Ones of Divinity – compiled from the talks given by Ratan Lal (1918-2006)

AWAKEN TO YOUR TRUE EXISTENCE

The Universe is none other than the mind.

The mind is none other than the Heart.

Thus, the entire story of the Universe ends with the Heart.

Actions, like going and coming, belong only to the body. So, when one says, "I went," "I came," it amounts to saying that the body is "I." The body, made up of the five elements, is non-existent in the state of deep sleep, and becomes a corpse when dead. Hence the body is not Awareness.

You say you came here to the Ashram. Who came? Only the body. The plane brought you from your country to the airport, Only the body came to the Ashram. From the airport, you came here by car or bus. These, as well as your body, are your instruments. You are pure intelligence, permanent Consciousness. The body is as inert as a stone. You should look upon the body the same way you look upon the car or the plane, namely as instruments. "You" is permanent. "You" means God. Everything external to oneself is dispensable but what is not dispensable is one's Reality.

Meditation is one of the practices recommended to every seeker in spirituality. Meditation implies a trinity: the meditator, the act of meditation, and the object of meditation. This creates a sense of dualism–one is different from the object on which one is meditating, whether that object is concrete or abstract. There is a sense of separation. One has to realize the oneness of God. Meditation is to meditate on one's Self, on one's true being, on one's true existence, which is identical with Consciousness. People say that they cannot control the mind. There are too many thoughts.

There is a very simple technique for controlling the mind. A thought comes; instead of completing the thought, ask the mind, "What is the origin of this thought?" Then one will understand the mind. When one keeps on interrupting the thoughts and tracing their origin, the thoughts will stop. Thoughts are mind. Without thoughts the mind will die of starvation. Sleep consciously to everything that is external to one's Reality. Awaken to one's existence. Without It, there is nothing. Realize that the body, emotions, and intellect are not You.

The world and samsara are said to be one's delusion. How is it that one experiences so vividly something that is unreal?

The veil of illusion (Maya) makes an individual (Jiva) forget its true nature. However, it cannot hide the eternal existence of the Self. The Self is experienced when there .is no separation. During the process of inquiry, the thought, "Who Am I?" wilt destroy all other thoughts and will itself be destroyed in the course of time. Then there will be Self–realization. The roar of the Atman silences the "I" -thought. The illusion can be said to be neither real nor unreal. When it disappears, it is unreal.

The real "I" is always at home. It is the personal "I" that seems to be homeless. The Self is nearest and dearest. Separation from it is the cause of all delusion and misery. To see the Seer or to know the Knower is like the master key that reveals the Self. By knowledge of the Self, the ego is annihilated.

The notion that the seer is different from the seen abides in the mind. The seer appears to have the visions of the world and God as separate entities. For those that ever abide in the heat, the seer is one within the seen. True vision means knowledge free from the duality of the seen and the seer. Mind, withdrawn from the sense objects, sees itself as Consciousness. That is the vision of Reality.

Self-knowledge is unique in the sense that the seeker becomes the sought and the knowing Self becomes the known. The mind is a mixture of Consciousness and thoughts. "I am the body" notion arises when Self is in association with the body.

This is the source of ego. The sentient and vibrating Consciousness has no relationship with the inert matter. The mind is nothing but a stream of thoughts passing over Consciousness. Absence of thought does not mean being blank. There must be someone to be aware of that absence. The mind sees the void. The Self has no sight or hearing. It lies beyond them, alone, as ego-less Awareness.

That which Is does not even say, "I am." Consciousness is content-less, though; it is that out of which the sense of the personal "I" arises and into which it will have to disappear. The bondage is caused by ignorance of one's liberated nature and identification of the body. Consciousness is Consciousness. It should not be conditioned by saying it is individual or cosmic.

For one, the body is real because one feels pain and hunger. How does one control it?

