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You have not to
say, "Please guy, go out", because they are one. In
the same way, knowledge and ignorance are both one.
In my master's words, Siddharameshwar Maharaj,
"Knowledge is the greatest ignorance." By
knowledge, we know that which is nothing, and that
is a trick, nothing else. One should know the
trick. A magician does many quick movements, and
everything disappears all of a sudden. Here, it is
also the same. Master only teaches you this trick.
There's no master and no aspirant in the Reality.
Both are not there, they cannot remain. How can
duality be there when there is completeness? When
there is duality, there is incompleteness. Only
oneness is complete. We have to use the word,
"oneness". Why? Because you see so many things, so
you have to use the word "oneness". But in Reality,
there is neither peace, nor any state. "Peace",
"state", "samadhi" are only methods. They are the
real poison, because they take you away from It,
and as a result your ego becomes stronger and
stronger.
Then the question may arise from the aspirant,
"What should I do?" Do nothing! Words only go up to
the space. Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad
Gita, "There, from where the words come, that
is my Self. That is my Self." The same thing was
said by Christ in the Bible: "Know thyself
and you know the world." Go up to that point where
thinking ends, go up to That, and there is the
Self. So, I always call it, "Self without self."
So, Self realisation is Self without self. As long
as realising remains, self remains. The eyes have
got the habit to see that which is not. You say,
"This is a chair", but it is not. The child will
say, "This is water." His parents will say, "No,
no, it's called an ocean." They pour more ignorance
into him. On the contrary, he is right, it's
nothing but water. He submits to their
instructions. Ignorant people will always like
ignorance and will not like knowledge. In the Hindi
scripts it is written, "Mind has got the curse not
to hear the master." Mind doesn't like it. All the
people around you are just full of ignorance and
they want to support their ignorance. They don't
want to get rid of their ignorance. People don't
like to go and see a saint and also don't like it
when other people go because they're afraid to lose
a person from their circle. The saint takes you up
to That, up to the Reality and says, "Understand
yourself." This is the position.
Question: But life springs out from Reality.
Isn't life under the authority of Reality?
Ranjit: The whole dream is reflected from
where? From zero, from consciousness. It is not
reflected from Reality, it is reflected from zero.
In ignorance you forget the Reality and then
something appears. Whatever comes from zero must be
unreal, a mere dream, and this dream is reflected
from consiousness. In sleep we forget everything,
but when we wake up, everything returns at once, in
a fraction of a second. So, from where does
everything come? Not from Him. If it came from Him,
then it would be the Reality and if so, nothing
would appear. When you understand that you are
Reality, then how can ignorance appear?
Question: It could be a game for Reality to
express itself in the manifestation.
Ranjit: It's a trick only. Here at zero, you
can dream up whatever you wish, anything. You may
never expect to get something, but still you may
perhaps get it. It has not come from you –
everything which is there has come out from this
ignorance. Ignorance has come about by hearing.
Now, you have to hear the master and follow what he
says, and then all ignorance vanishes. Go to the
master and tell him, "Put my name on your record."
You go to school and put the name of the boy in the
school, no? And then, he has to go to the school
and learn. It's the same way here, also. One should
go to the master and what he says, accept it. If
you accept it, then you can achieve the goal very
fast, within a fraction of a second. Why not?
Question: I would like to know about death.
I am not afraid of death myself, but I have some
relatives who are. So, how am I to relate to
them?
Ranjit: Let them understand what they
understand. You first understand yourself that
death is nothing. If you teach them, they won't
hear you. But still you know yourself that, "I am
birthless, I am deathless. I have never taken a
birth and I will never die." Keep that knowledge in
your mind. If somebody you know is dying then tell
them, "Don't fear. Don't fear. Die."
[Laughs] You should say in your mind, "When
you die, don't worry, because all fear disappears."
For example, a serpent is there. Take his poisonous
tooth out and play with him. Then he is not going
to do anything with you, no? Let people say, "Oh,
watch out, you are playing with a serpent!" You can
say to them, "Okay, I'm playing. Do you want to
play also?" They all won't do it, because they are
in fear. You know that you have taken out the
poisonous tooth of the serpent and so it's not
going to do any harm to you. Death is nothing.
Everyday, when you sleep it's like a small death,
and you don't fear that death because you know that
you will get up tomorrow. But suppose you die
during sleep, then what to do? Why to fear? Nothing
is there. Everything is an illusion. Keep your mind
in that fearless state only. Let others have fear.
Just as the poisonous tooth is taken out, in the
same way, play with the world, there is no harm. It
won't affect your mind. Live fearlessly – no
death, no fear, knowing that, "I am that real
power, I am Reality."
Question: Is it your role to remove the
thorn of ego, and if so, can you help me to remove
this thorn?
