Welcome to Day 39 of our 40-Day Retreat.
In the last few days we have been speaking about expanding our awareness of what Guru really means. The great challenge is to see that even the physical Guru outside of us is a reflection of our own inner Guru - that we are seeing our Self in another form. Of course this is not easy to see when you are rooted in body consciousness but it’s an invitation to look at the whole spectrum of consciousness, the whole experience and seeing what it does to us.
Infinite Guru- Infinite Grace (recap)
On Day 37 we spoke about “Infinite Guru – Infinite Grace.” Guru is not just a person, as our consciousness grows we begin to see Guru as our own consciousness inside. We begin to see Guru operating in the whole Universe and we also see Guru operating in a person, so this stretches the whole awareness to see infinite Guru and to see Grace coming to you infinitely. The guiding power of the Universe we call Guru, that power that lifts us from darkness into light. Guru Gita is a very powerful scripture in taking us into this awareness.
Stages of Spiritual Awakening (recap)
Yesterday we spoke about the 3 stages in this transition and that this expansive Guru awareness doesn’t come with a click of the finger, it’s a gradual expansion. We spoke about granthis - that there are 3 granthis – the Brahma granthi, the Vishnu granthi and the Rudra granthi. These are 3 knots that need to be opened and they show 3 different levels in the awareness. It shows the transition from one level of consciousness to another, and then on to another level. For me this is very exciting to see and its shows us the different levels of experience.
When our consciousness is first opened up (the Muladhara begins to open up first), even without us knowing, we begin to experience some kind of difference in our being, when we associate with those who live in higher consciousness. We may not understand it, but our first spiritual awakening has begun.
That creative power in the Universe we call Brahma, so when the awakening of this consciousness comes, even without knowing, the Brahma knot is beginning to loosen. The Brahma granthi which I spoke about yesterday is associated with the Muladhara chakra. The Muladhara chakra roots us into body consciousness. When this opens up we begin to feel a bit more spirituality in our being. The first 2 chakras, they root us into the world – pleasure, power, procreation, survival.
When we come to the navel chakra, the Manipura chakra, we begin to experience a different kind of shift. The physical begins to change into a different kind of experience; we begin to feel a kind of power, a new kind of vitality beyond sexuality and beyond physical might. We begin to feel a new kind of power and this takes us on another journey - Vital power, emotional power, communication power - and it takes us on the journey of another 3 chakras.
During this period our spirituality is sustained in a beautiful way. By association with the Guru, we begin to see these beautiful emotional, vital and communication qualities in the Guru. We love the association but we don’t really see it as our own; we don’t claim it as our own. We begin to see it in another and we love worshiping it outside of us and we become dependant on that Source on the outside. When the Manipura is opened, the Vishnu granthi has opened.
When we come to the brow, a whole new level of consciousness comes in where we begin to own the divinity, no longer worshiping on the outside, but beginning to feel that we are a part of that. When we see the Guru outside although the Guru might be worshipable, but we want to worship our Self, we want to come into a new space where “I can be like that person, I can be like that Guru, I’m feeling that Guru power in me.” So a whole new awareness comes in where we begin to claim our divinity. That’s the Rudra granthi. Now we’re destroying the lower ego and we’re coming into a higher ego.
It is exciting to see how our level of consciousness changes and the way we view the Guru changes. The Guru becomes our Self when this chakra is opened up. When these chakras in the Vishnu granthi area are functioning we love the Guru outside, we depend a lot on the Guru outside and we love the association with the Guru outside. This chakra allows us to come into our own inner Guru. This is a very important process.
Guru Gita Verses – Describe the Liberated One
Today on the 39th Day, I want to speak about some verses of Guru Gita that have really inspired me even from the beginning. Verses that create the vision to want to go forward, that allowed me to see what that space would be like. I was completely inspired by these verses. These verses describe the liberated one, how you will be, when you have achieved the fullness of what Guru Gita speaks about, as you begin to grow in Guru Consciousness. When I read these verses it used to give me so much power - “Yes, this is how I want to be. This is how I want to be.”
