God-search never ends¹

The Taj Mahal²

Two students of mine from Goa went to the Taj Mahal. It was quite easy for them to get permission for me to play, because about six years ago the Taj Mahal became one of our Peace-Blossoms. The authorities of the Taj Mahal became part and parcel of our Peace-Blossoms movement.

Japan: The Rising Sun³

During my first visit I was there for about four or five days. An assistant editor came to interview me at the hotel. The following day there was an article in the Japanese daily newspaper. I asked a policeman if it would be possible for me to buy a copy of the newspaper. He left his post, ran one hundred metres and got me a copy of the newspaper, and he did not charge me for it! That incident I will never forget.

Then it started raining. An elderly woman saw me in the rain, and she gave me an umbrella.

The Japanese people I see are ready to mould their culture. They can give it shape, as a potter shapes a pot. Japan is not fossilised!

Some countries are now making progress in science and technology. They have their own depth, and there is a synthesis between the inner and the outer, no doubt. But some of those countries may not accept anything deeper from any other country. They feel they are self-sufficient. But with Japan, I do not feel that is the case. Japan is still hungry, hungry, hungry! Japan is like a child who is in a garden. He runs from one plant to another, and he is ready to appreciate everything.

When I think of Japan, I feel it is a fresh flower. When I think of some other countries, the flower is already fully blossomed. To me, a flower that is blooming and blossoming petal by petal is sometimes more beautiful than a flower that is already fully blossomed. Japan is blooming, and it will be blossomed.

It is like the rising sun. In the morning when the sun is rising, its beauty gives me much more joy than at noon, when the sun is fully risen. The power-aspect of the sun is there at noon; we cannot deny the power-aspect. But the beauty-aspect gives me much more joy. In the morning, such joy I get from the rising sun.

Again, the setting sun also gives me much more peace than the noon sun. The rising sun gives me boundless joy; the setting sun gives me boundless peace. In between, when I look at the sun, it is all power. The power-aspect is very difficult for human beings to appreciate. We are always afraid of the power-aspect. We admire the power-aspect at a distance, but we are afraid of nearing the power. But the rising sun and the setting sun have something very, very special to offer: joy and peace.

When we look at the rising sun in Japan, we feel something new, a new creation. We all like a new creation. The new creation in Japan is most inspiring. It is more visible than in some other countries. The rising sun in Japan is something very, very special.

I have seen the rising sun in India also countless times. And when I used to observe the Indian moon, it was not because I was young, but there was something special. When I observed and appreciated the full moon, I used to feel that everything was calling me. There also I looked at the sun and I saw that somebody was beckoning me, beckoning me. I saw beckoning hands, and something was calling me, calling me, calling me.

I am an Indian, so I think of India! One appreciates one’s own country more than any other country. In my case, Japan is not my native land, but I do feel something special Japan has, and something special it is offering to mankind.

Fate can be changed⁴

I have not given up, because I never take anything as a hopeless case. We feel that fate can be changed. There is nothing impossible in God’s creation. “Impossibility” is found only in the dictionary, and in the mind. Once we can go beyond the domain of the mind, there is no such thing as impossibility. With regard to your ailment, I still keep the same hope. More than that, it is determination, or will-power. As far as the regularity of my prayers for you is concerned, I have not failed even once. I do hope that something will happen.

There are two types of surrender. One type is the surrender of a lazy man. He has already given up. His surrender is only to say, “Let Thy Will be done.” He does nothing to make any improvement. Another type of surrender is to work very, very hard for improvement, for progress. If someone works very hard for his success and progress, even if success does not take place, in the inner world he gets real Blessings from Above.

One individual gives up; another individual continues and continues. There may be no success as yet, but the Inner Pilot is truly pleased with the one who has not given up. The first individual may declare, “I have not given up,” but is he consciously doing anything to meet his objective? Sometimes we do not give up, but we only keep a kind of wishful thinking that some improvement will take place. But on a regular basis if we pay attention to what we actually need in our life, then I feel that, even though God may not fulfil our desire in our own way, He has His own Plan. In His own Way He can accomplish in and through us something most special.

