Sri Vasudeva:
This 40 days observance is a wonderful period for spiritual growth. In 1978, it was a very intense period for me – a period full of grace in terms of guidance. I felt I was guided and I felt the protection of the universe at that point in time, in meeting my every need for deeper spiritual growth. And I do believe that the universe is gracious in that sense that when we seek the wisdom, the universe speaks to us or provides opportunities to have our questions answered. I’m looking forward to your discussion and I would just like to say that you are the Source as well, reaching out to me. And I consider every response and every question that you give to me, as coming from the Source, coming from the universe and they are all important comments and questions to me.
Comment:
Yesterday I really liked it when you were there from the start of the satsang because it gave me a lot of energy. I don’t know what happened but my entire body was pulsating, my arms were moving and I was singing really loudly. I don’t know if you remember but on day one, I told you that I found it hard to get in touch with my chakras because I didn’t know much about it. Later when I was told a little about the chakras, during the meditation I was observing myself and I felt all my chakras and I saw the energy coming out of them and it was just a wonderful meditation. And suddenly I saw a space like what’s behind you right now – the stars. It was like I was swimming in it and observing it and it felt really good. And at the end of the meditation, when the music came, I was thinking, “What’s going on? Why are we stopping?” I didn’t want to stop.
Sri Vasudeva:
I am glad that your desire to know more about the chakras, turned into an experience of the inner world. That also makes me see what kind of student you are, that you have decided to come and spend 40 days with us in a different atmosphere in a discipline. It means you are really serious about the journey. And the fact that you wanted to know so much more about these spiritual topics has manifested in what you felt. So it shows how sincere you were in your seeking and that is always the mark of a good student.
Question:
You said we have to accept duality in the universe. And you said the universe is inside of us. Does that mean that we also have to accept duality inside of us?
Sri Vasudeva:
Absolutely! We have to also accept that there may be bad thoughts inside of us or negative desires inside of us. When they come up, instead of condemning ourselves and saying, “I don’t like myself. I don’t like what I see inside of me,” remember that these are parts of the human experience - that negative thoughts will come into our mind. When we begin to appreciate duality we can say, “OK, this is part of the human experience but this is what I am going to choose.” I have the power of choice.
Question:
Yesterday at our satsang, we discussed about the Source and the meaning of the word ‘Being.’ There were different opinions: the Source is something that has life, the Source is a being, something that is existence (manifestation in the physical, energetic, emotional or spiritual plane) or the power of bringing something into existence. Which of these meanings did you refer to?
Sri Vasudeva:
All of them. The Source is everything you can think about. The Source has no name and it can carry every name. The Source is being, it is power, it has life because life is coming out of the Source, power is coming out of the Source. And ‘being’ means ‘existence.’ It has a being, an existence, an identity. So all of these exist in the Source. So I don’t think we should have a dispute about what the Source is. It is the Source, as the word says, of everything that is visible and subtle in our universe.
Question:
I still find it a bit difficult to know how to feel the Source within – to be aware. You said that if you are aware of the Source, you are more humble and you are less judgmental. Does it mean then that when you are trained to be humble and less judgmental that you can come into the state of being aware of the Source?
HUMILITY
Sri Vasudeva:
That’s a very interesting question. You said when you are trained – you know we can train a parrot to be very obedient and it may seem to be very humble in that obedience because it has the outer form of humility. So when you say we train someone to be humble that means that it becomes a conditioned response that we learn from seeing what humility is. This is not a matter of training although training can display it - humble responses. But this is a state of being.
When you get into a state of humility, you actually feel that there is some greater power that is working in and through you and you are allowing this power to do so. And when you are humble, you are able to accept the universe for whatever it is, and you work with it where it is, without complaining and without frustration. We can train to behave in a certain way but that doesn’t mean that it’s coming naturally from a state of awareness. So humility should really flow from a certain state of being. When you say, we are humble or I am humble, it means that I am in a certain space where these qualities that we see as humility, naturally flow. So it’s not just about training, it’s about becoming. Training is on the way.
When you begin to train, that means you are beginning to display certain qualities that come from being in a humble space. I can begin to practise being loving, for example, and keep a nice face and a nice voice when people talk to me. But that doesn’t mean that I am loving from my heart. But if my heart is really expressing love, then I don’t have to train myself to have a particular facial expression or tone of voice when expressing love. So that’s the difference. ‘Training’ implies learning to behave in particular ways and ‘being’ applies to the natural manifestation of it without having to train yourself in a particular way.
