Be Neither Confident Nor Diffident

Satsang: Sadhguru
What is confidence and what is diffidence? Diffidence is something that lowers the scale of life when life can happen more beautifully. Over-confident people are invariably tyrants. What we need is neither confidence nor diffidence. What we need is awareness and consciousness. Whatever i face, any kind of situation or people, the moment i sit, i just look at them and i don’t even have to think, i just see them as a part of myself, i speak to them as i would speak to myself. To speak to yourself, you don’t need confidence. The need only arises when you have to talk to someone else. When you speak to yourself, you can say anything you want. There is no difficulty in it; there is no greatness about it. If you just behold everybody as yourself, there is no confidence, no diffidence. What needs to be done, you just do it. Once there is a sense of inclusion, awareness and consciousness come naturally. Awareness is life. Life is awareness. There is no other way to be. It is only because of exclusion that awareness has to be practised. People are trying to be aware simply because they have excluded themselves from everything. So what is needed is consciousness. Consciousness is not individual, it is always allinclusive. If you are conscious, everything is included. You need neither confidence nor diffidence. You just function to the fullest of your intellectual capability, without any hesitation. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says, “Hesitation is the worst of sins”. Very strange, isn’t it? Hesitation is the worst of sins because in hesitation, you don’t live. Krishna is not a teaching. Krishna is an affirmative statement of life. He is saying that anything that is not life is the worst sin, adharma. “Don’t hesitate” does not mean to jump into every pit that you see. Your intelligence is capable of choosing and deciding in a moment whether you need to do something or not. The problems of confidence and diffidence have come because you are such an exclusive character in the world. Most of your exclusiveness you have created unconsciously. A part of it you have created consciously because you thought that this is the way to get attention, by trying to be special. Especially in western cultures, right from childhood, they are training you to be special. Trying to be special is the worst disease because once you get this disease, there is no salvation. Wherever you go, you have to do something stupid to prove that you are special. Isha Yoga is not about being special. It is about being extraordinary. When there is no effort to make yourself special, you are simply ordinary, you will stand out as extra-ordinary. All-inclusiveness is extra-ordinary. It is just a way of life. When i say inclusion, it is not something that i have made up this is the way Existence is. It is only in inclusiveness that Existence is functioning. If you are so exclusive, why are you inhaling what i exhale? Try to breathe separately and see; you will be dead. It is only in inclusiveness that life is happening. When we talk about inclusiveness, we are not teaching you a new philosophy. We are talking about leading life the way life is, just ordinary, as it is. It is ordinary but it is magnificent.

Union Of The Finite With The Infinite Is Yoga

Shrii Shrii Anandamurti
In spirituality, when the finite comes in contact with the Infinite, it is called yoga. Yoga leads to the much aspired-for Supreme Union. In Sanskrit, yoga means addition. For the spiritual aspirant, yoga is not only addition; yoga also means unification. Say there are two apples. You add another two apples to the existing ones. The total would add up to four apples. The nature and characteristics of each apple remain unchanged before and after addition. Unification, on the other hand, is like sugar and water. When sugar is added to water, it dissolves and becomes one with the fluid. Yoga means this type of unification. The starting point is aesthetic taste or aesthetic science. The culminating point is when you become unified with the Supreme Entity, whose seat is above the pinnacle of existence. In yoga, undertaken for the unification of the unit with the Supreme, the finite merges with the Infinite. The human physical and psychic structure is most suitable for this purpose. Animals and plants act according to their inborn instincts. The cranium is very small and the conscious portion of the mind is sufficient for them; there is no necessity for the subconscious or unconscious strata of the mind. A plant gets pleasure or pain when its inborn instincts are either encouraged or discouraged. When the inborn instincts of a plant or an animal are encouraged it gets pleasure, and when the inborn is suppressed or depressed, it gets pain. But human psychospiritual movement cannot be suppressed. There lies the specialty of human existence. Mysticism is the never-ending endeavour to find the link between the finite and the Infinite, between the self and the Super-self, khud and Khuda. When the aesthetic sense, based on the subtle aesthetic science, comes to touch a certain standard, it is called mysticism. And when this mysticism reaches the pinnacle of human glory, or the excellence of human glory, it is called spirituality. Human beings are never satisfied with something finite. The scriptures say that human thirst cannot be satisfied with something limited. In the quest for the Infinite, we first come in contact with aesthetic science. Aesthetic science is that which one can express in a subtler way, from subtle to subtler, and when it reaches the subtlest point, that point is the pinnacle of human glory. It is the duty of artists to express their work in a nice way, and place it before the world. Not everyone can do this. But enjoying something with aesthetic taste is within the capacity of every human being. Yoga is the most developed and valuable human expression so it is in the first phase of yoga that one expresses oneself through so many arts and sciences. The final point of all artistic movement and the final point of all branches of sciences is the supreme source, the perennial source of all energies, the supreme seat of all energies. It is Parama Purusha, the Supreme Entity, the Father of all, the Causal Matrix of all created beings in the universe, both animate and inanimate. That is why for all people, the Supreme Entity must be the goal of life. That is, the Supreme Entity is the culminating point, the desideratum of all human expressions. When we are lacking in this spirit of movement, we degrade ourselves from the human status.