Let us say that I want a mango, my favourite fruit. For some reason, although the mango is my most favourite fruit, God feels that some other fruit will be good for me. Again, perhaps it is not that some other fruit will be good for me — God is examining me to see how much surrender I have made to His Will. I can say that, if a mango comes for me, well and good; in this case I am not making any effort. Again, if I sincerely strive for a mango, and God gives me another fruit, I may not be satisfied, but somehow in the inner world I will be much more fulfilled. When I dive deep within, I will feel that God did not give me the mango, but He examined me to see whether I was ready to accept what He wanted to give me, happily and cheerfully. If we get something unexpected from God, and if we can accept it happily and cheerfully, then He does something special in and through us — something infinitely more significant than giving us the mango.

One thing is to say, “Let Thy Will be done.” But for how many hours, for how many seconds do I consciously offer that prayer to God? Early in the morning, when I get up, I say, “Let Thy Will be done.” Then again at night, before I retire, I say it. But if I say it only twice a day, it is not going to register in my conscious memory; whereas if I say it a few hundred times, it will register. If I turn the knob of the stove only to a certain extent, there will be no flame. But if I turn it a little more, and still more, then I will see the flame; the fire will start. Similarly, if I say, “Let Thy Will be done” only once or twice a day, nothing may happen; whereas if I do it many more times, then it is as if I am turning the knob to such an extent that there will be a flame.

Every day we do the same thing; we do this much. This is what we human beings do! But if it is necessary for us to go farther, we do not go that far. Our problem is that our effort is limited.

Every day I am ready to walk half a mile; then I am fully satisfied. But I am not getting the result that I need for my body. If I go one full mile, then I will see that there is a great difference between half a mile and one mile. Similarly, when we say, “Let Thy Will be done,” consciously we are doing it; but we do not do it many times during the day. If we can say it even twenty or thirty or forty times a day, it will help us tremendously. We do not have to repeat it 7,000 or 8,000 or 20,000 times — no, no! Let us try to do it even once every hour. Out of twelve hours, if we keep our mind alert and spend two or three minutes every hour to offer this prayer, then I feel that we will get better results.

Each time we pray we can do the same thing, but the number of times is also a factor. In India when we do japa, we repeat it 108 times or more. Again, some people do it thousands and thousands of times, but sometimes it may become mechanical. At that time there is no freshness, there is no newness, there is no joy in it. That we do not want. We do not want to go to that extreme. Some people recite a prayer or mantra like a parrot. But if we can do it soulfully, most soulfully quite a few times during the day, and if we can feel that our prayer is touching the very depths of our heart, then we are bound to get results.

“Let Thy Will be done” is one prayer. But if you have some other sacred or secret prayer, you can offer it. It does not have to be a prayer to God to cure your ailment, but it can be something special. You have a spiritual Master and you practise spirituality, so if you feel that you can do something inwardly, then kindly do that very thing. You have been praying for thirty or forty years, but you are not getting the result that you need or deserve. But I wish to say that you can do a little more, a little more.

If we are not getting the result of our prayer, we can do one of two things. One approach is to say that we need patience, like a farmer. He sows the seed, but he does not expect the bumper crop overnight. The seed has to germinate and become a plant. Another approach is that if we feel we are doing the right thing, then we have to do it more.

If I feel that I am doing something absolutely correct but I am not getting the result of my action, I can say that I am leaving the result at the Feet of God. I have done my duty; what I was supposed to do, I have done. Now I say, “Let Thy Will be done.” That is true. But again, I have to know to what extent I have done the right thing. If I have the capacity to continue a little more, a little further, then I should do it.