Training can help you to get there when there is transformation. So when you are training, you begin by conditioning mind or body but is it really leading to an inner transformation in the consciousness? So training is fine. You can begin to train yourself but it has to lead to a transformation ultimately. You can begin by training yourself to be humble but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you are humble. It is a path. Sometimes you are not training yourself directly to be humble, but you are training yourself to get into a higher state of awareness and humility flows when you arrive there. Training to behave in a humble way is something we can do but it doesn’t necessarily mean that we will be humble.
Humility is a state of consciousness that we need to shift into whether we choose the way of trying to train ourselves to behave in that way or whether we are seeking a higher state of awareness where we shift into a space that has humility. For example, if we are seeking spiritual enlightenment, humility is a natural expression of that. If you are seeking to get into the highest state of consciousness, humility is a natural expression of that. If you are seeking to go into a God space inside of you, humility is a natural expression of that. Though you are not training to be humble, you are going to a place where humility will come in a natural way. And yes you can begin to train yourself by observing what humility means and trying to behave in a humble way but it doesn’t necessarily mean that you will become humble. It’s a path that you can use but it doesn’t actually mean that you will become … But enlightenment brings it. And enlightenment is something that happens in stages as you seek enlightenment. So the seeking is not just to be only humble but to be completely aware of your inner being and to express all that is inside of you.
If you really want to get to the highest place, humility should not be sought after as just an aspect. Normal people who are in service business, train themselves to be humble because they get more business but that doesn’t mean they are naturally humble in all areas of life. They train themselves because that degree of humility has brought more business to them. So it is a business skill that they have learnt. But it may not extend in other areas of their life. But if you are seeking complete development or unfolding, you find that humility is not just a skill that you practice for your business or for particular people. It becomes an awareness and a quality that just flows into everything that you do. So the practice of humility is a good thing because it creates a civil kind of atmosphere, less conflict but it has to come from the deepest place inside of you. And it doesn’t necessarily mean that those who are not practicing humility will not arrive at humility and only those who are practicing humility will arrive there.
Question:
Like the shopkeeper who is does it (practises humility) to get more customers, is it possible his goal is awareness and Source? If your goal is awareness and getting deeper into the Source, then this path could be a way as well.
Sri Vasudeva:
There is nothing wrong with the shopkeeper being humble to get more business. It can be a help but it doesn’t necessarily mean that those who are not trying to behave with a nice voice and everything, will not get to the state of humility. And some can mask it. Even though they seem to behave in an egotistical sort of way, they may have humility at their very core and may be using it in a certain kind of skilful way to protect themselves. So you cannot just use how it looks to think, because somebody can mask it. You cannot only look for the outer qualities, you have to look for the quality of heart. It is a nice thing when you can display humble qualities but it is better when it is coming from the deepest place within you and it’s not just a mask or just a training.
Comment:
I got a jump in the energy by using the breath. I really felt for a moment that I was a drop in the ocean. All the boundaries were disappearing. It was a beautiful feeling of everything and nothing at the same time.
Question:
When I am here or in satsang at home, there are no more questions anymore. Is that because of connecting to the Source?
Sri Vasudeva:
It is because you make a deeper connection. Yes.
Question:
So we have to make the connection during our daily practice?
Sri Vasudeva:
Absolutely.
Question:
You mentioned that during your 40 day experience, you were guided by the inner voice. The quality of this voice, is this the Source? How do you differentiate the voices from the thoughts that occur in your mind? Is there a certain quality to it?
Sri Vasudeva:
That has been my experience. People’s experiences vary. He is asking about my saying that a voice had guided me during this period initially. That must be in some of the writings. The spiritual experience and guidance is different for different people but at that particular time in 1978, I experienced the guidance of a voice coming from within me. But I had reached such a level of mind control and intuition, that this voice was not just a normal occurrence, it was a very strong spiritual kind of guidance that was happening within me for the first time. It’s difficult to describe. But on Saturday March 25th 1978, when the experiences began, I had some very deep kriyas. Kriyas are purification experiences of the throat and then the next day this voice came and so I think it had to do with a certain level that I was experiencing. The throat chakra had cleared so much and the guidance that I needed was able to come through my own voice. It’s a highly unusual occurrence but it happened to me at a particular time when I needed it. Such is the mysterious ways and wonders of the Source. I am sure we all have our miracles in terms of guidance. That was just an amazing and unusual experience.