Ranjit: Take out the thorn. That is the help
which I give. Otherwise, how can I help you? You
have to take out your own things. I can tell you,
but you have to take it out. It doesn't exist, take
it for granted. It doesn't exist, but you feel its
existence. You don't leave it, that's the
difficulty. What to do? You have fear of what will
happen. Nothing else is going to happen. Nothing
has happened up to now, so what is going to happen
now? So, to take out the ego, always say, "I know
nothing. I don't see, I don't hear, I don't eat, I
don't sleep, I don't walk. I do nothing." Ego must
go. For example, the doctor gives you medicine. You
cannot cure the disease unless you leave the
disease. After some time, the doctor again comes to
see if you are better and you say to him, "Oh, I'm
still not well." What can he do if you don't take
the medicine, tell me? So, to take out the ego say,
"I do nothing. I don't sleep, I don't speak, I
don't do anything. "I" is not there." That is a
practice. You can do it.
Question: In your bhajans [devotional
singing], what concept do you worship,
Maharaj?
Ranjit: We worship That which is conceptless
and thoughtless. The whole essence of worship is to
make your mind stronger towards the side of
Reality. My Guru, Siddharameshwar Maharaj, and his
master, Bhausaheb Maharaj from Karnataka, were
Gurus from Sholapur. Bhausaheb Maharaj started this
lineage and has kept full wisdom in it, full
understanding. There are many saints in India, and
they've written so many things. So, he has gathered
the highest thoughts about the Reality. You cannot
understand it because it is in the Marathi
language, so there is a difficulty. Otherwise, you
would see that every word has got a very strong
meaning of the Reality. When you see a movie, for
example, and if you like a song in the movie, then
after coming home you sing that song, over and over
again. So, by singing the bhajans, you remain in
that circle of Reality, nothing else. No concept.
When a concept is known, how do you worship a
concept? We keep Siddharameshwar Maharaj's photo
only, but he is here [holding his chest]
and not up there on the wall. People do things
which they don't know. When you say, "Christ",
people cross themselves. This means that Christ is
here and not there. What to do? But most feel He is
there. That is ignorance. Knowing that, "I am not
there", is the practice. For example, if you leave
the room, then you are out of the room, otherwise,
you remain in the room. So, you should leave the
room. That's the only thing you have to do. It
depends upon you. The master is there to guide you,
nothing else.
Question: I live in fear and I do not dare
to live my life. What should I do to overcome this
fear?
Ranjit: Fear is in human nature, it is
always there. Everybody has got fear, even the
animals, because they understand that "I am the
body." Body is always fearing and mind is the
greatest factor in it. Mind is nothing but your own
concept. A concept is knowledge also, so fear
always comes into the mind due to the unsteadiness
of the world. Every minute is changing. The mind
always has fear for that which is not steady. Your
own life is also nothing – it depends only on
your own breathing. As long as you breathe,
everything is there. Breathing is nothing but wind
and wind is never steady. Wind has got both power
and knowledge. And light is always in fear of
darkness. Both light and darkness go together.
Where there is light, there is darkness – if
darkness is there, light is there , so they are not
steady. Therefore, one always has fear, as you say.
If you go beyond darkness or beyond knowledge, then
there is no fear at all. For example, a cinema
screen has no fear of any picture, because it is
steady. So, that which is not steady, it always has
fear. Your mind changes at every moment.
Human beings have got fear of even the smallest
insects – insects, birds and germs. There are
so many kinds of germs, bacteria. Also, all kinds
of insects are there because power is life, nothing
else. So, man always has got the fear of nothing
but death. There are five elements in the world
– sky, fire, water, earth, wind – all
come from the sky. Still, all of them have got an
exactly opposite entity – sky always traps the
wind, wind always grabs fire, fire always grabs
water, and water can dissolve earth at any moment.
That which is transitory has always got the fear.
Your thoughts and concepts are transitory, every
moment you change your thoughts and concepts. So,
one is always in fear. Body is made up of the five
elements, nothing else, and there is one
consciousness which is called chaitanya, which
knows itself and knows others. So they all work
together. Mind is nothing but that consciousness in
a subtle form, and all knowledge rises from that
consciousness. It is all automatic, so fear must be
there. For example, there are so many insects, so
many things in the world. You fear everything
because you want your body to remain intact. Fear
is always there, so to work on fear one should know
his own Self. It is easy, and is called
Self-realisation. So, one should not fear if he
realises that, "I am beyond zero."
Krishna says to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita,
"Oh Arjuna, all your actions limit you and are
useless unless you know your Self." So to get out
of the fear, you go to the church, pray to God, and
the Hindus go to the temples and pray. Fear itself
is the mind. Worshipping, reading many, many
philosophical books, all these things make your
mind more complicated, and that complication always
brings more fear. So the mind cannot remain steady.
If your mind knows its own source or its own
beginning, only then can it be happy. So one can
overcome fear, why not? When there is nothing, your
fear is always more. For example, if you are in a
lonely place, then you have lots of fear.
