THE CHIDAKASHA GITA
OF BHAGAWAN NITYANANDA OF GANESHPURI
Verses 251-286 With Commentary by Kedarji

251. Atma is not perceived by the senses. Atma is quite different from the senses. It is perceptible to Jnana. It is free from the body idea. Those are yogis who know the true nature of the senses and behave according to that knowledge. Those are called the Mahatmas. What they utter is Veda word. They are like the seeds of the tamarind fruit. The tamarind matter is sticky to the touch. But the seed is perfectly pure. The heart of a Mahatma is like the tamarind seed perfectly pure. These Mahatmas are ever young. For a Jnani, there is no age idea.

Commentary: Atma, the Self or God, cannot be realized through the senses. The Shiva-Shakti principle, dwelling in its purest form as the Supreme I-Consciousness of God, is beyond the senses. In order to merge with this Shiva Consciousness, you have to go beyond the senses. God is perceived through Jnana that is direct knowledge and experience of the Self and the wisdom that arises spontaneously as a result.

To attain this Jnana, you have to Meditate on God in order to become God. Through Meditation, Chanting, Selfless Service and Prayer/Contemplation, Jnana is attained by going beyond the senses to the pure Bliss of Shiva. Those who have gone beyond the senses and become one with the Absolute are the Mahatmas, the Siddhas. Even though they live in the world, they are not of the world. They are perfectly pure. Because they have no age idea, they remain forever young.

252. Fill a lamp with oil and light the wick. When the oil becomes less, the wick comes lower and lower and the light becomes less and less. If you again supply the lamp with oil and light the wick, the light shines as before. Similar is the internal life of a Jnani. Their mental life is like butter placed in water. The butter does not sink in water. It floats above water. The body is like the water and the butter, the soul. Subtle intelligence should be concentrated in the head. The intelligence should be concentrated at the top of the Sushumna. Both the mind and Buddhi should be in the head. The mind must be in the Buddhi and Buddhi in the mind. Discrimination is from Buddhi and from discrimination is effected the union of Jivatman and Paramatman.

Commentary: The light in an oil lamp does not shine by the power of the wick, but by the power of the oil in the lamp. In the same way, a Jnani, one who has merged his/her identity in Shiva, operates from that Shiva Consciousness at all times. Such a Jnani relies on the will of God and the intuition that comes from absorption in God for all his/her needs.

Like the wick in an oil lamp, the Jnani understands that his individual intelligence has no power of its own, but rather should be merged in the pure Spanda Shakti that is the sole agent of this world-appearance. A Jnani knows that he is not the body, but that which transcends the body, and he acts accordingly.

You should direct your individual intellect to the Sahasrar through Meditation. Allow your limited intellect (buddhi) to merge with the Divine Intellect and Will of God that can be experienced at the top of the central nerve (sushumna) in the Sahasrar. Concentrate both your mind and intellect there and allow them to merge into the Buddhi of Shiva. Through Meditation, direct your mind to that place until it dissolves. Then you will attain the subtle discrimination of the Self and become God by merging your individual identity in Shiva, the Paramatman.

253. From one coconut, many coconuts are produced. If you cut the trunk of the coconut tree at the bottom, the production of coconuts ceases. Vasana (attachment), which is like the trunk, should be cut at the root by the ax of discrimination. Then comes peace. The characteristics of Sadhuguna, Satwaguna, and peace and all such qualities, come from non-attachment. When Buddhi becomes steady, it is called Satwaguna. Sat (truth) is like letters engraved in stone. The talk of the worldly is like letters engraved on a chalk slab.

Commentary: Just as from the seed of one coconut many other coconuts are produced, from one thought, notion, craving or desire many others are produced. The root of this problem is the expectation of sense pleasures and worldly pleasures that come from attachment to craving and desire. These are like the trunk of a tree. To remove them you have to uproot this tree of ignorance and destroy its roots.

You can only accomplish this through the subtle discrimination that allows you to tell the difference between what is limiting and binding and what is the true Reality, the Absolute. Then peace is attained. When you merge your will into the Absolute One God, it is purified and becomes steady. This is the real Sattva Guna. This Truth is permanent. Worldliness is transient.

254. Once the well should be emptied of its water. All the mud should be removed. The water that then comes is the purest. Jnana is like this pure water. Once you burn away the thought of “I” and “mine,” then non-attachment to the objects of the senses will result of its own accord.

Commentary: To clean a water well, you have to remove all the mud and dirt in the well. Then you get pure water. In the same way, to become Liberated, you have to empty yourself of the impurities of the ego, the mind and the intellect. Once you have purified these three through spiritual practice as instructed by a Siddha Guru, then you experience the “pure water” of Jnana. Once your sense of difference and separateness has been destroyed, dispassion results naturally as your attachment to objects of sense dissolves.

255. When a man has learnt to write on paper, he need not practice writing on sand, spread on the ground. Similarly, when a man has attained Brahman that is qualityless, he does not descend to Brahman with qualities. When the milk has been changed into buttermilk, can the latter be again converted into milk?

Commentary: Once buttermilk is churned from milk, it cannot be converted back to milk. Having learned to write on paper, humankind has never reverted back to writing in dirt or sand. In the same way, when a person is Liberated, when a person attains the state of God-realization known as Purnaham Vimarsha, she becomes God, he becomes Shiva-Shakti and does not fall back into ignorance of the Truth. Such a person remains in the uninterrupted state of Shiva Consciousness, even while going about her mundane activities.

256. Those who have come to buy the milk, should not ask what the price of the cow is. Similarly, those who hanker after Atma should not bother themselves about the body. The man who has attained the Atman is like the dry kernel within the coconut i.e. he has no attachment to the body. When the rope is burnt to ashes, it cannot be made into a rope again. No man can do evil to another man. Atman will be good or evil according to his own thinking. When we say some other man is the cause, it has a subtle meaning. The boat must be pushed off with the hand that it may move. Similarly, there must be some one as Guru for Atma knowledge. When the boat has reached the opposite bank, the boatman’s help is no longer needed. How is the boat in the water? So is the Atman in the body. Suppose the feet are dirty with mud. In order to wash off the mud, we must go to a place where there is water. If you fear to touch the water, how can the mud be washed away? You cannot produce sound with one hand only. When both hands strike against each other, then you are conscious of an energy, (sound is produced). Although all fingers are not of the same size, when you take your meals, they come to one size. So, when your experience ripens, you see the one, indivisible. Faith in the guru is like the cry of a jackal. Just as the cry of all jackals is similar, so also are the hearts of all Sadhus similar. The water in the well is the same at all levels. There are not two waters in the same well. So also, the life energy is the same in all mobile and immobile beings. Likewise, the energy in the sun and the moon is the same. Atma is in space and space is in Atma. Those who have realized this, will sing with joy. They know the Ananda Kundalini. They will try to discover where this Kundalini is. They will join it by Pranayama after finding it out. They must join it by repeatedly performing Pranayama. They must realize Bhakti. They must realize Mukti. They must conquer both birth and death and must forget all. One must conquer death and things allied to it. One must understand the true nature of Maya. One should realize Nityananda (eternal joy). O Mind! Become one with this eternal joy. Enjoy such a mind which has become one with this eternal joy. Become one with the Supreme Being. O Mind! The external world must melt and become one with the Supreme Being. One who has become one with the Supreme has accomplished the object of his birth. One must concentrate his mind on the Supreme. One must become one with the Supreme. Wakefulness, dream state, and sleep state must melt in the Supreme and become one. The power of discrimination (Buddhi) is the key to self knowledge, and that key must always be in the hand. Just as a man, possessing a treasure box, must be very careful about the key of the box, so also, Buddhi must be concentrated in the brain. The water is hot only so long as it is kept on the fire. But when the vessel is kept on the ground, the water becomes cooler and cooler. Our Buddhi must be like the water placed over a fire. Similarly, faith should be constant. Jiva is like a calf tied in a room. The calf is always very eager to go out of the room. So also, Jiva is very eager to drink Jnana that is like Amrita (ambrosia).

Commentary: Those who seek the Truth of their own true nature will find it by breaking their attachment to the body and merging with what is inside the body. For one who has become Liberated, there is no attachment to the body. When the rope is burnt to ashes, it cannot be made into rope again. In the same way, once the yogi has gone across and merged her individual identity in Shiva-Shakti, he does not become attached to the body again. Breaking this attachment to the body and the senses requires that you follow the instruction of a Siddha Guru until you are set on your own path.

Just as a boat needs an agent to leave its port (to push it off into the water), a seeker needs the guiding hand of a Siddha to cross the ocean of worldliness. When the feet are dirty, we need water to wash them clean. We don’t fear the water. If we did, we would walk around with dirty feet all the time. In the same way, to experience God and to merge with God, we have to wash the dirt of countless lifetimes of ignorance from our being. To do this, we need a Guru, a Siddha.

If we fear taking such a Guru for spiritual leadership, our ignorance can never be removed. Just as you have to put two hands together in order to get a sound from clapping, Guru and Disciple must come together and become one being if Liberation is to be attained. (In India, during Sri Bhagawan’s time, many people ate with their hands. This is still the practice in some places today. To take food in one hand, you have to clump the fingers together with the food in your fingertips.)

Just as bringing the fingers together makes it possible for you to hold and eat food, when your spiritual practice ripens under the instruction of a Siddha, you are able to grasp and hold the constant rapture of Shiva that is indivisible. All yogis engaged in spiritual practice require Faith in the Guru to go across. This faith is essential. Without Faith in the Guru, you will falter. God exists equally in all sentient and insentient beings. The yogi’s role is to verify this Truth for himself by going inside. Atma, the Absolute Paramashiva, is contained in all space, time and ether. And this space, time and ether is also contained in Paramashiva.

Those who have realized this bask in the joy of the Self at all times. When you discover the awakened Kundalini through Shaktipat Diksha, then you must nurture it through repeated Pranayama (yogic breathing). In this way, you must realize Bhakti (devotion/love) and Mukti (Liberation) in this very life. You must conquer the cycle of birth and death by realizing God. You must come to realize the true nature of Shiva’s Maya that is an illusion of a world that does not really exist separate from God.

Realize eternal Joy! O Mind! Become one with this eternal Joy (Nityananda) that is the Bliss of the Absolute. Enjoy such a mind that has been purified by dissolving into Shiva Consciousness. In this way, melt the notion of an external world and remain absorbed in your own Bliss. One who has become one with Shiva-Shakti has fulfilled the goal of all life. Concentrate your mind on the Supreme. Become one with the Supreme. Merge your states of waking, dreaming and deep sleep with your own Shiva Consciousness.

