1999-02-14 Mahashivaratri Puja Talk Hindi English, New Delhi, India,

[English translation from Hindi]

First, I‘ll speak in Hindi language and then in English language.

Today we have assembled here to worship Shri Maha Deva, Shri Shiva Shankar. In the name of Shankarji, many organizations have come up in this world. Because of Adi Shankaracharya’s emphasis, worshipping ShivJi became very popular among people. And in South India, two types of sects came up: one which were called Shaivites, and the others were called Vaishnavites. Now Shaivites are the worshippers of Lord Shiva, and the Vaishnavites worship Lord Vishnu. In our country we are experts in creating divisions. We divide the Deities as well; and when we try to integrate them, then things become even worse. For example, a new thing has come up, called Ayyappa. It is a very wrong thing. And in that it is shown, that when Lord Vishnu assumed the form of “Mohini”, then she got a child from Lord Shiva.

How is it even possible? Such wrong ideas are created and widespread in our country, and then different beliefs groups are formed based on these ideas. When Indians find some or other reason to fight, they become very happy. If they have nothing to fight over, then, they create something from their own imaginations. Actually these two aspects are connected with each other as sun is with sun light, word with its meaning, moon with the moonlight. Meaning that the “Sopan Marga” which is there, which we call as Sushumna nadi, which is the central path, it is the path of Lord Vishnu. And through this path we attain the Shiva tattwa. So the destination is Shiva tattwa, Shri Shiva, and the path is made by Lord Vishnu. To create this path Shri Vishnu and Shri Adishakti have done a lot of hardwork. Lord Shiva had no role in it.

He sits comfortably in his seat, not bothering about who is coming or who is not coming. So, to attain this Shiva tattwa, we should go through this Vishnu path (Sushumna nadi) and for that, we have to first correct the chakras within us. When the centers are corrected, our Vishnu path opens up. And along with that, we gradually start ascending. I have told you about all these centers, many a times. But there is a chakra in the heart also, which we call `Left Heart’. This is not a heart chakra in essence, in a way, heart is the reflection, the reflection of Shri Mahadeva. The abode of Shiva is above everything, beyond the mind, beyond the thoughts. To attain this kind of tattwa, first and foremost we should pay attention and see how pure our heart is. Inside our heart, we nurture a lot of dirt.

For example, we feel jealous of someone. feeling jealous like somebody has been evil to you. Even if they might have harmed you also, troubled you there is no use becoming jeolous of them. If your heart is clean then the mirror within you, in which the God Almighty’s reflection is going to fall, will remain clear. But if you have jealousy within, then the mirror will not remain clean and the reflection of God will also not be perfect. To have enmity towards anyone and to have anger or ill feelings in the heart towards anyone, is very wrong. That is why Christ said that: “Forgive everyone”. To forgive is extremely important. And before and after Christ many saints have said the same thing, that forgive everybody. The moment you forgive, immediately Lord Shiva, takes the situation in His hands.

The subtlest power of all is that of Shri Mahadev. And He, then completely punishes that person, totally punishes him. This is the responsibility of Lord Mahadev, not yours. Therefore to be jealous of anyone is very bad. But I find that there is lot of jealousy even in Sahaja Yoga. Sahaja Yogis are jealous of one another. If one person is made trustee, the other one is not, then he becomes jealous. This trusteeship and all has no meaning, you all know it is a myth. Your Mother has created all this drama and has spread a web of maya. Even then the mind of the people gets disturbed; One person’s mind gets disturbed and for the other the heart gets disturbed!

I do not understand what should I do! Such a big work is happening in so many countries, so I can communicate with any one person only, right? However, things are getting sorted out slowly, but still you will be surprised that even now there is lot of discussion about who is the leader and who is what? Second thing, there is a so-called “blessing” for us, Indians, that jealousy arises in money matters. Even in Sahaja Yoga there is jealousy on money matters. Someone has got more money and some less. Even while doing Sahaja Yoga work people see how much money one gets, and who gives how much money? If a person’s heart gets involved with money he becomes useless for Sahaja Yoga. Because his heart gets covered with materialism. If any kind of materialism has affected you, then it is very difficult for you to ascend.

This is the speciality of our country. I have not seen it so much in foreign countries. But here it is prominent. I think, in Russia and Eastern Block countries there is very little of wealth, but they are not bothered at all. They don’t think about money at all. But their heart is so pure, so very pure. And only with the pure heart, devotion (bhakti) is possible. We all, before doing prayers, wash our feet and take bath. But if we bathe our heart and ask God that whatever negativities are there within us, to please remove them and purify us, then it will be much better. Third thing, that is within us, are the six enemies (shadripu).

Shri Krishna has emphasised that krodha (anger) is the worst thing. Everything emanates from anger. A person shows anger initially, then he gets into delusion. Then he thinks: “Why did I say all that, I should not have said it”, and so on. But he goes out of self-control, when he gets angry. In the fit of anger he loses control over himself. He goes out of self-control and he spits out words, which are meaningless. The dirt he has been accumulating since long in his heart, comes out of his mouth. We have to beware of this krodha. “Why does this anger come?”

