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Taoshobuddha A Production of TAOSHOBUDDHA MEDITATIONS
ON EMOTIONS
ON EMOTIONS Meditation the inner flowering Š 2009, Taoshobuddha
Printed and Published by TAOSHOBUDDHA MEDITATIONS and TAOSHOBUDDHA Cover design and graphics: Anand Neelamber Photography: Taoshobuddha
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The word Taoshobuddha comes from three words, ‘tao,’ ‘sho,’ and ‘Buddha’. The word Tao was coined by the Chinese master, Lau Tzu. It means that which is and cannot be put into words. It is unknown and unknowable. It can only be experienced and not expressed in words. Its magnanimity cannot be condensed into finiteness. The word Sho implies, that which is vast like the sky and deep like an oc carries within its womb a treasure. It also means one on whom the existence showers its blessings. And lastly the word Buddha implies the Enlightened One; one who has arrived home. Thus, Taoshobuddha implies one who is existential, on whom the existence showers its blessings and one who has arrived home. The Enlightened One!
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I am here for all that existence wants me to be. Therefore I go on allowing happening all that existence has sent me for. And whatsoever the existence does not want to happen I will not allow happening. My being is absorbed in god. This is totality. And this, the word ‘god’ means to me. This is flowing in god or cosmic harmony. And the moment this happened, I became suddenly all - infinite - oceanic... And now sour in infinite sky effortlessly....
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Contents 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
On Emotions Fears are by-products of identification This boat too is empty Duality of emotions Mind is prison Love the taste of new consciousness Moment in totality Relationship is mirror Synchronicity Love and relationship
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On Emotions Worldwide meditation session Nov 14, 15, and 16 Trinidad, India, Florida, Boston, and Sweden 6-7 Am Eastern
Questions from Lars Jensens , Sweden QUESTION 1:
I
s there another way to come close to God than constant remembrance of Master, awareness, mindfulness and meditation? All life the mind is used to follow its own habits, so it is very hard to change the mind’s direction now?
QUESTION 2: If there are time for it during this session tomorrow and if you think that it is proper to speak about it, she also wants to know what emotions are. How do the emotions arise in us? Please speak on Emotions in general and also emotions like jealousy and fear. Everybody says that they believe in God, but even so everybody is afraid. How can we be afraid if we really believe in God?
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Fears are by-products of identification.
W
hen a mood against someone or for someone arises, do not place it on the person in questions, but remain centered. If hate arises for someone or against someone, or love arises for someone, what do we do? We project it on the person. If you feel hate toward me, you forget yourself completely in your hate; only I become your object. If you feel love toward me, you forget yourself completely; only I become the object. You project your love or hate or whatsoever upon me. You forget completely the inner center of your being; the other becomes the center. This sutra says when hate arises or love arises, or any mood for or against anyone, do not project it on the person in question. Remember, you are the source of it. I love you — the ordinary feeling is that you are the source of my love. That is not really so. I am the source; you are just a screen on which I project my love.