The Many Stages Of Our Spiritual Evolution

Janki C
Spiritual development and its evolution is a slow process. It goes through some distinct stages. And in each stage, the world appears different. How life appears to us depends on where we are placed. The view is dependent on where we stand. Management will always look at things from a particular perspective, labour from another. Man from one, woman from another. The way we look at things gives them their meaning. At different levels of spiritual development the world will inevitably appear different. Broadly speaking these would be influenced by the major experiences on the path. The Age of Innocence is a stage when we believe that everything will be perfect. When you are a child, you take it for granted that everybody exists only to fulfil your needs, whims and fancies. A child takes it as a right that when he cries at night somebody will come and attend to the problem. Many adults have not outgrown this stage. They expect to be taken care of and loved. They are always expecting somebody to do something. The government should do this, the teachers should do that, the neighbours should be thus. Everybody should do everything so that they will live happy lives. When such persons come to spirituality, they have the same relationship with God. They look upon Him as some kind of Santa Claus whose primary function is to grant wishes. The Age of Disillusionment is when we find out that life is not perfect and things are inherently flawed. The child grows up and faces the reality that he is not the centre of the universe and for the most part the universe doesn’t know he exists or is indifferent to his existence. This is the pain of adolescence. People in this stage say there is no God or there is no use believing in Him. They may become cynical or atheistic. The Age of Responsibility is a stage when we start taking responsibility for our life. No more will others look after us. We will operate within the realm of cause and effect. We will get just rewards of our actions. Nobody is looking out for me and i must look out for myself says a person in the age of responsibility. He takes responsibility for his life. Many materialistic achievers fall in this category. The Age of Keeperhood is when a person starts really growing spiritually. It dawns on him that he is ‘his brother’s keeper’. Far from the world being there to take care of him, he is there to take care of the world. Instead of wanting others to share his pain, he wishes to relieve the pain of others. These are the noble people, the Mahatma Gandhis or Abraham Lincolns. Who fight to serve the world they came to and leave it a better place for their service. The Age of Enlightenment extends far beyond that of ‘keeperhood’. When love becomes universal, when there is complete identification, people are no more my brothers. They are me. I and they are one. My self is the Self in all. Even to love somebody there must be two. Enlightenment sees only the One, the non-dual. It is the culmination of spiritual growth, the state of a Krishna or Rama, a Buddha or Christ, a Mahavir or a Mohammed. It is the blessed state of Selfrealisation or moksha, the zenith of spiritual growth, the state of complete knowledge.