• we should pay attention to this, that why do we get angry. There are some who are angry with a particular person, there are some who are angry with the society. Like this, people get angry in different ways. Why does this anger come to us? “Why do we get angry?” – we should think that. Many people have told Me that, “Mother, if someone speaks against You, we get very angry”. I feel like laughing at this. If anybody talks against Me, then I really feel like laughing. Because it doesn’t make any sense.

What is there to talk against Me? I am just sharing my love, even then if they speak against Me, then what can be done? But some people have a crooked mind, so we should only pity them. One should think that such people are big fools. When a person is full of anger, then our attitude towards him, should be very polite. This attitude may also cool down his anger. In our country there are different kinds of angry people. There are institutions for that who spread with their anger: “Hit this person, hit that person”, “Beat up this person, beat up that person”. And this is also becoming an issue at the social level. This is a very terrifying situation.

To beat and thrash people, and for that purpose to form an army or prepare some weapons to beat and hurt people is very terrifying. However, for protection, a person is equipped with these weapons, it is not a big deal. However, if he is a devotee of the God Almighty, he doesn’t require these weapons. This kind of a person is always protected. If Shri Mahadev resides within a person, who can dare to touch such a person, who can destroy him? Whatever you do, however you trouble him, still that person cannot be destroyed. But those who trouble them, will get destroyed themselves. When you will trust this completely, that whoever is troubling you, will get destroyed, then your heart will become totally pure and clean. This work can happen only in a pure heart, because Shri Shiva exists within us, as reflection, and only the mirror which is clean deserves to have His reflection. Shiva Ji’s anger will happen only once, or rather people say that He gets angry only once.

But I have seen him getting angry many a times, because it is His right. He has a right to be angry. If anyone works against Shri Adi Shakti, then Shiv Ji has very long hands. Without listening to anyone, He finishes such a person. Because he knows that Shri Adi Shakti will not do anything Herself. She is not going to punish anyone at all, and She will forgive everyone. So, His hands are so long, then there is no limit, and when those hands start lashing, then nobody can stop them. Who dares to say anything to Him? He has got His own maryadas, which you can neither change nor go beyond. You should understand that in your individual life, in Sahaja Yoga, you have to follow Lord Shiva.

Because, if you don’t follow Him, firstly, You will get heart problems. First thing, is that you will get heart disease. It works out in two ways. Firstly with excessive anger the heart catches, and secondly, after the anger if a person repents, then he gets the disease called “angina”. This is how both the things are useless. But one cannot quit anger, just by saying. This is something like alcohol. It becomes a habit to get angry. He starts relishing it, his face gets puffed up, he gets extremly angry and no one can control him. So, I thought that if you sit before the mirror and get angry on yourself, rebuke yourself with few angry words and by sitting in front of the mirror if you say: “There cannot be a greater fool than me”, then perhaps you may get rid of your anger.

I am saying: “It might be possible”, because at times, these problems are so intricate, that it is very difficult to solve them. Further, it has been observed that the more we focus our attention on something and the more we react to it… Someone says something and we react instantly to it – this custom is more in the foreign countries. For example there is a carpet – immediately they will comment, “I don’t like it! “, “I like it!”. Who are you to say all this? Nowadays it’s a fashion to say: “I like it”, “I don’t like it”. As if every person is a renowned master, who goes on saying: I like it’, I don’t like it’. This should not be said. Saying this is the indication of your Agnya caught up.

What do you think of yourself that you are saying: “I like it, I don’t like it”? You do not have a right to like or dislike any of the things. Supposing, some poor man gives you with affection, some very beautiful flowers, and you say: “Sir, I don’t like this flowers”, you are unable to understand the hidden emotions behind this act because Shiva tattwa is absent in you. Even if it is a very small thing, which has been given to you by a poor person, you don’t recognise the feeling attached to the emotion, and how lovingly he has brought that for you. For that in India the example of Sudama has been shown, that how he arrived with roasted rice to meet Shri Krishna and how Shri Krishna honoured Him. Anything given with the feeling of love is like a piece of glass on which when paras (mercury) is applied it becomes a shining mirror. Similarly, if you have feelings of love for someone, a very beautiful and good feeling, but you have no money, then even if you gift that person a very small thing, then that person should think: “Aha! What an excellent thing it is”. This feeling of love gives a subtle sight to the person, which can be called as artistic, artistic qualities emanates from it. When art is visible from it, you start thinking how artistic that thing is.

This art is the art of love, is the art of love. By this art you can clearly see how much love is in that person, how affectionate he is, how loving he is, what a gentleman he is, what a good person he is. When you start seeing these qualities in others, then you will look within yourself, and will start thinking: “How am I?” “Do I have that much love?”, “Do I have this gentleman’s qualities”? “Do I have all this goodness within me, or am I rendering lip service only? And thus misleading the people”. Actually we are misleading ourselves only. When we are doing wrong things, living a wrong lifestyle, when our lives are completely filled with wrong conceptions, then we cannot make anyone happy and definitely we cannot be happy as well. So from the point of view of “swartha”, “swartha” – this word is very beautiful – it means “to know thy Self” (swa ka arth). “Swa” means the Spirit – you must know the meaning of it. To know the meaning of it people worship Shri Shiva.