Loneliness is nothing but space. So go beyond space
by the grace of the master. Only by the
understanding given by the master you can penetrate
the sky and go beyond the sky, beyond the space. As
long as the body is there, fear has to be there,
nothing else. If you want to be fearless, be what
is fearless, because it has no end. Final Reality
has no beginning and no end. That which has got a
beginning or an end has some fear, but if It has no
beginning, how can it have an end? It is limitless,
nothing else. It is so subtle that all thoughts and
concepts stop there. They cannot enter. So as I
said before, the cinema screen has nothing to worry
about. Let any picture come – he shows them,
he does everything, yet he is fearless. The screen
does not get touched, therefore it is fearless. If
you get touched, then fear comes. Suppose you see a
rope in the darkness, and you take it for a snake.
Therefore, you are so afraid of it. If the light is
turned on, then all the fear goes away when you see
that it is only a rope. Understanding of the Self
erases all fear, because all is One, so there is no
duality in it. Duality brings fear, but in the One
there is no fear.
Question: It is difficult for me to have an
aim, and to go to the end of my being. I feel
empty, I have no energy and have no fixed aim in
life.
Ranjit: An aim is of the mind and you are
not the mind. You are the Reality, so why can you
not go up to the Reality? An aim and the Reality
are totally different things. One should not feel
like this. You think you are the mind and the body,
so therefore you say, "I am not capable of reaching
Reality." It is not the case, they are both
different. Like light and electricity, they are
quite different. Electricity has no light, but
because of such contrivances it gives light. So,
mind is not perfect, thought is not perfect, but
your Self, the Reality which is in you is
completely perfect. Wherever it is, it is perfect,
so why would it not be perfect in you? It is
perfect in every place. Due to identity of the body
and mind, you say that you are not perfect.
Everything disappears in deep sleep, so why can you
not go to the end of your Self? From where does
everything begin? Find the source, and that is your
Self. There, there is no self. But if you say the
"body", then you have to say the "self". There is
no self in It, there is no individuality in It,
there is also no duality in It.
So one can understand the Final Reality through the
guidance of the master. It depends upon the master,
whether he gives you the right direction to
understand. If the address is wrong, then you
cannot reach the destination. The master should be
perfect, then only can he give the real thoughts or
points of that Reality. It is easy for one to
understand, but it is very difficult to make others
understand. So, one should not think in that way.
For example, you always go to the end of yourself
if you do not know what to do. As in sleep, you go
to the end of yourself. But you do not know, so you
come back with ignorance. You then say, "I was in a
void" or "I was in complete ignorance." Reality is
already there but you do not know that due to the
ignorance of the mind. It pervades everywhere and
anywhere. Without Him nothing can be done.
Everything is He. The starting point is the end,
nothing else. From where you start, always go to
that without any effort. For example, lava comes
out from the centre of the Earth, it covers the
surface and finally it returns back to the centre.
So, Christ also said, "Thou art dust – you eat
dust and you die in dust." Go beyond that. You are
not an object, neither a body nor a mind, so go to
the end of all these things, from where they arise
and from where they end. Then one can understand,
why not?
The owner of a house knows every corner of his
house, so he has nothing to worry about. He knows
where everything is. In the same way, one should go
to the end, from where everything starts. Everybody
is He. Apart from That, there is nothing. So one
can understand, one must understand. Remove the
screen of ignorance which has come upon you. Take
away the veil of ignorance. Take off the cloth from
in front of the light, and instantly the light is
there! One can go to the end. Everyday, when you
sleep, you go to the end. There you have to find
out your Self. "Finding out" means what? Forget
your mind, forget your thoughts and forget
yourself. He is there.
Question: Does admitting that one is
powerless help?
Ranjit: Powerless? How can it be, because
you are that real power? But ego is powerless,
because it has no entity at all. If it has no
entity, how can it have any power? What can you
write to one who has not taken the birth? You
can't! Ego, having no entity, has no reality. The
moon doesn't produce light, but it gives light that
comes from the sun. In the same way, ego also is
just like the moon. The power which is inside the
ego gives light to him and he [ego] says,
"I am exits and the power does not exist." So why
cannot one shade out, erase the ego which has no
entity? You cannot take anything to someone who has
not been born, no? In the same way, why worry about
that which has no entity? Go to the end. One can.
Only your ego does not allow you to go there. Ego
knows that if you see your Self or the end of
illusion, then it will never remain there and
nobody will think of it. Don't think that you
cannot go there! It's only the weakness of your
mind that says, "I cannot understand Him." It's
like a light bulb which shines light and says, "I
produce the light." It cannot understand
electricity. When you do not think that you are the
light bulb, then the power of electricity is there.
If one can go to the end, from where the light
comes, his entity will be nowhere. All the pictures
which you see on the cinema screen and the sounds
that you hear – if you want to know from where
they come, after, will the screen remain? So one
can go, why not? Ignorance of mind says it cannot
go. "Mind" means thinking, and thinking cannot
approach the thoughtless Reality. So therefore the
mind says that it is impossible, doesn't it? When
thinking ceases only He remains.