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ON EMOTIONS You are just a screen; I project my love on you and I say that you are the source of my love. This is not fact, this is fiction. I draw my love energy and project it onto you. In that love energy projected onto you, you become loveable. You may not be loveable to someone else; you may be absolutely repulsive to someone else. Why? If you are the source of love, then everyone will feel loving toward you, but this does not happen because you are not the source. I project love, then you become loveable; someone projects hate, then you become repulsive. And someone else doesn’t project anything, he is indifferent; he may not even have looked at you. What is happening? We are projecting our own moods upon others. That is why, if you are on your honeymoon, the moon looks beautiful, miraculous, wonderful. It seems that the whole world is different. And on the same night, just for your neighbor, this miraculous night may not be in existence at all. His child has died — then the same moon is just sad, intolerable. But for you it is enchanting, fascinating; it creates passion. Why? Is the moon the source or is the moon just a screen and you are projecting yourself? This sutra says, when a mood against someone or for someone arises, do not place it on the person in question — or on the object in question. Remain centered. Meditation the inner flowering
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ON EMOTIONS Remember that you are the source, so do not move to the other, move to the source. When you feel hate, do not go to the object. Go to the point from where the hate is coming. Go not to the person to whom it is going, but to the center from where it is coming. Move to the center, go within. Use your hate or love or anger or anything as a journey toward your inner center, to the source. Move to the source and remain centered there. Try it! This is a very, very scientific, psychological technique. Someone has insulted you — anger suddenly erupts, you are feverish. Anger is flowing toward the person who has insulted you. Now you will project this whole anger onto him. He has not done anything. If he has insulted you, what has he done? He has just pricked you, he has helped your anger to arise — but the anger is yours. If he goes to Buddha and insults him, he will not be able to create any anger in him. Or if he goes to Jesus, Jesus will give him the other cheek. Or if he goes to Bodhidharma, he will roar with laughter. So it depends. The other is not the source; the source is always within you. The other is hitting the source, but if there is no anger within you it cannot come out. If you hit a Buddha, only compassion will come out because only compassion is there. Anger will not come out because anger is not there. If you throw a bucket into a dry well, nothing comes out. In a water-filled well, you throw a bucket and water Meditation the inner flowering
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ON EMOTIONS comes out, but the water is from the well. The bucket only helps to bring it out. So one who is insulting you is just throwing a bucket in you, and then the bucket will come out filled with the anger, hate, or fire that was within you. You are the source, remember. For this technique, remember that you are the source of everything that you go on projecting onto others. And whenever there is a mood against or for, immediately move within and go to the source from where this hate is coming. Remain centered there; do not move to the object. Someone has given you a chance to be aware of your own anger — thank him immediately and forget him. Close your eyes, move within, and now look at the source from where this love or anger is coming from? Go within, move within. You will find the source there because the anger is coming from your source. Hate or love or anything is coming from your source. And it is easy to go to the source at the moment you are angry or in love or in hate, because then you are hot. It is easy to move in then. The wire is hot and you can take it in, you can move inward with that hotness. And when you reach a cool point within, you will suddenly realize a different dimension, a different world opening before you. Use anger, use hate, use love to go within. We use it always to move to the other, and we feel very much frustrated if no one is there to project upon. Then we go Meditation the inner flowering
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ON EMOTIONS on projecting even on inanimate objects. I have seen persons being angry at their shoes, throwing them in anger. What are they doing? I have seen angry persons pushing a door in anger, throwing their anger on the door, abusing the door, using dirty language against the door. What are they doing?
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This boat too is empty
I
will end with one Zen insight about this. One of the greatest of Zen masters, Lin Chi, used to say, “While I was young I was very fascinated by boating. I had one small boat, and I would go on the lake alone. For hours together I would remain there.” Once it happened that with closed eyes I was in my boat meditating on the beautiful night. One empty boat came floating downstream and struck my boat. My eyes were closed, so I thought, ‘Someone is here with his boat, and he has struck my boat.’ Anger arose. I opened my eyes and I was just going to say something to that man in anger, then I realized that the boat was empty. Then there was no way to move. To whom could I express the anger? The boat was empty. It was just floating downstream, and it had come and struck my boat. So there was nothing to do. There was no possibility to project the anger on an empty boat.”
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ON EMOTIONS So Lin Chi said, “I closed my eyes. The anger was there, but finding no way out, I closed my eyes and just floated backward with the anger. And that empty boat became my realization. I came to a point within myself in that silent night. That empty boat was my master. And now if someone comes and insults me, I laugh and I say, ‘This boat is also empty.’ I close my eyes and I go within.” You can use this technique. It may work miracles for you. It has worked for Lin Chi. The choice is yours. I am simply sharing my insights.