Viveka (discrimination) is the key to attaining knowledge of the Self. This subtle discrimination becomes ripe when your intellect is purified. You must guard this Buddhi (intellect) carefully to make sure that it remains free of the ignorance of sense pleasures and worldly pleasures. The water is hot only as long as it is kept on the fire. The Buddhi remains pure only as long as it is kept focused on God. This focus requires Faith. Every human being longs for true happiness and the experience of peace and ultimate Joy. Everyone wants this Jnana. It’s just that most look for it in all the wrong places.

257. Dharana is the means by which Buddhi’s power of discrimination is increased. Dharana is the path to Mukti. Dharana is the path leading to the highest. Prana (life energy) to become steady, Dharana is a means. When life energy becomes steady, the mind becomes steady. When Prana is given an “upward” direction, then Jnana enters every nerve and peace is the result. Then nature and the subtle become separated. Then powers resulting from yoga peace of mind, forgiveness, patience — these are experienced in Buddhi. Those who practice constant Dharana feel that the whole external world is existing in themselves. One should, being quite steady in mind, be enjoying eternal joy (Nityananda). Atma is beyond all karmas and formality. Karma is that which is done without attachment. A man is free from sin if he performs karmas disinterestedly. Karma is that which is done by the knowledge of Atma who is actionless and passionless.

Commentary: The constant, steady contemplation or rumination over God (dharana) is how the individual intellect is purified. It is how you develop the subtle discrimination that allows you to see God at all times. This steady contemplation, this constant remembrance of God is the path to Liberation. Through dharana, the breath becomes slow and steady. When Prana, the life force, becomes steady, the mind becomes quiet. When this Prana is directed upward into the Sushumna to Sahasrar, Jnana (true knowledge/wisdom) enters every nerve of your being and a steady peace is the result.

When this steady peace dawns, you are able to discriminate between what is real and what is unreal. You are able to observe God’s immanent and transcendental aspects at play and you are able to choose the transcendental over the ignorance of worldliness. Then the qualities of peace, compassion, patience and forgiveness come looking for you.

When you practice the constant dharana that quiets the mind, your experience is that the entire universe exists inside you and is reflected on your own internal screen. In this way, you come to enjoy eternal Bliss (Nityananda). This state of Bliss is the Atman. It is beyond all activity and formality.

Selfless Service (Seva or Karma Yoga) is that which is done without attachment to the result. A person is freed from the bondage of ignorance when she performs actions with complete dispassion. When you perform karma (action) in this way, you do not create any new karmas for yourself.

258. Atma is not perceptible to the senses. It is perceived by intelligence (Buddhi). It is not perceptible as a thing with form and qualities. To those whose attention is fixed on the body, it is very difficult to attain peace. It is also very difficult for them to see the Atma. The attention towards the visible should be lessened. The love towards the invisible should be increased. So long as the attention is directed towards the visible, pain and pleasure may appear to be dual. But when the attention is directed towards the invisible, the sense of duality will disappear.

Commentary: God cannot be perceived or experienced through the senses. God is experienced when the senses and the mind are completely quiet so that the individual intelligence (Buddhi) can be easily directed to Shiva. You cannot attain peace by attachment to the body. The job of the body and the senses is to conceal God. It is their very nature to cause delusion and to limit your awareness of your true nature. For this reason, your attention should always be on God, even as you go about your mundane, daily activities. This is the goal of Yoga, to destroy all sense of duality.

259. The sacred syllable OM is like a storm in the sky. OM is without beginning or ending. Omkar is like a stage manager in a drama. As it works through the bodies of men, those bodies are pervaded by Omkar. This syllable is inside us, outside us and everywhere. It is the cause of everything that exists. We need not bring it up to consciousness anywhere. That sound exists in everything. We need not recall it separately to memory. This energy is not divisible but indivisible. This sound exists in every animal. Whatever sound is produced by animals, it is nothing but Omkar. What is called Pranava is another name for Omkar. When it is united with Prana and moves in the body it is called Pranava. When nature and the subtle (i.e. physical and non-physical) Sthoola and Sookshma are separate, it is Pranava. When we feel both to be one, then it is called the feeling of oneness. This is identical with Omkar. At that time, one sees the ONE everywhere. That which you worship with faith, becomes ALL.

Commentary: The sacred mantra Om (Aum) is like the power of creation and destruction. Om is in everything and everything is in Om. This sound pervades everything and everyone, everywhere. The mantra Om is contained inside every living being and creature. It is who we are and, therefore, requires no concept or idea to understand and experience.

The sound Om is the indivisible energy of Shiva-Shakti. Even animals produce the sound Om. When this sound mixes with Prana, it becomes all of the vital constituents of the body. It is known as Pranava in this way. When this Pranava merges with our experience of the Absolute, we experience Shiva Consciousness. To worship this inner experience with Faith is to absorb the entire universe into yourself.

260. That energy called Omkar pervades the universe and is formless. It is the light in ALL and light of ALL. Ignorance and knowledge are mere phantoms, not realities. Happiness and misery will never touch a man who has realized the oneness.

Commentary: Omkar is Chit Shakti. It emanates as sound from this one unifying Spanda principle that is the formless Absolute, Shiva. What we refer to as ignorance and knowledge are concepts created by the use of language. And language is a limitation in Shiva’s Maya that is responsible for illusion. Concepts like happiness and misery are only words used to educate the unenlightened. A Siddha, a God-realized being is not tainted by these concepts and lives beyond their limitation.

261. If you have Manas, you want everything. If you have no Manas, you do not want anything. If you have Manas, God becomes a separate being for you. When you have merged Manas in Buddhi, you have no separate God. All appears as one. If you have desire, you want a separate God, because God’s help is necessary to accomplish your desire. Then the Manas goes after the various objects of the senses and causes doubt about various matters. Then one feels the necessity of an idol or image. Cause and effect appear to be two separate categories. The image worship is due to Maya or ignorance.

Commentary: When you focus your inner energy, outside of yourself, the Manas (mind) is formed. The nature of the mind is to think and to become active with concepts, notions and desires for this and that. So, once the mind is formed in this outward flow, you start to desire objects and that desire leads to cravings and your want for everything.

When the mind is thought-free, it dissolves in Chiti. This is the state of Samadhi. In this state, your experience is that of complete Bliss and, because there are no thoughts, you have no desires and do not want anything. When the Manas is formed, you experience God as being separate from yourself. When engaged in thoughts, concepts and notions in this way, you begin to see spirituality as a field to grow crops in. The notion of a separate God serves your idea of the fulfillment of sense pleasures and worldly pleasures because you want something or someone to turn to help you acquire objects.

This pursuit of craving and desire leads to the experience of pain and pleasure. Pain and Pleasure create doubt in the mind, and this doubt causes you to have fears. Then you feel the necessity to worship an idol or statue, something that will listen to your problems and grant your desires without questioning your motives. Although cause and effect seem to be two separate things, one who has merged his conscious awareness in the Absolute knows that these are one in the same. They are experienced inside the body of Supreme Consciousness on one’s own internal screen.

262. What is called Akash is in the upward direction. What is called “male” is a subtle state. What is called “female” is nature.

Commentary: Akash means space. The upward direction is a reference to directing Prana upwards through the Sushumna into the Heart space in the head in order to experience Chidakasha. In Yoga science, references to “male” are references to the transcendental aspect of God’s nature and references to “female” are indications of God’s immanent aspect or his representation to himself of this world-appearance, which he manifests inside His own being. To a Siddha, the physical body is not real. Only Divine Consciousness is real. So, the words “male” and “female” cannot be references to the body or the gender of that body.

263. Men who have no desire, need not have a separate God. They need not strive for anything. When the mind runs after various objects of the senses, to bring the mind to one-pointedness, what is called the practice is necessary. Man should concentrate on Buddhi as long as there is the beating of the pulse in man, and as many times as the pulse beats. The Manas should not be united with the senses. Whatever you may do, your mind should be concentrated inwards upon Buddhi. In order that a man may not be drowned in water, he must learn how to swim. Maya should be conquered by the Supreme Maya. What is Maya? When the Manas runs after sense objects a variety of desires is created. It is you that clings to the coconut tree. The coconut tree does not cling to you. Similarly, has Maya hands and legs to catch hold of you?

Commentary: Once you remove limiting desire from your being, once you desire only to remain absorbed in God and to follow God’s will, then you realize that you are God and God is you. It is the nature of the mind to be fickle. It is the nature of the mind to chase after and crave objects of sense. So, the mind must be trained to break this habit. This training occurs through daily spiritual practice under the instruction of a Siddha Guru. It is only through this practice that the mind can be taught to seek God and to become absorbed in God.

This world-appearance is like an ocean of craving and desire. When you eliminate craving and desire, then you are able to swim in this ocean without drowning. Shiva’s Maya is this ocean of worldliness. Conquer this Maya by merging with the creator of it, Shiva.

You are greater than your cravings and desires for pleasure and pain. You are above these. It is not that they come looking to subdue you. It is that you chase after them. So, stop chasing after pleasure and pain. Stop clinging to craving and desire. Shiva’s Maya cannot keep you in bondage unless you choose to remain ignorant by turning away from God. So, follow the Guru and do your practices daily for as long as your heart is beating.

264. Purposelessness is felt only in the subtle. Discrimination is becoming one of Manas with Buddhi. What is called Samadhi is seeing the one in all. By practice, one must conquer the six enemies of the Atman in the body; desire, anger, etc. A Sadhaka, a beginner in God-realization, should not talk ill of others. If he does so, his progress will be retarded. Like that of a sprout on which a heavy stone is placed. A Sadhaka must not relax his practice even for a ghatica (24 minutes). The mind should be ceaselessly engaged in the practice.

Commentary: Freedom from attachment and aversion is known as the state of purposelessness or dispassion. This state can only be experienced by going inside. Perfect Discrimination is what happens when the intellect and the mind are merged in God. What is called Samadhi is seeing God in everything and everyone, everywhere.

By practice, one must conquer the six enemies of the Atman in the body which are limiting desire, anger, greed, lust, illusion and envy. In the early stages of your spiritual practice it is very important that you don’t gossip about other people and find fault with them. This is a mistake that many seekers and yogis make.

Fault-finding and gossip destroy the Shakti that you are seeking to build inside you through your practice, like that of a sprout on which a heavy stone is placed. A Sadhaka, a practicing yogi, must not relax his practice even for a ghatica (24 minutes). The mind should be ceaselessly engaged in spiritual practice through cultivating the constant awareness of God.