Dharma Will Prevail With Good Karma

Satsang: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Why do people who do good suffer while those who commit injustice go unpunished? Such questions arise when we see an event in its limited framework. No good action will yield a bad result. Or, no bad action will bring a good result. This is the Law of Karma. As you sow, so shall you reap! If you sow a mango seed, a mango tree will grow. But along with the mango tree, some thorny bushes may come up because of the seeds present in the manure brought from somewhere else. It is not the mango seed that brings up the thorny bush. Your mango seed will bring mango fruit, in due course. The question of justice and injustice arises only when one sees the world from a limited framework. This is probably why the Jain philosophy does not even accept the judge. They simply believe that the whole world is governed by the law of cause and effect. And they call it the Law. When seen from this perspective, there cannot be injustice. If there appears to be an injustice, there are people who are bringing justice; this is also part of the Law. For example, if someone gets a disease, there is someone else who has the cure for it. If the person with the cure knows that somebody is suffering, it is his dharma to bring him relief. If it’s somebody’s karma to steal, it’s dharma of the police to catch him. Karma and dharma go hand in hand. Karma is always dynamic, in the sense that there is perception and there is action. Karma means the action, its impressions and its result. It has three phases — latent action, the action that is in process, and then the root of the action, or the cause of the action. All three things are a reality. Karma is beyond all logic and reasoning. It causes people to be together or separate. It causes some to be weak and some, strong. It makes some rich and some poor. All the struggle in the world, whatever it may be, is the bondage of karma. Some karma can be changed and some cannot. Only human life is blessed with the chance to be free from karma. And only a few thousands aim to be free from it. As a human being, you can accumulate karma. Awareness, alertness, knowledge and meditation all help erase past impressions. Only through Grace can the bondage of karma be burnt. The awareness of dharma helps in comprehending the strange ways of karma. Whenever you see a bad karma or someone suffering, you need to help him. That is your dharma. Karma is also always bound by time, because every action has a limited reaction. If you do something good to people, they will come and thank you; they will be grateful to you as long as they are experiencing the effect of your action, but not forever. Our perception of suffering, of good and bad, is always relative. God does not come within the purview of relativity. He is the absolute reality — Sarva Sakshi — a witness of all that is. See God as a movie director, rather than as a judge. He has no ill feeling for the villain, and no special favour for the hero. Each one is playing his role. In the end, both the villain and the hero are rewarded. That is why in the puranas, every villain who dies also goes to heaven. After so many years, when the Pandavas reached heaven, they found Duryodhana already sitting there happily.

Give With An Open Heart Without Expectations

Satsang: Ashutosh Maharaj
Why should we be good and do good when others don’t respond the same way? What is the use of showing compassion? To help others is a humanitarian attribute; a compassionate nature is proof that you’re human. You know this. That’s why you’ve expressed doubts over the relevance of the ‘be good-do good-feel good’ principle. Maybe someone you trusted broke your heart! If your intention is to really help others, then your entire concentration should be on the word ‘others’. There would be no scope to think about yourself. The ideal of helping others is not a barter transaction, wherein you give something in exchange of something. It is just giving, pure and simple, and not taking. If we entertain the selfish idea of receiving something, even a warm thank you, the idea of helping loses its charm. Then it will be just like any commercial transaction. That’s why we’re told, “Do a good deed and throw it into the well!” What it means is, do good and forget about it. Don’t even expect a smile of gratitude in return. One afternoon, Jesus Christ cured 10 lepers. But, do you know how many of them stayed on to express their gratitude or even say a word of thanks to Jesus? Just one. Read the account of Luke in the Bible; it says that Jesus turned and enquired of his disciples, “Where are the other nine?” The disciples answered: “Master, their selfish desire is fulfilled and, therefore, they have now gone from here.” Listening to this, Jesus smiled and simply proceeded further to help other poor and unhappy persons while telling his disciples: “Do good unto others.” Even the Messiah, who gave a fresh lease of life to others, had to taste bitter ingratitude of the selfish. What then can people like you and me expect? So, let us make this the motto of our life: To help others not for any commission but just to enjoy the inner feeling of indescribable joy. Help for the inner joy of helping. Nature never leaves you empty-handed. There was a farmer named Fleming in Scotland. One day he heard a call for help. He saw a boy sinking in the quicksand. Fleming pulled the boy out of the quicksand; he affectionately patted him and told him to go home. Then, he returned to his farming job again. Next day, a welldressed gentleman arrived at his hut. “You saved the life of my son; i wish to present you with a reward,” he said. But Fleming said that he had only done his duty. Spotting a boy in rags, the gentleman asked Fleming if that were his son. Fleming nodded. And the gentleman took the responsibility for the boy’s education. Years later the farmer’s son became a scientist, Alexander Fleming. He became renowned for his invention of Penicillin. A few months after the invention, the boy who his father saved got a severe attack of pneumonia. And his life was saved, this time by Fleming Jr’s invention. What goes around does come around. As you sow, so shall you reap, in whatever form. Nature returns everything with interest. Jesus Christ would say: “Happy are those who long to be just and good, for they shall be completely satisfied... don’t tell your left hand what your right hand is doing. And your father who knows all secrets will reward you.”

