Transcription
First, no one is ordinary. If you were ordinary, then the point of 'Athato' would never have come. No one is ordinary because God is hidden. And what could be more extraordinary than God? You might have thought you were ordinary, like a pebble. You are not a pebble. Pebbles do not exist. Existence is made only of diamonds. Therefore, first, do not give this illusion a place in your mind that you are ordinary. I am not saying to impose arrogance. I am not saying to consider yourself extraordinary compared to others. I am saying that being extraordinary is the nature of the world. It's not that *you* are extraordinary. Everything here is extraordinary. There is no facility for being ordinary here. And understand this paradox correctly, because you have considered yourself ordinary, you try hard to be extraordinary. Through wealth, position, prestige. The search for ego is this: you have accepted that you are ordinary, and being ordinary causes pain. A thorn pricks; the mind is not at peace. So you pretend to be extraordinary. Whereas the fun is that you *are* extraordinary. There is no need for pretense. Therefore, those who have realized that they are extraordinary, they give up ego instantly. Understand it as if there is no need. Understand it as if a diamond has considered itself a pebble. It has considered itself a pebble, so it adorns itself so that it appears like a diamond. Who is willing to be a pebble? So the diamond, considering itself a pebble, adorns itself. It applies paint and makeup so that no one realizes it is a pebble. But the day it realizes that it was always a diamond, on that very day the illusion of being a pebble will vanish, and the desire to adorn oneself will also vanish. That was just a shadow of the illusion of being a pebble. On that day, humility is born. The day you know that you are extraordinary, on that very day the race to be extraordinary ends. The day you realize that you are extraordinary, because there is no other way to be. You have the signature of God on you. His song is written on every pore. The marks of His hands are on every pore, because He Himself created you. He is in your heartbeats. He is in your breath. You are not ordinary. If you were ordinary, then religion would have no purpose. Then the point of 'Athato' would never come. If you were ordinary, how would the light of God ignite within you? Then how would you awaken, and how would you become Buddha? It is impossible. Then you cannot become Buddha. You awaken. You attain samadhi because that is your nature. Even when you did not know, you were the same. Only knowing makes a difference. Existence is always uniform. Some know it, some live without knowing. There is only the difference of knowledge and ignorance in existence. There is no difference at all. There is not a speck of difference between you and Buddha, as far as existence is concerned. But Buddha looked back and saw himself. You have not looked back at yourself. You became a beggar; he became an emperor. Whoever looked back at himself became an emperor. Everyone was an emperor. Some remembered, got the news, found a clue. Some never got the news, remained beggars, and kept trying to become emperors. What you are trying to become, you already are. This is the message of all religions. What you are searching for, you have never lost. You have only forgotten. In this entire existence, I have not seen anything ordinary so far. Even a blade of grass is filled with its own colors. The same lies dormant in pebbles. The same awakens in those who are awake. The same sleeps in those who are asleep. The same is wise in the wise. The same is ignorant in the ignorant. Therefore, there is no way to be ordinary. Just look closely into anyone's eyes, or stand before a mirror and look into your own eyes, and you will find someone else looking from within you. You are more than you. You do not end with yourself. You are only the limit of your existence. You have not gone deeper yet. You have not even dived. Therefore, first, do not fall into the illusion of considering yourself ordinary. That is why the Upanishads say, 'Tattvamasi, Shvetaketu' – You are That, Shvetaketu. Those who have realized declare, 'Aham Brahmasmi' – I am Brahman. This declaration is not of ego; it is a declaration of nature. It is so, it is a fact. There is no way to deny it. No matter how much you try to forget it, one day or another you will have to return to your home. So, this is the first thing: do not consider yourself ordinary, because if you accept that you are ordinary, the search stops. You have accepted that you are merely human, nothing more. Then the door to becoming something more is closed. The possibility is blocked. How humble, how weak is the Ganga at Gangotri, just a small stream. If it considered itself to be only Gangotri, it would have dried up long ago, disappeared in some desert. But the small Ganga at Gangotri keeps growing, becomes bigger, meets the ocean, and becomes the ocean. You might be at Gangotri now, but you are the Ganga. The ocean seems far away in your ignorance. And when I look into you, I find your future standing behind you. When I look into you, I see flowers blooming within you that you will see blooming someday. For me, you are God, nothing less. You cannot be anything less. Therefore, do not fall into the illusion of ordinariness.