265. The Prana must be firmly fixed in an upward direction with great faith. That is the path to Liberation. This body is like a cave to the Atman, and in this cave, dwells the eternal Atman. Yoga means becoming one. When the two become one, that is yoga. When the mind and Buddhi become one, it is called yoga. When Jiva travels by the path of Buddhi and enters Brahmarandhra, it is called yoga. Devotion, reasoning and power, these three become one and become Omkar. Egotism becomes merged in Omkar. Just as camphor is lost in fire, mind and Buddhi become one with each other. Like little children rocked to sleep, Chitta, being placed in Buddhi, must know who the “I” is.

Commentary: The path to Liberation is inside yourself. That path is, literally, the central nerve or Sushumna Nadi and that is the Siddha Path. When the awakened Kundalini Shakti blazes upward through this central path, your entire being is purified and the ego, individual intellect and mind, along with the senses, become absorbed in Shiva Consciousness. This is the only true spiritual path.

In order to cause Kundalini to rise, you first need to receive Shakipat from a Siddha. After Shaktipat, once instructed in the right use of Pranayama, Kundalini rises on the back of Prana Shakti. When this Prana (breath) is properly directed into the Sushumna Nadi and remains there, Liberation is attained. This is the path of Yoga that causes the intellect, ego, mind and the senses to merge in the Absolute.

Only that which causes your identity to become one the Absolute can be called Yoga. When this occurs, your limited power of reasoning merges with Chit Shakti and you become one with the power of the mantra Om. You become one with the deity of the mantra, Shiva. Just as camphor dissolves in fire, when the mind becomes absorbed in God it dissolves in Chiti, the Universal Buddhi.

Just as a child can be rocked gently to sleep, you can gently wean your mind (chitta) off of the limitation of sense objects and cause it to dissolve in Shiva Consciousness. In this way, you come to know who you really are, that Supreme I-Consciousness of God.

266. O Mind! Enter the house of Ananda! When the whole area is flooded, we cannot distinguish the wells and tanks in that area. Because there is darkness, we must infer there is light. When you taste sweet things, remember there are pungent things to be swallowed. What is the state of Jiva when Jiva has realized that the Atman is not the body? Such souls have attained their pristine condition. “I” and “mine” are not visible to the physical eyes. “I” and “mine” are not to be found above the tip of the nose. That which is above these, has neither beginning nor ending. A visible object has a beginning and an ending. Since Atma is invisible to the physical eye, Atma is without beginning and ending. It is impossible to lessen the power of Atman because Atman is always constant. Just as space is homogeneous everywhere, so is the Atman the same everywhere. The head of man is the abode of the light, of millions of suns. Which is bigger, the eye or the sun? If the eye is spoiled, is it possible to see the sun? So the eye is more important. The form of gold images is the creation of the mind. When a man is photographed, the picture is according to the posture of the sitter. The virtues and the opposites in the photographer are not seen in the picture.

Commentary: O Mind! Merge into the eternal Bliss of Shiva. Just as, when an area is flooded, you cannot find the separate streams, wells and tanks; in the same way, flood your being with Shiva Consciousness so that you can no longer see any difference between yourself, the other objects of this world, and God.

Shiva has two aspects, the transcendental and the immanent. If you are only conscious of this world-appearance as a mere world, then you have to remember that pain always follows pleasure and pleasure always follows pain. If your knowledge is limited to the mundane activity of this world-appearance, you will be hopelessly bound by this pair of opposites, pleasure and pain.

Once you realize God, all duality ceases and you realize that you are not the body and that there is only unity in this world. Freedom is seeing only the ONE Shiva-Shakti where others see difference and diversity. This freedom is the Absolute. It has no beginning and no end. What is visible in this world-appearance is transient. It takes birth and dies. But the Atman neither takes birth nor dies. It is, eternally. Shiva’s power cannot be lessened, for it is the power behind every power you experience in this world. Shiva is constant.

Just as space is one and the same everywhere, Shiva is the same everywhere. His nature is unchanged, even though he takes the form of all the objects of this world. In the Sahasrar is the light of millions of suns. But without the ability to see those suns, to experience them in the Sahasrar, without this ability, those suns do not exist for you. So, which is more important? Those suns or your ability to see and experience them?

This is why the Siddhas say practice, practice, practice. Everything that can be experienced in this world is an illusion created by the mind. When a photographer takes a picture, often it is the case that you see in the picture what the photographer wants you to see, and not all that is really there. In the same way, the impure mind, the impure ego and intellect, show you the taint of your craving and desire, not your true nature. This is why they must be purified in the fire of Yoga, in the fire of your spiritual practice.

267. The fruit is according to the internal faith of a man. Good and evil are not of the Atman. Atman, like the reflection of an object, takes that form which the mind wants Him to take. The Jiva is like a bird in a cage. When the nest is spoiled, the bird is not affected. The bird flies away. The bird may build a new nest and enter it in six months, in a year, or in five minutes. That depends on the bird’s efforts. From this place to the railway station, you can go in 24 minutes or in a month.

Commentary: Your inner state is your fate. Your direct experience of God, along with the degree to which you have that experience, will be determined first by your Faith. Shiva-Shakti, the Atman, is above good and evil. Good and evil are notions that exist only in Shiva’s Maya, only in this illusion of a world-appearance. This is so because the Shakti of Shiva, like the reflection in an object, takes whatever form your mind desires. This is His Play of Divine Consciousness.

The individual bound soul (Jiva) is like a bird in a cage. If the nest gets spoiled, the bird is not affected. It will simply fly away and make another nest somewhere else. In the same way, the Jiva does not die when the body rots. It simply drops the body and takes another form after death. Depending on your Karmas, you can be reborn in several minutes or several months. In this way, you continue to wander about in the cycle of birth and death until Liberated.

268. Sadhana (practice) is necessary for Vairagya (desirelessness) to be steady. For Vairagya to be permanent we must have practice. Vairagya is not related to the body. When the mind is unwavering in all the external and internal causes and effects, then the one sees the Atman. When the idea of Jnana and Ajnana is absent, then one sees the Atman. When one knows but he is not aware that he knows, then one sees the Atman. Men who have realized the Atman, are like blind men, are like deaf men. Although they hear, they do but they are unaware of what they do. When the senses are acting, they are disunited with them. So their action is inaction to them. In them, the idea of creation is less and the idea of nihility is more. Since their power of forgetfulness is great, their actions are inactions. Their attention is concentrated not on the coconut shell but on the kernel (on Atman, not on the body). They are beyond both sin and merit. They are like a boat in water. Just as water and boat are quite distinct, they feel the gross and the subtle to be separate. They are indifferent to bodily functions but concentrated in Jnana. They drink the juice of the sugarcane and throw away the outer skin. When the sugar is manufactured, it does not become the cane again. When by practice, one has realized that he is Atman, the idea that he is the body never returns. Like an old vessel, after the necessary repairs, shining with the lustre of the new, Buddhi, when the Vasanas are annihilated, can be transformed into the pure Satva quality. Then we will have contentment.

Commentary: Dispassion or non-attachment (Vairagya) to objects (people, places and things) is necessary on the spiritual path. To go across, to become Liberated, your Vairagya has to become steady. For this to happen, you have to perform Sadhana (spiritual practice after Shaktipat), under the leadership of a Siddha. This dispassion has nothing to do with the body. It dawns when your mind becomes completely absorbed in God and remains that way, even as you experience internal and external movement in the cause and effect of this world-appearance.

When the mind dissolves, there are no concepts or ideas. Therefore, the notions of Jnana and Ajnana (wisdom and ignorance) are also absent in the highest state of Shiva Consciousness. When these are absent, you experience only the pure scintillating Spanda of the Absolute, Shiva. Then your state is one of knowing all without being impressed by the fact that you know. Pain and pleasure become the same to you and you become immune to compliments and insults, you become immune to happiness and sorrow and you remain completely detached from the activity of your own senses.

You commit actions only as necessary, and with no expectation of the result, which you know is directed by God and belongs to God. When you are able to live in this manner, what is known as the creation, or this universe, pales in comparison to the experience of your own inner state. You realize that this world-appearance is like a city in a mirror and the only Reality is the ONE Shiva who masquerades as the objects of sense that are really reflected only in your imagination.

In a Siddha (perfected being), the experience of memory is weakened. One who is Liberated begins each day as a brand new adventure without perpetuating anything from the past. Her constant state of samadhi ensures that her memory is purged on a constant basis. This is what is meant by forgetfulness. A Liberated being is no longer attached to the body. Having burned this attachment completely, along with the seed of this attachment, a Siddha never becomes attached to the body again.

When you acquire this state, your intellect becomes so pure that you merge your individual identity into Shiva. And you are then dwelling in this world without being of this world. To attain this constant state of Shivo’ham, the vasanas (latent impressions) in your being must be destroyed. Once they are destroyed, you become the Pure Perceiving Awareness, the Supreme I-Consciousness of God. Then you will be eternally content.

269. Unless the intellect is purified, contentment does not spring. Unless the intellect is purified, Chitta does not become steady. Unless Chitta is purified, a man cannot free himself from verbal delusion. When ice is placed in water, both become one. Similarly, man who has realized the Atman, merges in the Atman. Just as the rivers enter the sea, all Vasanas are merged in Atman. Atman is not a thing. Karma is a thing. The steamer is in the sea. To the looker on, it appears to touch the sea water, but the steamer is quite different from the sea water. There is no relation between the two. So must a man be in the affairs of the world. He must not have any attachment to worldly things. Just as Brahmins wait eagerly for plantain leaves to be spread and meals served, so must a man wait for mental purification and Mukti.

Commentary: Your individual intellect must be purified by your own Sadhana in order for you to experience contentment. Without this steady experience of contentment, your mind cannot become quiet. If your mind is not quiet, you become a slave to the delusion brought about by Matrika Shakti, the power of sound inherent in language. When the mind is bounced about by constant thoughts and notions, words have complete power over you and you are easily swayed by them.

Ice, when placed in water, dissolves into that same water. In the same way, when you realize your true nature as Shiva, you merge with Shiva. Just as a ship can travel in the sea without losing its properties as a ship, so too, Shakti travels through this world-appearance becoming all the various forms, but without losing her essential nature as Divine Consciousness.

One who has realized God knows this from experience and behaves the same way as this Shakti when engaging in worldly affairs. A yogi must not become attached to worldly things, even when he finds himself in situations where he experiences and enjoys them. To acquire this state, you have to be eager to perform Sadhana under the direct leadership of a Siddha and you have to want Liberation.