Become Stress-free With Relative Ease

Discourse: Sadhguru
When i first came to the United States, wherever i went, i heard people talking about stress management. We manage our families, our money, our property, our businesses — we manage whatever is valuable to us. Why would anybody manage stress? It took me a while to understand that people have made stress part of life. Stress is not a part of life. It is not your lifestyle, it is not your work, it is not your family, it is not the situations in which you exist which cause stress to you; it is your inability to manage your system — your body, mind, emotions and your energy — your lack of understanding of how this system functions, your inability to use the system the way it should be used. People are capable of being stressed for just about anything. What can you do about it? You don’t need to do anything about stress; stress is like friction in a machine. There is friction in the machine because there is no proper movement of the parts, or there is not enough lubrication. The less friction you have, the more efficient the machine becomes. Now we are not looking at how to manage stress, nor how to keep it under the surface. I am talking about how not to create it, because stress is your creation. If you start the simple process of Isha Yoga, for instance, you will find that within six weeks, there is a considerable drop in your pulse rate, heart beat, in the way your system functions, because your whole system is functioning at ease. When the very nature of your existence has become ease, you are restful all the time. Then there is no such thing as stress. Restfulness is the basis of all activity. You can be most effective in your life only when everything is at complete ease within. If your ability to act becomes effortless, naturally there is no such thing as stress. If your body and mind took instructions from you, would you create stress for yourself or bliss? You need to look at the fundamental mechanics of life, why your body and mind are not doing what you want them to do. If you do a process of yoga, it needs to be in its full depth and dimension, not just the physicality of it. It is neither physical nor mental; it has got something to do with the core of your life. If all of you is not involved in the yoga that you do, if it has not been transmitted to you, it has just been taught to you, it is a bundle of instructions, not an initiation — if that is so, you are misusing yoga — would you, for instance, use an airplane as you would a car? When i see the kind of yoga that is going on all over on a large scale, it makes me cry... I want you to understand, yoga is not a solution for your stress — there is no need for stress. Yoga is the removal of the problem. You don’t create stress anymore, that’s all. If you don’t create stress, then why do you need a solution for it? Stress is your making; it is not the situation which is making stress. It is your making. So if you get a little deeper access to the experience of life within you, you will distinctly know this and you will drop it. Yoga transforms and liberates human beings so that they can reach this unbounded state. Humans, unlike animals, are not merely existing. They are becoming. To evolve as a human being is to become aware of one’s limitations; to strive, with intense passion, towards the transcendence for which we all have the potential.