The second thing is that the point of 'Athato' – the point of revolution – only comes when you consciously experience the sorrow and pain of life. You have experienced much pain so far, but you have experienced it while asleep, in the hope that perhaps happiness will come. Perhaps happiness is about to come. You are sad today, no worries. Somehow get through today. It's just a matter of time. Tomorrow everything will be fine. You have lived in the hope that the pain is only for a little while, tomorrow everything will be fine. In that hope, your pain has remained hidden. You have not been able to see it. Remove these veils. There is no tomorrow, and tomorrow will never come. There is only today, now. And do not keep waiting for that tomorrow. This waiting for tomorrow is a trick to postpone today. Then tomorrow has many forms. The one who accumulates wealth lives his life now, thinking that when wealth is accumulated, he will enjoy all pleasures. The one who runs in pursuit of fame thinks, how can it be now? Now everything has to be risked. When fame is achieved, he will enjoy it. That fame never comes. No Alexander can ever conquer. The race for fame remains incomplete. Wealth never becomes enough to erase your poverty. It never becomes enough. It can never be that wealth is so much that your poverty is erased. Because poverty is a perspective; it has no relation to wealth. The more wealth you have, the more you will be filled with future aspirations. Your hope always leaps ahead of you. It always stands in tomorrow. You are here, your hope is always in tomorrow. If you have ten rupees, you ask for ten lakhs. If you have ten lakhs, you ask for a crore. If you have a crore, you ask for ten crores. It always leaps ahead of you. You can never catch it. There is no way to catch it. But you will lose today. You will never be able to fulfill your desires, but you will lose today, which is the essence of existence. If there is pain, then see the pain. Experience the pain. Do not deny it with tomorrow. Do not explain it away. Do not fall asleep with sleeping pills named tomorrow. Wake up today. If there is pain, let it be. Let it prick. Because that prick will awaken you. From that pain, you will rise. In that pain, you will see that your life is running on a wrong framework. Whatever you have done so far, there has been a fundamental mistake. Whatever you have done so far, you have done it without God, by excluding Him. There is no place for God in whatever you have done so far. They say Galileo wrote a book on cosmology. And he took it to show a friend. The friend was a believer. He read the whole book. God was not mentioned anywhere in it. There was no mention of the creator and creation. Scientists don't mention it. They don't feel the need. The friend asked, is everything else okay? Is it organized, logical, understandable? But there seems to be a blank space. No mention of God. Not even once. Not even to deny, saying God does not exist. Not even that. The creation seems a bit incomplete without God. Galileo said, no, there is no need for it, because I have explained everything without it. I have no use for the hypothesis of God. Ask me anything if it remains unexplained. If the temple of the soul remains empty, then pain arises from there. Try to understand this a little. Pain will remain as long as the light of God is not burning in your life. Pain is the absence of God. Where God should be and is not, that is pain. So when will the revolution of 'Athato' come in your life? When will you say, now the search for devotion. You will say only when you find that what you considered the essence of life so far, was nothing but the extract of pain. What you knew as love was not love. What you knew as wealth was not wealth. What you knew as self was not self. Your entire foundation is wrong. What you knew as ego was not you. That identification was an illusion. What you knew as external wealth was not wealth. What you have searched for is wealth that death can snatch away. The wise call your wealth misfortune. They call your property calamity. True wealth is that which even death cannot snatch away. True wealth is that which no one can snatch away, which cannot be stolen, which robbers cannot take. That is wealth which even death loses to. You must have heard, a friend