religion – Conversations with Guruji

Creating Ghosts, Selling Faith

Q: “Guruji, we were talking about ghosts. In Christianity, for example, there’s no concept of pitra tarpaṇa (ancestral offerings).”

Guruji: “And neither is there any ritual to ensure gati (transition, to the other world). The complete ritual is to create earthbound ghosts, and that’s why they don’t have reincarnations. They wait for the judgement day.”

Q: “How it must feel to be confined in a box for such a long time!”

Guruji: “This also creates a negative influence on the society. There are miles-long graveyards in the US! In our tradition, bodies of only those people used to be preserved who had attained great knowledge, and whose bodies had become extremely pure. So, if they were preserved for a long time, they’d have a positive, pure mental effect on the surroundings. There, even evildoers are also getting buried, and their bodies are decomposing for a long time, so they’ll will have their own influence on society, which will only increase over time.

“Also, as we discussed before, those who are buried are confined only to the lower two elements – Earth and Water, while those who are cremated go to the higher two – Air and Sky.”

Q: “Is this the main reason for degeneration we are seeing in society today?”

Guruji: “It’s also a tāṁtrika experiment: keep any human bone nearby and you’ll only have bad dreams. If only a bone can have that kind of effect, imagine what will be the impact if an entire body is buried nearby.”

* * * * * *

Guruji: “We were looking at Kriya websites, found one about Yogananda which also had a few video clippings of him, with Ramana Maharshi, Yukteshwar Giri, etc, one going into super-conscious state. They were all good; felt good after seeing them.”

Q: “Guruji, earlier you had said that Paramhansa Yogananda commercialized Kriya yoga which was not the right thing to do.”

Guruji: “That he did. That is one aspect of his personality, this is another. How can we understand in totality by looking at only one thing? One aspect of his commercialization is that he’s the only one who has been able to get his gurus worshiped alongside Jesus Christ. No one before him could do that. We should think from all angles. We also shouldn’t forget that his book (Autobiography of a Yogi) inspired so many people, including myself! How can one deny that? Even today it feels good to read that book.

“The videos are good, especially what he said in the one about super-consciousness, that yoga is not magic, it is a art of high living.”

* * * * * *

Guruji: “The annual puja of Hanuman-ji is on the 6th (Dec). Many people will come for that. It’s been going on since 1996. This is the 7th one. It just started automatically.. still going on. Best thing is it’s only one day long.

“One strange thing happened: A 16 year girl who was possessed went to Mehendipur Balaji to remove her affliction. The temple caretakers took advantage of her and left her to die in front of the Bhairav temple. This is the first time this kind of case has come out from that place. Rather, this is the first time it came to be publicly known, things like this must have been going on there for some time. Police has arrested some people, there’s a lot of uneasiness in that area.

“I’m observing that since we started Shiva-ji’s puja and started sounding bull-horn, a lot of deep-rooted corruption like this is getting exposed and uprooted all around. There’s a change in the air; may be the time has changed since 2000. Every day we hear about some famous sadhu caught in some dirty deed and exposed to the public. A common man doesn’t have that much respect for famous sadhus as he used to. This the main article in today’s paper:

Selling Faith in the Shop of Lies and Corruption
In these times, the guru market is blooming. God gives in plenty, but the godman gets even more. Not only in India, but also in foreign countries there’s no escape from these dealers of emancipation. Big ashrams are being built, expensive cars are being bought. They’ve kept God in one corner, and are competing to decorate the rest of the shop as lavishly as possible. Devotees are told, ‘World is an illusion, what you are seeing is illusion, all relationships are evil and selfish. Break all relations and make relationship with God.’ But so called gurus don’t tell why this illusion, this attachment doesn’t apply to themselves? Why is this world not a false reality for them? Why do they need air-conditioned palaces? Why need dozens or servants, luxury cars? For the devotee, the world is an illusion. For the guru, it’s the biggest truth! How is that possible?
Time is limited. Time to wake up. World is not illusion. God’s creation, in which He manifests Himself even in the smallest atom, how can that be a lie?

“This is a commonplace talk now. And this is where the difference in the general approach and a yogi’s approach lies. Our approach is right, Earth is the truth and our God.”

[20100711-3]

Be Conscious of Mother Earth: The Supreme Soul

Guruji: “[.. continued from before] we talked about ātmā (soul) and paramātmā (the Supreme Soul, God). You have a soul. Then what is the Supreme Soul? Which is the soul of your soul, or, in other words, that on which the existence of your soul depends. Based on that, Mother Earth is the Supreme Soul. We are supposed to realize the supreme soul, and instead a vague concept of a distant, hypothetical God living in skies has been handed over to us. People say God is omnipresent: go anywhere in the world, Earth is everywhere! And don’t know when we’ll go in outer space, even there land will be needed.”

