, but unless he reveals this power, it cannot fulfil him, either here on earth or there in Heaven. We must reveal without what we have within. But revelation is not the final stage. The final stage is manifestation. What we have and what we are must be manifested here on earth. When manifestation is accomplished, all is done.

Meditations

1.

“Desires and hungers have one common enemy: detachment."

2.

“Detachment and not possession should be the bridge between you and the object of your love.”

3.

“One who is afraid of studying in the school of adversity can never hope for a perfect education in life.”

4.

“Disappointment is as powerful a negative force as expectation is a positive one.”

5.

“Worry unconsciously welcomes trouble. Trouble unavoidably welcomes helplessness. Helplessness tearfully welcomes despair.”

Akbar is superior to Indra

Once Akbar said to his ministers and those who were present in the court, “Tell me frankly, who is superior? Indra, the Lord of the Gods, or I? Be very frank.”

Everybody was shocked. Nobody dared to answer. They thought that if they said that Indra was superior to Akbar, Akbar would be displeased. And if they said that Akbar was superior to Indra, it would be a real lie. So they all kept silent.

But Birbal came forward and said, “I have the answer.”

Akbar said, “Then tell me.”

Birbal said, “You are superior.”

Akbar was outwardly amused and inwardly pleased. He said, “Prove it.”

“That is very easy,” said Birbal. “When the Creator created you and Indra together, he put both of you on the scale. On one side he placed you and on the other side he placed Indra. Just because you were heavier than Indra, you dropped down to earth and Indra remained up in Heaven. So you see, you are superior because you are heavier. You are more fulfilling on earth. That is why you have become the Emperor of the Earth.”

Akbar was very happy. He thought, “Indra remains high because he is light and insubstantial. I have solid strength and power. That is why I remain on earth. I came down because of my superior power.”

Spiritual comment

In the spiritual life, every day each seeker sits on the scale. God places him on one side of the scale and on the other side God places his ignorance. The seeker always sees that his ignorance is heavier, much heavier than his own knowledge and wisdom. Then he feels miserable and tries to pray, he tries to meditate. Gradually he increases his knowledge and inner wisdom and simultaneously the other side, his ignorance, decreases. It becomes lighter and lighter.

Finally a day comes when only his knowledge side exists. On the other side of the scale there is no ignorance at all. It has all been devoured or illumined by his inner knowledge. When there is nothing on the ignorance side, the knowledge side drops onto earth again. This means that the seeker enters into the world to work for mankind with his newly acquired knowledge and wisdom and with this knowledge-power he tries to conquer the ignorance of the world.

Universal jealousy

Akbar once asked Birbal, “How is it that there is no hair on my palm? There is hair everywhere else on my body. How is it that there is no hair on the palm of my hand?”

Birbal said, “Oh, the reason is just because you always give away money. You always have plenty of money in your hands and you give it away in charity. Your palms are being rubbed constantly so the hair there has all been rubbed away.”

“But how is it that you do not have hair in your hand either?”

“Just because I receive from you constantly I am also rubbing, rubbing, rubbing. You are constantly giving away and I am constantly receiving, so that is why my hands also have no hair.”

“But what about those who do not get money from me the way you get it? How is it that they do not have hair on their palms either?”

“Oh, that is very easy. It is because they are very jealous. Jealous people always think of the money that I receive from you and they start rubbing their hands together with anticipation. They are always burning with jealousy and greed, so they just rub and rub their palms together and that is why they do not have any hair on their palms.”

Akbar was highly amused and pleased, but those who were listening to Birbal bowed their heads with shame. They were terribly embarrassed at his indirect accusation.

Spiritual comment

When I give something to a certain disciple my love power increases and when that person receives devotedly his gratitude power increases. We deal with love and gratitude. Whatever I give goes to the disciple in the form of love. And while receiving, what he offers comes to me in the form of gratitude. But if those who do not get something at that time become jealous, they simply delay their own time. If they can become identified with my offering to the other disciple and at that time if they can identify themselves with the receiver, then they become the giver as well as the receiver.

While I am giving to a particular person the others can easily feel that it is they who are giving. While he is receiving they can feel that it is they who are receiving. Identification is not illusion. Identification is not deception. In the spiritual life one must always try to identify oneself with the Truth that is coming from above and trying to manifest here on earth. Identification with the Light and Truth is the only important thing in life, When one is identified with the Master's consciousness one becomes one with the Creator. When one identifies with the disciple one becomes one with the creation. When one is inseparably one with the Creator and the creation one gets the utmost joy.