But I have seen that the worshipers of Shiva are very hot tempered, full of anger, very miserly and what not. No one is as generous as Shri Shiva, no one is as loving as Shri Shiva. He is the source of love; the love which is flowing all around is the leela of His Holy feet. It is due to Him this work is happening, that people are fully immersed in the ocean of love in Sahaja Yoga. After coming to Sahaja Yoga, when you attain the state, the state which should be called as Jiva Atma, then your attention, your attention gets engrossed in the Lotus Feet of Shiv Ji. And as soon as it gets engrossed in Shri Shiva’s Lotus Feet, what happens within you, is that whatever qualities of the five elements are there, they also become very subtle. I have already told you about the four elements, but the fifth one, which is called ‘ether’ in English, I didn’t tell you about. Here it is called “akash”. Akash tattwa is that, when a seeker attains the subtle state, then he attains the subtlety of the ether element. That ”akash” which drives the ether, that akash which… is self-driven.

If a person has any problem or any trouble, then through this omnipresent akash tattwa, which is everywhere, instantly the effect of your attention reaches where it is required. It is an amazing thing, but it happens and it happened also. People may call it miracle, but it is not. In Sahaja Yoga if your Shiva tatwa is awakened, then all the subtle, the subtlest of the subtle emotions and state get awakened within you. Therefore it is necessary for us to purify our heart first. Previously I have talked to you about three enemies. Now, the fourth enemy present within us is “madha”. “Madha” means ego. When this ego affects the women, they start walking like men. Then they cannot walk like women because of the pride – “I am something very special” kind of feeling.

Supposing a girl either comes from a very rich family, or she is very beautiful, or very well educated, whatever is the reason, if she gets ego by anything, then she starts walking like a man. And when a man is affected by ego, he starts walking like a woman. Meaning such a man makes himself up, for hours sits before the mirror, combs his hair, does this, that does all kinds of feminine actions. To dress up is the job of the women. While walking also he doesn’t walk straight, he walks in a peculiar style. From behind, if you see him, you will feel as if a lady is walking in a male dress. So, when a man gets intoxicated with this ego (madha), then he is completely lost in his own world. In his ego, he starts swaying like an elephant. All his actions become different. Whether they talk or don’t talk, the way they sit – in every action it is evident that they have some kind of ego within them.

It is difficult to understand the cause of their ego, what makes them think that they are special. All these things are petty things. They have no meaning at all. In Sahaja Yoga they have no meaning at all. And so that is why to believe in these kind of things, that “we are something special”, then you just end up to be worse than ordinary. You do not remain extraordinary, you become worse than ordinary. It means that it’s not wise to have any imagination about yourself, that “I am very rich” or “I am something great”. Now even the poor people suffer from ego. Even the dalits have become egoistical, it’s beyond understanding. People talk as if they are something very great.

What are you as an individual? A devotee of God Almighty. You are Sahaja Yogis, who believe in God. To think about yourself that you are something great, is to go away from the state of joy (anand), because the power of Shiva gives the state of joy to the seeker. To get absorbed in the state of joy, people worship Lord Shiva. But I have seen that most of the Shiva bhaktas are quite grumpy people – no one can talk to them. What is the use? They worship Shri Shiva who is verily Natraj, from whom emanate all forms of art, who is extremely joyful, who is the embodiment of “anand”. In front of Him, how could these people be called His bhaktas? They hang such a big linga around their neck, which could give them a heart attack.

What is the need for that? You can yourself become the “linga swarupa”. Without becoming that, they claim: “We are Shiva bhaktas”, and start fighting after worshipping Shri Shiva. And they have different marks. Shiva bhaktas will put mark across the forehead, and Vishnu bhaktas will put the mark along the forehead. Oh! What does this mean? Vertical application means that you are ascending – alright! You are ascending and once you reach that state you should become peaceful. The mark should be applied both ways, or not be applied at all.

It should have some meaning, that those who are trying to achieve Shri Shiva, should go through the central path (“Sopan marg”). While passing through this path, you have to leave behind all the negativities. Before criticizing others, learn to criticize yourself. Say it to yourself: “I am like this, I am like that”. When you start critisizing yourself, then you will see that all the bhoots will run away. Because we have gathered all these negativities, by our continuous thought process, by our Agnya. By the excessive use of Agnya, we start accumulating negative forces, everything transforms into a mental projection and such a person becomes troublesome and creates misery. And that misery makes him also miserable. By giving unhappiness to others, you can never be happy. It will have its impact on you even if you are a stone.

It will have its impact and the impact is such that the person becomes unhappy. As far as a Mother is concerned, She always thinks of your welfare. She thinks what makes you happy, what gives you contentment, what gives you peace of mind. what can give you love and what makes you become a saintly person in this world. This is the method of the Mother, but this is not Shri Shiva’s method. He tolerates upto a certain limit and then deals so severely that I get terrified that what is going to happen to that person. Where shall he reach? What is he going to do? Shri Shiva doesn’t think that. It is not in His nature to think that: “Even if he is very bad and evil, I will forgive him!”.

