The Real Sadhana

In this very insightful talk, Mahaprabu showed us to distinguish happenings from the knower, while beautifully explaining the reasons for doing so. He explained why we go through life in a series of pendulums of ups and downs and how to come out of it.

Happenings vs. the Knower

Two people A and B are walking on the road. Suddenly there is heavy rain. Both will get wet correct? When there is a sudden fire, and both are trapped, both are affected by the fire. Suppose A is exposed to sadness or frustration. Will B also be filled with sadness and frustration? No. Rain is real, in the sense it has existence. It is not an imaginary one. So is fire. All of those exposed to that which has real existence are affected equally. But sadness has no real existence. If it did, it would influence everyone. The one that exists here and now and in us, knows that sadness appears to be there, but it is not affected by that sadness. When that sadness goes away and happiness appears to come, the one that exists here and now is aware but is not affected by happiness either. Throughout your life, this keeps happening. Happiness and Sadness alternately affect us through so many situations, with periods of neutrality in between, but the one which is knowing simply continues unaffected by any of this.

Take the simple action of drinking milk.
I am drinking milk – This is one way to understand it.
The body is Drinking milk – This is another way to understand it.
Drinking is happening – This is yet another way.

Which of these is true? Drinking is happening.

Drinking is a phenomenon. I am the subject and Milk is the object. When the subject and object are removed, only the action remains.

Is it right to say, ‘the body is drinking milk’. If you feed the same milk to a dead body, will it drink? No. Even if the body is of the same size, structure, and the mouth is open. Still it can’t drink, even if you pour milk into it. A live body is able to drink, and the dead one is unable to. Why?

The one which is here and now, the one which is knowing, in its presence all things are happening. This knower is not present in the dead body, so no action is possible. Therefore, ALL actions are happening just in ‘its’ presence.

How we get into trouble

Now, you can either focus on the happenings or you can focus on the one which is knowing. The happenings are changing continuously, but the one which is knowing never changes. When we focus our attention on the happening, there comes right-wrong, happiness-sadness, and all the ups and downs. And amongst the two, when you focus your attention on sadness or frustration your attention will be dragged more, rather than when focused on happiness. Your energy is lost more in sadness, frustration. When good things are happening in your life, beyond your control you will say ‘Thank God. Because of God it happened.’ But at the same time when some frustration or sadness happens, are you saying ‘Because of God it happened.’? So for one-half, you are admitting God, but for the remaining 50%, you are admitting You. ‘I should have not done that, I should have done this, I expected something, but I got this’… See the difference. So in these so-called negative situations, very quickly and easily you will get identified with the ego and dragged down by it. So you must be very careful. Half of you will build you up, the other half will destroy you. That is why most of the time you find that no matter how much practice you do, you feel like you are still at the same point. Because one-half constructs and the other half destructs. Construction is very slow. But destruction is instantaneous. So you should be very alert especially when frustration or sadness comes and starts to grow.

Typically when happiness comes, you will start enjoying. For e.g. Somehow one day you find a bag of cash in the cupboard in your bedroom. It got there without your knowledge. Generally (I’m not talking about exceptions) the person would become very happy and say things like ‘Thank God. You have finally answered my prayers for my sufferings’. Because it is beyond your control. But say, in the same house, the person had his hard-earned bag of cash in that same cupboard. The next day he wakes up to find it gone, stolen. Definitely he will be frustrated and start thinking, ‘I should have locked it’, ‘I should have put it in the bank’, etc. All kinds of ‘I’ comes in. See how quickly we get identified. So in Happiness, we get identified and enjoy it. In frustration also we get identified but since we don’t enjoy it, we try to do something, anything to come out of it.

In both cases, the problem starts in the first step itself. We get identified. We don’t see it as a happening. We are not focused on the one that ‘knows’ that frustration is there, the one that is unaffected. As you have gotten identified, you say ‘I must do something now’, ‘I must fix this situation now’. This process leads to more complications. You are developing a state of confusion. Your entire system becomes cloudy. Now it is very difficult to see the one that is ‘knowing’. But it is still there. Its presence is the only reason, you even know there is a big cloud. But as you are attached to frustration and complicating it further by taking responsibility, finally you are so far away from the One that exists here and now and knows all this, that you have created a very big distance.

What to do?

So, to realize this, first you should not get identified. You should not do anything. You should focus on the one which is knowing. That is Turiyam. Whatever is happening, it is knowing. Since it exists every moment, it knows everything. And it never distinguishes good thing versus bad thing.