By being jealous of the giver’s possession, or by being jealous of the receiver’s attainment one can never have joy or peace of mind. In order to be constantly happy one has to identify oneself with Reality’s source and Reality’s course, with Reality’s glow and Reality’s flow. Reality’s source is the Master. Reality’s course is the disciple. Reality’s glow is the Master. Reality’s flow is the disciple.

My first friendship with the muse

O Mother Sweet

The flowers of love and joy
In my bosom-garden bloom.
To seize Thee, O Mother Sweet,
Oft-times I face my doom.

I seek my refuge in Thee alone,
In Thee my battle of life,
In Thee my welkin, stars and sun,
My heart of joy and strife.

The sport

The sport of fruitless infelicity
Captures my mind's ignorance-dream.
Be off, be off, O satisfied desires!
It is you that ruin my quest supreme.

I am the traveller, ignorant of Dawn;
Never, alack, have I tasted bliss.
Before my heart the dart of eyeless Night;
I am lost in the jaws of boundless Abyss.

My life-desert

I want not what I need,
I roam in eyeless Night,
Ignorance sports with me,
With me I ever fight.

The riddle of my life-desert
What soul of Might can solve?
Alack, I am undone!
Before me death-doors revolve.

Long lost

My faults are countless, yet
    With joy I see the faults of all.
I kindle thus my pyre,
    Ever to hear death’s constant call.

My soul is far, too far;
    In fruitless thoughts of clay I live.
Long lost my mission vast;
    In eyeless chasm I now must grieve.

My ashram is a miniature world

There was a spiritual Master who had hundreds of disciples, but unfortunately he was not satisfied with most, if not all of the disciples. He had spent twenty years with them, but his disciples had made no satisfactory progress. He was disgusted and disappointed beyond measure. He had offered them advice; he had told them the necessity of early morning meditation; he had told them repeatedly the necessity of leading a pure life and the necessity of self-discipline. He had answered hundreds of questions from his disciples and he had offered them endless light on their inner queries. But still they had made practically no progress.

Finally the Master decided to leave his ashram. He said to himself, “I have spoken hundreds and thousands of times, but there is no progress, no satisfactory progress in my disciples. Today I shall leave my ashram. From now on I shall observe the vow of silence and also, since I am fat, unbearably fat, I shall lose some weight. I shall fast and I shall maintain silence. I shall not speak a word and I shall not eat anything.”

In the small hours of the morning, while his disciples were all fast asleep, the Master secretly left his ashram. He walked far, very far. He travelled about fifteen miles and then he came to a village. Just on the outskirts of the village he saw a green field. He sat down in one corner of the field and began meditating. He said to himself, “Here I shall not have to speak to anybody. Here I shall not have to waste any more of my precious time. I shall meditate and drink in divine nectar. Enough! I have worked hard for mankind, but mankind has proved it is not ready for my help, my service.”

The Master entered into deep meditation. After about three hours a villager happened to pass by. He saw a spiritual man meditating with his eyes open and fixed on an unknown spot and he felt that this was a Yogi in deep trance. He was beside himself with joy to see a spiritual man, for he had been looking for a spiritual Master for the last four years.

The villager bowed down to the spiritual Master and pleaded with him, “Please, please, bless me. Bless me and initiate me. I want to be your disciple.” The Master remained silent. The villager went on pleading and pleading with the Yogi, but the Yogi did not speak to him or bless him. The Yogi was deep in his own meditation. But the villager was so moved by the Yogi’s meditation that he thought, “This is the time for me to meditate also. Let me sit beside this Yogi and meditate.”

Alas, he got no inspiration. He could not meditate at all. So he said to himself, “Well, I am not a Yogi. I am not even a beginner. Let me go and bring some flowers and place them in front of me to give me some inspiration. I need purity. My mind is enjoying lower vital thoughts, impure thoughts. I need purity. Let me go home and bring some flowers and meditate again beside this Yogi.

The villager went home and got some beautiful flowers. Then he returned and sat beside the Yogi with the flowers in front of him and started meditating. In five minutes he found that he had established some purity in his mind. He was absolutely delighted that he had got purity. But soon something happened. Pride entered into him. He began to think, “I am so pure. I am so pure. Nobody is as pure as I am,” and soon he could not meditate at all.

Finally the villager said to himself, “Now if I want to meditate more, then I need humility. How can I be humble? Let me collect a few blades of grass which grow right in front of my house and meditate on them. A blade of grass is the symbol of humility. Everybody tramples on this tender grass, but the blade of grass never complains. ”

The villager went home and picked a few blades of grass, brought them back and placed them in front of him. Then he started meditating beside the Yogi again and he felt that he had developed humility once more. He was very happy that he had achieved some humility and he meditated for some time.