I want to read some of these verses for you, so that you too may be inspired to experience that space that we call the space of freedom. Bondage is really in the limitation of consciousness. When we are in the physical chakras, then we are caught in the physical body, in the physical bondage of the material world. When we come to the middle chakras, we are caught up in the energies of the material world. When we come to the brow chakra, then comes the release.
The chakras below the brow, they keep us in suffering, they keep us in bondage. I have said to you that bondage is not a happy experience - to be caught in emotional trauma, to be caught in limiting attitudes. Sometimes we know that we are going into pain, but we are so weak that we are drawn into the world again and again into suffering despite our knowledge. That shows how strong the Maya is, how strong the pull of the world is.
That is where you see why Gurus are so important to us. Those who live in freedom, they inspire us, they show us how to deal with the pull of the world, they show us how to be selfless. I hope that these verses of Guru Gita can inspire you as much as they inspired me.
You don’t have to run away from what is around you; you need only to hold the awareness.
We don’t Need to Run Away from the World
Eka evaa dvitee yoham
Guru vaakyena nishchitah
Evam abhyasyataa nityam
Na sevyam vai vanaantaram
“I am one and one alone without a second. Whoever thus practices constant meditation, as a result of the advise of the Guru and with a firm determination, need not take recourse to a forest.”
Think about this carefully.
“I am one and one alone without a second”. This pushes us away from the duality “I am spirit not matter”. Whoever thus practices constant meditation on this, as a result of the advice of the Guru (the advice of the Guru shows where the possibilities are and the Guru is someone who is an example or model of this), so following the advise of the Guru, one who meditates on this with a firm determination, need not take recourse to a forest. So with this awareness, with this viewpoint we don’t have to run away from the world. Right in the midst of wherever our karma places us, with this awareness, with firm determination, with the instructions of Guru, we don’t need to go anywhere, the truth will be revealed to us. So this tells us not to run away from the world.
All we need is the advice from the Guru, the instruction from the Guru and firm determination to stay in that awareness, to hold that awareness. “I am one without a second” is brow chakra awareness; it is the final stage it is when the Rudra granthi is opened up. For those of you who can hold this awareness, you don’t need to run away from anything. You need to constantly hold the idea “I am spirit not matter”, “I am beyond all these mental modifications, beyond all these emotional experiences - I am one without a second”, “I am not the body, I’m not the thought, I’m not the emotion, I am that in which all of these arise.” - That is the one without the second. What I like about this verse is that is says you don’t have to run away from what is around you; you need only to hold the awareness.
The Character of One who Lives in Freedom
The other verse describes the character of the one who lives in freedom.
Swayam brahmamayo bhootva
Tat param naavalokayet
Paraat parataram naanyat
Sarvagam cha niraamayam
“Endowed fully with Brahma consciousness (God consciousness, Divine consciousness) one should perceive the supreme all pervading diseaseless, the one beyond everything and nothing else”.
This is how the liberated person sees the world and of course it ties in with the first verse. This invites us to stay in that consciousness.
Have a Contented Heart without Attachment
This is a favorite verse of mine from Guru Gita:
Labdham vaatha na labdham vaa
Swalpam vaa bahulam tathaa
Niskaamenaiva bhoktavyam
Sadaa santushta maanasah
“Whether one gets something or not, be it little or large quantity, one should always with a contented heart enjoy without the least attachment.”
This has been my motto. It is about contentment. Whatever comes to you, little or large, you accept it with a loving heart being completely detached. That is how the wise interact with the world.
