Opening of the session
Gurudev: A very warm welcome to you all. In today's morning session we will carry out an experiment with meditation accompanied by music, and afterwards we will discuss the experiences that arise from it. If some feeling, some state or some difficulty comes up, we will talk about it.
Nothing can be learned from a mistake
Gurudev: All people, all of humanity, wish to do good. And yet they often fail to actually accomplish good. A person wants to act well, but it doesn't come off. And this is precisely what brings humanity both sorrow and pain.
When a person makes a mistake, they are told: "All right, you made a mistake, so correct it. Learn something from your mistake." But this whole way of seeing it is wrong. In truth, nothing can be learned from a mistake. From what is wrong, nothing can be learned. What can you learn from a fool? You can learn only from someone who has understood, who has known, who has truly experienced. From a person who has experience, you can learn. One who has no experience has only information. That is why the mahapurushas, the great spiritual masters, drew a very clear distinction between information and experience.
Once you understand this distinction, the very process of understanding becomes easier for you. You begin to grasp how understanding actually comes about. One thing is to read a book and try to understand something. Another is to read yourself, to understand yourself, and to understand through your own experience. There is a difference between the two.
The significance of a living Guru
Gurudev: And understanding yourself becomes far easier still when you are in the company of someone who has already understood. When you are in contact with such a person, your life becomes simpler, because a certain assurance arises within you: "If this person was able to understand it, then we too can understand it." You have a living example before you.
That is precisely why people so often seek a living Guru. The whole benefit of a living Guru is just this: an assurance arises within you that if he can do this, then you can do it too. You are inspired by his conduct. It is in this one sense that the living proof of a Guru is most important of all. (The short passage that follows is very unclear in the audio transcript.) And this inner assurance forms within you.
What meditation brings
Gurudev: As I said at the beginning: through meditation practice, a person's various doubts — and also the negative memories bound up with failure — begin to be destroyed. Self-confidence grows. The will to live grows. Willpower grows. And you become ready to truly understand.
Who confuses us — illusion and duality
Gurudev: You want to do something good, but you can't manage it. Where, in the middle of the process, does the flaw remain? How does it even happen that we want to go east and end up arriving in the west? What is this, really? What power is it that confuses us so?
The day you grasp this principle — the day that, instead of illusion riding over you, you ride over illusion — your path will become clear. For at this moment I am at once the one who confuses and the one who is confused. Both are me. From now on you must hold this principle firmly in mind.
Your mind, your vritti, your chitta, your intellect — these keep falling into confusion and keep creating confusion. They keep you trapped in duality. So you must be very attentive. It is not that someone from outside comes to confuse you. And likewise you must understand that no one will come from outside and do your work for you. You yourself must guard against falling into illusion.
And this power lies in every one of you. You can free yourself from illusion, and you can also help others not to fall into it. Everyone has this power. A confused person will only create confusion; confused memories will create further confusion. If a person is truly wise, wisdom will be present in him. Naturally — each can give to others only what he has within himself.
Wisdom, anger and proof
Gurudev: To expect wisdom from a fool is utterly pointless. And with a truly wise person there is practically no possibility of his falling into anger. If he is angry, it means he is not yet truly wise. Judge by the proof. What does reality show you? It is by proof that we recognise whether something is good or bad.
And so the most beautiful thing to understand is this: whatever happens in this world — you sleep, you wake, you rise, you eat, you drink, you meet others, you deal with people, you do business, you work at a job, you engage in politics, in social service, or in anything at all — everywhere you spread only what is already within you. And the person before you, in turn, spreads only what is within him.
You must walk the path yourself
Gurudev: So do not expect any confused person to be able to show you the right path. You must find your own path yourself. Someone can point out the direction: "Go this way." But no one can walk the path for you and deliver you to the goal. You must walk it yourself.
And all these processes unfold in just this way. The deeper your attention and the deeper your meditation, the more deeply you will come to understand each thing, and gradually everything will grow clearer to you. You won't even notice how your own conduct begins to change. That is why your attention must be directed above all upon yourself. Do not look at where the other person has got to, where someone else is… (The sentence is left unfinished in the recording and evidently continues.)
The protection of the Darbar
Gurudev: Pay special attention to this. This power of the Darbar can protect you even from dense deceptions. Otherwise the rule is simply that whatever needs doing, you must do yourself — there is no other means of saving you. The Darbar, however, protects you from all manner of things and keeps you safe: from physical, mental and spiritual afflictions, and from economic, family and social problems. And it shows you the right path. But walk it you must, yourself.
The plan for the day
Gurudev: So now we will carry the meditation forward. Your whole attention will be on the music. Then in the next session we will sit together again. After the meal you will rest a little, and from around four o'clock we will continue. From four, or half past four, until seven o'clock we will hold another session. So there will be at least two sessions today. If some time is left over, we can discuss a little and take a break in between. And if there is time, after dinner too we will hold a session of about an hour. So we will complete the present session by lunch. Let us begin. Om. Please.
The instruction for meditation with AUM
Gurudev: Mantras will come. And bear in mind that this time it is a sadhana with music — we have come here to practise meditation through music. For this we will use A – U – M. Three times at the navel (nabhi), three times at the heart, and three times at the head, the mind (mastishka). And in the same way, when we return, we will do it in the opposite direction: three times at the head, three times at the heart, three times at the navel. A – U – M. At each place we will work with what has already been placed there. When we have done this, we will stop, and from that point we will carry our attention forward onto the music. These are the things I will keep telling you from time to time during the meditation. So everyone please listen carefully, and remember it well.
The meditation with music follows; its transcript contains only instructions given during the practice and is omitted here.
Closing of the session
Gurudev: Now it is time for lunch. After lunch you can discuss among yourselves, you can sit together and rest. At four o'clock we will all return here and carry our work forward. Your meditation was very beautiful. For that, congratulations to you all. Keep meditating in just this way, and keep growing. Hari Om.