In your case, you have been doing your regular prayer, secretly, for a long time. But after you have finished your prayer, please do not add a desire to it. Just feel that you have pleased God. You may think that, since you have pleased God, God will do the needful. That is true. But there is nothing wrong in doing more!

I will see in my body if there is anything defective. The body, like the soul and the heart, has to become perfect; everything has to be perfect. Let us say that my knees are hurting. I am praying and praying to God, but I am not begging Him to cure my knees. After I have prayed, I feel I have pleased God.

In your case, after you pray, if you consciously see that something is not perfect in your body, you can just concentrate on that defective part, that imperfect limb of your body. There is nothing wrong in it! At that time you are not praying, but the cosmic energy you are drawing upon yourself. You are not begging God, “God, I have prayed for Your Victory for so many years. Can You not cure my ailment?” No, no; that is not the way. While praying to please God in His own Way, you can draw upon yourself some cosmic energy.

When I look at your eyes, when I look at your face, I see that you do draw this cosmic energy. This cosmic energy if you just apply, what is wrong in it? It is your own cosmic energy. If you have money, you can spend it. If you have some cosmic energy, and if you apply it to your physical problem, there is nothing wrong in it. You yourself have acquired it. You did not even pray to God for cosmic energy. You prayed to God to please Him in His own Way.

While praying, you are inundated with some spirit or energy — I call it cosmic energy. There is nothing wrong in applying that energy if you feel that something is not perfect in your body. That means you are curing yourself, let us say. I see that you do have the capacity. It will help you! That cosmic energy you are so often using for your creativity. Many, many times when I look at your picture, I see that cosmic energy. You are using the cosmic energy that you have got from your prayer and meditation. It is right in front of you, in front of your eyes and nose. I see it! Even when I looked at a picture of you when you were standing in an ordinary way, I saw all cosmic energy. This cosmic energy you are using for your creative life. But there is nothing wrong if you use it for something else also, because cosmic energy cures everything. This energy cures us of all imperfections.

You say that, while playing music, you surrender. But before you surrendered, either a few hours earlier or on the previous day, you did something. You thought of what you were going to play, or you concentrated and meditated on it. At that very moment, perhaps you did not pray or meditate or do anything special, but it was like opening a door. When you open a door, immediately light goes into the room. While you are playing, you have surrendered; you have asked God to play in and through you. But before asking God to play through you, if you have made no previous preparation, God is not going to do anything in and through you. While you are playing, because you have already done the preparation, you surrender everything to God’s Will. At that time God is acting in and through you. By virtue of your surrender, you are playing. But I am saying that, to come to that stage of surrender, you need preparation. We walk a certain distance and then, when we feel that we cannot go any farther, we say, “God, help me!” But if we do not do anything, if we just say to God, “I have surrendered,” that is called the surrender of the lazy.

In your case, you are not lazy! You are a seeker. You have a Master and you have prayed and meditated for so many years. From those good things that you have been doing for so many years, you have got the message of surrender. You have got the message “Let Thy Will be done” from your prayers and meditations for God knows how many years. After so many years of sincere effort, you are offering your surrender. Your surrender will be most effective because you have prayed, you have meditated; you are a seeker.

There are many who will try to say the same thing: “I surrender.” But what are they going to surrender? What have they done, first of all, to surrender? We have to do something to please God. Then we can say, “I surrender.” In our Bhagavad-Gita it is said that we must first do the work, and then surrender. Doing the work is the preparation, not the performance. At the time of your performance, you are surrendering. But if you had not done the preparation, you would not have got the message of surrender.

Again, with regard to your physical problem, I have said that when you pray and meditate you get some energy. This energy is not coming from the body. It is coming from outside, from above. Then, you can distribute it. If you see that one part of your body is not doing well, it is not functioning well, you can apply the energy that you have acquired. You are not borrowing this energy from someone. You have pleased God by praying and meditating, and God has given you the capacity. God may not use it right away, in this particular spot, but you yourself can use it.