Then the villager said to himself, “Purity I have; humility I have. But purity and humility are not enough for me to have intense aspiration. I need intense aspiration, otherwise I will not make satisfactory progress in the spiritual life. What can help me to have aspiration? Ah, let me go home and bring candles and incense. I shall burn candles and incense while I meditate and the flame of the candles and the smoke of the incense will increase my aspiration.

So the villager went home and brought back candles and incense sticks and burned them in front of himself while he meditated. From this he did get aspiration and he was very happy. But he could not maintain his aspiration and after half an hour of meditation he became tired.

When his own meditation was over, the villager observed the Yogi. The Yogi was still in silence as before, in deep trance. The villager thought, “God alone knows when this Yogi started meditating here. But I saw him here over two hours ago and he has not eaten anything during that time. I shall go home and bring him something.”

He went home and returned with some fruit and milk for the Yogi, and begged him to eat and drink. But the Yogi would not respond. He still continued his meditation.

“Now what can I do?” thought the villager. “This Yogi is bound to be my guru. I will not accept anybody else but this Yogi. I have never seen anybody meditating so soulfully, so powerfully for such a long time. When he comes out of meditation I will implore him to accept me as his disciple. I am sure he will have me as his disciple. I shall just have to wait.”

Suddenly a new thought occurred to him. “I have heard that robbers come here after they have committed robberies. This is the place where they share their spoils. If the robbers happen to come here while I am away they may harass this innocent man. They may harm him. What shall I do? I know! I shall bring my dog here. If anything happens the dog will bark and I will be able to come and save the Yogi.”

The villager went home again and brought his faithful dog, and told the dog to stay near the Yogi. Then he went away. But the dog was so faithful to its own master that after staying for a few minutes, he would return to his master’s house and again the master would have to chase him back to the Yogi. In this way, for some time the dog would stay beside the Yogi and for some time it would go back home.

After two hours the villager brought a most delicious meal for the Yogi. The Yogi had not yet eaten anything that day, but still he would not eat. By this time the afternoon was drawing to a close. The villager said to himself, “Let me go and bring my cow here. My cow can graze here and since the Yogi is here I am sure nobody will take my cow away. If the cow leaves the spot the Yogi can bring it back with his occult power. I am sure he will do me this much favour since I am trying to please him in every way. And if somebody tries to take the cow away by force, my dog will bark and I will come here myself.

The villager brought his cow and left it in front of the Yogi, who was still in deep trance. Then he decided to do some of his work and to come back again before the sun set. When the villager departed, his dog followed him.

Now while the villager was working at home a young man came to the field and saw the cow grazing. He had been looking for a cow to buy and he felt that the owner of the cow was the man who was meditating. He said to the Yogi, “Stop meditating. Enough. Pay attention to your cow. Stop meditating and do your duty first. Are you ready to sell this cow? How much do you want for it?”

The Yogi kept silent, according to his vow. “Stop it!” said the young man. “Break your silence, or I shall take your cow away. This cow is not worth forty rupees, but I am giving you one hundred rupees, since I am badly in need of a cow.” Then he threw a hundred-rupee note to the Yogi and led the cow away. The Yogi placed the money under his leg.

Soon the villager came. He bowed to the Yogi and said, “Still you are meditating. You have not eaten anything — no food, no milk, nothing.” Then he looked around and saw, to his amazement, that his cow was missing. “Where could my cow have gone?” he wondered. He looked and looked for the cow, but it was gone. He asked the Yogi about the cow, but the Yogi remained silent.

Then the villager became furious. “You are really ungrateful!” he said to the Yogi. I brought you food, I have paid so much attention to you, all day, I have shown you so much devotion and you could not even care for my cow. You are an ungrateful creature!” Then he struck the Yogi.

The Yogi remained in deep meditation. He did not move or break his silence. So the villager said, “This punishment is not enough. I will punish you most severely. On my way here I saw a scorpion near my house. I will bring the scorpion here in a box and throw it on you. When the scorpion bites you, then your meditation will come to an end. You will be compelled to speak to me.”

When the villager came back with the scorpion, he threw it right into the Yogi’s lap. The Yogi began to shed tears.

“I knew it. I knew it,” said the villager. “It is time for you to cry and weep. Now tell me for God’s sake, where is my cow? Don’t be so ungrateful. Don’t be so mean.”