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Duality of emotions
E
motions always exist in pairs of opposites. The real solution is going beyond these emotions. Love and hate; love and fear stay together. These are two sides of the same coin. You love a woman and with the love, in the same parcel comes fear. She may leave you — she has already left somebody and come with you. There is a precedent; perhaps she will do the same to you. There is fear! You feel knots in the stomach. You are too much attached. You cannot get a simple fact: you have come alone in the world; you have been here yesterday also, without this woman, perfectly well, without any knots in the stomach. And tomorrow if this woman goes...what is the need of the knots? You know how to be without her, and you will be able to be without her once again. The fear arises because things may change tomorrow. Somebody may die, you may go bankrupt, and your job may be taken away. There are a thousand and one things which may change. You are burdened with more and more fears, and none of them are valid because yesterday also you were full of all these fears, unnecessarily. Things may have changed but you are Meditation the inner flowering
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ON EMOTIONS still alive. And man has an immense capacity to adjust himself in any situation. It is said that only man and cockroaches have this immense capacity of adjustment. That’s why wherever you find man you will certainly find cockroaches, and wherever you find cockroaches you will find man. They go together, they have a similarity. Even in faraway places like the North Pole or the South Pole you will find. When man traveled to those places he suddenly found that he had brought cockroaches with him, and they were perfectly healthy and living and reproducing. If you just look around the earth you can see: man lives in thousands of different climates, geographical situations, political situations, sociological situations, religious situations, but he manages to live. And he has lived for centuries. Things go on changing, and yet still he goes on adjusting himself. There is nothing to fear. Even if the world ends so what there is nothing to worry? You will be ending with it. Do you think you will be standing on an island and the whole world will end, leaving you alone? Don’t be worried. At least you will have a few cockroaches with you! What is the problem if the world ends? It has been asked to me many times. But what is the problem? — if it ends, let it end. It does not create any problem because we will not be here. We will be ending with it, Meditation the inner flowering
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ON EMOTIONS and there will be no one to worry about. It will be really the greatest freedom from fear. The world ending means every problem ending, every disturbance ending, and every knot in your stomach ending too. I don’t see the problem. But I know that everybody is full of fear. But the question is the same: the fear is part of the mind. The mind is a coward, and has to be a coward because it doesn’t have any substance. It is empty and hollow, and it is afraid of everything. And basically it is afraid that one day you may become aware. That will be really the end of the world! Not the end of the world but your becoming aware. You are coming to a state of meditation where mind has to disappear. That is its basic fear. Because of that fear it keeps people away from meditation, makes them enemies of people like me who are trying to spread something of meditation, some way of awareness and witnessing. They become antagonistic to me. Not without any reason; their fear is well-founded. They may not be aware of it, but their mind is really afraid to come close to anything that can create more awareness. That will be the beginning of the end of the mind. That will be the death of the mind. But for you there is no fear. The death of the mind will be your rebirth, your beginning to really live. You should be happy, you should rejoice in the death of the mind, because nothing can be a greater freedom. Nothing else Meditation the inner flowering
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ON EMOTIONS can give you wings to fly into the sky; nothing else can make the whole sky yours.
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Mind is prison
M
an lives in mind. As is the mind so is the man. Mind is the prison. Indeed man is awareness. This he has forgotten. The whole process of transformation requires awareness to be out of the prison — or realizing it has never been in the prison; it was just thinking that it was in the prison. All fears disappear. I am also living in the same world, but I have never felt for a single moment any fear because nothing can be taken away from me. I can be killed but I will be seeing it happening, so what is being killed is not me, is not my awareness. The greatest discovery in life, the most precious treasure, is of awareness. Without it you are bound to be in darkness, full of fears. And you will go on creating new fears; there is no end to it. You will live in fear, you will die in fear, and you will never be able to taste something of freedom. And it was all the time your potential; any moment you could have claimed it, but you never claimed it. It is your responsibility.