Question: You say it is through
discrimination that one can destroy the mind. But
what about blocked emotions, fears or emotional
blocks which go back to childhood and of which we
are not always aware? What should one do to free
oneself from them?
Ranjit: You have to keep going, hurdles must
be there, but the hurdles should be overtaken. For
example, a horse race is going on and there are
many hurdles on the track. One should overcome the
problems, why not? A problem is a thought. From
your childhood, you must have had many thoughts,
no? Who has given you those thoughts? Your father,
your mother and then your circle of friends. All
those thoughts have come upon you from ignorant
people, so what can they give you? What can
darkness give? Tell me. Nothing! What can you find
out in darkness? Nothing! In the same way here, you
have to discover that which is nothing. All your
thoughts are an illusion, not at all true. All have
come to you due to ignorance and now have become a
habit. If you think about your thoughts, then the
illusion remains. But if you go to the source from
where the thoughts arise, the starting point, if
you go up to that source then the thoughts
dissolves! You never think of the Reality, the
source, you always think of other things. You never
think of your thoughts and from where do they come.
All bondages are only mind bondages, and you have
borrowed them. Money that is borrowed is not yours,
isn't it? In the same way, you've borrowed the
thoughts of others and taken them as your bondage,
how can it be? Throw away that bondage, give the
money back to the creditor, and then you are free
of the debt. You have to be free of the debt, no?
In the same way, you have taken the bondages of
others on you. Throw that away! Who stops you? You
do not want to throw them away, what to do?
Question: Because of fear.
Ranjit: Fear is ignorance, what to do? Fear
is nothing! Why do you have fear, tell me? Is it
due to the ego, tell me? Are you afraid of what
people will say?
Question: Fear of conflict. I'm afraid of
opposing others.
Ranjit: Then, you can't get the goal. Fear
has no entity. If you take it for real, then how
can you go to the thoughtless Reality? Everybody is
naked under their clothes, everybody knows, no? Why
to fear? I don't understand. If the master is real
and what he says is true, then perhaps "fears can
be liars, and hopes can be illusions." Fears can be
liars, so how can they have any entity? Hopes also
have no entity. What can harm you if you've got a
strong master? And that master should be your mind!
In India, we have a saying in Hindi, "One who is
fearless, even the Gods fear him." Even the Gods
fear you, so why should you fear anything? Be
naked! Throw away everything and then nothing can
touch you, nothing can stop you. When the fears
come in your way, throw them away! You are He, take
it for granted.
Climb the 44 steps, and you must get to the room,
no? If there are 44 steps to go up to the second
floor, and you climb them all, then you must get to
the second floor, no? Or if you take the lift, you
will also get there, who can stop you? So, which
fears can stop you? Fears are nothing. When the ego
does not want to see his own Self, then the fears
arise. So, the ego does not allow you, that's all.
What you know today and what you are going to know
tomorrow is always the same. Knowledge never
changes. Due to ignorance, the effects differ. Just
as I said before: "Cover the light and there will
be darkness. Take off the cover, and the light
returns."
Question: Maharaj, is there a special
technique to remove the veil? Or is it sufficient
to have much courage and be brave in the face of
these fears, so that they naturally disappear?
Ranjit: One should be brave to live. When
you are brave, then fear does not remain. Be brave
and have faith in the master. What he says, do it.
You can get it, because you are He. To get your
Self, how much time does it take? If someone calls
your name, you immediately put your hand up. How
much time does it takes for you to respond?
Instantly you do it. So, what you are, what you say
is the Final Reality, is you. How much time does it
take? Throw away the apron [veil]. You do
not want to throw away the apron, what to do?
Anyway, Reality cannot be seen, what to do? It is
very easy to leave that which is nothing and it is
very difficult to see that which is there. That you
have forgotten and therefore you get troubles. In
the same way, it is very easy, don't worry. One
should have full faith himself. Here, the mind
always asks questions. For example, in the army
they say, "You should not ask any questions, you
should not make any reply, but you should only do
your duty and die." These are the orders for the
military, and it's the same here also.
[laughs] Master says, "Die! Experience your
own death!" Saint Tukaram said, "I saw my death and
I was very, very happy. That happiness I could not
describe." One should see the end of his self,
which is mind. In India we have a custom – on
the 13th day after someone dies, sweets are given
to all the relatives. What is the meaning of it?
There must be a meaning, no? It is – "He is
not dead, he never dies." They do not understand
this, but still the meaning is that, and they just
follow the custom. So, why not give sweets to all?
Because I am not dying, I am ever living, if you
understand. When the body goes, only the body or
ego has fear. So if it goes then give sweets to
all!