When you think of this verse, think of how you are. Relate to this verse – are you happy with what comes to you? Contented? This does not say not to have the drive or desire to achieve, it says “Whatever comes to you accept it and enjoy it being detached.” Of course you know “Oh I don’t have enough, I don’t get enough, I want more, I deserve more” and even when you have it, you are not enjoying it because you are thinking about the more. Appreciate whatever the Universe has given to you whatever it is, enjoy it, this is a gift from the Universe, enjoy it and be detached. It is a very beautiful verse.
Ability to Live Anywhere and Everywhere
The next verse:
Sarvagya padam ityaahur
Dehee sarva mayo bhuvi
Sadaa nandah sadaa shaanto
Ramate yatra kutrachit
“Becoming all full(sarva mayo) in this world. The one who is ever in bliss, ever peaceful, lives happily anywhere and everywhere.” This state is known as ‘Sarvagyatva’.
Wherever you are placed, you accept and you live happily there, wherever life has taken you. There are lots of people in our world who are not happy with where they are and they live unhappily there (I mean where they are placed, the positions in which they are placed). This says “When you experience the fullness inside of your own being, the bliss inside, then you can live anywhere and everywhere” - where ever life places you.
The Place is blessed wherever the Free Soul Lives
The next verse:
Yatraiva tishthate sopi
sa deshah punya bhaajanam
Muktasya lakshanam devi
Tavaagre kathitam mayaa
“Wherever he, the freed soul stays, that country is blessed and accrues all merits and is praiseworthy. Thus oh devi I have told you the characteristics of a freed soul.”
It says wherever that free soul lives, that country is blessed. This has been such a beautiful verse for me, I feel that when noble beings, enlightened beings live in a place, they bring a special quality to that place, the place becomes blessed. The house in which the person lives, the community in which the person lives, the country in which the person lives becomes blessed. When we think of this verse, we think of how blessed it is to have noble souls in the community where we are.
When we think of this, we think of how important it is to embrace that nobility in our own being, that purity of being and consciousness. So that our place can be blessed by our presence, that our country can be blessed by our presence.
Guru Gita is a Beautiful Song of Freedom
These verses of Guru Gita are verses that inspire us to become contented, inspire us to live any and everywhere, inspire us to be a blessing to the community and inspire us not to leave where we are. We don’t have to run away to a forest, all we need to do is change our attitude. Look from a different place; look with the eyes of the wise.
I don’t know how much you can really appreciate these verses, but they are really a beautiful song for me. They are really a “Gita” for me. It is a song of being and becoming free. It is a song on inspiration, it is a song of identification, it is a song of a vision, it is a song of possibilities, it is a song of transformation, it is a song of reality, it is a song of me, it is a song of you, it is a song of all. We sing this song every day. That is how much I love Guru Gita. It is the song of the liberated; it is the song of the seeker. It is the song of the Principle that we call “Guru”.
Tomorrow we will speak about the Guru Gita as a blueprint for living, its power, its purpose and the fruits that we get from repeating it. So our 40th Day will be based on Guru Gita as a “Song of Freedom”.
Post Meditation Remarks
Over these days I have given you so much information and the value of that information is to bring about change and transformation, it was not to entertain your intellect. The joy of giving is the joy of knowing that you will use it by thinking about it, contemplating it, seeking the deeper meaning, and using it.
That is the joy of giving for me. That these verses will mean to you what they mean to me. That these verses will serve to guide you on a precious journey, the most important journey in life – the journey to Self. That these verses will lead you to expand your view as to what the teacher is. Seeing the teacher in the physical person, seeing the teacher in the whole Universe and ultimately finding the teacher within yourself.
Don’t let these verses go to waste; don’t contemplate them only for five (5) minutes:
Let these verses stay with you throughout your day.
Let this knowledge stay with you throughout your day.
Let it sustain your spiritual growth, and finally let these verses
liberate you.
All gratitude to the one who has composed these verses for us; all gratitude.
May that Being be blessed and may these verses continue to guide us so long as human kind exists.
Tomorrow we speak about Guru Gita.
Namaskar everyone.