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Love the taste of new Consciousness
L
ove is the taste of new consciousness. A new man is emerging. The image of the new man is not yet clear, but the horizon is becoming red and the sun will soon be there. The morning mist is there and the image of the new man is vague, but still a few things are very crystal clear about the new man. This new man has the taste of consciousness. He is the outcome of new consciousness. And this is of tremendous importance because since the monkey became man, man has remained the same. A great revolution is on the way. It will be far more deepgoing than the revolution that happened when monkeys started walking on the earth and became human beings. That change created mind and brought psychology in. Now another far more significant change is going to happen that will bring the soul in, and man will not only be a psychological being but a spiritual being too. You are living in one of the most alive times ever. The new man has already arrived in fragments, but only in Meditation the inner flowering
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fragments. And the new man has been arriving for centuries, but only here and there. That’s how things happen. When the spring comes it starts with one flower. But when the one flower is there, then one can be certain: that spring is not faraway – it has come. The first flower has heralded its coming: Zarathustra, Krishna, Lao Tzu, Buddha, Jesus – these were the first flowers. Now the new man is going to be born on a greater scale. According to me, this new consciousness is the most important thing that is happening today. I would like to tell you something about this new consciousness, its orientations, and its characteristics, because you are to help it come out of the womb – because you HAVE TO BE IT. The new man cannot come from nowhere; he has to come through you. The new man can only be born through your womb. You have to become the womb. Sannyas is an experiment to clean the ground so that new seeds can fall in. If you understand the meaning of the new man, you will be able to understand the significance of sannyas too. And it is because sannyas is concerned with the new man that the old orthodoxies of all kinds are going to be against me and against sannyas, because this will be their end. If sannyas succeeds, if the new man succeeds, Meditation the inner flowering
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ON EMOTIONS the old will have to go. The old can live only if the new man is prevented from coming. It cannot be prevented now, because it is not only a question of the new man’s coming into existence, it is a question of the survival of the whole earth, of consciousness itself, of life itself. It is a question of life and death. The old man has come to utter destructiveness. The old man has reached the end of his tether. Now there is no life possible with the old concept of man but only death. The old man is preparing for a global suicide. The old man is piling up atom bombs, hydrogen bombs, in order to commit a collective suicide. This is a very unconscious desire. Rather than allowing the new man to be, the old man would like to destroy the whole thing. You have to understand, you have to protect the new, because the new carries the whole future with it. And man has come to a stage where a great quantum leap is possible. The old man was other-worldly, the old man was against this world. The old man was always looking to the heavens. The old man was more concerned with life after death than life before death. The new man’s concern will be life before death. The new man’s concern will be THIS life, because if this life is taken care of, the other will follow of its own accord. One need not worry about it, one need not think about Meditation the inner flowering
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ON EMOTIONS it. The old man was too concerned with God. That concern was out of fear. The new man will not be concerned with God, but will live and love this world, and out of that love he will experience the existence of God.
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Moment in Totality
T
he old man was speculative; the new man is going to be existential. The old man can be defined in the Upanishadic statement: NETI-NETI, not this, not this. The old man was negative – life-negative, life-denying. The new man will be life-affirming: ITI-ITI, this and this. The old man’s concern was THAT, the new man’s concern will be this, because out of this that is born, and if you become too concerned with that, you miss both. Tomorrow is in the womb of today. Take care of today and you have taken care of tomorrow. There is no need to be in any way worried about tomorrow. If you become too worried about tomorrow you have missed today. And tomorrow will come as today – it always comes as today. If you have learned this suicidal habit of missing today, you will miss tomorrow also. You will go on missing. The old man was continuously missing, was miserable, sad. And because he was sad he was against the world, he blamed the world, he blamed SAMSARA. He said, ’It is because of the world that I am in misery.’ It is not so. The world is immensely beautiful, it is all beauty, bliss and benediction. Meditation the inner flowering