A person in jail always counts how many days remain
until he gets out. In the same way here also,
people don't understand but when the first birthday
comes, sweets are given. All birthdays are
celebrated by giving sweets. They think that the
time has come for the bondage to go away. Old age
is sure to come and the bondage is going away, so
one celebrates the birthdays. One year less to live
from your life, but even so, you still celebrate
because the bondage of the body is now ending. Some
people enjoy birthdays. One year is short, but
still it is one year less in the illusion. Suppose
you are 25 years old and if your life is 100 years,
then you only have 75 years remaining. When you see
that you've lost 25 years, you should be happy and
give sweets to all, because your bondage is going
to end very soon! So, always live fearlessly and
have your own pleasure.
Anything which you think of is always something
which doesn't exist, because everything is He only.
Except Him, there is nothing in the world. Whatever
thought or concept you think of creates something
other than what He is. When thinking ends, what
happens? You go into zero. In the world, you spend
your time only thinking of so many things, so many
problems, whatever it may be. But still, when the
minds sleeps, you forget everything. Thoughts
continually come into the mind. For example, when
"I" stops seeing, then the space appears.
Otherwise, there is no colour at all, even no sky
colour. Once the vision ends, then only is there
colour. So, what you see and perceive is in you and
not outside of you. You are not the body, take it
for granted. When the mind takes up a thought and
gets attached to it, then everything is seen.
Reality prevails everywhere and apart from Reality
there is nothing. It is there, everywhere and
anywhere. The greatest saint in the last thousand
years, Shankaracharya, has said, "There is Oneness.
There is no duality in the world." For example, if
someone drinks some alcohol, the effects must come
to him, no? He then says anything he likes. And
when the kick goes out, he then becomes sober
again. Afterwards, if you ask him, "Did you say
this?", he'll say, "Oh, I don't know anything." The
kick of ignorance makes everything, brings
everything. Take the kick out, then ignorance can
not remain, why to worry?
The great saint, Ramdas Maharaj said, "What you say
is there, has gone. That which is not, is always
not. What is there to say about it?" So, that which
has been has gone, and that which has not been has
also gone. For example, someone feels some steel
against his face. It's there, he feels something
for a short time and then it's not there. Both have
gone. Again, this is just like knowledge and
ignorance. They are both there, then their absence
has come, and after their absence, does anything
remain? Nothing is there, but still He is there.
You have to use so many words to explain this. It
is so subtle. Little touches make all of
consciousness come. Finally, you are That.
Experience It in this way. Be That and remain like
That only.
In the same way, this world is not at all there.
You feel that it exists, what to do? Is anything
here true? Nothing is! If you realise this, then
nothing remains for you. It's all a big zero! The
world comes from zero and ends in zero! The whole
is ending in zero. When you sleep, does the world
disappear or not? Sleeping means that you can't see
the world. You have to close your eyes to fall
asleep and then you have dreams. That is also
imagination. In a dream, a poor man becomes a rich
person and a rich person becomes the poorest
person. For example, there was a king who became a
beggar in the dream. So he cursed God, "What is
this? Nobody gives me alms. Everybody abuses me and
says bad things to me. What wrong have I done, I
don't know?" God replies to him, "You came into
this dream, that is the wrong thing which you have
done. Also, you are dreaming wrong things which you
feel are true." But when a master comes and says,
"Oh, the one who is sleeping is a king", then he
will play his part very nicely or not? Very nicely
he will play his part. He tells the king that it's
only a dream so that the king knows, "In the dream
I am a beggar and when I awake from this dream, I
will be a king." In the same way here also, master
tells you that, "You are He", but you cannot accept
this. But suppose if you dare to understand the
master thoroughly, then? Then the world becomes
heaven. For the one who understands, the world is
heaven.
When something pleasant happens to someone who
understands, he says, "Oh, very good." And when
somebody dies, he says, "Oh, he's gone." He doesn't
laugh. Why not? Because other people would be
troubled by his laughter. But still, he knows that
nothing has happened. The five elements return to
the five elements, and Reality remains always as
Reality! What is there? Who has gone? The one who
came and who went away, his name is written on the
tombstone. They write, "so-and-so died." He may
have been 50 years old, or 80 years old or a 100
years old. If he was a 100 years old, you say, "Oh,
it was his time to go." If he was only 30 years old
then you too feel death, because you feel that
death can come at any time. What to do? So dying
can happen so easily, but one should not feel that
they will die. When the body dies you don't die
yourself. You feel that "I will die," and then all
those troubles come to you. But in fact, when one
dies, all those troubles are going to end, no? No
troubles remain for Him, He's out of all
troubles.
Question: So Maharaj, if you say it is not
true, that means that you, in the body and the
mind, are not true also.
Ranjit: Oh yes! It is not true! What I think
is also not true. "I don't think", is the main
point in it. Why think about wrong things? Why
think about things which don't even exist? People
think because they are in ignorance. They think,
"Oh, the world is going on now, what will happen to
me?" A man is having his 70th birthday and he feels
that if he dies tomorrow, what will happen? He dies
and others continue to enjoy! All that depends upon
your mind.
Question: So if it is not true, why think
about it?