It is the nature of the body to feel pain. One has been brought up in such a way that one started identifying with the body in one's childhood. That is the original sin. That ignorance has to be removed. That is the purpose of spirituality. Everyone feels pain through the body. The - body feels pain because Consciousness is there. A dead body will not feel pain. Does it- say, "Do not bum me? Do not put me in a grave?" Does it have fear? If one tries to bury a living body, it will run away because life that is full of Consciousness is present.

ls it better to witness the thoughts or to stop them?

To be a witness or to stop them is the same. Do not agree with thoughts. Do not complete them. Stop them. Seek their origin. There is no answer to the question, "Who am I?" No answer that the ego gives can be right. It is a process of dissolving the "I" -thought. The answer is the experience of uninterrupted awareness, vibrating as the very essence of one's being and yet remaining impersonal.

How can one find a solution when some-one believes in a religion that says that reincarnation is not the truth?

There are some religions that do not believe in reincarnation. It is more rational to believe in rebirth, because if your son commits a blunder, should he be condemned to hell forever? Alternatively, should you be elevated to heaven forever? In any case heaven and hell are mere mental notions.

From the Advaitic point of view, there is no individual even when the body exists, and there will certainly not be any individual after death of the body. Reincarnation, on the other hand, believes that if someone· has committed a mistake he should be given another chance to improve himself by taking another birth. What takes rebirth? It is not the body that was either cremated or buried. Atma is permanent; since – it is neither born nor dies. Only the mind with its imagined tendencies dies. The tendencies that are still active at the moment of death are born again.

An example that Divine Baba has mentioned is the story of a person in his last moments. There was an owner of a shop who had four children. He had heard that at the moment of death it was important to think of God. Since he had four sons, he named them with different names of God such as Rama, Krishna, Govinda, and Narayana. When his last moment came, he called out the names of his sons, one by one. Suddenly he realized that all his sons were at his bedside and no one was minding the shop. He told his sons that since all of them were near him, he was wondering who was taking care of the shop. So, saying, he breathed his last. As a result, at the time of his death, he was in worldly thoughts and did not get the benefit by uttering God's name. Hence, one should start practicing as soon as possible and not wait till the last moment.

What is the best service one can do?

The best service is to realize the oneness with God. In order to fulfill one's responsibilities better, one has to first realize one's own Self. Ego creates attachments. If someone accomplishes a task without ego and unfairness, his mind functions better and more efficiently. Ego has likes and dislikes. Consciousness has no likes and dislikes.

Does one have a certain number of opportunities in one human life?

Once you have a human life, try to understand its purpose. Is it the same as that of animals? The animals also have biological functions. They do specific things to satisfy the needs of the body. Only to man did God give the power of reason, thinking, and intuition. For what purpose was this power given? One lives as if he were an animal. A human being lives by instinct, as the animals do. One has to rationalize one's instincts. Then, one will slowly understand the purpose of human life. A young girl from Norway has been coming to Divine Baba for the last four years. She was asked, "What-is human life for?" She replied, '·'Only for understanding Reality–life is for realizing or experiencing one's true Self." She has been attending Satsangs regularly. Many people, on the other hand, look for reasons to avoid coming to a Satsang.

There is a boy from Greece in Bhagavan's primary school. He used to come and attend this meeting. When his mother arrived sometime later, he told her that he was attending these Satsangs. She asked him if he understood anything. He said, "Yes, a little." In this child, good seeds will obviously sprout, flourish, and blossom. However, if one keeps on sowing bad seeds, later on one will have to say, "Oh, it's too difficult. I just can't." One will find one excuse or another not to come. It all depends on the individual. One has to make an effort. Without effort, one cannot have the experience of Consciousness. One is able to make effort for worldly purposes, because one expects to derive happiness out of it. When once one has tasted the bliss of the Atma (Atmananda), one will find out that only It is worth making an effort for. Know that Bliss emanates from ego–less Awareness.

When the Real Self takes possession of the mind, no effort is possible and neither is it necessary.