It is like father and child. The father has given money to the child, and the father says, “Now use it.” If the son feels like buying a piece of candy, he will buy it, because his father has given him the money. The son does not say, “My father has given me the money. Now, if it is his will, let him give me a piece of candy also.”

God says, “I gave you this wealth, and now I am telling you to use it!” But you do not use it, or you use it for something else. The thing that you feel you need most, as a child needs a piece of candy, you are not buying. You are buying something else, something else.

This is not advice that I am giving you! All this I am saying on the strength of my oneness, oneness, oneness, absolute oneness with your soul and with your heart. I am sincerely, most sincerely trying to do something for your physical problem. Now, when I say that there is something you can do on your part, in no way is it advice that I am giving. In a tug-of-war, if two persons are on one side and on the other side there is only one individual, there is every possibility that the two persons will pull harder and win the game. In the same way, you and I are pulling together.

Do you approve of my philosophy? You are a seeker, a great seeker! That is why we are in the same boat. I am a seeker and you are also a seeker. We are in the same boat.

I know for sure there is only one Master, the Inner Pilot. Others only guide us; they take us a few steps and then they have to surrender, because they are not the Inner Pilot.

There are two ways, they say: the monkey-way and the kitten-way. The baby monkey is usually holding on to the back of the mother monkey, while the kitten is hanging from the mother’s mouth; the mother is carrying it. The one that is held by the mother is safer than the one that is seated on the back of the mother.

It is the same with father and child. If the child is holding the father’s hand and then he sees something exciting, he may release his father’s hand and fall down. Then he gets hurt. But if the father has hold of the child, no matter what happens, even if something very exciting takes place, he will not let go of his child. Then the child is safe. The father sees what is going on and the child also sees. The child has the same experience, the same excitement, but he is safe, because his father is not going to let go of the child’s hand.

In the same way, if someone has greater capacity, and if that person holds on to a second person, that second person is safe. In the spiritual life, if there is somebody who can hold on to you, then you are safer than you would be if you were holding on to him.

Do you see the difference? Something exciting is going on. But if somebody else is there to hold on to you, then you can enjoy the same experience, but you are safe. The same excitement is going on, but there is no danger. The person who is holding on to you, if he has inner strength and inner joy, may or may not be excited himself, but he is not going to release you. Then, like the child, you are safe.

That is why we use the term “Inner Pilot.” We can be seated at His Feet, but if temptation arises, then we may disappear. But again, if He ties us to His Feet, then He will not allow anything to happen to us. If we want to welcome temptation, He says, “I am not going to allow you!” But if we just sit at His Feet, or at the feet of our Master, and something happens, we may just go away, because we are not tied. This tie we call protection.

You give me immense joy — immense! — in every sense of the term. Thank you.

Transformation: the most difficult subject⁵

We may be sixty, seventy, eighty or even ninety years old, but if we want to see how much we have transformed our nature, sometimes we cannot give ourselves a mark of more than zero. For ninety years we may live on earth, but it may happen that, in terms of transformation, we have made no progress. Again, in the case of some people, right from the beginning, from the dawn of their life, we see that they are making progress, making progress.

Earthly age is no indication of our transformation. It entirely depends on the inner cry. Only the heart’s inner cry can transform us. Otherwise, year after year we are only adding earthly years to our life; transformation is not taking place. Transformation comes only from the inner cry.

The most difficult subject in human life is the transformation of our nature, and for that, how many centuries, how many lives we have taken, and how many more we shall have to take!

"Go forward!"⁶

His brother, who is my absolutely dearest brother-friend in the Ashram, could not see me, so he said to me, “How is it that I could not see you, being your dearest brother-friend, but my brother could see you?”

What kind of answer could I give? I did not have any answer to give him.

We talked and talked and talked over the phone for about an hour. He had so many questions to ask me and I had so many things to tell him about his relatives who are not in the land of the living. Two years ago his mother passed away. Quite often his mother’s soul comes to me, only for my blessings and blessings.