Ranjit: If you think like that it's very
good. Then you're out of the world. You are in the
world but out of the world. That is the beauty of
it. If you say this is not my house, then you have
no troubles. You can put nails anywhere you like.
But if you say,"It's my house", then you say "Oh,
this wall has become bad. I should not put nails in
it." You restrict yourself. Though it is wrong,
still you restrict yourself. "Oh, how can I do it?
It's my house." If you have no house then you can
do anything here, because you know that nothing is
going to happen. At the most, the walls might fall
down. In this way understand. When you say it is
mine then it troubles you. "Me" and "mine" is the
trouble. M.I.N.E. – That's called "aham" and
"mamata". So Kabir simply says, "Everything
dies."
Question: Well, if I am not true, then death
can't be true.
Ranjit: Death is not true. Yes, yes.
Question: So, okay, that takes care of it
all.
Ranjit: Kabir says, "First the mind
dissolves. Then, the love for somebody ends. And
finally, all bodies disappear."
Question: So that's freedom?
Ranjit: Freedom. Exactly! The wish for a
body, the strong desire for a body doesn't allow
you to die. You then take another body. This body
is going now, so what to do? So, you try to get
another body. With that wish, you will die, and
then you must get another body. Whatever body you
get, it will get sick. Perhaps you may even become
a mosquito or a bug. But he wants something,
anyway. So, one should understand the beauty of the
thoughts. The mind is a wonderful thing I tell you.
It's so strong! It wants so many things. So you ask
your mind, I always say, ask your mind, "What don't
you want?" He says, "I want everything. I don't
know what I don't want?" But the realised persons
say, "I don't want anything because it's not true."
When it is not true, why want it? People are always
running after things. For example, a deer runs
after a mirage thinking it's water, no? If you say,
"Oh, there is no water", the deer will think that
you are a foolish person. "I can see the water, so
what do you mean by that?", he says. He sees by his
eyes that it's water, but it's a mirage. In the
same way, people are running after their wish only.
It's a desire, a strong desire of the mind. When
you take birth, it's because you want to. So many
births you have taken, gone there and come back
again. That's called desire, a strong desire, or in
our language it is called vasana. But if you
understand that this world is not true, then every
choice comes to you. Say it is not true. This is
very difficult to say.
Question: It's easy to say, Maharaj, but
it's difficult to practise.
Ranjit: No, no! If you no longer want
anything, then what is there to practise, tell me?
You want something, so you run after it. When one
doesn't want anything, then what remains for him,
tell me? If you have child, a wife and everything,
then some trouble comes to you. For me, for
example, there's no trouble. I never ask anything
from anybody. Why ask? Why beg? Let this body go to
hell, I don't care! Every moment, you care for the
body, what to do? Everybody cares for their body.
If you don't care for the body, then the body
becomes your slave. Then, whatever you want, the
body will do it. "Come on!" It's really a very good
thing if you understand this. Then, you are out of
the clutches of the thoughts. When you're out of
the clutches of the thoughts, then your
understanding becomes so strong and you no longer
worry for anything. In Marathi there is a saying,
"If I sleep on this cot, my God is there." It is He
who gives me everything to eat and a place to
sleep. You become Him. Everywhere and everything is
He. When you understand that everything is the
Reality, then you no longer want anything. Why
should you want?
Eyes want to see good things. Nose wants to smell
very good things. "Oh, these are very fragrant
flowers!" You want to eat many things, as well.
"Oh, it's very tasty! One must eat." And all that
makes more trouble for you. So, eat if you want.
Eat! Otherwise say, "I don't want anything." Don't
be a slave. You become the slave of the thoughts,
and the mind works and rules upon you. The mind is
ruling you, always. So the best thing is to
understand that one should practice against the
mind. For example, the mind wants to drink
something, brandy or whisky. Say, "No! I'm not
going to drink." If the mind doesn't want to do
anything, then say, "Come on, we're going to a
party, or going walking." That is the practice you
have to do. Then the mind becomes your slave in
anything. Mind then says, "What I say you won't do
it, so what is the use of it?" He agrees with you
everywhere. And that is happiness or not? When the
mind agrees, huh? The mind should agree, but he
never wants to agree with anybody. So you have to
think in this way and make your mind a slave. When
it becomes a slave, then no thoughts come to you.
What is the meaning of the thoughts? Due to the
mind, thoughts come. It's better to say, "I don't
want anything." If you don't want anything, then
everybody forces you to have.
Mind is a wonderful factor. Try to understand your
mind. When you understand it, it becomes a friend
and finally dies itself giving you the Reality.
Mind is the only factor that creates your bondage.
I only want to say that if you understand that, "I
don't exist," then everything is happiness. If you
exist, then so many troubles come. What to do? Be
out of it. Do everything! I don't say no. Do
everything, but understand it's not true! Have that
much courage. The mind has no value because it is
not true. So why to worry? Say, it's not true. When
the state of your mind changes, then trouble comes.