Yes, if the person is worthy of His forgiveness, then He forgives. And those who meditate upon Him and do lot of penance, He blesses them with boons. But that person who, basically, does not want to correct himself, Lord Shiva sets him right. It is a fact. That’s why we should be scared of Him as He is called ”Bhayankar” (Terrifying). When He gets angry then He does not forgive anyone. But His worst anger comes during the doomsday, what we call: “the night when the whole creation will be finished”. At that time, He will destroy everything with his anger. That time, as I have told you, is the Last Judgement. During this time which path you take to, where you go, whatever you do, all these things are completely stored within you.

Every small detail about you is recorded and accordingly you are sent either to Heaven or to Hell. It is Lord Shiva who sends people to Hell, not Me. I have nothing to do with the Hell (Naraka). But Lord Shiva has. He will pull you by your legs and throw you in the Hell. Then you cannot say that “I am the worshipper of the Mother, and I am the follower of Mother, then why is this happening to me?”. I am not instrumental in that. Once someone calls Me Mother, then I can not think ill of him. But, If I am the maryada for Shri Shiva then He is my maryada (limit) too. But, in this regard since we both are totally opposite in nature, you have to be very careful.

And the eleven Rudras present in Christ are also the manifestation of Shri Shiva. The emotions of the Rudras are the form of Lord Shiva, that is why, you have to be very careful. Regarding this I have to warn you, because even in Sahaja Yoga some people come to earn money, some talk ill of others, some do wrong things, some do injustice. Such persons are sieved out of the stream. But as soon as they are out, they get into the orbit of Lord Shiva. Then I get the news that they have gone bankrupt, this happened, that happened. I say: “Now don’t tell Me this”. They themselves came out of His protection, then who could save them? So, you should try to seek your protection in Lord Shiva. Of course, you are protected by Mother, but you should seek also Lord Shiva’s protection.

For that, I told you about the five elements. The subtelty of these five elements should be attained by you. And to achieve that state you should meditate regularly. Those who meditate, look totally different and those who do not meditate also look different in another way, no doubt about it. Now those who meditate but they are not willing to do it, whose attention is not there in meditation, those who do not have understanding or discretion for meditation, and they have a kind of laziness towards it, then that meditation is not fruitful, one does not get any benefit from it. Meditation should be such that each and every cell of your body gets filled with joy and bliss showers over you. Lord Shiva’s first and most important blessing is that He gives you joy, He fills your being with happiness. Even only by chanting His name, a person should become joyous. But instead people always behave in an opposite way. I feel surprised that nothing is as expected, that the people whom we think to be Shiva bhaktas (devotees), how could they be such dry personalities?

Not possible at all. There is one more reason for it. Those who are always busy working, too busy, they become right sided. When they become too much right sided, they get devoid of Lord Shiva. They move away from Lord Shiva; and then Shri Shiva shows His power. Now you know that Shri Saraswati is the sister of Lord Shiva. The worshippers of Shri Saraswati, I mean the people who read and write, who gather knowledge, and apart from that, who are interested in art, who are genuine art lovers, this kind of people who worship Shri Saraswati, pay homage to Her, they should know first of all that She is Shri Shiva’s sister and you know that sister’s relationship is very powerful. If you try to deceit His sister, adopt any bad qualities or talk ill of Her – for example, many people write impure literature or bad books, many people have knowledge, but they distort it – this kind of people cannot escape the wrath of Shri Shiva. Because His sister is very important. And to deceive Her is the greatest sin.

In His view, it is a very big sin. And regarding Shri Adi Shakti His protocols are equally rigid, there is no doubt about that. Please check this mike. It is falling off. And now, Sahaja Yogis, first of all have to pay attention towards themselves. I do not mean that they should sit before the mirror for hours. Not at all. Sitting before the mirror all the time, is also considered a disease. I mean to say that you should have attention towards your Self, look at yourself and see: “What are the problems within me”? “What wrong things am I doing?”.

In our Indian culture, the straight path, which has been suggested, should be taken. In this time a new era has come, in which people think they can live as they want, but it is not so. Being in India, you have to be in total harmony with the Indian culture. Your life style should remain connected to lndian culture, because in our culture, Shiva tattwa is given great importance. Most important of all is Shiva tattwa. And Shiva tattwa only has created our “maryadas”. The moment you cross these maryadas, you are finished. All these maryadas which are in our culture are because of the grace of Lord Shiva. Whatever has been told to us so far: “Don’t do this, don’t do that”, everything big and small, these maryadas (boundaries) have been laid by Lord Shiva. He is so much concerned about His maryadas that the moment you step over these boundaries, you get affected.

Now, in the name of Shiva tattwa, people have created so many wrong ideas. Like many people think that taking “bhaang” (an intoxicating drink) can awaken Shiva tattwa. Many others who consume liquor think that drinking alcohol submerges you in Shiva tattwa! Many wrong ideas of this type have been created by people, that this kind of acts are all right for Shri Shiva, because He has done that. Shri Shiva drank poison also. Would you also drink poison? He drank poison to make the whole world free from it. That is why He used to eat “dhatura” (jimsonweed), because “dhatura” contains poison. Similarly you might have heard that Sai Nath used plenty of tobacco. He used to fill it in a pipe and inhale the smoke.

