A transcript of an informal gathering between Gurudev and his disciples — on the order of existence, fear and greed, the power that follows what we are, and why we must first step outside ourselves.
Freedom begins with simplicity
Everyone wants freedom. Even the word "liberation" sounds beautiful, and everyone would like to experience it. But liberation is simple for a simple person and complicated for a complicated person.
The simpler a person becomes, the more they become free from their bonds. The more complicated they become, the more tightly they bind themselves.
We are not troubled only by the memories we have created. The level at which we look at our memories can be dangerous. One memory can transform your life and even lead you towards liberation. But another memory can turn you away from the door of liberation.
We have to remain alert and aware.
There are only two paths that can take us away from liberation: fear and greed.
Greed does not have to mean only money. There can even be greed for liberation itself. If we learn to truly see fear and greed, and understand where they take us and into which pit they can make us fall, our path becomes simpler.
Power itself is neither negative nor positive
Power itself is neither negative nor positive. It becomes according to what we are.
If we are negative, the power we receive increases our negativity. If we are positive, the energy we receive increases our positivity.
This is the rule.
There is an order in existence. Some parts of this order are essential and cannot simply be changed. The Sun rises and sets in its own time. Day and night exist. Air moves through the atmosphere. There are forests, mountains, oceans, water and life.
If this order is not disturbed, life is simple.
But when human beings begin to interfere with this order, the consequences appear not only in the physical world. The subtle world is also disturbed. And when the subtle world becomes disturbed, the system works to restore balance.
When human beings forget that they are part of existence
Human beings have begun to think that everything in the world exists for their use.
We dig into the Earth and take out oil and coal. We cut forests and mountains. We exploit natural resources and use them for our own purposes.
But human beings forget one simple fact:
We are also part of this existence.
Coal is part of existence. Oil is part of existence. Mountains, forests, oceans, animals and plants are part of existence. In the same way, we are also a part of it.
When we disturb one part of the whole, we disturb ourselves.
What happens in the physical world also becomes reflected in the subtle world. The subtle world then works to bring things back towards the order that was there before.
This is why events that human beings experience as disasters can also be understood as consequences of an imbalance that has already been created.
The greatest disorder is created by human beings
Look at nature.
A lion hunts. A bird takes a few grains. An elephant eats what it needs. But human beings often want much more than they need.
We want to produce and accumulate so much that we could sit for the rest of our lives and consume what we have collected.
And this race never ends.
"One day we have to step outside this race, just to be able to see it at all."
If we could step outside this race and look at it from a distance, we would understand its distortions. We would understand how to step out of it and perhaps how to help others step out as well.
You cannot properly judge the speed of a train while sitting inside it. When you stand outside at the station and the train passes, you can see its speed.
In the same way, we have to step outside the race and become the observer.
First, we have to step out ourselves
We cannot expect others to change while we remain unchanged.
The first effort has to be our own.
When people see that you are changing, their perception changes. They may begin to follow and imitate what they see.
This is why the effort must begin with ourselves.
This is where Dṛṣṭā Bhāva — the attitude of the observer — and Sākṣī Bhāva — the attitude of the witness — become important.
As we gradually stop living from the constant feeling of "I did this", "I achieved this", "I created this", we begin to observe ourselves.
The deeper this observer state becomes, the more it leads us towards meditation.
Śiva and Śakti: order and its activity
There was an important clarification during the discussion.
Śiva is the order. Śakti is the one who acts as the administrator of that order.
The order itself is inactive. The power that operates it is active.
When human beings create disorder, the system eventually becomes active in order to restore order.
We may experience this as a storm, a catastrophe, a crisis or even pralaya. But the important point is this:
We created the crisis. The order is simply performing its function.
The power does not stop because human beings are suffering. It continues until disorder is brought back towards order.
The problem is not where we usually look for it
We have developed a habit of wanting a solution immediately.
But before treatment there must be diagnosis. If the diagnosis is not correct, the treatment cannot be correct either.
The same applies to our lives.
We often look for the cause of our problems outside ourselves. We blame family, society, circumstances or other people. But if we look deeply within ourselves, we may discover that we ourselves are part of the problem.
That is why diagnosis can be difficult. Once we truly see our own part in the problem, it becomes much harder to blame someone else.
The real problem is that we often do not want to understand the problem. We want the solution immediately. But if the diagnosis is complete, the treatment can also be complete.
Listen first, then contemplate
When we truly listen, we should not simultaneously create our own commentary.
First, simply listen. Become like a recorder and receive every word.
When listening is finished, then comes manana — contemplating what has been heard and taking it deeper within. From this can come understanding and acceptance.
This is important for spiritual practice. We should not simply hear something and immediately turn it into our own conclusion. We have to take it inside, observe it and discover what it means within our own life.
The present moment
When we truly listen, we are neither in the past nor in the future. We are present.
The closer we are to order, the more ordered we become. The farther we move from the centre of order, the more disorder appears within us.
Sadhana is one way of returning towards that order.
Sadhana means balance
Sadhana means bringing oneself towards balance.
Neither side of the scale should be above or below. They should be equal.
Sadhana means trying to see things with samyak dṛṣṭi — with a balanced and complete view.
Therefore meditation alone is not enough. We must also pay attention. We have to observe our life, our actions, our surroundings, our relationship with nature and our own motivations.
Paying attention is as important as meditation.
Sadhana should not remain something extraordinary that we do from time to time. It should become part of our daily life, like eating, drinking and other ordinary activities.
Even ten minutes of regular Sadhana has meaning.
The answer is not always outside
We often have many questions and expect someone else to answer them.
But the answers are ultimately within us.
The work of great beings is not to create our answers for us. Their work is to introduce us to the answer that already exists within us.
When we expect the answer only from outside, conflict can arise. Therefore we have to search deeply within ourselves.
The path is not simply intellectual thinking. It is observation, Sadhana and the ability to become a witness to our own life.
Change begins with compassion
Every human being wants to be healthy, happy and peaceful. If someone is unable to live in this way, we can respond in two ways.
We can respond with negativity. Or we can respond with compassion.
Compassion means wishing that the other person can also reach a state in which they can live well.
Helping someone who is not our family member or friend, showing them a path, introducing them to Sadhana and helping them understand something that we have understood ourselves — this is a valuable act.
Through this we can see that we are moving away from fear, greed and negativity.
Everything is connected
Our breathing is connected with the atmosphere. What one person releases can become part of another person's life.
Water, air, soil, plants, animals and human beings are not separate worlds. They are part of one system.
Therefore we cannot permanently separate "my life" from the life of the whole.
Real change begins when we begin to see ourselves in existence and existence within ourselves.
First observe. Then change.
We do not have to begin by changing the world.
We have to begin by looking at ourselves.
What creates fear within me?
What creates greed within me?
Which memories keep me bound?
Where do I create disorder?
What do I not really want to see within myself?
And can I look at it without immediately searching for someone to blame?
Only when we step a little outside our own race can we truly see what the race is. And when we begin to see it, we can begin to leave it.
Sadhana is not an escape from life. It is a return to balance.
And the return to balance begins with one step:
to see things as they truly are.