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There is nothing wrong with the world. Something was wrong with the old mind. The old mind was either pastoriented or future-oriented, which are not really different orientations. The old mind was concerned with that which is not. The new man will be utterly in tune with that which is, because it is God, it is reality: iti-iti, this is it. This moment has to be lived in its totality. This moment has to be lived in its spontaneity, with no A PRIORI ideas. The old man was carrying ready-made answers. He was stuffed with philosophy, religion and all kinds of nonsense. The new man is going to live life without any A PRIORI conclusion about it. Without any conclusion one has to face existence, and then one knows what it is. If you have already concluded, your conclusion will become a barrier. It will not allow you inquiry – your conclusion will become a blindfold. It will not allow you to see the truth – your investment will be in the conclusion. You will distort reality to fit your conclusion. That’s what has been done up to now. The new man will not be Hindu, will not be Mohammedan, will not be Christian, will not be communist. The new man will not know all these ’isms’. The new man will simply be an opening, a window to reality. He will allow reality as it is. He will not project his own mind upon it. He will not use reality as a screen. His eyes will be available; they will not be full of ideas. Meditation the inner flowering
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ON EMOTIONS The new man will not live out of belief, he will simply live. And remember; only those who can simply live, without belief, come to know what truth is. The believer or the disbeliever never comes to know what truth is. Their beliefs are too heavy on their minds. They are surrounded too much by their belief systems. The new man will not know any belief system. He will watch, he will observe, he will see, he will live, and he will allow all kinds of experiences. He will be available, he will be multi dimensional. The old man lived out of fear – even his GoHe will not carry scriptures in his head, he will carry only alertness awareness. He will be meditative.d was nothing but a creation out of fear. His temples, mosques, GURUDWARAS, churches – they were all out of fear. He was trembling, he was afraid. The new man will live out of love, not out of fear, because fear serves death, love serves life. And if you live out of fear you will never know what life is, you will only know death again and again. And remember, the person who lives out of fear creates all kinds of situations in which he has to feel more and more fear. Yom fear creates situations, just as your love creates situations. If you love, you will find so many occasions to be loving. If you are afraid, you will find so many occasions to be afraid. Love is going to be the taste of the new consciousness. Because fear was the taste of the old Meditation the inner flowering
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ON EMOTIONS consciousness it created wars. In three thousand years man has fought five thousand wars – as if we have not been doing nything else – continuous fighting somewhere or other. This is a very mad state of affairs. Humanity’s past is insane. The new man will become discontinuous with this insane past. He will believe in love, not in war. He will believe in life, not in death. He will be creative, not destructive. His science, his art – all will serve creativity. He will not create bombs. He will not be political, because politics is out of hatred.
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Relationship – the Mirror Question You said relationship is the mirror. In the process of relating the other becomes a mirror. And when you look into this mirror of relationship you can really see how far you have progressed inwardly. Why is it so difficult? Why do people tend to move out of relationships so easily or avoid out rightly? Please explain. Taoshobuddha responds: You have to understand the very nature of relationship. Also there is a way to relate. We tend to give too much importance to relationships rather to the way of relating. Relating is the outcome of meditation. When someone attains to meditation he learns the art of relating. Relationship is indeed the mirror of one's inward growth. Relating is the meditative way of living. You see Meditation the inner flowering
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ON EMOTIONS people around you, claiming to be meditators but when you look into their lives there is no bliss overflowing either through their living or through their words. This is a sad plight. Hardly ever you really see someone who is emotionally mature. When you begin to relate or enter into any relationship there always remains the fear of commitment. It is because of this that all problems arise in life. You find yourself incapable of making decisions. Remember it is only through decisions that you attain to consciousness. Also when you take the responsibility of your decisions and stand by these that you become more and more conscious. In this process you attain to crystallization. This brings sharpness and maturity as well. In the absence you remain dull. When you look around you will observe people moving from one master to another, also people move from one temple to another. This does not mean that these persons are really seekers. It is so because such persons are incapable of making decisions. And this is the way to avoid commitment. Something like this happens when it comes to human relationships. You go on moving from one person to another. And you think that you are really a great lover. This simply indicates that you are not a lover indeed. In fact you are really avoiding any deep commitment. What really happens with commitment is that there comes deep involvement, and also the problems relating to this. In this process you have to face Meditation the inner flowering