Q: “Then Guruji, what should a person do? It must be so hard to communicate with Mother Earth.”

Guruji: “A person should live a very natural life, and should try to tune with the mind of Earth, or tune with the life-force – the force of life – of Earth. That’s all. Without tuning in, will not understand the union, as we’ve discussed before. Tuning is necessary.

Q: “So it is mainly a thinking process?”

Guruji: “It’s not a thinking process. When the actual tuning happens it will make the difference, not just by thinking that. Like the old swamis and vedāntīs (propagators of Vedas) proclaim, ‘I’m brahma (supreme universal spirit, Godhead)!’. They even argue to prove they are brahma! But just by saying can they be brahma? They eat food, need to go to the toilet, they shiver in cold and yet continue to claim they are brahma! Can brahma shiver in cold, or can it get indigestion? The important thing is to understand reality. Reality can be harsh, but isn’t it equally beautiful as well?

“You can do this meditation of mother Earth [..]. Nobody meditates on Earth. Have you seen anyone do that? Has any so-called god-man ever said that you should meditate on Earth, that she is our mother, the basis of our existence? Meditate on Her, then only you will develop an understanding of your own existence.”

Q: “Guruji, you had mentioned that you were looking into some methods to communicate directly with Mother Earth?”

Guruji: “Yes, the research is going on. You can say that the success is just looming on the horizon; can already see it, just have to reach there. Have discovered a few techniques and processes after doing a major research; now I’m looking for the original touch. There are also some mantras of Earth, and fire rituals. They are very rare to find.”

Q: “That’s probably why they are hidden.”

Guruji: “They are hidden because they are not in convention; nobody cares for them. People are worshiping the goddess of wealth, Vishnu, or some other gods. But nobody cares about our real god.

“My mind is opening up. See, I received a natural-found śiva-liṁga. But ultimately it was given by Mother Earth only! I’m worshiping the śiva-liṁga, offering milk to it, etc, so in a way, I’m worshiping her as well. Also the female signs of śakti that we found: they were given by Earth herself. It’s not like they fell out of the sky.

“One most astonishing thing has happened here: we are totally stunned, and amazed as well. You remember the Neem tree next to the hall? It actually had menstrual periods! And it happened on the first day of Navarātri. Aren’t these the signs of Mother Earth?”

* * * * * *

Q: “Guruji, I read the first chapter of jñāna khaṇḍa. It’s amazing! There’s an argument in there that as long as there are responsibilities a man can never be happy.”

Guruji: “These are great discussions of great people. And see, immortal beings are discussing! Can you imagine their point of view, how far would that be?

“In a way, the only emancipated person is the one who is immortal. Since everybody depends on Earth, from gods to a common man, an immortal man can do anything they desire. They are totally free. They don’t have to worry about changing their form, and nobody can cause them any harm either. Once Mother accepts you as her own, nobody can harm you in the entire world, because Earth is everywhere. It’s a marvelous and very significant concept.

“Immortal beings must be the most relaxed people on Earth.”

Q: “Mother Earth’s standards must be pretty high, she probably doesn’t accept just anybody.”

Guruji: “Who knows? She is a mother. She looks after even those who don’t care for her. If somebody cared for her, who knows what she’d do for them!

“All the riches come from Earth, all the knowledge comes from her. Our existence depends on Earth. If such a divine being starts favoring you, then there’s no end to happiness.

“It’s a major realization, that’s why we have started so many Earth related activities. Even found her meditation form in texts: A brown-skinned, supremely beautiful woman, who’s donning green clothes and whose hair are also green, and who is feeding a sprig of wheat or rice to a parrot. That’s her human form.”

Q: “I haven’t found much about Mother Earth in religious texts.”

Guruji: “Nobody will teach this, no religion will talk about it. There are some hints in Vedas but not a whole lot of details. But it is an honest observation. It’s a blessing from guru mahārāja that this thing came independently to my mind.

“This is probably why the ancient ṛṣis used to live close to Nature. The farther we have gone from Nature, the more complicated life has become.

“Some time back, an archeologist, who had a PhD in this subject, came to visit. He had brought a small, knife-like stone instrument of the cavemen. He told us that it is not even possible to make such an instrument today – the way it was cut and had been given treatments. It makes us wonder whether the people who we call cavemen, were they really cavemen? Or were they so advanced that they had become one with Nature?