The Yogi said, “I am not shedding tears because I am afraid of this scorpion. I am shedding tears because this innocent creature was not destined to bite me. But now it will and it will add to its evil karma. You are the instigator. You have done many things wrong and you will pay the penalty of your karma. This scorpion has also done many bad things. It has stung many people, but it was not supposed to sting me. You have brought it here and it will sting me. I will suffer, but I am not shedding tears because of my imminent suffering. I feel sorry for the one extra crime this scorpion will commit because of you. But I shall give it a new life. I will not allow this scorpion to bite me. I shall touch the scorpion and do something for it.”

When the Yogi touched the scorpion, the scorpion immediately died.

The villager said, “You said that I was cruel, but you have killed a living creature. Who is more cruel? Who is more mean? You or me? I have only brought it to you. You have killed it.”

“No,” said the Yogi. “By taking its life away I have blessed this scorpion. This scorpion was innocent and you brought it to commit a crime. I felt sorry for this innocent creature and since I am a spiritual person, I wanted to bless it and give it a new life. In three days you will see this scorpion in a new form. It will come into your own family.”

The villager was horrified. “I will have a scorpion in my family?”

“Yes,” said the Master. “You have a cat and your children are fond of that cat. In three days your cat will give birth to kittens and the most beautiful one will have the soul that was in this scorpion. I have given new birth to this scorpion because I want to give it a better incarnation. So it will come into your family as a beautiful kitten. It is unthinkable that a man, who is far superior to a scorpion, should cause a scorpion to accumulate more bad karma and delay its spiritual evolution. But I shall make up for your bad intentions. My nature is to bring joy and progress to everyone. That is why I am bringing the scorpion into your family as a cat. You will like the cat and your children will be extremely fond of it. I am doing you this favour because I am grateful to you for bringing me fruits and milk while I was meditating. This is my reward. Instead of being punished you will have a beautiful cat in your family.

“I don’t want to remain indebted to you. I don’t want to owe you anything. You brought me fruit and milk and you brought me a most delicious meal. For that I want to tell you that I have something for you. Here is a one hundred rupee note. Somebody came while you were gone and wanted to buy your cow. Your cow is old. You wanted to get rid of it, and buy a new one. You thought that you would be able to sell it for thirty or forty rupees, but nobody wanted to buy it even for that much. Now somebody has given me one hundred rupees for it. Take it. Either buy another cow or use the money as you want. You could not expect forty rupees for your cow, but now I am giving you one hundred.

“So you see when you try to serve a spiritual Master, how he rewards you. Now I want to give you another blessing. I know that your wife will soon give birth to a child."

“How do you know it?"

“I know everything. In two months’ time you will have a son, a most beautiful son. Your son will really be spiritual, far better than you. He will never strike a spiritual man. Whenever he accepts a spiritual Master he will only serve and serve his Master unconditionally, which you could not do. You wanted to be my disciple and you served me a little. Then you started making demands of me and when I did not fulfil your demands in your own way you started torturing me. Your son will not behave like that.”

The villager touched the feet of the Master and prayed for forgiveness.

The Yogi said, “Where is the question of forgiveness? When was I angry with you? Since I was not angry with you the question of forgiveness does not arise at all. But from now on be devoted to spiritual people, be kind to everyone and be devoted to the spiritual life. If you really want to lead a spiritual life, if you really want something good to come out of your life, then be kind to an ordinary man and be devoted to a spiritual man."

The villager said, “But I want to be your disciple. I have never seen such a great spiritual Master in my life. I want to be your disciple. Please accept me.”

The Yogi said, “Then come along with me. Come and join my ashram. I have hundreds of disciples. Early this morning I left my ashram to fast and observe silence because I was disgusted with my disciples’ behaviour, their life and their lack of aspiration. I came here so that I would not be bothered by anyone, and here you have bothered me in many ways. Now I have come to realise that my disciples represent the outer world. If I can perfect them then I will begin to perfect the outer world. Everywhere in the world there is ignorance, everywhere. But if I can offer illumination in one place the other places will also be somewhat illumined. My disciples represent the world of ignorance. When they are illumined the entire world will be illumined to some extent. I am going back to my disciples. I have to illumine them. I have to perfect them. I have to fulfil the Supreme in them. When they are fulfilled, the entire world will be fulfilled because my ashram is a miniature world. In the transformation of my ashram will be the beginning of the transformation of the entire world.

Music section

Kundalini kundalini kundalini kundalini
Ma ma ma devi devi devi parameshwari parameshwari
Ida pingala shushumna
Muladhara svadistana manipura anahata
Vishudha agna sahasrar sahasrar
Lam lam lam, vam vam vam,
Ram ram ram, yam yam yam,
Ham ham ham, aum aum aum,
Supreme