Try to understand. Don't worry for anything. If the
mind accepts this, then what remains? Nothing
remains. People are unnecessarily worrying for the
mind, but the mind doesn't care for you. If you
understand in this way, then all questions are
solved. You feel at ease. For example, if you have
got a disease and you don't take your medicine,
then are your troubles solved or not? Body will
die. Let it die. Why care for it? All questions are
solved then. The mind is a wonderful thing.
Liberation and bondage are the mind's work. You are
ever liberated and never in bondage.
Question: What happens, Maharaj, is that
when it becomes clear to me that I don't exist, I
instantly lose interest in everything. To me
nothing seems important.
Ranjit: And as long as you exist?
Question: Everything is important.
Ranjit: Yes, yes, you feel interest in it.
Say that "I don't exist." Then all thoughts go
away, they don't remain for a man with such a
strong will. It takes a strong will, no? The main
point in it is that everybody fears death. And when
you fear death you want to do everything for your
body. But one who doesn't fear death, then?
Question: Then the doing and not doing
doesn't remain important to him, Maharaj.
Ranjit: For him, it doesn't remain. It's
okay! He doesn't go against the death thought. He
doesn't care. He never cares for anybody. Why? Why
care for anybody? People want to exist, no? What
good is their existence, your existence?
Question: Maharaj, since the mind appears to
be the cause of the world, one does not really have
to marry and have children to have troubles. One
can be without them and still have enough
troubles.
Ranjit: So there is the story where golden,
wooden ladoos [sweets] are made and they
have a very nice colour. Someone says, "Oh, if you
eat them you will lose all your teeth." But still
he says, "They're very attractive! I want to eat
them." He knows they are made from wood and that he
might lose his teeth, but he can't help it. What to
do? So one should understand. World is not true!
One who understands, then it's okay. If you half
understand, then you are lost in heaven. The mind
is of a very different type. Try to understand.
Understanding brings everything. If you understand,
then nothing is true and nothing is false. So,
someone who says that the world is true and someone
who says that it's not true, in fact, both are
wrong.
Question: This is interesting, Maharaj. Why
are both wrong?
Ranjit: Both are wrong. Why say anything
about something that doesn't exist? Nothing is
always nothing. Why even take any pride and say,
"I've renounced the world, and I've done this and
I've done that"? World itself is zero. Why should
you say anything about zero? But still ego makes
you say, "Oh, I know! World is not true, why should
I worry?" Ego brings all this. Ego is a very
wretched chap. It gets in the way. So many "saints"
are cheating themselves. What to do? They find
nothing There. They come back and they teach wrong
things to others. They say, "Do this and you'll get
it." So people do this and do that. Their is a
saying, "The saw of Kashi [Benares] cuts
both ways." Worldly things are of the same way as
the saw – if you don't want the world, it
troubles you, and if you want the world, it also
troubles you. What to do? Be neutral and say, "I
don't want anything."
Question: Or be in it and be troubled,
Maharaj.
Ranjit: Yes. If there is a house, then the
earthquake comes and it falls, and you have
troubles. But if there is no house, then? Life is
like gambling. What to do? One doesn't know
anything. He's going to die tomorrow, or going to
live for 100 years, nobody knows. So life is like
gambling, no? He plays with his life. Play in such
a way so that the dice don't remain. No dice, then
no player.
Understanding should come. That's the main point.
If you don't understand, then? So one who says
that, "The world is not true", he's also false. And
one who says that, "The world is true", he's also
false. Both are wrong. Which is not, why to talk
about it? Why to say anything about that? When you
say, "Oh I know, the world is zero. I've renounced
the world." What have you actually done? Nothing!
So Siddharameshwar Maharaj told us, "Renounce the
renouncing. Forget the renouncing. Renouncing is
ego." Try to understand the master! Unless you
understand the master, it's very difficult to go
with Him. If the understanding comes, then
everything is okay Without understanding, it's very
difficult. Don't do anything.
Question: So Maharaj, you're saying that it
doesn't exist, so therefore it can be neither true
nor false. So be in it, and yet believe that it's
neither true nor false. So eat, but understand you
are not the eater.
Ranjit: Yes. That's the main point. If you
are not the eater, then who will be troubled? Body
may get the trouble, what to do? Doing is worst.
Know that, "I don't do anything." If you understand
this, then you are free and by doing also you are
free.
Question: Then all actions are equal?
Ranjit: Equal. Nothing else. Doing and not
doing, both are equal for Him.
Question: And doing this or that?
Ranjit: It's not true! Both are wrong! So,
Tukaram was asked, "Why do you do bad things to
this woman?" He replied,"Oh, it's Brahman
[God]." He used the word, "Vitthal"
[God]. But they asked, "But wasn't it you
who has done this?" He again replied, "Vitthal".