There will be no end, no end. We have only to go forward. My relatives, my brothers and sisters, do not allow me to feel sad. They tell me not to mourn. As soon as I feel sad, immediately they make a special request or they command me, “Go forward, go forward, go forward!” My brother Mantu also has the same message: “Go forward, go forward! Do not think of me. Just go forward! You have so many things to do for this world.”

I have played my role⁷

I do not know, or perhaps I do know, when the hour will strike. But I do feel I have done a few things for the betterment of the world. When we see the outer situation, we feel that the present-day world has gone down considerably. But there is also another world. We call it the inner world. In the inner world a few things have been established, and those things are very, very solid. There the foundation is very strong.

If not this generation, the future generation will be able to derive tremendous benefit from what my students and I have accomplished here on earth.

If you can dive deep within, you are bound to feel that my statement is true, absolutely true.

My tiny car⁸

The car is tiny, but inside it is very compact, and I feel much more secure inside than I felt in the previous cars that I used. They were not so solid as this one.

To the end I will love the United Nations⁹

Two things the UN can do. It can bravely speak out and say what it feels is the right thing to say, and at the same time it can beg the world to come to its rescue. It can also unreservedly take advice from the nations that are most sincerely ready and eager to help the United Nations come out of a very serious crisis.

I only love the United Nations. To the end I will love and love the United Nations. One good word if I hear about the United Nations, I literally dance in the sky.

Millions of juicy stories¹⁰

I entered into Pulak’s car, and I invoked his mother. Immediately, most devotedly, his mother came to me. I blessed his mother unreservedly. Then I saw her soul seated on Pulak’s seat. In the inner world she started massaging Pulak’s right knee, and then his left knee. I said, “What are you doing? I do not think your son has any problem with his knees.”

She said, “No, but you have problems with your knees! I do not dare to touch your knees, so I am massaging my son’s knees with the hope that you will feel a little better.”

Pulak had not yet entered into the car, but on his seat, his mother’s soul was massaging his right knee and then his left knee. How much is happening in the inner world!

You may call it a cock-and-bull story, but I enjoy these stories, because I know they are true. I get such joy when the souls come and tell me this kind of story!

The soul’s world is as real as this world, but there is a wall between the two worlds. Then again, that wall can be transparent for some individuals. When it is transparent, you can see what is on the other side. For one eye, the third eye, everything is transparent. For our ordinary naked eyes, nothing is transparent. Even if somebody stands in front of you, there is a lid, there is a cover, so you cannot see his inner reality. But when you can use the third eye, there is no obstruction, no cover.

One day you, like me, will have millions of juicy stories in your life. When you realise God, at that time you will be able to tell millions of stories. That day has to dawn, either in the near future or in the distant future.

Accept and reject¹¹

Do not give up, do not give up, do not give up, do not give up! Since you have accepted the spiritual life, do not give up, do not give up! Be brave, be brave to accept the things that are needed to make the fastest progress, and be brave, be brave to reject ruthlessly plus immediately, immediately, the things that are preventing you from making the fastest progress.

In the spiritual life there are only two realities: accept and reject, accept and reject. Then, go beyond and beyond and beyond and beyond. Anything that has to be rejected, reject it sooner than at once, immediately. These wrong forces do not want to be rejected, so we have to reject them ruthlessly. You have seen how hard football players kick the football. Like that, you also have to kick the wrong forces that attack you. As you see the players kick the football during a game, you can take the wrong forces as a football, and kick them as hard as possible.

Complaint and solution¹²

Today a disciple told me that when two other disciples work together in a Divine Enterprise, they talk and talk and talk and talk. They ruin his concentration and his inner communion with his Guru while he is also working.

I wish to say that work is work. Work cannot be replaced by unnecessary talking. Please give importance to your work. When it is necessary, definitely you can talk. But unnecessary talking is not good, either for you or for others who do not want to lose their concentration or their love for work.