Buddha’s Eightfold Path Of Even-mindedness

Amitava Basu
To have aspirations and ambitions is normal. To realise their ambitions, people toil hard and put in all efforts, even sacrificing family and personal lives. Yet, often this goal remains a mirage. For instance, when your boss praises you for good work done, everything goes just right, and when you return home you begin to dream of all the things you can do with the support of your boss and the heights that you can reach. Perhaps, the next time you meet him he is busy in attending to some urgent work and is curt with you. You feel snubbed, hurt and all your plans go out of the window. To remove the imponderables that lie on the growth path, to overcome the feeling of being let down and to achieve your ambition, often such ways are adopted for which stars need to hide their fire so that no light can expose their deep desires. Suffering and frustration in life are inescapable. The root cause for these is uncontrolled desire and ambition. The cause of frustration can be removed through overcoming desires and drawing a line to craving for more. This can be attained by being mindful of all the things that you use to pamper and harm yourself with; by being mindful by abandoning your expectations about the way you think things should be. And, out of your mindfulness you begin to develop awareness of the way things really are. Says Buddha, man is the arbiter of his own destiny, not the gods. To feel relieved from queasiness and frustration, Buddha laid down the eightfold path. First, view the world in the right perspective. Instead of imposing your expectations onto things, see things simply as they are. Second, do not try to manipulate situations in line with preconceived notions of how they should be. Just, work with what is. Third, you should not hesitate about what you say. Fourth, give up the tendency to complicate issues that usually cloud relationships. Be simple and straightforward. Fifth, it is only normal that you should earn your living. Many are disgruntled with their jobs. The truth is you should perform your responsibilities properly and be happy with what you do. Sixth, make the right effort to see things as they are and work with what it is without any kind of aggression. Seventh, be precise, clear and mindful of what you speak, perform and behave. And lastly, be absorbed in things as they are instead of being absent-minded and captivated by all sorts of distractions and speculations. The fact is that we attempt to consolidate our experiences in some concrete way. But times and situations are constantly changing. Human consciousness is made up of temporary mental processes and events. Everything is impermanent. And, because of not recognising this truth, a feeling of uneasiness and anxiousness occurs even at the best of times. This underlines the need for practising cessation of passion and aggression and recognising the truth that life is full of suffering and frustration. The wisdom then attained provides deep enlightenment on understanding of life in the right perspective. The Buddha says that he who is wise and virtuous, gentle and humble, energetic and not indolent, remains unshaken in misfortune, is hospitable and friendly, unselfish and generous, impartial and liberal. He attains the true honour as a human being.

Don’t Trash Goodness, Give It A Chance

Discourse: Swami Nikhilananda Saraswati
Two types of personalities are predominant in us: the good or daivi and the bad or asuri. The recognition and development of good qualities will lead one to moksha and freedom from bondage and pain. Negative qualities on the other hand lead one into bondage, resulting in sorrow and dependency. The positive and the negative are present everywhere and in all time periods. Even in the worst possible scenario, one could find something good. If a tragedy like an earthquake happens, it reveals how there are those who help total strangers even at personal risk. We also come across those who take advantage by looting and robbing. Since both the good and bad tendencies exist in us, we are both potentially divine as well as devilish. Environment, association and circumstances might exercise a major influence. For spiritual progress, satsang is a good option. This means not only the company of the wise but also the company of good people, good books, good literature, good food and good television programmes leave an impact. It is important, therefore, to avoid what is negative and encourage the positive. Even if one sees a little good quality in oneself or in others, encourage it! You might find something positive even in those you perceive as your enemies. So give goodness a chance. Negative forces attract similar tendencies that create a corresponding environment. The same is true for positive forces. It is, therefore, a good idea to cultivate positive qualities. The good and bad don’t have equal potential. Good has the power to face all negativities. One strong good quality can fight against many negative ones. Similarly, in society if strong and positive forces arise then automatically negative forces are negated. All interaction is merely a play of these qualities. To overcome anger one has to enhance love. This love is made pure when directed towards the Divine. Then anger dissolves. Once negative qualities are identified, they can be dealt with. They have the ability to take any form. Often anger appears as righteous and spiritual. Dedicating oneself to a good person brings out the goodness from within us. In the service of such persons we imbibe their qualities. When one dedicates one’s life to God, then Godly qualities emerge. These qualities are inherent and have to be invoked and literally pulled out of us. Goodness when dedicated to a higher cause gains tremendous power. Hanuman’s dedication to Sri Rama was unshakeable. When people dedicate themselves to subtle causes like alleviating poverty, to ecology and the like they develop remarkable strength. Their goodness is used for the common good free of ulterior motives or intention of self-aggrandisement. Goodness that is dedicated to God helps in the seeker achieving God-realisation and takes him on the path to higher ideals. Being good and philanthropic due to pressure from society or the law or other lower reasons is not permanent. But goodness that springs from within is everlasting. Notice negative trends as they rapidly become insurmountable. One cannot fight with a terrorist by becoming a terrorist. It is by strengthening the positive that one can override the negative. Remember Goodness is not an action. It is a state of being.