Then they said that this man is not liable for the
prosecution. He says everything is Vitthal. But he
[Tukaram] knew that the one who did wrong
things to the woman is He himself, and the one who
gives the evidence is also He himself. So both are
wrong. So there's nothing else to say. Both don't
exist. "I have not done and I have done also." Both
are out of the question and when you are out of the
question, then there is no examination and no
result.
Question: Maharaj, can reflection replace
meditation?
Ranjit: It's better to go by the easiest
way. Why go by the thorny way? You can meditate,
even for twelve hours. You must get it, no harm.
And then finally, you have to become your own
master. Then meditation will submerge into Reality.
So, why to go by the hard way? [Maharaj makes a
gesture to touch his left ear by making his right
hand wind around the back of his head, and then he
brings his left hand to touch his left ear to show
a more direct way]. Meditation is just the
beginning, in order to make the mind more subtle.
When it becomes subtle, then nothing is required.
Only thinking comes. If a man is lame, with one
stick he can walk, but by using two sticks, he can
walk even faster. So keep both and go ahead very
fast!
Question: I want to ask if Maharaj has
practised the mantra since he gives us one?
Ranjit: [Laughs]. Siddharameshwar
Maharaj gave the mantra and I practised it, because
it was his order. If master says 1 plus 2 is 3, I
have to believe it. In that way I was doing it and
practice it still now. Before and now, but in
different ways. Before understanding, you have to
act according to the master's choice, and after
understanding you have to act according to your
choice. If one wants to become a doctor, he first
studies and then he practices. After sometime, he
becomes a master at it. So his practice is quite
different then. Unless he kills a lot of patients
he cannot be a good doctor. In the same way,
experience brings many, many things. His grace is
with you, He is with you. Master is with you, don't
worry. One should have that much faith. So all this
honour goes to him and not to me, take it for
granted! What is there? What is practising?
Understanding is practising, nothing else. Doctor
says, "Take this dose of medicine", and if you
practice, you will be okay the next day. If you
don't take it, then what will happen? You put full
faith in the doctor, no? Here also, full faith is
required, nothing else.
Question: Instead of practising the mantra,
can one contemplate the teachings? Is the benefit
the same?
Ranjit: You must meditate in the beginning.
Then your calibre becomes very subtle, your calibre
of understanding becomes very subtle. So, then you
can practise nicely what the master says. He
teaches you and you have to practise that. I agree.
Having faith and practising meditation helps you
very fast. Master says 12 plus 3 is 15. The boy has
got a high calibre of understanding and shows
different ways of arriving at 15. "19 minus 4 also
can also equal 15", he says. In that way, you can
think it over more and more. So, the mind should be
subtle, therefore you have to meditate and keep
your mind a little steady at that time, avoiding
all these outside circumstances. Be in it only. And
then your mind becomes automatically subtle. Before
when one first said that 1 plus 2 is 3, one had to
cram up. No need for you to cram up, now. Your
calibre of intelligence becomes subtle through
understanding, 1 plus 2 is 3, what is there? In the
same way, when meditating you can understand what
the master says in a very, very different way.
There are many ways you can understand – there
is 4 plus 5 is 9, and 8 plus 1 is also 9. In that
way you can understand. What he says, and if you've
got full faith in him, what wrong is there,? You
can go very fast in it and you can meditate nicely
also. Meditation is a step only, the first step,
then you have to go ahead. You have not to only
meditate your whole life. You can go ahead by
thinking also, why not? So your mind should be
sharpened, by meditation and you can understand by
carrying on with the teachings. Thinking over it
more and more, you will get more involved, you will
penetrate into it, and that will be yours. In the
beginning, both cramming and meditation is
required, take it for granted.
Question: So, meditation is the repeating of
the mantra?
Ranjit: Exactly, 1 plus 2 is 3, no? You have
to cram up again and again. By chanting that in
your mind, you can overcome the illusion, why not?
By meditation also, one can achieve the Reality.
Don't say that it's a very lengthy process. My
master's master, Bhausaheb Maharaj, he was for
meditation. Then Siddharameshwar Maharaj found out
from his teaching that by thinking, one can also
go. Life is very short, so at least find out the
easiest way to go to It. By your own thinking you
have become a "man" or "woman" or a "human being"
through ignorance. By understanding, by thinking
you can correct that, why not? So in the
scriptures, it is written that there are two ways
– one is called the "ant's way" and other is
called "bird's way". An ant will take a very long
time to go up a tree, perhaps even several births.
Whereas a bird can fly from one tree to another
very easily, in a fraction of a second. So by
thinking one can go, it is very easy. But that
which is very easy is also very hard. Here, a
change of mind is required, nothing else. The mind
should be changed, mind means thinking. Your father
and mother have taught you to think through
ignorance only. It is not your fault, you have just
been given lessons like that. So the master says,
"All this is wrong and what I say is correct." By
thinking you have become a slave, and by thinking
you can become the master. So my master was giving
mantra and asking us to do meditation also and then
he gave us lectures and sermons. So it was very
easy for us. Don't try to escape the meditation!
[laughs].
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