This request applies to all the Divine Enterprises.

"Give me no freedom"¹³

By taking freedom, freedom, freedom from our Inner Pilot, we dig deep our inner grave. The moment He gives us freedom, we are apt to do something wrong, and that very thing will take us away from our own most sincere commitment to God’s Will.

Our village priest¹⁴

This was our main priest. His son-in-law was by far the greatest scholar, astrologer, philosopher and palmist in the village.

The Chinmoy Beena¹⁵

Ravi Shankar liked that instrument very much, so I played it for him. He immediately said that it had to be named “Chinmoy Beena.”¹⁶

Every morning, the very first thing I do is meditate, meditate. Then I play our Invocation. After “The Invocation” I play “My Lord Beloved Supreme.” Then I practise five or six instruments. First is the sitar, which I play for such a long time. Then I play the Chinese erhu. It melts my heart! Then I play a big, round, white Chinese instrument. After that I play the Chinmoy Beena, and some days the Western flute. How nicely I play the Western flute at home! Then, after a few hours, I play the cello.

Like that, daily I play seven to eight instruments at different hours. Three or four I play one after another, consecutively. I start with the sitar, and then, other instruments I play.

When I do cycling for half an hour, either I listen to my songs or to Tagore’s songs, or to other great performers. Half an hour passes by almost in the twinkling of an eye when I hear the music of superlative Indian singers. They literally melt my heart.

Occultism: love-aspect and compassion-aspect¹⁷

In my previous incarnations, my occultism had a tremendous power-aspect. Now fire has become water. My occultism has become love-aspect and compassion-aspect. It has changed its form: love, compassion, forgiveness. Before, my occultism had a tremendously frightening aspect. Now, in this incarnation, my occultism has taken a different form.

Occultism does not mean only to threaten and frighten. It can also be used to raise the consciousness of someone who has perhaps descended lower than the lowest. As soon as I approach someone, I may lift him higher than the highest. That is also occult power. Occult power does not mean only to show fire!

Mantu gives away my harmoniums¹⁸

The first harmonium Mantu gave away because somebody had an excellent singing voice, so Mantu felt that he deserved it. He came of a very poor family, and he could not afford a harmonium, so Mantu gave it to him. The second time, somebody had an excellent singing voice and he did not come from a poor family, but my brother felt that he needed a harmonium.

On the third occasion, Mantu gave a harmonium to somebody who had scored higher marks and transcended my record in the decathlon. He also had a good singing voice, and he did not have a harmonium. My brother gave the third harmonium to that fellow who had defeated me!

When I was doing sports, all the worries and anxieties fell upon my Mantu. On my sports day he had absolutely no peace of mind. On this occasion Mantu was so happy, not because that fellow had transcended my performance, but because he saw that the ashramites were progressing. When people progressed, whether it was his brother or somebody else, Mantu got such joy.

The third harmonium that Mantu gave away was really an excellent one. When Mantu told me, “He defeated you,” I said, “You suffered so much on my sports days!”

Mantu replied, “I want progress.” Our philosophy my brother was teaching me! “You want progress, you want progress. This fellow has done much better than you in the decathlon, so he deserves the third harmonium.”

I could not believe it! Mantu was giving me a lecture on progress, and he was the one who used to worry so much during my sports competitions.

During one of my visits, an ashramite said to me, “I taught you how to play the harmonium.” He taught me a quite a few songs — twenty or thirty, or even more. He said, “Now you have to give me absolutely the best harmonium available in Calcutta — the very best!”

I said that I would soon be leaving, so I gave him the money. The very best harmonium, according to him, he bought for himself.

We were like members of the same family, that gentleman and I. He had nobody. When he passed away, naturally the harmonium would come back to our family. But somebody took the harmonium away. My brother Mantu did not have the inclination to get it back. He said, “Since somebody has taken it, perhaps that person needed it.”