270. No one wants to look at a fruitless tree. Why is man called man? Because he has Manas (thinking power), he is called man. Manas should get knowledge of various sorts and being united with peace, must become one with Omkar. He who desires Mukti (eternal life) should at once give up the idea “I am the body.” Such people alone can realize the Atman. To those who think “I am this body,” it is very difficult to see the Atman. Those who hold fast to the idea “I” and “mine” may practice for a thousand years. Yet they will not attain even the slightest fraction of Shanti. If one bathes in a river, his body becomes clean, let him be a pariah or a brahmin or a child. Likewise, the internal state of man is the same, though the exterior of every man may appear to be different. Chilis, watermelons, etc., may grow in the same field. The nature of the one is different from that of the other. The heat of fire is only felt by those who sit near the fire but never by those who sit in water. Peace is cool like water. Before you are hungry, the food must be prepared. So also, before you become a householder, you must know the duty of a householder. A householder should have his exterior and interior equally pure. He should distinguish clearly between cause and effect.

Commentary: Just as no one values a barren tree, you should not place any value on the body. It is barren, just like a fruitless tree. A human being is called such and valued as such due to the existence of the energy known as the mind. It is due to thinking power, that human beings are recognized as such. For this reason, you should seek to know the very nature and substance of the mind.

Acquire the knowledge you need to interact in this world-appearance and then train your mind to become one with its source, the Shakti of Shiva. This is Omkar. If you want eternal peace, if you want true happiness, if you want to be Liberated from the bondage of ignorance, you have to completely surrender the notion that you are the body. Only then can you realize God. If you continue to believe that you are the body, and if you continue to engage the notions of difference and the notions of “I” and “mine,” you will never have peace.

All, regardless of social status, race and behavior, become clean when they wash in water. And all bath in the same substance called water. In the same way, all are purified when they turn their attention to God. Although appearing to be different on the outside, by way of looks, color, language and behavior, all are that ONE God. And all must go to the same place inside to realize this fact.

Different crops will grow in the same field of dirt. Although being different in qualities, these crops owe their existence to that same field of soil. If you remain absorbed in the peace of the inner Self, you cannot be burned by the fire of illusion that is this world-appearance, even though you may walk through that fire. Before you can eat, you have to prepare the food. In the same way, before you can merge with God, you have to perform Sadhana. Know your place in this life. Know your Dharma. Assume the role dictated by your Karma, by your past superimposition, and play that role gleefully, while remaining absorbed in the Truth.

271. A man may run after a horse in vain for any length of time. Let him ride the horse. Let him bind the legs of a horse and get on its back, quickly. So also, worldly men must keep their mind free from attachment to sense objects. Just as water slips off from an umbrella of palmyra leaves, so also, a man must be free from the idea “I am the doer.” A householder must be like a calf offered to a temple. All should be offered to the Brahman. But one cannot say that a man who does like this is nearer God and a man who does not like this is far away from him. If you keep a light before a thousand people, it reaches all without making any distinction. Anyone may take it. Where there is light, there is no darkness. In the darkness there is no light. There can only be one thing (either light or darkness), not two at the same time. One’s nature should be like the sun. One’s Chitta must be cool like the moon.

Commentary: You can’t ride a horse by running after it, chasing it from behind. In order to ride a horse, you have to subdue the horse, bind it with reigns and ride it from on top. In the same way, you can’t subdue the mind by chasing after sense pleasures and worldly objects. In order to bring the mind under your control, you have to free it from the expectations of sense pleasures and worldly pleasures.

In this way, allow the results of your actions to “slide” off you like water rolls off an umbrella. Don’t allow your ego to claim the results of your actions. In this way, the yogi must become free of the notion “I am the doer.” One who maintains a career, a home and a family should offer all these to God, just as a calf is offered in a sacrifice. Take responsibility for your life and the role you play, remembering that you are a tool of God and that your life belongs to God. In this way, remain in this world, loving it as your very own Self.

Do not criticize or condemn those who do not have your same outlook. Do not condemn those or judge those who you perceive not to have your same experience of God. God exists in those people also and to the same degree that God exists in you. The Light of Divine Consciousness is always shining and anyone can embrace that Light, regardless of his/her past actions. The Light of God does not coexist with ignorance. There is either ignorance or the Light of God. Where this Light shines, ignorance is dissolved. Purify your nature and align it with this Light, while keeping your mind absorbed in the cool, moon center of the Sahasrar.

272. Vairagya should be like fire burning a cloth. When Vairagya is highly developed, the interior (Atma) splendor will be visible. The body may sit firm but it is the mind that should sit firm. Those whose minds are not purified, seldom have equal sightedness. Those who do not practice, will have great difficulty in possessing the Satwa quality in them. The subtle intelligence is developed by practice. Unless you practice, the desire for worldly things cannot be destroyed. Hankering after landed property, after woman, and after gold, is difficult to be extinguished. What is the thing to be attained by man? When the chitta is free from the three forces, Satwa, Rajas, and Tamas, it is called Purushartha. Just as dirty linen becomes clean when washed in soap water, so also, Chita should be purified by washing it in the soap water of Buddhi and it must be made as pure as space. When you learn sewing on a machine, in the beginning your attention must be fixed not on the legs but on the hands. When we fix our attention on Buddhi and make the mind merge into the heart space, then we will attain that eternal peace which is called NITYANANDA.

Commentary: Burn the ignorance of duality in the fire of Vairagya (detachment/dispassion). When this dispassion is highly developed, the complete splendor of God becomes visible. What is most important is the posture of your mind. The mind should be firmly rooted in the Self. If your mind has not been purified in the fire of Sadhana, it will be very difficult for you to attain Equality Consciousness.

It is only through Sadhana (spiritual practice under the leadership of a Siddha) that your desires and cravings for sense objects can be destroyed. The habit of chasing after sense pleasures is difficult to destroy on your own. You need the Grace-bestowing power of God to accomplish this. When you free yourself from the effects of the Three Gunas, when you rise above these, you become Shiva. Attain eternal Bliss by merging your individual identity into Shiva Consciousness. When you wash your being in this Chit Shakti, you will attain the eternal Bliss called Nityananda.

273. Those whose minds are pure may call God by any name they please. Prakriti is like a railway carriage. Those who are in it are like Jnana. The stations are like chakra. Within the chakras is the subtle. The subtle is within the tube. Within the subtle tube is the energy of the Kundalini. Kundalini, in the form of Omkar, is in the subtle tubes. Let this subtle be known by experience.

Commentary: Those whose minds are pure may call God by any name they please. Prakriti (nature) is like a shell. Within this shell is pure Shiva Consciousness or Jnana. Just as a railroad train stops at different stations, this Shiva Consciousness, in the form of Chiti or Spanda Shakti, runs through and makes stops at each of the Chakras and Nadis in your being.

This Shakti is very subtle in its movement. Shakti moves through the tube called Sushumna and all the 72,000 Nadis (subtle energy points) in the body. Moving in this way, She is known as Kundalini. It is this Kundalini, this Omkar that is what we call the subtle in the gross. It is Shakti who moves, Shakti who pulsates through the Sushumna and the other Nadis. Let this subtle be known through personal experience.

274. A certain man is a lord of scores of money. All cannot be millionaires at the same time. It depends on their past karmas. Everyone is rewarded according to his due. There is plenty of water in the sea. But the quantity of water one fetches depends on the size of the vessel one takes to fetch water. The fruit depends upon the vasanas of one’s karmas. It is because of the vasanas of former births that a man has a hankering after hearing the teachings of a Sadhu. It is because of these vasanas that one feels no happiness in worldly pleasures. Those who are guided by the vasanas of former births do not require separate vasanas. Vairagya itself is the result of the vasanas of former births. For such people, it is the time to tread the path to Mukti.

Commentary: Financial wealth is a direct result of past karmas from past lifetimes. Not everyone can become a millionaire. Acquiring vast sums of money is a direct result of the skill and relationships developed over several lifetimes of desire. Everyone reaps their desires based on the cycle of their karmas. Just as gathering a large amount of sea water will depend on the size of the vessel, the fulfillment of your desires will depend on the intensity of your desire and the level of your skill.

For some, the skill required to fulfill the desire may take more than one lifetime to attain. All desires are, eventually, fulfilled by the Lord who takes the form of the objects of desire and the skill required to fulfill that desire, based on your karmas. Karma is this limited desire for objects. This desire creates a ripple effect in your being called vasanas. When your desire becomes a desire to know God, when this kind of vasana ripples through your being for an extended period of time, God sends you a Guru and you begin to take an interest in spiritual instruction.

Once the quality of your desire changes in this way, you become less interested in worldly pleasures and more interested in a personal relationship with God. When this type of vasana, the desire for true knowledge, develops in your being over several lifetimes, Vairagya becomes stronger in you. When Vairagya becomes strong in you, it is time to tread the path to Liberation.

275. For attaining Jnana and Mukti, age is no consideration. This very moment is the time for the attainment of Jnana and Mukti. As soon as a man is hungry, it is the time for taking his meals. Those who are not hungry should wait for meals until they are hungry. One should have a keen hunger after Bhakti. The greater the heat of fire, the greater the boiling of water. Shradha is the heat. Peace is like the ice in the brain. It fills the inside and manifests outside. Such a man becomes content in all respects and his mind becomes pure. Peace of mind, for attainment, does not cost us anything, like charity and dharma. When one is filled with peace, those who are near him are also infected with peace. It is enough if one person is filled with peace. Out of a thousand, if one has peace, a fraction of peace is enjoyed by all those who are around him. A Sadhu, when he enters a crowd of worldly people, should have that peace which a hunter has when he approaches a tiger. A sadhu, to be in the world, should have immense peace and patience. Peace is very useful to move among thousands of worldly people.

Commentary: The only requirement for attaining the Wisdom of Liberation is Bhakti. Bhakti is complete surrender to and devotion for the practices as instructed by the Guru. This Bhakti is Love for and Devotion to the Guru and to God. This is all that is necessary. Age, race, brainpower, physical appearance and status are not considerations.

Just as it is time for food at the moment you are hungry, when a person has this Bhakti, that is the very moment to begin on the path to Liberation (Mukti). Water boils based on the intensity of the fire. The greater the fire, the quicker the water boils and the more intense the boiling. In the same way, the greater the Bhakti, the greater the spiritual attainment. Inner peace is attained through Bhakti. This inner peace then fills a person inside and then manifests outside, as a result.

Once this peace dawns, you become content and your mind is purified. This peace does not cost you anything. It’s not like having to go into your pocket for money to pay a bill or to give to charity. When you are filled with this peace, everyone around you becomes infected with this peace. It only takes one person filled with this peace, to cause a transformation in others. It only takes a handful of people to spread this peace to the rest of the world.

A yogi should approach a crowd of people with the same steady courage and peace that a hunter uses to approach a crouching tiger. The yogi should go about her mundane activities with immense patience, while remaining absorbed in her own inner peace. To live in this world, inner peace is very useful and very necessary.