“The result of development is not that you keep building sky-scrappers and exploit the nature to such an extent that even your existence comes under question. That is not development. The ultimate development is that we become one with Earth, we merge with Earth. Remember, Mother Earth is the Supreme Soul!

“To become aware of Mother Earth is a big deal. Then only we’ll be able to say we are down to earth.”

[20100711-2]

Jivatma, Shiva and Shakti

Q: “Guruji, it is said that Brahma is Providence and governs us with the laws of karma. To which state does it continue?”

Guruji: “Brahma’s domain is only till the physical world. Nobody has any dominion over the real spirits in the spiritual world, except Shiva and Shakti. The spirits, bhuta, around Shiva-ji are so powerful that even Brahma and Vishnu are scared of them. They are only jivatmas – spirits in the purest form. They have gone beyond all bodies – physical or astral. People call them bhuta, preta, pischacha and they all stay around Shiva-ji. And they are all immortal.

“Jiva is Shiva, and atma is Shakti. It’s a very subtle point. We are all ardhanarishwara (male and female) in a way, as both jiva and atma are in us. Atma is all female powers, like consciousness which is also a form of shakti. Atma and all such powers belong to the domain of Devi – Aadi Shakti. And jiva since it is a form of Shiva belongs to the domain of Shiva-ji. Even science says the same – we are half male and half female. The only difference is of a chromosome! All these things reflect on the physical plane to some degree, whether we can understand them or not.”

Q: “So Guruji when we say I, who do I identify with, jiva or atma?”

Guruji: “That’s what the whole effort is for, to understand who I am. It’s a matter of realization what our true nature is, who we are. Plainly speaking I’m Shiva, I’m also Shakti, I’m male, I’m female, I’m both. Our body has so much information recorded that if could decode all that we’ll become super knowledgeable. The entire history of human race, infact the history of entire physical creation is in it. As the old books say, ‘yat pinde tat brahmande‘. It’s a very profound statement. That means once you know yourself in entirety, and not just that ‘I’m Brahma’, etc, but also your body as well, that will be something! It’ll be a shocking realization. The data of the entire universe will become available to you. It’s a wonderful thing!

“That’s why the old yogis have said, ‘Go inside’. And only yogis have said that. Others only worshiped hypothetical gods whose name they cannot even pronounce. Here’s another horrible truth: We read that the devil is after your soul. Now soul is your immortal substance. Everybody’s after that immortal substance, whether you offer it to a hypothetical god or to the devil. In Christianity, for example, there’s description of the creation but who created the souls is not even described in the Bible.

“The soul must have some substance that even gods are after it. May be it makes them powerful – if immortals start worshiping you, you’ll also become immortal. That’s why the earthly plane becomes important, because that the only place where the soul forgets its true nature and get imprisoned in the body. At that time it’s easy to fool it. See why there are so many religions, so many cults on Earth? Because if you can influence the soul, you can do anything.

“Look at Shiva-ji instead. A yogi attains Shivatva (Shivahood). Shiva-ji doesn’t dominate. He’s a guru, and you become Him. Because jiva is already Shiva – immortal. The entire theory is different but that’s only in yoga.

“No other gods are like that. You don’t attain Brahmahood or Vishnuhood, or in Christianity become God or in Islam become Khuda. That is kufra (blasphemy) according to them. Mansoor used to say ‘anahalak’ – I’m He, so king Aurangajeb got him decapitated. According to them, nobody can become god, you can only become devotees. Only in yoga it is said that you can become Shiva. What’s bigger than that? And this way is open for everyone.

“Read that section in Mahabharata vol 6 where Upamanyu rishi is rebuking Indra, saying, ‘O fool! Don’t try to fool me with sweet words. Who is worshiped by all the gods? Nobody is born with a conch-shell or chakra, but with linga or yoni. But every male in the universe is stamped with Shiva’s symbol and every female with Shakti’s. It’s a universal phenomena, from a bacteria to an elephant, ant, or even human. That biggest evidence that the entire creation is Shiva’s and Shakti’s, that this creation is Maheshwari.’ And every man has the potential to gain Shivatva and every woman Shakitva (Shakti-hood).

“That book, History of the World, has a picture of a thousands of years old statue of a naked female. It represents the female principle of the Earth. Despite all their sweet-talking, people have only been suggesting to avoid our fundamental nature. Isn’t that contrary to what should be? Suppression is not realization. As I have written in Gita, these symbols are not just from somebody’s imagination. They are hints, left by the first people out of their compassion for the future generation, for those who are able to understand. That’s also why even from the ancient times renunciation has never been encouraged, because then you’ll never get blessings from Shiva.”

[20110324-3] Recorded: Jan, 2002