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The saints say,
"Since everything is nothing, how can it affect
you?" But what your mind says affects you, so what
to do? The mind is nothing else but knowledge.
People differentiate the mind from knowledge, but
this is incorrect. There is nothing in the world.
It is an illusion. Only Reality is, and when you
understand that the illusion is really an illusion,
then it will never affect you. After this
understanding, nothing remains. A lotus leaf lives
in water, drinks water, but is never touched by
water. If you pour water on it, the water rolls off
the leaf.
The bliss of the Self that you feel is still the
pleasure of knowledge. First you must become aware,
and then you become Reality itself because you are
already Him. Therefore, there is no harm in living
in the illusory world because it doesn't exist. The
lotus remains in the water but doesn't care for it.
In this way you must experience your true nature. I
use the word "experience", but words cannot even
penetrate Him. He is beyond space, beyond zero. In
the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna says, "From
where the words return is my state." He was a
ruling king, but he still understood that
everything is nothing. You don't understand that
nothing can ever touch you. When you feel touched
by something, it means you are still in the
illusion. This must be understood. There is no
master nor disciple in the Reality because
everything is One. Duality doesn't exist. Apart
from oneness, there is nothing. Therefore, remain
in the illusion with this understanding.
Two friends wanted to play a trick on another
friend. One of them insulted the other, and the
other just laughed. The third friend was troubled
and said, "How can you laugh when he insults you?"
He could laugh because he possessed the key to the
game, but the third friend couldn't understand. In
the same way, a realised being that lives in the
world understands that nothing is happening.
Therefore, he remains untroubled. People always
fear what might happen or what others might say.
They think, "What will I do if that happens?" This
is all due to the bondage of the mind. The one who
is out of this circle understands that it is all
nothing. It is said that only the one who dives
deep into the ocean can find the pearl. The one who
remains on the surface is carried away by the
stream of pleasure and suffering. You must dive
deep into the depths of the unlimited Self because
that is where you are. Don't stop at the limited
mind, go deeper. The gold doesn't care for the
shapes it takes in the ornaments. It may be in the
shape of a dog or a God, but it remains unconcerned
with all forms. In the same way, be indifferent to
things because they do not exist.
Nothing can ever touch you. You are always
unattached. The mind must come to the point of the
complete understanding of the illusion. There lies
your state. Nothing remains for he who understands.
There is no more gain nor loss. Don't ask if you
can achieve Reality because you are the Reality.
Why ask, "Can I?" First of all get out of the
circle of illusion. Leave everything, one after the
other, and go deep within your Self. Then come back
and be in All. What you describe is no doubt a good
state, but go a little further. When the mind
accepts that everything is an illusion, only
illusion, then you are your Self. The body and the
mind are only illusion. You should be happy to know
this. Get rid of your identification. The only
thing the master does is to reveal your real power
which is already within you. Until now you have
paid no attention to That. It was a ordinary stone
and the master reveals its true nature, true value,
which is a diamond. He makes you the most precious
stone.
I am omnipresent and almighty. I am the creator of
all which is. When you are at the base of all, you
are in All. Therefore, even a murderer cannot be
considered as bad. Whatever is happening is due to
"my order, my will." Be the master, not the slave!
You are the master.
Question: I would like to know why some
realised persons reincarnate in order to help
others to realise their Self?
Ranjit: Nobody comes, nobody goes. Who told
you that? You have read books and you repeat, no?
It is said that the greatest man is the one who
dies unknown. Rama and Krishna were secondary
heroes. The accomplished man lives in silence and
dies in silence. Then, their thought works in
someone else. But it is nonsense that they come
back.
Nobody comes, nobody goes. All is a dream. In a
dream you can become a great master, but when you
wake up, you come back to your ordinary state. Who
has gone there and who has come back? Nothing has
happened. The concept of a "great master" has come
upon you, and you have become the "great master",
but when you wake up you feel, "All this is
nonsense. How can I be a great master? I know
nothing!" Still, in the dream, you were giving
lectures and were talking easily about all these
things, but when awakening comes, all this
knowledge vanishes. It was only a dream. From where
has it come and to where has it disappeared? When
nothing is, all is only beliefs and concepts of the
mind. The so-called sage who says, "I am the
reincarnation of God", doesn't know Him, doesn't
know Reality. On the contrary, he is the slave of
his ego, of illusion. When knowledge itself has no
entity, there is no question of all these
things.
He who understands gets rid of everything. This
person looks like an ordinary one, but his heart is
quite different. If you stay outside, how can you
understand? To become the owner of the house you
must enter it. In the same way, you must penetrate
your own Self to become the owner. But there, in
the Self, the "I" doesn't remain as "I". There is
no more question of master and disciple. The
thought of a master can inspire whoever takes a
body, because he and the one who is in silence are
One. Penetrate the heart of the realised one, and
you don't remain as "you", because only He is. So
it is said that those who teach are incarnations of
God. The master teaches knowledge to all, but
doesn"t value it because He knows that knowledge is
the greatest ignorance. Therefore, don't be touched
by anything.
Question: If all is illusion, are you
yourself an illusion?
Ranjit: Oh yes! I am the greatest illusion!
All that I say with full heart and so frankly is
all false! But the false words that the master
tells you can make you reach that point. The
address of the person is not real, only the person
is real. When you reach the house thanks to the
address you have been given, the address is true
only until the moment you enter the house. As soon
as you come in, the address vanishes. Words are
nothing else but indicators and have no reality
themselves. If "I" remains, I am also an illusion.