276. Various kinds of articles are brought to a fair. Similarly, peace should be practiced in various ways. When we are in the midst of thousands of people, we should have a firm will. When you think (wrongly) that you are in the midst of thousands, the idea of duality arises in you. Just as an airplane moves without the help of the earth, so also, one must learn to act without the help of the body. The crown of firm belief “I am not this body” should be firmly planted in the heart. A traveler after being in the sun for a long time, becomes tired and goes for shelter to the shade of a tree on a hillside. There he forgets his fatigue. So too, those whose minds are absorbed in the search for God, forget all their worldly anxieties. Just as in the shade, the sun’s heat is forgotten, “mineness” is forgotten by the absorption in God. When we are inside a house, we do not want an umbrella. We are in need of an umbrella only when we go outside the house. Just as you do not want an umbrella inside the house, so also, when you are in the Great House called God, you feel no necessity of worldly enjoyment. When a man shuts the door of a house, he sees only things that are inside the house. Let him open the doors and come out. Then he will see what is outside. Similarly, you must learn how to shut the doors of the five senses and how to open them. When the doors of a warehouse are locked, buying and selling ceases. When doors of the senses are shut, the difference between the external world and the “I” will vanish. You must always be careful about the senses. Like a horse being controlled by the help of reins, you must control your senses by the help of discrimination. Your attention on the senses should be fixed like a nail in a wall. Buddhi (intelligence) should be concentrated in the head. Your attention should always be above the neck, never below the neck.

Commentary: When you go to a fair, you have choices on what to buy. Similarly, you have a number of choices in how you practice Peace. The experience of Inner Peace should be cultivated, not just in Meditation, but when you are going about your day, as well. When engaged in your daily mundane activities, even if those activities require you to be out of your home amongst a crowd of people, do not have the attitude that you are in a crowd of many. Understand that, no matter where you go and how many people there are, there is really only the ONE Shiva everywhere.

No matter where you are, God is the only one there. Just as an airplane moves about the earth without needing the help of the earth, you should move in this world, engaging in activity, without relying on the senses to guide you. The senses should be trained to rely on you, on your purified awareness, and you should not rely on the senses. Perform Sadhana every day so that you come to the understanding and experience that you are not the body or the senses. Plant the understanding firmly in your heart that you are Shiva. Like a traveler seeking shade from the sun under a tree, take refuge in God inside and place your anxieties at the feet of the Lord. Leave your worries there and do not take them up again.

The notion of “I” and “Mine” is forgotten completely when you dissolve your mind in Shiva-Shakti. This is the means of rising above Pleasure and Pain. When you become completely absorbed in your primordial nature, in your own Shakti, you do not have to worry that you will again succumb to craving and desire. Once you have taken complete refuge in God and learned to trust in God’s Divine Will, you will no longer have any expectations of sense pleasures or worldly pleasures.

Learning to be in this world without being of this world is essential. The way to accomplish this is to become absorbed in God through Sadhana. Once you have purified your senses in the fire of Yoga, you learn to use them as tools for the Divine. You learn to only engage them as is necessary to carry out only those mundane activities that are essential for your daily living. You don’t require any additional stimulation because your only desire is to rest in your own Joy. In this state, you see only God in everything and everyone, everywhere and it is only God that you want.

Until you attain this state, you must be cautious about how you engage your senses. The senses have to be monitored constantly like a nail is fixed to a wall. Direct your individual intellect into the heart space in the Sahasrar and learn to keep your focus there so that you can keep the senses under your control. In this way, keep Kundalini focused in the heart space, in the Sahasrar, and not in the Chakras below the neck. If you leave Kundalini to rest in those Chakras below the neck, you will only fuel the craving and desire for more sense pleasures.

277. Just as gold is burnished after repeatedly being put into fire, so by repeated exercise of discrimination, the subtle should be enlightened. You must see the world in you. Our intelligence is only a means of Moksha. What is called Dharana is nothing but clear understanding of the subject. By this clear understanding, we come nearer to the Atman. We do not get experience from books. First experience, and from that experience, books are written. The tree is in the seed. The seed is not in the tree. Man is not in the world. The world is in man. The world is subject to man. We express in words what we think in our minds. The heart should be free from hypocrisy, the heart of man should be perfectly pure. What the heart thinks, the tongue should talk. What one thinks, one must talk. Nobody you should deceive. Nobody you should hate. You must not mix with others. Your mind must always be one-pointed. When you have a deceptive heart, it is like the sun in the mid-summer, a star comes out of the clouds and shines with glory. After a few seconds, it is hidden again by the clouds. So also is the mind of man. Sometimes, it appears to be pure but again in five minutes, it is over clouded by passions. The egotistic mind melts in the Atman like a star that falls down from the sky. Akash (space) is not visible to the physical eye. Akash is that which is visible to the divine eye. By discrimination, we can experience discrimination. Sound is known by sound. Mind is perceptible to mind only.

Commentary: You get gold by purifying ore in fire. You get God by purifying your intellect in the fire of Sadhana. Individual intelligence exists only to see God inside and to become Liberated by that very sight. The entire universe is contained inside you. Experience it there by the outlook of Shiva. What is known as Dharana or contemplation is nothing other than the constant, uninterrupted vision of the Supreme Subject, Shiva-Shakti. Understanding this, you know and understand everything.

This experience cannot be found in books. It can only be found by going inside yourself through Sadhana. Great books have been written by those who have done so, and not the other way around. Just as a tree is innate in the seed, so too, the entire universe is contained inside a human being. The entire world-appearance is subject to humankind and not the other way around.

Free yourself from duality and hypocrisy. Only in this way can you attain Equality Consciousness. Equality Consciousness means the experience that nothing exists that is not Shiva. Having attained this state, keep your mind absorbed in Shiva so that you do not become prone to deception, greed or hatred. Keep good company and do not mix with others who believe that they are separate from God.

If you engage in deception, you will conceal God from yourself and, thereby, forget your Natural, Free state of being. The mind of the unenlightened is just like clouds that reveal the Sun for a few seconds, only to cover it up again. It is bounced back and forth between pleasure and pain, between deception and hatred and greed. People remember God in one moment and are overcome with passion for objects the next moment. You can’t have both.

To become Liberated, you have to rise above both virtue and vice. Once your ego melts in the constant presence of the Divine you will realize this. Just as space is not visible to the eye, Shiva is not visible to the limited ego. So, purify the mind by the mind, purify the ego by having the ego that says, “I am God.” Use discrimination itself to discern the source of that discrimination.

278. He is Paramatman (supreme being) who is in Jivatman (Atman). Paramatman is the witness to the qualities of the Atman. When Jiva realizes that he is not different from Paramatman, he is called Nityatma (the eternal spirit). When the tender mango is on the tree, it is united with the tree. So also are Jiva and Paramatman united. When Sat (Being or Existence), Chit (pure perceiving awareness), and Ananda (bliss) are in union and when the three gunas are merged in Sat-Chit-Ananda, then only do we say that it is yoga (union).

Commentary: The Supreme Being is in you and you are in the Supreme Being. The Absolute is the witness to the Creation, Sustenance and Withdrawal of this entire universe. When you realize that you are no different than God, then you become the eternal Subject. Jiva and Paramatman are one just like a tree and its fruit. Yoga is the transformation of human consciousness into Divine Consciousness. This transformation occurs when the activity of the three Gunas is absorbed in your primordial nature, which is Sat-Chit-Ananda.

279. The energy called Kundalini should be roused by Pranayama. By rousing Kundalini, a man must attain liberation. Faith is like a rope. Vayu (air) is the rope. You must hold the rope of Vayu tight. Faith must be tied by the rope of Dharana. What is faith is nothing but Dharana. Our attention must always be concentrated on Dharana. That concentration must always be coupled with faith. Faith should be filled in every nerve of the body. To such people, there is no existence of Maya as a separate thing. Mind itself is Maya. It is the mind that creates (mental) images or ideas. All sorts of relations, all creation, cause and effect, light and universe, universal light and the Supreme Light; all these differences are caused by one’s own ignorance (Maya). When this is realized, there is no fear of Maya. “All these forms are MY OWN FORMS.” Thus should a wise man meditate. When the mind becomes firm in meditation, and when the Supreme Oneness is realized in the sky of consciousness, it is called Moksha. The path of Moksha is not far from one’s Self. Like the distance between the eye and ears, the distance between sin and merit is very slight. Moksha is not beyond Buddhi. Pleasure and pain are things to be merged in Buddhi. By the help of Buddhi, one must attain Moksha. When the mind is merged in the Self and when the oneness is realized, one attains Moksha. Jnana is internal. At the beginning, Jnana can be known. As one progresses, this Jnana is also forgotten, then there is nothing to be said or nothing to be listened to. All is Brahman and Brahman is all. This state may be called the state of “nothingness.” Prana is like a rope. When exhaling and inhaling it moves harmoniously. Prana is indivisible, it has no difference of time. Prana feels this difference when it is coupled with the gross. Jiva, because he is engrossed in the various qualities of the world, has forgotten his real Self and has occupied a lower rank. Let him take a higher (upward) direction by the help of Buddhi. Prana should be tied down by the rope of faith. Let Prana attain Moksha by its upward direction. Liberation from the sensual ties is Moksha. Then comes peace. O Prana! Enter the abode of Peace. Have under control both this world and the next! Such souls will attain Sat-Chit-Ananda. They have no attachment to the results of karma. They are eternally liberated from bondage. They are eternally one minded. They have conquered the qualities of the Jiva. Until the consciousness “I am the body” is wiped off, Mukti is a thing far off. Unless the idea of “twoness” is annihilated, there is no yoga, no Mukti. In a sense, everyone is a yogi. But everyone of such yogas has a certain object in view. When a substance becomes one with the original substance, when the dualities of lives is wiped off, it is called union or oneness. When this is realized, we see oneness in all. The real yoga is that which is detached from everything. That yoga by which a man becomes free from desires is the path to Moksha. Doubt will not disappear until Jiva unites with Shiva and becomes one. When one does a thing that is not palatable to the other, one takes the other to be a mad man. When both are interested in doing the same thing, one does not take the other to be a mad man. When both are equally interested in doing the same thing, there is nothing strange in doing that thing. The mind is like the cotton placed in the wind. Devotion to God is like water poured on the cotton. Similar is the destruction of the mind. The mind that is like cotton should be wetted by the water of Jnana and the Chitta should be freed from desires. That is Moksha. In the manner of the cotton, let man attain Mukti. A man may meditate on the Atman although he is engaged in various actions. The various objects of the senses are outside us, not inside us. Even when we are performing various actions, it is not possible to keep the Buddhi separate from them. If a car driver, when he steers the car, takes his hands off of the wheel, the car runs in whatsoever direction and is endangered. Mind should be in Buddhi. We must not let the mind wander. Mind should be fixed on internal Dhyana. Mind should be developed by the power of introspection. O Mind! Enter the sky of consciousness by developing the subtle Buddhi and filling every nerve of the body with this Buddhi! O Mind! Be always content! O Mind! Do not be deluded by shadowy appearances!