During this period, wherever you are, many things can happen which might be unusual but which would lead you to a higher state of awareness or might give you just the answers you need for this point on your journey. So you can send in your experiences as well. I am sure that nothing will be unusual during this period as the energy is so high, so beautiful, so powerful and so responsive.
Comment:
You spoke of observing silence during the 40 days – being silent in the dining room, being silent inside and the idea came of greeting every person we meet, in silence.
Sri Vasudeva:
She is saying that silence is one of the things she is trying to practice in the ashram as a way of observing the 40 days and also as a way of also allowing more of the Source to come into expression. I would like to say that the goal of the ashram is not just silence. And I don’t want all of you to be silent when you need to speak. So if saying “Namaskar” to someone with a smile, will make you both feel better, then you don’t need to do this (bow silently with clasped hands) only. The goal is not to only be silent and do like this (bow with clasped hands), the goal is to be able to use communication in a very powerful way. And the idea isn’t to not speak but to speak sweetly when you need to and not to suppress speech and to observe silence when it is the best thing to do. So if you make a big practice out of just being silent, you may lose the point. When you want to be silent about everything, you may lose the point. The whole idea is learning how to communicate in the most powerful way. Usually I tell people who are very talkative to be silent because they are wasting energy. And people who are too silent, I encourage them to speak a little. So it’s all about the proper use of energy and not wasting it. That’s why we have silence. And in silence, you can listen better and this is the beautiful part of it. When you need to listen, it’s always good to be silent. So knowing when you need to listen, is also important. And you can also be silent and not listen. So you have to be careful of that. So the practice is not just to be silent but to be wise and to use speech and silence wisely. That’s the practice and that’s what is necessary during the 40 days. Talk only as much as you need to and the rest of the time, try to observe silence as a way of conserving your energy and as a way of tapping into deeper spaces within you.
Question:
During the first days I felt a block around my heart and something around my throat. I felt that I could ask the universe to heal through me at that moment. Is this a way of using the Source to heal the blockages so that they will go away?
Sri Vasudeva:
You were looking at things that were happening within you … for expanding your awareness, being to observe from a deeper space within you. But when you observe from the deepest place within you, you need to not only look at what the energy is doing but you also need to look at what you are doing with the energy. For example, you may feel some obstruction at your throat and that may be happening for a certain reason by the energy within you. Some block may be experienced but then you need to observe it and begin to work with it. “Why is my throat blocked? Is it that I need to be quieter, or is it that I need to use my voice in a better way?” Usually silence and communication used effectively, will help to clear up energies here (throat chakra).
But in deep observation, there are more important things to observe. You need to observe the way you treat people. You need to observe the way you do things. You need to observe people’s responses towards you. You need to observe how you impact upon an environment and how the environment impacts upon you. So there are many more things to observe when you come into a deeper place of observation, than just what the energy might be doing inside of you.
It might also be important what you are doing with the energy. What are you doing with the awakened energy within you? How are you expressing it? Are you expressing it in powerful ways around you that are uplifting? Are you looking for all the ways that you are expressing energies and trying to express them most powerfully from the deepest place within you? And the experience of the Source, as I have said here, is that place inside you that makes you more and more powerful, that makes you brighter and brighter, that brings about energy into everything that you think, do and say. So going to the Source is the place you go to bring a little more energy into what you’re doing. It’s tapping into a deeper place inside of you. So the idea of being the observer is being able to see all the things that are happening in and around you and being able to bring more into it or to receive more from the space around you. So that’s where the awareness is and not just some energy in your throat which might be something important to look at but there might be other important things to look at. So you need to get a bigger view and not just a little view of what the energy is doing within you, but what you are also doing with the energy and what’s happening in the space around you in interactions between you and the space. So it’s broadening the awareness.