Don't remain as "I". That is the highest
understanding of philosophy. Saint Tukaram said, "I
have seen my own death, and what I have seen there,
the joy that was revealed, that I know." First of
all, you must die. "You" means "illusion".
Therefore, the words I use are false, but they take
you to your Self. I speak for That. The address is
false, but when you reach the destination, it is
Reality. In the same way, all the scriptures and
mythological books are meant only to indicate that
point, and when you reach it, they become
non-existent, empty. Words are false. Only the
meaning they convey is true. They are illusion, but
they give a true meaning. Therefore, all is
illusion, but to understand the illusion, the
illusion is needed. For example, to remove a thorn
from your finger you use another thorn. Then, once
the thorn is removed, you throw both away. But if
you keep the second thorn, you'll surely get
pricked again. To remove ignorance, knowledge is
necessary, but finally both must dissolve into
Reality. There is no ignorance nor knowledge in the
Self.
The master and the disciple are illusions, because
in fact they are One. The false can be removed only
by the false. If you keep the second thorn, which
means knowledge, even if it is a golden thorn you
will still get pricked. The ego is the only
illusion. It is knowledge. It is said that to catch
a thief you must become a thief. Then you can tell
him, "Beware, I am here and know that you are a
thief, so don't try to rob me." But you cannot
catch the thief because he has four eyes and you
have only two. At a glance the thief notices the
valuables, and if you are not aware he robs you.
The illusion is like the thief, so you must be
stronger than him. Your mind must accept that all
is illusion, only illusion. Then, you'll be the
"greatest of the greatest".
Knowledge is a great thing when it is used as a
remedy. When the fever goes away thanks to medicine
you took, you no longer need to keep taking it.
Don't prolong the treatment or you will create more
problems. Knowledge is only necessary to remove the
disease of ignorance. The doctor will always
prescribe a limited dosage. First of all,
understand that the "I" is an illusion and what "I"
says is also illusion. The master is an illusion,
as well as what He says, because in the Reality
there is only Oneness and no duality. "I" and "He"
do not exist anymore. Go deep within your Self, so
deep that you disappear. For example, a goat enters
your house and you open all the doors to make it go
out, and then a camel comes in. The camel is just
like knowledge. So, to get rid of the camel you
must break down the walls of the house. Then you
are out of the illusion.
Whatever happens in the illusion is only illusion.
In fact, nothing ever happens. So many things
appear in the world. So many beings are born and
die, but it is all a dream. You must accept this.
Your mind should not be touched by the illusion.
When someone dies, other people cry. The realised
being remains quiet, knowing that nothing has
happened and nothing is lost. Matter is never lost.
When a body dies, the five elements that the body
is composed of return to the five elements. And the
life-force, the power, returns to itself. Only the
illusion, the name and form, disappears. Be
formless and nameless. If someone asks you your
name, tell him, but be conscious that you are not
that name. You must go beyond illusion for it to
disappear. When you don't touch it, it doesn't
touch. Understand that it is just like fire. If you
try to extinguish it, you will get be burnt. Leave
it alone. Understand that nothing can touch me,
nothing can limit me, nothing can fathom me, and
nothing can evaluate me. Everything is an illusion.
Due to the "I"-thought, you feel a sense of
importance for the world. You say, "This is my
house, this is my chair, and all these things are
mind." Things never say that they belong to you.
They are mute and inanimate. Be mute and stay in
your Self.
Once you accept what the master says as true, you
are close to your goal. The key is the master's
instructions, and when you take what he says to
heart, you will be the happiest of all beings.
Everything depends on your capacity to accept. You
must always go straight to the essence of things.
The essence of what He says has true meaning. Take
the essence of the flower and be happy, but know
that even the essence is not true.
Question: If a beggar asks for money from a
realised being, what will he do?
Ranjit: It is his choice whether to give or
not. Because after all everything is an illusion.
He can seem merciless to the point of not giving
water to a dying man. If a dying man is crying for
water, he won't give any because he knows that the
man is about to die, and giving water will only
prolong his suffering. You think you are doing some
good by giving him water, but you are only adding
to his suffering. Due to ignorance, he wants to
live longer. But hat can you get by breathing a
little more? I don't advise you to be merciless,
but understand that by giving in to his wish, you
are only handing him more suffering. The one who
thinks he has done a great deed is misled.
If you give a hundred rupees to a beggar, he won't
be a rich man the next day. He will continue to beg
because this habit of begging has become so deeply
ingrained in him that it has become second nature.
From birth, all beings beg hoping to attain
happiness. Finally they die without attaining it.
Even when you go to church to pray, you become a
beggar in front of God. First you beg for yourself,
then for your wife, and finally for your children.
First for you and then for the others. Everyone is
primarily concerned with his or her own happiness.
But it can never be attained because the methods
you use to obtain it are wrong. Always follow what
your master has told you. If you do, you will be
one with Him. All habits are nothing but the
results of a narrow mind. Mind is knowledge, and
when knowledge comes into contact with matter
[the body], it takes the form of passions
and habits. These habits and passions make you
miserable. So have the understanding that when you
enter the prison [illusory world], you are
not the culprit. Stay in the world but say,
"Nothing is true!" Don't cater to your passions.
Understand what they are and then you will be free
in life as long as the body is there. One day this
body will disappear, but you will never die because
you were never born. Blessed is the one who
realises the Self. Realising means understanding,
and if you understand that it is all illusion, you
will always be happy.
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