Commentary: Kundalini Shakti lays dormant in three-and-a-half folds at the base of the spine. When awakened through Shaktipat, it begins its journey upward, through the Sushumna, into the Sahasrar, where it rests in union with Shiva. This journey is the path to Liberation known as the Siddha path or the easy path. Once awakened, the rising Kundalini should be supported by Pranayama. Doing this Pranayama as instructed by your chosen Guru causes Kundalini to rise in the central nerve, the Sushumna Nadi.

This specific breathing technique is its own Dharana, its own supreme contemplation. If you have Faith in this practice of Pranayama, you can, with practice, direct Kundalini to rest in the Sahasrar. This is the way to Liberate yourself from the effects of Shiva’s Maya. This Maya is not separate from you, nor is it separate from God. It is contained within you. When you believe it to be different and separate from you, that is called ignorance. Shiva’s Maya is really none other than Shiva himself. Once you have purified your mind by causing it to turn within on a constant basis, you realize this fact. The mind is the tool Shiva uses to perpetuate Maya through the creation of thoughts, notions, ideas, concepts and language.

These are perpetuated in your own imagination, where God becomes all those objects that you want him to become. Once you have dissolved the notion of duality in your own mind, Shiva’s Maya, the veil that conceals His true nature, is destroyed. This veil is destroyed through making your mind firm in Meditation. Then you realize that “All the forms in Shiva’s Maya are my very own forms. It is I, the Supreme Subject, Shiva that exists everywhere I look.”

The dawning of this realization is not far from you. It is a short distance, just across the threshold of your own heart. The difference between the state of ignorance and the state of Liberation is very small. Illusion is the shadow of Truth. Knowing the Truth is a matter of merging your individual intellect into the Buddhi, the Divine Will and Intelligence of Shiva-Shakti. Once this is accomplished, the next step is to deposit all your notions of pleasure and pain into that Buddhi. When the mind is merged in the Self, this Supreme Buddhi becomes active in you and by this Buddhi, you attain Liberation.

Jnana, the concept of Wisdom or true Knowledge, is known as such in the early stages of your Sadhana. Once you have attained Liberation, the notion of Jnana disappears and all that remains is Paramashiva, the Absolute or one Brahman that is like a burning flame where there is no wind. In the state of the Absolute, there is no ignorance and, therefore, there is no Liberation either. These concepts don’t exist in Shiva. They only exist in His Maya.

Prana, the life breath, is like a rope tied to a bucket that you are using to raise water from a well. Prana is God. It is indivisible and timeless. Prana only senses difference and the measurement of time and space when it comes into contact with thinking, as it moves in the other channels outside of the Sushumna Nadi. It is through attachment to this thinking that you have forgotten your essential nature as Shiva-Shakti. It is through craving for sense pleasures and worldly pleasures that you have concealed your true nature from yourself. In this way, you occupy a lower rank, a limiting and binding position.

Take the upward direction with the help of the wisdom of the Self. Direct Prana into the Sushumna with complete Faith in Sadhana and the goal of Liberation. When you break the ties of sense pleasures that bind you, this is Liberation. Eternal Peace follows. O Prana! Be into the Sushumna Nadi and up, up where the abode of peace awaits you in the Sahasrar. O Prana! Take refuge there.

Those who have mastered internal Kumbhaka by breathing internally in the Sushumna have no attachment to the results of their actions. In this way, they offer every deed to God and do not create any new karmas. As a result, they are eternally Liberated from the bondage of ignorance and remain eternally absorbed in the Self (Sat-Chit Ananda). They have conquered their own limitations by wiping off the idea that they are the body. You cannot attain Liberation unless the notion that you are the body is completely destroyed. Unless the notion of duality is removed, there cannot be Mukti (liberation).

In a sense, everyone is that Yogi, Shiva. However, you don’t know that you are Shiva until the notions of “I” and “Mine” have been destroyed. To be a real Yogi, you have to see God in everything and everyone, everywhere, without the slightest sense of difference between yourself and other objects (people, places and things). Yoga is that path by which you become free of craving and desire. Fear and doubt will remain in you until you merge your individual identity in Shiva Consciousness.

People fear what they don’t understand or have not been exposed to. Those who don’t have a Siddha Guru, those who don’t follow a Guru and who don’t perform Sadhana, consider those who do to be mad. However, they don’t consider others with the same values and behavior to be mad. So, if they were to experience the Master and perform spiritual practice, they would no longer consider those who do the same to be mad. Therefore, there is nothing strange about performing Sadhana under the leadership of a Siddha.

Trust your own experience of this and keep the company of those people who are like-minded on the spiritual path. KEEP GOOD COMPANY. This is everything. If you put a piece of cotton in the wind when the wind is blowing, the cotton will blow away. But if you pour water on the cotton, it will not blow away. The mind is fickle and, like the piece of cotton, when allowed to experience worldly pleasures and sense pleasures, it will blow back and forth aimlessly, completely lost. But if you pour the water of direct knowledge of God on to the mind, the mind becomes steady and cannot be “blown” about by craving and desire.

Once the mind is completely absorbed in Shiva, you attain Mukti. The key is in training the mind. This is accomplished through Meditation on the Self. Even while engaging in the mundane activities of daily life, you can keep your mind centered in God. In this life, you have to act. You cannot avoid action. So, the goal is not to become inactive. The goal is to remain absorbed in God, even while taking action. This is Liberation.

Allow your mind to engage in the thoughts necessary to carry out the activity of your daily life, while remembering God at all times. This is what is called internal Dhyana or Meditation. My Gurudev used to say that anyone can sit in a corner with eyes closed in Meditation. The real accomplishment is to carry on this Meditation with your eyes open while engaging in action.

280. Those whose minds are merged in Samadhi, are not deluded by the external jugglery. They are quite fearless. Siddhas (God-realized Beings) are not afraid of the world. A tiger or a cobra, when they see such a person, becomes calm, forgetting its ferocity. Similarly, all animals become calm at their sight. Even enemies forget their enmity and become friendly. As soon as they see a Siddha, they become stone-still. What is the cause of this? It is because of their doubting nature. At the sight of a Siddha, there is no darkness. Mind gets purified, realizing the Satwa quality.

Commentary: When your mind remains absorbed in Shiva even as you go about your daily activities, this is known as Samadhi. When this is your state, you become fearless and cannot be deluded by the illusion of Shiva’s Maya that is this world-appearance. You become a Siddha and Siddhas are not afraid of this world.

They have no anxiety and no doubt. In this state, you no longer have to cling to life out of fear of death. At the very sight of a Siddha, even evil people become still. This is because their own essential nature of Divinity is reflected back to them through the Siddha’s being. At the sight of such a Sadhu, there is no darkness and the mind becomes calm. This is why we say keep the company of the saints, of the Siddhas, if you want to go across.

281. All do not feel hungry at the same time and to the same degree. Similarly, all do not attain Mukti at the same time. There is only a difference of time. Men dispute among themselves because of the difference of language. In Hindu-Thani, sugar is called mittha. In other languages it is called sakkare, etc. The use of sugar is the same to all. Although the sugar may be put to different uses, the places where it reaches is only one (mouth). Instead of believing in thousands of gods, if a man believes only in one God, he can realize what bliss is. Then only is a man content. Those who believe in thousands of gods are never content. So long as you think of two, there is no happiness. So feel happy only in ONE. God is only ONE, never two. Those whose faith is such, see God in themselves. They see all as Self. This is the path to Moksha. For such a man, there is no enemy. All are his friends. A man should not spoil himself by believing in two. He should attain by believing in one. A man must return from whence he has come. Knowing the cause and effect, playing on the external matter, reach the place from whence you started. This is Moksha. Moksha does not come in search of us. We should search for Moksha and enter therein. What is Moksha? Moksha is freedom of the mind from actions and standing apart from the internal state. Moksha is not to be attained by a different outward path. What is Moksha is not different from one’s Self. We have not striven for Moksha. So, we feel that it is far off from us. Moksha is not a thing to be attained by going “here” and by going “there.” One should search within oneself. The mind should be merged in Buddhi and, by the path of discrimination, one should enter Mukti. God is the Indivisible One. Man, because of his doubts, has made images and called it god, due to ignorance. This doubt should be removed by the path of discrimination. By doing so, he must attain Jivanmukti. Bhakti (devotion) is nothing but love a man manifests towards an object. A man should believe that thing as great, by which, because of his faith, he has been much benefited. This belief should not be relaxed. There is not a single thing without Bhakti. All animals have Bhakti. Just as water flows in different directions, so also, is Bhakti of different types. All animals have a right for Bhakti. Bhakti is in all objects. Bhakti should be absolutely pure. Bhakti should be realized in the sky of consciousness. Bhakti should be internal and it should realize the subtle. Then, a man becomes desireless and sorrowless. This state is eternal Mukti. Let Mukti be entered into by the path of Sushumna.

Commentary: All beings must, eventually, retrace their steps back to God. This is inevitable. If you don’t perform Sadhana to become God-realized in this life, you will continue to return, you will continue to take birth and die, until you choose to tread the path back to God. The goal of life is Moksha (Liberation or Deliverance). Some attain it sooner and some later. The difference is only in the time it takes. All will, eventually, be Liberated.

To experience the Bliss of the Absolute, you have to believe in that one God-principle, Shiva-Shakti. Regardless of which “label” you use, whether it is Shiva, Shakti, God, Mohammed, Jesus Christ, Mary Magdalene, Ram, Vishnu, Krishna; believe in the ONE unifying principle of Divine Consciousness. This is the only way to see God inside yourself and in others. This is the only way to attain Moksha. Moksha means returning to the place that you started. It means returning to your primordial state of being. It is the freedom that results from dissolving your mind in the Absolute.

Moksha is attained only by going inside, with self-effort and the Grace of the Guru. If this state of Liberation seems far off for you, it is only because you have not made the effort to attain Moksha in earnest. Moksha cannot be attained by investing yourself in sense pleasures and worldly pleasures. It cannot be attained by gathering possessions. There is only one path to Moksha. That path is an inner path. It is the path where the mind is merged in the purified Buddhi.

This path is not contained in objects of worship or statues of deities. It is not contained in mere rituals or ceremonies. This path to Liberation can be tread inside yourself when you remove all doubt from your mind and cultivate Bhakti (devotion) for the Master and for God. With this Bhakti you make Shiva visible within yourself. Then you become a Jivanmukti, one who is completely Liberated while still alive in the body.