You use the energy in everything you do – when you look with the eye, you’re using energy. Does your look have love? What do your words carry? What do your hands carry? What do your thoughts carry? What thought am I bringing into the space? Do I have thoughts of fear in the space? Am I sharing my fearful thoughts in the space? Can I choose a better thought in the space? All those are things that you do. So you observe all the things that you offer the space, or that you offer life and then that’s the energy that you’re using. So that’s why I am asking you to take a holistic view of Self – a multidimensional view of yourself. That’s what the whole message is about – looking at all aspects of your interaction with the world itself.
I have moved you away from just keeping silence into understanding what silence really means and what’s the use of it. And when you think of developing awareness, you think I need to look at where the energy is…So don’t become caught up in that only. But look at all the other things that are important as well. So though I am answering your question, I am also answering more than your question. That’s why I am saying all of that. Once you bring the topic, you give me an opportunity to say more than what you are asking.
Comment:
You spoke about what to do with the energy. I was thinking this might be a concrete example of what I do. In the morning, I try to be connected with meditation with chanting, and on my way to work, I play the spiritual music in my car. When I get to work, I feel so full of joy, full of energy and I use that energy. I don’t just say, “Good morning,” to my workers, I bless them inwardly, silently. I share that. I don’t know if that’s what you mean by using the energy. And it lifts the entire atmosphere of workplace.
Sri Vasudeva:
That’s wonderful. So you are looking at how you can bring energy into your daily activities. In this case, it’s your work. So bringing that energy into your work is a wonderful way of expressing the energies.
Question:
And it is difficult as you continue during the day, when you become so caught up in the activities but being surrounded … like in the workplace I have a picture of the Guru and the saints and my lighted deeya, so it’s a constant reminder. So even when I make a wrong choice and I know I am making a wrong choice and I can see very clearly, “This is a wrong choice,” but I feel pulled to do it. And I read, in your message that there are forces in the physical level and emotional level that pull you to do it. I have to now be more aware and make the correct choice. Is that the power of discernment?
Vasudeva:
That’s excellent. It’s nice when you actually can observe the whole process of doing something you don’t really want to do. The energy of your space can pull you into a space that you normally wouldn’t want to go into but because of the spin of energy in that place at that time, you got pulled into it even against your natural tendency to not do it.
Question:
I can rationalize that the challenges I am facing presently are a creation of my mind since if I can look from an expanded awareness, then they are small, but I cannot seem to get to that expanded awareness so I feel trapped in my own cage and have not been able to get myself out. The message of today reinforces what I can process with my intellect but I still feel trapped. Do you have any more words of advice?
Sri Vasudeva:
The fact that you feel trapped is a good awareness in that you are in an experience of something that you don’t really like and you want to move away from that into a freer space. So the fact that you are feeling trapped will be the stimulus, the motivation to want to become free because if you didn’t think you were trapped, the motivation to be free may not have been there. So it’s nice when you can actually see your situation – see how your mind has actually trapped you and to want to become free from that trap of the thoughts and of the mind. That’s where what you are doing with us here during the 40 days can help a lot because on your own, without the company, it’s difficult. But if you have the direct company of people, the energy of people and groups make it easier to move into a higher space.
So being with us in this global sort of energy field we are creating in this 40 days, will help you to come out of that. Continue to go through the messages, listen to the messages again and more guidance will come. But the idea is lifting into a new space of awareness where these things look small as you realize…so lifting into a higher space of awareness, the meditation practice, your chanting practice, try to maintain that discipline during these days and also join us in the discussions, listening to my talks and these will help you to look at life from a more expanded view.
Question :
Letting go of old concepts of a punishing God has been difficult. I find that I punish myself for not feeling peaceful 100% of the day. The only difference now is awareness of my anger in a way I had not recognised before and so able to steer away from anger when I recognise it growing stronger. This self punishment does not nourish the spirit in my experience. Is this normal during transformation?
Sri Vasudeva:
Yes, it is normal and you can see how the heavy conditioning from before would have created this sort of self punishment. But slowly it will go away as now you are shifting your awareness. You can say you are observing when you are angry and you are observing the intensity of your anger. That’s a good sign. It is that which will bring about change. So continue to stay in that space of observing. Continue to challenge the old ideas and growth will continue. Continue the process of deeper awakening and deeper awareness. Naturally you will find the power to fight all of these. It will come to you easier and easier as you follow this discipline more and the awakening and inner strength become greater.