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ON EMOTIONS problems and also the pain associated with it. So you try to play safe. And this you do by not going deep into with anyone. There remains a fear that if you go deep you may not be able to come out of the relationship. Whatever be the nature of relationship, be it worldly or beyond you never go deeper into the relationship. You want to remain on the surface. On the surface you only see the duality, the superfluous. You can stand on the sea shore and say that you have seen the ocean. On the surface you only see the waves. Neither the wave neither is the ocean nor is the sum total of all waves ocean. Waves arise on the surface of the ocean. Waves are multiple and the ocean is one. In order to know truth you have to dive deep into the womb of the ocean. There lie the treasures. So too on the surface of the relationship you only see the superfluous. To discover Truth you have to dive deep into the relationship. Your fear of commitment, problems, hurt etc., keep you away from going deeper into any relationship and thus discovering the inner treasure of serenity, bliss, ecstasy, and oneness. All that keep you away from going deeper is because of EGO. Such an experience is that what you call as God Realization or Self Realization. In fact it is wrong to call it a relationship or experience. But mystics are always in difficulty. What they actually want to communicate is beyond words. And words are incapable to encompass all that is. Because all that is, is really magnanimous. Beyond words! Hindus call this as ANHAT NAAD - THE UNCREATED. Meditation the inner flowering
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ON EMOTIONS If you go deep into any relations then there is the fear that you may not come back. And if you go deep into somebody, then that person will also go deeper into you. Such a phenomena is proportionate. Because if I go really deep into you this is the way that allows you to go deep into me. It is a sharing. The fear remains that this can entangle you. And will certainly entangle you. This brings pain. So you want to play safe. This you do by meeting on the surface only. All your so called relationships are superfluous and remain on the surface. Husband and wives may remain for a long time together- 50-60 years together. And they say there is too much love. But in reality it is not love. What actually happens when too people stay together for sometime there happens TOGETHERNESS. And this is mistaken for LOVE. Love is the shadow of meditation. When meditation happens there comes the experience of inner oneness. And as the fragrance of meditation Love springs forth. Such a phenomena is rarely seen. What you really see around are meetings of two bodies not the souls. Such are hit and run love affairs. You tend to run before you are caught. This is what you see around. People have become so juvenile, and childish that they are losing all sense of maturity. By maturity I do not mean physical maturity. I mean inner or spiritual maturity. Maturity comes only when you are ready to face the pain of your being. Maturity comes when you are ready to face the challenge. And remember there is no greater challenge Meditation the inner flowering
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ON EMOTIONS than love. Remember to live happily with another person is the greatest challenge in the world. You can live peacefully alone. It is very easy. However, it is very difficult to live peacefully, joyfully and meditatively with another person. More so when the someone else is your wife or husband it becomes almost impossible. What happens then is that now two ego collide, two worlds collide. It is also the explosion of two differently understood worlds. Then how can the two opposite poles meet? How can the two be attracted to one another? They are totally different, almost opposite, polar opposites. Then the meeting happens only on the surface and there is no question of the merger of two worlds, two egos. Two worlds, two souls can merge only when the egos dissolve. Therefore it is very difficult to be peaceful and loving in a relationship, because that is the challenge. And if you escape from that, you escape from maturity. If you go into it with all the pain, agony, and all that a relationship brings and still continue delving deeper and deeper into it, and then by and by the pain becomes a blessing, the conflict becomes a synergistic harmony. And then by and by, through the conflict, and friction, crystallization happens. Through the struggle you become more alert, more aware. The other becomes like a mirror to you. You can see your ugliness in the other. The other provokes your unconscious, brings it to the surface. And when you are aware then you continue to grow in maturity. And what Meditation the inner flowering