About Prayer:
This one that is here and now and is unaffected – from its point of view, ‘You’ are not existing. But from your point of you, ‘You’ are existing and ‘IT’ is existing. And you are saying ‘Please help me’, ‘Why don’t you take care of me?’. IT doesn’t know about you (Laughing!). So then why prayer? To build mental strength. But you say ‘My prayers aren’t answered’. Who is listening to your prayer? (Laughing). From Its point of view, you are not existing. So your frustration is also not existing. If you frustration was real, it will influence everyone, like the Sun or Rain.

This is the real practice

So we should focus our attention on the one which is knowing, and not on the happenings. It is a difficult process, but we can get there if we keep on trying. Shifting our attention. This is the real Sadhana. Your attention is focused on the things that are happening but you are forgetting the one which is knowing. That knower, that Seer is called Siva, Atma, Para Brahmam. They have given names to it. As it has no name, let us accept it as it is. The one which is existing here and now.

SC: When sadness or frustration comes, we get identified and it creates a distance from the knower. But in the opposite case, when happiness comes also we get identified and there is a distance, an equal distance. Right?

Mahaprabu: Yes, definitely. That’s what I’m telling.

SC: But in one case we lose energy, but when identified with happiness we gain energy. Why is that?

Mahaprabu: Yes, you think you are gaining energy because your expectation is met. There also you are losing, building your ego, because you are not aware of the one which is knowing. That is why for those like the Buddha, there is no oscillation in them, whether frustration or happiness comes. They are always in a straight line. Ordinary people, when they get happy they start showing it, even jumping up and down. But the Buddha, imagine how much happiness he is experiencing every second. Yet he sits so calmly and quietly. See that! By your standard, how much he should jump. Take the case of Osho, he encourages disciples to dance in joy. But he himself doesn’t. Even if he does, it is a slight movement. Even though he is enjoying the ultimate, supreme happiness, there is no dance. Because they remain as the one that is unaffected.

So what we have to do is, instead of focusing on your state of mind, you have to be alert. Otherwise you will quickly drop your sadhana. Shift your attention to the One which is knowing everything. In a 24-hour day if you draw a curve of your mental state, it will be full of ups and downs. How do you know this? There is something that knows this. That thing which knows, Its line is a straight line throughout the day. So, both lines are available. Which one do you want? The one that goes up and down and tormenting you or the straight one, like the Buddha’s? Definitely the straight line. That’s why people who are in the ups and downs are attracted to the ones who are in the straight line (jnanis). The reverse is never true. The ones who are stable are never attracted to, never influenced by those in the curves going up and down. This itself indicates which is real and which is apparent.

This is the real practice. The core practice is this. Everything else, chanting, meditating, are all time-pass. What to do? You are in the curve. The Master has to join with you in the curve. He will appear to rise with you, and appear to fall with you, but he is always in the straight line. When you first meet the Master, your curves are steep with huge highs and lows. He gives you the feeling that he is also coming with you, even though he really is unaffected. As time goes on he reduces the amplitude and the frequency of the waves. Slowly, over time, your curved line will become straight. The straight line is the Master, Curves is the disciple. Straightening the curve is the sadhana.

So from this moment, shift your attention from what is happening, to the one which is knowing, which is here and now. You have to succeed in this. This is the Sadhana and it is in your hand only.

Mahaprabu spoke about Surrender:
What are you surrendering to the Master? You are surrendering the one which is not existing. When you say you are surrendering, it means you should give something. You are giving the one that doesn’t exist. You are giving ‘nothing’ but getting ‘everything’. To give this ‘nothing’, you find it so difficult!

Moment to moment, practice it

Mahaprabu ended the session as usual by praying to all the Brahma Jnanis to bless us. As he raised his hands while saying Vazga Valamudan (may you live prosperously) he stopped midway and said: Even as my hands are going up in the air, the one which is here and now is knowing it. The attention is focused on that which is here and now and knowing. But what do we do? You will forget that and fall for the body action, fall for the words, fall for the feeling. All those are there: Body action, words, feelings. All of these are there when I say the blessings. But the fourth one is there!!! That you forget. You should know the one which is knowing. That is the meaning of know yourself. One portion of you should always know, ‘the knower is there’. Then slowly, slowly the body actions will reduce, words will reduce, feelings will merge (between disciple and Master). After that point, this ‘Vazga valamudam’ will not be said. Just the presence becomes the blessing. So give more importance to the knower. That is the real blessing. Remain as that. That is the powerful blessing. These words, these body actions are not the real blessing. From this moment, make this the real Sadhana. Shift your attention towards the one which is knowing everything, which is present every moment. As it is present every moment, it knows everything. This practice is possible only in a human body and that too only when the body is alive. Saying this, Mahaprabu continued the blessings after which the Satsang ended.

Sri Mahaprabu

The Real Sadhana

The Real Sadhana

The Real Sadhana

Happenings vs. the Knower

How we get into trouble

What to do?

This is the real practice

Moment to moment, practice it

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