The reason was that most people in Maharashtra are tobacco addicts. A minister also will consume tobacco and his servant will also consume it. And the minister will ask a servant: “Give me tobacco if you have”. To this great extent there people are used to tobacco although tobacco is not grown here, in Maharashtra. But somehow they are crazy for tobacco. To such great extent people consume tobacco in Maharashtra. To free people of this addiction Sainath thought: “Why don’t I consume all the tobacco?”. That is why He used to inhale tobacco. But people started saying: “Sainath is smoking, so we also can do”. Because of these kind of people, He used to consume tobacco so that the tobacco addiction of these people will come to an end.

Now, whatever you call it, tobacco is tobacco, and there is no connection between Lord Shiva and tobacco but definitely He wanted to destroy it from the whole world. Now supposing we take the example of Goddess and the job of the Goddess is to eat all the bhoots, so would you also eat bhoots? Also the job of the Goddess is to absorb whatever diseases you have. So, would you dare to do that? This is not your job. Similarly, whatever the saints and sages have done, you neither have the power to do it right now, nor it is your job. Your job is to cleanse yourself, to correct yourself and first attain that state. Then all the other matters will be alright. But if you don’t reach that state, it is useless. For you, doing all these rituals is a waste.

There are many things, which can be justified wrongly. But if we have to go in the right direction, walk on the right path, then first of all we have to purify our hearts. All these habits that we are addicted to, these habits also altogether affect our heart. So in the olden times, it so happened, that all the disciples who came, were made to sleep in jungles. They used to live in jungles among the snakes, scorpions spiders and all other animals, so that they do not get addicted to a luxurious life. At the most they could sleep in huts, which were covered with cow dung. They used to live a very simple life and wear minimal clothes, so that children do not become crazy about clothes. “We want to wear these cloths, those shoes, we want this food” – Sahaja Yogis should not say all this. You know that your Mother can live anywhere, can sleep anywhere, can eat any food. So Indians have a craze for taste within – all the people here are very fond of eating.

Sahaja Yogis also invite each other for having food together. Ladies particularly have to say, wherever I go, “Mother, come to our house to have some food”. My food habits are very different. I cannot eat in a hotel, I cannot eat anywhere. Even in my own house I eat without salt and sugar. I am not bothered about taste since childhood. I eat whatever is available. But Indian tongues are very fond of spicy and tangy tastes. Whether they are from from U.P., from Punjab or from South, in the matter of eating, Indians are great experts. And women befool the men by serving them good food.

“My husband is fond of this food, my husband is fond of that food” What to do? Women will be slaves to their husbands and try to please them. If they keep talking about food day and night, then they are not Sahaja Yogis. And when I was there in Milan, during the program of Guru puja, I Myself cooked the food. What to do? For four years I Myself cooked there, because no one else prepared tasty food. People would say: “Mother, it tastes just like plastic”. In particular, the Indians. All the Indians who come there for Puja, have to meet Me, as if they have special right over Me. Also they are very critical about the food, that the food served here is not good.

Now one more new thing has begun among Indians, that they want attached bathrooms. Their bathrooms, if you go to their houses and see, how their parents lived there… Now, they want attached bathroom, that too western style. I am mentioning this today, because I am tired of it. In Ganapatipule, I provided western bathrooms separately for them. At first I provided Indian toilets, thinking that Indians will like Indian style. And I provided foreign people with western style. But then Indians said: “We also need western bathrooms”. Now what is this? I said: “Now a strike is going to start here”. I said: “Take tumblers and go to jungle, that is what you deserve”.

For years together they have been going like this, but now they have become great sahabs and want attached bathrooms. Poor western people, poor foreigners who came from abroad said: “Mother, we prefer Indian style, because they are very clean. So give us Indian bathrooms only”. Then I changed the arrangement and Indians were very happy that they got attached bathrooms. You should be ashamed of it. Sahaja Yogis should be ashamed talking about such things. Your forefathers used to go to jungle with tumblers so why do you have this new craze? Do you have some disease or any other problem? They put Me in great trouble. But somehow it struck Me that: “Okay, you take this and you take that”.

This kind of giving excuses and doing such things, is something only Indians do. You will be surprised, people who come to Cabella, all of them stay with one another, though they are very rich people, they have cars and everything, still they would sleep in the pendal. But Indians will have a special place for themselves, they will stay in hotels and roam around in cars. They do not have, even to a small extent, any kind of sacrificing attitude. They have not learnt how to sacrifice. The way we became so modern nowadays, it’s beyond My understanding. Now, there are no servants in foreigners’ houses. So, they have no attached bath, they have only one bathroom, because they only have to clean it. You all have servants, so you can afford even ten bathrooms. But all these things are taking you away from your own powers.

Your attention is going in useless things. Frittering away of the attention in absurdities, all this will make you a very ordinary human being. Among women, it is fashion nowadays to go to beauty parlours. Their face remains the same. They will spend money there, do this here and do that there. In Pune, the wife of brahmins will wear sleeveless dresses, use goggles and roam around in a moped. I don’t understand it. In Pune, which is punya-pattanam (land of good deeds). Is this the way to do good deeds? We are adopting to western style in such a way, without thinking where is Shiva tattwa in this?