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ON EMOTIONS then happens... no words can encompass the magnanimity of it. It is like a dumb has now tasted the sweet fruit. He cannot describe the taste. Only through silent gestures he can speak of the inner happening. You can only come to know all hidden parts of your being through the mirror of relationship. These are to be mirrored, reflected, in a relationship. This I call easier, because there is no other way — but it is hard. It is hard, arduous, because you will have to change through it. And when you break the mirror how can there be the reflection of the hidden parts of your being, your ugliness, your ego, etc. And when these are not reflected there is no way to improve or let the inner beauty to manifest. So too when you come to a Master there comes an even greater challenge before you. Because then you have to decide quickly. The problem is greater because you have to choose the unknown, and unknowable. Also your decision has to be total and absolute. This is not a child's game. And once you have made a decision there is no return. This brings so much conflict. So the easiest way is not to go on changing continuously. This is the way to avoid yourself. And you will remain soft, babyish. And maturity will not happen to you. Only the unknown and the unknowable should have a call for you because that you have not yet lived; you have not moved in that territory. Move! Something new will definitely happen then only your silent gestures.....! Meditation the inner flowering
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ON EMOTIONS Therefore, O fool always go for the unknown, whatsoever be the risk, whatsoever be the outcome, and you will grow continuously. But in all circumstances you go on choosing the known and then you move in a continuous circle with the past again and again coming to the surface. You go on repeating it. And in this process you have become a CD that is moving in a repeat mode. So think through it. And decide. The sooner you can do so, the better. Postponement is really stupid. Tomorrow you will also have to decide, so why not now? And now is the precise moment. And you think that tomorrow you will be wiser than today? Do you think that tomorrow you will be livelier than today? Do you think that tomorrow you will be younger than today or fresher than today? Will tomorrow ever come????? Firstly tomorrow never comes. And tomorrow you will be older, you will be less courageous. Also there will be depletion of energy. But you go on thinking that tomorrow you will be more experienced, more cunning. As time move you are coming closer to death. The wheel of time is moving. And soon frigid claws of death will descend and seal your humble fete. Then you shan't have time to mend. And you will start wavering with more fear. Never postpone for the tomorrow. And who knows? Tomorrow may come or may not come. If you have to decide you have to decide right now. Because, transformation can only happen now and here!
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On Synchronicity Question: Can you say something on synchronicity? I have heard some of your radio talks in Trinidad through a friend in USA. While listening to these talks I found something happening within. Is it not synchronicity? Please explain. John you have realized correctly. This is synchronicity. It happens when the inner instruments of the master vibrates something begins to happen in the disciple. This I explain through music. In Indian classical music this is an established fact. If you place a sitar, musical instrument, in the corner of an empty room, and on the other side of the room, and just facing this sitar let an established musician play his sitar. You will be surprised that the strings of the other sitar in the corner will begin to vibrate the same tune. This is synchronicity. When the maestro plays his instrument the vibes begin to move in the emptiness of the room. It is like throwing a stone in a silent lake. As the stone is thrown in the silent lake waves arise and cover the entire surface of the lake thus far reaching to the shore. So too the vibes created by the musical Meditation the inner flowering
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ON EMOTIONS instrument begin to vibrate the strings of the instrument. For this, the master has to be really a very refined musician. The strings of other sitar can vibrate only if there is a very delicate touch. It actually happened in the times of an Indian Moughal emperor Akbar. He heard of this so he enquired from his master musician Tansen. Tansen said though I am a great musician. Yet still this is beyond me. However my master Haridas can do this. He is a master so he will not come to your court even you offer him the entire wealth. He lives in a nearby hut just on the other side of your palace. He is really his own master, not only that of music. This is the reason that i have never mentioned of him. I sing, i play the music because I am full of desires and expectations. Haridas will not come to your court. Only beggars like me will come to your court. In the eyes of the world he is a beggar. But the emperor was interested in listening to the master. It was then arranged for the emperor to visit the master. Tansen asked him to carry a sitar. Together they reached the master at three in the morning. It was exactly at that time the master used to play his instrument. So Tansen asked the emperor to hide outside the hut. It was exactly at that time master Haridas started playing his musical instrument. The emperor Akbar was surprised to observe that the instrument he was carrying began to vibrate the same tune. It was as if his silent instrument was replying the tune played the master. Also it appeared as if the invisible hands of the master were playing the two Meditation the inner flowering
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ON EMOTIONS instruments simultaneously. Akbar began to cry. Tears trickled down his eyes out of joy. Steadily they went back to the palace. Both of them remained silent whole day. Something like this happens between a master and a disciple who is on the borderline. Know this as synchronicity.