is one who helps in adversity. That is the definition of wealth. True wealth is that which helps in adversity. And what greater adversity is there than death? That is the test. That is wealth which passes through the gates of death dancing. What you considered wealth is not wealth. It is a way to forget inner poverty. What you considered ego is not you. It is a trick to cover yourself up. It is a trick to deny your ignorance. What you considered position is not you. What you considered position will not give you contentment. You will become more and more dissatisfied. Position is that where rest comes. The meaning of position is that on which rest comes. Where you can sit and rest. Where you get relief. Where the journey ends by sitting. Where there is no more need for feet to walk. Where position becomes unnecessary, that is the place of position. You have reached there. Now there is no need to go anywhere. But have you found any such position outside where the journey ends upon reaching it? There is no such position outside. Even emperors who conquer the whole world are as restless with desire as a beggar lying by the roadside. No difference at all. I have heard that an emperor of Japan used to ride his horse at night and circle his capital. Many times he saw a fakir. Many times he went at any hour of the night. He always saw him awake. Sometimes standing under a tree, sometimes sitting, but always awake. The emperor's curiosity grew. Why doesn't he sleep? One day he couldn't stop himself. He asked, although it is not appropriate, because it is your work, you should be awake. But every day I pass by here, and the curiosity in my mind keeps growing. Why are you awake? So the fakir said, I am guarding something. I have found something. It is within. It should not be lost. Its protection is in being awake. In sleeping, it is lost. In unconsciousness, I will forget again. I have to remain conscious. The emperor said, I don't see anything. The emperor has his own language; what is outside is his language. The fakir has his own language; what is inside is his world. They are on different journeys. The emperor said, you are protecting some wealth. Then what is the difference between you and me? The fakir smiled. He said, the difference is not much. It is a little, yet it is there. The difference is that you are rich from the outside. I am poor from the outside. I am rich from the inside. You are poor from the inside. The difference is only this. I am also poor. I am also rich. You are also poor. You are also rich. So I cannot say there is much difference. But you are rich from the outside. I am rich from the inside. Death will tell. Death will be the test. If you look into your life and do not avoid yourself, as I see you do, you find ways to avoid yourself, to avoid meeting yourself. You do a thousand things. Sometimes you drink alcohol, sometimes you go to the cinema, sometimes you even sing devotional songs, but to forget yourself, to drown somewhere, so that you are not remembered. Otherwise, your devotional singing is also false. That is also alcohol. Devotional singing is true only when it becomes a basis for remembering yourself. It awakens you, it does not put you to sleep. The day you see the pain of life, you will face it directly and find only sorrow. People come to me. They say, there is hell. I tell them, enough is enough. You are already there. You come to ask me? They think hell is buried somewhere beneath the earth, in the underworld. Some madmen might have thought that. Some ignorant people might have said that. It is within you. Hell is a way of living life in darkness. It is a perspective. It is a style. It has nothing to do with location. Heaven is also a style of life. It depends on you. Live awake, and wherever you are is heaven. Live asleep, and wherever you are is hell. Hell is born from sleep. Think a little, and you will find that you are surrounded by hell everywhere. And what is the need for hell? Isn't enough hell enough that you imagine more hells in the underworld? The day you see the hell of life, on that very day the point of 'Athato' will come. On that day you will say, enough is enough. Stop. Your feet will halt. As soon as you halt in this race of the world, a revolution occurs. A new sky, which has no end, no beginning, becomes available to you. Right now, you live in a very narrow alley. It becomes active every day. It becomes active every day. You get bound more and more. Chains tighten more and more. Your life is as if you are engaged in building your own prison. Whether you call the prison a home or a temple, no one will be fooled by your names. Even if you give beautiful names to diseases, the sting of diseases does not go away. Wake up and recognize. See, the day you see the pain, your feet will halt. You will turn back. That turning back is what