Somebody who was jealous of the person who had taken the harmonium away came to my brother and said, “Now take it back! You must get the harmonium.”

Mantu said, “It is too late. I cannot do this.”

So that man went and fought with the man who had taken the harmonium. He brought the harmonium back to my brother, because he was jealous of the person who had taken it away.

Again, the very best harmonium went to the person who had defeated me in the decathlon.

This is my brother Mantu!

Not humiliation, but illumination¹⁹

Once Arjuna went to Sri Krishna’s place, Dwaraka. Sri Krishna was so happy to see Arjuna. They were chatting and chatting about everything — cabbages and kings.

A middle-aged brahmin came and pleaded with Sri Krishna to fulfil a strong desire of his. He and his wife had had very bad fortune. His wife would give birth to a baby and then, in a few hours, the baby would die. It had happened twice. He and his wife were so miserable. The brahmin came to Sri Krishna for the protection of his third baby. His wife would soon give birth to another baby, so he was begging Sri Krishna to save the baby this time.

Sri Krishna was only interested in talking about family affairs with Arjuna. Sri Krishna was not paying any attention to the Brahmin, but Arjuna felt very sad for this man. He was begging and begging Sri Krishna to help the man. Finally Arjuna said to the brahmin, “I am going to save your baby! I am coming to your place. As soon as the baby is born, I will protect him. Nobody will be able to kill him, nobody on earth! And if I cannot protect your son, I will kill myself.”

The brahmin said, “No, not that kind of promise! I cannot accept that kind of promise!”

But Arjuna said, “I know I will be able to protect your child. There will be no problem! I will come and protect him. But in case I cannot keep my promise, I will commit suicide by throwing myself into a burning fire.”

Again the brahmin said, “No, I cannot allow you to do this.”

Arjuna said, “I know what I am doing. I will be able to save your child. Do not worry!”

Sri Krishna gave his sanction, and he made the brahmin feel that Arjuna would be able to protect his child.

Arjuna had full confidence. He was a warrior; everywhere he could protect everybody! He could kill any enemy; he could protect anyone; he could do anything. Arjuna went with the brahmin to the brahmin’s place.

The following day the brahmin’s wife gave birth to a beautiful baby. After four or five hours, right in front of Arjuna, the little one died. The mother was crying, the father was crying, but the father was begging Arjuna not to take his life. Arjuna said, “No, I am a kshatriya! I want to, I have to kill myself. I have to keep my promise!” Although the brahmin had lost the child, the brahmin was begging Arjuna not to take his life, but Arjuna did not want to listen; he wanted to kill himself.

Arjuna was all ready; he was about to enter into the fire. Then who appeared? Sri Krishna appeared, and he stopped Arjuna. Arjuna said, “No, I must keep my promise.”

Sri Krishna said, “Yes, I want you to keep your promise, but let us do something first.”

Arjuna said, “I do not want to hear anything! I want to keep my promise.”

Sri Krishna said, “Can we not do something first? The Creator is Brahma. These three little ones are Brahma’s creation. Let us go and ask Brahma why it happened, why these newborn babies died. What was the reason? What has the brahmin done, or what has his wife done, or what is wrong with the family?”

Sri Krishna and Arjuna went to Brahma. Sri Krishna asked Brahma, “Please tell us, O Creator, why, why that poor brahmin family has to suffer? You created these children. Are you not responsible for the death of these babies? Please tell us the reason for their death.”

Brahma said, “The reason is very simple. Inwardly I have been begging you, Krishna, to come and visit me, with your dearest friend-disciple Arjuna, but you do not listen! You do not listen to me, and I have been dying to see you. I wanted you both to come here, so I created everything. There was no other way to bring you here. Only in this way was I able to bring you to my palace.”

They all talked and talked, and Brahma was so pleased. Then Brahma said, “Not only the last one, but the previous two children also I am sending back to the family.” One child was six years old, one was four years old, and one was a newborn baby. They all came back to that family.