Every living creature has this Bhakti within them. From animals to insects to human beings, all have Bhakti internally. It just needs to be cultivated and focused on. When Bhakti is completely pure, when you love God and are devoted to the Guru for your own sake, then you become free from limiting desire and craving and you attain a state where there is no suffering or sorrow.

This state is the eternal Mukti (complete recognition of the Absolute). Mukti (moksha) is attained by way of the Sushumna. When we say believe in one path, in one God, this is what we mean. The one path to God is the Sushumna Nadi. When Kundalini rises in this nerve, all vasanas and samskaras are destroyed. Through this Sushumna path, the Siddha path, Shakti then merges with Shiva in the Sahasrar.

282. The subtle power of Kundalini must be comprehended by the path of Buddhi. By discrimination and Shradha, the Prana should be heated in the Sushumna like boiling milk, and led towards the Sahasrar in the head. When the Kundalini crosses the various chakras in the body, our bodily qualities change. The change of one quality means the change of one birth. When the Prana is led upwards through the chakras, peace of mind and forgiveness are acquired. Five chakras and five houses (Pancha Bhutas) should be crossed and the sixth chakra should be reached. After conquering the six qualities, Sat-Chit-Ananda should be entered into. After enlightening the Ajna Chakra, Akash (internal) and Agni Mandala should be attained. Shakti and Shiva should be one, present, past and the future. The place of these is Bindu. In Bindu is Jnana fire. This should be meditated upon and Prana Linga should be entered into. Let Prana become one with Shiva. Conquer both Yantra and Mantra. Let Buddhi, proceeding through Akash (internal), go to the center of the sky of consciousness and there be one with the dawn of the Atman. Let the qualities of karma be sacrificed and let Jiva, by the path of pure Akash, become one with Paramatman. Let Jiva take his stand on the top of the Sushumna which is his real home. Let the feeling of “mine” and “yours” disappear. Let all the qualities of Jiva be unified, and man become a Siddha and be fearless. Knowing the path of the Atman, O Mind, distribute spiritual food to others! Knowing the path of the Atman, O Mind, conquer both birth and death! O Mind! Be free from birth and death! O Mind! Enjoy eternal peace! When the Buddhi is enlightened, every man comes to know his own defects and merits. Like one’s reflection in the mirror, the various desires of the mind will be visible to Buddhi. The gross and the subtle will seem to be separate like the reflection of the sky in clear water. These experiences will be had by those who have realized the Atman. The internal state of man will be like an object sunk in water. In all forms, the One is seen. So be sunk in the water of Jnana. Let the desires of the mind be washed in the Ganges of the Atman. Thus realize Ananda. Enter Mukti. O Mind! While sitting, lying, sleeping, and walking, be on the path of Mukti and enter it. For Mukti to be attained, no particular time is prescribed. When you are walking in the company of others, let your mind be in the sky of consciousness. Let the mind with Shraddha drink the nectar of Mukti. Realizing Bhakti and Mukti to be one, become one with Omkar. Let the ten Indriyas become slaves of Buddhi, like a bird deprived of its wings. Let Prana that is moving in ten directions be made to move in one direction only. Let this be done internally. Let Prana enter Chidakash. Let internal peace be attained. Let Mukti be attained in same-sightedness. Having attained Mukti let them see the whole universe as freed from bondage. The body is the engine. Knowledge (Jnana) is the steam. Discrimination is the movement. Shraddha is the line. Knowing this, let the train be driven. The driver is the intellect (Buddhi). The digestive system is the boiler. The nerves are the screw. Knowing this, enter the Atman by the subtle path of Buddhi. Attain thou peace. Just as the train moves on rails, so also, discrimination should move on the path of subtle Buddhi.

Commentary: You should become constantly aware of the movement of mother Kundalini as she purifies your being. Cause Kundalini to rise by allowing your individual intellect to become absorbed in the Buddhi, the Divine Intelligence of God. By the recognition of Shiva, and by unwavering Faith, direct your Prana into the Sushumna Nadi and cause it to rise to the Sahasrar. In this way, support the rising Kundalini as she pierces and purifies each of your Chakras (spiritual centers).

On the journey of the Siddha path, all of the 36 Tattvas, from the Pancha Mahabhutas, beginning with Earth up to Shiva, must be crossed. As Kundalini purifies each chakra, the qualities, leanings and tendencies (vasanas and samskaras) are destroyed. With the death of each quality, a future lifetime of birth and death is changed or completely destroyed.

As Kundalini rises on her journey to Sahasrar, peace of mind and the Sattvic qualities of compassion and honor are cultivated. After the rising Kundalini pierces the Ajna Chakra, the Sahasrar should be reached and the experience of the Heart space attained. One should attribute everything to Shiva-Shakti, including the past, present and future. This is the experience of the Vibration of Divine Consciousness called Visarga or Bindu. It is the fire of all Yoga.

One’s Meditation should consist of the complete awareness of Prana Shakti (Prana Linga) as it moves in the Sushumna Nadi without taking in any breath from outside. In this way, the Prana becomes one with the Absolute and one rises above the need for ritual and mantra repetition. The mind becomes completely absorbed in Bindu-Nada. This is pure Akash, the experience of Chidakasha.

Let your intellect travel in the Heart space in the head to become one with Shiva. Sacrifice your attachment to objects and sense pleasures in the pure space of Chidakasha and become one with Paramatman. Take your position at the top of the Sushumna Nadi in the Sahasrar. Surrender the false notion of difference and the false notion of “I” and “Mine” and unite your qualities with the Absolute to become a Siddha. Once you have become this fearless saint, teach others and lead them to the same state. Become free of birth and death in this way.

As your individual intellect is purified through Sadhana, you will start to see all of your defects, all of your weaknesses. These become glaringly obvious with spiritual practice. You also begin to see all your strengths and your own purity. In this way, you learn to choose the transcendental aspect of God over His immanent aspect. You learn to choose expansion over contraction and you avoid limitation in order to constantly experience your limitless nature.

In this way, you are able to get better at observing this Play of Divine Consciousness from the “director’s seat” and you will start to observe your Divine nature as being separate from and untouched by the illusion of this world-appearance. This will become your strength. Realize the eternal Bliss of the Self in this way. There is no time that is better than another for realizing God. So, do it now. By the instruction of the Master, attain Mukti right now where you are, in whatever activity you find yourself engaged in.

See God everywhere, in everything and everyone and remain absorbed in Shiva-Shakti, even as you go about your mundane activities. With complete Faith let the mind drink the nectar of Self-awareness at all times. If you can realize that Devotion to the Guru and the instruction of the Guru is the path to Liberation, you will merge with God. Of this there is no doubt.

Let the Pithas, the seat of the senses (powers behind the senses) become slaves to your own purified intellect. Make them tools for God’s use. Let Prana, which is moving through all the subtle channels that fuel the senses, be redirected into the Sushumna Nadi. Cause Prana to move in this one direction, to the Sahasrar. Do this kind of internal work. In this way, cause Prana to roam in the inner expanse of Divine Consciousness (Chidakasha) where eternal peace and Bliss can be experienced constantly.

The body is the engine. Wisdom (Jnana) is the steam that fuels that engine. Viveka (discrimination), the willingness to choose the transcendental over the immanent, is the movement of the engine. Faith (Shraddha) is the motivation and the purified Buddhi (intellect) is the driver. Let this “train” make its way through the Sushumna to its final destination in the Sahasrar. Attain eternal Peace in this way.

283. If we look at the rails and the carriages, both appear to be closely connected. But really the rails and the wheels are separate. The rails are the gross passage. The train’s motion is caused by the energy of steam. Similar is the connection between the body and the soul. It should be shaken by the subtle intelligence and the eternal peace should be attained. Just as the carriages of the train are connected by chains, so also, let Jiva and Paramatma be united. The bodily qualities should be cut asunder by equal sightedness. Let Jiva attain Mukti, his eternal home.

Commentary: Just as the cars of a train are separate from the rails that the train rides on, so also Spanda Shakti is of a very different nature than this world-appearance. Her nature as Shiva Consciousness is unchanged and untainted, even though she becomes all the objects in this universe.

Just as the train’s motion is caused by steam, the activity of this world-appearance is caused by Chit Shakti. Shakti should be realized as the energy that gives this world-appearance life. Attain eternal Peace by purifying your being with the subtle intelligence (Buddhi) of this Divine Shakti. Unite your awareness with the Consciousness of God by taking complete and total refuge in Shiva. Make all the qualities in your being serve God by attaining Equality Consciousness. Go and dwell in your eternal home that is the state of Liberation (Mukti).

284. Let Meditation, Manas, and Faith be merged into one. Let the subtle point of light be kindled between the eyebrows and the union be established. In the Omkar, let the pure Chitta be firmly fixed, following the path of subtle Buddhi. Let the Manas become steady being firmly fixed in Dharana and Samadhi. Let the mind be one-pointed. To establish Chitta in Akash, there is no other means than Samadhi. O Jiva! Enter thou Akash! To the Jiva who has entered the Akash, there is no separate existence for this world. O Mind! Be quite free from the body idea! To make Chitta firm is very difficult without Sadhana. To those who are ever merged in Samadhi, the body’s existence is quite foreign. To such, the gross and the subtle become separated like the kernel and the shell of the mango seed. To those who always think “I am not the body,” there is no separate Samadhi. They enjoy eternal Samadhi, absolute Samadhi, Shivanatha Samadhi, Manolaya (mind annihilation) Samadhi. To those who are always sunk in the sugar of Jnana, sugar does not exist as a separate thing. Such men are quiet, regardless of the external acts and the external world.

Commentary: With complete Faith in the Guru and in your own spiritual practice, dissolve your mind in Meditation. Meditate and practice the instruction of the Guru so that you can direct Kundalini through Ajna Chakra into the Sahasrar. In this way, merge your individual intellect into Buddhi, the Supreme Intelligence of Shiva-Shakti.

Attain Samadhi by dissolving your mind in the Absolute. Samadhi, the thought-free state, is the only way to enter into Chidakasha. It is the only way to experience Shiva. When you have this experience, sunk in the sweetness of Chidakasha, the world does not exist separate from you. When you maintain this experience, you realize that the entire Universe is contained within your own being. To hold this experience, you have to eliminate the notion that you are the body.