Look at Shri Shiva, He sits comfortably with minimal clothes. In His marriage procession also He sat upon Nandi and went. Why Nandi? Because Nandi is His disciple. Whatever He says, Nandi will nod his head. He can tell Nandi anything, that’s why he is His dearest disciple. Now, He sat upon Nandi and arrived at His wedding venue. So, Parvati Ji had no objection, but Her brother, Shri Vishnu got a little worried: “Why is the bridegroom coming in this manner?”. I do not mean that you become this kind of a groom, I don’t mean that, but still, to overdo things and spending unnecessarily is of no use. Be sensible.

Wisdom is your ornament. To accept everything, whatever is there, is alright. Food – alright. Now, if they go to someone’s house for food, they will keep critisizing the host. May not be in front of them but back home they’ll say: “What kind of food was that?”. If the host cooked good, then they demand same food in their house. The whole day attention is on taste of the tongue – it is too much in India, beyond the limit. This kind attention should be reduced. The foreign yogis eat Indian food. I’ve never heard any complaint.

Although, you can never eat their western food. But the way you have coated yourself with these things, will not let you get into the deeper joy. To achieve the joy of Lord Shiva, it is said that you have to renounce everything. First renounce the world, go to Himalayas and stand on one leg. Wear minimal clothes. Take a dip in the river and then meditate in wet clothes. They used to torture the body in every possible way. Even these days gurus beat their disciples. They trouble them a lot. They don’t give Realisation so easily, no way.

After going through lot of troubles, then the disciples get Realization, but their Realization establishes in them, strongly. Instead, you all have got Realization easily but your past things are still lingering in your brain. These problems are still with you. Now what to do with them? They need to be shaken off. All these things which we have accumulated need to be pushed away, totally finished. And for that there is no need to make a show, renounce the world or leave the home and family. Any kind of “Dravidi Pranayama” (breathing technique) is not required. But one thing is a must, your temptation of the taste should be reduced, should be reduced gradually. You should become oblivious of taste.

It is very important. Oblivion to the taste is a great quality. People get enraged if they do not get food of their choice. They throw away their plates, beat their servants and what not? If you can conquer your tongue, then many sweet shops may close down, in My opinion. However, I mean to say that the body should not be given much importance. If the body needs comfort, like you want to sleep on a bed and can’t sleep on the ground, then for ten days sleep on the ground. How can you not sleep like that? You should not give up until you have enslaved your body. Your attention should go away from your comfort.

There are many people who cannot travel by bus, because they can only go by car. Then they ask for a car from here, there, sit in this car, sit in that car… But none of them will think: “Come, let me travel by bus today and see what happens?” And earlier there were no buses also, so people used to walk. When we were in school, we used to walk five miles daily, though we had car and everything. Such parents we had. But we ourselves were very fond of walking barefoot, without shoes, carrying slippers in our hand. Because of the vibrations it was good to walk on the earth. You should also start walking without shoes and slippers sometimes. It is very important and very beneficial.

Mother Earth will get vibrations and you will also feel nice. In everything, we have become excessively comfort loving people. We have become just like the few Nawabs of earlier days. And what did we get? We can get nothing from that. We will waste our whole lives by being enslaved to these things. We have to reduce this slavery, and establish within us the essence (tattwa) of Param Shiva. And for that it is essential that everything else becomes unimportant. Today wear this, tomorrow wear that, and that will match with this dress and so on. Whatever is available accept it.

Whatever comes your way wear that. It is not a problem, you will not get in any trouble because of that. On the contrary you will be happy that you are a contented person: “Whatever I got, I accepted with content”. Nowadays in our Nagpur, I don’t know if the situation is same here as well, the price of the gas cylinder has gone up by Rs. 16. Then the photos of protesting women came in the newspaper, all well dressed, with heavy make-up. I said that their powder itself must be worth Rs. 15. These people think: “If others are going for strike, then we are also joining”. What for?

Because the price increased by Rs. 15. Can’t you see that your salary has also increased? Earlier, supposing, we were paying Rs. 20-25 to our servants, today we pay Rs. 2500. He also complains, though he gets clothes and other things also. Salaries have increased so much, then would the prices not increase? Where the salaries increase, prices also go up. It is told that in Lanka (tr.n.

fom Ramayana) there were gold bricks, as currency. Now, one person went to get gold bricks. He found that, after working for one day he recieved two gold bricks. After that he went to a barber shop for shave. He asked the barber: “What are the charges?” “Two bricks”. As the income, so the expenses. It is a matter of discretion. What is the point in grumbling over the price rise, this and that? They all do this even to Me. How much has your salary increased?

Very, very much! Then? Then why to keep crying about the inflation? When the salary increases, price increase is bound to happen. Your salary increases and prices remain the same, how is it possible? It’s a very simple thing, if we learn this, then socially also we could achieve Shiva tattwa. Now, Gandhiji was an amazing person. I was in his ashram with him. I was not bothered at all, but others used to cry. Because his principle was, that all the people had to clean everbody’s bathroom, the guests’ bathroom and everyone’s.