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ON EMOTIONS
Love and Relationship Love and relationship together bring anxiety, anguish, and turmoil. One who has never been in anxiety, anguish, and turmoil will never mature.
L
ove is not a relationship. It cannot be. Love is a state of being. Love is your inner happening. Love and relationship are seen as complimentary. With love and relationship many problems come. So these troubles, conflicts, anger, hatred, jealousy, possessiveness, domination, and a thousand and one things come with the relationship are essential. These will give you maturity. Naturally, therefore you want to go into relationship. Also it is natural whenever you enter into a relationship a part of your mind always wants to avoid it. And there are reasons . . . . First: You are lonely within. You have not discovered the other shore. You exist as one shore. And without the other shore the river of life cannot flow. Your life is moving unconsciously. You want to go into relationship. So you have a desire and a need to go into relationship. But each relationship brings problems, difficulties, Meditation the inner flowering
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ON EMOTIONS challenges, miseries, conflicts, so another part of the mind says ‘Why get into this trouble?’ And both are right! Alone you feel lonely. Alone you feel sad. Alone you feel life to be meaningless. Life’s poetry arises only when you are together with somebody. Life is meaningful only when you are in love. Otherwise it seems meaningless. Mind wonders why go on living, for what and for whom? So one part of the mind aspires to love someone, be loved by someone, share your energy, and celebrate this togetherness. The other part of the mind says to be careful each relationship turns out to be a problem – a sour one. Each relationship creates ugly scenes. Alone there are no problems. Only you are the problem. There is no other problem. However, with the other person, there are many problems and then together both of you multiply problems. One part of the mind goes on admonishing you from getting into this trouble. Alone, at least you are peaceful. You may not be happy. Right! But at least you are peaceful. In relationship, who knows if happiness will happen or not? But one thing is certain – peace will be destroyed!' This is why the conflict. It is in every human being! Each likes to love and each likes to avoid.
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ON EMOTIONS Now, one has to understand it. One thing is that right now if you avoid relationship you will not grow, you will remain stuck. You will not grow. You will remain immature. Because those challenges that relationship brings are necessary for inner growth. All these challenges are growth opportunities. Never consider these as problems. These are tasks to be done. You have to do that homework, otherwise you never grow. Just think of a man who has never been in any trouble. He will never attain to maturity. One who has never been in anxiety, anguish, turmoil; he will never mature. He will remain childish. He will not have any backbone. And any small thing will destroy him and his composure. He will not have any stamina to stand up against anything. So these troubles, conflicts, anger, hatred, jealousy, possessiveness, domination, and a thousand and one things come with the relationship. They are all great opportunities to be used to go beyond them. It is good! Certainly one day will arrive when you will not need anyone. But then there is no problem. Then you are so happy alone that there is no problem. There is no question of being related. But right now it will be very harmful for you to avoid relationships. Plunge into them, and while young go through all sorts of problematic situations so by the time you become physically mature you also attain psychological maturity. Meditation the inner flowering
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ON EMOTIONS Otherwise what happens? People become physically mature. Whereas, psychologically they remain childish you will find them everywhere. Their face looks as if they are fifty and if you just scratch the surface you will find a twelve – year – old child. Deep within they remain psychologically immature. Inside they are just stupid children. So this is for you to decide. One thing is certain maturity and growth comes through difficulties. I always favor difficulties. Therefore, never avoid them! Whenever you find a difficulty, make it a challenge. Forget about everything else and jump into the difficulty. And to love a difficult person is one of the most beautiful experiences. Never find a person who has no difficulties! He will not be of any help to you. Nothing will come out of him. This is the crux of love and relationship.
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