285. The energy of Omkar is like a mine of water. It moves in all directions. It pervades both inside us and outside us in the form of reason. It becomes vibrationless, creating, maintaining, and destroying all. The vibrationlessness becomes one with reason. Reason becomes merged in Omkar. Omkar becomes one with reason. Omkar becomes one with the world. The world becomes one with Omkar. The Omkar and the world become one with Akash. Akash becomes one with reason. Reason becomes one with Akash. Reason and Akash become one with Omkar. The imperishable becomes one with reason. The imperishable and Jnana become one with reason. Reason becomes one with Atman. Atman becomes one with reason. Form discrimination becomes one with Atman through the path of Buddhi. The cause and effect juice of Yoga. The juice of Yoga transforms every quality of the body, directing it upwards. O Mind! By the upward path, pervade all those qualities of the body. Shake off all doubts from all parts of the body by bathing in the Ganges of Shiva. Let Shiva and Shakti be one with Omkar. See, with the third eye, the forms and qualities of the world. Let the doubts of the mind be reduced to ashes. Let the six enemies of the body be burnt to ashes. Let the body be smeared with these ashes. Thus enter thou Shiva by the help of the third eye. Be thou Shiva and Shiva, thou. Let the difference between thee and Shiva be sacrificed in the midst of the five fires of the five senses. Let all doubts be heartily sacrificed in these fires, O Jiva! Perform penance by sacrificing all thy qualities Satwa, Rajas, and Tamas. By the disinterested path, drink the nectar every moment. Drink that nectar without doubts. When thou hast realized the truth, thou hast no fear of death. After realizing the truth, “I” and “mine” are as if they are dead. The fear of death is dead forever. What is called the feeling of “I” and “mine” is nothing but the fear of death. This is an obstruction to the path of God-realization. When the truth is realized, death becomes an external condition just as thou sleepest, forgetting the external world. This is not different from what is called the internal life. Then the senses are turned inward and, when they move internally, “I” and “mine” become atomic and become merged in the highest. When the Jiva suddenly awakens from sleep and becomes aware of the external, then only he realizes the nature of sleep. This is the state of Jnana. The cause of birth and death is desire. By this desire, the shadow appears as reality. This desire is under man’s control. Those who have the power of discrimination, have no fear of birth and death. Since mind is controlled by desire, you give room to enjoyment and difficulties. If the desire is subdued by man, he is no longer under the sway of Pleasure and Pain. Because mind is subdued by desire, man requires external help to satisfy his desires. When a man becomes a slave to certain habits, this is the cause of lower birth. All habits must be under the control of man. A man must be indifferent to habits. For this you want a firm will. The work depending on fancy is not permanent. The work done by the power of discrimination lasts till the body lasts. Sankalpa is not always permanent. Sankalpa is far inferior to Buddhi. Sankalpa is like the little finger. Buddhi is like the middle finger. Vasana is the great love for a certain thing. This Vasana is the cause of birth. Vasanas, which are related to the body, come and go now and then. Like bubbles which appear and disappear in water. Body is all nature. Because of the great love for a special thing, which is called Vasana, we have to take another birth. Juice of Yoga. The juice of Yoga transforms every quality of the body, directing it upwards. O Mind! By the upward path, pervade all those qualities of the body. The Vasana has a special form. That form reflects the internal. It appears in the form of a body in a special family. The man having such a Vasana, whatever work he may be engaged in, his body only is working. His Vasana stands apart and there a body is created according to the Vasana. It is impossible for the body to satisfy the Vasana. Hence, the body suffers from some disease, and the outgoing Prana, after death, assumes a particular body. This body is gone and a fresh body is generated. The birth is for the fulfillment of that special Vasana. The birth is of the same nature as the Vasana. For instance, when one is walking, can he lift up both feet at the same time from the earth? Lifting up the feet alternately, one must walk. Similarly is the Vasana of former birth.

Commentary: The energy of Omkar is the Chiti of the Absolute that pervades the entire Universe of forms and all other realms seen and unseen. This Shakti of Shiva is contained inside each of us and outside everywhere. Although completely still and pure, Shakti is responsible for all the vibrations of the Universe; creating, sustaining and withdrawing the Universe at will. It is this Chiti that takes the very form of the individual intellect known as reason.

When Omkar becomes one with the individual intellect, you realize that you yourself pervade this world-appearance and are one with it. When the individual intellect is purified, this reason merges in Buddhi, the Divine Will and Supreme Intelligence of Shiva that is the Heart space of Chidakasha. This Buddhi is Shakti in its’ purest form. Once enlightened, a Siddha experiences that all the forms and experiences of this Universe merge inside his own being and become one with this Chiti. Then he realizes that this entire world-appearance exists in his own imagination and that the only Reality is Shiva-Shakti.

Liberation comes to those who perform Sadhana. The practice of Yoga, under the leadership of a living Master, is this Sadhana. Sadhana, which begins with Shaktipat, transforms every quality of one’s being and makes those qualities tools of God’s Will. O Mind! By the upward path to Shiva, purify all the qualities that exist in the body. Destroy all fears and doubts by resting in the abode of Shiva in the Sahasrar, O mind. By spiritual practice, reduce craving, desire, doubts, fears and worries to ashes. Let the six enemies be burnt to ashes in the fire of your Sadhana.

Let your sense of separateness from Shiva be destroyed by depositing all expectations of sense pleasures at the feet of Shiva, where they will be burned to ashes. Let the body be smeared with these ashes, just as the body of Shiva is smeared with the ashes of the impurities of all His disciples. In this way, enter into Shiva by crossing the Ajna Chakra with the Blessing of the Guru. Sacrifice the three Gunas to Shiva and become free from attachment to this world-appearance.

When you realize God, you will have no fear of death. After becoming Liberated, you will have no sense of difference or diversity. You will not get caught up in the notions of “I” and “Mine” and “You” and “Yours.” These notions are the act of clinging to life out of fear of death. They are an obstruction to God-realization and must be removed. When you realize Shiva, you will experience that death is only the death of the illusion that a world and a universe actually exist. You will realize that Shiva is this world, this world is Shiva and you are Shiva also.

You will understand, in this way, that you have no beginning and no end. Once you realize that the world does not exist separate from you, you will experience your own death in Meditation, and then you will realize that death does not exist either. The notion of death only exists because you have woken from the sleep of the Atman, which is your own deep sleep. Because you rise from deep sleep each day, you have come to believe that there is such a thing called death. In truth, “death” is nothing but the deep sleep of Yoga (yoga nidra).

This “death” is merely your withdrawal from this illusory world-appearance. The cause of the belief of birth and death is attachment to and desire for the illusion of this world-appearance. Just as, when you let go of your desire for an object, that object no longer exists for you, yet you continue to exist; in the same way, when you let go of the object known as “world,” it no longer exists for you, yet you continue to be.

The truth is you create your own heaven and hell by entertaining desire for this and that. Therefore, desire is under your full control. But you are deluded by your own powers because you have forgotten your true nature as Shiva. In this way, you place yourself under the sway of pleasure and pain and become a slave to this pair of opposites. This becomes the cause of your death and rebirth.

The only means to break this vicious cycle is by the power of Grace and that Grace comes from a Master. It is the power of Viveka (discrimination) that allows you to be aware of what is real and what is not. Individual will (sankalpa) is inferior to Divine Will (Buddhi). What is manifested by sankalpa is not always permanent. Therefore, it is best to direct your sankalpa to Shiva and merge it in Shiva-Shakti. Not to do so is to create more Vasanas for yourself.

Vasanas are latent impressions caused by attachment to objects (people, places and things). A single Vasana can cause another birth. These Vasanas are the reason you are caught up in the cycle of birth and death and the cycle of pain and pleasure. Only through Sadhana can they be destroyed. O Mind! By the upward path, through the Sushumna Nadi, merge with Shiva and destroy these Vasanas! Now. The thing to remember about Vasanas is that they create the Prarabdha Karma, the karma that cannot be destroyed and must be suffered. This is why the body does not have the capacity to completely fulfill all Vasanas in one lifetime. It is not possible. The Prarabdha is the reason you take another birth.

So, for a particular Vasana, there is another cycle of birth and death. These Vasanas can only be fulfilled one at a time, just like you can only put one foot in front of the other when walking. So, in this way, many karmas are created by way of these Vasanas. This is why you continue to be trapped in the vortex of Samsara. The way out is to burn these Vasanas in the inner fire of Yoga. There is no other way.

A great general who commands the King’s armies can choose to leave the kingdom to start his own army. But, because all the soldiers in the kingdom belong to the King and are loyal to that King, it would be difficult for that general to convince those soldiers to join him, especially when all that he has to offer them belongs to the King. Now, this general, with great difficulty, may succeed in convincing some of those soldiers to join him outside the kingdom. But he will never command the powerful army he commanded when he served the King.

So, align yourself with That King known as Shiva-Shakti. Align your comings and goings with His Divine Will so that you can command the army, The Wheel of Energies that is His and that is the power of His Kingdom. Return to the Kingdom from whence you came and remain there in His power, in His glory.

286. Desireless Bhakti is not for the enjoyment of worldly happiness. This Bhakti is not related to nature. This Bhakti is not for getting rid of any difficulties. There is no relation whatsoever between this Bhakti and difficulty. No one should shrink back from the path of this Bhakti. He should proceed on the path of this Bhakti. Just as the big lizard (in a fort) embraces the fort wall very firmly and never leaves it, so also, desireless Bhakti should firmly embrace the heart lotus with steadfast faith. Bhakti by the path of skill (Yukti) should be one with Shakti. Let, by such a Bhakti, the heart be purified of all its Upadhis (latent tendencies). Let such a Bhakti become absolutely free from desire. Let this desirelessness become the strongest. Let the senses become quiet. Let his Bhakti become unwavering in that Giver of Peace. This is real Bhakti. This is eternal peace. This is the Self-luminous. This is what is called Sat. This Bhakti is beyond both this world and the next. This is nothing but the mind filled with eternal Ananda. The mind filled with eternal Ananda is the seed of all things. The mind filled with eternal Ananda is the subtle seed of all things. Let this be developed with discrimination. The mind filled with eternal Ananda is that without qualities. It is the diseaseless. It is the Universal reason. It is called the Creator. It is the witness of all. It is the one Sat for this world and the next. It is the One, pervading in and out. It is the Knowledge, higher and lower, (Jnana and Vijnana). It is the one Cause and Effect. It is the Universal Witness. It is the Sinless Atman. Witness of All, it is the Universal Guru. It is the Universal Light. It is the Universal Father and Mother. It is the Bindu in Omkar. It is MA, A, E, OM the Great. Movable and the Seen, OM the Essence. It is what is declared by the sages as The Truth. OM. OM.

Verses 1-25, Verses 26-50, Verses 51-75,

Verses 76-100, Verses 101-125, Verses 126-150,

Verses 151-175, Verses 176-200, Verses 201-225,

Verses 226-250, Verses 251-286.