And there was no sweeper at all. Wash your own clothes, wash your own plates. And the meal consisted of boiled food with mustard oil on top of it. Now, tell Me how many Indians can eat that type of food? People used to stay there for 2-3 days and then run away. This was the situation. Now, you people also should learn to less bother about the taste. Now, as far as oblivion to taste is concerned, I don’t know how I can do it, but you can try to eat only boiled food for a few days. No mother would say such a thing to her children. But what can I do?

It is damaging your Shiva tattwa. If all of your attention is on eating and drinking, then your Shiva tattwa will disappear and all the efforts will go to waste. So, to get involved too much in eating, is not good. In olden days, people used to fast for a day or two. Something or the other they used to sacrifice from their side. But nowadays it is very difficult to say, that if you become contented, become satisfied, then it is not necessary for you, absolutely not required, to talk all the time about eating and drinking and invite others for supper. Then, in India we have caste system. Kayasth are separate, Hindu brahmins are separate and others are separate, even now. Now what happens, is that all the kayashth Sahaja Yogis form one group, brahmin Sahaja Yogis form another group. Now you all have become Sahaja Yogis, then why are you still worried about all this brahminism?

Then kayasth will invite other kayasths for a meal. And brahmins will invite other brahmins for a meal. If you have to do this kind of stupidity, then why did you come to Sahaja Yoga? There is no caste and creed in Sahaja Yoga. When you cannot drop this fundamentally wrong thing, then what else can you drop? Did Shiv Ji bother about caste and creed? Even someone with a blind eye, someone with broken leg, someone with broken hands, all kind of deformed people accompanied Him in His marriage procession. So when Shiva tattwa is like this it is wrong for you to be critical and say: “I am very particular that the food should be like this”. And then separate food for kayasth, separate for brahmins, separate for other casts and separate for rajputs, separate for everyone: “Now, we want only that food”. I have never understood, till now I could not understand, if there is more pleasure in eating different foods, then why do these people ask only for a particular type of food.

What is the reason? For bengalies, bengali food, for madrasis, madrasi food. Once I asked in our Airforce, I mean in the Airlines: “Why there is no good standard food?”. They said: “Mother, tell us what is India’s standard food?”. This is very true. If you prepare some food, they will say: “This is Madrasi food”. Madrasi will say: “This is Bihari food”, this and that and that. So, that’s why you should eat all types of food. Because everything starts from here itself. This Vaikhari, your speech, in your speech as well, there should be sweetness, there should be madhurya.

In the smiles also, it feels sometimes, as if Ravana is emerging out of the mouth. Then what can be said about the way they talk? And when they talk, it feels as if Chandika is talking. Women particularly create this fuss. Even men do it. Various weird things have come up letely. Where is Shiva tattwa in this? Lord Shiva is the ocean of love. He bestows boons even on rakshasas. Shri Shiva who has bestowed boons even on rakshasas – if we have to awaken His tattawa within us, then how could we get entangled in petty matters like these?

How can we do this? Tell me. The way we criticize each other, some say “He is superior”, some say “He is inferior”, it is not like Lord Shiva. The streams of love are flowing within Lord Shiva. And while flowing in these streams of love – you should not say such baseless things. There is no use of it. Mutual love, mutual understanding and the company of each other should be enjoyed. Now definitely, Sahaja Yogis do not fight with each other, I have seen that. And when they meet each other, they meet with love. But still, even now very petty matters, which are very personal, like eating, drinking, moving around and other daily activities, need to be corrected.

If we correct them it will be wonderful. Your attention will go towards your heart, and will not remain in these things, will not remain in these matters. This disease is more in foreign countries. That’s why many enterpreneurs are popping up and they manufacture various kinds of things. And those who wear such things start thinking very high of themselves. Particularly in Italy this is quite popular. But you should not get caught in all these things. You should lead a simple life. In our country, people who lead a simple life have attained great heights. Others cannot achieve this.

In the olden days when Gandhiji asked everyone to wear khadi cloth, everyone obeyed and wore khadi. He made such a rule and set everybody right. But now you have to set yourself right. Because you yourself are the light of the Spirit, you youreself have come under the protection of Shri Shiva. You have to correct yourself on your own. You don’t need to correct others, but just correct yourself and feel blessed that you are a Self Realized person. How many were there earlier? Only a few of them and people used to kill them as well. Today you are in thousands, so start doing this. Sweetness in your talk, not superficially but from the heart.

Whatever you say from your heart, never hurts anyone. So you talk from your heart, with children, with elderly people, following the “maryadas” of good conduct. When you make yourself happy, you will make others happy as well. But, if the blessing of Shri Shiva is missing within you, which makes you content, nothing else can make you content. So pay attention to yourself and see: “Am I content or not? Do I have satisfaction or not? Do I get angry with others over small, small things or do I find faults with them? Then definitely there is something wrong with me”. And only after seeing these faults, you can get cleansed. Until you see something, how can you clean it?