This is our Indian mythological story! In order to see Sri Krishna, Brahma created this whole situation. The wife gave birth, but Brahma the Creator would not allow Vishnu to preserve the child. He would give life, and then he would take it away. Why? Only because Sri Krishna was not listening to Brahma’s request in the inner world. Although he could go to Sri Krishna in the subtle body, Brahma wanted to bring Sri Krishna to him, because Sri Krishna at that time was in the physical world. In order to see Sri Krishna and Arjuna, Brahma did all this.

From time to time I will tell you stories. I will be very happy if you can dramatise them. And you can embellish them in your own way, the way you have done during our Christmas Trips. I used to tell two-line jokes and you made them into two-page stories! You showed your extraordinary talents, and I was so proud of you.

These kinds of stories have their own inner significance. The inner significance you know. Sri Krishna’s absolutely dearest was Arjuna, but Sri Krishna wanted to smash Arjuna’s pride. He did not want Arjuna to have pride. For hours and hours Arjuna would pray to the Highest, with countless flowers. But so much pride entered into Arjuna! You know the famous story about Bhima. Bhima used to put his fingers to his third eye for two seconds. Like that, before he ate he used to invoke Lord Shiva. People were carrying carts of flowers for the worship of Lord Shiva, and Arjuna was praying for hours and hours. But Sri Krishna smashed Arjuna’s pride by appreciating Bhima. Not how many hours, but how sincerely and how devotedly we pray: that is of paramount importance.

Many, many times Sri Krishna smashed Arjuna’s pride. Why? Because pride is our worst enemy. When our pride is smashed, it is not humiliation; it is illumination. The human in us will take it as humiliation when our pride is smashed into pieces. But the divine in us will take it as the most significant experience of illumination.

If somebody scolds you or insults you, do not take it as humiliation. If you dive deep within, you will find that it is not humiliation, but illumination. That illumination can come from a street beggar or from somebody else who appears to be infinitely inferior to you. God can give us illumination in His inimitable Way.

Forever his inner guru²⁰

This individual came to our Divine Enterprise with boundless enthusiasm, inspiration, joy and pride. While looking at one of my pictures, he said to the workers that I shall forever remain his inner Guru. I am the one who will remain his inner Guru, but he does not know who his outer Guru is.

We all have the same outer Guru: the mind. In our outer life we do not have to go very far to find our Guru. Our outer Guru, the mind, is omnipresent. But our heart’s Guru is our Lord Absolute Beloved Supreme. The Guru of our outer life, the mind, we must grab and forcefully place at the Feet of our inner Guru, who is none other than the Absolute Supreme.

The outer Guru, the mind, is giving us such painful experiences almost every day. The inner Guru, the Absolute Supreme, our Beloved Father, comes to us every day, every hour, every minute and every second. He pleads with us only to do one thing: to be one with His Will. He begs us to be one with His Will in our outer life and in our inner life as well. He pleads with us not to have our self-styled pride-will, but only to be one with His Will.

Ila²¹

Needless to say, Ila’s humorous aspect we have enjoyed immensely over the years. Outwardly she was an iron rod. Inwardly she was as soft as marshmallow. Her softness-heart was most remarkable, and her outer strictness was also most remarkable.

Let me say something about her humorous aspect. Ila’s soul was here for a long time. Only a minute ago she left. While you were singing the song Jibaner bhar_ <html><a href="#fn22" id="fnref22">²²</a></html> so soulfully, she said to me, “My Guru, if this kind of appreciation and adulation your children are going to offer me, then I am ready to take birth every morning and die every evening!” This is Ila! So many things I can tell about her. If I do so, it will be a huge book, with hundreds of pages. My soul, my heart and my life shall forever treasure her, for among those who think, feel and know who I truly am, perhaps she stands foremost. She continuously felt my inner heights, and for that I shall remain eternally, eternally grateful to her. <html>