Mahavir called 'pratikraman' – coming back to yourself. Patanjali called it 'pratyahara' – coming back to yourself. Jesus called it conversion, revolution, transformation. Right now, the mode of your life is lust. When you halt, you will find that the mode of your life will be love. When you turn back, then there will be devotion. Where you are going now, it is the search for lust. It is the search for desire. Desire is the world. The world is not outside you anywhere. You cannot escape the world by hiding in temples or mosques. Even by sitting in Himalayan caves, you cannot escape the world. Because the world is in your desire. Even there, you will desire. People keep asking for things even while sitting before God. The asking never stops. They stand in the temple, but do not turn towards Ram. The idol will be in front, but even there they keep asking. A man came to me and said, now I have faith. My son was not getting a job. I prayed to God and gave him three weeks. If he gets it in three weeks, I will have faith forever. If not, then it's over. Then you don't exist. And that man said, he got it. Now I worship every day. I also pray, that's why I came to you. I said, it must have happened by coincidence. Because God is afraid of your threat. That there are three weeks, your ultimatum. You are mad. And this is a very dangerous faith that you have created. It will break down any day. I said, try once more. He said, what do you mean? I said, try once more. Your wife is sick. Since you have found the key, cure your wife too. He said, you are right. Yesterday he went and gave the ultimatum. Then he came after three weeks, very sad. He said, you spoiled everything. It was no use, and her health worsened. My faith wavered. Your faith also stands only on your demands. If God gives something, then He is God. If God follows you, then He is God. If He fulfills what you ask, then He is God. If God is engaged in your service, then He is God. God is not a master; you are the master. And if He wants your worship and prayer, then He should serve you in return. Your prayer is also false. That is also desire. That is also the world. As long as you are asking for something outside. As long as you think you will get something outside that will bring contentment. That will fill your mind with peace. That will bring a sigh of relief. That will bring moments of joy. If you keep asking for such things outside, then you cannot escape hell yet. Going outside is going into hell. Consciousness going outside cannot go beyond hell. Someone halts, seeing the futility of life. The essence of life, its fruitlessness. Nothing is collected in hand except pain. Nothing is seen in the heart except tears. Life is completely dark. The boat is sinking, it has sunk, it is in a state of sinking. In such a moment, when someone halts, in that moment of halting, love arises. Desire is gone. Now you do not ask. Now you become eager to give. Love gives. Lust asks. As long as there is asking, understand it as lust. When giving begins, because you ask, thinking that asking will increase wealth and happiness will come. The halted person starts giving. He has tried asking, happiness did not come, pain came. Now he tries to do the opposite and finds that light gusts of happiness are coming. A veena is playing somewhere far away, though very far, but it is playing. Melodies are being heard. A new world has begun. This is the story of the halted person. He starts giving, distributing. And as he distributes, the melodies become clearer. And then, to his surprise, he realizes that these melodies are coming from within him. Until now, he thought the fragrance was outside. It is coming from within me. The musk is in the coil. It is in my navel. Then the return begins. The point of 'Athato' has come. Now and only then will you be able to understand Narada's Bhakti Sutras. This is not for those who are going outside. It is not even for those who have halted. It is for those who have turned back. First thing. Second thing: as long as you think that you yourself will bring your happiness, the point of 'Athato' will not come. You cannot bring your happiness. You yourself have brought all the sorrow. This is the fruit of your own endeavors. This is the result of your own labor. In old language, they say it is the fruit of your own karma. That is the old language. The point is the same. You yourself have done this. This sorrow that surrounds you, you yourself had invited it. These guests did not come uninvited. You sent invitations. You insisted greatly, although you had thought of something else. There was a mistake in your understanding. You invited friends, they came. You invited enemies, they came. You invited happiness, sorrow came. You invited flowers, thorns came. Because thorns look like flowers from afar. Because enemies look like friends