Question:
If I become silent, I become more aware. Even if I drive my car. I am not always sure if this is wise.
Sri Vasudeva:
I’m glad that you are more aware when you are silent but it’s going to be even better when you more aware while you do everything - whilst you’re speaking. whilst you are thinking - it’s also nice when you can develop that self awareness and not just in silence.
Question:
Will the limited qualities in myself which I recognize and when I’m not embracing them anymore - will they come back?
Sri Vasudeva:
The negative qualities you have embraced in your past, come back. And if you decide now, not to embrace them, then you need to choose something else which you are going to embrace otherwise they will come to face you in certain situations. So you need to replace them with something else. So when these negative thoughts come, you have something else to choose. It’s like a person – each time this person comes to you, negative thoughts come. And if you say, “I just don’t want to think negative thoughts when this person is here,’ and you don’t replace it with anything positive, then whenever the person comes, the negative thoughts will keep coming because you didn’t have a positive replacement and you only had one option for them – to think negative and to fight with thinking negative. But if you think something positive then chances are when they come into your space you have a different way of thinking about it.
So if you begin to look for the goodness in them or begin to look for the meaning for you in that, for example, when the person comes and there is a negative thought, that’s an opportunity for you to change something in you in the way you deal with them. So then you look for a different way of dealing with them. But always replace that negative response in you by something else. And that’s what I would say about dealing with negative thoughts about any situation - embrace something different and positive.
Question:
When you discuss choice and all the choices we can make, I feel so many pulls on me energetically and how that affects me. However, I am finding it a challenge to stay in a higher energy when on the spot, in the moment.
Sri Vasudeva:
Again, when there is a challenge, you need to train yourself when you are not challenged. The whole idea of preparing for any competition is the idea of training before the competition and trying to work in a safer space, so that when you come into the competition, you are ready. It’s the same with the spiritual domain. You need to learn how to develop strength in the moments when you are not challenged - in those private retreat moments, you need to learn how to tap into your energies a little more. You said, for example, that these days inspire you. Try to assimilate the wisdom of these days and begin to try to use them in your daily life. When you begin to contemplate using them and begin to think of what you are going to do when you are challenged, then when you come into the challenge,that response will come. Whatever you have been practicing, will come before you. So you need to be strong in your practice and begin to train your mind.
When you are in the challenge then you become more aware of the challenge and of doing something different in that moment to deal with the challenge in a different way. Essentially, what I’m saying, is to train yourself in a safer space and be more aware as you are being challenged and begin to practice even before how you are going to deal with the challenge - before you actually deal with it. Try to be positive. The nature of the world is to challenge you but you can be greater than the challenge.
Question:
You said, sometimes we have the desire but we do not seem to manifest the power and fall back and it only makes the desire stronger. How to learn to stabilize the manifestation of the strength? Does it need more focus and attention of the brow chakra?
Sri Vasudeva:
It is important to have the desire. And it is an experience that we are weak to sustain the desire or to keep the desire strong. In those cases we need help from within our being by our contemplation, by finding strength within us in the meditation or the chanting or like you said, in the brow centre. The contemplation or mental processing, helps to give us faith in what we are doing. For example, if you believe that something is right and you should do it, begin to keep that contemplation high. Keep on contemplating, “This is why I should do it. This is what I need to do.” In that way you develop faith in what you are doing and this needs to be strong.
Whenever the desire is weak, you need to develop faith in what you believe or in what you want to do or what is positive for you. You need to develop more faith and more belief in yourself, more belief in what you want to achieve and the brow is also very good for doing that.
Focusing on the brow is definitely a powerful response to these challenges. The brow center brings about a lot of mental strength, intuitive and intellectual strength. So I would say, yes, focusing on the brow is extremely important in terms of meeting these challenges that you have spoken about.
Question:
My eyebrow chakra is very strong so if I have a goal, I go right at it. How do you see that in working with the guidance of the universe because that is one of the things I have to work on – feel the right guidance because my focus is normally very strong.
Sri Vasudeva:
You have to work smart and not hard. It’s not about challenging the energy of the brow but to be sensible and to look to see if you are channeling it in the best direction. The best direction is that which makes you feel better inside and more uplifted and that which brings about a positive change in things around you. That’s the best direction. That’s how you need to channel the brow energy. You need something that lifts you and creates positive energy around you.
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