This cleansing is much needed. And only by this cleansing, you can have the “darshan” of God Almighty within yourself. And all the people can have His “darshan” as well. Wish you have infinite blessings.

[Shri Mataji speaks in English]

It’s a very long lecture I have given in Hindi language; and because there are very few, also, Sahaja Yogis from abroad. What I was telling them was that about the Principle of Shiva is in your heart, and that reflection is not on a chakra, but on a… like a mirror. Now, whatever is visible of you is this mirror. In this mirror, what reflection you have? Do you have a reflection, which is clear, clean? Have you cleaned your heart, have you cleaned your mirror that is reflecting? That is what one has to see.

Now, what I told them at length was this, that how there are six enemies we have got. And all these six enemies, one after another, try to corrupt us. Out of that, I have told them about five, The sixth one doesn’t exist much in India, which we call as lust, it’s much less. But, for foreign countries one has to know that it is one of the major things that they have in the West, because they think lustful life, is the only life worth living. Beyond that, is Shiva. And that’s why we have to understood, that we have to understand that in our heart, the reflection of Shiva is only possible, in complete form when we have cleaned our heart. To have malice for others, to have lust for others, to have anger for others, to have envy for others, all these reactions within us act, and our heart becomes like a stone, it cannot reflect.

So, if you have to reflect the quality of Shiva, which is very important today, in this Kali Yuga. very -there are very few people who are really reflecting the image of Shiva in their own character. So, it is important to watch yourself and see for yourself, what’s wrong with you? Where am I ? Where is my attention going? Where am I going? What am I doing? If you go on judging yourself and not others. Also, in… one of the Western things is that, they have a right to criticize others, everybody, ” I like it, I don’t like it”. Who are you? Why do you say such a thing? Somebody had made a beautiful, say, arrangement for you; you sit in his house and nicely say, “I don’t like it” to hurt that person. After all, who are you? What do you think of yourself? Who are you to judge?

For Sahaja Yoga,Yogis, it’s prohibited to say, “I like” and “I don’t like.” It’s prohibited. Look at Shiva. He likes everything. What He wears? Also snakes. He likes all kinds of animals. Every type of thing that we think is not good, ugly, for Him they are not. For example, in His wedding He took with Him, in His “Barat”, people who were all infirm. Some people had one leg; some people had limbs broken down, Some had only one eye. All such people He carried with them. To Him, these people were very dear and He looked after them, because He is the source of joy. He is the One who gives us joy. And the One that makes us joyous. The real joy is only possible if, in your heart, His reflection is there.

But if your heart is full of all things, that once I have described, it becomes a dirty, very, very dirty mirror. Very surprising, I told them also, compared to Indians, Westerners are not so particular, Western Sahaja Yogis are not so particular about their comfort. Though they come from a very materialistic surrounding, they are not so much bothered. They can live anywhere, they can be happy anywhere. That’s a very good stage they have reached and that’s what’s the Indians must try to follow and don’t pay attention to nonsensical things. It is not necessary to waste your energy on nonsensical thing. Then only you can have a real bhakti for your Self, for your Atma and that is what needed today, that your Spirit should shine in your character, in your behaviour and in your personality. If that happens, then you have achieved what Sahaja Yoga wanted to do for you. It’s important today, very important.

If you read the newspapers, you can’t read it. And what you need is to change; the transformation; as we in Hindi call it ‘pariwartan’, of human beings into Selfhood, into Self-awareness, into the Spirit. This has to be done, and the time has come; this evolutionary process has started. There are so many of them who have got it.

Now the old saints and people who were gurus, real gurus, they used to really test the disciples by making them stand on their heads for years together, sometimes put them in the water, do all kinds of things. They used to beat them and they were very harsh, testing all of them. And then only, one of them used to get Realization. Now, what I thought of – its takes too much time, to cleanse them, to put them into all kinds of dresses, this that, send them to Himalayas or to Gobi Desert. I thought it will take too much time. I said why not first enlighten them? Give them the light. In that light, they can see their problems and they will themselves correct themself. They will be their own guru, and it was successful. It was good. Now you can see for yourself what you are doing, what is your problem, what makes you so much different from others and what will elevate you.

Because Sadashiva’s place is above the head, above your thoughts, above your mind, above your emotions. It’s here, and you have to cross this limit. Only when you do not react to things, and also to you nothing is important than Shiva, then only it will work out. So, in some things Indians have to learn, and in some things you foreigners have to learn.

So many things you have done, I must thank you very much. People used to think that I cannot do anything. You have given up drinking, you have given up all kinds of bad habits, you are no more womanizers, your attention is so clean, so many things you have done, which is really praise-worthy. But still, you must learn that still, there are certain things lingering, which must be cleared out and must be absolutely finished. You don’t have very much politics but sometimes there is also politics, group forming is there. All this has to go away.

Because for Shiva, what is this? The whole universe is at His feet. To Him to have a one group here and a one group there, all that doesn’t matter. To Him, it doesn’t come into his head, you see. For a person like a very big ocean, it touches many shores. But in itself it is a big ocean, In the same way is Shiva principle, and you all should develop that principle of Shiva. And then see the joy. the joy of this great ocean of love.

May God bless you.