from afar. A small child went on a journey with his companions. From there he wrote a letter to his mother: On the first day, everyone was a stranger. I knew no one. On the second day, everyone became friends, because recognition happened. On the third day, everyone became enemies. This story of three days is the story of a whole life. On the first day, when you open your eyes, no one is familiar. It is an unknown world, surrounded by strangers, all strangers. Then everyone seems like a friend. Then enmity begins. What seemed like a friend from afar, as you get closer, enmity begins. Distant drums sound very pleasant, but when you get close, they become useless. You yourself sent the invitations. Perhaps you sent them in past lives, and now you have completely forgotten. But you invited them. What has come to you is your creation, and this sorrow will increase from your creation, layer by layer, accumulating around you. It is strangling your neck. You suffer because of your actions. When you halt, you will suddenly realize. There is no need to do anything. Everything is happening without your doing. In moments of love, life seems effortless. Everything is happening on its own. Being born, growing old, dying, birth, death – everything is happening on its own. But when you turn back, the dimension of devotion begins. Then you will realize that it is not happening on its own. You are not the doer. It is not happening on its own either. In every pore of life, there is a hidden purpose. In every particle of life, there is a hidden destiny. Say, there is a hidden God. It is happening because of Him. The person engaged in lust relies on himself. The person standing in love falters in his reliance on himself. The person going into devotion completely loses reliance on himself. It shifts to God. I have heard the famous lines of Josh: "Entrust God, O Josh, with the burden of your sins. How long will you walk carrying this heavy load on your head? Give it to God. You are troubled. I heard about a man on his 75th birthday. His friends said, for you, something new, something you have never done in life. He said, I have never sat in an airplane. So they said, let's take him in an airplane for half an hour to circle the city. After half an hour, when he got down, the pilot who was flying asked, are you happy? Were you not troubled? Because it was his first flight. He said, I was not troubled. But due to fear, I did not put my entire weight on the plane. I did not put my entire weight on the plane due to fear, lest there be any trouble due to the weight. Now, when you sit in an airplane, whether you put your full weight or not, the entire weight is on the airplane. I have heard that an emperor was returning from the forest towards his palace in his chariot. He saw a poor man carrying a heavy load on the road. He felt compassion. He said, come, sit in the chariot. We will drop you wherever you need to go. He sat in the chariot, but he kept the bundle on his head. The emperor said, why don't you put the bundle down? He said, is your grace not enough that you have given me a ride? I cannot leave the weight of the bundle to you. But what difference does it make whether you sit in the chariot and keep the bundle down, on the chariot or on your head? The weight is on the chariot. Those who turn back towards themselves a little realize that we were unnecessarily troubled. The doer was doing. What was to happen was happening. We were jumping around uselessly. Then you will understand that devotion has begun within you. The beginning of devotion means that I am not the doer, nor can I do it. I do not exist; only He exists. And then, unique love for Him is born in your heart. He carries all your burden. And then the devotee reaches such a stage that he knows that devotion is also not something to be done. Prayer will also not be done by me. He Himself will pray through me, then it will happen. Even going towards Him is not possible for me. He Himself will walk with my feet, only then will I reach. My feet do not rise anymore. My feet do not rise anymore, this poor me. Tell the destination to run and bring me. Let it take me on the path. Slowly, he realizes his helplessness. That I am nothing. Now even my feet do not rise, this poor me. If He lifts them, then they rise. And now what is there to fear? What is there to be afraid of? If He has to take me, then the destination itself will come and pick me up on the way. Therefore, the devotee does not consider the shore. He says, even if you drown me in the deep sea, that is the shore. He has given all his burden to Him. Krishna explained only this much to Arjuna in the Gita: Leave all your burden to God. Sit comfortably in the airplane. Do not unnecessarily keep carrying your burden. You have already sat in the chariot. Put down the bundle from your head. Om.